According to "The New York Times," Kim Jong Un proposed sending his troops to Russia, not Vladimir Putin. U.S. intelligence suggests that North Korea hopes to gain future benefits through this action.

North Korean troops are set to join Russia's 80th Victory Day Parade, highlighting strengthened military ties between the two nations.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make what's likely his final trip in office to the United Nations this week.

The transfer marks the end of an era when Russia played an arguably oversized role in determining which countries could operate in Syria’s contested airspace.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Monday said at least 100 North Korean soldiers have died while another 1,000 suffered injuries in the bordering Kursk region, where Moscow's forces have been battling a Ukrainian ground incursion since August.

Russia and North Korea have neither confirmed nor denied these claims, though Moscow and Pyongyong have spoken of their deepening military cooperation and Mr Kim has vowed to “invariably support Russia in its war” while calling out Nato’s “reckless” eastward advance.

Russia said on Wednesday it had detained an Uzbek man who had confessed to planting and detonating a bomb which killed a top general, Igor Kirillov, in Moscow on the instructions of Ukraine's SBU security service.

Russia captured the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's biggest nuclear power station, soon after its forces went into Ukraine in February 2022. Each side in the 33-month-old war has since accused the other of shelling the plant and endangering nuclear safety.

The United States has accused China of supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine, highlighting that Beijing's actions contradict its claims of pursuing peace. Source: US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood during the UN Security Council meeting on 20 Details: Wood emphasised that China's support for Russia goes against the principles of the UN Charter.

North Korea demonstrated this year that it could produce ballistic missiles and supply them to Russia for use against Ukraine in a matter of months.

The United States voiced alarm at the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that Russia was close to accepting a nuclear-armed North Korea, as Moscow and Pyongyang defended their growing cooperation.