After Russia claimed to have retaken the Kursk region from Ukraine, North Korea acknowledged for the first time that it had sent soldiers to fight in Moscow’s war.

North Korea and Russia have started building a bridge that will be the first ever road link between the two countries. Satellite images showed work has begun on both banks of the Tumen River, close to the Russian border town of Khasan.

If confirmed, Russian assistance in developing such a vessel would mark a major new phase in military cooperation between the two nations. It would also represent a potential breach of UN sanctions, w