North Korea is "currently significantly increasing its military power" through direct cooperation with Russia, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR), said in an interview with Hromadske Radio on July 1.

Kim Jong Un shed a tear during a public tribute to fallen North Korean soldiers who died whilst fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine. The North Korean dictator watched footage of the battlefield whilst at a ceremony held to mark the first anniversary of a military treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow on Sunday (29 June).