A North Korean howitzer has been reported on Russia's front lines following November sightings of a shipment of two M1989 Koksan self-propelled big guns as Pyongyang entered the war against Ukraine.

Russia is demanding the United Nations condemn Kyiv following an alleged drone attack that it claims killed a journalist working for a Russian outlet and injured several others.

For years, Germany has been working to elevate its status within the United Nations. However, Russia has now sent a clear signal that is not in Berlin's favor. Moscow has categorically rejected Germany's request for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Ukrainian special forces have released several excerpts from a purported diary it said was found on a North Korean soldier killed in front-line fighting in Russia.

Moscow has categorically rejected Germany's aspiration for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Russia's UN representative Vasily Nebenzya said during an interview aired on Friday on Russian state television.

The gap has risen since the war began, reaching a figure not seen since 2005 and leaving female workers struggling economically.

A manufacturing plant in Russia’s Tatarstan region has significantly scaled up its production of Iranian-designed drones, using a range of Chinese components, and recruiting a low-skilled workforce of Russian teenagers and African women,

North Korea has supplied Russia with thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine, intelligence officials said, but old footage that has resurfaced on social media does not show the funeral of a general deployed by Pyongyang to lead its troops in the ongoing invasion.

Putin has approved an expansion of military-patriotic educational programs as part of his "Year of the Defender of the Fatherland" policies and to this end, he said that the year will honor current servicemen, the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, as well as other veterans who fought for Russia.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to solidify the country's comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia in his letter to President Vladimir Putin on Monday, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Russia called Monday for the immediate and unconditional release of Alexei Gorinov, the first person convicted for speaking out against Moscow's war in Ukraine.

SEOUL -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, its top leader Kim Jong-un said in a congratulatory message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.