Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with a sophisticated combination of missiles and drones for the first time in 73 days on Wednesday, authorities reported, as the Pentagon said most of the North Korean troops sent to help Moscow’s war effort are fighting to drive Ukraine’s army off Russian soil in the Kursk border region.

North Korea troops have begun fighting alongside Russians, a U.S. State Department spokesman said during a briefing on Tuesday. "Over 10,000 DPRK (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia,

North Korea has signed off an a treaty with Russia calling for a "comprehensive strategic partnership," Pyongyang's state-controlled news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday. It comes as North Korean troops are in Russia fighting against Ukraine,

South Korea's spy agency said Wednesday that North Korean troops dispatched to Russia are "already engaging in combat operations" against Ukraine. "North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia have moved to the Kursk region over the past two weeks and their deployment to battlefields has been completed,