On Wednesday, Russia's TASS news agency quoted Shoigu as saying North Korea would send a "division of builders, two military brigades [of] 5,000 people", as well as 1,000 deminers to help with the "restoration" of the Kursk region.

Russia’s postal service is resuming package delivery to North Korea for the first time since 2020 in another sign of deepening ties between the two heavily sanctioned countries.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday met with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, in Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.Kim and Shoigu discussed cooperation plans for what Russia calls its "special military operation" in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine,