Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday North Korean troops had suffered casualties in combat with Kyiv's forces and that some of the 11,000 troops sent to Russia's Kursk region had taken part in fighting.

Ukrainian troops have clashed with North Korean forces for the first time, according to senior Ukrainian officials — a development that would open a “new page of instability in the world,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The upper house of Russian parliament has ratified a treaty with North Korea envisioning mutual military assistance.