North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia were given fake military documents with Russian names and birthplaces, the Ukrainian military said, amid claims from Kyiv that Russia is trying to conceal the presence of foreign fighters on the battlefield.

For years, North Korea’s military has helped its leader, Kim Jong-un, keep control of his people and provide a buffer against the country’s sworn enemy, South Korea. With 1.3 million members, the North’s army is among the world’s largest conventional armed forces.

While some Western officials initially viewed the arrival of North Korean soldiers in Russia as evidence of the Kremlin’s desperation, U.S. agencies now reportedly believe the idea was North Korea’s initiative,

When North Korean troops began arriving in Russia this fall, some Western officials believed it was a sign that the Kremlin had reached out in a desperate need for more soldiers. But U.S. intelligence agencies have now assessed that the deployment was North Korea’s idea and not Russia’s,

U.S. intelligence agencies believe that North Korea's troop deployment to Russia was Pyongyang's idea, The New York Times (NYT) reported Monday, although some Western officials thought Moscow had turned to the reclusive regime in a desperate need for military manpower amid its war in