North Korea’s leader, who’s providing the Russians with millions of badly needed artillery shells and other equipment as well as thousands of troops,

A Russian delegation led by Culture Vice Minister Andrei Maluishev arrived in North Korea on Thursday, state-run media reported, two days after the countries' leaders vowed to strengthen cooperation.

Putin during the call on Tuesday praised the “bravery, heroism and self-sacrificing spirit” displayed by North Korean troops as they fought with Russian forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region,