North Korea

Desperate North Korean families are paying up to $500 for forged tuberculosis certificates—500 times the average monthly government salary—as mounting casualties in Russia's war drive citizens to extreme measures to protect their relatives.

Battle-experienced North Korean soldiers are creating a new combat force in Russia's rear areas, raising concerns about an expanding military partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang following heavy losses in Ukraine's Kursk Oblast.

While suffering heavy casualties in human-wave attacks, North Korea maintains critical support to Russia's war effort, providing 60% of frontline ammunition and deploying disguised rocket launchers.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi has emphasized the need for Ukraine to prepare for future offensives, drawing lessons from the ongoing Kursk operation.

A wounded North Korean fighter, captured by Ukrainian paratroopers after drone surveillance, tried to harm himself by headbutting a pole during his transportation to custody.