A lone North Korean soldier who survived an intense battle against Ukrainian soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region chose to blow himself up rather than allow himself to be captured, Kyiv

The deployment of North Korean troops to Russia's Kursk region tells much about where North Korean-Russian relations are going.

A thousand North Korean troops who have been fighting in the Kursk region of Russia have been killed in Vladimir Putin ’s war with Ukraine, officials have said. Western officials have told the BBC that 36 per cent of North Korean forces fighting in Russia had been killed, injured or captured by mid-January.

Speaking a day after Trump’s inauguration, Ukraine’s president told world leaders at Davos that Europe needs to remain united and “learn how to take care of itself.”

Ukraine and South Korea have said Pyongyang has deployed an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 servicemen to southern Russia to fight Ukrainian forces. More VLADIMIR SMIRNOV/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

The agreement is similar to the one Moscow signed with North Korea last year - as Vladimir Putin attempts to show the world is changing, and that, in his view, the US-led global order is crumbling.

Ukraine said it retrieved a diary from a North Korean soldier that contains a confession of stealing from his Russian comrade and battle tactics.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, will not worry about battlefield casualties. Leaving aside the disregard of his regime for the welfare of the population, the deal agreed with Russia to send an initial contingent of 10-12,000 troops to boost Russian ranks in the war of attrition against Ukraine makes sense for him for several reasons.

North Korean troops have been deployed to bolster Russian forces in the Kursk border region with Ukraine, where they are gaining battlefield experience despite initial heavy losses.

There is mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine.

The wounded fighters were taken for questioning to Kyiv, authorities said, where they could reveal details of Pyongyang’s cooperation with Moscow.