The North Korean foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, arrived in Russia on Friday and vowed to back Moscow in its war against Ukraine until it “achieves a great victory”. In talks with Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, she said North Korea had no doubt that Russia will succeed in Ukraine under Vladimir Putin’s “wise leadership”.

Ukrainian officials expect a counteroffensive in western Russia to begin in the coming days as North Korea’s troops train with Russian forces.