North Korea will send Russia another 150 short-range ballistic missiles this year. Pyongyang is also likely to transfer additional howitzers, as the head of Ukraine's intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said in an interview with The War Zone.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, said North Korea’s assistance will bolster Russia’s long-range fire capabilities in Kursk Oblast and on the Ukrainian front, but he does not expect many new ground combat units.

Ukrainian forces described a different kind of enemy, fighting with unfamiliar tactics and little option to retreat.

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

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.

The United States warned on Wednesday that North Korea is benefiting from its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, gaining experience that makes Pyongyang "more capable of waging war against its neighbors.