Kyiv has assessed Russia will help Pyongyang set up Shahed drone factories on North Korean soil, posing new challenges for Seoul.

Wrapping up a one-day visit to Pyongyang, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to send 1,000 sappers to clear mines in the Kursk region and 5,000 military construction workers to restore infrastructure there, according to Russia's state news agency, Tass.

North Korea will send 6,000 military workers and combat engineers to help rebuild Russia's Kursk region, Moscow's top security official said, in the latest show of growing ties between the two countries.