More than 50,000 North Koreans will be sent to work in Russia, as Moscow's war in Ukraine drains labour pools.

North Korean workers who have fled the country told the BBC about slave-like working conditions in Russia, where they are sent to fill the labour shortage exacerbated by Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

North Korean laborers in Russia endure “slave-like” conditions of grueling hours, meager pay and squalid housing, the BBC reported on Tuesday, citing testimonies from six escapees, researchers and South Korean intelligence sources.