Last week, a defence industry site in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro was struck by a Russian medium-range ballistic missile, which President Vladimir Putin described as a response to “NATO’s aggressive actions against Russia”. Early reports that Dnipro was hit by an intercontinental ballistic missile proved inaccurate.

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia.

Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov arrived in Pyongyang for talks with North Korean officials, stoking concerns over a further deepening of military cooperation between the two countries.