South Korea and Ukraine have estimated some 12,000 North Korean soldiers will be sent to Russia, with 3,000 already deployed.

After two-and-a-half years of vicious fighting, the Ukrainian military is facing a manpower shortfall. No surprise. The war has been a grind of incremental progress, which would be difficult for any nation of just 40 million people to sustain for thirty-plus months.

President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday that attempts to defeat Russia on the battlefield were "illusory," remarks made ahead of his first meeting with UN chief Antonio Guterres in more than two years.