Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday, the US claimed that North Korean troops had gone into battle alongside Russian soldiers against Ukrainian forces.

“More than 10,000 DPRK (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to Kursk Oblast, where they have begun to engage in combat operations with Russian forces,” he told reporters State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.

It comes as part of a broader Russian strategy to retake the Kursk region, which has been held by Ukrainian occupation forces for several months.

US and European news outlets have suggested that up to 50,000 Russian and North Korean troops have massed on the region’s border in recent days.

We could also see Russian forces launch a ground attack in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhia region after a military spokesman in Kiev warned it could happen soon.

The attacks could create a new pressure point for Kiev’s overstretched defenders, who are already on the back foot in the east.

We will bring you all the latest updates throughout the day, so stay tuned.