North Korea is boasting that its new intercontinental ballistic missile is “the world’s strongest,” a claim seen as pure propaganda after experts assessed it as being too big to be useful in a war situation.

North Korea ratified a major defense treaty with Russia stipulating mutual military aid, the North’s state media reported Tuesday, as the U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

North Korean soldiers deployed to the Kursk region of Russia have begun combat operations against Ukrainian troops, the U.S. State Department confirmed Tuesday.

"Today I can confirm that over 10,000 (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,

North Korea troops have begun fighting alongside Russians, a U.S. State Department spokesman said during a briefing on Tuesday. "Over 10,000 DPRK (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia,