Ukrainian troops have for the first time engaged with North Korean units that were recently deployed to help Russia in the war with its neighbor, Ukraine's defense minister said Tuesday. Another Kyiv official said Ukraine's army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk border region.

Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Ukrainian officials said on Monday that their forces had fired at North Korean soldiers in combat for the first time since their deployment by Russia to its western Kursk region.

North Korean troops have been fired upon for the first time since sending thousands of soldiers to fight alongside Russians against Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official. Andrii Kovalenko, Ukraine’s head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council,