North Korea condemned Ukraine's incursion into Russia as an unforgivable act of terror backed by Washington and the West, adding it would always stand with Russia as it seeks to protect its sovereignty, state media said on Sunday.
Ukraine's drive into Russia is a product of the anti-Russia confrontational policy of the United States, which is pushing the situation to the brink of World War Three, KCNA news agency said.
The US handed "astronomical" sums of lethal weapons to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the report said.
"We strongly condemn the armed attack against the Russian territory by the Zelenskiy puppet regime under the control and support of the United States and the West as an unforgivable act of aggression and terror," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement, according to KCNA.
North Korea has dramatically upgraded its ties with Russia in the past year with two summit meetings by their leaders who pledged closer cooperation in all areas.
In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact in Pyongyang on "comprehensive strategic partnership" that included a mutual defence agreement.
South Korea, Ukraine and the United States have accused North Korea of supplying artillery and missiles to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. North Korea and Russia have denied the allegations.
A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station early on Sunday in a NASA crew-swap mission that will allow a pair of stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to return home after nine months on the orbiting lab.
59 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a fire broke out in a nightclub early on Sunday in the North Macedonian town of Kocani, Interior Minister Pance Toskovski confirmed, saying the fire was caused by "pyrotechnic devices" used during a concert.
US President Donald Trump launched large-scale military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, killing at least 31 people at the start of a campaign expected to last many days.
At least nine Palestinians including three local journalists were killed on Saturday in an Israeli air strike on Gaza's northern Beit Lahiya town, the local health ministry said, as Hamas leaders held ceasefire talks with mediators in Cairo.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he had urged Kyiv's Western allies to give "a clear position" on security guarantees including about a potential foreign troop contingent on Ukrainian soil with a US backstop.