North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded his country's "heroic" troops who fought for Russia in the waragainst Ukraine, in a ceremony where he decorated returning soldiers and consoled children of the bereaved with hugs,

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has decorated some of the soldiers sent to Russia to help it in its war against Ukraine, hailing the "heroes" who had "cemented" the North Korean army's reputation and saying there would be more such deployments.