Russia and North Korea, two neighbors that have had a prickly relationship in the past, are now experiencing a boon in their bilateral ties. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged visits, signed a strategic cooperation agreement that U.S. officials described as equal parts concerning and desperate, and used their shared animus against the United States as the glue that keeps the partnership afloat. Moscow and Pyongyang are boosting relations to such a height that China, used to retaining most of the leverage in North Korea, is increasingly trying to get into Kim’s good graces.

Nowhere has this cooperation played out more intensively than in Ukraine, where Russian troops are slowly pressing an offensive in the Donetsk region for a high cost in men and materiel. According to Western officials, Pyongyang has delivered at least 16,500 containers of munitions and other military equipment to the Russians for use in Ukraine. North Korean short-range ballistic missiles have been employed by Russia against Ukrainian targets, although their success rate is less than impressive.