Kim Jong Un's summit with Vladimir Putin at a cosmodrome in Russia's far east has finished
Putin says Kim will visit other sites in Russia before crossing back into North Korea
After dinner at the summit, the Russian leader toasted Kim's health and the two countries' friendship
Putin also says there are "possibilities" for military co-operation between the countries
Kim earlier said "we will always support the decisions of President Putin and... we will be together in the fight against imperialism"
The leaders did not discuss the risk of nuclear war, a Kremlin spokesman adds
Image source, ReutersThis wraps up our coverage of the Putin-Kim summit for today.
As we've reported, Kim is travelling on to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Vladivostok next, and we will bring you those developments when we get them.
You can catch up with the story here.
This page has been edited by Nadia Ragozhina and Rob Corp. It was written by Victoria Lindrea and Tarik Habte.
Here's a summary of what happened this morning at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Jean Mackenzie
Seoul correspondent
Adding to tensions in the region over Kim Jong Un's visit to Russia, North Korea held a ceremony last week to christen a new submarine, which Pyongyang claimed can carry nuclear weapons.
A nuclear-attack submarine has long been on the list of weapons North Korea wants to build.
Submarines are difficult to locate under water, and having one could allow Pyongyang to strike its enemies from the sea after its land weapons had been destroyed in an attack.
State media said the submarine strengthened the country's nuclear deterrent by "leaps and bounds".
But we don't know if this submarine is operational and the South Koreans are skeptical. The North Koreans have yet to demonstrate it can successfully fire nuclear-capable missiles.
There are both practical and symbolic gains for both countries here, according to Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst and policy lead at consulting firm LMI.
Practically, Russia gets artillery shells and missiles. North Korea, in exchange, gets food aid and possibly technology that can help develop its nuclear and missile programme.
Symbolically, both countries are "thumbing their noses" to the growing security co-operation between the US, Japan, and South Korea.
"Pyongyang may want to show Washington and Seoul that it, too, has friends it can rely on in the region. It's a relationship of expediency, really," she told the BBC.
Russia's proposition of three-way naval drills involving Moscow, Pyongyang, and Beijing would appear to be a direct counter to the US-South Korea-Japan exercise around the Korean peninsula this year and the Camp David summit in the US a few weeks ago.
Both Pyongyang and Moscow have a rapidly shrinking circle of friends, says Dr Bernard Loo of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Despite China's patronage, North Korea has found itself increasingly isolated after three years of Covid border closures, while Russia - hit by economic sanctions over the Ukraine war - has taken heavy losses on the battlefield.
"These are two sets of actors trying to reassure each other," says Loo.
The fact that Kim has chosen to head to Russia for one of his rare trips abroad is also significant.
"During the Cold War, North Korea was playing the Russians off the Chinese, very similar to how children play parents off each other."
Pyongyang's ties with Beijing nevertheless remain close - Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong will visit North Korea this week to attend a military parade celebrating the country's 75th birthday, as the country slowly begins its post-pandemic reopening.
Image source, ReutersThe shipyard that was reportedly hit by Ukrainian missile attack in Sevastopol, Crimea
As we mentioned earlier, reports in Russia say that Ukraine launched an attack on Sevastopol in Crimea last night, and now the the head of Kyiv's air force Mykola Oleshchuk has strongly indicated his pilots were involved.
In a post on Telegram, Oleshchuk thanked pilots from Ukraine's armed forces for "their excellent combat work”, and indicated they had used UK or French-supplied Stormshadow/SCALP cruise missiles.
The Russian defence ministry said 10 cruise missiles were involved, as well as three maritime drones.
When contacted by the BBC, air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat confirmed that Stormshadow/SCALP are the only such weapons currently in Ukrainian use, making this the first time they have been used on targets inside Crimea.
The extent of the damage is unknown, but the large number of missiles used suggests this was a major operation, designed to have a significant impact on Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
Reports said two important vessels were hit: a large amphibious landing ship and a Kilo class submarine - which would make this the first time a submarine has been hit.
As reported yesterday, Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was also at the talks.
It is believed that Shoigu's visit to Pyongyang last July led to Putin and Kim's high-level meeting today at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Shoigu was the first Russian defence minister to visit North Korea since the breakup of the Soviet Union and he came as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
Here's our analysis on why Russia and North Korea are friends in need (of ammunition).
Image source, ReutersShoigu was Kim's guest in Pyongyang last July.
Today's talks took place against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, following Russia's invasion in February 2022.
In his toast, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even referenced the war, anticipating Russia's "great victory" in its "special military operation".
His words followed reports out of Moscow that Ukraine had launched an attack overnight on Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and is home to its Black Sea fleet.
The attack, involving 10 missiles, caused a large fire at a shipyard which left 24 people injured, Russia said.
It claimed most of the missiles were intercepted but that two ships had been damaged.
Meanwhile, Russian drones reportedly damaged the Ukrainian grain port of Izmail, on the Danube river. Six people were injured in the attack, which caused a fire and damaged infrastructure, according to governor of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper.
Image source, MIKHAIL RAZVOZHAYEVA photo shared by the Russian-installed governor of Crimea on Telegram showed flames engulfing what appeared to be a vessel
Image source, ReutersA bullet-proof train, two hours of talks and some crab dumplings - but what did the respective leaders of Russia and North Korea actually discuss?
Both leaders focused on their long-held friendship:
"Today we strive to strengthen the bonds of camaraderie and good neighbourliness," said Putin.
"Our friendship has deep roots. And now, relations with the Russian Federation are the very first priority," said Kim.
Both men also spoke of sovereignty.
Kim told Putin: "I [also] hope that we will always be together in the fight against imperialism and for the construction of a sovereign state."
While Putin hailed "the future strengthening of co-operation", concluding: "We act in the name of peace, stability and prosperity of our common region."
In meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia ensured the focus stayed on space - and not any rumoured arms deal.
"The leader of the DPRK shows great interest in rocket engineering" Putin told reporters
A former UK ambassador to North Korea says that Kim was "poking China in the eye" when he said that Russia was now "the number one priority" for his government.
John Everard described Kim's comments as a "deliberate snub".
In reaction to the summit, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning earlier described the visit as "an arrangement between the two countries".
Everard says that the underlying tone beneath that muted response was far less ambiguous: "In Chinese terms that was straight face, no smile, we don't like this."
Considering how reliant North Korea is on China as it's main strategic ally and economic benefactor, Everard describes Kim's comments as "not a very clever piece of diplomacy".
Here's another look at the moment Kim met Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, before the two leaders sat down for talks.
Putin says the location was chosen as Moscow aims to help North Korea with its satellite programmes, according to Russian state media, Ria Novosti.
Putin and Kim Jong Un meet at the Vostochny Cosmodrome
A former UK ambassador to North Korea tells the BBC that Wednesday's summit between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un has been partly a display of "posturing".
John Everard, who served in Pyongyang from 2006-2008, says that both Russia and North Korea needed the visibility after an extended period of political isolation.
Putin wanted to show "that despite the West's efforts, he does have friends", he says.
There was also substance to the summit, however, as Russia is short on artillery due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. "A lot of North Korean shells which fit Russian artillery would be very welcome."
Ece Göksedef
Live reporter
As Kim continues his tour of Russia, it will be interesting to see how the North Korean media reports on his trip.
Based on what I learned during a three-week visit I made to North Korea as a tourist in 2018, news reports of his time in Russia will be strictly controlled.
When I was there, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was visiting the country too, and we had no idea he was there.
Not just us tourists, but the people of North Korea too.
A couple of weeks after his visit, a few days before we turned back to our countries, we woke up to the North Korean newspapers with the same headline and the same picture, telling us that Pompeo had visited the country!
When I grabbed one of them, the shopkeeper in the hotel immediately warned me to not to fold the page with Kim Jong Un's photo on it.
The newspapers were telling the citizens how successful Kim Jong Un at diplomacy to organise a meeting with a senior politician from an imperialist country.
Along with Vladivostok, Kim Jong Un will also visit the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur - an important industrial centre in the Russian far east.
Interestingly, he will fly there, according to President Putin, who announced the visit on Russian state channel Rossiya 1 - according to the Interfax news agency.
Kim Jong Un doesn't share his father's fear of flying, as he has flown on his Soviet-era private jet for several trips.
In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kim will visit defence and civil aviation factories.
Image source, ReutersKim boarded his armoured train following his meeting with Putin
Jean Mackenzie
Seoul correspondent
As you may remember, Kim told Putin that they will "remain together in [the] fight against imperialism".
But what does imperialism mean this context?
For North Korea, it means one thing: the United States.
It views the US as an imperialist bully which tries to invade other countries - itself included - to rid the world of dictators with nuclear weapons, all under the guise of creating peace.
It dates America’s “imperialist foreign policy” all the way back to the slave trade, and then to the Korean War - in which an estimated 20% of the North Korean population was killed.
In reality, the Korean War started when the North invaded the South, and the US came to South Korea’s defence.
But successive North Korean leaders have pointed to the intense US bombing campaigns that wiped out scores of cities in the North.
At an anti-US rally in Pyongyang this summer, people carried placards adorned with the slogan: “The imperialist US is the destroyer of peace”.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has been speaking after Kim Jong Un's visit, and according to the Ria news agency, announced that the North Korean leader would continue his tour with a visit to the city of Vladivostok.
Putin also said he had an "open exchange of opinions with Kim".
He said there were opportunities for bilateral military-technical co-operation, though he added that Russia would comply with its international obligations.
The two leaders discussed agriculture, Putin added, where Russia "has something to offer to North Korea".
Putin and Kim did not discuss nuclear war risks during their talks, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.
President Vladimir Putin's talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were "important and substantive", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
Speaking after the two leaders held talks in Russia's Far East region, Peskov added that North Korea was interested in co-operation with Russia in the areas of aviation and transport.
Tessa Wong
Asia Digital Reporter
There's been much speculation on what kind of weapons North Korea could give Russia, and as my colleagues noted earlier, Pyongyang may hand over artillery shells and rockets.
But what kind of impact would that have on Russia's war effort in Ukraine?
Artillery is "the god Russia worships", said Valeriy Akimenko, an expert on Russia's military with the Conflict Studies Research Centre.
"Anecdotally, Russia's artillery shell stocks have been hugely depleted at this stage and it would not be easy to ramp up production at this time", he added.
So North Korea's arms could be a "stop-gap measure" while Russia rebuilds it capabilities.
But given how fast Russia has been going through its supplies, any North Korean arms deal would not have much impact.
"It would kill more Ukrainians. But it will not kill Ukraine", said Akimenko.
In Ukraine, concern about North Korea’s potential supply of artillery and ammunition to Russia is matched by worry about any possible role China could play, according to BBC Monitoring.
"The North Koreans will rebuild their stockpile with Chinese ammunition, external. It's not without the Chinese, that's for sure," military expert Roman Svitan told 24 Kanal TV.
"China, in spite of its declarations of neutrality, is becoming more active on Russia’s side, external,” commentator Yuriy Poyta told the website Liga. “Beijing is doing so secretly to avoid problems.”
Poyta said more than 75% of microprocessors used by the Russian army make their way into the country through China. “It has played a serious role in Russia’s ability to rebuild and sustain its missile industry," he said.
If China starts supplying Russia with weapons, this will “change everything”, and “not only for Ukraine” Poyta added.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe leaders of Russia, China and North Korea made a show of solidarity at a parade marking the Korean War armistice in July