"Strengthening air defense capabilities is clearly an urgent priority for Iran at the moment," expert Hongda Fan told Newsweek.

The North Korean economy largely relies on production of coal, concrete and industrial plastics, and has been kept afloat by food, fuel and fertiliser from neighbouring China, its biggest trading partner. More recently, the regime has also raised hundreds of millions of dollars through sophisticated cryptocurrency hacks.

Yunarmia is not alone. Other Russian state-sponsored organisations that have moved in include "Movement of the First Ones" and "Warrior", a network of centres for "the military and athletic training, and patriotic education of young people" set up on Russian President Vladimir Putin's orders.

"Cooperation among China, Russia, and India not only aligns with the respective interests of the three countries, but also contributes to regional and global peace, security, stability, and progress," the spokesperson, Lin Jian, told a regular briefing in Beijing.

KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan (Reuters) -Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, on Saturday said he wanted Russia to publicly acknowledge that it had accidentally shot down an Azerbaijani passenger plane in December last year, killing 38 people on board, and to punish those responsible.

WhatsApp should prepare to leave the Russian market, a lawmaker who regulates the IT sector said on Friday, warning that the messaging app owned by Meta Platforms was likely to be put on a list of restricted software.

President Trump’s plan to impose a 100 percent tariff on Russian goods could raise the cost of urea, a key fertilizer in corn and other row crops.