More than 50,000 North Koreans will be sent to work in Russia, as Moscow's war in Ukraine drains labour pools.

North Korean workers who have fled the country told the BBC about slave-like working conditions in Russia, where they are sent to fill the labour shortage exacerbated by Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

Employers assign many workers to construction projects and place others in clothing factories and IT centers, which the United Nations says violate its 2019 ban on North Korean labor abroad. The influx comes amid closer Russia–North Korea ties,