Russian Security Council Secretary, former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived on September 17 on an unannounced visit to Iran after recent visits to Syria and North Korea amid Russia's ongoing efforts to secure military cooperation and support from these countries, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes.

"Shoigu's international visits are coming against the backdrop of Iran's recent delivery of over 200 Fateh-360 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) to Russia, ongoing North Korean military support for the Russian war in Ukraine, and Ukrainian reports that Russia is hiring Syrian mercenaries to fight in Ukraine," the analysts note.

"Russia’s deepening engagement with the People's Republic of China (PRC), North Korea, and Iran is part of a wider Kremlin effort to establish a coalition of friendly states which can bolster Russia's defense industrial base (DIB) and secure strategic economic cooperation to support its war in Ukraine," the ISW notes.

It is also reported that on the same day, September 17, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Moscow with DPRK Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and discussed with him the further development of bilateral Russian-North Korean relations in unspecified forms. "Lavrov has recently fostered increased dialogue and cooperation with Russia's non-Western partners through various meetings on the ministerial level," the ISW notes.

The Institute's analysts report that the Russian Federation continues to recruit citizens from Syria to participate in military operations in Ukraine, citing the Main Agency of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.