Among the forests of eastern Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Russia’s most modern rocket launch facility.

Vostochny Cosmodrome was opened in 2016 in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East, not far from the Chinese border and about 1,500km (930 miles) from Vladivostok.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Putin ordered the construction of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to reduce reliance on it. Kim’s meeting with former US president Donald Trump at Vostochny puts a spotlight on western concerns about North Korea’s missile development.

The North Korean Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile – its first ICBM to use solid rocket fuel – has reignited speculation over possible Russian involvement.

A billion-dollar project, Vostochny gave a boost to the local economy, but it was plagued by repeated delays and corruption scandals.

A Soyuz-2 rocket launched there for the first time in 2016. Recently, a Soyuz rocket launched the ill-fated Luna-25 moon spacecraft, which crashed into the moon.