Ukraine-Russia live: South Korea ‘won’t stand idle’ over North bolstering Putin’s forces as Kyiv downs drones
US defence chief says North Korea’s involvement alongside Russia would be ‘very, very serious’
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South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed he “won’t sit idle” over reports that North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to aid Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking in Seoul after talks with visiting Polish president Andrzej Duda, Mr Yoon described the North Korean deployment as “a provocation that threatens global security beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe”. He added: “South Korea won’t sit idle over this.”
It has been reported that South Korea is now considering sending offensive weapons to Ukraine, breaking their rule not to send weapons to countries engaged in active combat.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has said it shot down 80 per cent of the 50 Russian drones launched in an overnight attack, while another seven disappeared from radars.
The Ukrainian Air Force said one drone was still in Ukrainian airspace while two others had turned back towards Russia and Belarus.
Ukraine uses electronic warfare systems to confuse drones’ navigation systems, which often leads them to disappear from radars or change course.
In pictures: Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline in Donetsk Oblast
Putin warns of Middle East conflagration and debates Ukraine at BRICS
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Brics leaders on Thursday that the Middle East was on the brink of a full-scale war after a sharp rise in tension between Israel and Iran, though the Kremlin chief also faced calls to end the war in Ukraine.
The BRICS summit, attended by more than 20 leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, has shown the depth of Russia’s relations beyond the Western world.
Much discussion at the summit in the Russian city of Kazan was dedicated to the war in Ukraine and the violence in the Middle East, though there were no sign that anything specific would be done to end either conflict.
“The degree of confrontation between Israel and Iran has sharply increased. All this resembles a chain reaction and puts the entire Middle East on the brink of a full-scale war,” Putin, sitting beside Chinese President Xi Jinping, said.
Xi, speaking after Putin, said that China wanted a political settlement in Ukraine, and suggested joint efforts by Beijing and Brasilia offered the best chance of peace.
“We need to work for an early de-escalation of the situation and pave the way for a political settlement,” Xi said.
On the Middle East, Xi said that there should be a comprehensive ceasefire Gaza, a halt to the spread of war in Lebanon and a return to the two-state solution under which states for both Israel and Palestine would be established.
UPD: Russian strike on Ukraine's Kupiansk kills one, wounds 10, officials say
A Russian strike on the frontline town of Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine killed one person and wounded 10 more, regional authorities said on Thursday.
The governor, Oleh Syniehubov, initially said two people had been killed and three injured in the strike, but subsequently he corrected his statement on the death toll.
Regional prosecutors said later that the person who had died was a woman who had been admitted to hospital in a serious condition.
“The enemy struck near a shop and the town market,” Syniehubov said in his initial statement.
UN chief calls for peace in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told Brics leaders including Russian president Vladimir Putin that the world needed peace in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan.
“Across the board, we need peace,” Mr Guterres said at the Brics summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
“We need peace in Ukraine. A just peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and UN General Assembly resolutions.”
Zelensky taunts Putin by wearing ‘make russia small again’ T-shirt in video address to nation
Zelensky taunts Putin by wearing ‘make russia small again’ T-shirt in video address
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky taunted Vladimir Putin by wearing a “make russia small again” T-shirt during a video address to the nation. Mr Zelensky gave a video briefing on America’s $20 billion support provision on X, formerly Twitter on Wednesday evening (23 October). Mr Zelensky said: “This assistance will truly support us, and it is important that it be implemented this year. I am grateful to the United States and to the entire G7.” Viewers were quick to notice the president’s black T-shirt with the red and white slogan. The Russian Foreign Ministry responded promptly. “Small as what? The USSR? The Russian Empire?” the department’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on X.
Mapped: Where has Russia made advances on the frontline in Ukraine?
Mapped: Where has Russia made advances on the frontline in Ukraine?
Ukraine’s military say the hottest fighting along the roughly 640-mile frontline is taking place on the outskirts of the eastern city of Selydove
Russian soldier fights in border Kursk region - picture
North Korean troops in Ukraine: Everything we know about Kim Jong-un’s army joining Russian invasion
Everything we know about North Korean troops joining Russia’s war in Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky says North Korea is preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian military, calling it the ‘first step to a world war’
UK announces £2.26bn loan for Ukraine using frozen Russian asset funds
UK to use frozen Russian assets for £2.26 billion loan to support Ukraine war effort
The funds represent the UK’s share of a $50 billion (£38.39 billion) loan package agreed upon by the G7 nations, financed through interest generated from sanctioned Russian sovereign assets
UPD: Russian strike on Ukraine's Kupiansk wounds four - governor
A Russian strike on the frontline town of Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine wounded four people, Kharkiv region governor Oleh Synehubov said on Thursday.
Synehubov initially said two people had been killed and three injured in the strike, but subsequently he corrected his statement, adding that at present four people were wounded, including a woman who had been hauled out of the rubble.
“The enemy struck near a shop and the town market,” Synehubov said in his initial statement.
Later he said a two-storey retail building had been damaged, along with a dozen kiosks and the windows of nearby homes.
Russia occupied Kupiansk in the early days of its 2022 invasion but was pushed out by a lightning Ukrainian counter-offensive in September that year.
In recent months, Moscow’s forces have been advancing slowly back towards the town and are now less than 4 km (2.5 miles) away from its northern outskirts according to open-source maps.
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