Ukraine-Russia live: Leaked video shows North Korean soldiers being kitted out for war, Kyiv claims
North Korean soldiers seen lining up to collect bags, clothes and other military equipment from Russian servicemen
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A new video purporting to show dozens of North Korean recruits lining up to collect Russian military fatigues has been published by Ukraine. The video confirms Russia’s deployment of troops sent by Pyongyang into the conflict, Kyiv claims.
In the video, North Korean soldiers are seen standing in line to pick up bags, clothes and other apparel from Russian servicemen.“We received this video from our own sources. We cannot provide additional verification from the sources who provided it to us due to security concerns,” said Ihor Solovey, the head of Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security.
This comes as the defence secretary John Healey shot back at Russia and said it is the only country waging war in Ukraine, as he rejected the Russian ambassador to the UK’s claim that Britain was engaged in a proxy conflict.
Earlier, Russia said four of its firefighters were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a major explosives factory and airfield deep inside Russia.
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Video published by Ukraine purports to show North Korean soldiers in Russia
Ukrainian NATO admission would rule out diplomatic solution to war, Russia says
Ukraine’s accession to NATO would make a diplomatic and political resolution to the conflict impossible, Russia’s foreign ministry said according to the RIA state-owned news agency.
It would ultimately lead to an escalation in the war, the ministry said on Saturday morning.
Ukrainian president Zelensky has been pushing hard in recent months for the war-torn country’s accession to NATO to be guaranteed. He went on a whirlwind tour to present his ‘victory plan’ to allies in the West, including US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Keir Starmer, which puts NATO accession front-and-centre of any possible Ukrainian victory.
Watch: Moment Ukrainian POWs reunited with families
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has shared a video of the moment Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) returned home to their families.
In a post on X, he said: “95 of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and ‘Azovstal’, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.
“Each time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we bring closer the day when freedom will be returned to all those still held in Russian captivity.
“I thank the team involved in finding and liberating prisoners. We are doing everything to bring back all of our people held by Russia. I am grateful to the warriors who replenish the exchange fund and to all our partners who help us.”
Video report: Counter-terrorism police investigating UK warehouse fire over possible links to Russia
ICYMI: North Korean troops in Russia readying for combat, South Korea says
South Korea’s spy agency said on Friday that North Korea has sent 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatisation at local military bases, likely to be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine, reported Reuters.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it had been working with Ukraine’s intelligence service and identified North Korean officers in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region using facial recognition artificial intelligence technology.
“The direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea that has been reported by foreign media has now been officially confirmed,” the spy agency said in a statement.
Biden and Scholz ‘discuss unlocking frozen Russian assets’ for Ukraine
Joe Biden has urged the West to sustain its support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion as Kyiv faces a third winter of full-scale war.
Speaking to reporters before holding closed-door talks with chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin to discuss matters ranging from Ukraine to the expanding conflict in the Middle East, Mr Biden said: “As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must, we must sustain our resolve.
“And I know the cost is heavy, but make no mistake, it bears in comparison to the cost of living in a world where aggression prevails, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can.”
He said he would discuss with Mr Scholz efforts to increase military support for Ukraine and shore up its civilian energy infrastructure “by unlocking the value of frozen Russian assets”.
Report: Trump blames Zelensky and Biden – but not Putin – for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Donald Trump held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Joe Biden responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war in an interview — but made no reference to Vladimir Putin.
Two and a half years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump pinned the blame squarely on Zelensky and Biden for the conflict during an interview with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, which aired Thursday.
“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen,” Trump said, grumbling about how much aid the US has given Ukraine.
“And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help them because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start,” the former president added.
“That war’s a loser.”
Trump blames Zelensky and Biden – but not Putin – for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
President Biden ‘instigated that war,’ Trump claimed during a podcast interview that aired Thursday
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