Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin ‘dragging Asia into war’ as North Korea troops join marine and air forces
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin is “dragging Asia” into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and North Korean troops, the German foreign minister has said.
On a visit to Beijing, Annalena Baerbock stressed the responsibility of permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as China, not to further fuel conflicts with their support.
“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking peace in the centre of Europe violate our core European security interests,” Ms Baerbock said after meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
It comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky revealed North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia have been killed.
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces.
A Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson told Radio Free Europe an additional 2,000 North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia's Marine and airborne units fighting on the front.
Meawhile on the frontlines, Moscow's troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine's east, part of a drive to fully seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian airstrikes continue to target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
Former British diplomat gives verdict on whether ceding territory would hand Putin a form of victory
Asked whether Ukraine ceding territory in a peace deal would hand a form of victory to Vladimir Putin, the UK’s former representative to Nato Sir Adam Thomson told Sky News: “The outcome that Zelensky is suggesting is agreement to disagree over who owns a chunk of Ukraine currently owned by Russia.
“Russia would claim it as its own. Zelensky is making the crucial point that this would not be internationally legally recognised – it would just be a de facto control that could change at some future stage through diplomacy.
“Putin would have seized some territory, he would have done it at extraordinary cost – billions and billions of dollars, two new Nato members already, a thousand or more Russian soldiers being killed or wounded every day at the moment.
“It’s in that sense a compromise. He’s got some territory under his control, it’s not recognised, and it’s an outcome that means he’s lost the rest of Ukraine and alienated Europe for a generation.”
Putin wants ‘control not territory’, says analyst
Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia in return for Nato assurances are “quite smart” but it is unlikely that Vladimir Putin would accept such an arrangement, an expert has suggested.
Asked about the Ukrainian president’s recent remarks on ending the “hot phase” of Russia’s war, James Nixey, of the Chatham House think-tank, told The Independent in emailed remarks: “It’s quite smart.
“Because territory can be regained – even militarily if need be (and the Ukrainians could switch to ‘deniable’ subversive warfare). Or it could be re-acquired under a post-Putin regime. It’s hard to see Ukraine ever giving up on it forever.
“However, it’s even harder to see Putin going for it,” said Mr Nixey, adding: “Putin wants control, not territory. That’s why he hasn’t invaded Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan etc. He controls them ‘enough’ and they have not been so wayward.
“So Ukraine – any part of it – in Nato as part of a deal would be unacceptable.”
Putin would not accept any part of Ukraine being in Nato, analyst suggests
James Nixey of the Chatham House think-tank has warned that any part of Ukraine being in Nato would be unacceptable to Vladimir Putin, after Volodymyr Zelensky said he could accept territory being temporarily ceded to Russia in exchange for security assurances from the alliance.
“After all, [Nato] is, for him, an abhorrence. Putin doesn’t want a pause anyway – he believes he’s on the brink of an historic and strategic victory, kindly deal-sealed by Donald Trump,” Mr Nixey told The Independent.
Full report: Cabinet minister ‘can’t predict’ whether Ukraine will become part of Nato
Cabinet minister ‘can’t predict’ whether Ukraine will become part of Nato
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that territory under his control should be taken under the ‘Nato umbrella’.
Zelensky: I want to speak with Trump directly without voices around him
Putin raises Russian military spending in 2025 to record levels
Vladimir Putin has approved plans which raise 2025 military spending to record levels, with 13.5trn roubles £99.5bn) – nearly a third of the budget posted on a government website – allocated for national defence.
Politicians in both houses of the Russian parliament have already approved the plans over the past 10 days.
The increase in military spending – from a reported 28.3 to 32.5 per cent of Russia’s budget – comes despite discussions over US president-elect Donald Trump’s desire to bring the war to a rapid end.
More than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers charged with desertion, prosecutors say
More than 100,000 soldiers have deserted the Ukrainian army, Ukraine’s prosecutor general has said, starving Kyiv of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia.
Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials have told the Associated Press.
Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, military commanders and soldiers said. Some take medical leave and find themselves unable to bring themselves to return. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.
Nearly half of the 100,000 peope charged have deserted in the last year alone, after Kyiv launched an aggressive mobilisation drive that government officials and military commanders concede has largely failed.
There were an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers engaged in combat before the mobilisation drive began. One politician with knowledge of military matters estimated the actual number of deserters could be as high as 200,000.
Arms producers saw revenue up in 2023 with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, report finds
Major companies in the arms industry saw a 4.2 per cent increase in overall revenue in 2023 with sharp rises for producers based in Russia and the Middle East, a new report has found.
The report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), said revenues from the top 100 arms companies totaled $632 billion last year in response to surging demand related to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
It said that “smaller producers were more efficient at responding to new demand.”
The 41 US-based arms companies among the world’s top 100 saw revenues of $317 billion (£263bn), a 2.5% increase from 2022, the report said.
Russia’s top two arms companies saw their combined revenues increase by 40 per cent, to an estimated $25.5 billion.
“This was almost entirely due to the 49% increase in arms revenues recorded by Rostec, a state-owned holding company controlling many arms producers,” the SIPRI report said.
Zelensky’s latest Ukraine-Russia war plan is a ‘major concession’ to Putin, says former UK ambassador
Zelensky’s Ukraine-Russia plan ‘would be major concession’ to Putin
Ukrainian president ‘playing a very sophisticated game’ with remarks on Nato, says Sir Tony Brenton
Zelensky and and Scholz visit injured soldiers
Volodymyr Zelensky and Olaf Scholz have visited injured Ukranian soldiers in hostpital following Germany’s military aid announcement.
In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said: “We are deeply grateful to Germany for all the assistance it has provided. Germany stands as a European leader in supporting Ukraine, helping us defend ourselves against Russian aggression and terror.
“Our meeting with Olaf Scholz began with a visit to our warriors, wounded in combat against the occupiers, who are currently undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.”
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