Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says 10,000 North Koreans could join Putin’s invasion

Third nation like North Korea wading into the hostilities would be ‘the first step to a world war’, says Zelensky

Zelensky signs co-operation agreement with Croatia

Volodymyr Zelensky said his spy agency has information that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being readied to join Russian forces fighting in Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

“From our intelligence we’ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine,” he said at Nato headquarters. “They are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didn’t move them already to Ukraine or to Russia.”

A third nation wading into the hostilities would be “the first step to a world war”, Mr Zelensky said. Mr Zelensky is seeking to persuade EU officials and Nato members to back his “victory plan” to end Russia’s war as he attended two crucial meetings in Brussels.

On the frontline, Ukrainian forces repelled 36 of 45 ground attacks near the strategic city of Kurakhove over the past 24 hours and nine clashes were still going on, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said.

Russian forces claim to have taken control of the village of Maksymilianivka, less than 10km (6 miles) from Kurakhove in Donetsk.

Key Points

• Zelensky says 10,000 North Koreans could join Russia in Ukraine
• Russia claims it has captured a village in eastern Ukraine
• Volodymyr Zelensky pushes for EU and Nato to back his ‘victory plan’

[17 October 2024 10:28 · Andy Gregory]

Russia claims capture of Donetsk village

Russia has claimed that its forces have taken control of the village of Maksymilianivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian state-run news agency RIA reported.

It comes a day after Ukraine rejected Russian claims to have captured the villages of Krasnyi Yar and Nevske, insisting that its forces had repelled Russian attacks in both locations.

[17 October 2024 09:45 · Andy Gregory]

Zelensky seeks to convince EU and Nato over ‘victory plan’ in Brussels

Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking to persuade EU officials and Nato members to back his “victory plan” to end Russia’s war as he attends two crucial meetings in Brussels.

The Ukrainian president will address a summit of EU leaders on Thursday before making his case to Nato defence ministers, at a meeting which marks the first time the Western military alliance has met since the Ukrainian president unveiled the five-point plan.

Mr Zelensky outlined the five-point plan to Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday without disclosing confidential elements that have been presented in private to key allies, including the United States.

Reaction was muted at Nato, however, where secretary-general Mark Rutte said only that he and the allies “take note” of it. He did not discuss when Ukraine might join the world’s biggest military alliance – one of five key points of the plan – beyond insisting that it would eventually become a member.

“The plan has many aspects and many political and military issues we really need to hammer out with the Ukrainians to understand what is behind it, to see what we can do, what we cannot do,” Mr Rutte said at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

(Getty Images)