Ukraine-Russia war latest: North Korea troops arrive in Russia as Zelensky says Nato invite only way to end war
On the frontline, Ukraine’s air defences shoot down 80 out of 135 Russian drones
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Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that Nato membership is the only way to end Russia’s war as South Korea’s spy agency warned that North Korea has sent a battalion of troops to bolster the Russian army in Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky urged EU and Nato leaders in Brussels to formally invite Ukraine to join the military alliance as part of his five-point “victory plan”.
“We cannot be very strong without having an invitation [which] strengthens our diplomatic ways to end the war,” he told the Financial Times. “This war will finish when Putin will be isolated, and pushed by other partners to diplomacy.”
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement that Russian navy ships had transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok earlier this month.
On the frontline, Ukraine’s air defences shot down 80 out of 135 drones launched in a mass attack by Vladimir Putin’s forces, Kyiv said. The air force said it lost track of 44 drones that likely fell into Ukrainian territory following active electronic warfare measures, while two drones went to Belarus, while Nato member Romania scrambled fighter jets after an unidentified object breached its airspace near the Black Sea.
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The alarming numbers behind North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal
Russia tests nuclear unit as it rolls out ballistic missiles in latest threat to West
Russia is testing the readiness of a missile unit that forms part of its strategic nuclear forces, the defence ministry has said – with Russian officials having repeatedly raised the spectre of nuclear war over the West’s support for Ukraine.
The drill involves a unit equipped with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles which are capable of reaching US cities and can be equipped with multiple nuclear warheads, a reminder to the world that Russia possesses the world’s largest atomic arsenal.
Troops are practising moving the missiles in the field over distances of up to 60 miles under camouflage and protecting them against air attack and enemy sabotage groups, the ministry said.
My colleague Rachel Hagan reports:
Russia tests nuclear unit as it rolls out ballistic missiles in latest threat to West
Separately, Russia’s defence ministry says it has conducted a test of a Kalibr cruise missile
Zelensky eyes Ukrainian weapons exports
Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that he had asked the defence ministry to work on proposals for possible weapons exports.
The Ukraine’s president told broadcasters that the exports would be possible only to Ukraine’s allies that are included in the Ramstein group which coordinates military support for Kyiv.
Why did Putin issue warning over Ukraine developing nuclear weapons?
Vladimir Putin has threatened that Russia would not let Ukraine get nuclear weapons, after Ukraine’s leader said that since Kyiv had given up its Soviet-era nuclear arms, it must join Nato.
Mr Putin said any move by Ukraine to get nuclear weapons could not be concealed and would draw an appropriate Russian response. “Russia will not allow this to happen, no matter what,” he told reporters.
His remarks appear to refer to comments by Volodymyr Zelensky, who said on Thursday he had told Donald Trump that Ukraine needed either nuclear weapons or Nato membership for its security – but as it gave up nuclear weapons after the Soviet Union’s collapse, joining Nato was the only way it could deter Russia.
Mr Zelensky later clarified that he had never said Ukraine was preparing to build a nuclear weapon. “We don’t do nuclear weapons. Please, don’t move these messages,” he said.
Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons after the breakup of the Soviet Union but voluntarily relinquished them in the 1990s in return for guarantees of its territorial integrity, a deal it says Moscow reneged on by invading its land.
Calls for talks with Russia playing into Putin’s hands, warns Zelensky
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that some allies have been raising the issue of Kyiv holding direct talks with Russia, which he said was dangerous for Ukraine and plays into Moscow’s hands.
“This is a desirable idea for Russia,” he added.
Ukraine not considering developing nuclear weapons, Zelensky aide says
Ukraine is not considering developing nuclear weapons and recent reports on the topic were driven by an incorrect interpretation of remarks by president Volodymyr Zelensky, his chief of staff said on Friday.
“We have not these thoughts about nuclear, we refuse it,” Andriy Yermak told a think-tank event in Brussels, after Vladimir Putin called suggestions of nuclear weapons in Ukraine a dangerous provocation.
Russia will not allow Ukraine to obtain nuclear weapons, Putin claims
Russia will not allow Ukraine to obtain nuclear weapons and talk about the possible of Kyiv doing so is a very dangerous provocation, Vladimir Putin has said.
Full report: North Korea’s special forces ‘in Russia ready to join Putin’s war in Ukraine’
South Korea’s spy agency has warned that North Korea has sent a battalion of troops to bolster Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok earlier this month.
It said they are currently staying at military bases in Vladivostok and other Russian sites such as Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk, and that they will probably be deployed to battlegrounds after completing their adaptation training.
My colleague Rachel Hagan has the full report:
North Korea’s special forces ‘in Russia ready to join Putin’s war in Ukraine’
Reports suggest that North Korea could dispatch a total of 12,000 troops formed into four brigades to Russia
White House floats new commitments for Ukraine
The United States expects to bring additional commitments for Ukraine to a meeting of Kyiv’s backers, which was rescheduled to take place virtually next month, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby has said.
Washington is still reviewing the “victory plan” put forward by Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Kirby said ahead of Joe Biden meeting European allies in Berlin.
US defence secretary refuses to publicly evaluate Zelensky’s ‘victory plan'
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has declined to publicly evaluate Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan”.
The Ukrainian president pitched the five-point plan to the European Union and Nato on Thursday in Brussels, where he received pledges of continued support but no endorsement from major allies of his call for Ukraine to be given an immediate invitation to Nato.
Russia has likely promised weapons technology to North Korea, experts say
Following reports that North Korea has dispatched troops to Russia, experts told the Associated Press that Pyongyang likely received promises to provide it with high-tech weapons technology associated with its nuclear and missile programmes.
“Diplomatically, Pyongyang would be sacrificing its relations with European countries for the foreseeable future. The quid pro quo in terms of Russian military technology provided to the Kim regime could be significant enough to threaten South Korea’s security,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, believed Russia has likely offered technology transfers related to intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submarines and surface-to-air defence systems that would enhance North Korea’s deterrence posture against the US and South Korean forces.
Mr Hong said Mr Kim may also see the troop dispatch as a crucial opportunity to expose his soldiers to modern weapons technology and warfare and test their combat capabilities.
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