Ukraine-Russia war live: Some North Koreans ‘already in Ukraine’ as Kyiv drafts 160,000 troops
Number of North Korean soldiers inside Ukraine is expected to grow, officials say
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North Korean troops are reportedly already inside Ukraine.
“It seems that a good many of them are already in action,” a Western intelligence official said, according to CNN, adding that the number of North Korean soldiers inside Ukraine is expected to grow as they complete training in eastern Russia and await deployment on the war frontline.
South Korea and its allies estimated at least 11,000 North Korean soldiers had been moved to Russia with more than 3,000 of them now deployed close to the front lines in Ukraine, a presidential official said on Wednesday.
The US confirmed yesterday that some North Korean soldiers were in the Kursk region, a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August and hold hundreds of square kilometres of territory. A couple of thousand more were heading there, the Pentagon said.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said the deployment of North Korean troops in the Ukraine conflict has increased the possibility of the war becoming more fierce.
This comes as Ukraine drafted 160,000 more troops in the anticipation of grinding warfare and a frozen battle zone in the upcoming winter – the third such under Russian invasion.
Are North Koreans troops in Ukraine? What we know about Kim Jong-un’s soldiers joining Russia’s war
Finland president calls North Korean troops deployed to Russia an ‘escalation’
Pentagon issues North Korea warning as 10,000 troops set to join Russia’s war in coming weeks
Mapped: Where has Russia made advances on the frontline in Ukraine?
Finland warns Xi of 'provocation' by N Korea in Ukraine war
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he told China's president Xi Jinping that North Korean activities with Russia were an escalation and provocation in a message on behalf of NATO and the EU during talks in Beijing on Tuesday.
Stubb and Xi met as North Korea's foreign minister arrived in Russia, with Western military alliance NATO and South Korea warning that Pyongyang's troops could soon be entering the Ukraine war on Moscow's side.
“Right now we are very much in a situation whereby Russian aggression has violated international law. I look forward to discussing peaceful solutions on that path,” Stubb said in a brief speech during an official visit to China until the end of the month.
In July, Stubb called on Xi to help end the war in Ukraine, saying that Russia’s dependence on China meant that Xi Jinping could solve the issue with a single phone call.
Stubb said today that he felt the Chinese-North Korean relationship “is not very comfortable at the moment”, and that he had warned Xi supporting Russia would have negative implications for EU ties.
“The more China supports Russia, the more difficult the relationship with Europe, and especially the European Union, becomes,” Stubb said.
Putin begins strategic nuclear training exercise
President Vladimir Putin kicked off a new exercise of Russia’s nuclear forces today, marking the second such drill that Moscow has held in two weeks.
In a video released by the Kremlin, Putin said using nuclear weapons would be an “extremely exceptional measure” but they need to be kept ready for use.
“We will work out the actions of officials to control the use of nuclear weapons with practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles,” Putin was shown saying in a video clip announcing the drill.
“We will continue to improve all their components. The resources for this are available. I stress that we are not going to get involved in a new arms race, but we will maintain nuclear forces at the level of necessary sufficiency,” he said.
The drill follows an October 18 exercise in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, involving a unit equipped with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking US cities.
Chechen leader vows revenge after drone attack
The notorious Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has promised to take revenge for a drone attack that caused a fire at a military training academy in his south Russian region.
Ukraine has frequently struck Russia with drones in the course of the war, but Tuesday's attack appeared to be the first against Chechnya.
Kadyrov told reporters in a video published by the Russian state news agency RIA: “They’ve bitten us - we will destroy them. In the very near future we'll show them the kind of vengeance they've never even dreamt of.”
Earlier, Kadyrov posted on Telegram that the drone strike had set fire to the roof of what he said was an empty building at the "special forces university" in the city of Gudermes. There were no casualties, he said.
Four killed in Kharkiv by Russian bombing
Four people have been killed and another six injured by Russian bombing overnight on Ukraine‘s two largest cities of Kharkiv and Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.
Another two were killed and seven injured in Russian shelling on Kherson city in southern Ukraine in the morning, a local governor said.
Russian forces have been attacking Ukrainian regions almost every night with drones and the Ukrainian military reported that overnight they had shot down 26 out of 48 drones launched.
Four people were killed in Kharkiv in the early hours of Tuesday in Russia’s bombardment of the city’s Osnovianskyi district, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on his Telegram messaging channel.
In Kyiv, falling debris from a destroyed Russian drone injured six people and set a residential building on fire, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said.
One of the people injured by debris in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district was taken to hospital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram channel. He said several cars were also on fire.
In the morning attacks on Kherson, governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on the Telegram messenger that the victims of the Russian shelling were a 62-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman.
Ukraine and South Korea to enhance cooperation to counter North Korea
Further details have been released about President Volodymyr Zelensky’s agreement with South Korea's president to step up contacts between their nations at all levels to develop countermeasures and a strategy to respond to North Korea's involvement in the war in Ukraine.
In a phone call with President Yoon Suk Yeol, Zelensky said the two leaders also agreed to strengthen exchanges of intelligence and expertise.
Zelensky said he shared data about the deployment of 3,000 North Korean troops to Russian training grounds near the combat zone, with their presence expected to increase to approximately 12,000.
"We agreed to strengthen intelligence and expertise exchange, intensify contacts at all levels, especially the highest, in order to develop an action strategy and countermeasures to address this escalation, and to engage our mutual partners in cooperation," he said.
Zelensky and South Korea leader have discussed North Korean role in Ukraine
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he had talked to South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and discussed the involvement of North Korean military forces in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"The conclusion is clear - this war is becoming internationalized, extending beyond two countries," Zelensky said on X social network.
Zelensky said the two leaders agreed to strengthen intelligence, exchange expertise and intensify contacts at all levels.
Photos show Russian attack on Kharkiv that killed four
At least four people were killed and another six injured in Russia’s multi-wave overnight attacks on Ukraine’s two largest cities of Kharkiv and Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said today.
Russia attacks Ukrainian regions almost every night with drones and the Ukrainian military reported that last night they shot down 26 out of 48 drones launched.
Four people were killed in Kharkiv after midnight in Russia’s bombardment of the city’s Osnovianskyi district, mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
Nato chief confirms North Korea troops deployed to Russia
Nato chief Mark Rutte joined Seoul, Washington and Kyiv in confirming Pyongyang’s dispatch of troops to Russia, saying North Korean military units had been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region near the Ukraine border.
“Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” he said yesterday. The deployment of North Korean troops to Kursk is “also a sign of [president] Putin’s growing desperation,” he said.
“The deployment of North Korean troops represents: one, a significant escalation in the DPRK’s [North Korea’s official name] ongoing involvement in Russia’s illegal war. Two, yet another breach of UN Security Council resolutions. And three, a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war,” Mr Rutte said yesterday after Nato officials and diplomats were briefed by a South Korean delegation.
Ukraine downs 26 out of 48 Russian drones, air force says
Ukraine’s air defences downed 26 of 48 Russian drones launched overnight, the Ukrainian military said this morning.
The air force said it lost track of 20 drones and one more returned to Russia.
Pentagon issues North Korea warning as 10,000 troops set to join Russia’s war in coming weeks
North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia who could join Moscow‘s fight in Ukraine in the “next several weeks”, the Pentagon said amid rising concerns over Pyongyong’s involvement in Vladimir Putin’s war.
The soldiers were believed to be heading for the border region of Kursk, where Moscow recently suffered defeats and has been struggling to push back Ukrainian troops, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Sigh said on Monday.
On Tuesday, South Korean lawmakers, briefed by the country’s spy agency, said some high-ranking North Korean military officials and troops deployed to Russia might move to the frontline.
North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia, Pentagon says
Nato officially confirms presense of North Korean troops who could join Russia’s war in weeks
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