Ukraine-Russia latest: North Korea vows to back Putin’s war as US claims thousands of troops prepare for battle
Comes as Russia unleashes overnight drone attack on Kyiv, say officials
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Your support makes all the difference.North Korea has vowed to back Russia until it achieves victory in its war against Ukraine.
“Our traditional, historically friendly relations, which have travelled the tested path of history, today ... are rising to a new level of relations of invincible military comradeship,” Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said on Friday at talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as she praised Vladimir Putin’s “wise leadership” in the invasion.
It came as US secretary of state Antony Blinken warned North Korean troops fighting inside the Russian President’s “meat grinder” war would be a legitimate military target.
The top US diplomat claimed that the North Korean soldiers will enter the war in Ukraine in the “coming days” as he confirmed there are 10,000 already in Russia, including as many as 8,000 in the Kursk region.
Meanwhile, Russia unleashed an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv that lasted into late morning and wounded at least one person, city officials said on Saturday.
Debris from downed drones struck six city districts, wounding a police officer, damaging residential buildings and starting fires, according to city military administrator Serhiy Popko.
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Russian troops trying to gain foothold across canal in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine says
Russian troops are moving in small groups and trying to gain a foothold across the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal in Chasiv Yar, a Ukrainian military spokesperson has said.
“The purpose of such actions is to accumulate as much as possible before the attack. However, such attempts are detected by our drones and are targeted,” she told Ukrainian broadcasters, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The spokesperson insisted that the front line in Chasiv Yar – which has been partially controlled by Russia since July – has been “stabilised”.
Ukraine refutes Russian claims to have seized Chasiv Yar
Ukraine has refuted Russian claims to have captured the Donetsk towns of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, with a military spokesperson insisting that the front line has been “stabilised” and that Russian troops are not advancing.
Chasiv Yar has been partially controlled by Russia since July and its seizure by Vladimir Putin’s forces would be a major blow to Kyiv.
Speaking on national television, the spokesperson said: “At the moment, they do not have an advantage in these towns. The contact line is stabilised.”
Full report: North Korea's top diplomat is in Moscow
Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov has hosted his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui for talks, as the Pentagon accused Pyongyang of sending 10,000 troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine.
Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have specified the agenda for Ms Choe’s talks in Moscow, but in a closed-door hearing at South Korea’s parliament, the South’s spy agency said she may be involved in high-level discussions on sending additional troops to Russia and negotiating what the North would get in return.
South Korean and Western officials have voiced concern that Russia may offer technology that could advance the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
North Korea's top diplomat is in Moscow as Pyongyang sent troops to help the war on Ukraine
Russia’s top diplomat is hosting his North Korean counterpart for talks amid reports that Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its military in the war in Ukraine
‘War is always a defeat’: Pope Francis urges prayer for Ukraine
Pope Francis has issued a call for people to pray for Ukraine, as he declared that “war is always a defeat”.
The Catholic leader said on X, formerly Twitter: “Let us pray for martyred Ukraine and for Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, South Sudan, and for all peoples suffering from war. War is always a defeat, always! War is also ignoble, for it is the triumph of lies and falsehood.”
Dissident Belarusian film director released after a year of detention in Serbia
A noted Belarusian film director and dissident who was held in Serbia for a year while Belarus sought his extradition has been released from house arrest.
Andrei Hniot told the Associated Press that Serbian authorities released him from house arrest on Thursday, exactly a year after he was detained, in line with Serbian law which states that pre-extradition detention cannot exceed one year.
Belarus issued an international warrant for Hniot – a critic of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko –on charges of tax evasion, which he claims are false. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was among those to campaign for his release, in efforts she said were backed by Germany’s foreign ministry and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Having now moved to Germany, he said: “In Berlin I was able to to breathe a sigh of relief and try to comprehend that this nightmarish year is already behind me.”
The Belarusian human rights group Viasna says there are about 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus, including the group’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder Ales Bialiatski.
Japan and EU announce a security and defence partnership
Japan and the European Union have announced a security and defence partnership amid growing tensions with Russia, North Korea and China.
It is the first security partnership that the EU has struck with an Indo-Pacific country, Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters.
“We live in a very dangerous world. We live in a world of growing rivalries, climate accidents and threats of war. And there is only one antidote to this challenging world, which is partnerships among friends,” Mr Borrell said. “It is an historical and very timely step given the situation in both of our regions.”
Japan and EU announce a security and defense partnership as regional tensions rise
Japan and the European Union have announced a security and defense partnership as they seek to step up military ties, including joint exercises and exchanges between their defense industries, amid growing tensions with China, North Korea and Russia
Russia claims two people killed in Ukrainian drone attack on convent
Russian investigators have claimed that a Ukrainian drone attackkilled two people at a convent in the Kursk region late last month.
The state Investigative Committee said the attack took place in late October. A Russian military blogger claimed the victims were two young men who were trying to evacuate people.
Russia sentences former US consulate worker to nearly 5 years in prison
A court in Russia’s far-eastern city of Vladivostok has sentenced a former US consulate worker charged with cooperating with a foreign state to four years and 10 months in prison.
Robert Shonov, a Russian citizen and former US consulate employee, was arrested in May 2023 and accused by the FSB of “gathering information about the special military operation” in Ukraine, a partial call-up in Russian regions and its influence on “protest activities of the population in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.”
The US State Department condemned the arrest last year and said the allegations against Shonov “are wholly without merit”.
Russia sentences former US consulate worker to nearly 5 years in prison
A court in Russia’s far-eastern city of Vladivostok has convicted a former U.S. consulate worker charged with cooperating with a foreign state and sentenced him to four years and 10 months in prison
US presses silent China to rein in North Korea and Russia as tensions rise
The US and South Korea have called on China to use its influence over Russia and North Korea to prevent escalation after Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia to aid Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Beijing has so far stayed quiet.
In a rare meeting earlier this week, three top US diplomats met with China’s ambassador to the United States to emphasise US concerns and urge China to use its sway with North Korea to try to curtail the cooperation, according to a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the sides had “a robust conversation just this week” and that China knows US expectations that “they’ll use the influence that they have to work to curb these activities”.
“But I think this is a demand signal that’s coming not just from us, but from countries around the world,” he said at a news conference in Washington with defence secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts.
Didi Tang and Matthew Lee have the full report:
US presses silent China to rein in North Korea and Russia as tensions rise
With Pyongyang deploying troops to Russia, the US and South Korea urge China to curb the growing military alliance
ICYMI: Putin launches drills of Russia's nuclear forces
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