Ukraine-Russia latest: North Korea soldiers in Russia targeted by Ukrainian fire for first time, Kyiv says

US says North Korea has deployed 10,000 troops in Russia, with more than half of them in the Kursk region

Video from Ukraine claims to show North Korean soldiers lining up to collect Russia military gear

North Korean troops have been hit by Ukraine’s army for the first time since they entered the war on Russia’s side, Kyiv has said.

Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine’s national security council, reported that the incident took place in Russia’s western Kursk region. Ukrainian forces have held parts of this area since their unexpected cross-border operation in August.

“The initial North Korean troops have already encountered fire in the Kursk region,” Kovalenko said, though he did not provide additional details.

His remarks are likely to heighten concerns that North Korea’s involvement could draw other nations into the conflict, which has already become Europe’s largest war since 1945.

Pyongyang has vowed to back Russia until it achieves victory over Ukraine. “Our traditional, historically friendly relations, which have traveled the tested path of history, today ... are rising to a new level of relations of invincible military comradeship,” the North’s foreign minister Choe Son Hui said during her trip to Moscow last week.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken confirmed there are 10,000 North Koreans already in Russia, including as many as 8,000 in the Kursk region.

Key Points

• More than 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia for Ukraine war, says South Korea
• North Korea says it will back Russia until it ‘achieves a great victory’ in Ukraine
• Russian governor of region battered by drone strikes resigns
• Russia destroys Kharkiv supermarket

[5 November 2024 04:00 · Rachel Hagan]

UK becomes president of the UN Security Council

UK is now president of the UN Security Council

The UK has become the president of the UN’s Security Council.

It is a rotating position that the UK will hold until the end of November. It was held by Denmark in October and will be taken over by the United States in December.

The UK’s permanent ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, spoke on the role of president.

“Putin will not stop at Ukraine. We can be sure that Iran and North Korea are exacting a heavy price from Russia for their support.

“Where there is death and chaos, President Putin’s hand is rarely far behind.”

[5 November 2024 03:55 · Arpan Rai]

Putin issuing Russian uniforms to North Korean troops, says Pentagon

Russia is handing out military kits to North Korean soldiers, including Russian uniforms, the Pentagon has said, confirming that these soldiers will fight in Kursk.

“My understanding is that all of these forces are being issued Russian uniforms and Russian equipment,” Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said in a press briefing last night.

The North Korean soldiers will be legitimate military targets, he said. “...we fully expect, just based on what we’re seeing, that these forces will go to the Kursk region, that they will provide some kind of capability. All indications are that they will provide some type of combat or combat support capability. Again, remains to be seen exactly how they will be employed,” Gen Ryder said.

“...Should they be employed in combat, they will become legitimate military targets and we would fully expect that the Ukrainians would do what they need to do to defend themselves and their personnel,” he said.

[5 November 2024 03:18 · Arpan Rai]

Germany pledges €200m in winter aid for Ukraine

Germany will give Ukraine another €200 m (£167m) in aid to support the country during its third winter at war with Russia, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Kyiv yesterday.

Ms Baerbock has stressed Germany’s continued backing for Ukraine during the trip, which comes amid growing nerves over the impact today’s election in the United States will have on military support for the country.

[5 November 2024 03:00 · Rachel Hagan]

Putin meets North Korean foreign minister in Moscow

Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly held a meeting in Russia’s capital with North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui, the state news agency TASS reported.

Another agency, Interfax, said the meeting in Moscow took place on Monday.

Choe travelled to Russia last week for her second trip in six weeks, at a time of mounting alarm in the West over military cooperation between the two countries.

[5 November 2024 02:58 · Arpan Rai]

Russian governor of region battered by drone strikes resigns

The governor of Rostov region, one of the southern Russian cities battered by massive Ukrainian drone strikes, has resigned “at his own request”, the Kremlin said.

Vyacheslav Golubev’s resignation, termed sudden, was accepted by president Vladimir Putin on Monday.

He is one of Russia’s longest serving governors who headed the Rostov region that has been plagued by Ukrainian drones and where the Wagner Group forces started a short-lived mutiny. Mr Golubev said he decided to resign “due to a transfer to another job”, in a post on his Telegram channel.

The Rostov region, about 1,000km (622 miles) south of Moscow, borders Ukraine. Kyiv, which has launched a series of drone attacks on oil depots there, says Rostov is key in storing petroleum products for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

[5 November 2024 02:50 · Arpan Rai]

More than 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia for Ukraine war, says South Korea

More than 10,000 North Korean troops have arrived in Russia to support its war against Ukraine, with a “significant number” in the frontline areas including Kursk, South Korea’s defence ministry said today.

“We understand that more than 10,000 North Korean troops are currently in Russia, and a significant number of them have moved to the frontline areas including Kursk,” Jeon Ha-kyou, a spokesperson for Seoul’s defence ministry, told a briefing, citing intelligence authorities.

But Mr Jeon said he had no information when asked whether the North Koreans were engaged in combat, and about a South Korean media report citing an unnamed government official that as many as 40 North Korean troops had been killed on the battlefield.

The estimates from South Korea come just hours after the Pentagon said that there were at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers in Kursk, near the Ukraine border, but could not corroborate reports that they were engaged in combat.

[5 November 2024 02:00 · Rachel Hagan]

US sanctions 398 firms in more than a dozen countries, accusing them of helping Russia's war effort

The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 398 firms across Russia, India, China, and more than a dozen other nations — accusing them of providing products and services that enable Russia’s war effort and aid its ability to evade sanctions.

The effort spearheaded by the Treasury and State Departments is aimed at punishing “third party countries” that are accused of providing material assistance to the Kremlin or assisting Russia in evading the thousands of sanctions that have been imposed on the country since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Among those sanctioned by the Treasury Department are 274 companies accused of supplying Russia with advanced technology, as well as Russia-based defense and manufacturing firms that produce or finish military products that maintain the weaponry used against Ukraine.

[5 November 2024 00:30 · Rachel Hagan]

Zelensky voices solidarity with Moldova’s Sandu after her election win

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Moldova's Maia Sandu on her presidential election victory and reaffirmed Kyiv's commitment to jointly work on a common goal towards European Union membership.

Sandu, the pro-Western incumbent who has accelerated Moldova's push to leave Moscow's orbit, claimed victory in Sunday's closely-fought runoff, defeating Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was backed by the traditionally pro-Russian Socialist Party.

"On behalf of the Ukrainian people I expressed our solidarity with the European choice of the Moldovan people," Zelenskiy said on the social media platform X following a phone conversation with Sandu.

Zelenskiy said he had coordinated the "next steps" on the EU accession path with Sandu.

[4 November 2024 23:30 · Rachel Hagan]

US conducts long-range bomber exercise with South Korea and Japan

The United States flew a long-range bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in response to North Korea’s recent test-firing of a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the US mainland, South Korea’s military said.

North Korea on Thursday tested the newly developed Hwasong-19 ICBM, which flew higher and stayed in the air longer than any other missile it has fired. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called it “an appropriate military action” to cope with external security threats posed by its rivals.

It comes as North Korean troops fight on the Ukrainian front line.

[4 November 2024 23:00 · Rachel Hagan]

Zelensky urges allies to take steps before North Korean troops reach the front

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky urged its allies to stop “watching” and take steps before North Korean troops deployed in Russia reach the battlefield.

Mr Zelensky raised the prospect of a preemptive Ukrainian strike on camps where the North Korean troops are being trained, and said Kyiv knows their location. But he said Ukraine can’t do it without permission from allies to use Western-made long-range weapons to hit targets deep inside Russia.

“But instead … America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching. Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean military to start attacking Ukrainians as well,” Mr Zelensky said.