Ukraine-Russia latest: Zelensky accuses North Korea of sending troops to Russia as he seeks support from allies
Zelensky seeks ‘more sustained supplies’ for Ukrainian forces
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Volodymyr Zelensky has accused North Korea of supplying troops to Russia to aid its war in Ukraine.
The alliance between Russia and North Korea is “no longer just about transferring weapons”, the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address. “It is actually about transfer of people.”
He sought an evolution of Ukraine’s relationship with its allies as he asked for support from Western partners and “more sustained supplies for our forces rather than a simple list of military hardware”.
He claimed that Russian forces were trying to oust Ukrainian troops from their positions in Russia’s Kursk region but Kyiv’s forces were holding strong.“Russia tried to push back our positions, but we are holding the designated lines,” the president said earlier on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russia launched 68 drones and four missiles targeting Ukrainian territory, Ukraine’s air force said on Sunday.
Ukrainian forces hit a fuel depot supplying Russia’s army, with a fire detected at the facility which stores oil and oil products, Kyiv said.
What is the mysterious advanced Russian weapon downed by Moscow’s own forces in embarrassment for Putin?
Ukrainian mother’s desperate plea for children to join her in UK after Home Office refusal
Lammy to meet EU ministers to discuss UK co-operation on Ukraine and Middle East
Mapped: Russia claims to have captured two Ukrainian villages as it advances in Donetsk
Zelensky outlines ‘victory plan’ in No 10 talks with Starmer and Nato chief
Ukrainian military raids restaurants and bars in search for men to recruit
Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, The Associated Press reported quoting media and witnesses.
Officers descended on Kyiv's Palace of Sports venue after a concert on Friday night by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy.
Video footage aired by local media outlets appears to show officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they exit. In the footage, officers appear to be forcibly detaining some men.
Checks were also conducted at Goodwine, an upscale shopping centre, and Avalon, a popular restaurant.
Local reports said raids were also conducted in clubs and restaurants across other Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Dnipro in eastern and central Ukraine.
It is unusual for such raids to take place in the capital, the AP said, and reflects Ukraine's dire need for fresh recruits.
Ukraine has intensified its mobilisation drive this year. A new law came into effect this spring stipulating that those eligible for military service must input their information into an online system or face penalties.
All Ukrainian men aged 25-60 are eligible for conscription, and men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave the country.
Two killed in Russian strikes near Kurakhove
Prosecutors in Donetsk region on Saturday said two people were killed in Russian strikes on villages near Kurakhove.
The General Staff of Ukraine's military, in a late evening report, reported 47 clashes in the area around Kurakhove and 27 more in the Pokrovsk sector to the northwest.
Further to the northeast, in Toretsk, which both Ukrainian and Russian forces say has been partly occupied by Russian forces, the General Staff said Russian forces had launched 14 assaults, assisted by air strikes.
Russia says it destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones overnight
Russia's air defence units shot down 13 Ukrainian drones overnight across three regions near the border with Ukraine, the defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Six drones were downed over both the Belgorod and Kursk regions, while one drone was intercepted over the Bryansk region, according to the ministry's statement on Telegram.
Putin hails ‘very close’ relationship with Iran in first meeting with new president
Russian president Vladimir Putin has hailed the country’s “very close” relationship with Iran in the first meeting with his newly-appointed counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
The sanctioned leaders held an inaugural meeting on the sidelines of a regional summit in Ashgabat, the capital of the Central Asian country Turkmenistan, to discuss - among other topics - the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
“We are actively working together in the international arena and our assessments of events taking place in the world are often very close,” Putin said during the meeting, according to Russian state media outlet Tass.
Read the full article here:
Putin hails ‘very close’ relationship with Iran in first meeting with new president
Moscow say the two leaders were scheduled to have ‘serious conversations’ about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, one that Iran is helping fund from Tehran
Ukrainian forces holding positions in Russia's Kursk region, Zelensky says
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian forces had tried to oust Ukrainian troops from positions in Russia’s Kursk border region, but that Kyiv’s forces were holding their lines.
“Regarding the Kursk operation, Russia tried to push back our positions, but we are holding the designated lines,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday that its forces had recaptured two villages in the border Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops launched a mass incursion in August.
Mr Zelensky has acknowledged that the Ukrainian advance into Kursk was intended to draw Russian troops away from frontline positions in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have been making steady gains in recent months.
In his address, Mr Zelensky said that in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, partly held by Russian forces, “there are very difficult conditions, with harsh enemy actions. But the resilience of our units is crucial. Everything depends on our resilience.”
Can Zelensky’s plan for peace actually work?
Remember when an appearance, virtual or real, by the president of Ukraine was the hottest of hot-ticket events in London?
When MPs and peers jostled for a standing-room-only place in parliament to see and hear him?
When the one-time TV actor turned democratically elected president turned war leader drew rapt attention with his gritty determination and allusions to Churchill?
Well, those heady days of Britain reliving its finest hour by association are over.
Read the full article here:
Can Zelensky’s plan for peace actually work?
With the US election less than a month away, and his support dwindling across Europe, the Ukraine president is in a last-ditch race against time to shore up support, writes Mary Dejevsky
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments