North Korean soldiers fighting in Russia are using fake identification documents to hide the fact Moscow is using foreign forces in it’s war against Ukraine, Kyiv has claimed.
Ukrainian special forces said in a statement that they had recovered documents from three North Korean soldiers killed in the Russian border region of Kursk, which they said ID’d them as being Russian.
But the signatures on the documents are in Korean, which “indicates the real origin of these soldiers,” the statement added.
“This case once again confirms that Russia is resorting to any means to hide its losses on the battlefield and conceal foreign presence,” the statement said.
It comes as South Korean military officials alleged that around 1,100 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded since deploying to Russia to fight against Ukraine.
In a statement released on Monday, the South’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said: “We assess that North Korean troops, who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces, have suffered around 1,100 casualties.”
Key points
- South Korea detects signs of North Korea preparing more troops, drones for Russia
- Putin holds talks with Slovakian PM Fico
- Russia urged to act lawfully as video shows 'captured Australian man'
It’s difficult to feel festive, say Ukrainians marking third Christmas in UK
02:57
Namita Singh
Ukrainians in the UK, marking their third Christmas away from home and another milestone since Russia’s invasion, have said it can be “difficult to be in a festive mood”.
Maria Romanenko, 32, left the Kyiv region for Manchester shortly after the Russian invasion began on 24 February 2022, alongside her Mancunian partner Jez.
The couple made a perilous journey to the Polish border, where they had to wait four days for confirmation that Maria would be allowed to enter the UK with Jez. They arrived on 2 March 2022.
Ms Romanenko, a reporter who is spending her third Christmas away from home, told the PA news agency: “Christmas has not been what it used to be for me since 2022 because Christmas, of course to me at least, means friends and family, and it’s also a time for celebration and a time for reflection.”
Report:
What will it cost to defend Britain from a growing Russian threat?
01:30
Tom Watling
Where Putin’s forces are making gains on the frontline in east Ukraine
00:01
Tom Watling
Ukraine’s scooter bomb killing could alter the course of the war
Monday 23 December 2024 22:30
Tom Watling
Putin: I am ready to talk to Trump over Ukraine
Monday 23 December 2024 21:30
Tom Watling
Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire on all fronts in his prayer ahead of Christmas
Monday 23 December 2024 20:03
Tom Watling
Zelensky speaks to Starmer
Monday 23 December 2024 19:01
Tom Watling
I spoke with UK Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer ahead of Christmas and thanked him and the British people for their unwavering support that continues to save Ukrainian lives.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 23, 2024
We discussed key areas of cooperation, including investments in Ukraine’s defense production, as these… pic.twitter.com/FHbqTttuJb
Divers due to check if one of the Black Sea Russian tankers is still spilling oil
Monday 23 December 2024 18:09
Tom Watling
Volunteers helping to clean up a major oil spill along Russia’s Black Sea coast appealed in a video released on Monday for President Vladimir Putin to urgently send federal aid, saying that they and local authorities were overwhelmed.
The pollution, which has coated sandy beaches at and around Anapa, a popular summer resort, has caused serious problems for seabirds and everything from dolphins to porpoises.
The oil is from two ageing tankers hit by a storm on 15 December. One of the vessels split in half, while the other ran aground.
On Thursday, Putin called the incident an ecological disaster and officials from Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry say over 10,000 people are now involved in the clean-up.
But a group of around 30 local volunteers, who filmed their appeal on a beach strewn with sacks full of polluted sand, told Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that they believed the scale of the disaster was too big for local authorities to cope and demanded Moscow send urgent help.
“The local authorities do not have the professional resources and technical means to neutralise the consequences of such a large-scale disaster and have been forced to compensate for the lack of manpower by using volunteers with shovels,” a spokesperson for the group said, reading out a list of demands.
He said professional clean-up workers needed to be sent in along with scientists specialising in pollution and veterinarians to treat seabirds. Russia, he said, should also appeal to other countries for help with equipment.
“This is a cry from the soul. Such a catastrophe cannot be defeated with shovels,” a female volunteer added in the same video appeal.
North Korean troops likely to march in 2025 Moscow victory day parade, Kremlin aide says
Monday 23 December 2024 17:32
Tom Watling
Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov said on Monday that he thought it likely that North Korean soldiers would take part in next year’s Moscow’s Red Square parade to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Ukraine says North Korean soldiers have fought on Russia’s side against Ukrainian troops trying to hold territory in Russia’s Kursk region. Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops on its soil.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” during Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June.
The pact includes a mutual defence pact for immediate military assistance if either faces armed aggression.
Ukraine pledges to support Syria's food security
Monday 23 December 2024 16:50
Tom Watling
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski said on Monday that Kyiv will support necessary allied efforts for stabilisation in Syria and had already made decisions to support its food security.
“We believe it is crucial for the security of the Syrian people and the region as a whole to remove any Russian presence from Syria,” he added on X.
I held a meeting of the Staff.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 23, 2024
We thoroughly analyzed our work with Syria after the fall of Assad and his escape.
Today, the intelligence services presented their reports—the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine—as well as the Ministers of…
Kremlin foreign policy aide says several countries have already offered to host Putin-Trump talks
Monday 23 December 2024 16:08
Tom Watling
Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov said on Monday that several countries had already offered to host talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump, though he declined to say which.
Trump has said he wants to swiftly end the war in Ukraine, though he has yet to set out publicly how he plans to do so. Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with Trump and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities.
But Putin said any talks should take as their starting point a preliminary agreement reached between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the early weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, which was never implemented.
Many Ukrainian politicians regard that draft deal as akin to a capitulation which would have neutered Ukraine‘s military and political ambitions and say they do not believe Putin is ready to strike a deal that would be acceptable for Kyiv too.
North Korea suffers ‘1,100 casualties’ fighting for Russia
Monday 23 December 2024 15:16
Tom Watling
Several countries ready to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, says Kyiv
Monday 23 December 2024 14:39
Tom Watling
Several countries are ready to send their forces to Ukraine in a peacekeeping capacity, Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said.
Only France was named publicly as one of those countries.
The comments come after US president-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to end the war in Ukraine in a day, said Europe would have to be responsible for such a peacekeeping force between the Russian and Ukrainian forces.
Several EU countries ready to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, Ukrainian MFA says
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 23, 2024
Discussions on EU peacekeeper deployment come as Trump plans to seek a ceasefire in the Russo-Ukrainian war next month.https://t.co/7eHf0RQ9L8
The one battle President Zelensky looks set to win
Monday 23 December 2024 14:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine strikes heart of Russia with attack 1,000km beyond frontline
Monday 23 December 2024 13:20
Tom Watling
Zelensky responds to Putin-Fico meeting
Monday 23 December 2024 12:36
Tom Watling
It is worth noting that after their meeting in Moscow, Fico and Putin did not issue joint statements or respond to media questions. They simply cannot say publicly anything about what they discussed in the meeting. They are afraid of the public's reaction.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 23, 2024
Moscow provides…
Switzerland adopts more EU sanctions on Russia and Belarus
Monday 23 December 2024 12:06
Tom Watling
Switzerland adopted the latest EU sanctions package on Russia and Belarus, the government said on Monday. The move came one week after the European Union targeted Moscow’s vessels and Chinese entities found to have traded with the Russian military.
The Swiss government listed 54 persons and 30 companies and organisations, freezing their assets as of Dec. 24, and banned 52 ships from providing services.
“These are mainly tankers that are part of Russia’s shadow fleet and are circumventing the price cap on Russian crude oil and petroleum products or transporting military goods for Russia or stolen grain from Ukraine,” the Swiss statement said.
The sanctioned individuals will be barred from entering Switzerland.
In line with EU policy, Switzerland also adopted financial and travel sanctions against 26 individuals and two organisations from Belarus.
British army tests ‘game-changing’ weapon in the war against drones
Monday 23 December 2024 11:32
Tom Watling
Russian gas sales to Europe are 'complicated', Kremlin says after Putin-Fico talks
Monday 23 December 2024 11:04
Tom Watling
The situation with European countries that buy Russian gas is very complicated and requires increased attention, the Kremlin said on Monday after talks the previous day between President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Fico said on Sunday that Putin had confirmed Russian willingness to continue to supply gas to Slovakia, even though the Slovak leader said this was “practically impossible” once a gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of the year.
It was not clear what potential solution the two leaders might have discussed.
Ukraine has declined to renew the gas transit deal. President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week this might be possible, but only on condition that Russia was not paid for the gas until after the war was over.
“You heard the statement from the Ukrainian side, and you know about the positions of those European countries that continue to buy Russian gas and that consider this necessary for the normal operation of their economies,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Therefore, there is now a very complicated situation here that requires increased attention.”
Ukraine says Russian general deliberately targeted Reuters staff in August missile strike
Monday 23 December 2024 10:32
Tom Watling
Ukraine‘s security service has named a Russian general it suspects of ordering a missile strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine in August and said he acted “with the motive of deliberately killing employees of” Reuters.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement on Friday that Colonel General Alexei Kim, a deputy chief of Russia’s General Staff, approved the strike that killed Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans and wounded two of the agency’s journalists on Aug. 24.
In a statement posted on Telegram messenger the SBU said it was notifying Kim in absentia that he was an official suspect in its investigation into the strike on the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk, a step in Ukrainian criminal proceedings that can later lead to charges.
In a separate, 15-page notice of suspicion, in which the SBU set out findings from its investigation, the agency said that the decision to fire the missile was made “with the motive of deliberately killing employees of the international news agency Reuters who were engaged in journalistic activities in Ukraine“.
The document, which was published on the website of the General Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, said that Kim had received intelligence that Reuters staff were staying in Kramatorsk. It added that Kim would have been “fully aware that the individuals were civilians and not participating in the armed conflict”.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in an emailed comment to Reuters that “the Russian military only strikes military infrastructure” in Ukraine.
Russian delegation arrives in Iran for meeting with president
Monday 23 December 2024 10:05
Tom Watling
A Russian delegation arrived in Tehran for a visit that includes a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Monday, as the two countries prepare to sign a comprehensive cooperation agreement.
Iran and Russia have been working on setting a date to complete an agreement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, adding that the deal is set to be signed during a bilateral visit in January.
Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries hostile towards the United States, such as North Korea, since the start of the Ukraine war.
The country’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in October that Moscow and Tehran intended to sign a deal which would include closer defence cooperation.
South Korea detects signs of North Korea preparing more troops, drones for Russia
Monday 23 December 2024 09:33
Tom Watling
South Korea’s military said on Monday that it has detected signs of North Korea preparing to send more troops and weapons, including suicide drones, to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.
North Korea has already provided 240mm multiple rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled howitzers, and was seen preparing to produce more suicide drones to be shipped to Russia after leader Kim Jong Un guided a test last month, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
“Suicide drones are one of the tasks that Kim Jong Un has focused on,” a JCS official said, adding that the North had expressed its intention to give them to Russia.
Such drones have been widely used in the Ukraine war, and Kim ordered a mass production of the aerial weapons and an update of military theory and education, citing intensifying global competition, state media reported.
Seoul, Washington and Kyiv have said there are around 12,000 North Korean troops in Russia. The JCS said at least 1,100 of them had been killed or wounded, in line with last week’s briefing by South Korea’s spy agency which reported some 100 deaths with another 1,000 wounded in the Kursk region.
Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire on all fronts in his prayer ahead of Christmas
Monday 23 December 2024 09:07
Tom Watling
Putin ‘wants to meet Trump as soon as possible’
Monday 23 December 2024 08:04
Namita Singh
US president-elect Donald Trump said Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed his interest in a meeting him to discuss the Ukraine war.
“President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible,” Mr Trump said during his remarks at Turning Point’s America Fest convention yesterday. “So we have to wait for this, but we have to end that war. That war is horrible, horrible,” he was quoted as saying by CNBC.
“The number of soldiers being killed...” Mr Trump said. “It’s a flat plane, and the bullets are going and there’s powerful bullets, powerful guns, and the only thing that’s going to stop them is a human body.”
Earlier, Mr Trump has claimed he could end the Ukraine war “in 24 hours” if he gets elected.
Ukraine says it shot down 47 Russia launched drones
Monday 23 December 2024 07:32
Namita Singh
Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 47 out of 72 Russia-launched drones across the country.
In a statement on Telegram this morning, it said that an additional 25 drones had not reached targets and were “locationally lost”.
Gazprom to send 42.1 mcm of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Monday
Monday 23 December 2024 07:30
Namita Singh
Russia’s Gazprom said that it would send 42.1 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine this morning, a volume in line with recent days.
Nato chief Rutte says Zelensky’s criticism of Germany’s Scholz is unfair
Monday 23 December 2024 07:18
Namita Singh
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said he considered the sometimes harsh criticism of German chancellor Olaf Scholz by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to be unjustified, news wire DPA reported.
Although Germany has been a vital ally of Ukraine, its hesitation in providing long-range Taurus cruise missiles has been a source of frustration in Kyiv, which is battling a foe armed with a powerful array of long-range weaponry.
“I have often told Zelenskiy that he should stop criticising Olaf Scholz, because I think it is unfair,” DPA quoted Mr Rutte on Monday as saying in an interview.
Mr Rutte also said that he, unlike Mr Scholz, would supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles and would not set limits on their use.
“In general, we know that such capabilities are very important for Ukraine,”Mr Rutte said, adding that it was not up to him to decide what allies should deliver.
After a November telephone call by Mr Scholz with Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin in November, Mr Zelensky said it had opened a Pandora’s box that undermined efforts to isolate the Russian leader and end the war in Ukraine with a “fair peace”.
Ukraine launch cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities
Monday 23 December 2024 07:00
Holly Evans
Ukrainian drones struck a major Russian fuel depot for the second time in just over a week on Sunday, according to a senior Russian regional official, as part of a “massive” cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities that Kyiv says supply Moscow’s military.
The strikes came days after Russia launched sweeping attacks on Ukraine’s already battered energy grid, threatening to plunge thousands of homes into darkness as winter tightens its grip over the region, and as Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor nears the three-year mark.
A fire broke out at the Stalnoy Kon oil terminal in Russia’s southern Oryol region, local Gov. Andrey Klychkov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, adding Russian forces downed 20 drones targeting “fuel and energy infrastructure” in the province.
Russia urged to act lawfully as video shows 'captured Australian man'
Monday 23 December 2024 06:41
Namita Singh
The Australian government is making urgent inquiries after a video on social media appeared to show a citizen captured by Russian authorities.
In the video, a 32-year-old man identified himself as Oscar Jenkins, a biology teacher from Australia. Mr Jenkins’s hands were bound by tape as he answered questions about his identity in English and broken Russian. In the footage circulating online, the man, dressed in military fatigue, could be seen being struck on his head with a cane, as he said: “I’m Australian…Oscar Jenkins. 32 years old … I study biology.”
“This is concerning news, and we’re working through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide support, including, for this gentleman, trying to ascertain the details and the facts which are there,” Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Monday morning.
The acting foreign affair minister Mark Dreyfus, meanwhile urged Russia to treat Mr Jenkins as per international laws.
“We urge the Russian government to fully adhere to its obligations under international humanitarian law, including with respect to prisoners of war. Our immediate priority is understanding where Mr Jenkins is and confirming his wellbeing,” he said.
Putin praises Boris Johnson’s hair as he peddles baseless Ukraine army theory
Monday 23 December 2024 06:00
Holly Evans
Zelensky to replace Japan’s ambassador
Monday 23 December 2024 05:45
Namita Singh
In a major reshuffle, Volodymyr Zelensky has announced replacing Sergiy Korsunsky as the country’s ambassador to Japan.
On Friday, the Ukrainian president approved appointment of 30 new ambassadors including the envoys to China and Lithuania. However, Mr Korsunsky’s successor in Japan has not yet been announced. He is expected to stay in the country till February, he told NHK.
Mr Korsunsky, named as ambassador to Japan in 2020, has been actively campaigning across the Asian nation, seeking support for his country and had in past expressed gratitude for the monetary donations delivered to the Ukrainian embassy in Ukraine.
North Korea aiding Russia where it needs it most, says Canadian general
Monday 23 December 2024 05:30
Namita Singh
Through the supply of troops and weapons, North Korea is aiding Moscow in the areas it needs the most support, said a Canadian general.
“North Koreans are not only replacing some Russian personnel but they are also making up for the lack of munitions and other assets that Russia either can’t produce on its own or can’t replace as fast as needed to sustain a war of attrition like this one,” Major General Greg Smith, director-general of international security policy with Canada’s Department of National Defence told The Japan Times.
“This means that North Koreans are physically fighting and dying for Russia, which is a very troubling development that highlights the growing internationalization of the conflict,” Mr Smith told the outlet.
The remarks come as Washington and Kyiv recently claimed that North Korean soldiers took heavy casualties while fighting Ukrainian forces in the Russian border region.
The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said at least 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded, while a US official suggested the figure for North Korean casualties was in the “several hundreds”.
Ukraine says Russian general deliberately targeted Reuters staff in August missile strike
Monday 23 December 2024 05:15
Namita Singh
Ukraine’s security service has named a Russian general it suspects of ordering a missile strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine in August and said he acted “with the motive of deliberately killing employees of” Reuters.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement on Friday that Colonel General Alexei Kim, a deputy chief of Russia’s General Staff, approved the strike that killed Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans and wounded two of the agency’s journalists on 24 August.
In a statement posted on Telegram messenger the SBU said it was notifying Mr Kim in absentia that he was an official suspect in its investigation into the strike on the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk, a step in Ukrainian criminal proceedings that can later lead to charges.
In a separate, 15-page notice of suspicion, in which the SBU set out findings from its investigation, the agency said that the decision to fire the missile was made “with the motive of deliberately killing employees of the international news agency Reuters who were engaged in journalistic activities in Ukraine”.
The document, which was published on the website of the General Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, said that Mr Kim had received intelligence that Reuters staff were staying in Kramatorsk. It added that Kim would have been “fully aware that the individuals were civilians and not participating in the armed conflict”.
The Russian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the SBU’s findings and has not replied to previous questions about the attack. The Kremlin also did not respond to a request for comment.
Russia captures two villages in Ukraine as Moscow’s forces advance on two cities
Monday 23 December 2024 05:00
Namita Singh
Russian forces captured two villages in Ukraine, one in Kharkiv region in the northeast and one in eastern Donetsk region, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.
Donetsk region is where Moscow is concentrating most of its efforts to seize two cities.
Russian forces, making steady progress across Donetsk region, are moving on the towns of Pokrovsk, a logistics centre and site of an important coking colliery, and appear to be closing in on Kurakhove, farther south.
The Defence Ministry statement said troops had taken control of Lozova, near the town of Kupiansk, in an area north of Donetsk region also under Russian pressure in recent weeks. The village of Sontsivka, north of Kurakhove, was also captured.
The ministry on Saturday announced the capture of another village near Kurakhove, Kostiantynopolske.
The Ukraine military’s general staff made no mention of those villages falling into Russian hands, but said Sontsivka was in a sector subject to 26 Russian attacks in the past 24 hours. The general staff also reported heavy fighting near Pokrovsk, with 34 Russian attempts to pierce defences.
The popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said Sontsivka was under Russian control.
Russian reports have described intensified pressure on Kurakhove.
Who are the other European leaders who met Putin?
Monday 23 December 2024 04:36
Namita Singh
Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Vladimir Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban visited Russia in July, and Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer met with the Russian leader just weeks into the full-scale war.
Both trips drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.
Mr Orban, widely seen as having the warmest relations with Mr Putin among EU leaders, has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.
He has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security.
Mr Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, lashed out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining Nato.
Mr Fico has also been a rare senior EU politician to appear on Russian state TV following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 channel in October, he contended the West has “prolonged the war” by supporting Ukraine, adding that sanctions against Russia were ineffective. He declared that he was ready to negotiate with Putin.
Mr Fico also vowed to attend a military parade in Moscow next May that will mark the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. The Kremlin has used the annual “Victory Day” celebrations to tout its battlefield prowess, and Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as “heroes” at this year’s event.
What’s behind Fico’s rare visit to Russia
Monday 23 December 2024 04:21
Namita Singh
Robert Fico’s visit to Moscow was reaction to Volodymyr Zelensky’s opposition to gas transit to Slovakia through Ukraine.
Sharing details about his visit, Mr Fico said on Facebook that Ukrainian president supported sanctions against Russia’s nuclear program, which was against Slovakia’s interest as it relied on nuclear energy.
Mr Fico said Mr Putin confirmed to him that Russia is still ready to deliver gas to the West. He said the two also discussed the military situation in Ukraine, chances for a peaceful solution to the war and the bilateral relations between their two countries which Fico said they will seek to “standardise.”
His trip, however, was condemned by the major Slovak opposition parties.
Slovakia last month signed a short-term pilot contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan, as it prepares for a possible halt to Russian supplies through Ukraine.
Earlier this year, it struck a deal to import US liquefied natural gas through a pipeline from Poland.
The country can also receive gas through Austrian, Hungarian and Czech networks, enabling imports from Germany among other potential suppliers.
Ukraine says Russian forces executed five POWs
Monday 23 December 2024 04:00
Holly Evans
Russian forces executed five Ukrainian prisoners of war, Ukraine’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said on Sunday.
Lubinets said on the Telegram messenger app that Russian troops shot the five unarmed soldiers after capturing them. He gave no details, but will report this fact to the UN.
“Russian war criminals who shoot Ukrainian prisoners of war should be brought before an international tribunal and punished with the most severe punishment provided for by law,” Lubinets said.
Russia did not immediately comment on the incident, but has previous denied committing war crimes.
Putin holds talks with Slovakian PM Fico
Monday 23 December 2024 03:02
Namita Singh
Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Mr Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Mr Putin one-on-one on yesterday evening, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency.
According to Mr Peskov, the talks were expected to focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.
Russian natural gas still flows to some European countries, including Slovakia, through Ukraine under a five-year agreement signed before the war that is due to expire at the end of this year.
At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders that Kyiv has no intention of renewing the deal, something Mr Fico insisted will harm his country’s interests.
Russian oil refinery engulfed in flames after ‘Ukrainian drone strike’
Monday 23 December 2024 02:00
Holly Evans
Zelensky admits Ukraine does not have military strength to reclaim lost territories from Russia
Monday 23 December 2024 00:00
Holly Evans
Ukraine lacks the military capability to retake all the territories occupied by Russia since 2014, president Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged, as he urged the West to take stronger action to confront Moscow.
In an interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien, Mr Zelensky made it clear that Kyiv would not formally recognise Russian control over any Ukrainian territory.
“Legally, we cannot give up our territories. This is prohibited by the constitution,” the Ukrainian president said. “But let’s not use such big words. Russia actually controls part of our territory today.”
Read the full article here:
UK may send British troops to Ukraine to train soldiers, defence secretary suggests
Sunday 22 December 2024 23:00
Holly Evans
The one battle President Zelensky looks set to win
Sunday 22 December 2024 22:00
Holly Evans
Not so very long ago, Vladimir Putin, the would-be reincarnation of Joseph Stalin, had some cause for satisfaction. True, his ill-fated “special military operation” in Ukraine had spectacularly failed in its initial stated aim of subsuming the country into a Greater Russia, resistance supposedly crumbling in days, with Volodymyr Zelensky skulking off into exile.
However, the Kremlin’s “meat-grinder” strategy has succeeded in occupying roughly a third of what was left of Ukrainian territory after the 2014 invasion. Russian troops were advancing, albeit at a glacial pace and an obscene cost in human lives.
The attacks on civilians, homes and energy infrastructure were helping to demoralise and exhaust the Ukrainians, brave as they were. Some 40,000 fresh troops were promised by North Korea – Kim Jong Un’s elite squads, according to reports. Mr Kim and Russia’s other allies in the Middle East were assisting with the sanctions-busting; and the Iranians and Syrians (and, to a lesser degree, the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas) shared Russia’s agenda.
Read the full article here:
Ukraine strikes in heart of Russia with drone attack 1,000km beyond frontline
Sunday 22 December 2024 21:00
Holly Evans
Ukraine brought the war into the heart of Russia on Saturday morning with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the front line.
The press service of Tatarstan’s governor, Rustam Minnikhanov, said that eight drones attacked the city. Six hit residential buildings, one hit an industrial facility and one was shot down over a river, the statement said.
It comes as Moscow’s troops continue to slowly advance in eastern Ukraine, with their defence ministry stating they had taken control of the village of Kostiantynopolske in the Donetsk province.
Read the full article here:
The huge spike in gun range openings in a country that borders Russia
Sunday 22 December 2024 20:00
Holly Evans
Unsettled by Russia’s expansionism and emboldened by its accession to NATO, Finland is rallying to strengthen its national self-defense.
The popularity of weapons training in the Nordic country has soared in recent months. Few places tell