Ukraine launched a series of drones targeting Moscow and western Russia, regional officials said today, adding that there was no significant damage.
Four firefighters in an industrial zone in Dzerzhinsk in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region however, received minor shrapnel wounds from a drone attack. Regional governor Gleb Nikitin said on the Telegram messaging app they were given “necessary medical care”.
Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said Russia’s air-defence units destroyed at least one drone flying towards Moscow.
Meanwhile, defence ministers of the G7 countries pledged “unwavering support” for Ukraine.
“We underscore our intent to continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, including military assistance in the short and long term,” in its conflict with Russia, the ministers said after their meeting in Naples.
The statement added that they supported Ukraine’s “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership”.
It comes as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement that Russian Navy ships had transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok earlier this month.
Key Points
- Ukraine downs 80 out of 135 Russian drones, air force says
- Nato invite for Ukraine is only way to stop Russia’s war, says Volodymyr Zelensky
- Zelensky says 10,000 North Koreans could join Russia in Ukraine
- Russia claims it has captured a village in eastern Ukraine
- Nato chief says support for Ukraine will not waver
Russia returns 500 dead soldiers to Ukraine as world leaders mull next steps
06:50
Shahana Yasmin
Russia on Friday returned to Ukraine the bodies of 501 soldiers, Ukrainian authorities said, in what appeared to be the biggest repatriation of war dead since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Most of the soldiers were killed in action in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, mostly around the city of Avdiivka that Russian forces captured in February after a long and grueling battle, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement.
Law enforcement agencies and forensic experts will identify the victims, who will then be handed to family members for burial, it said.
Read the full report:
Ukrainian drone attack wounds four firefighters in Russia’s Dzerzhinsk
06:20
Shahana Yasmin
Four firefighters in an industrial zone in Dzerzhinsk in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region received minor shrapnel wounds from a Ukrainian drone attack, the region’s governor said on Sunday.
“They were given the necessary medical care, everyone was sent home,” Gleb Nikitin said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Russian RIA agency reported that Russian air defence systems destroyed 110 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including eight over Nizhny Novgorod region, some 400 km east of Moscow.
In pictures: Ukrainian POWs reunite with their families
06:00
Shahana Yasmin
France vows support for Ukraine's plan to end Russian invasion
05:30
Shahana Yasmin
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot pledged his support for Ukraine’s plan for ending the 2 1/2-year war with Russia, telling reporters in Kyiv on Saturday that he will work with Ukrainian officials to secure other nations’ backing for the proposal.
Unveiled by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this week, Kyiv’s so-called “victory plan” hopes to compel Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine through negotiations.
The proposal is being considered by Ukraine’s Western partners, whose help is vital for Kyiv to resist its bigger neighbor. A key element would be a formal invitation into NATO, which Western backers have been reluctant to consider until after the war ends.
G7 defence ministers pledge ‘unwavering support’ for Ukraine
05:02
Shahana Yasmin
Defence ministers of the G7 countries have pledged “unwavering support” for Ukraine in a statement on Saturday.
“We underscore our intent to continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, including military assistance in the short and long term,” in its conflict with Russia, the ministers said after their meeting in Naples.
The statement added that they supported Ukraine’s “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership”.
Ukraine launches series of drones targeting Moscow
04:32
Shahana Yasmin
Ukraine launched a series of drones targeting Moscow and western Russia, regional officials said on Sunday.
No injuries or significant damage was reported.
Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia’s air-defence units destroyed at least one drone flying towards the Russian capital, reported Reuters.
Some drone debris led to multiple short-lived fires in the Lipetsk region in southwestern Russia, the mayor reported on Telegram, adding that there were no injuries.
Ukrainian NATO admission would rule out diplomatic solution to war, Russia says
04:03
Alex Croft
Ukraine’s accession to NATO would make a diplomatic and political resolution to the conflict impossible, Russia’s foreign ministry said according to the RIA state-owned news agency.
It would ultimately lead to an escalation in the war, the ministry said on Saturday morning.
Ukrainian president Zelensky has been pushing hard in recent months for the war-torn country’s accession to NATO to be guaranteed. He went on a whirlwind tour to present his ‘victory plan’ to allies in the West, including US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Keir Starmer, which puts NATO accession front-and-centre of any possible Ukrainian victory.
Watch: Moment Ukrainian POWs reunited with families
02:01
Alex Croft
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has shared a video of the moment Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) returned home to their families.
In a post on X, he said: “95 of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and ‘Azovstal’, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.
“Each time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we bring closer the day when freedom will be returned to all those still held in Russian captivity.
“I thank the team involved in finding and liberating prisoners. We are doing everything to bring back all of our people held by Russia. I am grateful to the warriors who replenish the exchange fund and to all our partners who help us.”
95 of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and "Azovstal," as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 18, 2024
Each time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we bring closer the day when freedom will be… pic.twitter.com/kuJsGbja8T
Video report: Counter-terrorism police investigating UK warehouse fire over possible links to Russia
Sunday 20 October 2024 00:01
Alex Croft
ICYMI: North Korean troops in Russia readying for combat, South Korea says
Saturday 19 October 2024 23:04
Alex Croft
South Korea’s spy agency said on Friday that North Korea has sent 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatisation at local military bases, likely to be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine, reported Reuters.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it had been working with Ukraine’s intelligence service and identified North Korean officers in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region using facial recognition artificial intelligence technology.
“The direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea that has been reported by foreign media has now been officially confirmed,” the spy agency said in a statement.
Biden and Scholz ‘discuss unlocking frozen Russian assets’ for Ukraine
Saturday 19 October 2024 22:01
Alex Croft
Joe Biden has urged the West to sustain its support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion as Kyiv faces a third winter of full-scale war.
Speaking to reporters before holding closed-door talks with chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin to discuss matters ranging from Ukraine to the expanding conflict in the Middle East, Mr Biden said: “As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must, we must sustain our resolve.
“And I know the cost is heavy, but make no mistake, it bears in comparison to the cost of living in a world where aggression prevails, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can.”
He said he would discuss with Mr Scholz efforts to increase military support for Ukraine and shore up its civilian energy infrastructure “by unlocking the value of frozen Russian assets”.
Report: Trump blames Zelensky and Biden – but not Putin – for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Saturday 19 October 2024 21:03
Alex Croft
Donald Trump held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Joe Biden responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war in an interview — but made no reference to Vladimir Putin.
Two and a half years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump pinned the blame squarely on Zelensky and Biden for the conflict during an interview with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, which aired Thursday.
“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen,” Trump said, grumbling about how much aid the US has given Ukraine.
“And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help them because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start,” the former president added.
“That war’s a loser.”
Saturday 19 October 2024 20:05
Alex Croft
Ukraine’s former armed forces chief endorses ‘victory plan’ in first speech since his dismissal
Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Thursday expressed his support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan,” despite the tensions between the two that led to his dismissal.
“Ukraine must clearly follow the plan,” Zaluzhnyi said in his first public appearance since his appointment as ambassador to the U.K.
He told an audience at London’s Chatham House think-tank: “But this list of steps primarily concerns those countries that should ultimately be interested in stopping the war.”
Susie Blann and Hanna Arhirova have the full report:
France open to immediate NATO invite for Ukraine, foreign minister says
Saturday 19 October 2024 19:10
Alex Croft
Paris is open to the idea of immediately inviting Ukraine to NATO but this would be subject to talks with other allies, France’s foreign minister said.
"Regarding the invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, we are open to it and it’s a discussion that we are having with our partners," Jean-Noel Barrot told a press conference held with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha.
If proven that North Korea had sent troops to support Russia in Ukraine this would represent a major escalation, Barrot added, and would prove that Moscow was struggling in the war.
David Lammy presses Chinese foreign minister on support for Russia
Saturday 19 October 2024 18:13
Alex Croft
David Lammy pressed his Chinese counterpart on Beijing’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during talks in China’s capital the Foreign Office has said.
The Foreign Secretary was under pressure to take a tough line on a range of human rights issues with foreign minister Wang Yi when the pair met on Friday in what was Mr Lammy’s first visit to China since taking office.
A statement issued by the Foreign Office after the meeting described the encounter as “constructive”, adding that Mr Lammy raised “a number of foreign policy and security matters” including Chinese companies supplying equipment to the Russian military and the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
Human rights “were discussed”, including relating to mistreatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, in China’s far west, and the ongoing detention of British national Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong, it added.
But the statement made no direct reference to Taiwan. Earlier in the week, China held large-scale military exercises surrounding the island which Sir Keir Starmer described as “not conducive to peace and stability”.
Everything we know about North Korean troops joining Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Saturday 19 October 2024 17:15
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The US and its allies have raised the alarm after Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that North Korea was sending thousands of soldiers to help Russia in its war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president claimed on Thursday that his government had intelligence that nearly 10,000 soldiers from North Korea were being prepared to join the Russian forces fighting in his country.
Mr Zelensky made the claim, without offering further details, a day after US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said Washington and its allies were concerned by North Korea’s military support for Russia.
Read the full report from The Independent’s Alisha Rahaman Sarkar:
‘It was unexpected’: POW describes moment he discovered he would be free
Saturday 19 October 2024 16:15
Alex Croft
Ukrainian prisoner of war Maksym Butkevych said his release as part of a prisoner swap was “unexpected”.
The journalist and human rights activist did not know he was being released until he was already in transit, according to Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske.
"No, I didn’t know, it was unexpected," he said.
"Yesterday morning, after the inspection, they told me that I was leaving in half an hour, but they didn’t tell me where.
“Accordingly, I packed my things because I thought I was being transported, not for an exchange. We found out about the exchange by accident on the way. It was a double surprise."
Butkevych was made to plead guilty for allegedly firing a grenade launcher at an apartment building, and was sentenced to 13 years behind bars in what Amnesty International called a “grave miscarriage of justice”.
He was one of 95 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) to be freed on October 18.
Ukrainian military denies Russian advances in Chasiv Yar
Saturday 19 October 2024 15:16
Alex Croft
Putin’s forces have not “managed to gain a foothold” in the war-town city of Chasiv Yar despite claims of Russian advances.
Anastasia Bobovnikova, a spokesperson of the operational tactical group Luhansk, told the Kyiv Independent: "I do not confirm the fact that Russian troops have managed to gain a foothold in the canal ... or anywhere in the direction of Chasiv Yar.
"The overall strategic position of the city remains under the control of Ukraine."
It comes after the crowd-sourced war-monitoring website DeepState reported on October 17 that Russian forces had made advances.
Bobovnikova explained that groups of Russian soldiers had occasionally crossed the canal and carried out assaults on Ukrainian positions, adding: "However, such manoeuvres are accompanied by significant losses for the Russians. Ukrainian forces quickly repel such attacks, pushing Russian units back."
Saturday 19 October 2024 14:18
Alex Croft
The Russian military has attacked energy facilities in the Chernihiv region, according to the area’s military administration.
“The enemy continues to attack energy supply facilities. A critical infrastructure facility in Chernihiv Oblast was hit at night. The strike caused a fire, which was contained within a few hours,” said Viacheslav Chaus, the administration’s chief, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
There is as-yet no threat to electricity supply after the attack overnight on Saturday.
Report: Putin introduces bizarre new law to tackle Russia’s declining birth rate
Saturday 19 October 2024 13:19
Alex Croft
Putin has introduced bizarre new laws in Russia that will ban anything suggesting a child-free life is attractive.
Laws that would outlaw “propaganda” discouraging Russians from having children were overwhelmingly approved on Thursday in the first of three readings in the lower house of parliament.
The Russian president who portrays Russia as a bastion of “traditional values” locked in an existential struggle with a decadent West, has encouraged women to have at least three children to secure the demographic future of the country.
Watch: Moment Ukrainian POWs reunited with families
Saturday 19 October 2024 12:22
Alex Croft
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has shared a video of the moment Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) returned home to their families.
In a post on X, he said: “95 of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and ‘Azovstal’, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.
“Each time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we bring closer the day when freedom will be returned to all those still held in Russian captivity.
“I thank the team involved in finding and liberating prisoners. We are doing everything to bring back all of our people held by Russia. I am grateful to the warriors who replenish the exchange fund and to all our partners who help us.”
95 of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and "Azovstal," as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 18, 2024
Each time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we bring closer the day when freedom will be… pic.twitter.com/kuJsGbja8T
Report: Ukraine’s human rights envoy urges response to alleged killings of Ukrainian POWs in Kursk
Saturday 19 October 2024 11:40
Alex Croft
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman urged international organizations Sunday to respond to a claim that several Ukrainian prisoners of war were executed in Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv had launched an incursion in August.
DeepState, a Ukrainian battlefield analysis site close to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, said that Russian troops shot and killed nine Ukrainian “drone operators and contractors” on Oct. 10 after they had surrendered.
Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram that he sent letters to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross regarding the case, calling it “another crime committed by the Russians.”
Read the full report:
In pictures: Ukrainian POWs reunite with their families
Saturday 19 October 2024 10:55
Alex Croft
Ukrainian NATO admission would rule out diplomatic solution to war, Russia says
Saturday 19 October 2024 10:33
Alex Croft
Ukraine’s accession to NATO would make a diplomatic and political resolution to the conflict impossible, Russia’s foreign ministry said according to the RIA state-owned news agency.
It would ultimately lead to an escalation in the war, the ministry said on Saturday morning.
Ukrainian president Zelensky has been pushing hard in recent months for the war-torn country’s accession to NATO to be guaranteed. He went on a whirlwind tour to present his ‘victory plan’ to allies in the West, including US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Keir Starmer, which puts NATO accession front-and-centre of any possible Ukrainian victory.
Telegram channels share video of ‘attack on Russian factory'
Saturday 19 October 2024 09:40
Alex Croft
Telegram channels are sharing videos of what appears to be a drone attack on a Russian factory in Bryansk.
The Kremniy factory is a plant used in the defence industrial base and this would mark the fourth time the facility has come under attack, according to Radio Liberty, a US-government-funded media organisation.
Products produced by the factory are used in the creation of Pantsir air defence systems and Iskander missile systems, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said that thirteen drones were shot down over the Bryansk region, two over the Rostov region and one over the Belgorod region.
They later reported a drone attack on an uninhabited building, adding that “no fire has started”.
The world is at a dangerous moment as conflicts spread, UN rights chief says
Saturday 19 October 2024 08:50
Shahana Yasmin
The U.N. human rights chief warned Thursday that the world is at an especially dangerous moment in history, with disregard and disrespect for international law “reaching a deafening crescendo.”
Volker Türk said conflicts are spreading and intensifying and humanitarian and human rights laws are being “trampled amid broad impunity.”
The UN high commissioner for human rights spoke about this critical moment “for human life, for human rights and for the stability and prosperity” of countries to reporters Thursday and in a briefing to the General Assembly’s human rights committee on Wednesday.
Türk said the reason the world is in such a crisis of conflicts and violations of international law is because the international structures that were painstakingly built after World War II and the Holocaust to protect human rights and prevent atrocities are starting to erode.
North Korea’s special forces in Russia 'ready to join Putin’s war in Ukraine’
Saturday 19 October 2024 08:30
Andy Gregory
South Korea’s spy agency has warned that North Korea has sent a battalion of troops to bolster Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
My colleague Rachel Hagan reports:
Starmer discusses expedited support for Ukraine with Biden, Scholz and Macron
Saturday 19 October 2024 08:10
Shahana Yasmin
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron joined Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz on Friday afternoon for talks focused largely on how to end the war in Ukraine as Russian forces advance in the east.
“We discussed how to speed up our support for Ukraine” Mr Starmer told reporters after the meeting. “So as Ukraine enters a difficult winter, it is important to say we’re with you.”
Russia and Ukraine swap 95 prisoners of war each
Saturday 19 October 2024 08:00
Shahana Yasmin
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 95 prisoners of war on Friday, in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, reported Agence France-Presse.
“As a result of the negotiation process, 95 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” the Russian defence ministry said.“In return, 95 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over,” it said.
The human rights centre Zmina confirmed that Ukrainian journalist and rights advocate Maksym Butkevych was also freed in this exchange. Butkevych was serving a 13-year sentence on charges of wounding two civilians while firing an anti-tank grenade launcher in the eastern city of Severodonetsk.
Butkevych told Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske that the exchange came without warning.
“No, I didn’t know, it was unexpected,” he said. “Yesterday morning, after the inspection, they told me that I was leaving in half an hour, but they didn’t tell me where. Accordingly, I packed my things because I thought I was being transported, not for an exchange. We found out about the exchange by accident on the way. It was a double surprise.”
Biden and Scholz ‘discuss unlocking frozen Russian assets’ for Ukraine
Saturday 19 October 2024 07:30
Andy Gregory
Joe Biden has urged the West to sustain its support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion as Kyiv faces a third winter of full-scale war.
Speaking to reporters before holding closed-door talks with chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin to discuss matters ranging from Ukraine to the expanding conflict in the Middle East, Mr Biden said: “As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must, we must sustain our resolve.
“And I know the cost is heavy, but make no mistake, it bears in comparison to the cost of living in a world where aggression prevails, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can.”
He said he would discuss with Mr Scholz efforts to increase military support for Ukraine and shore up its civilian energy infrastructure “by unlocking the value of frozen Russian assets”.
Trump blames Zelensky and Biden – but not Putin – for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Saturday 19 October 2024 07:10
Shahana Yasmin
Donald Trump held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Joe Biden responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war in an interview — but made no reference to Vladimir Putin.
Two and a half years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump pinned the blame squarely on Zelensky and Biden for the conflict during an interview with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, which aired Thursday.
“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen,” Trump said, grumbling about how much aid the US has given Ukraine.
“And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help them because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start,” the former president added.
“That war’s a loser.”
Ukraine's former armed forces chief endorses 'victory plan' in first speech since his dismissal
Saturday 19 October 2024 06:50
Shahana Yasmin
Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Thursday expressed his support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan,” despite the tensions between the two that led to his dismissal.
“Ukraine must clearly follow the plan,” Zaluzhnyi said in his first public appearance since his appointment as ambassador to the U.K.
He told an audience at London’s Chatham House think-tank: “But this list of steps primarily concerns those countries that should ultimately be interested in stopping the war.”
Susie Blann and Hanna Arhirova have the full report:
Biden urges no let-up in support for Ukraine on Berlin visit
Saturday 19 October 2024 06:30
Shahana Yasmin
US President Joe Biden championed his NATO allies to continue their support of Ukraine on his visit to Berlin yesterday.
Mr Biden met Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, and were joined by French president Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer for discussions.
“We should never underestimate the power of democracy, never underestimate the value of alliances,” Mr. Biden said at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin.
Western allies must “sustain our support (...) until Ukraine wins a just and sustainable peace. We’re headed into a very difficult winter. We cannot let up,” he added.
On Thursday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled a five-point “victory plan” to beat Russia to the European Union and NATO leaders, insisting that an “immediate invitation to Ukraine to join NATO would be decisive”.
Russian troops fighting to gain ground in Ukraine before winter sets in
Saturday 19 October 2024 06:10
Shahana Yasmin
Ukrainian troops have been caught up in fierce fighting for the town of Toretsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, which Russian troops entered on Friday, reported Al Jazeera.
“They erase the city with artillery. We have already seen it in other towns of Donbas. And after that, they storm in small groups. They are trying to find weak points in our defence with such small strikes,” Anastasia Bobovnikova, spokesperson for Luhansk Technical University said.
Head of Ukraine’s National Guard, Ruslan Muzychuk, said that Russia was trying to gain as much ground as possible before the rain makes it impossible for armoured vehicles to operate.
Russia returns 500 dead soldiers to Ukraine as world leaders mull next steps
Saturday 19 October 2024 05:50
Shahana Yasmin
Foreign secretary David Lammy urges China against supporting Russia’s military
Saturday 19 October 2024 05:15
Shahana Yasmin
British foreign secretary David Lammy on Friday raised his concerns regarding China’s support of Russia in its war against Ukraine, and urged his Chinese counterpart to prevent Chinese firms from providing supplies to Russia, reported the Associated Press.
Mr Lammy is on a two-day visit to China, and met vice premier Ding Xuexiang, and held talks with foreign minister Wang Yi on Friday.
In a statement after the meeting, the Foreign Office said that Mr Lammy “stated how both the UK and China have a shared interest in European peace and ending the war. He reaffirmed that concerns over China’s supply of equipment to Russia’s military industrial complex risks damaging China’s relationships with Europe whilst helping to sustain Russia’s war”.
Mr Lammy urged Mr Wang to “take all measures to investigate and to prevent Chinese companies from supplying Russia’s military,” the statement said.
Video report: Counter-terrorism police investigating UK warehouse fire over possible links to Russia
Saturday 19 October 2024 04:55
Andy Gregory
Everything we know about North Korean troops joining Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Saturday 19 October 2024 04:30
Shahana Yasmin
The US and its allies have raised the alarm after Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that North Korea was sending thousands of soldiers to help Russia in its war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president claimed on Thursday that his government had intelligence that nearly 10,000 soldiers from North Korea were being prepared to join the Russian forces fighting in his country.
Mr Zelensky made the claim, without offering further details, a day after US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said Washington and its allies were concerned by North Korea’s military support for Russia.
North Korean troops in Russia readying for combat, South Korea says
Saturday 19 October 2024 04:10
Shahana Yasmin
South Korea’s spy agency said on Friday that North Korea has sent 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatisation at local military bases, likely to be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine, reported Reuters.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it had been working with Ukraine’s intelligence service and identified North Korean officers in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region using facial recognition artificial intelligence technology.
“The direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea that has been reported by foreign media has now been officially confirmed,” the spy agency said in a statement.
ICYMI: Don’t tremble at Putin’s threats, Zelensky urges West as Ukraine seeks backing for ‘victory plan’
Saturday 19 October 2024 03:50
Andy Gregory
The free world “must not tremble” at Vladimir Putin’s threats, Volodymyr Zelensky has urged, as the Ukrainian president pressed for Nato and the EU to back his new “victory plan” to beat Russia.
In a hectic day of diplomacy in Brussels after unveiling the five-point plan he insists can end the war next year, Mr Zelensky sought to coalesce the support of Ukraine’s allies as he addressed European Union and Nato leaders in back-to-back meetings on Thursday.
With the plan hinging on the thorny issue of Nato membership for Ukraine, over which many of the military alliance’s member states are wary, Mr Zelensky underscored the test of allegiance facing Kyiv’s allies, declaring: “This plan doesn’t depend on Russian will, only on the will of our partners.”
Russia may be loud but Nato is strong, says alliance’s new chief
Saturday 19 October 2024 02:50
Andy Gregory
“Russia may be loud but NATO is strong”, Nato’s new chief Mark Rutte told reporters on Friday, after chairing his first Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
Condemning Vladimir Putin’s “increasingly irresponsible rhetoric”, he added that Nato allies were working hard to support Ukraine during the coming winter and that the main focus of the meeting was on getting massive military aid into Ukraine.
Starmer says Ukraine’s allies are ‘absolutely united in our resolve'
Saturday 19 October 2024 01:50
Andy Gregory
Sir Keir Starmer said allies are “absolutely united in our resolve” to back Ukraine for “as long as it takes”.
Speaking on a visit to Berlin, the prime minister said: “As Ukraine enters a difficult winter, it’s important to say we are with you. We’re absolutely united in our resolve and will back Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
He added that Russia was “getting weaker” as the war soaks up 40 per cent of its budget.
“The only acceptable outcome is a sovereign Ukraine and a just peace,” he said.
Ukrainian men dragged out of nightclubs by army recruiters
Saturday 19 October 2024 00:50
Andy Gregory
World is at a dangerous moment as conflicts spread, UN rights chief says
Friday 18 October 2024 23:50
Andy Gregory
The UN’s human rights chief has warned that the world is at an especially dangerous moment in history, with disregard and disrespect for international law “reaching a deafening crescendo”.
Volker Türk said conflicts are spreading and intensifying and humanitarian and human rights laws are being “trampled amid broad impunity.”
He was sharply critical of Israeli authorities for allowing Palestinians in Gaza to reach “catastrophic levels of hunger” but also cited human rights violations in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar – and said he could name many other conflicts.
Edith M Lederer has the full report:
Russia flaunts its many doomsday weapons to keep the West from ramping up support for Ukraine
Friday 18 October 2024 23:20
Andy Gregory
