Ukraine-Russia live: Leaked video shows North Korean soldiers being kitted out for war, Kyiv claims

The European Union is “very concerned” about the ongoing reports of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, a spokesman said today.

Peter Stano said at a press briefing that if the reports are confirmed, then it “would mark another level of escalation and significant increase in their cooperation.”

He continued: “This only illustrates how Russia is determined to escalate its illegal actions against Ukraine, that Russia is absolutely not interested to look for peaceful solutions.”

Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has called for support to stop intensified Russian strikes on Ukrainian Black Sea port infrastructure, in comments made while on a visit to Turkey on Monday.

He said this autumn such strikes had already damaged four civilian vessels.

The Ukrainian government says Russia’s attacks on Odesa’s Black Sea ports are aiming to destroy grain exports that guarantee international food security, at a key time of year following the harvest. According to Ukrainian figures, more than 20 civilian ships have now been damaged in Russian attacks since the start of the war in 2022.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, has appealed to “responsible states” to ensure freedom of navigation and food security.

The Kremlin Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has obfuscated what is going on regarding North Korean troops in Ukraine and said that the question should be addressed to the defence ministry.

He also added that cooperation with North Korea was not directed against third countries. Peskov said that South Korea had said one thing about North Korean troops but that the Pentagon had said in public that it could not confirm this information.

South Korea's foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador on Monday over what it has called the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia for deployment in Ukraine.

Kim Hong-kyun, South Korea’s first vice foreign minister, summoned Russia’s top envoy in Seoul Georgy Zinoviev and urged the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops from Russia, according to a ministry statement.

Kim stated that the involvement of North Korean troops in Ukraine violated United Nations (UN) resolutions and the UN charter, posing significant security threats to South Korea and the wider region.

A statement said: “We strongly condemn North Korea’s illegal military cooperation, including the deployment of troops to Russia.

“We will work with the international community to mobilize all available measures against actions that threaten our key security interests.”

In response, Zinoviev informed Kim that cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang complies with international law and does not undermine South Korea’s security interests, according to a post by the Russian embassy on Facebook.

France is set to use €300 million of frozen Russian assets to purchase military equipment for Ukraine, BFMTV has reported.

Part of the package includes 12 new Caesar self-propelled howitzers, which is a highly capable artillery system, known for its precision and versatility on the battlefield.

Defence minister Sébastien Lecornu said to the French channel that the funds, which will be recovered by the end of the year, will finance not only the Caesar howitzers but also shells, missiles and guided bombs.

Lecornu stressed the importance of strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position, saying that “Russia will only respect a favorable balance of power.”

If North Korea were to send troops to Ukraine to fight with Russia, it would significantly escalate the conflict, NATO Chief Mark Rutte said X.

Rutte said he discussed the alliance’s close partnership with South Korea with president Yoon Suk-yeol, focusing on defense, industrial cooperation and the interconnected security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week that North Korea was preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow’s war effort and that some North Korean officers were already deployed on Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.

The West has long accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia. Rutte and the Pentagon both said last week that they have found no evidence yet of a North Korean military presence on the ground in Ukraine.

China hopes all parties will work to de-escalate the situation following South Korea’s statement that North Korea has sent troops to Russia for deployment in Ukraine, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Ukraine drone strikes targeted Moscow and an explosives manufacturer in the Nizhny Novgorod region overnight, Kyiv’s General Staff reported on Sunday.

It came after Telegram channels and local officials had reported strikes targeted deep inside Russian territory.

Ukrainian forces also say they attacked infrastructure in a military airfield in the Lipetsk region in the overnight attack. The General Staff is still assessing the extent of the damage.

The explosive manufacturer plant in Dzerzhinsk is one of the largest used by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine and is subject to sanctions by the United States and the European Union.

Russian air defence units downed 110 Ukrainian drones over Russia overnight on Sunday, including one over Moscow, said the defence ministry. It added that eight Ukrainian drones were destroyed over Nizhny Novgorod.

Four firefighters received minor shrapnel wounds from a drone attack on an industrial zone in Dzerzhinsk city, the regional governor said.

South Korea’s foreign ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador in Seoul in protest over what it has said was the dispatch of North Korean troops to the country for deployment in Ukraine.

Georgy Zinoviev, the top Russian envoy to Seoul, told Yonhap that he met with South Korea’s first vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun earlier in the day, according to the news agency.

South Korea’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

South Korea’s spy agency said last week that North Korea had sent 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatising at local military bases and that they will likely be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin visited Ukraine this morning in a show of US support for Kyiv just two weeks ahead of the presidential election that is casting uncertainty over the future of Western support.

Mr Austin’s trip, his fourth and likely final visit as president Joe Biden’s Pentagon chief, will include in-depth discussions about the American efforts to help Kyiv shore up its defences as Moscow’s forces advance in the east.