Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin ‘dragging Asia into war’ as North Korea troops join marine and air forces

Vladimir Putin has approved plans which raise 2025 military spending to record levels, with 13.5trn roubles £99.5bn) – nearly a third of the budget posted on a government website – allocated for national defence.

Politicians in both houses of the Russian parliament have already approved the plans over the past 10 days.

The increase in military spending – from a reported 28.3 to 32.5 per cent of Russia’s budget – comes despite discussions over US president-elect Donald Trump’s desire to bring the war to a rapid end.

More than 100,000 soldiers have deserted the Ukrainian army, Ukraine’s prosecutor general has said, starving Kyiv of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia.

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials have told the Associated Press.

Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, military commanders and soldiers said. Some take medical leave and find themselves unable to bring themselves to return. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.

Nearly half of the 100,000 peope charged have deserted in the last year alone, after Kyiv launched an aggressive mobilisation drive that government officials and military commanders concede has largely failed.

There were an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers engaged in combat before the mobilisation drive began. One politician with knowledge of military matters estimated the actual number of deserters could be as high as 200,000.

Major companies in the arms industry saw a 4.2 per cent increase in overall revenue in 2023 with sharp rises for producers based in Russia and the Middle East, a new report has found.

The report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), said revenues from the top 100 arms companies totaled $632 billion last year in response to surging demand related to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

It said that “smaller producers were more efficient at responding to new demand.”

The 41 US-based arms companies among the world’s top 100 saw revenues of $317 billion (£263bn), a 2.5% increase from 2022, the report said.

Russia’s top two arms companies saw their combined revenues increase by 40 per cent, to an estimated $25.5 billion.

“This was almost entirely due to the 49% increase in arms revenues recorded by Rostec, a state-owned holding company controlling many arms producers,” the SIPRI report said.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Olaf Scholz have visited injured Ukranian soldiers in hostpital following Germany’s military aid announcement.

In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said: “We are deeply grateful to Germany for all the assistance it has provided. Germany stands as a European leader in supporting Ukraine, helping us defend ourselves against Russian aggression and terror.

“Our meeting with Olaf Scholz began with a visit to our warriors, wounded in combat against the occupiers, who are currently undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.”

German military aid to be delivered to Ukraine in December includes IRIS-T air defence systems, Leopard 1 tanks and armed drones, a defence ministry spokesperson has said.

“Winter is just around the corner, so there will also be winter equipment, as well as hand-held weapons and warming devices,” the spokesperson said just hours after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the deliveries during a surprise trip to Kyiv.

A government spokesperson said the deliveries were part of a military aid package already announced by Berlin in October.

Ukraine’s process of joining the EU is marked by a “sense of urgency”, new European Council president Antonio Costa has said, during a vist to Kyiv.

Mr Costa, the former Portuguese premier, visited Ukraine along with the new EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and the bloc’s head of enlargement Marta Kos, on the day they all took office.

The EU has “stood with you since the very first day of this war of aggression, and you can count on us to continue to stand with you”, Mr Costa said, in remarks alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, adding: “These are not just words.”

Mr Costa said Ukraine’s process of joining the EU was marked by “a sense of urgency” and that the bloc could take steps to integrate Ukraine before its entry, such as coordinating mobile phone roaming rules and letting some goods into the single market.

“We cannot manage this process as business as usual because it is a geopolitical choice,” he said.