Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin ‘dragging Asia into war’ as North Korea troops join marine and air forces
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin is “dragging Asia” into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and North Korean troops, the German foreign minister has said.
On a visit to Beijing, Annalena Baerbock stressed the responsibility of permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as China, not to further fuel conflicts with their support.
“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking peace in the centre of Europe violate our core European security interests,” Ms Baerbock said after meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
It comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky revealed North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia have been killed.
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces.
A Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson told Radio Free Europe an additional 2,000 North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia's Marine and airborne units fighting on the front.
Meawhile on the frontlines, Moscow's troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine's east, part of a drive to fully seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian airstrikes continue to target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
Germany’s Scholz arrives in Kyiv for surprise visit
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Kyiv for a surprise visit, public broadcaster ZDF reported today.
The German leader will hold talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as announce the delivery in December of further armaments worth €650m ($685m), ZDF cited Scholz as saying upon arrival.
“Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe. At the meeting with @ZelenskyyUa I will announce further military equipment worth 650 million euros, which are to be delivered in December,” he said in a post on X.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Ukraine for his first visit in 2 1/2 years
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Ukraine for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years
Ukraine’s process of joining EU marked by ‘sense of urgency’, new European Council chief says
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.
Ukraine downs 52 out of 110 Russian drones overnight
Ukraine’s air force said it downed more than 50 drones Russia launched to attack the country overnight.
Of the total 110 drones fired by Russian forces, the air force shot down 52 and 50 were ‘lost’, likely due to electronic warfare, it said.
One drone remained in Ukrainian airspace and six of the drones headed toward Belarus and Russia, the air force added.
Russia using thermal and radar decoys to trick Ukrainian air defences
Ukraine’s air force has warned that Russia was using thermal and radar decoys to trick Ukrainian air defences, and putting electronic warfare devices on its missiles.
"All this significantly complicates the operation of Soviet-made anti-aircraft missile systems. Western systems work much more effectively in such conditions, but Ukraine does not have enough to reliably cover hundreds of critical infrastructure facilities," the air force said.
It said foggy weather conditions also made it harder for machine gunners to spot drones, as Russia launched a large-scale attack this week on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Photos: Top EU officials visit Ukraine in show of solidarity
European Council president Antonio Costa and Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv yesterday, using the first day in their new roles to send a message of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Their visit comes as Ukraine struggles to fend off a grinding Russian offensive and faces the uncertainty of US policy toward Kyiv when Donald Trump takes office next month.
Putin will use North Korean troops as cannon fodder, says Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky has said North Korean soldiers deployed by Russia will be used as “cannon fodder”.
Many North Korean soldiers will be sent to the frontlines of the war in the future, Mr Zelensky told Kyodo News and he said that it was “indisputable” that Russian president Vladimir Putin will use them “as cannon fodder” to reduce losses to his country’s military.
Mr Zelensky said there is evidence that about 12,000 North Korean soldiers had been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine but Kyiv needs “to have proof” before disclosing the exact number of casualties.
Russia downs 15 drones fired by Ukraine overnight
Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions overnight, the state-run RIA news agency reported this morning, citing the defence ministry.
Putin’s secret daughter ‘is part-time DJ living in Paris under pseudonym’
Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter is an occasional DJ who has lived in Paris under a pseudonym, according to reports.
While the Russian president officially has two daughters with his ex-wife, who has remarried as Lyudmila Ocheretnaya after she and Putin were divorced in 2014, he is also alleged to have had a daughter with a woman named Svetlana Krivonogikh.
Her daughter Elizaveta has now been reported in Ukrainian media to haved lived in Paris under the name Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova, and to have studied at the ICART international school of art management.
You can read more details here:
Putin’s secret daughter ‘part-time DJ living in Paris under pseudonym’
Elizaveta Krivonogikh is reported to have studied at an art management school in the French capital
German foreign minister slams China for providing weapons to Russia
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has accused China of providing Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine and threatening peace in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
“Instead of taking responsibility for peace and security in the world as a permanent member of the UN security council, China is opposing our core European interests with its economic and weapons aid to Russia,” Ms Baerbock said in a statement ahead of a visit to Beijing.
The German foreign minister will travel to China next week, where she will meet with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss issues including the war in Ukraine. “Putin’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine is a direct threat to our peace,” Ms Baerbock said. “I will also speak in Beijing about the fact that we cannot simply ignore this in our relations with China.”
She noted that the war in Ukraine shows how security in Europe is inextricably linked with that in Asia.
“If North Korea sends soldiers and weapons against Ukraine, while Russia supports Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, then this jeopardises peace both here and in the Indo-Pacific,” Ms Baerbock said.
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
Russia has unleashed another “massive” attack against Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure, firing nearly 200 missiles and drones and leaving more than a million households without power, Ukrainian officials said.
Explosions were heard across the country as damage to the energy and other critical infrastructure was reported by officials in cities in the west, south and centre of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions in Thursday’s attack, calling it a “vile escalation”.
In this article, The Independent takes a look at why Russia is launching so many strikes and the likely impact of them on Ukraine.
Read our analysis here:
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
Moscow unleashes second major strike on power sector in two weeks in what Ukrainian president Zelensky calls ‘vile escalation’
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