Ukraine-Russia live: Putin’s forces hit by drone attack in Crimea as North Korea ‘sends more troops’ to Russia

North Korea has claimed reports it has sent soldiers to fight with Russia against Ukraine are “groundless rumors,” the South Korean Yonhap news agency has reported, citing a North Korean representative to the United Nations.

The statement is Pyongyang’s first public reaction to multiple reports of such a deployment from Kyiv and Seoul.

The representative said during a session of the U.N. General Assembly First Committee on disarmament and international security: “As for the so-called military cooperation with Russia, my delegation does not feel any need for comment on such groundless stereotyped rumors aimed at smearing the image of the DPRK and undermining the legitimate, friendly and cooperative relations between two sovereign states.”

Russian authorities have reportedly detained at least 18 North Korean soldiers for allegedly abandoning their positions in Kursk Oblast.

Ukraine and South Korea have accused North Korea of sending thousands of soldiers to help in Russia’s war efforts on the frontline.

South Korea’s spy agency recently revealed that North Korea had deployed 1,500 soldiers to Russia’s far east for training, with plans to send a total of 12,000 troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Eighteen of the deployed soldiers deserted their positions in Russian regions near the Ukrainian border, Ukraine-based outlet Hromadske reported, citing a military intelligence source.

The North Korean soldiers were left in a forest in Kursk Oblast without food and instructions for several days following their training with the Russian troops on 14 October, according to the report.

The soldiers abandoned their posts and were initially declared missing before they were detained by Russian authorities roughly 60km from their original position, Hromadske reported.

Poor weather conditions for potato cultivation in Ukraine this year have led to an 18% drop in the harvest, causing a sharp jump in prices, higher imports and accelerated inflation, officials and analysts say.

Often dubbed ‘second bread’, potatoes are a staple of the Ukrainian diet, with average consumption at about 130 kg per person a year, well above average bread consumption of up to 20 kg a year.

The agriculture ministry forecasts that this year’s potato harvest could fall to 17.5 million metric tons versus 21.3 million in 2023.

“This is the result of bad weather conditions, as the sown area remained unchanged at 1.2 million hectares,” Taras Vysotskiy, the first deputy minister, told Reuters.

Russia’s defence units destroyed 14 Ukrainian air drones overnight, including 10 drones over the Crimean Peninsula and four unmanned boats in the Black Sea heading towards the Peninsula, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning.

Ukraine’s population has declined by around eight million people since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to the UN Population Fund (Unfpa).

“Overall, Ukraine’s population has declined by an estimated 10 million since 2014 and by an estimated eight million since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022,” Unfpa’s regional director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Florence Bauer said yesterday.

Ukraine is already facing significant demographic challenges and has seen its birth rate plummet to one child per woman, the lowest in Europe, Ms Bauer said.U

kraine’s population stood at around 45 million in 2014, when Russia first invaded the country and occupied Crimea, the agency said.

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of “harming millions of vulnerable people” as new British intelligence suggests ships carrying food aid have been caught up in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s ports.

Among the merchant ships hit by Russian missiles since the start of October was one bound for Palestine with UN food aid, newly released British intelligence suggests.

The strikes show Mr Putin is willing to “gamble on global food security”, the prime minister said, as others hit in the crossfire were carrying grain heading for the global south.

Attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have ramped up as the harvest season begins in the war-torn nation, which remains a major agricultural producer key to food security in Africa.

Sir Keir said: “Russia’s indiscriminate strikes on ports in the Black Sea underscore that Putin is willing to gamble on global food security in his attempts to force Ukraine into submission.

More here.

North Korean troops supporting Russia on the ground in Ukraine is a “shocking” and “desperate” new development in the war, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.

Mr Healey gave a statement to the Commons where he updated MPs as to a £2.26 billion loan to help Ukraine that will be funded by profits on frozen Russian assets.

Mr Healey told MPs: “North Korean soldiers supporting Russia’s war of aggression on European soil, it is as shocking as it is desperate.

“North Korea already sends significant munitions and arms to Russia in direct violation of multiple UN resolutions.

“This developing military co-operation between Russia and the DPRK has serious security implications for Europe and for the Indo-Pacific.

“It represents a wider, growing alliance of aggression which Nato and the G7 nations must confront.

“Despite this dangerous development, Ukraine remains determined to fight on their front line in the east and in the territory in Kursk.”

He added: “This conflict is now at a really critical moment, and that is why the UK continues to step up support for Ukraine.

“Ukrainians are fighting to regain their sovereign territory, but they are also fighting to protect the peace, the democracy and the security for the rest of us in Europe.”

China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and other world leaders arrived yesterday in the Russian city of Kazan for a summit of the Brics bloc of developing economies that the Kremlin hopes to turn into a rallying point for defying Western influence in global affairs.

For Russian president Vladimir Putin, the three-day meeting also offers a powerful way to demonstrate the failure of US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov called it “the largest foreign policy event ever held” by Russia, with 36 countries attending and more than 20 of them represented by heads of state.

The alliance that initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has expanded rapidly to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members, and a few others have expressed interest in joining.

Observers see the Brics summit as part of the Kremlin’s efforts to showcase support from the Global South amid spiraling tensions with the West while expanding economic and financial ties.

The UK is using profits on frozen Russian assets to loan £2.26bn to Ukraine to aid with its fight against Russia’s invasion, it has been announced.

The funds represent the UK’s share of a $50bn (£38.39bn) loan package agreed upon by the G7 nations, financed through interest generated from sanctioned Russian sovereign assets.

The money could be used to fund air defence, artillery or other military equipment and comes on top of the UK’s existing £3bn-a-year support for Ukraine.

Rachel Hagan reports.

South Korea will gradually take countermeasures in line with the level of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo told a briefing today.

His comments came as South Korea’s presidential office urged Pyongyang to immediately withdraw North Korean troops that Seoul says have been dispatched to Russia for the war with Ukraine.

Mr Kim made the comments in a televised briefing after a meeting hosted by National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik on the dispatch of North Koreans troops earlier today.

Mr Kim accused Pyongyang of acting like a “criminal organisation” by sending young North Koreans to fight in Russia and vowed to cooperate with allies in ensuring countermeasures against North Korea-Russia military cooperation.

It remained a possibility that South Korea could supply offensive weapons to Ukraine, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the presidential office.