Ukraine-Russia war latest: Blasts heard in Kyiv as Seoul says more than 10,000 North Koreans now in Russia

Ukraine’s air defence units were trying to repel a second wave of overnight drone attacks by Russia on Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko said this morning.

Air defence systems were engaged in repelling an attack in Kyiv’s Obolonskyi district, Klitschko wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.

Earlier, air defence units were trying to repel an attack on the city’s Holosiisvskyi district.

outh Korean and the European Union on Monday strongly condemned North Korea’s reported dispatch of troops to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine and expressed concerns that Russia could reward North Korea with transfers of sensitive technology to enhance its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea’s troop deployment, which was confirmed by the U.S. and NATO, threatens to expand the almost 3-year-long war and is causing security jitters in South Korea and elsewhere about what Russia could give North Korea in return.

After a meeting in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issued a joint statement condemning in the “strongest possible terms” North Korea’s deployment and voicing worries about Russia’s possible provision of materials and technology to North Korea in support of its military objectives. “We are also deeply concerned about the possibility for any transfer of nuclear- or ballistic missile-related technology to the DPRK, which would jeopardize the international non-proliferation efforts and threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the globe,” the statement said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

Germany is the first nation to discuss its response to North Korea’s military involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said he had discussed with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock the “need for decisive action” in response to North Korean involvement in the war with Russia.

“We urge Europe to realise that the DPRK [North Korea’s official name Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] troops are now carrying an aggressive war in Europe against a sovereign European state,” he told a briefing after meeting Ms Baerbock in Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking later during his nightly video address, said a meeting of top commanders had considered a report by Ukrainian intelligence on the presence of North Korean troops in Russia. He repeated his call for greater action from Ukraine’s Western allies.

“There are already 11,000 in the Kursk region,” Mr Zelensky said, referring to the southern Russian region where Ukrainian troops have seized chunks of land since an incursion there in August.

“We see an increase in North Koreans, but we don’t see any increase in the reaction from our partners.”

UK is now president of the UN Security Council

The UK has become the president of the UN’s Security Council.

It is a rotating position that the UK will hold until the end of November. It was held by Denmark in October and will be taken over by the United States in December.

The UK’s permanent ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, spoke on the role of president.

“Putin will not stop at Ukraine. We can be sure that Iran and North Korea are exacting a heavy price from Russia for their support.

“Where there is death and chaos, President Putin’s hand is rarely far behind.”

Russia is handing out military kits to North Korean soldiers, including Russian uniforms, the Pentagon has said, confirming that these soldiers will fight in Kursk.

“My understanding is that all of these forces are being issued Russian uniforms and Russian equipment,” Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said in a press briefing last night.

The North Korean soldiers will be legitimate military targets, he said. “...we fully expect, just based on what we’re seeing, that these forces will go to the Kursk region, that they will provide some kind of capability. All indications are that they will provide some type of combat or combat support capability. Again, remains to be seen exactly how they will be employed,” Gen Ryder said.

“...Should they be employed in combat, they will become legitimate military targets and we would fully expect that the Ukrainians would do what they need to do to defend themselves and their personnel,” he said.

Germany will give Ukraine another €200 m (£167m) in aid to support the country during its third winter at war with Russia, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Kyiv yesterday.

Ms Baerbock has stressed Germany’s continued backing for Ukraine during the trip, which comes amid growing nerves over the impact today’s election in the United States will have on military support for the country.

Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly held a meeting in Russia’s capital with North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui, the state news agency TASS reported.

Another agency, Interfax, said the meeting in Moscow took place on Monday.

Choe travelled to Russia last week for her second trip in six weeks, at a time of mounting alarm in the West over military cooperation between the two countries.

The governor of Rostov region, one of the southern Russian cities battered by massive Ukrainian drone strikes, has resigned “at his own request”, the Kremlin said.

Vasily Golubev’s resignation, termed sudden, was accepted by president Vladimir Putin on Monday.

He is one of Russia’s longest serving governors who headed the Rostov region that has been plagued by Ukrainian drones and where the Wagner Group forces started a short-lived mutiny. Mr Golubev said he decided to resign “due to a transfer to another job”, in a post on his Telegram channel.

The Rostov region, about 1,000km (622 miles) south of Moscow, borders Ukraine. Kyiv, which has launched a series of drone attacks on oil depots there, says Rostov is key in storing petroleum products for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

More than 10,000 North Korean troops have arrived in Russia to support its war against Ukraine, with a “significant number” in the frontline areas including Kursk, South Korea’s defence ministry said today.

“We understand that more than 10,000 North Korean troops are currently in Russia, and a significant number of them have moved to the frontline areas including Kursk,” Jeon Ha-kyou, a spokesperson for Seoul’s defence ministry, told a briefing, citing intelligence authorities.

But Mr Jeon said he had no information when asked whether the North Koreans were engaged in combat, and about a South Korean media report citing an unnamed government official that as many as 40 North Korean troops had been killed on the battlefield.

The estimates from South Korea come just hours after the Pentagon said that there were at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers in Kursk, near the Ukraine border, but could not corroborate reports that they were engaged in combat.