Ukraine Russia war live: North Korea vows to back Putin as US claim thousands join up

Former North Korean soldiers on why troops will volunteer to fight in Ukraine

The thousands of young soldiers North Korea has sent to Russia, reportedly to help fight against Ukraine, are mostly elite special forces, but that hasn’t stopped speculation they’ll be slaughtered because they have no combat experience, no familiarity with the terrain and will likely be dropped onto the most ferocious battlefields.

That may be true, and soon. Observers say the troops are already arriving at the front. From the North Korean perspective, however, these soldiers might not be as miserable as outsiders think.

They may, in fact, view their Russian tour with pride and as a rare chance to make good money, see a foreign country for the first time, and win preferred treatment for their families back home, according to former North Korean soldiers.

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 20:00

Why are North Koreans troops in Ukraine?

The Pentagon has said that North Korea dispatched 10,000 troops to Russia, with some of them believed to be heading to the Kursk border to join Vladimir Putin’s forces in their invasion of Ukraine amid the biggest conflict Europe has seen since the Second World War.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said some North Korean soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine and were believed to be heading for the Kursk border region. The Russian forces are facing difficulty in pushing back Ukraine’s cross-border incursion launched on 6 August.

This came within hours of Nato secretary general Mark Rutte confirming recent Ukrainian intelligence reports of the presence of North Korean military units deployed to Kursk near the Ukrainian border.

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 19:00

Russia advancing in Ukraine’s east, Western analysts say

In Ukraine’s east, Russia’s forces have recently advanced near Kupyansk, Svatove, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and Vuhledar, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

Ukrainian forces recently regained lost positions near Kurakhove, analysts said.

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 18:10

Putin uninterested in Ukraine ceasefire, analysts say

Following his first conversation with Vladimir Putin in more than two years, Serbian president Alexander Vucic told Bloomberg that he brought up the subject of a ceasefire in Ukraine with the Russian leader.

Mr Putin is said to have replied that Russia will fulfill all the goals of its “special miliary operation” in Ukraine.

The US-based Institute of the Study of War think-tank said: “Vladimir Putin continues to communicate that he is uninterested in a negotiated ceasefire and is committed to achieving his goal of destroying Ukrainian statehood.”

It added: “A negotiated ceasefire on current lines and under current circumstances will only benefit Russia and will afford the Kremlin time to further radicalise and militarise Russian society against Ukraine and the Russian military time to rest and reconstitute, likely before conducting a future attack on Ukraine.”

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 17:40

South Korea ‘planning to send personnel to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops’

South Korea is reportedly planning to send personnel to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops, amid reports that Pyongyang has deployed some 10,000 soldiers to Russia.

South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh cited a senior presidential office official as saying on Wednesday that South Korea has a “legitimate need” to analyse North Korean military activities in the war in Ukraine and “feels the need” to establish a team to monitor North Korean troops and the battlefield situation.

Last week, South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted a government source as saying that South Korea was considering sending South Korean military personnel, likely from intelligence units, to Ukraine to monitor North Korean forces’ tactics and combat capabilities and to question captured North Koreans.

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 17:10

Russian troops trying to gain foothold across canal in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine says

Russian troops are moving in small groups and trying to gain a foothold across the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal in Chasiv Yar, a Ukrainian military spokesperson has said.

“The purpose of such actions is to accumulate as much as possible before the attack. However, such attempts are detected by our drones and are targeted,” she told Ukrainian broadcasters, according to the Kyiv Independent.

The spokesperson insisted that the front line in Chasiv Yar – which has been partially controlled by Russia since July – has been “stabilised”.

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 16:40

Ukraine refutes Russian claims to have seized Chasiv Yar

Ukraine has refuted Russian claims to have captured the Donetsk towns of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, with a military spokesperson insisting that the front line has been “stabilised” and that Russian troops are not advancing.

Chasiv Yar has been partially controlled by Russia since July and its seizure by Vladimir Putin’s forces would be a major blow to Kyiv.

Speaking on national television, the spokesperson said: “At the moment, they do not have an advantage in these towns. The contact line is stabilised.”

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 16:13

Full report: North Korea’s top diplomat is in Moscow

Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov has hosted his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui for talks, as the Pentagon accused Pyongyang of sending 10,000 troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine.

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have specified the agenda for Ms Choe’s talks in Moscow, but in a closed-door hearing at South Korea’s parliament, the South’s spy agency said she may be involved in high-level discussions on sending additional troops to Russia and negotiating what the North would get in return.

South Korean and Western officials have voiced concern that Russia may offer technology that could advance the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 15:46

‘War is always a defeat’: Pope Francis urges prayer for Ukraine

Pope Francis has issued a call for people to pray for Ukraine, as he declared that “war is always a defeat”.

The Catholic leader said on X, formerly Twitter: “Let us pray for martyred Ukraine and for Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, South Sudan, and for all peoples suffering from war. War is always a defeat, always! War is also ignoble, for it is the triumph of lies and falsehood.”

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 15:18

Dissident Belarusian film director released after a year of detention in Serbia

A noted Belarusian film director and dissident who was held in Serbia for a year while Belarus sought his extradition has been released from house arrest.

Andrei Hniot told the Associated Press that Serbian authorities released him from house arrest on Thursday, exactly a year after he was detained, in line with Serbian law which states that pre-extradition detention cannot exceed one year.

Belarus issued an international warrant for Hniot – a critic of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko –on charges of tax evasion, which he claims are false. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was among those to campaign for his release, in efforts she said were backed by Germany’s foreign ministry and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Having now moved to Germany, he said: “In Berlin I was able to to breathe a sigh of relief and try to comprehend that this nightmarish year is already behind me.”

The Belarusian human rights group Viasna says there are about 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus, including the group’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder Ales Bialiatski.

Andy Gregory1 November 2024 14:56