Russo-Ukrainian War

South Korea's spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia's war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces.

Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russia's military, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August.

More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia's war with Ukraine, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Monday.

The new figure follows a report by Seoul's spy agency to MPs last week, which said at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed since entering combat in December.

TOPSHOT - This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Dec. 20, 2024 shows a building damaged as a result of a missile attack in Kiev, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital Kiev at sunrise on Dec. 20, killing at least one person and cutting heating to hundreds of buildings in cold temperatures.

Keith Kellogg, appointed by US President-elect Donald Trump as the special representative for Ukraine and Russia, plans to visit Kyiv and other European capitals in January 2025. According to Reuters, Kellogg's European tour is still being finalized, but it is expected to include meetings with Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv, as well as with officials in Rome and Paris.

BELGRADE - US Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill said on Monday he was unable to confirm whether the US would impose sanctions on Serbia's majority-Russian owned oil company NIS, and noted that, if imposed, the sanctions should not harm the Serbian economy in any way.

The European Union has adopted a 15th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including tougher measures against Chinese entities and more vessels from Moscow's so-called shadow fleet, the EU Commission said in a statement on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 14 that Russia had begun deploying North Korean soldiers to storm Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region.

He spoke after Russian authorities said their firefighters were battling a blaze in the western Oryol region caused by a drone attack, with Ukraine saying it had hit a major oil terminal.

Europe must urgently awaken from its slumber and spend “much more” on its defense, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned today, stating that the continent is unprepared for the threat of war with Russia.

Europe urgently needs to wake up from its slumber and spend “much more” on its defence, NATO chief Mark Rutte warned today, saying it is unprepared for the threat of war with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine.

“No one should promote their own image at the expense of unity (…) There can be no discussions about the war Russia is waging against Ukraine without Ukraine,” he wrote in a post on the X platform.