Russia-Ukraine war live: anger at ‘confirmed’ supply of North Korean weapons to Putin | Ukraine

Ukraine claims it continues to fend off attempts by Russian forces to encircle Avdiivka in Donetsk oblast.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Ukrinform quotes spokesperson for the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine Andriy Kovaliov saying:

In the Avdiivka direction, the enemy does not stop trying to encircle Avdiivka, actively uses aviation, but our soldiers are firmly holding the defense and inflicting significant losses on the enemy.

Donetsk is one of four regons of Ukraine which the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed late last year.

The spokesperson claimed that in the past 24 hours Ukraine’s air force had launched seven strikes on enemy manpower clusters. He claimed that missiles hit three enemy ammunition depots, six artillery units and one air defence radar station. He also stated that offensive operations have continued in the Melitopol sector, which he said had weakened the enenmy along the entire front line there.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted to social media earlier a video showing what purported to be footage of successful Ukrainian drones strikes on Russian targets. He said:

“Our drone strikes on military targets. Thank you, warriors, for your accuracy! Keep it up!”

Warren Murray

An EU leaders’ summit in Brussels today will be their first in-person meeting since the 7 October assault on Israel by Hamas terrorists, which prompted Israel to bombard and blockade Hamas-run Gaza.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council of EU leaders, wrote in an invitation letter to the summit: “These developments require our immediate attention, without distracting us from our continued support to Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will address the summit by video link and support for Kyiv will have first place in the summit declaration. The EU and its member countries have provided billions of euros in assistance to Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February last year.

But some officials and diplomats have voiced fears that Ukraine may struggle to maintain the same political attention and resources from the west, particularly the US, due to the new crisis in the Middle East.

The summit will not be able to sign off on multi-year plans for €50bn in financial aid and up €20bn euros for military aid for Ukraine, as they are part of a broader budget battle that officials hope to conclude by year’s end. Leaders will instead have their first debate on that budget package, which diplomats expect to be contentious.

Anger at ‘confirmed’ supply of North Korean weapons to Putin

Warren Murray

South Korea, Japan and the US have strongly condemned the supply of arms and military equipment by North Korea to Russia, saying they have confirmed “several” deliveries.

The Reuters news agency’s bureau in Seoul reports that Russia and North Korea have denied the transfer of arms for use in Russia’s war against Ukraine amid reports that Washington and researchers said showed movement of vessels carrying containers likely with weapons between the two countries’ ports.

While it was not possible to confirm the contents of the shipments, reports said containers from the North were later seen delivered to a Russian munitions storage facility near the border with Ukraine.

“The Republic of Korea, United States, and Japan strongly condemn the provision of military equipment and munitions by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the Russian Federation for use against the government and people of Ukraine,” the statement said.

“Such weapons deliveries, several of which we now confirm have been completed, will significantly increase the human toll of Russia’s war of aggression,” the statement issued by the foreign ministers of the three countries said.

North Korea is seeking military assistance from Russia to advance its own military capabilities in return for its arms support for Moscow, the statement said.

“We are monitoring closely for any materials that Russia provides to the DPRK in support of Pyongyang’s military objectives,” it said, adding any arms transaction with North Korea violated multiple UN security council resolutions that Moscow itself voted for.

North Korea and Russia pledged closer military cooperation when their leaders met in September in Russia’s far east. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, a few days ago and discussed implementing the agreements made at the summit.

Opening summary …

Warren Murray

Hello, welcome to our live updates as we mark 610 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Here is a recap covering the last 24 hours or so.

• The governments of the US, South Korea and Tokyo have condemned what they say are multiple confirmed shipments of North Korean arms for Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

• European Union leaders meet on Thursday to grapple with the conflict between Israel and Hamas while also aiming to show continuing support for Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion.

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine is preparing for renewed Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure ahead of the second winter of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of the country – and that the country is ready to counterattack if targeted. “We are preparing for terrorist attacks on our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said. “This year we will not only defend ourselves, but also respond.”

• Russia claims it has tested its ability to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike in an exercise involving the launch of missiles by land, sea and air. News of the exercise was delivered on Russian state TV by the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.

• The exercise followed Russia’s parliament completing the passing of a law that withdraws Moscow’s ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, approved the law by 156 votes to zero earlier today after the lower house, the Duma, had also passed it unanimously. Russia says it is revoking its withdrawal of the treaty only to bring itself in line with the US, which signed but never ratified the same document.

• Russia’s military claimed on Wednesday that its air defence forces had shot down two long-range US-made ATACM missiles fired by Ukraine at Russian targets in what state media said was the first downing of its kind. Russia’s defence ministry reported the interception in one of its regular updates on the war in Ukraine, something Moscow still calls “a special military operation.” It did not provide further details. The Reuters news agency was unable to independently verify Moscow’s claim and there was no immediate comment from Kyiv or Washington.

• A drone attack by Russia near Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant temporarily cut power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. “This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine,” said the IAEA’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi.

• In his nightly address, Zelenskiy accused Russia of targeting the power plant. “It is most likely that the target for these drones was the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station. The shockwave from the explosion shattered windows, including on the nuclear power station’s premises,” he said.

• The attack involved 11 Shahed drones and injured 16 people according to local authorities. Power lines were also damaged, with two towns close to the nuclear power plant, Netishyn and Slavuta, facing power cuts. Ukraine’s air force said it stopped all the drones that were launched.

• Russian forces are disregarding heavy losses and pressing on with a drive to capture the eastern city of Avdiivka, Ukrainian officials have claimed. “The enemy is trying to move forward and then we beat them back,” Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern groups of forces, said on national TV. Russia has focused on the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk since failing in its initial drive on the capital Kyiv after mounting its invasion in February 2022.

• Ukraine said it was aiming to increase domestic manufacture of its own drones, producing tens of thousands every month by the end of the year. Kyiv has relied heavily on foreign-made drones in the war so far, but is looking to ramp up its output despite the challenge posed by Russia’s invasion.