Key developments on Dec. 17: * Ukraine's SBU assassinates Russian general charged with chemical weapons crimes, source claims * Ukraine's Special Forces claim to kill 50 North Korean soldiers in 3 days * Russia heavily attacking in Kursk Oblast for 3rd day, 'actively' using North Korean troops, Syrskyi says * Zelensky rejects Orban's mediation,
"For the third day, Russian forces have been conducting intensive offensive operations in Kursk Oblast, actively using North Korean units," Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Ukraine's Special Operations Forces killed 50 North Korean soldiers and injured 47 others in three days of fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast, the unit said on Dec. 17.
South Korea imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and 15 entities "engaged in illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Dec. 17.
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller warned that if North Korean troops crossed the border into Ukraine to fight for Russia, that would mark a serious "escalation" in the war.
"Russia is not only involving North Korean soldiers in assaults on Ukrainian positions, but is also trying to hide the losses of these people," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 16.
The EU imposed fully fledged sanctions on Dec. 16, including asset freezes and visa bans, on Chinese firms for supplying Russia's military for the war against Ukraine.
North Korean troops have joined combat operations in the Kursk Oblast, marking the first confirmed engagement of North Korean soldiers alongside Russian military, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said on Dec. 16.
North Korean losses have to be replenished by fresh soldiers from North Korea's 94th Separate Brigade, HUR claimed.
"We have seen hundreds of (North Korean soldiers) on the battlefield already, and (Ukraine is) successfully fighting them as we are fighting with the Russians," Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova told CBS News. "We see them now in Kursk Oblast only, and our brave defenders were not only able to kill a lot of them, but also keep the positions."
Key developments on Dec. 14-15: * North Korean troops joining Russian assaults in Kursk, Zelensky says * Ukraine destroys Russian train with 40 fuel tanks in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, source claims * 292 front-line clashes recorded over the past day, General Staff reports * Two Russian oil tankers reportedly sink in Kerch Strait * North Korean
North Korean soldiers allegedly killed eight members of the Chechen Akhmat unit in a "friendly fire" incident, HUR said, attributing the attack to persistent language barrier problems.
North Korean units have sustained "noticeable losses" alongside Russian troops in Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 14.
Russia may have transferred MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter jets to North Korea in exchange for North Korean soldiers, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said on Dec. 8, according to Aviation Week Network.
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The world faces the dawn of a "third nuclear age," the head of the U.K.'s armed forces Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said on Dec. 4.
North Korean soldiers have been stationed at observation posts and checkpoints in Russia's Kursk Oblast as a "second echelon" not involved in direct combat, the Ukrainian military-run National Resistance Center reported on Dec. 4.
A Chinese man illegally residing in the U.S. was arrested for illegally shipping weapons to North Korea from the U.S., the Justice Department said in a statement on Dec. 3.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has told U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that Washington would face a "dire threat" from China, Iran, and North Korea if Ukraine is forced to accept an unfavorable peace deal, the Financial Times reported on Dec. 2.
Key developments on Dec. 2: * Scholz arrives in Kyiv first time since June 2022, pledges $680 million in military support * 'We need to move faster,' Zelensky announces personnel changes in Ukrainian Armed Forces * Russia trained 300,000 reserve soldiers for war in Ukraine, Russian defense official claims * Some North
"Their accuracy, in principle, is not very high. We understand that the technologies by which they were manufactured are outdated," Andrii Cherniak, a military intelligence spokesperson, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Some of the North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia have already been killed, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Kyodo News on Dec. 1 without revealing their numbers.
Kim Jong Un reportedly emphasized that North Korea "will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony."
In comments to Interfax-Ukraine, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) also said Pyongyang had begun supplying Moscow with artillery systems last month.
Belousov will participate in meetings with "the military and political leadership of the DPRK," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"For the Republic of Korea, these actions pose a serious threat, as North Korean troops are gaining combat experience, which could present additional security challenges in the region in the future," Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said following his visit to South Korea.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Seoul on Nov. 27 to discuss the deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The EU's 15th sanctions package will include 30 legal entities from eight countries and 50 individuals, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said on Nov. 26.
Since the West imposed unprecedented economic pressure on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country’s trade practices have undergone a dramatic transformation, with Russian international trade increasingly occurring in the shadows. Access to the goods it needs now depends on constant scheming. Given that Russia operates under
"What we're seeing is that (North Korean troops are) positioned around the Kursk region, not moving into Ukraine at the moment," Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Nov. 25 during a press briefing.
North Korea is expanding a key weapons production complex that assembles KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles used by Russia against Ukraine, Reuters reported on Nov.25.
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