Ukraine-Russia war: South Korea may supply arms to Ukraine

The UK is using profits on frozen Russian assets to loan £2.26bn to Ukraine to aid with its fight against Russia’s invasion, it has been announced.

The funds represent the UK’s share of a $50bn (£38.39bn) loan package agreed upon by the G7 nations, financed through interest generated from sanctioned Russian sovereign assets.

The money could be used to fund air defence, artillery or other military equipment and comes on top of the UK’s existing £3bn-a-year support for Ukraine.

South Korea will gradually take countermeasures in line with the level of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo told a briefing today.

His comments came as South Korea’s presidential office urged Pyongyang to immediately withdraw North Korean troops that Seoul says have been dispatched to Russia for the war with Ukraine.

Mr Kim made the comments in a televised briefing after a meeting hosted by National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik on the dispatch of North Koreans troops earlier today.

Mr Kim accused Pyongyang of acting like a “criminal organisation” by sending young North Koreans to fight in Russia and vowed to cooperate with allies in ensuring countermeasures against North Korea-Russia military cooperation.

It remained a possibility that South Korea could supply offensive weapons to Ukraine, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the presidential office.

In a memoir released eight months after he died in prison, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny never loses faith that his cause is worth suffering for while also acknowledging he wished he could have written a very different book.

“There is a mishmash of bits and pieces, a traditional narrative followed by a prison diary,” Navalny writes in “Patriot,” which was published Tuesday, and is, indeed, a traditional narrative followed by a prison diary.“

I so much do not want my book to be yet another prison diary. Personally I find them interesting to read, but as a genre — enough is surely enough.”

The final 200 pages of Navalny’s 479-page book do, in some ways, have the characteristics of other prison diaries or of such classic Russian literature as Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.”

He tracks the boredom, isolation, exhaustion, suffering and absurdity of prison life, while working in asides about everything from 19th century French literature to Billie Eilish.

But “Patriot” also reads as a testament to a famed dissident’s extraordinary battle against despair as the Russian authorities gradually increase their crackdown against him, and even shares advice on how to confront the worst and still not lose hope.

“The important thing is not to torment yourself with anger, hatred, fantasies of revenge, but to move instantly to acceptance. That can be hard,” he writes.

“The process going on in your head is by no means straightforward, but if you find yourself in a bad situation, you should try this. It works, as long as you think everything through seriously.”

In recent years, Navalny had become an international symbol of resistance. A lawyer by training, he started out as an anti-corruption campaigner, but soon turned into a politician with aspirations for public office and eventually became the main challenger to Russia’s longtime president, Vladimir Putin.Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, oversaw the book’s completion.

In a promotional interview for “Patriot,” she told the BBC that she would run for president if she ever returned to Russia – an unlikely move with Putin in power, Navalnaya acknowledged. She has been arrested in absentia in Russia on charges of involvement with an extremist group.

Putin “needs to be in a Russian prison, to feel everything what not just my husband, but all the prisoners in Russia” feel, Navalnaya said during an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Russia summoned the German ambassador over the establishment of a regional headquarters of the NATO maritime command in the city of Rostock, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

“Washington, Brussels and Berlin must be aware that the expansion of NATO’s military infrastructure into the territory of the former GDR (German Democratic Republic) will have the most negative consequences and will not go without a corresponding response from the Russian side,” the ministry said in the statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies on Tuesday “not to hide” and to respond to evidence of North Korean involvement into Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He said in his nightly address that Ukraine has information about the preparation of two units – possibly up to 12,000 North Korean troops – to take part in the war alongside Russian forces.

“This is a challenge, but we know how to respond to this challenge. It is important that partners do not hide from this challenge as well,” Zelenskiy added.

Three people including a child were killed in a Russian drone strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, officials said on Tuesday.

The attack targeted a residential neighbourhood and critical infrastructure, regional governor Ihor Kalchenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

In a statement, the Ukrainian military said air defences had destroyed 42 out of 60 drones launched by Russia overnight across various parts of Ukraine.

Pictures from the strike are yet to emerge but we will share them as they come in.

South Korea may consider supplying weapons directly to Ukraine in response to growing military ties between North Korea and Russia, officials stated on Tuesday.

This follows ongoing accusations that Pyongyang has deployed troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine.

A senior official from President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said the government is preparing diplomatic, economic, and military responses to various scenarios of North Korea-Russia military cooperation. These responses could include providing Ukraine with lethal weapons if the situation escalates.

“We are considering supplying defensive weapons as part of a phased approach, and if necessary, we may also consider offensive measures,” the official told reporters.

The remarks followed an emergency meeting of South Korea’s National Security Council (NSC) to discuss North Korea’s increasing military cooperation with Russia. The NSC condemned Pyongyang for sending troops to fight as “Russia’s mercenaries,” accusing the regime of neglecting its people’s well-being and human rights.

The senior official also mentioned that a team of intelligence and defence officials would visit NATO headquarters “within the coming days” after NATO chief Mark Rutte urged President Yoon in a Monday phone call to send a delegation to strengthen information-sharing efforts.

Both Russia and North Korea have denied any arms transfers but have committed to deepening military cooperation.

The US “will get Ukraine what it needs” to fight its war with Russia and “to fight for its survival and security”, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said in his Kyiv visit.

Speaking at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, the Pentagon chief noted that the US has delivered more than $58bn in security assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, making it Kyiv’s main backer.

Mr Austin said “there is no silver bullet. No single capability will turn the tide. No one system will end Putin’s assault.” He added: “Make no mistake. The United States does not seek war with Russia.”

“What matters is the way that Ukraine fights back,” Mr Austin told the assembled diplomatic and military personnel at the academy. “What matters is the combined effects of your military capabilities. And what matters is staying focused on what works.”

However, he gave no indication of whether Washington would endorse the key planks of Volodymyr Zelensky’s five-point “victory plan”.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry has criticised the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres for what it said was his acceptance of an invitation from Vladimir Putin to the Russia-hosted Brics summit this week.

The UN has neither confirmed nor denied whether Mr Guterres will be attending the summit in Kazan,

“The UN secretary general declined Ukraine’s invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland,” the ministry said. “He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN’s reputation,” the ministry said.

Putin hosts a summit of Brics nations in the central Russian city of Kazan from Tuesday, aimed at showcasing the clout of non-Western countries. Leaders attending include Chinese president Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

According to Russian officials, Mr Guterres had told minister Sergei Lavrov at the UN general assembly last month that he intended to go to Kazan.

It is not clear if the UN chief is visiting Kazan. “Announcements on his future travels will be later on down the line,” said deputy UN spokesperson Farham Haq.

A senior Russian air force commander who is believed to have been behind an attack on a Ukrainian shopping centre has been killed, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said.

Col Dmitry Golenkov, a senior officer in Russia’s 52nd heavy bomber regiment, was beaten to death with a hammer in an unspecified location inside Russia, the intelligence body said.

Photos published by the agency showed a man with a head injury lying on ground. The agency said it was Golenkov, though this could not be independently verified.

“A Russian Tu-22M3 pilot has been liquidated on the territory of the Russian Federation. His head was smashed with a hammer,” the post said. The Tupolev Tu-22M3 jet is a modernised version of a Soviet-era long-range strategic bomber.

Ukraine said Golenkov was behind one of the most lethal airstrikes on Ukraine, one which targeted a shopping centre with rocket.