Ukraine war briefing: North Korea sending another 5,000 into Kursk – Russian claim
Trump’s ‘short attention span’ leaves Ukraine in lurch at ‘G6’ summit. What we know on day 1,211
North Korea will send “a division of builders, two military brigades – 5,000 people” as well as 1,000 demining personnel to the Kursk region, according to Russian news agencies quoting Vladimir Putin’s security council chief, Sergei Shoigu, who was visiting Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Out of 10,000 North Korean soldiers already sent to fight against Ukraine there have been 6,000 casualties, the British defence ministry said this week. Tuesday’s Russian reports suggested the new personnel would be put to work in Kursk, which was partly invaded by Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday accused Putin, the Russian president, of exploiting the preoccupied international climate to carry out a deadly attack on Kyiv. “It shows the complete cynicism of President Putin, who is using the international context to step again attacks against civilians,” the French president told reporters at the G7 summit in Canada, which Trump rushed out of on Monday night. A US citizen died in the attack on Kyiv, the state department said.
Trump’s absence left Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the lurch, Patrick Wintour writes, and has set European leaders and officials seething. One said: “It is an permanent hazard that Ukraine is a victim of events and Trump’s short attention span. There had been all sorts of promises for this summit – including new US arms deliveries being offered.” Ukraine was proposing to buy US weapons including new air defences, to get around Trump’s complaint that Ukraine is a drain on the US budget and instead appeal to his focus on making money.
The “G6” leaders who remained to complete the summit in Canada discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine and international cooperation on key non-military issues. Zelenskyy said: “We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire. I think it’s very important. But for this, we need pressure [on Russia].” Trump’s stance on Ukraine puts him fundamentally at odds with the other G7 leaders, who are clear that Russia is the aggressor in the war. The US has declined to join new sanctions against Russia from other countries, with Trump saying: “When I sanction a country, that costs the US a lot of money, a tremendous amount of money.”
Russia’s attack on Kyiv flattened a section of an apartment block, as a barrage of hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles killed at least 18 people and wounded 151 across Ukraine and officials declared a day of mourning on Wednesday. Authorities said 16 were killed in Kyiv and two in Odesa. A missile struck a nine-storey residential building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district. “I have never seen anything like this before. It is simply horrific. When they started pulling people out, and everyone was cut up, elderly people and children … I do not know how long they can continue to torment us ordinary people,” said Viktoriia Vovchenko, 57, a neighbour.
Australia has joined allies in imposing penalties on the Russian “shadow fleet” used to evade sanctions and trade in goods that help support Moscow’s war in Ukraine. They are the first such measures by Australia. “Operating under deceptive practices, including flag-hopping, disabling tracking systems, and operating with inadequate insurance, the shadow fleet enables the illicit trade of Russian oil and other sanctioned goods,” said Penny Wong, the foreign minister in Canberra.
Source: The Guardian