South Korea, Ukraine and the US previously accused Pyongyang of sending thousands of soldiers to help Russia
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An injured North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces has died, Yonhap News Agency has reported, citing a statement from South Korea’s spy agency.
Yonhap earlier on Friday reported that the agency had confirmed that a North Korean soldier dispatched to fight for Russia had been captured by Ukrainian forces.
South Korea, Ukraine and the US previously accused Pyongyang of sending thousands of soldiers to help Russia fight off the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk border region.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is open to a Slovakian proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine to end a conflict he said Moscow was determined to bring to a conclusion.
Mr Putin said Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico, who visited Moscow this week, had offered his country as a location for negotiations as the war in Ukraine neared the three-year mark.
“We are not opposed, if it comes to that. Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position,” Mr Putin said, adding that he was resolved to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Key points
Ukrainian air defence shot down 13 out of 24 Russian drones launched in an overnight attack, the air force has said.
The air force said the other 11 Russian drones were "lost" without causing damage. Military analysts said that Ukraine has increasingly been using electronic warfare to redirect or spoof Russian drones.
South Korea’s spy agency said that a North Korean soldier who was captured alive in Ukraine has died from his injuries, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Yonhap earlier on Friday reported that the agency had confirmed that a North Korean soldier dispatched to fight for Russia had been captured by Ukrainian forces.
South Korea’s spy agency said that a North Korean soldier who was captured alive in Ukraine has died from his injuries, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Yonhap earlier on Friday reported that the agency had confirmed that a North Korean soldier dispatched to fight for Russia had been captured by Ukrainian forces.
Russia and Kazakhstan have tried to calm speculation about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, following claims it had been shot down by Russian air defence systems.
On Thursday, Moscow urged calm as its foreign minister said it would be wrong to come to conclusions before an investigation into the crash was complete.
The flight had been set to travel to Grozny, the capital of Russia‘s Chechnya on Wednesday, but instead diverted and crash-landed a few kilometres short of Aktau airport in Kazakhstan.
Read the full story here:
Russia plays down speculation over cause of Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash
Russia has declared a federal emergency on Thursday over an oil spill caused by two Russian tankers in the Black Sea, the Emergencies Ministry said.
The tankers were hit by a storm on December 15, causing one split to in half and the other run aground.
The resulting spill has coated sandy beaches at and around Anapa, a popular resort, and caused serious problems for wildlife including seabirds, dolphins and porpoises.
More than 10,000 people have been trying to clear it up.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he would be open to peace talks with Ukraine in Slovakia "if it comes to that".
Mr Putin said Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico, who this week visited the Kremlin, had offered his country as a location for negotiations as the war in Ukraine nears the three-year mark.
The Russian president said the Slovakian authorities "would be happy to provide their own country as a platform for negotiations".
"We are not opposed, if it comes to that. Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position," Mr Putin said, adding he was resolved to end the conflict in Ukraine, which started with a land, air and sea invasion of Russia's smaller neighbour in February 2022.
South Korean intelligence services have claimed that Ukraine had captured a wounded North Korean soldier fighting for Russia, Korean broadcaster YTN reported.
It marks the first time a North Korean has been taken by Ukrainian forces since Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to help Russia in the fighting in the Kursk region.
"Through real-time information sharing with an allied country's intelligence agency, it has been confirmed that one injured North Korean soldier has been captured," South Korea's National Intelligence Service said in a statement.
North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in the fighting in Russia's Kursk region and facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks, Kyiv's military intelligence claimed on Thursday.
The intelligence agency, known by its acronym GUR, said Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. It said North Korean troops also faced supply issues and even shortages of drinking water.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops had been killed and wounded in the fighting in Kursk. It marked the first estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent over 10,000 troops to help the Russian war effort.
The casualty disclosure came as the Joe Biden administration was pressing to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine before president-elect Donald Trump takes over in January.
Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into the Kursk region in August, dealing a significant blow to Russia's prestige and forcing it to deploy some of its troops from eastern Ukraine, where they were pressing a slow-moving offensive.
The Russian army has been able to reclaim some territory in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, but has failed to fully dislodge them.
China's president Xi Jinping will visit Russia in 2025, Russia's state-run RIA news agency quoted Moscow's ambassador to Beijing as saying early on Friday.
"As for concrete bilateral events, I can say that the appropriate plans are actively being drawn up," ambassador Igor Morgulov told RIA.
"What can be said that is no secret, in terms of priority, is that the chairman of the People's Republic of China is expected in Russia next year."
China hasn't confirmed the visit yet.
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