Ukraine war briefing: more than 3,000 North Korean military casualties in Russia’s Kursk, claims Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia’s Kursk region. The Ukrainian president warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow’s army and criticised world leaders for doing “almost nothing” to counteract Russia’s military cooperation with the North. “There are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army,” Zelenskyy said on Monday. South Korea’s military also said on Monday that it has detected signs of North Korea preparing to send more troops and weapons, including suicide drones, to Russia.

Zelenskyy’s estimate of North Korean losses is considerably higher than that provided by Seoul’s top military officials, which said on Monday that at least 1,100 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded. That assessment was in line with a briefing last week by South Korea’s spy agency, which reported about 100 deaths with another 1,000 wounded in the region. According to Ukrainian and allied assessments, North Korea has sent about 12,000 troops to Russia.

Zelenskyy accused Slovak prime minister Robert Fico of wanting to “help” President Vladimir Putin by continuing to import Russian gas. Zelensky said EU leaders had observed that Fico, who visited Moscow on Sunday, opposes reducing energy dependence on Russia, “implying that he wants to help Putin earn money to fund the war and weaken Europe”. “We believe that such assistance to Putin is immoral,” he added. Slovakia relies heavily on Russian gas and has raised concerns about the prospect of losing supplies after a contract for gas transit through Ukraine expires on 31 December.

Russia said on Monday the situation with European countries that buy its gas through a transit deal via Ukraine was very complicated and needs more attention, a day after the talks between Putin and Fico. Ukraine has said it will not be renewing a five-year deal to pipe Russian gas to Europe, which is due to expire at the end of the year, as it does not want to aid Moscow’s military effort. The flow accounts for around half of Russia’s total pipeline gas exports to Europe, with Slovakia, Italy, Austria and Czech Republic set to be most affected if it ends. Fico said that Putin had confirmed Russia’s willingness to continue to supply gas to Slovakia, although this was “practically impossible” once the Ukraine transit deal expires.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov has said that several countries had already offered to host talks between Putin and US president-elect Donald Trump, though he declined to say which. Trump has said he wants to swiftly end the war in Ukraine, though he has yet to set out publicly how he plans to do so. Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with Trump and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities.

Ushakov said that he thought it likely that North Korean soldiers would take part in next year’s Red Square parade in Moscow to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war.

Keir Starmer and Zelenskyy have agreed on “the importance of refining” the UK’s training offer for Ukrainian armed forces to “further bolster Ukraine’s ability on the battlefield”. According to a readout of a call between the two leaders, Zelenskyy “reflected on the situation on the frontline in Ukraine and the need to ensure Ukraine could degrade Russian forces for the long haul”.

Zelenskyy has said that Kyiv will support necessary allied efforts for stabilisation in Syria and had already made decisions to support its food security. “We believe it is crucial for the security of the Syrian people and the region as a whole to remove any Russian presence from Syria,”

Italy’s cabinet passed a decree that allows it to continue supplying “means, materials and equipment” to Ukraine until the end of 2025 to support its war effort against Russia, a government statement said. Prime minister Giorgia Meloni has been a supporter of Kyiv since taking office in late 2022 and has vowed to back Ukraine until the war ends, amid uncertainty over the future attitude of the US once Trump takes office next month.