Ukraine-Russia war: Zelensky says North Korean troop casualties exceed 3,000 in Kursk

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded in Russia’s Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow’s army.

“There are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army,” Mr Zelenskiy said yesterday after receiving a report from his top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.

“We will have tangible responses to this,” he added.

The estimate of North Korean losses is higher than that provided by Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), which said that at least 1,100 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded.

The assessment was in line with a briefing last week by South Korea’s spy agency, which reported some 100 deaths with another 1,000 wounded in the region.

Mr Zelensky said he cited preliminary data. However, the figures of combat casualties could not be independently verified.

Italy’s cabinet on Monday passed a law decree that allows it to continue supplying until the end of 2025 “means, materials and equipment” to Ukraine to support its war effort against Russia, a government statement said.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Italy has approved 10 packages of military aid for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, including two Franco-Italian air defence systems known as SAMP/T.

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 United States once president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

On Tuesday, Nato chief Mark Rutte urged members of the military alliance to step up military aid for Ukraine to strengthen its position should Kyiv enter into peace negotiations with Russia.

Under Italy’s presidency this year, the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies have repeatedly pledged support for Ukraine, condemned Russia’s war of aggression and pledged a $50bn loan for Kyiv backed by frozen Russian assets.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday criticised Slovak prime minister Robert Fico for his reluctance to end Slovakia’s dependence on Russian gas, describing it as a “big security issue” for Europe and noting that Mr Fico had rejected compensation.

Mr Zelensky made the comments after the Slovak prime minister met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday. Mr Fico had accused Mr Zelensky of opposing any gas transit through Ukraine to Slovakia, which is dependent on gas supplies piped in via its neighbour.

Ukraine has repeatedly said it will not extend an existing transit deal for gas flows from Russia to Europe, which expires on 1 January. Payments for the gas have helped Russia to wage its almost three-year war in Ukraine, Kyiv says.

The Ukrainian leader said Mr Fico had been offered possible compensation for Slovakia for losses resulting from the expiry, as well as transit alternatives for non-Russian gas.

“Fico did not want compensation for the Slovaks,” Mr Zelensky said in his evening address.

Slovakia, which has a long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom, has said buying in gas from elsewhere would cost it $229m more in transit expenses.

Mr Zelensky gave no further details on the compensation offer but earlier on Monday said that Mr Fico was interested only in Russian gas and that £398m per year was at stake.

Mr Fico said last week that Mr Zelensky had offered €500m (£414m), which he said had been tied to Nato membership and was from Russian assets that the Slovak leader said Ukraine did not possess.

“President (Zelensky) came back to the subject of gas and asked me if I would then vote for Nato membership if he gave me 500m euros of Russian assets, and of course, I said ‘never’,” said Mr Fico, who has opposed Ukraine’s bid for a place in the transatlantic security alliance.

Ukrainians in the UK, marking their third Christmas away from home and another milestone since Russia’s invasion, have said it can be “difficult to be in a festive mood”.

Maria Romanenko, 32, left the Kyiv region for Manchester shortly after the Russian invasion began on 24 February 2022, alongside her Mancunian partner Jez.

The couple made a perilous journey to the Polish border, where they had to wait four days for confirmation that Maria would be allowed to enter the UK with Jez. They arrived on 2 March 2022.

Ms Romanenko, a reporter who is spending her third Christmas away from home, told the PA news agency: “Christmas has not been what it used to be for me since 2022 because Christmas, of course to me at least, means friends and family, and it’s also a time for celebration and a time for reflection.”