Page 36 - Russia

4,700 North Korean soldiers killed or wounded fighting for Russia: S Korea

An estimated 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russia against Ukrainian forces, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday. The assessment came two days after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had sent combat troops to help Russia recapture parts of the Kursk region, which it lost control of to a surprise Ukrainian incursion last year. In a closed-door parliamentary committee briefing, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said North Korea had suffered 4,700 casualties, including 600 deaths, on the Russia-Ukraine battlefronts, according to Lee Seong Kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting. Lee told reporters the NIS said that 2,000 injured North Korean soldiers were repatriated to North Korea by air or train between January and March. He cited the NIS as saying the dead North Korean soldiers were cremated in Russia before their remains were sent back home. In January, the NIS said about 300 Nort

McDonald's, Coca-Cola still see risks, stay cautious on operating in Russia

Coca-Cola said in its letter that "sanction regimes and other legal hurdles remain in place, impacting any considerations about returning to the Russian market"

Russian Prez Putin thanks North Korea for sending troops to fight Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korean troops for fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, after North Korea on Monday confirmed the deployment for the first time. In a statement Monday from the Kremlin, Putin hailed the heroism and dedication of the North Korean fighters, who he said shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their own. Russia on Saturday said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last year. Ukrainian officials denied the claim. US, South Korean and Ukraine intelligence officials have said North Korea dispatched 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia last fall in its first participation in a major armed conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. But North Korea hadn't confirmed or denied its reported troop deployments to Russia until Monday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to send the combat troops to Russia under a mutual defence treaty he

N Korea confirms troop deployment to Russia for first time amid Ukraine war

North Korea's Central Military Commission said the decision to join the war was in line with the two countries' mutual defence treaty sealed last year

Russia-Ukraine peace deal needs to happen soon, says Marco Rubio

"It needs to happen soon. We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it's not going to come to fruition," Rubio told NBC's "Meet the Press" program

Suspect in killing of Russian general claims he was paid by Ukraine: Russia

Russian authorities said on Sunday the suspect in the killing of a Russian general in a car bomb explosion claimed he was paid by the Ukrainian Security Service as he pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. The Investigative Committee said that Ignat Kuzin admitted he was paid to kill Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces. Moskalik was killed Friday by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow. Ukrainian authorities did not comment on the attack, the second in four months targeting a top Russian military officer that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed on December 17, 2024, when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office. Ukraine's security agency acknowledged it was behind the attack. Kirillov was the chief of Russia's Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces,

Pak wants Russian, Chinese involvement in Pahalgam terror attack probe

Pakistan wants involvement of Russia and China in investigating the Pahalgam terror attack, according to a media report. Terrorists opened fire in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019. The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the "perpetrators and conspirators" of the Pahalgam attack will be "served with the harshest response". In a recent interview to Russian government-run RIA Novosti news agency, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said, "I think Russia or China or even Western countries can play a very, very positive role in this crisis and they can even set up an investigation team that should be assigned this job to investigate whether India or Modi is lying or he is telling the truth. Let an international team find out." He said ...

Russia strengthens Taliban ties with focus on shared adversary ISIS

Russia's cautious and slow-moving rapprochement with the Taliban, which Moscow had outlawed as a terrorist group in 2003

Zelenskyy cuts short S African trip after Russian strike on Kyiv kills 9

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday he is cutting short his official trip to South Africa and returning home after a Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv killed at least nine people and injured more than 70. Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that he will fly back to Kyiv after meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Ukrainian leader had hoped to recruit further South African support in efforts to end his country's war with Russia, now in its fourth year. The attack on Kyiv came hours after peace negotiations appeared to stall, with President Donald Trump lashing out at Zelenskyy, saying he was prolonging the killing field by pushing back on ceding Crimea to Russia as part of a potential peace plan. Later that day, Trump said it's been harder to deal with Zelenskyy than with Russia. Zelenskyy has said multiple times that recognising occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. The Kyiv City Military Administration said on it

US, Russia may pause Ukraine talks until Zelenskyy okays Trump envoy deal

After downgrading the level of representation in London talks on Wednesday, some experts here do not rule out that the Kremlin and White House may freeze their negotiations on the Ukraine peace deal till Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and western European leaders agree to cede Crimea. The London meet on Ukraine was downgraded to expert-level after State Secretary Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff cancelled their visit following which foreign ministers of France and Germany also did not turn up. According to web based Lenta.ru news portal, banned in the European Union and Switzerland, the Kremlin could be ready to put the Ukraine issue on the backburner and move ahead on bilateral and West Asian issues, including Iran nuclear talks. Quoting Kremlin pool reporter Alexander Yumashev, the Lenta.ru portal in its commentary writes, I assume that all further negotiations will be, if not frozen, then held in a sluggish format. In any case, Zelensky still holds his post. Meanwhile, Kreml

Officials from Ukraine, US, UK meet in London in fresh bid to end war

Diplomats and defence chiefs from Britain, the US, European nations and Ukraine will meet in London on Wednesday to push for a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv. British Defence Secretary John Healey said the meeting of foreign ministers and national security advisers follows talks last week in Paris and will include what a ceasefire might look like and how to secure peace in the long term. Those attending include retired Lt Gen Keith Kellogg, President Donald Trump's envoy for Ukraine and Russia. The US State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the Paris talks, was unable to come because of a scheduling issue. Britain has downplayed expectations of a breakthrough, but says this is an important week for diplomatic efforts to stop more than three years of fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour. Trump said last week that negotiations were coming to a head and the US might take a pass if either of the two sides didn't move toward ...

Russian oil drives Opec share in India's imports to record low, data shows

Import of Russian oil rose 7.3 per cent to 1.76 million bpd, raising its share marginally to 36 per cent while OPEC's share slipped slightly to 48.5 per cent, the data showed

Putin says Easter truce over, Ukraine campaign resumes with full force

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said that the unilateral 30-hour Easter truce has ended and the Special Military Operations in Ukraine have resumed with full force. The Easter truce ended after midnight on Sunday local time, during which both sides accused each other of its violation. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event here, Putin noted that overall, during the 30-hour Easter truce, there was a drop in military activities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. "Combat operations have restarted," Putin was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency. Putin said that, despite Kyiv committing 4,900 violations of the Easter truce, there has been a noticeable decrease in Ukrainian combat activity. "Kyiv is now trying to seize the initiative on a ceasefire to talk about expanding the time frame and targets," Putin said. Initially, Ukraine was hesitant to join the unilateral ceasefire. Putin did not rule out the possibility that the Western curators of the Ukra

Hopefully Russia, Ukraine will make a deal this week, says Donald Trump

Trump said that once the two nations reach an agreement, both would be able to "make a fortune" by doing business with the US

Zelenskyy proposes 30-day halt on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure

Accusing Russia of continuing its ground offensive despite declaring a ceasefire on Easter, Zelenskyy expressed optimism on a pause in air strikes

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of faking 'Easter ceasefire' as attacks continue

Despite Putin's declaration of an Easter ceasefire on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had recorded 59 instances of Russian shelling and five assaults

Putin announces Easter ceasefire as Russia, Ukraine swap hundreds of POWs

Russia and Ukraine said Saturday they each swapped hundreds of prisoners in the largest exchange since the Russian full-scale invasion started over three years ago. Russia's Ministry of Defence said 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that as a gesture of goodwill 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care. Ukrainian President Volodymyr said that 277 Ukrainian "warriors have returned home from Russian captivity.

US will 'pass' on Ukraine peace talks if parties make it difficult: Trump

Despite the warning, Trump expressed cautious optimism about securing a deal

Iran seeks Russia's support ahead of Rome talks on nuclear deal with US

Iran on Friday sought support from Russia over a possible deal with Washington over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme, ahead of a second round of talks this weekend in Rome. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he briefed his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the first round of talks in Oman last week and praised Russia's role in Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that led to lifting of sanctions in return for Tehran's cap on its nuclear activities. We are hopeful, and we expect Russia to continue its supportive role in any new agreement, Araghchi said in a joint news conference with Lavrov in Moscow. The 2015 nuclear deal collapsed with Trump's unilateral withdrawal while Iran abandoned all limits on its nuclear programme, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity near weapons-grade levels of 90%. Lavrov said Russia was ready to mediate and assist in the nuclear talks. We are ready to help, mediate and play any role that, from Iran's point of view,

Ukraine launches probe into attack on Indian pharma unit; slams Russia

Ukrainian Embassy in India stated, Any attempt to justify terror is legally untenable, cynical in essence, and pathetic in terms of competence