On the 972nd day of the war in Ukraine, the South Korean Foreign Ministry today summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul to protest what it called the sending of North Korean troops to Russia for deployment in Ukraine, called for "immediate withdrawal" and promised a joint international response.
The Kremlin on Monday declined to respond directly to a question on whether or not North Korean troops were going to fight in Ukraine, but said Moscow is within its sovereign right to develop ties with Pyongyang in all areas.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that the deployment of North Korean soldiers to fight on the Ukrainian front alongside Russian forces would be "a significant escalation." South Korea said it would send a delegation to the Atlantic Alliance to share more information.
Seoul has suggested that, including a group of 1,500 soldiers who have already arrived in Russia, the total number of troops deployed by Pyongyang to support Putin's regime would be around 12,000.
Fourth trip of the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, to Kiev amid fears that the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, could end military aid to Ukraine and try to force it to cede territories to Russia in order to achieve peace, should he win the presidential elections on November 4. Austin arrived hours after a Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian capital.
Another night of drone strikes. Russian air defense units destroyed 18 Ukrainian drones tonight, of which eleven were shot down over the Rostov region, while the rest were destroyed over the Bryansk, Kursk and Oryol regions.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kiev on an unannounced visit Monday, hours after a Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian capital and as Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski presses Western partners for continued military support for the war, Ap reports.
Austin told Platform X that his fourth visit demonstrates "that the United States, along with the international community, continues to support Ukraine," which is struggling to contain Russia's fierce campaign on the eastern front, which is gradually forcing Kiev forces to cede a number of cities, towns and villages.
Zelenski is urging Western allies to support his so-called Victory Plan to end the nearly three-year war, which is the largest conflict in Europe since World War II and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including many civilians.