World
Ukraine, North Korean troops clash for first time; Zelenskyy warns of escalation
Ukraine has engaged militarily for the first time with North Korean troops deployed to support Russia in its ongoing war with its neighbor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a nightly address.
Zelenskyy did not go into detail about the engagement but warned of what he says is Russia’s intention to escalate the war that has raged for nearly 1,000 days.
A Kyiv official said Ukraine’s army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region.
ZELENSKYY WARNS NORTH KOREA, RUSSIA ALLIANCE COULD SPELL TROUBLE FOR ASIA: CHINA’S ‘SILENCE IS STRIKING’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images, left | Korean Central News Agency, right)
“Terror, unfortunately, can spread like a virus when it does not meet sufficient counteraction. Now our counteraction must be sufficient, strong enough. The first battles with North Korean soldiers have opened a new chapter of instability in the world,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address as he thanked Ukraine’s allies around the world.
“Together with the world, we must do everything so that this Russian step to expand the war with real escalation fails. Both for Russia and North Korea.”
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that more than 10,000 North Korean troops arrived in Russia, with a “significant number” in the frontline areas, including the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces staged an incursion in August.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korean state television there had been a “small engagement” with the North Korean troops, per Reuters. The report, with excerpts from the interview, quoted Umerov as saying the engagement was small and not yet systematic in terms of mobilizing soldiers.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is shown during artillery drills on March 7, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Umerov reportedly said he expects five North Korean units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, zto be deployed to the Kursk area. North Korean soldiers are mixed with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying, according to the Associated Press.
DOCUMENTS REVEAL RUSSIA’S INITIAL ‘PEACE DEAL’ EQUATED TO THE SURRENDER OF UKRAINE: REPORT
Russia is reported to have 1.3 million active-duty soldiers with another 2 million in reserve. Russia is now seeing its highest number of casualties than at any other time since the war began, with some 1,200 casualties reported a day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week. Despite the high number of casualties, there does not appear to be any end in sight to the war, validating early concerns that this would be a war of attrition.
Zelenskyy has been sounding the alarm that the recent deployment of North Korean troops in Russia not only spells trouble for Ukraine but also draws into question the stability and security of nations in Asia that are allied with the West.
“North Korea’s actions aren’t random,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with South Korea’s public broadcasting network KBS on Thursday. “They have strategic goals.”
“Their actions aren’t coincidental. They want Russia’s support in return,” he added in comments also posted to his social media account on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Christoph Soeder/Pool via AP/File)
Zelenskyy has called on South Korea to take a bigger role in the conflict and has said that South Korea has already pledged to send a team of specialists to Ukraine, where they will collaborate on defensive capabilities, including air defense, as North Korea also provides Russian with artillery and missiles.
“If South Korea wants to understand the real capabilities of North Korea and its soldiers, it would benefit them to be here to see and analyze the reality firsthand,” he said. “Consider how close North Korea is to [the South Korean capital] Seoul [25-30 miles], the range of modern artillery, not even missiles.
“Air defenses can’t counter artillery strikes. Our own towns were obliterated by artillery. I hope South Korea never faces this, but preparation is critical,” Zelenskyy added.
Soldiers march in a parade on the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding day in Pyongyang on Sept. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan/File)
Zelenskyy also called into question China’s “silence” with regard to the North’s recent involvement in the war.
Meanwhile, North Korea was reported to have fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday.
The launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
World
War, latest news. Trump: agreement with Iran to be signed soon. Tehran media: approval likely from top officials
Oxfam: ‘Over 540 settler attacks in the West Bank in the first few months of 2026’
A new analysis by Oxfam highlights the exponential rise in attacks by Israeli settlers and military forces in the occupied West Bank: in the first few months of 2026 alone, there were over 540 incidents and “in three years, the number of Palestinian civilians killed has exceeded that of the previous 17 years”, mainly children. According to the report, based on an analysis of data provided by the United Nations, “it is clear that Israel’s annexation plan is accelerating, with mass forced displacements, increased restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement and an unprecedented escalation of violence by settlers and the army”. A plan of ethnic cleansing and annexation that, since 2023, has caused over 46,000 people to be displaced, the construction of over 925 barriers that impede the movement of 3 million people, and an unprecedented wave of violence that has claimed over 1,200 lives, including nearly 270 children. In particular, between 2006 and 2022, Oxfam points out, there were 1,036 victims, including 225 children, whilst since 2023 alone, 1,244 have been recorded, with 268 children killed. This means that, over the last 20 years, one in five killings involved a child, around 22 per cent. By contrast, in the first 17 years under review, 86 Israeli settlers were killed by Palestinians, including 12 children, whilst there were 43 victims, including 10 children, between 2023 and 2025. “The massacre of civilians we are witnessing is painful and disturbing,” said Paolo Pezzati, spokesperson for humanitarian crises at Oxfam Italia – “Whilst the eyes of the world were rightly focused on the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, following the atrocities committed by Hamas and other armed groups in 2023, an unprecedented wave of violence was unfolding across the West Bank, which has now escalated into a systematic plan of ethnic cleansing. In this context, we are therefore launching an urgent appeal for all necessary diplomatic pressure to be brought to bear on Israel to halt the ongoing annexation plan,” concludes Pezzati.
US: third Iranian oil tanker breaching the blockade neutralised
The US Central Command stated on X that it had intercepted an oil tanker, the third in a week, accused of violating the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command says it struck the M/T Jalveer, flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau, “as it attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman”. “A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles at the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly refused to obey orders from US forces,” Centcom said.
Meloni: the Council should reflect on the direction of relations between the EU and Israel
“Not only because of what is happening in Lebanon, but also given the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, it is clear that the European Council will need to reflect on the direction of relations between the European Union and Israel.” This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Chamber of Deputies, in her address ahead of the EU Council meeting. “On this,” she added, “I would like, for once, to see a debate here that goes beyond the emphasis on facile polemics, which certainly yields an immediate return in terms of visibility, but does not reflect the strategic importance that the issue holds for Italia.”
World
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to 30 years over North Korea drone flights
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A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison Friday in a case that accused him of ordering drone flights over North Korea in an effort to justify his declaration of martial law.
Yoon, 65, was sentenced alongside former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun by the Seoul Central District Court.
The ousted president was previously sentenced to life in prison for leading an insurrection following his declaration of martial law in December 2024.
North Korea accused South Korea of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets on three occasions in October 2024.
SOUTH KOREAN LAWMAKERS SUPPORT SUSPENDING PRESIDENT’S POWERS AFTER SHORT-LIVED MARTIAL LAW DECLARATION
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Feb. 11, 2025. (Lee Jin-man/AP)
Then-Defense Minister Kim initially issued a vague denial before South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations.
Although tensions between the two Koreas escalated following the incident, the drone flights did not lead to any military clashes.
Prosecutors accused Yoon of attempting to create a crisis with North Korea while plotting an authoritarian power grab aimed at removing political opponents and consolidating control.
SOUTH KOREAN COURT RULES EX‑PRESIDENT YOON SUK YEOL GUILTY IN INSURRECTION TRIAL
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally outside the Seoul High Court in Seoul on April 29, 2026. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
Before declaring martial law, Yoon delivered a televised address accusing liberal lawmakers of sympathizing with North Korea.
Yoon has argued that he possessed the constitutional authority to declare martial law and said the move was intended to draw attention to what he viewed as obstruction by opposition parties.
His attempt to impose martial law lasted roughly six hours before lawmakers voted to overturn it amid mass public protests.
Yoon was arrested in July 2025 and continues to face multiple criminal proceedings.
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South Korea’s ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seoul to attend his trial on charges related to declaring martial law on Dec. 3, 2025. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
The insurrection verdict has been appealed by both Yoon and prosecutors, who had sought the death penalty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Tinubu takes victorious tone despite recent mass kidnappings by armed groups across the country.
Published On 12 Jun 2026
Nigeria’s military has “neutralised” more than 13,000 “terrorists” in the past year, the president says, as armed groups and criminal gangs continue to carry out mass attacks and kidnappings in the country.
In a televised national address on Friday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the death toll from Nigeria’s fight against armed rebels is down 81 percent since he took power in 2023.
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Tinubu added that “124,000 fighters and dependants have laid down their arms since 2023 through Operation Safe Corridor,” a programme aimed at rehabilitating repentant armed group members who voluntarily lay down their arms.
Tinubu’s speech was in commemoration of Nigeria’s Democracy Day, which marks the end of several years of military rule and the restoration of democracy in 1999.
However, despite the victorious tone of his speech, Africa’s second-biggest economy is in the throes of a spiralling insecurity crisis that has seen armed groups linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, as well as criminal gangs, abduct citizens for ransom money.
Soft targets, including schools, churches and mosques, particularly in vulnerable rural communities with limited state security presence, have been particularly at risk.
While armed groups initially limited their operations to the country’s north, they have begun spreading through thick forest corridors to attack targets in the country’s southwest.
Officials say the groups are shifting base because of military pressure on their locations.
Following unfounded allegations of a “Christian genocide” in the country by US President Donald Trump late last year, the United States military has since begun supporting Nigeria in conducting precision strikes on armed group locations. In February, 100 American soldiers were deployed to Nigeria.
Scores of people have been abducted since January alone, including teachers and pupils as young as four years old. The latest incident in May saw 46 people kidnapped from a school in southwest Oyo state.
On Monday, the Nigerian military said it rescued 360 people kidnapped by ISIL-linked Boko Haram and held in a remote mountain hideout in northern Borno State.
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