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

The Australian government is being urged to urgently evacuate a 38-year-old citizen who sustained severe injuries after stepping on a landmine while fighting on Ukraine’s eastern front. Friends of the injured man, who is currently receiving treatment in a Ukrainian hospital, told The Guardian that without immediate specialist care, he risks losing his limbs.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that consular assistance is being provided but declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns.

The Australian fighter recounted his harrowing ordeal in a statement shared by a supporter. “I nearly bled out,” he said, describing the 20-hour evacuation and the lack of immediate first aid.

Glenn Kolomeitz, a former Australian army officer, has called on the government to arrange an urgent evacuation to ensure the man receives proper medical treatment. “He needs surgery very rapidly,” Mr Kolomeitz stressed.

Spying runs in the family for Oleh Kolesnikov.

The Ukrainian citizen said his father was a Soviet intelligence agent in Cuba during the Cold War, posing as a translator, and his cousin works with the Russian security service.

That made him a prime candidate for wartime espionage.

Kolesnikov told Reuters he agreed to supply the Russians with information about military sites and troop movements in his home city of Zaporizhzhia, and report back on where their missiles had landed.

He had supported the concept of the “Russian World”, a doctrine backed by president Vladimir Putin that emphasises Moscow’s historical and cultural ties to neighbouring nations, and one which some hardliners in Moscow have used to justify intervention abroad in defence of Russian speakers.

“I didn’t do this for money,” he said.

But he had regrets: That the inaccuracy of some missile strikes led to civilians being killed, and that the war – which he had assumed would be a swift, clinical affair – has dragged on for almost three years, devastating his homeland.

“I thought they (the Russians) would advance rapidly,” said the 52-year-old, a former state land manager who grew up in a Soviet Ukraine. “It turned out like it always does. They plan one thing and another thing happens entirely.”

His wife left him when he was arrested for treason, taking their 11-year-old child with her.

Nearly 47 per cent of Ukrainians feel that the country should join Nato even if some of the territories are under Russian occupation, revealed a survey by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Razumkov Center, published on 22 December, reported Kyiv Independent.

In case of an accession, the protection granted to Ukraine may be extended to occupied territories once liberated from Russian annexation.

The recent polls reveal an increase of 14 per centage point from a similar survey conducted in June 2023.

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.”