After Russian forces reached the outskirts of the eastern Ukraine frontline city of Toretsk last week, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered his top brass to do “everything that can be done” to minimise Moscow’s advance along the frontline.
Here’s what you need to know as we enter a new week…
Zelenskyy says North Koreans fighting with Russia
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s relationships with its allies must evolve after claiming North Korea is supporting Russia with troops and weapons.
“We see that the alliance between Russia and such regimes as the North Korean one is getting stronger,” Ukraine’s president said in his nightly video address.
“This is not just about the transfer of weapons, this is in fact about the transfer of people from North Korea to the armed forces of the occupiers.”
South Korea’s defence minister Kim Yong-hyun said last week that “there was a high possibility” North Korea could deploy troops to help Russia in the war with Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea of North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine as “fake news”.
UK sanctions Russian troops using ‘barbaric’ chemical weapons in Ukraine
The UK sanctioned troops in a Russian unit and their commander for the use of “barbaric chemical weapons” on the battlefield in Ukraine last week.
The Foreign Office said Moscow’s forces had “openly admitted to using hazardous chemical weapons on the battlefield”, with “widespread use of riot control agents and multiple reports of the use of the toxic choking agent chloropicrin”, which was first used during the First World War.
Russia claims another village as forces advance in Donetsk
Russian troops are continuing their advance in eastern Ukraine, according to Moscow.
Soldiers captured the small village of Zolota Nyva in the Donetsk region, according to the defence ministry.
The village is 20km west of Vuhledar, which was captured earlier this month.
Further north in the region, Russian troops are said to have reached the outskirts of the key city of Toretsk. Outmanned Ukrainian forces have been fending off assaults by Russian troops inside the strategic city.
Ukraine is ‘holding its frontline’ in Kursk despite attacks
Ukrainian troops are still holding their lines in Russia’s Kursk region despite attempts from Moscow’s forces to break through, Mr Zelenskyy said.
Russian military sources claimed last week to have recaptured nearly two dozen settlements in the area.
“There were attempts by Russia to push back our positions. But we are holding the defined lines,” said Ukraine’s president.
UK, France, Italy and Germany to help grow Ukraine’s industrial defences
Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov said he came back from a meeting with Western defence partners with “concrete results” for Kyiv.
Mr Umerov visited counterparts from France, the UK, Italy and Germany to discuss “specific steps to increase the production of weapons”.
“All four countries confirmed that investments in the Ukrainian defence-industrial complex will grow,” he said.
The UK has pledged to provide additional long-range weapons, artillery systems, and robotic systems, while French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the possibility of opening a training centre for drone operators in France, according to the announcement.
Prosecutors open investigation into alleged POW killings
Ukraine’s prosecutor general said his office had opened an investigation after Russian troops reportedly shot nine Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners in Kursk on 10 October.
“The killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and an international crime,” Andriy Kostin said.
“A criminal case has been opened over the violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder.”