Russia-Ukraine war: Putin’s troops forced to regroup as they suffer losses – live

North Korea is on course to become one of Russia’s “most significant foreign arms suppliers” alongside Iran and Belarus, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

The MoD added it was “almost certain” that recent North Korean munitions shipments had now reached depots in western Russia.

“If North Korea sustains the recent scale and pace of military-related shipments (more than 1,000 containers over the last several weeks), it will be on course to become one of Russia’s most significant foreign arms suppliers, alongside Iran and Belarus,” it said on X, formerly Twitter.

Russia is “massively” recruiting Cuban mercenaries to fight in its war against Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s special forces.

The Cuban fighters are reported to be fighting around Bakhmut and Kupiansk and are scattered among existing Russian units.

Ukraine’s National Resistance Center, which was set up by the country’s special forces, said a cyber group hacked the emails of a Russian military official and discovered almost 200 Cubans had been recruited.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday that he was “proud” of his contacts with Russian president Vladimir Putin, whom he met in China this month despite European Union efforts to isolate Moscow for waging a war against Ukraine.

Orban spoke on arriving to a summit of the EU’s 27 national leaders in Brussels. He drew criticism for his talks with Putin, which had been organised with great pomp.

“We would like to do everything to have peace. Therefore we keep open all the communication lines to the Russians, otherwise there will be no chance for peace. This is a strategy, we are proud of it,” Orban told reporters.

“We are the only ones to speak on behalf and in favour of peace, which would be in the interest of everybody in Europe.”

Russia sent up a MIG-31 fighter jet on Thursday to escort a Norwegian Poseidon patrol plane over the Barents Sea, state news agency RIA quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying.

There was no violation of the air border by the Norwegian patrol plane, the ministry said.

It was the latest of a series of recent incidents in which Russia sent fighter planes to intercept US, Norwegian or British military aircraft that it says came close to entering Russian airspace.

The incidents come at a time of high tension between Russia and NATO, which is arming Ukraine to defend against Russia’s invasion.

Slovakia’s new populist prime minister Robert Fico has said he is ending military aid to Ukraine.

Mr Fico said he would “no longer supply weapons to Ukraine” but would continue to send humanitarian aid.

“I will support zero military aid to Ukraine … An immediate halt to military operations is the best solution we have for Ukraine. The EU should change from an arms supplier to a peacemaker,” he said.

Russia will build ties with North Korea in all areas, the Kremlin said.

It comes after the UK Ministry of Defence said North Korea is on course to become one of Russia’s “most significant foreign arms suppliers” alongside Iran and Belarus.

The MoD added it was “almost certain” that recent North Korean munitions shipments had now reached depots in western Russia.

Hungary cannot support the European Union’s proposed modification of the EU budget, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff has said.

He said that giving funds to Ukraine from the budget for four years was unacceptable. Mr Orban is widely considered one of Vladimir Putin’s only allies in the EU.

On Wednesday, Slovakia’s president on Wednesday appointed a new coalition government led by pro-Russian leader Robert Fico, in a move widely seen to weaken the EU’s unified approach to Russia.

South Korea, Japan and the US have strongly condemned the supply of arms and military equipment by North Korea to Russia, saying they have confirmed “several” deliveries.

“The Republic of Korea, United States, and Japan strongly condemn the provision of military equipment and munitions by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the Russian Federation for use against the government and people of Ukraine,” the statement issued by foreign ministers of the three countries said.

“Such weapons deliveries, several of which we now confirm have been completed, will significantly increase the human toll of Russia’s war of aggression.”

Researchers at University College Cork (UCC) have conducted a study which is the first of its kind to find evidence of online conspiracy theories which incorporate deepfakes. ‘Deepfakes’ are artificially manipulated audio-visual material.

The Russia-Ukraine war presented as the first real-life example of deepfakes being used in warfare.

The researchers highlight examples of deepfake videos during this war including the use of video game footage as evidence of the urban myth fighter pilot “The Ghost of Kyiv”, and a deepfake of Russian president Vladimir Putin, showing the Russian president announcing peace with Ukraine.

The study found deepfakes often undermined users’ trust in the footage they were receiving from the conflict to the point where they lost trust in any footage viewed.

As well as the threat coming from the fake content itself, researchers found genuine media contact was being labelled as deepfakes.

The Kyiv Post has reported that Russian troop losses are at an all-time high according to a new report on Wednesday.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine publishes full information on casualties and deaths following military actions.

The publication reported: “Ragnar Gudmundsson, an Iceland-based analyst tracking losses of personnel and equipment on both sides of the Russo-Ukraine War since the early days of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, in a Wednesday situation update reported Russian service personnel dead hit a probable wartime record of more than 1,400 killed in combat in a single day on 20th October, and have averaged 900 men a day killed in combat from 10-20 October, a time window coinciding almost exactly with the launch of major Russian army attacks in the Avdiivka sector.”