Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
North Korean soldiers participate in a commemorative march in the plaza of the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang on April 25, 2025, to mark the 93rd anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army. (Kim Won Jin / AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. and South Korea on April 28 denounced North Korea's acknowledgment of sending its troops to aid Russia in the war against Ukraine, with Seoul calling it an "admission of criminal act."
The statements come as both Moscow and Pyongyang admitted for the first time that North Korean soldiers were dispatched to fight alongside Russia in Kursk Oblast, with Russian President Vladimir Putin lauding them as "heroes."
"With their public admission of the deployment, while claiming they are fully in accordance with international law, they are once again mocking the international community. We strongly condemn this action," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said, according to Yonhap News Agency.
South Korean authorities said the move undermines the "stability in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," violates international norms, and urged North Korea and Russia to "cease their unlawful military cooperation."
In comments for Reuters, a U.S. State Department spokesperson also called on North Korea to cease its actions, noting that Moscow has also violated U.N. Security Council resolutions by training North Korean soldiers.
North Korea is among the countries whose support for Moscow has "perpetuated the Russia-Ukraine war" and "bears responsibility" for the conflict, the spokesperson said.
Pyongyang has dispatched around 11,000 soldiers to Russia in the fall of 2024 to help fight off a Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian and South Korean officials said. An additional 3,000 troops were reportedly sent earlier this year after Kyiv reported that more than a third of North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured in combat.
Russia and North Korea admitted to the involvement shortly after the Kremlin announced the "completion" of its operation to retake Kursk Oblast, even as Ukraine says the fighting there is ongoing.
"The Russian people will never forget the achievement of the fighters of the Korean special forces," Putin said in a statement published by the Kremlin on April 28.
"We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our shared freedom, alongside their Russian brothers-in-arms."
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has been one of the key allies of Russia during its full-scale war against Ukraine, providing not only soldiers but also artillery shells, ballistic missiles, and other supplies.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Olena Goncharova
