Ukraine updates: Seoul says 2,000 North Korean troops killed

Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russian President Vladimir Putin is "probably the biggest war criminal of our time."

"He is a war criminal," Merz told German broadcaster ProSiebenSat1, adding he has "no reason to believe" the Russian leader.

According to Merz, Putin has no reason to achieve a ceasefire with Ukraine, saying Kyiv's allies have to "create a reason ourselves."

"Militarily, it will be difficult, but economically, it could work."

Merz added it would take "financial exhaustion" to force Russia into agreeing to a ceasefire.

Matching Russian forces with a smaller population is tough for Kyiv, especially after nearly four years of war.

DW meets new soldiers and the technology helping keep Moscow at bay.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz again suggested Switzerland as an ideal neutral venue for possible negotiations between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy or their subordinates, as Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter visited Berlin on Tuesday.

"We are united by the will and the strong determination to do everything possible so that there can soon be peace between Russia and Ukraine," Merz told reporters in Berlin at the joint press conference. 

"I have assured the president that Geneva, for instance, would be a suitable venue for such a cease-fire agreement. The day after tomorrow, I will again suggest to the so-called 'coalition of the willing' that an invitation [to Geneva] be extended," he said. 

France is hosting a mostly virtual meeting to discuss the latest efforts to support Ukraine on Thursday. 

The discussion comes amid some back and forth over where would be a suitable venue for bilateral negotiations, if they materialize at all.

Switzerland's name came up as probably Europe's most notoriously neutral country, not a NATO member and also not a formal part of the EU, despite being in the Schengen free movement area withpartial access to the free trade single market.

Hungary has also voiced a willingness to negotiate, as a NATO member that maintains reasonably strong ties to Russia — but Zelenskyy said this would be "challenging" given Prime Minister Viktor Orban's reluctance to support Ukraine. Some have also noted that Budapest was the city where Ukraine gave up its share of the Soviet-era nuclear arsenal in exchange for Russian security guarantees in 1994.

Istanbul and Turkey had also been mooted, as another NATO member that hasn't burned all bridges to Moscow, while Ukraine also floated Vienna, Saudi Arabia and the Vatican as possibilities. 

The suspect in the assassination of Andriy Parubiy last weekend has admitted to murdering the pro-Western Ukrainian politician, but he denied that he was working for Russia.

Parubiy, the former speaker of Ukraine's parliament who was a prominent figure in anti-Russia protests in 2004 and 2013, was shot in broad daylight on Saturday in the western city of Lviv.

Ukrainian police have said that they believe the crime had "Russian involvement."

In a video that has been circulated in Ukrainian media, the suspect told reporters shortly before a court hearing on Tuesday that he is guilty of shooting Parubiy. 

"This is my personal revenge on the Ukrainian authorities," said the suspect, who has been named in Ukrainian media.

"I want to ask to be exchanged for prisoners so I can go and find my son’s body [in Russia]," he reportedly said.

He said Parubiy "happened to be there," adding that he would have shot any other prominent politician, including oligarch and former President Petro Poroshenko.

The alleged assailant has been denied bail and will be held for 60 days.

DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

Russia and China agreed to construct a new gas pipeline between the two countries, Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said on Tuesday.

The new pipeline is to pass through Mongolia.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller was cited by Russian state news agency TASS as saying that the price of gas was yet to be agreed upon, while adding that it would be lower than the price charged to European countries.

Russia and China have strengthened their cooperation, which they have described as a "no-limits partnership," since Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow over its February 24, 2022, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

The European Union plans to phase out Russian gas and oil from the bloc's energy supply by 2027.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with European leaders for "intensive" discussions on security guarantees for Ukraine, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a post on X.

Zelenskyy is to meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as part of the talks in Paris, Podolyak said.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

Podolyak said Kyiv was playing an active part in discussions on the "construction of Europe's postwar architecture," while also pointing to US-led efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Moscow's forces have captured the village of Fedorivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The battlefield report could not be independently verified.

Large swathes of the Donetsk region are under Russian occupation. Moscow claimed to have annexed the region in its entirety in September 2022 alongside Luhansk in the east and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.

Russian forces have made steady gains in Donetsk over the past several months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday reiterated Moscow's rejection of NATO membership for Ukraine, while dismissing European concerns over potential Russian aggression.

He made the comments during a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Beijing ahead of commemorations marking the end of World War II. 

Putin said while Russia had never opposed Ukrainian membership in the European Union, it considered Ukrainian NATO accession "unacceptable."

He dismissed fears that Russia could plan to attack other European countries, describing such ideas as either a "provocation" or a sign of "incompetence."

"Russia has no intention of attacking anyone," he said, stressing that Moscow's only goal in Ukraine was to "protect its own interests."

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and, in 2014, illegally annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

The Kremlin has, in part, justified the invasion by arguing that it was provoked by the expansion of the NATO military alliance while referring to Ukrainian membership as a red line.

Putin hailed his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska last month and said he hoped for further "constructive" talks with Washington to end the war in Ukraine. 

"There are options for ensuring Ukraine's security in the event of an end to the conflict," Putin said. "And it seems to me that there is an opportunity to find consensus here."

An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Rostov-on-Don, the capital of the southern Russian region of Rostov, forced more than 300 people to be evacuated from their homes, the regional governor said Tuesday.

In a post on Telegram, Yuri Slusar said an undetonated drone shell was discovered in an apartment in the city.

"As a precaution, 320 residents of the building are being evacuated," he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 13 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the region during the overnight attack. It did not specify how many drones were involved in the strikes.

Several apartment buildings in Rostov-on-Don were damaged, with three people, including a child, sustaining minor injuries.

A wave of Russian missiles and drones across Ukraine has killed at least five people, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday morning.

Russia launched 150 drone strikes overnight, Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Telegram, adding that 120 drones had been shot down.

Thirty drone strikes were registered at nine locations across the country.

The city of Bila Tserkva, in the Kyiv region, came under a "massive" drone attack, sparking fires at a number of buildings.

"Rescuers found one deceased person" during efforts to put out the fires, the Armed Forces said.

In the eastern region of Donetsk, one person was killed and seven others were wounded, local police said.

In Zaporizhzhia, two people — a 65-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman — were killed.

In the southern region of Kherson, Russia shelled a residential area in the village of Bilozerka, killing one person.

The European Union is expected to set a new record for military spending this year, as part of the bloc's efforts to bolster its defenses and ward off the threat posed by Russia. 

According to the European Defense Agency (EDA), "defense spending is projected to reach €381 billion ($444 billion) in 2025."

The EDA report said that last year, the bloc's 27 member states had raised military expenditure to an "unprecedented €343 billion," up by nearly 20% from the previous year.

The further 10% increase forecast for this year comes after EU countries and NATO members had pledged to boost military expenditure amid pressure from US President Donald Trump.

Defense spending has sharply increased since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"Europe is spending record amounts on defense to keep our people safe, and we will not stop there," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, explaining that the bloc would pull "every financial and political lever" at its disposal. 

"Defense today is not a nice-to-have but fundamental for the protection of our citizens. This must be the era of European defense," she added.
 

South Korea's spy agency estimates that some 2,000 soldiers deployed by North Korea to fight for Russia have been killed, a South Korean lawmaker has said.

In April, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said at least 600 North Koreans had been killed in Russia's war in Ukraine.

But after a briefing with the spy agency on Tuesday, Lee Seong-kweun told reporters the latest figures indicate that around 2,000 soldiers sent by Pyongyang have died.

According to Western and South Korean intelligence services, North Korea has deployed over 10,000 soldiers to Russia last year — mostly to the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine. Pyongyang has also provided Russia with artillery shells, missiles and rocket systems.

Lee added that the NIS believes North Korea is preparing to send an additional 6,000 troops.

"It is assessed that out of the recent third deployment plan of 6,000 troops, around 1,000 combat engineers have arrived in Russia," the lawmaker said.

Details from Russia or North Korea on the troop deployments, which reportedly began in November 2024, have been limited.

Pyongyang only acknowledged that it had sent soldiers to Russia in April, when it admitted that some of its soldiers had been killed in action.

In July, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with relatives of fallen soldiers to honor their deaths and offer condolences.
 

DW's coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine on Tuesday begins with reports from South Korean intelligence sources that around 2,000 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Moscow.

Pyongyang has deployed an estimated 10,000 soldiers to Russia, most of whom were sent to the Kursk border region.

With the war well into its third year and with no imminent ceasefire or peace deal on the cards, the European Union has been bolstering its defense capabilities to ward off the threat from Russia.

Spending on defense by the bloc is slated to reach a record €380 billion ($444 billion) this year.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia continue to trade aerial blows. Hundreds of people in a city in southern Russia were evacuated amid a Ukrainian drone attack, while at least one person was killed in a Russian airstrike on the region of Kyiv.