N. Korea confirms sending troops to help Russia – DW – 04/28/2025

Global military spending reached a new peak in 2024, according to the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The increase in spending was considerable in Europe — a direct result of the war in Ukraine.

Click here for more details from the report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his troops are still fighting in the Russian region of Kursk, despite Moscow claiming the “liberation” of its western region.

“Our military continues to perform tasks in the Kursk and Belgorod regions — we are maintaining our presence on Russian territory,” he said in his evening address Sunday.

In a statement earlier Sunday, he conceded that the situation remained difficult in many areas including Kursk.

Russia said on Saturday it had captured Gornal, the last settlement under Ukrainian control in its border Kursk region.

 But hours later Ukraine’s army dismissed Russia’s claim as “propaganda tricks.”

Plans are in place for a special tribunal to prosecute Russia’s crimes in Ukraine.

DW takes a closer look at some of the political and legal obstacles to bringing Russia’s leadership to account.

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the importance of the coming week for reaching an agreement with Russia and Ukraine to halt the fighting.

“We’re close, but we’re not close enough” to a deal to halt the fighting, Rubio told broadcaster NBC on Sunday. “I think this is going to be a very critical week.”

Rubio also warned that the Trump administration might abandon its attempts to broker a deal if Russia and Ukraine do not make headway.

“It needs to happen soon,” Rubio stressed. “We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it’s not going to come to fruition.”

US President Donald Trump said he thought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ready to give up Crimea as part of peace talks with Russia.

“Oh, I think so,” said Trump in response to a question on whether he thought Zelenskyy was ready to “give up” the territory that Russia occupied in 2014.

The statement was in direct contradiction to the Ukrainian leader’s statements on the peninsula.

Trump also said he wanted Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to “stop shooting” and sign a peace deal with Ukraine.

“Well, I want him to stop shooting, sit down, and sign a deal,” Trump said in response to a question on what he wanted from Putin.

“We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it,” he added.

Crimea is a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine.

It was seized by Russia years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022.

North Korea admitted for the first time that it has sent troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine.

State news agency KCNA said on Monday that its soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory under Ukrainian control in the border region of Kursk.

The agency said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had ordered the deployment as part of a mutual defense treaty with Russia.

“Under the order of the head of state, the sub-units of the armed forces of the Republic regarded the territory of Russia as the one of their country and proved the firm alliance between the two countries,” KCNA cited the Commission as saying.

North Korea is estimated to have sent nearly 14,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces.

Russia confirmed on Saturday for the first time that North Korean soldiers have been fighting alongside Russians in Kursk.

Moscow said last week Ukrainian forces had been expelled from the last Russian village they had been holding.

But Kyiv denied the claim and said their troops were still operating in Belgorod, another Russian region bordering Ukraine.

Welcome to DW’s coverage of developments from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine on Monday, April 28.

North Korea has admitted to sending troops to help Moscow’s forces fend of a Ukrainian incursion in Russian territory.

US President Donald Trump said he believed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ready to give up the Crimean Peninsula as part of peace talks with Russia.

In this blog, we will keep you updated as the day unfolds.