Russia has responded to the recent ultimatum issued by the U.S., urging an end to the war in Ukraine. This ultimatum came from Donald Trump, who called on Russia to engage in peace talks or face severe consequences.

North Korea is likely preparing to send additional troops to Russia after suffering heavy losses in battles against Ukrainian forces, South Korea's military said Friday.

A thousand North Korean troops who have been fighting in the Kursk region of Russia have been killed in Vladimir Putin ’s war with Ukraine, officials have said. Western officials have told the BBC that 36 per cent of North Korean forces fighting in Russia had been killed, injured or captured by mid-January.

Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have indicated that the new deployment of North Korean troops will sustain the current pace of infantry assaults in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. However,

Pyongyang's monthly troop losses could skyrocket if it deploys more troops to the frontlines in Kursk and continues sustaining high losses.

UK Defence Intelligence has analysed that as of January 2025, North Korea has already lost about 4,000 military personnel in the Russian-Ukrainian war who took part in the fighting in Russiaʼs Kursk Oblast.