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Russia’s Shoigu Meets North Korea’s Kim in Pyongyang 

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting of Russia's President with secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in Saint Petersburg on September 12, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting of Russia's President with secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in Saint Petersburg on September 12, 2024. (AFP)
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Russia’s Shoigu Meets North Korea’s Kim in Pyongyang 

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting of Russia's President with secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in Saint Petersburg on September 12, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting of Russia's President with secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in Saint Petersburg on September 12, 2024. (AFP)

Top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to Pyongyang on Friday, Russian news agencies said.

The visit took place at a critical juncture in the war in Ukraine, for which the United States says North Korea has supplied ammunition and ballistic missiles to Russia.

The US and its allies are weighing a decision on whether to let Ukraine use Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia. President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that if that happened, the West would be fighting directly with Russia.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied arms transfers but have vowed to boost military ties. Russia has deepened its relations with North Korea since the start of the Ukraine war, and Kim received Putin on a state visit in June.

Shoigu was Russian defense minister until May, and is now secretary of the Security Council which brings together Putin, his military and intelligence chiefs and other senior figures.

"As part of the ongoing strategic dialogue between our countries, a substantive exchange of views took place with Korean colleagues on a wide range of issues on the bilateral and international agenda," state news agency RIA quoted the Security Council as saying.

It said the meetings took place in an "exceptionally trusting, friendly atmosphere" and would make an important contribution to the implementation of agreements reached between Putin and Kim at their summit three months ago.

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Russian War Bloggers Report New Ukrainian Attack in Kursk Region

People wait at a bus stop next to a reinforced concrete bomb shelter installed in a street in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kursk, Russia August 28, 2024. The sign on the construction reads: "Shelter". REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People wait at a bus stop next to a reinforced concrete bomb shelter installed in a street in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kursk, Russia August 28, 2024. The sign on the construction reads: "Shelter". REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Russian War Bloggers Report New Ukrainian Attack in Kursk Region

People wait at a bus stop next to a reinforced concrete bomb shelter installed in a street in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kursk, Russia August 28, 2024. The sign on the construction reads: "Shelter". REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People wait at a bus stop next to a reinforced concrete bomb shelter installed in a street in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kursk, Russia August 28, 2024. The sign on the construction reads: "Shelter". REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Ukrainian forces have launched a major new attack in Russia's western Kursk region, Russian military bloggers reported on Sunday.
Ukrainian troops broke across the border in a surprise incursion on Aug. 6, and for the past five months have resisted Russian attempts to expel them.
Reports from the Russian bloggers, who support Moscow's war in Ukraine but have often reported critically on failings and setbacks, indicated that the latest Ukrainian assault had put Russian forces on the defensive.
"Despite strong pressure from the enemy, our units are heroically holding the line," the Operativnye Svodki (Operational Reports) channel said.
It said artillery and small-arms battles were taking place, and Ukraine was using Western-armored vehicles to bring in large numbers of infantry.
The reports, which Reuters could not independently verify, said fighting was concentrated near the town of Bolshoye Soldatskoye.
But one influential blogger, Yuri Podolyak, said this was most likely a Ukrainian distraction manoeuvre, possibly to prepare a strike on Glushkovo, further west. He recommended civilians there and in another town, Korenevo, to evacuate.
Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 troops from Russia's ally North Korea have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow's forces. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Russian and North Korean forces had suffered heavy losses.
"In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops," Zelenskiy said. "This is significant."
The president provided no specific details. A battalion can vary in size but is generally made up of several hundred troops.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in response to a question at his marathon annual phone-in last month that Russia would definitely drive Ukrainian forces out of Kursk but declined to set a date for when this would happen.
Russia's defense ministry did not mention Kursk in its latest battlefield update on Sunday.
BARGAINING CHIP
Ukraine's unexpected success in biting off a slice of Russian territory and holding on to it since last August could provide it with an important bargaining chip as both sides gear up for possible peace talks this year.
Both have been striving to improve their battlefield positions before US President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20. Trump has repeatedly said he will bring a quick end to the war, but without saying how.
By committing some of its most effective units to the Kursk offensive, Ukraine has, however, weakened the defense of its own eastern regions where Russian forces have advanced since August at their most rapid pace since 2022.
The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that the "hottest" front was near Pokrovsk, an important road and rail hub towards which Russia has been pressing for months.
On Sunday, Ukraine's air defenses shot down 61 out of 103 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, the air force said. Russia said it had destroyed five Ukrainian drones over Russian territory.