Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy prepared to offer swap of seized Kursk land
www.theguardian.com
Wed, 12 Feb 2025 02:56:40 +0200
Ukrainian president does not say which Russianheld territory he would seek in return during any negotiations Kyiv seeks recruits below draft age.
What we know on day 1,085Volodymyr Zelenskyy will offer Vladimir Putin a swap of Ukrainianoccupied territory in Kursk for Russianheld land in Ukraine, if Donald Trump manages to bring them to the negotiating table, Shaun Walker reports.
We will swap one territory for another, the Ukrainian president said in an exclusive interview, adding that he did not know which part of Russianoccupied land Ukraine would ask for in return.
I dont know, we will see.
But all our territories are important, there is no priority.Russia released American schoolteacher Marc Fogel on Tuesday after an unannounced visit to Moscow by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Fogel, 63, had been detained in Russia since August 2021 and was serving a 14year sentence.
Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug smuggling over 17 grams of marijuana which he said was for medical use in his luggage.
Donald Trump called the release a show of good faith from the Russians, Pjotr Sauer writes.
I hope thats the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war and millions of people can stop being killed.
When combined, some estimates of Russian and Ukrainian casualties both dead and injured approach one million.North Korea has sent about 200 longrange artillery guns to Russia, the South Korean news agency Yonhap has reported, quoting the defence ministry in Seoul.
The type was not specified, but there have been other reports in recent weeks of Russia receiving Koksan selfpropelled artillery guns from Kim Jonguns regime.The ministry also estimated North Korea had sent about 11,000 troops to support Russia, with 300 of them since killed and 2,700 wounded.
There is the possibility of the North additionally supplying troops, weapons and ammunition going forward, the ministry said in a briefing to the parliamentary defence committee.
The continuing role of North Korean troops in Ukraine has been unclear for several weeks.
South Koreas National Intelligence Service last week said they had been pulled back from the frontline in Kursk amid heavy losses, Justin McCurry reported.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy then quickly countered that the North Koreans were back in battle.Polands army said a Russian Su24MR bomber flying from Kaliningrad violated Polish airspace for one minute 12 seconds and flew up to 6.5km into its territory on Tuesday.
Poland said the Russian army blamed a navigation system failure.
It came a day after Polands prime minister, Donald Tusk, announced recordhigh spending focused on security and spoke of the need to protect the Baltic Sea from acts of diversion and sabotage.Ukraines defence ministry launched a recruitment drive for young people on Tuesday, encouraging 18 to 24yearolds to volunteer to serve in the military for a year for the equivalent of about 24,000 plus large bonuses and subsidised mortgages and rents.
Ukrainians can be conscripted only once they turn 25.
The under25 volunteer contracts also offer a 12month exemption from mobilisation when completed.Ukrainian natural gas production facilities were damaged in a heavy Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraines central Poltava region over Tuesday night, officials, said on Tuesday.
Ukraine hit a refinery in Russias Saratov region about 500km 300 miles from Ukraines border, and there were reports of an attack on Engels, an industrial city in the Saratov region with the main base of Russias nuclearcapable strategic bombers located nearby.
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