𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

North Korean ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine by Russian forces since late December have been far more precise than salvos of the weapons launched over the past year, two senior Ukrainian sources told Reuters.

At a time when Moscow’s burgeoning ties with Pyongyang are causing alarm from Washington to Seoul, the increase in accuracy – to within 50-100m of the intended target – suggests North Korea is successfully using the battlefield to test its missile technology, the sources said.

A military source, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information, described a marked improvement in the precision in all the more than 20 North Korean ballistic missiles that hit Ukraine over the past several weeks. A second source, a senior government official familiar with the issue, confirmed the findings when asked by Reuters.

Yang Uk, a weapons expert at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said such improvements in North Korean missile capabilities have troubling implications for its potential to threaten South Korea, Japan and the United States or sell upgraded weapons to “failed” states or armed groups.

“That can have a major impact on stability in the region and the world,” he said, in response to questions for this story.

North Korea’s military programmes have developed rapidly in recent years, including short- and intermediate-range missiles that Pyongyang says can be tipped with nuclear warheads. However, until its involvement in Ukraine, the long-isolated nation had never tested the new weapons in combat.

He said on Monday he wants “equalisation” from Ukraine for the US’ “close to $300 billion” in support.

“We’re telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths,” Mr Trump said. “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things.”

Below, we look at where these resources are in Ukraine, and why Kyiv has struggled to mine these minerals.

Russia launched 77 drones and two ballistic Iskander-M missiles to attack Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s military said this morning.

Ukraine’s air force shot down 56 drones and 18 more did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare, it added in a statement on Telegram channel.

The Ukrainian military launched an attack on an airfield in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, resulting in explosions and a fire, its military official said.

Russian forces use the airfield to store and launch drones to attack Ukraine and maintain aircraft carrying out missions in Ukraine’s southern regions, the military added.

The Trump administration is reportedly set to present its peace plan aimed at ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine at a security conference in Munich next week.

Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, will present president Donald Trump’s plan at the conference, reported Bloomberg, citing sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The format of the peace plan was not immediately clear.

Mr Kellogg has already confirmed his participation in the conference. “As the US president’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, I look forward to speaking about Donald Trump’s goal to end the bloody and costly war in Ukraine,” he wrote on X.

“I’ll meet with America’s allies who are ready to work with us,” he added.

North Korean troops have been pulled back from the frontline amid devastating losses, according to Ukrainian and American officials.

A series of drone attacks by Ukraine on Russia’s energy facilities have sparked fires in recent days at a major oil refinery in the Volgograd region, as well as at the Astrakhan gas processing plant.