Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
North Korean soldiers fighting in Russia are using fake identification documents to hide the fact Moscow is using foreign forces in it’s war against Ukraine, Kyiv has claimed.
Ukrainian special forces said in a statement that they had recovered documents from three North Korean soldiers killed in the Russian border region of Kursk, which they said ID’d them as being Russian.
But the signatures on the documents are in Korean, which “indicates the real origin of these soldiers,” the statement added.
“This case once again confirms that Russia is resorting to any means to hide its losses on the battlefield and conceal foreign presence,” the statement said.
It comes as South Korean military officials alleged that around 1,100 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded since deploying to Russia to fight against Ukraine.
In a statement released on Monday, the South’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said: “We assess that North Korean troops, who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces, have suffered around 1,100 casualties.”
Zelensky blasts Slovak’s Fico over reluctance to drop Russian gas
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday criticised Slovak prime minister Robert Fico for his reluctance to end Slovakia’s dependence on Russian gas, describing it as a “big security issue” for Europe and noting that Mr Fico had rejected compensation.
Mr Zelensky made the comments after the Slovak prime minister met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday. Mr Fico had accused Mr Zelensky of opposing any gas transit through Ukraine to Slovakia, which is dependent on gas supplies piped in via its neighbour.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it will not extend an existing transit deal for gas flows from Russia to Europe, which expires on 1 January. Payments for the gas have helped Russia to wage its almost three-year war in Ukraine, Kyiv says.
The Ukrainian leader said Mr Fico had been offered possible compensation for Slovakia for losses resulting from the expiry, as well as transit alternatives for non-Russian gas.
“Fico did not want compensation for the Slovaks,” Mr Zelensky said in his evening address.
Slovakia, which has a long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom, has said buying in gas from elsewhere would cost it $229m more in transit expenses.
Mr Zelensky gave no further details on the compensation offer but earlier on Monday said that Mr Fico was interested only in Russian gas and that £398m per year was at stake.
Mr Fico said last week that Mr Zelensky had offered €500m (£414m), which he said had been tied to Nato membership and was from Russian assets that the Slovak leader said Ukraine did not possess.
“President (Zelensky) came back to the subject of gas and asked me if I would then vote for Nato membership if he gave me 500m euros of Russian assets, and of course, I said ‘never’,” said Mr Fico, who has opposed Ukraine’s bid for a place in the transatlantic security alliance.
Namita Singh24 December 2024 03:30
It’s difficult to feel festive, say Ukrainians marking third Christmas in UK
Ukrainians in the UK, marking their third Christmas away from home and another milestone since Russia’s invasion, have said it can be “difficult to be in a festive mood”.
Maria Romanenko, 32, left the Kyiv region for Manchester shortly after the Russian invasion began on 24 February 2022, alongside her Mancunian partner Jez.
The couple made a perilous journey to the Polish border, where they had to wait four days for confirmation that Maria would be allowed to enter the UK with Jez. They arrived on 2 March 2022.
Ms Romanenko, a reporter who is spending her third Christmas away from home, told the PA news agency: “Christmas has not been what it used to be for me since 2022 because Christmas, of course to me at least, means friends and family, and it’s also a time for celebration and a time for reflection.”
Namita Singh24 December 2024 02:57
What will it cost to defend Britain from a growing Russian threat?
Tom Watling24 December 2024 01:30
Where Putin’s forces are making gains on the frontline in east Ukraine
Tom Watling24 December 2024 00:01
Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire on all fronts in his prayer ahead of Christmas
Tom Watling23 December 2024 20:03
Divers due to check if one of the Black Sea Russian tankers is still spilling oil
Volunteers helping to clean up a major oil spill along Russia’s Black Sea coast appealed in a video released on Monday for President Vladimir Putin to urgently send federal aid, saying that they and local authorities were overwhelmed.
The pollution, which has coated sandy beaches at and around Anapa, a popular summer resort, has caused serious problems for seabirds and everything from dolphins to porpoises.
The oil is from two ageing tankers hit by a storm on 15 December. One of the vessels split in half, while the other ran aground.
On Thursday, Putin called the incident an ecological disaster and officials from Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry say over 10,000 people are now involved in the clean-up.
But a group of around 30 local volunteers, who filmed their appeal on a beach strewn with sacks full of polluted sand, told Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that they believed the scale of the disaster was too big for local authorities to cope and demanded Moscow send urgent help.
“The local authorities do not have the professional resources and technical means to neutralise the consequences of such a large-scale disaster and have been forced to compensate for the lack of manpower by using volunteers with shovels,” a spokesperson for the group said, reading out a list of demands.
He said professional clean-up workers needed to be sent in along with scientists specialising in pollution and veterinarians to treat seabirds. Russia, he said, should also appeal to other countries for help with equipment.
“This is a cry from the soul. Such a catastrophe cannot be defeated with shovels,” a female volunteer added in the same video appeal.
Tom Watling23 December 2024 18:09
