Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Zelensky affords to ‘cede territory’ for Nato seat amid North Korea army talks

The world is at its most dangerous point for 40 years, the head of MI6 has warned, accusing Russia of waging a “staggeringly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe to undermine support for Ukraine.

Sir Richard Moore also said the West could face a “reckoning” as potential terrorists are radicalised over war in the Middle East.

“In 37 years in the intelligence profession I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious,” Sir Richard said, adding that if “Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there”.

Andy Gregory reports.

Russian forces have killed five Ukrainian prisoners of war in Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general.

In a statement on Facebook, the prosecutor general said an investigation has been launched after Russian forces shot five out of six captured Ukrainian soldiers.

Investigators also received a video of the moment the shooting was recorded, the prosecutor said.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his Nato counterparts to issue an invitation to Kyiv at a meeting in Brussels next week to join the Western military alliance.

In a letter sent to the members of Nato, Ukraine has renewed push to secure an invitation to join the alliance, which is part of a “victory plan” outlined last month by president Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Mr Zelensky told UK-based Sky News that offering Ukraine Nato membership while allowing Russia to keep for the moment territory it had captured could be a solution to end the “hot stage” of the 33-month-old war.

“The invitation should not be seen as an escalation,” Mr Sybiha wrote in the letter, Reuters reported.

“On the contrary, with a clear understanding that Ukraine’s membership in NATO is inevitable, Russia will lose one of its main arguments for continuing this unjustified war,” he wrote.

“I urge you to endorse the decision to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance as one of the outcomes of the Nato Foreign Ministerial Meeting on 3-4 December 2024.”

Ukrainian poet and screen writer Myroslav Herasymovych was reportedly killed in the frontline in Donetsk Oblast, according to his brother.

“In the battle with Russia, my brother, Myroslav, gave away his life in the city of Avdiivka,” his brother Taras Kulyk wrote on Facebook.

Herasymovych was killed on 25 November just four days before his 57th birthday, the sibling added.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested he would temporarily cede Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato.

Mr Zelensky said Nato membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of the country to end the “hot phase” of the war and appeared to accept eastern parts of the country would fall outside this deal.

It comes after reports claimed one of US president-elect Donald Trump’s plans to end the war might be for Kyiv to cede the land Moscow has taken in exchange for Ukraine joining the alliance.

Alexander Butler reports.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un vowed his country will “invariably support” Russia’s war in Ukraine as he met Russia’s defence chief.

A Russian military delegation led by defence minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday, amid growing international concern about the two countries’ expanding cooperation after North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia last month.

Mr Kim said that North Korea “will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony”, according to state media KCNA.

North Korea has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a defensive response to what both Moscow and Pyongyang call Nato’s “reckless” eastward advance and US-led moves to stamp out Russia’s position as a powerful state.

President Vladimir Putin has said that a massive Russian overnight attack on Ukrainian infrastructure was a response to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian regions using longer-range Western missiles.

Russia had unleashed its second big attack on Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure this month on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said. This cut power to more than 1 million people in the west, south, and centre of the country.

Speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, Putin told members of a security alliance made up of ex-Soviet states:

“Tonight we conducted a comprehensive strike using 90 missiles of similar classes and 100 drones. Seventeen targets were hit.

“These are military facilities, defence industry facilities and their support systems. Let me repeat once again: these strikes on our part also took place in response to the ongoing strikes (by Ukraine) on Russian territory with American ATACMS missiles. As I have already said many times, there will always be a response from our side.”

Ukraine has urged the international community to react to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats to strike government targets in Kyiv, accusing him of “blackmail” intended to test the incoming Trump administration.

Putin had said Russia could use its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile to attack “decision-making centres” in Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s firing of Western missiles at Russian territory.

“We expect those countries that have urged everyone to avert the expansion of the war to react to the statements voiced by Putin today,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.

Tykhyi described Putin’s rhetoric as “blackmail” aimed at discouraging Kyiv’s partners and testing US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to seek a swift end to the conflict without specifying how.