U KRAINE’S PRESIDENT, Volodymyr Zelensky, declared last week that North Korea is sending troops to Russia, in effect joining the invasion as a co-combatant. The appearance of one of the world’s most erratic and heavily-armed nations in the fight might test the best resourced and well-rested defences.

If North Korea were to send troops to Ukraine to fight on Russia's behalf it would significantly escalate the conflict, NATO Chief Mark Rutte said on social media platform X on Monday. Rutte, who took office at NATO at the start of the month,

It would be a "dangerous and highly concerning development" if North Korea was sending troops to help Russia in Ukraine, the United States said on Monday as South Korea and Britain warned of the high price Moscow would likely have to pay Pyongyang.

Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said that she would one day return to Russia and run for president when Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is no longer in power,

The Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was a fierce critic of President Putin. He died in an Arctic Circle jail in February while serving 19 years on extremism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated.