Reports that Pyongyang troops are assembling in Russia’s Far East and possibly already in Ukraine will be met with unease in Beijing.

Ukraine and South Korea have also raised an alarm over North Korea allegedly sending soldiers to assist the Russian war effort. They had since been deployed to three different training grounds in the Russian Far East, he added. “If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they are fair game,” Mr Kirby said.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reported that Ukrainian defenders repelled 38 Russian assaults on the Pokrovsk front on 24 October, particularly near the city of Selydove. In total,

Julian Röpcke, a military analyst for the German newspaper Bild, has claimed that Russian troops have entered the town of Selydove in Donetsk Oblast. Source: Röpcke on X (Twitter); Ukrainska Pravda sources in Ukraine's Armed Forces Details: The analyst pointed out that the 15th Brigade Kara-Dah of Ukraine's National Guard has been successfully fending off Russian attacks in recent weeks.

Russian forces are pressing on Selydove (Donetsk region) from different directions and are trying to infiltrate the city. Ukrainian forces are driving out enemy infantry, but whether they can hold the city depends on controlling the logistics routes.

Britain and Germany signed a landmark defence agreement on Wednesday and pledged to co-operate on exercises on NATO's eastern flank as they stressed the need for Europe to be able to defend itself given possible escalation in the war in Ukraine.

Officials say German submarine-hunting planes will patrol the North Atlantic from a base in Scotland under a new Britain-Germany defense pact in response to the growing threat from Russia

Britain and Germany will sign a defence agreement on Wednesday, the first of its kind between Europe's two biggest spenders on defence, which includes a commitment to develop new deep-strike weapons.