Ukraine war latest: Kim offers Putin 'everything possible to help' as Kremlin responds to Trump's 'conspiracy' message

Russia takes control of half of Kupiansk according to report - frontlines

The Russian defence ministry has published a video it claims shows its forces controlling half of Kupiansk, Reuters news agency reports.

The city is a strategically important transport hub that would represent an important gain for Moscow.

It comes as one child was among 14 people injured in a Russian strike in the Donetsk region.

The region sees some of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine's east and is reportedly a part of Vladimir Putin's demands for an end to fighting.

Vladimir Putin's defiant message to the world after meeting with Kim

It's not the images from Vladimir Putin's meeting with Kim Jong Un that will worry Ukraine and its allies, but the words. 

After thanking the North Korean leader for his help expelling Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region earlier this year, Kim replied by pledging his full support to Moscow, and promised to do "everything I can to assist".

It is an ominous warning and further proof that for Moscow, this is a friendship with deepening strategic benefits.

Kim's saying that he's supplied troops before, and is more than happy to do so again.

So if there was any hope Ukraine and Europe had that Russia might run out of manpower soon, it's probably just been extinguished.

That'll be one source of concern - the other will be Xi Jinping's apparent unconditional endorsement of Putin.

China says it's neutral when it comes to Ukraine, but it didn't look like it here. 

Xi sat the Russian president at his right-hand side for the parade, and gave him star billing.

This is a man who's been waging war on his neighbour for the last three and a half years, and was even doing so while the parade was going on. 

As Xi was talking about the importance of peace, Russian forces were carrying out another sweeping aerial attack on Ukraine.

It shows how emboldened the Kremlin leader is by the events of the past few days.

He has the economic backing from China and India.

He has more military support, if he needs it, from North Korea.

And his message to Ukraine, to Europe and to Donald Trump is that Russia can carry on for as long as it takes, until it gets what it wants.

Kim shakes hands with South Korea parliament speaker

In a surprising turn of events, Kim Jong Un has shaken hands with the speaker of South Korea's National Assembly, Woo Won-shik.

Woo's office said the pair met at the start of the parade.

North and South Korea are still technically at war because the Korean War ended with an armistice agreement in 1953, not a formal peace treaty. Tensions remain high between the neighbours, with both having troops stationed at the shared border.

While Seoul has called for the resumption of dialogue with Pyongyang, North Korea has so far rebuffed overtures.

Woo's office also said he had met Vladimir Putin and that the Russian leader asked if there was any message he could relay to Kim (see our previous post for more on their meeting).

Korea was split into communist and democratic countries after the Second World War, and its own war from 1950-1952 led to the deaths of three million people.

Putin invites Kim to Russia before a goodbye hug

We've had some more detail on the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.

The Russian leader has invited Kim to visit Russia, according to the country's state media.

After their 90-minute formal meeting, they spoke for another hour before Putin escorted Kim to his car, RIA Novosti said.

In footage, the two leaders were all smiles as they left the venue and shook hands and hugged.

Kim said a new meeting would take place soon.

-SKY NEWS