Ukraine war latest: Shock over North Korean troops' actions in Ukraine - as suspect detained over killing of Russian nuclear chief

Ukraine 'dropped white phosphorus from drones', claims Moscow

We're now receiving more comments from Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

She says that Ukraine has repeatedly dropped white phosphorus munitions from its drones in September. 

Zakharova did not provide any further details, but claimed law enforcement agencies had evidence of the use of such munitions by Ukraine.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has previously accused Russia of using phosphorus. 

'Kirillov has received justice', says Ukrainian MP

Ukrainian politicians have received no confirmation of whether Kyiv's security services were responsible for the assassination of Russian general Igor Kirillov, says one of the country's MPs.

Russia's investigative committee announced this morning that it had detained a suspect who had admitted to carrying out the killing on the instruction of Ukraine's security services (see 6.42 post).

Kira Rudik told Sky's Kay Burley that MPs had not received any official confirmation on who was responsible for the killing but that, in her opinion, "he has received justice".

"When one is starting a full-scale invasion on a sovereign state, they have to expect that their generals might also be dying," she said.

The MP added that Kirillov was guilty of creating "obscure propaganda" about the presence of biohazard laboratories in Ukraine, which was used as an excuse by Vladimir Putin to launch his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia advancing at 'fastest pace this year' in eastern region

Moscow's forces are moving at their fastest pace this year in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, Kyiv's top army commander said last night.

Oleksandr Syrskyi told government and regional officials in an online speech that Russian troops continued to focus their assaults on the logistical centres of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

He conceded that the struggle to defend Donetsk was "extremely tough".

Mr Syrskyi also said that Moscow had intensified its attacks on Ukrainian forces battling to hold an enclave in Russia's Kursk region 

"For the third day the enemy is conducting intensive assaults in the Kursk region," he said, adding that Russia was "actively" using North Korean troops who were taking significant losses.

Ukraine downs more than 50 drones overnight, air force says

Russia launched 81 drones to attack Ukraine overnight, according to Kyiv's air force.

Of that number, it said 51 were shot down over 10 regions of the country, while 30 did not reach their targets.

No damage or casualties were reported in the immediate aftermath.

Russia to raise murder of general at UN Security Council

Russia's foreign ministry says it will raise the killing of Igor Kirillov with the UN Security Council.

Russia's investigative committee earlier said it had detained a citizen of Uzbekistan who had confessed to the killing yesterday on the instructions of Ukraine's security service (see 6.42 post).

It added that it was still identifying other people involved in organising the assassination. 

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said everyone involved in the killing would be found and punished.

Suspect 'offered $100,000' for Kirillov assasination

Russia's investigative committee says the suspect it has detained for the killing of Igor Kirillov was offered $100,000 (£78,500) to commit the assassination.

Svetlana Petrenko, a representative of the committee, said in a statement this morning that a man from Uzbekistan who had been detained has revealed he was recruited by Ukraine's intelligence services (see last post).

"For committing this crime, the perpetrator was guaranteed a monetary reward of 100 thousand US dollars and travel to one of the European countries to live," said Petrenko.

Russia detains suspect over killing of general

Russia says it has detained a citizen of Uzbekistan who has confessed to planting a bomb which killed Russian general Igor Kirillov yesterday on the instructions of Ukraine's security service (SBU).

Russia's investigative committee said in a statement that the unnamed suspect told them how he had placed the device on an electric scooter outside the entrance of the apartment block where Kirillov lived.

The statement said the suspect, who was born in 1995, told investigators that he had set up a surveillance camera in a hire car nearby and that the organisers of the assassination had used the camera to remotely detonate the bomb.

Russia's investigative committee says it is identifying other people involved in organising the assassination. 

North Koreans 'don't understand what's happening' on the battlefield - with 'several hundred' casualties so far

North Korea has suffered "several hundred" casualties while fighting alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region, a senior US military official said this week.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the figure included everything from "light wounds up to being KIA (killed in action)", with soldiers of "all ranks" among the casualties.

Yesterday, Ukraine's special forces said 50 North Korean soldiers had died in three days of fighting in the border region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said as many as 10,000-12,000 troops from Pyongyang had been sent to fight in Ukraine.

Here's the latest battlefield situation from the region..

'They don't understand what's happening'

Kyiv's forces have been able to distinguish North Korean troops from Russian forces on the battlefield due to them moving in large groups, a Ukrainian drone commander told The Washington Post.

"The North Koreans are running across the fields, and there are so many of them. They don't understand what's happening," he said.

"I don't know if they don't understand what's going on or if the Russians are deliberately sending them like that. I can't say."

He added that Ukrainian drones, artillery and other weaponry easily found their targets "because they were moving in the open field". 

"You can imagine the result," he said.

"We were very surprised, we had never seen anything like it — 40 to 50 people running across a field. 

"That's a perfect target for artillery and Mavic (drone) operators. Russians never ran like that."

-SKY NEWS