Svitlana Morenets

In Russia’s far east, North Korean soldiers are reportedly being trained to fight in the war against Ukraine. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian intelligence, has said that more than 10,000 North Korean troops will not only assist and train Russian forces, but also fight alongside them – starting next month. At least 2,600 of these troops could be deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, to free up Russian soldiers to join Vladimir Putin’s offensive in the Donbas. Zelensky said this means North Korea has ‘effectively joined’ the war South Korea’s spy agency reports that North Korea is sending 12,000 men from four brigades, including elite special forces, to join the war in Ukraine, with deployment already in progress.

Two years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was hailed as a hero in America. He was the man who stood up to Putin, who saw off the pillar of Russian tanks advancing on Kyiv – the man who’d fight the revanchist autocracy so the West didn’t have to. How times have changed. To a great many in Washington he is now a liability, a hustler, someone trying to pour American money and his countrymen’s lives into an unwinnable war. An increasing number of Republicans are making him the scapegoat for a war that only the Kremlin can end. The outcome of next month’s US presidential election will be watched more closely in Ukraine than perhaps even in America. Kamala Harris has pledged to do ‘everything’ to help Ukraine win the war.

In Ukraine, there is a joke: never waste time memorising the names of ministers – they’ll be replaced soon enough. Volodymyr Zelensky’s penchant for firing and rehiring every few months has become a signature of his presidency since 2019. This week has not been different, ​​with the largest government shake-up since the full-scale war began. Or, as it turned out, just a reshuffle of the same familiar faces. ‘We need new energy today,’ Zelensky declared, as he instructed the Ukrainian parliament to dismiss and reappoint almost half the cabinet – eight ministers in total. ‘Autumn will be important for Ukraine. Our institutions must be set up so the country achieves all the results it needs.

At a press conference in Kyiv today, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about his strategy to end Russia's war. He has a plan which he says he will present next month to Joe Biden and to the two contenders to succeed him: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. He also confirmed The Spectator’s report that the objective of the Kursk operation is ‘one of the key points’ as collateral in a negotiation which, he says, will ‘force Russia to end the war through diplomacy’. Zelensky’s peace plans have often seemed overly ambitious We’re now in week four of the battle in the Kursk region, with Ukrainian forces taking control of about 100 Russian settlements. The offensive has slowed but presses on. ‘We need to have a strong position at the summit [in November],’ said Zelensky today.

I have been in Kyiv for a few weeks. The city has felt safe thanks to its improved air defences. But that changed this morning when the capital came under a huge attack. Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, Okhmatdyt, was hit by Russian missiles. The area is strewn with collapsed concrete and smoke is rising still. Children may remain trapped under the rubble.  People are rushing to help – queuing to deliver water, food and medicine. Some have come to donate blood. Children have been taken out of the hospital on trolleys and are now in the streets, while some continue to receive their cancer treatments via IV drips. Mothers stand with their bed-ridden children outside the collapsed ward that was only recently rebuilt.

David Cameron publicly said it was up to Ukraine to decide whether to use British weapons to strike targets on Russian territory earlier this month. But nothing has happened since then: no Storm Shadow missiles have flown over the Ukraine-Russia border. Last night, Volodymyr Zelensky explained why: the UK had not given ‘100 per cent permission’ to do so. ‘We raised this issue twice. We did not get confirmation from him [Cameron].’ In reality, Downing Street is waiting on the Americans, he said.The calls for the US and other allies to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with western arms have grown louder after Russia launched a second offensive in the Kharkiv region.

The Ukrainian parliament has finally stopped delaying the inevitable and voted for a new law that tightens mobilisation processes, strengthens penalties for draft dodgers and allows the government to track Ukrainian men of military age who are living abroad, at its second reading yesterday. Once the law is signed by Volodymyr Zelensky, more men aged 25 and over will undergo military training for two to three months, then head to the front line in time for Russia’s summer offensive. But not everything went smoothly. By the request of Oleksandr Syrskyi, the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, lawmakers have removed provisions on demobilisation and the rotation of military personnel from the bill.