Ukraine-Russia war latest: North Korea says US move in Ukraine is causing 'concern' (2024)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked "partners" as he said Ukraine is "making every effort" to use drones more effectively.

In addition to posting some pictures on X, the Ukrainian president said he wanted to thank people who train drone operators, as well as "our warriors for their efficiency".

He added: "I thank everyone involved in the production and those who ensure better protection of the Ukrainian skies through their work."

Ukrainian servicemen have been saying goodbye to their visiting partners at the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.

The men were on a short break from frontline duty.

Russia's defence ministry says its forces have taken control of thevillage of sem*nivka in the eastern Donetsk region.

Yesterday,the ministry announced the capture of another village, Novobakhmutivka.

Ocheretyne, also near by, has been a focal point of fighting in recent days.

Ukraine's top general, speaking yesterday, said fighting had intensified in the east of the country, with troops falling back in three areas.

Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russian troops had achieved "certain tactical successes" in the villages of Berdychi, sem*nivka and Novomykhailivka.

Ukraine has confirmed that chatbots used by its security agencies on Telegram have been restored after being temporarily blocked.

We reported earlier (6.56am post) that Kyiv's security service described their blocking as "unreasonable".

Now, Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communication has said three affected bots, used by Ukraine's SBU securityservice, the GUR and digital ministry for the war effort, had been restored.

A Telegram spokesperson said they were "temporarily disableddue to a false positive but have since been reinstated".

The number of civilians killed or injured in Ukraine in March was 604, according to the UN, which has a human rights monitoring team in the country.

The figure is 20% higher than February's.

The UK defence ministry, highlighting the numbers in its daily intelligence update, said 57 children were reported killed in March, "double the previous month".

Their deaths have been "attributed directly to Russian use of aerial munitions", the MoD said.

Civilian deaths in general are attributed to "missile and aerial-munitions strikes throughout Ukraine and increased bombardment at the frontlines".

The UN's report highlights an increase in coordinated strikes on critical Ukrainian infrastructure, with 20 sites "destroyed or damaged".

In total, there have been 31,366 civilian casualties in Ukraine since 24 February 2022, the MoD said (including areas Russia is controlling).

Of those, 10,810 were killed and 20,556 were wounded.

We reported earlier in our big picture post (6.27am post) that Oleksandr Pivnenko, who commands Ukraine's National Guard, is not ruling out a Russian attempt to target Kharkiv - Ukraine's second-largest city.

Kharkiv has been the focus of recent air attacks.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) thinktank assesses that the Russian military "lacks the forces necessary to seize the city".

But the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, has said the threat of an invasion is causing Ukraine to allocate additional resources to defend the city - weakening forces elsewhere.

The ISW said: "Syrskyi noted that Ukrainian forces have recently improved their positions near Synkivka (east of Kharkiv)."

The Russians' "combat effectiveness" can be questioned because of their "inability to seize Synkivka despite repeated mass infantry and mechanized assaults", the ISW said.

It went on: "ISW continues to assess that a potential future Russian offensive to seize Kharkiv City would be an extremely ambitious undertaking that would pose significant challenges to Russian forces, particularly since Russian forces will be facing better-equipped Ukrainian forces following the arrival of US military assistance."

Telegram has reportedly restored some blocked Ukrainian bots.

They include those of the security service and ministry of digital transformation, the Kyiv Post said on X.

As we reported earlier (6.56am post) the security service said Telegram had "unreasonably" blocked bots that "opposed Russia's military aggression against Ukraine".

Three men who are entrepreneurs in their day jobs have been assembling drones in a home kitchen in Kyiv.

Denys, Yaw and Eugene send the tiny aircraft on to the Ukrainian armed forces.

There is concern within the international community about the US supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine, North Korea has said.

As we report in our big picture post (6.27am post) Kyiv has used long-range ballistic missiles from the US against Russia twice this month, according to NBC News.

"The US has secretlysupplied long-range missiles to Ukraine, sparking off uneasinessand concern of the international community," North Korea's defence ministry said.

"The US can never defeat the heroic Russian army andpeople with any latest weaponry or military support," it added, according tostate news agencyKCNA.

Professor Michael Clarke, Sky News's military analyst, has said North Korea is supplying weapons to Russia - facilitated by China.

Official bots that oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been blocked by the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine's military spy agency has claimed.

Ukraine's own bot was included, GUR added.

"Today, the management of the Telegram platform unreasonablyblocked a number of official bots that opposed Russia's militaryaggression against Ukraine, including the main intelligencebot," GUR said in a statement posted on Telegram.

"Despite the blocking of our bot, your personal data issafe."

A bot is a piece of software that can run on its own,mimicking conversations or collecting content.

Telegram, which is based in Dubai,was founded by Russian-bornPavel Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to complywith government demands to shut down opposition groups onanother social media platform.

Since the Ukraine war began in February 2022, both Ukraine and Russia have used the app to share updates.

Almost all major media outlets, government departments and publicfigures in both countries have channels onTelegram.

Telegram's press service did not immediately reply to a request for comment, Reuters said.