The Russian invasion

The Russian invasion The battles
A chance to see the world – for young North Koreans, the war is a “unique opportunity”

From the North Korean perspective, the war in Ukraine may appear as a rare opportunity, rather than an obvious risk of becoming cannon fodder. This is reported by AP, which has spoken to former North Korean soldiers.

The soldiers may see the service as a chance to earn money, to see a foreign country for the first time and to obtain benefits for their families back home in North Korea.

- They are young and do not understand exactly what it means. For them, it is an honor to be selected to be sent to Russia, said Lee Woong-gil, a former member of the special forces sent to the war.

Lee Woong-gil defected to South Korea in 2007.

- Most of them probably won't make it home alive.

Ahn Chan-il, a former lieutenant in the North Korean army, agrees that many soldiers want to see the world.

- Going to Russia is seen as a unique opportunity.

The Russian invasion The battles
Details: Swedish volunteer soldier has died in Ukraine

A Swedish man who has fought for Ukraine has died in battle. This is stated by several sources for SVT Nyheter.

The man traveled down to Ukraine in 2022 and according to the information he was killed last week. Among other things, he is said to have worked in Kyiv, Bachmut and in Russia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs tells SVT that they are not aware of the current cases.

"The Foreign Ministry can confirm that eight Swedish citizens have died in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. With reference to consular secrecy, the Foreign Ministry is not providing any further information about the persons or the cause of death," writes the Foreign Ministry.

The Russian invasion Swedish reactions
Kristersson criticizes the UN chief: "Understands the disappointment"

The fact that UN Secretary-General António Guterres met Vladimir Putin in Russia last week has caused criticism from Ukraine. And Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) understands that Ukrainians are disappointed that Guterres met Putin and "literally" embraced Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko.

- He (Guterres) did not participate in the peace conference in Switzerland and, as far as I know, he has not been to Kyiv. I understand the disappointment, says Kristersson to TT.

He adds that Guterres has a difficult job which includes meeting leaders who violate the UN Charter, but that one should think about what kind of signals this trip sent.

- The UN is an important institution and one must be careful about the UN. But the UN must also be careful about its own reputation. It is incredibly important, he says.

The Russian invasion The peace negotiations
New talks on stopping attacks on infrastructure

Ukraine and Russia have slowly begun to resume talks about ending attacks on each other's energy infrastructure, according to reports in the Financial Times.

The negotiations, which are taking place with Qatar as mediator, are said to be at a very early stage.

A deal would be the most significant de-escalation since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says there is a lot of information out there that "has nothing to do with reality," writes Reuters.