allowing Russia to succeed would cost infinitely more later
In Pyongyang, Russia's defence minister and Kim Jong-un formalized a deepening military alliance, as North Korean soldiers now fight alongside Russian forces in a war entering its third year. The meeting crystallized what many have long suspected: that this conflict has ceased to be a bilateral struggle and has become a contest over the architecture of global order. Western intelligence, speaking with unusual candor, warns that the cost of allowing this realignment to succeed will be measured not only in Ukrainian lives but in the long-term security of Europe itself.
- Russia and North Korea have moved from tacit alignment to formal military partnership, with Kim pledging unconditional support and troops already deployed on European soil.
- Overnight drone swarms struck Ukrainian cities, killing civilians, damaging a children's clinic, and cutting power to 70% of Mykolaiv — the war's grinding brutality showing no sign of relenting.
- Ukraine is racing to lock in Western commitments, with Zelenskyy proposing NATO protection over territory he controls as a way to freeze Russian advances before diplomatic leverage erodes further.
- MI6's chief issued a rare public warning in Paris: letting Russia win in Ukraine would not satisfy Putin but embolden him, making the long-term cost of abandonment far greater than the cost of continued support.
- The conflict's internal machinery is also shifting — Ukraine appointed a new land forces commander, France kept missile options open, and over 500 Ukrainian soldier bodies were returned from Russian custody.
Russia's defence minister Andrei Belousov traveled to Pyongyang on Friday to meet Kim Jong-un, formalizing what both governments are now openly calling expanded military cooperation across all areas. Kim pledged North Korea's unwavering support for Russia's war in Ukraine, framing Western aid to Kyiv as direct military intervention and endorsing Moscow's right to respond with force. The visit arrived as the world was still absorbing confirmation that North Korean soldiers are actively fighting alongside Russian forces in western Russia — a development that has alarmed NATO allies and sharpened the conflict's international dimensions.
For Russia, the partnership offers manpower and supplies at a moment of strategic strain. For North Korea, it offers a powerful patron and a path out of isolation. Together, the two countries are constructing a mutual legitimacy — not just sharing weapons, but sharing a worldview about who has the right to wage war and why.
Ukraine is pushing hard in the other direction. Foreign Minister Sybiha has written to NATO counterparts urging a formal membership invitation ahead of next week's Brussels meeting. President Zelenskyy went further, proposing that territory under Ukrainian control be placed under NATO's protective umbrella immediately — a move he described as unprecedented and potentially capable of freezing the front line while diplomacy recovers the rest.
The most striking intervention came from Richard Moore, head of Britain's MI6, who delivered a rare public address in Paris alongside his French counterpart. Moore argued that any settlement allowing Russia to subjugate Ukraine would not satisfy Putin's ambitions — it would simply redirect them toward other European targets. The sabotage campaigns and nuclear threats Russia has deployed to intimidate Western supporters, he said, are signs of a strategy that will not stop at Ukraine's borders. The cost of abandonment, he warned, would be infinitely higher in the long run.
On the ground, the war's brutality continued without pause. More than 100 Russian drones struck Ukraine overnight, killing at least one person and wounding eight others. A woman died in Kherson. In Kyiv, drone fragments hit a pediatric clinic. Mykolaiv lost power to 70% of its customers for a second consecutive day. Ukraine struck back, downing 47 drones and hitting an oil depot in Russia's Rostov region. Russia claimed the village of Rozdolne in the Donbas.
Zelenskyy appointed a new land forces commander, signaling internal recalibration. France pledged intensive support and kept the option of Ukrainian use of French missiles open. And more than 500 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were returned from Russian custody — most killed in the east. As the war enters its third year, the question it is forcing upon the world is no longer simply about Ukraine. It is about what kind of international order survives when the rules that once governed it are openly defied.
On Friday, Russia's defence minister Andrei Belousov sat down with North Korea's Kim Jong-un to formalize what both sides are calling an expansion of military ties. The meeting, held in Pyongyang, produced the kind of language that signals something has shifted in the relationship. Belousov told state media that Moscow and Pyongyang were now cooperating "actively in all areas, including military cooperation." Kim, for his part, pledged that North Korea would "invariably support" Russia's war in Ukraine. The timing of the visit was deliberate. It came as the world was absorbing the reality that North Korean soldiers are now fighting alongside Russian forces in western Russia—a development that has rattled Western capitals and drawn sharp condemnation from NATO and its allies.
The backdrop to this military courtship is the escalating intensity of the Ukraine conflict on day 1,011 of Russia's invasion. Kim used the occasion to frame Western support for Ukraine as a form of direct military intervention, endorsing Russia's right to take what he called "resolute action" in self-defence. This framing matters because it signals alignment not just on tactics but on how the two countries view the legitimacy of their actions. For Russia, the partnership offers manpower and military supplies at a moment when its own forces are stretched thin. For North Korea, the relationship provides a powerful patron and a way to break out of international isolation.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is pushing hard in the opposite direction. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has written to NATO counterparts urging them to extend an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance at a meeting scheduled for Brussels next week. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has gone further, proposing that Ukrainian territory currently under his control be placed under NATO's protective umbrella as a way to freeze the conflict and prevent further Russian advances. He told Sky News that this arrangement had never been formally offered before, and that moving quickly on it could allow Ukraine to recover the rest of its territory through diplomatic means rather than continued warfare.
The stakes of this moment are being articulated most forcefully by Western intelligence. Richard Moore, the head of Britain's MI6, delivered a rare public speech in Paris warning that abandoning Ukraine would be a catastrophic miscalculation. He argued that allowing Russia to subjugate Ukraine in any negotiated settlement would not satisfy Putin's ambitions—that the Russian leader would simply move on to other targets in Europe. Moore and his French counterpart condemned what they called Russia's "staggeringly reckless campaign" of sabotage across Europe, alongside its escalating nuclear threats designed to intimidate countries into withdrawing support from Kyiv. The cost of allowing Russia to succeed, Moore suggested, would be "infinitely higher" in the long term than the cost of supporting Ukraine now.
On the ground, the war continues with brutal intensity. Russian drones struck Ukraine overnight Thursday and into Friday, with more than 100 unmanned aircraft deployed in the assault. The attacks killed at least one person and wounded eight others. In Kherson, a woman was killed in a drone strike. In Odesa, thirteen residential buildings were damaged and seven people injured. In Kyiv, drone fragments hit a pediatric clinic in the Dniprovskyi district, hospitalizing a security guard and damaging nearby structures. The attacks on energy infrastructure have been particularly devastating. Two Ukrainian regions experienced power cuts on Friday, with Mykolaiv losing electricity to 70 percent of its customers for a second consecutive day.
Ukraine's military has struck back. Ukrainian forces downed 47 attack drones fired by Russia and targeted the Rostov border region, where they hit the Atlas oil depot and sparked a major fire. They also destroyed a radar station for a Russian Buk air defence system in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russia, meanwhile, claimed to have seized the village of Rozdolne in the Donbas, continuing a pattern of incremental territorial gains it has made in recent months.
President Zelenskyy has appointed Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new commander of Ukraine's land forces, signaling that internal changes are needed to meet the country's military objectives. France, through President Emmanuel Macron, has pledged intensive support for Ukraine and condemned Russia's indiscriminate strikes on civilian infrastructure. The French government has also indicated that the use of French missiles by Ukraine remains "an option" on the table.
The human toll continues to accumulate. Russian authorities returned more than 500 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in combat, with the majority having died in the eastern Donetsk region. Russia does not announce the return of its own dead. As the conflict enters its third year, the international dimension has become impossible to ignore. North Korean troops fighting alongside Russians, Western intelligence warning of broader European security risks, and Ukraine pushing for NATO membership—these are the contours of a conflict that is no longer confined to two countries but has become a test of the post-Cold War international order itself.
Citações Notáveis
Russia and North Korea are actively expanding military cooperation in all areas— Andrei Belousov, Russian defence minister
North Korea will invariably support Moscow's war in Ukraine— Kim Jong-un, North Korean leader
Allowing Russia to succeed would jeopardize British, European and U.S. security and lead to infinitely higher costs in the long term— Richard Moore, MI6 chief
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Russia need North Korean troops if it has such a large military?
Russia has suffered enormous casualties in Ukraine—hundreds of thousands killed and wounded. It needs fresh manpower, and North Korea has it. The soldiers are also expendable in a way that matters to Moscow's calculus.
What does North Korea get out of this arrangement?
Access to a powerful patron, military technology, economic support, and a way to break out of international isolation. It's also a test run for their own military capabilities in a real conflict.
Why is MI6 warning about abandoning Ukraine specifically now?
Because there's a new U.S. administration coming in, and there's genuine concern in Western intelligence that Trump might push for a quick settlement that leaves Russia in control of Ukrainian territory. Moore is essentially warning that this would be a strategic disaster.
Could Ukraine actually join NATO while the war is ongoing?
Technically, yes—NATO's rules don't forbid it. But it would mean NATO would be at war with Russia immediately. That's why Zelenskyy's proposal is clever: he's asking for protection of the territory he controls now, which might allow him to negotiate from a position of strength.
What does the return of 500 Ukrainian bodies tell us?
It's a gesture, but also a reminder of the scale of death. Russia doesn't announce its own body returns, which suggests it's either hiding the true number of its losses or simply doesn't care about the optics the way Ukraine does.
Is the power situation in Ukraine sustainable?
No. If Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure and 70 percent of a region loses power, that's a slow-motion collapse of civilian life. Winter is coming. This is as much about breaking Ukrainian will as it is about military objectives.