Here’s the newest on the war and its ripple results throughout the globe.

Putin accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea “in the future,” in accordance to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. The Kremlin stated Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, subsequent month.

Kim reaffirmed his assist for Moscow, saying, “We have always supported and stand by all decisions of President Putin and the Russian government,” in accordance to the Kremlin. Kim apparently praised Russia’s “sacred struggle to defend its state sovereignty and protect its security,” repeating rhetoric utilized by Putin to defend his invasion of Ukraine.

Kim was set to fly to the Russian metropolis of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, deviating from his normal desire to journey by armored train, which he used to make the journey from Pyongyang to Vladivostok, alongside Russia’s japanese coast.

The White House is monitoring developments from the Putin-Kim summit, in accordance to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “We’ve got to see what actually shakes out of this meeting and the degree to which any kind of an arms deal was consummated,” he stated. “If they decide to move forward with some sort of arms deal, we’ll obviously take the measure of that and we’ll deal with it appropriately.”

Russia stated it thwarted drone assaults over Bryansk Oblast, a area southwest of Moscow close to the Ukrainian border. The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down drones shortly after midnight Thursday morning. The native governor said there have been no stories of casualties or injury.

Russia stated it stopped two Ukrainian assaults Thursday morning: an tried drone assault on Crimea and an tried assault on a patrol boat from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The Russian Defense Ministry stated on Telegram that air defenses shot down the drones over Crimea, and the patrol boat’s defenses “destroyed” 5 unmanned boats. Ukraine didn’t instantly affirm the assaults. Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Russia’s Defense Ministry stated two ships present process repairs in Sevastopol have been broken by an assault that it blamed on Ukraine. Air protection methods shot down seven cruise missiles, and a Russian patrol ship destroyed all enemy unmanned boats, it added. Sevastopol is a strategically vital port metropolis on the Crimean Peninsula.

Ukraine’s army intelligence service stated the Sevastopol strike broken a Russian submarine and a touchdown vessel. The Washington Post couldn’t independently confirm the stories. At least 24 individuals have been injured in the assault early Wednesday, according to Mikhail Razvozhayev, a Kremlin-appointed official overseeing the space, who stated the assault resulted in a hearth.

Analysis from our correspondents

Russia’s armed forces are churning by way of artillery in Ukraine at an unsustainable price, The Post’s Adam Taylor writes, forcing Putin to attempt to discover methods to bolster the army’s stockpile of ammunition. That could have contributed to Kim’s visit to Russia this week, the place the two leaders are anticipated to talk about supplying artillery, although it’s unclear precisely how a lot North Korea may provide to Russia.

Min Joo Kim contributed to this report.