Ukraine-Russia war ends: Vladimir Putin congratulates 'brave man' Donald Trump - 'almost 100 drones' launched into Ukraine overnight

Hello, welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine – but first I would like to remind you of the important events.

Here’s what you need to know:

Leaders welcomed Trump again

Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensklyy congratulated Donald Trump on winning the US elections.

In his first public comments since Trump’s victory, Putin said the president-elect acted “like a real man” during an assassination attempt against him in July in Pennsylvania.

Throughout his campaign, Mr. Trump said he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine in just 24 hours, but he did not explain how he would do it.

The Russian President added that Trump said, “His desire to restore relations with Russia to help end the Ukraine crisis is, in my opinion, at least remarkable.”

Mr. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, praised Mr. Trump’s election victory and described a recent phone call with him as “excellent.”

But he also condemned calls for a ceasefire without definitive security guarantees, calling them “absurd”.

Joe Biden’s administration has previously reiterated its commitment to increasing support for Ukraine even if Mr. Trump wins the election.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said that the United States will send $6 billion in extraordinary military aid to Ukraine before Trump takes office on January 20.

North Korean troops participate in ‘combat operations’

Senior Ukrainian officials announced that they clashed with North Korean troops for the first time.

Kiev defense minister Rustam Umerov told a South Korean broadcaster that a “small group” of North Korean soldiers had been attacked.

Mr. Zelenskyy said there were about 11,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk border area, where Ukrainian troops were deployed.

“Some of these troops have already taken part in combat operations against Ukrainian forces and there are already losses,” he said.

Seoul said it “does not believe troops on both sides engaged in direct combat” but that there was an “incident” involving several North Korean soldiers “near the front line.”

Moscow and Pyongyang have not responded directly to any of the allegations so far.

Seoul does not refuse aid

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol did not rule out supplying weapons to Ukraine in light of the deepening cooperation between Russia and North Korea.

“We will now gradually adjust our support strategy in phases depending on the level of North Korean engagement,” he said.

“This means that we do not rule out the possibility of providing weapons.”

Yoon has previously said Seoul may revise its ban on providing direct military assistance to the war zone in response to the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia.

Seoul has provided humanitarian and non-lethal aid to Ukraine but has refused to provide weapons, citing legal restrictions.

Investigations into prisoner of war murders continue

Ukraine says it knows of 124 prisoners of war executed by Russian forces throughout the war.

Denys Lysenko, head of the department focusing on war-related crimes, said 49 criminal investigations into the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war were ongoing.

The latest cases include the killing of six shoulders seized near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, which prosecutors reported on November 5.

“We are currently analyzing all these cases and looking for patterns,” Mr. Lysenko said.

“We evaluate all these cases comprehensively and, of course, the involvement of a specific armed unit is analyzed in each case.”