Japan’s minister visits Ukraine to stress mutual concern over North Korean troops

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Japan’s foreign minister arrived in Kyiv on Saturday to discuss North Korea’s deepening military alliance with Russia, including the deployment of thousands of troops to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, to reaffirm Japan’s “strong support” for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and to discuss further sanctions against Moscow, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.

High on the agenda was Tokyo’s “grave concern” over growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, the ministry said.

According to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments, up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia as part of a major defense treaty between the countries. Last week, Ukrainian officials said Ukraine and North Korean troops engaged in small-scale fighting while Ukraine’s army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Ukraine launched a surprise push on Aug. 6.

The agreement requires both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.

Russia strikes Kyiv in a wave of drone attacks

Iwaya’s visit comes after the Ukrainian capital was attacked overnight by Russian drones, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure in Kyiv’s Obolon district. No casualties were reported.

Ukrainian air defenses neutralized up to a dozen drones, said the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhii Popko.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 83 Shahed drones in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Ukrainian air force reported. Of those, 55 were shot down, while another 30 veered off course or were lost after electronic jamming, it said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that it had destroyed 35 Ukrainian drones, including 20 over the western Kursk region and 11 over the Bryansk region.

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Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine