'US anti-Russia policy leading to world war'

Ukraine-Russia war intensifies as Kyiv claims to destroy second key bridge

SEOUL/ KYIV:

North Korea condemned Ukraine's incursion into Russia as an unforgivable act of terror backed by Washington and the West, adding it would always stand with Russia as it seeks to protect its sovereignty, state media said on Sunday.

Ukraine's drive into Russia is a product of the anti-Russia confrontational policy of the United States, which

is pushing the situation to the brink of World War Three, KCNA news agency said.

The US handed "astronomical" sums of lethal weapons to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the report said. "We strongly condemn the armed attack against the Russian territory by the Zelenskiy puppet regime under the control and support of the United States and the West as an unforgivable act of aggression and terror," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement, according to KCNA.

North Korea has dramatically upgraded its ties with Russia in the past year with two summit meetings by their leaders who pledged closer cooperation in all areas. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian

President Vladimir Putin signed a pact in Pyongyang on "comprehensive strategic partnership" that included a mutual defence agreement.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said Sunday it had struck a second key bridge in the Kursk region, seeking to disrupt Moscow's supply routes as Kyiv's unprecedented incursion on Russian soil stretched through its second week.

Russia meanwhile ramped up pressure in east Ukraine, claiming to capture another village just a few kilometres from the Ukrainian-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

"Minus one more bridge," Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram, publishing an aerial video of a blast tearing through a bridge near the Russian town of Zvannoye.

Kyiv sent troops and armoured vehicles across the border on August 6, in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Friday, Ukraine announced it had destroyed a separate bridge in the neighbouring town of Glushkovo.

The attacks on both bridges, which lie on the river Seym that winds through Kursk, have left Russia with limited options to cross the river in the area, according to Russian military bloggers.

Moscow said the destruction of one of the bridges had hindered evacuation efforts.

The Russian defence ministry said in a briefing it was pushing back against Ukraine's forces near several villages.

More than 120,000 people have fled the region since fighting began, according to Russian authorities