Ukraine, Trump: «Free financial zone in Donbass would work». Witkoff anticipated in Berlin | EUROtoday

Mattarella: «Italy alongside Kiev, bilateral dynamics place the weak on the mercy of the stronger»

Speaking of the European Union, in his speech on the ceremony of exchanging New Year’s greetings with the diplomatic corps, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella states: “The free sharing of principles and norms is not a cage that forces, but a support that protects, especially the weakest. It is not surprising that they are contested by international corporations that expand by claiming not to have to observe any rules: this would not be freedom but arbitrariness”.

Kim, «North Korean troopers in Russia for mine clearance, 120 days in Kursk»

Kim Jong Un speaks for the primary time of sending North Korean troopers to Kursk, Russia, for “demining” operations. The North Korean chief spoke out in regards to the return of an Engineer regiment, which suffered the “heartbreaking loss of nine lives” through the “120 days” mission that started “in August” within the “dangerous battlefield”. And he did so, in line with what the North Korean KCNA company reported this morning, throughout a speech given yesterday on the event of a ceremony in Pyongyang for the return of the troopers to their homeland. “All of you, officers and soldiers, have shown great heroism,” Kim stated, talking of the “miracle,” the “transformation of a large area from a danger zone to a safe territory in less than three months.” Images launched by North Korean media present Kim smiling surrounded by troopers, some in wheelchairs. In the speech reported by KCNA there’s a reference by the North Korean chief to “letters written” by “soldiers” throughout “breaks in mine clearance operations” and despatched “to their cities and localities of origin”. Only final April did North Korea affirm that it had deployed troops in help of Russian forces engaged within the battle triggered by Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which started greater than three years in the past. According to South Korean intelligence, hundreds of North Korean troops have been deployed.

This photograph taken on December 12, 2025 and launched by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 13 reveals North Korean chief Kim Jong Un welcoming troopers of the 528th Engineer Regiment of the Korean People’s Army, who returned from an abroad deployment in Russia’s Kursk area throughout Moscow’s struggle with Ukraine, in entrance of the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / South Korea

Explosions at Russian oil refinery in Saratov

On the evening of December 13, explosions occurred throughout a drone assault on an oil refinery in Saratov Oblast, Russia. This was reported by the Ukrainian newspaper ‘Kyiv Independent’.

The area’s governor, Roman Busargin, stated on Telegram that civilian infrastructure had been broken and that there have been casualties, with out offering particulars on the quantity. It had beforehand warned of the specter of a drone assault within the space.