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The head of Russia's security council has met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the second time in less than two weeks.

Sergei Shoigu previously visited Pyongyang and met Kim for talks on 21 March and 4 June this year.

The two agreed that North Korea will send 1,000 deminers and 5,000 military construction workers to Russia's Kursk region to help rebuild it after Ukraine's incursion there, Shoigu said in remarks reported by Russian state media.

Shoigu also "expressed hope" that flights between Russia and North Korea will resume for the first time in 30 years.

For context: Last year, Russia and North Korea signed a strategic partnership treaty, including a mutual defence pact.

Pyongyang has since sent thousands of soldiers to help Russia expel Ukrainian troops from its western Kursk region. 

North Korea has also been accused of sending missiles, anti-tank rockets and ammunition to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied weapons transfers.

The Trump administration recently scrapped a group set up to formulate strategies for pressuring Russia into speeding up peace talks with Ukraine, three US officials have told the Reuters news agency.

The group, set up earlier in the spring, lost steam last month as it became clear that Donald Trump was not interested in adopting a more confrontational start toward Moscow, said the officials.

Trump and several high-ranking members of his administration warned in April that the US could walk away from efforts to broker peace unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv have met for two rounds of direct talks in Istanbul since then, but these have only amounted to a string of prisoner swaps.

The death of the working group is likely to deepen European allies' concerns over Trump's willingness to oppose Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian rescue teams have pulled five more bodies from the rubble of a house in Kyiv destroyed by overnight Russian attacks, officials said.

The head of the capital's military administration said on Telegram that the house was in the SolomyanAG百家乐在线官网 district of the city.

This takes the number of people killed in Kyiv overnight to 19. Another victim died in the southern port city of Odesa.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says there is currently "no understanding" over the next round of talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv have met twice this year for direct negotiations in Istanbul, with the only genuine agreement being a series of prisoner exchanges.

Talks have been made difficult by incompatible positions on both sides. Russia is demanding territorial concessions, while Ukraine seeks a ceasefire and security guarantees without surrendering its sovereignty. 

The UK has announced a raft of new sanctions targeting Russia over its war in Ukraine.

A notice posted on the government website said the latest sanctions targeted four individuals, six entities and 20 ships, including oil tankers, marine-related companies and suppliers of goods to Russia - particularly electronics. 

The UK has already sanctioned over 2,300 individuals, entities and ships as part of sanctions against Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a speech later today, Sir Keir Starmer is expected to say that he wants to "squeeze Russia's energy revenues and reduce the funds they are able to pour into their illegal war".

The Kremlin says it agrees with Donald Trump that Russia should never have been kicked out of the G8.

The US president said axing Russia from the group in 2014 was a "big mistake" and that Moscow would not have invaded Ukraine had Vladimir Putin not been kicked out (see 10.20am post).

Responding to Trump's comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was in agreement, adding the current G7 group "has lost practical significance" and "looks pretty useless".

Russia's attacks against Ukraine have intensified in the last two months, with Moscow launching several record-breaking mass strikes against Kyiv and other cities.

Ukraine's air defences have consistently intercepted a majority of the drones, but civilian casualties and infrastructure damage remain significant.

Last night's aerial attack on Ukraine - which included 472 drones and missiles - was the fourth-largest of the war so far, based on the figures reported by Kyiv's air force.

The largest attack of the war came just last week as Moscow launched a combined 499 drones and missiles, targeting western regions such as Rivne as well as Kyiv and Kharkiv.

The war's second-largest bombardment came on the night of 5 June as 452 drones and 45 missiles rained down across the country. A total of 80 people were injured and seven people killed, including first responders, Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y said.

Back in May, Russia launched 355 drones and 69 missiles, the largest combined attack at that point. It struck over 30 cities and villages, killing 12 people, including three children in Zhytomy.

We've just heard from Moscow after last night's air attacks across Ukraine.

Russia's defence ministry says its forces carried out "high-precision strikes on military targets" in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia. 

The strikes hit their designated targets, it adds.

But as we've been reporting, Ukraine says civilians were killed in a large-scale attack, with Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y describing the strikes as "pure terrorism".

Here are the latest images from Odesa where one person has died and 17 people were injured during Russia's overnight attacks.

The city's governor said the body of a 60-year-old woman was found under the rubble of a building.

Russia's overnight attack on Kyiv came hours after Donald Trump said it was a mistake to throw Russia out of what was formerly the G8.

Moscow was removed from the group of industrialised countries in 2014 after Russia invaded and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.

"This was a big mistake," Trump said, adding he believed Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Vladimir Putin not been ejected from the group.

"Putin speaks to me. He doesn't speak to anybody else... he's not a happy person about it," he added.

"I can tell you that he basically doesn't even speak to the people that threw him out, and I agree with him."