PUTIN has claimed its troops are constantly hearing foreign languages on the Ukranian frontline – and warned those fighting alongside Kyiv will be “destroyed”.
Russia has long accused NATO of having boots on the ground in Ukraine.
Putin threatens Ukrainian troops and says they will be destroyedCredit: Getty
Firefighters extinguish a fire at enterprise after Russian attack with ballistic missilesCredit: Getty
Smoke rises over wreckages of cars near warehouse after Russian attack with ballistic missilesCredit: Getty
They are insisting that its soldiers regularly intercept English and French voices over radio chatter in combat zones.
NATO has repeatedly denied this, saying it supports Ukraine only through weapons, training, and intelligence, not manpower.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov doubled down on the claims on Tuesday.
He declared: “Our military hears foreign speech, they constantly hear foreign languages at the front.
“So, these foreigners are there, we are destroying them. Our military will continue to do their job.”
His fiery warning came after Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency alleged that France was preparing to deploy a 2,000-strong military contingent to Ukraine
The claim was swiftly dismissed by Western officials.
Peskov used the opportunity to lash out at Kyiv, accusing Ukrainian officials of stalling peace talks and refusing to engage with Moscow’s demands.
“Russia cannot assess the progress of negotiations because Ukraine has put them on hold,” he said.
Foreign volunteers have joined both sides since the start of the conflict -from Britons and Americans fighting for Kyiv to Syrians and Chechens backing Russia.
But Moscow’s latest claim comes amid mounting evidence that North Korea has thrown its troops into Putin’s war, swelling Russian ranks as the invasion drags into its third brutal year.
According to Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence, more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to the frontlines in exchange for economic and military technology assistance.
Seoul’s spy agency estimates around 2,000 North Korean troops have already been killed.
The grim partnership comes as Russia continues to pummel Ukraine’s energy grid, launching fresh overnight drone strikes that damaged gas facilities in the Poltava region, according to Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state energy giant.
Moscow has relentlessly targeted Ukraine’s power infrastructure through two winters of war – but this year, it has shifted focus to gas, aiming to cripple the country’s heating supplies.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy moved to reassure citizens, saying Kyiv had secured funds to purchase 70 per cent of the gas it needs for winter, with the government footing the rest of the bill.
His comments were aimed at calming fears that Russia’s onslaught could leave millions freezing in the dark.
Zelenskyy also revealed that Ukraine and its allies have agreed to begin working on a ceasefire plan “in the next week or 10 days.”
Ukrainian soldiers walk past a destroyed school in the frontline city of Kostiantynivka, UkraineCredit: Getty
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky talks to the press as he arrives for a European Council meeting gathering the 27 EU leaders to discuss UkraineCredit: AFP
But hopes of peace were overshadowed by growing nuclear tensions – after Russia tested a new nuclear-capable and nuclear-powered cruise missile, which Vladimir Putin claimed could outsmart any existing defence systems.
The launch drew immediate backlash from Washington. Former U.S. president Donald Trump branded the test “not appropriate” and insisted Putin “ought to get the war ended.”
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Ukraine’s military is strengthening its positions in the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk after groups of Russian troops infiltrated the area.
Kyiv said Moscow had renewed efforts to capture the key logistical hub, sparking fierce fighting.
At the same time, Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian refineries have slashed Moscow’s oil refining capacity by 20 per cent, citing Western intelligence.
“Over 90 per cent of those deep strikes were carried out by Ukrainian-made long-range weapons,” he said, urging more financial aid from allies to keep up the pressure.
Oil exports remain the lifeline of Putin’s war machine – and new sanctions are now biting.
Last week, Donald Trump announced fresh sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, set to take effect on November 21.
Zelenskyy said Trump “probably will use this as a tool of pressure or dialogue with the Russians.”
With China and India still Moscow’s biggest oil buyers, Kyiv is hoping to choke off that supply too.
“India has definitely given all the signals that it will reduce imports of energy resources,” Zelenskyy said, adding that he hopes Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea this week will lead to further reductions.
Meanwhile, a UN inquiry has found that Russia is using drones to hunt civilians near the frontlines – intensifying fears that Moscow’s tactics are becoming even more ruthless.
It comes as KIM Jong-un broke ground on a new “sacred sanctuary” for the hundreds of North Korean troops killed fighting for Vladimir Putin’s bloody war in Ukraine.
The dictator unveiled the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats, which he said would “pray for the immortality of the proud heroes” who “performed undying feats in the overseas military operations.”
Flanked by Russian diplomats and weeping families, Kim cradled soldiers’ faces and vowed his “brotherhood” with Moscow would advance non-stop.
The chilling ceremony was the clearest sign yet that Pyongyang’s sinister alliance with the Kremlin is tightening – even as Russia reels from new US oil sanctions.
The tyrant hailed his fallen fighters as “true patriots,” boasting that North Korean troops spent a year in Russia’s Kursk region, where they “destroyed the fiendish neo-Nazi invaders with their staunch spirit.”
After sending 15,000 troops to reinforce Putin’s frontlines last year, at least 600 have been killed and thousands more wounded, according to South Korean estimates.
Many died in the same region where Russia’s exhausted army has been begging for reinforcements.
The new memorial in Pyongyang – complete with statues, murals, and scenes of “bloody battle” – will immortalise their sacrifice.
Kim called it “a sacred sanctuary dedicated to the immortality of true patriots.”
Russia’s ambassador to North Korea, Aleksandr Matsegora, stood stiffly beside Kim as he declared that ties between the two rogue states were ‘rising to their historic peak.’
Kim crowed that the “blood ties” between Moscow and Pyongyang were stronger than “the United States and its Western bloc.”
The display marked yet another defiant show of unity between two pariah regimes – united in their shared war against the West.
France was preparing to deploy a 2,000-strong military contingent to UkraineCredit: Peter Jordan – Commissioned by The Sun
North Korea has begun constructing a memorial for its soldiers killed fighting in Russia’s war with UkraineCredit: AFP
Kim Jong Un encouraging soldiers of Overseas Military Operations Forces at the groundbreaking ceremonyCredit: AFP 
