Ukraine: The Latest - Is Kim Jong-un after nuclear technology from Putin?

Every weekday The Telegraph's top journalists analyse the Russian invasion of Ukraine from all angles and tell you what you need to know

David Knowles, Host, in Washington ; Francis Dearnley, Assistant Comment Editor, in Washington ; Dominic Nicholls, Associate Editor (Defence), in Washington and Hamish de Bretton-Gordon 14 September 2023 • 7:00pm

US, Ukrainian and Swedish flags flutter in front of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, in Varash, Rivne region, on September 10, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Rivne nuclear power plant in Ukraine became the first Soviet-built plant to receive US fuel for VVER-440 reactors, from Westinghouse Electric plant in Vasteros, Sweden, produced jointly with Energoatom, Ukraine's national nuclear energy company. The fuel was previously only produced by Russia's TVEL Fuel Company. — US, Ukrainian and Swedish flags flutter in front of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, in Varash, Rivne region. The Rivne nuclear power plant became the first Soviet-built plant to receive US fuel for VVER-440 reactors, from Westinghouse Electric plant in Vasteros, Sweden, produced jointly with Energoatom, Ukraine's national nuclear energy company. The fuel was previously only produced by Russia's TVEL Fuel Company. Credit: ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP

Today on Ukraine: The Latest, we bring you the latest from the frontlines in Ukraine, analyse political and diplomatic developments from around the world, and find out more about this year’s Ukrainian Film Festival in London.

Plus, Francis Dearnley sits down with Senator Mitt Romney in an exclusive interview, the first since Romney announced he will not seek re-election.

Today, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator has successfully refuelled a reactor at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant using Western produced nuclear fuel assemblies. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former Head of the British Army’s Chemical Weapons Unit and an expert in chemical, biological and nuclear warfare, gives his reaction:

Before the war, about 60% of Ukraine’s power was provided by nuclear power stations. They turned off the four main ones for fear of the fighting around them. These were Russian designed nuclear power stations, but now by working with a few Western allies they have the nuclear fuel they need to get them started up again. So they will be up and running for the winter, and hopefully Ukraine will be sufficient in power over the cold months.

But Hamish has some other concerns regarding nuclear false flags and the recent visit to Russia by North Korea leader Kim Jong-un.

Earlier on this week, Putin accused MI6 of planning an operation to blow up a nuclear power station in Russia, and also possibly one in Ukraine. I saw this type of false flag operation a lot in Syria, and I worked out that if the Russians said there was going to be a chemical attack, around five times out of ten, there then was one in the subsequent weeks or days. When I was running a tabletop exercise for emergency workers in Ukraine only yesterday, they shared that they are very concerned about these false flags.
So the fact that Putin is saying this is a concern, but I have spoken to people who know about these things and that is certainly not the plan as far as the UK security service is going.
But here is where Kim Jong-un comes in: my theory is what Kim Jong-un is really after is some nuclear technology from the Russians. We know the North Koreans have a ballistic missile. We know they have a warhead. What they haven’t been able to do is put the two together. SoI’m sure that is top of his agenda at the moment.

The Ukraine: The Latest team are currently reporting from the US. Watch Francis’ interview with Mitt Romney here:

Listen to Ukraine: the Latest, The Telegraph’s daily podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app.

War in Ukraine is reshaping our world. Every weekday The Telegraph’s top journalists analyse the invasion from all angles - military, humanitarian, political, economic, historical - and tell you what you need to know to stay updated.

With over 40 million downloads, our Ukraine: The Latest podcast is your go-to source for all the latest analysis, live reaction and correspondents reporting on the ground. We have been broadcasting ever since the full-scale invasion began.

Ukraine: The Latest’s regular contributors are:

David Knowles

David is Head of Audio Development at The Telegraph, where he has worked for nearly three years. He has reported from across Ukraine during the full-scale invasion.

Dominic Nicholls

Dom is Associate Editor (Defence) at The Telegraph, having joined in 2018. He previously served for 23 years in the British Army, in tank and helicopter units. He had operational deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.

Francis Dearnley

Francis is assistant comment editor at The Telegraph. Prior to working as a journalist, he was chief of staff to the Chair of the Prime Minister’s Policy Board at the Houses of Parliament in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and on the podcast explores how the past shines a light on the latest diplomatic, political, and strategic developments.

They are also regularly joined by The Telegraph’s foreign correspondents around the world, including Joe Barnes (Brussels), Sophia Yan (China), Nataliya Vasilyeva (Russia), Roland Oliphant (Senior Reporter) and Colin Freeman (Reporter). In London, Venetia Rainey (Weekend Foreign Editor), Katie O’Neill (Assistant Foreign Editor), and Verity Bowman (News Reporter) also frequently appear to offer updates.