Both Kiev and Washington have been met with a new provocation related to North Korea's role in supporting Russia during the over four-year long Ukraine war, at a moment Russia continues to claim sovereignty over Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Ukraine and its Western backers have vehemently rejected Russia's hold on Ukrainian territory, and efforts to annex and politically normalize the occupation. But now, for the first time a Russian-installed official in Kherson is hosting North Korean diplomats in an 'official' capacity.
Vladimir Saldo (left) and Shin Hong Cheol."A Russian-installed official in occupied southern Ukraine has held talks with North Korea's ambassador in Moscow, discussing potential cooperation in agriculture and other sectors, according to statements and media reports," writes The Moscow Times.
It highlights the deepened political and defense ties between Pyongyang and the Kremlin amid the Ukraine war, which the Kim Jong Un government sees as a war of NATO imperialist aggression:
Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed head of the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, met North Korean Ambassador Sin Hong Chol at the North Korean Embassy in Moscow, South Korea’s Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
Saldo later published photographs of the meeting on social media, saying the sides explored possible collaboration in agriculture and humanitarian initiatives, as well as culture, sports and education.
But there's huge symbolism in the meeting, also in seeking to publish news of it far and wide. Russia has long demanded international political recognition of its militarily-held territories in Ukraine. This recognition is expected to start with its closest allies - but for now has stopped there.
Previously, it became well-known that North Korea sent at least 10,000 of its troops to help Russia in Ukraine. The CIA and Western countries expressed deep alarm over this.
International reports based on South Korean intelligence estimates earlier this year said that around 2,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed while fighting alongside Russia so far.
Now it seems the Kremlin is ready to increasingly play host to North Korean officials and greet them with open arms, working on bilateral deals and partnering in programs in agriculture and public programs.
Tyler Durden Sun, 04/19/2026 - 07:35Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his far-left government are not over the finish line yet when it comes to their plan to legalize hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants. Now, the Spanish legal group Hazte Oír have made the first successful step in challenging the far-left government’s “Royal Decree,” which was used to pass the legislation without a vote from parliament.
After Hazte Oír’s application was accepted for processing by the Spanish Supreme Court, the government now has a non-extendable 20-day deadline to hand over the complete administrative file regarding mass legalization.
While it does not guarantee a reversal, it places the decree in a state of significant legal uncertainty. By admitting the case, Spain’s top court has found sufficient legal grounds to examine the merits of the lawsuit rather than dismissing it outright.
🇪🇸🚨With up to 800,000 migrants set to be legalized in Spain, massive crowds have gathered outside the Moroccan Consulate in Almería.
The Moroccan Government says it will streamline documentation so that its citizens can quickly become regularized.pic.twitter.com/GK4Q62yVVs
The Supreme Court will verify whether the government followed correct legal procedures and whether it possessed the constitutional authority to use a Royal Decree for a mass regularization, according to La Razon.
The legal risk for the government currently remains high. The plaintiffs argue that such a measure requires a formal law passed by Parliament rather than a simple cabinet decree. Crucially, Hazte Oír has requested a precautionary suspension of the law. If the Supreme Court grants this, the legalization process would be frozen immediately while the judges deliberate on a final ruling.
Hazte Oír argues that if the decree is allowed to proceed, it will create “irreparable damage” by granting legal status to hundreds of thousands of people — a situation that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reverse even if the decree is later found to be illegal.
Already, scenes showcasing thousands of migrants across the country lining up at different embassies to receive the proper paperwork to apply for legalization have spread across social media. The law, which went into effect on April 15, has proven controversial and been fiercely opposed by conservative and right-wing parties.
“These are the lines to manage mass regularization in each municipality of Spain. Tomorrow this chaos will move to the health centers, to the social services, to the real estate agencies… It’s called thirdworldization. It’s already happening. Our priority is to reverse it, radically,” wrote Vox party leader Santiago Abascal.
Estas son las colas para gestionar la regularización masiva en cada municipio de España.
Mañana este caos se trasladará a los centros de salud, a los servicios sociales, a las inmobiliarias...
Se llama tercermundización. Ya está pasando. Nuestra prioridad es revertirla,… pic.twitter.com/kfxq0tO5Wf
In contrast, Sánchez has been active promoting his Royal Decree, writing: “Thanks to civil society, institutions, the Church, social agents, and the Plataforma Regularización Ya for making it possible. Regularizing is not just necessary: it is just. It is recognizing a reality that already exists. It is guaranteeing rights and obligations, dignity and social cohesion.”
Hoy arranca un proceso histórico, damos un paso de justicia para quienes ya forman parte de nuestra vida cotidiana.
Gracias a la sociedad civil, a las instituciones, a la Iglesia, a los agentes sociales y a la Plataforma Regularización Ya por hacerlo posible.
Regularizar no es… pic.twitter.com/Zm3ErHEHft
The law is expected to have not only a dramatic effect on Spain, including its public services, but all of Europe, as these legalized migrants will have the right to travel freely across borders within the EU.
The lawyer of Hazte Oír is pointing out the irreversible nature of the decree to argue that it is most certainly a law that should have been passed by parliament. The appellant association, Javier María Pérez-Roldán, refers specifically to the transformative aspect of the law on the Spanish system, noting “the granting of residence and work authorizations; registration with Social Security; access to benefits; and the suspension of final expulsion orders.”
Hazte Oír indicates that the Royal Decree “structurally alters the State’s immigration policy, with direct and lasting effects” on the labor market, the public benefits system, the municipal registry, “and, in the medium term, the electoral roll.”
As many critics of the law have also pointed out, the mass amnesty will have profound effects on public services, which are already buckling under the pressure of mass immigration.
“Massive regularization without planning directly impacts the saturation of essential public services (educational and social), affecting the collective interests that this association defends,” said Pérez-Roldán.
While the Supreme Court did not grant an immediate suspension, that suspension could still arrive once the court reviews the documentation justifying the law. In such a case, the process of legalization could be frozen, creating a legal limbo for all migrant applicants.
Royal Decrees are also legally reserved for situations of “extraordinary and urgent need.”
Hazte Oír argues there is no “sudden emergency” that justifies bypassing the normal legislative process. They argue the government is using a “shortcut” to avoid political friction in Congress.
In contrast, the government argues the situation is urgent because of labor shortages in key sectors like agriculture and hospitality, and the humanitarian need to bring “invisible” people into the social security system to fund future pensions.
It is unclear if the Supreme Court will buy this argument from the government.
While the Royal Decree was used to bypass parliament, which allowed the government to fast-track the process of legalization, it may also still prove the decree’s downfall.
Tyler Durden Sun, 04/19/2026 - 07:00