The Kremlin was quick to release a statement denying that Vladimir Putin is facing health issues after he mentioned being regularly examined by a doctor.

The 72-year-old Russian president was speaking on television alongside Health Minister Mikhail Murashko in a discussion urging Russians to get vaccinated against the flu.

“The doctors at the Central Clinical Hospital, where I undergo regular check-ups, also recommend getting vaccinated with a domestically produced vaccine,” the head of state said.

This statement quickly sparked a wave of speculation about the Russian leader’s health.

However, the national news agency TASS insisted that Vladimir Putin was not ill, stating that the visit was merely a routine check-up. “He was referring to regular medical examinations,” added Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s health has been the subject of much speculation, with rumors that he may be suffering from cancer or Parkinson’s disease.

Israeli forces in Gaza killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel’s most-wanted man.

Israeli leaders celebrated his killing as a settling of scores just over a year after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others in an attack that stunned the country.

“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza. This is the start of the day after Hamas,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Sinwar’s death is a crippling blow to Hamas, but the group has proven resilient to losses of past leaders. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of Sinwar’s death.

Netanyahu has said Israel will keep fighting until all the hostages are free, and that it will keep control over Gaza long enough to ensure Hamas does not rearm — an effective occupation that raises the possibility of months or even years of continued fighting.

Sinwar has been Hamas’ leader inside the Gaza Strip for years. He was elevated to the group’s top leadership position in July after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Found by chance

In the past months, Israel has assassinated a string of senior figures from Hamas and Hezbollah with airstrikes. Israel has claimed to have killed the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, but the group has said he survived.

But in Sinwar’s case, troops found him by chance.

Israel military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that Israeli forces identified three Hamas militants running from building to building in Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah. The troops attempted to shoot them before they ran inside a building.

The Israeli military released drone video showing what it said were Sinwar’s last moments: In a room wrecked by shelling, a man sat in a chair, his face covered with a cloth, possibly to hide his identity. The video showed the man, with one wounded hand, throwing a stick at the drone.

The military then fired an additional shell at the building, causing it to collapse and killing Sinwar, Hagari said. He said Sinwar was found with a bulletproof vest, grenades, and 40,000 shekels ($10,707).

Some of Sinwar’s DNA had previously been found in tunnels near where troops found the bodies of six hostages at the end of August, Hagari said. The military believes weeks of searches in the area had pushed Sinwar to come out of hiding, he said.

Photos circulating online showed the body of a man resembling Sinwar with a gaping head wound, dressed in a military-style vest, half buried in the rubble of a destroyed building. The security official confirmed the photos were taken by Israeli security officials at the scene. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The military said three militants were killed in the operation. Police said one of them was confirmed as Sinwar by dental records, fingerprints and DNA tests. Sinwar was imprisoned by Israel from the late 1980s until 2011, and during that time he underwent treatment for brain cancer — leaving Israeli authorities with extensive medical records.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressed Hamas fighters, saying it “is time to go out, release the hostages, raise your hands, surrender.”

‘Symbol of resistance’

In the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, one Palestinian woman displaced from her home in the north said she hoped Sinwar’s death would bring an end to Israel’s campaign. “What more goals do they have than that? Enough. We want to go back,” said the woman, Umm Mohammed.

Some praised Sinwar as a symbol of resistance against Israel’s decades-long occupation of the Palestinians in the West Bank. Ahmed Hamdouna, who also fled his home in northern Gaza, said Hamas would be able to replace him. “After the leader, a thousand leaders will come. After the man, a thousand men will come,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that the fact North Korea has its boots on the ground in temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine is “the first step to a World War”, sparking a fresh wave of worry and concerns surrounding the country’s military capacity.

“This is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about sending people from North Korea to the occupying military forces,” he said.

Zelenskyy’s announcement comes days after Ukrainian outlet The Kyiv Independent reported that North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia in a bid to boost its offensive on Ukraine.

While the Kremlin dismissed these reports, the prospect of North Korean troops fighting on Moscow’s side in the heart of Europe begs the question: how strong is Pyongyang’s army and can it afford to send its forces to Ukraine?

The world’s fourth-largest army

North Korea possesses the world’s fourth-largest military, with nearly 1.3 million active personnel representing approximately 5% of the total population. An additional 600,000 are believed to serve as reserve soldiers.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made defence spending a priority, with Pyongyang stating in January that 15.9% of total government expenditure for this year would go to defence.

Although the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) did not provide a specific figure, this estimate is similar to the ones announced in recent years.

Meanwhile, independent estimates say that Pyongyang likely spent around 36.3% of its GDP on its military in 2023, or the second in the world in this category.

While the North Korean army has also been reported to use outdated technology and fighting equipment, its leadership makes up for the difference in tech by mobilising its troops in massive numbers, similar to Moscow.

This observation was echoed by Pentagon’s press secretary, Major Patrick Ryder, who said in June that Russia would use Pyongyang’s soldiers as cannon fodder, much like its own troops.

However, for many, North Korea’s advances in the fields of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons are far more concerning.

How powerful are Pyongyang’s nukes?

Ever since he took power in 2011, Kim Jong-un has been accelerating the country’s nuclear program. Over the last 13 years, Kim has directed four nuclear tests: one in 2013, two in 2016, and another in 2017.

He also ordered 160 missile tests, a figure which far exceeds the number of trials conducted under his father, Kim Yong-il, and grandfather, North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung. These missiles are believed to be able to reach the mainland in the US.

With each test, North Korea’s nuclear explosions have grown in power. The last nuclear test carried out to date, in September 2017, was far significantly larger than expected, which gives some weight to Pyongyang’s claims that it has the materials to create a hydrogen bomb.

However, North Korea has not conducted any similar tests since. In 2018, it claimed to have shut down its main nuclear material production site, the Yongbyon reactor complex.

This followed the country’s summit with the United States, with former US President Donald Trump travelling to Singapore to meet with Kim.

Yet, these claims were in turn disputed by a report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) in 2021, asserting that North Korea had once again started producing fissile material at Yongbyon.

By mid-2022, satellite imagery showed that construction was progressing, with the IAEA expressing concern that North Korea was preparing for another nuclear test.

In September, North Korea released pictureswhich offered a rare glimpse into the country’s nuclear weapons programme. They offered an unprecedented insight into the centrifuges used by the nation to make bomb-grade uranium.

The photos — thought to have been Kim’s power move — triggered a fresh wave of concern among the West and the international community.

“As these pictures show, and beyond that, they have a vast nuclear program, which is perhaps the only one in the world on which there is no visibility in terms of the observance of the basic international nuclear safety standards,” Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview with AP.

Kim Jong Un walks around what it says is a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the launcher at an undisclosed location in North Korea, 24 March 2022 朝鮮通信社/AP

What about South Korea?

Tensions between North Korea and South Korea have also escalated in the last weeks following the release of the pictures.

Despite this, the two countries have long-term tense and fiery relations. For instance, in a dramatic move, North Korean media announced that the country would “shut down all contact” with South Korea in 2019.

This came as the nation called for Seoul to prevent activists from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

In early October, Kim Jong-un renewed hostilities, threatening to use nuclear weapons to destroy South Korea should an attack take place, state media reported.

Meanwhile, Seoul has been escalating its weapons production in preparation for a potential attack.

Last year, the country’s Defence Ministry announced plans to spend €223.78 billion in the next five years to bolster its defence capabilities.