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Germany's chief of defence has warned that the West must not underestimate Moscow's military strength, saying Russia has the scope to open up a second front should it choose to do so.

"The bulk of the Russian land forces may be tied down in Ukraine at the moment but, even so, we should not underestimate the Russian land forces' potential to open a second theatre of war," General Eberhard Zorn, the highest-ranking soldier of the Bundeswehr, told Reuters in an interview.

Beyond the army, Russia also has a navy and air force at its disposal, he added.

"Most of the Russian navy has not yet been deployed in the war on Ukraine, and the Russian air force still has significant potential as well, which poses a threat to NATO too," Zorn said.

The Bundeswehr regularly supports NATO air policing missions over the Baltic states with fighter jets and, having one of the strongest fleets in the region, is also keeping a close eye on the developments in the Baltic Sea at its doorstep.

One potential hotspot there is Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave sandwiched between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, that hosts Russia's Baltic naval fleet and is a deployment location for Russian nuclear-capable Iskander missiles.

Russia has threatened to station nuclear and hypersonic weapons in Kaliningrad should Finland and Sweden join NATO as they are in the process of doing.

Zorn, speaking before the start of an Ukrainian offensive in the south, stressed that Russia continued to have substantial reserves.

"As concerns its military, Russia is very well capable of expanding the conflict regionally," the general said. "That this would be a very unreasonable thing for Russia to do is a different story."

Referring to the military situation in Ukraine, Zorn said the dynamic of Russia's attack had slowed down but Russia was still pressing steadily ahead.

"Supported by massive artillery fire, they are driving their advance forward - regardless of civilian Ukrainian casualties," he said.

He also suggested that Russia was not about to run out of ammunition any time soon.

"The Russians have enormous quantities of ammunition at their disposal," he said. "This ammunition is partly old and very inaccurate but it is exactly this that causes great destruction to civilian infrastructure. They fire around 40,000 to 60,000 rounds of artillery ammunition per day."

Zorn said he nevertheless did not anticipate any far reaching offensives deep into Ukrainian territory at the moment.

He also said Russian forces were currently focused on conquering the Donbas, the industrial region of eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed separatisst already hold chunks of territory. No military resolution was in sight yet, however, he said. (Reuters)

The IAEA mission to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine is a step towards "de-occupying and demilitarising" the site, Ukraine's energy minister told Reuters in a interview on Wednesday.

Speaking in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, only 55 km (34 miles) away from the plant, German Galushchenko also said it was crucial for the mission, headed by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, to be allowed to speak to staff at the site.

"It is important from our view... that the mission can speak to the staff, and get the real information, not Russian information, on what is inside," Galushchenko said.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant, the largest in Europe, was captured by Moscow in March but is still operated by Ukrainian staff under the supervision of Russian troops.

Grossi, also speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said the agency's visit was a "technical mission" that aimed to prevent a nuclear accident. Asked about plans for a demilitarised zone at the plant, he said that was "a matter of political will".

"But my mission - I think it's very important to establish (this) with all clarity - my mission is a technical mission," he said. 

The plant's territory, which is less than 10 km away from Ukrainian positions across the Dnipro river, has come under repeated shelling over the past month, with Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of being responsible.

"We have soldiers there, we have heavy vehicles there, so we need to check the real situation there from the point of nuclear safety and security," Galushchenko added.

The minister said that the mission should bring closer the withdrawal of Russian troops from the plant.

"This should be a step (towards) deoccupying and demilitarising the station,” he told Reuters. (Reuters)

South Korea will from Saturday no longer require travellers to the country to test for COVID-19 before departure, although they will still need to take a PCR test within 24 hours of arrival.

The latest relaxing of rules comes amid an easing in case numbers with daily COVID infections hovering around 100,000 in recent weeks compared with more than 180,000 in mid-August.

"The weekly number of infections have declined for the first time in nine weeks and the virus is showing signs of slowing down," Lee Ki-il, the country's second vice health minister, told reporters.

Wednesday's announcement, which follows steps by Japan and other countries to scrap the pre-departure test requirement, comes as South Korea is set to mark the country's thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok next week.

The number of infections could increase following the holiday season but the figures are likely to remain within control, said Peck Kyong-ran, head of the Korea Disease control and Prevention Agency.

South Korea still has an indoor face-mask mandate and requires those testing positive for COVID to isolate for seven days. (Reuters)

A senior World Health Organization director has been placed on leave, a spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday, following staff accusations of bullying and other complaints.

"The Regional Director for the Western Pacific Region, Dr Takeshi Kasai, is on leave," a WHO official said in emailed comments, without giving details.

Two WHO sources confirmed to Reuters that the decision to place Kasai, a physician from Japan who has worked at the body for more than 15 years, on administrative leave was related to an ongoing investigation into various staff complaints.

Kasai was not immediately available for comment. An e-mail sent to the WHO Western Pacific office in Manila was forwarded to the headquarters in Geneva.

The Associated Press reported in January that the complaints included allegations of racist language and of sharing confidential vaccine data with Japan.

Kasai, who became the WHO regional director in February 2019, has previously acknowledged being "hard on staff" but rejected the other charges. 

He is temporarily being replaced by the U.N. health agency's number 2, Zsuzsanna Jakab, the WHO official added. (Reuters)