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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the thousands of North Korean soldiers expected to reinforce Russian troops on the front line in Ukraine are pushing the almost three-year war beyond the borders of the warring parties.
Western leaders say North Korea has sent some 10,000 soldiers to help Russia’s military campaign and warn that its involvement in a European war could also unsettle relations in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia.
Zelenskyy said he spoke to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and told him that 3,000 North Korean soldiers are already at military bases close to the Ukrainian front line and that he expects that deployment to increase to 12,000.
At the Pentagon on Tuesday, spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said a “relatively small number” of North Korean troops are now in Russia's Kursk region, where Russian troops have been struggling to push back a Ukrainian incursion, and a couple thousand more are heading in that direction.
South Korea, which has been in close contact with NATO, the U.S. and the European Union about the latest developments, warned last week that it could send arms to Ukraine in retaliation for the North's involvement.
“There is only one conclusion — this war is internationalized and goes beyond the borders" of Ukraine and Russia, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
The Ukrainian president also said he and Yeol agreed to step up their countries' cooperation and exchange more intelligence, as well as develop concrete responses to Pyongyang's involvement.
In Washington, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Tuesday with Zelenskyy's top adviser to discuss the North Korean troops as well as a coming surge of weaponry that the U.S. is delivering to Kyiv to help the Ukrainians harden protection of their energy infrastructure, according to White House officials familiar with their private talks.
Sullivan and Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, shared concerns that North Korean troops could be deployed to Russia's Kursk region and what such a development could mean for the conflict.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said during the two-hour meeting at the White House, Sullivan also briefed Yermak on President Joe Biden’s plans to push additional artillery systems, ammunition, hundreds of armored vehicles and more to Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
Sullivan told Yermak that by year’s end, the U.S. administration plans to provide Ukraine with 500 additional Patriot and ARAAM missiles to help bolster air defenses, according to the officials.
Meanwhile, North Korea said its top diplomat is visiting Russia in another sign of their deepening relationship.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, with North Korea continuing a run of provocative weapons tests and South Korea and the U.S. expanding their military drills.
Russian drones, missiles and bombs smashed into Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s biggest cities, in nighttime attacks, killing four people and wounding 15 in a continuing aerial onslaught, authorities said Tuesday.
Russia has bombarded civilian areas of Ukraine almost daily since its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, causing thousands of casualties.
The Russian army is also pushing hard against front-line defenses in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that Russian troops captured the Donetsk town of Hirnyk and the villages of Katerynivka, and Bohoiavlenka.
Zelenskyy also spoke about the war at a meeting Tuesday in Reykjavik with the leaders of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. He said a conference will begin in Canada on Wednesday to address the abduction of what he said were tens of thousands of children by Russia from Ukraine’s occupied territories.
A Russian aerial attack struck Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s northeast, at around 3 a.m., hitting a house and killing four people, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Nearly 20 houses were damaged in the attack, he said.
Several hours earlier, Russia dropped a glide bomb on the landmark Derzhprom building in the Kharkiv city center, injuring seven people, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Derzhprom, also known as the Palace of Industry, is being considered for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Terekhov said Russia has concentrated attacks on Kharkiv in recent days. He urged people not to ignore air raid warnings.
Authorities in Kyiv said debris from intercepted Russian drones fell on two city districts, injuring six people.
Ukraine has also used long-range drones to disrupt Russia’s war machine and embarrass the Kremlin by striking targets on Russian soil.
A special forces academy in the Russian province of Chechnya was hit by drones, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished, according to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It was the first drone attack of the war on Chechnya, which lies about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Ukraine.
Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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asdfgtr
Russia needs outsiders because it has failed to halt population decline; its median age is now 40. The country has long relied on migrant labourers to fill the gap, but the pandemic drove down numbers. It was short of 4.8 million workers last year. Perhaps a million young Russians have left because of the war, and the military is competing with the factories that supply it.
lincolnman
It's being reported that the nK troops will go to Kursk to try to push out the Ukrainians...
https://www.politico.eu/article/north-korean-troops-are-now-in-kursk-to-help-russia-nato-confirms/
Just shows how weak and desperate the Russians are that they need foreign troops to try to recapture Mother Russia territory...
Putin's war has been a debacle and disaster for his country...
JJE
Guess nobody has considered the possibility this is another massive propaganda barrage by the usual suspects, squarely aimed at gullible western audiences, as per usual.
Remember when they pulled out the 'Russian's were deploying a moonraker-style super space weapon' nonsense a number of months ago. There has been a sad litany of lies spouted and amplified shamelessly, and this is but the latest.
South Korea is being particularly disingenuous, by publicly pretending they have not sent any arms yet - when it is common knowledge they backfilled US stocks so that munitions could be sent to Ukraine (It is called systemic lying).
JJE
Derzhprom building was built in the USSR.
Plus, it's a legit target if being used to hide stuff/offenders.
Primusinter
I have repeatedly written about the absolute geographical illiteracy of local zilch-experts. lincolnman is one of them. Pay attention, as Ilya Novikov writes in his article. He doesn't mention Kursk anywhere. He writes "the Kursk region" everywhere. Because Kursk is a big city, with almost half a million people. And no one will even let Ukrs get close to it. The Ukrainian troops occupies only small settlements, villages, some of which are not even marked on the map. The largest settlement occupied by Ukraine is Sudzha, a small town with a population of about 5000 (almost all the population has left the town now). So, I recommend lincolnman to improve his literacy and not panic here. Further than Sudzha ukrs will not pass. Better pay attention to the Ukrainian city of Kurakhovo (population about 18 thousand, mostly Russians). Russians have already entered this town and is about to occupy it step by step. When they occupy Kurakhovo, they will not give it up anymore. But the ukrs will be knocked out of Sudzha as soon as they decide it's necessary and even without the participation of the NKs. Do not mislead the local audience with your illiteracy.
JJE
Looks like Selydove - the last major town on the south flank of Pokrovsk - has completely fallen to the RFAF, with the large cauldron south of it being slammed shut at an incredible pace, which will result in a straightening of the line along the Vuheldar-Kurakhove-Selydove axis. This should herald increased ground operations on Pokrovsk itself. Osint analysis indicates UAF are constructing defensive lines around Zaporozhye. Also, some incredible advances on the South Donetsk sector, with a Russian motor rifle brigade, storming 10 clicks forward in one day - now they are some 40 clicks NW of Vuhledar.
No wonder they want to throw red herrings out there about North Korean special forces. Things are going pear shaped and the Autumn campaign season still has much to run, followed by the infamous winter one.
Banthu
Kursk is not in Ukraine.
Kursk is in Russia.
NATO countries in Europe invite US troops to do live fire exercises all the time.
How is this any different.
NK troops are not in Ukraine, they are in Russia conducting live fire exercises.
Eastmann
Putin have said a long time ago that proxy conflict war in UA being pushed 'beyond borders' as NATO joins in...
Just to note.
If DPRK army members are in Kursk-they are still at soil of their ally Russia and not in Ukraine.
Volodymyr need check google maps first...
Eastmann
ok1514 is UA still prevailing?
and here is 2020hindsights...busy with Kamala campaign as usual?
UA have lost a long time ago.
zero chance to win over Russia even with max NATO help and max related-media-russophobic narratives as well.
Reality bites hard.
JJE
Back to the article:
It seems obvious that Kyiv is creating a preemptive excuse for their imminent loss of Kursk and the total catastrophic failure of the Kursk operation. In order to excuse and justify the massive failure, they can conjure the 'North Korean phantom menace' to claim "we only lost because Russia introduced a surprise shock force of 10,000 North Korean special forces!"
Secondly, the fact that all this so 'conveniently' happens to play into Zelensky’s need to deep-strike Russia in order to force a NATO-Russia confrontation is extremely suspicious to say the least.
Thirdly, Zelensky has finally approved and signed the law allowing foreign officers to fight in the AFU. It would be only a natural extension for him to again sneakily preempt this decision by burying it beneath the news cycle of the DPRK scare in order to imply that Ukraine had to allow foreign officers in to counteract Russia’s use of North Koreans.
You have to examine the ulterior motives of the people saying this about NK troops in Kursk. There is some real chicanery going here.
Eastmann
JJE
ALL CORRECT
lincolnman
My, my...our Putin-fans here sure have "their knickers in a twist"...
Everything to deflect and avoid the fact that Ukraine has taken Russian territory and held it for over four months and the Russian have yet to expel them...
So what happens now? The Russians are forced to rely on foreign nK troops to try to dislodge the Ukrainians...
That's an open admission that they are too weak and defeated to do it themselves...
So much for Putin's vow to "protect all Russians"...
Banthu
When NATO bombed Libya, Iraq and Serbia, it was 30 on 1.
Now Russia is forming a coalition of the willing to fight terrorists and you have a beef with that.
The operation in Kursk can now be called a joint operation of the International Community.
burgers and beers
There is only one conclusion — this war is internationalized and goes beyond the borders" of Ukraine and Russia, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
Well, yes indeed. Most have known this for the last couple of years despite denials of NATO involvement by the usual suspects.
lincolnman
So?
Yes...have a beef with your disinformation about a "coalition of the willing"...
More like Russia fails to dislodge the Ukrainians in Kursk so they beg the North Koreans to come save them...
So what happens when they fail? Going to call the Iranians?
WoodyLee
“"There is only one conclusion — this war is internationalized and goes beyond the borders" of Ukraine and Russia, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.""
And this is why you need to start negotiating Sir.
Some dude
Goodness, is this still going on? Even with help from the North Koreans?
I thought the proud, almighty Russia would have crushed little Ukraine by now.
How long before the "3 days" is subtly revised by state media into "3 years"?
lincolnman
ROFL...truth hurts huh...
Will the North Koreans be replacing our Russian friends here also since they've clearly failed?
JJE
The collective west endorsed the set of events that led to the South East's independence.
Now RFAF are slicing through the Donetsk sector at will. It'll be interesting when or if the western media catch up on the accelerating collapse and how they spin it.
Some dude
Now RFAF are slicing through the Donetsk sector at will.
As a pure matter of curiosity, do you get more rubles the more extreme your claims become? (I assume that the bot farm rules also specify "no proof, ever")
Eastmann
lincolnman
lincolnmanToday 10:54 am JSTSo what happens when they fail? Going to call the Iranians?
NO
They will ask lincolnman to JOIN as specialists from behind keyboard are always wanted.
2020hindsights,ok1513,taiwansomething and others can join and use their skills.
ROFL...truth hurts huh...
Will the North Koreans be replacing our Russian friends here also since they've clearly failed?
**
its interesting to see that you are reacting at "non existing comment",this is what I call as sarcasm...
burgers and beers
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky secretly asked the US for Tomahawk missiles, the range of which far exceeds any of the Western-made weapons previously supplied to Kiev, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. According to the paper, such a potent weapon being handed over is out of the question."
Looks like the West does not trust Zelensky as much as they pretend to.
lincolnman
It's what I call "deflecting" and "failing"...
JJE
Well that will enrage some people and I use that term loosely.
There is a battlefield update of sorts, although a tad behind the pace. But the important, provable fact here is that all three of the latter geographic locations are in the large cauldron south of Pokrovsk; literally from the top, middle and the bottom hinges of it. We know it was the reliable of Center Group of Forces who enveloped Selydove; important to observe many of them are Donbass/Donetsk local lads who have been in the defensive fight since 2014. Their morale is clearly very high.
Some dude
I can play this game (making claims with no effort to prove them) as well.
The Ukrainian army is currently taking Russian soldiers prisoner left, right and centre. Many of the Russian soldiers are surrendering and asking to defect, saying that the North Korean soldiers' style of warfare is incompatible with their own. Experts estimate that Russia will be forced to start recruiting from kindergartens within the next three months.
JJE
Just to reiterate, *Hirnyk **and the villages of Katerynivka, and Bohoiavlenka (*mentioned in the article) relate to the fall of Selydove mentioned at 9:11 post. We will hear about this tomorrow.
So, there is considerable and ample evidence to support what I am asserting; there is a large cauldron of territory being closed up south of Pokrovsk (i.e. RFAF are mopping up the UAF salients that naturally formed with their advance in that direction). Another city to keep your eyes peeled for mention of is Kurakhove - this is one of the next on the menu (mentioned in at 9:11 too).
One just needs to look at a map.
Eastmann
burgers and beersToday 11:42 am JST
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky secretly asked the US for Tomahawk missiles, the range of which far exceeds any of the Western-made weapons previously supplied to Kiev, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. According to the paper, such a potent weapon being handed over is out of the question."
Looks like the West does not trust Zelensky as much as they pretend to.
I guess so.Clown will be always clown.His role is almost over...
burgers and beers
I can play this game (making claims with no effort to prove them) as well. -The Ukrainian army is currently taking Russian soldiers prisoner left, right and centre. Many of the Russian soldiers are surrendering and asking to defect...
Yes, we know, you (r) team have been doing that ( making claims with no proof ) for a long time now. Better to stick to facts.
Eastmann
burgers and beersToday 12:03 pm JST
I can play this game (making claims with no effort to prove them) as well. -The Ukrainian army is currently taking Russian soldiers prisoner left, right and centre. Many of the Russian soldiers are surrendering and asking to defect...
Yes, we know, you (r) team have been doing that ( making claims with no proof ) for a long time now. Better to stick to facts.
EXACTLY.
2020hindsights rebranded now as Underworld is a great example.of local "Iknoweverythingbest" guy...
Some dude
Yes, we know, you (r) team have been doing that ( making claims with no proof ) for a long time now. Better to stick to facts.
Facts require proof from valid sources. As vatniks never provide such proof, it's just more fun to turn their own strategy (making claims while making no effort to back them up) against them.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I guess the positive side is a rebuilt Ukraine won't have to see any more of these monuments to a disgusting past.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Live fire exercises don't generally involve shooting at other people who are shooting back at you.
lincolnman
And the truth our Putin-fans here always run away and deflect from...
Both sides have accepted weapons from their respective allies, but only one has had to admit defeat in terms of begging a third-party to send combat troops to the front lines - because its own forces are either inept, ill-equipped, or too small in numbers...
The once proud Russian military - now so depleted that they are unable to dislodge the Ukrainians forces inside Mother Russia, and have to beg the North Koreans to do it...
That fact clearly highlights who is winning and who is losing...
TaiwanIsNotChina
Your coalition is a handful of completely disparate countries united only by the hatred of the US.
Some dude
Your coalition is a handful of completely disparate countries united only by the hatred of the US.
Disparate, and desperate, indeed!
TaiwanIsNotChina
I guess if the joke fell flat the first time, keep repeating it.
Hah! It's almost like you are good at copy pasting.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Do you think a general will march on Kyiv next?