► North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia
Ukraine said Thursday (October 24) that North Korean soldiers had been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops control hundreds of square kilometers, with Westerners fearing their participation in the fighting could lead to a major escalation in the war.
“The first units of the North Korean army, which were trained at training grounds in eastern Russia, have already arrived in the combat zone”the Ukrainian military intelligence service (GUR) said in a statement. “On October 23, 2024, their appearance was recorded in the (Russian) Kursk region”they added.
► Vladimir Putin speaks on the possibility of peace
Russian President Vladimir Putin said peace with kyiv should be based “on realities” of the battlefield in Ukraine, where the Kremlin army still controls nearly 20% of the territory.
“We are ready to consider any peace negotiations based on the realities on the ground. We are not ready to do anything else”he insisted during a press conference during the Brics summit in Kazan.
He also welcomed the remarks “sincere” by Donald Trump, Republican candidate in the US presidential election in November, on his desire to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Donald Trump “spoke about wanting to do everything to end the conflict in Ukraine. It seems to me that he says it sincerely. And statements of this kind, whatever their origin, we welcome them, of course, favorably”declared Vladimir Putin.
► Ukraine: a firefighter sentenced for “collaboration”
A Ukrainian rescue firefighter, accused of cooperating with Russia at the start of the invasion, was sentenced to fourteen years in prison in absentia, the regional prosecutor’s office announced, the man having since returned to the occupied territories.
The accused, who was not named by authorities, “voluntarily cooperated” in 2022 with Russian forces, who had then seized the town where he lived, Lyman, in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office in the Donetsk region said. He had refused to evacuate the city when it was conquered by the Russian army, as ordered by his superiors, according to this source.
► Ukraine: six suspects arrested for helping to escape mobilization
The Ukrainian Investigative Bureau (DBR) announced that it had seized more than 1.2 million dollars (1.1 million euros) and arrested three managers of a military recruitment center in kyiv and three civilians suspected of having helped by “thousands” of refractory people to escape mobilization.
The group is accused of “organized a system of illegal escape from mobilization” at the Golosiïvsky recruitment center, in the south of the capital, the DBR said on Telegram, while the Ukrainian army is struggling to replenish its ranks after almost three years of fighting against the Russian invasion. One of the members of the group was the head of a medical commission evaluating the combat fitness of men, according to the same source.
► South Korea will study the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine
South Korea will study “with more flexibility” previously the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine following reports of the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia, President Yoon Suk-yeol announced.
“Although we have followed the principle of not directly providing lethal weapons, we may revisit this issue more flexibly depending on the actions of North Korean forces”the South Korean president said during a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Seoul.
► Ukraine investigates Russia’s execution of prisoners of war
The Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an investigation into the alleged execution by Russian troops of four Ukrainian prisoners of war in the east of the country, yet another crime of this kind in recent months denounced by kyiv.
The four National Guard soldiers were captured by Russian troops during an assault on Ukrainian positions on October 6 near the town of Selydové, in the Donetsk region, where fighting is raging, the prosecutor’s office said.
“Representatives of the Russian armed forces recorded on video the interrogation of wounded and unarmed national guardsmen”he added. The next day, Ukrainian forces retook lost positions and discovered the bodies of their captured comrades, the prosecutor’s office said.
► Putin considers it “illusory” to want to defeat Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled “illusory” of wanting to defeat Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine, where Russian troops are gaining ground in the East, after 32 months of high-intensity conflict.
“They do not hide their objective of inflicting a strategic defeat on our country”launched Vladimir Putin, in reference to the Western countries which support Ukraine militarily. “These are illusory calculations that only those who do not know the history of Russia and do not take into account its unity forged over centuries can make”he said in a speech at the Brics summit held in Kazan.
► Russian deputies ratify the strategic treaty with North Korea
Russian deputies voted unanimously on Thursday to ratify the “treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership” with North Korea, at a time when the West claims to have evidence of the sending of thousands of North Korean soldiers to Russia.
A total of 397 deputies of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, voted in favor of the text which must be examined on November 6 by the upper house of Parliament, the Federation Council, before being signed by the president Vladimir Putin.
► Seoul “will not stand idly by”
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday that his country “will not stand idly by” faced with the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia, which he also described as “provocation that threatens global security”.
“South Korea will not stand idly by in the face of this”Yoon Suk-yeol said after meeting with his visiting Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda.
The two leaders believe that this deployment is “a provocation that threatens global security beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe”added Yoon Suk-yeol.
On Wednesday, Washington confirmed information provided by South Korea on the deployment of 3,000 North Korean troops in eastern Russia “between early and mid-October”.
► “The tyrants will have to pay” promises Joe Biden
Joe Biden warned on Wednesday that “the tyrants” will have to pay after the United States announced a $20 billion loan to Ukraine that will be repaid with interest from frozen Russian assets, as part of a G7 action.
“The tyrants will be responsible for the damage they cause”warned the American president.
The G7 agreed in June to use the interest generated by frozen Russian assets to guarantee a loan totaling $50 billion for Ukraine.
As part of this program, “the United States announces (Wednesday) that it will provide loans to Ukraine amounting to $20 billion which will be repaid by interest generated by tied up Russian sovereign assets”said Joe Biden.