After talks with the South Korean President on October 21, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the involvement of North Korean forces in Russia’s full scale war against Ukraine would constitute a “significant escalated,”
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Moscow plans to include Pyongyang into the full-scale conflict against Ukraine in the next few months, and around 10,000 North Koreans are preparing to join the Russian Army.
Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence, said that a first group of 2,600 troops will be deployed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. This is where Ukraine began an incursion across the border in August and still controls significant territory. He said that approximately 11,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia, and will be “ready for battle” in Ukraine by November 1.
“North Korea sending soldiers to fight alongside Russia’s troops in Ukraine would be a significant escalation,” Rutte stated on social media after a conversation with South Korean president Yoon Suk-Yeol, but without explicitly confirming these reports.
The two discussed NATO’s close partnership with Seoul and defense industrial cooperation as well as the interconnected security of Euro-Atlantic, Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, “Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the reckless alliance between Russia and North Korea confirm that the security of Indo-Pacific and Atlantic regions are inextricably connected,” Yoon said.
“This undermines rules-based international orders, threatening peace in the Korean Peninsula and worldwide, and (South Korean) Government will never stand aside and let this happen.”
While the United States is cautious in confirming Russia’s plans for Pyongyang to join its war, South Korea has raised the alarm and called such a scenario “a grave security threat” to international community.
The National Intelligence Service of South Korea (NIS) believes that North Korea will deploy 4 brigades, totaling 12,000 soldiers, to the war in Ukraine. This includes 1,500 special forces.
Seoul has provided humanitarian aid only to Kyiv up until now. However, it has been reported that the country indirectly supplied artillery by way of the U.S.
In June, South Korea announced that it would reconsider its policy not to directly supply Ukraine with weapons following the signing of a security accord between North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang.
“North Korea sending soldiers to fight alongside Russia’s troops in Ukraine would be a significant escalation,” NATO secretary general Mark Rutte stated on social media after a conversation between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
On the morning of October 21, Russia struck the residential area in the city and damaged 30 buildings.
Lloyd Austin, the Pentagon chief, said that ammunition, military equipment and weapons would be included.
In September, the largest government reshuffle since World War II took place. Herman Smetanin became the new head of the Strategic Industries Ministry.
The Air Force reported that Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 59 of 116 Shahed type attack drones that Russia launched overnight. According to reports, 45 drones “lost” in Ukraine and 10 others were still present at the time of publication.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces announced that Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian Buk M3 air defense system over night on October 21.
The election results were tainted with allegations of Russian interference. Moldovan lawmakers claimed that Moscow spent millions in a campaign against Maia Sandu, the pro-Western incumbent and voted down the EU referendum.
According to reports, the attack involved seven tanks and eleven infantry fighting vehicles. Ukrainian forces destroyed seven pieces of Russian equipment.
Interfax, the state-controlled media agency, reported that Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian government and media said: “We see a great deal of contradictory data.”
According to the National Guard of Russia, Russian troops regularly conduct mechanized attacks near Selydove. These assaults involve three to five armored vehicle.
Yonhap reported that South Korea summoned Georgy Zinoviev as the Russian ambassador to Seoul on October 21 to protest the dispatching of North Korean troops in support of Moscow’s war with Ukraine.
According to internal documents of the agency, the IAEA has signed at least two agreements for research in Crimea that included fieldwork. The deals were signed from 2016 to 2019, and the first deal was reportedly extended during the summer of 2019.
A military intelligence source told Kyiv Independent that Russian authorities had detained 18 North Koreans who had abandoned their positions in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
Dmitry Rogozin said that the Russian official in charge of the occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast was forced to change the registration number for the Black Sea Fleet because the unmanned boats used by the enemy were a large target.
According to Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), Russian Pilot Dmitry Golenkov sustained multiple head injuries. These were probably caused by a heavy hammer.
CNN reported that U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine on October 21 to ensure continued support before the uncertain U.S. presidential election.
According to regional authorities, the wounded include seven women ranging in age from 22 to 83 years old and five men ages 21 to 38. The attack caused some areas of the city to lose electricity.
This includes 1,710 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
The memoir “Patriot” was compiled from the prison diaries of the Russian opposition leader and edited in part Yulia Nalnaya. The book will be published in 22 languages including Russian.
According to the drone’s creators, the Wild Hornets Group, “Sting” is able to fly altitudes of up to 10,000 feet with speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. It is the world’s first drone designed to specifically target Russia’s Shaheds arsenal.
In his evening address of October 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Russia had launched 6,130 drones of the type Shahed since 2024.
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