Suspilne, citing unnamed officials from the Russian intelligence services, reported on October 15 that 18 North Korean soldiers had deserted their positions near the Ukrainian border in Russia’s Kursk oblast and Bryansk.
This week, concerns about the growing military ties between Moscow & Pyongyang grew dramatically. On October 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia’s plans to support its full-scale invasion into Ukraine this autumn would include “the actual participation of North Korea in war.”
A Western diplomat told Kyiv Independent, Oct. 15, that North Korea had sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia in order to increase its war effort against Ukraine.
According to Suspilne, the sources claim that the soldiers deserted about 7 kilometers (4 miles), from the border with Ukraine.
Sources say that the Russian military has been searching for the soldiers.
Sources said that Russian commanders were trying to hide the desertion of soldiers from their superiors.
In early this year, during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang, the two countries signed an agreement on mutual defense.
As part of this alliance, the North Korean army announced that a unit of engineers would join Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast next month.
There is no evidence to date of this happening.
Putin presented the treaty to the Russian State Duma on October 14 for ratification. It stipulates that either nation will provide military assistance to the opposing nation in the event of a war.
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Serhii Lehchenko, advisor to the Presidential Office, reported that unnamed U.S. legislators cited America’s Vietnam War experience, where men aged 18-26 years old were drafted into combat.
Western diplomats and analysts say that the growing military ties between Russia and North Korea show Moscow’s increasing dependence on resources to continue its costly war in Ukraine.
Interfax reported that the federal censorship agency Roskomnadzor confirmed that Steam, with its online catalog of over 100,000 games, and the use by more than 130 million people around the world including close to 10 millions in Russia, has agreed to comply to the legislation.
David Arakhamia is the leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People, a parliamentary group. He made comments to the Kyiv Independent.
Financial Times (FT), Oct. 15, reported that Elina Valtonen, Finnish Foreign Minister, warned that Western countries are becoming tired of their support for Ukraine and called for a stronger commitment to backing Kyiv.
According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris survey, 48% of voters in swing states who said they’d vote early supported Trump while 47% supported Harris. Another 5% of voters said they had voted or chose another candidate.
Mark Rutte stated in an interview with German radio Hessischer Rundfunk and Reuters on October 13.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted the evacuation of state institutions.
In an interview with Kremlin’s RIA Novosti, published on October 15, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Budapest and Russia’s state-owned Gazprom are in discussions on additional gas purchases next year.
The Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 12 of the 17 drones of the type Shahed launched by Russia over night. Overnight, seven S-300/400 and two Kh 59 missiles were fired at Mykolaiv Oblast.
“With the beginning of the “heating season,” we can expect massive Russian attacks on the energy sector,” Oleksandrlytvynenko said, National Security and Defense Council Sec.
Dmytro Lytvyn, Ukraine’s presidential advisor, reacted after a nearly week-long silence following Ukrainska Pravda’s claim that the Ukrainian Government is exerting “systematic” pressure against one of Ukraine’s largest news media sites.
The statement follows an article in the French newspaper Le Monde that claimed that Tuareg fighters of the anti-government CSP were using Ukrainian drones to attack the military and Wagner mercenaries.
“Now the town is more like a desert world: there are no shelters either for civilians or for soldiers,” said Anastasia Bobovnikova. She was a spokesperson from the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk.
“It was (Ukraine) the apple of his eyes; he used talk about it.” Donald Trump said that he had told him, “You’re not going to go in, and he was not going to go in.”
This includes 1,210 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
According to Vitalii Kim, the Russian forces attacked the city at 2:30 am with S-300 anti-aircraft weapons. A restaurant complex, an industrial facility, shops, residential structures, and cars were all damaged.
According to the Eastern Human Rights Group, Ukrainians suffering from diabetes, bronchial asthma, and other illnesses on Russian-occupied territory will no longer be eligible for free medication unless they obtain Russian passports by 2025.
Lubos Blaha is a senior member of the pro-Russian Smer party (Direction), led by Robert Fico, who visited Moscow on October 12.
Josep Borrell announced on October 14 that he plans to extend the EUMAM for two more years, pending the approval of the EU Council.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted evacuations. The threats were linked to a recent investigation conducted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty into Russian security services sabotage of Ukraine.
Andrii Kostin, the prosecutor general of Brazil, said that “information” that Putin might attend the G20 Summit in Brazil obligates the Brazilian authorities to arrest him.
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