Russia launches fresh strike on Kyiv – DW – 11/13/2024

North Korean soldiers sent to Russia by Pyongyang are taking part in combat operations
against Ukraine alongside their Russian allies, South Korea’s spy agency has said, a view in line with that of the US State Department.

“The National Intelligence Service estimates that North Korean troops dispatched to Russia have moved to the Kursk region over the past two weeks,” the agency said in a statement, adding that they were already participating in combat.

Part of Russia’s army has been deployed to the far western Russian region bordering Ukraine in a bid to dislodge Ukrainian troops who have seized territory there over the past months in a daring incursion.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media said Pyongyang had ratified a mutual defense treaty with Russia signed in June by the two countries’ leaders.

The treaty provides for each to come to the other’s aid in case of an armed attack.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted two incoming cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles from a total of six, and 37 drones from at total of 90 across the country on Wednesday, the air force said, as Russia launched multiple attacks, including on Kyiv.

Ukraine’s military lost track of 47 more drones,while two more left its airspace heading towards Russia and Belarus, and two more remained in the airspace as of Wednesday morning, it said.

No casualties or major damage were reported in Kyiv, which suffered its first Russian missile attack since August, though it has faced almost nightly drone attacks.

The combined attack using drones and missiles was the first combined aerial assault on the capital in more than 70 days, authorities said.

Russia last struck Kyiv with missiles on August 26 when it launched a massive attack across the country that officials said deployed more than 200 drones and missiles.

Seven people died in Kyiv in that attack.

 A separate drone attack on Wednesday in the southern region of Kherson killed a 52-year-old woman, the head of the Black Sea territory announced.

Following talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the deployment of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces will meet with a “firm response.”

Blinken said he and Rutte discussed the fact that North Korean forces have been “injected into the battle, and now, quite literally, in combat which demands and will get a firm response.”

Earlier, a US State Department spokesman said most of the 10,000 troops sent by North Korea to aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine were fighting alongside Russian soldiers in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have seized territory over the past months in a daring incursion.

The presence of North Korean troops in Russia raises several geopolitical questions, including that of China’s response to Pyongyang’s bid to curry favor in Moscow without apparently seeking permission from Beijing.

Blinken also said he had talked with Rutte about ongoing support for Ukraine, with future US involvement in such aid considered to be in jeopardy under the incoming Trump presidency.

The outgoing administration would “continue to shore up everything we’re doing for Ukraine,” he said.

“President Biden fully intends to drive through the tape and use every day to continue to do what we have done these last four years, which is strengthen this alliance,” Blinken said.

Wednesday’s missile attacks have been preceded by a week of strikes as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues in its third year.

On Monday, a Russian strike on , the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, killed a 32-year-old woman and her three young children, while injuring 14 other people.  

Over the weekend, both sides carried out record overnight drone attacks. 

In other news, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to talk with EU and NATO representatives in Brussels on Wednesday about further support, amid fears on the part of Kyiv’s allies that the US might reduce or withdraw its aid under the incoming Trump presidency.

The outgoing Biden administration has said it plans in its remaining weeks to push through the more than $9 billion (€8.5 billion) of remaining funding appropriated by Congress for weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s national power grid operator Ukrenergo imposed limits on electricity supply for businesses on Wednesday for the first time since late August.

It said the limits, made necessary by “significantly” lower imports and lower generation, would be temporary.

“The restrictions will be in place during the day. In the evening, after the equipment is fixed, the restrictions will be lifted,” Ukrenergo said on the Telegram messenger app.

Ukraine’s largest private power generator and distributor DTEK said restrictions would apply to Kyiv, the Kyiv region, Odesa, Dnipro and the Donetsk regions.

“The reasons: a shortage (of electricity) in the power grid due to previous shelling by Russia and a drop in temperature,” DTEK said on Telegram.

Russia has deliberately targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during its invasion and has stepped up missile and drone attacks on energy facilities as winter approaches, raising fears that Ukrainians could suffer unbearable cold because of a lack of adequate heating.

According to Ukrainian officials, the country relies mainly on three nuclear power plants for all its energy, with half its previous generating capacity destroyed.

Russia has launched renewed missile attacks on Ukraine , with the president’s chief of staff warning that the capital, Kyiv, was also under attack.

“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is launching a missile attack on Kyiv right now,” Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s air force previously warned that a missile had entered the country’s airspace and was headed for Kyiv. 

Reuters’ witnesses reported hearing blasts in the city.

“Explosions in the city. Air defense forces are working. Stay in shelters!” the Kyiv city administration said on Telegram.

The attacks involved cruise missiles launched from strategic aircraft as well as ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military said.

The majority of a 10,000-strong contingent of North Korean troops deployed to Russia is already taking part in combat operations in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, a US State Department spokesman said.

But how effective the North Korean soldiers will be “will in large part be dictated by how well the Russians can integrate them into their military,” according to the department’s deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel.

“Some of the challenges they would need to overcome are interoperability, the language barrier, command and control, and communications,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported a few days ago that some of the North Korean contingent were already taking part in fighting against the Ukrainian army, which has succeeded in capturing some territory in the Russian border region over the past months.

The presence of the North Korean troops in Russia has fueled fears that the conflict in Ukraine will spill over into a wider proxy war.

tj/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)