‘We don’t want more weapons coming into this theatre’, UN says over US claims North Korea may supply weapons to Russia
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary General, attends a press conference at UN headquarters.
Lev Radin | Press of the Pacific | light rocket | Getty Images
The United Nations said it is concerned by reports that North Korea is preparing to transfer weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
“Our feeling is that we do not want to see more weapons entering this theater,” Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said during a daily press conference.
Dujarric’s comments follow accusations from the White House that North Korea has agreed to supply weapons to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We don’t think this is going to change the course of the war,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on a conference call.
“It certainly won’t change our calculus,” Kirby said, adding that the US and its allies will continue to supply Kyiv with more weapons.
Kirby said the US also had indications that Iran was preparing to send Russia more drones and surface-to-surface missiles.
Iran and Russia have strongly denied reports that Tehran supplied Moscow with a fleet of drones for use in Ukraine, and the Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it uses Iranian-made drones to target residential and other civilian areas.
— Amanda Macias
Ukraine says it trusts Musk’s Starlink, but is looking for other suppliers
Elon Musk said Friday that SpaceX cannot continue to fund Starlink terminals in Ukraine “indefinitely” in light of the cost. However, Musk, who is also CEO of electric car company Tesla, said on Saturday that SpaceX would continue to fund the Ukrainian government “for free” even though Starlink was “still losing money”.
Addresses Latif | Reuters
Ukraine is counting on Elon Musk to continue providing internet access via his SpaceX rocket company’s Starlink satellite system despite a setback last month, but is also looking for additional suppliers, one of its deputy prime ministers said .
Mykhailo Fedorov, in Portugal for Europe’s biggest tech conference, the Lisbon Web Summit, said Ukraine had discussed Starlink directly with Musk and was confident the Tesla and Twitter boss would not shut down the service in Ukraine.
Starlink has “worked, is working and will definitely work in Ukraine,” Federov, who heads Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry, told a news conference in response to a question about the service from Reuters. “Elon Musk spoke publicly about it and we had a conversation with him about it, so we don’t see a problem in that regard,” Fedorov said.
“One of the reasons I came to the Web Summit is also to look for new partners and continue to develop and engage with new partners,” he said.
SpaceX activated Starlink over Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February and has since provided Kyiv with thousands of terminals, allowing Ukrainians to connect to the Internet in places beyond the reach of the national telecommunications system. The links are used by both civilians and the military of Ukraine.
— Reuters
Russian troops frustrated with combat vehicles they call aluminum cans, UK says
Destroyed Russian infantry fighting vehicle near the road in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. 02 October 2022.
Nurfoto | Nurfoto | Getty Images
Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine are likely to be frustrated by being forced to serve in antiquated infantry fighting vehicles, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
In its latest intelligence update, the ministry said troops often refer to these vehicles as aluminum cans and that Russia was losing armored vehicles at a rapid rate.
“In mid-October, in the face of Ukrainian offensives, losses of Russian armored vehicles increased to more than 40 per day – roughly the equivalent of a battalion’s equipment,” the ministry noted on Twitter.
“In recent weeks, Russia has likely resorted to acquiring at least 100 additional tanks and infantry fighting vehicles from Belarusian populations.”
Armored units and artillery are central to Russia’s way of war, the UK said, and Russia’s forces are “now struggling in part because of difficulties in sourcing both artillery ammunition and sufficient replacement armored vehicles”.
—Holly Elliott
Official installed by Russia: Russian units will probably leave the west bank of the Dnipro River
An official stationed by Russia in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region said Thursday that Russian armed forces are likely to leave the western bank of the Dnipro River, where Moscow has been evacuating citizens in recent weeks.
“Most likely, our units, our soldiers, will go to the left (east) bank,” Kirill Stremousov, the deputy civil administrator of the Kherson region based in Russia, said in an interview with Solovyov Live, a pro-Kremlin online media outlet. .
The city of Kherson, the only major city in Ukraine that Russian forces have captured intact, is located on the western bank of the Dnipro. Damage to the main river crossings means that Russian units are at risk of being pinned against the river by the advancing Ukrainian army.
People arriving from Kherson await another evacuation deep into Russia inside the Dzhankoi railway station in Crimea on October 21, 2022.
Stringer | Afp | Getty Images
Stremousov urged civilians remaining in the city to leave immediately, saying they were putting their lives in danger. Russia has ferried thousands of people across the river in recent weeks, in what Kyiv says amounts to forced deportation.
However, Ukrainian troops on the front line last week said they saw no evidence that Russian forces were withdrawing and said they were in fact strengthening their positions.
— Reuters
The exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine is expected, according to the official
Russia and Ukraine will exchange 214 prisoners of war on Thursday, according to a Russian-backed official.
Denis Pushilin, the administrator of occupied parts of Ukraine’s Russia-backed eastern Donetsk region, said on Telegram on Thursday that the two sides will exchange 107 prisoners each.
“Today we are retrieving 107 of our fighters from Ukrainian dungeons. We are giving Ukraine the same number of prisoners,” he said, adding that 65 of the prisoners are from the self-proclaimed “Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics”, with the support from Russia “
Soldiers are seen as Russia and Ukraine confirmed they exchanged more prisoners of war in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 29, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Ukraine and Russia have carried out several prisoner exchanges over the course of the war, the latest of which took place in late October. Both Ukraine and Russia often refer to the captured soldiers as replenishing their respective “exchange funds.”
—Holly Elliott
Russia did not decide whether to extend the grain export agreement
Malta-flagged bulk carrier Zante, en route to Belgium, is transiting the Bosphorus carrying 47,270 metric tons of rapeseed oil from Ukraine after being held up at the entrance to the Bosphorus due to Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement of Black Sea grain on November 2, 2022 in Istanbul. Turkey
Chris McGrath | Getty Images
The Kremlin said it has not yet decided whether to extend a grain export deal with Ukraine, although it decided on Wednesday to resume its participation in the “Black Sea Grain Initiative.”
The current deal will expire on November 19 unless both Russia and Ukraine decide to renew the deal, which has allowed more than 9 million tonnes of grain and food to be exported from the war-torn country. The agreement was negotiated by the UN and Turkey and is overseen by their officials, as well as those of Russia and Ukraine.
Russia had suspended its participation in the deal last Saturday, accusing Ukraine of using the established humanitarian corridor for military purposes, but rejoined on Wednesday, saying it had received assurances from Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov waits to watch the Victory Day military parade in Red Square in central Moscow on May 9, 2022.
Kirill Kudryavtsev | Afp | Getty Images
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that Moscow’s renewed participation in the deal did not necessarily mean it would be renewed.
“Of course, we still have to discuss the issue of the extension officially, the deadline is not over yet, it is still working… but on the 19th, before making the decision to continue, it will be necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the agreement. And only then can a decision be made.”
Peskov said Turkey had received assurances from Moscow that the corridor would not be used for military purposes, a charge Ukraine denies in any case, and praised Ankara’s work to maintain the agreement, noting that “the participation of Turkey in this is the main factor of confidence.
—Holly Elliott
A possible arms deal between North Korea and Russia raises concerns
South Korea has said it is concerned about evidence of an arms deal between North Korea and Russia, after the White House accused the Pyongyang regime of covertly sending artillery shells to Russia.
Seoul’s foreign ministry told NBC on Thursday that the government is “concerned by circumstantial evidence pointing to arms dealing between NK and Russia.” The ministry said it was monitoring the situation very closely and was “maintaining close communication with our allies, including the US.”
“All arms trade with NK is prohibited under UNSC Resolutions No. 1718,” the ministry added.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) in Vladivostok, Russia on April 25, 2019.
Kremlin | Brochure | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
On Wednesday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the White House believes North Korea is covertly supplying a “significant number” of artillery shells to Russia for use in Ukraine, NBC News reported.
“We’re going to monitor to see if the shipments are coming in,” Kirby said. “It’s not an insignificant number of shells, but we don’t think that . . .