North Korea could send its troops to fight alongside Russia’s in Ukraine, South Korea’s defense minister says. Two Russian attacks on Kharkiv on Tuesday kill two, injure more than 30. Russia has shipped over 180,000 tons of stolen Ukrainian grain through the Mariupol port this year.
North Korea likely to send troops to fight alongside Russia’s in Ukraine, South Korean defense minister says
North Korea is likely to deploy members of its regular armed forces to Ukraine in support of Russia, South Korea’s Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, was quoted as saying by the country’s Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday. The move comes as the latest sign of deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, Kim told the country’s parliament.
The assessment came as North Korea has been seeking to bolster ties with Russia, highlighted by a bilateral agreement, signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in June.
The South Korean defense chief said a recent report on North Korean troop casualties in the Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk is likely to be true.
“We assess that the occurrence of casualties among North Korean officers and soldiers in Ukraine is highly likely, considering various circumstances,” he said.
Commenting on the South Korean Defense Minister’s statement, Andriy Kovalenko, the Head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation said that North Korean service members had already been deployed to Ukraine alongside Russian forces.
“I earlier said that a small number of North Korean troops, mostly engineers, are supervising the quality of Pyongyang-supplied weapons and their use by the Russian army. Some have already died. [North Korean] munitions and KN23 ballistic missiles are mostly low-quality, and the military on the ground reports to Kim [Jong Un] about that,” Kovalenko said.
Ukrainian media said this weekend that 20 troops, including six North Korean military officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk on October 3. Three other North Korean service members were wounded.
Putin visited North Korea on June 18 and June 19 for the first time since 2000. The two states signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that includes a mutual defense clause and cements ties in an anti-U.S. show of solidarity.
The pact envisions mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang if either is attacked.
Two Russian attacks on Kharkiv on Tuesday kill two, injure more than 30
Two Russian attacks on Kharkiv on Tuesday killed at least two civilians and injured more than 30 people, including two children, regional officials said.
Russia dropped four glide bombs on Kharkiv during the afternoon, head of the regional administration Oleh Synehubov said. Two people were killed and at least five others wounded, including a 10-year-old boy. Fifteen apartment buildings were damaged in the city’s Saltivskyi district, Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov said.
Earlier in the day, a Russian attack injured 28 people, including a 16-year-old boy, Synehubov said. At least 17 people were taken to hospital. The authorities were working to verify the type of weapon used. A civilian production facility was hit, and a fire broke out.
Russia has shipped over 180,000 tons of stolen Ukrainian grain through Mariupol port
Russia has shipped more than 180,000 tons of looted grain harvested in Ukraine’s occupied territories through the port of Mariupol this year, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, addressing the cabinet on Tuesday.
“Russia continues to use food as an element of aggression. This year, the enemy has shipped more than 180,000 tons of stolen Ukrainian grain through the port of Mariupol alone,” Shmyhal said.
Russia profits from theft in Ukraine’s occupied territories to finance its war of aggression against the country, he added.
“Russian economic terror will definitely be one of the subjects considered by a special tribunal on the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Shmyhal said.
