Saturday, October 26

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A Russian Shahed-type kamikaze drone hit the 20th floor of a residential building on Oct. 25, 2024 in Kyiv. According to reports, one teenager was killed and five more people injured during the attack. More than 120 people were evacuated from the building. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

Russia to deploy North Korean troops to combat zone on Oct. 27-28, Zelensky says. Russia is planning to send first North Korean soldiers to combat zones on Oct. 27-28, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 25, citing intelligence reports.

‘Our business’ if we deploy North Korean troops, Putin says. Speaking to Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not explicitly confirm the dispatch of North Korean soldiers, saying that “once it’s necessary to make a decision, we will do so.”

US reports North Korean troops moving to Russia’s Kursk region. The Biden administration believes that a contingent of North Korean troops is en route to Russia’s Kursk region to assist Moscow in countering a Ukrainian offensive launched there in August, according to a U.S. official.

Russia ‘not planning any concessions,’ Putin says on peace talks with Ukraine. “Any outcome must be in Russia’s favor, I say directly, without any embarrassment, and must be based on the realities on the battlefield,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

Kyiv preparing internal plan to ‘strengthen Ukraine,’ Zelensky confirms. Ukraine’s economy, countering Russian disinformation, social protection, and “the issue of justice” need to be strengthened, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

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Ukraine strikes Russian Buk air defenses, destroys radar guidance system. The attack, carried out by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces and other military units, reportedly destroyed the radar guidance system of a Buk-M2 system.

Russia has suffered 17,800 casualties since start of Kursk incursion, Syrskyi claims. A total of 6,662 Russian troops have been killed, 10,446 wounded, and 711 captured since Aug. 8, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.

Zelensky rejects UN secretary-general’s visit over Russia trip, presidential source tells AFP. “After Kazan, (Guterres) wanted to come to Ukraine, but the president did not confirm his visit. So Guterres won’t be here, specifically because of the humiliation of sanity and international law in Kazan,” AFP reported, citing an unnamed high-ranking Ukrainian presidential source.

Satellite images show expansion at Soviet-era bioweapons lab in Russia. Sergiyev Posad-6, a military site northeast of Moscow, was a biological weapons research center during the Cold War. A major renovation began at the site shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Washington Post reports.

Elon Musk has been in contact with Putin, Russian officials since 2022, WSJ reports. Former and current European, U.S., and Russian officials told the WSJ that Musk held conversations with Putin and other high-ranking Kremlin officials since late 2022.

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Ukraine war latest: Russia to deploy North Korean troops to combat zone on Oct. 27-28, Kyiv says

Speaking after a regular meeting with his top military and civilian officials, Zelensky called the move an “obvious step toward escalation” that stands in contrast to “disinformation we heard from the Kremlin in recent days.”

Photo: Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images

How Russia attempted to steal Moldovan election, referendum, and what comes next

“Simple mathematical calculus confirm what the authorities have said: yes, there was massive electoral fraud,” said Tatiana Cojocari, a sociologist from Watchdog, one of the think tanks that commissioned polls in Moldova.

Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images

Russia again suffers 2nd deadliest day since start of full-scale invasion, Ukraine claims

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces on Oct. 25 reported 1,630 Russian casualties over the past day, surpassing the previous second-highest tally of 1,530, which was set just last week.

Photo: Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian missile attack kills 3, injures 19 in Dnipro. A Russian missile attack struck several residential buildings and a medical facility in the central-eastern city of Dnipro late on Oct. 25, killing three people and injuring 19. The victims include children.

Russian drone hits apartment building in Kyiv, killing teenage girl. A Russian suicide drone hit a 25-story residential building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district on Oct. 25, killing a 15-year-old girl and injuring five people, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 6, injure 16. Ukrainian forces downed 36 out of 63 Shahed-type drones and other unidentified drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Sixteen more drones were “lost,” it added.

Russian losses in Ukraine for October could hit 40,000, Estonian intelligence suggests. “Russia’s losses are quite high. And this month seems to be one of the biggest in terms of losses for Russia,” said Janek Kesselmann, the deputy commander of the Estonian Military Intelligence Center.

General Staff: Russia has lost 685,910 troops since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,630 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

The little-known obstacle to Ukraine’s mobilization effort

International response

G7 to provide Ukraine $50 billion in loans backed by frozen Russian assets. “Our aim is to begin disbursing the funds by the end of the year,” G7 leaders announced on Oct. 25. The loan will support Ukraine’s economic, defense, and reconstruction needs.

North Korea says any troop deployment to Russia is in ‘regulations of international law.’ North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Oct. 25 that any decision to send its troops to support Russia in the war in Ukraine would comply with international law, however, it did not confirm whether such a deployment had occurred.

Russia sending first 1,500 North Korean troops against Ukraine to test world’s reaction, Netherlands says. Dutch intelligence has confirmed that Moscow has deployed at least 1,500 North Korean troops to join the war against Ukraine, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Oct. 25.

Poland rules out transferring recently-purchased South Korean weapons to Ukraine. Polish President Andrzej Duda said he had talked to Kyiv about the possible transfer of South Korean weapons but that his response to the allies was “unequivocal.”

Rheinmetall provides Ukraine with 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles. Rheinmetall transferred so far about 200 combat vehicles, including over a hundred Marder 1A3 models, to Ukraine directly or indirectly through the so-called ring exchange.

‘We can’t have a bad outcome,’ JP Morgan Chase CEO says on Ukraine, Russia’s nuclear threats. “The nuclear proliferation, of course, is the biggest risk mankind faces… I think we should be very careful about what we are trying to accomplish in the next couple of years,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said.

In other news

Russia provided Yemen’s Houthis with satellite data to attack vessels in Red Sea, WSJ reports. Such assistance shows how far Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to go to undermine the Western economic and political order, the WSJ wrote.

Russian National Guard attacked in Chechnya, 1 killed. The incident took place near Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Muslim-majority republic in the North Caucasus ruled by Putin’s ally, dictator Ramzan Kadyrov.

Usyk appeals to Trump to help free Azovstal defenders from Russian captivity. “If Mr. President is so confident in his influence over Putin, could he help free Azovstal defenders and all Ukrainians from Russian captivity right away? Time is of the essence,” Ukrainian world boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk wrote on X.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Kateryna Denisova, Kateryna Hodunova, Francis Farrell, Olena Goncharova, and Abbey Fenbert.

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