Tuesday, October 29

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Russian forces struck downtown Kharkiv on Oct. 28, injuring at least nine people and damaging the historic Derzhprom Building. Russia launched a series of attacks against residential neighborhoods in Ukraine’s cities on Oct. 28-28, striking Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Kryvhyi Rih. (Hermes Pichon / The Kyiv Independent)

Russia’s attack on Kharkiv injures 9, damages historic landmark. Russian forces attacked downtown Kharkiv using a FAB-500 bomb on Oct. 28, injuring at least nine people. The strike damaged the Derzhprom building (the State Industry Building), under enhanced UNESCO protection since 2022.

NATO chief confirms North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. “Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.

Ukrainian forces have not yet engaged in combat with North Korean soldiers, military says. The first North Korean troops were to be deployed in the combat zone on Oct. 27 or 28, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

US won’t impose new restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American weapons if North Korea joins war, Pentagon says. “A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast near the border with Ukraine,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.

Ex-North Korean soldiers seek Ukraine deployment to influence former comrades, media reports. A group of almost 200 ex-North Korean soldiers asked to be deployed in Ukraine to help demoralize and influence Pyongyang’s troops joining the war on Russia’s side, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Oct. 28.

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North Korea’s current arms sales to Russia estimated at up to $5.5 billion, Friedrich Naumann Foundation suggests. Because North Korea and Russia do not publish official statistics on the country’s bilateral trade, there is uncertainty. But even the minimum estimate of shipments is over $1.7 billion, the study reads.

650,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in war against Ukraine, Zelensky says. “Russia itself has killed a lot of Russians. A lot of mobilized Russian soldiers were killed by the Russian army itself because they were afraid to attack, to perish under the bullets, or to be wounded. So, they retreated and then were killed by their army,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told Times of India.

Ukraine sabotages railway bridge in occupied Berdiansk, intelligence source claims. Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) and the Ukrainian resistance sabotaged a railway bridge in the occupied city of Berdiansk, a HUR source told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 28.

Zelensky arrives in Iceland for 4th Ukraine-Northern Europe Summit. This is President Volodymyr Zelensky’s first official visit to the island country, during which he will meet the prime ministers of Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

Almost 80% of Vovchansk’s buildings destroyed, damaged in Russian attacks, analysis says. The once 17,000-strong town, located just five kilometers from the Russian border in Kharkiv Oblast, became heavily contested following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: US won’t impose new limitations on weapons if North Korea enters war, Pentagon says

The United States will not introduce new restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American weapons if North Korean troops engage in combat, the Pentagon said on Oct. 28 following NATO’s confirmation of North Korean troops’ deployment to Kursk Oblast.

Photo: Contributor/Getty Images

Ukraine expands long-range drone strikes target list, alcohol now on the menu

“Russian military aviation cannot function without alcohol,” Andrii Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said following reports of a strike on an ethanol plant in Russia.

Photo: Astra / Telegram

Georgians take to streets in protest as pro-Russian party crowned election winner amid wide-scale fraud

Georgia has descended into political turmoil that is set to shape the country for years to come. Thousands of Georgians took to the streets of downtown Tbilisi in protest of disputed parliamentary election results. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili was one of them.

Photo: Giorgi Arjevanidze/AFP via Getty Images

Like Russian opposition itself, Navalny’s posthumous memoir falls short on Ukraine

For many Ukrainians, especially in the context of a decade of war, late opposition leader Alexei Navalny was a more complex figure, often casting doubt on whether Russian opposition to Vladimir Putin necessarily aligned with support for Ukraine’s fully realized independence.

Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russia attacks Kharkiv overnight, killing at least 4. At least four people were killed in the most recent attack, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Rescuers are searching for other victims, including children, who may still be trapped under the rubble.

1 killed, 12 injured in Russia’s attack on Kryvyi Rih. Casualties from the Russian missile attack on residential buildings and medical facility in Kryvyi Rih late on Oct. 28 have increased to one dead and 12 injured, Ukrainian authorities report.

Russian drone attack in Kyiv damages apartment building, injures 6. Debris from a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district in the early hours of Oct. 29, causing a fire and damaging a gas line. One of the victims was hospitalized with a severe leg injury.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 5, injure 38. At least 21 people were injured overnight on Oct. 27-28, including five children, as Russia launched multiple air attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, the State Emergency Service reported.

General Staff: Russia has lost 690,720 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. This number includes 1,680 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

Opinion: There’s more to Ukraine than Hollywood gangster tropes and war

“Ukraine is often branded as a place of corruption and gangsters, and Hollywood doesn’t help when it makes the villains Ukrainian. … The country I know is filled with talented, hardworking, and warm people who possess an incredible sense of humor. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, too many people think Ukraine is nothing but a war zone,” filmmaker Ronnie Apteker writes.

Photo: Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images

International response

Finnish court orders seizing Russian assets at request of Ukraine’s Naftogaz company. According to a ruling in 2023 by the Permanent Arbitration Court based in The Hague, Russia is obliged to pay $5 billion to Naftogaz Group as compensation for assets illegally seized during the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014.

Norway’s PM announces new 500-million-euro aid package for Ukraine. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store announced on Oct. 28 that Norway will provide Ukraine with a new 500-million-euro ($543 million) aid package, allocating over half for military assistance.

Sweden to allocate over $68 million in military aid to Ukraine. About $46.5 million will go towards initiatives supporting Ukraine’s Armed Forces, the Swedish government said. Another $21.6 million will support the development of the Ukrainian defense industry.

Croatia to provide Ukraine with 30 tanks, 30 infantry fighting vehicles in exchange for German Leopard tanks. Croatia has committed to supplying 30 M-84 tanks and 30 M-80 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as spare parts and ammunition, in exchange for financial means to purchase up to 50 Leopard 2A8 tanks, according to the memorandum.

Sandu’s rival claims support for Ukraine, Moldovan president calls him ‘Moscow’s man.’ Moldovan presidential candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo claimed he would continue supporting Ukraine, a statement dismissed by incumbent President Maia Sandu during a presidential debate on Oct. 27.

‘That’s what they do’ — Trump’s running mate Vance brushes off Russian election interference. “I think a lot of countries are going to try to manipulate our voters. They’re going to try to manipulate our elections. That’s what they do,” J.D. Vance told CBS News.

Trump plans to end Russia’s war in Ukraine by freezing it if he wins presidential election, FT reports. Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who served in Trump’s White House and is now at the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, suggested in an interview with the FT that Ukraine’s membership in NATO could be taken off the agenda for several years to force Russia to the negotiating table.

Harris likely to struggle with pushing Ukraine aid through Congress if elected, Bloomberg reports. Even if Kamala Harris sits in the White House, her administration will probably struggle to pass significant resources for Ukraine through U.S. Congress, Bloomberg wrote.

In other news

US, EU call for investigation of Georgian elections after reports of intimidation, irregularities. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged “Georgia’s political leaders to respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and address deficiencies in the electoral process together.”

Adnan Kivan, owner of Kyiv Post, dies at 61. Businessman Adnan Kivan, owner of the Kadorr Group and the English-language Ukrainian news outlet Kyiv Post, passed away on Oct. 28, the Kadorr Group announced.

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