President Volodymyr Zelensky has blasted what he called his allies’ ‘zero’ response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops for the war in Ukraine.
The United States expects North Korean soldiers in Russia will deploy in combat against Ukrainian forces in the coming days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday, warning they would become legitimate military targets if they engaged in combat against Kyiv.
The United States has received information that indicates that “right now” there are 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region, deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood told the UN Security Council on Thursday.
Zelensky blasts allies for ‘zero’ response to North Korean troop deployment
President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted what he called his allies’ “zero” response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops for the war in Ukraine, saying on Thursday a weak reaction would encourage Russia’s Vladimir Putin to beef up the contingent.
The Ukrainian leader, in an interview with South Korea’s KBS television channel, said he believed Moscow was already trying to agree for North Korea to send engineering troops and a “large number of civilians” to work at Russian military plants.
“Putin is checking the reaction of the West ... And I believe that after all these reactions, Putin will decide and increase the contingent ... The reaction that is there today is nothing, it is zero,” Zelensky said.
He began publicly warning of North Korean involvement in the war on 13 October. Western allies have since described the move as a major escalation, but have not announced retaliatory measures or said they are preparing to implement any.
South Korea has offered intelligence assistance and wider cooperation on the matter, and it is considering sending a team of military monitors to Ukraine, according to South Korean officials.
In prepared remarks to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Ukraine’s delegation named three North Korean generals it says are accompanying thousands of Korean People’s Army troops deployed to Russia in aid of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Russia has not denied the involvement of North Korean troops in the war. North Korea initially denied involvement, but has since defended the idea of deploying troops as being in line with international law.
Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood told the Security Council on Thursday that Washington had received information indicating that “right now” there were 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s southern Kursk region, which borders on northeastern Ukraine.
In his interview comments, Zelensky said he was surprised by the “silence” from China over the troop deployment.
Zelensky said that Ukraine had “clear information” that Russia had confirmed the deployment of the North Koreans directly to the West via intelligence channels.
“The Russian Federation discussed this issue with the West and confirmed that yes, there are military personnel from North Korea who will fight against Ukraine,” he said.
The direct tone of Zelensky’s rhetoric pointed to mounting Ukrainian frustration over the extent of Western support for Kyiv at a critical time in the war with Russia, with the clock counting down to Tuesday’s US presidential election.
Russian troops have been slowly advancing for months in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv’s outgunned and outnumbered forces have struggled to find a way to hold them back.
Blinken expects North Korean soldiers to deploy against Ukrainian forces soon
The United States expects North Korean soldiers in Russia will deploy in combat against Ukrainian forces in the coming days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday, warning they would become legitimate military targets if they engaged in combat against Kyiv.
Blinken – speaking at a press conference following a meeting with the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts – said Russia has been training the North Korean soldiers in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and basic infantry operations, indicating they fully intend to use the forces in frontline operations.
During their meeting on Thursday, the US and South Korea discussed a range of options for responding, Blinken added.
US says 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk
The United States has received information that indicates that “right now” there are 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region, deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood told the UN Security Council on Thursday.
“I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleague: Does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia?” Wood said, referring to North Korea’s formal name: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Russian representative in the 15-member Security Council at the time did not respond to Wood. Moscow has neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops. After an initial denial, North Korea has since defended the idea of deploying troops as being in line with international law.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In August this year Ukrainian forces fought their way into the Russian border area of Kursk, where they continue to hold territory.
The US, Britain, South Korea, Ukraine and others accuse Russia of violating UN resolutions and the founding UN Charter with the deployment of troops from North Korea, which has long been under UN sanctions aimed at halting Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Ukraine on Wednesday named three North Korean generals it says are accompanying the Asian nation’s troops in Russia.
The US and China also clashed at the Security Council on Thursday over Washington’s accusations that Beijing is providing large-scale support for Russia’s defence industrial base.
“China cannot credibly claim to be a voice for peace when it enables Russia to wage the largest war in Europe in decades. China’s support to Russia is decisive. China’s support is prolonging the war,” Wood said.
China’s deputy UN Ambassador Geng Shuang said China has not provided weapons to any party to the conflict in Ukraine and has strictly managed dual-use items – products capable of being used for military as well as civilian purposes – according to global rules. He accused Washington of “peddling anxiety, fabricating enemies and stoking confrontation.”
“We oppose the US practice to smear China on the question of Ukraine and to conduct long-arm jurisdiction and sanction Chinese companies and entities on this question,” he said.
The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on nearly 400 entities and individuals from more than a dozen different countries, including China, to counter evasion of its measures imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 15-member UN Security Council met on Thursday at the request of Russia on Western arms supplies to Ukraine.
US, Japan, South Korea condemn North Korea’s ICBM launch
The United States, Japan and South Korea issued a joint statement on Thursday strongly condemning North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
North Korea said it tested an ICBM earlier on Thursday, upgrading what it called the “world’s most powerful strategic weapon”, as Seoul warned Pyongyang could get missile technology from Russia for helping with the war in Ukraine.
The US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call with the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea in which they condemned the launch and called it a “flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”
Trudeau says global impact of Ukraine war is worsening
The war in Ukraine is hurting the entire world and the longer it goes on, the worse the consequences will be for everyone, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.
Trudeau made his remarks at a time when the United States and its allies accuse Chinese entities of helping Moscow’s military effort, and Washington and Ukraine say thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia.
“All of us and all of the international community must do whatever it takes to help bring an end to this war of aggression,” he told a Montreal conference on how to secure the return of Ukrainian prisoners and children detained by Russia.
Trudeau, one of Ukraine’s most outspoken international backers, variously accused Moscow of boosting food insecurity, helping spread disinformation, emboldening other totalitarian regimes and undermining international law, he said.
“Everyone will have to face the consequences of this war, and these will only worsen as Russia’s invasion continues,” said Trudeau. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a special military operation, accusing Washington and its Nato partners of waging a hybrid war in Ukraine.
Kyiv says about 20,000 children have been taken from Ukraine to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians. It calls this a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide while Moscow says it has protected vulnerable children from the war zone.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of President Vladimir Putin and children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on war crimes charges related to the abduction of children.
Butter prices soar, testing Putin’s pledge to supply ‘guns and butter’
President Vladimir Putin says that Russia’s war economy is well balanced to supply both guns and butter, but the price of butter itself is now soaring as surging inflation distorts parts of the economy.
The price of a block of butter has risen by 25.7% since December, according to the state statistics service.
Reuters reporters found shopping bills showing the price of a pack of “Brest-Litovsk” high-grade butter in Moscow has risen by 34% since the start of the year to 239.96 roubles ($2.47).
“The Armageddon with butter is escalating; we wouldn’t be surprised if butter repeats last year’s situation with eggs,” economists on Russia’s popular MMI Telegram channel warned, referring to an earlier spike in egg prices which alarmed consumers.
The steep price rise has prompted a spate of butter thefts at some supermarkets, according to Russian media, and some retailers have started putting individual blocks of butter inside plastic containers to deter shoplifting.
The authorities, who have gone to great lengths to try to ensure the war in Ukraine does not affect people’s daily lives, are watching closely.
Dmitry Patrushev, a deputy prime minister in charge of agriculture, said on October 23 that the government would monitor butter prices. He met major dairy producers and retailers and said imports were being stepped up.
Milk prices have soared too as have wages, interest rates, fuel and transport – all price inputs for butter. Butter imports from Belarus are not sufficient so Russia is expecting a big shipment from Turkey, and even from Iran and India, Russian media reported.
Putin has made much of the resilience of Russia’s wartime economy, and mentioned the relationship between “cannons” and “butter” after he appointed an economist, Andrei Belousov, to head the defence ministry earlier this year.
The $2-trillion economy has so far outperformed expectations: shortly after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, Western economists predicted its imminent collapse.
Instead, despite the most onerous Western sanctions ever imposed on a major country, it grew faster than the United States and almost all major European countries.
Prices, though, are now rising – as are interest rates, which the central bank hiked 200 basis points to 21% on 25 October, their highest since Putin’s first term in 2003. The central bank is forecasting inflation of 8.0-8.5% this year.
As it fights a major land war against Western-backed Ukraine, Russia is spending more on defence than at any time since the Cold War – and that is pushing up prices even if the International Monetary Fund forecasts growth of 3.6% this year.
Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs chief economist who coined the “BRICs” term in 2001, has questioned how sustainable the situation is if things continue.
“It’s all because of enormous Russian defence spending,” O’Neill told Reuters of the overall macro picture. “So I think the medium-term outlook to long-term outlook is quite bleak.”
Russian to face trial in Finland for 2014 war crimes in Ukraine
A Russian man is to stand trial in Finland charged with having committed war crimes in Ukraine in 2014, Finland’s National Prosecution Authority said on Thursday.
The trial of Yan Petrovsky, who also goes under the name Voislav Torden, is expected to begin on 5 December and last until the end of January 2025, the Helsinki district court said.
Petrovsky, who has been under European Union and US sanctions since 2022, denies the charges, his lawyer Heikki Lampela told Reuters.
The charges against him are related to activities in the Rusich paramilitary unit that fought against Ukraine on the side of Russia-backed separatists in the Luhansk region in 2014, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Much of Luhansk has been occupied since 2014, when Russian-financed separatists took over swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine after large protests prompted Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country and Moscow’s forces seized the Crimea peninsula.
Petrovsky is suspected of being the deputy commander of the unit and participating in acts that violated the laws of war, the prosecutor said.
He and the unit’s soldiers are accused of killing a total of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and seriously wounding four, the statement said.
Deputy prosecutor general Jukka Rappe, who decided to press charges, told Reuters the trial would, among other material, include video recordings of events that took place in Ukraine in 2014 and consider the testimony of survivors.
Petrovsky, who was born in 1987, was detained in Finland in July 2023 after he entered the country.
Finland’s supreme court blocked the extradition of Petrovsky to Ukraine in December last year, citing the risk of inhumane prison conditions there. A Ukrainian court had issued an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of participating in a terrorist organisation in Ukraine.
Russia shifts more funds to military in budget draft
The Russian government is seeking to reallocate seven trillion roubles ($72-billion) in its three-year budget draft, with a significant portion of the funds directed towards the military, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday.
The draft allocates 13.5 trillion roubles to the military in 2025, accounting for a third of total expenditure or 6.3% of GDP — the highest level since the Cold War. New amendments suggest that this figure could be even higher.
For the first time, the share of spending on defence will be double that of social spending. Siluanov told a cabinet meeting that the government has prepared about 900 amendments to the draft.
“A significant part of the amendments is aimed at ensuring the defence and security of the country, including the conduct of the special military operation,” Siluanov said during the cabinet meeting, referring to Russia’s military action in Ukraine.
The government has the authority to shift funds within the total expenditure of 41.5 trillion roubles between sectors in the budget draft as it approaches the second reading in the lower house of Parliament. The draft has already passed its first reading. DM