Current Ukraine-Russia war: North Koreans legitimate military target in Putin’s “meat grinder” war, says Blinken

The United States and South Korea have turned to China to use its influence over Russia and North Korea to prevent escalation after Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia to support Moscow's war against Ukraine. Beijing has remained calm so far.

In a rare meeting earlier this week, three senior US diplomats met with the Chinese ambassador to the United States to highlight US concerns and urge China to use its influence over North Korea to try to limit cooperation, according to reports a State Department spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that the sides had had “an intensive conversation just this week” and that China knew that U.S. expectations were that “they will use their influence to curb these activities.”

“But I think this is a signal of demand coming not just from us but from countries around the world,” he said at a news conference in Washington with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts.

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in a statement that China's position on the Ukraine crisis was “consistent and clear.”

Russia has trained North Korean soldiers in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including clearing trenches, indicating that it has full intention of using these forces in front-line operations,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

North Korea's efforts to deepen its ties with Russia have raised global concerns about how it could expand the war in Ukraine and what military aid Russia will receive in return.

It has become a central theme as U.S. and South Korean leaders met in Washington this week, raising concerns that the presence of these soldiers would further destabilize the Asia-Pacific region and expand Moscow's war against Ukraine .

Ukraine assumes that around 12,000 North Korean soldiers are already involved in Russia's war against the country, which will soon last 1,000 days.

Ukraine was the first official, along with South Korea, to warn against North Korean soldiers entering the war from the Russian side.

The U.S. officials said they estimated that about 10,000 North Korean soldiers were stationed in Russia. Seoul and its allies believe the number has risen to 11,000.

More than a week ago, there were reports that North Korean troops were arriving in Russia's Kursk region to help Russian troops repel a Ukrainian border incursion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that North Korean officers and technical personnel had already been spotted in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. “I think they first sent officials to assess the situation before deploying troops,” Mr. Zelensky said. He warned that the involvement of a third country could escalate the conflict into a world war.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said some North Korean soldiers had already moved closer to Ukraine and were probably on their way to the Kursk border region. The Russian armed forces are finding it difficult to push back Ukraine's cross-border invasion that began on August 6th.

This came just hours after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed recent Ukrainian intelligence reports about the presence of North Korean military units in Kursk, near the Ukrainian border.

Russian troops attacked a strategic bridge over the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Estuary in Ukraine's southern Odessa region overnight, firing two Iskander ballistic missiles and eight guided missiles, the Ukrainian military said on Thursday.

The bridge has been targeted several times in the last two years and represents an important rail and automobile connection in the region.

The Ukrainian military added that Russia had used two ballistic missiles to attack the eastern city of Kramatorsk.

The air force shot down 17 of 43 drones and two guided missiles launched by Russia overnight, it said, adding that 23 drones were “locally lost”, probably due to electronic warfare, and three others left Ukrainian-controlled airspace.

All drones that threatened the capital Kiev were disabled by air defense.

A Russian court has fined Google $2.5 billion for allegedly blocking pro-Kremlin propaganda on YouTube.

The fine, equivalent to $2.5 trillion, is the result of a fine accumulated over four years, with the number currently doubling every week under Russian law.

The original fine of 100,000 rubles was imposed on the US tech giant in 2020 after media channels Tsargrad and RIA FAN won lawsuits related to restrictions on their YouTube channels.

Anthony Cuthbertson Reports:

The US expects North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk region to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

There are 10,000 North Korean soldiers stationed in Russia, including up to 8,000 in the Kursk region, the top US diplomat said. Ukrainian forces continue to hold territory in Kursk after fighting their way into the Russian border area in August.

At a news conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts, Mr. Blinken said that Russia had trained the North Korean soldiers in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles or drones and basic infantry operations, indicating that they “fully intend” to use these forces in the Frontline deployment.

They would become legitimate military targets if they came into play, he said.

“We have not yet seen these troops deployed in combat against Ukrainian forces, but we expect this to happen in the coming days,” he said.

During their meeting, the U.S. and South Korea discussed a range of response options, Blinken added, saying Moscow's use of North Korean soldiers in its “meat grinder” war against Ukraine was a “clear sign of weakness.”

A Russian-directed bomb attack on Kharkiv killed at least three people, including a child and a teenager.

The death toll was confirmed yesterday after rescue teams completed rescue work on a high-rise building in the city in northeastern Ukraine.

According to the emergency services, children aged 12 and 15 were also killed and 36 people were injured in the strike on Wednesday evening.

Kharkiv region governor Oleh Syniehubov said earlier that one of the children was pulled out from under the rubble with head wounds and broken bones, but doctors were unable to save him.

Mr Syniehubov said the strike sparked a fire and destroyed most of an entrance, leaving a huge hole in the building.

Kharkiv remained in Ukrainian hands during the first failed advance by Russian forces on the capital Kiev in the first days of the invasion in February 2022. Since then, it has become a frequent target of Russian airstrikes.

Kremlin rejects report of talks between Russia and Ukraine to stop strikes on energy facilities

The Kremlin has rejected a report that Russia and Ukraine were in the early stages of negotiations over a possible halt to air strikes on each other's energy facilities.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that there were many reports “that have nothing to do with reality.”

The Financial TimesCiting sources said to include senior Ukrainian officials, the country reported that Ukraine wanted to resume talks that came close to an agreement in August and were mediated by Qatar.