Ukraine's Zelenskyy urges allies to act before N Korean troops arrive | Russia-Ukraine war News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged allies to stop “watching” and take action before North Korean troops stationed in Russia arrive on the battlefield, and the country's army chief has warned that his troops are facing “one of the most powerful attacks” by Moscow since the war began. the whole war started more than two years ago.

Zelenskyy raised the prospect of a first Ukrainian strike on North Korean military training camps and said Kyiv knows its territory. But he said that Ukraine will not do it without permission from the allies to use long-range weapons made by the West to hit targets deep inside Russia.

“But instead … America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching. Everyone is waiting for the North Korean military to start attacking the people of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Friday via the Telegram messaging app.

The Biden administration said Thursday that about 8,000 North Korean troops are in Russia's Kursk region near the Ukrainian border and are preparing to help the Kremlin fight Ukrainian forces in the coming days.

On Saturday, Ukrainian military intelligence said more than 7,000 North Koreans armed with Russian weapons and ammunition had been moved to areas near Ukraine. The agency, abbreviated as GUR, said North Korean troops are being trained at five locations in Russia's Far East. It did not specify its source of information.

Western leaders have described North Korea's military deployment as a significant development that could strain relations in the Asia Pacific region, and open the door to technology transfers from Moscow to Pyongyang that could further the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile program.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui met with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Friday.

Ukraine's leaders have repeatedly said they need permission to use Western weapons to strike weapons depots, airfields and military bases across the border to encourage Russia to seek peace. In response, US defense officials have argued that the missiles are limited in number, and that Ukraine is already using its own drones to bombard Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly said it will consider any such strikes a major escalation. President Vladimir Putin warned on September 12 that Russia would be “going to war” with US and NATO allies if they agreed.

Ukraine faces 'strong' Russian attack

Zelenskyy's call came shortly before Ukraine's top commander, General Oleksandr Syrskii, said on Saturday that his forces were fighting to stop “one of the most powerful attacks” by Russia since it invaded its southern neighbor in February 2022.

Writing in Telegram following a call with a senior Czech military official, Syrskii revealed that Ukrainian units were suffering heavy losses in the war, which he said “needs constant resupply.”

Although Syrskii did not specify where the heavy fighting took place, Russia has been waging a brutal campaign in eastern Ukraine for months, gradually forcing Kyiv to surrender. But Moscow has struggled to push Ukrainian troops out of its Kursk region following an incursion nearly three months ago.

Dozens were injured in Russian strikes in Ukraine

Russian missiles hit Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv on Saturday night, killing a policeman and injuring dozens, local Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. According to Syniehubov and the national police force in Ukraine, another missile hit the area where a group of policemen had gathered, killing a 40-year-old worker and injuring 36 others.

In the southern Ukrainian province of Kherson, Russian shooting on Saturday killed a 40-year-old woman and injured three others, including two children, local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. Another resident of Kherson was injured in a drone attack later that day, according to local Ukrainian authorities.

Five other civilians, including two children, were injured after Russia stormed the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, Governor Serhiy Lysak said.

In Kyiv, air raid sirens sounded for more than five hours early Saturday morning as Russian jets entered the capital, setting fire to a downtown office and injuring two people, according to the city's military commanders.

In total, the Russian military attacked Ukraine overnight with more than 70 Iranian-made Shahed fighter jets, the Ukrainian military reported on Saturday. It said most were shot down or sent out using GPS jamming. Falling debris knocked out power and residential buildings in several provinces and injured an elderly woman near Kyiv, officials said.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Russia's drone campaign was slowing, saying Moscow launched more than half as many in October as the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of Russia reported that its forces shot down 24 Ukrainian planes overnight in four regions of Russia and seized Crimea. There were no immediate reports of casualties or injuries.