Wednesday, October 16

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A elderly man walks past a destroyed building in Mykolaiv after a Russian missile attack on Oct.15, 2024 that destroyed local restaurants, shopping pavilions, and residential buildings. One person was killed and 23 others were injured as a result of the attack. (Serhii Ovcharyshyn/NikVesti.com/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Zelensky unveiling victory plan on Oct. 16: part will be disclosed only to parliamentary leaders, top lawmaker says. “I think part will be declassified, and the other part will be present to the leaders of (parliamentary groups),” David Arakhamia, the leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People parliamentary group, said in comments for the Kyiv Independent.

North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia, Western source says. As Russia and North Korea deepen military ties, Western diplomats and experts stress that it shows Moscow’s increasing need for resources to continue waging its costly war in Ukraine.

‘No intact buildings left’ in Toretsk, accelerating Russian advance, military says. “Now the town looks more like a desert planet: there are no shelters for civilians or soldiers,” said Anastasia Bobovnikova, a spokesperson of the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk.

NATO will do what’s necessary for Ukraine to prevail, Secretary General Rutte says. “The message (to Russian President Vladimir Putin) is that we will continue, that we will do what’s necessary to make sure that he will not get his way, that Ukraine will prevail,” Mark Rutte said during a joint interview with Reuters and German radio Hessischer Rundfunk on Oct. 13.

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Russia may resume strikes on Ukraine’s energy sector in autumn, winter, official warns. “With the start of the ‘heating season,’ we can expect massive Russian strikes on the energy sector,” said Oleksandr Lytvynenko, National Security and Defense Council Secretary.

Kyiv denies media reports about supplying drones to Mali rebels. The statement comes after an article by the French outlet Le Monde claimed that Tuareg fighters from the anti-government CSP movement are using Ukrainian drones against the military and Wagner mercenaries.

US lawmakers pressuring Zelensky to lower mobilization age, Presidential Office advisor says. The unnamed U.S. lawmakers have reportedly cited America’s experience in the Vietnam War, when men aged 18-26 were drafted to fight, said Presidential Office advisor Serhii Leshchenko.

European Council’s Michel invites Zelensky to present victory plan at EU Summit. European Council President Charles Michel announced on Oct. 15 that he had invited President Volodymyr Zelensky to present his victory plan for defeating Russia at a summit of EU leaders this week.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia, Western source says

North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia to boost its war efforts against Ukraine, a Western diplomat familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 15.

Photo: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

This is how North Korean troops could be used in Russia’s war in Ukraine

Thousands of North Korean troops not expected to tilt the battlefield advantage towards Moscow but do highlight Russia’s desperation in face of high war losses.

Photo: Kim Won Jin / AFP

Human cost of war

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 5, injure at least 34 over past day. Ukrainian forces downed 12 out of 17 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Seven S-300/400 missiles were also fired against Mykolaiv Oblast and two Kh-59 missiles against Chernihiv Oblast overnight.

Opinions and insights

Opinion: The Russian opposition needs to stop blaming Putin and start confronting Russia’s violent imperial legacy

To confront Russia’s imperial legacy, the opposition must acknowledge not just the brutality of Putin’s regime, but the complicity of a society that has long embraced a culture of denial and aggression.

Photo: Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Women of the Year

International response

Trump implies Putin told him about his designs for Ukraine. “It (Ukraine) was the apple of his eye; he used to talk about it. But I said, ’You’re not going in, and he wasn’t going in,” Donald Trump said on Oct. 14.

Trump declines to say if he’s spoken to Putin since leaving office, media reports. Former President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 declined to confirm if he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office in 2021 but said, “If I did, it’s a smart thing.”

Hungary wants to increase gas purchases from Russia’s Gazprom in 2025. Budapest and Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom are in talks on additional purchases of gas next year, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with Kremlin-run RIA Novosti published on Oct. 15.

Finnish FM warns about growing Ukraine fatigue among Western allies. The Western countries are growing tired of their support of Ukraine, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen warned, calling for stronger resolve in backing Kyiv, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Oct. 15.

18 North Korean soldiers already deserted positions by Ukraine’s border, intelligence sources tell Suspilne. According to Suspilne’s sources, the North Korean soldiers deserted around 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

Over 80% of young Germans fear war in Europe, poll suggests. In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 81% of young German respondents expressed concern about the possibility of war in Europe, a sharp rise from 46% in 2019.

In other news

Zelensky’s advisor responds to allegations of pressure on Ukrainska Pravda, calls it ‘incorrect story.’ Ukraine’s presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn’s reaction came after almost a week of silence after Ukrainska Pravda claimed that the Ukrainian government is exerting “systematic pressure” against one of Ukraine’s biggest news media sites.

Wave of bomb threats proven false, most came from Russian IP addresses, police say. Hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses, embassies, administrative buildings, and media outlets, including the Kyiv Independent, received bomb threats via email on Oct. 14, prompting evacuations of state institutions.

Gaming platform Steam agrees to remove banned content in Russia, censorship agency says. Steam, which has an online catalog of more than 100,000 games and is used by around 130 million users around the world, including close to 10 million in Russia, agreed to comply with legislation, the federal censorship agency Roskomnadzor told Interfax.

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