Major Focus Is on Challenging Directions in the Donetsk Region, and the Needs of Our Warriors, Brigades for Timely Supplies from Partners – Address by the President

23 October 2024 – 20:06

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

Briefly about this day.

I held a meeting with the Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, on current issues and some urgent decisions that need to be made. There was also a meeting with the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, about monitoring the implementation of NSDC decisions and preparing some military agenda for the next meeting of the Staff.

Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi delivered a report on the frontline situation and the Kursk operation. The major focus is on challenging directions in the Donetsk region. And also, the needs of our warriors and our combat brigades for timely supplies from partners. Timeliness always means better results. Today, I want to highlight the efforts of our warriors: the 38th separate marine brigade – this is the Pokrovsk direction – and the 79th separate airborne assault brigade – this is the Kurakhove direction. Thank you, guys!

We also have some important news from the United States – America has approved a decision to provide $20 billion. These are funds sourced from frozen Russian assets. Part of the G7 decision on $50 billion for Ukraine – for our defense, for our resilience. This is something that will really support us. And it is important to implement it within this year. I thank the United States, I thank the entire Group of Seven.

And one more thing.

Today, there was a meeting with representatives of our Ukrainian civil society. Many organizations were involved – foreign policy, defense sector development, human rights, freedom protection. Among them was Maksym Butkevych – a Ukrainian human rights activist and warrior whom we recently managed to free from Russian captivity. We discussed in detail the Victory Plan and our need for unity – collectively restoring justice for Ukraine, bringing peace closer, and communicating with our partners on all matters that can make Ukraine stronger. We are counting on unity in promoting our partners’ decision to invite Ukraine to NATO. And also, in our defense system development. We should be more active in urging our partners to be decisive in defense cooperation. And we must also work together on steps that will help Ukraine recover more quickly from this war.

I thank everyone who helps! Glory to all those who fight for Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!

The reason:

Meet Britney, call sign “Captain”. She is a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces. She served as a tank crew commander on a Leopard tank.

When Canada delivered the first Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Britney came to Ukraine to train crews as an instructor. Now she serves as a… pic.twitter.com/UmAZO6fbS4

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 23, 2024

Meet Britney, call sign “Captain”. She is a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces. She served as a tank crew commander on a Leopard tank.

When Canada delivered the first Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Britney came to Ukraine to train crews as an instructor. Now she serves as a gunner.

“I will do my best to be effective on the battlefield and help Ukraine stay free and independent,” Britney says.

📷: 25th Airborne Brigade

Britain:

The UK is donating an additional £120 million toward the Maritime Capability Coalition within the #UDCG.

The donation will finance the delivery of maritime drones—aerial and uncrewed boats, as well as surveillance radars to protect the Grain Corridor.

We are grateful to our… pic.twitter.com/WsNHFjuM88

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 23, 2024

The UK is donating an additional £120 million toward the Maritime Capability Coalition within the #UDCG.

The donation will finance the delivery of maritime drones—aerial and uncrewed boats, as well as surveillance radars to protect the Grain Corridor.

We are grateful to our British friends for their leadership in Maritime Coalition and unwavering support!
🇺🇦🤝🇬🇧
@DefenceHQ

A new group of Ukrainian pilots has graduated from RAF Elementary Flying Training.

The next step is advanced fast jet training & conversion to F-16 with partner nations.

A heartfelt thank you to the United Kingdom for their unwavering support! 🇺🇦🇬🇧@RoyalAirForce pic.twitter.com/B13QiT1jJF

— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) October 23, 2024

France:

“the first batch of Mirage fighter jets for Ukraine will consist of three aircraft, and that France plans to deliver them “in the first quarter” of 2025…By that time, they must complete the preparation of the vehicles & training of pilots & engineers.” https://t.co/nuecjyupm3

— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) October 23, 2024

From Ukrainska Pravda:

The first batch of Mirage 2000-5s that France intends to supply to Ukraine will contain three aircraft, according to information obtained by the French media outside official channels.

Source: La Tribune with reference to unofficial sources, writes European Pravda

Details: Journalists learned that the first batch of Mirage fighter jets for Ukraine will consist of three aircraft, and that France plans to deliver them “in the first quarter” of 2025 (January-April). By that time, they must complete the preparation of the vehicles and the training of pilots and engineers.

The aircraft will be armed with SCALP/Storm Shadow cruise missiles and French AASM air-to-surface guided bombs.

The French Ministry of Defence did not comment on this information.

Background:

• French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.
• In September, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine said that negotiations are also underway with partners on the Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripen and the German-UK Eurofighter Typhoon.

South Korea:

Estonian Reserve Soldier Artur Rehi has an interesting take on what South Korea might do or could do in response to Kim deploying North Korean Special Forces to Russia:

Sending North Korean troops to Ukraine could be a serious mistake for Putin for a number of reasons, one of which is the active position of South Korea. Seoul has declared its readiness to begin providing direct military assistance to Ukraine, including the supply of
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artillery, tanks and other modern weapons. South Korea is one of the world’s largest defense powers with a powerful military-industrial base, whose products are in demand all over the world. South Korea’s decision to join the conflict could significantly change the balance
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of power. South Korea has not only high-tech weapons, but also trained military specialists who can provide advisory support to Ukraine in the fight against North Korean troops. The South Koreans are well aware of the specifics of the actions of North Korean forces: their
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strategies, methods of warfare and the psychological state of soldiers under constant threat of reprisals. Moreover, South Korea can provide linguistic and intelligence assistance, facilitating interaction with the North Korean military on the battlefield. For Putin,
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North Korean troops may seem like a beneficial addition to Russian forces. North Korean soldiers are accustomed to strict discipline and unquestioning obedience to orders, even the most brutal and dangerous ones. Putin needs “cannon fodder”, and North Korea can become a
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source of these resources. Russian tactics remain unchanged: the destruction of the settlements by aircraft and artillery, followed by ground assaults. North Korea has probably sent one of the world’s most brutal special forces, which once guarded the father of dictator
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Kim Jong-un, to fight against Ukraine, Bild reports. The publication calls them “combat slaves”, because they grew up in an information vacuum: without the Internet, communications, phones and Western TV. However, South Korea’s intervention could lead to serious consequences
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for Russia. Sending its troops to Ukraine, as well as supplying weapons, could push other countries to follow its example. South Korean weapons and technology will give Ukraine a new advantage, and their specialists will help cope with the threat from North Korean soldiers.
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De-escalation does not work. Current methods of containing Russian aggression, such as a ban on the use of Western weapons to strike Russia itself, have proven ineffective. However, Putin’s actions could become a catalyst for new decisive steps by the West. The United
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States has allocated a new $400 million defense aid package to Ukraine. This was announced by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. If restrictions on the use of Western weapons are lifted and Ukraine receives all the
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support it needs to fully confront Russian troops, South Korea could play a key role here, and its participation in the conflict would further strengthen support for Ukraine. Putin, trying to strengthen his position, risks receiving an even more decisive rebuff from
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the international community. However, the longer the community delays responding, the more Putin will escalate. Sending NATO troops to Ukraine for non-combat missions, such as guarding the Belarusian border, would help free up the country’s resources to fight against Russia
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Portugal:

A memorial to the victims of the Holodomor

The Kursk cross border offensive:

New: 1000s of North Korean soldiers in Russia will be sent to fight Ukrainian troops in Kursk in the next week, Kyiv intel officials told @FT. They added that overall more than 12,000 North Koreans arrived in the far east of Russia ahead of deployment. https://t.co/fT532pibIb

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 23, 2024

From The Financial Times:

Thousands of North Korean soldiers in Russia will be sent to fight Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region in the next week, Kyiv intelligence officials have warned.

The officials said that overall more than 12,000 North Koreans had arrived in the far east of Russia ahead of their deployment in Kursk, although other countries differed on the size of Pyongyang’s force.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin also said on Wednesday that Washington was “seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops that have gone to Russia”. North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into eastern Russia from early to mid October, according to the White House.

While South Korea and Ukraine have previously said Pyongyang had sent troops, Austin’s comments marked the first time the US had confirmed the North Koreans’ presence in Russia.

“If they’re a cobelligerent, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue,” Austin said. “It will have impacts not only in Europe — it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific as well.”

The troops were undergoing training at military sites in eastern Russia and it was not clear whether they would enter combat in Ukraine, though “this is certainly a highly concerning probability”, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said later on Wednesday.

Should North Korean soldiers enter into combat, it would be an “unprecedented level of military co-operation” between Russia and North Korea with significant security implications in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, Kirby said.

Ukraine’s western allies are increasingly concerned about North Korea’s role. While Pyongyang has provided Russia with missiles and millions of artillery shells, the deployment of military units marks the first foray of a foreign country’s army in the conflict.

The Ukrainian officials said that recent information had led them to revise up the total number of North Koreans to 12,000, including special forces, and that “thousands” would be dispatched to Kursk, in the south of the country, by the end of the month.

Last week President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 10,000 North Koreans had been sent to Russia.

The Kyiv officials added that the soldiers had been personally sent off by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in a ceremony this month.

Ukraine captured an area of about 600 sq km in Kursk in a surprise raid in August, and hopes to use it as a bargaining chip in any negotiations with Russia to end the war.

The North Korean troops have been filmed receiving Russian military uniforms and equipment at a training ground in Russia’s far east, according to the South Korean government.

Both Ukrainian and South Korean officials said the troops have been given false documents identifying them as Buryats, an indigenous group in Siberia, to allow Moscow and Pyongyang plausible deniability about their involvement.

South Korean officials suggested this week that the North Korean troop deployment to Russia could convince Seoul to supply direct lethal military aid to Ukraine for the first time.

A presidential official told South Korean state media that Seoul would consider sending Kyiv defensive weapons, “and if a threshold is exceeded, we could ultimately consider offensive weapons as well”.

Moscow’s possible reliance on North Korean troops “would be a sign of weakness, not strength, on the part of the Kremlin”, Kirby said.

More at the link.

Two points. First, it may be a sign of Russian weakness, but there are going to be between 3,000 (the low end estimate) and 12,000 (the high end estimate) of these Korean Special Forces on the battlefield that will have to be dealt with.

Second, it makes perfect sense for the Russians to disguise these guys as Buryats. The Buryats, as well as the Tyvans, are ethnic Mongols who live in ethnic “republics” – Buryatia and Tyvan – on the Russian side of the steppe. The Buryats have a long history of serving in the Russian, Soviet, and now Russian (again) military. They’ve taken disproportionately high casualties in Russia’s genocidal re-invasion. And there’s a lot of physiognomically visual overlap in how the North Koreans and the Buryats look. This is supposed to give Putin and Kim the ability to claim that no, the North Korean Special Forces are not fighting against Ukraine, those are Buryats. The North Korean Special Forces are in eastern Russia doing multinational training.

If nothing is true, anything is possible.

Pokrovsk:

The Kara-Dag Brigade’s artillery is striking enemy positions in the Pokrovsk direction.

📹: @ng_ukraine pic.twitter.com/aFVrCP2KJW

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 23, 2024

Ukrainian soldier of the “Skala” unit single-handedly repels the assault of the Russian assault group. Pokrovsk front. https://t.co/WyMp4vhofZ pic.twitter.com/VGvhwXVOA6

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) October 23, 2024

Chasiv Yar:

Chasov Yar. Another city of Donbass destroyed and annihilated by the Russian army. There are no residents left.

Genocide in its purest form. pic.twitter.com/s5gIXNuoSy

— Денис Казанський (@den_kazansky) October 23, 2024

Irpin:

Remember that ill-fated destroyed bridge between Kyiv and Irpin through the debris of which people were fleeing to save their lives from advancing Russians during the Battle of Kyiv?

Here’s what the place looks like today. They built another bridge, and now a memorial site was… pic.twitter.com/Jye7ZhQXb7

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 22, 2024

Remember that ill-fated destroyed bridge between Kyiv and Irpin through the debris of which people were fleeing to save their lives from advancing Russians during the Battle of Kyiv?

Here’s what the place looks like today. They built another bridge, and now a memorial site was established.

I was there at the beginning and the end of the battle — and I must say a human-made miracle happened in there.

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

We are fighting the Russian army, which Belarus and Iran are supporting, and now North Korea — just a typical Wednesday for Ukrainians. Once again, we stand on the brink of winter, on the verge of new, horrific missile attacks. Some say challenges are given to those who can… pic.twitter.com/4O3oekGrtG

— Patron (@PatronDsns) October 23, 2024

We are fighting the Russian army, which Belarus and Iran are supporting, and now North Korea — just a typical Wednesday for Ukrainians. Once again, we stand on the brink of winter, on the verge of new, horrific missile attacks. Some say challenges are given to those who can handle them. We can, and we are unafraid. But is the world not afraid to witness the creation of such a powerful military alliance? When history books will write, “It should have been stopped at the beginning, but…” And what follows the “but” is precisely what we are witnessing right now. Only we see it in reality. In 100K resolution.

If you can support Ukraine, please continue doing so every day. Without you, it’s tough for us to fight so many furious states. Thank you for everything ❤️

Open thread!