North Korea is offering Russia 100,000 “volunteers” in the war against Ukraine, Russian state television claims.
“There are reports that 100,000 North Korean volunteers are ready to come and take part in the conflict,” Russian TV talk show host Igor Korotchenko was quoted as saying by the New York Post.
The announcement comes as Russia’s military power is depleted after its failed attempt to seize key parts of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv.
According to some estimates, the number of Russian soldiers killed was between 15,000 and 25,000. This makes Russian losses about 100 soldiers per day, BGVoice reported.
Korotchenko also referred to reports that Russia has invited North Korean “builders” to rebuild the Russian-occupied Donbas.
Alexander Matsegora, Russia’s ambassador to North Korea, said in an interview in July that “Korean builders, who are highly skilled, hardworking and ready to work in the most difficult conditions, will be very seriously involved” in building the destroyed infrastructure in Donbas.
North Korea was one of the few countries in the world to recognize the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) as an independent.
Matagorda claimed in the interview that North Korea receives nothing for cooperation with Russia and is simply acting according to its “conscience”.
“North Korea is one of the few countries that can afford to pursue a completely independent foreign policy. No one – not even Russia and China, not to mention the US – can force the DPRK to do something or not do something,” the ambassador added, promising to help North Korea fight against the sanctions imposed on it.
The war in Ukraine is beginning to enter a new phase
Russia’s war in Ukraine is beginning to enter a new phase, with most of the fighting now stretching along a nearly 350-kilometer front from the vicinity of Zaporizhzhia to Kherson along the Dnieper River. This was stated today by the British military intelligence in its regular report, reported Reuters.
It is almost certain that Russian forces are concentrating in the southern part of Ukraine in anticipation of a counter-offensive or preparation for a possible attack, the Ministry of Defense in London announced on Twitter. According to the department, long columns of military trucks, tanks, artillery, and other weapons continue to be withdrawn from Donbas in a southeast direction. Crimea-based battalion tactical groups of 800-1,000 troops are very likely to join Russian forces in the Kherson region, the intelligence report said.
Ukrainian forces are increasingly attacking bridges, ammunition depots, and railways. lines in the southern regions, incl. the strategically important railway between Kherson and the occupied Crimea, said British military intelligence, quoted by Reuters.
Russian forces are fiercely attacking Bakhmut – a key city for the Ukrainian defense of the last unoccupied territory, the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian General Staff announced this morning, DPA reported.
Pro-Russian separatists said yesterday that fighting was already taking place within the city’s borders. The DPA pointed out that the claims of both parties could not be verified by an independent source.
Zelensky: Russia should be held responsible for the terror against the Zaporizhzhia NPP
Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily video address that Russia must “bear responsibility” for the “terrorist act” against the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by the Russian army.
It became the target of a strike, for which Kyiv and Moscow blame each other, reported France Press.
“Today, the occupiers created another extremely risky situation for the whole of Europe: they hit the Zaporizhia NPP twice, which is the largest on the continent,” the Ukrainian president said.
“Any bombing of this site is a shameless crime and an act of terrorism. Russia must bear the responsibility, due to the very fact that it poses a threat to a nuclear power plant,” added Zelensky.
A fire broke out and two high-voltage power lines were damaged during the shelling of the plant, forcing the shutdown of one of the plant’s reactors, although no radiation leaks were detected, and leaving more than 10,000 residents of the Zaporizhzhia region without power, pro-Russian activists said. authorities quoted by TASS.
Meanwhile, it became clear that Russian assets worth about 765 million dollars have already been confiscated in Ukraine, and more than 900 state assets are planned to be forcibly seized.
“We held a meeting on the policy of sanctions – the confiscation of Russian assets. Officials reported that Ukraine has already confiscated assets worth 28 billion hryvnias ($765 million). This work continues. It is proposed to confiscate more than 900 properties belonging specifically to the Russian state. And if we estimate the package of properties not only of the state but also of its citizens, it is about 36,000 objects that need to be confiscated,” Zelensky said in a video message published on the Telegram channel of his press service.
On April 1, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law to nationalize the property of Russian citizens and persons “closely connected with them”, as well as anyone who refuses to condemn the Russian military invasion. The adopted document equates not only Russian citizens but also persons who reside there or perform their main activity without being Russian citizens, to residents of Russia, who are subject to the law on nationalization of property. On May 12, the Rada approved Zelensky’s decree on the confiscation of Russian property in Ukraine. On June 20, Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Malyuska said authorities would begin mass confiscation at the end of the summer.
