Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says Russia’s war is being pushed ‘beyond borders’ | War news between Russia and Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the thousands of North Korean troops expected to reinforce Russian troops on the front line in Ukraine are pushing the nearly three-year-old war beyond the warring parties’ borders.

Western leaders say North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to help Russia’s military campaign and warn that its involvement in a European war could also upset relations in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia.

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he spoke with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and told him that 3,000 North Korean troops are already at military bases close to the Ukrainian front line and that he expects the deployment to increase to 12,000.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said Tuesday that a “relatively small number” of North Korean troops are now in Russia’s Kursk region, where Russian troops have been fighting to push back a Ukrainian incursion, and a few thousand more are headed in that direction.

South Korea, which has been in close contact with NATO, the US and the EU on recent developments, warned last week that it could send weapons to Ukraine in retaliation for the North’s involvement.

“There is only one conclusion – this war is internationalized and goes beyond the borders of Ukraine and Russia,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

The Ukrainian president also said he and Yoon agreed to intensify their countries’ cooperation and exchange more intelligence, as well as develop concrete responses to Pyongyang’s involvement.

More US military support?

In Washington, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met at the White House on Tuesday with Zelenskyy’s top adviser to discuss the North Korean troops, as well as an upcoming wave of weapons that the United States is supplying to Kiev to help the Ukrainians harden protection of their energy infrastructure. This was reported by the Associated Press news agency, citing White House officials familiar with their private conversations.

Sullivan and Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, shared concerns that North Korean troops could be deployed to Russia’s Kursk region and what such a development could mean for the war.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said during the two-hour meeting at the White House that Sullivan also briefed Yermak on President Joe Biden’s plans to push additional artillery systems, ammunition, hundreds of armored vehicles and more to Ukraine, before he leaves office in January.

Sullivan told Yermak that by the end of the year, the U.S. government plans to supply Ukraine with 500 additional Patriot and ARAAM missiles to help bolster its air defenses, according to the officials.

Later Tuesday, Biden said Ukraine should strike back if North Korean troops crossed into the country.

“I’m concerned about that,” Biden said when asked about the presence of North Korean troops in the Kursk region.

“If they cross into Ukraine, yes,” he said when asked if the Ukrainians should strike back.

Meanwhile, North Korea said its top diplomat was visiting Russia, in another sign of their deepening relationship.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui arrived in Russia’s Far East on Tuesday on his way to Moscow, Russian state media said. Russian state news agencies said it was not clear who Choe, who was making his second visit in six weeks, would meet.

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had no plans to meet her.

What role the North Korean troops may play is still unclear.

“The numbers make this more than a token effort, but the troops are likely to be in support roles and make up less than 1 percent of Russia’s forces,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank said in a note.

“Russia is desperate for additional manpower and this is one element of Russia’s efforts to fill the ranks without another mobilization,” it added, noting that the presence could grow.

Ukraine cities bombed

Meanwhile, Russian drones, missiles and bombs smashed into Kiev and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s largest cities, in overnight attacks, killing four people and wounding 15 in a sustained airstrike, authorities said on Tuesday.

Russia has bombed civilian areas in Ukraine almost daily since its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, causing thousands of casualties.

The Russian army is also pressing hard on frontline defenses in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Russian troops captured the Donetsk city of Hirnyk and the villages of Katerynivka and Bohoiavlenka.