Key developments on Oct. 28:
- Russia strikes downtown Kharkiv with FAB-500 bomb, damages key landmark
- US won’t impose new restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American weapons if North Korea joins war, Pentagon says
- 650,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in war against Ukraine, Zelensky says
- Trump plans to end Russia’s war in Ukraine by freezing it if he wins presidential election, FT reports
- Almost 80% of Vovchansk’s buildings destroyed, damaged in Russian attacks, analysis says
US won't impose new restrictions on Kyiv's use of American weapons if North Korea joins war
The United States will not introduce new restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American weapons if North Korean troops engage in combat, the Pentagon said on Oct. 28 following NATO’s confirmation of North Korean troops’ deployment to Kursk Oblast.
“A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast near the border with Ukraine,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, Reuters reported.
The U.S. said on Oct. 26 that North Korean troops are being dispatched to Kursk Oblast, a Russian border region facing a Ukrainian offensive.
Some 10,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to eastern Russia for training, up from an estimate of 3,000 troops on Oct. 23, according to the Pentagon.
U.S. President Joe Biden described the development as “a very dangerous.”
Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) said already on Oct. 24 that the first units had been deployed in Kursk Oblast. Yet, the Pentagon declined to confirm that North Korean forces were already in the area.
“It is likely that they are moving in that direction towards Kursk. But I don’t have more details just yet,” Singh said.
Previously, Ukraine’s military intelligence said that Russia is preparing to deploy 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including 500 officers and three generals. The first North Korean troops were to be deployed in the combat zone on Oct. 27 or 28, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian military has not yet fought with or captured North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, said Vadym Mysnyk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Tactical Group Siversk, on Oct. 28.
Russia and North Korea have initially dismissed the reports but recently turned to more evasive rhetoric as evidence of the troops’ dispatch mounted.
Washington still prohibits Kyiv from using American-made long-range weapons to strike deep into Russia. At the same time, the U.S. is planning to provide Ukraine with an aid package of $700-800 million for the domestic production of long-range capabilities, Zelensky announced on Oct. 21.
‘Moscow is desperate’ — Expert on North Korean troops in Russia
The Kyiv Independent spoke with former U.K. Defense Attaché in Moscow, John Foreman CBE, about what this development might mean for the future of Russia’s war and the global landscape.
Russia strikes downtown Kharkiv with FAB-500 bomb, damages key landmark
Russian forces attacked downtown Kharkiv using a FAB-500 bomb on Oct. 28, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak later said that the strike damaged the Derzhprom building (the State Industry Building), which has been under enhanced UNESCO protection since 2022.
Around 9 p.m. local time, a series of explosions occurred in the city. The strikes caused a fire and heavy smoke in the central part of Kharkiv.
At least six people were injured, Syniehubov said at around 9:30 p.m. local time. The attack damaged a medical facility as well as administrative buildings.
Information on damage and casualties is being clarified, according to Terekhov.
UPDATED: Russia strikes downtown Kharkiv with FAB-500 bomb, damages historic building
Russian forces struck downtown Kharkiv using a FAB-500 bomb on Oct. 28, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. The attack damaged the Derzhprom building (the State Industry Building), a site under UNESCO’s enhanced protection.
650,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in war against Ukraine, Zelensky says
Russia has lost 650,000 troops, including killed and wounded, in the war against Ukraine, Zelensky said in an interview with Times of India, published on Oct. 28.
Over 690,000 Russian military personnel were put out of action since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Besides the wounded and killed, this figure also includes those who were captured.
Estonian intelligence estimated that Russia could lose up to 40,000 personnel in October.
“Russia itself has killed a lot of Russians. A lot of mobilized Russian soldiers were killed by the Russian army itself because they were afraid to attack, to perish under the bullets, or to be wounded. So, they retreated and then were killed by their army,” Zelensky told Times of India.
“This is their law of war,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky added that Russia also does not pick up its dead soldiers from the battlefield, leaving their bodies to rot on the ground.
Burning horizon: As Russia makes gains near Pokrovsk, civilians remain frozen in inaction
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Trump plans to end Russia's war in Ukraine by freezing it if he wins presidential election, FT reports
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump plans to end Russia’s war against Ukraine by freezing it if he wins the U.S. presidential election, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Oct. 28, citing its sources close to the former president’s team.
Trump has claimed he would end Russia’s war within “24 hours” without elaborating on how he plans to achieve it. Some reports and statements from Trump’s inner circle indicate this might entail pressuring Ukraine to cede territory or give up on its NATO aspirations.
Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, in September, outlined the idea of freezing the war by establishing autonomous regions on both sides of the demilitarized zone and leaving Ukraine outside NATO, according to the FT.
According to one of Trump’s longtime advisors, the new plan would rethink the failed Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015, which were never implemented. The agreements contained a plan that would create autonomous zones in Russian occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Occupied Crimea was not mentioned in the Minsk Agreement.
Ukraine hopes Washington will support Kyiv’s NATO bid after elections, as opposition in Europe persists
The desire to receive an official invitation to NATO tops President Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory plan. While acknowledging that membership itself is a matter for after the war, Zelensky urged allies to send an invitation before U.S. President Joe Biden leaves office in January. The president also…
The new plan will include enforcement mechanisms and consequences for violating the agreement, the adviser said. But, in his opinion, European troops, not NATO forces or UN peacekeepers, will have to keep order.
“There are two things America will insist on. We will not have any men or women in the enforcement mechanism. We’re not paying for it. Europe is paying for it,” he added.
Trump’s allies argue that Ukraine is losing the war and, therefore, pushing for a settlement is morally right. Trump believes that Biden should talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as presidents did with Soviet leaders during the Cold War, and that NATO membership is not an option for Ukraine in the short term.
Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who served in Trump’s White House and is now at the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, suggested in an interview with the FT that Ukraine’s membership in NATO could be taken off the agenda for several years to force Russia to the negotiating table.
Is NATO ready for war with Russia?
The launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 confronted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with a new geopolitical reality. Described as “braindead” by French President Emmanuel Macron only a few years prior, the alliance woke up to a threat previously thought c…
Almost 80% of Vovchansk's buildings destroyed, damaged in Russian attacks, analysis says
Almost 80% of buildings in Vovchansk have been destroyed or damaged after Russia launched its offensive against the town, showed a joint investigation by Bellingcat and AFP published on Oct. 28.
The once 17,000-people town, located just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border in Kharkiv Oblast, became heavily contested following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Vovchansk endured a Russian occupation until the 2022 autumn Ukrainian counteroffensive liberated the town, only to face heavy fighting again after Russia began a new push in May 2024, forcing most residents to flee their homes.
Talking to journalists, the civilians recounted harrowing stories of escape, who, on occasion, deliberately targeted civilians during their attempts to flee.
Some 60% of all buildings in the town were destroyed, and 18% were partially damaged, Bellingcat and AFP said, citing satellite imagery. As of late September, only 22% of the buildings remained intact.
Despite Russia’s surprise assault in May, the Russian offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly bogged down, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy losses.
Since then, the intensity of fighting has decreased somewhat compared to other sectors in Ukraine’s east near Pokrovsk, Vuhledar, and Toretsk.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian tactics usually entail flattening towns and villages with artillery barrages and bombs before moving in to “capture” the ruined settlements.
For example, no buildings were left intact in the Donetsk Oblast town of Toretsk as a result of the Russian onslaught, Anastasia Bobovnikova, a spokesperson of the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk, said on Oct. 14.
Russia has reportedly made gains in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Should Ukraine expect a broader offensive?
Fears of a larger Russian offensive in Zaporizhzhia Oblast are growing as Russian forces have reportedly made progress along the border between Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and intensified air strikes on the regional capital. “If they achieve a breakthrough, Russia will be able to fire at logis…
