Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 10-18-2024

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has released a series of satellite imageries and information pertaining to the alleged North Korean troops’ presence in Russia.

Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) provided evidence on Friday of what it said were North Korean troops’ deployments to Russia before participating in the war in Ukraine, including a series of satellite images of troop concentration. 

NIS’s Friday press release detailed the agency’s findings on Pyongyang’s troop movements, which said those deployed to Russia consisted of “1,500 North Korean special forces from the areas near Chongjin, Hamhung, and Musudan” of the country.

European Commission President von der Leyen announced that having met its benchmarks, Kyiv would get another tranche out of the €50 billion Ukraine Facility program to finance Ukraine’s recovery.

Ukraine will get another tranche out of €50 billion ($54.3 billion) in the Ukraine Facility Program, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday, Oct. 18, a European Pravda correspondent reported from a post-EU summit press conference in Brussels.

Von der Leyen did not specify the sum of the future tranche. However, the EU has already allocated €12 billion ($13 billion) since the start of the program in March 2024. 

Ukraine inherited the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. It surrendered it after receiving security guarantees from Russia and the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Kyiv would seek nuclear weapons if it could not join NATO was a “dangerous provocation,” Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Friday.

The Ukrainian president made the comments at an EU summit on Thursday, in which he said “either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, which will protect us, or we must have some kind of alliance.”

Jean-Noel Barrot said that Russia should adopt the “grammar of international law” and recognize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Jean-Noel Barrot, will pay a visit to Ukraine on the weekend of Oct. 19-20, he said in an interview with France Inter on Friday.

“I am going to Ukraine to convey the voice of France, to remind people that France does not turn away from any crisis, to say that the security of our continent, including food and energy, is at stake in Ukraine,” Barrot said.

The Ukrainian president presented his Victory Plan to the EU Summit and NATO in Brussels

Having explained his victory plan to the Ukrainian parliament, President Volodymyr Zelensky presented it to the EU Summit and NATO in Brussels on Thursday.

A key point of the plan is Ukraine’s invitation to join NATO very soon.

Kyiv Post compiled a list of reports pertaining to North Korean supplies of weapons, workers, engineers – and potentially, military personnel to Ukraine at Moscow’s behest.

Pyongyang has supplied weapons – including missiles – to Moscow that were used against Ukraine, though whether it has sent personnel to fight in Ukraine remains unclear.

While there has been concrete evidence that North Korean weapons were used in Ukraine, reports of personnel being sent – civilian workers and military personnel alike – were thus far only backed by official statements from Ukraine and South Korea.

Almost certainly this is not a step towards World War III, it’s Kyiv using media to pressure its less news-savvy allies. But there is some substance to the proposition that Ukraine might get the bomb.

• What did Ukrainian President Zelensky just say about nuclear weapons?

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Thursday, speaking in Ukrainian, told a Brussels press conference that Ukraine, in 1994, gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for assurances from Russia, the US, China, France and Britain that Ukraine’s borders would be respected and no nuclear state would invade Ukraine.

A key condition in the deal, from the side of the countries keeping nuclear weapons, was that they would never use a nuke against now non-nuclear Ukraine, or against Belarus and Kazakhstan, who signed similar agreements at the same time.

What does North Korea gain from this partnership? What is Russia's true aim? And how will Ukraine, backed by NATO intelligence, respond to this new threat?

During his address in London, Ukraine’s former army chief touched upon mobilization issues, the Kursk incursion, and the new “axis of evil” comprising Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

Valery Zaluzhny, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK, delivered a speech at the Royal Institute of International Relations (Chatham House) in London on Thursday, Oct. 17

Kyiv Post presents the key takeaways from his speech.

The two men are on trial for attempting to recruit new members for Russia’s Wagner Group by distributing leaflets within the EU to join the organization. They face up to 10 years in prison.

Two Russians are on trial in Poland for distributing leaflets in Krakow calling for people to join the Wagner Group, which has been declared as a terrorist organization in the EU.

According to Polish media RMF24, Andrey G. and Alexey T. were charged with cooperating with a foreign intelligence agency and participating in an international armed group aiming to commit terrorist acts. They operated not only in Poland, including Krakow and Warsaw, but also in other EU countries, including Germany and France.

The National Intelligence Service released satellite images it said showed the first deployment of North Korean special forces soldiers being moved by Russian military vessels to Vladivostok.

North Korea has decided to send a "large-scale" troop deployment to support Moscow's war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia's Far East and undergoing training, Seoul's spy agency said Friday.

The National Intelligence Service released detailed satellite images it said showed the first deployment of elite North Korean special forces soldiers being moved by Russian military vessels to Vladivostok.

Ukraine cannot afford to view its security options as a binary choice between nuclear armament and NATO membership.

In the face of relentless Russian onslaughts, Ukraine must secure its future and that of Western rules-based order now. The decision made in 1994 to relinquish its nuclear arsenal, under the Budapest Memorandum, was predicated on assurances of territorial integrity and political sovereignty from the world’s leading powers. However, the harsh realities of the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion in 2022 have starkly illuminated the insufficiency of those assurances.

As the geopolitical landscape and the front line continues to shift, Ukraine must reevaluate its defense strategy and the West – its core principles.

As Moldovans go to the polls, they will be assessing the difference between aspiring to join a potentially unwelcoming West and the doldrums of reverting back to the status of Moscow vassal.

The outcome of Moldova’s presidential election this weekend, combined with its EU referendum, could fundamentally reshape not only Moldova’s future but the geopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe.

Incumbent president Maia Sandu of the center-right Party of Action and Solidarity heads the polls, following a campaign that has focused on the country’s domestic struggles and national security concerns.

As Ukraine faces a third winter at war and battlefield losses in the east, Kyiv and its allies fear a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House would mean reduced US military support.

President Joe Biden urged NATO allies to keep backing Ukraine in its war against Russia as he kicked off a farewell visit to Germany Friday just weeks before US elections.

As Ukraine faces a third winter at war and battlefield losses in the east, Kyiv and its allies fear a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House would mean reduced US military support.

The EU member states are currently at odds over whether tighter measures such as border controls and the outsourcing of asylum procedures are needed.

At their summit in Brussels, the 27 EU heads of state and government are seeking a common course on migration policy. The member states are currently at odds over whether tighter measures such as border controls and the outsourcing of asylum procedures are needed, as well as over the legitimacy of unilateral measures by individual states. Opinions among commentators also diverge.

Use momentum to move forwards

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• Ukraine's General Staff confirmed Ukraine struck the Feodosia marine oil terminal in Russian-occupied Crimea on 7 October 2024. This terminal was previously targeted in March 2024 by Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicles.
• Ukrainian attacks continue to incrementally degradeRussian military capabilities on the Crimean peninsula.Targets struck in 2024 have also included air-defence systems, airfields, command centres, naval facilities, logistics sites and the Kerch Strait crossing.

Lobsang Sangay, the former political leader of the Tibetan government in exile, visited Kyiv Post and explained why Tibet and Ukraine share similar plights against colonialist aggressors.

“When you are fighting for your freedom, a lot of people rely on you, and all you can do is fight hard for them,” says the former Head of the Central Tibetan Administration (2012-2021), also known as the “Tibetan government in exile.”

Lobsang Sangay casually mentions that he has just arrived, after a 36-hour whirlwind trip covering Zurich, Brussels, and Prague, before his trip to Kyiv. What keeps him moving?

According to Ukraine's Air Forces, the attack lasted over five hours and involved 135 UAVs, including Shahed drones and other unidentified types.

Russian forces launched one of their most extensive drone attacks on Ukraine, targeting both the capital, Kyiv, and multiple other regions across the country early morning on Friday. Oct. 18.

According to Ukraine's Air Forces, the attack lasted over five hours and involved 135 combat UAVs, including Shahed drones and other unidentified types.

During a two-day conference in Switzerland, more than 40 countries backed the Lausanne Call for Action, committing to concrete actions towards humanitarian demining in Ukraine, the organisers said.

Dozens of countries committed Thursday to help clear war-torn Ukraine of massive amounts of mines and explosives, which contaminate nearly a quarter of its territory.

During a two-day conference in Switzerland, more than 40 countries backed the Lausanne Call for Action, committing to concrete actions towards humanitarian demining in Ukraine, the organisers said.

Despite accusations of corruption, Ukraine has done a great deal to increase the taxpayers' discipline while searching for more state revenue, according to the president's party lawmaker Hetmantsev.

Ukraine will adopt a bill to significantly increase taxes for the first time after the start of the full-scale invasion, though businesses were still not satisfied with the initiative and blamed the authorities for not doing enough to battle corruption and the shadow economy.

Ukraine’s partners, international financial institutions, the European Union, and the United States, also demand both.

Its announcement comes as Ukraine faces mounting pressure to find an exit strategy as its troops suffer battlefield losses and Moscow intensifies its strikes on infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week finally unveiled his much anticipated "victory plan" to end the grinding war with Russia, but the ambitious roadmap has been met with scepticism in Kyiv.

Its announcement comes as Ukraine faces mounting pressure to find an exit strategy as its troops suffer battlefield losses and Moscow intensifies its strikes on infrastructure.

CNN journalists recorded the launch of long-range drones “Lyutyi” by a Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) unit for attacks on Russian territory.

CNN journalists spent two days with a secret unit of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) responsible for launching the long-range AN-196 Lyutyi drones into Russia. They witnessed the launch of the Ukrainian drone towards targets near Kotluban, Volgograd region.

The American journalists showed how this unit operates the drones, which recently struck a depot in Russia where Iranian missiles were stored.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from ISW:

• Russian sources reported on October 16 that unspecified actors killed the deputy commander of Russia's Special Operations Forces (SSO) Training Center, Nikita Klenkov, near Moscow City.
• The European Union (EU) issued a statement on October 16 condemning Russian executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and noted that at least 177 Ukrainian POWs have died in Russian captivity since February 2022.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk and Pokrovsk.
• Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Chasiv Yar, Pokrovsk, and Kurakhove.