Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 10-21-2024

The Ukrainian volunteer group is developing a first-person view (FPV) drone designed to intercept Russia’s Iranian-designed kamikaze drones, the scourge of Kyiv and other cities.

As Russia launches as many as 80 of its Shahed-136 / Geran-2 kamikaze drones against Ukrainian cities every day there is a need for a cost-effective weapon to use against them to minimize the number of expensive missiles expended from the limited stocks Kyiv holds.

The Wild Hornets volunteer group has recently disclosed its latest development aimed to do exactly that – the first-person view (FPV) “Sting” unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV drone). The UAV is said to be capable of speeds exceeding 160 kph (100mph) and reaching altitudes of around 3,000 meters (10,000 feet).

The leading missile developer was part of Kim Jong-un’s team during the September 2023 summit with Russia. His presence in Ukraine is likely to analyze the performance of Pyongyang’s KN-23 missile.

Kim Jong-sik, said to be one of North Korea’s top missile development engineers, had accompanied Kim Jong-un during the North Korea-Russia summit last September. He is said to be a First Deputy Director of the North Korean Ministry of Military Industry and, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), was seen along with several other North Korean military personnel on the front line in Ukraine in August this year.

The NIS said he was sent at the instigation of Kim Jong-un as part of an initiative to assess the real-world combat performance of the KN-23 missile, following several failures of the weapon during Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv. The intelligence agency said this is part of Pyonyang’s preparations for a future attack on South Korea.

Video from Ukraine’s mountain medics, how Zelensky smartly used the “N-word,” and why North Korean Commandos’ tae kwan probably won’t help against Ukraine’s drones.

Politics and diplomacy, and along with it posturing in the media were probably the most important developments this week.

Which in its way is more proof – should anyone actually be looking for it – of the scale of this war and the ability of people, even a little distant from it, either to get used to all the killing and destruction, or just to ignore it.

Significant demand for military bonds, Eurobond prices increase, and hryvnia steady for three weeks. Weekly Insight for Oct. 21

Significant demand for military bonds

Military bonds were significantly oversubscribed last week after the Ministry of Finance (MoF) decided to pause the offering of reserve bonds until November.

The third of a series of articles by Frishberg & Partners, adapted for Kyiv Post, provides an overview of the two basic options in setting up defense production facilities in Ukraine.

To help Ukraine win the war, many foreign defense companies are beginning to set up their production facilities in Ukraine, instead of sending military equipment from abroad.  It makes business sense for them, too: Ukraine offers lower wages and cheaper production costs than the European Union or the Scandinavian countries.  Plus, you can re-export your local products to other volatile markets such as Africa or Asia.

For all those reasons, foreign defense companies are establishing their operations in Ukraine.  For example, in March 2024, the German defense conglomerate Rheinmetall announced its plans to construct at least four plants in Ukraine for weapons manufacturing, producing Ukraine ammunition, military equipment, and air defense systems.  Last year, the Ukrainian Defense Industry JSC and Rheinmetall entered into a joint venture, Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defense Industry LLC.

The referendum on joining the EU passed with a razor-thin majority in the key electoral test for the former Soviet republic bordering war-torn Ukraine.

Moldova’s pro-Brussels President Maia Sandu on Monday said her camp “won justly in an unjust struggle” in an EU referendum and first-round presidential elections marked by claims of Russian interference.

The referendum on joining the EU passed with a razor-thin majority in the key electoral test for the former Soviet republic bordering war-torn Ukraine.

Russia’s ambassador to Seoul got called in for a talking-to with suggestions South Korea would review its longstanding ban on exporting lethal aid to Ukraine, a country at war.

South Korean President Yoon Seok-Yeol in a phone call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said his country will take action to respond to North Korea’s recent dispatch of combat troops to fight in Ukraine, according to major South Korean media on Monday.

Yoon told the Head of the Alliance that South Korean intelligence confirmed that North Korea has initiated deployment of at least 1,500 elite commandos to Russia for service in Ukraine, a dramatic escalation by Pyongyang following previous substantial support to the Kremlin.

The body of a Russian aviation squadron chief, Dmitry Golenkov, who was linked to war crimes in Ukraine, including strikes on Kremenchuk and Dnipro that killed dozens, was found near Bryansk.

On Sunday morning, Oct. 20, the body of Dmitry Golenkov, a senior pilot from Russia’s 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, was found in Suponevo near the Russian city of Bryansk. According to Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), he was responsible for several war crimes committed by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.

The intelligence agency released a photos and a video that showed Golenkov's body which was discovered with multiple head injuries, that appear to have been caused by several blows from a hammer.

The 18 North Korean soldiers who had fled from positions in the Kursk region were detained and relocated to participate in assault operations against Ukrainian troops, HUR reports.

North Korean soldiers who attempted to flee from their positions in the Kursk region may be deployed in assaults against Ukrainian forces, sources in Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) told Kyiv Post.

One source from HUR told Kyiv Post that 18 North Korean soldiers who attempted to escape from Russian-occupied positions in the Kursk region were detained by Russian forces in the Komarichsky district of the Bryansk region.

Norbert Röttgen, a leading CDU MP, called Tusk’s absence a “grave mistake.”

Germany’s opposition has criticised the fact Poland was not been included in talks between European leaders and US President Joe Biden on peace in Ukraine, as the question of who should be included in talks on Europe's post-war order comes to the fore.

Biden joined German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron for quadrilateral talks in Berlin on Friday. According to the German government, Ukraine's 'victory plan' to force Russia to end its war of aggression was among the topics discussed.

Approximately 1,500 North Korean special forces are already in Russia, getting acclimated and expected to head to the front lines soon, South Korea's intelligence agency reported on Friday.

South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador, Georgiy Zinoviev, on Monday, Oct. 21, to criticize North Korea's decision to dispatch thousands of soldiers to support Russia's troops in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said, calling for their immediate withdrawal.

Approximately 1,500 North Korean special forces are already in Russia, getting acclimated and expected to head to the front lines soon, South Korea's intelligence agency reported on Friday, Oct. 18.

Austin's visit came at a time when Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Western allies to lift restrictions on the the use of long-range weapons and calling for an immediate invitation to join NATO.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv Monday morning in a show of support weeks before the US election.

Austin's visit came at a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Western allies to lift restrictions on the the use of long-range weapons and calling for an immediate invitation to join NATO.

Despite the successful interception of aircraft, debris from the downed drones caused damage in three districts of Kyiv.

Early morning on Monday, Oct. 21, Kyiv came under a heavy drone attack launched by Russian forces. The air raid alarm lasted more than five hours, as the drones targeted the city from multiple directions.

According to Kyiv's military administration, about a dozen drones were intercepted and destroyed by air defense units.

The upcoming election on Saturday, Nov.2, will be a showdown between the ruling Georgian Dream party and a newly formed coalition of pro-Western opposition groups.

Thousands of Georgians flooded the streets of Tbilisi on Sunday, Oct. 20, in a massive rally showing support for the country's push toward European Union membership.

The demonstration took place just days before crucial parliamentary elections, which many see as a defining moment for Georgia's future and its democratic path.

Any negotiated settlement that rewards Russia with territory or precludes Ukraine from iron-clad Western security guarantees will only embolden Moscow.

And so, the war in Ukraine continues. There may be a settlement, a ceasefire or even a temporary Ukrainian victory, but Russian aggression in Ukraine will continue so long as an epilogue cannot be written on Russian imperialism. Russian aggression, at first shortsighted glance, may be against Ukrainians and the persecuted nationalities within the Russian Federation, but the repercussions are felt across the globe.

American President Ronald Reagan coined the term “Evil Empire.” Unfortunately, he had only a passing idea of what that meant historically. The Soviet Union was indeed evil, but its worst atrocities had been equaled or even surpassed by Russia’s tsarist regime and may be surpassed now by the successor to the USSR, the Russian Federation, as the Russian Empire is referred to today.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian forces conducted drone strikes against the Lipetsk-2 Air Base near Lipetsk City and Russian state-owned defense enterprise Sverdlov in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast on the night of October 19 to 20.
• Moldovan authorities have yet to announce the results of the October 20 presidential election and European Union (EU) referendum, but both the election and referendum have passed the required voter turnout threshold to be valid.
• Russian sources claimed on October 20 that former Russian Yukos Oil Company Vice President for Corporate Management Mikhail Rogachev was found dead in a possible suicide after falling from a window in Moscow.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced north of Sudzha and Russian forces recently marginally advanced near Toretsk and Selydove.