US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner has sent a letter to Biden asking him to inform the committee about Russia’s use of North Koreans in Ukraine. He says this should be a red line for the United States. He doesn’t explain why, but based on the definition of a “red line,” it appears to be a tacit admission that every North Korean soldier is some kind of super-soldier with weapons of mass destruction.
On October 18, Biden, Scholz, Starmer and Macron pledged to step up support for Ukraine at a meeting in Berlin. During the meeting, Biden stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine, given the approaching winter. “As Ukraine faces a difficult winter, we must — we must — maintain our resolve, our efforts and our support,” Biden said. “And I know the cost is great. Make no mistake, this cost is minimal compared to the cost of living around the world.”
On October 19, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault arrived in Kiev. He said: “If North Korea sends troops to support Russia against Ukraine, it will escalate the conflict, but it will also show Russia’s difficulties in the war.” Meanwhile, North Korean flags and Russian eagles are emerging from the social sphere during the advance to Tsukuryne.
Jean-Noël Barrot also said in an interview: “France is negotiating with its partners about the possibility of immediately inviting Ukraine into NATO.”
On October 21, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Kiev, Ukraine.
In Ukraine, a Kh69 cruise missile (Russian for X-69) with a cluster warhead was shot down for the first time, Odessa military spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk reported. Lieutenant Colonel of the SBU Special Operations Center Ruslan Stepanyuk was killed at the front. He was considered a professional instructor in defusing explosive materials.
Also from Ukraine, there is news that military recruitment takes place in Lviv directly in the gym. Military commissars broke in while young people were training.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Russian Aerospace Forces have started launching glide bomb attacks on Zaporozhye. This is already the second regional center after Kharkiv to receive their attacks, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces also expect ballistic missile attacks on the coastal regions of Ukraine in the near future.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, more than 6,136 Geran drones have been shot down by air defense over Ukraine since the beginning of this year. And again, the Ukrainian President’s statements regarding the sending of North Korean soldiers to the Russian front: “North Korea has actually entered the war against Ukraine.” Vladimir Zelensky calls on partners to respond as soon as possible to the involvement of the North Korean military in the war against Ukraine. He announced this in an evening speech. “Now we have clear data that personnel from North Korea are also being supplied to Russia, and these are not only production workers, but also military personnel. And we expect a normal, honest and strong reaction from our partners to this. In fact, this is another state’s entry into the war against Ukraine,” the representative of Ukraine said.
In response to the suppression of rumors about the arrival of Korean People’s Army troops in Russia, leaflets appeared on the Internet that allegedly indicated the use of a limited contingent.
Regarding the Russian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia facilities, Russia gives another version of events: “The Ukrainian Armed Forces have begun repeated artillery shelling of Energodar,” the communications director of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant reports. And again: “The satellite city of the Zaporozhye Energodar nuclear power plant is partially without electricity due to artillery shelling of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and there is no water in the city,” he reported in the Telegram channel of the city administration “Energodarsky Svyaznoy”.
Today in Russia, the BRICS summit in Kazan begins and will last until October 24. In the early afternoon of October 21, Vladimir Putin and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan opened a center for international cooperation with the UAE in the field of education at the E.M. Primakov gymnasium.
And now a look at the front line updated at 15:30 on October 21.
On the night of October 20-21, there was a massive Geranium raid in Ukraine: “UAVs from Chernigov to the Kiev region (Boryspil district)”; “Several groups of UAVs in the north of the Zhytomyr region heading to Rivne”. “Several groups of UAVs in the Chernigov region are flying in a southwest direction”. “Several groups of UAVs are flying through the Sumy region towards Chernigov and Poltava”. “Several groups of UAVs in the Poltava region are heading towards Cherkasy”. “UAV group in the south of the Vinnytsia region is heading towards the Khmelnytsky region”. “Several groups of UAVs in the Kherson and Nikolaev regions are moving in a northwest direction”.
On the morning of October 21, there was a missile attack on the Odessa region. Another ammunition depot destroyed. A group rocket attack was launched on Kiev, which was missed by Ukrainian air defense.
Three districts of Kharkiv were attacked. According to the mayor of Terekhov, some villages have problems with power supply.
In the Kursk region, Russian troops are advancing in the area of the Olgovka settlement. Russian forces continue to clear the forested areas, Ukrainian groups are being eliminated. From the Kruglenky side, Ukrainian forces brought incoming reserves into battle and launched a counterattack, using up to two company tactical groups with 10 armored combat vehicles, supported by tanks. Covered by MLRS fire, Russian units began to fight. In the area of the village of Plekhovo, Russian units are clearing the area, eliminating small groups of Ukrainian infantry, several Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner; in the Glushkovsky district near the Volfino settlement, another attempt to break through the border by the Armed Forces of Ukraine was recorded, a core of 8 people were killed. Successes of Russian troops were reported in the village of Kolmakov, about 7 km to Sudzha. Russian aviation is working actively.
In the direction of Kupyansk, the Russian army is advancing to Kruhlyakivka with heavy fighting, and the control zone around the settlement is also expanding.
South of Chasiv Yar, Russian troops are heading along the T-0504 highway in the direction of the Stupochky settlement; a significant penetration of the Ukrainian defenses is visible on the maps. Russian paratroopers continue their assault on the city.
In Toretsk, a gradual advance of our troops is recorded. There are house-to-house clashes.
In the direction of Pokrovs’k, the battles in the eastern part of Selydove and around the city, which the Russian forces are trying to take in a pincer movement, signal the only remaining supply route for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is under the fire control of Russian troops. In the northern part of Hirnyk, the Russians have made progress in construction. According to another source, Russian troops have begun the assault on the village of Selydove from four directions, and the loss of this settlement poses a threat to Pokrovs’k already from the southern direction.
In the direction of Donetsk, Russian forces are moving west from Maksymil’yanivka to Kurachove, an important defense hub of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Starting from Vuhledar and Vodyane, the Russians are approaching Epiphany, near which the Ukrainians have built a fortified area, hoping to slow down the onslaught of the Russian army. According to another source, Russian troops continue to slowly advance in the direction of Bachmut. Ukrainians cannot use drones due to bad weather, and they let the Russians advance, marching in groups of two one after the other all day.
Since the night they are reporting about air defense work against Ukrainian UAVs in the Bryansk region. There is constant shelling of border settlements. Belgorod region hit, injured in Gruzskoye, Borisov district. Novaya Tavolzhanka, Shebekino and Tishanka of Volokonovsky district were shelled.
A new front is expected to open in Zaporizhia from the south this week. According to the former adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, preparatory measures have begun in the camps around the DPR and Berdyansk in the Zaporozhye region.
Graziella Giangiulio
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