Sweden supports Ukraine’s “victory plan” and future NATO membership, the head of the country’s Defense Ministry said. At the same time, Paul Johnson, the Swedish Defense Minister, noted that joining the Alliance is not yet possible because Ukraine is at war.
I hope that the “victory plan” will be embodied not only on paper, but also in real actions, said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur. “We plan to discuss the details of the ‘victory plan’ with Zelensky and Umerov. I hope that we will be able to increase and accelerate assistance to Ukraine,” Hanno Pevkur said in Brussels.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a different opinion and spoke about Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’: “President Zelensky presents his victory plan. What was presented yesterday in the Ukrainian parliament is more than frightening. I am among those who call on the European Union to change its current strategy. The European Union entered this war with a poorly organized and poorly executed strategy, built on inadequate calculations, for which the President of the Commission is primarily responsible. We are losing this war, so the strategy does not work. We need to change something! But this does not mean that we need more wars, more dangerous weapons and long-range weapons, we need to move towards a peace strategy, not a war strategy. We need a ceasefire and peace talks! I will call on the German Chancellor and the French President, on behalf of the entire European Union, to start negotiations with the Russians as soon as possible to find a way out of the current situation.”
Also according to Orban: “Western intelligence agencies are working to find out whether Ukraine really has a nuclear weapons strategy.”
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reports that Norway will transfer six F-16A/B MLU fighters to Ukraine in the near future. He also added: “If Ukraine were offered NATO membership in exchange for occupied territories, I would definitely do very bad things.”
The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kirill Budanov, told the TWZ website that 11,000 North Korean soldiers are currently undergoing training in Russia’s Saratov region and will be ready for the battle on November 1 with Russian weapons and equipment. According to him, the first detachment of 2,600 soldiers will be sent to the Kursk region of Russia, where the Ukrainian army continues to hold the captured territory. South Korean President Yoon Seok-Yeol convenes an emergency security meeting in response to the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia. They work in unison. “North Korea will send 12,000 soldiers to fight Russia’s war in Ukraine,” Yonhap news agency reports, citing Seoul’s intelligence agency.
Finally, according to Valery Zaluzhny, the current Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom: “Getting out of a protracted war is an almost impossible task for Ukraine.” “The war is entering a new phase, static and exhausting. This will allow Russia to restore its military power,” says the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustam Umerov in Brussels yesterday.
And now a look at the front line updated at 17:30 on October 18.
Kiev was hit by ballistic missiles, which were missed by air defense on the night of October 18. In the Kursk region, in the Lyubimovka area, Ukrainian troops are trying to get out of the operational environment under Russian artillery fire and drone strikes. There are battles in the area of the settlement. Plyokhovo in the adjacent woods. The “North” group of troops reports that in the north of the Sudzhansky district, 2 points of deployment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were hit by OTRK strikes. After more than a month of fighting on Plekhovo, Russian forces captured the large city in the Kursk region.
In the direction Kurachove – Pokrovs’k, Russian forces advanced west of Tsukuryne. In the south, fighting continues on the Novoselydivka-Izmailivka line; there the Ukrainian garrison holds its positions; Probably the advance of Russian units towards Novodmytrivka is intended to surround Novoselydivka from the west. It is likely that the plan of the Russian forces is to enter from the north on Kreminna Balka and Voznesenka (south of Tsukuryne) with subsequent occupation. And then move south to overcome the defenses of Novoselydivka (through envelopment on three sides) and break through the strategic road from Ilyinka. If this happens, the cities of Hirnyk and Kurachove will fall into the operational encirclement, and then the situation there for the Ukrainian group could turn into a “cauldron”.
According to another account In the direction of Pokrovs’k, Russian troops are expanding the control zone south of Selydove, attacking in the direction of Vyshneve, trying to cover the Ukrainian forces in Selydove. They also report the advance of Russian armed forces in the eastern part of the city.
In the direction of Kurachove, the Russian army is conducting an offensive against the recently occupied Maksymil’yanivka. In the south are the battles for Katerynivka and Antonivka. In particular, near Katerynivka, the Russians entrenched themselves along two forest belts and on the southeastern outskirts of the settlement to a depth of 1 km. The total area captured by Russian forces is 12.7 km2. In the afternoon, Russian forces entered Kurachove.
During the day, Ukrainians launched UAVs in the Crimea, Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol regions.
In the direction of Kupyansk in the area of Kolisnykivka and in the northern part of Kruhlyakivka, battles are taking place, the Ukrainian Armed Forces assess the situation as difficult; Therefore, Russian troops are expanding the salient zone in the vicinity of the Oskil River.
South of Chasiv Yar, Russian Armed Forces occupied one of the mines, advancing 2 km to the west. In Chasiv Yar, Russian Armed Forces continue assault operations using armored vehicles.
Russian forces entered Tors’ke, in the direction of Liman
In Donetsk, one injured due to the use of cannons by the Ukrainians. In Horlivka, one killed by kamikaze UAV attacks, three injured.
Graziella Giangiulio
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