They displayed their mutual esteem and their desire for cooperation. Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to go to North Korea at the invitation of its leader Kim Jong-un, who is exceptionally traveling to Russia in order to strengthen ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, particularly military ties.
At the end of a meeting on Wednesday September 13, “Kim Jong Un courteously invited Putin to visit the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Editor’s note) when it suits him”, reported this Thursday September 14 the agency North Korean state press KCNA, using North Korea’s official name. “Vladimir Putin gladly accepted the invitation and reaffirmed his unwavering desire to continue to advance the history and tradition of Russia-DPRK friendship,” the agency said.
Kim Jong Un praises ‘heroic’ Russian army
Kim Jong-un assured Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that Moscow will achieve a “great victory” over its enemies. However, nothing has been officially communicated at this stage regarding a possible agreement for deliveries of military equipment to Russia in order to support its offensive in Ukraine, as mentioned by Washington.
After Kim Jong-un’s arrival in Russia aboard his armored train, the two leaders shook hands and visited facilities at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East. They held approximately two hours of formal discussions with their delegations and one-on-one, then attended a luncheon in honor of the North Korean leader.
“We are confident that the Russian army and people will definitely achieve a great victory in the sacred struggle to punish the evil gathering that claims hegemony,” Kim Jong-un declared before his counterpart, according to the official translation at Russian television. He also praised the “heroic” Russian army, which has been engaged in an assault in Ukraine for more than a year and a half.
As a sign of the strengthening of their ties, Moscow offered Pyongyang to send a North Korean cosmonaut into space, according to Russian agencies. He would be the first North Korean to enter Earth orbit, as the reclusive country seeks to expand its space programs. The North Korean leader said he was ready to develop with the Russian president a “plan for the next 100 years” in order to establish stable and “forward-looking” relations, KCNA reported on Thursday.
Ukraine recaptures the village of Andriïvka
Ukraine announced this Thursday that it had recaptured from Russian forces the village of Andriïvka, south of the devastated town of Bakhmut on the Eastern Front, one of the axes of the difficult counter-offensive led since June by Kiev’s troops. . “Andriivka is ours,” the Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister said on Telegram, adding that fighting continues in this sector and in surrounding areas near Bakhmut. “On the northern flank, the enemy is trying to regain lost ground. On the southern flank, we are progressing,” she added, still speaking of the Bakhmout sector.
Since the beginning of June, the Ukrainian army has been leading a slow counter-offensive intended to push back Russian forces in the east and south, but it faces powerful defensive lines made up of trenches, minefields and anti-tank traps. This operation has so far only allowed the capture of a handful of villages.
Russia says it repelled a wave of Ukrainian drones
Russia claimed to have destroyed several Ukrainian aerial drones in the border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod (west) during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, without reporting any casualties at this stage. In four separate statements, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that six drones were shot down between 10 p.m. local time Wednesday and 12:45 a.m. local time over the territory of the western Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.
Local governor Alexander Bogomaz also reported on Telegram the same number of aircraft destroyed above the districts of Ounetchski, Brasovski, Starodubski and Karatchevksi, the latter being very close to the city of Briansk. There were no victims or damage, according to Alexandre Bogomaz.
Earlier, Russian Defense reported that another Ukrainian drone was shot down at 9:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region further south. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the device had been intercepted above the village of Toulyanka, a few dozen kilometers from Ukraine.
Ukrainian drone offensives against Russian localities, whether regions close to Ukraine, annexed Crimea or the capital Moscow, have increased in recent months against the backdrop of a counter-offensive from Kiev started at the beginning of June.
kyiv claims to have shot down a total of 17 Russian drones
Ukrainian air defense destroyed 17 Russian aerial drones overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the Kiev Air Force reported Thursday morning, without providing information on possible damage or casualties.
“A total of 22 Shahed (drone) launches were observed” towards the regions of Mykolaiv (South), Zaporizhia (South), Dnipropetrovsk (central-East) and Sumy (North-East), the forces indicated on Telegram Ukrainians according to whom Moscow is responsible for the attack.
“According to the results of combat operations during the night, 17 of the 22 enemy Shahed-136/131 air attack drones were destroyed by anti-aircraft defense,” the same source added.
First Ukrainian soldiers trained on Swedish planes
Ukrainian pilots have successfully completed initial training on Gripen fighter jets provided by Swedish Defense, it announced on Thursday. If Sweden has not yet decided to deliver these planes to Ukraine, it is not closing the door to this possibility.
This first approach “must now serve as a basis” to determine whether a shipment of Swedish Gripen planes to Ukraine is possible, underlined Pål Jonson. From London to Brussels, via Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pressing his allies to deliver modern fighter planes to fight Russia, but this request is complex to satisfy, particularly given training needs.
International Criminal Court opens office in kyiv
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an office in kyiv, “the largest” outside The Hague, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General announced this Thursday. Ukraine is seeking to establish a special court to indict Russian leaders after the country’s invasion, launched on February 24, 2022. Kiev announced in March the upcoming opening of an ICC office to “investigate more fully on international crimes committed in Ukraine.
At the same time, an international office responsible for investigating the crime of “aggression” against Ukraine opened in The Hague (Netherlands) at the beginning of July, which, according to Kiev, constitutes a first “historic” step towards the creation of a special court. The ICC, which sits in The Hague, also issued an arrest warrant in March against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children.
Three Ukrainian soldiers sentenced to long prison terms by pro-Russian separatists
Three Ukrainian soldiers were sentenced to sentences ranging from 24 to 29 years in prison by pro-Russian separatists, who accuse them of abuses against civilians, the Russian Investigative Committee announced Wednesday in a press release.
Ivan Botchkarev and Dmitri Kanuper served in the Azov regiment, notably composed of Ukrainian nationalists and considered a terrorist organization by Moscow. The group distinguished itself in the defense of the port city of Mariupol in 2022. They were accused of having shot at four civilians “who posed no threat to them”, killing three, in this southern city. Ukraine, the Investigative Committee said.
The two men were sentenced to 29 years in a penal colony for “cruel treatment of civilians” and “group murder and attempted murder motivated by political or ideological hatred.” They were acting on orders “from the Azov group,” the Investigative Committee said.
Anton Shtukin, also a member of the Azov regiment, received a 24-year prison sentence. He was convicted of firing two anti-tank missiles at a building next to a food aid distribution point, although not hitting any civilians, near Mariupol in March 2022. He was convicted in absentia and is wanted, according to the Investigative Committee.
These sentences were handed down by the “supreme court” of the Donetsk republic self-proclaimed by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, a territory under their control since 2014 and whose annexation Moscow claimed last year, not recognized by the international community. Convictions of this type have become recurrent. At the end of August, five Ukrainian soldiers who were members of Azov were, for example, sentenced to twenty years in prison for injuring civilians.
Bulgaria once again allows the import of Ukrainian grain
Bulgaria decided this Thursday, unlike Poland, not to extend the ban on imports of Ukrainian cereals beyond September 15, the date of its expiration. Sofia “does not support” an extension of restrictions, stipulates a resolution adopted by Parliament by a large majority at the initiative of the pro-European government. The text invokes “solidarity with Ukraine” and the need to “guarantee food security on a global scale”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the vote. “Bulgaria shows the example of what true solidarity is,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). In April, the EU authorized five member states – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – to ban the marketing of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower on their territory, in order to protect their farmers, who attributed the fall in prices on their local markets to these imports.