The Daily Populous Tuesday November 12nd, 2024 morning edition
Authored by cnn.com and submitted by AndySplash

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday Russia has deployed nearly 50,000 troops to Kursk, the southern Russian region where Kyiv launched its surprise counteroffensive in the summer.

Ukrainian troops “continue to hold back” the “nearly 50,000-strong enemy group” in Kursk, Zelensky said in a post on Telegram after receiving a briefing from General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

Kyiv launched its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August, taking by surprise not just Moscow, but also its allies. It said at the time, that the operation was necessary, because Russia had been planning to launch a new attack on Ukraine from the region. It said it was aiming to create a “buffer zone” to prevent future cross-border attacks.

The Kursk offensive, the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II, caught Moscow completely unprepared.

Ukrainian advanced quickly deep into Russia’s territory and have since maintained control over hundreds of square miles of Russia’s territory. And while Russia has reclaimed some settlements, the line of control has barely changed over the past months.

A US official told CNN on Sunday that Russia has amassed a large force of tens of thousands — including recently arrived North Korean troops — to carry out an assault on the Ukrainian positions in Kursk. The official said the offensive was expected in the coming days.

The Kremlin has not commented on the presence of North Korean troops on its territory. At a meeting of the UN Security Council last week, Russia refused to answer questions from the US about its deployment of North Korean troops.

At the same time though, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law ratifying a mutual defense treaty with North Korea, while North Korean media reported Monday that Kim Jong Un had also signed the treaty into law.

The pact is the most significant agreement signed by Russia and North Korea in decades and is seen as something of a revival of their 1961 Cold War-era mutual defense pledge. It also consolidates the Kim regime’s powerful link with a world power that wields a veto on the UN Security Council.

Russia and North Korea have forged increasingly friendly ties since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. North Korea has one of the world’s largest militaries with 1.2 million soldiers, but most of its troops lack combat experience.

Zelensky said last week that 11,000 North Korean soldiers were now in the region.

Separately, a Ukrainian commander told CNN Sunday that North Korean troops were taking part in direct combat operations in Kursk, as well as defensive operations in the neighboring Belgorod region of Russia and in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.

North Korean troops deployed to Russia’s Kursk region have fought Kyiv’s forces on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, adding that the clashes resulted in fatalities.

Kyiv braces for second Trump presidency

Ukraine is once again finding itself in a difficult position. Russia has been launching near daily waves of long-range drone strikes on its cities while also struggling to hold back Russian advances at multiple locations along the more than 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) frontline.

Over the weekend, Russia and Ukraine exchanged record numbers of drone strikes, with Moscow launching a total of 145 drones on Saturday night.

Ukraine meanwhile fired an unprecedented number of drones towards Russia’s capital overnight on Saturday into Sunday.

At the same time, Kyiv is trying to gauge the impact of Donald Trump’s victory in the US election last week. Trump has previously said he could end the conflict in 24 hours and in September he declared: “I think it’s in the US’ best interest to get this war finished and just get it done.”

izwald88 on November 11st, 2024 at 19:13 UTC »

Seems like it might be wise to push for a land grab for when Trump inevitably tries to end the war in 24 hours, letting Russia keep whatever it has.

And Russia is obviously not going to let Ukraine keep parts of its own territory.

justchill-itsnotreal on November 11st, 2024 at 17:23 UTC »

All civilians should be out of Kursk oblast by now.

Let them have it and blow it up. Don’t need long range missiles for that. Great way to test that first 100 made

The world needs Ukraine 🇺🇦 to win. Finally end Russia.

Russia was a dying country before the war. Their economics and population will never recover.

Foxysockzgirl on November 11st, 2024 at 17:20 UTC »

Ukraine’s been fighting tooth and nail, and the fact that Russia is pulling in North Korean troops just shows how stretched they are. It’s wild to see that Ukraine’s actually taken and held ground in Kursk this is historic stuff. They’re facing a force of 50,000 now, and the buffer zone they’re creating is smart. They’re pushing back not only to protect themselves but also to prevent future attacks. I get that the situation’s complicated, especially with Trump’s potential impact on U.S. support, but right now Ukraine deserves all the help they can get. They’ve already shown they’re capable of turning the tide with the right support.