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Ukraine has slammed UN secretary general Antonio Guterres for what it said was his acceptance of an invitation from “war criminal” Vladimir Putin to the Russia-hosted Brics summit this week.
“The UN secretary general declined Ukraine’s invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland,” the ministry said. “He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN’s reputation,” the ministry said.
The UN has neither confirmed nor denied Mr Guterres attendance at the Russian summit, and said it would release details of his schedule in due course. The Kazan summit begins later today.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said a senior Russian air force commander had been beaten to death with a hammer inside Russia.
Ukraine said Col Dmitry Golenkov was behind one of the most lethal airstrikes on Ukraine, one which targeted a shopping centre with a rocket.
And earlier South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul, asking the Kremlin for the “immediate withdrawal” of North Korean troops which it says are about to be deployed to fight in Ukraine.
North Korean troops in Ukraine: Everything we know about Kim Jong-un’s army joining Russian invasion
UK announces £2.26 billion loan for Ukraine using frozen Russian asset funds
David Cameron says India has ‘credibility’ to mediate in Ukraine war but must rein in Putin
Who is going to Putin-hosted Brics summit in Russia – and why has Brazil’s Lula dropped out?
Ukraine publishes video showing North Korean soldiers in Russia
Ukrainian officials have released a video purporting to show dozens of North Korean recruits lining up to collect Russian military fatigues.
The video confirms Russia’s deployment of troops sent by Pyongyang into the conflict, they claimed. In the video, North Korean soldiers are seen standing in line to pick up bags, clothes and other apparel from Russian servicemen.
“We received this video from our own sources. We cannot provide additional verification from the sources who provided it to us due to security concerns,” said Ihor Solovey, the head of Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security.
“The video clearly shows North Korean citizens being given Russian uniforms under the direction of the Russian military,” he said.
“For Ukraine, this video is important because it is the first video evidence that shows North Korea participating in the war on the side of Russia. Now not only with weapons and shells but also with personnel.”
The centre claims the footage was shot by a Russian soldier in recent days. It didn’t say how the footage was obtained. The location is unknown.
Russian forces storming town in eastern Ukraine, bloggers say
Russian forces are fighting street-to-street battles with Ukrainian troops in the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Selydove, military bloggers have said.
“Street by street fighting is going on in the town,” according to Yuri Podolyaka, a prominent Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. “The assault on Selydove has intensified.”
Other pro-Russian bloggers published video of intensive shelling of Selydove. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the footage. The Russian defence ministry did not comment.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military, in a late evening report yesterday, said Ukrainian forces had repelled 41 Russian attacks around several towns and villages, including Selydove. The report said four battles were still raging in the area.
The popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState showed Selydove to be in Ukrainian hands.
Moscow’s forces are pushing to gain control over the whole of the Donbas region, according to pro-Russian bloggers.
Ukrainian air defences repelling attack on Kyiv, military says
Ukraine’s air defence units repelled a fresh overnight Russian attack targeting Kyiv, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said early this morning.
In what was at least the third wave of the overnight attacks, drone debris fell onto the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv, but according to preliminary information caused no damage or injuries, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration said.
Ukrainian military denies Russian advances in Chasiv Yar
Putin’s forces have not “managed to gain a foothold” in the war-town city of Chasiv Yar despite claims of Russian advances.
Anastasia Bobovnikova, a spokesperson of the operational tactical group Luhansk, told the Kyiv Independent: “I do not confirm the fact that Russian troops have managed to gain a foothold in the canal ... or anywhere in the direction of Chasiv Yar.
“The overall strategic position of the city remains under the control of Ukraine.”
It comes after the crowd-sourced war-monitoring website DeepState reported on October 17 that Russian forces had made advances.
Bobovnikova explained that groups of Russian soldiers had occasionally crossed the canal and carried out assaults on Ukrainian positions, adding: “However, such manoeuvres are accompanied by significant losses for the Russians. Ukrainian forces quickly repel such attacks, pushing Russian units back.”
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