The US will not impose new restrictions on Ukraine's use of American weapons if North Korea enters the war, the Pentagon says

Key developments on October 28:

• Russia attacks downtown Kharkiv with a FAB-500 bomb, damaging key landmark
• The US will not impose new restrictions on Ukraine's use of American weapons if North Korea joins the war, the Pentagon says
• Zelensky says 650,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in the war against Ukraine
• Trump plans to end Russia's war in Ukraine by freezing it if he wins the presidential election, FT reports
• According to analysis, almost 80% of buildings in Vovchansk were destroyed or damaged in Russian attacks

US won't impose new restrictions on Kyiv's use of American weapons if North Korea joins war

The United States will not impose new restrictions on Ukraine's use of American weapons if North Korean troops are engaged in hostilities, the Pentagon said on October 28, after NATO confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast.

“Some of these soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk Oblast, near the border with Ukraine,” the Pentagon said. Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, Reuters reported.

The U.S. announced Oct. 26 that North Korean troops would be deployed to Kursk Oblast, a Russian border region facing a Ukrainian offensive.

According to the Pentagon, about 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to eastern Russia for training, while as of October 23 there was an estimate of 3,000 soldiers.

US President Joe Biden described the development as “very dangerous”.

The Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine (HUR) announced on October 24th that the first units were stationed in Kursk Oblast. However, the Pentagon declined to confirm that North Korean forces were already in the area.

“It is likely that they are moving in this direction towards Kursk. But I don’t have any further details yet,” Singh said.

Ukraine's military intelligence had previously said that Russia was preparing to deploy 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including 500 officers and three generals. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the first North Korean troops should be stationed in the combat zone on October 27th or 28th.

The Ukrainian military has not yet fought with or captured North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast, Vadym Mysnyk, a spokesman for Ukraine's Siversk operational tactical group, said on October 28.

Russia and North Korea initially dismissed the reports, but recently turned to more evasive rhetoric as evidence of the troop deployment mounted.

Washington still prohibits Kiev from using US-made long-range weapons to penetrate deep into Russia. At the same time, the United States plans to provide Ukraine with an aid package worth $700 million to $800 million for domestic production of long-range capabilities, Zelensky announced on October 21.

“Moscow is desperate” – expert on North Korean troops in Russia

The Kyiv Independent spoke to former British defense attaché in Moscow, John Foreman CBE, about what this development could mean for the future of Russia's war and the global landscape.

Russia strikes downtown Kharkiv with FAB-500 bomb, damages key landmark

Russian forces attacked downtown Kharkiv with a FAB-500 bomb on October 28, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, later said that the strike damaged the Derzhprom building (the State Industries Building), which has been under enhanced UNESCO protection since 2022.

A series of explosions occurred in the city around 9 p.m. local time. The strikes caused a fire and heavy smoke to develop in the central part Kharkiv.

At least six people were injured, Syniehubov said around 9:30 p.m. local time. The attack damaged a medical facility and administrative buildings.

According to Terekhov, information about damage and victims is being clarified.

UPDATED: Russia attacks downtown Kharkiv with FAB-500 bomb, damaging historic building

Russian forces attacked downtown Kharkiv with a FAB-500 bomb on October 28, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. The attack damaged the Derzhprom building (the State Industries Building), which is under the extended protection of UNESCO.

650,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in war against Ukraine, Zelensky says

Russia lost 650,000 soldiers, including dead and wounded, in the war against Ukraine, Zelensky said in an interview with Times of India published on October 28.

According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, over 690,000 Russian military personnel have been incapacitated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. In addition to the wounded and killed, this number also includes those taken prisoner.

Estonian intelligence estimated that Russia could lose up to 40,000 soldiers in October.

“Russia itself has killed many Russians. Many mobilized Russian soldiers were killed by the Russian army itself because they were afraid of attacking, dying under the bullets or being wounded. So they retreated and then their army was killed,” Zelensky told Times of India.

“This is their martial law,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky added that Russia also does not pick up its dead soldiers from the battlefield and leave their bodies to rot on the ground.

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Trump plans to end Russia's war in Ukraine by freezing it if he wins presidential election, FT reports

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump plans to end Russia's war against Ukraine by freezing it if he wins the US presidential election, the Financial Times (FT) reported on October 28, citing sources close to the former president's team stand close.

Trump has claimed he will end the war against Russia within “24 hours,” without elaborating on how he plans to achieve this. Some reports and statements from Trump's inner circle suggest that this could lead to pressure on Ukraine to cede territory or abandon its NATO aspirations.

According to the FT, in September Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance outlined the idea of ​​freezing the war by establishing autonomous regions on either side of the demilitarized zone and keeping Ukraine outside NATO.

According to one of Trump's longtime advisers, the new plan would revisit the failed Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015, which were never implemented. The agreements included a plan that envisaged the creation of autonomous zones in the Russian-occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. Occupied Crimea was not mentioned in the Minsk Agreement.

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The new plan will include enforcement mechanisms and consequences for violations of the agreement, the adviser said. But in his opinion, European troops must maintain order, not NATO forces or UN peacekeepers.

“There are two things America will insist on. We will have neither men nor women in the enforcement mechanism. We don't pay for it. Europe is paying for it,” he added.

Trump's allies argue that Ukraine is losing the war and therefore it is morally right to push for a solution. Trump believes Biden should talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as presidents did with Soviet leaders during the Cold War, and that NATO membership is not an option for Ukraine in the short term.

Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who served in the Trump White House and now works at the America First Policy Institute's Center for American Security, suggested in an interview with the FT that Ukraine's membership in NATO would last for several years could be removed from the agenda in order to force Russia to the negotiating table.

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Almost 80% of Vovchansk's buildings destroyed, damaged in Russian attacks, analysis says

Nearly 80% of buildings in Vovchansk were destroyed or damaged after Russia launched its offensive against the city, according to a joint investigation by Bellingcat and AFP published on October 28.

The once 17,000-strong city, just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border in Kharkiv Oblast, has been fiercely contested following Russia's full-scale invasion.

Vovchansk remained under Russian occupation until the Ukrainian counteroffensive liberated the city in autumn 2022. When Russia launched a new push in May 2024, forcing most residents to flee their homes, heavy fighting broke out again.

When speaking to journalists, the civilians told harrowing escape stories, in which there were occasionally deliberate escape attempts against civilians.

About 60% of all buildings in the city were destroyed and 18% were partially damaged, Bellingcat and AFP said, citing satellite images. At the end of September, only 22% of the buildings were still intact.

Despite Russia's surprise attack in May, the Russian offensive in the northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly stalled, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy casualties.

Since then, the intensity of fighting has decreased somewhat compared to other sectors in eastern Ukraine near Pokrovsk, Vuhledar and Toretsk.

According to the Ukrainian military, Russian tactics typically involve leveling towns and villages with artillery fire and bombs before moving in to “capture” the destroyed settlements.

For example, in the city of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, no buildings remained intact as a result of the Russian attack, Anastasia Bobovnikova, a spokeswoman for the Luhansk Operational Tactical Group, said on October 14.

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