War in Ukraine: New Russian Advance, Delivery of Mirage 2000-5, North Korean Soldiers Killed… Update on the Situation

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Tuesday, October 8, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict.

Military reports further Russian troop advance in east

Russian troops have entered the outskirts of Toretsk, a city on the frontline of fighting in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said late Monday, less than a week after Russia managed to take control of the nearby town of Vouhledar.

Speaking on state television, a spokeswoman for a regional operational unit of the Ukrainian military said that “The situation is unstable”. “Fighting is taking place near each of the entrances (to the city)”, Anastasia Bobovnikova added. “The Russians have entered the eastern outskirts of the city”.

Russian troops have been advancing since last August towards Toretsk, taking village after village thanks to ground assaults supported by an increasing use of highly destructive guided bombs. Toretsk has been on the front line of fighting in eastern Ukraine for ten years now, as it is located near territories seized by pro-Russian separatists in Donbass in 2014.

kyiv has strengthened the city's protection following Moscow's invasion in February 2022. According to Ukrainian military analysts, seeing Toretsk fall into the hands of the Russian army would allow Moscow to disrupt key logistics routes of Kiev.

Upcoming delivery of Mirage 2000-5 to Ukraine

This Tuesday, October 8, 2024, the Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Sébastien Lecornu announced the delivery date of the French Mirage to Ukraine.

The French minister communicated on his X account (ex-Twitter). "Mirage 2000 bound for Ukraine: delivery still scheduled for the first quarter of 2025. In Cazaux, in Gironde, they will be equipped with new equipment: air-to-ground combat and anti-electronic warfare defense. The training of Ukrainian pilots and mechanics continues", he wrote.

“This equipment will be added to the Cazaux air base (southwest), while the pilots and mechanics who will operate these aircraft are trained at the Nancy base in eastern France. This morning in Biscarosse, we are conducting the first test firing of the future Aster missile that will equip the SAMP-T/NG system. From Ukraine to the Middle East, current conflicts illustrate how key ground-to-air defense is”, he added.

North Korean soldiers have most likely been killed in Ukraine, according to Seoul

North Korean soldiers have most likely been killed in Ukraine after being sent there to lend a helping hand to Russia, South Korea's new defense minister said Tuesday.

A Ukrainian media outlet claimed over the weekend that six North Korean officers died in a Ukrainian missile attack on Thursday near Donetsk in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday that it was “highly likely”.

“We assess it as highly likely that there were casualties among North Korean officers and soldiers in Ukraine, given various circumstances,”, the minister said.

Seoul also expects Pyongyang to send more troops to the Ukrainian front to bolster its Russian ally, which launched a military operation on Feb. 24 2022. “The issue of deploying regular troops is very likely because of the mutual agreements (between Moscow and Pyongyang) that resemble a military alliance between Russia and North Korea,”, Kim Yong-hyun said.

Experts have been claiming for months that North Korean missiles are being deployed in Ukraine by Russian forces, despite denials by Moscow and Pyongyang. According to Seoul, North Korea has sent thousands of containers of weapons to Russia, intended for use in Ukraine.

Both Ukraine and Russia have Asian fighters in their ranks. AFP journalists in India and Nepal have investigated recruitment campaigns for the Russian army.

The nuclear-armed East Asian country has strengthened military ties with Moscow in recent years. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang in June to sign a mutual defense agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea's recent surge in testing and production of artillery and cruise missiles may be linked to the shipments to Russia, experts warn.

“For North Korea, which has supplied Russia with many shells and missiles, learning to use different weapons and gaining real-world combat experience is crucial,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Nuclear Studies in Seoul's Far East. "It may even be a determining factor in sending North Korean soldiers to provide them with diverse experiences and wartime training,", he adds.

Under UN sanctions, Pyongyang is prohibited from conducting any weapons tests using ballistic missile technology. Moscow, however, used its veto in March at the UN Security Council to end the UN's sanctions monitoring system targeting its long-time ally.