War in Ukraine: North Korea is the biggest threat to kyiv, a new wave of drones launched… the latest on the situation

49 Ukrainiens rentrent chez eux après l'échange de prisonniers de guerre avec la Russie. MAXPPP – STR

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Saturday, September 14, 2024, discover the latest news about this conflict.

Russia launches a new wave of drones on Ukraine

Russia launched a new drone attack on kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Friday night, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to reiterate his call for strengthening the country's air defenses. Ukrainian air defenses have shot down 72 of the 76 Shahed drones launched by Russia over 12 regions in the center, south and east of the country, the air force said.

“We need more capabilities to strengthen the air shield, air defense and long-range capabilities to continue protecting life and our people,”, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is scheduled to visit the United States later this month, said on Telegram. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but authorities said buildings were damaged in several regions of the country. In kyiv, authorities said drone fragments had fallen on a municipal building in the Obolon district, north of the city centre, but that no fire had broken out at the site.

On the outskirts of kyiv, drone debris damaged several houses and a commercial building, and shattered windows of a residential building, the regional governor said. In the southern Odessa region, debris damaged commercial buildings and houses and also caused several fires.

Air raid warnings sounded for several hours overnight in many regions of Ukraine. Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians and says its long-range attacks are aimed at reducing Ukraine's combat capability.

Russia, Ukraine exchange 206 prisoners

Russia and Ukraine on Saturday carried out a new prisoner swap, the second in two days, freeing a total of 206 people following negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the exchange and said the 103 Ukrainians repatriated were all soldiers. The Russian soldiers released on Saturday had been taken prisoner in Russia's Kursk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Kiev launched a surprise incursion on August 6 into the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, claiming control of dozens of towns and the capture of at least 600 Russian soldiers. “Our people are at home”, said Volodymyr Zelensky on the Telegram messaging app, posting photos of servicemen wrapped in the blue and yellow national flag hugging each other. The exchange was brokered by the United Arab Emirates, the official Emirati news agency WAM said. It is the eighth such mediation since the beginning of 2024, it said.

Kiev and Moscow have been regularly exchanging prisoners since Russia invaded in February 2022. Saturday's is the third since Ukraine launched its incursion into Kursk. Ukrainian mediator Dmytro Lubinets said that the majority of the released Ukrainians had been in captivity since the early days of the war. So far, he added, kyiv has secured the return of 3,672 Ukrainians in 57 exchanges.

G7 condemns Iran's export of ballistic missiles to Russia

G7 foreign ministers on Saturday condemned “in the strongest terms" Iran's export and Russia's acquisition of Iranian ballistic missiles.

“Iran must immediately cease all support for Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt these transfers of ballistic missiles, drones and associated technologies, which pose a direct threat to the Ukrainian people and, more broadly, to European and international security", the G7 foreign ministers wrote in a statement. The G7 is composed of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and the United States.

Among Moscow's allies, North Korea is the biggest threat to kyiv 

Among Moscow's allies, North Korea represents "the biggest problem" for Kiev because of massive deliveries of artillery shells to Russia, which uses them on the front lines in Ukraine, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on Saturday.

"Of all these allies of Russia, our biggest problem comes from North Korea, because with the volume of military products “It does, it does affect the intensity of the fighting,” he said at a Yalta European Strategy conference in Kiev.