SEOUL, South Korea: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said there is evidence that North Korea has sent troops to Russia on Monday, and South Korea’s spy chief told lawmakers that 3,000 North Korean troops are in the country receiving training on drones and other equipment before being deployed to battlefields in Ukraine.
Austin told reporters Wednesday “What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out.”
South Korean intelligence first publicized reports that the Russian navy had taken 1,500 North Korean special warfare troops to Russia last week, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier said his government had intelligence that 10,000 North Korea soldiers were being prepared to join the invading Russian forces.
The US and NATO had not previously formally confirmed North Korea’s reported troop dispatch, but have warned of the danger of such a development if true. Russia and North Korea have so far denied the troop movements.
“If it’s true that DPRK soldiers are joining Putin’s war against Ukraine, it certainly would mark a dangerous and highly concerning development,” Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson at the US State Department, told a briefing Tuesday. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong told lawmakers that said another 1,500 North Korean troops have entered Russia in a closed-door meeting, according to lawmaker Park Sunwon, who attended the briefing.
Cho told lawmakers that his agency assessed that North Korea aims to deploy a total of 10,000 troops to Russia by December, Park told reporters.
Park cited Cho as saying the 3,000 North Korean soldiers sent to Russia have been split among multiple military bases and are in training. Cho told lawmakers that NIS believes they have yet to be deployed in battle, according to Park.
Speaking jointly with Park about the NIS briefing, lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun said that the NIS found that the Russian military is now teaching those North Korean soldiers how to use military equipment such as drones.
Lee cited the NIS chief as saying Russian instructors have high opinions of the morale and physical strength of the North Korean soldiers but think they will eventually suffer a heavy causalities because they lack an understanding of modern warfare. Lee, citing Cho, said Russia is recruiting a large number of interpreters.
Lee said NIS has detected signs that North Korea is relocating family members of soldiers chosen to be sent to Russia to special sites to isolate them.
The NIS chief told lawmakers that North Korea hasn’t disclosed its troop dispatch to its own people. But there are rumors that the news is spreading to local residents, including those whose loved ones have been assigned Russian tours, Lee said, citing the NIS.
Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate head, Kyrylo Budanov, told the online military news outlet The War Zone that North Korean troops will arrive to Russia’s Kursk region today to help Russian troops fighting off a Ukrainian incursion.
North Korea and Russia, embroiled in separate confrontations with the West, have been sharply boosting their cooperation in the past two years. In June, they signed a major defense deal requiring both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.
The NIS said last week that North Korea had sent more than 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other conventional arms to Russia since August 2023 to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.
Reports that the North is sending troops to Russia stoked security jitters in South Korea. South Korean officials worry that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated weapons technologies that could boost the North’s nuclear and missile programs that target South Korea.
South Korea said Tuesday it would consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to the North’s reported troop dispatch. South Korea has shipped humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine, but it has so far avoided directly supplying arms to Ukraine in line with its policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts.
North Korea has 1.2 million troops, one of the largest standing armies in the world, but it hasn’t fought in large-scale conflicts since the 1950-53 Korean War. Many experts question how much North Korean troops would help Russia, citing a shortage of battle experience. They say North Korea wants to get Russian economic support and its help to modernize the North’s outdated conventional weapons systems as well as its high-tech weapons technology transfers.
US Defense Secretary Austin confirms North Korea has sent troops to Russia
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US Defense Secretary Austin confirms North Korea has sent troops to Russia
- The latest deployment brings the number of Pyongyang’s troops in Russia to 3,000, lawmaker Park Sun-won said
- Seoul’s spy agency last week said Pyongyang had decided to send a ‘large-scale’ troop deployment to Russia
No indications employees from defense secretary’s office are being investigated for Israel leak, Pentagon chief says
- Social media posts, without evidence, have singled out a US Defense Department employee as being under investigation for the leak
ROME: There are no indications any employees from the Office of the Secretary of Defense are being investigated for the leak of US intelligence about Israel’s preparations to strike Iran, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday.
“There’s no OSD official being named as a part of this investigation,” Austin said while speaking to reporters in Rome.
The FBI said on Tuesday it was investigating the public disclosure of a pair of highly classified documents describing Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran.
Austin added that he did not have any indication that “any OSD official will be implicated as a part of this.”
Social media posts, without evidence, have singled out a US Defense Department employee as being under investigation for the leak.
The leaked documents appear to have been prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, describing US interpretations of Israeli Air Force and Navy planning based on satellite imagery from Oct. 15-16. They began circulating last week on the Telegram messaging app.
Israel has been planning a response to a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on Oct. 1, Tehran’s second direct attack on Israel in six months. Israel has intensified its offensive in Gaza and Lebanon, days after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
White House spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that it has not been determined whether the disclosure was a hack or an intentional leak by a US person with access to the sensitive intelligence.
Thousands rally in Mozambique ahead of election results
- Opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane has called for 25 days of protests over the killing of his attorney
- The government of Mozambique has called for calm as the country awaits official election results
MAPUTO: Thousands of people gathered Wednesday outside Mozambique’s capital to bury the murdered lawyer of an opposition candidate, as tensions grew ahead of the imminent release of election results.
Venancio Mondlane has called for 25 days of protests over the killing of his attorney as results from the October 9 ballot likely on Thursday were expected to show the ruling Frelimo party winning.
Mondlane warned the results would be “false” and said his lawyer Elvino Dias was killed by the security forces alongside another ally, Paulo Guambe, as they were preparing a case to contest the vote.
Before Dias’ burial at Michafutene cemetery outside Maputo, large crowds were seen assembling at a church, according to an AFP reporter present.
In a message on Facebook, Mondlane, who accused security forces of ambushing the duo in the early hours of Saturday and shooting at them 25 times, said he would unleash “25 days of terror” in reprisal.
Police said it had launched an investigation into the killings, while Frelimo party which has been in power for 49 years “vehemently” condemned the “macabre act.”
The government of Mozambique has called for calm as the country awaits official results.
Mondlane was among a group of protesters tear gassed by police on Monday after he had called for a general strike to protest against Dias’ murder as well as perceived electoral fraud.
Election observers from the EU have also raised concern about the legitimacy of the polls, noting “irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of election results at polling station and district level.”
Initial indications of a low turnout in the coastal country of some 33 million people could further erode the vote’s credibility.
President Filipe Nyusi, 65, is stepping down after his two terms allowed by the constitution but his party’s candidate, 47-year-old Daniel Chapo, was widely expected to win.
Other presidential candidates included Ossufo Momade, 63, of the Renamo party, and Lutero Simango, 64, of the Mozambique Democratic Movement.
While Renamo has traditionally been the main opposition group, the emergence of Mondlane and the Podemos party was a new development in this election.
“Mondlane and Podemos have leveraged social media to connect with Mozambique’s large youth population who are seeking a change to the status quo,” said Emilia Columbo of the DC based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Riots rock Lisbon after police shoot dead black man
- Young rioters from poorer neighborhoods sparked unrest, Portuguese media say, in a rare spike in violence in the southern European country
- The violence erupted after police shot dead Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old man from Cape Verde, overnight Sunday to Monday
LISBON: Portuguese authorities on Wednesday said they had arrested three people after a second night of violence in Lisbon unleashed by police shooting dead a black man.
Young rioters from poorer neighborhoods sparked unrest, Portuguese media said, in a rare spike in violence in the southern European country.
Police reported three arrests and around 60 incidents in and around Lisbon, with two officers injured by stones and two other people stabbed without serious wounds.
Two police vehicles were damaged while two buses and nine other vehicles were burned, the force added in a statement.
The violence erupted after police shot dead Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old man from Cape Verde, overnight Sunday to Monday.
Police said he tried to flee and attacked their officers with a bladed weapon. Anti-racism organization SOS Racisme questioned the official version of events, connecting the death with other cases of “police brutality.”
Senior Hamas official arrives in Russia, RIA reports
MOSCOW: A senior member of Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that controls Gaza, Mousa Abu Marzouk has arrived in Moscow on a planned visit, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing a diplomatic source.
Hamas politburo member, Abu Marzouk, intends to hold a series of meetings with Russian officials, RIA said without providing any further details.
Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
Moscow has repeatedly blamed the current crisis in the Middle East on the failure of US diplomacy, and called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the resumption of talks aimed at finding a peace settlement.
Putin touts ‘multipolar world order’ at flagship BRICS summit
- Around 20 leaders, including from China, India, Turkiye and Iran, are gathering in the central city of Kazan
- Moscow sees the platform as an alternative to Western-led international organizations like the G7
KAZAN, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday touted the creation of a new “multipolar world order” at the BRICS summit, a gathering of world leaders he hopes will show that Western attempts to isolate Moscow over its Ukraine offensive have failed.
The meeting in the city of Kazan is the largest diplomatic forum in Russia since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022, triggering a barrage of Western sanctions and international condemnation.
Around 20 leaders, including from China, India, Turkiye and Iran, are gathering in the central city of Kazan, where they will address topics such as developing a BRICS-led international payment system and the conflict in the Middle East.
Moscow sees the platform as an alternative to Western-led international organizations like the G7 — a position supported by key ally Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The process of forming a multipolar world order is underway, a dynamic and irreversible process,” Putin said at the official opening of the summit.
The BRICS organization was “strengthening its authority in international affairs,” Putin said, as he called on its members to consider how they could address the most pressing issues on the global agenda, including “acute regional conflicts.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Russia on Wednesday to attend the summit, his first visit to the country for more than two years, which has drawn scorn from Ukraine.
Putin hailed Moscow’s close ties and “strategic partnerships” with its partners during talks on Tuesday with leaders including Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Xi, meanwhile, praised China’s “profound” ties with Russia in what he called a “chaotic” world.
Russia and China’s relations have “injected strong impetus into the development, revitalization and modernization of the two countries,” Xi said.
Putin said he saw relations between Beijing and China as a foundation of global “stability.”
Heightened security
Security in Kazan is tight around the summit, AFP journalists at the venue reported.
The surrounding Tatarstan region, around 1,000 kilometers from the Ukraine border, has previously been hit in drone attacks launched by Kyiv.
But Moscow is intent on not letting the conflict overshadow the summit, and is laying out a warm welcome for the arriving leaders.
Women wearing traditional Tatar costumes greeted the arriving delegations, who were offered sweet Tatar pastries made from flour and honey.
Starting in 2009 with four members — Brazil, Russia, India and China — BRICS has since expanded to include other emerging nations such as South Africa, Egypt and Iran.
Underpinning his vision of the group as a challenge to the West, Putin will hold separate talks with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday.
He will also meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkiye, a NATO member, is casting itself as a possible mediator between Russia and Ukraine and strives for warm relations with Moscow.
Guterres will hold talks with Putin on Thursday, where the pair will discuss the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin said.
Kyiv has railed against UN chief Guterres’ trip.
“The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine’s invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin,” its foreign ministry said in a post on X.
The UN chief’s spokesperson said the trip was part of his regular attendance at “organizations with large numbers of important member states” and said it offered a chance to “reaffirm his well known positions” on the Ukraine conflict “and the conditions for just peace.”
Modi calls for end to Ukraine war
Modi, who is also casting himself as a possible peacemaker, called for a quick end to the conflict during talks with Putin on Tuesday.
“We have been in constant touch over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Modi told Putin after the two shook hands and embraced.
“We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We totally support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability,” the Indian leader added.
India has walked a tightrope since the Ukraine conflict began, pledging humanitarian support for Kyiv while avoiding explicit condemnation of Moscow’s actions.
Moscow has been steadily advancing on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine this year as it strengthens ties with the likes of China, Iran and North Korea.
