The next important target for the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine is the industrial city of Pokrovsk. Serhii Dobrzak, head of the city’s administration, said the enemy was now just seven kilometers from the city in the Donetsk region, which had about 50,000 residents before the war. At the moment, about 12,000 people, including children, are still staying in Pokrovsk, even though 80 percent of the infrastructure has already been destroyed.

The Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev said Wednesday that 28 Russian airstrikes were carried out on the Pokrovsk sector of the frontline. 134 battles were fought on the entire long front in the east and south.

The city of Selydove fell before Pokrovsk

Pokrovsk has been on fire for a long time. City boss Dobrzak said access to the threatened city has not yet been completely closed. But individual streets will be cordoned off to build defenses. The Ukrainians recently lost the town of Chelytov near Pokrovsk. This meant that attacks on Pokrovsk could also come from the south.

According to Ukrainian information, Russian troops are putting the same amount of pressure on the front line in the city of Kurakov. The army also reported that 28 attacks took place there. It still declared fighting around the suburb of Kurachivka. Ukrainian military blogs are already looking at Russian-controlled space.

For more than two and a half years, Ukraine has fended off a large-scale Russian invasion aimed at bringing the country back under Moscow’s control. In the south of Donetsk region, Ukrainian defenders have had to evacuate several towns over the past few days and weeks. Major General Dmytro Marchenko spoke of the front’s collapse.

‘Blare violation of UN Charter’: EU chief diplomat Borrell criticizes sending North Koreans

Meanwhile, Washington, New York and Brussels are debating how to deal with the Russian armed forces’ support of some 10,000 troops from North Korea. The US Department of Defense said it was “deeply concerned” about the potential use of these soldiers in the war against Ukraine. Some of the North Koreans sent to Russia have already been relocated closer to Ukraine. At the UN Security Council, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia justified military cooperation with North Korea. It is not against third parties.

The EU’s top diplomat, Joseph Borrell, called on North Korea to stop supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “The presence of several thousand soldiers working with the Russian military represents a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and several UN Security Council resolutions,” Borrell said in Brussels. This is a unilateral, hostile act by North Korea that has serious consequences for peace and security in Europe and around the world. Borrell announced an “appropriate response”. He will travel this week for consultations with Japan and South Korea.

Nobody Can Stop Working With North Korea: Putin

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Washington that he was deeply concerned that the Kremlin wanted to use the North Koreans to support its troops in the Kursk region on the Ukrainian border. “We see them wearing Russian uniforms and equipped with Russian equipment,” he said.

The Pentagon previously said the deployment of North Korean troops could also be a sign that “Putin may be in more trouble than people realize.” “That’s a sign of weakness,” Austin repeated. First, Russian President Vladimir Putin bought weapons and ammunition from other countries, now it’s about the people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not denied the presence of North Korean soldiers. He points out that Ukraine also relies on personnel from NATO countries. Moscow intends to further develop cooperation with North Korea in the future, and no one can stop us from doing so, said Nebenzja, the UN ambassador in New York.

Heavy attacks on Odessa and Kharkiv

Since Wednesday evening, Russia has again been attacking Ukraine from the air — with missiles, cruise missiles and combat drones. According to regional authorities, about ten rockets were fired in and around the port city of Odessa alone. An explosion was heard. But it was outside the city, said Mayor Hennadij Drukhanov. Ukraine’s grain exports pass through Odessa and its neighboring ports. That is why the coast is repeatedly attacked by Russia.

At least one person was killed and 29 injured when a Russian glide bomb struck a high-rise building in Kharkiv, the region’s governor, Oleh Sindzhehubov, announced on Telegram on Thursday night. The explosion caused a fire and largely destroyed the entrance area of ​​the high-rise building. The deceased was an eleven-year-old boy. The governor added that many more may be buried in the rubble.

Ukraine has asked the US for Tomahawk cruise missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed a New York Times report that he has asked the United States for Tomahawk cruise missiles to deter Russia in the future. That’s according to a secret appendix to his “success plan” he recently presented in Washington, he told reporters in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik. His plan included arming Ukraine to prevent Russia from invading.

Zelenskyj was disappointed and considered the leak a breach of trust. “How should one understand this message? So that means no confidential information between partners,” he noted. Tomahawks have a good 2,400 kilometers maximum range and can theoretically reach St. Petersburg, Moscow and major Russian cities like Yekaterinburg in the Urals from Ukrainian soil.

Zelensky said in his evening video message that Ukraine expects another meeting of its military-backed countries soon to be called the Ramstein Group. He did not give any details or date. A meeting at Ramstein, a US military base in Rhineland-Palatinate, was actually scheduled for mid-October as a summit with the US president. Joe Biden has canceled due to the hurricane in the US. He then made his visit to Germany, but not the Ramstein meeting. (APA/dpa)