Zelensky expects Putin to deploy North Korean troops on the frontline within days

Russian attacks on eastern Ukraine killed at least six people and wounded 10 on Thursday, regional authorities said.

A thermobaric ammunition attack on the town of Kupiansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region wounded 10 people, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. A woman who was admitted to hospital in a serious condition after the attack later died, he said.

“The enemy struck near a shop and the town market,” Mr Syniehubov said in an initial statement.

He later added that a two-storey retail building had been damaged, along with a dozen kiosks and windows of nearby homes. Russia occupied Kupiansk in the early days of its 2022 invasion but was pushed out by a lightning Ukrainian counter-offensive in September that year.

In recent months, Moscow’s forces have been advancing slowly back towards the town and are now less than 4km (2.5 miles) from its northern outskirts, according to open-source maps.

Russian shelling later in the day killed three people around the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

Mr Filashkin said later on Facebook that a Russian strike on a branch of the Nova Poshta delivery service killed two people in Oleksiyevo-Druzhkiva, near the frontline towns of Chasiv Yar and Kostyantynivka.

Russian troops have been stepping up their advance towards Pokrovsk in recent months, moving as close as 8km from its outskirts.

The Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief has refuted reports that Ukrainian troops are being surrounded in Russia’s Kursk region.

Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram, according to Ukrainska Pravda: “This is blatant disinformation that does not reflect the real situation. Ukrainian forces continue active operations on the Kursk front, for the third consecutive month, depleting the enemy’s combat potential.

“Despite intense pressure from the enemy in this direction, the occupiers are sustaining significant losses in personnel and military equipment.”

Since August 8, Russian forces on the Kursk front have lost more than 17,000 killed, with 6,662 killed, 10,446 wounded and 711 captured, Syrskyi said.

Russian troops are advancing towards the town of Selydove in the eastern Donetsk region, a UK Defence Intelligence report has found.

The town is en route to the vital Ukrainian logistics hub of Pokrovsk, on a frontline which Putin’s forces are focussing much of their manpower.

Russian forces “almost certainly” advanced towards Selydove, the military report found.

“The town remains contested, with fighting likely continuing to take place within the town centre,” it added, according to European Pravda.

Since the beginning of October, Russia’s advance towards Pokrovsk has slowed significantly, the military added.

The Ukrainian military could be defending attacks by North Korean troops as soon as Sunday or Monday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukrainian intelligence had determined that the North Korean military was ready to be deployed by Putin’s forces within days, Zelensky said, in what he described as an “obvious escalating move by Russia”.

He did not provide any details on where the troops might be deployed.

It comes after Russian president Vladimir Putin was asked about satellite photos of North Korean troops in Russia during the Brics summit. “Images are a serious thing, if there are images, then they reflect something,” he said.

The US said on Wednesday that Russia is training 3,000 North Korean troops to fight on Ukrainian soil.

The Kremlin has denied a Wall Street Journal report about regular contacts between Elon Musk and President Vladimir Putin.

“No, this is not true,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said that Putin had one contact with Musk – the world’s richest man – and it was before 2022.

The Journal said Musk had been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022. Peskov said the report was absolutely false.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Russia plans to deploy North Korean troops to the battlefield starting 27 – 28 October, citing intelligence reports.

“According to intelligence reports, on October 27-28, the first North Korean military will be used by Russia in combat zones”, he said on the Telegram messenger after receiving reports from his top commander.

Mr Zelensky called on allies to respond to this “escalatory move” by applying “tangible pressure” on Moscow and Pyongyang.