Russia said on Tuesday it had taken two eastern Ukrainian towns and open-source data indicated that Moscow’s forces were advancing at their fastest pace in at least a year, amid signs the conflict is drawing in new players such as North Korea.
Russia’s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the country’s forces had seized control of the town of Selydove, which had a population of 20,000 before the war, as well as the town of Hirnyk, which had a pre-war population of over 10,000.
Ukraine’s military did not comment directly on the Russian claims, but reported 31 combat clashes on the Pokrovsk front during the past 24 hours, including near Selydove. Open-source intelligence maps showed part of Selydove as being under Russian control.
According to the Russian media group Agentstvo, which analyzed Ukrainian open-source data, Russia made even bigger gains in the week of Oct. 20-27, taking 196.1 square kilometers (75.7 square miles) of Ukrainian territory – “the fastest weekly advance since at least the beginning of this year.”
The advance of Moscow’s forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia’s vast numerical superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from its Western allies.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the US will not impose new limits on Ukraine’s use of American weapons if North Korea joins Russia’s war, as NATO reported that North Korean military units had been deployed to the Kursk region. The Pentagon estimated that 10,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to Russia for training.
The 2-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine is entering what Russian analysts say is its most dangerous phase as Moscow’s forces advance, North Korea sends troops to Russia and the West ponders how the conflict will end.
