List of All Articles with Tag 'rl'

The North Korea-Russia border is seeing a sharp increase in rail traffic in likely signs of Kim Jong-un helping Russian president Vladimir Putin by supplying munitions, a US think-tank claimed, citing recent satellite photos. Satellite images from 5 October showed a “dramatic and unprecedented level of freight railcar traffic” at the Tumangang Rail Facility, according to Beyond Parallel, a website run by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Approximately 73 railcars were visible in the images from last week, whereas previous satellite pictures over the past five years showed about 20 railcars at this facility at the most. It was not immediately clear what the contents of the railway shipments were as the shipping crates were covered under tarpaulin. This was likely a follow-up action after the North Korean leader met with his Russian counterpart in Russia’s far east last month, according to Beyond Parallel. “Given that Kim and Putin discussed some military exchanges and cooperation at their recent summit, the dramatic increase in rail traffic likely indicates North Korea’s supply of arms and munitions to Russia,” it said on Friday. “However, the extensive use of tarps to cover the shipping crates/containers and equipment makes it impossible to conclusively identify what is seen at the Tumangang Rail Facility" on the border, it said. This comes at a time leaders and experts have warned against North Korea’s plan to assist Russia’s depleting munition reserves in its continuing invasion of Ukraine. As Mr Kim met Mr Putin in Russia and visited key military sites and discussed strategic cooperation on defence, leaders speculated that North Korea could aid Moscow. The North Korean leader could have sought sophisticated Russian weapons technologies to boost his nuclear programme in barter for the munition, foreign leaders said. Officials in the US and South Korea warned North and Russia of consequences if they went ahead with the speculated weapons transfer deal in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions that ban all weapons trade involving Pyongyang which is under heavy sanctions for its nuclear weapons programme. The White House has said Russia wants to buy "literally millions" of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea. The reports of North Korea aiding Russia in invading Ukraine emerged last year when the US said the hermit kingdom was sending ammunition, artillery shells and rockets to Russia, with many of them copies of Soviet-era munitions. Officials in South Korea said the weapons provided by the North have already been used in Ukraine. “While access to such stocks of North may help Russia prolong the conflict, it is unlikely going to change the outcome,” according to Joseph Dempsey, a defence researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “The size of these stores and its degradation over time is less clear, as is the scale of ongoing production, but these stockpiles could help replenish those severely depleted in Ukraine,” he said. Read More North Korea vows strong response to Pentagon report that calls it a 'persistent' threat North Korea's Kim sets forth steps to boost Russia ties as US and Seoul warn about weapons deals North Korea says Kim Jong Un is back home from Russia, where he deepened 'comradely' ties with Putin North Korean state media says Kim Jong Un discussed arms cooperation with Russian defense minister North Korean arms for Russia probably wouldn't make a big difference in the Ukraine war, Milley says

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Ukrainian forces beat attacks on five points across the war frontline on Sunday as Russia’s troops resorted to using old weapons and equipment while shelling the frontline, military officials said in the latest update from the battlefield. At least two people were killed and a dozen more injured in Russia’s shelling of the southern Kherson region. The attacks were repelled in five areas of the eastern front – Kupiansk, Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka, and Marinka – along the 1,000km-long (600mile) front, the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its evening report. A total of 33 skirmishes were recorded during the day by Ukraine, the battlefield update added. Russian forces also mounted six air attacks and 20 strikes from multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), inflicting casualties among military personnel and the civilian population, the general staff said, calling the situation difficult. Russia has scaled up its presence in the eastern hotspot of the conflict and deployed its reserves north of Bakhmut to stop Ukraine’s advancing counteroffensive in Donetsk oblast, the spokesperson for the Eastern Group of Forces Illia Yevlash said on Saturday. He confirmed a total of 774 Russian strikes on the Kupiansk and Lyman direction which had seen intense fighting in the past week. The eastern and southern parts of Ukraine have seen the majority of Russia’s offensive in the continuing invasion since February and have now become the two key theatres of Kyiv’s counteroffensive. In southern Ukraine, troops have been repelling Russian forces in an inch-by-inch fight by capturing clusters of villages as they pushed toward the Sea of Azov to cut Vladimir Putin’s access to a land bridge created by Russian forces controlling the areas of south and east. Russian troops have now started using older weaponry – howitzers and cannons – in an evidence that Ukrainian forces had been successful in knocking out enemy equipment, spokesperson for troops in the south Oleksandr Shtupun told national television. "Sadly, the Russians have plenty of equipment," he said. Top military officials said Russia was continuing to mass its reserves. "Our troops are performing their assignments with the aim of proceeding with our advance,” general Oleksandr Syrskyi, head of Ukraine’s ground forces, said. He had met troops and commanders engaged in offensive operations near Bakhmut which was taken by Russian forces in May after months of battles. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin inflicts ‘terrible’ shelling as Kyiv warn of record drone attacks Days after deadly missile strike on Ukrainian cafe, grief and a search for answers ‘You can still smell the blood’: Inside the village where more than 50 were killed by a Russian missile Footage from inside Kharkiv apartment captures aftermath of deadly strike What are Russia’s Iskander missiles? The weapon which killed 52 following funeral near Kharkiv

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