North Korean troops have joined Russian marines and airborne units in a number of battles in Ukraine, according to reports. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has approved provision of anti-personnel land mines to slow Russian advances. Listen to the latest Daily podcast as you scroll.
Wednesday 20 November 2024 07:53, UK
As we’ve been reporting this morning, the US has temporarily closed its embassy in Kyiv following intelligence about a “significant air attack”.
The British government has now said it is examining the security situation for its diplomats in Kyiv “incredibly closely”.
Science Secretary Peter Kyle told Times Radio: “I’m not going to share details at the moment of operational matters that are on the ground in Kyiv.
“What you will what you can reassure you is that we are looking at the situation incredibly closely.
“We have very good relationships with the government in Kyiv and with the United States. We will do everything we can to keep British citizens safe.”
He added that the war “could be brought to an end instantly, if Vladimir Putin himself decided to de-escalate, rather than continually escalate the circumstances around this conflict”.
Yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer vowed to continue support for Ukraine despite “irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric from Russia.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus has condemned Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire US-made missiles into Russia.
In a statement quoted by Russian news agency RIA, the General Staff said the move was “irresponsible”.
It also hit out at the US president’s decision to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel mines, saying this is “yet another violation of the balance of power in the world”.
Belarus is one of Russia’s strongest allies, having allowed Moscow to use its territory as a launchpad for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
We’ve just been hearing from our military analyst Sean Bell, who says it is no great surprise that Vladimir Putin has “hit a peak in anger”.
In a significant development overnight, the US said it was temporarily closing its Kyiv embassy due to a specific threat.
Bell says Putin likely decided to ramp up attacks on Kyiv after the US announced it would allow Ukraine to fire American-made long-range missiles into Russia.
The Ukrainian capital has a “fairly effective” air defence system and embassies are meant to be protected – but Bell says he suspects the Americans are “judging the Russians will not respect the sanctuary of embassies”.
This means there is an actual risk the embassy could be targeted in attacks on Kyiv, he says, although he believes the move to close the embassy is “more out of prudence”.
A special hotline kept open to deflate crises between the US and Russia is not currently being used, the Kremlin has said.
Tensions have reached new highs after Russia yesterday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks.
This was seen as a response to the US giving the go-ahead for its missiles to be used by Ukraine to strike deep into Russia.
Ukraine began using the weapons on Russian territory yesterday, firing six ATACMS missiles.
The hotline between the US and Russia was established in 1963 to reduce the misperceptions that stoked the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 by allowing direct communication between Washington and Moscow.
“We have a special secure line for communication between the two presidents, Russia and the United States. Moreover, even for video communication,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told TASS state news agency.
But when asked whether this channel is currently in use, he said: “No.”
Russian diplomats have said the crisis is now comparable to the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the two Cold War superpowers came closest to intentional nuclear war.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Ukraine war – we’ve been bringing you some significant updates overnight.
Days after announcing the US will allow its weapons to be fired into Russia, President Joe Biden has now approved the provision of anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine.
A US official told Reuters news agency that the Biden administration expects Ukraine to use the mines on its own territory – although it has committed not to use them in areas populated with its own civilians.
The anti-personnel mines will be used to target advancing Russian ground troops.
Hours after that announcement, the US said it would temporarily close its embassy in Kyiv after receiving “specific information of a potential significant air attack” today.
Embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place, it said.
Here are some more significant developments…
The US is temporarily closing its embassy in Kyiv after receiving what it says is “specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20”.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Embassy will be closed, and Embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place,” the US Department of State Consular Affairs said in a post on X.
“The US Embassy recommends US citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”
The news comes just days after the Biden administration announced it would allow US-made weapons to be fired into Russia.
Moscow said yesterday that Ukraine had hit Russia with six long-range ATACMS missiles supplied by the US.
Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 44 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 20 over the northwestern Novgorod region, Russia’s defence ministry said.
The other 24 drones were destroyed over several regions in Russia’s central and western part, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
The ministry did not specify whether there was any damage as a result of the attack.
The US has provided Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the conflict, but the addition of anti-personnel mines is aimed at blunting Russian troop advances.
The main difference between US and Russian mines is that the American ones are “non-persistent”.
In other words, they become ineffective after a set period of time, whereas the Russian mines can remain deadly for years.
US anti-personnel mines require a battery to detonate and will not explode once the battery has run out.
A US official told Reuters news agency that Washington expects Ukraine to deploy the mines only on its own territory and has committed to not using them in areas occupied by its own civilians.
Ukraine’s air defence units are trying to repel a Russian air attack on Kyiv early this morning, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital has said.
Witnesses told Reuters news agency they heard multiple blasts in what sounded like air defence units in operation.
Around 10,900 North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk as part of Russia’s airborne unit and marines, a South Korean official has said.
Citing the country’s spy agency, the official added that some had already taken part in battles in the Ukraine war.
He also claimed North Korea has shipped additional arms including howitzers and multiple rocket launchers.
The National Intelligence Service is still trying to determine the exact number of North Korean troop casualties and whether any had surrendered.
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