The U.S. says Russia launched North Korean missiles at Ukraine last week. “On the 30th of December 2023, Russian forces launched at least one of these North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine,” John Kirby of the National Security Council told reporters Thursday. The missile “appears to have landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region,” he said. The missiles can travel about 550 miles.
Russia launched more North Korean missiles on Tuesday “as part of its overnight aerial attack,” said Kirby. That attack was among the largest of the war so far, and also featured 10 of Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles. “We’re still assessing the impacts of these additional [North Korean] missiles,” Kirby said Thursday.
The White House promised additional sanctions on officials involved in the missile transfer. Kirby also said the U.S. would raise the issue at the United Nations since, if confirmed, the action “directly violates multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Kirby said.
“But here’s the bottom line,” said Kirby. “The most effective response to Russia’s horrific violence against the Ukrainian people is to continue to provide Ukraine with vital air defense capabilities and other types of military equipment. To do that, we need Congress to approve our supplemental funding request for Ukraine without delay.”
New in Russia: Anyone who fights for Moscow inside Ukraine can now obtain Russian citizenship, Reuters reported Thursday. To be eligible, applicants must have signed up to fight against Ukraine for at least a year. Read more, here.
What Ukraine’s troops need if they want to take back more land in 2024 than they did in 2023: They’re going to need to start training at a larger scale, incorporating numerous different elements in a coordinated effort. That’s according to European military analyst Jack Watling of the UK’s Royal United Services Institute. Watling has visited Ukraine’s front lines several times, and has most recently explained his assessment in the pages of Foreign Affairs. Watling and/or the editors titled his piece, “The War in Ukraine is Not a Stalemate,” though he argues the war could become one if Ukraine does not adapt its training efforts.
An excerpt: “During the 2023 offensive, Ukrainian operations were largely fought by pairs of companies under the close management of an understaffed brigade command post. The result was that while Ukrainian soldiers often succeeded in taking enemy positions, they were rarely able to exploit the breaches they made or to quickly reinforce their gains. Instead, they had to stop and plan, giving Russian forces time to reset. If the Ukrainian military cannot expand the scale at which it operates, this experience risks being repeated. Delivering the proper training, however, will need time.” Read on, here.
New: Germany just announced more weapons it has delivered to Ukraine, including one SKYNEX air defense system, more IRIS-T SLM missiles, two TRML-4D air surveillance radars, and a bridge-laying tank.
“The package also includes more Marders, artillery ammunition, drone detection systems, and a variety of other items,” Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy said on social media Thursday. “The advanced Skynex system and additional IRIS-T SLM missiles will strengthen our sky shield and save more lives,” he said, and added, “I am grateful to Germany for once again demonstrating its leadership in this area.”
Related reading: “A Hard-Won Victory That Ukraine Stands to Lose,” published Thursday in The Atlantic.
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