Updated September 17, 2023 at 8:38 a.m. EDT|Published September 17, 2023 at 1:52 a.m. EDT
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) and Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, commander of the Russian Navy (center left), take North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center right) on a tour of a Pacific Fleet frigate in Vladivostok, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended his trip to Russia on Sunday by boarding a specially equipped armored train accompanied by a military orchestra in the Far Eastern city of Artyom, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Kim’s visit has drawn attention in Washington and beyond to a possible arms deal between Moscow and Pyongyang, as Russia seeks artillery for its dwindling supplies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Washington this week, the Washington Post reported. He is expected to visit Capitol Hill on Thursday, where he will appeal for more help, supported by the Biden administration. It would be his second trip to the United States since the war began.
Here you will find the latest information about the war and its global impact.
In Russia, Kim inspected aviation equipment and missile systems in the city of Vladivostok, where he was received by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, state media agency Tass reported. Over the weekend, the leader of North Korea attended the ballet “Sleeping Beauty” on the Primorye stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Kim also visited an aquarium where he watched sea creatures perform, Russian media reported.
Kim received five kamikaze drones, a reconnaissance drone and a bulletproof vest from the governor of the Primorye region, which borders China and North Korea, Tass reported on Sunday as the North Korean leader headed home.
Two merchant ships approached Ukrainian ports on Saturday, the first civilian ships to sail through a temporary shipping corridor in the Black Sea after the collapse of a grain deal with Russia. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Palauan-flagged ships Resilient Africa and Aroyat were en route to Chornomorsk, where they would load nearly 20,000 tons of wheat for Africa and Asia.
Jewish pilgrims gathered in central Ukraine to observe Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, which began at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Sunday. According to regional governor Ihor Taburets, more than 35,000 pilgrims – mostly from the United States, Israel and Europe – have gathered in the city of Uman, which has historical significance for the Hasidic community. Ukrainian and Israeli police patrolled the area, which was under air raid alert on Sunday morning.
Zelensky’s apartment in occupied Crimea is among 100 properties on the peninsula that Russian authorities want to sell there, according to an announcement by Volodymyr Konstantinov, speaker of Crimea’s parliament, on Saturday. He wrote on Telegram that eight auctions had been completed and had generated about $8.8 million. The other sales will take place soon, he added. Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
There will be no quick end to the Russian war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told German media in an interview published on Sunday. “Most wars last longer than expected when they start,” he told the Funke media group. “There is no doubt that Ukraine will eventually join NATO,” he said, adding: “We all want a quick peace.”
Poland will ban cars registered in Russia from entering its borders from Sunday, announced Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski. Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have introduced similar restrictions. An update to European Commission guidelines called on member states to stop Russian citizens from bringing cars and other goods into the European Union to prevent sanctions evasion.
Defense companies from 21 countries will take part in the Defense Industrial Forum of Ukraine, Zelensky said in his evening speech on Saturday. The event, scheduled to take place this fall, will be the first of its kind in Ukraine, he said. “Our task is very clear: to provide Ukraine with all opportunities to produce weapons and ammunition and to provide modern technology to ensure reliable protection against any form of aggression,” Zelensky said. Ukraine’s foreign minister said earlier that top defense industry companies of France and the Czech Republic had been invited to the forum.
British officials are supporting the family of a Briton who reportedly died in Ukraine and are in contact with local authorities. a British Foreign Office spokesperson told The Post. According to BBC News, Daniel Burke, 36, a former British soldier, was reported missing by his family on August 16 after traveling to the Ukrainian front to fight against Russian forces. Burke’s family told the medium that Ukrainian authorities recently recovered the former paratrooper’s body in the Zaporizhia region.
The chairman of the U.S. chief of staff said he was skeptical that any munitions that North Korea could supply to Russia would be crucial to Moscow’s war against Ukraine. “Would it make a big difference? I’m skeptical,” Gen. Mark A. Milley said after Kim’s rare trip outside his country to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Russia. “I don’t want to downplay the impact too much, but … I doubt it will be decisive,” Milley told reporters traveling abroad with him.
Two Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defense forces over the Moscow region overnightsaid Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Sunday. The first drone was shot down in the Istria district, the second in the Ramensky district, he said. No casualties or damage were reported.
Russia launched drone and missile attacks on southern parts of Ukraine’s Odessa region, hitting an agricultural facility, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram on Sunday. Russia launched six Iranian-made Shahed drones and 10 cruise missiles, the air force said, noting that 12 projectiles were destroyed before reaching their targets.
Russian forces have “likely” strengthened their defenses around the occupied town of Tokmak in southern Ukraine. The British Ministry of Defense said Sunday. Moscow will likely set up additional checkpoints in the area, which is about 10 miles behind the current front line, the ministry said. The strengthening of the city’s defenses could be an indication of “Russia’s growing concerns about Ukraine’s tactical breakthroughs into the main first line of defense in the north,” the update said.
Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky under pressure in criminal proceedings: The war in Ukraine has severely limited the influence of the country’s oligarchs, but perhaps none more so than Ihor Kolomoisky, an oil, banking and media mogul once valued at $2 billion.
Kolomoisky is behind bars and faces legal problems, including allegations that he skimmed assets from Ukraine’s richest bank, which he once owned, David L. Stern reports in Kiev. Kolomoisky also owned a television station that aired the popular show “Servant of the People,” about an unlikely president played by Zelensky, the former actor-turned-wartime president who now leads the country’s campaign against alleged corruption among its oligarchs.