Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on the red carpet at Pyongyang International Airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea, November 29, 2024

Thursday’s Coverage Russia’s Mass Missile Attack as Putin Threatens Kyiv

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1423 GMT:

Ukrainian officials say Russia has returned more than 500 bodies of soldiers killed in combat.

“As a result of repatriation activities, the bodies of 502 fallen defenders were returned to territory controlled by the government of Ukraine,” Kyiv’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War posted.

The Headquarters said 397 of the bodies were returned from the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, 24 from the neighboring Luhansk region, 64 from the Zaporizhzhia region in the south, and 17 from morgues on Russian territory.

It thanked the Red Cross for assistance.

UPDATE 1202 GMT:

Ukraine’s military says it struck the Atlas oil depot in the Rostov region in southwest Russia overnight.

Rostov’s Acting Governor Yuriy Slyusar confirmed a fire at the facility without giving the cause.

“Atlas is part of the Russian military-industrial complex that supplies petroleum products to the Russian army,” posted the Ukrainian military.

UPDATE 1158 GMT:

At least one civilian has been killed and at least 22 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

The fatality was in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, where 15 settlements were targeted. Nine people were wounded.

Seven people were injured in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine. Other casualties were in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Sumy regions.

UPDATE 1131 GMT:

A Russian court has imposed a second prison sentence on Alexei Gorinov, 63, the first person convicted for criticizing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Gorinov was given a three-year term. He is already serving a seven-year sentence after a conviction in 2022.

He wore a paper badge with a peace sign drawn on it as a court condemned him for “justifying terrorism”.

UPDATE 1116 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Zelensky thanked Scholz for German air defense systems “which have already saved thousands of lives”. The two men discussed “decisive joint steps” for defense, increase of pressure on Russia, and strengthening of Ukraine’s positions on frontlines.

The President implicitly chided Scholz for his call with Vladimir Putin two weeks ago: “It is clear that only the combined strength of arms and diplomacy can compel the one who is responsible for this war to end it. True peace can only be achieved through strength.”

Scholz posted:

UPDATE 1112 GMT:

Air defenses downed 88 of 132 Iran-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight. Another 41 were lost to electronic counter-measures and one returned to Russia.

Officials said at least eight people were injured and residential buildings damaged in Kyiv and in Odesa region by falling debris.

UPDATE 1106 GMT:

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on Vladimir Putin’s threat to strike “decision-making centers” in Kyiv with Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Putin is the only one responsible for this war and the only one who believes in it. His current escalation is nothing more than a strategy to exert pressure, aiming to force the US President to accept Russia’s terms later.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: As North Korea props up Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with troops and munitions, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is in Pyongyang.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not say whom Belousov is meeting or the topics of the discussions. Its photos showed Belousov arriving at Pyongyang International irport, walking alongside North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol. North Korean military officials applauded under a banner: “Complete support and solidarity with the fighting Russian army and people.”

Belousov proclaimed, “Friendly ties between Russia and North Korea are actively expanding in all areas, including military cooperation.”

North Korea has provided missiles and millions of artillery shells to Moscow. This autumn, Pyongyang deployed around 11,000 troops in the Kursk region in western Russia, part of which has been controlled by Ukraine since August 6.

Last month, Ukraine killed at least six North Korean personnel as they visiting a Russian military position in eastern Ukraine. On November 20, in its first use of a UK-made Storm Shadow inside Russia, Kyiv hit a command headquarters in the Kursk region, reportedly killing North Korean troops and injuring a general.