Tag Archives: Troops

North Korean troops in Russia has South Korea on edge

N Korean troops in Russia

Important Takeaways:

  • South Korea’s foreign ministry called the Russian ambassador to the carpet Monday over North Korea’s alleged deployments of troops to join the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.
  • The use of North Korean troops in the Ukraine conflict is a violation of the U.N. charter and General Assembly resolutions and threatens South Korea’s security, the ministry said in a statement.
  • “We condemn North Korea’s illegal military cooperation, including its dispatch of troops to Russia, in the strongest terms,” Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun told Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev, the ministry said. “We will respond jointly with the international community by mobilizing all available means against acts that threaten our core security interests.”
  • South Korea’s intelligence service said on Friday that North Korea had shipped 1,500 special forces to train at Russian military bases in the Far East. The troops would likely be deployed to fight in Ukraine, the spy agency said.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also accused North Korea of sending 10,000 troops to Russia.
  • Zinoviev countered that Russian cooperation with North Korea was in line with international law, and was not directed against South Korea, according to a Facebook post from the Russian embassy.
  • Reports that Russia will deploy North Korean troops in its war with Ukraine are unconfirmed. The Kremlin earlier denied them.

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Biden orders 500 more active-duty troops to North Carolina bringing total to nearly 1,500

Susan Walsh, Associated Press President Biden Oct. 4, 2024.

Important Takeaways:

  • The White House said there are additionally more than 6,100 National Guard members and more than 7,000 federal personnel aiding in the effort.
  • “These Guardsmen have been spearheading the response effort across the impacted region in support of their governors and communities, providing critical life-saving and life-sustaining support to the victims of this historic natural disaster,” the Defense Department press release read.
  • The announcement, according to the White House and Defense Department, comes in response to requests from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for additional troops.
  • “The Department of Defense will continue to stay fully engaged with FEMA and the whole-of-government relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene, providing capabilities that best support needs on the ground,” the Defense Department press release said.
  • The Biden administration pointed to the $137 million in federal assistance that it has directed to help “survivors jumpstart their recoveries” and said there is “more to come.”
  • The administration touted its on-the-ground efforts and collaboration with local officials, noting that in the past several days, the Biden administration “has contacted nearly 450 state, city, and county officials in impacted states to ensure they have the support and resources they need.”
  • The administration is also encouraging local residents to apply for FEMA assistance, and it has set up a website to combat misinformation surrounding the federal government’s response efforts.

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North Korean troops being sent to Ukraine shortly after Putin met with Kim Jong Un

North-Korea-Troops

Important Takeaways:

  • World on the brink as North Korea sends ‘cannon fodder’ troops to Ukraine
  • The North Korean unit is expected to arrive in Ukraine as soon as next month, raising fears that Pyongyang is becoming an active combatant in the war.
  • Last week, Putin made an official state visit to North Korea, the first time in 24 years that he had travelled to the country.
  • The Russian leader and his host Kim Jong Un signed a defense pact on June 19 in Pyongyang, promising military assistance to one another.
  • Within days of signing the agreement, North Korea has announced it will be sending a unit of military engineers to join Russia’s army on the ground in the Donetsk region.
  • The country is already supplying Russia with ammunition and missiles and is reported to have shipped as many as 1.6 million artillery shells to Putin’s army.
  • A spokesman for the Pentagon said North Korean troops would be sent to their slaughter and questioned the wisdom of the deployment.
  • The military alliance between Putin and Kim states: “In case any one of the two sides is put in a state of war by an armed invasion from an individual state or several states, the other side shall provide military and other assistance with all means in its possession without delay.”

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Georgia Gov. sending troops to Texas stating crisis has intensified to the point “every state is a border state”

Kemp-sends-troops-to-Texas

Important Takeaways:

  • Georgia Governor sending troops to Texas because Biden won’t act: He could ‘fix this’
  • President Biden’s continued inaction against the deluge of illegal immigration at the Mexican border spurred Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to act, the Republican told Fox News after publicly pledging more than a dozen guardsmen to be deployed to Texas.
  • Kemp said the deployment will not happen, however, until a formal request is sent to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
  • Despite Mexico being 1,000 miles from the Chattahoochee River at Georgia’s westernmost boundary, Kemp said the crisis has intensified under Biden to the point “every state is a border state.”
  • Kemp told “Your World” Tuesday that Georgia guardsmen will set up a forward command post to assist the Texas National Guard’s efforts.

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Russian Pundits threaten the only way to get Washington’s attention is ‘Tens of Thousands’ of dead U.S. troops

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • Yevgeny Satanovsky, President of the Institute of the Middle East.
  • “First of all, our main enemy is certainly the United States. What does the U.S. react to? They react to two things: the threat of physical annihilation and the liquidation of a certain number of military personnel. What we know based on wars in Vietnam and Korea is that several tens of thousands of annihilated American servicemen will cause the public opinion in the U.S. to be severely strained. I will repeat: not several thousand, like in Afghanistan or Iraq, but a certain number of tens of thousands… We have absolutely nothing to lose.”
  • Head of RT Margarita Simonyan described the mood in the country:
  • “In every home, in every kitchen and living room, in every courtyard all conversations are only about what will happen next, how it will all end… I don’t see any possible course of events except for the following: first of all, they will not stop. I’m not talking about Ukraine or Zelensky [She is talking about the West]… They will keep raising the stakes to the point that it will cause us pain. Safety of the territory of the Russian Federation will be at issue, not just the newly added territories. I don’t doubt that they will do all that they can so that we have to be concerned about the safety of Moscow, or at least seriously thinking about it… This will certainly happen!”
  • Simonyan concluded: “This can only end with an immediate threat that is voiced and presented, a threat of a nuclear confrontation.”

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Ukraine withdraws troops out of a Luhansk province as Russia claims more territory

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • Russia claims control of pivotal eastern Ukrainian province
  • The General Staff of Ukraine’s military reported that its forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk in Luhansk province. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged the withdrawal but said the fight for the city was still raging on its outskirts.
  • If confirmed, Russia’s complete seizure of Luhansk would provide its troops with a stronger base from which to press their advance in the Donbas, a region of mines and factories that President Vladimir Putin is bent on capturing in a campaign that could determine the course of the entire war.

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Ukraine hit by cyberattack hours after talks wrapped up “no breakthrough”

Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘Be afraid’: Ukraine hit by cyberattack as Russia moves more troops
  • Kyiv says around 70 government sites hit by cyberattack
  • Ukraine was hit by a cyberattack splashing a warning across government websites to “be afraid and expect the worst,” while Russia, which has amassed 100,000 troops on its neighbor’s frontier, released pictures of more of its forces on the move.
  • “Drumbeat of war is sounding loud” says U.S. diplomat
  • Moscow says it could take military action unless demands met
  • NATO says it will sign cyber cooperation pact with Kyiv
  • The cyber-attack unfolded hours after talks wrapped up with no breakthrough between Russia and Western allies

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Putin gearing up for war

Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Important Takeaways:

  • Putin issues terrifying war warning – Russia ready to turn ‘everyone to radioactive ash’
  • America has been warning for weeks that Mr. Putin appears to be readying tens of thousands of troops, tanks and artillery pieces to invade Ukraine, but Mr. Putin has insisted it is merely a defense force – until now.
  • Putin has warned he is willing to take “military measures” in response to “unfriendly” Western action in Ukraine, in the clearest sign yet that the Russian strongman is gearing up for war.
  • Dmitry Kiselyov, a Russian media mogul, threatened to “put a gun to America’s head” if NATO forces are stationed in Ukraine and warned the alliance to back off “otherwise, everyone will be turned into radioactive ash.”

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Western troops in Kabul have to plan their own evacuation as deadline looms

(Reuters) – The United States and allies urged Afghans to leave Kabul airport on Thursday, citing the threat of an attack by Islamic State militants, as Western troops race to evacuate as many people as possible and get out themselves by Aug. 31.

The looming deadline has intensified pressure to complete the evacuations of tens of thousands of foreigners and Afghans who helped Western countries during the 20-year war against the Taliban.

Shots were fired by unknown gunmen at an Italian military plane as it flew out of Kabul on Thursday, an Italian defense source said. It was undamaged.

An Italian journalist on the flight told Sky 24 TG that the plane had been carrying almost 100 Afghan civilians when it came under fire minutes after take-off.

Canadian forces halted their evacuations of around 3,700 Canadian and Afghan citizens on Thursday, saying they had stayed as long as they could. U.S. and allied troops also have to plan the logistics of their own withdrawal.

“We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone,” acting chief of the defense staff General Wayne Eyre told reporters.

In an alert on Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul advised citizens to avoid travelling to the airport and said those already at the gates should leave immediately, citing unspecified “security threats”.

In another advisory, Britain told people to move away from the airport area. Its armed forces minister, James Heappey, said intelligence about a possible suicide bomb attack by IS militants had become “much firmer”.

“The threat is credible, it is imminent, it is lethal. We wouldn’t be saying this if we weren’t genuinely concerned about offering Islamic State a target that is just unimaginable,” Heappey told BBC radio.

A Western diplomat in Kabul said areas outside the airport gates were “incredibly crowded” again despite the warnings.

Australia also issued a warning for people to stay away from the airport while Belgium ended its evacuation operations because of the danger of an attack.

The Netherlands said it expected to carry out its last evacuation flight on Thursday. German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said this was the most dangerous phase of the evacuation process.

The warnings came against a chaotic backdrop in Kabul, where the massive airlift of foreign nationals and their families as well as some Afghans has been under way since the day before the Taliban captured the city on Aug. 15, capping a lightning advance across the country as U.S. and allied troops withdrew.

‘RISKING LIVES’

The Taliban, whose fighters are guarding the perimeter outside the airport, are enemies of the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), after an old name for the region.

“Our guards are also risking their lives at Kabul airport, they face a threat too from the Islamic State group,” said a Taliban official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fighters claiming allegiance to ISIS-K first began appearing in eastern Afghanistan at the end of 2014 but the ultra-radical Sunni movement soon expanded from the area near the border with Pakistan where it first appeared.

Daesh, as it is widely known in Afghanistan, established a reputation for extreme brutality as it fought the Taliban both for ideological reasons and for control of local smuggling and narcotics routes, according to Western intelligence services.

It also claimed a series of suicide attacks in cities like Kabul, where as well as government and civilian institutions, it particularly attacked targets associated with the Shi’ite religious minority.

In Kabul, Ahmedullah Rafiqzai, a civil aviation official at the airport, said people continued to crowd around the gates despite the attack warnings.

“People don’t want to move, it’s their determination to leave this country that they are not scared to even die,” he told Reuters.

A NATO country diplomat said threats from Islamic State could not be ignored.

“Western forces, under no circumstances, want to be in a position to launch an offensive or a defensive attack against anyone,” the diplomat added.

The U.S. military has said it would shift its focus to evacuating its troops in the final two days before the deadline..

President Joe Biden has ordered all troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the month to comply with a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban, despite European allies saying they needed more time.

Since the day before the Taliban swept into Kabul, the United States and its allies have mounted one of the biggest air evacuations in history, bringing out about 95,700 people, including 13,400 on Wednesday, the White House said on Thursday.

The U.S. military says planes are taking off the equivalent of every 39 minutes.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at least 4,500 American citizens and their families had been evacuated from Afghanistan since mid-August.

The Taliban have said foreign troops must be out by the end of the month. They have encouraged Afghans to stay, while saying those with permission to leave will still be allowed to do so once commercial flights resume.

The Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule was marked by public executions and the curtailment of basic freedoms. Women were barred from school or work. The group was overthrown two decades ago by U.S.-led forces for hosting the al Qaeda militants who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The Taliban have said they will respect human rights and will not allow terrorists to operate from the country.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Stephen Coates, Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Simon Cameron-Moore and Frances Kerry)

Ukraine says Russia will soon have over 120,000 troops on its borders

By Matthias Williams and Robin Emmott

KYIV/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Russia will soon have more than 120,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday, calling for new Western economic sanctions to deter Moscow from “further escalation.”

Washington and NATO have been alarmed by the large build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine and in Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Western officials say the concentration of forces is now larger than during that annexation. The figure given by Kuleba is higher than Ukraine’s previous estimate of 80,000 Russian troops, of which 50,000 were new deployments.

“Russian troops continue to arrive in close proximity to our borders in the northeast, in the east and in the south. In about a week, they are expected to reach a combined force of over 120,000 troops,” Kuleba told an online news conference.

“This does not mean they will stop building up their forces at that number,” Kuleba said, warning of what he said was Moscow’s unpredictability although he said Ukraine did not want conflict with Russia.

“The cost of preventing Russia’s further escalation will always be lower than the cost of stopping it and mitigating its consequences … It is way more effective to clearly make Moscow understand that a new stage of aggression will have dire consequences for Russia, international isolation and painful economic sanctions.”

Kuleba also called for Moscow to re-commit to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed forces have fought Ukrainian troops in a conflict that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people since 2014.

Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame for a rise in casualties in the conflict in recent weeks. Kuleba said Russian snipers were killing Ukrainian soldiers to provoke Ukraine to counterattack.

Russia has said its troop build-up is a three-week snap military drill to test combat readiness in response to what it calls threatening behavior from NATO. Moscow on Tuesday also accused the U.S. and NATO of “provocative activity” in the waters and airspace of the Black Sea.

Kuleba attended a video conference with EU foreign ministers and said he openly “called on colleagues to start considering a new round of sectoral sanctions against Russia”.

He said he did not feel EU ministers were ready for such a move but he told them that individual sanctions on Russian officials were insufficient.

(Editing by Alison Williams and Timothy Heritage)