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North Korean Troops Deserting Ukraine Frontline Days After Arrival: Report. Some 18 North Korean soldiers are believed to have deserted the Russian frontline, with Kremlin fighters reportedly searching for them 
https://www.newsweek.com/north-korean-tr...rt-1969726

The troops were deployed in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk oblasts, about 4-miles from border of Ukraine, when they deserted, public broadcasting company said, officials cited broadcaster said the Russian military is searching for 16 North Korean soldiers, while commanders are trying to conceal the desertion from their higher-ups.

Reports Moscow was planning to assemble a battalion of troops sent over by Kim Jong Un to help push Ukraine's forces out of Kursk involved in combat missions in Southwestern regions, where Russia is still battling Ukraine's incursion. North Korean soldiers were set to form a "special Buryat battalion," named after the Mongolic ethnic group indigenous to region spanning Siberia & northern Mongolia and China, sources quoted said.
Pyongyang & Moscow have been developing their relationship for some time now, pledging earlier year to provide aid to one another if attacked.
https://www.newsweek.com/north-korean-tr...rt-1969726

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Trump cintinus to blames Zelensky for Russian invasion; US sanctions China making war drones for Russia; Spec ops officer killed at home in Moscow; Forces trade gains in Kursk and Donetsk

A Secret World of Long-Range ‘Lyutyi’ Drone 

Strikes on Russia,  U.S. journalists recorded launch of long-range drones “Lyutyi” by a Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) unit for attacks on Russian territory. Long-range AN-196 Lyutyi drones info from HUR specialists, the op was wagons loaded w/Iranian missiles located @depot near village of Kotluban, distance to the target from the launch site was in excess of 600 kilometers (375 miles).
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/40691

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Russian sources reported on 16 October that unspecified actors killed the deputy commander of Russia's Special Operations Forces (SSO) Training Centre, Nikita Klenkov, near the city of Moscow. While the EU issued a statement on 16 Oct condemning Russian executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), noted that at least 177 Ukrainian POWs have died in Russian captivity since February 2022. Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk & Pokrovsk. Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Chasiv Yar, Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

Meanwhile, Russian troops have advanced to the western side of the Ukrainian salient in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Geolocation footage from 17 Oct shows Russian troops progressing south of Zelenyy Shlyakh, southeast of Korenevo.

ISW also reports Russian advances within and southeast of the settlements of Chasiv Yar and Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast. To quote the ISW’s Key Takeaways on 17 October:
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/10/18/7480212/

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Ukraine war latest: 11,000 North Korean troops will be 'ready to fight' in Ukraine by Nov. 1, Budanov says. North Korean soldiers march during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 9.
https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-37/