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What did 28 October 2024 look like on the front?
Summary
A retrospective on the security picture in Ukraine as that date approached, from North Korean deployments to the fight for Selydove.
What was the security picture in Ukraine on 28 October 2024? The reports from the days just before it point to a war that was widening, with new foreign involvement, pressure on the eastern front and continued strikes on cities.
North Korean troops in the war
On 23 October 2024, the U.S. State Department reported that it had confirmed evidence of North Korean troops in Russia, preparing to travel to the battlefield in Ukraine. South Korea said Pyongyang had promised to send up to 10,000 troops to support the war effort.
By 25 October 2024, Ukraine reported that the first North Korean units had entered the active war zones in Russia's Kursk Oblast. They were reportedly under the command of Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov.
Pressure around Selydove
In the east, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed on 23 October 2024 that its forces had captured the villages of Mykolaivka and Serebrianka in Donetsk Oblast. DeepState, a Ukrainian military news page, reported heavy fighting around Selydove. DeepState is tied to DeepStateMap.Live, an open-source online map of military operations that was created on 24 February 2022 and is updated regularly to reflect the frontline.
On 24 October 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russian forces had made significant advances in Selydove, which it described as a strategic city. It predicted the city could be captured within a few days.
Strikes on cities
Civilians were also under fire. On 25 October 2024, a Russian drone struck a residential building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi District, killing one person and injuring five. The same day, a Russian missile attack on a residential area of Dnipro killed five people and injured 21.
Money and diplomacy
On 23 October 2024, the U.S. Defense Department finalised a US$20 billion loan to Ukraine for military and economic support. It was part of a collective US$50 billion loan among G7 members.
The same day, on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping. It was the first bilateral meeting between India and China in five years, following the 2020 border skirmishes between their troops.
Taken together, the reports from the days before 28 October 2024 describe a conflict with an expanding set of participants, a contested eastern front and continuing attacks on residential areas in Ukrainian cities.
