September 15, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian forces have retaken the village of Andriivka, south of the city of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military brigade fighting in the area said Friday. 

The brigade said fighting was ongoing and units "continue to consolidate their positions."

"Taking and holding Andriivka is our way to a breakthrough on the right flank of Bakhmut and the key to the success of the entire offensive," it added.

The Ukrainian and Russian sides have said that some of the most intense battles in the Bakhmut direction are happening south of the embattled city in the Andriivka area, as both sides strive to mark tangible progress. 

The liberation of the village of Andriivka marks a symbolic and strategic victory for the Ukrainian forces, and comes after Wagner fighters left the Bakhmut area. 

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on its Facebook page Friday, "During the assault operations, they captured Andriivka, Donetsk region, inflicting significant losses on [enemy] manpower and equipment and entrenching themselves on the achieved lines."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russian state media TASS reported Friday afternoon local time.

The report did not give any details on how many hours Kim spent in Komsomolsk-on-Amur since his arrival early Friday morning local time or where he’s headed next.

While in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kim visited the country’s largest aviation manufacturing plant which builds and develops fighter jets, including the Su-35S, according to TASS.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a red-carpet welcome as a “top-ranking guest” upon his arrival at Russia’s eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday, according to state media.

Kim, who arrived by train, was received personally by the city’s mayor, Alexander Zhornik, and the Khabarovsk Region Governor Mikhail Degtyarev at the railway station.

Degtyarev and Zhornik then accompanied Kim to the Yuri Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant or KnAAZ – a part of the state-owned Sukhoi jet maker – United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

The plant is one of the two major aircraft building plants in the city which manufactures “advanced warplanes for the Russian Defense Ministry, including Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets.”

The tour of key sites in the Russian Far East region came after Putin said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which Kim appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued his days-long visit to Russia Friday, heading to an aircraft plant in the eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, according to Russian state media, after the two sides said military cooperation was a possibility. 

The facility is the country’s largest aviation manufacturing plant and builds and develops fighter jets, including the Su-35S, state media TASS reported. 

Kim is also expected to travel to the port city of Vladivostok where he will view the military capabilities of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, Russian President Vladimir Putin told state news agency Russia 1.

The tour of key sites in the Russian Far East region came after Putin said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which Kim appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Wednesday’s five-hour meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome signaled closer relations between the two countries, both of which face international isolation – Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.

Asked if the two leaders discussed military and technical cooperation during the talks, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a “sensitive sphere of cooperation” and reiterated Moscow’s commitment to further developing ties with Pyongyang.

The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin had accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea and that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would also visit the country in October, according to Peskov.

Putin was asked if he discussed military-technical cooperation with Kim during the leaders’ meeting. In response, Putin acknowledged there were certain restrictions in place, saying Moscow fully complied with them. But he also said there were areas open for discussion and consideration, suggesting potential points of cooperation.

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Australia is “deeply concerned” about the meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin amid “speculation about arms purchases," the country’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told state broadcaster ABC in a radio interview Friday.

She added that Canberra “would join with the entire international community in urging [Putin] to observe the sanctions against North Korea that the entire international community has imposed.”

Wong is currently in Fiji to attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

The Russian defense ministry said its air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Crimea early Thursday morning. The Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland, was also closed to traffic Thursday but has since reopened.

Ukraine destroyed a Russian air defense system near the town of Yevpatoriya in annexed Crimea Wednesday night, according to a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) source. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the destruction as a "triumph" in his nightly address Thursday. 

Ukraine also damaged two Russian warships in a strike on a Russian ship repair base in Sevastopol early Wednesday morning, in what was Kyiv’s most ambitious strike on the Sevastopol port since the war began.

The attacks are the latest to hit Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine is attempting to regain control of the area, using a strategy that focuses in part on attacking "occupation military objects," according to Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office.

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Ukraine's military claimed to have attacked two Russian patrol ships in the Black Sea on Thursday.

The military's Strategic Communications Directorate said in a Telegram post that the ships sustained “some damage.”

Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged that Ukraine attempted to attack a patrol ship and the fleet's missile hovercraft, but said the Ukrainian ships which attempted the attacks were destroyed.

This comes after Ukraine launched a missile attack on Sevastopol shipyard in the early hours of Wednesday that left two Russian ships damaged. 

Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, told Ukrainian media on Wednesday that the Ukrainian strikes on the Russian fleet are a part of the “demilitarization of the occupied Ukrainian territories” that is currently underway.

US President Joe Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week around the UN General Assembly meetings, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans.

It remained unclear whether the meeting would occur in New York or later in the week at the White House. One source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC, after his stop in New York.

Biden and Zelensky are both scheduled to address the assembly on Tuesday.

Zelensky is planning to use an in-person appearance at the annual meeting to appeal for more support for Ukraine as it continues to wage a counteroffensive against Russia. Aside from an address to the assembly, he plans several meetings with other world leaders in New York, according to people familiar with the plans.

Among his objectives will be trying to persuade nations that haven’t taken a firm stance against the war to be more forceful in their condemnation of Russia.

Among his meetings will be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government announced Thursday.

Past Biden-Zelensky meetings: Biden last met Zelensky on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania in July. Before that, the men sat for talks in May at the G7 summit in Japan. Despite support from the United States for an appearance at last week’s G20 summit in India, Zelensky wasn’t extended an invitation by the hosts. 

He last traveled to the United States in December, his first time leaving Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February of 2022.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week as part of a trip aimed in part at aligning the US and Ukraine ahead of the diplomatic gathering. The top US diplomat told the Ukrainian president that the US is "determined to continue to walk side-by-side” with Ukraine.

The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea, and Japan jointly issued a stern warning regarding potential violations of international sanctions by North Korea and Russia, according to a statement released by South Korea’s presidential office. 

They convened to discuss the recent North Korea-Russia summit and the regional security landscape during a phone call Thursday evening local time, the statement said. 

The advisers emphasized that both North Korea and Russia are obligated to adhere to the UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions, particularly those pertaining to arms trade and military cooperation. They underscored that there would be "clear consequences" if either country were to breach these obligations.

Additionally, the security chiefs highlighted Russia's greater responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council to comply with its resolutions, the statement said. 

All three countries expressed grave concerns over the discussions between President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, which included topics related to military cooperation, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, despite repeated warnings from the international community, according to the statement.

The advisers also reached a consensus on the need for enhanced solidarity among their respective countries to monitor arms trade and military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, develop countermeasures, and strengthen international cooperation in this regard, the statement concluded. 

Putin met his North Korean counterpart Wednesday in Russia's Far East, but it is unclear if they struck an agreement.