 "Biden to announce additional military assistance to Ukraine")
The Biden administration will announce new military aid for Ukraine in the coming days, including essential air defence systems as North Korean forces face significant casualties in their first major deployment to the European conflict.
John Kirby, the U.S. national security communications adviser confirmed on Friday that North Korean troops had endured over 1,000 casualties in the past week alone, primarily from unsuccessful “human wave” assaults near the Kursk border region.
Kirby also noted that there have been reports of North Korean soldiers choosing to take their own lives rather than surrender.
“These human wave tactics that we’re seeing haven’t really been all that effective,” Kirby was quoted as saying by the Guardian. “Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defences.”
The promised US security assistance package is expected to be announced “in the next couple of days”, Kirby said, though it is unclear when that will be and how much it will include.
Biden had on Wednesday said he had asked the Defense Department to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, after condemning Russia’s Christmas Day attack on Ukraine’s energy system and some of its cities.
Why it’s important
Russia attacked Ukraine on Wednesday with cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones, Ukraine said. The strikes wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governors there said.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNearly three years into the war, Washington has committed $175 billion in aid for Ukraine, but it is uncertain if the aid will continue at that pace under Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who replaces Biden on Jan. 20. Trump has said he wants to bring the war to a swift end.
With inputs from agencies.
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