‘It depends on our partners’

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his plea for the use of long-range weapons in Russia.

• Zelensky said that with such permission, Ukraine could “preemptively” attack North Korean forces there.

• “Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean army to start attacking the Ukrainians,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West to lift the restrictions long distance weapons so that Ukraine can ‘preemptively’ attack North Korean troops in Russian.

In a message at Telegram On Friday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine could see “any place” where Russia was gathering North Korean troops on its territory.

“We could strike preemptively, if we had the opportunity, with a long-range strike,” he wrote. “It depends on our partners.”

“But instead of the long-range attack that is so necessary, America is watching, Britain is watching and Germany is watching,” he continued. “Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean army to attack the Ukrainians.”

Zelenskiy has long been pleading with Western allies to allow the use of deep strike weapons on Russian territory.

While the Britain and France have reportedly pushed for such strikes to be allowedThe US and Germany have remained cautious, fearing a provocation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

About 8,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s frontline Kursk region and are expected to join the war within days, US officials said at a news conference on Thursday.

“We have not yet seen these troops deployed in combat against Ukrainian forces, but we expect these North Korean soldiers will join the fight against Ukraine in the coming days,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Thursday. the conference. believed that Russian forces had trained the North’s soldiers in artillery, drone and basic infantry operations.

Austin added that North Korean forces would become “legitimate military targets” if they “participate in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine.”

It comes as North Korea announced it had tested what it called “the world’s most powerful strategic missile.”

The new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), identified by North Korea’s state media agency KCNA as the ‘Hwasongpho-19’, was launched at Thurdsay and flew more than 1,000 km (about 620 miles) in about 86 minutes before crashing into the Sea of ​​Japan landed. .

Experts told Business Insider that the size of the missile – estimated to be around 30 meters long – would likely affect its mobility in a conflict.

Reacting to news of the test on X, Zelenskyy said the “world is just watching” as the threat from North Korea increases.

“Thousands of North Korean soldiers are already near Ukraine’s borders and preparing for battle. And the world is still watching,” he wrote.

Read the original article Business insider