‘Nothing to say’ on North Korea meeting – Kremlin

The Kremlin says there is “nothing to say” about a New York Times report that claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Russia launches a drone attack on Ukraine’s Danube River port of Izmail, causing widespread damage to infrastructure, according to the region’s governor.‘A lot of details to be ironed out’ about Putin, Kim meeting: Analyst
After reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un will visit Russia this month to meet with Putin, Bong Yong-shik, a North Korean studies lecturer at Yonsei University, told Al Jazeera that we must wait to see if the meeting takes place.

“The very fact that the summit meeting is required for these countries to finalise the weapon exchange and trade means that there are a lot of details to be ironed out and agreed at the highest level of the government.” he said.

“It has been very difficult negotiations for both sides to strike the deal, so the most likely scenario would be Russia providing aid, food and NK [North Korea] continuing to be aggressive in contemplating weapon deal with Russia.”

The New York Times reported that in the rumoured meeting, Kim and Putin would discuss sending Russia artillery shells and anti-tank missiles in exchange for Moscow’s advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.Turkey in close contact with UN on grain deal: Erdogan
Turkey is in close contact with the United Nations on reviving the Black Sea grain deal, President Erdogan was cited as saying.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting in Russia with Putin, Erdogan said the latest UN proposal sought to address some Russian demands and believed a solution could be found soon.

“On August 28, UN Secretary-General Guterres, in the letter he sent, proposed an intermediary mechanism that would result from the SWIFT transaction, not directly SWIFT as the Russians wanted,” Erdogan said.

“They said work was underway on the insurance issue too.”

He added Moscow was putting these two demands as “musts” to revive the deal and that Putin had told him he would not take steps on this until “Europe keeps the promises they made me”, according to Turkish media.German arms maker to ramp up production of IRIS-T missile defence system
German arms maker Diehl Defence plans to significantly ramp up the production of its IRIS-T missile defence system as demand grows due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Chief Programme Officer Harald Buschek says

Buschek told reporters that in 2025, the company plans to build at least eight systems, up from three to four systems this year.

Missile production will also be tripled this year and will be doubled next year with an expected output of about 400 to 500 missiles for 2024.

So far, Germany has supplied two IRIS-T units to Ukraine for use against Russian missile attacks.

Buschek added that Ukraine has used then to down more than 110 targets, most of those cruise missiles, such as the Kalibr, with a hit rate of almost 100 percent.Ukraine’s counteroffensive is unsuccessful, Shoigu says
Shoigu says Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been completely unsuccessful but the situation in the part of the Zaporizhia region that Russia controls is tense.

“Ukraine’s armed forces have not achieved their goals on any front,” the Ministry of Defence quoted Shoigu as saying.

“The most tense situation is that on the Zaporizhia front,” he said of the southeastern region, which is one of four that Russia annexed a year ago.

“The enemy has engaged brigades from its strategic reserve, whose personnel have been trained by Western instructors.”More than 66,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed since offensive began: Russia
Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu says Ukraine has lost more than 66,000 soldiers and over 7,000 weapons since the beginning of its counteroffensive, the state news agency Tass reports.

During a call with military leaders, Shoigu said: “Since the beginning of the so-called offensive, enemy losses have exceeded 66,000 people and 7,600 weapons.”

He added that Russian combat crews have downed 159 HIMARS missiles in a month, more than 1,000 aerial drones and 13 cruise missiles.

“Trying to hide the failure of the offensive, Ukrainian militants attack civilian targets and pass off these terrorist attacks as military victories,” Shoigu said.

Ukraine sceptical about grain situation after Russia, Turkey talks
Ukraine does not expect the grain export situation to change after talks between the Russian and Turkish presidents, a senior Ukrainian government source says.

Erdogan said Ukraine’s grain export corridor had been the most important issue during his meeting with Putin and he believed a solution could be found soon to revive an agreement that had allowed Ukraine to ship its farm exports across the Black Sea.More than 900 cluster munition casualties in Ukraine in 2022, monitor finds
Ukraine saw more than 900 cluster munition casualties in 2022 due to Russian use of the weapons, a monitoring group says.

The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) said in an annual report that since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, it has “extensively” used stocks of old cluster munitions and newly developed ones.

Ukrainian forces have also used such weapons “to a lesser extent”, the report said.

Overall, Ukraine recorded 916 deaths and injuries from the weapons last year.

Those casualties accounted for the vast majority of the global figure, which rose to 1,172 last year, the highest annual number since CMC began its reporting in 2010.Cuba uncovers network trafficking Cubans to fight for Russia in Ukraine
Cuba has uncovered a human trafficking ring that has coerced Cuban citizens to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs says, adding that Cuba’s authorities are working to “neutralize and dismantle” the network.

The statement from the ministry gave few details but noted the trafficking ring was operating both in the Caribbean nation and in Russia.

“The Ministry of the Interior detected and is working on the neutralization and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine,” the ministry said in the statement.Cuba uncovers network trafficking Cubans to fight for Russia in Ukraine
Cuba has uncovered a human trafficking ring that has coerced Cuban citizens to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs says, adding that Cuba’s authorities are working to “neutralize and dismantle” the network.

The statement from the ministry gave few details but noted the trafficking ring was operating both in the Caribbean nation and in Russia.

“The Ministry of the Interior detected and is working on the neutralization and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine,” the ministry said in the statement.