Putin's 50,000 troops challenge before Trump's inauguration
Vladimir Putin has deployed 50,000 Russian and North Korean soldiers, attempting to retake Kursk from Ukraine before Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the USA. NATO fears an escalation of the conflict, writes "The Telegraph".
The highest-ranking Ukrainian military commander stated that "tens of thousands of enemy soldiers" have arrived to push Kyiv's forces out of the Russian enclave, fuelling Western fears of a significant escalation of the war.
NATO representatives claim that Putin hopes to reclaim territory occupied by Ukraine before Trump's inauguration on 20 January.
"The Telegraph" has obtained an assessment from British intelligence, which indicates that Russia will likely increase kamikaze drone attacks on Ukrainian positions in the coming days, using new launch sites near the border.
"Around 12,000 North Korean conscripts will also likely be involved in the fighting in the Kursk region, under a Russia-North Korea mutual military assistance pact agreed this year," writes the British newspaper.
Ukrainian analysts also believe that Russia may plan to execute the largest counterattack in the Kursk region to gain momentum and enter the northeastern Sumy region in Ukraine.
Ddid Trump talk to Trump?
"The Washington Post" reported that President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, the first phone conversation between the two leaders since Trump won the election.
During the conversation, which Trump conducted from his resort in Florida, he advised the Russian president "not to escalate the war in Ukraine". - He reminded him of Washington's significant military presence in Europe - said a person familiar with the conversation, who, like others speaking on the matter, requested anonymity.
However, the Kremlin completely denies these reports. - "There was no conversation," stated Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. - "This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it's just false information," he added. Peskov also informed that Putin has no "concrete" plans to speak with Trump.
