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Protesters Hold Seventh anti-Kremlin March over Detained Governor

People take part in an anti-Kremlin rally in support of former regional governor Sergei Furgal arrested on murder charges in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk, Russia August 22, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenii Pereverzev
People take part in an anti-Kremlin rally in support of former regional governor Sergei Furgal arrested on murder charges in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk, Russia August 22, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenii Pereverzev
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Protesters Hold Seventh anti-Kremlin March over Detained Governor

People take part in an anti-Kremlin rally in support of former regional governor Sergei Furgal arrested on murder charges in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk, Russia August 22, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenii Pereverzev
People take part in an anti-Kremlin rally in support of former regional governor Sergei Furgal arrested on murder charges in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk, Russia August 22, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenii Pereverzev

Around 1,500 people marched through the streets of the Russian far eastern city of Khabarovsk on Saturday, marking the seventh consecutive weekend of protests after the region’s governor was detained in early July.

Residents of Khabarovsk, 6,110 km (3,800 miles) east of Moscow, have protested since the detention of Sergei Furgal, the region’s popular governor, on July 9 in connection with murder charges which he denies.

His supporters say the detention is politically motivated.

People marched on Saturday with posters reading “Freedom to Furgal” and “Belarus - Khabarovsk is with you” - a sign of support for opposition rallies in Belarus protesting against the alleged rigging of its presidential election.

On Saturday, posters wishing recovery for Alexei Navalny, a Kremlin critic who collapsed on a plane on Thursday after drinking tea that his allies believe was laced with poison, were also seen among the people marching in Khabarovsk.

Navalny was evacuated from the Siberian city of Omsk and brought to Germany for medical treatment on Saturday, Reuters reported.

Regional authorities estimated around 1,500 people took part in Saturday’s march, a smaller turnout than in previous weeks.

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Video Published by Ukraine Purports to Show North Korean Soldiers in Russia

A TV screen shows file images of North Korean soldiers during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP)
A TV screen shows file images of North Korean soldiers during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP)
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Video Published by Ukraine Purports to Show North Korean Soldiers in Russia

A TV screen shows file images of North Korean soldiers during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP)
A TV screen shows file images of North Korean soldiers during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP)

A video purporting to show dozens of North Korean recruits lining up to collect Russian military fatigues and gear aims to intimidate Ukrainian forces and marks a new chapter in the 2 1/2-year war with the introduction of another country into the battlefield, Ukrainian officials said.

In the video, which was verified by Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, which operates under the Culture and Information Ministry, presumably North Korean soldiers stand in line to pick up bags, clothes and other apparel from Russian servicemen. The Associated Press could not verify the video independently.

“We received this video from our own sources. We cannot provide additional verification from the sources who provided it to us due to security concerns,” said Ihor Solovey, head of the center.

“The video clearly shows North Korean citizens being given Russian uniforms under the direction of the Russian military,” he said. “For Ukraine, this video is important because it is the first video evidence that shows North Korea participating in the war on the side of Russia. Now not only with weapons and shells but also with personnel.”

The center claims the footage was shot by a Russian soldier in recent days.

It comes after the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said in local media reports that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen were currently training in eastern Russia. He predicted they would be ready to join fighting by November. At least 2,600 would be sent to Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August, he was quoted as saying.

“The emergence of any number of new soldiers is a problem because we will simply need new, additional weapons to destroy them all,” Solovey told AP. “The dissemination of this video is important as a signal to the world community that with two countries officially at war against Ukraine, we will need more support to repel this aggression.”

The presence of North Korean soldiers in Ukraine, if true, would be another proof of intensified military ties between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Last summer, they signed a strategic partnership treaty that commits both countries to provide military assistance. North Korean weapons have already been used in the Ukraine war.