The Russian invasion

The Russian invasion|The response of the outside world
Analysis: Was it dangerous to give Ukraine the green light - but the alternative is even worse

The Western countries' challenge in the Ukraine war is to weigh chance against risk. That's what the BBC's Chris Mason writes in an analysis about a possible approval for Ukraine to use donated long-range weapons against targets in Russia.

He writes that the expectations that Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to the White House would lead to a decision on the long-range robots were small, and that more talks with involved parties await. The main question according to Mason is: How to defeat Russia without provoking Moscow?

"What will be the consequences of such an act? And what will be the consequences of inaction?”

In an analysis for Sky News, Deborah Haynes writes that British and American officials counted on Putin's threat that Russia go to war with NATO over the use of long-range weapons.

Haynes writes that Putin's words should not be ignored, and that all forms of support carry risks, adding:

"But Britain and its allies know that it would be more dangerous to bow to Russian threats and withdraw support for Kyiv".

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The Russian Invasion|The Battles
Ukraine: North Korea is a bigger problem than Iran

The military support Russia receives from North Korea poses a greater problem for Ukraine than support from any other country, including Iran. This is according to Bloomberg, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov.

Iran supplies Russia with, among other things, drones, but according to Budanov, North Korea sends "crazy amounts" of artillery shells, which have a clear effect directly at the fronts.

- And unfortunately we can't do anything about it right now.

In the battles around Pokrovsk in Donetsk, Russia has been able to fire twelve times as many artillery shells as Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, the Russian advantage is said to have been drastically reduced after Ukraine launched an offensive into the Russian Kursk region in August.