World Briefing: November 25, 2024

Russia’s armed forces have recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine, brought by a shadowy trafficking operation that highlights the growing links between Moscow and the Houthi rebel group. Yemeni recruits who travelled to Russia told the Financial Times they were promised high salaried employment and even Russian citizenship. When they arrived with the help of a Houthi-linked company, they were then forcibly inducted into the Russian army and sent to the front lines in Ukraine. The appearance of the rag tag group of — mainly involuntary — Yemeni mercenaries in Ukraine shows how the conflict is increasingly sucking in soldiers from abroad as casualties rise and the Kremlin tries to avoid a full mobilisation. They include mercenaries from Nepal and India and some 12,000 North Korean regular army troops who arrived to take part in combat against Ukrainian forces in the Russian province of Kursk. The Yemeni recruitment effort also underscores how Russia, driven by its confrontation with the west, is growing closer to Iran and allied militant groups in the Middle East. The Houthis, a militant group backed by Tehran, disrupted global supply chains with a missile campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea after the start of the war in Gaza last year. US diplomats say the entente between the Kremlin and the Houthis, unimaginable before the war in Ukraine, is a sign of how far Russia is willing to go to extend that conflict into new theatres including the Middle East - Financial Times

Ukraine has been hit by a surge in Russian ballistic missile attacks, about a third of which used North Korean weapons that can only fly because they run on Western circuitry, obtained despite sanctions, according to Ukrainian military officials. Russia has fired about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine this year, according to a Ukrainian defense official. That accounts for nearly one in three of the 194 ballistic missiles fired so far in 2024, a CNN tally of attacks publicly acknowledged by Ukraine’s air force shows. August and September saw a spike in ballistic missile attacks, when Ukraine first publicly detailed the use of the KN-23. These less-sophisticated missiles are part of North Korea’s growing support to Moscow, which also includes about 11,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia’s Kursk region. “Everything that works to guide the missile, to make it fly, is all foreign components. All the electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean in it,” said Andriy Kulchytskyi, head of the Military Research Laboratory of Kyiv’s Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. “The only thing Korean is the metal, which quickly rusts and corrodes,” he added. - CNN

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement fired heavy rocket barrages at Israel on Sunday, and the Israeli military said houses had been destroyed or set alight near Tel Aviv, after a powerful Israeli airstrike killed at least 29 people in Beirut the day before. Israel also struck Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, where intensified bombardment over the last two weeks has coincided with signs of progress in U.S.-led ceasefire talks. Hezbollah, which has previously vowed to respond to attacks on Beirut by targeting Tel Aviv, said it had launched precision missiles at two military sites in Tel Aviv and nearby. Police said there were multiple impact sites in the area of Petah Tikvah, on the eastern side of Tel Aviv, and that several people had minor injuries. The Israeli military (IDF) said a direct hit on a neighbourhood had left "houses in flames and ruins". Television footage showed an apartment damaged by rocket fire - Reuters

Romania is on track to buck the global trend of a hard-right pivot with reformist candidate Elena Lasconi forecast to beat nationalist George Simion to reach the final round of the country’s presidential election, early exit polls showed Sunday. Romania’s current center-left Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is set to come out on top in the first round of the presidential ballot with 25 percent support, followed by Lasconi on 18 percent, according to the exit poll. Simion got 15 percent, behind independent candidate Călin Georgescu, himself a radical nationalist, who scored 16 percent. The preliminary results could still change as votes come in. The second round will take place Dec. 8 following Romania’s parliamentary election next Sunday - Politico

At least one person has died and three others have been injured after a cargo plane crashed near Vilnius airport in Lithuania in the early hours of Monday. The Boeing 737, operated for DHL by the Spanish cargo airline Swiftair, crashed near a house as it was on its final approach for landing, local authorities said. All 12 people have been safely evacuated from a property close to the crash site, police said. Rescue services said all those who were on the flight from Leipzig, Germany, have been accounted for - BBC

Pakistani authorities have locked down Islamabad and partially suspended mobile phone and Internet services as supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan geared up for a protest in the capital, calling for his release. The government announced late on November 23 that Internet and cellphone services would be temporarily unavailable "in areas with security concerns" while "continuing to operate as usual in the rest of the country." It did not specify the areas, nor did it explain when the suspension would be lifted. The announcement was posted on X, which is banned in Pakistan. The action came ahead of the planned visit of Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who is due to arrive on November 25. A 60-member Belarusian delegation arrived in Islamabad on November 24 to pave the way for his stay. Highways leading to Islamabad through which the protesters are expected to enter the city and gather near the parliament have been blocked by the government - RFE/RL

A British businessman caught on camera confessing he was illegally selling luxury perfume to Russia is not facing criminal charges, the BBC has learned. David Crisp admitted to an undercover investigator that he had “ignored government edicts” on sanctions by selling £1,000-a-bottle “Boadicea the Victorious” perfume in Russia.The BBC can now exclusively show the undercover video, which has previously only been shared in court. Mr Crisp was arrested in 2023 by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - the UK government agency responsible for sanctions enforcement - but the investigation was dropped earlier this year. This is despite the discovery of evidence that he tried to conceal more than £1.7m of illegal sales. Mr Crisp, from Surrey, denies knowingly breaching sanctions or concealing trades with Russia. There has not been a single UK criminal conviction for violating trade sanctions on Russia, the BBC understands, since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.

A string of deaths in Laos tied to tainted alcohol has raised alarm around the world and renewed concerns about methanol in alcoholic drinks. Last week, six tourists died in Laos from a suspected outbreak of methanol poisoning, the Associated Press reported. Among those who died, there were two people from Australia, two from Denmark, one from Britain, and one from the U.S. A majority of victims were 19 to 20 years old. On Friday, the U.S. State Department said it was aware of "a number of cases of suspected methanol poisoning" in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist destination in Laos, specifically for backpackers. The U.S., U.K. and Australia have issued warnings for travelers in Vang Vieng. Methanol-tainted alcohol poisonings have occurred in Russia, South Africa and Peru over the years. In June, at least 56 people in southern India died after consuming methanol-laced liquor - NPR

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