Ukraine Says 7,000 North Korean Soldiers Have Been Deployed Near Its Border
Who knows how true this is, but apparently 7,000 North Koreans are now deployed near Ukraine’s border with Russia:
Kyiv’s defense intelligence agency has said Russia appears to have deployed more than 7,000 North Korean soldiers, armed with AK-12 rifles, mortar rounds and other assault weapons, to areas near the border with Ukraine.
South Korea and the West have warned that North Korean troops in Russia may soon enter into combat against Ukraine that would pose a major security threat to both Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.
The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) said on Saturday (local time) that Russia moved more than 7,000 North Korean soldiers from Russia’s coastal region to areas near Ukraine last week.
“The North Korean troops were moved to the frontline with the help of at least 28 military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces,” the DIU said on its website.
You can read more at the link.
nK operating in the Kursk region, not in Ukraine.
Then again, so do most Soviet-era weapons.
Just ask Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, etc.
South Korea could make a mint supplying NATO with rifles that don’t have headspace issues, weren’t designed to last 10 hours in combat, and use a cartridge, like the 5.56, designed to allow soldiers to carry more into combat.
Russian logistics (i.e.,the lack of trucks) is why their initial attacks on Kiev failed. Soldiers need resupply on ammo, food, medicine, as well as medevac capabilities.
And it will be why the Norkistani troops will fail, too.
Tbe Russians could (assuming their strategic bombers and special weapons worked) employ neutron bombs to “win” instantly. That might have diplomatic issues; but they probably have that as an option.
While going through the current attrition phase, please note that it’s not so much Russians dying for Russia. On the other hand, it is Ukrainians dying for Ukraine.
The math might be raacist; but it paints a clear picture.
Maybe not in Ukraine; but against Ukrainians. Same difference.
https://cutjibnewsletter.com/2024/11/03/are-we-in-the-endgame-of-the-ukraine-fiasco-lockheed-martin-raytheon-general-dynamics-and-boeing-hardest-hit/
If the attitude was, “The west broke all the 1990s security guarantees to Russia and then actively and openly regime-changed the Ukranian government, made a bad-faith treaty to buy time to arm them, plotted to put NATO long-range weapons on Russia’s border, and brought in a large number of foreign advisers, trainers, maintainers, and operators of advanced weapons systems, but we don’t like it when you do it,” nothing would be different about the situation except the honestly level.
The moment we buy into our own propaganda, we start making irrational decisions and bad assumptions about what everyone is thinking and what they will do next.
As it sits now, Russian will continue the war until they occupy the breakaway areas of Ukraine. Unless there is a “game changer” in a world of few actual game changers, this is an inevitability and it will be better for everyone’s mental health to accept that outcome.
The longer it goes, the larger the chance for a Ukranian military collapse that makes a favorable cost/benefit ratio for taking the Black Sea coast through Odessa to Transnistria.
One thing that cannot be repeated enough is how reserved Russia has been in this war.
For one thing, all the territory they are fighting in will have to be rebuilt with Russian government funds. Destroying infrastructure is counterproductive in the long run even if it has some battlefield advantage.
But more importantly, Russia has not copied the (effective) policy of Shock & Awe. With the idea that a military cannot function if a nation cannot function, America like to destroy civilian infrastructure in the opening attack. Everything is difficult when there is no power, water, or food distribution.
Russia has only used attacks on infrastructure to punish Ukraine for attacks inside Russia.
Many Russians and Ukranians have relatives on both sides so Russia is not enthusiastic about attacking civilians, no matter what lies western media spreads.
Again, it is important we don’t lie to ourselves over this.
Bonus: The AKs are reasonable weapons and the ones being used are not handmade versions from Africa.
Double Bonus: Some Ukrainaboo sent me a video and was laughing about a group of Russian soldiers with one guy armed with an old bolt-action rifle. What he didn’t understand is that rifle has an accurate range greater than the enemy rifles.
I have a well-maintained Mauser 98 (that would be 1898) that can reach out about double the distance of an M4.