Russia-Ukraine War (continuing)

You know who co-founded Google and still has one of the 2 controlling interests? - Sergey Mikhailovich Brin. Born in Moscow. Ok, he emigrated when he was 6 but…

:D I think that is exactly the nightmare scenario Putin is trying to forestall!

Of course he's made it all the more possible now, by draining the outer Republics of healthy young males and leaving swathes of the countryside ripe for exploitation by western (and far eastern) capitalists.

That will not be so easy to do.. both Germany and Japan were single entitys,both responding to a single government structure. That will not be the case with Russia, not alone because of the sheer size of the Country, but the diversity of the population, who have lived within a framework of corruption for generations. First, they will have to change their society themselves, and only after they have achieved that, then re-integration into civilised society can begin.

It seems the earlier reports and assessments of N Korean troops were wrong, which is very unfortunate.

It seems that the North Korean soldiers sent to the battlefield in Russia's Kursk region are not as poorly trained as initially hoped.

Ukrainian forces fighting in Kursk describe North Koreans as highly skilled, fearless and motivated soldiers, although they were previously called "cannon fodder" who "will desert as soon as they have the opportunity."

The first information that emerged in December characterized the Ukrainian military as being too poorly integrated into the combat gear of the Russian forces. However, after more than a month of fighting, it seems that the level of North Korean soldiers is above expectations, although the rate of losses among them is very high.

Yuriy Bondar of the Ukrainian air division Galician Lions, which was one of the units that clashed with them, confirms: "The enemy is not surrendering. It (auto) eliminates in the same way - a grenade next to the head and that's it. Those who remain on the battlefield are sprayed with flammable liquid and burned," Bondar said in a Facebook post.

The Ukrainian soldier explains what the strengths of Kim's soldiers are.

"They are extremely resilient, extremely well trained, morally strong," the Ukrainian soldier describes them, quoted by Politico. According to him, the Koreans are capable of conducting dynamic attacks, catching Ukrainian soldiers "off guard" and occupying their positions, even if Ukrainian soldiers outnumber them.

Bondar quoted the words of one of the Ukrainian commanders in the Kursk region, who told him: Compared to the soldiers of the DPRK, the Wagnerians of 2022 are children.

He also confirmed that the North Koreans are very good with small arms, shooting down a "surprisingly large number" of Ukrainian drones.

"They demonstrate psychological resilience. Imagine, one runs and attracts attention, and the other from an ambush shoots down a drone with precise fire," Bondar said.

He confirmed reports in a notebook taken from a slain North Korean soldier describing the tactics used against drones: One of the group of soldiers serves as "bait" to get the drone's attention. As the drone begins to get closer, "the others are trying to shoot it down with guns."

"They are young, motivated, physically fit, brave and good at handling weapons. They are also disciplined. They have everything a good infantryman needs," Cepurny also remarks.

The first information that emerged in December characterized the Ukrainian military as being too poorly integrated into the combat gear of the Russian forces.

Your source isn't great on detail.

I’d believe it to a point.

The initial Kim brigades will have been his elite soldiers. The core NK army will not have got the same training, especially enough ammunition to become proficient at shooting. They will have been the most nourished. Subsequent “volunteers” will not be so “elite”.

Anyone missing a box of matches?

Every quote attributed to a Ukrainian and supposedly told to Politico or others in the last few days was posted and/or quoted word for word at the beginning of December on various other platforms - including this one.

The whole article has a hugely "AI churn" feel about it, e.g.:

Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Kursk describe North Koreans — previously dubbed “cannon fodder” that will “defect as soon as they get to fight” — as highly skilled, fearless and motivated infantry.

“They have been blowing themselves up when they see capture is in sight,”

Well, blowing yourself up instead of fighting is hardly a sign of great motivation or professionalism, is it? And the article made no mention at all about the Ukrainian drone pilots who said, last week, that eliminating Koreans in the field has turned out to be a hell of a lot easier for them than their training exercises.

To cap it all, if the NKs are "highly skilled, fearless and motivated" (which exact quote, now that I think about it, was originally attributed to a Russian commander in Nov/Dec), how is it they've lost about a third of their entire force not retaking any of Kursk from the Ukrainians?

• USSR will return in 2025
• Moldova threatened
• Crimea and all of the 4 provinces Russia claims but decades away from capturing at this rate are “Russia”
• No interest in negotiating

Nothing new here but interesting nonetheless how rhetoric from Putin’s right hand man’s matches exactly what “friends of Russia” were peddling here

Is the understanding that the Koreans are 'officially' only fighting in Kursk? Is this part of the 'rules of engagement' for the conflict? If the Korean soldiers really are this hot, could that affect the overall calculation of whether the Kursk intervention was a good move on Ukraine's part?

It's my understanding that the Korean troops are only in Kursk, though it wouldn't surprise me if there were small numbers of observers in other regions gaining experience and knowledge of actual combat, as I don't see any benefit to Kim if no one comes home with battle experience. Unless of course that wasn't actually the deal and that they were simply currency to buy tech from Russia and none were expected to ever return.

I don't think their presence alters the rationale for the Kursk move one iota, it will probably reduce the amount of Kursk that might be held come negotiations. Kursk was brilliant.

It's telling how many of Ukraine's moves have been viewed with extreme suspicion, if not criticism, by the US, only for them to later acknowledge their wisdom and benefit later, like the attacks on targets deep inside Russia, especially oil production and storage facilities, explosives manufacturers and anything making critical components of weapons systems. The US didn't like the Ukrainians attacking the early warning radars but you can bet they were probably being used against Ukraine's interests:

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/05/30/7458306/

The US foiling Ukraine taking out Putin was wicked, but then Jake Sullivan is like that. If only Biden had listened more to Gen. Ben Hodges, rather than that twerp.

Does Putin have a private personal defence bodyguard of a couple of hundred thousand?

is this the great deterrent for the Russian people thinking of starting anything?

I'd take it as a given that the Kremlin Regiment, the unit charged with guarding the Kremlin, is effectively Putin's personal guard. The regiment is not part of the military but of the Russian FSO or "Federal Guard Service", which is also charged with security for Putin's residences and providing security for high level ministers and bureaucrats. All of this rolls up into the office of the president, which means it's under Putin's direct control.

That said, I'm not sure how effective this regiment would be if push came to shove. It looks like a pretty normal Russian army regiment, and I'm pretty sure that they're near the top of the pile when it comes to getting equipment and funds, but I don't know well the unit would fare in an actual high-intensity combat situation, especially since the regiment doesn't seem to have any organic artillery or attached air defence units.

Irony overload 🤣

Even if he's well protected with a loyal guard he's still need an out if the general army turn on his regime. He'd probably flee to North Korea.