9mo ago

Putin amasses North Koreans to fight Ukraine, Kyiv says

www.politico.eu

Russia is assembling a “coalition of criminals,” blasted Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Russia is gathering huge numbers of North Koreans to fight in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official told POLITICO.

“They are called the Buryat Battalion ... there are some 3,000 North Koreans there,” the official said, when granted anonymity to candidly discuss the sensitive topic.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said that Ukraine is now fighting against two states.

...

The Kyiv Independent reported, citing an anonymous Western official, that Pyongyang has so far actually sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia to boost its war effort in Ukraine.

23 comments

He is getting very desperate.
- I view it as NK getting real world combat experience. It helps both countries out. This isn't good for multiple reasons.
  
  Only if they try more modern tactics. If they’re just being plugged in to Russian command it’s just more meat for the meat grinder. Which makes sense because Russians play book has usually been “overwhelm with warm bodies”
  
  I guarantee that Putin is paying for NK soldiers. Human trafficking of men for combat. I am curious to know how much he is paying per head and how this slave trade program changes after they see the initial results.
  
  NK really doesn't have the economy to produce anything. They'd still lose.
- I wonder what quality of soldier you get from N.Korea. Basically every man of fighting age (16-60???) is in the army from what I understand. So that would make the possible level hopeless to competent (maybe).
  I doubt Kim has given Putin his "elite" troops.
  
  The survivors may be elite once they make it out the other side tho. Maybe that's the deal. It's like money laundering, but with people
  
  Does NK have that many spare soldiers to offer? Seems like every other week there's more news of rampant starvation in NK, and it's not a particularly large country to begin with. I'd think they would need all the bodies at home they can get. On the other hand maybe they're just counting on the Russians to feed them.
So 2 nation leaders the orange turd has gotten friendly with in the last decade (that the modern world unanimously agrees are the bad guys) join forces in an invasion of a sovereign nation...that the entire modern world supports and is backing...except for the orange turd.
Am I missing anything here?
- Roy Cohn, MacCarthy, Red Scare, Lavender Scare. Fear tactics, fake news, MK-Ultra -> advertisement pipeline, war on drugs / where drugs are coming from and who is making money on it, George HW Bush, The CIA, the Dulles brothers, WWI Krupp and the Paris Gun, military industrial complex and the 21st century global economic situation where guns and blood are the most profitable game because if you kill/suppress/exploit people you can not only have your wealth but theirs too and whoever else you subjugate.
  
  "We didn't start the fire..."
3,000 could easily consist entirely of technical trainers, service, support, communications, and logistics personnel, all dealing with North Korean weapons platforms being deployed in theater.
None of that changes the fact that they are a separate state, engaging in active warfare in Ukraine, alongside Russia. But I'm skeptical that this is a cannon fodder battalion. It's possible, I just haven't read any credible reports that have convinced me of that, yet.
One of the reasons I'm more skeptical, is because that would open the door for more overt and direct actions from countries like Poland. There's already additional countries helping Ukraine on the ground in similar capacities, weapons trainers, support staff, intelligence, etc, and this seems to somewhat mirror that.
There's also not many sources I trust less in these types of pieces then, "anonymous Western official".
Of course, all of my assumptions could be wrong, but I'm going to need more confirmed evidence than what I've seen so far in regards to these being cannon for a meat grinder, versus trying technical staff, rear echelon support for DPRK weapons platforms, and NK officers looking for knowledge and experience to bring back home to better develop their own military.
- But I'm skeptical that this is a cannon fodder battalion.
  Any NK soldier that isn't a technician is effectively cannon fodder in Ukraine. The DRK hasn't fought an armed conflict since its founding. They may be experts at marching parades, but have no actual combat experience.
  
  I've been wondering if that's why they entered the conflict. To get some experience for the military in a way that was relatively low-risk to the nation.
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- Please do not call for war crimes.

23 comments