Summary
Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) reports that North Korean troops supporting Russia in the Kursk region are facing heavy casualties, logistical issues, and water shortages due to Ukrainian strikes.
Ukraine estimates 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded out of the 10,000-12,000 deployed by Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, Russia continues its drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, with recent attacks targeting power infrastructure and civilian areas.
President Putin threatened further use of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile, while Ukraine retaliates with strategic strikes on Russian military infrastructure.
Do anyone else wonder why Kim was open to being embarrassed this way? Hardly helps his fiction of North Korea being amazing.
Because nobody back home will ever find out what happened to the dead soldiers.
SK could coordinate with Ukraine collate videos of dead NK people, or NK people being killed without mercy through drones. Then blast it through the DMZ border. Or drop pamphlets of pictures of dead NK soldiers through planes.
They already do. There’s an ongoing effort to smuggle outside news and media into North Korea. But you can’t just “blast it through the DMZ”. You have to get the stuff into formats they can play with appropriate subbing or dubbing where needed, and then sneak it across in USB thumb drives that are then quietly distributed by rebels in the north. It’s a difficult and dangerous process.
One possibility is that it isn’t a grand war campaign for him, but a death sentence he is bestowing on the unlucky or unfavored. It’s not supposed to be a success - it’s supposed to be a slaughter.
Ah true, that’s a good point
It’s speculation, but think about what Putin can offer Kim. Money, technological assistance, maybe even nuclear secrets
Because it’s valuable to send troops to a modern conflict zone, so in the end you have veterans who can train the next batch of soldiers in drone warfare. I think South Korea is worried about this
Turns out soldiers that have never seen battle don’t do well against soldiers who have years of experience.
It’s not just experience, it’s training. Ukraine’s military was extensively retrained by Canadian advisors to get them up to our standards of tactics, strategy, and operational logistics. Russia is still stuck on old Soviet doctrine, and North Korea is still basically trying to fight WW2.
I think most people don’t realize how many nations who think about waging war against another nation value experiences taught in Ukraine. The usage of FPV drones has been shown as highly effective. Hell, even in Gaza there seems to be heavy drone usage on the side of Israel.
People should be worried about NK soldiers in Ukraine. That signals that they are interested to train their soldiers for modern warfare. In general the war in Ukraine has opened Pandora’s Box, now there is a willingness to use AI controlled drones in Radio jammed combat zones. Only a few years ago people shuddered about the thought of it. Now it isn’t even a big discussion.
All this to say Putin sucks. This invasion could be the start of a dark chapter in history and it’s just because he thinks Russian influence can only be maintained by military force.
As is tradition.