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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A video purporting to show dozens of North Korean recruits lining up to collect Russian military fatigues and gear aims to intimidate Ukrainian forces and marks a new chapter in the 2 1/2-year war with the introduction of another country into the battlefield, Ukrainian officials said.
In the video, which was verified by Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, which operates under the Culture and Information Ministry, presumably North Korean soldiers stand in line to pick up bags, clothes and other apparel from Russian servicemen. The Associated Press could not verify the video independently.
“We received this video from our own sources. We cannot provide additional verification from the sources who provided it to us due to security concerns,” said Ihor Solovey, head of the center.
“The video clearly shows North Korean citizens being given Russian uniforms under the direction of the Russian military,” he said. “For Ukraine, this video is important because it is the first video evidence that shows North Korea participating in the war on the side of Russia. Now not only with weapons and shells but also with personnel.”
The center claims the footage was shot by a Russian soldier in recent days. The location is unknown.
It comes after the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said in local media reports that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen were currently training in eastern Russia. He predicted they would be ready to join fighting by November. At least 2,600 would be sent to Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August, he was quoted as saying.
“The emergence of any number of new soldiers is a problem because we will simply need new, additional weapons to destroy them all,” Solovey told AP. “The dissemination of this video is important as a signal to the world community that with two countries officially at war against Ukraine, we will need more support to repel this aggression.”
The presence of North Korean soldiers in Ukraine, if true, would be another proof of intensified military ties between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Last summer, they signed a strategic partnership treaty that commits both countries to provide military assistance. North Korean weapons have already been used in the Ukraine war.
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correction: I think the Russians are playin the drone game better than Ukraine now. 3-d printers right at the front.
Yes Ukraine had the drone-advantage early on, but not now. Recently, it took about a week for the Russians to start laying down fire on the enemy trenches and forest-belts, just like Ukraine were doing. You play with fire, and get burnt.
Have you seen the spoofing 3-d printed spheres that are taped onto some drones to make them appear bigger on the radars? According to Apti Alaudinov, about 50% of Russian drones are carrying them now, because they draw the AA-fire - but they are just cheap nothings to confuse the Ukraine defense intelligence.
And I am sure that drones are laying dragon's teeth - but how does that explain the piles of them un-arranged next to roads?
Erm. Watch Patrick Lancaster - he shows Russians on the front line 3-d printing parts for drones. I don't think drone production is as centralized as you think. Furthermore, they use open-source mechanical parts from China - also not centralized. And yeah, they now have the upper hand. Of course, they have to hide and have protocols for how to deal with Ukrainian drones, so you will hear soldiers 'complaining'.