Russia-Ukrainian War

[UK]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-drone-attack-damages-distilleries-russias-tula-region-governor-says-2024-10-22/

 

Now this is serious escallation:)

[John Hjorth]

1 hour ago, UK said:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-drone-attack-damages-distilleries-russias-tula-region-governor-says-2024-10-22/

 

Now this is serious escallation:)

 

 

It reminds me a bit of an old Carlsberg ad : YouTube - Saatchi & Saatchi Copenhagen : Classic 90'er Carlsberg - The  Housing Collective.

 

The foreman welcoming new resident, explaining all the ground rules : Everything is shared and common, the dog named Mao, the shared and common TV, where it is shared and common not to pay licence, shared and common bathroom, shared and common toothbrush, the new resident then asking : 'So the beers must also be 'ours'!?'. Foreman to new resident : 'Whoa! whoa! - You just keep the chops away from them, man, the beers, they're mine!'

 

Certainly rhymes with the Russian confiscation of Carlsberg Russian assets. 

[John Hjorth]

Reuters - The Wider Image [October 10^th 2024] : Ukraine's vast forests devastated in hellscape of war.

 

 

 

Please see the airail video of a village that was destroyed by fighting in the Sviati Hory National Park almost at the bottom of the the article. To call it a hellscape isen't an exaggeration.

 

Imagine not being able to enjoy the spring colours of threes and forests, in the autumn, before leaf fall, one of the precious joys of of life, that are free.

 

This is not like cleaning up the mess in cities, villages, fixing infrastructure etc. after this calamaty has come to an end, which basically is all about economic resources, no matter how one tries to fix this damage after the war, it will take centuries for scars in nature to heal.

 

A rule of thumb is that a forest is about 200 years to mature and heal after something like this, depending on tree species. There no way to ask the nature to hurry up [, while it is still possible to help it for a new start by tree planting in the beginning of the healing process, though].

 

It reminds me of :

 

1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens and The 1908 Tunguska Event in Russia.

 

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Edit :

 

While it's already evident that the Ukrainian economy is kept artificially kept alive by oxygen provided by it's allies in steady and plenty amounts, without which it likely already would have collapsed totally, the war economy for Russia is now really beginning to take its toll on the Russian society :

 

Bloomberg - Economics [October 25^th 2024] : Russia Raises Key Rate to Record 21% as Inflation Persists.

 

Bank of Russia - News [October 25^th 2024] : Bank of Russia increases the key rate by 200 bp to 21.00% p.a..

Bank of Russia - News [October 25^th 2024] : Statement by Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina in follow-up to Board of Directors meeting on 25 October 2024.

 

Now even the hardballer Russian Central Bank govenor Elvira Nabiullina is starting to look just a wee bit tired and worn out.

Edited October 25 by John Hjorth

[Spekulatius]

Interesting question that Putin really did not answer:

 

[Dalal.Holdings]

Never go full libtard

 

 

 

 

[John Hjorth]

16 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

Interesting question that Putin really did not answer:

 

 

Here is a thread of posts on X by former Ukrainian Minister of Economy Tymofiy Mylovanov about the above Q & A mentioned by  @Spekulatius above, analyzing and digging a bit into what is Vladimir Putin actually saying here.

 

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The man is totally ignoring and disregarding that he [Russia] is the agressor against Ukraine, and the decision maker triggering this war, simply alleging just and exactly the opposite, which is just brain spin in a delutional mans head, also anchored in his own world view, which is characterized, almost ravaged, by his eternal being huffy, miffed by what happened to Russia in connection with the downfall and dissolution of the Soviet Union.

 

Everytime he says 'Russia', he actually means 'my Russia' - because he does not give a damn about the consequenses of his decisions for his own people, especially the youngsters getting killed in and by this.

 

No relation and connection to todays realities, a world view based on '... in the old days ...', just an anachronism.

 

He actually had an incredible , - really once-in-a-lifetime -, opportuny by his appointment about 24 years ago, where he could have taken initiative to, and being the leader of, building a competitive, advanced and modern Russia based on democracy, respect for civil rights, capitalism, rule of law and respect for capital, based on Russias enormous oil and gas reserves. 

 

His agenda eventually turned out to be the exactly opposite. The real agenda was totally different : a cleptocracy.

 

In stead he now is actually saying that he won't settle with being a gas station manager, [in the meaning that that's not 'fine enough' for him?]. The man is totally incompetent, - and dumb as an unplaned board.

 

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Another very short way to express it : He is offended, huffy and miffed by, that he is by the way he has been behaving - starting with how he internally in Russia has treated and handled his political opponents [opponents may both be co-citizens and foreigners resident in Russia] - being considered 'not house-trained' [hitting western peoples 'poo-poo - I'm holding my nose'-filter] by his constantly ongoing lying and such.

 

 

Edited October 26 by John Hjorth

[CGJB]

On 10/7/2024 at 7:06 PM, cubsfan said:

^^^ I guess even Ted Bundy had a fan club..

 

I'm not a member of any fan club. Though if forced to choose, I'd be a member of a Putin fan club before a member of a Zelensky one.

Moreover, I don't think Putin is another Hitler or Stalin, and I don't buy the lie that Russia's entry into the Donbas was "unprovoked."

[CGJB]

On 10/9/2024 at 11:09 PM, Dinar said:

Too bad abortion was illegal in the USSR in the 1950s...

 

Even if the baby Putin had been aborted in his mother's womb, we'd still be where we are now, because this wasn't driven by Putin. Current CIA director Burns warned of this when he was ambassador to Russia during the George W. Bush administration. Many others did as well.

[cubsfan]

23 hours ago, CGJB said:

 

I'm not a member of any fan club. Though if forced to choose, I'd be a member of a Putin fan club before a member of a Zelensky one.

Moreover, I don't think Putin is another Hitler or Stalin, and I don't buy the lie that Russia's entry into the Donbas was "unprovoked."

 

Sure - you roll your tanks into another country and destroy it, killing hundreds of thousands.

 

Putin is a great guy.

[John Hjorth]

40 minutes ago, cubsfan said:

 

Sure - you roll your tanks into another country and destroy it, killing hundreds of thousands.

 

Putin is a great guy.

 

 

Yup, great guy, great thoughts - at least about himself, great plans for himself, great world view - we should naturally all accommodatingly adjust to it, bending and tilting in the dust for all that and him.

 

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Add to that an impeccable reputation, and you have a person - really, really -  special! :

 

Under the Olympic Winter Games in Sotji, Russia 2014, a reporter dared to ask 'the man' him self - in public - about the presence of 'small green [unmarked] men' on Crimea, where he stated those were 'self defence forces, that had nothing to do with Russia'. When futher asked and confronted with why they were driving in military vehicles clearly equipped with Russian license plates, he simply did not reply.

 

- Works great, for a great guy!

[Spekulatius]

Putin is an ice cold killer, He kills his opponents, Navalny, Yushchenko and a long list of others.

 

By the way, Navalny’s widow just published a book that sheds some light about Navalny’s late days. He died in a Russian Gulag. The funeral on Moscow only happened because his Mom persisted in finding his body in Siberia  and arranging a small funeral that ended up drawing way more attention than Putin wanted.

 

By the way, the Orthodox Priest holding the service as well as the casket bearer were apprehended by the Police after ward. There is now an Russian arrest warrant in his wife too. Team Putin for the win.

My mom told me the book was sold out in German bookstores. So it seems that some people care.

 

 

Edited October 28 by Spekulatius

[Warner]

Navalny was indeed very brave and certainly dedicated to his cause. He deserves respect and admiration for this. He certainly did not deserve what he received from the Russian state.

 

But, the Russian state controls the domestic narrative and 75% of the Russian people did not know or care about him. This is really missing from the conversation. Navalny was more well know outside of Russia than inside because he had foreign support and funding. He had some support in the middle class, as these few in Russia in a way turned on Putin's gov't slightly in the past 10 years.

 

Everyone here blames all on Putin and what is left out is that he has a large apparatus in gov't that supports him and 99% of these agree with his policies. 

 

Russia does not want and will not accept to go back to the chaos of the 1990's. They are not going to throw their unabashed support around an unknown (and state media will ensure he is never known). They will stay with Putin until he decides who is the next leader in Russia as he represents stability and don't forget in his very very long time in power the lives of most Russians has improved.

 

I am not a Putin supporter, but we all need to be pragmatic and look at this from the Russian perspective.

[Luke]

Open letter to the German government from retired general Schultze-Rohnhof translated from german to english:

 

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen!

 

I did not serve as a soldier for 37 years to keep the peace in Germany, and now to watch without comment or action as Germany is slowly but probably being driven towards active participation in a foreign and senseless war. Our "Three Wise Men", Chancellor Scholz, Minister Lindner and Minister Dr. Habeck all initially refused military service in their youth years for Germany's law and freedom and the preservation of our democracy. They now spend far more than 10 billion euros of tax money per year on "law", "freedom", "democracy" and Western values in a foreign state that is neither a democracy nor represents Western values. They are prolonging a war that has now become senseless with our tax money and the blood of foreign conscripts. Ukraine is by no means a democracy and its values are not ours. In Ukraine, 11 opposition parties are banned. Zelenskyj has banned the presidential elections scheduled for March 2024 (these are taking place in Russia). In Ukraine, all media are aligned. No reports critical of Ukraine by German journalists are permitted from Ukraine (Russia-critical comments by German journalists from Moscow are quite common). In Ukraine, political murders are the order of the day (according to the three-week protocols of the Federal Agency for Civic Education until the start of the war). Ukraine and Russia are together the two most corrupt states in Europe (according to Transparency International). Buying out of military service is just as common in Ukraine as in Russia. With its list of sins of breaches of state treaties and violations of UN conventions and international charters, Ukraine is in no way inferior to the Russian list in frequency and severity. The type and frequency of Ukrainian war crimes are the same as those on the Russian side, only the misuse of humanitarian facilities protected under international law as human shields for fighting troops occurs only on the Ukrainian side (according to the OSCE report of June 29, 2022). This Ukraine is neither a democracy nor does it stand for our values, as the German media and the majority of our parties make us believe. The interpretation presented to us by the official side that Ukraine would help defend our values is as foolish as Struck's "Germany's defense in the Hindu Kush" was. I expect the former conscientious objectors in the Bundestag and the federal government - true to their previous spirit of peace - to actively work for an end to the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible and to break away from their unrealistic phantom ideas of a Ukrainian victory. I expect the same from all other rulers and parliamentarians. The idea of a possible reunification of two quarreling and now hating parts of a nation, who had already been at war with each other for eight years before the Russian invasion, into a future Ukraine of the same size is the dream of fools. The zeal of the majority of the two German parties to help the Ukrainians to victory with money and arms deliveries reminds me of a statement by Russian Lieutenant General Alexander Lebed, who said during the first Chechen war: "Let me recruit a company from the sons of the elite and the war will be over the next day." (Lebed was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in Russia in 1996.) The second question at issue here is whether the Russian Federation has actually threatened the West since its withdrawal from Central Europe, or even a single NATO country or other neighboring country after the end of the Soviet disintegration process. I will answer this question in detail in the justification for the letter to the politicians below. This justification follows as Appendix 1 to this email. Since August 15, 2022, I have tried to inform hundreds of MPs about the background to the Russian invasion and the events within Ukraine. Then I proposed a German initiative to bring the war to a rapid end to the war to the Chancellor and former chancellors and top politicians with still open channels of communication with Moscow. I sent my last attempt at Christmas 2023 with the following letter to members of the federal government, the parliamentary group leaders of all parties in the Bundestag, to all party leaders and general secretaries and to all state premiers. Only two party leaders on the sidelines of the plenary hall responded with approval and at all, but with the message that they could not do anything. I have just received the polite but negative response from the chairman of the largest opposition party, whose silence and ignorance of the long history of the war I cannot accept and whose allegations against Putin I largely cannot confirm. Allegedly proven but unjustified allegations were also a common flammable factor in the two world wars. Despite all politeness, the answer gives the impression that its author has not read the justification for my proposal (Appendix 1) at all. Some of the German people are now fed up of not being informed about the background to the war in Ukraine and of investing 10 to 15 billion euros annually in a senseless, foreign war and the further deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians, despite their own tight budgets. If the German government, in disregard of German interests, risks the war in Ukraine escalating into a conflagration and involving Germany as well - as originally feared by Chancellor Scholz - the people themselves must remind the government of its first duty. So far, the vast majority of German politicians have been primarily interested in a victory for the Ukrainians and a defeat for the Russians, and only secondarily in peace. Please read my Christmas letter to “politicians” and pass on my thoughts to other interested parties. And try to convince your representatives of the possibility of an early end to the war.

 

Yours, Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof

Edited October 28 by Luke

[Luke]

Part 2:

 

Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof Major General (ret.) December 24, 2023

 

To all party leaders, general secretaries of the parties, parliamentary group leaders in the German Bundestag and prime ministers of the federal states. The war in Ukraine has been raging for almost two years and there is no end in sight, nor any practical initiative from Germany that could bring about an early end to the war. After I unsuccessfully and without an answer turned to Chancellor Scholz and the SPD parliamentary group leader in the German Bundestag with a proposal on this issue, I am now writing this letter to all German party leaders, the parliamentary group and group leaders in the German Bundestag, the general secretaries of the parties and the prime ministers of the federal states with the request that they urge the federal government to mediate a rapid peace solution in the spirit of the following proposal (Appendix 2). When we look at the war in Ukraine soberly and consider it objectively, neither of the two warring parties can win it, unless it escalates into a "Third World War". Nevertheless, the USA, NATO, the EU and, within the above-mentioned communities of states, the Federal Republic of Germany are supporting the war as if it could be won by Ukraine. This is aiding and abetting the military delay of Ukraine's bankruptcy and the conscious acceptance of the continuation of mass killings and destruction in the war zone. It seems as if the leading political forces in Germany still believe they are faced with the military choice of "Russia or Ukraine". We should consciously face the political choice of "war or peace". Both together, a military victory for just one warring party and a lasting, reconciliatory peace are not possible. Looking at it soberly and objectively, Germany and our European allies are currently faced with eight (now 9) theoretically possible developments. All of the options open so far promise a bad outcome. None of them will end in anything better than a frozen ceasefire. None of the options will lead to real peace. NATO, the EU and Germany, with them, are at a dead end with their current Ukraine policy. The 8 (now 9) theoretical possibilities mentioned are:

 

1. Russia wins in the sense that it takes control of Ukraine. Then Germany and the West on the one hand and Russia on the other will find themselves in a cold war against each other for a very long time, to the detriment of both sides.

2. Ukraine wins in the sense that it recaptures all of the territories previously occupied by Russia. Then the approximately 8 million Russian citizens in Ukraine will face terrible persecution and punishment. President Selenskyj has announced this several times. And Germany is threatened by the next wave of refugees.

3. There is a military stalemate on the battlefield without a subsequent amicable peace solution. Then we are faced with a European "Korea solution" with a Cold War and a permanent source of danger in Europe.

4. The war will continue endlessly without a stalemate and victory. Then hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians will die senselessly and be mutilated. Ukraine will continue to be destroyed and Germany will continue to pay and supply weapons to Ukraine without end.

5. Negotiations will take place. Then, given the mutual preconditions put forward so far by both warring parties and the hardening of positions and hatred that has now occurred, and the interference from NATO, the EU and the USA that is certain to be expected, there will be months, if not years, of wrangling. Accordingly, the destruction and human sacrifices will "continue". Given the current Ukrainian and Russian preconditions for negotiations, it is predictable that there will not even be negotiations.

6. A ceasefire is reached. Ceasefires are not a solution to the problem of war, but merely a procedural step. After that, a balance of interests must be reached between the enemy neighboring states of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. There are currently no signs or willingness to balance interests among the warring parties, nor in NATO, nor in the EU, nor in the USA, nor in Germany's "political world."

7. Ukraine is clearly approaching defeat. Then there is a danger that NATO, and thus also the USA and Germany, will intervene in the war. All previous promises of assistance from NATO and EU states point to this, despite claims to the contrary.

8. NATO intervenes in the war in Ukraine with its own troops. Then there is a danger that Russia will reach the limits of its defense capabilities and, at the risk of its own defeat, will use tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. Russia will not dare to use strategic nuclear weapons against the USA, and the war will be fought in our Europe. Obvious targets for Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Europe would be the US command centers, from which American support for Ukraine is already being delivered and controlled, Ramstein and Wiesbaden.

9. The USA will withdraw completely from financial and material support for Ukraine after the next presidential election. Then the EU and its main financier Germany will continue to support Ukraine with greatly increased contributions of their own, as unsuccessfully as before, and keep the war "simmering". All promises of loyalty and assistance from Brussels and Berlin suggest this. This would draw Germany further and more deeply into the Ukraine's debt swamp than before. Since all the solutions attempted so far have led to nothing but further prolongations of the war, a way out must be found through a different approach. The approach to an early end to the war could be an arbitration award in the form of a completely and comprehensively formulated peace treaty that is negotiable for both warring parties. The proposal must satisfy the vital interests (not demands) of the two warring peoples - Ukrainians and Russians -, demand reasonable sacrifices from both sides, satisfy the right of self-determination of the affected population and present a result that is to be expected anyway after the war has continued. The arbitration procedure has prevented the outbreak of "in the air" wars twice in the last century. By proposing such a treaty text, both warring parties could assess whether they could come closer together on its basis and negotiate and reach agreement without "non-negotiable" preconditions or whether they prefer the continuation of the bloodshed and sacrifice of the war. The arbitration award should be submitted to the two warring parties by Germany, France and Italy - and for good reasons only by these parties.

 

 

 

 

 

All previous calls for negotiations from NATO and EU circles were linked to unilateral renunciation conditions exclusively for Russia and were therefore unsuitable. Almost all previous calls lacked a concrete offer to Russia. I have spent 20 years researching the causes of wars, peace efforts and peace treaties and have written books about them. With this prior knowledge, I would like to present you with a proposal for such a fully formulated treaty text in my Appendix 2 to this letter. The guiding principle of this proposal is a balance of interests and the goal of long-term reconciliation. Since this approach is incomprehensible at first reading in view of the two years of pro-Ukrainian reporting and commentary in the German media and in view of the one-sided accusations against Russia that are widespread here in Germany, I would like to present you with a detailed justification for my proposal in Appendix 1 to this letter. In view of the hardened, one-sided self-determination of the Foreign Office in this matter, I refrain from submitting this proposal via the Foreign Office, which is actually responsible. I ask you to support such a German peace initiative within the Federal Government.

 

 

 

If you wish, I am available to discuss further background information on my proposal. (Offer from December 2023 to politicians and members of parliament) With the token of my highest respect, Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof"

 

 

 

 

Übersetzungsergebnisse verfügbar

Briefe-Schultze_Rhonhof-Dez-23-und-Febr-24.pdf

Edited October 28 by Luke

[Luke]

Attached find the proposal. Its very long but has a lot of detail and information regarding the conflict. Its in german, didnt want to translate it in english because its too long for the thread.

Anlage.txt

[formthirteen]

6 hours ago, Warner said:

Everyone here blames all on Putin and what is left out is that he has a large apparatus in gov't that supports him and 99% of these agree with his policies. 

 

Russia does not want and will not accept to go back to the chaos of the 1990's. They are not going to throw their unabashed support around an unknown (and state media will ensure he is never known). They will stay with Putin until he decides who is the next leader in Russia as he represents stability and don't forget in his very very long time in power the lives of most Russians has improved.

 

I am not a Putin supporter, but we all need to be pragmatic and look at this from the Russian perspective.

 

Yes, this viewpoint is largely absent in Western media. I think this applies to Russia and Putin in general, as well as most things:
 

Quote

“Do not remove a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.”

 

In the 1990s, someone removed the 'fence.' It was rebuilt in less than a decade, and work is still ongoing. People on both sides of the fence are still mostly confused as to why a fence is needed but agree it’s useful.

 

5 hours ago, Luke said:

Open letter to the German government from retired general Schultze-Rohnhof translated from german to english:

I read his letter. He has some valid points. However, he believes in some crazy conspiracy theories about Butcha that he backs up with information he found on the internet:

 

Quote

Upon repeated searches across various channels, I found an unfiltered version of the scene, showing that this dead person wore a broad, very noticeable white Russian armband.

 

It almost feels like he's looking for facts that back up his story (selection bias, confirmation bias). Maybe he's also an investor?

 

He seems to be very consistent about which side of the fence he sits on regarding politics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerd_Schultze-Rhonhof

 

Quote

1939 – Der Krieg, der viele Väter hatte (The War which had many Fathers)

 

In his book Der Krieg, der viele Väter hatte, Schultze-Rhonhof argues that Adolf Hitler had not wanted to risk war right up to September 1939. In effect, he lays the blame for the outbreak of World War II substantially with Poland, citing its rejection of German offers to negotiate over the Danzig question and the Polish corridor. In addition, he notes that Great Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union all played a part in causing the outbreak of war given their role in encouraging Polish intransigence in the face of German requests, most especially through Britain's "guarantee" of Polish security in the event of war.

 

While admitting that his own book is not the work of an academic historian, Schultze-Rhonhof nonetheless accuses mainstream German historians of failing to give a balanced and accurate accounting the origins of World War II.

 

My biases tell me he's an angry old man sitting on the fence.

[Luke]

Can anyone here independently verify what happened in Butscha? Does the ukranian government have an interest to distort happenings so they receive foreign support? The article by Rhonhof is well thought through with the limited amount of ressources he has available. Nobody on this board has access to military information on happenings in this war either and can only repeat media news that are obviously not neutral. I like that he thinks about our interests, that are obviously different from the ones of Selensky and his government.

[Luke]

And if anybody wants to discuss other books by him feel free to open a new thread. Its certainly more complex than 2 sentences from wikipedia.

[John Hjorth]

11 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

... By the way, Navalny’s widow just published a book that sheds some light about Navalny’s late days. He died in a Russian Gulag. The funeral on Moscow only happened because his Mom persisted in finding his body in Siberia  and arranging a small funeral that ended up drawing way more attention than Putin wanted. ...

... My mom told me the book was sold out in German bookstores. So it seems that some people care. ...

 

Is this about the book 'Patriot', or another book, @Spekulatius ?

[Spekulatius]

Just now, John Hjorth said:

 

Is this about the book 'Patriot', or another book, @Spekulatius ?

Yes, it’s about Patriot. Havn’t read the book and most likely won’t. Too depressing.

[John Hjorth]

Thank you, @Spekulatius,

 

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YouTube - NATO News : NATO Secretary General - Statement on the deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, 28 OCT 2024.

 

 

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What is next?

 

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Today, I looked nosy at retailing stuff [canned food stuff, normally not present here] placed on the kitchen table, delivered earlier today by nemlig.com. I got asked to keep my chopsticks off those things. It turns out The Lady of the House now has started prepping 

Edited October 28 by John Hjorth

[dwy000]

14 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

Thank you, @Spekulatius,

 

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YouTube - NATO News : NATO Secretary General - Statement on the deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, 28 OCT 2024.

 

 

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What is next?

 

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Today, I looked nosy at retailing stuff [canned food stuff, normally not present here] placed on the kitchen table, delivered earlier today by nemlig.com. I got asked to keep my chopsticks off those things. It turns out The Lady of the House now has started prepping 

Have things gotten so bad in North Korea they're now selling soldiers?

[John Hjorth]

1 hour ago, dwy000 said:

Have things gotten so bad in North Korea they're now selling soldiers?

 

At least those North Korean soldiers according to the available intelligence are located in Russia, not in the by Russia occupied parts of Ukraine.

 

Now that may perhaps eventually change at some time in the future, and what happens then?

 

Vladimir Putin is desperate, and can't keep up momentum in the Russian warfare, so cash and transfer of military technology to North Korea against North Korea providing more meat to fodder the meat grinder.

 

It's just a business deal between two business men, who don't give a damn about their respective citizens.

 

Please note that South Korea is on its toes now because of this.

Edited October 28 by John Hjorth

[Pelagic]

10 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

At least those North Korean soldiers according to the available intelligence are located in Russia, not in the by Russia occupied parts of Ukraine.

 

Now that may perhaps eventually change at some time in the future, and what happens then?

 

Vladimir Putin is desperate, and can't keep up momentum in the Russian warfare, so cash and transfer of military technology to North Korea against North Korea providing more meat to fodder the meat grinder.

 

It's just a business deal between two business men, who don't give a damn about their respective citizens.

 

Please note that South Korea is on its toes now because of this.

 

For Russia troops are fungible. 10,000 NKs on the border with Ukraine somewhere in Russia allows them to transfer troops to occupied Ukraine. Or as some are suspecting they'll employ them in an offensive against Ukrainian held positions in Kursk.

 

Russian troops who volunteer to fight in Ukraine get paid around $4,000 a month which is part of the "allure" of joining the Russian military, as pay is significantly higher than what they can make elsewhere. And also why Russia has had some success recruiting non-Russians to join their military. I wonder if NK troops will be paid similarly or does that money just get kicked up to the NK regime.  There's also been some mention of Russian contract soldiers who signed up to fight in Ukraine not receiving benefits when fighting in Kursk (Russia) and their families being denied the death benefits they would have normally received. No doubt Russia faces an ever growing manpower shortage but perhaps there's some more nuanced issues with regards to the specific terms of contract soldiers that they think NK troops might help alleviate.

[Xerxes]

1 hour ago, John Hjorth said:

 

At least those North Korean soldiers according to the available intelligence are located in Russia, not in the by Russia occupied parts of Ukraine.

 

Now that may perhaps eventually change at some time in the future, and what happens then?

 

Vladimir Putin is desperate, and can't keep up momentum in the Russian warfare, so cash and transfer of military technology to North Korea against North Korea providing more meat to fodder the meat grinder.

 

It's just a business deal between two business men, who don't give a damn about their respective citizens.

 

Please note that South Korea is on its toes now because of this.

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/defense-aerospace-report/id1228868129?i=1000674730063