Details on North Korean Military Training in russia
More and more reports emerge from intelligence services about russia's plans to engage military personnel from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to fight against the Ukrainian forces in the Kursk Region. Sources in Defense Intelligence of Ukraine told us that troops from North Korea were observed undergoing basic military training, in stark contrast with allegations that Kim Jong Un sent his most elite units.
Closing ties with other dictatorship regimes, the Kremlin is destabilizing the balance of power in multiple regions across the world. In exchange for extensive help with artillery ammunition and soldiers, Moscow is sharing its nuclear technologies with North Korea, according to Ukraine's intelligence chief Budanov, — an alarming signal, considering the prospect of DPRK receiving the technology to produce not just nuclear missiles but also smaller artillery nukes. Nuclear-powered artillery shells are especially threatening to South Korea which is entirely within the reach of the vast North Korean gun arsenal.
Meanwhile, some details of russia-iran cooperation came to light as well: in addition to Su-35 aircraft, Moscow granted license for domestic production of the fighter jet to the iranian defense industry, helping Tehran to unify and significantly level-up its air force.
Saudi Arabia Buys Pantsir Air Defense Systems From russia: Will Riyadh Face Consequences?
Speaking of shady deals with Moscow, a Saudi official defense magazine listed russian Pantsir anti-aircraft system as one of the country's newly acquired air defense equipment. Coupled with other evidence, this points to a weapons trade agreement with the russian federation, an act that calls for sanctions response from the United States under the CAATSA. Washington has not commented yet, and it is uncertain if they plan to, considering the inconsistency actually implementing the CAATSA policy historically.
Two Weeks of Ukrainian Drone Strikes Achieve More Than Two Years of Sanctions: russian Artillery Fire Rate Dropped By 1.5x
The title says it all. According to high-ranking Ukrainian defense ministry official, Ivan Havryliuk, russian superiority in artillery fire has dwindled: the daily gunfire ratio between Ukrainian and russian forces dropped from 1:3 to about 1:2, especially compared to the beginning of this year when the ratio heavily favored russia at 1:7, 1:8, or worse. Havryliuk believes it's thanks to Ukraine’s three-week drone strikes campaign against russian GRAU arsenals in September–October of 2024.
What's the Purpose of Combining T-90 Turret With T-80 Chassis and What Kind of Trend in russia It Reveals
A video from social media revealed a russian combat vehicle created by taking a turret from russia's most advanced T-90A main battle tank to the body of a T-80BVK. The chimera illustrates how russians come up with impromptu solutions to effectively use the working parts of damaged or defective military vehicles to their benefit. The T-80 chassis has become subject to many such experiments before, which raises questions, maybe it's not coincidental that this tank, now being de-mothballed, is so oftenly seen without its turret but with some makeshift weapon instead.
Brief updates:
- Rheinmetall revealed which weapon has shown the greatest success in Ukraine’s combat zones
- Kremlin sends Strategic Forces troops in battle as infantry: is russia desperately short of manpower?
- Ukrainian soldiers face a new challenge from makeshift drones that approach their targets silently
Longread of the week:
russia's Perspective on Western Defense Production and Conclusions
