Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[Ax^]

The NKPA are more likely to be engineers and tunnellers rather than cannon fodder.

the men who stare at oatmeal will more than likely defect

for a spoonful of jam

 

[Dogsauce]

bit of a step down from Russian

nearing to bring troops from North Korea to make up the numbers

not the flex Russia thinks it is

They have the manpower, it’s just that they don’t want to send their beautiful boys from Moscow and St Petersburg into the grinder, that’s for the untermenschen from the provinces and whoever else they can drag in from abroad (norks, Syrian and African mercenaries, kidnapped guest workers from the ‘stans etc.)

 

[Yossarian]

the men who stare at oatmeal will more than likely defect

for a spoonful of jam

I don't think there'll be that many defections - the soldiers the North Koreans send will be well aware that their wives/children/parents will be sent to gulags if they fuck up, and surrendering would involve crossing a battle zone and communicating with soldiers that don't speak the same language

 

[Chz]

I don't think there'll be that many defections - the soldiers the North Koreans send will be well aware that their wives/children/parents will be sent to gulags if they fuck up, and surrendering would involve crossing a battle zone and communicating with soldiers that don't speak the same language

North Korean troops deserting Ukraine frontline days after arrival: Report

At least 18 soldiers provided to Putin by Kim Jong Un were said to have abandoned their positions after arriving to the front, Ukrainian media reports.

www.newsweek.com

Didn't take long.

Edit to add: Though to be fair, missing in Russia could mean anything between already dead and defected so perhaps safer for their families to just be AWOL.

 

[kabbes]

Given how super-paranoid the North Korean leadership is, I’m surprised they want to spare troops that will not now be defending their own borders

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Given how super-paranoid the North Korean leadership is, I’m surprised they want to spare troops that will not now be defending their own borders

Supposedly the quid pro quo is nuclear missile technology from Russia, which should make the South Koreans and Japanese feel a bit uncomfortable.

 

[kabbes]

Supposedly the quid pro quo is nuclear missile technology from Russia, which should make the South Koreans and Japanese feel a bit uncomfortable.

If you were a paranoid dictator, though, wouldn’t you prefer to keep your troops around you rather than risk immediate invasion or insurrection for the hope of one day having a dubious nuclear missile or two?

Clearly, I’m having problem empathising with the paranoid dictator mindset here.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

If you were a paranoid dictator, though, wouldn’t you prefer to keep your troops around you rather than risk immediate invasion or insurrection for the hope of one day having a dubious nuclear missile or two?

Clearly, I’m having problem empathising with the paranoid dictator mindset here.

I'm more the benevolent dictator type of person, but I imagine Kim knows full well that no one actually wants to invade his shithole of a country, there'll be no unifying the Koreas as there was with Germany, it's too far gone, you'd have 10s of millions of people turning in to jibbering wrecks if that happened.

 

[The39thStep]

A lot of competition between South Korean intelligence and Ukraine Intelligence for media attention over this issue, and there is obviously no statement from Russia . However, NATO stated yesterday ( no idea if they have watched the videos circulating on the media at that point) that they weren't in a position to confirm the presence of DPRK troops 'actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort' adding 'But this, of course, might change.'

 

[ska invita]

Given how super-paranoid the North Korean leadership is, I’m surprised they want to spare troops that will not now be defending their own borders

theyve signed a deal that if NK gets attacked Russia will defend them

Russia and North Korea vow to defend each other if attacked, new treaty states | NK News

Russia and North Korea vow to “immediately provide military assistance” in the case of an attack on one of them, according to the newly released text of a treaty signed by leaders Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. “In the event that either party falls into a state of war due to armed aggression...

www.nknews.org

 

[PTK]

North Korean troops deserting Ukraine frontline days after arrival: Report

At least 18 soldiers provided to Putin by Kim Jong Un were said to have abandoned their positions after arriving to the front, Ukrainian media reports.

www.newsweek.com

Didn't take long.

Edit to add: Though to be fair, missing in Russia could mean anything between already dead and defected so perhaps safer for their families to just be AWOL.

Why would a Korean unit be named after the Buryat ethnic group? Sounds dubious to me; as does the "report" of the defection of 18 troops that are "believed" to have taken place.

 

[kebabking]

...you'd have 10s of millions of people turning in to jibbering wrecks if that happened.

Just imagine what it be like outside of Urban?

 

[kabbes]

theyve signed a deal that if NK gets attacked Russia will defend them

Russia and North Korea vow to defend each other if attacked, new treaty states | NK News

Russia and North Korea vow to “immediately provide military assistance” in the case of an attack on one of them, according to the newly released text of a treaty signed by leaders Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. “In the event that either party falls into a state of war due to armed aggression...

www.nknews.org

What if they get attacked by Russia?

 

[JimW]

Why would a Korean unit be named after the Buryat ethnic group? Sounds dubious to me; as does the "report" of the defection of 18 troops that are "believed" to have taken place.

Could be an "all those East Asians look alike" racist mistake, or suppose it's possible they're integrating DPRK troops with Eastern battalions.

 

[Chz]

Why would a Korean unit be named after the Buryat ethnic group? Sounds dubious to me; as does the "report" of the defection of 18 troops that are "believed" to have taken place.

Oh I'd agree that it's apocryphal at best, but merging them into an existing unit or naming them after their own Asian people doesn't stretch credulity at all.

NM: Bested by JimW

 

[PTK]

Oh I'd agree that it's apocryphal at best, but merging them into an existing unit or naming them after their own Asian people doesn't stretch credulity at all.

NM: Bested by JimW

"Their own Asian people"? Are the Buryat people the only people in the Asian part of Russia?

 

[ska invita]

What if they get attacked by Russia?

If you've got time listen/watch the video I posted in the Ukraine/cold war thread. Russia, NK Iran and China have increasing need for one another, each has its own selfish reasons, is manipulating the relationship in their own way, but the outcome of US policy on Ukraine (dragging out the war, trying to drain and weaken Russia long term) is backfiring dangerously, and accelerating these new power blocks in a way that was unimaginable a few years ago.

Much like the other US proxy war policy of letting Israel off the chain the long term geopolitical outcomes are hardening dictatorship alliances around the world.

 

[tim]

How do the Nepalese units in the British Army cope, I wonder?

The Nepalese mercenaries fighting for the British are taught English by a former colleague at a barracks somewhere up North. Nepalese mercenaries working for the Russians seem less than contented with their lot. Perhaps, they should get Joanna Lumley to campaign on their behalf.

‘Want to go home’: Nepalis fighting for Russia in Ukraine describe horrors

They were lured by the promise of $3,000 paycheques and Russian citizenship. Now they’re trapped, wounded or dead.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Rimbaud]

The characterisation of opponents to this war as Tankies is one of the more stupid things you assert.

I look forward to the day they [North Korea] reunify the country via force of arms.

 

[TopCat]

You support the reunification of Ukraine by force of arms. Does that make you a tankie?

 

[Rimbaud]

You support the reunification of Ukraine by force of arms. Does that make you a tankie?

I wrote a response to this but then decided your stance is so stupid and irrational it isn't really worth engaging with. Don't really fancy going down a weird tangent of why you think South Korea would be better off under the Kim Dynasty.

 

[Pickman's model]

You support the reunification of Ukraine by force of arms. Does that make you a tankie?

More an effsixteenie

 

[Pickman's model]

That would be not this war obviously.

 

[Yossarian]

You support the reunification of Ukraine by force of arms. Does that make you a tankie?

Not sure if this is weak trolling or you've genuinely lost the plot

 

[Ax^]

genuinely lost the plot I suspect...

 

[Spymaster]

He lost the plot several years ago.

 

[emanymton]

He lost the plot several years ago.

And still there are plenty on here who defend him.

 

[sleaterkinney]

The characterisation of opponents to this war as Tankies is one of the more stupid things you assert.

Not really, I'm opposed to this war. If you want Russia to win or keep it's gains from the war because it's up against the west then you're a tankie.

 

[PTK]

I wrote a response to this but then decided your stance is so stupid and irrational it isn't really worth engaging with. Don't really fancy going down a weird tangent of why you think South Korea would be better off under the Kim Dynasty.

What is a Tankie? It was someone who supported the Soviet military invasion of Czechoslavakia in 1968, to remove the Communist government of that country. It was then applied to those supported the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan to remove the Communist government of that country. In both cases, the national sovereignty of another country was violated

 

[Pickman's model]

It was then applied to those supported the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan to remove the Communist government of that country. In both cases, the national sovereignty of another country was violated

i must have missed the soviet intervention to remove the communist government in kabul. can you tell me more about it?