Russia's Tsar Vladimir I and the stunted little gargoyle with bad hair who runs North Korea have been engaged in some deals lately, and now we have some details as to what the Hermit Kingdom got in return for the cannon ammo and cannon fodder they sent to Russia. Russia got some troops and munitions to keep up its war on Ukraine, and North Korea got some high-tech air defense systems.
There is nothing about this deal that's good for Ukraine or anyone else.
North Korea helped Russia to ramp up its missile attacks on key Ukrainian civilian infrastructure through the shipment of thousands of soldiers and artillery shells — with Pyongyang getting sanctions-busting air defense weapons and military equipment in return, officials revealed Thursday.
The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group comprising 11 United Nation members observing the sanctions against Pyongyang, found that Russia and North Korea had violated UN sanctions to bolster their military ambitions.
Moscow received more than 12,000 North Korean troops to help retake the Russian region of Kursk from Ukraine earlier this year. The Kremlin also got as many as nine million rounds of artillery and rocket launcher ammunition from North Korea, the MSMT confirmed in its first report.
Nine million rounds of artillery and rocket launcher ammo - that's a lot of ammo for the Russian cannon-cockers to toss at Ukraine. Artillery has been something that Russia has historically employed in great numbers. The Red Army in World War 2 - the Great Patriotic War, as it's known in Russia - taught the Red Army the value of artillery and plenty of it, and it's a blessing that the Russian Army today still understands.
In return, North Korea got a boost to its air-defense capability.
In return for the men and weapons, Russia gifted Kim at least one Pantsir mobile air defense system, a medium-range surface-to-air interceptor and anti-aircraft weapon, officials said.
North Korea also received a Pantsir-class combat vehicle, electronic warfare jamming devices and other military equipment to bolster Kim’s defense systems, according to the report.
Apparently, it's only one system, but it is perhaps belaboring the obvious to note that one unit may well inform the North Koreans on how to build more, and it's not known if Russia provided any specs, plans, or blueprints for the weapons and systems.
Both sides have their reasons for the trade. Tsar Vladimir I, as I reported on Thursday, is massing troops along Ukraine's northern border. He has been launching missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities. The North Korean troops that Pyongyang sent proved to be of little use, but the munitions will be, if Russia's dictator decides to open a second front in the Russo-Ukraine war.
See Also: Putin on Ending the War: New Conditions, Same As the Old Conditions
Russia Surging Troops to Ukraine's Northern Border in a Possible Prelude to Invasion
North Korea, other than the lowlands in the country's southwest, is a pretty rugged, mountainous place. Any attack on North Korea would depend heavily on air power, and Moscow has just given North Korea's counter-air capability a boost. Now, as of this writing, there aren't any troops massing on any of North Korea's borders, nor does the Hermit Kingdom face any clear and present dangers. But North Korea, throughout the reign of the line of stunted little gargoyles with bad hair who run that isolated nation, has long been marked by paranoia in its military policy.
This alliance between Russia and North Korea is serious. It's concerning. And if Ukraine isn't worried about this latest alliance of evil, they should be.
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