U.S. says Russia buying North Korea shells and rockets for Ukraine war

“Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russian weapons are 'decades' ahead of Western rivals' in a speech at an arms expo in Moscow.

Putin warns he is ready to arm his allies with 'the most modern types of weapons' as he boasts of Russia's military capabilities

Putin vowed: '[We] are ready to offer our allies the most modern types of weapons, from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery to combat aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Many of them are years, if not decades, ahead of their foreign counterparts. “

ok vlad, so you’ve gone from boasting about Russia’s military capabilities, to going cap in hand to North Korea begging for armaments - hilarious

That's really hard to believe. It's like saying the U.S. buys its weapons from Jamaica.

It's also been stated that Russia is using drones from Iran. That's also weird if true.

Does Russia have an independent and self sufficient military? It sure doesn't sound like it.

For a while Putie’s fan-bois have been poo-pooing any reports of ammo shortages, equipment failures, etc as farcical.

Seems they are “not farcical”

The “smart” (by Russian standards) “could have been built by a college student in the 90s” according to an analyst who looked at systems that failed. The “precision” systems that the Russians use employ off the shelf open-architecture systems that miss their targets 40-60% of the time (thus the quote around the word precision.)

Shoot too many rounds through a poorly maintained artillery barrel and it “banana peels” (blows apart catastrophically.) this usually results in a closed casket funeral for the crew if they can find anything to put in the casket in the first place. A cursory search of available photos now shows multiple cases of this happening to Mama Russia’s god of war artillery.

And yes, they’re running out of both “precision” and dumb munitions. Even the “mighty” Russian army has a limit on reserve stocks and they’re reaching it. It cannot replace its losses due to sanctions. The Chinese won’t sell to them. So what to do?

The DPRK! Buy 3rd rate knock-off munitions from fat boy (ops not fat anymore….no wait, fat again!) Kim and his cray cray sister! They’ve got tons (literally) of the stuff just lying around (again, literally.) They’d sell anything to anybody. They certainly need the cash. What’s not to like?

The quality of the ammo. That’s what not to like. Ammo is not ammo. That is, it’s not a commodity some shells are made to better standards than others even if the same caliber. Guess where N. Korean ammo falls on the quality of manufacture spectrum? I would consider it of inferior quality even compared to the rust bucket 1978 Fiat I was foolish enough to purchase in 86 for my first car.

And ammo storage matters. Extremes of temp and humidity lead to corrosion and failures. What’s the betting line of this stuff being junk?

Junk equipment that doubles as crew food processor/ ovens, junk ammo, junk leadership and drunken soldiers (This part is understandable. If I knew I was going off to die a slow death with crap equipment, I’d be drunk all the time too.)

No wonder the Russians are using a nuclear power plant as a bargaining piece. Their army is about to up and just stop working.

Many of them are years, if not decades, ahead of their foreign counterparts. 

The fine print said “Years, if not decades ahead of their foreign counterparts ON THE ROAD TO OBSOLESCENCE.”

Does Russia have an independent and self sufficient military? It sure doesn't sound like it.

They really don’t have a good military, Russia is a real “Paper Tiger”

Not sure I believe it, but Russia needs to find someone to trade with now they have a glut of oil. It isn't like NK has any money, so perhaps stockpiled shells are being traded?

We know that Russia is using Chinese-made drones, because they've been shot down and China put out a statement saying they disapproved. I missed the claims they were using Iranian drones. That's new to me.

Putin keeps this war going due to his ability to lie to the world with a straight face.

Remember: When does Putin tell lies?

Whenever he opens his mouth.

Someone in Mar-A-Lago is extremely jealous - looks like Kim has found someone to exchange not only love letters, but bombs and rockets...LOL...

Michael,Putin will get away in Ukraine,as much as the west,will tolerate him making Ukrainain life miserable hell,the West has not done anything to stop,why would he stop

Remember: When does Putin tell lies?

Whenever he opens his mouth.

Or he gets "happy feet." That's a tell too.

Not for Ukraine, but USA bases in Japan if US attackers China over Taiwan. It’s for the Eastern Front.

Not for Ukraine, but USA bases in Japan if US attackers China over Taiwan. It’s for the Eastern Front.

Um, no and even if it were, Your Russian boys are short ammo and are going to a 3rd rate back-alley supplier. This is even worse than getting drones from Iran that, not for nothing, "do not work in a contested environment."

Oh those pesky facts.

You can split a city into 42 gps block of 2.5 miles,and destroy each with 50 artillery shell per block

Of course they are! I told everyone in a previous article that those joint military exercise with Russia, CCP, NK, and some South American countries are a cover for Russia to make some business deals for the Ukraine war. They are trying to purchase weapons and recruit more volunteers.

Only already sanctioned countries are willing to do business like NK and Iran. NK's government have already been verified as a criminal organization for decades.

The United States charged on Tuesday that Russia is in the process of buying millions of artillery shells and rockets 

I doubt that this is even true but if it is the correct terminology would be that Russia HAD a weapons shortage.

Not anymore.

If this was even true in the first place, which is dubious.

"Millions of artillery shells and rockets"? It's quite a quantity. Requires A LOT of trains, ships etc to transport. Anything to back up this claim?

@Nemo

Oh those pesky facts

What facts, exactly? Photos, videos, anything?

My some people have no idea how to spot obvious propaganda nonsense.

The Iranian drone story is true.

They are reverse engineered US models.

Redstorm, Ukrainain hope of liberation is not realistic,they should move for something other than war, Russian are systematic destroying Ukrainain future,to the point of no return

North Korean bombs, Iranian drones, Chechen soldiers, Chinese silence and who knows what else . . . Ugly isn’t it?

@Redstorm

Putin is offering freedom to Russian prisoners if they go and fight in Ukraine

Utmost nonsense. There is no shortage of volunteers from Donbass, more than willing to settle some scores with Ukraine for the eight years of brutal occupation and all its crimes. And do you really believe that ex-convicts will make soldiers ready to fight? Pretty much more probable they'll defect to the enemy to save their lives or just a rob a nearest bank instead.

Ukraine is not losing the war

More than half of Ukraine budget comprises of loans, grant-ins and other foreign life support, its national debt is absolutely unsustainable, in several months it will run out of money to pay its army. Well, what will be left of its army, because all its frontline units are badly mauled and are filling their ranks with men from territorial units and hastily mobilized people with almost zero training. Almost all equipment the Ukroarmy had this winter is lost, they now fight with what NATO provides them. After NATO armories are empty the Ukroarmy will have not much left to fight with, because its own military industry was almost dead years before. Still sure Ukraine is not losing?

Yeah ok because the USA never lies or fabricates "classified information" ....please

@Redstorm

Russian 127th regiment of the 1st army corps reportedly ignored orders to fight

The key word "Reportedly". Another story of the same quality as the "Ghost of Kyev" or the fresh "An old man shot down a Russian Jet with his hunting rifle". First, 127th regiment is not Russian, it is a Donbass militia init. Second, while there were some delays with food supplies to the unit there were no refusals to fight, mutiny or anything like that. Ukrainian keyboard warriors are producing less and less believable stories.

And still, Ukraine has not been defeated

Be patient, it takes time to dismantle the half-a million men war machine equipped with a lot of NATO hardware.

Russian conscripts refused to fight

There are no Russian conscripts in Ukraine. Only volunteers. A small group of conscripts crossed the border in March by mistake but were quickly returned to their units at home.

First, 127th regiment is not Russian, it is a Donbass militia init

That's right, Russian forces formed the 127th Regiment of forcibly mobilized personnel in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblast in early April, alongside four other DNR regiments.

So much for 'the Donbas wants to be ruZZian'.

there were no refusals to fight

He said, she said. Apparently those who refused to fight were removed from their unit as punishment.

As punishment for refusing to fight, they were removed from the fighting? Sounds like great way to encourage more press-ganged recruits to refuse to fight against their countrymen.

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-soldiers-riot-refuse-fight-ukraine-war-1739773

@cleo

forcibly mobilized personnel

Do you think that after all the Ukroorcs have done to Donbass the locals need to be forced to fight? If they were forcibly mobilized, how come they do not desert at the first opportunity, just like the Ukroarmy recruits do?

So much for 'the Donbas wants to be ruZZian'

How many regiments of the Ukroarmy were formed from the people of Donbass? Zero. So much for "Donbass is Ukraine".

As punishment for refusing to fight, they were removed from the fighting?

He said, she said.

Well they are allies. You can bet on China supplying Russia as well, from components to SAR satellite pictures

@Redstorm

Who are Ukroorcs?

Well, @cleo some time ago began to call the Russians "orcs". I just returned the favour.

your free to post links to what you believe to be correct

I was interested in the Ukrainian civil war since its very beginning in 2014. Read a lot social media from people who live and fight there and watched a lot on Youtube. I know enough to make competent conclusions.

25% of the Russian military are conscripts. 50,000 Russian troops killed or wounded to date. 2,000 Russian tanks were destroyed

25% are conscripts - may be. But they all are stationed in units inside the Russia proper. The rest are just Berlin radio stories of April 1945, "Under-offizier Hans Smolke single-handedly destroyed 30 Soviet tanks". If true, why the Ukroarmy still does not storm Moscow?

@Redstorm

If you totally believe what Ukraine says why not to believe all the Russians say? I hope you have a translation app, here is the Russian ministry of defence official news release:

https://rusvesna.su/news/1662461700

Their score is 290 Ukrainian planes, 152 helicopters, 4845 AFVs.

 @cleo some time ago began to call the Russians "orcs".

Just taking my cue from the Ukrainian soldiers and civilians facing the inhuman ba&&&rds on a daily basis. They know what they're up against. They also call them muscovites.

why not to believe all the Russians say?

Lemme see, because Russians who tell the truth (it's a war, russians are deserting, we shouldn't be invading our brothers) tend to get arrested, imprisoned for up to 15 years, or they get seriously ill and fall out of a 6th floor hospital window?

@Redstorm

What does not change is that Putin and Russia are the invaders of a sovereign country Ukraine

Ukraine asked for it when it started a civil war in 2014 with its "ukrainization" military campaign. If NATO invaded Serbia or Libya under pretext of "protection against brutal oppression", why Russia may not do the same?

@cleo

Just taking my cue from the Ukrainian soldiers and civilians

You better take your cue from the people of Donbass who for eight years suffered under Ukrainian occupation. During WWII Nazis treated locals better than those "compatriots". No wonder whole regiments are formed from locals to fight against the regime.

because Russians who tell the truth (it's a war, russians are deserting, we shouldn't be invading our brothers) tend to get arrested

Ask your Ukrainian friends how they burned dozens of people alive in Odessa on May 2, 2014. Ask them how street nazi gangs killed with impunity anyone they considered "not Ukrainian enough" (like a famous Ukrainian writer Oles' Buzina). Ask them about the "National Corps" - a pure nazi political movement that penetrated every level of the Ukrainian state. Ask them about "disappearances" of hundreds of people who were arrested by SBU (Ukrainian Gestapo).

https://rusvesna.su/news/1662461700

Their score is 290 Ukrainian planes, 152 helicopters, 4845 AFVs.

The number of planes listed is about four or five times the total inventory of Ukraine's air force so is obviously fake. Given the figure is so far from truth how can any other figures be considered accurate?

Russian domestic news is for the consumption of uninformed Russians to ensure the maintain as many as possible supporting the war.

Ukraine numbers would also be inflated, but as the worlds free press has basically full access to Ukraine territory, and allowing them free range gets Ukraine support from NATO and other nations, the numbers are closer to accurate than Russian numbers. Remember this is a war and citizens on both sides are manipulated. The simple truth is Russia is better able to restrict the flow of information to its people and can lie much more easily, where as those in Ukraine have access to what the media from worlds nations reporting in Ukraine publish and are less able to publish false facts when free press prints other "facts and numbers". Every nation manipulates "facts and numbers" and this has always been the case in war. WWI, WWII and all other modern wars have had information vetted and overstated to keep morale high to help win conflicts.

Well they are allies. You can bet on China supplying Russia as well, from components to SAR satellite pictures

Chinese rockets, missiles and other equipment surprisingly is not compatible with Russian equipment other than small arms ammunition. The Chinese today arguably have better equipment than the Russians have and if there was Chinese equipment turning up in Russia it would be public knowledge by now. The Chinese equipment is visibly different and has different emissions characteristics.

Their score is 290 Ukrainian planes, 152 helicopters, 4845 AFVs.

The US military was saying in March of 2022 that UKAF had about 56 fully operational front line combat jets MiG-26, Su-24, Su-25, Su-27). Since then about two dozen that were in storage have been brought back into front line service using spares from former Warsaw Pact nations that are now NATO allies. The UKAF has only 15 transport helicopters but the Ukraine Army has four brigades of mixed MI-8, Mi-9 and Mi-24s with a smattering of other types, about 66 total helicopters.