After a few cat and mouse days of Defense Secretary Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin’s denials, the Pentagon finally yesterday affirmed that there was evidence of a North Korean military presence in Russia. Asked what they were doing in Russia, Austin replied, “What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out.”
Previously:
As Russia Advances, NATO Considers Sending Trainers Into Ukraine
So far the United States has said no, but Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that a NATO deployment of trainers appeared inevitable. “We’ll get there eventually, over time,” he said.
For now, he said, an effort inside Ukraine would put “a bunch of NATO trainers at risk” and would most likely mean deciding whether to use precious air defenses to protect the trainers instead of critical Ukrainian infrastructure near the battlefield. General Brown briefed reporters on his plane en route to a NATO meeting in Brussels.
As a part of NATO, the United States would be obligated under the alliance’s treaty to aid in the defense of any attack on the trainers, potentially dragging America into the war.
…
But in February, President Emmanuel Macron of France said that “nothing should be ruled out” when it comes to sending Western troops to Ukraine. Mr. Macron has doubled down on his comment since, including after senior American diplomats asked him to stop.
US General Says Russia’s Military Is Bigger Than Before Ukraine Invasion
“In sum, Russia is on track to command the largest military on the continent,” he said. “Regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Russia will be larger, more lethal, and angrier with the West than when it invaded.”
…
Back in April 2022, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin declared one goal of the proxy war was to “weaken” Russia. More recently, hawks in Congress have been claiming that the damage being done to the Russian military is a good enough reason to continue fueling the conflict.
Related:
Ukraine’s Top General Says Situation on the Battlefield Has ‘Significantly Worsened’
About 90,000 troops will participate in the drills to prepare for a potential conflict with Russia
NATO to Hold Its Largest Military Exercises Since the Cold War
We are very happy to bring you this excerpt from Colonel Jacques Baud’s latest book, The Russian Art of War: How the West Led Ukraine to Defeat (L’art de la guerre russe: Comment l’occident conduire l’ukraine a la echec). This is a detailed study of the two-year old conflict in which the West has brutally used the Ukrainians to pursue an old pipedream: the conquest of Russia.
The Russian Art of War: How the West Led Ukraine to Defeat
A top US general has issued a warning that despite significant losses in Ukraine, Russia’s ground forces are bigger than they were at the start of the 2022 invasion, a sobering assessment of the country’s military capabilities.
US general cautions against writing Russia’s army off in Ukraine: ‘It is bigger today than it was at the beginning of the conflict’ (archived)
Russia was aware of Western involvement in Ukraine even before the documents were leaked online, Dmitry Peskov repeated
Russian responds to leak of ‘secret’ NATO war plan
Related:
Ukraine War Plans Leak Prompts Pentagon Investigation (Archived)
Classified war documents detailing secret U.S. and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military before a planned offensive against Russia were posted this week on social media channels, senior U.S. officials said.
…
U.S. officials were working to get them deleted but had not, as of Thursday evening, succeeded.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 