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:
Ukraine urges North Korean soldiers to surrender, offering food, shelter
The AFU is supposedly learning the Korean language as well.
Related:
Trolling on the front-line of Donbass (DPRK)
Pentagon-Linked Think Tank Proposes Disinfo Campaign Against Russia, North Korea
Days before a flurry of evidence-free reports emerged that North Korea sent 10,000 soldiers to help Russia in Ukraine, a Pentagon-linked think tank proposed a disinfo campaign aimed at DPRK & Russia.
Pentagon-Linked Think Tank Proposes Disinfo Campaign Against Russia, North Korea
Related:
A Russia–North Korea Alliance in the Works? Don’t Be So Sure
What Should the United States Do?
Given the differences in the objectives of Russia, China, and North Korea, the United States should be mounting major information operations against these three countries to highlight their differences and fuel distrust among them. Doing so would increase the likelihood of decoupling at least some of their partnerships. Some examples of potential information operations seem obvious.
Recruitment and far right: “I Love the Third Brigade”
The United States is putting pressure on Zelensky to lower the age of conscription again, but for the moment the Ukrainian president is rejecting this possibility. This is what Ukrainian media such as Ukrainska Pravda reported this week, referring to the mobilization of men between 18 and 25 years old, a very small population group in which the country’s future cannot afford to lose. Even before the law on mobilization was approved, which is very unpopular despite not being as harsh as foreign allies demanded, prominent figures and self-proclaimed friends of Ukraine such as US Senator Lindsey Graham have publicly encouraged Ukraine to recruit those over 18 years old despite the demographic risk that this implies for the country they claim to defend. These suggestions seem to have become a demand that is confirmed even by people who belong to the state apparatus. “If this information has come to light, it may confirm that American politicians from both parties are putting pressure on President Zelensky on the question of why there is no mobilisation for those aged 18-25 in Ukraine,” said Serhiy Leshchenko, one of Andriy Yermak’s advisers and a figure who has gone from representing the third sector, civil society in Maidan Ukraine to all kinds of well-paid positions in government or in the few state-owned companies that Kiev has not yet privatised. The past ten years show a double standard between those who have been privileged and those who have been impoverished and marginalised thanks to the European and liberal reforms of the peacetime years. However, Ukraine’s refusal to recruit its most vulnerable population group strictly responds to the future needs of the state, which, if it hopes to rebuild itself, must maintain minimum levels of youth population.
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Zelensky Ukraine victory speech: Listen for the quiet parts
Zelensky is going to give his “victory” speech on October 16 to Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, but much of the speech will be secret. The secret part is about giving up territory to Russia.
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The Rada has just passed new legislation that allows NATO officers to command Ukrainian units. So far, the Russians have been mostly quiet, probably because they do not believe NATO will supply field commanders for Ukraine’s military. But if it happens, and that is a big if, the Russians will see it as NATO sending combat troops and react accordingly.
Some speculate that Zelensky will hint at a desire to get some sort of ceasefire and establish a buffer zone patrolled by a kind of coalition of NATO-willing. This is being billed as a Zelensky “concession” to the reality of Russia occupying Ukrainian territory.
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There also are rumors that Ukraine may try to attack Transnistria, the breakaway area of Moldova that includes a few thousand Russian troops – some of them on an agreed peace-keeping mission and others protecting a huge ammunition dump left over from the Soviet period.
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The Russians also have been attacking dry cargo ships in the port of Odessa that are unloading weapons and military supplies from Turkey.
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Moldova also has an important election on October 20. An attack on Transnistria could backfire and topple the current pro-NATO. pro-EU Moldovan government.
Following in the footsteps of Nikita Khrushchev? FYI, “Khrushchev Lied!”😉
Related:
Read More »The US has “invested heavily” in attempting to remove the current Hungarian government, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has claimed. According to the diplomat, US interference involved funding the opposition in a bid to defeat the Fidesz-Christian Democratic People’s Party (Fidesz-KDNP) alliance, led by Prime Minister Victor Orban, in the country’s 2022 election.
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Hungarian media first reported on illicit foreign funding of opposition party campaigns in late 2022. Citing an intelligence report prepared by Hungarian secret services, reports claimed that the opposition had received as much as $8 million from foreign entities. Marki-Zay later publicly admitted to receiving funding from the US-based ‘Action for Democracy’ NGO in a podcast for the Magyar Hang newspaper.
The US government has denied claims it attempted to interfere in the Hungarian electoral process. In a speech in Budapest earlier this year, US Ambassador David Pressman attempted to deflect attention from alleged meddling, insisting that Hungary has no right to “decry foreign interference” when it “advocates for electoral candidates around the world from Poland to Brazil.”
Coincidentally, Brazil, Poland, and Hungary (scroll down to “Key Battlegrounds”) were on Action for Democracy’s agenda.
Previously:
I’ve added a new document that I started, last night. I don’t remember hearing about Action for Democracy until I started looking into Hungary’s Péter Magyar, again (I actually blogged about it in 2022). Most of what I’ve found on his connection to A4D is from conservative media in Hungary, though.
Soros Foundation to End Most EU Operations in Radical Shift
The drills were a response to a speech by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te
China Conducts Blockade Drills Around Taiwan in Warning Against ‘Taiwan Independence’
Taiwan is a province of China, as recognized by the United Nations’ Resolution No. 2758.
Related:
The US-backed NED candidate Willy Lie from the NED-backed party won
“Ukraine and Slovakia will create an energy hub for Eastern Europe,” headlined Ukrainska Pravda on Monday , citing the words of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal after his meeting with Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has recovered and returned to his post after the assassination attempt that put his life in danger. Although the Ukrainian media mainly focused on news about energy cooperation, the Slovak president did not hesitate to repeat to Shmyhal his position regarding Ukraine’s geopolitical position. As Politico stated on Monday, the Slovak president said on Sunday in an appearance in a Slovak media that “as long as I lead the government, I will direct the deputies under my control as chairman of the party [Smer] to never accept Ukraine’s accession.” According to Strana, Fico insisted on his “100%” support for Ukraine’s entry into the European Union, but not into NATO. This “no” attitude towards Ukraine’s entry into the military bloc is compounded by Fico’s intention to resume normal relations with Russia if the war ends during his term in office. However, as his meeting with the Ukrainian prime minister shows, this position is not in contradiction with cooperating with Kyiv on issues affecting both countries, including energy.
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South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun claimed during a parliamentary session earlier this week that Pyongyang could send its forces to fight for Russia after it signed a mutual security treaty with Moscow. He claimed such a deployment is “highly likely” and suggested that some North Korean soldiers may have already been killed in the Ukraine conflict.
“This looks like another hoax,” Peskov replied when asked to comment on Seoul’s allegations during a press briefing.
Previously:
Missile Strike Near Donetsk Eliminates 6 North Korean Officers?
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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