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Throughout the election campaign US President Donald Trump often claimed that Biden’s administration made a lot of mistakes while in power. Many of them, according to Trump, just fueled the flame of the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine. The US President and his supporters fiercely condemned the Democrats for numerous aid packages, that, from their point of view, not only pulled the opposing sides away from negotiations but also damaged the American economy. In his speeches Trump systematically stressed his intention to bring an end to the conflict in a very short time by halting military aid to Ukraine and forcing the warring parties to enter into peace talks. Billing himself as a “peacekeeper”, Trump inspired hope of the war to be ended.
However, on January 13, the newspaper Financial Times released the information that the 47th President of the USA urged Kyiv to lower Ukraine’s conscription age from 25 to 18, promising to equip recruits with all necessary clothing and gear as well as weapons. This injunction can be considered to be an indispensable condition for Kyiv to get further financial and military assistance from the USA. Thus, before sending arms and materiel to Ukraine, Trump is determined to make sure that the problem of personnel shortage within its Armed Forces is solved. It seems that Trump and Zelensky reached a certain agreement behind the scenes that made the US President move away from his campaign pledges and reconsider his attitude to financing Ukraine. Conditions, set to Kyiv, leave no possibility to see the end of the Russo-Ukrainian war in the near future, as the lowering of the conscription age, according to the experts, will bring hundreds of thousands recruits to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Such a hefty increase of personnel, in its turn, will instigate another round of escalation instead of bringing peace.
Agreement reached by the leaders of the USA and Ukraine is confirmed by the active changes in the educational programs of the latter. Traditional school subjects are substituted with military disciplines, new courses, such as “Drones and how to operate them”, are introduced and more time is now devoted to PE. Military trainings for boys and girls every three months, annual paramilitary teen camps testify that Kyiv starts to train recruits when they are just kids. Definitely, the base to lower the conscription age to the point, voiced by Trump, has been already prepared, and, despite an official rejection of condition, set by the US President, Kyiv is elaborating relevant legislative measures. This fact is confirmed by the announcement made by Chairmen of the Council of Reservists of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ivan Tymochko, who said that since January 1st, 2025, all men from 18 to 25 must undergo military training without an exception. According to some information, spread over Ukrainian social networks, draft offices in several regions have already finished the lists of men of the mentioned age group, who will be conscripted in the very near future. Thus, we can only hope that Ukraine won’t recruit teens, as the current policy can lead to such an outcome in the in the next few years.
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US weapon manufacturers and military contractors registered an unprecedented increase in sales of arms and military services in 2024, according to a US State Department fact sheet. This made 2024 one of the most profitable years ever, in large part thanks to wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the military build up around China.
According to the figures released by the US State Department, the total revenue from arms sales in 2024 reached a record USD 318.7 billion registering a 29% increase from the previous year. The top US military contractors include Lockheed Martin, Raytheon (RTX), and General Dynamics, among others.
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The Ukrainian news outlet Strana has published leaked details of President Trump’s alleged plan to end the war in Ukraine in 100 days.
According to Newsweek, which said it couldn’t verify if the details were accurate, the plan starts with holding a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in late January or early February, followed by meetings with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February or March.
The leaked plan calls for a ceasefire to be declared by Easter, which falls on April 20. The truce would involve Ukraine withdrawing troops from Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
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New York, January 30, 2025—Ukrainian military officers detained three journalists for eight hours on accusations of “illegal border crossing” on January 6 in Sudzha, a Ukrainian-controlled town in Russia’s Kursk region. The journalists — Ukrainian freelance reporter Petro Chumakov, Kurt Pelda, correspondent with Swiss media group CH Media, and freelance camera operator Josef Zehnder — had army accreditation and were traveling in a military vehicle with a Ukrainian soldier who had permission from his commander to drive them to Kursk, Pelda told CPJ.
The Sumy district court dismissed the legal proceedings against the journalists on January 15 after finding that their rights had been “grossly” violated. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense suspended Chumakov’s accreditation on January 9 “pending clarification of the circumstances of my possible unauthorized work,” Chumakov told CPJ.
As of January 30, Chumakov had not received an update on his status. Pelda told CPJ he feared the ministry would not renew his and Zehnder’s accreditations, which expire on April 15 and July 8.
“Journalists accredited to cover the war in Ukraine and complying with the rules for reporting in war zones should be able to do their work without obstruction,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must immediately reinstate the accreditation of Ukrainian journalist Petro Chumakov and commit to renewing those of Kurt Pelda and Josef Zehnder.”
CPJ’s email requesting comment from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s press service did not receive a response. The ministry’s accreditation office declined to comment.
“It goes without saying that one of the duties of a war reporter is to withhold sensitive information… I have been reporting from the Ukrainian war zone for almost three years now and not only know these rules but also abide by them. In certain circles of the Ukrainian military leadership, however, the aim is to ban independent reporters from the combat zones altogether,” Pelda said, pointing to the zoning rules that have limited reporters’ frontline access.
“Nobody knows where these zones are, and this gives the local commanders [and press officers] a lot of discretion,” Pelda told CPJ.
Pelda is one of a number of foreign journalists facing Russian criminal charges for an allegedly illegal border crossing – a charge carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison – into the Kursk region last year.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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“I’m not looking to hurt Russia,” President Donald Trump recently declared in a statement he posted on his TruthSocial account. “I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin.”
Trump, however, comes from the school of “hard love,” where punishment is applied to achieve the desired results.
And punishment was on Trump’s mind as he expressed his love and admiration for the Russian people and their leader, Vladimir Putin.
“I’m going to do Russia,” Trump wrote, “whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE.”
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The Doomsday Clock was set at 89 seconds to midnight, the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight in its 78-year history. The 2025 Clock time signals that the world is on a course of unprecedented risk, and that continuing on the current path is a form of madness. The United States, China, and Russia have the prime responsibility to pull the world back from the brink. The world depends on immediate action.
The Doomsday Clock’s time is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board (SASB) in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel Laureates.
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Read a version of this story in Korean
North Koreans are questioning why the country’s soldiers are being sent to Russia to fight against Ukraine when they have been told all their lives that their main enemy is the United States, residents told Radio Free Asia.
The Pentagon and South Korean intelligence estimate that Pyongyang has deployed around 12,000 troops to Russia, but Pyongyang and Moscow have not openly acknowledged this, and there is no news of it in state media.
But by now, most people have learned about the deployment by word of mouth as news has trickled into the country from North Koreans working in China or other countries.
The news has puzzled North Koreans, who are discreetly discussing it among themselves, source say.
One resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA Korean that he recently talked about it with two friends.
“We reasoned that if they had been dispatched to Russia then they must be fighting Ukraine, but why should we be fighting Ukraine? That was the main point of our discussion,” he said.
Enemy #1
From an early age, North Koreans are taught that the United States is its main enemy — and South Korea is close behind because it is a “puppet” of Washington.
North Korean propaganda blames the United States for dividing Korea after World War II and starting the 1950-53 Korean War — both of which are inaccurate in the view of most historians.
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Although prior to the end of World War II, Washington did propose the 38th parallel as the divider between U.S. and Soviet zones to accept the eventual surrender of former colonizer Japan, it was never intended to be a permanent national border.
And while there were frequent skirmishes between North and South Korean forces in the years prior to the Korean War, most historians agree that it was the North who invaded the South in 1950.
Today, North Korea’s many economic woes are also blamed on U.S. sanctions, which have been imposed over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. The United Nations also has put sanctions on the country.
“The authorities are always trying to make us hate America, saying that they are our bitter enemies with whom we cannot share the same sky,” the resident said.
“But now that our soldiers have gone to war against Ukraine, people are wondering why we are fighting Ukraine instead of America,” he said.
‘Why do we have a new enemy?’
Similar secret discussions are going on all over the country, including in the northern province of Ryanggang, a resident there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
“If you look at recent newspapers and broadcasts, they say that Ukraine is a puppet government,” he said. “I am curious why the authorities are suddenly calling Ukraine a puppet and when did Ukraine become our enemy?”
He said authorities still emphasize that the United States is enemy #1.
“According to their logic, our soldiers should only be sent into battle to fight the Americans, but in reality they are covering up that we’re fighting against Ukraine,” he said. “I don’t understand.”
The fact that these soldiers are fighting an enemy other than the United States or South Korea is making people question if Washington really is the main foe, the Ryanggang resident said.
“Who is our enemy? Why do we have a new enemy?” he asked. “This confrontational view toward the Americans — which the authorities have attempted to instill in the people — is wavering.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Ahn Chang Gyu for RFA Korean.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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On January 19th, TIME magazine published an astonishing article, amply confirming what dissident, anti-war academics, activists, journalists and researchers have argued for a decade. The US always intended to abandon Ukraine after setting up the country for proxy war with Russia, and never had any desire or intention to assist Kiev in defeating Moscow in the conflict, let alone achieving its maximalist aims of regaining Crimea and restoring the country’s 1991 borders. To have a major mainstream outlet finally corroborate this indubitable reality is a seismic development.
The post It’s Official: United States Abandoning Ukraine appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
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Many Ukrainians are expecting the new year 2025 to bring the beginning of peace negotiations and an end to the war by Kiev and NATO against Russia. Hopes have been stirred by the pre-election, populist pronouncements of the new US president. Months ago, Donald Trump made statements promising to ‘end the war in one day’ upon assuming office. But it remains entirely speculative as to whether he would act on that and how. Meanwhile, in the here and now, the outgoing administration of President Joseph Biden is flooding Ukraine with money and weapons so that the unelected regime in Kiev headed by Volodymyr Zelensky may continue a war that it is obviously losing.
The post Ukraine Attempting To Prolong Cruel, Destructive Proxy War In 2025 appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read a version of this story in Korean
North Korea is posthumously granting membership in the Korean Workers’ Party to its soldiers killed in action in Russia’s war with Ukraine — a perk that will benefit their surviving families, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
Party membership is a special privilege in North Korea that improves the social status of families related to the member, giving them access to better education, jobs, housing and food rations.
It may also give them the right to live in the capital Pyongyang, which has a far better standard of living than the rest of the country.
But some parents who are notified that their sons have died in battle did not even know they had been sent to Russia, a resident in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The Pentagon and South Korean intelligence estimate that around 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia since October. According to South Korean intelligence, at least 300 of these have been killed and 2,700 injured.
Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has acknowledged North Korea’s participation in the conflict.
The North Korean people have not been informed, either, but many seem to have heard about it through word of mouth, the resident said.
“In early January, a couple living in Myonggan county, relatives of my close friend, were told to go to Pyongyang without knowing the reason,” the resident said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un raises his Party Membership Card to vote during North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 29, 2016. (NKO via AP)A senior local official — the county secretary — took them to the station in his car and and provided train tickets and lunch boxes to eat on the train — a rarity in North Korea, where most people cannot freely travel, especially not at government expense.
Once in Pyongyang, the couple was given a certificate informing them of their son’s death and a party membership card — but were told nothing about the nature of his mission or where he died, the resident said.
Authorities urged them to keep quiet.
“They did not even allow the bereaved families to cry out loud,” he said. “They repeatedly urged them not to share information with other relatives or anyone around them.”
Special treatment
Upon their return, the special treatment for the couple continued.
The county secretary picked them up and delivered them to their home, and ordered the factory where the man works to give him a special 10-day vacation, the resident said.
But even though the family is already getting the perks, they would rather have their son alive, he said.
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“According to my friend, his relative believes his son was killed while deployed to fight in the war with Ukraine,” he said. “The couple spends each day in tears, mourning the loss of their only son.”
Posthumous membership in the party is usually only given in combat situations, not to soldiers who die while performing their usual peacetime duties.
Promised homes
Another resident of the same province said that the authorities have promised to allow the family members of the soldiers killed in the war with Ukraine to live in Pyongyang as soon as there are available homes for them.
Since 2021, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un has been pushing his pet development project — to build 10,000 homes per year and 50,000 by the end of 2025 — in the capital.
According to the second resident, his wife’s relatives traveled to Pyongyang and received their dead son’s party membership card and death certificate at a ceremony where an official informed them that they would be able to live in the new homes.
“The party has decided that when Hwasong Street, which is currently under construction, is completed, the bereaved families will be called to Pyongyang and live there as Pyongyang citizens,” he said.
In previous reports about the housing project, Pyongyang residents told RFA that their homes were being demolished to build the new apartments. Although they were promised the right to live there once the homes were completed, they were concerned that there would not be enough new apartments to accommodate everyone.
The second resident said that the authorities asked all the bereaved families to not reveal too much information to the outside world, regarding why they are allowed to move to Pyongyang.
“Among the family members from my wife’s side, there are some who envy the relatives who will be living in Pyongyang in the future,” he said. “But the parents who lost their son are expressing their anger, saying, ‘What good is it when we lost our son? He was only 21 years old.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Ahn Chang Gyu for RFA Korean.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Mark Rutte, the current secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), is not a poet. He, like other secretary generals of NATO, is a mediocre European politician who has been given the task of holding NATO’s reins for the United States (to be fair to Rutte, he has been the prime minister of the Netherlands for fourteen years, but mainly as a survivor rather than a leader). Yet, on 12 December 2024, Rutte gave a speech at the Concert Noble in Brussels (Belgium), a venue rebuilt in 1873 by Leopold II, the brigand king who looted the Congo as its sole owner from 1885 to 1908.
The post All Wars End In Negotiations; So Will The War In Ukraine appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
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From Joan of Arc, the novel Mark Twain considered his finest work—one that took him longer to write than any of his other books, and one so deeply personal to him that he chose to publish it anonymously:
“When we consider that her century was perhaps the most brutal, depraved, and morally corrupt in history since the Dark Ages, we are left in awe at the extraordinary emergence of such a figure from such a time. The contrast between her and her era is as stark as the difference between day and night. She was truthful in a world where deception was the norm; she was honest when integrity had nearly vanished; she kept promises when few would even make them; her great intellect was devoted to noble causes, while others squandered their brilliance on trivialities or selfish pursuits; she embodied modesty, grace, and refinement when loudness and vulgarity had become commonplace; she harbored compassion when cruelty ruled; she stood firm in her convictions when stability was unknown; she was a beacon of honor in an age that had forgotten its meaning; she was steadfast when others were adrift in doubt; she maintained her dignity in a time of sycophants and servility; she exhibited courage when her nation’s hope had withered; she was pure in thought and action in an era where corruption ran rampant at the highest levels; she was all of these things in a world where crime was the everyday business of kings and nobles, and where even the most powerful figures in Christendom shocked the world with their treachery, bloodshed, and barbarism.”
In this week’s bonus show, Andrea mines the timeless lessons in Mark Twain’s portrayal of Joan of Arc, drawing connections between her legacy and contemporary struggles—both in the U.S. and in Ukraine, which faces its most daunting challenge under Russian-backed Trump. No matter how grim the situation may seem, history shows us that movements born from collective action can prevail.
Want to enjoy Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, ad-free episodes, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit!
Show Notes:
People’s March January 18: Find a location near you: https://map.wewontgoback.com/local
People’s March–more info: https://www.peoplesmarch.com/
Opening Clip: https://x.com/atrupar/status/1879698232495734828
Is American an Oligarchy? https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2024/12/10/is-america-an-oligarchy
Rep. Rick Crawford expected to serve as House Intelligence chair https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/01/16/congress/crawford-to-be-named-house-intel-chair-00198644
Luigi Mangione: Shooter or Superfan? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwGVUvq7Pq4&t=18s
ICYMI: Here are previous documents the Security Committee has shared:
• Tech Travel Tips : https://web.tresorit.com/l/hmKP6#FFHiLuu45pSJtMo_Z9Zp9Q
• Why defending your right to privacy is important: https://web.tresorit.com/l/73FHq#ip5_zE6hhWkuaDMBAAhpYw
• Introduction to VPN https://web.tresorit.com/l/WHdqz#-zI5O7Q2zHznO_NG7aZWPQ
• Three Security Steps to Take Today: https://web.tresorit.com/l/417K9#CaDJOcOrEOta4T5oDlNsYw
• Practice Safe Data Security: https://web.tresorit.com/l/hiw9s#wOykkL6Lh_Hz_TbRsiCiEQ
Read all the details in the PDF here:
https://web.tresorit.com/l/W6ots#IydZ2pnTmE1MLPJLkLZ73A
For the Gaslit Nation Book Club – First Meeting at the Gaslit Nation Salon on February 24 at 4pm ET:
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
https://bookshop.org/p/books/man-s-search-for-meaning-viktor-e-frankl/8996943?ean=9780807014271
The Stranger: Introduction by Keith Gore Albert Camus (Author) Matthew Ward (Translator)
This content originally appeared on Gaslit Nation and was authored by Andrea Chalupa.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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After Ukraine released a video of what it said showed a North Korean soldier captured in Russia’s Kursk region, some social media users questioned it, saying the video had been digitally manipulated.
But experts contacted by Asia Fact Check Lab who examined the video say it appears to be authentic. The intricate details in the video show it was neither AI-generated nor tampered with, they said.
Also, several AI content detection tools indicated that it was unlikely the video had been digitally modified. Ukrainian authorities also rejected the claim.
The video
On Jan. 11, the Security Service of Ukraine, or SSU, released a video of what it said showed two North Korean soldiers captured in Kursk.
As many as 12,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia to support its war against Ukraine in Kursk, according to Ukraine and the United States – although neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has acknowledged this. So far, Ukraine reported 3,800 casualties among North Korean soldiers.
But some social media users said the video appeared to be manipulated, including this post on X on Jan. 14, 2025, that showed a photo of a man drinking from a cup through a straw.
“The picture of the ‘captured DPRK’ is an AI Fake just look there are 6 fingers and not 5,” reads the claim, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The X user highlighted what appears to be his fingers with a red circle, claiming that six fingers were visible and citing that as evidence of AI manipulation.
An X user claimed that the video of a North Korean soldier captured in Kursk had been digitally manipulated. Part of the image has been blurred by RFA. (juche0071 via X)The presence of six fingers would indicate AI manipulation since Artificial Intelligence often struggles to accurately render hands.
Original video
But the accusations appear to be unfounded.
Part of the image, made from the video’s 35-second mark, has been blurred by RFA. (The Security Service of Ukraine via Facebook)A reverse image search found the photo was taken from a video published by the SSU, on Jan. 11. The man seen in the image posted by X post can be seen at the video’s 35-second mark.
In the video, the man’s left hand can be seen blackened and dirty, and it appears that the white area at the point where the palm and wrist meet seems to have created an optical illusion that a sixth finger exists.
A closer look at other parts of the video, including at the clip’s two-minute and 32-second mark, shows that the man has five fingers on his left hand.
At the video’s two-minute and 32-second mark, the man can be seen with five fingers on his left hand. Part of the image has been blurred by RFA. (The Security Service of Ukraine via Facebook)Taiwanese information security expert Paul Liu said the intricate details captured in the video confirmed it was neither AI-generated nor tampered with.
For example, at the video’s 2:36 mark, someone hands a pen to another person. “This is something the AI generation typically struggles with because it involves three overlapping objects: hand A, the pen, and hand B,” Liu said. “Currently, AI doesn’t handle overlaps involving more than two objects very well.”
At the video’s two-minute and 36-second mark, someone can be seen handing over a pen to the man. Part of the image has been blurred by RFA. (The Security Service of Ukraine via Facebook)Liu also pointed to scenes where the video showed details of an identity card.
“AI currently cannot produce something as clear as what’s shown on the passport unless the entire video was post-processed, blending real and fake elements together.”
At the video’s one-minute and 43-second mark, the details of a military document can be clearly seen. (The Security Service of Ukraine via Facebook)“Comparing the footage from different timestamps, the indentations on the man’s face and the location of the injuries on his hand are consistent,” Liu added.
Yu Chia-Mu, associate professor at Taiwan’s National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and an AI safety expert, said the man’s little finger did look slightly suspicious at the video’s 35-second mark, but he did not clearly see six fingers.
AI detection tools
The use of tools used to detect AI-generated content found that the video was unlikely to have been manipulated.
Deepware, a tool designed to detect deepfakes and manipulated digital media using advanced AI algorithms, found no deepfake from the video.
A deepfake is a synthetic media creation, often a video or audio, generated using artificial intelligence to imitate a person’s likeness or voice, often with high realism.
A check of the high-definition photos of the man released by Ukraine President Zelenskyy with Sightengine, a tool that analyzes images for potential manipulation, showed the likelihood of manipulation at just 1%, while Hive Moderation, another image analysis tool, assessed it even lower at 0.3%.
Both tools concluded that the photo was original and unaltered.
Meanwhile, the Image Detector, which estimates whether an image was created by a human or generated by AI, found a 74.11% likelihood that the photo was human-taken and a 30.77% likelihood of AI generation, ultimately concluding that the photo was “moderately likely to have been created by a human.”
The Center for Countering Disinformation, a working body of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, dismissed the claim on Jan. 13.
“Propaganda sources circulate claims that either identify the prisoners as Russians from the Republic of Tuva, argue that they are South Koreans rather than North Koreans, or dismiss the video of their interrogation as staged,” the center said on its official X channel.
As of Jan. 15, the center had not responded to Radio Free Asia’s inquiries.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jamin Anderson for RFA Korean and Alan Lu for Asia Fact Check Lab.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Shangri-La Dialogue laid bare China’s undeniable support for Russia in the war in Ukraine, as well as Beijing’s blatant hypocrisy when it says it “supports the policy of territorial integrity and sovereignty”. Last October Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government led a series of study groups asking “Is the War in Ukraine Distracting […]
The post The Increasing Impact of Asia in Europe and the Ukraine War appeared first on Asian Military Review.
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Read a version of this story in Korean
The Ukrainian military has recovered combat instructions and personal photos from a North Korean soldier killed in action in Russia’s war with Ukraine, a human rights organization that assisted in translating the documents told Radio Free Asia.
The documents include several directives issued by the North Korean government–but penned by fellow soldiers–on how they should conduct themselves in combat situations like drone attacks, when advancing on enemy positions, and when their comrades are wounded. The photos are believed to show the soldier along with members of his family.
If authentic, the recovered items would represent yet another piece of evidence confirming the presence of North Korean troops in Russia, which Pyongyang and Moscow have not publicly acknowledged. According to estimates from the Pentagon, around 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia.
Lee Seongmin, the director of the Korea Desk at the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, said in a phone call with RFA Korean on Monday that his organization obtained the documents while assisting Ukrainian Special Forces with translation.
“The documents were written by soldiers on the battlefield and are an important source of information that provides insight into the internal situation of the North Korean military,” said Lee.
One of two photos recovered from the soldier, dated Aug. 14, 2024, shows five people in front of a scenic view of the sea, with text overlay in Korean that says “Making beautiful memories!”
The other photo, dated March 16, 2023, shows a man and a woman, believed to be the soldier’s sister, standing next to each other.
RFA has not independently verified the authenticity of the photos and documents.
‘Strong ideology’
One of the documents, entitled “Combat Experience and Lessons of the 94th Brigade,” compels soldiers to remain resolute in their loyalty to the North Korean state.
“If all front-line soldiers are prepared with strong ideology, conviction, and high combat morale, even enemies equipped with modern weaponry can be defeated through political and ideological superiority, as well as tactical advantage,” it said.
Explore more RFA coverage on this topic
Russians ‘burning faces’ of dead North Koreans to keep them secret: Zelenskyy
Russia, North Korea lost ‘up to a battalion’ of soldiers in Kursk: Zelenskyy
It also lionized soldiers from the brigade who died in battle, saying they “maintained a high level of mental and combat spirit,” and were “determined to execute the battle orders of the respected Supreme Commander at the cost of our lives,” referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Additionally, it said, they advanced on the enemy “like tigers,” an animal considered to be a national symbol in both Koreas, but only officially in the South.
Soldiers were also advised to understand the exact chain of command so that in the event of casualties to key officers, the battle could continue.
Small-scale operations
The instructions also suggested that the soldiers carry out combat operations in small units of two or three soldiers rather than a large force, to lower the effectiveness of enemy artillery fire and drone attacks.
It also advised on how North Korean combatants made themselves vulnerable in their efforts to assist their wounded comrades “resulting in additional casualties.”
“Over 10 such incidents were reported,” it said.
The document also described the difficulties of overcoming a language barrier with Russian forces that has led to more casualties on the battlefield.
Due to the chaos of combat, evacuation points for the wounded were changed. It took 10 hours to evacuate the wounded to hospitals and some died as a result it said.
The ultimate sacrifice
Another document, entitled “Procedure for Task Implementation,” advised the North Korean soldiers not to assist, but to conceal wounded soldiers and continue with their mission.
“During the battle, the wounded shall be handled independently, concealed as much as possible without aid, and the primary unit shall continue to complete its mission,” it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month released a video claiming that Russia was burning the faces of North Korean soldiers to hide evidence that they were participating in operations against Ukraine.
Lee said that the documents show that the North Korean military is gaining combat experience, but at the high cost of lost lives.
“Most of them are just told to go out and execute the mission regardless death or injury,” he said. “Because of this code of conduct, the soldiers just have to do it. The authorities are forcing sacrifices to achieve their goals.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Park Jaewoo for RFA Korean.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read a version of this story in Korean
The Ukrainian military has recovered combat instructions and personal photos from a North Korean soldier killed in action in Russia’s war with Ukraine, a human rights organization that assisted in translating the documents told Radio Free Asia.
The documents include several directives issued by the North Korean government–but penned by fellow soldiers–on how they should conduct themselves in combat situations like drone attacks, when advancing on enemy positions, and when their comrades are wounded. The photos are believed to show the soldier along with members of his family.
If authentic, the recovered items would represent yet another piece of evidence confirming the presence of North Korean troops in Russia, which Pyongyang and Moscow have not publicly acknowledged. According to estimates from the Pentagon, around 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia.
Lee Seongmin, the director of the Korea Desk at the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, said in a phone call with RFA Korean on Monday that his organization obtained the documents while assisting Ukrainian Special Forces with translation.
“The documents were written by soldiers on the battlefield and are an important source of information that provides insight into the internal situation of the North Korean military,” said Lee.
One of two photos recovered from the soldier, dated Aug. 14, 2024, shows five people in front of a scenic view of the sea, with text overlay in Korean that says “Making beautiful memories!”
The other photo, dated March 16, 2023, shows a man and a woman, believed to be the soldier’s sister, standing next to each other.
RFA has not independently verified the authenticity of the photos and documents.
‘Strong ideology’
One of the documents, entitled “Combat Experience and Lessons of the 94th Brigade,” compels soldiers to remain resolute in their loyalty to the North Korean state.
“If all front-line soldiers are prepared with strong ideology, conviction, and high combat morale, even enemies equipped with modern weaponry can be defeated through political and ideological superiority, as well as tactical advantage,” it said.
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It also lionized soldiers from the brigade who died in battle, saying they “maintained a high level of mental and combat spirit,” and were “determined to execute the battle orders of the respected Supreme Commander at the cost of our lives,” referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Additionally, it said, they advanced on the enemy “like tigers,” an animal considered to be a national symbol in both Koreas, but only officially in the South.
Soldiers were also advised to understand the exact chain of command so that in the event of casualties to key officers, the battle could continue.
Small-scale operations
The instructions also suggested that the soldiers carry out combat operations in small units of two or three soldiers rather than a large force, to lower the effectiveness of enemy artillery fire and drone attacks.
It also advised on how North Korean combatants made themselves vulnerable in their efforts to assist their wounded comrades “resulting in additional casualties.”
“Over 10 such incidents were reported,” it said.
The document also described the difficulties of overcoming a language barrier with Russian forces that has led to more casualties on the battlefield.
Due to the chaos of combat, evacuation points for the wounded were changed. It took 10 hours to evacuate the wounded to hospitals and some died as a result it said.
The ultimate sacrifice
Another document, entitled “Procedure for Task Implementation,” advised the North Korean soldiers not to assist, but to conceal wounded soldiers and continue with their mission.
“During the battle, the wounded shall be handled independently, concealed as much as possible without aid, and the primary unit shall continue to complete its mission,” it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month released a video claiming that Russia was burning the faces of North Korean soldiers to hide evidence that they were participating in operations against Ukraine.
Lee said that the documents show that the North Korean military is gaining combat experience, but at the high cost of lost lives.
“Most of them are just told to go out and execute the mission regardless death or injury,” he said. “Because of this code of conduct, the soldiers just have to do it. The authorities are forcing sacrifices to achieve their goals.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Park Jaewoo for RFA Korean.This post was originally published on Radio Free.