North Korean Army attacked Ukrainian troops in Kursk region
A great event, in fact, the Third World War is expanding and the scale of the war is expanding. And for the first time, we see that the enemy, the Russian army, has already lost its professional staff, the personnel contract for the Russian army was broken in '22. Now, in '24, the enemy has run out of mobilised Russians and lacks the human resources to continue the offensive. That is why Putin has agreed with the North Korean dictator to send the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to help the Russian army. The enemy concentrated North Korean troops in the Kursk direction, in September they began to arrive in this direction, in October there were reports, in November, but in December, the full-scale use of Russian infantry in combat operations began.
On 10 December, Russian military zet-channels reported that North Korean special forces allegedly attacked Ukrainian troops near the village of Plekhovo, also in the Kursk region. Well, on 14 December, this was already announced loudly, because an entire battalion of Korean troops, we do not know which unit it is, attacked Ukrainian positions near the village of Malaya Loknya in Kursk region. The video was sent to us by the soldiers.
In this direction, North Korean soldiers, infantrymen are deploying, forming a column one by one and gradually moving across the field in several directions. This is how they are attacking. This video was taken from a Ukrainian drone, which recorded the concentration of North Korean infantry in this direction, in this forest, this is their point of accumulation and from there they launched an attack.
So, what do we know at the moment about this assault on 14 December? It was a full-fledged operation, the enemy is trying to capture the landing near the village of Malaya Loknya, and to do this, North Korean units attacked from five directions. That is, they attacked the end of the landing, they had to run through an open field to get to the landing, which is defended by Ukrainian soldiers in the demilitarised zone in the Kursk region. And they did it in a very quick manner, in columns, one by one, unit by unit, group by group, in such a way, to attack. They were attacking with the support of Russian artillery and Russian electronic warfare. There was the most powerful radio interference for our drones, obviously, the enemy was raising helicopters nearby, not only ground stations, but even electronic warfare helicopters. Russia has several of these helicopters, the Mi-8TPR modification, and they put up the most powerful interference. But we can see that our drones still saw the enemy in time, sent a message and our soldiers took up the fight. The enemy attacked from five directions and advanced quite quickly in all of them, despite the fact that we opened precision corrected fire with our firepower, our drones were operating during the enemy's approach, and our soldiers, who received timely warning, also fired precision fire from small arms. Nevertheless, the North Koreans were closing in fast enough, not paying attention to the losses, and since it was a whole battalion, at least more than 200 soldiers attacked at the same time, it was not possible to stop them all, and the enemy was able to capture several of our positions in this landing. They were unable to fully gain a foothold there, and now for the second day we have been fighting very hard, fierce battles for this landing. The enemy was also amassing in this area, bringing in additional forces at night and bringing in additional forces during the day.
Now we do not see a significant number of videos from this area. There is a video posted by Magyar, which was filmed by one of Magyar's companies.
There are 23 corpses lying there. The bodies are laid out. The enemy is collecting them, the Russians have evacuation teams. These are Korean and Russian soldiers. One of the groups that was destroyed in the battle. The evacuation teams first pull the bodies around them, lay them out so conveniently that they can drive up to the site. The enemy has already come here and may have already taken some of the bodies. So this is one area for evacuation and unloading of the troops. That is, they are waiting for the time when their combat vehicle, usually a combat vehicle, will drive up again and pull out, where they can throw some of the bodies for evacuation. Such collection points for corpses are set up in various places, and the enemy, the Russian command, pays particular attention to the use of Koreans. They want to avoid such a psychological blow that the first use of Korean troops could be called successful. That is why they write a lot about them, about the Koreans, on Zet-channels, how they successfully stormed something. In fact, 14 December was the second attack. What can I say about the tactics of the Korean troops, how they are used by the Russian command? I mean, we can see now that there have been two assault operations in which the North Koreans are going without armoured vehicles. That is, their task is to accumulate in the forest plantations, which are quite dense in the Kursk region, to accumulate there and then to conduct assault operations with such large groups of infantry from several directions in a very coordinated and organized manner, at high speed. They work on individual, very narrow targets. That is, this is not an attack at some great depth, not an attempt to penetrate our combat formations, but an attempt to strike from several sides at the same time, as we see here in the area of Mala Loknya. Where is Malaya Loknya located?
Here, this is marked on the map of Malaya Loknya village itself, and the enemy is trying to cut off, that is, to knock out our troops, to cut them off from the top. That is, they are looking for our positions that are not supported from the flanks, such extreme positions that are most convenient to turn around, attack and create such positions. This is DeepState's map. Thank you, we have only indicated the direction where the Korean attack took place, that is, from this grey area towards Malaya Loknya. So, the North Koreans' task is to capture and assault individual Ukrainian positions, not to infiltrate deep, but to assault from several directions with fresh infantry, they are well trained, motivated, and obviously the Russian command wants to show victories to their North Korean partners, so they choose areas where they can be supported by fire, supported by various electronic warfare and intelligence means, and organise a convenient evacuation. We can see that the Russian command send Russians in one direction, that is, that they go to the end, the occupiers do not pay any attention to the losses of Russian infantry. But they protect the Koreans in the same way that they use the Chechen Akhmat with caution, that is, the Russian command uses Kadyrovites and Koreans much more cautiously. Nevertheless, the tactic itself is the most costly in terms of people. We see that many American military officers have described the tactics of Korean and Chinese troops in the Korean War in 1950-1953, when, as the Americans write, it was a "living wave" tactic, when large masses of infantry in narrow directions, at high speed, accumulated, approached and thus passed even a section, quickly approaching so that they could attack the American infantry in close combat. We see the same tactics from the Koreans here. But they are trying to support their attacks with the help of Russian forces. The enemy doesn't lose people, tries not to evacuate or help the wounded, but they try to evacuate the corpses later to avoid publicity. That's why this video is from the "Magyar Birds", one of the units where Klim's company works, and we see that they have made a video that the Russians would like to avoid by all means. A large number of corpses of Korean soldiers who went to attack Ukraine, Ukrainian positions.
There are two aspects. First, of course, the enemy is trying to avoid immediate negative publicity, a negative information wave, that the Koreans are just cannon fodder there, they are quickly disposed of. And, secondly, the Russian command is trying to avoid demonstrating the large-scale use of North Korean troops in order not to create such problematic things for its propaganda, showing that the Russians cannot defend the Russian Federation on their own, and they are forced to even involve the Koreans.
The third aspect, I would like to point out, is foreign policy, because demonstrating that North Korea, a dictatorial country that is under UN sanctions and sanctions from a large number of countries, most of the countries in the world, is an ally of Russia, it is a demonstration for the whole of Europe what a threat Russia is, that Russia is capable of using the forces of other dictatorial regimes for its aggressive plans, and this is actually a great threat to Europe. And another nuance is that South Korea, which is still at war with North Korea and is one of the most powerful countries in the world militarily, sees that Russia and North Korea are now allies, and now Russia is helping the North Koreans to gain combat experience, modern equipment, modern weapons, drones, modern tactics of warfare, to master them for what? In order to confront South Korea in a possible escalation of the armed conflict, the war. So, of course, this is a very dangerous signal. The Russian command wants to avoid all these nuances. And so we see that the use of Korean troops is large-scale, but only in certain narrow sections of the frontline. We do not have detailed information about the presence of captured Koreans, because the enemy specifically chooses this tactic, these narrow sections of the front, a very short line, very short lines of attack, in order to avoid by all means that there are captured Koreans. They are used for a very short distance. And they are trying to avoid having corpses in our hands, so according to the information from the ground, our units that are fighting in that area, they say that there are documents of killed North Koreans. We don't know how reliable they are. As for the documents, we just have information that this is a battalion of military unit No. 93 of the Korean People's Army. It took part in this attack on Malaya Loknya. But this does not mean anything. Anything can be disguised, legendary under this name. It could be a part of the Korean army's ground forces, or it could be the special forces that Russian ZET channels are talking about, they are talking about North Korean special forces. We don't know the details now, the fighting is taking place on a very narrow section of the front and Korean infantry is being used at a very shallow depth. So we will see the results of the fighting. I would like to say that I have already seen a significant number of videos of North Korean soldiers being hit during this attack. Our command has not posted this video yet, so we will not rush to do so either, but there is such a video of the attack. And the losses of Korean soldiers, what we have on video alone, are not only 23, but actually many, many dozens more. Now this Korean battalion is being hit very actively, and the number of Korean troops there has been significantly reduced for the second day. I think that the video is not posted by our units also because active hostilities are continuing in this area in a very narrow area, and our troops do not want to give the enemy an idea of what we see, how the fighting is going on, how the damage is being done, and what means are being used. That is why we will avoid it for now.
Our units, various forces and means of several of our brigades are working in this area. I should mention the soldiers of the 17th Tank Brigade, a heavy mechanised brigade of the 22nd Mechanised Brigade, soldiers of the 92nd Assault Brigade, 95th Airmobile Brigade and a separate regiment, the 414th Regiment of Unmanned Systems "Magyar". So our various units are actively engaged in striking at the enemy with various forces and means. I hope we will see results in the near future. And it should be noted that the fighting is tough. We have a whole battalion of fresh soldiers who are ready to die, who are ready to go straight into machine guns, drones, artillery strikes and continue the attack. Of course, there are not many such massive meaty assaults on the frontline. Such a large force, with several hundred people going at once in one area. And, of course, the fighting is heavy. The enemy has managed to capture several points, several trenches. We will see what the outcome of the fighting will be. The Russian command is obviously also waiting for the results, so so far they have not released any video from the positions that the stormtroopers managed to advance to, neither from the air nor from the ground, there is no such information yet. Obviously, both sides are waiting for the results of this battle, and the battle is continuing. I can say that our competent commanders are working at the tactical level in this area, and we have the necessary means to develop the destruction, there is ammunition, including for artillery and mortars.
Now the Russian command is trying to gain a foothold in this area where the Koreans have entered, and our troops are trying to restore the situation and drive the enemy out of these few trenches completely. The problem is, of course, that in such a small area of manpower that the Russians have thrown there, Korean cannon fodder, of course, we do not have that many infantry in such a small area. So it all depends on the quality of fire control, the quality of destruction by all means. We will see how the fate of this battle will be decided and whether we will be able to inflict such a powerful defeat in terms of information, i.e. repel the attack completely, capture Korean prisoners or, at least, at least show a significant number of corpses and documents. It would, of course, very important, and I also hope that perhaps some of the units will be able to go to the front line to see and show the results of their combat work. Let's hope so.
Another hotspot where there was such a powerful, fierce battle yesterday (14 December - Ed.) is the area of Siversk.
The city of Siversk, this ledge in the frontline, the enemy has been trying to break through the Ukrainian defences here for more than two years, and there have been fierce battles here for more than two years. But our troops are confidently holding these lines, holding the key heights that cover this key last ridge of heights that cover the city of Siversk. What happened on 14 December? Just three weeks ago, the command of Russian troops in this area was changed. The commander of the South group of troops, Russian General Gennady Anashkin, was removed. The commander of the Third Combined Arms Army was removed. The Third Combined Arms Army was once the so-called "Russian militia of the LPR". And this army includes two brigades in this area, the 7th and 123rd motorised rifle brigades, which are engaged in combat operations. They have been conducting active offensive and assault operations for several years now. And we can see the result on the map - huge losses of Russian troops and virtually no progress. With minimal advancement, but the key ridge of heights remains in the Ukrainian defence line. So, three weeks ago, the command was changed. And the new Russian command decided to launch a new offensive, using new tactics. Russian commanders focused on three areas. Significant armoured forces conducted a thorough reconnaissance. They attacked our troops in the strip simultaneously, first of all, two battalions of the 54th Mechanised Brigade were attacked. In order to strike at the junction, to break through in several directions, that is, two battalions of the 54th Mechanised Brigade were attacked - one of the battalions of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade, which is north of Siversk, and we see these two arrows on the map - these are attacks on the 54th Brigade from the east. The enemy, obviously, is on the direction of the 3rd Combined Arms Army, its main goal is to capture the last significant settlement in the Luhansk region defended by Ukrainian troops - the village of Bilohorivka. Bilohorivka is being heroically defended by paratroopers of the 81st Air Assault Brigade, repelling all attacks, and the enemy has now decided to break through, cut off the 81st Brigade, bypass Bilohorivka, and cut the position of Ukrainian troops at the junction of the 54th Mechanised and 81st Air Assault Brigades. That is why two strikes were made against two battalions of the 54th Brigade, the enemy tried to advance to the rear of the 81st, and at the same time, to hinder the manoeuvre of our troops, a strike was made against the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade. The enemy had prepared for these attacks very carefully, using almost 30 pieces of armoured vehicles, including tanks, IFVs, MTLB, a significant amount of artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, including 220-mm heavy Uragan multiple launch rocket systems. A large number of drones were used, and the enemy planned massive reconnaissance, strikes, and escort of its assault groups by drones, i.e. paid serious attention. Significant electronic warfare forces were also deployed, as well as a significant amount of ammunition. A record number of assault units were involved in the attack in this area, more than 400 assault soldiers attacked, were in the airborne, 30 armoured vehicles, at least 13 buggies, at least 60 motorcycles, so all of this was with people. A large number of infantry groups were attacking, trying to get closer to the positions, so a large number of assault troops went into battle at the same time.
The attack further north on the positions of the 10th Mountain Assault was brilliantly repelled. The 10th Mountain Assault posted a video of these battles, which is quite clear and spectacular. On its page, the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade "Edelweiss" showed the defeat of the Russian column, the destruction of Russian stormtroopers, an entire Russian assault company attacked, and it remained on the battlefield almost in full strength. At least 52 Russian stormtroopers were destroyed directly during this attack and during the mop-up operation that took place at night. An attack on the positions of the K-2 battalion near the village of Verkhniokamianske was also completely repelled. Battalion K-2 is the second mechanised battalion of the 54th Mechanised Brigade. The attack was repelled, with heavy casualties. During the two days of fighting, the enemy lost at least 54 stormtroopers in this area, killed alone and 8 armoured vehicles. That is, the enemy was also unable to advance there, and these assault units were completely destroyed. In the direction of another unit of the 54th Brigade, the Russians managed to pass the strength of our first line of defence, to break into our combat formations, but this did not lead to the fall of the Ukrainian defence, and now this group, which broke through to the near rear up to 2 kilometres, is already coming to an end, as our units of the 2nd line of the Ukrainian reserve met the enemy there and stopped its further advance, and it has been hit for two days. The enemy can no longer strengthen or move in this direction. There are fierce battles in this one area, but to say that Russian channels have said that the Ukrainian front has been broken through, that they have captured something there is just another lie of Russian propaganda. And I would really like the Russian command, the new command, the grouping of the South and the Third Combined Arms Army to show at least an aerial video of where they broke through and how many of their equipment and alive soldiers are still in that area. So far, the clean-up is ongoing, the enemy is being killed, and the Ukrainian defence has once again held on to Siversk. This is not the kind of battle that is constantly talked about. They talk about Bakhmut, Avdiivka, now Pokrovsk, Velyka Novosilka, but Siversk always stands a little bit aside because for more than two years now, with very small forces, very few soldiers, very little ammunition and weapons, Ukrainian soldiers have been heroically and skilfully repelling all attacks by Russian troops at this line between Bilohorivka and Siversk. The ratio of losses there is simply very high, the enemy loses many, many times more, in fact, at least an order of magnitude more, both in killed and wounded, and of course, they say that it is a fortress, a fortress, I want to say that Siversk, thanks to the effective organisation of defence, the effective use of modern and high-tech weapons, is really like a fortress. That is why I thank the soldiers of the 81st Air Assault Brigade, 54th Mechanised Brigade, 10th Mountain Assault Brigade, and the soldiers of the 4th National Guard Brigade who continue to heroically defend this Siverskyi balcony and Siverskyi ledge.
I am also grateful to the soldiers of several battalions of the TRO, who effectively strengthen this area, who are attached to these units, and thanks to them, tasks are being carried out effectively and the enemy is being destroyed effectively. Therefore, many thanks to the Ukrainian heroes.
A few words about Pokrovsk. The enemy is trying to advance in a narrower area, they are trying to approach the village of Pishchane, they are trying to approach the villages of Novovasylivka, Novotroitske, there are battles there. But the enemy's advance has been suspended, very much suspended, because soldiers are fighting there at this line, first of all, soldiers of the 425th assault battalion "Skala", the 32nd mechanised brigade, units of the 155th mechanised brigade, some units of the 33rd assault battalion. Many thanks to all these heroes, all the soldiers. The pilots of the 414th "Magyar" Regiment and a separate special bomber unit of the National Guard of Ukraine are also delivering very powerful strikes against the Russian occupiers, and the number of Russian assault units in the area has been greatly reduced. Units of the 74th Motorised Rifle Brigade and other units are attacking the enemy in this area. The enemy is also using infantry from several tank regiments and motorised rifle brigades, i.e. the group that was attacking Avdiivka is now trying to bypass Pokrovsk from the south. The fighting is very heavy, with the 15th and 30th motorised rifle brigades of the Russian Federation, the 74th and several separate motorised rifle regiments, as well as infantry from several tank regiments. So, the situation in Pokrovsk is difficult, but our troops, these soldiers, these heroic units are trying to build a defence line close to the walls of Pokrovsk, in uncomfortable conditions, but they are doing everything possible to protect the Ukrainian city and one of the key defence nodes in Donbas.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
What do you think of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counterattack near Pokrovsk?
The counterattack near Pokrovsk is ongoing, our troops are trying to act actively, and I wouldn't say that this counterattack, one or even two, can change the situation. The enemy has a significant advantage in numbers and in the number of drones, so unfortunately, we cannot say that we can change anything with a single counterattack. The reality is that we are fighting defensive battles. So, today (15 December - Ed.) is the only good news, of course, for everyone fighting in the Pokrovsk sector. Today, the new commander of the OTG "Donetsk", General Tarnavskyi, managed to get Colonel Ledovyi, whom I have mentioned many times in my stream, removed from his post as chief of staff. A man who is completely unfit for his position and unable to lead troops, nevertheless held such high command positions. And Ledovyi was finally suspended, removed from the post of chief of staff of the OTG "Donetsk". This is a small, insignificant, but pleasant news that will at least improve the psychological state of commanders in this area. They don't like to listen to ignorant people sitting in high command positions. And they prevent people from fighting.
Do you know about the losses of Koreans?
Well, we now know that the losses there, what we have about the losses of Koreans during these battles near Malaya Loknya, as of 14-15 December, the losses are somewhere over 120, 120 mostly killed. This is according to the data we have, but the data, of course, must be clarified and proven. And we will see, I think, in the near future this figure will be officially known, will be made public. Or after the defeat of this Korean battalion, the grinding down of this battalion in these battles, the results will be final, as soon as there is a small pause in the fighting, when these Koreans are finished, and then we will be able to finally report the results.
Do they give Veres the opportunity to place their people in the new division?
Unfortunately, they are not giving it to him yet. There are some objective reasons for this, because we see that Siverskyi direction is turning out like this. Where the defence management is properly organised, where the enemy is being beaten and destroyed in large numbers and cannot advance, fewer reserves are sent there. We have a paradox: where the enemy is killed better, and those who kill the enemy better, are not given the maximum amount of resources. So now, when the enemy is so actively attacking, of course, Veres would like to take to his new regiment, he is the commander of the regiment, the second mechanised battalion, which we know as the K-2 battalion. The 54th Brigade is now commanded by his deputy, call sign Oscar. And Veres would like, of course, and as far as I know, this was the agreement, to take this entire battalion to his new regiment, K-2, the regiment of unmanned systems, a separate ground forces regiment, but so far there is no such possibility. In order to take the K-2 battalion, as Veres insists, we need someone to replace this second mechanised battalion, which is in a very important area, in a tank-dangerous area, and it needs to be replaced with some high-quality troops. So far, we do not have a high-quality organisation in the Pokrovsk direction, in the direction of Velyka Novosilka, all the reserves are going there. As a result, we cannot quickly deploy the Veres regiment, because people are going to Kyrylo, of course, a large number of them, but the organisational and managerial core, the pilots, the commanders who are urgently needed for the rapid deployment of the regiment, unfortunately, cannot be transferred. I think, by the way, this is a big mistake, because the 20th Regiment, this new K2 regiment, could have stayed in this area. It is necessary that, in fact, infantry, firepower crews, and drones, K-2 drone operators can remain there. In other words, there is no need for any global changes there. They can be left there, and the groups will work constantly, going out for coordination, for rotation, and helping to form a new regiment. And to support them, to stay in place, but for some reason, this is not being done, and we hope that since the new Land Forces Commander Mykhailo Drapatyi personally pays great attention to the formation of the new K-2 regiment of unmanned systems, as well as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, we hope that they will make a decision to make the new K-2 regiment combat-ready as soon as possible. To do this, we need to transfer the backbone of the K-2 battalion to the K-2 regiment as soon as possible, and preferably, in general, to transfer all the personnel there gradually. If they have all the personnel, they will be able to train new people as soon as possible.
I have not forgotten about the 155th Brigade. In the near future, we will talk about what happened in this brigade, why the brigade commander was removed and the responsibility was transferred to him. We will also talk about new formations, new initiatives in the Armed Forces and the expansion of specialised unmanned systems units. I believe that if the military command had paid attention to manning the K2 regiment, it would have significantly strengthened the defence in the Siverskyi direction in general, improved situational awareness, and allowed for much greater strikes against the enemy and would have stabilised the situation not only in the area of the now one battalion, where the K-2 was, but in the entire 54th Brigade to improve the work of drones and in all the neighbours on the flanks of the 54th Brigade to improve the work of drones, to improve the number of operators, the number of means and to multiply the number of losses of Russian troops in this area. So it's a win-win story, it's not about taking people out of the K2 battalion, it's about taking them all, they won't be there completely. It just means that they will perform their tasks in a different way. As soon as a few hundred infantrymen and systems crews are replaced by another combat-capable battalion, it will also produce good results with the help of K2. We are waiting for this to happen. So far, they are not giving people, a small group has been transferred, about 30 people from the battalion have been transferred, but not all of them.
Your attitude to Markus' video.
I aired a programme last year, you can watch it about the situation in the 47th Brigade, about the scandal. Everything that was said there is still relevant. If there is any continuation, if there is any resonance, maybe we will make another video. We have a huge number of such problems in each brigade. But I generally support criticism. We need criticism, we need discussion. The only thing I think is that this discussion should always be constructive, not offensive. And criticism should be based on facts.
And why should we restore the situation in the Kursk region by sacrificing our soldiers?
The situation is a strategic issue. If in fact the situation in the Kursk region is critical, it is only because our military command, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief, who has successfully conducted several offensive operations, we see that he cannot cope and is not able to organise defensive operations. Because Syrskyi is a man who leads exclusively in a manual style and where he is interested. He is leading the troops in Kursk on his own, in fact, as the commander of the OTG Kursk. But where there are defensive battles, long ones that require painstaking planning, organisation, and increasing the combat capability of the troops, he simply does not have time for this and is not interested in it. He practically does not engage in defence, and everywhere he goes there are defensive battles. Let's look at Soledar and Bakhmut, where there are constant failures because the people he appoints, the vision of a defensive operation, is to stand and hold on. Well, that's what we see now near Kurakhove. And that's why it's all failing, there's no flexibility. In offensive battles, where Syrskyi is interested, there is flexibility. What is happening in the Kursk region? If the frontline had been stabilised in Kursk, it could have been considered a successful operation. Our best forces, the most capable brigades, were concentrated there. And now we can say that if high-quality defensive lines were organised in the Kursk region, this was not done in the summer. Because, I emphasise once again, Syrskyi is not capable of organising defence. Well, he cannot do it. We see this in numerous examples, he cannot do it. If the defence had been built, then, in principle, this operation would have been beneficial for us. Because the enemy has also concentrated its most capable reserves in Kursk. And we can see that they are moving everyone there. There are two full marine brigades there, a large number of motorised infantry units, various divisions, individual regiments, a large number of forces. They are trying to break through our defences, launching a large number of frontal attacks. So we see that there is some sense in this. But it only makes sense if the defensive battle is conducted well. Now we will look at the situation in Malaya Loknya, in particular, whether we have managed to use this time since August to gain a foothold there. Because we measure a defensive battle by its results. So far, we have seen a lot of problems with the operation in Kursk region because we were preparing for quick offensive actions and breakthroughs, and there was no preparation for consolidation and defensive battles. And all our problems, both in Kursk and in other parts of the frontline, are connected to this. Because we don't have, in words, Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zelenskyy say that we are supposedly on the defensive, but in reality we don't have defensive lines. There are some defensive positions that are being dug somewhere, with very different quality. Sometimes it's done just for show, sometimes it's done well. But there are no lines, no communication, neither fire nor visual. There are no defensive lines that were built in a modern way, that is, taking into account the presence of a large number of high-precision means of defeating the enemy, drones. And we have virtually no defence. And this is the problem. We have no strategic defence. And that's why we have criticism all the time. If we were to attack in Kursk, relying on defence, and quickly build a defence, and then the enemy would crash against it, this would be a favourable war strategy for us. Unfortunately, to use our strategic decisions on the west, to strike where the enemy is vulnerable, I believe, and I said this earlier, that the Kursk operation was successful at the tactical level. But then the execution, the offensive aspect, the offensive phase of this operation is successful. But then, when there is a defensive battle... All these problems with planning, forward-forward, hold on, hold on, without planning, without organisation, come out. And we are suffering because of this. Obviously, in Kursk, the situation is the same, there is no planning of the organisation. Because in a manual mode, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in his free time starts to manage companies, platoons, battalions. And instead of having a headquarters that integrates a unified system of intelligence, destruction, and employment of troops, prepares defensive lines, carries out engineering camouflage work, protects its equipment with electronic warfare and engineering means, and prevents enemy drones from acting on such a large scale and inflicting such heavy losses on our equipment. Instead, they just lost 10 armoured vehicles and are sending 10 more. Who suffers from this? The entire frontline. That's why there are problems. We'll see if our troops in Kursk region can rely on favourable defensive positions, this operation is beneficial for us. If not, then, of course, it is just an expense. We just have to withdraw under the cover of these battles and still build this defence somewhere. So, where to build it? So, in the Sumy region on the border. But it has to be there. You cannot continue to wage war without relying on defensive lines.
Why did Drapatyi say that the training period after mobilisation would be shortened? He promises a different quality, but doesn't it seem that the quality will not work out, and the training period will be even shorter?
In fact, there is no such clear-cut certainty now. Drapatyi is currently considering various options for how to conduct and change the training. This is the subject of a separate discussion, and I will also cover this topic. The discussion is going on right now. When he talks about shortening the timeframe, it's not about training people less, but rather about reducing the basic general military training in training centres. Because this training is not of high quality, and we are considering that in addition to the basic general military training in training centres, there will be a separate programme with increased training in brigades. We will see. So far, this is just a discussion. There is no specific doctrine in this discussion yet. There are discussions with various brigade commanders. I want to say that after taking office, Mikhailo Drapatyi did not become a man who grabbed a star and is only afraid to shake his chair. No, he is open to discussion and criticism. He is looking for and communicating with commanders of various units and brigades. He is accessible, he tries to respond. And I understand that his desire to change the training is not something that he has made up in his head. He wants to be as adequate as possible for the frontline. Let's see what happens in the end, and we can evaluate these so far statements, so far wishes, by their content. There is no content yet, it is being developed.
There is also a video about defective ammunition. They filled half of them with gunpowder. I tweeted it to you.
Yes, we have received this and we will continue to follow up on the ammunition issue. To make it public. Unfortunately, yes. The Ukrainian leadership, the Ministry of Strategic Industry, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office, the Ministry of Defence continue to supply defective mines to the frontline that do not work on a massive scale. All this is done at the expense of taxpayers. We see that neither Zelenskyy, nor Umerov, nor Smetanin, nor ministers, comment on this topic, avoiding it. They are waiting for it to disappear by itself, as usual. What can I say to them? I said that this is a crime of irresponsible leaders. A lie, a bloody lie. People are sitting in Kyiv, talking about the war, about their alleged patriotism, supplying the army with defective mines at public expense. They sleep peacefully, feel good, and their conscience does not torment them at all. And only the soldiers at the front suffer from this. In particular, there are a lot of these defective mines in the Pokrovsk sector, in the direction of Velyka Novoselivka. Well, what can I say? They are just criminals and liars who sit in the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office at the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Strategic Industries. And they think that they will somehow escape responsibility. I think they will have to answer not only legally, but also physically when they meet those who are outraged by their lies. Because this is just a situation with a shortage of mines, when they ordered almost 2 million mines, and they have stopped taking tens of thousands of mines from the frontline to avoid spoiling their statistics. They just do it in silence. They simply do not take them from the troops. They supply defective mines without checking the quality and do not take them from the front. And they are waiting. Well, somehow it will be written off by itself. It's just... I want to say that the situation with the mines simply shows that Zelenskyy, Umerov and Smetanin are simply immoral people who do not really care about the fate of soldiers, infantrymen, the fate of Ukrainian warriors, their lives. They are liars who do not care about the fate of Ukrainian soldiers.
I can't understand it, we have equal numbers of troops, we are on the defensive, we are being given ammunition, but we are retreating.
We don't have equal numbers of troops, the enemy has an advantage in the number of troops, the enemy has an advantage in the number of ammunition and the enemy has an advantage in the organisation of management at the strategic and operational level. The enemy is better managed at the level of generals, at the level of divisions, corps, and army. They are better organised than we are. Our command does nothing about it, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's office does nothing about it. We are fighting a war without leadership.
MP Yurii Boiko posted a video in which he criticised attacks on the Russian language, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the demolition of monuments, and the renaming of cities. This is already an election campaign, what do you think should or should not be done with him?
Yurii Boiko, as well as the entire OPFL party, should be detained because this is a Russian agency that has been working all these years on the Kremlin's orders, and Boiko travelled to Moscow before the election to take pictures and videos of him and Putin and Medvedev together. The fact that they are still being held is the result of the fact that Zelenskyy conducted a pro-Russian policy before the war, and until now, that is, for him, for the "Servants of the People" OPFL have always been partner, and now, if you look at the voting, the OPFL, Boiko, vote for all the questionable, scandalous, corrupt decisions of the "Servants of the People" in the Verkhovna Rada. On tax increases, for everything. Everything that causes criticism in society, the OPFL supports the "Servants of the People". And Zelenskyy does not detain them for this, except for Rabinovych, there are no detentions, and Rabinovych and Shufrych, well, these are the two people. And all the other OPFL members are sitting quietly, Stolar is still getting land in Kyiv for his commercial projects, Boiko, I have no doubt, is doing the same. The Security Service prohibits any action against them because they are allies of our government and the "Servants of the People". So they feel so arrogant because they are obviously confident that Zelenskyy will not touch them in the future. He needs them in the Rada, where they give votes. Well, this is still such an obvious crime. I hope that after this brazen statement by Boiko, somehow the state leaders will be forced to react. How can an agency continue to openly make anti-Ukrainian statements? It's absurd.
What is the situation in the Kurakhove direction? What about Hannivka, Uspenivka? What about the surrounding?
Unfortunately, our troops remain surrounded, in fact, in an operational encirclement in the area of Uspenivka-Hannivka. There is still no order to withdraw and our troops are still fighting. I hope that they will withdraw in the near future. Now it is the responsibility of General Tarnavskyi, and if this decision is not made in the next few hours, what can I say? This general will simply receive his condemnation from public opinion, and this will be a stain on his reputation that no orders or chairs will cover. The only thing I can say. The situation remains critical. I said on the air there earlier that we need a quick withdrawal from the Kurakhove area. It is absolutely impossible to hold our positions there because the communications are under constant attack. We need to withdraw to more comfortable positions where the flanks are covered, not open. Nevertheless, the planning continues, which simply shows the big problems in the military leadership and the lack of understanding of the real situation at the front by our military command. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief's office and the Minister of Defence should also intervene, but we know that these are zeros who, unfortunately, never intervene in a war. Zelenskyy, Umerov. In our country, these are the people who make videos, press releases and sometimes take pictures of the military being awarded orders. That's all. That's their role in the war. They are not capable of producing quality ammunition. Defective mines, they cannot remove from the frontline. That is, the troops, what is happening at the front, no structural reforms are taking place. There are some high-quality appointments, but what's behind them? We do not see any systemic changes. The army, as it was unreformed, as the rake of 2022 was repeated, it is repeated now. All hope is that under the pressure of the enemy, the high-quality commanders we promote, who are in various positions, will still receive more powers. That is, people who are able to take responsibility, act according to the situation, according to their conscience and according to some kind of professional logic. Indeed, why graduate from military academies and then leave the troops to be surrounded? Why? What kind of professional commanders and generals are these? What are they worth from a professional point of view? Zero! Now the commander of the OTG "Donetsk", Lutsenko, has been dismissed, and the commander of the OSGT "Khortytsia", Hnatov, is still in office, although he is jointly responsible for this cauldron that actually arose there. Operational environment. Now the story is the same with Tarnavskyi. Why is he delaying and not withdrawing his troops? It is not clear. Why does he hesitate and not leave his troops there, in Hannivka and Uspenivka? Well, there is no logic in this. There is no logic at all.
We will talk about the next events at the front. Thank you for the broadcast and Glory to Ukraine!