NORTH KOREA'S GIFT OF TROOPS TO MOSCOW MIGHT BACKFIRE

If the shells and other weapons do arrive, Ukraine will be more than compensated for North Korea's entry into the war and Putin's ruse may be seen to have backfired.

- JOHN DOBSON

President Vladimir Putin is getting desperate. Since he ordered the full scale invasion of Ukraine more than two and a half years ago, a war he expected to win in just a few weeks and therefore a catastrophic misjudgement, Russian forces have suffered over 600,000 casualties, according to US intelligence sources. This figure is a dramatic increase from the assessment made last year, which concluded that as of December 2023, Putin's forces had experienced some 315,000 casualties, about 90 percent of Russia's military personnel at the start of the invasion. The situation is grim and getting worse.

Russian forces have reportedly lost at least five division's worth of armoured vehicles and tanks in Pokrovsk area alone since the beginning of their offensive operation to seize Avdiivka in October 2023 and during intensified Russian offensive operations in Western Donetsk Oblast in summer this year.

Adding to the Kremlin's concerns are the 1000 or so men who have recently deserted from the Russian army with the help of a volunteer group called "Idite Lesom", which colloquially means "get lost". The group has also helped tens of thousands of Russians dodge the draft. A recent report from Idite Lesom revealed that the number of requests from potential deserters rose tenfold from January 2023 to January 2024. Two thirds have left the country, primarily for Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan countries that allow Russians to enter without a passport. The rest are hiding. Although most western countries offer little help, the BBC Russian service recently reported the first approval of EU entry documents for a group of six deserters from the Russian army, giving them the right to apply for asylum in France.