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N. Korea supplies Russia with 12 million rounds of 152 mm shells: S. Korea
N. Korea's Kim reaffirms unconditional support for Russia in Ukraine war: KCNA
A Never-Ending Supply of Drones Has Frozen the Front Lines in Ukraine
Russia Considers Retiring its Sole Aircraft Carrier
North Korea has continued to provide Russia with artillery shells to support its war against Ukraine, which amounts to more than 12 million rounds of 152 mm shells, according to South Korea's military intelligence authorities Sunday.
North Korea is believed to have provided around 28,000 containers containing weapons and artillery shells to date, according to a report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) submitted to a lawmaker of the main opposition party.
"If calculated with 152 mm single shells, (the number of supplied shells) are presumed to have reached more than 12 million," the DIA under the defense ministry said.
North Korea is likely to send additional troops to Russia in July or August, Seoul's spy agency said in late June. Russia's media reported the North will send 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Kursk to support reconstruction efforts.
N. Korea's Kim reaffirms unconditional support for Russia in Ukraine war: KCNA
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his unconditional support for all of Russia's actions in its war against Ukraine as he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the North's state media reported Sunday.
Kim made the remarks in a meeting with Lavrov on Saturday, a day after the Russian minister flew to North Korea for his second round of strategic talks with his North Korean counterpart, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service says that Russia’s force deployed against Ukraine has more than 700,000 personnel.
A Never-Ending Supply of Drones Has Frozen the Front Lines in Ukraine
The drones now bring everything from food and water to ammunition, power banks—and, in at least one case, a fire extinguisher—to the front, sparing soldiers trips through the most dangerous part of the battlefield where enemy drones might pick them off.
Ukrainian troops are also beginning to use land drones to move heavier loads than the Vampires can carry.
Drone manufacturers are now experimenting with remotely piloted cars, boats and all-terrain vehicles, which can be used to help with the evacuations of injured and dead soldiers.
Russian mil bloggers are criticizing the recent US Army Tank Platoon manual, essentially saying that if counter-UAS tactics described in this manual are followed in actual combat, "there will shortly be no tank platoon at all."
From another Rus mil blogger: "These recommendations can help only when a tank platoon is attacked in open terrain by a single slow-moving drone, detected in advance and from afar - but not by dozens of FPV drones simultaneously in rough terrain with minefields."
One and a half months after the successful Operation Spiderweb, which targeted and destroyed Russian strategic bombers, our latest satellite imagery shows bomber wreckage still at several airfields, with the largest concentration at Belaya. A thread with updates on airbases:
2/ Additional analysis of bases such as Olenya and Engels-2, where Russian strategic bombers are deployed, shows no visible effort to reinforce the airfields. Olenya appears more cleared from debris than Belaya Airbase, but bomber wreckage remains visible on the apron.
3/ At Khalino Airbase, previously targeted by Ukrainian forces, Russian troops appear to have completed or nearly completed around 10 reinforced shelters with soil cover, 12 concrete shelters without it, and 8 hangar-style structures positioned on the aprons.
4/ At Saky Airbase in Crimea, Russian forces appear to have completed at least 12 concrete bunker-style structures (shelters), now actively used by the Russian Air Force. Inside these reinforced shelters, we’ve identified both jets and larger drones, including the Orion.
5/ And finally, we verified once again that Dzhankoi airbase, also located in Crimea near a key railroad logistics hub and very active in 2022, currently has no jets, helicopters, or transport aircraft present. No efforts to reinforce the airfield have been observed either.
6/ To summarize, Russian forces are being forced to adapt by either building fortified structures or abandoning vulnerable airfields despite their logistical convenience. At the same time, these measures appear reactive and lack a coordinated approach across all potential targets
According to Kyiv’s Regional Military Administration, 12 anti-Shahed interceptor drone teams of the “Clear Sky” unit of the @usf_army have intercepted nearly 700 aerial targets in Kyiv region since the unit was founded in early April. Approximately 500 of those targets were intercepted since June.
According to European Pravda, Major General Christian Freuding (Head of the Situation Centre Ukraine in the German MoD) confirmed today in front of journalists in Kyiv that Germany is funding Ukrainian-made interceptor UAVs.
IIRC he is the first German official to publicly confirm this investment as part of the Danish model following the announcement back in May 2025 that Germany would finance Ukrainian-made far-reaching weapon systems. Prior to him, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had already publicly announced that Germany would finance these drones.
In all likelihood, we are talking about the VB140 Flamingo. A few weeks ago, WELT was the first to report that Germany is going to finance interceptor UAVs, or more precisely this model before the type of drone was publicly confirmed by Ukrainian officials.
Russia Considers Retiring its Sole Aircraft Carrier
The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has suffered several accidents from 2009 to 2019, and has been undergoing overhaul and modernization works since 2017.
The Russian Navy is likely to pull the plug off the repairs that are keeping afloat its sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, ending a brief yet eventful era of Soviet naval aviation. Izvestia quoted Russian Navy, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) and Ministry of Defense (RuMoD) officials in deep background, who said the “physically outdated carrier may be decommissioned and sent for disposal,” while claiming its repair and maintenance has been suspended for a while.
Naval experts quoted by Izvestia are divided on their opinion about the relevance of an aircraft carrier, but the publication did report sentiment in the Russian Navy that advised against pouring resources in maintaining the ship. It must be noted that the RuMoD and the Russian Navy’s Main Command did not officially confirm to Izvestia the info about the decision, but former Russian naval commanders and experts reflect the thinking in the community.
Former Pacific Fleet chief Admiral Sergei Avakyants told Izvestia that carriers are obsolete and the Russian Navy must sell it to scraps, if a decision is made not to continue repairs. He described the carrier as “very expensive and ineffective,” adding that “the future belongs to carriers of robotic systems and unmanned systems.”
Naval expert Ilya Kramnik from the Center for the Study of Strategic Planning, while differing on the relevance of aircraft carriers, admitted that the opinion in military circles is against further modernization and repair of the Admiral Kuznetsov. “This is a fairly old ship, it served in not the best years for our fleet, which did not add ‘youth’ to it. The cruiser has a fairly old design and not the most reliable, as operating experience has shown, power plant,” Kramnik explained.
Others, like Captain 1st Rank Vasily Dandykin and Kramnik, opine otherwise. This reflects the broad political and global strategic vision of the Russian state that never had expeditionary and power project goals, unlike the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States.