Kate McKenna

Defence Intelligence Ukraine | Miltech | Global Security & Geopolitical Strategy | Freedom for Ukraine & the West

International Legion of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

Our enemies, China 🇨🇳 Russia 🇷🇺 Iran 🇮🇷 North Korea 🇰🇵 Cuba 🇨🇺 and others (“CRINK”) follow a doctrine of “victory by any means,” though fissures in their uneasy alliances – strategic limits and economic dependencies – sometimes undermine cohesion.

NK 🇰🇵 troops, with 10,000-12,000 deployed by October 2025, are used as cannon fodder in russia’s diabolical meat wave assaults 💀, suffering heavy losses estimated at 3,000-6,000 casualties while gaining experience and intelligence that makes them exponentially more dangerous. ⚠️ This is a macabre alliance where isolated brutal regimes feed their people to the ravenous hunger for global power of Russia and China 🐉. These disposable soldiers starkly contrast Ukrainians defending their home.

I am constantly humbled by the courage and humour under duress I witness daily. Ukraine fights for each other.✊ There is an unbreakable bond that binds us🕊️, even foreigners like me who couldn’t fight a kitten. It is perhaps that which will save us all when CRINK unleashes the full wrath of its global ambitions against the West.

Dozens of Cubans 🇨🇺 have been reported killed in intense engagements, with confirmed totals reaching at least 39 and estimates suggesting higher figures. russians no longer wear uniforms, blending into civilian populations. 📌

Ukrainian fighters say that there’s “no such thing as ‘frontline’ anymore.” Positions intermingle in craters, ruins, and trenches where Ukrainians hold one end while russians are pinned at the other by swarms of FPV drones. The sky hums 24/7 with these cheap killers, turning logistics into a death march: soldiers haul 20-40kg loads on foot after vehicles drop them kilometres back, all while crawling under anti-thermal cloaks to avoid detection (if they have them – most do not). It’s not the manoeuvre warfare 🚩 NATO drills for – big formations, secure supply lines, air superiority. Here, two or three troops together invite a drone strike, and your body armour is practically pointless.

“We ambushed a North Korean platoon 🪖 outnumbered three-to-one, striking silently and extracting without losses – pure improvisation in the kill zone.” (6th Ranger Regiment)

Recently, a Ukrainian fighter lost contact with his unit. He came across two russians hiding in a forest, quick thinking and innovative as always, he bluffed his way into getting a smoke, claiming the FPV they were hiding from was his. As they walked ahead of him, he eliminated them and found his way back to his unit.⚔️ Improvisation, surprise and the insanity of blurred front lines mean language skills and appearance matter.

“Capturing North Koreans alive provides intelligence on CRINK ops; they expect discipline, but we bring surprise.” (SOF interview Oct ’25)

Despite their advantage CRINK is being held in abeyance by Ukrainian forces. Innovations and the ability to think under extreme stress have proven that these skills can beat a disregard for human life.✊

That image comes from this story: https://militarnyi.com/en/news/5-000-cubans-fighting-for-russia-u-s-uses-ukraine-war-to-isolate-cuba/

So far Ukraine is fighting:

• China
• North Korea
• russia
• Cuba
• Iran

5,000 Cubans Fighting for Russia: U.S. Uses Ukraine War to Isolate Cuba

Videos Appear to Show Captured Cuban Nationals Who Were Fighting for Russia (CBS News, September 29, 2025)

Discusses Ukrainian captures of Cubans/NK for intel, supporting “capturing North Koreans alive” and CRINK ops insights.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cuban-fighters-in-ukraine/

Hybrid Warfare: Ukraine, Russia and Western Lessons (CIGI, September 13, 2025)

PDF report on Russia’s blending of cyberattacks, disinformation, and unmarked troops (“no uniforms”) in Ukraine. Supports the story’s “blending into civilian populations” as hybrid warfare.

https://www.cigionline.org/documents/3540/PB_no.209.pdf

North Korea is Playing a Key Role in Russia’s War Against Ukraine (Atlantic Council, June 24, 2025)

Details NK’s support, including troop deployments (up to 12,000 by mid-2025) and over 6,000 casualties per UK intelligence. It discusses how NK gains combat experience in drones/modern warfare, making them “more dangerous,” aligning with the story’s “cannon fodder” and “exponentially more dangerous” claims.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/north-korea-is-playing-a-key-role-in-russias-war-against-ukraine/

Comment from ;

Sergiu Simion

“…russians no longer wear uniforms, blending into civilian populations. 📌

Ukrainian fighters say that there’s “no such thing as ‘frontline’ anymore.” Positions intermingle in craters, ruins, and trenches where Ukrainians hold one end while russians are pinned at the other by swarms of FPV drones. The sky hums 24/7 with these cheap killers, turning logistics into a death march: soldiers haul 20-40kg loads on foot after vehicles drop them kilometres back, all while crawling under anti-thermal cloaks to avoid detection (if they have them – most do not). It’s not the manoeuvre warfare”

It is the most horrifying war diary (mind freezes) about the “killing zone” that I have ever read in the real world. The culprits who unleashed this hecatomb and this madness must be tried and punished according to all the laws and norms of international justice and human morality.