Interview with officer Kramarov
11/22/2024 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP
The Russian army of occupation is suffering record losses on the battlefield, but the number of soldiers it continues to throw into battle remains a record. At the same time, the enemy’s use of armored vehicles has significantly decreased – in fact, today he fights with only “meat”. Where did the armor go? The old Soviet models are almost exhausted, the actual production of new ones is not as large-scale as the Kremlin would like, and the [mafia allies–OFP] allies are in no hurry to provide their tanks and armored personnel carriers. At the same time, Ukrainian drones reached a new level of development and began to massively destroy the enemy’s armor supply.
It should be recognized that Russia still has the ability to replenish the army in large volumes, in particular thanks to covert mobilization, and there is no need for the urgent involvement of North Korean soldiers. North Korean troops should not be in Ukraine, because in this case it would be a direct aggression of this country against ours. However, this cannot be completely ruled out if, thanks to long-range weapons, Ukraine manages to inflict colossal losses on the occupying army.
This opinion was expressed by reserve officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military expert Andriy Kramarov in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA.
– According to a serviceman of the 68th Separate Yeger Brigade, the Russian occupying army is attacking Ukrainian positions in the Pokrovsky direction without the involvement of armored vehicles due to the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are actively using UAVs against it. In fact, the enemy stopped using armor and began to use infantry en masse. At the same time, we know what record losses the occupying army has recently suffered – daily losses exceed 1,300-1,600 people. Could the occupier soon feel a critical need for personnel?
– Over the past six months, there has been a tendency for the Russians to use less armored vehicles. This is explained simply. They use whatever they can produce at the moment. Soviet stocks have already decreased quite a lot. Currently, neither China nor North Korea supplies Russia with armored vehicles. Therefore, they fight with what their own military-industrial complex can produce, and use what is left in the Soviet storage facilities.
By the way, in the summer of this year, satellite images of such storage places in the Far East, where up to 3-3.5 thousand units of armored vehicles were previously stored, are now simply empty. This, in fact, explains the fact that the Russians use less armored vehicles. If they had more of it, they would continue to actively use it.
Regarding our drones, in particular FPV drones, we have a technological advantage in this. Our drones are better in quality, they are more technologically advanced, and this allows us to use them more efficiently. The Russians have a slightly different approach: they use drones in very large numbers, en masse. They have more drones than we do.
And already during the formation of units, they conduct training such as the “young fighter course”, a course of basic military training, in particular, a drone control course. Our drone operator is a highly qualified craftsman, but he is – conditionally – alone. And they can have 3-5 people in a platoon who, even at a low level, can perform tasks using the same FPV drones. That is, the enemy, as before, applies the old approach – quantitative, while we emphasize quality.
The change in weather conditions also has an effect – the technique is now more difficult to use. But all the same, the personnel stock of Russians remains at an extremely high level. At different speeds, but hidden mobilization continues in them.
The successes they had from the moment they were able to take Avdiyivka and move further through the territory of Donetsk region became possible precisely thanks to this numerical advantage, which they were able to fully realize by obtaining a large operational space. This fits into classical military theory.
Therefore, it is impossible to talk about the shortage of personnel in the Russians in any case. The problems with the equipment are explained by the limited possibilities of its production, exhaustion of old stocks, weather conditions, as well as the merit of our drones, which account for a fairly large percentage of destroyed enemy equipment. If at the beginning of the war we destroyed armored vehicles with hand-held grenade launchers, special anti-tank missile systems, for example, “Stugna”, then later drones began to take on a large specific weight.
– That is, you think that today the enemy does not have a critical need for personnel, because covert mobilization continues, contracts are signed, and there is no need to involve North Korean soldiers?
– The soldiers of the DPRK, who were involved by the Russian Federation, are a kind of attempt at combat training plus the determination of the capabilities of these soldiers in combat conditions. This is a conditional training mission. After all, it is clear that the last time the North Korean army took part in hostilities was during the Korean War. After that there was a cold war in the Asian region, but no more. Therefore, their level should be assessed.
Plus, it is possible that the Russians consider their personnel as a combat resource that they can buy for money from Kim Jong-un and send to where they need to in a short time. But in no case do they introduce them to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. From the point of view of international law, Russia defends its territories in the Kursk region, but if North Korean military personnel find themselves on the territory of Ukraine, if this fact is recorded, for example, if they are captured, it will be a direct military aggression by the DPRK against Ukraine.
– Do you think it is highly probable that we will not see North Korean soldiers in Ukraine?
– I think so. Of course, it is difficult to predict anything now. We will monitor the level of losses of Russian soldiers, but in the near future, 3-6 months, this will not happen in any case. Unless, within a short time, the losses of the Russians will increase compared to what they are now, multiple times – twice or even three times.
For example, if we start using long-range means to knock out logistics hubs in the southeast, located on the territory of Russia in the border areas and which are used to supply the Russian group. In this case, their losses will grow very much not only on the front line, but also in the operational rear. They will not be able to supply personnel and rotate those troops that are in Ukraine.
But it is difficult to predict how Putin and Kim Jong-un will act in this case. This is a personal agreement between two dictators that can be reached with literally one phone call.
As was predicted last year already, the obvious has come to pass; the virtual exhaustion of ex-Soviet armed vehicles, and, by the way, artillery. Whatever remains in their storage facilities are either ever more difficult to fix or are simply too rotted.
It’s only resource that is left in plenty supply is meat. But, putting more meat into the meat grinder reduces mafia land’s ability to keep its offense industry working. A vicious circle.
Indeed, we are witnessing the sinking of the mafia Titanic.
The more orcs killed, the more the Kremlin needs for its suicide missions, which means increasing the amount to get the idiots to sign up for a one way ticket.
It’s the type of vicious circle I like.