Oct 18, 2024
ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images
Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is pressing the White House for an “immediate” briefing amid reports that North Korea has sent its soldiers to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war, a development Turner says would cross a “red line.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised alarms during a news conference in Brussels this week after he claimed that North Korea, Russia’s key ally, is preparing to send thousands of troops from different branches of its armed forces to fight against Ukraine. Kyiv’s Defense Intelligence Directorate said a day later that there are almost 11,000 North Korean infantry troops training in eastern Russia.
South Korea’s spy agency later reported on Friday that at least 1,500 North Korean soldiers had been dispatched to support Moscow’s military and had been transferred to the Russian port city of Vladivostok this month by Russian navy ships. According to a report reviewed by the Associated Press (AP), the dispatched troops were given Russian military uniforms, weapons and forged identification documents.
In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden on Friday, Turner, a Republican, wrote that, if true, the reported leap in Russia and North Korea’s military partnership is an “alarming” and “extreme escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.”
“North Korean troops, either attacking Ukraine from Russian territory or entering into Ukrainian territory, must be a red line for the United States and NATO,” read the letter. “Your administration must make that absolutely clear and unequivocal.”
Turner also called for “an immediate classified briefing” before the House Intelligence Committee “concerning the possible engagement of North Korean troops in a potential escalating and broadening Ukrainian conflict.”
Newsweek sent an email to the White House press office late Friday night for comment on the letter.
Russia has developed its relationship with Western adversaries—namely, China, Iran and North Korea—since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which sparked widespread sanctions against Moscow’s economy from the U.S. and other allies of Ukraine.
Following South Korea’s intelligence report on the movement of North Korean troops, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Friday: “At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort, but that may change,” reported AP.
The Pentagon has also said that it cannot confirm or corroborate reports that North Korean troops have been dispatched to Russia. On Wednesday, however, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters that Washington and its allies are concerned about Moscow and Pyongyang’s growing military relationship.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports about North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian soldiers as “another piece of fake news” during a news conference last week.
According to Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, about a dozen North Korean soldiers are believed to have deserted the Russian front line near Ukraine’s northern border within days of arriving to battle. The outlet cited unnamed intelligence officials who said that Moscow’s military is searching for the 18 troops.
A red line drawn with chalk and backed up by Biden. 🤡
As usual, this newest escalation by the crime syndicate has caused only hot gases to be spewed by our government. If at least the Biden administration would finally drop its absurd prohibition for Ukraine’s deep strikes on the warmonger country. Even better would be NATO troops in Ukraine. But nothing concrete will happen.
Some more shit news:
Bookies now have Trumpkov winning.
I hope to God they are wrong.
Let them fools gamble their money away.
I’ve heard through various sources that the Trump campaign has been peppering polls. I can’t confirm this but it sounds like a Trump move.
This would not surprise me at all.
The last I saw, Harris was up 1.4% in the national polls but historically, most of those polls question more Democrats so their data is about 5% off. It is the opposite in the swing states so bottom line, Trump is up quite a bit right now despite the efforts of the media to mislead voters and protect Harris just like they did Biden.
I trust only what the elections will say. Any polls that are consistently so close and change to show one candidate ahead of the other are of no interest to me.
The following are excerpts from an article published by the Wall Street Journal (one of the few media outlets I trust) putting into question the shift in betting odds in favor of Trump. Unfortunately the WAJ is behind a pay wall in which case if being the entire article.
“Trump’s gains on Polymarket have cheered his supporters, and they have been followed by the odds shifting in Trump’s favor in other betting markets. Elon Musk flagged Trump’s growing lead on Polymarket to his 200 million X followers on Oct. 6, praising the concept of betting markets. “More accurate than polls, as actual money is on the line,” Musk posted.
But the surge might be a mirage manufactured by a group of four Polymarket accounts that have collectively pumped about $30 million of crypto into bets that Trump will win. “
The article goes on to say this could be normal but the Polymarket is investigating this unusual move. IMO…where there’s smoke…
Cheating and lying have been Trump trademarks for decades.