I’ve now seen some of the first officially released footage of DPRK troops training and fighting together with Russian forces.

Russian and DPRK soldiers embrace after liberating a Kursk oblast settlement: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/28/1278139.html

The training of DPRK troops that participated in liberating the Kursk oblast border areas: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/28/1278340.html

President Putin also thanked the DPRK for its military assistance, stating, “We pay tribute to the courage and selflessness of the Korean warriors who stood side by side with the Russian Armed Forces to defend our homeland as if it were their own.

Our Korean friends acted out of a sense of solidarity, justice, and true comradeship. We highly appreciate this and are sincerely grateful to the Chairman of State Affairs, Comrade Kim Jong-un, the entire leadership, and the people of North Korea.” https://sputnikglobe.com/20250428/putin-thanks-north-korea-for-helping-to-defeat-ukrainian-militants-in-kursk-region-1121945378.html

Plus, some bonus videos…

A Kiev regime Su-27 crashed while attempting to attack Russian Geran-2 drones today: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/28/1279097.html

Russian drones struck a Kiev regime airfield near Cherkassy: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/chrk.mp4?_=1

Some news from the Kursk front. Russian forces fully liberated the Kursk oblast border areas today. Russia confirmed that some DPRK troops (including elite Special Operations Forces) participated in the Kursk border area’s liberation.

Russian forces liberated the last Kiev-occupied Kursk oblast village, Gornal: https://sputnikglobe.com/20250426/russias-kursk-region-completely-liberated-from-ukrainian-forces---kremlin-1121935136.html

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated, “The soldiers of the Korean People’s Army, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Russia and the DPRK, which entered into force on December 4, 2024, fought shoulder to shoulder in one trench and shed blood with our soldiers and officers in the Kursk Region and made a significant contribution to the liberation of the Russian land from enemy invaders.” https://sputnikglobe.com/20250426/n-koreas-solidarity-on-liberating-kursk-region-demonstrates-high-allied-level-relations---moscow-1121938683.html

Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov stated, “The DPRK military, acting shoulder to shoulder with the Russian military in Kursk Region, showed resilience and heroism.” https://www.rt.com/russia/616356-north-korean-troops-kursk/

Some combat footage for today from Russia’s special military operation.

Russian strikes during the liberation of the Gornal Monastery along the Kursk/Sumy border: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/monastery.mp4?_=1

A collection of Russian Lancet drone strikes on US-built AN/TPQ radars: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/24/1266528.html

Russian drone strikes on Kiev regime military positions near Kiev-occupied Krasnoarmeysk in the DPR: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--UAV-Operators-of-the-35th-Combined-Arms-Army:6

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to British mass media claims of Russia supposedly agreeing to “freeze” the conflict:

https://www.rt.com/russia/616126-only-trust-firsthand-sources-on/

In an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Peskov was asked to comment on a recent report from the Financial Times that claimed Moscow is ready to halt the hostilities in the Ukraine conflict along the current front line.

“A lot of fakes are being published now, including by respected publications, so you should only listen to the primary sources,” he said.

According to the FT article from Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to freeze the conflict along the current front line during his meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this month in St. Petersburg.

Palestinian resistance forces released more recent combat footage of RPG strikes on Zionist armored vehicles in northern Gaza:

https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/video_2025-04-20_19-14-37.mp4

A little combat footage for the weekend. Russian missiles and drones continue hunting Kiev regime military equipment all across the front.

A Russian Iskander-M missile strike destroyed a US-built “HIMARS” launcher near the Kiev-occupied DPR city of Kramatorsk: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/18/1247757.html

Russian drones destroyed a French-built “CAESAR” self-propelled howitzer: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/caesar.mp4?_=6

A collection of recent Russian drone strikes on Kiev regime military equipment near the Kiev-occupied DPR city of Krasnoarmeysk (AKA “Pokrovsk”): https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--Fierce-fighting-near-Pokrovsk!!:6

Is there a non-RT version of this anywhere?

There might be, but a lot of times it takes longer for those types of smaller, left anti-imperialist sites to share information like this. If you want this type of news “hot off the press,” you pretty much have to go to Russian media sites.

No. When you look at the conflict from the perspective of Russia’s military potential, it really has been a limited or ‘special military operation.’ Only 300,000 Russian military reservists were mobilized. If Moscow had wanted to, it could have mobilized millions and stormed Kiev. But that was not part of the plan, for a variety of reasons (especially the fact that it would have caused needlessly higher military and civilian deaths). The plan was and remains to fight a (relatively) lower intensity war to grind down the Kiev regime military until it simply collapses (South Vietnam style).

Also, I read Russian language media, which still refer to it as a special military operation (or its Russian acronym, SVO).

Some combat footage from Russia’s special military operation.

Russian drones destroyed Kiev regime military equipment near the Belgorod oblast border: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1-1.mp4?_=1

A Russian drone operator discovered a gap in a ‘drone net’ covered road…: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--Russian-fiber-optic-FPV-drone-manages-to-find-a-gap-in-the-net:8

Another US-built M109 self-propelled howitzer recently got destroyed in Kharkov oblast: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/09/1224707.html

Regarding the tariff war, Colonel Cassad posted an image with two maps comparing which countries had the US or China as their largest trading partner, first from the year 2000 and then in 2024. China is now absolutely dominant.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/9773078.html

Washington is frantically trying to reverse the trend. But the USA’s hollowed out industrial base, crumbling infrastructure, and massive debts make achieving that goal practically impossible.

Today’s news and combat footage from Russia’s special military operation.

Russian forces liberated the Kursk oblast settlement of Guevo: https://sputnikglobe.com/20250408/russian-forces-liberate-guevo-settlement-in-kursk-region---mod-1121837696.html

Ukrainian woman armed with shotgun rescues husband from Kiev regime military conscription officers: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--Brave-lady-fires-shotgun-above-Zelensky-Gestapo-Bastards!!:c

Russian drone destroys a US-built “Bradley” infantry fighting vehicle in Sumy oblast: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/06/1212083.html

Russian drones destroyed a US-built M1A1 “Abrams” tank in Belgorod oblast https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/belg.mp4?_=1

Today’s videos from Russia’s special military operation.

Another collection of recent Russian drone strikes on Kiev regime military equipment: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--Russian-FPV-drone-destroys-Ukrainian-Armed-Forces-logistics!:0

Russian drone destroys a Kiev regime T-72 tank in Kharkov oblast: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/04/03/1204268.html

Surrendered Ukrainian soldier states that Western mercenaries would shoot them if they tried retreating: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--THE-MERCENARIES-WERE-RIGHT-BEHIND-US!!:3

A little news from the Sahel for today.

Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop stated that, “For us, Ukraine is a terrorist state,” due to the Kiev regime’s funding and arming of terrorists in the Sahel: https://tass.com/world/1938401

Russia became the first country to recognize the Alliance of Sahel States: https://tass.com/world/1938437

During today’s long phone call between Trump and Putin, they agreed upon a 30 day ceasefire on energy and infrastructure related targets only. Some in the White House and elsewhere had been hyping up the talks, suggesting that a real 30 day ceasefire and “conflict freeze” would be agreed upon (so that Washington could rescue the Kiev regime military from its ongoing destruction). Russia, of course, rejected that kind of laughably self-defeating proposal.

Here’s also a little other news from Russia’s special military operation.

The Kiev regime attempted invading Belgorod oblast, near Demidovka. Russian defenders repelled the attack, eliminating around 60 attackers, one tank, and seven other armored fighting vehicles: https://www.rt.com/russia/614450-ukrainian-cross-border-attacks/

Russian investigators uncovered evidence that Kiev regime troops massacred 17 civilians and buried them in three unmarked graves in Kharkov oblast, north of Kiev-occupied Kupyansk, before fleeing the area: https://tass.com/politics/1929761

A surrendered Ukrainian soldier stated that Western mercenaries shoot retreating Kiev regime troops in Kursk oblast: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/03/17/1151006.html

A Russian ground drone destroyed another Kiev regime military position (video): https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--Use-of-ground-drone-against-Ukrainian-fascists!!:1

Yep, Odessa has no love for these evil Nazi freaks. Good thing this one is now gone forever.

Yep, Zizek is a “Marxist” in the same way that AOC is a “socialist.”

That’s another good reason for the “EU” to cease to exist… let’s be sure to remember this the next time these “EU” liberals try claiming to be “progressive” – in reality, they happily lie in bed together with al-Queda in Syria and Nazis in the Ukraine.

A few thoughts on Syria. “HTS” once again revealed themselves to be exactly what we already all knew them as back in the 2010s: a gang of brutal sectarian extremists and fascist executioners of innocent civilians. Right now, most of their victims are members of religious minorities (especially Alawis). I want to briefly take a closer look at religion in Syria.

So the “HTS” tries to claim that it represents the Syrian majority, which are Sunnis. But there is a tiny little demographic problem with that propaganda talking point of theirs. While most Syrians are in fact Sunnis, most Syrian Sunnis are not Salafis. And “HTS” is a radical Salafist political movement (it’s basically al-Queda rebranded). So they really do not represent the majority of the Syrian population in any way. That’s undoubtedly one major reason why “HTS” does not want to hold any kind of honest elections, because they would obviously lose them.

Another point that I want to touch is that I’ve noticed elsewhere (not here at hexbear) that some people are trying to make apologist arguments for the “HTS” regime by saying something along the lines of “Jolani can’t control his gunmen, the massacres aren’t his fault!” Well, that’s a pretty laughable argument to make. If the new leadership can’t control their own fighters, they won’t be in power long anyways…