Latest news with #SamLair
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel's Operation To Destroy Iran's Nuclear Program Enters New Phase
Israel is continuing with its operation aimed at neutralizing Iran's nuclear program, dubbed Rising Lion. Israeli forces have apparently already made use of drones and missiles launched by operatives from deep within Iran, as well as air-launched munitions, as you can read more about here. Iran has now also launched at least one retaliatory attack consisting of approximately 100 drones. Readers can first get caught up on the situation through our initial reporting here. Since the start of Operation Rising Lion last night, Israel has struck more than 100 major targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities and missile sites, and killed senior military commanders and scientists in what Tehran said was a 'declaration of war.' The IDF releases footage showing Israeli Air Force fighter jets heading out for the strikes in Iran this morning, as well as landing following the attacks. — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2025 The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have provided additional information about one of the key nuclear targets that they went after overnight. This is the uranium enrichment site in the Natanz area, a particularly tough target that is understood to be buried more than 130 feet below ground and which is protected by a steel and concrete shell. It was targeted by Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighters. According to the IDF: 'This is the largest uranium enrichment site in Iran, which has operated for years to achieve nuclear weapons capability and houses the infrastructure required for enriching uranium to military-grade levels. As part of the strikes, the underground area of the site was damaged. This area contains a multi-story enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms, and additional supporting infrastructure. In addition, critical infrastructure enabling the site's continuous operation and the Iranian regime's ongoing efforts to obtain nuclear weapons were targeted. We will continue to operate to prevent the Iranian Regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.' IAF fighter jets, guided by precise intelligence, struck the Iranian regime's uranium enrichment site in the Natanz area overnight. This is the largest uranium enrichment site in Iran, which has operated for years to achieve nuclear weapons capability and houses the… — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025 Timelapse of the past year at the underground facility near Natanz which may be the third enrichment facility the Iranians announced earlier spoil piles suggest continued excavation and lots of work on the to our friends @planet — Sam Lair (@sam_lair) June 12, 2025 It's going to be a two pot of coffee kind of day… One of the latest @umbraspace collects from last night's strikes on Iran. — Chris Biggers (@CSBiggers) June 13, 2025 A video released by the IDF shows the destruction of an Iranian surface-to-surface ballistic missile that was apparently disguised as a commercial truck: חיל-האוויר השמיד טילים בליסטיים שכוונו למדינת ישראל.תיעוד מתקיפת טילי קרקע-קרקע באיראן: — Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 13, 2025 A video that shows the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Tabriz, reportedly targeting an Iranian ballistic missile facility. The extent of the secondary explosions could well indicate the presence of solid fuel associated with ballistic missile storage and/or production: Footage of multiple major secondary fires and explosions in Tabriz, Iran, after a series of Israeli strikes this aircraft reportedly struck an Iranian ballistic missile facility. — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 13, 2025 Also reportedly taken in Tabriz, the following video claims to show an Israeli Heron drone operating over the city: An Israeli drone was reported hovering over the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz. : Submitted — Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) June 13, 2025 More details are now coming to light about some of the individuals who were targeted. The IDF says that they eliminated multiple senior officers within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force. Reportedly, IAF fighters struck an underground IRGC Air Force HQ overnight, killing the commander of the service, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, together with senior officers, among them drone chief Taher Pour and air defense head Daoud Shaykhian. The commander of the IRGC Air Force, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Iran overnight, the IDF to the military, the top brass of the IRGC Air Force was killed alongside him as they met in an underground command center to… — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2025 Previously, Iranian state media had confirmed the deaths of the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Hossein Salami, the Army Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Joint Forces Headquarters, Maj. Gen. Gholamali Rashid, and six nuclear scientists, including Fereydoun Abbasi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization from 2011 to 2013. KashirinThis is how Israel works. A missile strike was launched directly into a residential building. Even the windows were intact. The strike was aimed right at the bedroom of a member of the Iranian General Staff. That is, they literally hit the man in the forehead with a… — Ukraine Front Line (@EuromaidanPR) June 13, 2025 Meanwhile, Israel appears to be making good on Prime Minister Benjamin's assertion that the process of 'rolling back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival' will take 'many days.' The IAF says that operations against Iran are continuing, including flexing to more defensive operations, to bring down drones launched by Iran against Israel in response to Operation Rising Lion. The IAF has released footage showing F-16 fighters taking off to shoot down the drones, at least 100 of which have reportedly been launched at Israel. Although the IDF has said it has 'control over the situation,' not all of the drones have been shot down. Iranian attack drones, including Shahed variants, have been launched towards Israel, starting Iran's retaliatory strikes. Seen here, an Iranian Shahed-136 flies low over eastern Iraq, heading westward. — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 13, 2025 A tweet from the IAF shows a pair of F-16s about to launch to intercept Iranian drones: חיל-האוויר ממשיך לפעול ליירוט כלי טיס בלתי-מאוישים ששוגרו מאיראן לעבר מדינת ישראל — Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 13, 2025 Footage from the ground in Iran indicates that Israel is continuing offensive operations, as well. The IDF campaign has included efforts to degrade and disable the Iranian air defense system, which will allow the IAF to operate more freely in and around Iranian airspace. Israeli sources claim the IDF struck a site in the Hamadan province of Iran used as a command center for all of Iran's air defense systems, which may explain the minimal response from Iranian air defenses. — OSINT Aggregator (@AggregateOsint) June 13, 2025 Israeli strikes continue on sites around the city of #Kermanshah.#Iran. — Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) June 13, 2025 At least one unverified video claims to show IAF aircraft operating with impunity 'in Iranian airspace,' including an F-16 taking on fuel from a 707 Re'em tanker, although the legitimacy of this claim cannot be confirmed. This is beyond jets are refueling over Iranian — daniel (@LionsOfZion_ORG) June 13, 2025 The IDF has released pictures and videos showing strike aircraft armed with a mix of weapons, including Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision-guided bombs and Rampage missiles, which are an adaptation of a ground-launched precision-guided artillery rocket. Notable that many of the F-15s and F-16s in #IAF footage – supposedly from last night – are carrying 2000lb GBU-31(V)1 JDAMs. Suggests Israel has established sufficient control of the air to operate directly over Tehran and Natanz without relying on standoff weapons like Rampage — Justin Bronk (@Justin_Br0nk) June 13, 2025 RAMPAGE peeking out on the right — Abd (@blocksixtynine) June 13, 2025 There are also signs that the Israeli strikes may be switching their focus to Iranian airpower, with reports from Iran of attacks on at least two Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) bases, Noje Air Base in Hamadan province and Tabriz Air Base in East Azerbaijan province. A video purported to show the aftermath of an airstrike on the latter shows a column of smoke rising above it. Fars News Agency: Nojeh Air Base in Hamadan was bombed by Israel twice in the past hour — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) June 13, 2025 Israeli aircraft struck the Iranian Air Force's Tabriz Airbase, with a massive plume of smoke seen rising over the area. The base is home to a mix of Iranian MiG-29s and F-5s from the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd tactical fighter squadrons. — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 13, 2025 Israeli forces hit Iran's Tabriz Airbase again this afternoon, with new pillars of smoke seen rising over the Airbase, a key installation covering northwestern Iran, has been hammered by the Israeli Air Force today. — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 13, 2025 Reflecting the intensity of the IAF air operations so far, there have been multiple sightings of discarded drop tanks, jettisoned by F-15s in the course of their missions, as seen in the tweets embedded below. An external fuel tank, likely for an F-15I 'Ra'am' Strike Fighter with the Israeli Air Force, was discovered in the Daraa Governorate of Southwestern Syria. — OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 13, 2025 İsrail F-15'lerine ait 600 galonluk yakıt tankları Suriye'de. — Cem Doğut (@DogutCem) June 13, 2025 Foreign powers around the world are also reacting to the still-evolving situation. Today, U.S. President Donald Trump described the attack as 'excellent' and warned further strikes would be more brutal unless Tehran agreed to back down over its nuclear program. This contradicts Washington's previous official stance that Israel's action against Iran has been unilateral. I just spoke to President Trump and asked him about the Israeli attack on Iran. Here's what he told me:"I think it's been excellent. We gave them a chance and they didn't take it. They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's… — Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) June 13, 2025 'There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,' Trump said in a social media post. FROM PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP:'I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal…' — The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 13, 2025 In another post, the U.S. president suggested Israel had attacked a day after a 60-day deadline he had given Iran to secure a deal had run out and indicated vaguely that Iran might have a 'second chance.' This is a developing story, and we will continue to update it as more information becomes following video claims to show the evacuated Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel's main international air transport hub, on the outskirts of the city of Lod. The airport was closed until further notice earlier today, due to concerns about possible retaliatory strikes from Iran. Publicly available flight data from today also indicates that airlines cleared out of the airspace over Iran, Iraq, and Jordan. #Israel Ben Gurion int. airport evacuated from — C4H10FO2P (@markito0171) June 13, 2025 While the following video cannot be verified, it's claimed to show a pair of IAF C-130J transport aircraft flying at very low level over southeast Syria, close to the border with Iraq. If that's the case, the airlifters could have been involved in transporting Israeli commandos out of Iran after the first strikes of Operation Rising Lion. Reports from Israel, citing an unnamed Israeli security source, suggest that the strikes included the use of drones and missiles launched by operatives from deep within Iran. VIDEO: Syrian shepherd up at sunrise films two Israeli Air Force C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft flying at a very low altitude over Al-Hammad in southeast Syria, near the border with Iraq, apparently coming from the direction of Iran. — Avi Mayer אבי מאיר (@AviMayer) June 13, 2025 The Israeli Navy, as well as the IAF, has been active in intercepting drones inbound from Iran. The following footage, published by the IDF, is said to show the interception of a drone over the Red Sea by an Israeli Navy Sa'ar 6 class corvette. As you can read about here, the Sa'ar 6 is well equipped for such air defense missions, being armed with Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles plus a pair of Rafael C-Dome systems, which are armed with Tamir missiles. Footage showing the interception earlier of a drone launched from Iran over the Red Sea, by a Sa'ar 6-Class Corvette with the Israeli Navy. — OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 13, 2025 Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Korea disguises secret missile base as golf course
North Korea is hiding a new launch site for intercontinental ballistic missiles in plain sight, disguising the base as a golf course on the outskirts of Pyongyang. The site was until last year the location of Kim Jong-un's Winter Palace, also known as the Ryokpo residence, in a heavily wooded valley about 20 miles south-east of the capital. However, the palace complex was recently demolished and replaced with a series of new structures, roads and what appear to be golf greens. A closer examination of the facilities using near-infrared images over the course of the construction showed that the greens were reinforced with concrete bases in June, with a thin layer of soil added in August. By November, analysts determined that the grass had taken hold and the site resembled a golf course. But analysts from the Middlesbury Institute's James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies have said that flat areas with concrete bases are ideal launch pads for long-range ballistic missiles and that some of the other buildings at the site are not typically found at a golf course. New roads at the site are wide enough to accommodate the tractor-erector vehicles required to manoeuvre the Hwasong-19 ICBM into position. The 92-foot missile was first launched successfully in October 2024, can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of at least 9,300 miles, which puts all of North America and Europe within range. One of the new buildings at the site is a four-storey building that is estimated to be 118ft high and would be able to accommodate missiles in an upright position. Sam Lair, a member of the research team, told Radio Free Asia: 'While this facility could be used for shorter range systems like the Hwasong-11/KN-23/KN-24 series of missiles, the height of the high-bay building suggests it is also built to allow longer-range systems to operate from it.' He added: 'You would not need a 36 meters [118 feet] high building for just short-range systems'. Behind the building is another structure that has been covered in earth, for greater protection as well as concealment, that could house four launch vehicles. North Korea on Monday launched a volley of ballistic missiles into waters off its west coast, coinciding with the start of the Freedom Shield joint US-South Korean military exercises in the South. The drills will last for 11 days and the South Korean joint chiefs of staff issued a statement that its forces were in a 'full readiness posture' and were closely co-operating with US forces. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
North Korea disguises secret missile base as golf course
North Korea is hiding a new launch site for intercontinental ballistic missiles in plain sight, disguising the base as a golf course on the outskirts of Pyongyang. The site was until last year the location of Kim Jong-un's Winter Palace, also known as the Ryokpo residence, in a heavily wooded valley about 20 miles south-east of the capital. However, the palace complex was recently demolished and replaced with a series of new structures, roads and what appear to be golf greens. A closer examination of the facilities using near-infrared images over the course of the construction showed that the greens were reinforced with concrete bases in June, with a thin layer of soil added in August. By November, analysts determined that the grass had taken hold and the site resembled a golf course. But analysts from the Middlesbury Institute's James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies have said that flat areas with concrete bases are ideal launch pads for long-range ballistic missiles and that some of the other buildings at the site are not typically found at a golf course. New roads at the site are wide enough to accommodate the tractor-erector vehicles required to manoeuvre the Hwasong-19 ICBM into position. The 92-foot missile was first successfully launched in October 2024, can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of at least 9,300 miles, putting all of North America and Europe within range. One of the new buildings at the site is a four-storey building that is estimated to be 118ft high and would be able to accommodate missiles in an upright position. Sam Lair, a member of the research team, told Radio Free Asia: 'While this facility could be used for shorter range systems like the Hwasong-11/KN-23/KN-24 series of missiles, the height of the high-bay building suggests it is also built to allow longer-range systems to operate from it.' He added: 'You would not need a 36 meters [118 feet] high building for just short-range systems'. Behind the building is another structure that has been covered in earth, for greater protection as well as concealment, that could house four launch vehicles. North Korea on Monday launched a volley of ballistic missiles into waters off its west coast, coinciding with the start of the Freedom Shield joint US-South Korean military exercises in the South. The drills will last for 11 days and the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a statement that its forces were in a 'full readiness posture' and were closely cooperating with US forces.
Saudi Gazette
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Satellite images show how North Korean troops were likely transported to a secluded Russian port
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of North Korean troops were likely transported by sea to Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, satellite images have revealed, according to a new analysis from a US-based think tank shared exclusively with CNN. At least two Russian naval ships are believed to have moved North Korean soldiers to a Russian military port in Dunai, in the far east, in October and November, according to researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, in California. The ship transfers were first identified by the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS), which said in a press release last year that some soldiers were transported via the North Korean port areas of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan. But the South Korean agency only offered a grainy radar image at the time. 'I don't think that the Russians or the North Koreans want these transfers caught on camera,' Sam Lair, a research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told CNN. 'The secrecy element is quite remarkable.' Now, researchers have verified that during the same time period of the troop transfers reported by South Korea intelligence, the Russian vessels identified by the spy agency docked at Dunai port in a remote, eastern part of Russia. In North Korea, soldiers likely boarded these ships at night, making it difficult to capture evidence of the transfers, researchers said. But satellite images have revealed activities at Dunai, 'where it appears the Russians have been less careful.' For example, in one satellite image from Planet Labs, a crane can be seen extending to one of Russia's naval landing ships, which researchers believe is the Nikolay Vilkov, at the port on October 17, and a covered cargo truck is on the dock next to it. By October 20, the crane is retracted, and it appears a transfer of soldiers is complete. Researchers could identify the Russian 'Ropucha-class' and 'Alligator-class' ships in the satellite images because they match with photos captured by the Japanese Defense Ministry in March 2022, when the vessels passed through Japanese waters. Each landing ship is believed to have capacity to hold several hundred soldiers, possibly as many as 400, according to the researchers. Lair explained that Dunai is a secure military facility, making it much more conducive to under-the-radar transfers than the large, nearby port of Vladivostok, which is in an area where civilians live. 'This is an isolated place where they can do these exchanges, where people aren't going to notice... (where) their own citizens, and folks in the intelligence community might not notice,' Lair said. An estimated 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia, according to Ukrainian officials and Western intelligence reports in January, which say around 4,000 of those troops have been killed or injured. Kyiv says it has captured at least two North Korean soldiers. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have confirmed the existence of North Korean troops on the front lines. CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment. North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk since late October to repel Ukraine's incursion in the southern Russian border region. 'The Russians seem to have been very careful to limit the exposure of the North Korean soldiers, moving them directly to military training facilities. The motive behind all the secrecy surrounding the North Koreans is uncertain, but moving some of them through Dunai would aid in that effort,' Lair wrote in his analysis. Dunai port has previously been used to transport cargo between Russia and the North Korea since Pyongyang started aiding the invasion of Ukraine in 2023, according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Satellite images taken in October show a cargo ship being loaded at Rajin port in North Korea, and the same ship docked two days later at Dunai in Russia. An October 2023 report from the UK-based think tank The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) said that 'Russia has likely begun shipping North Korean munitions at scale' to the 'inconspicuous naval facility' tucked away in Dunai. 'We spend a lot of time looking at North Korea in general, because of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, their conventional weapons program, their missile programs... So, we've been monitoring the North Korea-Russia connection since it started, in part because we think that that relationship might be going both ways,' Lair said. Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center think tank in Kyiv, told a forum in South Korea this week that North Korea is gaining valuable combat experience with its involvement in Ukraine. 'It's not only about supplies of missiles, it's about testing their missiles in real battlefield conditions,' Getmanchuk said during the forum at the Goethe Institute in Seoul. She said North Korea has used that experience to upgrade missiles to make them more accurate. Pyongyang's ground troops are also getting better, Getmanchuk said. 'They came totally unprepared... Now they are learning very quickly,' adapting to their tactics to be effective in 'modern, hi-tech warfare,' she added. Lair said the Pyongyang-Moscow relationship has deepened since the invasion began. 'Sending your own soldiers to fight in someone else's conflict really suggests the strength of the connection,' he said. There are indications that Russia and North Korea are no longer using the sea route to transport troops, according to the think tank. Meanwhile, South Korean intelligence has reported that Russian military planes are frequently flying between Vladivostok and Pyongyang. — CNN
CNN
27-02-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Satellite images show how hundreds of North Korean troops were likely transported to a secluded Russian port
Hundreds of North Korean troops were likely transported by sea to Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, satellite images have revealed, according to a new analysis from a US-based think tank shared exclusively with CNN. At least two Russian naval ships are believed to have moved North Korean soldiers to a Russian military port in Dunai, in the far east, in October and November, according to researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, in California. The ship transfers were first identified by the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS), which said in a press release last year that some soldiers were transported via the North Korean port areas of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan. But the South Korean agency only offered a grainy radar image at the time. 'I don't think that the Russians or the North Koreans want these transfers caught on camera,' Sam Lair, a research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told CNN. 'The secrecy element is quite remarkable.' Now, researchers have verified that during the same time period of the troop transfers reported by South Korea intelligence, the Russian vessels identified by the spy agency docked at Dunai port in a remote, eastern part of Russia. In North Korea, soldiers likely boarded these ships at night, making it difficult to capture evidence of the transfers, researchers said. But satellite images have revealed activities at Dunai, 'where it appears the Russians have been less careful.' For example, in one satellite image from Planet Labs, a crane can be seen extending to one of Russia's naval landing ships, which researchers believe is the Nikolay Vilkov, at the port on October 17, and a covered cargo truck is on the dock next to it. By October 20, the crane is retracted, and it appears a transfer of soldiers is complete. Researchers could identify the Russian 'Ropucha-class' and 'Alligator-class' ships in the satellite images because they match with photos captured by the Japanese Defense Ministry in March 2022, when the vessels passed through Japanese waters. Each landing ship is believed to have capacity to hold several hundred soldiers, possibly as many as 400, according to the researchers. Lair explained that Dunai is a secure military facility, making it much more conducive to under-the-radar transfers than the large, nearby port of Vladivostok, which is in an area where civilians live. 'This is an isolated place where they can do these exchanges, where people aren't going to notice… (where) their own citizens, and folks in the intelligence community might not notice,' Lair said. An estimated 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia, according to Ukrainian officials and Western intelligence reports in January, which say around 4,000 of those troops have been killed or injured. Kyiv says it has captured at least two North Korean soldiers. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have confirmed the existence of North Korean troops on the front lines. CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment. North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk since late October to repel Ukraine's incursion in the southern Russian border region. 'The Russians seem to have been very careful to limit the exposure of the North Korean soldiers, moving them directly to military training facilities. The motive behind all the secrecy surrounding the North Koreans is uncertain, but moving some of them through Dunai would aid in that effort,' Lair wrote in his analysis. Dunai port has previously been used to transport cargo between Russia and the North Korea since Pyongyang started aiding the invasion of Ukraine in 2023, according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Satellite images taken in October show a cargo ship being loaded at Rajin port in North Korea, and the same ship docked two days later at Dunai in Russia. An October 2023 report from the UK-based think tank The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) said that 'Russia has likely begun shipping North Korean munitions at scale' to the 'inconspicuous naval facility' tucked away in Dunai. 'We spend a lot of time looking at North Korea in general, because of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, their conventional weapons program, their missile programs… So, we've been monitoring the North Korea-Russia connection since it started, in part because we think that that relationship might be going both ways,' Lair said. Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center think tank in Kyiv, told a forum in South Korea this week that North Korea is gaining valuable combat experience with its involvement in Ukraine. 'It's not only about supplies of missiles, it's about testing their missiles in real battlefield conditions,' Getmanchuk said during the forum at the Goethe Institute in Seoul. She said North Korea has used that experience to upgrade missiles to make them more accurate. Pyongyang's ground troops are also getting better, Getmanchuk said. 'They came totally unprepared… Now they are learning very quickly,' adapting to their tactics to be effective in 'modern, hi-tech warfare,' she added. Lair said the Pyongyang-Moscow relationship has deepened since the invasion began. 'Sending your own soldiers to fight in someone else's conflict really suggests the strength of the connection,' he said. There are indications that Russia and North Korea are no longer using the sea route to transport troops, according to the think tank. Meanwhile, South Korean intelligence has reported that Russian military planes are frequently flying between Vladivostok and Pyongyang.
