Let's move on to the situation in Ukraine.
On June 27, the war in Ukraine reached its 855th day. Russia's new defense minister, Belousov, once again resolutely stretched the front. On the Kharkiv battlefield in the north, the Russian and Ukrainian armies have been fighting hard in Volchansk and Lipzen near the border, each with its own offensive and defensive. Volchansk, the main attack of the Russian army; Lipzen, the main attack of the Ukrainian army. The two sides are basically in a state of stalemate.
However, on June 25, Brigadier General Melikov, deputy commander of the Kharkiv cluster of the Ukrainian army, publicly revealed that a small reconnaissance unit of the Russian army raided the village of "Cossack centurions" in the northwest of Kharkiv. In May 2023, the sabotage team of the Ukrainian army and mercenaries gathered here and broke into Russia proper. And the Ukrainian army here is now changing its guards. Therefore, the Russian army's move is obviously intended to find out whether the Ukrainian army here is changing its guard normally or gathering new troops to prepare to threaten the Russian mainland through reconnaissance operations.
After all, before the NATO summit with the United States on July 9, if the Ukrainian ground forces can break into the Russian mainland and establish a bridgehead, even if it can only last for a few days, it will be the best reason for NATO to continue to expand military aid to Ukraine. Therefore, the Kremlin has made no secret of the fact that the purpose of the Kharkiv border campaign is to create a buffer zone, so that the Ukrainian army will not always use the dense river valleys in the border area to launch attacks against the Russian mainland.
The Russian-Ukrainian border area is densely covered with rivers and lakes, and due to the low terrain of the river valley and dense forests, it is not easy for electronic warfare units to deploy. Therefore, whether it is using drones or missiles, or even using ground forces to launch an attack on the Russian mainland, the Russian army will be overwhelmed and exhausted. Therefore, the Russian army is now attacking and defending, and expelling the Ukrainian army from the valley area near the border will be the best protection for the Russian mainland.
Therefore, it should now be judged that the attack of the Russian army on the village of the "Cossack centurion" is a reconnaissance operation. Once the situation of the Ukrainian army is known, the Russian army should launch an attack on the town of Zolocheve, which is located about 16 kilometers southeast of the village. In this way, the Russian army can level the "Zovochev-Lipzen-Volchansk" front as soon as possible, so that the flanks of the Russian army everywhere can be effectively protected. After all, the Ukrainian army has begun to gather heavy forces and is ready to launch a large-scale counteroffensive in the Lipzen direction. If the Russian army does not prepare in advance, the desperate Ukrainian army may really break into the Russian mainland again.
The Russian army stretched the front, and the Ukrainian army fell into a dilemma: divide the troops to defend in divisions, or gather forces for a key counteroffensive. But no matter which choice is made, the Ukrainian army is required to continue to increase the strength of the Kharkiv border, otherwise even Kharkiv itself may become a real target for the Russian army.
Of course, the way to prevent the smooth offensive of the Russian army, in addition to the troops, is also the wide mine group. However, after the news that the North Korean sappers were going to enter Ukraine to clear the mines, it was announced to the public by a German journalist, and the impact on the morale of the Ukrainian army was still very obvious.
The DPRK army was built and grown up according to the model of the Soviet army, and it is absolutely very familiar with the tactics of the Russian and Ukrainian armies. Moreover, in view of the peculiarities of the situation between the geopolitical actors on the Korean Peninsula, the study of Western-style landmines and modern landmine methods is precisely the subject of training that the DPRK must carry out within the special framework of its southern neighbor. Therefore, if North Korean sappers really enter Ukraine, their threat to Ukrainian minefields is very obvious.
Therefore, although some Ukrainian media have judged that the entry of North Korean engineers into Ukraine is just a smokescreen bomb, the purpose of which is to create the illusion that North Korea may cross the "38th parallel" minefield and attack south, it is believed that the Ukrainian army must take into account the impact of North Korean engineers after they really enter Ukraine to clear mines when they increase their efforts to lay minefields.
After Denmark categorically refused to continue training F-16 pilots for Ukraine in 2025 on June 24, there was news that North Korean engineers would enter Ukraine to clear mines, which is definitely demoralizing news for Ukrainian soldiers who are preparing for a major counteroffensive.
Therefore, in order to boost the morale of the Ukrainian army, according to the US "New York Times", at the NATO summit with the United States on July 9, although Ukraine will not be invited to join NATO, a NATO mission will be set up at the US military base in Wiesbaden, Germany, led by a US general, responsible for coordinating the supply of military supplies to Kyiv, including F-16 fighters, artillery and air defense equipment. The mission will also be responsible for the implementation of the long-standing bilateral security agreement signed between European countries and Ukraine.
And since the mission will carry out its mission with the support of NATO, even if Trump wins the US presidential election, assistance to Ukraine will not stop. Obviously, this is to reassure the senior officials in Kyiv: even if the new US president does not support Kyiv, NATO will always support it, and the resolute support of European countries for Kyiv will keep NATO's door open to Ukraine. As long as Kyiv can win the Russian-Ukrainian war, it can join NATO.
Everyone knows that this is a big pie drawn, and the senior officials in Kyiv know it better, but now they can only wait for change. As long as they have not completely collapsed now, they will still be the shining stars on the international political stage in the midst of a century of changes. Anything can happen in the future.