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The Kremlin Has Become a Military Pawnshop

How a desperate Kremlin burned through its Soviet inheritance and started trading top-tier military secrets for defective ammunition, exploding guns, and borrowed time.

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Jason Jay Smart and Chuck Pfarrer
Aug 11, 2026
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Vladimir Putin is trading Russia’s military future for short-term survival in Ukraine. In exchange for North Korean artillery shells and ballistic missiles, Moscow is granting Pyongyang access to sensitive aviation, naval, and submarine technologies. For generations, the Kremlin strictly guarded these strategic capabilities to preserve its global power.

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A guest post by
Chuck Pfarrer
Fmr. SEAL Team 6 Squadron Leader | @KyivPost Correspondent | NYT Bestselling Author | Geopolitical & military analysis | Global Nat’l Security Coverage.
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