Yes it was. It forced Russia to spend resources retaking their own land instead of using those resources to take more of Ukraine.
They had to tap the DPRK to sustain their meatwaves. Seriously, think about it: Russia was - and is - having such extreme and pervasive manpower issues that they had to call in THE pariah state and convince them to send tens of thousands of dudes. Sure, there’s the whole “NK gets combat experience” thing… but most of the accounts I’ve read and seen indicate that NK forces not only faced catastrophic losses due to how they were used, but also overt and extensive discrimination and abuse by regular Russian forces (shocker, I know).
Any serious strategist who thinks Russia isn’t very close to its breaking point should probably not be considered a serious strategist. In the longer term sense, Russia’s already crippled their demographic and economic prospects for probably the next half century at least.
You are right, in this video have good explanations.
^ I wholeheartedly endorse Anders Puck Nielsen and his takes. He offers a more optimistic perspective but it is very well grounded in reason thanks to his academic/military background.
