AP Moscow is reporting that the former USSR sent 3,000 troops to the former DRV during the war period with the US. This is the first time that the Soviet press is reporting on the secret military program. Previous to this, the USSR only admitted to losing about a dozen advisers and minimal personnel commitments to the region.
Echo of the Planet (Eko Planety) states that in 1965 it was Soviet troops who downed the first US planes lost in the war. 1965 is a key year in so far as the Soviets supplied North Vietnam with materiel, aid and personnel. Accordingly, the Soviets are claiming that after 1965, their personnel commitment was minimal as North Vietnamese troops were trained by that time to use the Soviet supplied technology and equipment. This information comes as a result of interviews with high-ranking officials who were part of the program during the war.
This report simply adds more support to the long-held knowledge of Soviet control and involvement in the war in Vietnam, and previously in Korea. Information that the Soviets downed the first US aircraft losses of the war show how closely the Soviets and then-DRV worked together. And, this information adds even more credibility to things such as the 1205 or Quang document and other reports which show blatant Soviet fingerprints.
This report runs alongside the knowledge that the USSR had a specific program to access US personnel and equipment in Korea... and obviously, continued their program into the Second Indochina War.
And DOD has the nerve to say there is no evidence of Soviet involvement or the transfer of US personnel to their satellite territories.