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☆ 'They're running out of time': Ukraine's counteroffensive is gaining urgency as winter approaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

"Despite inflicting significant losses on Russian armed forces, Ukraine's four-and-a-half-month-old counteroffensive has not achieved major territorial gains nor managed to slice through Russia's 'land bridge' to Crimea," he added. "The hope is that they're far enough through the Russian defensive lines now ... to make some rapid progress. Russian forces had months to prepare layers of defenses including extensive networks of trenches; anti-tank obstacles such as ditches and "dragon's teeth"; and minefields. Russian forces are also receiving support from artillery, attack helicopters and other aircraft, again impeding Ukraine's forces. Minefields, in particular, have disrupted Ukraine's offensive momentum and rate of advance, according to analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Persons: Roman Pilipey, Tursa, Yevhen, they're, Michael Clarke, John Moore, they'll, Ukraine hasn't, Clarke, Orikhiv, They'll, that's, Seth Jones, Riley McCabe, Alexander Palmer, Ukraine's, Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kevin Lamarque Organizations: AFP, Getty, Russian, L119, Armed Forces, Anadolu Agency, Royal United Services Institute, CNBC, Ukraine's Defense Ministry, Ukraine, Planet Labs PBC, Handout, Reuters, Center for Strategic, International Studies, CSIS, Ukrainian, 35th Marine Brigade, Hamas Locations: Kostyantynivka, Donetsk, East, Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Luhansk, Crimean, Kherson, Central, Eastern Europe, Crimea, Marinka, Krasnohorivka, British, Bakhmut, Dnipro, Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia, Tokmak, Melitopol, Sevastopol, Moscow, Kyiv, Ukrainian, U.S, Israel

☆ A shortage of land mines forced Russian troops to put down irregular minefields, creating new problems for Ukraine: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia began laying minefields deeper than normal to make them harder for Ukraine to cross. The inconsistent and often improvised approach that followed, however, still created headaches for advancing Ukrainian forces. The result was that Russian minefields became irregular, which isn't necessarily out of the ordinary to begin with given terrain and time considerations. Citing conversations with Ukrainian forces, he also revealed that Russia sometimes built fake trench traps rigged with explosives. AdvertisementAdvertisementAnd the inconsistency and irregularity of the Russian minefields has only further complicated matters.

Persons: Jack Watling, Nick Reynolds, Watling, Reynolds, Michael Kofman Organizations: Service, Royal United Service Institute, Russian, 35th Marine Brigade, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Ukraine Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Donetsk

☆ Ukraine's counteroffensive would fall apart without all the Russian vehicles it has captured, frontline mechanic says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian mechanics are working on the frontlines to rapidly fix and convert captured vehicles. One mechanic told The New York Times that Russian vehicles have been vital in the counteroffensive. "Without the Russian captured vehicles, we would not manage to keep going," he told The Times. "Without the Russian captured vehicles, we would not manage to keep going," he told The Times. He said the brigade captured more than 20 Russian vehicles in the past six weeks of Ukraine's counteroffensive.

Persons: —, Hammer, Oleksandr Saruba, Michael Kofman, Kofman Organizations: New York Times, Times, Service, 35th Marine Brigade, Deutsche Welle, Carnegie Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian

☆ Amid the Counterattack’s Deadly Slog, a Glimmer of Success for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Carlotta Gall | More About Carlotta Gall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For 10 days, Ukrainian marines fought street by street and house by house to recapture the southeastern village of Staromaiorske, navigating artillery fire, airstrikes and hundreds of Russian troops. The Russians put up a ferocious defense but that ended on Thursday when they folded and the Ukrainians claimed victory. The recapture of Staromaiorske, a small village that is nonetheless critical to Ukraine’s southern strategy, was such a welcome development for Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelensky announced it himself. The counteroffensive has largely been a brutal lesson for Ukrainian troops, who have struggled to seize back territory across the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. In two months, Ukrainian troops have advanced less than 10 miles at any point along the region’s 100-mile front.

Persons: ”, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: 35th Marine Brigade Locations: Staromaiorske, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Former Special Forces engineer says Russian minefields are unlike anything he has ever seen and battling these hidden death traps is 'exhausting'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The former US Special Forces engineer says the overwhelming numbers of land mines is wildly different from anything he saw in Afghanistan. "There are millions and millions of mines in Ukraine," many put down by the Ukrainians, but significantly more by the Russians. The Russians have "the capability to lay millions and millions of land mines, and they do," he said, stressing that "the biggest shaping factor of this war is land mines." "Any movement, offense, or counteroffense, assaults, or anything like that, the commander has to take into account land mines," Hendrickson said. "The casualties that the Ukrainians are suffering on this offensive," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US Army Gen. Mark Milley said this week, "they're from minefields — minefields that are covered with direct fire from anti-tank hunter-killer teams, that sort of thing."

Persons: Ryan Hendrickson, Hendrickson, Ercin, Getty Images Hendrickson, Valery Zaluzhny, Mark Milley Organizations: US Special Forces, Ukrainian YouTube, Service, US Army Special Forces, Green Berets, Ukrainian Toronto Television, 35th Marine Brigade, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Rights, Toronto Television, Group, Getty Images, Washington Post, Joint Chiefs, Staff US Locations: Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Donetsk, Laos, Cambodia

☆ Biggest threat to Ukraine in battle right now is minefields, not Russia's superior airpower, top US general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But the biggest threat to Kyiv's troops right now are minefields, the top US general said this week. The biggest of these hurdles for Kyiv's forces are sprawling minefields and not Russia's superior airpower capabilities, the top US general said this week. "They're from minefields — minefields that are covered with direct fire from anti-tank hunter-killer teams, that sort of thing." Ukraine, however, is also having similar problems with Russian air defenses, leaving the air space over Ukraine contested. In some instances, Kyiv's troops have even been forced to abandon the heavy armor they received from the West and make advances on foot.

Persons: Mark Milley, Ercin Erturk, Milley, they've, —, Velyka Novosilka, Diego Herrera Carcedo, It's Organizations: Service, Joint Chiefs, Staff, 35th Marine Brigade, Anadolu Agency, Getty Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russian, Donetsk, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Russia

☆ Ukraine can't advance with tanks alone and is coming up short on what it really needs to break Russia's defenses
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Mines are a big problem for Ukraine's forces, but that's not all there is to it, one warfare expert said. As one expert told Insider previously, Leopards are very capable tanks, but no one should expect a "silver bullet." These systems are effective, but Ukraine's forces needs more of this kind of capability, the top general said. "Lack of a comprehensive combined arms approach at scale makes Ukrainian forces more vulnerable to Russian ATGMs, artillery etc. Ed Ram/For The Washington Post via Getty ImagesUnable to carry out those kinds of complex warfare, Ukraine may find itself stuck in an attritional artillery fight with Russia.

Persons: that's, it's, Valery Zaluzhny, ErtÃ ¼, Zaluzhny, Franz, Stefan Gady, Diego Herrera Carcedo, Gady, Ed Ram, It's Organizations: Service, Bradley, Leopards, Washington Post, New York Times, 35th Marine Brigade, ErtÃ ¼ rk, Anadolu Agency, Getty Images Ukraine, Post, Center for New American Security, NATO, 57th Brigade, Getty, Washington, Western Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, There's, Donetsk, ErtÃ, Kyiv, Donetsk oblast, Russian, Dnipropetrovsk region, Russia

[1/5] Ukrainian service members check a destroyed Russian a BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the front line in the newly liberated village Storozheve in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 14, 2023. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy concedes that Ukraine will probably not be allowed into NATO while the war with Russia is raging, but he is pushing for accession one day. You won't see that on television," he said at a practice shooting range in eastern Ukraine in late June. Neskuchne was one of several settlements captured by Ukraine in a southward thrust along the Mokri Yaly river starting in June. Yoda said he had been wounded four times over the course of the war, and that many soldiers were carrying injuries.

Persons: Oleksandr Ratushniak, Povar, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Neskuchne, It's, Andriy, Yoda, Max Hunder, MIke Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, Andriy, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Storozheve, Donetsk region, Russia, DONETSK, Vilnius, Ukrainian, Makarivka, Moscow, Crimea, Bakhmut, Azov, Crimean, Kharkiv, Kherson

The men of the 35th Marine Brigade transfer newly arrived American-made 120-millimeter mortar rounds to their temporary hideout. The bangs of outgoing artillery and mortar rounds cut through the tranquillity of abandoned fields. But like the long waits of the soldiers, the Ukrainian counteroffensive is a slow grind. As soon as the 120-mm American-made mortar rounds were delivered, they were cleaned and prepared for firing. Ukrainian soldiers say many corpses were collected earlier and many more could still be in the fields.

Persons: ”, Yuri, Sarah El Sirgany, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Mark Phillips, Neskuchne, It’s, Matyoriy Organizations: Ukraine CNN, 35th Marine Brigade, CNN, 35ths Marine Brigade Locations: Neskuchne, Ukraine, American, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Russia, Russian

☆ Factbox: Who are the forces involved in Ukraine's counteroffensive?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here's what we know about the new Ukrainian units. TWELVE BRIGADESNATO allies and partners helped Ukraine equip and train nine new armoured brigades for the counteroffensive, the military alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed in April. By April, Ukrainian units had received more than 1,550 armoured vehicles, 230 tanks, other equipment and vast amounts of ammunition, Stoltenberg said. In mid-May, one Russian military blog noted a buildup of Ukrainian forces and equipment in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region, estimating Kyiv's troop numbers at 50,000-55,000. ARE ANY OF THESE UNITS FIGHTING YET?

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Ihor Klymenko, Kara Dag, Chervona, Valerii Markus, Jaeger, Tom Balmforth, Hugh Lawson Organizations: NATO, Steel, Hurricane, Reuters, Bradley, 35th Marine Brigade, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, U.S, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Azov, Crimea, Russia, Ukrainian

It's a very effective gadget," the soldier, who uses the call sign Kakrurt, told Reuters in the central-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk. Kakrurt fights for Ukraine's 35th Marine Brigade, which modifies commercially-available drones and uses them to attack Russian forces who are occupying swathes of Ukraine's east and south. The brigade shared two video clips with Reuters showing its drones flying into what they said were Russian trenches before detonating. Drones have been used extensively by both Moscow and Kyiv's forces since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. That's why the Ukrainian Armed Forces are developing very, very quickly in this direction," he said.

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