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☆ Cuba says its citizens were recruited to fight with Russia in Ukraine — but the government is only cracking down now 'because they got caught,' former counterintelligence officer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Lauren Steussy | Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Cuban government says it's cracking down on efforts to recruit citizens to fight with Russia. But Cuba experts say it's likely that Cuba, a longtime Kremlin ally, was involved in these efforts. AdvertisementAdvertisementAndrés Albuquerque, a Miami-based political analyst, said it's also possible Russia worked alongside the Cuban government to recruit citizens. The recruitment in Cuba — as well as similar efforts in June in Kazakhstan — comes as Russia faces a manpower crisis. Just this past June, Cuba's Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera met with his Russian counterpart, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in Moscow.

Persons: Chris Simmons, Simmons, they've, Cuba didn't, it's, Putin, Albuquerque, Cuba —, Fidel Castro, Álvaro López Miera, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu Organizations: Service, Cuban, Russia, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defense Intelligence Agency, NPR, Defense, Western Military District, New York Times, Times, Kazakhstan —, Cuba's Army, Russian Locations: Cuban, Russia, Cuba, Kremlin, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russian, Albuquerque, Miami, Kazakhstan, Soviet Union, War, Moscow

☆ Russian pilots died in a Su-30 fighter crash during a training exercise over Kaliningrad, with reports saying they didn't have time to eject
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian Su-30 crashed during training on Saturday in Kaliningrad, killing its crew. Officials told state media that the crash probably happened due to a "technical malfunction." "On August 12, a Su-30 aircraft crashed in an uninhabited area while flying a training sortie in the Kaliningrad Region," the Western Military District told state agency TASS. It's been heavily used by the Russian military to carry out long-range attacks on ground targets in Ukraine via air-to-surface missiles. Russian Telegram news channel 112 reported on Saturday that the plane crashed in the Chernyakhovsky district in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania.

Persons: didn't, It's, Su Organizations: Service, Western Military District, TASS, Russian Telegram, Kremlin, Russian Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Kaliningrad, Wall, Silicon, Kaliningrad Region, Soviet, Ukraine, Chernyakhovsky, Poland, Lithuania, Belgorod, Yeysk

☆ After Wagner's mutiny, Russia's military is now fighting with war bloggers because they won't celebrate its few wins the way they want
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia's claims of a small battlefield victory have drawn criticism from military bloggers. The milbloggers won't celebrate with Moscow, causing the defense ministry to clash with the writers. Russian military bloggers, or milbloggers, have disputed some of the defense ministry's claims, according to a Sunday assessment by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank. The milbloggers, said Ukrainian forces had managed to establish positions and that fighting was ongoing. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, continue to make use of their huge inventory of heavy Western armor — including advanced tanks and infantry fighting vehicles from the US and its NATO allies — to liberate territory in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Persons: Russia's, Putin, —, Wagner Group's, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Sergei Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Pat Ryder, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Institute for, Russian MoD, Russia's Defence Ministry, Military District, Russian Defence Ministry, REUTERS Wagner Group, Kremlin, Pentagon Press, Air Force, NATO, The General Staff of, Armed Forces, Facebook, Twitter Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Dnipro, Kherson, Russian, Washington, Russia, Rostov, Belarus, Ukrainian, —

Some Russian military bloggers with substantial followings expect a serious reshuffle of the military in the light of the Wagner uprising, and perhaps within the security services for not seeing the preparations for it. Putin has sought to reassert his authority after Prigozhin's mutiny. There is no way to verify Rybar’s allegations, but their airing may demonstrate a level of apprehension in the Russian military in the light of the mutiny. At one point, according to Russian military bloggers, Surovikin interceded to try to procure ammunition for Wagner. There is still considerable respect in Russian military circles for what Wagner has contributed to the Ukraine conflict.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Wagner, Sergey Shoigu, Rybar, ” Rybar, Putin, Valery Gerasimov, Mikhail Teplinsky, Boris Rozhin, Sergey Surovikin, “, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, ”, Dmitry Peskov, Surovikin, Mark Galeotti, Galeotti, Tatiana Stayonova, Rob Lee, “ Wagner, ” Surovikin, Prigozhin, Vyacheslav Volodin, ” Volodin, Anastasia Kashevarova, Mikhail Tereshchenko, Stayonava, Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, George W Bush, Concord Company ”, we’ll, eking, Viktor Zolotov, ” Zolotov, ” Anastasia Kashevarova, Russia “, there’s Organizations: CNN, FSO, Federal Guard Service, Federal Protective Service, AP, General Staff, The New York Times, Mayak Intelligence, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Russian Aerospace Forces, Sputnik, Getty, Western Military, Concord Company, Kremlin, MoD, Defense Ministry, Russian National Guard, Ministry of Defense, Telegram Locations: Rostov, Moscow, Don, Russia, Ukraine, AFP, Bakhmut, Shoigu, Putin, St, Petersburg, Russian, Minsk, Belarus, Prigozhin

☆ Russia's version of NATO is crumbling, with even some of its closest allies frustrated by Putin's failing war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

CSTO, Russia's equivalent of NATO, was never a powerhouse, but relations have become more strained. And Frankopan said that countries had likely stopped trusting Russia's military abilities. Marin also said that CSTO members don't seem interested in taking big risks to protect the alliance's future. AP Photo/Felipe Dana, FileRussia a 'toxic partner'According to Frankopan, regional backlash to Russia's invasion of Ukraine could be happening for multiple reasons, including ideological objections to Russia's brutal tactics. Marin said the Ukraine invasion had made Russia a "rather toxic partner" to most of its post-Soviet neighbours.

☆ The Pentagon leaks: What documents leaked in the US military's worst intelligence breach in a decade reveal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The leaked documents revealed US spying on adversaries and allies alike. The leak also offered compromising details on the extent to which the US has infiltrated Russia's military and intelligence apparatus. Insider obtained and reviewed copies of photographs of dozens of the leaked documents. The documents revealed the US is spying on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and showed that he wanted to launch drone strikes against Russian forces in Russia. The US is keeping a watchful eye on ChinaA number of the leaked documents pertained to China, amid historic tensions between the US and Beijing.

☆ Russia says it will beef up military in northwest as Finland joins NATO - RIA
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Russia will strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to Finland's expected accession to NATO on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said, state-owned news agency RIA reported. Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO last year after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland has a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia that will roughly double the transatlantic alliance's frontier facing Moscow. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said last year that Russia was taking "adequate countermeasures" and would form 12 units and divisions in its western military district. Grushko told RIA: "We will strengthen our military potential in the western and northwestern direction.

"Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member of NATO making Finland safer and our alliance stronger," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, hailing the move as "historic". Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year pushed Finland and its neighbour Sweden to apply for NATO membership, abandoning decades of military non-alignment. [1/2] NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg attends a news conference before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium April 3, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron 1 2"President Putin went to war against Ukraine with the clear aim to get less NATO," Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg pledged to work hard to get Sweden into NATO as soon as possible.

☆ Russia says Su-35 scrambled over Baltic as 2 US bombers flew towards border
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 20 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was scrambled over the Baltic Sea on Monday after two U.S. strategic bombers flew in the direction of the Russian border, but that it returned to base after they moved away. It said the targets were U.S. Air Force B52H strategic bombers. It said a Su-35 fighter jet took to the air in order to prevent a border violation, and added, "after the foreign military aircraft moved away from the Russian Federation state border, the Russian fighter returned to its base airfield." "No violation of the state border of the Russian Federation was permitted," it said. Reporting by Elaine Monaghan and Ron Popeski; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A top Russian military official is dead after falling out of a 16th-floor window, the latest in a string of untimely deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian defense official has died after reportedly falling out of a high-rise window. Marina Yankina, who worked for Russia's Western Military District, was found dead on Wednesday. Her death is the latest in a string of untimely deaths among officials and allies tied to Vladimir Putin. Before Yankina joined the Western Military District, she worked for the Federal Tax Service of Russia. Last September, 67-year-old Russian energy oligarch Ravil Maganov also died after falling from a hospital window, Insider reported at the time.

☆ Russia's military reforms respond to NATO's expansion, Ukraine -chief of general staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The military reforms, announced mid-January, have been approved by Putin and can be adjusted to respond to threats to Russia's security, Gerasimov told the news website Argumenty i Fakty in remarks published late Monday. Under Moscow's new military plan, an army corps will be added to Karelia in Russia's north, which borders with Finland. In Ukraine, Russia will add three motorized rifle divisions as part of combined arms formations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, parts of which Moscow claims it annexed in September. "The main goal of this work is to ensure guaranteed protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country," Gerasimov said. "Our country and its armed forces are today acting against the entire collective West," Gerasimov said.

☆ Russia appoints new ground forces chief despite hawks' disapproval
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Russia has appointed Colonel-General Alexander Lapin as chief of staff of the country's ground forces, state-owned news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, despite fierce criticism from leading hawks over his performance in Ukraine. Lapin, previously commander of Russia's central military district, was blasted last October by hawkish allies of President Vladimir Putin after Russian forces were driven out of the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, a key logistics hub. On Oct. 8, Russia named Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as the overall commander of its forces in Ukraine, shortly after the reported sacking of the commanders of the Eastern and Western military districts. Kadyrov said Lapin should be stripped of his medals and sent to the front with a gun to wash away his shame with blood. Prigozhin backed Kadyrov's comments, saying: "All these bastards should be sent barefoot to the front with automatic guns."

☆ Russian troops work 'round-the-clock' on new air defence positions - Interfax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russians troops are working "round-the-clock" at new anti-aircraft missile system positions to defend against missile and air strikes by Ukraine, the Russian Interfax reported late on Sunday citing the defence ministry. Crews of the S-300V systems were "mastering new position areas" of the Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems, the news agency reported, citing a ministry statement. "The air defence units of the Western Military District continue to serve in the new position areas on combat duty around the clock," the agency cited the ministry as saying. The Western Military District, one of Russia's five military districts, incorporates regions bordering Ukraine, including the Belgorod and Bryansk regions. Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian troops take part in tactical drills in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday its troops were taking part in tactical exercises in Belarus, amid fears that Moscow is pressing its ally to get more involved in the Ukraine war. Belarus has said it will not enter the war in Ukraine, but President Alexander Lukashenko has in the past ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border, citing threats from Kyiv and the West. In a statement, Russia's defence ministry said, "Servicemen of the Western Military District ... continue intensive combat training on the ranges of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus." It added, "Combat training events are held during both daylight and at night. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what he called a "special military operation", triggering the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

☆ Putin supporters left reeling by yet another Russian 'surrender' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mikhail Klimentyev | Afp | Getty ImagesAs Russia's military commanders announced another major withdrawal in Ukraine Wednesday, pro-Kremlin commentators have described the retreat as a humiliating and significant defeat for President Vladimir Putin. Putin kept a low profile as Russia announced it was withdrawing its troops from the tentatively-occupied city of Kherson and the west bank of the Dnipro river, which bisects the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. The military said it could no longer supply its troops there and was worried about the safety its military personnel. Just six weeks later — during which time Russia evacuated thousands of Kherson's residents to Russian territory, a move Ukraine decried as deportation — and Putin's words ring hollow. Ukrainian Armed Forces' military mobility continue toward Kherson front in Ukraine on November 9, 2022.

☆ Russia's hopes for a Republican landslide to hurt Ukraine are vanishing fast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Shift in power ... and Ukraine support? Russia could well hope that a shift in power after the the midterm elections could herald a cooler attitude toward Ukraine. "Further, most Republicans remain staunchly committed to Ukraine support, despite House minority leader Kevin McCarthy's announcement of 'no blank check' for the Ukrainians under a Republican-led House. Russia's President Vladimir Putin listens while then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, in 2019. "The war in Ukraine must provide the U.S. with the best chance for regime change in Russia, of taking Putin out.

☆ Heavily criticised Russian commander takes three-week holiday, agency says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The commander of one of Russia's five military districts, heavily criticised for the performance of his troops in Ukraine, is taking a three-week holiday, according to the regional news agency Ura.ru. The Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Russia has made sweeping changes to its military leadership in the last two months as Ukrainian forces have reclaimed thousands of square kilometres in the northeast, east and south from Russian occupation. On Oct. 8 it named Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, shortly after the reported sacking of the commanders of the Eastern and Western military districts. Lapin's stand-in as commander of the Central District is Major-General Alexander Linkov, head of its organisational and mobilisation department, Kommersant said.

☆ U.S. Defense secretary speaks with Russian counterpart as war in Ukraine enters ninth month
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks at a news briefing at the Pentagon on July 20, 2022 in Arlington, Virginia. The call comes as the war enters its ninth month and as Ukraine continues a stunning counteroffensive to retake more of Russian-occupied territory in the east and south. "Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine," according to the Pentagon. WASHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart Friday morning, the second known call since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traded barbs last month with his Russian counterpart during a U.N. Security Council meeting.

☆ Putin shown firing rifle as he inspects mobilised soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin wears glasses as he visits a training centre of the Western Military District for mobilised reservists, in Ryazan Region, Russia October 20, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERSLONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday inspected a training ground for mobilised troops and was shown firing shots from a sniper rifle in footage apparently intended to show his personal backing for soldiers heading to fight in Ukraine. Footage showed a figure who appeared to be Putin lying flat on the ground and firing from a rifle. Faced with a series of defeats in the war, Putin last month declared a "partial mobilisation" to call up hundreds of thousands of extra troops. On Thursday he ordered all Russia's regions to do more to support army needs and stressed that all mobilised men needed to be sent to the front with proper equipment.

☆ The army Putin spent 2 decades building has been largely destroyed in Ukraine, and Russia's 'strategic defeat' could threaten his grip on power
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russia's military will have to be rebuilt because of the war in Ukraine, experts say. But the war in Ukraine has decimated the Russian military that Putin spent years building, while raising questions about his grip on power, Russia experts and military analysts told Insider. Russia's military is going to have to be rebuilt," George Barros, a military analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Insider. These losses have forced the Russian military to resort to pulling obsolete Soviet-era equipment, such as T-62 tanks, out of storage. The Russian military is "not nearly as powerful as we thought it was," he said.

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