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☆ Calls for accountability grow over October 7 failures, but Israel’s leadership is unlikely to act
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

On Monday, Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11, added to the growing mountain of evidence that the country’s leadership could have – or, at the very least, should have – known an attack was possible. In December, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman announced he would open an investigation into intelligence failures before the October 7 Hamas attack. Historically, Israel has had a public inquiry roughly every two years, he says, but not under its present and longest-serving leader. The most likely means of understanding the failures of October 7 was by dissecting it into smaller and more manageable issues, he said, like separating intelligence failures from those of operational doctrine. Major General Aharon Haliva, who was the commander of the IDF’s military intelligence, quietly announced in April that he would be stepping down.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, “, it’s, Netanyahu, Israel, Kan, Eyad Baba, ’, Matanyahu Englman, Englman, Raanan Sulitzeanu, Kenan, ” Sulitzeanu, ”, Sulitzeanu, Stringer, Yossi Fuchs, Yohanan Plesner, ” Plesner, I’m, Plesner, CNN’s Dana Bash, Aharon Haliva, Haliva, Avi Rosenfeld, Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Shin, ” Eisenkot Organizations: CNN, “, Israel Defense Forces, Israeli Special Forces, Getty, New York Times, Office, IDF, Israel’s, Hebrew University, International Court of Justice, Israel Democracy Institute, Brig, Staff, Southern Command, Military Intelligence Directorate, Defense, Israel’s Channel Locations: Israel, foreseeing, Gaza, AFP, Jerusalem, Lebanese, Jebbain, Gali Baharav, Gaza ., “

☆ Analysis: Can Netanyahu avoid triggering a regional war?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Nic Robertson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In a paradigm shift after decades of shadow proxy war, Tehran is usurping Israel’s strategy. “We have decided to create a new equation,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami said. When faced with existential threats in the past, Israel has executed the most audacious raids the region has ever witnessed. The damage that can be inflicted on Iran is huge, is huge.”So the most important question right now must be, can Netanyahu read the room right – with Iran threatening to attack, allies warning him not to – and avoid triggering a regional war. Iran, he implied, won’t attack Israel as long as it fears America’s reaction.

Persons: CNN —, Joe Biden’s, Ebrahim Raisi’s, ” Israel, Hossein, “, Bashar al, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Benny Ganz –, David Barnea, Staff Herzi Halevi, Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, of National Security Itamar Ben, Gvir, Ganz, Gallant, – Ganz, ” Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu’s, Saleh Al, Amos Yadlin, Yadlin, ” Yadlin, Bashar, Iran’s, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Biden Organizations: CNN, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, –, Staff, of National Security, IDF’s Military Intelligence, UN Security Locations: CNN — Israel, Israel, Iran, Tehran, Osirak, Syria, Tel Aviv, Gaza, Lebanese, Beirut, Lebanon, Damascus, America

☆ New report says the IDF's elite intelligence unit saw signs Hamas was preparing a terror attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new report says an elite IDF intelligence unit warned that Hamas was practicing for a big attack. AdvertisementAn elite intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) saw signs that Hamas was preparing for a massive terror attack, but early warnings ultimately went ignored, according to a new report. Unit 8200 is part of the IDF's decades-old Military Intelligence Directorate, which is responsible for collecting and processing intelligence from enemy groups like Hamas. Chris McGrath/Getty ImagesAccording to Channel 12's reporting, the NCO's colleagues did not ignore the warnings, and they even collected intelligence on additional Hamas training a few days later. For example, Israeli intelligence was focused on other threats, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, and downplayed the dangers of Hamas.

Persons: —, Chris McGrath, Paul, didn't, Benjamin Netanyahu, Haim Zach, Handout, it's, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Hamas might've, Alisa Kaff Organizations: Service, Israel Defense Forces, Military Intelligence Directorate, Hamas, IDF, West Bank, Quincy Institute, Responsible, Government Press Office, REUTERS Locations: Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Bani Suheila, Gaza City, Kibbutz Be'eri, Lebanon, Washington, Tze'elim, what's

☆ Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians to prepare for Russian winter onslaught
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A military spokesman said Russian attacks on the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka had eased in the past day, but were likely to intensify in the coming days. Zelenskiy issued his warning during his nightly video address a day after Russian forces carried out their first missile attack on the capital, Kyiv in some seven weeks. In his remarks, Zelenskiy hailed the "heroic" efforts of troops defending Avdiivka, under pressure from attempted Russian advances since mid-October. Russian accounts of the fighting on Sunday said its forces had repelled five Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut. Ukraine's military has been increasingly active in attacking Russian-held areas, but does not always acknowledge the strikes.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, German Galushchenko, Oleksandr Shtupun, Shtupun, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ron Popeski, Maria Starkova, Grant McCool Organizations: Presidential Press Service, Energy, German, Avdiivka, Russian, Sunday, Reuters, Russia's National Guard, Thomson Locations: Ochakiv, Ukraine, Mykolaiv region, Avdiivka, Russian, Melitopol, Kyiv, Russia, Donetsk, Bakhmut

☆ Russia increased its stock of long-range missiles faster than expected, report says. It could spell a hard winter for Ukraine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementRussia increased its stock of long-range missiles despite Western sanctions designed to bite into its ability to produce them, a think tank said. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut the boost in Russian long-range missile stocks — with 115 being produced in October alone — indicates "that Russia has increased its domestic production of missiles faster than had been forecasted," said the ISW. The Russian military appears to be stockpiling missiles in preparation for a new wave of attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in winter, British intelligence said in October. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia aimed, in part, at cutting off supplies of Western-produced components of sophisticated weapons such as long-range missiles. Russia has used long-range missiles to hit both civilian and military targets as part of a strategy analysts say is aimed at terrorizing Ukraine and breaking its will to fight.

Persons: —, Vadym Skibitskyi, Skibitskyi Organizations: Service, The, Main Military Intelligence, Kyiv Post Locations: Russia, US, Ukraine, Kremlin, Russian

☆ How the Putin family's 'blood sacrifice' may be driving the high Russian casualty rate in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | Julian Kossoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

People who study Russia say war and a glorious death are ingrained in the national psyche. The willingness of President Vladimir Putin and his generals to sacrifice thousands of soldiers in often-reckless assaults has become a blood-drenched hallmark of the war. "So in his own family, they've already paid that blood sacrifice, and he did his duty during the Cold War. "The official mantra of the Russian military is John 15:13, from the Bible," Carleton said. In Putin recruiting soldiers from villages in remote parts of Russia and among its non-Russian ethnic groups, Putin can avoid the perception of high casualty rates.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Gregory Carleton, Carleton, they've, Jaroslava Barbieri, Kremlin, Barbieri, Ben Soodavar, Kirill Organizations: Service, Avdiivka, UK Ministry of Defence, Tufts University, Birmingham University, Ukraine's Military Intelligence, King's College London, Nazi, Reuters, Russian Orthodox Church Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Germans, Kyiv, Nazi Germany, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Moscow, Donbas

☆ Russian soldier says 8 Ukrainian fighters fended off hundreds of enemy troops from their fortified position, per leaked audio
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian soldier described the "slaughter" of his comrades in an intercepted call, per Ukrainian intel. He said that in one instance, eight Ukrainian soldiers were able to fend off hundreds of Russians. He describes Russian forces suffering heavy losses when coming up against heavily fortified Ukrainian positions. In one instance, he said, a handful of Ukrainian soldiers fended off hundreds of Russian troops. Ukraine's intelligence department has periodically published the audios of intercepted Russian calls, which Russian media often dismisses as fake.

Persons: —, Sam, Volodymyr Fitio Organizations: Ukrainian intel, Service, Ukraine's Military Intelligence, Kyiv, Ground Forces Command, Kupyansk Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Russia, Ivanivka, Kherson Oblast, Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast

☆ French Military Intelligence Says Israeli Strike Not Behind Gaza Hospital Blast
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By John IrishPARIS (Reuters) - A blast at a Gaza hospital was not the result of an Israeli missile strike, but likely caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket, the French military intelligence directorate (DRM) said on Friday. Palestinian officials said 471 people were killed in the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Tuesday. Gaza's health ministry blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by militants. "There is nothing that allows us to say that it is an Israeli strike, but the most likely (scenario) is a Palestinian rocket that had a firing incident," the DRM said. According to the DRM, the impact crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.

Persons: John Irish PARIS, Israel, Emmanuel Macron, John Irish, Chris Reese, Rod Nickel Organizations: Reuters Locations: Gaza, Palestinian, Al, Ahli, Arabi, Israeli, Israel

☆ French military intelligence says Israeli strike not behind Gaza hospital blast
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Masri/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A blast at a Gaza hospital was not the result of an Israeli missile strike, but likely caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket, the French military intelligence directorate (DRM) said on Friday. Palestinian officials said 471 people were killed in the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Tuesday. Gaza's health ministry blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by militants. "There is nothing that allows us to say that it is an Israeli strike, but the most likely (scenario) is a Palestinian rocket that had a firing incident," the DRM said. According to the DRM, the impact crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.

Persons: Mohammed Al, Masri, Israel, Emmanuel Macron, John Irish, Chris Reese, Rod Nickel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Al, Ahli, Israel, Gaza City, Gaza, Palestinian, Arabi, Israeli

☆ Ukraine said it intercepted a call from a Russian soldier saying his unit was staging combat videos to make it look like they're fighting better than they actually are
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate said it intercepted a Russian soldier's call home. In translated audio, the soldier said his unit staged videos to make it appear like they were fighting well. Ukraine has frequently said it intercepted calls made by Russian soldiers since the invasion in February 2022. The outlet said the calls showed Russian soldiers complaining about heavy losses and lousy gear. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn June, the SBU also said it intercepted a call in which a Russian soldier admitted it was Russian forces that destroyed the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine.

Persons: —, Fedor Bondarchuk, Oleksandr Vynogradov Organizations: Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate, Service, Ukraine's Military Intelligence, 9th, Reuters, Security Service of Ukraine Locations: Ukraine's, Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian

☆ Ukrainian weapons can now hit targets 430 miles away, Zelenskyy says, threatening to bring the war deeper inside Russia's borders
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He said Ukrainian weapons can hit Russian targets more than 430 miles away. It means Ukraine has extended the range of its attacks and can strike deep within Russia's borders. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn a Facebook post Thursday, he posted a video apparently showing a long-range Ukrainian missile test. Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate Head Major General Kyrylo Budanov said that Ukraine has the capacity to strike targets anywhere in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014. As part of that drive, Ukraine has launched attacks on cities and military targets in Russia apparently aimed at sapping Russian morale.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy, Oleksiy Danilov, Kyrylo Budanov Organizations: Service, Ministry of Strategic Industries, Ukraine, Ukrainian National Security and Defense, Main Military Intelligence Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Russia's, Wall, Silicon, Pskov, Russia, Washington, DC, Russian, Crimea

☆ Russian military hackers take aim at Ukrainian soldiers’ battle plans, US and allies say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Russian military hackers have been targeting Ukrainian soldiers’ mobile devices in a bid to steal sensitive battlefield information that could aid the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine, the US and its allies warned Thursday. The news shows how the struggle to control sensitive military data in cyberspace has been a key front in Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has encouraged a loose band of thousands of volunteer hackers to launch attacks on Russian assets in Ukraine and on Russian soil. Some analysts and US officials have attributed the relatively limited impact of Russian hacking – at least compared with the outsize expectation of Russian cyber prowess – during the war to the same disorganization that has plagued Russian kinetic operations. But the true scope and impacts of Russian cyber operations in Ukraine is very difficult to pin down in the fog of war, where both sides have incentive to exaggerate their successes.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, “, ”, John Hultquist, Hultquist, ” Paul Chichester, idly, Paul Nakasone Organizations: CNN, Google, Russian Embassy, Cyber Security, Pentagon, Command Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Russia’s, Washington ,, Russia, Ukrainian

"We are sons of Jenin," said one of the Islamic Jihad fighters, who identified himself as Abu Salah. Islamic Jihad is a Palestinian faction sworn to destroying Israel and replacing it with an Islamic state. Many of the Palestinian attackers who have killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank came from the area. Sometimes the transfers involve criminals and sometimes legitimate or semi-legitimate businesses help to move funds to the West Bank, the militant sources said. Much of the weaponry used by the Jenin fighters comes from Israel itself, stolen and sold on through criminal gangs, Israeli officials say.

Persons: Raneen, Tzachi Hanegbi, Abu Salah, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Mahmoud Al, Saadi, Tamir Hayman, Daoud Shehab, Yasser Arafat, Ali Sawafta, James Mackenzie, Suleiman al, Khalidi, Raneen Sawafta, Maayan Lubell, Jonathan Saul, Jerusalem, Nidal, Michelle Nichols, Leila Bassam, David Clarke Organizations: Bank, REUTERS, West Bank, Islamic, Israel's National, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, HIT, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian, Israel's Institute for National Security, United Nations, Palestinian Center, Policy, Survey Research, Jenin Brigade, Gulf, Aqsa Brigades, Fatah, Thomson Locations: Jenin, JENIN, West, Islamic Jihad, Iran, Jihad, Lebanon, Israel, Oslo, Crescent, Tel Aviv, New York, Nablus, Palestinian Territories, China, Jordanian, Al, Aqsa, Amman, Maayan, Gaza, Beirut, Parisa, Dubai

☆ Ukraine's spymaster comes out of the shadows
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

For an intelligence chief running Ukraine's spy operations during war with Russia, Kyrylo Budanov, 37, has built up an unusually public profile that he has used to get his message out and to menace Russia from afar. These days, a spy boss cannot stay in the shadows, he says. "It's not possible without this, not anymore," the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) told Reuters in an interview at his heavily defended headquarters in the capital. The prospect of a spy agency sending assassins to hunt down Ukraine's enemies has drawn comparisons with Israel's Mossad. Budanov began his military career as a special forces operative and served in the east after Russia illegally annexed Crimea and its proxies took over Ukraine's eastern fringes.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kyrylo Budanov, GUR, Budanov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, haven't, Tom Balmforth, Sergiy, Mike Collett, White, Peter Graff Organizations: Kyiv, Ukraine's Main Intelligence, Reuters, Russian Interior Ministry, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, RUSSIA, Russian, Crimea, Rybalskyi

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin: Wagner boss denies Washington Post report that he offered intelligence to Kyiv in exchange for territory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kostan Nechyporenko Victoria Butenko Anna Chernova Sana Noor Haq | Kostan Nechyporenko | Victoria Butenko | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian soldiers, pictured in Bakhmut on Friday, fire a cannon near the eastern city, where a fierce battle for control against Russian forces rages. Prigozhin made the offer to Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, known as HUR, in January, the Post alleged. It quoted one leaked document as stating that Prigozhin met HUR officers in an unspecified country in Africa. “Therefore, I simply could not meet with anyone there physically.”In his message, Prigozhin asked rhetorically, “Who is behind this? Kyiv also said it was operating “effective counterattacks” in the Bakhmut area, matching remarks by Prigozhin that Kyiv had recaptured some territory.

☆ The Wagner leader disputes a report that he offered to betray Russia.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The head of the Wagner private military group on Monday rejected a report that he had offered to share with Ukraine the positioning of Russian Army troops around Bakhmut in exchange for a withdrawal of Kyiv’s forces from the area in eastern Ukraine. The Wagner group has been a driving force behind Russia’s monthslong battle to take Bakhmut, which has cost thousands of lives on both sides and reduced much of the city to rubble. Its founder, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, has publicly clashed with Russia’s military leadership over the fight for the city, accusing them of starving his forces of ammunition. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that a U.S. intelligence document leaked on the messaging platform Discord said that Mr. Prigozhin told contacts in Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate that he was willing to betray the Russian army’s locations around Bakhmut if Kyiv agreed to withdraw from around Bakhmut. A Ukrainian official told The Post that Mr. Prigozhin’s offer — made “more than once” — had been rejected.

☆ Leaked details of Wagner boss Prigozhin's dealings suggest he was ready to throw Russia's war 'under the bus' just to win a battle, Russia expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Sinéad Baker | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Wagner Group has frequently feuded with Russia's military leadership over its war in Ukraine. A new report suggests the group leader took it farther than previously known, offering to give Ukraine Russian troop locations. The report indicates that Yevgeny Prigozhin was ready to derail Russia's war for his own aims, an expert told Insider. And according to a new report, amid these tensions, Prigozhin attempted derail Russia's battlefield operations in a major way. Ukrainian soldiers walk in the position close to Bakhmut, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

☆ U.S. reviewing whether Ukraine war documents were leaked
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A member of the Ukrainian special force engages in zeroing his weapon prior to a mission, amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine, in the region of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 6, 2023. They are not war plans and they provide no details on any planned Ukraine offensive. If the published documents are authentic to any degree, however, the leak of classified data is troubling and raises questions about what other information about the Ukraine war — or any coming offensive — could be distributed. The Justice Department released a statement Friday night saying, "We have been in communication with the Department of Defense related to this matter and have begun an investigation." One U.S. official said the documents resemble data produced daily by the Joint Staff, although some numbers are wrong.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

☆ Russia and Ukraine swap around 50 prisoners of war - officials
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine carried out the latest in series of prisoner of war exchanges on Saturday, with both sides returning around 50 people, officials in Moscow and Kyiv said. Ukraine's military intelligence directorate reported the return of 52 detainees, among them soldiers, sailors, border guards, national guard members and doctors. Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine handed over 50 prisoners of war after talks. Earlier on Saturday, Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed head of the Donetsk region - one of four regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally proclaimed as its territory last month - also said a prisoner swap with Ukraine was taking place. Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and David LjunggrenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia and Ukraine swap around 50 prisoners of war
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine carried out the latest in series of prisoner of war exchanges on Saturday, with both sides returning around 50 people, officials in Moscow and Kyiv said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that since March, Russia had freed a total of 1,031 prisoners. Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine handed over 50 prisoners of war after talks. Earlier on Saturday, Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed head of the Donetsk region - one of four regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally proclaimed as its territory last month - also said a prisoner swap with Ukraine was taking place. Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and David Ljunggren, Editing by Franklin PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukrainian forces largely in control of key road in the east, says Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Ukrainian troops are largely in control of a key road that links two Russian-occupied districts in the east of the country, pro-Kyiv officials said on Friday. "The road from Svatove to Kreminna is practically under the control of the armed forces of Ukraine. Nevske is 10 km (6 miles) west of the road linking Svatove and Kreminna. A daily report from the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces made no mention of either Svatove or Kreminna. The update, posted on Facebook, said Russian forces had shelled dozens of targets along much of the front line.

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