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☆ Opinion: On Ukraine, Biden is taking Putin’s threats too seriously
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Opinion Adam Kinzinger | Ben Hodges | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —There seems to be a doctrine within the National Security Council in the Biden administration: escalation aversion. Ukraine requested Javelins and Stingers before the full-scale war began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. After the battle of Kyiv was won, Ukraine requested MiG-29s, which Poland agreed to provide in exchange for Western fighters. Ukraine requested Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles for trench warfare in the east. During the Cold War, nuclear threats were not uncommon, but the US didn’t keep them from advancing its foreign policy interests.

Persons: Adam Kinzinger, Kinzinger, Ben Hodges, Biden, Vladmir Putin, Putin, Let’s, Abrams, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Annegret Hilse, Donald Trump’s Organizations: CNN, Republican, House Foreign Affairs, Air National Guard, US Army Europe, US Army, National Security Council, Ukraine, MiG, Western, Patriot, HIMARS, Bradley, ATACMS, NATO, Kyiv, Twitter, Facebook Ukraine Locations: Illinois, Ukraine, France, Germany, Russian, Russia, Kyiv, Poland, West, Vietnam, Afghanistan

☆ Russia made a flashy upgrade to its cruise missiles since Ukraine shot down so many — but it likely won't help
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia appears to have put decoy flares on its cruise missiles, a world first. AdvertisementRussia appears to be putting decoy flares on its cruise missiles to reduce how often Ukraine successfully shoots them down. A video at the end of December appeared to show a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile using decoy flares during an attack. Ballistic missiles, which are typically faster than cruise missiles and can have larger warheads, have used such flares in the past. Russia is trying to stop losing missilesRussia has been firing vast numbers of cruise missiles across Ukraine during its invasion.

Persons: —, Timothy Wright, Fabian Hoffmann, Hoffmann, It's, JUAN BARRETO, Wright, they'll, William Alberque, Alberque Organizations: Service, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Norway's University of Oslo, Russia, Getty Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Donetsk

☆ How Ukraine is beating the Russian airforce with US missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine has been bolstering its air defense capabilities in recent months, and it shot down five Russian Su-25 attack jets over a 10 day period, The Kyiv Post reported. Canada also announced it was donating 43 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles to Ukraine in May. AdvertisementAdvertisementUkraine sought assistance from the US to replenish its air defense arsenal, and AIM-9s were on the list. Meanwhile, the UK has also supplied advanced AIM-132 ASRAAM air-to-air missiles, which Ukraine has fitted to trucks. —🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 4, 2023Adding to its mix-and-match armory, Ukraine's recently acquired ATACMS has boosted its capability to attack the Russian air force.

Persons: —, we've, Oleksandr Shtupun, Defense Lloyd Austin Organizations: Service, Kyiv Post, US AIM, AIM, US Air Force, Ukrainian, Stingers, Defense Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Russian, Kyiv, Canada

☆ 4 of Russia's deadliest military systems in its war against Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider has compiled a list of four of the most effective ones Russia has used so far in the war. Insider has taken a look at four key military systems that Russia has used to do this, from Ka-52 attack helicopters to Lancet drones. Ka-52 "Alligator" attack helicoptersA serviceman checks a Russian Ka-52 "Alligator" attack helicopter. It can also be fitted with VIKHR anti-tank missiles, ATAKA missiles, B8V-20 rocket launchers, and IGLA-V anti-aircraft guided missiles, per the site. Danilov said the number of Russian mines was "insane" and stressed the importance Ukraine was placing on saving its front-line soldiers.

Persons: Bradley, Danilov, James Patton Rogers, Forbes, Patton Rogers, Oleksiy Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Airforce Technology, UK Ministry of Defence, US stingers, Forbes, Emergency Services, REUTERS Ukraine's, National Security and Defense, CNN, Presidential, University of Southern, Soviet, State Emergency Service, FAB, REUTERS, Razumkov, New York Times Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Ka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian, University of Southern Denmark, Kharkiv, REUTERS Russia

☆ Ex-Russian general warns 'lies' may obscure the battlefield realities of how Ukraine's troops are gaining ground
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An ex-Russian general said "lies" are obscuring the reality that Ukraine's troops are gaining ground. His Telegram message also said Russian victory is being prevented by "lies" and "false reporting." His points were sharply at odds with the victoriousness and censorship that often characterize Russian war commentary. A Ukrainian soldier of 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade puts camouflage on a tank's muzzle on September 11, 2023 in Eastern Ukraine, Ukraine. While assuring Russian troops are stronger and will endure, adapt, and win, he added: "Victory is separated from us only by one serious problem of ours - lies.

Persons: Gurulyov, Andrey Gurulyov, Yan Dobronosov, Vladimir Putin's, he'd Organizations: Service, Southern Military, Separate Mechanized Brigade, Getty, Stingers Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Orikhiv, Azov, Ukrainian, Eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's United Russia, Russia

☆ 'Putin's vulture': Why the Ka-52 attack helicopter is one of Russia's most influential weapon systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia's Ka-52 attack helicopter has been imposing a high cost on Ukraine's counteroffensive this summer. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt can also serve as a surveillance platform and an aerial command center for a fleet of attack helicopters. While some military experts say the US Apache helicopter is superior to the Ka-52, the Russian helicopter gunship is highly rated. In its review of the top nine attack helicopters, Military-Today.com wrote: "The Ka-52 is one of the fastest and most maneuverable attack helicopters due to its two coaxial contra-rotating main rotors. A video appears to show one of the Ka-52 attack helicopters being downed, revealing Russia's weakness, a former US general told Insider.

Persons: Russia's Ka, Ukraine's, Today.com, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Insider's Ryan Pickrell, Andriy Yermak, Maxym Organizations: Russian, Service, Kremlin, Kyiv Post, Kamov, Russian Helicopters, Airforce Technology, US Apache, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, AP, Military Factory, Russia, Getty, UK Ministry of Defence, Twitter, Ukrainian, Russian Ministry of Defense, Royal United Services Institute, Forbes Locations: Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine, AFP, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, London, American, Russia

☆ Video of a Ka-52 attack helicopter being shot down in Ukraine hints Russia isn't learning what it should have by now, former US general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Jake Epstein | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ukrainian forces destroyed three Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters this week alone. One video circulating around social media shows the moment a helicopter gets shot down. Russian forces have benefitted from its Ka-52s for much of the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive, using them to inflict damage on enemy ground forces lacking adequate protection. Ukrainian forces have found success this week in downing the formidable Ka-52, which is Russia calls the "Alligator" and NATO calls the "Hokum-B." A Ukrainian soldier looks at fragments of the Russian Ka-52 helicopter destroyed by the Ukrainian army.

Persons: couldn't, —, Ben Hodges, It's, Hodges, Maxym, Russia's, Andriy Yermak, Russia shouldn't Organizations: Service, US Army, NATO, Air Defense Systems, Army, Stingers, RBS, Getty, BBC Russian Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Donetsk, Army Europe, Soviet, Ukrainian, Moscow, Asia

☆ Indiana Jones, John Williams and the Art of Music You Can Barely Hear - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Frank Lehman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

I’ve been fascinated with film music since elementary school, when I got a cassette tape called “Kid Stuff: An Afternoon at the Movies,” which featured Mr. Williams and the Boston Pops. No one exemplifies this better than Mr. Williams, who is still composing at 91. Mr. Williams accomplished this by inviting the trumpet section of the London Symphony Orchestra to blast away in its most piercing register. As he has with other cues, Mr. Williams has given this particular set piece an afterlife in concert performances. Keep your eyes shut!” Maybe then we’ll stop passively hearing film music and begin actively listening to it.

Persons: Indiana Jones, John Williams, doesn’t, He’s, I’ve, Williams, ”, Dvorak, Stravinsky, Bach, extol, Gene Shalit, “, —, “ Indiana Jones, you’ll, Kate Capshaw’s, Willie Scott, That’s, it’s, Mickey Mousing, Emilio Audissino, Daniel Goldmark, ” Mr, Mickey Mouser, Guy ”, Mousing, Beyoncé’s, Marion Ravenwood, Marion Organizations: Raiders, “ Star, “ Raiders, Boston Pops, London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, ”, Hollywood, “ Locations: “, Indiana

☆ Luxury Porsche converted into a high-tech military vehicle for a commander in Ukraine's army
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A group of Ukrainian volunteers received a Porsche Cayenne to retrofit into a vehicle for the military. "When our team received this Porsche, it was quite a challenge to find the best way to utilize the luxury vehicle," said Roman Hapachylo, co-founder of Car for Ukraine. But the Porsche car was a different project. Car for Ukraine exists solely on donations of military aid, vehicles, and money. According to their website, they have distributed nearly $2 million worth of trucks to the Ukrainian military.

Persons: Ма

☆ Ukraine's fight to fend off Russia's superior air force hinges on its surface-to-air missiles, expert says, but leaked top secret documents show it may be running out
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia's air force has an edge over Ukraine's aircraft, requiring Ukraine to rely on other capabilities. Fighting off Russia's air force is dependent on Ukraine's surface-to-air missiles, a new report says. One document in particular that was obtained and reviewed by Insider details Ukraine's air defense capabilities and the risks it faces. Soldiers of the German Armed Forces stand on a trailer with launching pads for guided missiles of the Patriot air defense system on a snow-covered field in southeastern Poland. "Our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said last week.

☆ A 1960s-era cannon is 'kicking ass' against Russia's drones, but the country that makes ammo for it won't send more to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But Switzerland, where Gepard ammo is made, is not allowing more of that ammo to be sent to Ukraine. The Gepard SPAAGA German Gepard anti-aircraft tank during an exercise near Munster in June 2007. German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann built 570 Gepards between 1963 and 1980 — 420 for the German Bundeswehr, 95 for the Dutch army, and 55 for the Belgian army. Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty ImagesAfter being criticized for its reluctance to send heavy weaponry to Ukraine, the German government promised some 50 Gepards to Ukraine in April 2022. In February, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that German firm Rheinmetall would restart ammo production for the Gepard.

☆ Thousands of blue, jellyfish-looking blobs are washing up on California shores
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

By-the-wind sailors are beginning to wash up onto shores in California. Beaches from Dana Point to Point Reyes National Seashore have seen the creatures on their shores. Known by the scientific name Velella velella, the hydrozoa is actually a collection of polyps that float through the ocean using a translucent "sail" that sits upright on a flat, oval body to catch the wind. In 2014 and 2015, a Velella bloom resulted in billions of by-the-wind sailors washed ashore beaches from California to Washington. Dana Wharf Whale Watching did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Ukrainians say Russian drones pose growing threat, more Stingers needed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Mike Collett-White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In a small hamlet west of Soledar, a town to the north of Bakhmut now under Russian control, troops from an anti-aircraft unit in Ukraine's 10th Mountain Assault Brigade were planning to use drones to attack Russian positions. Kamin, 42, showed Reuters some of the shoulder-held weapons the unit has used to reduce the threat of plane and helicopter attacks on frontline Ukrainian positions. "Now it is a war of drones," Kamin said. "The Russians used reconnaissance drones, but now they are also using more drones that are carrying weapons." Despite the growing focus on UAVs, Kamin urged Western allies to supply more anti-aircraft weapons, including U.S. Stingers, which he said he was running out of.

☆ Russia has been sending captured US Javelins and Stingers from Ukraine to Iran, which may be able to reverse-engineer the technology: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has been capturing US and NATO-provided Javelins and Stingers on the battlefield in Ukraine. It has been sending the captured weapons to Iran, which could reverse-engineer the weapons, per CNN. Russia also believes that providing the captured weapons to Iran encourages the maintenance of an alliance between the two countries, the sources said. Earlier reports have suggested that Iran is sending ammunition and military drones to Russia, with US and NATO officials telling Foreign Policy this month that Russia and Iran are increasing defense ties. In the 1970s, Iran successfully reverse-engineered the American BGM-71 TOW missile, creating a replica anti-tank-guided missile called the Toophan.

☆ West must ramp up aid to Ukraine to keep war with Russia from becoming a stalemate, U.K. foreign secretary says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Dan De Luce | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Abigail-Williams-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The West needs to ramp up military assistance to Ukraine to ensure the war with Russia does not turn into a bloody, open-ended stalemate, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Tuesday during a visit to Washington. The United Kingdom also said it would provide more heavy artillery and ammunition to help Ukraine roll back Russian forces from its territory. “The U.K. has been very much on the front foot” in its security assistance to Ukraine, Cleverly said. He stopped short of urging the U.S., Germany or other governments also to supply Ukraine with new tanks or other more advanced weapons. Germany has faced growing calls to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and to allow other countries that have Leopards to provide Kyiv with them.

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.

☆ How Russian snipers are being fooled by a fleet of aging farm pickup trucks from Britain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The UK right-hand drive models confuse Russian snipers and have helped save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. This slight difference to other trucks and vehicles on the frontline has saved the lives of many Ukrainian soldiers, Oleksii told Insider. According to Oleksii Russian snipers mistakenly aimed for the passenger seat, thinking they were shooting at the drivers. The Car4Ukraine team. Car4UkraineThe little things, or the little people, are the ones that can make a difference against Russia's "huge stupid army," Oleksii told Insider.

Persons: Ма

☆ Ukraine is scrambling to shoot down Russian missiles and drones. Here are the weapons other countries are sending in to help.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Here are some of the air-defense systems that countries are sending Ukraine to take on that threat. The US, Britain, and several other countries are sending Ukraine a variety of air-defense systems. Here are some that are being supplied to Ukraine:NASAMSThe National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System. Norwegian Ministry of DefenseParticularly significant is that rather than custom-designed surface-to-air missiles, NASAMS fires existing air-to-air missiles that are modified to be launched from the ground. Shan Yuqi/Xinhua via Getty ImagesUkraine has already received the first of four German IRIS-T short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.

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