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☆ Ukraine Says It Uncovers Mass Fraud in Weapons Procurement
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Ukraine's SBU security service said on Saturday it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country's military totalling the equivalent of about $40 million. The announcement of mass procurement fraud, confirmed by Ukraine's Defence Ministry, will have a huge resonance in a country beleaguered by Russia's nearly two-year-old invasion. The fight to root out endemic corruption remains a major issue as Ukraine presses its bid to secure membership in the European Union. "According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are involved in the embezzlement." Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov was dismissed last September over various corruption cases despite enjoying a solid reputation in representing Ukraine in its discussions with Western allies.

Persons: Russia's, Oleksii Reznikov, Ron Popeski, Maria Starkova, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Reuters, Ukraine's Defence Ministry, European Union, Ministry of Defence, Lviv Arsenal, . Defence, Western Locations: Ukraine, Ukrainian

☆ Plane Crash in Western Russia - What We Know and Don't Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

(Reuters) - Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of shooting down a military transport plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange. The crash took place just northeast of Belgorod in western Russia, close to the border with Ukraine. The aircraft was an Ilyushin Il-76, a large military transport plane designed to carry troops, cargo or weapons. He said a second Il-76 transport plane carrying around 80 more Ukrainian soldiers to the exchange had managed to turn around. Ukraine's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Persons: Here's, Andrei Kartapolov, Kartapolov, Ukraine's, Andriy Yusov, Margarita Simonyan, Mykhailo Podolyak, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Reuters, Ukraine, WHO, U.S . Patriots, IRIS, Radio Svoboda Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Belgorod, Russian, Ukraine's Kharkiv, Chkalovsky, Moscow, UKRAINE, Ukrainian

☆ Drones Are Hit and Miss for Ukrainian Soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have become vital for Ukraine's military since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. "And most of them are because of low-quality parts that are used very often to make the drones even cheaper." AN INTEGRAL PART OF UKRAINE'S WAR EFFORTUkraine's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the soldiers' remarks. Drones range from small UAVs controlled remotely to larger devices that can fly hundreds of kilometres deep into Russian territory. Despite their impact, Sam said drones could not win the war on their own.

Persons: Inna, Sam, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Elaine Monaghan, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Reuters, Russia, Artillery, Russian Locations: DONETSK, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Russia, Russian

☆ Ukrainian Group Says More Than 30,000 Troops Have Died in Russia's Invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian civic group said it has confirmed the deaths of nearly 25,000 Ukrainian soldiers since Russia's February 2022 invasion by using open sources, and puts the total toll at more than 30,000. Writing in the Ukrainian journal Tyzhden, historian Yaroslav Tynchenko and volunteer Herman Shapovalenko said Shapovalenko's Book of Memory project had confirmed 24,500 combat and non-combat deaths using open sources. "That is, the real number of dead (deceased) in combat and non-combat situations is more than 30,000 people." The Book of Memory project, which has tracked Ukraine's war dead since Russia's first invasion in 2014, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia has also not disclosed the number of its war dead.

Persons: Yaroslav Tynchenko, Herman Shapovalenko, Tynchenko, Dan Peleschuk, Tom Balmforth, Alex Richardson Organizations: New York Times, Reuters, Military History Museum of Locations: Ukrainian, Military History Museum of Ukraine, Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine's

☆ Russia strikes Ukraine's Danube port, sending global grain prices higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine's defence ministry said a grain silo was damaged in the Danube port of Izmail in the Odesa region: "Ukrainian grain has the potential to feed millions of people worldwide," the ministry wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Russian terrorists have once again attacked ports, grain, global food security." "The enemy... is trying to destroy Ukrainian grain, attacking industrial and port infrastructure. Ukrainian officials have said Moscow has hit 26 port facilities, five civilian vessels and 180,000 tonnes of grain in nine days of strikes since quitting the grain deal. Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia also launched a drone attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight.

Persons: Oleh Kiper, Kiper, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Izmail, Ukraine's, Serhiy Bratchuk, Pavel Polityuk, Jacqueline Wong, Tom Hogue, Simon Cameron, Moore, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Ukrainian Volunteer Army, United Nations, Ukraine's Air Force, Air, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Odesa, REUTERS KYIV, Russia, Romania, Moscow, reimpose, Izmail, NATO, Ukraine's, Chicago, Constanta, Turkey, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine uses North Korean rockets to blast Russian forces, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian soldiers were observed using North Korean rockets that they said were seized by a "friendly" country before being delivered to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. Ukraine's defence ministry suggested the arms were captured from the Russians, the newspaper said. The United States has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, including alleged shipments by sea, but has not offered proof and North Korean weapons have not been widely observed on the battlefields in Ukraine. North Korea and Russia deny conducting arms transactions. The North Korean weapons were shown by Ukrainian troops operating Soviet-era Grad multiple-launch rocket systems near the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut, site of lengthy brutal fighting, the report said.

Persons: Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Kim Jong, Josh Smith, Soo, hyang Choi, William Mallard Organizations: Financial Times, United, Russia's, Korean, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, United States, North Korea, Russia, Bakhmut, Pyongyang, Soviet Union

☆ Ukraine uses North Korean rockets to blast Russian forces -FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian soldiers were observed using North Korean rockets that they said were seized by a "friendly" country before being delivered to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. The United States has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, including alleged shipments by sea, but has not offered proof and North Korean weapons have not been widely observed on the battlefields in Ukraine. North Korea and Russia deny conducting arms transactions. The North Korean weapons were shown by Ukrainian troops operating Soviet-era Grad multiple-launch rocket systems near the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut, site of lengthy brutal fighting, the report said. During the visit, Shoigu was photographed viewing banned North Korean ballistic missiles with leader Kim Jong Un at a military expo in Pyongyang, signalling deeper ties between the two countries as they each face off with the United States.

☆ Counting central Ukraine’s military losses, with a spreadsheet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Reuters has not been able to independently verify widely varying claims of battlefield losses on both sides of the conflict. But the spreadsheet offers a glimpse into the human cost of the war in one of Ukraine's 27 regions. Ukraine's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Ukraine's losses. According to his spreadsheet, at least 25 soldiers from the 116th Territorial Defence Brigade were killed there that month. "The entire region felt these losses," Tkachenko said.

Persons: Denys Bondarev, Dan Peleschuk, Viktor Tkachenko, Tkachenko, Kyiv's, Poltava's, Istomin, Andriy Karpov, Tetiana, Bondareva, Mike Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Facebook, 116th Territorial Defence Brigade, Thomson Locations: Poltava, Ukraine, Dan Peleschuk POLTAVA, Sumy, Kharkiv, Russia, Poltava city, Russia's, Soledar, Bakhmut

☆ Russia's Shoigu: Ukraine's counter-offensive has been thwarted
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Unusually, Sergei Shoigu read a statement himself rather than leaving it to the ministry's regular spokesman. Ukraine has maintained deliberate ambiguity about whether its long-expected counter-offensive is under way, and Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claims. "In the past three days, the Ukrainian regime launched a long-promised offensive in different sectors of the front," Shoigu said. In its daily briefings, Russia's Defence Ministry often enumerates the losses of men and material that it says Ukraine has suffered, without providing evidence. On Monday, Russia's Defence Ministry said Ukraine had begun its counter-offensive by attacking Russian lines at different points in the south of the Donetsk region, and that all the attacks had been repelled.

Persons: Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian Wagner, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean Organizations: Reuters, Russia's Defence, Ukraine's Defence Ministry, Russia's Defence Ministry, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, MOSCOW, Ukrainian, Russia, Donetsk, Russian, Moscow, Dnipro, Kyiv, Crimea

☆ Russia says it thwarts another major attack in Ukraine, inflicting heavy losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

On Monday, Russia said Ukrainian forces over the weekend had begun a major offensive in the southern part of the Donetsk region, which it had also thwarted. The latest Russian defence ministry statement said Russian forces had inflicted huge personnel losses on attacking Ukrainian forces and destroyed 28 tanks, including eight Leopard main battle tanks and 109 armoured vehicles. It said total Ukrainian losses amounted to 1,500 troops. Russia and Ukraine have often made claims of inflicting heavy human losses on each other which could not be independently verified. In a promotional video released on Sunday and urging silence in regards to any military actions, Ukraine's defence ministry said: "Plans like silence - the beginning will not be announced."

Persons: Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Vladimir Putin, Bakhmut, John Kirby, I'm, Dmytro Kuleba, Hanna Maliar, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Reuters bureaux, Lidia Kelly, Ron Popeski, David Brunnstrom, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Defence Ministry, Sunday Ukraine, KYIV, Kremlin, Ukrainian, Reuters, Washington Post, White House, Monday Ukraine, Ukraine's, Staff, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Russia, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Crimean, Kiev, Kyiv, Crimea

☆ Ukraine says Russia plans to simulate accident at nuclear plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine's defence ministry on Friday said Russia was planning to simulate a major accident at a nuclear power station controlled by pro-Moscow forces to try to thwart a long-planned Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake territory occupied by Russia. The Zaporizhzhia plant, which lies in an area of Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, is Europe's biggest nuclear power station and the area has been repeatedly hit by shelling that both sides blame each other for. The defence ministry's intelligence directorate said Russian forces would soon shell the plant and then announce a radiation leak. It said Russia had disrupted the planned rotation of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, who are based at the plant. In February, Russia said Ukraine was planning to stage a nuclear incident on its territory to pin the blame on Moscow.

☆ New bodies aim to boost Ukraine defence ministry's efficiency, transparency
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, April 28 (Reuters) - Two new advisory bodies will help make Ukraine's defence ministry more efficient and transparent, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Friday. The Office for the Support of Changes and the Public Anti-Corruption Council were set up earlier this month following allegations that the ministry bought food for troops at inflated prices. "Today is a time for reform, even during this war," Reznikov told an online briefing. The Public Anti-Corruption Council contained people who were publicly elected by thousands of voters, he said. Reznikov said in February that hundreds of officials at the defence ministry or in the armed forces had been disciplined last year after internal audits, and that he had "zero tolerance" for corruption.

☆ Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

And in the case of Polohy, Russia has constructed two distinct defensive lines, one to the north and one to the south. Musiyenko estimated that Ukraine would have a force of between 100,000-110,000 for an attack, including eight assault brigades with a total of 40,000 troops. Russia has not said how many troops it has in Ukraine, or within its borders ready to deploy. A leaked U.S. intelligence document dated Feb. 28 seen by Reuters said the West had committed 200 tanks to Ukraine. Army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said in December he needed 300 to defeat Russia, along with other vehicles and artillery.

☆ Ukraine says Russia cruise missiles blown up in transit in Crimea
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine's defence ministry said on Monday that an explosion in Dzhankoi in the north of the Crimean peninsula destroyed Russian cruise missiles intended for use by Russia's Black Sea fleet. "An explosion in Dzhankoi city in the north of temporarily occupied Crimea destroyed Russian Kalibr-KN cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail," the ministry's main intelligence directorate said in social media posts. It said the missiles, designed to be launched from surface ships of Russia's Black Sea fleet, had an operational range of more than 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) on land and 375 kilometers at sea. TASS quoted Ivin as saying on Krym-24 TV that a house, school and grocery store caught fire, and the power grid sustained damage. Reporting by Elaine Monaghan, Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin meets 'dear friend' Xi in Kremlin as Ukraine war grinds on
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 20, 2023. Putin and Xi greeted one another as "dear friend" when they met in the Kremlin on Monday, and Russian state news agencies later reported they held informal talks for nearly 4-1/2 hours, with more official talks scheduled for Tuesday. In televised comments, Putin told Xi he viewed China's proposals for resolution of the Ukraine conflict with respect. Xi, for his part, praised Putin and predicted Russians would re-elect him next year. Putin signed a "no limits" partnership with Xi last year shortly before the Kremlin leader ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine starts producing shells for Soviet-era tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The ammunition was being made outside Ukraine with the co-operation of an unnamed NATO country, state-owned Ukroboronprom said. It said the shells had been made to fulfil an order from Ukraine's defence ministry. This creates an acute need for new sources of ammunition supply, as most NATO tanks use a different calibre -- while the vast majority of 125-mm round stocks are held by Russia and other countries who would not supply Ukraine. Ukroboronprom said this is the second type of munition which it had started to make in co-operation with a NATO member state. In February, it announced the start of joint production of 120-mm mortar rounds, again with an unnamed NATO partner.

The four members of the Brotherhood Battalion later buried in Kyiv were Yurii Horovets, 34, Taras Karpiuk, 38, Maksym Mykhailov, 32 and Bohdan Liagov, 19. Ukrainian authorities did not comment on the raid then, and have subsequently denied involvement in attacks claimed by Ukrainian-based groups on Russian soil. "Our aim is to bring the war over to Russian territory. "When we are on Russian territory, we act autonomously," he added. Ukraine's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its relationship with the Brotherhood Battalion, called "Bratstvo" in Ukrainian, and the armed forces.

☆ SpaceX never intended Starlink internet to be 'weaponized' in Ukraine, says COO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

SpaceX's COO said the company didn't intend Starlink to be "weaponized" amid the war, per reports. Gwynne Shotwell claimed the Ukrainian military had used Starlink internet in "unintentional" ways. Ukraine has used Starlink for drones to help destroy Russian tanks, The Times reported last year. However, Shotwell claimed Ukraine had used Starlink "in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement," according to a report by Space News. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, SpaceX has provided thousands of Starlink dishes to Ukrainians and has helped Ukrainian troops stay online.

Zelenskiy says he needs to show that Ukraine was a safe steward of billions of dollars of Western military and other aid. Ukrainian aircraft have launched nine strikes on areas of concentration of Russian forces and two anti-aircraft positions, it said. Arakhamia had said the 37-year-old head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, would replace Reznikov, who would become minister of strategic industries. One obstacle to replacing Reznikov with Budanov, a fast-rising officer decorated for operations that remain secret, is a rule requiring the defence minister to be a civilian. Ukraine said on Monday evening that Russian forces had trained tank, mortar and artillery fire there in the past 24 hours.

A day after announcing that Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced, a top ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared to row back for now, saying no personnel changes in the defence sector would be made this week. Two senior lawmakers on Monday noted that rules require Ukraine's defence minister to be a civilian, which would appear to put an obstacle in the way of the immediate appointment of Budanov, a 37-year-old military officer. 'WAR DICTATES CHANGES'Arakhamia said Ukraine's armed forces should not be overseen by politicians during wartime, but by people with a background in defence or security. As a wartime defence minister, Reznikov, 56, fostered ties with Western defence officials and helped oversee the receipt of billions of dollars of military aid to help Kyiv fend off the Russian invasion. During his tenure as defence minister, he spoke out strongly about wartime corruption, which he said was akin to "marauding".

☆ Without supplying evidence, Russia says it's investigating alleged Ukrainian use of chemical weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Russia's state Investigative Committee said on Monday it was examining the alleged use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian forces near the towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. Ukraine's Defence Ministry did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the allegation, which was not accompanied by any publicly released evidence. The Investigative Committee said the Donetsk People's Republic - one of Russia's proxies in the territories it has seized and occupied in eastern Ukraine - had reported the use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian drones near the two locations. Since the start of its invasion nearly a year ago, Russia has repeatedly warned that Ukraine might be preparing to use non-conventional weapons, including biological weapons or a radioactive dirty bomb. Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Jon BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Separately, a newspaper investigation published on Saturday accused the Defence Ministry of overpaying suppliers for food for its soldiers. If the humane approach doesn't work, we'll do it in line with martial law," he said. Before last year's invasion, fighting corruption was the principal theme for Zelenskiy, a political novice swept into power in a landslide in 2019 on a promise to clean up Ukraine's notoriously crooked institutions. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said measures would be announced this week. Several Ukrainian media outlets have reported that a number of cabinet ministers and senior officials could be sacked imminently as Zelenskiy tries to make the government more effective and streamlined.

☆ Russian missiles strike Kyiv on New Year's Eve, at least one dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] A local resident embraces his son as they stand next to a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 31, 2022. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least one person had been killed and eight wounded after a series of explosions in the capital. The governor of the surrounding Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, had warned shortly beforehand of a possible incoming missile attack, and said air defences in the region were engaging targets. In the western city of Khmelnytskyi, two people were wounded in a drone attack, Ukrainian presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko said. "With each new missile attack on civilian infrastructure, more and more Ukrainians are convinced of the need to fight until the complete collapse of Putin's regime," it wrote.

☆ Belarus official: 'Unlikely' downed Ukrainian missile entered by accident
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 30 (Reuters) - The secretary of Belarus' Security Council said in an interview on Friday that it was "unlikely" that a Ukrainian air defence missile downed on Thursday had entered Belarusian airspace by accident. "An example of this is the recent incident with the destruction of the Ukrainian S-300 missile. Belarus' defence ministry said on Thursday its air defence forces had shot down a Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile near the village of Harbacha in the Brest region, some 15 km (9 miles) from the Belarus-Ukraine border. A regional military official in Belarus had played down the cross-border incident shortly after it occurred, saying: "Unfortunately, these things happen." Ukraine's defence ministry said it would investigate the incident, suggesting it was a Russian provocation and reserving the right to protect its own skies.

☆ The year in review: What happened -- and what did not
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Simon Robinson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With distant artillery fire booming across the capital, Ukraine's defence ministry urged residents to build petrol bombs to repel the invaders. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy filmed himself with aides on the streets of the city, vowing to defend his country's independence. Many in Moscow had expected Russia's military to sweep to victory, oust Zelenskiy's government and install a Russia-friendly regime. The big exception was China, whose zero-COVID policy has sparked protests and unrest in the past few weeks. Over the coming few weeks we'll recap the biggest, dig into why they mattered, and ask where they may be headed.

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