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☆ Petr Pavel: who is the ex-army chief leading Czech presidential election race?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Polls make the bearded retired general, 61, the favourite to win a run-off vote on Friday and Saturday against billionaire ex-prime minister Andrej Babis, 68. "We got into several tense situations and he always managed them with deliberation and calm," retired Czech general Ales Opata, who served in Croatia and after with Pavel, told Reuters. He lead the Czech general staff from 2012, during Czech involvement in operations in Afghanistan, and in 2015 became NATO's military committee chair, an advisory position of the alliance's secretary-general. Jiri Sedivy, chief executive of the European Defence Agency and former Czech ambassador to NATO, said Pavel was a decision-maker who could take responsibility. After Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Pavel represented NATO in a 2017 meeting with Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

☆ Putin's favorite mercenary leader may be preparing to justify a failure in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A rivalry between Russia's military and Wagner Group mercenaries has come to the fore in Ukraine. Indeed, with curses and excuses, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group and President Vladimir Putin's favorite mercenary leader, may be preparing to justify a failure in one of the fiercest battles of the war: Bakhmut. Rivalry exposedA mural in Belgrade that praises the Wagner group and its mercenaries fighting in Ukraine. Prigozhin was quick to criticize them — another instance of the mercenary leader's long-running challenge to Russia's military leadership. But with tens of thousands of fighters in Ukraine, Prigozhin doesn't seem phased.

☆ Russia's new top general in Ukraine is fixated on getting soldiers to shave more often, sparking derision among its military, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's new Ukraine general is fixated on soldiers' shaving habits, the UK defense ministry said. Valery Gerasimov's focus is drawing the ire of other military factions, it added. The UK defense ministry said that Gerasimov's focus on grooming is drawing the ire of officials in Russia-occupied areas, who see it as a pointless distraction. The UK defense ministry said that Gerasimov's focus on aspects like shaving means he's yet to prove his critics wrong where it counts: on the battlefield. Washington-based think-tank the Institute for the Study of War, meanwhile, said this month that the new Russian focus on personal habits may have a purpose, Insider's Jake Epstein reported.

☆ Analysis: Western military aid girds Kyiv for counterattacks despite tank deadlock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The latest U.S. aid includes 90 Stryker armoured personnel carriers (APC) and 59 Bradley fighting vehicles with powerful canons - adding to 50 Bradleys pledged earlier this month along with French and German infantry fighting vehicles. A group of nine European states, including Britain and the Baltics promised on Thursday to deliver heavy artillery, air defence, ammunition and infantry fighting vehicles and battle tanks sought by Kyiv. Zagorodnyuk said he believed infantry fighting vehicles were a clear endorsement of Kyiv's counterattack plans, also noting the importance of large donations of ammunition. Berlin said earlier this month that it would send 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles before the end of March; Paris said it would send AMX 10-RC armoured combat vehicles, which are seen as tank destroyers. In an interview with the Economist in December, Ukraine's top general, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said he needed 300 tanks, 600-700 infantry fighting vehicles and 500 howitzers to help his forces push back the invaders.

☆ Russia to make 'major changes' to armed forces from 2023 to 2026
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday that it would make "major changes" to its armed forces from 2023 to 2026, promising to shake up its military structure after months of setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine. In addition to administrative reforms, the Defence Ministry said it would strengthen the combat capabilities of its naval, aerospace and strategic missile forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the changes had been made necessary by the "proxy war" being conducted in Ukraine by the West, which has been sending increasingly heavy weaponry to Ukraine to help it resist Russian forces. Last week, Shoigu appointed Army General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the military general staff, to take charge of the Ukraine campaign. The Defence Ministry said on Friday that it had taken control of Soledar - a small, salt-mining town in Ukraine's Donetsk region that had for weeks been the focus of a Russian assault.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Putin reportedly wants the Donbas region to be seized by March; Bakhmut is in Russia's sights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend an annual meeting of the Defense Ministry Board in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 21, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly instructed the new commander of Russia's armed forces in Ukraine to seize the eastern Donbas region by March. Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, told the domestic Freedom TV channel that Putin had ordered Gen. Valery Gerasimov, a Putin loyalist and head of Russia's armed forces, to seize the region within months. Gerasimov was appointed as the commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine last week as Russian forces have made few advances in recent months, instead becoming caught in attritional combat in Donetsk, particularly around Bakhmut where intense fighting has continued for months. Yusov said Russia had previously set deadlines for capturing parts of Ukraine but that each time, these had been postponed.

☆ Russia says it launched missile strikes against Ukraine on Saturday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 15 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had launched a wave of missile strikes against Ukrainian military and infrastructure sites on Saturday. At least 21 people were killed in a strike on a Ukrainian apartment complex in the eastern city of Dnipro in a Russian strike Saturday evening, Ukrainian authorities say. The Russian defence ministry did not mention Dnipro as a specific target of any strikes. Russia also said its troops had made progress towards the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, which has been the focus of Russian attacks for months. (This story has been corrected to show Ukrainian apartment complex hit)Reporting by Jake Cordell; editing by Guy FaulconbridgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Smoke rises from strikes on the frontline city of Soledar, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, as seen from Bakhmut, Ukraine, January 5, 2023. In a video message, Prigozhin described Wagner as a fully independent force with its own aircraft, tanks, rockets and artillery. The short video contained no overt new criticism of the regular army, whose failings Prigozhin has lambasted in the past. Ukraine said on Saturday its forces were fighting to hold onto control of Soledar, contradicting Russian claims to have captured the town. Prigozhin complained on Friday about what he called constant attempts to "steal victory" from Wagner and belittle its achievements.

☆ Putin's military command reshuffle reveals a power struggle at the heart of the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesRussian President Vladimir Putin's latest reshuffle of the top brass in charge of Ukraine operations reveals a deeper power struggle between Moscow's military command and its domestic detractors, analysts say. One of the most prominent and powerful critics of Moscow's strategy in Ukraine is Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group — a private military company fighting in Ukraine. His criticism seemed to bear fruit with the October appointment of Gen. Sergei Surovikin as the overall battlefield commander for Russian troops in Ukraine. Nonetheless, Prigozhin's criticism of Russia's military commanders and frequent boasts over the Wagner Group's triumphs have raised heckles in Moscow. Sergei Surovikin, the former commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, seen here in 2021.

☆ Russia claims capture of Ukraine's Soledar after ferocious fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russian forces captured the town, long the focus of heavy fighting and bombardment, on Thursday evening, the defence ministry said. It said this would make it possible to cut off Ukrainian supply routes to the larger town of Bakhmut, to the southwest, and trap remaining Ukrainian forces there. "The capture of Soledar was made possible by the constant bombardment of the enemy by assault and army aviation, missile forces and artillery of a grouping of Russian forces," Moscow's defence ministry said. Prigozhin issued a premature claim earlier this week that Soledar had already fallen, and said the fighting there was exclusively being waged by his men. Ukraine says Russia is throwing wave upon wave of soldiers into a pointless fight for a bombed-out wasteland.

☆ Former NATO commander says Putin is 'scrambling' for manpower in Ukraine and 'will take anything' at this point
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A former NATO commander said Putin is "scrambling" for manpower in Ukraine. It's a sign of how difficult this fight has become for him," the former NATO commander said. Putin in September declared a partial military mobilization as part of an effort to address Russia's manpower problems, calling up roughly 300,000 reservists. Fighters from the Wagner Group now comprise roughly 10% of Russia's ground forces in Ukraine, according to UK officials, per BBC News. Stavridis said that taking Soledar will give Russian forces a small morale boost but tactically is not a "terribly significant" development in the war.

☆ Russia Aims to Regain Offensive in Ukraine War With New Commander
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Thomas Grove | Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The decision by the Kremlin to return Russia’s top commander to direct the war efforts in Ukraine comes at a pivotal point in the conflict, possibly heralding a fresh Russian offensive as Moscow grapples for success on the battlefield. On Wednesday, the Kremlin appointed Russia’s chief of staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov as commander over Russia’s troops in Ukraine, turning back to a man who led the initial invasion. Russia had expected the invasion would be followed by a rapid victory last year but instead has become bogged down in a long and costly conflict.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, center, with soldiers in what they said was a salt mine in Soledar, Ukraine in this image released on Jan. 11. By contrast, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed that Soledar had fallen to Russian forces or mentioned the Wagner group’s involvement in attempts to take it. Russia has consistently denied the involvement of the Wagner Group in its official military operations. Prigozhin during the funeral of Wagner group fighter near St. Petersburg, on Christmas Eve. To date, the hawks have been far louder than the pragmatists, and a chorus of hard-right bloggers have excoriated Russia’s military performance, while television pundits have called for a tougher approach.

☆ Russia Claims Success in Ukraine’s Soledar as Moscow Names New War Commander
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Yaroslav Trofimov | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russia claimed its first significant success in Ukraine since July, seizing most of the eastern town of Soledar after weeks of heavy fighting led by the Wagner Group paramilitary organization, as the country’s top military officer took direct command of the campaign. Gen. Valery Gerasimov’s appointment as commander of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine sidelines Gen. Sergei Surovikin , who was named to lead Russian forces there three months ago.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Battle for salt town rages on
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Ukraine says its troops are holding out despite heavy fighting on a battlefield littered with bodies in a salt mining town in eastern Ukraine, where Russian mercenaries have claimed Moscow's first significant gain in half a year. * Ukraine has acknowledged Russian advances but Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar told a briefing on Thursday that fighting was still fierce. MILITARY* Kremlin-watchers are poring over Russia's latest switch of battlefield leadership after Valery Gerasimov, chief of the military's general staff, was unexpectedly given direct command of the invasion. * The commander of Russian ground forces visited Belarus to inspect the combat readiness of a joint force stationed there. Increased joint military activity has prompted Ukraine to warn that Russia may try to launch a new ground invasion of Ukraine from Belarus.

☆ Putin is fighting an 'internal power struggle' to weaken critics amid Russia's mounting military failures in Ukraine, war experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Putin is likely moving to silence critics with this move as he fights an internal power struggle, analysts say. Ukrainian intelligence has also suggested that Surovkin is a rival of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, ISW said. ISW said Gerasimov's appointment was also designed to "support an intended decisive Russian military effort in 2023, likely in the form of resumed Russian offensive operations." After failing to take Kyiv in the early months of the war, Russia turned its attention to Ukraine's east. It's unclear whether the recent change in leadership in Ukraine will drastically alter Russia's narrowing options on the battlefield.

☆ Factbox: Who is Russia's new war commander Gerasimov and why was he appointed?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Gerasimov's deputies will be Army General Sergei Surovikin, the previous theatre commander, appointed three months ago and nicknamed "General Armageddon"; Army General Oleg Salyukov; and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel-General Alexei Kim. "Now the General Staff is directly and uncompromisingly responsible for absolutely everything," said Semyon Pegov, a Russian military blogger who uses the name Wargonzo. Gerasimov was appointed chief of the general staff and deputy defence minister by Putin on Nov. 9, 2012, three days after Putin's long-time ally Sergei Shoigu was made defence minister. Gerasimov played key roles in Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and in Russia's game-changing military support for President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War. Gerasimov was born on Sept. 8, 1955, in Kazan, rising through the ranks from Russia's tank forces to graduate in 1997 from the Military Academy of the General Staff.

☆ Russia's troubles in Ukraine likely caused leadership shakeup: Pentagon
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Thursday that Russia's persistent troubles in Ukraine likely led to latest shake-up in military leadership, and urged Moscow to end the war instead turning to new generals to oversee the nearly year-long invasion. Russia on Wednesday appointed Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov to oversee the military campaign in Ukraine. "It likely does reflect some of the systemic challenges that the Russian military has faced since the beginning of this invasion," Brig. "We've talked about some of those things in terms of its logistics problems, command and control problems, sustainment problems, morale and the ... failure to achieve the strategic objectives that they've set for themselves." Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees AliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's top general has inherited a poisoned chalice in Ukraine, after his predecessor lasted just 3 months. This could lead to an escalation in the war.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia appointed a new general in charge of Ukraine war, replacing predecessor after just 3 months. The ministry described Gerasimov not as a simple replacement, but as occupying a new role with even greater oversight over Russia's war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Moscow, Russia, on December 21, 2020. McGlynn said Gerasimov's appointment "is definitely a commitment to keep fighting. McGlynn said Gerasimov's appointment "leaves him in an impossible situation and one that is only likely to get worse."

☆ Putin replaces commander of Russia’s war in Ukraine after just 3 months
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Henry Austin | Henry Austin Is A London-Based Editor For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin has replaced the commander leading his forces in Ukraine just three months after he handed him the job. He previously led Russian forces in Syria and was accused of overseeing a brutal bombardment that destroyed much of the city of Aleppo. Britain’s defense ministry called Gerasimov’s appointment “a significant development” in Putin’s approach to the war. Although it has little intrinsic value, it lies at a strategic point around 6 miles north of the city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces are aiming to surround. Taking Bakhmut would disrupt Ukrainian supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk province.

☆ Russia appoints top soldier Gerasimov to oversee Ukraine campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Gerasimov to oversee military campaign in UkraineLatest reshuffle follows more battlefield setbacksGerasimov has been target of Russian pro-war criticsJan 11 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu appointed Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov on Wednesday to oversee the military campaign in Ukraine, in the latest shake-up of Moscow's military leadership. In a statement, the defence ministry said Shoigu had appointed Gerasimov as commander of the combined forces group for the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Surovikin will now stay on as a deputy of Gerasimov, the defence ministry said. As the unified commander in Ukraine, Surovikin was becoming very powerful and was likely bypassing Shoigu/Gerasimov when talking to Putin," Lee said. Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in intense fighting on Wednesday over the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, a stepping stone in Moscow's push to capture the entire Donbas region.

☆ What is the US getting in Ukraine for $100 billion?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Daniel L. Davis | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill with another $47 billion in aid for Ukraine. The question: does adding this Patriot battery represent a game-changer for Ukraine? A Patriot battery ordinarily operates as part of an integrated defense system which may include numerous US and NATO systems. As exposed in 2019 when the Saudi-operated Patriot system failed to stop a complex aerial attack from Iran, the system is not fool-proof even when operational. Air Force via APIncluding this most recent aid package, the US has spent over $100 billion on the war in Ukraine, which is $16 billion more than the entire Russian military budget for 2023.

"The enemy literally step over the corpses of their own soldiers, using massed artillery, MLRS systems and mortars," Malyar said. Prigozhin has been trying to capture Bakhmut and Soledar for months at the cost of many lives on both sides. "Thanks to the resilience of our soldiers in Soledar, we have won for Ukraine additional time and additional strength," Zelenskiy said. [1/8] General view of railway lines, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Siversk, Ukraine, January 9, 2023. Moscow has not commented on the reports from the village, which Ukraine recaptured from Russian forces in September.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mocked previous Wagner claims to have seized part of Soledar but made no immediate comment on the latest assertions. In a statement on Facebook, the Ukrainian military general staff said Russian forces were suffering heavy losses as they tried to take Soledar and sever Ukrainian supply lines. [1/21] A satellite view shows a smoldering building, in Soledar, Ukraine, January 3, 2023. One prominent military blogger who posts on the Telegram messaging app under the name of Rybar said Surovikin was being made the fall guy for recent Russian military debacles. Wagner separately said its forces found the body of one of two British voluntary aid workers reported missing in eastern Ukraine.

☆ Russia blames its soldiers' mobile phone use for deadly missile strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bogdan Kochubey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Moscow previously said 63 Russian soldiers were killed in the weekend strike. The Russian defence ministry said four Ukrainian missiles hit a temporary Russian barracks in a vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's military has said it launched a strike that resulted in Russian loss of equipment and possibly personnel near Makiivka. A little known patriotic group which supports the widows of Russian soldiers is calling on Putin to order a large-scale mobilisation of millions of men and to close the borders to ensure victory in Ukraine. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Washington had seen reports "that the Ukrainian military struck a Russian military barracks that stored ammunition inside of Ukrainian territory" and led to many Russian deaths.

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