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☆ Ukraine's defense minister is worried the West will get cold feet if Kyiv's much-expected counterattack is a flop
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told The Washington Post he fears the attack is being "overestimated." Reznikov worries if the attack isn't successful, Ukraine will lose support from its Western allies. If people are hoping for "something huge," the actual results of the attack could lead to "emotional disappointment," Reznikov told the Post. "We inspired everywhere because the perception was that we will fall during 72 hours," Reznikov said, according to the Post. But the track record means Ukraine's partners now have a "joint expectation that it would be successful again," he added.

☆ Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch reportedly had calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weeks before Tucker Carlson was fired
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch had calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Semafor reported. The separate phone calls reportedly happened weeks before Fox News host Tucker Carlson was fired. There is no clear link between the Murdochs' calls with Zelenskyy and Carlson's firing from Fox News. Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch had separate phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weeks before Tucker Carlson, who has been critical of Ukraine and Zelenskyy, was fired from Fox News, Semafor reported. The Washington Post reported that during a Fox newsroom meeting, Rupert Murdoch"loudly" challenged Carlson about one of his segments on the Ukraine war.

☆ Russia's Wagner boss escalates rift with Putin's military, threatens Bakhmut withdrawal due to a lack of thousands of artillery shells
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin threatened to withdraw Wagner Group fighters from Bakhmut over shell shortages. He issued an ultimatum to Russia's defense minister and gave him 24 hours to respond. Prigozhin issued an ultimatum to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over ammunition shortages in an interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov published Saturday. Prigozhin warned that if Shoigu does not respond to his requests for more ammunition, Wagner fighters will withdraw from Bakhmut. He issued the deadline on April 27 and said the defense minister had 24 hours to reply, which has now passed.

☆ 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.

☆ Russian troops and Wagner mercenaries killed each other in a shootout after blaming each other for their war failures, Ukrainian government says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian and Wagner troops opened fire on each other in Luhansk over an argument, Ukraine says. The soldiers and mercenaries had been blaming each other for their mistakes in the war, per Ukraine. "As a result, a fight between Russian Armed Forces and PMC Wagner mercenaries broke out in the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska recently." It's thus unclear whether the alleged firefight represents wider conflict or discipline issues among Russian forces on the frontline. However, multiple reports have documented Russian troops being plagued by friendly fire in Ukraine, though the Kremlin rarely acknowledges any of these incidents.

☆ Russian outlets are exaggerating that Ukrainian troops are stuck in the mud to cheer up Putin's soldiers, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian media is exaggerating the mud's impact on Ukrainian forces, UK intel reports. Their goal is "aimed at raising Russian morale" and "undermining Ukraine's supporters," intel says. One commander told RIA Novosti that Russian forces "drowned" a German Leopard tank in a swamp. Russian outlets, however, appear to be "exaggerating the overall impact of mud on Ukrainian forces," UK intel said. Intelligence suggests the outlets are trying to cheer up Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops and raise their flagging morale while "undermining Ukraine's supporters" ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

☆ Russians are offering up equipment and heavy armored vehicles to Ukraine's surrender hotline, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An official claimed that Ukraine's surrender hotline had a record number of calls in March. The "I Want to Live" hotline allows Russian soldiers to call up and pre-arrange a surrender. The telephone line is part of a project called "I Want to Live," allowing Russian soldiers to arrange to give themselves up rather than fight. He added that "interesting" Russian heavy armored vehicles are already being used by Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, according to the outlet. UK intelligence reported on Friday that after months of battle, Russian soldiers have "highly likely" advanced to the center of the city.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Russian hackers appear to be preparing a renewed wave of cyber attacks against Ukraine, including a "ransomware-style" threat to organizations serving Ukraine's supply lines, a research report by Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Wednesday. The report, authored by the tech giant’s cyber security research and analysis team, outlines a series of new discoveries about how Russian hackers have operated during the Ukraine conflict and what may come next. “Since January 2023, Microsoft has observed Russian cyber threat activity adjusting to boost destructive and intelligence gathering capacity on Ukraine and its partners’ civilian and military assets,” the report reads. Experts say the tactic of combining physical military operations with cyber techniques mirrors prior Russian activity. These developments have been paired with a growth in more stealthy Russian cyber operations designed to directly compromise organizations in countries allied to Ukraine, according to the report.

☆ Ukrainian pilots are calling the US Air Force for tips on using US-made missiles and bombs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Members of the US Air National Guard have been providing advice for using US-made weaponry. Despite US support, Ukraine's air force is still at a disadvantage against Russia's larger force. Ukraine's air force still faces a tough operating environment. A California Air National Guard officer discusses exercise Safe Skies with his Ukrainian counterparts in July 2011. Ukrainian Air Force via Twitter"We've just got them some precision munitions that have some extended range and go a little bit further than a gravity-dropped bomb," Hecker added.

China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the researchers' findings. Reuters could not determine how closely the conclusions reflect the thinking among China's military leaders. A U.S. defence official told Reuters that despite differences with the situation in Taiwan, the Ukraine war offered insights for China. The conflict has also forged an apparent consensus among Chinese researchers that drone warfare merits greater investment. Beyond the battlefield, the work has covered the information war, which the researchers conclude was won by Ukraine and its allies.

☆ Ukraine is reinforcing Bakhmut with its elite troops as Russian forces make advances, UK defense ministry says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine is sending elite units to Bakhmut as Russian forces make further advances, the UK MoD said. Ukrainian forces are now vulnerable to Russian attacks from three sides of the city, it said. The Russian army and Wagner Group forces have been making advances into the city's northern suburbs amid intense fighting, and Ukrainian forces are now vulnerable to Russian attacks from three sides, the department said in an intelligence update. Ukrainian soldiers shelter in the woods along a road outside of the strategic city of Bakhmut on January 18, 2023 in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Ukrainian emergency workers try to extinguish a fire caused by Russian attacks in the center of Bakhmut on December 23, 2022.

☆ Russian mercenary boss publishes video showing fighters inside Ukraine's Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force on Thursday published a video showing his fighters inside Bakhmut, the small Ukrainian city Wagner has been fighting to capture for months. In a post on Telegram, the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's founder, cited him as saying: "The lads are mucking about, shooting home video. Reuters geolocated the footage to the east of Bakhmut, around 1.2 miles (around 2 kilometres) from the city centre. In the video, uniformed men are shown lifting a Wagner banner atop a semi-ruined multi-storey building. One of the men is shown dancing and holding a guitar, a reference to Wagner's informal nickname of "the musicians".

☆ Russia and Ukraine have a lot of the same tanks and jets, but Kyiv has a decisive 'flesh and bone' advantage, top US enlisted leader says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia and Ukraine have often fought against each other using the same military hardware. But Ukraine has a "human dynamic" advantage that Russia lacks, a top US enlisted leader said. US and Ukrainian officials have praised the role of Ukraine's NCOs during the conflict for being leaders on the front lines. "The government of Ukraine decided to go all in on an NCO development model," Colón-López said this week. "It is definitely a decisive advantage that the Ukrainians have that the Russians do not."

☆ Russia will emerge from the Ukraine war a 'shattered military power,' top Pentagon official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Chris Panella | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia will emerge from war in Ukraine a "shattered military power," a senior Pentagon official said. Colin Kahl told lawmakers that Russia lost the war — echoing a similar remark by the top US general. He added that US military support for Kyiv has been, and will continue to be, flexible and dynamic. "They intended for Russia to emerge out of this war a great power in a multi-polar world — they will emerge from this conflict a shattered military power," he added. His remarks in November, and again on Tuesday, echo what other top US officials and generals have said in stating that Russia has already lost and failed in Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine says Russian offensive near Yahidne unsuccessful
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said on Sunday that Russia conducted unsuccessful offensives near Yahidne over the past day, after Russia's Wagner mercenary group claimed to have captured the village in eastern Ukraine near the focus on intense fighting. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in a morning update that Russia keeps concentrating its offensive efforts along the entire Bakhmut front line, were Yahidne is located. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday his forces had captured Yahidne. But the Ukrainian bulletin said attacks were continuing, citing "unsuccessful offensives" near six settlements, including Yahidne and Berkhivka, in the Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed. The fierce battles along the front lines in Ukraine's south and east, especially near Bakhmut, now consist of crawling attempts by each side to move the line, sometimes just a few metres at a time.

☆ Ukraine military says Russian offensive near Yahidne unsuccessful
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said on Sunday that Russia conducted unsuccessful offensives near Yahidne over the past day, after Russia's Wagner mercenary group claimed to have captured the village in eastern Ukraine near the focus on intense fighting. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in a morning update that Russia keeps concentrating its offensive efforts along the entire Bakhmut front line, were Yahidne is located. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday his forces had captured Yahidne. On Friday, he had claimed control of Berkhivka, an adjacent village on the outskirts of Bakhmut. But the Ukrainian bulletin said attacks were continuing, citing "unsuccessful offensives" near six settlements, including Yahidne and Berkhivka, in the Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed.

☆ After a year of death and destruction, Ukraine braces itself for a major escalation in the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Emergency service workers extinguish a fire after shelling on the Bakhmut frontline in Ivanivske, Ukraine as Russia-Ukraine war continues on January 02, 2023. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesWhen Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, it shocked the world. Russia and Ukraine have only published data sporadically on their own casualty rates in the war — so we have to rely on estimates. One former NATO official told CNBC that, sooner or later, Ukraine would need to be given combat aircraft. Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty ImagesAsked whether he believed Ukraine could prevail and win the war before the end of 2023, Shea said two things need to happen: Western weapons need to arrive quickly and Ukraine must be given aircraft.

That money was to be given in $2 billion annual installments of Foreign Military Financing, or FMF, grants over five years. Republicans accused Biden's administration of failing to advocate strongly enough for the Taiwan grants, given that his fellow Democrats controlled both the Senate and House last year. "Securing FMF funding is always a challenge given the tight budget constraints, even for priority partners like Taiwan," said Eric Lee of the Project 2049 Institute think tank. "I would prefer to see a revival of FMF grants, but with clear strings attached," said Michael Hunzeker, a Taiwan military expert at George Mason University. Grants to buy specific weapons could be made on condition of Taiwan showing further moves toward asymmetric defense, he said.

☆ Mitch McConnell says 'way too much attention' has been given to Republicans who oppose aiding Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

McConnell recently traveled to Europe to underscore Republican support for Ukraine. He told one reporter that members of his party opposed to aiding the country get "way too much attention." Other prominent Republicans have argued that the cost of US support for Ukraine is too high. "Let me start by saying: I am a conservative Republican from America, and I come in peace," said the top Senate Republican, according to his prepared remarks. "Reports about the death of Republican support for strong American leadership in the world have been greatly exaggerated."

☆ Ukrainian troops equipped with devastating HIMARS are waiting for US targeting data before firing on Russian forces, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Chris Panella | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian troops usually won't fire their HIMARS without targeting data from the US, officials said. The US-provided HIMARS have been a key weapon for Ukrainian forces throughout the war. According to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke to the Post, the targeting process often involves Ukrainian forces identifying a Russian target, requesting more accurate coordinates from US partners, and then waiting to receive said coordinates. In one particular noteworthy incident from earlier this year, Ukrainian troops used their HIMARS to carry out a deadly strike on Russian positions in the eastern occupied city of Makiivka. The attack left scores of Russian troops dead and triggered widespread criticism of Moscow's military leadership.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy says stop 'rumours' as defence minister remains
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Tuesday for an end to the spread of "rumours or any other pseudo-information" that could undermine unity in the war against Russia. David Arakhamia, a senior lawmaker and ally of the president, said on Sunday Reznikov would be replaced after a corruption scandal at the ministry. "We are taking personnel and institutional steps at various levels in the defence and security sector that can strengthen Ukraine's position," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app, citing his speech to parliament. Zelenskiy offered thanks to all who help preserve the unity of Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia nearly 12 months ago. The questions over Reznikov were the first public sign of serious disarray in Ukraine's wartime leadership.

☆ Losses in Ukraine are 'out of proportion' to what NATO has been planning for, the alliance's top general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NATO leaders have been worried by the heavy casualties and massive ammunition usage in Ukraine. "The scale of this war is out of proportion with all of our recent thinking," NATO's top general said in January. Now the scale and intensity of the fighting in Ukraine has raised questions about the alliance's ability to fight a big-unit war against Russia. "Scale, scale, scale," US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told a Swedish defense conference in January. That Moscow is buying artillery shells from North Korea suggests that Russia's military is no shape to fight NATO and Ukraine.

Asked if the United States would provide the jets, Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday, "No." The Russian state news agency TASS quoted him as saying Russian forces were making advances there, but "not clear-cut, that is, here there is a battle for literally every meter." Ukraine still controls Maryinka and Vuhledar, where Russian attacks were less intense on Monday, according to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov. In central Zaporizhzhia region and in southern Kherson region, Russian forces shelled more than 40 settlements. Zelenskiy is urging the West to hasten delivery of its promised weapons so Ukraine can go on the offensive.

☆ 'Fast-track' talks are underway between Ukraine and Western allies for missiles and planes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in "fast-track" talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday. Orban has refused to send weapons to neighboring Ukraine and sought to block EU funds earmarked for military aid. Amid news of the coordinated effort, Russia bombarded Ukraine with missiles, exploding drones and artillery shells. The attacks continued Saturday when Russian missiles struck the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province. In a separate Telegram post earlier Saturday, Kyrylenko reported that Russian attacks in the province killed four civilians in all and wounded seven others in 24 hours.

☆ Ukraine's battlefield success surprised Russia, but US troops who trained Ukrainians saw it coming, National Guard chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Army National Guard Sgt. Anthony JonesUS National Guard units began rotating through Ukraine in 2015 to conduct training as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Ukrainian NCOs "were able to lead from the front at the lowest level of supervision. That's where our NCOs really are effective because the things that our commanders empower them to do," Whitehead added.

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