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☆ Russian Spy or Ukrainian Hero? The Strange Death of Denys Kiryeyev
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Brett Forrest | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Days after Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian intelligence agents left a corpse on a sidewalk in the center of Kyiv with a bullet hole in the back of the skull. The dead man, 45-year-old banker Denys Kiryeyev , was killed as a traitor. The Security Service of Ukraine—the country’s primary domestic intelligence agency, known as the SBU—shot Mr. Kiryeyev because he was allegedly spying for Moscow, an agency official said.

☆ The US is getting Ukraine ready for a more aggressive war with Russia, training it for tank battles and other large-scale combat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US on Sunday started advanced training for Ukrainian troops, including prep for large-scale combat. The advanced training hints at larger conflicts to come, as Ukraine warns of new Russian offensive. Around 500 Ukrainian soldiers will go through its initial version, the outlet reported. This latest training is designed to help Ukraine better launch offensives against Russia and to counter Russia's own attacks, Gen. Milley said. Other allies are also committing increasingly advanced military equipment to Ukraine, with multiple European countries agreeing to send Ukraine tanks for the first time since the conflict began.

☆ 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 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.

☆ Russia's forces in Ukraine will be 'burned through and exhausted' by the end of winter, ex-NATO commander predicts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's forces in Ukraine will be "exhausted" soon, said a former senior NATO leader. Ukraine is seeking to push back Russian forces along a broad front in east Ukraine. In an interview with New York radio station WABC 770, Stavridis said that while Ukraine was winning on the ground, Russia had an advantage in the air. "I don't see either side having a breakthrough moment — at least this winter," Stavridis told WABC host John Catsimatidis. Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting along an approximately 600 mile front, with Ukraine forcing Russia into defensive positions in the south and northeast, while Russian forces are seeking to advance around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

☆ Russian soldier says they're suffering more losses 'from their own side' than from Ukrainians, including being fired on by their own tanks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian soldiers are getting killed by their own military, according to multiple reports. In audio released by Ukraine, a Russian soldier said 20 men died after a Russian tank fired on them. The soldier told his mother there are more losses "from our own" than from Ukrainians. A report by the independent Russian outlet iStories, also published on Tuesday, found a pattern of negligence and deadly mishaps among troops fighting in Ukraine. The outlet highlighted two incidents in the last few months where a Russian soldier accidentally killed another because of drunkness and the clumsy use of weapons.

☆ Russia's military needed up to 72 hours to approve a strike — making soldiers hit Ukrainian targets too late: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's military generally needed up to 72 hours for approval to attack new targets, per The NYT. Despite Russia having more military equipment than Ukraine, Ukrainian forces were more agile. Instead of attacking the new targets, Russia largely bombarded the old locations no longer being used by Ukraine. Per US officials who spoke with The Times, up to "60 percent of Russian cruise missiles missed their intended targets." The slow decision-making of the Russian military effectively shredded their plans to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and several other cities early in the conflict.

At the start of the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin ordered Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to occupy Kyiv’s government quarters and assassinate the Ukrainian president, Ukrainian intelligence and security officials allege. When Mr. Putin needed more soldiers on fast-crumbling front lines, the warlord rounded up thousands of men, sometimes forcibly, and sent them in, according to Chechen residents.

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.

☆ Ukrainian intelligence announces seizure of propaganda in Russian Orthodox church, blurs face of cat 'agent'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian intelligence said Thursday its agents had seized propaganda found inside Russian Orthodox churches. In a statement, Ukraine's SBU also said it found Russian passports and looted icons. It also released a photo of those agents that included a cat whose face was blurred. The SBU also claimed to have found documents indicating that Russian Orthodox priests were collaborating with the Russian government and its occupation authorities in Kherson. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused the Russian Orthodox Church of seeking to "weaken Ukraine from within" amid calls from some to ban the organization.

☆ The death of an American soldier fighting in Ukraine exposes chaos and dysfunction in the foreign legion
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The widow, alongside other soldiers, told Insider about mismanagement and dysfunction in the legion. A Foreign Legion fighter looks on at wreckage in Ukraine following a Russian attack. "When we were told to go out again, in my mind I knew someone was going to die," AJ told Insider. "How everything was handled, especially after his death, was scandalous," Lipka told Insider. Mavericks told Insider he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and still mourns the deaths of his comrades.

☆ Russia promotes engineer to head of seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it had promoted the chief engineer of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to become its director, after Kyiv said the plant's previous boss was abducted by Russian authorities. The nuclear power plant, Europe's biggest, has been occupied by Russian forces since March. Moscow said in October it was putting the plant under the control of Russian nuclear authorities, a move the Ukrainian government says is illegal. "The new director of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and first deputy general director of the Zaporizhzhia power plant operating company is Yuriy Chernichuk," said Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the CEO of Russian state energy organisation Rosenergoatom, according to Russian state Rossiya 24 TV. Kyiv also accuses Moscow of hiding military equipment at the plant, which Russia denies.

☆ Russian forces were suffering from 'electronic fratricide' within days of attacking Ukraine, a new report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Early in Russia's attack on Ukraine, Russian forces used electronic warfare to great effect. The problem for Russian forces is that their electronic warfare also jammed their own communications. Initially, Russia's jamming offensive was devastating and validated Moscow's heavy investment in electronic warfare. Not surprisingly, Russia cut back on electronic warfare after the first two days of the war. A Russian Su-35 downed by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region in April.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy says he met CIA head Burns in Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

On Monday, Burns met President Vladimir Putin's spy chief in Turkey for the first known high-level, face-to-face U.S.-Russian contact since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Burns visited Kyiv as Russia attacked the city with missiles. Zelenskiy said the CIA head had spent time in a bomb shelter before the two men met. In Washington, a U.S. official said Burns had traveled to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian intelligence counterparts and Zelenskiy following his meeting in Ankara. Polish President Andrzej Duda met Burns in Warsaw on Wednesday, the head of Poland's National Security Bureau said.

☆ Putin's 'desperation' in Ukraine is making Russia more dependent on other pariah states, top Pentagon official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Kremlin maintains close ties with China, continues to sell oil to major countries, including India, and is acquiring military hardware from Iran and North Korea. Those weapons would not necessarily be "a game changer," as Russia has already used its own missiles in Ukraine, Kahl said. Their relations have warmed amid the Ukraine war, with a record number of meetings between senior officials this year. Russia and North Korea also have longstanding ties, though Moscow has in the past kept its distance. North Korea has denied the allegations, calling it a "rumor" and saying it had no "arms dealings" with Moscow.

☆ Signals that Russia might abandon a crucial occupied city are likely a trap, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian sources suggested that its forces are about to retreat from the strategic city of Kherson. Western intelligence — and some statements from Russia — have noted moves suggesting that Russia may be about to abandon the city, a strategic and symbolic prize should Ukraine reclaim it. Russian soldiers guard an area as a group of foreign journalists visit in Kherson, Kherson region, south Ukraine, May 20, 2022. "While there's some commotion and movement going on, it's not decisive," Kateryna Stepanenko, an ISW Russia analyst, told The Hill. "It doesn't appear that Russians have at this moment entirely given up Kherson city."

☆ Russian soldiers refused to complete their duty and expressed 'moral exhaustion,' and 'worsening' of health in 10 letters left behind in Izium, Ukraine, The Washington Post reported
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In their hasty retreat, Russian soldiers left behind letters and other belongings, per WaPo report. Letters provide a glimpse of the physical and mental toll the war is placing on Russian soldiers. Ukrainian soldiers provided original copies of the letters to The Post, which reported on the correspondence. Other letters revealed that Russian soldiers were not receiving vacation time and missed significant family events such as marriages or seeing the birth of a child. The 10 letters appeared to be written in a similar fashion, The Post reported, suggesting that they were written together.

☆ Russian soldier in Kharkiv told his father in a call intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence that 'everything's bad,' Russia is 'losing,' and they have 'nowhere to run'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian soldier told his father in an intercepted phone call that "everything's bad" in the war. Ukraine's intelligence service said it intercepted the call and published it to social media. An ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv has sent Russian troops scrambling. Ukraine's intelligence service released on Monday what it said is a phone call between a Russian soldier in the northern Kharkiv region — where President Vladimir Putin's forces have been routed in recent days — and his father. "Everything's bad, pop," the soldier told his father when asked how things were going, according to a translation of the report by the Daily Beast.

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