DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Putin war aims unchanged but lacks manpower, morale -Pentagon
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin's aim of seizing Ukrainian territory has not changed, but Russian forces continue to suffer from military weaknesses including the amount of troops they have, the Pentagon said on Friday, as Washington hopes the latest record weapons package for Kyiv will help Ukraine retake territory occupied by Russia. "Putin has not given up his aims of dominating Ukraine and continuing to acquire Ukraine's territory," said Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense focusing on Russia and Ukraine. "But the reality of Russian weaknesses, the Russian armed forces weaknesses has collided with those aims," Cooper said, adding that Russian troops also suffer from low morale. Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

☆ The Ukraine war rages on without a clear end in sight. Here are 6 ways the conflict with Russia could play out
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, there does not appear to be a clear end in sight. Russian victoryWhen it began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Russia's goal was to take over the country completely. Rather than taking more territory, Russia's objectives in the current stage of war seem to be to weaken Ukraine's resources, economy, and army. Nuclear war and/or NATO interventionPutin has repeatedly made nuclear threats since he began the invasion of Ukraine and, in September, claimed that it was "not a bluff." One senior official previously said that a Russian nuclear strike could trigger a "physical response" from NATO itself.

A total of 50 rockets fell in the Kherson region, including on military targets. Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty ImagesThe Kremlin dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point so-called peace plan, saying proposals to end the conflict must take into account what it claims are “today’s realities” of four Ukrainian regions having joined Russia. In September Russia annexed the four regions of Ukraine after the occupied areas held sham votes, which were denounced by Kyiv and the West. We are entering the next year and must retain a common understanding of our national goals,” the statement read. Otherwise, the issue will be decided by the Russian army.”Zelenskyy has said his country will never relinquish land.

But the visit also leaves several key questions unanswered, including how U.S. military support could evolve, whether Congressional support for the war will endure and - crucially - how the war will end. Biden announced that the United States would provide another $1.85 billion in military aid, including a Patriot missile defense system. The United States and its allies have been unwilling to provide other advanced weapons Ukraine has pleaded for. The next steps for Kyiv, the officials added, would be to receive additional air defense systems from the United States and other western countries along with better integrating them. "No more blank checks to Ukraine," Republican Representative Andy Biggs wrote on Twitter hours before Zelenskiy's visit to Washington.

☆ Zelenskyy address to Congress about Ukraine-Russia war doesn't mean the U.S. has no limits
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Daniel R. Depetris | Daniel R. Depetris Is A Fellow At Defense Priorities | A Foreign Affairs Columnist For Newsweek. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Zelenskyy then received a rousing welcome on Capitol Hill before he made a prime-time address to a joint meeting of Congress. America has been Ukraine’s primary security benefactor since Russian President Vladimir Putin opted for a war of choice that is failing in all respects. The U.S., however, has other national security priorities beyond aiding a Ukrainian military victory, however morally satisfying it would be. Given these priorities, the Biden administration would prefer the war in Ukraine end in a diplomatic settlement to short-circuit a long, drawn out and even more catastrophically destructive war. Indeed, with Republicans taking control of the House next year, skepticism of U.S. aid for Ukraine is likely to intensify.

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.

☆ Ukrainians push for US to support
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Ukrainian officials traveled to the United States last week to push for support for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute top-level Russian officials for the crime of aggression. “We have a loophole, a gap in accountability, when we talk about accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” Korynevych told CNN in Washington, DC, last week. It has faced pushback from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is carrying out its own investigation into reported war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Ukraine. “The crime of aggression is a leadership crime,” Korynevych said. “We are carefully reviewing proposals for a special tribunal dedicated to the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said.

☆ Kremlin slaps down Zelenskyy's call for a troop withdrawal, saying Ukraine must face 'realities' as Russia claims lands its forces don't even control
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Kremlin rejected Zelenskyy's call for Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine. Peskov said Ukraine needed to accept "the realities" that have developed over the course of the war. He was referencing Moscow's claims over Ukrainian territory, which Russian forces don't even fully control. In November, Russian troops retreated from Kherson, the first major city Russia's military seized after the invasion. In short, Russia is calling on Ukraine to accept "realities" even as Moscow's rhetoric on the war is consistently at odds with the situation on the ground.

☆ After years of arguing, Congress is finally letting the US Air Force send some A-10 Warthogs to the boneyard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Thomas Novelly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The defense policy bill for 2023 will allow the US Air Force to retire 21 A-10 Warthogs. The Air Force has wanted to get rid A-10s for years, but Congress has blocked it from doing so. The Air Force has another 260 A-10s in service, but lawmakers may be more open to scrapping them. That Air National Guard wing previously flew earlier models of the F-16 until they were replaced — to much fanfare — with the Warthog back in 2010. Airmen reconfigure weapons on an A-10 during an exercise at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in November 2019.

☆ Ukraine Gains U.S. Support Tackling Vast Task of Removing Landmines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Isabel Coles | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian forces have contaminated up to 65,000 square miles of Ukrainian territory with mines, said President Volodymyr Zelensky , as the U.S. outlined support for tackling a threat it described as the biggest of its kind since World War II. Mines and unexploded ordnance pose a growing challenge as Ukrainian troops drive Russian forces back, having reclaimed more than half the territory Moscow seized since the start of its invasion on Feb. 24.

☆ Kremlin: Russia plans to 'liberate' parts of Ukraine that Moscow annexed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. MOSCOW, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Thursday that its forces are still set on seizing parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own. However, the Kremlin has not fully defined the goals of its military campaign, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to set a limit on the Ukrainian territory that Russia now sought to incorporate as its own. None of the provinces were fully under Russian control, and Moscow left unclear was how much of them it was annexing. Asked on Thursday whether Russia planned to incorporate any more territories beyond the four regions, Peskov said:"There is no question of that.

☆ Kremlin appears to scale back its ambitions in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Kevin Liffey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Kremlin has never fully defined the goals of its invasion, which it said was partly intended to protect Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. But it no longer speaks of trying to force a change of government in Kyiv as Ukraine has steadily reversed early Russian territorial gains. None of these are fully under Russian control, and Peskov implied that in Zaporizhzhia's case, Russia had given up on capturing the remainder. Asked whether Moscow planned to incorporate any more regions beyond those four, Peskov said:"There is no question of that. Ukrainian forces control around 40% of Donetsk province and have retaken a sliver of Luhansk.

☆ U.S. Goal in Ukraine: Drive Russians Back to Pre-Invasion Lines, Blinken Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( William Mauldin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. priority is helping Kyiv drive Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory they have seized since the full-scale invasion in February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, leaving to Kyiv a future decision on whether to press the fight on to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and eastern Donbas region. “Our focus is on continuing to do what we’ve been doing, which is to make sure that Ukraine has in its hands what it needs to defend itself, what it needs to push back against the Russian aggression, to take back territory that’s been seized from it since Feb. 24, to make sure as well that it has the support economically and on a humanitarian basis to withstand what’s happening in the country every single day,” Mr. Blinken told the WSJ CEO Council Summit late Monday.

☆ Attacks on Russian air bases will have psychological impact- Western officials
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Attacks on airfields deep inside Russia will have struck a powerful psychological blow, senior Western officials said on Tuesday, saying it meant Moscow would have to think much more carefully about how to keep its long-range bombers safe. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks but has celebrated them, and Russia retaliated with a "massive strike on Ukraine's military control system". The senior Western officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were the deepest inside Russia since its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. PARTNERSHIP WITH IRANRussia has used the bombers in its campaign since October to destroy Ukraine's energy grid, attacks that the Western officials said reflected Russian President Vladimir Putin's growing desperation. Military analysts see the drone strikes on Russia as a response to its attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure.

☆ The US secretly put limitations on its HIMARS rocket launchers before letting Ukraine have them, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Kit Gillet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US modified HIMARS rocket launchers it sent to Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal. Instead, the launchers work with shorter-range munitions that can strike Russian forces occupying Ukrainian territory, but not reach far into Russia itself. Since June, the US has supplied Ukraine with at least 20 HIMARS launchers. Rockets fired from HIMARS have been used to strike Russian ammunition depots, logistics supplies and command centers on Ukrainian territory, according to the Journal. The Biden administration has so far proved reluctant to provide the weapons, according to an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal, over fears that sensitive technology could end up in the hands of US adversaries.

☆ Drone strikes deep in Russia seen as Ukrainian rebuff to missile barrages
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Military analysts saw the attacks as Kyiv's response to Russia on the same day that Moscow conducted another wave of missile strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine. wrote Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. Musiyenko added: "It's a moment for Russia to wonder about continuing to conduct missile strikes on Ukrainian territory. It was not the first time Russia accused Ukraine of using such drones for attacks inside its borders. In an opinion piece on Nov. 29, Ukroboronprom's general director Yuriy Gusev called for an "asymmetrical response" by the Ukrainian army to Russian missile volleys.

☆ UK says attacks on Russian bomber bases could be 'most strategically significant' force protection failure of the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russian air bases have faced deadly drone attacks thought to be carried out by Ukraine. The drones involved in attacks on two Russian bases on Monday were launched from Ukrainian territory, the New York Times reported, citing a senior Ukrainian. "Ukrainian forces likely sought to disrupt Russian strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure and demonstrate Ukraine's ability to target Russian strategic assets," ISW added. The attacks on Russian air bases seemingly mark a new chapter in the conflict. "Why didn't Russian air defenses track and identify the targets so deep inside the country?"

☆ U.S. Altered Himars Rocket Launchers to Keep Ukraine From Firing Missiles Into Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Gordon Lubold | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. secretly modified the advanced Himars rocket launchers it gave Ukraine so they can’t be used to fire long-range missiles into Russia, U.S. officials said, a precaution the Biden administration says is necessary to reduce the risk of a wider war with Moscow. The U.S. since June has supplied Ukrainian forces with 20 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers, or Himars, and a large inventory of satellite-guided rockets with a range of almost 50 miles. Those rockets, known as the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, have been used to strike Russian ammunition depots, logistics supplies and command centers on Ukrainian territory.

[1/3] Firefighters work outside an office building destroyed in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, Ukraine December 5, 2022. A new Russian missile barrage had been anticipated in Ukraine for days and it took place just as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage repaired. "In many regions, there will have to be emergency blackouts," he said in a late Monday video address. The United States said it would convene a virtual meeting on Thursday with oil and gas executives to discuss how it can support Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities.

☆ Ukraine strikes two military bases inside Russia using unmanned drones - NYT
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine struck two military bases hundreds of miles inside Russia using unmanned drones, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing a senior Ukrainian official. The drones were launched from Ukrainian territory and at least two planes were destroyed at one of the bases and several more were damaged, the newspaper reported. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Tim AhmannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's Putin tells Germany's Scholz that Western line on Ukraine is 'destructive' - Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a phone call on Friday that the German and Western line on Ukraine was "destructive" and urged Berlin to rethink its approach, the Kremlin said. "Attention was drawn to the destructive line of Western states, including Germany, which are pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and training the Ukrainian military," the Kremlin said. Kyiv says peace talks are possible only if Russia stops attacking Ukrainian territory and withdraws its troops from Ukrainian soil. Putin "called on the German side to reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events", the Kremlin added. It said Putin defended Russia's missile strikes on targets in Ukraine as a forced response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure, including a key bridge between Russia and Crimea.

☆ Factbox: What are Russia and Ukraine's positions on talks to end the war?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Leah MillisNov 30 (Reuters) - Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what President Vladimir Putin described as a "special military operation". UKRAINEKyiv says peace talks are possible only if Russia stops attacking Ukrainian territory and withdraws its troops from Ukrainian soil. TerritoryKyiv has ruled out conceding any land to Russia in return for peace, and publicly demands Russia relinquish all territory. Ukrainian peace plan:In his speech to the G20, Zelenskiy laid out what he described as a 10-point peace plan. TerritoryPutin denied holding territorial ambitions at the start of the war, saying: "It is not our plan to occupy Ukrainian territory.

☆ Russia warns U.S. that its deeper involvement in Ukraine brings growing risks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Russia is trying to make the United States understand that Washington's increasing involvement in the Ukraine conflict carries growing risks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies. Moscow has repeatedly complained that Western military support for Ukraine is dragging out the conflict, now in its 10th month, while risking a possible direct confrontation between Russia and the West. "We are sending signals to the Americans that their line of escalation and ever deeper involvement in this conflict is fraught with dire consequences. The risks are growing," the Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. Ryabkov was cited as saying that there was no dialogue between Washington and Moscow, but that the two sides "periodically exchange signals".

Reuters is the first to report on the use of the deconfliction line, beyond regular testing. SEVERAL WAYS TO COMMUNICATEThe deconfliction line is just one of several ways the U.S. and Russia militaries still have to communicate. Other military channels include rare high-level talks between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union maintained such hot lines at different levels. Vershbow drew a comparison to the far more active deconfliction line for Syria, where U.S. and Russian military forces sometimes operate in the same airspace or terrain.

Search resuls for: "Ukrainian Territory"

25 mentions found