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☆ Russia conducts surprise inspection of Pacific Fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 14 (Reuters) - Russia will conduct missile launches and torpedo tests as part of a surprise inspection of its Pacific naval fleet, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. "The main objective of this inspection is to increase the ability of the Armed Forces to repel the aggression of a probable enemy from the direction of ocean and sea," Shoigu said on state television. "This is a common practice, it has been constantly carried out in recent years and it continues. This is about maintaining the necessary level of combat readiness of our armed forces," Peskov told a daily news briefing. In other recent military activity in the area, Russia's navy fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a mock target in the Sea of Japan on March 28.

☆ Russia's Prigozhin says no sign Ukraine quitting Bakhmut, more support needed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Ukrainian service member from 28th mechanised brigade fires his machine gun at the frontline, amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine in the region of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 5, 2023. But Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has accused the military top brass of ineffectiveness bordering on treason in recent months, said this was still some way off. Prigozhin made clear that he was not yet satisfied with the support he was receiving from Russia's mainstream forces, including those attacking adjacent areas of the front. "The first question is to make sure that our flanks are well protected (that's with a big exclamation mark)," he said. Tensions with Moscow had appeared to subside after his representative was pointedly refused access to the headquarters of Russia's Ukraine campaign a month ago.

☆ Wagner Group mercenaries are getting a lot more help from Russia's military than Prigozhin would like you to think
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia's Wagner Group, has been highly visible during the war in Ukraine. Prigozhin frequently casts his mercenary group as fighting on its own, without Russian military support. Indeed, Prigozhin has claimed over the past few months that Russia's military — the real military — is sabotaging Wagner's efforts. But Wagner is actually working closely with Russia's regular forces, which are supporting Wagner's fighters, according to a US expert on the Russian military. Misha Japaridze/Pool/ReutersThe dispute between Prigozhin and Russian military leaders was widely cast as a struggle between power centers seeking influence with the Kremlin.

☆ Ukraine's tech entrepreneurs fight war on a different front
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Michael Kahn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

It's an example of how some startups in Ukraine's dynamic tech sector are switching to pursue military projects. Pavlo Kartashov, director of the Ukrainian Startup Fund (USF), a government-backed organization that seeds technology startups, told Reuters his group resumed funding in October. Demand from the government has driven the shift to military technology, but most of the entrepreneurs who spoke to Reuters said that patriotic duty also played a role. "There are much more ideas in military technology," said Krasovsky, the founder and chief executive of Swedish-Ukrainian Sigma Software Group. Groups like the Polish-Ukrainian Start Up Bridge - a Polish-government backed venture - offer emerging Ukrainian tech companies small grants to fund basic business needs and a co-working space in Warsaw.

☆ Russian forces advance in Ukraine's Bakhmut - Russian-installed leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Russian forces are moving forward in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut despite fierce resistance and have almost taken full control of a metals plant there, a Russian-installed leader in the region said. His assertion ran counter to Ukrainian and Western descriptions of the situation in the city, which they have said is stabilising as a Russian offensive falters. "The (Wagner) guys are moving forward, of course they are moving forward, though it takes their hardest efforts to do that," Pushilin told state TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov. British military intelligence has said that the Russian assault has stalled, mainly as a result of heavy troop losses. Ukrainian military commanders have said their own counter offensive - backed by newly-delivered Western hardware - is not far off, but have stressed the importance of holding Bakhmut in the meantime.

☆ Holding Bakhmut is a 'military necessity' - Ukrainian general
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Zohra BensemraKYIV, March 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine's ground forces commander said on Monday his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a "military necessity". "The most intense phase of the battle for Bakhmut continues. The enemy suffers significant losses in human resources, weapons and military equipment but continues to conduct offensive actions," he said. Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday the situation was being "stabilised" around Bakhmut. Moscow sees capturing the city as vital to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region in eastern Ukraine, one of its main war goals.

☆ Ukraine slams Putin plan to station Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Making a statement about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, he admits that he is afraid of losing & all he can do is scare with tactics," Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. Washington, the world's other nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Putin's announcement and the potential for Moscow to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. The official noted that Russia and Belarus had been speaking about the transfer of nuclear weapons for some time. However, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons called Putin's announcement an extremely dangerous escalation. Sharing nuclear weapons makes the situation much worse and risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences," it said on Twitter.

☆ Ukraine Says Frontlines Around Embattled City of Bakhmut Are Stabilizing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Isabel Coles | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KYIV, Ukraine —The commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, said the front lines around the eastern city of Bakhmut were stabilizing after months of grueling combat, as Western officials and analysts say Russia’s offensive there is losing momentum. Russian forces have moved to encircle Bakhmut in recent weeks while also intensifying attacks across the broader front line in eastern Ukraine, putting Kyiv on the defensive after a string of victories last year.

The commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, said the front lines around the eastern city of Bakhmut were stabilizing after months of grueling combat, as Western officials and analysts say Russia’s offensive there is losing momentum. While there have been fewer clashes in Bakhmut in recent days, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military’s eastern command said it was too soon to conclude Russia’s offensive there had run out of steam.

☆ Ukraine's top soldier says situation in embattled Bakhmut is stabilising
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 25 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have managed to blunt Russia's offensive in and around the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, where the situation is stabilising, commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday. Separately, Britain's defence ministry said the months-long Russian assault on the city had stalled, mainly as a result of heavy troop losses. Bakhmut is a major Russian target as it bids to fully capture Ukraine's industrialised Donbas region. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the defence forces, the situation is being stabilised," Zaluzhniy said in a post on Telegram after a conversation with British counterpart Tony Radakin. The British defence ministry, in a daily update, said Russia most likely wanted to stabilise its front lines and would adopt a more defensive operational stance.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Ukraine slams Putin's nuclear weapons plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Ukrainian servicemen stand next to a destroyed building near the frontline town of Kreminna, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Luhansk region, Ukraine March 24, 2023. Erdogan thanked Putin for his "positive attitude" in extending the Black Sea grain deal, the Kremlin said in a statement. * U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Saturday he will visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine next week to assess the serious situation there. Erdogan thanked Putin for his "positive attitude" in extending the Black Sea grain deal, the Kremlin said in a statement. * SPECIAL REPORT-Wagner’s convicts tell of horrors of Ukraine war and loyalty to their leaderCompiled by Reuters editorsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin makes surprise trip to Mariupol, first to occupied Donbas in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 19 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Mariupol, Russian state media reported on Sunday, in what would be the Kremlin leader's first trip to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine's Donbas region since the start of the war. Putin flew by helicopter to Mariupol, Russian new agencies reported citing the Kremlin. The Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) said Russia's early bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol was a war crime. In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, a new residential neighbourhood built by Russian military, Putin visited a family in their home, Russian media reported. Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions Putin moved in September to annex.

☆ Putin visits Mariupol as part of surprise tour of occupied Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Putin flew by helicopter to Mariupol for "a working trip", Russian news agencies reported citing the Kremlin. 'BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN'In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, Putin visited a family in their home, Russian media reported. Russian media broadcast videos showing the Russian leader driving a car at night through a built-up area as well as walking into what media said was the philharmonic, restored in just three months. Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions Putin moved in September to annex. Russian media reported on Sunday that Putin also met with the top commander of his military operation in Ukraine, including Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov who is in charge of Moscow's war in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - In a rare move, the Pentagon on Thursday released a de-classified video showing Russia's intercept of a U.S. military surveillance drone downed over the Black Sea two days ago. It was the first direct U.S.-Russian incident since the Ukraine war began, worsening already tense relations between Washington and Moscow. It also shows the loss of the video feed after another close Russian maneuver, which the Pentagon says resulted from the Russian jet's collision with the drone. It ends with images of the drone's damaged propeller, which the Pentagon says resulted from the collision, making the aircraft inoperable. [1/4] A Russian Su-27 aircraft dumps fuel while flying upon a U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 aircraft over the Black Sea, March 14, 2023 in this still image taken from a handout video.

☆ Wagner representative barred from Russian army HQ in Ukraine, its boss says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Since mid-January, Russia's campaign in Ukraine has been commanded personally by the chief of the general staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov. "If Wagner retreats from Bakhmut now, the whole front will collapse," Prigozhin said in the video, apparently filmed in a bunker. "The situation will not be sweet for all military formations protecting Russian interests." A prominent critic of the mercenary boss said, without providing evidence, that it was two weeks old. In Monday's statement, he said: "We are continuing to smash the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Bakhmut."

☆ Prigozhin says Wagner is now receiving ammunition for Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force, said on Thursday that his troops had begun receiving additional supplies of ammunition after a public row with Russia's top army brass. "Today at 6 am, it was announced that the shipment of ammunition has started," Prigozhin said in a statement on Telegram. A onetime catering entrepreneur who once shunned the public spotlight, Prigozhin has assumed an more public role since the start of the war in Ukraine a year ago, with his Wagner Group spearheading Russia's months-long battle for the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region. In recent days, a long-standing feud with Russia's military bosses escalated dramatically, with Prigozhin claiming that officials were denying Wagner ammunition out of personal animus to him. "We must get rid of - I want to emphasise this - any interdepartmental contradictions, formalities, grudges, misunderstandings, and other nonsense," Putin told the political and military elite.

☆ Wagner boss drops gruesome photo of war dead while blasting top Russian military leaders for getting them killed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who founded the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, shared a graphic photograph of dead Russian mercenaries earlier this week and criticized the country's military leadership for getting them killed. Prigozhin shared the gruesome image, which shows dozens of corpses placed in multiple rows on the ground, to his Telegram channel on Tuesday. Russia's defense ministry denied the claims and said any statements about munitions shortages are "absolutely untrue," Russian state media TASS reported. A pedestrian walks past a mural depicting the logo of the Russian mercenary 'Group Wagner' and a slogan in Russian on January 20, 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. "Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries."

☆ Russian mercenary boss escalates row with top army brass with image of dead bodies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The defence ministry, in a statement late on Tuesday, said such allegations were "completely untrue" and complained - without mentioning Prigozhin by name - about attempts to create splits that worked "solely to the benefit of the enemy". "This is one of the places where the bodies of those who have died are gathered," Prigozhin told a prominent Russian military blogger in an interview. But he has faced push back from the authorities in recent weeks amid some signs of a move by the Kremlin and defence ministry to curb his growing influence. "Twice as many of us are going to die that's all, until there are none of us left," he said. "And when Wagner are all dead then (Defence Minister) Shoigu and (General) Gerasimov will probably have to pick up a gun."

☆ Wagner's Prigozhin accuses Russian top brass of 'treason'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner group, on Tuesday accused the Russian defence minister and the chief of the general staff of depriving his fighters of munitions and trying to destroy Wagner - actions he said were equivalent to treason. "There is simply direct opposition going on," Prigozhin said in a voice message posted on his Telegram channel. "The chief of the general staff and the defence minister are giving orders right and left not just not to give Wagner PMC ammunition, but not to help it with air transport," Prigozhin said. Prigozhin has for months criticised senior commanders for what he has called their incompetence. Prigozhin has said that the defence ministry is trying to take credit for Wagner successes around the Donetsk region town of Bakhmut.

The following are details of Russia's nuclear arsenal, how big it is and who commands it. NUCLEAR SUPERPOWERRussia, which inherited the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, has the world's biggest store of nuclear warheads. Around 1,500 of those warheads are retired (but probably still intact), 2889 are in reserve and around 1588 are deployed strategic warheads. The United States has around 1644 deployed strategic nuclear warheads. The Russian president is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to using Russian nuclear weapons, both strategic and non-strategic, according to Russia's nuclear doctrine.

☆ Factbox: Russia's nuclear arsenal: how big and who controls it?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

What is Russia's nuclear arsenal, how big is it and who commands it? NUCLEAR SUPERPOWERRussia, which inherited the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, has the world's biggest store of nuclear warheads. Around 1,500 of those warheads are retired (but probably still intact), 2889 are in reserve and around 1588 are deployed strategic warheads. The United States has around 1644 deployed strategic nuclear warheads. The Russian president is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to using Russian nuclear weapons, both strategic and non-strategic, according to Russia's nuclear doctrine.

☆ Russian defence chief keeps job despite Ukraine routs thanks to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Shoigu or its own performance in Ukraine. Appointed defence minister in 2012, he is part of Putin's inner circle and has enjoyed hunting and fishing holidays with him in his native Siberia. The Russian army has been learning from its mistakes and successfully adapting, the source said. There's no escaping the poor performance of the Russian military". It was "inconceivable", said Jones, that a Western defence minister could have kept his job in such circumstances.

☆ White House mocks Putin's mismanagement of the war in Ukraine, saying he changes generals like 'socks'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The White House mocked Putin's handling of the Ukraine war on Monday. NSC spokesperson John Kirby said Putin changes generals like "I change socks." "It's kind of like a reality TV show," Colin H. Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, said to reporters last month while speaking on the shuffle among Russian generals in Ukraine. Russia has begun a new spring offensive in eastern Ukraine, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said, but Kyiv's forces have been bracing for this fight. NATO countries have provided Ukraine with billions in military aid, including vital weapons, since the war began.

For much of the winter, the war in Ukraine settled into a slow-moving but exceedingly violent fight along a jagged 600-mile-long frontline in the southeast. Now, both Ukraine and Russia are poised to go on the offensive. They are looking for vulnerabilities, hoping to exploit gaps, and setting the stage for what Ukraine warns could be Moscow’s most ambitious campaign since the start of the war. Ukraine must now defend against the Russian assault without exhausting the resources it needs to mount an offensive of its own. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has given an order to take all of the Donbas region by March, Ukrainian intelligence says.

☆ Russia's military reforms respond to NATO's expansion, Ukraine -chief of general staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The military reforms, announced mid-January, have been approved by Putin and can be adjusted to respond to threats to Russia's security, Gerasimov told the news website Argumenty i Fakty in remarks published late Monday. Under Moscow's new military plan, an army corps will be added to Karelia in Russia's north, which borders with Finland. In Ukraine, Russia will add three motorized rifle divisions as part of combined arms formations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, parts of which Moscow claims it annexed in September. "The main goal of this work is to ensure guaranteed protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country," Gerasimov said. "Our country and its armed forces are today acting against the entire collective West," Gerasimov said.

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