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☆ Partner of US veteran killed fighting for Ukraine says its army never told her and she found out from Facebook
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A US Army veteran was killed in July while volunteering to defend Ukraine from Russia's invasion. Bryan Young's partner, Maria Lipka, told Insider that she found out about his death on Facebook. His partner, Maria Lipka, told Insider that she only found out about Young's death from a message sent to her on Facebook. "No one, absolutely no one informed me," she told Insider. Lipka told Insider that Young said he needed to go to Ukraine to help fight off the Russian invasion because it was his duty to protect the free world.

☆ 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.

☆ Neither Russia nor Ukraine can control the air over Ukrainian battlefields, but their aircraft are still finding ways to operate
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Russian air force's performance in Ukraine has fallen well short of expectations before the war. Neither the Russia air force nor Ukrainian forces can control the skies over Ukraine, however. But Russian aircraft have never able to achieve air superiority over Ukraine. Right now, neither military can control the airspace over Ukraine, but pilots from both sides are still finding ways to operate. In Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian aircraft often have to fire blindly or with only cursory attempts to aim at enemy targets before ducking down or veering off to avoid incoming fire.

☆ Caught in 'the green beam': How US Air Force gunship crews let a target know they have it in their sights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The US Air Force's AC-130 gunship has a reputation for delivering firepower to the battlefield. The green beamAn AC-130J crew identifies a target with green light during an exercise in Florida in May. Ridge ShanWhile discussing the performance of Air Force special-operations crews during the Kabul evacuation, Slife referred to a targeting technology that Air Commandos use and affectionally call "the green beam." AC-130 crews use the green beam — which Slife called a "giant green laser pointer" — both to point things out to friendly forces and to deter adversaries by letting them know that they're in the gunship's sights. Hitting something is not as simple as seeing it, since gravity, elevation, speed, and atmospheric conditions affect the trajectory of the AC-130's artillery and cannon fire, but having those aids is still invaluable for gunship crews.

Their fiercest fight is taking place for the city of Bakhmut, besieged for months by Russian forces. As a CNN team drove in on the heavily trafficked main road, a Russian artillery shell landed on a building just a few dozen yards away. Much of this war is fought avoiding the incessant Russian artillery threat. Ukrainian soldiers watch a real-time feed from a drone as they target artillery strikes on Russian positions. Further toward the front, in a treeline bordering farmland, is the Ukrainian artillery unit on the other end of the phones with the basement.

☆ As Ukrainian forces recaptured a key town, another elite Russian unit appears to have gone through 'the meat grinder'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russian troops in Lyman and those who retreated took heavy losses, including an elite GRU unit. In just a few days, Ukrainian forces liberated hundreds of square miles of territory and scores of villages. Its cadre of Spetsnaz commandos is among the best in the Russian military. Competent special operators require years of basic and advanced military training, as well as training tailored to their mission sets. The Russian military as a whole is taking a battering in Ukraine, though casualty estimates vary widely.

Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda unit taking part in training in the Golan Heights in 2014. The Israeli military said Tuesday that it is moving one of its most troubled units out of the West Bank amid recent allegations of abuse and disciplinary action against soldiers accused of mistreating Palestinians. The Israel Defense Forces is removing the Netzah Yehuda—a unique, ultraorthodox military unit—from the West Bank after soldiers in the battalion were suspended or demoted for allowing an elderly Palestinian-American to die in their custody earlier this year and beating Palestinian men with no justification, according to Israeli military investigations.

[1/3] Members of the pro-Ukrainian Chechen battalion check an area, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Bakhmut, Ukraine November 11, 2022. Maga, his nom-de-guerre, is part of a unit of Chechen fighters helping Ukraine battle Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. "We're not fighting just for the sake of fighting," said Maga, who declined to give his real name for security reasons. That has not extinguished hope among Kadyrov's opponents, including Chechens fighting Russian forces in Ukraine, that the authoritarian "power vertical" which Putin has built could crumble if Moscow lost in Ukraine. "The armed forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria are being renewed here today," he told the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Oct. 24.

In an interview at her home Monday afternoon, Jessica Fierro described her husband's heroic efforts to prevent greater tragedy. Richard Fierro, 45, an Army veteran who completed four tours between Iraq and Afghanistan, yelled for someone to call the police, she said. Jessica Fierro said her two best friends were shot and her daughter broke her knee as she ran for cover. Richard Fierro earned his MBA from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs last year. Deon J. Hampton reported from Colorado Springs, Janelle Griffith and Melissa Chan reported from New York.

☆ Russian soldiers are surrendering to Ukrainian drones, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Footage shared by Ukraine's MOD appears to show a Russian soldier surrendering to a drone. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have claimed to have used drones to advise combatants to surrender. Ukraine has claimed other successes in getting Russian soldiers to surrender, most prominently through its "I Want to Live" hotline, which it says has received more than 3,500 calls. Russia's defense ministry also says it is using drones to ask Ukrainians to surrender, state-controlled news agency TASS reported in early November. Russia's primary use of drones in the fall has been aggressive, deploying Iran-made drones to attack Ukrainian forces — and infrastructure — in swarms, as Insider's Michael Peck reported.

☆ 2 little-known intel agencies are helping US partners keep an eye on Russia's and China's frontline forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two little-known US intelligence agencies have made significant contributions to countering Russia in Ukraine. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office have gathered and distributed valuable information about Russian activity. Little-known intel agenciesA National Reconnaissance Office payload is launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in September 2017. US Air Force/Senior Airman Ian DudleyThe US response to Russia's war in Ukraine has pulled the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office out of the shadows. NRO satellites have many customers, but the NGA is probably the most reliant on the satellites operated by the NRO.

Ukraine's armed forces swept through southern villages and towns on a march to retake the key city of Kherson Friday as Russia said its military had completed a humiliating retreat from the area. It follows a grinding Ukrainian counteroffensive and a race by Russia to relocate more than 100,000 residents in the area. But Kyiv officials remained wary, warning that Russian forces could inflict severe military and civilian damage through artillery strikes and mines left behind as they pulled out. TwitterThe Antonivskiy Bridge is the only road crossing from the city of Kherson to the eastern bank of the river, where Russian forces have now established their new defensive lines. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, estimated that Ukrainian forces progressed 4.3 miles in some areas of Kherson Oblast (meaning county or region) on Thursday alone.

Nawaff Assad, wearing a mask, was consoled at a gathering to mourn the death of his 78-year-old brother, Omar Assad, who had been detained by soldiers from Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion. The Israeli military said Thursday that it is considering filing charges against two soldiers over the death earlier this year of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Assad , who died after being detained by Israeli soldiers at an impromptu West Bank checkpoint. Military lawyers informed attorneys for the two soldiers that they are considering pursuing charges against them for their actions the night Mr. Assad died, the Israeli military said. Attorneys for the two men said they don’t believe their clients will face manslaughter charges, because investigators haven’t been able to directly link their actions to Mr. Assad’s death. The decision to charge the soldiers is pending a hearing.

☆ After 40 years of safe skies, US special operators have to worry about threats from above, SOCOM commander says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AP Photo/Efrem LukatskyUkraine's military claims to have shot down over 1,000 Russian drones, but unmanned aerial systems continue to proliferate. Ukraine is also using its fair share of unmanned aerial systems. Special operators vs. dronesA member of the Iraqi federal police with a destroyed drone used by ISIS in Mosul in March 2017. "But now with everything from quad-copters that very small up to very large unmanned aerial vehicles, we won't always have that luxury." DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty ImagesGenerally, US special operators can take out unmanned aerial systems in two ways.

☆ More than 400 Russian reservists died after their commanders ran away during a Ukrainian artillery bombardment, Russian soldier says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Their wives are pleading with authorities to rescue the mobilized men, per Russian outlet Verstka. A second, unnamed soldier corroborated Agafonov's account, saying that "hundreds" of reservists died that day, per The Guardian. On October 13, Anastasia Kashevarova, a pro-war Russian blogger, complained on her Telegram channel of how the Russian reservists are being treated. The Russian Telegram channel "War on Fakes," which spreads disinformation in the Kremlin's favor and is often quoted by Russian authorities, claimed on Sunday that reports of mass casualties among the Russian reservists were fake. Western intelligence now regularly reports that Russian reservists are arriving at the frontlines with poor equipment and Soviet era weapons.

☆ Republican incumbent Rep. Andrew Garbarino faces off against Democrat Jackie Gordon in New York's 2nd Congressional District election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Andrew Garbarino is running against Democrat Jackie Gordon in New York's 2nd Congressional District. NY-03NY-18NY-19NY-22NY-01NY-17 HouseRepublican incumbent Rep. Andrew Garbarino faces off against Democrat Jackie Gordon in a rare 2020 rematch in New York's 2nd Congressional District. In 2020, Garbarino defeated Gordon by a near-7-percentage-point margin in a race to replace longtime Republican Rep. Peter King. Voting history for New York's 2nd Congressional DistrictNew York's 2nd Congressional District includes the South Shore of Suffolk County and a section of Nassau County. His challenger, Gordon, has raised $1.6 million, spent $1.57 million, and has $56,000 still left to spend, as of October 19.

☆ American woman who led an ISIS military battalion sentenced to 20 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Tim Stelloh | Tim Stelloh Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

An American woman who led an all-female Islamic State battalion was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday after she admitted to training dozens of women and girls in Syria for the militant group known as ISIS, federal authorities said. The prison term given to Fluke-Ekren, formerly of Kansas, was the maximum sentence allowed under a plea agreement reached in June. According to the prosecutor's office, Fluke-Ekren left the U.S. for Egypt in 2008 with her second husband, who later became ISIS' sniper leader in Syria. Fluke-Ekren trained female ISIS members through a women's center and in the all-female battalion known as Khatiba Nusaybah, the prosecutor's office said. Fluke-Ekren taught trainees how to use AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts packed with explosives, the prosecutor's office said.

SHABTIN, West Bank—When an Israeli military patrol was secretly filmed beating two young Palestinian men in August, the 14-second video posted on TikTok triggered a new furor for Israel. The soldiers were quickly suspended from duty. Israel’s top military officer denounced the men as unworthy of wearing their uniforms after the army opened a criminal investigation. And a prominent Israeli minister called for the battalion whose members were responsible for the beating to be dissolved.

☆ Russian soldiers in Kharkiv region couldn’t immediately launch drones during Ukrainian counter-offensive because of a software installation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The drones are frequently used by Russia as they are low-cost, short-distance, rechargeable drones meant to launch small weapons. They're also used in part to offset the high costs of explosive, hi-tech surveillance drones like the Iranian kamikaze drones, according to the New York Times. According to Reuters, the next day, the forces received four Mavic-3 quadcopter drones, but they couldn't be used immediately as needed. The soldiers, while under missile fire, had to install new software for the drones, and then train 15 soldiers on how to use them. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that within days of the September counteroffensive, Ukraine regained over 1,158 square miles of territory from Russian forces.

☆ An embarrassing defeat 73 years ago is a preview of the problems China would face in an attack on Taiwan today
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Chinese Communist troops who stormed Kinmen island in October 1949 expected a quick victory. The planChinese Communist troops take prisoners at bayonet point after heavy fighting in Shanghai on May 21, 1949. Kinmen Island, 59 square miles in size and home to some 40,000 people, was essential to this plan. A model of a soldier in a bunker near the Hujingtou Battle Museum in Little Kinmen, Taiwan in April 2018. By day's end, the PLA troops who had retreated to the beaches had also surrendered.

☆ Maryland Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore says MAGA can't 'define what it means to be a patriot'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Maryland gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore is seeking to reshape how patriotism and service are discussed in the public arena. Moore, a Democrat, told Insider he won't cede the definition of patriotism to any one group or movement. Leave no one behind, ever," Moore told the crowd. "Wes Moore's campaign in so many ways is so different from the last Democratic nominee, who really focused on the progressive wing of the party. "From a political standpoint, it has also insulated Wes Moore against Dan Cox trying to say he's some sort of far-left socialist.

☆ They were on the run from the Taliban, abandoned by their US allies — until a Wall Street banker decided to smuggle them out of Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Nina Burleigh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

His daughter worked for the US-backed government in Kabul, prosecuting the Taliban and their followers for acts of violence against women. The war in Afghanistan effectively began on 9/11, with the attacks on Wall Street and the Pentagon. Last summer, when the Taliban overran Kabul, Calbos was in Greece visiting his father. "I see kind of a mirror image to mine in his history and his family," Calbos says. With the clock ticking on the family's temporary visas, Calbos scrambled to arrange a flight out of Pakistan.

☆ A bizarre video appears to show Putin ally Kadyrov being presented with 3 Ukrainian POWs by his teenage sons
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted a video of his teenage sons presenting him with Ukrainian POWs. Kadyrov previously revealed that his three sons, aged 14-16, had been on the frontline in Ukraine. Kadyrov, a staunch supporter of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has called for the use of a "low-yield nuclear weapon." The video, which was posted on Kadyrov's Telegram channel, appears to show two of his sons, along with other Russian soldiers, bringing three Ukrainian prisoners of war to him in Grozny. Lawyers have noted that filming prisoners of war without their consent violates their rights under the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.

☆ Jewish settlers storm town and pepper spray Israeli soldiers in West Bank
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Jewish settlers stormed through a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said Thursday, throwing stones at Palestinian cars and using pepper spray on troops who were trying to disperse the settlers. Israeli settlers walk with batons during clashes in which Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents and shops in the town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank last week. Meanwhile, the Palestinians launched a general strike throughout the West Bank and east Jerusalem in response to the death of a suspected Palestinian attacker. Tamimi was the subject of a more than weeklong manhunt that culminated when he opened fire at a security guard at a West Bank settlement Wednesday. Some 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in some 130 settlements.

☆ NATO is pouring concrete to support new 'battlegroups' in 4 countries amid rising tensions with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

NATO now has some 40,000 troops under its direct command in Eastern Europe — 30,000 of them in those eight battlegroups. More than a tripwireUS soldiers at a base in Latvia to support NATO's battlegroup there on February 25. Hungary had refused to accept NATO troops, with its foreign minister saying before Russia attacked Ukraine that Hungary's military could defend the country. Following Russia's invasion, Hungary was persuaded to host a few hundred NATO troops in a battlegroup that it would lead. Accommodating and integrating an influx of NATO troops is not easy, even for countries that are eager to counter Russia.

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