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☆ New report says the IDF's elite intelligence unit saw signs Hamas was preparing a terror attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new report says an elite IDF intelligence unit warned that Hamas was practicing for a big attack. AdvertisementAn elite intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) saw signs that Hamas was preparing for a massive terror attack, but early warnings ultimately went ignored, according to a new report. Unit 8200 is part of the IDF's decades-old Military Intelligence Directorate, which is responsible for collecting and processing intelligence from enemy groups like Hamas. Chris McGrath/Getty ImagesAccording to Channel 12's reporting, the NCO's colleagues did not ignore the warnings, and they even collected intelligence on additional Hamas training a few days later. For example, Israeli intelligence was focused on other threats, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, and downplayed the dangers of Hamas.

Persons: —, Chris McGrath, Paul, didn't, Benjamin Netanyahu, Haim Zach, Handout, it's, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Hamas might've, Alisa Kaff Organizations: Service, Israel Defense Forces, Military Intelligence Directorate, Hamas, IDF, West Bank, Quincy Institute, Responsible, Government Press Office, REUTERS Locations: Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Bani Suheila, Gaza City, Kibbutz Be'eri, Lebanon, Washington, Tze'elim, what's

☆ Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drones have lost their edge in Ukraine, but the company behind them is still making a big bet there
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones were a valuable weapon for Ukraine after Russia invaded last year. The TB2 drone has lost much of its utility as Russia's military has adapted to its use, however. AdvertisementA Bayraktar TB2 at a military base in Ukraine in March 2019. Press Office of the President of Ukraine / Mykola Lararenko / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesBaykar has supplied at least 50 TB2 drones to Ukraine to date. Baykar's Bayraktar Akinci drone on display at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport in April.

Persons: —, Haluk Bayraktar, Mykola Lararenko, Col, Volodymyr Valiukh, Ali Bakir, Haluk, Bakir, James Rogers, Rogers, Oguz Yeter, Paul Iddon Organizations: Service, Press, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Ukrainian, Ukraine's Main Intelligence, Business, Baykar, Cornell Brooks School Tech Policy Institute, Istanbul's, Airport Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Turkish, Russian, Kyiv, Ukraine's, Turkey, Ukrainian, Ankara, Syria, Libya, Nagorno, Karabakh, Ethiopia

☆ Blast kills 3 Russian officers in occupied town, Ukrainian intelligence directorate says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blast occurred during a meeting on Saturday of Russian officers in the town, a hub of Russian forces in the south, the directorate within the defence ministry said in a statement. Reuters was unable to verify the Ukrainian statement. The intelligence statement said the meeting on Saturday at the local military headquarters was attended by Russian National Guard and FSB intelligence service officers. Ukrainian forces staged a missile attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Russian-annexed Crimea in September. Ukrainian media said an attack last week on the occupied town of Skadovsk in Kherson region also targeted Russian officers.

Persons: Ron Popeski, Grant McCool Organizations: Reuters, Russian National Guard, National Guard, Black, Fleet, Thomson Locations: Russian, Melitopol, Russia, Ukraine, Crimea, Skadovsk, Kherson

☆ Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians to prepare for Russian winter onslaught
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A military spokesman said Russian attacks on the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka had eased in the past day, but were likely to intensify in the coming days. Zelenskiy issued his warning during his nightly video address a day after Russian forces carried out their first missile attack on the capital, Kyiv in some seven weeks. In his remarks, Zelenskiy hailed the "heroic" efforts of troops defending Avdiivka, under pressure from attempted Russian advances since mid-October. Russian accounts of the fighting on Sunday said its forces had repelled five Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut. Ukraine's military has been increasingly active in attacking Russian-held areas, but does not always acknowledge the strikes.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, German Galushchenko, Oleksandr Shtupun, Shtupun, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ron Popeski, Maria Starkova, Grant McCool Organizations: Presidential Press Service, Energy, German, Avdiivka, Russian, Sunday, Reuters, Russia's National Guard, Thomson Locations: Ochakiv, Ukraine, Mykolaiv region, Avdiivka, Russian, Melitopol, Kyiv, Russia, Donetsk, Bakhmut

☆ Blast Kills 3 Russian Officers in Occupied Town -Ukrainian Intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

Persons: Ron Popeski, Grant McCool Organizations: Reuters, Russian National Guard, National Guard, Black, Fleet Locations: Russian, Melitopol, Russia, Ukraine, Crimea, Skadovsk, Kherson

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s intelligence agency took credit for a car bombing Wednesday that killed a member of the Russia-backed authority in the illegally annexed Luhansk region. He had survived a car bombing on Feb. 21, 2022, three days before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It said that the killing was a warning that “traitors to Ukraine and collaborators with terrorist Russia in temporarily occupied territories … will receive just retribution! Russia-backed insurgents declared a separatist Luhansk People’s Republic in 2014 and fought Ukrainian forces relying on Moscow’s military and political support. The previous government was a staunch supporter of Ukraine, sending it arms worth 671 million euros ($717 million).

Persons: Mikhail Filiponenko, Filiponenko, Robert Fico, Fico, ___ Karel Janicek, Yuras Organizations: Local, Main Intelligence, Ministry of Defense, European Union Locations: KYIV, Ukraine, Russia, Luhansk, Luhansk People’s Republic, Donetsk, Bahatyr, Kharkiv, Kupiansk, Kherson, Beryslav, Prague, Tallinn, Estonia, russia, ukraine

☆ Russia increased its stock of long-range missiles faster than expected, report says. It could spell a hard winter for Ukraine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementRussia increased its stock of long-range missiles despite Western sanctions designed to bite into its ability to produce them, a think tank said. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut the boost in Russian long-range missile stocks — with 115 being produced in October alone — indicates "that Russia has increased its domestic production of missiles faster than had been forecasted," said the ISW. The Russian military appears to be stockpiling missiles in preparation for a new wave of attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in winter, British intelligence said in October. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia aimed, in part, at cutting off supplies of Western-produced components of sophisticated weapons such as long-range missiles. Russia has used long-range missiles to hit both civilian and military targets as part of a strategy analysts say is aimed at terrorizing Ukraine and breaking its will to fight.

Persons: —, Vadym Skibitskyi, Skibitskyi Organizations: Service, The, Main Military Intelligence, Kyiv Post Locations: Russia, US, Ukraine, Kremlin, Russian

☆ Ukraine replaces special forces commander, removed officer wonders why
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that Colonel Serhiy Lupanchuk would now head the forces and described him as "an experienced officer, combat officer and the right man in command". The president said Lupanchuk's predecessor, Maj-Gen. Viktor Horenko, who led the forces from July 2022, "will continue to perform special tasks" within the Defence Ministry's Intelligence Directorate. The special forces are believed to be behind the most sophisticated operations Ukraine's military has conducted in areas under Russian control, in particular Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, eight years before Moscow's full land invasion. The special forces are also responsible for military information and psychological operations, as well as the organization of resistance in occupied territories. Zelenskiy this week praised Ukraine's military for diminishing Moscow's military strength in the Black Sea through increased air and sea drone attacks on Russian military targets.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Serhiy Lupanchuk, Viktor Horenko, Horenko, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, Zaluzhniy, Ron Popeski, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Rod Nickel Organizations: Defence Ministry's Intelligence, Pravda, Fleet, Economist, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Crimea, Sevastopol, Black

☆ Putin fake death rumors are being spread by the Kremlin to gauge Russian reactions, Ukraine intelligence says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Kremlin is using them to gauge Russian reactions, intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said. "It's an internal story that is intended for an internal Russian audience," Yusov told NV Radio. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Kremlin is using fake rumors about President Vladimir Putin's death to gauge Russian reactions, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. "It's an internal story that is intended for an internal Russian audience," Yusov told NV Radio, per Ukrainska Prava. Last week's claims prompted Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, to dismiss speculation about Putin's health on two occasions.

Persons: Andriy Yusov, Yusov, —, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, HUR, Ukrainska, d'état, Putin's, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov Organizations: Radio, Service, Kremlin, Defense, Main Intelligence Directorate, Ukrainian NV, Ukrainska Pravda, SVR Locations: Ukraine, Kremlin, Russian

☆ Jordan fears the crossfire if Gaza war pulls Iran into wider conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] Jordanians gather during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Amman, Jordan, October 27, 2023. Jordan neighbours Syria and Iraq - both states where Iranian proxies operate - and also sits next door to Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A Jordanian army spokesperson said on Sunday that Amman had requested that U.S. Patriot missiles be deployed in Jordan. He said Jordan's military and security forces were determined "to prevent any party in these Iranian militias from exploiting the Gaza war to achieve a security breakthrough". Iranian-backed militias hold sway on Syria's southern border with Jordan and Amman blames them and Iran for running a thriving drugs smuggling business.

Persons: Al Sukhni, Jordan, King Abdullah, Abu Nuwar, Amman, Jordan . Washington, Washington, Al Maitah, Maitah, Saddam Hussein, Asad, Bashar al, Assad, Israel, Saud Al Sharafat, Suleiman Al, Phil Stewart, Edmund Blair, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, West Bank, Reuters, U.S . Patriot, East, Washington, U.S, Embassy, Area Defense, Patriots, Pentagon, Patriot, Hezbollah, Jordan's General Intelligence, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Amman, Jordan, Jordan's, Jordanian, AMMAN, Washington, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Palestinian, U.S, Jordan ., United States, Ain, Lebanese, Red Sea, Eilat, Aqaba, Yemen, Khalidi

Netanyahu’s tweet comes at a time when he is also under increasing pressure from the families of hostages for a “comprehensive deal” to ensure their release. “At no point was a warning given to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Hamas’s intention to start a war. Opposition leader and former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid also rebuked Netanyahu. Things I said following the press conference should not have been said and I apologize for that,” he wrote on X. Israel’s security chiefs had his “full backing,” he added. Netanyahu was asked about such a deal at his Saturday news conference, and acknowledged he discussed the option with the families.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Shin, Aharon Haliva, ” Netanyahu, Benny Gantz, ” Gantz, Abir, Gantz, ”, Yair Lapid, “ Netanyahu, “, Herzi Halevi, Yoav Gallant, Gonen, Romi Gonen, ” Gonen Organizations: CNN, Israeli, Israel Defense Forces, Ronen, Intelligence Directorate, Twitter, Staff, IDF, Getty, Palestinian Prisoners, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Tel Aviv, Israel

☆ How the Putin family's 'blood sacrifice' may be driving the high Russian casualty rate in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | Julian Kossoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

People who study Russia say war and a glorious death are ingrained in the national psyche. The willingness of President Vladimir Putin and his generals to sacrifice thousands of soldiers in often-reckless assaults has become a blood-drenched hallmark of the war. "So in his own family, they've already paid that blood sacrifice, and he did his duty during the Cold War. "The official mantra of the Russian military is John 15:13, from the Bible," Carleton said. In Putin recruiting soldiers from villages in remote parts of Russia and among its non-Russian ethnic groups, Putin can avoid the perception of high casualty rates.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Gregory Carleton, Carleton, they've, Jaroslava Barbieri, Kremlin, Barbieri, Ben Soodavar, Kirill Organizations: Service, Avdiivka, UK Ministry of Defence, Tufts University, Birmingham University, Ukraine's Military Intelligence, King's College London, Nazi, Reuters, Russian Orthodox Church Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Germans, Kyiv, Nazi Germany, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Moscow, Donbas

☆ Russian soldier says 8 Ukrainian fighters fended off hundreds of enemy troops from their fortified position, per leaked audio
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian soldier described the "slaughter" of his comrades in an intercepted call, per Ukrainian intel. He said that in one instance, eight Ukrainian soldiers were able to fend off hundreds of Russians. He describes Russian forces suffering heavy losses when coming up against heavily fortified Ukrainian positions. In one instance, he said, a handful of Ukrainian soldiers fended off hundreds of Russian troops. Ukraine's intelligence department has periodically published the audios of intercepted Russian calls, which Russian media often dismisses as fake.

Persons: —, Sam, Volodymyr Fitio Organizations: Ukrainian intel, Service, Ukraine's Military Intelligence, Kyiv, Ground Forces Command, Kupyansk Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Russia, Ivanivka, Kherson Oblast, Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast

☆ Fears Ukrainian POWs have been coerced to fight against their fellow citizens by Russia, says ISW
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia is training Ukrainian prisoners of war to fight on the front lines, Russian media reported. AdvertisementAdvertisementRussian authorities are planning to deploy a battalion of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the front lines, Russian media reported. The outlet described it as a volunteer battalion including about 70 prisoners from various penal colonies. A Russian battalion consists of two-to-four companies and has from 250 to 1,000 people. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Russian authorities have likely coerced Ukrainian prisoners of war into joining a 'volunteer' formation that will fight in Ukraine, said the Institute for the Study of War.

Persons: —, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Andrii Tyshchenko, Tyshchenko, Andriy Yusov, HUR Organizations: Geneva Convention, Service, RIA Novosti, Russian, Institute for, Siberian Battalion, International Legion of, Armed Forces of, Defense, Main Intelligence Locations: Russia, Russian, Donetsk Oblast, Geneva, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine says it created a whole battalion from Russians who signed up to fight their own country
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Siberian Battalion largely consists of people from ethnic minorities in Russia. The battalion is expected to be sent to fight against Russia very soon, Bloomberg reported. AdvertisementAdvertisementUkraine said Wednesday that it had created a whole battalion from Russians who wanted to fight their own country. The battalion does not recruit captured Russian soldiers, he added, as per the Kyiv Post. He called his battalion the Siberian Battalion.

Persons: —, Andriy Yusov, HUR, Yusov, Vladislav Ammosov Organizations: Siberian Battalion, Bloomberg, Service, International Legion of, Armed Forces of, Defense, Main Intelligence, Russian Federation, Kyiv Post, New, Radio Free Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kyiv, Russian, Eastern Siberia, Europe, Radio Free Europe

A general view shows the interiors of what the Israeli military say is a cross-border attack tunnel dug from Gaza to Israel, on the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip border near Kissufim January 18, 2018. After the last round of hostilities in 2021, Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yehya Al-Sinwar, said: "They started saying they destroyed 100kms of Hamas tunnels. Tunneling became easier in 2005 when Israel pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza, and when Hamas won power in a 2006 election. Although the military tunnels remained off-limits to outside eyes, during that era Gaza smugglers would show off their scarcely concealed commercial tunnels under the Rafah border. Israeli sources said what awaits them is formidable and they faced an enemy that has regrouped and learned from previous Israeli operations in 2014 and 2021.

Persons: Jack Guez, Lloyd Austin, Yehya Al, Sinwar, Lifshitz, Mahmoud Abbas, Amir Avivi, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Israel, Yasser Arafat's, Deen al, Gilad Shalit, Abu Qusay, Mohammed Deif, Deif, Joel Roskin, Ilan University, Benjamin Netanyahu, Amnon Sofrin, Daphne Richemond, Barak, Jonathan Saul, Stephen Farrell, Phil Stewart, Nafisa Eltahir, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Janet Lawrence Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, U.S . Defense, Israel, United Nations Security Council, LONG, Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization, West Bank, Hamas, Brigades, Arafat's, Israel's, Ilan, Israel's Combat Engineering, Combat Intelligence Corps, Israel's Reichman University, IDF, ISIS, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Kissufim, JERUSALEM, LONDON, Hamas, Palestinian, States, Mosul, Islamic, Egypt, Israeli, Viet, Israel's, Egyptian, El Arish, Suez, Yasser Arafat's Palestine, Jordan, Rafah, Syria, Iraq, State, Jerusalem, London, Washington, Cairo

☆ Russian forces intensify pressure on Ukraine's Avdiivka, Kherson
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko Acquire Licensing RightsOct 22 (Reuters) - Russian forces aiming to contain a four-month-old Ukrainian counteroffensive maintained unrelenting pressure on Sunday on the shattered town of Avdiivka in the east and intensified shelling in the southern area of Kherson. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, in its evening report, said Ukrainian forces repelled nearly 20 Russian attacks around Avdiivka, its buildings now largely reduced to shells. Russian military accounts made no mention of Avdiivka, but described successful operations against Ukrainian positions to the east in Bakhmut, seized by Moscow in May after months of fighting. Russian forces routinely shell Kherson and villages on the western bank of the Dnipro from positions on the eastern bank, where they retreated late last year. The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War has reported in the past week that Ukrainian forces have crossed the Dnipro to take up new positions of their own and pursue Russian forces.

Persons: Alexander Ermochenko, Avdiivka, Andriy Yusov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Oleksandr Prokudin, Ron Popeski, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, General, of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Ukraine Defence Ministry's Intelligence, Ukraine, Reuters, Russian, Thomson Locations: Avdiivka, Russia, Ukraine, Donetsk, Russian, Kherson, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Donbas, Luhansk, Maryinka, Bakhmut, Moscow, Dnipro, U.S

☆ French military intelligence says Israeli strike not behind Gaza hospital blast
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Masri/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A blast at a Gaza hospital was not the result of an Israeli missile strike, but likely caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket, the French military intelligence directorate (DRM) said on Friday. Palestinian officials said 471 people were killed in the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Tuesday. Gaza's health ministry blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by militants. "There is nothing that allows us to say that it is an Israeli strike, but the most likely (scenario) is a Palestinian rocket that had a firing incident," the DRM said. According to the DRM, the impact crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.

Persons: Mohammed Al, Masri, Israel, Emmanuel Macron, John Irish, Chris Reese, Rod Nickel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Al, Ahli, Israel, Gaza City, Gaza, Palestinian, Arabi, Israeli

☆ French Military Intelligence Says Israeli Strike Not Behind Gaza Hospital Blast
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By John IrishPARIS (Reuters) - A blast at a Gaza hospital was not the result of an Israeli missile strike, but likely caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket, the French military intelligence directorate (DRM) said on Friday. Palestinian officials said 471 people were killed in the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Tuesday. Gaza's health ministry blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by militants. "There is nothing that allows us to say that it is an Israeli strike, but the most likely (scenario) is a Palestinian rocket that had a firing incident," the DRM said. According to the DRM, the impact crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.

Persons: John Irish PARIS, Israel, Emmanuel Macron, John Irish, Chris Reese, Rod Nickel Organizations: Reuters Locations: Gaza, Palestinian, Al, Ahli, Arabi, Israeli, Israel

“We have no evidence or proof” that Iran was behind the attack, Maj. Nir Dinar, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told Politico on Monday. More recently, Tehran has stepped up the training assistance it provides Hamas inside Iran, according to a former Western defense official. Hamas received Iranian weapons and military technology, and learned from the Iranians about planning operations. “Everything we have seen in the last four days, we can’t say it’s an Iranian plan or an Iranian effort,” Milshtein said. “It’s a Hamas plan that got Iranian help.”Searching for a motivationUS intelligence officials are also working to understand Hamas’ immediate motivation for launching the attack.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, “, ” Sullivan, Privately, Sullivan, ”, “ We’ve, we’ve, Biden, Tehran doesn’t, –, Ismail Haniyeh, Frank McKenzie, Mahmud Hams, Zohar Palti, Nir, it’s, Israel —, Norm Roule, ” Roule, Amir Cohen, Mike Knights, Michael Milshtein, “ They’ve, Milshtein, ” Milshtein, ’, “ It’s, McKenzie, ” McKenzie Organizations: Washington CNN, Hamas, Biden, White, CNN, intel, State Department, US Central Command, Getty, Israel’s Ministry of Defense, Israel Defense Forces, Israel, CIA, Reuters, Washington Institute, ” Knights, Department, Palestinian Affairs, Knights, Hezbollah, Palestinian Authority, Gaza Locations: Iran, Israel, Tehran, Gaza, Gaza City, AFP, Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Ashkelon, “, Yemen, Jihad, Lebanon

☆ Ukraine said it intercepted a call from a Russian soldier saying his unit was staging combat videos to make it look like they're fighting better than they actually are
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate said it intercepted a Russian soldier's call home. In translated audio, the soldier said his unit staged videos to make it appear like they were fighting well. Ukraine has frequently said it intercepted calls made by Russian soldiers since the invasion in February 2022. The outlet said the calls showed Russian soldiers complaining about heavy losses and lousy gear. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn June, the SBU also said it intercepted a call in which a Russian soldier admitted it was Russian forces that destroyed the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine.

Persons: —, Fedor Bondarchuk, Oleksandr Vynogradov Organizations: Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate, Service, Ukraine's Military Intelligence, 9th, Reuters, Security Service of Ukraine Locations: Ukraine's, Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian

☆ US Hits Chinese, Russian Firms Over Moscow Military Aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By David Shepardson and Alexandra AlperWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Monday imposed new trade restrictions on 11 Chinese and five Russian companies, accusing some of supplying components to make drones for Russia's war effort in Ukraine. The Commerce Department, which oversees export policy, added a total of 28 firms, including some Finnish and German companies, to a trade blacklist, making it harder for U.S. suppliers to ship them technology. The investigation found that Hong Kong-based exporter Asia Pacific Links Ltd. has been among the most important suppliers to Russia's drone program. The firm, along with import company SMT iLogic, were the target of an earlier round of U.S. sanctions in May. The United States has aggressively used a trade blacklist known as the entity list to target China's tech sector and attempt to stymie Russia's war in Ukraine.

Persons: David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper WASHINGTON, Joe Biden's, Alan Estevez, Barack Obama, Alexandra Alper, Rami Ayyub Organizations: The Commerce Department, China's, Links Ltd, Technology Center, Russia's Main Intelligence, General Staff, Reuters, Royal United Services Institute, Special Technology, Asia Pacific Links, SMT, Commerce, Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Company, Commerce Department, U.S, United Locations: Ukraine, Russian, London, St . Petersburg, Russia, Hong Kong, Iran, United States

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is embraced by U.S. President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Monday imposed new trade restrictions on 11 Chinese and five Russian companies, accusing some of supplying components to make drones for Russia's war effort in Ukraine. The firm, along with import company SMT iLogic, were the target of an earlier round of U.S. sanctions in May. Another six Chinese entities were added for allegedly procuring aerospace parts for the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Company that are used to make drones used by Iran to attack oil tankers in the Middle East and by Russia in Ukraine, according to the Commerce Department. The United States has aggressively used a trade blacklist known as the entity list to target China's tech sector and attempt to stymie Russia's war in Ukraine.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Joe Biden, Kevin Lamarque, Joe Biden's, Alan Estevez, Barack Obama, David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper, Rami Ayyub Organizations: U.S, White, REUTERS, Rights, The Commerce Department, China's, Links Ltd, Technology Center, Russia's Main Intelligence, General Staff, Reuters, Royal United Services Institute, Special Technology, Asia Pacific Links, SMT, Commerce, Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Company, Commerce Department, United, Thomson Locations: Washington, Ukraine, Russian, London, St . Petersburg, Russia, Hong Kong, Iran, United States

☆ Ukraine's drones rain leaflets on occupied territory telling its citizens to boycott Putin's 'election farce'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Resistance efforts have included blowing up a polling station and mass distributing leaflets via drones calling on people to ignore the elections. Russia is holding elections this weekend in occupied Ukrainian territories, including Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea, The Guardian reports. Interventions to sabotage the elections have included Ukraine's Security Service blowing up a polling station in Zaporizhzhia with drones. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Elections here ended prematurely," a Security Service of Ukraine source told the Kyiv Post. AdvertisementAdvertisementAt least 3,000 Ukrainians in the Zaporizhzhia region are said to be implicated in helping Russians with the pseudo-elections, The Kyiv Post cites from authorities.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Andriy Yusov Organizations: of Europe, Service, Kyiv, Guardian, Kyiv Independent, Ukraine's Security Service, Security Service, Armed Forces, National Resistance Center of, of, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN Charter, National Resistance Center, Main Intelligence Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Crimea, Russian, Kyiv, National Resistance Center of Ukraine, Tokmak, of Europe

CNN —Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite systems are being used by Ukrainian forces on all front lines in the war with Russia, the country’s spy chief has said. You can say what you want about whether [Starlink systems] are good or bad, but facts are facts. Absolutely all front lines are using them,” Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate, said Saturday, according to Interfax Ukraine. The spy chief also gave a positive account of the difference Starlink is making in the war. “I can absolutely confirm that Starlink systems did not work for a certain period of time near Crimea.

Persons: CNN — Elon, “, ” Kyrylo Budanov, Budanov, Victor Pinchuk, ” Budanov, That’s, Walter Isaacson, “ Elon Musk, Musk, ” Isaacson, Isaacson, ” Musk Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, Main Ukrainian Intelligence, Victor, Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Russian, SpaceX Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Yalta, Crimea, Crimean, Ukrainian, Russian, Sevastopol

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