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☆ Video shows massive HIMARS strike on an ammo dump used by Russia's powerful Ka-52 attack helicopters, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's military shared a video of a strike on a Russian storage site near Bakhmut. According to Ukraine's MOD, HIMARS took out a large store of 9M127 Vikhr laser-beam-guided missiles. Those missiles are used by the Ka-52, one of Russia's most deadly helicopters. The blast site served as a storage depot for 9M127 Vikhr guided missiles, which are used by Russian Ka-50 and Ka-52 helicopters, the MOD said. The Ka-52, known in Ukraine as "Putin's vulture," is considered one of the most powerful helicopters in the air.

Persons: HIMARS, Vikhr, Insider's Ryan Pickrell Organizations: Ukraine's MOD, Service, Ukraine's Special Forces, Ministry of Defense, Google, MOD, Mechanized Brigade Locations: Bakhmut, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Myronivs'kyi, Luhansk, Donetsk, It's, Russian

☆ The US is growing increasingly frustrated with Ukraine's tactics. It could put the counteroffensive in jeopardy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

US officials are growing frustrated with how Ukraine is fighting the war, The New York Times said. If Ukraine wants to speed up its counteroffensive, it will need to change tactics, they said. However, experts are worried that such unrealistic expectations could mean Ukraine gets less support from Western countries going forward, putting the counteroffensive in jeopardy. "Ukraine's Western partners have every reason to expect a return on the considerable military aid they have provided over the past year-and-a-half. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Instead, Ukraine's lack of progress over the past two months should serve as a wake-up call for Western leaders.

Persons: Ukraine Ed Ram, Insider's Ryan Pickrell, it's, Marina Miron, David Lewis, Lewis, Maksym Skrypchenko Organizations: New York Times, Service, Washington, Getty, Department of, King's College London, Royal United Services Institute, NATO, Western Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Zaporizhzhia region, Kyiv

☆ Former generals weigh in on how much say the US should have in Ukraine's counteroffensive as Kyiv's frustration with critics boils over
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Ukraine has blamed a lack of equipment and tough defenses while some in the West have put the blame on Kyiv's forces. "Everyone is now an expert on how we should fight," Ukraine's defense ministry said on social media Thursday. He wrote that the general is "extremely talented," but "he has never before" coordinated the kind of operations Ukraine is executing now. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe US has reiterated that it will continue to support Ukraine's war effort, even as the counteroffensive is expected to potentially last for at least a couple more months and the conflict possibly for years. In a recent conversation with Insider about Ukrainian operations, Hodges said that the Ukrainians "have recognized that they have to adapt, which is what they're doing."

Persons: Dmytro Kuleba, it's, —, Jose Colon, Jack Keane, Keane, Metz, Michael O'Hanlon, George S, O'Hanlon, Hertling, Valery Zaluzhny, Diego Herrera Carcedo, Mick Ryan, Michael Kofman, Franz, Stefan Gady, Ben Hodges, David Petraeus, Mark Milley, Milley, Petraeus, Frederick Kagan, Hodges, Kyiv's, Ryan Organizations: Service, —, PKP, Ukrainian Army, Anadolu Agency, Getty, US Army, Institute for, Street, Patton's Third Army, NATO, intel, Army, Foreign Affairs, US Central Command, CNN, Joint Chiefs, Staff, The Washington Post, American Enterprise Institute, Russia, Nazis Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Kyiv, Europe, Chasiv Yar, Russia, Donetsk Oblast, America, Ukrainian, France, Metz, Vietnam, Korea, US Army Europe, Australian, American, Singapore, Japan, United States, Philippines

☆ Ukrainian snipers hunting top enemy commanders are exploiting one of the Russian military's biggest vulnerabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukrainian snipers told The Wall Street Journal they are hunting down high-profile Russian targets. Over the course of the war, Russia has lost a number of senior Russian commanders and generals who directed operations from the front line. John Moore/Getty ImagesAlthough they have a common enemy, not all Ukrainian sniper teams are engaged in the same mission. Russian snipers, likewise, carry out similar missions and are considered quite formidable. Other activities like reconnaissance fall within the traditional sniper mission set and can also take priority.

Persons: Carl Court, Mark Milley, Andrei Sukhovetsky, Russia's, John Moore Organizations: Wall Street, Service, Devils, Wall Street Journal, Pentagon, Department of Defense, Ukraine, US, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Russia's 7th Airborne, 28th Brigade, Ukrainian, CNN Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Kyiv

☆ An elite team of Ukrainian snipers dubbed 'Devils and Angels' is taking out top Russian commanders to demoralize troops: 'We work quietly, we are invisible'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian snipers are focused on taking out high-profile Russain targets and demoralizing troops. A sniper unit training near Bakhmut calls itself "Devils and Angels," The Wall Street Journal reported. The team of snipers has dubbed itself the "Devils and Angels," according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The snipers training near Bakhmut told the outlet that in addition to their marksmanship, they're training to be even more elusive in the field. AdvertisementAdvertisementAlso in June a Ukrainian sniper picked off Vladimir Andonov, a Wagner Group member known at "The Executioner" and one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most notorious mercenary fighters.

Persons: Robert Scales, Bakhmut, Fisher, Mark Cancian, Insider's Ryan Pickrell, Vladimir Andonov, Vladimir Putin's Organizations: Street Journal, Military, Service, Devils, Street, Ukraine Ukrainian, CNN, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Wagner Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia

☆ 'Putin's vulture': Why the Ka-52 attack helicopter is one of Russia's most influential weapon systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia's Ka-52 attack helicopter has been imposing a high cost on Ukraine's counteroffensive this summer. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt can also serve as a surveillance platform and an aerial command center for a fleet of attack helicopters. While some military experts say the US Apache helicopter is superior to the Ka-52, the Russian helicopter gunship is highly rated. In its review of the top nine attack helicopters, Military-Today.com wrote: "The Ka-52 is one of the fastest and most maneuverable attack helicopters due to its two coaxial contra-rotating main rotors. A video appears to show one of the Ka-52 attack helicopters being downed, revealing Russia's weakness, a former US general told Insider.

Persons: Russia's Ka, Ukraine's, Today.com, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Insider's Ryan Pickrell, Andriy Yermak, Maxym Organizations: Russian, Service, Kremlin, Kyiv Post, Kamov, Russian Helicopters, Airforce Technology, US Apache, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, AP, Military Factory, Russia, Getty, UK Ministry of Defence, Twitter, Ukrainian, Russian Ministry of Defense, Royal United Services Institute, Forbes Locations: Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine, AFP, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, London, American, Russia

NORAD scrambled 2 fighter jets after an aircraft flew too close to President Joe Biden's vacation spot. The jets fired flares near the civilian pilot to get their attention. No information about the civilian aircraft or its pilot was released. AdvertisementAdvertisementF-16 intercepts of civilian aircraft that venture too close to where the president is are not uncommon. For instance, NORAD sortied F-16 fighter aircraft to intercept a Cessna, popping flares in the process, after it entered the temporary restricted airspace while Biden was delivering a speech in California last October.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Anthony Guglielmi, Olivia Dalton, Biden, John Kirby, Noble, NORAD's Organizations: NORAD, Service, Aerospace Defense Command, Coast Guard, US, Cessna, UN, White, National Security Locations: Wall, Silicon, Lake Tahoe, Washington, Canada, Virginia, California, New York City, Arizona, DC

☆ Ukrainian sniper ripped apart by a Russian shell says he had 16 operations to put his teeth and body back together so he could return to the front lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In the video of the interview, the snipers were seen using American-made Barrett sniper rifles. The sniper's unit is on the front lines somewhere in the Zaporizhzhia region. AdvertisementAdvertisementA view from the viewfinder of a Ukrainian sniper rifle at a shooting range amid Russia and Ukraine war in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 09, 2023. Inflicting psychological damage on the enemy and breaking their morale has long been a part of sniper operations. In a separate report on another front-line Ukrainian sniper unit, BBC reported that the unit, called the "Ghosts of Bakhmut," claims over 500 kills, with the leader claiming over 70 kills.

Persons: Ukraine's SBU, Barrett, Sasha, Nick Paton Walsh, Ignacio Marin, John Moore, Barrett MRAD Organizations: CNN, Service, Anadolu Agency, Getty, BBC, 28th Brigade, Kyiv Post, Defence, TAC Locations: Wall, Silicon, Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Donetsk Oblast, Kyiv, Bakhmut

☆ Videos of an artillery ambush show Russian tanks and armor making 'opening day mistakes' and paying the price for them
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Videos of an apparent artillery ambush have emerged and show Russian forces taking heavy hits. A retired US Army general said Russians were making "opening day mistakes" 18 months into the war. Russian forces have made similar mistakes repeatedly in the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces, of course, are not infallible, and mistakes have jeopardized operations, including the opening phase of the ongoing counteroffensive, according to experts who visited areas near the front. They also moved the wrong way, and sometimes they ran into deadly minefields covered by defending Russian forces — traps not entirely unlike the ambush seen in the recent videos.

Persons: Diego Herrera Carcedo, Benjamin Hodges, You've, bunching, Hodges, — Organizations: Russian, US Army, Service, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Army, United States Army Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, US, Klishchiivka, Donetsk, Russian, United States Army Europe, Ukrainian, Novodarivka, Russia

☆ The $362 million warship the US Navy just decommissioned wasn't even in service 5 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The US Navy officially decommissioned USS Sioux City this week. The $362 million Littoral Combat Ship has been in service roughly four years and nine months. USS Sioux City, a Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship, was commissioned into service with the Navy on November 17, 2018. In September last year, the Navy decommissioned the Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado after just eight years of service. USS Sioux City conducts a passing exercise with an Egyptian Navy frigate in the Red Sea in July 2022.

Persons: Brandon J, Vinson, Capt, Daniel Reiher, Nicholas S, Tenorio, Nicholas A, Bob Scott, Scott, Seaman Juel Foster, James Stavridis, Stavridis Organizations: US Navy, Navy, Service, USS, Naval, Brandon, Sioux, Coast Guard, Mayport, Littoral Combat Ship Training, Combat, Combat Ships, USS Sioux City, Egyptian Navy, Russell, Russell Sioux City, Iowa Public, Littoral Combat, USS Navy, Communication, Ships Locations: Sioux City, Wall, Silicon, USS Sioux City, Florida, Iowa, Coronado, Littoral, Souda Bay, Greece, USS Sioux, Egyptian, Red, Russell Sioux, China

☆ Seen by the US military as a threat for years, Russia's Yasen-class submarines are now on track to get hypersonic missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia's Yasen-class submarines have long been seen as a tough challenge for the US Navy. A Russian shipbuilding official said that work is underway to arm them with Zircon hypersonic missiles. Russia's Yasen-class nuclear-powered cruise-missile submarines are quiet, difficult to track, heavily armed, and able to conduct attacks against land- and sea-based targets. The Russian Yasen-class submarines "are designed to deploy undetected within cruise-missile range of our coastlines to threaten critical infrastructure during an escalating crisis," the commander said a year later in congressional testimony. It may still be some time before Russia's Yasen-class submarines deploy with hypersonic weapons, but the Admiral Gorshkov set sail earlier this year on a deployment that took it into the Atlantic Ocean armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles.

Persons: Russia's, Alexei Rakhmanov, Dave Johnson, Lev Fedoseyev, Glen VanHerck, Gorshkov, Vladimir Putin, Gorshkov —, Putin, Zumwalt Organizations: US Navy, Service, United Shipbuilding Corporation, US, Naval, Systems, Getty, US Air Force, US Northern Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command, NATO, Russian Navy, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, AP, Army, Navy, Ingalls Shipbuilding Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russian, Severomorsk, Russia, Barents, China, Virginia, San Diego, Pascagoula , Mississippi, Ingalls

☆ A busted Russian warship may not have seen an exploding Ukrainian drone boat coming, hinting at problems that have plagued Russia throughout its war
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A Russian warship was struck by a Ukrainian drone boat that it doesn't appear to have seen coming. Just a few days before this attack, Russian vessels were fighting off drone boats in another incident. "It just seems very strange they didn't respond at all to the incoming drone boats," Clark added. The Russian ship may have assumed it was safe in Novorossiysk, given that the port is roughly 350 miles from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, but it shouldn't have. The reach of Ukraine's drone boats was hardly a secret.

Persons: Russia's, —, Sutton, it's, Cole, Bryan Clark, Clark, OZAN KOSE Organizations: Service, Ukraine, Russian, —, CNN, US Navy, Navy, Hudson Institute, Getty Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Novorossiysk, Moskva, Istanbul, AFP, Sevastopol, Odessa, Ukraine

☆ Top tanks worth millions and other expensive heavy armor are being hunted in Ukraine by cheap exploding drones worth only a few hundred bucks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Ukrainian and Russian heavy armor, including their better tanks, are facing a growing threat: FPV drones. Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesWhat are FPV drones? Instead, individual units are putting in orders for FPV drones, and these outfits are doing what they can to meet the demand. It is unclear if or how the FPV drones factored into this figure. Electronic warfare can have an effect on FPV drones, as can the rough cope cages some armored-vehicle crews have welded on their tanks and fighting vehicles to shield it from the exploding FPV drones, though not always.

Persons: Samuel Bendett, Wojciech Grzedzinski, David Hambling, Bendett, Steve Wright, Yuriy Mate, Jack Watling, Nick Reynolds, it's Organizations: Service, Center for Naval, Mechanized Brigade, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Army, Drones, Newsweek, Ukraine, Royal United Services, PBS Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Donetsk Oblast, China

☆ Ukrainian snipers say they don't care for big leafy ghillie suits, but they're fans of these Western rifles
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ukrainian snipers rarely use ghillie suits, camouflage preferred by Western snipers, several marksmen told the Kyiv Post. For the US military, ghillie suit preparation is a key part of sniper training. A ghillie suit is not always necessary to achieve that though. But while they aren't fans of the ghillie suit, there's a few Western weapons they're fond of. The weapons that were tossed aside when these Western weapons showed up were the Soviet/Russian-made SVD "Dragunov " sniper rifles.

Persons: Vladimir Shtanko, Kyiv Post's Stefan Korshak, John Moore, Barrett MRAD, Barrett, Norma Magnum Organizations: Western, Kyiv Post, Service, Training Center, National Guard, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Kyiv, 28th Brigade, TAC, US Army, Marines, NATO Locations: Kyiv, Canada, Finland, Wall, Silicon, Novi Petrivtsi, Kiev, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Soviet, Russia

☆ US Navy stealth destroyer Zumwalt's deck guns are basically useless, but it's on its way to get new hypersonic missile launchers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Destroyer USS Zumwalt has long had problems with its main deck guns, which don't have any ammunition. The Zumwalt is changing homeports to receive upgrades including a new hypersonic missile system. US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt arrives in Yokosuka for a port visit, September 26, 2022. Unlike China and Russia, the US does not currently have any hypersonic weapons systems deployed. True hypersonic weapons pose a new and potentially unstoppable threat due to their ability to maneuver unpredictably at these speeds.

Persons: Zumwalt, Seaman Darren Cordoviz, Michael Monsoor, Lyndon, Johnson Organizations: Service, US Navy, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Navy, Systems, US, Army, CPS Locations: Wall, Silicon, San Diego , California, Pascagoula , Mississippi, Ingalls, Yokosuka, Hawaii, China, Russia, Virginia

☆ Ukrainian assault commander reveals horrific encounter with one of Russia's fake trench traps
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Among them are fake trenches, exploding death traps, that a commander described to The New York Times. A commander shared details of an assault team's encounter with these deadly traps in a discussion this week with The New York Times. The Ukrainian commander, who goes by the call sign Voskres, told The Times about an offensive operation conducted last month by forces with special operations training. When they reached the Russian lines after clearing part of a minefield along a tree line, Ukrainian forces dropped into a trench, ready for a fight. "They build out fake trenches.

Persons: Gian Marco Benedetto, Michael Kofman, Kofman Organizations: The New York Times, Service, New York Times, Times, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Center for Naval Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Moshchun, Kyiv, Russian

☆ Video captures an anti-tank ditch swallowing a vehicle, showing one of the dangers complicating Ukraine's assault
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video has surfaced showing a vehicle following into an anti-tank ditch. The apparent drone footage shows an anti-tank ditch along what may be the first line of Russia's extensive layered defense swallow a military vehicle that is driven into it. Anti-tank trenches have a history that goes back to World War I and the introduction of the tank. Unlike infantry trenches, these traps have to be wide enough and deep enough to consume an advancing vehicle. A picture taken on July 2, 2015 shows an anti-tank ditch on the Senkivka border post, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Persons: SERGEI SUPINSKY, Jack Watling, Nick Reynolds Organizations: Service, intel, Getty, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Verbove, Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian, Kyiv, AFP, Russia

☆ 'Unusual' numbers of a massive Russian missile built to sink aircraft carriers are hammering a port city in southern Ukraine, intelligence says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia is launching "unusual" numbers of carrier killer missiles, among others, at urban areas in southern Ukraine. The Kh-22 missile is inaccurate when used this way and exceptionally dangerous. The Tupelov Tu-22M supersonic bomber can carry up to three Kh-22 missiles, an anti-ship weapon that Russia has been using against Ukraine's urban areas. An aerial view of the damaged building after Russian missile attacks in Odessa, Ukraine on July 25, 2023. In an aerial view, the Transfiguration Cathedral heavily damaged by Russian missile on July 23, 2023 in Odesa, Ukraine.

Persons: Ercin, Zelenskyy, Yan Dobronosov, Viacheslav Onyshchenko, Yuriy Ihnat Organizations: Service, NATO, AS, Russian Defence Ministry, UNESCO, Heritage, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Russian, Workers, Command, Onyx, The New York Times, Intelligence Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Odesa, Wall, Silicon, Odessa, Odessa ., Russian, Dnipro, Ukrainian, Kremenchuk

☆ Ukraine had to execute its offensive 'flawlessly' to break Russia's defenses, but mistakes cost it in the opening round, war experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ukraine's opening move in the counteroffensive was unsuccessful, experts just back from a trip there assert. Part of the problem is that it relied on newer, less experienced units that made mistakes at a critical moment. That does not "mean that the offensive has failed," he said, adding important context to his assessment of the first round. And that assessment is supported by Lee's account of Ukrainian assault forces advancing against Russian defenses without suppressing artillery fire. Combined arms warfare is not something most countries do effectively, and Ukraine lacks both equipment and experience with this kind of fighting.

Persons: Rob Lee, Lee, Dmytro Smolienko, Michael Kofman, Franz, Stefan Gady Organizations: Service, Foreign Policy Research Institute, NATO, Publishing, Getty, Artillery, Center for Naval, Center for New American Security Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Russia built fake trenches along the front lines to lure Ukrainian soldiers into deadly explosive traps, researchers found
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Among them are fake trenches designed to lure Ukrainians into a death trap, researchers found on a recent Ukraine trip. And while many of the trenches are actual Russian combat positions, others have been traps, researchers learned from front-line Ukrainian forces. They have mine trenches," Kofman said, explaining that they attempt to "lure Ukrainian forces into trenches that have been mined" with remote-activated mines "and then blow up the mines." The possibility that the trench Ukrainian infantry are rushing into might be an explosive trap makes things immensely more difficult. Hendrickson said they have come across extremely complex minefields in which anti-tank mines are protected by anti-personnel mines and other explosives surrounded by booby traps.

Persons: we've, Michael Kofman, Kofman, Laurent van der, Ryan Hendrickson, Hendrickson, Franz, Stefan Gady Organizations: Service, Center for Naval, 81st Airmobile Battalion, Le Monde, US Army Special Forces Engineer, Toronto Television, Paratroopers, Center for New American Security, Ukrainian Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Seversk, Russian, Afghanistan

☆ Putin is openly worrying about revolutions, saying Russia has already hit its 'limit'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Putin offered up an unexpected and unusual appeal to history to discourage revolution this week. He said that Russia reached its "limit" on revolutions last century. "Such a blow was dealt to Russia in 1917, when the country was waging the First World War," Putin said, "but victory was stolen from it." The Russian leader's remarks on the threat of revolution Wednesday are reminiscent of a 2021 address in which Putin stressed that Russia had reached its limit on revolutions, RBC reported. "Russia," Putin said at the time," exhausted its limit on revolutions back in the 20th century.

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: Service, for, RBC Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Soviet Union, Russian, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Stalingrad, Moscow

☆ Former Special Forces engineer says Russian minefields are unlike anything he has ever seen and battling these hidden death traps is 'exhausting'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The former US Special Forces engineer says the overwhelming numbers of land mines is wildly different from anything he saw in Afghanistan. "There are millions and millions of mines in Ukraine," many put down by the Ukrainians, but significantly more by the Russians. The Russians have "the capability to lay millions and millions of land mines, and they do," he said, stressing that "the biggest shaping factor of this war is land mines." "Any movement, offense, or counteroffense, assaults, or anything like that, the commander has to take into account land mines," Hendrickson said. "The casualties that the Ukrainians are suffering on this offensive," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US Army Gen. Mark Milley said this week, "they're from minefields — minefields that are covered with direct fire from anti-tank hunter-killer teams, that sort of thing."

Persons: Ryan Hendrickson, Hendrickson, Ercin, Getty Images Hendrickson, Valery Zaluzhny, Mark Milley Organizations: US Special Forces, Ukrainian YouTube, Service, US Army Special Forces, Green Berets, Ukrainian Toronto Television, 35th Marine Brigade, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Rights, Toronto Television, Group, Getty Images, Washington Post, Joint Chiefs, Staff US Locations: Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Donetsk, Laos, Cambodia

☆ Ukraine can't advance with tanks alone and is coming up short on what it really needs to break Russia's defenses
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Mines are a big problem for Ukraine's forces, but that's not all there is to it, one warfare expert said. As one expert told Insider previously, Leopards are very capable tanks, but no one should expect a "silver bullet." These systems are effective, but Ukraine's forces needs more of this kind of capability, the top general said. "Lack of a comprehensive combined arms approach at scale makes Ukrainian forces more vulnerable to Russian ATGMs, artillery etc. Ed Ram/For The Washington Post via Getty ImagesUnable to carry out those kinds of complex warfare, Ukraine may find itself stuck in an attritional artillery fight with Russia.

Persons: that's, it's, Valery Zaluzhny, ErtÃ ¼, Zaluzhny, Franz, Stefan Gady, Diego Herrera Carcedo, Gady, Ed Ram, It's Organizations: Service, Bradley, Leopards, Washington Post, New York Times, 35th Marine Brigade, ErtÃ ¼ rk, Anadolu Agency, Getty Images Ukraine, Post, Center for New American Security, NATO, 57th Brigade, Getty, Washington, Western Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, There's, Donetsk, ErtÃ, Kyiv, Donetsk oblast, Russian, Dnipropetrovsk region, Russia

☆ How the hidden story of the most lethal Marine Corps sniper came out after decades of secrecy and what happened when it did
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The deadliest Marine sniper by number of confirmed kills is Chuck Mawhinney. The Vietnam War was a brutal conflict that left many of the service members who survived it with invisible scars. In Vietnam, Mawhinney "figured he'd never make it home alive," according to "The Sniper," a new book by Jim Lindsay written with input from the marksman. "Chuck" Mawhinney poses with a replica of the M40 sniper rifle he used during the Vietnam War. Another author of a series of books on snipers, Peter Senich, was able to use his connections with the Marine Corps archives to access Mawhinney's kill sheets showing 103 confirmed kills, officially making him the deadliest Marine sniper.

Persons: Chuck Mawhinney, wasn't, Charles, Chuck, Mawhinney, Jim Lindsay, wouldn't, George Gill, Gill, Charles B, Garrett White, Joseph Ward, Ward, who'd, Carlos Hathcock, Norm Chandler, Peter Senich, Jayson Jacoby, Lindsay, he'd Organizations: Service, US Marine Corps, Marine Corps, Forest Service, Marine, Baker City Herald, Associated Press Locations: Vietnam, Wall, Silicon, Oregon, Baker City

☆ A fired general's pleas from the front lines reveal Ukraine is bloodying Russian forces in a critical fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He said Russia is struggling to knock out Ukrainian artillery while Russian forces suffer "mass deaths." The counter-battery fight is critical in the counteroffensive, and it looks like Ukraine has an edge. After he was fired, he revealed publicly that Ukraine is bloodying his forces in an important fight, the artillery battle. In this fight, Ukraine relies heavily on rocket artillery systems like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, or howitzers like the 155mm M777s. Russian artillery can have the same effect on Ukraine though if left unanswered, which is a reason why the counter-battery fight matters.

Persons: Ivan Popov, Popov, vilely, Serhii Mykhalchuk, Jack Watling, Gen, Valery Zaluzhny, Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Jake Sullivan, Patrick Hinton, Hinton Organizations: Service, Artillery, Arms Army, Getty, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Royal United Services Institute, Washington Post, Publishing, Hudson Institute, NATO, Systems, National, AP, Forbes, British Army's Royal Artillery, Staff's, Military Sciences Research, RUSI Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk Oblast, Kharkiv Region, U.S, Kherson region, Hinton

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