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☆ New Russian offensive underway in Ukraine, says NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Ukrainian defenders, who have already held out for months, were braced for new ground attacks, Ukrainian military officials said on Monday. The Russian assault on Bakhmut has been spearheaded by mercenaries of the Wagner group, who have made small but steady gains. The Ukrainian military reported Russian shelling all along the frontline and said 16 settlements had been bombarded near Bakhmut. The Ukrainian governors of Luhansk and Donetsk have recently said that a predicted Russian offensive had begun. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, in what it calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" the country and protect Russian speakers.

Their messages show they knew the money paid for telecommunications equipment – despite European Union sanctions which restrict the supply of such gear to Russia's military. An EU regulation from Feb. 25, 2022 bans supplying or financing the purchase of certain goods for the Russian military. The office did not reply to a question about Schlund and Kolbasnikova helping buy gear for the Russian military. PROTEST ORGANISERSSchlund, who studied in a Russian military academy, moved to Germany in 2012. He later began a relationship with Kolbasnikova, who is originally from Ukraine and has worked in Germany as a nurse.

☆ Russia accuses Ukraine of killing 14 in 'deliberate' strike on hospital
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 28 (Reuters) - Russia accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately striking a hospital in a Russian-held area of eastern Ukraine on Saturday in what it said was a war crime that killed 14 people and wounded 24 patients and medical staff. There was no immediate response to the allegations from Ukraine. The alleged strike hit a hospital in the Russian-held settlement of Novoaidar and was carried out using a U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launch system, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. "A deliberate missile strike against a known functioning civilian medical facility is without doubt a serious war crime by the Kyiv regime," the defence ministry said. Civilian and military medics had been working in the hospital for many months treating local people and soldiers, it said.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Russian forces said to make progress in Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Protesters gather in support of Ukraine during a meeting of European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Belgium January 23, 2023. ARMAMENTS* The United States and Germany are poised to boost Ukraine's war effort with the delivery of heavy tanks, sources said, support that Russia condemned as a "blatant provocation". * The United States is poised to start a process that would eventually send dozens of M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, two U.S. officials told Reuters. * Norway is considering whether to send some of its German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Oslo-based newspapers Aftenposten and Dagens Naeringsliv reported. * A delivery of tanks by the United States to Ukraine would be a "another blatant provocation" against Russia, Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador, said.

☆ Russia defence ministry says frigate tests strike capabilities in Atlantic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday the frigate Admiral Gorshkov tested its strike capabilities in the western Atlantic Ocean. In a statement, the ministry said the frigate had run a computer simulation on hypersonic Zircon missiles. The statement did not say the frigate had launched a missile. Tensions between the West and Russia have reached the highest point in years due to the conflict in Ukraine. Russian officials have on several occasions suggested Russia might use its nuclear arsenal, the world's largest, if it feels threatened by Western support for Ukraine.

☆ The company used by Putin to put 50,000 Russian mercenaries in Ukraine will be deemed a 'transnational criminal organization' by the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US will designate Russia's Wagner Group a "transnational criminal organization." The military contractor has committed "atrocities and human rights abuses" in Ukraine, it added. The Wagner Group, which is closely linked to the Kremlin, has about 10,000 mercenaries and 40,000 former prisoners deployed in Ukraine. Its forces were responsible for "atrocities and human rights abuses," according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. Wagner mercenaries have also been accused by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch of committing human rights abuses in a number of African nations, including the Central African Republic, Libya and Mali.

☆ Russia says it launched missile strikes against Ukraine on Saturday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 15 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had launched a wave of missile strikes against Ukrainian military and infrastructure sites on Saturday. At least 21 people were killed in a strike on a Ukrainian apartment complex in the eastern city of Dnipro in a Russian strike Saturday evening, Ukrainian authorities say. The Russian defence ministry did not mention Dnipro as a specific target of any strikes. Russia also said its troops had made progress towards the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, which has been the focus of Russian attacks for months. (This story has been corrected to show Ukrainian apartment complex hit)Reporting by Jake Cordell; editing by Guy FaulconbridgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin's military command reshuffle reveals a power struggle at the heart of the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesRussian President Vladimir Putin's latest reshuffle of the top brass in charge of Ukraine operations reveals a deeper power struggle between Moscow's military command and its domestic detractors, analysts say. One of the most prominent and powerful critics of Moscow's strategy in Ukraine is Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group — a private military company fighting in Ukraine. His criticism seemed to bear fruit with the October appointment of Gen. Sergei Surovikin as the overall battlefield commander for Russian troops in Ukraine. Nonetheless, Prigozhin's criticism of Russia's military commanders and frequent boasts over the Wagner Group's triumphs have raised heckles in Moscow. Sergei Surovikin, the former commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, seen here in 2021.

☆ Analysis: Russian mercenary boss courts Putin with Ukrainian battlefield success
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Now as the founder of Russia's most powerful mercenary group, he is vying for Vladimir Putin's favour by claiming a rare battlefield win in Ukraine. Russia claimed victory on Friday after Ukraine said its forces were holding on after a 'hot' night of fighting. The defence ministry on Friday attributed victory to its airborne units, missile forces and "artillery of a grouping of Russian forces". Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the state-controlled RT channel and close to the Kremlin, thanked Prigozhin for Soledar. Despite its sometimes publicly strained ties with the Russian defence ministry, some Western military analysts suspect Wagner is closely affiliated with it.

The Kremlin and Russia’s defence ministry didn’t respond to Reuters’ questions, including about alleged torture and unlawful detentions. Ukraine’s top war crimes prosecutor, Yuriy Belousov, said authorities have identified ten sites in the Kherson region used by Russian forces for unlawful detentions. Belousov added that hundreds of bodies of civilians had been found in other areas that Russian forces had withdrawn from. Some of the thousands of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces could be escalated to overseas tribunals if they are deemed sufficiently serious. The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

☆ Russian-installed official says Ukrainian 'resistance' persists in Soledar
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 12 (Reuters) - A Russian-installed official in Ukraine's Donetsk region said on Thursday that "pockets of resistance" remained in the Ukrainian town of Soledar, undermining claims that the town had been taken by Russian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ridiculed those claims, and independent analysts say fighting is likely ongoing in the town. "At the moment, there are still some small pockets of resistance in Soledar," Andrei Bayevsky, a military figure and Russian-installed local politician, said in an online broadcast. A map displayed in the briefing showed Soledar straddling areas marked under Russian control, but singled out no recent fighting or significant hits on Ukrainian forces in the area. "Russian forces have not yet fully captured Soledar despite recent Russian advances," analysts at the Institute for the Study of War wrote.

☆ Russian warship holds drills in Norwegian Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERSMOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A Russian warship armed with hypersonic cruise weapons has held exercises in the Norwegian Sea, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. "The crew of the frigate 'Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov' conducted an air defense exercise in the Norwegian Sea," the ministry said. "The crew... conducted an exercise to repel the means of an air attack of a simulated enemy in the Norwegian Sea." Russia sees the weapons as a way to pierce increasingly sophisticated U.S. missile defences which Putin has warned could one day shoot down Russian nuclear missiles. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week warned the United States that the hypersonic missiles would soon be close to NATO's shores.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mocked previous Wagner claims to have seized part of Soledar but made no immediate comment on the latest assertions. In a statement on Facebook, the Ukrainian military general staff said Russian forces were suffering heavy losses as they tried to take Soledar and sever Ukrainian supply lines. [1/21] A satellite view shows a smoldering building, in Soledar, Ukraine, January 3, 2023. One prominent military blogger who posts on the Telegram messaging app under the name of Rybar said Surovikin was being made the fall guy for recent Russian military debacles. Wagner separately said its forces found the body of one of two British voluntary aid workers reported missing in eastern Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine says its forces repel constant Russian attacks in east
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/10] A woman stands at the site of a missile strike that occurred during the night, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneJan 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces are repelling constant Russian attacks on Bakhmut and other towns in the eastern region of Donbas, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday, after denying Kremlin claims of 600 soldiers killed in a missile strike. Russia launched seven missile strikes, 31 air strikes and 73 attacks from salvo rocket launchers in the past day, the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said in a daily report. "And even though most of the town has been destroyed by Russian strikes, our soldiers are repelling constant Russian attempts to advance." Some prominent Russian military bloggers have criticised the Russian defence ministry claims.

☆ No sign of casualties after Russia claims revenge attack on Ukrainian soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Vladyslav Smilianets | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/7] People look at the site of a missile strike that occurred during the night, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, January 8, 2023. A Reuters team visited two college dormitories that Moscow said had been temporarily housing Ukrainian personnel and which it had targeted as revenge for a New Year's attack that killed scores of Russian soldiers and caused outcry in Russia. There were no obvious signs that soldiers had been living there and no sign of bodies or traces of blood. "This is an information operation of the Russian defense ministry," Cherevatyi told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne News. If true, it would be the single largest loss of Ukrainian troops since Russia invaded on Feb. 24 last year.

☆ Wagner boss wants Bakhmut for its 'underground cities'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary group which is fighting in the battle of Bakhmut, set out in detail on Saturday why he thought its capture would be significant. "The cherry on the cake is the system of Soledar and Bakhmut mines, which is actually a network of underground cities. His comments were a reference to vast salt and other mines in the area which contain more than 100 miles of tunnels and a vast underground room which has hosted football matches and classical music concerts in more peaceful times. Prigozhin, who is sanctioned in the West, cited other advantages of taking Bakhmut, calling it "a serious logistics centre" with unique defensive fortifications. Bakhmut, which Russia calls Artyomovsk, is the focus of the most intense fighting in Ukraine, and Prigozhin made his comments as another Telegram channel associated with Wagner claimed Russia had captured a strategically-important settlement on Bakhmut's outskirts.

☆ Russia blames its soldiers' mobile phone use for deadly missile strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bogdan Kochubey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Moscow previously said 63 Russian soldiers were killed in the weekend strike. The Russian defence ministry said four Ukrainian missiles hit a temporary Russian barracks in a vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's military has said it launched a strike that resulted in Russian loss of equipment and possibly personnel near Makiivka. A little known patriotic group which supports the widows of Russian soldiers is calling on Putin to order a large-scale mobilisation of millions of men and to close the borders to ensure victory in Ukraine. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Washington had seen reports "that the Ukrainian military struck a Russian military barracks that stored ammunition inside of Ukrainian territory" and led to many Russian deaths.

☆ Ukraine shells Makiivka, hitting military quarters, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 1 (Reuters) - Ukraine's forces shelled on New Year's Eve the city of Makiivka and other places of the Moscow-controlled parts of the Donetsk region, Russia's officials said, with reports saying that a military quarters were hit, killing many. The Moscow-installed administration of the Donetsk region in Ukraine said on Sunday that at least 25 rockets were fired at the region overnight on New Year's Eve. In its daily report on Sunday, it said that it had destroyed seven HIMARS rockets, including in the area of Makiivka. "A massive blow was dealt to the vocational school from American MLRS HIMARS. Reporting by Felix Light, Ron Popeski, Maria Starkova and Lidia Kelly; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Ron Popeski; Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The falling wreckage of a downed Ukrainian drone killed 3 people at a Russian military base, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia said that it shot down a Ukrainian drone near Engels airbase in Russia's Saratov region. Falling debris from the downed drone killed three Russian military personnel, authorities said. The drone, which was shot down near the Engels military airbase in Russia's Saratov region, hit and fatally wounded the staff members, a statement from the Defence Ministry, published by Russian news agencies, said. Although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the drone, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told national television Monday that incidents like this are the "consequences of Russian aggression," ABC News reported. Ukraine has also not taken responsibility for other recent drone attacks on Russian airbases.

☆ Russia's long-range air force to get new hypersonic missiles - Interfax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russia's long-range air forces are to be refitted with new wing-borne hypersonic missiles, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the force's commanding officer. "In the interests of long-range aviation, the development and supply of the entire range of aviation weapons, including new cruise hypersonic missiles, is being carried out," Interfax cited the commander, Sergei Kobylash, as saying in an interview with the Russian defence ministry's newspaper. Russia's fleet of long-range bombers are part of its nuclear triad, and are capable of launching both nuclear and conventional missiles. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Three killed from falling drone wreckage at Russian military base in Saratov -Defence Ministry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 26 (Reuters) - Three military personnel were killed as a result of wreckage from a Ukrainian drone falling on a military base in Russia's Saratov region, Russian agencies reported citing the country's defence ministry. "On December 26, at about 01:35 Moscow time, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region," the Russian Defence Ministry said. "As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian servicemen of the technical staff who were at the airfield were fatally wounded." The ministry added that aviation equipment was not damaged. Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Britain accused Russia of planning to give Iran advanced military components in exchange for hundreds of drones, British defence minister Ben Wallace said on Tuesday, calling on the West to do more to expose the trade. "In return for having supplied more than 300 kamikaze drones, Russia now intends to provide Iran with advanced military components, undermining both Middle East and international security — we must expose that deal. Wallace did not provide detail on the type of military components he said Russia wanted to give Iran. Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia but said they were sent before Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Britain, the United States and the European Union have sanctioned Iranian military figures and defence manufacturers believed to be involved in the supply of Iranian drones to Russia.

☆ Russian troops stationed in Belarus to begin military exercises - Interfax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Russian troops that were moved to Belarus in October to become part of a regional formation will conduct battalion tactical exercises, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the Russian defence ministry. "The final assessment of the combat capability and combat readiness of the units will be given by the command at the final stage of coordination - after the battalion tactical exercises have been conducted," Interfax cited the ministry's statement. It was not immediately clear when and where in Belarus the exercises will be conducted. Belarus defence ministry said in October that 9,000 Russian troops were moving to the country as part of a "regional grouping" of forces to protect its borders. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

The visit by a team from Global Rights Compliance, an international legal practice headquartered in The Hague, has not previously been reported. More than 50,000 alleged incidents of international crimes have been reported by Ukraine's prosecutor general since Russia's full-scale invasion. Widespread or systematic sexual violence could amount to crimes against humanity, generally seen as more serious, legal specialists said. He added that more than half said they had been subjected to various forms of sexual violence. UNIQUE CHALLENGESElderfield said sexual violence was not always given the prominence it should have in national and international investigations.

☆ Russia deploys defence missile system on Kuril island near Japan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERSDec 6 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry has said it has deployed mobile coastal defence missile systems on a northern Kuril island - part of a strategically located chain of islands that stretch between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands that Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates back to the end of World War Two when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. The Russian Bastion missile systems, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 500 km (310 miles), were deployed on the island of Paramushir in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands, the Russian defence ministry said on Monday. This deployment comes a year after Russia set up the Bastion systems on the island of Matua, in the central part of the Kuril ridge, the ministry said in a statement. Russia withdrew from peace treaty talks with Japan and froze joint economic projects related to the disputed Kuril Islands because of Japanese sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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