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That’s it.”Chibrin is a former soldier from the Russian city of Yakutsk who says he served in the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the notorious Russian military unit accused of committing war crimes during their offensive in Bucha, Borodianka and other towns and villages north of Kyiv. He deserted from the Russian military in September and fled to Europe via Belarus and Kazakhstan. They saw the war, they saw defeat, saw their [fellow] combatants being murdered, saw corpses. On February 24 they just said everyone will go to war,” Chibrin said, adding that he initially refused to go. Once back in Russia, Chibrin said he spent nearly a month in hospital, most of that being bedridden with terrible back pain.

☆ U.S. Sanctions Turkish Businessman It Says Brokered Oil Sales for Iran’s Military
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration on Thursday levied sanctions against several Turkish businessmen and more than two dozen Turkish companies that officials said were selling oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s terror-listed military unit. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. PREVIEW Mr. Ayan owns or controls the sanctioned companies, including the Turkish energy conglomerate ASB Group, which launders proceeds from the oil sales into Europe and Asia under an agreement he allegedly reached in 2017 with Iranian officials, the Treasury said. Neither Mr. Ayan, contacted through ASB Group, nor the firm immediately responded to a request for comment. Daniel Roth, a research director for the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said the Treasury’s action represented a “giant stride” toward thwarting the IRGC’s illicit oil exports.

☆ Factbox: Flurry of military activity in Belarus stirs concern in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

KYIV, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Constant Belarusian and Russian military activity in Belarus has stirred concerns that a new attack on neighbouring Ukraine could be possible in the coming months. Some 70% of them had been checked by Dec. 1, the Belarusian defence ministry said. The Belarus Defence Ministry announced the start of a large-scale "rotation of army units" on its border with Ukraine on Oct. 17. A group of Russian generals arrived in Belarus on Dec. 1 to conduct an inspection of Russian military units, according to opposition Telegram channel Gajun. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu travelled to Belarus on Saturday and held talks with Lukashenko and the Belarusian defence minister.

☆ Bezos' space company teams with Lockheed, Boeing for NASA moon lander pitch
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

North Korea fires more artillery shells into sea in response to South Korea drills, article with imageWorld category · December 6, 2022 · 11:47 AM UTCNorth Korea said on Tuesday it had ordered military units to fire more artillery shells into the sea, the North's official KCNA news agency reported, in response to South Korea's ongoing drills across the border.

☆ North Korea fires more artillery shells into sea in response to South Korea drills
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Tuesday it had ordered military units to fire more artillery shells into the sea, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported, in response to South Korea’s ongoing drills across the border. The firing comes a day after North Korea said it fired more than 130 shells into the sea off its east and west coasts, some of which landed in a buffer zone near the sea border between the two Koreas. South Korean and U.S. troops have been conducting live-fire drills near the border since Monday. “The enemy must immediately cease provocative military actions in the zone near the front lines,” a spokesperson for the North Korean army said, according to KCNA. In addition to the artillery fire, the North Korean army issued a combat emergency alert to units at all levels and troops were ordered to step up surveillance, the spokesperson said.

[1/3] Firefighters work outside an office building destroyed in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, Ukraine December 5, 2022. A new Russian missile barrage had been anticipated in Ukraine for days and it took place just as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage repaired. "In many regions, there will have to be emergency blackouts," he said in a late Monday video address. The United States said it would convene a virtual meeting on Thursday with oil and gas executives to discuss how it can support Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities.

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.

☆ Student released from pro-Russian forces had to share food and sleeping bag, he says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoSTAROBESHEVE, Russian-controlled Ukraine, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A student newly discharged from Russian proxy forces in Ukraine says he was equipped with a Soviet-era bolt-action rifle, and had to share rations and a sleeping bag when first sent to the front. "When times were hard, we had a certain number of people and there weren't enough sleeping bags for everyone, you could only cover yourself with a raincoat. We were able to get two or three people into a sleeping bag to keep warm," said Vladimir, a young man who appeared to be in his late teens. After that, everything was fine with supplies, they were completely sufficient, but at first we shared with each other. Vladimir said he had been drafted into the forces of the breakaway Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on Feb. 23, the day before Putin sent his forces into Ukraine.

☆ Explainer: The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant: who controls it and why is it important?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Repeated shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has raised the possibility of a grave accident just 500 km (300 miles) from the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chornobyl disaster. What nuclear material is at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, what are the risks and why are Russia and Ukraine fighting over it? The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years. The biggest risk is from overheating nuclear fuel, which could happen if the power that drives the cooling systems was cut. Besides the reactors, there is also a dry spent fuel storage facility at the site for used nuclear fuel assemblies, and spent fuel pools at each reactor site that are used to cool down the used nuclear fuel.

The Polish government convened an emergency security and defense meeting Tuesday and agreed to increase its military readiness, government spokesman Piotr Mueller said, after an explosion killed two people near the border with Ukraine. It was not clear what caused the explosion in the southeastern town of Hrubieszów, Mueller said after the emergency meeting was convened. The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be to anyone within reach of Russian missiles,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. We must act.”The prospect of Russian missiles possibly hitting Poland, a member of NATO, triggered fears that the war in Ukraine could intensify sharply. Estonia is ready to defend every inch of NATO territory,” the country’s foreign minister said via Twitter.

☆ Poland considering NATO Article 4 activation, says spokesman
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Marek Strzelecki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The United States and Western allies said they were investigating but could not confirm a report on Tuesday that the blast in the village of Przewodow resulted from stray Russian missiles. "A moment ago we decided to verify whether there are grounds to launch procedures under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty," government spokesman Piotr Muller told reporters. Article 4 allows NATO members to bring any issue of concern, especially regarding security, for discussion at the North Atlantic Council. Muller also said Poland was increasing the readiness of some military units, but declined to take any question including about the cause of the incident. "It was decided a moment ago to increase the readiness of some combat military units in Poland and to increase the combat readiness of other units of uniformed services in our country," he said.

☆ Ukraine works to stabilize Kherson after Russian pullout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In a regular social media update Saturday, the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian forces were fortifying their battle lines on the river’s eastern bank after abandoning the capital. About 70% of the Kherson region remains under Russian control. A view of the Ukrainian flag in front of a damaged settlement in Potemkin village which is recently retaken from Russian Forces, Kherson Oblast, Kherson, Ukraine on November 10, 2022. Despite the advances in Kherson, other parts of Ukraine continued to face civilian casualties, energy shortages and other fallout from Russian military attacks and Putin’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Ukrainian Armed Forces continuing their move toward the Kherson front in Ukraine on Nov. 9, 2022.

☆ Russia is adding military training to its school curriculum, marking a reversion to a Soviet-era practice that teaches students how to handle rifles and perform first aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian schools are adding a basic military training course to their curricula, per TASS. The course is a Soviet-era practice that teaches students first aid and how to use rifles. Mironov and deputy defense minister Valery Gerasimov have vocally supported reinstating military training in schools, with Gerasimov suggesting that students in the 10th and 11th grades be given 140 hours of training, per Izvestia. When we were engaged in military training at school, it worked only as a plus," said Adalbi Shkhagoshev, the deputy chairman of the United Russia party, per the outlet. The basic military training program was retired in 1993, two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, per independent Russian news outlet The Moscow Times.

The body of an American who died fighting in Ukraine is being held for a potential war crimes investigation, his family said Tuesday. This is another in a series of delays as Joshua Jones’ family waits to lay his body to rest. Andrea Morales for NBC NewsUkraine has worked to document potential Russian war crimes since the invasion began, investigating alleged murder, torture and rape of civilians and soldiers. Moscow has denied the many war crimes allegations it has faced. The State Department, which confirmed to the family that Jones' remains were secured, did not respond to a request for comment.

☆ Ukraine conflict, sanctions set to blow hole in Russia's finances
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Darya Korsunskaya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

While Russia's economy initially held up relatively well to the waves of Western sanctions imposed on it, the impact is beginning to show - in analysts' assessments, if not in those of the government. Analysts at state bank VTB (VTBR.MM) forecast the gap at an even wider 4-4.5 trillion roubles. The finance ministry sees non-energy revenue, or that related to economic activity, at 11.5% of GDP in 2023, around 7% higher than this year and on par with pre-pandemic levels. The finance ministry did not reply to a Reuters request for a comment. "I very much hope that the finance ministry will avoid outright money printing."

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.

☆ Wave of missile strikes hit Ukrainian cities with Kyiv left struggling for power and water; wheat prices rise after grain deal stumbles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukrainian forces had repelled a "brutal" offensive by Russian troops in the eastern Donetsk region. In recent weeks, however, intense fighting has centered around Avdiivka and the strategically-important town of Bakhmut. Ukraine's National Police said multiple buildings had been destroyed and people killed and wounded after intense shelling in the region. Meanwhile, global wheat prices have started to rise following Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain export deal last weekend. Russia announced Saturday that it was suspending its involvement in the Black Sea Grain Initiative that was brokered in July and which allowed vital agricultural products to be exported from several Ukrainian ports.

☆ Iranian Drones in Ukraine Project Tehran’s Power Beyond Mideast, Testing U.S., Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Dion Nissenbaum | Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russia’s expanding use of Iranian drones in Ukraine poses an increasing threat for the U.S. and its European allies as Tehran attempts to project military power beyond the Middle East. In recent weeks, Ukrainian officials say, Russia has launched more than 300 Iranian drones that have targeted military units, power plants and civilian buildings in the capital, Kyiv. The Ukrainian military said it has shot down more than 70% of the drones, but Ukrainian officials are asking the U.S. and NATO allies for more help to counter the threat. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has vowed to rush hundreds of drone jammers to Ukraine as part of a deepening effort to shore up Ukraine’s air defenses.

☆ U.S. issues fresh sanctions against Iranian officials for 'brutal' crackdown on peaceful protestors following Mahsa Amini's death continue
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. Treasury announced a fresh round of sanctions Wednesday against Iranian officials for brutal violence against peaceful demonstrators as protests following the death of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini continue. The new sanctions come 40 days after the 22-year-old Amini's death in the custody of Iran's morality police. Iranian officials have continued their crackdown on protesters while limiting access to internet services. "The United States is imposing new sanctions on Iranian officials overseeing organizations involved in violent crackdowns and killings, including of children, as part of our commitment to hold all levels of the Iranian government accountable for its repression." Treasury designated 10 Iranian officials, two Iranian intelligence actors and two Iranian entities involved in the Iranian government's efforts to interfere with internet access:Mohammad Kazemi: Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Intelligence Organization.

☆ New ‘Buffalo Rangers’ series to highlight Korean War heroics by all-Black U.S. military unit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

“Band of Brothers” writer Bruce McKenna is teaming with David Broyles (“Six”) and Nick Jones Jr. (“Yasuke”) to write and produce a limited TV series “Buffalo Rangers” about the 2nd Ranger Company, the only all-Black special operations combat unit in U.S. history. The series is being produced by South Korea-based Moving Pictures Company, which has a growing English-language slate. Tim McCoy, a 2nd Ranger company historian for many years, will serve as a consultant to the project. The 2nd Rangers were made of volunteers from other army regiments and were commanded by Black officers. Martin Chase called the project, “a true, forgotten, classic action tale about Black men who displayed amazing courage and heroism in the face of war and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.”

☆ Reports shed new light on last hours of S.Korean slain by North in 2020
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiSEOUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) - An investigation by the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is raising fresh questions about the death of a South Korean official in 2020, which the previous administration wrote off as a failed defection attempt. Prosecutors on Tuesday filed for arrest warrants against a former defence minister and the former coast guard chief. The parliamentary report concludes that the coast guard and navy violated rules during their initial rescue efforts by failing to seek help from other vessels and authorities nearby. In June 2022, the coast guard apologised for "causing confusion", and its chief and eight other senior officials resigned. Prosecutors have raided a presidential archive and the offices and homes of two former intelligence chiefs, a former defence minister and the resigned coast guard head.

Oct 18 (Reuters) - A New Mexico judge has outlawed a militia group blamed for sparking violence at a 2020 anti-statue demonstration in the southwestern U.S. state where a protester was shot. The New Mexico Civil Guard (NMCG) was banned from operating as a military unit on grounds that only the state governor had the authority to activate a militia, District Court Judge Elaine Lujan ruled on Monday. During ensuing violence a counter-protester unaffiliated with the group shot and injured a man calling for removal of the statue. Bryce Provance, founder of the now disbanded NMCG, said the group tried to protect the community and prevent clashes. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting By Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia and Ukraine just completed one of the war's biggest prisoner swaps, with Russia freeing 108 Ukrainian women in exchange for 110 Russians
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian officials said it was the biggest all-female prisoner exchange between both nations. "We managed to return 108 Ukrainian women: officers, sergeants, privates, army, navy, territorial defense, national guards, border guards," he said. Ukrainian women pose for a photo after re-uniting with their relatives as part of all-female prisoner swap with Russia on October 17, 2022 in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed two Ukrainian women marked for the swap voluntarily declined to return to Ukraine before the exchange. Ukrainian women reunite with relatives during all-female prisoner swap deal with Russia since the war began in Ukraine on October 17, 2022.

☆ Belarus to hold live-fire exercises with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Belarusian defence ministry said on Monday it will conduct live fire exercises and anti-aircraft guided missile launches as part of its joint grouping with Russian forces, Interfax reported. The Belarusian defence ministry said last week that Russian troops would deploy to the country to form a new "regional grouping" amid claims from Minsk that Ukraine is preparing to attack its territory. Belarus is a close Russian ally that has provided logistical and political support to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Shortly before the Feb. 24 invasion, Russian troops arrived in Belarus for what Moscow described as military exercises, before launching cross-border attacks against the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Reuters; editing by Guy FaulconbridgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Idaho man dies while fighting as volunteer in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The 34-year-old Idaho man died Tuesday from injuries sustained during during a Russian attack in Luhansk. “I have a picture of the truck,” Corry said in a phone interview Friday. “Sometimes it was harder for him to mesh in the civilian world.”When Russia invaded Ukraine, Partridge felt a need to help the Ukranians. At least four other U.S. citizens have been killed while fighting in Ukraine, based on reports from their families and the U.S. State Department. The Ukrainian government has recruited people with military experience to join the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine.

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