*** Official Russia vs. Ukraine Discussion - Invasion has begun *** (1 Viewer)

[Don't Toews Me]

Russia Is Replicating Iranian Drones and Using Them to Attack Ukraine

Called the Geran-2, the drones are a Russian-made version of the Shahed-136, which explodes on impact, researchers say.

www.nytimes.com

Russia has begun making copies of attack drones it acquired from Iran last year and is using them in combat against Ukrainian forces despite sanctions imposed to cripple the country’s weapons production, according to a report issued Thursday by a weapons research group.
The researchers traveled to Kyiv in late July and inspected the wreckage of two attack drones that were used in combat in southeastern Ukraine. Both appeared to be Iranian Shahed-136s, but they contained electronic modules that match components previously recovered from Russian surveillance drones, according to the report.
Additionally, the materials used to build the two drones and the internal structure of their fuselages differed greatly from those known to have been made in Iran, the researchers said.

The Russian-made versions of the Shahed-136 are commonly marked as Geran-2, or Geranium-2 in Russian. Photos of them appeared in Ukrainian news outlets in July, and The Long War Journal, a publication of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, also recently wrote about them.

And while Iranian Shahed-136 drones marked Geran-2 have previously been recovered in Ukraine, the evidence presented in the report indicates that Russian-made copies with the same name are now in use.
The fuselage of the Iranian drones the researchers inspected was constructed with a lightweight honeycomb type of material, but the Russian Gerans were made with fiberglass over layers of woven carbon fiber, according to the report.
The guidance sections of both Gerans recovered in July contained electronic modules called Kometa — Russian for comet — that the researchers previously found in Russian drones that were recovered on the battlefield.
By using Kometa guidance systems, the Russians have simplified the internal electronics needed to fly and guide the drones.

“It also shows how they were able to adjust the basic operating principles of the Shahed, streamlining them and using modules that were battle-tested in other types of weapons instead of reinventing the wheel,” Mr. Spleeters said.
Military analysts have been watching to see whether Russia would be able to make its own one-way attack drones since the Iranian weapons entered the conflict, according to Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian military drones at the Center for Naval Analyses, a research organization based in Virginia.
“We’ve now seen in Russian media that these are in fact domestic assembly, and there are changes introduced in the design based on their own needs,” Mr. Bendett said. “This is indicative of Russians trying to come up with a drone that’s just as capable as the original Shahed that could then be scaled up in significant quantities.”
“The ultimate goal for them is to maintain the capacity while making them more effective and actually driving down the costs,” he said.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches first lunar spacecraft in 47 years in face of sanctions; UN 'appalled' by strike on hotel used by officials

The United Nations has condemned a deadly Russian missile attack on a hotel used by its officials; Russia has launched its first lunar spacecraft in almost half a century in the face of aerospace sanctions and after being ostracised by nearly all Western space programmes.

news.sky.com

Germany mulls sending cruise missiles to Ukraine​

Germany is in talks with an arms manufacturer about sending cruise missiles to Ukraine, a security source told Reuters.
Kyiv wants Berlin to supply it with the Taurus - a missile with a range of more than 300 miles launched by fighter jets.
Cruise missiles, like those already supplied by the UK and France, are hard to detect by air defence radars as they fly at low altitudes.
Germany has remained hesitant to join its allies over concerns the rockets could be used against targets inside of Russia, though experts say it is easy to limit the range of the Taurus.
The talks between the German government and weapons maker MBDA are focusing on such a modification, Spiegel reported.
In June, the Kremlin warned France and Germany that delivering cruise missiles to Kyiv would lead to a further round of "spiralling tension".

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches first lunar spacecraft in 47 years in face of sanctions; UN 'appalled' by strike on hotel used by officials

The United Nations has condemned a deadly Russian missile attack on a hotel used by its officials; Russia has launched its first lunar spacecraft in almost half a century in the face of aerospace sanctions and after being ostracised by nearly all Western space programmes.

news.sky.com

'Realistic possibility' Wagner joined Belarusian soldiers on Polish border​

Wagner forces joining Belarusian troops on the border with Poland is a "realistic possibility", according to British military intelligence.
Ukrainian state civil defence organisation said 250 Wagner soldiers have carried out manoeuvres near the Belarus border city of Brest, while the Belarus authorities said its military has been using a firing range near Grodno.
The UK Ministry of Defence believes there could be a "small number" of Wagner advisors acting in a training role in Grodno.
"Russia is almost certainly keen to promote Belarussian forces as posturing against NATO," said the UK MoD.
But the specific exercises were "highly likely part of the Belarussian military’s routine training cycle."
The MoD explained Belarus' 6 SGMB's home garrison is in Grodno, but it is "unlikely" that the formation is combat-ready.
For context: Last week President Alexander Lukashenko said Poland should "thank" him for preventing Wagner troops from "smashing up cities" in the country.

Russian reinforcements have made Kupyansk area "epicenter" of hostilities, say Ukrainian officials

Russian shelling in Kharkiv region has intensified as Moscow's forces try to reclaim territory, prompting Ukraine authorities to issue a mandatory evacuation order for Kupyansk. Follow here for live updates.

www.cnn.com

Ukrainian officials say that substantial Russian reinforcements have turned the northern front in the eastern Kharkiv region into the "epicenter" of hostilities, but that Ukrainian defenses are holding.

Ruslan Muzychuk, the National Guard spokesman, told Ukrainian television Thursday that "the Kupyansk direction remains the epicenter of hostilities, where the enemy is concentrating its main efforts."

"The number of enemy forces and means and its recent activation in this area of the front are aimed at trying to turn the tide in this section of the front," Muzychuk added.

Muzychuk said the Russians had brought in airborne assault units "and they have been reinforced by tank units, which, with the support of aviation and artillery, are attempting to assault the positions of Ukrainian defenders."

"In recent weeks, more than 50 air attacks have been taking place every day, and sometimes more than 80," he said.

The Russian offensive was designed to draw more Ukrainian units into the area, Muzychuk said, but he did not rule out an attempt to capture the city of Kupyansk itself.

Russia trying to "seize the initiative": Another National Guard official, Mykola Urshalovych, said that Ukrainian units had managed to hold the dominant heights around Vilshana and Novoselivske, two villages east of Kupyansk where the Russians claim to have made some advances.

Serhii Cherevatyi, Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military Group, said that the "Kupyansk direction remains one of those where the enemy is trying to seize the initiative."

Cherevatyi said defenses "have been strengthened, and strike capabilities have been enhanced. So the situation is difficult but under control."

He added that in a single day, the Russians had used artillery 559 times in addition to air raids.

The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said that on Thursday morning the city of Kupyansk had been shelled again, setting off a fire but causing no casualties.

Following the announcement of a mandatory evacuation for civilians in Kupyansk, Andriy Kanashevych, the acting Head of Kupyansk district military administration, said that "Russian terrorists are becoming even more cynical and completely indifferent to human life. As a result, almost every day we have dead and wounded among the civilian population."

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Ukraine appears to make marginal gains on southern front

Russian shelling in Kharkiv region has intensified as Moscow's forces try to reclaim territory, prompting Ukraine authorities to issue a mandatory evacuation order for Kupyansk. Follow here for live updates.

www.cnn.com

Social media video and images indicate that Ukrainian troops have entered the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia region -- a location that has seen heavy fighting for several weeks.

Ukraine's military has not confirmed that it holds the village. One photograph purports to show a Ukrainian soldier standing in front of a road sign at the entrance to the village. The image could not immediately be geolocated.

The commander of Ukrainian forces in the south, Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, said his units have made progress.

He added that artillery units from the Tavria Defense Forces have killed 49 Russian troops, injured more than 200, and destroyed 16 units of enemy military equipment over the past day

The Russian side has also spoken of heavy combat in the area.

A prominent Russian military blogger -- WarGonzo -- said that Ukrainian forces "with the powerful support of artillery managed to expand the zone of control in the vicinity of Robotyne."

WarGonzo said the expansion of Ukrainia control was across a width of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles), but in terms of depth was "insignificant."

Yevgeniy Balitskyi, the Russian appointed acting head of the Zaporizhzhia region military administration, posted on Telegram that "today at about 6 a.m. the enemy in a grouping reinforced with tanks moved in the direction of Robotyne and Novodanylivka."

"The enemy drove the convoy through minefields, as a result the tanks began to explode, one tank was destroyed by our artillery. The remaining grouping with two tanks retreated," Balitskyi claimed.

Balitskyi also spoke of heavy Ukrainian shelling, but insisted: "Our positions are strong."

Another Russian-appointed official, Vladmir Rogov, said that artillery exchanges had continued throughout Thursday night. "The enemy is actively using MLRS with cluster munitions," he said, adding that two Ukrainian armored vehicles were destroyed by helicopter missile attacks.

Rogov also spoke of a fresh Ukrainian push at dawn on Friday.

Ukrainian government bonds surge as Kyiv’s cash pile climbs | Financial Times

Prices climb 50% in two months as creditors grow more optimistic about eventual debt restructuring

www.ft.com

Ukraine’s government bonds have surged in price over the past two months as investors grow more optimistic about how much of their money they will get back in an eventual restructuring of the war-torn country’s debt.
Kyiv’s debt tumbled following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and prices sank further still after overseas creditors voted in favour of freezing interest payments on the country’s $20bn of international bonds.
But prices have climbed by more than 50 per cent since early June — putting Ukrainian bonds among the best performers in global fixed income markets this year — as a steady flow of foreign aid bolsters Kyiv’s currency reserves, while forecasts for the country’s economy have recently become somewhat less bleak.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Video of missile hitting in Zaporizhzhia: https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1689937682808381440

Sounds like a no on the Taurus missiles: https://twitter.com/JulianRoepcke/status/1689935703692468224

THE BATTLE OF HOSTOMEL AIRPORT: A KEY MOMENT IN RUSSIA’S DEFEAT IN KYIV

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/11/f-16-fighters-ukraine-training-delays/

A first group of six Ukrainian pilots is not expected to complete training on the U.S.-made F-16 before next summer, senior Ukrainian government and military officials said, following a series of delays by Western partners in implementing an instruction program for the sophisticated fighter jet.

The timeline reflects the disconnect between Ukraine’s supporters, who envision F-16s as a key tool in the country’s long-term defense, and Kyiv, which has desperately requested that the jets reach the battle space as soon as possible, viewing them as critical for the current fight against occupying Russian forces.

But after the start of training was pushed back several times, Ukraine will now probably have to endure another year without the fighters, which officials in Kyiv have predicted would provide a significant military edge amid a slow-going counteroffensive and help better protect civilians against Russia’s regular missile and drone strikes.
While the Biden administration has vowed ongoing support for the Europe-led initiative, officials described a training effort that is only gradually getting off the ground. In mid-July, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States would provide its backing “as soon as the Europeans are prepared.”

Ukrainian officials’ anxiety underscores ongoing tensions between Kyiv and its supporters about the best way to position Ukraine for success against a far larger, better-armed Russian force. It also highlights divisions among those backers themselves, as a small number of European allies pushes to give Ukraine maximum capabilities for its defense and the Biden administration, by far the largest donor of military gear, cautiously weighs next steps.

Just six pilots, about half a squadron, will go through the first round of training, according to two Ukrainian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive matter. Two other pilots have been identified as reserve candidates.

Though the pilots are already fluent in English, the officials said, they must first attend four months of English lessons in Britain to learn terminology associated with the jets. That instruction will occur along with ground staff who may be less proficient in English because, according to Ukrainian officials, Denmark requested to train entire crews together rather than just the pilots first. Denmark’s ministry of defense declined to comment.

That pushes back the start of combat training, which is expected to take six months, to January, the Ukrainian officials said. A second group of about the same size would be ready six months after that, or roughly the end of next year.
“This is called dragging it out,” one Ukrainian official said. Both Ukrainian officials said they were reluctant to be too critical of their U.S. and European benefactors for fear of appearing ungrateful.

Another 20 Ukrainian pilots are ready for English training, U.S. officials said, adding that most of Ukraine’s best pilots are expected to remain in Ukraine, where they are flying sorties in Soviet-developed planes and firing French SCALP and British Storm Shadow missiles.
Brig. Gen. Serhii Holubtsov, aviation chief for Ukraine’s air force, told The Washington Post that, in between their sorties, Ukrainian pilots have been taking English classes online for the past year.
“Additional specialized training will be provided to flight and ground personnel on the terminology required for the F-16 training,” Holubtsov said. “It was not possible to train pilots and other personnel in Ukraine in this terminology due to the lack of experience in working with such terminology.”
He said that because the selected pilots already have a high level of basic English, learning the additional terminology “will not take much time.”

U.S. officials, meanwhile, say that Ukraine has put forward only eight pilots so far. A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide a candid assessment of the training effort, said the Biden administration had recently received a list of pilot names.
“Ukraine only has a handful of pilots that are ready to begin training and roughly two dozen more that they’ve told us need some additional English language training before the pilots can move forward,” the official said.
Those small numbers have raised questions in Washington about how prepared Kyiv is to launch such an ambitious program in the midst of an existential fight.

More at the link above

 

[Don't Toews Me]

https://twitter.com/MassDara/status/1689826279791423488

Russia left wounded soldiers on a hot tarmac all day in Rostov, 10km from the military hospital and 16km from the operational HQ of the war (where Gerasimov works and Prigozhin occupied for a day). Lack of concern and an excess of “that’s not my problem”, yet again

https://twitter.com/bradyafr/status/1689607530635472896

Russian helicopters and vehicles are visible in recent satellite imagery of Russian-occupied Berdyansk airport.

Why Ukrainian Soldiers Have to Learn to Fight on YouTube and How to Change That - War on the Rocks

Erik Kramer and I answered the call early last year when Ukrainian commanders pleaded for volunteers to train them given the very limited opportunities to

warontherocks.com

Erik Kramer and I answered the call early last year when Ukrainian commanders pleaded for volunteers to train them given the very limited opportunities to attend NATO training or any training with instructors of combined-arms maneuver. We believed in Ukraine’s plight and put our lives on hold believing we could make a difference, no matter how small or large. For those of us that joined the Ukraine Defense Support Group, we faced suicide drones, artillery barrages, and foreign intelligence service threats while conducting medical training and stabilizing patients near the front lines. We did so because we truly believe that Ukrainian lives are worth preserving and that efforts to bring this war to a swift conclusion are worth the personal risk.

As a former Special Forces ground force commander, I personally have lost soldiers in close combat, cried and trembled as I placed my hand on their coffins — coffins holding the remains of someone who was once young, full of life, and a close friend — then delivered neatly folded flags to their widows and children. In Ukraine I have heard the heartfelt cries of commanders as they ask if they will ever be alright after losing over half of their unit, composed of their close friends. To stop this incredible loss of life is why we started the Ukraine Defense Support Group.

In our experience, Ukrainian soldiers are often left with no other option but to learn to use foreign aid and weapons from watching videos on YouTube. Our recommendation to teach Ukraine’s own instructors, providing them their own in-house uniform combined-arms maneuver training, helps solve this capacity issue right now and in the future without waiting on NATO or spending billions more in aid.

This recommendation acknowledges the obvious: The United States and other NATO allies have worked hard over the last decade with the Ukrainian political and military leadership to develop a modern combined-arms military. However, it would be a mistake to assume that Western training can keep pace with a demand that has far exceeded expectations. NATO is credited with training “tens of thousands” since 2014, with the bulk of those coming from the recent training and equipping of 36,000 soldiers, or nine brigades, since Russia’s special military operation in 2022. The problem is that “tens of thousands” only meets a small percentage of the Ukrainian military’s training demands for over a million servicemembers.

The trends in the war are also disconcerting. Despite the allocation and expenditure of well over $150 billion in U.S. and NATO aid, Ukraine’s current offensive operations have, as Michael Kofman and Rob Lee recently noted, and a German reporter on the front lines stated, largely stalled and are very likely to become a prolonged war of attrition. According to our field research and other reports, the rate of attrition of personnel and equipment strongly indicates a continued unimaginable loss of life that severely reduces Ukraine’s ability to maintain offensive operations if additional training needs are not met. Units with less training are far more likely to see higher attrition rates, which further accelerates the need for replacements.

To meet mounting personnel requirements in Vietnam, the United States started drafting soldiers who would not have met previous draft requirements under Project 100,000. These soldiers, over 350,000 in total, also received less in-person hands-on training as then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, informed by think tanks and generals, believed that significant advances in weapons and other technology such as video training would supplement their time-constrained training needs. Those soldiers died at a rate nearly three to five times that of their peers and after the war this prompted reform in requirements for military service. Overwhelmingly superior tech and equipment could not in fact supplement their personnel losses and could not win that war. The attrition of trained personnel is a vicious cycle that, once started, is challenging to interrupt. In fact it may already be too late for Ukraine to interrupt their current cycle of trained personnel attrition if it is not immediately and aggressively addressed.

 

[themeistersinger]

Zelensky: All enlistment office chiefs to be dismissed in Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 11 that the heads of all regional military enlistment offices across Ukraine would be dismissed. The decision comes after a nationwide inspection of Ukraine's recruitment offices revealed multiple violations, including corruption, power abuse, and fraud.

kyivindependent.com

 

[themeistersinger]

General Staff: Russia has lost 252,780 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022

Ukraine's General Staff reported on Aug. 11 that Russia had also lost 4,290 tanks, 8,318 armored fighting vehicles, 7,511 vehicles and fuel tanks, 5,043 artillery systems, 713 multiple launch rocket systems, 471 air defense systems, 315 airplanes, 313 helicopters, 4,197 drones, and 18 boats.

kyivindependent.com

This info is from Ukraine General Staff, so not a totally objective source

 

[themeistersinger]

Putin Is Embarrassed: Russia Withdraws its 'Best' T-14 Armata Tank From Ukraine

The T-14 Armata was initially revealed in 2015, although like many other Russian military equipment experienced several big delays.

www.19fortyfive.com

 

[Don't Toews Me]

WSJ News Exclusive | Inside a Volunteer Unit Driving Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Forward

After its large armored push stalled, Kyiv returned to small-unit military operations while on the southeastern front, platoons backed by artillery fought to dislodge Russians.

www.wsj.com

Good read on a unit named "Skala Special Unit" and their actions lately in and around Robotyne.

Ukraine’s Sea Drones Alter Balance of Power in Black Sea

Kyiv has used the unmanned vessels to strike back at Russia’s more powerful navy and threaten Russian military supply lines and shipping lanes.

www.wsj.com

Ukraine has altered the military balance of power in the Black Sea in recent months, using sea drones to strike back at Russia’s more powerful navy and threaten Russian military supply lines and shipping lanes.
Small, inexpensive and difficult to defend against, the homemade drones have allowed Ukraine to open up a new front in the war, attacking strategic military targets and symbols of Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea—including the headquarters of Moscow’s fleet in occupied Crimea and a bridge connecting the peninsula to Russia. Ukraine says the drones are developed and produced domestically, but has been secretive about the details of the program.

Military analysts say the surface drones could change the complexion of the war by forcing Russia to commit more resources to protecting its ports, warships and cargo ships that it uses to transport weapons, fuel and other supplies for its military. The attacks are also expected to further raise shipping and insurance costs for vessels headed to Russia’s vital Black Sea ports. In concert with recent aerial drone attacks that have hit Moscow, the drones show Kyiv’s ability to strike far beyond the theater of war inside Ukraine.
“I think the message is to say nothing is safe,” said Gabriela Iveliz Rosa Hernández, a research associate with the Arms Control Association who studies Eastern European militaries. “It’s Ukraine reminding Russia that there is no normality.”

The sea drones, also known as unmanned surface vehicles or USVs, are only 18 feet long—no larger than a small fishing boat—with a range of up to 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) and can operate for up to 60 hours at a time, according to the Ukrainian government. Each vessel costs a quarter of a million dollars, a fraction of the tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars it costs to build the larger Russian ships that have been targeted by the drones.
The vessels’ small size makes them difficult to defend against in much the same way that aerial drones pose a challenge for air defenses: They are hard to detect. Once the small drones approach a larger ship, the steep angles involved in shooting at the vessels pose a challenge, experts say.

“A small vessel that has relatively little profile is hard to hit. If there are a number of them in some kind of a swarm, that makes it that much harder,” said Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at the Rand Corp., a U.S.-government funded think tank, who has written studies on uncrewed vessels.
“What we’re seeing is Ukraine instituting partial sea denial,” he said, referring to Ukraine’s aim to limit the Russian navy’s range of operations in the Black Sea.

The attacks have shown the potential to affect Russia’s economy, which increasingly relies on its Black Sea ports for exports of oil, grain and other commodities. Data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence showed that a drone attack on the Crimean bridge in July severely reduced the number of visits by ships to the Sea of Azov, just north of the bridge. Port calls fell by more than half in Novorossiysk following an attack on the port in November.

Russia Tries to Bolster Ruble as Inflation Adds to Economic Woes

The central bank in Moscow took steps to counter the currency’s slide, but the war and resulting sanctions have put intense pressure on the economy.

www.nytimes.com

The Russian central bank took measures on Thursday to stabilize the currency, amid the latest squall of financial volatility unleashed by Mr. Putin’s war against Ukraine. This time, the challenges are seen in both a struggling ruble that is fueling inflation, but also in government budget deficits that raise concerns about the sustainability of Russia’s intense spending on the war.
The weakening ruble neared an exchange rate of 100 per U.S. dollar earlier this week, down by roughly 25 percent since the start of the year. The decline prompted the Bank of Russia on Thursday to halt purchases of foreign currency for the remainder of the year “to reduce volatility.”
The central bank’s move should help shore up the ruble, because when the bank spends rubles to buy foreign currency, it increases the supply of rubles in circulation, lowering their value. The ruble was roughly flat in trading on Thursday.
But the events demonstrate how Russia’s dramatically changing economy is challenging Moscow’s financial policymakers, who have nimbly reacted to wartime shocks but still face longer-term dilemmas. Yawning deficits, coupled with exports that are increasingly crimped by sanctions, have disrupted Russia’s economic equilibrium.
The central bank has forecast inflation between 5 and 6.5 percent this year. Official data released on Wednesday showed the annual rate of inflation accelerating to 4.3 percent in July.

“The ruble exchange rate is only an indicator,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and a former Russian central bank official. “It is screaming that the economy is very badly balanced, that it’s not functioning properly — and do something, because later on it will be worse.”
How much the Bank of Russia’s move on Thursday will bolster the ruble is unclear.
“It helps, but it’s not a game changer,” said Janis Kluge, a researcher who focuses on the Russian economy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “What is more important is what happens to commodity prices and how fiscal spending evolves over the next few months.”

Russia will report its latest gross domestic product figures on Friday. Officials have touted the country’s growth outlook, but analysts point out that much of the economic output is being driven by state spending on the war effort. That spending helps drive inflation, and reducing it could cause an economic slowdown.
“They are ballooning the economy with state demand,” Ms. Prokopenko said. “It’s a pure sugar injection for the economy, so once it stops, I would say it will be a great shock for the economy.”
The cheaper ruble in the short term will help the government finance its vast war expenditures, which last year caused the second-highest deficit since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russian oil sold in foreign currency will now buy more rubles at home.

Some analysts, including Chris Weafer, chief executive of the Eurasia consultancy Macro-Advisory, say that Russian financial authorities are deliberately allowing the ruble to weaken.
“The weak ruble does reflect the government’s concern about the level of budget receipts — and they don’t have many areas where they can cut the budget without having an impact on the military or the social stability you now see in Russia,” Mr. Weafer said. “So the lesser of the two evils is to let the ruble weaken.”
But others don’t believe Russia is exercising that level of control.
“I don’t think the Russian finance ministry wants to weaken the ruble, despite the positive effect on revenues in the short term,” Mr. Kluge said. “Inflation also increases spending. For example, pensions will have to be increased accordingly, albeit with a delay.”

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Wagner Group Licks its Wounds in Belarus - Foreign Policy Research Institute

Most analysts have labeled Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion and the Wagner Group mutiny a failure. And in many ways, that’s true. Indeed, Prigozhin and

www.fpri.org

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/10/1193167328/russia-hack-ukraine-military

The hackers from Russian military intelligence captured Android tablet devices used by Ukrainian officers on the front lines in an attempt to spy, according to a report published by the Security Service of Ukraine's Cyber Security Situation Center.

"We saw that there were attempts to penetrate these systems," said Illia Vitiuk, the head of the Cybersecurity Department of Ukraine's Security Service, also known as the SBU. Vitiuk spoke to NPR in an exclusive interview in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"Our enemy is extremely focused on getting insight into these systems," he continued.

The Ukrainian military uses multiple tools for situational awareness to track Russian troop positions and gather other intelligence from the land, air and sea. Those include Delta, a military platform developed by the Defense Technology Innovation and Development Center within Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, and Kropvya, a defense mapping software made by Ukrainian NGO Army SOS. Developers working on these systems in Kyiv are becoming increasingly aware of Russia's focus on them, and are declining to openly discuss the platforms and how they work to limit exposure to Russian threats.

In this specific operation, the Russian hackers' goals included gathering intelligence from the devices and then tailoring malware to exploit the broader military operations network.

"They planned these operations for a long period of time, and there were some hacker groups that moved closer to the front lines" in order to steal Ukrainian tablets, said Vitiuk.

The SBU attributed the cyber operation to Russian military intelligence organization GRU, or more specifically the hacking group known as SandWorm. Hackers from SandWorm have been extremely active both during and before the full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, targeting the Ukrainian energy sector, the global economy, and others.

According to the State Security Service report, the agency detected the Russian operation in its early stages, preventing full access to the military operations system.

Interesting:

However, the malware samples gathered from this most recent operation gave interesting clues about what Russian hackers were most interested in.

Some of the malware samples SBU cyber experts found on the devices were designed to gather information about connections to the satellite internet device Starlink developed by Elon Musk's company SpaceX. These devices have been important in Ukraine during the full-scale invasion, particularly when other communication networks are down.

"This was very interesting malware ... it gave them the possibility to get the configurations of Starlink, so in the end they could understand the location" of specific military units, explained Vitiuk. As a result, they can use that information when targeting attacks, he continued.

"But the thing is, we have thousands of Starlinks here in Ukraine, and there are alternatives ... you cannot hit it with a missile or artillery shell, every Starlink," Vitiuk said.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

The Ruble is getting close to free fall -- down full percentage points in a single day with bid/ask spreads widening. Another week or two like this one and it'll get serious.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Three weeks ago it was 90 Rubles to the dollar. Started the day at 97, and is now at 100.

Financially fragile nations starting protracted wars that lead to bankruptcy, military defeat and regime change has a long long history.

Darth Putin@DarthPutinKGB
-What's exchange rate between, Dollar, Pound and Ruble?
-A pound of rubles is worth a dollar.

 

[The Z Machine]

Three weeks ago it was 90 Rubles to the dollar. Started the day at 97, and is now at 100.

Financially fragile nations starting protracted wars that lead to bankruptcy, military defeat and regime change has a long long history.

Darth Putin@DarthPutinKGB
-What's exchange rate between, Dollar, Pound and Ruble?
-A pound of rubles is worth a dollar.

What the hell do they care if their currency tanks? They get paid in dollars or euros for their oil right? Maybe it hurts the populace as they can't import anything, but if the populace rises up, I'll be 10000000% shocked. They are much more like just to get bent over and take it. The government will still be able to import their dual use items from China.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Thread on minefields/mines: https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1690076614342680576

Good piece from Hertling: https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/ukraine-combined-arms-training?utm_campaign=post

How Kyiv’s kill squads pick off commanders inside Russia

The driver of the Russian army lorry would not have noticed the rifle barrels protruding from the roadside foliage. Far from the border with Ukraine, he was sp

www.thetimes.co.uk

Good read on the Shaman Battalion. Conducting extremely high-risk missions not just in Ukraine, but in Russia as well.

 

[themeistersinger]

New report highlights evidence of escalating Russian genocide in Ukraine

A new international report has identified evidence that Russia's campaign of genocide in Ukraine is escalating as the full-scale invasion of the country approaches the one-and-a-half-year mark, writes Kristina Hook.

www.atlanticcouncil.org

 

[themeistersinger]

Russia accused of deliberately targeting journalists in Ukraine

A series of Russian airstrikes on civilian targets known to be popular among international correspondents covering the invasion of Ukraine has sparked accusations that the Kremlin is deliberately targeting journalists, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

www.atlanticcouncil.org

 

[themeistersinger]

Why Putin’s Russia cannot accept its borders

Vladimir Putin's attempts to justify the invasion of Ukraine as a just war to reunite historically Russian lands reflect the expansionist ideology at the heart modern Russia's imperial identity, write Glenn Chafetz and John Sipher.

www.atlanticcouncil.org

 

[themeistersinger]

Ukraine Missiles Shot Down Over Crimea Bridge: Pro-Russia Official - The Moscow Times

Russia air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian missiles over a bridge connecting Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland, an official said on Saturday.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[themeistersinger]

30K Russian Soldiers Confirmed Killed in Ukraine – Independent Tally - The Moscow Times

Over 30,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the Kremlin’s invasion a year and a half ago, according to an independent tally conducted by the independent Mediazona news website and the BBC’s Russian service.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[themeistersinger]

'Putin Is a Great Guy': Crimean Waterpark Staff Forced to Apologize for Dancing to Ukrainian Pop Song - The Moscow Times

Three employees at a waterpark in annexed Crimea were forced to sing a song in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin after being filmed dancing to a Ukrainian pop song, authorities said Friday.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Occupied Ukraine’s Turncoat Elites Struggle to Make Their Mark in Russian Politics - The Moscow Times

Opinion | Ever since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has been integrating representatives of local Ukrainian elites into its power structures.

www.themoscowtimes.com

I've been listening to a book about the American Revolution - "In the Hurricane's Eye - The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown". It mentions that many British officers refused to server with Benedict Arnold because they were disgusted at him being a traitor. Such is the life of a turncoat.

 

[themeistersinger]

Media: Germany may start Taurus missile supply to Ukraine after disabling Russian territory targeting

The German government is in talks with the Taurus missile manufacturer regarding altering the missile software before its potential supply to Ukraine, according to media reports.

euromaidanpress.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Record Number of Explosions Rock Russia in 2022 – Vyorstka - The Moscow Times

Russia last year experienced a record number of explosions, leading to dozens of deaths and thousands of injuries, the independent news website Vyortska reported, citing a report by the Emergency Situations Ministry.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Russians in Ukraine’s south cannot cope with huge number of wounded

The Russian occupiers are using civilian medical facilities in Ukraine’s occupied south as they have a large number of wounded soldiers.

www.pravda.com.ua

 

[themeistersinger]

Russian media: Fighter jet crashes in Kaliningrad Oblast

A Russian fighter aircraft Sukhoi Su-30 crashed in the country’s westernmost Kaliningrad Oblast on Aug. 12, Russian state-controlled TASS media outlet reported, citing the military.

kyivindependent.com

 

[themeistersinger]

The Battle of Hostomel Airport: A Key Moment in Russia’s Defeat in Kyiv - War on the Rocks

Editor's note: The three authors recorded a companion podcast for this article for the Russia Contingency, the War on the Rocks members-only show that

warontherocks.com

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Institute for the Study of War

Ukrainian forces made tactically significant advances in western Zaporizhia Oblast amid continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on August 11. Geolocated footage published on August 11 confirms that Ukrainian forces

www.understandingwar.org

Ukrainian counteroffensive operations appear to be forcing the Russian military to laterally redeploy Russian forces defending in western Zaporizhia Oblast, indicating that the Ukrainian effort there may be significantly degrading Russian defenses. Russian milbloggers claimed on August 11 that elements of the 7th Guards Airborne (VDV) Division are involved in heavy fighting near Robotyne in western Zaporizhia Oblast, and Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov claimed on August 10 that elements of the “Vostok Akhmat” Battalion are now defending near Robotyne.[4] Elements of the 58th Combined Arms Army’s 42nd Motorized Rifle Division (Southern Military District) have been the primary Russian formation defending immediately south of Orikhiv since the start of the counteroffensive, with elements of the 22nd and 45th Separate Guards Spetsnaz (Russian General Staff Main Directorate) brigades and the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade (Black Sea Fleet) supporting Russian defensive operations in the area.[5] The arrival of the 7th VDV Division and the Akhmat elements to the Robotyne area represents the first explicit commitment of new Russian formations and units to the area.

Kadyrov has consistently deployed Akhmat elements to perceived critical sectors of the frontline in order to earn favor from Russian President Vladimir Putin, and most recently deployed Akhmat Spetsnaz elements to the Klishchiivka area south of Bakhmut in response to Ukrainian advances in the area.[6] Russian sources claimed that elements of the 7th VDV deployed from east (left) bank Kherson Oblast to the Zaporizhia direction following the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station (KHPP) dam on June 6, and ISW later observed elements of the division defending against Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in the Staromayorske area along the administrative border between Zaporizhia and Donetsk oblasts in July.[7]

The 7th VDV Division is now split across at least two and possibly three axes of the front. Russian milbloggers offered diverging accounts on whether elements of the 7th VDV Division withdrew entirely from the Staromayorske area after Ukrainian forces captured the settlement on July 27.[8] Elements of the division have remained in Kherson Oblast to defend against Ukrainian activity on the left bank of the Dnipro River.[9] Elements of the 7th VDV division may have arrived in western Zaporizhia Oblast at an earlier date, although this is the first time that Russian sources have claimed that Russian command has committed these elements to fight in the area. Elements of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division continue to defend near Robotyne and ISW has not observed any elements of the division withdrawing from the area, indicating that the arrival of the 7th VDV Division and Akhmat elements likely does not portend a rotation for the main Russian fighting force in the Orikhiv direction.[10] These likely lateral redeployments suggest that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations have significantly degraded existing defending Russian forces in the area and prompted the Russian command to send these elements to shore up Russian defenses in this critical sector of the frontline. The lack of Russian operational reserves means that the Russian command will have to conduct more lateral redeployments if they wish to reinforce certain sectors of the front in the future.[11]

Russia’s practice of conducting lateral redeployments to key sectors of the front will likely further weaken Russian defensive lines in aggregate, as both Russian and Ukrainian operations are fixing Russian units to certain sectors of the front. These lateral reinforcements will likely disrupt Russian offensive and defensive operations in the sectors from which they are drawn and threaten to rapidly degrade the forces that the Russian military is using as reinforcements.[12] Russia currently does not appear to possess significant available forces that it could draw on for reinforcements without endangering other sectors of the front. Ukrainian counteroffensive operations drew elite Russian formations and units to the Bakhmut area and continue to fix them there.[13] Russian forces have also committed a significant number of forces to localized offensives operations in the Kupyansk and Svatove areas, which aim to similarly draw Ukrainian forces away from areas of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.[14] Even if the Russian command determines to end localized offensive pushes in these areas it would likely take some time for Russian forces to lower the tempo of their operations and withdraw forces for lateral redeployments without opening up areas of the front to successful Ukrainian counterattacks. The limited Russian lateral redeployment of elements of the 7th VDV Division from the left bank of Kherson Oblast in June appears to have set conditions that allowed Ukrainian forces to more freely operate in the area, and Ukrainian forces will likely similarly exploit weakened Russian groupings in other areas of the front where they are actively conducting offensive operations in the event of further Russian movements.[15]

Ukrainian forces on the other hand maintain reserves that allow them to rotate units instead of relying on redeploying units conducting defensive and offensive operations to other sectors of the line without rest.[16] Ukrainian forces likely therefore can maintain the necessary combat potential needed to continue degrading Russian forces defending southern Ukraine and the Bakhmut area while constraining Russian advances along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line. Russian lateral redeployments will likely increase the likelihood that Russian forces would have to fall back to prepared defensive positions without significant support in the case of a Ukrainian breakthrough.[17] The further degradation of defending Russian forces thus creates opportunities for any Ukrainian breakthrough to be potentially decisive.[18]

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Ukraine Makes ‘Tactically Significant’ Progress in Its Counteroffensive

Troops advanced 10 to 12 miles along two main lines of attack in Kyiv’s drive to reach the southern coast and sever Russian supply lines, while explosions echoed at the vital Kerch Strait Bridge.

www.nytimes.com

After months of grueling advances through minefields, small villages and open steppes, Ukrainian forces are making some progress along two major lines of attack, according to analysts, Ukrainian officials and Russian military bloggers.
The advances, while small in terms of territory taken, are compelling Moscow to redeploy forces, military analysts say. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, called the advances “tactically significant,” adding that the situation would create new challenges for Russian forces spread across the vast front line.
Ukraine is trying to reach the Sea of Azov and drive a wedge into Russian-occupied territory. Currently, the only bridge linking the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula to mainland Russia is the Kerch Strait Bridge, which Ukraine has attacked multiple times.
Explosions again echoed at the bridge on Saturday, as the Russian military said it had thwarted a missile attack. The Russian account could not be independently confirmed, and Ukrainian officials had no immediate comments on the episode.

The Ukrainian advances are along two main lines of attack heading south: one through the eastern village of Staromaiorske toward the Russian-occupied city of Berdiansk, a port city on the Sea of Azov; and another, farther west, toward the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, a vital transportation hub near the coast less than 60 miles south.
Ukrainian forces are now about 10 to 12 miles further south along both lines than when they started a counteroffensive push in early June.

Military analysts caution that many factors that will determine how the fighting plays out over coming months and are hard to analyze given the limited information put out by both armies.
Even if Ukraine’s forces manage to break through Russia’s first line of defenses, analysts note that Moscow has had many months to prepare the most formidable fortified defensive positions since World War II — a series of trenches, tank-traps, vast minefields, machine gun nests, and Russian attack helicopters and air support.
Still, Britain’s military intelligence agency said on Saturday that Russia’s forces had faced “particularly intense attrition and heavy combat on the front line.”

As Russia races to prevent a Ukrainian breakthrough, the move “will likely further weaken Russian defensive lines in aggregate,” the I.S.W. wrote, creating “opportunities for any Ukrainian breakthrough to be potentially decisive.”

At the same time, Russian forces are continuing to mount their own offensive operations in northeastern Ukraine around the city of Kupiansk. By forcing Ukraine to defend there, military analysts say, Russia is likely trying to draw Ukrainian forces from other areas where they are on the offensive.
Ukraine is hoping that pressure along the front, along with deep strikes aimed at command posts, ammunition depots and supply lines, will ultimately overcome the Russian defenses. The Russian defenses are designed to be elastic, according to military analysts, absorbing Ukrainian blows and counter attacking when they can.

The British analysis noted that as Russia redeploys forces to defend against Ukraine’s two main lines of attack, its defenses further south in the Kherson region along the Dnipro River will likely be weakened. Ukraine holds the west bank of the river and has increasingly harassed Russian forces on the other side.

Ukrainian forces recently launched an assault across the Dnipro around the town of Kozachi Laheri, Western analysts said, but they said it was too soon to know whether Kyiv would be able to maintain an enduring presence on the eastern bank. Ukraine’s military has not confirmed such an operation.
“The enemy continues to hold a small bridgehead west of Kozachi Laheri,” Rybar, an influential Russian military blogger, reported on Saturday, though he offered no details.
In one of the two main lines of attack, Ukraine has consolidated gains around the ruined village of Staromaiorske, which it recaptured in late July, and appears to be pushing farther south to the Russian stronghold of Urozhaine, according to the Ukrainian military and military analysts.
Hanna Malyar, a Ukrainian deputy defense minister, said on Friday that her country’s forces had achieved “partial successes” in the direction of Urozhaine and south and southeast of Staromaiorske.

The Russian Vostok Battalion, a military outfit fighting in the area, reported on Friday that “artillery from both sides plowed up the neighborhood of Urozhaine so much that some positions were abandoned by us, but the enemy did not dare to claim them either.”

More fighting was reported on Saturday morning by Russian military bloggers as the city remained fiercely contested.
Along the line of attack in the direction of Melitopol, Ukrainian forces reported hard-fought battles but steady progress around the village of Robotyne.
The I.S.W. said of that fight, “The Ukrainian forces’ ability to advance to the outskirts of Robotyne — which Russian forces have dedicated significant effort, time and resources to defend — remains significant even if Ukrainian gains are limited at this time.”
Valerii Shershen, a representative of the Ukrainian forces fighting in the area, said this past week that Russia was calling up reinforcements from its second lines of defense, including marines, paratroopers and special forces, to stop the Ukrainian advance.

While Ukraine is making gains, he said the advance was being slowed because of the dense minefields and large number of obstacles.
Russian aircraft, he said, are constantly strafing Ukrainian lines, hitting them more than a dozen times in a single day this past week.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

https://twitter.com/sambendett/status/1690335516384702464

1/3 Russian Telegram-based sources are concerned about improvements in Ukraine's UAV tactics: "As soon as they notice a worthy Rus target from a Fury-type drone, they try to hit it with Excalibur or Himars rockets. Himars have become an integral part of counter-battery combat."

2/3 "This means that the Ukrainians have drastically reduced the time between finding the target and its strike by a Himars. Enemy FPV drones now fly farther behind the front line - they learned to hit Russian moving targets at a great distance from the contact line."

3/3 "As a result, is relatively safe to move only if you are further than 10 km from the contact line. They also actively use agricultural drones with a Starlink connection - they work effectively at night and it is extremely difficult to drown out with an ordinary EW."

Video from Crimean bridge: https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1690335746266214402

https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1690322364427325440

That's a lot of cars: https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1690378334306250753

https://twitter.com/Sandbagger_01/status/1690273557052358656

Su-30 crashed in Kaliningrad region: https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1690333900130631680

Thread on ruble depreciation: https://twitter.com/itskhoki/status/1690386882868240385

 

[culdeus]

Hard to keep up but get the sense there will be no catering of the Russian line and Ukraine will be content to hit high value targets thru the winter and hope Russia quits.

 

[The Z Machine]

Hard to keep up but get the sense there will be no catering of the Russian line and Ukraine will be content to hit high value targets thru the winter and hope Russia quits.

It's gonna be a terrible winter for both armies. Anything above ground and within artillery range is gonna get smoked. Soldiers living in those trenches and bunkers are going to die from the elements.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1690450489941389312

Rybar claimed that Ukraine's 46th Airmobile Brigade has been fighting near Robotyne, and Ukraine's 82nd Air Assault Brigade also posted a video of an FPV strike yesterday. Possible indications that Ukraine is committing reserves.

https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1690425566833287168

Russian military channels say Ukrainian troops have liberated Urozhayne, on the seam between Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1690449017828765696

When our troops liberated Kherson and advanced to the Dnipro River, the russians dispersed and relocated their equipment, helicopters, and C2 to various bases beyond the reach of HIMARS. Why is this significant, and what can be learned from this situation? Thread

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1690461680126275585

Updated map from Deep State over the past few days. They say Ukrainian forces were able to enter Robotyne but were unable to gain a foothold.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

This piece is brutal:

Wagner’s prisoner of war: A Ukrainian soldier’s 46-day nightmare

He's in the US for rehab and top prosthetics.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Ukraine war latest: Belarus may now be funding Wagner Group, MOD says; seven killed after 'Russian shelling in Kherson'

Ukraine war latest: Belarus may now be funding Wagner Group, MOD says; seven killed after 'Russian shelling in Kherson'

news.sky.com

German automotive and arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, will reportedly deliver a new drone system to Ukraine by the end of the year.

German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag said the company would be providing its Luna New Generation system.

The package will apparently consist of a ground control station with several drones, a launch catapult and military trucks, Bild said.

The system can also apparently be used for reconnaissance and can intercept or jam communications.

On its website, Rheinmetall says the drones have an "ultra-light but highly stable fuselage structure made of CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic)".

They are said to offer flight times of more than 12 hours.

Ukraine war latest: Belarus may now be funding Wagner Group, MOD says; seven killed after 'Russian shelling in Kherson'

Ukraine war latest: Belarus may now be funding Wagner Group, MOD says; seven killed after 'Russian shelling in Kherson'

news.sky.com

Belarus may now be funding the Wagner Group of mercenaries, the UK's Ministry of Defence has said.

In its latest intelligence update, the MOD says that since Wagner's brief mutiny in June, the "Russian state has acted against some other business interests of Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin".

It adds: "There is a realistic possibility that the Kremlin no longer funds the group.

"If the Russian state no longer pays Wagner, the second most plausible paymasters are the Belarusian authorities."

Such a situation would be a "significant and potentially unwelcome drain on modest Belarusian resources", it adds.

2 ammunition depots destroyed in Russian-occupied town in Kherson region, Ukrainian military official says

Russia continues to increase shelling in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. An evacuation order is in place for Kupiansk, with an estimated 12,000 people still in the city. Follow here for live updates.

www.cnn.com

Two ammunition depots were destroyed in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine's Kherson region shortly after midnight, according to Vladislav Nazarov, the spokesman for the Operational Command "South".

"In temporarily occupied Oleshky, 2 ammo depots were destroyed after midnight," Nazarov said on Telegram.

He said there were strikes on concentrations of Russian personnel.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Ukraine’s military reports "partial success" near hard-fought frontline village in the south

Russia continues to increase shelling in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. An evacuation order is in place for Kupiansk, with an estimated 12,000 people still in the city. Follow here for live updates.

www.cnn.com

Ukraine claimed "partial success" near the village of Robotyne along the southern Zaporizhzhia front after weeks of fighting in the area, as Russia continues offensive efforts near Kupiansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region that borders Russia.

Ukraine’s drive to push down to the Sea of Azov and through to the Melitopol and Berdiansk areas continues, with fierce fighting along the front lines in that southern direction, officials say.

On Friday, social media video and images showed Ukrainian troops had entered Robotyne — a location that has seen heavy battles for several weeks. According to the Institute for the Study of War, even marginal gains by Ukraine in this area are significant.

In the Donetsk region: Meanwhile, Russians made "unsuccessful attempts" to regain lost ground near the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military's General Staff said. On Thursday, Ukraine also claimed “partial success” in gaining positions in the area near the recently retaken village of Staromaiorske.

Russian forces are trying to “escalate and take over the initiative” in the east in an effort to “pull” Ukrainian troops from other areas of the front lines, according to a regional military official.

In the Kharkiv region: In the Lyman-Kupiansk direction in the northeastern Kharkiv region, “the enemy is trying escalate and take over the initiative at this direction and attacking our positions,” said Serhii Cherevatyi, the deputy commander of strategic communications for the eastern military grouping.

Russian forces attempted offensives near Kupiansk, which were repelled in a number of settlements in the area, according to the daily update from the General Staff.

With the upcoming anniversary of Ukraine's September 2022 lightning offensive, Cherevatyi said on national television Saturday that Russian forces are looking to make gains there and “want to pull our forces and resources away from the Bakhmut area at all costs.” Ukraine has bolstered its defensive positions since last fall, according to the spokesperson.

Remember: A mandatory evacuation was ordered for Kupiansk and surrounding areas as Russia intensified shelling of the area and claimed to have captured some Ukrainian positions near the northeastern city that lies close to the Russian border. Kupiansk fell to Moscow’s forces within the first week of their invasion in February last year, but was then taken back last September.

 

[themeistersinger]

The Corruption War: Russia Is Losing the War for the Same Reason It Started It

To win this war, Ukraine must be victorious on both the corruption and military battlefields.

www.19fortyfive.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Putin Is Desperate and Sending In His 'Elite' Troops to Stop Ukraine's Offensive

The Russian military is sending VDV paratroopers to Zaporizhzhia in a desperate attempt to reinforce the frontline and prevent a Ukrainian operational breakthrough.

www.19fortyfive.com

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Poland arrests 2 Russians after Wagner recruitment posters appear in Kraków

Earlier this month Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki warned the group could carry out ‘sabotage actions’ in the country.

www.politico.eu

Polish authorities have arrested two Russians who distributed propaganda material about the Wagner mercenary group in Warsaw and Kraków, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said Monday.

Poland’s Internal Security Agency, working with the police, identified the two Russians and both are now in custody facing espionage and other charges, Kamiński said in a social media post.

The arrests came after posters featuring Wagner’s skull logo reportedly appeared on the streets of Kraków, with a QR code which led to a recruitment page for the Kremlin-funded paramilitary group.

“We are here,” the Wagner poster pronounced, adding: “Join us.”

Kraków local councillor Łukasz Wantuch published a photo of one of the posters on Facebook, calling it a “provocation” and adding that it was happening “not only in Kraków.”

Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had warned that Wagner might carry out “sabotage actions” in his country, and said the threat should not be underestimated.

Some Wagner troops moved to Belarus from Russia under a deal to end the group’s 24-hour rebellion against Moscow led by its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June. The move sparked concern among Belarus’ neighbors, and saw Poland move some of its military units to the east of the country, closer to the Belarus border.

Ukraine war latest: Battle for key city ongoing, says Russia - after 'massive' attack in Ukraine

Much of the focus in the fighting has been around the city of Pokrovsk, a key site for both Ukraine and Russia - and it appears the stakes have been raised there in recent days. Meanwhile, Ukraine says several people are hurt after a "massive" attack overnight. Follow the latest.

news.sky.com

The Danish air force intercepted two Russian bombers flying over Denmark and towards airscape monitored by the Netherlands on behalf of NATO, the Dutch air force has said.

Dutch F-16s were scrambled and prepared to intercept the bombers before they could enter NATO airspace, the air force said - but the Russian planes turned around before officially crossing into Dutch territory after Danish jets were sent to intercept them.

Sky News has approached the Danish ministry of defence, who are yet to address the situation, for comment.

Ukraine war latest: Battle for key city ongoing, says Russia - after 'massive' attack in Ukraine

Much of the focus in the fighting has been around the city of Pokrovsk, a key site for both Ukraine and Russia - and it appears the stakes have been raised there in recent days. Meanwhile, Ukraine says several people are hurt after a "massive" attack overnight. Follow the latest.

news.sky.com

A suspected spy for Russia has been arrested near the frontlines in Donetsk, Ukraine's security services said.

The SBU said the man was in "direct contact" with Russian security services and attempted to pass on information regarding Ukrainian artillery positions.

It said he was caught "red handed" while conducting "preliminary reconnaissance of the area near one of the infrastructure facilities", adding the man faces up to 15 years imprisonment if found guilty.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Institute for the Study of War

Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations on at least two sectors of the front on August 13 and reportedly advanced in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast area and in western Zaporizhia Oblast. The Ukrainian General Staff reported

www.understandingwar.org

Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations on at least two sectors of the front on August 13 and reportedly advanced in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast area and in western Zaporizhia Oblast. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations in the Berdyansk (western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast area) and Melitopol (western Zaporizhia Oblast) directions and achieved partial success near Robotyne (western Zaporizhia Oblast, 13km south of Orikhiv).[1] Several Russian sources claimed on August 12 that Russian forces withdrew from Urozhaine (in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast area), although many Russian sources refuted those claims on August 13 and claimed instead that Russian forces still occupy the southern part of Urozhaine, that fighting is ongoing, and that areas of Urozhaine are contested.[2] ISW has not observed confirmation that Russian forces have completely withdrawn from Urozhaine and Russian forces likely currently maintain positions in at least the southern part of the settlement.

The Russian information space is seizing on Ukrainian gains in Urozhaine (in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area) to highlight poor Russian morale and command challenges in the area. A Russian milblogger complained on August 12 that the Russian 37th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade (36th Combined Arms Army, Eastern Military District) failed to dedicate tank units to support its infantry in Urozhaine and prematurely withdrew from Urozhaine on August 10, claiming they lacked reinforcements when in reality the unit’s personnel were drunk in the rear areas.[3] The milblogger complained that the entire 36th Combined Arms Army (CAA) is unwilling to defend the settlement while the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) “Kaskad” Operational Tactical Combat Formation and the 40th Naval Infantry Brigade (Pacific Fleet) defend Urozhaine.[4] These complaints generated a multitude of responses in the Russian information space, including attempts to deescalate tensions between the implicated Russian formations, doubling down on complaints against the 37th Brigade and 36th CAA, and accusing the initial milblogger who reported a Russian withdrawal from Urozhaine of attempting to inflate the reputation of other defending units at the expense of the 36th CAA’s reputation.[5] One milblogger blamed the current situation on the front on the Russian military command’s removal of Major General Ivan Popov as commander of the 58th CAA in early July 2023.[6] The milbloggers notably targeted their complaints at the personnel of these units rather than the unit or theater commanders, suggesting that Popov’s removal and other rumored command purges may have removed mid-level Russian military commanders as a readily available scapegoat for Russian military failures.[7] Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the “Vostok” battalion defending near Urozhaine, referenced Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) Commander Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky as saying that Russia cannot win in defense, and Khodakovsky complained that Russia expended its resources too early in the war and now needs to pause to accumulate resources for a new operation, indicating recognition that the Russian elastic defense in this area has its limitations.[8] Teplinsky is reportedly responsible for planning the Russian defense of the Velyka Novosilka area.[9]

 

[Don't Toews Me]

https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1690873621470724096

James Nachtwey was in Ukraine at the start of the war, photographing the bodies of civilians that Russian troops had executed. Nachtwey said that of all the military brutality he captured in his career, the Russians “stood apart.”

Thread: https://twitter.com/sambendett/status/1690692642357587969

1/ THREAD: Russia's Starshe Eddy Telegram channel discussed a recent battle near Antonovsky bridge involving drones and FPVs that was considered "a prototype of the war that we will see in the near future." Main points translated below.

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Would F-16s Have Made the Difference in Ukraine’s Counteroffensive? (Published 2023)

Most military experts doubt that they would have, and say that Kyiv can still prevail without them.

www.nytimes.com

All of which has raised a question: Without significant air power — a pillar of the warfare tactics that the West has urged Ukraine to adopt — can the counteroffensive prevail?
The answer appears to be yes, as current and former officials in Ukraine, the United States and Europe, as well as Western defense analysts, said in interviews last week as the counteroffensive ground on, with volleys of artillery fire and drone strikes but no major breakthroughs.

But it is likely to be far more difficult without the jets.
“It will have to happen without the F-16,” said Philip M. Breedlove, a retired United States Air Force general and former NATO commander, “but I believe they can.”
A former F-16 pilot, Mr. Breedlove said there was “great benefit” for Ukraine’s forces to learn and deploy the so-called combined arms tactics that are the backbone of modern ground warfare, given that they “are going to be applicable in many different phases of what you do, no matter what.”
Nevertheless, he added, “If you expect Ukraine to fight like we fight, then they have to have the tools that we have, and we have not given them those tools.”

Some experts said the dearth of air power had put Ukraine at a disadvantage this summer against Russian attack helicopters that have picked off Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles. At least some of the helicopters are equipped with anti-tank missiles that are shot either too far or too low to be intercepted by Ukraine’s air defenses, according to Britain’s Defense Ministry.

Col. Markus Reisner, who oversees force development at Austria’s main military training academy, said that with more warplanes, Ukraine could better defend its ground troops from those attacks.

“This is what it is actually intended for,” said Colonel Reisner, a trained intelligence officer. “Military logic tells you, you have to have air superiority to conduct successful land operations.”
He added: “Some American generals, they say, ‘Well, it’s not what the Ukrainians need at the moment.’ I think this is a political statement, it’s not a military logical statement.”

Neither Ukraine nor Russia — despite its seemingly overwhelming advantage — has managed to achieve air superiority since the war began in February 2022.

Back then, Russia had 10 times as many fighter aircraft as Ukraine — 772 to 69 — including some that were far more technologically advanced, according to the Global Firepower Index, which ranks conventional war-making capabilities. Yet in the 18 months since, both sides have relied on artillery, drones and long-range missiles to attack.
That is because both Ukraine, with Patriot missiles, among other weapons, and Russia with its S-400 air defense systems, have formidable air defenses that have largely deterred each other from launching airstrikes near or behind the front lines with piloted warplanes.
For the most part, Ukrainian pilots currently flying their Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets take care not to get too close to their targets or to stay in the air for too long, to avoid becoming targets themselves. They get as close as they dare and then fire missiles, including long-range missiles recently provided by Britain and France, at fuel and ammunition depots and other military targets before darting away.

In view of those limitations, a Biden administration official said in an interview last week that it was unclear whether Ukraine’s forces would be able to provide support to ground troops even if they had the F-16s. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an issue that has become a sore point to the Ukrainians.

After Ukraine suffered heavy losses early in the counteroffensive by trying to follow the combined-arms approach, some commanders decided to abandon the effort and return to the tactics they know best — firing artillery and missiles to degrade Russia’s fighting capability in a war of attrition.
That was not a complete surprise to military experts, who said the problems went well beyond the absence of air power. Retired Col. Steve Boylan, a trained U.S. Army aviator and a former spokesman for the Army’s Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said it had taken years for American forces to learn “how to do it effectively — and not in the middle of a fight.”
As its name suggests, the modern fighting method combines infantry troops, armored tanks, artillery ground fire and air power in an effort to dominate all the domains of ground warfare. Mr. Boylan said the tactics were developed as a better way to fight after the bloody trench warfare of World War I, but it was not until the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war that American troops fought in the combined arms units as they are deployed today.
Fighting without one of the elements — like air power, in Ukraine’s case — may force units to adjust, but “I would suspect that they would take our instruction, training and tactics as a baseline and modify it to what works best for them,” Mr. Boylan said.
Yet for all that air power can bring to a battle, he said, “until you get troops on the ground, and actually take it, you don’t own it. And you can’t hold it.”

Sending just a handful of F-16s into battle would not make much difference in the war, said Douglas Barrie, a military aerospace expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. “It’s got to be adequate, it’s got to be up to the task,” he said.
If Ukraine had multiple properly trained and equipped squadrons of F-16s, Mr. Barrie said, “would it have helped in the counteroffensive? It’s a theoretical question, but the theoretical answer is yes.”

He said that Ukraine’s forces “were never going to be in a position” to launch a Western-style combined-arms offensive without air power.
Then again, he added, “If they hadn’t had any of this training, would we now be trying to figure out how to get the Russians out of Kyiv?”

 

[themeistersinger]

Poland arrests 2 Russians after Wagner recruitment posters appear in Kraków

Earlier this month Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki warned the group could carry out ‘sabotage actions’ in the country.

www.politico.eu

Polish authorities have arrested two Russians who distributed propaganda material about the Wagner mercenary group in Warsaw and Kraków, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said Monday.

Poland’s Internal Security Agency, working with the police, identified the two Russians and both are now in custody facing espionage and other charges, Kamiński said in a social media post.

The arrests came after posters featuring Wagner’s skull logo reportedly appeared on the streets of Kraków, with a QR code which led to a recruitment page for the Kremlin-funded paramilitary group.

“We are here,” the Wagner poster pronounced, adding: “Join us.”

Kraków local councillor Łukasz Wantuch published a photo of one of the posters on Facebook, calling it a “provocation” and adding that it was happening “not only in Kraków.”

Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had warned that Wagner might carry out “sabotage actions” in his country, and said the threat should not be underestimated.

Some Wagner troops moved to Belarus from Russia under a deal to end the group’s 24-hour rebellion against Moscow led by its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June. The move sparked concern among Belarus’ neighbors, and saw Poland move some of its military units to the east of the country, closer to the Belarus border.

Ukraine war latest: Battle for key city ongoing, says Russia - after 'massive' attack in Ukraine

Much of the focus in the fighting has been around the city of Pokrovsk, a key site for both Ukraine and Russia - and it appears the stakes have been raised there in recent days. Meanwhile, Ukraine says several people are hurt after a "massive" attack overnight. Follow the latest.

news.sky.com

The Danish air force intercepted two Russian bombers flying over Denmark and towards airscape monitored by the Netherlands on behalf of NATO, the Dutch air force has said.

Dutch F-16s were scrambled and prepared to intercept the bombers before they could enter NATO airspace, the air force said - but the Russian planes turned around before officially crossing into Dutch territory after Danish jets were sent to intercept them.

Sky News has approached the Danish ministry of defence, who are yet to address the situation, for comment.

Ukraine war latest: Battle for key city ongoing, says Russia - after 'massive' attack in Ukraine

Much of the focus in the fighting has been around the city of Pokrovsk, a key site for both Ukraine and Russia - and it appears the stakes have been raised there in recent days. Meanwhile, Ukraine says several people are hurt after a "massive" attack overnight. Follow the latest.

news.sky.com

A suspected spy for Russia has been arrested near the frontlines in Donetsk, Ukraine's security services said.

The SBU said the man was in "direct contact" with Russian security services and attempted to pass on information regarding Ukrainian artillery positions.

It said he was caught "red handed" while conducting "preliminary reconnaissance of the area near one of the infrastructure facilities", adding the man faces up to 15 years imprisonment if found guilty.

Um, Denmark IS NATO territory. If the flights were already over Denmark, there are numerous serious problems here.

 

[themeistersinger]

Would F-16s Have Made the Difference in Ukraine’s Counteroffensive? (Published 2023)

Most military experts doubt that they would have, and say that Kyiv can still prevail without them.

www.nytimes.com

All of which has raised a question: Without significant air power — a pillar of the warfare tactics that the West has urged Ukraine to adopt — can the counteroffensive prevail?
The answer appears to be yes, as current and former officials in Ukraine, the United States and Europe, as well as Western defense analysts, said in interviews last week as the counteroffensive ground on, with volleys of artillery fire and drone strikes but no major breakthroughs.

But it is likely to be far more difficult without the jets.
“It will have to happen without the F-16,” said Philip M. Breedlove, a retired United States Air Force general and former NATO commander, “but I believe they can.”
A former F-16 pilot, Mr. Breedlove said there was “great benefit” for Ukraine’s forces to learn and deploy the so-called combined arms tactics that are the backbone of modern ground warfare, given that they “are going to be applicable in many different phases of what you do, no matter what.”
Nevertheless, he added, “If you expect Ukraine to fight like we fight, then they have to have the tools that we have, and we have not given them those tools.”

Some experts said the dearth of air power had put Ukraine at a disadvantage this summer against Russian attack helicopters that have picked off Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles. At least some of the helicopters are equipped with anti-tank missiles that are shot either too far or too low to be intercepted by Ukraine’s air defenses, according to Britain’s Defense Ministry.

Col. Markus Reisner, who oversees force development at Austria’s main military training academy, said that with more warplanes, Ukraine could better defend its ground troops from those attacks.

“This is what it is actually intended for,” said Colonel Reisner, a trained intelligence officer. “Military logic tells you, you have to have air superiority to conduct successful land operations.”
He added: “Some American generals, they say, ‘Well, it’s not what the Ukrainians need at the moment.’ I think this is a political statement, it’s not a military logical statement.”

Neither Ukraine nor Russia — despite its seemingly overwhelming advantage — has managed to achieve air superiority since the war began in February 2022.

Back then, Russia had 10 times as many fighter aircraft as Ukraine — 772 to 69 — including some that were far more technologically advanced, according to the Global Firepower Index, which ranks conventional war-making capabilities. Yet in the 18 months since, both sides have relied on artillery, drones and long-range missiles to attack.
That is because both Ukraine, with Patriot missiles, among other weapons, and Russia with its S-400 air defense systems, have formidable air defenses that have largely deterred each other from launching airstrikes near or behind the front lines with piloted warplanes.
For the most part, Ukrainian pilots currently flying their Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets take care not to get too close to their targets or to stay in the air for too long, to avoid becoming targets themselves. They get as close as they dare and then fire missiles, including long-range missiles recently provided by Britain and France, at fuel and ammunition depots and other military targets before darting away.

In view of those limitations, a Biden administration official said in an interview last week that it was unclear whether Ukraine’s forces would be able to provide support to ground troops even if they had the F-16s. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an issue that has become a sore point to the Ukrainians.

After Ukraine suffered heavy losses early in the counteroffensive by trying to follow the combined-arms approach, some commanders decided to abandon the effort and return to the tactics they know best — firing artillery and missiles to degrade Russia’s fighting capability in a war of attrition.
That was not a complete surprise to military experts, who said the problems went well beyond the absence of air power. Retired Col. Steve Boylan, a trained U.S. Army aviator and a former spokesman for the Army’s Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said it had taken years for American forces to learn “how to do it effectively — and not in the middle of a fight.”
As its name suggests, the modern fighting method combines infantry troops, armored tanks, artillery ground fire and air power in an effort to dominate all the domains of ground warfare. Mr. Boylan said the tactics were developed as a better way to fight after the bloody trench warfare of World War I, but it was not until the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war that American troops fought in the combined arms units as they are deployed today.
Fighting without one of the elements — like air power, in Ukraine’s case — may force units to adjust, but “I would suspect that they would take our instruction, training and tactics as a baseline and modify it to what works best for them,” Mr. Boylan said.
Yet for all that air power can bring to a battle, he said, “until you get troops on the ground, and actually take it, you don’t own it. And you can’t hold it.”

Sending just a handful of F-16s into battle would not make much difference in the war, said Douglas Barrie, a military aerospace expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. “It’s got to be adequate, it’s got to be up to the task,” he said.
If Ukraine had multiple properly trained and equipped squadrons of F-16s, Mr. Barrie said, “would it have helped in the counteroffensive? It’s a theoretical question, but the theoretical answer is yes.”

He said that Ukraine’s forces “were never going to be in a position” to launch a Western-style combined-arms offensive without air power.
Then again, he added, “If they hadn’t had any of this training, would we now be trying to figure out how to get the Russians out of Kyiv?”

One obvious place the F-16s would have helped would be in shooting down the helicopters that have been hindering the Ukrainian advance.

Would giving them a couple dozen F-16s guarantee Ukrainian victory? Of course not. But does it give them a chance to achieve local air superiority? Obviously yes.

Sounds more like ***-covering than real analysis.

 

[themeistersinger]

Kremlin Unfazed as Ruble Crashes Through 100 vs. Dollar - The Moscow Times

The Russian ruble’s slide past 100 against the dollar has exposed a multi-billion dollar dilemma at the heart of the Russian economy: how can the Kremlin carry on funding its war against Ukraine without triggering a surge in inflation and fresh fears of an economic crisis at home?

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Ukraine Says Downed Waves of Missiles, Drones Over Odesa - The Moscow Times

Ukraine downed three waves of Russian missiles and drones targeting Odesa, its army said early on Monday, the latest in a string of attacks in the southern region on the Black Sea coast.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[Don't Toews Me]

Poland arrests 2 Russians after Wagner recruitment posters appear in Kraków

Earlier this month Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki warned the group could carry out ‘sabotage actions’ in the country.

www.politico.eu

Polish authorities have arrested two Russians who distributed propaganda material about the Wagner mercenary group in Warsaw and Kraków, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said Monday.

Poland’s Internal Security Agency, working with the police, identified the two Russians and both are now in custody facing espionage and other charges, Kamiński said in a social media post.

The arrests came after posters featuring Wagner’s skull logo reportedly appeared on the streets of Kraków, with a QR code which led to a recruitment page for the Kremlin-funded paramilitary group.

“We are here,” the Wagner poster pronounced, adding: “Join us.”

Kraków local councillor Łukasz Wantuch published a photo of one of the posters on Facebook, calling it a “provocation” and adding that it was happening “not only in Kraków.”

Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had warned that Wagner might carry out “sabotage actions” in his country, and said the threat should not be underestimated.

Some Wagner troops moved to Belarus from Russia under a deal to end the group’s 24-hour rebellion against Moscow led by its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June. The move sparked concern among Belarus’ neighbors, and saw Poland move some of its military units to the east of the country, closer to the Belarus border.

Ukraine war latest: Battle for key city ongoing, says Russia - after 'massive' attack in Ukraine

Much of the focus in the fighting has been around the city of Pokrovsk, a key site for both Ukraine and Russia - and it appears the stakes have been raised there in recent days. Meanwhile, Ukraine says several people are hurt after a "massive" attack overnight. Follow the latest.

news.sky.com

The Danish air force intercepted two Russian bombers flying over Denmark and towards airscape monitored by the Netherlands on behalf of NATO, the Dutch air force has said.

Dutch F-16s were scrambled and prepared to intercept the bombers before they could enter NATO airspace, the air force said - but the Russian planes turned around before officially crossing into Dutch territory after Danish jets were sent to intercept them.

Sky News has approached the Danish ministry of defence, who are yet to address the situation, for comment.

Ukraine war latest: Battle for key city ongoing, says Russia - after 'massive' attack in Ukraine

Much of the focus in the fighting has been around the city of Pokrovsk, a key site for both Ukraine and Russia - and it appears the stakes have been raised there in recent days. Meanwhile, Ukraine says several people are hurt after a "massive" attack overnight. Follow the latest.

news.sky.com

A suspected spy for Russia has been arrested near the frontlines in Donetsk, Ukraine's security services said.

The SBU said the man was in "direct contact" with Russian security services and attempted to pass on information regarding Ukrainian artillery positions.

It said he was caught "red handed" while conducting "preliminary reconnaissance of the area near one of the infrastructure facilities", adding the man faces up to 15 years imprisonment if found guilty.

Um, Denmark IS NATO territory. If the flights were already over Denmark, there are numerous serious problems here.

It appears they actually weren't in Danish air space. Poor wording by SkyNews: https://www.thelocal.dk/20230814/danish-air-force-identifies-russian-planes-over-north-sea

“F-16 fighters from Forsvaret went up this morning to identify two Russian planes in international airspace over the North Sea. The Russian planes were at no time in Danish airspace,” the Danish military stated.

The Dutch air force earlier stated that it had despatched aircraft in response to a bomber that had encroached on the Dutch area of responsibility in the region.

“The aircraft was intercepted in Danish territory by QRA [Quick Reaction Alert, ed.],” the Dutch update read. QRA is an alert system used by Nato.

Denmark’s military said it did not yet know which type of aircraft was involved but denied the Dutch statement that they had been on Danish territory.

Dutch F-16s Deployed as Russian Jets Flew Toward NATO Airspace

The Netherlands and Denmark deployed F-16 fighter jets Monday as two Russian bombers approached NATO airspace over the North Sea. The Russian planes turned back after being identified and never left international airspace.

www.bloomberg.com

The Netherlands and Denmark deployed F-16 fighter jets Monday as two Russian bombers approached NATO airspace over the North Sea. The Russian planes turned back after being identified and never left international airspace.
The two Dutch F-16 jets took off and were prepared to guard the Netherlands’ area of responsibility following an alert at 7:19 a.m. local time, according to a statement from the government. “This doesn’t happen often, but today’s incident demonstrates the importance of rapid deployment,” according to the statement.
The Danish government also deployed its own F-16s to identify the planes, but the Russians remained in international airspace, according to a spokesperson for the Danish Defense Command. The Dutch F-16s were airborne and flying in a holding pattern, said a spokesperson for the defense ministry in The Hague.

The Netherlands and Belgium alternate monitoring the airspace of the Benelux region, with the Dutch air force having been in charge since mid-April. The Dutch combat command is in contact with the Combined Air Operation Center in Uedem, Germany, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters for airspace surveillance in Northeast Europe.

 

[themeistersinger]

Ukraine Is Losing 10,000 Drones a Month to Russia

“The loss rate for Ukrainian UAVs at the moment is about 10,000 UAVs a month,” Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said during the Land Force Pacific international symposium.

www.19fortyfive.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Can Ukraine's Military Really Defeat Russia? Reality Check Time

What this short series will reveal, unfortunately, is that Ukrainian victory is not achievable at an acceptable cost and therefore a change of strategy for the United States and NATO is necessary.

www.19fortyfive.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Ukrainian schoolchildren to take mine safety courses

Ukraine's Education Ministry is developing a course in cooperation with UNICEF on mine safety for Ukrainian schoolchildren, one that will become a mandatory part of the curriculum, the ministry announced on Aug. 14.

kyivindependent.com

 

[themeistersinger]

Romania plans to double transit capacity of Ukrainian grain

Romania plans to increase the transit capacity of Ukrainian grain from 2 million metric tons to 4 million every month, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Aug. 11, the Romanian news agency Agerpres reported.

kyivindependent.com