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Don’t Sell Out Ukraine. The West Must Respond to Russia With Strength, Not Appeasement
10
Dec
Defense, Politics, TOP, Ukraine

Don’t Sell Out Ukraine. The West Must Respond to Russia With Strength, Not Appeasement

Marching on Ukraine's Independence Day, August 2021, KyivValentyn Ogirenko / Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a stark ultimatum. In a number of recent statements, he has demanded that the United States make “reliable and firm legal guarantees” that NATO will not expand eastward—or else, his entourage has hinted, Russia will invade Ukraine. Coming at a time when Russia is massing military forces along the Ukrainian border and stymieing peace talks to end the war in the Donbas region, Putin’s demand seems to offer a tempting prospect for the West: in exchange for merely cementing the alliance’s status quo, a deadly European…
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Ukrainian military report says Russia boosted troops to 120,000 near border
10
Dec
Defense, TOP, Ukraine, WORLD

Ukrainian military report says Russia boosted troops to 120,000 near border

https://youtu.be/By4_zO2YDhQ Kiev, Ukraine(CNN)Ukrainian defense officials say Russia has increased troop numbers near the Ukrainian border to 120,000 people, including additional army, air force and naval personnel.  According to its latest ongoing security assessment -- shared with CNN by Ukrainian security sources -- the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said "combat and other military equipment, such as tanks, armed vehicles and 'Iskander' missiles remain near the border of Ukraine," following numerous Russian military exercises.  Russia regularly "redeploys and accumulates its military units to maintain tension in the region," the assessment said, allowing it to "create striking forces rapidly, and lays the ground…
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Russians have 120,000 troops on its border, increased intel gathering, Ukraine ministry says
10
Dec
Defense, TOP, Ukraine

Russians have 120,000 troops on its border, increased intel gathering, Ukraine ministry says

Russian and Belarusian forces take part in Zapad-2021, a large-scale annual military exercise, at the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia Sept. 11, 2021. (Vadim Savitskiy/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) The Russians now have about 120,000 troops arrayed around Ukraine, and they are increasing their intelligence gathering activities, according to the latest Ukrainian military assessment, obtained by Military Times. Those figures, updated Wednesday, include some 98,000 ground troops and about 22,000 air and naval forces, according to the assessment. In addition, Russia has carried out 2,500 military exercises “of different scales” along the border with…
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DISPATCH: Ukrainians Prepare for Russian Invasion
08
Dec
Defense, TOP, Ukraine

DISPATCH: Ukrainians Prepare for Russian Invasion

https://youtu.be/7xCuDYRTSyk On Dec. 4, soldiers from Kyiv’s Territorial Defense Force battalion gathered in an abandoned industrial area on the city’s outskirts for a day of war games. These volunteer, civilian soldiers were preparing to defend their city against a Russian invasion force. Russia has recently repositioned military forces on Ukraine’s borders, including some 100,000 troops, sparking concerns about a major offensive in the coming weeks or months. Should Russia invade, Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces would secure rear echelon positions, provide an operational reserve manpower pool, and assist the regular military in conventional and unconventional combat operations. Read more on the…
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EXCLUSIVE FRONT-LINE REPORT: MODERN TRENCH WARFARE IN EASTERN UKRAINE
18
Nov
Defense, TOP, Ukraine

EXCLUSIVE FRONT-LINE REPORT: MODERN TRENCH WARFARE IN EASTERN UKRAINE

Тhe Ukrainian soldier warns me to speak no louder than a whisper. The enemy lines are less than 50 meters away, he tells me, and my voice — if too loud — can easily carry across no man’s land and invite gunfire from the other side. “We see each other, and we shoot at each other every day,” says the soldier, whose name is Mykhailo. “Everyone is afraid … we are afraid, and the Russians are afraid of us.” We’re standing at one end of a ruined factory on the outskirts of the city of Avdiivka in Ukraine’s eastern war…
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Poker table of the Russian-Ukrainian war: will Europe throw up cards?
18
Nov
Defense, TOP, Ukraine

Poker table of the Russian-Ukrainian war: will Europe throw up cards?

Whatever the answer to this question might be, Ukraine is preparing for total resistance being completely trapped and yet defending entire Eastern Europe. The Kremlin did not choose the course to destabilize Europe yesterday, and the threat from Russia is growing every year. On the one hand, NATO’s activation on the Eastern Borders is a positive demonstration of its capabilities. But on the other hand, Russia’s challenge has demonstrated the fragility of NATO’s democratic system of “member countries” on the examples of countries such as Hungary. In any case, even the aggregate military-industrial complex of Eastern Europe cannot be compared…
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Russia warned of serious consequences from any hostilities against Ukraine
17
Nov
Defense, TOP, WORLD

Russia warned of serious consequences from any hostilities against Ukraine

Germany and France issue warning as Nato chief says alliance is closely monitoring ‘unusual concentrations’ of forces Press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba Russia will face “serious consequences” if it threatens Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Paris and Berlin have warned, as ministers held meetings discussing the threat posed by a build-up of troops on the country’s border. In a joint statement, Heiko Maas and Jean-Yves Le Drian, the foreign ministers of Germany and France, pledged “unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” after meeting their…
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Russian troop movements show wider conflict is possible, top Ukraine official says
11
Nov
Defense, TOP

Russian troop movements show wider conflict is possible, top Ukraine official says

Ukrainian officials told Military Times that the gathering of Russian forces, tanks and short-range ballistic missile systems near the two countries’ border could offer the Russians an easy way to escalate an ongoing conflict. While U.S. military leaders remain reluctant to discuss the massing of Russian forces, Ukrainian officials were more direct. “All available information indicates that the armed forces of Russia permanently sustain a powerful offensive grouping around Ukraine,” Roman Mashovets, deputy head of Ukraine’s Office of the President, told Military Times Wednesday. During the second half of 2021, Russian forces “conducted a set of large-scale command and staff…
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Moscow takes money from residents of Donbas. Investigation by journalist Denis Kazansky into resale of Ukrainian coal to Russia
04
Nov
TOP, Ukraine

Moscow takes money from residents of Donbas. Investigation by journalist Denis Kazansky into resale of Ukrainian coal to Russia

The money that Ukrainian miners earn in blood and sweat from mines located in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine finds its way into the pockets of Russians thanks to the dexterity of local "politicians" and tame oligarchs - this was the conclusion reached by Ukrainian journalist and blogger Denis Kazansky after conducting his own journalistic investigation into Medvedchuk and his criminal business in ORDLO. The video published by Kazansky demonstrates the criminal schemes Moscow is developing with coal in eastern Ukraine, which locals mine for paltry wages and sometimes for free. Moscow's henchmen, the oligarchs working for Russia, have been…
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Month after Taliban takeover, Ukrainians stranded in Afghanistan
04
Oct
Defense, TOP, WORLD

Month after Taliban takeover, Ukrainians stranded in Afghanistan

Dozens of Ukrainian citizens originally from Afghanistan remain in the war-torn country, despite repeated pleas for evacuation. Ukrainians gathered near Hamid Karzai International airport in early September asking the Ukrainian president to evacuate them [Al Jazeera] Names marked with an asterisk* have been changed to protect identities. Abdul*, a Ukrainian citizen, is stuck in Khost, a large city in southeastern Afghanistan. As night falls, dogs bark in the background. But he is in no hurry to go to bed. He guards his house and family, embracing a gun, until morning. “Strangers wanted to get into my house. It is difficult…
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