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Tag: ukraine

  • Russian troops slam generals over ‘incomprehensible battle’ that reportedly killed 300 in Donetsk | CNN

    Russian troops slam generals over ‘incomprehensible battle’ that reportedly killed 300 in Donetsk | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Russian troops have denounced an “incomprehensible battle” in Donetsk after apparently sustaining heavy losses during a week of intense fighting in the key eastern region of Ukraine.

    Moscow has been trying to break through Kyiv’s defenses around the town of Pavlivka for at least the past seven days, but it seems to have made little progress with as many as 300 men killed in action, according to an open letter published on a prominent Russian military blog on Monday.

    The men of the 155th Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet Marines launched stinging criticism against a senior Russian official in a rare display of defiance, accusing authorities of “hiding” the number of casualties “for fear of being held accountable.”

    The letter, purportedly sent from the front lines to a regional Russian governor, came amid Moscow’s shaky offensive in a region President Vladimir Putin claimed to have illegally annexed just over a month ago.

    “Once again we were thrown into an incomprehensible battle by General Muradov and his brother-in-law, his countryman Akhmedov, so that Muradov could earn bonuses to make him look good in the eyes of Gerasimov (Russia’s Chief of the General Staff),” the men said in the memo, sent to the governor of Primorsky Krai.

    “As a result of the ‘carefully’ planned offensive by the ‘great commanders’ we lost about 300 men, dead and wounded, with some MIA over the past four days.

    “We lost 50% of our equipment. That’s our brigade alone. The district command together with Akhmedov are hiding these facts and skewing the official casualty statistics for fear of being held accountable.”

    They implored Governor Oleg Kozhemyako: “For how long will such mediocrities as Muradov and Akhmedov be allowed to continue to plan the military actions just to keep up appearances and gain awards at the cost of so many people’s lives?”

    Russian military commentators have also criticized the army’s approach in Donetsk.

    “The situation in Pavlivka has been discussed at the highest level for several days, and the blood keeps spilling,” Aleksandr Sladkov, a Russian military journalist working for All-Russian State Television and Radio, said on Telegram.

    “Troops say that there is a dilemma now: exhausted units cannot be withdrawn without fresh ones being brought in. There are no fresh units and no possibility of withdrawal and replacement due the constant firing,” Russian military journalist Alexey Sukonkin, also posted on Telegram.

    “Why did we retreat from Pavlivka and have to recapture it now?” Aleksander Khodakovsky, a Russian-backed commander from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said in criticism of Moscow’s tactical approach to the region.

    Khodakovsky said Russian troops had been using basements as defensive positions, which meant they had not seen a flanking movement by the Ukrainians.

    “That’s why quite a few Marines, including company commanders, were taken prisoner then. Not because they were weak in spirit, but because they were held hostage by their organization of defenses,” Khodakovsky said, adding that Ukrainian reconnaissance troops had used high-rise buildings in nearby Vuhledar and cameras fixed to the top of mine shafts to guide artillery strikes.

    “The defenders of Pavlivka will again be taken hostage. Supplies and rotations will be difficult, it will be impossible to move through Pavlivka,” he said.

    CNN cannot verify how many soldiers signed the letter nor their ranks, but Governor Kozhemyako confirmed he had received a letter from the unit.

    “We contacted our Marine commanders on the front lines. These are guys who have been in combat since the beginning of the operation,” the governor said on Telegram.

    Kozhemyako added the combat commander had emphasized that the deaths of the (Primorsky) troops were considerably exaggerated.

    “I also know at first hand that our fighters showed at Pavlivka, as well as during the whole special military operation, true heroism and unprecedented courage. We inflicted serious damage on the enemy.”

    Kozhemyako said the complaint made by the soldiers had been sent to the military prosecutor’s office.

    Russia’s defense ministry issued a rare public response to criticism of the military operation in Donetsk, denying that its forces suffered “high, pointless losses in people and equipment.”

    Russia’s losses in the area of Vuhledar and Pavlivka in the Donetsk region “do not exceed 1% of the combat strength and 7% of the wounded, a significant part of whom have already returned to duty,” the ministry claimed Monday, Russian state media agency TASS reported.

    Russian-backed military officials have said Ukrainian forces are weakening the Kremlin's offensive in the Donetsk region.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fierce battle for Donetsk “remains the epicenter of the biggest madness of the occupiers” and refuted Kozhemyako’s claims that Moscow’s losses were “not that big.”

    “They are dying in hundreds every day,” Zelensky added. “The ground in front of the Ukrainian positions is literally littered with the bodies of the occupiers.”

    Noting that the governor was some 9,000 kilometers (around 5,500 miles) from the frontlines, Zelensky said: “The governor probably can see better from there how many military men and in what way are being sent for slaughter from his region. Or he was simply ordered to lie.”

    Social media and drone videos in the past few days show numerous Russian tanks and other armored vehicles being struck around Pavlivka, which is about 50 kilometers southwest of Donetsk and has been on the front lines for several months.

    The Ukrainian military released footage showing two Russian T-72B tanks and three BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles struck by Ukrainian artillery and anti-tank systems, with senior officials referencing repelled attacks of intense shelling in the area.

    “The enemy is losing the opportunity to implement their plans,” Oleksii Hromov, deputy head of Ukraine’s Operations Directorate of the General Staff, said Thursday.

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  • Ukraine: Photos show cemetery expansion near occupied city

    Ukraine: Photos show cemetery expansion near occupied city

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Satellite photos analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press show a rapid expansion of a cemetery in southern Ukraine in the months after Russian forces seized the port city of Mariupol.

    The images from Planet Labs PBC highlight the changes in the cemetery in Staryi Krym, an occupied town located northwest of the city. Comparing images from March 24, when Mariupol was under attack by the Russians, to one taken Oct. 14, months after the city’s fall, shows significant growth to the cemetery’s southern fringes.

    An area of some 1.1 square kilometers (less than half a square mile) appears to have been freshly dug over that period in the cemetery’s southwestern corner. Another area of just over half a square kilometer was dug in the southeast corner.

    It remains unclear how many people were buried in the cemetery during the roughly seven-month period.

    The Center for Information Resilience, a London-based nonprofit that specializes in digital investigations and has monitored the Staryi Krym cemetery, estimated that more than 4,600 graves have been dug since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    The center said it could not estimate the number of bodies interred. The BBC’s Panorama program first reported on the center’s analysis.

    The suffering of Mariupol’s residents and the stiff fight Ukrainian forces put up from inside a huge steel plant to keep the seaside city from ending up in Russian hands became early touchstones in the war.

    During a nearly three-month siege, a maternity hospital and a theater serving as a shelter were among the sites reduced to ruins. When they finally surrendered, the Ukrainian troops were taken prisoner by the Russians.

    The British Defense Ministry reported Tuesday that Russia has started building defensive structures around the occupied city, including what were likely pyramid-shaped anti-tank structures known as “dragon’s teeth” between Mariupol and Staryi Krym.

    The ministry did not give the source of its information, but it said Russian forces were “making a significant effort” to fortify their lines throughout occupied Ukrainian territories, “likely to forestall any rapid Ukrainian advances in the event of breakthroughs.”

    A Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in late August has picked up momentum in the country’s south in recent weeks.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Kyiv residents mull life outside the city as power outages bite and incomes plummet | CNN

    Kyiv residents mull life outside the city as power outages bite and incomes plummet | CNN

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    Kyiv, Ukraine
    CNN
     — 

    Kyiv residents have been getting used to 12 hours a day without electricity, but the situation has gone from bad to worse recently as the Russian missile campaign puts the Ukrainian grid under further pressure, causing even more outages.

    On Monday evening, in a normally busy neighborhood on the east bank of the Dnipro River, almost everything was dark. One cafe was open thanks to a generator, but other stores, including a supermarket, and the apartment buildings had no power.

    Without power, everything takes much longer – just as the temperatures are beginning to drop. There are lines for cash machines, which only work when the power is on, and at stores and welfare centers that provide basic grocery supplies to those in greatest need.

    The power interruptions have led to spontaneous street markets appearing, even though they are unlicensed.

    The people of Kyiv are improvising and adapting as they have for much of this year, but without some relief from the missile attacks, many may choose to leave the city and hunker down for the winter months around a wood-burning stove.

    On Sunday Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor, said the city is preparing for worst-case scenarios in the event of further Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, which could potentially leave it without any power or water. He said: “Our enemies are doing everything to keep the city without heat, electricity, and water supply, and in general, they want us all to die.”

    CNN has spoken to some of the city’s residents about the harsh realities that lie ahead, among them 21-year-old coffee shop barista, Anna Ermantraut.

    When she arrived for work at 8.30 a.m. on Monday, there was no electricity. She said she eventually started work two hours later – but at 12 p.m. the power went out again.

    Ermantraut said the coffee shop’s earnings had more than halved and she could no longer sell many cakes because the refrigerators were off so frequently.

    Life is not much better at home, she told CNN. When the electricity goes there, she also loses the water supply.

    Ermantraut said she had begun thinking about what to do if the power situation further deteriorates and Kyiv is evacuated. She said she planned to move to a house in a nearby village where there is a stove that runs on firewood and a well with water.

    When CNN met 70-year-old pensioner Lubov Mironenko she had been waiting in line for five hours at a welfare center for grocery supplies. The persistent outages have made it difficult to survive, she said.

    Marya Litvinchuk, 29, a hairdresser, said the additional power cuts, in addition to the three scheduled every day, have worsened an already difficult situation.

    When the power was cut off according to a schedule, “you could plan to work, but still, working time was reduced by half.” Of course, that meant that “earnings were also cut by half.”

    In a bid to keep operating, she ordered special lights that run on batteries and bought a generator for $1,000 – even though the average price of a haircut is just $6. There was then more bad news as she discovered that she had been scammed and the generator didn’t work. She now has to take electric clippers home to recharge them overnight.

    Hairdresser Marya Litvinchuk was scammed out of $1,000 for a faulty generator.

    Like Ermantraut, she plans to move to the countryside to stay with relatives if Kyiv is evacuated.

    Yuriy Pogulay, 39, is also suffering financially. Not so long ago the small cafe that Pogulay jointly owns operated between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. – they now struggle to stay open for more than three hours.

    He told CNN that revenue had dropped significantly and that they cannot store food for long as they have tried to minimize using the refrigerator.

    “I ordered a generator, but I don’t know when it will arrive,” he said.

    Pogulay said the business was financially squeezed. “With the generator my costs will increase, but I can’t raise prices because the economic situation of people has worsened.”

    The World Bank has forecast that the Ukrainian economy may contract by 40% or more this year because of the conflict.

    Musician Anton Kargatov has nowhere else to go.

    One man who has suffered less than most is Anton Kargatov, a 36-year-old musician.

    “I play music outdoors, so I don’t need electricity,” said Kargatov, who told CNN he has a sleeping bag and a powerbank at home. “If Kyiv is evacuated, I’m not going anywhere. There’s a well with water not far from my house. And in the backyard I can cook food over a fire. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

    Victoria Storozh works at a pizzeria in downtown Kyiv; the business suffers fewer power cuts than some as it is located in an area close to government buildings. Even so, she said: “My husband and I are ready in case we all have to evacuate, we have a stock of firewood and water at our dacha in the Kyiv region. We will live through the hard times there.”

    Serhey Kizilov, 23, is a rehabilitation coach who works out of a basement gym. Lighting is just one of the issues he faces, he told CNN.

    “Our whole sewage system depends on pumps running on electricity. Also our ventilation system,” he said. “Even if we can make the rooms light when there is no electricity, we can’t do anything about the sewage and ventilation.

    “My income suffers also, because there are fewer people in the hall – not everyone wants to practice in such conditions.”

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  • Ukraine frets about US midterms

    Ukraine frets about US midterms

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    There is mounting anxiety about what Tuesday’s American midterm elections may mean for Ukraine and U.S. support for the country, amid fears that a Republican surge could weaken American backing for Kyiv.

    Ukrainian officials and lawmakers are scrutinizing the opinion polls and parsing the comments of their counterparts.

    “We hope that for our sake that we don’t become a victim to the partisan debate that’s unfolding right now in the U.S.,” Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a former Ukrainian deputy prime minister and now opposition lawmaker, told POLITICO. “That’s the fear, because we are very much seriously dependent on not only American support, but also on the U.S. leadership in terms of keeping up the common effort of other nations.”  

    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the potential next speaker if the Republicans prevail, said last month that there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine if the House comes back under Republican control. The Biden administration has tried to assuage concerns about the government’s commitment to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, but populist Republican sentiment in Congress is urging less support for Kyiv and more attention on U.S. domestic problems.  

    “I’m worried about the Trump wing of the GOP,” said Mia Willard, a Ukrainian-American living and working in Kyiv. “I have recently read about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s promise that ‘not another penny will go to Ukraine’ if Republicans retake control of Congress.”

    According to the latest poll data, the Republicans are favored to take over the House and possibly the Senate in Tuesday’s voting.

    “I do hope that regardless of the election results,” said Willard, “there will be a continued bipartisan consensus on supporting Ukraine amid Russia’s genocide of the Ukrainian people, which I cannot call anything but a genocide after firsthand witnessing Russia’s war crimes in the now de-occupied territories,” said Willard, who is a researcher at the International Centre for Policy Studies in the Ukrainian capital.

    Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is confident that U.S. military and financial support for his country will continue after the midterms. “I don’t see a critical number of people among the Republicans calling for cuts in aid,” he told POLITICO. At the same time, Klimkin acknowledged that the procedure for congressional consideration of Ukraine aid may become more complex.

    Klimkin said he believes that the U.S. stance toward Ukraine is “critical” for Washington beyond the Ukrainian conflict — “not only with respect to Russia, but also to how the U.S. will be perceived by China.”

    Voters line up outside the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections center in Cleveland, Ohio | Dustin Franz/AFP via Getty Images

    For Ukraine, Klimkin said the “real risk” is the debate taking place in Washington on both sides of the aisle about the fact that “the United States is giving much more than all of Europe” to Kyiv’s war effort.

    According to the Kiel Institute of the World Economy, the U.S. has brought its total commitments in military, financial and humanitarian aid to over €52 billion, while EU countries and institutions have collectively reached just over €29 billion. 

    “The U.S. is now committing nearly twice as much as all EU countries and institutions combined. This is a meager showing for the bigger European countries, especially since many of their pledges are arriving in Ukraine with long delays,” said Christoph Trebesch, head of the team compiling the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine support tracker.

    Europe’s stance

    If the Republicans prevail in Tuesday’s vote, the anxiety is also that without U.S. leadership, Ukraine would slip down the policy agenda of Europe, too, depriving Ukraine of the backing the country needs for “victory over the Russian monster,” Klympush-Tsintsadze said.

    If the worst happened and U.S. support weakens following the midterms, Klympush-Tsintsadze said she has some hopes that Europe would still stand firm. She has detected in Europe “much more sobriety in the assessment of what Russia is and what it can do, and I hope there would be enough voices there in Europe, too, to ensure there’s no weakening of support,” she said.

    Others are less sanguine about how stout and reliable the Europeans would be without Washington goading and galvanizing. Several officials and lawmakers pointed to the Balkan wars of the 1990s and how the Clinton administration stood back, arguing the Europeans should take the lead only to have to intervene diplomatically and militarily later.

    “We in Ukraine have been watching closely the developments in the USA and what configuration the Congress will have after the midterm elections,” said Iuliia Osmolovska, chair of the Transatlantic Dialogue Center and a senior fellow at GLOBSEC, a global think-tank headquartered in Bratislava. 

    A local resident rides a bicycle on a street in Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 14, 2022 | Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

    “This might impact the existing determination of the U.S. political establishment to continue supporting Ukraine, foremost militarily. Especially given voices from some Republicans that call for freezing the support to Ukraine,” she said.

    But Osmolovska remains hopeful, noting that “Ukraine has been enjoying bipartisan support in the war with Russia since the very first days of the invasion in February this year.” She also believes President Joe Biden would have wiggle room to act more independently when it comes to military assistance to Ukraine without seeking approval from Congress thanks to legislation already on the books. 

    But she doesn’t exclude “the risk of some exhaustion” from allies, arguing that Ukraine needs to redouble diplomacy efforts to prevent that from happening. What needs to be stressed, she said, is that “our Western partners only benefit from enabling Ukraine to defeat Russia as soon as possible” — as a protracted conflict is in no one’s interest.

    “There’s a feeling in the air that we’re winning in the war, although it is far from over,” said Glib Dovgych, a software engineer in Kyiv.

    “If the flow of money and equipment goes down, it won’t mean our defeat, but it will mean a much longer war with much higher human losses. And since many other allies are looking at the U.S. in their decisions to provide support to us, if the U.S. decreases the scale of their help, other countries like Germany, France and Italy would probably follow suit,” Dovgych said.

    Yaroslav Azhnyuk, president and co-founder of Petcube, a technology company that develops smart devices for pets, says “it’s obvious that opinions on how to end Russia’s war on Ukraine are being used for internal political competition within the U.S.”

    He worries about the influence on American political opinion also of U.S.-based entrepreneurs and investors, mentioning David Sacks, Elon Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya, among others. “They have publicly shared concerning views, saying that Ukraine should cede Crimea to Russia, or that the U.S. should stop supporting Ukraine to avoid a global nuclear war.”

    Azhnyuk added: “I get it, nukes are scary. But what happens in the next 5-10 years after Ukraine cedes any piece of its territory or the conflict is frozen. Such a scenario would signal to the whole world that nuclear terrorism works.”

    Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that regardless of the results of the U.S. midterms, Kyiv is “confident” that bipartisan support for Ukraine will remain in both chambers of the Congress. Both the Republicans and Democrats have voiced their solidarity with Ukraine, and this stance would remain “a reflection of the will of the American people,” he said.

    The Ukrainian side counts on America’s leadership in important issues of defense assistance, in particular in expanding the capacity of the Ukrainian air defense system, financial support, strengthening sanctions against Moscow, and recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, Podolyak told POLITICO.

    And this isn’t just about Ukraine, said Klympush-Tsintsadze, the former deputy premier.

    “Too many things in the world depend on this war,” she said. “It’s not only about restoring our territorial integrity. It’s not only about our freedom and our chance for the future, our survival as a nation and our survival as a country — it will have drastic consequences for the geopolitics of the world,” Klympush-Tsintsadze said.

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    Jamie Dettmer and Sergei Kuznetsov

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  • The Russians Have Lost Nearly 300 Aircraft Over Ukraine—Mostly Drones

    The Russians Have Lost Nearly 300 Aircraft Over Ukraine—Mostly Drones

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    Ukrainian troops have brought down 278 Russian aircraft in the eight months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, said last week.

    That’s almost certainly an exaggeration. But not by much. Independent analysts have confirmed, through photo and video evidence, the destruction of 184 Russian aircraft. The Ukrainians have captured another 73 aircraft from the Russians for a total of 257 confirmed Russian losses.

    But here’s the catch. Most of the losses—and all of the captures—are small drones, which don’t cost very much and are easier than crewed aircraft for the Kremlin to replace.

    That caveat doesn’t abrogate Zaluzhnyi’s statement, however. Russia’s aerial losses over Ukraine are steep. “During the full-scale aggression, defenders of Ukraine destroyed twice as many Russian aircraft as the Soviet Union lost during the 10-year war in Afghanistan,” Zaluzhnyi claimed.

    Ukrainian fighters, ground-based air-defenses and saboteurs since February have destroyed 55 Russian fighters and 54 helicopters. Another five fighters and a transport plane have crashed while operating in or around Ukraine.

    That’s just three percent of the entire active inventory of crewed aircraft belonging to the Russian air force, navy and army. But the losses are concentrated among the newest and most sophisticated front-line types. The Kremlin has written off 15% of its best Sukhoi Su-34 strike fighters and no less than a quarter of its top attack helicopters, the Kamov Ka-52s.

    Foreign sanctions on the Russian aerospace industry, which have tightened since February, have squeezed the industry’s ability to replace the losses. The Kremlin wasn’t buying new aircraft very quickly even before the tighter sanctions.

    Now it’s buying them even slower. “Russia’s aircraft losses likely significantly outstrip their capacity to manufacture new airframes,” the U.K. Defense Ministry explained. It could be a decade or more before flying regiments are back to full strength.

    The manpower crunch might be worse. It’s unclear how many pilots have died in the shoot-downs and crashes. The reasonable assumption is: a lot. The two-man Ka-52 crews likely are dying at an especially high rate. To understand why, watch any video of a Ukrainian missile striking a hovering Ka-52.

    The loss of experienced crews could be even more catastrophic to the Russian air arms than the loss of airframes is. “The time required for the training of competent pilots further reduces Russia’s ability to regenerate combat air capability,” the U.K. Defense Ministry said.

    There’s growing pressure for the Russian air force, navy and army to speed new crews through flight training. But inadequate training already was a factor in Russia’s heavy aircraft losses. A training shortfall is likely to become an even bigger factor as green crews rush into combat.

    At the same time, Ukrainian air-defenses are expanding with the recent arrival of U.S.-made NASAMS and Spanish-made Aspide missile-batteries. Germany meanwhile has supplied Ukraine with 50 Gepard mobile guns. The sky over Ukraine isn’t getting safer for Russian crews.

    The only comfort for Russian planners and pilots, and it’s a cold one, is that Ukraine has lost a lot of aircraft, too.

    True, Ukrainian losses—51 fighters, four transports, 18 helicopters and 48 drones—are half as bad as Russian losses. But the Ukrainians have fewer aircraft to spare. The Ukrainian air force began the wider war with just 125 or so active fighters and bombers and by now has written off 40% of them.

    Just three things are preventing the Ukrainian air force’s extinction. The steady reduction in the Ukrainian loss-rate as Russian capabilities erode; the pipeline of spare parts from foreign donors that helps the Ukrainians keep existing planes flying; and Ukrainian technicians’ incredible ability to restore old airframes left over from the Soviet era—in particular, Sukhoi Su-24 bombers.

    As the war grinds into its first full winter, both sides are losing pilots and planes at rates they can’t sustain. As a result, neither side has a clear advantage in the air. What’s striking, however, is that the Ukrainian air force with 125 combat aircraft has managed to fight to a standstill Russian air arms together operating 10 times as many front-line planes.

    Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website or some of my other work here. Send me a secure tip. 

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    David Axe, Forbes Staff

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  • Orthodox Church of Ukraine to allow Christmas on December 25 as rift with Moscow deepens | CNN

    Orthodox Church of Ukraine to allow Christmas on December 25 as rift with Moscow deepens | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A branch of Ukraine’s Orthodox church has announced that it will allow its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25, rather than January 7, as is traditional in Orthodox congregations.

    The announcement by the Kyiv-headquartered Orthodox Church of Ukraine widens the rift between the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox believers that has deepened due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    The decision came after “taking into account the numerous requests and taking into account the discussion that has been going on for many years in the Church and in society; predicting, in particular due to the circumstances of the war, the escalation of calendar disputes in the public space,” the Orthodox Church of Ukraine said in a statement published October 18.

    Each church will have the option to celebrate on December 25, which marks the birth of Jesus according to the Gregorian calendar, rather than January 7, which marks the birth of Jesus according to the Julian calendar, still used by the Russian Orthodox Church.

    In recent years a large part of the Orthodox community in Ukraine has moved away from Moscow, a movement accelerated by the conflict Russia stoked in eastern Ukraine beginning in 2014.

    That schism became more open in 2018, after Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople – a Greek cleric who is considered the spiritual leader of Orthodox believers worldwide – endorsed the establishment of an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine and revoked a centuries-old agreement that granted the Patriarch in Moscow authority over churches in the country.

    The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has become closely entwined with the Russian state under Russian President Vladimir Putin, responded by cutting ties with Bartholomew.

    Then in May the leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), another branch which had been formally subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, broke ties with the Moscow church, which is led by Patriarch Kirill, who has given his support to the invasion of Ukraine and has put his church firmly behind Putin.

    Ukrainian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7, 2016.

    In a statement, the UOC said it had opted for the “full independence and autonomy” of the Ukrainian church.

    The emergence of a church independent of Moscow has infuriated Putin, who has made restoration of the so-called “Russian world” a centerpiece of his foreign policy and has dismissed Ukrainian national identity as illegitimate.

    And Kirill remains outspoken in his support of the invasion, announcing in September that Russian soldiers who die in the war against Ukraine will be cleansed of all their sins.

    “He is sacrificing himself for others,” he said. “I am sure that such a sacrifice washes away all sins that a person has committed.”

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  • Russian Marines Are Getting Killed And Wounded By The Hundreds In Ukraine

    Russian Marines Are Getting Killed And Wounded By The Hundreds In Ukraine

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    In April 2021 the Russian navy’s 40th Naval Infantry Brigade, based on the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia, was busy showing off what it could do on an Arctic battlefield.

    In one photo-opportunity, brigade troopers wearing white camouflage boarded An-12 and An-26 transport aircraft, parachuted onto a snowy Arctic expanse and donned skis in order to march across the frigid landscape.

    A year later, the brigade was en route to eastern Ukraine, far more temperate country than it had trained to fight in. Having buried or sent to hospitals as many as 50,000 of the 125,000 or so troops it had deployed to Ukraine back in February, the Kremlin this spring was desperate for reinforcements.

    The 40th Naval Infantry Brigade, one of several Russian marine corps units that had spent years preparing for Arctic warfare, was available. A few months later, it would suffer devastating casualties in a doomed assault on the Ukrainian garrison in Pavlivka, 28 miles southwest of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

    The 40th Naval Infantry Brigade along with the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, its sister formation in the Russian Pacific fleet, lost as many as 300 troops killed, wounded or missing in assaults on and around Pavlivka no later than Friday.

    At their peak, the two brigades together oversaw some 6,000 troops. The 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade lost much of its strength trying, and failing, to capture Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv in February and March.

    The 40th Naval Infantry Brigade—which like its sister brigade includes several motorized brigades, a tank brigade and supporting engineers, artillery and air-defense troops—arrived later, after the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade already had redeployed from Kyiv Oblast to eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

    The 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade and 40th Naval Infantry Brigade arrayed along the sector of the eastern front stretching the five or so miles from Pavlivka to Yehorivka. They faced battle-hardened Ukrainian forces including the 72nd Mechanized Brigade.

    On paper, the Russian marines at least were an even match for the Ukrainians. In reality, the Ukrainians were better-armed, better-supplied and better-motivated than the Russians were.

    The Ukrainians with their new Polish-made howitzers and American-made rocket-launchers in May began targeting Russian supply lines. By August, the Russians were starving and running out of ammunition—and the Ukrainians knew it.

    Ukrainian brigades counterattacked in the south and east. The Russian reeled, leaving behind many hundreds of tanks, fighting vehicles and artillery pieces as they fled. In a heady few weeks of relentless attacks, the Ukrainians liberated thousands of square miles of Russian-occupied territory.

    While most of the Russian forces in Ukraine retreated, a few airborne and marine brigades—as well as mercenaries working for The Wagner Group, a shadow mercenary firm—in recent weeks launched isolated attacks that, in the wider scheme of things, made little military sense. Analysts assumed The Wagner Group was trying to project strength in order to grow its market-share in the Russian war industry.

    What the 40th Naval Infantry Brigade and 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade were trying to achieve last week in their lonely assaults on or around Pavlivka, is unclear. In any event, they both failed. Russian sources claim at least 63 of the 155th GNIB’s troopers died in four days. That apparently is more than perished in the worst fighting in Chechnya more than 20 years ago.

    Another 240 or so marines from the 155th and 40th Brigades were killed or wounded or went missing, Russian sources claimed. The same sources reported the two brigades lost half of their equipment—potentially scores of T-80 tanks and BMP and BTR fighting vehicles—in the dead-end attacks on Pavlivka.

    Brigade troopers blamed the new commander of Russia’s Eastern Military District, Lt. Gen. Rustam Muradov.

    But the problem is wider than that. Ukrainian troops are advancing. Russian troops are falling back. A few isolated countercounteroffensives can’t change that. “Once again we were thrown into the incomprehensible offensive,” the 40th Naval Infantry Brigade veterans moaned on social media.

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  • Ukrainians prep for a possible Russian nuclear attack

    Ukrainians prep for a possible Russian nuclear attack

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    KYIV — There’s a nuclear threat hanging over Ukraine.

    The atomic saber rattling by the Kremlin ranges from President Vladimir Putin’s threat to defend illegally annexed Ukrainian territory “by all means available,” to increasingly unhinged comments from former President Dmitry Medvedev and Moscow’s (false) hints that Ukraine is developing a nuclear “dirty bomb” — something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned might be Russia preparing for a so-called false flag attack.

    For many Ukrainians, these are far from empty words and the country is getting ready.

    The Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation in downtown Kyiv has one bomb shelter in the carpark below the building to protect staff from conventional Russian attacks and another to be used in case of a nuclear attack.

    “The second shelter is equipped accordingly. It has a supply of medicines, food, drinking and distilled water, flashlights and batteries,” said TV star Serhiy Prytula, who heads the eponymous foundation.

    “[Predicting the actions of] the Russian military and political leadership is always difficult if you use normal logic. We have been very unfortunate to have this neighbor. This is why anything connected to a nuclear threat should be taken very seriously, as a real threat, and prepare accordingly,” he said.

    The language coming out of Moscow is worrying.

    Earlier this month, Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, warned that Kyiv’s aim to recapture all of its lost territory “is a threat to the existence of our state and of a dismemberment of today’s Russia,” something he said was a “direct reason” to implement Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

    The Russian military is on the back foot in Ukraine and setting off a nuclear weapon could be seen as a desperate measure by the Kremlin to force a halt in the war.

    Kyiv’s reaction to Medvedev was swift.

    An Ukrainian Emergency Ministry rescuer attends an exercise in the city of Zaporizhzhia on August 17, 2022, in case of a possible nuclear incident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant | Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images

    Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, branded his nuclear threats “an act of suicide,” saying: “Russia will finally turn into enemy No. 1 for the whole world.”

    Even Russia’s ally China is warning about the danger of using nuclear weapons. Last week, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said: “Nuclear weapons cannot be used, a nuclear war cannot be waged.”

    U.S. President Joe Biden told Putin that it would be an “incredibly serious mistake” to use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

    Brace brace

    Those international warnings aren’t stopping Ukrainians from prepping for the worst.

    The authorities in the Kyiv region have hundreds of shelters that could be used in case of nuclear attack. 

    “The past eight months have taught us that anything can happen. As an official, I am preparing for the worst-case scenario, but I hope that everything will be fine,” Oleksii Kuleba, head of the capital region’s military administration, told local media. 

    Kuleba said the shelters are below ground, have ventilation, two entrances, and by November 15 should be equipped with radio sets — which Ukrainian authorities believe might be the only means of communications after a nuclear attack.

    Ukraine’s government bodies have also recently published detailed instructions — informed by the country’s experience with the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster — on what to do in case of a nuclear strike.

    Secretary of the National security and defence council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

    “The use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine is considered unlikely, and the main purpose of these threats is to scare Ukrainians and the world and force us to make concessions, and our partners to weaken their support for Ukraine,” say the instructions, which then add: “At the same time, Ukrainians must have an action plan in case of any emergency situations: the use of nuclear weapons, a ‘dirty bomb’ or in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant.”

    The instructions detail everything from not looking at the blast — “when you notice a flash in the sky (or its reflection), in no case look in that direction” — to covering your ears to prevent damage from a shock wave and removing clothing that has been exposed to radiation. “Run for cover as soon as you can get back on your feet and when the blast wave from the use of nuclear weapons has passed,” they say.

    In early October, the capital city’s administration said the city has enough potassium iodide pills — medicine to help prevent the absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland — to distribute to medical facilities and family doctors “in case of a radiation threat or a radiation emergency.”

    “If evacuation is necessary, potassium iodide will be distributed at evacuation points to members of the population who were exposed to the radiation zone, in accordance with the recommendations of medical professionals,” the administration added.

    Meanwhile, many Kyiv residents are taking their own preventive measures.

    Kristina Riabchyna, a sustainable stylist living in Kyiv and originally from Donetsk, has bought iodine tablets from a local pharmacy. 

    “I really want to believe that there won’t be a nuclear attack. But unfortunately, we have this insufferable neighbor, so we have no choice but to believe that this absurd thing might actually be possible,” she said.

    “Buying potassium iodide was probably a way of coping with the fear,” Riabchyna added. “What I mean is, I have done what I can at this stage, for my safety and for my loved ones, I haven’t ignored the danger and this means I can carry on living my life. But it goes without saying that I understand that this isn’t a countermeasure that will save us if this threat becomes reality.”

    Mykhailo, 49, and his mother in a school’s bomb shelter where they have stayed for nearly two months on June 4, 2022 in Velyka Novosilka, Ukraine | Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images

    Foreigners in Kyiv are taking similar measures. 

    In recent weeks, staff working for an EU-funded project — they asked that the project not be identified — received thorough instructions on what to do in case of a nuclear attack or the use of a dirty bomb — a conventional bomb laced with radioactive material.

    “Nuclear explosions can cause significant damage and casualties from blast, heat, and radiation but there are steps you can take to try to mitigate against the impact,” the instructions said, recommending that, “If warned of an imminent attack, immediately get inside the nearest building, ideally under ground, and move away from windows.”

    The instructions go on to explain how to wash off radioactive fallout, how an electromagnetic pulse can damage electronic equipment and listen for advice on possible evacuation.

    If the attack is a tactical nuclear strike on the frontlines far from Kyiv, then, “The only plan of action for our Kyiv-based staff in such a case is to jump into cars and to be on the border [with Poland] within a couple of hours,” said an EU national with the program, speaking on condition of not being identified.

    Ukrainian troops on the front lines have been given potassium iodine tablets and also received training on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack — although spokespeople from the defense ministry and the military would not specify what those instructions were.

    For Prytula, the charity boss, the danger of a nuclear attack won’t end soon.

    “The threat of a nuclear weapon being used against Ukraine, or indeed any other country in the world, will be real as long as the Russian Federation exists,” he said. 

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  • Sunday, November 6. Russia’s War On Ukraine: Daily News And Information From Ukraine

    Sunday, November 6. Russia’s War On Ukraine: Daily News And Information From Ukraine

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    Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 256.

    As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes gathers information and provides updates on the situation.

    By Polina Rasskazova

    On Friday, November 4th, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Andriy Yermak in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sullivan attended a news briefing in Kyiv, stating the United States’ support for Ukraine would remain “unwavering and unflinching” following next Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections.

    In Ukraine, 20% of nature reserves and 3 million hectares of forests have been affected by the war, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Ukraine. According to the WWF, 2.9 million hectares of the Emerald network are at risk now. These territories are a significant part of the nature protection network of Europe. To date, 16 Ramsar sites with an area of almost 600,000 hectares are under threat of destruction. They have the status of wetlands of international importance due to their unique biodiversity. Eight nature reserves and 10 national natural parks remain occupied. Three million hectares of Ukrainian forests are affected by the war.

    External power has been restored to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) two days after it lost all access to the national electricity grid as a result of shelling by the Russian Army. “I have repeatedly called for the urgent establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to prevent a nuclear accident. We can’t afford to lose any more time. We must act before it is too late,” said Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a statement released November 5. The agency’s message also states that, in recent weeks, Grossi has engaged in high-level talks with both Ukraine and Russia aimed at agreeing to implement such a zone around the ZNPP as soon as possible.

    Kherson. Kherson and about 10 other towns in the Kherson region were left without water and electricity due to damage to high-voltage power transmission lines. This was reported by the first deputy chairman of the Kherson Regional Council, Yuriy Sobolevsky. “The terror and cynicism of the occupiers continues and has not disappeared. Fear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces pushes them to do crazy things,” said Sobolevsky.

    Zaporizhzhia. At night, Russian troops launched 2 missile strikes on the regional center. The result of the attack was the destruction of a two-story building housing a commercial enterprise. A fire broke out in an area of 800 square meters. According to the head of Zaporizhzhіa Regional State Administration, Oleksandr Starukh, one person died. Another missile hit the private sector. “Windows of private buildings and two cars were damaged by the blast wave and debris,” said Starukh.

    Sumy Region. According to the head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, Dmytro Zhivytskyi, 72 Russian projectiles landed in one of the communities of the region during the day. “At noon, the enemy fired from barrel artillery. There were direct hits in the building. Later, the same community was also shelled with the rocket salvo system,” reported Zhivytskyi. As a result of the Russian attack, shrapnel killed a local 62-year-old woman who was in a garden during the shelling, and another person was injured.

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    Katya Soldak, Forbes Staff

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  • Ukraine warns of Russian

    Ukraine warns of Russian

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    Kyiv, Ukraine — Russian forces are stepping up their strikes in a fiercely contested region of eastern Ukraine, worsening the already tough conditions for residents and the defending army following Moscow’s illegal annexation and declaration of martial law in Donetsk province, Ukrainian authorities said.

    The attacks have almost completely destroyed the power plants that serve the city of Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the region’s Ukrainian governor, said. Shelling killed one civilians and wounded three, he reported late Saturday.

    “The destruction is daily, if not hourly,” Kyrylenko said in a state television interview.

    Moscow-backed separatists controlled part of Donetsk for nearly eight years before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Protecting the separatists’ self-proclaimed republic there was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justifications for the invasion, and his troops have spent months trying to capture the entire province.

    While Russia’s “greatest brutality” was focused in the Donetsk region, “constant fighting” continued elsewhere along the front line that stretches more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

    Between Saturday and Sunday, Russia’s launched four missiles and 19 airstrikes impacting more than 35 villages in seven regions, from Chernihiv and Kharkiv in the northeast to Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south, according to the president’s office.

    A view of St. George's male Skete, damaged by fighting, in
    A view of St. George’s male skete, damaged by fighting, in the village of Dolyna in Ukraine.

    Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images


    Russia has focused on striking energy infrastructure over the last month, causing power shortages and rolling outages across the country. The capital, Kyiv, was scheduled to have hourly blackouts rotating Sunday in various parts of the city of some 3 million and the surrounding region.

    Rolling blackouts also were planned in the Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, Ukraine’s state-owned energy operator, Ukrenergo, said in a Telegram post.

    More positive news was the re-connection of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to Ukraine’s power grid, local media reported Sunday. Europe’s largest nuclear plant needs electricity to maintain vital cooling system, but it had been running on emergency diesel generators since Russian shelling severed its outside connections.

    In the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, some 15,000 remaining residents were living under daily shelling and without water or power, according to local media. The city has been under attack for months, but the bombardment picked up after Russian forces experienced setbacks during Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

    In Kharkiv, officials are working to identify bodies found in mass graves after the Russians withdrew, Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesperson for the regional prosecutor’s office, said in an interview with local media.

    DNA samples have been collected from 450 bodies discovered in a mass grave in the city of Izium, but the samples need to be matched with relatives and so far only 80 people have participated, he said.

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  • Special Report: President Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address

    Special Report: President Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address

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    Special Report: President Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address – CBS News


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    In his State of the Union address, President Biden vowed a united response against Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and he laid out his domestic priorities, including plans for strengthening the U.S. economy. Norah O’Donnell anchors CBS News coverage of the president’s address and the Republican response.

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 256

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 256

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    Here is the situation as it stands on Sunday, November 6.

    Fighting

    • Iran for the first time confirmed it sold drones to Russia, but said this happened “months” before the start of the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.
    • External power has been restored to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant two days after it was disconnected from the power grid because shelling damaged high-voltage lines.
    • The operator of Ukraine’s grid, targeted by Russian air strikes in recent weeks, said it would step up rolling blackouts in the capital, Kyiv, and seven Ukrainian regions in response to what it said was increased electricity consumption.
    • Ukrainian attackers shot and seriously wounded judge Alexander Nikulin in an eastern Russian-controlled region of Ukraine. He had sentenced two Britons and a Moroccan to death in June.

    Diplomacy

    • US President Joe Biden’s administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, The Washington Post reported. The White House National Security Council had no comment on the accuracy of the report.
    • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of wanting to “freeze” Ukraine into submission as Moscow’s campaign against its energy network had left about 4.5 million people without power.
    • German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, under fire for a trip to Beijing with German CEOs, said his joint statement with Chinese President Xi Jinping opposing the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine had been reason enough for the visit.

    Economy

    • Georgia is on course to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year following a dramatic influx of more than 100,000 Russians since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s mobilisation drive to drum up war recruits.

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  • Iran admits to supplying Russia with military drones in war against Ukraine

    Iran admits to supplying Russia with military drones in war against Ukraine

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    Iran admits to supplying Russia with military drones in war against Ukraine – CBS News


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    After repeatedly denying its involvement in the war in Ukraine, Iran admitted to supplying Russia with military drones. Despite the military aid, however, Russia is continuing to experience heavy losses on the battlefield. Holly Williams has more.

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  • Buy Artillery Or Buy Coffins: The Russian Marine Corps’ Dire Choice As Its Troops Die In Record Numbers

    Buy Artillery Or Buy Coffins: The Russian Marine Corps’ Dire Choice As Its Troops Die In Record Numbers

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    A Russian marine brigade reportedly lost 63 troops in a doomed, two-day assault on Ukrainian positions in eastern Ukraine on or before Nov. 4.

    It apparently was one of the worst single-operation losses for the small Russian marine corps since before the Chechen wars in the 1990s.

    Worse for the Kremlin’s war effort, Russia’s marines—or “naval infantry,” if you will—are some of its best remaining troops after eight months of grinding warfare against an increasingly determined, experienced and well-armed Ukrainian military.

    Russia’s best forces are getting ground up in Ukraine, leaving the worst forces—including the 300,000 unhappy, unfit draftees the army rounded up this fall—to do more of the fighting.

    The doomed Russian assault targeted the Ukrainian garrison in Pavlivka, 28 miles southwest of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. The garrison repelled the Russian attack, the Ukrainian general staff reported on Friday.

    The Russian Pacific Fleet’s 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade has been the main Russian formation along that sector since this summer. The brigade, based in Vladivostok, has been in Ukraine since Russia widened its eight-year war on Ukraine back in late February.

    The brigade with its 3,000 troops and hundreds of T-80 tanks, BMP-3 and BTR-82 fighting vehicles, mortars and artillery was part of the Russian force that tried, and failed, to capture Kyiv in the early weeks of the wider war.

    Battered by stiffening Ukrainian defense, its supply lines fraying, the brigade in April joined the Russian retreat from Kyiv Oblast. The 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade withdrew to Belarus then redeployed to Donbas, where it threw its remaining battalions at Ukrainian defenses between Yehorivka and Pavlivka.

    It didn’t always go well for the marines. A video that circulated in August depicts two of the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade’s BMPs racing across a field in the direction of Yehorivka—and triggering powerful anti-tank mines.

    Another video, from the Ukrainian army’s 72nd Mechanized Brigade, in essence is a montage of destruction as 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade T-80s and BMPs explode.

    But the worst losses came later, as the marine brigade tried to pry the Ukrainians from Pavlivka. The Ukrainians reportedly had artillery superiority—a reversal of the pre-war balance of forces and a testimony to the Ukrainian military’s months-long effort to target Russian supply lines and artillery batteries.

    Without enough 122-millimeter shells of its own, the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade can’t suppress Ukraine’s big guns. Its troopers are defenseless. “Either the country will mass-produce 122-millimeter shells, or it will mass-produce coffins,” a Russian officer told one blogger in reference to the Pavlivka fight.

    It’s worth noting that, along most of the front extending all the way from Donbas south to Kherson Oblast on the Black Sea coast—a distance of hundreds of miles—Russian forces mostly are retreating or digging in, not attacking. Twin Ukrainian counteroffensives that kicked off in the east and south back in late August have got them on the run.

    In the few places where Russian troops are attacking—Pavlivka and also Bakhmut—they’re suffering heavy casualties … and gaining nothing.

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    David Axe, Forbes Staff

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  • Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time

    Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow’s war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv.

    The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones slamming into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets.

    “We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war,” Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran.

    Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine. Just earlier this week, Iran’s Ambassador to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani called the allegations “totally unfounded” and reiterated Iran’s position of neutrality in the war. The U.S. and its Western allies on the Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.

    Even so, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has vaguely boasted of providing drones to the world’s top powers. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has extolled the efficacy of the drones and mocked Western hand-wringing over their danger. During state-backed demonstrations to mark the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover on Friday, crowds waved placards of the triangle-shaped drones as a point of national pride.

    As he acknowledged the shipment, Amirabdollahian claimed on Saturday that Iran was oblivious to the use of its drones in Ukraine. He said Iran remained committed to stopping the conflict.

    “If (Ukraine) has any documents in their possession that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine, they should provide them to us,” he said. “If it is proven to us that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue.”

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  • Global statesmen: Only diplomacy can end Ukraine war

    Global statesmen: Only diplomacy can end Ukraine war

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    UNITED NATIONS — Only dialogue and diplomacy can end the devastating war in Ukraine, with total victory on the battlefield impossible for either warring party, members of a group of prominent former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela said Friday.

    The group, known as The Elders, delivered that message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, telling him on a visit to Kyiv this summer that he must start considering a way out of the conflict, former Irish president Mary Robinson who chairs the group know as The Elders said in a meeting with Associated Press executives.

    “We need to encourage more thinking about how it will end in order to get the idea that this needs to end, as opposed to increasing the military arsenal on both sides and the devastation to the population in Ukraine,” said Robinson, who also served as U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

    The Elders have condemned Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as “a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and a reckless, unjustifiable act of aggression that threatens to destabilize world peace and security.” In late September, The Elders also condemned Russia’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions and defended Ukraine’s right to defend its territory and sovereignty.

    Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, a previous U.N. human rights commissioner, agreed that diplomacy and negotiation were the only way out of the war, but he stressed that did not mean asking Ukraine to cede its sovereignty, since it was the victim of unprovoked Russian aggression.

    He hinted that a settlement of the conflict could instead involve Russia receiving a concession “from another direction,” a possible reference to NATO, or one of its key members. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long complained the Western alliance has been pushing closer to its borders, a reality he has cited in justifying the invasion.

    Former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo said that despite economic sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States “the flow of resources to finance this war has continued,” including the huge influx of oil revenue to Russia.

    “I think there should be less hypocrisy about the way in which this bellicose economic war is being fought,” he said.

    Zedillo also accused Russia of committing crimes that the International Criminal Court is charged with addressing — genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity — and that have to be decided by “due process.”

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  • Ukrainian soldier recalls combat on front lines

    Ukrainian soldier recalls combat on front lines

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    Ukrainian soldier recalls combat on front lines – CBS News


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    Holly Williams shares the harrowing story of a Ukrainian soldier she previously met who survived months on the frontlines in the war against Russia.

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  • Friday, November 4. Russia’s War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine

    Friday, November 4. Russia’s War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine

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    Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 254.

    As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes gathers information and provides updates on the situation.

    By Polina Rasskazova

    Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange with Russia, freeing 107 soldiers, the Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, reported. As a result of the exchange, six officers and 101 privates and sergeants, including 74 defenders of Azovstal, were returned home. “We managed to exchange seriously injured and bedridden from Mariupol, from “Azovstal,” boys with shrapnel wounds of arms and legs, gunshot wounds of various parts of the body,” said Yermak. Since March 16, 1,138 civilians and military personnel have been freed from Russian captivity by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

    Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) did not find the so-called “dirty bomb” in Ukraine that was alleged by Russia. The IAEA Inspectors have completed their in-field verification activities at three locations in Ukraine at the request of the Government of Ukraine, reported the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Inspectors visited the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv, Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Zhovti Vody, and Production Association Pivdennyi Machine-Building Plant in Dnipro. “Our technical and scientific evaluation of the results we have so far did not show any sign of undeclared nuclear activities and materials at these three locations. Additionally, we will report on the results of the environmental sampling as soon as possible,” said the Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. Russian accusations of creating a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine have been denied by the most authoritative organization in the field of nuclear security.

    After the International Atomic Energy Agency’s confirmed that the Ukrainian authorities are not misusing nuclear materials, the Kremlin regime may try to transfer the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant into the Russian energy system, the Institute for the Study of War (IWS
    IWS
    ) reports. “ Russian authorities seek to force the transfer of the ZNPP to the Russian power grid by painting Russian control as the only viable option to provide electricity to the ZNPP and heat to Enerhodar and the surrounding area,” said IWS. At this time, the IAEA stated that backup generators are powering the ZNPP and have enough fuel for 15 days. According to the IWS, Russian occupation authorities may transfer the ZNPP to the Russian power grid within this 15-day timeline.

    Kyiv residents continue to have power outages. According to the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, on the morning of November 4, 450,000 homes of Kyiv residents remained without electricity. “This is one and a half times more than in previous days,” said Klitschko. Stabilizing shutdowns occur due to overloading of the central node of the country’s power system.

    Donetsk Region. According to the head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, on November 3 Russian forces killed 8 civilians in the Donetsk region. Another 14 people were injured during the day. On November 4, the city of Pokrovsk was the most affected by the Russian army’s attacks. “A school and at least 22 houses were damaged by rocket attacks. One civilian was killed, six others were injured,” said Kyrylenko. “In the city of Bakhmut, the Russians killed at least three people and wounded five more. Nine private houses and one high-rise building were damaged.” Kyrylenko called on all residents of the region to evacuate.

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will appear on the Netflix

    NFLX
     show hosted by American David Letterman.     “David Letterman recently traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine to interview President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for an upcoming episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” as reported on Netflix’s Twitter page. According to Netflix, the standalone special will premiere later this year.

    November 3. Day 253.

    Dnepropetrovsk Region.

    The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, informed the media about a night of Russian attacks in the region. Units of the “East” air command destroyed 4 drones––kamikaze “Shahed-136″––over the Nikopol district. The Russians also attacked energy and water infrastructure facilities in Kryvyi Rih. “There is serious destruction,” said Reznichenko. “All services are working.” Russian shells left more than 1,000 families without electricity in the Marhanets community.

    Microsoft

    MSFT
     Corporation extends support to Ukraine until the end of 2023 and will provide $100 million in technological assistance.     Vice Chair and President of the company, Brad Smith, announced the commitment during a meeting with Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation. Thanks to the promised technological assistance; government institutions, critical infrastructure and other sectors in Ukraine will continue to use digital infrastructure and work in the Microsoft cloud free of charge.

    The company will also help with the curation and implementation of Ukraine’s digital sectors, such as cyber, justice, customs, medicine and education. “Microsoft is a great friend of Ukraine said Fedorov. “It is their cloud technologies that have played a decisive role in the protection of our digital infrastructure and data security of Ukrainians since the beginning of the full-scale war.” The company became one of the first to suspend all new sales of products and services in Russia at the beginning of March. Since then, Ukraine has received more than 400 million dollars of support.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with US Senators Christopher Coons and Rob Portman. The President of Ukraine informed American senators about the situation at the front: Russian missile and drone terror, and also discussed defense and economic assistance to Ukraine. Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude to U.S. President Joe Biden, the White House and its team for the powerful assistance to the Ukrainian army. American senators noted that after the meeting they are going to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to work on accountability for Russian crimes against Ukraine

    It will take at least 2 to 3 months to form a strike group to attack Ukraine from Belarus, reports the General Staff of Ukraine. “Currently, the transfer (of military personnel of the Russian Federation to Belarus) is carried out at the expense of the mobilized. For this strike group, it is necessary to train military personnel. This is not expected in the coming weeks. We think it can be no earlier than in 2 to 3 months,” said Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Oleksiy Gromov at a briefing. Gromov added that Russia is trying to divert Ukraine’s attention and force it to withdraw Ukrainian troops from the east and south and send them to the border with Belarus in the North.

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    Katya Soldak, Forbes Staff

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  • Latest US Drone Transfer to Ukraine Signals Shift in ‘Character of War’

    Latest US Drone Transfer to Ukraine Signals Shift in ‘Character of War’

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    Newswise — General Atomics, the U.S.-based manufacturer of the most advanced armed and networked drone in the world – the MQ-9 Reaper – announced it intends to deliver the capability to Ukraine as part of a broader U.S. defense aid package.

    Paul Lushenko is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and senior policy fellow at Cornell University’s Tech Policy Lab, as well as a doctoral student and co-editor of “Drones and Global Order: Implications of Remote Warfare for International Society.”

    Lushenko says:

    “While the exact timing of the transfer is unclear, the announcement is significant. It signals that U.S. officials have updated their belief for the escalatory potential of providing armed and networked drones to Ukraine, which previously stalled a decision for a potential arms transfer.

    “It suggests that U.S. officials now believe that armed and networked drones have an important role to play in large-scale war, and not just counterterrorism. It also implies U.S. officials are now willing to assume risk for the potential loss of armed and networked drones in Ukraine – an unacceptable prospect weeks ago. 

    “Congressional approval for the sale of armed and networked drones to Ukraine seems to indicate that U.S. officials believe that the conflict has moved into a new phase where drones may play an increasingly important – perhaps the decisive – role. It also suggests that the U.S. is now embroiled in an ‘arms race’ for drones. While this may not change the nature of war, or why it’s fought, it will have important implications for the character of war, or how it’s fought, going forward.”

     -30-

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    Cornell University

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  • Russian Videos Reveal New Details Of Loitering Munitions

    Russian Videos Reveal New Details Of Loitering Munitions

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    Back in July we reported that Russia urgently needed more loitering munitions for battlefield use. While the larger Shahed-136 kamikaze drones supplied by Iran are mainly targeting the Ukrainian power grid, Russia now appears deploying significant numbers of the smaller, more accurate Lancet-3. A series of videos released by the Russian Ministry of Defense reveal some interesting features of this new and dangerous weapon.

    “Lancets may not have been employed in large numbers earlier because Russia’s initial invasion plans and the opening weeks and months of the war did not anticipate massive Ukrainian resistance and therefore the MOD may not have placed enough orders for these to be manufactured in large numbers,” Samuel Bendett, an expert on the Russian defense scene and adviser to the CNA and CNAS think tanks, told Forbes.

    That now seems to have changed, though as we will see the are questions about the actual numbers.

    Made by a subsidiary of the Kalashnikov concern, the Lancet 3 weighs about thirty pounds, and has a distinctive profile thanks to its X-shaped wings. The weapon used is claimed to be the a new, upgraded version of the Lancet-3 with an eleven-pound warhead compared to the original seven-pound one, and is distinguished by the larger wingspan.

    The videos show Lancet strikes on a variety of targets, including S-300 air defense systems, tanks, artillery, trucks, self-propelled howitzers and radar systems, even a gunboat. The volume of such videos released in a few days suggests a propaganda push to persuade people that Russia has at least one weapon that works.

    One of the most obvious features of these strikes is that the Lancet has a shaped-charge warhead, a type that focuses its energy into a narrow, armor-piercing jet, which is highly visible in many of the strikes, passing right through the target and out the other side. This enables it to attack even heavily-armored targets like tanks. However, it is not powerful enough to go through a tank’s frontal armor, but can maneuver to attack whether there is less protection.

    “You can go around the same tank to hit it not in the most powerful armor on the “forehead”, but in the vulnerable rear,” according to Russian military expert Anton Lavrov in an October 21 piece on the Lancet in Izvestia.

    Lancet does not appear to have a top-attack mode, as used by the Javelin, the most reliable way of striking where the armor is thinnest. One video shows a Lancet hitting the side of a Ukrainian T-64 tank, but it is not clear whether the resulting explosion does any real damage – “canceled by active armor” was the opinion of one commenter.

    A second feature of the videos is that while many of them show the first-person view from the Lancet’s nose camera as it approaches impact, they also the scene from overhead: a second drone is watching from high altitude. This suggests that the Russians do not launch a Lancet until a target is identified, reducing the risk that it will be wasted. However, this adds delay and removes the element of surprise.

    This leads on to a third feature – in several of the videos, soldiers on the ground scatter in the seconds before the Lancet strikes. This suggests that it is highly audible or visible or both, and alert troops can get out of the way. They might also shoot it down – the Ukrainians claim to have brought down a number of Lancets with just small arms fire.

    While the Lancet is claimed to be able to hit moving and even evading targets, in every instance seen the target appears to be stationary. This may reflect a sensor-to-shooter delay in the command chain: it takes so long get an Lancet in the air and to a target (cruising speed is only 70 mph) that it is only used on essentially static targets.

    While the Lancet is clearly an effective weapon, the videos reveal limitations. Some appear to show misses. And in one of the more embarrassing incidents, in a Lancet strike which is claimed to show the weapon destroying a Ukrainian Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile launcher, the target looks more like a wooden dummy. (This is apparent from lack of secondary explosions, and the way the target collapses after being it). As with other weapons, the Lancet is only as good as the person identifying the target.

    Some of the targets selected seem like odd choices. It makes perfect sense to use the Lancet with its 25-mile long range against a high-value target like an S-300 surface-to-air missile complex, but Lancets are shown hitting low-value targets including trucks and a parked, empty Hummer. Again, the weapon is only as good as the intelligence behind targeting. It also raises the question of how many Lancets Russia has to use.

    Bendett notes there have been conflicting messages from different sources in Russia about whether they are available in sufficient numbers.

    “First we get the official statements that several hundred loitering drones were used in the war in total, then we get Kalashnikov/Rostec stating that they will deliver if there are orders, then we get official Russian media posting Lancet attacks more and more often, and then we get these reports that 1500 are delivered somewhere to the front,” says Bendett.

    It is possible that the flood of videos does not represent an increase in supply, especially as they cannot be dated, more a desire to make a good impression.

    “The increase in Lancet’s public exposure may be directly related to Ukrainian advances and Russian retreats at several major fronts over the past several months, as a way to affirm that the Russian defense to the warfighters’ needs,” says Bendett.

    Bendett notes also that this exposure for Lancet may be a way of balancing Russia’s obvious dependence on Iranian loitering drones. The longer-range Shahed-136 is a different type of weapon with a bigger warhead but apparently lacking the precision guidance of the Lancet, and Russia does not make anything in this class.

    “This is not the only ‘missing’ elements in this war,” says Bendett. “Russia still does not have enough actual combat UAVs, despite months of combat and years of development.”

    The nearest equivalent to the Lancet-3 on the Ukrainian side are probably the Phoenix Ghost provided by the U.S. along with the Warmate supplied by Poland; the smaller Switchblade-300 is mainly an antipersonnel weapon and the Switchblade-600 is yet to arrive. However, there are very few videos of these weapons in action, as Ukraine is maintaining tight operational security.

    The new videos are a good advert for the power of loitering munitions and the need for better defenses to stop them. The number and quality fielded by the two sides could become increasingly important factor in the progress of the war.

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    David Hambling, Contributor

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