Ukraine

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The United States is giving Ukraine ground-launched, GPS-guided glide bombs that can strike targets as far as 93 miles away—and even hit them on the reverse slopes of hills. The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb should roughly double the range of the Ukrainian army’s front-line rocket batteries. But not anytime soon. It might take nine months for the U.S. Defense Department to deliver the bombs. Ukraine will be the GLSDB’s first user. In 2014, Virginia-based Boeing and Swedish firm Saab formed a partnership in order to develop, test, market and produce the GLSDB. The first trials took place a year later in Sweden. The munition combines Boeing’s popular 250-pound Small-Diameter Bomb—with its GPS-aided inertial guidance, pop-out wings and different warhead options—with a 350-pound booster borrowed from the old M26 rocket. “GLSDB provides commanders and planners with a highly flexible weapon that complements … [Read more...] about Ukraine’s New Rocket-Boosted Glide-Bombs Can Turn Around And Hit Targets On The Backs Of Hills, 90 Miles Away

Ukraine The European Union offered strong support for Ukraine at a summit held in Kyiv as air raid sirens wailed on Friday, but set "no rigid timelines" for its accession to the wealthy bloc. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had hoped the EU would put Ukraine on a rapid road to membership. But he used the summit to step up calls for his allies to deliver long-range weapons to help repel Russian forces besieging the city of Bakhmut and occupying much of the Donbas region in the east of the country. "If weapons (supplies) are quickened, specifically long-range weapons, we not only will not leave Bakhmut, but we will also begin to deoccupy Donbas, which has been occupied since 2014," he told a joint news conference after the summit. Ukrainian forces have held out for months in Bakhmut, where fighting has been fierce. "Nobody will give away Bakhmut. We will fight for as long as we can. We consider Bakhmut our fortress," Zelenskiy said. Read More Air raid sirens … [Read more...] about Ukraine wins EU pledges of support, no promise of fast-track accession

The US decision to supply tanks is part of a package that includes 59 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 90 Stryker armoured combat vehicles, and 350 Humvees. (Representative image) The recent decision of some NATO countries to supply Ukraine with tanks and other higher level equipment raises two questions. First, will this significantly enhance Kyiv’s capabilities and allow it to snatch back the initiative in the conflict; and second, could this result in escalation that leads to NATO’s direct involvement in the war or worse? Germany and the United States announced last week that they would supply their main battle tanks (MBTs) to Ukraine . Germany will provide 14 Leopard 2 tanks, while the US will send 31 Abrams M-1 tanks. Several European countries – Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Norway and Finland – have also said that they will give some Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. In addition, the United Kingdom has said it would supply a few Challenger tanks. Too Few For Offensives Although … [Read more...] about Why battle tanks from NATO countries for Ukraine may not spark an immediate NATO-Russia confrontation

Ukraine Ukraine's defence minister is expected in Paris on Tuesday to meet President Emmanuel Macron amid a debate among Kyiv's allies over whether to provide fighter jets for its war against Russia, after U.S. President Joe Biden ruled out giving F-16s. Ukraine planned to push for Western fourth-generation fighters like F-16s after securing supplies of main battle tanks last week, an adviser to Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Friday. Asked at the White House on Monday if the United States would provide F-16s, Biden told reporters: "No." But France and Poland appear to be willing to entertain any such request from Ukraine, with Macron telling reporters in The Hague on Monday that "by definition, nothing is excluded" when it comes to military assistance. In remarks carried on French television before Biden spoke in Washington, Macron stressed any such move would depend on several factors including the need to avoid escalation and assurances that the aircraft … [Read more...] about Western allies differ over jets for Ukraine as Russia claims gains

The decisions by Germany and the United States to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine represent a weighty show of Western political support for Kyiv that could also help its military breach Russian invaders' lines. After weeks of pressure from Ukraine and other allies, Berlin finally agreed to send 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks, seen as among the best in the world. The move also opens the way for other European nations that operate Leopards to send tanks from their own fleets to Ukraine, further building up the combined-arms arsenal Kyiv needs to launch counter-offensives. "From offering 5,000 helmets to sending the Leos into Ukraine," commented German Marshall Fund researcher Bruno Lete, referring to a widely-mocked early German contribution to Ukraine's war effort. "In less than a year, Germany deconstructed seven decades of pacifist policy" since World War II. "Perhaps reluctantly -- but still a major Zeitenwende (turning point) in its own right." Read More … [Read more...] about Western tanks: Political and military boost for Ukraine

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 345. 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. Russian artillery fire hit a residential building in the town of Barvinkove, Kharkiv region, killing two at 4:30 a. m. local time Feb. 3 , announced Kharkiv regional Governor, Oleh Synehubov. The victims were brothers, aged 49 and 42; their father was also injured and hospitalized, Synehubov added. The Kharkiv region came under massive Russian fire over the past 24 hours, with homes hit in the towns of Vovchansk, Kupiansk, Dvorichna and others, injuring a 51-year-old woman. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Feb. 2, ahead of the Ukraine-European Union summit, on Ukraine’s admission to the EU, with 489 votes in favor , its press service announced. According to the resolution, the EU should … [Read more...] about Friday, February 3. Russia’s War On Ukraine: Daily News And Information From Ukraine

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 346. 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. National. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says a “technological accident” of unspecified nature occurred at a regional Odesa high voltage substation today following repeated attacks by Russian forces. Much of the city of Odesa and its environs are now undergoing emergency blackouts. Damage was so severe, particularly to critical infrastructure, that speedy restoration of power is impossible even with round-the-clock repair efforts. Shymhal has ordered the Ministry of Energy to deliver all available high-output generators to Odesa within 24 hours. Russia released 116 Ukrainian soldiers, including Mariupol defenders, Kherson partisans and Bakhmut snipers, in the latest prisoner-of-war exchange … [Read more...] about Saturday, February 4. Russia’s War On Ukraine: Daily News And Information From Ukraine

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Russia built a dozen special air-defense vehicles specifically for shooting down enemy warplanes in the brutal cold of the snowy Arctic. But the Tor-M2DT had its combat debut in Ukraine, 3,000 miles south of the North Pole. It went badly. In the two months since the first Tor-M2DTs showed up in Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have destroyed at least two of them. One Tor-M2DT came to a bad end shortly after Russian media featured the vehicle in a T.V. segment. The basic Tor air-defense vehicle entered service in 1986. It’s a self-contained, short-range system whose main role is defending combat battalions near the front lines. In January 2020, an Iranian Tor shot down a Ukrainian airliner over Iran after mistaking it for an attacking warplane. All 176 passengers and crew died. There are several Tor variants, but all include a vehicle mounting both a radar and a launcher for up to 16 400-pound missiles, each with a … [Read more...] about Russia Built A Dozen Air-Defense Vehicles For War In The Arctic. Then Sent Them To Ukraine To Get Blown Up.

Zanna Romanenko, 33, left Ukraine and came to Korea last October. [ZANNA ROMANENKO] Refugees from Ukraine who came to Korea shared their struggles of living in Korea after fleeing their home country. “We need help,” 33-year-old Zanna Romaneko from Ukraine told the JoongAng Ilbo at a church in Ansan, Gyeonggi. Romaneko used to live with her husband raising their children together at Ukraine before the war broke. Now she is living in a faraway country as an evacuee. Her husband had to stay in Ukraine to fight the war, while she is about to give birth to their second child here. Romaneko left Ukraine in October last year with her eight-year-old son and parent-in-law, passing into Romania. Thanks to her husband who is a Koryoin, an ethnic Korean from the former Soviet Union, she was able to get on a flight headed to Korea and find a place to live in Ansan. After landing Korea with a short-term visiting visa, she was granted the right to seek limited employment despite … [Read more...] about Refugees from Ukraine face struggles in Korea

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline China is providing military aid to Russia in violation of U.S.-led sanctions placed by western countries, according to Russian trade data reported by the Wall Street Journal , as tensions build between the U.S. and western countries and China, amid a spy balloon scandal and a canceled Beijing visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Key Facts China’s state-owned defense companies have shipped navigation equipment and parts to fighter jets and other military technology equipment to Russian defense companies, according to Russian customs data. According to that data, provided by Washington D.C.-based C4ADS , China has sent tens of thousands of shipments of goods to service Russia’s military (some goods had multiple purposes and could be used commercially, the Journal reported). Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia “has enough technical potential” for its “special military … [Read more...] about China Helping Russia’s War With Ukraine With Military Aid—Violating Sanctions—Reports Show