Syria’s Air Defense Forces, in Ukraine, and the War on Relativistic Heavy Ion Reactors (Rumanian Defence Forces)

The key element of Russian terror is missile strikes, when there is a sufficient number of modern and effective air defense systems.

Until more arrive, there is the risk – all too familiar to the government and people of Ukraine – that the Russian mix of missiles will wreak much greater havoc among the civilian population, especially if the Russians persist with the tactic of using swarms of missiles, inundating air defenses.

It is unknown how much Russian inventories have been damaged, and if they will use older, less accurate and equally powerful missiles in the future.

Estimating Russian missile inventories is guesswork. In May, President Volodymr Zelensky said Russia had launched 2,154 missiles and had probably used up 60% of its precision-missile arsenal. That now looks like wishful thinking.

Ihnat said that Russia has Kinzhal-type missiles. They have Kh-22 missiles that hit at a range of over 400 miles. Those are challenges and threats at the moment.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, a missile was also destroyed, according to Reznichenko. The energy infrastructure in the region is being targeted.

He said that it was the first time since the beginning of the war that Russia had targeted energy infrastructure.

In the last nine months the Ukrainians have had plenty of practice with their limited air defenses, mainly the BUK and S-300 systems. But Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force Command, said Tuesday said of these systems: “This equipment does not last forever, there may be losses in combat operations.”

Iran acknowledged for the first time providing some drones to Russia months before the war in Ukraine but denied continuing to supply them, on Nov. 5. Zelenskyy countered that Iran was “lying” because Ukrainian forces “shoot down at least 10 Iranian drones every day.”

The US has not announced details about the Patriot Air Defense System it plans to provide for Ukraine. The Ukrainian soldiers were to begin training this month.

At the meeting on Wednesday, Ukraine had a wish list that included missiles for their existing systems as well as a transition to Western-origin air defense system.

The system is a long range weapon that is capable of defending the airspace against incoming missiles as well as aircraft. It is possible to shoot down Russian missiles and aircraft far from the intended targets in Ukranian.

Western systems are beginning to trickle in. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Tuesday that a “new era of air defense has begun” with the arrival of the first IRIS-T from Germany, and two units of the US National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAM) expected soon.

But these are hardly off-the-shelf-items. The IRIS-T had to be manufactured for Ukraine. Western governments don’t have a lot of such systems. Ukraine is under missile attack from a number of directions.

The Cold War Between Ukraine and the Kremlin Revisited: How the Kerch Bridge Bombing and Air Attacks Can Be Learned by Russia

Poland was thanked by the senior military commander for training a air defense battalion that had destroyed nine of 11 Shaheeds.

He said Poland had given Ukraine “systems” to help destroy the drones. There were reports last month that Poland had bought Israeli equipment and was transferring it to Ukraine, a policy that Israel has not taken lightly.

The relative calm in Ukrainian cities far from the country’s battlefields was shattered by two painfully familiar sounds this week: the ominous ring of the air raid sirens, and the eruptions of Russian attacks.

With the cold months nearing and likely bringing a slowdown in ground combat, experts say the next weeks of the war are now expected to be vital, and another potential spike in intensity looms over Ukraine as each side seeks to strike another blow.

Not for the first time, the war is teetering towards an unpredictable new phase. Keir Giles is a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House and he says that the war is the third, fourth or fifth war they have been observing.

Recent days have meanwhile shown that sites beyond the current theater of ground fighting are far from immune to attacks. It remains unclear exactly how the Kerch bridge bombing was carried out – and Kyiv has not claimed responsibility – but the fact that a target so deep in Russian-held territory could be successfully hit hinted at a serious Ukrainian threat towards key Russian assets.

“What seemed a distant prospect for anything that could be convincingly described as a Ukraine victory is now very much more plausible,” Giles said. Russia is likely to escalate their response.

Russia has not achieved supremacy in the air but Monday’s attacks may have achieved one goal: sending a strong signal to the growing list of Putin’s critics.

Ukrainian troops hoist the country’s flag above a building in Vysokopillya, in the southern Kherson region, last month. Ukrainian officials say they have liberated hundreds of settlements since their counter-offensive began.

Russia promised to evacuate residents in occupied Kherson to other areas as the Ukrainian offensive continued to gain on them. The announcement came a short time after the head of the Moscow-backed administration appealed to the Kremlin for assistance moving residents out of harm’s way in an indication that Russian forces were struggling in the face of Ukrainian advances.

In the summer, a suggestion was made in the West and in Russian that Ukrainians lacked the ability to seize ground, but those suggestions were disproved by counter-offensives.

The Russians are playing for the whistle in hopes of avoiding a collapse in their frontline before winter sets in, according to a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

If the Russians could get to Christmas with their frontline looking the same, it would be a huge success.

The Kremlin appointed a new general in charge of Russia’s invasion. The pace and cost of the counter-offensives by the Ukrainians means that Gen. Sergey Sutrokin cannot lead his troops back to the front before the end of the year.

Ukrainian troops are focused primarily on pushing Russian forces eastwards, having crossed the Oskil River in late September, with Moscow likely preparing to defend the cities of Starobilsk and Svatove in the Luhansk region, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

A blow to the rebels in the region would send a strong signal to Ukraine, which will want to improve on its gains as the temperatures plummet and the impact of rising energy prices is felt around Europe.

There are so many reasons for people in the Ukraine to get things done quickly. Europe’s winter energy crisis and the lack of power inUkraine are testing the resilience of the country and its backers.

The war in Ukraine is becoming an engine that fuels a far-right push for more influence; a symbiotic relationship between Putin and his fans in the West. Just as a political action committee linked to the former Trump aide Stephen Miller is arguing against spending on Ukraine, somehow linking it to poverty and crime in the US, like-minded figures in Europe are trying to promote their views by pointing to their country’s hardships as the cost of helping Ukraine. Support for Ukraine in Europe and the US is strong, although it has waned among Republicans.

Ukraine’s national electricity company, Ukrenergo, says it has stabilized the power supply to Kyiv and central regions of Ukraine after much of the country’s electricity supply was disrupted by Russian missile attacks on Monday and Tuesday. Ukrainian Prime Minister asked his people to reduce their energy usage during peak hours because there was a lot of work to be done to fix damaged equipment.

Jeremy Fleming, a UK spy chief, said in a rare speech that Russian commanders on the ground know that their supplies are running out.

In its daily update on the conflict, the ISW said that the strikes “wasted some of Russia’s dwindling precision weapons against civilian targets, as opposed to militarily significant targets.”

It is crucial to know how much weaponry and manpower each side has left in reserve. Ukraine said it intercepted 18 cruise missiles on Tuesday and dozens more on Monday, but it is urging its Western allies for more equipment to repel any future attacks.

Any further Belarusian involvement in the war could also have a psychological impact, Puri suggested. He said that everyone in the west has a tendency to want to fight one army. The war in Russia would be about reunifying the lands of ancient Rus countries, according to Putin.

Giles said reopening the northern front was a new challenge for Ukrainians. If Putin prioritized an effort to regain the territory, then Russia would have a new route into the region.

Zelensky will try to drive home the gains in the short-term. The leader has sought to highlight Ukraine’s success in intercepting Russian missiles, saying more than half of the missiles and drones launched at Ukraine in a second wave of strikes on Tuesday were brought down.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Ukraine needed “more” systems to better halt missile attacks, ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

Since well before February’s invasion, portentous but vague threats from Russia of unspecified but alarming responses have been sufficient to serve as a massive brake on Western support for Ukraine.

Experts say that the coming weeks are crucial both on the battlefield and in Europe. Giles said that where Putin goes next depends on how the rest of the world responds. Western countries have failed to confront and deter Russia.

Kamikaze Drones as a Threat to Ukraine: Kiev’s Defense Plan in the Light of the Ukrainian Crimes in Kyiv

Which drones is Russia using in Ukraine? The Ukrainian military and US intelligence say Russia is using Iranian-made attack drones. CNN reported in July that the Shahed series of drones was being shown to Russia by Iran. The drones can carry up to 50 kilogrammes of missiles, and have a weight of about 120 pounds.

What are kamikaze drones? Kamikaze drones, or suicide drones, are a type of aerial weapon system. loitering munition is a weapon that is able to wait for some time in an area identified as a potential target and only strike once an enemy asset is identified.

The photo was shared by authorities in the Ukranian region and showed the pieces of the missile in the snow. Kyiv city’s military administration claimed that 37 of 40 missiles targeted at the capital were intercepted.

Several residential buildings have been damaged. He said that rescuers pulled 18 people out of the rubble and are looking for two more. Many of the city’s streets are closed because of emergencies.

“”The enemy can attack our cities, but it won’t be able to break us. The occupiers will get only fair punishment and condemnation of future generations, and we will get victory,” wrote Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy’s chief-of-staff once again called on the west to give Ukraine more air defense systems. He said that they don’t have time for slow actions.

A picture of a bomb labeled Geran-2 was posted online, but it was removed after commenters objected to his confirmation of a Russian strike.

Observation of the Oct. 12 Explosion at a Bridge to Crimea: The EU’s top diplomat meets with the Prime Minister

European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet today in Luxembourg. Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, told reporters before the meeting that the bloc would look into concrete evidence of Iran’s involvement in Ukraine.

NATO will hold nuclear deterrence exercises starting Monday. NATO warns Russia not to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine, but says the drills are a regular activity.

Russian agents detained eight people on Oct. 12 suspected of carrying out a large explosion on a bridge to Crimea, including Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian citizens.

The United Nations General Assembly roundly condemned Russia’s move to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine. Four countries voted with Russia, but 141 others voted in favor of the resolution from Ukraine.

Two men shot at Russian troops preparing to deploy to Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounding 15 before being killed themselves, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Oct. 15.

You can read past recaps here. You can find more of NPR’s coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR’s State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.

Tehran’s newest drone in the U.S. – targeting the Ukrainians in the Russia-Ukraine war: Implications for the cooperation of Iran and Russia

Another disadvantage of the Shahed drones is their speed, said Ret. The Center for Strategic and International Studies has a senior adviser named Mark Cancian.

“The problem with them is that they’re slow,” Cancian said. They are propeller driven and they are not very fast. They’re vulnerable to being shot down by missiles or aircraft guns.

The drones used in these attacks are Iranian, according to U.S. officials, but Iran denies it is working with Russia.

Russia will continue looking for replacements as it attempts to launch missiles at Ukraine. Iran may be the only one that will supply Russia in the future.

“Iran has time and again declared that it is siding with no side in the Russia-Ukraine war. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that they had not given arms to either warring side.

Both Nadimi and Cancian compared the Russian decision to target cities as it is losing on the frontlines to The Blitz – the German bombing campaign that targeted London in World War II.

“It seems like the Russians are using these the way they use their cruise missiles – that is to strike at the major cities likely with the intention of intimidating the Ukrainian population … but I think from a military point of view that is a mistake,” Cancian said. “The Ukrainians are very unlikely to break. The morale is very unlikely to break.”

By focusing on the cities, Cancian added, Ukraine’s military would likely have more time to recover on the front lines, similar to Britain’s recovery in WWII.

At the same time, the U.S. has said it is speeding up its delivery of NASAMS, the same ground-based air defense systems that are used to protect the White House in Washington, D.C., and the systems are expected to be in Ukraine in a few weeks.

WASHINGTON — If the Ukrainian military can make gains against Russia in the south and the northeast, it will have a chance to make gains against the Russians over the next six weeks.

This new expected shipment would mark a significant increase in Iranian support to Russia’s war effort. While the precise timing of when the shipment will arrive in Russia is unclear, officials believe the weapons will definitely be delivered before the end of the year.

The Iranian drones have a capability of circling for some time in an area identified as a potential target and only striking once an enemy asset is identified.

Relations with the US will likely get worse as a result of further Iranian weaponry being sent to Russia. On Monday, the US envoy to Iran Rob Malley said the Biden administration is not going to “waste our time” on talks to revive the nuclear deal “if nothing’s going to happen.” Tehran’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and its crackdown on nationwide protests prompted by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September have prompted the US to impose further sanctions on Iran.

Earlier this month John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said the presence of Iranian personnel was evidence of Tehran’s direct engagement in the conflict.

“We know that those drones have been used to target civilians and civilian infrastructure. And we know that Iran, in the face of all of this evidence, keeps lying and denying that it’s happening,” Malley said.

On Monday a senior US defense official said they didn’t have any information to provide on the suggestion Iran is preparing to send missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.

How Does the War in Ukraine Affect Economic and Political Processes in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East?

Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, (@fridaghitis) a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She writes an opinion column for the Washington Post and is also a weekly contributor to CNN. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.

Everyone is affected by the war in Ukraine. The conflict has also sent fuel prices higher, contributing to a global explosion of inflation.

If Russia is allowed to win, Putin’s war would mark the beginning of a new era of global instability, with less freedom, less peace and less prosperity for the world.

There are still ramifications from what happens far from the battlefields. When oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, decided last month to slash production, the US accused the Saudis of helping Russia fund the war by boosting its oil revenues. The Saudis deny the accusation.

Israel is hesitant to let go of its defensive systems because they could be used for it’s own defense. Hamas has its own rockets in the south, while Hezbollah has missiles in the north.

The Effect of Months of Military Aid to Ukraine: The Politics of the War in the Cold War and the Implications for the United States

The effect of months of military aid. It’s a completely different scale, but CNN reported last month the US is running low on some weapons systems and munitions it provides to Ukraine. The US aid debate will likely be involved after the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives next month.

Individual lives are also affected by higher prices. They bring a political punch when they have powerful momentum. Inflation, worsened by the war, has put incumbent political leaders on the defensive in countless countries.

It’s not just on the fringes. Kevin McCarthy suggested the GOP might reduce aid to Ukranian after becoming speaker of the House. There was a letter called for negotiations that was released by the Progressives. Evelyn Farkas, who was a Pentagon official during the Obama administration, said they are all smiling at Putin.

And Ukraine will be watching America’s midterm election results this week, especially after some Republicans warned that the party could limit funding for Ukraine if it wins control of the House of Representatives, as forecast.

Comments on Russian attacks on Ukrenergo and Mykolaiv’s nuclear power plants after a U.N.-broken agreement to join NATO

The Turkish president will be in attendance at the meeting of the Swedish prime minister. Erdogan insists Sweden must meet certain conditions before it can join NATO.

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday is scheduled to discuss an International Atomic Energy Agency report, in which Ukraine is expected to be on the agenda.

Russia rejoined a U.N.-brokered deal to safely export grain and other agricultural goods from Ukraine, on Nov. 2. Moscow had suspended its part in the deal a few days prior after saying Ukraine had launched a drone attack on its Black Sea ships.

A new package of new military assistance to Ukraine has been announced, and it comes after months of attacks on the country’s infrastructure by Russia.

The energy company Ukrenergo said thatUkraine disconnected three nuclear power plants from the national electricity grid because of the Russian strikes.

The company said that after a brief emergency, the nuclear reactors have been turned back on but weren’t reconnected to the national grid.

The regional administrator Serhii Hamalii said that the west is without power and water due to the Russian attacks. This led to the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station being taken offline.

Vitaliy Kim, the military administrator in the southern region of Mykolaiv said the nuclear plant was cut from the grid, leading to a risky shutdown of the reactor.

Ukrainian officials stress that the power cuts have the cascading effect of turning off the heat and water in many cases. Adding to the problems, the water in pipes could freeze when it’s cold.

What Russia is doing to Ukraine: Security, Security and Security for civilians if Ukraine is going to be an Iranian Shahed Uncrewed System

In Moldova, President Maia Sandu wrote this about Russia on Facebook: “We can’t trust a regime that leaves us in the dark and cold, that purposely kills people for the mere desire to keep other peoples poor and humble.”

The Ukranians are scrambling to prepare for winter. In his Tuesday night video address, President Zelenskyy mentioned that 4,000 centers were created to care for civilians if the power cuts continued.

He said they would provide heat, water, phone charging and internet access. The majority of them will be in government buildings.

The Biden administration is close to announcing plans to give a missile defense system toUkraine, according to two US officials and a senior administration official.

The Pentagon plan needs to be approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before it is sent to President Joe Biden for his signature. The officials told CNN that approval is expected.

It is not clear how many missiles will be sent but a typical Patriot battery includes a radar set that can detect and track targets, power generating equipment, an engagement control station, and up to eight missiles, each ready to fire.

Ukrainians will be trained to use a US army base in Germany in the coming days if the plans are finalized after that, according to officials.

“If you have an Iranian Shahed uncrewed system heading toward critical infrastructure in Ukraine, it may very well be worth the cost of a Patriot missile to take it out,” he said. It makes sense to me that Russia is attackingUkrainian critical infrastructure.

The U.S. Transfer of a Patriot Air Defense Battery to Ukraine: An Indirect Threat to the United States, or Why Russia’s Nuclear Warfare is Dangerous?

Perhaps the biggest obstacle was the question of manpower. There are roughly 90 positions that operate one missile battery. And the training needed is substantial; course lengths range from 13 weeks for a launching station operator to 53 weeks for a maintenance role, according to Army recruitment materials.

So far, Ukrainian persistence has paid off, not just in securing German and US heavy tanks, but in December, after months of pressure by the Ukrainians, the US finally agreed to send a Patriot air defense battery – a system the US once considered too challenging to transfer and operate.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III could approve a directive as early as this week to transfer one Patriot battery already overseas to Ukraine, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. President Biden would sign off on final approval.

White House, Pentagon and State Department officials did not make any statement on the details of the transfer of a weapons system that would amount to one of the most advanced weapons the US has provided.

In a speech to the Group of 7 nations on Monday, Mr. Zelensky thanked the countries for their continued support but listed financing for weapons first among his requests.

“Earlier, many experts, including those overseas, questioned the rationality of such a step which would lead to an escalation of the conflict and increase the risk of directly dragging the US army into combat,” Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow.

Patriot arrays are used around the world by the U.S. Army and about a dozen U.S. allies. It was originally designed as an anti-aircraft system, and newer variants are used primarily to engage ballistic missiles.

The Pentagon press secretary was asked if the system would be provocative. Pat said the comments wouldn’t affect US aid to Ukraine.

It’s ironic that officials in a country that attacked its neighbor in an illegal and unprovoked invasion would use words like provocative to describe defense systems that are meant to save lives and protect civilians, Ryder told reporters.

He said that despite Russia’s threats about nuclear weapons, there has been no detected change in Russia’s nuclear posture, but Putin’s rhetoric “is by itself reckless and dangerous.”

In what may be a no less subtle message than calling the Patriot deployments provocative, Russia’s defense ministry shared video of the installation of a “Yars” intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo launcher in the Kaluga region for what Alexei Sokolov, commander of the Kozelsky missile formation, called “combat duty as planned.”

Russia’s most effective tool of deterrence remains nuclear threats. Loose talk from Russia about using nuclear weapons has died down a little recently, but a decade or more of driving home the message of inevitable nuclear response if Russia is cornered or humiliated has already had its effect.

Appearing this week on Russian state TV, Commander Alexander Khodakovsky of the Russian militia in the Donetsk region suggested Russia could not defeat the NATO alliance in a conventional war.

In an interview with The Economist published Thursday, Zelensky also rejected the idea recently suggested by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Ukraine seek to reclaim only land seized by Russia since February 2022 and not areas like Donbas and Crimea, which have been under Russian control since 2014.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the French news outlet France 24 this week, before the Patriot missile development, that the alliance still has two main objectives: provide aid to Ukraine and also make sure that NATO forces don’t become directly involved and escalate the war.

Old ammo. CNN’s Ellie Kaufman and Liebermann reported earlier this week on a US military official who says Russian forces have had to resort to 40-year-old artillery ammunition as their supplies of new ammo are “rapidly dwindling.”

The official said that when you load the ammunition, you cross your fingers that it will fire or explode.

In the trenches. Will Ripley: Air Defense Forces, Military Forces and Fortifications in the Central Region of Kyiv

In the trenches. Will Ripley reported on trenches and fortifications being built along the border of Russia and Ukranian, where there is growing concern that Russia will once again assemble troops. Ripley is talking to a man who is a sewing machine repairman.

The spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yurii Ihnat, said that the enemy wanted to cause more damage to the air defense. Valeriy Zaluzhny stated that 60 missiles had been downed by the country’s air defense forces.

Residents bundled in winter coats, hats and scarves gathered in Kyiv’s underground stations as the sirens wailed. Their faces were lit by their phones as they scrolled through updates.

In the central city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said a Russian missile had hit a three-story residential building, killing at least two people and that emergency services were digging through the wreckage. There could be some people under the rubble, according to the deputy head of the presidential administration.

Oleksandr Starukh, the Chief of the Regional Military Administration, said that Zaporizhzhia was hit by more than a dozen missile strikes, but it was not clear what had been targeted.

Four people were killed in the southern city of Kherson when it was liberated by Ukrainian forces in November, according to the head of the region’s military administration. The body of a man was found in the apartment that had been set ablaze, the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office said. The city isn’t able to restore basic services.

The incident took place in the western port city of Engels, some 500 miles (more than 800 kilometers) southeast of Moscow, located on the Volga River. The city houses a strategic bomber air base and it is the second such attempted attack this month.

An MiG-31K, a supersonic aircraft capable of carrying a Kinzal hypersonic missile, was also seen in the sky over Belarus during the air attacks on Friday in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Armed Forces. But it was not clear from their statement whether a Kinzal was used in the attacks.

“We know that their defense industrial base is being taxed,” Kirby said of Russia. “We know they’re having trouble keeping up with that pace. We know that he’s (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s) having trouble replenishing specifically precision guided munitions.”

The White House denounced Russia’s strikes on civilian infrastructure. Kirby said that the attacks showed that Russia was trying to put fear into the hearts of the people ofUkraine, so they wouldn’t want to go out in winter.

He said there would be another one for Ukraine and that additional air defense capabilities should be expected.

The Russian War on Everybody: And What It Means for You, and Why We Need a Patriot Battery to Protect Kyiv, Ukraine

The Russia and Eurasia Programme of Chatham House is an international affairs think tank in the UK. He is the author of “Russia’s War on Everybody: And What it Means for You.” The views expressed in this commentary are his own. You may want to read more on CNN.

But Russia will keep doing this because it works. And US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders consistently reassure Russia that it works by explicitly referring to the fear of escalation – precisely the fear Russia wants to stoke.

The US in particular has felt its way forward through incremental increases in the capability of weapons supplied to Ukraine, wary at each stage of Russia’s supposed “red lines” – but finding in each case that the red lines evaporate, and all Russia’s threats are empty bluster.

Russia continues to bring success in the form of arguments for a ceasefire as a preferable outcome of a Ukrainian victory, based on fear of repercussions of a Russian defeat.

That shows how vulnerable aggressive powers are around the world. It says possession of nuclear weapons allows you to wage genocidal wars of destruction against your neighbors, because other nations won’t intervene.

If that’s not the message the US and the West want other aggressor states around the world to receive, then supply of Patriot should be followed by far more direct and assertive means of dissuading Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington, DC, on the day of the announcement to plead for more air defense capabilities as Russian strikes have disrupted power and water supply across his country.

“It becomes a real humanitarian issue when you’re trying to deprive an entire country of its electrical grid and water and everything else,” said Jeffrey Edmonds, a 22-year Army veteran who now works as a Russia analyst at the Center for a New American Security. I think it’s a necessary step to help Ukrainians in the fight.

Depending on which missiles are used and what is being targeted, a Patriot battery has a strike range of roughly 20 to 100 miles — much too small to cover the entirety of Ukraine, which is about 800 miles from east to west and more than 500 miles from north to south.

It will do a good job defending Kyiv, a city, from some threats. Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says it’s not putting a bubble over Ukraine.

U.S. response to the Russian air strike barrages and assault on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure: How far do Ukrainians want to send their missiles?

The training requirements mean the system is unlikely to be up and running in the late winter or early spring.

The push to get the system up and running as soon as possible could backfire, Cancian said: Ineffective operation caused by hasty training could hamper the system’s effectiveness; in a worst case scenario, Ukrainians might be unable to prevent Russians from destroying it. That in turn could damage the political will to send future assistance to Ukraine, he said.

It wouldn’t be a problem if the Ukrainians had a couple of years to get used to the system. They do not have a year or two. They want to do this in a couple weeks,” Cancian said.

The recent Russian airstrike barrages and ongoing assault on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure have turned up pressure on the U.S. and its allies to do more.

The aid package announced Wednesday includes tens of thousands of GRAD rockets, as well as thousands of additional shell and tank bullets.

Kelly Greico called the announcement a sign of a real deep concern for U.S. officials about the air defense capability of Ukraine.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/21/1144662505/us-ukraine-patriot-missile-system

The PAC-3 attack on Mykolaiv, Saratov, and Dnipropetrovsk: a terrible choice for Ukrainian air defences

At $4 million apiece, the PAC-3 missiles that accompany the Patriot are much more expensive than Stingers or the missiles launched by HIMARS. Ukrainians must be careful with how they use them, analysts said. Cancian said that you couldn’t just let these things fly.

Before October, Ukrainian air defenses had focused on protecting frontline troops in the east and south, along with key government buildings and military sites in Kyiv and a handful of regional hubs.

Greico said it was a terrible choice to face; between protecting your civilians from the brutal attacks that the Russians are doing and continuing to resist the Russian war effort.

Seven drones were shot down over the southern Mykolaiv region, according to Gov. Vitali Kim, and three more were shot down in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko said.

The Governor of Saratov Oblast said on Monday that law enforcement agencies are looking into the incident. The comments came after reports of an explosion in the city.

He said that there were no emergencies in the residential areas of the city and that no infrastructure was damaged. He also extended his condolences to the families of the servicemen, saying the government would provide them with assistance.

Ukrainian officials have warned for some time about a renewed Russian assault and have asked for more powerful weaponry from Western allies.

Security in Ukraine after the first long-range attack on its northern hemisphere by a Russian airfield: an ultimatum from the Ukrainian foreign minister

Earlier this month, CCTV footage appeared to show an explosion lighting up the sky in Engels. Busargin reassured residents that there was no damage to civilian infrastructure and that the information regarding military incidents was being checked by law enforcement agencies.

The night of Sunday and Monday in Ukraine appeared to be quiet. For the first time in weeks, the Russian forces didn’t shell the Dnipropetrovsk region, which borders the partially occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, its Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko reported on Telegram.

The area around the city of “Nepapol” has been the scene of shelling by the Russians for the last six months. Nikopol is located across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under control of the Russian forces.

Over the past 24 hours, the Kherson region was shelled 33 times according to the governor of the Ukrainian region. There were no casualties.

The missiles that are launched from the Russian airfields could be destroyed before they are put into use.

“If somebody attacks you, you fight back,” Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister who now advises President Volodomyr Zelensky, said in an interview earlier this month, after the first Ukrainian long-range strike on Russian military targets hit Engels and another airfield in central Russia.

The most sophisticated missile in Russia’s arsenal, the Kinzhal, a hypersonic weapon that can reach targets in minutes and is all but impossible to shoot down, is in even shorter supply, Mr. Budanov said.

“If the Russians thought that no one at home would be affected by the war, then they were deeply mistaken,” Colonel Ihnat said. The bombing campaign against Ukraine was complicated because of explosions at Russian airfields, and Moscow had to relocate some of its aircraft, though no one is saying that the strikes have seriously hampered the Russian bombardment.

On Monday, the foreign minister of Ukraine said that the government wanted to hold a peace summit by late February but that Russia would not be invited unless it first faced the issue. It was the latest in a string of claims by each country to be open to peace talks — but only on terms that are unacceptable to the other.

The Ukraine’s Emergency Service: Is Moscow Running Low on Crunch-Railboats? The Ukrainian Foreign Minister’s comments on the crisis in Lviv

The lead for disaster response in the Ukrainian presidential office claims that several buildings in the capital have been destroyed.

An explosion next to a playground made the windows of nearby homes shake. If there is a shortage, the mayor urged residents to fill water containers and charge their electronic devices.

Maksym Marchenko, the administrator for the region along the Black Sea, said that air defense systems shot down 21 missiles near Odesa. But successful missile strikes left the city without electricity or water.

The mayor of Lviv said that almost all of the city lost power. The outage forced diesel generators to kick in to power emergency services. The public transportation there went off the rails.

Strikes of the scale like the one launched Thursday’s have become less frequent. The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence said this week that Russia is running low on cruise missiles.

In his comments to Russian media, the Russian Foreign Minister stated that Moscow would pursue its objectives with vigilance andpatience.

Russian Defense Ministry says Thursday night Ukrainian missile attack on Donetsk is a “great blow” to Russia and to Putin’s enemies

Russia’s Defense Ministry says that a wave of missiles hit Ukraine on Thursday, one of the biggest barrages yet in the war.

In its daily summary of operations, the ministry said that Russia’s armed forces “launched a massive attack, using high-precision long-range air- and sea-based armament, at the military control framework, and the power facilities that ensured operating of Ukrainian defence industry.”

Ukrainian officials have said that both Ukrainian and Russian forces are suffering significant losses in Donetsk. CNN could not confirm Russia’s claims.

But in spite of Russia’s purported victories on the battlefield, the ministry did not claim any territorial advances against Ukrainian forces, adding credibility to reports that the two sides are locked in a stalemate.

Ukrainian forces fired six rockets from a HIMARS launch system and two of them were shot down, a defense ministry statement said. The strike was not said when it happened.

The strike, using a US-supplied precision weapon that has proven important in enabling Ukrainian forces to hit key targets, has delivered a new blow to Russia which has been reeling from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The Strategic Communications Directorate of Ukraine’s Armed Forces claimed Sunday that some 400 mobilized Russian soldiers were killed in a vocational school building in Makiivka and about 300 more were wounded. It could not be verified. The strike happened in the area of Makiivka, but did not mention the Vocational school according to the Russian statement.

Moscow’s full scale invasion went awry, putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as his ground forces struggle to hold ground. He said in his New Year’s address that he planned to make difficult decisions in the upcoming year.

Putin insists he had no choice but to send troops into Ukraine because it threatened Russia’s security — an assertion condemned by the West, which says Moscow bears full responsibility for the war.

Yanushevich’s Call for Support During New Year’s Eve Invasion of a Ukrainian Village in the Southern Kherson Region

Five people were wounded in the Monday morning shelling of a Ukraine-controlled area of the southern Kherson region, its Ukrainian Gov. Yaroslav Yanushevich said on Telegram.

The Russian forces attacked the city of Beryslav, the official said, firing at a local market, likely from a tank. Three of the wounded are in serious condition and are being evacuated to Kherson, Yanushevich said.

At least four civilians were killed and dozens were wounded in a New Year’s Eve assault in the country. The last victim, a 46-year-old resident of Kyiv, died in a hospital on Monday morning.

The Bryansk regional governor said on Monday that an energy facility near the Ukrainian border had been hit by a Ukrainian drone. A village was left without power as a result, he said.

On their phone call, Biden and Scholz “expressed their common determination to continue to provide the necessary financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine for as long as needed,” a joint statement read.

The Bradley fighting vehicle, which moves on tracks rather than wheels, can hold around 10 troops and is used to transport personnel into battle. The White House said the US and Germany would provide training to Ukrainian forces on the respective vehicles being provided to Kyiv.

The U.S. Air Force in Ukraine is a Problem with Spare Parts and Supply Chains, says Sergei Sergei Reznikov

Zelensky wanted the systems because it would allow his military to target Russian missiles at higher altitudes than they were previously able to do.

The Ukrainian Air Force does not have the means to defend against missiles if they were to be obtained by Russia.

Sources told CNN that the US would not object to other countries sending their F-16s to Ukraine. But many US officials believe that for the US to send its own would be an expensive and complicated undertaking that US officials don’t believe is worth it in the short term when compared to Ukraine’s more immediate needs of artillery, rockets, and air defense systems.

There are training courses we can do in Europe, according to Reznikov. “It’s more convenient because we have to use a similar landscape and weather is the same.”

Training for the Leopard tanks can be as long as half a year. He hopes that it will happen in a month or two months.

“One year ago everyone rejected HIMARS and no one could imagine Abrams tanks,” the official said, referring to US missile systems provided to Ukraine last year, and the Biden administration’s decision last week to give Ukraine the flagship American battle tank.

He said that he was sure the F-16s were realistic and that Ukraine has had other weapons that were out of reach in the past.

“When I ask about F-16, I never heard about a problem with the spare parts or the supply chain. The answer was normally, ‘Oleksii, you know, it’s a very long period of training courses for your pilots.’” President Biden has made clear what he meant. The U.S. is sending air defenses, but not fighter jets — which would put more vulnerable pilots and expensive planes in the sky.

Reznikov says he knows Western allies are scrutinizing Ukraine’s government closely. According to Ukrainian journalists, Reznikov’s ministry used to purchase food and other supplies for troops at inflated prices.

Before the Russian invasion, most defense ministry expenses were public. Most of them are classified for security reasons. He says transparency is a delicate issue during wartime, but he is working with parliament to change laws and make defense expenditures at least “semi-transparent.”

Does Russia want long-range missiles? Ukraine wants to build a new economy, not a dirty Ukraine: A Pentagon press secretary briefing Ukrainian officials

He says that it’s not a piece of cake, but he will do it. “Because my principle is zero tolerance with corruption. We have to be a new Ukraine, with the European standard, not the old-fashioned Soviet Ukraine with a legacy of corruption.”

The US and its allies are skeptical that the jets are feasible due to the fact that they require a lot of training and Russia has anti-aircraft systems that could easily shoot them down.

More puzzling to US officials is why Ukraine has made such a public show of asking for F-16s, when in private the jets are rarely mentioned atop Ukraine’s wish list of weapons.

“I don’t think fighter jets are easier than ATACMS, but I believe we need to try to push,” the Ukrainian military official told CNN, referring to the long-range missiles they still want.

The Pentagon provided them what they thought they were capable of operating, maintaining, and sustaining, according to the deputy Pentagon press secretary. “The F-16 – this is a very complicated system.”

The prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, told reporters on Monday that sending the planes was a big step if it came to that. And Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki indicated on Monday that Warsaw would only send its fighter jets “in full coordination” with its NATO partners.

“Our partners are aware of the types of weapons we need – first and foremost, fighter jets and long-range missiles that can hit targets up to 300 km away,” he said in a briefing. “These are not weapons of escalation, but rather weapons of defense and deterrence against the aggressor. The solutions are being unlocked. I told our diplomats in key capitals to make this a priority.

Russia is gearing up for a “maximum escalation” of the war in Ukraine, potentially as soon as the next few weeks, according to a top Ukrainian national security official.

“These will be defining months in the war,” Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told Sky News in an interview broadcast Tuesday.

In February and March, there will be a very active phase of hostilities, according to an official with the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

“During the week, military representatives from the two countries will practice joint planning of the use of troops based on the prior experience of armed conflicts in recent years,” the ministry said in a statement.

Why do drones in air wars exist versus how we’re seeing them? Kelly Grieco of Draganfly, a Washington think tank, and a U.S. pilot

All previous air wars of the past century have had pilots, but this one is different. And this goes very much against the traditional perception of air combat.

Top Gun: Maverick is nominated for an Oscar this year. And here we are, watching an air war happening. Kelly Grieco, with the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, said that it looks different than what we see in Top Gun.

“There are [piloted] aircraft that are still flying at times. But we’re talking a very small number of sorties compared to compared to past wars,” said Grieco, who keeps close tabs on the air war.

He knows these tenets well. As an F-16 pilot, he flew combat missions early in his career, and later commanded U.S. drone operations in the Middle East. He saw that drones played a major role in the U.S. air campaigns. But piloted U.S. war planes played a significant role in those conflicts as well, and the U.S. alone dominated the skies.

Drones, meanwhile, are playing a growing role in non-combat operations on the Ukrainian side. The Canadian-U.S. company, Draganfly, has been making drones for civilian use since the 1990s. CEO Cameron Chell says it never did business in a war zone until last year.

An American aid group that was unable to get their ambulances into besieged cities asked Chell if it could use our drones.