The aftermath of the February 11 bridge explosion in Stavky, Ukraine, dubbed as a “Russian terrorism attack”

STAVKY, Ukraine — Racing down a road with his men in pursuit of retreating Russian soldiers, a battalion commander came across an abandoned Russian armored vehicle, its engine still running. Inside there was a sniper rifle, rocket propelled grenades, helmets and belongings. The men weren’t around.

The commander said they dropped everything: personal care, helmets. “I think it was a special unit, but they were panicking. They dropped everything because of the bad road and the rain.

Russian retaliation has intensified as Ukrainian forces have been pushing back Russian units and taking back territory that was seized in the beginning of the war.

KYIV and DNIPRO, UKRAINE, and MOSCOW — Explosions rocked several cities across Ukraine in the most extensive attack on the country since the early days of Russia’s invasion in February. Just hours before the attacks came, Russia blamed Ukraine for an explosion that damaged a bridge connecting the peninsula to mainland Russia.

The award of the Peace Prize to Russian human rights activists was seen as a rebuke to Russia and its leader, Vladimir V. Putin, who has been accused of war crimes in eastern Ukraine.

Several homes, apartment blocks and infrastructure were damaged by nearly 40 Russian rockets which hit Nikopol overnight, according to the head of the regional military administration. He said that further shelling on Friday evening killed one man and wounded another.

A truck crossing the bridge exploded and caused its partial destruction on October 8. The Ukrainians have never claimed responsibility, but the Kremlin was quick to point fingers toward Kyiv. President Putin said that the acts of terrorism would be harsh in the wake of the bridge explosion. Last week, Putin appeared on the bridge while he was shown repairs, and then he drove a car across it.

Cars and trains were crossing the bridge again on Sunday, after it was temporarily suspended because of the blast. Russia also restarted a car ferry service.

The Zamchenkos, a top commander of air defense, and two Ukrainian air forces killed in the recent drone attacks on Kyiv

He said that the route had taken the truck to various places, such as Georgia, North Ossetia and Krasnodar.

The Zamchenkos were among at least five people killed in the Russian drone attacks on Kyiv Monday, which sent shock waves through the Ukrainian capital, damaging residential buildings and burying civilians under rubble. At least three people died in separate strikes on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian Air Force’s spokesman, Yurii Ishant, said that the enemy wanted to scatter the attention of air defense. Ukraine’s top military chief, Valeriy Zaluzhny, later said that 60 of the missiles were downed by the country’s air defense forces.

Zaporizhzhia is one of the areas that has recently been focused on by fighting. Zelenskyy decried the latest attack in a Telegram post.

The explosion caused by a missile blast in a Moscow apartment building and some of its public spaces, according to a former speaker for Putin

Stunned people watched as emergency crews attempted to get to the upper floors of a building that was hit by a direct hit. A chasm at least 12 meters (40-feet) wide smoldered where apartments had once stood. The windows and doors in the apartment building were shot out by the missile barrage. At least 20 private homes and 50 apartment buildings were damaged, city council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said.

“There was one explosion, then another one,” 76-year-old Mucola Markovich said. In a flash, the fourth-floor apartment he shared with his wife was gone.

The dog’s leg was blown away by the blast and three volunteers dug a shallow grave for him in a neighborhood ravaged by a missile.

According to a former speech writer for Putin, the Russian president did not respond forcefully enough to appease angry war hawks after the bridge explosion. He said the response inspired the opposition, while the loyalists were demoralized.

He said they see that when the authorities say that everything is going according to plan and we’re winning, that they’re lying.

Ukrainian authorities have exhumed the first 20 bodies from a mass grave in Lyman, Ukraine, following a Russian occupation of Bakhmut

Hardwiring newly claimed territory with expensive, record-breaking infrastructure projects seems to be a penchant of dictators. In 2018, Putin personally opened the Kerch bridge – Europe’s longest – by driving a truck across it. One of the first things that China did after taking over Macau and Hong Kong was to build the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The bridge had been delayed for two years.

Crimea is a popular vacation resort for Russians. People trying to drive to the bridge and onto the Russian mainland on Sunday encountered hours-long traffic jams.

— In the devastated Ukrainian city of Lyman, which was recently recaptured after a months-long Russian occupation, Ukrainian national police said authorities have exhumed the first 20 bodies from a mass burial site. Initial indications are that around 200 civilians are buried in one location, and that another grave contains the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. The civilians, including children, were buried in single graves, while members of the military were buried in a 40-meter long trench, according to police.

Russian forces turned the city of Bakhmut into burned ruins, Zelenskyy said. Fighting has been fierce there as Russia attempts to advance in the city in the eastern Donbas region.

— The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, meanwhile, said that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest, had been reconnected to the grid after losing its last external power source early Saturday following shelling.

Ukranian Defense Minister Ihor Makovtsev: “It’s a tough morning when you’re going to kill as many people as they can” – comments of the US president Joe Biden

The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv is close to the Presidential Office Building, which was the location of a fake video posted on social media. According to Ukrainian officials, five people were killed in strikes on the capital.

US President Joe Biden condemns the Russian attacks. Biden said the US would provide Kyiv with the support to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems.

Mr. Zelensky said in his remarks Saturday night that there have been frequent power cuts throughout the entire of Ukranian. Some are what he categorized as emergency disruptions due to attacks. He called them “stabilization” or planned power cuts on a schedule.

“It’s a tough morning when you’re dealing with terrorists,” said Zelenskyy in the video, which recalled the selfie he took the night Russia invaded in February. “They’re choosing targets to harm as many people as possible.”

Back-up diesel locomotives replaced some services when sections of the Ukrainian railway system were out of power after the strikes. Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, said that nine power-generating facitilites were damaged in Friday’s attacks, and warned of more emergency blackouts.

“This happened at rush hour, as lots of public transport was operating in the city,” said Ihor Makovtsev, the head of the department of transport for the Dnipro city council, as he stood by the wreckage. He added that the bus driver and four passengers had been taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

A blast in Chechnya had not begun yet, and what had we learned from the experience?” Viktor Zelenskyy told Kadyrov

“It’s difficult for me to believe that their work is connected to transportation for civilians,” Makovtsev said.

81-year-old Viktor Shevchenko looked out from what once were the windows of his first floor balcony, just next to the bus stop. There was shattered glass on the ground. He said he had been watering the plants on his balcony just minutes before the blast, but went to his kitchen to make breakfast.

“The explosion blew open all of my cabinets, and nearly knocked me to the ground,” he said. “Only five minutes before, and I would have been on the balcony, full of glass.”

Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote to Zelenskyy saying that Russia hadn’t really started yet and that he had warned him.

The aftermath of the Kerch Strain explosion: Putin’s anger, his frustrations, and his desperate desperation on ice

Michael Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst. He is a Senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and has worked for the Organization for Security in Europe. He contributes to CNN Opinion. His own opinions are expressed in this commentary. CNN has more opinion.

Even amid irrepressible jubilation here in Ukraine in the aftermath of a massive explosion that hit the hugely strategic and symbolic Kerch Straight bridge over the weekend, fears of retaliation by the Kremlin were never far away.

As of midday local time, the area around my office in Odesa remained quiet, with unconfirmed reports that missiles and drones had been shot down. Normally at this time of the day nearby restaurants would be busy with customers and chatter of upcoming weddings and parties.

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.

Millions of Ukrainians will spend most of the day in bomb shelters at the request of officials while businesses have been asked to shift work online as much as possible.

Just as many regions of Ukraine were starting to roar back to life, and with countless asylum seekers returning home, the attacks risk causing another blow to business confidence.

Vladimir Putin might have been enraged over the fact that the bridge was being blown up. The war is getting worse, with his indiscriminate targeting of Ukrainian civilians raising the prospect of a new turn.

The reaction among Ukrainians to the explosion was instantaneous: humorous memes lit up social media channels like a Christmas tree. They shared their jubilation via text.

For Putin, consumed by pride and self-interest, sitting still was never an option. He responded by unleashing more death and destruction with the force that probably comes naturally to a former KGB officer.

It was also an act of selfish desperation: facing increasing criticism at home, including on state-controlled television, has placed Putin on unusually thin ice.

The 229th Day of the Russian Invasion: What the West Can Do to Stop Using High-Tech Weapons Towards the Front?

The new overall commander of the Russian invasion was appointed as a result of growing setbacks. There is no evidence that Gen. Sergey was able to lead his forces back towards the front by the end of the year.

The strikes that hit central Kyiv and close to the government quarter are significant. Western governments should see it as a red line being crossed on this 229th day of the war.

It’s important that Washington and allies use telephone diplomacy to get China and India to resist the urge to use even more deadly weapons because they have some leverage over Putin.

Against a man who probes for weakness and tends to exploit divisions, the most important thing for the West right now is to show unity and resolve. Western governments have to realize that rhetoric and sanctions do not have any effect on Putin. They need to continue to arm Ukrainians and provide urgent training, even if it means sending military experts closer to the battlefield to speed up the integration of high technology weapons.

Furthermore, high tech defense systems are needed to protect Kyiv and crucial energy infrastructure around the country. With winter just around the corner, the need to protect heating systems is urgent.

The time has also come for the West to further isolate Russia with trade and travel restrictions – but for that to have sufficient impact, Turkey and Gulf states, which receive many Russian tourists, need to be pressured to come on board.

The latest missile attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilians: U.S. security advisers, American diplomats, and civilian officials in Kiev

At least 19 people were killed and 105 others were injured in Russian missile attacks across Ukraine on Monday, according to preliminary data, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service said Tuesday.

Critical and civil infrastructure was hit in 12 regions and the capital, where more than 30 fires broke out, the emergency services said, adding the blazes have been put out.

Zelensky said that emergency and stabilization power outages continued in a number of regions. To put it mildly, the power system is far from normal.

The attacks snatched away the semblance of normality that city dwellers, who spent months earlier in the war in subways turned into air raid shelters, have managed to restore to their lives and raised fears of new strikes.

The targets on Monday had little military value and were a sign that Putin needed to find new targets because of his inability to win on the battlefield.

It appeared as though the bombing of power installations on Monday was a hint of what the Russian President could expect as winter sets in, because his forces retreat in the face of Ukrainian troops using Western arms.

But beyond these most recent missile attacks lies a laundry list of horrors Putin has launched that only seems to have driven his nation further from the pack of civilized powers that he once sought so desperately to join.

The attacks on civilians, which killed at least 14 people, also drove new attention to what next steps the US and its allies must take to respond, after already sending billions of dollars of arms and kits to Ukraine in an effective proxy war with Moscow.

The White House didn’t specify what kind of air systems would be sent, but Biden talked to Zelensky and offered to help him defend against Russian air attacks.

John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, suggested Washington was looking favorably on Ukraine’s requests and was in touch with the government in Kyiv almost every day. He told Kate that they do the best they can in subsequent packages.

“It likely was something that they had been planning for quite some time. Now that’s not to say that the explosion on the Crimea bridge might have accelerated some of their planning,” Kirby said.

The rain of fire against Ukrainian civilians on Monday was very chilling, given that it happened less than a week after Putin warned that he might use a tactical nuclear weapon. It seems unlikely that any such decision will be motivated by a desire to spare innocents from a terrible weapon, if he does not. Kirby said that there wasn’t any indication that Russia was going to use nuclear weapons or that the US needed to change its stance on nuclear weapons.

The president of France said that the rush-hour attacks in Europe could be related to another pivot in the conflict.

He was telling me where he was going for the winter. He is going to force the Ukrainian population to compromise and give up territory by going after the infrastructure, Vindman said.

Exploding drones are a new class of weapons that are growing in number and are likely to be mainstays of armed conflicts in the future. The Ukrainians have been trying to get air defense assistance from their allies. If Ukraine can learn to shoot the drones down with its three-pronged effort, allied countries’ militaries could reap the benefits of this hard-won experience, Mr. Sak said.

If a long campaign is launched against civilians by Putin it will break Ukrainian faith and possibly cause a new wave of refugees into Western Europe that could split NATO allies.

Putin has not learned that revenge is not the best way to act on or off the battlefield in the final analysis and may be more damaging to Russia than previously thought.

Ukraine’s missile defenses during the first week of the war: The story of a terror to scare people, and how to protect them

In an interview with CNN on Monday, Olena Gnes said she was angry about the return of fear and violence in her native Ukraine, and she was documenting it on her website.

She said, “This is another terror to scare people, to scare you guys in other countries or to show to your own people that he is still a bloody tyrant, he is still powerful and look what fireworks we can arrange.”

“We do not feel desperate … we are more sure even than before that Ukraine will win and we need it as fast as possible because … only after we win in this war and only after Russia is defeated, we will have our peace back here.”

As Ukraine races to shore up its missile defenses in the wake of the assault, the math for Moscow is simple: A percentage of projectiles are bound to get through.

Experts believe it is unlikely that Russia will form a pattern of aerial bombardments again, and that the military reserves of either army is not really an accurate depiction of how large they are.

The Pentagon’s view at the time was that of its weapons stocks, Russia was “running the lowest on cruise missiles, particularly air-launched cruise missiles,” but that Moscow still had more than 50% of its pre-war inventory.

The Russians have been adapting the S-300 to be an offensive weapon. These have wrought devastation in Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv, among other places, and their speed makes them difficult to intercept. But they’re not accurate.

He told CNN’s Richard Quest that this was the “first time from the beginning of the war” that Russia has “dramatically targeted” energy infrastructure.

But Ukraine’s energy operators are getting used to repairing electricity substations, pylons and thermal power plants. Zelensky stated that most of the towns and villages that terrorists wanted to leave had electricity and communication.

The incoming missiles shot down this week were shot down by the Ukrainian air defense systems provided by NATO Allies.

In the first month, the soldiers used shoulder-launched missiles and hit-and-run tactics. These days, they are using drones and artillery as part of a high-tech trench war in the farm fields of the country’s’ south.

In August, US officials said Russia had bought these drones and was training its forces how to use them. According to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia has ordered 2,400 Shahed-136 drones from Iran.

Ukraine’s allies understand this need. Ahead of a meeting in Brussels Wednesday of Ukraine’s supporters, General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that “after Russia attacked the Ukrainian civilian population, we will be looking for air defense options that will help the Ukrainians.”

Ukraine’s wish-list – circulated at Wednesday’s meeting – included missiles for their existing systems and a “transition to Western-origin layered air defense system” as well as “early warning capabilities.”

He said that the system would not control all the air space over the country, but they would make sure priority targets are protected. What you’re looking at really is short-range low-altitude systems and then medium-range medium altitude and then long-range and high altitude systems, and it’s a mix of all of these.”

Western systems are beginning to trickle in. The first IRIS-T from Germany arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday, and the US’s National Advanced Surface-to-air Missile System is expected soon, according to the Ukrainian Defense Minister.

Ukraine “badly needed” modern systems such as the IRIS-T that arrived this week from Germany and the NASAMS expected from the United States, Bronk said.

The Third World War is Coming to an End: The Story of Ukrainian Counter-Oscillations in Kyiv and the Kremlin

Poland was thanked by the general for training the air defense battalion that destroyed nine of the Shaheeds.

He said Poland had given Ukraine “systems” to help destroy the drones. Last month there were reports that the Polish government had purchased advanced Israeli equipment and was transferring it to Ukraine, despite a policy of not selling “advanced defensive technology” to Kyiv.

Not for the first time, the war is teetering towards an unpredictable new phase. Keir Giles is a senior consultant at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, and he stated that this is the third war they have been observing.

With the cold months rapidly approaching and likely bringing a decrease in ground combat, experts predict the next weeks of the war will be decisive, and another surge of intensity looms over Ukraine as each side seeks to strike another blow.

It means that, as winter approaches, the stakes of the war have been raised once more. “There’s no doubt Russia would like to keep it up,” Giles said. The Ukrainian successes of recent weeks sent a direct message to the Kremlin. “They are able to do things that take us by surprise, so let’s get used to it,” Giles said.

Oleksii Hromov, a senior Ukrainian military official, said last week that Kyiv’s forces have recaptured some 120 settlements since late September as they advance in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions. Ukraine said on Wednesday that it had liberated more settlements in Kherson.

Russia said Thursday its forces would help evacuate residents of occupied Kherson to other areas, as Ukraine’s offensive continued to make gains in the region. The announcement came shortly after the head of the Moscow-backed administration in Kherson appealed to the Kremlin for help moving residents out of harm’s way, in the latest indication that Russian forces were struggling in the face of Ukrainian advances.

The counter-offensives have changed the balance of the war and proved a suggestion that was put forward by the West and Russia in the summer that Ukraine lacked the ability to seize ground.

The Russia is hoping that a collapse in their frontline before the winter sets in will be avoided, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“If they can get to Christmas with the frontline looking roughly as it is, that’s a huge success for the Russians given how botched this has been since February.”

The Institute for the Study of War says that Russian forces are likely going to defend the cities of Starobilsk and Svatove, which are in the Luhansk region.

Landing a major blow in Donbas would send another powerful signal, and Ukraine will be eager to improve on its gains before temperatures plummet on the battlefield, and the full impact of rising energy prices is felt around Europe.

“There are so many reasons why there is an incentive for Ukraine to get things done quickly,” Giles said. Energy infrastructure and power being destroyed in Ukraine itself will always be tests of resilience for Ukraine and its Western backers, and also the winter energy crisis in Europe.

NATO leaders have vowed to stand behind Ukraine regardless of how long the war takes, but several European countries – particularly those that relied heavily on Russian energy – are staring down a crippling cost-of-living crisis which, without signs of Ukrainian progress on the battlefield, could endanger public support.

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. The Prime Minister of Ukraine has warned that there is a lot of work to be done to repair damaged equipment, and asked Ukrainians to reduce their energy usage during peak hours.

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

The Iswer said in a daily update on the conflict that the strikeswasted some of Russia’s diminishing precision weapons against civilian targets, as opposed to militarily significant targets.

It is crucial to find out how much weaponry and manpower each side has left in reserve. On Monday and Tuesday, Ukraine said it successfully repelled cruise missiles, but it wants more equipment from its Western allies to repel future attacks.

Russian troops began arriving in Belarus October 15th as part of a regional grouping of forces to protect the country from threats at the border from the Ukraine and the West.

“The reopening of a northern front would be another new challenge for Ukraine,” Giles said. Should Putin priority an effort to regain the territory, it would provide Russia a new route into the region, which has been regained by Ukraine.

In order to show Ukraine’s western allies that military aid can help win the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky flipped the narrative of the conflict over the past two months.

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.

The Ukrainian military claimed last week that they had downed more than 200 drones after shooting down the first one in September. “We are trying to quickly adapt to the new reality,” Mr. Sak said.

The drones are disposable, which is why the name is “kamikaze”. They are designed to hit behind enemy lines and are destroyed in the attack — unlike the more traditional, larger and faster military drones that return home after dropping missiles.

Ukraine’s Air Force and Drone Crisis: U.S. Dec. 15 Oct. 15, 2009, Kremlin Resident’s Report

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.

Anton Gerashcenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Internal Ministry, reported attacks on infrastructure near the city’s main rail station, but lines were operating as normal midmorning Monday.

The enemy can attack our cities, but it won’t 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 has called on the west to give Ukraine more air defense systems. “We have no time for slow actions,” he said online.

Klitshchko posted a photo of shrapnel labeled “Geran-2,” Russian’s designation for the Iranian drones, but he removed the picture after commenters criticized him for confirming a Russian strike.

The EU foreign ministers will meet today in Luxembourg. Before the meeting, Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, told reporters that the bloc would look into “concrete evidence” of Iran’s involvement in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down 30 out of 35 drones it launched, but they damaged power systems and civilian targets.

NATO will hold nuclear deterrence exercises starting Monday. NATO has warned Russia not to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine but says the “Steadfast Noon” drills are a routine, annual training activity.

State of Ukraine: Analysis of a U.S. Bridge Explosion in the First Day of the United Nations’ Comprehensive Security Report on Crime and Security

Russian agents arrested eight people, including Russians, Ukrainians and Georgians, on suspicion that they were involved in a bridge explosion.

The United Nations General Assembly roundly condemned Russia’s move to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine. Four countries voted alongside Russia, but 143 voted in favor of Ukraine’s resolution, and 35 abstained.

Here you can read recaps of past events. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of NPR’s coverage here. You can listen to the State ofUkraine podcast to get the latest news throughout the day.

Ret said thatShahed drones have a disadvantage in their speed. Mark Cancian is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Cancian said that the problem with them was that they were slow. Like all propeller-driven drones, they’re not very fast. They are vulnerable to being shot down by missiles or aircraft guns.

The U.S. officials confirmed to NPR that the drones used in these attacks were from Iran but that it has denied its involvement.

“One of the reasons that Russia obtained or purchased weapons from Iran was that they have been using their own stocks of cruise and ballistic missiles pretty quickly, and they have not been able to replenish those stocks,” Nadimi said. “So [they have] resorted to much cheaper Iranian options.”

Iran has been siding with no side in the Russia-Ukraine war for a long time. Iran has not supplied arms to either warring side according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

The Zamchenkos – a pregnant woman and her husband killed in Kyiv by Russian-launched, Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones

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.

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.

The White House’s air defense systems are similar to NASAMS, the same ground-based system that is used to protect it in Washington, D.C., and the systems are expected to arrive in the Ukraine in a few weeks.

A pregnant woman and her husband who were killed in Kyiv by a Russian drone strike were like the same person, according to their close friend.

They had a lot of plans, including a home, children, travel and a family of their own. They had big plans for this life, according to Petrukova.

The Zamchenkos died at home in their apartment in Kyiv on Monday, following a barrage of strikes by Russian-launched, Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones, according to Ukrainian officials.

The first strikes Monday trapped the couple in the apartment, according to a phone call by the person who was in contact with Victoria.

“They could no longer leave the house because there was an incoming hit at the [thermal power plant] right opposite,” Petrukova recalled. “So they were sitting in the corridor.”

The last message was received at 8:18 a.m. [when] she heard two more incoming hits. There was a fifth one after that. And the connection with her was lost.”

Victoria Zamchenko: A dear friend of Vicki, Victoria, whose husband died in August 2004 in Rinve, Ukraine. Memories of a very good friend

Victoria Zamchenko had returned to Kyiv in August from her home city of Rinve in western Ukraine. She used to work at a wine shop.

She was a very deep kind of person, according to her friend. “We always had something to talk about and something to be silent about.”

They are not possible to imagine separately. They always held hands, always hugged. There was a lot of tenderness and warmth between them. It was always a pleasure to be around them. They were fun.

A Ukrainian hero killed by a quadcopter: A folk hero who flees from Vinnytsia, Ukraine

These larger surveillance drones can be expensive, so both Ukrainian and Russian forces have employed quadcopters — battery-powered commercial drones that are far cheaper. Quadcopters fly shorter distances and hover over a position before dropping small weapons like grenades on enemy troops and vehicles. They are designed to be used again after their batteries have been charged.

In March, the Pentagon announced it would send 100 “tactical unmanned aerial systems” called Switchblades. The next month, the administration said it would provide another 300. The Department of Defence said it would send 120 Phoenix Ghost drones to Ukranian. In July, the United States provided funds for Ukraine to buy 580 more of them.

In August, the Pentagon said it would send Puma drones — small aircraft that soldiers toss into the air to launch and then control by remote control from up to nine miles away. Pumas can stay at altitudes of about 500 feet.

After shooting down five Iranian Shahed-136 drones in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, a Ukrainian pilot earned folk hero status in the country but was forced to abandon his plane when it hit the last one. The pilot, identified by his nickname Karaya, told the local news media that they were starting to destroy some of the weapons within a short period of time.

He said that Karaya steered his MiG away from Vinnytsia after colliding with the airborne debris. The jet crashed into houses in an outlying area, but injured nobody on the ground. Karaya went to apologize at the site.

The Mykolaiv Reaction: A Battle between Two Russian Soldiers in the Final Days of World War I. Stas Volovyk and Anatoliy Nikitin

He said he visited the scene and apologized for causing residents pain, and thanked them for their steel nerves. He joked that it was a violation of military protocol. “Lost them while leaving the office,” he wrote.

Mykiev, Ukraine. The second day of the war with Russia saw the delivery of anti-tank missiles to fellow soldiers by two army reservists, Stas Volovyk and Anatoliy Nikitin. Then, as they stood exposed on a highway, Nikitin, who goes by the battle nickname Concrete, says they received new orders.

There are two Russian tanks on the radio. Try to hit one and livestream it!,” recalls Nikitin, sitting on a park bench in the southern city of Mykolaiv, as artillery rumbles in the distance.

Neither soldier had ever fired an NLAW. So, as the tanks approached, they hid amongst some trees and looked up a YouTube video on how to do so. They took their positions, prepared the missiles.

The commander said, “Oh, it’s ours!” It’s ours!’” recalls Volovyk, who goes by the nickname Raptor. We did not fire. It was a very close call.

Nikitin and Volovyk have fought in both environments and describe their on-the-job training as a mix of terror, adventure and black comedy. The first few days of war were filled with confusion and unvarnished views from the two men.

“It was total chaos,” recalls Nikitin, who is 40, wears a salt-and-pepper beard and heads a construction company. It’s fortunate that the Russians were more chaotic than us.

Volovyk learned English by playing video games. He says Russian tactics and decision-making have improved during the war, but he found some of their early actions perplexing. Riot police were deployed by the Russians, but were destroyed before they could go toward Kyiv.

Volovyk, who wears a camo cap with the message “Don’t Worry, Be Ready” says that they were wondering if they were just mocking them.

The Russians retreated from the suburbs in late March. The two men headed south after this to fight a different kind of war. They left behind the protection of suburban buildings and forests outside the capital for sweeping farm fields with little cover. They started at the bottom: working the trenches.

Volovyk says that it sucks. “You dig. You dig. Unless you dig, you’re pretty much dead in this war.

Two weeks later the men were offered new jobs. It’s dangerous to be close to enemy lines and to try to avoid detection. But the men leapt at the opportunity — anything to get out of the trenches.

They are now in charge of drones, helping to guide the fire on Russian tanks and other weapons in the Kherson region.

The soldiers have had some heart-stopping moments. A team of engineers came across a Russian soldier in the field.

“He looks at me, I look at him and he just jumps into the bushes,” recalls Nikitin. He ordered the engineers to kill the Russian and any of his fellow soldiers.

The army reserve was joined by Volovyk and Nikitin six years ago. They knew that Russia would try to take the rest of Ukraine, according to Nikitin. Kherson is the regional capital and their goal is to liberate it.

That said, a growing number of Russian soldiers have rebelled at what they have been asked to do and refused to fight. Amid plummeting morale, the UK’s Defense Ministry believes Russian troops may be prepared to shoot retreating or deserting soldiers.

Grisly videos filmed by Ukrainian drones showing Russian infantry being struck by artillery in poorly prepared positions have partly supported those assertions, as has reporting in Russian news media of mobilized soldiers telling relatives about high casualty rates. The videos have not been independently verified and their exact location on the front line could not be determined.

Russian forces had tripled their intensity of attacks on some parts of the front according to a statement posted by the commander of the Ukrainian military. He did not say what the time frame was or where the attacks were coming from.

General Zaluzhnyi wrote that they discussed the situation at the front. He said that his colleague in the U.S. had been told by the Ukrainian forces to beat back the attacks.

An assessment from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based analytical group, also said that the increase in infantry in the Donbas region in the east had not resulted in Russia’s gaining new ground.

The institute said on Thursday that Russian forces would have had more success in offensive operations if they had waited until enough troops arrived to overwhelm the Ukrainians.

In the south, where Ukrainian armies are moving toward Kherson, the Ukrainian military reported that it had fired more than 160 times at Russian positions over the course of 24 hours.

With Russian and Ukrainian forces apparently preparing for battle in Kherson, and conflicting signals over what may be coming, the remaining residents of the city have been stocking up on food and fuel.

Republicans warned that the party could limit funding forUkraine, if it wins control of the House of Representatives, as predicted in the polls, and that Ukraine will be watching the results this week.

U.N. Security and Security Aid to Ukraine, and a Russian Bombstery of St Petersburg after the Antonivsky Bridge Fall

Also Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. 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.

More than four million Ukrainians were without electricity because of attacks on the infrastructure of Russia.

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.

The Pentagon announced $400 million in additional security aid to Ukraine, on Nov. 4, to include 45 refurbished T-72 tanks, 1,100 Phoenix Ghost drones and other vehicles, technology and training.

The Dnipro has become the new front line in southern Ukraine, and officials there warned of continued danger from fighting in regions that have already endured months of Russian occupation.

There were fears of a Russian bombardment of the city after the Antonivsky Bridge fell, due to the fact that there were new positions on the eastern bank.

Mortar shells struck near the bridge, sending up puffs of smoke. Near the riverfront, incoming rounds rang out with thunderous, metallic booms. It wasn’t possible to determine what had been hit.

The danger of mines: the death of an 11-year-old, a train worker, and a family in Kherson City

The mines are dangerous. A family, including an 11-year-old, were killed when their car went over a mine outside the city. Another mine injured six railway workers who were trying to restore service after lines were damaged. There were at least four children injured by mines across the region, Ukrainian officials said in statements.

The deaths underscored the threats still remaining on the ground, even as Mr. Zelensky made a surprise visit to Kherson, a tangible sign of Ukraine’s soaring morale.

Hundreds of people celebrate after Mr. Zelensky said that he is going to come to all of our country step by step.

“Occupants rob local people and exchange stuff for samogon,” or homemade vodka, said one resident, Tatiana, who communicated via a secure messaging app from Oleshky, a town across the river from Kherson City. They get drunk and aggressive. We are so scared here.” She asked that her surname be withheld for security.

“Russians roam around, identify the empty houses and settle there,” Ivan, 45, wrote in a text message. He wants his name not to be used in Kherson city out of concern for his safety. “We try to connect with the owners and to arrange for someone local to stay in their place. So that it is not abandoned and Russians don’t take it.”

The Putin Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen – David A. Andelman

A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happened was written by David A. Andelman, a CNN contributor twice winner of the Deadline Club Award. He formerly was a correspondent for The New York Times and CBS News in Europe and Asia. His own views are expressed in this commentary. View more opinion at CNN.

Poland is facing repercussions from these attacks and it is not the only border country. Russian rockets knocked out power in theMoldova, a NATO member, and therefore attracted less attention than the Polish incident.

Whatever the exact circumstances of the missile, one thing is clear. “Russia bears ultimate responsibility, as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Wednesday.

His forces have planted mines in vast stretches of territory in Kherson from which they’ve recently withdrawn – much as the Khmer Rouge did in Cambodia stretching back to the 1970s. Cambodia’s de-mining experts were called in to help with the task of cleaning up the Ukrainian mines. Evidence of atrocities was left behind by the Russian armies, similar to those of the Khmer Rouge.

The hotline and Telegram channel, launched as a Ukrainian military intelligence project called “I want to live,” designed to help Russian soldiers who are interested in defecting has taken off, booking some 3,500 calls in its first two months of activity.

Putin has also tried, though he has been stymied at most turns, to establish black market networks abroad to source what he needs to fuel his war machine – much as Kim Jong-un has done in North Korea. The United States has recently put sanctions on a number of individuals and companies that are involved in procuring high-tech goods for Russia.

Diplomatically, Putin finds himself increasingly isolated on the world stage. He was the only head of state to stay away from a session of the G20, which Zelensky dubbed the “G19.” Though Putin once lusted after a return to the G7 (known as the G8 before he was ousted after his seizure of Crimea), inclusion now seems but a distant dream. The comparison with North Korea was more striking because of Russia’s sudden ban on 100 Canadians, including Jim Carrey.

Above all, many of the best and brightest in virtually every field have now fled Russia. This includes writers, artists and journalists as well as some of the most creative technologists, scientists and engineers.

One leading Russian journalist, Mikhail Zygar, who has settled in Berlin after fleeing in March, told me last week that while he hoped this is not the case, he is prepared to accept the reality – like many of his countrymen, he may never be able to return to his homeland, to which he remains deeply attached.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/17/opinions/putin-poland-missile-ukraine-nato-andelman/index.html

The Russian Defense of the Future Combat Air System: An Address to the G20 Security Council on the Future of the Fighter FUSE Joint Project in the Future

The West has tried to change their policy toward Russian oil and natural gas, in order to keep the country from benefiting from the war. “We have understood and learnt our lesson that it was an unhealthy and unsustainable dependency, and we want reliable and forward-looking connections,” Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission told the G20 on Tuesday.

Putin had a dream that the conflict would drive wedges into the alliance, but it wasn’t realized. On Monday, word began to circulate in the automotive world that the long-stalled joint French-German project for a next-gen jet fighter at the heart of the Future Combat Air System was starting to move forward.

In his address to the Russian parliament on Tuesday he held that attempts by some countries to alter world history were becoming more and more aggressive in their aim to divide the society and weaken Russia.

The official said that Russians don’t care if they use all these cluster munitions. “We are going to fight Russian troops, but Russians fight with our civilians with clusters.”

Senior Biden administration officials have been fielding this request for months and have not rejected it outright, CNN has learned, a detail that has not been previously reported.

The design and use of cluster munitions can cause a long-term risk to anyone who is near them, similar to the design and use of landmines. They also create “nasty, bloody fragmentation” to anyone hit by them because of the dozens of submunitions that detonate at once across a large area, Mark Hiznay, a weapons expert and the associate arms director for Human Rights Watch, previously told CNN.

There is still an option on the table if the stockpiles begin to run low. But sources say the proposal has not yet received significant consideration in large part due to the statutory restrictions that Congress has put on the US’ ability to transfer cluster munitions.

Those restrictions apply to munitions with a greater than one percent unexploded ordnance rate, which raises the prospect that they will pose a risk to civilians. President Joe Biden could override that restriction, but the administration has indicated to the Ukrainians that that is unlikely in the near term.

“The ability of Ukraine to make gains in current and upcoming phases of conflict is in no way dependent on or linked to their procuring said munitions,” a congressional aide told CNN.

The Defense Ministry told CNN it does not comment on reports regarding requests for particular weapons systems or ammunition, choosing to wait until any agreement with a supplier is reached before many any public announcement.

The Ukrainian official told CNN that the weapons were more effective when there was a concentration of Russian forces.

On the silence of Ukraine: a “heroes of Russia” re-visited by the Ukrain Defense Ministry

Speaking after an awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia” at the Kremlin, he addressed a group of soldiers receiving the awards, clutching a glass of champagne.

He blamed the Ukrainians for a number of things: who hit the bridge? Who blew up the power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant?”

The reference to Kursk appears to reference Russia’s announcement that an airfield in the Kursk region, which neighbors Ukraine, was targeted in a drone attack. TheUkrainian Defense Ministry has not commented on the recent explosions that are deep within Russia. The country has declared its drones to be beyond the reach of the targets.

He ended his apparent off-the-cuff comments by claiming there is no mention of the water situation. Nobody has said a word about it. All at the same time! Complete silence,” he said.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-12-08-22/h_aea9d9149a72232d60137554cc312f1e

Violations of the Crimes in Donetsk: Moscow tries to bring disaster to the city, and a spokesperson for Odesa

Local Russian authorities in Donetsk — which Putin claimed to annex in defiance of international law — have reported frequent shelling of the city this week.

The administrators of Melitopol claimed four missiles hit the city, killing two people and wounding 10 others, and the mayor reported an explosion at a church.

The Russian military is moving in local houses that they have seized. Military equipment is stationed in residential areas,” Federov said in November.

Alexei Kulemzin, head of the Russian-backed city administration, said Ukraine launched 20 Grad missiles around 5:54 a.m. local time Sunday in the direction of the Voroshilovsky and Kalininsky districts.

The portal said an explosion at the Russian barracks in Sovietske set them on fire and there were dead and wounded.

The air defense system working over Simferopol was said to be by Sergey Aksenov. The services are working just the same.

The news comes amid reports that 1.5 million people in the Odesa region of Ukraine have been left without power following strikes by Iranian-made drones.

Zelensky said that the true attitude of Russia toward Odesa is deliberately trying to bring disaster to the city.

On the missile attacks against Ukraine and the crisis in the light of the Russian attacks in Ukraine, according to Prime Minister Vladimir Zelensky

Ukraine on Saturday received “a new support package from Norway in the amount of $100 million” that will be used “precisely for the restoration of our energy system after these Russian strikes,” Zelensky added.

In his nightly address on Saturday, Mr. Zelensky said Ukraine had shot down 10 of the 15 drones that Russian forces used. It was not immediately possible to verify his tally.

Ukrainians have suffered many assaults on their plants and equipment for heat and light in the past and have had it knocked out again.

The power system is not normal, it is an acute shortage and he wants people to reduce their power use.

“It must be understood: Even if there are no heavy missile strikes, this does not mean that there are no problems,” he continued. There are missile attacks and drones every day in different regions. Energy facilities are hit almost every day.”

Many people are watching to see if the president of Ukrainian succeeds in banning the Russian Orthodox Church in the country after accusing them of being linked to Moscow.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosts European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store for a working dinner Monday in Paris.

Also in France, on Tuesday, the country is set to co-host a conference with Ukraine in support of Ukrainians through the winter, with a video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Violence in the U.S. after Zelenskyy’s return to the US: Air-defense attacks in Kharkiv, Kherson and Engels

Fans and friends of the basketball player are celebrating her return to the US after being released from a Russian prison. Meanwhile, some Republican politicians have been complaining about the prisoner swap and other U.S. citizens still held by Russia.

The measures to target Russian oil revenue went live on December 5. A price cap and embargo on Russian oil imports are included in the report.

On December 11, Zelenskyy had a telephone call with President Biden, the leaders of Turkey, and France, all of whom were thought to be stepping up diplomacy over the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a government meeting that 78 missiles were fired at the country, but 60 were shot down by its air defense forces.

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said explosions had hit the city and that three districts had been struck in the onslaught of rockets, disrupting water supplies across the capital. He suggested residents prepare a stock of drinking water while technicians work to restore the supply, and not to leave shelters as attacks continued.

Oleh Syniehubov, head of the regional military administration, said that at least 10 missiles were fired into the north of the region. After being without power for a while, the power was due to be restored in the evening. “There is a colossal infrastructural damage,” Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said, instructing residents to use so-called “invincibility points” – makeshift centers offering relief from power outages – to collect food and hot drinks, and recharge cellphones.

Meanwhile, artillery and rocket attacks continued in the southern city of Kherson, which was liberated by Ukrainian forces in November, targeting critical infrastructure, residential buildings, medical aid and public transport, leaving four dead, according to the head of the region’s military administration. The multi-story apartment building was set ablaze by shellfire, and the body of a man was found in one apartment. The city is still struggling to restore basic services.

The Engels air base, which is home to Russia’s long-range, nuclear-capable bombers, was targeted in a drone attack in early December, according to the Kremlin, slightly damaging two planes. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The armed forces of Ukraine claim that a supersonic plane was seen in the sky over Belarus during the air attacks on Friday. 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.”

He declined to announce any details on the next security assistance package for Ukraine, but said that there “will be another one” and that additional air defense capabilities should be expected.

The Air Force’s “Rade-Up” Drone Repair Campaign in Kyiv, Ukraine, in the Run-up to Christmas

The Iranian-made, self-detonating Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 drones were launched from the “eastern coast of the Sea of Azov,” the Air Force said in a statement on Facebook.

“I thank everyone who carries out these repair works in any weather and around the clock,” Zelensky said. It is hard, but I am sure we will pull together and Russia’s aggression will fail.

The repeated attacks come as Ukrainians far from the eastern and southern frontlines of the ground war seek for some semblance of normality in the run-up to Christmas.

An artificial Christmas tree in the center of Kyiv was installed and decorated over the weekend, set to be illuminated with “energy-saving garlands” that will be powered by a generator at specific times, the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

The tree in Sophia Square is adorned with roughly 1,000 blue and yellow balls and white doves. Flags of countries that are supporting Ukraine will be placed at the bottom.

Ukrainian children are asking St. Nicholas for air defense and weapons for “victory for all Ukrainians,” Zelensky said in his virtual address to the Joint Expeditionary Force leaders’ summit on Monday.