On the possibility of F-16 jets for Ukraine: a counterexample to the Russian war crimes and atrocities of the Cold War?

President Joe Biden denied on Monday that the US would be giving F-16s to Ukraine. Asked on Tuesday, whether he plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky amid his calls for F-16 jets, Biden said, “We’re going to talk.”

Biden, the statement said, “also underscored his ongoing engagement with allies and partners to continue imposing costs on Russia, holding Russia accountable for its war crimes and atrocities, and providing Ukraine with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance.”

The US announced that it would give Ukraine a new aid package that included the first-ever transfer to the country of the air and missile defense System, which could bring down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, and aircraft.

The UK’s Ben Wallace said that the Challenger 2s should be given to Kyiv this side of the summer while the German Defense Minister said the Leopard 2s should reach Ukraine by March. The deputy Pentagon press secretary said that deliveries of the tanks will take months.

Estimating Russian missile inventories is guesswork. In May, President Zelensky said that Russia had used up less than half of its precision-missile arsenal. That now looks like an idea that has been discarded.

Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian civilians: How the United States is reacting to Putin’s attack on Ukraine, and how it may be extended to other countries

“Today the enemy carried out another massive attack on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine,” Halushchenko said in a post on Facebook. “Unfortunately, there is some damage to generation facilities and power grids.”

The country is struggling on the ground but may have achieved one goal by Monday’s attacks, sending a signal of strength towards the growing list of Putin’s critics.

Russia is increasing its attacks on civilian targets in Ukranian. The Ukrainian president visited the White House last month and called for additional assistance to protect against Russian aggression. He said the support was not “charity” but “an investment in the global security and democracy.”

Yes. There is an enormous $45 billion aid package in the works, and while not all military, it is part of a consistent drumbeat from the Biden administration. The message is simple: Ukraine is receiving a fair amount of aid that will not stop and that aid will not stop even if Washington stops giving it.

Kirby told CNN that he could only speak for him on how he would react to the pressure both at home and overseas.

Biden warned about the dangers of nukes last week and implied that Armageddon was a possibility. But multiple US officials have said the comment was not based on any new intelligence about Putin’s intentions or changes in Russia’s nuclear posture.

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.

Over the last three days, the Russians have used a lot of their missile stocks. The majority were air-launched cruise missiles, some delivered by bombers based near the Caspian Sea. They also launched Kalibrs from the Black Sea, as well as ground-launched Iskander cruise missiles.

There is no clear picture of how far such a rush is diminishing Russian inventories, and if the Russian will resort to older, less accurate but equally powerful missiles.

The Russians have also been adapting the S-300 – normally an air defense missile – as an offensive weapon, with some effect. These have wrought devastation in Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv, among other places, and their speed makes them difficult to intercept. But they are hardly accurate.

Explosions rattled villages and cities across Ukraine on Thursday, damaging civilian infrastructure and killing at least three people in what Kyiv has called one of Moscow’s biggest missile barrages since the war began in February.

The First Russian Air Defense – Ukraine’s New Era of Air Defense (Russia’s First Air Defense Operation During the First Three Months of the War)

He said that this was the first time that Russia had targeted an energy infrastructure during the war.

But Ukraine made the most of its limited, Soviet-era air defenses, shooting down dozens of Russian fighter jets and helicopters in the first few months of the war. Many were surprised to hear that Russia had largely stopped sending piloted aircraft into Ukrainian air space. “We stared at that for the entire first three months of the war going, ‘Why aren’t the Russians applying the basic tenets of air doctrine,’” said retired U.S. Air Force officer Peter Gersten.

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.”

Estimating the proportion of Iranian-made Shahed drones being eliminated is more difficult, because so many are being used. Zelensky said that “every 10 minutes I receive a message about the enemy’s use of Iranian Shaheds.” He said that the majority of them were being shot down.

Missiles for their existing systems as well as a transition to Western origin air defense system were included in the wish-list circulating at Wednesday’s meeting.

The system is widely considered one of the most capable long-range weapons to defend airspace against incoming ballistic and cruise missiles as well as some aircraft. Because of its long-range and high-altitude capability, it can potentially shoot down Russian missiles and aircraft far from their intended targets inside Ukraine.

Western systems are starting to work in other parts of the world. 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.

KYIV — Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov says he’s optimistic Western allies will eventually supply his country with advanced fighter jets, including U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, and adds that Ukrainian forces are poised to start training on newly committed advanced battle tanks “as soon as possible.”

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.

What have we learnt about the Ukrainian air raids in Kherson, Kharkiv and Donetsk? A direct message to the Kremlin

Ukraine’s senior military commander, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, tweeted Tuesday his thanks to Poland as “brothers in arms” for training an air defense battalion that had destroyed nine of 11 Shaheeds.

He said Poland had given Ukraine “systems” to help destroy the drones. There were rumors last month that the Polish government bought equipment from Israel and was transferring it to Ukraine in violation of Israel’s policy against selling advanced defensive technology to Kyiv.

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.

Something was striking Donetsk. The area controlled by Russian-backed rebels was the site of a serious attack by the Ukrainians.

For the first time in the war, it is heading towards an unpredictable new phase. “This is now the third, fourth, possibly fifth different war that we’ve been observing,” said Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme.

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. A direct message to the Kremlin has been sent by the Ukrainian successes of recent weeks. “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. The Ukrainian government said on Wednesday that it had liberated five settlements in Kherson.

Russia said Thursday it would help evacuate residents of Kherson to other areas, as the offensive continued in the region. The announcement came just after the head of the Moscow-backed administration in Kherson appealed to the Kremlin for help moving residents out of harms way, in the latest indication that Russian forces were struggling in the face of Ukrainian advances.

These counter-offensives have shifted the momentum of the war and disproved a suggestion, built up in the West and in Russia during the summer, that while Ukraine could stoutly defend territory, it lacked the ability to seize ground.

“The Russians are playing for the whistle – (hoping to) avoid a collapse in their frontline before the winter sets in,” Samir Puri, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the author of “Russia’s Road to War with Ukraine,” told CNN.

“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 new commander of the Russian invasion was appointed because of growing setbacks. But there is little sign that Gen. Sergey Surovikin can lead his forces back onto the front foot before the end of the year, given the pace and cost of the Ukrainian counter-offensives.

Russian troops are attempting to push eastwards after crossing the Oskil River, and are preparing to defend the city of Starobilsk in the Luhansk region according to the Institute for the Study of War.

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. “The winter energy crisis in Europe, and energy infrastructure and power being destroyed in Ukraine itself, is always going to be a test of resilience for Ukraine and its Western backers.”

NATO leaders agreed to equip, arm and train Ukraine at their summit last year. The message was clear to Moscow, that in the coming years it would look and fight like it was in NATO.

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. But Ukrainian Prime Minister has warned that “there is a lot of work to do” to fix damaged equipment, and asked Ukrainians to reduce their energy usage during peak hours.

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

Russia may be less able to disrupt the counter-offensives by the Ukrainians due to its limited supply of precision weapons.

A military expert with the Royal United Services Institute said that the Ukrainian success rate against Russian cruise missiles has risen since the start of the invasion.

The impact of such intervention in terms of pure manpower would be relatively low since there are no significant number of active duty troops in the country. It would mean another assault on the northern flank of the country.

The reopening of the northern front would be a new challenge for Ukraine, according to Giles. It would provide Russia a new route into the Kharkiv oblast (region), which has been recaptured by Ukraine, should Putin prioritize an effort to reclaim that territory, he said.

By flipping the narrative of the conflict over the past two months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky achieved one of his own objectives: showing his Western allies that their military aid can help win the war.

Ahead of a NATO defense ministers meeting in Belgium, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine needed more systems to stop missile attacks.

Giles believes that there are many ways that Russia could use the war to try and get governments in other parts of the world to pull their support for Ukraine.

The coming weeks are crucial both for Europe and around the globe according to experts. Giles said where Putin goes next depends on how the rest of the world is responding. “Russia’s attitude is shaped by the failure of Western countries to confront and deter it.”

The Defense Secretary’s Letter of Intention to Ukraine during a Joint Foreign-Dominated War and a Proposal for an Air Defense System

The Biden administration announced on Wednesday it would provide an additional $1.85 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, including, for the first time, a Patriot Air Defense System. It’s one of the most advanced and expensive defense systems the U.S. has supplied since the start of the war.

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. Final approval would then rest with President Biden.

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.

Many questions remain about the potential transfer, which was reported earlier by CNN, including how long it would take to train Ukrainian soldiers on the system, presumably in Germany, and where the Patriots would be deployed inside Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky asked for financing for weapons first after thanking the countries for their continued support.

“Patriots are a defensive weapons system that will help Ukraine defend itself as Russia sends missile after missile and drone after drone to try and destroy Ukrainian infrastructure and kill Ukrainian civilians,” she said. “If Russia doesn’t want their missiles shot down, Russia should stop sending them into Ukraine.”

Zakharova said that some experts questioned the rationality of the step which would lead to an increase of the conflict and the risk of dragging the US army into combat.

The Patriot system is expensive and complicated and requires intensive training for the multiple people it takes to operate it, but could help the country guard against Russian attacks that have left millions without power.

“I find it ironic and very telling that officials from a country that brutally attacked its neighbor in an illegal and unprovoked invasion … that they would choose to use words like provocative to describe defensive systems that are meant to save lives and protect civilians,” Ryder told reporters.

He said there had been no calls for peace or signs of willingness to “listen to Russia’s concerns” during Zelenskyy’s visit, which he said proves that the U.S. is fighting a proxy war with Russia “to the last Ukrainian,” Reuters reports.

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.

How do we prepare to send a Patriot missile system to Ukraine? An official tells CNN’s Kaufman and Liebermann how the US Army is using 40-year-old ammunition

Barbara Starr and Oren Liebermann were the first to report that the US is close to sending the system to Ukraine.

The larger the battery, the more personnel are required to operate it. The training for Patriot missile batteries normally takes multiple months, a process the United States will now carry out under the pressure of near-daily aerial attacks from Russia.

Zelensky denied in an interview with The Economist that the US secretary of state was suggesting that Ukraine should not be trying to take back land from Russia because it is under Russian control.

The NATO Secretary General told France 24 the alliance had two main goals, one being to provide aid to Ukraine, and the other being to make sure NATO did not get involved in 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.”

An official spoke to reporters and said that a person crosses his fingers when loading ammunition in hopes that it will fire or explode.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/politics/russia-patriot-missiles-what-matters/index.html

In the trenches: how much is US aid needed for Ukraine? A storyline in the war on militaries and munitions

The effect on the people 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. Look for that storyline to become part of the US aid debate after Republicans take control of the House of Representatives next month and promise more scrutiny of US aid for Ukraine.

In the trenches. There is a growing concern about Russia assembling troops again after Will Ripley filed a video about trenches and fortifications being built along the border with Ukraine. Ripley talks to a sewing machine repairman turned tank driver.

Fighter jets and long-range missiles that can hit targets up to 300 km away are the type of weapons we need, he said. “These are not weapons of escalation, but rather weapons of defense and deterrence against the aggressor. We are actively negotiating to unlock all these solutions. All our diplomats are told to make this a priority.

More precision weapons are vital: they ensure Ukraine hits its targets, and not any civilians remaining nearby. And it means Ukraine does not go through the hundreds or thousands of shells Russia appears to burn through as it blanket bombards areas it wants to capture.

The new deal will likely include the supply of guidance kits, or Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which Ukraine can use to bolt on to their unguided missiles or bombs. This will increase the accuracy of the Ukrainian forces. A lot of the $1.8 billion is expected to fund munitions replacements and stocks.

Vladimir Putin has ruled out a “resolution of the Ukraine crisis” and is willing to concede unless the Kremlin gets more help from the West

But Moscow is struggling to equip and rally its conventional forces, and, with the exception of its nuclear forces, appears to be running out of new cards to play. China and India have joined the West in open statements against the use of nuclear force, which has made that option even less likely.

Western analysts have noted that Russia has been angry about these deliveries, but has not done much about it since the January crossing of what could have been considered a “red line”.

This is trickier. Kevin McCarthy warned the Biden administration not to expect a blank check from the new House of Representatives.

The remnants of the Trumpist “America First” elements of that party have echoed doubts about how much aid the US should really be sending to the edges of eastern Europe.

Realistically, the bill for the slow defeat of Russia in this dark and lengthy conflict is relatively light for Washington, given its near trillion-dollar annual defense budget.

He is an inspiring rhetorician, and – as a former reality TV star turned unexpected president – the embodiment of how Putin’s war of choice has turned ordinary Ukrainians into wartime heroes.

The war in Ukraine has entered its tenth month, and Moscow said that it is set for a long confrontation with Russia.

The foreign ministry of Russia denounced what it termed the “monstrous crimes” of the “regime in Kyiv” after US president pledged more military support to Ukrainians at the White House on Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that no matter how much military support the West provides to the Ukrainian government, “they will achieve nothing.”

The tasks set in the framework of the special military operation will be fulfilled, as stated by the leader of our country, Zakharova said.

Her comments came after Zelensky delivered a historic speech from the US Capitol, expressing gratitude for American aid in fighting Russian aggression since the war began – and asking for more.

There wasn’t any calls for peace according to Peskov. But during his address to the US Congress on Wednesday, Zelensky did stress that “we need peace,” reiterating the 10-point plan devised by Ukraine.

The US is engaged in indirect fighting with Russia down to the last Ukrainian, according to Peskov.

The Kremlin didn’t like the fact that the Ukrainian President secured billions of dollars in U.S. aid and standing ovations in Congress.

Responding to Biden and Scholz’s decision on tanks, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it adds “tension to the continent, but it cannot prevent Russia from reaching our goals.”

The Russian public is largely buying that line from the Kremlin, according to a researcher at the School of Advanced International Studies.

Zelenskyy and Ukraine want a “just peace” and all the U.S. has been doing is help the country defend itself against Russians, according to Sloat.

“The Russian attack” on Engels (Mexico) — a warning warning for Ukraine to come back to Ukraine in time for the New Year

Since some cruise missiles are launched from bombers that fly from the airfields hit in the attacks, the strikes could potentially destroy the missiles on the ground at the Russian airfields before they can be deployed.

The first Ukrainian long-range strike on Russian military targets hit the town of Engels, and as a former Ukrainian defense minister who is now advising President Zelensky said, if somebody attacks you, you fight back.

There are legitimate military targets that the military of the Ukranian republic has not hesitated to hit. As the war has moved closer to Russia, it has become more and more obvious that target sites in the occupied peninsula are being targeted.

Ukraine has a much smaller number of fighter jets, mostly MiG-29s that date to the Soviet era. They are employed in combat by the government of Ukraine. The Russians have learned that if the drones and missiles are used in a war it will be sustainable. This Russian tactic is forcing Ukraine to make a choice. Ukrainians have limited number of air defense missiles which they are using to take down Russian drones. Yet Russia gets these drones from Iran, perhaps for as little as $20,000. It’s a cost-benefit ratio that favors Russia. If Ukraine exhausts its supply of missiles while targeting Russian drones and missiles, that could clear the way for Russian pilots in fighter jets to return to Ukraine, with a greatly reduced threat of being shot down.

The Kinzhal, a hypersonic weapon that can reach targets in minutes and is virtually impervious to shoot down, is in short supply, Mr. Budanov said.

Russia’s onslaught on Thursday was aimed at the country’s electrical infrastructure, and knocked out power in several regions. Engineers were racing to restore services in time for the New Year.

Elsewhere in the capital, Halyna Hladka stocked up on water as soon as the sirens sounded and quickly made breakfast for her family so they would have something to eat. They heard the sounds of explosions for nearly two hours. She said that air defense seemed to be what it was, but it was actually something else. We are going to celebrate the new year with the family even if there is an attack.

Hryn said: “After the sirens gave the all clear, life in the capital went back to normal and people went to the cinema to see the new movie on time.” Some people continued with holiday plans despite the fact that parents and their children went to school.

Kyiv Crisis: Vladimir Putin’s ultimate speech condemns Kiev and lays low-energy arms at the Kremlin Scale

As the war looks set to stretch into another year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Moscow will not negotiate with Kyiv on the basis of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposed 10-point peace formula, which includes Russia’s withdrawal from all Ukrainian territory, a path to nuclear safety, food security, a special tribunal for alleged Russian war crimes, and a final peace treaty with Moscow.

Even though Russia is open for diplomatic solutions, he stated that Russia wanted an end to the war. Putin’s claim that he is open to negotiating was roundly dismissed by Kyiv and the West as a ruse.

Forty percent of Kyiv residents were without power, mayor Vitali Klitschko said, adding that this was due to security measures taken by power engineers during the air raid alarm and that they were now working to resume services. The city is providing heat and water in normal mode, according to the boxing champion, who conversed on the app Telegram.

At least three people, including a 14-year-old, were injured and two people pulled from a damaged home on Thursday, Klitschko said earlier. The residential and industrial areas of the capital were damaged in attacks on Kyiv, according to the city military administration.

Emergency power cuts were rolled out in Odesa due to the missile attacks. “They are introduced due to the threat of missile attacks to avoid significant damage if the enemy manages to hit energy facilities,” DTEK, a utility company, said in a statement.

It was characterized as Senseless barbarism. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said those were the only words that came to mind watching Moscow launch a fresh wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities ahead of the New Year, adding there could be “no neutrality” in the face of such aggression.

There were conflicting reports on the scale of the attacks. An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, said in an earlier post that Russia had launched more than 120 missiles in the barrage, without offering further details. He said the intent of the attack was to “destroy critical infrastructure and kill civilians en masse.”

The US has provided other armored vehicles to Ukraine in the past, including Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and armored utility vehicles. The US paid for the repairs of Soviet-era tanks.

Biden made a new commitment in a call to the German Chancellor. Germany will give Ukraine new vehicles, along with a defense against Russian air attacks.

Zelensky’s war-fighting legacy to the Cold War: Europe’s moral compass is in the shepherd’s seat

Those systems had been at the top of Zelensky’s wish list because it will allow his military to target Russian missiles flying at a higher altitude than they were able to target previously.

Russia wanted to show that European power no longer flowed through Berlin, but via the White house, if Washington blocked the second version of Nord Stream 2.

The United States didn’t want the new high-capacity supply to replace old overland lines that transited Ukranian, which are vital to the Westward-leaning leadership.

From being late to recognize Russia’s threat to Germany, to reorient its military and to ramp up weapon supplies to Ukraine, the pragmatist Scholz has now signaled that Germany is very much in play. He said Germany would “coordinate” supplies of the Leopard 2 from allies to Ukraine, a power invested in him by German legislation preventing any purchaser of the country’s war-fighting hardware to pass it on to a third state.

The uncertainty of a Trumpian presidency and the deep fissures in US politics have slowed Europe’s response. In the US decades of a reasonably unshakable reliance has been replaced by stubborn European pragmatism, and Germany leads the way.

Former Chancellor Merkel was Europe’s moral compass. He won thunderous applause in Germany’s Bundestag on Wednesday as he flashed a rare moment of steely leadership after finding unexpected metal in his ponderous, often stop/go/Wait traffic-light governing coalition.

Ukraine’s ongoing metamorphosis from legacy Soviet force to NATO clone hasn’t just been about the mechanics or even diplomacy of getting tanks, fighting vehicles, air defenses and artillery, it’s been about bringing NATO member states’ near-billion people along with their politicians. Scholz made that point in parliament on Wednesday.

“Trust us,” he said, “we won’t put you in danger.” He spelled out how his government had already handled Russia’s aggression and how fears of a freezing winter and economic collapse were not realized. “The government dealt with the crisis,” he said, adding: “We are in a much better position.”

The applause at each step of his carefully crafted speech spoke as loudly as his words. It was right for Germany, bringing with him a population that usually avoids war and projecting their own power, while deeply divided over how much they should aid Ukraine in killing Russians and possibly angering the Kremlin.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/europe/germany-russia-us-relations-intl-cmd/index.html

The Russian-Ukrainian War: Towards a Solution to the Puzzle of the Putin-Scholz Anomalies

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and deputy chairman of its national security council, has said Russia would never allow itself to be defeated and would use nuclear weapons if threatened.

CNN spoke to some Russians who were confused by the announcements by Biden and Scholz. A lot of people believed that Russia would win and that there was no need for the US and Germany to lose. However, many people were concerned about the war and annoyed by the heavy death toll.

How much of a factor Putin is at this point is unclear, but his actions, sending tanks, might help him.

Longer debates about the next military moves for Ukraine could be coming and will likely signal to Zelensky that weapons supplies will be on more of a German leash, and less unilaterally led by Washington.

This shift in the power dynamic could impact the way the war is fought and potentially affect a peace deal when it comes.

CNN is reporting that the first official training program for Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter aircraft will be conducted by the UK, which will start training Ukrainian pilots on NATO standard fighter jets. There was however no mention of providing Ukraine with Western fighter aircraft that Zelensky has been calling for.

The World Economic Outlook of the International Monetary Fund will be released on Tuesday morning. The Russia-Ukrainian war has caused some countries to experience a slowdown and recession.

State of Ukraine recaps from the arrival of the U.S. Ambassador Tracy Reissner in Moscow on Monday after the invasion of Soledar

EU leaders will hold a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the following day, when a group of European Commission leaders will visit.

The Russian takeover of Soledar was acknowledged by the Ukrainian military, who retreated from the eastern town. Russian forces continued their offensive in eastern Ukraine.

At a time when Russia and the United States are at odds over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the new U.S. Ambassador arrived in Moscow. On Monday, Tracy was reportedly heckled by protesters as she entered the Russian Foreign Ministry to present her credentials.

The ambassadors of Russia to the Baltic states were told to leave by them after the Kremlin said it had expelled the ambassador of the country to the region.

You can read past recaps here. For context and more in-depth stories, 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.

What will we learn in Europe from the experience of fighting with HIMARs, the F-16 fighter jets, and the Leopard tanks?

“My understanding is that there are training courses we can do in Europe,” Reznikov says. It’s convenient because we have to take into account the weather conditions and the landscape.

Training for the Leopard tanks can be as long as half a year. But I hope that we will do it during one month or probably two months,” he says adds.

Reznikov says Ukraine also needs time to set up supply chains for fuel and spare parts and also train mechanics to maintain and repair the new tanks. But he adds that these new tanks will be a “game changer” as Ukraine tries to reclaim occupied territory, just as HIMARs (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) helped Ukrainian forces reclaim the southern city of Kherson in November.

US and European officials have similarly told CNN and said publicly that the F-16 fighter jets are impractical, and note that Ukraine has not been conducting many air missions with the fighter planes it already has because of the danger posed by Russia’s anti-aircraft systems, officials told CNN.

Europeans have had similar experiences. French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday that while “nothing is off-limits in principle,” neither the Netherlands nor France had received any official requests from Ukraine to send the fighter jets.

Reznikov says in the past, most Western allies have turned down weapons requests for practical reasons, such as difficulty in finding spare parts. He says when he inquires about the F-16, allies cite a long training period for Ukrainian pilots. He says he can offer a powerful counter-argument by proving that Ukrainian troops can carry out shorter, very intensive training on other weapons.

Before the Russian invasion, most defense ministry expenses were public. Most of the time are classified for security reasons. He is working with the parliament to change laws to make defense expenditures more transparent.

The Ukashenko-Russian conflict is not a cake but a step toward a new Ukrainian: Security measures and long-range missiles

“It’s not a piece of cake, but I will do it,” he says. “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 Ukrainians are undeterred. On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine needs the fighter jets “first and foremost,” along with long-range missiles.

The US and allied officials don’t think the jets will be practical because of how much training they would need and the fact Russia has an anti-aircraft system that can shoot them down.

“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 US believed giving Ukraine new fighter jets could cause a war between NATO and Russia. Poland was willing to transfer its fighter jets to Ukraine as long as the United States returned Warsaw’s F-16s. The US decided that it was too provocative to implement that plan.

“We are providing them what we think they are capable of operating, maintaining, and sustaining,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said last week. “The F-16 – this is a very complicated system.”

The prime minister of the Netherlands appeared hesitant when he said that sending the planes would be a big next step. And Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki indicated on Monday that Warsaw would only send its fighter jets “in full coordination” with its NATO partners.

The Russian Air Force is Ready for the Next Air War: A Top Ukrainian Security Official Critique of Ukraine’s Air War and the Impact on the Air Forces

A top Ukrainian national security official claims that Russia is ready for a maximum escalation of the war in Ukraine within the next few weeks.

“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.

“Not just on land, but on the sea and in air as well,” Natalia Humeniuk, head of the United Coordinating Press Center of Security and Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine, said on national television.

The military representatives from the two countries will plan the deployment of troops based on previous conflicts, according to the ministry.

“February and March will be very active, we are on edge of a very active phase of hostilities,” said a representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.

Yet one thing makes this battle distinctive from all previous air wars of the past century: pilots are rare. And this goes very much against the traditional perception of air combat.

Top Gun: Maverick is a nominee in the Best Picture category. And here we are, watching an air war happening. And it looks very different from anything that we see in Top Gun,” said Kelly Grieco, with the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.

“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.

Gersten says it’s still not entirely clear why the Russian air force has fared so poorly. He says that Russia still has more than a thousand fighter jets with well- trained pilots, but they aren’t being sent to the skies over Ukraine. “Russian pilots are some of the best pilots in the world,” said Gersten. “And they’re also some of the most disciplined pilots in the world.” At least for now, Russia has chosen to keep these pilots and their planes on the sidelines. Russia is relying on missiles and drones, which are much cheaper and easier to replace.

He is familiar with these tenets. Gersten flew combat missions as an F-16 pilot and commanded U.S. drone operations in the Middle East. He saw drones assume a prominent role in the U.S. air campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States dominated the skies in those conflicts, as well as piloted U.S. war planes.

There are growing roles played by drones on the Ukrainian side. Draganfly is a Canadian company which 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.

“We were contacted by an American (aid group) that couldn’t get their ambulances into besieged cities and asked if it could use our drones,” said Chell, who’s based in Vancouver.

Zelensky’s First Foreign Visit since the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Addressing the First High-State Meeting of the House of Commons

Zelensky touched down in Britain a time when Kyiv is urging the West to send more weapons and military support to counter Russian advances. He later traveled Paris on Wednesday evening local time, where he was greeted at the Elysee Palace by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In his second foreign trip since the Russian invasion of Ukrainians, Zelensky made a direct appeal for more heavy weaponry, including fighter jets, in a speech to the joint houses of the British parliament.

He said London had stood with Kyiv since the beginning. Since the beginning of the full-scale war. Great Britain, you extended your helping hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react.”

The speaker of the House of Commons signed the helmet of a Ukrainian fighter pilot that Zelensky gave him in an eloquent but carefully crafted move. Give us strength to protect it.

Zelensky’s message was directed firmly at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and members of the Cabinet standing in front of him in the historic surroundings of Westminster Hall – the oldest part of of the Palace of Westminster, where the late Queen Elizabeth lay in state and where US President Obama stood for a similar address in 2011.

Zelensky was greeted at the airport by Sunak, who was aboard a Royal Air Force plane. Sunak tweeted a picture of the pair embracing on the runway. “Welcome to the UK, President @ZelenskyyUa,” reads the caption, adding the hashtag #GlorytoUkraine.

Zelensky said in a Telegram post he was happy with the accession of King Charles and wished him peace and prosperity.

He said that he was the first President of Ukraine to be honoured by the British monarch with an audience.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/europe/zelensky-visit-uk-intl-gbr/index.html

Zelensky and Sunak: ‘You Have No Way Out’, the UK Army, and the Crime against Russia in the Era of Invasion

“We have no way out. We have to stand firm. We need armored vehicles, we need tanks, we need fighter jets, and obviously, we spent a lot of time talking about this together,” said Zelensky, speaking alongside Sunak at Lulworth Camp in Dorset, England.

During a joint press conference with Sunak Wednesday, Zelensky said Ukraine would be “intensifying our diplomacy” surrounding the request for Eurofighter Typhoon jets and suggested that the decision was not solely in the UK’s hands.

Zelensky said he was told the Prime Minister would like to provide fighter jets and would like to begin training pilots. There is more to it than just the decision of Great Britain.

Sunak noted that it takes three years to train a Typhoon fighter pilot from scratch, to which Zelensky responded, “I didn’t even know it takes three years to train a pilot like that. You know, come on, we will be sending you pilots who have already trained for two and a half years.”

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is investigating which aircraft could be given to Ukraine, but Downing Street maintained no decision has yet been taken on whether to supply the jets.

In a statement to CNN, the Russian embassy described the trip as a farce, a performance, and a fund-raising event, mocking Zelensky as an ‘ex-comedian in a green sweatshirt’.

“We would like to remind London: in the event of such a scenario the death toll of yet another round of escalation, as well as and its military-political consequences for the European continent and the whole world will be on the United Kingdom’s hands,” the embassy said.

The UK package targets six entities providing military equipment such as drones, as well as eight individuals and one entity connected to “nefarious financial networks that help maintain wealth and power amongst Kremlin elites,” a government statement read.

The UK government has already imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian individuals and entities since last February when Russia invaded Ukraine, according to UK government data.