The NATO “Steadfast Noon” exercise in Russia, and the role of “tactical” nuclear weapons in the Cold War
NATO is holding a nuclear strike exercise this week called “Steadfast Noon”, which involves deployment of fighter jets to carry nuclear weapons. And Russia is expected to conduct its own nuclear drills sometime this month—as it typically does—in reaction to NATO’s exercises. These rehearsals do not involve actual bombs, but they are still at a very sensitive moment given the suggestion that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons in its conflict with Ukraine.
“When Ukraine receives a sufficient number of modern and effective air defense systems, the key element of Russian terror – missile strikes – will cease to work.”
At the height of the Cold War, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union amassed enormous stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Many were so-called “strategic” weapons — large warheads delivered by submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles — and designed to be used in a global thermonuclear war.
These warheads are fitted to ICBMs which can travel thousands of miles and are meant for key sites and cities in the US, UK, France and Russia.
Tactical nuclear weapons have a yield of up to 100 kiloton of explosives, which is less than the 1,000 kiloton of strategic warheads.
As is the case in the US and among other world nuclear powers, Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles are always deployed and in a constant state of readiness. When you think of nuclear weapons, you probably think of bombs designed to attack large industrial areas. The “tactical” nuclear weapons that are of more immediate concern in a Russian strike on neighboring Ukraine are smaller and meant for more contained attacks, namely in battle zones. These bombs are also known as “battlefield” or “nonstrategic” nuclear weapons and have never been used in combat.
It is only Russia that has tactical nuclear weapons in this conflict, so it would be undeniable if they’re used that Russia is responsible, and hence trigger NATO action. He realized that if NATO came to power it would quickly overcome Russian conventional forces, even though they were degraded.
But this is likely not the case for the tactical weapons. The warheads and missiles are probably in good condition but the vehicles that they are mounted on are not. Judging by the state of the rest of the Russian Army equipment on show in Ukraine, this is a fair assumption.
It is likely that they would have to travel hundreds of miles to get to a position where they could attack Ukraine, as their range is only 500 kilometers. I don’t think they would get that far from a mechanical perspective.
With the international sanctions and the heavy use ofprecision guide missiles by Russia, it is most likely that these weapons rely on high tech parts which are hard to come by in Russia.
At the heart of this move is attacking civilians rather than opposition forces. Hospitals, schools and infrastructure like chemical plants and nuclear power stations have been attacked. If these are attacked, they can become improvised chemical or nuclear weapons.
This is a conflict like few, if any, in recent memory, with grave and far-reaching consequences. The consequences we have seen underscore just how important it is for Russia to not succeed.
At the moment, meteorological conditions show that theContamination would travel west across Europe. If it is seen as an attack on NATO, it would allow NATO to strike directly back at Russia making it an attack on all NATO allies.
De Bretton-Gordon: The use of strategic nuclear weapons is extremely unlikely in my opinion. This is a war nobody can win, and at the moment it does not seem likely that this regional conflict in Europe would lead to a global nuclear war which could destroy the planet for many generations.
I am certain that the checks and balances are in place in the Kremlin, as they are in the White House and 10 Downing Street, to make sure we don’t end up in a nuclear conflict.
I hope that the private discussions between Biden and Putin are similar to those in which NATO said it would take out tactical nukes and Biden said to move your nukes to a safer location. It would appear this is the case from what Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor to the White House, disclosed over the weekend.
De Bretton-Gordon: I believe the Russians developed their unconventional warfare tactics in Syria. In 2015, Russian forces entered the civil war in Syria in support of the Assad regime. I don’t believe Assad would still be in control if he hadn’t used chemical weapons.
The rebels lost control of Damascus because of the nerve agent attack. The four-year conventional siege of Aleppo was ended by multiple chlorine attacks.
If there were to be a campaign by Putin against civilians, it would be meant to break the spirits of the Ukrainian people and possibly result in a new flood of refugees into Western Europe, which could cause some NATO allies to lose faith in the alliance.
“For Russia, nuclear weapons, in particular non-strategic nuclear weapons, are really intended to counterbalance what they see as U.S. and NATO conventional superiority,” Fink says.
If the four districts are attacked, the chances of tactical use will be very high. It is expected that commanders would defer to Putin before pressing a red button.
Faced with growing setbacks, the Kremlin appointed a new overall commander of Russia’s invasion. 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.
Even in an attack on a power station one assumes Putin would be involved, as the West would likely construe it as an improvised nuclear weapon and act accordingly.
A last-ditch effort by Mr. Putin would be the primary utility according to many U.S. officials. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe some of the most sensitive discussions inside the administration.
WASHINGTON — United States intelligence agencies believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the car bomb attack near Moscow in August that killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, an element of a covert campaign that U.S. officials fear could widen the conflict.
The United States was worried that such attacks might cause Russia to carry out attacks against Ukrainian officials, even though they had not retaliated in a specific way for the assassination. American officials have been frustrated with Ukraine’s lack of transparency about its military and covert plans, especially on Russian soil.
The head of the defense committee in the Russian State Duma demanded that officials stop lying to the Russian public during a recent interview.
Kartapolov complained that the Ministry of Defense was evading the truth about incidents such as Ukrainian cross-border strikes in Russian regions neighboring Ukraine.
A provocative statement, perhaps – Stremousov might perhaps be mindful of the fact that troublesome leaders of Russian-backed separatist entities have a habit of dying violently – but some of this criticism is not new. Ramzan Kadyrov, who was one of Putin’s key domestic enforcers, called for the Russian military to intensify their campaign, implying that Moscow’s approach had not been brutal enough.
Near the border with Ukraine is Valuyki. When it comes to targeting Russian targets across the border, Kyiv has generally adopted a neither-confirm nor-deny stance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was never a run-of-the-mill border dispute. Even before it started, as Putin initiated – and continuously denied – his march to war, the importance of preventing Russia’s autocratic regime from gaining control of its neighbor, with its incipient democracy, was clear.
“There is no necessity to cast a shadow over the entire Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation because of incompetent commanders who did not bother and were not accountable, for the processes and gaps that exist today,” Stremousov said. Many say that the Minister of Defense could have shot himself if he had allowed this to happen. The word officer is unfamiliar to many.
Kadyrov has been less reticent about naming Russian commanders that he blames for Russia’s retreat from a strategic Ukrainian city.
Writing on Telegram, Kadyrov personally blamed Colonel-General Aleksandr Lapin, the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, for the debacle, accusing him of moving his headquarters away from his subordinates and failing to adequately provide for his troops.
ISW found that the Russian information space has deviated from the narratives preferred by the Russian Ministry of Defense that things are under control.
It would appear that Russian President Vladimir Putin has become more and more successful at creating enemies and victims, in order to cause the most harm to those he aspires to destroy. At home and abroad, there seems to be no limit to Putin’s appetite to wreak mayhem in pursuit of an ever more elusive victory.
Kadyrov – who recently announced that he had been promoted by Putin to the rank of colonel general – has been one of the most prominent voices arguing for the draconian methods of the past. He said in a Telegram post that if he had his way the government could have wartime powers in Russia.
In a post that seemed to echo Putin’s not so subtle threats that Russia could contemplate, Kadyrov stated that he would declare martial law and use any weapon to fight the NATO bloc.
Monday night attack on a bridge in Kiev’s southern province: a warning for Ukrainian energy terrorism and economic disaster preparedness after the first Ukrainian attack on Kiev
A global affairs analyst is Michael Bociurkiw. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He writes for CNN Opinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.
To add to Putin’s sense of humiliation, the bridge explosion came amid a surging Ukrainian counteroffensive that has seized key pockets of Russian-controlled territory, including in regions Putin recently annexed.
The attacks began at the outset of the war and have only increased in scope and virulence since Ukrainian forces attacked a bridge that is close to Putin’s heart.
The significance of the strikes on central Kyiv, and close to the government quarter, cannot be overstated. Western governments should see it as a red line being crossed on this 229th day of the war.
As of midday, the area around my office was quiet between air raid sirens and reports that three missiles and five drones were shot down. Normally at this time of the day restaurants would be crowded with customers and people are talking about weddings and parties.
Monday’s attacks also came just a few hours after Zaporizhzhia, a southeastern city close to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was hit by multiple strikes on apartment buildings, mostly while people slept. At least 17 people were killed and several dozens injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “energy terrorism,” as attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure left more than 4 million Ukrainians without electricity.
In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, which has seen more bombardments than Kyiv, residents shifted to war footing and stocked up on canned food, gas and drinking water. Yet they also entertained themselves at the Typsy Cherry, a local bar. “The mood was cheerful,” its owner, Vladyslav Pyvovar, told The Times. People had fun and wondered when the electricity would come back. Power came back hours later.
Indeed, millions of people in cities across Ukraine will be spending most of the day in bomb shelters, at the urging of officials, while businesses have been asked to shift work online as much as possible.
The attacks risk causing a new blow to business confidence as many of the asylum seekers return home.
For Putin, the symbolism of the only bridge linking mainland Russia and Crimea cannot be overstated. That the attack took place a day after his 70th birthday (the timing prompted creative social media denizens to create a split-screen video of Marilyn Monroe singing ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President”) can be taken as an added blow to an aging autocrat whose ability to withstand shame and humiliation is probably nil.
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. That same year, one of the first things Chinese President Xi Jinping did after Beijing reclaimed Macau and Hong Kong was to connect the former Portuguese and British territories with the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The $20 billion, 34-mile road bridge opened after about two years of delays.
Inviting Ukrain to Warfare and Protect Refugees in Light of The Ukrainian Explosions on Monday, August 16, 2014
Within minutes of the explosion, Ukrainians were making funny jokes on social media. Many shared their sense of jubilation via text messages.
Putin was not allowed to sit still because of his self-interest. He had only one way to respond and that is through unleashing more death and destruction.
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.
Before Monday’s strikes, the Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate at Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, had told Ukrainian journalist Roman Kravets in late August that, “by the end of the year at the minimum we have to enter Crimea” – suggesting a plan to push back Russian forces to pre-2014 lines, which is massively supported by Ukrainians I’ve spoken to.
Washington and allies need to use urgent telephone diplomacy to get China and India to resist the urge to use deadly weapons, since they’ve still got some leverage over Putin.
Anything short of these measures will only allow Putin to continue his senseless violence and further exacerbate a humanitarian crisis that will reverberate throughout Europe. The weak reaction will be seen as a sign that the Kremlin can continue to weaponize energy, migration and food.
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.
U.S. War Crimes in Ukraine: What do they tell us after the 2016 Ukrainian Genocide? Comment on Dmytro Kuleba, Antony Blinken, and John Kirby
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.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday to reiterate US support following the deadly strikes. Biden is expected on Tuesday to join an emergency video conference with G7 leaders during which Zelensky is expected to address the group.
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 will still give Ukraine long range air defense systems even after the recent attacks, a senior administration official said, but they had no announcements to make on that front.
As of a Department of Defense briefing in late September, the US had yet to deliver NASAMS to Ukraine. At the time, Brig. Two systems are expected to be delivered in the next two months, and the rest will arrive by the end of the year.
Russia launched a total of 84 cruise missiles against targets across Ukraine on Monday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Facebook post.
The Belarusian strongman, who has so far resisted pressure from Moscow to send in his own troops, accused Ukraine, which shares a long border with Belarus, of planning attacks from the south, without citing evidence.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, also recently said he thinks Moscow should aim for the “complete dismantling” of Zelensky’s “regime.”
John Kirby, an official with the national security council, said that Washington was in contact with the government in Kyiv almost every day. He told CNN that the company tries to meet those needs in subsequent packages.
Kirby said that he could only speak for the man when he spoke on CNN about how he feels pressured both at home and overseas.
The Russian attack on Kiev in the first week of the Cold War, as seen by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on the Situation Room, on CNN’s “New Day”
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.
But the targets on Monday also had little military value and, if anything, served to reflect Putin’s need to find new targets because of his inability to inflict defeats on Ukraine on the battlefield.
As winter sets in, the bombing of power installations looked like a hint of the misery the Russian President would cause as winter sets in.
Kirby couldn’t say for sure if Putin was changing his strategy from a losing battlefield war to a campaign to wreakdestruction on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, though he said it was already happening in recent days.
“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 military onslaught on civilians would be in line with the resume of the new Russian general in charge of the war. In both places, Russia indiscriminately bombarded civilian areas and razed built-up districts and infrastructure and is accused of committing serious human rights violations.
The French President underscored that the Ukrainian attacks may be the beginning of another pivot in the conflict.
“He was telegraphing about where he is going to go as we get into the winter. He is going to try to force the Ukrainian population to compromise, to give up territory, by going after this infrastructure,” Vindman said on CNN’s “New Day.”
Igor Zhovkva, Zelensky’s chief diplomatic adviser, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” that Ukraine had shot down 56 of the 84 missiles and drones that were fired by Russia, in apparent revenge for an explosion on a strategic bridge leading to annexed Crimea that is critical for Moscow’s war effort and is a symbol of Putin’s rule.
“So imagine if we had modern equipment, we probably could raise the number of those drones and missiles downed and not kill innocent civilians or wound and injure Ukrainians,” Zhovkva said.
The War Between Russia and the Ruins of Ancient Rus States: The Implications for Russia and for the Interaction Between Ukraine and Russia
Above all, Putin still does not appear to have learned that revenge is not an appropriate way to act on or off the battlefield and in the final analysis is most likely to isolate and weaken Russia, perhaps irreversibly.
Olena Gnes, a mother of three who is documenting the war on YouTube, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper live from her basement in Ukraine on Monday that she was angry at the return of fear and violence to the lives of Ukrainians from a new round of Russian “terror.”
“This is just another terror to provoke maybe panic, to scare you guys in other countries or to show to his own people that he is still a bloody tyrant, he is still powerful and look what fireworks we can arrange,” she said.
Even though we don’t feel desperate we need it as fast as possible because only after we beat Russia will we have our peace back here.
Russian troops will come back in large numbers to their country, a replay of the military build-up that preceded the February invasion of Ukraine, according to the president of Belarus.
“This won’t be just a thousand troops,” Mr. Lukashenko told senior military and security officials in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, after a meeting over the weekend with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in St. Petersburg.
In rambling remarks reported by the state news agency Belta, Mr. Lukashenko said that work had already started on the formation of what he called a “joint regional group of troops” to counter “possible aggression against our country” by NATO and Ukraine.
Any further Belarusian involvement in the war could also have a psychological impact, Puri suggested. In the west and in eastern Europe, everyone is focused on fighting one army. Inside Russia, the invasion would be used by Putin to show that it is a war for the lands of ancient Rus states.
Andrei Sannikov, who served as deputy foreign minister under Mr. Lukashenko during his early period in power but fled into exile after being jailed, said Mr. Lukashenko was “running scared,” caught between pressure from Russia to help its demoralized forces in Ukraine and the knowledge that sending in Belarusian troops would be hugely unpopular, even among his loyalists.
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.
The inventory was dispatched this week. But Russia has recently resorted to using much older and less precise KH-22 missiles (originally made as an anti-ship weapon), of which it still has large inventories, according to Western officials. They are designed to take out aircraft carriers. The shopping mall in Kremenchuk had dozens of casualties in June.
The great unknown is just how far such a blitz is depleting Russian inventories – and whether increasingly they will resort to stocks of 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. They are difficult to intercept because of their speed, which has wreaked devastation in Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv. But they are hardly accurate.
It was the first time since the beginning of the war that Russia has targeted energy infrastructure.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Ukraine needed “more” systems to better halt missile attacks. “These air defense systems are making a difference because many of the incoming missiles (this week) were actually shot down by the Ukrainian air defense systems provided by NATO Allies,” he said. As long as not everyone is shot down, there is need for more.
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.”
Iran gave drones to Russia but denied supplying them again on Nov. 5, after acknowledging for the first time that they had done so. Zelenskyy countered that Iran was “lying” because Ukrainian forces “shoot down at least 10 Iranian drones every day.”
At the meeting on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials put on a wish-list including missiles for their existing systems, a transition to Western origin air defense system as well as early warning capabilities.
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 beginning to trickle in. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Tuesday that a “new era of air defense has begun” with the arrival of the first IRIS-T from Germany, and two units of the US National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAM) expected soon.
This is just the beginning. During a meeting with Ukranian donors at the Brussels meeting, Reznikov said thatUkraine’s air defense needs to be strengthened. Feeling optimistic.”
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 Russian War on the Baluchi Plane – a New Phase of the War and the Ukranian Message to Vladimir Putin
Polish military training for an air defense battalion that had destroyed nine Shaheeds, was praised by the top military commander in Ukraine. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi thanked Poland for being “brothers in arms.”
He claimed that Poland gave systems to help destroy the drones. Last month there were reports that the Polish government had bought advanced Israeli equipment (Israel has a policy of not selling “advanced defensive technology” to Kyiv) and was then transferring it to Ukraine.
The war is in an unpredictable new phase for the first time. “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.
The next few weeks of the war are crucial as each side aims to strike another blow, with the cold months approaching and likely bringing a slowdown in ground combat.
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 recent successes of the Ukranians have 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.
Monday’s attacks, and further strikes throughout the week, were evidence of Russian President Vladimir Putin lashing out after a series of setbacks in the war that have put him under pressure domestically.
Nuclear Warfare in Ukraine: Implications for the West and the Ukrainian Security Council and the Ukraine’s Resilient Propagation of the Cold War
Last week, Oleksii Hromov, a senior official in the Ukrainian military, said that their forces have captured at least 120 settlements since late September. On Wednesday, Ukraine said it had liberated more five settlements in its slow but steady push in Kherson.
Anticipation is mounting for a possible battle for Kherson, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine. Kremlin-installed officials have been evacuating civilians in preparation for a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The counter-offensives have changed the complexion of the war and proved that Ukraine could protect its territory, contrary to suggestions from the West and Russia.
If they can get to Christmas with the frontline looking like it is, that will be a huge success for the Russians.
Ukraine will be eager to improve on its gains before temperatures plummet on the battlefield and the impact of rising energy prices will be felt throughout Europe if a big blow is dealt to the Russians in Donbas.
“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.”
For that reason, Ukraine received massive support from the West, led by the United States. NATO received new applications from countries that had been committed to neutrality, as a result of the war in Ukraine. The interest of many in eastern European states in orienting themselves toward Europe and the west was reinforced by it.
The power supply in the central regions of Ukraine has been restored after Russian missile attacks on Monday and Tuesday. The Ukrainian Prime Minister warned of the amount of work needed to fix damaged equipment, and asked people to reduce their energy usage during peak hours.
Jeremy Fleming, the head of the UK spy agency, said in a speech on Tuesday that Russian commanders on the ground knew their supplies were running out.
“Russia’s use of its limited supply of precision weapons in this role may deprive Putin of options to disrupt ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensives,” the ISW assessed.
It’s important to know how much weaponry and manpower each side has left in reserve. Ukraine said it intercepted 18 cruise missiles on Tuesday and dozens more on Monday, but it is urging its Western allies for more equipment to repel any future attacks.
The impact of such an intervention in terms of pure manpower would be limited; Belarus has around 45,000 active duty troops, which would not significantly bolster Russia’s reserves. But it would threaten another assault on Ukraine’s northern flank below the Belarusian border.
“The reopening of a northern front would be another new challenge for Ukraine,” Giles said. 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 war narrative over the past two months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has achieved one of his main goals – demonstrating that Western aid can help win the war.
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.
Now comes a new chapter in the international impact of the war in Ukraine. Some of Putin’s former friends on the far right have turned against him. Some far-right politicians and prominent figures in Europe and the US echo Putin’s claims about the war. Their hope is to leverage discontent – which could worsen as winter comes and heating prices rise.
That’s not to say mobilized forces will be of no use. They could help ease the burden on the Russian army if they were used in a support role. They could cordon some areas and put in man checkpoints along the line of contact. They’re unlikely to become a fighting force. Already there are signs of discipline problems among mobilized soldiers in Russian garrisons.
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: U.S. Collapse, Crimea Detention and the First Russian Convoy to Belarus in a Bridge to the West
Russian agents detained eight people on Oct. 12 suspected of carrying out a large explosion on a bridge to Crimea, including Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian citizens.
The United Nations General Assembly roundly condemned Russia’s move to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine. In the Oct. 13 session, four countries voted alongside Russia, but 143 voted in favor of Ukraine’s resolution, while 35 abstained.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on October 15 that 11 people were killed and 15 others were injured when two men shot at Russian troops preparing to deploy to Ukraine.
The first convoy of Russians arrived in Belarus on October 15 as the first step in a campaign to protect the border with the West.
Past recaps can be found here. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of NPR’s coverage here. You can also listen and subscribe to NPR’s State ofUkraine for updates throughout the day.
The path to global thermonuclear war has a leaps and jumps: a Washington think tank assessment of the Russian nuclear arsenal
Today, Russia is believed to have the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, including 1,000-2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, says Hans Kristensen, head of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, a Washington think tank. The Russian arsenal is diverse and the public often imagines tactical nukes as smaller weapons. “They have a very wide range of explosive yields, going up to a couple of hundred of kilotons – so much more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb,” he says.
The director of Europe and Central Asia for the International Crisis Group says that classic nuclear deterrence has been effective in containing the Ukrainian war.
But Matthew Kroenig a professor of international relations at Georgetown University thinks that the conflict is moving in a way that may push Putin closer to making that fateful choice. With Ukraine on the offensive, Russia’s conventional military forces depleted and a chaotic conscription process underway at home, he says, Putin is likely to face more and more domestic political pressure.
He says that if the use of a nuclear weapon is shocking, you should make it crystal clear that you’re willing to kill a lot of people.
She believes that the Russians would see a conventional attack on their nuclear capacity as a nuclear attack. Things could escalate further from there.
But Oliker points out that all of this is still highly theoretical. She hopes that the two sides will still find a way to begin de-escalating the conflict.
“If I want to tell my own story about how to get there, it needs a bunch of leaps and jumps,” she says. “But the path to global thermonuclear war also has some leaps and jumps.”
The White House press Secretary said earlier this month that they take any nuclear weapons or nuclear saber rattling very seriously. She said there was no reason to change our strategic nuclear posture and there was no indication that Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons.
If they started to go that path, Jeremy Fleming, director of the UK’s GCHQ intelligence agency, would hope that we would see indicators. He added that there would be a “good chance” of detecting Russian preparations.
Russia’s nuclear bombs are stored in military facilities and would need to be transported and loaded into either aircraft or launchers for deployment. Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces research shows that the global community knows the location of the roughly 12 nuclear weapons storage facilities around Russia where this activity would likely originate. He adds that the US has intimate knowledge of most of the sites because it worked with Russia to improve the physical security of the repositories between 2003 and 2012 as part of an initiative called Cooperative Threat Reduction.
David A. Andelman: A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars that Might Still Happen
David A. Andelman, a CNN contributor and author of A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars that Might Still happen is a member of the French Legion of Honor. He was a correspondent for CBS News and The New York Times. His views are his own in this commentary. View more opinion at CNN.
First, he’s seeking to distract his nation from the blindingly obvious, namely that he is losing badly on the battlefield and utterly failing to achieve even the vastly scaled back objectives of his invasion.
Second and simultaneously, Putin is playing desperately for time – hoping the political clock and the onset of winter in Europe will sap the will and energies of the Western powers that have all but eviscerated his military-industrial machine and destroyed the armed might of Russia.
This ability to keep going depends on a host of variables – ranging from the availability of critical and affordable energy supplies for the coming winter, to the popular will across a broad range of nations with often conflicting priorities.
European Union powers agreed on a plan to control energy prices early Friday, following embargoes on Russian imports and the Kremlin’s decision to cut natural gas supplies.
An emergency cap on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, which is the benchmark European gas trading hub, and permission for EU gas companies to set up a Cartel to Purchase Gas on the International Market are included in these.
While French President Emmanuel Macron waxed euphoric leaving the summit, which he described as having “maintained European unity,” he conceded that there was only a “clear mandate” for the European Commission to start working on a gas cap mechanism.
Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, is skeptical of price caps. There are concerns that the caps would encourage higher consumption and that this would put more stress on restricted supplies.
These divisions are all part of Putin’s fondest dream. Manifold forces in Europe could prove central to achieving success from the Kremlin’s viewpoint, which amounts to the continent failing to agree on essentials.
Germany and France are at odds on many issues. In an effort to reach some accommodations, the French and German leaders will hold a conference call on Wednesday.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/opinions/putin-prolonge-war-ukraine-winter-andelman/index.html
Pressure on Italy from the West: Italy’s First Woman Prime Minister in Italy and the President of the Italian Coalition for a Future Leader of the Left
And now a new government has taken power in Italy. Giorgia Meloni was sworn in Saturday as Italy’s first woman prime minister and has attempted to brush aside the post-fascist aura of her party. One of her far-right coalition partners meanwhile, has expressed deep appreciation for Putin.
In a secretly recorded audiotape, Berlusconi said he had returned Putin’s gesture with bottles of Lambrusco wine.
The other leading member of the ruling Italian coalition, Matteo Salvini, named Saturday as deputy prime minister, said during the campaign, “I would not want the sanctions [on Russia] to harm those who impose them more than those who are hit by them.”
While Poland and Hungary disagree with the EU’s policies they are united against each other over Ukraine. Hungary’s populist leader, Viktor Orban, sympathized with the pro-Putin sentiment of Poland.
Similar forces seem to be at work in Washington where House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, poised to become Speaker of the House if Republicans take control after next month’s elections, told an interviewer, “I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine. They are simply not going to do it.
Meanwhile on Monday, the influential 30-member Congressional progressive caucus called on Biden to open talks with Russia on ending the conflict while its troops are still occupying vast stretches of the country and its missiles and drones are striking deep into the interior.
Hours later, caucus chair Mia Jacob, facing a firestorm of criticism, emailed reporters with a statement “clarifying” their remarks in support of Ukraine. Antony Blinken called his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba as well to reestablish America’s support.
The US gave more than $60 billion in aid since Biden took office, but only Republicans voted against the latest aid package.
The pressure is being put on Russia by the West. A report about the impact of sanctions on the Russian military industrial complex was released last Thursday by the State Department.
A day before this report, the US announced seizure of all property of a top Russian procurement agent Yury Orekhov and his agencies “responsible for procuring US-origin technologies for Russian end-users…including advanced semiconductors and microprocessors.”
The Justice Department has charges against people and companies for trying to bring high-tech equipment into Russia in violation of sanctions.
The War in Ukraine: Why and How the USA is Running Low on Its Weapons and Spectroscopy, and How to Counteract It
Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, (@fridaghitis) a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She has written for The Washington Post and World Politics Review. Her own views are expressed in this commentary. View more opinion on CNN.
The weaponry used in the attacks on Ukrainians comes from Iran, and it is already used by Russia.
The strengthening relationship between Moscow and Tehran has drawn the attention of Iran’s rivals and foes in the Middle East, of NATO members and of nations that are still – at least in theory – interested in restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which aimed to delay Iran’s ability to build an atomic bomb.
In fact, the war in Ukraine is already affecting everyone, everywhere. Fuel prices have gone up as a result of the conflict.
The historian Yuval Noah Harari has argued that no less than the direction of human history is at stake, because a victory by Russia would reopen the door to wars of aggression, to invasions of one country by another, something that since the Second World War most nations had come to reject as categorically unacceptable.
Much of what happens today far from the battlefields still has repercussions there. When oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, decided last month to slash production, the US accused the Saudis of helping Russia fund the war by boosting its oil revenues. (An accusation the Saudis deny).
Israel supports and stands with the West, but will not move systems to Ukranian because they have to share their airspace with Russia.
The military aid had an effect. 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. It will be part of the US aid debate when the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives next month.
Insights from a far-right organization in Ukraine about nuclear weapons and its use as propaganda against a war in the Cold War
Higher prices not only affect family budgets and individual lives. When they come with such powerful momentum, they pack a political punch. The war has made incumbent political leaders defensive in many countries.
It is not all on the fringes. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader who could become speaker of the House after next week’s US elections, suggested the GOP might choose to reduce aid to Ukraine. There was a letter calling for negotiations. Evelyn Farkas said they are all bringing a smile to Putin’s face.
The information about the possibility of a nuclear bomb being used on Ukraine is reliable, said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference. Defense minister Sergei Shoigu had conveyed this supposedly reliable information to the leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Turkey, according to read-outs from the Russian government.
This nuclear propaganda is meant to “scare the West and appease the audience—and take their mind away from failures,” says Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the US think tank Institute for the Study of War and a frequent watcher of Russian TV.
A popular account with nearly 100,000 followers uploaded a video in February saying that it showed a far-right Ukrainian organization constructing a bomb, and that the hands were wearing black gloves. The account warned that such a bomb would be “used against Russian troops in the event of an invasion.”
The video, however, was quickly debunked—the Ukrainian-language video is rife with spelling mistakes and shows common industrial equipment, according to the Ukrainian fact-check organization StopFake. The main claim remained a constant reference for those pro-Kremlin Telegram accounts which were seen hundreds of thousands of times.
Security issues at Chernobyl, a critical review of the current status of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant and future plans
Russian military personnel and weapons need to be withdrawn from the Zaporizhia plant so that there is no more attacks on it or its power sources. The security of Ukrainian plants, including Chernobyl, must be guaranteed. A Security Council resolution is necessary for a more formal security zone to be established.
Other key treaties are no help. The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities is aimed at preventing the theft of nuclear material; it explicitly excludes armed conflict. The Convention on Nuclear Safety is a voluntary instrument that is focused on non-military risks. It was found wanting at Fukushima, where Japan’s nuclear safety culture failed to account for known tsunami risks and the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, skirted safety requirements. The convention merely requires countries to report to a ‘peer review’ mechanism, to which the IAEA can provide expert input. The robust inspection powers that the IAEA has regarding enrichment, which it can use almost anywhere, are not held up when it comes to safety.
The integrity of reactor cores and storage pools is the main concern. If fuel rods are exposed, the release of radiation is likely to be similar to that at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. “And so, one mine or one missile or whatever”, warned Ukraine’s energy minister Herman Halushchenko, “could stop the working of the generators and then you have one hour and probably 30 minutes, not more than 2 hours, before the reaction starts.”
The Russian control of the plant delayed the IAEA from conducting its required annual inspection of the plant, which is necessary for ensuring safety and verification of the secure disposal of nuclear fuel.
Globally, 57 units to supply 60 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear power are under construction, mostly outside Europe3. China plans to quadruple nuclear power generation to 180 GW by 2035, adding 150 new reactors to its existing 47, at a cost of US$440 billion. India operates 22 reactor and has 7 new ones being built; Bangladesh, Belarus, Turkey, and the United Arab emirates are also building their first reactor.
Concerns about the old design of many nuclear plants and the large amounts of waste in above-ground storage will persist for decades as the conflict landscape changes.
The five-yearly review conference, which concluded in a stand-off, was fractured by divisions. The safety and security of nuclear-power plants in armed conflict zones was not taken into consideration in the draft outcome document, for the first time.
Yet the protocol provides a get-out clause. Only strikes are permitted on other military objectives that are used in regular, significant and direct support of military operations and that can only be ended with an attack.
The UN Security Council resolution on the site would be uncontroversial. But how could such a situation be monitored and secured? One option is for a small, neutral force to support the IAEA mission. If attacks on the plant continue, they may have to suppress troop incursions or military strikes on the site. This would require rapid access to air power and entail significant risks.
No resolution could be obtained without the prior agreement of Russia on the Security Council. A resolution should nonetheless be pursued. Negotiations over ceasefires, withdrawals and peacekeeping forces often run in tandem. A well-designed deployment can put moral and strategic pressure on combatants to comply.
Russian annexation of the Zaporizhzhia region and the control of the plant by Rosatom add to the problems. Despite their bitter conflict, the powers cooperated to reduce the risks of nuclear war and proliferation and that is what Russia needs to remember. Today is one of those times.
Scholars, non-governmental organizations, the civilian nuclear industry, and the IAEA also need to devote more resources to research into making nuclear plants safer5.
New reactor, fuel-storage and site designs are needed that can withstand armed and terrorist attacks. A 2006 report from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — commissioned by Congress after the 9/11 Commission discovered that al-Qaeda had considered crashing planes into US nuclear plants — recommended improved fuel-pool designs and prompt transfer of fuel to dry storage after five years6. It did not consider the danger of military attack. The cost and sparse analysis for nuclear plants outside the United States was the reason the industry resisted the recommendations.
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03580-0
The U.S. Army is in Crime: How Well Does the Ukraine War End at Zaporizhia? And What Can Ukrainians Really Do About It?
Russia, Ukraine and much of eastern Europe will be lucky if the Ukraine war ends without disaster at Zaporizhzhia. The world should be ashamed that, nearly 70 years after US President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the era of ‘atoms for peace’, people are depending on luck. The world’s governments have the power to prevent disasters. Will they act?
Videos filmed by Ukrainian drones and reporting in Russian news media about high casualty rates have supported those claims, but they can be seen in the videos. The location of the videos on the front line can’t be determined because they are not independently verified.
Russian forces have tripled the intensity of their attacks on parts of the front according to the commander of the Ukrainian military. He did not give a time frame or where the attacks were coming from.
General Zaluzhnyi said that they talked about the situation at the front. He said that he had told his colleague in the US that the Ukrainian forces were fighting back.
The Institute for the Study of War said that the increase in infantry in the east did not result in Russia’s gaining new ground.
Russian forces would have had more success if they had waited until enough personnel had arrived to build a large enough force to overcome Ukrainian defenses, according to the institute.
The Ukrainian military has been able to cut supply lines and target Russian depots with long range rockets in the northeast and south of the country.
In the south, where Ukrainian troops are advancing toward the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, the Ukrainian military said Friday morning that its artillery battalions had fired more than 160 times at Russian positions over the past 24 hours, but it also reported Russian return fire into Ukrainian positions.
The remaining residents of Kherson have been getting food and fuel to last them through the battle, with conflicting signals over what may or may not happen.
And Ukraine will be watching America’s midterm election results this week, especially after some Republicans warned that the party could limit funding for Ukraine if it wins control of the House of Representatives, as forecast.
The Crimes of Uzbekistan, Russia, and the Cold War: Ulf Kristersson, the Founding Father of the Universe, and his Foes
On Tuesday, Turkish President will host Ulf Kristersson. The Turkish leader wants Sweden to join NATO before it meets certain conditions.
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.
On Nov. 2, Russia joined a deal to export grain and other agricultural goods from Ukraine. 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 first missile to have landed in Poland – a NATO member – on Tuesday may well have been a Ukrainian anti-aircraft rocket intercepting an incoming Russian missile a short distance from one of Ukraine’s largest cities, Lviv, as suspected by Polish and NATO leaders. President Zelensky insisted that the missile was not Ukrainian.
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.
Indeed a hotline and Telegram channel, launched as a Ukrainian military intelligence project called “I want to live,” designed to assist Russian soldiers eager to defect, has taken off, reportedly booking some 3,500 calls in its first two months of activity.
Diplomatically, Putin finds himself increasingly isolated on the world stage. He was the only head of state who didn’t attend the G20. After he was ousted, it seems as though Putin no longer wants to return to the G7 that he once lusted after. Russia’s sudden ban on 100 Canadians, including Canadian-American Jim Carrey, from entering the country only made the comparison with North Korea more striking.
Above all, many of the best and brightest in virtually every field have now fled Russia. Writers, artists, journalists, and some of the most creative technologists and scientists are included.
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.
G20 Working Group Summary: French-German Future Combat Air System (FAIRS) Fighter Project Progress Progress Report on “Heroes of Russia”
Rumbling in the background is the West’s attempt to diversify away from Russian oil and natural gas in an effort to deprive the country of material resources to pursue this 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.
The burden it has been on Western countries, along with Putin’s dream that this conflict would drive wedges into the Western alliance, are proving unfulfilled. The long-stalled French-German project for a next-generation jet fighter at the heart of the Future Combat Air System was beginning to move forward after word started to spread about it on Monday.
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.
A number of events were blamed on the Ukrainians. Someone blew up the power lines at a 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. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has offered no comment on recent explosions, including in Kursk, which are deep within Russia. Officially, the targets are well beyond the reach of the country’s declared drones.
On the lack of the water problem in Ukraine, comments on Ukrainian Prime Minister Alexei Skemarov on Saturday night a speech by Vladimir Zelensky
He ended his apparent off-the-cuff comments by claiming there is no mention of the water situation. No one has said anything about it. At all! He said complete silence.
Local Russian authorities in Donetsk — which Putin claimed to annex in defiance of international law — have reported frequent shelling of the city this week.
More than 1.5 million people in the south of the country were without power because of Russian drone strikes on Odesa on Saturday night.
The repeated assaults on the plants and equipment that Ukrainians rely on for heat and light have drawn condemnation from world leaders, and thrust Ukraine into a grim cycle in which crews hurry to restore power only to have it knocked out again.
Mr Zelensky said during his speech Saturday that the capital city of Ukraine, the city of Kyiv, has been without power for some time. He characterized some of them as emergency outages because of attacks. “Stabilization” is what he characterized as planned power outages on a schedule.
He said that the power system is far from normal, and that there is an acute shortage of power on the grid.
Even if there are no heavy missile strikes, this doesn’t mean there are no problems. There are missile attacks, drone attacks, almost every day in different regions. Energy facilities are hit almost every day.”
Vladimir Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian Embassy in Paris, France, and the U.S. After the Basketball Player’s Return from Russia
Ukrainian authorities have been stepping up raids on churches accused of links with Moscow, and many are watching to see if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy follows through on his threat of a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Paris for a working dinner with the French President.
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.
Following Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison, fans, friends and family are celebrating the basketball player’s return to the U.S. The prisoner swap and other Americans being held by Russia have angered some Republican politicians.
The new measures aimed at Russianoil revenue went into effect in December. They include a price cap and a European Union embargo on most Russian oil imports and a Russian oil price cap.
Russian forces turned the city of Bakhmut into burned ruins, Zelenskyy said. Russia is trying to advance in the city in the eastern half of the country.
The Biden administration is nearing a decision to send a missile defense system to Ukraine, according to two officials and a senior official.
The Pentagon’s plan still needs to be approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before it is sent to President Joe Biden for his signature. The three officials told CNN that approval is expected.
The United States is poised to approve the transfer of its most advanced ground-based missile battery to Ukraine in response to Russian missile and drone attacks
There’s no idea how many missiles will be sent, but a typical patriot battery includes a radar set that is used to detect and track targets, computers, power generation equipment, an engagement control station and up to 8 launchers each of which hold four ready to fire missiles.
CNN reported earlier that the system could be transferred to Germany, but many questions remain, among them how long it would take to train Ukrainian soldiers on the system, and where they would be deployed.
It requires a relatively large number of personnel to be trained, according to CNN’s Barbara Starr and Oren Liebermann, who were first to report the US is close to sending the system to Ukraine.
Unlike smaller air defense systems, Patriot missile batteries need much larger crews, requiring dozens of personnel to properly operate them. 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.
Previously, the US has sent Patriot batteries to NATO allies like Poland as a way to bolster their defenses, and sent other weapon systems to Ukraine to assist against the Russian invasion.
Washington. The United States is poised to approve sending its most advanced ground-based air defense system to Ukraine, responding to the country’s urgent request to help defend against an onslaught of Russian missile and drone attacks, two U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The officials said that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III could approve the transfer of one Patriot battery to Ukraine as early as this week. Final approval would then rest with President Biden.
The White House, Pentagon, State Department and other government agencies did not comment on the specifics of the transfer of a particularly sophisticated weaponry to the Ukrainians.
In a speech to the Group of 7 nations on Monday, Mr. Zelensky thanked the countries for their continued support but listed financing for weapons first among his requests.
Russian Patriot missiles and old ammo. What can the US army teach us about a country that kidnapped Ukraine?
“Earlier, many experts, including those overseas, questioned the rationality of such a step which would lead to an escalation of the conflict and increase the risk of directly dragging the US army into combat,” Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow.
The country may be able to Guard against Russian attacks that have left millions of people without power because of the expensive and complicated system that the country uses, but requires intensive training for multiple people.
“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.
There are no NATO troops on the ground. We don’t have NATO planes in the air over Ukraine. He said that they were Supporting Ukraine in their ability to defend themselves.
The commander of the Russian militia in the Donetsk region suggested on Russian state TV that Russia could not defeat the NATO alliance in a conventional war.
In an interview with The Economist published Thursday, Zelensky also rejected the idea recently suggested by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Ukraine seek to reclaim only land seized by Russia since February 2022 and not areas like Donbas and Crimea, which have been under Russian control since 2014.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the French news outlet France 24 this week, before the Patriot missile development, that the alliance still has two main objectives: provide aid to Ukraine and also make sure that NATO forces don’t become directly involved and escalate the war.
Old ammo. CNN’s Ellie Kaufman and Liebermann reported earlier this week on a US military official who says Russian forces have had to resort to 40-year-old artillery ammunition as their supplies of new ammo are “rapidly dwindling.”
“You load the ammunition and you cross your fingers and hope it’s gonna fire or when it lands that it’s gonna explode,” said the official, speaking to reporters.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/politics/russia-patriot-missiles-what-matters/index.html
In the trenches was where I was: CNN’s Will Ripley from a sewing machine repairman along Ukraine’s border with Belarus
In the trenches was where I was. CNN’s Will Ripley filed a video report from trenches and fortifications being built along Ukraine’s border with Belarus, where there is growing concern about Russia once again assembling troops. Ripley is talking to a sewing machine repairman.