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I reported last week that my source from Ukraine, not Russia, was placing the Ukrainian military casualties at 150,000 with 35,000 unaccounted for – missing in action. Including the civilian deaths, over 250,000 people have died. Ukraine is losing the war. With the UK claiming they will now train Ukrainian pilots and provide fighter jets, this is obviously putting the UK at risk and such pilots with a few weeks of training will only crash and burn. Our targets coming into play for April and May are critical. We see major shifts in the financial markets coming even by June....

TOKYO -- Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly a full year ago, attacks against military and civilian targets alike have caused numerous deaths, with no end to the fighting in sight. Intelligence analysts, however, have taken interest in one specific part of the death toll: the number of Russian generals killed in the conflict Generals command hundreds or thousands of soldiers. A larger number of general deaths thus signals a weak military. British media reported in June that over 10 generals had been killed. Japan estimates the total at more than 20, based on intelligence gathered in cooperation with the...

Ukrainian forces are unlikely to be able to recapture Crimea from Russian troops in the near future, four senior Defense Department officials told House Armed Services Committee lawmakers in a classified briefing. The assessment is sure to frustrate leaders in Kyiv who consider taking the peninsula back one of their signature goals. It’s unclear what led the briefers to that assessment. But the clear indication, as relayed by three people with direct knowledge of Thursday’s briefing’s contents, was that the Pentagon doesn’t believe Ukraine has — or soon will have — the ability to force Russian troops out of the...

A Ukrainian soldier's account of the front line in Bakhmut has given rare insight into the tactics being employed by Russian soldiers in the eastern industrial city in the Donetsk region, which has, for months, been one of the war's hottest spots.The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank based in Washington, noted in its daily assessment of the conflict that Ukraine's Joint Forces Task Force posted an interview on February 1 with a Ukrainian serviceman operating in Bakhmut.In his interview, the Ukrainian soldier said that the situation in Bakhmut has recently "radically changed." Russia has committed...

American officials estimate that nearly 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in Moscow’s nearly yearlong conflict with Ukraine, The New York Times reported. The rising number of casualties is driven in part by heavy fighting in Bakhmut and Soledar in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is increasingly sending poorly trained recruits and convicts to the front lines in an effort to deplete Ukrainian artillery, according to the Times. However, officials have warned that the casualty numbers — which are based on satellite imagery, intercepted communications, social media, on-the-ground reporting and official government numbers — are difficult to estimate and...

Russian Wagner Group fighters are being killed in fierce fighting between government forces and rebels in the Central African Republic, as the sanction-hit Kremlin looks to extend its reach in mineral- and gold-rich countries. Mercenary fighters for the notorious "private military company" that took on a prominent role in the ongoing war in Ukraine have "sustained heavy casualties" in renewed violence over goldmines in the African nation, according to British newspaper The Guardian. Wagner mercenaries have tried to gain control over commodities such as gold and diamonds in CAR, helping dodge the economic impact of sanctions over Ukraine. It is...

Southwest of the city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers Andriy and Borisych live in a candle-lit bunker cut into the frozen earth. For several weeks they have been confronting hundreds of fighters belonging to the Russian private military contractor Wagner throwing themselves against Ukrainian defenses. Disguised in a balaclava, Andriy recounts one seemingly endless firefight when they came under attack by a flood of Wagner fighters. “We were fighting for about 10 hours in a row. And it wasn’t like just waves, it was uninterrupted. So it was just like they didn’t stop coming.” Their AK-47 rifles became so hot from...

Firepower has been crucial in Russia’s gains in the war, but Ukrainian fighters and analysts say that Moscow has relied increasingly on a more crude tactic as its forces try to take the eastern city of Bakhmut: the sheer weight of troop numbers. Russian casualties in recent fighting in Bakhmut have been higher than in previous months as commanders have poured soldiers into the battle, the Ukrainians said. The Kremlin is aiming for a significant victory after suffering battlefield setbacks in the south and northeast last fall and as both sides prepare for offensives in the coming weeks or months....

Russia is using prisoners and freshly mobilized troops to absorb heavy Ukrainian fire along the war's front lines in order to clear the way for its better trained forces to take ground, a US official said, calling the move a classic Russian tactic. Prisoners recruited by the Wagner Group — a notorious paramilitary organization with close ties to the Kremlin — and others have recently been deployed to the forefront of fighting around eastern Ukraine's war-torn city of Bakhmut, which has become the epicenter of hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv. These recruits have been forced to "take the brunt" of...

According to multiple reports, Russian President Putin's medical condition has deteriorated significantly in recent months, and his doctors have advised him to stay away from public events due to concerns over his health. The General SVR Telegram channel, which claims to have sources inside the Kremlin, claims that "Putin gets tired quickly, suffers from frequent dizziness and headaches, as well as occasional unclear consciousness, and his doctors advised him to stay away from public events in order to rest." .....

A Russian propaganda video is circulating on social media, mocking the men who fled the country to neighboring nations in order to avoid being conscripted as part of President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization decree. The origin of the clip is unclear, but it has been shared by multiple Telegram channels. It attempts to portray the men who are staying in Russia as "men" and those who flee as "boys." In the video, a wealthy Russian man says that he's escaping to neighboring Georgia, presumably to avoid conscription, and he's promptly mocked for doing so.

Cronies of Vladimir Putin are reportedly plotting a coup against him, while another trusted aide is lying low and preparing to act as kingmaker, according to new reports. In a further blow to Mad Vlad, there are claims his whisky-loving foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is “drinking because he is depressed” and is suffering “health problems". On top of this, there are recurring rumours of the dictator's poor health, with some believing he may have cancer. According to insiders, there were two key meetings on Thursday (December 15) where he had to stay in the same position and sit on a...

One anonymous Western official at the time told Reuters that Ukraine was seeing "kinetic effects" behind Russian lines, which was having "a significant psychological effect on the Russian leadership." The U.K. defense ministry pointed out that the Monday "explosions" were more significant given their locations hundreds of miles across Russian borders. At least two Tu-95 BEAR heavy bombers were damaged in the explosions and three people were reportedly killed. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called a meeting with his security council to discuss the country's domestic defenses after three airbases saw "explosions" this week. Russian officials looked to shore...

Or the claim that he soiled himself after falling down the stairs Alina Kabaeva, 39, is thought to be the long-time mistress of Vladimir Putin, 70 She made a rare public appearance today, opening a new gymnastics centre It's thought Russian state media are not permitted to discuss their relationship Vladimir Putin's 'lover' has made a rare public appearance today but shunned all mention of the bloody war in Ukraine and the dictator's rumoured health problems. The gold-medal winning Olympic star Alina Kabaeva, 39, has been seen less than half a dozen times this year, but appeared today to open...

Belarusian authorities are once again claiming that their country is under the threat of an attack. Often, declarations of this kind end with an attack indeed taking place, but from the territory of Belarus instead. “The assessment has shown that the West is working on attack plans that directly consider Belarus and Russia to be the enemy,” Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin claimed. The politician also lamented the unprecedented increasing presence of the US and NATO military formations in Eastern Europe. Novaya-Europe takes a closer look at who would be able to attack whom in the area. Suicide planAt the...

The Russian president, 70, was supposedly helped to a sofa by bodyguards as his personal doctors rushed to assist him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin fell down the stairs and soiled himself this week amid mounting speculation that his health is declining, an anti-Kremlin Telegram channel with apparent links to his security team reported. Putin, 70, suffered the unfortunate fall at his Moscow official residence on Wednesday evening, according to the Telegram channel “General SVR,” which purports to be run by a former Russian spy. The ailing Russian leader allegedly fell down five steps before landing on his coccyx, or tailbone. Although his security guards immediately rushed to his aid, the impact of the fall caused Putin to “involuntarily defecate” due...

Russian leader bruised his coccyx as he slipped down seven steps, reports say Telegram channel that claims links to his bodyguards said Putin 'involuntarily defecated' due to effects of 'cancer of the gastrointestinal tract' Vladimir Putin has fallen down stairs at his official residence and soiled himself while continuing to suffer from cancer, a Telegram channel which claims links to his bodyguards has suggested. The 70-year-old Russian leader, whose health has visibly deteriorated since he launched his war in Ukraine, suffered the fall on Wednesday evening when he slipped coming down stairs at his Moscow home, channel General SVR claims....

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 took no part in the attack, either by providing intelligence or other assistance, officials said. American officials also said they were not aware of the operation ahead of time and would have opposed the killing had they been consulted. Afterward, American officials admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, they said. The...

Russia's two most senior lawmakers on Sunday addressed a string of complaints about Russia's mobilisation drive, ordering regional officials to get a handle on the situation and swiftly solve the "excesses" that have stoked public anger. President Vladimir Putin's move to order Russia's first military mobilisation since World War Two triggered protests across the country and seen flocks of military-age men flee, causing tailbacks at borders and flights to sell out. Multiple reports have also documented how people with no military service have been issued draft papers - contrary to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu's guarantee that only those with special...