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THIS is the moment apocalyptic explosions tore apart two massive Russian missile and ammunition storage depots. One at Tikhoretsk contained vast quantities of munitions supplied to Vladimir Putin by Kim Jong-un for use in the Kremlin dictator's bombardment of Ukraine. Mushroom clouds and igniting shells lit up the night sky at the facility in Krasnodar region in a devastating pinpoint strike by Ukrainian kamikaze drones early on Saturday. But Ukraine also hit a new ammunition silo complex at Toropets in Tver region - just ten miles from an “indestructible” 30,000-ton munitions storage site that was obliterated on Wednesday. An unconfirmed...

Russia’s military command had anticipated Ukraine’s incursion into its Kursk region and had been making plans to prevent it for several months, according to a cache of documents that the Ukrainian army said it had seized from abandoned Russian positions in the region. The disclosure makes the disarray among Russian forces after Ukraine’s attack in early August all the more embarrassing. The documents, shared with the Guardian, also reveal Russian concerns about morale in the ranks in Kursk, which intensified after the suicide of a soldier at the front who had reportedly been in a “prolonged state of depression due...

Alex Christoforou: Introduces the topic of the long range missile strikes, the UK push to get the US's approval to launch Storm Shadow missiles into pre-2014 Russian territory, and Kier Starmers personal involvement, obsession with getting authorization to launch them. Starmer's meeting last week with Biden and his staff is also up for discussion. Kier Starmer didn't get the authorization, but he's not giving up.Starmer is now going to Italy, Germany and France to convince them to join his plan to 'attack Russia' (with long range missiles via Ukrainian proxies); Christaforou says he can't find other words to describe what...

The latest development worthy of discussion in last night’s edition of the talk show is the likely fitting of America’s air to ground JASSM missiles on the F-16s that have been and will continue to be delivered to Ukraine. The acronym of this Lockheed produced weapon stands for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and its salient features are its range and its nearly undetectable characteristics in flight. The missile apparently has two basic variants, one for approximately 400 km and the other for 900 km. The logic for fitting a couple of these missiles on an F-16 is to enable the...

The Estonian army is preparing for a possible war with Russia in cooperation with NATO. The country may strike at Russian territory if Moscow prepares to attack the Alliance. Major General Vahur Karus, Chief of the General Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces, said this in an interview with ERR, Censor.NET reports . "We can no longer wait to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer, but we must be the ones who can do certain things first," Karus said. According to the general, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Estonia expected that its army would be able to...

Other Russian Telegram channels said the attack resulted in about 50 Russian casualties. Ukrainian forces have used the Washington-supplied HIMARS on several occasions throughout the war, including in its Donetsk and Luhansk regions which are largely occupied by Russian forces. The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the two regions—which together comprise the Donbas—since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. HIMARS has allowed Ukraine to destroy Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems. Washington has supplied the Ukrainians with at least 39 HIMARS since the war began on February 24, 2022. In February, Serhiy Bratchuk, a...

KYIV — The terrible cost of Russia’s continuing assault on Ukraine is viscerally clear at a military rehabilitation center on the outskirts of this city. Soldiers there describe how their bodies were shattered on the front lines. And they’re the lucky ones who survived. Alexei was trying to hold his position at Pokrovsk, the scene of some of this year’s heaviest fighting, when a drone dropped a grenade near him. His left leg and right hand were nearly severed, attached by thin threads of tissue but now mended. Nikolai lost his left leg in Kharkiv, another Russian target. He waited...

We've spent a lot of time in the past talking about systems that have been called 'game changers' or arguably over performed in Ukraine, relative to either expectations, costs, or both. Today, we look at some of the opposite - systems that may not be having the expected impact, and which might prompt some thinking in planners observing the Ukrainian experience.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed President Biden's administration for continuing to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles on Saturday, arguing it was a major escalation of the conflict. Kennedy called out both Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. He made the comment in relation to reporting that the U.S. is set to approve Ukraine using long-range missiles to strike inside Russia. "Putin's war in Ukraine has been a massive failure – hundreds of thousands of casualties, a brain drain, a million Russians have fled, Sweden and Finland are now NATO members, the list...

PRAGUE (AP) – The head of NATO’s military committee said Saturday that Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage – reflecting the beliefs of a number of U.S. allies – even as the Biden administration balks at allowing Kyiv to do so using American-made weapons. “Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn´t stop at the border of your own nation,” said Adm. Rob Bauer, speaking at the close of the committee’s annual meeting, also attended by U.S. Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of...

The US and UK are concerned that Russia is sharing nuclear secrets with Iran, as well as classified information which may aid Iran in achieving its nuclear goals, Bloomberg and the Guardian reported. According to the report, the information is provided in exchange for Tehran's provision of ballistic missiles to Moscow, to be used in Russia's war against Ukraine. On Friday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met US President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C. Following the two leaders' personal meeting, they held an expanded meeting attended by both countries' foreign policy teams. At the meetings, the sides discussed the Russia-Ukraine...

Ukraine made a new call Saturday on the West to allow it to strike deeper into Russia after a meeting between U.S. and British leaders a day earlier produced no visible shift in their policy on the use of long-range weapons. “Russian terror begins at weapons depots, airfields, and military bases inside the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said Saturday. “Permission to strike deep into Russia will speed up the solution.” Discussions on allowing long-range strikes were believed to be on the table when U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in Washington D.C....

Putin has warned long-range strikes from Ukraine would be a reason for all-out war against NATO and the United States by association. “This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us,” Putin told journalists on September 12.

Despite the fact that they have given Ukraine hundreds of billions of dollars in military and civilian aid – and much of this aid was stolen by corrupt officials – American and British officials have to be continually lectured by President Volodymyr Zelensky on a regular basis. Following yesterday’s (13) meeting between UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and feeble US President Joe Biden, there was no agreement on a deal to give Ukraine authorization to shoot long-range missiles deep into Russian territory. Starmer and Biden held talks to discuss strategy on how to bring the war in Ukraine to an...

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not signal any decision on allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia after talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington. When asked if he had persuaded Biden to allow Ukraine to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia, Sir Keir said they had had "a long and productive discussion on a number of fronts, including Ukraine, as you would expect, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific". The White House said they also expressed "deep concern about Iran and North Korea's provision of lethal weapons to Russia". Earlier Russian...

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not signal any decision on allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia after talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington. When asked if he had persuaded Biden to allow Ukraine to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia, Sir Keir said they had had "a long and productive discussion on a number of fronts, including Ukraine, as you would expect, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific". The White House said they also expressed "deep concern about Iran and North Korea's provision of lethal weapons to Russia". Earlier Russian...

Russia has been thwarting US-made mobile rocket systems in Ukraine more frequently in recent months, using electronic jammers to throw off its GPS guided targeting system to cause rockets to miss their targets, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN.Ukrainian military officials, with the US’ help, have had to come up with a variety of different workarounds as it continues to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) which has been perhaps the most revered and feared piece of weaponry in Ukraine’s fight.The medium-range rocket systems were hailed as a game changer in the conflict and have played...

SNIPThe system was previously made particularly effective by a wide network of Western personnel - both active duty and contractors - providing support in areas from intelligence to logistics to ensure that new equipment can be operated effectively. Access to hundreds of satellites from NATO members, which can provide key targeting data on Russian positions, has also been key, with HIMARS itself reliant on GPS guidance. While Russian air defences have frequently shot down rockets from the HIMARS system, it was not clarified how Russian forces may have eroded its effectiveness. Electronic warfare and some means of jamming its guidance...

President Biden scolded a journalist Friday for asking him to respond to Vladimir Putin’s statement that the US and Russia would effectively be at war if the American commander in chief lifts restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles inside Russia. “I say you be quiet until I speak. Okay? That’s what I say. Good idea?” Biden, 81, snapped as he opened a meeting at the White House with visiting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The journalist persisted, “But what do you say to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s threat of war, sir? It’s a serious threat.” “You’ve got to be...

Ukraine’s push to ease restrictions on the use of weapons from the United States and Britain will be discussed Friday in White House talks between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Ukraine and many of its supporters in the U.S. and Europe want Biden to let Kyiv use the weapons to strike military targets deeper inside Russia, and there are signs Biden might shift U.S. policy. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened that Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons would put NATO at war with Moscow. Two U.S. officials familiar with discussions about the weapons said they believe Starmer...