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NEW: Ukraine is making a new push to get Biden to lift his ban on using U.S.-made weapons to strike inside Russia, saying the policy kept them from attacking Russian positions as Moscow prepared for its major march toward Kharkiv

My comments below pertain to the war in the Ukraine and an article I just posted to Free Republic:What Is in the Ukraine Aid Package, and What Does it Mean for the Future of the War? csis.org ^ | May 1, 2024 | Mark F. Cancian and Chris H. Park Posted on 5/14/2024, 6:25:05 PM by ransomnoteMY COMMENTS on the csis.org article:In my opinion, the whole article is worth reading. I think that the flag waving cretins in Congress were putting on a show to imply they are helping the Ukraine far more than they actually are. Biden and his...

Head of the Mezha Anti-Corruption Center, Martyna Bohuslavets, has written a report in Pravda asking "Where are the fortifications?" She reports that millions of dollars that were intended for the construction of fortifications in Ukraine were instead "transferred to Kharkiv OVA to front companies of avatars." Bohuslavets said the Ukrainian Kharkiv Regional Military Administration (Kharkiv OVA) paid out funds to fictitious companies during the construction and fortification of the Kharkiv region. The report comes as Russian forces have broken into the northern region of Ukraine and the US continues funding the war. According to Ukranian Pravda reports, the Russian military...

There is a large Russian operation underway in Ukraine focused on the Kharkov area. At the same time, the Russians are also attacking elsewhere, primarily in Donbas but also in Zaphorize. The threat in the north has compelled Ukraine to pull troops deployed elsewhere, including Chasiv Yar, to try and hold the line in the Kharkov area. If Russia intended to force Ukraine’s army to move its troops northwards, then it looks like a success so far. These troop movements will offer the Russian army the chance to do more damage to Ukraine’s army.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday morning by train, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and promising that “assistance is now on the way” after Congress passed the $95 billion foreign aid package in April. Blinken is in Kyiv to “highlight the United States’ enduring support for Ukraine”, the State Department said on Tuesday, after the Secretary of State arrived in the country by overnight train, a necessity for foreign diplomatic visits as flying directly to Ukraine remains impossible. The two-day trip is the first by an American government figure since Congress passed the foreign...

Hungary will not participate in NATO's long-term plan to aid Ukraine, its foreign minister said Wednesday, calling the plan a "crazy mission." NATO allies agreed in April to initiate planning on long-term military support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, through setting up a fund worth 100 billion euros ($107 billion). Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reiterated the government's earlier opposition to the plan.

Can Russia's main task is to achieve victory on the battlefield in Ukraine with the minimal loss of troops, incoming defence minister Andrei Belousov said on Tuesday. -snip- Belousov presented himself as a man of integrity, telling parliamentarians: "I have always been, and will be, guided by the reinforced concrete principle 'You can make mistakes (but) you can't lie'." That was a pointed comment, given that he is taking charge of a ministry embroiled in a major corruption investigation that damaged his predecessor Shoigu. The scandal widened on Tuesday with the arrest of another senior official suspected of bribery. -snip-...

Ukraine’s military is confronting a “critical” situation in the country’s northeast, facing troop shortages as it tries to repel a Russian offensive that has been advancing for several days, a top Ukrainian general said on Monday. Russian troops surged across the border last week to open a new line of attack near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city after Kyiv, capturing at least nine settlements and villages and forcing thousands of civilians to flee. “The situation is on the edge,” Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said in a video call from a bunker in Kharkiv. “Every hour...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday visited Ukraine, telling the country that soon-to-arrive U.S. military aid will make a “real difference” in its effort to fend off Russia's war. Blinken's trip comes amid a fierce new Russian offensive, according to the Associated Press. “We know this is a challenging time,” Blinken said in the Ukrainian capital on Kiev where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Wherin Ukies neglect to fortify the Kharkov region and then embark upon a maximal campaign of provocation in the region...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Ukraine as weapons from a new American aid package begin arriving at the front line. His visit comes as the country struggles to hold back a major Russian incursion near its second biggest city of Kharkiv. Ahead of Mr Blinken's arrival in Kyiv, a senior US official said the American-funded weapons now arriving at the front line included air defence interceptors, artillery and ATACMS long-range precision guided missiles. "We have already started to flow in artillery [and] long-range ATACMS that can range any part of Ukraine, and also other air defence...

What amounted to a probing attack or skirmish on the part of Russian forces has caused chaos amongst the ukies

U.S. military aid is reaching Ukraine as that nation's military strives to blunt Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region, said Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary. The Russian attacks on Kharkiv — Ukraine's second-largest city — were not unexpected, Singh said today, and Ukrainian service members are fighting furiously to blunt the Russian incursions. U.S. systems are again reaching Ukrainian service members after Congress approved a budget supplemental aid package on April 24. President Joe Biden announced a $1 billion assistance package at that time to meet Ukraine's critical security needs. On Friday, the United States announced another tranche of...

Ukrainian media reports say the commander responsible for the defense of the northeastern Kharkiv front, General Yuriy Halushkin, has been replaced by General Mykhaylo Drapatiy. The change, as reported by Ukraine's RBK news site and Suspilne, which cited sources in the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, occurred on May 11 as Russian forces pressed on with a large-scale attack in the Kharkiv region bordering Russia. The reports said Drapatiy will also keep his current position as deputy chief of the General Staff. Before his appointment to the General Staff, Drapatiy led the operations in the Kherson region.

A Russian commander was reportedly killed in Crimea following a Ukrainian missile strike in the region. On Monday, the Russian independent outlet Astra said on its Telegram channel that a Russian air defense base located near Mount Ai-Petri in Crimea was hit with "an early morning missile attack" by Ukrainian forces. "The commander of the military unit was killed," Astra reported. "On the mountain, there is a 'secret' military air defense base of the 3rd radio technical regiment of the Russian Armed Forces." The outlet identified the Russian military commander as Alexander Kulakov. Another Russian soldier was also killed in...

The Biden Administration unveiled its second round of military aid to Ukraine for $400 million, following its $95 billion and $60 million for the country. The new package will consist a number of weapons, including: Patriot missile system munitions High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMAR) systems and ammunition Stinger anti-air missiles, 155mm artillery rounds Bradley Fighting Vehicles Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) “As President Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine in its defense of its freedom,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement....

A video posted Monday on social media shows the Ukrainian military destroying 10 Russian military vehicles in a single strike. The video was posted by the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade on Telegram. Reportedly, five Russian BMP-1s, an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, along with five tanks, were burned in the strike. The 63rd Brigade said that at least one vehicle was a Russian T-90M battle tank. The Ukrainian defense effort reportedly occurred near Terni in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. The 63rd Brigade said it destroyed the vehicles "with the help of artillery and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drops."

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian troops are locked in intense battles with the advancing Russian army in two border areas, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, while the death toll from a Russian apartment building collapse blamed on Ukrainian shelling rose to 15. Zelenskyy said “fierce battles” are taking place near the border in eastern and northeastern Ukraine as outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers try to hold back a significant Russian ground offensive. “Defensive battles are ongoing, fierce battles, on a large part of our border area,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Sunday.

A 10-story residential building in Belgorod, Russia, was struck overnight by a Ukrainian missile, a local governor said. "The Belgorod city and the Belgorod district came under a massive attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said in a post on Telegram. The Ukrainian Tochka-U missile that struck the building was among several that Ukraine launched overnight, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Ukrainian military officials did not immediately comment on the claims, which could not immediately be verified.

Ukraine’s top general says the situation in the northern Kharkiv region has “significantly worsened” after Russia claimed to have captured four further villages as it expanded its surprise cross-border offensive. A Ukrainian regional official insisted Russia’s progress was not yet “significant” but admitted ground fighting in the area was spreading. Meanwhile, speaking on British television, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron acknowledged it was an “extremely dangerous moment,” adding that Russia had effectively “invaded [Ukraine] again.” The precise goal of Russia’s new push – which began in the early hours of Friday morning – is unclear. It may be to create...