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The war in Ukraine is poised to become even more violent this year with a major Russian offensive expected and more advanced Western-made weapons pouring in to bolster Ukrainian forces. Along these lines, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg recently warned that the war has entered a "decisive phase." This new stage of the war could bring the fight to a territory vital to Russia's military capabilities in Ukraine and cherished by Russian President Vladimir Putin: Crimea. The Black Sea peninsula, which was invaded by Russian forces and illegally annexed by Putin in 2014, served as a launchpad for Russia's invasion last...

But Hodges is among military experts who believe that reclaiming Crimea is required for Ukraine's long-term survival. He told Britain's Channel 4 News last Wednesday that Crimea is the "decisive terrain" and that it should be isolated "with long range precision weapons." In his view, these would include F-16 jets and ATACMs (Army Tactical Missile Systems) and armed drones, which can "reach beyond the current HIMARS being used that could isolate Crimea" and "make Crimea untenable." The fate of Crimea as a deciding factor in the war in Ukraine continues to be debated amid speculation over whether it would be...

Journalists of the Dutch NOS and Nieuwsuur published a joint investigation about the way how russia receives microcircuits from the Netherlands for weapons production. Chips manufactured by the Dutch NXP and Nexperia companies were found, in particular, in the on-board equipment of russia’s cruise missiles, Ka-52 attack helicopters, "one of the types of self-propelled guns" (probably the 2S19 Msta-SM2) and one of the Iranian-made kamikaze drones. According to RUSI estimates, Dutch-origin chips cover at least 10 out of 27 critical positions for russians of "dual-purpose" electronics. In Order to Prouce Missiles And Other Weapons, russia Buys Millions of Chips In...

At a recycling plant on the outskirts of Kyiv, a short drive from the site of a helicopter crash that killed 14 people (including Ukraine’s interior minister) a week earlier, a group of sorters, most of them middle-aged women, are ripping apart hundreds of Russian books. The cover of Tolstoy’s “Childhood, Boyhood and Youth”, days away from being reborn as a coffee-cup sleeve or an egg carton, goes into one garbage bag. The novel’s pages, destined to end up as paper for other books, in Ukrainian, or as cheap toilet-paper, go into another. Next comes a selection of poems by...

Discussion of the Russia-Ukraine war in Washington is increasingly dominated by the question of how it might end. To inform this discussion, this Perspective identifies ways in which the war could evolve and how alternative trajectories would affect U.S. interests. The authors argue that, in addition to minimizing the risks of major escalation, U.S. interests would be best served by avoiding a protracted conflict. The costs and risks of a long war in Ukraine are significant and outweigh the possible benefits of such a trajectory for the United States.

Until it decided to confront Moscow with an existential military threat in Ukraine, Washington confined the use of American military power to conflicts that Americans could afford to lose, wars with weak opponents in the developing world from Saigon to Baghdad that did not present an existential threat to U.S. forces or American territory. This time—a proxy war with Russia—is different. Contrary to early Beltway hopes and expectations, Russia neither collapsed internally nor capitulated to the collective West’s demands for regime change in Moscow. Washington underestimated Russia’s societal cohesion, its latent military potential, and its relative immunity to Western economic...

Poland has officially requested permission from Germany to transfer its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine where they can help fight Russia's invasion, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said Tuesday. Berlin has received Warsaw’s request, Błaszczak said in a tweet, though German officials did not immediately confirm that. The development on possible tank deliveries came as Ukrainian authorities moved to crack down on corruption, with three senior officials announcing their exit Tuesday. Błaszczak also appealed to Germany “to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks” — a reference to recent pressure on Berlin to send some of...

Muscovites were braving the threat of arrest to lay flowers at an improvised memorial to victims of a missile attack in Ukraine's central city of Dnipro... The rare criticism of Russia's nearly year-long military campaign in Ukraine comes on the back of sweeping legislation that all but outlaws speaking out against the fighting. Officials in Ukraine say at least 46 people were killed by a Russian attack on a residential building in Dnipro... Flowers and children's toys have already been cleared away several times at the base of a statue in Moscow to Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka but local residents...

The dramatic fight for Soledar, part of the Battle of Bakhmut, is over — although Ukraine's leadership is still reluctant to acknowledge the loss.As a result of a localized offensive operation in January, Russian forces managed to gnaw through Ukrainian defenses and, after fierce urban fighting, seize what's left of the industrial town of 10,000.Although fighting in the area continues, The Kyiv Independent sources, as well as international monitors, all fully agree Ukraine doesn’t control the town.It's the first noticeable Russian success since their forces captured Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk after fierce fighting in June and July.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group of mercenaries has dominated headlines in Ukraine, has reportedly been sidelined by Vladimir Putin after failing to make good on his promises of military gains. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Prigozhin's "star has begun to set" following his boasts that his forces could capture the Donetsk city of Bakhmut. The think tank said on Sunday that Putin wanted to see what Prigozhin and his previous commander in Ukraine, General Sergey Surovikin could do after the conventional Russian military had suffered disastrous setbacks. "Both efforts failed," the ISW said, as Prigozhin's attempts...

In a statement, the SVR said U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers, air defence systems and artillery ammunition had been delivered to the Rivne nuclear power station in the northwest of Ukraine."The Ukrainian armed forces are storing weapons and ammunition provided by the West on the territory of nuclear power plants," it said, adding that an arms shipment to the Rivne power station had taken place in the last week of December.

In the battle to keep warm, Ukrainian infantryman Kyrylo Molchanov has turned to “trench candles”—empty food cans packed with cardboard—to heat his front-line dugout. With Russia and Ukraine fighting through the winter, keeping Ukrainian soldiers warm could become a competitive advantage for Kyiv. For armies, winter weather affects everything from maneuverability to battery power. But the cold and wet can have a crushing effect on soldiers’ morale and ability to fight, while creating potential medical problems. The U.S. and its allies have sent hundreds of thousands of pieces of winter clothing. Ukraine has supplemented those supplies from elsewhere, and the...

Russia threatened to retaliate against the U.S. and other Western nations if they provide more powerful weapons to Ukraine, warning on Sunday that stepped-up military aid from allies would trigger a “global catastrophe.” ...

Russia’s “nuclear war” rhetoric appears every few months, on a kind of cycle. Whenever the West and Ukraine appear to be winning and Ukraine is being strengthened, then Russia will roll out this talk. It will also mobilize other voices to make it seem that Ukraine isn’t interested in “peace” and that Ukraine is “escalating.” This terminology is misplaced because it is Russia that escalated and invaded Ukraine. However, Moscow wants to shift focus to what the West is doing...

"Russian losses are beginning to approach around 180,000 dead or wounded soldiers," Norwegian Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen said in an interview with TV2,...Norway, a country bordering Russia, has been a member of NATO since its founding in 1949. "Ukrainian losses are probably over 100,000 dead or wounded. In addition Ukraine has about 30,000 civilians who died in this terrible war," said the Norwegian general.

Europe must fight. The realisation has been slow in coming. Yet almost one year after Russia invaded Ukraine, most western governments finally understand Kyiv’s war for survival is their war, too. It’s a fight to the death for Ukraine, but also for European democracy, rights and values. It’s a fight against the historical evils of fascism and imperialism embodied by Vladimir Putin, a dictator for our age. Europe must fight. It really has no choice. As Russia doubles down, threatening a huge new offensive, a turning point approaches when tragedy turns to ruin – or triumph. This moment, when the...

The long expected Russian offensive in Ukraine has begun. The Ukrainian army, egged on by its US controllers, had put most of its resource in the static defense of Bakhmut (Artyomovsk)-Soldedar sector of the eastern front. An insane number of Ukrainian brigades, though many partially depleted, were concentrated on that 50 kilometer long front. This left other sectors nearly empty of Ukrainian troops... The aim of the Russian thrust in the south will be to take cities like Zaporiziha. The aim is to bring the main transport routes, railways and roads, from west-Ukraine to the front in east Ukraine under...

MPs have proposed law to give National Guard greater powers over mobilisation Comes as intelligence claims Russia has suffered 188,000 casualties in Ukraine Western allies pledged billions of dollars worth of weapons for Kyiv last week Russia has quietly dropped a rule exempting fathers of three of more children from mobilisation - amid fears Putin will send another 500,000 conscripts to Ukraine. MPs are understood to have proposed a law that will give the country's National Guard greater powers to impose military draft orders. A second proposal includes allowing property to be confiscated from individuals who flee abroad to avoid...

Ukraine is braced for a major new offensive that could begin within weeks. One of President Zelensky’s key insiders told The Daily Beast that they expect a looming Russian move to encircle the country with a simultaneous attack on three fronts.Rustem Umerov, a member of the team negotiating with Russia, said the Kremlin was preparing for a fresh advance which could begin as soon as February. The assault would come from the north, over the Belarusian border, from the Russian strongholds in the east of Ukraine, and from the south, where the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea was seized by...

WASHINGTON — The billions of dollars in new arms for Ukraine announced this month — including British tanks, American fighting vehicles, and howitzers from Denmark and Sweden — are testament to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to split the NATO allies after nearly a year of war. But small yet significant fractures are getting too big to hide.The differences are over strategy for the coming year and the more immediate question of what Ukraine needs in the next few months, as both sides in the war prepare for major offensives in the spring. And although most of those debates take...