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On July 25, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a damning report revealing an additional $2 billion in accounting errors related to the Pentagon’s aid to Ukraine.This discovery compounds the $6.2 billion overestimation previously disclosed, bringing the total to an alarming $8.2 billion in misallocated funds. The discrepancies arose from the Pentagon’s use of “replacement value” instead of “depreciated value” in calculating the aid provided under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). The PDA, authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, allows the President to direct the transfer of defense articles and services from U.S. stocks to address foreign...

The first F-16 fighter jets are set to arrive in Ukraine from Nato member states, after many months of preparation and pilot training. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said they are essential to help Ukrainians push back against Russia's aerial dominance and “unblock the skies”. Russian forces have been preparing for the Ukrainian F-16s too. They have targeted a number of Ukrainian military airfields and there are growing concerns that these long-awaited jets will be attacked and destroyed soon after they arrive. In July alone, at least three airfields have come under attack: Myrhorod and Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine...

A Russian military airfield in occupied Crimea was reportedly targeted by a missile strike that caused explosions and a fire early on July 26, Ukrainian media and Russian Telegram channels reported, while Ukrainian energy facilities were again struck by Russian shelling and drones. The Ukrainian TV channel Suspilne, citing local residents, reported explosions in the cities of Saky and Yevpatoria in Crimea. "Very powerful explosions" were reported by residents in Saky, which is home to a Russian airfield. The Crimean Wind channel on Telegram reported that an ammunition depot at the airfield was struck and quoted a source as saying...

ransomnote: I put Biden's promise of continued military aid in bold type below.Today, President Biden launched the Ukraine Compact at an event with 32 allies and partners as part of our commitment to Ukraine’s long term security. This Compact fulfills the promise President Biden and these countries made in Vilnius in 2023 to negotiate long-term bilateral security agreements with Ukraine to support Ukraine as it defends itself now, and to deter aggression against Ukraine in the future as part of its bridge to NATO membership. Leveraging each of our agreements, this historic Compact creates a unified and comprehensive security architecture...

This is the moment Vladimir Putin's forces were left humiliated when one of his biggest recent assaults of his war on Ukraine ended in substantial losses. The Russian leader had ordered his troops to capture more territory in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, but the push near Kurakhove resulted in mass death and destruction. The failed assault led to the reported deaths of 40 invaders, and left 37 more injured. Russia is carrying out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, but in a Ukraine victory, troops managed to fend off 29 attacks in Kurakhove alone, the General...

While the Ukrainian situation in the battlefield keeps getting from bad to worse, and in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s resigning from the Presidential race, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team have to re-caliber their approach to the bilateral relations with the US, without which they can’t continue their disastrous war effort. But in doing so, Zelensky has to pay close attention to the public opinion in his country, so he is presently doing parallel PR movements: one towards the Trump world and other publicly repudiating it for domestic consumption. It is now reported that his team has long...

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a July 21 interview that President Volodymyr Zelensky will likely need to hold a public referendum before agreeing to any territorial compromises with Russia. The statement follows a proposal by former U.S. President Donald Trump for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. As Trump's victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election becomes more likely, efforts are underway to sway him to Ukraine's side and ensure that any potential deal is favorable to Kyiv. "The next few months will be very difficult for Volodymyr Zelensky. Should he continue the war with new deaths and...

At the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington, commemorating the alliance’s 75th anniversary, leaders offered Ukraine a fresh round of false hope in its war against Russia — which is worse than doing nothing. Whether by military commitment or intensified support, the pretension that NATO could currently deliver a Ukrainian victory, or secure one later, encourages the country’s leaders to postpone reckoning with their dire circumstances. Moreover, it threatens to further imperil NATO members without a security payoff. After the failure of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in 2023, recognition that its forces cannot regain more of its territory has begun to sink in....

We tend to think of United States presidential elections as a strictly American affair, as they are supposed to be. But the whole world is watching every four years, with global leaders from both our allies and our adversaries gaming out what their relationships and fortunes might look like depending on the winner. This year is no exception, and one of those leaders keeping a close eye on the race is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He allowed his mask of neutrality to slip a bit during a recent interview with the BBC when he told them that he was "preparing...

Former President Trump vowed to “bring peace” after he spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and I had a very good phone call earlier today. He congratulated me on a very successful Republican National Convention and becoming the Republican nominee for President of the United States,” Trump posted to his Truth Social site. Trump said Zelensky condemned the “heinous” assassination attempt against the former president last Saturday and remarked about the American people coming together in unity. “I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – At least two people were killed and three more injured after a Russian missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, said Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four. A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Ukraine is on its way to being able to “stand on its own feet” militarily, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the U.S. were to withdraw its support under a different president. Blinken for the first time directly addressed the possibility that former President Donald Trump could win the November election and back away from commitments to Ukraine. Trump’s public comments have varied between criticizing U.S. backing for Ukraine’s defense and supporting it, while his running mate,...

Former President Donald Trump might not understand what is going on in Ukraine, according to the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, however he said Friday he is happy to bring the Republican nominee up to speed if he returns to the White House in 2024. Zelensky made his claim about Trump’s ignorance in an exclusive interview with the BBC in London, adding he was willing to work with anyone who was in power in Washington. “Maybe he really doesn’t understand what goes on in Ukraine, so we have to work with the United States,” Zelensky told the BBC, repeating his previous...

I'm posting a few notes about an article in Le Monde, because the French publication does not permit partial reproduction of an article: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/07/17/war-in-ukraine-zelensky-wants-russia-to-take-part-in-a-new-peace-summit_6687222_4.html1. Zelensky has opened the door to direct negotiations with Moscow without making the departure of Russian occupying forces a pre-condition. Russia is invited to attend. 2. The first peace summit since talks broke down in Spring of 2022 included 100 countries meeting in Switzerland. Russia was not invited. That summit ended with timid declarations which did not include an appeal to Russia to halt its invasion. The declaration was signed by 80 countries.3. Zelensky outlined a...

Ukrainian troops have lost a hard-won position on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, near the southern city of Kherson, after months of bloody fighting to hold on to a piece of land in what some Ukrainian soldiers and military analysts have described as a futile operation. The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday night that fighting continued on the eastern bank but that most of the main positions in the village of Krynky, where its troops had gained a foothold, “were destroyed by intense, combined and prolonged enemy fire.” The statement came after several Ukrainian news media outlets reported...

LONDON (AP) – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Britain’s new government to help Ukrainian forces attack deeper inside Russia to stop deadly missile strikes on his country, as he gave a rare address by a foreign leader to a U.K. Cabinet meeting. Zelenskyy said “long-range capability” to destroy sites where Russian weapons are concentrated is key to Ukraine’s defense. “I ask you to show your leadership” in lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons, Zelenskyy told Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Russia has deployed devastating firepower as it pursues a summer offensive in eastern Ukraine, reducing villages to rubble and pushing...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s army has pulled out from the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, an official said Thursday, surrendering another front-line position as Russian forces blast Ukrainian defenses in a relentless onslaught. The village was reduced to rubble which “made it impossible to hold the positions there,” Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for local ground forces, told The Associated Press in a written message. He did not say when the pullout occurred. Russia seized Urozhaine in the early days of the war that began after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. Ukrainian troops...

One Patriot battery costs $1 billion, while missiles are at least $3 million apiece According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his country needs more missiles and fighter planes than promised to defend its airspace. “In order to ensure the full protection of Ukraine, in the opinion of our soldiers, we need 25 Patriot systems,” the head of state stressed at a press conference in Kyiv. However, Zelensky did not mention how many Patriot air defense systems Ukraine currently has. He claimed that his country needs other weapons systems of different ranges and capabilities for comprehensive air defense; he also noted...

The war in Ukraine has long become one of attrition and endurance, where the status of the competing forces is arguably more important than individual pieces of terrain changing hands. In this piece, leveraging the work of various people and sources, we look at what we can determine about the status of Russian equipment stocks and active vehicle fleets in 2024, and try to project potential paths forward and establish a baseline for comparing against Ukrainian forces in a coming episode.

The latest Russian Defense Ministry daily bulletin was issued on Tuesday afternoon, July 9. Since then the Pentagon and the White House have been as silent as the tomb. Make that thirty-five American tombs. “During the day [July 9],” said the Defense Ministry briefer [3] in Moscow, “the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group strike with high-precision weapons on American HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems prepared for strikes on the territory of Crimea, as well as the venue of an official meeting of the AFU [Armed Forces of the Ukraine] command staff. The objectives of the...