Tag: russia

Ukraine Set To Receive Bomb So New It Hasn’t Reached US Arsenal Yet

The Pentagon is poised to begin equipping Ukraine with a long-range precision bomb that’s so new it hasn’t even hit the American arsenal yet, Politico reports. The first shipment could arrive as early as Wednesday. 

The precision-guided Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), a joint project of Boeing and Saab, comprises a 250-pound explosive that’s attached to a rocket motor and fired from ground launchers. From a range of about 90 miles, it’s supposedly accurate within a meter. The US military has an air-launched version, but not this new ground-launched one, six of which were fired in a final, pre-ship test conducted at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base on Jan. 16, according to a Reuters source.  

The weapon has one feature that’s particularly attractive: since it’s already “paid for,” the Pentagon can ship it to Ukraine without waiting for additional Ukraine war-funding legislation that’s been held up in Congress for months. That’s especially important at a time when Ukraine’s stockpile of 100-mile Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is running low. The US has put off requests to supply ATACMS to Ukraine — partly out of concern that doing so would be seen as a Western escalation — only to later supply them anyway, with the missiles making their debut in October.  

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No magic US weapon left for offensive Ukraine victory

The stark failure of Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive, which Kyiv billed as the one-two punch that can knock Russia out of the war, has led proponents of maximalist war aims in Ukraine to revise their timetable for victory.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), according to this emerging consensus, can fend off ongoing Russian attacks and replenish their capacity for renewed offensives in 2025 with sustained Western support. Key to these plans is a two-fold assessment of both sides’ strike capabilities.

This view argues that Ukraine, if supplied with enough “game-changing” medium and long-range missiles, can successfully degrade Russian logistics and command and control (C2) nodes and make large swathes of occupied territories — including Crimea — untenable for Russian forces. Such perspectives are complemented and often accompanied by the parallel observation that Russian forces are running critically low on key munitions and thus lack the ability to apply sustained long-term pressure on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Both approaches, which invite Western policymakers to double down on Ukraine’s maximalist war aims in hopes that something approximating a total victory can yet be secured with enough funding and persistence, are deeply flawed and risk putting Kyiv and its Western partners in an even more precarious military position over the coming year.

The AFU received around 20 ground-launched ballistic M39 Block I Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, missiles from the United States in late 2023. These older variant missiles, which boast a range of 170 kilometers, were reportedly used by the AFU to strike Russian-controlled airfields in southern and eastern Ukraine.

In a November 2023 letter, a group of lawmakers called on the Biden administration to transfer more ATACMS, including advanced longer-range variants, to Ukraine with the aim of sustaining the AFU’s “requirement for deep-strike capability.” Former U.S. General Ben Hodges argued that the provision of ATACMS and other Western missiles, including German Taurus cruise missiles, would isolate Russian-occupied Crimea and make it untenable for Russian forces. “ATACMS with 300km range will make Crimea untenable as soon they arrive in Theater. No place for Russian Navy, Air Force, Logistics to hide in Crimea,” Hodges wrote. “On ATACMS for Ukraine, don’t settle for a job half done.”

As with other plans formulated around Ukraine’s use of game-changing “wunderwaffen,” the thinking on massed ATACMS strikes all too often presumes a static Russian adversary incapable of adapting to these weapons over time.

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Senator Lankford Defends Controversial Bill Allowing Entry to Illegal Immigrants and Funding Two Wars Thousands of Miles Away

Senator James Lankford appeared on Fox News Sunday regarding a hotly debated border security bill that has stirred controversy across party lines.

The bill, criticized for allowing entry to thousands of illegal immigrants and funding conflicts abroad, was a major point of discussion between Lankford and host Shannon Bream.

Bream dove straight into addressing the contentious rumors surrounding the bill, confronting Lankford with Senator Ted Cruz’s assertion that the bill would normalize an “invasion” level of 5,000 people crossing the border daily. This figure translates to approximately 155,000 illegal immigrants each month, amounting to an annual total of 1.8 million.

According to information obtained by FOX News reporter Bill Melugin, the deal includes:

— Mandatory detention of all single adults.

— Mandatory “shut down” of border once average daily migrant encounters hits 5,000. Importantly, this 5,000 number includes 1,400 CBP One app entries at ports of entry per day, and roughly 3,600 illegal crossings per day.

— How is that enforced? Once the 5,000 threshold is hit, a new authority is codified into law that requires Border Patrol to immediately remove illegal immigrants they catch without processing. They would not get to request asylum, they would immediately be removed. This includes removals back to Mexico, and deportations to home countries. This would be a *massive* change from current policy, which is that once an illegal immigrant reaches US soil, they must be processed via Title 8 and allowed to claim asylum. Under this new authority – they are not processed, and they are mandatorily immediately removed once the “shut down” threshold is reached.

— This “shut down” also takes effect is there are 8,500 migrant encounters in a single day.

— The “shut down” would not lift the next day. It wouldn’t lift until daily encounters are reduced to under 75% of the 5,000 threshold for at least two weeks. This means the “shut down” authority would not lift until two weeks of an average of less than 3,750 migrant encounters per day.

— Some family units will be released with ATD (Alternatives to Detention, ankle monitors etc).

— New removal authority to immediately remove all migrants who do not have valid asylum claims, which will be determined within 6 months rather than the years long process we have right now.

— Any migrant caught trying to cross twice during “shut down” phase would be banned from entering US for one year.

— US will need agreement with Mexico for MX to take back non-Mexican illegal immigrants. This hasn’t been ironed out yet.

Lankford countered, insisting that the legislation’s ultimate goal is to reduce illegal crossings to zero, claiming that there is no amnesty involved and that the bill would bolster border patrol resources, increase detention capacities, and streamline the asylum process to ensure swift deportations.

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Ukraine says it uncovers mass fraud in weapons procurement

Ukraine’s SBU security service said on Saturday it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country’s military totalling the equivalent of about $40 million.

The announcement of mass procurement fraud, confirmed by Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, will have a huge resonance in a country beleaguered by Russia’s nearly two-year-old invasion.

The fight to root out endemic corruption remains a major issue as Ukraine presses its bid to secure membership in the European Union.

The SBU said an investigation had “exposed officials of the Ministry of Defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells.”

“According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are involved in the embezzlement.”

The embezzlement, it said, involved the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells for the military.

The SBU said a contract for the shells was clinched with Lviv Arsenal in August 2022 – six months into the war – and payment was made in advance, with some funds transferred abroad.

But no arms were ever provided, the statement said, with some funds then moved to other foreign accounts.

The statement said five individuals had been served “notices of suspicion” – the first stage in Ukrainian legal proceedings – both in the ministry and the arms supplier. One suspect, it said, was detained while trying to cross the Ukrainian border.

Corruption within the military has been a particularly sensitive issue in Ukraine as it tries to maintain wartime public morale and present its case to join the 27-nation EU.

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If we don’t want death, blackouts, and busybodies in every corner of our lives, end this brainless march to war

Are we the baddies? What if the Ukraine war is just as stupid and wrong as the Iraq war, but the state propaganda has been more successful and hardly anybody has realised… yet?

Many people to this day still think the damaging and morally dubious Western attacks on Serbia and Libya were justified. Many still think the gory attempt to destroy Syria was a good thing. It took ages for opinion to swing on the Vietnam war, back in the 1960s. And, as one who opposed the Iraq war, I remember only too well just how many (who now think they were against it all the time) were fooled into backing Sir Anthony Blair and George W. Bush.

The issue is more pressing as generals and admirals warn we must live in a militarised society and prepare for what they think is an inevitable war against Russia. They could get their way. If you go on backing this policy, you could be condemning yourself, your children or grandchildren to a world of war, privation and perhaps conscription into some sort of military service.

Wars mean death and wounds. They mean shortages, rationing, electricity blackouts, travel restrictions, busybodies interfering in every bit of life, and with much more power. Not to mention danger – missiles have astonishing ranges these days. What exactly would this one be for?

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Biden Again Warns the US Could Fight Russia Directly If Congress Doesn’t Approve More Ukraine Aid

President Biden on Friday called again for Congress to approve more spending on the war in Ukraine, claiming that if Russian President Vladimir Putin is successful in its war, it could risk pulling the US into a direct confrontation with Russia.

Biden made the comments in a statement on a Russian attack on Ukraine that was said to be the largest of the war. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia fired over 150 missiles and drones across the country and killed 31 people.

Biden said Ukraine was able to intercept some missiles with US-provided air defenses and added that “unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people.”

The president claimed that the stakes of the war extend beyond Ukraine to the US’s European NATO allies. “When dictators and autocrats are allowed to run roughshod in Europe, the risk rises that the United States gets pulled in directly,” he said.

Biden and other officials in his administration have been using this argument in their pitch to approve the over $60 billion they’re seeking to fund the proxy war in Ukraine for another year. The central claim is that if Putin wins in Ukraine, he will move into a NATO country next. But there’s no indication Russia wants a fight with the alliance, which could quickly spiral into nuclear war.

Putin recently responded to the claim, calling the idea that he has his eyes on NATO territory “nonsense.”

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Latest Wonder Weapon Being Provided to Ukraine Unlikely to Turn the Tide in War

On January 6, Denmark announced that it would be transferring 19 American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in the second quarter of 2024. Last August, the Biden administration approved sending F-16s—which are made by Lockheed Martin—to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands.

Kyiv had long sought to obtain the fighter jets, but Washington had previously resisted allowing the transfers for fear of being deemed a direct belligerent in the Ukraine war by Moscow.

Joe Biden nevertheless told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G-7 Summit last spring that the U.S. would support training Ukrainian pilots to fly the aircraft.

Like anti-tank Javelin missiles and other “wonder weapons” Ukraine has previously received, it is unlikely that the F-16 jets will significantly change the course of military operations in Ukraine’s favor. However, these planes represent yet another provocation directed against Russia that will only fuel an escalation of a devastating conflict that has resulted in such a huge loss of life.

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Russia Says Ukraine Shot Down Plane Carrying Ukrainian POWs

Russia said on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian military transport plane over Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, killing all 74 people onboard, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its forces registered two anti-aircraft missiles fired from Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast, which borders Belgorod, that hit the IL-76 aircraft. The ministry claimed the POWs were being transported as part of a planned prisoner swap with Ukraine.

Ukraine has not officially confirmed or denied responsibility for the downing of the plane, but sources told Ukrainska Pravda that Ukrainian forces were responsible. The Ukrainian military also hinted it was behind the incident.

In response to the news, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement that it would “continue to destroy means of delivery and control the airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat, including on the Belgorod-Kharkiv front.”

Ukraine’s military intelligence acknowledged in a statement that a prisoner swap was scheduled to take place on Wednesday but said it had no information about who was onboard the downed Russian plane.

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No direct threat from Russia – NATO

NATO sees no threat from Russia toward any of its members, the US-led bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday during a press conference in Brussels. His comments come as several countries, including Germany and the Baltic states, have raised concerns of a potential future Russian attack.

Answering questions from journalists following the signing of major new investments in artillery ammunition productions, Stoltenberg stated that, “We don’t see any direct or imminent threat against any NATO ally.”

At the same time, he stressed that the bloc nevertheless “closely monitors what Russia does” and has increased its “vigilance and presence in the eastern part of the alliance,” in order to prevent any attacks on allied nations.

Meanwhile, German news outlets have reported in recent weeks that Berlin was preparing for a scenario in which Russia launches an “open attack” on NATO as early as the summer of 2025 after securing a major victory in Ukraine.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also warned on Monday that his country should be ready to respond to a possible Russian attack even though there is no real threat as of now.

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Senior NATO Official Says There Will Be A Hot War With Russia

A high ranking NATO official has stated that people in Europe should prepare for a full on war with Russia sometime in the next two decades.

Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of Nato’s Military Committee, told reporters following a meeting of Nato defence chiefs in Brussels that governments need to start putting preparations in place, and that civilians will need to be mobilised on a large scale.

“We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia,”Baur declared.

He continued, “But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.”

“It starts there,” Bauer continued, adding “The realisation that not everything is planable and not everything is going to be hunky dory in the next 20 years.”

The Telegraph reports that Baur also heaped praise on Sweden for telling its people to brace for war.

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