Muddy wet weather has set in slowing both sides actions…
It appears that the Russian military has slowed much of any offensive action to try and hold what territory they have….
The Ukraine has been shooting down most of the Iranian type drones shoot at them…But not all….
The Eastern flank of NATO wants more presence from America and others….
Here’s what we know:
Battles are raging in the south and the east as thick sludge complicates movement for both sides.
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Kyiv’s forces press their advance in the south and work to hold off a Russian assault in the east.
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Moscow adds 1,000 troops to defend the key city of Kherson, Ukraine’s military says.
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Russia’s defense minister says the recent draft is complete, and no more are planned.
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In some of his sharpest remarks yet, Germany’s president condemns Putin for upsetting the world order.
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A government-connected Kremlin critic’s flight from Russia raises questions about who is still safe.
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Big European economies show some growth despite soaring energy prices amid the war in Ukraine….
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
- A change of Russian strategy in Ukraine to defensive tactics is “likely due to a more realistic assessment that the severely undermanned, poorly trained force in Ukraine is currently only capable of defensive operations,” the British ministry said in its daily intelligence update Friday. “Even if Russia succeeds in consolidating long-term defensive lines in Ukraine, its operational design will remain vulnerable,” it added.
- Ukrainian forces have shot down more than 300 Iranian-made drones in the conflict so far, air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told a briefing Friday. Meanwhile, President Zelensky said Thursday night that Russia had launched more than 30 drones against Ukraine in the past two days, with 23 Shaheds shot down by Ukrainian forces. The Washington Post could not independently verify the Ukrainian claims.
- Russia’s security services are working to undermine Moldova’s pro-Western government, according to sensitive materials obtained by Ukrainian intelligence and reviewed by The Washington Post. The documents illustrate how Moscow continues to try to manipulate countries in Eastern Europe even as its military campaign in Ukraine falters.
- President Biden accused Vladimir Putin of nuclear brinkmanship Thursday, hours after the Russian leader downplayed the chance that the Kremlin would use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. “If he has no intention, why does he keep talking about it? Why does he talk about the ability to use a tactical nuclear weapon?” Biden said during a cable news interview. “He’s been very dangerous on how he’s approached this,” Biden said. “And … he can end this all. Get out of Ukraine.”
- Ukraine’s main grid operator Ukrenergo announced Friday that energy usage limits would once again be enforced in response to Russian attacks the previous day. Households in Ukraine’s central and northern regions, including the capital Kyiv, would be impacted, as well as industrial consumers across the country, the company said in a statement.
- A top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has traveled to the occupied southern city of Kherson, an official installed by Moscow said Thursday, as Russian forces brace for a Ukrainian offensive to recapture the region. Sergei Kiriyenko — Putin’s first deputy chief of staff and former head of Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom — visited the crossing of the Dnieper River crossing used by the tens of thousands of civilians ordered by Russia to evacuate the area, according to Sergei Aksyonov, Moscow’s designated leader in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014….
Putin joins American Progressive’s in urging President Biden to work on a peace deal…..
Russian President Vladimir Putin recited familiar grievances and criticisms of the hegemonic “Western elite” while offering an ideological pitch to Asian leaders and to conservative groups in the United States and Europe during a keynote foreign policy speech on Thursday.
Putin also blamed the West for the war in Ukraine that he started with a full-scale invasion in February and he insisted that Washington could end the conflict by directing the Ukrainian government to seek peace….
East European NATO countries want more troops, training and brick and mortar assets moved to them from Germany and Poland…..
As NATO and the Western allies grapple with how to provide long-term support to Ukraine, the head of Romania’s land forces says the Western military industrial base should start by moving more operations to NATO’s eastern flank. That will be especially important to support the further integration of NATO elements in the region and deepen the partnership between the U.S. and partner militaries near the front lines of the war, he said.
Since the beginning of Russia’s expanded invasion of Ukraine, the United States has positioned a larger number of forces in Romania, moving 1,000 troops eastward from Germany in February and a brigade combat team from the 101st Airborne Division in July. “That means for me, from Romanian land forces, a variety of opportunities and challenges to train together. But the paradigm changes. So it’s not just training to provide interoperability, it’s training for the mission. We’re closer to the consequences of the war in Ukraine,” Maj. Gen. Iulian Berdilă, the chief of staff for Romanian land forces, told Defense One on Thursday during a defense resources management conference here….