Finland, Now IN NATO, and having a molre than 800 mile border with Russia, gets serious in the aftermath of Russia invading the Ukraine…..
President Biden says he’ll get Ukraine aid money any way he can……
He will also be making a Presidentila speech on the subject…..
Zelensky says he’s covinced’ aid money will continue…..
Iranian AK-47 machine gun’s and ammo found in a ship adrift from Iran wiill be sent to Ukraine….
Ukraine keeps reporting slow but steady battlefield gains recapturing their territory from Russia forces…
Russia movie theatre’s ARE show Hollywood movies despite sanction’s….
Drone wars continue and have become more precise and deadly at lower costs…..(See Below)
Did Russi shoot down one of its own fighter jets?
One would think the American Pentagon is learning from the Ukraine conflict tactics that are changing how wars will be faught in the future…
Is Russia going to mines in the Black Sea to get around the images of them possibly sinking a foreign carrier gargo ship with Ukraine grain in it?
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Sharing a long combative history with Moscow and a border 830 miles long, Finland never let down its guard, as so many countries did after the Soviet Union collapsed. Even as the newest member of the NATO alliance, it remains committed to the concept of self-defense and self-reliance.
Men in Finland must join the military or do alternative civilian service at some point between 18 and 30 years of age; it is voluntary for women. In peacetime, just 13,000 people serve in the military, 4,500 of them civilians. If needed, Finland has a potential strength of 280,000, consisting of the younger and best trained reservists, with another 590,000 reservists under the age of 60 who have had military training.
Since the invasion, Finland has significantly increased its military budget — and with it, the frequency of the training exercises that are fundamental for new soldiers and reservists.
The reality of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, officers say, has provided stronger motivation to the conscripts and reservists, while enhancing training on the use of drones, computers and defenses against hacking and disinformation.
“War can happen,” said Eetu Niemela, 20, who works in construction and drives a snowplow in winter. After his training, he said he was thinking about applying to police school and working as an international peacekeeper. He said he was glad Finland had joined NATO, adding, “We never can know what’s going to happen.”….
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The president said he would make a major address soon to lobby for uninterrupted support for Ukraine.
Here’s what we’re covering:
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Biden says aid could be funded by ‘another means’ if the House’s tumult endures.
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Iran’s munitions shipment violated a U.N. resolution, the military says.
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The ban on Russian youth teams in world soccer is lifted.
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Battlefield Update: Ukraine says its forces are making progress in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
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NATO says new security measures are in place after hackers post documents online.
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Russian movie theaters are finding ways to screen Hollywood blockbusters amid sanctions….
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President Biden warned that a lapse in U.S. funding for Ukraine “could make all the difference on the battlefield”during a call with allies and partners Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists. Speaking at a news briefing before McCarthy’s removal as House speaker, Kirby said the president had “every expectation” that McCarthy would “keep his public commitment” to secure backing for Ukraine. “A lapse in support will make Putin believe he can wait us out, and that he can continue the conflict,” Biden said, according to Kirby.
Without additional funding, the Pentagon has access to just a few months of support for Ukraine, Kirby said Tuesday. Since the war began in February 2022, Washington has pledged more than $46 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. “But absent additional funding by Congress, eventually you run into a hard stop,” Kirby said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is “convinced” that U.S. and European support for his country will continue. “The United States provides support in these difficult times, and although different opinions have been expressed, the majority support Ukraine, and I am convinced that we will have support in the future as well,” he told Sky TG24 in an interview Wednesday. Zelensky also said he has invited Pope Francis to visit Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged allies to support Ukraine so the country can “finish the job.” Writing Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Sunak said: “I say this to our allies, give [Zelensky] the tools, the Ukrainians will finish the job.”
Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian freelance journalist, has been missing since she went on a reporting trip to Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine two months ago, raising concerns among family, colleagues and advocates that Russia could be holding her captive.
Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who denounced the Ukraine war on live television, was sentenced in absentia by a Moscow court to 8½ years in prison, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported Wednesday. Ovsyannikova was charged with spreading false information about the Russian armed forces after she appeared on state-owned television carrying a sign that read “Stop the war” and “They’re lying to you,” less than a month after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. She escaped house arrest with her 11-year-old daughter last fall. Her lawyer told Reuters in mid-October 2022 that she had moved to an undisclosed European country.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 31 Ukrainian drones over three provinces bordering Ukraine overnight. The ministry’s update, posted Wednesday on Telegram, did not provide any information about any damage or casualties.
It is “highly likely” that Russian air defenses shot down one of their own advanced combat jets in Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said. The incident, which The Washington Post could not independently verify, took place Thursday over the Russian-held city of Tokmak, about 12 miles from the front line, according to the British update Wednesday. It is probably only the fifth time that an Su-35S jet, which the ministry called “Russia’s most advanced combat jet in widespread service,” has been lost since the Russian invasion began, the update said.
Ukraine said its troops have made advances in the south, a target region in their counteroffensive against Russian occupation. Ukrainian Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the Tavria Joint Forces Operation, gave the update in a Telegram postTuesday but offered few details. The Post could not independently verify his claims.
The U.K. Foreign Office warned Wednesday that it had gathered intelligence suggesting that Russia is using sea mines to disrupt civilian shipping in the Black Sea. “The U.K. assesses Russia is seeking to target civilian shipping traveling through Ukraine’s ‘humanitarian corridor’ to deter the export of Ukrainian grain,” reads the Foreign Office statement. “Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea.” According to the statement, the Foreign Office publicized the information in an effort to “deter any such incident from occurring.”
Western allies are running low on ammunition to give to Ukraine, senior military leaders warned in a push for increased defense spending in Europe. At the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday, Dutch Adm. Rob Bauer, chairman of NATO’s military committee, said defense manufacturers and governments must “ramp up production in a much higher tempo” to cope with “peak demand.” He added that “the bottom of the barrel is now visible” in terms of military stockpiles. British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey echoed that sentiment, saying that Western stockpiles are “looking a bit thin.”
Armenia voted to join the International Criminal Court, further straining ties with its longtime ally, Russia. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March on charges related to the detention and transfer of Ukrainian children. ICC member states are obliged to arrest him if he enters their territory.
Danish beer giant Carlsberg Group said it ended licensing agreements for its brands in Russia after Moscow transferred the management of Baltika Breweries — which had been producing and selling Carlsberg products — to government authorities in July. “We refuse to be forced into a deal on unacceptable terms, justifying the illegitimate takeover of our business in Russia,” the Carlsberg Group said in a news release.
In Ukraine, explosive DIY drones give an intimate view of killing: The predominant attack drones in Ukraine are now equipped with a first-person view, with an operator receiving the drone’s video feed in real time. They are fast, highly maneuverable and relatively cheap — and filling a gap left by a shortage of Western artillery rounds, Alex Horton and Serhii Korolchuk report.
These first-person view (FPV) drones are fashioned by hand from a few hundred dollars’ worth of materials and can annihilate million-dollar equipment.
“It’s a revolution in terms of placing this precision guided capacity in the hands of regular people for a tiny fraction of the cost of the destroyed target,” said Samuel Bendett, a drone expert at the Center for Naval Analyses, a policy institute based in Arlington, Va. “We’re seeing FPV drones strike a very precise spot, which before was really the domain of very expensive, high-precision guided weapons. And now it’s a $400 drone piloted by a teenager….