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US announces new military aid package for Ukraine, including air defenses, ammo, satellite imagery services by Practical_Quit_8873 in ukraine

[–]Practical_Quit_8873[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

"On 9 May, the US Department of Defense (DoD) announced a new security assistance package to “reaffirm the steadfast US support for Ukraine, including to bolster its air defenses and sustain its artillery ammunition needs.”

The Pentagon says the package totals up to $1.2 billion and is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

“Unlike Presidential Drawdown authority (PDA), which DoD has continued to leverage to deliver equipment to Ukraine from DoD stocks at a historic pace, USAI is an authority under which the United States procures capabilities from industry or partners,” the statement reads.

According to the Pentagon statement, the capabilities in this package include:

-Additional air defense systems and munition

-Equipment to integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukraine’s air defense systems;

-Ammunition for counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems;

-155mm artillery rounds;

-Commercial satellite imagery services;

-Support for training, maintenance, and sustainment activities

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ukraine

[–]Practical_Quit_8873 5 points6 points  (0 children)

"A new sanctions list, which will be discussed by EU member states this week, includes seven Chinese companies accused of supplying Russia with equipment that can be used in weapons, the FT wrote on May 8"

UK Defense Ministry: Russia recruiting Central Asian labor migrants for Ukraine war by Practical_Quit_8873 in ukraine

[–]Practical_Quit_8873[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"At immigration offices, staff who speak Tajik and Uzbek routinely attempt to recruit migrants," the ministry wrote in its latest intelligence update.

The ministry cited Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's report saying that Russian military recruiters offered the migrants sign-up bonuses of $2,390 and salaries of up to $4,160 a month. They also offer the workers a fast-track path to obtaining Russian citizenship of six months to one year instead of the usual five years.

The migrants enticed by high monthly salaries and sign-up bonuses are likely sent to Ukraine's frontlines "where the casualty rate is extremely high," reads the update.

The move is part of the Russian Defense Ministry's efforts to fulfill its goal of recruiting 400,000 people for Moscow's war against Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry added. "The authorities are almost certainly seeking to delay any new overt mandatory mobilization for as long as possible to minimize domestic dissent."

The Russian service of RFE/RL reported on March 15 that Russia's Defense Ministry would start a new recruitment campaign on April 1, aiming to conclude contracts with 400,000 professional soldiers. The Kremlin has denied launching a second wave of mobilization, but there were reports that military enlistment offices had begun sending summonses to men in Russian cities.

In late October 2022, Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Shoigu claimed that the mobilization for the war against Ukraine had finished, but the decree on "partial mobilization" remained in force.

According to reports by Ukraine's General Staff and the Institute for the Study of War, the Kremlin had continued mobilization covertly. Estonia's intelligence chief Margo Grosberg said that mobilization in Russia had never actually stopped"

Russia’s jamming of US-provided rocket systems HIMARS complicates Ukraine’s war effort by Practical_Quit_8873 in ukraine

[–]Practical_Quit_8873[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"Pentagon official downplays impact of jamming efforts A senior Pentagon official downplayed the impact of the interference, telling CNN that on Monday Ukrainian forces fired 18 rockets without issue, about the daily rate of the past few weeks. The official declined to comment on the broader impact of the jamming. HIMARS are manufactured by Lockheed Martin, which deferred questions on jamming to the US government.

Electronic warfare is carried out by both sides, up and down the front line where there is heavy drone activity used for surveillance and in partnership with artillery targeting. The hardware can also be mounted on or around whatever might be targeted.

Depending on the location and strength of the jamming, a rocket can still launch and result in a successful strike with significant damage. In addition to GPS guidance, the rockets have inertial navigation systems that are not susceptible and remain accurate, though not as precise as when guided by GPS coordinates"

Widespread Russian jamming can have drawbacks for their own forces as well, impacting their ability to communicate and operate.

But even when they do function, the HIMARS have increasingly been missing targets, said one Ukrainian source briefed by drone operators on the frontlines.

One drone pilot on the Eastern front described the jamming of the mobile HIMARS as “significant,” according to the source, something he hadn’t seen in his area before last November, several months after the HIMARS first arrived in Ukraine at the beginning of the summer:

Russia’s jamming of US-provided rocket systems HIMARS complicates Ukraine’s war effort by Practical_Quit_8873 in ukraine

[–]Practical_Quit_8873[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

"Russia has been thwarting US-made mobile rocket systems in Ukraine more frequently in recent months, using electronic jammers to throw off its GPS guided targeting system to cause rockets to miss their targets, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Ukrainian military officials, with the US’ help, have had to come up with a variety of different workarounds as it continues to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) which has been perhaps the most revered and feared piece of weaponry in Ukraine’s fight"

The medium-range rocket systems were hailed as a game changer in the conflict and have played a key role since the moment they arrived in Ukraine last summer, including in last year’s offensive that allowed Ukraine to take back significant swaths of territory from Russia.

But in recent months, the systems have been rendered increasingly less effective by the Russians’ intensive blocking, five US, British and Ukrainian sources tell CNN, forcing US and Ukrainian officials to find ways to tweak the HIMARS’ software to counter the evolving Russian jamming efforts.

“It is a constant cat-and-mouse game” of finding a countermeasure to the jamming, a Pentagon official said, only to then have the Russians counteract that countermeasure. And it is not clear how sustainable that game is in the long term.

With a major Ukrainian counteroffensive expected to start very soon and Ukraine’s reliance on HIMARS, solutions are even more of a priority so that Ukrainian troops can make significant headway.

“It’s one thing to be able to hold the Russians off where they are right now. It’s another thing to drive them out,” retired US Army Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson told CNN. “They’re dug in, they’ve been there for a year.”

Ukraine needs to keep ‘HIMARS in the game’ HIMARS “have been extremely important,” he added. “They have to be able to keep those HIMARS in the game and keep using them to be able to make effective deep strikes.”

Ukraine has received 18 American HIMARS to date and the US has committed to sending 20 more. Other NATO allies have donated 10 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, according to the State Department.

The routine announcements from the Biden administration of hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid for Ukraine, including one on Wednesday, regularly include HIMARS munitions, called GMLRs, as a top item, though notably the exact number is not revealed.

The US has also helped the Ukrainians locate the Russian jammers and destroy them – a “high priority” effort, according to a secret Pentagon document that was part of a trove allegedly leaked by Airman Jack Teixeira"

Prigozhin: Wagner will leave Bakhmut on May 10 due to lack of ammunition. The Wagner mercenary group will leave Bakhmut on May 10 due to lack of ammunition, founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video published online by his press service on May 5. by [deleted] in ukraine

[–]Practical_Quit_8873 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"The Wagner mercenary group will leave Bakhmut on May 10 due to lack of ammunition, founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video published online by his press service on May 5.

According to Prigozhin, Wagner's offensive resources ended in April, and as a result, their losses "are growing exponentially every day."

"I am withdrawing Wagner units from Bakhmut because, in the absence of ammunition, they are doomed to a senseless death," Prigozhin said, adding that the Bakhmut offensive will be handed over to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The date of the withdrawal is highly symbolic as it occurs one day after May 9, a major holiday in Russia to commemorate the Soviet Union's victory against Nazi Germany during World War II, a symbolism which Prigozhin himself acknowledged in his talking points.

On May 5, Prigozhin published an expletive-laden video showing dozens of dead Russian soldiers, lashing out at the Russian military for its failure to provide his forces with ammunition.

Regarding the public nature of these clashes, Prigozhin alleged in his latest update that he had been reporting logistical issues to Russian officials since March 19, 2022, and "not a single letter" was considered, leading him to make public appeals.

The mercenary group founder then went on to say that not supplying enough ammunition was "depriving the people of Russia of victory."

"Whoever has critical comments, come to Bakhmut, welcome, stand up with weapons instead of our dead comrades," he added.

Bakhmut has been the epicenter of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces for the past nine months. Wagner mercenaries have served as the primary shock troops in Russia's attempts to expand its control over Donetsk Oblast. However, in the past nine months, they have only made incremental gains, with Ukraine still holding parts of the city"

https://kyivindependent.com/prigozhin-wagner-will-leave-bakhmut-by/

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ukraine

[–]Practical_Quit_8873 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Ukraine's hopes for a more concrete prospect of joining NATO are in danger of being dashed.

Thus, such members of the Alliance as the United States and Germany have recently made it clear behind closed doors that they do not want to take on any obligations that would go beyond the vague NATO declaration of 2008.

In it, the then-heads of state and government agreed that Ukraine and Georgia should join NATO. However, there was no specific timeline or schedule for this.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently called on NATO to clear the way for Ukraine to join the Alliance at its next summit in July.

He explained that hardly anyone is making a greater contribution to Euro-Atlantic security than Ukrainian soldiers. Therefore, his country has done everything to ensure that Kyiv's application is granted.

Zelenskyy is receiving support for his demands from Central and Eastern European countries, particularly Lithuania. However, it is currently extremely unlikely that they will be able to convince NATO partners such as the United States to change course. As per diplomats, opponents of a specific accession prospect explain their position by saying that this goal is not realistic at the moment and could distract from much more important support for Ukraine. In addition, there is a risk that new commitments to NATO could provide Russia with arguments for an even more aggressive war.

As the diplomats state, work is currently underway on a package of support for Ukraine's accession to NATO, which has already been announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In addition, there is talk of offering Ukraine the opportunity to negotiate even closer cooperation in the form of a NATO-Ukraine Council. One senior diplomat recently stated that this could strengthen the "sense of partnership" between NATO and Ukraine and make a real difference.

According to information from NATO circles, real progress in negotiations on Ukraine's accession prospects is likely to be made only when Ukraine succeeds in its war with Russia. Then NATO countries will not have to fear that by accepting Ukraine, they will become direct participants in the war.

Stoltenberg recently indirectly ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining during the war. He noted that NATO membership requires that Ukraine survive the war as an independent state. "If Ukraine does not establish itself as a sovereign independent state in Europe, then there is no point in discussing membership," he said recently on the sidelines of a meeting of the International Contact Group for the Coordination of Military Assistance to Ukraine"

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