True, but the underlying reason which won't be publicly acknowledged by the French government is Russian forces widespread use of the app. A tacit hand helping Ukraine's war effort, i'd suggest.
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They saw them coming but couldn't do much about it - Russia’s military command had anticipated Ukraine’s incursion into its Kursk region and had been making plans to prevent it for several months, according to a cache of documents that the Ukrainian army said it had seized from abandoned Russian positions in the region. In late August, the Guardian met the Ukrainian special operations team who seized them, hours after they had left Russian territory. The team said they had taken Russian interior ministry, FSB and army documents from buildings in the Kursk region and later provided a selection to view and photograph.
The documents mostly come from units of Russia’s 488th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment, and in particular the second company of its 17th Battalion. An entry from 4 January spoke of the “potential for a breakthrough at the state border” by Ukrainian armed groups and ordered increased training to prepare to repel any attack. On 19 February, unit commanders were warned of Ukrainian plans for “a rapid push from the Sumy region into Russian territory, up to a depth of 80km [50 miles], to establish a four-day ‘corridor’ ahead of the arrival of the main Ukrainian army units on armoured vehicles”.
In mid-June, there was a more specific warning of Ukrainian plans “in the direction Yunakivka-Sudzha, with the goal of taking Sudzha under control”, which did indeed happen in August. There was also a prediction that Ukraine would attempt to destroy a bridge over the Seym River to disrupt Russian supply lines in the region, which also later happened. The June document complained that Russian units stationed at the front “are filled only 60-70% on average, and primarily made up of reserves with weak training”.
The documents give an insight into Russian tactics over the past year, in one case speaking of the need to create decoy trenches and positions to confuse Ukrainian reconnaissance drones. “Models of tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery launchers should be created as well as mannequins of soldiers, and they should be periodically moved around,” reads one order.
Putin's New Model Army.
The documents mostly come from units of Russia’s 488th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment, and in particular the second company of its 17th Battalion. An entry from 4 January spoke of the “potential for a breakthrough at the state border” by Ukrainian armed groups and ordered increased training to prepare to repel any attack. On 19 February, unit commanders were warned of Ukrainian plans for “a rapid push from the Sumy region into Russian territory, up to a depth of 80km [50 miles], to establish a four-day ‘corridor’ ahead of the arrival of the main Ukrainian army units on armoured vehicles”.
In mid-June, there was a more specific warning of Ukrainian plans “in the direction Yunakivka-Sudzha, with the goal of taking Sudzha under control”, which did indeed happen in August. There was also a prediction that Ukraine would attempt to destroy a bridge over the Seym River to disrupt Russian supply lines in the region, which also later happened. The June document complained that Russian units stationed at the front “are filled only 60-70% on average, and primarily made up of reserves with weak training”.
The documents give an insight into Russian tactics over the past year, in one case speaking of the need to create decoy trenches and positions to confuse Ukrainian reconnaissance drones. “Models of tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery launchers should be created as well as mannequins of soldiers, and they should be periodically moved around,” reads one order.
Putin's New Model Army.
After 950 days of war, the economy is beginning to creak in Holey Russia, which is to spend more than 40% of its total budget on defence and security – more than the money allocated for social welfare and education combined. “There is not enough for anything at all. Not for treatment, not for anything,” said another Irina, 70, who complained her pension was only 25,000 rubles (US$260) a month. “It’s pennies. People are unprotected. It’s a shame and a disgrace that the country has no money to treat its own children.”
On the other hand: "In the current situation, an increase in the amount of funding is understandable,” said 49-year-old lawyer Vladimir. Another Vladimir, 50, told AFP: “In the current times, it is necessary to spend money on defence, because Nato is playing against us. We have to do something and we can’t do it any other way.”
Ukraine’s “new defence industry” that has ramped up production to help fight the Russian invasion. “In the first half of this year alone, Ukraine produced 25 times more ammunition for artillery and mortars than in the whole of 2022,” Ukraine’s president told a defence forum in Kyiv. Almost 300 weapons companies, both Ukrainian and foreign, were in Kyiv for the conference, Zelenskyy said. “In the extremely difficult conditions of a full-scale war, under constant Russian attacks, Ukrainians were able to build a virtually new defence industry. Today, everyone can see this new Ukrainian capability.” Zelenskyy said Ukraine had built up the capacity to produce four million drones a year...prime minister, Denys Shmygal, has told a government meeting that half of the ammunition Ukraine uses at the front is produced domestically. Alongside long-range drones, Ukraine also makes the Neptune anti-ship missiles that have been used to hit Russian vessels in the Black Sea. At the end of August, Zelenskyy announced the successful test firing of the first Ukrainian-made ballistic missile.
Herr Putin is finding out it's much easier to become involved in a war than it is to get out of one when things go awry.
On the other hand: "In the current situation, an increase in the amount of funding is understandable,” said 49-year-old lawyer Vladimir. Another Vladimir, 50, told AFP: “In the current times, it is necessary to spend money on defence, because Nato is playing against us. We have to do something and we can’t do it any other way.”
Ukraine’s “new defence industry” that has ramped up production to help fight the Russian invasion. “In the first half of this year alone, Ukraine produced 25 times more ammunition for artillery and mortars than in the whole of 2022,” Ukraine’s president told a defence forum in Kyiv. Almost 300 weapons companies, both Ukrainian and foreign, were in Kyiv for the conference, Zelenskyy said. “In the extremely difficult conditions of a full-scale war, under constant Russian attacks, Ukrainians were able to build a virtually new defence industry. Today, everyone can see this new Ukrainian capability.” Zelenskyy said Ukraine had built up the capacity to produce four million drones a year...prime minister, Denys Shmygal, has told a government meeting that half of the ammunition Ukraine uses at the front is produced domestically. Alongside long-range drones, Ukraine also makes the Neptune anti-ship missiles that have been used to hit Russian vessels in the Black Sea. At the end of August, Zelenskyy announced the successful test firing of the first Ukrainian-made ballistic missile.
Herr Putin is finding out it's much easier to become involved in a war than it is to get out of one when things go awry.
While world attention is focussed in Israel/Palestine the 'other'conflict grinds on as Ukrainian troops are locked in a bitter battle for the town of Toretsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, which Russian troops entered last Friday.
“They erase the city with artillery. We have already seen it in other towns of Donbas. And after that, they storm in small groups. They are trying to find weak points in our defence with such small strikes,” Anastasia Bobovnikova said. Ivan Petrychak, spokesman for the Ukrainian 24th Mechanised Brigade, said Russian forces were conducting small-scale assaults in the Chasiv Yar area, 23km (14 miles) north of Toretsk, to infiltrate poorly guarded positions and use them to attack Ukrainian units from close quarters.
“The enemy is constantly adding manpower to the forward positions,” Bobovnikova said, estimating Russian casualties at 200 a day. The US Department of Defense said a new intelligence assessment puts Russian casualties throughout the war at 600,000, quoting an unnamed defence official. The official said the past month has been the bloodiest of the war for the Russians. This could be because since the summer, Russia has resumed large, mechanised, platoon-sized attacks.
The head of Ukraine’s National Guard, Ruslan Muzychuk, said Russia was rushing to seize land before rain muddies the terrain and makes it impossible for heavy armoured vehicles to operate.
“They erase the city with artillery. We have already seen it in other towns of Donbas. And after that, they storm in small groups. They are trying to find weak points in our defence with such small strikes,” Anastasia Bobovnikova said. Ivan Petrychak, spokesman for the Ukrainian 24th Mechanised Brigade, said Russian forces were conducting small-scale assaults in the Chasiv Yar area, 23km (14 miles) north of Toretsk, to infiltrate poorly guarded positions and use them to attack Ukrainian units from close quarters.
“The enemy is constantly adding manpower to the forward positions,” Bobovnikova said, estimating Russian casualties at 200 a day. The US Department of Defense said a new intelligence assessment puts Russian casualties throughout the war at 600,000, quoting an unnamed defence official. The official said the past month has been the bloodiest of the war for the Russians. This could be because since the summer, Russia has resumed large, mechanised, platoon-sized attacks.
The head of Ukraine’s National Guard, Ruslan Muzychuk, said Russia was rushing to seize land before rain muddies the terrain and makes it impossible for heavy armoured vehicles to operate.
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The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC-based think tank, said Russian forces have conducted at least four large mechanised assaults since July. The latest took place on Sunday, 50km (30 miles) to the southwest of Toretsk, when Russian troops gunned for the town of Kurakhove. Ukraine said it repelled the assault, destroying or disabling seven of 25 infantry fighting vehicles and two out of five tanks. The town lies west of Avdiivka, a city Russia seized in February and from which it has advanced 40km (25 miles). Here, two Russian salients have begun to surround a cluster of villages (Kurakhivka, Hirnyk, Zoriabne, Oleksandropil, Vovchenka and Ismailivka) as they drive west towards Kurakhove. This has been the most intensively contested area of the front, the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said on Sunday with 19 assaults having taken place there since Saturday out of a total of 80 assaults across the front.
In addition, Russia has mastery of the air and has used it to drop about 900 glide bombs a week – large bombs fitted with wings to send them farther and give them greater accuracy. Weighing up to 3 tonnes, they have decimated Ukrainian defences. Ukraine has been countering this superior Russian firepower using attack drones along with secondary drones to film their effectiveness. Ukraine is invested heavily in drones and intends to produce 2 million of them this year.
On October 9, it destroyed a warehouse in the border region of Krasnodar Krai storing 400 Russian Shahed kamikaze drones – about as many as Russia flies into Ukraine every week, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The following day, the Security Service of Ukraine said its drone operators struck an ammunition warehouse at the Khanskaya airbase in the Republic of Adygea in the North Caucasus.
In addition, Russia has mastery of the air and has used it to drop about 900 glide bombs a week – large bombs fitted with wings to send them farther and give them greater accuracy. Weighing up to 3 tonnes, they have decimated Ukrainian defences. Ukraine has been countering this superior Russian firepower using attack drones along with secondary drones to film their effectiveness. Ukraine is invested heavily in drones and intends to produce 2 million of them this year.
On October 9, it destroyed a warehouse in the border region of Krasnodar Krai storing 400 Russian Shahed kamikaze drones – about as many as Russia flies into Ukraine every week, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The following day, the Security Service of Ukraine said its drone operators struck an ammunition warehouse at the Khanskaya airbase in the Republic of Adygea in the North Caucasus.
Ukraine’s allies last week announced aid to reinforce its war effort - Norway said it would invest $90m in Ukraine’s defence industry. Germany, Belgium, Denmark and Norway said they were allocating $1.5bn in defence goods by the end of the year, including air defence systems. France said it will deliver Mirage fighter jets next year and last week specified these would number 12 to 20. The Czech Republic’s defence minister said Ukraine could expect half a million artillery shells by Christmas through an initiative it launched to locate 155mm ordnance around the world.
But Russia also has its friends: Thousands of North Korean soldiers were training inside Russia and observing Russian operations in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, quoting South Korean and Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian outlets Suspilne and Liga said North Korea was forming a 3,000-man battalion to fight a Ukrainian counter-invasion in the border region of Kursk, freeing up Russian personnel to continue attacking Ukraine. Russia and North Korea entered into a strategic partnership in June, which includes a mutual defence clause. North Korean military personnel were first reported to be in Ukraine on October 3 when a Ukrainian missile strike in Donetsk killed six of them.
The head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said two days later that a small number of North Korean soldiers were in Donetsk improving the “poor quality” of North Korean artillery ammunition. Russia may also have a Western ally in Elon Musk’s Starlink, a satellite-based internet provider whose terminals Ukrainian officials last week said have helped improve the accuracy and speed of Russian artillery.
Ukrainian officials believed Starlink may have been the key to Russia’s recapture of Vuhledar this month, a town on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia border that Ukraine had reclaimed in a counteroffensive last year.
Russia has warned of “dire consequences” if NATO allows the use of its missiles deep inside the country, and Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of Russia’s parliamentary committee on international affairs, described the Ukrainian president’s victory plan as a deadly trap. “Zelensky’s ‘victory plan,’ presented in the Verkhovna Rada, is a not-so-subtle attempt to bait the West into a direct military standoff with Russia, with the risk of turning into a global war,” Slutsky wrote on his Telegram channel.
analysis@Al Jazeera
But Russia also has its friends: Thousands of North Korean soldiers were training inside Russia and observing Russian operations in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, quoting South Korean and Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian outlets Suspilne and Liga said North Korea was forming a 3,000-man battalion to fight a Ukrainian counter-invasion in the border region of Kursk, freeing up Russian personnel to continue attacking Ukraine. Russia and North Korea entered into a strategic partnership in June, which includes a mutual defence clause. North Korean military personnel were first reported to be in Ukraine on October 3 when a Ukrainian missile strike in Donetsk killed six of them.
The head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said two days later that a small number of North Korean soldiers were in Donetsk improving the “poor quality” of North Korean artillery ammunition. Russia may also have a Western ally in Elon Musk’s Starlink, a satellite-based internet provider whose terminals Ukrainian officials last week said have helped improve the accuracy and speed of Russian artillery.
Ukrainian officials believed Starlink may have been the key to Russia’s recapture of Vuhledar this month, a town on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia border that Ukraine had reclaimed in a counteroffensive last year.
Russia has warned of “dire consequences” if NATO allows the use of its missiles deep inside the country, and Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of Russia’s parliamentary committee on international affairs, described the Ukrainian president’s victory plan as a deadly trap. “Zelensky’s ‘victory plan,’ presented in the Verkhovna Rada, is a not-so-subtle attempt to bait the West into a direct military standoff with Russia, with the risk of turning into a global war,” Slutsky wrote on his Telegram channel.
analysis@Al Jazeera
How much wealth has NATO poured in to Ukraine?
No idea, but it doesn't seem to be stopping the Russian Army from carring out military operations, alongside their fat friend from the North, Kim yung 'un...detailed analysis in today's Guardian, tells of Ukraine losing an area equivalent to the size of New York City to Russian forces in November – the worst monthly figure for Ukrainian defenders since September 2022.
George Barros, Russia team lead at the ISW, said Ukraine was on track to lose more ground but that attention had to be paid to what kind of land Russia was taking. He said: “Though Vuhledar and Avdiivka were significant objectives, Russia has not fundamentally unhinged Ukraine’s defensive positions. Their territory gains are mostly agricultural land, and their losses – 30-50,000 troops [either dead or injured] a month – are completely unsustainable. The Russians won’t have waves of infantry and vehicles to send like they used to assuming the current rate of attrition holds over the next year. They are performing very poorly.”
(Something often repeated by analysts yet it doesn't appear to be stopping the Russian advances.)
Merry Christmas, Mr Zelensky.
No idea, but it doesn't seem to be stopping the Russian Army from carring out military operations, alongside their fat friend from the North, Kim yung 'un...detailed analysis in today's Guardian, tells of Ukraine losing an area equivalent to the size of New York City to Russian forces in November – the worst monthly figure for Ukrainian defenders since September 2022.
George Barros, Russia team lead at the ISW, said Ukraine was on track to lose more ground but that attention had to be paid to what kind of land Russia was taking. He said: “Though Vuhledar and Avdiivka were significant objectives, Russia has not fundamentally unhinged Ukraine’s defensive positions. Their territory gains are mostly agricultural land, and their losses – 30-50,000 troops [either dead or injured] a month – are completely unsustainable. The Russians won’t have waves of infantry and vehicles to send like they used to assuming the current rate of attrition holds over the next year. They are performing very poorly.”
(Something often repeated by analysts yet it doesn't appear to be stopping the Russian advances.)
Merry Christmas, Mr Zelensky.
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