Category: JRL NewsBlog

“Relentless Russian bombings were ‘the closest thing I’ve ever seen to hell,’ an American who served several tours of the Middle East said.” “… Despite the challenges, fighters [interviewed] … remained adamant about their commitment to pushing out the Kremlin’s forces. [They] admitted … that supply shortages, delays in receiving [promised Western] weapons … and communication frustrations have challenged their […]

“… Zelensky has fired … Ivan Bakanov, head of the security service, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who had been leading efforts to prosecute Russian war crimes. Zelensky said more than 60 officials from the SBU security service and prosecutor’s office were working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territories, and 651 treason and collaboration cases had been opened against law enforcement […]

“As Russian forces gain ground … [Ukraine’s] president and allies … seem to agree: Ukraine must fight on to victory …. Russia would disgorge … [2022] territorial gains …. Ukraine would recognize neither the annexation of Crimea nor … secessionist statelets in the Donbas and would continue .. toward [EU and NATO] membership …. [f]or Russia, … clear defeat. … […]

“Kyiv’s success against Moscow forces us to reexamine our assumptions about what it means to be powerful.” “… Russian strength has shown itself to be … overrated …. What this war might be showing us … is that a military is only as strong as the society, economy, and political structure that assembled it. … Russia was nowhere near a […]

“… If senior Ukrainian officers are to be believed, the war will not end with a ceasefire while Russian boots are on Ukrainian soil. They are determined not only to remove Putin’s gains since … February, but also to recover areas of the Donbas … under de facto Russian control since 2014. Crimea, some Ukrainians admit, may prove to be […]

“… Putin still wants to seize most of Ukraine, but his forces are so degraded by combat that they likely can only achieve incremental gains in the near term … [said] Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, outlining the current U.S. intelligence assessment of the more than four-month war[.] … [T]he consensus of U.S. spy agencies is that it will […]

“Torched forests and cities burned to the ground. Colleagues with severed limbs. Bombardments so relentless the only option is to lie in a trench, wait and pray. … Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front lines in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region — where Russia is waging a fierce offensive — describe life during what has turned into a grueling war of […]

“… As fatigue grows and attention wanders, more and more Kremlin-leaning commentators are proposing to sell out Ukraine for the sake of peace and economic stability in their own countries. Although they may pose as pacifists or realists, they are better understood as enablers of Russian imperialism and war crimes. … Putin does not simply want to take more Ukrainian […]

“…. Russia is pounding the Donbas … with relentless artillery and air raids, making slow but steady progress …. If Russia prevails in the … Donbas, it will mean … Ukraine loses not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate … terms …. A […]

“Russia is likely to seize control of the entire Luhansk region … within a few weeks, a senior U.S. defense official said, as Ukraine sustains heavy casualties and its supplies of ammunition dwindle. … [That] would leave Russia short of its … [goal] of capturing all of Luhansk and Donetsk, … the Donbas …. But it would still … [be] […]

“… Russia’s net gains in eastern Ukraine between the middle of April and the end of May [reportedly] add up to just over 450 square kilometres (about a third of the size of Greater London) …. Neither Russia nor Ukraine looks likely to make a decisive breakthrough. … Russia’s losses have been severe. The invasion force that it initially committed […]

“Deputy defense minister says support ‘cannot be a one-time thing, but something that continues until our victory’” “Ukraine’s deputy defense minister stressed Sunday that the country needed continuous military support from Western countries until it defeat[s] Moscow’s forces …. The U.S. and European countries are attempting to help Kyiv’s war effort while not entering as direct belligerents. … supplying Ukraine […]

“… Electronic warfare … targets communications, navigation and guidance systems to locate, blind and deceive the enemy and direct lethal blows. … used against artillery, fighter jets, cruise missiles, drones and more. … [or] use[d] … to protect [one’s own] forces. … [F]or reasons not entirely clear, [Russia’s] much-touted electronic warfare prowess was barely seen in the war’s early stages […]