“Ukraine – Russia”

Germany has approved the export of older Leopard 1 battle tanks, which would add to the raft of fighting vehicles Berlin promised last week it would send to Ukraine.

A spokesperson said on Friday that Olaf Scholz’s government had granted an export licence for the German-made tanks first produced in the 1960s and replaced within Germany’s own military by Leopard 2 tanks in 2003. Further details would be provided in the coming days and weeks, they said.

#Ukraine: The second ever destruction (in as many days) of the extremely rare Russian 9A331MDT Tor-M2DT air defense system, intended for use in the Arctic.

It was again destroyed using M982 Excalibur guided projectiles in #Kherson Oblast. pic.twitter.com/8FrubQC64K

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) February 3, 2023

In early October 2021 President Joe Biden, the CIA director William Burns and other top members of the US’s national security team gathered in the Oval Office to hear a disturbing briefing from US military chief General Mark Milley. ‘Extraordinary detailed’ intelligence gathered by western spy agencies suggested that Vladimir Putin might be planning to invade Ukraine. According to briefing notes that Milley shared with the Washington Post, the first and most fundamental problem facing Biden was how to ‘underwrite and enforce the rules-based international order’ against a country with extraordinary nuclear capability ‘without going to World War 3’. Milley offered four possible answers: ‘No. 1: Don’t have a kinetic conflict between the US military or Nato with Russia. No. 2: Contain war inside the geographical boundaries of Ukraine. No. 3: Strengthen and maintain Nato unity. No. 4: Empower Ukraine and give them the means to fight.’

It was Christmas Eve, and the Alberta-born sniper was sitting alone in an abandoned apartment on the fifth floor of a building in the battle-ravaged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. His .50-calibre rifle was leaning across an ironing board and a desk, pointed out a blown-out window toward the Russian front line.

#Ukraine: The first confirmed destruction of an esoteric Russian air defense system- the 9A331MDT Tor-M2DT, intended for use in Arctic environments.

The SAM system was destroyed by the 406th Artillery Brigade along with a DT-30 carrier using M982 Excalibur guided projectiles. pic.twitter.com/JYItQ4yHBl

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) February 1, 2023

Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s crackdown on corruption has continued as the woman leading the Kyiv tax authority was accused of massive fraud after a raid of one of her four homes, and a series of national officials were forced from office.

The residence of the businessman Igor Kolomoisky, a former political ally of Ukraine’s president, was also raided as part of an investigation into the suspected evasion of customs duties linked to the Ukrainian oil producer Ukrnafta and refiner Ukrtatnafta.

The media empire owned by Kolomoisky, who is already under US sanctions for his alleged involvement in “significant corruption”, helped popularise Zelenskiy as an entertainer and then supported his political career. Kolomoisky has denied any wrongdoing.

ALONG THE SOUTHERN DNIEPER RIVER, Ukraine — Only the water keeps them apart.

Russian soldiers — pushed into retreat by a counteroffensive late last year — control the east bank of the mighty Dnieper River. Ukrainians control the west.

As Ukraine awaits new tanks from the United States and Europe, and fighting rages over strategic towns in the east, a war of attrition is underway in this southern battleground. The river limits territorial advances, permitting — for now at least — only destruction from a distance.

#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 110th Mechanized Brigade destroyed three BMP IFV and at least one other armoured vehicle of the Russian Army in the vicinity of Avdiivka, #Donetsk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/qGsNDM9bFG

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) January 28, 2023

Germany has decided to supply battle tanks to Ukraine. International law experts are now debating whether this makes Germany a party to the conflict with Russia.

After German Chancellor Olaf Scholz decided to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine last week following a long hesitation, the response from the Russian government was swift.

“Everything the alliance and the capitals of Europe and the United States do is perceived in Moscow as direct involvement in the conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, according to a report by the Russian news agency Interfax.

That’s exactly what Scholz has been trying to avoid: triggering an accusation from Moscow that Germany is now also a direct party to the war in Ukraine. Speaking with public broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, he rejected any interpretation that Germany is directly involved in a war with Russia. “No, absolutely not!” he said. “There must be no war between Russia and NATO.”

US President Joe Biden has ruled out providing F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, despite renewed calls from top Kyiv officials for urgent air support.

Asked on Monday if the US would be sending the planes, Mr Biden said “no”. The UK also said it was “not practical” for it to send its aircraft to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, France’s Emmanuel Macon said “by definition, nothing is excluded” ahead of meeting a Ukrainian minister.

‘Whoever comes to our land with a sword will die by the sword’: Ukrainian officer reveals footage of the moment their forces wipe out advancing Russian soldiers

Destruction of Russians with a death ray pic.twitter.com/VSJQF71fed

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) January 30, 2023

We have clearly reached the point where The Narrative has undergone a radical evolution when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Originally, there were many discussions taking place about how wrong it was for Russia to invade a neighboring country and how democratic countries needed to assist Ukraine in fighting off the invaders. There was nothing wrong with those proposals, obviously. Vladimir Putin started an unprovoked war in Europe that nobody else wanted or even saw any justification for. He was “the bad guy” in this scenario and decent people don’t root for the bad guy.

He was released from a Russian prison and thrown into battle in Ukraine with a promise of freedom, redemption and money. Now, Andrei Yastrebov, who was among tens of thousands of convict soldiers, is part of a return from the battlefield with potentially serious implications for Russian society.

Mr. Yastrebov, 22, who had been serving time for theft, returned home a changed man. “We all feel like he is in some sort of hypnosis, like he is a different person,” said a relative of his, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “He is without any emotions.”

December 13, 2022. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace tells the House of Commons that, since the start of the war in Ukraine, “over 100,000 Russians are either dead, injured, or have deserted”. Today, the figure is undoubtedly higher. The losses to the Russian army have been such that on September 21, Putin decreed a mobilization. Tens of thousands of men were sent to ,military training. Thousands of others were immediately deployed to the front, with no training, no arms, or with only rusty guns, and sent to a certain death. Another mobilization seems to be in the works. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently said that the Russian army will soon number 1.5 million men, but whatever the number, if front-line soldiers do not have adequate equipment, they will be killed.

BAKHMUT, Ukraine—Russia’s invasion forces tightened the noose around this beleaguered city in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv urged the West to provide longer-range firepower to counter Russia’s missile barrages.

Ukrainian troops here described mounting difficulties in stopping the Russian advances around Bakhmut, the site of this winter’s heaviest fighting in the 11-month-old war.

Russia on Sunday claimed the capture of another village in the Bakhmut area as its forces try to surround the city and force a Ukrainian retreat.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine needed advanced weapons systems such as the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to counteract Russian strikes that were killing Ukrainian civilians.