“Ukraine – Russia”

The first British Challenger 2 battle tanks have arrived in Ukraine, in a major boost for its armoured forces ahead of a planned spring offensive.

“Today, I had the honour to try out the newest addition to our armed units, particularly Challengers from the UK,” Oleksii Reznikov, the Ukraine defence minister, said.

A Challenger 2 was pictured alongside several other recently donated armoured vehicles including an American Stryker infantry carrier and a German Marder.

#Ukraine: New Western equipment was transferred to the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces – including 🇬🇧 Challenger 2 tanks, 🇺🇸 Stryker armored personnel carriers, 🇩🇪 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 🇺🇸 Cougar MRAP vehicles and 🇨🇦 Roshel Senator armored cars. pic.twitter.com/qgu96nQAuV

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 27, 2023

German Leopard 2 tanks now in Ukraine, Berlin confirms

Germany’s much-awaited shipment of 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks has arrived in Ukraine, the German defence ministry has confirmed.

After months of prevaricating, the German government announced in late January it would provide Kyiv with the state-of-the-art fighting vehicles as part of a deal under which several EU states would contribute to a shipment of two Leopard 2 battalions and 31 American-made M1A2 Abrams tanks from the US.

Members of a recently formed Russian assault unit say their commanders deployed troops to stop them from retreating and threatened them with death after they suffered “huge” losses in eastern Ukraine.

In a video addressed to President Vladimir Putin, a group of about two dozen men in military uniform say they are the remnants of Storm, a unit under the defence ministry.

“We sat under open mortar fire and artillery for 14 days,” Alexander Gorin, a Russian soldier, is heard saying in the appeal, which first appeared on Friday on Russian Telegram channels. “We took huge losses. Thirty-four people were injured and 22 died, including our commander.”

A convoy of six Russian naval vessels was detected around the site of the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage five days before it occurred, according to a report.

Three of the four conduits carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea were disabled by explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm on September 26 last year. While various reports have pointed the finger of blame at the US or a “pro-Ukrainian” group, there are discrepancies and puzzling details in both versions of events.

Russian MPs have been accused of setting up a remote reconnaissance unit far behind the front line so they and their military-age sons can serve in Ukraine without being killed.

The Kremlin has told politicians to back its invasion if they want to earn the respect of ordinary Russians.

Since then, Russian MPs have signed up to serve in the secretive Cascade unit, based somewhere in Donbas, for a month or so – guaranteeing useful photos of themselves in military uniform, and perhaps a medal.

#Ukraine: A valuable Russian R-934UM jamming station along with another KAMAZ-based vehicle was destroyed by the Ukrainian army using three M982 Excalibur and one GMLRS rocket somewhere in the East.

This appears to be the first documented loss of this electronic warfare asset. pic.twitter.com/nmFruYkoBB

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 26, 2023

Nato has condemned Russia’s “dangerous” and “irresponsible” rhetoric after Vladimir Putin’s decision to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The organisation is “closely monitoring” the situation and said the move would not lead it to change its own nuclear strategy.

The US said it did not believe Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons.

Belarus shares a long border with Ukraine, as well as with Nato members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

People who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front, with ready access to American weapons.

They rushed to Ukraine by the thousands, many of them Americans who promised to bring military experience, money or supplies to the battleground of a righteous war. Hometown newspapers hailed their commitment, and donors backed them with millions of dollars.

Now, after a year of combat, many of these homespun groups of volunteers are fighting with themselves and undermining the war effort. Some have wasted money or stolen valor. Others have cloaked themselves in charity while also trying to profit off the war, records show.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine’s counter-offensive against Russia cannot start until Western allies send more military support.

He told a Japanese newspaper he would not send his troops to the frontlines without more tanks, artillery and Himars rocket launchers.

In an interview with Yomiuri Shimbun, he said the situation in eastern Ukraine was “not good”.

“We are waiting for ammunition to arrive from our partners,” he said.

The invaders trying to recover their T-90 tank 😁 Also the BMP doesn't look like it made it 🔥

Glory to the heroes 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/oyAgTkpxCP

— International Observers Ukraine (@INTobservers) March 24, 2023

The ruling body of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Friday, asking that he reconsider his decision to evict it from its headquarters, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery. Many outside Ukraine, including some who have admired Zelensky and hoped he would manage to defeat the Russians, have been puzzled as well as Zelensky has moved decisively against the Church. In December, he signed a decree banning the UOC, to which millions of Ukrainians belong. In mid-March, thousands of those Ukrainians gathered outside the monastery to pray and show their support for the monks whom Zelensky has ordered to vacate the premises. This is all at odds with Zelensky’s image in the West: this is the new Churchill? A man who evicts monks from their monastery and closes churches?

Six months after the explosions fragments of clues have emerged but the whodunnit is far from being solved

One evening last September the P524 Nymfen, a Danish naval vessel that tracks suspicious Russian shipping, made an unexpected detour from its usual patrol route.

For the first time in years, it skirted the Baltic island of Bornholm and made its way northeast to the outer fringe of Denmark’s estimated radar range. It paused for half an hour, turned around and switched off its transponder, vanishing for several hours from international tracking systems.

Minutes later a Swedish air force surveillance aircraft began prowling back and forth nearby and a Swedish corvette set off for the site at considerable speed before circling the surrounding waters.

Kremlin eyes object found next to Nord Stream pipeline

MOSCOW, March 24 (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Friday said it was important to identify an object discovered next to one of the Nord Stream pipelines, and said the ongoing investigation into blasts that struck the pipelines last September must be conducted with full transparency.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters it was a positive sign that Denmark had invited the Russian-controlled operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to help salvage an unidentified object found close to the Baltic Sea pipelines.

Open-source researchers have found evidence that Moscow is dusting off Stalin-era tanks — some first deployed more than 70 years ago — and shipping them west, possibly a sign that battlefield losses have led to a shortage of armor for Moscow’s forces on the front in Ukraine.

“Highly effective” depleted uranium munitions provided by the UK will be used by Ukrainian forces against Russian tanks.

On Monday, British Minister of State for Defense, Annabel Goldie, said that the U.K. would provide Ukraine with some depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds for donated Challenger 2 main battle tanks. The U.K. pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine back in January.

Putin warns UK over depleted uranium tank shells for Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would be “forced to react” if the United Kingdom provides Ukraine with armour-piercing tank ammunition that contains depleted uranium.

Putin was reacting on Tuesday to news the UK’s minister of state for defence, Annabel Goldie, had confirmed that ammunition containing depleted uranium was part of a military aid package being sent to Ukraine along with Challenger 2 battle tanks.

Vladimir Putin has no immediate plans for peace in Ukraine and so the west needs to brace itself to supply lethal aid to Kyiv for a long time to come, Nato’s secretary general has warned in an interview with the Guardian.

Jens Stoltenberg said the Russian president was engaged in “a war of attrition”, and said he wanted Nato members to agree that spending 2% of GDP on defence as a minimum at the alliance’s next summit, in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

The fierce fighting, currently centred around Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, demonstrates Russia is willing “to just throw in thousands and thousands more troops, to take many casualties for minimal gains”, the Nato head said.

#Ukraine: The Ukrainian Army destroyed a Russian 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm self-propelled howitzer with a M982 Excalibur precision artillery strike near #Donetsk City. pic.twitter.com/J73xS37xTx

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 21, 2023