“Ukraine – Russia”

It’s no secret that there has been an increase in the number of Americans who oppose feeding an endless supply of weapons and cash into Ukraine to support the war against Russia or are at least skeptical about the process. Such people are regularly decried in the media as being “Putin stooges” or supporters of Russia. But who are these people?

An American assessment of Ukrainian fighter pilots has revealed they would be ready to fly F-16 jets after fewer than six months of training, their commander has told The Times.

In his first interview since President Putin’s tanks crossed the border last year, General Serhii Holubtsov, chief of aviation of Ukraine’s air force, said that two of his pilots had returned to the country last week after a rigorous assessment by the US military.

#Ukraine: The moment that a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter was shot down by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile, as filmed by a Russian soldier.

Unfortunately, the precise date and location is unclear. pic.twitter.com/jVnmJWIojY

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 19, 2023

In a surprise move, the Slovak government has announced that it will supply 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Bratislava has been mulling sending the planes for weeks, but appears to have been spurred into action by Poland’s announcement yesterday that it would send four of its own MiGs to Ukraine in the coming days, with more to follow.

Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armor, according to trade and customs data obtained by POLITICO.

The shipments took place between June and December 2022, according to the data provided by ImportGenius, a customs data aggregator.

China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the country’s largest state-owned defense contractors, sent the rifles in June 2022 to a Russian company called Tekhkrim that also does business with the Russian state and military. The CQ-A rifles, modeled off of the M16 but tagged as “civilian hunting rifles” in the data, have been reported to be in use by paramilitary police in China and by armed forces from the Philippines to South Sudan and Paraguay.

THE HAGUE (AP) — The International Criminal Court said Friday it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine.

The court said in a statement that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

Infamous Russian mercenaries the Wagner Group put a $15 million bounty on the head of Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto. After Crosetto publicly accused Wagner of contributing to the Mediterranean migrant crisis, the bounty suggests he may have hit a nerve.

News of the hit was communicated to Crosetto by the Italian intelligence services, Il Foglio reported on Wednesday, March 15th. The intelligence officials believe the hit may be carried out by Wagner itself, which allegedly has two cells in Europe, one in the Balkans and one in the Baltic. However, Crosetto has not increased his security.

Poland will send four Soviet-era Mig fighter jets to Ukraine – becoming the first Nato country to send planes since Russia invaded last year.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said they would be sent in the coming days, with others handed over in the future.

Though a welcome boost to Ukraine’s air defence, the extra jets are not expected to be decisive in the war.

The deputy speaker of Ukraine’s parliament Olena Kondratyuk said she hoped more countries would follow.

ROSTOCK, Germany—The small marina on the edge of this north German city is a popular summertime spot for recreational sailors. German intelligence believes it was also the jumping-off point for the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, an assault on Europe’s civilian energy infrastructure unprecedented since World War II.

On Sept. 6, a small group set out from Rostock aboard a rented yacht, the Andromeda, a slender 50-foot-long, single-masted sloop, ostensibly on a pleasure cruise around Baltic Sea ports. Within two weeks, the group returned the boat and disappeared.

DESPERATE Vladimir Putin is attempting to use adverts on Pornhub in a frantic bid to recruit more men to fight in Ukraine.

The tyrant is desperate to get more troops onto the battlefield to replenish ranks as he continues to suffer huge losses.

Russia said on Wednesday that it would try to retrieve the remnants of a US drone that crashed into the Black Sea.

The large MQ-9 Reaper drone plunged into the water on Tuesday.

The US said it brought down the damaged drone after it became “unflyable” when a Russian jet clipped its propeller – but Moscow has denied these claims.

Speaking on state television, Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev confirmed Moscow was attempting to find the aircraft.

Chart used by Ukrainian prosecutors maps hundreds of Russian soldiers all the way up to Vladimir Putin

For more than a year, Russian jets have been pounding Ukrainian cities, destroying hospitals and apartment blocks, while Moscow’s troops on the ground have been accused of executing civilians. Flooded with evidence of Russian war crimes, Ukrainian prosecutors moved swiftly.

Kyiv has compiled hundreds of dossiers, naming more than 600 Russians – many of them high-ranking political and military officials – as suspects. The suspects range from senior officials including the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, to a lesser-known colonel believed to be responsible for some of the most brutal aerial attacks on Ukraine.