All posts tagged: Ukraine

Has Russia given up on Kinburn Spit, its westernmost foothold in Ukraine?

Has Russia given up on Kinburn Spit, its westernmost foothold in Ukraine?

Published by Sam Flores

On June 8, two days before Russia would have celebrated its four-year anniversary of the capture of the Kinburn Spit – Moscow’s westernmost military position in Ukraine – a member of the Crimea-based Ukrainian partisan group Atesh had astonishing news to report: Russian troops seemed to have abandoned the disputed land strip between the Dnipro-Bug estuary and the Black Sea, located on the tip of the Kinburn Peninsula, northwest of Crimea. The main reason, the agent reported, was that their supplies had been “completely disrupted” by Ukrainian drone strikes. Vital deliveries of ammunition, fuel and food had come to a total standstill, said the agent, who was cited by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and Ukrainian media outlets, and most members of Russia’s 337th VDV Regiment had been redeployed elsewhere. A relic of Russia’s initial plans for Odesa Russia has not confirmed the reported loss of the 10-kilometre-long sandbar, which at its base measures around 4 kilometres in width, and at its peak, some 100 metres.  Yet in 2022, after Russia launched …

Ukraine war briefing: Moscow car bomb kills Russian ammunition chief – reports

Ukraine war briefing: Moscow car bomb kills Russian ammunition chief – reports

Published by Sam Flores

Disruptions to fuel supplies have triggered panic-buying in Russia’s Krasnodar region, the governor said, as Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure continued to hit fuel deliveries across several southern regions and Russian-held Crimea. On Tuesday, emergency services said they had finally extinguished an oil depot fire in the town of Ust-Labinsk in Krasnodar after a Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday. “Against the backdrop of a difficult situation in neighbouring regions, many people decided to stock up on gasoline, which caused artificial panic buying,” said the governor, Veniamin Kondratyev. Source link

England have work to do after settling for World Cup play-off place despite comfortable Ukraine win

England have work to do after settling for World Cup play-off place despite comfortable Ukraine win

Published by Sam Flores

England Hampton; Le Tissier, Carter, Morgan, Charles; Walsh, Stanway, Blindkilde Brown; Hemp, Russo, James.Substitutes Moorhouse, Baggaley, Bronze, Toone, Wubben-Moy, Greenwood, Kelly, Kendall, Mead, Park, Beever-Jones, Fisk. Ukraine Boklach; Savka, Olkhova, Shmatko, Shayniuk; Kotyk, Zaborovets; Molodiuk, Kohut, Kunina; Boychuk.Substitutes Basanska, Hlushchenko, Holovach, Keliushyk, Khrystiuk, Kotiash, Podolska, Radionova, Samson, Semkiv. Source link

Ukraine officially adopts new electric motorcycle for military use

Ukraine officially adopts new electric motorcycle for military use

Published by skeptic

Ukraine has officially approved a new electric motorcycle for use by its armed forces, highlighting the growing role that battery-powered two-wheelers are playing in modern military operations. According to local media, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense recently announced that the domestically produced Wolfstorm electric motorcycle has been codified and approved for military service. The bike is designed as a lightweight, two-person transport platform capable of carrying soldiers and equipment across difficult terrain. According to the ministry, motorcycles have become some of the most valuable vehicles on the front lines, second only to pickup trucks. Their ability to quickly move personnel and supplies through areas with damaged infrastructure or limited road access has made them increasingly important for reconnaissance, logistics, and rapid-response missions. Spec sheet translated by Google (i.e. interpret “Maca” as mass and “Occasion” as transmission method The Wolfstorm weighs 105 kg (231 lb) and is powered by an 8 kW mid-drive electric motor mounted in the center of the frame for improved balance and off-road capability. The bike can reach speeds of up to …

The Ukrainian weapons boom catching Putin off guard

The Ukrainian weapons boom catching Putin off guard

Published by Sam Flores

In tiny workshops scattered across Ukraine, a war machine is being built at a pace that has left Nato’s most powerful members standing still. In May alone, Ukraine’s ministry of defence certified 175 new weapons systems for operational use, nearly 93 per cent of them designed and built entirely within the country. Germany, by comparison, certified fewer than 20 new systems in the whole of 2024 – its fastest year on record. The United States fields between two and five genuinely new platforms per year, with procurement cycles averaging 10 years. Four years ago, Ukraine was desperately importing whatever its allies would send. Today, it is certifying six new weapons systems every day. “Put it all together, and you’ve got a defence procurement ecosystem that is completely unrecognisable compared with anywhere else in Europe,” said Keir Giles, an associate fellow of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme and the author of Who Will Defend Europe. The question is how a country under sustained bombardment managed to build this in four years. The answer, according to …

NATO shoots down drone over Latvia as concern about Ukraine war’s spread grows

NATO shoots down drone over Latvia as concern about Ukraine war’s spread grows

Published by Sam Flores

A French fighter jet shot down a drone that entered NATO ally Latvia’s airspace from Russia on Monday, the latest security incident along Europe’s eastern border while Russia wages war on Ukraine. NATO command ordered the shoot-down after it was determined that Russia had used electromagnetic warfare in the area, Latvian Defense Minister Raivis Melnis told reporters. The drone was brought down Monday morning near the village of Berzgale, roughly 20 miles from the border. No property damage or injuries were reported. Source link

NATO jets shoot down drone over Latvia, extending Ukraine spillover fears | Russia-Ukraine war News

NATO jets shoot down drone over Latvia, extending Ukraine spillover fears | Russia-Ukraine war News

Published by Sam Flores

The drone entered Latvian airspace due to ‘Russian electronic warfare’, the military says. Published On 8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026 NATO fighters have scrambled to shoot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace from Russia. The Latvian military said on Monday that French aircraft had destroyed “a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvian airspace as a result of Russian electronic warfare”, without saying where the drone originated. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The incident adds a growing list of incursions from the Russia-Ukraine war into neighbouring countries that are part of the NATO alliance, sparking fears of escalating spillover effects as Moscow’s siege on Ukraine continues apace. “Thank you to our French allies for shooting down the drone that penetrated Latvian airspace!” Riga’s Foreign Minister Baiba Braze wrote on social media. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs heralded the “swift decision-making and professional action”. Defence Minister Raivis Melnis told reporters the drone was shot down just after 9am local time (07:00 GMT) near the village of Berzgale, located about 30km (18 …

Ukraine Recaptures More Than 600 Square Km of Territory in 2026, Military Chief Says

Ukraine Recaptures More Than 600 Square Km of Territory in 2026, Military Chief Says

Published by Sam Flores

June 8 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than ⁠600 ⁠square km of territory so ⁠far this year, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said ​on Monday, the latest sign of shifting momentum after years of slow but relentless Russian gains. In ‌May alone, Ukraine recaptured 100 square ‌km more of territory than it lost, Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging ⁠app. Syrskyi did ⁠not specify where the gains took place, saying only that in certain ​areas of the 1,200 km (800-mile) frontline, Ukrainian forces continued to maintain the initiative. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also said last month that Ukraine had recaptured around 600 square km in 2026. Reuters was not able ​to verify the assertions. Independently determining lines of territorial control in Ukraine is ⁠difficult because ⁠of drone warfare that ⁠has created ​a wide no-man’s land “kill zone” along the front. But independent groups that map the battlefield ​have also reported Russia’s ⁠total advances slowing or reversing in recent months, for the first time since a failed Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023. Syrskyi said Russian …

On Nato’s border with Russia, I witnessed the death of tank warfare

On Nato’s border with Russia, I witnessed the death of tank warfare

Published by Sam Flores

This article is the fifth in a series exploring Europe’s efforts to rearm against the threat of a Russian invasion at a time when the United States is pulling away from Nato. Hidden in dense woodland 18 miles from the Russian border, Nato anti-tank teams lie in wait to ambush a Finnish column. The scrape of metal tracks across a dirt road pierces the silent forest as the pack of German-made Leopard 2 tanks charges forward. Without warning, camouflaged soldiers break cover from the treeline and unleash a volley of missiles at the heavily armoured vehicles before the Finnish conscripts have time to react. Within seconds, three tanks are destroyed and their young crews, aged 19 and 20, are killed as the anti-tank teams quietly slip back into the wilderness. Almost 300 miles to the south, in the lake-potted forests near Kouvola, another group of Leopard 2s is immobilised by drones and artillery strikes on the border, having bunched up too closely together on a track through pine trees. Nato must now keep up with …