“Ukraine – Russia”

With the world’s news cameras focused on Gaza, Ukrainian Marines are secretly crossing the half-mile wide waterway, ferrying men and ammo in inflatable rubber rafts and establishing beachheads on the opposite shore.

For generations of Soviets, “crossing the Dniepr” evokes the epic 1943 battle that pitted three million Soviet soldiers against one million Nazi defenders. As memorialized in monuments and murals, Soviet soldiers used small boats, rafts, and logs to cross a river as wide as the Mississippi. By the end of a four month long amphibious assault, more than one million Soviet soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing. However, by surmounting Ukraine’s water wall, they broke the back of Nazi power in Eastern Europe.

Volodymyr Zelensky said deliveries of key artillery shells to Ukraine from its Western allies have “really slowed down” since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

The Ukrainian president said he would “defend what is ours” after the decline in supply of 155mm artillery shells, which are also used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against Hamas.

Ukrainian troops have established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, officials from Russia and Ukraine have acknowledged, in an operation that Kyiv says will open new avenues of attack toward Crimea.

Estimates of the number of Ukrainian troops involved range from dozens to several hundred and they are reported to be engaged in heavy fighting with Russian forces on the far side of the river.

In Ukraine’s first official confirmation of the beachhead, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said that the crossing showed that Kyiv was still making advances in a months-long counteroffensive that has so far failed to yield major territorial gains.

Every day in Ukraine is Groundhog Day for the occupiers.

📹: 58th Motorized Brigade pic.twitter.com/4e9pM1KbTo

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) November 15, 2023

Chain-smoking Ukrainians tote French-made assault rifles as they hunker down in a newly conquered village to prepare for a counterattack.

But this isn’t a firefight in eastern Ukraine. Rather, it’s a mock village in rural France where the Ukrainian troops are being trained by the French military, who are acting the role of the enemy.

On a cold and sunny November day, the Ukrainians — both volunteers and draftees — are in the fourth and final week of training in a French military camp, part of a 48-hour exercise to put into practice what they’ve learned over the past month.

Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine’s special operations forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation, say people familiar with planning

A senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the country’s intelligence services played a central role in the bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last year, according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people knowledgeable about the details of the covert operation.

The officer’s role provides the most direct evidence to date tying Ukraine’s military and security leadership to a controversial act of sabotage that has spawned multiple criminal investigations and that U.S. and Western officials have called a dangerous attack on Europe’s energy infrastructure.

There’s a very different tone coming from Kyiv these days. Speaking to Time magazine, Volodymyr Zelensky had just returned from Washington after failing to make another impassioned public address on Capitol Hill, and not even managing to get on Oprah. The Ukrainian president sounded angry. The constant struggle to maintain international support seems to be taking its toll. ‘Nobody believes in our victory like I do. Nobody,’ he insisted, but added that dragging Ukraine’s allies along with him ‘takes all your power, your energy… It takes so much of everything.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited former President Trump to his country’s war zone, saying the former president “can’t manage this war.”

Zelensky, who joined NBC “Meet the Press” Kristen Welker, responded to Trump’s claims that he could end the war with Russia in 24 hours.

“Former President Trump said that about 24 hours, that he can manage it and finish the war,” Zelensky said during the interview that airs Sunday. “For me, what can I say? So he’s very welcome as well.”

Zelensky don’t know Trump.

h/t Mauser

The White House on Friday suggested it is beginning to run out of available funding to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, once again calling on Congress to approve more.

Earlier Friday, the Biden administration announced it was sending another US$425 million worth of additional arms and equipment to Ukraine. Most of the money — around US$300 million — is being drawn from the US$18-billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which funds contracts for weapons built or modified by defence companies.

Senior Ukrainian politicians appealed to Europe to not abandon the country after the Italian prime minister unintentionally disclosed during a prank call that European leaders were growing weary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after the country’s unconvincing counteroffensive.

“I see that there is a lot of fatigue … from all the sides,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said to two Russian comedians, pretending to be the president of the African Union in a hoax call, which was made public on Wednesday. “We [are] near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.”

Volodymyr Zelensky’s closest aides have revealed the anger, division and corruption which is weighing his administration down.

Almost 22 months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, all eyes are now on Israel, which means they are not on Kyiv. Even before Hamas’ October 7th terrorist attacks, there were already signs that Western public support for backing Ukraine was waning.

There has never been any doubt that Ukraine was the focus of an intelligence war as much as a physical one. But the extent of Western assistance, as well as growing concern at some Ukrainian tactics, is only now becoming clear.

On Monday, the Washington Post ran a lengthy examination of the level of CIA assistance for the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and military intelligence (HUR) that bore all the hallmarks of being facilitated by the US government. It acknowledged that since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Americans has invested ‘tens of millions’ of dollars in training and technical assistance for their Ukrainian counterparts, even building new headquarters for HUR’s special forces, for fear that the old ones were compromised.