Ukraine - International Studies of Strategic and Geopolitics

Devastating strike on Russian military base in Ukraine exposes ‘gross criminal incompetence’

4Jan

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Russia and Eurasia

Devastating strike on Russian military base in Ukraine exposes ‘gross criminal incompetence’

The New Year strike on a Russian military base in Makiivka has led to Moscow's biggest admission of loss of life since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But aside from the devastating, and still mounting, death toll, experts say the incident has exposed something even more alarming for Russia: broad incompetence and carelessness at the heart of its military command. Just minutes after Ukraine rang in the New Year, four US-made HIMARS rockets rained down on a purported school building housing Russian army recruits in the industrial town of Makiivka, in the occupied region of Donetsk. Ukraine, along with Russian military bloggers, quickly put the death toll at a staggering 400. Moscow on the other hand, first estimated it at 63, but early Wednesday revised it up to 89. In either case, i...

Drone advances amid war in Ukraine could bring fighting robots to front lines

4Jan

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Military Technology

Drone advances amid war in Ukraine could bring fighting robots to front lines

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Drone advances in Ukraine have accelerated a long-anticipated technology trend that could soon bring the world’s first fully autonomous fighting robots to the battlefield, inaugurating a new age of warfare. The longer the war lasts, the more likely it becomes that drones will be used to identify, select and attack targets without help from humans, according to military analysts, combatants and artificial intelligence researchers. That would mark a revolution in military technology as profound as the introduction of the machine gun. Ukraine already has semi-autonomous attack drones and counter-drone weapons endowed with AI. Russia also claims to possess AI weaponry, though the claims are unproven. But there are no confirmed instances of a nation putting into combat ro...

OSINT Investigators Find That Budanov In Bakhmut Was Less Than Kilometer From Contact Line

29Dec

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Intelligence, Surveillance, and Privacy

OSINT Investigators Find That Budanov In Bakhmut Was Less Than Kilometer From Contact Line

Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, was less than a kilometer from the battle sites during a trip to Bakhmut, Donetsk Region. This conclusion was reached by OSINT researchers, analyzing photos with Budanov from Bakhmut. The Defense Intelligence press service reported that on December 27-28, Budanov visited the front-line positions in Bakhmut. To the north, east and south of the city for long months, fierce battles with the Russian invaders continue. The agency also published several photos of Budanov in Bakhmut itself. OSINT researchers were able to establish where one of the photographs was taken. So, the head of the Defense Intelligence visited the eastern outskirts of the city, near which are the positions of Ru...

PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES FOR RESILIENCE

28Dec

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Defense Strategy and Capabilities

PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES FOR RESILIENCE

BY SHANNON HOUCK * When the National Socialists assumed power in Germany in 1933 and ushered in a series of laws that segregated Jews from “Aryan” society, most Jews believed that the Nazi regime would not remain in power for long. It was not until the “Night of Broken Glass” in 1938 — when Nazis coordinated violent, widespread attacks against Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses, hospitals, and homes — that most German Jews realized the gravity of the threat and urgently tried to flee. Resistance movements did not begin in earnest until 1943. Today in 2022, the need for the will and ability to protect civil liberties and defend sovereignty is once again clear, after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and China’s escalatory threats to use military force to annex Taiwan. In any soci...

The Ukraine war will shape global politics for years to come

28Dec

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Long-Term Futures, Europe

The Ukraine war will shape global politics for years to come

BY HARSH V. PANT * The Ukraine war will shape global politics for years to come When the year began, the debate on Ukraine had already started. Vladimir Putin was amassing his troops around Ukraine. It was widely believed that this was part of a diplomatic manoeuvre to push for a renegotiated settlement with Europe. The West was trying to ensure that war doesn’t return to Europe. The world was nervous but few believed that a full-fledged war was in the offing. And, yet, it happened, forever changing the geopolitics of Europe and the world. Since that fateful day on February 24, when the Russian invasion began, it has been estimated that more than 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured, along with some 40,000 civilian deaths. Over 7.8 million U...

US Congress authorizes 8% defense budget increase

27Dec

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Defense Budget

US Congress authorizes 8% defense budget increase

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 83-11 on to authorize an 8% defense budget increase over fiscal 2022 levels. The FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act adds $45 billion to what the White House requested in its defense budget proposal. The $858 billion NDAA — which includes roughly $817 billion in Defense Department spending — also includes a 4.6% pay raise for troops as well as billions of dollars in additional funding to help the Pentagon cope with inflation, expand capacity for the defense industrial base to produce major weapons systems and continue certain programs the Biden administration had sought to cancel. “China is actively, actively trying to undercut American interests and partnerships everywhere from Asia itself to the Middle East, to Africa and beyond,” Senate Majority Le...