Category Archives: Ukraine

June 27, 2023 at 12:19 p.m. EDT

KREMINNA FOREST, Ukraine For five days, the attacking Russians threw everything they had at the Ukrainian brigade defending a patch of forest here on the eastern front mortar, artillery, flamethrowers and tank fire mowing down whatever stood in their way. By the sixth day, bodies littered the smoldering terrain. Only a scorched field and blackened tree stumps remained.

We had to retreat, said an infantryman, who goes by the call sign Master, describing the battle earlier this month. It was very challenging for the infantry to hold the front, because we were being pushed very hard by the Russians, without adequate artillery cover.

Russia is still on the attack on the eastern front of Ukraine. (Video: The Washington Post)

The forest, just west of Kreminna, a Russian-occupied town in Ukraines Luhansk region, is now an epicenter of some of the wars fiercest fighting. But unlike elsewhere on the eastern and southern fronts, where Ukraine has mounted a long-anticipated counteroffensive, the fighting here is being driven by Russia in its latest push to seize the entire eastern Donbas region.

According to Ukrainian soldiers, Moscow has bolstered its eastern forces and intensified its attacks, aiming to recapture towns and cities that Ukraine liberated in the fall.

Master, who was recuperating from the battle in Yampil, a front-line village on the outskirts of the forest in eastern Ukraine, said that as a result of the attack, the Russians had advanced roughly 300 to 400 meters up to a quarter of a mile on the north side of the forest. They are certainly attacking more intensely and advancing in this direction, he said. The Washington Post is not identifying Master or other soldiers because of security concerns.

Unlike in Zaporizhzhia, for instance, where the Russians are dug into heavily fortified defenses and the Ukrainians are trying to advance, in the Kreminna forest, the side that is attacking or defending can vary day to day or even hour by hour.

A Ukrainian platoon commander, who goes by the call-sign Hephaestus, said Russias operations in the east had dramatically increased. Within just one 24-hour stretch this week, he said, there were six attempted attacks on his brigades sector.

They are losing the initiative in the south and near Bakhmut, Hephaestus said. Therefore, they need to give something to Russian society at a political level to show they have some ambition and advantage. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions have always been a priority for Russia.

A British intelligence memo on Sunday reported that Russian forces had made a significant effort to launch an attack on the Serebryanka forest near Kreminna, an adjoining forest to the southeast of the Kreminna wood.

This probably reflects continued Russian senior leadership orders to go on the offensive whenever possible, the memo stated Russia has made some small gains, but Ukrainian forces have prevented a breakthrough.

The Kreminna forest is now one of the most dangerous spots on the front line. Winding toward the forest through the moonscape of what used to be peoples homes, there are few signs of life. A lone soldier on a bicycle. A rusting basketball hoop. People live here, scrawled across the gate of a shrapnel-riddled house. The gargantuan task Ukraine faces in reclaiming its stolen territory is quickly apparent.

On Saturday, Post journalists accompanied the platoon commander Hephaestus as he drove to fallback positions in the forest. A voice crackled on the walkie-talkie. Up ahead, theres a mortar unit be aware, they could fire at any time. The road through the forest is unpredictable and constantly hit by mortar rounds and artillery. Warrens of trenches run through the woods, while armored vehicles and rocket launchers are tucked away in the undergrowth.

The concentration of the enemy is now much higher in the forests of Kreminna than in any other areas of the front, Hephaestus explained. It is connected with the landscape. Thanks to the dense forests, it is easy enough for the enemy to hide a large number of troops and equipment.

Every movement should be gradual, he added. The priority for us is every human life. If we use them unplanned and irrationally, there will be unjustifiably immense sacrifices.

A group of medics stationed at an evacuation point in the forest said the situation varied from week to week but had become more noticeably harder in recent days. In previous weeks, they were rotated every 10 days, but now, they are being rotated every two due to the uptick in fighting.

Two days ago, we were working throughout the night, I lost track of how many calls there were, said a 25-year-old medic known as Priest. He played a recording he had made on his phone of an assault near their position one night that week: a stomach-twisting soundtrack of relentless bombardments that lasted for hours.

Priest estimated that casualties for the Lyman region, which includes the Kreminna forest, has increased by 10 times. In his particular brigade, he said, there had been about 70 casualties in two days.

A web of threats lurk in the woods. The terrain itself a mishmash of thick pine forests, swamps, lakes and hills is difficult and hinders the rapid advance of assault units. Mines, drones and smoke from the near-constant fires that rage from the shelling make the territory even more lethal. Then there are roving reconnaissance groups.

The Kreminna forest, located just west of a Russian-occupied town in Ukraine's Luhansk region, is now an epicenter of some of the war's fiercest fighting. (Video: The Washington Post)

One night last week, Hephaestus carefully led his unit on a mission to find weak spots in enemy lines. As the unit slowly made its way in the dark through the dense woodland, cutting through thickets of nettles and foxgloves, they could smell the burning pines. The Russians were bombing the woods again with flamethrowers, a tactic used to both obscure the view of reconnaissance drones and to smoke out the locations of Ukrainian positions and equipment.

Suddenly, the lead scouts signaled that they had spotted movement up ahead. The unit stopped. Looking through night-vision goggles, they identified the silhouettes of a Russian reconnaissance unit farther up in the woods, roughly 10 meters away. The unit opened fire. A few minutes later, all the Russians lay dead.

This is the forest, said Hephaestus with a shrug, adding that it is common to come face-to-face with enemy units in the woods. Sometimes we are able to catch the enemy by surprise if you stand still, you can hear a crunch, a whisper especially at night when its quiet.

Sometimes the Russians wear Ukrainian uniforms taken from the soldiers they killed or captured, to try to infiltrate Ukrainian lines. They can be a large, elite fighting group or a handful of inexperienced recruits who were sent directly to the front lines.

When a Post reporting team visited an artillery position on the Serebryanka flank on Saturday morning, active hostilities were underway. The percussive booms of shells and whistle of incoming fire cut through the otherwise eerie silence. Five young, exhausted soldiers emerged blinking into the sunlight from their shelter and hurried to their positions, where they prepared to fire several rounds from an L119 howitzer gun.

Their 40-year-old commanding officer, who goes by the call sign Scythian, has been stationed in the area for the past six months and said that the level of shelling from the Russian side had increased in recent weeks. He said the Russians had also amassed armored vehicles and tanks that had not been observed before. That the enemy is building up forces in this area is clear, he said.

An artillery commander of the National Guard, who goes by the call sign Brave, said that the battle lines in the forest were constantly shifting and rarely stable.

The enemy, like us, retreats in places and conducts counteroffensive actions; they break through certain positions and lines. Like us, in some places, they advance and elsewhere they sacrifice some positions, he said.

Brave said that such attacks can happen up to 10 times a day. When there is a tip from reconnaissance units that perhaps an infantry breakthrough is being prepared or a concentration is taking place in the forest, we begin to work, he said.

Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict

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On this part of the eastern front, Russia is still on the attack - The Washington Post

As Russia's invasion enters its 17th month, Ukrainian forces say Moscow is ramping up its use of low-cost suicide drones that are capable of destroying equipment many times their value and not easy to defend against.

The Lancet drone, an angular gray tube with two sets of four wings, has been an increasing threat on Ukraine's frontlines in recent months, according to Ukrainian soldiers.

Videos posted by pro-Russian social media channels over the last month appear to show Lancet drones damaging or destroying Ukraine's valuable Western-donated equipment, such as a Leopard 2 tank and a Caesar self-propelled howitzer.

Ukrainian servicemen from four different artillery crews named Lancets as one of the main threats they faced on the battlefield in conversations with Reuters.

Several soldiers said the frequency of its use had increased in recent months.

"Earlier, in spring, they were not using Lancets as often as they are now," 35-year-old artillery gunner Bohdan, who gave his call sign as Doc, told Reuters near Avdiivka on the Donetsk region frontlines.

Russia's defense ministry has been encouraging an increase of production of the Lancet as a cheap way to hit high-value Western equipment given to Ukraine for its counteroffensive, said Samuel Bendett, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Bendett said that, according to publicly available Russian sources, a Lancet drone costs approximately 3 million roubles (around $35,000).

In comparison, analysts estimate a single S-300 missile used by Russia to cost at least several hundred thousand dollars. A Leopard 2 tank is worth several million dollars.

Because the Lancet is a single-use device that destroys itself on impact, Bendett said it can only be viable if the cost is kept down to the tens of thousands of dollars per drone.

Ukraine has also developed strong capabilities in drones - also known as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) - as a cost-effective way to hit Russian targets.

Assault drones can send payloads to hit their target or serve as single-use "loitering munitions" - where they are strapped with explosives and ram the target themselves.

Bendett said there was unhappiness among pro-war Russian commentators about the large amount of Ukrainian videos showing successful UAV strikes, and that the Russian defense sector now wanted to create a competing narrative.

Russia appears to be copying some of Ukraine's earlier tactics, such as luring high-value targets forward into more exposed positions before hitting them with loitering munitions, Bendett said.

Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's defense minister, acknowledged that Russia's increasing use of Lancets created difficulties.

"Every day we shoot down at least one or two of these Lancets ... but it's not a 100% interception rate unfortunately," he said.

Sak said the Lancet carried a relatively small explosive payload, ranging from 1.5-5 kg.

However, despite being less powerful than an artillery shell or most rockets, the Lancet appears to be able to inflict significant damage.

Lancet drones are flown in real-time by a pilot.

Sak said this distinguishes it from the Iran-made Shahed-136 drone, which Russia has also used extensively to hit Ukrainian targets, because a Shahed flies to a pre-programmed destination and cannot be piloted while in the air.

The newest Lancet model, the Lancet 3, can fly up to 50 km (30 miles), Bendett said, making it better able to strike targets deep behind Ukrainian lines than any other Russian suicide drone besides the Shahed.

Its ability to loiter and then chase down its target makes it a threat to high-value equipment such as tanks, self-propelled artillery and rocket launch systems.

One of the Ukrainian vehicles most at risk is the BM-21 Grad, a large Soviet-era truck-mounted launcher that can fire a barrage of up to 40 rockets over a wide area.

Its firepower makes it a priority target for Lancet drones, and a video shared by pro-war Russian social media channels last week appeared to show a Grad being hit by a Lancet. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.

A crew member of a Grad launcher near Avdiivka, who introduced himself by his call sign Voron, recounted having a close brush with a Lancet which had been sent to attack his launcher in early May.

Having fired on a Russian target, Voron said his Grad was immediately targeted by a Russian S-300 missile, which missed by about 150 meters. However, a Lancet drone then appeared in the sky and chased the Ukrainian rocket system.

"We decided to flee ... After about 50 meters it fell just to my right. It didn't hit us, thank God," the 27-year-old said.

Drones like the Lancet, which fly low and slow, tend to confuse traditional air defense systems, which are built to intercept fast-moving targets with a larger heat signature.

Nets or metal cages can help limit the damage, said Sak, the defense ministry official, but the best defenses are radar-equipped automated anti-drone guns, as well as electronic warfare systems.

Sak said Ukraine needed many more of these systems from its allies.

Without such systems, Ukrainian soldiers are often forced to try to shoot the Lancets down with small arms.

"It's flying at 100 kilometers per hour, so shooting it down with small arms is not an easy challenge," said Sak.

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Cheap Russian drone a menace to Ukrainian troops and equipment - The Jerusalem Post

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Pope Francis's envoy would hold talks with President Vladimir Putin's adviser in Moscow asRussia"welcomed" the Vatican's peace efforts over Ukraine.

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi began aRussiavisit on Tuesday in the first such trip since Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

High-ranking Catholic clerics are rarely seen in Moscow, which no Pope has ever visited.

Zuppi's trip comes several weeks after he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

"We highly value the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican in looking for a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "We welcome them."

He said Zuppi was due to hold talks with Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.

The Vatican said the purpose of Zuppi's visit was to "encourage gestures of humanity, which can help promote a solution to the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just peace."

Zuppi's meeting with Zelensky in early June ended without much progress, but Kyiv said the cleric could help in bringing home Ukrainian prisoners of war and children taken toRussiaduring the offensive.

The 67-year-old Italian cardinal hails from the Sant'Egidio Catholic Community, which specializes in diplomacy and peace efforts.

Pope Francis has been criticized by both Kyiv and Moscow during the conflict.

A Russian Roman Catholic prelate, Nikolay Dubinin, told state media this week that Zuppi "hoped" to meet Patriarch Kirill, but the Russian Orthodox Church did not confirm this.

Kirill is a vehement supporter of Putin's Ukrainian offensive, which he has described in holy terms.

Zuppi was due at a mass in Moscow's main Catholic cathedral on Thursday evening.

Almost a thousand years after a schism broke apart the churches, spiritual relations between the Vatican and Moscow remain icy.

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Kremlin 'Welcomes' Vatican Peace Efforts Over Ukraine - The Moscow Times

The column of Bradley armored vehicles rumbled forward, filled with Ukrainian soldiers, bringing a new and potent American weapon to the wars southern front.

But then one hit a mine. The explosion blew off one of the vehicles bulldozer-like tracks, immobilizing it. The entire Ukrainian column reversed direction, pulling back.

Three weeks into a counteroffensive critical to Ukraines prospects against Russia, its army is encountering an array of vexing challenges that complicate its plans, even as it wields sophisticated new Western-provided weapons. Not least is a vast swath of minefields protecting Russias defensive line, forming a killing field for Ukrainian troops advancing on the open steppe of the south.

Everything is mined, everywhere, said Lt. Ashot Arutiunian, the commander of a drone unit, who watched through a drones video link as the mine exploded under the Bradley and halted the columns advance.

Over the weekend, a mutiny on Russian soil by mercenary forces raised hopes in Ukraine that its army might find the going a bit easier, even though the rebellion quickly died out.

But Ukrainians still face hurdles that differentiate this campaign from their swift push through the Kharkiv region in September and even from the more arduous offensive that recaptured Kherson in November.

The terrain in the southeast is mostly flat, open fields, in contrast to the rolling hills of the Donbas or the heavily forested north, depriving Ukraines troops of cover. The Russians have also been dug in for months in expansive trench lines, making uprooting them more difficult.

In addition, KA-52 Russian attack helicopters have been able to slip past air defenses, slowing Ukrainian movements while damaging or destroying Western-provided tanks and armored fighting vehicles.

And not only are the minefields bigger and more ubiquitous, but Russian troops have proved adept at replenishing some minefields cleared by Western-supplied equipment, a senior United States military official said.

Ukrainian forces in some locations along the front line are pausing to reassess which breaching and clearing tactics and techniques are working best, the official said.

The fierce resistance has taken a toll on Ukraines weaponry. The United States committed 113 Bradley fighting vehicles in March. At least 17 of them more than 15 percent have been damaged or destroyed in the fighting so far, the official said.

These obstacles have turned the early stages of the counteroffensive into a slow and bloody slog, limiting Ukraines forces to about four miles of territory gained in their farthest advance so far. Thats less than half the distance Ukraine needs to cross threatened by mines and relentless Russian artillery bombardment to reach Russias main defensive positions.

They dug in, they mined, they are ready, said Yevhen, a private with a paramilitary police unit who, like some other soldiers, insisted on being identified only his first name and rank. It is difficult, but there is no other option.

Despite the counteroffensives slow progress, Ukrainian officials say the main battles to breach Russian defenses are still ahead, and with the bulk of Ukraines force still kept in reserve, it is early to gauge success or failure, they contend.

Mr. Zelensky, while conceding that progress has been slower than desired, cautioned against what he portrayed as unrealistic expectations of a cinematic blitzkrieg through enemy lines.

Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now, Mr. Zelensky said in an interview with the BBC this past week. Whats at stake is peoples lives, he said. We will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best.

In Washington, officials in the Biden administration are publicly urging patience even as they privately fret that the initial progress has been slow. One senior administration official called the results of the first couple of weeks sobering, adding, Theyre behind schedule.

The senior U.S. military official also acknowledged the slower-than-hoped-for pace of operations but added that this was not unexpected given the extensive Russian defenses, and cautioned against drawing any broad conclusions based on the initial operations.

Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential government assessments.

Ukraine is seeking to split Russian-occupied territory in the south into two zones, cutting supply lines to the Crimean Peninsula and creating a springboard for further advances. To do so, it must push south about 60 miles from the former front line, where Ukraine halted Russias advances in March 2022, to the Sea of Azov.

Russias main defenses lie a dozen or so miles behind heavily defended territory. Those are the most difficult to cross.

Ukraines strategy has been to probe, striking at multiple sites to find a weak point in defenses. Russia, which has been preparing for the attack for months, is seeking to slow Ukrainian troops with mines, artillery, attack helicopters and counterattacks before they can find a gap and send troops flowing through it into occupied territory.

Success for Ukraine now hinges on how many tanks, armored vehicles and soldiers it can preserve before reaching the primary defensive line and in a battle to break through. Over the winter, Ukraine and Western allies trained and equipped about 40,000 soldiers for the attack.

How much will they have left available at that point? Michael Kofman, the director of Russia studies at CNA, a research institute in Virginia, said in a telephone interview. A lot of what we see so far is inconclusive.

At two of three points of attack, south of the town of Velyka Novosilka and the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine has punched forward bit by bit and reclaimed a total of eight villages. At the third, south of the town of Orikhiv, where the Bradley hit a mine, the assault has appeared to stall in the fields.

Curiously, Ukraine has advanced in the two locations where troops were provided fewer new Western weapons, and stalled where the most sophisticated new weapons American Bradleys and German Leopard 2 tanks were deployed.

Its not clear if that is because Western weaponry was intentionally deployed in areas where there were stiffer Russian defenses.

Local factors, soldiers fighting in this area said, could explain the slower progress where Western weapons were deployed. The nearest villages, useful for finding abandoned houses, basements and root cellars for cover, are farther from the front line than at other sites.

And out in the open fields, the artillery bombardments have been so intensive, said a drone pilot who flies over the area regularly, that the battlefield looks like Swiss cheese.

Even as they temper expectations, Ukrainian officials have insisted the battle is on track. General Valery Zaluzhny, the commander of Ukraines army, published a video this week showing him perusing a large map and saying the fight was going according to plan.

Out in the expanse of farm fields in southern Ukraine, soldiers fighting on the front or assisting in medical evacuations said they understood the strategy of probing attacks, and that some would succeed and others would not. But they said the Russian defenses were formidable and progress is slow.

Lieutenant Yaroslav, a medic who has been evacuating wounded from the fighting, said the wounded described harrowing battles. Given what the guys are saying, its not going as well as they show on TV, he said.

On one axis of attack, Ukraine has advanced more quickly than anticipated. Soldiers fighting south of the city of Zaporizhzhia said they had been ordered to advance with no Western heavy weaponry. After reclaiming the village of Lobkove, the soldiers found they were close enough to the next village, Piatykhatky, to hear its dogs barking. It would not be hard to slip over to reclaim it, a soldier said, and this was done last week.

At a Ukrainian gun line, the artillery officer, a lieutenant named Arseniy, rattled off the types of rounds Ukraine fires: shrapnel for infantry in the open, a detonator with a delay for burrowing into and blowing up bunkers, and shells filled with leaflets explaining how to surrender part of a Ukrainian psychological warfare operation to chip away at Russian morale.

On a recent dawn, after a rainstorm had blown over the night before, the gunners prepared a Soviet-legacy howitzer of a type nicknamed the Carnation. The barrel swiveled. Fire! a soldier yelled. The gun boomed. Leaves fluttered down from nearby trees.

A few minutes later, the artillery team was sent by an intelligence unit an intercept of Russian walkie-talkie communications. Probably two dead, a Russian commander said. The soldiers were in a buoyant mood.

Its our usual working day to destroy as much as possible, Arseniy said.

Of the counteroffensive, which he sees through the ebb and flow of orders to fire the gun, he said, I think it is going to plan, but then added, Even if things go not according to plan, that is also in our plan.

The once sleepy country roads, lined with tall green grass and wildflowers, are now clogged with ambulances leaving the front, their lights flashing. Tracked vehicles rumble along, and pickup trucks spray painted with makeshift camouflage, the main transport for soldiers, bounce over the ruts.

As twilight faded into night, and swallows swooped and screeched over the fields, a Ukrainian drone surveillance unit attached to the 47th Mechanized Brigade went to work.

These first hours of night are prime time for hunting Russian tanks with infrared cameras, as the bulky metal armor, warmed in the sun through the day, all but glows in the dark.

Sunset is our golden time, said the commander, Lt. Arutiunian. The soldiers spot tanks, then call in coordinates to an artillery team.

We are testing their defenses, said Lt. Arutiunian. I would not call it a full-scale attack yet, he said. We are probing.

Andrew E. Kramer reported from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.

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Why Ukraines Counteroffensive Is Off to a Slow, Bloody Start - The New York Times

The leader of the Kremlins shadowy private army, the Wagner Group, rebelled against top military officials over the weekend after a Russian rocket attack killed dozens of his soldiers.

In a dramatic show of force against his own government, Yevgeny Prigozhin led his soldiers toward Moscow on a march for justice to remove what he labeled as Russias incompetent and corrupt senior military leadership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Prigozhins armed mutiny, accusing him of treason. Hours later Prigozhin, just 125 miles from the capital, announced he was going to turn around. Russian blood will be spilled on one side, we are turning our convoy around and going back to our base camps, according to the plan, he declared in an apparent deal to end the insurrection.

Here are the latest developments.

British security forces told the Telegraph on Monday that Russian intelligence services had threatened harm to the families of Wagner leaders who were participating in the mutiny. This new information could be a potential explanation as to why Prigozhin called off the march to Moscow.

Insights from British intelligence also claim that Putin is now looking to absorb Wagner soldiers into the countrys military and dismiss all top Wagner commanders. The report cited a British intelligence assessment that about 8,500 Wagner fighters were involved in the mutiny, contradicting public reports that the number was closer to 25,000.

Russias defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, was seen for the first time since the weekend insurrection. The appearance is notable, as a key plank of Prigozhins uprising was the removal of Shoigu, the Associated Press reported.

The video, published to the Telegram social media platform, shows the military chief inspecting soldiers in Ukraine clearly meant to suggest that Russia had moved past the Wagner conflict.

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Following Shoigus public appearance, Prigozhin released a statement where he defended his 24-hour-long uprising. In the 11-minute long audio clip, the Wagner chief claimed the march was due to an injustice that was carried out - referring to Friday's attack on a Wagner camp killing an estimated 30 soldiers.

According to Reuters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Prigozhin is to move to Belarus after its president, Alexander Lukashenko, brokered a deal between Putin and the mercenary chief. Lukashenko had offered to mediate the deal, with Putins approval, as he has known Prigozhin personally for two decades.

Peskov added that Prigozhin would receive amnesty despite orchestrating the armed mutiny and that the soldiers who had taken part would also not face any criminal action.

A well-known Chinese journalist stated that Russia would not be able to return to what it was before the armed mutiny, the Telegraph reported.

Hu Xijin, the former editor in chief of the Chinese-government-affiliated Global Times, had been commentating on Prigozhins insurrection and Russias political situation. In the now-deleted tweet, Hu wrote: [Prigozhins] armed rebellion has made the Russian political situation cross the tipping point. Regardless of his outcome, Russia cannot return to the country it was before the rebellion anymore.

Hus comments were a stark contrast to the Chinese governments neutral stance on Russian politics. In what appeared to be a backtrack, Hu later posted: Prigozhin quickly stopped and the rebellion was stopped without bloodshed, which obviously narrowed the impact on Putins authority, although not to zero.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: Kremlin reportedly threatened Wagner families as soldiers marched to Moscow - Yahoo News

The Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in February last year has led to the biggest war in Europe in many generations. Even before the Wagner Group the 50,000-strong paramilitary force that had been fighting alongside Russian soldiers seized control of military sites in the southwestern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don last week, with the apparent aim of toppling Moscows military command, the incursion into Ukraine looked like a major failure for its instigator, President Vladimir Putin. Within a month of the wars onset, it had already become a [foul]-up of historic proportions, as one veteran Ukraine correspondent recently put it. So it is no wonder that this year brings several new books aiming to summarize the conflict and to mull how it might end.

In considering where the war is going, it is useful to begin by remembering how wrong many Russian observers have been about its course so far. Back when it started, the Russian newspaper Izvestia promised a Ukrainian defeat within five days of the initial attack. Five weeks after the invasion, Putins spokesman claimed that Ukraines military was largely destroyed.

But a war intended to undercut Ukraines leaders and NATO has instead strengthened both. Bulgaria, Romania and the three Baltic states have all voiced strong opposition to Putins acts. Less noticed in the West is how Russias war has also alienated former Soviet nations such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

To be fair, many non-Russian analysts were also wide of the mark. Just before the war, the Scottish American historian Niall Ferguson wrote that Ukraine would receive no significant military support from the West and speculated on the location of Putins victory parade. When the invasion began, the German finance minister, who is also an officer in the German air force reserves, reportedly told the Ukrainian ambassador that the war would be over in a matter of hours. The ambassador wept.

So who seems to have it right now?

The most thought-provoking of the new crop of books about the war in Ukraine is Alexander Etkinds quick and incisive RUSSIA AGAINST MODERNITY (Polity, 166 pp., paperback, $19.95). The book is set in the future and cast as a postwar analysis of why Russia was defeated in Ukraine. Etkind, a professor at the Central European University in Vienna, builds his speculations off the flaws of the society Putin built an antidemocratic, parasitic petrostate that historically relied on fossil fuels like oil and gas for two-thirds of its exports. Their extraction is mainly controlled in Russia by politicians and former security men who value political loyalty far more than managerial competence.

Etkind depicts Putins invasion as a war between generations, noting that Ukraines cabinet is mostly made up of people under the age of 50, while most of Russias cabinet members are older. He suggests that the officials who run Putins Russia know they cannot compete in a post-petroleum world, and so they are threatened by all aspects of modernity, from democracy to climate change to tolerance for homosexuality. Etkind portrays Russias leaders as living fossils living on fossil fuels. He has a point: When was the last time anyone bought a computer chip made in Russia?

The best look at the actual fighting is probably OVERREACH: The Inside Story of Putins War Against Ukraine (Mudlark, 414 pp., paperback, $21.99), by the journalist Owen Matthews. He offers a straightforward, readable overview of the different levels of the conflict, from the battlefront to the stances of the warring governments to the impact on civilians.

Matthews, a Russia correspondent for The Spectator, previously worked in Russia both for The Moscow Times and for Newsweek. His pessimistic discussion of why most Russians supported Putins war, at least until recently, is sobering. The Russian militarys reliance on the mercenaries who made up the Wagner Group was key. Wagner found recruits among thieves and murderers, poor kids from distant provinces and troops from remote ethnic-minority republics, Matthews writes. Keeping casualties to an army of expendables reduced the chances of a popular backlash.

Another journalistic effort, not as good as Matthewss, is Christopher Millers THE WAR CAME TO US: Life and Death in Ukraine (Bloomsbury, 374 pp., $28). Miller, the Ukraine correspondent for The Financial Times, has spent more than a decade reporting from the country. This book felt to me like a reporters notebook cleaner in which the author simply dumps old field notes into a new manuscript. As with many other volumes on the war, Miller doesnt get to the full-scale Russian invasion until more than halfway through his book but once he does, he is particularly good at recounting the chaotic, precarious early days of the war. Some Ukrainian security officials were collaborating with the Russians, Miller reports, and Russian sleeper cells already in Kyiv were activated to carry out assassination and sabotage missions.

THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR: The Return of History (Norton, 376 pp., $30), by the Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy, is somewhat drier, although he is probably right when he notes that one effect of the invasion is already clear: The Ukrainian nation will emerge from this war more united and certain of its identity than at any other point in its modern history.

Samuel Ramanis book PUTINS WAR ON UKRAINE: Russias Campaign for Global Counter-Revolution (Oxford University, 603 pp., $29.95) is a trudge to read, but its encyclopedic descriptions can yield interesting details and some solid tactical analysis. Interestingly, he notes that Putins reliance on the Wagner Group allowed him to create an alternative power vertical that consolidated his personal grip on security policy and shielded Putin from a palace coup when the war did not proceed according to plan.

Ramani, a specialist at Oxford in politics and international relations, argues that the least effective Russian allies in the fighting have been Chechen units. The Chechens weakness, he says, is that they are accustomed to suppressing civilians, not fighting armed opponents on a battlefield. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has survived more than a dozen assassination attempts. Fortunately for him, many of those were reportedly launched by Chechen special forces units assigned the murderous task by Putin, while others were carried out by the Wagner Group.

The question hanging over everything is whether Russia ultimately will lose the war. The official line in Putins government is that Russia will prevail because of objective historical processes, as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov puts it. Ramanis conclusion is almost as murky: Russia cannot win and cannot afford to lose the war.

Matthews, a bit more clearly, argues that the war can end only in a negotiated settlement, which Putin will paint as a victory. He also presumes that even if Putin subsequently falls from power, he will probably be replaced by a hard-right ultranationalist, suggesting that a damaged Putin is better than a toppled Putin.

Plokhy, despite his prediction of Ukrainian national unity, argues that Ukraine will lose some portion of its territory to a Sino-Russian sphere of influence, with the dividing line representing a 21st-century Iron Curtain.

Etkind, who is the most persuasive of the bunch, foresees a far different outcome: Not only will Putin lose, but, as a result, the Russian Federation will fall apart, suggesting that Chechnya and other regions will loosen ties with Moscow or become altogether independent. I suspect he is right. In 2005, Putin famously lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union as the great geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. It would be ironic if his war completes the Soviet dissolution.

But the war in Ukraine has already fooled many observers and participants, so we should be careful about placing too much faith in any prediction.

Thomas E. Ricks, the Book Reviews military history columnist, is the author of eight books, most recently Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968.

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New Books on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine - The New York Times

Your country has been invaded, and your home has been destroyed. You manage to escape and survive in the basement of a nearby building. Then, one day, theres a strange voice outside. Soldiers force you out of your shelter and you are directed to a bus, destination unknown. The miles blur beneath the wheels, and at every stop, you are photographed, searched and questioned. Eventually, you are left to fend for yourself in the country that destroyed your home and killed your neighbors. This is the story of Russia's deportation of Ukrainians.

International authorities agree the scope of Russian deportations is vast. The United States estimated that as many as 1.6 million people have been deported. Ukraines president placed the number at 2 million. One human rights organization says the total could be 4.7 million. The deportees may include hundreds of thousands of children, and the international criminal court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for these alleged forced deportations.

Some Ukrainians were forced to move into Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. Others were taken into Russia and, in some cases, placed in camps far on the other side of the country. Each case may be a war crime: Human Rights Watch says unlawful displacement can be by force, or by fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power. The group has documented cases of Ukrainians forced out of their homes in Kharkiv and in Mariupol, the city that was under siege for 10 weeks before falling to Russian control in May 2022. Other groups have observed deportations from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

For this report, USA TODAY interviewed Ukrainians who were deported and others who were in close contact with deported relatives in 2022. Vlads family was taken from the basement in Mariupol. Illya went through the Russian screening known as filtration. Natalia tried to keep tabs on her mother, Olena, who was moved deep inside Russia. To protect themselves and their relatives and friends inside Russia, all asked to be identified only by their first names. This story also relies on accounts documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Conflict Observatory and Ukraine 5AM Coalition.

Each deportees experience is unique. Taken together, theirs is a story of fear, of Ukrainian people who during an invasion that has now lasted for more than 450 days were taken into Russian territory by force, coercion, against their will, or because they had no other option.

As fighting intensified across Ukraine, many people hoped to flee. But some did not have the means to do so, and for others, there was no way out. People fleeing to less risky parts of Ukraine were stopped by Russian forces. Some hoping to escape the war zone felt they had no way to survive aside from accepting a ride to Russia.

In some cases, Russian soldiers stopped people on the streets and searched for people in shelters, forcing them to come out of their hiding places.

People were separated from their families in chaotic scenes. Vlad said his grandmother was put on a tank and his mother on a bus. "Everyone tried to find their families. We asked what would happen to us, and we were told that they would take us to our families, but they didnt know when." As Vlad ran to another bus, he saw burned-out cars, impact craters and rubble.

When Vlad boarded the bus, he didn't know where they were headed. Many people only agreed to leave because they feared consequences such as violence, duress, or detention if they stayed. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International consider this type of forcible transfer a war crime.

The buses often drove for hours, sometimes for hundreds of miles. Vlad said he saw homes with broken windows and walls riddled with holes. He saw rocket launchers, tanks, and tracks from heavy machinery. All of the buildings were dark and many were burning. The place they slept was loud and overwhelming: He could hear gunfire and planes flying overhead and saw contrails streaking across the sky.

FILTRATION CAMPSThe first stop for many was a checkpoint in a Russia-controlled city within Ukraine. In some cases, people would be subjected to multiple stops and checkpoints. These makeshift filtration centers would often be set up in tents, government buildings and police stations.

Illya told us that his family was forced to undress in freezing conditions. They were checked for gunpowder residue, bruises from firing weapons, injuries and pro-Ukrainian tattoos.

Many arrived exhausted, disoriented and afraid, with the few possessions they could grab and shove into bags and often no home to return to. Vlad said he was only able to grab food and documents from his destroyed apartment. They waited in lines for hours for their turn.

For Illya, the second stage was another tent. Soldiers or police officers checked fingerprints there and took photos of everyone.

Ukrainians were forced to fill out forms and were interrogated. Illya told us that he was asked these questions:

Do you have relatives in the military?Whats your attitude toward politics?Toward the authorities?

Some people were forced into holding areas with no idea if or when they would be released or why they were being detained. Russian soldiers used physical force against civilians, sometimes resulting in death, according to Ukraine 5 AM Coalition.

For Illya, the last stage was a cellphone search. Soldiers looked through everything: deleted photos, browser history, messaging apps and more.

Little is known about what happened to those who failed filtration.

Those who passed were given migration cards and taken to Russia, though they did not always know where they would end up. In at least some cases, the deported were sent to isolated areas in Russia's far eastern regions. For example, 300 residents of Mariupol were taken to a city Russian city more than 6,000 miles away a distance more than twice the width of the U.S.

ARRIVAL IN RUSSIAUkrainians have described arriving at Russian placement centers at sports complexes and schools. Vlad says there were several hundred people at his location. As they arrived, he said, they felt vulnerable and didnt know what to expect.

Some people have described being processed by Russian investigators who questioned them and forced them to sign documents stating that Ukrainian soldiers committed war crimes. Some say they were pressured to apply for Russian citizenship. Ukrainians can receive payments of about $130, but deportees say there is little support beyond that.

Vlad told us that this was the first time his group was able to shower, talk to their family and find out what was happening in Ukraine. He said that they mostly ate and slept.

Some Ukrainians were placed in summer camps. The camps Vlad and Olena were taken to were isolated and far from cities. Natalia said that to get medication, her mother needed to take a taxi to the nearest city. Deportees are moved from one place to another, often with no say in where they ended up. Often, they don't have money and can't contact relatives or get legal advice about what to do next.

Ukrainians who wanted to leave Russia said they were given almost no support to do so. Some don't have any identity documents that confirm Ukrainian citizenship, making it harder to leave Russia. Those with no money had to seek the help of informal volunteer networks. It's extremely difficult for children, old people and people with disabilities to leave. Natalia said she worries about the Russian propaganda her mother now absorbs.

Even those who were able to leave Russia are often at a loss about what to do next: their home in Ukraine may have been destroyed, and they may have lost their possessions and jobs. Many don't know where to go or what to do. Some have family members who are still in Russia and couldnt leave because of poor health or the lack of documents.

So in the end, some find themselves forced apart not just once, but twice. First, fleeing Ukraine amid a war, then attempting to leave Russia, and sometimes leaving their relatives behind.

The information in the story is based on interviews USA TODAY conducted with Ukrainians who went through this deportation process or knew family members who did. It also relies on reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Ukraine 5 AM Coalition,a group of nongovernmental organizations documenting possible war crimes. The information about filtration is based on these accounts and a report from the Conflict Observatory, a program supported by the U.S. State Department in collaboration with researchers from Yale University. All accounts describe events that happened in 2022.

Shawn J. Sullivan and Josh Susong contributed to this report.

Published 1:43 am UTC May. 31, 2023 Updated 9:40 pm UTC May. 31, 2023

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An illustrated explanation of Russia's deportation of Ukrainians, from the war zone to a remote camp - USA TODAY

Why It Matters: Some Republicans want to prioritize aid to Taiwan.

Ms. Hsiaos statement rebuts arguments by a few Republican lawmakers and former U.S. officials that the United States should decrease weapons aid to Ukraine in order to prioritize building up Taiwans defense capabilities and U.S. military resources aimed at countering China. Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, is making this argument, as is Elbridge Colby, a Pentagon official in the Trump administration who has advised Mr. Hawley.

They say some of the same missile and weapons systems that Taiwan needs for preventing a potential Chinese invasion including Javelins, Stingers and Patriots are being sent to Ukraine. The fastest way for the weapons to reach partner nations is through a process known as the presidential drawdown authority, which allows the U.S. government to transfer arms from the Pentagons stockpiles. But those reserves have been depleted by aid to Ukraine.

Those current and former Republican officials also say Taiwan should take priority in receiving weapons that roll off production lines years in the future. Ms. Hsiao said she is not concerned about that since Taiwans weapons orders are on a separate track from those of other governments.

Ms. Hsiaos main big-picture point is that China is watching Russias invasion of Ukraine closely and drawing lessons from it. The greater the cost to Russia, the less likely it is that China will take similar steps, the thinking goes.

Our best hope is that Beijing also takes the lesson that aggression will not succeed, that there will be tremendous international pushback against aggression, she said.

China is Russias most powerful partner, and the two nations declared their relationship had no limits before President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Xi Jinping, the leader of China, has continued to show support for Mr. Putin, but so far has refrained from giving weapons aid to Russia, U.S. officials say. This shows that China is being cautious about running afoul of sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other nations.

Like Chinese leaders before him, Mr. Xi has asserted that Taiwan must eventually come under the rule of China. But senior Biden administration officials say there is no intelligence indicating Mr. Xi has explicitly laid out a timeline for this. Ms. Hsiao said Taiwan does not have evidence of a specific timeline either.

The U.S. government is determined to turn Taiwan into a porcupine, an entity bristling with weapons that would be too painful to attack. Ms. Hsiao said Taiwan is aware of the need to build up military deterrence while assuring China it wants to maintain the status quo rather than declaring independence. She noted that Taiwan is increasing the length of its compulsory military service for men from four months to one year; is working with the United States to improve military training; and is creating the capability to service F-16 fighter jets on its own.

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Taiwan Ambassador Says Ukraine's Success Against Russia Will Help Deter China - The New York Times

MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -Russia said Ukrainian artillery hit a Russian town for a third time this week and drones struck two oil refineries in an uptick in attacks on Russian territory as Ukraine prepares a Western-backed push to end Moscow's invasion.

Inside Ukraine, Russian-installed officials said five people had been killed in Ukrainian army shelling of a Russian-occupied village in the east, where Russia has fought months of bloody and inconclusive battles to try to seize more territory.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the Russian reports, in a week when the two countries accused each other of spreading terror in their capitals with air strikes.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in Ukraine and towns and cities laid to waste since Moscow's forces invaded 15 months ago, but Tuesday marked only the second time Moscow had come under direct fire - from a flurry of drones - although oil and military facilities elsewhere in Russia have been hit.

In the Russian town of Shebekino on the Ukrainian border, two of four wounded people were hospitalised and shells damaged an apartment building, four homes and a school as well as power lines, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Later, Gladkov told Russian television there had been more Ukrainian shelling of Shebekino and a fire had broken out at an industrial site.

Both sides say they are targeting the buildup of each other's forces and military equipment ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, which it says will come in days or weeks, to try to drive Russian forces out of eastern and southern regions.

Away from the front lines of the conflict, the United Nations was trying to salvage a deal allowing safe Black Sea grain exports.

To that end, the U.N. has made a "mutually beneficial" proposal that Ukraine, Russia and Turkey begin preparatory work for the transit of Russian ammonia through Ukraine, a source close to the talks said on Wednesday.

Story continues

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, accused Russia of blocking all activity at the port of Pivdennyi, with 1.5 million tonnes of agricultural products unable to move.

"... the blockade of one port in Ukraine poses extremely serious risks for different nations, particularly those with relations that Russia tries to use for speculative purposes."

The U.N. and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Moscow and Kyiv last July to help tackle a global food crisis aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a leading grain exporter.

ARTILLERY FIRE INTENSIFIES IN BAKHMUT

Russian-installed officials in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region - one of four Moscow claims to have annexed - said Ukraine had killed five people and wounded 19 in a rocket attack on a farm in the village of Karpaty.

In the fiercely contested eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Russia was replacing Wagner private army troops with regular forces - paratroops and motorised rifle units - but intensifying its artillery shelling, Ukrainian military officials said on Wednesday night.

"The days to come will show whether the rotation strengthens or weakens them," Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern grouping of troops, told Ukrainian television.

Russia's defence ministry said it had pushed Ukrainian forces back around two settlements in Donetsk province, part of a 1,000-km (620-mile) front line that has barely moved despite months of fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

Reuters was not able to verify either side's reports.

REFINERIES HIT

Drones attacked two oil refineries 40-50 miles (65-80 km) east of Russia's biggest oil export terminals on Wednesday, according to Russian officials, who did not attribute blame. They said a fire at one of the terminals was later put out.

Ukrainian drones struck wealthy districts of Moscow on Tuesday and two people were injured, according to the Russian capital's mayor. The Kremlin said Moscow's air defences worked effectively but had room for improvement.

Russia's ambassador to Washington accused it of encouraging Ukraine to attack. The White House said it does not know who carried out the Moscow drone strikes but reiterated that the U.S. does not support attacks inside Russia.

The United States, Britain and Germany are among Western nations to have supplied arms to Ukraine on condition it uses them to defend itself and retake Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, which they say launched an unprovoked war of conquest.

The White House on Wednesday announced the latest in a series of U.S. aid packages for Ukraine that includes up to $300 million worth of air defence systems and ammunition.

Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" to neutralise a threat from Kyiv's moves towards the West.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth, Max Hunder, Olena Harmash, Valentyn Ogirenko, Gleb Garanich and Ron Popeski; writing by Philippa Fletcher, Mark Heinrich and Grant McCool; Editing by Sharon Singleton, William Maclean and Diane Craft)

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Russia reports hits on oil refineries and town near Ukraine - Yahoo! Voices

Among the latest aircraft to join the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense inventory following the full-scale Russian invasion is a Bell 427 helicopter, and one that appears to have a very unique history, having been the personal mount of Viktor Medvedchuk oligarch, pro-Russian politician, and close friend of Vladimir Putin. While the Bell 427 a twin-engine rotorcraft with the capacity to transport up to six passengers is not the most warlike addition to Ukraines fleet, its nonetheless a relatively modern type and one that could still be a very useful asset.

Photos that were recently posted to social media show the Bell 427, in an overall dark blue paint scheme, with a prominent maroon and yellow cheatline, and the oversized Ukrainian national roundel and flag emblazoned on the fuselage. The location and the date of these photos cannot presently be confirmed, although multiple accounts state that the operator is the Ukrainian Ministry of Defenses Main Directorate of Intelligence better known by its Ukrainian abbreviation GUR.

It seems this Bell 427 is the same aircraft that was among the assets belonging to Viktor Medvedchuk that were transferred to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense last year. In a Telegram post in July 2022, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine stated that a helicopter and airplane belonging to Medvedchuks family had been seized and turned over to the Defense Ministry. Although the statement didnt mention the particular types, accompanying photos showed a Bell 427 and a Gulfstream G650 bizjet. The Bell 427 has the Aruban civil registration P4-IKH and apparently wears a standard Bell factory color scheme.

A video showing Bell 427 P4-IKH, which previously belonged to Viktor Medvedchuk:

The statement said that the two aircraft were seized as part of criminal proceedings related to the alleged abuse of power or position, as well as misappropriation, embezzlement, or seizure of property through abuse of office, under the criminal code of Ukraine.

At the time, it was reported that the helicopter was valued at approximately $3 million, while the Gulfstream was valued at over $65 million.

As for Medvedchuk, he was arrested by Ukrainian authorities in April 2022, having escaped house arrest only four days after Russia began its full-scale invasion. In September 2022, Medvedchuk (together with 55 Russian prisoners of war) was exchanged for 215 Ukrainian POWs from the siege of Mariupol.

The Ukrainian authorities interest in Medvedchuk was hardly a surprise. The close ally of Putin was dubbed Russias main guy in Ukraine, having headed up a pro-Russian political party for many years. Medvedchuk also had a close personal connection with Putin, holidaying with the Russian leader, who was chosen as the godparent to Medvedchuks daughter, Daria. As well as his political activities, Medvedchuk was a prominent oligarch, with a business empire that spanned oil and media, and funded assets such as his aircraft fleet.

The whereabouts of the Gulfstream G650 bizjet are not currently known, but it seems that the Bell 427 is already being used by the GUR or is otherwise preparing to join it.

The Bell 427 is only in very limited military service, with one example serving the air force of Paraguay as a VIP transport. However, it saw more uptake as a platform for police work, with operators in this capacity being found in Argentina and Nigeria, for example. Other Bell 427s are also used for search and rescue work.

The photos originally published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs show Medvedchuks Bell 427 apparently immediately after its seizure, with a civilian-style interior including comfortable seating. Its not clear what if any, modifications have been made to the helicopter since. While the GRU might be using it as a VIP transport, its very possible that it has been adapted to undertake more specialized roles.

Should the GRU be using the Bell 427 to transport fully equipped personnel, for example, then the seating configuration will almost certainly have been adapted. Another option is that the seating has been replaced with a medical evacuation interior. Typically, the medevac Bell 427 is equipped to transport two stretcher patients and two medical attendants.

The Bell 427 is not the first Western helicopter design to have joined the fleet of the GRU since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.

In the past, The War Zone has reported on the U.S.-made UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter that the GRU is now using, including working with special forces units. The Main Directorate of Intelligence has also stated that the Black Hawk offers certain important advantages over the Soviet-designed Mi-8 Hip and Mi-24 Hind series helicopters, which it otherwise operates.

While the Bell 427 is in an entirely different class to any of these types, its conceivable that it could also have a role to play in medical evacuation, as well as the insertion and extraction of small teams of troops or special forces. Depending on how this particular Bell 427 is equipped in terms of avionics, it could also be better able to conduct night flights than other assets.

The Bell 427 is also notably small and relatively discreet, with a correspondingly smaller footprint and noise signature than the larger GRU rotorcraft. It also offers comparatively high speed, big power reserves for its size, and a very good level of maneuverability, at least compared with the much larger Mi-8. This, too, may make the Bell design better suited to certain covert operations, with the proviso that only a much smaller number of troops can be embarked.

The Ukrainian Bell 427 has no winch. Although troops could potentially still rappel down from the hovering helicopter, its by no means suitable for operating on any kind of contested battlefield, with no provision for self-protection features in its basic form. The GRUs UH-60, at least in its initial configuration, also doesnt seem to feature missile approach warning systems and countermeasures dispensers or other self-protection equipment, although this doesnt seem to have prevented it from undertaking more hazardous missions.

It is interesting, too, that Bell is also increasingly looking at options for doing exactly as Ukraine has done, and adapting civilian helicopters for armed conflict. Bell could potentially step in and offer a suitable modification package for Ukraine or offer mission kits. At the same time, Bell and others are seeing a broader opening for exporting civilian helicopters adapted for military uses as a result of the Ukraine war and subsequent Russian sanctions that have effectively removed spare parts and support for Russian types.

For now, we simply dont know what kind of missions the GRUs new helicopter is flying or will fly in the future and to what degree it has been adapted for military work. There is a question, too, about how the GRU trained personnel to fly and maintain the helicopter, although its worth noting that the UH-60 was apparently mastered remarkably quickly, being first flown by Ukrainian pilots on the day it was received.

Without a doubt, the Bell 427 is an interesting addition to an increasingly varied fleet. We have approached the GRU with a request for more information on this aircraft and we look forward to gaining more details about how it is being used.

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Oligarch's Bell 427 Is The Ukrainian Military's Latest Helicopter - The War Zone