The US has announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine worth up to $350 million, including HIMARS ammunition, artillery shells, HARM anti-radiation missiles, mortars, AT-4 anti-armour weapons, demining equipment, fuel tankers and riverine patrol boats.
Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin has likely lost access to recruiting in Russian prisons amid his feud with the Defence Ministry, UK intelligence says, estimating about half of the convicts Wagner deployed have become casualties and new recruitment won’t fill the gap.
Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova effectively confirmed that Moscow uses a variety of schemes to deport Ukrainian children to Russia, in comments meant to rebut Western accusations of illegality, the Institute for the Study of War says.
Iran secretly supplied Russia with large quantities of bullets, rockets and mortar shells for its war in Ukraine, Sky News reports, citing a source who said two Russian-flagged cargo ships carried about 100 million rounds and 300,000 shells across the Caspian in January.
Western-made components continue to reach Russia and are found inside weapons used in suspected war crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including Iskander, Kh-101 and Kalibr missiles, according to a report by Ukraine’s Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, NAKO.
Ukraine will be ready for a counteroffensive in the spring, and one of its main goals will be to drive a wedge into Russia’s front in the south between occupied Crimea and mainland Russia, says Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence.
The United States has formally determined that Russia committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said at the Munich Security Conference, citing atrocities in Bucha and Mariupol and vowing that those responsible will be held accountable.
Russia’s Defence Ministry is recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine, an indicator that the Kremlin, like the Wagner Group, intends to use convicts in future assaults despite their limited combat effectiveness, the Institute for the Study of War says in its assessment.
Russia is withdrawing the Dmitry Donskoi, the world’s largest nuclear submarine by displacement, from active duty and striking it from its list of warships, Russian and Ukrainian media reported, marking the end of the Soviet-era Typhoon class in Russian service.
Ukraine will not use longer-range weapons promised by the United States to strike Russian territory, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said, after Washington announced a $2.17 billion package including Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs for HIMARS launchers.
Russia is preparing a new wave of mobilisation targeting residents of central regions, especially Moscow, Ukraine’s military intelligence says, alleging recruiters are visiting workplaces and patrols are being told to treat any group of more than 20 people as suspicious.
Vladimir Putin’s reorganisation of Russia’s economy and military-industrial complex shows Moscow is preparing for a continued large-scale, long-term war, Ukraine’s military intelligence says, pointing also to Valery Gerasimov’s appointment as commander in Ukraine.
