I have instructed our government to come to the border between our countries by February 24; Ukraine seeks to resolve the situation on the border jointly and fairly – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

21 February 2024 – 16:34

Dear Ukrainians!

And all of Ukraine’s partners in our Europe, especially in Poland.

Now I would like to address everyone who remembers the full meaning of the word ‘solidarity.’ The word that changed the history of our entire Europe for the better so dramatically. This was the case. And in many ways it still is. However, we are now witnessing an excessive and unfair politicization that threatens to waste common achievements. In the same way as the Ukrainian grain that, unfortunately, the world saw flagrantly dumped from trucks and railroad cars on Polish roads. This is the grain that our farmers and peasants cultivate with great difficulty, despite all the hardships of ruthless Russian aggression. Despite the shelling. Often in fields that had to be cleared of mines. Despite the threat of elevators and businesses being burnt by missile and drone strikes. The cost of Ukrainian grain is special to us. Just like that of any other product generated by our economy at this time. As it is a wartime economy. These are the enterprises whose functioning enables Ukraine to provide for the frontline and preserve our independence – our freedom, and thus your freedom.

Ukraine will always remember Poland’s choice made on February 24 in response to the Russian invasion. It was a choice in favor of joint strength. In favor of winning the battles on the Dnipro together so that we would not have to look for ways to perform a new miracle on the Vistula. Millions of Poles have been and remain with us – in heart and in deed. And I am grateful to all of them. I am grateful to everyone who does not remain silent now and who calls for a fair solution for the sake of our common interests. I think everyone will understand that Ukraine cannot accept what is happening on the border between our countries. And even more so the appearance of outright pro-Putin slogans there. This is wrong. This is anti-solidarity. And, in particular, in yesterday’s case with our grain dumped from the railroad car, this was also simply dishonest. Because not a single gram of that grain was heading to Poland for sale, it was not intended for the Polish market. Currently, there is not a single approval for the export of grain from Ukraine to Poland. Although this is obviously unprofitable for Ukrainian producers, we are sticking to it because relations with Poland are an absolute priority for our national security. Our partnership – between Ukraine and Poland – is about safeguarding national security, both ours and yours. And this agricultural trade story has been dragging on for many months already. A lot has happened over this time. However, it’s evident to all that politics significantly outweigh economics in this situation. And it is only Moscow that is rejoicing now. When our Ukrainian drivers are blocked on Polish roads, it means that politicians should intensify a real dialogue. At all levels. And ensure the result.

Ukraine appreciates relations with Poland – all aspects of our relations. People-to-people contacts. Defense and political cooperation, which always makes our nations stronger. Cooperation in Europe. And, of course, we value our economic relations, our cooperation in trade. And we want to preserve all this. Ukraine seeks to resolve the situation on the border jointly and fairly, in a completely pragmatic manner.

I would like to address Polish society and express Ukraine’s gratitude to all those who distinguish between political manipulations and fundamental issues of national security. I would like to address the Polish government – Mr. Prime Minister Tusk and the ministers. I have instructed our government to come to the border between our countries in the near future, by February 24. The Prime Minister of Ukraine, our entire government, from logistics to the agricultural sector, and, of course, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, as this blockade on the border, unfortunately, increases the threat to the weapons supply to our guys at the front. And I urge you, Donald, Mr. Prime Minister, to come to the border as well. And Andrzej, Mr. President, I urge you to support this dialogue. This is national security. We must not delay this. The next few days give us a chance to do so. I am also ready to come to the border with our government. And I want to address the European Commission now: we must preserve unity in Europe. This is the EU’s fundamental interest. That is why Ukraine urges the European Commission to have its representative involved in this meeting – for the sake of common interests and an end to political manipulation.

We have had enough of Moscow’s presence in our lands. We have had enough of misunderstandings. We should not humiliate each other, we should not humiliate either Ukrainian or Polish farmers. We need unity. We need solutions – between us, Ukraine and Poland, and at the level of the whole of Europe.

We can do everything to turn this disagreeable page and make the next chapter of our relations one of cooperation and mutual strength again.

Glory to Ukraine!

Now we wait to see what Poland and the European Commission does.

Take this to heart:

🇬🇧🇺🇦 Powerful words from a British volunteer fighting Russian imperialism on Ukraine summing up some recent events we have faced. pic.twitter.com/6vIatVzJXT

— Intermarium 24 (@intermarium24) February 21, 2024

100%!!

Two years ago yesterday https://t.co/oUb7He57Hg

— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) February 21, 2024

Three days later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Six months after, it annexed Donetsk and Luhansk – exactly as the trembling Naryshkin blurted out. pic.twitter.com/cS3nqP6KtX

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) February 21, 2024

Avdiivka (sort of):

Andrey Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, has reportedly died by suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.https://t.co/55YQSnzPik

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) February 21, 2024

From The Guardian:

Andrey Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, has reportedly died by suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

Morozov, who went by the pseudonym Murz on Telegram, was an ultra-nationalist commentator who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and participated in Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

On Sunday, Morozov wrote to his 120,000 followers on Telegram that Russia lost 16,000 personnel and 300 pieces of armour during its months-long capture of Avdiivka. The post drew heavy criticism from senior Russian propagandists, who accused the blogger of “slandering the Russian defence ministry”.

In Morozov’s final messages on Tuesday morning, he announced his suicide and said he was pressured by his superiors to delete the post detailing the number of casualties in Avdiivka. Several people close to Morozov on Tuesday confirmed his death, with some saying that he had shot himself.

Triggered in part by the rebellion by then-Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin last year largely cracked down on voices such as Morozov, who once was part of a loud group of ultra-nationalist hawks who criticised Moscow over shortages of weapons and accused the Russian military leadership of hiding the true death toll among its forces.

Russia hides its war losses and the true casualty toll from its invasion of Ukraine remains a secret, though western officials believe the war has cost the country more than 315,000 dead and injured troops.

Avdiivka, which once had a population of 32,000, fell to Russia on Saturday, presenting Vladimir Putin with his biggest battlefield victory since Russian forces captured the city of Bakhmut in May 2023.

The city holds particular symbolism for Russia as it was taken in 2014 by Moscow-backed separatists who seized a swathe of eastern Ukraine but then recaptured by Ukrainian troops.

Russia’s manpower and artillery advantage overwhelmed Ukrainian forces in Adviivka, but Moscow appears to have incurred a staggering number of casualties during the offensive.

The UK Ministry of Defence earlier estimated in a military briefing that Russia lost at least “400 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and other hardware, as well as likely thousands of personnel” during the campaign to capture Avdiivka.

Ukraine said that more than 17,000 Russian soldiers were killed in the five months-long fight for Avdiivka, a figure that closely matches the estimates made by Morozov.

Ukraine too suffered heavily during the defence of the city.

Much more at the link.

IN THE SERVICE OF THE FORCE OF EVIL

Standing in a line at the local military recruitment center in Bucha this morning, I, just like everyone else online, saw this quite a piece of news – widely known Russian militant and blogger Andrey 'Murz' Morozov had shot himself to death.…

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) February 21, 2024

IN THE SERVICE OF THE FORCE OF EVIL

Standing in a line at the local military recruitment center in Bucha this morning, I, just like everyone else online, saw this quite a piece of news – widely known Russian militant and blogger Andrey ‘Murz’ Morozov had shot himself to death.

If you know this war of ours, you, of course, know Murz. Born and raised in Moscow, he was a fierce Stalinist, a long-time activist and advocate of Russian imperialism, and a militant fighting against Ukraine since 2014.

Unlike many of his fellow ‘comrades’, he wasn’t a complete idiot.

Murz failed to find a place for himself and his talents in a peaceful life at home.

But he found his niche in his zealous hatred for Ukraine (which was morbidly guilty of being an independent nation having its own language, culture, and way of life), as well as war.

Murz was known for his frantic and highly effective advocation of innovations in the Russian military (top-notch communications, drones, etc.) and his endless criticism of the Russian military system as incompetent and archaic.

See, the Russian military, in his view, was deeply ineffective in eliminating Ukriane. Hand on heart, he was known for saying and doing many things that were fixing that ‘problem, ‘ making him an even more dangerous enemy.

The guy was living in the sort of world of Warhammer 40K, in which he was among the Last True Soldiers of the Empire, dedicating every heartbeat of his to the Great Purpose — which was never anything at least a bit more complex than ‘we’ll conquer them all and exterminate them all, and thus the kingdom shall come.’

At the end of the day, among numerous posts on Telegram came the one – in which Murz said out loud that Russia had had at least 16,000 fatalities in capturing the ruins of Avdiivka.

As you know, the shitstorm that followed was brutal, even by Russian standards.

The Kremlin’s propagandists, from inside their warm studios in downtown Moscow, immediately launched an all-out smear campaign, yelling ‘Traitor!’ and demanding that Murz be kicked in his fat face and executed as a ‘saboteur’ — in keeping with the best traditions of Stalinism that Murz himself wanted so much.

Even Vladimir Soloviyov, the supreme priest of the Kremlin cult of hatred, was unleashed.

Murz’s colonel, upon order, made Murz delete the Avdiivka post – and that was the final straw.

What came next was a long death note on Telegram, in Murz’s usual graphomanic style, and a fatal shot in the head.

The evil devours its slaves without a second thought, especially when it comes to the most faithful and blind zealots who think too highly of themselves.

The evil despises them even stronger than it hates us.

There goes Murz’s former buddy Igor Girkin-Strelkov. Upon a mission from Russia’s FSB, he invaded Ukraine with a bunch of cutthroats, captured the city of Slovyansk, and incited a bloodletting regional war.

He committed countless crimes and atrocities, including the ill-fated downing of the MH-17 flight. Only to be dumped as an unemployed, blood-thirsty anti-Semitic freak from Moscow and eventually end up in prison as an ‘extremist.’

There goes Murz’s late buddy Igor ‘Bereg’ Mangushev — that sick fuck who once did a standup performance in a Russian club holding the skull of a dead Ukrainian Azovstal soldier in his hands.

Well, Mangushev also had a dream of seeing Kyiv die in flames, but he eventually ended up getting his own skull splintered with a bullet fired by Wagner mercenaries.

Murz was really sad and tried to seek justice!

We seem to be forgetting that guy Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who became almost literally the Oscar Dirlewanger of the 21st century in the Kremlin’s service.

He and his ‘unofficial mercenary army’ known for its sledgehammer executions exterminated tens of thousands in insane ‘meat grinder assaults’ at Bakhmut for money and power — despite being clearly aware of what kind of unbelievable horseshit that dirty slaughter against Ukraine was about and being quite vocal about that.

And as you know, along with Wagner, a big fan of Nazi tattoos, he only ended up lying ripped to pieces on his private jet’s crash site when Putin gave an order.

I’m not even talking about countless ‘legendary warlords’ and ‘militia leaders’ assassinated in their cars, blown up in elevators, or burnt alive after their masters had decided to get rid of them. We’ve seen dozens of them over the decade of this dirty war.

The result of what they all did is hundreds of thousands of dead. Entire Ukrainian cities and regions razed to ashes that will likely never see any life again. Bloodlust and savagery not seen in Europe for decades. Mass graves and the most abominable lies not heard since the days of Joseph Goebbels.

Their souls are pitch black and smell like cadaver stench.

And what’s that for? For the megalomanic ambitions of an aging dictator who got so mad after decades in absolute power as to declare himself chosen by ‘history’ to decide who deserves to be a nation and who doesn’t?

In his death note, Murz somehow found a way to refer to the Samurai code, as well as the Terminator movie he admired (…yep, the big-time hater of the sick American culture…), to explain his reasons for dying.

In his final moments, he was still persuading (himself) that despite the ugly death machine turning fully against him, it was all still about a grand high-minded and noble war on ‘Ukrainian Nazis’ in which Kyiv and Paris must be seized and destroyed.

And that is supposed to be the GREAT VICTORY that needs to be achieved even though ‘swindlers’ thinking about nothing but their wealth quite expectedly failed with their ‘risky gambit’ against Ukraine, thus giving a start to a big war.

The result of Murz’s 10 years in the service of evil is the shot in the head — which was immediately ridiculed by the very ‘journalists building their careers on lies from TV screens’ (in Murz’s words) who had helped create this world — in which Russia ditches 16,000 men to erase a provincial town in Ukraine’s Donbas and NEEDS to erase Paris, too, because ‘Ukrainians are Nazis.’

Full text of the letter that the late Murz promised to publish before killing himself. The letter was authored by a serviceman of the 1487 Regiment of the RF armed formations which took part in the Avdiivka battle.

It lists the lack of weapons and transport provided, losses of… pic.twitter.com/cdPIpvc85R

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) February 21, 2024

Full text of the letter that the late Murz promised to publish before killing himself. The letter was authored by a serviceman of the 1487 Regiment of the RF armed formations which took part in the Avdiivka battle.

It lists the lack of weapons and transport provided, losses of 70% of the regiment, complete lack of medical examinations and treatment, and transfer to the “Veterans” PMC which is connected to Putin himself. This PMC consists of criminals who do not show up on the frontline but claim the “successes” of the regiment.

The main complaint from Murz was that this 1487 Regiment was not even mentioned in Putin’s telegram listing units that took part in the occupation of Avdiivka.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast:

‼️Very telling interview with a Russian collaborator and a faux governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Yevgeny Balitsky about what was happening to Ukrainians who opposed Russian occupation at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Not only does Balitsky openly… pic.twitter.com/FloKwWu6ZP

— Natalka (@NatalkaKyiv) February 21, 2024

‼️Very telling interview with a Russian collaborator and a faux governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Yevgeny Balitsky about what was happening to Ukrainians who opposed Russian occupation at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Not only does Balitsky openly admit to forced deportations (which are war crimes) but he also hints at executions of the pro-Ukrainian residents of Melitopol.

It’d be interesting to know how his new masters feel about Balitsky allowing people he knew to ‘escape’.

FYI: When Balitsky talks about not being a Tolstoy follower he’s referring to the Tolstoyan movement that is comprised of Christian pacifists.

#RussiaUkraineWar #Russia #Ukraine #WarCrimes

The Oleshky forest, Russian occupied Kherson:

/1. Yesterday, Russians reported about the strike on a lined up Russian infantry formation in Donetsk region. Today the similar incident happened in the Oleshky forest area of the Kherson region. https://t.co/fpDV2in9Tr pic.twitter.com/LUsLMoxPaW

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 21, 2024

/3. Video shows strike on two formations of Russian infarntry.
First strike – (46.5441877, 33.1009956)
Second strike – (46.5435174, 33.0982292)

Those are located at a distance of a bit over 200 meters from each other. Oleshky Sands, near Podo-Kalynivka, Kherson region.… pic.twitter.com/TSf512ieYM

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 21, 2024

Here’s the full text of the second tweet:

/2. Ukrainian source comment regarding the strike:

«A training ground near Podo-Kalinovka, Kherson region, the leadership of the “Dnepr”group arrived to check the fire training of Russian units that are preparing to attack the village of Krynky. Joint training was conducted by units of the 328th Air Assault Regiment, 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade and 81st Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment. The command staff and about 60 soldiers were destroyed»

https://t.me/vanek_nikolaev/21638

And of the third:

/3. Video shows strike on two formations of Russian infarntry.
First strike – (46.5441877, 33.1009956)
Second strike – (46.5435174, 33.0982292)

Those are located at a distance of a bit over 200 meters from each other. Oleshky Sands, near Podo-Kalynivka, Kherson region. Approximately 22km from the frontline.

Trudivske, Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:

/1. Russian sources report that there was a strike on Russian military training grounds in Trudivske area, Donetsk region. Russian sources regarding this:

“In Trudivske the formation of (ВЧ06705) fighters was organized at one of the training grounds, they were waiting for the… pic.twitter.com/rfegLoZC13

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 20, 2024

/1. Russian sources report that there was a strike on Russian military training grounds in Trudivske area, Donetsk region. Russian sources regarding this:

“In Trudivske the formation of (ВЧ06705) fighters was organized at one of the training grounds, they were waiting for the big boss (We are finding out which one), the enemy hit with cluster munitions, as a result of which 65 people died.

I have videos and photos, but I won’t post them just now, FOR NOW.

The enemies have already written about this, all the information in detail, although there are no footages from the scene on the enemies’ channels now, I don’t want to be the primary source of this nightmare.

65 lives, 65 guys will not return home alive, because of the whim of the headquarters ghoul, and this is only in the morning, now the figure is probably different…”

Krynky, the left bank of the Dnipro, Russian not so occupied Kherson Oblast:

Krynky are ours! Almost… As Romanov puts it:

"Krynki, Kherson region, Russia.
– the current zone under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is marked in blue;
– red dot – the point where the footage was taken the previous day on the western outskirts of the village.
/ as… pic.twitter.com/fegmqE1qsg

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) February 20, 2024

Krynky are ours! Almost… As Romanov puts it:

“Krynki, Kherson region, Russia.
– the current zone under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is marked in blue;
– red dot – the point where the footage was taken the previous day on the western outskirts of the village.
/ as comrades aware of the situation note – all the hype about the supposed liberation of the settlement was organized for the purpose of obtaining the rank of general by a certain individual.”

The Donbas:

Ukrainian defenders are talented in everything. 
Moisei Bondarenko, the AFU's junior sergeant, performed "Everybody Knows" on the Donbas slagheaps. pic.twitter.com/MPGZVjZL3j

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 21, 2024

Belarus:

Tatarigami and his Frontelligence Insight group have published a new assessment regarding what Russian forces are doing in Belarus. First tweet from the thread, the rest from the Thread Reader App:

What are Russian forces currently doing in Belarus? How has the Belarusian army evolved since 2022? Is another invasion from Belarus imminent? Rochan Consulting, in collaboration with Frontelligence Insight, answers these key questions.

Kindly like, share, and follow.

🧵Thread pic.twitter.com/Sm4HM6cAzo

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) February 21, 2024

2/ The Belarusian Forces have not significantly changed since the invasion. Modernization is slow, with no notable increase in personnel. Minsk’s aggressive rhetoric contrasts with its defensive posture. However, there have been some important changes. 

3/ Belarusians conducted brigade-level drills, which had never occurred previously. More importantly, in September 2023, Minsk launched the first-ever bilateral exercise when they placed one operational command against the other

4/ Belarus Armed Forces now have a three-tier structure. The first includes operational forces (regular army), the second is Territorial Defence Forces (TDF), and the last is People’s Militia. 

5/ Сall-ups via SMS were introduced. Previously, a call-up was to be delivered by post or a courier. Now, troops are mobilized almost instantly, significantly increasing the country’s mobilization readiness. 

6/ The 2024 budget brought an additional BYN 0.7 billion increase to the armed forces spending, which means that their budget has increased by 350% since 2018 and 200% since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

7/ In early January 2024, Radio Svaboda confirmed a military camp construction near Gomel. Satellite imagery analysis suggests that the construction is unfinished and is unlikely to have a significant impact, with the primary site at the moment covering a mere 650 square meters

8/ While Wagner PMC still trains with the Belarusian Armed Forces, their primary focus is on joint exercises with Belarusian Internal Troops. They work on enhancing the force’s capacity for missions like storming buildings, sniper operations, first aid, and explosives handling

9/ The overall Wagner presence in the country significantly dropped by 2024. Satellite imagery comparison reveals a significant reduction in the size of Wagner’s camp in Tsel, where Prigozhin and multiple Wagner commanders temporarily stayed before being assassinated in Russia.

10/ Regular Russian troop presence in Belarus is limited, with Moscow maintaining a modest air presence. Two S-400 battalions, supplemented by Pantsir-S1 units, are positioned in Southern Belarus at the Prybytki and Velikii Bokov air bases.

11/ The Belarusian Forces is a mobilization force. They maintain 4 mechanized brigades, each fielding 5 battalions (3 mechanized and 2 tanks). Yet, the peacetime posture of these formations means that they are only manned in 30-40% and mobilization would be needed. 

12/ Equipment fielded is still mostly of Soviet legacy, and although some efforts have been made in recent years to field modern samples, such as modernized T-72s, S-400s, Iskanders, or Su-30SMs, the armed forces are largely obsolete.

13/ As a result, the probability of Belarus directly entering the war against Ukraine is currently low. However, as Minsk is capable of applying pressure on NATO’s eastern flank through hybrid activities, shifts within the Belarusian Armed Forces require close observations. 

14/ Currently, no evidence indicates preparations for an invasion of Ukraine from the North. The limited Russian presence in Belarus is insufficient to replicate the 2022 scenario. While this doesn’t guarantee the situation won’t change, any preparations would not go unnoticed. 

15/ If you found this useful, please like and share the initial message in this thread, as our posts on Ukrainian topics are currently facing reduced visibility. Kindly follow us to stay updated

Consider supporting us as we solely rely on your support

Tatarigami_UA is All Source Public IntelligenceSatellite imagery and other expenses https://buymeacoffee.com/frontelligence

Should you prefer you can go to Frontelligence Insight and read the whole report.

Reuters has reported the details regarding the ballistic missiles Iran is supplying to Russia:

DUBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, six sources told Reuters, deepening the military cooperation between the two U.S.-sanctioned countries.

Iran’s provision of around 400 missiles includes many from the Fateh-110 family of short-range ballistic weapons, such as the Zolfaghar, three Iranian sources said. This road-mobile missile is capable of striking targets at a distance of between 300 and 700 km (186 and 435 miles), experts say.
Iran’s defence ministry and the Revolutionary Guards – an elite force that oversees Iran’s ballistic missile programme – declined to comment. Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The shipments began in early January after a deal was finalised in meetings late last year between Iranian and Russian military and security officials that took place in Tehran and Moscow, one of the Iranian sources said.

An Iranian military official – who, like the other sources, asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information – said there had been at least four shipments of missiles and there would be more in the coming weeks. He declined to provide further details.

Another senior Iranian official said some of the missiles were sent to Russia by ship via the Caspian Sea, while others were transported by plane.

“There will be more shipments,” the second Iranian official said. “There is no reason to hide it. We are allowed to export weapons to any country that we wish to.”

U.N. Security Council restrictions on Iran’s export of some missiles, drones and other technologies expired in October. However, the United States and European Union retained sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile programme amid concerns over exports of weapons to its proxies in the Middle East and to Russia.

A fourth source, familiar with the matter, confirmed that Russia had received a large number of missiles from Iran recently, without providing further details.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said in early January the United States was concerned that Russia was close to acquiring short-range ballistic weapons from Iran, in addition to missiles already sourced from North Korea.

A U.S. official told Reuters that Washington had seen evidence of talks actively advancing but no indication yet of deliveries having taken place.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the missile deliveries.

Ukraine’s top prosecutor said on Friday the ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea to Russia had proven unreliable on the battlefield, with only two of 24 hitting their targets. Moscow and Pyongyang have both denied that North Korea has provided Russia with munitions used in Ukraine.

By contrast, Jeffrey Lewis, an expert with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, said the Fateh-110 family of missiles and the Zolfaghar were precision weapons.

“They are used to point at things that are high value and need precise damage,” said Lewis, adding that 400 munitions could inflict considerable harm if used in Ukraine. He noted, however, that Russian bombardments were already “pretty brutal”.

A Ukrainian military source told Reuters that Kyiv had not registered any use of Iranian ballistic missiles by Russian forces in the conflict. The Ukrainian defence ministry did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request for comment.

Following the publication of this story, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force told national television that it had no official information on Russia obtaining such missiles. He said that ballistic missiles would pose a serious threat to Ukraine.

Former Ukrainian defence minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk said that Russia wanted to supplement its missile arsenal at a time when delays in approving a major package of U.S. military aid in Congress has left Ukraine short of ammunition and other material.

“The lack of U.S. support means shortages of ground-based air defence in Ukraine. So they want to accumulate a mass of rockets and break through Ukrainian air defence,” said Zagorodnyuk, who chairs the Kyiv-based Centre for Defence Strategies, a security think tank, and advises the government.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked Tehran to stop supplying Shahed drones to Russia, which have become a staple of Moscow’s long-range assaults on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, alongside an array of missiles.

Ukraine’s air force said in December that Russia had launched 3,700 Shahed drones during the war, which can fly hundreds of kilometres and explode on impact. Ukrainians call them “mopeds” because of the distinctive sound of their engines; air defences down dozens of them each week.

Iran initially denied supplying drones to Russia but months later said it had provided a small number before Moscow launched the war on Ukraine in 2022.

“Those who accuse Iran of providing weapons to one of the sides in the Ukraine war are doing so for political purposes,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday, when asked about Tehran’s delivery of drones to Russia. “We have not given any drones to take part in that war.”

Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based think tank, said a supply of Fateh-100 and Zolfaghar missiles from Iran would hand Russia an even greater advantage on the battlefield.

“They could be used to strike military targets at operational depths, and ballistic missiles are more difficult for Ukrainian air defences to intercept,” Lee said.

More at the link.

That’s enough for tonight.

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♬ New Home by Austin Farwell SLOWED – avdloss

Here’s the machine translation of the caption:

When they called me on the radio and only Mykhailo answered 🤥 #песпатрон

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Open thread!