SUMMARY OF THE UKRAINE SITUATION TODAY

[Michael Grove]

     Live coverage of the all the latest developments
     in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine ...

[Michael Grove]

Ukraine was my dream - and not just my dream. Ukraine broke away from the imperial and Soviet past in December 1991, three weeks before the USSR collapsed. The country started a new stage outside of the Kremlin’s matrix. In the 2000s, Ukraine consistently rejected the Kremlin’s new construct: the “Russian World,” the idea of a great empire, dogmas of slavery, autocracy, and terror, and became its own idea of liberty, democracy, and justice. Freedom defines Ukraine. I felt it as a child, in the waves, in the air that vibrated with freedom, and I feel it now, as I report from Ukrainian cities and villages burned and destroyed by Russia. 

Zarina Zabrisky - BYLINE Supplement

[Michael Grove]

[IT] should be noted that the majority of these Russian sources present their research and findings as describing not Russia’s own approaches, but the approaches which they say are adopted by foreignpowers seeking to harm Russia. In some cases, the principles described reflect not home-grown theory, but Russian adoption of what it believes to be Western practice.

[Michael Grove]

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has long pleaded for tanks, which would be key to punching through Russian defences in a Ukrainian counter-offensive to regain its territory. So this hammer blow for Vladimir Putin will now [BE] enacted as Ukraine [IS] to get 200 tanks from the West, such that Kyiv will become the ‘real punching fist of democracy’ after these breakthrough donations from Germany and US, that could turn the tide of war. Meanwhile, Switzerland, which has a long-held tradition of neutrality, appeared to be moving towards allowing other countries to re-export Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine - including Piranha tanks and anti-aircraft guns.

[Michael Grove]

As the war in Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, there is no end in sight to the fighting. Hoping to boost its success on the battlefield, Kyiv has been pressing the West for months to provide its most modern tanks as both sides dig in for the long haul. The U.S. has been reluctant to fulfill the request - citing fuel consumption, training and maintenance - and supplying powerful direct offensive weapons in the conflict appeared to be a red line... until now.

Meet the M1 Abrams: Looking to break a diplomatic logjam with Germany, the Biden administration is set to provide several dozen of its main battle tanks to Ukraine in a major policy reversal. Berlin had said it would only send their domestically made Leopard 2 tanks if the U.S. sent the Abrams first, while the U.K. and Poland piled on the pressure by announcing plans for their own tank deliveries. While the latest decision will heal the divisions, getting the tanks over to Ukraine could still take months, or even a year. Officials have said the tanks would be supplied under an upcoming Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, meaning the package wouldn't result in another drawdown of U.S. stock, but would rather come from a new contract or a refurbishment of Abrams tanks from another country. See all the U.S. equipment committed to Ukraine and their replacement contract status.

[Michael Grove]

 “The big battle is coming this spring, or even

  before,” Vitaly said. Whether it arrives here or

  something else along the 750-mile frontline, the

  storm is expected to break this spring, ushering

  in what may prove to the most intense phase of

  the war so far.

  The third phase is about to start, an all-out battle

  for decisive advantage using combined arms –

  mechanised infantry, artillery, air power and

  possibly waterborne assault – to overcome fixed

  positions. The world has not seen anything like it

  since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, while Europe

  has witnessed nothing of its sort since the second  

  world war.

                                 Julian Borger in Huliaipole - THE GUARDIAN

[Michael Grove]

What more would you expect from a nation whose ex-Stasi leader Putin had only recently left Dresden, when I was being flown there to begin the process of establishing an exemplar Interactive  Multimedia Bureau, as part and parcel of the Digital Network which was [BE]ing installed city-wide at that [TIME].

[Michael Grove]

...

Russia 'to increase air defences to counter Finland's Nato accession'

Russia plans to increase air defences over its north-western border to counter Finland’s accession to Nato, a commander in its aerospace forces has said, Reuters reports.

Lt Gen Andrei Demin, the deputy commander-in-chief of aerospace forces, also said further reforms of Russian air defences were “undoubtedly planned and will be implemented”.

[Michael Grove]

With almost all the votes counted, Fico’s Smer party led with about 23 percent, according to the Slovak Statistics Office, followed by Michal Simecka’s Progressive Slovakia, with just under 18 percent.

The results mean the country is headed for a coalition government, with neither of the largest two parties winning enough support to command a parliamentary majority. If Fico’s Smer leads that coalition, it could reverse Slovakia’s strong support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

“We think Ukraine is a great tragedy for everyone involved,” Fico said in a news conference after the results were in. “And if Smer gets to form a government, we will do everything we can — also within the E.U. — to start peace talks as quickly as possible. Further killing won’t benefit anyone.” He also said Smer is prepared to continue providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and predicted it would take two weeks to form a coalition.

Washington Post

https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?trackId=5c9582c7ae7e8a468e5f...

[Michael Grove]

RUSSIAN MISSILES avoiding interception in UKRAINE

https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/1590/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/1590/pub/1590/page/48/article/NaN

[Michael Grove]

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has admitted publicly for the first time that he is seeking to replace the country’s most senior military commander, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

“A reset, a new beginning is necessary,” Zelensky told the Italian outlet Rai News in an interview broadcast on Sunday night, when asked about rumours of Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal.

Zaluzhnyi, who has led the armed forces since before Russia’s full-scale invasion, is a largely popular figure among soldiers and society at large, meaning replacing him could be a politically risky decision.

At a meeting last Monday, Zelenskiy told Zaluzhnyi he planned to replace him, according to those with knowledge of the conversation, and offered the general a chance to resign. But Zaluzhnyi refused to step down. When news of the conversation leaked, Zelenskiy’s press secretary, Serhiy Nykyforov, denied it.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/05/ukraine-leadership-ch...