Washington CNN — The US is finalizing plans to send approximately 30 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, two US officials familiar with the deliberations told CNN. The Biden administration announcement to send the US-made tanks could come as early as this week, CNN reported earlier Tuesday. The timing around the actual delivery of the tanks is … Read more
Kyiv, Ukraine CNN — President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired a slew of senior Ukrainian officials amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies, in the biggest shakeup of his government since Russia’s invasion began. During his nightly address on Monday evening, Zelensky announced he was banning government officials from traveling abroad … Read more
Kyiv CNN — Wagner Group fighters have become the disposable infantry of the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, but a Ukrainian military intelligence document obtained by CNN sets out how effective they have been around the city of Bakhmut – and how difficult they are to fight against. Wagner is a private military contractor run … Read more
CNN — The US and Israel launched their largest joint military exercise ever on Monday, sending a clear signal to Iran and underscoring the strength of their alliance despite concerns over the composition of the new Israeli government which includes ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties. The live-fire exercise, named Juniper Oak, will include 100 US aircraft … Read more
Pripyat, Ukraine CNN — A few kilometers from the Belarus border, Ukrainian forces are training for what they expect to be a brutal spring. Aging T-72 tanks – some twice the age of their crews – fire off rounds into the mist, while ground troops practice storming abandoned buildings. Some of the training takes place … Read more
Bakhmut, Ukraine CNN — An excavator gouges huge chunks of rich brown earth by the roadside, depositing the dirt at the edge of the lengthening trench. Soldiers shovel more dirt out of the trench, well inside the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. The officer in charge, who gives his name only as … Read more
Seoul, South Korea CNN — As China continues to grow what is already the world’s largest navy, a professor at the US Naval War College has a warning for American military planners: In naval warfare, the bigger fleet almost always wins. Pentagon leaders have identified China as the US military’s “pacing threat.” But fleet size … Read more
CNN — Last fall, as Ukraine won back large swaths of territory in a series of counterattacks, it pounded Russian forces with American-made artillery and rockets. Guiding some of that artillery was a homemade targeting system that Ukraine developed on the battlefield. A piece of Ukrainian-made software has turned readily available tablet computers and smartphones … Read more
CNN — As President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met privately in Tokyo last year, Biden delivered a message that was as strategic as it was genuine. US support for a more assertive defense and security posture from Japan was understood, but Biden made it clear that if there was anything he … Read more
CNN — The US and Japan are set to announce a significant strengthening of their military relationship and upgrading of the US military’s force posture in the country this week, including the stationing of a newly redesignated Marine unit with advanced intelligence, surveillance capabilities and the ability to fire anti -ship missiles, according to two … Read more
