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Turkish Bayraktar TB2 have destroyed more than 800 Russian targets in ongoing war between Russian and Ukraine including two Ilyushin IL-76 strategic airlifter and more than 120 tanks Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial reconnaissance and strike vehicles turned out to be quite an effective weapon in the fight against various kinds of targets. As it turned out, these drones showed the greatest efficiency in the fight against MLRS, air defence systems and tanks, destroying more than 120 units of heavy combat vehicles and more than 280 missile launchers, although drones even account for combat aircraft and helicopters. According to statistics published...

A Pentagon official, whose name was withheld, told Reuters news agency that the ship sank as a result of two Neptune missiles from Ukraine hitting Moscow, calling it a "big blow" for Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry announced yesterday that the cruiser ship named Moscow in the Black Sea was severely damaged as a result of a fire and explosion, and confirmed reports that the ship sank in the evening. Late Thursday, Russian state media reported that the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Moscow ship had sunk. According to the agencies, the ministry, "While moving towards the targeted port,...

Ukrainian pilot has been killed in combat while fighting against Russian forces, just days after he was honoured for his bravery by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Major Anton Lystopad, who was awarded the title of the best pilot of Ukraine's air force in 2019, died in action. His death comes just days after Lystopad was honoured by Zelensky with the prestigious award, the Order of Courage, 3rd class, for his 'courage, bravery and professionalism'.

Even though the Battle of Donbas is far from over, Ukraine is expected to open the next chapter of the war sometime in the near future — a highly anticipated, major counter-offensive operation in the south, particularly to liberate the Russian-occupied city of Kherson. Kyiv has declared its intentions to liberate the only regional capital captured by Russia following the Feb. 24 full-scale invasion. Experts across the world agree that retaking Kherson is the most feasible way for Ukraine to score a major victory over Russia and turn the tide of the war. As part of a counter-offensive operation, Ukraine...

{UPDATE} As has been discussed at length, initial reports were incorrect and this was almost certainly a Ukrainian MIG-29. Photos at the scene of the crash and reports from reliable UAF sources have confirmed this. We apologize for the error and will do our best to ensure information is as accurate as we can before reporting. In those cases we still manage to get something wrong, we will acknowledge and correct it.

POKROVSK, Ukraine — Camouflaged in a heap of branches cut from nearby trees, the weapon that Ukraine hopes will make a critical difference in its war with Russia is all but invisible from more than a few feet away. Soon, a single round shoots out with a boom and a howling, metallic shriek as it sails toward Russian positions. It is the American-made M777 howitzer. It shoots farther, moves faster and is hidden more easily, and it’s what the Ukrainian military has been waiting for. Three months into the war in Ukraine, the first M777s — the most lethal weapons...

A Ukrainian air force MiG-29 fighter shot down one of the Russian air force’s best jets—an Su-35—near Russian-occupied Kherson on Friday, according to the Ukrainian defense ministry. The dramatic shoot-down, which reportedly took place as the Su-35 was chasing down Ukrainian attack planes, signaled an even more dramatic development on the ground. Ukrainian army formations supported by American-made M-777 howitzers crossed the Inhulets River around the town of Davydiv Brid, 50 miles northeast of Kherson. The Russians fell back to a trio of towns a few miles to the southwest. Towns whose defenses the Ukrainian general staff described as...

Just before Easter, the Russians announced that they had accomplished all of their pre-invasion objectives and were beginning a new phase. The new phase required the abandonment of Russia’s attempt to seize control of Kiev and focus the war on gaining control of Donbas and establishing a land bridge from Russia to Crimea (read Ukraine’s Future Depends on These Three Fights That Russia Must Win and 10 Days Into Putin’s ‘New Phase’ of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, There Are Minor Advances but the Clock Is Ticking). That goal eventually expanded to creating Russian-owned territory from Russia to Moldova and stripping...

Tuesday, it became evident that the Russian Army was abandoning territory in Ukraine that it seized shortly after Putin’s War began on February 24 (Russian Troops Retreat From Ukraine to Russia: Planned Redeployment or the Beginning of Collapse?). That withdrawal opened the way for Ukrainian forces to recover previously occupied territory from north of Kharkiv to the border with Russia.What a difference a week makes. Russian positions a week ago on the left; from yesterday on the right. h/t @Militarylandnet pic.twitter.com/5gVye2hQra— streiff (@streiffredstate) May 10, 2022Unconfirmed but solid reports that Ukrainian troops have reached the Russian border to the North-East...

Over the last week, the Russian position north of Kharkiv has collapsed. There are two explanations, and both involve an endgame for Putin’s War.Most commentary on military operations over the last week has focused on what is assumed to be the center of gravity of the Russian campaign in Ukraine, Donbas, and the siege of Mariupol. However, in my opinion, the real activity to watch has been occurring on the Ukraine-Russia border. Kharkiv had been under daily artillery and rocket fire, destroying most of it.When I saw the city center of Kharkiv, destroyed by air bombs, I was shocked. Last...

It is now May 9, and the speculation about what Russian President Vladimir Putin will do on the occasion of the 2022 Victory Day Parade has been answered.Due to the war raging in Ukraine, a lot of SmartSet™ types had been speculating that Putin would use the Victory Day Parade as the catalyst to mobilize Russia for his war in Ukraine, if not declare war outright. Read my coverage of Putin’s possible courses of action at Tomorrow Is ‘Victory Day’ in Russia but Vladimir Putin Is Losing, So What Does He Offer Russia?.The preliminaries of the parade are in the...

The Ukrainian air force’s best fighter jets just staged a daring raid on the Russian force occupying Ukraine’s strategic Snake Island. The raid marks a significant escalation of Ukraine’s air campaign targeting the Russian garrison on the island in the western Black Sea, 80 miles south of Ukraine’s strategic port Odessa. For at least a week now, Kyiv’s propeller-driven TB-2 armed drones have been waging a relentless defense-suppression campaign over and around Snake Island. The satellite-controlled drones with their 14-pound missiles have knocked out at least three air-defense systems on the 110-acre island as well as two Russian patrol...

A prominent Russian state TV host has warned that opponents of Russia's war in Ukraine will face harsh punishments including 'concentration camps and sterilisation'. Karen Shakhnazarov, a pro-Putin filmmaker, said any 'opponents to the letter Z' - the symbol of Russia's invasion - will face 'no mercy'. 'The opponents of the letter Z must understand that if they are counting on mercy, no, there will be no mercy for them,' Shakhnazarov, who leads the state-backed Mosfilm film studio, said on the state-owned Russian television channel Russia 1. 'It's all become very serious. In this case, it means concentration camps, re-education...

Ukraine says it destroyed Russia's Izyum command center, killing 200 but just missing Russia's top general Ukrainian officials said an attack on a key Russian command center in the eastern city of Izyum on Saturday evening killed about 200 Russian troops, including Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov, but just missed hitting the chief of the general staff of the Russian military, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who had just concluded a secret visit to the army and airborne command center. Earlier, unconfirmed reports suggested Gerasimov was wounded in the strike. Two U.S. officials tell The New York Times that Gerasimov had been in...

The Russian ammunition dump in Tomorovka, Russia, was wracked by explosions on Sunday morning. Tomorovka is just west of Belgorod and barely 40 miles north of the Ukrainian strongpoint city of Kharkiv. This ammunition dump would be critical to sustaining the Russian offensive in Donbas. There is no claim of responsibility, so it might be another of those mysterious fires plaguing Russian strategic installations and those installations supporting the Donbas operation. Video of the explosion and aftermath are posted below.There have been a series of explosions and fires at military logistics and storage points inside #Russia that are used to...

The “Ghost of Kyiv” is a myth, Ukrainian officials admitted over the weekend. After several news outlets last week identified the legendary, mysterious, hero fighter pilot as a 29-year-old dad recently killed in battle with the Russians, military officials acknowledged Saturday that there was no such person. “The ghost of Kyiv is a superhero-legend, whose character was created by Ukrainians!” Ukraine’s Air Force Command wrote on Facebook. The reputed hero had been credited with taking out as many as 40 Russian aircraft until he was shot down March 13 while battling an “overwhelming” number of enemy forces, the Times of...

The Ghost of Kyiv was a Ukrainian fighter pilot. A lone warrior in the aerial defense of Ukraine’s embattled capital city in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. Deftly maneuvering his 30-year-old, twin-engine MiG-29, the Ghost jealously guarded the sky over Kyiv. Fighting against the odds with antiquated weaponry, he shot down 40 Russian warplanes before finally succumbing to enemy fire three weeks into the war. The Ghost of Kyiv, real name Stepan Tarabalka, died in the cockpit of his trusty MiG on Marchth 14, The Times reported. Just one problem. The Ghost of Kyiv legend isn’t true. Even...

The mysterious Ukrainian fighter pilot hailed as the “Ghost of Kyiv” after reportedly shooting down dozens of Russian aircraft has been killed in battle, an outlet said Friday. The death of the much-celebrated enigmatic pilot was reported by The Times of London, which for the first time also publicly identified Major Stepan Tarabalka, a 29-year-old father of one, as the war hero. Tarabalka was credited with taking out as many as 40 Russian aircraft until he was himself shot down March 13 while battling an “overwhelming” number of enemy forces, the UK paper said.

Russian forces have failed to make any major gains over the last 24 hours in their offensive in Ukraine as counterattacks by the defenders have hampered their efforts, according to UK intelligence and U.S. analysts.British intelligence said in an April 23 operational update that Ukraine’s airspace and its Black Sea waters remain contested as Russian air and maritime forces have been unable to establish control in either domain “owing to the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air and sea defense.”“Despite increased activity, Russian forces have made no major gains in the last 24 hours as Ukrainian counterattacks continue to hinder their efforts,”...

This is the moment a Russian tank is blown to smithereens by a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile fired from almost three miles away. Footage obtained today from the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade - a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces - shows how the tank is caught in the missile system's crosshairs before the projectile soars through the air and meets its target. The brigade titled the video (in Ukrainian): 'Stugna against T-72: attackers of the 128th brigade destroyed a Russian tank with a Ukrainian missile from a distance of 4.5 km'.