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One of Moscow's fighter jets has been shot down by Ukrainian forces, according to a military blogger with links to the Russian air force. Another pro-Moscow milblogger said that the Sukhoi Su-34 aircraft had been downed by a Western-supplied F-16. Neither report has been confirmed and Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment over the unverified claims which have sparked much speculation on social media. The Telegram channel Fighterbomber posted on Saturday a message which looked like a tribute to a lost Su-34 fighter jet. Next to an image of the supersonic medium-range fighter bomber, which...

Although modern technology, including drones and electronic warfare, has shaped the Russia-Ukraine war, the outcome will likely depend on which side can sustain its artillery usage. Both countries rely heavily on Soviet doctrine that emphasizes artillery, with Russia firing around 10,000 rounds daily and Ukraine about 2,000. Initially, Ukraine relied on its Soviet-era stockpiles of 152mm artillery and ammunition, supplemented by NATO-provided 155mm systems and shells. Moving forward, Ukraine is in an increasingly stronger position, now having the capability to produce both 155mm howitzers and the corresponding artillery shells. Since the start of the war, Ukraine has invested in developing...

Vladimir Putin has awoken to one of the largest bombardments on Moscow and other parts of Russia after 30 months of bloodshed. Ukraine unleashed 144 drones, targeting three airports in the capital and lighting up residential buildings in the region of Moscow, during what the Kremlin called a ‘terrorist attack supported by the UK and US’. Debris from aircraft damaged at least two high-rise buildings in the Ramenskoye district in the early hours of Tuesday, setting several flats on fire. A 46-year-old woman was killed and three people were injured, governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram. He added that 43...

Revival of India's defence deals with Ukraine will be one of the key areas of focus for PM Modi since the supply chain has been disrupted by the ongoing war with Russia. The ripple effects of this damage have been felt globally, making the potential discussions on defence during the visit all the more significant "In 2023, the Ukrainian defence industry produced weapons and equipment worth $3 billion, adding 1.5% to the country's GDP growth", wrote Wilson Center in its 'Defense Technology Investment in Ukraine Is Attractive but Awaits Greater Risk Insurance'. The report also highlights the challenges and opportunities...

The head of a Russian private militia has called on the army to overthrow Vladimir Putin in what is potentially shaping up to be the biggest threat of revolt the Kremlin has faced since the Wagner mutiny last year. Georgy Zakrevsky is the founder of the Paladin PMC, one of many shadowy military groups like the former Wagner militia, that are loosely linked to the Kremlin. The private military company (PMC) has around 300 members and has fought in wars around the world, including in Syria and Africa. Zakrevsky launched a blistering attack on the Russian president during a video...

Ukrainian forces downed a Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft on Friday, according to the country's Khortytsia group of forces operating in the eastern Donetsk region. The aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft guns from the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade as it attacked Ukrainian frontline positions near the town of Pokrovsk, the forces' statement posted on Telegram said. The Soviet-designed Sukhoi armored aircraft has been used extensively by both sides since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine's security services launched a raid on a key Russian base which they claimed was destroyed in the fighting. The SBU released a video which it said showed airborne and waterborne drones attacking the target, followed by large explosions. Ukrainian broadcaster Suspline said of the video: "Last night, SBU drones hit the Russian coast guard base on Lake Donuzlav in occupied Crimea, law enforcement sources told Sospilny. "As a result of the combined attack of sea and air drones, the following were damaged and disabled: the headquarters with a control post, a warehouse of ammunition and equipment, an electrical substation,...

Gen. Serhii Golubtsov, the commander of the Ukrainian air force, has said all along he needed four operational squadrons of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to have any chance of controlling the air over a single sector of the 700-mile front line of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine. It’s taken more than a year of intensive diplomacy between Ukrainian, Norwegian, Dutch, Danish and Belgian officials, but Golubtsov is finally getting his four squadrons. On Tuesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced Belgium would donate 30 surplus F-16s—boosting to 85 the total number of the nimble, supersonic fighters Ukraine should receive starting this...

On April 19, Taylor Swift unleashed her highly anticipated eleventh studio album, entitled The Tortured Poets Department. Within twelve hours, it was the first album in Spotify history to achieve 300M streams in a single day. From a postmodern worldview, it would be difficult to find someone who more perfectly represents the culmination of the feminist movement than this self-made billionaire. She has masterminded a successful sound, and her increasingly loyal fan base has the potential to sway an upcoming presidential election.Despite her accolades at the pinnacle of worldly success, Swift’s new album unveils a raw, angry woman grappling with...

Denys Yaroslavskyi is angry. ... “There was no first line of defence. We saw it. The Russians just walked in. They just walked in, without any mined fields” he says. He shows me video from a drone feed taken a few days ago of small columns of Russian troops simply walking across the border, unopposed. He says officials had claimed that defences were being built at huge cost, but in his view, those defences simply weren’t there. “Either it was an act of negligence, or corruption. It wasn’t a failure. It was a betrayal”. Everyone knew that this incursion was...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), who has been under the microscope this week for an anecdote about killing her dog, defended her actions Wednesday, saying she shot the “dangerous” pup in order to protect her children. “It was a dog that was extremely dangerous,” Noem said Wednesday on Fox News’s “Hannity.” “It had come to us from a family who had found her way too aggressive.” “We were her second chance. And she was — the day she was put down was a day that she massacred livestock that were part of our neighbors,” she continued. “She attacked me....

American officials now estimate that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely did not order the assassination of Alexei Navalny, one of his most significant political rivals. Navalny died approximately two months ago in prison, with his body with held from his family for some time after his death. According to the Wall Street Journal,a number of American agencies reviewed the report and certified it. It was based on both classified intelligence and publicly available facts....

Watch the harrowing moment a fireman weeps at the sight of his father's body. RUSSIA targeted firefighters in a sick "double tap" drone strike on an apartment building in Ukraine - killing a father in front of his son. Heartbreaking footage revealed the hideous aftermath of Putin's cruelty that left at least five dead, including three rescuers responding to the first hit. Vladyslav Logienko, 52, was one of the first on the scene early on Thursday morning after an Iranian-made Shahed drone smashed into a block of flats in Kharkiv. In less than an hour, he had been killed with...

Ukrainian forces in a priority section of the front line near Avdiivka appear to have defeated a large Russian mechanized assault involving tanks and fighting vehicles over the weekend. -snip- On March 30, Ukrainian troops outside occupied Avdiivka fought off a Russian battalion-sized mechanized assault, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said. ISW cited a Ukrainian serviceman who, on March 31, said that elements of Russia's 6th Tank Regiment sent 36 tanks and 12 BMP infantry fighting vehicles into a battle on the front line near Tonenke, a village east of Avdiivka. The serviceman said...

Ukrainian forces "destroyed or heavily damaged" one of Russia's prized but scarce A-50 spy planes, according to a Ukrainian official, after Kyiv targeted an aviation plant in southern Russia. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its air defenses had intercepted 47 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight, including 41 over the southwestern Rostov region. Vasily Golubev, the governor of the Rostov region, said Kyiv launched a "massive UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) attack" on the city of Taganrog, east of the captured Ukrainian city of Mariupol and west of Rostov-on-Don. Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian drones struck a plant...

The Russian air force lost another Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber on Thursday, the Ukrainian air force claimed. If confirmed, the Thursday shoot-down would extend an unprecedented hot streak for Ukrainian air-defenses. The Ukrainian claim they’ve shot down 11 Russian planes in 11 days: eight Su-34s, two Sukhoi Su-35 fighters and a rare Beriev A-50 radar plane. But those 11 claimed losses are worse than they might seem for the increasingly stressed Russian air force. In theory, the air arm has plenty more planes. In practice, the service is dangerously close to collapse. Exactly how the Ukrainians are shooting down so many...

Demand for electric vehicles is booming, or at least that’s what the International Energy Agency says. Globally, the IEA reports, EVs accounted for 14% of new vehicle sales in 2022 (compared to 9% in 2021). In the U.S. — the third-largest EV market after China and Europe — they made up 11% of new vehicle sales in September 2023 and, in the same month, passed the 1 million mark for EVs sold in 2023. And then compared that with Tesla, which ranks 14th on the list. Although a number of the brands higher on the list include hybrid cars, Tesla,...

Ukrainian armoured vehicles have smashed through a gap in Russian defences on the Zaporizhzhia front, it has been reported. Eight-wheeled Stryker and tracked Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles were seen behind Russian tank traps and dragon's teeth near Verbove - suggesting a potential Ukrainian tactical breakthrough in the area. Russia analyst for The Institute for the Study of War, George Barros, said the news could mean Kyiv was preparing for another big push.

Ukrainian forces have penetrated the main Russian defensive line in their country’s southeast, raising hopes of a breakthrough that would reinvigorate the slow-moving counteroffensive. Ukrainian paratroopers are fighting through entrenched Russian positions on the edge of the village of Verbove, a Ukrainian officer in the area said. Ukrainian forces have also reached the main defensive line to the south of nearby Robotyne village, he said. Ukraine’s military confirmed advances toward Verbove and south of Robotyne, without giving details. Describing the advance, the Ukrainian officer held up three fingers representing lines of attack through entrenched Russian positions on the western flank...

Russian militants fighting in support of Ukraine have called on Wagner Group mercenaries to switch sides following the apparent death of their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. “You are facing a serious choice now - you can stand in a stall of Russia’s defence ministry and serve as watchdogs for executors of your commanders or take revenge,” commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) Denis Kapustin said in a video published late on Thursday. “To take revenge you need to switch to Ukraine’s side,” the commander added. The group was founded by RVC commander Kapustin, a far-right Russian national, a year ago....