Pentagon says no Ukrainian dirty bomb or indication of looming Russian nuclear weapon use

Mike Brest

October 24, 01:55 PM October 24, 01:55 PM

Ukraine is not building a dirty bomb to detonate within its borders as Russia has alleged, according to a senior U.S. military official, who also noted that the Pentagon has not seen any indication that the Russians have decided to deploy a nuclear weapon.

Over the weekend, a variety of Russian officials began claiming Ukraine was looking to deploy a dirty bomb, which Western officials have been quick to denounce as false.

A senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Monday that the “world would see through any attempts to use this as a pretext for escalation," while the foreign ministers of the U.S., U.K., and France released a joint statement hours earlier calling the claims "transparently false allegations."

WESTERN LEADERS SAY RUSSIA'S CLAIM ABOUT UKRAINIAN DIRTY BOMB 'TRANSPARENTLY FALSE'

"Ukrainians are not building a dirty bomb," the military official said. "But we also have no indications that the Russians have made a decision to employ nuclear weapons. So we'll continue to monitor closely."

They haven't seen indications Russia is planning to use biological or chemical weapons either.

Russian officials have repeatedly, throughout the eight months of the war, accused Ukraine of preparing to carry out damaging and horrific actions they themselves plan to execute, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted in his latest nightly address.

“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” he said. “I believe that now the world should react in the toughest possible way.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke with his U.S., U.K., and French counterparts on Sunday, just days after he and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke for the first time in months.

Austin “rejected any pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the value of continued communication amid Russia’s unlawful and unjustified war against Ukraine,” according to a readout of the call by Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's nuclear saber-rattling has spurred frequent condemnations and warnings from Western leaders.

“We’ve been very clear with President Putin directly and privately about the severe consequences that would follow from any, any use of a nuclear weapon. We’re watching this very, very carefully. We have not seen reason at this point to change our own nuclear posture," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week, while President Joe Biden warned earlier this month that the use of a nuclear weapon “could lead to Armageddon.”

'Supporting NATO': Biden defends Ukraine aid as House GOP warns no 'blank check'

Katherine Doyle

October 21, 01:48 PM October 21, 01:48 PM

President Joe Biden said U.S. support for Ukraine is essential to European and trans-Atlantic security against Russia, as some Republicans warn the spending could face hurdles after the midterm elections.

“If we’re supporting Ukraine, we’re supporting all of Europe. We're supporting NATO,” Biden told reporters at the White House Friday. “Do you think that Mr. Putin decides he's just going to deal with Ukraine and that's the end of it?”

Biden said he didn’t “understand the threat that [Republicans are] saying they may have to stop funding the Ukrainians in their war against this brutal dictator.”

MCCARTHY WARNS NO MORE ‘BLANK CHECK TO UKRAINE’ IF GOP CAPTURES HOUSE

Speaking at a political fundraiser in Pennsylvania a day earlier, Biden warned that the issue “is a lot bigger than Ukraine.”

“It’s Eastern Europe. It’s NATO. It’s really serious, serious consequential outcomes,” the president said, charging that Republicans who oppose the support “have no sense of American foreign policy.”

Biden’s comments come as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said this week that if Republicans win control of the House next month, lawmakers will not provide a “blank check” to Ukraine.

“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News. “They just won’t do it.”

Republicans are forecast to take control of the House, recent polls suggest.

Iran could deliver Russia 'more destructive weapons,' White Household implies

Katherine Doyle

Oct 17, 03:47 PM Oct 17, 03:47 PM

The White Property lashed out at Iran more than reviews that Tehran is weighing regardless of whether to present Russia with newly damaging weapons in the war versus Ukraine.

President Joe Biden’s press secretary pointed to reports of what appeared to be Iranian "kamikaze" drones utilised in an attack on Ukraine’s money on Monday and mentioned much better weapons could be on the way.

RUSSIA Carries on Attacks ON KYIV WITH IRANIAN 'KAMIKAZE' DRONES

“Iran carries on to lie about this,” Karine Jean-Pierre said. “Meanwhile, in accordance to these new reports, Iran is thinking about promoting nevertheless extra harmful weapons to aid an invasion they claim to oppose.”

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran in reaction to the weapons transfers and will proceed implementing these, she extra.

Nationwide protection adviser Jake Sullivan warned in July that Russia was making ready to acquire weapons from Iran, together with drones. In September, he stated the U.S. was seeking for supplemental solutions to slow Iran's ability to manufacture weapons devices for sale to Russia.

The bombing marketing campaign Monday integrated drone and missile assaults aimed at civilian targets, according to a senior U.S. armed service formal.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported Monday that it experienced shot down 37 Iranian-manufactured Shahed-136 drones and a few cruise missiles.

US expects Russia to carry out annual strategic nuclear workout

Mike Brest

October 13, 02:41 PM October 13, 02:41 PM

The Biden administration is organizing to conduct its once-a-year strategic nuclear physical exercise with NATO and claimed it thinks Russia will do the same matter.

Countrywide Safety Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Thursday that the exercising had been “planned nicely ahead of the invasion, and it’s an annual work out,” and he famous, “We be expecting Russia to carry out its yearly strategic nuclear training,” which he stated is also a annually incidence.

BIDEN RIPS ‘UTTER BRUTALITY’ OF PUTIN’S STRIKES ON UKRAINE

“We foresee the [Russians’] exercise will span quite a few days. It will involve actions within just the normal bounds of what Russia has performed in the past to include live missile launchers and the deployment of strategic belongings,” he ongoing. “While Russia probably believes this work out will support it project electrical power, specially in light of current occasions, we know that Russian nuclear units train thoroughly at this time of yr, yet again, plan, and definitely, we're heading to carry on to observe that accordingly.”

NATO Secretary-Standard Jens Stoltenberg opted to move ahead with future week's exam, saying, earlier this week, “Now is the ideal time to be company and to be distinct that NATO is there to secure and protect all allies."

“We want to realize that NATO’s organization, predictable conduct, our armed service toughness, is the ideal way to avoid escalation,” he instructed reporters on Tuesday. "We are there to protect peace, to avoid escalation, and to reduce any assault on NATO ally nations. So, if we now established the grounds for any misunderstanding, miscalculation [in] Moscow about our willingness to safeguard and defend all allies, it would improve the threat of escalation, and which is the very last factor we will do.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that experienced been scheduled for March, in the 2nd 7 days of the conflict, in purchase “to reveal that we have no intention of engaging in any actions that could be misunderstood or misconstrued,” although Stoltenberg explained he believes canceling the exercising could ship a information of weak point to the Kremlin.

Stoltenberg, on Thursday, reported that the alliance will keep an eye on Russia's work out.

"We have monitored Russian nuclear forces for decades, and, of program, we will carry on to keep an eye on them pretty intently, and we will stay vigilant — also when they now get started a new physical exercise," he said, according to Reuters. "We will observe that as we often do. And, of training course, we will stay vigilant, not the very least in gentle of the veiled nuclear threats and the dangerous rhetoric we have seen from the Russian facet."

This 7 days marks a new flip in the war as Russian forces launched a mass missile start targeting dozens of cities and villages throughout the nation. Kyiv, the cash, has been less than rocket hearth this 7 days, though the city had primarily been spared from the war once it moved west.

Mass graves found in a short while ago liberated Lyman

Mike Brest

Oct 07, 04:15 PM Oct 07, 04:16 PM

Ukrainian officials have uncovered mass graves in the just lately liberated city of Lyman in the Donetsk area, regional shops mentioned.

There are approximately 200 graves on a person plot, TCH, a Ukrainian-centered news outlet noted, when Hromadske, a different Ukrainian outlet, documented that some of the plots were being marked with title plates even though many others have been simply just numbered.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of Donetsk OVA, claimed: ”Now the law enforcement officers are investigating these locations and will shortly start the exhumation system. I ask absolutely everyone to chorus from commenting on the variety of buried people and the will cause of their demise right up until the remaining conclusions of the specialists.”

NATO WARNS RUSSIA: PUTIN WOULD 'REGRET' ANY USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Hromadske also documented that pro-Ukrainian residents were compelled to accumulate the bodies from the streets.

"Lyman is cleared entirely," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced past Sunday, although the Russian defense ministry acknowledged withdrawing its troops to get “more advantageous positions” and to steer clear of the “threat of encirclement” in the area.

“The story of the liberation of Lyman in Donetsk area has now turn into the most preferred in the media. But the successes of our soldiers are not restricted to Lyman,” he added, noting that Ukrainian forces experienced liberated the modest cities of Arkhanhelske and Myrolyubivka in the Kherson area.

Ukrainian officials have uncovered atrocities from civilians following the Russian troops' retreat in numerous Ukrainian cities through the war. Officers in these places have uncovered the horrors of torture, executions, and sexual violence dedicated by Russian forces.

Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive successes have place Russian President Vladimir Putin’s back again further more into the corner as he appears to be like for lifelines to support his armed service even with repeated setbacks and issues. Very last thirty day period, he called up 300,000 reservists meant to boost Russia's armed forces in Ukraine, although it also spurred a mass exodus of qualified draftees.

Putin has ongoing to threaten to use a tactical nuclear weapon in the war, though President Joe Biden warned on Thursday about the possibility of a nuclear "Armageddon," although the White Property has preserved as not long ago as Friday that it has not witnessed a purpose to transform its nuclear posture.

US announces $625 million support bundle to Ukraine

Mike Brest

October 04, 01:48 PM October 04, 01:51 PM

The United States is supplying Ukraine with another armed service assist offer valued at somewhere around $625 million, Secretary of Condition Antony Blinken introduced on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s help marks the 22nd drawdown of U.S. arms and gear to support Ukraine considering that August of last calendar year. It also brings the complete U.S. military services assistance provided to Ukraine to extra than $16.8 billion given that Russia invaded roughly 7 months in the past.

RUSSIAN Court docket Established GRINER Attractiveness FOR Later on THIS Month

“We will continue to stand with the individuals of Ukraine as they protect their liberty and independence with extraordinary braveness and boundless determination,” he said. “The abilities we are providing are very carefully calibrated to make the most change on the battlefield and improve Ukraine’s hand at the negotiating desk when the time is ideal.”

Almost a week back, the U.S. announced $1.1 billion in help to Ukraine below the Ukraine Safety Aid Initiative.

Over the last few of weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has referred to as up around 300,000 reservists and sought to annex Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine in violation of intercontinental legislation. He has also continued to threaten to use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield, even as his forces continue on to cede territory.

The administration has continuously condemned Putin’s moves and rhetoric and imposed additional sanctions pursuing the attempted annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia areas.

White House ‘prepared’ for ‘swift’ reaction if Russia annexes a lot more of Ukraine

Mike Brest

September 23, 04:56 PM September 23, 04:56 PM

The White Property teased attainable retaliatory responses against Russia for the referendums that will most likely direct to annexations in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.

“We are ready to impose extra swift and serious financial fees on Russia alongside with our allies and partners in reaction to these actions if they go forward with annexation," White Residence spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre informed reporters on Friday, the exact same working day 4 Russian-occupied territories began their referendums to identify no matter if they'd be part of the Russian Federation.

RUSSIAN REFERENDUMS IN OCCUPIED Areas OF UKRAINE Get started

The referendums are getting area in the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and in Russian-held sections of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. If each vote goes in favor of signing up for Russia, which is primarily a foregone summary, extra than 5 million individuals would "turn out to be Russian citizens," in accordance to TASS, Russian point out media.

The White Property will “never” figure out any territory Russia annexes from Ukraine as legit sections of Russia, Jean-Pierre extra.

The G-7 leaders launched a statement saying they “strongly condemn the sham referenda that Russia tries to use to make a phony pretext for shifting the position of Ukrainian sovereign territory,” adding that the votes this week “have no authorized result or legitimacy, as shown by Russia’s hasty solutions of firm, which in no way regard democratic norms, and its blatant intimidation of regional populations.”

Russia will see an assault on just one of these "annexed" territories as an attack in opposition to them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported, for every TASS.

"These referenda in areas that have been forcibly put underneath Russia’s short-term handle in no way stand for a legitimate expression of the will of the Ukrainian men and women, who have constantly resisted Russian endeavours to modify borders by force." the leaders added. "We will never recognize these referenda which show up to be a action toward Russian annexation and we will by no means realize a purported annexation if it takes place."

In a big speech earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization hard work that would contact up 300,000 reservists. These forces will primarily be reservists or retired service users, and the Pentagon believes it will “take time” for them to practice, get ready, and equip the new forces for struggle, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder advised reporters on Thursday.

The connect with-up is one particular example demonstrating the military's manpower struggle, in accordance to administration officers.

“It’s definitely a indicator [Putin is] struggling and we know that. He has suffered tens of countless numbers [of] casualties,” National Protection Council coordinator John Kirby explained previously this week. “He has awful morale, device cohesion on the battlefield, command and handle has however not been solved. He’s bought desertion issues, and he’s forcing the wounded again into the battle. So evidently, manpower is a issue for him.”

Mercenary team looking for 1,500 convicted felons to battle in Ukraine, US says

Mike Brest

September 19, 05:06 PM September 19, 05:06 PM

With the Russian forces in Ukraine depleted, the Wagner mercenary team has sought to recruit convicted felons to be a part of the war, but some have declined, according to a senior U.S. protection official.

The mercenary group is looking to pad its force by 1,500, "but several are refusing," the formal explained to reporters on Monday afternoon. "Our info signifies that Wagner has been struggling higher losses in Ukraine, primarily and unsurprisingly amid younger and inexperienced fighters."

The admission by the protection formal arrives days following a video of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner team, went viral of him telling inmates that if they really don't want to be part of the war, they should mail their little ones to struggle as a substitute. He explained in a assertion later on that if he were being in jail, he’d “dream of” signing up for the war to “pay my financial debt to the motherland,” in accordance to the BBC, which verified the video and geolocated it to a penal colony in Russia’s central Mari El Republic.

State Section Suggests NUCLEAR Offer TALKS WITH IRAN ARE 'AT A STALEMATE'

"We are observing the Kremlin significantly straining to discover new recruits to fill out their slender ranks," the senior formal continued. "And the Russians are accomplishing so inadequately that the information from Kharkiv province has inspired many Russian volunteers to refuse combat."

DOD officers have infrequently supplied loss of life counts for both facet of the war, citing problems in tracking this sort of information, although most not long ago, Undersecretary of Protection for Policy Colin Kahl informed reporters on Aug. 8 that the Russians had been in the "ballpark" of acquiring "most likely taken 70,000-80,000 casualties," a complete that incorporated these killed or hurt in the war.

In addition to hunting at Russian prisoners for padding the troops, they have also sought to convince Tajiks, Belarusians, and Armenians to join the war, the formal ongoing.

Regardless of Russia's significant loss of life toll and obvious want for additional troopers, Kremlin officers have repeatedly declined to contact up their reserve forces. If they select to do this, it would probable signify admitting to the Russian individuals that there is a war heading on, which they have labeled as a "specific navy procedure," and that it really is not likely well.

In modern times, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to acknowledge the limitations of the troop full, saying, “I have to emphasize that we are battling not with a full army but only with aspect, with contracted forces. Of class, this is connected with sure staff parameters and so on. This is why we are not in a rush in this respect.”

Comparatively, the Ukrainian forces have significant morale, a supply of battle for the Russian army due to the fact it invaded in late February, in part due to the fact in the thriving counteroffensive in the northeast, they have "liberated more than 300 settlements in Kharkiv province," the official extra, but, "We all know that this combat is far from above."

"In the vicinity of Kharkiv, we assess that the Ukrainians keep on to make initiatives to consolidate their gains and are keeping the border," a senior U.S. army formal advised reporters, while the official observed that Russia had built limited gains in the Donbas. "We have seen Russian forces make some slight gains in phrases of territory, but we are chatting a couple 100 meters and nothing significantly sizeable at this stage."

White House’s concept to China: ‘Not the time’ for assisting Putin

Mike Brest

September 16, 11:34 AM September 16, 11:34 AM

The White House despatched a robust concept to Chinese leaders not to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine even as leaders of the two Asian international locations achieved in individual to reaffirm their partnership.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin fulfilled on Thursday at a regional summit in Uzbekistan times immediately after Russian forces dropped major territorial floor in Ukraine.

XI TO PUTIN: 'WE ARE All set TO Workforce UP WITH OUR RUSSIAN COLLEAGUES'

The two leaders publicly pledged aid to do the job with each other, together with Xi telling Putin that his region is "all set to workforce up with our Russian colleagues," whilst the Russian chief acknowledged that China had some “questions and concerns” regarding the war. The admission signifies a doable pressure in their relationship, nevertheless Xi referred to Putin as a “dear and longtime mate.”

Countrywide Protection Council spokesman John Kirby issued a warning to China, telling CNN that it’s not “business as usual” as it relates to doing the job with Russia.

“Our concept to China, I imagine, has been consistent: that this is not the time for any kind of business as common with Mr. Putin, supplied what he’s done within Ukraine. This is not the time to be isolated from the rest of the intercontinental neighborhood, which has largely condemned what he’s executing in Ukraine and not only condemned it but stepped up to help the Ukrainians protect themselves and their territorial integrity,” he reported.

To date, China has refrained from explicitly displaying support for Putin’s war in Ukraine, which the NSC spokesman famous, though the place has amplified Russian disinformation promises of justification for the invasion.

“China has a choice to make,” Kirby elaborated. “They obviously have chosen not to condemn that war in Ukraine. But we also have not found — importantly, we have not noticed them violate the sanctions or in any other way provide direct substance guidance to Mr. Putin.”

Kirby argued it was “important” for the Kremlin to hold the conference “because Mr. Putin is incredibly much under strain and tension in Ukraine.”

The Biden administration introduced on Thursday night new army assist for Ukraine valued at approximately $600 million, bringing the complete navy aid due to the fact Russia invaded to more than $15 billion. It features additional ammunition for the Significant Mobility Artillery Rocket Devices, 36,000 105 mm artillery rounds, and 1,000 precision-guided 155 mm artillery rounds, among the other methods and gear.

The HIMARS, a Lockheed Martin product or service, have confirmed to have a profound impression on the war and played a job in Ukraine's most up-to-date and most profitable counterattack to date. In excess of the past week or so, Ukrainian forces released two offensives, just one in the south and just one in the northeast, the latter of which has resulted in a significant liberation of Russian-occupied territory.

"Some models retreated in rather good buy and under command, although others fled in apparent worry," the United Kingdom's Protection Ministry mentioned Thursday. "Higher-value products deserted by retreating Russian forces included abilities necessary to allow Russia’s artillery-centric design of warfare. Amongst these are at minimum a single ZOOPARK counter-battery radar and at minimum just one IV14 artillery command and command motor vehicle."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a single of the freshly liberated towns, Izium, which is where by he said there was a "mass burial internet site," although aspects continue to be unclear. A Ukrainian formal told Sky Information that 440 graves were being located in the town. This is not the very first time that Ukrainians have uncovered horrific scenes following liberating territory previously occupied by Russia.

Even with the Russian retreat, Kremlin officers have stated they will not phone up their reserve forces. They have explained the war as a "particular armed forces procedure" to the Russian citizens, and contacting up their reserves would most likely drive them to acknowledge the reality — that they are engaged in a war that is not heading properly with no a obvious conclude in sight.