The soldiers “refuse to take part in further fighting in Ukraine,” the military office said. “The morale and psychological condition of these staff is low and tends to deteriorate.” The command of the Russian Armed Forces is struggling to “solve the problem of replenishing the human resources of its units,” the Ukrainian army added. “Russian military commissioners have been working with military personnel who have been discharged from military service since 2012 and have military accounting specialties of driver, mechanical driver, scouts and junior commanders.”
Russian troops discuss Bucha’s atrocities over radio, German intelligence says
The Russian troops who carried out the atrocities in the Ukrainian city of Bukha discussed the killing of civilians by radio, according to the German intelligence service, which claims to have intercepted radio messages. The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) presented the findings to parliament on Wednesday, according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel. Click here to read more.
US Senate votes to revive World War II policy to help Ukraine
The US Senate has voted to revive a lending program that allowed the United States to send weapons to Britain and other allies in World War II to bolster Ukraine’s efforts against Russian invaders. The law of 2022, S.3522 on the defense of Ukraine for the defense of the loan-lease, passed by the Senate by a vote late Wednesday. The bill aims to “give the President more power to enter into agreements with the Ukrainian government to lend or lease defense equipment to that government to protect its citizens in Ukraine from Russian military invasion.” Click here to read more.
The FBI is upsetting Russian military hackers by blocking the botnet
The FBI has seized control of thousands of routers and firewalls from Russian military hackers, stealing the same devices used by Moscow spies to set up a “botnet” – a network of hacked computers that can bomb other computers. ROADS. “Fortunately, we were able to shut down this botnet before it could be used,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference. Read more here.
Russian crematoria operating in Mariupol: “This is the new Auschwitz”, says the mayor
The Mariupol city council on Wednesday accused Russian forces of relying on a mobile crematorium to cover up alleged war crimes in Ukraine’s southeastern port city. Mariupol, which has been partially occupied for weeks, has been the target of one of the most brutal Russian attacks in Ukraine since the invasion began in February. “The killers are covering their tracks,” the city council said in a series of social media posts, adding that the Russians had set up “mobile crematoria.” “Russia’s top leadership has ordered the destruction of any evidence of crimes committed by its army in Mariupol,” the council added in a translated statement, accusing Moscow of reacting to the widespread condemnation of the mass killing of civilians in Bucha. Humanitarian access to the city has been blocked for weeks, with some 160,000 people unable to leave and denied access to electricity, heating, health care and water, the UK Department of Defense said. For more on this story: Russian crematoria operating in Mariupol: “This is the new Auschwitz”, says the mayor
The Pentagon is training Ukrainians to use armed drones
The U.S. military is training Ukrainian troops in the United States to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack Russian tanks and other armored vehicles, the New York Times reported. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin unveiled the training in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Pentagon officials said Wednesday more details about the Switchblade drones and how U.S. officials are instructing Ukrainians to use them against Russian forces. The United States had previously sent Switchblade drones to Ukraine, something an expert told Fox News that could “change the game.” Read Wednesday’s live coverage here.
