War

by Mark Krutov, RFE/RL The elderly and sick died quietly. Crowded with hundreds of others held captive by Russian soldiers for four weeks in an airless, unsanitary school basement in Yahidne, a village in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, the ill and the frail were particularly vulnerable. Several could …

PFC Heath Hansen receiving the Combat Infantryman Badge in Afghanistan. By Heath Hansen I opened my eyes. It was still dark, but I could see the night was ending and another day in some village in Afghanistan was beginning. The smell of dip-spit and cigarette smoke betrayed the fact that the …

by Gene Pugh One of the darkest days in Special Forces history occurred on a summer morning in 1968 in Vietnam. In the early hours of Aug. 23, the Da Nang MACVSOG camp known as FOB4 was attacked by approximately 167 soldiers from the combined units of the 22nd VC …

The Miami Police Department this week gave a trove of civilian rifles and pistols to Ukraine, after obtaining the weapons during a gun buy-back. The shipment comes in the wake of a move by the city of Phoenix, Arizona, to give confiscated weapons to Ukraine. READ MORE: City of Phoenix …

by Heath Hansen “Listen up, First Platoon. This morning, we got word that the police chief we were supposed to meet today, was executed last night. The Taliban rolled up, extracted intel, and shot him in the head. Does that mean the mission is canceled? Fuck no – we’re still …

Fortifications are being actively constructed near the tent camp of the private Wagner mercenary group in the village of Tsel in eastern Belarus, the site believed to be where troops from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s company have settled after its aborted mutiny in Russia in late June. Images from the Planet Labs …

Two Belarusian military helicopters violated Poland’s airspace on August 1, according to the Polish Defense Ministry. The ministry said in a statement that the charge d’affaires of Belarus would be summoned to the Polish Foreign Ministry to explain the circumstances of the incident. The statement clarified that the helicopters crossed into Polish airspace at …

Is Russia on a shopping trip to North Korea for weapons and supplies? The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is doing just that, in Pyongyang. Shortly after Shoigu arrived on a rare trip to North Korea, Blinken said that Russia is jockeying to …

Russian police have detained the former leader of Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine, Igor Strelkov (aka Girkin), on extremism charges, his wife Miroslava Reginskaya said on Telegram on July 21. Igor Girkin (Igor Strelkov) was reportedly arrested by Russian authorities earlier today. https://t.co/Eu4e8EXtfc pic.twitter.com/N8XWn0AvGa— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 21, 2023 Strelkov was a …

Another Russian general has been fired in the latest shake-up in the military since Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a short-lived mutiny three weeks ago. Major General Vladimir Selivyorstov, who commanded the 106th Airborne Division, has been dismissed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Telegram channels close to Russia’s security …