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Russia Is Equipping Simple Bombs With Guidance Systems, Turning Them Into Cheap Substitutes for Expensive Cruise Missiles

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Russia is modifying simple bombs to equip them with guidance systems, turning them into cheap and effective substitutes for expensive guided missiles.

The regular bombs appear to be being converted to smart ones using UMPK (unified module for gliding and guidance) systems, according to Illia Ponomarenko of the Kyiv Independent.

Ponomarenko wrote that the upgraded guided or gliding bombs pose “an especially serious threat to Ukraine” that can “deliver devastating hits upon Ukrainian lines and the rear front.”

This system can be used to equip old Soviet FAB-500М-62 gravity bombs, which Russia has an abundant supply of, with a simple satellite guidance system and “wings,” according to the outlet.

In March, Russia effectively used the modified bombs to bombard Ukrainian defenses of Avdiivka in Donetsk. (Read more from “Russia Is Equipping Simple Bombs With Guidance Systems, Turning Them Into Cheap Substitutes for Expensive Cruise Missiles” HERE)

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For $80 Billion (And Counting) US Taxpayers Have Bought a Bloody Stalemate in Ukraine

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The trove of recently leaked intelligence documents related to the Ukraine war should prompt Americans to start asking tough questions about our involvement in that conflict, which one of the documents, a Feb. 23 overview of fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region, describes as a “grinding campaign of attrition” that has reached a “stalemate.”

U.S. taxpayers have poured nearly $80 billion into this war over the past 14 months. At what point are we allowed to ask whether a “stalemate” in a “grinding campaign of attrition” is a good deal for Americans?

Above all, Americans should demand the bipartisan Washington consensus that supports indefinitely funding the war explain what our strategy is, define what the American interest is in it, and detail how they plan to achieve something beyond an interminable war of attrition that risks pulling us into direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia. At the very least, the American people deserve more than inane platitudes from Antony Blinken about “Ukrainian victory” and “standing united with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” as if total Russian defeat and withdrawal is a realistic outcome.

The classified documents lend some urgency to these questions because they reveal, among other things, a severe shortage of air defense weapons in Ukraine — so severe it could mean the difference between an ongoing stalemate or a Russian victory in the coming weeks or months. Without adequate air defenses, Russian warplanes will be able to bomb Ukrainian positions at will, which in turn might make Ukraine’s planned spring offensive impossible. No wonder, then, that earlier this month the Biden administration pledged $2.6 billion to rush air defense systems to Ukraine.

What the documents also suggest, as if it hasn’t become obvious by now, is that the war has not been an unbroken chain of brilliant underdog battlefield victories for Ukraine and crushing defeats for Russia, as the corporate media and the Washington political establishment have led us to believe. It rather seems like chaotic and indecisive butchery on both sides, with weapons and cash pouring in not just from the U.S. but from all over the world sustaining a large-scale war of attrition with no end in sight. Behind the scenes, according to the leaked documents, U.S. officials are predicting only “modest territorial gains” from Ukraine’s big spring counteroffensive, the recent surge of U.S. weapons and air defense systems notwithstanding. (Read more from “For $80 Billion (And Counting) US Taxpayers Have Bought a Bloody Stalemate in Ukraine” HERE)

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How a 21-Year-Old National Guardsman Could Get Sensitive Ukraine Docs; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Defends Alleged US Intel Leaker

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By New York Post. Before the FBI announced it had arrested the suspected leaker of dozens of highly sensitive Ukraine war documents – some of which were created to brief the highest levels of the Pentagon – few would have suspected a 21-year-old National Guardsman as the potential culprit.

The FBI nabbed Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira at his mother’s home Thursday after he was implicated in the biggest national security breach in at least 10 years.

The junior airman is accused of uploading troves of secret and top secret documents to Discord, a social messaging platform for gamers, from which they were spread across several websites. . .

Though officials have not said whether Teixeira had a security clearance, his job as a cyber transport systems journeymen (CTSJ) may have required him to work with and protect sensitive communication channels.

That’s because CTSJs are the Air Force’s “frontline technicians and trainers,” keeping up the infrastructure of the military’s most advanced cyber networks, which are used to securely send and receive highly sensitive information. (Read more from “How a 21-Year-Old National Guardsman Could Get Sensitive Ukraine Docs” HERE)

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FBI Arrests 21-Year-Old Air National Guardsman Suspected of Leaking Classified Documents

By NBC News. Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested by federal authorities Thursday in connection with their investigation into classified documents that were leaked on the internet.

FBI agents took Teixeira into custody Thursday afternoon “without incident,” Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in brief remarks at the Justice Department, which has been conducting a criminal investigation.

“Today, the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information. Teixeira is an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard,” Garland said.

Teixeira will have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, said Garland, who added that the investigation is ongoing. He declined to take questions from the media. (Read more from “FBI Arrests 21-Year-Old Air National Guardsman Suspected of Leaking Classified Documents” HERE)

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Defends Alleged US Intel Leaker Jack Teixeira

By New York Post. Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Thursday defended 21-year-old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, the accused leaker of highly sensitive Pentagon intelligence documents, and said he’s being treated by the Biden administration “like a traitor and criminal.”

“Jake Teixeira is white, male, Christian, and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime,” Greene (R-Ga.) wrote in a tweet.

Greene, who is staunchly against the US providing military aid to Ukraine as it attempts to fend off a Russian invasion, has called the Biden administration’s role in the conflict in the former Soviet state “a proxy war with Russia.”

The Georgia Republican on Thursday praised Teixeira for telling “the truth” about President Biden “waging war” in Ukraine, suggesting that the Biden administration is “the real enemy.”

“And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more. Ask yourself who is the real enemy? A young low level national guardsmen? Or the administration that is waging war in Ukraine, a non-NATO nation, against nuclear Russia without war powers?” Greene wrote. (Read more from “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Defends Alleged US Intel Leaker Jack Teixeira” HERE)

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US Guided Rockets in Ukraine Are Being Jammed by Russia

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U.S.-made smart bombs provided to Ukraine are being jammed by Russia and are missing their targets, according to a Politico review of a leaked Pentagon document.

Russia is electronically jamming the precision-guided munitions, a Defense Department official confirmed to Politico, rendering them useless upon impact.

Some of the smart bombs were also failing to detonate because of a technical issue, but that has since been addressed by Ukraine.

The latest revelations from a trove of leaked Pentagon documents underscores yet another hurdle for Ukraine ahead of an expected spring offensive.

The documents also highlighted vulnerabilities in Kyiv’s air defenses and cast doubt on Ukrainian troops retaking significant territory this spring. (Read more from “US Guided Rockets in Ukraine Are Being Jammed by Russia” HERE)

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Leaked Docs: NSC Was Afraid Biden Would Blow Ukraine War Plans

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The National Security Council (NSC) was reportedly worried President Joe Biden would jeopardize a shipment of ammunition to Ukraine by making a premature phone call to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, according to classified Department of Defense (DOD) documents obtained by the Daily Caller.

The Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea as part of a push to further supply Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to the classified documents, which are dated to early March of 2023. The top secret intelligence indicates that NSC officials were concerned Biden would make a premature phone call to Yoon, throwing into doubt whether or not the U.S. would be able to secure the ammunition.

The classified documents were initially leaked online last month on various social media platforms, the first of which is believed to have been a Minecraft group on Discord. They were subsequently scrubbed from social media, before resurfacing in media reports in recent days, during which time they were acquired by the Daily Caller.

South Korea, while providing non-lethal support directly to Ukraine for over a year, has an official policy against sending lethal aid directly to nations involved in armed conflict. According to the classified documents, South Korean officials including Foreign Affairs Secretary Yi Mun-hui were concerned about who the “end-user” of ammunition sent to the United States would be and whether they would first need to alter their country’s arms policy. (Read more from “Leaked Docs: NSC Was Afraid Biden Would Blow Ukraine War Plans” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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U.S. Intel Leak Worst Since Snowden?; Key Takeaways From Major U.S. Intelligence Leak

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By Breitbart. A group of U.S. intelligence documents dealing with the Ukraine war and other global matters apparently leaked through online gaming forums has been dismissed as fake by some in both Ukraine and Russia, but is apparently being taken seriously elsewhere.

Up to 100 pages of secret U.S. intelligence reports have leaked into the public domain in what one newspaper, citing an intelligence commentator, says could be the “biggest since Edward Snowden”, who leaked thousands of documents in 2013 after he became concerned with the ethical implications of western intelligence activities.

As reported by Breitbart News the authenticity of this new group of leaked documents, which deal predominantly with military assessments of the Ukraine war but also purport to reveal U.S. spying on allies including South Korea and Israel, has previously been disputed. Yet they appear to be taken seriously by observers of Western intelligence, even if the Pentagon and Justice Department in the U.S. have said nothing other than they are aware of claims, are investigating, and have no other comment to make.

Establishment-adjacent news outlets like CNN and papers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times — which was first to report of the emergence of the documents on social media and online gaming forums — note intelligence sources are treating the documents “appear to be legitimate intelligence and operational briefs”, and report frustration in the U.S. government that the documents were being posted online for weeks before anyone noticed. (Read more from “U.S. Intel Leak Worst Since Snowden?” HERE)

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Key Takeaways From Major U.S. Intelligence Leak

By The Hill. A trove of purported Pentagon documents have appeared online in recent days, revealing information ranging from U.S. assessments of the Russia-Ukraine war to intel on how America may be spying on adversaries and allies.

The source of the leaks is not yet clear. Reuters reported that three unnamed U.S. officials said Russia or pro-Russian elements are likely behind at least the first batch of leaks.

A number of documents resemble daily, non-public updates from the U.S. military’s joint staff and appear to detail U.S. and NATO aid to Ukraine, including notes on the progress of weapons aid. The documents on Russia and Ukraine don’t appear to include details on the warfare or plans of an expected Ukrainian offensive.

According to the New York Times, which first reported on the leaked documents, the materials also indicate the U.S. has been spying on not just Russian but also Ukrainian leaders in an effort to monitor the war’s dynamics.

Additional documents include U.S. intelligence agencies’ analyses, based on classified sources, about Russia and several countries, according to the Washington Post. Some materials reportedly appear to show how the U.S. tracks Russian forces with satellite imagery and where the Central Intelligence Agency has recruited some agents. (Read more from “Key Takeaways From Major U.S. Intelligence Leak” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Pentagon Shares Easter Sunday Update on Classified Docs Leak

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The Department of Defense (DoD) issued on Easter Sunday its most detailed public statement to date regarding the apparent leak of classified information.

“An agency effort has been stood up, focused on assessing the impact these photographed documents could have on U.S. national security and on our Allies and partners,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement. “Over the weekend, U.S. officials have engaged with Allies and partners and have informed relevant congressional committees of jurisdiction about the disclosure.”

Up until Sunday, the Pentagon had only commented publicly on the matter to say it was aware of the images and that a criminal referral had been made to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Singh confirmed on Sunday the DOJ had opened a criminal investigation. “The Department of Defense’s highest priority is the defense of our nation and our national security,” she added. (Read more from “Pentagon Shares Easter Sunday Update on Classified Docs Leak” HERE)

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Russia Threatens to Blow up Ukraine Grain Deal Over Western Sanctions

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday threatened to abandon a landmark grain deal with Ukraine if obstacles to Moscow’s exports remained.

Negotiated in July by Turkey and the United Nations, the agreement allows Ukraine — one of the world’s top grain producers — to export grain through a safe corridor in the Black Sea.

“If there is no further progress in removing barriers to the export of Russian fertilisers and grain, we will think about whether this deal is necessary,” Lavrov told a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara, alongside his counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu. (Read more from “Russia Threatens to Blow up Ukraine Grain Deal Over Western Sanctions” HERE)

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U.S. Needs More Air Power to Avoid ‘Bloodbath’ With China, General Says

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U.S. Air Force officials lack the air power needed to prevent a potential war with China from settling into “the kind of bloodbath” on display in Ukraine.

“We’ve got to get to the ability, maybe not all times in all places … to attain and maintain air superiority,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard G. Moore, the deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, said Thursday. “We don’t want the kind of bloodbath that’s going on in Ukraine right now. And so therefore, we have to get to the advanced capabilities that it takes to change the battlefield.”

Air Force planners have budgeted to purchase 72 new fighter jets in the upcoming fiscal year, comprised of a mix of vaunted fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters and the F-15EX. Yet the Air Force’s ability to continue acquiring six dozen warplanes per year could be tested by defense manufacturing constraints.

“The defense industrial base can only support so much procurement and the ability right now to go beyond 72 — there are some challenges,” Moor said. “You know that it’s great to think that COVID is over, but supply chain and workforce issues are not over at all.” (Read more from “U.S. Needs More Air Power to Avoid ‘Bloodbath’ With China, General Says” HERE)

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UN: Risk of Nuclear War at Record High. Please Engage in Peace Talks, Russia and Ukraine.

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Well, folks, don’t look now, but the “risk of a nuclear weapon being used is currently higher than at any time since the depths of the cold war,” according to the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

The war in Ukraine — obviously — is what is driving that risk. Based on reports made during the UN’s security council on Friday, that war isn’t ending any time soon — as if there were any doubt of that. Americans should know it is not going to end any time soon, our commander-in-chief has said that our tax dollars and equipment will be supporting Ukraine in its battle against Russia for “as long as it takes” — whatever that means. The Swamp wants this war to continue — and so it will.

While Biden has been banging the war drums, Putin has been chatting with its neighbors and new BFF Belarus. Now, reports indicate that Russia will be stationing non-strategic nuclear weapons within Belarus territory. According to the UN, those will be in place for aerial use by July. . .

“We are pursuing cooperation with Belarus without violating obligations,” Russian ambassador and Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia said on Friday. “We are not transferring nuclear weapons. We are talking about the retrofitting of airplanes and training teams in the construction of a storage facility on the territory of Belarus.”

Yet he did make sure to note that Russia would respond to any “provocative measures” as it saw fit, while adding, “A nuclear war cannot be won.” (Read more from “UN: Risk of Nuclear War at Record High. Please Engage in Peace Talks, Russia and Ukraine.” HERE)

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