[Daily Mail, where America gets itsnews] Sixty RAF ‘electronic warfare’ specialists have been deployed to protect US-British airbases from possible Russian drone attacks.
The highly trained troops were scrambled to the top secret Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell sites in East Anglia after the drone sightings on Monday.
They have been ordered to intercept any Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) posing a threat to aircraft or military personnel and to preserve operational security. The deployments follow sightings last week after Vladimir Putin vowed British and US military facilities were valid targets for Kremlin attacks.
The Russian President issued the chilling threat after Ukraine fired UK and US missiles into Russia for the first time. Russia responded to the Storm Shadow and ATACM salvos by firing a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile into Ukraine.
Today, Sir Keir Starmer attended an Armed Forces chiefs stocktake meeting at Downing Street, alongside General Sir Roly Walker, and Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.
The Mail understands the RAF specialists have been drawn from the service’s 34 Squadron, based at RAF Leeming, in North Yorkshire. These personnel are equipped with thermal-imagining cameras, radio frequency and acoustic sensors, GPS jammers and long-range anti-drone guns.
Last night, US and UK military spokespersons confirmed the joint operation. In a statement, a spokesman for the US Air Forces in Europe, said: ‘We can confirm there were sightings yesterday during night-time hours and can only confirm that the number fluctuated and varied between the bases over the night.
[TASS] Erik Prince noted that it was necessary to end the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible
Ukraine is unable to reclaim its lost territory in the country’s east, Erik Prince, the founder and former CEO of private military company Blackwater, said.
"There's no chance that Ukraine is going to retake its lands—the Donetsk, Lugansk, the areas in the east, certainly not Crimea," he said in an interview with Fox News, noting that it is necessary to end the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible.
"It needs to de-escalate and be done," the Blackwater founder stressed. He expressed hope that US President-elect Donald Trump "can get on it, literally from day one."
Prince also said that US President Joe Biden’s decision to allow the use of US missiles for strikes deep into Russia was "grossly irresponsible." Moscow’s response with its latest Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile system capable of carrying a nuclear payload demonstrated that "this is not a game that needs to be played any longer."
Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out on November 21 that US-and UK-made missiles had targeted military facilities in Russia’s borderline Kursk and Bryansk regions following a move by the US and its NATO allies to authorize the use of their long-range weapons for strikes against Russia. According to Putin, in retaliation to the attacks, Russia for the first time used its newest Oreshnik non-nuclear intermediate-range ballistic missiles against Ukraine’s Yuzhmash defense industry facility in the city of Dnepropetrovsk (called Dnepr in Ukraine). The Russian leader emphasized that the West could face dire consequences if its provocative policy escalated the conflict further.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:20 Russia is using Ukrainian strategic bombers that Kiev transferred to Moscow under a 1999 agreement in exchange for paying off debts for Russian gas consumed, Radio Liberty's Scheme project reports .
19.51 The interdepartmental commission investigating the abnormal operation of 120-mm mines has found that the main causes of the incidents were a drop in temperature and increased humidity. This was reported by Fedir Venislavsky, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
19.02 Western partners are implementing the declared military support packages in a timely manner, but a new push is needed. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video address.
18.55 The Ukraine-NATO Council at ambassadorial level discussed the situation in Ukraine following Russia's launch of an experimental medium-range ballistic missile last week.
During the meeting, NATO allies reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. The attack on the Dnieper is seen as another attempt by Russia to terrorize the civilian population of Ukraine and intimidate those who support Ukraine.
18.25 At least two people were killed as a result of a Russian strike on the city of Sumy, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video address .
17.45 In Norway, the government, after consultations with the opposition, has proposed increasing aid to Ukraine in 2025 to 30 billion Norwegian kroner ($2.7 billion) from 27 billion kroner this year.
16.49 Since the beginning of the current day, 143 combat clashes have occurred in 10 directions. The latest news from the front was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a fresh report.
16:27 The Russian Defense Ministry stated that over the past few days, ATACMS ballistic missiles launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces have reached targets in the Kursk region.
15.51 As a result of Russian shelling in Sumy, a car park and a service station were hit. This was reported by the head of the Sumy OVA Igor Kalchenko. Acting mayor of Sumy Artem Kobzar noted that the premises of the service station were destroyed, and many vehicles were damaged. The State Emergency Service, representatives of the Red Cross Society and the police are working at the scene.
15.15 Russia was able to attack Ukraine with a record number of attack drones on Tuesday night only because it is circumventing sanctions. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to him, each of the 188 UAVs used contains 85 foreign components. In total, this is almost 16,000 components, without which they would not fly.
14.44 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha took part in the G7 ministerial meeting in Rome. He called for tougher sanctions against Russia and decisive steps to contain the Russia-Iran-DPRK axis.
13.48 Russian aggressors destroyed an energy infrastructure facility in Ternopil with attack drones. The city is without electricity and water.
13.30 Russian invaders shot five captured Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen in the Pokrovsk direction of the front in Donetsk Oblast. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office.
12.54 A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will visit South Korea to request military assistance. The Ukrainian side is interested in anti-aircraft missiles and artillery systems, sources say .
11.04 An interdepartmental commission is investigating the causes of abnormal wear of 120-mm mines. The defective batch has been seized, and the State Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal case due to possible defects and violations of storage conditions. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense on Tuesday.
10:44 The NATO Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution, a separate point of which called on the Alliance members to provide Ukraine with medium-range missiles. The head of the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, MP Yegor Chernev, specified that this concerns missiles with a range of 1,000-5,500 km, which are capable of striking the strategic depth of the Russian Federation. He cited the American Tomahawk missiles as an example.
9.55. As a result of falling debris from downed Russian drones, damage to residential buildings, power lines, garages and a car was recorded in four districts of the Kyiv region. This was reported by the head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration Ruslan Kravchenko. According to him, the alarm lasted for more than seven hours at night. Air defense forces worked, enemy targets were destroyed. There were no casualties among the population. There were no hits on residential and critical infrastructure facilities. At the same time, four private houses, two multi-story residential buildings, a utility room, two garages and a car were damaged by debris.
9.31. Air defense forces shot down 76 drones, which the Russians used to attack Ukraine in the evening. This was reported by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 95 UAVs were lost, presumably due to active counteraction by the Defense Forces' electronic warfare, 5 drones flew away towards Belarus.
08.42 Russian attack drones damaged a critical infrastructure facility in the Ternopil region on the night of November 26.
08.23 Over the past 24 hours, 191 combat clashes with Russian troops occurred in 10 directions of the front. The hottest situation is in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhovsky directions, which the enemy attacked 97 times.
07.46 The Russian army lost another 1,480 soldiers on the front between November 25 and 26.
07.28 The Defense Forces neutralized more than a dozen drones that attacked the capital on the night of Tuesday, November 26.
04.24 DeepState reported that the Ukrainian military has completed the clearing of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region from Russian occupation forces. At the same time, the occupiers continue to advance near Novomlynsk, Dalne, Konstantinopolske, as well as in Razdolne and Kurakhovo.
01.38 During the air raid alarm on Tuesday night, explosions were heard in Ternopil, after which the city began to experience power and water supply interruptions.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Ukrainian Armed Forces Contain Russian Attacks in Eastern and Southern Ukraine.
The Russian invaders concentrated their main efforts on the Kurakhovsky direction. Currently, 12 military clashes are ongoing there.
Since the beginning of the current day, 143 combat clashes have occurred on the front in 10 directions. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a report as of 16:00 on Tuesday, November 26.
Thus, in the Kharkov direction, four military clashes occurred in the Volchansk area.
In the Kupyansk direction, 12 assaults were repelled near Grigorovka, Zeleny Gai, Zagryzovo, Senkovo and Andreyevka. Three combat clashes are still ongoing.
In the Liman direction, the enemy is attacking in the areas of Grekovka, Druzhkovka, Cherneshchina, Makeyevka, Terny and Torskoye. In total, there are already 17 combat clashes in this direction, of which seven are ongoing.
In the Seversky direction, the Russians are currently attacking in the Grigorovka area.
In the Toretsk direction, the enemy attacked three times near Dilievka and Toretsk.
In the Pokrovsk direction, fierce battles are taking place in the areas of Mirolyubovka, Promin, Krasny Yar, Lysovka, Chumatskoye, Pustynka and Novy Trud. At present, the enemy has made 31 attempts to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces from their positions, 25 attacks have already been repelled.
In the Kurakhovsky direction, 12 combat clashes continue in the areas of the settlements of Berestki, Solntsevka, Novodmitrovka, Kurakhovo, Dalneye, Katerinovka, Elizavetovka, Ganovka and Antonovka. At the same time, 23 enemy assaults have already been repelled by our defenders.
In the Vremevsky direction, the enemy carried out 13 attacks in the areas of the settlements of Veseliy Gai, Trudovoye, Konstantinopolskoye, Razdolnoye, Novoandreyevka and Rovnopolye. One battle continues.
In the Dnieper direction, our defenders repelled two enemy attacks.
Let us recall that since the beginning of the war, Russia has lost more than 730 thousand soldiers killed and wounded. In just one day on November 25, almost 1,500 invaders were killed.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 116th Territorial Defence Brigade and 5th Border Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine near Lebedevka and Kazachaya Lopan (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 115 troops, one tank, one motor vehicle, and one 122mm D-30 howitzer.
As a result of decisive actions, units of the Zapad Group of Forces liberated Kopanki (Kharkov region).
Losses were inflicted on manpower and hardware of the 43rd, 44th, 67th Mechanised brigades, 25th Airborne Brigade of the AFU, and 115th Territorial Defence Brigade near Kupyansk, Senkovo, Lozovaya, Zagoruykovka, Novoplatonovka (Kharkov region), and Ivanovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Five counterattacks launched by assault detachments of the 115th, 116th Mechanised brigades, 3rd Tank Brigade of the AFU, and 119th Territorial Defence Brigade were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 440 troops, one tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, five motor vehicles, and one Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled artillery system. One Anklav-N electronic warfare station and three field ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line and inflicted losses on formations of the 23rd, 54th Mechanised brigades, and 10th Mountain Assault Brigade of the AFU near Konstantinovka, Dachnoye, and Slavyansk (Donetsk People's Republic).
Three counterattacks launched by formations of the 79th Air Assault Brigade and 46th Airmobile Brigade of the AFU were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 485 troops, one armoured personnel carrier, one armoured fighting vehicle, and two motor vehicles. One field ammunition depot was destroyed.
Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of the enemy's defences and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 151st Mechanised Brigade, 68th Infantry Brigade of the AFU, 38th Naval Infantry Brigade, 14th National Guard Brigade, and 132nd Territorial Defence Brigade near Grodovka, Dachenskoye, Mirolyubovka, Dimitrov, and Pravdovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Nine counterattacks launched by assault detachments of the 100th, 117th Mechanised brigades of the AFU, 35th Naval Infantry Brigade, and Lyut Assault Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to more than 450 troops, one tank, five motor vehicles, one 203mm 2S7 Pion self-propelled artillery system, one 152mm Msta-B howitzer, two 152mm D-20 guns, and two 122mm D-30 howitzers.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions and inflicted losses on formations of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade of the AFU, 127th and 241st Territorial Defence brigades near Razliv, Komar, and Oktyabr (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 125 troops, one tank, six motor vehicles, one 155mm Bogdana self-propelled artillery system, and one 152mm 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 103rd, 124th, and 126th Territorial Defence brigades near Olgovka, Molodezhnoye, and Nikolskoye (Kherson region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 60 troops, two motor vehicles, and one 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system. One Anklav-N electronic warfare station was destroyed.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces delivered strikes at infrastructure of military airfields, AFU UAV command posts, from where kamikaze drones were launched at the Zaporozhye NPP, as well as engaged manpower clusters and military hardware of the enemy in 135 areas.
Air defence units shot down six French-made Hammer guided aerial bombs, one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectile, and 71 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, including 56 of them outside the special military operation zone.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 649 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 36,719 unmanned aerial vehicles, 586 anti-aircraft missile systems, 19,508 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,492 MLRS combat vehicles, 18,562 field artillery guns and mortars, and 28,739 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
Over the past 24 hours, Energodar and surrounding areas of the Zaporozhye NPP were shelled five times and attacked three times by copter-type unmanned aerial vehicles. As a result of the provocation, there are no casualties, and one administrative building sustained minor damage. Two unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defence units, one was suppressed by electronic warfare means. At the moment, the staff of the Zaporozhye NPP continues to work as usual, maintains the NPP's facilities, and monitors the radioactive situation.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.
Units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 21st, 41st, 44th, 47th Mechanised brigades, 17th Heavy Mechanised Brigade, 5th Tank Brigade, 80th, 82nd, 95th Air Assault brigades, 36th Naval Infantry Brigade, 112th, 116th, 117th, and 129th Territorial Defence brigades of the AFU near Aleksandriya, Viktorovka, Kruglenkoye, Lebedevka, Leonidovka, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novaya Sorochina, Novoivanovka, Plyokhovo, and Sverdlikovo.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Aleksandriya, Gornal, Guyevo, Kazachaya Loknya, Pervy Knyazhy, Kositsa, Kruglenkoye, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Leonidovo, Martynovka, Nikolsky, Plyokhovo, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as Basovka, Belovody, Zhuravka, Zapselye, Miropolye, Pavlovka, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 250 troops. Four tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, three armoured fighting vehicles, eight motor vehicles, and two mortars were destroyed. Two AFU servicemen surrendered.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 35,760 troops, 221 tanks, 156 infantry fighting vehicles, 121 armoured personnel carriers, 1,197 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,035 motor vehicles, 304 artillery guns, 40 MLRS launchers, including 11 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 13 anti-aircraft missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 70 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 27 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, six armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 19:41 Storming of Yelizavetovka: 57th Regiment attacks in the Kurakhovsky direction, –video.
Armored vehicles of the 57th regiment of the 20th division of the 8th guards army of the Russian Armed Forces break into the settlement of Elizavetovka in the Kurakhovsky direction and carry out an infantry landing to attack the strongholds.
18:27 You can't hide from our drone operators:
Calculation of UAVs of the "Southern" group of troops discovered and destroyed the Stugna ATGM position and the Ukrainian Armed Forces observation post in the Kurakhovsky direction.
17:09 Active fighting in the Selidovo area.
Successful defeat of two abandoned infantry fighting vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a result of shelling by an FPV drone from the Ukrainian Armed Forces south of Yuryevka on the line of combat contact.
15:58 Self-propelled guns are firing:
Calculation of the 152mm 2S19 "Msta-S" of the "Center" group of forces destroyed an ammunition depot and concentration of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
12:08 Artillerymen of the Dnepr group of forces destroyed the enemy's UAV control point in the Kakhovka direction, –video.
11:44 Our troops are cleaning up"a fire bag" in which the Ukrainian Armed Forces units found themselves south of the city of Kurakhovo in the DPR, the enemy's retreat routes were taken under fire control, Rogov reported.
10:37 High-precision fire: Stavropol sniper paratroopers of the Dnepr group of troops disrupted the rotation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Orekhov direction, –video.
9:44 Telegram channel «WarGonzo»:
Frontline report for the morning of 26.11.2024:
- Zaporizhzhya Front. There are tactical successes of the RF Armed Forces in the Orekhovsky Sector, where Russian troops advanced in the direction of the settlement of Malaya Tokmachka. Fighting continues in the Belogorye area, here the advancement of our troops is still unknown.
– Donetsk Front. As a result of the assault actions, Russian troops entered the eastern outskirts of Velyka Novosilka. Long-range weapons are actively working on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. South of Kurakhovo, Russian troops are closing the formed "pocket". It is reported that Ilyinka and Yelizovetovka have been liberated. In the city itself, the fighting has moved to the central part of the settlement. North of Kurakhovo, the offensive of Russian troops also continues to develop, there are more tactical successes.
- Chasovoyarsk direction. No significant changes in LBS. However, the fighting activity in this area does not decrease. The RF Armed Forces are pulling up forces for further advancement.
- Kursk region. Mainly head-on battles continue. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively counterattacking, bringing up reserves.
8:17 "Rooks" are on our side:
Su-25 crews carry out missile air strikes on equipment, strongholds and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border areas of the Kursk region, –video.
8:04 Servicemen of the T-80 tank crew of the "East" group of forces struck a stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, ensuring the offensive of assault groups in the South Donetsk direction.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Oleksandr Syrsky told Ukrainian military bloggers that the AFU intends not only to hold the line, but also to counterattack. This was reported by the publication "Strana.ua" with reference to serviceman Kirill Sazonov, who was present at the meeting. According to his information, Syrsky acknowledged that the situation in the area of Pokrovsk (the Ukrainian name for Krasnoarmeysk) and Kurakhovo is difficult for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but stated that the situation is supposedly better than a week ago, when the situation was “critical.”
Ukrainian forces have brought in reserves, Sazonov said, citing Syrsky. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced his intention to counterattack in some areas, the military man added, without specifying which areas he was talking about or when an attempt at an offensive might take place.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, earlier, on November 26, the chairman of the commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on sovereignty issues, co-chairman of the coordinating council for the integration of new regions, Vladimir Rogov, reported that the Russian Armed Forces are clearing the “fire pocket” in which Ukrainian formations have fallen in the area of the city of Kurakhovo in the DPR.
On October 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian army had already liberated two-thirds of the city of Dzerzhinsk in the DPR. The head of state specified that Russian troops had also advanced 5–6 km near Krasnoarmeysk.
Regnum IA observer Sergei Adamov noted in his article earlier that the Russian army is moving towards the complete liberation of Donbass. The offensive continues in a number of sections of the front throughout the territory of the DPR, with the heaviest fighting taking place north and south of Kurakhovo, the expert noted.
[Breitbart] Germany is working on a ‘bunker plan’ including a smartphone app to direct citizens to the nearest shelter in case of an emergency, a report claims, after Russian President Putin said he reserved the right to bomb the allies of Ukraine.
The Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe — it really rolls off the tongue — better known as the BKK or the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance has embarked on a project to figure out where the country’s remaining bomb shelters are and how many are still fit for use. As well as now long-neglected facilities designed for the purpose officials will also be looking at the potential to convert subway stations, government buildings, and even private basements, a report in newspaper Bild asserts.
German broadcaster ZDF interprets the revelation of what is called the “bunker plan” as being part of the nation’s response to Russia bombing Ukrainian city Dnipro with an unarmed nuclear-capable ballistic missile last week. The weapon was a new design, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed, asserting it is both ‘hypersonic’ and impervious to countermeasures, its launch seen as a clear message to Ukraine’s backers.
President Putin spoke shortly after the launch, where he said the launch had been “in response to the use of American and British long-range weapons”. Chillingly, in a message to NATO states which have supplied Ukraine with long range precision strike weapons being used to hit military targets inside Russia itself, Putin said: “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.”
At the end of the Cold War Germany has 2,000 public shelters, it is reported, but with the fall of the Soviet Union the need for such facilities was seen to have passed and the funding stopped. Years later many had fallen into disrepair and a sell-off began in the early 2000s, with many becoming private residences, places of business, art galleries, tourist attractions, even hotels and musroom farms.
The sell-off continued until 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began again and disposals were suspended. Today the Federal government owns just 579 shelters with spaces for 480,000, the Federal Interior Ministry says.
The BKK is now, it is reported, discovering how many of the old shelters still exist in serviceable condition and which could be pressed back into service in a crisis, and how many other new spaces could be converted if need be. The work will doubtless have learnt much from the Ukrainian experience, where many shelters from the relentless Russian air raids that exist now have been established in converted spaces meant for other purposes.
The national survey will assess the structural condition of locations including their doors and ventilation systems. Private and public property including underground garages, subway stations, government buildings, and basements are to be surveyed in what has been called a “major project” that is expected to take a considerable period of time to complete.
As for the public, there is apparently an expectation in the yet to be officially announced initiative on them to make preparations, too. As stated in the Bild report, the public are expected to do something with their own basement spaces and not necessarily wait for the government to act. As part of the project, there is to be a mobile phone app that directs users to their nearest bomb shelter in a crisis: this too is Ukraine-inspired, where such an app is already in daily use.
While the nationwide survey is apparently to assess what is available and what is possible for the future, there is reportedly no plans by the German government to actually supply any new shelter spaces or bunkers. ZDF cites Berlin’s position from this summer that “Centrally located public shelters for several hundred or thousand people are not an appropriate protective measure against modern precision weapons that specifically destroy individual war-relevant objects and for which there is only a few minutes’ warning time before an attack.”
It is not clear to what degree this decades-old conventional view on the future of warfare has actually been vindicated by the real experience of the Ukraine war, however, where relatively unsophisticated mass strikes by artillery and bomb drones have struck pretty indiscriminately at Ukrainian cities. In many areas, nearly as much damage has been caused by falling wreckage from downed weapons as by the strikes themselves, again counting against the precision warfare concept.
Indeed, the lack of provision of bomb shelter places across Ukraine in the early months of the invasion became a major scandal in Ukraine as people were killed after being unable to reach a bunker in time, or because what was available locally when the war broke out wasn’t actually bomb-proof at all.
In Germany, some bunkers are already well known. Beyond the colossal remnants of Nazi Germany’s defensive structures built in the Second World War, some of which were simply too large to demolish, the country also has many Cold War era bunkers. One is at Pankstrasse U-Bahn station on Berlin’s underground train network, which when built new in 1977 also incorporated a bunker by a design to one of the BBK’s predecessor agencies to shelter over 3,000 people in case of war.
Not all regions have provision, however. Germany’s Welt reports the Federal state of Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany — part of the region of the country that would be most at threat should the much-discussed escalation of the Ukraine War reach catastrophic levels — doesn’t have a single public bomb shelter.
Other countries closer to the Ukraine War than even Germany have been somewhat more proactive, and not even necessarily against Russia consciously trying to attack NATO territory but because sometimes missiles over-shoot. Poland has seen several ‘lost’ munitions fired by both Ukraine and Russia end up in their territory, and several villages in Romania on the border with Ukraine have received new bomb shelters to protect them from “falling objects from the surrounding airspace”.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
According to his information, Syrsky acknowledged that the situation in the area of Pokrovsk (the Ukrainian name for Krasnoarmeysk) and Kurakhovo is difficult for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but stated that the situation is supposedly better than a week ago, when the situation was “critical.”
