Ukrainian troops heading to Oklahoma for Patriot missile training
A hundred Ukrainian soldiers are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, next week, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed Tuesday during a press briefing.
The Army selected Fort Sill over training ranges in Europe because the Patriot’s school house, which is normally a two-year training pipeline, is located at the Oklahoma post.
Poland in talks with allies over Leopard 2 transfers to Ukraine
“Together with [Polish] president [Andrzej Duda], we are holding talks which would lead towards building a broader coalition of states that could supply such heavy, modern gear” to Ukraine, Morawiecki said on Jan. 7, as reported by local daily Rzeczpospolita. “The talks are ongoing. I spoke about this with [German] chancellor [Olaf] Scholz a few weeks ago in Brussels, and I believe that, in the coming few days, we could know more about this topic.
Ukraine denies Russian claim it killed hundreds of soldiers
Key events Ukraine Russia War, day 322
- Russia has claimed its military carried out a deadly “retaliatory strike” on barracks used by Ukrainian soldiers in the Donbas region as Ukraine denied there were any casualties in the attack.
- The Russian defence ministry said missiles hit two temporary bases housing 1,300 Ukrainian troops in Kramatorsk, in the eastern Donetsk region. It said “more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen were killed” as a result of what they called a “retaliatory strike” on Ukrainian soldiers.
- The head of Russia’s mercenary group, Wagner says his fighters have taken control of the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.
- The British defence ministry has said Russian troops and Wagner fighters are probably in control of most of Soledar after four days of advances.
- Earlier, some prominent Russian military bloggers urged caution about the situation in Soledar and said intense combat in the town’s centre and its outskirts continued during the night.
- Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has met with some of his ministers, including the prime minister, to discuss security issues amid the war in neighbouring Ukraine, including Kyiv’s request for Western-made heavy battle tanks.
- President Vladimir Putin’s defence minister has pledged to build a deeper arsenal, bolster aviation technology to better evade air defences and improve drone production after a series of battlefield humiliations in Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba says Berlin needs to supply his military with Leopard tanks, during a visit from his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, to the war-battered eastern city of Kharkiv.
- The United States will train Ukrainian personnel at a base in the state of Oklahoma on how to use and maintain the advanced Patriot air defence system Washington is giving Kyiv, the Pentagon has confirmed.
- German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited the northeastern city of Kharkiv and pledged further support for Kyiv, but Ukraine’s top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba said Berlin’s refusal to send his country battle tanks was costing lives.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government would purchase a US air defence system to donate to Ukraine.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to visit Ukraine “at a future opportunity”.
- The Ukrainian president has said he had revoked the citizenship of Viktor Medvedchuk, once seen as Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s top ally in Kyiv and accused of high treason. Three other people were also stripped of their citizenship.
Russian Missiles Used Against Ukraine ‘Absolutely Filled’ With US Tech
For months now, Ukraine has faced a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks, straining its Soviet-era air defenses. But as the U.S. and its allies work to provide Ukraine with upgraded technology to defend against those strikes, an open-source intelligence analysis has found the Russian missiles have plenty of U.S. technology of their own.
In a Jan. 10 briefing, analysts from the Royal Institute of Strategic Studies, detailed how many of Russia’s missiles have American and other Western components, despite export controls in place.
“All of these pieces of equipment were absolutely filled with Western components,” James Byrne, the Director of the Open Source Intelligence and Analysis Research Group at RUSI, said. “For us, it’s very interesting, very surprising. Nearly everything that we found in those systems was manufactured, designed by American companies.”
