Eurasia

Poland signs $4.75 billion Abrams tank deal as Russia’s war speeds procurements

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak on Tuesday signed a deal worth about $4.75 billion to buy 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 from the United States. “We are strengthening the Polish military, and we are deterring a potential aggressor,” Błaszczak was quoted in a statement released by the ministry. Deliveries are to …

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US sending Ukraine tactical communications gear in new $300M package

A potentially $300 million batch of aid eventually bound for Ukraine will include communications systems and similar gear, according to the Department of Defense. “There’s a quite extensive, detailed list of what some of these capabilities are, including unmanned aerial systems and some tactical secure communications and other like capabilities,” …

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No strikes in Afghanistan since US withdrawal, DoD leaders confirm

U.S. military forces have not conducted any counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan since withdrawing all troops from the country last summer, but military officials insisted on Tuesday that they have the capability to monitor and neutralize threats there despite logistical challenges. Pressed by lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. …

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Pentagon’s top general suggests more permanent basing in Europe, but with rotational manning

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown into sharp focus the debate over how many U.S. troops should be permanently stationed in Europe and where. Prior to the war, about 80,000 troops were on the continent, either on U.S. bases in countries like Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, or …

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V Corps soldiers take up new position in Germany in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine

A contingent of V Corps soldiers uncased their unit colors Tuesday in Ansbach, marking a return to Germany for the headquarters as it helps coordinate Army efforts along NATO’s eastern flank. Once a mainstay in Germany during the Cold War, the unit is now carrying out its mission temporarily in …

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Russian media campaign falsely claims Bucha deaths are fakes

As gruesome videos and photos of bodies emerge from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Kremlin-backed media are denouncing them as an elaborate hoax — a narrative that journalists in Ukraine have shown to be false. Denouncing news as fake or spreading false reports to sow confusion and undermine its adversaries …

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Mariupol’s dead put at 5,000 as Ukraine braces in the east

The mayor of the besieged port city of Mariupol put the number of civilians killed there at more than 5,000 Wednesday, as Ukraine collected evidence of Russian atrocities on the ruined outskirts of Kyiv and braced for what could become a climactic battle for control of the country’s industrial east. …

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Germany gets approval for Israel’s Arrow 3 missile defense system

It would mark the first time that the Arrow 3, one of Israel’s most advanced air defense systems, has been sold to another country Germany has received approval from Israel and the United States to purchase the Arrow-3 missile defense system, The Jerusalem Post has learned. German legislators have in …

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Russia aims to create ‘land bridge’ to Crimea in new planned offensive, NATO chief says

Russian forces are regrouping for a new offensive in Ukraine aimed at gaining enough ground to connect the occupied Crimean Peninsula with separatist-controlled territory in the eastern Donbas region, NATO’s official said Tuesday. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking on the eve of a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, said the …

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Orban’s big win in Hungary bears lessons for Turkey’s staid opposition

What’s left of Turkey’s presidential system may be further eroded if Erdogan follows in Hungary’s “illiberal” footsteps. Diplomacy has been termed “the art of deceit,” but few doubt that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was anything but sincere when he phoned Hungary’s Viktor Orban today to congratulate him on his …

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