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Novaya Gazeta Europe
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Patriot Games. Can Ukraine replace the crucial weaponry the Trump administration has stopped supplying it with? — Novaya Gazeta Europe
The Pentagon's decision to freeze the deliveries of certain types of weapons to Ukraine, including missiles for Patriot air defence systems, caught Kyiv off guard earlier this week. Multiple NBC News sources in the US Congress and the Pentagon said that Ukraine would no longer be receiving Howitzer munitions, Hellfire missiles, precision-guided missile systems, Stinger surface-to-air missiles, AIM air-to-air missiles or grenade launchers. Experts consider these weapons to be crucial for Ukraine's defence against Russian missiles. 'I don't want to sound too conspiratorial, but the list of weapons seems to contain the munitions that are hardest to replace elsewhere,' military researcher Kirill Mikhailov told Novaya Gazeta Europe. 'First and foremost, we're talking about GMLRS missiles, which can destroy targets with a high level of precision up to 60 kilometres away, and Patriot PAC-3 anti-aircraft missiles, which are the only ones in the Ukrainian arsenal capable of shooting down ballistic missiles,' he added. 'Suspending the supply of Patriot missiles is effectively an invitation to the Russian army to strike unprotected Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles.' Even if these munitions can be partially replaced by European supplies, some shortfall is inevitable, Mikhailov believes. But when it comes to air defences, most Russian airstrikes use drones, which can be successfully shot down by European air defence systems, aviation and interceptor drones, which Ukraine is actively investing in, he notes. The Pentagon's decision appears to concern the final supplies approved during the Biden administration, military expert and reserve Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) colonel Roman Svitan told Novaya Europe, noting that the AFU was 'really counting on this batch … of mainly defensive weapons'. 'It will weaken Ukrainian defence and air defence capabilities,' Svitan asserted. 'Suspending the supply of Patriot missiles is effectively an invitation to the Russian army to strike unprotected Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles — only the Patriot system can shoot down Russian Iskander and Kinzhal missiles and Korean KN-23s,' he stressed. F-16 fighter jets fly over a Patriot air defence system, Ukraine, 4 August 2024. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP Photo / Scanpix / LETA 'European air defence systems can only shoot down cruise missiles,' Ivan Stupak, a military analyst and former Ukrainian secret service official, agreed. Svitan believes European countries still have stockpiles of Patriot missiles, which Ukraine now hopes they will deliver. EU countries can also provide the AFU with artillery shells. Besides the Patriot systems, other interruptions in supply are not as critical, Stupak believes. In recent years, Ukraine has increasingly replaced artillery shells and anti-tank grenade launchers with drones, he notes. Drones fly further than munition, and are much more accurate. Anticipating an interruption in US aid, Ukraine ramped up production of its own shells, while also buying up Soviet-era shells, which are still widely used by the AFU. 'The fact that supplies haven't been cancelled, only suspended, may mean this is a bargaining chip in a bigger game.' 'Stopping supplies will directly lead to the death of Ukrainian servicemen and civilians, of course, but not to the immediate collapse of the front or the destruction of cities in the Ukrainian hinterland,' Mikhailov said. 'I think we have just witnessed a deal. Donald Trump received a promise from Putin not to meddle in the conflict between the US and Israel and Iran if the US stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine,' said Svitan. 'Ukraine is being sacrificed for a solution to the problems in the Middle East.' Trump may also be trying to put pressure on Kyiv again, forcing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to surrender, Svitan suggested. 'The fact that supplies haven't been cancelled, only suspended, may mean this is a bargaining chip in a bigger game,' he continued. 'Trump still hopes that he can achieve peace by sacrificing large parts of Ukraine.'
Novaya Gazeta Europe
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Offensive? What offensive? Analysts react to the Ukrainian military chief's claim that a Russian offensive in the Sumy region has been halted — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has compared the Russian summer offensive in Ukraine's northern Sumy region to its unsuccessful attempt to recapture territory in the Kharkiv region last year. According to Syrskyi, AFU units have now retaken the Ukrainian territory briefly held by Russian forces in the border areas of the Sumy region, cutting off approximately '50,000 Russian servicemen, including elite air force and marine brigades'. Syrskyi also said that an AFU offensive around the town of Glushkovo in Russia's neighbouring Kursk region had 'forced the enemy to send troops to defend their territory, significantly reducing their offensive capabilities' in the Sumy region. Syrskyi added that a special force had been assembled to defend the Sumy region and that work was underway to strengthen Ukrainian defences and create fortification barriers. 'In the Sumy region, the enemy advance hasn't been completely stopped,' an AFU serviceman who asked only to be identified as Serhiy told Novaya Gazeta Europe. 'The situation may no longer be critical … but it is still complex and far from stable. This is especially true for the villages of Yunakivka, Yablunivka, Varachyne and several others. These areas have seen tactical advances by the enemy, which has been repelled from Andriivka, but their attempts to regain control of these villages and positions they have lost are ongoing.' 'The situation in the Sumy region is definitely better than a month ago,' Russian military researcher Kirill Mikhailov told Novaya Europe. 'The Russians haven't been able to advance anywhere in recent days. It's difficult to analyse the effect of Ukrainian attacks on Tyotkino in the Kursk region, but there are several Russian units there, which are periodically being rotated due to losses.' 'There has been no Russian offensive in the Sumy region,' says Roman Svitan, a military expert and AFU reserve colonel. 'In fact, recent Russian activity was just a continuation of fighting following the AFU being squeezed out of the Kursk region. … The enemy was able to move a little deeper into the Sumy region and capture about 10 border villages. To paraphrase Syrskyi, the Russians have run out of steam and the AFU retreat is over.' Barbed wire on the front line in the Sumy region, June 2025. Photo: AFU General Staff Svitan added that the deployment of 50,000 Russian troops to the area by Russia's high command was insufficient for a full-scale offensive. 'Over 300,000 people live in Sumy. Storming a city like that would take years to organise.' 'The state of fortifications in the Sumy border region has been sharply criticised by Ukrainian analysts and military bloggers,' Mikhailov adds. 'During the Kursk operation, the AFU did nothing to strengthen the border while it was under their control,' he said, before suggesting that Syrskyi's sudden activity in the area had been fuelled by the public criticism he subsequently received. Svitan, however, said he believed that the damage inflicted by the AFU on border settlements in Russia's Kursk region would help to ensure that Ukrainian positions in the Sumy region could be defended. According to him, AFU defensive lines in the Sumy region are located in areas of forest and woodland, as building fortifications anywhere else would expose them to attacks from glide bombs or drones. So far, the Russians have been unable to reach the first line of Ukrainian defence structures. 'All this activity in the Sumy region is aimed at distracting the AFU from … Pokrovsk and at some point Zaporizhzhia,' says Svitan. 'The Russians are now preparing to expand their land corridor to Crimea. All other territorial advances are secondary concerns.'
Novaya Gazeta Europe
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Ukrainian F-16 pilot killed defending country from barrage of overnight Russian airstrikes — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Rescuers at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential building in the town of Smila, in central Ukraine's Cherkasy region, 29 June 2025. Photo: Russia launched a barrage of airstrikes on targets across Ukraine overnight Saturday, in a series of attacks that involved 477 drones and 60 missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force announced on Sunday. In total, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) managed to intercept 211 drones, while a further 225 failed to reach their targets, and some 33 Russian cruise missiles were shot down, the Ukrainian Air Force added. Intensive airstrikes were recorded in the Lviv, Zaporizhzhia and Cherkasy regions, as well as in the city of Kremenchuk in Ukraine's Poltava region and the southern ship-building city of Mykolaiv, according to breaking news Telegram channel ASTRA. In the town of Smila in central Ukraine's Chekasy region, a Russian drone strike injured six people and caused significant damage to three nine-storey buildings, as well as the National University of Food Technologies campus in the town, according to Chekasy regional head Ihor Taburets. In the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, one person from the village of Naraevka was hospitalised with injuries sustained in a Russian drone strike, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported.
IOL News
16-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Court denies couple's bid for legal funds in illegal coal mining case
Jacobus and Elza Jordaan, who are facing multiple charges involving alleged illegal coal mining, lost their legal bid to have preserved funds released for living and legal expenses. Image: Supplied A couple said to be part of a Mpumalanga illegal coal mining case and who earlier had multi-millions in assets frozen by the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), launched a failed legal bid for the release of R6.2 million of these funds for their legal costs as well as R149,000 a month for their living expenses. Jabobus and Elsa Jordaan turned to the Mpumalanga High Court, sitting in Mbombela, as they claimed they urgently need this money to survive and to be able to pay for their defence in their criminal trial. The Jordaans, together with thirteen others, were allegedly part of a syndicate charged with multiple serious offences of illegal coal mining and theft of coal from the State. Their assets were earlier preserved in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The Jordaans hold dual citizenship in both South Africa and Namibia. They are also directors of various companies, including GNJ Mining. The AFU in Mpumalanga, in collaboration with South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre, the Namibian Financial Intelligence Centre, and the Namibian Prosecutor-General's office, at the end of last year seized money in eight Namibian bank accounts to the value of about R52.5 million allegedly linked to the Jordaans. According to the authorities, this amount represents the proceeds of massive illegal coal mining in the Carolina area in Mpumalanga. The Jordaans now told the court applicants contend that the effect of these preservation orders is that they currently have no access to any funds or any unrestrained realisable property, whether movable, immovable, or cash. The National Prosecuting Authority, in opposing the application, said the Jordaans are not being frank with the court. It was argued that the applicants have on several occasions failed to or refused to disclose assets and to repatriate R50 million which was transferred to Namibia shortly before the granting of the preservation orders. It was also said that the couple failed to disclose all property interests and submit a sworn and full statement of all their assets and liabilities, which include assets held in trusts. The applicants, however, stated that they never made or received any income without disclosing it to the curator who was appointed to manage their preserved assets. But the curator said this is incorrect, as live game was removed by the couple and income to the value of R524,752,50, generated therefrom, was not disclosed and remains unaccounted for. The applicants, meanwhile, failed to give an explanation regarding this sum of money to the court. The prosecuting authority also pointed out to the court that the couple last year in another application asked that R3 million be released for their legal costs, as well as R293,349 per month for their living expenses. They had subsequently withdrawn that application. It questioned how the applicants' historical and future legal expenses have increased by R1.2 million and their living expenses have been reduced by R144,582 per month.
The Herald
13-06-2025
- The Herald
Vehicles worth R1m used to commit offences forfeited to state
In another order, a silver Hyundai Sonata vehicle valued at R110,000 and R7,500 in cash were forfeited after a significant drug seizure in Upington. Police recovered: 9,315 Mandrax pills valued at R931,500; eight packets of tik valued at R603,600; and four packets of cocaine valued at R554,400. The drugs were found in the presence of the driver and a passenger. In the third matter, a bronze Toyota Corolla 1.3 Prestige, valued at R132,000 and held at the Philipstown SAPS, was forfeited to the state after being used to transport narcotics. The vehicle concealed drugs inside a tyre, including Mandrax valued at R30,000 and dagga valued at R631,800. A white Mercedes-Benz valued at R306,300 which was seized in Springbok was forfeited after being used to transport dagga mixed with hydroponic cannabis. The drugs were valued at R80,000. An Isuzu truck valued at R275,000 was seized and forfeited after it was found transporting illegal gambling machines in Kuruman. Six foreign nationals were arrested, including three Chinese and three Tanzanians. All six were found to be in the country illegally without valid travel documentation. 'These forfeitures mark a decisive and strategic intervention by the NPA and its AFU in disrupting the economic infrastructure that sustains criminal enterprises.' He said by targeting the vehicles, cash and other assets used in or acquired through criminal activity, the AFU was not only weakening the operational capabilities of organised crime networks but also removing the financial incentives that fuelled repeat offending. TimesLIVE
