Axios has a story about Israel sending 90 decommissioned Patriot missiles to Ukraine — but only after some negotiations.
Behind the scenes: The sources tell Axios that after the IDF announced the decommissioning, Ukrainian officials approached the U.S. and Israel with an idea: Israel would give those missiles back to the U.S. to be refurbished and sent on to Ukraine
- For several months, Israel dragged its feet out of concern Russia would retaliate, perhaps by supplying sophisticated weapons to Iran.
- A Ukrainian official tells Axios Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to take his calls on that issue for weeks.
- But in late September, Netanyahu finally approved the idea, an Israeli official says.
Friction point: At the time, Netanyahu wanted to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in order to get his approval for ultra-Orthodox Israelis to make an annual pilgrimage to the city of Uman in Ukraine, where a famous Rabbi is buried.
- Zelensky wouldn't take his call until Netanyahu approved the Patriot deal, the Ukrainian official says.
- A spokesperson for Netanyahu told Axios the prime minister didn't object to the decommissioning of the Patriot system and its return to the U.S. and denied any connection between this and the pilgrimage.
Ukraine struck another oil refinery. Kstovo is near Nizhny Novgorod, which is east of Moscow.
The post says the attack was on the Lukoil facility, but there are two refineries in Kstovo and the one that was hit may have been the Sibur-Kstovo facility, which also helps produce jet and rocket fuel.
Get used to it.
x
"Honestly, I never thought I’d read news about mass drone/missile strikes on Russia more often than on Ukraine. That’s why Ukrainians are laughing at us... And no one is planning to fix it yet," a Russian soldier with call sign OSETIN writes.
New reality.
[image or embed]
— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) January 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Russia, of course, attacks more civilians.
Ukraine has hit this area many times already. There is a Russian air base there.
Russia wants to go all in on drone warfare.
Ukraine mines the entrance to a river channel near Kherson. A Russian boat comes along and shows that the mines actually work.
Ukraine sends the Welcome Wagon to greet a Russian occupier.
Does anyone else remember Welcome Wagon?
Another 1,690 lucky winners, along with 10 tanks.
He got his wish.
The Australian volunteer who had been reported dead is still alive.
x
Australian volunteer Oscar Jenkins, who fought on the side of Ukraine and was considered dead, is alive and held in Russian captivity.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated that Russia must treat him according to international humanitarian law.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
[image or embed]
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 7:47 AM
This is rather messy, but it needs to be resolved.
x
A spat between Ukraine’s defense minister and the country’s weapons procurement agency has escalated into a PR crisis. And now, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has launched a criminal case against the minister.
[image or embed]
— Meduza in English (@meduza.io) January 29, 2025 at 12:11 PM
x
Western officials and anti-corruption groups have warned that a dispute between Ukraine’s defence minister and its weapons procurement chief could disrupt arms supplies and undermine US confidence in Kyiv.
www.ft.com/content/7dd1... via @financialtimes.com
[image or embed]
— Christopher Miller (@christopherjm.ft.com) January 28, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Russia held talks in Syria hoping to negotiate a deal to keep its bases there.
NARRATOR: It didn’t go well.
x
⚡️Syria calls on Russia to hand over Assad, key aides in first post-ouster talks, media reports.
The demand was allegedly raised during the first negotiations between Syrian officials and a Kremlin delegation following Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December, Reuters reported.
[image or embed]
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) January 29, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Update on the troubled 155th brigade that was trained in France.
x
🇺🇦 The 155th Brigade "Anna Kyivska" is recovering from a crisis linked to numerous desertion cases in Ukraine & France. Brigade units are now taking up its area of responsibility in the Pokrovsk area, where it is carrying out combat missions, Ukrainian correspondent Andriy Tsaplienko reports.
[image or embed]
— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) January 29, 2025 at 11:49 AM
These are the kind of consequences that nobody thinks about when they announce broad, sweeping policy changes.
x
An example of how the suspension of U.S. foreign aid could have dire consequences for democracy in places like Moldova: 40% of the budget of Ziarul de Gardă, one of the best investigative newspapers in Europe, has come from U.S. funding. So the newspaper now has to look for ...
— Cristian Canțâr (@cristiancantir.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 8:49 AM
So the newspaper now has to look for other sources of funding. Ziarul de Gardă has been essential in revealing major cases of corruption and Russian hybrid warfare. Most recently, its journalists went undercover for months to show how Ilan Șor and the Kremlin sought to undermine the 2024 election and referendum (zdg.md/investigatii...). There are many more examples like these, which demonstrate that Moldova's democracy and free press would have been and would be weaker without Ziarul de Gardă.
Fico says that Zelenskyy is the enemy.
One of Ukraine’s new drones — this one explodes above a target and deploys steel or tungsten balls across an area of 2,000 square meters that are supposed to be able to penetrate armored vehicles.
Google might need a payment plan.
x
The size of a Russian court’s fine against Google for blocking 17 Russian TV channels on YouTube has reportedly reached 1,810,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 rubles. (For clarity, that’s $18,100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).
[image or embed]
— Meduza in English (@meduza.io) January 29, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Meanwhile, in Transnistria, waiting for Moscow to turn the gas back on is getting old.
x
🇲🇩👀Chisinau and Tiraspol have signed an agreement on the supply of gas on credit, Moldovan Prime Minister said.
Transnistria will receive 3 million cubic meters of gas, which it must return by March 1, 2025. In the event of refusal of European assistance, authorities will have return the gas or pay.
[image or embed]
— The Ukrainian Review (@theukrainianreview.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 8:35 AM
