According to the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Russia plans to increase its troop strength in Ukraine to 250,000. 90,000 new soldiers are to be recruited for the war in Ukraine, a spokesman said, according to the news platform “Liga” on state television. There are currently 160,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. In order to reach the targeted number, reserve battalions and so-called volunteer units would be formed.
Only on Wednesday did Russian President Vladimir Putin order an increase in the size of the army. In 2023, the number of soldiers is expected to increase by 137,000 to around 1.15 million.
It is unclear how Russia intends to do this. Western secret services unanimously report massive problems in the Russian military apparatus recruiting new soldiers. The Russian army has even resorted to prisoners.
A Ukrainian NGO has given the government in Kyiv exclusive access to a satellite made by the Finnish company Iceye. The organization of Ukrainian TV presenter Serhiy Prytula raised 600 million Ukrainian hryvnia (about 16.26 million euros) through a crowdfunding campaign.
The contract between the NGO and the group provides that the Ukrainian government can first make full use of one of the Iceye satellites that are already in orbit. In addition, Iceye will provide access to its constellation of SAR satellites so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can receive radar satellite images of critical locations at a high repetition rate.
According to Prytula, the company has the most advanced radar satellite imagery technology to date. Unlike traditional Earth observation satellites, Iceye’s radar imaging satellites can provide high-precision images of the Earth in daylight, at night and through clouds.
An Iceye satellite image would cover an area of up to 225 square kilometers and capture images with a resolution of 0.5 meters to 1 meter, depending on the area, Prytula told Ukraine’s Kyiv Independent news portal. The paid satellite would fly over Ukraine twice a day.
“Satellites make it possible to see where other types of reconnaissance cannot,” quotes the Ukrainian aerospace expert Andrii Kolesnyk as saying in the Kyiv Independent. In addition, the satellite images would provide a look behind enemy lines and provide information on the strategy of the Russian troops. (with Reuters)
The whole team and I constantly think of our friends and family in Ukraine. We are very worried because the war just goes on.
The decision to invade Ukraine is part of Vladimir Putin’s vision of Russia’s global role. Breaking down globalization and restoring Russian, Chinese, and US spheres of influence would have served to ensure that the modest size of Russia’s economy still carried weight on a global scale. The economic fallout from the conflict, the impact of sanctions and the reshaping of economic alliances are therefore integral to the invasion’s objectives, but they are not going in the direction Putin wants. The admission of difficulties yesterday by Moscow Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina is over important for two reasons: on the one hand, it shows that if the conflict were to continue for too long, it would weigh heavily on the Russian economy; on the other hand, it shows that Russian companies have no alternative to the current model of trade relations with the West.
