Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 09-14-2024

In an ongoing effort to short up the eastern flank of NATO, the US has just given the green light for the sale of 32 F-35s, produced by Lockheed Martin.

The US State Department on Friday said it had approved the sale of dozens of F-35 fighter jets to its NATO ally Romania, a deal worth $7.2 billion.

The contract, which must still be approved by the US Congress, covers Bucharest's purchase of 32 F-35A aircraft and related equipment, produced by the US aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin.

A Ukrainian column of armored vehicles appears to be trying to split the Russian counteroffensive in Kursk Oblast. A lodgment has reportedly been established.

The Russian counterattack in Kursk Oblast has lost its initial momentum and the Ukrainians are now trying to break through, reports from various social media indicate.

Video footage posted by Ukraine’s Khorne group show a column of Ukrainian armored vehicles moving through what they say is Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

Ukraine has carried out a prisoner swap with Russia for the second time in two days. A Kyiv Post correspondent was present at the scene of the exchange.

Among the 103 Ukrainian soldiers released were members of the Azov Regiment, who have been held in Russian captivity since the early days of the full-scale war.

Other servicemen were part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the Border Guard service, and the police.

Rarely discussed, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have lost their sexual organs. The Ukraine 1991 Foundation helps wounded soldiers with prosthetic male organs to restore their sexual function.

Though it’s not often a part of the public conversation, many Ukrainian soldiers are returning home from war with severe injuries to their genitalia – sometimes from mine blasts, sometimes from torture, or outright castration undergone during Russian captivity.

However, the Ukraine 1991 Foundation is restoring soldiers’ sexual and reproductive functions – giving them a chance to have intercourse, father children, and lead normal lives again, in stark contrast to the seemingly hopeless depression, leading even to suicide, among earlier generations of soldiers who suffered similar injuries.

Kamala Harris has Ukraine taking center stage in a new ad campaign emphasizing her opponent Donald Trump’s self-touted friendship with Putin and other dictators.

Vice President Kamala Harris launched a series of new political ads promoting her support for Ukraine. The ads come just days after the Democratic presidential candidate received rave reviews for her performance at last week’s debate against opponent Donald Trump.

With just 51 days until Election Day, the ads come at a consequential moment when the candidates are head to head in national polls and the swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin – are still very much up for grabs.

InformNapalm’s latest report shows how Russia is keeping some of its premier military aircraft in the air, despite Western sanctions.

An investigation has found that the Kazakh-based Analyst Research Consulting (ARC) Group is servicing French aviation equipment to keep Russian military aircraft flying, despite Western sanctions. Details of the scheme, which is helping to maintain Su-30SM fighters, were revealed by the international non-governmental investigative organization (NGIO) “InformNapalm” in a report on Sept. 12.

The Su-30SM relies on essential French-supplied systems manufactured by the Thales and Safran Groups. These include critical components such as the SMD55S and SMD66S multifunctional liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, TLS2020 multi-mode receivers, TACAN-NC12 tactical navigation systems, HUD 3022 head-up displays, and SIGMA 95NAA high-precision inertial navigation systems.

The Russian propaganda network that has cultivated Americans like Tucker Carlson and Scott Ritter is now officially considered a Kremlin “intelligence apparatus.”

Top US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday accused Russian media outlet RT of being a “de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus” being used against countries around the world.

“We know that RT possesses cyber capabilities and engaged in covert information influence operations and military procurement,” the secretary of state told reporters.

The trademark is an existing brand of the South Korean conglomerate the LG Group, the name coincidentally is an obscene reference to the male genitalia in the Russian language.

The South Korean conglomerate the LG Group has reportedly registered its “O HUI” brand of cosmetic products in Russia, according to documents in the public domain.

A screenshot of the document recently circulating on the internet showed that a Moscow law firm, acting on behalf of LG Group’s subsidiary LG Household & Health Care, has applied to Russia’s Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) to register their “O HUI” trademark in the country.

Although many commanders of the Azov Regiment have returned in high-profile exchanges, rank and file defenders of Mariupol still languish in Russia prisons.

Tetyana Buhay burst into tears as she called her sister to announce she had finally returned to Ukraine after spending over two and a half years in Russian captivity.

The 29-year-old medic from Ukraine’s Azov Regiment was captured around the siege of Mariupol, a southern Ukrainian city which Russian troops surrounded and razed to the ground.

While Trump is silent on giving Ukraine the means to win, the Biden-Harris camp’s evasive approach is not much better. Putin is now seizing on the White House’s fears.

Once again, Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening NATO with a new red line. This time, Mad Vlad claimed Russia would be “at war” with NATO if Washington and Brussels green light Ukrainian use of American and European deep-strike precision weapons deep inside of the Russian motherland.

That is old news – according to the Kremlin, Russia has been at war with the West since March 2024.

The leaders of the US and UK met in Washington, where a decision to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow long-range missiles on Russian territory had been expected. Biden’s caution won out.

Ukraine’s hopes for the US lifting restrictions on the use of American-made weapons were dashed for the time being on Friday as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden met in Washington.

The two leaders have delayed an expected decision to let Ukraine fire Western-supplied long-range missiles into Russia, appearing to back down from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest threats of a direct war with NATO.

In his disingenuous effort to appear balanced and maintain dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church, Pope Francis is again laying blame on the victim – Ukraine.

“Churches are not to be touched,” Pope Francis proclaimed. His messaging was part of an Aug. 25 Vatican mass denouncing Ukraine for passing a law prohibiting religious organizations affiliated with Russia from operating in Ukraine. Unfortunately, Pope Francis has the wrong country. Ukraine is a beacon of religious freedom while Russia brutally sabotages religious liberties. 

The Pope says churches are untouchable. Really? What about the 630 churches in Ukraine damaged or destroyed by Russian forces according to the Institute for Religious Freedom? Why are they being ignored? This harkens back to the bleak WWII era when the Vatican appeased Germany by failing to condemn their atrocities. Increasingly it appears the Pope has become an ally of Russia.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast has reportedly spoiled planned Russian offensive operations along the international border area that likely aimed to expand the area of active combat operations across a broader front in northeastern Ukraine.
• Russian forces continue to counterattack throughout the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast, but the Russian military will likely have to redeploy additional elements from elsewhere in the theater to Kursk Oblast to establish a force grouping capable of pursuing a sustained counteroffensive operation.
• Russian forces appear to be testing more effective mechanized assault tactics west of Donetsk City, although Russian armored vehicles remain vulnerable to Ukrainian strike and drone capabilities.
• Ukraine and Russia conducted their second prisoner of war (POW) exchange since the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast on September 13.
• Russia continues efforts to strengthen strategic military ties with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), North Korea, and Iran to support its war effort in Ukraine.
• Russian and Ukrainian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast amid continued Russian and Ukrainian assaults in the area on September 13.
• Russian forces recently marginally advanced near Kupyansk, Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, and Pokrovsk.
• Russian authorities continue attempts to coerce minorities and Ukrainian youth living in occupied Ukraine to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to avoid conducting a wider mobilization.