#defense-secretary-lloyd-austin

#defense-secretary-lloyd-austin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had no conversations with the White House after a trove of classified US intelligence documents were posted on social media, he told The Washington Post Monday.In an interview with the Post, Zelensky said he learned about the Pentagon leak through news coverage and claimed he did not receive information from the White House or the Pentagon beforehand.

A U.S. soldier guides an Abrams battle tank during training exercises in Poland.(Mateusz Slodkowski/AFP/Getty Images)President Biden and his senior military advisers were rebuked Thursday by senators exasperated by what they claimed is the glacial pace at which his administration is moving to supply Abrams tanks to Ukraine, whose leaders say they need such weapons for a highly anticipated counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory.

The Air National Guardsman accused of posting a trove of classified documents to social media is expected back in court Thursday for a hearing on whether he will be kept in jail during the course of his legal case.The detention hearing, which was originally scheduled for last week but was postponed at the last minute, is slated to take place in Massachusetts.

Russia wants to recover the fragments of a US surveillance drone that American forces brought down in the Black Sea after an encounter with a Russian fighter jet, a Russian security official said Wednesday.Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, claimed in televised remarks that Tuesday's incident was another confirmation of direct US involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.

House Republicans are demanding answers after the US Air Force admitted to an unauthorized release of 11 individuals' military service records, including those of two members of Congress, following an internal audit.The military records of Republican Reps.Don Bacon of Nebraska and Zach Nunn of Iowa were among the 11 individuals' records released by the Air Force.

Having announced one of its biggest aid packages yet, U.S. military officials met with allied nations to talk military support for Ukraine.German support for the war remains an unresolved question.ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: In Germany, top Pentagon leaders met with allied nations at a U.S. air base to discuss military support for Ukraine.

The Pentagon is set to implement a law that requires them to provide mental health services for troops after a delay of more than a year, according to a defense official with knowledge of the matter.The law is named the Brandon Act after Brandon Caserta, a 21-year-old sailor who took his own life at Naval Air Station Norfolk in June 2018.

The US Army renamed Virginia's Fort Lee military base Thursday in honor of two Black service members, following a branch-wide push to rename bases named after Confederate leaders.The base will be redesignated as Fort Gregg-Adams after Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams, the Army announced on Twitter.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin argued against criticisms from Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Tuesday and implored him to support the department's officer nominations, which Tuberville has vowed to block until Austin reverses his stance on policies supporting service members seeking abortions.Not approving the recommendation for promotions actually creates a ripple effect through the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be, Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

The US transferred two brothers detained at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to Pakistan, the Defense Department announced Thursday, part of the Biden administration's ongoing efforts to close the prison facility.Abdul Rabbani and Mohammed Rabbani were held as detainees in the US' decadeslong war against terror for operating safe houses used by al Qaeda members, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

BAGHDAD - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit Tuesday to the Iraqi capital where he vowed to continue the fight against the Islamic State group until the extremists are defeated.Are you on Telegram?Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine.ArrowRight Austin, whose visit came just days before the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, said in statement later that he held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Defense Minister Thabet Muhammad Al-Abbasi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Baghdad, Iraq, March 7, 2023.IRAQI PRIME MINISTER MEDIA OFFIC (via REUTERS) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit Tuesday to the Iraqi capital where he vowed to continue the fight against the Islamic State group until the extremists are defeated.

The US decision to fly its surveillance drones further south over the Black Sea after a Russian jet collided with a US drone earlier this month definitely limits our ability to gather intelligence related to the Ukraine war, a senior US military official tells CNN.Flying drones at greater distances reduces the quality of intelligence they can gather, a US military official explained, noting that spy satellites can compensate to some degree but have shorter times over targets, again reducing effectiveness relative to surveillance drones.

President Joe Biden said the US does not seek conflict with Iran' but would respond forcefully' to attacks on US forces in Syria.Pro-Iranian forces in Syria have said they have a long arm to respond to further United States air strikes on their positions, after tit-for-tat missile and drone attacks in Syria over the last 24 hours.

The US is flying surveillance drones farther south above the Black Sea after a Russian jet collided with a US drone last week, according to two US officials.The drone flights have remained in international airspace, but since the collision between one of the Russian jets and the MQ-9 Reaper drone last Tuesday, the US has moved its drone flights farther away from airspace surrounding the Crimean peninsula and eastern portions of the Black Sea.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed on Wednesday that US aircraft will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows, one day after Russian aircraft hit a US drone over the Black Sea, forcing it to be brought down in international waters.This hazardous episode is part of a pattern of aggressive, and risky, and unsafe actions in international airspace, Austin said at the beginning of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Ukrainian troops in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region on Nov. 9, 2022.(Heidi Levine for The Washington Post) ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT OVER EUROPE - The U.S. military has launched an expanded, more sophisticated training program of Ukrainian forces that is focused on large-scale combat and meant to bolster Ukraine's ability to take back territory from Russian forces, the Pentagon's top general said Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon last week.Alex Wong/Getty Images The U.S. is retaliating after a drone strike killed a U.S. contractor, injured five American service members and wounded one other contractor in Syria, Defense Department said on Friday.

Youth take part in an action to mark the ninth anniversary of Crimea annexation from Ukraine with a banner reading: "Russia doesn't start wars, it ends them" accompanied with an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Yalta, Crimea, Friday, March 17, 2023.(AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)MOSCOW - Russian fighter pilots involved in an incident with a U.S. drone that resulted in its crash will be given state awards, the Defense Ministry announced Friday, The move appears to signal Moscow's intention to adopt a more aggressive stance toward future U.S. surveillance flights.

As Russia begins a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, the US and its allies are skeptical Moscow has amassed the manpower and resources to make significant gains, US, UK and Ukrainian officials tell CNN.It's likely more aspirational than realistic, said a senior US military official.Russia has been increasing the number of forces situated on its border and inside Russian-held territory in Ukraine, some of the forces drawn from a partial mobilization ordered in September last year.

You can watch the full interview with Lloyd Austin on CNN This Morning on Friday at 6 a.m.ET.The US believes the training and equipment it is providing Ukraine will change the dynamics on the battlefield in the war against Russia and allow Kyiv's forces to breach Russian defenses, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins for CNN This Morning on Thursday.

A US carrier strike group began operating in the South China Sea on Thursday, the Navy announced, amid heightened tensions with Beijing, which claims much of the body of water as its sovereign territory.Two Chinese ships are already tailing the US group, a defense official told CNN, which consists of an aircraft carrier, a guided missile cruiser, and three guided missile destroyers.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - Canada's defense minister said Friday Ukraine's military is winning the war and Russian President Vladimir Putin has only united NATO and renewed its purpose.Defense Minister Anita Anand made the remarks at the start of the annual Halifax International Security Forum which attracts defense and security officials from Western democracies.

The US will dramatically accelerate the time it takes to ship Abrams tanks to Ukraine by sending older M1-A1 models of America's main battle tank instead of the more modern version of the tank, according to two US officials.The switch will allow the tanks to arrive as early as fall of this year, one of the officials said, shaving months off the previous timeline that could have taken a year or longer.

The US has seen a significant spike in aggressive Russian military flights in Syria this month, the commander of US Central Command said Thursday, two days after Russian jets harassed and collided with a US drone over the Black Sea.Gen. Erik Kurilla told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Russian ground-attack aircraft fly over US bases loaded with weapons in an attempt to try and be provocative.

BRUSSELS - Moscow is "preparing for more war" and Ukraine's allies should send more ammunition to help Kyiv fight off the assault, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday in Brussels, where member nations' defense ministers were meeting to discuss Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin "made two big strategic mistakes: He underestimated the strength and the bravery of the people of Ukraine and its armed forces, and he underestimated the unity and resolve of NATO and partners," Stoltenberg said.

If you told me a year ago that the Russian army would be performing as incompetently in Ukraine as it is today, I would have responded with a sarcastic chuckle.And yet, 12 months into Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, this is precisely what has occurred.The Ukrainians have made mincemeat of the Russians, evident in last year's successful counteroffensives south of Kharkiv and in Kherson.

Ukrainian journalist-turned-soldier Viktor Dudar's mother (center) grieves at his grave as he's laid to rest in Lviv, Ukraine, last March.Last week the world marked the first anniversary of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine.Claire Harbage/NPR Here's a look ahead and a roundup of key developments from the past week.

Lloyd Austin said he was "optimistic" about the future during the unannounced visit.Iraq has endured two decades of chaos and bloodshed since the US toppled Saddam Hussein.US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Baghdad Tuesday, where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, saying he hoped to "strengthen and broaden relations" on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of the country.

A Ukrainian T-72 tank maneuvers through the trees in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on January 18. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned up the pressure on Germany to supply battle tanks to Ukraine, appealing directly to Berlin on January 19 to overcome its reluctance to provide the heavy armor that Kyiv says it needs now on the battlefield.

A Ukrainian T-72 tank maneuvers through the trees in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on January 18.Western allies on January 19 said they support sending modern heavy weaponry to Ukraine as pressure mounts on Berlin amid Kyiv's calls for urgent deliveries of tanks in the face of Russia's incessant offensive.

The US Defense Department released a series of new policies on Thursday to provide additional support to service members and dependents who must travel out of state to receive an abortion, including allowing up to three weeks of administrative leave.This policy reflects our continued commitment to taking care of our people and ensuring that the entire force remains ready and resilient, Gilbert Cisneros, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in a memo released Thursday.

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 270th day, we take a look at the main developments.Here is the situation as it stands on Sunday, November 20: Russia has reached agreement with Iran to begin manufacturing hundreds of unmanned weaponised aircraft on Russian soil, The Washington Post reported.Ukrainian electricity supplies are under control despite Russian attacks on power-generating infrastructure and there is no need to panic, the energy ministry said.

Two Leopard 2 A6 heavy battle tanks and a Puma infantry fighting vehicle of the Bundeswehr's 9th Panzer Training Brigade participate in a demonstration of capabilities during a visit by then-Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht to the Bundeswehr Army training grounds in February 2022 in Munster, Germany.

Britain announced a roughly $60 million aid package for Ukraine - including 125 antiaircraft guns, dozens of radars and anti-drone technology - during a surprise weekend trip to Kyiv by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said in a statement that the aid was "to counter deadly Iranian-supplied drones."

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, discuss details of a huge U.S. and NATO arms package for Ukraine at the U.S. air base in Ramstein, Germany, on Friday.ANDRE PAIN/AFP via Getty Images The U.S. and other NATO countries say they will ship a huge, wide-ranging package of heavy weapons to Ukraine, sending a clear signal that the war with Russia is expected to escalate in the months ahead.

CIA Director William Burns is in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday to meet with the director of Russia's foreign intelligence service, Sergey Naryshkin, according to a White House official.Broadcaster CNN reported, citing National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, that Burns was not discussing a resolution to Russia's war against Ukraine or conducting any negotiations with Moscow while in Ankara.