DefenceTalkHaving effectively annexed Crimea, Russia now threatens the territorial integrity of the rest of Ukraine. How are Ukraine’s ground forces configured to deal with the challenge? This map is the closest approximation of Ukrainian ground force (along with airborne and air-mobile units) deployments based on research of Ukrainian armed forces until February 2014. Readers will […]https://www.defencetalk.com/current-status-of-ukraines-ground-forces-59171/

DefenceTalkRussia has begun preparations for terminating bilateral agreements with Ukraine related to the status and operation of the Black Sea Fleet, a Kremlin spokesman said Friday. The decision was made at a meeting of the country’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin. According to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the measures to be scrapped include a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-moves-to-scrap-black-sea-fleet-agreements-with-ukraine-59186/

DefenceTalkThe Army and NATO are watching “very carefully” the troop deployments and the exercises they’re doing in Russia, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. “I think it’s important for us that we operate within the NATO framework to address these issues and we are doing that,” he told lawmakers in reply to a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/csa-army-watching-eastern-europe-closely-59181/

DefenceTalkHis eyes glazed and his step heavy, former Ukrainian soldier Sergei walks out of a naval office in Sevastopol after switching allegiance to the Russian army. He is one of many making the choice to stay on in Crimea where the Ukrainian army stood by helplessly as Russia seized its military facilities in a matter […]https://www.defencetalk.com/beaten-and-demoralised-ukraine-soldiers-sign-up-with-russia-59184/

DefenceTalkThe combat dolphin program in the Crimean city of Sevastopol will be preserved and redirected towards the interests of the Russian Navy, an employee at the facility where the dolphins are trained told RIA Novosti. The program, dating to the 1960s, was previously scheduled to be disbanded by the Ukrainian navy in April, but the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/crimean-military-dolphins-to-serve-in-russian-navy-59154/

DefenceTalkNorway condemns Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the use of armed force in Ukraine. This is a clear violation of international law and an unacceptable course of action that must have consequences. Norway has therefore informed Russian authorities of its decision to suspend all planned bilateral military activities between Norway […]https://www.defencetalk.com/norway-suspends-planned-military-activities-with-russia-59150/

DefenceTalkAll military units stationed in Crimea are now under the control of the Russian military, and remaining Ukrainian servicemen are departing the peninsula, the region’s first deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliyev, said on Monday. As Crimea’s reunification process began last week, a total of 147 military units in the predominantly Russian-ethnic region have replaced Ukrainian […]https://www.defencetalk.com/no-ukrainian-military-units-left-in-crimea-59124/

DefenceTalkThe tugboats came in the evening, carrying three dozen Russian sailors and pro-Russian militiamen who climbed aboard the Ternopil and told the crew to leave. The captain of the Ternopil in the port of Sevastopol in Crimea lined up his crew of 91 men, thanked them for their service and told them that they were […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ukraines-navy-at-end-of-rope-in-crimea-59108/

DefenceTalkFrance has suspended most of its military cooperation with Russia, the French defence minister said Friday, as Paris was still mulling whether to nix the sale of two Mistral warships to Moscow. Paris has suspended “the majority of its military cooperation with Russia” in the wake of Moscow’s takeover of Crimea, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-suspends-most-military-cooperation-with-russia-59106/

DefenceTalkChina’s President Xi Jinping touches down in the Netherlands on Saturday for his first-ever Europe tour, with the continent in a diplomatic frenzy after Russia’s absorption of the Crimea. Xi is expected to land at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport shortly after noon (1100 GMT), where he’ll be welcomed by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-xi-on-first-europe-tour-as-ukraine-crisis-deepens-59103/