Last December, when Russiaʼs intentions to invade Ukraine became more and more obvious, a small mission of American military intelligence officers led by a young female major arrived in Kyiv. This unit deals with cyber threats ― and it set out to check how prepared Ukrainian infrastructure is for possible cyber attacks by Kremlin hackers. It was supposed to be a short visit, however, after reviewing the situation, the head of the unit sent a request to the Pentagon to continue and expand this mission. A team of about 40 people worked until mid-January to eliminate potential threats. BBC journalists, who described the teamʼs work in an exclusive report, suggest that thanks to it in particular, Russian cyberattacks in Ukraine had almost no effect. Ukraine is not the only "client" of this unit of the US Army: over the past five years, American cyber specialists have worked in several dozen countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. However, at first, in the organizations that received the military-IT guys, they were treated with suspicion and fear: they said that they would still establish their espionage programs and the Pentagon would be aware of our affairs. To which the officers of the unit responded as standard: "We arenʼt interested in your mail." If desired, IT specialists of the host countries can sit next to the American military and monitor their actions. After all, the newspaper writes, the visitors understand that the purpose of the unit is to check the system for vulnerabilities. And, in the case of post-Soviet countries, they leave a single request: "Please drive Russia out of this computer."
Already this autumn, the balance of power in the USA may shift in the direction of the Republican Party. Some observers worry that this could change the quantity and quality of American aid to Ukraine. However, writes Politico, the Ukrainian authorities are concerned not only with the delivery of new HIMARS or NASAMS. The Office of President Zelensky hopes that there are many Republicans who believe it is right to protect Ukraine and put Russia in its place, so there will be new weapons. Financial aid, on the other hand, is under greater threat, and Ukraine needs it urgently and constantly. More frugal spending and the fight against rising prices in the US are important points of Republican rhetoric, so the Ukrainian authorities are trying to attract lobbyists who would convince American politicians that todayʼs economy in Ukraine may cost too much in the future. American interlocutors of the publication from among Republicans assure that the aid will continue ― but the reporting for it may be stricter than now.
If Ukraine loses the war to Russia, the next target for the Kremlinʼs attack may be the so-called Suvalki corridor ― a 65-kilometer strip of land between Belarus and the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation, only 65 kilometers wide. This is the territory of Poland and Lithuania, and the authorities of the latter, together with the two neighboring Baltic countries, are concerned that Russia can quickly cut off these countries from land connections with other NATO allies. The British TV channel Sky News made a report from the Lithuanian territory, having received permission from the military to come close to the Russian border. There you can see that Lithuania has fenced itself off from Russia with a moat, layers of barbed wire and several fences. However, currently the Russian army can overcome such a barrier quite quickly. "They are no longer as powerful as they were [before the invasion of Ukraine]. But they are more aggressive, so escalation has become more likely than before," a representative of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense told the journalist. One of the local residents told Sky News that his acquaintances are ready to move from Lithuania to Poland if Ukraine loses the war. However, another Lithuanian ― who signed up as a volunteer and is now actively training to defend the country ― assures that Russia will not be here. "I saw the Russian occupation [during the Soviet Union]. Now I will do everything to prevent this from happening again," he says.
Due to the Russian attacks, hundreds of apartments in Saltivka district of Kharkiv were emptied: some were destroyed by shelling, some owners left because of the war. Now, bats often live in these apartments ― in particular, those where the windows were blown out by explosions. This is a dangerous story for them: after flying into the apartment at night and getting into a room with whole windows, they cannot find a way out of it during the day. Because of this, bats get exhausted and die. Moreover, these bats, despite not always having a good reputation ― for example, that they carry infections or drink blood ― are an indispensable part of the ecosystem (and bats of the most common species in Ukraine, Nyctalus noctula, do not drink blood). And even at such a time, there are volunteer organizations that save Kharkivʼs bats ― the article of the Undark was dedicated to these volunteers. Andrii Vlashchenko from the Center for the Bats Rehabilitation has freed thousands of bats since the beginning of the war: in August alone, about three thousand bats were caught in apartment traps. Those who survived are fed by volunteers and released. The center continues to operate despite the fact that since February practically does not receive funding. Despite this, the Center for the Bats Rehabilitation earned a bad name in Russia: local propagandists decided that it was responsible for the development of biological weapons and planned to exterminate Russians through bat bites. Despite a sufficient amount of evidence that the center does not engage in anything extremist, Andriy Vlashchenko is convinced that if the Russians captured him, they would subject him to brutal torture for essentially animal protection activities.
Drones have become indispensable in this war ― particularly in offensive operations. For example, drones accelerated the advance of Ukrainian troops in operations in the Kharkiv region in September. At the same time, the military is often forced to use inexpensive amateur drones that do not coordinate well with outdated artillery. Radio Liberty dedicated an article to how the lack of funds forces the Ukrainian military to wriggle out and look for non-standard solutions. These are self-written programs that detect rectangular objects on videos taken by drones ― and therefore, potential tanks or armored personnel carriers. And the use of antennas to strengthen the signal, which have to be placed at the highest available points. As a result, even amateur drones perform the necessary tasks. On the other hand, it is necessary to be "on the front" to control them, which increases the risks for drone operators. The Ukrainian army has already begun the centralized procurement of military-standard drones, and foreign partners are also helping ― however, there is a severe shortage of drones. The publication quotes the director of one of the companies producing drones: in June, he said that the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for drones were met by only 20%.