CIA veterans trained Ukrainian snipers during secret trips to the country after Russia invaded the Crimea peninsula in 2014, it is claimed
- Former CIA officials say they see a big impact from the training provided by paramilitary officers in the Special Activities Division after annexation of Crimea
- They added that the 'training really paid off' for Ukrainian resistance of Russia
- CIA program was very small, with single digits of paramilitaries being sent out
Ukrainian soldiers were trained by CIA veterans after Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 according to reports, which officials believe is what is helping them in their war against the Kremlin today.
Paramilitary officers with the Central Intelligence Agency in the Special Activities Division began secret training in sniping, anti-tank warfare and surveillance evasion after Russia occupied Crimea this time eight years ago.
According to Yahoo News, six former CIA officials have said they can recognize their training in the current war on Ukraine through the resistance of the nation's soldiers.
'I think we're seeing a big impact from snipers,' one former senior official told Yahoo, 'Especially as Russian forces get bogged down from lack of supplies.
'I think the training really paid off.'
Within their training following the 2014 invasion of Crimea, the CIA are said to have trained the Ukrainians to avoid electronic surveillance of the Russians.
This comes as the Pentagon estimates at least 7,000 Russian troops have now died in the fighting, with another 14,000 to 21,000 having been wounded, accounting for nearly a fifth of the estimated 150,000 men that Putin amassed on the border before before giving the order to attack 21 days ago.
Ukrainian soldiers were trained by CIA veterans after Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 according to reports, which officials believe is what is helping them in their war against the Kremlin today (Pictured, a sniper of the Ukrainian armed forces firing his rifle during training at a firing range near the town of Marinka in the Donetsk region, in April 2021)
During the three weeks of war since Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, the Ukrainian army has killed four Russian generals.
High-ranking Russian general Major Oleg Mityaev was killed during fighting in the south eastern city of Mariupol on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials have claimed.
Major General Andrei Kolesnikov was killed last week, four days before Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, who also played a part in the annexation of Crimea, was killed.
Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, 47, was shot dead by a sniper near Mariupol which has seen a brutal siege of Russian forces for days.
Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine has seen the Ukrainian military holding key cities despite aggressive Russian advances, which has seen shelling and missile attacks on the war-torn country.
But losses for Russia's troops are now so severe, US intelligence believes some Russian units cannot keep fighting - and against expectations, the Ukrainian military have defied a rapid collapse and have instead inflicted huge hits on the Russian materials and men on the front line.
The CIA program in Ukraine operated for some years after the annexation in 2014, say former officials.
US Paramilitaries who were in Ukraine were pulled out of the country ahead of the start of the Russian invasion in February, but they are said to have reported to their superiors that the Ukrainians were 'ready for battle'.
They reported that the battlefield between Ukraine and Russia was a 'shock' to the CIA because Russian soldiers were using drones, cell towers and other equipment against Ukrainians on the front line.
This was something one former intelligence official said helped Russians target Ukrainians, with soldiers using mobile phones 'in a trench', he said, 'People were getting blown to bits.'
They described the eastern edge of Ukraine as something out of a Terminator movie, with the weaponized artificial intelligence systems on Russia's side of the fighting.
The CIA program was kept very small, with only single digits of paramilitaries being sent out to eastern Ukraine to help minimize the exposure of the intelligence agency.
With the low-profile in mind, the agency's engagement was limited to advising and training but no direct combat from the CIA themselves.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10624155/CIA-veterans-trained-Ukrainian-snipers-secret-trips-Crimea-peninsula-invasion-2014.html
Russia 'might not be able to take Kyiv': Western officials say desperate Putin is trying to recruit mercenaries from Syria and Chechnya to replace up to 7,000 dead soldiers, with Kremlin's senior generals killed as they are forced to the front
- Two videos show Ukrainian soldiers ambushing Russian troops with strikes
- The first, in Mariupol, shows a Russian tank coming under aerial bombardment
- Multiple missiles make direct-hits on the tank as Russian soldiers tried to escape
- One Russian soldier was able to narrowly escape death between the strikes
- In a second video, a Russian personnel carrier is broadsided by rocket in Kharkiv
- The rocket was fired by a Ukrainian soldier just yards from the vehicle
Russia may not be able to mount an all-out attack on Kyiv as its demoralised troops suffer increasing casualties and become bogged down outside the Ukrainian capital, Western officials suggested today.
Intelligence suggests Vladimir Putin's troops are only making small advances without a major strategic breakthrough in the face of 'fierce and mobile' Ukrainian resistance.
The Pentagon estimates at least 7,000 Russian troops have now died in the fighting while another 14,000 to 21,000 have been wounded.
That accounts for nearly a fifth of the estimated 150,000 men that Putin amassed on the border before giving the order to attack 21 days ago.
There are questions over whether the occupying force could absorb the additional losses they would suffer if they tried to storm the well-prepared capital.
Officials cautioned against ruling out Putin ordering a bloody direct attack in an attempt to end Ukrainian resistance.
But they cited the deaths of four senior generals as a sign things are not going well - because top-ranking officers would not usually have to get in harms way to provide 'close-up supervision' of troops.
'They are getting pretty bogged-down around Kyiv. No doubt small gains are being made incrementally, but Ukrainian resistance is fierce and mobile,' they said.
'The sort of tactics the Ukrainians have used have been remarkably effective. An ill-judged ground assault on a city as well-prepared as Kyiv would be a very costly business.
'There comes a point where even Russia has to count the cost of casualties.'
Sources also confirmed that Russia is seeking to recruit 'additional forces' in the form of mercenaries from Syria and Chechnya - also seen as a sign that its battleplans are failing.
Explosive drone footage today captured the moment a Russian soldier leapt from his tank as it came under aerial bombardment from Ukrainian anti-tank missiles, as videos show how Kyiv continues to resist Putin's forces.
Two separate clips recorded in recent days in the besieged cities of Mariupol and Kharkiv have shown Russian military vehicles being ambushed.
In the first video, Ukraine's Azov Battalion launched artillery strikes on a Russian tank in Mariupol, killing at least one soldier and destroying the vehicle.
The second video showed a Ukrainian soldier lying in wait for a Russian personnel carrier driving through Kharkiv, broadsiding the truck with a rocket from close range.
In the Mariupol attack, one Russian soldier was able to cheat death by fleeing the vehicle between strikes, one of which narrowly missed him by a matter of yards.
The tank was struck directly at least five times, with missiles also hitting close to the Z-branded Russian hardware - throwing the desperate operator to the floor as he ran for his life.
Captured by a drone used to guide missiles to targets, the footage showed the Russian tank progressing down a four-lane road in a residential area of the city.
Seconds after the vehicle turned a corner on a junction, an explosion is seen at the rear of the tank - narrowly missing it.
The tank, with a large white 'Z' emblazoned on the front signifying that it is a Russian military vehicle, was quickly brought to a halt.
But this only made it a sitting duck for Ukraine's forces. A second strike is shown making a direct hit on top of the tank shortly after it stopped moving, with flames from the explosion erupting from the combat vehicle.
In a desperate attempt to escape the attack, the Russian troops attempted to reverse the tank back down the street, only for a third strike to hit its mark.
At this point, Russian troops inside the vehicle attempted to flee their vehicle. The footage shows the hatch opening and smoke pouring from the hole.
But the onslaught continued, with a fourth missile landing right on top of the tank, killing at least one Russian soldier as they attempted to make a run for it.
A second soldier is seen scrambling out of the vehicle and jumping down to the street, past the body of his comrade, and narrowly avoiding yet another strike.
Ukraine's forces, using anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), appeared to target the fleeing soldier, rather than the tank. The Russian was thrown to the ground.
While prone on the ground, the surviving soldier was able to drag himself further away from the tank, as other explosions landed. His fate remains unknown.
As the smoke cleared, the drone footage showed at least one body strewn across the road amongst the debris, and the smouldering wreckage of the tank.
The video of the unrelenting attack was captured by the Azov battalion, a special operations unit within the Ukrainian army fighting against Russia's occupation.
The footage was shared on Thursday by Ukraine's army on Facebook, along with a second video showing a second ambush.
Like the first video, it shows a Russian military troop carrier driving down a main road - this time in Kharkiv. The video is also cut with footage captured by a helmet camera of the Ukrainian soldier who ambushes the vehicle.
The Ukrainian soldier was riding in their own vehicle when the squad saw their target turn into the road ahead. The Ukrainian vehicle quickly pulled off the road and down a side street, and the soldier with the helmet camera jumped off the truck.
The soldier took position near where the Russian truck would pass, ready to strike.
Again, soon after the vehicle turned a corner, it was broadsided by a missile - this time fired from a rocket-launcher operated by the Ukrainian soldier.
The attack was also filmed by a drone, which showed several soldiers in the back of the troop carrier as it was hit by the rocket.
Shocked by the attack, the troops ducked down into the truck which started to veer off the road, before crashing into a telephone pole.
It was not clear how many were injured in the attack, and the footage of the attack cut off before the Russian troops exited the personnel carrier.
It was unclear when the two attacks occurred, but the videos were shared as Western countries said Russian forces are no longer making progress on the ground in their invasion of Ukraine.
The war Moscow was thought to have hoped to win within days has entered its fourth week, and while Russian forces continue strikes on civilian targets, Ukraine's military has been putting up a strong resistance.
Russia has taken heavy losses, with figures based just on visual confirmation alone suggesting 1,380 Russian military vehicles have been either destroyed (598), damaged (20), abandoned (211) or captured by Ukrainian forces (551).
Ukraine estimates that the Kremlin's armies have lost far more, with Ukraine's Armed Forces saying on Wednesday that over 13,800 Russian troops have been killed.
Other estimates have put this figure even higher, with the US on Thursday saying Russia has lost up to 28,000 soldiers - killed and wounded - during the three weeks of fighting in Ukraine.
Russia has assaulted Ukraine from four directions, sending two massive columns towards Kyiv from the northwest and northeast, pushing in from the east near the second biggest city Kharkiv, and spreading in from the south near Crimea.
But British military intelligence said in an update on Thursday that the invasion had 'largely stalled on all fronts', and Russian forces were suffering heavy losses from a staunch and well-coordinated Ukrainian resistance.
Some videos and pictures at the source articles.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10624327/Russia-not-able-Kyiv-Desperate-Putin-trying-recruit-mercenaries-Syria.html
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