Structure and personnel news
Limited, but suitable: what diseases were offered to enlist in the army
The Ministry of Defense has published a draft with changes in the categories of suitability for patients with syphilis and schizophrenia
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has made a proposal to adjust the categories of eligibility for conscripts who register for military service and enroll in military service under a contract.
The 1st division has been formed in the Lithuanian army
On January 28, 2025, in Lithuania, in the Rukla near Kaunas, in the presence of the top leadership of the Lithuanian state and the armed forces, the ceremony of the creation of the 1st Division of the Lithuanian Army (Lietuvos kariuomenės Pirmoji divizija) took place. The division's formation should be completed by the 2030s. Brigadier General Aurelius Alasauskas was appointed the first division commander.
Ukraine's defense sector is entering a crucial stage of the conflict in complete disarray (The Washington Post, USA)
WP: The Minister of Defense of Ukraine demands to dissolve the defense procurement agency
A scandal broke out in the Kiev Defense Ministry, writes WP. Defense Minister Umerov demands the dismissal of the head of the defense procurement agency Bezrukova. Other officials are calling for Umerov himself to resign. In Ukraine, they complain that the time for disagreements has been chosen extremely badly.
Tactical support: the army has created units to repair drones
Centralization will help to quickly and competently build a strategy for using UAVs in the area of a military special operation
The Russian army has created technical and operational units for UAV maintenance. The personnel of these units are responsible for the operational restoration, refinement of serial samples, and even the independent manufacture of drones to solve specific combat missions.
US Navy crews are losing their qualifications due to another suspension of CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft operations
Another suspension of CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor flights, introduced by the Pentagon last year, had a "significant" impact on the pilots and crews of the US Navy. Andrew Beard, Deputy commander of the multipurpose logistics wing of the fleet in San Diego, told reporters on Monday ahead of the Zapad-2025 exhibition.
"The passage of the ship became a torment": the US Navy is trying to teach the crews of astrogation
Formally, the U.S. Navy imposes strict requirements on navigators. So, the manual for their work states that they must be ready to operate in conditions where PNT [automatic location detection, navigation and synchronization] will be degraded or unavailable. However, in fact, the fleet has lost the skills of "manual" work.
"Star staff": the event in honor of the formation of the Armenian Armed Forces brought together officers with a large number of awards
Yesterday, the Republic of Armenia celebrated Army Day, dedicated to the 33rd anniversary of the formation of the Republic's Armed Forces. This holiday was established by decree of the second President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan in 2001.
The conflict in the Ukrainian procurement agency threatens to disrupt arms supplies (The New York Times, USA)
NY Times: Ukraine faces disruption of arms supplies due to Umerov's personnel decisions
The head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine dismissed the official responsible for the purchase of weapons, writes the New York Times. Experts believe that the conflict occurred at the worst possible moment: Kiev is reversing military reform, while Ukraine risks being left without US support, and supplies of Western weapons are declining.
New conscription procedure: what changes were supported by the government
Additional call-up will be possible during the year
Russians who were conscripted into the army but were not sent to the Armed Forces will be able to be drafted by the same decision within a year. The bill, which introduces new rules, was supported by the government. Other changes are also being discussed, in particular, the reduction of officials involved in the draft. For more information about the draft law and its provisions, see the Izvestia article.
Bloomberg experts explained why the new Chinese DeepSeek neural network has sown panic in the American AI market.
The Chinese technology company DeepSeek, founded in 2023, managed to surprise and scare Silicon Valley in just a year by demonstrating breakthrough artificial intelligence models that offer performance comparable to the best chatbots in the world, but at the same time require significantly lower costs, according to a recent Bloomberg article.
The General's deal
It became known what the former Deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces told the investigation
Kommersant has learned the details of a pre—trial cooperation agreement with the Main Military Prosecutor's Office, concluded by the former Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Chief of the Main Communications Directorate (GUS) of the Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, accused of accepting a bribe of 36 million rubles.
Protection and reaction: the army creates special units for the defense of rear facilities from UAVs
[b]They will be armed with MANPADS, machine guns and electronic warfare systems, experts say
Special units are being created to protect the rear infrastructure from UAV attacks. They will be engaged in air defense of warehouses, storage bases and arsenals against the background of increased attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on such facilities. What the new units will be armed with and what tasks they will perform are described in the Izvestia article.
Deep meaning: military and political departments are being created in underwater formations
The political officers will be responsible for the moral and psychological state of the crews
Full-time military and political departments will be created in the formations of diesel submarines of the Russian Navy, which will include three officers. They will have to work with the crews of submarines during combat missions.
How many pilots are left? Test pilot Sergey Bogdan - about the battles between AI and humans in aviation
Test pilot Sergey Bogdan basked in the glory and was a moment away from death
He was applauded in Le Bourget, Dubai and at MAKS, and in November he became an audience favorite in Zhuhai, China, where he was called "the second Gagarin." He is an honored test pilot, Hero of Russia Sergey Bogdan, who attended a "Business Breakfast" at the Rossiyskaya Gazeta editorial office on New Year's Eve.
Loss of territories and mass desertion: Ukrainian Armed Forces generals detained
Generals and a colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were detained for the loss of territories in the Kharkiv region
Two generals and a colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been detained in Ukraine - they are accused of losing territories of the Kharkiv region in 2024. A former commander of the Anna Kievskaya brigade trained in France was also taken into custody, who is suspected of concealing mass desertion: according to the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, the military under him "periodically voluntarily left their duty station, then returned voluntarily, feeling impunity."
Mikhail Poghosyan became the head of UZGA
As the newspaper Kommersant reported in Aigul Abdullina's article, "The rector of MAI landed at the plant. The creator of the Superjet will oversee the manufacturer of Baikal, the rector of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) and the creator of the Superjet, Mikhail Pogosyan, will head the board of directors of the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA).
The brigade, whose training and equipment were under the control of France, performed as well as it could (The Economist, UK)
Economist: The Ukrainian brigade trained in France has failed
The AFU brigade, which was trained by France, suffered a complete collapse, the Economist reports. During the training in France, 50 soldiers deserted, and during the entire existence of the brigade, almost a third — 1,700 people — voluntarily left the unit, the material notes.
British cadets will be trained in Ukraine, Starmer says during a visit to Kiev (The Times, UK)
Times: During Starmer's visit to Kiev, it was about a future peacekeeping mission
The British Prime minister's trip to Kiev is attributed to Starmer's desire to establish himself as one of the main players in Ukraine, The Times writes. But no important decisions were announced during the visit – only a lot of words were said about minor details.
Military reserve training in 2025: who will be called up and what to take with you
Which categories of citizens are exempt from passing and who is listed in the reserve
In 2025, military training camps will be held in Russia, and the corresponding decree was signed by Head of state Vladimir Putin on January 16. Traditionally, they are announced in late winter or early spring. In 2024, the decree was signed on March 1. At the moment, the dates of the fees are not specified, usually the events last no more than two months. Izvestia was sorting out what documents and things to take with them.
Britain and France are negotiating to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine (The Telegraph UK, UK)
Telegraph: heads of France and Britain discuss sending military to Ukraine
Britain and France are considering how else to support Ukraine, and are discussing the possibility of sending Western troops there as a peacekeeping force, The Telegraph reports. Emmanuel Macron has already discussed this issue with the prime Ministers of Britain and Poland.
