BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Posted by BW Actual on Jan 27th 2023

BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Ukraine

  • Russia responded to Western commitments to send Ukraine battle tanks by launching 55 missile strikes into Ukraine, killing at least 11 people (Ukrainian forces shot down 47 of the missiles).
  • The promised tanks are going to take months to deliver to Ukraine, and - at least in the numbers pledged so far - won't be enough to make a difference on the battlefield, according to analysts.
  • Ukrainian officials still celebrated the tank commitments but called them "only the beginning."
  • Ukraine now wants the West to give it fighter jets like the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Publicly, Western officials have been averse to giving Ukraine fighter jets - the U.S. Deputy NSA said they would bring Ukraine "little increased capabilities, at high risk" - but they seemed similarly averse to sending tanks until a few weeks ago, so who knows.
  • Officials from the U.S. and the Netherlands have at least recently made it clear that they haven't ruled out the idea of sending jets.
Russia
  • Following the U.S. Treasury Department's designation of Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization, the State Department slapped sanctions on several entities associated with the group, including some front companies and an aviation firm it uses.
China
  • The NYT wrote that China is now discreetly arresting people it identified as participants in protests against the country's zero-COVID policies late last year. The protests worked, though: they forced Beijing to recalibrate and ultimately reopen.
Other News
  • Junta-ruled Myanmar's opium production hit a nine-year high after falling for several years under the civilian government.