• 12 Ukrainian combat groups, each 4,000 to 5,000 troops strong, are undergoing training in the US and other NATO countries. Six of them were supposed to complete their training by March 31 and another three by April 30.
• Nine Ukrainian brigades are expected to be equipped with more than 250 tanks and 350 infantry fighting vehicles.
• The US has been providing Ukraine with information about Russia’s command posts, ammunition depots and key military lines of communication during Moscow’s special military operation.
• The US is using the LAPIS secret satellite system in Ukraine, which, however, is becoming increasingly sensitive to Russia’s counter measures.
• Ukraine’s army is worse for wear one year into the special military operation. Still, Ukraine’s leadership had to redeploy its elite units to the city of Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) in order to prevent the Ukrainian armed forces from being surrounded, the New York Times reports.
• Ukraine will run out of Soviet-made air defense missiles by May 23. That said, Ukrainian air defenses are only capable of withstanding two to three more waves of strikes.
• US Air Force pilots have been instructed to keep away from the Crimean Peninsula, not coming any closer than 80.4 kilometers to its coast. US, British and French pilots used to conduct several flights a month in the area until February 26, 2023, with a British reconnaissance aircraft nearly shot down in September 2022.
• The US wiretaps Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s meetings. In particular, Kiev’s idea of striking Russia’s Rostov Region, which was put forward at one of those meetings, made the US give up plans to provide Ukraine with longer-range rocket launchers.
• China is actively monitoring the developments in Ukraine. Beijing will cease to be neutral if Ukraine strikes deep into Russia, and may start to view NATO as an aggressor.
• The US wiretaps South Korean officials. According to the Yonhap news agency, Seoul’s attention was drawn to reports of debates within the country’s government about the supply of artillery shells to Ukraine.
• The Israeli intelligence service Mossad is also under active surveillance. According to a CIA report based on radio intelligence.
TCO Intelligence Group 