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Crimea Is Quickly Slipping Away From Russia And Putin: Crimea was an integral part of Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin joked then that “little green men” were responsible for the takeover of government facilities, as Crimea was the ”jewel” in Putin’s attempt to rebuild the Soviet Union.

But the peninsula is now looking vulnerable. Intensifying Ukrainian drone strikes and the resulting state of emergency have made Crimea a severe strategic and symbolic liability for Putin.

Russia may be pushing to make more gains in the Donbas ahead of what seem like inevitable peace negotiations in the coming months, but according to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the country is rapidly losing its troops.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday, July 16, that Russian soldiers survive only an estimated 20 to 30 minutes on the battlefield before they are wounded or killed.

According to the director of the CIA, the average lifespan of a Russian soldier on the battlefield in Ukraine is somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes.

This claim is consistent with other statements from official Ukrainian sources. The Russians have reportedly taken very high casualties during 2026, with Zelensky suggesting that Ukraine is killing around 30,000 Russian soldiers per month.

NLAW Missile. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

If true, this would make Ukraine the deadliest conflict in all of Russian history, more so than WWI and WWII.

Gas prices in the United States are once again on the rise, with many top market analysts predicting further increases in the coming months due to the renewed conflict in Iran.

However, the United States is once again the world’s leading oil producer. The US imports only 8 percent of its oil from the Middle East.

F-22 Raptor Elephant Walk. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Lt. Col. James Hecker (front) and Lt. Col. Evan Dertein line up their F/A-22 Raptor aircraft behind a KC-10 Extender to refuel while en route to Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

Crimea was seized by Russia in 2014 and has been occupied by Russia ever since. Eight years later, Russia launched its wider invasion of Ukraine.

The Crimean Peninsula has remained a battleground in the war for the last four and a half years, especially in recent months.

Secretary of the Army, Hon. Dan Driscoll, fires a round from a M1A2 Abrams Tank while visiting Fort Stewart, GA., June 23, 2025.

The Army’s newest psychological operations unit will be focused on Africa, as the United States shifts away from direct combat against militants on the continent.
On Wednesday, July 15, the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) officially activated Delta Company, 7th Psychological Operations Battalion. The new company will assist the battalion in its psychological operations mission under U.S. Africa Command.

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary from across the political spectrum.Every Monday, War on the Rocks members get a curated selection of op-eds and editorials from Ukrainian-language media to understand how Ukrainians themselves debate the biggest issues shaping their country. Western coverage of Ukraine often narrows to the battlefield; these pieces widen the view to daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.

U.S. Special Operations Command is looking for vendors of small one-way-attack drones that could be launched from aircraft and use automatic target recognition capabilities to find their prey.
Specifically, SOCOM is interested in Group 1 and Group 2 unmanned aerial systems that could fit inside a common launch tube with a form factor of 5.9-inch diameter and 42-inch maximum overall length, according to a sources-sought notice published Friday on a government contracting website.
Most of the loitering munitions that have made headlines in recent years have been ground-launched.

The director of the CIA made an eyebrow-raising claim this week: That when Russian recruits go on the battlefield in Ukraine, they have an average life expectancy of just 20 to 30 minutes.

According to Business Insider, the Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe made the claim while speaking this week at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit.

The Department of Defense task force established to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification kicked off Thursday, according to the Pentagon’s top IT chief.
Kirsten Davies, chief information officer of the DOD, told reporters the task force met for the first time Thursday in the Pentagon after she formally announced its creation Monday as part of a 60-day pause of forthcoming phase 2 requirements under the CMMC program and a review of the overall program.
Phase 2 requirements were set to take effect Nov. 10.