WESTERN PERSPECTIVE US sends seized Iranian ammunition to Ukraine The U.S. has sent Ukraine more than 1 million rounds of Iranian ammunition that had been seized last year, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. U.S. naval forces for years have been seizing weapons believed to be from Iran bound for Iran-backed fighters in Yemen, usually transported by fishing vessels. U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East, said about 1.1 million 7.62 mm rounds were sent to Ukraine. They were originally seized by U.S. naval forces in December 2022 and being transferred from Iran's Revolutionary…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Zelenskiy visits troops in the northeast, holds security meetings President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday discussed the battlefield situation with commanders in Ukraine's northeast, where he visited troops on one of the hottest fronts of the war with Russia. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he had been near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and heard from the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, on defence in the area and on offensive actions further south, near Bakhmut. "It is extremely important that Kharkiv, despite everything, not only holds on, but helps to keep our entire east strong," Zelenskiy…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Leaked US strategy on Ukraine sees corruption as the real threat Biden administration officials are far more worried about corruption in Ukraine than they publicly admit, a confidential U.S. strategy document obtained by POLITICO suggests. The “sensitive but unclassified” version of the long-term U.S. plan lays out numerous steps Washington is taking to help Kyiv root out malfeasance and otherwise reform an array of Ukrainian sectors. It stresses that corruption could cause Western allies to abandon Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, and that Kyiv cannot put off the anti-graft effort. “Perceptions of high-level corruption” the confidential version of…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Ukraine gets bad news from two NATO allies Ukraine received troubling news from two allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as it continues its counteroffensive effort against Russia to reclaim occupied territory. NATO emerged as a crucial ally for Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a "special military operation" against the country in February 2022. The military alliance has provided Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars to bolster its defense effort, which has left the Russian military in a more tenuous condition, blunting any future military plans for Putin. However, both the United States…