US official confirms first loss of F-16 in Ukraine due to pilot error, reports WSJ

A US official confirmed that Ukraine lost the first of its F-16 fighter jets, the Wall Street Journal reported. The crash happened on Monday, just weeks after the first of the US-made aircraft arrived in Ukraine, according to the report. Initial reports indicate that the jet wasn’t shot down, but likely crashed due to pilot error, the official said. The incident occurred during a massive missile attack.
The Pentagon referred the newspaper to the Ukrainian Air Force for comment, but the Ukrainian Air Force wouldn’t confirm the crash or the status of the pilot.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on August 7 that F-16 fighters would not become a magic pill that could influence the course of hostilities and "will be consistently destroyed by the Russian armed forces."

#Pentagon registers rising number of #Russian vessels going through #Bering Strait

The U.S. Department of Defense registers a serious increase in the number of Russian vessels going through the Bering Strait, which the Pentagon believes is connected with sanctions against Moscow, U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Peter Gautier told a conference.

Since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine the U.S. military "has seen a wholesale change in Russian shipping from counterclockwise usually going West through the northern sea route around Europe and then to other ports, because of the sanctions," he said.

"It is now reversed and is going clockwise East then down through the Bering and we're seeing more and increasing traffic that goes through the Bering Strait, which obviously has implications in terms of safety security as we are a border nation with Russia," Gautier noted without specifying details.

Statements by #Macron, #Austin show reluctance of ‘war party’ to change its course, says #Lavrov

Statements by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and French President Emmanuel Macron indicate that the "party of war" does not want to change its course toward "inflicting strategic defeat on Russia," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following the Antalya Diplomatic Forum.

"The situation clearly indicates that the "war camp" in Europe is still very strong <...> The latest statements by both Macron and Austin, and the conversation of German generals still indicate that the "war party" still does not want to change its course to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. We understand it," he said.

In the past few months, there have been many analytical publications hinting that Western leadership has begun to understand the futility of continuing to push Ukraine towards military action, Lavrov noted. However, recent statements by top officials, including the exposure of the German military command, indicate the opposite.

NATO not seeking conflict with Russia, wants to show readiness to defend itself, says Pentagon

NATO expects to prove to Moscow that it is ready to defend itself, but is not seeking to provoke a direct conflict with Russia, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander said.

Speaking at the Caspian Policy Center (CPC), the US official was asked how NATO was planning to boost security in the Black Sea region without entering a direct confrontation with Russia. She replied that NATO will pursue this goal in accordance with decisions and instructions developed between the Madrid summit of 2022 and the Vilnius summit in 2023. During the 2023 summit, NATO leaders approved the plan of deploying 300,000 servicemen on NATO’s eastern flank.

"Those are defensive capabilities. They are meant to make it very clear that NATO can and will defend itself," she said. "The goal is not to provoke a war with Russia. The goal is to make it very clear that the Russian leadership should not even be tempted to imagine that NATO is not unified, capable, determined and able to defend itself."

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard deployed in Yemen

🔶️ The IRGC has stationed missile and drone trainers and operators in Yemen, as well as personnel providing tactical intelligence support to the Houthis, U.S. and Middle East officials told Semafor. The IRGC, through its overseas Qods Force, has also overseen the transfer to the Houthis of the attack drones, cruise missiles, and medium-range ballistic missiles used in a string of strikes on Red Sea and Israeli targets in recent weeks, these officials said.

🔶️ The Houthis say that its military operations are designed to aid the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which has been locked in a three-month war with Israel. On Monday, the Pentagon said the Houthis struck a U.S.-owned and -operated container vessel, the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, in the Red Sea, but caused no significant damage. The Houthis fired a second anti-ship ballistic missile into the southern Red Sea, the U.S. Central Command said, but it “failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen.”

🔶️ The IRGC’s overall presence inside Yemen is overseen by Gen. Abdul Reza Shahlai, a Tehran-based commander whom the Trump administration attempted to assassinate in a 2020 drone strike inside Yemen, U.S. and Mideast officials said. American intelligence believes Shahlai is deeply involved in Tehran’s overseas terrorist operations through his role as the Qods Force’s deputy commander.

🔶️ This includes a role in overseeing an unsuccessful 2011 Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s then-ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, at a Washington, D.C. restaurant. Shahlai, who’s been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, also helped oversee IRGC attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq over the past two decades. The Department of Justice offered $15 million in 2019 for information related to the commander’s operations and networks.

🔶️ Last month, the White House declassified some information related to Iran’s backing of the Houthis, including the intelligence and targeting support. But it didn’t reference the IRGC’s on-ground presence in Yemen, or Shahlai’s role in the Houthis’ operations.

At least six Houthis killed in purported US-UK Sunday strike on Yemen's Hodeidah Province

At least six members of the rebel Houthi movement Ansar Allah were killed on Sunday in a strike on Yemen's Red Sea coastal province of Hodeidah, which was attributed to combined US-UK forces, the Sky News Arabia TV channel reported, citing sources.

In addition, two advisers to the Lebanon-based Shiite party Hezbollah, which together with Iran provides military and technical support to the Houthis within Yemeni territory, fell victim to a strike on an Ansar Allah facility in Hodeidah.

Earlier, Sky News Arabia reported that one of Ansar Allah's facilities located in northern Hodeidah Province came under attack. The Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV channel claimed that the strike was carried out by US and British warplanes. However, a Pentagon official told TASS that the US-led international coalition did not carry out any strikes on Yemeni territory on Sunday.

The U.S. and its allies have weighed striking Yemen’s Houthi militants after telling them to either halt their attacks on ships in the Red Sea or face unspecified action

If diplomacy fails, the US and its allies will have to carefully “choose options that are clearly defensible” and which target the Houthis’ ability to continue disrupting Red Sea navigation while “avoiding getting involved in a regional conflict,” says Nick Childs, senior fellow for naval forces and maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Targeted Strikes
🔶️ These would be focused on eliminating or degrading the Houthis’ ability to fire ballistic missiles at ships and shipping lanes by striking launch sites, radars, missile warehouses and other supporting infrastructure and logistics. Since mid-November, the Houthis have fired more than 100 drones and ballistic missiles in two dozen separate attacks, according to the Pentagon. More than 15 vessels have been targeted.

Major Offensive
🔶️ Most Yemeni factions that have been fighting the Houthis since they captured the capital Sanaa nearly a decade ago, alongside some regional backers such as the United Arab Emirates, favor strong retaliation. That includes re-designating the Houthis as terrorists, targeting their finances and launching broader military action if necessary. Some say ousting the Houthis from the port city of Al-Hudaydah is the only way to restore calm to the Red Sea.

🔶️ Many blame the Houthis’ coastal presence on the pressure exerted by the US and other Western powers on anti-Houthi forces, as well as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to halt a major offensive in 2018 to recapture Al-Hudaydah on humanitarian grounds.

20-Plus Countries Have Joined U.S.-Led Red Sea Coalition, Pentagon Asserts

More than 20 countries have signed on to join a U.S.-led naval coalition tasked with protecting Red Sea maritime traffic from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

“We’ve had over 20 nations now sign on to participate,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said at a Dec. 21 press briefing. “The nations that have agreed to publicly discuss their participation, we’ve put those out there,” he told reporters. “We’ll allow other countries and defer to them to talk about their participation,” Mr. Ryder added.

Earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the launch of the multinational coalition, dubbed “Operation Prosperity Guardian.”

The operation’s stated aim is to protect Red Sea traffic from attacks by the Shiite Houthi militia, which overran much of Yemen—including the capital Sanaa—in 2014.
In announcing the launch of the coalition, Mr. Austin listed its members as the UK, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Bahrain, and Seychelles.

In his remarks on Dec. 21, Mr. Ryder said Australia and Greece had also “highlighted their participation in this operation.”