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Defense Travel System (DTS) Frequently Asked Questions

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 – Air Force Reserve Command continues preparations to fully implement Defense Travel System Oct. 1, 2023 and transition away from legacy programs for its travel management needs.

Once implemented, the initiative is intended to reduce delays in processing since members will no longer have to rely on financial management specialists who are hundreds of miles away to review and approve vouchers for payment.

The following questions and answers are intended to assist Citizen Airmen as the Air Force Reserve Command transitions to increased use of the Defense Travel System effective Oct. 1, 2023.

Q. What is DTS? A: The Defense Travel System (DTS) is a fully integrated, automated, end-to-end travel management system that enables DoD travelers to create authorizations (TDY travel orders), prepare reservations, receive approvals, generate travel vouchers, and receive a split reimbursement between their bank accounts and the Government Travel Charge Card (GTCC).

Q: Why are we moving to DTS when My Travel will be mandatory in 2 years? A: Officials at AFRC are taking steps now to address longstanding Program, Policy and Training issues associated with official travel that are hindering the readiness for Citizen Airmen. Recent guidance was released that we will not be moving to MyTravel. Moving to DTS falls in line with the CAFR’s strategic priorities of “Ready Now” and “Transforming for the Future.” We are seeking to alleviate stressors on our Airmen now, which impacts readiness and retention.

Q: How will this change affect Citizen Airmen? A: AFRC is consolidating to a single platform for most all travel needs. Currently, we use AROWS-R to generate an AF Form 938 which populates with travel information and is our travel document for TDYs Annual Tour, MPA/RPA, etc. Once the change is implemented, the command will shift over entirely to DTS. The AF Form 938 will still be populated to “call Reservists to Active Duty via AROWS-R. However, it will not be used as a travel order as it been previously. The travel order will now be produced on a DD Form 1610 (generated in DTS).

Q. Who can I contact for assistance or questions concerning DTS? A: Every unit has an appointed Lead Defense Travel Administrator (LDTA). They are responsible to assist you in setting up your DTS account and ensuring you are receiving the proper DTS training and support. An Organization Defense Travel Administrator (ODTA) can also assist you to prepare an authorization and voucher.

Q: When can I expect more guidance on the transition to DTS? A: Officials at Air Force Reserve Command are providing guidance to Financial Management sections at units now so they can serve as local subject matter experts. They will also begin training LDTAs and ODTAs on the new functions that will be performed in DTS as part of the transition.

Q: What steps should I be taking today to prepare for the transition? A: Begin using DTS now. Log into DTS now and establish your profile. [Wing FMs} Prepare internal deadlines to and initiate measures to guide Airmen who are accustomed to using RTS on the new process.

Q: How is the command planning on implementing the change to DTS for all travel requirements? A: The goal is to fully transition to DTS by 1 Oct 23 with minor exceptions (i,e. attendance at BMT and PCS travel). Traditional Reservists and IMAs on MPA orders will follow guidance implemented Oct 22. The AF Form 938 will still be generated in AROWS-R and required for activation regardless of funding source (RPA, MPA, etc) after the 1 Oct transition.

Q: How are DTS documents processed? A: Documents are submitted, processed, and approved at the organization responsible for funding the travel. Once approved by the organizational approving official, the payment is electronically sent to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) for payment via electronic funds transfer (EFT) to the traveler’s bank account.

Q: Will Air Reserve Technicians maintain dual profiles? A: Due to multiple business rule requirements, ARTs will maintain dual profiles.

Commander Support Staff

Q: What does the transition to DTS mean for employees in a unit’s CSS who typically generate orders? Will CSS representatives still produce orders or will the member be responsible for all aspects of the process? A: CSS/Orders writers will continue to generate orders in AROWS-R (AF Form 938) to bring members into a duty status. All travel will be accomplished in DTS (by the member).

Q: Is this statement still required on the AF Form 938? Alternate means such as Secure Video Teleconference (SVTC) or other web-based communications are not sufficient to accomplish travel objectives Development Team meetings of this size because the force development process requires significant, dedicated time for discussion and hands-on record reviews, and placement of students to correct courses. A: Yes

Q: Is UTAPS still required to forecast AT and IDTs or is UTAPS also sunsetting on 1 Oct 23? A: The transition to DTS will not effect UTAPS current requirements or processes.

DTS Use and Functions

Q: We have aircrew members who fly missions as a group. Does DTS allow personnel to submit a group authorization & voucher? A: Group authorization and group voucher training is available on the DTMO site.

Q: Does the AF Form 938 have to be processed and approved prior to initiating a travel authorization in DTS? A: Yes, the AF Form 938 needs to be attached to the DTS authorization for approval/authorization.

Q: DD Form 1610s have historically been created in AROWS-R. Will the DTS authorization replace the 1610 orders request? A: Yes. Members will be able to print their own DD Form 1610 after initiating their authorization in DTS. DD Form 1610s will be generated in DTS with the ability to print from the authorization.

Q: Travel is being turned of in AROWS-R soon. When members build their authorizations, will they have to select a budget label to coincide with their type of duty? A: Yes, the traveler or person creating the DTS authorization will select the Accounting/Budget label for accepted travel expenses.

Q: Will the new DTS transition allow for filing local vouchers within DTS? A: Yes, local vouchers will be filed in DTS.

Q: Will there be another step or review put in place on the authorizations to ensure the proper funding is being used depending on the status of the member as listed on the AF 938. A: Yes, Resource Advisors (RAs) can be added to the routing list if the unit chooses.

Q: Will Traditional Reservists (TRs) be responsible for building their own travel authorizations? A: Yes, end users will be responsible for building their own authorizations in DTS.

Q: Will DTS be updated to include “other mileage” rate? A: Officials at AFRC/FM are working through this process. Contact your local FM representative if you have questions on this issue.

Q: Can you please elaborate on why AROWS-R was not kept “as is” and adjustments made to simply route all applicable RTS orders to DTS? A: The move to take travel out of AROWS-R into DTS was a corporate decision. Separating the process of placing a member in military status (AF Form 938) and the travel process (DD Form 1610) better aligns the Reserve with Active Duty.

Q: Since we are not to use travel days for our AROWS-R requests, do units need to resubmit AROWS requests for FY24 that have already been submitted? For example, I have a member who signed up for school from 27 Nov 23 to 7 Dec 23 with a travel day at the beginning and end of the TDY. Do I need to cancel this order? A: Yes, all orders that were routed and approved without the manual workaround should be cancelled and resubmitted in AROWS-R using the new “Corporate City Limits” process.

Q: Is it possible to MOD those orders that were created previously and labeled as RTS? A: Orders currently routing to RTS should not be curtailed, MOD’d or cancelled. The change is for orders starting on or after 1 Oct 23 unless transitioned earlier.

Q: If an order that includes travel crosses over into FY24, should the unit cancel the order 30 Sep 23 and start a new one in its place? A: Any orders that started in AROWS-R for processing in RTS in FY23 and cross over into the new fiscal year should finish and be filed in RTS.

Budget and Lines of Accounting

Q: What DTS label will MPA mileage only orders use to tale the place of FC30 in PBAS? A: Use the same LOA as the other travel items on the authorization.

Q: Will DTS offer two Lines Of Accounting for centrally funded schools when members are authorized rental cars with a unit funded school LOA? A: Yes, DTS will accommodate multiple LOAs.

Q: If orders are mileage only then the LOA will not import into DTS. I have many active fund cites in AROWS. Will I have to build all those in DTS now? A: There will not be an import. Local vouchers will be processed for mileage only. We are working with the Budgets to see what level the LOAs need to be built at to allow the least amount of lines to be manually created.

Q: If non-corporate limits orders are cut as corporate (mileage only) will the travel obligate when the authorization is approved in DTS or when the DTS voucher is filed? I’m concerned with following the money on my SOF. A: Corporate Limits does not create any travel expense entitlement. This is the workaround to remove travel from AROWS-R without extensive programming. Additionally, for mileage only, the obligation will occur when the member submits a local voucher in DTS.

Q: Will Special Partial Payments be an option (to alleviate the member from having to file every 30 days)? A: Yes. DTS has an option in the authorization (for 46+ day orders) to schedule partial payments. As long as a voucher is not initiated, members can go into DTS and adjust their partial payments, as needed. Training available in Defense Travel System (DTS) Guide 2: Authorizations (pg. 80)

Q: From what we understand currently, any order that is under 45 days will not have the option in DTS to make partial payments. So, if a member is on a long tour order over 31 days but less than 45 and goes TDY multiple times while on that order, he/she will not be able to get paid for any of those trips until after the order is over and voucher submitted. A: If each TDY is a separate trip and return to PDS or Home Of Record between trips, the members should create a DTS authorization for the intent of the trave required – voucher will be created after trip competition.

Q: Officials at AFRC are going to turn travel off in AROWS-R effective 1 Oct 2023. When members build their authorizations, will they have to select a budget label to coincide with their type of duty? A: Yes, the traveler or person creating the DTS Authorization will select the Accounting/Budget Label for associated travel expenses

Q: Since mileage will not be paid through MILPAY anymore, will the mileage cost be obligated through DEAMS and if the member doesn’t want to complete a voucher for the mileage only will that cost show up on the UOO report? A: Mileage only will be a local voucher. Local vouchers will straight pay from the LOA in DEAMS, no UOO will be established. Additionally, Mileage Only is on the “Processes under Review” list – more to follow.

Q; If non-corporate limits orders are cut as corporate (mileage only) will the travel obligate when the authorization is approved in DTS or when the DTS voucher is filed? I’m concerned with following the money on my Status of Funds (SOF). A: Corporate Limits does not create any travel expense entitlement. This is the workaround to remove travel from AROWS-R without extensive programming. Additionally, for mileage only, the obligation will occur when the member submits a local voucher in DTS.

Q: If orders previously created are labeled as RTS during this transition, as you stated orders won’t stop, but is there a way to mod the original order to state DTS instead? A: Orders currently routing to RTS now should not be curtailed, mod’d, or cancelled. This change is for orders starting on or after 1 Oct 2023 unless transitioned earlier

Q: Are MOB/ACT orders going to be done the same way or will the FGC be loading the Auth in DTS since they do the 938? A: There will be no change to this process

Q: Regarding long tour orders: if duty crosses over into FY24, should the orders end in AROWS on 9/30 then pick it up in DTS starting 10/1? A: If a tour starts in AROWS you will continue the order in AROWS. (Note: Depending on the tour length, it may be deemed a Permanent Change of Station and PCS orders will not be processed in DTS).

Q: Who is copying/loading the budget in September/October? Are units responsible for this? A: Yes, units are responsible. FM shops are responsible for loading and maintaining budgets in DTS.

Authorizations

Q: How do I check the status of my authorization? A: Check document status by logging in to DTS. Go to “Official Travel” vouchers or authorization, and then look in the “Sort by Status” column. Or, go to the digital signature page within the document. If you can’t access to DTS, contact your Defense Travel Administrator (DTA) to check the status of your document. Find out from your supervisor who the DTA is for your organization.

Q: Why isn’t the Authorization built automatically in DTS like before (from AROWS-R)? A: AROWS-R will no longer “flow” into DTS and create an authorization. AROWS-R will be creating the “Call to Duty” AF938. This will be used to put a TR/IR in “active” status, and establish Military Pay. The AF938 will no longer serve as a travel authorization, so the “flow” to DTS will no longer exist. The 1610 (Travel Authorization document) will be generated in DTS when the authorization is built by the member (or the ODTA).

Q: What if: Member travels on a Sunday and performs Annual Tour Duty on Monday thru Thursday. On Friday, the member does an RMP and Saturday and Sunday are UTA days. The next Monday and Tuesday are back on Annual Tour. Wednesday is a AFTP day and member then departs the base on Wednesday and returns home. A: The orders specialist needs to zero out per diem and lodging for the days not on AT. The travel and “in-place” can be placed on one authorization. As with any authorization and voucher, be sure to add comments before signing so the reviewer and approver have an understanding of your specific situation. Lodging will not be included in the authorization since UTA lodging is a direct bill (Sunday night lodging can be manually adjusted if needed). The rest of the travel per diem can be established as usual. The zeroed out days will be achieved by selecting “Duty Days (no per diem). See link for quick instructional video

Q: What’s the process or workaround if we have members who don’t have CAC enabled computers at home? Several members don’t necessarily have the funds to purchase personal computers to ensure they can stay connected with the Reserve’s administrative processes. A: This will be a local decision for Wing CCs and likely to vary but can be completed by an NDEA. Defense Travel System regulations state NDEAs are authorized to input and digitally sign DTS vouchers for travelers who do not reasonably have access to computers.

Q: Who is considered FM for FM review where IDT travel reimbursement is concerned? Does this refer to those physically in the FM office or those who are FM coded? A: For the FM review, the person must actually be in the FM office.

Q: How will we track IDT trips in DTS per member to ensure they do not exceed 12? A: The process of tracking the number of IDT-Rs paid out to each member can be tracked by local policy/procedure.

Q: Will the LOA name for the IDT-R be up to the organization? If so, is it safe to assume the name could be different from other organizations? A: IDT-R Lines Of Accounting and routing lists will be established locally (not by AFRC).

Q: Is there a permission group that can be added to DTS for Read-Only visibility of unit members and where the vouchers are currently to verify if the vouchers moved as opposed to permission 5 that allows edits to the vouchers? A: No, Wing DTS Points Of Contact have access to reports to monitor document status. Members have the ability to view where their voucher is at any time. To do so, members simply need to open the voucher in DTS , click “View” on the applicable voucher and select “Sign and Submit” to get to the screen that shows the routing list and where the voucher is currently.

Q: Will there be another step or review put in place on the authorizations to ensure the proper funding is being utilized depending on the status the member is on as reflected on the AF Form 938 or ART/AGR status? A: Resource Advisors can be added to the routing list is the unit so chooses.

Inactive Duty Travel Reimbursement

Q: When it comes to meal expenses on IDT-R travel days, do we select the “Create Your Own Expense” line item or is there something more specific to this circumstance coming later? A: Until further notice, IDT-R meal expenses will be entered as a “Create Your Own Expense” line item.

Q: For IDTs, are members going to be charged CTO fees to book flights? The $500 usually doesn’t cover my providers flight and parking fee, so that would be an additional expense they would have to pay out of pocket.

Q: Reservists assigned to the Development & Training Flight are authorized IDT travel when attending UTAs prior to departing for Basic Military Training. Their Common Access Card will not allow them to access to complete required tasks. The ODTA could build their authorization but will not be able to sign the voucher. How will these individuals be able to finalize their vouchers to receive payments? A: IDT travel reimbursement for D&TF trainees will remain as it is currently which is within RTS.

Q: It appears IDT travel outside of normal commute will transition to DTS. Does this mean the Form 1164 is going away or will members still use it to request lodging reimbursement when not on the critical AFSC listing? A: Yes, the Form 1164 is going away. Additional guidance is provided in the updated IDT-R Guide (located on the AFRC/FM SharePoint site). Members will use a local voucher in DTS in lieu of a paper Form 1164. If a member is not on the approved IDT-R list, they will follow the normal process for securing lodging based on local policies/procedures. This process will not change.

Local Defense Travel Administrator/Organizational Defense Travel Administrator Functions Q: Every Air Force Reserve organization is authorized a position for a LDTA. Does that include tenant units (such as a unit that is being hosted by another AFRC unit)? A: As of 10 Aug 23, GSU/tenant locations who work under separate OBANs will be given the FDTA role to manage their funding in DTS.

Q: Tenants don’t have FDTAs – who will be responsible for loading the travel lines and funding? A: Wing LDTA/FMA offices will be loading LOAs and funding in DTS.

Q: Will AFRC FM train participation specialists on how to cut orders, FM Final Certifiers to review/approve orders, RPA and O&M Budget Analysts on when/how funds will be committed/obligated/move through the various accounting stages in DEAMS? A: AFRC FM will train the LDTAs on loading budgets in DTS. FM will be responsible for training their Wing establishing local policy and training their Wing on the process.

Q: Will the FMA side become FDTAs and have the responsibility of managing that function, or will we have the LDTA manage the LOA and budget label maintenance? A: It has been identified that the best practice is to have LDTAs/FMAs build LOAs in DTS and load funding for their Wing.

Orders/AF Form 938s Q: If orders previously created are labeled as RTS during this transition and will still be in effect, is there a way to MOD the initial order to route to DTS instead? A: Orders currently routing to RTS now should not be curtailed, modified or cancelled. This change is for orders starting on or after Oct. 1, 2023 unless transitioned earlier.

Q: Are MOB/ACT orders going to be generated the same way or will the Force Generation Center load the authorization in DTS since they produce the AF 938 for deployers? A: There will be no change to this process.

Q: If duty crosses over into FY24 on long tour orders, should the orders end in AROWS-R on Sept. 30, 2023 and then pick up in DTS on Oct. 1, 2023? A: If a tour starts in AROWS-R, it should be continued in AROWS-R (Depending on the tour length, it may be a PCS and PCS orders are not processed in DTS).

Q: What is the approximate amount of time it will take for a voucher to be paid after a member submits in DTS (Note: question is specifically asking the amount of time it will take from when the voucher is submitted by the member and not when it is AO approved until payment is received)? A: After a voucher is approved, members can expect payment within 3-5 business days. The amount of time it takes routing to Reviewer and Approver will vary by unit.

Special Circumstances (Deployments, Basic Military Training, etc.)

Q: What is the reason that deployment orders will not be moving to DTS? Is there an identified reason that is not allowing for it? AD creates the CED authorization directly in DTS; shouldn’t we as well? A: Deployments are on the “Processes under Review” list – more to come.

Q: When “review” for IDT reimbursement was mentioned, does that require utilization of the “process name” routing the way the Travel Agency book/submit steps are constructed or will units have to make an IDT routing list that includes FM review? A: AFRC/FM is still working through this process (suggesting the possibility of each unit creating IDT routing lists).

Q: For any member whose AFSC qualifies for the IDT reimbursement (up to $500) for residing outside the commuting distance for UTAs, will their reimbursement request be processed through the DTS “Local Voucher?” A: Yes, this will be processed in DTS. Officials from AFRC/FM are still working this issue.

Story by Lt. Col. James Wilson 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

Russia-Ukraine War Russian Reports of Drone Attacks Aimed at Moscow Tick Up

• Share full article
• Zaporizhzhia A mother comforting her daughter after a Russian missile strike. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times
• Near Chasiv Yar Ukrainian soldiers at an artillery position near the front line. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
• Zaporizhzhia Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times
• Mykolaiv region The control room at the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant. Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA, via Shutterstock
• Zaporizhzhia A Ukrainian woman in an ambulance after a Russian missile strike in a residential area. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times
• Donetsk Sifting through the remains of a house destroyed in shelling in a Russia-controlled area. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
• Kyiv A family in a park overlooking the city. Emile Ducke for The New York Times
• Pokrovsk A street filled with rubble after a Russian attack. Reuters
• Southern Ukraine A Ukrainian soldier preparing food in a house near the front line. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times

Follow live news updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine .

Drone attacks on Moscow suggest a new phase in the war.

Russian officials have reported intercepting at least 12 drones on their way to Moscow over the last three weeks, suggesting that such attacks are now bringing the war to Russia’s capital city on a near-daily basis.

In the latest such attacks, two drones flying near Moscow were shot down overnight, Russian officials said on Wednesday.

The claims of the attacks and their interceptions could not be independently verified. But Ukrainian officials, long circumspect about whether their forces were involved in attacks on Russian soil, have acknowledged that some were orchestrated by Kyiv, making it increasingly clear that they will not allow the war to be limited to their own soil.

And not all of the drones appear to have intercepted. Last week, a building in central Moscow housing government ministries was twice struck by drones in 48 hours.

While the Russian authorities have largely tried to play down the risks of drone attacks, Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, spoke last week of “a clear threat,” adding that “measures are being taken” to build up defenses around the capital.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that air defenses had destroyed the two drones near Moscow without casualties or damage.

One had been flying over the Domodedovo area on the southern outskirts of the capital and the second was in the Minsk highway district to its west, Moscow’s mayor, Sergey S. Sobyanin, said in a Telegram post on Wednesday .

Another drone was shot down approaching the capital on Sunday, Mr. Sobyanin said, prompting Vnukovo airport, which serves Moscow, to temporarily suspend flights for “security reasons,” according to a Telegram post from the Russian state news agency Tass.

“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centers and military bases,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said late last month. “And this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Mr. Zelensky, said on social media last week that “Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,”

Since the beginning of May, Russia’s Defense Ministry has reported at least 28 drone attacks on Russia soil. Though the assaults have caused nothing close to the devastation Moscow’s forces have inflicted in Ukraine, they have reached deep into Russian territory and have been aimed at symbolic and military targets, including the strike near the Kremlin .

The May attack on the Kremlin was said to have unnerved the Biden administration . There was a relative lull in attempted aerial attacks inside Russia until mid-July, and while subsequent drone assaults have been far less audacious, they have highlighted Ukraine’s expanded reach.

An analysis by The New York Times of attacks inside Russia using Ukrainian-made drones, as well as interviews with experts and officials, found that Ukraine is racing to scale up its homegrown drone fleet and is aiming to attack more frequently in Russia.

Some Russian military bloggers have suggested that the attacks are acts of desperation by Ukraine, aimed at making headlines while its slow and grueling counteroffensive grinds on. But some have also acknowledged that the assaults could have a psychological effect on the Russian public, who have hitherto largely escaped the day-to-day reality of the conflict.

Gaya Gupta contributed reporting.

— Enjoli Liston

‘Pretty perplexing challenges for any state’: Experts say drones are hard to ward off.

Though both Russia and Ukraine possess significant air defense capabilities, both countries have struggled to fend off attacks from small drones. For years, Washington has spent significant resources researching how to better defend against the threat, which the Pentagon also considers formidable.

“A small drone flying close to the earth and flying quickly is very difficult to pick up if you are carrying out counter-drone efforts — and that’s just as true for Moscow as it is for Washington,” said Seth G. Jones, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “Frankly, they are pretty perplexing challenges for any state to defend against.”

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been notable for its usage of drones, particularly small drones that are not only being used on the battlefield for reconnaissance and targeting, but also larger drones carrying out the types of attacks seen recently in and around Moscow, including two drones that Russian officials shot down on Wednesday . Samuel Bendett, an adviser at Virginia-based security analytics firm, CNA, and an adjunct senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security, said the attacks in Moscow raised questions about gaps in the Russian air defense systems set up to protect the capital.

“Most air defenses around the world were developed to target aircraft, helicopters and incoming missile — large, easy to identify targets,” Mr. Bendett said. “Most of the air defenses were not developed to try to interdict small U.A.V.s,” he said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.

He said Russia has a number of systems that its officials have praised as successful in downing drones. But so long as drones are flying low enough and avoiding certain areas, they likely can get around the air defenses, he said.

“The attacks are certainly applying psychological pressure, especially the air attacks on Moscow,” Mr. Bendett said. But, he added, the question was how much of an effect the drones were having “if the Russian society is resigned to this war.”

He also said Ukraine had Bober and UJ-22 Airborne drones, which have significant ranges and could also be used to strike Russian targets that would have significant military and economic consequences.

— Paul Sonne

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Poland says it will send another 2,000 troops to reinforce its border with Belarus.

Poland will send an additional 2,000 troops to reinforce its border with Belarus, a deputy interior minister told Poland’s state news agency on Wednesday, amid heightened tensions in the area related to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The minister, Maciej Wasik, said that the deployment was double what the country’s Border Guard had requested and that the reinforcements would arrive in two weeks, according to PAP , Poland’s state news agency. There was no immediate response from Belarus.

While Mr. Wasik did not specify to PAP what had prompted the decision, the deployment comes as concerns are mounting in Poland, a NATO member, over the presence of mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private military company in neighboring Belarus, a staunch Russian ally.

The Wagner fighters were relocated to Belarus following their short-lived June mutiny in Russia, which ended after President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus brokered a deal allowing them to avoid prosecution by relocating to his country. Belarus borders Poland to the west, Russia to the east and Ukraine to the south.

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said last week that there were at least 4,000 Wagner fighters in Belarus. He warned against “provocations” and “sabotage actions” from Belarus by the relocated Wagner fighters, a caution that came days after two Belarusian helicopters breached Polish airspace, heightening jitters in the region.

In late July, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said its soldiers were being trained by Wagner fighters near the border with Poland, prompting Poland to begin moving military forces to bolster its side of the border.

In a speech to the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, the agency’s top official, Sergei K. Shoigu, did not directly address Poland’s announcement of the new deployment, but said that existing threats to Russia’s security were “related to the militarization of Poland.”

New threats to Russia had “multiplied in the western and northwestern strategic directions,” Mr. Shoigu said, which he added was due in large part to the hefty military support NATO members in the region were offering to Ukraine. Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, joined NATO this spring.

Three other of Russia’s regional NATO neighbors — Latvia and Lithuania, which border Belarus, and Estonia — joined Poland in issuing a statement on Wednesday noting the third anniversary of Mr. Lukashenko’s claim of victory in a hotly contested and fraud-ridden presidential election. His fealty to the Kremlin grew shortly after, when he had to ask Mr. Putin for help suppressing widespread protests against his rule.

“Ignoring the will of the vast majority of the Belarusian people, the regime grants Moscow full political and logistical support” for its war, the statement from the four countries said. Belarus, it added, “has been made into a true hotbed of destabilization in the heart of Europe.”

Anushka Patil contributed reporting.

— Cassandra Vinograd

A Russian missile hits a bedroom community in the city of Zaporizhzhia, killing 3.

Three people were killed and nine others were injured after a Russian missile struck a residential area of the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.

The attack on Wednesday hit the city’s largest district, Shevchenkivskyi, which the city council’s website describes as being “mostly bedroom.” A church building and several local shops were destroyed, and the windows were blown out of several high-rise buildings, the head of the regional military administration, Yuri Malashko, said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday evening.

The Russian missile struck around 8 p.m., after a day of air-raid warnings across the country prompted by a Ukrainian Air Force warning that a MiG-31K jet had taken off from a Russian air base. The jets are capable of carrying hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, also known as Daggers, some of the most sophisticated conventional weapons in Russia’s arsenal.

“All of Ukraine is a missile hazard!” the air force warned, asking residents not to ignore the alarms.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine shared images of the attack on Zaporizhzhia in an online post , adding that the rescue operation was underway and that Russia would “face its sentence.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported that a senior adviser to Mr. Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, denied Russian accusations that Kyiv tried to carry out a drone attack against the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex, which lies around a bend of the Dnipro River just south of the city.

In Nikopol, a city to the northwest across the river from the nuclear plant, an 18-year-old died after Russian shelling struck the city, according to state administrators. Farther to the southwest, in the city of Kherson, a 16-year-old girl died more than a week after she was injured in shelling attacks, the region’s governor said on Wednesday.

— Anushka Patil

The U.S. expands sanctions against Belarus, a staunch Russian ally.

The United States used the anniversary of Belarus’s disputed 2020 presidential election to impose new sanctions against the country on Wednesday, punishing state-owned enterprises and key government officials for involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war and the “fiercely undemocratic and repressive policies” of its longtime authoritarian leader, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko.

“In line with our partners and Allies, we will continue to ensure that the regime pays a price for its abysmal treatment of its own citizens and that our measures in response to Russia’s aggression cannot be circumvented through Belarus,” Brian E. Nelson, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

The Treasury Department issued sanctions against eight individuals and five entities, including the state-owned Belarusian airline, Belavia. The State Department is also imposing visa restrictions on 101 government officials for their role in suppressing or undermining democratic institutions in Belarus, according to a news release, including seven judges who issued “unjust and excessive politically motivated sentences” against Belarusians who voiced grievances against their government.

Mr. Lukashenko, a loyal ally of the Kremlin, has been in power since 1994 and claimed to have won 80 percent of the vote in the country’s 2020 election, which many Western governments consider fraudulent and which his opponents dismissed as blatantly rigged.

In June, he was responsible for brokering an agreement between President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, after Mr. Prigozhin’s brief uprising in June.

In announcing the State Department sanctions, Antony J. Blinken called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of 1,500 political prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski, a veteran human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate serving a 10-year prison sentence on charges that advocates have condemned as meant to silence him.

Wednesday’s round of sanctions was just the latest the United States has imposed against Belarus during more than half of Mr. Lukashenko’s nearly three-decade rule. In recent years, sanctions were imposed in 2020, after Mr. Lukashenko suppressed pro-democracy protests surrounding the disputed election; in 2021, after he forced a commercial airliner to land in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, to have a dissident blogger aboard arrested ; and again in March, in response to what the Treasury Department characterized as Mr. Lukashenko’s “ongoing brutal crackdown against the pro-democracy movement and civil society” and his government’s “complicity in the Russian Federation’s ongoing unjustified war of choice against Ukraine.”

— Gaya Gupta

A Ukrainian official warns of ‘an escalation’ in airstrikes this fall.

Ukraine must be ready for an upsurge in Russian airstrikes this fall, the country’s air force spokesman said on Wednesday, warning that Moscow may seek to resume its campaign to destroy critical energy infrastructure targets as winter approaches.

Yuriy Ihnat, the air force spokesman, said Ukraine “should expect an escalation.” While he said the attacks may not be as intense as last winter’s because Russia’s stockpiles of missiles and drones have been depleted, Mr. Ihnat told Ukrainian television that Moscow was nonetheless building up its ammunition for the fall.

Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s power grid last winter left millions of people without consistent access to power , water and heat. President Volodymyr Zelensky has also warned that Moscow would renew its energy attacks in the colder months and called for officials at every level of government to be prepared.

Mr. Inhat’s comments came after Ukraine’s nuclear power company said on Monday that all the plants under its control were expected to be repaired in time for the winter.

Ukraine is heavily reliant on nuclear power. Before the war, roughly half its energy needs were provided by 15 reactors at four plants. Russian forces captured the Zaporizhzhia power plant soon after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion began last year, leaving Ukraine with nine reactors.

Repairs and maintenance to fortify the grid have been completed at five of the remaining reactors, and people were “working to their limits” on the other four, Petro Kotin, the head of Energoatom, the state nuclear power company, said on Monday after visiting the South Ukraine plant, near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk. Over the weekend, workers finished repairing one of that plant’s three reactors two weeks ahead of schedule, Energoatom said.

The project is the Ukrainian energy sector’s largest repair campaign since the country gained independence in 1991, as the Soviet Union was crumbling, said the energy minister, Herman Galushchenko.

Ukrainian officials have said they want to add 1.7 gigawatts of capacity, or enough to power more than a million homes, ahead of winter, and more by the end of the year. The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, which is Europe’s largest, has a capacity of around six gigawatts.

A large blast hit a warehouse near Moscow, injuring dozens.

A powerful explosion ripped through a warehouse on the grounds of a factory that has made optical gear for the Russian military outside Moscow on Wednesday, officials said, killing one person, injuring dozens and sending up an enormous plume of smoke visible for miles.

Local officials said the blast tore apart a warehouse storing “pyrotechnics” located at the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant in the town of Sergiyev Posad, less than 50 miles from Moscow. Along with the person killed, at least 50 people were injured, some seriously, according to information posted by local authorities on the social messaging app Telegram . Tass, the Russian state news agency, later reported that a local official had increased the tally of those injured to 60 , with an additional eight people missing.

A powerful explosion at an optical plant in the town of Sergiyev Posad — around 70 kilometers northeast of Moscow — has injured at least 11 people. The cause of the explosion is still unknown. pic.twitter.com/NnSe7DOqrJ — The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) August 9, 2023

Security camera footage captured the moment of the explosion at the warehouse, with the blast sending a mushroom cloud hundreds of feet into the sky. The explosion blew out windows in schools, in a sports complex and in about 20 nearby apartment buildings, according to the local government administration.

Local authorities are investigating what caused the blast.

The Zagorsk facility is one of the oldest optical-mechanical plants in Russia. The company is a leading developer of optical devices for Russian security services, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

It produces night vision devices and binoculars for the Russian military as part of the country’s defense conglomerate Rostec, according to the Moscow Times newspaper .

Andrey Vorobyev, the governor of the Moscow region, said in a video posted on Telegram by state news media that the plant had not manufactured optical devices “for a long time.”

Mr. Vorobyev said that Piro-Ross, a private company that produces pyrotechnics, had been renting the warehouse space at the plant. Public records show that Piro-Ross declared bankruptcy last year.

Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee said in a statement on Telegram that it was looking into the possible “violation of industrial safety requirements.”

“We are looking into the causes of the blast,” Dmitry Akulov, the head of the district, wrote on Telegram. The authorities ordered a “total evacuation” of all plant buildings and workshops, and the entire town of Sergiyev Posad has entered a state of emergency, local officials said.

Five more people could be buried under the rubble, Mr. Vorobyev said.

— Marc Santora and Valeriya Safronova

Germany arrests an army worker, accusing him of trying to sell military secrets to the Russians.

German authorities accused a man employed by the federal army supply office on suspicion of spying for Russia on Wednesday, arresting him at his home in the southern city of Koblenz.

The man, identified only as Thomas H. in keeping with strict German privacy rules, worked for the German federal office handling army equipment, information technology and in-service support when he approached both the Russian Consulate in Cologne and the Russian Embassy in Berlin with an offer of collaboration in May, according to the federal prosecutor, who ordered the arrest.

It is not immediately clear what access he had at the federal office, or whether he was a soldier or a civilian.

The federal prosecutor did not confirm whether Russian staff at the diplomatic houses accepted his offer, but said that Thomas H. had transmitted some sensitive information from his post to the Russians when making his approaches, presumably to demonstrate his usefulness.

Germany has renewed its efforts to try to curb Russian intelligence operations since Russia launched its war in Ukraine.

— Christopher F. Schuetze

Ukraine’s marines urge patience with the counteroffensive against Russia.

They have NATO equipment and Western training. Some have English-speaking commanders, unusual in the Ukrainian military, and even an American-accented, evangelical chaplain.

“I am never tired — I’m in the Ukrainian marines,” joked Oleksandr, 28, a battalion commander of the 37th Marine Brigade. Sitting down in the shade outside a cottage near the front line, he was determinedly positive. “I think it’s going well.”

Over the past several months, nine Ukrainian brigades, 36,000 troops in all, have received four to six weeks of training in combined arms combat, a synchronized way of fighting that some thought would enable them to spearhead another rout of the Russian military, as in Kharkiv last year.

But some brigades suffered heavy losses in the initial stages of this summer’s counteroffensive, struggling to advance against the formidable Russian defenses. At least one new brigade was so badly debilitated from casualties that it was withdrawn from the battlefield to rebuild.

Most of the fighting has been hidden from the view of the news media since the start of operations in early June. But reporters from The New York Times were permitted to visit several marine brigades — two of them newly formed brigades — that are operating on one part of the southern front to hear from the troops themselves about their role in the counteroffensive.

— Carlotta Gall ,  Oleksandr Chubko and Diego Ibarra Sanchez

Ukrainian officials say they are cracking down on military corruption, including draft evasion.

One military official was accused of facilitating a large-scale draft dodging scheme, charging eligible Ukrainian men $10,000 apiece for documents allowing them to leave the country. Another was suspected of forcing soldiers to build him a mansion. Other officials were accused of beating their soldiers.

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday that those cases were among the 112 it had opened against military enlistment officers since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, in an apparent push to crack down on abuses of power for personal profit.

Before the war, Ukraine had a long history of corruption. Concern about the issue has shadowed wartime aid for the country , increasing pressure on Ukraine to show that it is removing bad actors from official positions.

Fifteen cases involving the abuse of military power have already been filed in court, the bureau said, and cases against 10 military enlistment officers have started in the past week alone.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian government barred all men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country, with few exceptions. In June, the spokesman for Ukraine’s State Border Guard said up to 20 men were being detained every day for attempting to cross the border illegally.

On Saturday, the bureau detained the head of the Kyiv District Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support, accusing that official of being part of a large-scale scheme to allow draft-age Ukrainians to leave the country. The bureau accused the official, without mentioning him by name, of charging draft-age Ukrainians $10,000 for fictitious documents saying that they were unfit to serve.

Last Thursday, the bureau detained the head of one of Kyiv’s military administration departments , accusing him of fabricating documents for three Ukrainian men of draft age that said they were unfit to serve the military. The documents, the bureau said, cost $30,000, and were meant to help the men leave the country.

On Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine hinted in his nightly address that a crackdown on anticorruption was underway.

“Next week our work on cleaning public institutions from those who tried to drag from the past all those old habits, old schemes that weakened Ukraine for a very long time, for decades, will continue,” he said.

“No matter, who this person is — whether he is a ‘military commissar,’ whether he is a deputy, or whether he is an official — everyone must work only for the sake of the state,” he added.

Western allies were too slow to supply Ukraine with weapons for its counteroffensive, a think tank says.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive may be moving at a slower pace than Western leaders would like, but a new analysis by a British think-tank suggests that’s because those same Western leaders moved too slowly to send Ukraine the tanks, armored vehicles and ammunition it needed.

The analysis , published Tuesday by the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies, regarded as one of the world’s leading defense and security think tanks, concluded that Western officials hesitated too long over whether to send key weapons. It says that decisions were delayed even though there was widespread understanding more than a year ago of what would be required for Ukraine to push back Russian forces and reclaim territory in the east and south.

The findings echoed the warnings President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said he gave allies ahead of the counteroffensive that began in early June.

Jack Watling, a senior expert on land warfare who wrote the analysis, said the war in Ukraine has “highlighted significant deficiencies” in how Western governments respond to rising threats.

“The most glaring deficiency is the inability of Ukraine’s partners to appreciate the lead times between decisions and their desired effects,” Mr. Watling wrote. “This deficiency is being demonstrated at great cost in Ukraine’s current offensive.”

For example, he said, officials in Western capitals were becoming aware in July 2022 of what Ukraine would need for an offensive, and were told directly starting last September of specific and necessary training, equipment and support requirements. Even so, Mr. Watling noted, decisions to fulfill the requests were not made until mid-January .

That is when Britain, France, Germany and the United States agreed to send Western tanks and other armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine, essentially allowing other NATO countries to follow suit. The moves also included training for Ukrainian forces on the sophisticated weapons systems. While British-made Challenger 2 tanks and Leopard tanks manufactured in Germany are already being deployed to the ongoing counteroffensive, the American-made Abrams tanks are not expected to reach Ukraine until early fall.

“Had the decision to equip and train Ukrainian forces been taken and implemented when the requirements were identified in the autumn, Ukraine would have had a much easier task in reclaiming its territory,” Mr. Watling said.

He also noted a “massive consumption” of ammunition by Ukraine, which NATO members realized as early as June 2022 was draining their own stockpiles, putting military readiness at risk. The United States and European governments are grappling with how to boost ammunition production, a process that can take years as domestic weapons industries struggle to build back capacity to Cold War levels, although manufacturers are racing to meet demand.

To be sure, Western governments have provided tens of billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and last month, Mr. Zelensky expressed gratitude for the military assistance that has continued despite the risk of waning Western political support. The United States has been the biggest benefactor of Ukraine’s military by far, but presidential elections next year could determine whether the aid will remain at current levels.

That is one reason Western leaders have pressed Ukraine to push aggressively during the counteroffensive and win enough decisive gains to force Russia into peace negotiations. But the fight has unfolded slowly , with Ukraine’s forces tripped up by minefields and outgunned by Russian forces .

Mr. Watling said the sluggish Western efforts to prepare Ukraine for the fight showed that “the institutional memory of how to cohere the operational level of war has atrophied.”

“This malady is correctable," he said, “but only if we can acknowledge that there is a problem to be addressed.”

— Lara Jakes

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Russia and Ukraine trade drone attacks as Kyiv claims it took out a key S-400 missile defense system

Russian defenses downed Ukrainian drones in Moscow and the region around the capital early Wednesday, the defense ministry and the mayor said. No casualties were reported. (August 23)

An investigator examines a damaged skyscraper in Moscow City business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Russia’s defense ministry and Moscow’s mayor said Ukrainian drones were downed in Moscow and the region around the capital early Wednesday. No casualties were reported. (AP Photo)

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Emergency employees stand near a damaged building in Moscow City business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Russia’s defense ministry and Moscow’s mayor said Ukrainian drones were downed in Moscow and the region around the capital early Wednesday. No casualties were reported. (AP Photo)

Investigators work at the site of the place where the downed Ukrainian drone fell in Krasnogorsk, just outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said that two Ukrainian drones were shot down by air defenses on western outskirts of the Russian capital early Tuesday. (Moscow News Agency via AP)

This shows a damaged skyscraper in Moscow City business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Russia’s defense ministry and Moscow’s mayor said Ukrainian drones were downed in Moscow and the region around the capital early Wednesday. No casualties were reported. (AP Photo)

Police officers stand guard at the scene of the wreckage of a drone at Moscow City business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Russia’s defense ministry and Moscow’s mayor said Ukrainian drones were downed in Moscow and the region around the capital early Wednesday. No casualties were reported. (AP Photo)

Workers clean a part of a damaged skyscraper in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Russia’s defense ministry and Moscow’s mayor said Ukrainian drones were downed in Moscow and the region around the capital early Wednesday. No casualties were reported. (AP Photo)

A construction worker looks out of a window of the damaged city council building in Izyum, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo attend a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine traded drone attacks early Wednesday, officials said, with Kyiv apparently targeting Moscow again and the Kremlin’s forces launching another bombardment of Ukrainian grain storage depots in what have recently become signature tactics in the almost 18-month war .

Later Wednesday, the Ukrainian intelligence agency claimed it had destroyed a key Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system in occupied Crimea. If confirmed, it would be another embarrassing blow for Moscow, as Ukraine increasingly targets Russia’s assets far behind the front line in southern and eastern Ukraine.

The agency, known by its acronym GUR, claimed on its official Telegram channel that Russia has a “limited number” of the sophisticated systems and that the loss “is a painful blow.” Moscow officials made no immediate comment.

The long-range S-400 missiles are capable of striking enemy aircraft and are regarded as one of the best such systems available. They have a range of 400 kilometers (250 miles) and can simultaneously engage multiple targets.

Earlier, a three-hour nighttime Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight Tuesday caused a blaze at grain facilities, Odesa Regional Military Administration Head Oleh Kiper said.

The attack destroyed 13,000 metric tons (14,300 U.S. tons) of grain, bringing the month’s total grain losses to around 270,000 metric tons (300,000 U.S. tons), Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a Facebook post.

Russia zeroed in on Odesa last month, crippling significant parts of the port city’s grain facilities, days after President Vladimir Putin broke off Russia’s participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative . That wartime deal enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger.

Under a year of that deal, Ukraine shipped 32.9 million metric tons (36.2 million U.S. tons) of grain, most of it from the Odesa region.

Russian officials, meanwhile, claimed to have downed Ukrainian drones in Moscow and the surrounding region early Wednesday, the defense ministry and the mayor said. No casualties were reported in the drone attack, which has become almost a daily occurrence in the Russian capital.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said one drone smashed into a building under construction in Moscow City, a prestigious business complex hit by drones twice before. Several windows were broken in two buildings nearby and emergency services responded to the scene.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said the drone had been electronically jammed.

It blamed the attack on Ukraine and said two other drones were shot down by air defense systems in the Mozhaisk and Khimki areas of the Moscow region. Kyiv officials, as usual, neither confirmed nor denied Ukraine was behind the drone attacks.

Moscow airports briefly closed but have now reopened, according to Russian state media.

Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Ukraine has since early this year sought to take the war into the heart of Russia . It has increasingly targeted Moscow’s military assets behind the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine and at the same time has launched drones against Moscow .

Meanwhile, a Russian drone attack on the city of Romny in northeastern Ukraine struck a local school, killing the principal, his deputy, a secretary and the school librarian, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Also, three people were killed in the Belgorod region of Russia on the Ukrainian border after repeated shelling of a sanatorium, according to Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Gladkov said the sanatorium in the village of Lavy, about 40km (25 miles) from the border, was shelled, killing two refugees and a staff member.

The Belgorod region has witnessed sporadic fighting and shelling during the war, including a border incursion last May that prompted the Kremlin to introduce tighter security.

A handful of foreign dignitaries, including the prime minister of Finland and the presidents of Portugal and Lithuania, visited Ukraine on Wednesday.

Their presence coincided with the Day of the National Flag of Ukraine, which precedes Ukrainian Independence Day on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi and other top officials, attended the unfurling in Kyiv of a giant Ukrainian flag with numerous signatures of soldiers, volunteers, doctors and rescuers.

This story has been corrected to show that that the prime minister of Finland, not the president, visited Ukraine on Wednesday.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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