Putin’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea: a legacy of the Cold War era, and a warning from the West

It has been a decade since Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would deploy tens of thousands of troops to “demilitarize and destroy” Ukraine, a country in which both Russia and the Soviets once ruled.

Zolota Balka, located on the western bank of the Dnipro river, has been captured and is one of several villages that Ukrainian forces are in control of. On Sunday, Zelensky said Ukraine’s military had taken Arkhanhelske and Myroliubivka.

Reports from the ground suggest that some of the voting was conducted at gun point, which Putin tried to argue was a reflection of the will of millions of people.

“We haven’t lost anything,” Mr. Zelensky said. It wasn’t taken from us. Ukraine did not lose its sons and daughters — they were taken away by murderers. Ukrainians did not lose their homes — they were destroyed by terrorists. We did not lose our lands — they were occupied by invaders. The world was not lost in peace, Russia destroyed it.

The Russian president framed the annexation as an attempt to fix what he sees as a great historical mistake that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Putin made it clear in his speech that Russia is to be restored as a major global power charged with protecting the Russian speaking world from the continued threat posed by Western forces.

Russia’s plans to fly its flag over over 100,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land, the largest forcible annexation of land in Europe since 1945, have elicited widespread condemnation from the international community.

The Russian leader spoke in the chandeliered St. George’s Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace — the same place where he declared in March 2014 that the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea was part of Russia.

Putin was joined by people from the four regions, as senior Russian politicians and officials looked on.

This pressure from the West may finally be producing real results. The martial law imposed in Ukrainian territories by Putin suggests a growing frustration with Russia, as well as new attacks on civilian targets by the hardline commander named General Sergei Shurokin.

He reeled off a litany of Western military actions stretching over centuries — from the British Opium War in China in the 19th century to Allied firebombings of Germany and the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

The United States, he said, was the only country to have used nuclear weapons in war. Mr. Putin said that they created a precedent.

Russia has since unleashed a wave of air strikes on civilian infrastructure in an attempt to freeze Ukraine into submission during the winter months. The bombing campaign has made life in Ukraine intolerable, but there are no signs of Ukrainians backing down.

The Kremlin in the Cold War: Where Do We Stand? Where Are We Going? When Will Russia and Russia Go? How Did Putin’s Donbas Befelled?

There is a celebration on Red Square. Official ratification of the decrees will happen next week, said Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman.

There were staged referendums held in occupied territory during the war. Since the war began in February, a lot of the provinces’ civilian population have fled, and people who did vote sometimes did so at gun point.

Cementing Russia’s hold over the two eastern regions, an area collectively known as the Donbas that Mr. Putin considers his primary prize, could allow the Kremlin to declare a victory at a time when hawks in Russia have criticized Russian forces for not doing enough to prevent recent breakneck gains by Ukrainian forces in the south and northeast of the country.

Putin’s recent heavy-handed conscription drive for 300,000 troops won’t reverse his battlefield losses any time soon, and is backfiring at home, running him up a dangerous political tab.

With even his allies expressing concern, and hundreds of thousands of citizens fleeing partial mobilization, an increasingly isolated Putin has once more taken to making speeches offering his distorted view of history.

Putin claimed that the people made their choice during a signing ceremony at the Kremlin. “And that choice won’t be betrayed” by Russia, he said.

The status of the annexed territories was not up for discussion, but the Russian leader wanted to end hostilities and hold talks with Moscow.

Outside the Kremlin, preparations were under way for an evening concert and rally with banners saying Russia and the newly integrated territories are “together forever.”

The move caps a week that saw the Kremlin choreograph referendums in Russian-occupied territories that purportedly delivered overwhelming majorities in favor of joining Russia.

“The United States will never, never, never recognize Russia’s claims on Ukraine sovereign territory,” Biden said. “This so-called referenda was a sham — an absolute sham — and the results were manufactured in Moscow.”

Putin, however, framed the decision as a historical justice following the breakup of the Soviet Union that had left Russian speakers separated from their homeland — and the West dictating world affairs according to its own rules.

Western officials have pointed to the timing as evidence of Kremlin desperation to solidify Russian gains before their lines collapse further. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Moscow of seeking to mobilize Ukrainians in annexed areas for the military campaign as well.

Formal ratification of the territories into the Russian Federation will now move to Russia’s parliament and constitutional court — whose approval is widely seen as a foregone conclusion.

The Russian government’s annexation has unfolded as it works to deploy an additional 300,000 troops to bolster its military campaign amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has retaken territory in the south and northeast of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russian officials have openly warned that the newly incorporated territories would be entitled to protections under Russia’s nuclear umbrella.

The US in particular has felt its way forward through incremental increases in the capability of weapons supplied to Ukraine, wary at each stage of Russia’s supposed “red lines” – but finding in each case that the red lines evaporate, and all Russia’s threats are empty bluster.

Austin said the US has done a great job in supplying the Ukrainians with long-range weapons, but was asked why the US had not supplied them.

The satellite-guided HIMARS — short for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System — currently have a range of 80 kilometers. A longer-range 300-kilometer HIMARS has not yet been authorized, despite repeated Ukrainian pleas. The longer-range system could lead to an increase in hostilities, according to the Biden administration.

“It’s not just about what you have, that’s for sure.” It’s about how you employ that equipment, how you synchronize things together to create battlefield effects that then can create opportunities,” he said.

Ten Months of Russia’s War on Ukraine: The Story of Kurt Volker, Kurt Zelensky, and the U.S.

Ten months into Russia’s war on Ukraine, Zelensky spoke of endurance and pushing through to the end, while acknowledging that “freedom comes at a high price.”

Kurt Volker, who was US ambassador to NATO and US special representative to Ukraine under former President Donald Trump, believes Putin maybe gearing up for peace. “I think what he must be striving for, is to brandish the nuclear weapons, make all kinds of threats to Europe, and then say, okay, so let’s negotiate a settlement. And let me keep what I have already taken.”

According to official data from the EU, Georgia and others, 220,000 Russians have left their homes since the partial mobilize was announced. The EU had nearly 66,000 numbers, an increase of 30% from the previous week.

Western analysts have noted Russia has grumbled consistently about these deliveries, but been relatively muted in its practical response to the crossing of what, as recently as January, might have been considered “red lines.”

Kortunov says he doesn’t know what goes on in the Kremlin but that he understands the public mood over the huge costs and loss of life in the war. Many people are asking questions, why did we get into this mess? You know, we lost a lot of people.

The same tactic was used when he annexed the territories from Ukraine in a way that endangers potential nuclear strikes should the country try to take them back.

The fighting is significant in the war being waged by Russian President Putin. Facing Ukrainian gains on the battlefield — which he frames as a U.S.-orchestrated effort to destroy Russia — Putin this week heightened threats of nuclear force and used his most aggressive, anti-Western rhetoric to date.

Investigating Russian actions in Lyman-Slovakian warfare: Russia’s Nord Stream in the Cold Middle East, citing Russian and Ukrainian intelligence sources

Both Danish and Swedish seismologists recorded explosive shockwaves from close to the seabed: the first, at around 2 a.m. local time, hitting 2.3 magnitude, then again, at around 7 p.m., registering 2.1.

The Danes and Germans sent warships to the area after roiling patches of sea were discovered.

Four of the pipes in Russia’s Nord Stream have been found to have leaks which look like boiling cauldrons and together emit toxic greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Russian naval vessels were seen by European security officials in the area in the days prior, Western intelligence sources have said. NATO’s North Atlantic Council has described the damage as a “deliberate, reckless and irresponsible act of sabotage.”

Nord Stream 2 was never operational, and Nord Stream 1 had been throttled back by Putin as Europe raced to replenish gas reserves ahead of winter, while dialling back demands for Russian supplies and searching for replacement providers.

Putin had a plan to seize the country. The Russians failed to capture Kyiv during the first few days of their invasion.

“All conflicts, armed conflicts too, end one way or another with some kind of negotiations,” Putin said as he accused Zelensky of refusing to negotiate.

He thinks that Putin will ask Germany and France to use any means necessary in order to end the war and put pressure on the Ukrainians.

Kate, best we can, we continue to monitor his nuclear capabilities. And what I can tell you today is that we just don’t see any indications that Mr. Putin has made a decision to use weapons of mass destruction or even nuclear weapons. Kirby said that they hadn’t seen anything that would cause them to change their deterrent posture.

According to three senior officials based in the Middle East, Russia has redeployed its military hardware and troops to Syria in order to show that it has weakened its influence in the region.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have inflicted damage on Ukrainian forces in battling to hold Lyman, but said outnumbered Russian troops were withdrawn to more favorable positions. Kyiv’s air force said it moved into Lyman, and the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff posted photos of a Ukrainian flag being hoisted on the town’s outskirts.

The leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, blamed the retreat, without evidence, on one general being “covered up for by higher-up leaders in the General Staff.” He called for “more drastic measures.”

On the Russian annexed Crimean Peninsula, there is an emergency situation at an airfield. The beachgoers at the Russian held resort could see huge billows of smoke from a distance. There was a plane that rolled off of the runway at the Belbek airfield, and it was reported that there was a fire on board.

Zelensky’s administration can have a complex path ahead if he succeeds in getting out of Russia with the help of most Ukrainians. The tough guy from Kryvyi Rih has not shown any signs of backing down.

The Governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syniehubov said that at least 24 people were killed in an attack this week on a convoy trying to flee. He thought it was “ruelty that can’t be justified.” He said 13 children and a pregnant woman were among the dead.

The Security Service of Ukraine, the secret police force known by the acronym SBU, posted photographs of the attacked convoy. At least one truck appeared to have been blown up, with burned corpses in what remained of its truck bed. Another vehicle at the front of the convoy also had been ablaze. There were bullet holes in vehicles that were lying on the side of the road.

Russian Capture of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Director-General Ihor Murashov by Energoatom

In other developments, in an apparent attempt to secure Moscow’s hold on the newly annexed territory, Russian forces seized the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, on Friday, according to the Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom.

Russia did not publicly comment on the report. The IaE said that Russia claimed that the director general of the nuclear power plant was taken into custody to answer questions.

Repair work to fix infrastructure facilities across Ukraine is ongoing. Most power plants are now supplying energy to the national grid after they were temporarily shut down in late November when Moscow sent a barrage of missiles to target energy “generation facilities,” Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-run energy operator, said.

At least 89 Russian soldiers were killed – a rare Russian admission of a high death toll. The Ukrainian military reported even higher figures, initially claiming up to around 400 Russian soldiers were killed. CNN is unable to verify either side’s death toll. In either case, the strike marked one of the deadliest episodes of the conflict for Moscow’s forces.

The US has offered more than $60 billion in aid since Biden took office, but only Republicans voted against the latest aid package.

Putin’s Cold War: Why Russia Is Fighting for Its People & Why Russia Wants to Stoke It! A Counterexample to Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Putin

Two powerful Putin supporters called for using harsher fighting methods because they were angered that the illegal area was being declared Russian forever while they were opposing the Kremlin.

In an unusually candid article published Sunday, the prominent Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that in the last few days of their occupation, Russian forces in Lyman had been plagued by desertion, poor planning and the delayed arrival of reserves.

The fall of Lyman wasn’t even mentioned until after over two hours of laudatory coverage of Moscow’s annexation of 89 regions that most of the world views as illegal.

But the soldiers interviewed on the Sunday broadcast said they had been forced to retreat because they were fighting not only with Ukrainians, but with NATO soldiers.

The US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War noted that Russian battlefield setbacks, coupled with the unease in Russian society over mobilization, “was fundamentally changing the Russian information space.” Some of the criticism has included from men of power such as Kadyrov, who are often seen as being in favor of Russian interests, but who also provide a detailed picture of battlefield realities.

The broadcast seemed intended to convince Russians who have doubts about the war or feel anger over plans to call up as many as 300,000 civilians that any hardships they bear are to be blamed on a West that is bent on destroying Russia at all costs.

An interview with a far-right thinker, whose daughter was killed in a car bomb, repeated the notion that Russia is fighting a larger campaign.

The Russian leader Mr. Putin and Mr. Dugin both accuse the Western world of damaging theNord Stream gas line, which was damaged by underwater explosions.

He said that the West accused us of blowing up the gas line. “We must understand the geopolitical confrontation, the war, our war with the West on the scale and extent on which it is unfolding. In other words, we must join this battle with a mortal enemy who does not hesitate to use any means, including exploding gas pipelines.”

But Russia will keep doing this because it works. And US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders consistently reassure Russia that it works by explicitly referring to the fear of escalation – precisely the fear Russia wants to stoke.

The war in Ukraine is becoming an engine that fuels a far-right push for more influence; a symbiotic relationship between Putin and his fans in the West. Just as a political action committee linked to the former Trump aide Stephen Miller is arguing against spending on Ukraine, somehow linking it to poverty and crime in the US, like-minded figures in Europe are trying to promote their views by pointing to their country’s hardships as the cost of helping Ukraine. For now, support for Ukraine remains strong in Europe and the US, although flagging among Republicans.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told citizens to forget about the conflict in Ukraine and to focus on other things. He promised that draftees would not fight, and that military operations would be left to the professionals. And Putin’s Ministry of Defense delivered platitudes about progress on the battlefield, talking points quickly parroted by Russian state television.

Both sides have taken blows in recent weeks: Ukraine’s economy shrank by more than 30% last year, with Russian missile strikes pummeling civilian infrastructure, leaving many without heat in the height of winter. Meanwhile, Ukrainian attacks on Russian barracks have killed a significant number of Russian troops and sparked controversy within Russia.

NATO leaders have vowed to support Ukraine regardless of how long the war lasts but the cost-of-living crisis in some European countries, which relied heavily on Russian energy, threatens to endanger public support.

You can read past recaps here. More in-depth stories can be found here. Listen and subscribe to NPR’s State of Ukraine for up to date information throughout the day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the country had taken back Lyman, while the Ukrainian military said it had recaptured the nearby villages of Drobysheve and Torske, putting Kyiv in a better position as it seeks to take back the Luhansk region.

What did Musk say about his campaign in Ukraine during the October 13 election? An EU statement condemning Russian actions during the Oct. 13 session of the General Assembly

The contests have failed to meet the standards of free and fair elections, and have been panned as a farce. Reports from the ground suggested that voting took place both essentially and literally at gunpoint.

The General Assembly denounced Russia’s illegal annexation of four regions of Ukraine. Four countries voted with Russia and 142 voted with Ukraine’s resolution in the Oct. 13 session.

EU member states began summoning Russian ambassadors in a coordinated manner on Friday to “convey strong condemnation of these actions” and demand the “immediate halt to steps undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity and violating UN Charter and international law,” a spokesman for the bloc said.

The Russian military was in a state of decline across the front line in Ukraine, as the Ukrainian military pressed its offensive in the east and made gains in the south.

President Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials were unhappy about Musk’s advice to bring about peace in the country.

The majority of respondents voted no in response to Musk’s poll. In a follow-up tweet, Musk appeared to blame these results on a “bot attack.”

Musk himself and one of his companies, SpaceX, became involved early on in the war in Ukraine, after SpaceX sent Starlink internet terminals, which can be operated from anywhere with power and a clear view of the sky, to the war-torn country.

The war in the region left a trail of destruction, and his musings were not well-received by Ukrainian officials.

Around 45% of the Ukrainian population didn’t trust Zelensky to lead them into war as Russian troops began to arrive in the country in the weeks preceding the assault. It was a rating likely influenced by him not keeping some of his campaign promises, especially failing to launch an effective fight against corruption in the judiciary.

Musk continued to say there was little chance of victory for the Ukrainian army in the initial thread, suggesting that they had little chance of success.

After the car company unveiled an underwhelmed robot, Musk wrote a commentary on foreign policy. It also comes as his legal battle with Twitter heats up over his attempt to back out of his proposed $44 billion deal to buy the company.

The conflict in Ukraine has become a focal point for geopolitical issues in the world: CNN world affairs correspondent Frida Ghitis

Editor’s Note: Editor’s note: Frida Ghitis, (@fridaghitis) a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.

On Sunday, almost by accident, two groups of demonstrators came together in London. One was waving Ukrainian flags; the other Iranian flags. They cheered and chanted “All together we will win” when they met.

The intersection of the war in Ukraine and the conflicts surrounding Iran is just one example of how Ukraine has become the pivot point for so many of the world’s geopolitical tensions.

These battles are inspiring support in places like Afghanistan, and show courage that the rest of us can’t.

The death of a young woman last month sparked a fire in Iran. She was known as Zhina and died in the custody of morality police when they arrested her for violating the strict rules that women must dress modestly.

In scenes of exhilarated defiance, Iranian women have danced around fires in the night, shedding the hijab – the headcover mandated by the regime – and tossing it into the flames.

It’s why women are climbing on cars, waving their hijab in the air, like a flag of freedom, and gathering crowds of supporters in city streets, and in universities, where security forces are opening fire to try and silence them.

Putin vs. Iran: Two different regimes in the same epoch of geopolitical success and political power: Moscow, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Yemen

Russia is a big player in Syria, and it still has a large presence there. Israel may rethink its stance toward the Ukrainian conflict now that the balance of power has shifted.

Ukrainian officials and military analysts say that as the Russian military retreats in the east and south, they are getting more determined to cause civilian casualties and use long-range weapons to punishUkraine for their losses.

Moscow and Tehran are now isolated, pariahs of many of the world’s democracies, and supported by a few autocrats.

The Iranian-made drones that Russia sent on Monday to divebomb Ukraine’s capital delivered the most emphatic proof yet that Tehran has become a rare, increasingly close ally to the Kremlin, offering both weapons and international support that Russia sorely lacks.

These regimes are very different in their ideologies, but they have the same style of oppression and desire to project power abroad.

Multiple Putin critics have suffered mysterious deaths. Many of the fallen windows were casements. The Freedom House and other advocacy groups have pointed out thatIran and Russia are leading practitioners of international terrorism, as evidenced by the killing of their critics.

The people of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen are willing to pass on the chance that the Iranian regime could fall. It would be transformative for their countries and their lives, heavily influenced by Tehran. After all, Iran’s constitution calls for spreading its Islamist revolution.

For the rest of the world, it’s a time of uncertainty and expectation. Putin was seen as something of a genius seven months ago. The myth is no longer alive. The man who tried to manipulate elections, entered wars, and helped suppress uprisings is now on the run.

Pro-Kremlin and Russian rocket attacks on Donetsk: a case of cooperation between the U.S. and Ukraine

EUREKA, Mo. — A new business opportunity arose after Martin Zlatev fell out with his partner at a limousine company.

“Time is of the essence,” the pair recently wrote to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. They outlined a plan to sell American, Bulgarian and Bosnian arms to Ukraine.

The Biden Administration has quickly approved hundreds of millions of dollars in arms sales to Ukraine, thanks to the recent Russian invasion. The State Department has approved hundreds of million of dollars in private deals with the Ukranian government this year, according to government documents. During the year, the department authorized less than fifteen million dollars worth of such sales to Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine — Pro-Kremlin officials on Sunday blamed Ukraine for a rocket attack that struck the mayor’s office in Donetsk, a city controlled by the separatists, while Ukrainian officials said Russian rocket strikes hit a town across from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, among other targets.

The assessment of Ukrainian complicity was shared with the U.S. government last week. Ukraine denied involvement in the killing immediately after the attack, and senior officials repeated those denials when asked about the American intelligence assessment.

The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World, a Contribution by Peter Bergen, Director of the CNN National Security Program at Arizona State University

Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a vice president at New America, and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. Bergen is the author of “The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are of his own. View more opinion on CNN.

He asserts in his account that the war in Ukraine was a result of Russia’s determination to remain within the framework of the Soviet Union despite Ukraine’s independence three decades ago.

According to a book about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Soviets planned to install a puppet government and leave the country as soon as possible.

During the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the US was initially reluctant to escalate its support for the Afghan resistance, fearing a wider conflict with the Soviet Union. It took until 1986 for the CIA to arm the Afghans with highly effective anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, which ended the Soviets’ total air superiority, eventually forcing them to withdraw from Afghanistan three years later.

The US and Ukraine have agreed that the country will not use American weaponry against Russia. The Biden administration has vowed to avoid American involvement that could escalate to direct confrontation with Russia. Ukrainian officials clarified that American officials will not object to them striking back.

Putin is also surely aware that the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was hastened by the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan two years earlier.

Looking further back into the history books, he must also know that the Russian loss in the Russo-Japanese war in 1905 weakened the Romanov monarchy. The Russian Revolution happened because Nicholas II was feckless during the First World War. The Romanov family was killed by the Bolsheviks.

Two days before the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine, Donald Trump publicly said that the Russian leader was a genius and smart for moving his troops in a way that would help his cause.

More than seven months into the war, the “genius” myth has unraveled. During the past two weeks, at least 200,000 Russian men have voted with their feet to flee Putin’s partial mobilization order. They understand – despite the Herculean efforts of Putin’s propagandists – that this war is a bloodbath Russia is losing.

If Russia is allowed to win, Putin’s war would mark the beginning of a new era of global instability, with less freedom, less peace and less prosperity for the world.

The pro-Kremlin army officer told me to stop lying first, and if so, what I’ve learned from Moscow, I’m sure that Russia will take any action

The pro-Kremlin United Russia party’s former army officer told them to stop lying first. “We brought this up many times before … It seems that it isn’t getting through to individual senior figures.

Kartapolov complained that the Ministry of Defense was evading the truth about incidents such as Ukrainian cross-border strikes in Russian regions neighboring Ukraine.

Valuyki is in Russia’s Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine. Kyiv has generally adopted a neither-confirm-nor-deny stance when it comes to striking Russian targets across the border.

“There is no need to somehow cast a shadow over the entire Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation because of some, I do not say traitors, but incompetent commanders, who did not bother, and were not accountable, for the processes and gaps that exist today,” Stremousov said. Sergei Shoigu, the minister of defense, could have shot himself if this situation had not been allowed to happen. The word officer is unfamiliar to many.

Kadyrov was a little more forthcoming when blaming Russian commanders after the retreat from the strategic Ukrainian city of Lyman.

“The Russian information space has significantly deviated from the narratives preferred by the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) that things are generally under control,” ISW noted in its recent analysis.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has called for Russia to “take more drastic measures​” ​including the use of “low-yield nuclear weapons” in Ukraine following recent setbacks, welcomed the appointment of Surovikin, who first saw service in Afghanistan in the 1980s before commanding a unit in the Second Chechen War ​in 2004. Praise from Kadyrov, who is ​a key Putin ally, is significant, perhaps, as he himself is notorious for crushing all forms of dissent.

“Yes, if it were my will, I would declare martial law throughout the country and use any weapon, because today we are at war with the whole NATO bloc,” Kadyrov said in a post that also seemed to echo Putin’s not-so-subtle threats that Russia might contemplate the use of nuclear weapons.

Moscow’s Nikopol attack on a strategic bridge linking Crimea and Ukraine: The response of the Kremlin to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

The barrage continued on a day when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to human rights activists in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, an implicit rebuke to Russia and its president, Vladimir V. Putin, for his invasion of Ukraine.

The rockets at Nikopol, across from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, damaged power lines, gas pipelines, and a raft of civilian businesses and residential buildings, Ukrainian officials said. Russia and Ukraine are accused of firing at one another around a nuclear plant. It’s run by its pre-occupation Ukrainian staff under Russian oversight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold an operational meeting of his Security Council on Monday, just two days after a massive explosion on a key strategic bridge linking Crimea and Russia.

And while the agenda has not been made public, the meeting comes at a strategic crossroads for the Kremlin, which must make a series of unenviable choices after Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has faltered after a month of military setbacks.

Cars and trains were allowed to cross the bridge again on Sunday, even though traffic was temporarily suspended after the blast. Russia also restarted a car ferry service.

The first passenger services resumed travel across the bridge on Saturday, traveling from the Crimean Peninsula to Krasnodar Krai in southern Russia, Russia’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

Car traffic on the bridge has also restarted in two lanes, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Marat Khusnullin said on Sunday. “Traffic has already been launched along two lanes on the Crimean bridge,” he wrote in a Telegram post, adding that earlier, one lane was being used for cars traveling in alternate directions, slowing down traffic. Heavy trucks, vans and buses have been on the move since the blast.

Putin blames Ukrainian special services for the attack on the bridge, but they haven’t claimed responsibility. The strikes were retaliation for the attack, butUkrainian intelligence says the strikes had been in the works for a week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday dismissed the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in retaliation for the explosion on the bridge, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported.

The explosion on the Kerch Bridge to Crimea, Ukraine, on Sunday afternoon: Moscow’s investigative chief and a criminal terror investigation

Hayday admitted to pictures of Ukrainian troops outside the village of Luhansk, less than 12 miles from the crucial post of Svatove.

Last week, Biden delivered a stark warning about the dangers of Putin’s nuclear threats, invoking the prospect of “Armageddon.” Multiple US officials have said that the comment was not based on any new intelligence about Putin or Russia’s nuclear posture.

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Russia President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called the attack on the sprawling Kerch Bridge to Crimea “a terrorist act” carried out by Ukrainian special services and Russia’s investigative chief immediately opened a criminal terror investigation into the explosion that damaged a prominent Russian landmark.

He explained that the route of the truck had been to several countries, including Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and Krasnodar.

In the central city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said a Russian missile had hit a three-story residential building, killing at least two people and that emergency services were digging through the wreckage. There may be people under the rubble according to the deputy head of the presidential administration.

After hearing air raid sirens, the couple took shelter in the hallway of their top-floor apartment. Their possessions flew into the air after the explosion. The couple surveyed the damage to their home, where they lived for almost 50 years.

A German shepherd died in the missile strike and three volunteers dug a grave 3 kilometers away in the same neighborhood that was destroyed.

The Ukrainian bridge explosion and the “resummation of hostilities” — a political analyst’s assessment of the crisis in Ukraine

Abbas Gallyamov, an independent Russian political analyst and a former speechwriter for Putin, said the Russian president, who formed a committee Saturday to investigate the bridge explosion, had not responded forcefully enough to satisfy angry war hawks. He said the response has inspired the opposition while demoralizing the loyalists.

“Because once again, they see that when the authorities say that everything is going according to plan and we’re winning, that they’re lying, and it demoralizes them,” he said.

There is a lot of Russians who go to the resort for vacation. People trying to drive to the bridge and onto the Russian mainland on Sunday encountered hours-long traffic jams.

The first 20 bodies from a mass burial site have been exhumed, according to the Ukrainian national police. Initial indications are that around 200 civilians are buried in one location, and that another grave contains the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. The civilians, including children, were buried in single graves, while members of the military were buried in a 40-meter long trench, according to police.

— The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, meanwhile, said that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest, had been reconnected to the grid after losing its last external power source early Saturday following shelling.

In the past two months, Ukraine’s power grid has come under relentless bombardment by Russian bombs, taking down as much as half of the country’s electric infrastructure and at times leaving the majority of the country without power. In the city of Kyiv, more than 200 miles west of the ongoing fighting in the region of Donbas, Ukrainians are only allowed to keep their food and water outside and rely on generators to power their homes. Parts of the country’s rail system and water supplies have been disrupted at times. And winter, with only a fraction of the country’s heating systems operational, still looms ahead.

China and India also call for de-escalation: After the strikes, China expressed hope that the situation in Ukraine will “de-escalated soon.” India urged an “Immediate cessation of hostilities” and return to the “path of dialogue” after saying that it was deeply concerned by the escalating conflict. Other European leaders have also denounced the attack.

At least four explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital during rush hour on Monday morning. An adviser to the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine said a children’s playground was hit by a rocket or missile.

In the south, where Ukrainian troops are advancing toward the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, the Ukrainian military said Friday morning that its artillery battalions had fired more than 160 times at Russian positions over the past 24 hours, but it also reported Russian return fire into Ukrainian positions.

Russia is preparing for a high level of conflict. It is doing drills and training. There will be offensives from different directions in the next two to three weeks.

Ukraine is vulnerable to air strikes: Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian head of annexed Crimea, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

For several hours on Monday morning Kyiv’s subway system was suspended, with underground stations serving as bunkers. Rescue workers were attempting to get people out of the rubble caused by the strikes when the air raid alert was lifted.

In a statement Monday, the Prime Minister said that as of 11 a.m., 11crucial infrastructure facilities in eight regions had been damaged.

Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian head of annexed Crimea, said Monday that he had good news and that Russia’s approach to what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine has changed.

“I have been saying from the first day of the special military operation that if such actions to destroy the enemy’s infrastructure had been taken every day, we would have finished everything in May and the Kyiv regime would have been defeated,” he added.

Ukrainian people are vulnerable in the face of Russian air strikes. The blackmail of energy by cutting off gas supplies, by shutting off electricity, and bombing electric substations is what it’s called by Dmitri Alperovitch. He said that the strategy of Putin will cause pain. But he added, “when your kids are dying, you’re going to keep fighting even if you don’t have heat, even if your economy of your country is in dire straits. I think he’s made a mistake.

Ukraine’s allies understand this need. The chairman of the US Joint Commisions of Staff said that after Russia attacked the Ukrainian civilians, they will be looking for air defense options to help them.

His plea in Brussels was emotional as many Ukrainians were dying, he hadn’t got the right. I don’t have the right to come back home without the results.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the attacks “another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price.”

State of the City of Kyiv: Delay of Public Transport during the German Chancellor’s “Death-of-Sight” Meeting

The office of the German Chancellor confirmed to CNN that there was an emergency meeting of the group of nations that would be held via video conference on Tuesday, while Zelensky said on his social media accounts that he would address that meeting.

Ukrainian emergency services report that several people are dead across the country, including at least five people in the the capital Kyiv, which hasn’t been hit since June. It’s the closest strike to the center of the city since the war began, coming over 1000 yards from President Zelenskyy’s office.

In a video posted to social media, the president said the strikes disproportionately hit civilian infrastructure, including power plants and water heating facilities.

In Kyiv, Ukraine Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko says that at least two museums and the National Philharmonic concert halls sustained heavy damage. A nearby strike caused the country’s main passenger terminal to be damaged, causing trains to be delayed this morning.

“This happened at rush hour because there were a lot of public transport in the city,” said Ihor Makovtsev, the director of the department of transport for the Dnipro city council. He added that the bus driver and four passengers had been taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

“It’s hard to think of anything logic to their work because our transportation is only used for civilian purposes,” Makovtsev said.

The blast that killed Viktor Shevchenko, the president of the United States, and the genesis of the Patriot system: Commentary on CNN’s Opinion

81-year-old Viktor Shevchenko looked out from what once were the windows of his first floor balcony, just next to the bus stop. The ground was covered with shattered glass. He said he had been watering the plants on his balcony just minutes before the blast, but went to his kitchen to make breakfast.

“The explosion blew open all of my cabinets, and nearly knocked me to the ground,” he said. I was going to be on the balcony, full of glass, five minutes before.

Although Russia has succeeded in intimidating the US to refrain from aiding Ukraine, giving it a high-end missile defense system such as the Patriot is a sign of commitment by the US.

Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote a letter to Zelenskyy that warned him that Russia hadn’t started yet.

Michael Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and has been with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He contributes to CNN Opinion. His opinions are not endorsed by this commentary. View more opinion at CNN.

Irrepressible Jubilation after the Major Attack on the Kerch Straight Bridge: The Odesa area in Kiev During the Monday Night Explosion

Even amid irrepressible jubilation here in Ukraine in the aftermath of a massive explosion that hit the hugely strategic and symbolic Kerch Straight bridge over the weekend, fears of retaliation by the Kremlin were never far away.

There were reports of three missiles and five drones being shot down in the Odesa area, as of midday local time, but the area around my office remained quiet. At this time of day the nearby restaurants would be filled with customers and there would be chatter about weddings and parties.

Monday’s attacks also came just a few hours after Zaporizhzhia, a southeastern city close to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was hit by multiple strikes on apartment buildings, mostly while people slept. At least 17 people were killed and several dozens injured.

The early days of the war were a time when some media offices in the city moved their operations to underground bomb shelters. Many people took cover in the metro station as a group of people sang patriotic songs on the platforms.

Businesses have been told to shift work online as many times as possible, while millions of people will be spending most of the day in bomb shelters, at the urging of officials.

With many asylum seekers returning home and as many regions of Ukraine already restarting, the attacks are at risk of hurting business confidence.

Two Months After Putin Opens the Kerch Bridge and the Kyiv House of Teachers: Putin Has Been There Almost Every Day

Hardwiring newly claimed territory with expensive, record-breaking infrastructure projects seems to be a penchant of dictators. In 2018, Putin personally opened the Kerch bridge – Europe’s longest – by driving a truck across it. That same year, one of the first things Chinese President Xi Jinping did after Beijing reclaimed Macau and Hong Kong was to connect the former Portuguese and British territories with the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The $20 billion, 34-mile road bridge opened after about two years of delays.

The reaction among Ukrainians to the explosion was instantaneous: humorous memes lit up social media channels like a Christmas tree. Many people shared their jubilation with text messages.

The message was clear for the world to see. Putin does not intend to be humiliated. He is not going to admit defeat. He is prepared to destroy civilians and wreak terror in response to his battlefield reversals.

Facing more criticism at home, as well as on state-controlled television, has placed Putin on thin ice.

The Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, had told a journalist in August that by the end of the year we have to enter the peninsula.

A reminder of that history came just two months ago, on Oct. 10. That’s when a Russian missile slammed into the street outside the Kyiv House of Teachers.

United States Assistance in Ukraine During the Cold War: An Analysis of Zelensky’s Visit to the U.S. Capitol Hill

What is crucially important now is for Washington and other allies to use urgent telephone diplomacy to urge China and India – which presumably still have some leverage over Putin – to resist the urge to use even more deadly weapons.

Anything short of these measures will only allow Putin to continue his senseless violence and further exacerbate a humanitarian crisis that will reverberate throughout Europe. The Kremlin will take a weak reaction as a sign that it can continue to weaponize energy, migration and food.

In recent months, Russian troops have relentlessly targeted Ukraine’s power grid, repeatedly pounding power plants, heating systems and other energy infrastructure with targeted drone and missile strikes. The attacks have spanned the country on the cusp of winter, leaving Ukrainians vulnerable and in the dark just as the coldest time of the year is beginning.

Turkey and the Gulf states, which receive a lot of Russian tourists, should be pressured to come on board for further isolation of Russia.

Biden invited Zelensky to Washington this week because he believes the war in Ukraine is entering a “new phase,” officials said ahead of the visit. Zelensky was likely to make a dramatic public appeal for continued international support as winter sets in and Russia continues targeting civilian infrastructure.

It had been six days since Russia invaded Ukraine when Biden arrived on Capitol Hill. “He badly miscalculated,” Biden said. He thought he could make it into the country and save the world. Instead, he met a wall of strength he never imagined.”

A senior administration official said they had no announcements to make on the subject, but that the US will continue to help provide the Ukrainians with short and long range air defense systems.

As of a Department of Defense briefing in late September, the US had yet to deliver NASAMS to Ukraine. There were people at the time. Two systems are expected to be delivered in the next couple of months, and the other six will arrive at a later date, Gen. Patrick Ryder said.

The National Security Council’s Kirby suggested that Washington was looking favorably on Ukrainian requests and that it was in touch with the government in Kyiv almost daily. He told CNN that they do the best they can in subsequent packages.

Kirby told CNN that he could only talk about how he reacts to the pressure at home and overseas.

Kremlin attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure revealed Putin’s misfortune in the wake of the Kiev air raids and a new round of Russian terror

The attacks snatched away the semblance of normality that city dwellers, who spent months earlier in the war in subways turned into air raid shelters, have managed to restore to their lives and raised fears of new strikes.

The targets on Monday had little military value, which was a reflection of Putin’s inability to cause losses on the battlefield.

The bombing of power installations, in particular, Monday seemed to be an unsubtle hint of misery the Russian President could cause as winter sets in, even as his forces retreat in the face of Ukrainian troops using Western arms.

Pressure is growing on the US and its allies to do more due to recent Russian air strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Kirby was also unable to say whether Putin was definitively shifting his strategy from a losing battlefield war to a campaign to pummel civilian morale and inflict devastating damage on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, though he suggested it was a trend developing in recent days and had already been in the works.

Western concerns about the possible start of another pivot in the conflict were heightened by the rush-hour attacks in Ukranian.

“He was telegraphing about where he is going to go as we get into the winter. Vindman said on CNN that he is going to try and get the Ukrainian population to give up territory by going after the infrastructure.

“So imagine if we had modern equipment, we probably could raise the number of those drones and missiles downed and not kill innocent civilians or wound and injure Ukrainians,” Zhovkva said.

Russia has waged a campaign against the people of Ukranian origin and it is hard to imagine anyone else doing the same in the world.

The lesson of this horrible war is that everything Putin has done to fracture a nation he doesn’t believe has the right to exist has only strengthened and unified it.

Olena Gnes, a mother of three who is documenting the war on YouTube, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper live from her basement in Ukraine on Monday that she was angry at the return of fear and violence to the lives of Ukrainians from a new round of Russian “terror.”

She said this is just another terror to cause panic and scare other countries or show to his people that he is still a bloody tyrant.

The State of Minsk, Belarus, as Flaunted by Crime and Attrition by the U.S. Army and Russian Embassies

The President of Lukashenko said that Russian troops would return to his country in large numbers, and that this would repeat the military build up before the invasion of Ukraine.

“This won’t be just a thousand troops,” Mr. Lukashenko told senior military and security officials in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, after a meeting over the weekend with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in St. Petersburg.

In remarks reported by the state news agency Belta, Mr. Lukashenko said that a “joint regional group of troops” would be formed to counter possible aggression by NATO and Ukraine.

Ukrainians have been accused by the strongman of planning attacks from the south, without citing evidence.

The establishment of the joint force will likely reinforce the view that it’s a Belarus that’s a “co-aggressor” in the eyes of the Ukrainians.

Artyom Shraibman, a Belarusian political analyst now in exile in Warsaw, said Mr. Lukashenko would likely try to resist deploying his own troops in Ukraine because that “would be so dangerous for him on so many levels. It would be catastrophic politically.”

Andrei Sannikov, who served as deputy foreign minister under Mr. Lukashenko during his early period in power but fled into exile after being jailed, said Mr. Lukashenko was “running scared,” caught between pressure from Russia to help its demoralized forces in Ukraine and the knowledge that sending in Belarusian troops would be hugely unpopular, even among his loyalists.

On Monday, state television not only reported on the suffering, but also flaunted it. It showed a picture of smoke and carnage in the center of the city, as well as empty store shelves, and a forecast for months of freezing temperatures.

Greico of Stimson Center warned of the possibility that Russia is playing a game of attrition — using the cheap Iranian drones to get Ukraine to burn through its expensive missiles before unleashing its air force.

The math for Moscow is simple: a percentage of projectiles are bound to get through in the wake of the assault.

The experts think that Russia’s aerial bombardment wont form a pattern, and that Moscow might not have the ability to keep it up.

At the time, Russia had less air-launched cruise missiles than the Pentagon believed, but still had more than 50% of its pre-war inventory.

Some of that inventory was dispatched this week. But Russia has recently resorted to using much older and less precise KH-22 missiles (originally made as an anti-ship weapon), of which it still has large inventories, according to Western officials. Weighing 5.5 tons, they are designed to take out aircraft carriers. A KH-22 was responsible for the dozens of casualties at a shopping mall in Kremenchuk in June.

The Russians have also been adapting the S-300 – normally an air defense missile – as an offensive weapon, with some effect. Their speed makes them difficult to intercept, and they have caused a lot of destruction in other places. They are not accurate.

The Ukrainian Energy Minister told CNN that over 30% of the energy infrastructure in the country was hit by Russian missiles on Monday and Tuesday. The minister told CNN that this was the “first time from the beginning of the war” that Russia has “dramatically targeted” energy infrastructure.

As the war nears the one-year mark, there has also been a steady escalation in the types of weaponry supplied to Ukraine. Dave Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general, believes that more is required. Deptula said that the US should give Ukraine with fighter aircraft, advanced precisionmunitions and longer range surface to surface missiles because wars aren’t won just with good defense.

Last month, the US deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, Sasha Baker, said the US had seen “some evidence already” that the Iranian drones “have already experienced numerous failures.”

Ukraine’s wish-list – circulated at Wednesday’s meeting – included missiles for their existing systems and a “transition to Western-origin layered air defense system” as well as “early warning capabilities.”

The Patriot system – advanced long-range air defense that’s highly effective at intercepting missiles – offers an immensely expensive means of defending a very limited number of high value targets. It isn’t a complete solution to the air defense problem in Ukraine nor is there an in-service date for it that early.

Western systems are beginning to trickle in. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Tuesday that a “new era of air defense has begun” with the arrival of the first IRIS-T from Germany, and two units of the US National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAM) expected soon.

“This is only the beginning. Reznikov said on Wednesday thatUkraine’s air defense needs to be strengthened and that we need more. Feeling optimistic.”

But these are hardly off-the-shelf-items. The IRIS-T had to be manufactured for Ukraine. Western governments don’t have lots of such systems. And Ukraine is a very large country under missile attack from three directions.

A Ukranian Defense Advisor to the Kremlin: Rejoining with Russia in the Last Three-Five Years of the War

The senior military commander of Ukranian said Tuesday that he is grateful to Poland for training an air defense battalion that had destroyed nine of 11 Shaheeds.

The damage was critical and he suggested it will take a few days to restore the region’s electricity supply.

According to President Zelensky of Ukraine, his country would need $57 billion to be able to rebuild. He gave that figure to the boards of governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Mr. Zelensky said that $17 billion was needed to rebuild schools, hospitals, transport systems, and housing, as well as expand exports to Europe and restore Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The photos show hundreds of trucks waiting to cross into Russia after the bombing. The images, taken on Wednesday by Maxar Technologies, show a large amount of trucks at a port and a small airport that are apparently being used for staging.

Oleg Ignatov, a senior Russia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the long lines for the ferry crossing had been exacerbated by security checkpoints set up after the bridge explosion.

The next few weeks of the war are expected to be crucial and there is a chance of another surge of intensity over Ukraine as each side seeks to strike another blow.

It is not for the first time that the war is moving towards a new phase. Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, said the war was the third, fourth, or fifth war they had been observing.

The stakes of the war have been raised as winter approaches. Giles said that there is no doubt Russia would like to keep it up. But the Ukrainian successes of recent weeks have sent a direct message to the Kremlin, too. Giles said they can do things that take us by surprise.

According to a senior Ukrainian military official, the forces of the country have re-taken some 120 settlements in the past couple of months. On Wednesday, the Ukrainians said it had freed more settlements in Kherson.

These counter-offensives have shifted the momentum of the war and disproved a suggestion, built up in the West and in Russia during the summer, that while Ukraine could stoutly defend territory, it lacked the ability to seize ground.

The Russians are playing for the whistle and hoping to avoid a collapse in their frontline before the winter sets in, according to the senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“If they can get to Christmas with the frontline looking roughly as it is, that’s a huge success for the Russians given how botched this has been since February.”

Landing a major blow in Donbas would send another powerful signal, and Ukraine will be eager to improve on its gains before temperatures plummet on the battlefield, and the full impact of rising energy prices is felt around Europe.

There are a lot of reasons why the Ukrainians want to do things quickly. “The winter energy crisis in Europe, and energy infrastructure and power being destroyed in Ukraine itself, is always going to be a test of resilience for Ukraine and its Western backers.”

“We know – and Russian commanders on the ground know – that their supplies and munitions are running out,” Jeremy Fleming, a UK’s spy chief, said in a rare speech on Tuesday.

The I SW said in its daily update on the conflict Monday that the strikes resulted in wasting some of Russia’s dwindling precision weapons against civilian targets as opposed to militarily significant targets.

The Patriot missiles the Biden administration will send to Ukraine have gotten so much attention as a defensive system that could help protect Kyiv and the country’s electrical grid. The new weaponry package will be useful in helping the Ukrainians to take back their country.

The impact of such an intervention in terms of pure manpower would be limited; Belarus has around 45,000 active duty troops, which would not significantly bolster Russia’s reserves. But it would threaten another assault on Ukraine’s northern flank below the Belarusian border.

Giles said that the reopening of a northern front would be another challenge for Ukraine. It would provide Russia a new route into the Kharkiv oblast (region), which has been recaptured by Ukraine, should Putin prioritize an effort to reclaim that territory, he said.

By flipping the narrative of the conflict over the past two months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has achieved one of his own key objectives: showing Ukraine’s Western allies that their military aid can help Kyiv win the war.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that it was important for NATO defense ministers to discuss the issue of how to stop missile attacks.

The Russian commander wanted for his involvement in the downing of a Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine has been deployed to the front, according to posts by pro-Kremlin commentators. Posts by Maksim Fomin and others said Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, has been given responsibility for an unspecified Russian front-line unit.

He played an important role in Russia’s operations in Syria as the commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, during the time when Russian planes wreaked havoc in rebel-held areas.

He said that no matter how far away the plan was from the government, it always worked out exactly as it was intended.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Russian Armed Forces service personnel who took part in operations in Syria, including Sergey Surovikin, at the Kremlin on December 28, 2017.

Surovikin personally signed Irisov’s resignation papers from the air force, he says. Now, Irisov sees him put in charge of operations in Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine – but what impact the general will or can have is not yet clear.

“Everything changed” on February 24, 2022, when Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began and TASS received orders from the FSB security service and defense ministry “that everyone will be prosecuted if they don’t execute the propaganda scheme,” Irisov said.

He told CNN he knew nothing could justify this war, because his family had been hiding in bomb shelters. He knew from his contacts in the military that there were many casualties in the first few days.

While serving at Latakia air base in Syria in 2019 and 2020, the 31-year-old says he worked on aviation safety and air traffic control, coordinating flights with Damascus’ civilian airlines. He ​says he saw Surovikin several times during some missions and spoke to high-ranking officers under him.

A general was disliked at headquarters for the way he implemented his infantry experience into the air force.

Irisov says he understands Surovikin had strong connections with Kremlin-approved private military company the Wagner group​, which has operated in Syria.

The Russian media reported in 2004, that he berated a subordinate to the point that he took his own life.

A book written by a Washington DC-based think tank says that during the unsuccessful coup attempt against Gorbachev, soldiers under his order killed three protesters, and he spent at least six months in prison.

In a 2020 report, Human Rights Watch named him as “someone who may bear ​command responsibility” for the dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure in violation of the laws of war​” during the 2019-2020 Idlib offensive in Syria. According to UN figures, the attacks killed 1,600 civilians and forced the relocation of an estimated 1.4 million people.

Putin’s decision to leave Ukraine and “the butcher of Aleppo”: a Russian officer in charge of the invasion and his deployment to Kherson

Speaking after an awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia” at the Kremlin, he addressed a group of soldiers receiving the awards, clutching a glass of champagne.

The European Union levied sanctions against the head of the Aerospace Forces in February for his support of actions that undermine or threaten the independence of Ukraine and the stability of the country.

Clark says that it is very likely that Putin is involved in decision-making down to a very tactical level and in some cases bypassing the senior Russian military officers on the battlefield.

His appointment “got widespread praise from various Russian military bloggers as well as Yevgeny (Prigozhin), who’s the financier of the Wagner Group,” Clark said.

He said that Dvornikov was considered to be the commander that was going to turn things around in Ukraine and get the job done. “But an individual commander is not going to be able to change how tangled Russian command and control is at this point in the war, or the low morale of Russian forces.”

“Similarly, he before then was a commander of one of the groupings of Russian forces and had sort of a master reputation in Syria much like Surovikin for brutality, earning this sort of name of the ‘butcher of Aleppo,’” Clark said.

On Tuesday, the newly appointed commander of the Russian invasion, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, acknowledged that his army’s position in Kherson was “already quite difficult” and appeared to suggest that a tactical retreat might be necessary. General Surovikin said he was ready to make “difficult decisions” about military deployments, but did not say more about what those might be.

That is not to say the mobilized forces will not be used. They could be used in support roles to help the exhausted professional army of Russia. They could fill out deplete units along the line of contact, cordon some areas, and man checkpoint in the rear. They are, however, unlikely to become a capable fighting force. There are signs of discipline problems among those who are in Russian garrisons.

On the Crime against Russia in a “Big Battlefield”: Attacks on Russian Air Forces, Schools, and Children’s Camps

On the front line, “the key hotspots in Donbas are (neighboring towns) In the video address Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the fighting continued in Soledar and Bakhmut.

High profile opposition voices have been meted out with lengthy prison sentences for questioning the Russian army’s conduct or strategy.

Two strategic Russian air bases were struck Monday by drones more than 500 kilometers from the Ukraine border. Russia blamed Ukraine and didn’t claim responsibility.

Zelenskyy’s office said Moscow was shelling towns and villages along the front line in the east Sunday, and that “active hostilities” continued in the southern Kherson region.

Two men shot at Russian troops preparing to deploy to Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounding 15 before being killed themselves, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Oct. 15.

Earlier, Macron told Zelensky that France is “determined” to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia. “We stand by Ukraine, determined to help it to victory,” Macron said. Russia should not win the war because it will count on France and its allies.

— The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, accused Moscow late Saturday of conducting “massive, forced deportations of Ukrainians,” which it said likely amount to ethnic cleansing.

Russian authorities have said that several thousand children from the southern region occupied by Moscow have been put in rest homes and children’s camps. RIA Novosti reported on the original remarks by Marat Khusnullin, Russia’s deputy prime minister.

Russian authorities have previously admitted to placing children from Russian-held areas of Ukraine, who they said were orphans, for adoption with Russian families, in a potential breach of an international treaty on genocide prevention.

In a statement to Human Rights Watch, the deputy defense minister of Ukraine said that Ukrainian authorities could not comment on specific weapons before the end of the war.

The generals who they say direct the war effort far from the frontline were decried as unlearned in principle and unwilling to listen to warnings about putting equipment and personnel so close together. A Dutch court of mass murder found Girkin guilty in connection with the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Eastern Ukraine and he was sentenced to life in prison.

Recently, Girkin’s social media posts have lashed out at Moscow’s battlefield failures. The defense intelligence agency of Ukraine said it would offer a $100,000 reward for his capture.

Anton Gerashcenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Internal Ministry, reported attacks on infrastructure near the city’s main rail station, but lines were operating as normal midmorning Monday.

Zelenskyy’s chief-of-staff, Andriy Yermak, again called on the west to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems. He said there was no time for slow actions.

The picture of the bomb labeled “Geran-2” was uploaded by Klitshchko but he removed it, because commenters criticized him for supporting a Russian strike.

Russia’s Nuclear Warfare in the Light of Recent Russian and Ukrainian Detection Results from the NATO Joint Operation on Crimea

European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet today in Luxembourg. Before the meeting, Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, told reporters that the bloc would look into “concrete evidence” of Iran’s involvement in Ukraine.

The partnership of convenience is between two dictators, according to an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Both countries are struggling with economic and political crises. Iran and Russia are trying to quell street protests that pose a serious challenge to the government, while Russia is attempting to manage disillusion over a faltering war effort.

Nuclear deterrence exercises will be held by NATO. NATO has warned Russia not to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine but says the “Steadfast Noon” drills are a routine, annual training activity.

Russian agents detained eight people on Oct. 12 suspected of carrying out a large explosion on a bridge to Crimea, including Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian citizens.

Russian troops began arriving in Belarus Oct. 15, which Minsk said were the first convoys of almost 9,000 service members expected as part of a “regional grouping” of forces allegedly to protect Belarus from threats at the border from Ukraine and the West.

“The onus remains on Moscow to demonstrate not only through word but also in deed that it is ready to negotiate, it is ready to meet what the world has very clearly heard from our Ukrainian partners, and that they are ready and willing to sit down and engage in good faith.”

The annual conference in Sea Island, Ga., run by The Cipher Brief brings together members of the national security community to stand and watch the big picture of global security.

Putin’s annexation strategy for survival in the Russian-US war on the battlefield: A response of Kolbe to Putin and Alperovitch

The chief of staff to the president told the conference that the war needs to end with a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield.

But Paul Kolbe, a former CIA officer who runs the Intelligence Project at Harvard’s Kennedy School, says the Russian leader is not looking for a way out of the conflict. In fact, he says, just the opposite. “Putin’s muscle memory when he runs into an obstacle is to escalate,” said Kolbe. “There’s a lot of tricks he can still pull out to try to undermine morale in Ukraine and in the West.”

This annexation is a huge deal. Putin is effectively betting his presidency on staying in Ukraine, says Dmitri Alperovitch, who runs the think tank Silverado Policy Accelerator.

“That is essentially a metaphorical burning of bridges,” said Alperovitch. “As long as he’s in power and has resources to continue fighting, this war is probably going to continue for many, many months, and possibly even many years.”

One of the difficulties in making assessments is that the war has gone through different phases with one side winning and the other losing. During the battle for Kyiv, the Russians were defeated by the Ukrainians, but Russia continued to fight in the Donbas over the summer.

The Moscow mayor’s warning message in the Georgia war: What he wants to tell us about the next war and what he thinks about it

At the Georgia conference, in a ballroom filled with experienced national security types, no one suggested the war was near an end. “I don’t see a chance of talks in the near term as most wars end with some sort of negotiated solution, whether that comes out of stalemate or victory,” said Paul Kolbe, the former CIA official.

This war began with a Russian invasion in 2014, he noted, and is now as intense as it’s ever been. Greg Myre is an NPR journalist. Follow him @gregmyre1.

The Mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, seemed to take pains to offer reassurances. “At present, no measures are being introduced to limit the normal rhythm of the city’s life,” Mr. Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram channel.

Despite the new power given to them, the regional governors of Krasnodar andKursk said there would not be entry or exit restrictions.

Many Russians will be aware of a warning message in the martial law imposed in Ukraine, which is the first time Moscow has declared martial law since World War II.

“People are worried that they will soon close the borders, and the siloviki” — the strong men close to Mr. Putin in the Kremlin — “will do what they want,” Ms. Stanovaya said.

While sitting on a park bench by a tram stop, an aspiring social media star is talking to her friends about the war instead of using her app. Makarova shows how much of their safety depends on U.S. support.

He says the upcoming U.S. elections and comments from billionaire Musk are some of the issues that are getting the most interest on his social media channels.

Ukrainian Foreign Policy: Why Is Ukraine Corrupt, Is Not Wrong, or What Have We Learned in the US during the Trump Era?

“I support Ukraine but I never support a blank check,” McCarthy said after the speech. “We want to make sure there’s accountability for every money that we spent.”

“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” he told Punchbowl News in an interview published Tuesday.

Others said late Tuesday that their support for Ukrainian aid would be lost because of their opposition to the spending measure. Cramer said that voting against the spending bill didn’t mean he didn’t support Ukranian people.

In advance of the November election, a group of politicians, activists, and soldiers have been traveling to Washington to lobby for more aid.

The member of parliament with the president’s party is Yevheniia Kravchuk. Since the beginning of the war, she’s traveled to Washington twice to meet with administration and congressional leaders, making it very important to meet with both Democrats and Republicans.

And it’s not all on the fringes. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader who could become speaker of the House after next week’s US elections, suggested the GOP might choose to reduce aid to Ukraine. The letter calling for negotiations was released by the Progressives. Evelyn Farkas, a former Pentagon official, said they were bringing a smile to Putin’s face.

In May, about half of Americans said they were extremely or very concerned about Ukraine’s defeat, but that fell to 42% in September.

Government officials say avoiding partisan politics in the U.S. is one of the key pillars of Ukrainian foreign policy. Petro, a senior fellow at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation who spent many years in the Ukrainian government, says that lesson was learned during the Trump years.

Zelenskyy came close to giving in to Trump’s demand to announce an investigation into the family of Joe Biden, but got sucked into Trump’s first impeachment.

The director of international studies at the Odesa Mechnikov University says that many Ukrainians don’t understand US politics.

“When there is someone, let’s say a member of House, and he or she speaks about ‘why are we spending money and Ukraine is corrupt, is not winning,’ and people in Ukraine hear this — it means, like, ‘Oh my God, that’s a new American position that’s going to prevail,’” he says.

He believes that there is a balance of power in Washington that prevents some Republicans from changing US support for the war. He emphasizes that there are bigger problems in Ukrainian than in the U.S.

Putin prolongs war ukraine winter: CNN’s David Andelman’s view of his invasion of the Russian sand

The Ukrainian military has made gains in its two counteroffensives in the north and south, cutting supply lines and hitting Russian targets with long-range rockets.

A red line in the sand is a book by David A. Andelman, a contributor to CNN and winner of the Deadline Club Award. He worked as a correspondent for CBS News in Europe and Asia. His own views are expressed in this commentary. CNN has more opinion.

First, he’s seeking to distract his nation from the blindingly obvious, namely that he is losing badly on the battlefield and utterly failing to achieve even the vastly scaled back objectives of his invasion.

This ability to keep going depends on a host of variables – ranging from the availability of critical and affordable energy supplies for the coming winter, to the popular will across a broad range of nations with often conflicting priorities.

European Union powers agreed to control energy prices early on Friday in the wake of the embargoes on Russian imports and the Kremlin’s cut of natural gas supplies.

The Dutch Title Transfer Facility is the benchmark European gas trading hub, and there is also an emergency cap on it.

While French President Emmanuel Macron waxed euphoric leaving the summit, which he described as having “maintained European unity,” he conceded that there was only a “clear mandate” for the European Commission to start working on a gas cap mechanism.

Still, divisions remain, with Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, skeptical of any price caps. Now energy ministers must work out details with a Germany concerned such caps would encourage higher consumption – a further burden on restricted supplies.

All of this is part of a dream that Putin has. Manifold forces in Europe could prove central to achieving success from the Kremlin’s viewpoint, which amounts to the continent failing to agree on essentials.

Germany and France are already at odds on many issues. The leaders of France and Germany have called a conference call for Wednesday in order to reach some kind of agreement.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/opinions/putin-prolonge-war-ukraine-winter-andelman/index.html

Italy’s First Prime Minister: Putting an End to Putin’s Evils – A State Report on the Technical Situation in the Italian Military-Industry Complex

And now there is a new government in Italy. Giorgia Meloni was sworn in Saturday as Italy’s first woman prime minister and has attempted to brush aside the post-fascist aura of her party. One of her far-right coalition partners meanwhile, has expressed deep appreciation for Putin.

In an audio recording obtained by LaPresse, Berlusconi said he had returned the gesture of Putin with bottles of Lambrusco wine.

Matteo Salvini said during the campaign that he did not want the sanctions on Russia to harm those who impose them more than those who are hit by them.

Poland and Hungary are old friends who united against the EU’s liberal policies in order to reduce their influence. Poland has taken offense at the pro-Putin sentiment of Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orban.

Meanwhile on Monday, the influential 30-member Congressional progressive caucus called on Biden to open talks with Russia on ending the conflict while its troops are still occupying vast stretches of the country and its missiles and drones are striking deep into the interior.

Hours later, caucus chair Mia Jacob, facing a firestorm of criticism, emailed reporters with a statement “clarifying” their remarks in support of Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to renew America’s support.

At the same time, the West is turning up the pressure on Russia. Last Thursday, the State Department released a detailed report on the impact of sanctions and export controls strangling the Russian military-industrial complex.

Russian production of hypersonic missiles has all but ceased “due to the lack of necessary semi-conductors,” said the report. Plants that make anti-aircraft systems have been shut down, and aircraft are being cannibalized for spare parts. The Soviet era ended more than 30 years ago.

The US seized the property of Yury Orekhov and his agencies, who were responsible for purchasing US-origin technologies for Russian end- users.

The Justice Department also announced charges against individuals and companies seeking to smuggle high-tech equipment into Russia in violation of sanctions.

Ukrain before February 24, 2022: How did the people think of us? Why do we care about Ukraine? What do people think about us?

How did the people think about Ukranian before Feb. 24, 2022? If pressed, some might have conjured mail-order brides and shaven-head gangsters roaming one big post-Soviet Chernobyl. But most probably did not think of us at all, instead they thought of another country. The country only caught the attention of some people because of political scandals and Russian war making. One Western journalist confessed recently that he concluded thatUkraine was just like Russia, but without all the crap, because few westerners visited it.

The strengthening relationship between Moscow and Tehran has drawn the attention of Iran’s rivals and foes in the Middle East, of NATO members and of nations that are still – at least in theory – interested in restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which aimed to delay Iran’s ability to build an atomic bomb.

Yuval Noah Harari argues that with a victory by Russia there would be a resurgence of wars of aggression and invasions of one country by another, something that has been rejected as categorically since the Second World War.

There are repercussions from what is happening far from the battlefields. When oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, decided last month to slash production, the US accused the Saudis of helping Russia fund the war by boosting its oil revenues. The Saudis deny the accusation.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently reiterated that “Israel supports and stands with Ukraine, NATO and the West,” but will not move those systems to Ukraine, because, “We have to share our airspace in the North with Russia.”

A UN and Turkey-brokered agreement allowed Ukraine’s maritime corridors to reopen, but this week Moscow temporarily suspended that agreement after Russian Navy ships were struck at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Putin’s announcement was immediately followed by a surge in wheat prices on global commodity markets. Those prices partly determine how much people pay for bread in Africa and across the planet.

In fact, the war in Ukraine is already affecting everyone, everywhere. Fuel prices have gone up, contributing to a global explosion of inflation.

Higher prices not only affect family budgets and individual lives. When they come with such powerful momentum, they pack a political punch. Inflation, worsened by the war, has put incumbent political leaders on the defensive in countless countries.

Vladimir Menon and the Ukrainian Cyberattacks During the October 10 Blitzkrieg: How Is Russia Going to Attack on its Military Soldiers?

Russian news media reported on high casualty rates among Russian soldiers, as well as videos filmed by Ukrainian drones that show Russian infantry being struck by artillery in poorly prepared positions. The videos have not been independently verified and their exact location on the front line could not be determined.

On Thursday, the commander of the Ukrainian military wrote on the Telegram messenger that there had been triple the intensity of attacks along the front. He did not say what the time frame was or where the attacks were coming from.

The Institute for the Study of War assessed the situation and said that the increase of infantry in the east did not result in new ground for Russia.

“The blitzkrieg has gone terribly wrong for them and they know that, so they need more time to regroup and rebuild their troops,” Rodnyansky said, adding that it was also Kremlin’s strategy to dissuade the world from sending more military aid to Ukraine. “We must not fall into that trap.”

Anticipation is mounting for a possible battle for Kherson, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine. Kremlin-installed officials have been evacuating civilians in preparation for a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.

There have been a lot of suspected Russian cyberattacks on various Ukrainian industries and they have correlated with Russia’s military objectives. It has largely been missing, the kind of hack that takes out power or transportation networks.

The attack on the bridge was meant to be a show of force by Putin, but it took a long time to plan and Cyber operations can take many months to plan.

Ukrainian cybersecurity officials have had to avoid shelling while doing their jobs in order to protect their networks from Russians and criminals.

The sscip was killed in missile attacks on October 10, according to the agency. The four officials did not have cybersecurity responsibilities, but their loss has weighed heavily on cybersecurity officials at the agency during another grim month of war.

In particular, Menon thinks that each of his comments could be applied to Russia’s earlier cyberattacks on the country’s internet, such as the NotPetya Malware released by the GRU and causing hundreds of digital networks to be destroyed. “They’re different in the technicalities, but the goal is the same,” he says. Demoralizing and punishing civilians is what it is.

The Western official said that Russia wouldn’t measure success in cyberspace by a single attack, rather by their cumulative effect on the Ukrainians.

In 2017, as Russia’s hybrid war in eastern Ukraine continued, Russia’s military intelligence agency unleashed destructive malware known as NotPetya that wiped computer systems at companies across Ukraine before spreading around the world, according to the Justice Department and private investigators. The incident cost the global economy billions of dollars by disrupting shipping giant Maersk and other multinational firms.

Matt Olney is a director of threat intelligence at Talos and he said the operation involved infiltrating Ukrainian software and injecting malicious code to weaponize it.

“All of that was just as astonishingly effective as the end product was,” said Olney, who has had a team in Ukraine responding to cyber incidents for years. “And that takes time and it takes opportunities that sometimes you can’t just conjure.”

The NATO-Suzanne Security Summit: Prospects for a Cold War between the European Union and Ukraine in Light of the Estonian Cyber Affairs

The deputy chairman at SSSCIP, a Ukrainian official named Zhora called for sanctions against Russia for its access to software tools that can feed its hacking arsenal.

Tanel Sepp, Estonia’s ambassador-at-large for cyber affairs, told CNN that it is possible that the Russians will ramp up their cyberattacks as their battlefield struggles continue.

Sepp said that the main goal of the group was to get Russia isolated on the international stage and that they did not communicate with Russia on cybersecurity issues for months.

For those few days during Russia’s suspension, Russian and Ukrainian inspectors did not participate, as the U.N. and Turkey continued to implement the deal. And new vessels — those not already scheduled — were unable to go to Ukraine to pick up exports, leading to a small lag in operations.

The current agreement expires on Nov. 19. The international community is hoping it will be extended, and that Ukraine and Russia will continue to work together, despite the war, to supply food to the world.

And Ukraine will be watching America’s midterm election results this week, especially after some Republicans warned that the party could limit funding for Ukraine if it wins control of the House of Representatives, as forecast.

Turkish President will host the Prime Minister of Sweden on Tuesday. Erdogan insists Sweden must meet certain conditions before it can join NATO.

The Russian Defense Minister’s “I Want to Live” Report on the “Dnipro River” and “My First Steps Towards Independence” of Kherson

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday is scheduled to discuss an International Atomic Energy Agency report, in which Ukraine is expected to be on the agenda.

There are attacks on the country’s energy grid that are considered genocide by a top Ukrainian official. Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin made the comments while speaking to the BBC last month.

The US has given armored vehicles to Ukraine before, including MRAP vehicles and utility vehicles. The US gave money for the repair of Soviet-era T-72 tanks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday that the remaining troops had been moved out of Kherson and not a single piece of military equipment or weapons had been left on the other side.

TheUkrainian military intelligence agency said that units of the Ukrainian military were entering the city.

Under the “I Want to Live” program, the Defense Intelligence agency inUkraine would guarantee the rights of abandoned Russian soldiers.

Your commanders ordered you to leave Kherson and dressed in civilian clothes. “You won’t succeed,” the Ukrainian statement said.

Since early Friday morning, unconfirmed videos and photos have surfaced online of the Ukrainian flag being raised atop the Kherson city administration building and police headquarters, as well as jubilant locals in nearby villages celebrating liberation. Russian billboards that read “Russia is here forever” were torn down by Ukrainians.

Earlier this week, the commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, proposed plans to withdraw from Kherson during a report to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on national television.

In what appeared to be carefully staged remarks, Surovikin called the decision to withdraw to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River “difficult,” but one that would allow Russia to save the lives of military personnel and preserve Russia’s combat capability.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters in an interview on Thursday he believed it would take “as a minimum, one week” for Russian forces to leave the city and that Moscow still has some 40,000 troops in the region.

Even as its soldiers fled, the Kremlin said that it still considered Kherson — which President Vladimir V. Putin illegally annexed in September — to be a part of Russia.

The loss of Kherson would be Russia’s third major setback of the war, following retreats from Kyiv, the capital, last spring, and from the Kharkiv region in the northeast in September. Kherson was the only capital that Russia had captured since its invasion in February and it was a major link in its effort to take control of the Black Sea coastline.

Ukrainian soldiers continued to move through the region, as he spoke, as they were greeted by residents who had experienced nine months of occupation.

“ZSU” protests in Kherson, Ukraine, during the November 11 attack by Russian troops as a warning to Ukraine to end its war

Oleh Voitsehovsky, the commander of a Ukrainian drone reconnaissance unit, said he had seen no Russian troops or equipment in his zone along the front less than four miles north of Kherson city.

He said the Russians left all the villages. “We looked at dozens of villages with our drones and didn’t see a single car. We don’t understand how they are leaving. They don’t say a word at night.

Serhiy, a retiree living in the city who asked that his last name not be published for security reasons, said in a series of text messages that conditions in the city had unraveled overnight.

A building in the center of town burned at night, but it was not possible to call the fire department. “There was no phone signal, no electricity, no heating and no water.”

The Russian military has settled in local houses, schools and kindergartens. Military equipment is stationed in residential areas,” Federov said in November.

Russian forces were preparing to attack the Ukrainians on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, and were shelling them across the river.

Zelenskyy, along with other officials and citizens shared videos on social media of people in the street celebrating and chanting “ZSU!”

The Russian withdrawal came amid reports of heavy damage to the Antonivsky Bridge — the area’s only road crossing over the Dnipro. Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies appeared to show a section of the bridge was completely sheared off.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to ask Russia to pull out troops from Ukraine before Christmas, but this week the Kremlin was objecting to that.

The Russian pullback is widely believed to be a blow to Putin’s war effort in Ukraine — a view underscored by the Russian leader’s continued silence on the pullback.

“He’s not rushing to negotiate with Russia or to press (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Someone familiar with Milley’s thinking said Zelensky. “It’s a discussion around a pause in the fighting towards a political end state.”

The result is a growing debate inside the administration over whether Ukraine’s recent gains on the battlefield should spark a renewed effort to seek some sort of negotiated end to the fighting, according to officials.

The comments left administration officials unsurprised – given Milley’s advocacy for the position internally – but also raised concerned among some about the administration appearing divided in the eyes of the Kremlin.

The senior administration official said that Mr. Biden would not come to the meeting with a message about pushing or prodding Zelensky in order to find a solution to the war with Russia. The official said that Russia did not seem willing to engage in good-faith talks about ending the war, even though the trip had not been formally announced.

Officials say Milley wants to make it clear that he is not urging a Ukrainian capitulation, but that he believes the war is in the best place to end it before more people die.

But that view is not widely held across the administration. One official said the State Department is on the opposite side of the pole. That dynamic has led to a unique situation where military brass are more fervently pushing for diplomacy than US diplomats.

Milley’s position comes as the US military has dug deep into US weapons stockpiles to support the Ukrainians and is currently scouring the globe for materials to support Ukraine heading into winter – such as heaters and generators – which has raised concerns about how long this war can be sustained, officials said.

The US intends to buy 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition from South Korean arms manufacturers to provide to Ukraine, a US official said, part of a broader effort to find available weaponry for the high-intensity battles unfolding in Ukraine. 100,000 rounds of 155mm howitzer ammunition will be purchased by the US and transferred to Ukraine through the US.

The historic day of February 4: Ukraine is returning, and the U.S. is giving it as much as it needs to defend itself,” said Zelensky

State Department spokesperson Ned Price would not say Thursday whether the State Department agrees with Milley’s position. Price focused on the position the US has taken recently with regard to Zelensky, who has stated that a diplomatic solution is needed.

However, he added, “The US is not at war with Russia, and we do not seek conflict. Our focus is on givingUkraine the security assistance it needs to defend itself.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Friday was “a historic day” for Ukraine after Russia announced its withdrawal from the west bank of the Kherson region.

Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the military units involved in the operation — “absolutely everyone, from privates to generals, the Armed Forces, intelligence, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Guard — all those who brought this day closer for Kherson region.”

The stabilization measures would be taken due to the threat of mines. The occupiers left many mines and explosives at vital facilities. We will be clearing them,” he said.

“Our defenders are followed by police, sappers, rescuers, power engineers … Medicine, communications, social services are returning. … He said that life is returning.

Ukranian Defense Secretary Igor Zelenskyy is the First Deputy High-Sensitive Military Commander in the Region of Kherson

Officials also on Friday warned displaced residents to hold off on returning to their homes in the newly retaken areas of Kherson, saying, “It’s too dangerous here now.”

The head of the regional military administration of Mykolaiv went to Snihurivka, a small city, on Friday to discuss restoration of life in the liberated territories of the region.

“Despite the fact that the relevant services have already started (removing mines in) the liberated territories, I warn local residents to be careful,” Kim added.

The Ukranian President made a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday, visiting London on the first stage of a diplomatic tour of European capitals.

This time he appeared openly in front of the city’s main government building, in a military-style jacket and clothing, surrounded by heavily armed security. He spoke and waved to residents as Ukraine marks one of its biggest victories of the war.

The Ukrainian flag was flown on a nice day, with Zelenskyy and his team standing watch as the national anthem was played.

Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian investigators had documented more than 400 cases of suspected war crimes by the Russian forces during their occupation of Kherson.

Most of the city’s buildings remain intact because they were undamaged by the Russians at the beginning of the war.

The city is lacking electricity and heat, and is also in dire need of food, water and medicine. Ukrainian military and government officials are trying to restore a sense of normality in a city that had close to 300,000 residents before the war.

In contrast to Zelenskyy, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not spoken publicly about Kherson since the Russia troops abandoned the city without a fight.

On Friday, the conflict in Ukraine continued after the proposed start time of the ceasefire at noon Moscow time (4 a.m. ET), as CNN teams observed incoming and outgoing artillery fire around Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine.

The Dnipro has become the new front line in southern Ukraine, and officials there warned of continued danger from fighting in regions that have already endured months of Russian occupation.

Through the afternoon, artillery fire picked up in a southern district of the city near the destroyed Antonivsky Bridge over the Dnipro, stoking fears that the Russian Army would retaliate for the loss of the city with a bombardment from its new positions on the eastern bank.

Mortar shells struck near the bridge, sending up puffs of smoke. There was a loud boom near the river. It was not possible to assess what had been hit.

The Battle of Novoraysk: Ivan Yanushevich, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, tells a Ukrainian soldier to leave Kherson

The head of the Kherson regional military administration, Yaroslav Yanushevich, urged the tens of thousands of remaining residents in the city to evacuate while Ukrainian forces worked to clear land mines, hunt down Russian soldiers left behind and restore essential services.

The mines are dangerous. Four people, including an 11-year-old, were killed when a family driving in the village of Novoraysk, outside the city, ran over a mine, Mr. Yanushevich said. Another mine injured six railway workers who were trying to restore service after lines were damaged. There were at least four children who were injured by mines across the region, according to Ukrainian officials.

The deaths underscored the threats still remaining on the ground, even as Mr. Zelensky made a surprise visit to Kherson, a tangible sign of Ukraine’s soaring morale.

“We are, step by step, coming to all of our country,” Mr. Zelensky said in a short appearance in the city’s main square on Monday, as hundreds of jubilant residents celebrated.

The official said the Russian forces fired at the local market in Beryslav, likely from a tank. Three of the wounded are in serious condition and are being evacuated to Kherson, Yanushevich said.

One resident in Kherson City told her that people in the city exchange stuff for homemade booze called “soogon”, or “made in Russia,” through a secure messaging app. They get drunk and become even more aggressive. We are so scared here.” She asked that her surname be withheld for security.

Ivan wrote in a text message that Russians wander around, identify empty houses and settle there. He wants his name not to be used because he is worried about his safety in Skadovsk, which is south of Kherson city. We try to connect with the owners so that we can find a local to stay in their place. So that it is not abandoned and Russians don’t take it.”

The Asia-Pacific War: What Happens When the U.S. President Meets the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Environment, Trade and Development

The Russia-Ukraine war and its economic effects loom large in Indonesia, where the G-20 summit is taking place. On the sidelines Monday, President Biden discussed Ukraine among other issues with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Biden is due to meet a British Prime Minister.

The U.N. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield was in Kyiv talking about world hunger and pressing for renewal of the grain deal. The week before, the assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, Karen Donfried, went to Ukraine.

American basketball star Brittney Griner was moved to a Russian penal colony to begin serving out her nine-year sentence on drug smuggling charges Nov. 9.

The war was discussed at the U.N. climate conference. The war has caused ” ecocide” and experts said that the war is driving a new push for fossil fuels.

It was a good time for the summit to happen and not a bad time to be in it. China is a major violator of human rights, and a threat to Taiwan and the United States. A Cold War or accidental Conflict is very dangerous and must be avoided.

Judging by the statements from the White House and the Chinese government, that’s precisely what happened. The two sides discussed sources of disagreement, including Taiwan’s autonomy, the war in Ukraine and China’s human rights record. Climate change, global health and economic stability were areas of potential cooperation broached.

A well-functioning democratic process in the US is probably disappointing to the autocrats who are hoping that the divisions within the country will show that democracy is not as effective as they like to think. The midterms brought the American President to the table with a stronger hand to play.

That’s not the only reason, however, why this was the perfect moment — from the standpoint of the United States and for democracy — for this meeting to occur: There’s much more to this geopolitical moment than who controls the US House of Representatives and Senate.

The adventure turned to disaster for Putin as the Ukranian people defended their country with determination, as well as as Biden rallied allies in a push to support the country.

Tellingly, Putin chose not to attend the G20 summit in Bali, avoiding confrontations with world leaders as he increasingly becomes a pariah on the global stage.

The Russian missile war against Ukraine: the role of the U.S., China and Russia on the epochal affairs of the world

To be sure, Biden is not the only leader with a strong hand. China has just secured a third term for its leader, and the man is now able to rule for as long as he wants. He doesn’t have to worry about elections, a press or an opposition party. He is essentially the absolute ruler of a mighty country for many years to come.

It is clear that Xi faces a lot of daunting problems. The economy has slowed down so much that China is reluctant to reveal economic data. China’s Covid-19 vaccine, once a tool of global diplomacy, is a disappointment. As the rest of the world slowly recovers from the swine flu epidemic, China has imposed a series of curfews as a way to protect its citizens.

Also crucial in the epochal competition between the two systems is showing that democracy works, defeating efforts of autocratic countries such as China and Russia to discredit it and proving that unprovoked wars of aggression, aimed at suppressing democracy and conquering territory, will not succeed.

Now Poland is facing the repercussions from these attacks – and it’s not the only bordering country. Russian rockets have also knocked out power across neighboring Moldova, which is not a NATO member, and therefore attracted considerably less attention than the Polish incident.

Whatever the exact circumstances of the missile, one thing is clear. The Secretary General of NATO said that Russia bears ultimate responsibility for its illegal war against Ukraine.

Russian soldiers have rebelled at what they have been told to do and refused to fight. Amid plummeting morale, the UK’s Defense Ministry believes Russian troops may be prepared to shoot retreating or deserting soldiers.

In just a couple of months the hotline and Telegram channel has taken off, booking some 3,500 calls, most of them from Russian soldiers desperate to defect.

The Ukrainian request for cluster munitions isn’t going to go away: sources say the US does not want to return to their homeland

One leading Russian journalist, Mikhail Zygar, who has settled in Berlin after fleeing in March, told me last week that while he hoped this is not the case, he is prepared to accept the reality – like many of his countrymen, he may never be able to return to his homeland, to which he remains deeply attached.

The attempt by the west to separate themselves from Russian gas and oil in an effort to keep the country from being able to pursue this war is not quite as crazy as it seems. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, told the G20 on Tuesday that they have understood and learned that dependency was unsustainable.

Putin wanted this to drive wedges into the Western alliance and his dream is proved to be false. On Monday, word began circulating in aerospace circles that the long-stalled joint French-German project for a next-generation jet fighter at the heart of the Future Combat Air System – Europe’s largest weapons program – was beginning to move forward.

The Ukrainian request for cluster munitions, which was described to CNN by several US and Ukrainian officials, is one of the most controversial requests the Ukrainians have made to the US since the war began.

Senior Biden administration officials have been fielding this request for months and have not rejected it outright, CNN has learned, a detail that has not been previously reported.

The design of cluster munitions can cause them to scatter across large areas, making them less likely to explode on impact and posing a risk to anyone who comes in contact with them. They also create “nasty, bloody fragmentation” to anyone hit by them because of the dozens of submunitions that detonate at once across a large area, Mark Hiznay, a weapons expert and the associate arms director for Human Rights Watch, previously told CNN.

The Biden administration has not taken the option off the table as a last resort, if stockpiles begin to run dangerously low. But sources say the proposal has not yet received significant consideration in large part due to the statutory restrictions that Congress has put on the US’ ability to transfer cluster munitions.

Those restrictions apply to munitions with a greater than one percent unexploded ordnance rate, which raises the prospect that they will pose a risk to civilians. President Joe Biden could override that restriction, but the administration has indicated to the Ukrainians that that is unlikely in the near term.

“The ability of Ukraine to make gains in current and upcoming phases of conflict is in no way dependent on or linked to their procuring said munitions,” a congressional aide told CNN.

The Defense Ministry doesn’t comment on requests for particular weapons systems or bullets as long as there is an agreement with the supplier, CNN was told.

The M30A1 alternate warhead replaced the dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, known as the DPICMs. The M 30A1 contains 180,000 small pieces of steel that are dispersed on impact, preventing unexploded bombs from hitting the ground. Ukrainian officials, however, say that the DPICMs the US now has in storage could help the Ukrainian military enormously on the battlefield – more so than the M30A1.

Nuclear Weapons Comments on Russia’s Battlefields: “We Know What Nuclear Power is” Putin explains in televised meetings with the Human Rights Council

After acknowledging that his military operation in Ukraine is taking longer than expected, Putin said that his country’s nuclear weapons were making a deterrent effect on the conflict.

Speaking in a televised meeting with members of his Human Rights Council, Putin described the land gains as “a significant result for Russia,” noting that the Sea of Azov has become Russia’s internal sea. He mentioned that Peter the Great fought to get access to the water in one of his references to a Russian leader.

It will not be the second time that it is used if there is a nuclear strike on our territory.

The Nuclear Weapons comments made by Putin were a factor of deterrence and not a factor of saber-rattling.

We have not gone mad. “We know what nuclear weapons are,” Putin said. He said they are more advanced and state-of-the-art than other nuclear power has.

In his televised remarks, the Russian leader didn’t address Russia’s battlefield setbacks or its attempts to cement control over the seized regions but acknowledged problems with supplies, treatment of wounded soldiers and limited desertions.

In the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, the governor posted photos of new concrete anti-tank barriers — known as “dragon’s teeth” — in open fields. The governor said that there was a fire at the airport in the region after the drone strike. In neighboring Belgorod, workers were expanding anti-tank barriers and officials were organizing “self-defense units.” The governor of Belgorod stated on Wednesday that Russia’s air defenses have shot down incoming rockets, apparently from cross-border attacks.

Moscow responded with strikes by artillery, multiple rocket launchers, missiles, tanks and mortars at residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, worsening damage to the power grid. The private Ukrainian power utility Ukrenergo said temperatures had dropped to as low as minus 17 degrees Celsius in Eastern Areas where it was making repairs.

He started by blaming the Ukrainians for a number of events, such as who hit the bridge. Who blew the power lines up?

The reference to Kursk appears to reference Russia’s announcement that an airfield in the Kursk region, which neighbors Ukraine, was targeted in a drone attack. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has offered no comment on recent explosions, including in Kursk, which are deep within Russia. The country has declared that its drones are beyond the reach of the targets.

He claimed that people don’t mention that water has been cut off from the city. “No one has said a word about it anywhere. At all! Complete silence.”

Local Russian authorities in Donetsk — which Putin claimed to annex in defiance of international law — have reported frequent shelling of the city this week.

President Vladimir Putin made rare public comments specifically addressing the Russian military’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Thursday, while clutching a glass of champagne at a Kremlin reception.

Last week Putin appeared on the Kerch Bridge, where he was shown repairs and drove a car across the structure that he himself officially opened in 2018.

In his Kremlin appearance Thursday, he continued to say: “Who is not supplying water to Donetsk? It is an act of genocide not to supply water to a million people.

A grim cycle in Ukraine: air defense attacks on the southern port city of Odesa and their consequences for power systems and infrastructure – Ukranian president Vlasov

He concluded his speech with a toast to the soldiers and a drink from his champagne glass.

“The pace of restoration [to household consumers] is slowed down by difficult weather conditions,” it said, with the damage “made worse by the freezing and rupture of wires in distribution networks.”

The Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov said there had been several explosions, including at the Melitopol Christian Church, “which the occupiers seized several months ago and turned into their hideout.”

There were dead and wounded when the barracks of the Russian military in Sovietske burned after an explosion, according to the unofficial media portal.

Sergey Aksenov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, said on Telegram: “The air defense system worked over Simferopol. All services are working as usual.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that Russian drone strikes on the southern port city of Odesa left more than 1.5 million people in that region without power Saturday night, the latest attacks in an ongoing series of assaults on Ukrainian energy infrastructure by the Kremlin.

“In general, both emergency and stabilization power outages continue in various regions,” Zelensky said. “The power system is now, to put it mildly, very far from a normal state.”

“This is the true attitude of Russia towards Odesa, towards Odesa residents – deliberate bullying, deliberate attempt to bring disaster to the city,” Zelensky added.

The enemy wanted to scatter the attention of air defense, said a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force. The top military chief in the country said 60 missiles were downed by the air defense forces.

The repeated assaults on the plants and equipment that Ukrainians rely on for heat and light have drawn condemnation from world leaders, and thrust Ukraine into a grim cycle in which crews hurry to restore power only to have it knocked out again.

He urged people to reduce their power use because there is an acute shortage of power in the system.

“There are attacks on civilian infrastructure in different regions of our country. There are damaged buildings, a shop and a place for festivals. He stated that there are dead and injured.

The Russian Orthodox Church in the Donbass: French Prime Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Store

Ukrainian authorities have been stepping up raids on churches accused of links with Moscow, and many are watching to see if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy follows through on his threat of a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosts European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store for a working dinner Monday in Paris.

On Tuesday, France is set to co-HOST a conference with Ukraine that will feature a video address by the Ukrainian President.

New measures targeting Russian oil revenue took effect Dec. 5. A price cap and an embargo on Russian oil imports are included in the report.

Zelenskyy said that the city of Bakhmut was burned to the ground by Russian forces. Fighting has been fierce there as Russia attempts to advance in the city in the eastern Donbas region.

2022: A Year of Firsts in the United States and the Crimes against Crime, and a High-Scale Black-Female Shot at a Dallas Elementary School

the world saw an enormous amount of news events in the year 2022. It was a year that evoked disbelief and despair as it captured significant and surprising moments. Yet some days offered joy and pride. The stories of the year include the war in Ukraine, the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, and the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The year started, calmly, as the world slowly began to come out of a long, drawn-out pandemic hibernation. However, consistent with the brittleness of these modern times, a full-blown war erupted in Ukraine in February as Russia invaded the country, ending and upending the lives of many, including civilians and children. Photographer Evgeniy Maloletka captured one of the most vivid pictures of the war for the Associated Press, showing a photo of an ashen-face pregnant woman, holding her lower abdomen, being carried on a stretcher moments after a bomb was launched at a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. The woman and baby were dead a few days later. This image has come to symbolize one of many Russian atrocities in the war in Ukraine. The attack on March 9, just 13 days after the war started, was one of the most brutal days of the conflict that continues to this day. In June, the United States once again witnessed a school shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas. Photographer Pete Luna of the Uvalde Leader-News photographed the chaotic scene outside the school as young elementary students ran for safety while the gunman was still inside. On September 8, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II passed away, sending shock waves around the world. The monarch has worked with a number of British prime ministers. She died two days after inviting Truss to form a new government. The funeral for the Queen drew tens of thousands of people, who paid final respects to a ruler who reigned for 70 years. This was also a year of firsts. The United States saw the confirmation of the country’s first Black woman Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. During the Winter Olympics, Jackson became the first black woman to win a speedskating medal. The women were the first all-female refereeing crew in a men’s World Cup. The Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision guaranteeing the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States. The court’s decision this year triggered protests by abortion-rights activists and celebrations in the streets by anti-abortion groups, further ideologically separating an already divided country. In November, Americans went to the polls, producing election results that defied polling expectations. The Earth continued to warm up, melting and separating glaciers while the Northern Hemisphere dealt with a historic Drought that scorched soil, dried up rivers and caused mass crop failure. Far above the Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope captured magnificent images of space in great, crisp detail. On the other end of the news spectrum was the bizarre moment at this year’s Academy Awards when Will Smith brazenly slapped Chris Rock in the middle of the show, irked by what the comedian said about his wife. The moment was witnessed live on television by millions around the globe. This summer, many sports fans rooted for Aaron Judge as he broke fellow Yankee Roger Maris’ American League home run record in a single season, a remarkable feat. snapshots of daily life reminding the world of the beautiful, quiet and sometimes funny moments in and out of people’s lives were interwoven with these big news events. And behind all the top photos this year is the hard work of photojournalists. Many of them continue to document wars and conflicts, away from the safety of their homes. It is thanks to their perseverance and dedication that these images come to light, offering a window to the world and helping us understand it through photography. This is CNN Digital’s “2022: The year in pictures.

A senior administration official, as well as two US officials, have said that the Biden administration will send the most advanced ground-based air defense system in the US to Ukranian. The Ukrainian government requested the system to help it defend against Russian missiles and drones. It would be the most effective long-range defensive weapons system sent to the country and officials say it will help secure airspace for members of the North Atlantic Treaty and America (NATO) in eastern Europe.

The officials said that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III could give the go-ahead to transfer one of the batteries to Ukraine as early as this week. Final approval would then rest with President Biden.

White House, Pentagon and State Department officials declined to comment on details of the transfer of a shield which would amount to one of the most sophisticated weapons the U.S. has provided.

Many questions remain about the potential transfer, which was reported earlier by CNN, including how long it would take to train Ukrainian soldiers on the system, presumably in Germany, and where the Patriots would be deployed inside Ukraine.

In a speech to the Group of 7 nations on Monday, Mr. Zelensky thanked the countries for their continued support but listed financing for weapons first among his requests.

Kiev’s most massive strike since 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine, triggered by a Russian-installed official and the energy security project

If you have an uncrewed Iranian Shahed system heading towards critical infrastructure inUkraine, it’s worth the costs of a patriot missile to take it out,” he said. The move makes sense as Russia is attacking Ukrainian critical infrastructure.

Ukrainian forces have unleashed the biggest attack on the occupied Donetsk region since 2014, according to a Russia-installed official, in the wake of heavy fighting in the east of the country.

“At exactly 7 a.m. the (Ukrainians) subjected the center of Donetsk (city) to the most massive strike since 2014,” the Moscow-appointed mayor, Aleksey Kulemzin, posted on Telegram.

He said a key in the city center had come under fire, after forty rockets were fired at civilians in the city.

The city was hit 86 times with “artillery, MLRS, tanks, mortars and UAVs,” in the past 24 hours, according to the regional head of the Kherson military administration.

The volunteer member of the rapid response team was one of the victims. They were killed by fragments of enemy shells when they were on the street.

The strikes in Kherson left the city “completely disconnected” from power supplies, according to the regional head of the Kherson military administration, Yanushevych.

Meanwhile, further west Kyiv received machinery and generators from the United States to help strengthen the Ukrainian capital’s power infrastructure amid the widespread energy deficits.

Four excavators and over 130 generators were delivered by the Energy Security Project. The equipment was free of charge.

On the Russian deployment of a ballistic missile into a silo launcher: a challenge to Zelensky’s three-step proposal

Zelensky’s three-step proposal was dismissed by the Kremlin as unrealistic, saying the Ukrainian side needs to take into account realities that have developed over all this time.

Many experts outside Russia questioned the rationality of such a step, which could lead to an escalation of the conflict and possibly cause the US army to be dragged into combat.

The country’s ability to protect itself from Russian attacks has been called into question because of the expensive and complicated system that requires multiple people to operate, but could allow the country to more effectively defend itself against those attacks.

“I find it ironic and very telling that officials from a country that brutally attacked its neighbor in an illegal and unprovoked invasion … that they would choose to use words like provocative to describe defensive systems that are meant to save lives and protect civilians,” Ryder told reporters.

In what may be a no less subtle message than calling the Patriot deployments provocative, Russia’s defense ministry shared video of the installation of a “Yars” intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo launcher in the Kaluga region for what Alexei Sokolov, commander of the Kozelsky missile formation, called “combat duty as planned.”

Appearing this week on Russian state TV, Commander Alexander Khodakovsky of the Russian militia in the Donetsk region suggested Russia could not defeat the NATO alliance in a conventional war.

It requires a large number of people to be trained, according to CNN’s Barbara Starr and Oren Liebermann, who were the first to report the US was close to sending the system to Ukraine.

The question of manpower was perhaps the biggest obstacle. About 90 positions are typically assigned to operate one missile battery. And the training needed is substantial; course lengths range from 13 weeks for a launching station operator to 53 weeks for a maintenance role, according to Army recruitment materials.

The Russian War with Ukraine: A View from the Trenches and Fortifications along the Ukraine-Bulgaria Border in the Light of Viatrovych’s Visit to Ukraine

In an interview with The Economist published Thursday, Zelensky also rejected the idea recently suggested by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Ukraine seek to reclaim only land seized by Russia since February 2022 and not areas like Donbas and Crimea, which have been under Russian control since 2014.

Valeriy Chaly, Ukraine’s former ambassador to the United States, said the region would be more stable if Ukraine wins the war and joins NATO. This is what Ukraine’s government wants, though joining the alliance is highly unlikely in the near term.

Old gun. A military official from the US told CNN earlier this week that Russian forces have had to use 40-year-old gunpowder because their supplies of new ones are running out.

“You load the ammunition and you cross your fingers and hope it’s gonna fire or when it lands that it’s gonna explode,” said the official, speaking to reporters.

In the trenches. CNN’s Will Ripley filed a video report from trenches and fortifications being built along Ukraine’s border with Belarus, where there is growing concern about Russia once again assembling troops. Ripley talks to a sewing machine repairman turned tank driver.

Russia began to expand its empire with Ukraine. In the mind of many Russians, their empire cannot exist without Ukraine. That’s why they keep coming back,” said Volodymyr Viatrovych, a member of Ukraine’s parliament and a prominent historian.

He then drove to Kyiv for an emergency session of parliament, which declared martial law. He got the rifle by 2 pm to join the security forces.

The war is still playing out despite it being a high drama day. But as an historian, Viatrovych also sees the actions of President Vladimir Putin as part of a pattern of behavior by Russian leaders.

Ukraine’s House of Teachers — Is it Still a World? “It’s Time For Russia to Go,” says Ukrainen Prime Minister Mikhail Kasparov

In 1918, the independence of Ukraine was declared in an elegant white building in the center of the city and now serves as the offices for the Kyiv House of Teachers.

The windows were blown out and parts of the glass ceiling were knocked over when the independence was declared in 1918. The windows are boarded up. Shards of glass still cover the floor.

“There are, of course, parallels to a century ago,” said Steshuk Oleh, the director of the House of Teachers. The building was damaged in the fighting. It has been damaged again. Don’t worry. Everything will be rebuilt.

This is the time when all the wrongs of the last hundred years need to be fixed, he said, because of the hardship that Ukraine experienced in the 20th century.

In December 1991, the Ukrainians held a referendum on independence. Ninety-two percent voted in favor of going their own way. The Soviet Union collapsed.

Putin has said before that Russia can be the guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Because “if he’s losing a war, especially a war of his own making, he doesn’t survive,” he said. “The outcome may signal the end, not just of Putin’s era, but the era of the empire. It’s the 21st century. It’s time for empires to go.”

In his 15 years in Russia, Kasparov challenged Putin’s hold on power. When it became clear his safety was at risk, he left Russia, and now lives in New York.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/16/1142176312/ukraine-ongoing-fight-to-free-itself-from-russia

Russian air attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and power plants in the Ukraine “emergency mode”, said Ukrenergo and Dnipropetrovsk

The war isn’t likely to produce a clear resolution on the battlefield, according to many military analysts. They say it’s likely to require negotiations and compromises.

Being in a buffer zone or gray zone is not good from a political point of view. Everybody wants to make a step if you are a gray zone between two security blocs. This has happened with Ukraine.”

Ukrainian energy operator Ukrenergo reported on Friday that more than 50% of the country’s energy capacity was lost due to Russian strikes on thermal and hydroelectric power plants and substations, activating “emergency mode.”

The missile was also destroyed in the Dnipropetrovsk region. He said that energy infrastructure in the region was being targeted.

Oleksandr Starukh, the military administration’s chief, stated that the southeastern region had been hit by more than a dozen missile strikes.

The Dec. 5 attacks were carried out using a Soviet-era, jet-powered surveillance drone, modified to function as an offensive weapon, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials, shortly after a state-owned Ukrainian contractor said it had developed an attack drone with a range of over 600 miles — more than enough to reach Moscow.

The air attacks on Friday in Ukraine were witnessed by an aircraft capable of carrying a Kinzal hypersonic missile, as well as an other supersonic aircraft. It is not known whether a Kinzal was used in the attacks.

“We know that their defense industrial base is being taxed,” Kirby said of Russia. They are having trouble keeping up with that pace. Russian President Vladimir Putin has a hard time getting the right amount of precision guided munitions.

Zelensky: From the epoch of world warfare to the end of the Cold War: The story of an extraordinary man

In Paris at the time, I witnessed how Zelensky pulled up to the Élysée Palace in a modest Renault, while Putin motored in with an ostentatious armored limousine. The host, the President of France, did not hug Putin but simply shook hands with Zelensky.

The entire day was geared to three audiences – the American people and its leaders, the Ukrainian people and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky’s message resonated loudly to all of them: From the moment he landed in the US, dressed in his trademark olive green clothes, to the warm welcome he received in the White House from President Joe Biden, to the rapturous reception in the Congress, a place where few foreign leaders receive the honor of speaking to a joint meeting of the two chambers.

Zelensky has been described as ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances in a book by the Economist’s Eastern European editor.

The leader of the US when Russia launched a full scale invasion quipped, “I need bullets, not a ride.”

It is easy to forget that Zelensky used his political skills earlier in his career to stand up to US President Donald Trump in the quid pro quo scandal.

It has been awhile since Zelensky thanked his supporters in a celebration in a Ukrainian nightclub, where the fog of war has made it seem a long, long way. Standing on stage among the fluttering confetti, he looked in a state of disbelief at having defeated incumbent veteran politician Petro Poroshenko.

The war appears to have turned his ratings around. Zelensky’s ratings approval rose to 90 in just a few days after the invasion, and remain high today. Zelensky was seen as more competent in handling international affairs by Americans than US President Joe Biden.

His bubble includes many people from his previous professional life as a TV comedian in the theatrical group Kvartal 95. Even in the midst of the war, a press conference held on the platform of a Kyiv metro station in April featured perfect lighting and curated camera angles to emphasize a wartime setting.

As for his skills as comforter in chief, I remember well the solace his nightly televised addresses brought in the midst of air raid sirens and explosions in Lviv.

Zelensky’s international influence in the light of recent geopolitical developments: a tribute to the late Vladimir Putin and the G7 crisis

Zelensky is projecting confidence and competence in a modern way, to a younger, global audience that remembers it as such, by wearing T-shirts and hoodies.

“He is probably more comfortable than Putin on camera, too, both as an actor and as a digital native,” she added. “I believe both of them want to come across as relatable, not aloof or untouchable, although Zelensky is definitely doing a better job balancing authority with accessibility.”

Zelenska has shown herself to be a good communicators when going towards where her husband is not able to. She met King Charles during a visit to the refugee assistance center at the Holy Family Cathedral in London. Zelenska was not on the cover of Time magazine, but a reference was given to her in the supporting text.

Despite the strong tailwinds at Zelensky’s back, there are subtle signs that his international influence could be dwindling. For example, last week, in what analysts called a pivotal moment in geopolitics, the G7 imposed a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian crude – despite pleas from Zelensky that it should have been set at $30 in order to inflict more pain on the Kremlin.

As Zelensky said in a recent nightly video address: “No matter what the aggressor intends to do, when the world is truly united, it is then the world, not the aggressor, determines how events develop.”

An official announcement is expected on the European Union capping natural gas prices in an effort to deal with an energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Rishi Sunak, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the U.S. Military Force in the Commons Liaison Committee: A 10-day Wartime Visit to the US

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak makes his first appearance as prime minister before the Commons Liaison Committee, where the Ukraine war and other global issues are discussed. That follows Sunak’s meeting on Monday in Latvia with members of a U.K.-led European military force.

Russian news reports said that the Russian and Chinese presidents will speak via video chat sometime this month.

The schism between Moscow and Kyiv grew last year after the invasion of Russia, when Ukrainians sought to establish an independent Orthodox Church. In October, a branch of Ukraine’s Orthodox church announced it would allow its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25, rather than January 7.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Dec. 13 it made an agreement with Ukraine’s government to send nuclear safety and security experts to each of the country’s nuclear power plants.

An American was freed from Russian-controlled territory as part of a 65-person prisoner exchange. Suedi Murekezi tells ABC News he spent several weeks in a basement and months in prison in eastern Ukraine.

For now, concern among Biden administration officials about the possibility of shrinking aid is somewhat tempered by the $45 billion in Ukraine assistance that Congress approved as part of its massive spending bill at the end of last year.

He got them ten months later. The 10 day sprint by the US and Ukrainians to arrange a risky wartime visit for Zelensky ended with his arrival Wednesday in Washington.

Zelensky, the official said, was very keen to visit the US and determined the parameters that would meet his needs, and the US would execute them. The trip was finally confirmed on Sunday.

The announcement was made on a day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington, D.C. — his first trip outside of Ukraine since the war began — to plead for additional air defense capabilities as Russian strikes have repeatedly disrupted power and water supply across his country.

His visit is happening amidst extraordinary security. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t even confirm the early reports that she’d welcome Zelensky to the US Capitol in an unexpected coda to her speakership, saying on Tuesday evening, “We don’t know yet. We just don’t know.”

Zelensky and the American War on Ukraine: The Importance of Using Anonymous Sources to Drive the Reformulation of the Crimes in the 21st Century

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know what’s going on? What motivates them to tell us? They have proved reliable in the past. Will we be able to corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source.

When Zelensky arrives in Washington, he might well experience the same revelation that Churchill did over the capital’s blazing lights at Christmas after months in the dark of air raid blackouts back home.

The decision on Patriots, which would satisfy a long-standing Ukrainian request, reflects a US process of matching its aid to the shifting strategy of Russia’s assault. With the system, the government could counter the missile attacks on the cities and electricity installations that Russia has been placing in order to break the will of the Ukrainian people.

The former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, says that Zelensky’s trip is a key moment in the war between Russia and the Ukrainians, when upgraded US support could determine the fate of the war.

It is clear to Zelensky, and also to Biden, that this is the right time to re-engage the US public as Russia’s war drags on with no sign of an end in sight.

His visit to Congress will also play into an increasingly important debate on Capitol Hill over Ukraine aid with Republicans set to take over the House majority in the new year. Billions of dollars given toUkraine by the US should be shoring up the US southern border instead, according to some pro-DonaldTrump members who have leverage in the thin GOP majority.

Zelensky had an invocation of Mount Rushmore and a speech written by Martin Luther King Jr. during a virtual address to Congress in March. He also referred to two days of infamy in modern history when Americans directly experienced the fear of aerial bombardment.

The US President of the British Empire, John Zelensky (R-Russia), and the War on World War II: a terrible example for the West

The president of the US met the leader of the British empire at the capitol on December 22, 1941 after he sailed from Britain aboard the ship, avoiding U-boats in the ocean.

Over days of brainstorming and meetings – fueled by Churchill’s regime of sherry with breakfast, Scotch and sodas for lunch, champagne in the evening and a tipple of 90-year-old brandy before bed – the two leaders plotted the defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan and laid the foundation of the Western alliance that Biden has reinvigorated in his support for Ukraine.

During his visit to the US, which took place on the 69th anniversary of the start of World War II, he said that he had pined for US involvement for months and knew it was the key to defeating Hitler.

The leader of the country is likely to enjoy the historical parallels. He paraphrased one of Churchill’s most famous wartime speeches in an emotional address to British members of parliament in March.

Of course, Russia and its backers around the world will present this as a massive and dangerous escalation. That’s nonsense, but it’s highly effective nonsense.

In doing so, the West has played along with the Kremlin’s pretense that it is not at war, only waging a “special military operation.” In effect, it has protected Russia from the consequences of its own aggression.

Moscow is struggling to build its conventional forces and is running out of new cards to play. It’s less likely that nuclear force will be used as China and India have joined the West in statements against it.

That sets a terrible example for other aggressive powers. Nuclear weapons allows you to wage wars of destruction against your neighbors, because other nations won’t intervene.

Zelensky said we need modern tanks, missiles, and fighter jets. He added that we needed to enhance the dynamic of our cooperation and act faster than the other side.

More precision weapons are vital: they ensure Ukraine hits its targets, and not any civilians remaining nearby. It means that if Russia bombards its areas, it doesn’t fire hundreds or thousands of shells into the air.

The Challenge of Resolving the Ukraine’s Arms: The U.S. Army’s Cold War with Ukraine and the Problem of Getting It Over

This is difficult. Kevin McCarthy, the likely new Speaker of the Congress, warned the Biden administration that they cannot expect a “blank cheque” from the new House of Representatives.

The remnants of the Trumpist ‘America First’ elements of the party have doubts about how much assistance the US should offer to the edges of eastern Europe.

With a trillion-dollar annual defense budget, the bill for the slow defeat of Russia in this conflict is relatively light for Washington.

It will be a good idea to defend a single city like Kyiv against threats. Mark Cancian is a retired marine Corps colonel and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Just this week, the Biden administration announced the US was considering dispatching Bradley armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron also announced he would be sending light tanks, though Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was urging the dispatch of heavier battle tanks. All of which puts German Chancellor Olaf Scholz under increasing pressure to add its powerful Leopard 2 tanks to the mix.

The training requirements make it likely that the system won’t be up and running until late winter or early spring.

The push to get the system up and running as soon as possible could backfire, Cancian said: Ineffective operation caused by hasty training could hamper the system’s effectiveness; in a worst case scenario, Ukrainians might be unable to prevent Russians from destroying it. That in turn could damage the political will to send future assistance to Ukraine, he said.

There is no problem if the Ukrainians have a year or two to learn the system. The problem is they don’t have a year or two. They would like to do this in a couple weeks.

An extraordinary night in the life of Ukrainian air defenses: Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the White House with GRAD, US Navy, and Marine Corps

The new aid package includes tens of thousands of GRAD rockets and tank ammunition, which was announced Wednesday.

Kelly Greico thinks the announcement is a sign that there is a real deep concern among US officials about Ukrainian air defense capability.

At $4 million apiece, the PAC-3 missiles that accompany the Patriot are much more expensive than Stingers or the missiles launched by HIMARS. Ukrainians need to be careful about how they use them, analysts said. Cancian said you can’t just let the things fly.

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, Valery Zaluzhny, reported that his air defenses protected his country from 12 attacks in a single day. The total number of incoming attacks was unclear.

Greico said that it was a terrible choice to face, between the desire to protect civilians from these brutal attacks and the need to maintain long-term military strength.

Members of the United States Congress, Republicans and Democrats, rose to their feet time and again Wednesday night, nearly drowning out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in one emotional standing ovation after another. It was an extraordinary evening, concluding an extraordinary day during a crucial moment in history.

“Your money is not charity,” he assured a Congress about to debate billions more in military and economic support, where skeptical Republicans will soon have more influence. It is an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in a responsible way.

“We really fight for our common victory against this tyranny that is real life,” Zelensky said in a press conference at the White House — “and we will win.”

The soldiers fighting in the battle for Bakhmut asked that the flag of their country be given to Congress, he said. Tears were shed in the House.

Her comments came after Zelensky delivered a historic speech from the US Capitol, expressing gratitude for American aid in fighting Russian aggression since the war began – and asking for more.

He said it was “important for the American people, and for the world, to hear directly from you, Mr. President, about Ukraine’s fight, and the need to continue to stand together through 2023.”

Clinton, who previously met Russian President Vladimir Putin as US secretary of state, said the leader was “probably impossible to actually predict,” as the war turns in Ukraine’s favor and his popularity fades at home.

“I think around now, what [Putin] is considering is how to throw more bodies, and that’s what they will be – bodies of Russian conscripts – into the fight in Ukraine,” Clinton said.

Zelensky told congress that the war was not close: a speech to lawmakers about the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War

Zelensky wore a green sweatshirt with a Ukrainian battle flag on the House floor, and his tie had blue and yellow stripes.

Both men said that they saw the war entering a new phase. Fears are growing of a stalemate, as Russia puts more troops on the frontline and wages a brutal air campaign against civilians.

But on Wednesday, Zelensky used bellicose rhetoric that suggested such a peace was not close, saying the road to ending the war would not involve making concessions to Russia.

“For me as a president, ‘just peace’ is no compromises,” he said, indicating he doesn’t see any road to peace that involves Ukraine giving up territory or sovereignty.

Later, in his address to Congress, Zelensky said he’d presented a 10-point peace formula to Biden – though US officials said afterward it was the same plan he offered to world leaders at the Group of 20 summit last month.

Biden said that it was up to Zelensky to decide how he wanted the war to end.

The Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War is one of the more well-known battles of American history, as Zelensky pointed out in his address to lawmakers.

He delivered his address in English, a purposeful choice he telegraphed ahead of the speech. His outfit, including a green shirt, cargo pants, and boots, seemed to remind the audience that he was the wartime leader.

Zelensky’s frustrations with the Russian government: How much help is needed for a country that is going through a crisis?

Over the course of the conflict, Zelensky has demonstrated an acute ability to appeal to his audience, be they national legislatures or the audience of the Grammys.

On Wednesday, he sought to harness Americans’ emotional response to his country’s suffering, evoking dark winter nights as Russia seeks to interrupt Ukraine’s power supply.

He thought that Ukrainians will be celebrating Christmas by candle because there will be no electricity. Russia has destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure and electrical grid.

But he also seemed aware that many Americans – including some Republicans in Congress – have wondered aloud why billions of US dollars are needed for a conflict thousands of miles away. He sought to make the cause about more than his own homeland.

Yet it doesn’t take much to see tensions just beneath the surface. Zelensky has continually pressed for additional US assistance despite the tens of billions of dollars in military assistance that Biden has directed to his country.

It hasn’t always been well with Biden or his team. Biden had appeared intent on moving from physical proximity into a better understanding of his counterpart, as he has with a number of other foreign leaders.

“It is all about looking someone in the eye. I’m sorry, I mean it very sincerely. He said that there is no substitute for looking at someone in the eye while sitting down face to face.

The War of the Bulge: Victory in the War for the World to Come and Live in the Cold. Revisiting Zelensky in Ukraine

Fresh from a trip to the bloody front lines in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky strode onto the ornate US House floor on Wednesday evening in his signature green military wear to shore up his supply line.

Zelensky used confident English to proclaim victory as he embraced the look of a warrior and said that Russia had been defeated in the battle for minds of the world.

Although he did not mention the elephant in the room, the speech was a clear plea to Republican lawmakers, who will control the House in January, to stay with Ukraine.

His remarks came as Congress had been planning to vote this week on a year-long spending bill that includes roughly $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies.

Wednesday was perhaps the last possible day Zelensky could have addressed a joint meeting of Congress before Republicans, some of whom are slowly growing tired with the largesse of America’s support for his country, take control of the House next month. The US has provided more than $21 billion in defense assistance in less than a year. That includes $1.8 billion in a new weapons deal announced when Zelensky met President Joe Biden at the White House earlier Wednesday.

He returned to US military history Wednesday, referring to the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, when US troops were surrounded in the snow after gaining a foothold in Europe on D-Day.

The strategic communications directorate of the chief commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ukraine said on Telegram that they would like to give a greeting and congratulate the rebels and conscripts who were brought to the occupied Makiivka. “Santa packed around 400 corpses of [Russian soldiers] in bags.”

Zelensky’s visit to Ukraine is a challenge for the U.S. and for Ukraine, according to CNN’s Anderson Cooper

He knows that the American people are in this together and he points out that they will do the fighting for us. That is what he said, according to CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

An address to Congress is the ultimate platform for a foreign president in the US and maybe around the world. It is similar to the annual year-end press conference that was canceled by Putin.

Petraeus added it was substantive because of the new money pledged to Ukraine both at the White House and in a larger $1.7 trillion spending bill lawmakers need to pass before Friday.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who wants to be House speaker and needs votes from Ukraine-skeptical Republicans to get there next month, did meet with Zelensky and the other three top congressional leaders.

Indiana GOP lawmaker Victoria Spartz, the only Ukrainian-born member of Congress, is skeptical about some of the aid to Ukraine and the Zelensky administration.

After President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, Moscow said that the war in Ukraine would last 10 months.

US President Joe Biden promised more military support to Ukraine when he met with Zelensky at the White House on Wednesday, after Russia criticized what it called the “monstrous crimes” of the regime in Kyiv.

Maria Zakharova said that no matter how much military support the West gives to the Ukrainian government, it won’t achieve anything.

“As the leadership of our country has stated, the tasks set within the framework of the special military operation will be fulfilled, taking into account the situation on the ground and the actual realities,” Zakharova added, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He said there was no call for peace or a willingness to listen to Russia’s concerns during Zelenskyy’s visit, which shows that the U.S. is fighting a proxy war with Russia.

The Russians are mostly buying that line and it’s also been sold by the Kremlin, according to a Russian history professor.

Dismissing accusations of a proxy war, Sloat says Zelenskyy and Ukraine have made clear that they want a “just peace,” and all the U.S. has been doing is help the country defend itself against Russian aggression.

Following Danilov’s comments, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Wednesday that there a signs Russia is preparing for a renewed offensive in southern Ukraine.

The conflict in Ukraine was referred to as a “war” by Putin on Thursday when he said it was a “special military operation”.

After attending a State Council meeting on youth policy, Putin said his goal is not to spin the military conflict, but to end it. We will continue to strive for this.

Nikita Yuferev, a municipal lawmaker from St. Petersburg who fled Russia due to his antiwar stance, on Thursday said he had asked Russian authorities to prosecute Putin for “spreading fake information about the army.”

“There was no decree to end the special military operation, no war was declared,” Yuferev wrote on Twitter. “Several thousand people have already been condemned for such words about the war.”

According to CNN, a US official said that Putin’s comment was likely a slip of the tongue. A lot of attention will be given to what the Kremlin says in the coming days.

“We never refused, it was the Ukrainian leadership that refused itself to conduct negotiations … sooner or later any party to the conflict will sit down and negotiate and the sooner those opposing us realize it, the better,” he said.

A Ukrainian President to Have Faith and Pity in the Light of World War II: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Bitter

The Kremlin would make a lot of investment in the military said Putin and Shoigu. The initiatives include increasing the size of the armed forces, accelerating weapons programs and deploying a new generation of hypersonic missiles to prepare Russia for what Putin called “inevitable clashes” with its adversaries.

President Zelensky urged Ukrainians to have faith andpatience during a Christmas address after a round of Russian strikes left Kherson in ruins.

He urged the nation to stand firm in the face of a grim winter of energy blackouts, the absence of loved ones and the ever-present threat of Russian attacks.

“There may be empty chairs around it. Our houses can’t be so bright. And Christmas bells can ring not so loudly and inspiringly. It could be through air raid sirens, gunshots and explosions.

He told the Ukrainian people that even if communication service and internet services were down, they would still hear their relatives and friends singing Christmas carols louder than a power generator.

We will hug each other tightly even in total darkness. And if there is no heat, we will give a big hug to warm each other.”

Zelensky said, “We will celebrate our holidays!” As always. We will smile and be happy. As always. The difference is only one. We won’t wait for a miracle. After all, we create it ourselves.”

For much of the Western world, Christmas is celebrated on December 25, according to the Gregorian calendar. Orthodox Christians only observe the festival on January 7th, not the other way around.

The attack of a Ukrainian drone in Engels, Russia, on December 5, 2005: “It’s not a war,” said Roman Busargin

“These are not military facilities,” he wrote on Telegram Saturday. According to the rules, this isn’t a war. It’s killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure.

State news agencies report that three Russian servicemen were killed when a Ukrainian drone was shot down by air defenses as it approached a military airfield.

Roman Busargin said on Monday that law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident at the airfield. He made a comment on his Telegram channel after he heard about an explosion in the city.

There were no emergencies in the residential areas and no damage to the infrastructure. He also extended his condolences to the families of the servicemen, saying the government would provide them with assistance.

“This reminds of the events of December 5, so there may be some deja vu, some repetition of this situation, after which [the Russians] launched a massive missile strike,” the spokesperson said. It’s important for us to take it into account in our plans and not forget to go to the shelter.

Earlier this month, CCTV footage appeared to show an explosion lighting up the sky in Engels. Governor Busargin told residents that there had been no damage to civilians or military bases and that their information was being looked into by law enforcement.

“If the Russians thought that no one at home would be affected by the war, then they were deeply mistaken,” Colonel Ihnat said. The bomb attacks at Russian airfields made the bombing campaign more complicated, forcing Moscow to relocate some of its aircraft, though no one claims that the strikes have interfered with the Russian bombardment.

Since some cruise missiles are launched from bombers that fly from the airfields hit in the attacks, the strikes could potentially destroy the missiles on the ground at the Russian airfields before they can be deployed.

The man denied that he spoke for the government and couldn’t confirm the strikes, but said that he would not allow this person to attack him. There is absolutely no strategic reason not to try to do this.”

Russian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tells the Associated Press that peace negotiations need to face a war crimes tribunal first

The Kinzhal, a missile that can reach targets in minutes and is hard to shoot down, is in short supply.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told The Associated Press on Monday that Russia would not be invited to apeace summit unless it faced first. It was the latest in a string of claims by each country to be willing to hold peace talks but only on terms that are acceptable to the other.

But Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told The Associated Press that Russia could only be invited to such a summit if the country faced a war crimes tribunal first.

Kuleba also said he was satisfied with the outcome of Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. last week, and that the US had made a plan for the missile battery to be operational. The training can take up to a year.

Kuleba said during the interview that diplomacy always plays an important role in winning wars and will do everything it can to do that in 2023.

“The United Nations could be the best venue for holding this summit, because this is not about making a favor to a certain country,” he said. “This is really about bringing everyone on board.”

Kuleba said that the man had proven to be an efficient Mediator and an efficient Negotiating and as a man of principle and integrity. We would welcome his participation.

The Foreign Ministry of the United States is Preferential on the Future of the War with Russia, and Putin’s Implications for the United Nations

He said that they regularly claim that they are ready for negotiations and everything they do on the battlefield proves the opposite.

Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. was his first foreign trip since the war started on Feb. 24. Kuleba appreciated Washington’s efforts and highlighted the significance of the visit.

“This shows how both the United States are important for Ukraine, but also how Ukraine is important for the United States,” said Kuleba, who was part of the delegation to the U.S.

He said that the missile battery had a new program that would allow them to complete their training in less time than usual.

While Kuleba didn’t mention a specific time frame, he said only that it will be “very much less than six months.” He said that the training would be outside of Ukraine.

During Russia’s ground and air war in Ukraine, Kuleba has been second only to Zelenskyy in carrying Ukraine’s message and needs to an international audience, whether through Twitter posts or meetings with friendly foreign officials.

Russia should be excluded from the world body and stripped of its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Ukraine said on Monday. Kuleba said they have long “prepared for this step to uncover the fraud and deprive Russia of its status.”

Russian never took the seat of the USSR on the UN Security Council after the fall of the Soviet Union, according to the Foreign Ministry.

“Putin’s discussions of negotiations have focused on putative discussions with the West rather than with Ukraine, and reflect his continual accusations that Ukraine is merely a Western pawn with no real agency,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank wrote in its daily assessment of the war on Monday.

The conciliatory tone from Putin was quickly undermined by a heavy-handed message from one of his key officials.

The foreign minister of the Putin Administration said on Monday that Ukraine must fulfill Russia’s demands for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukrainian-controlled territories.

An economic adviser to President Zelensky told CNN on Tuesday that Putin’s comments were likely to buy time in the conflict.

If a deal were to happen, a reduction of military aid to Kyiv could happen. If Putin were to return from a costly war without significant territorial gains, his reputation at home would be severely harmed, which would probably be a face-saving exit route.

Zelensky and his officials have said throughout that they do not need to raise hopes of a truce in order to negotiate.

Kuleba told the AP on Monday that every war ends in a diplomatic way. The actions that were taken on the battlefield and at the negotiating table ended the war.

The steps include a path to nuclear safety, food security, and a final peace treaty with Moscow. He also urged G20 leaders to use all their power to “make Russia abandon nuclear threats” and implement a price cap on energy imported from Moscow.

Moscow can’t do that in Ukraine, but it is possible to do so in a very long and painful road to stability. A joint effort between Ukraine and the United States

A decisive swing on the battlefield in the New Year could change the course of things, but both parties are prepared for a long and grinding conflict.

The Defense Priorities think tank’s director, Rajan Menon, is speaking about Russia’s actions in the region and how it could have dire consequences if it is mishandled. It is an immense cost and an inconvenient thing to do. It’s an effort to create pain for the civilian population, to show that the government can’t protect them adequately.”

Several residential buildings in Kyiv were destroyed, according to the leader for disaster response in the Ukrainian president’s office.

An explosion near a playground rattled the windows of nearby homes. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko urged residents to charge their electronic devices and fill water containers in case of shortages.

In separate comments to Russian media Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted Moscow would continue to pursue its objectives in Ukraine with “perseverance” and “patience.”

Moscow intends to “intimidate, leave us in the dark for the new year, cause as much damage to civilian infrastructure as possible,” Shmyhal said on Telegram.

Russian Revolution After the Violations of the Fourth Amendment: A Tale of Three Shocks and Two Deaths During the First Battles of Ukraine

Hryn said that after the sirens went off, life in the capital went back to normal, and that he met his neighbors in the elevator to catch the new movie. Some people went to work despite the holiday plans of others, while others went to school.

On New Year’s Eve, cities should be covered in joy and hope. Ukrainian cities are again covered by missile wave from Russia,” Zelenska tweeted.

At least three people, including a 14-year-old, were injured and two people were pulled from a damaged home in the early hours of Thursday. Attacks on the capital injured homes, an industrial facility, and a playground.

At that time, Putin insisted his forces were embarking on a “special military operation” that would be over in a few weeks.

Yet the war has also fundamentally upended Russian life — rupturing a post-Soviet period in which the country pursued, if not always democratic reforms, then at least financial integration and dialogue with the West.

Draconian laws passed since February have outlawed criticism of the military or leadership. Nearly 20,000 people have been detained for demonstrating against the war — 45% of them women — according to a leading independent monitoring group.

Even Russia’s most revered human rights group, 2022’s Nobel Prize co-recipient Memorial, was forced to stop its activities over alleged violations of the foreign agents law.

The state has also vastly expanded Russia’s already restrictive anti-LGBT laws, arguing the war in Ukraine reflects a wider attack on “traditional values.”

For now, repressions remain targeted. Some of the new laws are still unenforced. But few doubt the measures are intended to crush wider dissent — should the moment arise.

Leading independent media outlets and a handful of vibrant, online investigative startups were forced to shut down or relocate abroad when confronted with new “fake news” laws that criminalized contradicting the official government line.

The internet users have restrictions as well. In March, American social media giants were banned. Roskomnadzor, the Kremlin’s internet regulator, has blocked more than 100,000 websites since the start of the conflict.

There are ways to access Russians who are seeking independent sources of information. Older Russians prefer the state media as it gives them a propaganda boost.

War against Ukraine has Left Russia Isolated and Sturggling with More Tumult ahedria: How Putin’s Cold War Has Left Russia, and Why Europe Hasn’t

Thousands of perceived government opponents left the war’s early days due to fears of persecution.

Some countries that have absorbed the Russian exodus predict their economy will grow even as Russians are still a sensitive issue for several former Soviet republics.

The ruble regained value because of Russian price controls. New names and Russian ownership led Mcdonald’s and other brands to re-launch. The government reported a 2.5% decline in the economy by the end of the year.

Ultimately, President Putin is betting that when it comes to sanctions, Europe will blink first — pulling back on its support to Ukraine as Europeans grow angry over soaring energy costs at home. He announced a five-month ban on oil exports to countries that abide by the price cap, a move likely to make the pain more acute in Europe.

When it comes to Russia’s military campaign, there’s no outward change in the government’s tone. Russia’s Defense Ministry provides daily briefings recounting endless successes on the ground. Putin, too, repeatedly assures that everything is “going according to plan.”

Yet the sheer length of the war — with no immediate Russian victory in sight — suggests Russia vastly underestimated Ukrainians’ willingness to resist.

Russian losses remain a highly taboo subject at home, even though they’re officially at just under 6,000 men. Western estimates place those figures at more or less the same.

NATO’s expansion toward Russia’s borders is being backfired by Russia’s invasion, as the alliance looks set to add long-neutral states Sweden and Finland.

Longtime allies in Central Asia have criticized Russia’s actions out of concern for their own sovereignty, an affront that would have been unthinkable in Soviet times. India and China have eagerly purchased discounted Russian oil, but have stopped short of full-throated support for Russia’s military campaign.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/1145981036/war-against-ukraine-has-left-russia-isolated-and-struggling-with-more-tumult-ahe

CNN’s Big Press Conference: Ten Years After the War and What We Don’t Have to Tell Us About The United States, Russia and its Allies

An annual December “big press conference” – a semi-staged affair that allows the Russian leader to handle fawning questions from mostly pro-Kremlin media – was similarly tabled until 2023.

There is no reason for the delays. It is possible the Russian leader has run out of good news to share after 10 months of war.

CNN has broadcasted news to the world for more than 40 years on TV and 25 years on digital platforms. According to Comscore, more than 165 million people from all over the world visited CNN Digital in the month of August.

The other stories among our top 10 most read, watched or listened to were the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, our election night streaming of CNN’s TV coverage of the midterms and our digital pages of up-to-the-second results from hundreds of races.

Early in the conflict, I wrote an analysis explaining the limits of what the US and its allies would and would not do in Ukraine. Russia accuses the west of going too far with those limits and they have been contentious for a long time.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade and its impact on women’s lives and US politics were a recurring top story, as were the numerous mass shootings and natural disasters.

Good Samaritans During the Last Days of World War II: The Scene of the Crimes in Kiev and the Russian Defense Ministry

The last weeks of the year brought new worries, especially in China, even as interest and fear waned. Pandemic developments know no borders according to history.

CNN has millions of viewers because of entertainment news. Stephen “tWitch” Boss, the amiable DJ for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” died of a heart attack. Good Samaritans made a difference in the lives of people they didn’t know.

Our internal data shows that every piece of the Top 100 Stories list this year received at least 3 million visits.

Thank you for being here with us through it all. We promise we will be here for you in 2023, for every breaking news story and for every piece of joy, delight and triumph.

Video reportedly from the scene of the attack circulated widely on Telegram, including on an official Ukrainian military channel. It shows a pile of smoking rubble, in which almost no part of the building appears to be standing.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also announced the return of 82 Russian prisoners of war following what it said were negotiations with “territories under the control of the Kyiv regime.”

Zelensky switched to speaking Russian in his nightly address on Saturday to send a message to the Kremlin and Russian citizens, as Moscow launched a series of deadly strikes that swept several regions of Ukraine ahead of New Year.

Ukraine’s General Relative Emergency Service: Airborne New Years Ve Ve-Strikes in Donetsk and Kharkiv

Three people died and three more were wounded in the Donetsk region, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine “On Telegram”, Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.

One person was wounded in the Zaporizhzhia region. Two were killed and one wounded in the Kharkiv region. There were two wounded and one dead in the Kherson region.

“26 of the enemy’s air strikes were on civilian infrastructure. In particular, the occupants used 10 Shahed-136 UAVs, but all of them were shot down. In addition, the enemy made 80 attacks from multiple rocket launchers, civilian settlements were also hit,” the General Staff said in its latest operational update.

The life support system of the capital is running normally. Currently, 30% of consumers are without electricity. He wrote on Telegram that it was due to emergency shutdowns.

There were restrictions placed on the open section of the red metro line in the city due to the presence of missile debris.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/31/europe/russia-ukraine-new-years-eve-strikes-intl/index.html

Alyona Zelensky in Ukraine: What has happened during the first 11 days of the Ukrainian independence movement on New Year’s Eve?

“From 2023 I really want to win, and also to have more bright impressions and new emotions. I miss it very much. I want to travel around the world. I think about personal and professional growth, because one shouldn’t stand still. Alyona said she needed to develop and work for the benefit of the country.

A 43-year-old pharmacy employee says that this year is a symbol, not a small victory.

On New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about his country’s fears over Russia’s invasion and how hopeful he was for victory.

Mr Zelensky recounted in a video some of the notable moments of the war, including the attack on a maternity hospital and the Azovstal steel plant.

“This year has struck our hearts,” he said, according to a translated transcript posted on his official website. “We’ve cried out all the tears. All the prayers have been yelled. 311 days. We have something to say about what’s going on.

The Russian Defense Ministry Receives the Killing of 63 Russian Servicemen in Makiivka during the Cuban Missile Crisis

Zelensky said all Ukrainians working, attending schools, learning to walk are participating in the defense of their country. He doesn’t think we should think of it as a year of losses.

From the main squares of foreign cities to the top of the search results, Mr. Zelensky said, the world has shown its support for the people of Ukraine.

America has done this before. The Cuban Missile Crisis, the most dangerous nuclear confrontation so far, shifted the Soviet Union’s position in a matter of days, eventually accepting an outcome that favored the West. Had “red lines” thinking been in vogue, America might well have accepted an inferior compromise that weakened its security and credibility.

The attack has led to vocal criticism of the military from pro-Russian military writers who claimed that the troops were being quartered next to a lot of bullets, and that the Moscow military lacked protection.

The Russian defense ministry on Monday acknowledged the attack and claimed that 63 Russian servicemen died, which would make it one of the deadliest single episodes of the war for Moscow’s forces.

Russian senator Grigory Karasin said that those responsible for the killing of Russian servicemen in Makiivka must be found, Russian state news agency TASS reported Monday.

Daniil Bezsonov, a former official in the Russia-backed Donetsk administration, said on Telegram that “apparently, the high command is still unaware of the capabilities of this weapon.”

Bezsonov hoped that those who made the decision to use this facility would be reprimanded. “There are enough abandoned facilities in Donbas with sturdy buildings and basements where personnel can be quartered.”

The building was almost completely destroyed by the secondary detonation of ammunition stores, as claimed by a Russian propagandist on Telegram.

“Nearly all the military equipment, which stood close to the building without the slightest sign of camouflage, was also destroyed,” Girkin said. There are still no final figures on the number of casualties.

“As you can see, despite several months of war, some conclusions are not made, hence the unnecessary losses, which, if the elementary precautions relating to the dispersal and concealment of personnel were taken, might have not happened.”

Vladimir Putin’s U.S. drone strike in Bakhmut, Ukraine, follows Ukraine’s attack on Kyiv last week and into Bryansk

Russian forces “lost 760 people killed just yesterday, (and) continue to attempt offensive actions on Bakhmut,” the military’s general staff said Sunday.

The strike, using a U.S.-supplied precision weapon that has proven critical in enabling Ukrainian forces to hit key targets, delivered a new setback for Russia which in recent months has reeled from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Moscow’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 has gone awry, putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as his ground forces struggle to hold ground and advance. He said in his New Year’s address to the nation that 2022 was “a year of difficult, necessary decisions.”

Five people were wounded in a Monday morning shelling of the south Kherson region, according to the governor.

A blistering New Year’s Eve assault killed at least four civilians across the country, Ukrainian authorities reported, and wounded dozens. The fourth victim, a 46-year-old resident of Kyiv, died in the hospital on Monday.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone hit an energy facility in the Bryansk region that borders with Ukraine, Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz reported on Monday morning. A village was left without power as a result, he said.

Russian troops and missiles in Ukraine, as Putin ordered on December 25, 2014: “I am going to die if I can’t go to church”

Biden affirmed the new commitment in a telephone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday. Germany will also send Ukraine new fighting vehicles, along with a Patriot missile battery to protect against Russian air attacks.

The Bradley fighting vehicle can hold around 10 troops and is used to transport personnel into battle. The US and Germany are providing training to Ukrainian forces on the vehicles they will be given.

Those systems had been at the top of Zelensky’s wish list because it will allow his military to target Russian missiles flying at a higher altitude than they were able to target previously.

In a surprise move on Thursday, Putin ordered his defense minister to implement a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for 36 hours. The president’s order came after Kirill called for a ceasefire between January 6 and January 7 to observe Orthodox Christmas.

Podolyak said to keep hypocrisy to yourself. The adviser said that there is not the faintest desire to end the war. Especially, let me remind you, that only Russia attacks civilian targets with missiles/drones, including places of religious worship, and it does so precisely on Christmas holidays.”

Pope Francis and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church are at odds over the pope’s criticisms of the Russian invasion of Ukranian.

The Russian Orthodox Church “is not an authority for global Orthodoxy & acts as a ‘war propagandist,’” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak tweeted. “ROC’s statement about Christmas truce is a cynical trap and part of propaganda,” he said, using an abbreviation for the Russian Orthodox Church.

“Let’s let the Orthodox believers go to church on Christmas. They declared a truce and reloaded their rockets at the same time. Bastards,” wrote Boris Filatov, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, in a Telegram post.

Biden told reporters that he wasn’t willing to respond to anything Putin said. And I found it interesting. On the 25th and New Year’s, he was going to bomb hospitals and churches. I think he’s trying to find a source of oxygen.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, “Our concern … is that the Russians would seek to use any temporary pause in fighting to rest, to refit, to regroup and ultimately to to re-attack. And so in that sense, it can’t be considered a cease-fire if the intent is to train their fire with even more vengeance, with even more ferocity, with even more lethality against the people of Ukraine. Russia would withdraw its forces from the land of Ukraine if it were serious about ending this war. That is what constitutes an end to this war.”

Turkey’s President was in contact with Putin earlier in the day asking for a cease-fire in support of efforts to end the war.

During his nightly address on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia aims to use Orthodox Christmas “as a cover” to resupply and stop Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbas region.

Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, told Ukrainian television: “Regarding this truce – they just want to get some kind of a pause for a day or two, to pull even more reserves, bring some more ammo.”

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak responded to Putin’s move on Twitter by saying that Russia must leave “occupied territories” in Ukraine before any “temporary truce.”

Ned Price, a US State Department spokesman, described it as “cynical” and said that the US had “little faith” in Russia’s intentions.

The German foreign minister warned on Thursday that the promise of a ceasefire wouldn’t bring freedom or security to people living under Moscow’s brutal war.

The impact of the Makivka strike on the Russian image in the war-broken region of Kherson and the influence of the Soviet army

The conflict between Russia and eastern Ukraine has caused a large part of the Orthodox community to move away from Moscow.

In the southern region of Kherson, Pavlo Skotarenko doesn’t expect much to change. They shell us every day and people die in Kherson. He said that this temporary measure wouldn’t change anything.

From the frontlines in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, a Ukrainian soldier told CNN that the temporary ceasefire announcement looked like an effort to clean up Russia’s image.

“I do not think that this is done for some military tactical purpose, one day will not solve much,” the Ukrainian soldier, who goes by the call sign Archer, told CNN by phone.

The soldier believed that this was done to make the image of Russia a little more human, as there were so many atrocities emerging and people didn’t support them.

Halyna Hladka said she thought the Russians wanted to win time after they attacked in the capital of the country.

“Russia has already shown active use of faith in numerous kinds of manipulations. Russia has not behaved itself like a country capable of adhering to promises in the almost one year of war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said “the main cause” of the Makiivka strike was the widespread use of cell phones by Russian soldiers, “contrary to the ban,” which allowed Ukraine to “track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ locations.”

According to the senior fellow at the Defense Program and co-head of the gaming lab at the Center for New American Security, the reason Russia didn’t break up the large arms depots was because they could not communicate adequately.

It is a view shared by other experts. James Lewis, director of the strategic tech program at CSIS, said in an e-mail that bad security communications are standard practice in the Russian army.

He is not the only warblogger casting doubt. The post on Grey Zone said the soldiers were to blame for what happened in Makiivka, and it was related to the leader of the group of mercenaries. “In this case, it is to 99% a lie and an attempt to throw off the blame.”

Indeed, a number of the most recent arrivals to the war are inmates from Russian prisons, freed and transferred immediately to the Ukrainian front. One can only imagine how appealing the use of cell phones would be to prisoners accustomed to years of isolation with little or no contact with the outside world.

The Minister of Defense tried to suggest that the use of cell phones was the work of the troops, a suggestion that Semyon Pegov, who was awarded the Order of Courage by the president of Russia two weeks ago, found offensive.

He questioned how the Ministry of Defense could be “so sure” that the location of soldiers lodging in a school building could not have been determined using drone surveillance or a local informant.

The Defense ministry had a change in leadership when Col. Gen. Mizintsev was appointed as deputy defense minister for overseeing logistics. The location of the arms depot, adjacent to the Makiivka recruits, would likely have been on Mizintsev’s watch.

Still, Putin-favorite Sergei Shoigu remains defense minister — as recently as Saturday, before the Makiivka attack, telling his forces in a celebratory video: “Our victory, like the New Year, is inevitable.”

On Friday the Biden administration said it would be decreasing military assistance to Ukraine, but it was a concern that Republicans would block future aid if there was still chaos in the House.

One diplomat believes that the stalemate signals trouble for Ukraine assistance as many of the ones who fought McCarthy have spoken out against additional assistance in the past.

Several Republican members who changed their votes to support McCarthy on Friday said they are encouraged by the framework of an agreement, but they have not given any details about the deal.

The Trump White House isn’t Ready to End the Christmas Program: The Ukranian Embassy Embedded in the Freedom Caucus

The higher number was a reflection of the Democrats’ fear that more funding wouldn’t be forthcoming in a GOP-led House. The number was used by the White House as a policy against Republican resistance in order to sustain US support for several months.

Rules changes to the budgetary process could significantly hamper Congress’ ability to pass new aid come September and certain conservative Republicans have vowed to oppose any new Ukraine funding.

“This is a harbinger for a protracted legislative paralysis,” the diplomat said, adding that “the Freedom Caucus – which is not particularly pro-Ukrainian – has just demonstrated its clout.”

McCarthy could potentially make cuts to aid in order to get the role, but others are watching closely to make sure he doesn’t.

The diplomat told CNN that they are personally concerned about the policy concessions McCarthy will make and if they will affect the US role in the world.

A third diplomat fears that concessions, such as House Rules Committee assignments, could be offered to lawmakers opposed to more assistance for Ukraine, which could make it hard to pass additional assistance legislation.

White House officials, before the current predicament on Capitol Hill, were skeptical that Ukraine aid would dry up completely. They say Senate GOP leader McConnell is a big supporter of Ukraine, and that McCarthy is a big supporter of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday welcomed the latest drawdown, saying it was an “awesome Christmas present for Ukraine!” Legislators in the Ukranian parliament told CNN they were not worried about the future of assistance because of the public’s support for the country.

Observational investigation of a massive Russian attack on a vocational school housing Russian conscripts in Makiivka, in the Donetsk region

Orthodox Christians are estimated to number between 200 and 300 million people globally. Most of Christians in the Middle East are from countries that are majority-Orthodox, which includes Russia, Ukraine and Greece. There are also significant Orthodox communities in Egypt and Ethiopia, most of whom belong to the smaller Oriental Orthodox branch.

Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 decided to standardize Christian holidays with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, which put the birth of Jesus Christ as December 25. The Great Schism of 1054 resulted in the split of the Orthodox Church after years of religious and political disagreements.

Russian President Putin claimed in a speech last week that a large number of Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a Russian attack.

A CNN team on the ground has seen no indication of any massive casualties in the area. The team said that there was no unusual activity in and around Kramatorsk.

A Reuters reporter in Kramtorsk also reported no signs of a significant Russian strike on two college dormitories that Russia claimed had been housing hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers.

The Makiivka strike took place just after midnight on New Year’s Day, targeting a vocational school housing Russian conscripts in Makiivka, in the Donetsk region, according to both Ukrainian and pro-Russian accounts.

The Russian government and some pro-Kremlin leaders started a blame game after Moscow suggested that its soldiers use cell phones.

But that account was angrily dismissed by an influential military blogger and implicitly contradicted by the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine, pointing to discord in the Russian command over Moscow’s response to the attack.

Ukrainian Mines, Demining Teams, and Playground Toys: Human Rights Watch’s Discovery of Petal Mines in Izium

The World Economic Outlook is released by the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday morning in Singapore. The Russia-Ukraine war is affecting the economy in some countries according to the International Monetary Fund.

A group of European Commission leaders is expected to visit Ukraine on Thursday and European Union leaders plan to hold a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the following day.

The Russian takeover of Soledar was acknowledged by the Ukrainian military, which retreated after a tough battle. Russian forces continued their offensive around Bakhmut and other parts of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

New U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy arrived in Moscow, at a time of strong tensions between the two governments over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, Tracy was reportedly heckled by protesters as she entered the Russian Foreign Ministry to present her credentials.

The Kremlin accused the Baltic states of being afraid of Russia and ordered the Russian ambassadors to leave.

KYIV — A human rights group says it has documented “numerous cases” of Ukrainian forces firing land mines into territory that was controlled at the time by Russia.

In a new report, Human Rights Watch suggests that Ukraine scattered so-called petal mines in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium. Petal mines are prohibited under the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, of which Ukraine is a signatory, because of their ability to indiscriminately maim and kill.

Russian forces reportedly dispatch demining teams and issue public safety notices when mines are found in private vegetable gardens, near sidewalks and on residential roofs. Russian military brought injured civilians to Russia for treatment according to local residents.

Petal mines are often green or brown and blend in with the earth. They’re generally small, and can be launched with artillery from a distance. They explode in the air at the touch of a button. They are also made of the same material used for playground toys in North America.

According to Tuesday’s report, but in documents submitted to the United Nations, the country still has over three million antipersonnel mines.

Human Rights Watch says its evidence of Ukrainian mining activity in Izium, however, is more unequivocal than past allegations of Ukrainian war crimes. The group is calling on the Ukrainian military to conduct an internal investigation into its adherence to the country’s international obligations.

Moscow’s attack in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on Thursday triggered by a fresh barrage of rocket fires and civilians scrambled to safety

Moscow’s attack in Kramatorsk came after a top Kyiv official said Russia is gearing up for a “maximum escalation” of the nearly years-long war in Ukraine.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council in Ukraine, Oleskiy Danilov, told Sky News that these will be the defining months of the war.

“We are on the edge of a very active phase of hostilities, February and March will be very active,” Andriy Yusov, representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said on national television.

“During the week, military representatives from the two countries will practice joint planning of the use of troops based on the prior experience of armed conflicts in recent years,” the ministry said in a statement.

A fresh barrage of missiles ripped through the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine Thursday, sending flames and thick plumes into the air as screaming civilians scrambled to find shelter.

At least one man was wounded and paramedics rushed to the scene. The mayor of Kramatorsk said that there was a strike on the city and urged residents to stay in bomb shelters.

Rescue workers searched through piles of rubble to try and locate survivors in the aftermath of Wednesday’s attack, which damaged eight apartment buildings. People were evacuated to a school for shelter.

The Ukraine War: Implications for the Future of U.S. Politics and for the Resurrection of the United States’ Armed Forces

A country which is bordering on evil. And a country that has to overcome it in order to reduce to zero the likelihood of such tragedies happening again. We will definitely find and punish the people who did it. They do not deserve mercy.”

A year into the conflict in Ukraine, both Biden’s message and the reception it gets in Congress has changed, reflecting domestic politics and the drawn-out nature of the conflict itself.

A few members of Congress wore blue and yellow ribbons on their lapels this year. The House chamberbrimmed with the colors of the Ukrainian flag a year ago, as lawmakers applauded Vice President Biden’s speech on the war.

This year, Biden spent less than two minutes discussing the war. Members stood when he asked whether Americans would stand for the defense of democracy.

One year later, Biden said the corrupt leaders of the violent regime would have to stop bilking billions of dollars off this violent regime.

The Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. attended the State of the Union address for the second year in a row but the war in Ukraine got less attention in this year’s speech.

Republican strategist Ryan Williams said this sentiment has given pause to some Republicans from conservative districts who had supported the war, but are now worried about wider public support among their constituencies.

It is affecting the base. Williams said that if that continues to grow, it will be a primary issue for Republicans. It’s a litmus test issue for the Republicans, so make sure it doesn’t endanger incumbents who could face conservative primary challengers who might have a difference of opinion.

Zelensky at Buckingham Palace: The First President of the UK Visited in Intl-Gbr (UKIP)

Zelensky also met with Ukrainian troops being trained by British forces on Wednesday, telling a press conference that his battlefield priority is for Ukraine to obtain more weapons.

Handing Speaker Hoyle the helmet, Zelensky said it belonged to “a real Ukrainian pilot” who was “one of our most successful aces. The writing is on the helmet and it says we have freedom. We should be given wings to protect it.

Zelensky spoke in front of the Cabinet in the old part of the Palace of Westminster, where the late Queen Elizabeth lay in state and where the US President stood for a similar position.

Sunak greeted Zelensky at Stansted Airport, north of London, after he landed aboard a UK Royal Air Force C-17 transport plane. Sunak tweeted a picture of the pair embracing on the runway. “Welcome to the UK, President @ZelenskyyUa,” reads the caption, adding the hashtag #GlorytoUkraine.

Later, he traveled to Buckingham Palace to meet King Charles III, who told Zelensky: “We’ve all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long, I can’t tell you.”

He said that it was an honor for him to be the first President of Ukraine in the history of Ukrainian-British relations.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/europe/zelensky-visit-uk-intl-gbr/index.html

The UK has no plans to send its Typhoon or F-35 jets to Ukraine, as stated by Zelensky in a press conference with Sunak

There is no way out. We have to stand firm. We need armored vehicles, we need tanks, we need fighter jets, and obviously, we spent a lot of time talking about this together,” said Zelensky, speaking alongside Sunak at Lulworth Camp in Dorset, England.

The UK has so far refused to send its Typhoon or F-35 fighter jets to Ukraine, saying it was not “the right approach.” However, Wednesday’s announcement will raise hopes that there could be a future shift in attitude. The UK also said it will provide Ukraine with “longer-range capabilities,” Downing Street said, without going into details.

Zelensky said during a press conference with Sunak Wednesday that the decision to buy Eurofighter Typhoon jets was not solely in the hands of the UK.

“Once again, I heard from Mr. Prime Minister the desire to provide fighter jets, and officially he declared they can begin training our pilots,” Zelensky said. “When it comes to Typhoons, not everything depends just on the decision of Great Britain.”

Sunak noted that it takes three years to train a Typhoon fighter pilot from scratch, to which Zelensky responded, “I didn’t even know it takes three years to train a pilot like that. You know, come on, we will be sending you pilots who have already trained for two and a half years.”

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is investigating which aircraft could be given to Ukraine, but Downing Street maintained no decision has yet been taken on whether to supply the jets.

Zelensky’s visit to London and Paris: The United Kingdom is looking for military support in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Zelensky made a surprise visit to London and Paris the day before, in a bid to persuade the West to send more weapons and military support to counter the Russian spring offensive.

“We would like to remind London: in the event of such a scenario the death toll of yet another round of escalation, as well as and its military-political consequences for the European continent and the whole world will be on the United Kingdom’s hands,” the embassy said.

The UK package targets six entities providing military equipment such as drones, as well as eight individuals and one entity connected to “nefarious financial networks that help maintain wealth and power amongst Kremlin elites,” a government statement read.

The UK government imposed sanctions on Russians after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to data from the UK government.

“My colleagues and I have come here to Kyiv today with a clear message: Ukraine belongs to the European family,” Scholz said during a joint news conference in Kyiv with Zelensky.

The EU and Zelensky’s country have the same values, Zelensky said during his address to the European Parliament.

The president warned that Russia is planning to return Europe to the 1940s and 1930s. “The answer for us to that is no,” he said. “We are defending ourselves. We have to defend ourselves.

Zelensky said Thursday that he’s been having concrete discussions in the Belgian capital about the issue of giving fighter jets to the Ukrainians.

Your statements that Europe will be with us until we win inspired me. Zelensky said he was very grateful to the European leaders that he’d heard, during the press conference.

I have heard about the readiness for the necessary weapons and support. He said that they are doing to raise the issue of fighter jets and other aircrafts. “So we are working and will continue working in Brussels.”

The Ukrainian leader is known for persuading Allies to give him what he wants. He said that their visit to London was a success, possibly indicating success in the UK.

His meeting in Paris with the German Chancellor and French President also appears to have extended that conversation. I see the meeting as positive and a good place to discuss concrete decisions. I would not like to make a lot of announcements, but I can state that we are working towards the enhancement of our capabilities.

Zelensky: We Will Win if We Don’t Become An All-Sky All-Twisted System, Just Before We Lose

Despite Zelenskys optimism, behind closed doors he is likely to be warned that NATO’s expensive fighter jets could be easy prey for Russia, and that the fighter jet commitment needs to be sequenced with better air defense.

He added: “We know Russia will lose. We know that a victory will change the world. We are marching with the United Kingdom, towards the most important victory of our lifetime. The victory over the very idea of war.