“The War with the West is Coming”: Mr. Dugin’s Response to the Lyman-Abelian Fall of Lyman

Mr.Dugin told the host that Russia would be a “sovereign state” if Ukraine ended up with the EU and Britain. “This is the condition for our sovereignty. This is when we’ll have a fight. Russia must win and win in order to respond to this terrorist attack symmetrically.

After more than an hour of positive coverage of Russia, the fall of Lyman wasn’t even mentioned on Russia’s flagship Sunday political show.

Two powerful Putin supporters called for using harsher fighting techniques after it was revealed that the illegal annexed region would be Russian forever.

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.

These are not toys anymore. They are part of a clear offensive by the army and NATO forces, according to the deputy commander of one Russian battalion. The soldier insisted that his unit had been intercepting discussions by Romanian and Polish soldiers, not Ukrainians, on their radios.

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.

The father of a prominent nationalist commentator who was killed by a car bomb said in an interview that Russia was fighting a broader campaign.

Mr. Dugin, like Mr. Putin, has accused Western countries of damaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which ruptured after underwater explosions last month in what both European and Russian leaders have called an act of sabotage.

The West suspects us of blowing up the gas pipelines of our own. “We must understand the geopolitical confrontation, the war, our war with the West on the scale and extent on which it is unfolding. We have to join the battle with a mortal enemy who will use any means to destroy us.

The campaign may be going well at the moment. Many Russians feel threatened by the West, said Aleksandr Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who is from Russia.

Moscow and Tehran want their ideas to spread outside of their borders. The struggles of the Ukrainian and Iranian people will have repercussions.

The protests of the Kiev autocracies against the fascism of the 19 April 2016 revolution: CNN opinion of Frida Ghitis

A former CNN producer and correspondent named Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a columnist for The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The opinions expressed in this commentary are of her own. View more opinion on CNN.

Two groups of demonstrators came together in London on Sunday. One was waving flags from both Iran and the Ukrainians. When they met, they cheered each other, and chanted, “All together we will win.”

Because they hold the moral high ground, the struggles of the Ukrainian and the Iranian people have inspired support around the globe among backers of democracy and human rights. In this era of social media, their anthems against fascism have gone viral, as has the brutality of their foes.

The battles show courage that is almost unthinkable to the rest of us and is inspiring the support of places like Afghanistan.

In Iran, the spark was the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month. She died in the custody of morality police who were angry that she broke rules requiring women to dress modestly.

Iranian women have performed in defiance, dancing around fires and throwing their hijabs into the flames, when they were forbidden by the regime.

The peaceful uprising is not really about the hijab, but rather about removing oppression and that is why the men have joined them in large numbers.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/opinions/iran-ukraine-autocracies-struggle-democracy-ghitis/index.html

Russia and Iran are the most notorious repressive regimes in the world: Seven months ago, Vladimir Putin was a genius, but none of the rest

After all, it was less than a decade ago that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military entered Syria’s long civil war, helping to save the dictator Bashar al-Assad (as Iran had).

Zelensky said that the beginning of the end of the war was when the Russian forces abandoned Kherson. The Western-backed Ukrainians continue their successful push against the invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched in February just days after meeting with Xi in Beijing.

Sullivan said that the United States and Ukraine would continue to work together for as long as is necessary. There won’t be a wavering of support or flinching as we go forward.

An onslaught on civilians would be consistent with the resume of the new Russian general in charge of the war, Sergey Surovikin, who served in Syria and Chechnya. In both places, Russia indiscriminately bombarded civilian areas and razed built-up districts and infrastructure and is accused of committing serious human rights violations.

The repressive regimes in Moscow and Tehran are now isolated, pariahs among much of the world, openly supported for the most part by a smattering of autocrats.

Is it any wonder that Putin’s first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the start of his Ukraine war was to Iran? Is it any wonder Iran has trained Russian forces and is now believed to have provided Russia with advanced drones to kill Ukrainians?

These are two regimes that, while very different in their ideologies, have much in common in their tactics of repression and their willingness to project power abroad.

Multiple Putin critics have suffered mysterious deaths. Many of them fell out of windows. According to Freedom House and other groups, Russia and Iran are some of the most notorious offenders of foreign-based repressive practices.

For people in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, there’s more than passing interest in the admittedly low probability 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. Seven months ago, some viewed Putin as something of a genius. That myth has turned to dust. The man who tried to manipulate elections across the planet now looks like he’s been wiped out.

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 views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.

The Russia-Ukraine War: Putin’s History of Freedom, the Revolution of 1917, and the Emergence of the Romanov Monarchy

Russia has shown that it can cause tremendous damage and displacement in major Ukrainian cities, such as the capital. The strikes on Monday increase the danger of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Tensions were already high from Putin’s earlier statements suggesting that tactical nuclear weapons remain on the table.

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

(Indeed, his revisionist account defines his rationale for the war in Ukraine, which he asserts has historically always been part of Russia – even though Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.)

The book “Afghan Crucible” reveals that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a plan to install a puppet government and get out of 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. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan three years later, it took until 1986 for the CIA to give the Afghans anti-aircraft missiles that proved to be very effective, ending their air superiority.

Russian fortunes will be influenced by American weapons in the year 2022. At the start of the war in Ukraine, the US was leery of deeper involvement, fearing that there would be a larger conflict with the Russians.

The US gave American-supplied anti-tank Javelin missiles and HIMARS to the Ukrainians and they were able to push back against the Russians.

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. Czar Nicholas II’s feckless leadership during the First World War then precipitated the Russian Revolution in 1917. A number of the Romanov family were killed by the Bolsheviks.

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.

The Russian empire was partitioned in 1917 as the First World War wound down, and again in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Moscow’s response to the Sumy-Khalkiv missile attacks, and the attack of a strategic bridge on the Russian-occupied Crimea, Ukraine, on Monday

Authorities in Sumy, in the northeast of Ukraine, said there were power outages across the region after missile attacks, reporting that “two missiles hit an infrastructure facility” in Konotop. Officials in Kharkiv also reported attacks.

Igor Zhovkva, Zelensky’s chief diplomatic adviser, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” that Ukraine had shot down 56 of the 84 missiles and drones that were fired by Russia, in apparent revenge for an explosion on a strategic bridge leading to annexed Crimea that is critical for Moscow’s war effort and is a symbol of Putin’s rule.

The attacks began at the outset of the war and have only increased in scope and virulence since the Ukrainians attacked a bridge near Putin’s heart.

“It is simply impossible to leave such crimes unanswered,” Putin said in a brief television appearance on Monday. “If attempts to carry out terrorist attacks on our territory continue, responses from Russia will be tough and will correspond in scale to the level of threats to the Russian Federation.”

After several hours on Monday morning, the subway system in the city was shut down. But the air raid alert in the city was lifted at midday, as rescue workers sought to pull people from the rubble caused by the strikes.

Demys Shmygal, Ukraine’s Prime Minister, said Monday that as of 11 a.m. local time, a total of 11 “crucial infrastructure facilities” in eight regions had been damaged.

In his remarks Saturday night, Mr. Zelensky said that the capital of the country, Kyiv, has been the site of ongoing power cuts. Some are what he classified as “emergency” outages resulting from attacks. Others are what he called “stabilization” outages, or planned blackouts on a schedule.

The Security Council of Putin met on Monday after he said that the bridge attacks were a terrorist attack and that the organizers were Ukrainian special services.

The Russian-appointed head of annexed Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said he had “good news” Monday, claiming that Russia’s approaches to what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine “have 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.

The former director of European affairs on the National Security Council believes that Putin is sending a message about how he’s going to prosecute the war in the upcoming months by attacking targets designed to hurt Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

The attack on the power grid ofUkraine by Russia has thrown the entire population into darkness and cold, pushing the US closer to sending the missile defense system that the Ukrainian government has been seeking.

Ukraine’s Western allies doubled down on their support for Kyiv following the strikes, with EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell Fontelles tweeting that “additional military support from the EU is on its way.”

“Again, Putin is massively terrorizing innocent civilians in Kyiv and other cities,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. “[The Netherlands] condemns these heinous acts. Putin does not know that the will of the Ukrainian people is not negotiable.

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

Ukraine’s nuclear power crisis in a light of the recent air-strike attacks on Ukrainian businesses in the wake of the G7 summit

Zelensky said on his official website that he would address the emergency meeting of the G7 in a video conference on Tuesday.

Michael Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst. He was a formerspokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a regular contributor to CNN Opinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.

The strikes happened as people headed to work and kids were being dropped off. I received a text from my friend in Kyiv that said she just left the bridge span before it was struck.

As of midday local time, the area around my office in Odesa remained eerily quiet in between air raid sirens, with reports that three missiles and five kamikaze drones were shot down. (Normally at this time of the day, nearby restaurants would be heaving with customers, and chatter of plans for upcoming weddings and parties).

Less than a day before Monday’s attacks, Zaporizhzhia, a southeastern city close to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was hit with multiple strikes on apartment buildings. Many people were killed and injured.

In a video filmed outside his office Monday, a defiant President Volodymyr Zelensky said it appeared many of the 100 or so missile strikes across Ukraine were aimed at the country’s energy infrastructure. At least 11 important infrastructure facilities in eight regions and the capital have been damaged; some provinces are without power, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

In scenes reminiscent of the beginning of the war when Russian forces neared the capital, some Kyiv media outlets temporarily moved their operations to underground bomb shelters. Many people took cover on the platforms at a metro station as a small group of people sang patriotic Ukrainian songs.

Millions of people in Ukraine will be going to bomb shelters most of the day at the request of officials, while businesses have been asked to shift work online as much as possible.

Just as many regions of Ukraine were starting to roar back to life, and with countless asylum seekers returning home, the attacks risk causing another blow to business confidence.

The 2018 Russia-China Kerch Bridge Explosion: How a Unexpected Disaster Will Prevent Human Trafficking and Foreign Intelligence from the Insurrection of the West

Hardwiring newly claimed territory with 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 bridge was opened after 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 shared their sense of jubilation via text messages.

For Putin, consumed by pride and self-interest, sitting still was never an option. He responded by unleashing even more death and destruction, with the force he knows how, which comes naturally to a former KGB officer.

It was also an act of selfish desperation: facing increasing criticism at home, including on state-controlled television, has placed Putin on unusually thin ice.

urgent telephone diplomacy is crucial for the US and other allies to use to convince China and India to not use even more deadly weapons.

If these measures are not passed, the humanitarian crisis that will impact Europe will be worsened by Putin’s violence. A weak reaction will be seen by the Kremlin as a sign that it can continue to weaponize energy, migration and food.

Russian missile strikes against Ukraine: A United States response to President Biden’s condemnation of the Russian attacks on Ukraine, and the need for new defense systems in Ukraine

High tech defense systems are needed to protect the energy infrastructure in the country. The need to protect heating systems is urgent as winter nears.

The time has come for the West to further hurt Russia by imposing restrictions on travel and trade, but Turkey and the Gulf states, which see many Russians, need to be pressured to do so.

During the call, a White House statement said, Biden “expressed his condemnation of Russia’s missile strikes across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, and conveyed his condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured in these senseless attacks. President Biden pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support it needed to defend itself.

The senior administration official said that Biden will reinforce the message that the United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.

The Pentagon press secretary was asked if the Russian warnings were provocative. The comments won’t affect aid to Ukraine said Gen. Pat Ryder.

In late September, the Department of Defense briefed on NASAMS not being delivered to Ukraine. At the time, Brig. The general said two systems would be delivered in the next two months with the other six arriving at a later date.

Zelensky and the War on the Balkans: The Importance of the U.S. Military and Nuclear Command in the Era of Cold War

But the highly public nature of Zelensky’s visit, and the expected announcement regarding Patriots, also risks further provoking Putin when he is signaling that, as disastrous as the war has been for Russia’s troops, he’s in for the long haul, betting the West’s commitment will eventually ebb.

According to John Kirby, the National Security Council was in contact with the government in Kyiv almost every day, and that Washington was looking favorably on Ukrainian requests. “We do the best we can in subsequent packages to meet those needs,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

Kirby told Kate that he was sure that he was feeling the pressure at home and overseas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said the threat of nuclear war was growing and suggested his country could abandon its “no first use” nuclear weapons doctrine, under which Russia has said it would only use nuclear weapons to defend its homeland. The strikes hit military infrastructure deep inside Russia. Russia’s military blamed Ukraine for the strikes.

Biden warned about the danger of Putins nuclear threats last week with the words “Armageddon.” But multiple US officials have said the comment was not based on any new intelligence about Putin’s intentions or changes in Russia’s nuclear posture.

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.

Putin’s strategy in Ukraine has been misaligned – and is that it isn’t going to work for the Russian Army

The targets on Monday had little military worth, and Putin needed to find new targets because of his inability to cause victories in the war on the battlefield.

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

After the killing of at least 14 people in the attacks on civilians, new attention has been given to what the US and its allies can do to counteract Russia’s proxy war with Ukraine.

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.

“It likely was something that they had been planning for quite some time. Now that’s not to say that the explosion on the Crimea bridge might have accelerated some of their planning,” Kirby said.

The President of France expressed concern that the attacks in Ukraine could lead to another pivot in the conflict.

“He was telegraphing about where he is going to go as we get into the winter. Vindman said on CNN that he will try to force the Ukrainian population to compromise and 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.

Any prolonged campaign by Putin against civilians would be aimed at breaking Ukrainian morale and possibly unleashing a new flood of refugees into Western Europe that might open divisions among NATO allies that are supporting Ukraine.

Above all, Putin still does not appear to have learned that revenge is not an appropriate way to act on or off the battlefield and in the final analysis is most likely to isolate and weaken Russia, perhaps irreversibly.

The Rise and Fall of Crime: CNN’s Olena Gnes on the Return of Fear and Violence to Ukrainians from a New Round of Russian “Terror”

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.”

“This is just another terror to provoke maybe panic, to scare you guys in other countries or to show to his own people that he is still a bloody tyrant, he is still powerful and look what fireworks we can arrange,” she said.

David Andelman is a contributor to CNN and the author of “A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen.” He formerly was a correspondent for The New York Times and CBS News in Europe and Asia. His views are his own in this commentary. View more opinion at CNN.

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.

The economy of Ukranian continues to lose money from the war and missile and drone attacks on critical power infrastructure. As winter bites, millions of Ukrainians are enduring long periods without heat, electricity and water. (However, indicative of the resiliency that Ukrainians have displayed since the start of the war, many say they are prepared to endure such hardship for another two to five years if it means defeating Russia).

This ability to keep going depends on a number of variables, ranging from the availability and affordability of energy supplies for the coming winter, to the popular will in many nations with conflicting priorities.

The EU agreed to a plan to control energy prices that have gone up since the embargoes on Russian imports and the Kremlin cutting natural gas supplies.

An emergency cap on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, as well as permission for gas companies to form a group to buy gas on the international market, are included in these.

While PresidentMacron said the summit had maintained European unity, he conceded there was only a clear mandate for the European Commission to start working on a gas cap mechanism.

Germany is skeptical of any price caps. Germany fears that caps would encourage higher consumption and so energy ministers will have to work out details.

The divisions are part of Putin’s dream. 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.

Many of these issues are being fought over by Germany and France. The German and French leaders have scheduled a conference call on Wednesday to try to reach an agreement.

Italy’s First Prime Minister Receives Putin: Towards a More Consistent Deal with the Particle-Planet Conflict

A new government has been formed in Italy. The first woman prime minister of Italy tried to remove the post-fascist aura of her party. One of her far-right coalition partners meanwhile, has expressed deep appreciation for Putin.

Berlusconi, in a secretly recorded audio tape, said he’d returned Putin’s gesture with bottles of Lambrusco wine, adding that “I knew him as a peaceful and sensible person,” in the LaPresse audio clip.

The new deputy leader of the Italian government, Matteo Salvini, said during the campaign that he would not want the sanctions on Russia to hurt people more than they hurt them.

Poland and Hungary have differing opinions of the policies of the EU that seem to reduce their influence. Poland doesn’t like the pro-Putin sentiment of Hungary’s populist leader.

Kevin McCarthy, poised to become Speaker of the House if Republicans take control after next month’s elections, told an interviewer that people are going to sit in a recession and not write a blank check. They are not going to do it.

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.

Mia Jacob, the chair of the caucus, sent reporters an email clarifying her statement about their support for Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to renew America’s support.

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

The War Between Ukraine and the Kremlin in the 21st Century: The Case for a Resolution of the Ukranian Military-Industry Conflict

In short, there is every incentive for Putin to prolong the conflict as long as possible to allow many of these forces in the West to kick in. A long, cold winter in Europe, persistent inflation and higher interest rates leading to a recession on both sides of the Atlantic could mean irresistible pressure on already skeptical leaders to dial back on financial and military support.

The support in terms of arms, materiel and training for the Ukrainian forces has been the foundation of their remarkable battlefield successes against the Russian military.

The West is trying to put pressure on Russia. A report by the State Department states that sanctions and export controls have a negative effect on the Russian military-industrial complex.

According to the report, the Russian production of hypersonic missiles has stopped due to the lack of semi-conductors. Plants that make anti-aircraft systems have shut down, and aircraft are being cannibalized in favor of spare parts. The Soviet era ended more than 30 years ago.

On the day before this report, the US announced it had seized the property of a top Russian procurement agent, Yury Orekhov, and his agencies who had been responsible for procuring US-origin technologies for Russians.

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

In the past weeks, Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has pushed for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukranian.

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.

Milley wants peace and it spilled into the public recently, just as the Ukranian took back Kherson. Milley said that an entire military victory is not out of reach, despite his praise for the Ukrainian army for fighting Russia.

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 internal debate comes as senior US officials, including Sullivan, are pushing Ukraine to signal its willingness to negotiate with Russia despite the fact that Zelensky has ruled out talks with Putin.

The officials said that Milley wants to make it clear that he is not urging a Ukrainian capitulation, but rather that the time is right to end the war before it gets out of hand.

The view is not held by everyone in the administration. One official explained that the State Department is on the opposite side of the pole from Milley. 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. As part of the deal, the US will purchase 100,000 rounds of 155mm howitzer ammunition, which will then be transferred to Ukraine through the US.

The United States and the Crime against Crime: The Kherson Crisis as a Case Study of Zelensky’s Unexpected Return to Ukraine

Ned Price wouldn’t say if the State Department agrees with Milley’s position. Instead, Price deflected to a position that US officials have often made in recent months: the US sides with Zelensky who has said that a diplomatic solution is needed.

“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.”

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 are areas of potential cooperation that they broached.

After years of turmoil and anxiety, there are signs that the democratic world may just be starting to reverse the tide of autocracy, or at least its most dangerous elements. But it’s too early to tell how strong the global democratic push will be.

This was the perfect moment, from the standpoint of the United States and for democracy, for the meeting to occur because there is a lot more to it than just who controls the Senate and the House.

As Biden and Xi were meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional, triumphant return to the devastated, now liberated city of Kherson, the one provincial capital that Russian invaders had conquered.

Putin’s adventure turned to disaster as the Ukrainians defended their country with unexpected tenacity and as Biden rallied allies in a muscular push to support Ukraine.

By the time they met again in September, China had not done much to support Russia, and Putin admitted that Xi had questions about Ukraine. More recently, after the Russian President thinly threatened to use nuclear weapons, Xi rebuked him.

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 War of War against Ukraine: The Case of Xi, the President, and the Highest Ranking Russian Officials in the Chinese-speaking World

Biden is not the only leader with a strong hand. With his third term as China’s leader, Xi now has the power to rule as long as he wants. The man doesn’t have to worry about elections, a critical press or an opposition party. He is essentially the absolute ruler of a mighty country for many years to come.

The challenges that Xi faces are daunting. China is hesitant to reveal economic data because of the slowing economy. The Covid-19 vaccine from China is a disappointment. Because of that, China is imposing curfews as the world slowly comes to a normal state after the Pandemic.

The competition between the two systems is crucial, and it can only be won if it proves that democracy works and unprovoked war of aggression will not succeed.

Poland is facing consequences from these attacks, as well as the other bordering countries. Russian missiles have knocked out power across neighboring Moldova, a member state of NATO, which attracted less attention than the Polish incident.

Whatever the exact circumstances of the missile, one thing is clear. “Russia bears ultimate responsibility, as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Wednesday.

A laundry list of horrors has been launched by Putin that seems to have driven his nation further from a pack of civilized powers that he once wanted to join.

That said, a growing number of Russian soldiers have rebelled at what they have been asked to do and refused to fight. The UK’s Defense Ministry believes that Russian troops may shoot retreating or deserting soldiers.

The hotline and Telegram channel, launched as a Ukrainian military intelligence project, designed to assist Russian soldiers wanting to defect, has taken off, reportedly booking 3,500 calls in its first two months of activity.

Many of the best and brightest in almost every field have left Russia. Writers, artists and journalists are among the most creative technologists, scientists and engineers.

One leading Russian journalist, who fled in March, told me last week that like a lot of Russians, he is prepared to accept that he will never be able to return to his homeland.

The Odesa tragedy: consequences of Russian drone strikes on Ukraine and the US deployment of the Patriot system for a future fighter in the future combat air system

Rumbling in the background is the West’s attempts to diminish the country’s resources in order to pursue this war. Ursula von der Leyen is the President of the European Commission and told the G20 that they wanted reliable and forward-looking connections.

Moreover, Putin’s dream that this conflict, along with the enormous burden it has proven to be on Western countries, would only drive further wedges into the Western alliance are proving unfulfilled. The long-stalled joint French- German project for a next- generation jet fighter at the heart of the Future Combat Air System was beginning to move forward, after word started circulating that on Monday.

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 his Saturday night address, Mr. Zelensky said that 10 of the drones had been shot down by the Ukrainians. It wasn’t easy to verify his tally.

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.

“The power system is now, to put it mildly, very far from a normal state — there is an acute shortage in the system,” he said, urging people to reduce their power use to put less strain on the battered power grid.

“It must be understood: Even if there are no heavy missile strikes, this does not mean that there are no problems,” he continued. “Almost every day, in different regions, there is shelling, there are missile attacks, drone attacks. Energy facilities are hit almost every day.”

The new package will include the deployment of a missile system that has been requested by Ukraine to defend it against Russian air attacks. CNN was the first to report that the US was going to send the systems to Ukraine.

Zakharova said at the press conference that many experts, including those overseas, questioned the rationality of such a step and the risk of dragging the US army into combat.

The Patriot system is expensive and complicated and requires intensive training for the multiple people it takes to operate it, but could help the country guard against Russian attacks that have left millions without power.

“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.”

The commander of the Russian militias in the east suggested this week on Russian state TV that the NATO alliance can’t be defeated in a conventional war.

Zelensky’s Russian Patriot missiles: What do they tell us about the invasion of Crimea and the US response to Russian attacks?

Smaller air defense systems require a small staff to properly operate, the same as the large crews that make up the Patriot missile batteries. The training for Patriot missile batteries normally takes multiple months, a process the United States will now carry out under the pressure of near-daily aerial attacks from Russia.

The system is widely considered one of the most capable long-range weapons to defend airspace against incoming ballistic and cruise missiles as well as some aircraft. Russian missiles and aircraft can be shot down due to its high- altitude and long-range capability.

Zelensky was quoted by The Economist as saying that he didn’t think that the idea of returning land seized by Russia in February of 2022, which did not include areas like Donbas and Crimea, would be good for the country.

NATO still has two main objectives, provide aid to Ukraine, and make sure that NATO don’t become involved in the war, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

There was an old weapon. CNN’s Ellie Kaufman and Liebermann reported earlier this week on a US military official who says Russian forces have had to resort to 40-year-old artillery ammunition as their supplies of new ammo are “rapidly dwindling.”

“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.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/politics/russia-patriot-missiles-what-matters/index.html

What a scrappy kid could learn from his experiences in Kiev: The story of a rough kid who fought a dictator in a war zone

Military aid has an effect. It’s a completely different scale, but CNN reported last month the US is running low on some weapons systems and munitions it provides to Ukraine. Expect that to become part of the discussion about US aid after the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives.

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 man who works with sewing machines.

There was a striking happen in the city of Donetsk. A Russian-installed mayor says that the Ukrainian army has launched an attack on the area they control in the eastern part of the country.

Zelensky stood up to Trump when he tried to bamboozle the new politician in the quid pro quo scandal, and that is something that is easy to forget.

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 hugged Putin, but only shook hands with Zelensky.

There is more to Zelensky than the man. It’s almost impossible these days to dissociate the Ukrainian leader from his olive green t-shirts; worn when meeting everyone from Vogue journalists to military commanders and world leaders.

Zelensky’s upbringing in the rough and tumble neighborhoods of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine shaped him into a scrappy kid who learned how to respond to bullies.

“After the full-scale invasion, once he got into a position of being bullied by someone like Vladimir Putin he knew exactly what he needed to do because it was just his gut feeling,” Yevhen Hlibovytsky, former political journalist and founder of the Kyiv-based think tank and consultancy, pro.mova, told me.

The leader when offered an escort by the United States as Russia launched its full scale invasion quipped: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Zelensky’s legacy as an international comedian: Towards a pivotal moment in geopolitics, by threatening a price cap on Russian crude oil

It’s been a long time since a young Zelensky said thank you to his supporters at a campaign rally in a dingy nightclub in the middle of war. He looked in a state of shock as he stood on stage to see that he had defeated Petro Poroshenko.

His ratings have gone up as a result of the war. Zelensky had his ratings go up after the invasion to 90%, and remain high to this day. The Americans rated Zelensky higher for his handling of international affairs than US President Joe Biden.

He had a previous career 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.

I remember well the solace he brought with his nightly televised addresses in the middle of air raid sirens and explosions when he was comforter in chief.

Zelensky dressed in hoodies and T-shirts in Silicon Valley in a way that helped him show his confidence and competence to a younger, global audience that recognized it as such.

She claimed that he is more comfortable in front of the camera than Putin. “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.”

Journeying to where her husband can’t, Zelenska has shown herself to be an effective communicator in international fora – projecting empathy, style and smarts. She met with King Charles at a refugee center in London, where he was visiting. Zelenska wasn’t included on the cover of Time magazine, but there was a reference 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.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be in Washington on Wednesday for the first time since it was invaded 300 days ago to rally his international partner behind their military and economic assistance.

The timing appeared ripe for Zelensky to make a dramatic gesture like slipping out of Ukraine for the first time since the invasion began. For Biden, the visit presents an opportunity to reinforce his convictions for supporting Ukraine, even as the war plods on.

The official said that Zelensky, who the official said was very keen to visit the US, determined the parameters that he needed and the US set to execute them. The trip was finally confirmed on Sunday.

We will continue to do what we do, and Russia will do the same. And that is to not be deterred from our support for Ukraine, and for us and Zelensky to not be deterred to travel as he sees fit to advance his people’s interests,” the official said.

The official said US troops would train Ukrainians to use the system in a third country. The training would occur at a US Army base in Germany according to CNN.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were concerned about Mr. Zelensky’s safety. The risks involved in such a visit — with the wartime leader leaving his country for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine — are high, and tight secrecy would surround any such effort.

Zelensky’s visit to the US Capitol coincides with a critical moment in the fight against Russia’s war on Ukraine and a proposal for bolstering the southern border

Legislation that makes progress for the American people as well as support for our democracy is what we are ending the special session of the Congress with. Please be present for a very special focus on Democracy Wednesday night,” Ms. Pelosi wrote.

The appearance would mark a potentially electrifying moment as Democratic control of the House — and Ms. Pelosi’s reign as speaker and a member of Democratic leadership — comes to a conclusion, with Republicans set to take over on Jan. 3.

Zelensky will experience the same revelation when he arrives in the capital after months in the dark of air raid drills back home.

His visit has extraordinary security. Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t confirm the early reports on Tuesday that she’d welcome Zelensky to the US Capitol, saying, “We don’t know yet.” We just don’t know.”

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. The system would help Kyiv better counter Russia’s brutal missile attacks on cities and electricity installations, which it has mounted in an effective attempt to weaponize bitter winter weather to break the will of Ukrainian civilians.

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Wesley Clark said that Zelensky’s trip reflects a critical moment when the destiny of a war that Ukraine cannot win without upgraded US support could be decided before Russia can regroup.

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. With the GOP in a thin majority, some of the members of the pro-Trump movement have warned that billions of dollars sent to Ukrainians should be used to bolster the US southern border, which is expected to see hundreds of thousands of new migrants in the coming days.

Zelensky’s memory of the First Day of World War II: a memory of a time spent away from the family but still at home

Zelensky evoked the Statue of Liberty and the words of Martin Luther King in a virtual address to Congress. In modern history, there were two days of infamy when Americans were afraid of aerial bombardment.

The British leader sailed to the US on Christmas Day, dodging U-boats in the chilly Atlantic and then taking a plane to Washington, where he met President Franklin Roosevelt the next day.

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, the man who knew the secret to victory in World War II said he was far away from his family but he still felt at home.

The historical parallels are likely to be appreciated by the Ukrainian leader. In March, he spoke to a group of British lawmakers about how emotional his wartime speech had been.