For the first time in public, Putin calls the Ukrainian conflict a war

The Russian Revolution in Ukraine: A “Momentum Implication” for the Early Post-World War and for the Security and Security of the West

He said that the area of independent Ukrainian, which also includes the peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in the summer of 2014, would also be included. As it will always be.

The annexations serve the interests of the Kremlin. Russia only partly occupies the four provinces, and Mr. Putin and his top aides have asserted that Moscow will then be defending its own territory from attacks by Ukraine, rather than the other way around.

Putin, however, attempted to claim that the referendums reflected the will of “millions” of people, despite reports from the ground suggesting that voting took place essentially – and in some cases, literally – at gunpoint.

He said this is the year whenUkraine changed the world and the world discovered it. They were told to surrender. We chose to fight back. The people were told to make compromises. We’re joining the European Union.

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.

Zelensky revealed that he gave a peace plan to Biden, but Putin seems more prepared to fight than negotiate. The US and NATO seem to be giving in to Putin’s demands, slackening their support for Kyiv. The most important speech Ukrainian leader has given since the start of the war is this one, a copy of which was given to Congress in December 1941.

Russia will still go ahead with its plans to fly its flag over over 100,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, despite a wide 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 Moscow-backed separatist leaders and Kremlin-appointed officials from the four regions, as senior Russian lawmakers and dignitaries looked on.

Mr. Dugin sought to cast victory in Ukraine as essential to Russia’s survival in an existential battle against the West, which he referred to as a “mortal enemy.”

He showed how Western military actions include the British Opium War in China in the 19th century, as well as the Allied firebombing of Germany and the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

Outside the Kremlin: What has the Russian Army Learned in the Last Day of World War II. The Russian-Dominated Donbas

The threat of nuclear war was raised by Russian President Putin who suggested that the country could change its policy of not using nuclear weapons first. The military infrastructure was hit by strikes deep inside Russia. Russia blamed Ukrainians for the strikes.

There were differing reports of the attacks. More than 120 missiles had been fired in the bombardment, but no further details were offered by an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said the intent of the attack was to “destroy critical infrastructure and kill civilians en masse.”

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

The moves follow staged referendums held in occupied territory during a war in defiance of international law. Many civilian populations in the provinces have fled fighting since the beginning of the war, and people who did vote were often held 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.

There are many hurdles that Mr. Putin needs to overcome to reestablish his control over the war, including a recently drafted hundreds of thousands of civilians into military service that was opposed in Russia.

Mr. Putin is expected to deliver a “voluminous” speech, his spokesman said. He is likely to downplay his military’s struggles in Ukraine and rising domestic dissent. He will probably ignore worldwide denunciations of discredited referendums held in occupied Ukraine on joining Russia, where some were made to vote at gunpoint.

“The people made their choice,” said Putin in his speech at the signing ceremony. He said that the choice wouldn’t be betrayed by Russia.

Putin wants his negotiations to be with Biden and his allies, rather than with Ukraine according to Hill. And that means recognizing what we have done on the ground in Ukraine.”

There was a rally and concert planned for Outside the Kremlin, which said Russia and the newly integrated territories are together forever.

Over the course of a week, there were referendums in Russian-occupied territories that appeared to show overwhelming support for 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.

Once again, Western powers accused Russia this month of using the guise of staged votes to justify its annexation of Ukraine’s territory — often at the barrel of a gun.

Legislative approval of the annexation, which is illegal under international law, is expected to be a formality, although it will take a couple of days. Putin and his allies have effectively control both branches of the Russian legislature, and this has reduced the space for political dissent in Russia.

As it works to deploy additional 300,000 troops to strengthen its military campaign, a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian military has taken over territory in the south and northeast of the country.

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

Lloyd Austin said that there has been a “sort of change in the battlefield dynamics” and that he believed that Ukraine was making progress in their fight against Russia.

The Ukrainians have been aided in their fight against the Russians by the American supplied anti-tank Javelin missiles and HIMARS, and the US put those fears to rest quickly.

The first Ukrainian official and another source familiar with the requests said the Ukrainians want cluster munitions compatible with both the US-provided HIMARS rocket launchers and the 155 mm howitzers, and have argued that the munitions would allow Ukrainian troops to more effectively attack larger, more dispersed targets like concentrations of Russian soldiers and vehicles.

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

Zelensky, Kortunov, Putin, Putin and the Russian nuclear crisis: How do the West and Russia view the situation?

Zelensky has been the international personification of Ukrainian resistance over the course of the 10-month invasion and he has appealed to nations for support for a long time. He has remained inside his country for the duration of the war, a reflection both of his desire to rally alongside his besieged country and the precarious security situation he would face outside Ukraine.

Andrey Kortunov, who runs the Kremlin-backed Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow, sees it, too. He told CNN that President Putin wanted to end it as quickly as possible.

Russian independent media said the total exodus was even higher. They say more military age men have fled the country since conscription – 261,000 – than have so far fought in the war – an estimated 160,000 to 190,000.

Russia has complained repeatedly about these deliveries and been relatively calm in its response to the crossing of red lines, as recently as January.

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. A lot of people would ask why we got into this mess. Why, you know, we lost so many people.”

He used the same playbook annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and now, like then, threatens potential nuclear strikes should Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, try to take the annexed territories back.

Applying the special case of negotiation, with few parameters and a small range of outcomes, to a complex, fluid and much wider rivalry is a category error. There isn’t any special category of actions that the West or Ukraine can take that will automatically cause the Russian nuclear situation to get worse. Russia has no red lines: It only has, at each moment, a range of options and perceptions of their relative risks and benefits. The West should continually aim, through its diplomacy, to shape these perceptions so that Russia chooses the options that the West prefers.

The Russian withdrawal from the Nord Stream as a test of Putin’s war on Ukraine is a warning to Europe, Russia, and the West

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.

Within hours, roiling patches of sea were discovered, the Danes and the Germans sent warships to secure the area, and Norway increased security around its oil and gas facilities.

Hill thinks that sabotage of the Nord Stream could be a last resort by Putin to keep the gas issues alive. And it’s not going to be possible for Europe to continue to build up its gas reserves for the winter. So what Putin is doing is throwing absolutely everything at this right now.”

Brennan’s analysis is that Russia is the most likely culprit for the sabotage, and that Putin is likely trying to send a message: “It’s a signal to Europe that Russia can reach beyond Ukraine’s borders. So who knows what he might be planning next.”

As Europe rushed to replenish gas reserves before winter, and as Putin throttled back demands for Russian supplies, they looked for other suppliers and had to return to the drawing board.

Kuleba wrote in a tweeted thatPutin is desperate due to battlefield defeats and uses missile terror to try to change the pace of war in his favor. And Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency claimed in a statement on Monday that Moscow had been planning a “massive” missile attack on Ukraine since early last week.

As a year dominated by Russia’s war on Ukraine draws to a close, Vladimir Putin has made a point of suggesting he is open to peace talks despite evidence to the contrary, with comments that have been roundly dismissed by Kyiv and the West as a ruse at a time when the prospect of negotiations in the near future appears extremely remote.

Putin is expected to put pressure on the Ukrainians to end the war first, and then on France and Germany to protect their territories at all costs.

Putin knows that he is in a tough position, but doesn’t realize how small an area he has, and that is worrying because he may not be able to make good on his nuclear threats.

The Russian withdrawal 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.

The losses have sparked an unusual amount of criticism from pro-Russian propagandists critical in recent days. One prominent Russian pro-government tabloid, Komsomolskaya Pravda, said Russian forces had to retreat in the strategically important city of Lyman because they lacked manpower and communicated poorly, and commanding officers there made “mistakes.”

Kadyrov wrote on Telegram that Lapin was to blame for failing to adequately provide for his troops and moving his headquarters away from his subordinates.

On the Russian-annexed peninsula of the Crimeans, the governor of the city of Sevastopol announced a situation at an airfield. Explosions and huge billows of smoke could be seen from a distance by beachgoers in the Russian-held resort. At the Belbek airfield, authorities said there was a plane that rolled off the runway and that some of the equipment on it caught fire.

Zelensky’s administration is going to have a complex path ahead if they liberate the peninsula from Russia and most Ukrainians think that is a victory. The tough guy from Rih has shown no sign of backing down.

The governor of the region, Oleh SynieHubov, said that 24 people were killed in an attack this week on a convoy trying to flee the district. He called it “сruelty that can’t be justified.” He said 13 children and a pregnant woman were among the dead.

Photographs of the destroyed convoy were posted by the Security Service ofUkraine, a secret police force. 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. Bodies lay on the side of the road or still inside vehicles, which appeared pockmarked with bullet holes.

The collapse of the Zaporizhzhua nuclear power plant in Ukraine and Russian security assistance to Ukraine during the recent invasion of Crimea

According to the Ukrainian state nuclear company, the director-general of the Zaporizhzhua Nuclear Power Plant was seized by Russian forces on Friday, in an effort to secure Moscow’s hold on the annexed territory.

Russia did not comment on the report. The IaE said that the director-general of the nuclear power plant in Russia was arrested to answer questions.

“Today the enemy carried out another massive attack on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine,” Halushchenko said in a post on Facebook. There is damage to generation facilities and power grids.

At least two people were killed in attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said four rockets had hit the city — likely S300s — and that critical infrastructure was the intended target.

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce an additional $1.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s expected visit to the White House. The significant boost in aid is expected to be headlined by the Patriot missile defense systems that are included in the package, a US official told CNN.

It comes two days after an eruption damaged a crucial bridge to Crimea and dealt a strategic blow to the Kremlin. A wounded Vladimir Putin, who has also seen weeks of Russian losses on the battlefield, had been under pressure to respond with force following the explosion, which Putin on Sunday blamed on Kyiv and described as an act of terror.

The Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote an article about the desertion, poor planning and delayed arrival of reserves that occurred in the last days of their occupation.

On Russia’s flagship Sunday political show, “News of the Week,” on Channel 1, the fall of Lyman wasn’t even mentioned until after more than an hour of laudatory coverage of Russia’s growth from 85 to 89 regions in an annexation most of the world views as illegal.

The Russian army is not fighting a war: Vladimir Putin tells the people of Ukraine and warns them not to fight their own ill-will

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 no longer toys here. They are part of a systematic and clear offensive by the army and NATO forces,” the unnamed deputy commander of one Russian battalion told the show’s war correspondent, Evgeny Poddubny. The soldier insisted that his unit had been intercepting discussions by Romanian and Polish soldiers, not Ukrainians, on their radios.

The saying goes that truth is the first casualty in war. In Russia, the Kremlin has used false advertising to sell their invasion ofUkraine to the public.

The idea that Russia is fighting a bigger campaign than just its own was brought up in an interview with the father of a woman killed in a car bomb.

The Nord Stream gas pipe, which runs from Russia to Germany, burst after underwater explosions last month and the Russian and European leaders accused the Western countries of sabotage.

“The West already accuses us of blowing up the gas pipeline ourselves,” he said. We must understand the war on the scale and extent that it is unfolding. We need to join this battle with a mortal enemy who is going to use every means to destroy us.

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

Moscow and Tehran have sought to foment their ideologies beyond their borders. That’s why the struggles of the Ukrainian and Iranian people will have repercussions beyond their countries.

At his meeting, Putin discussed the mobilization of 300,000 reservists that he ordered in September to bolster forces in Ukraine. He said only about 150,000 have been deployed so far to combat zones and the rest are still undergoing training. Russia’s president said there is no necessity for the Defense Ministry or the country to prepare for another deployment.

Putin has installed pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine. Protests in 2004, pushed back the Ukrainians. And then again a decade later, leading Ukraine’s president to flee to Russia in 2014.

European leaders have been clear in their support for defending Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, with several countries including Germany, Poland and the Netherlands recently giving the green light to provide Kyiv with heavy battle tanks.

You can read past recaps here. You can get more of NPR’s coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR’s State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.

The Ukrainian president said on Sunday that the country had taken back the village of Lyman and the Ukrainian military said they had captured Drobysheve and other nearby villages.

Putin’s latest tweets condemn Ukraine as an artificial state: The Kyiv Post wrote: “Kudos is the enemy of the Russian people”

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

Putin is increasingly isolated on the world stage. He was the only head of state to stay away from the G20, which Zelensky dubbed the G19. Putin used to want to return to the G7 (formerly known as the G8 before he was ousted), but now he is out of the picture. Russia’s sudden ban on 100 Canadians, including Canadian-American Jim Carrey, from entering the country only made the comparison with North Korea more striking.

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.

Russian troops may have been left behind as civilians to fight the Ukrainians in street battles or sabotage operations, according to Ukrainian officials.

Russian officials, on the other hand, welcomed Musk’s tweets. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and a former Russian president and prime minister, tweeted Musk “kudos” and predicted Musk’s next tweet would say that “Ukraine is an artificial state.”

The vast majority of respondents voted against Musk’s poll. Musk appeared to blame a “Bot attack” for the results.

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.

His latest musings were not received well by Ukrainian officials, after a monthslong war that has left a trail of untold destruction in the region.

The Kyiv Post wrote a reply to Musk saying that he was born in South Africa. Hey Elon, you’re a great guy and I appreciate the Starlink. It would be wonderful to vote on things that you know about. We don’t carry out votes on apartheid and Nelson Mandela,” the publication wrote.

Musk continued to say in his initial thread that there was little chance of victory for the Ukrainians despite their recent gains, including the vital transport hub of Lyman.

Musk’s foreign policy commentary came one day after Tesla announced lower-than-expected delivery and production numbers for the third quarter and days after the car company unveiled an underwhelming humanoid robot. 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 between Ukrainians and Iranians over the last two weeks: An Israeli woman killed by a violent crime-of-crime in Iran

A world affairs columnist is a former CNN producer and correspondent, Frida Ghitis. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. Her views are not included in this commentary. 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. When they met, they cheered each other, and chanted, “All together we will win.”

This is a conflict like few, if any, in recent memory, with grave and far-reaching consequences. The ramifications we have already seen underscore just how important it is – and not only for Ukraine – that Russia’s aggression not succeed.

These battles are inspiring courage in places like Afghanistan, and are almost unimaginable to the rest of us.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month sparked a fire in Iran. Known as “Zhina,” she died in the custody of morality police who detained her for breaking the relentlessly, violently enforced rules requiring women to 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.

Their peaceful uprising is not really about the hijab; it’s about cutting the shackles of oppression, which is why men have joined them in large numbers, even as the regime kills more and more protesters.

Putin’s First Trip Outside the Soviet Union and Iran’s Attempts to Save Bashar al-Assad: Wars in the Shadow of Moscow and Tehran

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).

The destruction shows how indiscriminate bombing continues to be the preferred tactic by the Kremlin. Moscow’s vaunted hacking capabilities, meanwhile, continue to play a peripheral, rather than central, role in the Kremlin’s efforts to dismantle Ukrainian critical infrastructure.

The repressive regimes in Moscow and Tehran, which are considered pariahs by many countries, have been supported by a relatively small number 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 two regimes have similar tactics of oppression and desire to project power abroad, as well as being very different in their ideologies.

Multiple Putin critics have suffered mysterious deaths. Some of them have fallen out of windows. According to the Freedom House, Iran and Russia have become leading practitioners of suppression in foreign countries.

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. Iran’s constitution calls for spreading its revolution.

The assassination of a Russian Nationalist by a Kremlin-Staler attacker and its possible U.S. involvement

Putin is a tragic example of how delusions and illusions of a single person can be allowed to shape events without any challenge. Those autocrats who put their cronies into key positions, control the media and order their subordinates to follow the most foolish orders are able to command their subordinates.

Mr. Zlatev and his partner took their first stab at international arms dealing. The contract documents obtained by The New York Times show that the deal relied on layers of middlemen and transit across seven countries. And it exists in a legal gray area, designed to skirt the arms-export rules of other countries.

“Time is of the essence,” the pair recently wrote to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. They had a plan to sell weapons to Ukranian.

And a second senior administration official provided the following summary of air defense aid provided to Ukraine from the US: “We have transferred more than 1,400 Stinger anti-air systems to Ukraine, as well as air surveillance and multi-mission radars. We were able to facilitate the transfer of air defense systems from our Allies to Ukraine. And in August, President Biden announced a new assistance package for Ukraine that included orders for 8 new NASAMS—National Advanced Surface to Air Missile Systems. We will continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to defend itself.”

U.S. intelligence agencies believe that parts of the Ukrainian government authorized a car bomb attack that killed the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, something that officials fear could widen the conflict.

US officials said that the United States did not in any way take part in the attack. They would have opposed the kill if they’d been briefed on it before it happened. American officials admonished their Ukrainian counterparts over the assassination, they said.

The cost of chaos: the Russian war in Ukraine, and the role of the US in warfighting with the Soviets. CNN’s Peter Bergen

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 reason for the war in Ukraine, according to his revisionist account, is because Russia has always been part of it and even though Ukraine decided to break from the Soviet Union over three decades ago, it still remained part of Russia.

A new book by a historian claims that the Soviets planned to set up a puppet government and leave Afghanistan after taking over the country in 1979.

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.

Russia is weak but it will be stronger. This is a period where the United States needs to pour in the support. … This is the window, President Zelensky knows it – if he is going to defeat, with US support, the Russian aggression in Ukraine,” Clark said.

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.

The Romanov monarchy was weakened in 1905 when Russia lost in the war with Japan. The Russian Revolution was born out of Czar Nicholas II’s leadership during the First World War. The Romanov family was killed by the Bolsheviks.

On February 22 – just two days before Russia’s invasion – former US President Donald Trump, who has always fawned over Putin, publicly said that the Russian autocrat was “genius” and “savvy” for declaring two regions of eastern Ukraine independent and moving his troops there in a prelude to full-blown invasion.

“Our Russian city of Valuyki… is under constant fire,” he said. “We learn about this from all sorts of folks, from governors, Telegram channels, our war correspondents. But no one else. The reports from the Ministry of Defense are the same as always. They said they killed Nazis with 300 rockets and other weapons. People know. Our people are not stupid. But they don’t want to even tell part of the truth. This can lead to a loss of credibility.”

The Russian leader’s reputation for providing “stability” was once a key factor for his support among people who remember the chaotic years after the fall of the USSR.

Kadyrov is a Russian Arch-Femst, and Russia is not afraid of taking measures to prevent the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine

In an interview with Russian arch-femst, the Head of the defense committee in the State Duma demanded that officials stop lying to the public.

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 close to the border with Ukraine. When it comes to striking Russian targets across the border, Kyiv tends to adopt neither-confirm-nor-deny stance.

Boris Rozhin, who also blogs about the war effort under the nickname Colonelcassad, said that “incompetence and an inability to grasp the experience of war continue to be a serious problem.”

But after Russia’s retreat from the strategic Ukrainian city of Lyman, Kadyrov has been a lot less shy about naming names when it comes to blaming Russian commanders.

ISW said the Russian information space has deviated significantly from the narratives preferred by the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense that things are under control.

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.

Russian president Vladimir Putin meets with Security Council on Monday after massive explosion on a critical bridge linking Crimea and Russia, the day after the invasion of Ukraine

On a day when the prize was given to human rights activists in Russia, it was clear that the peace prize had been awarded to someone who was responsible for the invasion of Ukraine.

According to the head of the military administration of the region, the Russian rockets hit at least ten homes in Nikopol and caused other damage. He said that one man died and another was wounded in Friday’s shelling.

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.

The meeting comes at a critical point for the Kremlin as it faces a series of unenviable choices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which it has been accused of orchestrating.

The bridge is estimated to hold 3.7 billion liters of water. On Saturday, Russian deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said that a damage survey would be completed in a day, and divers would check the supports of the bridge.

The ministry of transport said the first passenger services began crossing the bridge on Saturday from the peninsula to Krasnodar Krai.

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 traveling by ferry since the blast.

Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the blast on the enormous 19-kilometer (about 12-mile) bridge, which was built after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, an annexation regarded by the West as illegal.” The crossing was opened by Putin himself in 2018, and Ukrainian reaction to the explosion has been gleeful and triumphant.

Peskov was asked by RIA whether the attack on the bridge could trigger an activation of Russia’s nuclear doctrine because it was “aimed at destroying critical civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation.”

The Luhansk area is still a nuclear city: a terrorist attack since the Cuban missile crisis in 2009 and the death of a German Shepherd

The Luhansk village is less than 12 miles from the crucial post of Svatove, and photographs of Ukrainian troops there were acknowledged by Hayday.

“First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use (of a) nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going,” Biden warned during remarks at a Democratic fundraiser in New York on Friday.

The Russian Defense Ministry, in a statement cited by the state media outlets RIA Novosti and TASS, described the shootings as a terrorist attack. It said the two gunmen were from a former Soviet nation and had fired on the soldiers during target practice at a firing range.

“We have already established the route of the truck,” he said, adding that it had been to Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and Krasnodar — a region in southern Russia — among other places.

Emergency services were digging through the rubble of a three-storey residential building that was hit by a Russian missile in the central city of Kryvyi Rih. The deputy head of the presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that people may be under the rubble.

Tetyana Lazunko, 73, and her husband, Oleksii, took shelter in the hallway of their top-floor apartment after hearing air raid sirens. The explosion shook the building and sent their possessions flying. The couple inspected the damage to the home they’ve lived in for almost 50 years.

Three volunteers dug a shallow grave for a dead German Shepherd in a neighborhood that had been ravaged by a missile, the dog’s leg blown away by the blast.

The Russian-American bridge explosion in Kiev on Sunday afternoon: “I’m sorry, but I am afraid I can’t do that”

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. The attack and response, he said, has “inspired the opposition, while the loyalists are demoralized.”

When the authorities claim that everything is going well and we are winning, it demoralizes them.

Crimea is a popular vacation resort for Russians. There were hours-long traffic jams on Sunday as people tried to drive to the bridge from the Russian mainland.

The first 20 bodies have been exhumed from a mass grave in the devastated Ukrainian city of Lyman, which was recently re-captured by the Ukrainian army. 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 and military were both 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.

As of Monday afternoon, the electricity supply had been cut in Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, and Ternopil, said the Ukrainian State Emergency Services. Some electricity was partially disrupted in other parts of the country.

China and India both want the situation in Ukraine to be de-escalated. India expressed “deep concern” by the increasing conflict and urged a cessation of hostilities and return to the path of dialogue. ” Other European leaders have also condemned the attack.

Ukraine’s long-range strikes have coincided with a depletion of Russian cruise and tactical ballistic missiles. Russia has enough missiles for two to three waves of strikes on Ukraine’s electrical grid in the fall and early winter, according to the Ukrainian military intelligence chief.

The head of the Russian-backed city administration said that Ukraine launched Grad missiles at 5:54 a.m. local time on Sunday.

The Russian president tersely compared the difference in reactions to attacks on Russia and attacks on Ukraine, saying, “as soon as we make a move, do something in response – noise, clamor, crackle for the whole universe.”

Kiev air raids: a warning to Ukrainians that Russia is attacking Ukraine and that Ukraine is going to attack Ukraine, not the Ukraine, but the United Nations

The metro system was shut down for several hours on Monday. 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.

According to the head of annexed Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, there have changed Russia’s approach to its military operation in Ukraine.

“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 enemy is aggressively attacking Ukraine. There is increased danger. Stay in shelters,” Oleksiy Kuleba, the head of the Kyiv regional military administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, asking residents not to ignore the alarm.

Ukraine’s allies understand this need. Ahead of a meeting in Brussels Wednesday of Ukraine’s supporters, General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that “after Russia attacked the Ukrainian civilian population, we will be looking for air defense options that will help the Ukrainians.”

He made an emotional plea inBrussels, with so many Ukrainians dying, he lacked the right to make it. I need the results to come back home.

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 civil society is outraged: a strike against the city’s main passenger terminal in Dnipro and other cities

The office of the Chancellor of Germany confirmed to CNN that the G7 will hold an emergency meeting via video conference on Tuesday and Zelensky said he would address that meeting.

There are several deaths across the country and five people are in the capital, which hasn’t been hit since June. The strike is close to the center of the city, coming just over 1000 yards from the office of the Ukrainian President.

President Zelenskyy said in a video posted to social media that the strikes disproportionately targeted civilian infrastructure in 11 of Ukraine’s 25 regions, including power plants and water heating facilities.

The National Philharmonic concert halls in Kyiv were damaged, according to the Ukraine Culture Minister. According to the National Railway of Ukraine, a nearby strike caused the country’s main passenger terminal to be damaged.

Ihor Makovtsev, head of the department of transportation for the Dnipro city council, stood by the wrecked vehicle as he explained that it happened at rush hour. He added that the bus driver and four passengers had been taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

“All our transportation is only for civilian purposes, and that’s why it’s very difficult to find any logic to their work,” Makovtsev said.

A young man’s cry after the Chechnya transaction killed his wife, who was drinking his breakfast, and whose glass shattered

An 81-year-old man looks out from a balcony next to a bus stop. There was shattered glass on the ground. He went to make breakfast just after the blast, even though he had been watering the plants on his balcony.

He said that the explosion blew open all of his cabinets, and nearly knocked him to the ground. Five minutes before that, I would have been on the balcony, full of glass.

The US will prolong the Ukrainian people’s suffering, the Kremlin said after the transaction.

Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s leader, who has been loyal to Putin, said in a letter to Zelenskyy that Russia hadn’t really started yet.

Michael Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is on CNN Opinion. The opinions are of his own. CNN has more opinion.

The attack of the Kerch Straight bridge on Monday night killed 17 people and injured 20 others, and killed more by air raid sirens in Odesa, Ukraine

In the wake of the explosion that hit the hugely strategic and symbolic Kerch Straight bridge over the weekend, fears of reprisal by the Kremlin were never far away.

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. Typically at this time of the day, nearby restaurants would be heaving with customers, and chatter of upcoming weddings and parties.

Just hours before Monday, Zaporizhzhia was hit by a series of strikes on apartment buildings as people slept. At least 17 people were killed and many more were injured.

Residents bundled in winter coats, hats and scarves gathered in Kyiv’s underground stations as the sirens wailed. Huddled on escalators, their faces were lit by their phones as they scrolled through updates.

Businesses in the Ukranian cities have been asked to shift work online as much as possible and millions of people will be spending most of the day in bomb shelters.

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 first Ukrainian bridge opened by a truck: a message of desperation and hope for the future of the Kerch bridge, Europe’s longest sea crossing

Hardwiring 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. One of the first things Beijing did after regaining control of Macau and Hong Kong was to build the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The road bridge opened after a couple of years of delays.

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

The message was clear to see. Putin does not intend to be humiliated. He will not admit defeat. After a series of battlefield reversal, he is prepared to cause carnage and terror.

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.

Earlier in the week, the leader of the military intelligence of Ukraine said he expects forces to move in to the peninsula by the summer.

Mr. Zelensky described moments of despair and triumph, as the new year approached, and celebrated the resolve of his fellow Ukrainians. The first missiles in February, he said, “destroyed our labyrinth of illusions” but had also shown Ukrainians “what we are capable of.”

The Power of Zelensky and Biden: Protecting Ukraine Against Russian Insurgence, Weaponism and Irregular Forces

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. A weak reaction will be taken as evidence that the Kremlin 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.

The time has also come for the West to further isolate Russia with trade and travel restrictions – but for that to have sufficient impact, Turkey and Gulf states, which receive many Russian tourists, need to be pressured to come on board.

On the surface, Zelensky and Biden are still a good partnership. Zelensky was effusive in his praise of Biden as he went from the Oval Office to Capitol Hill.

Regardless of the future truth of the matter, Biden wants Putin to hear headline figures and push European partners to help more, and makeUkraine’s resources seem unlimited.

Ned Price said the United States would continue to prioritize sending air defense systems to help protect Ukrainians against Russian aggression.

As of a Department of Defense briefing in late September, the US had yet to deliver NASAMS to Ukraine. At the time, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said two systems were expected to be delivered in the next two months, with the remaining six to arrive at an undetermined date.

The National Security Council will likely announce more support packages for Ukraine soon, according to John Kirby.

Kirby stated that he could only say that he is feeling the pressure both at home and overseas.

The attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure during the June 11 terrorist attack on Ukraine: the impact of Putin’s regime on the war in Ukraine

The attacks have caused city dwellers to fear new strikes, and snatched away the sense of safety that had been regained after months of fighting in subways turned into air raid shelters.

The targets on Monday did have little military value and it was because of Putin that he was searching for new targets.

The two headline packages could have an impact on the war. The bombardment ofenergy infrastructure is a potent threat from Russia. It is making winter unbearably cold and difficult for some, forcing them to go dark for 12 hours a day in order to make up for the lack of sunlight.

The deadly attacks on civilians in Europe have renewed attention to the fact that the United States and its allies will need to respond to the war in Ukraine with lots of weapons and other supplies.

Kirby was unable to say if Putin had begun to shift his strategy from a losing battle to a campaign to destroyUkrainian cities and infrastructure and that it was a trend that had already been in the works.

But French President Emmanuel Macron underscored Western concerns that Monday’s rush-hour attacks in Ukraine could be the prelude to another pivot in the conflict.

“He was telegraphing about where he is going to go as we get into the winter. He is going to try to force the Ukrainian population to compromise, to give up territory, by going after this infrastructure,” Vindman said on CNN’s “New Day.”

Zhovkva thinks that the number of drones and missiles downed and not killing innocent civilians could be increased if we had modern equipment.

It’s hard to imagine any other country being permitted by the world to wage the kind of campaign Russia has in Ukraine (and in Syria before it); still less with an overt agenda of exterminating the Ukrainian people.

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.

Russia and Ukraine: the return of fear and violence to the lives of Ukrainians from a new round of Russian “terror” after the invasion of Ukraine

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.

WARSAW — President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus announced on Monday that Russian troops would return to his country in large numbers, a replay of the military buildup there that preceded Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.

After a meeting with Putin in St.Petersburg, Mr. Lukashenko told military and security officials that this wouldn’t be just a thousand troops.

He didn’t give any information about what the new joint force would do or how it would help Russia. Alternatively, he could be preparing his country for the arrival of thousands of freshly drafted Russian soldiers, some of them former convicts and many of them ill trained.

Some help for Putin may be on the way, however. The announcement by Alexander Lukashenko that a regional group of troops would be created by Russia and Belarus raised fears of deeper military cooperation between the close allies and that the troops of Belarus could join Russia in its invasion. According to observers, there is a chance that this is part of a plan to involve the country in some kind of military activity.

The establishment of a joint force with Russia will reinforce the view in Ukraine that Belarus is clearly a “co-aggressor,” a label that Mr. Lukashenko has rejected but which took on new force on Monday after a barrage of Russian missile attacks on Kyiv and elsewhere, some of them launched from Belarusian territory, according to Ukrainian officials.

In his visit to St. Petersburg, Mr. Lukashenko made reference to the possibility of deployment of nuclear weapons in Poland, a comment that some analysts think is related to the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Russia.

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.

The Ukrainian War of 1812-1912 Revisited: The War Is Wrong and the Future is in the Past, and the Challenge Is Right Now

On Monday, state television not only reported on the suffering, but also flaunted it. In central Kyiv there was smoke and carnage and empty store shelves, with a long range forecast that said it would be cold for months.

A Ukrainian state-owned military contractor has said it developed a long-range drone that would, theoretically, be able to hit Moscow. Russia said Ukraine used Soviet-era, jet-powered reconnaissance drones to hit air bases on Dec. 5.

The calculation for Russia is simple: A percentage of the projectiles are bound to get through.

Last Monday, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, claimed that Russia had nearly exhausted its arsenal of high-precision weapons, but that it still had enough supplies to inflict harm. He added that Iran has not delivered any ballistic missile to Russia – analysis echoed by John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council (NSC).

The Pentagon believed that Russia had the worst inventory of air launched cruise missiles in the world, but that it still had more than 50% of its pre-war inventory.

The 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. They are designed to take out aircraft carriers. Dozens of people were killed in 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 hard to intercept, and they have devastated areas such as Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia. But they are hardly accurate.

He explained to Richard that Russia had targeted energy infrastructure for the first time during the war.

As the war nears the one-year mark, there has also been a steady escalation in the types of weaponry supplied to Ukraine. Retired Air Force Lt. General Dave Deptula welcomes the addition of the Patriot system, but says that more is required. “Wars are won not just with good defense, but also with advanced precision weaponry and long-range surface to surface missiles,” Deptula said, urging the US to provide Ukraine with fighter aircraft, advanced precision weaponry and longer-range surface to surface missiles.

The drones were shot down by the Air Force Command of Ukraine, along with two Russianmade Orlan drones and a X-59 missile.

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 system is considered one of the most capable long-range weapons to defend against missiles, as well as some aircraft. Because of its long-range and high- altitude capabilities, it can shoot down Russian aircraft and missiles that are far away from their intended targets.

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 just the beginning. And we need more,” Reznikov said Wednesday before tweeting as he met with Ukraine’s donors at the Brussels meeting:” Item #1 on today’s agenda is strengthening (Ukraine’s) air defense. I feel optimistic.

Ukraine “badly needed” modern systems such as the IRIS-T that arrived this week from Germany and the NASAMS expected from the United States , Bronk said.

Moscow’s Second War: a Strong Signal to the Security Council of Ukraine and to the General Council of Foreign Ministers (General Reissner), Attorney General Vitaliev Vlasov

General Valerii Zaluzhnyi gave thanks to Poland for training a battalion of air defense that had destroyed nine Shaheeds.

He said Poland had given Ukraine “systems” to help destroy the drones. There were rumors that the Polish government had purchased advanced Israeli equipment, and that they would be transferring it to Ukranian.

This week, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told the international community just how much money his country currently needed to rebuild and keep its economy afloat: $57 billion. The figures were given to the boards of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Zelensky estimated that $17 billion was needed to rebuild schools, hospitals, transport systems and housing, with $2 billion going toward exports to Europe and restoring Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Some five days after the bombing, images captured hundreds of cargo trucks backed up and waiting to cross from the peninsula into Russia on a ferry. The images taken by Maxar Technologies show a big backup at the port and a large line of trucks at an airport that is apparently being used as a staging area.

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 strikes in the Belgorod region next to Ukraine and the destruction of the municipal administration building in Donetsk, a city firmly controlled by Russia and its proxies since 2014, sent a powerful signal that the mayhem unleashed by President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion is spreading far beyond the front lines.

The war is moving towards a new phase after it had been there before. Keir Giles is a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House and he says this is the third war they have been observing.

But the simple calculus remains unchanged; a conflict that many experts thought would be over within days or weeks has instead become a grueling war that Ukraine may be able to win, so any deal that diminishes the country’s borders or represents some form of victory for Putin would be unacceptable to Kyiv.

Ukrainian troops hoist the country’s flag above a building in Vysokopillya, in the southern Kherson region, last month. The counter-offensive began and the Ukrainian officials claim to have liberated hundreds of settlements.

The counter-offensives of the past month have shifted the war’s momentum and proved that while Ukraine could defend its territory, it did not have the ability to seize ground.

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

The Russians would be happy with a Christmas with the frontline looking like it is.

It would be important for Ukraine to get a major blow in Donbas, as temperatures plummet on the battlefield, and because rising energy prices will have an impact on Europe.

“There are so many reasons why there is an incentive for Ukraine to get things done quickly,” Giles said. “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.”

The UK spy chief said that Russian commanders on the ground knew that their supplies were running out.

That conclusion was also reached by the ISW, which said in its daily update on the conflict Monday that the strikes “wasted some of Russia’s dwindling precision weapons against civilian targets, as opposed to militarily significant targets.”

The Biden administration is sending a missile system to Ukraine, and the system is being viewed as a way to protect the Ukrainian electrical grid. The new package of weapons that is included will help Ukraine on the offensive.

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 reopening of the northern front would be a new challenge for Ukranian. 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.

It can succeed in the battlefield, if we all help and support President Zelensky, who will have won on the battlefield if he talks to the Russians.

Ahead of a NATO defense ministers meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stubbenberg said that Ukraine needed more systems to help stop missile attacks.

Pro-Kremlin commentators on social media say a Russian commander has been deployed to the front for his role in the downing of the Malaysian airliner. 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 a big part in Russia’s operations in Syria, as the commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces during which Russian combat aircraft caused widespread destruction in rebel-held areas.

Analysts say that Putin didn’t like previous command operations and that his unhappiness with how Russian forces are carrying out the war is unlikely to change. Mason Clark is the Russia Lead at the Institute for the Study of War, and he said that it is meant to unify the nationalist and pro-war base within Russia.

Russian President Putin met with military personnel who took part in operations in Syria at the Kremlin on December 28, 2017.

Surovikin personally signed Irisov’s resignation papers from the air force, he says. The impact the general will or will not have on the war in Ukranian 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 lives in the suburb of Bucha, which was ravaged in the first days of the war. After the Russians invaded Ukraine, Viatrovych sent his wife and son to western Ukraine for safety.

The man worked in air traffic control and aviation safety while he was at the Latakia air base. He talked to the high-ranking officers under him while he was in charge of some missions.

“He made a lot of people very angry – they hated him,” Irisov said, describing how the “direct” and “straight” general was disliked at headquarters because of the way he tried to implement his infantry experience into the air force.

TheWagner group is a private military company that has operated in Syria and has connections to the Kremlin.

The Russian media reported that in 2004, he berated a subordinate so much he took his own life.

The book states that during the failed coup attempt against Gorbachev, three protesters were killed, and that he was sentenced to 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. ​The attacks killed at least 1,600 ​civilians and forced the displacement of an estimated 1.4 million people, according to HRW​​, which cites UN figures.

The role of Sergey Surovikin in the decision-making of Russian forces: a reflection of what Alexander Dvornikov had to do in Ukraine

After an awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia”, he addressed a group of soldiers, holding a glass of champagne.

In February this year, Surovikin was sanctioned by the European Union in his capacity as head of the Aerospace Forces “for actively supporting and implementing actions and policies that undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as the stability or security in Ukraine.”

Clark believes that Putin is involved in decision-making down to the tactical level and in some cases he is not Russian military officers but someone else.

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 thinks it is a reflection of the events in April when Alexander Dvornikov became the overall commander of the operations in Ukraine.

“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.

According to Clark, “there isn’t a good Kremlin option if Surovikin doesn’t perform or if Putin decides that he is also not up to the task. There aren’t many other senior Russian officers and it’s just going to lead to a further degradation of the Russian war effort.”

That isn’t to say that mobilized forces won’t be used. If used in support roles like drivers or refuelers the burden on Russia’s exhausted professional army would be lessened. Along the line of contact and in the rear there were man checkpoints, which they could fill out. They are not likely to become a fighting force. Already there are signs of discipline problems among mobilized soldiers in Russian garrisons.

Zelensky: “We will not let Russia destroy us” and “I am going to tell you this,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Petrovich Ivanovosti

On the front line, “the key hotspots in Donbas are (neighboring towns) “Heavy fighting is happening in Soledar and Bakhmut,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

High profile opposition voices have been given lengthy prison sentences for questioning the conduct or strategy of the Russian army.

The Ukrainian military appeared to acknowledge the attack that Russia had reported but they had not directly confirmed it.

It said that Russia “continues to conduct offensive actions at the Lyman and Bakhmut directions and is trying to improve the tactical situation at the Kupiansk and Avdiivka directions.”

A shooting in that region Saturday in which two men from a former Soviet republic shot and killed 11 other people before killing themselves has led Russia to open an investigation. The Russian Defense Ministry called it an act of terrorism.

Macron told Zelensky that France was going to help Ukraine with the war against Russia. “We stand by Ukraine, determined to help it to victory,” Macron said. “Ukraine can count on France and its allies to win the war, Russia should not and will not win the war.”

— 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.

It referenced statements made this week by Russian authorities that claimed that “several thousand” children from a southern region occupied by Moscow had been placed in rest homes and children’s camps amid the Ukrainian counteroffensive. RIA Novosti reported the original comments made by the deputy prime minister of Russia.

Russian authorities have admitted to placing children from Russian-held areas of Ukraine who they said were orphans, if they wanted to be adopted by Russian families.

— The Ukrainian military accused pro-Kremlin fighters of evicting civilians in occupied territories to house officers in their homes, an act it described as a violation of international humanitarian law. It said the evictions were happening in Rubizhne, in the eastern Luhansk region. It didn’t provide evidence for its claim.

Russian generals who he claims direct the war effort far from the frontline are decried by him as unlearned in principle and unwilling to listen to warnings about putting equipment and personnel so close together. Girkin was previously minister of defense of the self-proclaimed, Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, and was found guilty by a Dutch court of mass murder for his involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Moscow’s battlefield failures has been the subject of social media posts by Girkin. Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency said Sunday it would offer a $100,000 reward to anyone who captures him.

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. “We have no time for slow actions,” he said online.

Klitshchko posted a photo of shrapnel labeled “Geran-2,” Russian’s designation for the Iranian drones, but he removed the picture after commenters criticized him for confirming a Russian strike.

Defending a Cold War with Iran in Ukraine: The First Russian Detected Convoys in Belarus during a “Regional Grouping” of Forces

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.

An Iran specialist at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated that this is a partnership of convenience between two dictatorships.

Both countries are deep in crisis, struggling economically and politically. Russia is trying to save its war effort while Iran is trying to quash street protests that pose the most serious challenge in years to the government.

NATO will hold nuclear deterrence exercises starting Monday. NATO warned Russia not to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine and said that the “Steadfast Noon” exercises are a routine 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.

The first convoys of almost 9000 Russian troops arrived inBelarus October 15 as part of a “regional grouping” of forces meant to protect it from threats at the border from the West and Ukraine.

“Even if President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy reached some conclusion that maybe we should, to stop the punishment, we should negotiate. I don’t think he can do that anymore because of the conviction of the Ukrainian people.”

The Cipher Brief Conference – The Fate of the Russian President Zelenskyy and the Case for Ukrainian Victory on the Battlefield

There is an annual conference in Sea Island, Ga. run by The Cipher Brief that brings together members of the national security community to look at the big picture on global security.

A top Ukrainian official, Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to President Zelenskyy, told the conference the conflict needs to end with a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield.

According to Paul Kolbe, a former CIA officer who runs the Intelligence Project at the Kennedy School, the Russian leader doesn’t want to leave the conflict. In fact, he says, just the opposite. “Putin’s muscle memory when he runs into an obstacle is to escalate,” said Kolbe. A lot of tricks can be pulled to try to undermine the West’s confidence in him.

This annexation is a huge deal. Dmitri Alperovitch runs a think tank that says that Putin is betting his presidency on staying in Ukranian.

“That is essentially a metaphorical burning of bridges,” said Alperovitch. “What this means is that this war is likely to continue for many, many months, potentially many years, as long as he’s in power and as long as he has the resources to continue fighting.”

The Russians were wrong if they thought the war wouldn’t affect them in Russia or anywhere else. Therefore, as we see, such things are happening more and more often, and let’s hope that this will only benefit Ukraine,” said Ihnat.

What is the ballroom of the Georgia conference? Sergey Sobyanin’s message to Moscow, Russia, and what Musk’s comments on U.S. elections

No one in the ballroom of the Georgia conference suggested that the war was near an end. “Most wars end with some sort of negotiated solution, whether that comes out of stalemate or defeat, but I don’t see any prospects of talks in the near term,” said Paul Kolbe, the former CIA official.

He noted that the war began with a Russian invasion in 2014) and is now intense. Greg Myre is a correspondent for NPR. Follow him on social media.

Some regional officials, like the mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, appeared to be taking pains to offer reassurances. Mr. Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram channel that there was no plan to restrict the normal life rhythm of the city.

The governors of the four regions said that there would be no restrictions on entry or exit.

Analysts say that many Russians will see a warning when they see Moscow’s first martial law since World War II.

She said people were worried that the borders would soon be closed, and that the strong men of Mr. Putin would do what they wanted.

While sitting down on a park bench by a tram stop, a young woman takes a break from using her social media to talk about the war. The woman talks about how vital U.S. support is to their safety.

He says the top issues trending on his social media channels are the upcoming U.S. elections and billionaire Elon Musk’s controversial comments about negotiating an end to the war.

The U.S. Helps Ukraine in the Preliminary Russian War: a Case Study of Ukraine’s First Impeachment

Similar forces seem to be at work in Washington where House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, poised to become Speaker of the House if Republicans take control after next month’s elections, told an interviewer, “I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine. They will not do it.

“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.

The money sent to Ukraine by the US is seen by some Republicans as wasteful or better spent in the United States. On Tuesday, Representative Lauren Boebert, a far-right Republican of Colorado, commented on the new aid that was released.

A line of Ukrainian politicians, activists — even soldiers — have been traveling to Washington in advance of the midterms to keep up relations and lobby for more aid.

Yevheniia Kravchuk is a member of parliament and a member of the Servant of the People party. She’s traveled twice to Washington since the beginning of the war to meet with administration and congressional leaders, making sure to meet with both Democratic and Republican leaders.

And it’s not all on the fringes. Kevin McCarthy suggested the GOP may reduce aid to Ukraine after they take over the House next week. Progressive Democrats released and withdrew a letter calling for negotiations. Evelyn Farkas, a former Pentagon official during the Obama administration, said they’re all bringing “a big smile to Putin’s face.”

In May and September, the percentage of Americans who said they were extremely or very concerned about the defeat of France went from 45% to 38%.

The politics surrounding aid to Ukraine is not an easy subject to talk about in Kyiv, where government officials say avoiding partisan politics in the U.S. is a key pillar of Ukrainian foreign policy. That was the lesson learned during the Trump years, says Petro Burkovskiy, a senior fellow at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation who spent years in the Ukrainian government.

Burkovskiy laments how Ukraine got sucked into Trump’s first impeachment, after Zelenskyy came close to submitting to Trump’s demand to announce an investigation into the family of then-candidate Joe Biden.

Another factor contributing to fears about the U.S. midterms is that many Ukrainians don’t understand U.S. politics, says Volodmyr Dubovyk, the director of international studies at Odesa Mechnikov University.

“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 thinks that there is no chance for Republicans to change US support for the war in Washington due to the balance of power. And he emphasizes that Ukraine has much bigger problems than U.S. politics.

The Ukrainian military has a six-week window to make gains against Russia if it continues to push in the south and northeast, before muddy ground and cloud cover force the opposing armies to stop.

Politics of the War on the War: David A. Andelman at the European Parliament and his frustrations with Russia and the Kremlin

Editor’s Note: David A. Andelman, a contributor to CNN, twice winner of the Deadline Club Award, is a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, author of “A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen” and blogs at Andelman Unleashed. Previously he was a reporter for CBS News in Europe and Asia. The views expressed in this commentary are of his own. CNN has more opinion.

He is seeking to distract his nation from the obvious fact that he is losing badly on the battlefield and not achieving even the 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.

In the early hours of Friday in Brussels, European Union powers agreed a roadmap to control energy prices that have been surging on the heels of embargoes on Russian imports and the Kremlin cutting natural gas supplies at a whim.

These include an emergency cap on the benchmark European gas trading hub – the Dutch Title Transfer Facility – and permission for EU gas companies to create a cartel to buy gas on the international market.

While French President claims that the summit had maintained European unity, he admits that the European Commission needs to start working on a gas cap mechanism.

Germany is skeptical of price caps. The ministers of energy have to work with Germany to make sure caps on consumption do not encourage higher consumption.

These divisions are all part of Putin’s fondest dream. Europe could be central to achieving success from the Kremlin’s viewpoint, as the continent fails to agree on essentials.

Germany and France are already at loggerheads on many of these issues. Though in an effort to reach some accommodation, Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have scheduled a conference call for Wednesday.

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

Italy’s First Lady Julia Meloni: The Phenomenology of the Left-Right Symmetric Power Discrepancy

The new government in Italy has taken over. 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. The far-right coalition partner has expressed admiration for Putin.

Silvio Berlusconi, himself a four-time prime minister of Italy, was recorded at a gathering of his party loyalists, describing with glee the 20 bottles of vodka Putin sent to him together with “a very sweet letter” on his 86th birthday.

The leader of the coalition who was named Saturday as deputy prime minister said during the campaign that he wouldn’t want the sanctions on Russia to harm people more than those who are hit by them.

At the same time, Poland and Hungary, longtime ultra-right-wing soulmates united against liberal policies of the EU that seemed calculated to reduce their influence, have now disagreed over Ukraine. Poland has taken deep offense at the pro-Putin sentiments of Hungary’s populist leader Viktor Orban.

The influential 30-member Congressional progressive caucus wants Biden to open talks with Russia on ending the conflict, while it’s still being fought, because its missiles and drones are hitting deep into the interior.

Mia Jacob, the caucus chair, apologized to the reporters for her remarks in support of Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba to wish him well.

The West continues to try and crimp Russian energy profits, by capping the amount countries will pay for Russian oil and limiting seaborne oil imports. There are signs that the efforts are cutting into profits.

The report said that the production of hypersonic missiles has stopped because of the lack of necessary semi-conductors. Aircraft are being cannibalized for spare parts, plants producing anti-aircraft systems have shut down, and “Russia has reverted to Soviet-era defense stocks” for replenishment. The Soviet era ended more than 30 years ago.

Putin has also tried, though he has been stymied at most turns, to establish black market networks abroad to source what he needs to fuel his war machine – much as Kim Jong-un has done in North Korea. The United States has already uncovered and recently sanctioned vast networks of such shadow companies and individuals centered in hubs from Taiwan to Armenia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, and Luxembourg to source high-tech goods for Russia’s collapsing military-industrial complex.

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

The Before and After Images of Ukraine: Implications for Middle Eastern and Cold War Processes in the Middle East and for the Politics of Foreign Countries

These before and after images of Ukraine have more in common than we might think. Both caricatures are based on myths and are not based on knowledge of the country. This mythology is shaped in relation to Russia. Many people don’t know what Ukraine is even though they think it’s the same as Russia. After centuries of imperialist repression and decades of Soviet subjugation, Ukraine has a profound story to tell about the meaning of freedom.

The relations between Moscow and Tehran have drawn attention to Iran’s enemies in the Middle East and NATO members, which are still interested in restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

The direction of human history is at stake because of a victory by Russia, and since the Second World War most nations have rejected the idea of invasion by another country.

There are repercussions for the things that happen 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.

Russia controls Syria’s airspace, which is in the way of Israel’s destruction, and allows Israel to strike Iranian weapon flows to Hezbollah. Gantz has offered to help Ukraine develop defensive systems and it will reportedly provide new military communications systems, but no missile shields.

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. After Putin announced, wheat prices went up on global commodity markets. The prices for bread in Africa and around the globe affect how much people pay.

Everyone is affected by the war in Ukraine. The conflict has also sent fuel prices higher, contributing to a global explosion of inflation.

Family budgets are affected by higher prices. When they come with such powerful momentum, they pack a political punch. Inflation worsened by the war, putting incumbent political leaders in foreign countries in a weakened position.

SSSCIP Secretary Valeriy Zaluzhnyi: “Can the Russian military attack have the ability to survive in cyberspace?”

Russian news media reported on high casualty rates and the videos filmed by Ukrainian drones supported those assertions, as did the reporting of soldiers telling relatives about the high casualty rates. The videos have not been independently verified and their exact location on the front line could not be determined.

Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander of the Ukrainian military, said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday that Russian forces had tripled the intensity of attacks along some parts of the front. He did not say where the attacks were coming from or what the time frame was.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based analytical group, also said in an assessment that the increase in the number of soldiers in the east had not resulted in Russia gaining new ground.

They needed more time to regroup and rebuild their troops after the terrible performance of the military campaign, and they were also hoping against hope to get more military aid from the world. We must not fall into that trap.

There is anticipation for a possible battle for Kherson in southern Ukraine. Russian officials have been preparing for a possible counteroffensive by the Ukrainians.

Some private analysts and US and Ukrainian officials are asking questions about the extent to which Russian government hackers have burned some of their access to Ukrainian critical infrastructure in previous attacks. Once a hacker is discovered, they lose access to their original way into the computer network.

In October of last year, Putin was trying to make a showy public response to the attack on the bridge, which took many months to plan, said the senior US official.

Ukrainian cybersecurity officials have for months had to avoid shelling while also doing their jobs: protecting government networks from Russia’s spy agencies and criminal hackers.

Four officials from one of Ukraine’s main cyber and communications agencies — the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP) — were killed October 10 in missile attacks, the agency said in a press release. 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.

Zhora told CNN that the probability of Russian government hacking groups working is high and that we will observe it later. It’s unlikely that all the Russian military hackers are on break or out of business.

“I don’t think Russia would measure the success in cyberspace by a single attack,” the Western official said, rather “by their cumulative effect” of trying to wear the Ukrainians down.

According to the Justice Department and private investigators, NotPetya was unleashed by the military intelligence agency of the Russian Federation as their war in eastern Ukranian entered its second year. The incident cost the global economy billions of dollars by disrupting shipping giant Maersk and other multinational firms.

The director of threat intelligence said that it involved injecting malicious code to weaponize Ukrainian software, and that it began with identifying widely used Ukrainian software.

The team that responded to cyber incidents for years was just as effective as the end product was. “And that takes time and it takes opportunities that sometimes you can’t just conjure.”

The Russian-Russian War in the Cold War, and the High-Cost NATO/NATO Correspondence During Ukraine’s Cold War

Zhora is a deputy chairman at SSSCIP, and he wants Western governments to tighten sanctions on Russia because its software tools could be used for hacking.

Tanel Sepp, Estonia’s ambassador-at-large for cyber affairs, told CNN that it’s possible the Russians could turn to a “new wave” of stepped up cyberattacks as their battlefield struggles continue.

Sepp said that the main goal of the organization was to keep Russia from being on the international stage.

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.

After some Republicans warned that they could limit funding for Ukraine if they win control of the House of Representatives,Ukraine will be watching America’s midterm election results this week.

Also Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Before Sweden can join NATO it must meet certain conditions, according to the president.

Energy Terrorism in Ukraine, and the War Between the Ukranian Government and the U.S., the IAEA and the United Nations

A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is expected to be discussed at the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow, is related to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “energy terrorism,” as attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure left more than 4 million Ukrainians without electricity.

The US has provided armored vehicles to the Ukranian in the past. The US also paid for the refurbishment of Soviet-era T-72 tanks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday that remaining troops have been transferred out of Kherson to the east bank of the Dnipro River early Friday with “not a single piece of military equipment or weapons” left on the other side.

If the Ukrainian government was able to regain control of Kherson, it would reinforce their argument that they should not return to the bargaining table as some American officials have advocated, because they have Russian forces on the run.

The agency said it would grant the rights of Russian soldiers if they surrendered and were left in Kherson.

Your commanders told you to wear civilian clothes and flee Kherson on your own. Obviously, you won’t succeed,” the Ukrainian statement said.

“Even when the city is not yet completely cleansed of the enemy’s presence,” Zelenskyy said in his address, “the people of Kherson themselves are already removing Russian symbols from the streets and buildings and any traces of the occupiers’ stay in Kherson.”

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.

In an interview on Thursday, the Ukrainian defense minister said it would take as little as a week for Russian forces to leave the city.

When its soldiers fled, the Kremlin said it still believed that Kherson was a part of Russia.

Russia has suffered three major setbacks in the war, including retreats from the capital of Ukranian last spring, and from the northeast in September. Kherson was the only provincial capital Russia had captured since invading in February, and it was a major link in Russia’s effort to control the southern coastline along the Black Sea.

The residents of the region were overjoyed when the Ukrainian soldiers continued to move through their towns and villages.

U.S. drone observations of Kherson city during the Friday night Russian withdrawal: a diplomatic response to Putin’s “war” on Ukraine

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.

“The Russians left all the villages,” he said. “We looked at dozens of villages with our drones and didn’t see a single car. We do not know how they are leaving. They retreat quietly, at night.”

In a series of text messages Serhiy said that the conditions in the city had deteriorated overnight and should not be published for security reasons.

“At night, a building burned in the very center, but it was not possible even to call the fire department,” he wrote. “There was no phone signal, no electricity, no heating and no water.”

While there was no visible Russian military presence in the city on Friday, four residents described seeing Russian soldiers dressed in civilian clothes — some armed — moving about parts of the city.

It said that Russian forces were setting up defensive positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro and shelling the advancing Ukrainians across the river.

The Zelenskyy videos show the crowd in the street celebrating and chanting “ZSU!”, the Ukrainian acronym for the armed forces.

Reports of damage to the bridge came after the Russian withdrawal. Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies appeared to show a section of the bridge was completely sheared off.

The initial announcement drew skepticism from Ukraine’s government, which previously voiced concern that a troop withdrawal there could be a Kremlin ploy to lure Ukrainian forces into the city.

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.

The top general in America led a push to seek a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian war in recent weeks, after internal discussions about the war.

The result is a debate within the administration about whether the gains on the battlefield by Ukraine should prompt a renewed effort to seek an end to the fighting.

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.

Foreign diplomats have concerns about the implications of the House speaker negotiations on the future of US support for Ukraine.

The American-Ukraine War as a War of Worlds: A View from a Diplomacy-Posed Foreign Power Source

In internal deliberations, officials said Milley has sought to make it clear that he is not urging a Ukrainian capitulation, but rather that he believes now is an optimal time to drive toward an end to the war before it drags into spring or beyond, leading to more death and destruction without changing the front lines.

The view is not held in almost all of 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.

Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko is among the officials who has been pushing the US to provide the munitions. He told CNN that it is important because it will change the world on the battlefield. This war will be concluded much faster by the use of these.

A US official said that the US intends to buy 100,000 rounds of weapons from South Korea to give to Ukraine in a larger effort to find weapons for the high-intensity battles happening 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.

Do Russians believe in a diplomatic solution? Volodymyr Zelensky reflects the U.S. response to the Kherson crisis

Ned Price wouldn’t say if the State Department agreed 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.

A majority of Americans remain behind supporting Ukraine and keeping sanctions on Russia, according to recent polling, but in a December survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the share of Americans who believe the US should support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” dropped 10 percentage points since the summer to about half. The survey showed that just a third of Republicans supported indefinite support.

On Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said it was a historic day for his country, after Russia announced it was withdrawing from the Kherson region.

Zelensky said he was grateful for the warm welcome and for the support of the Ukrainian citizens who have taken refuge in the UK.

He promised stabilization measures because of the threat of mines. The occupiers left a lot of explosives at crucial facilities. We will be clearing them,” he said.

Police, rescue workers, power engineers are following our defenders. Medicine, communications, social services are returning. … He said life is returning.

Ukranian Observations of the First Three Days of the Second World War: The Battle for Snihurivka, Yugoslavia

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.”

In neighboring Mykolaiv region: The head of the regional military administration of Mykolaiv visited the small city of Snihurivka Friday to discuss “the restoration of life in the liberated territories of the region.”

Kim said he warned local residents to be cautious despite the fact that the relevant services were already moving mines in the liberated territories.

The President of Ukranian made a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday, reaching London on the first stage of his European diplomatic tour with a powerful message for British lawmakers.

He was in front of the government building with a military-style jacket and clothing and surrounded by heavily armed security. He waved to residents as he spoke about the victory of the Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian flag fluttered on a pleasant day, and Zelenskyy, his retinue and hundreds of Kherson residents stood at attention as the anthem played.

In his televised address on Sunday night, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian investigators have already documented more than 400 cases of suspected war crimes by the Russian forces during their occupation of Kherson.

Because the Russians took Kherson without a fight at the beginning of the war, most of the city’s buildings remain intact, unlike other urban areas that have been reduced to ruins.

Russian Fire and Mines in the Kherson River Revisited During the First Day of Operation by the U.S. Army

Jeffrey Edmonds, who was a 22-year Army veteran and now works as a Russia analyst for the Center for New American Security, said that it becomes a real humanitarian issue when you attempt to deprive a whole country of its electrical grid and water. “I think they see that as necessary to help Ukrainians fight back in the battle.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not spoken about Kherson after the Russia troops left the city.

Ukrainian and Russian forces traded fire in the Dnipro River region after Russia retreated from the city of Kherson, which is in the southern part of the country.

The Dnipro front line has become the new front line in southernUkraine, and officials warned of continuing danger from fighting in regions that have already faced months of Russian occupation.

The southern part of the city was the site of fire through the afternoon, stoking fears that the Russian Army might retaliate for the loss of the city with a bombardment.

Smoke was produced when mortar shells hit near the bridge. Near the riverfront, incoming rounds rang out with thunderous, metallic booms. It was not immediately possible to assess what had been hit.

The head of the Kherson military administration urged people to leave the city as Ukrainian forces hunted down Russian soldiers and restored essential services.

There is a danger to the mines. 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. Ukrainian officials said at least four children were injured by mines across the region.

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.

Roaming around a Russian town north of a river crossing the Kherson River: A message from Joe Biden to Xi Jinping

Russian forces continued to fire on the towns and villages that were captured by the Ukrainians. The military said that two missiles struck the town of Beryslav, just north of a critical dam. It was not clear if there were any casualties.

“Occupants rob local people and exchange stuff for samogon,” or homemade vodka, said one resident, Tatiana, who communicated via a secure messaging app from Oleshky, a town across the river from Kherson City. “Then they get drunk and even more aggressive. We are so scared here.” She wanted her name not to be printed for security reasons.

Ivan wrote in a text message that Russian people are roaming around 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- He lives south of Kherson city in Skadovsk and asked that his surname not being used out of concern for his safety. They try to get someone to stay in the place. So that it is not abandoned and Russians don’t take it.”

It took two years after Joe Biden was elected US President before the leaders of the world’s two most powerful countries could finally speak in person, but when Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping finally met in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the timing could not have been any better for the United States, for democracy and for the world.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield During the November 8 COP27 Summit in Kyiv

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield visited Kyiv, Nov. 8, to talk about world hunger and press for renewal of the grain deal, due to expire Nov. 19. That followed a Ukraine trip the week before by the top U.S. diplomat on European and Eurasian affairs, Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried.

Following Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison, fans, friends and family are celebrating the basketball player’s return to the U.S. Meanwhile, some Republican politicians have been complaining about the prisoner swap and other U.S. citizens still held by Russia.

The war in Ukraine was a serious issue at the U.N. climate conference. Ukraine used the COP27 summit to talk about how the war has caused “ecocide,” while experts pointed out the war is driving a new push for fossil fuels.

The Biden-Xi summit came at a good time for the West and not a moment too soon. China is a major violator of human rights, a threat to Taiwan and a Rival of the United States. It’s important to avoid a Cold War or an accidental conflict.

Putin admitted during their meeting in September that there were questions about the future of Russia and that China had not done a lot to support Russia. The Russian President threatened to use nuclear weapons and Xi rebuked him.

The Rise and Fall of the Xi-Baxter Regime: The Case for Democracy in the End of the Cold War, and Why We Are Not Here

There are signs the democratic world may be beginning to reverse the tide of autocracy and its dangerous elements after many years of turmoil. It is too early to tell how strong the global democratic push will be.

The fact that this was a perfect time to meet was not the only reason. There was more to this meetings than who controls the US House of Representatives.

Putin’s adventure was turned into disaster as the Ukrainians defended their country with unexpected perseverance, and as Biden rallied allies in a muscular push to support them.

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.

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

There are a lot of daunting problems faced by Xi. China is unwilling to reveal economic data because of the slowing economy. Covid-19 vaccine is a disappointment, once a tool of global diplomacy. And partly because of that, China is imposing draconian lockdowns as the rest of the world gradually returns to normalcy after the pandemic.

In the fight for the future of the world, it is important that both systems show that democracy works and that unprovoked wars of aggression will not succeed, since China and Russia have tried to undermine it.

I want to live in Ukraine: A Russian journalist tells us he does not want to go back to Russia, but that is why he has to go home

Polish and NATO leaders suspect a Ukrainian anti-aircraft rocket was behind the first missile to land in Poland on Tuesday. Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that the missile was not Ukrainian.

Putin says he had no choice but to send troops into Ukraine because of the threat to his security, which is condemned by the West.

Several Russian soldiers have rebelled at what they were told to do and refuse to fight. The Defense Ministry believes Russian troops may decide to shoot retreating or deserting soldiers.

Indeed a hotline and Telegram channel, launched as a Ukrainian military intelligence project called “I want to live,” designed to assist Russian soldiers eager to defect, has taken off, reportedly booking some 3,500 calls in its first two months of activity.

A leading Russian journalist, who fled in March and settled in Berlin last week, told me that like many of his countrymen, he may never be able to return to their homeland, but he is willing to accept the reality.

The West is trying to deny the country of material resources in order to pursue the war. The President of the European Commission stated that it was an unsustainable dependency and that they want reliable and forward-looking connections.

This conflict, along with Putin’s dream of it driving wedges into the Western alliance are proving to be unfulfilled. 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.

For Ukraine, cluster munitions could address two major issues: the need for more ammunition for the artillery and rocket systems the US and others have provided, and a way of closing Russia’s numerical superiority in artillery.

The Defense Ministry of Ukraine is prepared to take a stand for what the US can do to advance its warfight against the threat of unexploded munitions

Senior Biden administration officials have been fielding the request for months and have not rejected it completely, a detail that has been previously reported.

Cluster munitions are imprecise by design, and scatter “bomblets” across large areas that can fail to explode on impact and can pose a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines. 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. The proposal has not received a lot of consideration because of the congressional restriction on the US’s ability to transfer clusterbombs, sources say.

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

A congressional aide told CNN that the ability of Ukrainians to make gains in the current and upcoming phases of conflict was not dependent on or related to the fact that they procured the weapons.

The Defense Ministry told CNN it does not comment on reports regarding requests for particular weapons systems or ammunition, choosing to wait until any agreement with a supplier is reached before many any public announcement.

The US replaced the dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, known as DPICMs, with the M30A1 alternate warhead. The M30A1 contains 180,000 small tungsten steel fragments that scatter on impact and do not leave unexploded munitions on 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.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Nuclear Warfare Comments on the Strategic Status of the Sea of Azov and the Belgorod Region

The special military operation in Ukraine that Russia’s President says is taking longer than he expected has succeeded in grabbing new territory and is being deterred by the country’s nuclear weapons.

In a televised meeting with the members of his Human Rights Council, Putin referred to the land gains as a “Significant result for Russia,” noting that the Sea of Azov has become Russia’s internal sea. He said that Peter the Great tried to get access to that body of water.

“If it doesn’t use it first under any circumstances, it means that it won’t be the second to use it, either, because the possibility of using it in case of a nuclear strike on our territory will be sharply limited,” he said.

Putin claimed his previous nuclear weapons comments were not a factor in provoking an increase in conflicts, but a factor of deterrence.

“We haven’t gone mad. Putin said that they are aware of what nuclear weapons are. He added, without elaborating: “We have them, and they are more advanced and state-of-the-art than what any 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.

The governor of the Kursk region posted photos of anti-tank barriers in open fields. The governor said on Tuesday that there was a fire at an airport after a drone strike. In Belgorod, workers were making anti-tank barriers and officials organized self-defense units. Russia’s air defenses have shot down many incoming rockets in Belgorod, the governor reported, and the area had seen numerous fires and explosions.

Moscow hit homes, infrastructure, and the power grid, worsening damage to the power grid. Private Ukrainian power utility Ukrenergo said temperatures in eastern areas where it was making repairs had dropped to as low as minus 17 degrees Celsius (near zero Fahrenheit).

He listed a series of events he blames on the Ukrainians: “Who hit the Crimean bridge? Who blew up the power lines?

The announcement by Russia that an airfield in theKursk region, which neighbors Ukraine, was targeted in a drones attack appears to reference the reference to Kursk. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not comment on recent explosions, which are deep within Russia. Officially, the targets are well beyond the reach of the country’s declared drones.

The problem of water supply in Ukraine: a response to Russia’s attacks on the Donetsk oil pipeline, and an official statement on the Kremlin

He claims that there is no mention of the water situation. Nobody has said anything about it. At no point! Complete silence He said it was.

Local Russian authorities in the city of Donetsk have reported shelling this week, which Putin claimed was in defiance of international law.

Putin discussed the Russian military’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure at a reception in the Kremlin.

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? Not supplying water to a city of million is an act of genocide.”

He concluded the speech by adding that “it won’t interfere with our combat missions,” before raising a toast to the listening soldiers and sipping 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 missile attack destroyed a recreation center where people were eating dinner on Saturday night according to the acting governor of Zaporizhzhia.

There were dead and wounded when an explosion at a Russian military barracks in Sovietske set it on fire.

The air defense system worked over Simferopol, according to Sergey Aksenov. 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.

Emergency power failures had been rolling out in Odesa after the missile attacks. “They are introduced due to the threat of missile attacks to avoid significant damage if the enemy manages to hit energy facilities,” DTEK, a utility company, said in a statement.

“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 massively disperse the attention of air defense,” a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yurii Ihnat, said. Ukraine’s top military chief, Valeriy Zaluzhny, later said that 60 of the missiles were downed by the country’s air defense forces.

The assaults on the plants and equipment that give Ukrainians the heat and light they need has drawn condemnation from world leaders and given Ukranian’s into a grim cycle in which crews hurry to restore power only to have it knocked out again.

The power grid is battered and there is an acute shortage of power, so he called on people to cut their power use.

The Last Days of Russian Intervention: A Video Address by Volodymyr Zelensky on September 11, 2001, at the LHC, Paris, France

“Remember Pearl Harbor, terrible morning of December 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. Zelensky said to just remember. September 11, 2001 is a time when evil tried to turn the cities, independent territories, into battlefields. Nobody else expected that people would be attacked from air, so you couldn’t stop it. Our country experiences the same every day.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has threatened to ban the Russian Orthodox Church in his country if there are more raids on churches accused of ties to Moscow.

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.

In France, the country will co-hosted a conference on Tuesday with a video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

New measures targeting Russian oil revenue took effect Dec. 5. They include a price cap and a European Union embargo on most Russian oil imports and a Russian oil price cap.

Russian forces turned the city of Bakhmut into burned ruins, Zelenskyy said. Russia is attempting to take over the city in the eastern Donbas region.

Twenty Two Years After the United States: From Russian War in Ukraine to the Mass Shooting in Mariupol, Texas, to the Death of Queen Elizabeth II

The world witnessed an unwieldy and unparalleled set of news events in 2022. It was a year that captured significant and surprising moments, causing disbelief and despair. Yet some days offered joy and pride. From Russia’s war in Ukraine to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, these are some of the remarkable stories of the year. The world was slowly coming out of a long, drawn out Pandemic. In February 2015, a full-blown war erupted in Ukraine as Russia invaded the country, ending and upending lives of many civilians and children. One of the most vivid pictures of the war for the AP was captured by photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, depicting a pregnant woman being carried onto a stretcher after a bomb ripped through a maternity hospital in Mariupol. The woman and baby died in a few days. This image has come to symbolize one of many Russian atrocities in the war in Ukraine. The attack on March 9, just a few days after the war began, was one of the most brutal days of the conflict. In June, the United States once again witnessed a school shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas. Young students ran for safety as the gunmen was still inside the school, and photographer Pete Luna took photos of it. And on September 8, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, sending shockwaves around the world. The 96-year-old monarch had worked with 15 British prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss. She died two days after inviting him to form a new government. The Queen’s funeral drew crowds by the tens of thousands as they paid their last respects to a monarch who reigned for an unprecedented 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. The first African American woman to win a medal in the Winter Olympics was speedskater, erin jackson. The all-female refereeing crew made history at the men’s World Cup. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the United States had the right to make abortion decisions. 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 and produced surprising election results. While the Earth continued to warm up and melt glaciers, much of the northern hemisphere was ravaged by a historic El Nio that 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. Many sports fans were enamored with Judge as he broke the American League home run record in a single season. Interwoven with these big news events were snapshots of daily life reminding the world of the beautiful, quiet — and sometimes hilarious — moments in and out of people’s lives. 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. CNN Digital shows a picture of the year in pictures.

The U.S. will send a Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine to bolster its air defense capabilities, a move that represents one of the most advanced defense systems that the Americans have so far provided to support Ukraine since Russia invaded last winter.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III could approve a directive as early as this week to transfer one Patriot battery already overseas to Ukraine, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Final approval would then rest with President Biden.

The White House, Pentagon and State Department are declining to speak about the transfer of a most sophisticated weapon the U.S. gave to Ukraine.

CNN reported earlier that there were a number of questions still to be answered, including how long it would take to train the Ukrainian soldiers on the system, where the system would be deployed, and so on.

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.

He said that if the Iranian Shahed system was heading toward critical infrastructure in Ukraine, it could be worth the cost to take it out. “Given the onslaught that Russia is conducting against Ukrainian critical infrastructure, the move makes sense to me.”

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.

Both Ukrainian and pro-Russian accounts say that a strike took place at a Vocational school housing Russian conscripts on New Year’s Day.

He stated that there were 40 rockets fired at civilians in his city from the BM-21 ‘Grad’ MLRS.

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.

A member of the rapid response team of the international organization was one of the victims. He said that they had been wounded by fragments of enemy shells while on the street.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Industry Research Center, a Ukrainian research and consulting company, said on Ukrainian TV that power outages had been rolled out prior to the strikes as a preventative measure to protect the grid from blackouts. He said that the result of the attacks would be unpleasant.

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.

The Energy Security Project, run by USAID, delivered four excavators and over 130 generators, Klitschko said on Telegram. All items were free of charge.

The Patriot system: How Russian troops could help us in a conventional war? An aided-in-country response to Zelensky’s proposal

A day after Zelensky proposed a three-step plan, the Kremlin called on the Ukrainian side to take into account the realities that have evolved over the years.

“Earlier, many experts, including those overseas, questioned the rationality of such a step which would lead to an escalation of the conflict and increase the risk of directly dragging the US army into combat,” Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow.

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 could be seen as a subtle message, the defense ministry of Russia shared video of the installation of a “Yars” missile into a silo in the Kaluga region for the commander of the Kozelsky missile formation.

Commander Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the Russian military in the eastern part of the country, suggested on Russian state TV that Russia could not defeat NATO in a conventional war.

The official said that the US would train Ukrainians to use the system. CNN has previously reported the training would occur at a US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

The question of manpower might be the biggest obstacle. 90 positions are 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 on Crime against Crime: A Reflection on the Crimes of Vladimir Lenin and his Support of the Restoration of Ukraine

Zelensky rejected the idea that Ukraineseek to take back land that it lost to Russia since February of 2022, and not parts of the country that have been under Russian control.

In an interview with France 24 this week, the Secretary General of NATO explained that he and his fellow NATO leaders still have two key objectives: provide assistance to the people of Ukraine and prevent NATO from being involved in the war.

Compounding the problem, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said after the recent Makiivka strikes that “the Russian military has a record of unsafe ammunition storage from well before the current war, but this incident highlights how unprofessional practices contribute to Russia’s high casualty rate.”

“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.

Russia continues to keep a large amount of weaponry close to troops they will supply and well within range of enemy weaponry. Standard military practice dictates that large depots be broken up and scattered and that they be located far behind enemy lines — even within Russian territory that western powers have declared off-limits to Ukrainian strikes.

At that time, Ukrainians were seeking to take advantage of the chaos in Russia following the collapse of the Russian monarchy a year earlier. But Vladimir Lenin and the Communists, the successors to the Russian monarchy, sent troops to Ukraine and defeated that short-lived independence.

martial law was declared by the parliament after he drove to Kyiv. By 2 p.m. that day, he received a rifle so he could join the security forces defending the capital.

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

Vladimir Putin: The only real guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity – the 1918 independence referendum and the emergence of the Soviet Union

The offices for the Ukrainian House of Teachers are situated in the elegant, whitewashed building which was the scene of the country’s independence from Russia in 1918.

The glass ceiling and windows in the hall where independence was announced in 1918 were damaged by the blast. The windows are boarded up. Shards of glass still cover the floor.

The director of the House of Teachers said that there were similarities to a century ago. “This building was also damaged in the fighting back then. It has been damaged again. Don’t worry. We are going to rebuild everything.

“If you look at all the hardships that Ukraine experienced in the 20th century, and they’re vast, this is the moment where all the wrongs of the last hundred plus years need to be redressed,” he said.

Ukrainians thought this matter was finally resolved in December 1991, when they held a referendum on independence. Eighty percent of the people voted to go their own way. The Soviet Union collapsed in that month.

“I have said it before, but I want to say it again: Russia can be the only real guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Putin said earlier this month.

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.”

When Kasparov entered politics in Russia 15 years ago, he 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

On Russian strikes on power facilities, substations and power plants in Kharkiv city: a warning to stay away from a gray zone

Many military analysts warn the war is unlikely to produce a clear resolution on the battlefield. They say it’s likely to require negotiations and compromises.

He said being a buffer zone doesn’t good from a strategic perspective. “If you are a gray zone between two security blocs, two military blocs, everybody wants to make a step. 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.”

At least 10 missiles struck various targets in Kharkiv region, in the north, damaging energy facilities and a hospital, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the regional military administration. Power was beginning to be restored in Kharkiv city after being knocked out for much of the day. “There is a colossal infrastructural damage,” Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said, instructing residents to use so-called “invincibility points” – makeshift centers offering relief from power outages – to collect food and hot drinks, and recharge cellphones.

Oleksandr Starukh, chief of the military administration in Zaporizhzhia, said that at least a dozen missile strikes had hit the southeastern region.

The incident took place in the western port city of Eisenons, located on the Volga River and 500 miles southeast of Moscow. It is the second such attempted attack on the city, which houses the Engels-2 military airfield, a strategic bomber airbase, this month.

The Ukrainian military said that during the air attacks on Friday over Ukranian, a supersonic aircraft capable of carrying a Kinzal hypersonic missile was also seen in the sky over Belarus. But it was not clear from their statement whether a Kinzal was used in the attacks.

Kirby says that Russia’s defense industrial base is being taxed. They are having trouble keeping up with that pace. We know that he’s (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s) having trouble replenishing specifically precision guided munitions.”

When Zelensky arrived in Britain, the West was urged to send more weapons and military support to counter Russian advances. He was greeted at the Elysee Palace by the French President and German Chancellor in Paris on Wednesday evening.

In the days leading up to Russia’s full-scale invasion, Zelensky was in a steep, downward trajectory in popularity ratings from the all-time high in the first days of his administration.

The Ukrainian President is eloquent but the images alone are enough to make you go crazy. Biden’s hand on Zelensky’s shoulder. A large group of Congress members greeted him. Then there were the words that were spoken.

This is what the leader of the US who was offered an escort out of Russia when Russia launched its invasion quipped: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Zelensky was able to stand up to Trump in the quid pro quo scandal because of his political skills which were developed during his career.

It all seems a long, long way from the time Zelensky thanked his fans for his resounding victory in the Ukrainian presidential election, when he celebrated in a Kyiv nightclub. 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. Just days after the invasion, Zelensky’s ratings approval surged to 90%, and remain high to this day. Even Americans early in the war rated Zelensky highly for his handling of international affairs – ahead of US President Joe Biden.

His past as a TV comedian with the group Kvartal 95 is reflected in his bubble. In April, a press conference on the platform of a metro station was held to emphasize the wartime setting, even though it was in the middle of war.

The nightly televised addresses he gave brought in the solace of the air raid sirens and explosions in the area, which I remember well.

Fashion, Style and Country: Celebrating the 50th birthday of the King with his wife, Anne, in Paris, July 29 (with an interview with Catherine Zelensky)

A fashion historian and author says Zelensky was projecting confidence and competence in a modern way by wearing T-shirts and hoodies.

She stated that he is more comfortable than Putin as an actor and as a digital native. “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 she is an effective international communication strategist, projecting style and smarts while traveling with her husband. Most recently, she met with King Charles during a visit to a refugee assistance center at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in London. (Curiously, TIME magazine did not include Zelenska on the cover montage and gave only a passing reference in the supporting text).

There have been concerns about Zelensky’s long-term plan among Western nations that have supported him.

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.”

A cap on gas prices is being recommended by the European Union as the solution to an energy crisis stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The First Day of the War in Ukraine: Rishi Sunak Meets Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Washington, D.C.

The Commons Liaison Committee discusses the global issues of the day on Tuesday when British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak makes his first appearance as prime minister. Sunak met with the members of a U.K.-led European military force on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold virtual talks sometime this month, according to Russian news reports.

Prior to Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, Kyiv had been pushing to establish its own independent Orthodox Church separate from Moscow, and the schism only widened in the wake of Putin’s invasion last year. In October, the branch of the Orthodox church in Ukraine decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25 instead of 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 explained that he was tortured, and then spent months in a prison in eastern Ukraine.

The European parliament gave the green light for about $19 billion in financing for Ukraine. Dozens of countries and institutions pledged to lend more than $1 billion in winter relief funds forUkraine, helping it to get power, heat, food and medical supplies.

Three-hundred days after his country was invaded by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky jetted to Washington, DC, for talks on what the next 300 days might bring.

In weighing a visit, Zelensky suggested to advisers he did not want to travel to Washington had there not been a significant development in the bilateral relationship with the United States, according to a source familiar with the matter. Zelensky viewed the US decision to send a Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine as a major shift in the relationship between the two allies.

But the trip was about far more than symbols. Biden wouldn’t invite Zelensky to Washington – and endure a risky trip outside Ukraine for the first time since the war began – if he did not believe something real could be accomplished meeting face-to-face instead of over the phone.

The White House reception Zelensky had in the past was not the one he was expecting on Wednesday. He faced a call from the President to look into Biden for military aid. Zelensky was thanking Americans for their help in Russia in the very chamber where Trump was impeached three years ago.

Zelensky: A Critical Moment in the U.S. Support of Ukraine and the Challenge of Resolving Ukraine’s Cold War

Before using anonymous sources, we have to consider what we are doing. Sources know what’s going on. What motivates them to tell us? They have been reliable in the past. Can we corroborate the information? The Times uses anonymous sources, even though these questions have been satisfied. At least one editor knows 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. 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.

Zelensky was in the US for his first overseas trip in ten months, which indicates his intention to keep his allies focused on the conflict.

The debate over aid to Ukraine will be a key topic of discussion in Congress as Republicans take over the majority in the new year. Some pro-Donald Trump members, who will have significant leverage in the thin GOP majority, have warned that billions of dollars in US cash that have been sent to Ukraine should instead be shoring up the US southern border with a surge of new migrants expected within days.

In March, for instance, Zelensky evoked Mount Rushmore and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream Speech” during a virtual address to Congress. Two days of infamy in modern history were when Americans were afraid of aerial bombardment.

The First Russian Consultations: Towards a World War II Agenda for the United States and the West, and why Ukraine is taking a stand

The British leader sailed to the U-boats in the wintertime Atlantic and took a plane to Washington where he met the President Franklin Roosevelt before their press conference the next day.

The foundation of the Western was laid after a number of days of planning and meetings fueled by a regime of sherry with breakfast, Scotch and sodas for lunch and a bottle of 90-year-old brandy before bed.

During his visit, the leader of the Allies in World War II stated that he was far from home and that he had pined for US involvement for months.

The historical parallels are likely to be appreciated by the Ukrainian leader. He paraphrased one of Churchill’s most famous wartime speeches in an emotional address to British members of parliament in March.

Repeated mention of a wide range of events that Russia doesn’t like will ensure the Third World War, and in so doing will have a huge influence on US and Western behavior.

Russia has been given a pass by the UN Security Council veto and its nuclear propaganda to act it its way, without fear of interference from a global community.

Moscow is struggling to equip and rally its conventional forces, and it appears that it is running out of new cards to play. China and India have joined the West in open statements against the use of nuclear force, which has made that option even less likely.

That sets a bad example for other powers. It says possession of nuclear weapons allows you to wage genocidal wars of destruction against your neighbors, because other nations won’t intervene.

“We need artillery guns, ammunitions, modern tanks, the long-range missiles and modern fighter jets,” Zelensky said. He said that they need to 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 Ukraine doesn’t go through the large numbers of shells Russia fires at it as it attempts to capture areas it wants to.

The Problem with Putting a Bubble Over Ukraine: A Challenge for the U.S. and the Politics of Addressing the Trumpist ‘America First’

This is trickier. Kevin McCarthy, the likely new Speaker of the US Congress, warned the Biden administration not to expect a blank cheque from the new House of Representatives.

The remnants of the Trumpist “America First” elements of the party have expressed skepticism about how much aid the US really needs to send to eastern Europe.

Realistically, the bill for the slow defeat of Russia in this dark and lengthy conflict is relatively light for Washington, given its near trillion-dollar annual defense budget.

It will help defend a single city, like Kyiv, against some threats. Mark Cancian, a retired marine colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that it is not putting a bubble over Ukraine.

The UK will begin training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets, in what CNN understands would be the first official training program for Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter aircraft. Zelensky has been calling for Western fighter aircraft to be provided to Ukraine.

The training requirements mean that the system is unlikely to be up and running in late winter or early spring.

Cancian said that the push to get the system up and running as quickly as possible might be a bad idea since it could hamper the system’s effectiveness. That could cause damage to the political will to send future assistance to Ukraine.

“If the Ukrainians had a year or two to assimilate the system, that wouldn’t be any problem. The problem is they don’t have a year or two. They want to do this in a couple weeks,” Cancian said.

The U.S. Congress May Not Have to Give Up on Ukrainian Air Defenses: Volodymyr Zelensky’s Extraordinary Day

In addition to the Patriot battery, the new aid package announced Wednesday also includes additional HIMARS ammunition, mortars, artillery rounds and tens of thousands of GRAD rockets and tank ammunition.

Kelly Greico thinks the announcement is a sign that U.S. officials have a deep concern about Ukrainian air defense capability.

The missiles that accompany the PAU are much more expensive than the other missiles. Analysts said that Ukrainians must be careful in how they use them. Cancian said that you can’t just allow these things to fly.

Before October, Ukrainian air defenses were focused on protecting frontline troops in the east and south, as well as key government buildings and military sites.

“That’s a terrible choice to face, between the natural urge to protect your civilians from these brutal attacks and trying to ensure that you have the long-term military wherewithal to continue to resist the Russian war effort,” Greico said.

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 the most 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.”

Underscoring the point, he said the soldiers fighting in the brutal battle for Bakhmut asked him to give their battle flag – a flag of Ukraine signed by its defenders – as a gift to the U.S. Congress. The house was filled with tears.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress “extraordinary,” saying the country’s fight against Russian aggression has “proven that they are a really good investment for the United States.”

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 met the Russian leader when she was US Secretary of State, said it was difficult to predict how the war would play out.

Clinton thinks thatPutin is considering how to get more bodies into the fighting in Ukranian.

Zelensky During the First Three Years of the War: He Celebrated the Battle of Saratoga with a Red Army Green Sweatshirt

Zelensky wore a drab green sweatshirt with blue-and-yellow striped tie, and Biden wore a blue-and-yellow striped tie while on the House floor.

Both men agreed that the war was entering a new phase. There are fears of a stalemate as Russia sends more troops to the frontlines and launches a brutal air campaign against civilian targets.

Zelensky left Washington for a long and risky return trip to miss any chance of an end to the conflict.

He doesn’t see any road to peace that involves Ukraine giving up territory or sovereignty.

Zelensky told Congress that he had offered a peace plan to Biden, though US officials later said it was the same plan Zelensky had offered world leaders at the Group of 20 summit.

For his part, Biden said it was up to Zelensky to “decide how he wants to the war to end,” a long-held view that leaves plenty of questions unanswered.

Zelensky peppered his address to lawmakers with references to American history, from the critical Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War to the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

Ahead of the speech, he telegraphed that he would deliver the address in English. Even his attire – the now-familiar Army green shirt, cargo pants and boots – seemed designed to remind his audience they were in the presence of a wartime leader.

Zelensky’s legacy as a leader of the United Nations: How far can the US help in Syria go? A conversation with Biden

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.

He wanted to evoke the emotion of Americans as Russia tried to disrupt the power supply in his country.

Later he observed that Ukrainians will be celebrating Christmas by candlelight, “not because it’s romantic, no, but because there will be no electricity.” Russia has destroyed a lot of its infrastructure.

He was aware that many Americans have wondered aloud why billions of US dollars are needed for a conflict thousands of miles away. He wanted to make the cause more than just his homeland.

Tensions can be seen just beneath the surface. Zelensky has consistently protested for additional US support even though Biden has directed tens of billions of dollars to his country.

It didn’t always sit well with Biden. As he has with many foreign counterparts, Biden appeared to want to translate physical proximity into a better understanding of his counterpart.

“It is all about looking someone in the eye. I mean it sincerely. There is only one way to look at someone while sitting down, and that is face to face.

The Battle of the Bulge: Vladimir Zelensky, the Elephant, and the People of the Orthodox Faith in the Ukranian Republic

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.

On the dais where heads of state usually sport suits, Zelensky embraced the look of a warrior as he used confident English to claim “joint victory” in what he said was the defeat of Russia in the “battle for minds of the world.”

He made a strong plea to Republican lawmakers to stay with Ukranian in the speech, even though he did not mention the elephant.

Congress is planning to vote on a year-long spending bill with 45 billion in emergency assistance forUkraine and NATO allies this week.

It was possible that Zelensky could not speak at a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday due to the fact that the Republicans will be in control of the House next month. The US has provided more than $21 billion in defense assistance in less than a year. Zelensky met with President Joe Biden in the White House on Wednesday and they made an announcement related to a weapons deal.

He talked about the Battle of the Bulge, where US troops were surrounded in the snow after getting a foothold in Europe on D-Day.

A large number of Ukrainian citizens who profess Orthodoxy live in the combat areas, so we urge the Ukrainian side to immediately proclaim a ceasefire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve and the Day of the Nativity of Christ.

The War in Ukraine as a Proximity with Russia, as Sensited by the U.S. President Zelensky

“He’s already established in the American people’s mind we’re in this together, but then pointing out that they’ll do the fighting for us – ‘just give us the tools and we will finish the job.’ That’s what Churchill said,” Kearns Goodwin told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday evening.

An address to Congress is the ultimate platform for a foreign president in the US and maybe around the world. The year-end press conference 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.

Georgia Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, who is the only Ukrainian-born member of Congress, has expressed doubts about the aid to Ukraine and the Zelensky administration.

Moscow said that the war inUkraine is set for a long confrontation with Russia, after President Zelensky visited Washington.

Russia’s foreign ministry condemned what it called the “monstrous crimes” of the “regime in Kyiv,” after US President Joe Biden promised more military support to Ukraine during Zelensky’s summit at the White House on Wednesday.

Maria Zakharova said that even if the West gives more support to the Ukrainian government, they will not achieve anything.

Zakharova said that tasks set within the framework of the special military operation would be fulfilled and taken into account the situation on the ground.

He said Zelenskyy’s visit proves that the US is in a proxy war with Russia.

According to a Russian history professor, the line is being sold to the Russians largely by the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy and the Ukraine want a “just peace,” and the U.S. has been helping it defend itself against Russian aggression, according to Sloat.

Moscow had warned last week that it would see the reported delivery of Patriot missiles to Ukraine as “another provocative move by the U.S.” Does Sloat worry this could provoke a Russian escalation?

Putin spoke about the conflict in Ukraine as a war on Thursday, a change from the description he gave of the Russian invasion 10 months after it began.

Putin said during the State Council meeting on youth policy that the goal was 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. Thousands of people have been condemned because of their words.

A US official told CNN their initial assessment was that Putin’s remark was not intentional and likely a slip of the tongue. However, officials will be watching closely to see what figures inside the Kremlin say about it 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.

Zelensky: Defiant Resolution of Kherson’s Christmas Violations in the Light of Moscow’s Cold War

Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday declared the Kremlin would make a substantial investment in many areas of the military. Increased the size of the armed forces, deployment of a new generation of hyper supersonic missiles and speeding up weapons programs are some of the initiatives proposed by Putin.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukrainians to have “patience and faith” in a defiant Christmas address after a deadly wave of Russian strikes pounded the southern city of Kherson.

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 and streets are not bright. And Christmas bells can ring not so loudly and inspiringly. Through air raid sirens, or even worse – gunshots and explosions.”

The country would sing carols louder than a generator and still hear voices and greetings of family even if communication lines are down, he told the Ukrainian people directly.

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

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

The branch of the Orthodox church in the country decided that it would allow its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25. And many younger Ukrainians are now choosing to observe the holiday on December 25 in a bid to move away from Russia and towards the Western world.

Military facilities in Saratov Oblast: the incident involving a shot down Ukrainian drone is “not a crime to kill for pleasure”

“These are not military facilities,” he wrote on Telegram Saturday. According to the rules defined, this is not a war. It is not a crime to kill for the sake of pleasure.

The defense ministry says three Russian servicemen were killed Monday when a Ukrainian drone was shot down as it approached a military airfield deep inside Russian territory.

Law enforcement agencies are now investigating the incident at the airfield, said Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin on Monday. The comments, posted on his official Telegram channel, came after reports circulated of an explosion in the city.

There were no emergencies in the residential areas of the city and no damage was done to the infrastructure. The government will give assistance to the servicemen’s families, he said.

“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. We should take it into account in our plans and savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay savesay

Earlier this month, CCTV footage appeared to show an explosion lighting up the sky in Engels. At the time, Gov. Busargin also reassured residents that no civilian infrastructure was damaged and that “information about incidents at military facilities is being checked by law enforcement agencies.”

“If the Russians thought that no one at home would be affected by the war, then they were deeply mistaken,” Colonel Ihnat said. He added that explosions at Russian airfields complicated the bombing campaign against Ukraine, forcing Moscow to relocate some of its aircraft, though no one is claiming that the strikes have seriously impeded the Russian barrage.

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.

Mr. Zagorodnyuk said he could not confirm the strikes and that they would be attacked because they are fighting back. There is absolutely no strategic reason not to try to do this.”

Dmytro Kuleba: A man of principle and integrity, and what he wants to do to win the war in 2023

The most sophisticated missile in Russia’s arsenal, the Kinzhal, a hypersonic weapon that can reach targets in minutes and is all but impossible to shoot down, is in even shorter supply, Mr. Budanov said.

Dmytro Kuleba, who is the foreign minister of Ukraine, said on Monday that he hoped to have a peace summit by late February but that Russia would not be invited until it faced first. It was the latest in a string of claims by each country to be open to peace talks — but only on terms that are unacceptable 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 said that he was very satisfied with the results of Zelenskyy’s visit last week, as well as the fact that the U.S. government made a special plan to have the missile batteries ready to go. Usually, the training takes more than a year.

Kuleba said during the interview at the Foreign Ministry that Ukraine will do whatever it can to win the war in 2023, adding that diplomacy always plays an important role.

“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 getting everyone on board.”

“Duchess has proved himself as a man of principle and integrity, as well as an efficient mediator, and most importantly, an efficient negotiator, in his role,” Kuleba said. So we would welcome his active participation.”

Zelenskyy meets the U.S. during the NATO-Russia War, and Moscow will soon join the United States on a “Rogue” Mission

They often say that they are ready for negotiations, but it’s not true because everything they do proves the opposite, he said.

Zelenskyy’s first foreign trip since the war began was to the U.S. Kuleba praised Washington’s efforts and underlined 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 U.S. government developed a program for the missile battery to complete the training quicker than usual “without any damage to the quality of use of this weapon on the battlefield.”

Kuleba said it would be ” less than six months”, but he didn’t specify a time frame. The training will be done outside of Ukranian.

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.

On Monday, Ukraine called on U.N. member states to deprive Russia of its status as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and to exclude it from the world body. Kuleba said they have long “prepared for this step to uncover the fraud and deprive Russia of its status.”

Russian never obtained membership in the UN Security Council after the fall of the Soviet Union, according to the Foreign Ministry.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Putin talks to the West instead of with Ukraine, and he keeps saying thatUkraine is a Western pawn.

As has often been the case throughout the conflict, the vaguely conciliatory tone from Putin was quickly contradicted by a heavy-handed message from one of his key officials.

Russia’s foreign minister said that Ukraine must meet Russia’s demands for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukrainian-controlled territories.

Alexander Rodnyansky, an economic adviser to President Zelensky, told CNN Tuesday that Putin’s comments were likely an effort to buy time in the conflict.

Any hypothetical momentum towards a deal could result in a reduction of Western military aid to Kyiv. And it would present a possible face-saving exit route for Putin, whose reputation would be severely diminished at home if he returned from a costly war without meaningful territorial gains.

Zelensky and his officials have said they will continue to sound out the possibility of negotiations, even if there is no chance of them achieving a truce.

Kuleba said that every war ends in a diplomatic way. “Every war ends as a result of the actions taken on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.”

The steps includes a path to nuclear safety, food security, a special tribunal for alleged Russian war crimes, 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.

Disaster Response in the Ukraine with the Defense Priorities Think Tank: Russia’s power grid attacks, civilian population safety, and military missionary priorities

A decisive swing on the battlefield in the New Year could force a change, but both sides are dug into what may become a long and grinding conflict.

“It’s like the central nervous system of the human body: If you mess with it, you put all sorts of systems out of whack,” says Rajan Menon, a director of the Defense Priorities think tank who recently returned from a trip to the Ukrainian capital, speaking about Russia’s power grid attacks. “It’s not only an inconvenience but an enormous economic cost. 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 the capital Kyiv were destroyed, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the lead for disaster response in the Ukrainian presidential office.

An explosion near a playground rattled the windows of nearby homes. Residents are urged to charge their electronic devices and fill their water containers in case of a shortage.

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.

Violation of the Ukrainian Constitution During the Second World War: The Civil Rights and Freedoms of the Media and the Internet, and the Crisis in Ukraine

Hryn said that after the sirens went off life in the capital went back to normal, and he met his neighbors in the elevator as they raced to catch the new movie. Some people continued with their holiday plans despite the fact that many parents took their kids to school.

Cities should be filled with joy, hope and celebration on New Year’s Eve. Zelenska stated that Ukrainian cities are again covered by missile wave from Russia.

At least three people, including a 14-year-old, were injured and two people pulled from a damaged home on Thursday, Klitschko said earlier. Homes, an industrial facility and a playground in the capital were damaged in attacks on Kyiv, according to the city military administration.

At the time, Putin insisted his forces were embarking on a “special military operation” — a term suggesting a limited campaign that would be over in a matter of weeks.

The war upended life in Russia, as it decimated a post-Soviet period in which the country pursued democratic reforms and at least financial integration 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.

The group’s activities were stopped because it was accused of violating 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 not enforced. The measures should be used to crush dissent at a moment’s notice.

Leading independent media outlets and a few vibrant online investigative startups were forced to shut down or relocate abroad when faced with new ” fake news” laws that made it a crime to publish news contrary to the official government line.

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

Russian users still have access to independent sources of information, even with technical fixes such as Telegram. Older Russians enjoy state media propaganda, with angry TV talk shows spreading conspiracies.

War against Ukraine has left Russia isolated and struggling with more turbulent-ahedral-heavy-bloody-blood: a response from the left in the early days

Thousands of perceived government opponents — many of them political activists, civil society workers and journalists — left in the war’s early days amid concerns of persecution.

Meanwhile, some countries that have absorbed the Russian exodus predict their economies will grow, even as the swelling presence of Russians remains a sensitive issue to former Soviet republics in particular.

Helped by Russian price controls, the ruble regained value. McDonald’s and many other brands were revived under Russian ownership. By year’s end, the government reported the economy had declined by 2.5%, far less than most economists predicted.

Europe will blink first when it comes to sanctions, as Europeans grow angry over energy costs at home, and President Putin is betting that will be the case. He said that oil exports would not be allowed for five months in countries that do not abide by the price cap.

When it comes to Russia’s military campaign, there’s no outward change in the government’s tone. Russia’s Defense Ministry gives daily briefings on everything that is going on. Putin insists that everything is going according to plan.

The length of the war suggests that Russia underestimated the willingness of Ukrainians to resist.

The true number of Russian losses – officially at just under 6,000 men – remains a highly taboo subject at home. Western estimates place those figures much higher.

After Russia invaded, NATO looks set to expand to Russia’s borders with the addition of long-neutral states Sweden and Finland.

It would have been unthinkable in Soviet days for allies in Centralasia to criticize Russia’s actions out of concern for their own sovereignty. 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

The Russian President’s Wake after a decade of war: The CNN Digital Revolution and its role in Russia’s Cold War with the Kremlin

An annual December press conference in which the Russian leader is able to answer questions from various pro-Kremlin media were also tabled until 2023.

The Kremlin has given no reason for the delays. After a decade of war, the Russian leader has run out of good news to share.

When news breaks, the world comes to CNN, as it has for more than 40 years on television and more than 25 years on digital platforms. On average, more than 165 million of you came to CNN Digital from around the globe every month in 2022, according to Comscore.

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.

I wrote an analysis early on in the conflict, detailing the limits of what the US and its allies would and wouldn’t do. Those limits have been contentious from the start and are only growing more so today as Russia accuses the West of going too far.

The impact of the overturn of abortion rights and US politics was one of the top stories.

Covid-19: the most recent news in China and a reminder to the Kremlin and the Russian citizens, as seen by TV and Telegram

The last weeks of the year have brought new problems in China, despite the fact that interest in the Covid-19 Pandemic waned as it did. Pandemic developments do not know borders.

The news brought millions of people to CNN. The DJ for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” died from AIDS and was the top entertainment story. There were bright moments too: like the Good Samaritans that made a difference in the lives of strangers.

For those playing along at home, every piece on our Top 100 Stories list this year received more than 3 million visits, according to our internal data.

We’d like to thank you for being with us. We promise we will be here for you in 2023, for every breaking news story and for every piece of joy, delight and triumph.

There was video of the scene of the attack shared widely on Telegram and an official Ukrainian military channel. Almost no part of the building appears to be standing after it was seen in this picture.

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.

Ukrainian civilian air strikes on civilian infrastructure in Donetsk, Kharkiv and other regions: a source of emergency shutdowns in the capital

Three people died and three more were wounded in the Donetsk region, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Tymoshenko said it was on Telegram.

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

“26 of the enemy’s air strikes were on civilian infrastructure. The 10 Shahed-136 UAVs were used by the occupants, but they were all shot down. The General Staff said that the enemy made 80 attacks and civilian settlements were also hit.

“The municipal ‘life support system’ of the capital is operating normally. 30% of consumers are without electricity. He said it was due to emergency shutdowns.

Klitschko also reported that the restrictions were applied to check the open section of the red metro line in the city “for the presence of remnants of missile debris.”

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

A Year in the Life and Death of Ukraine, Revisited by the President Volodymyr Zelensky 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 also want to travel and open borders. And I also think about personal and professional growth, because one should not stand still. I have to develop and work for the benefit of the country,” said Alyona Bogulska, a 29-year-old financier.

“This year, it’s a symbol, not that it’s a small victory, but a symbol that we survived the year,” said Tatiana Tkachuk, a 43-year-old pharmacy employee.

KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine delivered a rousing New Year’s Eve address on Saturday night, recalling a year that he said truly “began on Feb. 24” with fear over Russia’s invasion but ended with his country hopeful for victory.

Standing in darkness with a Ukrainian flag rippling gently in the breeze behind him, Mr. Zelensky recounted in a videotaped speech many notable moments from the war — including the attack on a maternity hospital, the intense fighting at the Azovstal steel plant, the destruction of a Russian bridge to Crimea, the retaking of Kherson, the sinking of a Russian flagship — as the video cut to footage that underscored his words.

This year has struck our hearts, he said in a translated transcript on his official website. We have cried out all the tears. All the prayers have been said. 311 days is a long time. We have something to say each and every day.

The explosion of the Donetsk school in Makiivka, Russia, caused by the Cuban Missile Crisis: Russia’s defense ministry acknowledged on Monday

Mr. Zelensky said that Ukrainians are participating in the defense of their country. He did not think that the year of losses was a good idea.

The world has come to the aid of Ukrainians, especially from the main squares of foreign cities and their halls of government, said Mr. Zelensky.

This has been done before by America. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the most dangerous nuclear confrontation so far, the Soviet Union’s position shifted in a matter of days, ultimately 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 caused pro-Russian military bloggers to accuse Moscow of lacking protection and of being near a large cache of ammunition, which they claim led to the explosion of the school.

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.”

“I hope that those responsible for the decision to use this facility will be reprimanded,” Bezsonov said. There are a lot of abandoned facilities that can be quartered.

The building was almost completely obliterated by the secondary detonation of ammunition stores, according to a Russian propagandist who writes about the war effort 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 many people are still missing.”

Despite several months of war, some conclusions are not made and the unnecessary losses may have not happened if the precautions relating to the dispersal and concealment of personnel were taken.

The latest attack on Bakhmut by a Russian drone and the death of a 46-year-old resident in the Kherson region

The military said on Sunday that Russian forces had killed 760 people and continue to try and take control of Bakhmut.

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 invasion went awry, putting pressure on Putin as his ground forces struggle to hold ground and advance. In his new year’s address, he said that this would be a difficult year of decisions.

The governor of the southern Kherson region said on Telegram that five people had been wounded by shelling on Monday.

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 the Ukranian city, died in a hospital on Monday.

Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz reported on Monday that there was an energy facility in the region that was hit by a Ukrainian drone. A village was left without power as a result, he said.

Putin’s announcement of a ceasefire in Ukraine: Podolyak and Filatov argued that the invasion was “purely propaganda”

Biden affirmed the new commitment in a telephone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday. Germany is sending new fighting vehicles and a missile battery to protect against Russian air attacks.

The White House said the U.S. will send Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, as well as Germany sending Marder infantry fighting vehicles and an additional air defense battery.

Zelensky wanted those systems because they will allow the military to target Russian missiles flying at a higher altitude than they could have previously.

The Kremlin says that Putin has ordered the defense minister to allow Orthodox Christians to attend Christmas services if there is a temporary ceasefire inUkraine this week. The proposal was dismissed as hypocritical by the Ukrainian officials.

“Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” Podolyak tweeted. The adviser later described Putin’s order as “purely propaganda,” adding: “There is not the slightest desire to end the war. Russian missiles/drones are used to attack civilian targets on Christmas holidays, and they do so on places of religious worship.

Kirill remains outspoken in his support of Russia’s invasion, announcing in a sermon in September 2022 that Russian soldiers who die in the war against Ukraine will be cleansed of all their sins. He said that he was sacrificing himself for others. “I am sure that such a sacrifice washes away all sins that a person has committed.”

The Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox believers were damaged by the announcement by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

“Let’s let the Orthodox believers go to church on Christmas. They declare a truce and, at the same time, sit and reload their rockets. The mayor of Dnipro, Boris Filatov was the author of the Telegram post.

President Biden was reluctant 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, I mean, I think he’s trying to find some oxygen.”

Ned Price of the State Department told reporters that their concern was that the Russians would use the temporary pause in fighting to regroup and then to attack again. If the intent is to train their fire with even more vengeance, with even more lethality against the people of Ukraine, it can’t be considered a cease-fire. Russia would no longer be in the territory of Ukraine if it were serious about peace and ending this war. That is what constitutes an end to this war.”

Turkey’s President asked Russia to stop bombing in support of the war effort during a call with Putin earlier in the day.

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.”

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price described it as “cynical” and that the US had “little faith in the intentions behind” Russia’s proposed ceasefire.

The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned on Thursday of the dangers of the promise of a ceasefire if it did not mean freedom or security for people living under Moscow’s brutal war.

The Ukraine crisis, the media and the image of a country as a democratic state: a case study from Luhansk, Ukraine

The conflict Russia started in eastern Ukraine in the middle of the last century accelerated the movement of parts of the Orthodox community away from Moscow.

There is no expectation that things will change in the southern region of Kherson. “They shell us every day, people die in Kherson every day. And this temporary measure won’t change anything,” he said.

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.

The soldier who goes by the call signArcher said that he doesn’t think this is done for military purpose and that one day it would solve nothing.

The soldier thought it was possible that the image of Russia was made to be a little more human because of the many atrocities that are happening.

Halyna Hladka said she believed the truce was an attempt by Russians to win time.

“Russia has already shown active use of faith in numerous kinds of manipulations. And besides, in almost a year of war, Russia has not behaved itself as a country capable of adhering to promises,” she said.

On the use of cell phones in the Russian army during the Makiivka attack and the emergence of a terrorist attack against the Soviet Union

If the Russian account is accurate, it was the cell phones that the novice troops were using in violation of regulations that allowed Ukrainian forces to target them most accurately. They didn’t say how the attack was executed. The implications for how Russia is conducting its war are wider and deeper.

Chris Dougherty, a senior fellow for the Defense Program and co-head of the Gaming Lab at the Center for New American Security in Washington, has told me that Russia’s failure to break up or move large arms depots is largely a function of the reality that their forces cannot communicate adequately.

It is a view held by other experts. “Bad communications security seems to be standard practice in the Russian Army,” James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told me in an e-mail exchange.

He is not the only one questioning something. “As expected, the blame for what happened in Makiivka began to be placed on the soldiers themselves,” said a post on the Telegram channel known as “Grey Zone,” linked to longtime Kremlin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner 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. I can’t imagine how appealing cell phones could be to prisoners who have spent years in isolation with little or no contact with the outside world.

Semyon Pegov, who blogs under the alias WarGonzo and was personally awarded the Order of Courage by President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin two weeks ago, attacked the Ministry of Defense for its “blatant attempt to smear blame” in suggesting it was the troops’ own use of cell phones that led to the precision of the attack.

He wondered if the Ministry of Defense could not have known where soldiers were staying because they didn’t use drones or local intel to figure it out.

A month earlier, the defense ministry underwent a shakeup when Col. Gen. Mikhail Y. Mizintsev, known to Western officials as the “butcher of Mariupol,” was named deputy defense minister for overseeing logistics, replacing four-star Gen. Dmitri V. Bulgakov, who had held the post since 2008. The location of the arms depot, adjacent to the Makiivka recruits, would likely have been on Mizintsev’s watch.

On Saturday before the Makiivka attack, Shoigu told his forces that their victory was inevitable.

The Biden administration announced a large withdrawal of military assistance to the Ukraine on Friday, although there are concerns that Republicans in Washington could block future aid because of their newfound power.

McCarthy’s effort to become speaker has led to more than a dozen unsuccessful votes this week, which may put further limitations onUkraine aid.

Several Republican members who changed their votes on Friday to support McCarthy said they are encouraged by a framework of an agreement, but provided no details about the deal.

The recent Ukrainian withdrawal from the White House: What will it tell us about the status of the United States and how will it affect the work they do in Ukraine?

That number was higher than the President requested, and a reflection of Democrats’ concern that additional funding wouldn’t be as forthcoming in a GOP-led House. In some ways, that number was an insurance policy against Republican resistance and the view inside the White House was that that figure would sustain US support for several months.

Rules changes to the budgetary process, which could hamper Congress’ ability to pass new aid come September, are being opposed by certain conservative Republicans.

“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 would make moves to get the role that could potentially lead to cuts to aid, according to others.

Another diplomat told CNN they’re personally concerned about “the policy concessions McCarthy has to make, and if they are going to affect US role in the world.”

A third diplomat expressed concerns concessions like crucial committee assignments, such as the House Rules Committee, could be given to lawmakers who have advocated against more aid to Ukraine, which could create immense hurdles for passing additional assistance legislation.

White House officials, before the current predicament on Capitol Hill, were skeptical that Ukraine aid would dry up completely. They have pointed out Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell is among the most ardent supporters of Ukraine, and note McCarthy has pledged continued support for Ukraine.

The president of Ukranian applauded the latest withdrawal on Friday saying it was an awesome Christmas present. The past support of the public for aiding the country is not a worry for the lawmakers inUkraine, they told CNN.

Media coverage of a Russian strike on a vocational school housing Ukrainian conscripts in the Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on New Year’s Day

Orthodox Christians are estimated to number between 200 and 300 million people globally. Majority-Orthodox countries include Russia, Ukraine and Greece, whose churches are part of the Eastern Orthodox branch, which is also followed by the majority of Christians in the Middle East. The large Orthodox communities in Egypt and Ethiopia are all members of the Oriental Orthodox branch.

The birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated on December 25 each year, following the decision by Pope Gregory XIII to standardize Christian holidays. The Orthodox Church split into its own branch of Christianity during the Great Schism of 1054, following years of increasing tensions over religious and political differences.

Ukrainian officials on Sunday dismissed Moscow’s claim that a large number of Kyiv’s soldiers were killed in a Russian attack last week in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.

A CNN team in the area has not seen a lot of casualties. There is no unusual activity in and around Kramatorsk, including in the vicinity of the city morgue, the team reported.

There is no evidence that there was a Russian strike on the 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.

A rare public blame game broke out between the Russian government and some pro-Kremlin leaders and military experts in the aftermath of the strike, after Moscow appeared to blame its own soldiers’ use of cell phones.

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine denied the account that was dismissed by the influential military writer, pointing to a disagreement between the Russian command and the government in Moscow.

The Russian Invasion of Izium: Human Rights Watch and a Global View on Mine Demining in the Donetsk Region

The International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook will be out Tuesday in Singapore. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Russia-Ukraine war is a big factor in causing economic downturn in some countries.

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 military of Ukraine acknowledged the Russian takeover of Soledar, but retreated after a difficult 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 heckled by protesters as she entered the Russian Foreign Ministry to present her credentials.

Russia’s ambassadors were told to leave the Baltic states after the Kremlin said it had kicked out the ambassador of Estonia over its perceived “Russophobia.”

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.

When the eastern city of Izium was liberated from Russian control in September 2022, Human Rights Watch interviewed several civilians and emergency workers. Researchers documented 11 cases of civilians injured by petal mines over the course of five months, including one man who eventually died.

Russian forces dispatch demining teams and issue public safety notices when mines end up in private vegetable gardens near sidewalks and on residential roofs. Local residents report that the Russian military brought injured civilians to Russia for treatment.

The petals are brown or green and blend with the earth. They can be launched with guns from a distance. They explode at the lowest possible altitude and can be seen from the sky. The same material as the hollow plastic playground toys is used in them.

Tuesday’s report says that Ukraine has destroyed 3.4 million antipersonnel mines it once had in its arsenal, but, in documents submitted to the United Nations, the country said it still has 3.3 million stockpiled.

The evidence that Human Rights Watch has on Ukrainian mining activities in Izium is more conclusive than accusations of war crimes. The group is calling on the Ukrainian military to conduct an internal investigation into its adherence to the country’s international obligations.

Ukraine is on the edge of the next escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, and a barrage of Ukrainian missiles has ripped through Kramatorsk

A top Ukrainian national security official has said that Russia is getting ready for a “maximum escalation” of the war in Ukraine.

“These will be defining months in the war.” said Oleksiy Danilov in an interview with Sky News.

“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.

Paramedics rushed to the scene to treat at least one wounded civilian. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko also confirmed that there had been 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. Authorities also evacuated people to a local school for shelter.

The War in Ukraine, Biden’s Message and the Reprieve of the U.S. Congress to the Standing Standing Applauds

A country that 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 do everything we can to find the perpetrators. They aren’t deserving of 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.

The members of congress wore blue and yellow ribbons. A year ago, when the House was awash in colors of Ukraine’s flag, lawmakers gave several standing applauds for Biden’s message on the war.

Biden had less than two minutes to talk about the war. He was given applause when he asked whether Americans would stand for the defense of democracy.

Biden said last year that the corrupt leaders of the Russian regime wouldn’t be welcome anymore.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova attended President Biden’s State of the Union speech, for the second year in a row, but the war in Ukraine received far less attention in the address this time.

Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist, said that this sentiment has given pause to some Republicans from conservative districts who supported the war, but are now worried about public support.

“It is having an impact with the base. Williams said it could be a primary issue for Republicans if that keeps growing. It’s important to make sure that the litmus test issue isn’t a big issue with the Republicans and that it’s not endangers incumbent who face conservatives in the primary.

Zelensky in the UK: A prime minister of Ukrainian national ego and fighter jets to protect the national euclidean king

In only his second foreign trip since the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, Zelensky gave a speech to the joint houses of the British parliament that deftly stroked the national ego at the same as making a direct plea for more heavy weaponry, including fighter jets.

Zelensky handed the speaker of the House of Commons a helmet of a Ukrainian fighter pilot in a show of solidarity with the people of his country. Give us wings to protect it.”

Zelensky’s message was directed firmly at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and members of the Cabinet standing in front of him in the historic surroundings of Westminster Hall – the oldest part of of the Palace of Westminster, where the late Queen Elizabeth lay in state and where US President Obama stood for a similar address in 2011.

Sunak greeted Zelensky at Stansted Airport, north of London, after he landed aboard a UK Royal Air Force C-17 transport plane. Sunak sent a picture of the pair embracing. “Welcome to the UK, President @ZelenskyyUa,” reads the caption, adding the hashtag #GlorytoUkraine.

Zelensky said in a Telegram post following his audience with the King that he congratulated King Charles “on his recent accession to the throne and wished peace and prosperity to the British people.”

He said that it was quite an honor to be the first President ofUkraine in the history of Ukrainian-British relations to be honored by the British monarch.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/europe/zelensky-visit-uk-intl-gbr/index.html

On the request for fighter jets from Ukraine, and the plan to send them to Great Britain, according to Prime Minister Spokesman A. Zelensky

We don’t have a way out. We have to make sure that we 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.

“I think you can see from the steps that we are taking that we are willing to put Ukraine in the position where, once we have reached the goals of training pilots, they are able to fly these type of jets,” said the PM’s spokesman. We haven’t decided if we send UK fighter jets. Obviously there is an ongoing discussion among other countries about their own fighter jets, some of which are more akin to what Ukrainian pilots are used to.”

Zelensky said during the press conference that Ukraine would be intensifying its diplomacy surrounding the request for Eurofighter jets and suggested that the decision was not solely in the UK’s hands.

“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.”

No decision has yet been made on whether to supply jets to Ukranian. Ben Wallace is investigating which aircraft could be given to Ukraine.

Zelensky and the United Kingdom: a diplomatic visit to Europe in the light of a possible European victory in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Zelensky’s trip to Brussels on Thursday came a day after he made a surprise visit to London and Paris as part of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals aimed at persuading the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

In the event of a scenario in which the United Kingdom is involved, the embassy said that there will be a death toll of yet another round of escalation as well as military-political consequences for the European continent and the world.

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 has already imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian individuals and entities since last February when Russia invaded Ukraine, according to UK government data.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola introduced Zelensky ahead of his address, telling him: “Ukraine is Europe and your nation’s future is in the European Union.

During an address to the European Parliament, Zelensky said his country and the EU share the same values, and that the “European standard of life” and the “European rules of life” are “when the law rules.”

European lawmakers were warned by the president that Russia was going to bring back the 1930s and 1940s. He said that the answer for them was no. We are defending ourselves. We must defend ourselves.”

Zelensky said that he would have several bilateral meetings in Switzerland to discuss 888-565- to Ukraine, but that the discussions he had so far in Belgian capital are very precise.

“I am very inspired by your statements that Europe will be with us until our victory. I have heard it from a number of European leaders and I am very grateful to them for this,” Zelensky said during a press conference following the European Council meeting.

I heard that we were prepared to give us the necessary weapons and support. The fighter jets and other aircrafts, he said, would be raised with a number of bilaterals. “So we are working and will continue working in Brussels.”

The leader of the Ukraine believes that their visit to London has yielded results, indicating a possible success in the United Kingdom.

His meeting in Paris with the German Chancellor and French President also appears to have extended that conversation. This meeting is positive and we’re talking about concrete decisions. Indeed, I would not want to announce many things publicly, but all I can say is that we will working towards the enhancement of our capabilities.”

Zelensky’s War with the World: Where do we stand today? Where are we going? Where will we go? How will Britain march towards the victory?

But despite Zelensky’s optimism, behind closed doors he is likely being warned that without a fully functioning air defense system, NATO’s expensive fighter jets could be easy prey for the Russians, and that any fighter jet commitment needs to be sequenced with better air defense.

He said that they knew Russia would lose. We know victory will change the world, and this will be a change the world needed. The United Kingdom is marching with us towards the most important victory of our lifetime. The victory over the very idea of war.