Russian Attacks leave the Port City in the dark

The Russia-Czechnya Counteroffensive: The Hard Guy from Kryvy i Rih, the Republic of Kyiv, Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — After being encircled by Ukrainian forces, Russia pulled troops out Saturday from an eastern Ukrainian city that it had been using as a front-line hub. It was the latest win for the Ukrainian counteroffensive that has angered the Kremlin.

Lyman had been an important link in the Russian front line for both ground communications and logistics. It is situated in the east of the country near the border with Luhansk region, which Russia took over on Friday after a local referendum was held at gun point.

Radchenko says despite Russia’s military setbacks, President Vladimir Putin is doubling down — albeit carefully, such as when he describes it as a “partial” mobilization — to convince his people that they “have no choice but to support the government on this, because if Ukraine and the West have their way, then Russia will simply disappear.”

Ukrainian forces have retaken vast swaths of territory in a counteroffensive that started in September. Russian forces were pushed out of the Kharkiv area and moved across the Oskil River.

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

Meanwhile, on the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula, the governor of the city of Sevastopol announced an emergency situation at an airfield there. Explosions and huge billows of smoke could be seen from a distance by beachgoers in the Russian-held resort. The Belbek airfield was the location of a plane rolling off the runway and catching fire.

Moscow’s annexation has led to intensified Russian bombardments in recent days as it ordered a mass deployment to bolster its forces. The unpopularity of the Russian call-up has caused tens of thousands of men to leave the country.

This all adds up to a long path ahead for Zelensky’s administration, especially if the goal is to liberate the peninsula from Russia. For now, the tough guy from Kryvy i Rih is true to form.

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

Photographs of the attack on the convoy were posted by the Security Service of Ukraine. There were burned corpses in the truck bed that appeared to have been blown up. The vehicle in the front of the convoy was on fire. Bodies lay on the side of the road or still inside vehicles, which appeared pockmarked with bullet holes.

The two people killed were in the northeastern part of the country. Four rockets were used to hit the city, which the head of the regional military administration said was intended to hit critical infrastructure.

The head of the U.N’s nuclear watchdog is going to visit Kyiv this week to discuss the situation after Putin made a decree that Russia would take control of the six-reactor plant. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called it a criminal act and said it considered Putin’s decree “null and void.” The plant would continue to operate according to the operator.

“I met with IAEA head Rafael Grossi. The topic is clear: the security of our energy industry, our nuclear plants. First of all, the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which Russia still uses for radiation blackmail of the world,” Zelensky said in his nightly address from Dnipro on Monday. He reached depths of cynicism in which Russia constantly seeks and finds a new bottom.

The power plant repeatedly has been caught in the crossfire of the war. Ukrainian technicians continued running it after Russian troops seized the power station, and its last reactor was shut down in September as a precautionary measure amid ongoing shelling nearby.

After Friday’s land grab, Russia now claims sovereignty over 15% of Ukraine, in what NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called “the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War.”

The European Parliament meets in Kiev on Thursday for a summit summit on the epoch of Security and Security: President Biden’s visit to Ukraine

More than $12.3 billion in military and economic aid was provided on Friday by President Joseph Biden after he signed a bill in Washington.

From the beginning of the Russian invasion until the end ofJanuary, the prosecutor general’s office of the country documented over 200 attacks on energy facilities. Another 15 attacks have targeted the power grid in February so far. Data collected by the office and shared with CNN shows there were strikes on infrastructure in 24 of Ukraine’s 27 administrative regions, with the majority carried out since October.

Governor Oleksandr Starukh wrote on his Telegram channel that many people were rescued from the multi-story buildings, including a 3-year-old girl who was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Rogov also said that Ukrainians “have concentrated significant number of militants in Zaporizhzhia direction” and that the risk of storming the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant “remains high”.

Grossi stressed that the plant “must be protected” and added that he will “soon travel to the Russian Federation, and then return to Ukraine, to agree on a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the plant. This is an absolute must-do.

The leaders from more than 40 countries will gather in the Czech capital on Thursday to launch the European Political Community, which will aim to boost security and prosperity across the continent.

Speaking in a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “certain territories will be reclaimed, and we will keep consulting residents who would be eager to embrace Russia.”

Putin vowed to defend Russia’s territory with nukes even though the borders of the areas Moscow is claiming remain unclear.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said the Ukrainian flag had been raised above seven Kherson region villages previously occupied by the Russians. The closest of the liberated villages to the city of Kherson is Davydiv Brid, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.

Russian military medics lacked supplies and the hospitals were full of wounded Russian soldiers, according to the deputy head of the Ukrainian regional government. Russian soldiers are going to be sent to the peninsula of Crimea after they are stabilized.

Russian troops left behind the bodies of their fallen friends when they retreated from the city of Lyman over the weekend. Some people were still lying on the side of the road.

As Ukrainian soldiers battled to regain control of the area, it sustained heavy damage. Mykola, a 71-year-old man who gave only his first name, was among about 100 residents who lined up for aid on Wednesday.

Dialogue between Putin and the Zaporizhiyya government and a Russian campaign against shelling near the Dnipro nuclear power plant

“We want the war to come to an end, the pharmacy and shops and hospitals to start working as they used to,” he said. “Now we don’t have anything yet. Everything is destroyed and pillaged, a complete disaster.”

Zelensky began speaking Russian in his nightly address on Saturday, as Moscow launched a series of strikes that left at least 12 people dead in several towns in northern Ukraine ahead of New Year.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog was against shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which was reconnected to the Ukrainian power grid.

The resumed shelling is irresponsible, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General.

A senior pro-Russian official in the Zaporizhiyya government says the plant can be put back into operation.

Crews restored power and cellular connection in Enerhodar, the city near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that is currently under Russian control, a senior official said Sunday.

The Zaporizhzhia government leader Rogov wrote in a telegram post that water supply will be restored soon.

The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly tried to deliver humanitarian supplies in the city but they have not been allowed by the Russian forces, according to Orlov.

Russian authorities appeared to be preparing the public for a possible retreat from parts of the Kherson region, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a research group based in Washington. American officials said last month that Russian commanders had recommended retreating across the Dnipro, but that President Vladimir V. Putin had refused to allow it.

A British intelligence report on Thursday said that there was evidence that the Russian authorities were considering a withdrawal from the western bank of the Dnipro, a view supported by U.S. intelligence analysts.

The Ukrainian military warned on Thursday that Russia is increasing its military presence in northern Ukraine, raising the risk of a new offensive. The Russians withdrew from a part of the country after they tried to capture Kyiv in the early hours of February 24.

There were conflicting information about the status of the site next to the nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, which was occupied by the Russians. Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces were leaving, however The Times couldn’t say if it was a sign of a withdrawal or a routine rotation of troops.

On Friday was a historic day forUkraine after Russia decided to pull out of the west bank of the Kherson region.

The president said he was happy to see people keep the Ukrainian flags in the city despite all the threats.

He came to say thanks to Americans. He was saying it over and over. I hope my gratitude and respect for each American is seen by them. Zelensky came to explain why this fight is not just Ukraine’s fight, and why the country that has supplied the weapons that have allowed Ukraine to push back against a much bigger enemy was the first part of his message.

He said stabilization measures would follow due to the threat of mines. In particular, the occupiers left a lot of explosives at vital facilities. He said that they would be clearing them.

“Our defenders are followed by police, sappers, rescuers, power engineers … Social services are coming back. He said that life is returning.

Vladimir Putin on the Kerch Bridge: Where is water? Where is the bridge? Where are the missing nuclear power lines? What is the problem? How did Putin and his soldiers attack Ukraine?

“It’s too dangerous to go back to your homes in the new areas,” officials warned displaced residents on Friday.

The leader of the military administration in Mykolaiv traveled to Snihurivka Friday to discuss restoration of life in the liberated territories of the region.

Despite the fact that the relevant services have already begun removal of mined territories, I warn local residents to be careful.

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

He went on to list a series of events he blames on the Ukrainians: “Who hit the Crimean bridge? Who blew up the power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant?”

A truck exploded at the strategic crossing on the night of October 8, causing large damage. The Ukrainians have never claimed responsibility, but the Kremlin was quick to accuse Kyiv.

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.

He ended his apparently off-the-cuff comments by claiming that people seem to refrain from mentioning that water has been cut off from Donetsk. “No one has said a word about it anywhere. At all! Complete silence.

The Russian president said that as soon as they made a move, they need to make noise, clamor and crackle for the whole universe.

He finished his speech and gave a toast to the soldiers that were listening as he sipped from his champagne glass.

Ukrenergo’s “Genocide” During the November 11 Strikes: Emergency Power Supply in Odesa, Ukraine

In order to reduce damage from the grid shorting out, the electricity is protected from being turned off and in some parts of Ukraine, it was particularly hard hit.

In a statement in November, Ukrenergo acknowledged that the race to restore power was being hampered by winds, rain and sub-zero temperatures.

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

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

The use of Iranian drones in the strikes left many in the dark. The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult, as only the most critical infrastructure remained operational. He warned that although repair crews were working “nonstop,” restoring power to civilians would take “days,” not “hours.”

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

There are attacks on civilian infrastructure in various parts of the country. Residential buildings, hotel, (a) shop, place for festivals were damaged. He wrote there were dead and injured.

The Chernobyl Disaster: A Time for Democracy in the United States and the Republic of Ukraine, and the Legacy of a Trouble for the Environment

Arkadiyivna’s worst fears about the reactor’s safety came to fruition on April 26, 1986. One of the reactors blew up, releasing a cloud of radiation over Ukraine and across Europe.

“Moscow was able to develop nuclear energy to keep it close to conflict in order to keep it under control and out of harms way,” says Oleksandr Shirodorolia, an energy policy expert.

She heard from friends and relatives who worked at the Chernobyl plant that authorities would cut corners and pump up power production for the USSR to export to other Eastern bloc countries.

Ukraine was looked at like something out of a movie. David Marples, a historian at Canada’s University of Alberta and author of multiple books about the Chernobyl disaster, says that Ukrainians weren’t trusted to run nuclear power themselves.

I did not understand why we needed to be independent before Chernobyl. But I did understand that we’re no less deserving of dignity than Russians,” Samoilenko says.

Other environmental scientists joined with the dissidents to form Green World. The Soviet government tolerated youth environmental movements, but behind closed doors, the group pushed for Ukrainian independence.

Samoilenko says that democratic action is the only way to protect the environment.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/11/1138382531/ukraine-fears-nuclear-disaster-zaporizhzhia-chernobyl-memories

Sophia Arkadiyivna’s experience in the exclusion zone: How Russians invaded Chernobyl

Sophia Arkadiyivna retired as the mayor of her hometown. The village was removed from the map in 1999. Theexclusion zone was imposed after the Chernobyl disaster due to its being too dangerous for the public.

But after she retired from her other job as a school teacher, she returned, despite the environmental risks. The government turns a blind eye to pensioners like her who opted to return to their abandoned houses. She spends most days alone tending her garden, her main source of sustenance.

She uses a few words in her Ukrainian. This village is closer to the border with Belarus — just 10 miles to the east — than to the former Chernobyl plant. She says she used to think there was no difference between Russians and Ukrainians.

She yelled that her parents raised her to have a soul and help people as she was cutting vegetables for the winter.

Many retirees like her lived in the exclusion zone during the time it was occupied by Russia, as did thousands of Ukrainian officials and workers who continue to maintain power infrastructure in the area.

The safety chief in the exclusion zone says the Russians stole radios, tires and batteries from his vehicles. Many smashed windows or bullet holes inside the doors.

After the Russian occupation of the zone, the team led by Havrylenko are not working on necessary tasks. They can hardly imagine the stress people working at a nuclear power plant are facing, having survived the month-long occupation.

“I’m very, very scared,” says Serhiy Biruk, a top official with the Ukrainian agency that manages the exclusion zone. He’s been involved in the Chernobyl cleanup for 37 years.

After Russia forcibly annexed the territory in September, Ukraine’s power utility says occupation officials forced Ukrainian nuclear workers to sign new contracts acknowledging Russia’s control over the power plant.

She says the energy system was meant to work with Russia and a few other countries. Nuclear energy is centralized by its nature and that is why Ukraine did separate its grid from those countries.

People want their energy production to be more local. They’re looking to the lifestyles of people like Arkadiyivna, relying on off-grid utilities like batteries and solar panels to survive.

Joint attack of the Ukrainian forces in Donetsk and further west-Kuzakhstan on Oct. 29, 2014, according to the mayor of Moscow

The Ukrainian forces have unleashed the biggest attack on theoccupied Donetsk region since 2014 in the wake of heavy fighting in the east of the country.

Moscow attempted to annex a number of Ukrainian regions in October, including the one held by Russian-backed rebels, in violation of international law.

The mayor of Moscow posted on Telegram that the Ukrainians had hit the center of the city at 7 a.m.

“Forty rockets from BM-21 ‘Grad’ MLRS were fired at civilians in our city,” he said Thursday, adding that a key intersection in Donetsk city center had come under fire.

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.

“One of (the victims) was a volunteer, a member of the rapid response team of the international organization. They were killed when they were hit by enemy shells on the street.

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

A critical infrastructure facility was hit by the enemy. Shell fragments damaged residential buildings and the place where the medical aid and humanitarian aid distribution point is located,” Yanushevych later said in a Telegram video on Thursday.

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 of the equipment was free.

Zelensky’s three-step proposal for the extension of the Ukrainian war powers: a response to Putin and the U.S.

The Russian Foreign Minister said that Moscow will not negotiate with the Ukrainian government on the basis of their proposed peace formula, which would involve Russia’s withdrawal from all Ukrainian territory.

“The Ukrainian side needs to take into account the realities that have developed over all this time,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday in response to Zelensky’s three-step proposal.

Four areas that Russia claimed to have annexed are referred to as new subjects in the Russian Federation.

Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst based in Odesa. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a frequent contributor to CNN. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.

A White House reception for Zelensky, who was headed to the U.S. on Tuesday, will be an unmistakable sign of US and Western support for the Ukrainians’ fight against Putin. The war shows what Biden has put at the forefront of his foreign policy, that of a struggle between democracy and totalitarianism.

I remember seeing Zelensky and Putin drive up to the lysée Palace in small cars, but Putin drove in with an armored limousine. (The host, French President Emmanuel Macron, hugged Putin but chose only to shake hands with Zelensky).

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.

Failure to demonstrate further progress on the battlefield with the huge amount of military gear could be seen as a sign of weakness by Western backers. It would be a political death sentence if they capitulated to Russia.

A Portrait of Zelensky in the Fog of World War II: A New Look at a Past Success and Future in the Comedy of Lviv

Zelensky was shaped into a tough and independent kid who learned how to respond to threats of violence at a young age.

He knew precisely what he needed to do after being attacked by Putin because he had his own gut feeling.

The leader of the US when Russia invaded, quipped: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Amid the fog of war, it all seems a long, long way since the heady campaign celebration in a repurposed Kyiv nightclub where a fresh-faced Zelensky thanked his supporters for a landslide victory. He looked in disbelief as he stood on the stage among the fluttering confetti.

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. Zelensky was rated highly by Americans in the early part of the war for his handling of international affairs.

His previous professional life as a comedian in the theatrical group Kvartal 95 include many people in his bubble. In the midst of war, a press conference was held on the platform of a metro station in April to emphasize a wartime setting.

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

The Rise and Fall of Vladimir Zelensky: A Visionary Manifesto in the Emerging Security Era of the United Nations, as Revealed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Zelensky is showing his confidence and competence by wearing hoodies and T-shirts in a modern way, to a younger global audience that recognizes it as such, according to Kim Chrisman-Campbell, a fashion historian.

Journeying to where her husband can’t, Zelenska has shown herself to be an effective communicator in international fora – projecting empathy, style and smarts. She and King Charles visited a refugee assistance center at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in London. Time magazine did not include Zelenska on the cover, only giving a reference to her in the supporting text.

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

“Paradoxically, Zelensky achieved the thing that Putin most wanted to achieve but failed … to rally support domestically with a patriotic war in order to deflect and distract from his abject failures at home. Michael Popow, a business analyst based in New York told me that Putin thinks to be shown up by a comedian is painful.

Zelensky said that victory will be inevitable at the press conference, which was held in the capital city. I am certain there will be victory.”

We’ve got everything for it. The motivation, certainty, friends, and the diplomacy are what we have. You have all come together for this,” Zelensky said. “If we all do our important homework, victory will be inevitable.”

The Kremlin criticized the trip by the Ukrainian President after he returned from Washington, D.C.

The historian Doris Kearns Goodwin compared Zelensky’s address to one given by Winston Churchill on Boxing Day in 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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

Zelensky was coming to Washington on a specific mission, according to the Democrat who visited Ukraine earlier this month. He is drawing a correlation between our support and the survival and support of the Ukranian people.

“Patriots are a defensive weapons system that will help Ukraine defend itself as Russia sends missile after missile and drone after drone to try and destroy Ukrainian infrastructure and kill Ukrainian civilians,” she said. “If Russia doesn’t want their missiles shot down, Russia should stop sending them into Ukraine.”

When Vladimir Zelensky visited the U.S. during World War II: Resolving Ukraine’s Cold War with the United States

His visit to Congress will also play into an increasingly important debate on Capitol Hill over Ukraine aid with Republicans set to take over the House majority in the new year. Billions of US dollars sent to the Ukrainian government are being warned to be used to shore up the southern border with a surge of migrants expected within days.

Conscious of pressure from his right flank, the possible next speaker, GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, has warned that Ukraine should not expect a “blank check” from the new House. Even though Ukraine still has strong Republican support in the Senate, it’s this kind of shifting political dynamic that appears to inform Kremlin perceptions about how long US resolve will last in a conflict on which Putin’s political survival may well depend.

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. The two days of infamy in modern history happened when Americans were afraid of aerial bombardment.

The wartime British leader sailed to the United States aboard HMS Duke of York, dodging U-boats in the wintery Atlantic and took a plane from the coast of Virginia to Washington, where he was met on December 22, 1941, by President Franklin Roosevelt before their joint press conference the next day.

The foundations of the Western were laid after a long day of meetings and brainstorming, fueled by the regime of sherry with breakfast, Scotch and sodas for lunch, and champagne in the evening and 90-year-old brandy before bed.

He said during his visit that he didn’t feel far from his country, family or even his friends despite his long-held belief that US involvement in World War II was the key to defeating Hitler.

The Ukrainian leader is likely to appreciate the historical parallels. He told British members of parliament that he had heard one of the most famous speeches of the war.

Vote for Democracy: Volodymyr Zelensky greeted by the House of Representatives and his Opening Address at the White House

Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist and was a producer and correspondent for CNN. She is a columnist for The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.

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 night, ending a momentous day in history.

Zelensky made his historic trip at a crucial moment in what future generations may come to view as one of the defining conflicts of our time: the battle between democracy and autocracy, in which Ukraine today is the blazing, blood-soaked, shivering front line.

He assured Congress that their money was not charity and that they would discuss billions more in military and economic support. “It is an investment in the global security and democracy, that we handle in the most responsible way.”

Zelensky said at the White House that they would win against tyranny that is real life.

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. There were tears shed in the house.

On Wednesday evening, President Zelensky walked onto the US House floor wearing a green military uniform 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 didn’t mention the elephant in the room, but he made it very clear to the Republican lawmakers who will control the house in January that they must stay with Ukraine.

His words came at a time when Congress planned to vote on a year long spending bill this week that includes emergency assistance for NATO allies and Ukraine.

Zelensky might have addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday had it not been for Republicans who will take control of the House next month. More than $20 billion in defense assistance has been given by the US in less than a year. That includes $1.8 billion in a new weapons deal announced when Zelensky met President Joe Biden at the White House earlier Wednesday.

What does the United States need to do to halt Russia from attacking Ukraine during World War II? Commentary on Yevtsenko and Zelensky

Yevtsenko said that people were more determined than before after Russia launched its attacks, because they found the meme of not having water, but without lights, but without you. But it’s not as easy to be self-sufficient in the city, adding that he’s thankful his parents live in a dacha in the Poltava region, where they have everything they need — a wood fire, well and garden.

During World War II, the US troops were surrounded in the snow after gaining a foothold in Europe on D-Day.

“Just like the brave American soldiers, which held their lines and fought back Hitler’s forces during the Christmas of 1944, brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing this same to Putin’s forces this Christmas,” Zelensky said.

The American people already know we are in this together, but then he says they will fight for us, just give us the tools and we will finish the job. That is what the person said, according to CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

That’s an important perception for the US since Ukraine, importantly, is not an official member of NATO, the treaty alliance Putin fears. The US has not provided more aid to Russia because they fear that it will be used against NATO.

An address to Congress is the most important platform a foreign president could have in the US. It is in contrast to Putin, who canceled his yearly press conference.

Biden and Zelensky stood together at the White House in order to make sure that Putin did not succeed.

But at the same time, it’s clear to Zelensky, and also to Biden, that this is the time to re-engage the US public as Russia’s war drags toward its one-year marker with no indication there is an end to fighting on the way.

The substantive part of it was because of the money that the White House and the Senate will have to pass by Friday.

The United States announced a $2 billion dollar security package to Ukraine, which includes new funding for contracts including HIMARS rockets, 155-millimeter artillery ammunition, drones, counter-drone equipment, mine-clearing equipment and secure communications equipment.

The Kremlin is a War for the West: Why the U.S. is Getting Closer to Russia, and Why it isn’t

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.

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. Just a third of Republicans supported indefinite support in the survey.

Indiana GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz has expressed skepticism about some of the aid to Ukraine, and she is also worried about corruption.

With the sense widespread that Russia cannot do much more to Ukraine that it is not already doing, the lure of curtailing Moscow’s missile capabilities at home outweighs any escalatory concern.

Zelenskyy’s visit proves that the United States is in a proxy war with Russia, he said.

The Kremlin has also been selling that line to the Russian public, who is largely buying it, says Sergey Radchenko, a Russian history professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

“You could say that the majority of Russian people, although they are weary of the conflict, they still see this as an existential struggle between Russia and the West in which Ukraine is being played for a pawn,” he tells NPR’s Morning Edition.

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?

Russia has been forced to move its planes because of the sensitive attacks on the Ukrainian energy grid, which the Ukrainian government has not publicly acknowledged.

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.

It was a former Ukrainian defense minister who said in an interview that if someone attacks, they should fight back.

A commentator for the war for Ukrainian news media, Serhiy Hrabskiy, has said that the military has not hesitated to hit legitimate military targets. As the war has moved closer to Russia and the occupied peninsula, it has become a regular occurrence to target these sites.

Kinzhal, a hypersonic missile that can reach targets in less than 30 seconds and is impossible to shoot down, is in short supply, Mr. Budanov said.

A Russian missile attack on Lysenko, the city of Kiev, in the wake of the Kyiv missile attacks on March 30 eve

Explosions rattled villages and cities across Ukraine on Thursday, damaging civilian infrastructure and killing at least three people in what Kyiv has called one of Moscow’s biggest missile barrages since the war began in February.

“Russian terrorists have been saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Twitter Thursday. They think that Ukrainians will celebrate the New Year in darkness and cold. They can’t defeat the Ukrainian people.

This news is good for the Lysenkos, who like most of the city’s residents, have difficulty waking up each morning not knowing if they’ll be able to cook breakfast or log onto the internet. The family doesn’t have a generator — after a few explosions, authorities rolled out a public information campaign on the dangers of using the devices indoors, though that hasn’t stopped some from installing them on balconies — and have gone to stay with friends on cold nights. They worry how the stress has affected their daughter, Liza who now draws pictures of Russian missiles before she sleeps.

After the sirens went off, Hryn met her neighbors who were in a rush to get to the cinema for the new movie, and her child who was already there. Parents took their children to school and people went to work, while others continued with holiday plans in defiance.

At least three injured people died in clashes on Thursday in Lviv, Ukraine: “There’s no war for one person to remain in power until the end of his life”

At least three people, including a 14-year-old, were injured and two people pulled from a damaged home on Thursday, Klitschko said earlier. There were attacks on homes, an industrial facility and a playground in the capital.

In western Ukraine, Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said 90% of the city was without power, cautioning that the city’s waterworks could also to stop working with electricity down.

It’s “senseless barbarism.” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said those were the only words that came to mind watching Moscow launch a fresh wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities ahead of the New Year, adding there could be “no neutrality” in the face of such aggression.

The Ukrainian military said that the majority of cruise missiles fired at Ukraine on Thursday were intercepted, with its defense forces shooting down 54 of 69, according to preliminary data. Klitschko said 16 missiles were destroyed by Ukraine’s air defenses over Kyiv.

“All this war that you are waging, you – Russia, it is not the war with NATO, as your propagandists lie,” Zelensky said. “It is not for something historical. It’s for one person to remain in power until the end of his life.

Russia’s actions in Bkahmut directions and Avdiivka directions in the latest operational update of UAVs and missiles in the country

The deputy head of the president’s office said that three people died in the eastern part of the country. Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram.

One person was wounded in the Zaporizhzhia region. Two were killed and one wounded in the Kharkiv region. Two people were wounded in the Kherson region, while one died in the Chernihiv region.

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

Russia continues to conduct offensive actions at the Bkahmut directions while trying to improve the tactical situation at the Avdiivka directions.

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

Why Vladimir Zelenskyy stayed in Ukraine a few months after the second world war: a real-life rant against corruption and the election Servant of the People

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

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.”

I really want to win, and it’s also a way to have new feelings. I miss it very much. I would like to travel and open borders. One should not stand still, that’s what I think about. 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.

Zelenskyy stood next to his chief of staff and the prime minister of Ukranian in a baroque building in the heart of Kyiv on the second day of the war. Zelenskyy sent a message through his phone.

“We said, ‘What about cruise missiles?'” Arestovych recalled. “He said, ‘I’ll stay here.'” Arestovych said he talked about Russian saboteurs and assassins. He says Zelenskyy again refused.

People had wondered if Zelenskyy would flee. The Anti-Corruption Action Center ran a report that pointed out Zelenskyy was unprepared and downplayed the threat of war. That he stood his ground in Kyiv, she says, “honestly, it was a surprise for me.”

It’s about an earnest high school history teacher who rails againstUkraine’s corrupt politics. When a student captures the rant on video and posts it on social media, Zelenskyy’s character becomes a sensation and is swept into office.

As a real-life candidate, Zelenskyy was also a sensation, winning in a landslide with 73% of the vote. He named his political party Servant of the People.

Zelenskyy pledged to end the war with Russia in the east of the country, boost the economy, and attack corruption during the campaign. He didn’t do as well as the people had hoped.

In the early days of the conflict, his decision to remain in Kyiv caused a change in public opinion. Around 90% of Ukrainians approved of his job performance by August. The character actor understood what the Ukrainian people needed in a time of crisis.

Zelenskyy received international support. During the invasion, he addressed the European parliament via video and brought the English translator to tears.

Speaking to the U.S. Congress in December, this time in English, he quoted another wartime leader, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, drawing huge rounds of applause.

Vladimir Zelenskyy: The First Lady of the Ukrainian War, and she’s not afraid of the consequences — A meeting with the Secretary General

Zelensky went to see the impact of Russian shelling on Marhanets and Nikopol and met with frontline soldiers. The Cabinet meeting was held in Dnipro.

“I believe that today in the information space there is too much information about a full-scale war,” said the president, standing in the middle of a street before a table stacked with microphones.

Chornovol was in the parliament for a couple of years. She joined the military after that. I met her in the Kherson region last fall, where her job was to fire small missiles at Russian armor.

Chornovol claims that before the war the Ukrainian army failed to stop a Russian advance by leaving the route north open to invasion.

Chornovol proudly showed me her camouflaged missile launcher which was camouflaged with Astroturf. “There was no preparation for the invasion. Kyiv was not fortified in any way.”

A brigade and a half of troops were supposed to be deployed to the area, but they weren’t. Ukrainian officers said higher-ups in the south were at risk of a Russian attack.

Because Ukraine remains at war, parliamentarians are careful not to launch domestic political attacks. The European Solidarity party has a lawmaker who says she and other party members will be asking tough questions after the defeat of Russia.

People here blame the swift loss of the region on the SBU, Ukraine’s intelligence service. In July, Zelenskyy fired the head of the SBU, Ivan Bakanov, a longtime friend who had no security experience.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/20/1158150926/volodymyr-zelenskyy-president-ukraine-russia-war

Zelenskyy: a good president and a bad president during the crisis of the Russian Union, and when “it is impossible to be impossible”

“He’s a good president during war,” she says. He’s not very good during a non-war period. His largest weakness is that he trusts people who are his friends and he is not tolerating different opinions.”

Alina Fialko-Smal was an actor there at the time. Zelenskyy sought advice on becoming a dramatic actor from her troupe, who used to perform. Zelenskyy is small and she discouraged him.

Zelenskyy studied at the economic institute where his father was a renowned teacher. Volodymyr is remembered by a finance professor as smart, funny and self-assured.

He said that one day he would be proud that he had taught him, after she said that he should be proud.

“The Soviet Union collapsed and out of this anarchy, you can create something new,” Yermolenko says. “I think Zelenskyy’s one of one of those people. The good thing is that these people think that impossible is not impossible at all.

“People tend to identify themselves with him or with the people when he identifies himself with them.” I think this is the most important thing.

Ukrainian civilians were terrified when the Kremlin attacked: Yana and Serhii Lysenko, a baby with a kite in Ukraine, says Human Rights Watch

Kyiv, Ukraine — Yana and Serhii Lysenko were fast asleep, their four-year-old daughter in her bedroom down the hall, when they awoke at sunrise to a noise they didn’t recognize — the ominous buzz of an engine, like a motorcycle or lawnmower.

From their perch on the 23rd floor of an apartment block in central Kyiv, they could see a drone swooping across the pink dawn sky, like a kite. They saw a black cloud as they heard an explosion. She said she felt paralyzed and was stuck at the spot.

The weapon, later identified by authorities as an Iranian Shahed-136, known as a “kamikaze” or “suicide” drone for the way it explodes on impact, was soon followed by several more. The couple watched in horror as the triangular bombs darted by and toward the power plant, which provides electricity and heat for the capital.

The UN says that Russia’s attacks are illegal because they violate international humanitarian law. In a report released in December, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that it appeared Moscow’s tactic was primarily designed to spread terror among the civilian population, in contravention of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.

HRW’s associate director for Europe and Central Asia, who has researched Russia’s armed conflict in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria, said “After not being able to win the war for months on end, the Kremlin devised this particularly cynical tactic.” I think this cynical weaponization of winter was not something that we encountered earlier. It was not about using the cold weather season as a war tactic, it was more about the lack of care for civilians. That is new.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/europe/putin-ukraine-energy-infrastructure-attack/index.html

Ukrenergo had a great victory in the war of Ukraine: overcoming the Cold War with the EU and making Russia stronger, not worse than Russia

Doctors have carried out heart surgeries under lamps, families have cooked meals on camping fireplaces, students have done homework when there is no electricity, and students have done homework by flashlight. Meanwhile, parents have taken their children to “points of invincibility,” tents equipped with generators, to get a hot cup of tea, charge phones and, according to one photograph that went viral, connect life-saving medical equipment.

“Nobody expected or could have thought that Russia would resort to such barbarism … to turn winter against us and bring us back to some sort of stone age. Serhii said that it could have worked. We were able to survive.

The test was supposed to take place in February, but Russia wanted it pushed to February 24. “Very, very few people know about this,” Mariia Tsaturian, a spokesperson for Ukrenergo, told CNN. We were wondering if it was when they would invade, because Ukraine would seem weak.

Ukrenergo was prepared for that possibility, and relocated their control room in order to keep engineers safe and the grid stable. As the country was thrown into chaos, energy officials in the company’s Kyiv headquarters were busy trying to speed up the timetable for joining the European system. “No one was going to be reunited with the power grids with the enemy,” Tsaturian said.

“It made our system stronger. Oleksandr was an adviser to the Ukraine’s energy minister and director of the Energy Industry Research Center (EIRC) in Kyiv. He pointed out that the successful emergency synchronization also allowed Ukraine to start trading power with the EU in June, bringing in much-needed revenue while also providing affordable electricity to Europe during a time when prices were sky high.

“Before then it was only some attacks, one or two missiles or shells per week, and most of them close to the front line … there were very rare cases [of energy infrastructure being hit] around the country and without big damages. They shifted their strategy from this moment.

The scale of destruction at individual sites has been difficult to assess, in part because Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy has restricted the dissemination of information detailing damages.

According to official records from the Ukrainian armed forces, more than 1,400 rockets and drones were launched by Russia at the energy infrastructure of the country between October and January.

How to recover this deficit is a big question mark. If Zaporizhzhia were back online, it would be able to balance the need, but there is no sign of that yet. The costs to import electricity from the EU are much higher than what the country’s consumers can bear.

When Denise Brown, the UN’s resident coordinator in Ukraine, took up her position overseeing the international humanitarian response in the country last summer, she had one priority: preparing for winter.

“When I arrived in August, the winterization plans were the first thing I jumped into because my fear was, we’d get to the middle of winter and it would be minus 20, and I would get reports of people freezing to death and this was what kept me up at night,” Brown told CNN in late January after visiting the city of Vovchansk, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, where she said it was minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

One of the UN convoys recently traveled to Siversk, a flattened town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Soledar, which was captured by Russian forces in January. There are about 1,000 residents without electricity or running water. The most vulnerable people who have stayed behind are elderly, people with disabilities and people with chronic conditions who can’t leave their homes.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/europe/putin-ukraine-energy-infrastructure-attack/index.html

A living in Kiev: The energy infrastructure attack of the Ukraine and a family living in an invincibility point on a street corner

In December, she said she was getting used to the power being out. She started taking Liza back to kindergarten, and she was teaching Italian classes at the university from home.

But air strikes on December 31 disrupted that renewed sense of normalcy. The family had invited friends over to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but when the missiles hit the city they rushed downstairs to the shelter.

We have been waiting for our dream to come to fruition for so long, that is why i thought about moving for a brief moment. “This is our home,” he said.

Yulia Ivanenko commutes every day from her apartment in the Kyiv suburb of Hostomel to the nearby town of Irpin, where she runs an accounting company. But instead of going to her office, she works from a local library, which has been converted into an “invincibility point,” providing electricity and wifi powered by a generator.

We’re going to have to find a new way out, because I can’t afford a generator for the office. She said that her employees usually only have four hours of electricity to use before they need to go and work elsewhere.

Her 67-year-old father, who also lives in Hostomel, uses a car battery as a temporary power source for his small home. “You know where he got that battery? She said that he stole it from the Russian soldiers. He is fearless.

A film producer who had just got home from a hospital was struck by a plane as it flew over the Ukrainian capital.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/europe/putin-ukraine-energy-infrastructure-attack/index.html

Yukawa’s personal invincibility point during the first days of war: The Kharkiv-Kariya embassy, a hostel where everyone can stay overnight

For the first days of the war, he and his wife slept in their small bathroom — her in the tub and him sitting on a stool beside her. Now they use the room, the safest in their home, as a personal “invincibility point,” stocked with water jugs, candles and flashlights, food for their dog and power banks to charge their phones and laptops.

The couple have stayed in their high-rise apartment in Kyiv’s left bank throughout the war, unable to flee. The stress of relentless strikes, air raid sirens and outages have set his progress back, Yevtushenko said, adding that if not for the stroke he would have joined the armed forces.

In most high-rise apartment buildings in Kyiv, residents leave vital supplies — some food, water and diapers — in elevators in case of cuts. People who spoke to CNN couldn’t remember if they had used the lift before or if they were trapped inside.

Lokshina, HRW’s Moscow bureau leader, was working in exile in Georgia since Russia revoked the organization’s registration in April. In November, at the height of Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure, she was carrying out research in the Kharkiv region. In towns and villages where they were recently re-occupied the people had no electricity for months. They were most devastated by a lack of connectivity, she said, unable to get in touch with friends and relatives, to find out how they were and what was happening in the outside world.

She was struck by the way life continued after she came back to Kyiv. Before an official meeting in the capital, she tried to get her nails done but was unable to get an appointment — every salon she tried was booked until curfew. The unpredictability of the grids keeps them from happening time and time again. And the risk factors. She said that people make a point out of trying to live a normal life.

You don’t need much to be happy. A peaceful sky above our heads and some small comforts: a warm house with lights and water. That is it, said Yana. Our values have changed a lot. In fact, we have changed.”

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday in Kyiv, Ukraine: the future of the country depends on us, not the threats we are about to invade

On Friday, the former Russian President and the deputy leader of the Security Council of Russia said that Russia wanted to push the borders of threats to their country even if Poland isn’t part of it.

The Ukrainian leader spoke to members of the military. He said that they were who would decide the future of the country.

Ukraine’s international allies showed their solidarity on Friday, with landmarks around the world lit up in colors of the Ukrainian flag, and new weapons and funding announcements.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the international community not to let Putin’s crimes “become our new normal,” at the United Nations Security Council.

The country said it would increase its commitment from 14 tanks to 18. The Prime Minister of Sweden promised to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukranian.

The Japanese Prime Minister said he will discuss the idea of new sanctions against Russia with other G7 leaders during a virtual meeting.

But there was a noticeable feeling of anxiety in Kyiv on Friday, as many of its residents worried Russia might launch new attacks on the day of the anniversary.

Two former students of hers who died in the war, were honoured by her as she went to lay flowers at the Monastery.

It was a cold morning in Kyiv, but she felt she had to honor her classmates by paying respects to the fallen heroes.

“Their photographs are here on the main street. It’s a great honor. They died as liberators. So it’s very important for us. And it would have been for them,” she said.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/europe/kyiv-war-anniversary-intl-cmd/index.html

Olexander Atamas at the IAEA’s Headquarters in Dnipro: he felt safe and confident in his abilities

It was hard to describe the feelings Olexander Atamas had when he was an IT worker before the war.

He told CNN that he doesn’t feel a fear but feels confident in his abilities. “One year ago … I felt fear, I was stressed, psychologically it unsettled me. At the moment, there is no fear.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy on Monday thanked the secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for his support and accused Russia of nuclear blackmail over its control of Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant.

I just held a meeting of the staff in Dnipro for the first time. He said that he was visiting Marhanets and Nikopol, the frontline positions of his warriors in the Zaporizhzhia region. “The commanders of the operational areas reported the actual situation.”