Russia can’t meet India’s arms deliveries because of theUkraine war, says the Indian Air Force

The Russian War in Ukraine: The War in Russia as a Demonstration for Human Rights Against Non-Standard Activities and Fundamental Discrimination

MUMBAI — In the year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western democracies have condemned Moscow, slapped wide-ranging sanctions on it, cut back on Russian oil and gas and sent unprecedented amounts of arms and ammunition to help Ukraine defend itself.

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 invasion has grown into the biggest land war in Europe since World War II, forcing millions of Ukrainians from their homes, decimating the Ukrainian economy and killing thousands of civilians.

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

The military or leadership has had their criticism of them restricted by the new laws. Nearly 20,000 people have been detained for demonstrating against the war — 45% of them women — according to a leading independent monitoring group.

Lengthy prison sentences have been meted out to high profile opposition voices on charges of “discrediting” the Russian army by questioning its conduct or strategy.

The repressions extend elsewhere: organizations and individuals are added weekly to a growing list of “foreign agents” and “non-desirable” organizations intended to damage their reputation among the Russian public.

The most prestigious human rights group in Russia was forced to stop its activities because they allegedly violated the foreign agents law.

Russia’s already restrictive anti-LGBT laws have been vastly expanded by the state, arguing that the war in Ukranian is an attack on traditional values.

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

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

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

Russian citizens have access to independent sources of information using technical workarounds. But state media propaganda now blankets the airwaves favored by older Russians, with angry TV talk shows spreading conspiracies.

The Russian War Between Russia and the United States: The End of the Cold Cold War and the Legacy of Vladimir Putin’s Military Campaign in the Cold War

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.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian men fled to border states such as Kazakhstan and Georgia, in order to escape the draft, after Putin ordered 300,000 additional troops to be sent in September.

Putin argued it was good riddance, part of a “self-cleansing” of Russian society from traitors and spies. The officials from Russia suggest that those who leave the country of their passport be stripped of it. Yet there are questions whether Russia can thrive without many of its best and brightest.

Some countries that absorbed the exodus of Russians predict they will grow their economies, even though Russians’ presence remains a sensitive issue for former soviet republics.

Russia’s ruble currency plummeted and the trading markets looked shaky in the early days of the invasion. Hundreds of global corporate brands, such as McDonald’s and ExxonMobil, reduced, suspended or closed their Russian operations entirely.

The United States aims to keep the market well supplied and deprive Russia of oil revenue, according to a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Indian and Chinese manufacturers can earn bigger margins by buying discounted Russian crude and selling it at market prices. They’re fine with that.”

President Putin wants Europe to blink first when it comes to sanctions because he wants Europeans to be angry with him over energy costs at home. He banned oil exports to countries that abide by price caps, which will make the pain worse in Europe.

The economic crisis has ended Putin’s reputation as a stability-providing leader among Russians, who remember the chaotic years following the fall of the USSR.

The government’s tone has not changed when it comes to Russia’s military campaign. Russia’s Defense Ministry provides daily briefings recounting endless successes on the ground. Putin assures that all is going according to plan.

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

Russian troops have been unable to conquer both of the cities they were trying to control in Ukranian. Kherson, the sole major city seized by Russia, was abandoned amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive in November. Russian forces have shelled the city repeatedly since retreating.

Russia’s illegal annexation of several territories of Ukraine has underscored the fact that Moscow hasn’t been able to control the lands it now claims as its own.

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.

The ability of Russia’s military to defend itself has been put into question because of a series of explosions along a key bridge.

Indeed, Russia’s invasion has — thus far — backfired in its primary aims: NATO looks set to expand towards Russia’s borders, with the addition of long-neutral states Finland and Sweden.

Longtime allies in Central Asia have criticized Russia’s actions out of concern for their own sovereignty, an affront that would have been unthinkable in Soviet times. India and China have purchased discounted Russian oil, but not much support for Russia’s military campaign.

The end of Cold War and Russia’s failure to cooperate in the Indian media: Why did Russia run out of news after 10 months of the Cold War?

A state of the nation address, originally scheduled for April, was repeatedly delayed and won’t happen until next year. Putin’s annual “direct line” — a media event in which Putin fields questions from ordinary Russians — was canceled outright.

An annual December “big press conference” that allows the Russian leader to handle questions from mostly pro-Kremlin media was also tabled until 2023.

The Kremlin has given no reason for the delays. Many think that the Russian leader ran out of good news after 10 months of war and no sign of victory.

The end of the Cold War didn’t change that. Neither has the Ukraine war. India’s nationalist TV news channels often accuse the United States — rather than Russia — of doing more to ruin Ukraine.

This reminds us that the condemnation of Russia is not unanimous a year into the war. The main issues in the global south are food security, inflation, and debt, and the West’s focus on Ukraine distracts them.

Why does India live in the Cold War era? It’s time for India to stop fighting in Ukraine and to stop wasting oil — an opinionated assessment by the US Secretary of State

Britain had ruled India for much of the 20th century before Russia opened its first consulate in 1900. During the Cold War, relations really took off.

In the wake of India becoming independent from the British, it started as a gesture of sympathy for the Soviet Union. So it’s an anti-colonial experience, anti-imperialism,” says Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai Rajagopalan, a political scientist at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. “And as the Cold War picked up, it became a more anti-West, anti-U.S. sentiment they shared.”

Modi has called for a cease-fire in Ukraine, without condemning Russia’s attacks. Some of his political opponents say that doesn’t go far enough, and point toward India’s actions rather than its words.

“The actions that India is engaged in so far do not reflect any remorse or even mild criticism of the events in Ukraine,” says Praveen Chakravarty, a political economist affiliated with the opposition Indian National Congress party. “If anything, it seems to aid and abet.”

India has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. (The IMF forecasts 6.8% growth for India this year, compared to just 1.6% for the United States.) India is projected to be the third-largest economy in the world by the year 2030, behind the US and China.

It’s already the third-largest oil consumer in the world. It needs even more to fuel that growth. India does not have its own oil and gas reserves, so most of the oil it needs has to be imported. It is a poor country that is very sensitive to price.

Indian officials have defended those purchases by saying it’s their job to find bargains for their citizens. And Jaishankar, the foreign minister, has suggested it’s hypocritical of wealthier Westerners to ask them not to.

In an interview with an Austrian TV channel, Jaishankar stated that Europe has been able to reduce its imports of Russian gas. You’re so passionate about your population because of your per capita income. The population is 2000 dollars per capita income. I also need energy, and I am not in a position to pay high prices for oil.”

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources said Washington was comfortable with India’s approach to Russian oil. The U.S. is not looking at giving India any credit for this, according to the assistant secretary of state.

Here’s one possible explanation for Washington’s change of heart: India is buying Russian crude at deep discounts — something the West can’t do because of sanctions, or doesn’t want to do because of the optics. India refines Russian oil and then exports it to the US and Europe. So the West gets Russian oil, without getting its hands dirty.

The Indian government is replacing some Soviet-made equipment with French, Israeli, and American versions. Updating India’s entire arsenal is a timeConsuming and expensive task, Pande notes.

“Let’s just go to the [Indian] Air Force. Most of those Sukhois and MiGs [fighter aircraft] are referred to as ‘flying coffins.’ According to Aparna Pande, a political scientist at the Hudson Institute in Washington, it’s not uncommon for Indian pilots to die during testing. India knows that they need to be replaced.

Pande says defense experts from India may have been the only ones who didn’t expect to see the fall of Russian tanks in Ukraine. They have been unhappy with the Russian equipment for some time.

Russia is no longer a reliable weapons supplier, and the Indian people are coming to see that there could be real benefits for them in finding other markets, the official said.

India’s foreign policy preoccupation is not about Russia or Ukraine. It’s China. Both countries share a border that stretches more than 2,000 miles. Satellite imagery shows China may be encroaching on Indian territory. There were disagreements between soldiers in June and December.

Even if Washington does not like it, the Biden administration will give India a chance even if they don’t like it.

Russia is unable to honor its arms delivery to India because of the war in Ukraine, placing a potential strain on New Delhi’s relationship with its largest defense supplier as Moscow attempts to ramp up weapons production.

There were rumors and reports in local media suggesting that there were problems with the Russian military, but the first official confirmation by the Indian authorities was in a report by the lower house of parliament.

The S-400 Triumf air defense system units India bought for $5.4 billion is the biggest ongoing delivery. Three of these systems have been delivered and two more are awaited, Reuters reported.

Russian President Putin said a large-scale effort was needed in order to make more weapons for the war.

Putin’s order also followed repeated complaints by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin that his mercenaries were not receiving sufficient munitions in their prolonged battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut.

IAF’s admission: a test of New Delhi’s patience, adds Observer Research Foundation vice president Pandeev Pant

The IAF’s admission is very serious according to an Observer Research Foundation vice president.

Experts say Moscow could be trying to test New Delhi’s patience because of Putin’s actions in Ukraine.

And the Indian Air Force going public about Russia’s arms delivery failure could be a sign of that strain, said Pant, from the Observer Research Foundation.