The Putin War: The Kremlin’s War on Crimea, the Crimean Peninsula, and the First Year in a Ukrainian War
The President of Russia signed decree on Friday that will make four Ukrainian regions part of Russia as the Kremlin seeks to solidify its hold over Ukrainian territory.
Russian forces retreated from Kherson city — the only regional capital they had seized from Ukraine since launching their invasion in February. On Nov. 11, Ukrainian forces began moving into Kherson and were greeted by cheering residents.
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.
Friday’s ceremony echoed Putin’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, following a Kremlin-backed referendum there in 2014 — a move that most countries still do not recognize to this day.
The Russian president framed the annexation as an attempt to fix what he sees as a great historical mistake that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Putin delivered his remarks days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. The assembled audience included uniformed soldiers the Kremlin said had come directly from the frontlines of Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Russia’s plan to fly its flag over some 100,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, is the largest annexation of land in Europe since 1945, despite widespread condemnation by 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 and the leaders of the Moscow-backed rebellion were seen by senior Russian lawmakers and people who looked on.
Putin referred to his attack as a special military operation. He has framed the ongoing brutality as a campaign of “denazification” – a description dismissed by historians and political observers – and has increasingly described Russia’s unprovoked invasion as a patriotic and almost existential cause.
He showed the world a list of military actions dating back to the 19th century, from the British Opium War in China to the Vietnam and Korean Wars.
He claimed that the US was the only country to use nuclear weapons in war. Mr. Putin said that they created a precedent.
The Crimes of September 27: Russia in Ukraine, and the fate of the newly integrated territories (post-Russian occupation of the Donbas)
Russia launched a series of attacks on the cities of Ukraine in what is considered to be the most extensive assault since it invaded the country this year.
A celebration will be held on Red Square. Official ratification of the decrees will happen next week, said Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman.
During the war in defiance of international law staged referendums were held in occupied territory. Since the war began, many civilians have fled fighting, and people who did vote were sometimes 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.
Many Russians woke up to the war in their country, after Mr. Putin ordered military drills to bolster his forces. Many men have been drafted but were not eligible because of their age or disability.
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’ll probably ignore the worldwide denunciations of the sham referendums held in occupied Ukranian on joining Russia where many were forced to vote at will.
“The people made their choice,” said Putin in a signing ceremony at the Kremlin’s St. George hall. “And that choice won’t be betrayed” by Russia, he said.
The status of the annexed territories was not up for discussion, but the Russian leader called on Ukraine to end hostilities and hold negotiations with Moscow.
The Kremlin was under construction for an evening concert and rally with banners that said “Russia and the newly integrated territories are together forever.”
Sept. 27: Russia claimed that staged referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine showed the people chose to join the Russian Federation. United Nations leaders and many countries called the process a sham and a violation of international law.
It was precisely a year ago that the Russian leader called for the formal recognition of two pro-Russian separatist republics in eastern Ukraine — pronouncing international diplomatic efforts to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity and find a diplomatic solution to a simmering conflict in the Donbas “futile.”
The decision was framed as a historical justice because of the separation of the Russian speakers from the homeland of the Soviet Union, which the West imposed its own rules on.
The Western Powers accused Russia of using staged votes to justify its annexation of Ukranian territory, an accusation Moscow has flatly denied.
Formal ratification of the territories into the Russian Federation will now move to Russia’s parliament and constitutional court — whose approval is widely seen as a foregone conclusion.
The Russian government’s annexation has unfolded as it works to deploy an additional 300,000 troops to bolster its military campaign amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has retaken territory in the south and northeast of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian officials have openly warned that the newly incorporated territories would be entitled to protections under Russia’s nuclear umbrella.
After Russia first invaded in 2014, the U.S. military stepped up training for the Ukrainian military in western Ukraine. The U.S trainers were working in Ukraine until the Russian invasion a year ago.
Thousands have been killed, entire villages wiped out and billions of dollars of infrastructure destroyed since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
NATO leaders vow to stand behind Ukraine, regardless of the war’s duration, but some European countries that relied on Russian energy are in dire straits, as public support for the war is at risk.
You can read past recaps here. You can find more of NPR’s coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR’s State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.
American officials say there is little chance of a widespread collapse in Russian forces that would allow Ukraine to take another huge swath of territory, similar to what it claimed last month. But individual Russian units could break in the face of sustained Ukrainian pressure, allowing Kyiv’s army to continue retaking towns in the Donbas and potentially seize the city of Kherson, a major prize in the war.
How Did the Russian Revolution Overtake Afghanistan? A Critical Analysis of Putin’s “Secret War” with the United States and the Afghans
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 wrote the book “The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World.” His views are not reflected in this commentary. View more opinion on CNN.
Ukrainians fought and pushed back Russian troops, despite the fact that they were expected to fall within a few days. They have continued to fight. Russia is now focused on the east of the country. Both sides gained and lost territory over the course of the year, but now the war seems to have reached a turning point.
The timing was not good. Putin lost Lyman just as he was publicly declaring that the Donetsk region – in which Lyman sits – was now annexed by Russia.
At home, Putin is also facing growing criticism from Russians on both the left and the right, who are taking considerable risks given the draconian penalties they can face for speaking out against his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
(Indeed, his revisionist account defines his rationale for the war in Ukraine, which he asserts has historically always been part of Russia – even though Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.)
The Soviets had a plan to install a puppet government in Afghanistan and get out as soon as possible after invading the country in December 1979, according to a new book by a historian.
Although the US was against the Soviets in Afghanistan, it initially shied away from giving more support to the Afghan resistance. The Soviets ended their air superiority over Afghanistan in 3 years after the CIA arm the Afghans with anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, which ended their total air superiority.
The First Anniversary of the Russian Revolution: From Fixers in Ukraine to Moscow in Moscow – A Tracing Example of How Delusions Can Be Perturbed
The outcome of the aid and weapons funnelled to Ukraine by the West over the last year has global consequences. Victory by Russia could mean new rules to the world order that global powers have lived by to avoid a third world war.
The United States is expected to provide Patriot missiles to Ukraine, an apparent response to the Ukrainian government’s urgent call for more weapons to shoot down Russian missiles, according to several U.S. news reports. The surface-to-air guided missile system can target aircraft and missiles. The single battery the U.S. will probably get may not be a game-changer, some analysts say.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was made worse by the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan two years earlier.
The Romanov monarchy was weakened when Russia lost the war against Japan in 1905. Czar Nicholas II’s feckless leadership during the First World War then precipitated the Russian Revolution in 1917. Subsequently, much of the Romanov family was killed by a Bolshevik firing squad.
We asked seven people close to the conflict – from “fixers” in Ukraine, to commentators in Moscow – to reflect on the first anniversary of the invasion. The views expressed in this commentary are not of their own.
Freedman writes that Putin is “a tragic example of how the delusions and illusions of one individual can be allowed to shape events without any critical challenge. Autocrats who put their cronies into key positions, control the media to crowd out discordant voices … are able to command their subordinates to follow the most foolish orders.”
After the First World War and the fall of the Soviet Union there was a second dissolution of the Russian empire.
The attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure triggered by Vladimir Putin’s attacks on the Kerch bridge in Kyiv (Ungarage) on Sunday
The analyst Michael Bociurkiw moved from Canada to Ukraine in the summer. He was a spokesman for Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
In some ways, Monday’s attacks were not a surprise – especially after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accused Kyiv of attacking the Kerch bridge, calling it an “act of terrorism.”
Unverified video on social media showed hits near the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and close to Maidan Square, just a short stroll from the Presidential Office Building. Ukrainian officials said five people were killed in strikes on the capital.
As of midday local time, the area around my office in Odesa remained eerily quiet in between air raid sirens, with reports that three missiles and five kamikaze drones were shot down. (Normally at this time of the day, nearby restaurants would be heaving with customers, and chatter of plans for upcoming weddings and parties).
A few hours before Monday, Zaporizhskya, a city close to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was hit by a series of strikes on apartment buildings. At least 17 people were killed and several dozens injured.
A wave of missiles, rockets and drones has hit dozens of locations acrossUkraine since Monday, targeting civilian infrastructure in several major cities, including Kyiv which is hundreds of miles from the front lines in the east and south.
Residents of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, which has also seen more bombardments than other cities, have begun to stock up on canned food, gas and drinking water. They entertained themselves at the Typsy Cherry. “The mood was cheerful,” its owner, Vladyslav Pyvovar, told The Times. People drank, had fun, and wondered when the electricity would come back. (Power came back hours later.)
In order to save money, millions of people in the Ukranian cities will spend most of their day in bomb shelters, while businesses must shift work to online as much as possible.
Just as many regions of Ukraine were starting to roar back to life, and with countless asylum seekers returning home, the attacks risk causing another blow to business confidence.
It was a day of high drama in the war. As an historian, Viatrovych sees the actions of Putin as part of a pattern of behavior by Russian leaders.
Hardwiring newly claimed territory with expensive, record-breaking infrastructure projects seems to be a penchant of dictators. In 2018, Putin personally opened the Kerch bridge – Europe’s longest – by driving a truck across it. That same year, one of the first things Chinese President Xi Jinping did after Beijing reclaimed Macau and Hong Kong was to connect the former Portuguese and British territories with the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The $20 billion, 34-mile road bridge opened after about two years of delays.
The Stability of Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine During the Nov. 24 Outburst: What Happens in Kiev, But What Has It Done Recently?
The explosion lit up social media channels like a Christmas tree and made the Ukrainians laugh. Many shared their sense of jubilation via text messages.
Sitting still was never an option for Putin as he was consumed by pride and self-interest. He responded in the only way he knows how, by unleashing more death and destruction, with the force that probably comes natural to a former KGB operative.
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.
Faced with growing setbacks, the Kremlin appointed a new overall commander of Russia’s invasion. But there is little sign that Gen. Sergey Surovikin can lead his forces back onto the front foot before the end of the year, given the pace and cost of the Ukrainian counter-offensives.
The use of urgent telephone diplomacy by the United States and other allies is vital to persuading China and India not to use more deadly weapons.
High tech defense systems are needed to protect the energy infrastructure around the country. The heating systems are in danger with winter just around the corner.
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.
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 seen in the Kremlin as a sign that it can weaponize energy, migration and food.
On Monday, state television not only reported on the suffering, but also flaunted it. It showed plumes of smoke and carnage in central Kyiv, along with empty store shelves and a long-range forecast promising months of freezing temperatures there.
As Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the 10-month mark — on Nov. 24 — here’s a look ahead and a roundup of key developments from the past week.
Not for the first time, the war is teetering towards an unpredictable new phase. Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, said this is the third, fourth, or fifth war they have been watching.
The idea of a defeated Russia is more frightening than what you see in Ukraine. Just like a year ago, Ukraine is calling on the rest of the world to find courage.
A country’s flag was hoisted over a building in Vysokopillya, in the southern Kherson region. Ukrainian officials say they have liberated hundreds of settlements since their counter-offensive began.
Anticipation is mounting for a possible battle for Kherson, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine. The officials have evacuated people because of the possibility of a counteroffensive by the Ukrainians.
These counter-offensives have shifted the momentum of the war and disproved a suggestion, built up in the West and in Russia during the summer, that while Ukraine could stoutly defend territory, it lacked the ability to seize ground.
The Russians are playing for the whistle in hopes of avoiding a collapse in their frontline by the winter, according to a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“If they can get to Christmas with the frontline looking roughly as it is, that’s a huge success for the Russians given how botched this has been since February.”
Ukraine will want to make gains before the cold weather arrives in the battlefield, and the impact of higher energy prices will be felt around 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.”
Ukrainian national electricity company Ukrenergo said it had been able to restore the power supply to the capital of the country after Russian missile attacks on Monday and Tuesday. Ukrainian Prime Minister warned of a lot of work to be done to fix damaged equipment, and asked citizens to cut down on their energy usage during peak hours.
Experts believe it remains unlikely that Russia’s aerial bombardment will form a recurrent pattern; while estimating the military reserves of either army is a murky endeavor, Western assessments suggest Moscow may not have the capacity to keep it up.
“We know – and Russian commanders on the ground know – that their supplies and munitions are running out,” Jeremy Fleming, a UK’s spy chief, said in a rare speech on Tuesday.
The I SW said Monday that the Russian strikeswasted some of the country’s dwindling precision weapons against civilian targets as opposed to military targets.
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.
“The barrage of missile strikes is going to be an occasional feature reserved for shows of extreme outrage, because the Russians don’t have the stocks of precision munitions to maintain that kind of high-tempo missile assault into the future,” Puri said.
Any further Belarusian involvement in the war could also have a psychological impact, Puri suggested. The Ukrainians and the West have a tendency to fight one army, he said. The war would be a part of the narrative of Putin that it was about reunion of the lands of ancient Rus states.
Giles said that reopening of the northern front would be a new challenge for Ukraine. It would provide Russia a new route into the Kharkiv oblast (region), which has been recaptured by Ukraine, should Putin prioritize an effort to reclaim that territory, he said.
Over the last two months, the Ukrainian President has flipped the narrative of the conflict to show his allies that military aid can help win the war.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Ukraine needed “more” systems to better halt missile attacks, ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
The IRIS-T that arrived this week from Germany was a badly needed modern system. “, Bronk said.
The Ukrainian War on the Front: The Battle for Kyiv, a Case Study of What Happened To Russia in Belgorod
Struggling on the battlefield in southern and eastern Ukraine, Russia felt war on its own territory on Sunday as more than a dozen explosions ripped through a Russian border region, and a series of blasts severely damaged the offices of Russia’s puppet government in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
The blasts, which Russia attributed to Ukrainian shelling, came a day after another sign of disarray in Russia’s once-vaunted military machine: Two men opened fire on fellow Russian soldiers at a training camp in the Belgorod region, killing 11 and wounding 15 before being killed themselves.
Nuclear deterrence exercise will be held by NATO on Monday. NATO has warned Russia not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but said it is an annual training activity.
Russian agents were involved in the investigation into a large explosion on a bridge to capture people suspected of carrying it out.
Russia’s action to annex four regions ofUkraine was condemned by the UN General Assembly. Four countries voted alongside Russia, but only four voted in favor of the Ukrainian resolution.
Part of the difficulty of making wartime assessments is that the war has gone through different phases, with one side and then the other having an advantage. The Ukrainians defeated the Russians in the battle for Kyiv, only to see Russia grind forward during the brutal fighting in the Donbas over the summer.
How do people think of Ukrainians today? As fighters who are standing up to a bully and wearing colorful shirts is a bit wild but still safe European. The Ukrainians are righteous warriors and win an even battle. Everyone knows that there are lots of Ukrainians and that they are not like the Russians.
And Ukraine will be watching America’s midterm election results this week, especially after some Republicans warned that the party could limit funding for Ukraine if it wins control of the House of Representatives, as forecast.
The U.S. Embassy in the Dnipro River: “Russia Is Here for a reason” and “I Want to Live”
Also Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. It is necessary for Sweden to meet certain requirements before it becomes a NATO member.
Ukraine is expected to be on the UN General Assembly agenda on Wednesday, when there is an International Atomic Energy Agency report.
Grains such as wheat and corn are particularly popular in African and Middle Eastern countries due to the fact that Russia and Ukraine are key suppliers. Turkey and the United Nations brokered a deal last summer to allow Ukrainian grain to pass through Black Sea ports, but Russia is reportedly still hindering shipments. Russia is also a major producer of fertilizer and petroleum. Climate challenges are causing shortages in places like Chad and Tunisia, as well as increased food and gas prices, because of disruptions to the flow of these goods.
The Pentagon announced $400 million in additional security aid to Ukraine, on Nov. 4, to include 45 refurbished T-72 tanks, 1,100 Phoenix Ghost drones and other vehicles, technology and training.
Iran acknowledged for the first time that it provided some drones to Russia, but denied any further supply in the days before the war in Ukraine began. Zelenskyy thought that Iran was lying because Ukrainian troops shoot down at least 10 Iranian drones every day.
The agency also urged Russian soldiers abandoned by their military leadership and still in Kherson to surrender — offering to guarantee their rights would be protected under a program called “I Want to Live.”
“Your commanders ordered you to dress in civilian clothes and try to flee Kherson independently. The Ukrainian statement said, “Obviously, you won’t succeed.”
Since early Friday morning, unconfirmed videos and photos have surfaced online of the Ukrainian flag being raised atop the Kherson city administration building and police headquarters, as well as jubilant locals in nearby villages celebrating liberation. Video shows people tearing down Russian billboards that say ” Russia is Here forever.”
The announcement of the Russian withdrawal came after it was reported that the only bridge across the Dnipro had been destroyed. Videos that were shared online appeared to show part of the bridge sheared off. Russian and Ukrainian officials traded accusations over who was responsible for the damage.
The decision to withdraw to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River was a difficult one, but one that would save lives of military personnel and allow Russia to preserve their combat capability, according to the statement made by the speaker.
Russian officials requested a pause in the ceasefire to gather equipment and reserves, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters in an interview on Thursday he believed it would take “as a minimum, one week” for Russian forces to leave the city and that Moscow still has some 40,000 troops in the region.
Despite abandoning Kherson to Ukrainian forces, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Russia still maintains a legal hold over the territory. Peskov said that there could be no changes.
The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Karen Donfried, and the President of the United States, Biden, Putin, Ukraine, and COP27
The Russia-Ukraine war and its global economic effect loom large as the G-20 summit proceeds in Indonesia. President Biden talked about issues with China’s leader during the sideline Monday. Biden is due to meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday.
The US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield talked about world hunger and the need for a grain deal that is due to end later this month. 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.
The basketball player, who was held in Russia for more than 10 months, was freed on December 8. She was freed in return for handing over a convicted Russian arms dealer. Griner is back in the U.S. and reunited with her wife. According to reports, Bout is a member of an ultranationalist party.
The UN climate conference was attended by the war in Ukraine. 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.
Many are watching to see if Zelenskyy follows through on a threat to ban the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, afterUkrainian authorities stepped up raids on churches accused of links with Moscow.
The impact of the G7 price cap on Russian oil production in the region of the Bakhmut city in the Doneta-Zaporizhia
The president of the European Commission and the prime minister from Norway are in Paris for a dinner with the president of France.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak in video at the conference on Tuesday in France, in support of Ukrainians.
What the U.S. has done, though, is build a coalition to leverage the global oil market against Russia’s energy sector. The current price of crude oil is $76, which is largely symbolic as the G7 imposed a $100 price cap earlier this month. Even with the price cap and market rate where it is, Russia still has lots of profit to be made even though it spends only $44 per barrel on production.
The church in Melitopol is said to be used as a Russian military base. Long-range cannon was used by the Ukrainian forces to hit targets in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russian forces turned the city of Bakhmut into burned ruins, Zelenskyy said. Fighting has been fierce there as Russia attempts to advance in the city in the eastern Donbas region.
Two Months After Russia Declared Independence: Volodymyr Viatrovych, the Ukrainians and the Kyiv House of Teachers
On Monday, President Biden made a brief, unannounced visit to Kyiv, aimed at expressing solidarity with Ukrainians as Russia’s invasion of their country heads into a second year. Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and announced new aid as Russian forces make a new push to take control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which Russia illegally annexed last September.
The Russian empire started to expand, with the assistance of Ukraine. In the mind of many Russians, their empire cannot exist without Ukraine. Volodymyr Viatrovych said that it’s because they keep coming back.
He lives near the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, which the Russians pulverized in the first days of the war. His wife and son were sent to westernUkraine for their safety after the Russians invaded Ukraine.
He then drove to Kyiv for an emergency session of parliament, which declared martial law. By 2 p.m. that day, he received a rifle so he could join the security forces defending the capital.
Ukraine first declared independence from Russia in 1918, doing so in an elegant, whitewashed building in the center of Kyiv that still stands and now serves as the offices for the Kyiv House of Teachers.
Two months ago, a reminder of that history came. The missile slammed into the street outside the Kyiv House of Teachers.
The glass ceiling and windows of the hall where independence was declared in 1918 were damaged by the blast. The windows are boarded up. The floor is still covered with shards of glass.
“There are, of course, parallels to a century ago,” said Steshuk Oleh, the director of the House of Teachers. This building was damaged during the fighting. It has been damaged again. That’s okay, but don’t worry. Everything will be rebuilt.
Ongoing fight to free itself from-russia, the case of Ukrainian Prime Minister Boris Yembrotsevich Kasparov
But its plan to wrest control from Zelensky’s pro-European government has gone badly. A year after Russian tanks rolled into the country, Ukraine is still fighting and has managed to repel Moscow’s advances north of Kyiv and in some eastern and southern parts of the country.
“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.
After holding a referendum on independence, Ukrainians thought they had finally solved the issue. Ninety-two percent voted in favor of going their own way. The Soviet Union collapsed later that month.
Putin said that Russia can be the only real guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“If he is losing a war, especially his own making, he doesn’t survive,” he said. “The end may be signaled by the outcome, not just ofPutin’s era but the era of the empire.” It’s 21st century. It is time for empires to go.
After living in Russia for 15 years, Kasparov entered politics and 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
Do we need to leave Ukraine if the war grinds on Ukrainian soil? The former US Ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, tells us ”We won’t leave Ukraine’
The war is not likely to yield a clear resolution on the battlefield, according to military analysts. They say it’s likely to require negotiations and compromises.
More than 13 million people are displaced, about 8 million of them abroad. The war is happening on Ukrainian soil, with many of it’s cities being bombed to rubble, and its factories razed to the ground. If the war grinds on like this for years, it will be worth asking – are we letting Ukraine get destroyed in order to save it?
The region would become stable, according to the former Ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly. This is what Ukraine’s government wants, though joining the alliance is highly unlikely in the near term.
He said being a buffer zone is not good in a geopolitical point of view. Everybody wants to make a move if you’re a gray zone between two security blocs. This has happened with Ukraine.”
“I believe our generation has an opportunity to put an end to this. He said that Ukrainians were more prepared to fight than in 1918.
The United Kingdom War on Nuclear Security and the First Commons Liaison Commission Report on the Russia-Russian War on Natural Gas Prices after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
An official announcement is expected on a European Union cap on natural gas prices, the latest measure to tackle an energy crisis largely spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The prime minister of the United Kingdom will make his first appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee and discuss war and other global issues. That follows Sunak’s meeting on Monday in Latvia with members of a U.K.-led European military force.
Russian news reports say that Putin and his Chinese counterpart will have a talk in virtual terms this month.
After the invasion of Ukraine in February,Ukrainians and Russians are preparing for their first Christmas or Hanukkah celebrations.
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.
The American was freed as a part of the prisoner exchange. Suedi Murekezi told ABC that he had been tortured and held in a prison in Eastern Ukraine for months.
EU lawmakers approved about $19 billion in financing for Ukraine, Dec. 14, and more sanctions on Russia. The aid package followed pledges from many countries and institutions to help the Ukrainians with winter relief funds, which have amounted to more than $1 billion.
The use of the word war by Putin on Thursday was the first time that he deviated from his description of the Moscow invasion as a special military operation.
“Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin told reporters in Moscow, after attending a State Council meeting on youth policy. “We have been and 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. A lot of people condemned for words about the war.
A US official told CNN that Putin probably meant to say something but it was 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.
Zelensky told Congress of a 10-point peace formula and summit that he told Biden during their meeting at the White House. The Ukrainian leader claimed Biden supported the peace initiatives.
“All conflicts, armed conflicts too, end one way or another with some kind of negotiations,” Putin said as he accused Zelensky of refusing to negotiate.
He said that the Ukrainian leader refused to negotiate and the sooner those opposing us realize it, the better.
The blasts that rang out in Kiev’s capital, on Saturday, January 22: Putin and his forces launched a “secret mission” to “constrain the enemy forces”
Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday declared the Kremlin would make a substantial investment in many areas of the military. The initiatives include increasing the size of the armed forces, accelerating weapons programs and deploying a new generation of hypersonic missiles to prepare Russia for what Putin called “inevitable clashes” with its adversaries.
At least ten blasts rang out in the center of Ukraine’s capital on Saturday. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported that major blasts caused “ruins” in four of the city’s neighborhoods. Several more people have been hospitalized, and at least one person has died.
In a statement, the Defense Ministry said that the Russian terrorists had been saving one of the most massive missile attacks. They envision Ukrainians celebrating the New Year in darkness and cold. They can’t defeat the Ukrainian people.
When Anastasiia Hryn, a 34-year-old Kyiv resident, woke up to the sound of air raid sirens followed by an explosion, she and her son descended to the basement shelter beneath their building. But they were not particularly surprised, nor did they let it dampen their spirits.
After the sirens went off, Hryn said, life in the capital went back to normal and he met his neighbors in the elevator who had to get to the cinema to see a new movie on time. Parents took their children to school and people went to work, while others continued with holiday plans in defiance.
The mayor said that due to the security measures taken by power engineers during the air raid alarm and the fact that they were working to resume services, 40 percent of the residents of the city were without power. “The city is supplying heat and water in normal mode,” Klitschko said on the messaging app Telegram.
At least three people, including a 14-year-old, were injured and two people pulled from a damaged home on Thursday, Klitschko said earlier. In attacks on the city, homes, an industrial facility, and a playground were damaged.
“Senseless barbarism.” The only words that came to mind when watching Russia launch a fresh wave of attacks were “no neutrality”, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister.
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.
War against Ukraine has Left Russia Isolated and Strouggling with More Tumult ahedral-State-Motivated State Media Propaganda
The war has upended Russian life, rupturing 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. 45% of people who have been arrested for demonstrating against the war are 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.
Even Russia’s most revered human rights group, 2022’s Nobel Prize co-recipient Memorial, was forced to stop its activities over alleged violations of the foreign agents law.
The state has also vastly expanded Russia’s already restrictive anti-LGBT laws, arguing the war in Ukraine reflects a wider attack on “traditional values.”
For now, repressions remain targeted. Some of the new laws are still unenforced. Should the moment arise, the measures are meant to crush wider dissent.
Leading independent media outlets have had to shut down or relocate overseas due to new “fake news” laws that criminalized noncompliance with the official government line.
There are restrictions to internet users. American social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook were banned in March. More than 100,000 websites have been blocked by the Moscow’s internet regulator since the beginning of the conflict.
Technical workarounds such as VPNs and Telegram still offer access to Russians seeking independent sources of information. But state media propaganda now blankets the airwaves favored by older Russians, with angry TV talk shows spreading conspiracies.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/1145981036/war-against-ukraine-has-left-russia-isolated-and-struggling-with-more-tumult-ahe
War Against Ukraine Has Left Russia Isolated And Struggling With More Twist Ahead: The Case For a New Economy
Many of the perceived government opponents left in the war’s early days due to concerns of persecution.
Yet Putin’s order to mobilize 300,000 additional troops in September prompted the largest outflow: Hundreds of thousands of Russian men fled to border states including Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Georgia in an attempt to avoid the draft.
Putin argued it was good riddance, part of a “self-cleansing” of Russian society from traitors and spies. Russian officials said that those who left the country of their passport should be stripped of it. Russia can thrive without some of it’s best and brightest.
Even though Russians remain a sensitive issue to former Soviet republics, countries that have absorbed the exodus predict their economies will grow.
Russian price controls helped the ruble regain its value. McDonald’s and several other brands ultimately relaunched under new names and Russian ownership. The economy declined by 2.5%, less than most economists predicted.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/1145981036/war-against-ukraine-has-left-russia-isolated-and-struggling-with-more-tumult-ahe
Putin’s Failure to Remain Putin: After a decade of War, the Kremlin finally pulled out of the Russian Military Campaign
Ultimately, President Putin is betting that when it comes to sanctions, Europe will blink first — pulling back on its support to Ukraine as Europeans grow angry over soaring energy costs at home. He decided to ban oil exports to countries that follow the price cap, which is likely to make the pain worse in Europe.
When it comes to Russia’s military campaign, there’s no outward change in the government’s tone. Daily briefings from the Russia’s Defense Ministry recount all the successes on the ground. Putin, too, repeatedly assures that everything is “going according to plan.”
Yet the sheer length of the war — with no immediate Russian victory in sight — suggests Russia vastly underestimated Ukrainians’ willingness to resist.
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 Feb. 24, 2022, invasion has touched off a refugee crisis, as Ukrainians flee the conflict in their homeland and many Russian men seek to avoid conscription. It has led to a process toward NATO expansion with two Nordic nations pursuing membership after decades of official neutrality.
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 they have stopped supporting Russia’s military campaign.
Putin’s speech in effect made good on an overdue commitment: the Kremlin repeatedly delayed and then ultimately canceled last year’s address amid a trickle of bad news from the battlefield in Ukraine.
An annual December “big press conference” – a semi-staged affair that allows the Russian leader to handle fawning questions from mostly pro-Kremlin media – was similarly tabled until 2023.
The Kremlin didn’t give a reason for the delays. Many think that the Russian leader has finally run out of good news after a decade of war.
A Year in the Life of Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv: A Long and Sweet Journey Through the Crimea Unravelling Russia
A total of 12 incoming attacks, six of which were in Kyiv, were successfully repelled by the air defense of the Ukrainian military. The total number of attacks was not known.
Several locations around the city were dispatched by the emergency services. Videos published to social media and geo-located by NPR show several apparent injuries, including partially severed limbs and bloodied faces on one residential street.
The Russian leader later bestowed the country’s highest military honor – the Order of Saint George – on the commander of its forces in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin.
The Defense Ministry in Russia announced the return of 81 Russian prisoners of war following what they claimed were negotiations with the Ukrainian regime.
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, according to a transcript posted on his official website. We have cried out all the tears. All the prayers have been yelled. The time is 311 days. We have something to say about every minute.”
Putin’s decision to end the Ukraine war on January 6th to January 7th: a surprise speech from the European parliament, Russia’s foreign minister, and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister
All Ukrainians — those working, attending schools or “just learning to walk” — are participating in Ukraine’s defense, Mr. Zelensky said. He doesn’t think that being a year of losses is the right way to think of it.
Mr. Zelensky said the world was in support of Ukraine, from the halls of government to the main squares of foreign cities.
In a surprise move on Thursday, Putin ordered his defense minister to implement a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for 36 hours. The president ordered that a ceasefire be in place between January 6 and January 7 to observe Orthodox Christmas.
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 President Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday that he was “reluctant” to respond to anything Putin said. I found it interesting. On the 25th and New Year’s he was going to bomb hospitals and churches.
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 promise of a ceasefire would not bring freedom or security to the people living under Moscow’s brutal war warned the German Foreign Minister.
If Putin wanted peace, he would take his soldiers home and end the war. She said that she believed he wanted to continue the war after a short break.
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.”
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has become closely entwined with the Russian state under Putin, responded by cutting ties with Bartholomew. The rise of a church that is not part of Moscow has angered Putin, who has made restoring the so- called “Russian world” a centerpiece of his foreign policy.
The Orthodox church in Ukranian decided that they would allow their churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25 rather than January 7.
In recent years a large part of the Orthodox community in Ukraine has moved away from Moscow, a movement accelerated by the conflict Russia stoked in eastern Ukraine beginning in 2014.
In the southern region of Kherson, Pavlo Skotarenko does not expect much change. “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.
A Ukrainian soldier who goes by the call sign “Archer” told CNN that he does not believe that this is done for tactical purposes or to solve a problem.
The soldier thought that this might be done to make the image of Russia a little more human, due to the many atrocities that are constantly emerging.
And in the capital Kyiv, where Russian attacks during New Year soured even the most modest celebrations, Halyna Hladka said she saw the temporary ceasefire as an attempt by Russians to win time.
“Russia has already shown active use of faith in numerous kinds of manipulations. Russia has not behaved itself as a country that is capable of adhering to promises in almost a year of war.
“We know what is going on”: Putin’s “strong indication” for Russian military action against separatists during the Great Schism
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. There are also significant Orthodox communities in Egypt and Ethiopia, most of whom belong to the smaller Oriental Orthodox branch.
Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 decided to standardize Christian holidays with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, which put the birth of Jesus Christ as December 25. The 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.
On Friday, the conflict in Ukraine continued after the proposed start time of the ceasefire at noon Moscow time (4 a.m. ET), as CNN teams observed incoming and outgoing artillery fire around Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise Europe tour, meeting leaders in London, Paris and Brussels, and reiterating his call for allies to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
The world marked one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. In the lead-up, President Biden made an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and later to Poland.
There’s “strong indication” Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the go-ahead to supply anti-aircraft weapons to separatists in Ukraine, according to the international team investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.
We are peaceful people. We know what war is and we don’t want war,” the authoritarian leader Lukashenko, who has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said at a press conference in Minsk on Thursday.
The First Russian Operation on the Kiev Border: The Last Plot Declarares WAR ON UKRAINE. I. The Ukraine – Belarus War
The Ukrainian side of the border is barricaded with a number of layers of barbed wire and earth mounds to stop anyone from entering.
Belarusian officials told CNN the border crossing from their side in the small town of Dyvin is still functioning but that the Ukrainian side has closed the crossing.
CNN was able to see a Ukrainian flag on the side of the border crossing with the former Yugoslavia and a red and white flag that was associated with the opposition in the former Yugoslavia.
Russian troops began their invasion of Ukraine on February 24 at the time when they were already on the Ukrainian border. In the first days of the assault, Russian Tu-22 “Backfire” bombers used Belarusian airspace to launch coordinated cruise missile attacks on targets within Ukraine. More recently, the two nations have engaged in joint military drills near the Belarus-Ukraine crossing.
I was supposed to be in the city on February 24, 2022, but I was not there. But a few days before that, my husband broke his shoulder and we had to stay in Moscow. He had an operation at 9:00 a.m.
My phone was buzzing from all the calls and messages. The all caps headline on the Kyiv Independent website read: “PUTIN DECLARES WAR ON UKRAINE.”
In a single year, the war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions more. It has unleashed unfathomable atrocities, decimated cities, driven a global food and energy crisis and tested the resolve of western alliances.
Polish and Polish Jews in Prague: What have Ukrainians learned from living in Poland? A new perspective on Czech history and modern-day life in the Czech Republic
Zaporizhzhia, February 23, 2022. I decided to celebrate my husband’s birthday the next day. Our life was getting better. My husband was running his own business. Our daughter had begun school there and was making friends. We were lucky to have arranged support services and found a special needs nursery for our son. I finally had time to work. I felt happy.
We are trying to live in the here and now. We are very sad. Our hearts remain in Ukraine even after we’re in Prague.
Even those who spoke English had more job options. Ukrainians who settled in neighboring Poland have learned Polish, which has some similarities to Ukrainian. Many have stayed in the same profession, working in technology, education or manufacturing.
Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin: Inside the Russians’ War against Ukraine and Why Is Russia So Kind? A Compassionate Journey through the History of Ukraine
Mikhail Zygar is a journalist and former editor in chief of the independent TV news channel Dozhd. He is the author of a book. Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin” and upcoming book “War and Punishment. Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.”
We got up that morning to find out that the invasion had begun. 12 Russian writers, directors and cultural figures signed an open letter written by me in opposition to the war. Soon it was published, and tens of thousands of Russian citizens added their signatures.
We departed from Russia on the third day. It was a moral obligation for me, so I felt it. I was no longer able to stay on the territory where the state has become fascist.
We moved to Berlin. Thousands of Ukrainians arrive every day at the refugee camp next to the main railway station and my husband worked as a volunteer there. I was starting to write a book. It starts like this.
The book is a confession. I’m guilty of not reading the signs sooner. I share in the responsibility for the Russia’s war against Ukraine. My predecessors and our forebears are as well. Regrettably, Russian culture is also to blame for making all these horrors possible.”
This whole year has been full of tears and worries. I read about people who were killed by the Russians, including my teammate, the director of a school, and the parents of a friend.
If anything, for me, the son of Ukrainian immigrants in Canada, this has been a war of history repeating itself – from the forced deportation of upwards of 2.5 million Ukrainians, including 38,000 children, to the stealing of Ukrainian grain to the wanton destruction of Ukrainians museums, libraries, churches and monuments.
During re-telling of the stories of family members shipped away to the Soviet concentration camp, I am haunted by the darkness in my father’s eyes. The famine of 1932-33 was caused by Stalin and affected millions of Ukrainians.
My passport was a novel in stamps as we entered the full-scale invasion. In London, I teach Ukrainian literature, while in Ukranian, I get my lessons in courage.
My former classmates from Zaporizhja who were addicted to drugs a long time ago have decided to fight for their freedom. I thought my hairdresser, who I expected to be a sweet summer child, had fled from the Russia-occupied town of Bucha with her mother, grandmother and five dogs.
My capital, which the Kremlin and the West expected to fall in three days, has withstood 12 months of Russia’s terrorist bombings and energy blackouts. These dark winter nights, one sees so many stars over Kyiv which the Russians have only managed to bring closer to eternity.
Since February 22, we have experienced several eras. Putin received more than 80% approval from the population when he suddenly received more than half his ratings back.
He canceled the future by canceling the past. Those who were disoriented, preferred to support Putin: it is easier to live this way when your superiors decide everything for you, and you take for granted everything you are told by propaganda.
It is impossible to adapt to a catastrophe like what happened for me and my family. As an active commentator on the events, I was labeled by the authorities as a “foreign agent,” which increased personal risk and reinforced the impression of living in an Orwellian anti-utopia.
I took a bath and lit candles after washing my dog on February 23. I have a one-bedroom apartment in the northern part of the city. I enjoyed taking care of it. I am happy with the life I had. The small routines and struggles are the things that keep it all together. The last time I mattered was that night.
I remember talking to colleagues, trying to assemble and coordinate a small army of volunteers to strengthen the newsroom. And calling my parents to organize buying supplies.
The life I knew was starting to fall apart. It no longer mattered what cup I used to drink my morning tea, or how I dressed, or whether or not I took a shower. Life itself no longer mattered, only the battle did.
Just a few weeks into the full-scale invasion it was already hard to remember the struggles, sorrows and joyful moments of the pre-war era. I was upset about my boyfriend but I could no longer relate. My life didn’t change on February 24, it was stolen from me on that day.
I did not worry about my personal ambitions anymore. The only way to show that we are fighting in these circumstances was to raise our flag.
I couldn’t enjoy my victories on the track. They were possible because the defenders laid down their lives. But I got messages from soldiers on the frontline. It was my primary motivation to continue my career since they were so happy to follow our achievements.
Life values have changed. I love seeing or talking to relatives and friends more than I have before. I believe in our victory, and that we will all return to our beloved country. But we need the world’s help.
“I do think this is a critical moment,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told NPR. “The battlefield, as difficult as it is and as bloody as it is … is something that’s going to play a very major factor in both President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and President [Vladimir] Putin’s calculations as to whether or not to go to the negotiating table … and under what conditions.”
“This is something that leads me to the question – for whom do we document all these crimes?” Oleksandra Matviichuk, the head of the Center for Civil Liberties, told us. “I want to document the pain of human beings in order to bring these Russians to justice sooner or later, because I’m not a historian.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu: “We’re learning lessons from the Ukrainian war, and we’re keeping a wary eye on China”
Speaking to NPR’s Leila Fadel, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said his country is learning lessons from the war in Ukraine and keeping a wary eye on China.
They have expansionist motivation. They want to continue to expand their sphere of influence. They want to continue to expand their power. They will continue to march if they are not stopped, according to the person who gave us the information.
“We’ve managed to avoid conflict directly between great powers,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NPR. This system works for all of its flaws. But now, it’s being challenged.”
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/18/1157820509/ukraine-russia-war-anniversary
The Crime of Crime against Humanity: The Case of the Chernya-Ichkeria-Russian War of 1917 – The First Battle of the Cold War
Natalia believes the family car was hit by Russian forces in the first few days of the war. She lost her husband, along with her nephew. Vova survived the attack but was hospitalized for months with seven bullets in his body.
The audio for this story was produced by Danny Hajek; edited by Barrie Hardymon and Natalie Winston. Additional editing and production help from Carol Klinger, Denise Couture and Nina Kravinsky. The reporting and translation help was provided by the two people.
The dismemberment of the Soviet empire was duly halted at the borders of the Russian Federation — at the cost of two devastating Chechen wars, for which the Kremlin was given a free hand both domestically and internationally. Chechnya-Ichkeria became a testbed for the military strategy that is being applied to the Ukrainians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened the Munich Security Conference, speaking via video link to attendees including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Vice President Kamala Harris. The vice president told the gathering that Russia had committed crimes against humanity.
The Secretary General of NATO said that the Kremlin is preparing for new offensives and attacks in the Balkans and called on NATO to increase their support for Ukraine.
A Yale University team says that at least 40 child custody centers are being operated by the Russian government, which is a potential war crime.
Joe Biden and the Invasion of Ukraine: A World Affairs Columnist’s Perspective on the Future of U.S. Security in Ukraine
Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She writes for the Washington Post, CNN, and World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. You can also view other opinions on CNN.
As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian, US President Joe Biden made a historic secret visit to the country’s capital.
The trip on Monday to an active war zone was not only a powerful symbol of American support, it was also a shot in the arm to a population that has been victims of Russian attacks on their homes and infrastructure.
The President of the United States is going to Ukraine at a great time, according to a service member.
Recall that in the early days of the invasion, Ukraine said it found Russian forces had brought along their dress uniforms apparently expecting a victory parade.
The Biden is old and has a stiff neck. But he has no shortage of courage (air raid sirens sounded over Kyiv while Biden was there) or, crucially, competence.
Biden made mincemeat of Putin’s strategy to make it look as if the war was a result of a Ukrainian provocation, revealing the plan before it unfolded. He rallied the NATO alliance, which was trashed by President Donald Trump.
Zelensky made a very famous phone call to the US President in which he urged him to help deter a Russia who was ready to attack. Even though he was scared of Biden, Trump would try to get Ukraine to investigate him, even though he was in favor of doing so.
A joyous Zelensky said Biden’s visit “brings us closer to victory,” adding it will “have repercussions on the battlefield in liberating our territories.”
Biden promised continuing support from the US, which is what most Americans want though backing has weakened somewhat. GOP Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN that bipartisan support for Ukraine is “still very strong.”
Of course, some GOP members criticized Biden for going to Ukraine. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called the trip “incredibly insulting,” a sign of an “America Last” policy. It was fantastic that Biden would help Ukraine defend its borders and not do the same for America, stated Rep. Scott Perry, who is at the center of a legal dispute over his cell phone.
Russian failure of New Start and Ukraine’s atomic energy test in the early years of World War II: a tribute to the “neo Nazi”
Putin acknowledged Russia’s significant losses in the war and called on those present to stand for a moment of silence in their memory. The Russian leader also promised a range of social support packages for families of the fallen.
Missing from Putin’s address was any discussion of Russia’s significant setbacks on the battlefield and its evident failure in the early days of the war to occupy Kyiv and remove Ukraine’s democratically elected government.
Putin said that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the United States but he also stressed that it was not withdrawing from the treaty.
Signed in 2010, New Start came into force in 2011, and was extended till 2026. It caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that Russia and the U.S. can deploy. The two countries have a good amount of deployable warheads.
The agreements to make sure neither side is cheating were put on hold in March 2020 as a result of the Pandemic. Russia postponed talks to restart those inspections, as relations between Moscow and Washington continued to deteriorate over Ukraine.
The military and civilian atomic energy agency was instructed by Putin to be prepared to test further nuclear weapons if the U.S. carries out new tests first.
Russia’s decision is “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible,” said the Secretary of State. The US has accused Russia of violating the last remaining nuclear arms treaty.
Russian leader referred to the government of Ukraine as the “neo Nazi” government and said Russia was defending itself just like during World War II.
The independence issue was discussed in a televised session by the National Security Council, and the image of Putin holding court across a vast hallway to consult with his closest advisers is famous.
The War Between Ukraine and the Cold Cold War: The Awakening of a New Generation Glimpse on a Flooding Field
More than 8 million refugees have fled Ukraine in what the World Health Organization describes as “the largest movement of people in the European Region since the Second World War.” Many people have been relocated by Russia. Others have put a strain on resources, as well as schools and hospitals, in Poland and Germany.
The world is going toward realignment due to a 21st century war in Europe. It has rattled NATO, the European Union and the U.N., forcing countries to take sides in ways that have led to escalating tensions and diplomatic shifts. For example, Turkey, despite being a NATO member, has increased trade with Russia since the start of the war and has thrown up objections to allowing Sweden and Finland into the alliance.
NPR’s Will Chase, Alex Leff, Pam Webster, Desiree F. Hicks and Nishant Dahiya contributed to this report. The text and graphics build on previous work by Alina Selyukh, Connie Hanzhang Jin and Nick Underwood.
I will always remember the story of newlyweds who separated after their wedding so that the groom could return. A tax preparer in Boston who quit her job to return to Ukraine with suitcases full of medical supplies. The wife of a border guard who made the three-hour round trip from Lviv to the Polish border almost daily to drop off fleeing women and children and pick up weapons and supplies.
How sad that human beings survived deadly waves of Covid only to get right back into the business-as-usual of killing one other. It’s senseless to spend tens of billions of dollars on missiles, tanks and other aid, when more needs to be done to help communities adapt to rising oceans and drying rivers. Farmers in a breadbasket of the world have gone hungry and are hiding in bomb shelters. Ukrainians are part of Putin’s own people, even though Russian soldiers have been accused of killing and raping civilians in the country.
Governments are interfering in the war. They talk of victory because that gives soldiers hope and the will to fight on. But in the end, war is death in a muddy foxhole. It’s an existential fight over a frozen field with no strategic value. It is a new generation grudge. It’s an $11 billion, roughly 740-mile pipeline laid across the Baltic Sea rendered useless overnight. It is unable to produce a single metal sheet, which is one of the reasons why it is the largest steel plants in Europe. It’s a charming seaside city emptied out by bombings and siege.
Zelensky was responding to a question from CNN at a press conference in the capital city. I’m certain that there will be a victory.
In Russia, the former president of the country suggested that Russia wants to push the borders of threats to the country even if they are in Poland.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky speaks out on the First Year of the Crimen-Storage Ragnin-Gordon War
Zelensky renewed calls for international assistance for his country on the first anniversary of the war. He handed out awards to soldiers before he held a press conference.
Earlier on Friday morning, the Ukrainian leader addressed members of the military in Kyiv. He told them how the future of the country would be decided.
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 is calling for the international community to prevent Putin from becoming our new normal.
Germany is sending four more Leopard 2 tanks toUkraine, increasing the commitment from 14 to 18. A pledge was made by the Prime Minister of Sweden to send Leopard2 tanks to Ukraine.
And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he intends to present the idea of imposing new sanctions against Russia during a virtual meeting with G7 leaders and Zelensky.
Kathalina Pahitsky, a 16-year old student, went to the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv to lay flowers in memory of two former students from her school who lost their lives fighting in the war.
She said she felt obligated to pay her respects to the fallen heroes because it was a bitterly cold morning in Kyiv.
There are photographs on the main street. It’s a great honor. They died as heroes. It is very important to 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
Why does a Navy Officer Feel Confined? CNN’s Fareed Zakaria says he is not afraid of the challenges of a career in IT
It was hard to describe the feelings of Olexander Atamas, who was an IT worker before he became a naval officer.
He told CNN he doesn’t feel fear anymore, but he feels confidence in his abilities. I was stressed and scared one year ago. But currently there is no fear at all.”
Fareed Zakaria has a show on CNN that airs on Sunday at 10 a.m and 1 p.m. The views he expressed are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.
Vladimir Putin meets the Chinese prime minister: what are the prospects for in Ukraine? The case of Russian-Russia tensions during the first two weeks of the Ukrainian war
Russia’s performance in the war has been poor, but it is doing better, especially at holding territory. Russia has stability in its economy which the International Monetary Fund projects will do better this year than the UK or Germany. Russia is trading freely with such economic behemoths as China, and India, as well as neighbors like Turkey and Iran. Because of these countries and many more, outside of the advanced technology sector, it has access to all the goods and capital it lost through the Western boycott. There is now a huge world economy that does not include the West, and Russia can swim in those waters freely. The effects of the sanctions are slow and the long-term costs of the war are real. This kind of isolation and pain rarely changes a dictatorship’s policies – look at North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.
It’s difficult to imagine a World War II style total victory. Most wars come to an end through negotiations. This one is unlikely to be different. The task for the West is to ensure that Ukraine has enough success and momentum on the battlefield that it enters those negotiations with a very strong hand. Only dramatic Ukrainian victories – like cutting off Crimea – will likely bring Putin to the negotiating table.
The Senate and House will hold hearings on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday.
Some Russians disobeyed the rule of the Kremlin and protested against the war in several cities, with one independent Russian outlet reporting that more than fifty people were arrested at different demonstrations where they picketed and wrote messages.
China called for a cease-fire and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, in a position paper released on the anniversary of the invasion. Russian President Putin and his Chinese counterpart met in Moscow earlier this week to strengthen ties.
When will Ukraine be a “War-Ended” country? How has the Russian Union been affected by the collapse of the Soviet Union?
We paused last week to reflect on all that’s happened in our live blog. We asked you after a year ofunpredictability what you wanted to know.
Who knows? Most think at least another year. The armies have both lost a lot and neither of the losses looks like a knockout blow.
“We don’t want war in the world but we do want the world to know that it is okay for people to fight back, and that is something we want the world to know,” said the Kyiv resident, who has lived in the city her whole life.
The Russian goal of destructing the cultures of other nations has not faded into the background. Instead, the Kremlin has “flipped the script” from being the aggressor to the victim.
The new Russian Federation took over diplomatic relationships and treaties after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine had to start from scratch, starting from the ground up, as it was the first country to have embassies without permission from Moscow.
While in Russia the fall of the soviet union is referred to as a reformation of the state with it’s roots in the Russian Empire, in Ukraine the fall is referred to as independence day.
Ask any U.S. military member who’s worked with the Ukrainians and they’ll tell you the Ukrainians are extremely tech-savvy and extremely fast learners.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/1159645125/when-will-ukraine-russia-war-end
When will Ukraine end the war on russia? When will the U.S. stop selling Russian oil to India, China and other countries?
It would be difficult to sanction over a third of the world’s population if India and China were to be banned from purchasing Russian oil.
It is theoretically possible for the U.S. to sanction countries that maintain economic ties with Russia. The best precedent for this is perhaps the Helms–Burton Act, which extended U.S. sanctions on Cuba toward any foreign company doing business with both Cuba and the U.S. at the same time. When President Bill Clinton signed that law in 1996, several countries accused the U.S. of violating their sovereignty, passing their own laws to make the U.S. regulation effectively unenforceable.
There was not much of a will to sanction Cuba at the time. It’s possible today’s situation with Russia might make such a policy more politically palatable if the U.S. attempted it again, though I can’t find any serious proposal in the government to do just that.
The G7’s price cap could be lower, but that would effectively eliminate profits from Western oil suppliers, where production costs have traditionally been higher than in Russia.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/1159645125/when-will-ukraine-russia-war-end
The Future of Air Warfare: The U.S., Russia’s Embies, and the Soviet Union’s Allies
Russia is keeping those fighter jets grounded for now and is attacking with cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones. Most of these are shot down with Ukraine’s air defense missiles. For Ukraine, the problem is it’s running low on these missiles. If it runs out, then Russia could unleash its fighting planes.
We’re seeing air battles daily but pilots are usually not involved. This is the future of air warfare.
Unlikely. Both sides are interested in it. NATO does not want a full-scale war in Europe, and Russian President Vladimir Putin knows he would lose a conflict with a 30-member military alliance led by the Americans.