Russian Disarray on display as Ukraine’s forces advance on two fronts

The Cold War with Russia: Where is the Cold War? An Analysis of Russian Milblogger Discourse over the Last Few Days of Russia’s Cold War

It was Putin’s dream to make Russia great again. Instead, Russia can now no longer pretend to be a great power as it is unable to defeat an enemy on its own borders.

The timing wouldn’t have been worse. Putin lost Lyman just as he was publicly declaring that the Donetsk region – in which Lyman sits – was now annexed by Russia.

Two powerful Putin supporters railed against the Kremlin and called for using harsher fighting methods after learning that Moscow was saying that the illegally annexed region would be Russian forever.

But the soldiers interviewed on the Sunday broadcast said they had been forced to retreat because they were fighting not only with Ukrainians, but with NATO soldiers.

The milblogger discourse over the last week has mirrored the onslaught of criticism and reporting of operational military details by the Kremlin’s propagandists. The Kremlin narrative had focused on general statements of progress and avoided detailed discussions of current military operations. The war had failed before its loss in the area of Kharkiv Oblast which led to partial reserve mobilization.

The broadcast was intended to show Russians that if they feel angry over the calls for civilians, they are to blame for the war as the West will destroy Russia.

An interview with a man whose daughter was killed in a car-bomb attack was repeated about the idea that Russia is fighting a broader campaign.

Both European and Russian leaders said last month that an act of sabotage was behind the damage to the gas pipes, but Mr. Dugin said that Western countries caused the problem.

“The West already accuses us of blowing up the gas pipeline ourselves,” he said. “We must understand the geopolitical confrontation, the war, our war with the West on the scale and extent on which it is unfolding. In other words, we must join this battle with a mortal enemy who does not hesitate to use any means, including exploding gas pipelines.”

The nonstop messaging campaign may be working, at least for now. Many Russians are scared of the West according to a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Whether it’s going through with a wedding in the aftermath of a rocket attack, pitching in to make Molotov cocktails, shifting classes to a Kyiv subway station as missiles fly or keeping a family business open against all odds, one thing Putin’s invasion has done is galvanize the Ukrainian people like never before.

The Cost of Chaos: CNN’s Peter Bergen, the National Security Analyst, Views of Putin’s Times on the War Between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union

Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a vice president at New America, and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. Bergen is the author of “The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World.” His views are his own in this commentary. View more opinion on CNN.

In the early morning of that day, President Putin announced that he had ordered his troops to the border with Ukraine. The Russian investigative journalist who lives in selfimposed exile in London told CNN that everything he believed in got completely compromised.

Putin’s problems have only deepened in recent days with the surging Ukrainian counteroffensive that has seized key pockets of Russian-controlled territory, such as the transportation hub city of Lyman.

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

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

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, they planned to install a puppet government and get out of the country as soon as it was feasible, as explained in a recent, authoritative book about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, “Afghan Crucible” by historian Elisabeth Leake.

During the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the US was hesitant to increase its support for the Afghan resistance fearing a bigger conflict with the Soviet Union. It took until 1986 for the CIA to arm the Afghans with highly effective anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, which ended the Soviets’ total air superiority, eventually forcing them to withdraw from Afghanistan three years later.

War, however, is fluid and unpredictable. As Baunov noted, the recent decision by Germany, the United States and other European allies to deliver main battle tanks to Ukraine may test Putin’s long game.

But the US put those fears to rest relatively quickly, and American-supplied anti-tank Javelin missiles and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), GPS-guided missiles, have helped the Ukrainians to push back against the Russians.

Putin and the Great Patriotic War in Russia: Myths, Facts and Reality in the Early Post-WWII Ukrainian Warfare

Putin is also surely aware that the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was hastened by the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan two years earlier.

The Russian defeat in the Japanese war in 1905 weakened the Romanov monarchy, according to the history books. 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.

Ukrainian officials have been warning for weeks that Russia may be preparing a major new assault, perhaps to coincide with the anniversary of the 2022 invasion. Back in September, Putin ordered a “partial mobilization” after a swift and unexpected Ukrainian counteroffensive that chased Russian forces out of the northeastern Kharkiv region and set the stage for Ukraine’s recapture of the southern city of Kherson. Many of the troops went through the training as speculation grew that Russia was planning a large-scale war of attrition.

One of the central features of Putinism is a fetish for World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. The Russian party of war often praises the brutal tactics utilized by the Red Army to fight Hitler, such as sending soldiers accused of desertion, cowardice or wavering against German positions as cannon fodder, and the use of punishment battalions.

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. Some autocrats who put their cronies into key positions are able to control the media so their subordinates follow foolish orders.

In an interview, the head of the Defense Committee in the State Duma demanded that officials stop lying to the Russian public.

Kartapolov complained that the Ministry of Defense was evading the truth about incidents such as Ukrainian cross-border strikes in Russian regions neighboring Ukraine.

Valuyki is located near the border with Ukranian. Kyiv has generally adopted a neither-confirm-nor-deny stance when it comes to striking Russian targets across the border.

The before and after images of Ukraine are not completely different from one another. They are both caricatures of the country and its people because they are based on mythology. In the case of Ukraine, this mythology is shaped by Russia. Many people don’t understand what Ukraine really is because they think it’s just the same as Russia. Ukraine has a profound story to tell about freedom after centuries of oppression by the Soviets.

“There is no need to somehow cast a shadow over the entire Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation because of some, I do not say traitors, but incompetent commanders, who did not bother, and were not accountable, for the processes and gaps that exist today,” Stremousov said. “Indeed, many say that the Minister of Defense [Sergei Shoigu], who allowed this situation to happen, could, as an officer, shoot himself. The word officer is a very new word for many.

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

Kadyrov accused Colonel-General Lapin of failing to adequately provide for his troops and moving his headquarters away from his subordinates.

The Russian information space has deviated greatly from the narratives the Russian Ministry of Defence and the Kremlin want you to believe that everything is okay.

Kadyrov has been one of the most outspoken proponents of the methods of the past and was recently promoted to the rank of colonel general. He recently said in another Telegram post that, if he had his way, he would give the government extraordinary wartime powers in Russia.

Kadyrov said in a post that he would use any weapon and declare martial law if he could, because they are at war with the whole NATO bloc.

What if, I keep asking myself, Russia’s new totalitarianism had not been so lightheartedly overlooked by the rest of the world in the 1990s? If Russia had been allowed to go on peacefully decreasing, the world would have been spared the rise of a new Hitler. Alas, the West agreed to blame Communism alone for all the atrocities of the Soviet regime. Russian imperialty was never seen as a problem.

The fate of the Kiev bridge: a bridge to protect the Ukrainians from the consequences of the June 17th attack on Kyrgyzstan

On the mountain-flanked steppes of southwestern Kyrgyzstan, the result in just one remote village has been devastating: homes reduced to rubble, a burned-out school and a gut-wrenching stench emanating from the rotting carcasses of 24,000 dead chickens.

The most violent month to hit the area since the collapse of the Soviet Union was last month and it was the fault of both Russia and a military alliance committed to preserving peace.

Creating and sharing internet meme has become a tool for Ukrainians to communicate about the fight against the Russians. These short, pithy posts and videos have been used to both transmit messages to the international community, as well as help Ukrainians themselves cope with the reality that their country is at war.

The bridge explosion came while the Ukrainians were attacking key pockets of Russian-controlled territory, including in regions Putin recently annexed.

For many in Ukraine, the blow to such a strategically important bridge was cause for celebration. The Ukrposhta, a Ukrainian postal service, created a meme about a famous scene from the movie Titanic.

And even though Ukraine has not taken official responsibility for the attack, some memes poke fun at Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose 70th birthday was Saturday.

Even though most may think of memes as a phenomenon that sprouted with the coming of age of the Internet, memes actually date back decades — if not centuries. Long before the invention of the internet, experts say, memes have functioned as an analog way for humans to communicate and joke with one another.

In Ukraine, the country has long used memes, along with others in the post-Soviet space, to be critical of the Soviet Union, says Sigita Struberga, a researcher at the department of political science at the University of Latvia.

“The memes give an opportunity [to] address target audiences in a more sharp form, to express more sharp narratives” that may not make sense to those who are coming at the issue neutrally, according to Struberga, who is also the secretary general of the Latvian Transatlanic Organization.

When it comes to the current conflict, Struberga says the Ukrainian army, politicians and civil society alike have been using humor very effectively — reaching both local and foreign audiences with important messages, even targeting specific people.

Two Ukrainian cities have been hit by large scale Russian bombardments: Kyiv and Kharkiv, Kiev, and Zaprizhzhia

The author is a global affairs analyst named Michael Bociurkiw. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He contributes to CNN Opinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. CNN has more opinion.

The large scale Russian bombardment struck several cities, including far reaches of western Ukraine close to NATO, across the country almost simultaneously, propelling the conflict into a new phase and coming just as much of the country was starting to roar back to life.

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. Five people were killed in strikes on the capital, according to Ukrainian officials.

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).

Monday’s attacks also came just a few hours after Zaporizhzhia, a southeastern city close to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was hit by multiple strikes on apartment buildings, mostly while people slept. At least 17 people were killed and several dozens injured.

In a video filmed outside his office Monday, a defiant President Volodymyr Zelensky said it appeared many of the 100 or so missile strikes across Ukraine were aimed at the country’s energy infrastructure. In addition to the damaged infrastructure, some provinces are without power, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, which has seen more bombardments than Kyiv, residents shifted to war footing and stocked up on canned food, gas and drinking water. The Typsy Cherry is a local bar. The owner said that the mood was cheerful. People drank, had fun and wondered when the electricity would come back. (Power came back hours later.)

Many people will spend most of the day in bomb shelters, while businesses have been told to shift work online as much as possible.

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

Why does China need to stop using deadly weapons? An update on the jubilation of Putin’s opening of Ukraine’s longest road bridge

Hardwiring newly claimed territory with expensive, record-breaking infrastructure projects seems to be a penchant of dictators. The Europe’s longest bridge was personally opened by Putin in 2018, a truck crossing it. One of the first things China did after taking control of Hong Kong and Macau was to connect the British and Portuguese territories with a bridge. The $20 billion, 34-mile road bridge opened after about two years of delays.

There was a quick and hysterical reaction to the explosion among Ukrainians. They shared their jubilation with text messages.

Putin has been placed on thin ice because of increased criticism at home and on state-controlled television.

In August, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the defense ministry, told Roman Kravets that by the end of the year they needed to go into the rest of the country.

What is important now is for Washington and other allies to use urgent telephone diplomacy to persuade China and India to refrain from using even more deadly weapons.

These measures will not allow Putin to continue his violence, but will let him continue to heighten the humanitarian crisis. A weak reaction will be taken as a sign in the Kremlin that it can continue to weaponize energy, migration and food.

Defense systems are needed to protect vital energy infrastructure around the country. With winter just around the corner, the need to protect heating systems is urgent.

Russian attacks in Kiev on Monday night: military Bloggers angered by the response of the Ukrainian government to Putin and the U.S.

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.

The attacks snatched away the semblance of normality that city dwellers, who spent months earlier in the war in subways turned into air raid shelters, have managed to restore to their lives and raised fears of new strikes.

The military Bloggers in Russia were a little upset. A “demonstrative humiliation of Russia” is how Russian journalist Sergey Mardan described the moment. The Telegram app managed by Russian service members commented that they were not waiting for the president of the United States but for the Russian leader.

But the targets on Monday also had little military value and, if anything, served to reflect Putin’s need to find new targets because of his inability to inflict defeats on Ukraine on the battlefield.

Monday’s bombing of power installations, in particular, seemed to be a hint of the misery the Russian President would wreak as winter sets in, even as he retreats in the face of Ukrainian troops using Western arms.

President Joe Biden Monday spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and offered advanced air systems that would help defend against Russian air attacks, but the White House did not specify exactly what might be sent.

According to the National Security Council’s John Kirby, the US is in touch with the government in Kyiv almost every day and they are looking favorably on their requests. “We do the best we can in subsequent packages to meet those needs,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

Kirby was also unable to say whether Putin was definitively shifting his strategy from a losing battlefield war to a campaign to pummel civilian morale and inflict devastating damage on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, though he suggested it was a trend developing in recent days and had already been in the works.

“It likely was something that they had been planning for quite some time. Kirby didn’t say that the explosion on the bridge sped up their planning.

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

The nuclear agreement that Putin suspended, called New START, limited the number of nuclear missiles that both the US and Russia could have deployed and gave both nations the right to inspect each other’s nuclear sites. With Putin’s move to suspend his nation’s participation in the program, the last remaining nuclear deal between the two nations is effectively dead and we have returned to a dangerous era of nuclear dysregulation. The decision of Putin is unfortunate and irresponsible, as stated by the US Secretary of State.

France’s President said the Monday rush-hour attacks in Ukraine could mean another pivot in the conflict.

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

Zelensky’s chief diplomatic adviser told CNN that 56 missiles and drones were shot down by the Ukrainian army in response to an explosion on a strategic bridge leading to annexed control of the peninsula.

If we had modern equipment, we could raise the number of those drones and missiles downed, not to kill innocent civilians or injured Ukrainians, Zhovkva said.

It is possible that Putin will launch a new campaign against civilians in an attempt to breakUkrainian’s faith and possibly cause a new wave of refugees to come into Western Europe.

Everything Putin has done to break up a nation that he doesn’t think has the right to exist has strengthened and unified it.

Olena Gnes said she was angry at the violence that had taken place in her country and that she was going to go live with Anderson Cooper.

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

“It is you who will decide whether we are all going to exist. Whether Ukraine is going to exist. Every day. Every hour. He said that it was the Ukrainian soldiers who would decide.

MOSCOW — For months, Russia’s state media has insisted that the country was hitting only military targets in Ukraine, leaving out the suffering that the invasion has brought to millions of civilians.

State television reported on the suffering as well as flaunted it. There was a large amount of smoke and carnage in central Kyiv, along with empty store shelves and a long-range forecast for freezing temperatures.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Stepanenko and a Ukrainian Organization that Builds a Bomb: What Do They Say About Their Wartimes?

A professor of communication at the University of Australia said that because of its transparency and auditability, it is now one of the few places where you can build a sense of trust in information. “Governments and states that want to promote a particularly strategic perspective have every reason to try and be there and kind of try and influence it.”

Proving government intervention, however, has proved difficult, even as some cases have raised suspicion. In 2021, the Wikimedia Foundation banned an “unrecognized group” of seven Wikipedia users from mainland China and revoked administrator access and other privileges for 12 other users over doxing and threats to Hong Kong editors. Speculation of Chinese influence in the US was never proven.

Biden and Zelensky were together a year ago when the war began, and Biden reminisced about his phone call with Zelensky. Zelensky could hear explosions in the background. Biden said there was a lot of anticipation about the fall of Kyiv, perhaps even the end of Ukraine.

President Putin bets that Europe will blink first when it comes to sanctions because of the increasing anger over rising energy costs in Europe. He announced a five-month ban on oil exports to countries that abide by the price cap, a move likely to make the pain more acute in Europe.

“Our information on Ukraine’s potential provocations involving the use of a nuclear bomb is sufficiently reliable,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference on October 24. Defense minister Sergei Shoigu had conveyed this supposedly reliable information to the leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Turkey, according to read-outs from the Russian government.

“For Russian television, it’s pretty standard to use nuclear threats,” says Stepanenko. “It’s very common for Russian media to remind their domestic audience that they have nuclear weapons and that they are still a powerful state.”

In February, a popular account with over 100,000 followers uploaded a video which claimed to show a far- right Ukrainian organization constructing a bomb. The bomb was supposed to be used against Russian troops in the event of an invasion.

The video is rife with spelling mistakes and shows industrial equipment, which is why it was discredited, according to StopFake. Nevertheless, the basic claim remained a constant reference for those pro-Kremlin Telegram accounts—appearing in hundreds of posts over the last eight months, being viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

For much of the journey through smaller towns and settlements, our team of CNN journalists was forced to drive through diversions and fields: bridges over canals were blown up, and roads were full of craters and littered with anti-tank mines.

The fate of the Dnipro River in Kherson, Ukraine, as revealed by CNN in a city filled with jubilant residents

Trenches and checkpoints were empty, quickly abandoned by Russians who on Friday announced they had withdrawn from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the strategic southern region of Kherson, leaving the regional capital of the same name and surrounding areas to the Ukrainians.

The area to the west of the city that had been occupied by Russian forces for a month was deserted, with only a small group of Ukrainian soldiers around to greet CNN’s crew.

The city’s residents have no water, no internet connection and little power. But as a CNN crew entered the city center on Saturday, the mood was euphoric.

Once the scene of large protests against Russian plans to transform the region into a breakaway pro-Russian republic, the streets of Kherson are now filled with jubilant residents wrapped in Ukrainian flags, or with painted faces, singing and shouting.

The military presence is still limited, but huge cheers erupt from crowds on the street every time a truck full of soldiers drives past, with Ukrainian soldiers being offered soup, bread, flowers, hugs and kisses by elated passersby.

As CNN’s crew stopped to regroup, we observed an old man and an old woman hugging a young soldier, with hands on the soldier’s shoulder, exchanging excited “thank yous.”

After living under Russian occupation, every person we’ve spoken to has had experiences that have terrified them: earlier today, a teenager told CNN he had been taken and beaten by Russian soldiers who believed he was a spy. Residents are overwhelmed by what this newfound freedom means, and are exhausted.

With the occupiers gone, everyone wants you to understand what they’ve been through, how euphoric they feel right now, and how much they’re grateful to the countries who have helped them.

Everyone we have spoken to is aware that there are tougher days to come: that the Russians across the river could shell them here. It is unclear if all of the Russian troops have left Kherson. There is still uncertainty behind this euphoria.

The threat of a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church by the Ukrainian president has many watching to see if he follows through.

The Year of Ukraine: An Overview from the French-U.S. Press Conference on Crime and Propagation in the Context of Russia’s Cold War

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be in Paris with the Prime Minister of Norway to dine with the French President.

France is going to co- host a conference with Ukraine in support of Ukrainians through the winter with a video address by the president.

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

The new measures are designed to target Russian oil revenue. There is a price cap and a European Union embargo on Russian oil imports.

Zelenskyy said the city of Bakhmut was turned into burned ruins. Fighting has been fierce there as Russia attempts to advance in the city in the eastern Donbas region.

It was a new year. The president traveled to Paris for a summit with Putin to negotiate a peace deal. Despite the doubts of many, Zelensky managed to walk away giving few concessions.

You can read past recaps here. More in-depth stories can be found here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR’s State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.

Dark Ukrainian fairy tales: from marriage to funeral in Warsaw to Warsaw elucidating the ending of a happy ending for a young boy in Poland

December is a month where we can peer into the dark and be reassured that there is a miracle waiting for us.

We used to joke that we were destined for a happy ending in our life. The mother of a two-month-old boy who is staying with her in Poland, says the war is over and grieves for the kid’s father.

The day after Russia launched its full-scale attack, both Ievheniia and Denys, among thousands of Ukrainian men and women, queued to enlist in the army. Denys was the one to sign up straight away, so Ievheniia decided to get his relatives out of western Ukraine first.

In this dark Ukrainian fairy tale, pivotal moments – from marriage ceremony to funeral – take place via video link. This is what love looks like in a time of war, shifted to the digital space and disrupted mid-plot.

In the streets of Warsaw, her temporary home, the festive season is well underway. Christmas is just around the corner. “People don’t want to be reminded of someone’s plight.” They must know that this fight is unfolding right next to them.

Ievheniia arrived at an enlistment office after driving across the country under Russian bombardment. She was interviewed on a Friday and told to return the following Monday to sign a contract with the Armed Forces.

She took a pregnancy test on the weekend to be in case. “With war and evacuation, the ground was slipping under one’s feet,” she said with a laugh. “On top of that, it turned out that I was pregnant.”

The pregnancy test provided that plot twist: the woman who planned to defend her homeland instead joined the flow of refugees looking for safety in Poland.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/opinions/ukraine-christmas-fairy-tales-death-dovzhyk/index.html

On the fate of Ievheniia, the father of a Ukrainian warfighter, and the wedding fairy tale that killed Denys

War separated Ievheniia and Denys and they sought to prove their partnership to the state. The everyday ingenuity of the country at war was at work; now, Ukrainian servicemen are allowed to marry via a video call. Instead of boring civil servants, we got married by a handsome man in a uniform. Ievheniia had nothing to complain about.

Over the following months, Denys kept the magic alive via the Internet, with flower deliveries and professional photoshoots ordered for Ievheniia from the trenches.

When one morning she did not pick up the phone, Denys raised the alarm all over Warsaw and a rescue squad found Ievheniia unconscious in her rented flat. There could be death because of a delay. A Caesarean section followed. The father was able to meet his son because he was two months early.

Under martial law, Ukrainian men of fighting age, let alone servicemen, are not currently allowed to leave the country. Yet as is appropriate for a fairy tale, Denys got permission, crossed the border, and spent five days with his family.

There were ordinary things, like shopping, that took place during a magical time. Then he left. Ievheniia remembers that it was his birthday on November 17 and they sent him greetings. He was killed the next day.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/opinions/ukraine-christmas-fairy-tales-death-dovzhyk/index.html

Ievheniia, Zelensky, Putin, and the End of the Consolatory Fantasy: The Story of a Trapped Ukrainian

Folktales are called “consolatory fables” because they are rare and often end badly. If it does, it means the time to be consoled has not yet come. It is time to act.

Ukrainians have learned that they are strong than they thought. Have those who have underestimated them learned their lessons? Military aid has been enough for Ukraine to survive but not to crush the enemy.

“As a teenager, I was reading a lot of fantasy books and wondering how I would act in a fight against absolute evil. Would I be able to turn away and proceed with my daily life?” I heard Ievheniia tell me. “Today, all of us have a chance to find out.”

Putin’s comments Thursday followed a historic trip by Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington, where the Ukrainian president gave an impassioned speech to Congress appealing for greater US support for the war effort.

At the time, I watched Zelensky pull up to the lysée Palace in a modest car while Putin drove up in a limo. The host, French President, hugged Putin but only shook hands with Zelensky.

Zelensky had his highest ever popularity ratings in the first days of his administration, but it fell sharply in the days leading up to the Russian invasion.

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

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

This, after all, is the leader who when offered evacuation by the US as Russia launched its full-scale invasion, quipped: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Zelensky: From Hollywood to the World, or How the U.S. Turned During the February 11, 1968 Ukrainian Battle

It has been a long time since Zelensky thanked his supporters at a campaign event in a Ukrainian nightclub in the middle of war. Standing on stage among the fluttering confetti, he looked in a state of disbelief at having defeated incumbent veteran politician Petro Poroshenko.

As Russian troops began to amass on Ukraine’s borders in the weeks preceding the February assault, around 55% of Ukrainians said they didn’t trust Zelensky to lead them into war. He didn’t keep some of his campaign promises, including not launching an effective fight against corruption in the judiciary.

He is surrounded by many people from his previous professional life as a TV comedian. In the midst of war, a press conference held on the platform of a metro station had perfect lighting and camera angles to emphasize a wartime setting.

I remember well how comforting his nightly televised addresses were, especially when the air raid sirens and explosions were going off.

“By wearing T-shirts and hoodies, the youthful, egalitarian uniform of Silicon Valley, rather than suits, Zelensky is projecting confidence and competence in a modern way, to a younger, global audience that recognizes it as such,” Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, a fashion historian and author of “Red, White, and Blue on the Runway: The 1968 White House Fashion Show and the Politics of American Style,” told NPR.

Journeying to where her husband can’t, Zelenska has shown herself to be an effective communicator in international fora – projecting empathy, style and smarts. Most recently, she met with King Charles during a visit to a refugee assistance center at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in London. Zelenska was not on the cover of the magazine, but the supporting text gave a reference to her.

There are subtle signs that Zelensky’s international influence may be waning. For example, last week, in what analysts called a pivotal moment in geopolitics, the G7 imposed a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian crude – despite pleas from Zelensky that it should have been set at $30 in order to inflict more pain on the Kremlin.

It adds up to a difficult path for the Zelensky administration, if it can liberate its territory from Russia. The tough guy from Kryvyi Rih shows no sign of giving in, for the time being.

Zelensky was able to achieve the thing Putin most wanted to achieve but failed at, by organizing a patriotic war to distract from his failures at home. Michael Popow, a New York-based business and political analyst, said that Putin was pained by the fact that he would be shown up by a comedian.

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

Nikita Yuferev: Putin didn’t want the Russian army to end the military operation and the Ukrainian conflict in Ukraine… Will he resign?

The conflict inUkraine has been referred to as a war by the Russian president for the first time, deviating from his description of it as a special military operation.

Putin said the goal was not to spin the military conflict, but to end it. We will continue to strive for this.

Nikita Yuferev, who was a municipal lawmaker in St. Pete, fled Russia due to his antiwar stance and on Thursday he told reporters that he asked the Russian authorities to prosecute Putin for spreading fake information about the army.

There was no decree to end the special military operation and no war was declared, said Yuferev. “Several thousand people have already been condemned for such words about the war.”

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

“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.

“We never refused, it was the Ukrainian leadership that refused itself to conduct negotiations … sooner or later any party to the conflict will sit down and negotiate and the sooner those opposing us realize it, the better,” he said.

What have Ukrainians learnt about Vladimir Putin and the Russian military? Is he okay or not? — Maria complained about Putin’s actions during the second world war

Putin and Shoigu declared that the Kremlin would make an 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.

He said it was quite bad to live under Putin and that the established institutions would not have survived if it weren’t for him.

She told CNN that the people against the war saw their lives destroyed. Someone will immediately tell you that no one is interested in you, so we don’t have to complain. It’s Ukrainians who suffered the most. It seems that they are in worse conditions now. That does not mean that we are okay.

Maria asked CNN not to publish her full name because of her personal security concerns. Maria is at risk of being punished for working for a foreign charity as she is considered a foreign agent under Russia’s recently expanded law on foreign agents.

The Exodus of Russians, educated Iranians and the consequences for the Russian government and the democratic reform movement in the 21st century

Draconian laws passed since February have outlawed criticism of the military or leadership. Nearly 20,000 people have been detained for demonstrating against the war — 45% of them women — according to a leading independent monitoring group.

The law made it a crime to spread false information about the invasion of Ukraine, and anyone convicted will face up to 15 years in prison. Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist, has been sentenced to six years in Russian prison for posting fake information about a Russian airstrike in Mariupol, Ukraine, that killed hundreds.

A recent poll by the Levada Center showed that about a quarter of Russians use a proxy service to access blocked sites.

The clampdown has forced many people to reconsider their future in Russia. According to the Russian government’s statistics, more than half a million people left Russia during the first 10 months of this year, more than any other single year in the last 30 years.

The US Border Patrol recorded 36,271 encounters with Russian citizens between October 2021 and September 2022. The number included people who were expelled from the border force is higher than the previous two fiscal years.

OK Russians, a non-profit helping Russian citizens fleeing persecution, said its surveys suggest those who are leaving are on average younger and more educated than the general Russian public.

“If you take the Moscow liberal intelligentsia, and of course, I’m talking only about the people I know and I know of, I would say that maybe 70% left. People from universities, schools, artists, people who have clubs in Moscow and journalists are the ones who got closed down, Soldatov said.

“If you are losing the educated middle-class portion of the population, then it matters for your economic prospects, but it also matters for the potential political reconstitution of the country,” said Kristine Berzina, a Russia expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She said that the exodus of liberal, educated Iranians following the 1979 revolution in the country was an example of what could happen when large numbers of such people leave the country.

Maria said she remains determined to stay in Russia, even though all of her friends and her son have left. Her elderly mother can’t – and doesn’t want to – travel abroad, and Maria is not willing to leave her. It would be easier for me to leave if my mother needed me, because I know the borders will not be closed. She told CNN she was scared by knowing something else could happen.

She said she is struggling to see any hope for the future despite her belief that her work is important. She described her own life as a constant cycle of fear, shame, and self-doubt.

Are you to blame? Did you not do enough? Can you do something else or not, and how should you act now?” she said. “There are no prospects. I didn’t have all my life figured out, but I knew what would happen next. Nobody understands anything right now. People don’t even understand what will happen to them tomorrow.”

Soldatov said he had begun to question his own identity. “The things we held dear, like the memory of the Second World War, for instance, became completely compromised,” he said, referring to Putin’s baseless claim that Russian forces are “denazifying” Ukraine.

There is a part of the Russian national identity where the Russians helped to win the war against Hitler and now it feels wrong because the message was used by Putin. He said that he wanted to research pre-war speech in Germany, as the favorable reaction by some parts of the Russian society to the invasion led him to question the history.

There is a confession in this book. I am guilty for not reading the signs much earlier. I am responsible for the war that Russia waged against Ukrainians. My competitors and our predecessors are the same. Regrettably, Russian culture is also to blame for making all these horrors possible.”

Maria, a historian by training, has spent years taking part in anti-government protests, describing herself as a liberal deeply opposed to Putin, a former KGB agent. “I always knew that our country should not be led by a person from the KGB. She said that it is too deeply embedded with horrors and deaths.

The expectation that there would be an immediate wave of protests on the streets in the West is not reality in Russia, according to Berzina.

“Almost all opposition leaders and opinion leaders are now either in prison or abroad. The people have the potential for political action, but they don’t have a leader or power base.

“It is probably difficult for people from democratic countries to understand the realities of life in a powerful autocracy,” she said. In front of a giant machine of death and madness, it feels like you are insignificance and helpless.

War against Ukraine has Left Russia Isolated and Struggling with More Tumult ahedriah. A review of new Russian “fake news” laws

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.

Russian life has been upended because of the war, which wrecked a period in which the country pursued democratic reforms and dialogue with the West.

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.”

We don’t know when the targets will be, but they still 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 are subject to restrictions. In March, the American social media giants were banned. Since the beginning of the conflict, Russian internet regulators have blocked more than 100,000 websites.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/1145981036/war-against-ukraine-has-left-russia-isolated-and-struggling-with-more-tumult-ahe

The Russian War in Ukraine, and Russia’s Challenge to the West: A Cold War in Central Asia, a Crucial Test for the Cosmology of the Cold War

Thousands of perceived government opponents left in the early days of the war due to fears 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.

Some countries that have absorbed Russian leave believe their economies will grow even as Russians remain a concern for some former Soviet republics.

Helped by Russian price controls, the ruble regained value. New names and Russian control eventually resulted in Mcdonald’s and other brands reopening. The government reported that the economy declined 2.5% by the end of the year.

Helping matters for the Russian government is the resilience of parts of the Russian economy, despite sanctions from the West. The war has cost the government a higher-than expected deficit, but the International Monetary Fund is projecting a small return to GDP growth for Russia.

The government’s tone has not changed when it comes to Russia’s military campaign. Russia’s Defense Ministry gives daily briefings on the success on the ground. Everything is going according to plan, as far as Putin is concerned.

Yet the sheer length of the war — with no immediate Russian victory in sight — suggests Russia vastly underestimated Ukrainians’ willingness to resist.

The Russian troops could not conquer either the capital of Ukraine or the second city of Kharkiv. The city of Kherson was abandoned during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in November. Russian forces have been shelling the city.

Russia’s illegal annexation of four territories of Ukraine following unrecognized referendums in September has only underscored Moscow’s problems: it hasn’t been able to establish full control over 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. Estimates from the West put those figures at much higher than the actual numbers.

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 haven’t fully supported Russia’s military campaign.

The Russian Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Address and the World War Wired: Living in the Shadow of Unprecedented Warfare

A state of the nation address, originally scheduled for April, was repeatedly delayed and won’t happen until next year. Putin’s annual media event in which he fields questions from ordinary Russians was not going to happen anymore.

An annual December press conference that is a semi-staged affair that gives Russia’s leader the ability to handle questions from the pro-Kremlin media was also tabled until the year 2023.

The Kremlin has given no reason for the delays. Many suspect it might be that, after 10 months of war and no sign of victory in sight, the Russian leader has finally run out of good news to share.

Editor’s Note: Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College. His most recent book is “Borges and Me”, a memoir of his travels in the Highlands of Scotland with the Argentine writer,Jorge Luis Borges. The author’s views are expressed in this commentary. View more opinion at CNN.

In The New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman writes about a conflict that’s unprecedented in modern times. Citing TikTok and other social media platforms, along with satellites and live traffic data on Google Maps, Friedman writes, “Welcome to World War Wired – the first war in a totally interconnected world.”

It’s a large-scale invasion that’s being “livestreamed, minute by minute, battle by battle, death by death, to the world,” as Daniel Johnson, an Iraq War veteran and journalist wrote in Slate. Those of us who are close to the missile strikes, gunfire and shelling are watching the events unfold in real time on smart phones and other screens.

Zelensky’s Legacy: The Russian Wargonzo, Putin’s Military Operations and the “Salt and Shoot” of the Ukrainians

But Zelensky’s success was limited and his popularity went into decline after a couple of years. His approval ratings went down as soon as October 2021, according to polls.

His gifts for communication and his remarkable grasp of social media make him a formidable opponent for Putin, even though the army he commands, in sheer numbers and resources, pales beside Russia’s.

Now Biden has made it possible for the Ukrainian people to stand strong against a Russian President so obsessed with conquering his neighboring country that he has destroyed Russia’s standing in the world, rolled back three decades of progress and seems prepared to send untold numbers of Russians to die to prevent a democracy from flourishing next door to his autocracy.

Moscow and some pro-Kremlin leaders started a blame game after the Russian government said that cell phone use was to blame for a Ukrainian attack that killed 89 troops on New Year’s Day.

But that account was angrily dismissed by an influential military blogger and implicitly contradicted by the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine, pointing to discord in the Russian command over Moscow’s response to the attack.

Semyon Pegov, who is also known as WarGonzo and was personally awarded the Order of Courage by President Putin, attacked the Ministry of Defense for their statement as “not convincing” and said that they were trying to “smolder blame”.

He wondered how the Ministry of Defence could be so certain of the location of the soldiers sleeping in the school building.

And he again raised suspicions about the official death toll, which was revised upward by Moscow to 89 from 63, writing that “their number will still be growing.”

In another post on Wednesday, Pegov warned that apathy on the battlefield will lead to more “tragedies.” Referring to the conflict both by its Kremlin euphemism – “special military operation” – and also by the word “war,” he said: “If you ask me personally what is the most dangerous thing in war, I will answer unequivocally: not to bother.”

Denis Pushilin praised the heroism of the soldiers killed in the strike, shortly after the government pinned the blame on them.

Pushilin said on Telegram Wednesday what it was like to suffer losses. “Based on the information I have, I can say with certainty that there were many displays of courage and real heroism by the guys in this regiment.”

Kiev’s nuclear strike on Sunday night: criticism of the Kremlin regime and the use of geolocation devices by the U.S. military

Russia’s defense ministry statement was mocked byUkraine’s military. “Of course, using phones with geolocation is a mistake. But it is clear that this version looks a bit ridiculous,” the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhii Cherevatyi, said Wednesday.

“It is clear that this [use of phones] was not the main reason. They were unable to covertly deploy these personnel. They took advantage of that, as they detected the target and destroyed it.

Sunday’s strike had already sparked vocal criticism of Moscow’s military from pro-Russian bloggers, who claimed that the troops lacked protection and were reportedly being quartered next to a large cache of ammunition, which is said to have exploded when United States-made HIMARS rockets hit the school.

Video reportedly from the scene of the attack circulated widely on Telegram, including on an official Ukrainian military channel. It showed a pile of rubble, almost all of which is gone.

Meanwhile, Margarita Simonyan, the influential editor-in-chief of state-run network RT, on Wednesday welcomed the Russian Ministry of Defence’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding the strike, writing on Telegram that she hoped “the responsible officials will be held accountable.”

“This is the first time, it seems, that this has been done publicly during the entire special military operation. She hopes that the extent of punishment will also be announced.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/04/europe/makiivka-strike-russia-cell-phone-reaction-intl/index.html

Putin concluded war on UKRAINE: One year after the first defeat of the Ukranian southwestern missile system, says the governor of Samara

The governor of Russia’s southwestern Samara region held talks in Moscow on Tuesday with the leadership of the country’s defense ministry, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

I was going to be in Kyiv on February 24. But a few days before that, my husband broke his shoulder and we had to stay in Moscow. He had surgery that morning.

The phone was buzzing with all the messages and missed calls. There was a headline on the website that said: “putin concludes war on UKRAINE.”

In a 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.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/18/opinions/one-year-anniversary-putin-war-ukraine-russia-wrap-opinions-ctpr/index.html

The Great War in Ukraine: The Birth of a Nation. The First Day in Odesa, Ukraine, 2022. A Memorino of my Life and Death

February 23, 2022, Zaporizhzhia. I thought I would have a birthday party the next day. Our life was getting better as time went on. My husband runs his own business. Our daughter had started school and made friends there. Our son has special needs and we found a special needs nursery for him. I finally had time to work. I was happy.

We are trying to live in the here and now. But the truth is, we are heartbroken. Our hearts have remained in Ukraine while we lived in Czech Republic.

My husband was able to get a job thanks to the opportunities provided by the Czech Republic. I found special needs classes for my son. He has an assistant and is in an adaptation group for Ukrainian children. My daughter is studying in her country of residence while she is in the Czech school.

The Center for Civil Liberties is headed by a human rights lawyer, Oleksandra Matviichuk. The Center was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She was one of the people who helped create the “Tribunal for Putin” initiative to document international crime in Ukraine. Her views are her own in this commentary. CNN has more opinion articles.

That morning we woke up to learn that the invasion started. I wrote an open letter denouncing the war, which was co-signed by 12 Russian writers, directors and cultural figures. Soon it was published, and tens of thousands of Russian citizens added their signatures.

We left Russia on the third day. I felt that it was some kind of moral obligation. I could no longer stay on the territory of the state that has become a fascist one.

We moved to the city. The refugee camp was next to the main railway station where thousands of Ukrainians arriving every day. I started to write a book. It begins like this.

My adopted city, Odesa, was among several Ukrainian cities that Russia has just fired dozens of Kalibr missiles towards. We run for shelter into hallways as air raid sirens blare. My landlady brings me a pot of borscht to help create a sense of normalcy.

And besides the obvious battles, there was another one to fight – trying to claim my life back. The life Russia stole, from me and millions of other Ukrainians.

The re-telling of chilling dinner time stories of relatives shipped off to the Soviet Gulag was frightening for my father as he kept seeing the darkness in his eyes. There were millions of Ukrainians who died in the famine of 1932-33.

What’s changed since Russian missiles first began falling on February 24, 2022? The fear felt by Ukrainians has been replaced with anger as they stand up to barrages of rockets and drones.

A year into the full-scale invasion, my passport is a novel in stamps. My life is split between two places, one in London where I teach literature, and the other in Ukranian where I study courage.

I expected my former classmates from Zaporizhzhia to die of addiction because of our teenage habits, but they volunteered to fight it. I thought my hairdresser, who I was expecting to be a sweet summer child, would run away with her mother, grandmother and five dogs.

Since February 22, we have experienced several eras. Putin received 80% approval from the population after a long time of stagnant ratings.

By aborting the past, he canceled the future. 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 the catastrophe that 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.

On the evening of February 23 I washed my dog, cleaned the house, took a bath and lit candles. I have a cozy, one-bedroom apartment in a northern district of Kyiv. I enjoyed taking care of it. I loved the life I had. There are small routines as well as the struggles. It was the last night that mattered to me.

I remember talking to colleagues, trying to assemble and coordinate a small army of volunteers to strengthen the newsroom. My parents are called to organize buying supplies.

The life I knew started falling apart soon after, starting with the small things. I no longer cared what cup of morning tea I used to drink, 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 couldn’t relate to my being upset about my boyfriend. My life didn’t change on February 24, it was stolen from me on that day.

I was no longer concerned with my personal ambitions. To raise the flag and show that we are in this situation is the main goal.

I couldn’t enjoy my victories on the track. They were only possible because so many people had died defending them. But I received messages from soldiers. They were very happy to follow our progress and that gave me motivation to continue my career.

Life values have changed. Like never before, I enjoy every opportunity to see or talk to relatives and friends. And like other Ukrainians, I believe in our victory and that all of us will return to our beloved country. But we need the world’s help.

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is fond of a phrase, “the wonderful Russia of the future,” his shorthand for a country without President Vladimir Putin.

Since last February’s invasion, Putin has shrugged off protests and international sanctions. Independent media and human rights groups have been branded as foreign agents or shut down entirely.

Putin visited Volgograd to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, a crucial turning point in the history of the Soviet Union.

“Those who draw the European countries, including Germany, into a new war with Russia – and all the more irresponsibly declare this as a fait accompli – those who expect to win a victory over Russia on the battlefield, apparently do not understand that a modern war with Russia will be completely different for them,” he warned.

The new strategy that Russia has just set its sights on is ruined by the return of rapid warfare with tanks. This is risky if new people are needed to hold the front.

Exactly why this is risky should be clear: The first mobilization caused major tremors in Russian society. Hundreds of thousands of Russians voted with their feet. There were riots in ethnic minority regions, for example Dagestan, where police confronted anti-mobilization demonstrators. Russian social media saw a surge of videos and public complaints about the lack of equipment and appalling conditions for newly mobilized recruits.

The methods that were being used are reminiscent of a dark chapter of the Soviet Union’s history. Prigozhin has recruited thousands of prisoners with the promise of amnesty or a pardon, a practice that mirrors Stalin’s use of penal battalions and convicts to take on desperate or suicidal missions in the toughest sectors of the front, using human-wave attacks to overwhelm enemy defenses, regardless of the human cost.

Part of the fascination with Prigozhin has to do with the fact that Putin, until a year ago, enjoyed a secure monopoly on power. Political opposition had been effectively removed because the authorities were well practiced in quashing street protests. That’s fueled speculation – or perhaps wishful thinking – that the collapse of Putinism might be brought on by some fissure within the elite. The so-called siloviki (the hardcore authoritarians in Putin’s inner circle) remain publicly loyal, but further setbacks in Ukraine may create a potential scramble for power.

Some Russians have avoided politics in favor of political apathy. CNN recently spoke to several Muscovites about how their lives have changed since last year, on condition that their surnames not be used over the risks of publicly criticizing the government.

Ira, a 47-year-old who works for a business publication, has seen a lot of changes in Russia but he can’t make a difference. “I just try to keep some internal balance. Maybe I’m too apolitical, but I don’t feel it (further mobilization) is going to happen.”

In the month of February and March of last year, Ira said she felt anxious. She was concerned that work would dry up and she wouldn’t be able to pay her mortgage because she had just bought an apartment.

She said that it got worse in the spring. “Now it seems we’ve gotten used to a new reality. I met and went out with my girlfriends. I started buying more wine.

The restaurants are now full, she said, but added: “The faces look completely different. You know what those people are. There are fewer of them.

Olya: Getting a break from Russia and living in the UK, or why we don’t need to go out for a vacation

Olya said her family was opting for more domestic holidays. Europe is largely closed to direct flights from Russia, and opportunities to travel abroad are more limited.

The conflict has taken a personal toll on her. My life deteriorated a lot in this year. Thankfully, no one close to me has been mobilized. I lost my job. And I see radical changes around me everywhere,” she said.

He said that those who adapted quickly are seeing growth. Most of our activity picks up in February after we conclude an odd number of deals in January.

“In terms of everyday life, practically nothing has changed,” he said, talking about the cutoff of Western imports. “If we’re talking parts for a (Mercedes Benz) G-Class, it might be trickier.”

How Chechnya fell and Tatarstan became the most recognized of independents in the Soviet Union – a memoir of Frida Ghitis

He looked for other sources of information, so he was skeptical of state media. He acknowledged that he could potentially be called up in the future.

I should explain. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Chechnya was one of the two autonomous republics of the newly independent Russian Federation that claimed independence. The other one was Tatarstan. World leaders were fed up with the discovery that all the Union republics they had regarded as administrative units of Russia, like Georgia and Kazakhstan, were actually real things. Independent Ichkeria was not the most recognized of independents because of the West’s shock at this new geography.

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

Joe Biden, the Ukranian Invasion of Ukraine and the First anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, spoke to CNN on the condition of a peaceful agreement

The world prepares to remember the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukranian with a visit to the capital by President Joe Biden.

The risky trip on Monday to an active war zone was not just a powerful symbol of American support, it was a shot in the arm to a population that has endured Russia’s devastating attacks on civilian apartment blocks, hospitals, schools and the power stations that provide heat and electricity.

The 48 year old service member, who asked that his name not be used, told CNN that he was completely astounded by the President of the United States coming to Kyiv.

In the early days of the invasion, it came to the attention of the Ukrainians that the Russian troops had brought their dress uniforms hoping for a victory parade.

Biden is 80 and walks with a stiff gait. He has the courage to sound the air raid sirens while Biden was there.

Biden revealed the plan before the war ended, showing that Putin was scheming to make it look like the war was due to a Ukrainian provocation. The NATO alliance had been so disliked by former President Donald Trump that he rallied it.

Zelensky made a famous phone call to the president after he was impeached to try to get him to help deter Russia. Even though he was afraid of Biden, Trump was still trying to push for an investigation into him, even though he admitted that he was weak.

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. McCaul, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN that bipartisan support forUkraine is still very strong.

Some GOP members criticized Biden for his trip to Ukranian. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called the trip “incredibly insulting,” a sign of an “America Last” policy. Scott Perry described as ‘breathtaking’ that Biden would helpUkraine defend its borders and not do the same for America.

The War Between Russia and the West: Mysteries of the Cold War with the New York Times’ Evanna OK Boomer, Let’s Talk’

The author of the book “OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind” is a journalist based in New York. If you follow her, you’ll learn about her life on the social network. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely her own. View more opinion on CNN.

The Russian dictator marked the anniversary of his unprovoked aggression – which has killed or wounded close to 200,000 of Russia’s own soldiers and turned some 16 million Ukrainians into refugees – by suspending Russia’s participation in a key nuclear arms deal that kept the threat of nuclear war at bay and giving a 100-minute speech to the country on Tuesday blaming Ukraine and its supporters for the war Putin started.

This new threat of nuclear annihilation is frightening, for Americans who came of age after the end of the Cold War, and no doubt also terrifying for those who were part of the original Cold War.

Biden framed the battle as one between freedom and totalitarianism, but he did not mention Putin’s claims that this is a war between Western liberalism and Russian traditionalism.

This is a battle between freedom and oppression, and Biden is correct about it. In its own way, Putin’s emphasis on cultural and gender warfare is correct.

He is of course lying and fear-mongering when he fulminates about same-sex marriage or the prospect of a gender-neutral God and when he says that the West seeks “the destruction of the family, cultural and national identity, perversion and the abuse of children are declared the norm.” It is true, though, that there is a clear historical and contemporary relationship between conservative religiosity and autocracy on the one hand, and liberal tolerance and democracy on the other.

The previous era of Russian autocracy was irreligious and didn’t require any Conservative religiosity. And the autocrats in Beijing, who are expanding their own nuclear arsenals and toying with lending material support to Russia, are not exactly bringing conservative Christian principles to China.

They are embracing traditionalism and other retrograde principles of national identity. There is a common refrain among analysists of global authoritarians. Great Again. Xi Jinping is trying to make China great again, writes the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos. “Putin set out to ‘Make Russia Great Again,’” Gen. David Petraeus told CNN earlier this month. And, of course, we all know the American version.

There is a lot of right-wing Americans who believe that Putin would be willing to bring in a strong man to bring back the traditional order in the world.

The biggest divide is between those who want liberal democracies that allow people to live freely regardless of their religious beliefs, sexual orientations and aspirations and those who want authoritarian rulers who use the law to impose conservative values.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/21/opinions/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-war-one-year-filipovic/index.html

The Crimes of Crime against the People of Ukraine: What Have We Learned About Putin During the 2016 Ukrainian Revolution? A Human Rights Lawyer’s Perspective

Former US President Donald Trump notoriously praised Putin and trashed NATO, elevating the dictator’s status among pro-Trump conservatives. As of a year ago, Republicans in the US had a more favorable view of Putin than of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party.

On the campaign trail in November she pledged that “Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine.” The white nationalist who dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago said he wished that Putin was America’s president. Andrew Torba, the CEO of the right-wing platform Gab, put the issue in even starker terms last year: “What (Putin) really means is Ukraine needs to be liberated and cleansed from the degeneracy of the secular western globalist empire.”

Meanwhile, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed that “NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and extensive training on how to use them.”

Putin has positioned his Russia as the leading light for Christian nationalists worldwide, standing against Western secularism and decadence. Many Christian nationalists in the US have gotten in line.

This is not just a divide between Russia and the US. It’s a divide within Russia itself, as the nation’s feminists, LGBTQ rights advocates, and democracy activists continue to push (often at great personal risk) for a freer and fairer country. It’s a divide between Americans who want liberal democracy to thrive and those who want its ideology to rule us all.

Since my organization, the Center for Civil Liberties, was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize last year, I’ve met a lot of people around the world. They often want to know what motivates me to keep going. How do I manage to get up every day, eat breakfast, have coffee and then turn to my daily work as a human rights lawyer: documenting the now thousands of hideous atrocities that have been committed — and are being still committed — by the Russian Federation’s armed forces against the people of Ukraine.

During this revolution, Ukraine has made many steps to establish a democratic way of life. The government was giving more power to local communities. The anti-corruption legislation made it hard to hide misuses of power. Judicial reform was opened by the changes to our Constitution. There are a lot of things we have to do, but we are on track.

Over this past year, the emotions I have experienced have evolved. Yes, I still feel anger over the death and destruction inflicted on Ukraine. But I have also felt a rising tide of love.

It’s no secret that the international order to protect us is not up to snuff, and the laws of war protect civilians but we can still rely on people.

This was the spirit I saw before in Maidan Square during the 2014 protests. Those protests kept on, despite the police beatings, and then the killings, because we believed in something better. And it came.

And so this love extends further, perhaps, to the vision of a country that can rise from all this — of a future Ukraine where human rights are respected. Where perhaps we no longer need a Center for Civil Liberties to fight for them. Perhaps even to a vision of the world where this spirit of shared humanity prevails.

I’ll never forget the stories I heard on the Ukrainian-Polish border one year ago: Newlyweds who separated hours after saying their vows so the groom could return to the front. A tax preparer in Boston who quit her job to return to Ukraine with suitcases full of medical supplies. A border guard’s wife dropped off fleeing women and children on the Polish border everyday for three hours, and then picked up weapons and supplies.

How sad that people who survived Covid are now dead, even though they survived the waves. 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. It’s lunacy that farmers in breadbasket of the world have gone hungry. It’s madness that Vladimir Putin declared Ukrainians to be part of his own people — right before he sent his army into the country, where Russian soldiers have been accused of raping and murdering civilians.

Governments gussy up war. The soldiers have hope and the will to fight on when they talk about victory. War is death in a muddy hole. The fight is about a frozen field with no strategic value. It’s a generational grudge that begets new generational grudges. It cost an estimated $11 billion to build a 740-mile line across the Baltic Sea. It’s some of the largest steel plants in Europe unable to produce or ship a single metal sheet. It’s a charming seaside city emptied out by bombings and siege.

The former Russian President and deputy chair of the Security Council in Russia said on Friday that Russia would push the borders of threats to its country even if they were in Poland.

Ukrainian President Zelensky says the future of the country depends on the anniversary of the Crimes in Crimea, and the United States, Germany, and Russia

Zelensky used the anniversary of the war to call for international assistance for his country. He visited wounded service members before holding a press conference.

Earlier on Friday morning, the Ukrainian leader addressed members of the military in Kyiv. He told them it was they who would determine the future of the country.

On Friday, landmarks of the world lit up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and there were announcements about new weapons and funding.

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.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the UN Security Council to not allow Putin’s crimes to become normal.

Germany said it would send a further four Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, increasing its original commitment from 14 tanks to 18. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also pledged to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Japan’s Prime Minister said that he will propose new sanctions against Russia to the G7 during a virtual meeting.

Many of the residents of Kyiv felt anxious on Friday as they worried about Russian attacks on the anniversary.

While air-raid sirens are a daily fixture in Kyiv, there hasn’t been a major attack on the city in a few weeks, which means that whenever the alarms are activated, people are left gauging the level of risk.

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.

Pahitsky felt her duty was to pay respects to the fallen heroes as the student president of her school, despite the cold weather.

The main street has photographs on it. It is a great honor. They died as heroes. 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

Ukraine’s invasion of 1990 and Russia’s assault on a pro-Russian territory: Atamas, Sandu, and Kyiv

It was hard to describe Olexander Atamas’ feelings on Friday, when he was an IT worker before the war.

He said that he doesn’t feel fear but that he is confident in his abilities. I felt stressed and scared one year ago. There is no fear right now.

It has been a flashpoint on the periphery of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the past year, with Russian missiles crossing into Moldovan airspace on several occasions, including earlier this month.

In a similar vein, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of the dangers of Russian saboteurs being masqueraded as civilians to stoke unrest during a time of political instability.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has meanwhile baselessly accused Kyiv of planning its own assault on a pro-Russian territory in Moldova where Moscow has a military foothold, heightening fears that he is creating a pretext for a Crimea-style annexation.

Although there is no clear sign that he has agreed to her invitation, the White House said that he still supports Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Sandu said the government had planned for a series of actions involving saboteurs who have undergone military training and are disguised as civilians in order to carry out violent actions.

“It was the case before – we have seen constant activities of Russia trying to explore and exploit the information space in Moldova using propaganda,” Groza said.

He saidMoldova was the most affected by the war. “We are still a small country, which has still an under-developed economy, and that creates a lot of pressure.”

The Russian military base was located in the 1,300 square mile area on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. In 1990 it became a Soviet republic, opposing any attempt to have Moldova become an independent state after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The war with Moldovan forces ended in stalemate in 1992. Transnistria was not recognized internationally, even by Russia, but Moldovan forces left it a de facto breakaway state. That deadlock has left the territory and its estimated 500,000 inhabitants trapped in limbo, with Chisinau holding virtually no control over it to this day.

If Russia launches a Spring offensive on the south of Ukranian, it may seek to link up with Transnistria in order to create a land bridge that will take them close to NATO territory.

Russian propaganda, Russia’s war progress, and the reality of the Soviet Union: a critical look at a pro-Russian lawmaker

Most independent journalists left the country after a new law targeted any media that was still operating outside the control of the Kremlin. The Iron Curtain was turned on its head, blocking Russians from visiting Western news and social sites.

Natalya is not a fan of Russian propaganda because of the personal grind of war. Those hoping to push public opinion against Putin will find an opening.

“What made me change my opinion?,” she contemplated aloud. My son is young and I fear for him. And secondly, I have very many friends there, in Ukraine, and I talk to them. I am against it because of that.

Even though independent pollsters are attacked by the government, a lot of 146 million people are unwilling to publicly condemn President Putin. But according to the Levada Center, a non-governmental polling organization, support dipped by only 6% among Russians from March to November last year, to 74%.

Most Russians see on state media a “perverted picture of Russia battling the possible invasion of their own territory – they don’t see their compatriots dying,” said Kiryl Sukhotski, who oversees Russian-language content at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the US Congress-funded media outlet that broadcasts in countries where information is controlled by state authorities.

And, in a farfetched statement that encapsulates the alternate reality in state TV channels exist, another pro-Russian former lawmaker claimed of Moscow’s war progress: “Everything is going to plan and everything is under control.”

The programming appeals to a small group of older, more conservative Russians who love the days of the Soviet Union, and even though it spans generations, it has claimed some converts.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/europe/russia-propaganda-information-ukraine-anniversary-cmd-intl/index.html

The Russian War is Still Against the Invasion, as Revealed by the State Media in Moscow, according to Yuliya

Even though Ekaterina’s initial opposition to the invasion has disappeared, she insists that it’s still against the invasion. She said that she knew that the special military operation was inevitable. “It would have come to this no matter what. If we did not act first, war would be unleashed against us, which mirrors the false claims of victimhood in the West that state media constantly communicate.

“I trust the news there completely. Yuliya, a 40-year-old HR director at a marketing firm, told CNN that they all belong to the state. “I think (the war) is succeeding. Maybe it’s taking longer than one would like. But I think it is successful,” said Yuliya, who said her main source of news is the state-owned Channel One.

According to the Levada Center,Russians rely more on television for their news than most Western countries.

I listen to everything on state channels in half. I don’t trust anyone (entirely),” 55-year-old accountant Tatyana said. “One needs to analyze everything … because certain things they are omitting, (or) not saying,” said Leonid, a 58-year-old engineer.

Several people who were spoke with in Moscow told CNN that they had engagement with the state-controlled TV but were skeptical about it. And many reach different views on Ukraine.

The center ground also includes many Russians who have developed concerns about the war. But if the Kremlin cannot expect all-out support across its populace, sociologists say it can at least rely on apathy.

This group of people tends to pay less attention to the war, according to Natalia Savelyeva, a Future Russia Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) who has interviewed hundreds of Russians since the invasion to trace the levels of public support for the conflict. “We call them ‘doubters,’” she said.

Some people don’t believe that Russian soldiers kill Ukrainians and they repeat this narrative on TV, she said.

She is not alone. “The major attitude is not to watch (the news) closely, not to discuss it with colleagues or friends. What can you do about it? “Whatever you say, whatever you want, the government will do what they want.”

The majority of the population disengages. Those people attempt to distance themselves from what is going on. “They try to live their lives as though nothing is happening.”

A culture of silence, enforced by heavy-handed authorities, keeps many from speaking out about the conflict. A married couple in the southwestern Russian city of Krasnodar were reportedly arrested in January for professing anti-war sentiments during a private conversation in a restaurant, according to the independent Russian monitoring group OVD-Info.

“I have felt anxious ever since this began. According to a woman who asked to remain anonymous, it is affecting the availability of products and prices. There is no public information. People should be explained things. Everyone is listening to Soloviev,” she said, referring to prominent propagandist Vladimir Soloviev.

A film student, who said she hadn’t heard from a friend for two months following his mobilization, added: “I don’t know what’s happened to him. It would be great if he just said that he is alive.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/europe/russia-propaganda-information-ukraine-anniversary-cmd-intl/index.html

Russian State Propaganda Information Network (RFE/RL): Reaching the Russian Population after the Invasion with YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp

The outlet is one of the most influential platforms bringing uncensored scenes from the Ukrainian frontlines into Russian-speaking homes, primarily through digital platforms still allowed by the Kremlin including YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp.

RFE/RL tells CNN that Current Time saw a two-and-a-half-fold increase in Facebook views in the 10 months following the invasion, and more than a three-fold rise in YouTube views. RFE/RL believed that anti-war citizens were behind the outbreak ofQR codes in Russian cities, which led to the removal of street signs and lampposts.

Independent outlets have a challenge reaching beyond internet natives, who tend to be younger and living in cities, and penetrating the media diet of Russians that are typically more conservative and supportive of the war.

“We need to get to the wider audience in Russia,” Sukhotski said. “We see a lot of people indoctrinated by Russian state propaganda … it will be an uphill battle but this is where we shape our strategy.”

It has not been easy to reach Russians. RFE/RL relocated most of its staff from Russia after the invasion, after the Kremlin cracked down on independent outlets.

His staff are “still coming to terms with that,” Sukhotski admitted. “They are Russian patriots and they wish Russia well … they see how they can help.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/europe/russia-propaganda-information-ukraine-anniversary-cmd-intl/index.html

YouTube is the biggest propaganda website around: Russia’s censored propaganda in the post-invasion Era of World War II

Searches for such services on Google spiked to record levels in Russia following the invasion, and have remained at their highest rates in over a decade ever since, the search engine’s tracking data shows.

It is one of the few major websites still accessible thanks to its huge popularity in Russia and the value that it has in spreading propaganda.

And that allows censored organizations a way in. “I watch YouTube. I watch everything there – I mean everything,” one Moscow resident who passionately opposes the war told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “These federal channels I never watch,” she said. I don’t believe what they say. They lie all the time. If you switch on your logic, look at some information and see that it’s a lie.

Telegram became a public square for militarybloggers to analyze each day on the battlefield as a result of the war.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/europe/russia-propaganda-information-ukraine-anniversary-cmd-intl/index.html

“Russia is losing control of the narrative”: A critique of the Kremlin for misusing the internet and repressing Russian diplomacy

“This public fighting is spilling over,” Lautman told CNN. “Russia has lost control of the narrative … it has normally relied on having a smooth propaganda machine and that no longer exists.”

In recent months, many of the best-known and well-known speachers on the internet have deviated angrily from the Kremlin line, lambasting its military tactics and losing faith in the armed forces.

The impact of those fractures remains unclear. For now, Putin can rely on a citizenry that is generally either supportive of the conflict or too fatigued to proclaim its opposition.