Putin pledges people in Ukrainian regions will become Russian citizens forever.

Vladimir Putin’s Russian Mission to Ukraine During the September 24th Ukrainian Relatively Unrealizable Referendum: “It’s My Birthday, I’m so glad to be here”

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved to formally annex four Ukrainian territories, signing what he calls “accession treaties” that world powers refuse to recognize. It’s Putin’s latest attempt to redraw the map of Europe at Ukraine’s expense.

Russia wants to annex the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson where fighting is still raging. In early September, after the Russian army was routed and the Ukrainians appeared to be gaining power, Moscow put the plan in motion.

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.

I want to hear from my masters in the West. For everyone to remember. People living in Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia are becoming citizens. The president of Russia spoke at the annexation ceremony.

The Russian president believes the annexation was a way to fix something that happened after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The logical option for Putin would be to declare victory and then leave the country. He must have a significant achievement on the ground. It is not possible for Russia to simply get to where it was on the 24 February of this year. Our mission is accomplished. So we go home… …There should be something that can be presented to the public as a victory.”

Russia will now, despite the widespread international condemnation, forge ahead with its plans to fly its flag over some 100,000 square kilometers (38,600 square miles) of Ukrainian territory – the largest forcible annexation of land in Europe since 1945.

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.

Many of Mr. Putin’s cabinet ministers and the leaders of the occupied Ukrainian regions sat in the audience.

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

He reeled off a litany of Western military actions stretching over centuries — from the British Opium War in China in the 19th century to Allied firebombings of Germany and the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

He said the US was the only country to use nuclear weapons in war. “By the way, they created a precedent,” Mr. Putin added in an aside.

The Kremlin at the end of the 20th century: winning the Nobel Prize in Kiev’s first war and bringing back the Soviet Union

In a reminder of ongoing fighting, a missile hit a bus stop and checkpoint in Zaporizhzhia, killing 23 and injuring scores. Ukraine blamed the attack on Russia. Moscow’s proxies in the area said Ukrainian forces had launched several strikes in the area.

A celebration takes place on Red Square. Official ratification of the decrees will happen next week, said Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman.

The moves follow staged referendums held in occupied territory during a war in defiance of international law. People who did vote were sometimes held at gun, as much of the provinces have fled fighting since the war began.

The two eastern regions that are known as the Donbas are an area that Mr. Putin considers his main prize, and it could be possible for the Kremlin to declare a victory at a time when they are under attack.

The political and military leadership in Washington pondered the possibility that Putin could be heralding a new twist in the war that had been going on for a long time. Their reaction was laced with revulsion that Putin was again unleashing callous warfare against civilians that recalled Europe’s 20th century horrors.

The growing isolation of Putin has led to him making speeches offering his distorted view of history.

“The people made their decision,” said Putin at the signing ceremony. “And that choice won’t be betrayed” by Russia, he said.

The Russian leader said that the status of the annexed territories wasn’t an issue for discussion, despite calls for a cease of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.

Outside the Kremlin, preparations were under way for an evening concert and rally with banners saying Russia and the newly integrated territories are “together forever.”

The week saw the Kremlin organize referendums in Russian occupied territories that seemed to deliver a large majority of support for joining Russia.

“The United States will never, never, never recognize Russia’s claims on Ukraine sovereign territory,” Biden said. The result of the so-called referenda were made in Moscow.

Putin, however, framed the decision as a historical justice following the breakup of the Soviet Union that had left Russian speakers separated from their homeland — and the West dictating world affairs according to its own rules.

Western officials claim the timing is evidence of Russian desperation to solidify gains before their lines collapse further. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Moscow of seeking to mobilize Ukrainians in annexed areas for the military campaign as well.

The territories will be formally ratified into the Russian Federation by the Russian parliament and constitutional court, which are widely accepted 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.

The newly incorporated territories would be entitled to protections under Russia’s nuclear umbrella, which is openly warned by Russian officials.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it was forced to cede Lyman or risk encirclement of its troops there, allowing Ukrainian forces to potentially use the city as a staging post to push troops further east.

In order to protect Krasny Liman from encirclement, allied troops were withdrawn from the village, according to the ministry.

Russian state media Russia-24 reported that the reason for Russia’s withdrawal was because “the enemy used both Western-made artillery and intelligence from North Atlantic alliance countries.”

The Ukrainian Army in Lyman Village: What do Ukrainian Soldiers Tell Us About the Liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas and What Do They Mean to Do?

Ukrainian forces said earlier Saturday that they had entered Stavky, a village neighboring Lyman, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, the military spokesperson for the eastern grouping of Ukrainian forces.

The liberation of Lyman is an important step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas. The opportunity to get further to the two cities is here. Therefore, in turn, it is psychologically very important,” he said.

The head of Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Hayday also revealed Saturday further details of the Lyman offensive, suggesting Russian forces had offered to retreat, but to no avail from the Ukrainian side.

occupiers asked for a chance to retreat, but have been refused. Accordingly, they have two options. No, they actually have three options. Hayday said to try to break through or everyone will die.

There are many of them. Yes, about 5,000. There is no exact number for the time being. The grouping is still quite large. A large group of people in the same area. All routes for the supply of ammunition or the retreat of the group are all completely blocked,” he added.

Yurii Mysiagin, Ukrainian member of Parliament and deputy head of the parliament’s committee on national security, referenced the move into Stavky on Saturday by publishing a video on Telegram showing a Ukrainian tank moving up the road with a clear sign indicating the region of Stavky. CNN could not verify the original source.

A video posted on social media, and shared by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, shows two Ukrainian soldiers standing on a military vehicle attaching the flag with tape to a large sign with the word “Lyman.”

“Yes, if it were my will, I would declare martial law throughout the country and use any weapon, because today we are at war with the whole NATO bloc,” Kadyrov said in a post that also seemed to echo Putin’s not-so-subtle threats that Russia might contemplate the use of nuclear weapons.

“In my personal opinion we need to take more drastic measures, including declaring martial law in the border territories and using low-yield nuclear weapons,” Kadyrov said on his Telegram channel. “There is no need to make every decision with the Western American community in mind.”

The former president of Russia said on Telegram that if the Russian state was threatened with an attack it was possible to use nuclear weapons.

The announcement was dismissed as illegal by the United States and many other countries, but the fear is the Kremlin might argue that attacks on those territories now constitute attacks on Russia.

The Director-General of the Zaporizhhia Nuclear Power Plant in Kiev, Ukraine, condemned by a Russian patrol on Saturday

On Saturday, the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was taken into custody by a Russian patrol.

After being stopped and blindfolded on his way from the plant, Director-General Ihor Murashov was taken out of his car and left in an unknown direction. For the time being there is no information on his fate,” Energoatom’s Petro Kotin said in a statement.

The head of the U.N.’s Nuclear watchdog is scheduled to visit Kyiv this week to discuss the situation at the Zaporizhzhia facility after Putin signed a decree proclaiming that Russia was taking over the plant. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called it a criminal act and said it considered Putin’s decree “null and void.” The state nuclear operator, Energoatom, said it would continue to operate the plant.

The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency should take all possible actions to release the man, according to a letter written by Kotin.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “strongly” condemned Murashov’s “illegal detention,” calling it a “another manifestation of state terrorism from the side of Russia and a gross violation of international law.”

The ministry called for the UN, the IAEA, and the G7, among others, to take decisive measures to this end.

And in Kharkiv, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday that the bodies of 22 civilians, including 10 children, were found following Russian shelling on a convoy of cars near the eastern town of Kupiansk.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and police had “discovered a convoy of seven cars that had been shot dead near the village of Kurylivka, Kupiansk district,” on Friday, Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office said.

War is Coming: The Kremlin is Worrying about the Russian Interior Minister’s Visit to Crimea and the Nuclear Threat Threat to Ukraine

And that’s the worrying thing. The talk in Russia is not about ending the war but about repairing the damage done by the mistakes that led to the retreat.

According to official data from the EU, Georgia and Kazakhstan, around 220,000 Russians have fled across their borders since the “partial mobilization” was announced. The EU said its numbers – nearly 66,000 – represented a more than 30% increase from the previous week.

The 40 kilometer traffic tailbacks at the border with Georgia and the long lines at crossings into the other countries speak to the growing perception that Putin is losing his touch at reading Russia’s mood.

Kortunov understands the public sentiment about the high costs and loss of life in the war, but he doesn’t know what goes on in the Kremlin. “Many people would start asking questions, why did we get into this mess? Why, you know, we lost so many people.”

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

Western leaders are having a fight with Putin. Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, said on Meet the Press last Sunday that Washington would respond harshly to a Russian attack on Ukraine with nuclear weapons.

What Putin is trying to do with the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage in Ukraine, and how Europeans will respond to his brutality

The first shock was registered at 2 a.m. and the second at 7 p.m., both reaching 2.3 magnitude.

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

The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage could, according to Hill, be a last roll of the dice by Putin, so that “there’s no kind of turning back on the gas issues. Europe will not be able to maintain its gas reserves for the winter. So what Putin is doing is throwing absolutely everything at this right now.”

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

Nord Stream 2 was never operational, and Nord Stream 1 had been throttled back by Putin as Europe raced to replenish gas reserves ahead of winter, while dialling back demands for Russian supplies and searching for replacement providers.

The early signs, however, suggest that Putin has once again misread how the world would respond to his brutality. Macron, for instance, said the attacks would prompt France to increase military assistance to Kyiv. Traumatic footage ofUkrainian civilians live streaming Russian missiles roaring over their heads may serve to convince Western publics that Putin is going too far in his energy war. Since the turn of fire on civilians suggests that Russia is weak, it could be that Putin is not able to respond to humiliating defeats for his forces.

No one knows what’s really going on in Putin’s mind. Kortunov doubts Putin will be willing to compromise beyond his own terms for peace, “not on the terms that are offered by President Zelensky, not on the terms which are offered by the West… .[though] he should be ready to exercise a degree of flexibility. But we don’t know what these degrees [are] likely to be.”

Volker expects Putin to pitch France and Germany first “to say, we need to end this war, we’re going to protect our territories at all costs, using any means necessary, and you need to put pressure on the Ukrainians to settle.”

Putin knows he is in a corner, but doesn’t seem to realize how small a space he has, and that of course is what’s most worrying – would he really make good on his nuclear threats?

A day earlier, two powerful Putin supporters railed against the Kremlin and called for using harsher fighting methods because Lyman had fallen just as Moscow was declaring that the illegally annexed region it lies in would be Russian forever.

In an unusually candid article published Sunday, the prominent Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that in the last few days of their occupation, Russian forces in Lyman had been plagued by desertion, poor planning and the delayed arrival of reserves.

The fall of Lyman wasn’t even mentioned until after more than an hour of laudative coverage of Russia’s growth from 85 to 89 regions in an annexation most of the world views as illegal.

The First Victim of War: Putin and Dugin in the Crime against the Kremlin and the Central Powers of the Russian Army

According to the soldiers interviewed by the Sunday broadcast, they were forced to retreat because they were fighting with NATO soldiers.

“These are no longer toys here. The deputy commander of one of the Russian battalions said that they were part of a systematic offensive by NATO and the army. The soldier insisted that his unit had been intercepting discussions by Romanian and Polish soldiers, not Ukrainians, on their radios.

Truth, the saying goes, is the first casualty in war. In Russia, there is a campaign of false advertising by the Kremlin to sell the invasion of Ukraine to the public.

The family of a far-right thinker whose daughter was murdered by a car bomb in August repeated the idea that Russia is fighting a broader campaign in an interview.

We need it as fast as possible because we need our peace back after we win this war and that’s only after Russia is defeated.

Mr. Putin and Mr. Dugin accused Western countries of sabotage after the underwater explosions that caused the collapse of the main portion of the gas line.

He said that the West accuses us of blowing up the gas line ourselves. “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 campaign may be working for now. Many Russians feel threatened by the West, said Aleksandr Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who is from Russia.

At home, the Russian people are angry with their president because of the huge penalties he can face for speaking out against his military operation in Ukraine.

The Luhansk crisis in Kiev: Zelensky, Putin, the Kremlin, the EU, Moscow and the Continuum

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the country had taken back Lyman, while the Ukrainian military said it had recaptured the nearby villages of Drobysheve and Torske, putting Kyiv in a better position as it seeks to take back the Luhansk region.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that he believes Ukraine is “making progress” in Kherson, thanks in part to weapons supplied by Washington.

“What we’re seeing now is a kind of change in the battlefield dynamics,” Austin said. “They’ve done very, very well in the Kharkiv area and moved to take advantage of opportunities. The Kherson region is going a bit slower, but they are making progress.

The contests failed to meet international standards for free and fair elections, and were panned as a farce. Reports from the ground suggested voting was either held at gunpoint or at the same time.

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

A spokesman for the EU said on Friday that EU member states summoned Russian diplomats in a coordinated way to show their condemnation of the actions of Moscow and to demand an immediate halt to the actions that were taking place.

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia is funneling newly drafted conscripts to the front line in Ukraine’s east, but so far, according to a Ukrainian general and Western analysts, Russia’s newly intensified attacks have proven ineffective, and high Russian casualties are expected.

Russia vs. Ukraine: Why Elon Musk voted against his Twitter musings in the wake of the November 11 Ukrainian Genocide

Elon Musk drew backlash on Monday from Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his unsolicited advice on how to bring about “peace” amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country.

A majority of respondents on Twitter voted “No” in response to Musk’s poll. Musk seemed to say that the results were a result of a bot attack.

Early on in the war in Ukraine Musk and one of his companies, Space X, became involved because they sent Starlink internet terminals which can be operated from anywhere with power and a clear view of the sky.

After a months- long war that has left a trail of destruction in the region, his musings were not well received by Ukrainian officials.

Zelensky started a Twitter poll of his own, asking his followers, “Which @elonmusk do you like more?” The choices are: One who supports Russia or one who supports Ukraine. The latter received more than 80% of the vote by Monday afternoon.

Musk continued to tweet out defenses for his initial Twitter thread, seeming to suggest that there was little chance of victory for Ukraine, which recently began swiftly reclaiming territory in its northeast, including the strategically important transport hub of Lyman.

The foreign policy commentary was written by Musk one day after the company announced lower-than-expected delivery and production numbers. It also comes as his legal battle with Twitter heats up over his attempt to back out of his proposed $44 billion deal to buy the company.

Russian president Vladimir Putin greeted by teachers and security staff on Wednesday for the annexation of four war-torn regions of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he expects the situation to stabilize in four war-torn regions of Ukraine after signing legislation to annex them on Wednesday, despite the fact that Russia’s military does not fully control those areas.

While Russian state television hailed Putin’s inking of the annexation process, pro-Kremlin pundits delivered rare dispatches on the growing setbacks faced by Moscow’s troops on the ground.

In a bid to celebrate the news, Putin took the opportunity in a televised meeting for Teachers’ Day to congratulate educators from “all 89 regions of Russia,” a number that includes the newly annexed territories.

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

The scale of Russian losses in these infantry advances is uncertain. The institute said that the advances were putting ill-prepared units on defensive positions of Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian military’s estimates of Russian casualties are seen to be inflated, but the relative increase in the reported numbers suggests a rising toll. On Friday, the Ukrainian military said more than 800 Russian soldiers had been wounded or killed over the previous 24 hours.

Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the military units involved in the operation — “absolutely everyone, from privates to generals, the Armed Forces, intelligence, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Guard — all those who brought this day closer for Kherson region.”

In Kherson region, he said that Liubymivka, Khreshchenivka, Zolota Balka, Biliaiivka, Ukraiinka, Velyka, Mala Oleksandrivka, and Davydiv Brid had all been reclaimed, “and this is not a complete list.”

Zelensky gathered his top military and security staff to discuss the plans for the liberation of Ukrainian territories, according to the president’s office.

According to Peskov, you should read the decree; there is a legal wording there. The territory in which the military-civilian administration operated was part of the Russian Federation at the time of its adoption.

The Russian-appointed deputy leader in the occupied Kherson region explained Ukraine’s rapid advance in recent days by saying that the Russian military was “regrouping.”

“In the Kherson region, we have lost 17 settlements,” Alexander Sladkov, a leading Russian war correspondent, conceded on state TV Tuesday, before placing the blame on “fat” US weapons deliveries and “intelligence gathered via satellite reconnaissance.”

“The Russian troops do not have enough manpower to stop the enemy attacks,” Kots said in a video. “The recent Russian losses are directly connected to that. It is a difficult period of time for soldiers on the front line.

“We urge the residents of the Kherson region to remain calm and to not panic. Nobody is going to withdraw Russian troops from the Kherson region,” Stremousov said. This is a chance to save lives.

“They don’t have problems with the intelligence data or high-precision weapons which they are constantly using. It is just waiting for our reserves to become fit so that they can join the fight.

Meanwhile, state media reporter Evgeniy Poddubnyy, a correspondent for Russia 24, said Tuesday that “we’re going through the hardest time on the frontline” and that “for the time being it will become even harder.”

This doesn’t mean that we’ve collapsed. These mistakes aren’t gigantic strategic failures. We are still learning. It’s hard to hear this in our eighth month of the special operation. But we are reporters. We are waiting for reinforcements.

He said it was as painful as getting thumped on a melon. We have suffered losses. But it’s war. These kinds of things happen in war. [Reinforcements] are coming, along with their equipment. I don’t lie or engage in propaganda. I am just a regular reporter and I am telling what is happening.

Sladkov’s admission on State TV was his second in less than a month, after he previously admitted that Russian forces had endured heavy losses on September 13, a Tuesday. At the beginning of this Tuesday’s interview, Sladkov quipped: “I only tell the truth on Tuesdays, and for other days I just make everything up.”

Hours earlier, the president of Ukraine announced that the country’s military had regained control over three more villages in one of the regions annexed by Russia.

Ukraine’s regain of control in the city of Peskov during a recent “confinement” with the Kremlin

A 3-year-old girl was taken to a hospital for treatment after being rescued from multi-story buildings, according to the governor.

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, plans to talk with Ukrainian officials about the Russian move. He will also discuss efforts to set up a secure protection zone around the facility, which has been damaged in the fighting and seen staff including its director abducted by Russian troops.

A day after the Kremlin held the door open for more land grabs in Ukraine, a group of leaders from more than 40 countries are holding a meeting that is meant to boost security and prosperity in Europe.

Peskov did not say if the Kremlin was going to organize more of the “referendums” in Ukraine that the Ukrainian government has dismissed as illegitimate.

Russia launched fresh attacks on Kherson, after a series of deadly shelling in the region earlier this week. The war has been the most significant breakthrough to date, as Ukrainian forces regained control of the city last month.

According to three senior officials based in the Middle East, Russia redeployed military equipment and troops from Syria in a signal that its influence has been diminished by the invasion of Ukraine.

The occupation caused heavy damage to the building and Ukrainian soldiers fought to regain it. Mykola, a 71-year-old man who gave only his first name, was among about 100 residents who lined up for aid on Wednesday.

When Russia Gave It All: A Case Study of the First Three Years of the War Between the Soviet Union and the Russians in the U.S.

He said he wanted the war to end so that the hospitals, shops and pharmacy would work like they used to. We haven’t got anything yet. Everything is destroyed and pillaged, a complete disaster.”

Zelenskyy, who spoke in Russian during the address, told Moscow’s leadership that it had already lost the war it launched in February.

Peter Bergen is a professor and vice president at Arizona State University and a CNN national security analyst. Bergen wrote “The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World.” His own opinions are expressed in this commentary. There is more opinion on CNN.

His revisionist account describes the rationale for the war in Ukraine, which he says has always been a part of Russia even though it broke away from the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.

According to a recent, authoritative book about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Soviets were planning to install a puppet government and remove the country from the map as soon as possible.

During the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the US was initially reluctant to escalate its support for the Afghan resistance, fearing a wider conflict with the Soviet Union. The withdrawal of the Soviets from Afghanistan in three years time was a result of the CIA putting anti-aircraft missiles in the Afghans.

In 2022, American weapons are again playing a decisive role in Russian fortunes on the battlefield. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the US was also initially leery of deeper involvement, fearing a wider conflict with the Russians.

The US put those fears to rest quickly and American-supplied missiles have helped the Ukrainians push back against the Russians.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian autocrat and the end of the Soviet empire: The case of the Russian Federation in the aftermath of the 1991 invasion of Ukraine

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

The Romanov monarchy was weakened in 1905 by the loss in the Russian-Japanese war. Czar Nicholas II was in charge during the First World War and was behind the Russian Revolution. Subsequently, much of the Romanov family was killed by a Bolshevik firing squad.

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

In his new book, the retired professor of war studies at King’s College London explains how Putin plunged his countrymen into the Ukrainian morass.

Putin is a sad example of the fact that delusions and illusions of one person can be allowed to shape events. 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.”

In 1917 as the First World War ended and again in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union,Putin gambled and possibly led to the second dissolution of the Russian empire.

“First of all, we need to stop lying,” said Andrei Kartopolov, a former colonel-general in the Russian military and a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. It was brought up many times before. It’s not going through to individual senior figures.

The Ministry of Defense was covering up the fact that there was cross-border strikes between Russia and Ukraine, claimed Kartapolov.

Valuyki is in Russia’s Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine. In regards to striking targets across the border, Kyiv has generally adopted a neither confirm nor deny stance.

Stremousov said that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has no need to be cast a shadow because of incompetent commanders, who did not bother, and were not accountable. The Minister of Defense, Sergey Shoigu, could have shot himself, according to many. But, you know, the word officer is an unfamiliar word for many.”

When it comes to blaming Russian commanders, Kadyrov has been more forthcoming after Russia retreated from the Ukrainian city of Lyman.

Writing on Telegram, Kadyrov personally blamed Colonel-General Aleksandr Lapin, the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, for the debacle, accusing him of moving his headquarters away from his subordinates and failing to adequately provide for his troops.

The Russian information space has deviated from the narratives preferred by the MoD that things are kept under control, according to a recent analysis.

Kadyrov – who recently announced that he had been promoted by Putin to the rank of colonel general – has been one of the most prominent voices arguing for the draconian methods of the past. He said in a Telegram post that he would give the government amazing wartime powers if he had his way.

Multiple attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea in the early days of Russian invasion: a blatant rebuke to Russia and its president

The peace prize was awarded to human rights activists in Russia and other countries on the day of the invasion of Ukraine, a blatant rebuke to Russia and its president.

Overnight nearly 40 Russian rockets hit Nikopol, on the Dnipro River, damaging at least 10 homes, several apartment blocks and other infrastructure, according to the head of the regional military administration, Valentyn Reznichenko. He said that further shelling on Friday evening killed one man and wounded another.

A senior official said that crews had restored power and cellular connection in the city, which is close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

“Water supply will be restored in the near future,” Rogov, a pro-Russian leader in the regional Zaporizhzhia government, wrote in a telegram post Sunday

Orlov said “the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly tried to deliver humanitarian supplies with food, hygiene products and so on to the city,” adding that Ukraine is “ready to organize prompt delivery and distribution of drinking water in Enerhodar” but that Russian forces have not let humanitarian aid through.

Mr Putin said he ordered an attack on Ukraine after a bomb badly damaged a bridge between Russia and the occupied Crimea Peninsula. Moscow tried to reduce the impact of the attack, but satellite imagery shows that it has been substantial.

KYIV and DNIPRO, UKRAINE, and MOSCOW — Explosions rocked several cities across Ukraine in the most extensive attack on the country since the early days of Russia’s invasion in February. The attacks came only hours after Russia blamed Ukraine for a weekend explosion that partially damaged a strategic bridge that connects Russian-occupied Crimea to mainland Russia.

Shell explosion and rescue of two Ukrainians in Donbas, Syria, a neighboring city, said Vladimir Zelenskyy

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

On the front line, “the key hotspots in Donbas are (neighboring towns) Soledar and Bakhmut, where extremely heavy fighting continues,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address Sunday.

“The enemy hit a critical infrastructure facility. According to the Telegram video, Shell fragments damaged residential buildings and the place where the medical aid and humanitarian aid distribution point is located.

After hearing air raid sirens, Tetyana and Oleksii took shelter in the hallway of their apartment. Their possessions flew out of the building after the explosion. While the couple looked at the damage to their home, they were overcome with emotion.

The dog’s leg was torn off in the missile strike, so three people dug a shallow grave in a neighborhood ravaged by the blast.

Russia’s Kerch Bridge, Crimea, and the Loss of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant: Implications for De-Escalation

Abbas Gallyamov, an independent Russian political analyst and a former speechwriter for Putin, said the Russian president, who formed a committee Saturday to investigate the bridge explosion, had not responded forcefully enough to satisfy angry war hawks. He said that the response has inspired the opposition while demoralizing the loyalists.

He said that once again, they see that when the authorities say we’re winning, that they’re lying, and it demoralizes them.

The Kerch Bridge was opened by Putin in May of last year as a sign of Moscow’s claim on the peninsula. Russia’s military operations in southern Ukrainian are supported by the bridge.

Crimea is a popular vacation resort for Russians. People trying to drive to the bridge and onto the Russian mainland on Sunday encountered hours-long traffic jams.

The first 20 bodies have been exhumed from a mass burial site in the recently re-stated Ukrainian city of Lyman. Initial indications are that around 200 civilians are buried in one location, and that another grave contains the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. Police stated that the civilians, including children, were buried in a single grave while the military was buried in a 40-meter trench.

— The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, meanwhile, said that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest, had been reconnected to the grid after losing its last external power source early Saturday following shelling.

There has been an assault on the power sources in Ukrainian since October. The onslaught has left millions across the country facing power cuts amid freezing temperatures.

China and India also call for de-escalation: After the strikes, China expressed hope that the situation in Ukraine will “de-escalated soon.” India has said it is “deeply concerned” by the escalation of the conflict and said that “escalation of hostilities is in no one’s interest,” urging an “immediate cessation of hostilities” and return to the “path of dialogue. The attack was also condemned by European leaders.

The city of Melitopol was the site of a series of explosions that came as both sides reported a missile attack on the city on Saturday.

Russian missile attacks have expanded, as the Ukrainian forces have continued to push back Russian units and win back territory they seized during the first weeks of the war.

For several hours on Monday morning Kyiv’s subway system was suspended, with underground stations serving as bunkers. Rescue workers were trying to get people out of the rubble after the air raid alert was lifted.

Putin and the Crimea attack: a terrorist attack on the Ukraine, and the consequences for the security of the EU and for the safety of civilians

A total of 11 critical infrastructure facilities had been damaged in eight regions.

Putin held an operational meeting of his Security Council on Monday, a day after he called the explosions on the Crimea bridge a “terrorist attack” and said the organizers and executors were “Ukrainian special services.”

The Russian-appointed head of annexed Crimea said on Monday that his approach to the special military operation in Ukraine has changed.

“I have been saying from the first day of the special military operation that if such actions to destroy the enemy’s infrastructure had been taken every day, we would have finished everything in May and the Kyiv regime would have been defeated,” he added.

“It’s a tough morning when you’re dealing with terrorists,” said Zelenskyy in the video, which recalled the selfie he took the night Russia invaded in February. They are choosing targets to hurt as many people as possible.

Following the strikes on Kyiv, the EU Foreign Policy Chief said that more military support from the EU is on its way.

The Dutch Prime Minister said that Putin was swindling civilians in the cities. “[The Netherlands] condemns these heinous acts. Putin does not seem to understand that the will of the Ukrainian people is unbreakable.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the attacks “another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price.”

Thousands of people killed by strikes on Kyiv’s cultural capital, Maidan Square and Dnipro’s passenger terminal during a morning rush hour train strike

The G7 group of nations will have an emergency meeting via a video conference on Tuesday, according to Zelensky who said on Twitter that he would address that meeting.

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 as a result of strikes on the capital, according to Ukrainian officials.

President Zelenskyy stated in a video that civilian infrastructure in 11 of the 25 regions of the country were disproportionately targeted by the strikes.

There are at least two museums that were damaged in Kyiv, according to the culture minister. A nearby strike damaged the country’s main passenger terminal, delaying trains during this morning’s rush hour, according to Ukraine’s National Railway.

Ihor Makovtsev, the head of the department of transport for the Dnipro city council, stood by the crash and said that it happened at rush hour. He added that the bus driver and four passengers had been taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

“It’s difficult for me to find any logic to their so-called artillery work because all our transportation is only for civilian purposes,” Makovtsev said.

Viktor Shevchenko: “This is not the beginning” of Russia’s air attacks on Ukraine, and his letter to Zelenskyy

81-year-old Viktor Shevchenko looked out from what once were the windows of his first floor balcony, just next to the bus stop. Shattered glass covered the ground below. He said he had been watering the plants on his balcony just minutes before the blast, but went to his kitchen to make breakfast.

He said the explosion blew open all of his cabinets and almost knocked him off his feet. “Only five minutes before, and I would have been on the balcony, full of glass.”

Ukraine’s top brass released a statement that said that the country’s air defenses took down at least 40 incoming air attacks, but several dozen more got through. Ukrainian officials said Iranian-made suicide drones were used in many of the attacks. Alexander Lukashenko let Russia use his country as a staging ground for their attacks on Ukraine, and he requested more help from the Russian government in anticipation of the Ukrainian retaliation.

“We warned Zelenskyy that Russia wasn’t even really starting yet, and we attacked the ministry for incompetence,” wrote Ramzan Kadyrov in his letter to Zelenskyy.

After the Kerch Bridge Bombing, Businesses and Tourism in Ukraine are Rejoinded – A Live Report from Michael Bociurkiw

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

Recent days have shown that sites beyond the current theater of ground fighting are not impervious to attacks. It remains unclear exactly how the Kerch bridge bombing was carried out – and Kyiv has not claimed responsibility – but the fact that a target so deep in Russian-held territory could be successfully hit hinted at a serious Ukrainian threat towards key Russian assets.

The area around my office in Odesa remained quiet as the air raid sirens went off, with reports of missiles and drones being shot down. Usually, at this time of the day nearby restaurants would be heaving with customers and chatter of upcoming weddings and parties.

Just a few hours after Zaporizhzhia, a southeastern city close to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was hit with strikes on apartment buildings, there were at least two more attacks. At least 17 people were killed and several dozens injured.

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. Yet they also entertained themselves at the Typsy Cherry, a local bar. “The mood was cheerful,” its owner, Vladyslav Pyvovar, told The Times. People had fun and were wondering when the power will be back. The power came back hours later.

Indeed, millions of people in cities across Ukraine will be spending most of the day in bomb shelters, at the urging of officials, while businesses have been asked to shift work online as much as possible.

More than half of the regions of Ukraine are starting to roar back to life, and with so many asylum seekers returning home, the attacks risk causing another blow to business confidence.

Since the Ukrainians attacked the bridge that was close to Putin on mainland Russia, the scope and virulence of these attacks has increased even more.

The hilarious meme which lit up social media channels like a christmas tree was a reaction to the explosion. Many shared their sense of jubilation via text messages.

For the world to see, the message was obvious. Putin is not going to be humiliated. He will not admit defeat. And he is quite prepared to inflict civilian carnage and indiscriminate terror in response to his string of battlefield reversals.

Putin has been placed on thin ice because of the increasing criticism at home, and this was also an act of desperation.

Before Monday’s strikes, the Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate at Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, had told Ukrainian journalist Roman Kravets in late August that, “by the end of the year at the minimum we have to enter Crimea” – suggesting a plan to push back Russian forces to pre-2014 lines, which is massively supported by Ukrainians I’ve spoken to.

The significance of the strikes on central Kyiv, and close to the government quarter, cannot be overstated. Western governments should see it as a red line being crossed on this 229th day of the war.

What is crucially important now is for Washington and other allies to use urgent telephone diplomacy to urge China and India – which presumably still have some leverage over Putin – to resist the urge to use even more deadly weapons.

They will only allow Putin to continue his violence and will add to the Humanitarian crisis in Europe. A weak response will be interpreted as a sign of how the Kremlin can weaponize energy, migration and food.

The attack on Monday on Kiev as an example of how Putin is planning to turn the battlefield into a battlefield war: CNN’s Kate Bolduan

The country needs high tech defense systems to protect its vital energy infrastructure. With winter just around the corner, the need to protect heating systems is urgent.

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 city dwellers who were forced to take refuge in air raid shelters in the subways have been able to return to their normal lifestyles, but the attacks have made them fearful of any new strikes.

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.

The bombing of power installations appeared to be a sign of how much pain the Russian President could cause if he were to use winter as an excuse for his actions.

The attacks on civilians, which killed at least 14 people, also drove new attention to what next steps the US and its allies must take to respond, after already sending billions of dollars of arms and kits to Ukraine in an effective proxy war with Moscow.

The White House did not specify what the advanced air systems would be used for, after the president spoke to the Ukrainian president.

The National Security Council is led by John Kirby, who suggested that Washington was looking favorably on Ukraine’s requests and was in touch with the government almost every day. “We do the best we can in subsequent packages to meet those needs,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

Kirby couldn’t say if Putin’s new strategy was to switch from a battlefield war to a campaign to hurt civilian feelings and destroyUkrainian infrastructure, but he suggested it was already in the works.

It’s probably something that they have been planning for a while. Kirby said that there is no indication that the explosion on the bridge might have accelerated some of 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 indiscriminately bombarded civilian areas and razed built-up districts and infrastructure and is accused of committing serious human rights violations.

The President of France underscored western concerns that the rush-hour attacks inUkraine could be a turning point in the conflict.

He was telling me where he would go as we get into the winter. Vindman said on CNN that he was going to try to push the Ukrainian population to give up territory by going after the infrastructure.

If we had modern equipment we could probably shoot down more drones and missiles, not kill innocent civilians or injuryUkrainians, Zhovkva said.

Any prolonged campaign by Putin against civilians would be aimed at breaking Ukrainian morale and possibly unleashing a new flood of refugees into Western Europe that might open divisions among NATO allies that are supporting Ukraine.

The lesson in this war is that Putin’s actions have strengthened the nation he does not believe has a right to exist.

Olena Gnes, a mother of three, told CNN that she was angry at the return of fear and violence to Ukrainians from Russian “terror” when she spoke to Anderson Cooper on Monday.

“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.

The knee-jerk reaction to these attacks — “strike back at the barbarian Russians” — must be held in check. There is renewed pressure for a cease-fire right now.

In the age of nuclear weapons, all accepted modes of just war — self-defense, justice and punishment for wrongdoers, recovery of international borders; in essence, all notions of right and wrong — are irrelevant. It really doesn’t matter who was the aggressor, who the aggrieved, who committed crimes against civilians, who was merely acting in self-defense.

In a nuclear exchange in which hundreds of millions of people could die, it doesn’t really matter if you were right or wrong. No historians will survive to tell the story.

President Biden should dispatch his diplomats to Russia immediately so they can give Putin peace of mind. An immediate cease-fire must occur, and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine must be pressured to agree.

Violence in the Kherson region: The aftermath of Kiev’s bridge attack on Monday, March 11 — a critical warning for Moscow and the rebuilding of the country

State television devoted a significant amount of time to reporting on the suffering on Monday. There was a lot of smoke and carnage in central Kyiv along with empty store shelves and a long-range forecast of freezing temperatures there.

The head of the Kherson regional military administration, Yaroslav Yanushevich, urged the tens of thousands of remaining residents in the city to evacuate while Ukrainian forces worked to clear land mines, hunt down Russian soldiers left behind and restore essential services.

Saldo claimed cities throughout Kherson, one of four Ukrainian regions Russia claimed to have annexed in violation of international law, were being hammered by dangerous airstrikes.

Saldo said local Russian leadership had “decided to organize the possibility of Kherson families traveling to other regions of the Russian Federation.”

“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, should go to other regions … to take their children and leave.”

Kirill Stremousov, the Kherson region’s military administration deputy head, said that the civilian transports were not an “evacuation.”

President Zelensky told the international community that his country needed to rebuild and keep it’s economy afloat with $57 billion. The boards of governors of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were given that figure by him. The Zelensky said that $17 billion would be needed to rebuild schools, hospitals, transport systems, and housing, as well as expanding exports to Europe and restoring Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The images captured hundreds of cargo trucks backed up and waiting to cross from Crimea into Russia by ferry, some five days after the bombing. The images, captured on Wednesday by Maxar Technologies, show backups at a port and a line of trucks miles away in an airport that is being used as a staging area.

Oleg Ignatov, a senior Russia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the long lines for the ferry crossing had been exacerbated by security checkpoints set up after the bridge explosion.

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

For the first time, the war is going into a new phase. Keir Giles, a senior consultant at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, said this was the third, fourth or fifth war that had been observed.

As winter approaches the stakes of the war have been raised once more. Giles said that Russia would love to keep it up. But the Ukrainian successes of recent weeks have sent a direct message to the Kremlin, too. Giles said, “They can do things that take us by surprise, so we should get accustomed to it.”

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 flag of the country is flying over a building in the southern Kherson region. Since the counter-offensive began, Ukrainian officials say they have liberated hundreds of settlements.

The Russians are trying to avoid a collapse in their frontline before the winter sets in, 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.”

If a major blow in Donbas were to happen, it would send another powerful signal and Ukraine would want to improve on its gains as the cold weather sets in.

There are so many reasons why Ukraine has a high incentive to get things done quickly. The winter energy crisis in Europe and power losses inUkraine are always going to be a test of resilience for the Ukrainians and their Western backers.

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.

Jeremy Fleming, the UK’s spy chief, said in a rare speech on Tuesday that Russian commanders on the ground know that their supplies are running out.

The ISW said in its daily update on the conflict on Monday that the strikes wasted some of Russias dwindling precision weapons against civilian targets.

Exactly how much weaponry and manpower each side has left in reserve will be crucial to determining how the momentum will shift in the coming weeks. Ukraine said it intercepted 18 cruise missiles on Tuesday and dozens more on Monday, but it is urging its Western allies for more equipment to repel any future attacks.

The Russians don’t have the capabilities to mount a high-tempo missile assault into the future, so it will be an occasional feature for shows of extreme outrage.

The impact of such an intervention in terms of pure manpower would be limited; Belarus has around 45,000 active duty troops, which would not significantly bolster Russia’s reserves. But it would threaten another assault on Ukraine’s northern flank below the Belarusian border.

Giles says that the reopening of a 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.

Now Zelensky will hope for more supplies in the short-term as he seeks to drive home those gains. The leader has sought to highlight Ukraine’s success in intercepting Russian missiles, saying more than half of the missiles and drones launched at Ukraine in a second wave of strikes on Tuesday were brought down.

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.

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

Ukrain’s Counteroffensive: Russia’s Military Forces and the Interaction Between Ukraine and the INTEGRAL Security Mission

That’s not to say mobilized forces will be of no use. If used in support roles, like drivers or refuelers, they might ease the burden on the remaining parts of Russia’s exhausted professional army. They could also place men in areas along the line of contact, cordon some areas, and put up man checkpoint in the rear. They are, however, unlikely to become a capable fighting force. There are signs of discipline problems among soldiers in Russian garrisons.

Zelenskyy accused Russia of including convicts “with long sentences for serious crimes” in its front-line troops in return for pay and amnesty — something Western intelligence officials have also asserted.

Meanwhile, Russia opened an investigation into a shooting in that region Saturday in which two men from a former Soviet republic who were training at a military firing range killed 11 and wounded 15 during target practice, before being slain themselves. The ministry called it a terrorist attack.

— France, seeking to puncture perceptions that it has lagged in supporting Ukraine, confirmed it’s pledging air-defense missiles and stepped-up military training to Ukraine. The French defense minister said in an interview with Le Parisien that Ukrainian soldiers will be embedded with military units in France, rotating through for weeks of combat training, specialized training in logistics and other needs and training on equipment supplied by France.

— The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, accused Moscow late Saturday of conducting “massive, forced deportations of Ukrainians,” which it said likely amount to ethnic cleansing.

Russian authorities claimed this week that several thousand children from a southern region occupied by Moscow were placed in rest homes and camps during the Ukrainian counteroffensive. According to RIA Novosti, the original comments by Russia’s deputy prime minister were reported on Friday.

Russian authorities have previously admitted to placing children from Russian-held areas of Ukraine, who they said were orphans, for adoption with Russian families, in a potential breach of an international treaty on genocide prevention.

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

pro-Kremlin commentators claimed in posts on social media that a Russian general wanted for his involvement in the downing of the Malaysian airliner has been deployed to the front. Posts by Maksim Fomin and others said Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, has been given responsibility for an unspecified Russian front-line unit.

Girkin has been on an international wanted list over his alleged involvement in the downing of Kuala Lumpur-bound flight MH17, which killed 298 people. He is the most high-profile suspect in a murder trial and a verdict is expected in November.

There are recently social media posts in which Girkin lashes out at Moscow’s battlefield failures. Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency said Sunday it would offer a $100,000 reward to anyone who captures him.

There were no attacks on infrastructure in the vicinity of the main rail station on Monday, despite reports by a spokesman for the Internal Ministry.

Zelenskyy’s chief-of-staff, Andriy Yermak, again called on the west to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems. He said that they didn’t have time for slow actions.

The photo of “Geran-2” was removed by Klitshchko after commenters criticized him for his support of a Russian strike on Iran.

The War on Crime in Ukraine: A Commentary on the Invasion of Ukraine by U.S. General Surovikin and Foreign Minister Josep Borrell

Foreign ministers from the EU are in Luxembourg. The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, told reporters that “concrete evidence” would be looked at to see if Iran was involved in Ukraine.

Some regional officials — including the mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin — appeared to be taking pains to offer reassurances. “At present, no measures are being introduced to limit the normal rhythm of the city’s life,” Mr. Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram channel.

And despite the new power granted them by Mr. Putin, the regional governors of Kursk, Krasnodar and Voronezh said no entry or exit restrictions would be imposed.

But many Russians are sure to see a warning message in the martial law imposed in Ukraine, the first time that Moscow has declared martial law since World War II, analysts say.

Ms. Stanovaya said that people were worried that the siloviki would do what they wanted.

On Tuesday, the newly appointed commander of the Russian invasion admitted that the army’s position in Kherson was “already quite Difficult”, and suggested that a tactical retreat might be necessary. General Surovikin said he was ready to make “difficult decisions” about military deployments, but did not say more about what those might be.

Russia, which has been a dominant military force in Syria since 2015 and helps maintain the government’s grip on power, still keeps a sizable presence there. The change may mean that Israel rethinking its stance toward the Ukrainian conflict, as well as shifting the power balance in one of the world’s most complicated conflict zones.

David A. Andelman is a CNN contributor who won both the Deadline Club Award and the French Legion of Honor for his book “A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen”. He was a correspondent for CBS in Europe and Asia. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. CNN has a lot of opinion.

First, he’s seeking to distract his nation from the blindingly obvious, namely that he is losing badly on the battlefield and utterly failing to achieve even the vastly scaled back objectives of his invasion.

Putin prolonge war: energy prices in Europe during the early morning Kremlin/Maskawa epoch

This ability to keep going depends on a host of variables – ranging from the availability of critical and affordable energy supplies for the coming winter, to the popular will across a broad range of nations with often conflicting priorities.

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

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

While French President Emmanuel Macron waxed euphoric leaving the summit, which he described as having “maintained European unity,” he conceded that there was only a “clear mandate” for the European Commission to start working on a gas cap mechanism.

Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, is skeptical of price caps. Energy ministers must discuss details with Germany to make sure that caps on consumption won’t encourage higher consumption.

These divisions are part of Putin’s dream. Manifold forces in Europe could prove central to achieving success from the Kremlin’s viewpoint, which amounts to the continent failing to agree on essentials.

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

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

Italy’s new prime minister is stepping outside the EU: The case of Vladimir Putin, the United States, and the coalition with the far-right

A new government has taken over in Italy. Italy has its first woman prime minister and she is attempting to remove the post-fascist aura of her party. One of her far-right coalition partners meanwhile, has expressed deep appreciation for Putin.

In a secretly recorded audio clip, Berlusconi said he had returned the gesture of Putin with bottles of Lambrusco wine, and that he knew him as a peaceful and sensible person.

The other leading member of the ruling Italian coalition, Matteo Salvini, named Saturday as deputy prime minister, said during the campaign, “I would not want the sanctions [on Russia] to harm those who impose them more than those who are hit by them.”

Hungary and Poland, both long-time allies of the ultra-right, have differed over the EU policies that seemed to reduce their influence. Poland has taken deep offense at the pro-Putin sentiments of Hungary’s populist leader Viktor Orban.

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

Meanwhile on Monday, the influential 30-member Congressional progressive caucus called on Biden to open talks with Russia on ending the conflict while its troops are still occupying vast stretches of the country and its missiles and drones are striking deep into the interior.

Mia Jacob, the chair of the caucus, sent reporters a statement clarifying her previous comments about the support of Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to renew America’s support.

Indeed, while the US has proffered more than $60 billion in aid since Biden took office, when Congress authorized $40 billion for Ukraine last May, only Republicans voted against the latest aid package.

The Russian Counterattacks on the Crimea and the War of the Cold Cold War: Report on the Activities of the Kremlin Military and Industrial Complex

In its two counter offensives in the northeast and south, the Ukrainian military has succeeded in cutting supply lines and hitting Russian depots with long-range rockets.

All these actions point to an increasing desperation by Russia to access vitally-needed components for production of high-tech weaponry stalled by western sanctions and embargos that have begun to strangle the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex.

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

Putin has also tried, though he has been stymied at most turns, to establish black market networks abroad to source what he needs to fuel his war machine – much as Kim Jong-un has done in North Korea. The United States has been able to expose and sanction shadow companies and individuals from Taiwan, Armenia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, and Luxembourg to source high-tech goods for Russia.

The Justice Department said that there would be charges against individuals and companies trying to bring high tech equipment into Russia in violation of sanctions.

Russian news media reported on high casualty rates in Russia, as has the videos filmed by Ukrainian drones, which showed Russian infantry being hit by missiles in poorly prepared positions and the reports on Russian news media of soldiers telling their relatives about high casualty rates. The videos have not been independently verified and their exact location on the front line could not be determined.

Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander of the Ukrainian military, said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday that Russian forces had tripled the intensity of attacks along some parts of the front. The time frame was not given nor where the attacks were coming from.

The situation at the front was discussed byGeneral Zaluzhnyi. He said his U.S. colleague was being helped by the courage and skills of their warriors.

An assessment from the Institute for the Study of War said that the infantry increase in the eastern part of the country didn’t lead to new gains by Russia.

The institute said on Thursday that Russian forces would have had more success if they had waited until enough personnel arrived to create a larger force that could overcome Ukrainian defenses.

With Russian and Ukrainian forces apparently preparing for battle in Kherson, and conflicting signals over what may be coming, the remaining residents of the city have been stocking up on food and fuel to survive combat.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rejoins the Kherson region after a war-breaking break-up of the Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that his country was withdrawing from the west bank of the Kherson region.

Even though the military arrived in the city, the president said he was happy to see how people were still holding the Ukrainian flags.

The threat of mines would lead to stabilization measures. The occupiers left a lot of mines and explosives at vital facilities. We will be clearing them,” he said.

“Our defenders are followed by police, sappers, rescuers, power engineers … Medicine, communications, social services are returning. the question is… Life is returning,” he said.

“It’s too dangerous to return to the area now that we have regained control of it,” officials said on Friday.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-11-12-22/index.html

Particle Spectroscopy of the New Front Line in Snihurivka (Kelshyaev)

The head of the military administration of Mykolaiv visited the small city of Snihurivka Friday to discuss the restoration of life in the liberated territories.

Kim warned residents to be careful even though the relevant services had already started removing mines in liberated territories.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky secured a victory over Russian forces on Monday, when their forces traded fire across the broad expanse of the Dnipro River.

The Dnipro has become the new front line in southern Ukraine, and officials there warned of continued danger from fighting in regions that have already endured months of Russian occupation.

The southern parts of the city were under fire from the Russian Army as they prepared for a bombardment from their new positions on the eastern bank.

Mortar shells struck near the bridge, sending up puffs of smoke. Near the riverbank, shots were fired with loud metallic booms. It was not immediately possible to assess what had been hit.

Safety and Security in the Kherson City, Ukraine, where Mr. Zelensky and his troops are stationed: How a Russian missile could be intercepted

The mines are a significant danger. Four people, including an 11-year-old, were killed when a family driving in the village of Novoraysk, outside the city, ran over a mine, Mr. Yanushevich said. Six railway workers were injured trying to restore service after lines were damaged. There are at least four more children that have been injured by mines in the region.

The deaths underscored the threats still remaining on the ground, even as Mr. Zelensky made a surprise visit to Kherson, a tangible sign of Ukraine’s soaring morale.

Hundreds of people celebrated as Mr. Zelensky spoke in the city’s main square on Monday.

Russian forces were still firing from across the river on towns and villages that had just been captured by Ukrainian forces. The town of Beryslav was struck by two missiles, which are located north of a critical dam. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties.

The resident of Kherson City, who used a secure messaging app to communicate, stated that people inOccupants rob local people and exchange stuff for homemade vodka. They get drunk and are more aggressive. We are afraid here. She asked that her surname be withheld for security.

“Russians roam around, identify the empty houses and settle there,” Ivan, 45, wrote in a text message. He lives in Skadovsk, which is south of Kherson city, and asked that his surname not be used out of concern for his safety. We try to connect with the owners so that we can arrange for someone local to stay in their place. So that it isn’t abandoned, and Russians don’t take it.

The first missile to have landed in Poland – a NATO member – on Tuesday may well have been a Ukrainian anti-aircraft rocket intercepting an incoming Russian missile a short distance from one of Ukraine’s largest cities, Lviv, as suspected by Polish and NATO leaders. President Zelensky insisted that the missile was not Ukrainian.

Whatever the exact circumstances of the missile, one thing is clear. “Russia bears ultimate responsibility, as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Wednesday.

His forces have planted mines in vast swaths of Kherson from where they have just recently withdrawn, like the Khmer Rouge did in Cambodia in the 1970s. The Cambodian de-mining experts have been brought in to assist with the task facing Ukraine. At the same time, Russian armies have also left behind evidence of unspeakable atrocities and torture, also reminiscent of the Khmer Rouge.

That said, a growing number of Russian soldiers have rebelled at what they have been asked to do and refused to fight. Amid plummeting morale, the UK’s Defense Ministry believes Russian troops may be prepared to shoot retreating or deserting soldiers.

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

Vladimir Putin’s comments on the attacks from the Russian Armed Forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are beyond the reach of the Ukrainian declared drones

While he hopes this is not the case, one top Russian journalist, who fled in March and has settled in Berlin, is prepared to accept the reality of not being able to return to his homeland.

Rumbling is that the west is trying to prevent the country of material resources from being pursued in this war. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, told the G20 on Tuesday that they had learned from their past dependency and want forward looking connections.

It has been seen that Putin’s dream of a conflict that would drive wedges into the Western alliance is unfulfilled. On Monday, word began circulating in aerospace circles that the long-stalled joint French-German project for a next-generation jet fighter at the heart of the Future Combat Air System – Europe’s largest weapons program – was beginning to move forward.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made rare public comments specifically addressing the attacks from the Russian Armed Forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

He spoke to a group of soldiers with the awards, and held up a glass of champagne.

His comments referred to a blast on the Kerch Bridge on October 8, when a truck on the strategic crossing exploded, causing large damage. The Ukrainians have never claimed responsibility, but the Kremlin was quick to accuse Kyiv.

The reference to Kursk appears to reference Russia’s announcement that an airfield in the Kursk region, which neighbors Ukraine, was targeted in a drone attack. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has not commented on the recent detonations in Russia. Officially, the targets are well beyond the reach of the country’s declared drones.

Water is not an act of genocide: Putin’s comments on the Donetsk shelling and the air defense system in Crimea

He ended his apparent off-the-cuff comments by claiming there is no mention of the water situation. They have not said a word about it. At all! Complete silence,” he said.

Local Russian authorities in Donetsk — which Putin claimed to annex in defiance of international law — have reported frequent shelling of the city this week.

In his Kremlin appearance Thursday, he continued to say: “Who is not supplying water to Donetsk? Not supplying water to a city of million is an act of genocide.”

“The pace of restoration [to household consumers] is slowed down by difficult weather conditions,” it said, with the damage “made worse by the freezing and rupture of wires in distribution networks.”

The country’s energy grid has been attacked, which the official said amounts to genocide. The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General made comments to theBBC last month.

The attack on Melitopol came amid social media footage and reports of several blasts in the Crimean city of Simferopol at around 9 p.m. local time on Saturday.

“The Russian military is settling in local houses they seized, schools and kindergartens. Military equipment is stationed in residential areas,” Federov said in November.

There were dead and wounded in the Russian military barracks that was set on fire, according to the unofficial portal KRYmskyi veter.

The air defense system worked over Simferopol, said Sergey Aksenov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea. Services are working as usual.

There have been reports of 1.5 million people in the Odesa region of Ukraine not having power due to strikes by Iranian-made drones.

He said Ukrainian sky defenders had shot down 10 of the drones, but the damage was still critical, and it will take days to restore electricity in the region.

Zelensky said that stabilization and emergency power failures continue to happen in various regions. “The power system is now, to put it mildly, very far from a normal state.”

The Impact of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine on the High-Energy Realization of the Fourth Amendment and the First Law of State Decay

Zelensky said that Russia’s attitude toward Odesa was deliberate attempt to bring disaster to the city.

According to Zelensky, a new support package from Norway was received on Saturday that will be used for the restoration of the energy system.

The attacks on the plants and equipment that Ukrainians rely on for heat and light have led to condemnation by world leaders and thrust Ukraine into a grim cycle in which crews rush to restore power only to have it knocked out again.

The power system is so far from normal that he urged people to reduce their power use to help keep the grid running.

There are still problems even if there are no heavy missile strikes. There is a lot of shelling and missile attacks in different parts of the country. Energy facilities are hit almost every day.”

Many are watching to see if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will follow through on his threat to prohibit the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine because of the church’s links to Moscow.

The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, will be in Paris for a dinner on Monday with the French President and the Norwegian Prime Minister.

On Tuesday, France is going to co- host a conference in support of the Ukrainians through the winter with a video address from the Ukrainian President.

The most massive shelling attack on Donetsk city by Ukrainians since the annexation by Russia by the Ukrainians by the Russians

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.

Russian oil revenue has been targeted by new measures. There is a price cap and European Union embargo on most 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.

President Zelenskyy had a phone call with President Biden on Dec. 11, as well as the leaders of France and Turkey, in an apparent stepping up of diplomacy over the 9 1/2-month-long Russian invasion.

You can read past recaps here. You can find more of the NPR’s coverage here. You can also subscribe to the State of Turkey show on NPR to hear the latest news.

The biggest attack on the occupied region by the Ukrainians since the annexation of the region by Russia was announced by a Russia-installed official.

“At exactly 7 a.m. the (Ukrainians) subjected the center of Donetsk (city) to the most massive strike since 2014,” the Moscow-appointed mayor, Aleksey Kulemzin, posted on Telegram.

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

“One of (the victims) was a volunteer, a member of the rapid response team of the international organization. During the shelling, they were on the street, they were fatally wounded by fragments of enemy shells,” he added.

First effective evacuation of Kherson after the strikes, and a counterexample to the Zelensky’s three-step proposal

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

The U.S government gave the city machinery and generators to use in boiler houses and heat supply stations.

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

The peace solution that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed involves asking Russia to begin withdrawing troops from its territory as soon as possible, but this week the Kremlin appeared to rebuff it.

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