Putin’s Forcible Annexation of Crimean Peninsula and Crimea with the West: His Mission in Kiev and the Promise of a Global Power

When Putin took power in Russia in 1999, he had other plans. The Russian leader says he doesn’t accept Ukraine’s independence, and that it’s part of Russia. He claims that only Russia can protect Ukraine from foreign invaders.

Russia gained control of large swaths of southern Ukraine at the beginning of the invasion, and later captured the key Sea of Azov port of Mariupol after a three-month siege. In September, Putin illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions even though his forces didn’t completely control them: Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, and Donetsk and Luhansk in the east. In 2014, he had illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

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 the Kyiv authorities and their real masters in the West to hear me. Everyone is asked to remember. We have people in Luhansk and the rest of the region who are becoming citizens. Forever,” the Russian president said during the annexation ceremony Friday.

The Russian president thought the annexation was to fix a mistake that occurred after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Putin’s speech echoed his major foreign policy aim: restoring Russia as a major global power charged with protecting the Russian speaking world from the continued threat posed by Western forces.

Russia will defiantly fly its flag over 100,000 square miles of Ukrainian territory, the largest forcible annexation of land in Europe since 1945, despite widespread condemnation.

Mr. Putin’s spokesman said the president was expected to deliver a speech. He is likely to downplay his military’s struggles in Ukraine and rising domestic dissent. He will probably ignore worldwide denunciations of discredited referendums held in occupied Ukraine on joining Russia, where some were made to vote at gunpoint.

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.

The United Nations General Assembly roundly condemned Russia’s move to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine. In the session four countries voted with Russia, but they were joined by 73 others who voted in favor of the Ukrainian resolution.

Several European countries rely on Russian energy and are threatening to have a cost-of-living crisis if there is no progress on the battlefield.

Here, you can read past recaps. You can find more of NPR’s coverage here. Listen and subscribe to the NPR State of Ukraine Podcasts for the latest news.

The Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine: A day of high drama for business confidence in a country that’s turning into a war

Michael Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and was formerly a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a regular contributor to CNN Opinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. There is more opinion at CNN.

Since last month, the Russian government has intensified attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine such as apartment buildings, power grid and water systems.

The wide bombardment echoed the early days of Russia’s scattershot initial invasion in February, but also underlined that the conflict in Ukraine, which for months appeared to be descending into a slow and painful grind in the Donbas, has erupted once again as winter nears.

There are strikes close to the government quarter, and that’s not overstated. Western governments should see it as a red line being crossed on this 229th day of the war.

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 came just a few hours after Zaporizhzhia was hit with multiple strikes on apartment buildings, mostly while people slept. At least 17 people are dead and many more injured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “energy terrorism,” as attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure left more than 4 million Ukrainians without electricity.

The early days of the war when Russian forces came near the capital were very similar to what happened in today’s Ukraine. In one metro station serving as a shelter, large numbers of people took cover on platforms as a small group sang patriotic Ukrainian songs.

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.

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

It was a day of high drama in a war that’s still playing out. But as an historian, Viatrovych also sees the actions of President Vladimir Putin as part of a pattern of behavior by Russian leaders.

Hardwiring newly claimed territory with expensive, record-breaking infrastructure projects seems to be a penchant of dictators. The EU’s longest bridge was opened personally by Putin. That same year, one of the first things Chinese President Xi Jinping did after Beijing reclaimed Macau and Hong Kong was to connect the former Portuguese and British territories with the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The $20 billion, 34-mile road bridge opened after about two years of delays.

Ukrainians cried out: Putin’s response to the explosion was instantaneous and unreconciled by criticism and desperation

The reaction among Ukrainians to the explosion was instantaneous: humorous memes lit up social media channels like a Christmas tree. Many people shared their joy with text messages.

Sitting still was not an option for Putin, he was consumed by pride and self-interest. He responded in the only way he knows how, by unleashing more death and destruction, with the force that probably comes natural to a former KGB operative.

Putin was placed on thin ice due to the increased criticism at home, which was also an act of selfish desperation.

Ukrainian journalist Roman Kravets was told in August that the main intelligence unit of the defense ministry would have to enter at the minimum by the end of the year.

Washington and other allies have to use urgent telephone diplomacy in order to urge Russia and China to refrain from using even more deadly weapons.

Against a man who probes for weakness and tends to exploit divisions, the most important thing for the West right now is to show unity and resolve. Western governments also need to realize that rhetoric and sanctions have little if no impact on Putin’s actions. They have to keep giving arms and training to the Ukrainians, even if it means sending military experts closer to the battlefield to make sure high technology weapons are integrated more quickly.

Furthermore, high tech defense systems are needed to protect Kyiv and crucial energy infrastructure around the country. With winter just around the corner, the need to protect heating systems is urgent.

U.S. and Russian attacks on Ukraine during the February 24-24 invasion: a warning warning for the West and the Kremlin

For the West to be able to have any effect, Turkey and the Gulf states need to come on board with trade and travel restrictions on Russia.

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.

On Monday, state television not only reported on the suffering, but also flaunted it. It showed plumes of smoke and carnage in central Kyiv, along with empty store shelves and a long-range forecast promising months of freezing temperatures there.

“Of course, it could be a lengthy process,” Putin said of the more than 9-month-old war that began with Russia’s invasion Feb. 24 and has displaced millions from their homes, and killed and wounded tens of thousands. Despite its length, he showed no signs of letting up, vowing to “consistently fight for our interests” and to “protect ourselves using all means available.” He reiterated his claim that he had no choice but to send in troops, saying that for years, the West responded to Russia’s security demands with “only spit in the face.”

For the first time, the war is heading towards a new phase. Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme said, “This is now the third, fourth, or fifth different war we’ve been observing.”

Despite the fact that the war favors Ukrainians, American and Ukrainian officials don’t want to make predictions, but say it’s likely to continue for months more. It is possible that Europe’s unity can be maintained this winter as energy prices increase, and that President Putin is willing to ramp up the fight in December.

It means that, as winter approaches, the stakes of the war have been raised once more. “There’s no doubt Russia would like to keep it up,” Giles said. But the Ukrainian successes of recent weeks have sent a direct message to the Kremlin, too. “They are able to do things that take us by surprise, so let’s get used to it,” Giles said.

Monday’s attacks, and further strikes throughout the week, were evidence of Russian President Vladimir Putin lashing out after a series of setbacks in the war that have put him under pressure domestically.

Russian Counterfensive in Ukraine: A Test for the Effectiveness of the War and Russia’s Resilience to the Winter Energy Crisis in Europe

Ukrainian troops hoist the country’s flag above a building in Vysokopillya, in the southern Kherson region, last month. Ukrainian officials say they’ve liberated hundreds of settlements during their counter-offensive.

Russian troops have pulled out of various parts of the Kherson region, from the area around the country’s largest city, Kharkiv. Attacks this week against air force bases deep inside Russia are a problem for Putin. He put much of the country, especially border areas, on security alert recently, and fresh signs emerged Wednesday that Russian officials are strengthening border defensive positions.

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 senior fellow of the International Institute forStrategic Studies told CNN that the Russians are playing for the whistle and hope to avoid a collapse in their frontline.

The Russians would be greatly benefited if they can get to Christmas with the front looking the same as it is.

Ukrainian troops are focused primarily on pushing Russian forces eastwards, having crossed the Oskil River in late September, with Moscow likely preparing to defend the cities of Starobilsk and Svatove in the Luhansk region, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Landing a major blow in Donbas would send another powerful signal, and Ukraine will be eager to improve on its gains before temperatures plummet on the battlefield, and the full impact of rising energy prices is felt around Europe.

“There are so many reasons why there is an incentive for Ukraine to get things done quickly,” Giles said. The resilience of Ukraine and its Western allies will always be tested by the winter energy crisis in Europe and the power failures in the country.

The national electricity company of Ukraine, Ukrenergo, says it has brought the power supply back to normal after much of the country had its electricity supply disrupted by Russian missile attacks. The Ukrainian Prime Minister has warned of a lot of work to be done to fix damaged equipment, and asked his people to use less energy during peak hours.

While estimating military reserves of either army is a difficult task, Western assessments show Moscow may not have the capacity to keep it up.

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

In its daily update on the conflict Monday, the ISW noted that some of the precision weapons Russia uses against civilians were wasted in the strikes.

How much weaponry and manpower there is left on each side will go a long way in determining how the rest of the game will play out. 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 barrage of missile strikes is going to be an occasional feature reserved for shows of extreme outrage, because the Russians don’t have the stocks of precision munitions to maintain that kind of high-tempo missile assault into the future,” Puri said.

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. It would have an impact on another assault on the Ukrainian side of the border.

The reopening of the northern front is a new challenge for Ukraine, said Giles. 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.

“We see it not just as a moral duty to help Ukraine to survive and win the war,” he said. It’s an opportunity to have a discussion about democracy and the values of freedom. Ukrainians keep demonstrating to us that these values are worth fighting and dying for.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Ukraine needed “more” systems to better halt missile attacks, ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

The system is widely considered one of the most capable long-range weapons to defend airspace against incoming ballistic and cruise missiles as well as some aircraft. Because of its long-range and high-altitude capability, it can potentially shoot down Russian missiles and aircraft far from their intended targets inside Ukraine.

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.

The impact of Russian Forces on the Ukrainian Defense and Security Against Russian Intervention in the War on the Interaction Between Ukraine and the United States

Giles believes that Russia can try to make the war personal by pressuring governments to remove their support for Ukrainians.

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 fill out depleted units along the line of contact, cordon some areas and man checkpoints in the rear. They are, however, unlikely to become a capable fighting force. Already there are signs of discipline problems among mobilized soldiers in Russian garrisons.

Russian President Putin made public comments regarding the attacks by the Russian military on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Nuclear deterrence exercises will be held by NATO. NATO has warned Russia not to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine but says the “Steadfast Noon” drills are a routine, annual training activity.

Russian agents were suspected of carrying out an explosion on a bridge and detaining people, including Russians, Ukrainians and Armenians.

Two men shot at Russian troops preparing to deploy to Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounding 15 before being killed themselves, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Oct. 15.

Washington. The Ukrainian military has a window of opportunity to make gains against Russia’s army over the next six weeks, according to American intelligence assessments, if it can continue its push in the south and the northeast before muddy ground and cloud cover force the opposing armies to pause and regroup.

Andelman’s View on Energy Prices in Europe: Implications for the European Union and the Kremlin-Parisinian War

David A. Andelman is a CNN contributor and a winner of the Deadline Club Award for “A Red Line in the Sand”, his book on diplomacy, strategy and the history of wars. He was previously a correspondent for The New York Times and CBS News. His views are not shared in this commentary. CNN has more opinion.

He wants to distract his nation from the fact that he is losing badly on the battlefield, and that his invasion objectives have been scaled back.

In short, there is every incentive for Putin to prolong the conflict as long as possible to allow many of these forces in the West to kick in. A long, cold winter in Europe, persistent inflation and higher interest rates leading to a recession on both sides of the Atlantic could mean irresistible pressure on already skeptical leaders to dial back on financial and military support.

It is important to remember that the ability to continue depends on a number of variables including availability of critical and affordable energy supplies for the winter, popular will across a broad range of nations, and 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.

There is an emergency cap on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility and permission for EU gas companies to create a cartels in order to purchase gas outside the EU.

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, Europe’s biggest economy, remains skeptical of price caps. The ministers need to work out details with their German counterparts, who think caps would encourage higher consumption.

These divisions are all part of Putin’s fondest 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.

France and Germany are at odds with regards to many 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

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni: Trump’s First Lady and the State Department’s Latest Report on Russian Military-Industry Control

There has been a new government in Italy. Giorgia Meloni was sworn in Saturday as Italy’s first woman prime minister and has attempted to brush aside the post-fascist aura of her party. One of her far-right coalition partners meanwhile, has expressed deep appreciation for Putin.

In an audio transcript, Berlusconi said that he returned Putin’s gesture with bottles of Lambrusco wine, adding 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.”

Poland and Hungary have joined together against the EU’s liberal policies in order 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 will not 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, chair of the Caucus, sent a statement to the reporters clarifying her remarks in support of Ukraine. The Secretary of State called Dmytro Kulba to thank him for renewing 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.

Russia is being pressured at the same time by the West. Last Thursday, the State Department released a detailed report on the impact of sanctions and export controls strangling the Russian military-industrial complex.

The lack of necessary semi-conductors resulted in the end of Russian production of hypersonic missiles. 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 recently imposed sanctions on several individuals, companies and organizations in Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, Spain,France, and Luxembourg, who were found to be working for Russia to procure high-tech goods.

The US Justice Department revealed charges against individuals and companies that were attempting to bring high-tech equipment into Russia.

U.S., Russia, and the Middle East: What do we really want to know about the Ukraine crisis? A comment from CNN’s Frida Ghitis

Still, there remain hardliners like Pavel Gubarev, Russia’s puppet leader in Donetsk, who voiced his real intention toward Ukrainians: “We aren’t coming to kill you, but to convince you. But if you don’t want to be convinced, we’ll kill you. We’ll kill as many as we have to: 1 million, 5 million, or exterminate all of you.”

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

Iran acknowledged for the first time that it provided drones to Russia before the war in Ukraine, but did not supply them again. Zelenskyy disagreed with Iran because Ukrainian forces shoot down at least 10 Iranian drones every day.

The strengthening relationship between Moscow and Tehran has drawn the attention of Iran’s rivals and foes in the Middle East, of NATO members and of nations that are still – at least in theory – interested in restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which aimed to delay Iran’s ability to build an atomic bomb.

The war in Ukraine is becoming an engine that fuels a far-right push for more influence; a symbiotic relationship between Putin and his fans in the West. Just as a political action committee linked to the former Trump aide Stephen Miller is arguing against spending on Ukraine, somehow linking it to poverty and crime in the US, like-minded figures in Europe are trying to promote their views by pointing to their country’s hardships as the cost of helping Ukraine. Support for Ukraine is strong across Europe and the US, even though it’s waning among Republicans.

Since the Second World War, most nations have denied that a victory for Russia would open the door to invasions of one country by another, which is why Yuval Noah Harari’s argument is so important.

Much of what happens far from the battlefields is still having repercussions. When oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, decided last month to slash production, the US accused the Saudis of helping Russia fund the war by boosting its oil revenues. (An accusation the Saudis deny).

Syria’s airspace, bordering Israel, is controlled by Russian forces, which have allowed Israel to strike Iranian weapon flows to Hezbollah, a militia sworn to Israel’s destruction. New military communications systems, but not missile shields, will be given by Gantz to Ukraine, but only if it develops defensive systems.

Russia’s assault on Ukrainian ports and its patrols of Black Sea halted Ukraine’s grain exports just after the war started, causing food prices to skyrocket. The head of the World Food Program warned in May that the world was moving toward starvation.

Family budgets are affected by higher prices. They pack a political punch when they have such powerful momentum. Political leaders in many countries have been put under attack because of the war’s effects on inflation.

Beyond the Front: The Attacks on Ukrainian Soldiers in Kherson and the U.S. Dem Demographic Poll on Ukraine’s Strategic Issues

And it’s not all on the fringes. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader who could become speaker of the House after next week’s US elections, suggested the GOP might choose to reduce aid to Ukraine. Progressive Democrats released and withdrew a letter calling for negotiations. Evelyn Farkas was a former Pentagon official during the Obama administration.

The scale of losses in the infantry advances by Russian soldiers is unknown. The institute described the advances as “impaling” ill-prepared units on well dug-in defensive positions of Ukraine’s battle-hardened troops. The Ukrainian military is believed to have inflated its estimates of Russian casualties, but relative increases in the reported numbers suggest a rising toll. Over the course of the day on Friday, the Ukrainian military said more than 800 Russian soldiers had been wounded or killed.

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. He did not say when or where the attacks were coming from.

“We discussed the situation at the front,” General Zaluzhnyi wrote. He told his U.S. colleague that the Ukrainians were fighting back and had the courage and skills to do so.

An assessment from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based analytical group, also said that the increase in infantry in the Donbas region in the east had not resulted in Russia’s gaining new ground.

“Russian forces would likely have had more success in such offensive operations if they had waited until enough mobilized personnel had arrived to amass a force large enough to overcome Ukrainian defenses,” the institute said in a statement on Thursday.

In the south, where Ukrainian troops are advance toward the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, the Ukrainian military reported that it had fired over 160 times at Russian positions over the last 24 hours.

With Russian and Ukrainian forces apparently preparing for a battle in Kherson, the remaining residents have been stocking up on food and fuel to survive.

And Ukraine will be watching America’s midterm election results this week, especially after some Republicans warned that the party could limit funding for Ukraine if it wins control of the House of Representatives, as forecast.

U.S. actions against Ukraine continue: Putin and the Kushushush shambles in Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, and the United Nations

Also Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Erdogan insists Sweden must meet certain conditions before it can join NATO.

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday is scheduled to discuss an International Atomic Energy Agency report, in which Ukraine is expected to be on the agenda.

A deal to export grain and agricultural goods from Ukraine was rejoined by Russia on Nov 2. Moscow had suspended its part in the deal a few days prior after saying Ukraine had launched a drone attack on its Black Sea ships.

$400 million in additional security aid was announced by the Pentagon on Nov. 4.

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. The missile was not Ukrainian according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Whatever the circumstances of the missile, one thing is certain. “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 stretches of territory in Kherson from which they’ve recently withdrawn – much as the Khmer Rouge did in Cambodia stretching back to the 1970s. Cambodian de-mining experts have been called in to help with the enormous task of reconstructing Ukrainian society in the coming years. 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.

Putin is increasingly isolated on the world stage. He was the only head of state to stay away from a session of the G20, which Zelensky dubbed the “G19.” Though Putin once lusted after a return to the G7 (known as the G8 before he was ousted after his seizure of Crimea), inclusion now seems but a distant dream. The Russian ban on 100 Canadians, including Jim Carrey, made the comparison with North Korea more striking.

Many of the best and brightest in almost every field have left Russia. This includes writers, artists and journalists as well as some of the most creative technologists, scientists and engineers.

I spoke to a Russian journalist last week who said, like many of his countrymen, that he may never be able to return to his homeland, even if this isn’t the case.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Special Military Operation in Kyiv, Ukraine: The onset of the Cold War and the prospects for nuclear weapons

The attempt by the West to prevent Russia from gaining material resources to pursue this war is crumbling in the background. “We have understood and learnt our lesson that it was an unhealthy and unsustainable dependency, and we want reliable and forward-looking connections,” Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission told the G20 on Tuesday.

Moreover, Putin’s dream that this conflict, along with the enormous burden it has proven to be on Western countries, would only drive further wedges into the Western alliance are proving 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.

Above all, Putin still does not appear to have learned that revenge is not an appropriate way to act on or off the battlefield and in the final analysis is most likely to isolate and weaken Russia, perhaps irreversibly.

He continued to hold that attempts to remake and distort world history are becoming more aggressive, and that they are looking to divide the society, and eventually weaken Russia.

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Wednesday that his “special military operation” in Ukraine is taking longer than expected but said it has succeeded in seizing new territory and added that his country’s nuclear weapons are deterring escalation of the conflict.

Speaking in a televised meeting in Russia with members of his Human Rights Council, Putin described the land gains as “a significant result for Russia,” noting that the Sea of Azov “has become Russia’s internal sea.” He mentioned that Peter the great fought to get access to the water in his references to Russian leaders.

In response to an increasing influx of advanced Western weapons, economic, political and humanitarian aid to Kyiv and what he saw as Western leaders’ inflammatory statements, Putin has periodically hinted at his potential use of nuclear weapons. Putin said he wouldn’t pledge that Russia wouldn’t be the first to use such weapons. He said Russia would not be able to use nuclear weapons at all if it agreed not to use them first and then came under a nuclear strike.

“If it doesn’t use it first under any circumstances, it means that it won’t be the second to use it, either, because the possibility of using it in case of a nuclear strike on our territory will be sharply limited,” he said.

We have not gone mad. We are fully aware of what nuclear weapons are,” Putin said. He added, without elaborating: “We have them, and they are more advanced and state-of-the-art than what any other nuclear power has.”

In his televised remarks the Russian leader didn’t discuss Russia’s battles or its attempts to cement control over the seized regions but did acknowledge the difficulties with supplies, treatment of wounded soldiers and limited desertions.

In the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, the governor posted photos of new concrete anti-tank barriers — known as “dragon’s teeth” — in open fields. The governor said on Tuesday that there was a fire at the airport after a drone strike. Workers were working on anti-tank barriers in Belgorod, and officials were organizing self-defense units. Belgorod has seen numerous fires and explosions, apparently from cross-border attacks, and its governor reported Wednesday that Russia’s air defenses have shot down incoming rockets.

Moscow responded with strikes by artillery, multiple rocket launchers, missiles, tanks and mortars at residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, worsening damage to the power grid. Private Ukrainian power utility Ukrenergo said temperatures in eastern areas where it was making repairs had dropped to as low as minus 17 degrees Celsius (near zero Fahrenheit).

Putin’s remarks on “Heroes of Russia”: “No water supply to Donetsk” and the Ukraine’s drone attacks

After the awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia” he spoke to a group of soldiers, holding a glass of champagne.

At the awards ceremony, Putin continued to list alleged aggressions: “Who is not supplying water to Donetsk? It’s an act of genocide to not give water to a million people.

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 offered no comment on recent explosions, including in Kursk, which are deep within Russia. The targets are beyond the country’s declared drones.

He ended his apparent off-the-cuff comments by claiming there is no mention of the water situation. No one has said anything about it. At all! He said it was complete silence.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-12-08-22/h_aea9d9149a72232d60137554cc312f1e

From Donetsk to Kiev: A week on Ukraineraine and look-ahead at Russias war-dec-12 in Paris, France

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

Ukrainian authorities have been stepping up raids on churches accused of links with Moscow, and many are watching to see if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy follows through on his threat of a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

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

On Tuesday, France will host a conference with Ukraine in aid of the Ukrainians through the winter with a video address from President Zelenskyy.

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 measures targeting Russian oil revenue took effect. They include a price cap and a European Union embargo on most Russian oil imports and a Russian oil price cap.

Zelenskyy said that the city of Bakhmut was turned into burned ruins by Russian forces. Russia is trying to take over a city in the east of the country.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1141827823/latest-on-ukraine-a-weekly-recap-and-look-ahead-at-russias-war-dec-12

What is the rationale behind the sudden announcement of a Patriot mission to Ukraine? Reply to Gen. Vladimir Zakharova, Pentagon spokesman, and Russian intelligence

The leaders of France and Turkey, as well as the President Zelenskyy, had a phone call with President Biden in an apparent step up of diplomacy over the 9 monthslong Russian invasion.

But news, first reported by CNN, that the US is finalizing plans to send the system to Ukraine triggered a cryptic warning from Russia’s US embassy Wednesday of “unpredictable consequences.”

Many experts and people abroad questioned the rationality of such a step that would lead to an escalate of the conflict and possibly drag the US army into combat, Zakharova said.

The Patriot system is expensive and complicated and requires intensive training for the multiple people it takes to operate it, but could help the country guard against Russian attacks that have left millions without power.

Asked Thursday about Russian warnings that the Patriot system would be “provocative,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. US aid to Ukraine would not be affected by comments made by Gen. Pat Ryder.

It’s ironic that officials from a country that brutally attacked its neighbor in an illegal and unprovoked invasion would use provocative language to describe defensive systems meant to save lives and protect civilians.

“We don’t have NATO troops on the ground. We don’t have NATO planes in the air over Ukraine. But we are supporting Ukraine in their right to defend themselves,” he said.

In what may be a no less subtle message than calling the Patriot deployments provocative, Russia’s defense ministry shared video of the installation of a “Yars” intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo launcher in the Kaluga region for what Alexei Sokolov, commander of the Kozelsky missile formation, called “combat duty as planned.”

Commander Alexander Khdakovsky of the Russian militia said on state TV that Russia would not be able to defeat the NATO alliance in a conventional war.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/politics/russia-patriot-missiles-what-matters/index.html

In the trenches, the Russian empire cannot exist without Ukraine: Will Ripley, a sewing machine repairman and a former ambassador to the United States

Unlike smaller air defense systems, Patriot missile batteries need much larger crews, requiring dozens of personnel to properly operate them. The training for Patriot missile batteries normally takes multiple months, a process the United States will now carry out under the pressure of near-daily aerial attacks from Russia.

In an interview with The Economist published Thursday, Zelensky also rejected the idea recently suggested by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Ukraine seek to reclaim only land seized by Russia since February 2022 and not areas like Donbas and Crimea, which have been under Russian control since 2014.

Valeriy Chaly, Ukraine’s former ambassador to the United States, said the region would be more stable if Ukraine wins the war and joins NATO. This is what Ukraine’s government wants, though joining the alliance is highly unlikely in the near term.

Old ammo. CNN reported this week on a US official who said that Russian warplanes had to use 40-year-old cannon fodder due to their shortage of new weapons.

“You load the ammunition and you cross your fingers and hope it’s gonna fire or when it lands that it’s gonna explode,” said the official, speaking to reporters.

In the trenches. CNN’s Will Ripley filed a video report from trenches and fortifications being built along Ukraine’s border with Belarus, where there is growing concern about Russia once again assembling troops. Ripley talks to a sewing machine repairman turned tank driver.

The Russian empire started to expand. In the mind of many Russians, their empire cannot exist without Ukraine. Volodymyr Viatrovych, a member ofUkraine’s parliament and a prominent historian, said that it is because they keep coming back.

He lives in a suburb where the Russians destroyed it on the first day of the war. When the Russians invaded Ukraine before dawn on Feb. 24, Viatrovych says he immediately sent his wife and 6-year-old son to western Ukraine for their safety.

The emergency session of parliament in Kyiv was declared martial law. He received a rifle by 2 pm so he could join the security forces.

Ukraine first declared independence from Russia in 1918, doing so in an elegant, whitewashed building in the center of Kyiv that still stands and now serves as the offices for the Kyiv House of Teachers.

A reminder of that history came just two months ago, on Oct. 10. A missile slammed into the street outside of the Kyiv House of Teachers.

The hall where independence was declared in 1918 was damaged by the blast. The windows are boarded up. Shards of glass still cover the floor.

Steshuk Oleh, the director of the House of Teachers said there were parallels to a century ago. The building was damaged during the fighting. It was damaged again. Don’t worry. We will rebuild everything.”

The 21st Century: Why Ukraine is Fighting Against Russia, and Why Ukrainians Need to Go to the Top of the World’s Best Interests

Andrew Weiss, with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, notes that during the Soviet era, Kremlin leaders repeatedly crushed Ukrainian protests and rebellions — which helps explain why Ukrainians are fighting so fiercely today.

“If you look at all the hardships that Ukraine experienced in the 20th century, and they’re vast, this is the moment where all the wrongs of the last hundred plus years need to be redressed,” he said.

“I have said it before, but I want to say it again: Russia can be the only real guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Putin said earlier this month.

Weiss said that Ukraine is now getting people to do things that they could not do 100 years ago. The country’s identity will largely be founded in opposition to Russia and it will have a narrative of survival and overcoming.

Because “if he’s losing a war, especially a war of his own making, he doesn’t survive,” he said. “The outcome may signal the end, not just of Putin’s era, but the era of the empire. It is the 21st century. Empires need to go.

Kasparov was still living in Russia 15 years ago when he entered politics and challenged Putin’s hold on power. When it became clear his safety was at risk, he left Russia, and now lives in New York.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/16/1142176312/ukraine-ongoing-fight-to-free-itself-from-russia

The Cold War and the First Prime Minister’s Report: “The Case of Ukraine”, Revised Levy and Zelenskyy

Military analysts think the war is unlikely to reach a resolution on the battlefield. They think it will require negotiations and compromises.

In Ukraine, that is not a popular opinion. Many citizens and the president want all of the Russian troops to leave the country. Zelenskyy recently told Time magazine, “We are dealing with a powerful state that is pathologically unwilling to let Ukraine go.”

“Being a buffer zone or gray zone is not good from a geopolitical point of view,” he said. If you are a gray zone between the security and military blocs, everyone would like to take a step. This has happened with Ukraine.”

An official announcement is expected on the European Union capping natural gas prices in a bid to address an energy crisis spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will make his first appearance as prime minister before the Commons Liaison Committee on Tuesday, where he will discuss global issues. Sunak met with members of theU.K.-led European military force on Monday in Latvia.

Russian-Ukrainian Torsion, Detention and Instability in the Early Stage of the Russian-Russian Invasion

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold virtual talks sometime this month, according to Russian news reports.

The Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations of Russian and Ukrainians will be their first since the Kremlin launched an invasion of Ukraine in late February.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Dec. 13 it made an agreement with Ukraine’s government to send nuclear safety and security experts to each of the country’s nuclear power plants.

An American was freed from Russian-controlled territory as part of a prisoner exchange. Suedi Murekezi told ABC News he spent weeks in a basement, where he was tortured, and months in a prison in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

EU lawmakers approved about $19 billion in financing for Ukraine, Dec. 14, and more sanctions on Russia. The aid package followed pledges earlier in the week from dozens of countries and global institutions to support more than $1 billion in winter relief funds for Ukraine, helping the country with power, heat, food and medical supplies.