JRL NEWSWATCH: “Bullets and balance sheets: Ukraine’s economy seems to be growing again: Battlefield success begets economic success” – The Economist

File Image of Ukrainian Currency, adapted from file at usaid.gov

“… [Ukraine’s] economy has adapted to war — and seems to be growing again. … Odessa’s ports. … are now operating. … A grain deal … allows Ukraine to export agricultural products. … In August just as many people entered Ukraine from the [EU] as went the other way. The share of firms working at more than half capacity reached […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Top Ukraine Commander Sees Invasion Faltering in South, but Missile Strikes Take Toll on Ukraine” – WSJ

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Ukrainian power infrastructure takes heavy damage.” “Russia’s top military commander in Ukraine signaled Moscow’s hold on the southern city of Kherson was weakening, and Ukraine said Russian strikes since last week had knocked out some 30% of its power-plant infrastructure, raising concerns of countrywide blackouts. … Western military analysts have long said that Russian forces would be advised to leave […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine Is the World’s Foreign-Policy Rorschach Test” – Foreign Policy

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“There are two basic ways to think about the war — and the world.” “… [K]ey decision-makers on both sides view the war as an all-or-nothing struggle with far-reaching global implications — worsening the risk of dangerous escalation the longer it lasts. … [W]hat happens in Ukraine is important but not likely to determine the fate of the planet. … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Sources of Russian Misconduct; A Diplomat Defects From the Kremlin” – Foreign Affairs/ Boris Bondarev

Tower and Building Inside Kremlin

“… [O]ne of the invasion’s central lessons had to do with something I had witnessed over the preceding two decades: what happens when a government is slowly warped by its own propaganda. … Russian diplomats were made to confront Washington and defend the country’s meddling abroad with lies and non sequiturs. … embrac[ing] bombastic rhetoric and … uncritically parrot … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Public Sentiment in Russia Darkens Over Ukraine War” – WSJ

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

“Call-up of more men to military service and talk of nuclear weapons are rattling citizens.” “… Putin’s massive military mobilization and escalating talk of nuclear weapons in the protracted Ukraine conflict are rattling many Russians, including urban elites for whom the war had seemed far in the background. … In some urban centers, apartments are being put up for sale […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “After war, after Putin, what’s next for Russia?” – Washington Post

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

“… Putin’s hail of missiles against civilian targets in Ukraine is both reprehensible and a desperate move in an unjust war he is losing. The question raised by … Navalny in a recent essay …: What will come when it is over? How Russia emerges from this disaster could shape the world for a long time. In addition to Russia’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Exclusive: As Ukraine Gets Closer to Victory, Nuclear War Gets Closer Too” – Newsweek

Iskander Missile with Launch file photo

“Russia’s attacks on a dozen Ukrainian cities … in what Moscow calls retaliation for the sabotage of the Kerch Bridge … bring the world ever closer to nuclear war, four U.S. government and military sources told Newsweek. The officials, all working on nuclear-weapons issues, said … not enough is being done to avoid nuclear escalation at a time that battlefield […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin pushes patriotism in class. Teachers and parents push back.” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

“… When the Russian Ministry of Education rolled out classroom discussions of current events, some parents and teachers pushed back. They worry the state is trying to impose its values on students. …” “… [I]ts detractors view it as another giant step on the road back to totalitarianism. The announcement of the new classes led to considerable pushback from parents’ […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Ukrainian Strategy Is Running Circles Around Russia’s Lumbering Military” – WSJ

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Classic military operations and nimble battlefield decision-making are exploiting the incompetence and top-down command of Russian forces.” “… Ukraine’s command structure encourages junior officers to make in-the-moment battlefield decisions … to seize opportunities and quickly take advantage of enemy weaknesses. Russians, by contrast, have been slowed by a Soviet-era decision-making structure, in which orders trickle down the chain of command […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why NATO Needs to Plan for Nuclear War” – Foreign Policy

NATO Meeting File Photo

“As the alliance meets this week, leaders must discuss how they will react if Russia uses weapons of mass destruction.” “NATO defense ministers will gather this week for a ministerial meeting, but one topic of discussion will be anything but routine: the risk that … Putin might use nuclear weapons in Europe. The recent massive, disproportionate missile attacks launched against […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Moral Career: Why Are Russia’s Technocrats Silent on the War?” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace/ Alexandra Prokopenko

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

“In the system of Russian state administration, excessive reflection and compunction are, if anything, a distraction from focusing on the result, and therefore a disadvantage. Efficiency and loyalty are the two main criteria for success.” “Ever since their country invaded Ukraine, there has been a deafening silence from the group of Western-educated technocrats … in charge of running Russia’s economy. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Defending the skies: How the West is helping Ukraine beat Russia’s missiles; and why such help has been so slow in coming” – The Economist

BUK SAM file photo adapted from image at army.mil

“… It was the second consecutive day of large-scale Russian missile attacks on civilian neighbourhoods and infrastructure, though … not nearly as serious as the first. On October 10th Russia launched 83 missiles at cities across Ukraine, killing at least 19 …. Ukraine said it had shot down 43 of those, but … still relies mainly on Soviet-era … systems […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine: Conflict at the Crossroads of Europe and Russia” – Council on Foreign Relations

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“Ukraine’s Westward drift since independence has been countered by the sometimes violent tug of Russia, felt most recently with Putin’s 2022 invasion.” “Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has set alight one of the bloodiest conflicts in Europe since World War II. A former Soviet republic, Ukraine had deep cultural, economic, and political bonds with Russia, but the war […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Path to Victory: How the Country Can Take Back All Its Territory” – Foreign Affairs/ Andriy Zagorodnyuk

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“For too long, the global democratic coalition supporting Kyiv has focused on what it should not do in the invasion of Ukraine. Its main aims include not letting Ukraine lose and not letting Russian President Vladimir Putin win — but also not allowing the war to escalate to a point where Russia attacks a NATO country or conducts a nuclear […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “As Europe falls into recession, Russia climbs out; Real-time data show a subdued but strengthening economy” – The Economist

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

“Western sanctions … have wounded Russia’s long-term economic prospects. … cut[ting] its growth potential by as much as half …. Output of oil and gas … is about 3% lower than … before the invasion and may fall further once European embargoes come into effect …. In the first six months of the war somewhere in the region of 250,000 […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin Has Sent Us a Message, but Not the One He Meant To” – New York Times

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… While it’s clear … Putin wanted to threaten Ukrainians and send a message of power with the bombings of Kyiv and Lviv, Kharkiv and Dnipro … the attack in fact shows … how weak [] Putin is. Among Ukrainians, there is an almost palpable feeling that Russia is losing the war. [] Putin might know it, too. … in […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Strategic Procrastination: What’s Russia’s Game With Nuclear Signaling?” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Putin has made it clear that the Kremlin hopes to end the ‘special military operation’ as quickly as possible. If Zelensky does not want to stop his counteroffensive and resume talks, then the Kremlin believes it must convince his Western partners to force him.” “Moscow desperately needs to stop Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Russian troops are losing their combat effectiveness, barely hanging […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Collaborators or Compatriots? How Ukraine Should Treat Residents of Territory It Retakes From Russia” – Foreign Affairs

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“…. There is a spectrum of culpability, from outright treason to passive participation. Zelensky will need to consider what balance of punitive and reintegrationist measures are appropriate in regions such as the Donbas, where a significant proportion of public servants remained on the job during the occupation. These are the same regions that the Ukrainian government has been working the […]

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VIDEO: JRL NEWSWATCH: “A view from Moscow: Ukraine war will get worse [video interview with Andrey Kortunov]” – Al Jazeera

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“… The war in Ukraine is not going as planned … Ukraine currently has the upper hand on the ground. … [E]xperts say there is no way Russia will seek to end the fighting. … [Russian political scientist] Andrey Kortunov … paints a bleak picture …. [and also] says the real issue … is: does [Russia] want long-term isolation from […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Russian-occupied Izyum, she was raped and tortured” – Washington Post

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Soon after Russian forces took her prisoner, the 52-year-old woman picked up a nail and carved her name into a brick wall. A-L-L-A, she wrote. Below, she scratched how many days she had been held in the shed outside a medical clinic in her hometown. Above, she wrote in simple words what she had endured in captivity: ELECTRICAL SHOCK. UNDRESS. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘We’re hunting them down and shooting them like pigs’: How the Ukrainians are taking brutal revenge on the collaborators who’ve betrayed their neighbours – and country – to the Russians” – Daily Mail

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Ukrainians were beaten, electrocuted and forced to endure mock executions when Russia overtook Balakliya The interrogations were carried out by officials from Russia’s Federal Security Service Some Ukrainians were assisting Vladimir Putin’s war crimes and theft of their land, it has now emerged Kyiv has opened investigations into 1,309 suspected traitors and launched 450 prosecutions of collaborators Others accused of […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The U.S. Needs To Change Course Right Now in Ukraine” – Newsweek

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

“… [T]his column has argued that (1) Ukraine, like Russia, is a deeply corrupt and oligarchic country, and Zelensky is a highly flawed leader; but (2) despite his myriad flaws and status as a pawn of the Davos/NGO globalist class, Zelensky remaining in power in Kyiv is preferable to the obvious alternative of a Belarusian/Alexander Lukashenko-style Moscow puppet state. But […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Experts: Russia finding new ways to spread propaganda videos” – AP

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“… Accounts linked to Russian state-controlled media have used [a] new method to spread dozens of videos in 18 different languages, all without leaving telltale signs that would give away the source, [according to] researchers at Nisos, a U.S.-based intelligence firm that tracks disinformation and other cyber threats …. The videos push Kremlin conspiracy theories blaming Ukraine for civilian casualties […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Thousands of Russian Soldiers Calling ‘I Want to Live’ Hotline to Surrender” – Newsweek/ Nick Mordowanec

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“A new Ukrainian hotline set up to allow for Russian soldiers to surrender has already been utilized thousands of times. … [R]equests [reportedly] spiked due to … Ukraine’s counteroffensive, in addition to … Putin’s conscription of hundreds of thousands of soldiers as part of mobilization. Mobilizations have gotten off to a rocky start amid reports that Russians are intentionally breaking […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin signs annexation laws, plowing ahead with a parallel reality as Russia loses ground in Ukraine” – New York Times

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… Putin signed more than 400 pages of legislation annexing four Ukrainian regions … forging ahead with a parallel reality in which Russia pretends to exercise sovereignty over thousands of square miles … that its military does not actually control. Russia’s economy ministry sought to attach real-world benefits to a largely illusory claim, forecasting that … annexation would raise Russia’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Mobilization Can’t Save Russia’s War; Russian troops are being trained to be cannon fodder” – Foreign Policy

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“… Putin … has doubled back on his word, sparking outrage across Russia. Declaring that 300,000 ‘reservists’ — nominally those with previous military service — would be mobilized, the deadly combination of unrest at home and an ever more limited military apparatus facing down an increasingly better-armed Ukrainian army means that even if Moscow can meet its recruitment goals, Putin’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “In bid for new long-range rockets, Ukraine offers U.S. targeting oversight” – CNN

File Photo of ATACMS U.S. Army Long-Range Missile, adapted from U.S. Army image at army.mil

“In an effort to overcome Biden administration resistance to providing it with a new set of powerful, long-range rocket systems, the Ukrainian government [reportedly] is now offering the U.S. full and ongoing visibility into their list of intended Russian targets …. essentially giv[ing] the U.S. veto power over Ukrainian targeting of Russia … [That step seeks] to convince the [U.S.] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s World Is Now Smaller Than Ever; The moral and strategic disaster of the Russian leader’s war in Ukraine has ended his imperial dreams.” – Foreign Policy

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“… The first miscalculation was the overestimation of the Russian military’s strength and effectiveness. … Putin apparently had been led to believe that the war would be over after a 72-hour blitzkrieg, Kyiv would fall, and Zelensky would surrender or flee and be replaced by a puppet government …. But the Russian military performed much worse than Putin (and apparently […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Washington, Putin’s Nuclear Threats Stir Growing Alarm” – New York Times

Iskander Missile with Launch file photo

“In a gathering Cold War atmosphere, American officials are gaming out responses should Russia resort to battlefield nuclear weapons.” “For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, top government leaders in Moscow are making explicit nuclear threats and officials in Washington are gaming out scenarios should … Putin decide to use a tactical nuclear weapon to […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Elites Are Starting to Admit the Possibility of Defeat” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

“The longer the conflict rages and the more resources the Russian regime throws into the furnace of war, the more isolated Putin may become in his bid for nuclear escalation.” “… [A] fragile faith [held by the Russian elites] has been rocked by the humiliating Russian retreat from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the … partial mobilization that looks likely to become […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Ukraine’s South, Fierce Fighting and Deadly Costs” – New York Times

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“The offensive in the south was the most highly anticipated military action of the summer. Ukraine is making gains, but the fighting is grinding, grueling and steep in casualties.” “… Ukraine’s southern offensive … [seeks] to push the Russians back from a strategic region along the coast, bolster the confidence of a battered citizenry and prove to allies that Ukraine […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin is not bluffing with his nuclear threats” – Boston Globe

Iskander Missile with Launch file photo

“What do President Biden and his national security team know that makes them take Russian President Putin’s nuclear threat so seriously? Seven inconvenient facts.” “… Russia … has a nuclear arsenal that can literally erase the United States from the map. … Reagan summarized most succinctly the profound consequences …: ‘a nuclear war cannot be won, and therefore must never […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Understanding Russian Coercive Signaling” – RAND

File Photo of Russian SU-35 fighter jet in flight, along with portion of wing of U.S. aircraft, adapted from image at defense.gov, with photo credit to U.S. Navy

“Research Questions  1. What are the primary drivers of Russia’s coercive signaling behavior?  2. Are there trends or patterns in this behavior?  3. How do Russian military strategists think about signaling?  4. How can the United States best interpret future Russian actions?  Moscow regularly uses limited military actions — far short of direct aggression but often creating escalatory risks — […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia is a failed state” – The Hill

Russia Regions Map

“…. Putin is rapidly losing legitimacy …. The secret police are angry over being] blam[ed] … for the military fiasco. The generals are angry that the war is destroying the armed forces. The pro-war faction … blames him …. The pro-peace faction blames him …. Russia’s foreign allies are … losing … respect … for Putin. … [I]nitial enthusiasm for […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. embassy in Moscow urges American citizens to leave Russia ‘immediately'” – Politico

File Photo of U.S. Embassy Moscow, with Russian Foreign Ministry Building in Distance

“The embassy warned that Russian-U.S. dual nationals could be conscripted by the Kremlin for military service.” “The U.S. Embassy in Moscow [warns] … ‘U.S. citizens should not travel to Russia and those residing or traveling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain’ …. [A] week [ago] … Putin announced an escalation of Russia’s war in […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The U.S. and Europe are running out of weapons to send to Ukraine” – CNBC

File Photo of HIMARS Missile Being Launched, adapted from image at army.mil

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held a special meeting of the alliance’s arms directors to discuss ways to refill member nations’ weapons stockpiles. But ramping up defense production is no quick or easy feat. The U.S. has been by far the largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia, providing $15.2 billion in weapons packages to date […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin says Putin to proclaim rule over seized Ukrainian land” – Reuters

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… Putin will sign documents … Friday proclaiming Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions … rush[ing] to lock in territorial claims that the Ukrainian army is threatening to reverse on the battlefield. The move, one of the legal steps Russia says will lead to formal annexation of 15% of Ukraine’s territory, confirms that Putin is doubling down … despite suffering […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin says military campaign in Ukraine to continue at least until capture of all of Donetsk region” – Reuters

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“The Kremlin said on Wednesday its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine must continue at least until the capture of all of east Ukraine’s Donetsk region. … Though Russia already controls almost all of Luhansk region, the other half of the Donbas, it holds only around 60% of Donetsk region. The Moscow-backed entities in Donetsk and Luhansk, alongside two other Russian-occupied […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How long will Russians tolerate war and sanctions? What the Ukraine war looks like from Russia” – Le Monde Diplomatique

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

“Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation of reservists has provoked widespread protests across Russia and many are seeking to leave the country. Further discontent is likely as economic hardships grow.” “… The government had some success in managing popular expectations so as to avoid pressure on the Kremlin to get quick results. …. This allowed the Russian public to develop some immunity to […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Defeat Would Be America’s Problem; Victory in Ukraine could easily mean hubris in Washington.” – Foreign Policy

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“… Assuming the fighting does not escalate further — a possibility that still cannot be ruled out — and Ukraine continues its recent battlefield successes, Russian power will be greatly diminished for many years to come. It is even possible that … Putin will be ousted from power in Moscow. …. There’s a lot to like about this outcome on […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Green Is Russia?” – London Review of Books/ Tony Wood

File Photo of Arctic Fox Running Across Snow, adapted from image at USGS.gov, with photo credit to Mike Lockart and USGS

“… Thane Gustafson’s Klimat was published twelve months ago, but … the effects of the war [in Ukraine] … on Russia’s main exports … align with his arguments about the consequences of climate change for Russia. The world’s fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter, Russia … [also] will continue to profit from rising oil prices …. But … Gustafson projects a […]

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RUSSIALINK: “6 Ideas to Explore – Russia Analytical Report, Sept. 19-26, 2022” – Russia Matters

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Sept. 26, 2022) 1. Vladimir Putin’s public threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine must be received soberly if only because leaders occasionally do what they say they’ll do, according to Peggy Noonan. “American diplomats have believed Mr. Putin will never use tactical nukes because he’d fear the price. But they can’t know that, especially […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Diplomacy Is Still (Just About) Possible in Ukraine; The Black Sea agreement offers a model for off-ramps to escalation” – Foreign Policy

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… There has been one … diplomatic effort … agreed on and implemented by all parties involved (including both Ukraine and Russia) … [that] could also serve as a framework for preventing the war from worsening. … the Black Sea Grain Initiative … mediated by Turkey and the United Nations. … … [It] paved the way for a humanitarian maritime […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Experts react: Putin gambles by escalating his war in Ukraine. What will happen next?” – Atlantic Council

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… Putin has taken a new, perilous step: mobilizing his military reserves. Amid a string of battlefield setbacks — and the announcement of fast-tracked ‘referendums’ … to annex territory … occupied in eastern Ukraine — Putin also reiterated … threats to use nuclear weapons …. We asked experts across the Atlantic Council for their reactions …. The U.S. and Ukraine […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Does Putin’s Gamble Make Russia’s War in Ukraine More Dangerous?” – Council on Foreign Relations

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… The sham, hastily organized referenda in … Luhansk and Donetsk … of the Donbas … and occupied territories of … Kherson and Zaporizhzhia … will inevitably lead to their annexation by Russia …. Although no major country is likely to recognize the annexations … as far as the Kremlin is concerned[] [t]hat provides a legal basis in the Russian […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: Russia’s Sergey Lavrov Warns U.S. It Risks Becoming Combatant in Ukraine War” – Newsweek

Sergei Lavrov file photo

“… Lavrov said Russia’s approach would include supporting the recently announced referendums in contested parts of Ukraine, such as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics …. In order to counter Western pressure, Russia has fostered closer ties with other powers, especially China, nurturing a growing bilateral relationship Lavrov called a priority for Moscow, as both nations seek to promote […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations” – Washington Post

Montage of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Logos, adapted from image at nps.gov

“Complaints about the U.S. military’s influence operations using Facebook and Twitter have raised concern in the White House and federal agencies.” “The Pentagon has ordered a sweeping audit of how it conducts clandestine information warfare after major social media companies identified and took offline fake accounts suspected of being run by the U.S. military ….  [T]he White House and some […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Rout in Ukraine fuels debate in Russia: Ease up or double down?” – Christian Science Monitor

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“The rout of Russian forces in Kharkiv reignited debate in Moscow over what to do next. While critics of the war have found new voice, even louder are those calling for escalation in Ukraine.” “Ukraine’s lightning offensive in Kharkiv last week recaptured a large swath of territory and humiliated the Russian army. … [I]t ignited a very public debate in […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “What Russia’s Elites Think of Putin Now” – Foreign Policy

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“The president successfully preserved the status quo for two decades. Suddenly, he’s turned into a destroyer.” “Ukraine’s successful counterattack means that for the first time ever in … Putin’s 22 years in power, he has to deal with elites who disagree with him — on strategic decisions over Russia’s war in Ukraine and how the war may end. Having launched […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Next Move in Ukraine; Mobilize, Retreat, or Something in Between?” – Foreign Affairs

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“For the first time in the war … Putin must contend with the serious prospect of losing …. [T]he near rout of Russian soldiers in the Kharkiv region … and … rapid reconquest by Ukrainian forces … clearly showed … Ukraine was on top … destroy[ing] the illusion of Russian invincibility. … Suddenly, Western leaders and strategists have been able […]

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