JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Missing Escalation in Ukraine; In Defense of the West’s Go-Slow Approach” – Foreign Affairs/ Austin Carson

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

“… New developments … may threaten [a previous] dynamic. Russia’s campaign against Ukrainian grain infrastructure and surging Ukrainian attacks within Russia threaten to expand the geographical scope of conflict. The mutiny and subsequent death of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin suggest that Russia’s domestic political situation is dynamic and could shift in ways that may encourage Putin to escalate. Ukraine’s […]

» Read more

Russia in Review, Sept. 8-15, 2023

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Russia has managed to overcome sanctions and export controls imposed by the West to expand its missile production beyond prewar levels, according to U.S., European and Ukrainian officials cited by NYT. “With revenue from high energy prices, Russia’s security services and ministry of defense have been able to smuggle in the microelectronics and other Western materials […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Luttwak: Poland Is Not the Model NATO Ally” – WSJ/ Edward N. Luttwak

Map of Poland, Kaliningrad, Environs, adapted from CRS image at congress.gov

“It wastes money on fancy helicopters and target-only frigates while not doing what responsible countries near Russia must do.” “… [S]tation[ing] U.S. troops in Poland … would legitimate and perpetuate the irresponsible Polish policy that wastes money on fancy helicopters and target-only frigates in the Baltic Sea, while not doing what responsible countries near Russia must do. That is, to […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Will the West Abandon Ukraine? Kyiv Must Prepare for a Possible Change of Heart in America and Europe” – Foreign Affairs

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

“A coalition of the world’s wealthiest and most technologically advanced countries gives Ukraine a major structural advantage. Russia, by contrast, has only two countries—Iran and North Korea — openly assisting it  … although China has been … an important economic backstop … and a provider of nonlethal military aid. … Western military support comes with its own risks and challenges[] […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “The hard lessons from Ukraine’s summer offensive” – Financial Times

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

“The country’s military is enjoying some success but it will be slow-going and requires allies to increase ammunition supplies.” “… Some U.S. officials have complained privately … that Ukraine … failed during training to master modern operations … combin[ing] mechanised infantry, artillery and air defence and [is] too risk averse …. Ukrainian officials … have pointed out that American forces […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “When Kim met Putin: The dangers posed by a deal between Russia and North Korea” – The Economist

File Photo of Kim Jong-Un At Podium Near North Korean Flag and Hammer and Sickle Emblem, adapted from hhs.gov image

“It would make life harder for Ukraine — and heighten nuclear risks in Asia.” “… Both men are throwbacks. [] Kim is the grandson of a tyrant imposed on North Korea by Stalin. [] Putin waxes nostalgic about Russia’s imperial past. Yet the threat they pose today is clear and present. An alliance … could alter … the war in […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: Russia Overcomes Sanctions to Expand Missile Production, Officials Say” – New York Times

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“Moscow’s missile production now exceeds prewar levels, officials say, leaving Ukraine especially vulnerable this coming winter.” “… Russia subverted American export controls using its intelligence services and ministry of defense to run illicit networks of people who smuggle key components by exporting them to other countries from which they can be shipped to Russia more easily. … [S]ince the war […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin meets Kim Jong Un, looking for arms – and friends” – Christian Science Monitor

File Photo of Kim Jong-Un At Podium Near North Korean Flag and Hammer and Sickle Emblem, adapted from hhs.gov image

“Vladimir Putin is often accused of trying to restore the old Soviet Union. But his meeting with Kim Jong Un suggests he might be focusing on restoring ties with like-minded former Soviet allies instead.” “… Both the Russian and North Korean delegations at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, near the Chinese border, included officials responsible for munitions, suggesting an urgent Russian interest […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Volodymyr Zelensky to Meet Biden, Lawmakers in Washington Amid Push for More Aid” – WSJ

Screenshot file photo of Volodymyr Zelensky Gesturing, from Congressional Teleconference, adapted from image at doggett.house.gov

“Ukrainian president’s visit next week coincides with the United Nations General Assembly.” “… Zelensky is scheduled to travel to the U.S. for the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will appear in person for the first time since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, to make a case for continued support of Ukraine and isolation of Moscow. … […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “The third line: How the Pentagon assesses Ukraine’s progress; A rare interview with America’s Defence Intelligence Agency” – The Economist

DIA Headquarters Building, adapted from dia.mil image

“… [DIA Director Trent] Maul … notes that Sergei Surovikin, the Russian general who built [Russia’s] defensive lines [in Ukraine], and Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group mercenaries achieved Russia’s most tangible gains of the past year, are both off the battlefield — the former sacked and the latter dead …. [] Maul …  says … Ukraine’s recent successes are ‘significant’ […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Elizabeth Warren Demands Probes of Elon Musk, SpaceX After Ukraine Revelations” – Bloomberg

File Photo of Elon Musk, adapted from image at nasa.gov, with photo credit to Bill Stafford

“Warren calls on Pentagon to look into decision over attack Musk, other tech chiefs will meet with senators on Wednesday” “… Warren is demanding an investigation into SpaceX after Elon Musk acknowledged he had blocked Ukraine from extending the private Starlink satellite network for an attack on Russian warships near the Crimean coast. … Musk said. ‘… If I had […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Offensive to Reverse Ukraine’s Gains Is Stalling” – WSJ

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

“… Kupyansk was captured by Russia without a fight in February 2022 …. Ukrainian forces reclaimed the city in a lightning offensive a year ago … oust[ing] Russia from nearly all of Kharkiv and parts of [the] nearby Donetsk and Luhansk regions. …. Russian troops have remained within artillery range of Kupyansk … [launching] nearly daily barrages. In [recent] weeks, […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s counteroffensive to continue after onset of bad weather, spy chief says” – Reuters

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

“Ukraine’s counteroffensive … will continue through the onset of cold and wet weather later this year …, Kyiv’s intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said[:] …. ‘Combat actions will continue in one way or another. In the cold, wet and mud, it is more difficult to fight. Fighting will continue. The counteroffensive will continue’ …. Apart from the huge concentration of Russian […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukrainian Accounts of Torture Point to Systematic Russian Policy, Expert Says” – New York Times

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“The U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture said Moscow’s refusal to address the issue represented tacit approval of its use. Russia has denied it practices torture.” “Torture perpetrated by Russian officers against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war has reached such a level that it is clearly a systematic, state-endorsed policy, [according to Alice Jill Edwards, U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Crimea, Pro-Ukraine Feelings Prompt a Russian Crackdown” – WSJ

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

“Amid increasingly frequent strikes by Kyiv’s forces, some Crimeans show new faith in a return to Ukrainian rule.” “Every few days, Russian occupation authorities on Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula parade newly caught ‘traitors’ …. For some, the crime consisted of playing Ukrainian songs in public, running a pro-Ukrainian social-media account or tying yellow cloth strips, a sign of resistance to Russian […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK: “Putin Touts ‘Futuristic’ Weapons, Chides Exiled Elites in Far East Forum Address” – Moscow Times

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

(Moscow Times – Sept 12, 2023) Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a wide-ranging address on Tuesday at the annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, touching upon Moscow’s protracted war against Ukraine and anti-war elites in exile, while also playing up Russia’s development of “weapons based on new physical principles.” Putin’s remarks come ahead of a rare and closely watched summit […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Russia learned from mistakes to slow Ukraine’s counteroffensive” – Washington Post

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“Three months into Ukraine’s … counteroffensive, Russian occupying forces have largely been able to hold their positions, often by learning from past mistakes. They have reconstituted decimated units, swapped in new ones and turned from sweeping attacks to the defense of heavily fortified front lines, showing that despite heavy losses, Moscow is willing to dig in for the long haul […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s New Defense Minister Reveals Priorities in First Major Speech” – Newsweek/ David Brennan

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

“Ukraine’s new defense minister, Rustem Umerov, has called on foreign allies to provide ‘heavy weaponry, heavy weaponry and, again, heavy weaponry’ …. On Friday, Umerov told the Yalta European Strategy summit in Kyiv that Ukraine is ‘grateful’ for … Western support … but warned that Kyiv’s forces will need more to overcome … ‘big challenges’ … driving Russian troops out […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Ukraine, a U.S. Arms Dealer Is Making a Fortune and Testing Limits” – New York Times

File Photo of Weapon and Ammunition for Ukrainian Live Fire Exercise, adapted from army.mil image

“Billions are pouring into a clubby, secretive arms market. With Pentagon cash and unusually close Ukrainian military ties, Marc Morales has few peers.” “… The [Biden] administration has sent Ukraine more than $40 billion in security aid, including advanced weapons …. But the Pentagon also relies heavily on little-known arms dealers like [Florida-based Marc] Morales … [with] connections … to […]

» Read more

Russia in Review, Sept. 1-8, 2023

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

7 Things to Know G-20 leaders began arriving in New Delhi on Sept. 8 for their annual gathering as negotiators struggled to bridge differences over the war in Ukraine in the group’s joint statement. While it remains unclear whether a final consensus can be reached, China appears to have dropped its initial opposition to language on Ukraine and Russia, according […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. General Warns Time Is Running Out for Ukraine’s Counteroffensive” – Newsweek

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

“[According to] General Mark Milley, … Chairman[,] … Joint Chiefs of Staff[,] … Ukraine’s forces have … 30 to 45 days left … before … fall weather … stop[s] their advance. … ‘There’s still heavy fighting going on,’ Milley said, adding that Ukraine was ‘still plugging away with steady progress.’ …  [W]ith progress slow, and the counteroffensive launched later than […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine ‘in deep trouble’: Some experts say $1B more from U.S. won’t matter” – USA Today

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

“A new defense minister, an encouraging visit from the U.S. secretary of state and another $1 billion in aid have fueled optimism in Ukraine this week. But will they have an impact on the war? Ukraine and U.S. officials says yes. Some experts are not convinced. …” Click here for: “Ukraine ‘in deep trouble’: Some experts say $1B more from […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin Faces Geopolitical Setback in South Caucasus” – Foreign Policy

Yerevan

“Armenia turns toward West after accusing Russia of failing as a partner.” “… Armenia is having second thoughts about its longtime partnership with Russia and is beginning to shift … toward the West, … an embarrassing setback for the Kremlin in the strategic region. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said … his country’s reliance on Russia wasn’t paying off, particularly […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “A Shift in Ukrainian Strategy” – Geopolitical Futures/ George Friedman

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

“… [After] Zelenskyy announced … that he replaced his defense minister … a group of senior U.S. generals met with Ukrainian generals on the border with Poland …. Ukraine’s strategy has been brilliant, especially in the early stages …. distribut[ing] its force into small units … [with] a high degree of freedom. … [K]nowledge and familiarity with the terrain … […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “A higher global oil price will help Russia pay for its war; The Kremlin tries new tactics to keep proceeds afloat” – The Economist

Oil Wells file photo, adapted from image at usda.gov

“… After … record volumes in recent months, despite Western embargoes, dwindling production and the [Black Sea navigational] risks … Russia’s crude shipments fell to 3m barrels a day (b/d) in August … 800,000 lower than … April-May … and below pre-war levels. …. On September 5th Russia said it would extend a ‘voluntary’ 300,000 b/d cut … to the […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK: “Kremlin Seeks to ‘Legitimize’ Authority With Elections in Occupied Ukraine” – Moscow Times

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

(Moscow Times – Anastasia Tenisheva, Pyotr Kozlov – Sept. 8, 2023) The Kremlin is working to solidify its control — both militarily and politically — over the four Moscow-occupied regions of Ukraine with this month’s regional elections there, experts and officials told The Moscow Times. Nearly a year after Moscow staged widely disputed referendums to annex Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia […]

» Read more

VIDEO: JRL NEWSWATCH: “Blinken Focuses on Mine Clearing in Ukraine as U.S. Lays Groundwork for Life After War” – WSJ

Russian Landmine TM-62, adapted from image at army.mil

“Mines have hindered Kyiv’s counteroffensive and threaten civilians living in reclaimed areas; as much as a third of the country affected.” “[In] painstakingly slow [work,] [t]wo explosives specialists armed with metal detectors can take over a month to clear a plot of Ukrainian farmland around half the size of a football field riddled with mortars, artillery shells and unexploded fuses. […]

» Read more

Breakthrough. Bridgehead. Salient. Glimmers Of Progress, And Hope, In Ukraine’s Advances.

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

(Article text Copyright © 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – Sept. 6, 2023 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/ukraine-counteroffensive-hope-advances-breakthroughs/32581270.html) The landscape between the Ukrainian villages of Robotyne and Verbove, in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhya region, is open and flat, […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Where Is the Money?’ Military Graft Becomes a Headache for Ukraine” – New York Times

Hands Opening Envelope Containing Cash

“The removal of the defense minister highlights the enduring challenge of corruption in Ukraine, which has emerged as a rare area of criticism of … Zelensky’s leadership.” “… Zelensky’s announcement Sunday night that he was replacing the defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, elevated the [corruption] issue to the highest level of Ukrainian politics. … Ukrainian media reports have pointed to overpayments […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Zelensky: Despite what ‘anyone says’ counteroffensive is pushing forward” – CNN

Screenshot file photo of Volodymyr Zelensky Gesturing, from Congressional Teleconference, adapted from image at doggett.house.gov

“… Zelensky said on Saturday[] ‘Ukrainian forces are moving forward. Despite everything and no matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move’ …. By the end of [July], Ukraine had committed more troops to the southeast … a sign that it had identified potential weaknesses in Russian defensive lines. […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Pushing Ukraine to negotiate now would be disastrous” – Chatham House

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

“More than 500 days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there are signs that some of Ukraine’s supporters in the West want to prepare the ground for negotiations. Such a shift in policy would be catastrophic.” “… The counteroffensive has not stalled … but Ukraine would have made more progress had the U.S. not displayed … timidity over supplying … […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Return of History; Ukrainian scholar Serhii Plokhy on the war in his home country” – Harvard Magazine

File Photo of Library at Harvard University with Banners and Persons Walking on Quad, from image at state.gov

“… He adds, ‘The collapse of the Soviet Union was not an event, but a process.’ For the Russian Federation, the process is already under way. He points to the cascade of poor decisions that have characterized Russia’s military campaign. ‘This war has produced absolutely the opposite results from what Putin imagined’: not only Ukraine’s forceful resistance, but renewed unity […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Russia Globalized the War in Ukraine; The Kremlin’s Pressure-Point Strategy to Undermine the West” – Foreign Affairs/ Michael Kimmage, Hanna Notte

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“… Ukraine’s well-being runs through global networks, which Russia … seeks to disrupt and damage. The Kremlin’s ultimate goal is clear: strangling the Ukrainian economy, society, and state by whatever means necessary. … [I] it is essential to preserve Ukraine’s integration into the global economy, which Russia is deliberately attempting to degrade. The United States’ most immediate challenge is food […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine Defense Ministry asks for ‘ammunition, not advice’ in new video” – The Hill

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

“The Ukraine Defense Ministry asked for ‘ammunition, not advice’ in a new video … following recent criticism from U.S. officials over Kyiv’s strategy amid a slow-moving counteroffensive. ‘It seems like everyone is now an expert on Ukrainian warfare,” the Defense Ministry [stated] …. The White House [recently] announced another $250 million security package for Kyiv … bringing total U.S. assistance […]

» Read more

Russians Don’t Oppose Putin on Ukraine Because He has Ensured that Large Swaths of Them View Themselves as Winners over Last Two Decades, Busygina Says

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Aug. 29, 2023) Many observers blame the failure of Russians to oppose Putin on the war as the result either of the historical subservience of the people there to their rulers and to the related sense they have that nothing depends on them and therefore there is no need for them to […]

» Read more

Books To Boots: Critics Say New Russian History Textbook Is Propaganda, Preparation For War

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

(Article text Copyright © 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – Aug. 31, 2023 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-history-textbook-propaganda/32572916.html) As schools across Russia and the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine prepare for the start of the school year on […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S., Allies Seek Long-Term Military Aid for Ukraine to Show West’s Resolve” – WSJ

NATO Meeting File Photo

“Weapons shortages, domestic political pressures hamper Western efforts.” “The [U.S.] and … European allies are laying plans for long-term military assistance to Ukraine to ensure Russia won’t be able to win on the battlefield and persuade the Kremlin that Western support … won’t waver. The effort, building on [G7] commitments … on the sidelines of … [July’s NATO] summit … […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Can Ukraine Induce More Russian Soldiers To Quit?” – Forbes/ Craig Hooper

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

“… Russia’s army is at the end of its tether. With Russia’s modern tanks and armored vehicles largely gone or inoperative, Russia is pulling late 1940’s vintage T-10 tanks and other mechanized relics out of storage. Russian leaders are virtually begging North Korea, Iran, China and other former client states for help. Russian conscripts are arriving on the front under-equipped […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Godfather in the Kremlin”- WSJ

Kremlin and River

“The very public death of Putin henchman Yevgeny Prigozhin highlights the evolution of Russia into a mafia state held together by violence and incapable of global leadership.” “… Prigozhin had come to symbolize the criminal trajectory of the Russian state[,] [i]n the 1980s, … imprisoned in the Soviet Union, … [then] a rags-to-riches transformation from [post-Soviet] street vendor … to […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “An evacuation order finds few followers in northeastern Ukraine despite Russia’s push in the region” – AP

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

“… Citing a Russian attempt to push back into the area, the Kupiansk district military administration told roughly 12,000 residents to seek safety elsewhere. Only a few hundred have heeded …. Among the thousands who haven’t, some are paralyzed by the daunting task of relocating. Others said they had considered the hardships of displacement and decided to brave … renewed […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Booming Trade With China Helps Boost Russia’s War Effort” – WSJ

File Photo of Beijing Temple, adapted from image at lbl.gov

“Chinese exports to its neighbor have risen sharply, as Beijing sends everything from microchips to trench-digging excavators.” “China is playing an increasingly important role … propping up Russia’s economy and helping boost its war effort … [T]rade data show[s] Beijing providing a range of goods, including some with potential military applications such as microchips and trench-digging excavators. China has become […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why We Should Not Bet on a Peaceful Russia” – Foreign Policy

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“The idea that a deal with Moscow will bring peace in Ukraine is based on very flimsy assumptions.” “… Those calling for an immediate negotiated settlement are … making an extremely risky bet. History, comparison, and much of theory isn’t on their side. … [T]hey are advising Ukraine to put its survival on the line [] in exchange for the […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘He Has Blood on His Hands'” – New York Times

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

“In a Ukraine village, there are no tears for Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner private militia, whose presumed death in a plane crash was reported this week.” “Mykola Honchar lives in a crumbling stone house in what is left of a tiny hamlet of eastern Ukraine. … attacked by Russian forces … last year, as … Wagner […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “How the suspected death of Prigozhin could impact Russia’s stability [Angela Stent]” – PBS

Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“Angela Stent …: Oh, I think Putin would have enough reason to [want] Prigozhin dead. After all, Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin. He challenged the conduct of the war. He had a populist message to Russians that, while their children were dying and their husbands dying in Ukraine, the children of the elite were in the South of France enjoying themselves. […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “As Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Grinds On, Russia Seeks to Advance in the North” – WSJ

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

“Russia is trying to retake some of the territory that it lost to Ukraine in the region of Kharkiv.” “Russia is on the attack in northeastern Ukraine … seek[ing] to take back territory … Kyiv recaptured last fall and … divert Ukrainian forces from their counteroffensive in the south and east. The main fighting is taking place around the village […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Experts react: What the Prigozhin plane crash reveals about Putin, the Wagner Group’s future, and the war in Ukraine” – Atlantic Council

Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“… Prigozhin … was reportedly killed in a plane crash … with nine other passengers … traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, according to Russian authorities and Wagner-affiliated Telegram groups. Some reports have indicated that the plane was downed by Russian air defenses. Just hours earlier, General … Surovikin, who allegedly had advance knowledge of the Wagner mutiny and had […]

» Read more

Press Gaggle by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan [Excerpt re: Ukraine]

File Photo of Jake Sullivan Gesturing While Speaking Next to U.S. Flag, with White House Logo in Background

(The White House – Aug. 22, 2023) … MODERATOR: Thank you. Our first question who go to Aamer with the AP. Q Hi, Jake. So, I had just two questions, Ukraine-related. Russia has reported success in its push in Northeast Ukraine. Just going forward, what do you see as complications presented to Ukraine by Russia’s reported gains? And many of […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: Ukraine defies odds by advancing in counteroffensive – senior official” – Reuters

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

“Ukraine has made progress in its counteroffensive … proving it can push back a better-armed and numerically superior enemy, [Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar] said … Tuesday. Ukrainian troops have faced vast Russian minefields and trenches …. Maliar brushed aside any suggestion that Kyiv’s progress was too slow …. ‘It’s incorrect to measure this advance by metres or kilometres,’ Maliar […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Forces and Firepower Are Misallocated, U.S. Officials Say” – New York Times

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

“American strategists say Ukraine’s troops are too spread out and need to concentrate along the counteroffensive’s main front in the south.” “Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive is struggling to break through entrenched Russian defenses in large part because it has too many troops, including some of its best combat units, in the wrong places, American and other Western officials say. The main […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Belief or Betrayal? Ukraine’s Conscientious Objectors Face Hostility.” – New York Times

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

“The option of ‘alternative service’ vanished after martial law was declared last year. But some have refused to serve, and now face jail time and skepticism about their motives.” “… While these cases are few — and frequently dismissed by Ukrainians as a cloak for pro-Russian sympathies or just fear — they raise questions about respect for human rights in […]

» Read more
1 4 5 6 7 8 48