JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin Rattled Nuclear Saber Ahead of Presidential Elections” – WSJ

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“Raising specter of nuclear confrontation allows Russian leader to keep his population on edge and convinced of need for militarism, analysts say.” “… Putin warned publicly … of the possibility of nuclear confrontation with the West, a saber … [Putin was] rattling with increasing frequency ahead of presidential elections this weekend. The comments — part of an interview with a […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Biden’s Armageddon Moment: When Nuclear Detonation Seemed Possible in Ukraine” – New York Times

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“For a few weeks in October 2022, the White House was consumed in a crisis whose depths were not publicly acknowledged at the time. It was a glimpse of what seemed like a terrifying new era.” “… [I]ntercepts revealed that for the first time since the war in Ukraine had broken out, there were frequent conversations within the Russian military […]

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Russia Analytical Report, Feb. 26-March 4, 2024

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 3 Ideas to Explore “Russia’s ability to absorb military losses, its deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure and the limitations of its conventionally armed land-attack missile arsenal provides” at least two “potential insights into Russia’s theatre nuclear doctrine,” according to William Alberque of IISS. “Firstly, given Russia’s indifference to civilian casualties in Ukraine, it stands to reason that […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Six-Year Manifesto Sets Sights Beyond Ukraine” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

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

“Putin’s state of the nation address should have been a mere pre-election formality, but it left an extremely chilling impression of an unraveling spiral of escalation.” “… The horizons of this ‘holy war’ have now expanded. If a year ago, Putin focused on protecting ‘our land’ and relied on defensive and even sacrificial rhetoric, this year he sounded victorious, speaking […]

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Russia in Review, Feb. 23-March 1, 2024

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 7 Things to Know Vladimir Putin used his annual address to the Russian parliament to not only rattle his nuclear saber at the West again, but also to accuse his Western counterparts of “spooking the world” with the threat of a nuclear war, all while claiming to be ready for talks on nuclear arms control. “We remember what […]

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The War in Ukraine in a Transitional World Order

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Robert Legvold – Feb. 23, 2024) Robert Legvold is Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus in the department of political science at Columbia University. The fundamental questions raised by the war in Ukraine are like the two sides of a coin: on one side, there is the overarching but largely ignored question of how the war […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Leaked Russian military files reveal criteria for nuclear strike” – Financial Times

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“Doctrine for tactical nuclear weapons outlined in training scenarios for an invasion by China” “… Putin’s forces have rehearsed using tactical nuclear weapons at an early stage of conflict with a major world power, according to leaked Russian military files that include training scenarios for an invasion by China. The [29 secret Russian military files from 2008 to 2014] … […]

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Russia in Review, Feb. 9-15, 2024

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 5 Things to Know Donald Trump’s advisers have discussed getting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin around a negotiating table early in a potential second term, according to a Feb. 14 report by Bloomberg. One adviser to Trump said the promise of severing U.S. military aid could help get Zelenskyy—whom Trump has described as “the greatest […]

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Russia in Review, Jan. 26-Feb. 2, 2024

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 7 Things To Know Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy summoned Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU) Valerii Zaluzhnyi on Jan. 29 to tell the general he was being fired. At the meeting, Zaluzhnyi was offered the post of secretary of the national security council, but he turned it down, according to The Economist.[1] Two days […]

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Russia in Review, Jan. 12-19, 2024

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 1. In the past month, Russian forces have gained 57 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukrainian forces have re-gained 1 square mile, according to the Jan. 16, 2024, issue of the Russia-Ukraine War Report Card. In an article on the war entitled “Russia Regains Upper Hand in Ukraine’s East as Kyiv’s Troops Flag,” NYT noted […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Rules Out Nuclear Arms Talks With US Over Ukraine Support” – Bloomberg

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“No grounds for arms-control talks with U.S., Lavrov says Russia accuses U.S. of escalating confrontation over Ukraine” “Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lashed the U.S. over … Ukraine and warned on the risks of confrontation between nuclear powers … [while] rul[ing] out … discussions on strategic security …. He accused the U.S. and … European allies of escalating … confrontation […]

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Russia in Review, Jan. 5-12, 2024

Kremlin and Red Square file photo, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 6 Things to Know The Pentagon has failed to properly track at least $1 billion in weapons that the U.S. has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, according to a report by the Defense Department’s inspector general, FT  reports. The high rate of weapons that were missing or otherwise immediately unaccounted for in government […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Medvedev warns of nuclear response if Ukraine hits missile launch sites” – Reuters

Dmitri Medvedev file photo

“[Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council] warned … Thursday that … Ukrainian attacks on missile launch sites inside Russia with arms supplied by the United States and its allies would risk a nuclear response from Moscow … [also saying] that some Ukrainian military commanders were considering hitting missile launch sites inside Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles. … Putin […]

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Russia in Review, Dec. 21, 2023-Jan. 5, 2024

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and its commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi have continued their indirect struggle over which of them should assume prime responsibility for the unpopular decision1 to conscript up to 500,000 Ukrainians. The tussle began on Dec. 19 when Zelensky claimed that the Ukrainian army chiefs had requested the conscription of up to 500,000 men, according […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Real Russian Nuclear Threat: The West Is Worried About the Wrong Escalation Risks” – Foreign Affairs/ Peter Schroeder

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“… The advent of the war triggered fears of outright nuclear conflict between the West and Russia. That period of somewhat frenzied speculation has passed. The war has since settled into a grinding—but conventional—stalemate. To be sure, U.S. officials are still concerned that Russia may use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield. … The unfortunate truth is that Washington cannot […]

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Russia in Review, Nov. 21-Dec. 1, 2023

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) In the past month, Russian forces have gained 12 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukrainian forces gained 5 square miles, according to the Nov. 28 issue of the Russia-Ukraine War Report Card. Developments on and off the battlefield have prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week to admit that Ukraine’s counteroffensive did not produce the desired results, warning of […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Ryabkov warns U.S. against entering new arms race” – Reuters

File Photo of B-2 Stealth Bomber in Flight, adapted from defense.gov image with Photo Credit to U.S. Air Force and Sgt. Russell Scalf

“… Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister in charge of ties with the U.S., non-proliferation and arms control, told … Izvestia … present circumstances were not ‘conducive’ to arms talks with Washington. ‘If the United States expects to win the next arms race … the Americans are mistaken,’ Izvestia [quoted] Ryabkov as saying …. [Meanwhile, in the past,] Putin told […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “A new nuclear arms race is here: How to slow it down” – Washington Post

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“The world is entering a dangerous nuclear arms race … but it does not have to end in catastrophe. Treaties controlling nuclear arms — verifiable and binding, to limit or reduce stockpiles and prevent miscalculation or error — can lead to more stability. They require political will … that does not exist today. The new factor is China … aspir[ing] […]

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Russia in Review, Nov. 9-17, 2023

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) The U.S. Congress’ interest in financing Ukraine’s fight against invading Russian forces has “dipped lower than ever,” according to WP. Moreover, rising competition from other national security priorities could “sound the death knell for continued American aid” for Kyiv, this newspaper predicted shortly before Biden signed a bill that is designed to avoid a government shutdown, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Collapse of Global Arms Control” – Time

U.S. Tanks in Field Amidst Military Exercises in Europe, adapted from eucom.mil image

“… Nov. 7 in Moscow, the Kremlin defiantly renounced its membership in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), once thought of as a pillar of European stability. … NATO countries quickly followed suit, suspending … treaty obligations. The CFE is not the only arms control agreement … thrown onto the garbage heap of history in recent years. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s nuclear saber rattling: A threat or wake-up call for the West?” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“… [F]ew have paid attention in recent years as the entire framework of strategic arms control, assembled over decades by Moscow and Washington, has been dismantled piece by piece by American and Russian politicians, leaving a dangerous vacuum where mutual responsibility, verification, and dialogue used to be. The last important agreement, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, effectively lapsed when … Putin […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. must be ready for simultaneous wars with China, Russia, report says” – Reuters

Pentagon Aerial View adapted from defense.gov image, with photo credit: DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Wright

“The United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China by expanding its conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization program, a congressionally appointed bipartisan [Strategic Posture Commission] said …. The panel accepted a Pentagon forecast that China’s rapid nuclear arsenal expansion likely will give it 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, confronting the United […]

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Russia in Review, Oct. 6-13, 2023

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) As violence escalated between Israel and Hamas after the latter’s indiscriminate attacks against the former, top Russian officials seized the opportunity to blame the crisis on what they described as America’s repeated failure to use its “monopoly” on mediation between the two sides to reach a fair peace deal. Vladimir Putin has also called for a cessation […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. ‘ill-prepared’ for nuclear challenge from China and Russia, says report” – Financial Times

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“Commission urges overhaul of US arsenal to tackle growing threat from two peer adversaries” “The U.S. must expand or restructure its nuclear arsenal to tackle the ‘existential challenge’ posed by the growing nuclear threat from China and existing risk from Russia, a new report … has said. The bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the U.S., … tasked […]

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Russia Analytical Report, Oct. 2-10, 2023

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) “An existential threat to Israel could draw American attention away from the Ukrainian cause, possibly smoothing a path toward a Russian triumph in Europe,” CFR’s Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware write in War on the Rocks. NYT editors raise a related concern, warning that “the violence in Israel may also strengthen calls to cut military aid to Ukraine.” […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia will only resume nuclear tests if the U.S. does it first, a top Russian diplomat says” – AP

File Photo of Tsar Bomba Nuclear Detonation, adapted from image at osd.mil

“Russia will move to revoke the ratification of a global nuclear test ban to put itself on par with the United States but will only resume nuclear tests if Washington does it first …. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov [said Tuesday] …. He added that if the U.S. conducts a nuclear test, ‘we will be forced to mirror that as […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “On Russian Nuclear Threat, Putin Lets Others Rattle the Saber” – New York Times

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“While Russian hard-liners voice provocative proposals about using nuclear weapons, Mr. Putin presents himself as a moderating force — while never really taking the threat off the table.” “… Russia’s hard-liners are rattling the nuclear saber vigorously these days, on television and in academic journals, arguing that an atomic blast — in Ukraine, in Europe, or maybe in a test […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Escalation in the War in Ukraine: Lessons Learned and Risks for the Future” – RAND

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

(RAND – rand.org – Bryan Frederick, Mark Cozad, Alexandra Stark – Sept. 21, 2023) [Report home page (HTML) – PDF of full report (108 pages)] “… Further Russian escalation has likely been restrained by three main factors … (1) … NATO military capabilities and reactions, (2) concern for broader international reactions, particularly … China’s … (3) … Russian perception that […]

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Russia in Review, Sept. 15-22, 2023

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Sept. 22, 2023) 7 Things to Know Ukraine intends to continue its counteroffensive through the autumn and into the winter, according to remarks made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley this week. “The fight right now still has plenty of fighting weather left,” according to Gen. Milley. At the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Understanding the Risk of Escalation in the War in Ukraine” – RAND

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

(RAND Corporation – Bryan Frederick, Mark Cozad, Alexandra Stark – Sept. 2023) [full report: HTML – PDF] “Key Findings … The fact that Putin has avoided certain escalatory options to date does not mean that he will avoid them in the future. The Kremlin’s control of Russia has become brittle, potentially encouraging Putin to consider options to shorten the war. […]

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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 […]

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Russia in Review, Aug. 11-18, 2023

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 6 Things to Know The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Ukraine’s current counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol, thus, remaining unable to disrupt the land bridge from Russia to Crimea, WP reported, citing “people familiar with the classified forecast.” The assessment is based on Russia’s proficiency in defending occupied territory,  which […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russians Will Accept Nuclear Doomsday” – CEPA

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

“Opinion research indicates that there are no red lines in Russian society, just passive conformity on national security issues.” “… The hard truth is that[,] at the moment, the Kremlin does not intend to use nuclear weapons and so the only hydrogen bomb rhetoric comes from the occasional pro-Kremlin commentator in the media. And yet, if the government did decide […]

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Russia in Review, July 28-Aug. 4, 2023

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

6 Things to Know In the past month of fighting Russian armed forces made a net gain of 14 square miles, according to the estimate by the Belfer Russia-Ukraine War Task Force. Their research shows that the period saw Russian forces gain 43 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine’s net gain was 29 square miles, according to the Aug. 1, 2023 issue […]

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Russia in Review, July 14-21, 2023

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 5 Things to Know It is “way too early” to judge the Ukrainian offensive a failure, said U.S. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, adding that the war “is going to be long, it’s going be hard, it’s going be bloody.” Milley said the biggest challenge for Ukraine’s counteroffensive is getting through […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “What We Learned From Recent Calls for a Russian Nuclear Attack” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peac

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“The recent public discussion in Russia on using nuclear weapons against the West was really a discussion about how Moscow can extricate itself from the difficult situation in which it finds itself—and what price it is willing to pay for a victory.” “Does Russia have the right to carry out a nuclear first strike, and has the time come to […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Medvedev says standoff with West to last decades, Ukraine conflict ‘permanent'” – Reuters

Dmitri Medvedev file photo

“… Medvedev … has warned that Moscow’s confrontation with the West will last decades and that its conflict with Ukraine could become permanent. Medvedev[, former Russian president and now] deputy head of … [Russia’s] Security Council, … has emerged as one of Russia’s most outspoken hawks since Moscow launched what it called a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine last year. […]

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Russia in Review, June 30-July 7, 2023 – 5 Things to Know

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) The U.S. has included cluster munitions in its latest $800 million package of military aid to Ukraine. More than 100 countries have signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions, vowing to never use them, but the U.S. is not one of them. A significant percentage of the submunitions often fail to detonate, effectively turning them into […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Is NATO Ready for Chaos in Russia?” – Foreign Policy/ Angela Stent

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“… [Prigozhin’s] short-lived mutiny … reminded the world that autocrats appear to be stable — until they are not. As NATO leaders convene … they will focus on the immediate challenge of the Russia-Ukraine war …. [b]ut the Western alliance will inevitably confront having to deal with a less stable nuclear-armed Russia. NATO has returned to its original mission of […]

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Russia Analytical Report, June 26-July 5, 2023 – 5 Ideas to Explore

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Even though the pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive has “progressed more slowly than many had hoped,” the West’s interests “lie in continuing to arm, train and help defend Ukraine in the face of an ongoing threat from Russia ,” according to WP’s editors. One reason for “the slower rate” of Ukraine’s territorial gains is that Ukrainian forces […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine says Putin is planning a nuclear disaster. These people live nearby” – Washington Post

Radioactivity Symbol Against Mottled Metallic Background, adapted from image at ready.gov

“.. .[R]isk of … major disaster at the … Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant terrifies Nadiya Hez, who lives in an area that would probably take the brunt of … radioactive fallout. The nuclear plant has been in continual danger as Russian and Ukrainian troops trade fire … but the chance of a meltdown has increased sharply since the [June 6] […]

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Russia in Review, June 23-30, 2023 – One Thing to Know

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Russian intelligence services may have known in advance of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plan to stage a mutiny, but it nonetheless materialized to pose the greatest military and security threat to Vladimir Putin’s rule since the end of the second Chechen war. The mutiny itself lasted only 36 hours, never spread to Moscow and ended with its chief […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “West explores nuclear risks from unstable Putin regime” – Financial Times

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“Officials have discussed possible negative outcomes from Wagner insurrection destabilising Kremlin” “Western nations have explored contingencies in the aftermath of … Prigozhin’s attempted insurrection … including the threat to nuclear stockpiles from an unstable [Russian] regime …. Talks led by G7 members [reportedly] have included [discussions of] how a weakening of … Putin’s control over security and military forces could […]

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Russia Analytical Report, June 12-20, 2023 – 4 Ideas to Explore

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) “Ukrainians’ early setbacks are a sign that their offensive will be a long, deadly grind, and not a repeat of their rout of Russian troops in … Kharkiv region late last summer,” according to a new analysis by WSJ reporters Daniel Michaels and Isabel Cole. “It was always going to be difficult,” said Rob Lee, a […]

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Russia in Review, June 9-16, 2023 – 7 Things to Know

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Ukraine’s military command claimed, as of June 15, to have retaken approximately 40 square miles of territory in the course of its counteroffensive, even as its soldiers encountered what U.S. military officials described as fierce resistance by Russian troops. The latter have reportedly managed to destroy at least four Leopard-2 tanks, 3 Leopard 2R engineering vehicles […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s administration staff ‘are starting the day with a bottle of vodka and Security Council’s Dmitry Medvedev is often drunk when he writes his apocalyptic threats of nuclear war'” – Daily Mail (UK)

Dmitri Medvedev file photo

“Sources close to the Kremlin say stress of Ukraine war is turning some to drink State banquets serve luxury cognac costing more than £6,000 a bottle Some Russian admin staff are said to be starting the day with a bottle of vodka” Click here for: “Putin’s administration staff ‘are starting the day with a bottle of vodka and Security Council’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin and the Psychology of Nuclear Brinksmanship” – Foreign Affairs

Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“The War in Ukraine Hinges on One Man’s Thoughts and Feelings.” “Shortly after the West rebuked Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and imposed financial sanctions … Putin … put[] … nuclear forces on high alert. The Kremlin has issued many more nuclear threats, some oblique … some explicit …. Even before the war … Russia … reversed its […]

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Kissinger on Russia: Insights and Recommendations

Henry Kissinger File Photo, with Military Officer and Others in Background; adapted from image at defense.gov,; original image was DoD photo by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Henry Kissinger and RM Staff – May 26, 2023) This evolving compilation of observations and policy ideas about Russia by Henry Kissinger, an eminent U.S. statesman who turns 100 on May 27, 2023, was the first in Russia Matters’ “Competing Views” series, where we share prominent American thinkers’ alternative takes on U.S.-Russian relations, Russia itself […]

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Russia in Review, May 19-26, 2023 – 5 Things to Know

Kremlin and Red Square file photo, adapted from image at state.gov

( Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Two Russian rebel groups linked to the Ukrainian military raided a number of settlements in western Russia this week before being expelled. The rebels used U.S.-made vehicles in the raids, prompting U.S. officials to remind Kyiv that Washington doesn’t condone the use of U.S.-delivered equipment in attacks inside Russia. The U.S. intelligence community believes at […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s New Nuclear Normal; How the Country Has Grown Dangerously Comfortable Brandishing Its Arsenal” – Foreign Affairs/ Dmitry Adamsky

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“… Russia’s approach to nuclear weapons has evolved since the invasion … and not in comforting ways. The war further nuclearized the Russian establishment’s strategic thought and normalized nuclear weapons in the public’s consciousness. … Evidence … indicate[s] that over the last year and a half Russia’s military has doubled down on its conceptualization of deterrence strategy, and that it […]

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