(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Anatol Lieven – Nov. 30, 2023) Anatol Lieven is director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. With the failure of the Ukrainian offensive, the Biden administration now seems to realize that Ukrainian victory is highly unlikely, and that at some point there will need to be negotiations. However, it hopes […]
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“A decision by the International Olympic Committee paves the way for individuals from the two countries to take part over the objections of Ukraine and others.” “Individual athletes from Russia and Belarus who successfully qualify for next summer’s Paris Olympics will be allowed to compete in the Games, the International Olympic Committee announced on Friday, ending talk of a blanket […]
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“… Putin on Friday moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for at least another six years, announcing his candidacy in the presidential election next March that he is all but certain to win … despite starting an immensely costly war in Ukraine that has taken thousands of his countrymen’s lives, provoked repeated attacks inside Russia — […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Victor Andrusiv – Dec. 7, 2023) Officer, Ukrainian Armed Forces; Former Director, Kyiv School of Public Administration In August 2023, the U.S. State Department published an integrated strategy for Ukraine. This highly structured, systematic document defines the key goals and objectives of the U.S. government and its diplomats. Apart from objectives aimed at securing Ukraine’s […]
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“Outnumbered and outgunned, one front-line soldier has given a sobering account of Ukraine’s struggle to cling on to its foothold on the east bank of the vast Dnipro river. Several hundred Ukrainian soldiers have made it there as part of a counter-offensive launched six months ago. Under relentless Russian fire, the soldier spent several weeks on the Russian-occupied side of […]
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(The White House – whitehouse.gov – Dec. 4, 2023) “… MR. SULLIVAN: On Ukraine, as you’ve all seen, earlier today, OMB Director Shalanda Young sent a letter to congressional leaders — which Karine was just referencing — explaining that without congressional action, the administration will run out of resources by the end of the year to procure more weapons and […]
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“… [Ukrainian] [o]fficials say almost all agreements … Kyiv entered into since the [Soviet] collapse … were scrapped by Moscow … that sitting down with Russia is pointless at best … dangerous at worst. ‘Putin is a habitual liar who promised international leaders that he would not attack Ukraine days before his invasion in February 2022,’ Ukraine’s foreign minister [Dmytro […]
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“President has been stalling on conscript rules since June Ukraine is grappling with dwindling number of volunteers” “A plan to draft more Ukrainian men into the army has been sitting on … Zelenskiy’s desk since June. … [He] so far has defied pressure from the military to sign it. Instead, Zelenskiy … asked his government and top brass for a […]
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(The White House – whitehouse.gov – Dec. 6 2023) THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everyone. I’d like to speak to you today about an urgent responsibility that Congress has to uphold the national security needs of the United States and, quite frankly, of our partners as well. This cannot wait. Congress needs to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine before they break […]
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“Ukrainian and eastern European officials are … trying to unstick Senate talks stalled over GOP demands to link Ukraine aid with U.S. policy changes on the southern border. … Zelensky dispatched his closest political allies — … president of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, and the head of his office, Andriy Yermak — to lobby lawmakers …. Politicians and officials […]
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“Ukraine signaled Monday that it is shifting its military tactics toward a more defensive footing after an analysis of Russia’s resource capabilities and as winter approaches. Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak noted … ‘on the front line and in the cities, we are already moving to a different tactic of warfare — effective defense in certain areas, continuation of offensive […]
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“President Volodymyr Zelensky’s briefing, via a video call, will come a day after the White House warned that aid to his country would soon run out.” “… [A]n emergency funding package is stalled in Congress. The … Senate will vote … Wednesday … [on] more than $61 billion in Ukraine-focused assistance as part of a $106 billion national security package. […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Miscalculations and divisions marked the efforts of Kyiv and its allies to plan the Ukrainian military’s summer offensive, according to the results of extensive research by Washington Post staff into the lead-up to the largely unsuccessful operation. “The year began with Western resolve at its peak, Ukrainian forces highly confident and … Zelensky predicting a decisive […]
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“… Crimea … became crucial to Moscow’s strategy to dominate Ukraine and the Black Sea region. Critical to that domination is the bridge spanning the Kerch Strait … [between] Crimea [and] … mainland Russia. Built by Moscow at enormous cost, this bridge opened in 2018 … [and] has been a major conduit for … Russian soldiers and arms …. currently […]
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(Moscow Times – Dec. 5, 2023) Two in five Russians who fled the country in the months following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have since returned home, the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported Tuesday, citing data from an immigration support company and job recruitment website. According to official statistics, 668,400 Russians left the country last year as war broke out in neighboring […]
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” … Zelensky will have to consider a call for … politicians and civil servants to be drafted to fight in the war … after a petition … reached the required number of signatures. After the start of … Putin’s full-scale invasion, Zelensky announced a general mobilization in which military reservists between … 18 and 60 were eligible for conscription. […]
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(Moscow Times – Dec. 4, 2023) Moscow broke a daily snowfall record on Sunday when nearly 11 millimeters of precipitation fell over just 12 hours, meteorologists in the Russian capital said. Sunday’s snowfall, powered by a strong cyclone that formed over southern Europe last week, marked the absolute daily record in Moscow since observations began in 1878, according to meteorologist […]
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“The United States seeks to cut Russia’s oil and gas revenue by 50 percent by 2030 as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine …. according to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt[,] [who said that] … Washington hopes [oil and gas] sanctions … will hinder … Putin from … future military aggression …. Kremlin has managed […]
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(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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“Russian forces are intensifying attacks on … Avdiivka, seeking to encircle Kyiv’s troops …. Kyiv and Western capitals … acknowledge[] that Russia’s full-scale invasion … could drag on into a much longer war. … Avdiivka … had a pre-war population of around 32,000[] [and] has been a frontline city since 2014, when it was briefly occupied by Moscow-backed separatists …. […]
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“New favorites have appeared in … Putin’s inner circle in recent years. Using their access … they come up with new projects to manage, promote themselves in the media, and try to impress everyone with their professionalism … distinguish[ing] them[selves] from veteran members of Putin’s entourage … [and] help[ing] shore up the system. … [T]hey are … starting to overshadow […]
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“Call to bolster fortifications is the Ukrainian leadership’s clearest public acknowledgment of a defensive turn” “… Zelensky ordered the construction of an extensive network of fortifications aimed at holding back Russian forces, signaling a switch to the defensive posture after a monthslong Ukrainian counteroffensive yielded only small gains. … [N]early 20% of [Ukraine’s] land [is] occupied by Russia. … Ukraine […]
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“Russia’s industrial output growth slowed in October as the unemployment rate dropped to a record low 2.9%, [according to] federal statistics … [D]eepening labour shortages show[] signs of cooling Moscow’s military production capacity. Kremlin aide Maxim Oreshkin … sought to portray low unemployment as evidence of … economic prosperity, but … Putin and his economy ministry have acknowledged Russia … […]
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“In an exclusive interview … Zelenskyy says the war with Russia is entering a new stage, with winter expected to complicate … fighting and the Middle East capturing global attention.” “… ‘Look, we are not backing down, I am satisfied. We are fighting with the second (best) army in the world, I am satisfied,’ he said, referring to the Russian […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) There is no “durable stalemate on the ground” in the Russian-Ukrainian war as there is “no clear-cut parity,” CEIP’s Michael Kofman said in a War on the Rocks podcast shortly after returning from Ukraine. Looking back, Kofman advised that “the sooner we can say” Ukraine’s counteroffensive has not been successful, “the sooner we can learn from it.” Looking […]
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(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Nov. 27, 2023) Even now, “Russian elites are unhappy with Putin, but they aren’t trying to overthrow him” because “they have something to lose and don’t want to take risks,” Abbas Gallyamov says. But “at some point, it will be this conflict within the elites that will destroy the regime.” According to […]
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(Moscow Times – Dec. 1, 2023) Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday that Ukraine had lost over 125,000 troops since launching its counteroffensive in June, as well as 16,000 units of “various weapons.” “Total mobilization in Ukraine, the supply of Western weapons, and the introduction of the Ukrainian command’s strategic reserves into battle did not alter the situation on […]
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“On its own, a Ukrainian battlefield victory won’t be sufficient if Russia’s wrongs are left intact and its crimes unpunished.” “… [N]either Ukraine nor … international law and justice would be fully served if Russia’s wrongs were left intact and its crimes unpunished. … [L]arge-scale displacement and deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russia’s most abhorrent offences … a […]
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“… 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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“… Almost two years into the grinding war … [families] around [Ukraine] are coming to terms with the prospect of a much longer and costlier conflict than … hoped for … one that some now acknowledge they’re not guaranteed to win. … 25,000 people … sign[ed] a petition to … Zelenskiy saying that military service cannot remain open-ended and calling […]
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“The German tabloid ‘Bild’ said …. President Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz … plan to force Ukraine into peace talks next year by denying it the weapons needed to win. … Team Biden is more interested in avoiding confrontation with Russia than in defeating it. To oppose aid to Ukraine is to ensure a Russian victory, but funding [] […]
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“Ukraine and its allies must face, not fear, the war’s current reality … and prepare for a multiyear war and … the long-term containment of Russia…. Russia is not becoming … more amenable to compromise. … [T]he Kremlin’s aspirations to reshape the … international order through violent conflict may be more ambitious now …. Western and Ukrainian leaders need to […]
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“… Every once in a while, a leader comes along and single-handedly changes the course of history … through the power of their words. … Zelenskyy is such a leader. From his defiant ‘We are here’ video … in the first days of the war outside his presidential office … and his iconic ‘I need ammunition, not a ride’ quip […]
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(The George Washington University – Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies – ieres.elliott.gwu.edu/ – The Russia Program – therussiaprogram.org) The Russia Program The Russia Program at GW is a university-based, data-driven analytical center that combines knowledge, technologies, and networks into a research ecosystem. We condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and call for the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Read Our […]
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“… The West has indeed reached the limits of its current strategy …. center[ing] on ensuring Ukraine’s survival without enabling … a decisive victory. Ukraine’s Western supporters are now at a crossroads. Some believe … only two routes [lie] ahead: … the perpetuation of war — with the risk that it tilts in Russia’s favor — or negotiations that lead […]
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“Congress holds up military aid as unsupportive populists make gains in Europe.” “For more than 600 days of full-scale war, America has been Ukraine’s greatest saviour as it marshalled arms, money and more to help repel Russia’s invasion. Now … [i]ts aid for Ukraine is fast running out, and dysfunction in Congress is blocking new assistance. Nobody is sure when […]
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“Moscow has activated a network of sleeper spies in Ukraine in the past two months as Putin tries to destabilise society further in the face of military deadlock, Ukraine’s national security adviser has said. Oleksiy Danilov said … dormant Russian agents embedded in public institutions including the SBU, Ukraine’s domestic security service, were being ordered to undermine the country’s unity[:] […]
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Kennan Institute: Stories in Blair A. Ruble’s “The Arts of War” highlight ways in which Ukrainians have long explored the meaning of their country and culture through the arts; and the manner in which the arts and their creators have empowered Ukrainians to confront the Russian invaders [….]
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“… [F]or most Ukrainians, the main factor fueling their determination … is the sense that Russia’s genocidal objectives leave them … no choice …. Either Ukrainians defend themselves, or Ukraine … will cease to exist. Examples of the Russian military’s genocidal conduct … and the Kremlin’s genocidal intent continue to mount. … [H]uman rights investigators have released new evidence accusing […]
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“There may not be much the West either can or will do to help Ukraine.” “… [A] less discussed [Ukrainian] weakness lies in electronic warfare (ew); something Ukraine’s Western supporters have so far shown little interest in tackling. Russia [reportedly] has for many years placed a ‘huge focus’ on … produc[ing] and develop[ing] an impressive range of ew capabilities to […]
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“EU proposals include ban on re-export to Russia of key goods Proposals include penalties for breaches and fund for Ukraine” “… [EU’s] executive arm has proposed banning importers from reselling so-called high-priority items — like semiconductors used in weapons or needed to make them — to Russia or for use in Russia, and requiring a sum to be deposited in […]
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“‘Putin is hurting the world’s most vulnerable communities, for Russia’s profit,’ Biden said. “The White House on Saturday reaffirmed its commitment to Ukraine in a statement marking the anniversary of Holodomor, drawing parallels between Russia’s offensive and the 1930s Soviet-imposed famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. ‘Today, Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure is once more being deliberately targeted — this time by […]
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“Kremlin leader seeks to turn advantage in manpower and munitions into battlefield progress, while Western will and assistance for Kyiv waver “… [P]olitical paralysis in the U.S. and Europe … threaten[] … [Ukrainian] … [access to[] arms and money … [T]he Russian army’s limitations … suggest it is more likely to grind out [just] small gains …. The Ukrainian army […]
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“[Nord Stream gas] pipelines under the Baltic Sea were damaged in explosions last year, and investigations have yet to establish who was responsible. … RIA quoted Dmitry Birichevsky [of the Russian Foreign Ministry] as saying: ‘… [W]e are waiting for [a related probe’s] results to be presented to the [UN] Security Council, then … will decide what to do.’ …” […]
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“FOX News correspondent Benjamin Hall sits down with … Zelensky … ZELENSKY: … Many times, we are ready for co-production. … [I]t can be win-win. We need licenses, and we can produce air defense …. [and] when you produce it for Ukraine and with Ukraine, you produce it also with Americans. … [T]he big part will be production in your […]
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Ukraine is consumed by war, and elections are probably not an option. Or are they? President Zelensky is considering the answer to this question […]
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“What they documented at the site of the March 9, 2022, hospital bombing — a destroyed maternity hospital, panicked and distraught mothers and children, a grievously wounded pregnant woman on a stretcher — would shock the world. … For the full story, watch 20 Days in Mariupol … on PBS and will be available to stream on YouTube on Tuesday, […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Simon Saradzhyan, Angelina Flood – Nov. 16, 2023) A second Russian pollster reports that the share of Russians who advocate for peace negotiations with Ukraine has exceeded the share of their compatriots who favor continuing the war. The devil is in details, however. When It Comes to Ukraine, Doves Appear to Continue to Outnumber Hawks […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 3 Things to Know In the past month, Russian forces have gained 16 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine gained 7 square miles, according to calculations by Katherine Davidson, associate of the Belfer Russia-Ukraine War Task Force.1Yet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has this week denied his top general Valery Zaluzhny’s recent claim that the war has reached […]
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(U.S. State Department – Nov. 20, 2023) PRESS STATEMENT ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE The Department of State is designating Azatbek Omurbekov, also known as “The Butcher of Bucha,” a Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the extrajudicial killings of unarmed Ukrainian civilians from Andriivka, Ukraine. […]
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