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☆ Russia is making daily tactical gains in eastern Ukraine, as criticism grows of Ukrainian military reporting
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Andrew Carey | Olga Voitovych | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Ukraine’s DeepState monitoring group, which updates daily changes in frontline positions, shows Russian forces pushing forward in eight different locations along 20-25 kms of frontline in one 24-hour period. Military bloggers on both sides broadly agree that Russian forces have crossed a water course and taken control of the settlements of Semenivka and Berdychi. Heavy fighting continues there, but the situation is under the control of the (Ukrainian) Armed Forces,” he said. Russian forces are also making headway west of Donetsk city, entering the industrial town of Krasnohorivka from the south and the east. “Without (its) manpower advantage, Russia’s artillery and airpower advantage would not be sufficient for Russia to make gains on the battlefield.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Myroshnykov, Stringer, ” DeepState, Muscovites, –, Nazar Voloshyn, ”, DeepState, “, Voloshyn, Narciso Contreras, Anatolii Stepanov, Rob Lee, ” Lee Organizations: CNN, Anadolu, Getty, ) Defense Forces, Armed Forces, –, Foreign Policy Research Institute Locations: Ukraine, Kharkiv, United States, Avdiivka, Ocheretyne, Donetsk, Semenivka, Soloviove, Keramik, Ukrainian, Karlivka, DeepState, Russian, Kyslivka, Krasnohorivka, ”, AFP, Moscow, – greenlit, “ Russian, Russia

☆ How a store manager from India ended up killed on the battlefields of Ukraine fighting for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Vedika Sud | Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“I saw holes on the back of his shoulder, his ribs right down till his lower back,” Imran told CNN. “He was going to work as a taxi driver or delivery boy in Russia – that process was on,” Imran said. Meanwhile, India, which has no law preventing its citizens from serving in a foreign state’s military, has acknowledged that a number of its nationals have been fighting for Russia in Ukraine. In early March, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it had busted major human trafficking networks that were duping men into Russian military jobs, with 35 such cases identified. Asfran Mohammed, right, and his brother Imran are pictured with Asran's children before Asfran left for Russia.

Persons: New Delhi CNN —, Asfan Mohammed, he’d, Imran Mohammad, Vladimir Putin’s, “, ” Imran, Imran, ”, Asfan, Putin, Allen, He’d, Asfran, Mohammed Imran, Inna Varenytsia, Bimala Rai Paudyal, I’d, who’d, Asfran Mohammed, Mohammed Imran “, I’ve Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, CNN, Russian, ”, United Arab Emirates, Reuters Foreign, Kremlin, Indian Ministry, External Affairs, India’s, Bureau of Investigation, Indian Nationals, CBI, Asfan, Indian, Indian Embassy Locations: New Delhi, India, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Hyderabad, “, Australia, Moscow, Ukrainian, Kreminna, South Asia, Nepal

☆ Dan Coats: Why Aid for Ukraine’s Fight Against Russia Matters - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Dan Coats | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, a rare consensus has formed in Washington around this conviction: America must provide military support to Ukraine’s resistance. Three administrations and large majorities of both parties in Congress have consistently held that President Vladimir Putin’s aggression cannot be tolerated. The choices facing America are always based on the same foundation: what best serves our nation. Those interests are inextricably linked to the strength of our global alliances and the international system of law and cooperation in which American democracy survives and prospers. And the strength of those networks, in turn, depends on our role as a trusted ally and friend, on our credibility and — frankly — on our virtue.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s Locations: Ukraine, Washington, America

☆ Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s memoir will be published in October
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Mariya Knight | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s memoir will be published posthumously this fall, his widow revealed Thursday. The book, titled “Patriot,” will be released on October 22 in multiple languages, including Russian, Yulia Navalnaya said in a post on social platform X. Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesperson, described working on the book in a Telegram post on Thursday, writing that the Russian opposition leader had invited her to Germany, where he was undergoing medical treatment after the poisoning, to assist in the project. Navalny dictated parts of the book to Yarmysh at the time, but finished it while in prison after returning to Russia in 2021. He died on February 16 at age 47 in a Siberian prison north of the Arctic Circle, according to the Russian prison service.

Persons: Alexey Navalny’s, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalnaya, Kira Yarmysh, Navalny, ”, Alfred A Knopf, ” Navalny, Russia’s, Vladimir Putin’s, Putin Organizations: CNN, Penguin Random, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Soviet, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, United States

☆ Trump is recreating his web of chaos at home and abroad in a preview of what a second term could look like
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Some top Democrats worry that Americans have forgotten the chaos that raged every day Donald Trump was president, and that voters’ faded recall of the uproar will end up handing him a second term. Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is threatening to topple Johnson if he dares to pass it. — Nationwide chaos is, meanwhile, spreading in the wake of the Trump-built Supreme Court conservative majority overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. — Bipartisan efforts to solve a border crisis are in tatters after Trump’s House followers in February killed the most sweeping and conservative bill in years. Yet Trump has vowed to end the war in 24 hours if he wins a second term.

Persons: Donald Trump, ’, Trump, Mike Johnson, Ukraine –, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Johnson, Roe, Wade, Trump’s, Joe Biden, —, Johnson –, Lago Trump, bucked Johnson, Bill Barr, CNN’s Annie Grayer, ” Barr, ”, Barr, “ We’re, Greene, “, ” Greene, CNN’s Manu Raju, We’re, laud, Ronald Reagan’s, Vladimir Putin’s, Volodymyr Zelensky, don’t, CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen, Putin, Christopher Cavoli, ” Cavoli, Biden, majority’s handiwork, he’d, didn’t, –, he’s Organizations: CNN, GOP, Republican, Trump, Washington, Trump -, Mar, Foreign Intelligence, FBI, FISA, Kremlin, Ukraine, European Command, House Armed Services Committee, Arizona Locations: Ukraine, Arizona, tatters, America, Washington, Russia, Georgia, Florida, Russian, Mar, Alabama

☆ Zelensky says he will listen to Trump’s ideas to end war ‘with pleasure’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Sophie Tanno | Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would listen to former US President Donald Trump’s ideas to end the war in Ukraine with “pleasure” but trod carefully around the issue during an interview at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece. I haven’t heard that directly from Trump,” Zelensky told CNN’s Senior Correspondent Fred Pleitgen via video link from Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelensky is pictured speaking from Ukraine during an interview with CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, who is at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky inspects new fortifications for Ukrainian servicemen near the Russian border in the Kharkiv region on Tuesday. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout/Reuters“I’d like to underscore that no Western weapons were used to attack in such a way.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump’s, ” Zelensky, CNN’s, Fred Pleitgen, “, Zelensky, Trump, Ukraine “, ”, The Trump, “ There’s, he’s, CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, Pleitgen, Vladimir Putin’s, Putin’s, Reuters “, Oleksandr Prokudin, Ukrenergo Organizations: CNN, Delphi, Republican, German, Wednesday, Trump, Russia, West, Presidential Press Service, Reuters, Ukraine’s Defense Forces of Locations: Ukraine, Greece, Ukrainian, Russia, Trump, Delphi, Zelensky, “, Kharkiv, Western, Russian, Odesa, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv

☆ Opinion: Investing in oil and gas doesn’t make sense anymore
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Opinion Tom Steyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some might think that, questions of morality aside, fossil fuel investments are just too good to pass up. Even in the United States, where President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is making historic investments in clean energy, oil exports are at an all-time high. On closer examination, the simplest argument against funding new oil, gas and coal projects is not that they’re immoral. What should be even more concerning to investors is that fossil fuel companies’ challenges go beyond supply and demand. Finally, there is perhaps the greatest risk fossil fuel investors face: the industry’s massive profits are largely dependent on special treatment by governments.

Persons: Tom Steyer, Pimco, Vladimir Putin’s, Joe Biden’s, I’ve, —, there’s, Morgan Stanley, persuasively, Herbert Stein Organizations: Solutions, CNN, JPMorgan Chase, State Street, Global Energy Monitor, Farallon Capital, ” Locations: BlackRock, Ukraine, United States, Texas, Farallon

☆ NATO’s next challenge: How to reverse years of underfunding defense
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

For over a decade, allies have chronically underspent on defense while the West’s adversaries modernized and bolstered their own military capabilities. Defense spending stayed low across the West not just because of budget pressures, but also because everyone – including the US – was frightened to provoke Russia. However, the nature of NATO allies’ support for Ukraine – much of it direct military support – has exposed the vulnerability that years of underfunding has caused the alliance. Fabian Bimmer/Pool/ReutersThis means that the challenge in front of NATO allies now is not just how can they meet the demand for weapons coming from Ukraine, but how do they reverse years of underfunding their own defenses? Some allies don’t trust that others will be quite so generous with defense spending if the Russia-Ukraine war were to end.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Murat Kula, ”, ” John Herbst, Antony Blinken, Ulf Kristersson, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, underfunding, It’s, Herbst, NATO’s, –, Jens Stoltenberg, Olaf Scholz, Fabian Bimmer, Stoltenberg, ” Stoltenberg, Peter Ricketts, Douglas Lute, “ Organizations: CNN, NATO, Turkish, Anadolu Agency, Pentagon, “, Swedish, US State Department, Getty, Ukraine, Rheinmetall, Trump Locations: Soviet, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, United States, British, Vilnius, Russia, Kyiv, Europe, Germany, AFP, North Korea, Iran, Washington, Unterluess, Baltic, Brussels, Finland, Sweden, NATO

☆ China, Russia and Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

America’s biggest adversaries evidently want Donald Trump to win the 2024 presidential election. Some of the Chinese accounts impersonate fervent Trump fans, including one on X that purported to be “a father, husband and son” who was “MAGA all the way! !” The accounts mocked Mr. Biden’s age and shared fake images of him in a prison jumpsuit, or claimed that Mr. Biden was a Satanist pedophile while promoting Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain what China and Russia hope to gain from a second Trump term. Trump has suggested that he will end this support.

Persons: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin’s, Trump, Tiffany Hsu, Steven Lee Myers, Donald J, Biden, Biden …, ”, “ MAGA, Mr, Trump’s, Putin Organizations: Trump Locations: Beijing, China, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Kate, Princess of Wales conspiracies peddled by Russian disinformation group, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The motive of such campaigns, Innes said, is to “destabilize” Russia’s Western antagonists and “undermine trust” in their institutions. The pattern of behavior was one his team recognized from a group of Russian actors his team had studied before. It is a commercial firm contracted to run disinformation campaigns, Innes said. Aaron Chown/Press Association/APMeta said it disrupted the group, but its disinformation campaigns have since grown more sophisticated. The timing of the Kate conspiracies was also propitious for the Kremlin – coming just as Putin secured a fifth term in power in a stage-managed election devoid of credible opposition.

Persons: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Kate, “, ” Martin Innes, ” Innes, Emmanuel Macron, Innes, Princess, Wales, ”, Instagram –, Doppelganger, Aaron Chown, King Charles III, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, ” Anna George, Timothy Snyder, Vladimir Putin’s, Henry Nicholls, Prince William, ’ ”, Putin Organizations: CNN, Cardiff University, –, Soviet, Meta, Facebook, Press Association, AP Meta, US Treasury, British Embassy, Reuters Institute for, Journalism, Oxford University, Oxford Internet Institute, Yale, Russian Foreign, ” Police, London Clinic, Getty, CNN’s Royal, Kremlin Locations: Wales, Ukraine, ”, Russia, Soviet Union, London, Moscow, Cardiff, Russian, United States, Europe, British, Kensington, Britain, AFP, Windsor

☆ Opinion: The heroism of Ukraine and the nihilism of Mike Johnson
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Opinion Amelia Glaser | Marci Shore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Global Images Ukraine/Getty ImagesIn Ukraine the air raid alerts are incessant. Kyiv has the best air defense in Ukraine; the country lacks the resources to defend other cities this way. He noted that Ukrainian air defense had done a spectacular job that morning intercepting every single missile launched at Kyiv. The United States has essentially cut off Ukraine, and Ukrainian air defense is quickly running out of ammunition. After we landed back in JFK, we turned off the air raid sound on our phones.

Persons: Amelia Glaser, Marci Shore, Read, Mike Johnson, Vladimir Putin’s, Covid, ” –, Andrii, you’re, Oleksandr Roytburd, Roytburd, Alla Horska, Tymofiy Mylovanov, Amelia, Iya Kiva, Marci, Tetyana Ogarkova, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Putin, Tucker Carlson, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Carlson, Khmelnytsky, Oleksandr Halenko, Gleb Garanich, texted, ”, Sergii, “, Alina Smutko, Sergii’s, Mark Hamill –, Luke Skywalker, Agiya Zagrebelska, Arad, “ Pessimists, Rob Bauer, ” Bauer, “ I’m, Iaroslava Strikha, beholden, Donald Trump, Johnson, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, ” Putin Organizations: UC San Diego, Yale University, CNN, of Decorative, Applied Arts, Design, Warsaw —, Kyiv School of Economics, KGB, Ukrainian, Fulbright, NATO, National Agency on Corruption, Kyiv Security, United, Kyiv, National, Security Forum Locations: Russia’s, Crimea, Kyiv, New York, JFK, Warsaw, Polish, Chelm, Bucha, Russian, Yevhenii, Ukraine, Sens, Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, KSE, Muscovy, Russia, Poland, Syria, Murmansk, Kyiv oblast, Austrian, texted, United States

☆ Moscow Concert Hall Shooting Russia Begins Day of Mourning for Victims
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

The terrorist attack outside Moscow a few days later was a blow to his aura as a leader for whom national security is paramount. Just days later came a searing counterpoint: His vaunted security apparatus failed to prevent Russia’s deadliest terrorist attack in 20 years. Inside Russia, the election — and its predetermined outcome — underscored Mr. Putin’s dominance over the nation’s politics. The area is closed as part of increased security measures after the terrorist attack on Friday. Before Friday, the most recent mass-casualty terrorist attack in the capital region was a suicide bombing at an airport in Moscow in 2011 that killed 37 people.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, “, ” Aleksandr Kynev, ” Mr, Mr, ”, Nanna Heitmann, Aleksei A, ” Ruslan Leviev, Olga Skabeyeva, Margarita Simonyan, Russia’s, Aleksandr Dugin, Dugin, Dugin’s, Andriy Yusov, Putin’s, Shamil Zhumatov, Kynev, Vladimir Putin’s, Constant Méheut Organizations: Kremlin, Islamic State, Passengers, The New York Times, Terrorism, Islamic, ., Reuters Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, Beslan, United States

☆ Crocus City attack: The ghost of Russia’s past wars comes back to haunt Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Twenty years ago, the Dubrovka gunmen were the disturbed product of Russia’s savage anti-terror campaign that summarily executed hundreds of military aged males in Chechnya in the early 2000s. Emergency services personnel and police work at the scene of the Crocus City Hall attack. First, there will be further efforts to suggest Ukraine and the West are somehow involved in these attacks. The Dubrovka attack was followed two years later by airplanes being blown out of the sky and the catastrophic nightmare of the Beslan school siege. In 2002, Dubrovka forced Moscow reluctantly yet closer to the United States’ war on terror.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Kadyrov, Stringer, Maria Zakharova, Margarita Simonyan, overstretched Putin, Dubrovka, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: CNN, Gunmen, Dubrovka Theatre, Chechen, Crocus City, Kremlin, Authorities, Getty, Russia Today, ISIS Locations: Moscow, Crocus, Russia, Chechnya, Iraq, Syria, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Caucasus, AFP, Ukraine, fatigues, Russian, Beslan, United States

☆ Six more years of Putin will worry many countries. But not China
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A stable relationship with Moscow, too, allows Beijing to focus on other areas of concern such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. “Xi sees Putin as a genuine strategic partner,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London, ahead of the Russian election results, adding that anything less than a landslide win for Putin would be “a disappointment” for Beijing. The Russian leader has weathered an apparent miscalculation that what his government still calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine would be a swift success. Jose Colon/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesWatchful BeijingBut that doesn’t mean countries tied to Moscow aren’t also watching the conflict in Ukraine carefully. That may be especially true for China, Russia’s most powerful strategic partner.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Vladimir Putin’s, Xi Jinping, Xi, Putin, Jens Stoltenberg, ”, Steve Tsang, Mao Zedong, won’t, Putin’s, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Kim Jong, Sergei Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, he’s, Alexey Navalny, –, BRICS, Jose Colon, Moscow aren’t, “, Eurasia Li Hui, Wang Yiwei, Putin –, Li Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Ukraine grinds, Kremlin, NATO, Washington, SOAS China Institute, University of London, Putin, Russia's, KCNA, Reuters, United Arab Emirates, Russian, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Moscow, Renmin University, Beijing, CNN Locations: China, Hong Kong, Russia, Taiwan, Beijing, Moscow, South China, North Korea, Russia’s Far, Washington, Pyongyang, South Korea, Iran, India, Ukraine, Vladivostok, Russian, United States, Brazil, South Africa, UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt, Russia’s Kazan, Crimea, Sochi, West, Israel, Gaza, Ukrainian, Eurasia, Europe, Beijing –

CNN —Several Russians poured dye into ballot boxes in protest as the three-day presidential vote got underway, near certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s long grip on power. But videos released Friday from several polling stations across Russia showed protesters pouring what authorities described as dye into ballot boxes to spoil the votes cast. CCTV video from a polling station in Moscow showed a young woman pouring what appeared to be green dye into a ballot box. She was immediately detained and faces criminal charges for obstructing the election, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti. In St. Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, a woman threw a Molotov cocktail at the signboard of a polling station in the Moskovsky district, RIA reported.

Persons: Vladimir, Putin, Alena Bulgakova, Bulgakova, Putin’s, Molotov, Ella Pamfilova, ”, Alexey Navalny, Evgeny Feldman, Navalny, “, Navalny’s, Yulia Navalnaya Organizations: CNN, Novosti, Kremlin, Russian Civic Chamber Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Voronezh, Rostov, Karachay, St . Petersburg, Moskovsky

AFP/Getty ImagesMeanwhile, skirmishes continued in villages in Belgorod and Kursk regions after pro-Ukrainian groups of Russian fighters on Tuesday mounted a cross-border attack. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the “terrorist formations” had targeted the Belgorod villages of Nekhoteevka and Spodariushino. “The liberation of the Russian regions from the Kremlin terrorist regime continues in these minutes. Massive strikes are now being launched against Putin’s forces in the Belgorod and Kursk regions,” the statement said. While the extent of the skirmishes in border villages is not clear, drone strikes and shelling on Belgorod have increased markedly in the past week.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, ”, Russia Legion –, Russia –, –, “, Ukraine’s, Valerii Zaluzhnyi Organizations: CNN, Russia’s Defense Ministry, Wednesday, Getty, Russia Legion, Siberian Battalion, Russian Volunteer Corps, Kremlin, Putin’s, Russian Locations: Russia’s Belgorod, Ukrainian Russian, Belgorod, Kursk, Ukraine, Russia, Ryazan, Kstovo, Ukraine’s, AFP, Nekhoteevka, Tyotkino, ” Russia

☆ Putin is coasting towards another term in power. Here’s what to know about Russia’s presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Russia is holding a presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s rule throughout this decade and into the 2030s. But this is not a normal election; the poll is essentially a constitutional box-ticking exercise that carries no prospect of removing Putin from power. But that is not to say Russians expect the election to change the direction of the country. Russia’s elections are neither free nor fair, and serve essentially as a formality to extend Putin’s term in power, according to independent bodies and observers both in and outside the country. In order to vote against Putin, you just need to vote for any other candidate,” he said on February 8.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Alexey Navalny, Natalia Kolesnikova, Joseph Stalin, Putin’s, Dmitry Medvedev, euphemistically, —, Abbas Gallyamov, Gallyamov, ”, Callum Fraser, Nikolay Kharitonov, Leonid Slutsky, Vladislav Davankov, Davankov, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Boris Nadezhdin, Yekaterina Duntsova, Duntsova, Leonid Volkov, Volkov, Stringer, Alexey Navalny –, –, Yulia Navalnaya, “, “ Putin, Don’t, Navalnaya Organizations: CNN, Russian, Duma, Getty, Levada, Central, Commission, Royal United Services Institute, Communist Party, Slutsky, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Kremlin, CEC, Freedom, Putin, European Union, Foreign Affairs Locations: Russia, Ukraine, AFP, Soviet, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Chechen, Grozny, Moscow, Russian

☆ Ukraine drone strikes: Russia oil refineries hit as Kyiv steps up drone attacks before Putin’s election
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Ukraine launched overnight drone attacks on three oil refineries deep inside Russia, a Ukrainian defense source told CNN on Wednesday, as Kyiv intensifies its cross-border strikes days before President Vladimir Putin’s anticipated re-election. It marked the second consecutive day of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy sites, and the locations targeted represent a spate of attacks well within Russia’s territory. The border region of Belgorod has taken the brunt of Ukraine's cross-border attacks during the war. Russia’s Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said 10 civilians were injured and six were hospitalized in the region on Tuesday. During a lengthy interview on state television channel Rossiya 1 on Wednesday, Putin said Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and Kursk are happening amid Kyiv’s “failures” on the battlefield.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Stringer, Pavel Malkov, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Putin, ” Putin, “ Organizations: CNN — Ukraine, CNN, Getty, Social Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Ukraine, Ryazan, Moscow, Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s, Ukrainian, Tyotkino, Russia’s Kursk, Belgorod, AFP, Leningrad, Finland, Oryol, Odnorobovka, Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Nekhoteevka, Spodariushino, Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk

☆ Polish Leader to Press for Surge in NATO Spending to Counter Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had made clear that NATO must take more seriously the possibility that Moscow would move against one or more members of the alliance. To prepare for that, he said, each NATO country should spend at least 3 percent of its own economy on military needs, up from a current goal of 2 percent. “A return to the status quo ante is not possible,” Mr. Duda wrote in The Washington Post before the meeting at the White House on Tuesday. “Vladimir Putin’s regime poses the biggest threat to global peace since the end of the Cold War.”The proposal to increase NATO military spending may not be adopted anytime soon by many allies that have yet to meet even the 2 percent target. But it reflects the tension within the alliance between its easternmost members, which feel most acutely vulnerable to Russian revanchism, and westernmost members, which are less alarmed and more eager to find a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine war.

Persons: Biden, Andrzej Duda, Mr, Duda, “ Russia’s, “, “ Vladimir Putin’s Organizations: NATO, Washington Post, White Locations: Poland, Europe, United States, Ukraine, Moscow, NATO, Washington, Russia, Russian

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's president on Monday called on other members of the NATO alliance to raise their spending on defense to 3% of their gross domestic product as Russia puts its economy on a war footing and pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine. President Andrzej Duda made his call both in remarks in Warsaw and in a piece published by The Washington Post. His appeal came on the eve of a visit to the White House, where U.S. President Joe Biden will receive both him and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday. NATO increased its spending to 2% of GDP for its members after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, but most members, including Germany, still fall short of that benchmark. It is allocating close to 30 percent of its annual budget to arm itself," Duda argued.

Persons: —, Andrzej Duda, Joe Biden, Donald Tusk, “ Russia’s, ” Duda, Duda, Vladimir Putin’s, Jens Stoltenberg Organizations: NATO, The Washington Post, White, Polish, United, Russian Federation, Brussels Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Warsaw, Moscow, Ukraine's Crimean, Germany, U.S, United States

CNN —Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said Donald Trump would effectively end the war in Ukraine by cutting off funding to Kyiv, should the former US president return to power in November. “He (Trump) has a very clear vision,” Orbán said in an interview to Hungarian broadcaster M1 broadcast on Sunday. That’s why the war will end, because it’s obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own two feet.”Orbán’s comments came after Trump hosted the Hungarian strongman at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. And then the war will end,” Orbán said. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former US President Donald Trump are seen at the White House in 2019.

Persons: Viktor Orbán, Donald Trump, “, ” Orbán, Trump, Orbán, won’t, Vladimir Putin’s, Viktor Orban, Brendan Smialowski, Orban, Erdogan, anybody’s, ” John Bolton, CNN’s Jim Sciutto, Trump’s, Putin, ” Bolton, Kristen Holmes, Andrew Millman Organizations: CNN, Trump, Russo, Mar, European Union, NATO, Hungary's, White House, Getty, Republican, Ukraine Locations: Hungarian, Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Florida, Hungary, Europe, Moscow, AFP, Turkey, NATO

☆ Opinion: Biden gave the speech of his life
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Opinion Cnn Contributors | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +29 min

CNN —CNN Opinion asked political and policy contributors to weigh in on President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. David Gergen: Biden just rewrote the presidential racePresident Joe Biden not only delivered perhaps the best speech of his life last night; he may have also changed the race itself. Roxanne Jones: Biden finally sounds like he’s ready to fightPresident Joe Biden finally has my attention. At the end of his speech, Biden reminded voters that he “grew up among working people” in Scranton. In his State of the Union speech, Biden had to answer the mail on all of these.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, David Gergen, Biden, Joe Biden, —, Carrie Sheffield, Carrie Sheffield Barry Morgenstein, Donald Trump’s, pandered, Sophia A, Nelson, Trump, Sen, Andrew, ”, Donald Trump, Harris, Daniel McCarthy, Trump President Joe Biden, Daniel McCarthy Biden, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, wasn’t, he’s, haven’t, Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, Nikki Haley, Trump couldn’t, Reagan, Roxanne Jones, ” Biden, Smart, Jill Filipovic, Mike Johnson, David A, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ” David A, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, SubStack’s, Paul Sracic, It’s, White, Paul Sracic Arne Hoel It’s, Hillary Clinton, Joe, ” Paul Sracic, Raul A, Reyes, ” Raul A, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, Laken Riley, Mark Zandi, Mark Zandi Moody's, Ana Marie Cox, Ana Marie Cox Faith Fonseca, Biden’s, Dobbs, Roe, Wade, Peter Bergen, George W, Bush, Vladimir Putin’s, –, beefed, Gazans Organizations: CNN, David Gergen CNN, Union, Harvard Kennedy School, Gallup, NATO, Democratic, Republicans, Trump, Independent Women’s, United States Senate, Biden, Congressional, Trump President, South Carolina Gov, GOP, Republican, Conservative, The Spectator, Syndicate, Big Pharma, Companies, American, Democrats, Twitter, NATO —, Israel, New York Times, CBS News, Democratic Party, United Auto Workers, Youngstown State University, Hudson Institute, Reyes CNN, Border Patrol, Georgia, ” Progressives, Pew Research Center, White, USA, Moody’s Analytics, Ana Marie Cox Faith, Jackson, Peter Bergen CNN, US Senate, New, Arizona State University Locations: Joe Biden’s State, America, United States, State, Gaza, Israel, New York, Ukraine, ”, American, China, Iran, Europe, Asia, Chicago, Scranton , Pennsylvania, Belvidere , Illinois, Scranton, Claymont , Delaware, Delaware, Ohio, Washington , DC, Georgia, Alabama, Austin, Iraq, New America

Moscow CNN —Crowds of mourners have gathered at a Moscow church for the funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny despite a heavy police presence and the threat of detention, a CNN team on the ground reports. Navalny’s team encountered difficulty in retrieving his body from Russian authorities and hiring a venue for his funeral, which began at 2 p.m. local time (6 a.m. Around 20 minutes before Navalny’s funeral was set to begin, the live signal of the CNN team on the ground appeared to be blocked. The feed organized by Navalny’s team was also not showing live coverage of the scene. APBut Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, had said ahead of the funeral that she is concerned police will crack down mourners.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s, Navalny’s, Dmitry Peskov, ”, clapped, “, ” Maria Pevchikh, ” Marina, …, ’ ”, Tatiana, ” Tatiana, Yulia Navalnaya, “ I’m Organizations: Moscow CNN, CNN, Kremlin, of, Police Locations: Moscow, Russian, Moscow’s Maryino, St . Petersburg, Russia, Germany

Moscow CNN —Thousands of mourners gathered in Moscow for the funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny despite a heavy police presence and the threat of detention. APAround 20 minutes before Navalny’s funeral began, the live signal of the CNN team on the ground appeared to be blocked. The live feed organized by Navalny’s team also dropped. Mourners gather around the casket of Alexey Navalny during his funeral in Moscow on March 1, 2024. as the Kremlin critic's coffin is carried to the Moscow church hosting his funeral.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, clapped, “ Putin, ” Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s, Navalny’s, Frank Sinatra’s, ”, Dmitry Peskov, ” Maria Pevchikh, Navalny, CNN’s Matthew Chance, Putin, Lyudmila Navalnaya –, –, ” Marina, “, …, ’ ”, Tatiana, ” Tatiana, Yulia Navalnaya, “ I’m Organizations: Moscow CNN —, Kremlin, of, Police, AP, CNN, Navalny’s, Reuters Locations: Moscow, Russian, Moscow’s Maryino, Borisov, Russia, Ukraine, Siberia, St . Petersburg, Siberian, Novosibirsk –, Yekaterinburg, Germany

☆ Opinion: We must help Ukraine now or fight costlier wars later
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Opinion Mark T. Esper | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Whether Congress chooses to provide the continued financial support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan desperately need will go a long way toward answering this question. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper testifies during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on July 9 in Washington, DC. Without renewed US support, the arms pipeline to Ukraine will continue to dwindle over the coming months, directly impacting what happens on the battlefield. Politics must be set aside, and politicians who spurn allies, coddle autocrats and argue for American retrenchment should be ignored. Leadership is a heavy cross to bear, indeed, but the benefits of doing so — especially in the face of clear threats — will always outweigh the costs and favor the United States.

Persons: Mark, Esper, Trump, Russia resurges, Defense Mark Esper, Greg Nash, Vladimir Putin’s, Israel dismantles, Joe Biden, Anatolii Stepanov, Putin, Xi Jinping, coddle autocrats Organizations: Times, The McCain Institute, CNN, Defense, Armed, Funds, Communist, NATO, Ukraine, Taiwan Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Israel, Taiwan, Washington , DC, Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Communist China, Kyiv, Moscow, Russian, Kostyantynivka, Donetsk, AFP, China, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Washington, Iran, Afghanistan, East

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