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☆ Ukraine and Russia say they want the war to end. But military and political experts say they're nowhere near peace talks
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Fighting remains intense in southern and eastern Ukraine, where Russian units are deeply entrenched, preventing Ukraine's forces from making significant advances. They note that neither Russia nor Ukraine seems to be at a point where a political resolution is palatable, however. 'Red lines' firmly drawnBoth Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly said they want the war to end — but on their terms. For its part, the Kremlin said in December that it saw no current basis for peace talks, and called Kyiv's peace plan an "absurd process" as it excluded Russia. One big stumbling block in any potential peace talks now is their respective positions on territorial integrity.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, It's, Sam Greene, Pierre Crom, Stephen Twitty, Vladimir Putin, Sam Cranny, Evans, Putin, there's, Zelenskyy, Mario Bikarski, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Bill Clark Organizations: Anadolu, Getty, Economic, King's College London, CNBC, U.S, Army, U.S . European Command, Economic Forum, Royal United Services Institute, Kremlin, Kherson —, Anadolu Agency, CIS, Senators, Capitol, Cq, Inc Locations: Kharkiv, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Switzerland, Davos, Kyiv, Malta, China, Crimea, Avdiivka, Europe, Moscow, Russian, Estonia, Belarus, Turkey, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Ky

☆ Ryanair will return to Ukraine within weeks of war ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Ryanair is planning to connect major airports in Ukraine to almost two dozen European capitals within weeks of the country’s airspace reopening when the war ends. Ryanair (RYAAY) said in a statement Thursday it would offer flights to and from Ukraine within eight weeks of that happening. Speaking from Kyiv, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said the carrier would “charge back” into Ukraine after the war. “The visit of Ryanair senior management to Boryspil Airport is a powerful signal that the largest airline in Europe sees huge potential in the Ukrainian air transport market,” said Boryspil International Airport CEO Oleksiy Dubrevskyy. The move highlights Ukraine’s sustained efforts to court international investors, as it plans for its future after the war.

Persons: Michael O’Leary, O’Leary, “, ”, Oleksiy Dubrevskyy, Philips —, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: London CNN, Ryanair, Boeing, European Union Aviation Safety Agency, European Union, Kherson —, Boryspil, Boryspil International, Conference, Citi, Sanofi, Philips, BlackRock, JPMorgan, Ukraine Development Fund Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Kherson, ”, Ukrainian, Europe, London

“We’re looking for any kind of enemies everywhere, air, on land and on the river as well,” Captain Anton, his surname withheld for security reasons, says of his mission. It cuts through Ukraine, connecting some of its major cities — such as Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — providing water, electricity and a natural barrier against advancing armies. “The river is a strategic object,” Captain Anton says. “Our mission is to patrol the Dnipro River, since it’s prohibited to use any kind of navigation since 24th of February 2022,” Captain Anton explains. “In cases where Russia is using Shaheds, we can use (these boats) to try and strike them,” Captain Anton explains.

Persons: Captain Anton, Vasco Cotovio, Anton, “, “ We’re, ”, Anton’s Organizations: CNN, Vasco, Dnipro, NATO, US Department of Defense, Moscow, Snake, United Locations: Dnipro, Europe, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, United States, Washington, Russian, “, Moscow, Moskva, Ukrainian

☆ Floods from the dam Russia is accused of destroying also wiped out its own defensive positions, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Flooding from the Kakhovka dam destruction is harming Russia's defensive positions, experts said. Kyiv says Russia of blew up the dam to harm Ukraine — but it may have had unintended consequences. "The flood also destroyed Russian minefields along the coast, with footage showing mines exploding in the flood water," the ISW added. The Kakhovka dam, which is upstream from Kherson, was damaged on Tuesday, releasing a torrent of water from its reservoir. Western countries have condemned Russia in broad terms since its destruction but haven't explicitly said it deliberately destroyed the dam.

Persons: —, Hola, ISW, haven't, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: Institute for, Service, Russian, Russia, NBC, Ukrainian Presidential, AP Ukraine, Politico Locations: Kyiv, Russia, Ukraine, Dnipro, Russian, Ukrainian, Kherson —, Reuters, Kherson, Kakhovka, Kherson region

Kherson, Ukraine CNN —Nadejda Chernishova breathes a sigh of relief as she steps off a rubber dinghy, moments after being rescued from her flooded home in Kherson. Nadejda Chernishova, 65, said water levels rose too fast for her to leave her home on her own. Planet Labs PBC/ReutersIn a frontline city like Kherson — where the shelling is constant — the rising water brings an added danger. The large presence of soldiers and first responders contrasts with the very few number of Kherson residents out on the streets. Both sides have been severely impacted by the collapse — even more so on the Russian side — leaving the terrain in very difficult condition.

Persons: Ukraine CNN —, Chernishova, “ I’m, ”, ” Chernishova, Nadejda Chernishova, I'm, Vasco Cotovio, Oleksandr Prokudin, Prokudin, Nova Kakhovka, ” Prokudin, “, haven’t, ” Produkin, – Organizations: Ukraine CNN, CNN, Planet Labs PBC, Reuters, Artillery, ” Locations: Kherson, Ukraine, “, Dnipro, Russian, ”, Karobel, Nova, Kyiv, Moscow, Kherson —, Russia, ” Kyiv

☆ Engineers modeled the disastrous flood that would follow a key dam in Ukraine being destroyed. The reality is even worse, they say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Engineers predicted what would happen if Ukraine's Kakhovka Nova dam was breached. The dam was breached for real on Tuesday, and the reality is worse than predicted, one said. Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for destroying the dam. In the wake of the news, animated maps created in October last year by Swedish engineers Dämningsverket have widely recirculated on social media. He told Insider: "The real dam break looks worse than the scenario I modeled because of higher water levels in the reservoir than what I had anticipated."

Persons: —, Dämningsverket, Henrik Ölander, Hjalmarsson, I'm, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Engineers, Service, New Civil, New York Times Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kherson —

☆ Russia destroyed Ukraine's 'last warship' in Black Sea missile attack, defense ministry said
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Ukrainian Navy's "last warship" was destroyed, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said. The Yuriy Olefirenko was hit with "high-precision weapons" in the port of Odesa, Russia claimed. Russia said the Yuriy Olefirenko was hit on Monday with missiles, which Konashenkov called "high-precision weapons," per Reuters. Russia has rarely targeted the port after signing the UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative last year. Whichever side holds the piece of land can control ship traffic between the ports of Kherson and Mykolaiv and the Black Sea, per Forbes.

Persons: Yuriy Olefirenko, —, Igor Konashenkov, Konashenkov, Frederik Mertens, Mertens Organizations: Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian Navy, Service, Ukrainian, Russian Defence Ministry, UN, Forbes, Navy, Hague, Strategic Studies, Newsweek Locations: Odesa, Russia, Telegraph, Ukraine, Soviet, Kherson —, Dnipro, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Ukrainian

☆ Putin is fighting an 'internal power struggle' to weaken critics amid Russia's mounting military failures in Ukraine, war experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Putin is likely moving to silence critics with this move as he fights an internal power struggle, analysts say. Ukrainian intelligence has also suggested that Surovkin is a rival of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, ISW said. ISW said Gerasimov's appointment was also designed to "support an intended decisive Russian military effort in 2023, likely in the form of resumed Russian offensive operations." After failing to take Kyiv in the early months of the war, Russia turned its attention to Ukraine's east. It's unclear whether the recent change in leadership in Ukraine will drastically alter Russia's narrowing options on the battlefield.

☆ Russia is trying to label as extremist maps that question its territorial claims over parts of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Maps that don't respect Russia's claimed "territorial integrity" are to be labeled extremist material. Lawmakers objected to maps that don't show occupied Crimea as part of Russia. An amendment to anti-extremism legislation would include as extremist "cartographic and other documents and images that dispute the territorial integrity of Russia," according to Reuters. Russia has claimed Crimea as Russian territory since its troops seized the land from Ukraine in 2014 — a claim rejected not only by Ukraine but by almost 100 UN member states. Independent Russian outlet Meduza, in editorial remarks, said the amendment will likely apply to the regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia since its 2022 invasion.

☆ Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a 'geopolitical earthquake' that defined 2022 and has transformed the world for years to come
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

An unthinkable, nightmare scenario was now a reality — the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II had begun. The war, which is still raging on, will continue to shape the world in the year to come and likely long after. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine represented a geopolitical earthquake, scrambling the entire chessboard of global politics," Ivo Daalder, a former US ambassador to NATO, told Insider. Some experts have warned that the nuclear dangers posed by the Ukraine war after are "far worse" than the Cuban missile crisis, which occurred 60 years ago this past October. Indeed, the global dimensions of the Ukraine war could make it an era-defining fight.

☆ Russia's infamous Wagner Group is throwing prisoners who 'have nothing to lose' on the frontlines, Ukrainian advisor says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's Wagner Group is sending prisoners who "have nothing to lose" to the frontlines, according to Politico. The prisoners have been shoved to the forefront of the fighting in the war-torn Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The Wagner Group — which has close ties to the Kremlin — has fought alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. Moscow's reliance on the Wagner Group in Ukraine is indicative of the serious manpower issues facing the Russian military. The Russian military is also running low on munitions, which Western officials have said will make it difficult to successfully conduct ground operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Congress in a moving Wednesday speech. Zelenskyy's speech came after the Ukrainian president joined Biden for a joint press conference on Wednesday afternoon, during which the latter reaffirmed ongoing support to Ukraine from the US. The Ukrainian president told reporters that he was grateful for US assistance and emphasized that the two countries are fighting for "common victory against this tyranny." President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky assailed Senate GOP leaders for agreeing to the latest tranche of Ukraine aid already baked into the year-end spending deal.

☆ Putin says Russia's nuclear forces will improve 'combat readiness,' as the Russian military continues to face setbacks in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Putin on Wednesday said that Russia's nuclear forces would improve "combat readiness." And this process, of course, we will build upon," Putin said during a televised meeting with Russian military officials, per the Moscow Times. The Russian leader, who in the early days of the Ukraine war said he was placing Russia's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert, also said Russia would "improve the combat readiness of our nuclear triad." The war in Ukraine has gone poorly for the Russian military, which is estimated to have suffered 100,000 casualties since invading in late February. Russia's forces have lost ground to Ukrainian troops in recent months, including in Ukrainian territories that Putin illegally annexed in September.

☆ Putin says situation in occupied Ukrainian territories is 'extremely difficult,' in a rare admission the war isn't going well
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Putin said that Russia faces an "extremely difficult" situation in occupied Ukrainian territories. It was a rare acknowledgement that Russia's war in Ukraine has not gone according to plan. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy visited Ukrainian troops in a city Russia has tried and failed to capture for months. Putin was referencing four Ukrainian regions he illegally annexed in September, though Russia did not fully occupy those regions at the time. Putin has generally painted a rosy picture of how the war is going, and in the early days of the conflict signed a law that effectively criminalized criticism of the Russian military.

☆ Russia is losing in Ukraine and 'will continue to fail in all its war aims,' the UK's armed forces chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The head of the UK's armed forces said on Wednesday that Russia is losing in Ukraine. In November, Russian forces retreated from Kherson — the first major Ukrainian city that Russia captured. The war saw Russia increasingly isolated, condemned in the UN, and booted from the UN Human Rights Council. Russia's war in Ukraine pushed a number of countries to abandon longstanding stances of neutrality. Russia, however, recently rejected a call from Ukrainian leadership to withdraw its forces, signaling that fighting will continue.

☆ Putin's war in Ukraine looks more and more like a failure. Past Russian leaders haven't survived similar mistakes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Joy Neumeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Instead, Russia's failing war effort has raised doubts about Putin's hold on power. For now, Putin looks secure, but past Russian leaders have suffered at home for blunders abroad. By the following summer, the Germans had taken huge swathes of Russian-controlled territory and a million Russian soldiers were dead. Captured Russian soldiers after the defeat at Tannenberg, in present-day Poland, on August 30, 1914. After an ineffectual troop surge, Gorbachev gave up on trying to improve the situation, and the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989.

☆ Satellite images show Russia is making a big gamble on how it plans to defend territory near Crimea from Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russian forces have set up defensive lines and positions in territory leading toward Crimea. Close-up view of Russian defensive positions in Novotroitsky, Ukraine, captured on November 15, 2022. Ukraine's tanks and tracked vehicles could cut through fields and bypass them or assault the Russian positions from their more vulnerable flanks. Beyond this, Barros said that in establishing these defensive lines, Russian forces are also limiting themselves in their ability to conduct offensive operations in the area. Since late summer, advancing Ukrainian forces have managed to liberate thousands of square miles of territory from under Russian occupation.

☆ Ukraine is helping evacuate people out of Kherson because they're afraid that shattered power infrastructure will bring a devastating winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian forces withdrew from the southern city of Kherson last week — a major victory for Ukraine. Last week, Moscow ordered a withdrawal of troops from Kherson — the largest city that was occupied by Russian forces since the start of the invasion in February. During their retreat from Kherson, Russian forces blew up two major power-providing facilities in the region, plunging thousands into darkness, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukraine's power grid operator Ukrenergo, said last week. Some Kherson residents told The Guardian they're trying to collect as much wood as possible to keep warm. Officials in Ukraine's capital city Kyiv are preparing for the possibility of a complete evacuation because they are unable to maintain their electricity grid.

☆ Ukraine's over-the-top response to a fatal missile explosion in Poland could hurt its credibility at a crucial moment in the war
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine rushed to claim the incident was a deliberate Russian attack, while the US and others urged caution. On Tuesday, Zelenskky called the strike in Poland a Russian "attack on collective security." And in a Wednesday morning speech, he called the incident a Russian "missile attack" and said separately that Polish citizens were killed because of "Russian missile terror." "Ukrainian forces, countering a massive Russian attack, launched their missiles yesterday to shoot down Russian missiles. Kyiv's forces have executed successful counteroffensives in the northeast and south, and they recently captured Kherson — an early Russian war win which had been under Russian occupation for most of the war.

Russia launched an intense wave of airstrikes on cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, forcing widespread blackouts and hitting residential buildings in the capital, Kyiv. The barrage targeted key cities from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the northeast, pounding energy infrastructure and knocking out power to vast areas in one of the largest coordinated attacks of the war. "85 missile strikes were fired at Ukraine, at our cities, mostly at energy infrastructure. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the strikes should put an end to pressure for peace talks with Russia. While the retaking of Kherson sparked jubilation in Ukraine, officials have cautioned that the conflict is far from over and that Putin could retaliate for the humiliation of his forces' retreat in the south.

☆ Zelenskyy lays out 10-point peace plan for Ukraine at G20, including withdrawal of Russian troops and 'all for all' prisoner swap
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The plan includes ensuring nuclear and food safety, and an "all for all" prisoner swap. "I am convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped," he said. He also called for an "all for all" prisoner swap with Russia, saying: "Thousands of our people — military and civilians — are in Russian captivity. It marked one of the most significant setbacks for Putin in the Ukraine war so far. In his speech to the G20, Zelenskyy accused Russia of turning the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant into a radioactive bomb that can explode at any moment.

☆ Ukraine works to stabilize Kherson after Russian pullout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In a regular social media update Saturday, the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian forces were fortifying their battle lines on the river’s eastern bank after abandoning the capital. About 70% of the Kherson region remains under Russian control. A view of the Ukrainian flag in front of a damaged settlement in Potemkin village which is recently retaken from Russian Forces, Kherson Oblast, Kherson, Ukraine on November 10, 2022. Despite the advances in Kherson, other parts of Ukraine continued to face civilian casualties, energy shortages and other fallout from Russian military attacks and Putin’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Ukrainian Armed Forces continuing their move toward the Kherson front in Ukraine on Nov. 9, 2022.

☆ Russia is withdrawing from Ukraine's Kherson — but the retreat will be dangerous for both sides
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

One Ukrainian official in Kherson stated that as Russian forces moved their equipment to the eastern bank of the river, "we destroy it." Fighting intensifiesThere were already signs on Thursday that fighting was intensifying in Kherson as Russian troops withdrew. Serhiy Khlan, a member of the Kherson Regional Council, said on Facebook that a large buildup of Russian troops had been blown up in Kakhovka in Kherson. Another Ukrainian official noted that Russia hadn't asked Ukraine to create a "green corridor," or safe route, for Russia to withdraw its troops from Kherson safely. While efforts to reoccupy Kherson might be fraught with danger, analysts say Ukraine's forces have executed a well-fought campaign to recapture Kherson from Russia.

☆ Zelenskyy says Russia plans to blow up a Ukrainian dam. The Soviets used the same tactic in WWII to slow a Nazi invasion, killing thousands of civilians.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of planning to blow up a major dam in southern Ukraine. It's a tactic that would mirror the Soviet's actions during WWII, in which thousands of civilians died. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of planning to blow up a major hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine as its forces struggle to hold off advancing Ukrainian forces. Zelenskyy said Russia had kicked out Ukrainian workers from the dam, but Insider could not verify the claims of a pending Russia plot. The dam-busting tactic was also used by Ukrainian forces earlier in the war with Russia this year as Putin's troops marched on the capital Kyiv.

☆ Russia is frantically moving tens of thousands of civilians across the river in Kherson, an early war win for Putin's forces that they may not be able to hold
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russian forces are rushing to evacuate tens of thousands of people in the key city of Kherson. The move comes as Ukrainian forces advance toward the city — the first that Russia captured. Russian forces have been occupying this southern city since they captured it early in the war. A view of a rocket firing as Ukrainian forces advance against Russian troops in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine on October 7, 2022. All together, Kyiv's advances have seen it liberate thousands of square miles of territory over the last two months that were previously occupied by Russian forces.

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