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☆ ‘Billions’ of golf balls could be lost every year. Where do they end up?
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

Found Golf Balls CEO Shaun Shienfield, whose company recovers and resells millions of lost balls across the US and Canada each year, told CNN that he gauged the average to be between three and four each round. Using Shienfield’s low estimate, that’s over 1.5 billion balls lost in the US every year since 2020. “While precise global estimates are challenging … the worldwide figure could easily exceed 3 to 5 billion golf balls lost each year,” Petersen told CNN. Mitchell Schols, founder of Canada-based Biodegradable Golf Balls, put a “very conservative” estimate for North America at one million balls lost to oceans annually. One UK-based man told CNN in 2015 that he could earn up to £100,000 (about $114,000) annually by diving to retrieve golf balls from lakes on golf courses.

Persons: Woods, Jonathan Ferrey, Shaun Shienfield, Torben Kastrup Petersen, ” Petersen, Loch, Cam Bauer, fairways, Jae C, Paula Gallani, Jack Taylor, Bonifas, Paul Barker, Alex Livesey, Josh Noel, Richard Heathcote, Sam Greenwood, Mohammed Afzal Abdul Afghanistan'shas, Mohammed Afzal Abdul, Shah Marai, Africa's, Alf Caputo, Mi Jung Hur, Michael Cohen, Matthew Savoca, Davis, Alex Weber, Savoca, Weber, Jack Johnston, Ezra Shaw, ” Savoca, “, there’s, ”, Mitchell Schols, Petersen, Kevin C, Cox, Schols, Albus Golf, ” Schols, Jared C, Tilton, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, United States Golf Association, National Golf Foundation, Danish Golf Union, La, Don Mueang International Airport, Getty, Chicago Tribune, Tribune, Service, La Paz Golf Club, AFP, Soviet Army, Kenya, Ladies European, Indy Women, Tech, University of California, Carmel High School, Monterey Bay National, National, Canada, North America, “, USGA, Pebble Beach Resorts Locations: Pebble Beach , California, Stillwater, Monterey , California, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Hawaii, France, Bangkok, Don, AFP, North, South Korea, Washington, Uummannaq, Coeur D'Alene, Death Valley , California, South Carolina, Bolivia, Kabul, Kenya, Australia, Ceduna, Kalgoorlie, Monterey Bay, Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Carmel, California, Monterey, Japan, England, Germany, America, –, Spanish, London, Florida

☆ Ukraine war analyst says Russia keeps surprising him with just how bad its soldiers are: 'The bar is very, very low'
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-18 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewA Ukraine war analyst told Business Insider that while watching this conflict, Russia has continually surprised him with how poorly trained its soldiers are. AdvertisementCaptured Russian soldiers, war experts, Ukrainian troops, and Western intelligence have all pointed to Russian troops being poorly trained and treated as disposable throughout the war. Related storiesRussia's losses have risen recently as Russian troops continue to suffer from deficiencies in training. The UK Ministry of Defence said in July that more than 70,000 Russian troops were likely killed or wounded between May and June. It blamed "an effective Ukrainian defense and a lack of Russian training" as Russia fought in multiple sectors.

Persons: —, George Barros, it's, Barros, Vladimir Putin, Matthew Savill Organizations: Service, Business, Russia, Russian Army, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, AP, UK Ministry of Defence, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Russian, US, Ukraine, Soviet, Soviet Union, Cuba, Kursk

☆ Ukraine is extending its record of flipping the script on Russia through innovation and audacity
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewFor months, Ukraine had been on the back foot in its war against Russia, with the Kremlin's forces slowly winning control of new territory. But last week, Ukraine turned the dynamic of the war on its head, launching an audacious incursion into Russia's Kursk province. However, the training provided by Ukraine's Western allies gave Ukraine the capacity to surprise and outmaneuver Russia. It's unclear exactly how Ukraine managed to take Russia by surprise with its Kursk attack. Military experts said that Ukraine had also exploited the sluggishness and rigidity of Russian military commanders, who scrambled to devise an effective response to the attack.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, It's, Russia's, Jacob Parakilas, they've, it's Organizations: Service, Russia, Kremlin, Business, Black, Rand Corp, Soviet, Economist, Forbes, New York Times, Military Locations: Ukraine, Russia's Kursk, Russia, Russian, Ukrainian, Soviet, Donbas, Crimea, Kyiv, Kursk

☆ Georgia rocked by protests as government pushes Putin-style ‘foreign agent’ bill
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —After spending his days making wine in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, Tsotne Jafaridze returns home to Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, and begins his new routine. Jafaridze, who also owns a travel business and says he receives 95% of his income from foreign sources, says he would “immediately” be listed as a foreign agent under the broadly-written law. But the government reintroduced the same bill in March and appears determined to force it through, despite protests that grow fiercer every week. Despite recent Russian aggression against Georgia, Georgian Dream has long been accused of harboring pro-Russian sympathies and its billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, made his fortune in the Soviet Union. Bidzina Ivanishvili addresses a rally in support of the "foreign agent" law in Tbilisi, April 29, 2024.

Persons: Jafaridze, ”, Vladimir Putin, “, Giorgi Arjevanidze, isn’t, ” Natalie Sabanadze, –, Levan Khabeishvili, Khabeishvili, Bidzina Ivanishvili, ” Buziashvili, Ivanishvili, Bidzina, Shakh, Sabanandze, Irakli Kobakhidze, Kobakhidze, ” Sabanadze, Viktor Orban, Europe’s, Matthew Miller, Washington, Georgia “, Irakli Gedenidze, Viktor Yanukovych, doesn’t Organizations: CNN, European Union, Getty, EU, United National Movement, National Security Council, Soviet Army, Soviet Union, Belarus ’, Party, Georgian, Conservative Political, United, State Department, Protesters, Reuters Locations: Caucasus, Tbilisi, Georgia’s, Russia, Georgian, Russian, Soviet, AFP, Brussels, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Hungary, Hungarian, United States, stoke, ”

☆ Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Archaeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland. Latebra Fundation PolandHowever, they then found ashes and a burned key, before he found the skull fragment. The foundation is waiting to hear the results of a police investigation into the remains, and many questions remain unanswered. “Right now, it’s very hard to say.”The excavation site outside a house inside the Wolf's Lair Latebra Fundation PolandAn important next step is to find out the age of the remains using radio carbon dating, he added. Deliberately built miles from civilization in the forests of northeastern Poland, the Wolf’s Lair was the Nazis’ 6.5-square-kilometer (2.5-square-mile) Eastern Front headquarters.

Persons: Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler, Adrian Kostrzewa, Latebra, ”, Hitler Organizations: CNN —, Nazi, Latebra Foundation, CNN, Third Locations: Poland, Gierloz, Polish, Gdansk, Europe

☆ The incredible story of how POWs played golf at the ‘Great Escape’ prison camp
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

In comparison to other POW camps under German control, captives at Stalag Luft III received “excellent” treatment for the majority of the war, according to a 1944 US Military Intelligence Service (MIS) report. The rubber from such items would wrap around the core and then be cased within leather stripped from shoes — a process eerily reminiscent of “featheries,” some of the earliest post-wooden golf balls ever made. Immortalized in a book and then a film of the same name, what became known as the “The Great Escape” wasn’t even the first breakout at Stalag Luft III. When three prisoners made a successful escape, suspicious German eyes homed in on the golf course and its sprawling mounds and greens. In 1979, he donated two balls he made while in Stalag Luft III to the USGA Golf Museum, artifacts that headline its exhibit on golf during the Second World War.

Persons: — “, Stalag Luft, —, “, ”, John Strege, Pat Ward, Thomas, Victoria Nenno, ” Nenno, Tee, Sydney Smith, Smith, Ward, John Mummert, Thomas ’, Sagan, Stalag, Roger Bushell’s, Tom, ” “ Dick, Harry ” —, Adolf Hitler Organizations: CNN, Luftwaffe, British Royal Air Force, RAF, United States Army Air Force, Military Intelligence Service, Geneva Convention, USGA Golf, PGA, Stalag Luft, USGA Museum, Ward, Thomas, USGA, RAF Squadron, Guardian, USGA Golf Museum Locations: Nazi Germany, Berlin, Zagan, Poland, Norway, New Zealand, Geneva, Netherlands, New Jersey, Ward, Germany, —, England

☆ On Holocaust Memorial Day, Germans Rally Against Far Right and for Democracy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Christopher F. Schuetze | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Germany on Holocaust Memorial Day on Saturday to demonstrate in support of democracy and against the rise of a far-right party, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is on track to make political gains in state elections this year. In towns and medium-sized cities like Düsseldorf, Kiel, Mannheim and Osnabrück, demonstrators held aloft signs that read: “There’s no Alternative to Democracy,” “Kick out Nazis” and “Voting for the AfD is so 1933,” a reference to the period in which the Nazis rose to power. In Germany, Holocaust Memorial Day, which this year marks the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by the Soviet army, is associated with the pledge “Never again.” That vow has taken on a new resonance amid the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a rise in antisemitic incidents in Germany, and the likelihood that a far-right party with extremist elements will gain further political power. “I always thought that our next generation would live even more openly, more tolerantly, without fear and concerns,” said Dursiye Ayyildiz, who leads an organization that speaks out for migrants in Kiel and addressed the crowd there. “However, I can see that right-wing ideas are unfortunately being passed on — and that worries me for the next generation,” she said.

Persons: ”, “, Dursiye Ayyildiz Organizations: Democracy Locations: Germany, Düsseldorf, Kiel, Mannheim, Osnabrück, Soviet, Israel

☆ World War Two veterans eye 80th anniversary of D-Day as Europe salutes war dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Thirty of us went out, 16 including my brother got back, five of us got captured and nine got killed," Hay said. He is now an active ambassador for the nearby British Normandy Memorial, overlooking Gold Beach in the UK sector. Until two years ago, Britain was alone among allies on the Western front in not having a dedicated Normandy memorial. The 30-million-pound ($37 million) memorial was financed by fines levied on banks by the British government, as well as private donations. In a forest near Regensburg, Germany, guns approached from the West and the German commanding officer accepted the war was over.

Persons: Ken Hay, Tim Hepher, Hay, Britain's King Charles III, Emmanuel Macron, Sacha Marsac, Thomas Hardwyre Milligan, Sidney Bates, VIII, I've, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Normandy, Juno, Royal International Air, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Normandy, Fairford, Britain, France, Nazi, English, Essex, Gold, Ver, Mer, British, Hay, Czech Republic, Regensburg, Germany

Magnus Mæland, the municipality mayor, then angrily removed the Russian wreath — only to have a woman, described by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK as being Russian, put it back. In 2019, on the 75th anniversary, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid wreaths at the monument and stood side-by-side with Norway’s foreign minister. On Saturday, Konygin gave a speech at the war memorial in the same Norwegian border town. Visiting locals from the Russian border town of Nikel faced the diplomat while residents from Kirkenes silently turned their back to him, according to the online outlet the Barents Observer. Locals had already placed a wreath at the monument before Konygin arrived, with the text “to our Ukrainian heroes from 1944 and 2022," according to the Barents Observer.

Persons: Magnus Mæland, ” Mæland, Marit Bjerkeng, Harald Sunde, Sergei Lavrov, Nikolai Konygin, Konygin Organizations: NRK, Russia’s, Observer, Locals, Barents Observer, Soviet Union Locations: COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Russian, Kirkenes, Norway, Soviet, Norwegian, Russia, Ukraine, Nazi Germany, Nikel

☆ Russian failures in Ukraine are forcing Moscow to give up on one of the biggest Putin-era military reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

As a result, Russia's military is ditching one of the main reforms lauched under Vladimir PutinNEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The German Army in World War II routinely formed combined-arms battlegroups ("kampfgruppen"), as did the US Army's task forces. BTGs were composed of professional contract soldiers, who are generally more capable, competent, and motivated than the sullen conscripts that still hamper Russia's army today. A few high-readiness battalions can't compensate for the low-readiness conscripts that make up about one-third of Russia's army. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images"The Russian military is well-suited to short, high-intensity campaigns defined by a heavy use of artillery," Michael Kofman and Rob Lee, both experts on Russia's military, wrote in June 2022.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, —, Vladimir Putin's, Josef Stalin, SERGEY VENYAVSKY, Olesya, Tkacheva, BTGs, SERGEI VENYAVSKY, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Michael Kofman, Rob Lee, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Russian, Red Army, Tactical Groups, Getty, Ukraine —, Brussels School, Governance, Wilson Center, Washington DC, German Army, US, Foreign Military Studies Office, Britain's Royal United Services Institute, Troops, Soviet Army, British Army, Ministry of Defense, Russian Armed Forces, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Chechen, AFP, Washington, Russian, Georgia, Moscow, Syria, Russia's, Krasnodar, Soviet, BTGs, Germany, Forbes

☆ Bulgarian nationalists protest against NATO bases, want government out
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Stoyan Nenov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOFIA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Bulgarian police on Thursday scuffled with supporters of the ultra-nationalist Vazrazhdane (Revival) party protesting against the policies of the pro-Western government, calling for the government to resign and for the closure of NATO military bases. Many shouted "Resignation", while fully equipped riot police protected the government buildings, including the defence ministry at which some protesters threw eggs. Bulgaria, which has sent arms to Ukraine, lifted its ban on Ukrainian grains last week. [1/5]Protesters scuffle with police as they try to remove construction fences surrounding the Soviet army monument, during an anti-government demonstration organised by the ultranationalist Vazrazhdane (Revival) party, in Sofia, Bulgaria, September 21, 2023. Bulgaria is a zone of peace", referring to the opening of a new military base in the NATO member.

Persons: Neli Tyulekova, Stoyan, Neli Balabanska, Stoyan Nenov, Daria Sito, Jan Harvey Organizations: SOFIA, Bulgarian, NATO, EU, Ukraine, REUTERS, State Agency for National Security, Thomson Locations: Russia, Russian, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Sofia, U.S, Soviet

☆ Opinion: The transformation of Kim Jong Un’s sister
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Sheena Mckenzie | Cnn Opinion | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The woman was Kim Yo Jong — younger sister of the North Korean leader and one of the country’s most important political advisors. Kim Jong Un's sister stands alongside the North Korean leader at the Vostochny Сosmodrome in the Amur region, Russia, on September 13, 2023. CNN: Of all the members of the Kim Dynasty, why did you choose to focus on Kim Yo Jong in your book? South Korean President Moon Jae-in (right) shakes hands with Kim Yo-Jong (middle), North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's sister, in 2018. I’ve watched hundreds of hours of North Korean footage and read thousands of North Korean articles and statements in writing this book.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong, Yoon Lee, ” Kim Yo Jong, Sung, Kim Yo, Kim, Alonso Nichols, Tufts University Sung, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Chol, Jong, Cleary, Kim Il Sung, Stalin, Moon Jae, ”, Joe Biden “, Lord David Alton, Kim’s, I’ve, that’s, Yoo Lee, It’s, it’s, Jang, Thaek Organizations: CNN, North, North Korean, South Korea —, Woodrow Wilson International Center, Scholars, Tufts University, Jong Un, Soviet Army, South Korea’s, Games, South, House, United Nations Locations: Pyeongchang, South Korea, North Korean, Amur, Russia, North, North Korea, Switzerland, Mt, Paektu, China, Korean, Communist, Pyongyang, Handout, United

☆ Ukrainian chef dreams of Michelin star, but happy to feed the troops
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Anna Voitenko | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sept 13 (Reuters) - Serhiy graduated from a culinary school in central Ukraine and dreams of working in a Michelin-starred restaurant. But for now, with his country locked in a war against Russia, he is only too happy to feed the troops as an army cook. "The frontline is just over there," he says in the simple kitchen where he produces varied, home-cooked meals. [1/4]Serhiy, 30, a former restaurant chef and military cook stands as he prepares a meal, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine September 12, 2023. One used to work at the restaurant for nine years, another one worked for 10 years," said one soldier, grinning.

Persons: Serhiy, thoughtfully, Oleksandr Ratushniak, Ron Popeski, Tom Balmforth, Alison Williams Organizations: Michelin, Russia, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk, Poland, Dnipropetrovsk region, Soviet, Afghanistan

☆ Opinion: Russia’s uneasy neighbors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“All of Russia’s neighbors are under threat,” he said, “if Ukraine does not prevail.” He will find few who disagree among those neighbors. It’s why Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, one of the most eloquent proponents of the need to support Ukraine, says Ukraine is Estonia’s own front line. Here, the exterior of Russia’s embassy has become a showcase for the contempt Estonians feel for their former master. As in Estonia, Russia’s 21st century assault on Ukraine brought echoes of Russia’s 20th century subjugation of Latvia. Genuine normalcy, a permanent sense of safety, Russia’s neighbors have discovered, will have to wait until peace returns to a secure Ukraine.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Latvia CNN —, it’s, Lithuania —, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Vladimir, Putin, Raivis, “, It’s, Kaja Kallas, Michal Fludra, Ukraine —, ” Janis Melnikovs, Radio Maria, Melnikovs, there’s, Russia —, Toomas, Margit Raud, Margit, —, Galina Domenikovska, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Russia’s Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Latvia CNN, Frida Ghitis CNN, Estonian, Russian Embassy, Ukraine Independence, NATO, Catholic, Radio, Ukraine, Kremlin, People Fleeing, Authorities, Soviet Army, Twitter Locations: Riga, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Netherlands, Soviet Union, Tallinn, Estonian, Finland, Helsinki, People Fleeing Ukraine, Viru, Baltics, Russia’s, Baltic, Republic of Georgia, Crimean

☆ Russia's brash invasion plan for Ukraine wasted special-operations units on missions they weren't meant to do
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russia's invasion also struggled because of flaws in its planning for the operation. "The lack of effective line infantry units caused Spetsnaz units to be deployed mostly as light infantry, which also led to a high level of casualties among these units. It details not only structural flaws but also the tactical misuse of Russian special forces during the invasion itself. When the airborne assault on Kyiv failed and the tank columns stalled, the special forces were left adrift. Russian commanders then sent Spetsnaz units in to operate like light infantry, which increased their casualties and left fewer Spetsnaz units available for their designated missions.

REUTERS/Sofiia GatilovaKYIV, May 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said it had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, and that Russia was continuing to send in new units including paratroopers. Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of about 70,000 before Russia's invasion, as a stepping stone towards capturing the rest of the eastern industrial Donbas region bordering Russia. Ukrainian officials have signalled the advances around Bakhmut are not part of a broader counteroffensive planned by Kyiv to push back the Russian forces. Prigozhin, in an audio statement, appeared to confirm Ukrainian forces now held an advantage in Bakhmut and he newly criticized Russian commanders. "Russian troops have lost the initiative on the flanks - our troops have cut off those flanks," Musiyenko told NV Radio.

☆ Moscow's 'special' forces: An inside look at how Russia's famed Spetsnaz really operate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Mark Galeotti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Russia's Spetsnaz forces are often depicted as a kind of Russian super troops. Osprey PublishingMost countries' special forces emphasize physical fitness, determination and aggression. Special people, for special tasksMembers of the Russian military's 16th Separate Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in 2018. Even so, being better than most of the Soviet army's miserable and recalcitrant conscript forces did not make most of them truly special, special forces. The special operations commandMembers of Russian's 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in November 2017.

☆ After a year of heavy losses, Ukraine's military is juggling a 'very uneven' force as it prepares for major fighting, expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Ukraine's military is gearing up for offensives against Russian forces in spring and summer. Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesWhen Russia invaded in February 2022, Ukraine's military had about 196,000 active personnel and 900,000 in reserve, according to the International Institute of Strategic Studies' 2022 Military Balance report. The Western approachAn instructor briefs Ukrainian soldiers at a training center near Yavoriv in April 2017. The training they provided accompanied other efforts by Kyiv to reverse two decades of post-Cold War decay that weakened the Ukrainian military. "This is a continuous struggle in the Ukrainian military," Kofman said.

☆ US embassy welcomes Finland to NATO with meme on Finnish snipers, a lethal force legendary for punishing invading Soviets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

To mark the occasion, a US embassy posted a meme to Twitter about Finnish snipers. The meme reads "select all images with Finnish snipers" and includes 12 small picture boxes which together make up an image of a snow-covered forest. What followed was a 105-day-long conflict known as the Winter War — a cold affair that saw Soviet forces suffer substantial losses. Given their limited number of troops and equipment, Finnish forces often couldn't go head to head against Soviet forces in pitched battles, so they turned to their snipers. Ski-mounted Finnish troops inflicted heavy losses on the Soviets.

☆ Mercenary leader Prigozhin says Russia faces resistance in taking Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Prigozhin, an entrepreneur and restaurateur, has attracted attention as fighting raged in this campaign. "Bakhmut is needed so our troops can operate comfortably," Prigozhin said. Ukrainian troops are well trained ... and like any large city it is impossible to capture it from head-on. Military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said the situation around Bakhmut probably remained the most difficult sector faced by Ukraine's forces as Russia deploys more and more conscripts. "The area south of Bakhmut is a very difficult sector," Zhdanov said in an online interview.

☆ Germany's Scholz: Putin has not threatened me or Germany - Bild
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin in his telephone conversations with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz "has not made any threats against me or Germany," Scholz said in an interview with Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag. Scholz said the conversations he had with Putin made it clear they had very different views of the war in Ukraine, which Russia calls a "special military operation." "I make it very clear to Putin that Russia has sole responsibility for the war," Scholz said. "Russia has invaded its neighbour for no reason, in order to take parts of Ukraine or the whole country under its control," Scholz said. Putin casts the military operation in Ukraine as a fight to "disarm" his neighbour, a fellow former Soviet republic, and defend Russia against an aggressive West.

☆ Putin evokes Stalingrad to predict victory over 'new Nazism' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tatiana Gomozova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russian officials have been drawing parallels with the struggle against the Nazis ever since Russian forces entered Ukraine almost a year ago. REUTERS/Kirill Braga 1 2 3 4 5VICTORY PARADEAs Putin finished speaking, the audience gave him a standing ovation. Thousands of people lined Volgograd's streets to watch a victory parade as planes flew overhead and modern and World War Two-era tanks and armoured vehicles rolled past. Some of the modern vehicles had the letter 'V' painted on them, a symbol used by Russia's forces in Ukraine. Irina Zolotoreva, a 61-year-old who said her relatives had fought at Stalingrad, saw a parallel with Ukraine.

☆ Photos show the horrors of Auschwitz, the largest and deadliest Nazi concentration camp, 78 years after its liberation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Natalie Colarossi | Lauren Frias | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

It has been 78 years since the Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration complex. First established in 1940, Auschwitz had a concentration camp, large gas chambers, and crematoria. More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, including nearly one million Jews. In just five years, over one million people were murdered at Auschwitz, the largest and deadliest Nazi concentration camp. The terror of Auschwitz finally subsided on January 27, 1945, when the Soviet Army liberated the remaining 7,000 prisoners from the camps.

☆ Ukraine defense minister rips Putin's 'meat grinder' tactics, says Russia is failing because it's still a 'big Soviet army'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

He said Putin's "meat grinder tactics" were failing, calling his troops a "big Soviet army." Reznikov cited Ukraine's nimble, hybrid tactics as the reason it could match even a larger and better-funded military like Russia's. "If it was meat grinder against meat grinder, we would lose," he said in the interview. "It was a mistake to perceive us as a small Soviet army [that] will fight a big Soviet army. Certainly, a big Soviet army would win and a small Soviet army would lose but we are not a Soviet army."

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX Viktor Bout, the arms dealer Russia has swapped for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was freed from jail in Russia on Thursday in exchange for the release of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States, according to U.S. and Russian officials. He became notorious for his willingness to arm almost anyone, from militias in Sierra Leone, to Charles Taylor's brutal Liberian regime, to the Taliban. He has said he attended a Moscow language institute that serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. - In 2012, he was given a 25-year prison sentence by a U.S. court on multiple charges related to his arms dealing career. Russia has always proclaimed his innocence, describing his case as a glaring injustice and attempting to secure his release.

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