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☆ 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.

☆ Zelenskyy address to Congress about Ukraine-Russia war doesn't mean the U.S. has no limits
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Daniel R. Depetris | Daniel R. Depetris Is A Fellow At Defense Priorities | A Foreign Affairs Columnist For Newsweek. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Zelenskyy then received a rousing welcome on Capitol Hill before he made a prime-time address to a joint meeting of Congress. America has been Ukraine’s primary security benefactor since Russian President Vladimir Putin opted for a war of choice that is failing in all respects. The U.S., however, has other national security priorities beyond aiding a Ukrainian military victory, however morally satisfying it would be. Given these priorities, the Biden administration would prefer the war in Ukraine end in a diplomatic settlement to short-circuit a long, drawn out and even more catastrophically destructive war. Indeed, with Republicans taking control of the House next year, skepticism of U.S. aid for Ukraine is likely to intensify.

He long has sought Patriot missiles to help counter three months of Russian missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine's power grid. Switching to Russian, Zelenskiy warned that "citizens of Russia must clearly understand that terror never goes without a response." REPORTED REINFORCEMENTSUkraine has driven Russian forces from the areas around its capital Kyiv and second biggest city Kharkiv. Moscow is now focused on holding areas its forces occupy in southern and eastern Ukraine - around a fifth of the country. Russian forces shelled the southern Kherson region 61 times in 24 hours, half of those within Kherson city, killing one person, Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said.

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 acknowledged, not for the first time, that the call-up of 300,000 reservists that he ordered in September had not gone smoothly. "The partial mobilisation that was carried out revealed certain problems, as everyone well knows, which should be promptly addressed," he said. Putin also referred to other unspecified problems in the military and said that constructive criticism should be heeded. It was the latest in a series of recent comments in which Putin has acknowledged, albeit obliquely, the challenges his army is facing. Shoigu proposed raising the age for mandatory Russian military service to a new range of 21-30, compared to 18-27 at the moment.

☆ 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.

☆ Zelenskyy comes to Washington DC with a long military wish list. But what could he ultimately get?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is in Washington to meet with President Biden and Congress. Zelenskyy brings with him a long military wish list, though it is unclear what he will go home with. He is set to ask for weapons that the US has long balked at providing, including Gray Eagle drones. But it's only one of the weapons Zelenskyy is expected to press for in his meetings with Biden and others. But the US has long balked at providing them, fearing that long-range weapons would be too provocative for Russian leaders.

☆ Zelenskyy comes to Washington, DC, with a long military wish list. But what could he ultimately get?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is in Washington to meet with President Biden and Congress. Zelenskyy brings with him a long military wish list, though it's unclear what he will go home with. He is set to ask for weapons that the US has long balked at providing, including Gray Eagle drones. But it's only one of the weapons Zelenskyy is expected to press for in his meetings with Biden and others. But the US has long balked at providing them, fearing that long-range weapons would be too provocative for Russian leaders.

☆ Mortgage shocks and a China-led inflation spike are among the top 5 global risks of 2023, according to Charles Schwab
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Mortgage shocks and re-acceleration of inflation are among the top global risks for markets in 2023. In no particular order, here are Schwab's top five global risks in 2023:1. Central banks overtightenThe Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England last week downsized their latest rate increases to 50 basis points each. "However, major central banks are making it clear they aren't finished, despite stepping down the aggressive pace of rate hikes," said Kleintop. Ukraine war broadensKleintop said investors appear to be pricing expectations of the intensity of the Ukraine war subsiding and perhaps moving towards a negotiated resolution.

To Russian security agencies operating in Ukraine, he said late on Monday in comments translated by Reuters: "Yes, it is difficult for you now. The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult." Both Putin and Lukashenko were also at pains to dismiss the idea of Russia annexing or absorbing Belarus. Russian troops that moved to Belarus in October will conduct battalion tactical exercises, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing the defence ministry. It also said Ukrainian air and artillery forces carried out more than a dozen strikes on Russian troops and hardware, including ammunition dumps, and shot down two helicopters.

"If Bakhmut had been captured when they started their attack in August then it would have been significant. Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at the U.S.-based CNA think-tank, said Moscow appeared committed to the battle because of resources it had already spent rather than because of "sound strategy". WAR OF ATTRITIONFor Russia, Bakhmut, which it calls Artyomovsk, the city's Soviet-era name, has long held political value. Muzyka, the Polish military analyst, said Bakhmut had become a battle of attrition. It could also boost Prigozhin's political capital in Moscow if he can take some credit for such a victory.

☆ 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.

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

A Culture in theCross Hairs Russia’s invasion has systematically destroyed Ukrainian cultural sites. It has also dealt a grievous blow to Ukrainian culture: to its museums and monuments, its grand universities and rural libraries, its historic churches and contemporary mosaics. This is how empires always work.” The war in Ukraine is a culture war, and the extent of the destruction is becoming clearer. Kyiv Sviatohirsk UKRAINE Damaged or destroyed religious sites Areas controlled by Russia at any time since invasion. Kyiv Sviatohirsk UKRAINE Damaged or destroyed religious sites Areas controlled by Russia at any time since invasion.

Both Ukraine and the Russia-installed authorities agree that some grain has been exported from occupied Zaporizhzhia via Crimea. Ukraine says at least a part of the grain that passed through Sevastopol was taken from Ukrainian territories after Russia invaded. Prior to the current war, Syria had imported grain from Crimea on previous occasions since Russia took control of the peninsula, Reuters reported. According to the Refinitiv data, Syria imported about 501,800 tonnes of wheat from Sevastopol this year until the end of November, up from about 28,200 tonnes in the whole of 2021. During a visit to Crimea in January, Syria's economy minister said his country needed 1.5 million tonnes of wheat imports, with Russia providing the majority.

☆ The rapid fall of Kherson, a key Ukrainian city, leaves unanswered questions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Local residents walk past a graffiti reading "Lets bring all our people back home" in central Kherson on December 8, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When about 100 Russian troops rolled into Kherson's Lilac Park on the morning of March 1, Oleh Shornik was one of about 20 lightly armed Ukrainian volunteers who didn't stand a chance against them. Ukraine's military was nowhere to be seen, and Russian troops in armored vehicles had easily entered the Shumensky neighborhood, opening fire and sending shrapnel flying everywhere, witnesses said. But was the doomed stand in Lilac Park a futile, early act of resistance to what became a bloody Russian occupation of Kherson? "I know very little," said Nadiia Khandusenko, recounting what few facts she knows about the death of her husband, Serhii, who also was killed in Lilac Park.

☆ Putin sounds out military commanders on Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Joint Headquarters of the Russian armed forces involved in military operations in Ukraine, in an unknown location in Russia, December 17, 2022. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERSSummary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in UkraineMOSCOW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has sought proposals from his armed forces commanders on how they think Russia's military campaign in Ukraine should proceed, during a visit to the operation's headquarters, the Kremlin said on Saturday. Putin was then shown at the head of another conference table at the joint task force headquarters, inviting suggestions from a row of military commanders. "We will listen to the commanders in each operational direction, and I would like to hear your proposals on our immediate and medium-term actions," Putin said. Putin spent the whole of Friday at the task force headquarters, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax news agency.

☆ A Ukrainian School Grapples With the Legacy of Russian Occupation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Matthew Luxmoore | Photographs Virginie Nguyen Hoang Huma For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KHERSON, Ukraine—When teacher Halyna Shapiro returned to her school four days after Russian forces abandoned this city in southern Ukraine last month, she found textbooks on Russian history and literature, published in Moscow, lying on teachers’ desks. The Russian alphabet was pinned to blackboards in classrooms where Russian wasn’t previously taught. Students’ notebooks were full of poems extolling Russia’s virtues.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

☆ Ukraine-Russia war sees U.S. mull Patriot missile defense battery for Kyiv. It's not enough.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Pavel K. Baev | Pavel K. Baev Is A Research Professor At The Peace Research Institute Oslo | Prio | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The feeble Russian response to Ukraine’s recent drone attacks suggests the West has room to maneuver. The drone attacks also point to how the West can do more to turn the tide of war in Ukraine’s favor. But the Patriot deployment would take months even in the best circumstances, and the war gives no respite. And the feeble Russian response to Ukraine’s recent drone attacks suggests the West has room to maneuver. A U.S. Army Patriot Missile System operates at a joint exercise with NATO allied and partner forces, in Zadar, Croatia, on May 17, 2021.

☆ US Air Force vet who was freed from Russian-controlled territory in a prisoner swap with Ukraine described being shocked and beaten by his captors
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Murekezi, who lived in Ukraine since 2018, told ABC the Russians accused him of being in the CIA. There, Murekezi met other Russian prisoners from the West, including two Americans who volunteered to fight on behalf of Ukraine. Murekezi, who was not included in the September swap, told ABC that he was shocked and beaten by his captors. While detained with his fellow American prisoners, Murekezi said the Russians gave them minimal food and water. He told ABC that he was most looking forward to a peanut butter sandwich upon his return home.

☆ Donetsk: Ukraine launches 'most massive strike' on occupied region since 2014, Russia-installed mayor says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Olga Voitovych Anna Chernova Zahid Mahmood Josh Pennington Sana Noor Haq | Olga Voitovych | Anna Chernova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“At exactly 7 a.m. the (Ukrainians) subjected the center of Donetsk (city) to the most massive strike since 2014,” the Moscow-appointed mayor, Aleksey Kulemzin, posted on Telegram. “Forty rockets from BM-21 ‘Grad’ MLRS were fired at civilians in our city,” he said Thursday, adding that a key intersection in Donetsk city center had come under fire. A firefighter works inside a destroyed apartment of a residential building hit by shelling in Donetsk on December 15. Men insert wooden boards in the window of a bank next to the building of the State Administration of Kherson after a rocket attack in Kherson city on Wednesday. “And these realities indicate that the Russian Federation has new subjects,” he said, referring to four areas Russia has claimed to have annexed, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

☆ Russia preparing for long war, Ukrainian military says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Residential houses are damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine, December 9, 2022. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov/File PhotoSummary Russia seeks prolonged war, Ukrainian general saysHe dismisses the possibility of a New Year ceasefireLikelihood of attack from Belarus is low, he saysKYIV, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Russia is digging in for a long war in Ukraine and still wants to conquer the entire country, a senior Ukrainian military official said on Thursday. Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov told a military briefing that although he did not expect Moscow to launch an attack from Belarus, Russian was training new troops on its neighbour's soil and had moved military aircraft there. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar, at the same briefing, warned against allowing complacency to set in after recent Russian military setbacks. Gromov did not say what Russia's aim might be in prolonging the already nearly 10-month-old war.

☆ Ukraine official says American citizen Suedi Murekezi released in Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

American citizen Suedi Murekezi was reportedly freed after Ukraine and Russia conducted another prisoner exchange, said Andriy Yermak, the head of the President’s Office of Ukraine on Wednesday. Among those freed were 64 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he said, before noting that Murekezi was also freed. The U.S. Department of State confirmed that an American citizen was freed but declined to release further details "due to privacy considerations." Murekezi was reportedly arrested in June in the city of Kherson, which was occupied by Russian forces at the time, the Guardian reported. A Russian news agency said that Murekezi was detained on charges of "inciting ethnic hatred" for protesting against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine’s Secret Weapon Is Ordinary People Spying on Russian Forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Matthew Luxmoore | Photographs The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KHERSON, Ukraine—During Russia’s occupation of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, a large electronics store served Russian forces as a field hospital, barracks and storehouse for food. One morning last summer, Ukrainian forces struck the store, completely destroying it. It was one of numerous attacks that day on Russian-controlled territory deep inside the Kherson region.

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