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☆ Captured, injured, but undeterred. One soldier’s life fighting for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | Anna-Maja Rappard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Kherson, Ukraine CNN —If one man’s story encompassed all two years of Ukraine’s war you might expect it to have ended abruptly long ago. And slowly, Russian forces pushed the Ukrainians back towards Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant. On May 17, Ukrainian troops began surrendering. Kyiv released a drone video as part of its fervent denial, showing the same Russian troops who planted a flag over the flattened hamlet, fleeing the scene. “I have hope he will never be part of this war,” Oleksandr said.

Persons: Oleksandr, ”, …, “, gaunt, Valery Zaluzhny, “ I’m, Ed Ram, it’s, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ” Oleksandr Organizations: Ukraine CNN, CNN, Ukrainian, Urozhaine . 36th Marines Brigade, Armed Forces, Russia, NATO, Washington Post, Kremlin Locations: Kherson, Ukraine, Mariupol, Russia, Urozhaine, Kyiv, Urozhaine ., Russian, Vodiane, Denmark, AFP, Olenivka, Donbas, Dnipro, Crimea

Two years ago, it became the first major Ukrainian city to fall, as Russians forces swept in from Crimea. Yet, as the war enters its third year, residents describe the shelling from Russian forces under a mile away across the Dnipro River as the worst yet. And despite the icy Dnipro lying between Ukrainian forces and a Russian assault, freshly dug trenches line parts of the riverside. Across the river, within line of sight, are Russian soldiers who launch near-constant shelling on to the city of Kherson. Near-constant Russian shelling has turned Kherson into a ghost city two years into the war.

Persons: Maja Rappard, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Anna, CNN “, ”, “, I’m, Sophia, ” Sophia, Natalia, …, ” Natalia, What’s Organizations: CNN — Kherson, CNN, Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian, CNN CNN, CNn Locations: Ukrainian, Crimea, Dnipro, Kherson, Krynky, Russian, Moscow, Hrigorii, Soviet, ”

☆ Anti-Ukraine rhetoric has saturated right-wing media. Now it is helping to deliver actual war victories to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Vladimir Putin’s information war in U.S. media paid off this weekend with a key victory halfway around the world. A CNN poll conducted last summer found that a staggering 71% of Republicans do not support additional aid to thwart Putin’s war on Ukraine. Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty ImagesMuch of the GOP’s softening toward Russia is owed to a near-total reversal in rhetoric from right-wing media personalities and outlets, prompted in large part by Donald Trump’s ascension to power in GOP politics. While the biggest players in right-wing media once fervently championed the foreign policy doctrines of the neo-conservatives, they now follow in the footsteps of Trump and vehemently reject the views once held by the George W. Bush administration. The rhetoric has had a considerable impact on the views of the party, which is now being reflected by its elected leaders.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Julian E, Barnes, Thomas Gibbons, Neff, Eric Schmitt, CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, Mike Johnson, Johnson, Mitt Romney, ”, Kostiantyn, Donald Trump’s, Trump, George W, Bush, Tucker Carlson, Carlson, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Matt Gertz, “ Tucker Carlson, ” “, ” Gertz Organizations: New York CNN, U.S . Congress, Eastern, Congress, GOP, Senate, Republican, Republican Party, CNN, Chemical Plant, Fox News, U.S, Ukraine, Republicans, Media Locations: New York, Washington, Ukraine, Avdiivka, Europe, Russia, Avdiivka district, Moscow, U.S

☆ Avdiivka: Ukraine’s defeat darkens the mood in the West
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Traveling from the Munich Security Conference towards Ukraine’s frontlines, the polite frustration and manicured pleas of Western leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky feel yet more desperate. Ukrainian soldiers of Brigade 71 fire artillery in the direction of Avdiivka on February 18, 2024. Latvia’s president spoke of “murder,” Germany’s defense minister of how the death showed Russia was “willing and able to provoke” the West. Tobias Schwarz/ReutersIn and of itself, the Ukrainian defeat Avdiivka does not herald a sea change in Kyiv’s fortunes. Instead they may face larger existential questions about providing a lot more help, very urgently, to stop Ukraine’s war becoming Europe’s.

Persons: Ukraine’s frontlines, Volodymyr Zelensky, Diego Herrera Carcedo, Alexey Navalny, Putin, ”, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Zelensky –, –, Tobias Schwarz, Avdiivka, Bakhmut, —, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Oleksandr Syrsky —, Zelensky, ’, Tucker Carlson, Kostiantyn, Zaluzhnyi Organizations: CNN, Munich, Ukraine’s, Ukrainian, United States Congress, Brigade, Getty, Trump, NATO, Republican, Reuters, European Union Locations: Europe, Ukraine, Avdiivka, Anadolu, Russia, West, Munich, Germany, Moscow, Kyiv, Kupiansk, Kharkiv, Russian, Poland, frontlines, North Korea

☆ The Kremlin has never been richer – thanks to a US strategic partner
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | Florence Davey-Attlee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It amounts to US strategic partner New Delhi stepping in to replace crude purchases by Western buyers, reduced by sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the analysis said. The United States led a coalition of countries in late 2022 that agreed to a “price cap,” undertaking not to buy Russian crude above $60 a barrel. Those nations also forbade their shipping companies and insurance firms – key players in global shipping – from facilitating the trade of Russian crude above that price. “The price cap was the real trigger for the creation of the shadow fleet,” said Viktor Katona, head of crude oil analysis at trade research firm Kpler. It will be $150.”India’s complex role in global oil trade is also reflected in the fate of the oil products Russian crude is turned into.

Persons: they’re, ”, David Tannenbaum, Viktor Katona, Tannenbaum, ” Ami Daniel, Vladimir Putin, Howard Shatz, Singh Puri, Rosneft, Daniel, I’m Organizations: CNN, Centre for Research, Energy, Clean, Star, Pole Star, US Treasury, United, Pole Star Global, European Union, RAND, India’s, Petroleum, Natural Gas, CNBC, Nayara, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Ukraine, India, United States, Delhi, Moscow, Laconian Gulf, Greece, Suez, Russian, Kyiv, Vadinar

☆ Analysis: Death of leading critic Navalny is a reminder of Putin’s paranoia
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It is the why that is already the largest question, after the untimely death of Alexey Navalny. And with his death, Putin is in a riskier position. The Prigozhin death, critics of the Kremlin, had felt, was to some degree inevitable. He has long been a Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty ImagesNavalny’s death is a reminder of Putin’s paranoia. Does it speak of a man burdened by worry, and happy to endure the global outrage of Navalny’s death if it removes the tiniest possible risks to his rule?

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Putin, Navalny, Kamala Harris, Alexei Navalny, Vera Savina, Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Boris Berezovsky, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, ”, Alexander Nemenov, Putin’s Organizations: Germany CNN, Kremlin, Munich Security, NATO, IK, Police, Getty, Putin Locations: Munich, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, AFP, London, Moscow, Putin’s

☆ Trump’s incendiary NATO remarks send very real shudders through Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

NATO gives it a global bedrock of legitimacy, support for the dollar, and the post-Soviet hegemony it thrives upon. Saturday’s misunderstanding considered, Trump’s comments come at a devastatingly bad time for Europe. The more the US bemoans its allies and their miserly neglect of NATO, and withdraw from it, the less powerful it is. Is NATO willing to go to war with Moscow over Russian-speaking parts of the Baltic state of Estonia? He is not simply saying the US won’t help NATO allies who haven’t paid.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, doesn’t, –, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Tucker Carlson, Russia’s, ’, Charles Michel, Trump’s, haven’t Organizations: London CNN, Trump, NATO, Republican, GOP, Putin, Fox News, Kremlin, Senior, Britons, European Locations: Russia, Europe, Ukraine, Kyiv, America, Moscow, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Romania, France, Baltic, Estonia, Svalbard, Russian, Finland, Sweden, Western Europe

☆ Analysis: What to make of the US retaliation strikes against pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —It was meant to sound devastating, and likely felt so to the pro-Iranian militias on the receiving end. The Biden administration faced a near-impossible task: Hit hard enough to show you mean it, but also ensure your opponent can absorb the blow without lashing out in return. Mistakes, or unanticipated successes, can lead to spirals, and that can lead to unavoidable, wider conflict. The Biden administration has elections looming, in which it does not need another costly foreign adventure, trouble over its Israel policy, or rising oil prices. There will likely follow criticism of the Biden administration for not using the same blunt and forceful approach of Trump in 2020.

Persons: Defense Lloyd Austin, Biden, Donald Trump, Qasem Soleimani, prima, Joe Biden, Defense Lloyd J, Austin III, William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders, Breonna Moffett, Joshua Roberts, Soleimani Organizations: CNN, US Central Command, US, Defense, Force, Hamas, Dover Air Force Base, UN, International Atomic Energy Agency, Trump Locations: Iraq, Syria, Israel, Gaza, Iran, United States, Moscow, Dover , Delaware, Tehran, Washington

☆ Ukraine’s counteroffensive may be painful. But its success is crucial to wider European security
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Imagine these sorts of risk, and the men and women enduring its nerve-wracking toll nightly, when you next hear talk of the progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. But make no mistake: this is perhaps the most important moment for European security since the Berlin Wall fell, or even 1945. Ukraine’s forces are nowhere near where they hoped they would be as fall draws in. Russian President Vladimir Putin is presumably counting on winter to strengthen his position. It was the rationale behind not supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles that could strike Crimea or Russian territory bordering Ukraine.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Oliver Weiken, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, – Putin, Kim Jong Un, Klaus Iohannis, it’s Organizations: CNN, Ministry of Defense, Marines, Bradley, Washington, Republican, North, Kremlin, NATO Locations: Orikhiv, Robotyne, Mariupol, New York, Tokmak, Crimea, Russia, Kherson, Moscow, Russian, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Ukrainian, European, Ukraine, China, Romania, Bulgaria, Tyulenovo

☆ Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan launches operation against Armenian forces in disputed region
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Tim Lister Gianluca Mezzofiore Christian Edwards Anna Chernova Nick Paton Walsh | Tim Lister | Gianluca Mezzofiore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said Tuesday it had begun an “anti-terrorist” campaign in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as Armenian media and local authorities reported heavy bombardment of the regional capital of Stepanakert. At least five people were killed, including a child, and 80 people were injured, amid artillery, missile and drone strikes by the Azerbaijan military, according to Armenian state news. But Armenia’s foreign ministry rejected claims that the Armenian army was in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s defense ministry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, to deny Azerbaijan’s claims that Armenian forces had opened fire on Azeri combat outposts. People run as gunfire and explosions are heard in Stepanakert, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video.

Persons: CNN —, ”, “, Armenpress, Nikol Pashinyan, Karabakh –, Pashinyan, ” Pashinyan, Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, ” Pashinyan’s, Antony Blinken, Emmanuel Macron, Maria Zakharova, Dmitry Peskov, haven’t Organizations: CNN, Azerbaijan Army, Armenian Security Council, Foreign Ministry, Union’s, Foreign Affairs, French Foreign Ministry, UN Security, Russian Foreign Ministry, UN Security Council Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russian, Moscow, Republic of Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Russia

☆ What caused the Embraer plane reportedly carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin to crash near Moscow?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The plane was a private Embraer jet carrying seven passengers and three crew members, according to Russia’s emergency services ministry. The bodies of eight people have been found at the crash site, according to Russian state media. Video published by Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti showed a plane plummeting with one wing missing. It’s not yet clear what caused the plane to crash. Video Ad Feedback Why Russia expert thinks Putin could be behind plane crash 01:30 - Source: CNNWhat’s the public reaction so far?

Persons: CNN — Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, “ It’s, Miles O’Brien, O’Brien, David Soucie, Wagner, Prigozhin, Prigozhin’s, Vladimir Putin’s, Joe Biden, Putin, I’m, ”, Bill Burns, Antony Blinken, Bill Browder, “ Wagner, Nick Paton Walsh Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Embraer, TASS, Novosti, RIA Novosti, US Federal Aviation Administration, Telegram, Reuters, CIA, “ Wagner PMC, CNN’s, International Security Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Kuzhenkino, Russia’s, Tver, “, Russia's, Ostorozhno Novosti, Belarus, Russia

☆ Ukrainian sniper ripped apart by a Russian shell says he had 16 operations to put his teeth and body back together so he could return to the front lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In the video of the interview, the snipers were seen using American-made Barrett sniper rifles. The sniper's unit is on the front lines somewhere in the Zaporizhzhia region. AdvertisementAdvertisementA view from the viewfinder of a Ukrainian sniper rifle at a shooting range amid Russia and Ukraine war in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 09, 2023. Inflicting psychological damage on the enemy and breaking their morale has long been a part of sniper operations. In a separate report on another front-line Ukrainian sniper unit, BBC reported that the unit, called the "Ghosts of Bakhmut," claims over 500 kills, with the leader claiming over 70 kills.

Persons: Ukraine's SBU, Barrett, Sasha, Nick Paton Walsh, Ignacio Marin, John Moore, Barrett MRAD Organizations: CNN, Service, Anadolu Agency, Getty, BBC, 28th Brigade, Kyiv Post, Defence, TAC Locations: Wall, Silicon, Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Donetsk Oblast, Kyiv, Bakhmut

Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine CNN —For Dima, the silence away from the horrors can be harder to bear. Now the damage to the town and the risk of his work is such that he says he works one shift a week. Like so many Ukrainians now, whose lives have been torn apart by the war, he struggles with the calm of rest days, and yearns to be back at work. And when I go to work, at least I feel at home and I can get some sleep, despite the shelling. You get tired, it is hard, but I can sleep there.”A building in Orikhiv destroyed by Russian shelling.

Persons: Dima, ”, “, Brice Laine, ” Dima, Dima’s, shellfire, ’, Orikhiv Organizations: Ukraine CNN —, CNN, ” CNN Locations: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Orikhiv, Europe, ”

☆ Why F-16 jets can’t come soon enough for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Dnipro, Ukraine CNN —The depth and frequency of craters across the frontline city of Orikhiv are a blunt example of why Ukraine needs F-16 fighter jets urgently. Ukrainian troops amassed around the city have the unenviable task of pushing through minefields towards an enemy that has long anticipated their advance. Russian jets fire half-metric-ton bombs that glide in from afar – from outside of the reach of Ukraine’s air defenses – and then devastate Ukrainian positions at will. So when Ukraine says it urgently needs F-16s, it is because Ukrainian troops are dying daily because of Russian air superiority. Portuguese Air Force F-16 military fighter jets participate in NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission in Lithuanian airspace near Siauliai, on May 23.

Persons: Stringer, “, Petras Malukas Organizations: Ukraine CNN, NATO, CNN, Portuguese Air Force, Air Policing Mission, Getty Locations: Dnipro, Ukraine, Orikhiv, Russian, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s, Moscow, Siauliai, AFP

Heavy artillery fire prevented entry into the village, as Russian forces shelled Ukrainian troops holding the area. Drone footage of the intense fight for the village has emerged in which dozens of Russian troops can be seen fleeing to the village’s south. More than 100 countries have banned the use of cluster weapons via treaty, though the Ukraine, Russia and the United States are not signatories to that international treaty. By comparison, Russian cluster weapons, also said to be in use during their invasion of Ukraine, are claimed by Western officials to have a dud rate of 30%. CNN was unable to confirm the devices identified by experts as likely cluster munitions in the videos from Urozhaine were US-supplied weapons.

Persons: Hanna Maliar, treelines, Dykyi, ” Dykyi, Biden, “, Harry Potter, ” Organizations: Ukraine CNN —, CNN, Marines, Western, Ukrainian, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Reuters Locations: Urozhaine, Ukraine, Mariupol, Russia, United States, Russian

☆ Video shows Ukraine using thermal imaging drones to try to locate mines left by Russia to kill and maim its soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine is using thermal imaging and drones to find mines left by Russian forces. Ukrainian soldiers showed CNN their anti-mine strategy from the trenches on the front line. The outlet filmed soldiers using a drone with a thermal camera, which clearly showed the mines, glowing, on the soldiers' screen. The soldiers told CNN that after locating mines, they use special charges to blow them up so that their colleagues can move through the area. The New York Times reported that some Ukrainian soldiers have been blasted by mines as they try to help fellow soldiers hit by mines.

Persons: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Paton Walsh, Anton, Oleksii Reznikov, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Russian, CNN, Service, National Guard Brigade, Guardian, New York Times Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Robotine, Russia, Ukraine's, Ukrainian

☆ Crimean Bridge attack: The moment Ukraine used an experimental drone to strike Russia's Kerch Bridge
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh Victoria Butenko Florence Davey-Attlee | Nick Paton Walsh | Victoria Butenko | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Dnipro, Ukraine CNN —Ukrainian security services have released to CNN exclusive footage showing the moment in July when they used an experimental sea drone to attack Russia’s bridge to annexed Crimea, providing new details on the attack and warning more such assaults will follow. The attack on July 17 caused damage to the road lanes of the bridge, and, according to Russian officials, killed two civilians. A view of the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, the only direct link between Russia and the Crimean peninsula. Maliuk also claimed responsibility for the first Ukrainian attack on the bridge, on October 8, but declined to provide details. He said the July drone attack was the product of months of preparation.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, It’s, Vasyl Maliuk, ”, Olengorskiy, Maliuk, Oleksiy Neizhpapa, “, ” Maliuk Organizations: Ukraine CNN, CNN, Security Service, SIG, Ukraine Security Service, coy, Naval, Reuters “, Ukrainian Locations: Dnipro, Ukraine, Crimea, Russia, Kerch, Crimean, Novorossisk, Ukraine Security Service Ukraine, Moscow, Ukrainian

During a week spent with troops around the town of Orikhiv, CNN saw a palpable improvement in morale as some advances appeared to be made. Destroyed buildings in the city of Orikhiv in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, which has been pummelled for months by Russian bombardment. Russian air superiority is taking Ukrainian lives daily, with half-ton bombs landing frequently – sometimes 20 in as many minutes. Ukrainian troops constantly relocate and hide their vehicles at every opportunity to frustrate Russian targeting. Brice Lane/CNNA Ukrainian tank fires from a treeline towards Russian forces on the country's southern frontline.

Persons: Eastern Ukraine CNN —, Ukraine’s, that’s, –, ”, Vitaly, Brice Lane, chatted, Eugene, “, Vlad, ” Eugene, Andrei, CNN Vlad, …, Julia, it’s Organizations: Eastern Ukraine CNN, NATO, CNN, 15th National Guard, Kyiv, 15th National Guard Brigade, ”, Russian Locations: Eastern Ukraine, Soviet, Robotine, Orikhiv, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Ukraine, Russian, Ukraine's, Ukrainian

☆ A Ukrainian drone spotted a fellow wounded soldier bleeding out on a battlefield. He crawled back to safety after the drone dropped off water and aid: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Serhiy, a Ukrainian soldier, was badly wounded by shelling in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He was stuck in a crater field for two days with a pierced lung and wounded leg, Serhiy told CNN. According to CNN, the drone kept sending water and medicine to the wounded soldier to ease Serhiy's pain and allow him to crawl back to safety. "The combat medics who gave me first aid when they found me were very surprised I survived for two days with a pierced lung," Serhiy told CNN. Eugene, a soldier of the 15th national guard brigade who operated the drone, told CNN that he wouldn't be able to "live with myself" if he left a fellow soldier to die.

Persons: Serhiy, Nick Paton Walsh, wouldn't Organizations: CNN, Service Locations: Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Wall, Silicon

At one point, Russian officials even claimed to have kicked Ukrainian forces back out of the village, which Ukraine staunchly denied. “That’s the hardest part.”Images from drone footage show the extensive damage to Staromayorske, Ukraine. Ukraine’s position is made harder still given Russian forces are on the eastern side of the river, able to use its natural boundary from which they can fire artillery. The wall graffiti is equally bleak: “There is no love.” “God is for Russia.” “Welcome to Mordor.”It is a nihilism that only amplifies a key question Ukrainian forces have: Why do the Russian troops fight so hard for these tiny settlements? The fact that Russian forces fight so persistently for each settlement has raised doubts about claims that Russia’s defensive line is fierce but thin.

Persons: Ukraine’s, Krivyh Rih, ” Krivbas, ’ Krivbas, Neskuchne, Krivbas, ”, ‘, haven’t, Reva, deminer Organizations: Ukraine CNN, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Staromayorske, Marines, CNN, Pentagon, ‘, Russian, Storm, AK Locations: Neskuchne, Ukraine, Staromayorske, Mariupol, Krivyh, Russian, “, Russia, Mordor

CNN —Afghans who were promised a home in the United States after their country fell to the Taliban say they have waited so long for the US to process their applications that they are now being sent back to the enemy they fled. “They did not hand us over to the (Taliban) Afghan border forces,” he said. Many Afghans fled the Taliban after the August 15, 2021 fall of Kabul to the hard-line group. At least two Afghans awaiting P-2 visas have been swept up in this crackdown, CNN has learned, and complain of Pakistani police persecution. Afghans waiting in Pakistan have reported harassment by Pakistani police, including arrest and demands for money.

Persons: “, ”, Haseeb, Aafaq, ” Aafaq, “ I’m, Biden, sobbed Organizations: CNN, State Department, Pakistan’s, Interior Ministries, Afghanistan Immigrants Refugees Council, Getty, Support Center, US State Department, Foreign Locations: United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Afghan, Kabul, Taliban, USA, Pakistani, Chaman, AFP, Islamabad, Turkey, Tajikistan

CNN —One fighter was shot twice, sent from the hospital back to the front, where he drank melted snow to live. Forced to assault Ukrainian positions repeatedly, until a grenade blinded him. CNN also spoke to a rare survivor of the Storm-Z units, Sergei – who was first interviewed by phone in a military hospital months earlier and last week recounted the savage and deteriorating life in the Russian trenches. While the appalling fighting conditions are well known, much Russian testimony is from prisoners of war, and provided through Ukrainian facilitators. Sergei recalls the quotidian horrors of the Russian trenches.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Andrei, Sergei –, Sergei, CNN Sergei, amputees, ” Sergei, ”, “, Don’t, Yulia, ” Andrei, CNN Yulia, Andrei messaged, Putin, ‘, ‘ we’re, ’, ” Yulia sobbed Organizations: CNN, Nazis, Russian Ministry of Defense, Kremlin, Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Red Square, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Putin cut deal with Wagner ‘to save his skin,’ MI6 chief says in rare speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Prague CNN —It was a rare moment when the publicly visible Kremlin matched the reality behind closed doors. And he had, it seemed, been welcomed into the Kremlin to meet Putin days later. Asked by CNN if Prigozhin was “alive and healthy”, Moore replied the Wagner leader was still: “floating around”, per his agency’s understanding. Yet the on-camera speech provided an opportunity for Moore’s expression to convey how shocking the weakness betrayed by Putin that weekend had been. “He really didn’t fight back against Prigozhin”, Moore said.

Persons: Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Richard Moore, “ Prigozhin, ” Moore, Prigozhin, Moore, Wagner, Prigozhin ”, Alexander Lukashenko, “, ” Organizations: Prague CNN, Mi6, CNN, Belarus ”, Ukraine ”, Kremlin Locations: Prague, Moscow, Belarus, Denmark, Ukraine, United Kingdom, China, Russia, Iran

☆ MI6 chief makes open plea to Russians to spy for UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Prague CNN —The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service used a rare speech Wednesday to issue a plea to disaffected Russians to spy for the UK. They know in their hearts that Putin’s case for attacking a fellow Slavic nation is fraudulent,” he added. The MI6 chief told CNN that Prighozin is alive and at liberty following the group’s 24-hour mutiny against the Kremlin, and that Putin is clearly under pressure. Over the years they have developed a particularly gruesome reputation and have been linked to various human rights abuses. A CNN investigation in April found that Wagner has been supplying Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces with missiles to aid their fight against the country’s army.

Persons: Richard Moore, ”, Vladimir Putin’s, ” Moore, Moore, “, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prighozin, Belarus –, Prighozin, Putin “ didn’t, –, ” Putin Organizations: Prague CNN, Kyiv, Russian, CNN, Kremlin, Prighozhin, Wagner Group, Central African, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Prague, Ukraine, Russian, Odesa, Belarus, Moscow, Denmark, Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya, Mozambique, Syria

☆ Why Wagner chief Prigozhin's absence is so damaging to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Instead, the Kremlin on Monday tried to provide some clarity, after French newspaper Liberation reported a meeting between Putin and Prigozhin on June 29. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, confirmed in a conference call with journalists the meeting had taken place. I can’t tell you more.”It is important to pause and conjure just how surreal the meeting Peskov is describing sounds. But this is in keeping with the Kremlin’s bid to contain the fallout from Putin’s most dangerous weekend yet. If Prigozhin has been forgiven – as the Kremlin meeting might suggest - then why is there no public acknowledgement of that, a bid to at the least file down the fangs of stray Wagner fighters?

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Alexander Lukashenko’s, Putin, Prigozhin, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, –, Wagner, Lukashenko, Mikhail Khodorkovsky –, Sergey Surovikin, Valery Gerasimov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russia’s, French, Liberation, Defense Ministry Locations: Russia’s Rostov, Belarusian, St . Petersburg, Belarus, Russian, Derbent, Kremlin, Russia, Ukraine

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