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☆ Will Biden’s Help for Ukraine Come Fast Enough and Last Long Enough?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

So on Thursday, he rolled out a new set of alternative steps, each designed to demonstrate to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and to the Ukrainians, that the United States and its allies have no intention of packing up and leaving, as they did in Afghanistan, even if Ukraine remains outside NATO for years. He signed a 10-year security pact — albeit one with vague commitments and an early exit option — with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Biden portrayed the agreement as a long-term guarantee of continued arms, intelligence support, advice and technology to win the current war and deter a new one. And he said the United States would take the lead in providing a loan of about $50 billion to Ukraine to rebuild its devastated ports and power plants, buy weapons and close its budget gap. The money is to be repaid from interest generated from $300 billion in assets that Mr. Putin, inexplicably, left in Western financial institutions before his February 2022 invasion.

Persons: Biden, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Organizations: NATO Locations: Europe, Ukraine, NATO, Russia, United States, Afghanistan

☆ Live Updates: U.S. to Sign 10-Year Pact With Ukraine as G7 Leaders Meet
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( David E. Sanger | Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky will meet on Thursday and sign a security agreement, said Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser. Mr. Biden faces the hurdle of convincing his allies, starting with Mr. Zelensky, that the United States plans to stay in the fight with Ukraine, no matter what happens in November. Mr. Biden told Mr. Zelensky last week, in France, that “I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what was going to pass,” and put the onus on Republicans in Congress. During a trip to Normandy last week, Mr. Biden appeared to have persuaded France, one of the last holdouts, to support the deal. “The administration has been quick to get aid to Ukraine once Congress moved, and that’s to its credit,” he said.

Persons: Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr, Zelensky, Jake Sullivan, “, ” Mr, Sullivan, we’ll, ”, Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis, Donald J, Trump, Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, Biden’s, Vladimir V, Putin, Claudia Greco, John E . Herbst, Evelyn Farkas, Barack Obama, Ms, Farkas, ” Alan Rappeport Organizations: Ukraine, U.S, Kremlin, Group, Air Force, “, hobble, NATO, Mr, Reuters, European, World Bank, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council, United, McCain Institute, Arizona State University Locations: Ukraine, United States, Italy, Israel, Russia, hobble Russia, Europe, France, Congress, Savelletri, Normandy, Belgium’s, U.S, Eurasia

☆ Their City Has a Plaque From Putin. They Want Zelensky to Tear It Down.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A small copper plaque mounted across the piazza from the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, Italy, pledges “friendship and cooperation” between the city and the Russian people. It is signed by someone who, for the past two years in Europe, has pursued anything but: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The plaque is a replica of a letter Mr. Putin sent in 2003, nearly two decades before his invasion of Ukraine, and for years it drew little notice from Bari’s residents or the tens of thousands of pilgrims who visit the site annually to venerate the saint, whose remains are interred there. But a growing number of people now see it as sign of Mr. Putin’s hypocrisy — particularly among a diaspora of local Ukrainians who want it taken down. For the many residents of Bari who have wanted the plaque removed since the war began, the gathering nearby is seen as a chance to enlist Mr. Putin’s fiercest international critics to their cause.

Persons: Nicholas in, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky Locations: Nicholas in Bari , Italy, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Bari

☆ Biden Will Link Fight for Ukraine With Allied Effort on D-Day
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Michael D. Shear | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NORMANDY — President Biden will observe the 80th anniversary of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy on Thursday by asserting that the allied effort to stand up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a direct extension of the battle for freedom that raged across Europe during World War II. Mr. Biden, 81, who was a toddler when Americans stormed the beaches here in 1944, will almost certainly be the last U.S. president to speak at a Normandy remembrance who was alive at the time Allied forces began to push Adolf Hitler out of Europe. Now, eight decades later, Mr. Biden is leading a coalition of European and other nations in a very different war on the continent, but for a very similar principle — pushing back against the attempted seizure of Ukraine by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. In remarks at the Normandy American Cemetery, the president will draw a direct line between the two, connected by the defense of a rules-based international order.

Persons: Biden, Mr, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir V, Putin Locations: NORMANDY, Normandy, Ukraine, Europe, Russia

☆ Moscow Could Target Countries Supplying Weapons to Ukraine, Putin Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warned on Wednesday that Western nations supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles and allowing them to be used to attack inside Russia was a “dangerous step” that could prompt Moscow to reciprocate against Western targets. “If someone thinks it possible to send such weapons to a war zone to strike our territory and create problems for us,” Mr. Putin said at a news conference, “then why do we not have the right to send our weapons of the same class to those regions of the world where strikes can be made on sensitive facilities of the countries that do this against Russia?”Mr. Putin singled out Germany, saying that its supply of battle tanks to Ukraine had been an initial blow to Russian-German relations, but its permission to use missiles in Russia was even worse. “Now, when they say that some missiles will appear that will strike targets on Russian territory, this, of course, is ultimately destroying Russo-German relations,” he said.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, ” Mr, “, Mr, ” Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Europe Banned Russia’s RT Network. Its Content Is Still Spreading.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Tiffany Hsu | Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There, a recent article belittled an international warrant to arrest Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, for war crimes. It repeated, word for word, an article that had appeared a day before under a different byline on the website for RT, Russia’s global television network. RT, which the U.S. State Department describes as a key player in the Kremlin’s disinformation and propaganda apparatus, has been blocked in the European Union, Canada and other countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Sites like Man Stuff News, however, have helped RT sidestep the restrictions and continue reaching European and American audiences, according to a new report. Many of the articles were then further disseminated through social media.

Persons: Beard, Labor ”, ”, Vladimir V, Putin, Alex Jones Organizations: Labor, RT, U.S . State Department, European Union, German Marshall Fund, University of Amsterdam, Institute for Strategic, San, San Francisco Telegraph Locations: Canada, Russia, Ukraine, San Francisco

☆ Optimistic About the War in Ukraine, Putin Unleashes a Purge at Home
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Paul Sonne | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Periodic outcries over incompetence and corruption at the top of the Russian military have dogged President Vladimir V. Putin’s war effort since the start of his invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. When his forces faltered around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the need for change was laid bare. When they were routed months later outside the city of Kharkiv, expectations of a shake-up grew. And after the mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin marched his men toward Moscow, complaining of deep rot and ineptitude at the top of the Russian force, Mr. Putin seemed obliged to respond. Now, with the battlefield crises seemingly behind him and Mr. Prigozhin dead, the Russian leader has decided to act, changing defense ministers for the first time in more than a decade and allowing a number of corruption arrests among top ministry officials.

Persons: Vladimir V, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Putin Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Moscow, Russian

☆ Russia Detains Another Defense Official, in New Sign of Putin Shake-Up
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Anton Troianovski | More About Anton Troianovski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russia has jailed a top defense official, the fourth in a month, state media reported on Thursday, expanding President Vladimir V. Putin’s biggest shake-up of his military leadership since the invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. A Moscow military court ordered Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin jailed for two months on Wednesday on suspicion of “large-scale” bribery, state news agencies said. General Shamarin was a deputy head of the Russian military’s main commanding body, the general staff, and oversaw its communications directorate. Image A photograph of General Shamarin, released by the Russian Defense Ministry. Credit... Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, via Associated PressThe detention of General Shamarin is the latest in a series of high-profile arrests that have coincided with Mr. Putin’s appointment of a new defense minister, Andrei R. Belousov, earlier this month.

Persons: Vladimir V, Vadim Shamarin, General Shamarin, Shamarin, Putin’s, Andrei R Organizations: Russian Defense Ministry . Credit, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Associated, Mr Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian

☆ Why a Prosecutor Went Public With Arrest Warrant Requests for Hamas and Israeli Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The decision of Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, to publicly seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and Israel this week will be one of the most significant and contentious of his career. Khan accused three Hamas leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and hostage taking. He also accused Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its defense minister, Yoav Gallant, of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s military operation in Gaza, including the starvation of civilians. Khan didn’t have to announce the warrant applications publicly. He could have waited until they were granted, as with the warrant for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last year — a process that can take weeks or months.

Persons: Karim Khan, Court’s, Khan, Israel’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, —, Khan didn’t, Vladimir V, Putin Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, Russia

☆ Russia Starts Tactical Nuclear Drills, in a Warning to Ukraine’s Allies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russia sent a pointed reminder on Tuesday that it could use battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, releasing video of its forces beginning exercises to practice their use, two weeks after President Vladimir V. Putin ordered the provocative drills. Video released by the Russian Defense Ministry showed a caravan of military vehicles moving down a wooded road, as well as mobile Iskander missile systems — which can deliver conventional or nuclear explosives — getting into position to launch, with their warheads blurred out. The footage also showed a supersonic strategic bomber armed with missiles and an attack aircraft being prepared for takeoff. In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said the exercise, carried out near Ukraine, was aimed at preparing the force for the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons. The goal is to “unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials,” the ministry said.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, “, Emmanuel Macron, David Cameron, Britain’s Organizations: Russian Defense Ministry, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, France

☆ Russian Forces Close In on Ukrainian Town in Northeast
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Russian forces on Tuesday inched closer to the central part of Vovchansk, a town in Ukraine’s northeast that they have been attacking for the past 10 days as part of a new offensive in the region. Roman Semenukha, the deputy head of the military administration in the northeastern Kharkiv region, said on television on Monday that Ukrainian forces had lost about 40 percent of the town, with Russian troops pushing from the north. Open-source maps of the battlefield compiled by independent groups also show that Russia now controls the northern part of the town, which had a prewar population of 17,000. Vovchansk, which lies just five miles from the Russian border, has been a prime target of Moscow’s new offensive. Both U.S. officials and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia have said the offensive is part of an effort to establish a buffer zone.

Persons: Roman Semenukha, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: U.S Locations: Vovchansk, Ukraine’s, Roman, Kharkiv, Russia, Russian

☆ The Technocrat Who’s Taking Control of Putin’s War Effort
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In more than two years of war against Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has found that the technocrats he assembled to manage the Russian economy have turned out to be his most reliable foot soldiers. The Russian leader has now tapped one of them, Andrei R. Belousov, who has no military experience, to become his next defense minister. Mr. Belousov, however, has been a true believer. His rise shows how Mr. Putin is fully redirecting Russia’s economy toward the war effort and suggests that the Kremlin may grow even more deeply involved in mobilizing industry for the fight. Mr. Putin cast his new defense chief, who joined him on a trip to China in recent days, as a much-needed coordinator for a rapidly changing Russian military industrial complex that is critical to success in the war.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Andrei R, Belousov, Rembrandt, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Carl Jung, Mr Organizations: Ukraine Locations: Russia, China

☆ Xi’s Warm Embrace of Putin in China Is a Defiance of the West
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( David Pierson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Days after returning from a trip to Europe where he was lectured about the need to rein in Russia, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, used a summit with President Vladimir V. Putin to convey an uncomfortable reality to the West: His support for Mr. Putin remains steadfast. Mr. Xi’s talks with Mr. Putin this week were a show of solidarity between two autocrats battling Western pressure. The two leaders put out a lengthy statement that denounced what they saw as American interference and bullying and laid out their alignment on China’s claim to self-ruled Taiwan and Russia’s “legitimate security interests” in Ukraine. They pledged to expand economic and military ties, highlighted by Mr. Putin’s visit to a cutting-edge Chinese institute for defense research. Mr. Xi even initiated a cheek-to-cheek hug as he bade Mr. Putin farewell on Thursday after an evening stroll in the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound in Beijing.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir V, Putin, Xi’s, Mr, Russia’s, Putin’s, Xi Organizations: West, Chinese Communist Party Locations: Europe, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, Beijing

☆ Putin’s China Visit Highlights Military Ties That Worry the West
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( David Pierson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin attended a trade fair on Friday in a northeastern Chinese city and toured a state-backed university famous for its cutting edge defense research, highlighting how economic and military ties between the countries have grown despite, or perhaps because of, Western pressure. Mr. Putin’s visit to Harbin, a Chinese city with a Russian past, is part of a trip aimed at demonstrating that he has powerful friends even as his war against Ukraine — a campaign that he is escalating — has isolated him from the West. The visit followed a day of talks between him and President Xi Jinping of China that seemed orchestrated to convey not only the strategic alignment of the two powerful, autocratic leaders against the West, but a personal connection. State media showed Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi, neck ties off after formal talks on Thursday, strolling under willow trees and sipping tea at a traditional pavilion on the sprawling grounds of Zhongnanhai, the walled leadership compound in Beijing, with only their interpreters. As Mr. Xi saw Mr. Putin off in the evening, he even initiated a hug — a rare expression of affection for the Chinese leader.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Putin’s, Ukraine —, Xi Jinping, Xi Organizations: Ukraine Locations: Harbin, Russian, China, Zhongnanhai, Beijing

☆ In Talks With Putin, Xi Hails ‘Powerful Driving Force’ of Cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( David Pierson | Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Putin, whose economy remains largely isolated because of Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine, relies on Mr. Xi, China’s leader, for diplomatic cover and a financial lifeline, including huge purchases of Russian oil. But Mr. Putin will need more help to sustain his war machine, especially now as his military makes a push near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, before billions of dollars’ worth of arms arrives from the United States to shore up Ukraine’s depleted forces. In Beijing, Mr. Putin sought to show that Moscow was deepening its ties with Beijing as a bulwark against Western attempts to contain their countries. “We are working in solidarity on the formulation of a more just and democratic multipolar world order,” he said. He also said the leaders discussed working more closely in energy and nuclear power research, though made no mention of a proposed natural gas pipeline to China that Moscow would like to see built.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin of, ” Xi, Mr, Putin, Xi, ” Organizations: Russian Locations: Ukraine, Putin of Russia, Beijing, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s, United States, Moscow, China

☆ To Talk With Putin or Iran, the West Turns to the World’s Nuclear Inspector
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rafael Grossi slipped into Moscow a few weeks ago to meet quietly with the man most Westerners never engage with these days: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Grossi is the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, and his purpose was to warn Mr. Putin about the dangers of moving too fast to restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since soon after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But as the two men talked, the conversation veered off into Mr. Putin’s declarations that he was open to a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine — but only if President Volodymyr Zelensky was prepared to give up nearly 20 percent of his country. A few weeks later, Mr. Grossi, an Argentine with a taste for Italian suits, was in Tehran, this time talking to the country’s foreign minister and the head of its civilian nuclear program. At a moment when senior Iranian officials are hinting that new confrontations with Israel may lead them to build a bomb, the Iranians signaled that they, too, were open to a negotiation — suspecting, just as Mr. Putin did, that Mr. Grossi would soon be reporting details of his conversation to the White House.

Persons: Rafael Grossi, Vladimir V, Putin, Grossi, Mr, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency, United Nations Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Argentine, Tehran, Israel

The Biden administration is increasingly concerned that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is gathering enough momentum to change the trajectory of the war in Ukraine. Credit... Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

Persons: Biden, Vladimir V, Putin, Nanna Heitmann Organizations: The New York Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ What to Know About the Summit Between Putin and Xi in China
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( David Pierson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, hosts President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia this week, the two leaders are expected to present a united front. Mr. Putin is trying to escalate his war in Ukraine before Ukrainian forces can receive a replenishment of arms from the United States, and likely wants to know he can rely on China. Mr. Xi will seek to bolster his strategic partner and “old friend,” but is also under pressure to avoid further alienating the West over his support for Russia. Mr. Putin will most likely seek more help from Beijing, which has provided a lifeline to the Kremlin ever since Western sanctions were imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. China purchases huge quantities of Russian oil and provides technologies that help Moscow withstand its economic isolation and sustain its war machine.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Xi, Putin’s Organizations: West, Russia, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, United States, China, Beijing, Harbin

☆ Putin Is Selling Victory, and Many Russians Are Buying It
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | Nanna Heitmann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The word “victory” is everywhere in Moscow these days. It is being projected from gargantuan LED screens alongside major intersections and highways and written on red flags whipping in the wind. It’s prominent at an exhibit of Western weapons destroyed on Ukrainian battlefields and lugged back to Moscow as war trophies on display in — where else? “Together, we will be victorious!” Mr. Putin said at his inauguration last week after securing a fifth term as president. Two days later, the country celebrated Victory Day, Russia’s most important public holiday, which commemorates the Soviet contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr Locations: Moscow, —, “, Nazi Germany

Just 18 months ago, White House and Pentagon officials debated whether Russia’s forces in Ukraine might collapse and be pushed out of the country entirely. Now, after months of slow Russian ground advances and technological leaps in countering American-provided arms, the Biden administration is increasingly concerned that President Vladimir V. Putin is gathering enough momentum to change the trajectory of the war, and perhaps reverse his once-bleak prospects. In recent days, Moscow’s troops have opened a new push near the country’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, forcing Ukraine to divert its already thinned-out troops to defend an area that it took back from Russian forces in a stunning victory in the fall of 2022. Artillery and drones provided by the United States and NATO have been taken out by Russian electronic warfare techniques, which came to the battlefield late but have proven surprisingly effective. And a monthslong debate in Washington about whether to send Ukraine a $61 billion package of arms and ammunition created an opening that Russia has clearly exploited, even though Congress ultimately passed the legislation.

Persons: Biden, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Pentagon, Artillery, NATO Locations: House, Ukraine, Kharkiv, United States, Washington, Russia

☆ Putin Will Visit Xi, Testing a ‘No Limits’ Partnership
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( David Pierson | Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, hosts President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in China this week, it will be more than two years since the two autocratic leaders declared a “no limits” partnership to push back against what they consider American bullying and interference. Growing challenges from the West have tested the limits of that partnership. Mr. Xi is walking a narrowing tightrope, coming under increasing diplomatic and economic pressure to curtail Chinese support for Russia and its war in Ukraine. “China sees Russia as an important strategic partner and wants to give Putin proper respect, but it also wants to maintain sound relations with Europe and the United States for economic reasons and beyond. It is a very difficult balancing act,” said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir V, Putin, ”, Shen Dingli Locations: Russia, China, Ukraine, Europe, Beijing, United States, Shanghai

☆ Russia Detains Senior General, Widening Military Purge
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russian security agents detained a senior general early Tuesday, widening a purge of the country’s sprawling Defense Ministry amid President Vladimir V. Putin’s broader shake-up of his government. Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, who oversaw the ministry’s personnel department, was detained on an accusation of “large-scale” bribery, Russia’s Investigative Committee, a federal law enforcement agency, said in a statement on Tuesday. His detention came after Mr. Putin unexpectedly removed his long-serving defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, from his post and replaced him with a member of his economic team. Prosecutors said General Kuznetsov received a bribe from “commercial interests” between 2021 and 2023, when he worked on the protection of state secrets at the Armed Forces’ General Staff. The prosecutors claimed that security agents discovered cash equivalent to $1 million and luxury items during a search of General Kuznetsov’s home.

Persons: Vladimir V, Yuri Kuznetsov, Putin, Sergei K, General Kuznetsov, Kuznetsov’s Organizations: Mr, Prosecutors, Armed Forces ’, Staff

☆ Putin’s New War Weapon: An Economist Managing the Military
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Anton Troianovski | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

To President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, appointing a new defense minister provides a new building block toward fighting a long war. That was evident in Moscow on Monday when Andrei R. Belousov, the economist who was Mr. Putin’s surprise pick to lead Russia’s sprawling defense ministry, made his first public appearance in his new role and spoke about bureaucracy rather than the battlefield. It reflects an acknowledgment that the military production that is supplying Russia’s war, and heating its economy, must be carefully managed to sustain a war of attrition with Ukraine. At the same time, Russia is playing the long game on the battlefield. In northeastern Ukraine, Russian forces mounting a new offensive are pushing forward slowly rather than attempting major breakthroughs to big cities, as they did at the beginning of the war — with disastrous results.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Andrei R, Putin’s Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia replaced his minister of defense on Sunday as he shook up his national security team for the first time since his invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Putin kept the minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, in his inner circle, tapping him to run the country’s security council. Andrei R. Belousov, an economist who served as first deputy prime minister in the last government and previously was the economic development minister, was nominated to become the new defense chief. It is unclear how much authority over the war effort Mr. Shoigu will retain. colleague of Mr. Putin who has headed the Russian security council for 16 years, would be moved to another position to be announced in the coming days.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Sergei K, Andrei R, Shoigu, Nikolai P, Mr Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Satellite Images Reveal Where Russian Nukes Could Be Stored in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Christoph Koettl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

These new security features and other upgrades at a munitions depot in central Belarus reveal that Russia is building facilities there that could house nuclear warheads. If Russia does move weapons to this location, it would mark the first time it has stored them outside the country since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia already has nuclear warheads on its own soil that are close to Ukraine and NATO countries, but by basing some in Belarus, the Kremlin appears to be trying to accentuate its nuclear threat and bolster its nuclear deterrent. Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, made reference to such a site early last year, saying Russia would soon be completing the construction of “special storage for tactical nuclear weapons” in Belarus. The New York Times analyzed satellite imagery and photos, and spoke with nuclear weapons and arms control experts, to track the new construction, which started in March 2023.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: NATO, The New York Times Locations: Belarus, Russia, Soviet Union, Ukraine

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