Ukraine recap: prepare for a ‘long war’ says Putin – but most Russians beg to disagree: If nuclear weapons are used in Ukraine, it won’t be Russia that starts it, says Russian president Vladimir Putin – ostensibly seeking to reassure the world while also delivering an arch reminder that he does, after all, have the …
Ukraine recap: targeting power supply earns Russia new title of ‘state sponsor of terror’ as winter begins to bite: Temperatures are falling steadily across Ukraine. The UK’s Met Office forecasts light (but pretty cold) rain in Kyiv for the next day or two followed by snow, snow, snow, as the mercury drops steadily into minus …
Ukraine recap: Poland missile scare a timely reminder of how dangerous this war is for everyone: The world held its breath on Tuesday afternoon when news reports came out of Poland that a missile had exploded in a village called Przewodów a few miles inside the the country’s border with Ukraine, killing two farmers. Could …
Ukraine recap: the battle for Kherson could determine the outcome of this war: The conflict in Ukraine appears to have reached another key moment that has the potential to influence the course of the rest of the war. Ukrainian troops, who have been sweeping through the south of the country since September appear poised to …
Ukraine recap: Russia’s ‘modern siege tactics’ fail to break the people’s will to resist: First, let’s clear up some unfinished business from last week. We reported here that Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, had been talking up the idea that Ukraine was planning to use a “dirty bomb” and specified a couple of facilities which …
Ukraine recap: the approach of ‘General Winter’ and what it means for the conflict: The next couple of weeks is likely to see Ukraine’s weather taking a turn for the worse, bringing first rain and then, as temperatures plummet, increasingly heavy snowfalls. “General Winter” has always had an important part to play in armed conflicts …
Ukraine recap: ‘kamikaze’ drone attacks on civilian infrastructure show Putin is moving closer to total war: Having suffered several weeks of setbacks in the field, Russia appears to have renewed its assaults on Ukraine’s major cities, mainly via missile and drone attacks. Despite protestations to the contrary from Kremlin ally Iran, there is growing evidence …
Ukraine recap: Russia targets civilians as the world argues about how to end the war: Ever since Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops across the border into Ukraine, the role of the UN as global problem solver has come under scrutiny. Any attempts for meaningful action by the security council are immediately stymied by the fact …
Ukraine recap: bad news from the battlefield for Putin, renewed nuclear threats from Russia: Vladimir Putin had barely finished his speech last Friday welcoming four new regions into Mother Russia, when his mouthpiece, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov admitted that they didn’t actually know where the borders of these regions were. “We will clarify everything …
Ukraine recap: occupied regions forced to join Russia while thousands of Russians choose to leave: Turning their backs on home: thousands of Russian men, fearing conscription, have opted to flee to Georgia. EPA-EFE/Zurab Kurtsikidze Four parts of Ukraine that are occupied by Vladimir Putin’s war machine are to be formally annexed by Russia. Or, as …
Ukraine recap: what Putin’s mobilisation order means for the war and the west: Mobilisation: Russian president, Vladimir Putin. UPI/Alamy Stock Photo The political climate got a few degrees warmer this week after Vladimir Putin announced a plan for partial mobilisation of Russian reserves, calling on a reservoir of somewhere between 300,000 and a million troops …
Ukraine recap: Russian military setbacks and Putin’s limited military and diplomatic options: While his troops struggle to regroup in the face of a lightning-fast Ukrainian offensive in the northeast, Vladimir Putin is in Samarkand, fabled halfway point of the silk road in Uzbekistan, for a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). While he …
Ukraine recap: Putin remains popular at home, unlike his puppet rulers in occupied regions: Once it became clear – which it did, early on in this conflict – that Ukraine’s defenders would not wilt before the onslaught of Vladimir Putin’s war machine, analysts predicted a long and drawn-out war of attrition, particularly in the east …
Ukraine recap: Ukraine launches major counteroffensive as Mikhail Gorbachev dies, opposing the war to the last: The death this week of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who presided over its disintegration at the end of the 1980s, prompted an avalanche of tributes. These came mainly from outside Russia – where he …
Ukraine Recap: grain and gas were problems the west should have seen coming: There was a perceptible sense of relief on Monday when the Razoni, a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel, left the port of Odesa with 26,000 tons of grain bound for Tripoli in Lebanon. This was the first ship out of the port city since …
Ukraine Recap: who is winning this war? Both sides, if you believe the claims: We’re now five months into the war in Ukraine and the effects of Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” are spreading their sinister tentacles far beyond eastern Europe in a manner that is affecting life for just about everyone. Grain shortages are …
Ukraine Recap: Putin goes in search of friends while his ministers threaten his enemies: It’s childish, I realise, but I experienced a frisson of amused pleasure on watching the video of Vladimir Putin pacing up and down for nearly a minute while waiting for the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, to show up for their …
Ukraine Recap: Russian threats, Europe frets and China rises: Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions in Ukraine, dressed up for domestic consumption as a “military operation” to “de-Nazify” the country, have sent a shiver of apprehension through the rest of the region. In Moldova, particularly, where the small breakaway enclave of Transnistria gives Russia a foothold, many …