Worldcrunch
In another scenario, Putin could be bragging about Russia’s control of Bakhmut after nearly a year of fighting, and the bombing of the Ukrainian Intelligence’s headquarters, which was recently acknowledged by Kyiv. But instead he must retreat to the ultimate home front after drone attacks in the capital.
A series of brazen attacks into Russian territory, from the border region all the way to the placing a target on Putin’s life, may have limited military ends. But it is a perfect example of psychological warfare against an increasingly vulnerable nation.
Russia failed to respond in time to an attack in the Belgorod region, close to the Ukraine border. Now, independent Russian news outlet Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories reveals hears from Russian security forces and military analysts about what this week’s brazen incursion reveals about the vulnerability country’s defenses.
Wagner-like military groups are being formed in Crimea. Are they preparing to fight the Ukrainian army? Or to evacuate the local oligarchs?
A new report has done a deep dive into the support (or lack of opposition) of ordinary Russians for the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine. Independent Russian media outlet Important Stories breaks down the findings, which don’t necessarily follow the rationale one might imagine.
Dmitry Glukhovsky, the Russian author of Metro 2033, is currently standing trial in absentia in Moscow for speaking out against Putin. He has gone into hiding in Europe, where Die Welt has met up with him in a secret location in Berlin.
After Beijing’s dubious push to lead negotiations on settling the war in Ukraine, now it’s South Africa’s turn. But its “ambiguous” neutrality on the war — and reports of secret weapons sales to Russia — raise serious skepticism in Kyiv and the West.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky succeeded in securing massive stocks of weapons essential to Ukraine’s imminent counteroffensive — and, crucially, he laid the groundwork for Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France will train Ukrainian pilots appears to pave the way for the delivery of fighter jets to Kyiv. Similar moves are coming from the UK. It’s a delicate process to never declare war on Russia, while maximizing Ukraine’s ability to repulse the invaders.
The West has been eagerly awaiting Ukraine’s counteroffensive, but is mistakenly convinced it will be a major tank assault. Kyiv has already launched the first actions, as it also tries to lower its allies’ expectations of rapid victory.
In Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, an estimated 19,000 children have been abducted and put in so-called “filtration camps,” Soviet-era-like facilities where they are being “re-educated” in brutal conditions. Exclusive testimony from several victims who managed to escape.
When the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, Iryna Zhyvolup hunkered down with three generations of her family in Izyum, Ukraine. A few weeks later, she lost her loved ones in a missile attack.
Analysts have been talking about a Ukrainian counteroffensive since the end of last year. But when, where and how it will happen is still a closely guarded secret, thrown into further turmoil by the embarrassing leaks from inside the U.S. Defense Department. Ultimately, however, there are other factors that matter more.
Suffering heavy losses, the Russian army is undertaking an intensive recruitment drive. We take a look at the heavy-handed adverts and offers that encourage men to go to war.
The Freedom of Russia Legion consists of Russian army defectors who are fighting against their homeland, outraged that Vladimir Putin has destroyed the moral standing of Russia by invading its neighbor. Still, it’s a delicate “double-life” on the front line.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukrainians have begun a radical revision of their cultural habits and beliefs, casting off the relics of Russian colonialism. How Ukrainians see themselves and their country’s past will directly affect how they fight for the future.
Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom has lost access to the European market and is rife with inefficiencies. Still, it isn’t going anywhere soon. The engine of Russia’s vast resources are fed into Vladimir Putin’s system for maintaining power.
Even if Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky were willing to find a compromise on territory, their respective constitutions explicitly forbid signing off on such a deal.
Last spring, after Moscow’s troops occupied Mariupol, minors with no parents were forced from the southern city to go to Russia. One 17-year-old recently tried to escape, and return home to be with his sister. He didn’t make it — and Russia proudly shared the story.
Few believe the Russian government claims that it can recruit 400,000 new troops as volunteers, even with cash bonuses. But the alternative, a nationwide draft, may be too high a risk for Vladimir Putin.
For a long time, Kyiv didn’t have to resort to mass conscription, because so many people were enlisting. But as the war drags on, and casualties continue, Ukrainian recruitment becomes an urgent necessity. From the capital to the frontline of Bakhmut, Die Welt traces the current state of Kyiv’s fighting power.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán appears to be courting Vladimir Putin, and turning his back on the EU. There is a clear strategy behind his rhetoric — but it is not any personal affinity for Russia.
Thousands of foreign soldiers are fighting alongside Ukraine. German daily Die Welt met a Chechen battalion to find out why they are fighting.
As the Chinese government puts together what it calls a peace plan for Ukraine, it’s also considering sending weapons to Russia. The Biden administration warns China will “pay a real price” if it helps Russia, but Beijing’s real goal is to weaken the United States.
Reports have emerged of children, retirees, and workers being forced by the Russian military and occupying administration to obtain Russian Federation passports, or face prison, beating or loss of public benefits.
If Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hadn’t gone so badly, the Kremlin had two possible plans for governing the country under the Russian flag.
A new report blames the attack last September on a pro-Ukrainian outfit. It is hardly the last word on the case, but a good sign that the truth will come out in the end, which is crucial to maintain support in the West.
A 39-year-old fighter codenamed “Alaska,” a member of the Ukrainian Battalion 243, has decided to share his story in the battles of Bakhmut and other key frontline positions in eastern Ukraine over the past six months.
Russian shells hit frontline cities Siversk and Lyman every day, but some people are refusing to abandon their homes. Life has gone underground. A year since the beginning of the Russian invasion, a reporter from Ukrainska Pravda meets people surviving in basements — their towns destroyed, but still alive.
Heavy fighting continues in Bakhmut, as Russia steps up efforts to take the besieged eastern Ukrainian city. But there is a subplot taking place between competing Russian factions that are forcing all sides to double down. And there are many more battles to come.
Russians have been practicing the illegal transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children since 2014. Experts consider it one of the five main signs of genocide, and Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General has been working to prove this component of the “crime of crimes.”
The fundamentally irrational decision to invade Ukraine was the final proof that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been living in a world of illusions. He may be best understood by retracing the steps of history’s other tyrants, and gauging how their stories ended.
It’s not just about the current diplomatic impasse between Russia and the West, it’s about the future — and that means China.
Putin has stated in the past that Ukraine and Belarus should be a part of the Russian Federation. But his plans in Belarus have been postponed by war on the other neighbor, and the shrinking room for maneuver of Minsk’s strongman Alexander Lukashenko
A look back on some of the most striking magazine covers published this past year across the globe, marking the milestones in a bloody conflict that is entering its second year.
The public version of the Artificial Intelligence-driven chatbot is not yet fully plugged into the real-time internet. But there was an enlightening conversation going back to 2014, when the conflict in Ukraine actually started. ChatGPT’s hedging responses may help explain why the world wasn’t prepared for Putin’s invasion a year ago.
One year after the Russian invasion, Kyiv has become an international symbol of resistance, also in the way that ordinary life continues, despite air raids and bomb blasts.
Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine has been the site of some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles since Russia’s invasion. As the human toll mounts, Ukraine must decide between symbolism and strategy in a fight against waves of untrained Russian civilian troops.
Returning from this weekend’s Munich Security Conference, French President told France Inter public radio: “I do not think that Russia should be defeated completely, or attacked on its soil. These observers want above all to crush Russia. This has never been the position of France and it never will be.”
A healthy dose of cynicism and short cuts allows parts for weapons and other technology to still make their way into Russia. Independent Russian-language media Vazhnyye Istorii traces the way both Moscow and much of the rest of the world circumvent export bans.