Ukrainian intelligence reports reveal that Cuban women are among the foreign and female recruits serving in Russia’s war in Ukraine, raising new questions about recruitment networks and human trafficking.
Tag: soldiers
As Colombia considers banning former soldiers from fighting as mercenaries abroad — in places like Sudan — the government should first look into the economic conditions that push them into this ugly line of work.
As official data vanishes from Russian state reports, independent experts warn that losses from Putin’s war in Ukraine are becoming too large to hide.
Russia has carried out its largest missile and drone bombardment since launching its invasion of Ukraine. And it is preparing its summer offensive, while Donald Trump remains ambivalent about the continuation of his military aid, when the contracts signed by Joe Biden expire over the summer.
Some 49,000 soldiers have deserted from the Russian army. But to avoid the harshest charges or being sent forcibly back to the front, some are surrendering promptly in the hopes of being sent simply to prison.
Public support for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine is growing in Russia, with new polling showing record levels of backing for diplomacy. But the majority still insists on conditions that Ukraine — and its Western allies — are unlikely to accept. As the Kremlin plays the long game, a clear path to peace remains elusive.
Some Russians who have gone to war are making big money: for signing a contract, monthly pay, injury insurance, and benefits in case of death. Unsurprisingly, many are eager to illegally get their hands on that money — from frontline commanders to women marrying the most vulnerable.
As Israeli bombs continue to fall and international condemnation mounts, a long-avoided question resurfaces in Israeli society: when are soldiers morally bound to disobey orders?
As the war in Ukraine has continued for years now, reports have surfaced of international soldiers, including those from China and North Korea, fighting for the Russian side. Less known but perhaps no less significant is the example of Nepalese soldiers, some of whom don’t even know a war is ongoing when they make the decision to leave for Russia in search of a better life.
While voluntary enlistment is still strong in Ukraine, it is no longer enough. Kyiv has begun allowing prisoners to apply for early release in exchange for military service. While Russia’s similar policy was criticized, Ukrainian officials insist there are crucial differences.
The porn industry and amateur and professional adult content plays a role in the Israeli war on Gaza. Some pornographic companies did not only provide support to Israel, but adult content also contributed to drawing a violative imagination about Israeli soldiers and their relationship with the battlefield and the Gazan victims. It is part of a long history linking pornography and war.
French business analysts note that for companies, like nations, the current context is decidedly VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, to use a U.S. military strategy acronym. To succeed in Trump’s cut-throat commercial world, companies will need to acquire skills more common in matters of war and peace, than in traditional business operations..
In wartime Russia, women are behaving in starkly different ways: some are fighting desperately to bring their men home, while others are actively encouraging them to go to the front — for the promise of good money.
Russia’s Roskomnadzor agency blocked the Discord messaging application earlier this month, and thus disrupted one of the Russian military’s well-established communication systems. It’s a reminder of the Kremlin’s need for Western technology to wage its war against Ukraine.
Climate change, accelerating conflicts and altering operational conditions, will not spare the armed forces. These factors combined will alter the conditions under which armies around the world have to operate. Paris-based daily Les Echos looks at how France’s armed forces are working to adapt as well as reduce their carbon footprint.
The offspring of Russia’s elite were used to luxury loft apartments, expensive cars and carefree living. So how did Putin’s successive drafts of new troops impact them? As independent Russian news platform Vazhnyye Istorii found out, life essentially continues as normal.
Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly urged the Lebanese to turn on Hezbollah, as he drops bombs that kill thousands of civilians. But every citizen knows what an occupier looks like.
Updated September 17, 2024 at 10:50 a.m. The Battle of Antietam was a significant engagement fought during the American Civil War which took place on this day in 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, along the banks of the Antietam Creek. It was one of the bloodiest single-day battles in American history. Who were the main participants […]
The porn industry and amateur and professional adult content plays a role in the Israeli war on Gaza. Some pornographic companies did not only provide support to Israel, but adult content also contributed to drawing a violative imagination about Israeli soldiers and their relationship with the battlefield and the Gazan victims. It is part of a long history linking pornography and war.
Ongoing since 2021, the Polish-Belarusian border crisis has escalated in recent months. As some want to push all migrants away and others say let them all in, Poland must have a system for allowing people to apply for entry — both for humanitarian and economic reasons.
Rodents in the trenches are making life difficult for both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers on both sides, and leading authorities and activists send house cats to the front lines.
Updated June 22, 2024 at 10:20 a.m. Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. It was launched on this day in 1941, and aimed to conquer Soviet territory, defeat the Soviet military, and ultimately establish German dominance in Eastern Europe. Why did Germany launch […]
Updated June 20, 2024 at 11:30 a.m. The Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings were two separate attacks that took place in London on this day in 1982. The bombings were carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), an Irish nationalist paramilitary group, as part of their campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. […]
Updated June 6, 2024 at 12:20 p.m. The major military operation during World War II, also known as “D-Day”, occurred 80 years ago on this day in 1944, marking the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany’s control over Western Europe. Why was D-Day significant? D-Day was a significant turning point in World War II. […]
The image, taken by Robert F. Sargent on June 6, 1944, captures the courage and the frenzy of that historic moment.
Updated May 27, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. The invasion of Dunkirk started on this day in 1940, during the early stages of World War II. Approximately 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated from Dunkirk, including more than 200,000 British soldiers, during the evacuation codenamed Operation Dynamo. What was the invasion of Dunkirk? The invasion of Dunkirk […]
Literary scholar and fiction writer Mykhailo Nazarenko discusses the would-be cast of characters of fantasy writer JRR Tolkien in Ukraine’s war against the Russian invaders.
Updated May 2, 2024 at 1:15 p.m. The iconic war photograph of the raising of the flag over the Reichstag was taken on this day in 1945. Why was the raising of the flag over the Reichstag significant? The image showing a Soviet soldier raising the Soviet flag on the roof of the Reichstag building […]
April 22 – April 28, 2024
April 15 – April 21, 2024
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to lower conscription age from 27 to 25 may not be sufficient to replenish the army’s ranks, in a country where the age of the average soldier is far above other countries at war — now and historically. Here’s why.
The Swedish island of Gotland is the last bastion between Russia and the entire Baltic region. Now that Sweden has officially joined NATO, the country plans to accelerate its fortification of the island and make it a priority to repel a rapidly militarizing Russia. Life for locals makes it clear that something has changed.
Ukrainian journalist and soldier Pavlo Kazarin reflects on what he has learned about dealing with time, taking control of circumstances, and living in this historic era since enlisting in the army.
Reports abound of forced mobilization taking place in the Chechen Republic, where the regime of Ramzam Kadyrov, in an effort to gain Vladimir Putin’s favor, is using pressure and blackmail to force its men to join the Russian war effort.
With Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas put on Russia’s Most Wanted list, Tallinn is drawing up clear plans on how it intends to secure its border with Russia — an idea it shares with Latvia and Lithuania. But the three small countries don’t have the territorial or strategic depth to absorb an attack the way Ukraine did, which is why they ultimately rely on NATO.
Benjamin Netanyahu has firmly rejected Hamas’ latest counter-proposal to Israel’s offer for a ceasefire. Still, a new round of negotiations has begun in Cairo — and it’s ever more clear that the first question that must be resolved is the if, how, when and who of the 140 Israeli hostages will be released. Hamas knows they are its best bargaining chip.
Putin has threatened Ukraine with a long war in the hope that Western support will wane and that his troops will eventually outnumber Ukraine’s. But his army has had a few difficult months and arms production can’t keep up. Meanwhile, Western support for Kyiv is holding steady.
If we don’t compel those capable of bearing arms into the military, then we’ll soon cease to exist. And when we do, there will be nothing left. Artists in exile might write and read thoughtful articles about how we lost everything, but what good will that do?
From mortal mistakes to brutal punishments, Russian soldiers in Ukraine face daily horrors, not from the enemy but from their fellow officers. One Russian soldier who voluntarily signed up for the army tells his story and the psychological toll the war has had on him.
The Russian economy has proven remarkably resilient to Western sanctions, a phenomenon largely driven by Russia’s expanding military-industrial complex and increased trade with India and China. One challenge remains unsolved however: a lack of young working-aged men ready for hire in the country’s industrial and white collar sectors.