Worldcrunch
Former Director for European Affairs for the U.S. National Security Council, Alexander Vindman is the Ukrainian native who got ensnared in Donald Trump’s first impeachment investigation. Since the Russian invasion of his native Ukraine, he has been urging more Western support for Kyiv. The coming NATO summit is key, but so to are the 2024 U.S. elections.
Though the U.S. and Ukraine haven’t signed onto the arms convention banning the dangerous weapon, many of their closest allies have. Thus both Washington and Kyiv are coming under fire for the announcement of new U.S. supplies of cluster bombs.
A month into Ukraine’s counteroffensive, claims that it has failed are wildly premature. Even more troubling are the steady whispers that Kyiv must sit down with Russia to negotiate. But it’s clearer than ever that only complete Ukrainian victory can bring lasting peace.
Ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on a diplomatic tour of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey. Two of those countries, Bulgaria and Turkey, may prove to be particularly important for Ukraine’s future.
While the Ukrainian counteroffensive is mainly happening on the Southern and Eastern fronts, the struggle for Ukraine’s future is also being waged on the “Western front,” where more aid is desperately needed. Here, Kyiv needs to convince even the most resistant allies that a Ukrainian defeat would leave the European Union and the U.S. much weaker on the global stage.
Two Asian giants are facing each other: China, whose economic and military power is no longer in doubt, and India, whose weapon is demography and who dreams of being the equal of its Chinese rival. The effects will reverberate everywhere.
Writer and activist Victoria Amelina died from injuries sustained in a Russian missile strike on a restaurant in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. Her death is a cruel irony that reminds the world of both Moscow’s objectives, and tactics.
Kyiv is accusing Russia of planning to blow up the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in eastern Ukraine, which would cause incalculable horror, and extend beyond the borders of Ukraine. But it may be messages in Beijing and Washington that can dissuade Vladimir Putin even more than exposing civilians, including Russians, to nuclear fallout.
Countries around the world have imposed round after round of sanctions on Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But are they enough?
A rebel chief in exile, a top General arrested, a President waving at the crowd. While Putin is putting on a show in public, a large- scale investigation is cleaning house among the Russian military, one week after the Wagner group’s attempted coup.
Why is the admirable funding for Ukraine not matched in Sudan, which now counts a stunning 2.5 million displaced people since fighting erupted two months ago? The West’s double standard of media attention must not be left to fester.
The excitement with which the West watched Prigozhin’s failed uprising reveals the delusional hopes that somehow a Russian white (or black) knight will come to overthrow Putin. No, there’s still only one way to be rid of him, argues Ukrainian writer Anna Akage.
Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine, saw liberal President Zuzana Čaputová’s confirmation that she will not seek re-election, in part because of threats against her tough stance on Russia’s invasion. How will the war shape the future direction of Slovakian politics, and vice-versa?
The recent revolt led by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has opened the door to what Russia could become after Vladimir Putin is deposed.
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted coup against Russian President Vladimir Putin reveals the great confusion that reigns in Russia, and the weakness of the Kremlin’s leader — but it’s a weakness that makes him all the more unpredictable.
The fate of Prigozhin, Putin and Ukraine hang in the balance. And though much is still not clear, Russia is simply no longer under the reign of an all-powerful Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine is warning about a possible terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which Moscow’s military has occupied since the early days of the invasion. The U.S. Senate warns that, in that case, NATO is ready to enter the war.
After months of anticipation, expectations were impossibly high when Ukrainian forces finally launched a counteroffensive into Russian-occupied territory. But those expecting a lightning advance, like last year’s liberation of Kharkiv, overlooked one critical fact: the war is nearly 10 years old.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been marked by grueling combat. Independent Russian news site Agenstvo spoke to military experts who explain why progress is slow and how worrying the situation is for Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine will have a lasting impact on the political landscape of both Russia and Ukraine, regardless of its ultimate outcome. Independent Russian publication Agents Media suggests that the ongoing conflict will shape the country’s future decision-makers.
As Russia loses in influence in Central Asia, Ukraine has an opportunity to take over a key role in relations between countries in the region and the European Union.
The ongoing show trial of prominent Putin critic Alexei Navalny continues. Yet even in the face of totalitarianism, Russia’s opposition cannot present a united front.
In the secrecy that often surrounds wars, and in the realm of information warfare, losses are often deliberately underreported or completely omitted. But this case in Crimean port city of Sevastopol is pure paradox.
African leaders traveled to both Kyiv and Moscow to discuss a potential “peace plan” for the war in Ukraine. Predictably the envoys failed, and others will likely meet the same fate as Ukraine’s counteroffensive kicks into gear and Putin keeps digging in.
In the West, many expect Kyiv’s counteroffensive to be a swift and brilliant success. But Ukrainian soldiers on the ground know better.
June 19 – June 25, 2023
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is getting a warm reception after arriving in France for an extended stay. He has attempted to modernize his country’s image, but can the West turn a blind eye to deep moral problems in his leadership.
Military spending has increased dramatically worldwide, driven by war in Ukraine and Chinese-Tawian tensions. With $2.24 trillion spent globally in 2022, the amount looks likely to continue to increase.
Global politics have gotten in the way of humanitarian aid when it comes to the flooding in Ukraine. Zelensky points the finger towards a deep, structural UN shortcoming.
In an exclusive interview with German daily Die Welt, Volodymyr Zelensky comments on the power struggles inside the Russian government. At the same time, he accuses Russia of firing on rescue workers after the dam explosion, and offers harsh criticism for the UN and the Red Cross.
When both sides of a conflict blame each other for something as important as the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, there’s only one way to understand what’s going on: find out who benefits from the crime.
After significant sections of the Nova Kakhovka dam were destroyed in a Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine, independent Russian media Agents.Media has pieced together Vladimir Putin declarations on May 30 that may have been a warning of a false-flag attack.
Volodymyr Zelensky has made his demand clear: full NATO membership for Ukraine, perhaps as soon as this year. Yet member countries, from the U.S. to top European allies, are still stuck in the mindset of not “provoking” Russia. But if not now, when?
Europe’s leaders are in Moldova as tensions increase with Russia and in Kosovo. The summit is already making an impact as Europe pushes back against Russian interference.
Putin is hesitant to mobilize troops for political reasons. And the Ukrainian military command is well aware that the key to a successful offensive lies in creating new front lines, where Russia will have to relocate troops from Ukraine and thus weaken the existing front.
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.
Approaching the world as a simple opposition between East and West falls short. An emerging “tripolar” geopolitics requires we establish new ways of thinking and managing both conflict and opportunity.
As we wait for Ukraine’s looming counteroffensive, analysts are already looking ahead and asking what will happen after this decisive summer. After brutal battles, a general weariness risks setting in, that could push Ukraine to accept a ceasefire.
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.