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While the Ukrainians are fighting a conventional war on their own territory, Russia and the West are engaged in an unconventional one fought by economic pressure, political subterfuge and dirty tricks. The apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines seems just the latest example. Both of these lines linking Russia to Germany have sprung devastating leaks. The cause, according to seismological readings, was a series of explosions off the Danish island of Bornholm, too directed (and powerful enough to breach 4cm of steel and a thick concrete mantle) and too synchronised to be any kind of an accident. There...

WASHINGTON — Negotiators to a stop-gap spending bill in the U.S. Congress have agreed to include about $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine in response to a request from the Biden administration, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.The source, who asked not to be identified, said the measure will also include resettlement funding for Afghan refugees

Congress has complied with the Biden administration’s request to include $12 billion for Ukraine in its stopgap funding bill, Reuters reported Monday. GOP senators remained divided over whether to support the funding request in the continuing resolution, a funding bill that needs to be passed by Sept. 30 to avert a government shutdown, CNN reported on Sept. 19. However, a source familiar with the ongoing negotiations said Congress had agreed to $12 billion in aid on top of the $4o billion authorized in May, Reuters reported. Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told CNN the funding package would contain a...

At government headquarters in NATO member Montenegro, computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the state's main websites are down amid a massive cyberattack that officials say bears the hallmark of pro-Russian hackers and its security services.

Latest update from The New Atlas focusing on the realities of Ukraine's recent tactical victory vs. the enormous structural cost that likely leads to speeding up to Ukraine's eventual strategic failure. Ukraine lost 5-7 brigades (20,000 to 28,000 men) in just that short 10 day period of "counter offensive." Makes the interesting point that Russia's decision to withdraw eliminated Ukraine's ability to significantly reduce Russia's manpower or weaponry. By enticing Ukraine to come out of their covered defensive positions and into the open it has provided an easier target for Russia to attack by air and artillery Ukraine's stretched out...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refused peace talks with Russia just days prior to the war, according to reports.Zelensky's adamant refusal to accept German-brokered peace talks with Russia, which ultimately resulted in large-scale killings and massive destruction in Ukraine, has earned him brickbats from people across the globe.As per the report published in the Wall Street Journal, it is evident that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had extended an offer for peace days before Russia launched the attack on Ukraine but the Ukrainian President did not pay any heed.

Ukraine says it has recaptured more than 1000 sq km area and 20 villages in its south and east from Russia in the past week. The Ukrainian counterattack in the south, which was once regarded as a “propaganda offensive”, now seems to have really become a major problem for the Russian army. The latest news from Kyiv pointed out that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has reoccupied a large area of territory, while the Russian side is in a state of emergency on the front line, and there are frequent problems in the rear. At the same time, the military assistance provided...

The Institute for the Study of War released a Thursday report claiming that Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kherson and the Donbas is taking its toll on the Russian high command. Specifically, ISW pointed to Ukrainian victories outside the cities of Kharkiv and Russian-controlled Izyum as creating significant fissures within the Kremlin's "information space" and eroding confidence in their leadership. Ukrainian forces reportedly moved 31 miles to Russian defensive positions in Balakliya on Thursday, but Moscow forces failed to acknowledge any such advancement. According to ISW, the silence caused an eruption of Russian internet backlash against the military.

The Defense Department has announced another package of security assistance for Ukraine, which will include additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, ammunition and a substantial number of Phoenix Ghost unmanned aerial systems. This latest package includes about $175 million in equipment pulled from existing U.S. military stocks through presidential drawdown authority and $95 million in equipment from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI fund, said a senior defense official during a background briefing at the Pentagon. Included in the latest presidential drawdown authority package are four additional HIMARS systems, which will give Ukraine a total of 16; four command...

MOSCOW — Russians began voting on Friday in the first nationwide elections since the invasion of Ukraine in a climate of wartime censorship and repression, with the Kremlin trying to assure the public that it was business as usual. The vote for local and regional governments across the country includes the first municipal-level elections in the capital of Moscow since 2017, when the opposition won a sizable minority of seats despite the Kremlin’s dominance of the political system and accusations of fraud. But the ranks of the opposition have since been depleted even further. Many anti-government politicians have fled the...

The Russian-Ukrainian battlefield is roughly comparable to the Kherson battlefield in the endless steppe. The Kharkiv-Severodh Donetsk region is more complex in terrain, with a large number of small highlands, forested swamps, and rivers. The road network is not good, and there are many small villages and towns. As a result, the entire battlefield is also more complex So far Ukrainian Army’s offensive is unusually smooth, more than 3,000 Russian internal guard units and armed mobilizers were almost defeated, and a small number of Russian paratroopers failed to stop the Ukrainian army’s thousands of assault troops alone, and quickly retreated...

BRUSSELS, September 9, 2022—In a joint assessment released today, the Government of Ukraine, the European Commission, and the World Bank, in cooperation with partners, estimate that the current cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine amounts to $349 billion (€349 Billion). This figure is expected to grow in the coming months as the war continues.President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Ukraine is fighting for democracy and our common values. The EU cannot match the sacrifice Ukraine is enduring but we are mobilising all our instruments to address the most immediate needs, including for housing for internally...

Myles Sanderson died Wednesday after experiencing "medical distress" following his arrest... His brother Damien Sanderson was found dead the day after the attacks, police said previously. ... The day after the stabbings, Damien Sanderson was found dead in a heavily grassed area near a house on the James Smith Cree Nation, Blackmore has previously said. His injuries did not appear to be self-inflicted, she said. Investigators have said they are working to determine if Myles Sanderson may have been involved with his brother's death. After Damien's death, Myles Sanderson was on the run for two more days...the truck was spotted...

Ukrainian officials, defending their country against Russian aggressors, began doing something in July that seemed odd, even counterintuitive: They started speaking loudly and regularly about their plans to liberate Kherson—a key southern city that Russia seized only a week after invading Ukraine on February 24. Indeed, the Ukrainians telegraphed their intentions in a way that the Russians could not mistake. This was like waving a red cape at an angry, incompetent bull. Almost immediately, rumors proliferated that the Russians were racing reinforcements to Kherson to prepare for the Ukrainian attack. Goading the Russians into doing so seems to have been...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia had not lost anything as a result of its military campaign in Ukraine. Speaking at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, he said all Russia's actions were designed to strengthen the country's sovereignty and were aimed at "helping people" living in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. "We have not lost anything and will not lose anything," Putin said. "In terms of what we have gained, I can say that the main gain has been the strengthening of our sovereignty." Putin conceded, however, that Moscow's decision...

Ukraine's President Zelensky said he has "good news", claiming the recapture of several settlements from Russia. Rumours have swirled for days about a possible breakthrough in the eastern Kharkiv region, but with no word from Ukrainian officials. Mr Zelensky declined to name which places had been retaken, saying that "now is not the time to name" them. Separately, US officials said Ukraine was making "slow but meaningful progress" against Russian forces. Speaking in his nightly video address to Ukrainians, President Zelensky said there was "good news" about the rumoured success of Ukrainian troops. "I think every citizen feels proud of...

One week into a new counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces are making gains in the south, with the ambitious goal of taking back most of the Russian-occupied region of Kherson by the end of the year, senior US officials and Ukrainian officials tell CNN. The last week has seen the most ambitious ground assaults by the Ukrainians since the beginning of the invasion, following sustained attacks on command posts, ammunition stores, and fuel reserves far behind the front lines, according to geolocation of video and satellite imagery. The US has observed Ukrainian forces achieve some success in attacking Russian supply lines, with...

The Pentagon is preparing detailed analysis and working out how to support Ukraine's military in the medium and long term, including after the war with Russia has ended, according to three defense officials. The efforts are being led by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and would build on the billions of dollars in military aid the US has given to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February. The process is at an early stage and a senior defense official said it is looking at the "future of Ukrainian forces," aiming to answer key questions about "what...

Vladimir Putin has approved a 31-page "humanitarian policy" which says Russia should "protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World". The foreign policy concept of a "Russian World" is a notion that hardliners have used to justify intervening abroad to support Russian speakers, such as in parts of Ukraine. It means that the idea is now enshrined in official policy, though it was presented as a soft power strategy. The new policy stated that Moscow should further deepen its ties with the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic - two breakaway entities in...

A former U.S. general has forecast the surrender of Russian forces in Kherson, a strategic city in Ukraine. The Kherson region has been almost entirely controlled by Russian troops since March, when it became the first major city to fall during Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have launched a counteroffensive to take back the critical port city. Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling commented Monday on a Ukrainian soldier's video from the frontlines showing destroyed Russian positions in Kherson. According to Hertling's analysis on Twitter, the footage indicated "extremely poor soldier discipline" and "horrible fieldcraft/training"...