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Michael Weiss and Holger Roonemaa Mon, February 20, 2023 at 5:00 PM CST A leaked internal strategy document from Vladimir Putin’s executive office and obtained by Yahoo News lays out a detailed plan on how Russia plans to take full control over neighboring Belarus in the next decade under the pretext of a merger between the two countries. The document outlines in granular detail a creeping annexation by political, economic and military means of an independent but illiberal European nation by Russia, which is an active state of war in its bid to conquer Ukraine through overwhelming force. “Russia’s goals...

President Joe Biden visited Kyiv on Monday for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago, demonstrating in dramatic personal fashion his commitment to the country and its struggle as the war enters an uncertain new phase. While in Kyiv, Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as first lady Olena Zelenska at the Ukrainian presidential palace. Biden’s visit comes at a critical moment in the 12-month conflict, with Russia preparing for an expected spring offensive and Ukraine hoping to soon retake territory. The United States and other western nations have...

The U.S.-based think tank's report published on Thursday says that Russia's purported goal of capturing Bakhmut by next week "would require a significantly higher rate of Russian advance than anything seen for many months."...While the Kremlin may be unlikely to capture Bakhmut soon, ISW maintained that missile strikes on "civilian targets throughout Ukraine" could instead mark the war anniversary because "actual military success continues to evade the Russian military."

Russia could encircle the war-ravaged city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region by March or April, according to a new assessment by Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, which has been leading an offensive alongside Russian troops against the city since July. In video interviews with Russian media published late on February 15, Prigozhin, who has been sidelined by the Kremlin in recent weeks, appeared to shift expectations on the potential capture of Bakhmut. Prigozhin blasted Russia's "monstrous military bureaucracy" for its failure to seize the city before the end of last year, and warned that Russia should not...

The head of Russia's mercenary outfit Wagner said it could take months to capture the embattled Ukraine city of Bakhmut and slammed Moscow's "monstrous bureaucracy" for slowing military gains. Russia has been trying to encircle the battered industrial city and wrest it ahead of Feb. 24, the first anniversary of what it terms its "special military operation" in Ukraine. "I think it's (going to be in) March or in April," Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said in one of several messages posted online overnight. "To take Bakhmut you have to cut all supply routes. It's a significant task," he said, adding:...

Google says it has been working around the clock alongside other Big Tech companies to fight Russian cyberattackers waging a digital war against Ukraine, guarding against some of the same ransomware attackers who previously hit the U.S. The tech Titan published a “Fog of War” report Thursday saying the Ukrainian government is under “near-constant digital attack” from Russia, including via its military intelligence service, the GRU. Google said it disrupted government-backed attackers to protect people from exploitation and notified users of products such as Gmail that they had been targeted, when the company deemed it appropriate. The U.S. government is...

The Kremlin will not invite reporters from countries that Russia has deemed “unfriendly” to President Vladimir Putin’s address to the Federal Assembly next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 15 that only media representing "friendly" countries will be accredited to the February 21 event. -snip- More than 60 countries, including the United States, EU member states, Britain, Canada, and Japan, have been declared "unfriendly" by Russia for imposing or supporting sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president's train boasts radio antennae for special communications fixed to the roof of certain carriages, covered by casings, and has been upgraded to be more secure. It has reinforced axles like heavy freight trains because of the weight of the armour on the carriages. It requires three engines at the front, and has one at the rear. On the side of the train is the logo of Grand Service Express, a company which Dossier alleges is linked to close Putin associate Yuri Kovalchuk. Regular trains are halted to allow the Putin express to speed to its destinations. Putin...

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the paramilitary Wagner Group that has fought alongside the Russian military in the war in Ukraine, admitted that the "meat grinder" battle for Bakhmut is far from over. -snip- Prigozhin, a Russian businessman, told The Moscow Times, an independent newspaper based in Amsterdam, that his troops "will not be celebrating in the near future" as the battle pushes on. He said Ukraine's military has become more active in the city, pulling in "more and more new reserves" to fight to prevent a Russian breakthrough. Up to 500 new fighters have become engaged in Bakhmut each...

Graphic drone footage appears to show dozens of Russian armored vehicles getting ambushed and destroyed during a single botched attack near the coal-mining town of Vuhledar in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow’s forces have been trying to capture for months. Vuhledar, a Ukrainian stronghold at the strategic intersection between the eastern and southern front lines, has seen some of the bloodiest fighting of the war as the Kremlin is gearing up for a decisive offensive on the eastern front. Based on the newly released video evidence, a column of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles was lost or damaged last week,...

On Thursday, Republican representative Matt Gaetz is introducing a resolution that will call on the Biden White House to end military and financial aid to Ukraine. The resolution will also urge all nations involved with the ongoing war to search for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

Russia’s widely-anticipated winter offensive has begun. Aiming to extend its control over eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, Russian troops are attacking north and south of Donetsk city. In the northern sector, around the city of Bakhmut, the Russians slowly are advancing—albeit at staggering cost. In the south, around Vuhledar, the Russians’ losses are just as steep—but they’ve made no clear gains that could justify the casualties. Vuhledar is turning into a meatgrinder for the Russian army, with enormous implications for the wider offensive. The latest Russian attack on Vuhledar—a town with a pre-war population of just 14,000 that lies a mile...

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself held only a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation via videoconference. After the main part, the meeting continued in a narrow format. We discussed the state of affairs at the front and a number of related topics. The President was informed that in connection with the resumption of the offensive in a number of sectors of the front in the last five days, Russian troops have suffered heavy losses both in manpower and in equipment. Putin was also informed about the problems with the provision and the possibility...

A slide in Russian revenue from oil and gas clashed against the Kremlin ramping up spending on its nearly year-long war against Ukraine, resulting in a wider budget deficit for the country in January. Oil and gas revenue tumbled 46% in January from the same month a year ago to 426 billion rubles ($5.96 billion), Russia's finance ministry said Monday in a preliminary release. It attributed the decline largely to a drop in prices for its Urals blend — its largest crude oil export — and to a fall in exports for natural gas. Russia sold Urals at an average...

The heavy casualties suffered by Russian paratroopers in Ukraine has one Russian expert calling for a rethink of Russia's airborne units. Many of the recent criticisms about the performance of Russia's elite parachute force, known as the VDV, have been voiced about lightly armed airborne units since World War II. The problems range from poorly designed vehicles to parachute drops conducted without first suppressing enemy air defenses. -snip- Russia's huge airborne force, composed of 45,000 paratroopers in four divisions, is actually a separate military branch that serves as shock troops and a rapid-intervention force. Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia was being threatened by German tanks, like during World War Two, speaking at an event in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, marking the Soviet victory over Nazi forces in the city. 'It's unbelievable but true. We are again being threatened by German Leopard tanks,' Putin said, adding that Russia had an 'answer' to any country that threatened it. Putin appeared to have brought his 'nuclear football' to Volgograd. Aides were seen close to the dictator carrying two black bags. Observers believed one was a fold-up shield to protect Putin in the event of shooting,...

Footage from a fierce ongoing battle around Vuhledar, southwest of Donetsk, shows Russian soldiers retreating after their five vehicles were hit by Ukrainian artillery. The Russian troops were forced to run away and leave their wounded crawling behind them after being struck by airburst ammunition. -snip- Russia is said to be planning a 'new pre-emptive strike' in Ukraine according to satellite photos which show Putin's forces building up fortifications. The new offensive will reportedly take place ahead of the first anniversary of their invasion on February 24.

Donald Trump says he would build an “impenetrable dome” to protect the US from nuclear missile attacks as he also claimed he could end the Russian invasion of Ukraine “within 24 hours.” The one-term president released a video saying that foreign powers were now openly “using the nuclear word all the time” because “they have no respect for our leadership.” Mr Trump added that “it is a word you are never allowed to use” and insisted it had never been said when he was in the White House. ... The video came a day after Mr Trump took to Truth...

Russian lawmakers on Monday proposed placing restrictions on citizens attempting to leave the country. Yevgeny Moskvichev, the head of Russia's State Duma Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development, put forward amendments to a transport law that would make it a requirement for Russian citizens, and others, to book a time and place in advance to cross the border. According to a copy of the legislative changes seen by Tass, Russia's state-run news agency, "Vehicles belonging to Russian transport companies, foreign transport companies, citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens, stateless persons and other road users" must reserve a date and...

Vladimir Putin has deployed air defence systems around Moscow, suggesting the despot fears an attack from Ukraine. He has deployed lethal S-400 defence missiles to two locations in the capital, designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles. Local residents say the deployments are new to the Russian capital. The tyrant's latest move comes after two drone strikes on Russian two air bases in Saratov and Ryazan in December, both suspected to be from Ukrainian forces. One S-400 air defence system has been deployed in fields belonging to the Russian State Agricultural University in the northwest of...