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Big banks in Europe are preparing for an energy crisis as Russia tightens the gas taps, per Reuters. JPMorgan may use diesel generators, while Deutsche Bank turned off fountains and hot water. The insurer Zurich said it could close its gym and some office floors if the situation worsens. Major banks across Europe are implementing measures in the workplace to cut down on energy consumption as Russia tightens its gas supply to the continent. The Kremlin shut off its natural-gas flow to Europe via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline last week and said it wouldn't reopen it until the...

Last night Politico Europe published an interesting story about where Russia is starting to feel the pinch as it tries to keep its war machine going. Despite sanctions, Russia has managed to keep selling lots of oil and that has kept its economy from collapsing. But while it has lots of cash on hand it’s not so easy to import supplies of high tech chips that are needed for its weapons of war. In order to find those parts, Russia has put together a shopping list.Having fired off (or lost in combat) way more of their missile firepower than they...

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is the bookmakers' favorite to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, but the Kremlin is unlikely to be betting on a different British approach to relations with Moscow, or the war in Ukraine, should she take over from incumbent Boris Johnson. Although enjoying less support among fellow Conservative Party MPs, Truss's greater popularity among grassroots Tories than Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the final run-off has seen Betfair put her odds-on 4/6 to win. If successful, she will be the face of the British response to the war in Ukraine during which she...

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...

The Russians on the "Southern Front" received large reinforcements for half a day via the Crimean bridge The elite Ukrainian units that attempted the "Kherson counter-offensive" for the past six days did not achieve anything, and they paid for that with huge casualties and losses. They briefly took over Blagodatnoe and another smaller settlement and wedged themselves into Russian positions southeast of Suho Stavok, 3-4 kilometers away, but the counterattack was so powerful that they had to return to their starting lines with two captured positions. In the last 24 hours, the Ukris had 230 casualties, and they also lost...

Vladimir Putin's shaky legs have made another appearance as he appeared ill at ease while giving a rambling speech in front of young Russians today. The leader, 69, has been at the centre of multiple health rumours in recent months and has regularly appeared twitching and unsteady while in public. Today, he flew across nine time zones towards Kamchatka, a glaciers-and-volcanoes peninsula in the Pacific, in the east of Russia. He repeatedly tapped both of his feet on the floor and held on to his armrest for support as he told the children: 'You have to live for something to...

Liz Truss has been made Prime Minister of Britain. This was expected, but also the darkest day possible for Britain. Previously, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had backed Liz Truss’ view that Russian forces must be pushed out of “the whole of Ukraine” – and suggested this should include Crimea. Even the Guardian at the time had accused Liz Truss’ position was “recklessly inflaming Ukraine’s war to serve her own ambition.” Meanwhile, in Russia, this was playing out on TV endorsing World War III. Everything that can possibly point to war is unfolding before our eyes. There are no peacemakers...

Russian and Ukrainian officials tentatively agreed on a potential peace deal during negotiations back in April 2022, according to a Foreign Affairs article by Fiona Hill and Angela Stent that cited former US officials. The article reads: “According to multiple former senior US officials we spoke with, in April 2022, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appeared to have tentatively agreed on the outlines of a negotiated interim settlement.” The terms of that settlement would have been for Russia to withdraw to the positions it held before launching the invasion on February 24. In exchange, Ukraine would “promise not to seek NATO...

I am a Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the one hundred and ninty third day of the war.Day 193: September 04Today Ukrainian counteroffensive operation was marked by a big symbolic event.In the Dudchany direction, the fighters of the 103 National Guard battalion together with the fighters of the 63 brigade officially confirmed that they established full control over Vysokopillia and showed a video where they raise the Ukrainian flag above the town. This is the most important town in the northern part of the region, because it...

A family from Mariupol spoke to RFE/RL about their experiences of going through a Russian filtration camp and then being taken to Moscow. The mother eventually got her children out via Belarus and Poland, while the husband chose to remain in Russia. A report released by Human Rights Watch on September 1 says the practice of forcibly relocating Ukrainian citizens to Russia is a war crime.

Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russia’s biggest private oil company, Lukoil, died after falling through the window of a hospital in Moscow, Russian media reported on Thursday, a death which comes under mysterious circumstances just months after his company emerged as a rare high profile voice of dissent against the invasion of Ukraine.

On August 24, Belarus' authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, sent a congratulatory message to Ukraine for its 31st Independence Day. Lukashenko said Belarus would "continue to stand for the preservation of harmony" and development of "mutually respectful contacts" and wished Ukrainians "peaceful skies, tolerance, courage, strength and success in restoring a decent life." It was a bizarre message from a leader who has not only made Russia's invasion of Ukraine possible but has done almost everything he can to assist Russia in its war. Under Lukashenko, Belarus has emerged as Russian President Vladimir Putin's greatest ally on the world stage and...

According to Yanushevich, Ukrainian strikes have completely decommissioned almost all the major bridges in the region - Antonivskyi (road and railway), as well as the Nova Kakhovka Dam Bridge. “As a result of these actions, the Russian army was cut off from the supply of weapons and personnel from the territory of Crimea and the left-bank part of Kherson Oblast,” Yanushevich explained. He also confirmed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have launched an offensive in all directions in southern Ukraine, but added that the authorities can only provide official information from the military. “We must remain calm and not...

Summary/Overview Ukraine says an offensive in the Kherson region has begun – with some initial successes. Russia agrees and says offensive actions have been beaten back and substantial losses in men and materiel have been inflicted. Thick fog of war, thicker of propaganda. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to investigate the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant complex, will reach the city of Ernegodar on August 31 after a stopover in Kiev. Artillery shelling of the six-reactor area in Russian-controlled territory south of the Dnepr River continued on August 30. Natural gas pumping over the Nord Stream...

The Biden administration announced that Ukraine would receive $3 billion in military assistance — the largest amount it has sent since Russia began its invasion in February. The Department of Defense said that it was meeting both Ukraine’s “immediate and longer-term security assistance needs.” Among the 245,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and the laser-guided rocket systems listed in the Pentagon’s security assistance for Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) were the VAMPIRE Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems. VAMPIRE is an acronym for “Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment.” In short, the system transforms pickup trucks and other vehicles into mobile...

Do you want a recipe for disaster? Make sure you subordinate military strategy and tactics to political considerations. That is what happened to Ukraine in its long awaited counter offensive against Russian held Kherson in south Ukraine, which was launched on Sunday. The attack occurred at several points along the Kherson front. Here is a summary of the activity (note–AFU refers to Armed Forces of Ukraine, AFRF is the acronym for Armed Forces of the Russian Federation):Videos at link###Ukraine only managed to capture Sukhoy Stavok, a small village with no strategic importance. The Ukrainian operation, however, proved very costly to...

The U.S. State Department said the Kremlin is preparing to hold "sham" referenda to annex Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, warning that Moscow will employ propaganda and disinformation campaigns, falsify voter turnout and exaggerate the percentage of Ukrainians who want to join Russia to conduct its illegal land grab. The United States has previously warned that Moscow was moving forward to hold elections to disguise its annexation of Ukrainian regions, but State Department Principal Deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters for first time Tuesday that the effort was being overseen by Sergey Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of Russia's presidential administration....

At the outset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most experts expected that Kyiv would fall quickly. Ukrainian forces were fighting against a military that was bigger and better armed. Russia’s troops had more combat experience and funding. The question was not if Moscow’s forces would depose the Ukrainian government but when regime change would happen. Of course, Kyiv didn’t fall. Instead, the Ukrainian military stopped Russia’s assault on the capital and forced a retreat. Russia downsized its initial mission from wholesale conquest, and the war now mostly consists of grinding offensives and counteroffensives in Ukraine’s east and south. The question...

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