The Washington Post

29 October 2024 14:59

North Korea’s elite troops are in Russia to fight Ukraine: What we know

As many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers are being trained in Russia and some have already been deployed in the war against Ukraine, an unprecedented move by Pyongyang to send its people into danger in a combat zone far from the Korean Peninsula.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have dispatched some of his best soldiers to aid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort, including the elite “Storms Corps” unit that had long been training to infiltrate the South, according to South Korean intelligence officials.

U.S. and NATO officials have warned that the infusion of North Korean troops could be a “dangerous expansion” of the war in Ukraine and a “very, very serious issue” that could have reverberations in both Europe and the Pacific. The deployment of North Korean forces is the latest sign of the deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow as they join forces against the West.

Read the full story here,

The Washington Post

28 October 2024 13:32

How Soviet farm planning gave Ukrainian troops vital battlefield real estate

In a modern fight across the Ukrainian steppe, where it is nearly impossible to hide from the digital eyes of day and night drone surveillance, windbreaks have become one of the most valuable terrain features that Russian and Ukrainian troops fight over. They provide a refuge for soldiers to gather for assaults, take cover from enemy fire or, in the quiet moments, listen to the wind blow through the branches.

Control over strategic windbreaks can make a difference in winning a fight or losing one, soldiers said.

“The tree line is life,” said a member of the gun team in the National Guard’s 15th Brigade. He provided only his first name, Oleksandr, in line with Ukrainian military protocols.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

24 October 2024 12:22

Putin relishes role on stage, but Ukraine war looms over BRICS summit

With the hosting of the annual BRICS summit fortuitously falling on Russia’s shoulders this year, President Vladimir Putin has been handed an opportunity to flaunt his nation’s standing on the world stage, despite Western efforts to ostracize him since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The three-day summit is the largest geopolitical event in Russia since the war and saw the first formal talks between the estranged leaders of China and India in five years, as well as discussions on alternative global financial systems — but there was little focus on the war in Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest ongoing crises.

Leaders and delegations from 36 nations descended on Kazan, one of Russia’s largest and most affluent cities, to discuss their grievances about widely perceived Western hypocrisy over the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the dysfunction of the global institutions created since World War II.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

22 October 2024 13:52

Zelensky sees NATO momentum on Ukraine joining, but not yet from U.S.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky projected careful confidence over the Western reception to his proposed “victory plan,” including his hopes for an eventual invitation to join NATO, but said that decision will ultimately depend on the U.S. position, which probably won’t be announced until after November’s presidential election.

Ukraine has framed the invitation to join NATO as a key security guarantee for both Ukraine and Europe — and one of the only ways to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from continuing his violent campaign to annex the country.

“Today, we see the consensus of the majority of the allied countries and the restrained position of a few countries,” he said in a conversation with journalists on Monday. “We will work with it.”

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The Washington Post

17 October 2024 18:13

Trump says Ukraine’s Zelensky should ‘never have let that war start’

Former president Donald Trump blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for allowing the war in Ukraine to start, even though Russia was the aggressor, during an interview with a podcaster that was published Thursday.

“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen. Every time he comes in we give him $100 billion,” Trump said in the interview with podcaster Patrick Bet-David. “Who else got that kind of money in history? There’s never been. And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start. That war is a loser.”

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

16 October 2024 14:53

Zelensky reveals Victory Plan, calls for NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a broad description of his five-point Victory Plan to Ukraine’s lawmakers on Wednesday, describing the first step as an immediate and unconditional NATO invitation and the last an offer to replace U.S. troops in Europe with Ukrainian units after the war — suggestions sure to incense the Kremlin.

The second point in the plan, Zelensky said, is a permanent strengthening of Ukraine’s security through guarantees from partners that their weapons can be used for strikes inside of Russia and that Ukraine’s neighbors will conduct joint air defense operations to protect Ukraine’s skies. It will also allow for continued operations inside sovereign Russian territory to ensure buffer zones that protect Ukraine, he said.

The third is a nonnuclear deterrence plan, and the fourth guarantees economic security and protection of Ukrainian natural resources.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

13 October 2024 15:59

Ukraine boosting its defense industries, with a little help from friends

A recent decision by the European Union to contribute some $440 million to Ukraine’s resurgent arms industry marks a significant shift in the bloc’s approach to Russia’s war against its neighbor, but also highlights the E.U. defense sector’s shortcomings in producing weapons and ammunition.

The E.U. contribution will use money taken from the windfall profits of Russian assets that have been frozen in the West. The funding comes on top of some $190 million that the Danish government is providing.

While Europe, and of course the United States, have been sending billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to help Ukraine in its battle against much larger Russia, their national defense industries — long oriented toward an international scene with fewer conflicts — have struggled to keep up with Ukrainian demand.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

08 October 2024 15:18

For a second day, Ukrainian hackers hit Russian institutions

Russia suffered major digital outages for a second day Tuesday after hackers targeted Russia’s court information system, taking down court websites and claiming to have wiped court documents and decisions in the system’s database.

The hackers, who called themselves the “BO Team,” posted a message with an obscenity declaring that the attack was made to mark President Vladimir Putin’s 72nd birthday Monday, the same day a massive attack on Russia’s online state media channels occurred.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the country’s state television and media company VGTRK suffered an “an unprecedented hacker attack on its digital infrastructure.”

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

05 October 2024 17:22

Ukraine left in security limbo with Zelensky U.S. trip results unclear

KYIV — More than a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his “victory plan” for how to end the war with Russia to top U.S. officials, details of the strategy and how it was received remain hazy, and Kyiv is scrambling for additional international support just a month before the U.S. election.

Zelensky’s administration has so far kept the points of the victory plan, which was shared with President Joe Biden and other top officials, a secret, but it likely hinges on either accelerated NATO membership or binding security guarantees from the Ukraine’s Western partners.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

03 October 2024 12:42

Putin signs law giving criminal defendants immunity if they join the army

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday approved a new law that will exempt Russian defendants and suspects who have signed up to fight in the army from criminal liability.

The bill was introduced by the Russian Supreme Court this summer and passed by Russia’s parliament after three readings and will save defendants from facing trial and from criminal prosecution.

Previously, only Russians who had been convicted or were under investigation had the option to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry and join the “Special Military Operation,” the Kremlin’s euphemism for its war against Ukraine. This new bill is intended to close the gap in the chain so anyone facing criminal charges at any stage can sign a contract and avoid prison.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

27 September 2024 16:44

Zelensky holds meeting with Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he decided to meet with Donald Trump on Friday because it was “very important” to keep the United States informed about next steps in Ukraine.

Zelensky said he hoped the support of the United States would be very strong regardless of who wins the election.

“And that’s why I decided to meet with most candidates, with all of them,” he said.

Trump suggested he would try to broker an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“We’re going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled,” said Trump, who added that he has “a very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Read more here.

The Washington Post

25 September 2024 18:04

Zelensky warns U.N. that Russia is preparing to attack nuclear plants

NEW YORK — Russia is making plans to attack Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned fellow world leaders at the United Nations on Wednesday, issuing a stark call for global leadership to help him attain peace as his country stares down a cold, dark winter with most of its energy infrastructure destroyed.

In his highest-platform address during a week of high-stakes diplomacy, Zelensky singled out his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, and said Ukraine has a right to its territorial integrity. He decried Moscow’s veto on the U.N. Security Council, which has stymied the strongest global repercussions for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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The Washington Post

23 September 2024 16:12

Satellite footage suggests Russia ICBM launch test was a disaster

According to satellite photos, a Russian Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile probably detonated during a test earlier this month, raising questions about Russia’s military capabilities and putting a dent in the Kremlin’s nuclear saber rattling.

Maxar satellite images from Saturday appear to show a crater roughly 200 feet wide and extensive damage to the surrounding area at the launch silo at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region in northern Russia. Imagery recorded earlier this month does not show any visible damage to the site.

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The Washington Post

19 September 2024 15:52

Putin wants Russia’s youth to become ultranationalist patriots. Many are all in.

At age 25, Maryana Naumova is one of the freshest faces of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wartime propaganda machine.

She has a show on the flagship Kremlin-controlled television network Channel One, 85,000 subscribers on Telegram and is a regular speaker at youth forums, universities and talk shows across the country.

Naumova is one of thousands of young Russians who have inserted themselves into their country’s new wartime system, adopting Kremlin spin as their own beliefs and ensuring that Putin’s core ideology, of ultranationalist patriotism and Orthodox Christian values, will be carried forward by a new generation. This includes the idea that the United States wants to destroy Russia and that Russia is a peace-seeking victim rather than an aggressor. Like Naumova, they see themselves as patriotic truth-tellers, not instruments of spin.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

18 September 2024 13:35

When Russian bombs fall on Kharkiv, this man collects the evidence

In the past 2½ years, Serhii Bolvinov — head of investigations for the national police in the Kharkiv region — has looked into the death of every civilian in this corner of northeastern Ukraine. Killed by missiles and drones. Buried under rubble. Exhumed from mass graves. All 2,678 of them, including 93 children.

He and his team gather the broken bits of bodies. They measure the shrapnel and collect the missiles in a special graveyard. They build their cases. Bolvinov knows the culprit. But how — and whether — Russian officials and troops will ever be held accountable for their war crimes is unclear.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

28 October 2024 16:27

NATO says North Korean troops already deployed to Russia’s Kursk region

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Monday that North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Kursk, the Russian region where Ukrainian forces seized territory in a surprise attack over the summer.

The United States said last week that at least 3,000 North Korean personnel were undergoing combat training in Russia, though it was not yet clear if they would join the war. The U.S. announcement, which officials said was based on newly declassified intelligence, followed similar disclosures from Kyiv and Seoul.

“Today I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Rutte told reporters, describing it as an escalation in North Korea’s “growing involvement” in Russia’s war and a “dangerous expansion” of the conflict. The move means North Korean troops could now be in direct combat with Ukrainian forces.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

25 October 2024 16:44

Ukrainian incursion in Kursk struggles as Russians retake territory

KYIV — As President Volodymyr Zelensky toured Europe and the United States to pitch his “victory plan” for how to end the war with Russia, Ukrainian forces suffered new setbacks on the battlefield — including, analysts say, ceding up to half of the territory Kyiv claimed during its cross-border offensive into Russia’s Kursk region this summer.

The surprise incursion into Russia had been hailed as a success by Ukrainian officials because it led to the capture of hundreds of Russian troops who could be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners. But recent Russian counterattacks in Kursk have cast doubt on how long Kyiv will be able to continue holding the territory.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

23 October 2024 20:08

U.S., allies finalize $50 billion Ukraine loan backed by Russian assets

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko held a signing ceremony Wednesday advancing plans to provide Ukraine with $50 billion in loans, breaking a months-long logjam and providing Kyiv with cash it urgently needs before the end of the year.

The plan relies on the interest accruing on roughly $280 billion in Russian central bank assets kept in Western accounts but frozen since the start of the war in 2022. That interest, estimated at several billion dollars each year, would go to repay the loans over time. The United States will lend $20 billion before the end of this year, and European and other Western allies are expected to provide more than $30 billion.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

18 October 2024 18:30

South Korea says at least 1,500 North Korean special forces in Russia

South Korea’s spy agency reported Friday that at least 1,500 North Korean Special Forces are training in far eastern Russia, and it showed satellite photos tracking their movements. Ukrainian officials have accused North Korea of preparing to send as many as 10,000 troops to fight on Russia’s side against Ukrainian forces, a move that could significantly exacerbate tensions between Pyongyang and the West.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had first tracked a top Pyongyang missile development official visiting Russian front lines in August with dozens of other North Korean officers. They were providing “on-site guidance” to Russian forces using North Korean weapons, the agency said.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

17 October 2024 14:15

Zelensky brings Victory Plan to Brussels, but NATO invite still elusive

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky journeyed to Brussels on Thursday to drum up more support for his Victory Plan, but an invitation to join the Western military NATO alliance, a key part of it, appears elusive.

Zelensky has presented the plan in his parliament, describing the first step as an immediate and unconditional invitation to join NATO, a suggestion sure to incense the Kremlin. But NATO officials said they did not expect an invitation to Ukraine anytime soon, especially with the United States absorbed by the last weeks of the presidential race and many European leaders watching to see how the imminent election could change the transatlantic relationship.

Zelensky has visited the United States and toured European capitals in recent weeks to seek their backing, but the visits have drawn limited public comments of support and made little apparent progress.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

14 October 2024 13:51

Meet Ukraine’s top fighting unit — at least that’s what their ad says

The machine-gunner gripped his weapon — body taut, eyes focused, finger on the trigger.

Atop the hood of his Humvee, a model in cutoff shorts and cherry-red stilettos leaned back on her elbows, bare legs dripping with bubbles. The soldier took aim with his weapon — a power-washer.

Cameras flashed.

This was no battlefield, but the front lines of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade’s next advertising campaign — a modern take on World War II-style pinup girls, complete with scantily-clad models gripping pistols and straddling soldiers. The brigade hopes this campaign will attract recruits, which are increasingly in short supply as the war with Russia drags toward its third year.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

10 October 2024 18:52

Zelensky takes his ‘Victory Plan’ to Europe after Biden cancels trip

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his “Victory Plan” to end the war with Russia were dealt a significant blow this week by an unexpected foe — Hurricane Milton.

A meeting of Kyiv’s allies, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, scheduled for this weekend at Ramstein Air Base in Germany was postponed after President Joe Biden canceled his travel plans to stay in the United States as the Category 3 storm made landfall in Florida on Wednesday night. It’s unclear when summit will now take place and whether the same senior delegations, including Biden, will attend.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

07 October 2024 13:29

Russia sentences U.S. citizen to nearly 7 years for fighting for Ukraine

A Russian court on Monday sentenced 72-year-old American Stephen Hubbard to six years and 10 months in prison after being accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, Russian state media reported.

Hubbard pleaded guilty to charges in a hearing a week ago, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

Hubbard allegedly served in a territorial defense unit in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum before Russian soldiers captured him in April 2022, a few weeks after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. It’s not clear how he was transferred to Russia.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

04 October 2024 18:07

Years after his capture in Mariupol, his family received only his broken body

The day Oleksandr Ishchenko’s body returned to Ukraine, police warned the soldier’s family not to look.

The scene inside the morgue was gruesome: Ishchenko’s remains spent days in transit from the prison in Russia where he died. Russian medics hadn’t sewn him back up after performing an autopsy. His body was in decay, and a Ukrainian doctor concluded his ribs had been broken by blunt force trauma before his death.

Ishchenko’s mysterious death in Russian captivity in July represents the greatest worry of the many Ukrainian families who have little to no contact with their loved ones in Russian prisons and fear each day that they are being mistreated or may die. More than 177 Ukrainian prisoners of war have died in Russian custody, Ukrainian authorities say, and more than 2,000 have been tortured. The United Nations has expressed concerns over widespread torture in Russian prisons.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

02 October 2024 19:46

Ukraine’s east buckling under improved Russian tactics, superior firepower

Soldiers from several units along the front have described improved Russian tactics this summer that combine their advantages into powerful attacks that Ukrainians have struggled to counteract, even as they achieve local victories. That is apparent in places like Vuhledar, the small Donetsk citadel that fell to Russian forces Tuesday, forcing a Ukrainian withdraw in a hardscrabble town they fiercely defended for two years.

Enemy troops are storming the battlefields in small teams that minimize detection and make return fire difficult, backed by superior quantities of artillery and drones. Russia has also improved its battlefield communication, helping coordinate attacks. While losses are staggering, Ukrainian soldiers have said, the Russians have the numbers to keep up the pressure and Western aid isn’t making up the equipment deficit.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

26 September 2024 13:12

Ukraine’s winter energy woes expected to weigh heavily on a tired people

As Ukraine scrambles to repair the damage that Russian missiles are inflicting on the country’s power stations, the weary population is facing what is shaping up to be one of the worst winters of the war so far.

Power outages are a given — because Ukraine’s energy system is already working at a deficit after receiving heavy blows from Russian strikes this year — but the estimates vary on just how bad it will be. The best-case scenario is just four hours of power cuts a day, but it could also end up being 20 hours of darkness or more a day in the depths of Ukraine’s frigid winter.

In his speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was trying to break Ukrainians’ spirit by attacking the power infrastructure.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

24 September 2024 13:08

Debate over Ukraine weapons restrictions divides allies, administration

The United States’ lingering refusal to relax restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western missiles for deeper strikes on Russian territory has exacerbated a growing divide between the allies — with Kyiv angry over yet another setback in slowing Russia’s assault across the country while its biggest backer considers the possibility of Moscow’s backlash.

The latest ask by Kyiv — to receive permission to use the U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, and other longer-range munitions to reach targets such as strategic airfields deeper inside Russia — will be made by President Volodymyr Zelensky personally during his meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington this week.

But in an example of the widening disconnect between the two sides more than two years into Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainians had expected Biden to have already granted permission by now, according to two officials.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

20 September 2024 19:16

E.U. to loan Ukraine up to $39 billion backed by frozen Russian assets

BRUSSELS — The European Union will provide a loan of up to 35 billion euros (about $39 billion) to Ukraine backed by the windfall profits from frozen Russian assets, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday, after a plan from the Group of Seven nations to use Russian assets to raise funds for Ukraine stalled.

The commission, the E.U.’s executive branch, has adopted proposals to enable the bloc to grant Ukraine the loan backed by the Russian profits as part of the broader G-7 plan, and the money will “flow straight into” Ukraine’s budget, von der Leyen said on a trip to Kyiv.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

18 September 2024 21:10

Ukrainian drones hit missile warehouse deep in Russia in massive blast

Ukrainian drones attacked overnight a weapons depot filled with missiles some 300 miles inside Russia, releasing a massive fireball into the nighttime sky — the latest strike on Russian military targets by Ukrainian forces using their own weapons.

An official from Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said Wednesday that military intelligence and special forces carried out the attack, which “literally wiped off the face of the Earth” the ammunition warehouse. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The base housed Iskander tactical missiles, Tochka-U missile systems, antiaircraft missiles, artillery ammunition and glide bombs, the official said — among the weapons that have pummeled Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure for much of the year.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

14 September 2024 12:37

Zelensky said his victory plan will lead to ‘reliable peace’ in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that he will present to President Joe Biden a plan to strengthen Ukraine that could “pave the way to a reliable peace” in the country’s ongoing war with Russia.

Speaking in Kyiv, Zelensky said the plan would not end the war outright but that “it would help.” The Ukrainian president will travel to the United States later this month to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and he is expected to meet with Biden.

“I can’t give 100 percent that it will stop [Russian President Vladimir] Putin — no,” Zelensky said after his speech during a question-and-answer session conducted by foreign policy analyst Fareed Zakaria. “But it will make Ukraine stronger. And I think push Putin to think about how to finish the war.”

Read the full story here.