Ukraine

The Washington Post reports: Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have seized more than 2,000 pieces of artwork from the besieged port city of Mariupol. They have been taken to Russian-occupied Donetsk, local channel TV7 reported. The Mariupol City Council wrote in a Telegram message Thursday that Russian forces have raided the three local museums, including the Kuindzhi Art Museum, since …

The Hill reports: Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili is on a mission in Washington to build support for her country as a key bulwark in case Russia seeks to expand its aggression beyond Ukraine. In an interview with The Hill, Zourabichvili said that she believes Moscow doesn’t have the capacity to move its military to launch another operation, but that “it …

The Associated Press reports: Officials in Poland and Bulgaria say Russia is suspending their countries’ natural gas deliveries starting on Wednesday. The governments of the two European countries said Tuesday that Russian energy giant Gazprom informed them it was halting gas supplies. The suspensions would be the first since Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that “unfriendly” foreign buyers …

Reuters reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West on Monday not to underestimate the elevated risks of nuclear conflict over Ukraine and said he viewed NATO as being “in essence” engaged in a proxy war with Russia by supplying Kyiv with weaponry. Lavrov, in a wide-ranging interview broadcast on state television, also said that the core of any …

The Los Angeles Times report: When the Finnish Reservists’ Assn. recently announced wartime defense courses for civilian women in the southern town of Haemeenlinna, the 400 slots filled almost immediately, with a waiting list of 500 more. Topics will include shooting, cybersecurity and how to manage the first several days of an invasion from abroad. In many ways, Finland has …

The New York Post reports: New footage of Vladimir Putin appearing unsteady, fidgeting and biting his lips during an Orthodox Easter service in Moscow on Sunday has added to suspicions that the Russian leader is seriously ill. The warmongering president shifts uncomfortably, sticks out his tongue and bites his lips as Patriarch Kirill announces that “Christ has risen” – joining …

Axios reports: President Biden announced on Monday that he intends to nominate Bridget Brink as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The U.S. has not had an ambassador to Ukraine since former President Trump removed Marie Yovanovitch from the position in 2019. The White House’s announcement follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr …

Reuters reports: The United States promised on Monday to reopen its embassy in Kyiv soon, as Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ukraine’s capital and hailed its success so far against Russia’s invasion. Both men said the fact they were able to come to Kyiv was proof of Ukraine’s tenacity in forcing Moscow to abandon …

Politico reports: U.S. and Ukrainian officials on Sunday discussed the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin expanding his invasion from the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine into the neighboring nation of Moldova — another former Soviet state and non-NATO member in Eastern Europe. Transdniestria, or Transnistria, is a pro-Russia breakaway region of Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the southwest. Moldova, …

The Associated Press reports: Russian forces have launched fresh airstrikes on a Mariupol steel plant where an estimated 1,000 civilians are sheltering along with about 2,000 Ukrainian fighters. The Azovstal steel mill where the defenders are holed up is the last corner of resistance in the city, which the Russians have otherwise occupied. Mariupol has been the focus of fierce …

Bloomberg News reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would visit Kyiv on Sunday, in what would be a risky show of support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion. “Tomorrow people from the U.S. are coming, I will meet the defense minister and the secretary of state, Mr. Blinken,” …

Axios reports: Russian Olympic gold medalist swimmer Evgeny Rylov has been banned from competition for nine months after appearing at a rally in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. FINA, swimming’s international governing body, said in a statement Thursday that Rylov was suspended “from all competitions and activities organized or sanctioned by FINA” for nine …

Roll Call reports: The Biden administration announced a new program Thursday that would offer relief to Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion by allowing Americans to sponsor them for temporary admission to the U.S. Under the Homeland Security Department program, dubbed “Uniting for Ukraine,” American individuals and groups, including nonprofit organizations and churches, will apply to sponsor displaced Ukrainian citizens. The application …

Reuters reports: President Joe Biden pledged $800 million in more weaponry for Ukraine on Thursday and said he would ask Congress for more money to help bolster support for the Ukrainian military as it faces a fresh onslaught by Russia on its eastern flank. The Pentagon said that the new package would include 75 155mm long-range howitzers, 72 tactical vehicles …

The Associated Press reports: The Russian military said Wednesday it successfully performed the first test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon President Vladimir Putin said would make the West “think twice” before harboring any aggressive intentions against Russia. The test launch of the Sarmat missile comes amid soaring tensions between Moscow and the West over the Russian military …

Tennis.com reports: The likes of Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Andrey Rublev, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Victoria Azarenka will not be permitted to compete at the All England Club this summer. It was confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that Wimbledon would become the first tennis tournament to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Belarus …

The Daily Mail reports: A Ukrainian millionaire contacted Kyiv’s military to bomb his own house after he spied Russian invaders using it as a military base to fire rockets on the property’s webcam. Businessman Andrey Stavnitser handed over coordinates to the house in the outskirts of the capital once he realised it was housing military targets, sacrificing the ‘beautiful’ home …

Reuters reports: Lithuania’s parliament on Tuesday voted to ban public displays of the letter “Z”, the black and orange ribbon of St George, and other symbols seen as expressing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian military vehicles in Ukraine are prominently marked with the letter “Z”, and it has started appearing on social media and on clothing elsewhere in …

“The more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought, ‘I’m done talking, all right? It’s time to take action here. I am here to help this country fight. What essentially is a war of extermination. This is an existential war and Russia has brought it to these people and they are mass murdering civilians, and there …

Reuters reports: Russia said on Monday it had hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine overnight, destroying command posts with air-launched missiles, while authorities in the western city of Lviv, which has escaped heavy bombardment, said a missile attack killed six. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement it had destroyed 16 Ukrainian military facilities in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, …