Tag Archives: Ukraine

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said …

The New York Times reports: The two Russians braved miles of open sea, traveling on a vessel from Russia to a small isolated island in Alaska with the apparent aim of avoiding being ensnared in President Vladimir V. Putin’s mandatory conscription to fight in Ukraine, two U.S. senators said on Thursday. The two escapees appeared to have accomplished their goal, …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) feuded with billionaire Elon Musk over the SpaceX CEO’s proposed solution to ending the war in Ukraine in a Twitter thread on Wednesday. Musk asked his more than 100 million followers on Monday to weigh in on his peace proposal, which includes giving the Crimean Peninsula to Russia and holding new elections in …

The Times of London reports: Russia’s beleaguered enlistment officers were given a new way to entice men to join up this week: plying their families with fresh fish. The local chief of President Putin’s ruling party, Mikhail Shuvalov, promised islanders in the far-eastern Sakhalin island 5kg of flounder, pollock and salmon in exchange for sending their men to a war …

Reuters reports: President Vladimir Putin formally incorporated four Ukrainian regions into Russia on Wednesday even as his forces retreated within them, while Moscow stepped up its energy war with Europe by further cutting gas supplies. Pushing ahead with Europe’s biggest annexation since World War Two, Putin signed off on a law annexing the new territory, which represents up to 18% …

CNBC reports: American tech billionaire Elon Musk drew the public ire of Ukraine’s top officials on Monday after the Tesla CEO tweeted what he claimed was the most likely outcome of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. “F— off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, wrote in response to Musk’s tweet. “The only outcome …

The Daily Beast reports: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Monday announced that three of his teenage sons would soon be sent to support the invasion of Ukraine in some of “the most difficult sections of the line of contact.” The despot—who at the weekend implored Russian President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine—shared the news his kids would …

The Hill reports:  CPAC said there was a delay in deleting the “unapproved tweet” because of a time difference, as the organization is currently hosting a conference in Australia. CPAC also acknowledged the post had “belittled the plight of the innocent Ukraine people.” “Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine must be repelled. Putin is a madman that is putting millions of …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis for the first time directly begged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the “spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine, saying on Sunday that the crisis was risking a nuclear escalation with uncontrollable global consequences. In an address dedicated to Ukraine and made to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, Francis also condemned Putin’s latest …

Via press release from the White House: The United States condemns Russia’s fraudulent attempt today to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory. Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter, and showing its contempt for peaceful nations everywhere. Make no mistake: these actions have no legitimacy. The United States will always honor Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. We will continue …

The Washington Post reports: Ukraine is applying for “accelerated ascension” into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia’s move to illegally annex four of the country’s partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened a Kremlin ceremony to start the process of absorbing parts of Ukraine into Russia, defying international law. The annexation ceremony in the Kremlin’s opulent white-and-gold St. George’s Hall will feature Putin and the heads of the four regions of Ukraine signing treaties for them to join Russia, in a sharp …

The New York Times reports: The Kremlin has dispatched still more forces to shore up its faltering war effort, but the units are headed not to Ukraine but to Russia’s borders with other countries, where on Tuesday they were confronting young Russian men trying to join an exodus out of the country. As the avenues for Russians to escape a …

Via press release from the State Department: On September 21, the Russian government began a mobilization of its citizens to the armed forces in support of its invasion of Ukraine. Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service. Commercial flight …

The Associated Press reports: The Kremlin paved the way Tuesday to annex more of Ukraine and escalate the war by claiming that residents of a large swath overwhelmingly supported joining with Russia in stage-managed referendums the U.S. and its Western allies have dismissed as illegitimate. Pro-Moscow officials said all four occupied regions of Ukraine voted to join Russia. According to …

The Moscow Times reports: Kazakhstan will ensure the care and safety of Russians fleeing a “hopeless situation,” the president of the Central Asian country said on Tuesday, as Russian men fled the Ukraine military call-up. “Recently we’ve had many people from Russia coming here,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was quoted as saying by his press service. “Most of them are forced to …

Reuters reports: An ally of President Vladimir Putin issued a stark new nuclear warning to Ukraine and the West on Tuesday as referendums billed by Russia as a prelude to it annexing four Ukrainian regions entered their fifth and final day. Tuesday’s nuclear warning by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, is one of several issued by Putin …

Reuters reports: The Kremlin said on Monday it was in “sporadic” contact with the United States on nuclear issues, a day after Washington warned of “catastrophic consequences” if Moscow used nuclear weapons to protect Ukrainian regions it looks set to annex. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the United States would respond “decisively” to any Russian use …

The New York Times reports: As military officers across Russia race to enlist hundreds of thousands of men to fight in Ukraine, the Kremlin is also looking to bolster its flagging recruitment efforts by dragooning Ukrainians in occupied territories to fight against their own nation. In two regions, Kherson and Zaporizka, the Russian occupiers are beginning to round up men …

The BBC reports: Russian soldiers who surrender to Ukraine will be treated in a “civilised manner”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. In his nightly address, Mr Zelensky appealed to Russians to run away or surrender once at the front. It comes after Vladimir Putin signed a law doubling the punishment for Russian soldiers who desert or disobey orders. Speaking …