“Ukraine – Russia”

When the Russian leader is finally deposed, it could be the far-Right, not liberals, who replace him

It has not been a good week to be a Russian nationalist. First there was the collapse of the army around Kharkiv in the face of a Ukrainian offensive. Then the release of Azov regiment prisoners in exchange for one of Vladimir Putin’s personal friends.

“Finally,” exclaimed Igor Girkin, one of the most prominent nationalist Russian commentators on the war, on hearing Vladimir Putin’s order for mobilisation on Wednesday. “The leadership of the Russian Federation have come to an understanding of the total (full victory or full defeat) nature of the war in the so-called Ukraine.”

Russian soldiers who refuse to fight in Ukraine will face 10-year prison sentences under a new law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

Putin launched the Ukraine “special military operation” on February 24, with Kremlin leaders hoping for a quick victory. However, Russian troops were met with a stronger-than-expected response from its Eastern European neighbor. Putin’s military has faced a plethora of issues, including trouble recruiting motivated soldiers—allowing Ukraine in recent weeks to launch counteroffensives to take back occupied territory.

#Ukraine: Two Russian T-90A tanks got a little stuck after a failed counter-attack in #Kharkiv Oblast.pic.twitter.com/atFSLJArfa

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) September 25, 2022

On September 15, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping convened a joint strategy meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which they formed back in July 2001. The Islamic Republic of Iran was accepted at this meeting as a full member of the alliance, which already includes India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, while Belarus may soon follow. The alliance boasts over 42 percent of the world’s population (as compared to only 12 percent for NATO) and 30 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity. Putin previously stated the meeting would have special significance because they will discuss how Russia and China can better support each other with regard to Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine and China’s plan to reunify with Taiwan by force, if necessary, within the next year or two.

The Russian president has rejected requests from commanders in the field that they be allowed to retreat from Kherson, a vital city in Ukraine’s south.

WASHINGTON — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has thrust himself more directly into strategic planning for the war in Ukraine in recent weeks, American officials said, including rejecting requests from his commanders on the ground that they be allowed to retreat from the vital southern city of Kherson.

A withdrawal from Kherson would allow the Russian military to pull back across the Dnipro River in an orderly way, preserving its equipment and saving the lives of soldiers.

The word “hawk” and the name Bob Rae are seldom found in the same sentence — except when it comes to Ukraine.

Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations said recently that the federal government should give Ukraine every weapon it asks for.

Ever since the onset of major hostilities last winter, Rae — the former interim Liberal leader and former NDP premier of Ontario — has been one of the leading Canadian critics of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian state TV claims Ukrainians are selling US-donated weapons on the dark web. The BBC investigated one such marketplace, spoke undercover to those apparently selling weapons, and gathered evidence that suggests the adverts for weapons are fake.

“Ukrops [a derogatory Russian slang term used to refer to Ukrainians] are selling Javelins on the darknet. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine resells equipment and weapons supplied by Nato.” This message about anti-tank weapons was posted on Twitter and Telegram on 2 June by pro-Kremlin English-language account ASB Military News.

The account has been recently suspended by Twitter but still exists on Telegram, where it has more than 100,000 subscribers.

Long lines of vehicles continue to form at Russia’s border crossings on the second full day of Vladimir Putin’s military mobilisation, with some men waiting over 24 hours as western leaders disagree over whether Europe should welcome those fleeing the call-up to fight in Ukraine.

The Russian president’s decision to announce the first mobilisation since the second world war has led to a rush among men of military age to leave the country, likely sparking a new, possibly unprecedented brain drain in the coming days and weeks.

Witnesses on the border with Georgia, a popular route used by Russians to leave the country, said that some men resorted to using bicycles and scooters to skip the miles-long queue of traffic jams.

The first prime minister of Vladimir Putin’s presidency believes his decree to partially mobilize the Russian population will ultimately lead to his ouster.

Mikhail Kasyanov told Newsweek that protests across the country would gather pace in the coming months because Putin’s decree will alienate him from those who had backed him until now.

Since the start of Putin’s full-scale invasion on February 24, the Kremlin had repeatedly assured the Russian population that its forces would only need professional troops to prevail. But now the conflict viewed on state television at home has taken on a new dynamic.

Growing protests against military mobilization in St Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg and many other Russian cities tonight.

Russians prefer watching the war on TV. Getting HIMARSed in person in Kherson isn’t attractive at all. pic.twitter.com/nmHbUad6wk

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 21, 2022

A cache of nearly 160,000 files from Russia’s powerful internet regulator provides a rare glimpse inside Vladimir V. Putin’s digital crackdown.

Four days into the war in Ukraine, Russia’s expansive surveillance and censorship apparatus was already hard at work.

Roughly 800 miles east of Moscow, authorities in the Republic of Bashkortostan, one of Russia’s 85 regions, were busy tabulating the mood of comments in social media messages. They marked down YouTube posts that they said criticized the Russian government.

Alexander, 33, found out about Vladimir Putin’s decision to order a partial mobilisation during an emotional call from his wife.

“Sasha, they can take you,” she told him shortly after he’d arrived at his office in downtown Moscow.

While Alexander had served in the army as a conscript nearly 15 years ago, he never saw combat. That puts him comparatively low in the mobilisation draft, Russia’s first since the second world war.

#Ukraine: Another Russian BMP-2 IFV was hit by Ukrainian drone-dropped munitions, penetrating the thin top armour.pic.twitter.com/6cGcJimxZ0

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) September 21, 2022

Blaming the West or NATO for this dreadful conflict is shameful.

Russia has now escalated its war of aggression in Ukraine.

In a scratchy, delayed speech delivered on Wednesday morning, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a ‘partial mobilisation’, which will initially swell the ranks of Russia’s depleted infantry with 300,000 reservists. And, predictably, he waved his nuclear weapons at those who threaten ‘the territorial integrity of our Motherland’.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Large numbers of Russians rushed to book one-way tickets out of the country while they still could Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of military reservists for the war in Ukraine.

Flights filled up quickly and the prices of tickets for remaining connections sky-rocketed, apparently driven by fears that Russia’s borders could soon close or of a broader call-up that might send many Russian men of fighting age to the war’s front lines.

Vladimir Putin today issued a chilling new threat to use nuclear weapons against the West over Ukraine, warning world leaders: ‘I’m not bluffing’.

The desperate despot gave an address to the nation this morning in which he announced the mobilisation of 300,000 military reserves – a first in Russia since the Second World War – and referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine to make them part of Russia.

He then vowed to use ‘all means’ to defend the new territories, saying: ‘If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff.’

One of Russia’s most advanced tanks has been captured in near-perfect condition during advances by Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv region.

The T-90M was found abandoned with one of the tracks missing. Although the Ukrainians have destroyed at least one of the battle tanks since the Russian invasion began nearly seven months ago, this is the first time one has been captured — providing the Kyiv government and Nato allies with a unique opportunity to examine the Kremlin’s most capable operational tank.