“Ukraine – Russia”

Revulsion at the atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha dominates today’s front pages, as politicians lined up around the world to condemn the massacre of hundreds of civilians.

Ukraine war: Ukraine investigates alleged execution of civilians by Russians

Ukraine has started a war crimes investigation after bodies of civilians were found strewn on the streets as Russian troops pulled out of areas around the capital Kyiv.

Bucha and Irpin were symbols of resistance to the Russian invasion, but they are now becoming synonymous with the war’s most serious abuses.

Ukrainian authorities say the bodies of 410 civilians have been found in the areas around Kyiv so far.

Russia, without evidence, says the photos and videos are “a staged performance” by Ukraine.

Satellite images show long trench at Ukrainian mass grave site, Maxar says

How has the Ukraine crisis affected political life in the West? Deeply but contradictorily. Vladimir Putin’s invasion wakened sleeping populations to eternal power realities, exacerbated leftist de-platforming, and bizarrely enhanced his appeal on the Right.

Power realities: A century-long peace following the Napoleonic wars left Europeans mentally unprepared for the carnage of World War I; similarly, the 77-year peace after World War II bred a faulty European assumption that trade and diplomacy could solve the continent’s problems. Military strength was seen as anachronistic as slavery. Slogans such as “There is no military solution” and “War never solved anything” prevailed.

Meanwhile, the non-West remains focused on the timeless verities of military might. 

Apart from its political impact on the international order, the war that Russia has launched against Ukraine contains countless features that should interest military analysts and planners across the globe.

This is the first time since World War II that the Russian Army (formerly Soviet Red Army) is tested on the battlefield against a medium-sized adversary in a classical war.

In the 1950s, the Red Army fought border wars with Communist China and managed to annex large chunks of territory across the border. But that was not a full-scale war, as a much weaker China, then also devoid of nuclear weapons, shied away from fighting back in a meaningful way.

#Ukraine: Accurate Ukrainian fire damaging 2x T-72B3 tanks as well as hitting pro-Russian positions somewhere in the East. pic.twitter.com/nmTcj6RZkH

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 3, 2022

Uniforms are one of the most deceptive trappings of military culture. They suggest uniformity but it is often said of the British army that if two officers look the same, one must be improperly dressed. Armies, and especially professional armies, are more often warring tribes of subcultures, and for commanders it is critical to understand how those cultures interact if the force is to be employed effectively in battle.

When it comes to Russian military culture, the Russian army has been through a period of significant change, with constant modernisation since 2008. The Soviet Union fielded an army of more than 3.5 million soldiers in 1991. The Soviet army was largely a conscript force and lacked an experienced noncommissioned officer corps. This meant that Soviet units had to be treated with a degree of uniformity, since the personnel rotated so frequently that most line units were necessarily commanded using set formulas that formed the basis for unit training.

#Ukraine: The Ukrainian sources claim that the Russian jet was shot down near Izium, #Kharkiv Oblast. We believe the shown jet is a Russian Su-30SM fighter. pic.twitter.com/lFQYvcGoTA

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 3, 2022

Two Russian soldiers have died and 28 are in hospital after being POISONED by pastry delicacies offered to them by civilians near besieged Kharkiv, according to the Ukraine Ministry of Defence

Russian troops near Kharkiv died after eating poisoned stuffed buns given to them as ‘gifts’ by Ukrainian citizens, a Ukrainian intelligence agency has claimed.

Two soldiers from the 3rd Motor Rifle Division died immediately after eating the delicacies served by the citizens of Izium, a Facebook post by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine announced on Saturday.

Another 28 Russian troops are in intensive care after the poisoning with several hundred others also suffering from ‘severe illnesses’ after drinking poisoned alcohol given to them by civilians.

The retreat of Russian forces around Kyiv has left horrifying evidence of atrocities against civilians littered across the region’s suburbs and towns, turned into hellish war zones by Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

As Ukrainian armoured columns rolled into Bucha, a town north-west of the capital, they found streets blocked by burned-out Russian tanks and military vehicles, and strewn with the bodies of civilians whom locals said had been killed by the invading forces without provocation.

Photographs from the town showed a scene of devastation, with hunks of charred and destroyed tanks and armoured vehicles lined up along one street, along with dead bodies.

#Ukraine: A Russian TOS-1A thermobaric multiple rocket launcher, captured by the Ukrainian forces. This MRL is likely the one which was hit with an ATGM yesterday – that’s why its working condition is doubtful. pic.twitter.com/rmLyEjtNM0

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 2, 2022

#Ukraine: A Russian Ka-52 hitting what is likely Ukrainian tanks (or BTR) with ATGM, in the area of #Izyum. Two vehicles are destroyed. pic.twitter.com/WjQntzcm9g

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 3, 2022

In what appeared to some as a significant volte-face, the Kremlin signaled earlier this week that it is seeking substantive progress in ongoing peace talks with Ukraine.

During the latest round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, Kiev offered Moscow a fresh model for Ukrainian neutrality. Ukraine is willing to abandon its bid to join NATO in exchange for legally binding security guarantees from a large group of “guarantor nations,” including the United States, Canada, France, Britain, China, Germany, Israel, Turkey, Italy, and Poland. The Ukrainian negotiators likened the scheme to Article V of NATO’s charter, which relates to collective defense. But the analogy belies a striking contrast: Article V is a reciprocal security arrangement that requires every member to come to the defense of every other member, whereas Ukraine is calling for unilateral security guarantees from the world’s great powers without taking on any military commitments in turn.

In any war, there are units that distinguish themselves and others that become symbolic of failure. The 331st Guards Parachute Regiment had high hopes of being the first, but now represents the disintegration of Russia’s plan for a quick war.

The regiment’s commanding officer, Col Sergei Sukharev, was killed in Ukraine on 13 March, and was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation medal. At his funeral, deputy defence minister Gen Yuri Sadovenko said the colonel “lived for the future, for the future of our people, a future without Nazism”.

Hundreds of battle-hardened Syrian mercenaries are signing up to join Russian forces on the promise of earning $1,000-a-month, as Moscow continues to struggle to make significant gains in its war in Ukraine.

Syrian fighters have gained years of experience fighting in their country’s civil war, which has all but crushed both ISIS and the rebel resistance, but left the economy in tatters.

But now those who honed their skills during President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal 11-year-war cannot find work at home. Instead, they are choosing to become mercenaries, fighting for foreign countries in order to earn a living.

#Ukraine: Not much left of this Russian BMD-2 airborne IFV. As claimed, it was hit by a FGM-148 Javelin missile. pic.twitter.com/3GR2XOta3S

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 1, 2022

#Ukraine: A Ukrainian Skif ATGM in use against 2 TOS-1A thermobaric MRL, destroying them both.

It seems they were likely unloaded; if loaded there would be a massive explosion as the 24 thermobaric rockets detonated. Either way, a serious loss as these are very powerful systems. pic.twitter.com/jVokspMMKD

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 1, 2022

After Mikhail Benyash, a Russian lawyer, said he would be defending a group of national guardsmen who refused to join the war in Ukraine, he was inundated with calls from across the country.

“A lot of people don’t want to go and fight,” Benyash said by telephone from the southern city of Krasnodar, adding that about 1,000 people had been in touch with his team, as he pursues the first court case to officially reveal dissent inside the ranks of Russia’s security forces over the invasion.

Russia’s war effort is grinding to a halt because much of the military hardware they need is made in Ukraine, it emerged last night.

Kremlin forces have run out of vital weapons and cannot now replenish their stocks, UK defence sources revealed.

The revelations came as President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces drove Russia out of dozens of towns around Kyiv and the north in one of the most extraordinary days since the start of the invasion.

Russian forces ‘leaving mines in dead Ukrainian bodies’ as they retreat, Zelenskyy says

Russian forces are leaving behind “a complete disaster” in their retreat from northern Ukraine, as they leave mines in everything from destroyed equipment to dead bodies, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Despite a Russian pledge this week to reduce “military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv”, Ukraine’s leader said residents must be prepared of further attacks.

#Ukraine: The Ukrainian soldiers examining an abandoned Russian cargo truck in Nova Basan, #Chernihiv Oblast. The truck is fully loaded with ammo, however, as the author says, this time it was at least booby-trapped by retreating Russians. pic.twitter.com/giEOAY1AWN

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 1, 2022

#Ukraine: Low Quality but very interesting video of the famous FGM-148 Javelin ATGM in action with Ukrainian SOF against a Russian tank- which is totally destroyed.

Notice that as the system is "fire and forget" the operator can immediately get into cover. pic.twitter.com/iIl0aS3VrR

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 1, 2022

When thousands of Canadians and other foreigners volunteered to join Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, the embattled country welcomed the offers with open arms.

Ukraine’s embassy and consulates here actively encouraged the involvement of would-be fighters from Canada, unusual activity for diplomats.

We counted 13 bodies on a nightmarish stretch of road not much more than 200 yards long, between Mria and Myla, villages whose Ukrainian names translate as Dream and Sweetheart.

Two of the dead are confirmed as Ukrainian civilians who were killed by the Russians. The others have not been identified yet – they lie where they were killed – but only two are wearing recognisable Ukrainian military uniforms.

Our BBC team was able to get to the area, on the main E-40 highway as it approaches Kyiv, because Ukrainian forces had captured the sector only 10 hours earlier.