What to know about Poland’s election, Europe’s most-watched vote of 2023
Poland’s parliamentary election Sunday is being billed as the most consequential in years, with potential ramifications for Europe, the war in Ukraine and democracy itself.
Poland has been one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters, but relations between the countries soured following disputes over grain.
When Russia sought the pressure the country with a blockade, the E.U. offered support to Kyiv by opening its market. But Polish farmers say a glut of cheap Ukrainian grain has made it hard for them to make any profit from their own stocks. Law and Justice has come to their defense, pumping out subsidies to Polish farmers, while extending an embargo on Ukrainian grain.
Some commentators say this was a way for the ruling party to better position itself among its supporters in rural areas and small towns where the economy is heavily dependent on agriculture.
Read the full story here.
Poland’s parliamentary election Sunday is being billed as the most consequential in years, with potential ramifications for Europe, the war in Ukraine and democracy itself.
Poland has been one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters, but relations between the countries soured following disputes over grain.
When Russia sought the pressure the country with a blockade, the E.U. offered support to Kyiv by opening its market. But Polish farmers say a glut of cheap Ukrainian grain has made it hard for them to make any profit from their own stocks. Law and Justice has come to their defense, pumping out subsidies to Polish farmers, while extending an embargo on Ukrainian grain.
Some commentators say this was a way for the ruling party to better position itself among its supporters in rural areas and small towns where the economy is heavily dependent on agriculture.
Read the full story here.
After facing death, injured Ukrainian soldiers relearn intimacy
KYIV — The two Russian Lancet drones hovered briefly over a small house-turned-military base in northeast Ukraine, then exploded. Inside, shrapnel pierced through the pelvis and thigh of a Ukrainian combat medic who goes by the call sign Alaska.
As the house burned and she was evacuated to safety, Alaska texted her boyfriend, who is in a different Ukrainian unit, using the military code for wounded: “I’m 300.”
That short message marked the start of a new chapter in their emotional — and physical — relationship, an experience now confronting many couples in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been severely wounded since Russia invaded in early 2022. Many soldiers return from the front in wheelchairs or needing prostheses. Often, the injuries — including amputations, facial damage and severe concussions — are life-altering.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — The two Russian Lancet drones hovered briefly over a small house-turned-military base in northeast Ukraine, then exploded. Inside, shrapnel pierced through the pelvis and thigh of a Ukrainian combat medic who goes by the call sign Alaska.
As the house burned and she was evacuated to safety, Alaska texted her boyfriend, who is in a different Ukrainian unit, using the military code for wounded: “I’m 300.”
That short message marked the start of a new chapter in their emotional — and physical — relationship, an experience now confronting many couples in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been severely wounded since Russia invaded in early 2022. Many soldiers return from the front in wheelchairs or needing prostheses. Often, the injuries — including amputations, facial damage and severe concussions — are life-altering.
Read the full story here.
Here's the latest from Ukraine:
- Putin will meet with the leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, as well as representatives from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which is made up of some former Soviet nations, according to Putin’s office. This is Putin’s first known foreign trip since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in March.
- If damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline is found to be from a deliberate attack, NATO will meet it with “a determined and united response,” NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday at a news conference after the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
- Senior U.S. officials have stepped up their efforts to lead Western governments to use hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian central bank reserves to help Ukraine, The Post reported.
More live updates here.
- Putin will meet with the leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, as well as representatives from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which is made up of some former Soviet nations, according to Putin’s office. This is Putin’s first known foreign trip since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in March.
- If damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline is found to be from a deliberate attack, NATO will meet it with “a determined and united response,” NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday at a news conference after the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
- Senior U.S. officials have stepped up their efforts to lead Western governments to use hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian central bank reserves to help Ukraine, The Post reported.
More live updates here.
Russia releases four Ukrainian children after mediation by Qatar
KYIV — Russia has agreed to free four Ukrainian children — ranging in age from 2 to 17 — and allow them to return to their families in Ukraine after Qatar intervened as a mediator, according to a government official briefed on the matter.
Two of the children are now back with relatives and two others are expected to be reunited with their families in the coming days, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations, said.
Qatar’s role in the negotiations, which lasted several months, came at the request of the Ukrainian government.
The Ukrainian children passed through Qatar’s Embassy in Moscow and took different routes home. Some traveled or were scheduled to travel from Russia to Ukraine via Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Others went through Belarus.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Russia has agreed to free four Ukrainian children — ranging in age from 2 to 17 — and allow them to return to their families in Ukraine after Qatar intervened as a mediator, according to a government official briefed on the matter.
Two of the children are now back with relatives and two others are expected to be reunited with their families in the coming days, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations, said.
Qatar’s role in the negotiations, which lasted several months, came at the request of the Ukrainian government.
The Ukrainian children passed through Qatar’s Embassy in Moscow and took different routes home. Some traveled or were scheduled to travel from Russia to Ukraine via Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Others went through Belarus.
Read the full story here.
Poland’s opposition jubilant, ruling party wary ahead of final election count
Poland’s centrist opposition rode a wave of jubilant optimism Monday following historic elections, as an exit poll suggested it had a better chance of forming the next government than the ruling hard right. But the country remained locked in what could be a protracted period of political uncertainty, as the governing Law and Justice party scrambled for ways to stay in power.
An opposition victory would mark a sea change in Europe, bringing a bastion of illiberalism allied with Trump Republicans and Hungary’s Viktor Orban back into line with the continent’s core democracies.
At a time when the once firmly pro-Ukrainian government in Poland had begun to waver in its support, the opposition has also promised continued military backing for Kyiv.
Read the full story here.
Poland’s centrist opposition rode a wave of jubilant optimism Monday following historic elections, as an exit poll suggested it had a better chance of forming the next government than the ruling hard right. But the country remained locked in what could be a protracted period of political uncertainty, as the governing Law and Justice party scrambled for ways to stay in power.
An opposition victory would mark a sea change in Europe, bringing a bastion of illiberalism allied with Trump Republicans and Hungary’s Viktor Orban back into line with the continent’s core democracies.
At a time when the once firmly pro-Ukrainian government in Poland had begun to waver in its support, the opposition has also promised continued military backing for Kyiv.
Read the full story here.
North Korea may be sending arms to Russia for Ukraine war, images suggest
Russian ships linked to military transport networks have collected cargo from North Korea and delivered it to an apparent Russian military port on multiple occasions over the past two months, according to new satellite images providing the clearest evidence yet that Pyongyang may be helping Moscow’s war effort.
The two ships had no record of running this route between North Korea and Russia until August, when high-level meetings between North Korean and Russian officials began.
White House officials named one Russian vessel Friday, alleging that North Korea has transported as many as 1,000 containers with “equipment and munitions” from North Korea to Russia “in recent weeks.”
But new satellite images, analyzed by the London-based Royal United Services Institute and provided first to The Washington Post, suggest this operation is more regular, extensive and ongoing than the White House revealed.
Read the full story here.
Russian ships linked to military transport networks have collected cargo from North Korea and delivered it to an apparent Russian military port on multiple occasions over the past two months, according to new satellite images providing the clearest evidence yet that Pyongyang may be helping Moscow’s war effort.
The two ships had no record of running this route between North Korea and Russia until August, when high-level meetings between North Korean and Russian officials began.
White House officials named one Russian vessel Friday, alleging that North Korea has transported as many as 1,000 containers with “equipment and munitions” from North Korea to Russia “in recent weeks.”
But new satellite images, analyzed by the London-based Royal United Services Institute and provided first to The Washington Post, suggest this operation is more regular, extensive and ongoing than the White House revealed.
Read the full story here.
Russia arrests lawyers for imprisoned opposition leader Navalny
Three lawyers who represent the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have been arrested, Navalny’s spokeswoman said Friday — depriving the Kremlin critic of one of his few remaining channels to the outside world.
Navalny is serving sentences totaling 30 years on charges including extremism that are widely viewed as trumped up for political retribution. He is being held at a “special regime” colony in Russia, a maximum-security facility reserved for prisoners who are labeled as dangerous and are given limited communication rights.
Since Navalny’s initial detention in 2021, he has been routinely subjected to harsh treatment behind bars — regularly placed in solitary confinement and denied medical care.
Read the full story here.
Three lawyers who represent the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have been arrested, Navalny’s spokeswoman said Friday — depriving the Kremlin critic of one of his few remaining channels to the outside world.
Navalny is serving sentences totaling 30 years on charges including extremism that are widely viewed as trumped up for political retribution. He is being held at a “special regime” colony in Russia, a maximum-security facility reserved for prisoners who are labeled as dangerous and are given limited communication rights.
Since Navalny’s initial detention in 2021, he has been routinely subjected to harsh treatment behind bars — regularly placed in solitary confinement and denied medical care.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine strikes Russian depot in Berdyansk with long-range ATACMS
KYIV — Ukraine’s military used a version of U.S.-provided ATACMS long-range missiles early Tuesday to strike Russian military aircraft and ammunition depots in occupied Ukraine, according to a senior Ukrainian military official, marking the first-known use of the munitions.
Ukraine had pleaded for more than a year for Washington to send ATACMS, which can strike targets 100 miles or more away — father than other weapons that the United States has sent to Kyiv.
The version used by Ukraine to hit targets in Berdyansk, on the Azov Sea coast, were armed with cluster bomblets, rather than a single warhead,
Ukraine’s special operations forces confirmed in a Telegram message on Tuesday that they had carried out an overnight operation called “Dragonfly” overnight in Berdyansk and the occupied Luhansk region resulting in “significant losses” on the Russian side.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Ukraine’s military used a version of U.S.-provided ATACMS long-range missiles early Tuesday to strike Russian military aircraft and ammunition depots in occupied Ukraine, according to a senior Ukrainian military official, marking the first-known use of the munitions.
Ukraine had pleaded for more than a year for Washington to send ATACMS, which can strike targets 100 miles or more away — father than other weapons that the United States has sent to Kyiv.
The version used by Ukraine to hit targets in Berdyansk, on the Azov Sea coast, were armed with cluster bomblets, rather than a single warhead,
Ukraine’s special operations forces confirmed in a Telegram message on Tuesday that they had carried out an overnight operation called “Dragonfly” overnight in Berdyansk and the occupied Luhansk region resulting in “significant losses” on the Russian side.
Read the full story here.
Navalny lawyer flees Russia, leaving opposition leader alone in court
RIGA, Latvia — Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared at a court hearing without legal representation Tuesday after three of his lawyers were arrested on extremism charges and two others left the country.
Navalny’s court appearance, by video link from Penal Colony No. 6 where he is being held, highlighted the dire state the Russian legal system. Barred from attending court in person, Navalny was shown by video from a small room in a prison colony, but he had no attorney. At one point his sound cut out. Later, the entire video stream was lost.
Navalny only learned of the arrest of the three lawyers Monday from journalists, and Tuesday he found out that a fourth lawyer, Alexander Fedulov, had fled the country. A fifth, Olga Mikhailova, was not in Russia when the others were arrested, but her offices were raided and a search warrant was issued.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared at a court hearing without legal representation Tuesday after three of his lawyers were arrested on extremism charges and two others left the country.
Navalny’s court appearance, by video link from Penal Colony No. 6 where he is being held, highlighted the dire state the Russian legal system. Barred from attending court in person, Navalny was shown by video from a small room in a prison colony, but he had no attorney. At one point his sound cut out. Later, the entire video stream was lost.
Navalny only learned of the arrest of the three lawyers Monday from journalists, and Tuesday he found out that a fourth lawyer, Alexander Fedulov, had fled the country. A fifth, Olga Mikhailova, was not in Russia when the others were arrested, but her offices were raided and a search warrant was issued.
Read the full story here.
Analysis: War in Gaza complicates Ukraine battle for both Zelensky and Putin
For over a year and a half, the war in Ukraine has dominated global attention due to the bloody scenes after Russia’s invasion. But last week's shocking attacks in Israel, led by the Palestinian group Hamas, and an impending war in the Gaza Strip in retaliation, look set to change the battlefield for both Kyiv and Moscow.
For Ukraine, there is a real risk that a conflict in the Middle East diverts Western attention — and with that, the military and economic support needed to continue its fight against Russia. And while Russia may welcome that diversion, a broader conflict in the Middle East could sever its already frosty relations with Israel, a former economic partner and a potential high-tech military supplier for Ukraine.
Read the full analysis here.
For over a year and a half, the war in Ukraine has dominated global attention due to the bloody scenes after Russia’s invasion. But last week's shocking attacks in Israel, led by the Palestinian group Hamas, and an impending war in the Gaza Strip in retaliation, look set to change the battlefield for both Kyiv and Moscow.
For Ukraine, there is a real risk that a conflict in the Middle East diverts Western attention — and with that, the military and economic support needed to continue its fight against Russia. And while Russia may welcome that diversion, a broader conflict in the Middle East could sever its already frosty relations with Israel, a former economic partner and a potential high-tech military supplier for Ukraine.
Read the full analysis here.
Putin meets Viktor Orban in China, in a boost for the Kremlin
RIGA, Latvia — Russian President Vladimir Putin, increasingly isolated over the war against Ukraine, met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in China on Tuesday.
The meeting was Putin’s first with a European Union leader since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in March, accusing him of war crimes in the forced deportations of Ukrainian children.
Orban, a self-proclaimed proponent of “illiberal” Christian democracy, has a cozy relationship with Putin and Tuesday declared his determination to maintain his ties with Moscow, despite the tensions between Europe and Russia over the nearly two-year-old war.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russian President Vladimir Putin, increasingly isolated over the war against Ukraine, met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in China on Tuesday.
The meeting was Putin’s first with a European Union leader since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in March, accusing him of war crimes in the forced deportations of Ukrainian children.
Orban, a self-proclaimed proponent of “illiberal” Christian democracy, has a cozy relationship with Putin and Tuesday declared his determination to maintain his ties with Moscow, despite the tensions between Europe and Russia over the nearly two-year-old war.
Read the full story here.
Russia detains radio journalist accused of being ‘foreign agent’
RIGA, Latvia — Russian authorities have arrested an editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American news outlet based in Prague and financed by the U.S. government, accusing her of collecting information about the Russia military that could damage the nation’s security.
The editor, Alsu Kurmasheva, holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship and had traveled to Russia for family reasons. Her detention Wednesday in Kazan, southwestern Russia, follows the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, who was seized by agents of the Federal Security Service in March and charged with spying — an accusation that his newspaper and the State Department strongly deny.
Kurmasheva’s arrest highlights the continuing dangers for journalists traveling in wartime Russia and operating in an environment in which senior officials have described their work as part of an “information war” against Moscow.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russian authorities have arrested an editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American news outlet based in Prague and financed by the U.S. government, accusing her of collecting information about the Russia military that could damage the nation’s security.
The editor, Alsu Kurmasheva, holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship and had traveled to Russia for family reasons. Her detention Wednesday in Kazan, southwestern Russia, follows the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, who was seized by agents of the Federal Security Service in March and charged with spying — an accusation that his newspaper and the State Department strongly deny.
Kurmasheva’s arrest highlights the continuing dangers for journalists traveling in wartime Russia and operating in an environment in which senior officials have described their work as part of an “information war” against Moscow.
Read the full story here.
Putin, flexing U.N. veto, takes aim at global rules
RIGA, Latvia — At a recent public policy forum, President Vladimir Putin extolled his “new world” and rejected a global rules-based order as “some kind of nonsense.”
“What rules?” Putin snapped at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Russia’s Black Sea coast. He dismissed the rules-based international order as Washington’s “openly boorish way” of telling Russia how to behave. The era of global rules “is long over and will never return,” Putin said. “Never!”
Moscow’s rejection of a rules-based international order is evident in its war in Ukraine — where it has violated borders, killed civilians and targeted infrastructure, and where there is evidence its forces committed torture and abducted children. It is also evident in international diplomacy, most strikingly at the United Nations, where Russia has used its veto in the Security Council to defy calls for its withdrawal from Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — At a recent public policy forum, President Vladimir Putin extolled his “new world” and rejected a global rules-based order as “some kind of nonsense.”
“What rules?” Putin snapped at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Russia’s Black Sea coast. He dismissed the rules-based international order as Washington’s “openly boorish way” of telling Russia how to behave. The era of global rules “is long over and will never return,” Putin said. “Never!”
Moscow’s rejection of a rules-based international order is evident in its war in Ukraine — where it has violated borders, killed civilians and targeted infrastructure, and where there is evidence its forces committed torture and abducted children. It is also evident in international diplomacy, most strikingly at the United Nations, where Russia has used its veto in the Security Council to defy calls for its withdrawal from Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
Spy vs. spy: How Israelis tried to stop Russia’s information war in Africa
When Israeli businessmen Royi Burstien and Lior Chorev touched down in Burkina Faso, they had an urgent message for the country’s embattled ruler.
The Israelis — one a veteran political operative and the other a former army intelligence officer — had been hired with the mission of keeping the government of President Roch Marc Kaboré in power. Their company, Percepto International, was a pioneer in what’s known as the disinformation-for-hire business.
But as Percepto began to survey the online landscape across Burkina Faso and the surrounding region in 2021, they quickly saw that the local political adversaries and Islamic extremists they had been hired to combat were not Kaboré’s biggest adversary. The real threat came from Russia, which was running what appeared to be a wide-ranging disinformation campaign aimed at destabilizing Burkina Faso and other democratically-elected governments on its borders.
Read the full story here.
When Israeli businessmen Royi Burstien and Lior Chorev touched down in Burkina Faso, they had an urgent message for the country’s embattled ruler.
The Israelis — one a veteran political operative and the other a former army intelligence officer — had been hired with the mission of keeping the government of President Roch Marc Kaboré in power. Their company, Percepto International, was a pioneer in what’s known as the disinformation-for-hire business.
But as Percepto began to survey the online landscape across Burkina Faso and the surrounding region in 2021, they quickly saw that the local political adversaries and Islamic extremists they had been hired to combat were not Kaboré’s biggest adversary. The real threat came from Russia, which was running what appeared to be a wide-ranging disinformation campaign aimed at destabilizing Burkina Faso and other democratically-elected governments on its borders.
Read the full story here.
Russia, shifting tactics, fans doubt in election integrity, U.S. says
Russia’s long-running efforts to weaken the world’s democracies have expanded in recent years to sow public doubt in election integrity, according to a declassified State Department cable disclosed Friday.
Between 2020 and 2022, the intelligence community also found that, in 17 additional countries, there was “a less pronounced level” of Russian social media activity and other “messaging” aimed at amplifying preexisting domestic narratives questioning election integrity.
The U.S. intelligence community has routinely highlighted what it portrays as Moscow’s ongoing scheme to subvert elections and destabilize democratic countries, but the State Department cable said that such tactics appear to be evolving with a specific goal of eroding trust in the basic administration of elections.
Read the full story here.
Russia’s long-running efforts to weaken the world’s democracies have expanded in recent years to sow public doubt in election integrity, according to a declassified State Department cable disclosed Friday.
Between 2020 and 2022, the intelligence community also found that, in 17 additional countries, there was “a less pronounced level” of Russian social media activity and other “messaging” aimed at amplifying preexisting domestic narratives questioning election integrity.
The U.S. intelligence community has routinely highlighted what it portrays as Moscow’s ongoing scheme to subvert elections and destabilize democratic countries, but the State Department cable said that such tactics appear to be evolving with a specific goal of eroding trust in the basic administration of elections.
Read the full story here.
Russian strike hits mail facility in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, killing 6
KHARKIV, Ukraine — A Russian antiaircraft missile hit a sprawling mail facility near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late Saturday, killing six postal workers and injuring 17 others, local officials said.
Some of the wounded suffered critical injuries, Kharkiv’s governor, Oleh Synyehubov, said on the Telegram messaging app. He said preliminary data indicated that the complex was hit by an S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile.
The blast from the strike blew out a large section of the buildings, and on Sunday morning, the sorting center managed by Ukraine’s largest private postal company, Nova Poshta, was in disarray. Debris littered the site, and a row of mail delivery trucks stood with their sides and roofs blown out. Nova Poshta is involved in helping distribute humanitarian aid across Ukraine amid the war.
Read the full story here.
KHARKIV, Ukraine — A Russian antiaircraft missile hit a sprawling mail facility near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late Saturday, killing six postal workers and injuring 17 others, local officials said.
Some of the wounded suffered critical injuries, Kharkiv’s governor, Oleh Synyehubov, said on the Telegram messaging app. He said preliminary data indicated that the complex was hit by an S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile.
The blast from the strike blew out a large section of the buildings, and on Sunday morning, the sorting center managed by Ukraine’s largest private postal company, Nova Poshta, was in disarray. Debris littered the site, and a row of mail delivery trucks stood with their sides and roofs blown out. Nova Poshta is involved in helping distribute humanitarian aid across Ukraine amid the war.
Read the full story here.
Exclusive: Ukrainian spies with deep ties to CIA wage shadow war against Russia
The cluttered car carrying a mother and her 12-year-old daughter seemed barely worth the attention of Russian security officials as it approached a border checkpoint. But the least conspicuous piece of luggage was part of an elaborate, lethal plot.
Four weeks later, the device detonated just outside Moscow in an SUV being driven by the daughter of a Russian nationalist who had urged his country to “kill, kill, kill” Ukrainians, an explosion signaling that the heart of Russia would not be spared the carnage of war.
The operation was orchestrated by Ukraine’s domestic security service, the SBU. The August 2022 attack is part of a raging shadow war in which Ukraine’s spy services have also twice bombed the bridge connecting Russia to occupied Crimea, piloted drones into the roof of the Kremlin and blown holes in the hulls of Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea.
Read the full story here.
The cluttered car carrying a mother and her 12-year-old daughter seemed barely worth the attention of Russian security officials as it approached a border checkpoint. But the least conspicuous piece of luggage was part of an elaborate, lethal plot.
Four weeks later, the device detonated just outside Moscow in an SUV being driven by the daughter of a Russian nationalist who had urged his country to “kill, kill, kill” Ukrainians, an explosion signaling that the heart of Russia would not be spared the carnage of war.
The operation was orchestrated by Ukraine’s domestic security service, the SBU. The August 2022 attack is part of a raging shadow war in which Ukraine’s spy services have also twice bombed the bridge connecting Russia to occupied Crimea, piloted drones into the roof of the Kremlin and blown holes in the hulls of Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea.
Read the full story here.
Russia presses counter-counteroffensive in northeast Ukraine
KUPYANSK, Ukraine — With the world focused on the war between Israel and Hamas, Russia has launched ferocious attacks in eastern Ukraine, simultaneously ramping up its efforts to encircle the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region and pummeling the area around the formerly occupied cities of Kupyansk and Lyman.
Moscow’s reinforced positions and renewed attacks at these strategic points on the eastern front are forcing Ukraine to defend swaths of territory that were occupied for months after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and then liberated roughly a year ago.
Some of the most intense fighting is taking place near Kupyansk, a city located on the Oskil River, just 25 miles from the border with Russia. Ukrainian commanders and officials stationed along the eastern front said in interviews that Russia had noticeably bolstered its forces in recent weeks by creating new, fresh brigades.
Read the full story here.
KUPYANSK, Ukraine — With the world focused on the war between Israel and Hamas, Russia has launched ferocious attacks in eastern Ukraine, simultaneously ramping up its efforts to encircle the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region and pummeling the area around the formerly occupied cities of Kupyansk and Lyman.
Moscow’s reinforced positions and renewed attacks at these strategic points on the eastern front are forcing Ukraine to defend swaths of territory that were occupied for months after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and then liberated roughly a year ago.
Some of the most intense fighting is taking place near Kupyansk, a city located on the Oskil River, just 25 miles from the border with Russia. Ukrainian commanders and officials stationed along the eastern front said in interviews that Russia had noticeably bolstered its forces in recent weeks by creating new, fresh brigades.
Read the full story here.
Back-channel talks keep Ukraine and Russia in contact, despite war
KYIV — Away from the public eye and the bloody front line, Ukraine and Russia are still talking.
The countries, now sworn enemies fighting a grinding war, are managing to negotiate on a few core humanitarian issues: exchanging prisoners of war and dead soldiers’ bodies; the passage of ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports; and, most recently, the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
In some cases, Moscow and Kyiv use intermediaries, including Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
But most of the wartime bartering is done directly, by individual representatives, including in tough and unpleasant face-to-face meetings on the Ukrainian-Russian border and in Istanbul, as well as phone calls, according to some Ukrainian officials involved in the discussions.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Away from the public eye and the bloody front line, Ukraine and Russia are still talking.
The countries, now sworn enemies fighting a grinding war, are managing to negotiate on a few core humanitarian issues: exchanging prisoners of war and dead soldiers’ bodies; the passage of ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports; and, most recently, the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
In some cases, Moscow and Kyiv use intermediaries, including Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
But most of the wartime bartering is done directly, by individual representatives, including in tough and unpleasant face-to-face meetings on the Ukrainian-Russian border and in Istanbul, as well as phone calls, according to some Ukrainian officials involved in the discussions.
Read the full story here.
Russia prison population plummets as convicts are sent to war
RIGA, Latvia — Russia has freed up to 100,000 prison inmates and sent them to fight in Ukraine, according to government statistics and rights advocates — a far greater number than was previously known.
The sharp drop in the number of inmates is evidence that the Defense Ministry continued to aggressively recruit convicted criminals even after blocking access to prisoners by the Wagner mercenary group, which pioneered the campaign to trade clemency for military service.
The Russian prison population, estimated at roughly 420,000 before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, plummeted to a historic low of about 266,000, according to Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Vukolov, who disclosed the figure during a panel discussion earlier this month.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russia has freed up to 100,000 prison inmates and sent them to fight in Ukraine, according to government statistics and rights advocates — a far greater number than was previously known.
The sharp drop in the number of inmates is evidence that the Defense Ministry continued to aggressively recruit convicted criminals even after blocking access to prisoners by the Wagner mercenary group, which pioneered the campaign to trade clemency for military service.
The Russian prison population, estimated at roughly 420,000 before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, plummeted to a historic low of about 266,000, according to Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Vukolov, who disclosed the figure during a panel discussion earlier this month.
Read the full story here.
Biden preps $50 billion for domestic crises on top of Israel, Ukraine aid
White House aides are preparing to propose spending roughly $50 billion on urgent domestic needs, two people familiar with the matter said, just days after President Biden unveiled a roughly $100 billion request for crises in Ukraine, Israel and other international priorities.
The proposed legislation will call for more funding for child care, high-speed internet access, natural disaster relief, and firefighters battling wildfires, among other domestic priorities, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young said in a letter Friday. It is not exactly clear how much funding the president will propose for each program, and the people familiar with the matter cautioned that planning remains in flux. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details are not final, and the size of the total proposal could still change.
Read the full story here.
White House aides are preparing to propose spending roughly $50 billion on urgent domestic needs, two people familiar with the matter said, just days after President Biden unveiled a roughly $100 billion request for crises in Ukraine, Israel and other international priorities.
The proposed legislation will call for more funding for child care, high-speed internet access, natural disaster relief, and firefighters battling wildfires, among other domestic priorities, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young said in a letter Friday. It is not exactly clear how much funding the president will propose for each program, and the people familiar with the matter cautioned that planning remains in flux. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details are not final, and the size of the total proposal could still change.
Read the full story here.