Russians abandon wartime Russia in historic exodus
YEREVAN, Armenia — As Russian troops stormed into Ukraine last February, sending millions of Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, thousands of Russians also raced to pack their bags and leave home, fearing the Kremlin would shut the borders and impose martial law.
Some had long opposed rising authoritarianism and the invasion was a last straw. Others were driven by economic interest, to preserve livelihoods or escape the bite of sanctions. Then, last autumn, a military mobilization spurred hundreds of thousands of men to flee.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has set off a historic exodus of his own people. Initial data show that at least 500,000, and perhaps nearly 1 million, have left in the year since the invasion began — a tidal wave on scale with emigration following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.
Read the full story here.
YEREVAN, Armenia — As Russian troops stormed into Ukraine last February, sending millions of Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, thousands of Russians also raced to pack their bags and leave home, fearing the Kremlin would shut the borders and impose martial law.
Some had long opposed rising authoritarianism and the invasion was a last straw. Others were driven by economic interest, to preserve livelihoods or escape the bite of sanctions. Then, last autumn, a military mobilization spurred hundreds of thousands of men to flee.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has set off a historic exodus of his own people. Initial data show that at least 500,000, and perhaps nearly 1 million, have left in the year since the invasion began — a tidal wave on scale with emigration following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.
Read the full story here.
Analysis: War in Ukraine was geopolitical ice bucket in our face, diplomat says
Austria, like other European countries, has a complicated relationship with Russia. Awkward links to the Kremlin brought down a government in Vienna as recently as 2019. The country’s constitutional position of military neutrality means it’s not a member of NATO; during the Cold War, Vienna often played host to crucial summits between the Soviets and the West.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has ushered in a new era. This month, Vienna expelled four Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage and has more broadly yoked itself to the transatlantic consensus on supporting Ukraine. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, who was in Washington for a brief visit last week, spoke with Today’s WorldView about his nation’s geopolitical position, the war in Ukraine and its impact on European politics. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Read the full analysis here.
Austria, like other European countries, has a complicated relationship with Russia. Awkward links to the Kremlin brought down a government in Vienna as recently as 2019. The country’s constitutional position of military neutrality means it’s not a member of NATO; during the Cold War, Vienna often played host to crucial summits between the Soviets and the West.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has ushered in a new era. This month, Vienna expelled four Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage and has more broadly yoked itself to the transatlantic consensus on supporting Ukraine. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, who was in Washington for a brief visit last week, spoke with Today’s WorldView about his nation’s geopolitical position, the war in Ukraine and its impact on European politics. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Read the full analysis here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukraine’s allies should urgently provide it with more weapons, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, as Russia embarks on a new offensive in the country’s east.
- There are concerns that the West’s own stocks of weapons are being depleted after a year of supplying Kyiv.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is made up of senior military officials from more than 50 nations that have been providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid.
- Ukraine appears hopeful it can win over the West on its request for fighter jets.
- There are concerns that the West’s own stocks of weapons are being depleted after a year of supplying Kyiv.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is made up of senior military officials from more than 50 nations that have been providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid.
More live updates here.
- Ukraine’s allies should urgently provide it with more weapons, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, as Russia embarks on a new offensive in the country’s east.
- There are concerns that the West’s own stocks of weapons are being depleted after a year of supplying Kyiv.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is made up of senior military officials from more than 50 nations that have been providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid.
- Ukraine appears hopeful it can win over the West on its request for fighter jets.
- There are concerns that the West’s own stocks of weapons are being depleted after a year of supplying Kyiv.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is made up of senior military officials from more than 50 nations that have been providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- NATO defense ministers are convening in Brussels to discuss sending more supplies to Ukraine as they warn of a renewed Russian offensive. Moscow is “preparing for more war,” which makes it “even more important” to boost support for Kyiv, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.
- Sending fighters jets to Ukraine “is not the most urgent issue now, but it is an ongoing discussion,” Stoltenberg said.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is made up of senior military officials from more than 50 nations that have been providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid.
- The U.S. Embassy in Moscow repeated a warning for Americans not to travel to Russia, saying in a statement Monday that Russian authorities may single out U.S. citizens for detention, arbitrarily enforce laws or conscript dual nationals into the Russian military.
More live updates here.
- NATO defense ministers are convening in Brussels to discuss sending more supplies to Ukraine as they warn of a renewed Russian offensive. Moscow is “preparing for more war,” which makes it “even more important” to boost support for Kyiv, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.
- Sending fighters jets to Ukraine “is not the most urgent issue now, but it is an ongoing discussion,” Stoltenberg said.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is made up of senior military officials from more than 50 nations that have been providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid.
- The U.S. Embassy in Moscow repeated a warning for Americans not to travel to Russia, saying in a statement Monday that Russian authorities may single out U.S. citizens for detention, arbitrarily enforce laws or conscript dual nationals into the Russian military.
More live updates here.
Russia planned coup in pro-West Moldova, president says
Russia planned to topple Moldova’s pro-West government by fomenting violence through foreign actors and internal criminal groups, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said Monday. The attempted plot would have placed the Eastern European nation at the disposal of the Kremlin for use in its invasion of Ukraine, and prevented Moldova’s integration into the European Union, she said.
Sandu said that Moldovan authorities had confirmed the disclosure by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels last week that his intelligence forces had intercepted documents showing “who, when and through what actions” Russia would use to “break the democratic order” of Moldova.
Read the full story here.
Russia planned to topple Moldova’s pro-West government by fomenting violence through foreign actors and internal criminal groups, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said Monday. The attempted plot would have placed the Eastern European nation at the disposal of the Kremlin for use in its invasion of Ukraine, and prevented Moldova’s integration into the European Union, she said.
Sandu said that Moldovan authorities had confirmed the disclosure by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels last week that his intelligence forces had intercepted documents showing “who, when and through what actions” Russia would use to “break the democratic order” of Moldova.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine unlikely to get fighter jets anytime soon
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hopes that Western backers will provide modern fighter jets — what he calls “wings for freedom” — have been met with discouragement, if not outright rejection, from Ukraine’s leading weapons suppliers.
In appeals to European leaders during his whirlwind trip to Britain, France and the European Union last week, Zelensky urged the immediate delivery of aircraft, preferably U.S.-made F-16s whose use is widespread among NATO allies, saying the fourth-generation fighter jet could end the war quickly.
Kyiv has been asking for advanced air power since the spring, so far to no avail. But experience has taught the Ukrainians that a “no” from the West is often not as firm as it initially appears. Western heavy artillery, precision missile launchers, sophisticated air defense and heavy tanks — all of which were deemed impossible to supply — are now on the battlefield or at least pledged for delivery.
Read the full story here.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hopes that Western backers will provide modern fighter jets — what he calls “wings for freedom” — have been met with discouragement, if not outright rejection, from Ukraine’s leading weapons suppliers.
In appeals to European leaders during his whirlwind trip to Britain, France and the European Union last week, Zelensky urged the immediate delivery of aircraft, preferably U.S.-made F-16s whose use is widespread among NATO allies, saying the fourth-generation fighter jet could end the war quickly.
Kyiv has been asking for advanced air power since the spring, so far to no avail. But experience has taught the Ukrainians that a “no” from the West is often not as firm as it initially appears. Western heavy artillery, precision missile launchers, sophisticated air defense and heavy tanks — all of which were deemed impossible to supply — are now on the battlefield or at least pledged for delivery.
Read the full story here.
Here’s the latest from Ukraine:
- Washington and allies have “a lot to get done” to position Ukrainian troops to use advanced weapon systems promised by the West ahead of Russia’s offensive, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said. “It’s a monumental task to bring all those systems together, get the troops trained on those platforms, make sure we have sustainment for all those systems and get those systems into the fight,” he said.
- Officials focused on getting ammunition to Ukraine. E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters he’ll propose to the bloc’s foreign ministers next week a plan to jointly procure ammunition, Bloomberg reported. Austin said the U.S. and its partners are doing “everything we can” to give “as much ammunition as quickly as possible.”
- Norway will provide eight Leopard tanks for the war effort, according to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, joining other European nations that have pledged to send tanks from their stocks to the battlefield.
More live updates here.
- Washington and allies have “a lot to get done” to position Ukrainian troops to use advanced weapon systems promised by the West ahead of Russia’s offensive, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said. “It’s a monumental task to bring all those systems together, get the troops trained on those platforms, make sure we have sustainment for all those systems and get those systems into the fight,” he said.
- Officials focused on getting ammunition to Ukraine. E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters he’ll propose to the bloc’s foreign ministers next week a plan to jointly procure ammunition, Bloomberg reported. Austin said the U.S. and its partners are doing “everything we can” to give “as much ammunition as quickly as possible.”
- Norway will provide eight Leopard tanks for the war effort, according to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, joining other European nations that have pledged to send tanks from their stocks to the battlefield.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest from Ukraine:
- “Russia has lost” the war in Ukraine, “strategically, operationally and tactically,” Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday in Brussels.
- Russia has put at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in 43 “reeducation” camps and institutions since the war began, according to the State Department-supported Conflict Observatory. The majority of camps are engaged in “systematic re-education efforts that expose children from Ukraine to Russia-centric academic, cultural, patriotic, and/or military education.”
- The founder of the Wagner Group admitted to creating the internet troll farm that U.S. officials say helped Russia interfere in American elections. In a post shared by a Wagner-affiliated Telegram account, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Putin ally involved in the war in Ukraine, said that he invented and managed the Internet Research Agency.
- Heavy fighting continues in Bakhmut, where Russia is focusing most of its war efforts.
More live updates here.
- “Russia has lost” the war in Ukraine, “strategically, operationally and tactically,” Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday in Brussels.
- Russia has put at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in 43 “reeducation” camps and institutions since the war began, according to the State Department-supported Conflict Observatory. The majority of camps are engaged in “systematic re-education efforts that expose children from Ukraine to Russia-centric academic, cultural, patriotic, and/or military education.”
- The founder of the Wagner Group admitted to creating the internet troll farm that U.S. officials say helped Russia interfere in American elections. In a post shared by a Wagner-affiliated Telegram account, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Putin ally involved in the war in Ukraine, said that he invented and managed the Internet Research Agency.
- Heavy fighting continues in Bakhmut, where Russia is focusing most of its war efforts.
More live updates here.
Sanctions haven’t stopped Russia, but a new oil ban could cut deeper
In the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, President Biden sought to head it off by warning Russian President Vladimir Putin of “economic consequences like none he’s ever seen.”
As the Kremlin nonetheless began its assault on Feb. 24, the United States and dozens of allies were ready, unleashing a battery of sanctions and trade restrictions aimed at crippling Russia’s finances, isolating its economy and making pariahs of Putin-aligned elites.
The initial impact of sanctions looked deadly, causing the ruble to crash, the banking system to shudder and companies worldwide to stop exporting vital goods to Russia.
But one year later, Russia has remained more resilient than many expected, thanks to its oil and gas exports, deft maneuvering by its central bank and a recent rebound in trade with China and others that has allowed some banned technology to sneak through.
Read the full story here.
In the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, President Biden sought to head it off by warning Russian President Vladimir Putin of “economic consequences like none he’s ever seen.”
As the Kremlin nonetheless began its assault on Feb. 24, the United States and dozens of allies were ready, unleashing a battery of sanctions and trade restrictions aimed at crippling Russia’s finances, isolating its economy and making pariahs of Putin-aligned elites.
The initial impact of sanctions looked deadly, causing the ruble to crash, the banking system to shudder and companies worldwide to stop exporting vital goods to Russia.
But one year later, Russia has remained more resilient than many expected, thanks to its oil and gas exports, deft maneuvering by its central bank and a recent rebound in trade with China and others that has allowed some banned technology to sneak through.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine’s allies rush to send more equipment, risking logjams
BRUSSELS — Time is growing short for Ukraine’s military backers to gather vast quantities of new equipment and move it along supply lines that are fast becoming overwhelmed with shipments Kyiv awaits as it plans to launch a spring counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces, senior U.S. officials said Tuesday.
From European depots and harbors, to central gathering points and over the border onto the roads and rails of Ukraine, the increasing flow is challenging the ability to transport it in real time, officials said.
There was a palpable sense of urgency as top military and defense officials gathered here for the latest meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the coalition of more than 50 nations providing security assistance.
Read the full story here.
BRUSSELS — Time is growing short for Ukraine’s military backers to gather vast quantities of new equipment and move it along supply lines that are fast becoming overwhelmed with shipments Kyiv awaits as it plans to launch a spring counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces, senior U.S. officials said Tuesday.
From European depots and harbors, to central gathering points and over the border onto the roads and rails of Ukraine, the increasing flow is challenging the ability to transport it in real time, officials said.
There was a palpable sense of urgency as top military and defense officials gathered here for the latest meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the coalition of more than 50 nations providing security assistance.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- NATO defense ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday for more meetings on the long-term response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, including boosting the production of armaments and ammunition.
- Ukraine shot down several small Russian balloons over Kyiv on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a statement posted to Telegram.
- The head of Russia’s Wagner Group said that “for a long time” he ran the internet troll farm that faced U.S. sanctions over charges of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
- Ukraine’s armed forces said heavy fighting is raging around Bakhmut.
- Britain is “delivering for Ukraine the effects they need on the battlefield,” rather than fighter jets, which require months of training, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Wednesday.
More live updates here.
- NATO defense ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday for more meetings on the long-term response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, including boosting the production of armaments and ammunition.
- Ukraine shot down several small Russian balloons over Kyiv on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a statement posted to Telegram.
- The head of Russia’s Wagner Group said that “for a long time” he ran the internet troll farm that faced U.S. sanctions over charges of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
- Ukraine’s armed forces said heavy fighting is raging around Bakhmut.
- Britain is “delivering for Ukraine the effects they need on the battlefield,” rather than fighter jets, which require months of training, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Wednesday.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukraine has shot down several Russian balloons over Kyiv, defense officials said, adding that they were likely carrying intelligence equipment. The balloons were likely decoy targets meant to divert attention and waste ammunition, Ukraine’s defense ministry said Wednesday.
- In Russia, a court sentenced RusNews journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in jail on Wednesday, the outlet said on Telegram. She was indicted for a Telegram post about the attack on a theater in Mariupol in March last year. The prosecutor asked for a nine-year sentence.
- Russia has lost about half of its pre-war fleet of modern battle tanks in the Ukraine war, according to an annual audit of the world’s military resources by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is instead turning to older vehicles to maintain its fleet.
- Eastern Ukraine is facing round-the-clock attacks by Russian forces, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a Telegram post.
More live updates here.
- Ukraine has shot down several Russian balloons over Kyiv, defense officials said, adding that they were likely carrying intelligence equipment. The balloons were likely decoy targets meant to divert attention and waste ammunition, Ukraine’s defense ministry said Wednesday.
- In Russia, a court sentenced RusNews journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in jail on Wednesday, the outlet said on Telegram. She was indicted for a Telegram post about the attack on a theater in Mariupol in March last year. The prosecutor asked for a nine-year sentence.
- Russia has lost about half of its pre-war fleet of modern battle tanks in the Ukraine war, according to an annual audit of the world’s military resources by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is instead turning to older vehicles to maintain its fleet.
- Eastern Ukraine is facing round-the-clock attacks by Russian forces, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a Telegram post.
More live updates here.
Russian mercenary chief says he is also behind global information war
For years, the Internet Research Agency, a shadowy company based in St. Petersburg, has carried out Russian information warfare across the globe, employing fake social media accounts and other forms of disinformation to exploit divisions in Western society, analysts and governments say.
Nearly a year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the man behind the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary outfit fighting on the front lines, has claimed to have founded the Internet Research Agency as well.
The admission by oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin, more an acknowledgment than a revelation, affirms his role at the center of Russia’s aggressive interventions on the world stage, on the ground and online.
Prigozhin — who the U.S. government estimates has deployed some 50,000 fighters to Ukraine — boasted in November that he was interfering in the U.S. midterm congressional elections and intended to continue doing so.
Read the full story here.
For years, the Internet Research Agency, a shadowy company based in St. Petersburg, has carried out Russian information warfare across the globe, employing fake social media accounts and other forms of disinformation to exploit divisions in Western society, analysts and governments say.
Nearly a year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the man behind the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary outfit fighting on the front lines, has claimed to have founded the Internet Research Agency as well.
The admission by oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin, more an acknowledgment than a revelation, affirms his role at the center of Russia’s aggressive interventions on the world stage, on the ground and online.
Prigozhin — who the U.S. government estimates has deployed some 50,000 fighters to Ukraine — boasted in November that he was interfering in the U.S. midterm congressional elections and intended to continue doing so.
Read the full story here.
Lukashenko blames Ukraine for war, warns Belarus will join fight if attacked
The authoritarian Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, on Thursday blamed Ukraine for provoking Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, and he insisted that Belarus was “a peaceful nation” despite allowing its territory to be used as a staging ground for the war.
But in typically convoluted remarks at a news conference in Minsk, Lukashenko seemed to once again resist any pressure from Moscow to send his own troops into Ukraine, warning that he would do so only if his country was attacked.
In comments that he dressed up as a stern warning to Ukraine and other Western nations, Lukashenko said: “I am ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case: if at least one soldier sets foot in Belarus to kill my people.”
“If they commit aggression against Belarus, the answer will be immediate,” he said. “The war will acquire a completely different scale.”
Read the full story here.
The authoritarian Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, on Thursday blamed Ukraine for provoking Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, and he insisted that Belarus was “a peaceful nation” despite allowing its territory to be used as a staging ground for the war.
But in typically convoluted remarks at a news conference in Minsk, Lukashenko seemed to once again resist any pressure from Moscow to send his own troops into Ukraine, warning that he would do so only if his country was attacked.
In comments that he dressed up as a stern warning to Ukraine and other Western nations, Lukashenko said: “I am ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case: if at least one soldier sets foot in Belarus to kill my people.”
“If they commit aggression against Belarus, the answer will be immediate,” he said. “The war will acquire a completely different scale.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Germany’s armed forces are in a worse place than they were last year, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with The Post, despite boasting a huge boost in defense spending after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Israel’s foreign minister arrived in Kyiv in the first visit by an Israeli minister since the war began. Eli Cohen tweeted that he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reopen the Israeli Embassy on his trip. Israel has provided humanitarian support to Ukraine but it has not provided Kyiv with intelligence or weapons.
- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country will join Russia’s war only if Ukraine attacks Belarus. “I am ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case so far: if a single soldier comes from there to the territory of Belarus to kill my people,” he said Thursday.
More live updates here.
- Germany’s armed forces are in a worse place than they were last year, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with The Post, despite boasting a huge boost in defense spending after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Israel’s foreign minister arrived in Kyiv in the first visit by an Israeli minister since the war began. Eli Cohen tweeted that he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reopen the Israeli Embassy on his trip. Israel has provided humanitarian support to Ukraine but it has not provided Kyiv with intelligence or weapons.
- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country will join Russia’s war only if Ukraine attacks Belarus. “I am ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case so far: if a single soldier comes from there to the territory of Belarus to kill my people,” he said Thursday.
More live updates here.