A Republican ‘civil war’ on Ukraine erupts as Reagan’s example fades
When Ronald Reagan addressed a brand new organization of upstart conservatives nearly five decades ago, he cast U.S. entanglements abroad as part of the nation’s destiny to take on “leadership of the free world.”
At a dinner named after the former president at the annual CPAC gathering earlier this month, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake pushed a very different message.
“This is not our fight. We are ‘America First!’” Lake said in her keynote address.
Lake’s aversion to deepening American involvement in Ukraine, echoed by many speakers at CPAC, has been dismissed by some Republicans in Congress as a fringe viewpoint held by a handful of conservatives that does not meaningfully threaten NATO unity against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
But Republican voters are increasingly adopting those same skeptical views.
Read the full story here.
When Ronald Reagan addressed a brand new organization of upstart conservatives nearly five decades ago, he cast U.S. entanglements abroad as part of the nation’s destiny to take on “leadership of the free world.”
At a dinner named after the former president at the annual CPAC gathering earlier this month, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake pushed a very different message.
“This is not our fight. We are ‘America First!’” Lake said in her keynote address.
Lake’s aversion to deepening American involvement in Ukraine, echoed by many speakers at CPAC, has been dismissed by some Republicans in Congress as a fringe viewpoint held by a handful of conservatives that does not meaningfully threaten NATO unity against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
But Republican voters are increasingly adopting those same skeptical views.
Read the full story here.
Here's the latest from Ukraine:
- The United States has “not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture” after Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that aired Saturday on Russian state TV that the Kremlin would store tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
- Putin likened the move to the United States’ positioning of weapons in Europe. The United States was estimated in 2021 to have about 100 nuclear weapons stored in vaults across Europe, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
- Moscow plans to produce or upgrade more than 1,600 tanks in three years, Putin said in the interview on Russia-24, a state-owned news channel. He said that while Western governments — which he dubbed “arsonists” — planned to deliver more than 400 tanks to Kyiv, Russia would upgrade and produce more than 1,600 new tanks.
Read more updates here.
- The United States has “not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture” after Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that aired Saturday on Russian state TV that the Kremlin would store tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
- Putin likened the move to the United States’ positioning of weapons in Europe. The United States was estimated in 2021 to have about 100 nuclear weapons stored in vaults across Europe, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
- Moscow plans to produce or upgrade more than 1,600 tanks in three years, Putin said in the interview on Russia-24, a state-owned news channel. He said that while Western governments — which he dubbed “arsonists” — planned to deliver more than 400 tanks to Kyiv, Russia would upgrade and produce more than 1,600 new tanks.
Read more updates here.
War forces thousands of disabled Ukrainians into institutions
DNIPRO, Ukraine — When a Russian shell slammed into Taya Berkova’s apartment building in Kharkiv last March, her neighbors did something she could not: They ran. The 43-year-old, who uses a wheelchair because she has cerebral palsy, was trapped as the floors above her burned.
When her elderly parents and other residents finally wrangled her and her chair down six flights of stairs, she became trapped again, in a basement with no ramp and no toilet that she could use without help. Conditions have not been much better in the string of makeshift shelters she has lived in since.
She is one of thousands of displaced Ukrainians with disabilities, many of them senior citizens, who have been institutionalized since the start of Russia’s invasion and who are experiencing some of the war’s most shattering consequences.
Read the full story here.
DNIPRO, Ukraine — When a Russian shell slammed into Taya Berkova’s apartment building in Kharkiv last March, her neighbors did something she could not: They ran. The 43-year-old, who uses a wheelchair because she has cerebral palsy, was trapped as the floors above her burned.
When her elderly parents and other residents finally wrangled her and her chair down six flights of stairs, she became trapped again, in a basement with no ramp and no toilet that she could use without help. Conditions have not been much better in the string of makeshift shelters she has lived in since.
She is one of thousands of displaced Ukrainians with disabilities, many of them senior citizens, who have been institutionalized since the start of Russia’s invasion and who are experiencing some of the war’s most shattering consequences.
Read the full story here.
The Ukraine war is Antony Blinken’s defining moment
When Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a personal appeal to Volodymyr Zelensky, hoping to convince him that a Russian invasion was imminent, Ukraine’s president didn’t believe him.
The warning lacked specificity, Zelensky recalled in an interview after the invasion. Moreover, if the Americans truly believed the situation was as dire as Blinken intimated, why hadn’t they begun to send more powerful weapons months sooner?
This discreet meeting, occurring on the sidelines of a climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021, revealed the limitations of Blinken’s influence over the Ukrainian leader and Zelensky’s innate skepticism of U.S. intelligence. But in the time since, Blinken’s rapport with Zelensky and his top aides has evolved substantially, and the top U.S. diplomat has become one of Kyiv’s most trusted champions and interlocutors.
Read the full story here.
When Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a personal appeal to Volodymyr Zelensky, hoping to convince him that a Russian invasion was imminent, Ukraine’s president didn’t believe him.
The warning lacked specificity, Zelensky recalled in an interview after the invasion. Moreover, if the Americans truly believed the situation was as dire as Blinken intimated, why hadn’t they begun to send more powerful weapons months sooner?
This discreet meeting, occurring on the sidelines of a climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021, revealed the limitations of Blinken’s influence over the Ukrainian leader and Zelensky’s innate skepticism of U.S. intelligence. But in the time since, Blinken’s rapport with Zelensky and his top aides has evolved substantially, and the top U.S. diplomat has become one of Kyiv’s most trusted champions and interlocutors.
Read the full story here.
Here's the latest from Ukraine:
- NATO called Russia’s nuclear rhetoric “dangerous and irresponsible” on Sunday after Moscow said it planned to store tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares a long border with northern Ukraine.
- European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday that if Belarus agreed to host Russian nuclear weapons, it would be a “threat to European security.” “The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions,” Borrell said on Twitter.
- Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry called for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council to “counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail.”
More live updates here.
- NATO called Russia’s nuclear rhetoric “dangerous and irresponsible” on Sunday after Moscow said it planned to store tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares a long border with northern Ukraine.
- European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday that if Belarus agreed to host Russian nuclear weapons, it would be a “threat to European security.” “The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions,” Borrell said on Twitter.
- Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry called for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council to “counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail.”
More live updates here.
Here's the latest from Ukraine:
- The European Union threatened sanctions against Belarus after Russia announced it would store tactical nuclear weapons in the country, which shares a long border with northern Ukraine.
- Russia has continued to attack the embattled city of Bakhmut — an effort the Institute for the Study of War warned was futile and potentially harmful to Moscow — as a Ukrainian counteroffensive looms. Ukraine’s military said Monday that its forces still hold the city.
- Russia’s continued attacks on Bakhmut are not only “pointless, but actually harmful” to Moscow as it prepares for an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive in coming weeks, according to analysts from the Institute for the Study of War.
- The actions of the “two unpredictable dictatorial regimes” led by Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko are “dragging Belarus further into the war,” Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said. The country will call for new sanctions, it said in a statement.
More live updates here.
- The European Union threatened sanctions against Belarus after Russia announced it would store tactical nuclear weapons in the country, which shares a long border with northern Ukraine.
- Russia has continued to attack the embattled city of Bakhmut — an effort the Institute for the Study of War warned was futile and potentially harmful to Moscow — as a Ukrainian counteroffensive looms. Ukraine’s military said Monday that its forces still hold the city.
- Russia’s continued attacks on Bakhmut are not only “pointless, but actually harmful” to Moscow as it prepares for an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive in coming weeks, according to analysts from the Institute for the Study of War.
- The actions of the “two unpredictable dictatorial regimes” led by Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko are “dragging Belarus further into the war,” Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said. The country will call for new sanctions, it said in a statement.
More live updates here.
West warns Putin against ‘dangerous’ nuclear rhetoric but downplays threat
The United States and its European allies warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday against what they said was “dangerous” nuclear rhetoric after he announced plans to store tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a close ally of Moscow that shares a border with northern Ukraine.
At the same time, Western powers said they saw no immediate danger or reasons to change their own strategic nuclear positions in the wake of his remarks. NATO called his comments, which he made Saturday on television, “irresponsible,” but said it had not seen any changes to Russia’s nuclear posture “that would lead us to adjust our own.”
Read the full story here.
The United States and its European allies warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday against what they said was “dangerous” nuclear rhetoric after he announced plans to store tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a close ally of Moscow that shares a border with northern Ukraine.
At the same time, Western powers said they saw no immediate danger or reasons to change their own strategic nuclear positions in the wake of his remarks. NATO called his comments, which he made Saturday on television, “irresponsible,” but said it had not seen any changes to Russia’s nuclear posture “that would lead us to adjust our own.”
Read the full story here.
Putin, charged with war crimes, must limit travel to avoid arrest
The war crimes charges against Vladimir Putin brought by the International Criminal Court mean that the Russian leader, in theory, is unable to travel to two-thirds of the globe without risking arrest in the 123 countries that are parties to the United Nations treaty underpinning the court’s operations and therefore obligated to detain him.
In practice, the situation is more complex — with some ICC member states condemning the arrest warrant, and others having set a precedent of flouting the court’s orders.
Already, the ICC’s arrest warrant, which accuses Putin, along with his children’s rights commissioner, of illegally deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, may be weighing on the Kremlin’s travel plans.
Read the full story here.
The war crimes charges against Vladimir Putin brought by the International Criminal Court mean that the Russian leader, in theory, is unable to travel to two-thirds of the globe without risking arrest in the 123 countries that are parties to the United Nations treaty underpinning the court’s operations and therefore obligated to detain him.
In practice, the situation is more complex — with some ICC member states condemning the arrest warrant, and others having set a precedent of flouting the court’s orders.
Already, the ICC’s arrest warrant, which accuses Putin, along with his children’s rights commissioner, of illegally deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, may be weighing on the Kremlin’s travel plans.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Western sanctions will not affect Moscow’s plans to move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, the Kremlin said Monday.
- In Zaporizhzhia, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
- Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Security Council, said Monday that Russia has “advanced unique weapons to eliminate any adversary,” and he accused NATO nations of providing Kyiv with weapons and intelligence.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council to counter what it described as “the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail.”
- NATO called Russia’s nuclear rhetoric “dangerous and irresponsible” and said it was “closely monitoring the situation.”
- Grossi plans to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant this week for the second time since the IAEA installed a permanent crew there in September, according to a statement issued Saturday.
More live updates here.
- Western sanctions will not affect Moscow’s plans to move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, the Kremlin said Monday.
- In Zaporizhzhia, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
- Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Security Council, said Monday that Russia has “advanced unique weapons to eliminate any adversary,” and he accused NATO nations of providing Kyiv with weapons and intelligence.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council to counter what it described as “the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail.”
- NATO called Russia’s nuclear rhetoric “dangerous and irresponsible” and said it was “closely monitoring the situation.”
- Grossi plans to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant this week for the second time since the IAEA installed a permanent crew there in September, according to a statement issued Saturday.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “the worst thing that could happen in the history” of Europe’s nuclear energy sector.
- Russia test-fired supersonic anti-ship missiles in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. The missiles can carry nuclear warheads.
- Russian officials expressed defiance after the West threatened more sanctions should the Kremlin proceed with plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia’s plans wouldn’t be affected by Western sanctions.
- Russia has likely lost a “large proportion of its tanks” while attempting to encircle the front-line town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, noting that Russia had only made “marginal process” during its operation.
More live updates here.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “the worst thing that could happen in the history” of Europe’s nuclear energy sector.
- Russia test-fired supersonic anti-ship missiles in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. The missiles can carry nuclear warheads.
- Russian officials expressed defiance after the West threatened more sanctions should the Kremlin proceed with plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia’s plans wouldn’t be affected by Western sanctions.
- Russia has likely lost a “large proportion of its tanks” while attempting to encircle the front-line town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, noting that Russia had only made “marginal process” during its operation.
More live updates here.
Russia sentences dad to two years after daughter’s antiwar art, but he flees
RIGA, Latvia — A Russian court on Tuesday ordered a two-year jail sentence for the single father of a 13-year-old girl who drew an antiwar picture in art class at school, in a case that led to the daughter being seized by authorities and place in an orphanage.
But in a stunning turn, the father, Alexei Moskalyov, 54, escaped from house arrest on Monday night, opting not to wait for the almost-certain guilty verdict after the state prosecutor demanded the two-year jail term on Monday.
Moskalyov was sentenced under Russia’s draconian laws against “discrediting the military,” which were adopted after President Vladimir Putin order his brutal invasion of Ukraine last year. The laws ban any form of antiwar dissent and are part of a wave of political repressions that have only worsened as Russia’s war effort floundered.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — A Russian court on Tuesday ordered a two-year jail sentence for the single father of a 13-year-old girl who drew an antiwar picture in art class at school, in a case that led to the daughter being seized by authorities and place in an orphanage.
But in a stunning turn, the father, Alexei Moskalyov, 54, escaped from house arrest on Monday night, opting not to wait for the almost-certain guilty verdict after the state prosecutor demanded the two-year jail term on Monday.
Moskalyov was sentenced under Russia’s draconian laws against “discrediting the military,” which were adopted after President Vladimir Putin order his brutal invasion of Ukraine last year. The laws ban any form of antiwar dissent and are part of a wave of political repressions that have only worsened as Russia’s war effort floundered.
Read the full story here.
How to flee house arrest in Russia: Escapees tell their secrets
RIGA, Latvia — When she finally crossed into the European Union, Olesya Krivtsova, a 20-year-old pacifist branded a terrorist by the Russian authorities for opposing the war in Ukraine, exhaled the fear of two days on the run and “cried a little,” she said.
Krivtsova fled her apartment in the northern city of Arkhangelsk earlier this month, disguised as a homeless beggar, swapped cars three times, crossed an official border point and announced her safe arrival in a video in Lithuania several days later.
In a video, she unclipped the electronic ankle bracelet attached by Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service when she was put under house arrest and tossed it away with a mischievous sideways glance. Then she grinned joyfully, holding a small sign: “Freedom.”
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — When she finally crossed into the European Union, Olesya Krivtsova, a 20-year-old pacifist branded a terrorist by the Russian authorities for opposing the war in Ukraine, exhaled the fear of two days on the run and “cried a little,” she said.
Krivtsova fled her apartment in the northern city of Arkhangelsk earlier this month, disguised as a homeless beggar, swapped cars three times, crossed an official border point and announced her safe arrival in a video in Lithuania several days later.
In a video, she unclipped the electronic ankle bracelet attached by Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service when she was put under house arrest and tossed it away with a mischievous sideways glance. Then she grinned joyfully, holding a small sign: “Freedom.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia has been “intensifying” its activity in the Far East, Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, told reporters after Russia’s military exercise. The Peter the Great Bay, where the missiles were fired, borders Russia’s Vladivostok coast.
- Zelensky met with Rafael Mariano Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in the Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, touring areas near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear planet, the president’s office said.
- Britain and Poland will build two temporary housing villages in Ukraine, the British government announced Tuesday. The shelters, in Lviv in the west and Poltava in the east, will provide accommodation to about 700 displaced Ukrainians.
- Russian officials expressed defiance after the West threatened more sanctions should the Kremlin proceed with plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
More live updates here.
- Russia has been “intensifying” its activity in the Far East, Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, told reporters after Russia’s military exercise. The Peter the Great Bay, where the missiles were fired, borders Russia’s Vladivostok coast.
- Zelensky met with Rafael Mariano Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in the Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, touring areas near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear planet, the president’s office said.
- Britain and Poland will build two temporary housing villages in Ukraine, the British government announced Tuesday. The shelters, in Lviv in the west and Poltava in the east, will provide accommodation to about 700 displaced Ukrainians.
- Russian officials expressed defiance after the West threatened more sanctions should the Kremlin proceed with plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that calls from some nations for a cease-fire in Ukraine could be a “very cynical trap” that freezes the conflict where things stand, allowing Russia to consolidate the territory it has illegally seized and “use the time to rest and refit and then reattack.”
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fighting in Ukraine could be over sooner “if the world is faster, if the world is more determined,” an apparent appeal for accelerated support from the West.
- Ukrainian officials say 4,390 children have been forcibly deported to Russia.
- Russian forces now occupy about 65 percent of Bakhmut, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, citing geolocated footage.
More live updates here.
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that calls from some nations for a cease-fire in Ukraine could be a “very cynical trap” that freezes the conflict where things stand, allowing Russia to consolidate the territory it has illegally seized and “use the time to rest and refit and then reattack.”
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fighting in Ukraine could be over sooner “if the world is faster, if the world is more determined,” an apparent appeal for accelerated support from the West.
- Ukrainian officials say 4,390 children have been forcibly deported to Russia.
- Russian forces now occupy about 65 percent of Bakhmut, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, citing geolocated footage.
More live updates here.