Breaking up with Russia is hard for many Western firms, despite war
RIGA, Latvia — Only a small percentage of the hundreds of companies that promised to leave Russia after its invasion of Ukraine have exited, according to several groups keeping a scorecard.
The Western companies that stayed are often heavily reliant on Russian business, with the losses of an exit perhaps outweighing possible damage to their brands of staying in the country as it wages a brutal war against Ukraine.
Many others announced they would pause or scale back operations but continue to trade. Others said they would sell their Russian assets but still are seeking buyers or trying to reduce the cost of leaving.
News of the departures last year briefly threatened the Kremlin’s efforts to muffle the impact of the war on Russians. But the continuing presence of so many companies has undermined the Washington-led effort to crush Russia’s economy.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Only a small percentage of the hundreds of companies that promised to leave Russia after its invasion of Ukraine have exited, according to several groups keeping a scorecard.
The Western companies that stayed are often heavily reliant on Russian business, with the losses of an exit perhaps outweighing possible damage to their brands of staying in the country as it wages a brutal war against Ukraine.
Many others announced they would pause or scale back operations but continue to trade. Others said they would sell their Russian assets but still are seeking buyers or trying to reduce the cost of leaving.
News of the departures last year briefly threatened the Kremlin’s efforts to muffle the impact of the war on Russians. But the continuing presence of so many companies has undermined the Washington-led effort to crush Russia’s economy.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is in Ukraine’s capital for a surprise visit, his first since Russia’s invasion.
- Denmark and the Netherlands will donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the Danish Foreign Ministry confirmed.
- NASA denied that a flash of light seen in the sky above Kyiv on Wednesday night was caused by one of its satellites.
- Ship inspections under the Black Sea Grain Initiative continued Thursday following successful negotiations the day before to resume them, the United Nations said.
- Russia may have formed a new military grouping to defend the southern Ukrainian territory it has captured in the war, Britain’s Defense Ministry said.
- Ukraine has already begun conducting some counteroffensive actions, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said during a local telethon.
More live updates here.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is in Ukraine’s capital for a surprise visit, his first since Russia’s invasion.
- Denmark and the Netherlands will donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the Danish Foreign Ministry confirmed.
- NASA denied that a flash of light seen in the sky above Kyiv on Wednesday night was caused by one of its satellites.
- Ship inspections under the Black Sea Grain Initiative continued Thursday following successful negotiations the day before to resume them, the United Nations said.
- Russia may have formed a new military grouping to defend the southern Ukrainian territory it has captured in the war, Britain’s Defense Ministry said.
- Ukraine has already begun conducting some counteroffensive actions, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said during a local telethon.
More live updates here.
Exclusive: Ukraine planned attacks on Russian forces in Syria, leaked document shows
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency developed plans to conduct covert attacks on Russian forces in Syria using secret Kurdish help, according to a leaked top secret U.S. intelligence document.
The introduction of a new battlefield — thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine — appeared designed to impose costs and casualties on Russia and its Wagner paramilitary group, which is active in Syria, and possibly force Moscow to redeploy resources from Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directed a halt to the planning in December, but the leaked document, based on intelligence gathered as of Jan. 23, lays out in detail how the planning progressed and how such a campaign could proceed if Ukraine revived it.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency developed plans to conduct covert attacks on Russian forces in Syria using secret Kurdish help, according to a leaked top secret U.S. intelligence document.
The introduction of a new battlefield — thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine — appeared designed to impose costs and casualties on Russia and its Wagner paramilitary group, which is active in Syria, and possibly force Moscow to redeploy resources from Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directed a halt to the planning in December, but the leaked document, based on intelligence gathered as of Jan. 23, lays out in detail how the planning progressed and how such a campaign could proceed if Ukraine revived it.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- A Russian warplane accidentally fired on the Russian city of Belgorod, the country’s defense ministry said, according to Tass, a Russian news agency. The incident resulted in damaged residential buildings, Tass reported.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO” during his first trip to the country since the Russian invasion. “And over time, our support will help you make this possible.”
- Ukraine continues to hold Bakhmut’s western edge, despite suggestions from Washington months ago that Kyiv cut its losses and let the city go, according to a leaked classified U.S. assessment obtained by The Post.
- Denmark and the Netherlands will donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to the Danish Foreign Ministry.
- A group of Republican lawmakers said they would oppose further aid to Ukraine unless it is “linked to a clear diplomatic strategy designed to bring this war” to an end.
More live updates here.
- A Russian warplane accidentally fired on the Russian city of Belgorod, the country’s defense ministry said, according to Tass, a Russian news agency. The incident resulted in damaged residential buildings, Tass reported.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO” during his first trip to the country since the Russian invasion. “And over time, our support will help you make this possible.”
- Ukraine continues to hold Bakhmut’s western edge, despite suggestions from Washington months ago that Kyiv cut its losses and let the city go, according to a leaked classified U.S. assessment obtained by The Post.
- Denmark and the Netherlands will donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to the Danish Foreign Ministry.
- A group of Republican lawmakers said they would oppose further aid to Ukraine unless it is “linked to a clear diplomatic strategy designed to bring this war” to an end.
More live updates here.
Ukraine defended Bakhmut despite U.S. warnings in leaked documents
BAKHMUT, Ukraine — Months after dire warnings from Washington that Ukraine would not be able to hold Bakhmut against an onslaught of Russian mercenaries, Ukrainian forces still cling to the city’s western edge in what has stretched into the longest and most deadly fight of the war.
U.S. assessments were bleak as early as January, according to previously unreported classified U.S. intelligence documents. Washington warned of the potential encirclement of Ukraine’s forces in Bakhmut and suggested Kyiv should cut its losses and let the city go.
An assessment marked “top secret” cautioned that “steady” Russian advances since November “had jeopardized Ukraine’s ability to hold the city,” and Ukrainian forces would probably be “at risk of encirclement, unless they withdraw within the next month.”
Read the full story here.
BAKHMUT, Ukraine — Months after dire warnings from Washington that Ukraine would not be able to hold Bakhmut against an onslaught of Russian mercenaries, Ukrainian forces still cling to the city’s western edge in what has stretched into the longest and most deadly fight of the war.
U.S. assessments were bleak as early as January, according to previously unreported classified U.S. intelligence documents. Washington warned of the potential encirclement of Ukraine’s forces in Bakhmut and suggested Kyiv should cut its losses and let the city go.
An assessment marked “top secret” cautioned that “steady” Russian advances since November “had jeopardized Ukraine’s ability to hold the city,” and Ukrainian forces would probably be “at risk of encirclement, unless they withdraw within the next month.”
Read the full story here.
Russia bombed its own city, defense ministry says
RIGA, Latvia — A Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb on a Russian city near the Ukrainian border late Thursday, injuring three people and creating a massive crater on the street — the latest mishap in Moscow’s brutal war against its neighbor.
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged it was friendly fire, saying overnight that a Su-34 supersonic fighter jet had accidentally discharged a munition.
“As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod, there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition,” the ministry said, according to TASS state news agency.
Videos from the scene showed piles of twisted metal and chunks of concrete splattered on the street, several damaged cars and apartment buildings with blown-out windows and destroyed walls.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — A Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb on a Russian city near the Ukrainian border late Thursday, injuring three people and creating a massive crater on the street — the latest mishap in Moscow’s brutal war against its neighbor.
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged it was friendly fire, saying overnight that a Su-34 supersonic fighter jet had accidentally discharged a munition.
“As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod, there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition,” the ministry said, according to TASS state news agency.
Videos from the scene showed piles of twisted metal and chunks of concrete splattered on the street, several damaged cars and apartment buildings with blown-out windows and destroyed walls.
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- A Russian warplane accidentally fired on the Russian city of Belgorod, the country’s Defense Ministry said, describing it as “an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition.”
- All NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will eventually join the alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday, but he emphasized that “the main focus now is, of course, on how to ensure that Ukraine prevails.”
- Russian officials sought to build up antiwar sentiment in Germany to dampen Europe’s support for Ukraine, according to a trove of sensitive Russian documents largely dated from July to November that were obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.
- Ukraine continues to hold Bakhmut’s western edge, despite suggestions from Washington months ago that Kyiv cut its losses and let the city go, according to a leaked classified U.S. assessment obtained by The Post.
More live updates here.
- A Russian warplane accidentally fired on the Russian city of Belgorod, the country’s Defense Ministry said, describing it as “an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition.”
- All NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will eventually join the alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday, but he emphasized that “the main focus now is, of course, on how to ensure that Ukraine prevails.”
- Russian officials sought to build up antiwar sentiment in Germany to dampen Europe’s support for Ukraine, according to a trove of sensitive Russian documents largely dated from July to November that were obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.
- Ukraine continues to hold Bakhmut’s western edge, despite suggestions from Washington months ago that Kyiv cut its losses and let the city go, according to a leaked classified U.S. assessment obtained by The Post.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The United States will begin training Ukrainians on Abrams battle tanks next month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
- Ukraine’s top military intelligence official was arrested in absentia for terrorism charges, Russian state media reported.
- There is still constant shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the U.N. nuclear agency said.
- Canada announced a new military support package for Kyiv. The military assistance, worth around $29 million, includes sniper rifles and ammunition and radios, but most of the money is destined for a NATO fund for Ukraine.
More live updates here.
- The United States will begin training Ukrainians on Abrams battle tanks next month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
- Ukraine’s top military intelligence official was arrested in absentia for terrorism charges, Russian state media reported.
- There is still constant shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the U.N. nuclear agency said.
- Canada announced a new military support package for Kyiv. The military assistance, worth around $29 million, includes sniper rifles and ammunition and radios, but most of the money is destined for a NATO fund for Ukraine.
More live updates here.
Kremlin tries to build antiwar coalition in Germany, documents show
BERLIN — When 13,000 demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate on Feb. 25 to call for an end to weapons supplies to Ukraine, the protest was led by Sahra Wagenknecht, a member of parliament for Germany’s far-left Die Linke party and a firebrand with national ambitions.
Among the crowd in Berlin was Jürgen Elsässer, editor of a far-right-wing magazine, and dozens of members of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Elsässer’s Compact magazine had recently declared on its cover that Wagenknecht was: “The best chancellor — a candidate for the left and the right.”
The coming together of political opposites in Berlin under the banner of peace had been percolating for months. But marrying Germany’s extremes is an explicit Kremlin goal, according to a trove of sensitive Russian documents largely dated from July to November that were obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Post.
Read the full story here.
BERLIN — When 13,000 demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate on Feb. 25 to call for an end to weapons supplies to Ukraine, the protest was led by Sahra Wagenknecht, a member of parliament for Germany’s far-left Die Linke party and a firebrand with national ambitions.
Among the crowd in Berlin was Jürgen Elsässer, editor of a far-right-wing magazine, and dozens of members of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Elsässer’s Compact magazine had recently declared on its cover that Wagenknecht was: “The best chancellor — a candidate for the left and the right.”
The coming together of political opposites in Berlin under the banner of peace had been percolating for months. But marrying Germany’s extremes is an explicit Kremlin goal, according to a trove of sensitive Russian documents largely dated from July to November that were obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Post.
Read the full story here.
How Brad Paisley became the most outspoken country star to support Ukraine
Most country singers avoid any topic that could bring them backlash. Brad Paisley has never been one of those country singers.
In recent months, Paisley has become the most outspoken Nashville star in support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion last year, culminating when he joined a bipartisan delegation of senators — Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — for a trip to Kyiv and in-person meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During a news conference in St. Michael’s Square, Paisley broke out his guitar and played “Same Here,” his new song that features a spoken-word cameo from Zelensky, and sang the chorus of John Denver’s “Country Roads.”
“All of the things I’ve done in the last few months have been — well, every single one ... is kind of an impossible thing to have happened,” Paisley said in a phone interview. “And they’re all happening.”
Read the full story here.
Most country singers avoid any topic that could bring them backlash. Brad Paisley has never been one of those country singers.
In recent months, Paisley has become the most outspoken Nashville star in support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion last year, culminating when he joined a bipartisan delegation of senators — Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — for a trip to Kyiv and in-person meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During a news conference in St. Michael’s Square, Paisley broke out his guitar and played “Same Here,” his new song that features a spoken-word cameo from Zelensky, and sang the chorus of John Denver’s “Country Roads.”
“All of the things I’ve done in the last few months have been — well, every single one ... is kind of an impossible thing to have happened,” Paisley said in a phone interview. “And they’re all happening.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- More than 20 German diplomats will be expelled, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency reported Saturday, citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
- The German Foreign Ministry acknowledged that Russian diplomatic staffers were on their way out of Frankfurt. “
- Nine new mechanized Ukrainian brigades are ready for combat, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters after the 11th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a gathering of U.S. allies and partners interested in providing aid to Kyiv.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed faith that Ukraine would retake more territory.
- Authorities in Belgorod, Russia, removed an explosive device that had prompted evacuations Saturday, according to Mayor Valentin Demidov’s Telegram page.
More live updates here.
- More than 20 German diplomats will be expelled, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency reported Saturday, citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
- The German Foreign Ministry acknowledged that Russian diplomatic staffers were on their way out of Frankfurt. “
- Nine new mechanized Ukrainian brigades are ready for combat, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters after the 11th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a gathering of U.S. allies and partners interested in providing aid to Kyiv.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed faith that Ukraine would retake more territory.
- Authorities in Belgorod, Russia, removed an explosive device that had prompted evacuations Saturday, according to Mayor Valentin Demidov’s Telegram page.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia told its citizens to avoid travel to Canada due to alleged incidents of discrimination and physical attacks. It did not substantiate the accusations.
- Authorities in the Russian city of Belgorod removed an explosive device from a residential area. The city evacuated the area on Saturday, but people have since returned home, Mayor Valentin Demidov wrote.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced new measures targeting 322 companies and numerous other entities. The blacklist includes Russian weapons manufacturers and those who help Russia circumvent punitive measures.
More live updates here.
- Russia told its citizens to avoid travel to Canada due to alleged incidents of discrimination and physical attacks. It did not substantiate the accusations.
- Authorities in the Russian city of Belgorod removed an explosive device from a residential area. The city evacuated the area on Saturday, but people have since returned home, Mayor Valentin Demidov wrote.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced new measures targeting 322 companies and numerous other entities. The blacklist includes Russian weapons manufacturers and those who help Russia circumvent punitive measures.
More live updates here.
An intellectual battle rages: Is the U.S. in a proxy war with Russia?
Three days before the Feb. 24 anniversary of his Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin outlined what he had learned during a year of war. With its ever-increasing supply of sophisticated weapons, Putin said, the West was now using Ukraine as a “testing range” for its plans to destroy Russia.
Its goal was “to spark a war in Europe, and to eliminate competitors by using a proxy force,” he said in a presidential address. “They plan to finish us once and for all.”
Putin has come a long way since the morning of the invasion, when he outlined a brief “special military operation” that would permanently rescue breakaway regions of Ukraine — Crimea and part of the eastern Donbas region — from the “humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime” during the previous eight years of low-level conflict.
Read the full story here.
Three days before the Feb. 24 anniversary of his Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin outlined what he had learned during a year of war. With its ever-increasing supply of sophisticated weapons, Putin said, the West was now using Ukraine as a “testing range” for its plans to destroy Russia.
Its goal was “to spark a war in Europe, and to eliminate competitors by using a proxy force,” he said in a presidential address. “They plan to finish us once and for all.”
Putin has come a long way since the morning of the invasion, when he outlined a brief “special military operation” that would permanently rescue breakaway regions of Ukraine — Crimea and part of the eastern Donbas region — from the “humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime” during the previous eight years of low-level conflict.
Read the full story here.
In Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops cling to western edge of a destroyed city
BAKHMUT, Ukraine — Moving between apartment blocks, small teams of Ukrainian and Russian ground forces are battling for control of Bakhmut’s western edge.
“We can attack and repel them for a day or two, or they can advance, and we have to retreat again,” said a 35-year old Ukrainian junior sergeant responsible for holding a position in a high-rise building just a few yards from the front line. Like others in this report, he spoke on condition that he only be identified by his rank and call sign “Bandit” in keeping with military protocol.
For months, Ukraine and Russia have flooded Bakhmut with reinforcements and carted away thousands of dead and wounded in what has become the longest, bloodiest battle of the war. Now, after eight months of Ukraine steadily ceding territory, the fight is closing in on just a few square miles of the city’s west.
Read more here.
BAKHMUT, Ukraine — Moving between apartment blocks, small teams of Ukrainian and Russian ground forces are battling for control of Bakhmut’s western edge.
“We can attack and repel them for a day or two, or they can advance, and we have to retreat again,” said a 35-year old Ukrainian junior sergeant responsible for holding a position in a high-rise building just a few yards from the front line. Like others in this report, he spoke on condition that he only be identified by his rank and call sign “Bandit” in keeping with military protocol.
For months, Ukraine and Russia have flooded Bakhmut with reinforcements and carted away thousands of dead and wounded in what has become the longest, bloodiest battle of the war. Now, after eight months of Ukraine steadily ceding territory, the fight is closing in on just a few square miles of the city’s west.
Read more here.
Analysis: Brazil’s Lula reaches out to China and Russia, stoking U.S. unease
In hindsight, it may have been a high-water mark in the relationship between the administrations in Washington and Brasília. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on President Biden in the White House in February. The visit came weeks after far-right protesters in the Brazilian capital had stormed the major institutions of the country’s federal democracy in an angry challenge to Lula’s election as president. Their failed insurrection in some ways mirrored the experience of the U.S. two years prior and loomed over the meetings between the two leaders.
A joint statement from Biden and Lula affirmed their pledge “to work together to strengthen democratic institutions” and “continue to reject extremism and violence.” On a number of other fronts, they seemed to be in happy ideological agreement as left-leaning leaders of the Western hemisphere’s largest democracies.
Read the full story here.
In hindsight, it may have been a high-water mark in the relationship between the administrations in Washington and Brasília. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on President Biden in the White House in February. The visit came weeks after far-right protesters in the Brazilian capital had stormed the major institutions of the country’s federal democracy in an angry challenge to Lula’s election as president. Their failed insurrection in some ways mirrored the experience of the U.S. two years prior and loomed over the meetings between the two leaders.
A joint statement from Biden and Lula affirmed their pledge “to work together to strengthen democratic institutions” and “continue to reject extremism and violence.” On a number of other fronts, they seemed to be in happy ideological agreement as left-leaning leaders of the Western hemisphere’s largest democracies.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Latvia summoned China’s chargé d’affaires in Riga to explain the “unacceptable comments” by Lu Shaye on French television, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said, adding that the move was coordinated with Lithuania and Estonia.
- An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Lu’s comments resembled Russian “propaganda.”
- The United States has not issued visas to journalists who planned to cover Lavrov’s trip, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday on Telegram.
More live updates here.
- Latvia summoned China’s chargé d’affaires in Riga to explain the “unacceptable comments” by Lu Shaye on French television, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said, adding that the move was coordinated with Lithuania and Estonia.
- An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Lu’s comments resembled Russian “propaganda.”
- The United States has not issued visas to journalists who planned to cover Lavrov’s trip, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday on Telegram.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The Russian invasion of Ukraine spurred a steep increase in the defense expenditure of Western and Central European countries, with spending exceeding that of 1989, when the Cold War was drawing to a close, according to a new report.
- Russia accused the U.S. of violating its obligations by not issuing visas to journalists planning to cover Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s trip to the United Nations in New York, which began Monday.
- The Kremlin could end the Black Sea grain deal, which facilitates the export of Ukrainian grain, if the Group of Seven industrialized nations imposes a blanket ban on exports to Russia, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday.
- Ukraine has probably set up military positions on the eastern side of the strategically important Dnieper River in the Kherson region, the Institute for the Study of War said.
More live updates here.
- The Russian invasion of Ukraine spurred a steep increase in the defense expenditure of Western and Central European countries, with spending exceeding that of 1989, when the Cold War was drawing to a close, according to a new report.
- Russia accused the U.S. of violating its obligations by not issuing visas to journalists planning to cover Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s trip to the United Nations in New York, which began Monday.
- The Kremlin could end the Black Sea grain deal, which facilitates the export of Ukrainian grain, if the Group of Seven industrialized nations imposes a blanket ban on exports to Russia, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday.
- Ukraine has probably set up military positions on the eastern side of the strategically important Dnieper River in the Kherson region, the Institute for the Study of War said.
More live updates here.
Exclusive: At U.S. behest, Ukraine held off anniversary attacks on Russia
In February, with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine days away, officials in Kyiv were busy making plans to attack Moscow.
Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the country’s military intelligence directorate, the HUR, instructed one of his officers “to get ready for mass strikes on 24 February … with everything the HUR had,” according to a classified report from the U.S. National Security Agency. Officials even mused about a sea-based strike using TNT in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk.
Back in Washington, officials were secretly monitoring the Ukrainians’ plans. The White House had long worried that attacks inside Russia could provoke an aggressive response from the Kremlin.
On Feb. 22, two days before the anniversary, the CIA circulated a new classified report: The HUR “had agreed, at Washington’s request, to postpone strikes” on Moscow.
Read the full story here.
In February, with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine days away, officials in Kyiv were busy making plans to attack Moscow.
Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the country’s military intelligence directorate, the HUR, instructed one of his officers “to get ready for mass strikes on 24 February … with everything the HUR had,” according to a classified report from the U.S. National Security Agency. Officials even mused about a sea-based strike using TNT in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk.
Back in Washington, officials were secretly monitoring the Ukrainians’ plans. The White House had long worried that attacks inside Russia could provoke an aggressive response from the Kremlin.
On Feb. 22, two days before the anniversary, the CIA circulated a new classified report: The HUR “had agreed, at Washington’s request, to postpone strikes” on Moscow.
Read the full story here.
Russian mercenaries closely linked with Sudan’s warring generals
Over recent years, Russia’s paramilitary Wagner Group has established close ties with Sudan’s security forces and sought to exploit these connections to advance Moscow’s economic and military interests, including lucrative gold mining concessions and arms deals.
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Inside Sudan, Wagner has previously provided equipment and training to the security forces, advised government leaders and conducted information operations, according to a leaked U.S. intelligence document seen by The Washington Post.
But the outbreak of intense fighting last weekend between forces led by rival Sudanese generals, which has rocked the country and killed at least 400 people, has presented Moscow and its Kremlin-backed mercenaries with an urgent dilemma. They have a great deal to lose if they back the wrong side.
Read the full story here.
Over recent years, Russia’s paramilitary Wagner Group has established close ties with Sudan’s security forces and sought to exploit these connections to advance Moscow’s economic and military interests, including lucrative gold mining concessions and arms deals.
Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Inside Sudan, Wagner has previously provided equipment and training to the security forces, advised government leaders and conducted information operations, according to a leaked U.S. intelligence document seen by The Washington Post.
But the outbreak of intense fighting last weekend between forces led by rival Sudanese generals, which has rocked the country and killed at least 400 people, has presented Moscow and its Kremlin-backed mercenaries with an urgent dilemma. They have a great deal to lose if they back the wrong side.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its worldwide impact helped push global defense spending to a record high last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
In February, with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine days away, officials in Kyiv were busy making plans to attack Moscow — an effort Washington worked to head off, according to leaked documents, The Post reports.
- European countries including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania condemned comments by the Chinese ambassador to France, in which he questioned the legitimacy of former Soviet states.
- A discussion between France’s Foreign Ministry and Lu is expected Monday, after European lawmakers urged France’s foreign minister to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata over his remarks.
More live updates here.
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its worldwide impact helped push global defense spending to a record high last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
In February, with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine days away, officials in Kyiv were busy making plans to attack Moscow — an effort Washington worked to head off, according to leaked documents, The Post reports.
- European countries including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania condemned comments by the Chinese ambassador to France, in which he questioned the legitimacy of former Soviet states.
- A discussion between France’s Foreign Ministry and Lu is expected Monday, after European lawmakers urged France’s foreign minister to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata over his remarks.
More live updates here.