Baths in blood extracted from the antlers of Siberian deer. Excrements scooped up by loyal officials to evade analysis. Mysterious absences for emergency medical treatment.
The claims made about the health of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be 70 in October, are lurid and macabre, as well as impossible to verify.
But they illustrate how little is known about the health of a leader whose medical condition is fundamental to the future of Europe, all the more so after he ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Over the course of Putin’s two decades in power, remarkably little has emerged about his health, beyond the famous images provided by the Kremlin showing him bare-chested in a bid to project an image of macho strength.
But scrutiny has now increased with the war that Putin unleashed against Russia’s neighbor.
What are the claims?
The most in-depth investigation into Putin’s health was published in April by the Russian-language news site Proekt, which used open-source data to conclude that the president’s trips to the southern resort city of Sochi were synchronized with those of a large number of doctors.
They included specialist in thyroid cancer Yevgeny Selivanov, whose visits to Sochi frequently coincided with Putin’s sudden absences from the public eye over the past years.
It also alleged that one of the methods used by Putin to ensure longevity were baths in blood extracted from deer antlers in Siberia, a method recommended by his friend Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is from Siberia.
French weekly Paris Match this month said that on visits to Saudi Arabia in 2019 and France in 2017, Putin was accompanied by a team whenever he went to the toilet, to keep his excretions so no foreign power could medically analyze his urine or stools.
Even more sensationally, U.S. publication Newsweek said in June that Putin had undergone treatment for advanced cancer in April, citing American intelligence. The U.S. National Security Council denied the existence of such briefings.
Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, in a mid-May interview with Sky News claimed without evidence that Putin has cancer.
Proekt also alleged that the Kremlin set up a fake office in Sochi that purported to look like the one at his suburban Moscow residence to make it look like he was working in the Russian capital rather than resting at the Black Sea resort.
What information is there?
The only time the Kremlin confirmed Putin was suffering a health problem was the fall of 2012, when he canceled several meetings and vanished from public life after being seen moving awkwardly.
The Kremlin at the time said he had pulled a muscle and one newspaper said he aggravated a back problem during a stunt when he flew with cranes on a motorized hang-glider. But Proekt alleges it was here that his major health problems began.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also seen sometimes odd conduct from the Russian leader.
The Kremlin said he had been vaccinated, but unlike almost all other world leaders, no images ever emerged of his jab. Those coming into close contact with him, including journalists, were subject to the most stringent precautions such as days of quarantine.
Visiting world leaders who did not accept the Kremlin’s stringent conditions — such as French President Emmanuel Macron and UN chief Antonio Guterres — were banished to the end of a now notoriously long table.
Those who accepted the Kremlin’s demands, including a Russian Covid test, and possibly quarantine, such as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan were allowed a handshake and even an embrace.
A meeting with Shoigu on Ukraine in late April also fueled rumors with Putin tightly gripping the table in what some saw a bid to stop body tremors. Numerous videos have also shown one of Putin’s feet fidgeting during meetings.
The Kremlin has meanwhile postponed Putin’s annual direct line phone-in with the Russian people, usually a fixture in June, to a later date without explanation.
Huge efforts appear to have been made to protect Putin. In his 2020 annual news conference only a handful of reporters — quarantined and tested beforehand — were allowed in the room with him, while others massed in another hall.
In 2021, the event returned to its usual format but with a vast distance between the front row of journalists and Putin’s desk. Even now, with the business of government returning to normal in most of the world, Putin conducts most domestic business via video.
What does the Kremlin say?
The Kremlin, via Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has vehemently denied all claims that the Russian president is suffering from any serious health problem.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took the highly unusual step in an interview with French television channel TF1 in late May to deny Putin was ill, saying “I don’t think that sane people can see in this person signs of some kind of illness or ailment” and claiming that the Russian leader appeared in public “every day.”
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, ostracized by the West but a frequent face-to-face interlocutor with Putin, insisted in a March interview with Japanese television that the Russian leader was in rude health.
“If you think that something is wrong with President Putin or something happened, you are, as we say, the most pitiful person on earth,” he said.
In recent public appearances — including a forum on Peter the Great and a meeting with Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdymukhamedov — Putin has also shown no sign of physical frailty.
Why does it matter?
Putin remains the undisputed leader of Russia and most observers expect him to seek a third consecutive mandate in 2024, after recent controversial constitutional changes allowing him to do so.
There is no obvious successor and, as commander in chief of the Russian forces, it was the decision of Putin to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.
“The country does not know a word of truth about the physical and emotional health of the person who runs it,” said the editor-in-chief of Proekt, Roman Badanin.
“The whole planet does not know if a person who could destroy all of humanity by pressing a red button is healthy.”
Fresh pictures of ‘severely ill’ dictator Vladimir Putin appear to show the enfeebled dictator gripping onto a table so hard his hand bulges – adding credence to the rumours that he’s not long for this world.
Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February, there has been intense speculation on his health with the despot rumoured to suffer from severe cancer and Parkinsons’ disease.
And as criticism of Russia’s inglorious leader has increased, his public appearances have grown few and far between, with each fresh sighting showing the ‘strong man’ noticeably weaker.
In the new picture, taken in a meeting with Sergey Kulikov, RusNano State Corporation CEO, Vlad’s hand is firmly gripping the table to the extent his veins are bulging.
Putin is seen holding on to the table constantly with the veins on his hand on full display.
The meeting has sparked further health rumours (Image: via REUTERS)
In another photo, a dimple in Putin’s thumb is visible from the pressure of gripping the desk as he handles some paperwork.
One way of minimising a spasm, caused by such diseases, is to tense the muscle in the affected area, or grip something.
Vladimir Putin’s possessive relationship with furniture has been well documented as this is not the first time he’s gotten to grips with inanimate objects.
He was previously seen gripping a table for 13 minutes straight in a meeting released by Russian state TV.
Vladimir Putin meeting St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov on March 1 (Image: Twitter/KremlinRussia_E)
Ever the pathetic warlord, rumours abound that the Russian strongman may have only invaded Ukraine in part because he has some form of degenerative illness in a bid to enshrine his legacy in Russian history.
At the start of March speaking exclusively to the Daily Star, a US intelligence source said Putin’s “puffy face” was a sign he was undergoing treatment for terminal bowel cancer.
The Pentagon source said: “Our people are confident he is ill.”
They added: “His look suggests he is in pain and our people suggest his angry look is most likely as a result of him being in agony.”
To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
The leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Romania pledged support for Ukraine to become a candidate to join the European Union after talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a visit to Kyiv intended to show unity in the face of Russia’s invasion.
swzkxzh}ai33hdkoi03bwd42_media_dl_1.png
Bloomberg RSS
(Bloomberg) — The leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Romania pledged support for Ukraine to become a candidate to join the European Union after talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a visit to Kyiv intended to show unity in the face of Russia’s invasion.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
They traveled overnight by train and were accompanied by Romania’s president in a show of solidarity ahead of an expected recommendation Friday from the European Commission that Ukraine be granted candidate status. The discussions sought to soothe strained ties after their governments faced criticism for engaging too closely with Russian President Vladimir Putin and being slow to deliver the heavy weapons needed to defeat his invasion.
European natural gas prices spiked as Moscow tightened its flows to the continent in a move Germany called politically motivated. NATO defense ministers also met in Brussels to discuss support for Ukraine’s defense and strengthening the military alliance’s eastern flank.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
Scholz, Macron and Draghi Boost Ukraine’s EU Membership Bid
Germany Sets Path for Beefed-Up NATO Defenses on Eastern Flank
Putin’s Forum Preaches Self-Reliance as Foreigners Stay Away
Powell Unsure on How New Shocks Like Ukraine Impact Inflation
US Giving Artillery, Rockets, Ammo in $1 Billion Ukraine Package
(All times CET)
US Commits to 3 Years Technical Aid for Ukraine Agriculture (6:03 p.m.)
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a three-year agreement with Ukraine to share information and expertise to improve the nation’s farm productivity and supply-chain strength.
“Russia is using food as a weapon and a tool of war to threaten the livelihoods of those around the world, and that is something the agriculture community cannot and will not stand for, Vilsack said in a statement on the agreement, announced after a series of meetings on Ukraine he held at the United Nations.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Germany, France, Italy Offer Support to Ukraine’s EU Candidacy (4:35 p.m.)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi backed Ukraine’s efforts to join the European Union, adding momentum and a show of support in the country’s efforts to fend off Russia’s invasion.
The leaders of the EU’s three biggest economies condemned Moscow’s attacks and called for investigations into alleged war crimes. They were joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, as a representative of the bloc’s east, in the highest-profile delegation to visit Kyiv since Russia invaded.
“All four of us support the status of immediate candidate for membership,” Macron said. He added that France will deliver six additional Caesar cannons in addition to the 12 already transferred to Ukraine’s military.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Ukrainian Diplomat Calls on US for More Sanctions (4:32 p.m.)
Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova said the US should increase sanctions on Russia, including full blocking penalites on all of the country’s banks, increased restrictions against individuals close to Putin and others responsible for the conduct of the war and called for the country to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.
“There is no such thing as private banking in Russia,” Markarova said, adding that the Kremlin can order financial institutions to step in and support those that have been sanctioned. “We still believe that the more Russian banks are put — and preferably all — on the full blocking sanctions list, the faster they will significantly drop in their possibility to finance the war.”
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Dutch Foil Russian Plot to Infiltrate War Crimes Court (4:16 p.m.)
The Dutch secret service said it foiled an attempt by a Russian intelligence officer to infiltrate the International Criminal Court in The Hague posing as a Brazilian intern.
The alleged spy tried to enter the Netherlands in April and was sent back to Brazil after being recognized as a danger to national security, the service said. Covert access to the court’s building and systems would have been highly valuable to Russia because of the court’s investigations into the nation’s invasion of Ukraine, it said.
Putin’s Forum Preaches Self-Reliance as Foreigners Stay Away (2:47 p.m.)
Top Russian officials told the Kremlin’s annual economic showcase that the country is bearing up better under sanctions than they initially feared, touting a new model focused on domestic production as the country faces unprecedented international isolation over its invasion of Ukraine.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Fewer foreigners turned up at this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an event that in the past drew major global leaders and top executives from the world’s biggest companies. They were replaced by local businesspeople and visitors from the Middle East, Asia and Russian-backed separatist-held areas of Ukraine who attended sessions on Russia’s need to become self-reliant, according to attendees.
Germany Floats Proposal to Beef Up NATO’s Eastern Defenses (1:29 p.m.)
Germany is proposing a new model to boost NATO’s defenses on the alliance’s eastern frontier with Russia by identifying units that can be deployed to Lithuania at short notice and link up with allied troops already on the ground, according to people familiar with the issue.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
The approach would be an alternative to basing new troops more permanently in the most vulnerable member states. While some countries are looking at the plan for cues, it falls short of previous demands by NATO’s Baltic members, which have sought a permanent presence of a significant number of soldiers that could immediately counter any attack.
European Gas Surges 24% as Russian Cuts Escalate (1:17 p.m.)
Europe’s energy crisis deepened after Moscow reduced gas flows through the Nord Stream pipeline in a move that coincided with the visit to Kyiv of the EU leaders,.
Germany’s top energy regulator urged consumers and industry to scale back natural-gas consumption to help fill storage sites ahead of the next heating season after Russia curtailed deliveries.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Benchmark gas futures increased as much as 24%, adding to a 46% rise already this week. Germany has called the reductions “politically motivated” and aimed at unsettling markets, challenging Gazprom PJSC’s statement that the halt was due to technical issues.
UK Sanctions Russian Linked to Forced Transfers and Adoptions (1:06 p.m.)
The UK sanctioned Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for her alleged involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and their subsequent adoption by Russians.
The British government also leveled penalties against Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill for his support of the war, a number of other allies of Putin, as well as military commanders and Russian and Myanmar arms dealers.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
During their visit, Scholz, Draghi, Macron and Iohannis were escorted through the heavily shelled Kyiv suburb of Irpin to get a direct impression of some of the damage caused by Russia’s attack.
Television footage showed the four leaders standing with grim faces in the streets of Irpin — which was under Russian occupation for a month and the site of alleged war crimes — as they were briefed by local officials. They will hold a news conference later on Thursday after the talks with Zelenskiy.
Scholz said in a tweet that the “brutal destruction” in Irpin has “long since become a symbol for the unimaginable cruelty of the Russian war and for senseless violence.”
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Differing Accounts Given of Xi-Putin Phone Call (10:30 a.m.)
Russia and China gave alternative accounts of President Xi Jinping’s birthday call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, as both sides seek to manage perceptions of their relationship following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin readout said the two men discussed increasing economic cooperation, trade and military-technical ties and implied the Chinese leader endorsed Putin’s justification for the war. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, by contrast, said Xi “actively promoted world peace and the stability of the global economic order.”
Sanctions ‘Having Smaller Impact Than Feared’ (10 a.m.)
Top officials told the Kremlin’s annual economic showcase that Russia is bearing up better under sanctions than initially feared, touting a new model focused on domestic production as the country faces unprecedented international isolation.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Turnout at this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was down sharply from previous ones, which drew major global leaders and top global companies. Visitors this year include officials from the Middle East and Asia, as well as representatives from the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Engie Says Russia Reduced Gas Supply (9:30 a.m.)
France’s Engie SA said Russia has reduced gas shipments, echoing similar reports from German and Italian utilities as tensions escalate between Moscow and Europe.
Natural gas prices on the continent have jumped after Russia cut supplies through the largest link to Europe to less than half usual volumes. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck accused the Kremlin of trying to unsettle markets and prop up prices, but said that security of supply was guaranteed for now.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Kyiv Mayor Welcomes Leaders’ Visit (9 a.m.)
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the visit by the three EU leaders “is a sign of great support at a time when it is still a risk” to travel to the capital and that it “above all has great symbolic importance.”
“There can only be stability in Europe if Putin finally ends this cruel war against our country,” Klitschko was quoted as saying by Germany’s Bild newspaper.
UK, Denmark To Hold Ukraine Donor Conference (8:45 a.m.)
Britain and Denmark plan to organize a donor conference in August at which 14 countries will discuss how to expand military aid for Ukraine, Zelenskiy said. “We have another signal that defense support for Ukraine will be continued,” he said in a statement published by his office.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Germany Lagging on Weapons Deliveries: Institute (7:30 a.m.)
The volume of weapons promised to Ukraine has increased significantly in recent weeks though Germany in particular is lagging behind on actual deliveries, according to the latest data collected by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Poland and the UK have pledged and delivered considerably more than Germany, while Canada and Norway have made slightly smaller pledges but also sent much more, the institute said, citing data through June 7. In absolute terms, the US has already provided weapons worth around 10 times more than Germany, it added. “This helps to explain the Ukrainian government’s urgent appeals to the German government,” according to Christoph Trebesch, a Kiel Institute research director and head of the team compiling the Ukraine Support Tracker.
US Sails Seized Russian Megayacht Toward Hawaii (6:00 a.m.)
US authorities are sailing the $325 million yacht they seized last week that’s linked to Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov toward Hawaii — a big win for the Biden administration as it looks to confiscate Russian assets and punish oligarchs for their country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 348-foot Amadea, now sailing under an American flag and manned by a new crew, is headed for the Hawaiian Islands, according to vessel data compiled by Bloomberg and space-based analytics firm Spire Global Inc. Follow the Amadea’s journey here.
Mikhail Baryshnikov attends the “Immersive Van Gogh” art experience at Pier 36 in New York.
Mikhail Baryshnikov is blasting Vladimir Putin over the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine, saying he “does not care about people at all.”
“He’s trying to create a new history of Russia,” said the acclaimed ballet dancer — who was born in Latvia when the country was part of the Soviet Union and famously defected to Canada in 1974 — in a preview clip released Thursday from an upcoming interview on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
The full interview with Baryshnikov airs this weekend.
“How’s it possible he has kids himself?” Baryshnikov asked CBS’s Anthony Mason of Putin. “How’s it possible?”
Baryshnikov, the son of Russian parents, said witnessing the horrors of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine since the conflict began in February compelled him to speak out.
“I couldn’t stay silent this time,” Baryshnikov said.
Earlier this year, the former “Sex and the City” star co-founded True Russia, an online fundraising campaign for Ukrainian refugees.
When Mason noted that Russians who publicly criticize Putin have “a way of kind of disappearing,” Baryshnikov replied, “Listen, I will be 75-years-old.”
Scientists believe they have uncovered the origins of the Black Death, more than 600 years after the plague killed millions of people in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Despite decades of study, researchers have not been able to pinpoint where the medieval bubonic plague began.
Now the answer may have been provided by ancient teeth taken from graves.
The plague originated in Kyrgyzstan, central Asia, in the 1330s, analysis of DNA from the teeth of skeletons suggests.
“Our study puts to rest one of the biggest and most fascinating questions in history and determines when and where the single most notorious and infamous killer of humans began,” Dr Philip Slavin, a historian who helped make the discovery, said.
A team of Scottish and German scientists noticed a significant rise in burials near Lake Issyk Kul in the Tian Shan region of Kyrgyzstan from 1338 to 1339.
The researchers discovered that the cemeteries had been excavated in the late 1880s and about 30 skeletons taken.
The team, made up of scientists from the University of Stirling, the Max Planck Institute and the University of Tubingen, was able to track the skeletons down and take DNA from the teeth of seven people.
Sequencing, which determines the DNA structure, revealed that three people carried Yersinia pestis, a bacterium linked to the beginning of the Black Death outbreak before it arrived in Europe.
As part of the research, Dr Slavin studied the diaries of the excavations to match the skeletons to their headstones and translate the inscriptions, which were written in the Syriac language.
Image:The researchers studied skeletons from Tian Shan in Kyrgyzstan
Dr Maria Spyrou, of the University of Tubingen, and the first author of the study, said: “Despite the risk of environmental contamination and no guarantee that the bacteria would have been able to be preserved, we were able to sequence aDNA taken from seven individuals unearthed from two of these cemeteries.
“Most excitingly, we found aDNA of the plague bacterium in three individuals.”
Professor Johannes Krause, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, said: “Just like Covid, the Black Death was an emerging disease and the start of a huge pandemic that went on for some 500 years.
“It’s very important to understand actually in what circumstances did it emerge.”
The origins of the plague have been debated by historians since its appearance in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the 14th century.
The Black Death, considered one of the worst infectious diseases in human history, was the start of nearly 500 years of killer diseases known as the Second Plague Pandemic.
Advertisements – Advertising at The News And Times – advertising-newsandtimes.com | WE CONNECT!
The writer is an FT contributing editor and chair of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia, and fellow at IWM Vienna
Advertisements – Advertising at The News And Times – advertising-newsandtimes.com | WE CONNECT!
Rumour has it that, asked who are Vladimir Putin’s most trusted advisers, one of his inner circle replied drily: “Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great and Peter the Great.”
Last week, Russia’s president openly compared himself to Peter, and the invasion of Ukraine with the tsar’s expansionist wars of three centuries ago. To an untrained eye, his actions can easily look like an effort to restore the Soviet Union, or even the tsarist empire.
In reality, what is unfolding is a perverted end of the last European empire. The so-called russky mir, or “Russian world”, conceived as something culturally bigger than the Russian Federation, is being sacrificed on the altar of autocracy and Russian ethnicity. This vision is shorn of any appeal to universal values and all attractiveness to Russia’s neighbours. Putin’s desperate attempt to grab Ukrainian lands is a show of strength that comes at the cost of the collapse of Moscow’s soft power. With the assault on Ukraine, he has cut Russia’s ties to Europe by making Europeans disgusted with the country.
A new report from the European Council on Foreign Relations, based on a pan-European opinion poll, suggests the break with Russia is irreversible, at least in the short and medium term. A majority of Europeans have lost any illusions about integrating Russia into their world. Many support cutting economic, cultural and even diplomatic ties with Russia. Western sanctions have failed to change Russian foreign policy, but they have forced European governments to part with the idea that Moscow can ever be a reliable partner to the west.
In terms of soft power, the invasion of Ukraine has achieved two things: a decisive end to any lingering post-Soviet identity, and the degradation of Moscow’s use of the Soviet victory over Hitler as part of its national mythology and international reputation.
Before Russia’s annexation of Crimea, many Russian-speakers in Ukraine went about their lives not needing to ask if they were Russian or Ukrainian. Their passports didn’t define their identity. Now, when Russian troops kill thousands of people for insisting they are not Russian but Ukrainian, any semblance of a post-Soviet identity is gone forever.
War in Ukraine is not Putin’s Soviet moment but his anti-Soviet one. On the day he launched it, he spoke like some White general from the Russian civil war, not the Red colonel he actually was before the fall of communism. He declared Russians the real victims of the Soviet regime and Ukraine a fiction, an entity invented by Vladimir Lenin.
In building his autocracy, Putin has laid waste to the “Russian world”. This is best seen in the field of culture. Empires are most often born on the battlefield, but they die in the bookstore.
Only a decade ago, Russian-language sections were the densest in many Ukrainian bookstores. No longer. After the war, there will quite likely be no Russian-language sections at all. In European cities where, until this year, most people could hardly distinguish Russians from Ukrainians and Belarusians, they have now learnt that difference. For many Ukrainians on the streets of Warsaw or Berlin, it is a political statement to speak Russian. We can be sure that many of their children will never want or bother to learn the language.
The Russian language’s role in European cultural life may turn out to be another victim of Putin’s invasion. The Bolshevik revolution and the communist regime that followed killed millions, but they failed to extinguish foreigners’ interest in the Slavic tongue. Many leftists in the west and the global south saw Russian as the language of the revolution and were eager to learn it.
Putin’s colonial war in Ukraine will not tempt people outside Russia to start learning Russian. Quite the contrary. Moscow’s provocative definition of Russian-speakers in neighbouring countries as ethnically Russian dramatically diminishes the willingness of governments in these countries to encourage Russian-language education.
Before the war, Moscow’s middle class and Putin’s oligarchs thought and acted as if they belonged to both the Russian and the western world. Such an “amphibious” life is no longer possible. Barricaded identities are replacing multiple affiliations. In Russia, being “Russian” is now defined by genuine or feigned public support for Putin’s war with the west. In the west, being Russian is increasingly identified with not belonging to the west. Many Russians living outside Russia today feel like exiles.
Changing the nature of the border, and not simply the place of the border, between Russia and the west is the major objective of Putin’s war. Tragically, he is achieving that goal.
Advertisements – Advertising at The News And Times – advertising-newsandtimes.com | WE CONNECT!
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. announced it will send an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, as America and its allies provide longer-range weapons they say can make a difference in a fight where Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outgunned by their Russian invaders.
President Joe Biden and his top national security leaders said Wednesday the U.S. is moving as fast as possible to get critical weapons to the fight, even as Ukrainian officials protest that they need more, faster, in order to survive.
The latest package, the U.S. said, includes anti-ship missile launchers, howitzers and more rounds for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that U.S. forces are training Ukrainian troops on now. All are key weapons systems that Ukrainian leaders have urgently requested as they battle to stall Russia’s slow but steady march to conquer the eastern Donbas region.
“Gen. Milley and I have been in a number of fights. And when you’re in a fight, you can never get enough,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a press conference in Brussels, referring to Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“I certainly understand where the Ukrainians are coming from, and we’re gonna fight hard to give them everything they need.”
The HIMARS and anti-ship systems are the kinds of longer range capabilities that over time can make a difference in the fight, Milley said. He said Ukraine will have trained HIMARS crews in the fight in a few weeks.
“If they use the weapon properly and it’s employed properly, they ought to be able to take out a significant amount of targets and that will make a difference,” he said. But he also noted that the numbers clearly favor the Russians.
“In terms of artillery, they do outnumber, they out-gun and out-range” the Ukrainian forces.
The aid is the largest single tranche of weapons and equipment since the war began. Biden, who spoke by phone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for about 40 minutes Wednesday, also said the U.S. will send $225 million more in humanitarian assistance to provide safe drinking water, medical supplies, food, health care, shelter and money for families to buy essential items.
The U.S. remains committed, Biden said in a statement, “to supporting the Ukrainian people whose lives have been ripped apart by this war.”
The aid comes as Austin convened a meeting in Brussels of more than 45 nations to discuss support for Ukraine. At the start of the meeting, he warned that the West must step up weapons deliveries to Ukraine and prove its commitment to helping the country’s military fight along a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in a grinding war of attrition with Russia.
He told the participating nations, “We can’t afford to let up and we can’t lose steam. The stakes are too high.”
Overall, since the war began in late February, the U.S. has committed about $5.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. Officials said that about one-third of the latest $1 billion will be from presidential drawdown authority, which means the Pentagon will take weapons and equipment from it’s own stock and ship them to Ukraine. The remaining two-thirds would be equipment and weapons purchased from industry by the U.S. and then transferred to Ukraine.
Austin’s meeting, also attended by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, came on the opening day of a two-day gathering of NATO defense ministers at the alliance headquarters.
Increased arms supplies can’t come too soon for the Ukrainian forces battling to keep Russia from taking control of their country’s industrial east after more than 3½ months of war. In his nightly address to the nation, President Zelenskyy pleaded Tuesday for more and faster deliveries of Western arms, specifically asking for anti-missile defense systems.
“Allies are committed to continue providing the military equipment that Ukraine needs to prevail, including heavy weapons and long-range systems,” said Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary-general.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Tuesday that without help from the West, “we will not be able to win this war.” She said Ukraine uses 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, while Russia uses 10 times that many.
The defense ministers also planned to discuss moves to beef up forces along NATO’s own eastern flank and elsewhere, which have gathered strength since Russia invaded Ukraine.
“This will mean more presence, more capabilities and higher readiness, with more NATO forward deployed combat formations to strengthen our battlegroups in the East, more air, sea and cyber defenses, pre-positioned equipment and weapon stockpiles,” Stoltenberg said.
On a separate but related subject, he wouldn’t commit to a timeframe for Sweden and Finland joining NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is blocking the membership bids, accusing the Nordic nations of supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Turkey to be terrorists.
“My aim is to solve this issue as soon as possible, but since we are several nations involved in this process, there is no way to tell you exactly when we will solve it,” Stoltenberg said.
Because of Turkey’s concerns, “this will take some more time than we originally expected,” he said.
Erdogan signaled Wednesday he won’t back down.
“We will most definitely not change our stance until Sweden and Finland take clear, concrete and determined steps in the fight against terrorism,” Erdogan said in an address to his ruling party’s legislators.
All 30 NATO members must agree to admit new members.
___
Corder reported from The Hague, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the U.S. Congress and directly to President Joe Biden to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine. (March 16)
Can the United States supply advanced weapons to Ukraine yet remain neutral in its war with Russia? Of course – it has been done before.
During the London Blitz in World War II, Britain stood alone against the Nazi onslaught. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who in his recent speech to the British Parliament channeled Prime Minister Winston Churchill, might recall Churchill’s February 1941 message to President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Give us the tools and we will finish the job.”
The United States was officially neutral at that point in the war but was actively helping the British. Shortly after conflict broke out in 1939, Roosevelt instituted the “cash and carry” policy of arms sales, and in answer to Churchill’s call for the tools of war, Washington passed the Lend-Lease Act. Britain got what it needed to stem the tide.
Biden denies Ukraine critical weapons
However, President Joe Biden is no Franklin Roosevelt. When Poland offered Soviet-era MiG fighters to embattled Ukraine, the Biden administration blocked the transfer. This not only denied Ukraine critical weapons but also strained the NATO alliance during a crisis that demands unity.
True, the United States and other free-world countries are supplying other types of military assistance to Ukraine, such as portable anti-tank and anti-air weapons. On Wednesday, Biden authorized an additional $800 million in aid, and Congress has approved more than $13 billion in military and development assistance. Intelligence sharing has been ongoing. Humanitarian and medical aid is also pouring into the region from around the world. All of this is to the good.
But why not give the Ukrainians the tools they need to win? The usual one-word answer is “escalation.” The assumption is that there is an unstated threshold of support, which, once crossed, would result in an escalatory spiral, perhaps to the level of nuclear conflict. Biden invoked the escalation model when he said sending the Polish MiGs would start “World War III.”
By this logic, Washington can give Kyiv a little but not too much. Our policy seems to be to let Ukraine lose the war, just more slowly.
Soviets supplied North Vietnam
The Soviet Union was not concerned about escalation when it supplied America’s enemies during the Vietnam War. The Kremlin gave North Vietnam all manner of supplies, including advanced weaponry and aircraft. Moscow sent its most sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons to defend Hanoi, and even supplied crews that shot down American aircraft. (Ironically, many of these troops were from Ukraine.)
And while the war raged, Washington and Moscow were actively negotiating important nuclear arms controls agreements. Strategic-level diplomacy was wholly detached from what was happening on the ground in Southeast Asia.
Current U.S. policymakers seem oblivious of the historical examples of American support – overt or covert – for friendly governments fighting adversary states. The Kosciuszko Squadron of American World War I veterans played a pivotal role in securing Polish independence against the Bolsheviks in 1919-20. Pilots of the American Volunteer Group, aka the Flying Tigers, flew American-made aircraft against Japanese forces over China.
And if the Biden administration is worried about MiGs flying into Ukraine from Poland, then just pull them over the border like the United States did when transferring planes to Canada in 1940 to get around Neutrality Acts restrictions.
The Kremlin has threatened to interdict arms shipments, which might explain the expanding Russian strikes on Ukrainian airfields. This is hardly surprising; a regime that targets helpless women and children will of course try to bomb military supplies.
That would not constitute escalation per se unless the attack took place outside of Ukraine. Russian attacks, sabotage or other active measures within NATO countries would be a dangerous escalation by Vladmir Putin, one that would demand a proportionate response.
Warn Russia about aid shipments
Former National Security Council staff member John Quattrocki also suggests giving public and advance warning to Moscow of the Washington’s intention to provide humanitarian relief to the people of Kyiv by flying in unarmed and unescorted cargo aircraft.
If Putin wanted open war with NATO, Ukraine would be the least of his worries. Remember that deterrence works both ways. Yes, Russia is a nuclear power. But the United States is also a nuclear power, with a more capable, more lethal force than the Kremlin commands.
Policymakers should pay less attention to what Putin might do if we annoy him and instead do more to communicate what price the Russian dictator will pay if he continues his crimes against peace.
Meanwhile, the international community should give the Ukrainians everything they need to make Putin’s forces suffer dearly for bringing open war to Europe. And if the Kremlin objects, double the amount.
Some NATO countries are wary of sending heavy weapons, hoping for a negotiated truce, but the alliance insists publicly that it is committed to helping Ukraine defeat Russia.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, left, and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking at a NATO ministers’ meeting on Wednesday in Brussels.Credit…Valeria Mongelli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
BRUSSELS — President Biden on Wednesday announced a further $1 billion in weapons and aid for Ukraine, as the United States and its allies met to craft a response to Ukraine’s increasingly urgent calls for advanced arms to beat back Russia’s invasion.
The package, detailed by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III after a meeting with allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels, includes more long-range artillery, anti-ship missile launchers and more rounds for howitzers and for a sophisticated American rocket system on which Ukrainians are currently being trained. Overall, the United States has now committed about $5.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.
Mr. Biden said in a statement that he had told President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine about the new weapons during a 40-minute call Wednesday morning. Mr. Zelensky and his aides have recently ramped up public pressure on the West to supply vastly more of the sophisticated armaments it has already sent, questioning their allies’ commitment to the Ukrainian cause and insisting that nothing else can stop the inexorable, brutal Russian advance in eastern Ukraine.
But Western officials and arms experts caution that flooding the battlefield with advanced weapons is far slower and more difficult than it sounds, facing obstacles in manufacturing, delivery, training and compatibility — and in avoiding depletion of Western arsenals.
President Biden speaking in Philadelphia on Wednesday.Credit…Kenny Holston for The New York Times
The leaders of the European Union’s largest countries — Germany, France and Italy — are expected to pay their first visit to Mr. Zelensky in Ukraine on Thursday, in a show of solidarity, but it remains unclear whether they will have much to offer. The leaders — Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy — have all expressed the desire for a more rapid conclusion of the war through peace talks with Russia, raising hackles in Ukraine.
Mr. Austin, together with Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, met at NATO headquarters with defense officials from some 45 countries supporting Ukraine, to try to assess what weapons Ukraine needs right now and how its allies can best provide them.
“We can’t afford to let up, and we can’t lose steam,” Mr. Austin said in opening the gathering, urging allies to redouble their efforts to help Ukraine.
“We must intensify our shared commitment to Ukraine’s self-defense, and we must push ourselves even harder to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself, its citizens and its territory,” he added.
He said that Germany would offer Ukraine three long-range, multiple-launch artillery rocket systems with ammunition. Slovakia is promising helicopters and ammunition, and Canada, Poland and the Netherlands pledged more artillery.
President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces, advancing in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, are close to capturing Sievierodonetsk, the city that has been the focus of the fighting, and Ukrainian troops in the area are at risk of encirclement. In what seems like a replay of the siege in Mariupol, hundreds of civilians and troops are sheltering in bunkers below an industrial plant in the city.
Ukraine, Mr. Austin said, “is facing a pivotal moment on the battlefield.”
A destroyed building on Wednesday in Lysychansk, the sister city to the besieged Sievierodonetsk.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
The Russian military in Donbas is relying heavily on its immense advantage in long-range artillery, pounding Ukrainian soldiers — as well as cities and towns — from a distance before trying to move in. The Ukrainians have drawn them into some close-quarters combat, with both sides reportedly suffering heavy casualties.
“It is vital to hold on there, in Donbas,” Mr. Zelensky said in a video address early Wednesday. “The more losses the enemy suffers there, the less power they will have to continue the aggression.”
Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Brussels that not just the sovereignty of Ukraine was at stake, but “the rules-based international order is also under threat due to the actions of Russia in Ukraine.”
NATO defense ministers are preparing for the alliance’s annual summit in Madrid this month, where it will unveil its first new strategic concept since 2010, when it described Russia as a potential partner. The new stance is being negotiated in drafts but is understood to set out a direction for NATO that sees Russia as an adversary, and mentions the threats posed to the trans-Atlantic alliance by China for the first time.
The ministers are also discussing how to satisfy Turkey, which has put a hold on the membership applications of Sweden and Finland over larger concerns about Kurdish separatism and terrorism. In response to Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Swedes and Finns decided to abandon their long-held military nonalignment and join NATO.
Ukrainian officials have been pleading daily for more long-range artillery and complaining loudly that the West has been to slow to provide it. The howitzers and rocket launchers delivered or pledged by the United States and others fall far short of what Ukraine says it needs to match Russian firepower.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a leading adviser to Mr. Zelensky, said this week that Ukraine needs 1,000 155-mm howitzers, 300 multiple-launch rocket systems and 500 tanks, among other things, to achieve battlefield parity — several times as much heavy weaponry as has been promised.
A Ukrainian gun crew firing a 155-mm howitzer toward Russian positions in the Donetsk region of Ukraine last month. Ukraine says it needs hundreds more of the long-range weapons.Credit…Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
Mr. Austin and NATO insist they understand the urgency.
“Russia is using its long-range fires to try to overwhelm Ukrainian positions,” said Mr. Austin, a retired four-star Army general.
The most advanced weapons the United States has so far supplied Ukraine include four HIMARS truck-mounted multiple-launch rocket launchers, with rockets that have a range of up to 40 miles, greater than anything Ukraine currently possesses. The first Ukrainian team is scheduled to complete its training on the system on Wednesday, and it will be deployed in the battlefield next week, a Biden administration official said.
The package announced on Wednesday includes another three HIMARS launchers. Germany pledged three similar launchers, and Britain had previously promised three.
The new U.S. commitment also includes 18 M777 155-mm howitzers, in addition to 108 already delivered, and 36,000 shells for them.
Mr. Austin and General Milley pushed back on the charge that the allies were being too cautious in rushing advanced weapons to Ukraine, saying that everything was being done in coordination with Ukrainian military leaders.
“I think the international community has done a pretty good job of providing that capability. But it’s never enough,” Mr. Austin said. “And so we’re going to continue to work hard to move as much capability as we can as fast as we can.”
But promising weapons and delivering them are two different things.
It’s one thing to get a large howitzer or tank or thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine’s western borders. But given that NATO countries do not want to risk direct confrontation with Russian forces, transport from there must be done by Ukrainians or private contractors.
Simply getting the weapons across Ukraine to the eastern battlegrounds depends on railroads and transport networks that are being bombed and shelled by Russian forces to disrupt supply.
Shipments of American weapons, including Javelin antitank missiles, arriving in Ukraine in January.Credit…Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times
Ukraine’s military is running very low on shells for its artillery based on Soviet designs, some of it dating to the Soviet era, and Western countries do not make compatible ammunition. Former Soviet bloc countries like Poland have only so many munitions that are familiar to Ukrainian soldiers and work with their guns.
More modern Western equipment requires training, done in other countries, with those Ukrainians trained sent back to operate equipment or train others.
Modern weapons also require sophisticated maintenance, which takes further training, and American weapons generally do not use the metric system, which means different tools and wrenches.
And different NATO member countries have varying equipment requiring varying training and tools. The French have provided Ukraine some of the most sophisticated artillery in the world, the Caesar self-propelled howitzer. Like the American M777, it fires 155-mm shells, but operating the two guns is not the same.
And not only are sophisticated weapons systems expensive, but the supply is limited and production is often slow. Some countries sending arms to Ukraine have expressed fears of depleting their own stocks and weakening their national security, and some have secured commitments from the United States and others to provide replacements.
The United States has also been concerned that the Ukrainians not be given weapons with such long ranges that they can hit targets deep within Russia itself. So it did not immediately supply the HIMARS mobile rocket launcher, and it is not supplying the longest-range rockets the system can use.
American M142 HIMARS rockets being launched during a military exercise in Morocco last year.Credit…Fadel Senna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
There are also concerns about keeping control of advanced technology. For instance, there are efforts to get Ukraine more sophisticated anti-ship missiles, to drive the Russian navy further from the Ukrainian coast off Odesa. But those missiles include technology that can only be exported after obtaining special permission, and there are concerns that such weapons not fall into the hands of the Russians.
The United States and its allies have been careful to express sympathy for Ukraine’s plight, and not to say that Kyiv’s complaints about the pace of supply are unfair or unfounded.
“It’s an evolving list,” said the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith. “The list that they gave us early on in the conflict looks very different from the list that we’re talking about now. We were heavily focused in the beginning on air defense. We transitioned to a conversation about ammunition. We’ve had moments where we’ve talked about coastal defense. We’re talking about heavy rocket artillery. We have shifted the conversation.”
NATO member countries will continue to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons and long-range systems, and a new package of assistance to Kyiv will be agreed on by allies in consultation with Ukraine, NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said before the defense ministers’ meeting Wednesday.
“Ukraine is in a really very critical situation, so there is an urgent need for support,” he said.
Eric Schmitt, Michael D. Shear and David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington.
WASHINGTON ― The U.S. will send Ukraine another $1 billion in weapons to fight Russia, including Harpoon anti-ship launchers for the first time, and more ammunition for high-tech, medium-range rocket launchers, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.
The U.S. aid will include two Harpoon launchers and an unspecified number of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, rockets for previously committed M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced in Brussels. Also included are 18 M777 howitzers, 36,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition and thousands of secure radios.
Amid calls from Washington and Kyiv for more and faster shipments of weapons for Ukrainian forces, Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged Russia’s military superiority and defended U.S. and allied efforts to even the odds. With Ukrainian forces facing a tough fight for Eastern Ukraine, the U.S. has been sending arms meant to take out positions from which Russian forces launch brutal artillery barrages.
“When you’re in the fight, you can never get enough, and you can never get it quick enough,” Austin said at a press conference with Milley. “But having said all that, we’re going to work hard to make sure we’re doing everything humanly possible ― we’re going to continue to move heaven and earth to get them the capability that they need.”
The new U.S. aid uses a combination of $350 million in presidential authority to draw equipment from U.S. military stocks and $650 million in the separate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Defense officials say the Pentagon plans to use USAI to buy truck-mounted Harpoon launchers, which the U.S. doesn’t operate, but the missiles themselves would come from allies and partners. Denmark previously committed to providing Harpoons to Ukraine.
Austin hosted a meeting of about 50 nations at NATO headquarters in Brussels to discuss the weapons deliveries to the invaded nation. Afterward, he highlighted three multiple-launch rocket systems and GMLRS ammunition for Ukraine from Germany, Mi-series helicopters and rockets from Slovakia and artillery donations from Canada, Poland and the Netherlands.
Though Russia has more artillery, it’s using it for mass fires and isn’t necessarily hitting military targets, as Ukrainian forces are, Milley said. He argued Russia’s slow-moving gains in the nearly four-month war don’t mean its victory in Eastern Ukraine is inevitable.
“War takes many, many turns, so I wouldn’t say it’s an inevitability, but I would say the numbers do favor the Russians. In terms of artillery, they do outnumber, they outgun and outrange … and they do have enough forces,” Milley said. “But the Russians have run into a lot of problems. They’ve got command and control issues, logistics issues, morale issues and leadership issues.”
The administration pledged June 1 it would send the HIMARS, with GMLRS rockets that have a range of about 40 miles. Milley said Wednesday that by the end of the month, the U.S. will have supplied the systems and trained Ukrainian crews to operate and maintain them.
Within weeks, Ukrainian forces will have 10 multiple launch rocket systems from U.S., UK, and Germany, with more than 100 rounds of ammunition. “They’re top notch gunners, and the effect that they’re achieving on the battlefield right now with the [M777s] has been very, very good, very effective ― and we expect the same out of the HIMARS,” Milley said.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the aid Wednesday after he held a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The U.S. is also sending $225 million in humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, food, shelter, and cash for families to purchase essential items.
“The bravery, resilience, and determination of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire the world. And the United States, together with our allies and partners, will not waver in our commitment to the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom,” Biden said.
Noting “painful” losses in Severodonetsk, which he said would be the key to controlling the Donbas region, Zelenskyy pleaded anew with the West for more and faster deliveries of arms in a statement Tuesday. Ukraine needs “modern anti-missile weapons,” he said, adding that its air defense units had shot down “some” Russian missiles fired at Ukrainian cities.
“Even though Russia has fewer and fewer modern missiles with each passing day, Ukraine’s need for such systems remains,” Zelenskyy said
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have criticized the Biden administration directly in recent days, urging it to do more.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said he’s told the administration “near constantly” that it’s been overly timid about sending Ukraine sophisticated systems like long-range artillery and the Grey Eagle, a reusable flying drone with a 200-mile range that is used by the U.S. Army.
“I think we need to be giving more sophisticated systems, particularly when it comes to drones and long-range artillery,” Smith said Wednesday at a wide-ranging reporters’ roundtable ahead of the administration’s announcement. “I think we ought to get them that equipment more quickly.”
The administration’s been “too cautious” as it considers the risks of exposing U.S. technology and how long it will take to train Ukrainian troops, Smith added.
The U.S. has sent Ukrainian forces the Puma flying drone and Switchblade loitering munition as well as the Phoenix Ghost, a new drone developed by the U.S. Air Force.
Ukraine promised the U.S. it would not strike deep into Russian territory as part of the deal to acquire HIMARS ― a step meant to avoid escalating the war.
But Smith said he disagrees with Biden’s decision not to supply Ukraine with longer-range rockets that can reach into Russia and that the U.S. should be sending even more artillery and ammunition to help Ukraine stand up to Russia’s superior weaponry.
“Quantity is a huge part of the issue right now,” Smith said.
Amid such criticism, Pentagon policy chief Colin Kahl said Tuesday the U.S. intends to continue to send Ukraine what it needs and that the powerful, precision GMLRS ammunition allows Ukrainian forces to get more impact for a single shot.
“Think of this more like the effect of an airstrike than launching off full salvos,” Kahl said at a Center for a New American Security event. “In other words, you can do a lot for a little or you don’t need a lot to have a significant effect.”
Overall, the U.S. has committed about $4.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including $3.9 billion since Russia invaded.
The Pentagon has pivoted to supplying Ukraine with western weapons like the M777 howitzer or truck-mounted HIMARS as stocks from former Warsaw Pact countries that match Ukraine’s Soviet-era weapons have run out, Kahl said.
He downplayed reports of Russia’s progress, saying both Russian and Ukrainian forces are taking “significant casualties.” Still, Kahl said Russian President Vladimir Putin, after failing to take Kyiv in the war’s early days, continues to want to take over Ukraine completely.
“Our sense is that he has not changed his overall objectives,” Kahl said. “He has designs on a significant portion of Ukraine, if not the whole country. That said, I do not think he can achieve those objectives.”
Joe Gould is senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/L2NCHCXM7BDDXFPXUZDXATRD2Y.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/OKNSPXQPBZBXFFF6RVTFMJZXCM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/CJ2HRSYZXFGZ7ARAPTOS653J2A.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/77SDDEPS2VEGHJP5ESHODF3F6E.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/HKLL27XGYJAL7NK3OGUXD3Q7XQ.jpg)
