Archive for the ‘Ukraine’ Category

Opinion | Speaker Johnson should see what I just saw in Ukraine – The Washington Post

KYIV I wish House Speaker Mike Johnson and other MAGA Republicans who have been holding up desperately needed aid to Ukraine could see what I just saw there. In particular, I wish they had been with me on Wednesday morning in Dnipro, a bustling city of about 1 million people in eastern Ukraine. If they had been, they might be less willing to betray the people of Ukraine in their desperate struggle for survival against a barbaric invader.

The day began when air-raid alarms sounded at 5:15 a.m. Roused out of sleep, I stumbled down to the hotel bomb shelter along with other members of a U.S. delegation of policy analysts and former government officials invited to Ukraine by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. We were in Ukraine to see the important work UNHCR is doing to help the millions of people displaced by war.

That morning, as we spent hours in a bomb shelter, we saw why so many have been forced to flee their homes: Vladimir Putin keeps deliberately attacking civilian targets in the hope of breaking Ukraines will to resist. On Wednesday, the Russians launched 64 drones and missiles at Ukraine. Most were intercepted, but some got through. A few days later, we saw the damage to an apartment building in Kyiv where four people had been killed, 39 injured and hundreds of others forced out of their homes.

In Dnipro, we visited an apartment building where at least 64 people had died in an earlier Russian missile strike. Eerily enough, we could still see clothes hanging in a top-floor closet visible because the entire front wall of the building was gone. Other Russian missiles have struck hospitals, schools and shopping malls in the area. These are targets of no military value whose destruction amounts to crimes against humanity.

The situation is even grimmer in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, which is located only about 20 miles from the Russian border. Russian forces are constantly bombarding Kharkiv with short-range rockets. The citys best hotel, once favored by Western journalists and aid workers, was destroyed on Dec. 30. Most other businesses remain open, but many have boarded-up windows. We visited a subway school held underground, because its too dangerous for children to go to their normal classrooms. (Most of the citys pupils are forced into the pedagogical purgatory of online learning.) I marveled at Ukrainian ingenuity in converting five subway stations into schools but was heartbroken by the necessity to do so.

In Kharkivs North Saltivka neighborhood shelled regularly by the Russians for six months in 2022 not a building had escaped damage. Once home to 40,000 residents, this district we visited is now virtually deserted. One of the few remaining residents, an elderly woman named Nadiia, couldnt stop crying as she recounted to me the shock of the Russian invasion nearly two years ago. I didnt know what to do, she said. Bullets were flying past us. I was just praying.

I wished I could comfort her and tell her that she was safe now, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Just last month, a Russian rocket demolished another nearby building. And residents have recently been forced to flee the town of Kupyansk, just 74 miles away, because the Russians are massing for another attack there in the hope of regaining territory lost to the Ukrainians in October 2022.

Last May, when I was in Ukraine, optimism was in the air. The Ukrainians were preparing a major counteroffensive that they hoped would drive the invaders out of the countrys south and shorten the war. But it ultimately failed, and the war grinds on with no end in sight as it enters its third year. Putin has mobilized more troops, converted his economy to a war footing, and bought weapons from Iran and North Korea. Ukraine is struggling to keep pace. People are tired, Odessas regional governor, Oleh Kiper, told us. They dont understand what lies ahead.

The first cracks are beginning to appear in the facade of Ukraines wartime unity. On Thursday, while I was on a train from Kharkiv to Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the popular commander of his armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny. The two men had long had a tense relationship. Zaluzhny was replaced by Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, the former commander of land forces, who is less popular with the rank-and-file but gets along better with the president. The change of commanders was risky, but Zaluzhnys exit was at least handled with dignity.

No matter who runs the military, however, Ukraine confronts two fundamental problems: a shortage of troops and a shortage of ammunition. The former is Ukraines own doing. It needs to mobilize more soldiers and to give a breather to those who have been fighting continuously for two years. But men are no longer rushing to volunteer as in the early days of the war, and an expansion of conscription would be unpopular and expensive. So Zelensky has dawdled, leading to complaints from front-line units that they dont have enough troops to hold back the Russians meat-grinder assaults. Zelensky resisted Zaluzhnys recommendations to mobilize as many as 500,000 additional troops. Now, a bill to expand conscription is finally advancing in parliament, but it will take time to train raw draftees.

The shortage of weapons, by contrast, is the Wests fault. The Western countries are collectively far bigger than Russia in both population and wealth, but they have not increased their armaments production as rapidly as Moscow has done. Ukraine is ramping up its own output, particularly of drones, but it will take years for it to develop the necessary manufacturing capacity. In the meantime, Ukraine faces an alarming shortage of ammunition: Russian forces are firing five artillery shells for every shell fired by the Ukrainians. If this disparity is not addressed soon, Ukrainian front lines might crumble. That is why its so critical for the United States to provide $60 billion in aid much of which will go to U.S. defense companies.

The European Union, admittedly, just pledged $54 billion in financial aid to Ukraine, and European countries are providing far more aid overall than the United States. But Europe cant meet Ukraines urgent military needs without U.S. help. Unless the United States steps forward soon, Ukraine will run low not only on artillery ammunition but also on air-defense ammunition. That could lead to greater destruction in its cities, which would spark a fresh refugee crisis and set back a burgeoning economic recovery.

Ukraines unheralded success in the battle for the Black Sea employing sea drones and missiles to drive back the Russian fleet has reopened that vital shipping route. As we discovered during a visit to Odessa, that regions three ports are back to almost prewar levels of exports. The National Bank of Ukraine has forecast a 3.6 percent economic growth this year, but those projections will be dashed if Ukraine cant safeguard its major population centers from Russian airstrikes.

The Ukrainians are not giving up, even if polls show that a small but growing minority about 20 percent in December, up from 10 percent in May are willing to make territorial concessions to the Russians if that will bring peace. Of course, Putin, buoyed by growing Republican opposition to aiding Ukraine, shows no interest in compromising, regardless of his feint in that direction in an interview last week with Tucker Carlson. So the killing continues.

People are traumatized, but we dont have a choice, Deputy Foreign Minister Iryna Borovets told us in Kyiv. We are fighting for our existence. If the Russians win, there would be genocide. A regional official in Dnipro pithily summed up the national mood: We are tired but not exhausted.

Many Ukrainians told us that they are inspired to fight on in part because they know that they are not alone they have the support of the West. If the United States were to cut them off, it would be, among other things, a devastating psychological blow, giving Ukrainians the impression that they are being abandoned.

There is still time for the House of Representatives to do the right thing and pass the aid package that is finally advancing in the Senate. But it isnt clear whether the speaker, in thrall to former president Donald Trump and his MAGA extremists, will even give the bill a floor vote. As Johnson (La.) prepares to make the most momentous decision of his political career, he should travel to Ukraine to meet the people whose lives and liberties rest in his hands.

Every time I visit Ukraine, I come away impressed by Ukrainian resilience and enraged by Putins continuing aggression. I imagine that Johnson, who professes to be a devout Christian, might feel equally moved by the suffering of the Ukrainians and by their pleas for more U.S. support. (We will not endure without the assistance of the U.S.A., Borovets warned.) But Johnson has not been to Ukraine since the Russian invasion and has not announced any plans to visit. That worries me. Its easier to stab people in the back if youre unwilling to look them in the eye.

Go here to see the original:
Opinion | Speaker Johnson should see what I just saw in Ukraine - The Washington Post

Russian soldier cites ‘nowhere to live’ as motivation for invading Ukraine – Yahoo News

A Russian invader stated that he joined the fight against Ukraine because he had nowhere to live, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets shared in a video on Telegram on Feb. 11.

Read also: Fresh POW exchange with Russia facilitated by UAE - Ukrainian intelligence

The video shows the Russian prisoner of war being asked about his motivation for participating in the war, to which he replied, I simply had nowhere to live.

Everything must be done to hold the terrorist state accountable for every crime committed and for every life taken by Russian soldiers, Lubinets said.

Read also:

More than 220 Russian soldiers have surrendered as of December 2023 through the I Want to Live hotline a service designed to help Russian servicemen unwilling to participate in the Russian invasion of Ukraine to safely surrender to the Ukrainian Armed Forces with over a thousand cases pending.

Read also: Prosecutor's office investigates execution of two unarmed Ukrainian POWs by Russians in Donetsk Oblast

In the past day alone, Ukrainian forces have eliminated 790 Russian soldiers. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the losses of the Russian army have surpassed 395 thousand troops.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine

View original post here:
Russian soldier cites 'nowhere to live' as motivation for invading Ukraine - Yahoo News

Russia no longer perceived as top threat by Germans – POLITICO Europe

The Munich Security Index 2024 also reveals how the war in Ukraine is competing with other geopolitical threats and priorities.

Concern about mass migration and radical Islamic terrorism now top the list of threats in Germany a turnaround from the previous year.

The threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism jumped to second place, compared to 16th last year. Mass migration as a result of war or climate change, which came in second last year, now ranks sits at number one. The authors of the report attribute the trends to the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, noting the survey was undertaken in October and November last year.

As in many other countries, the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 appears to have prompted a spike in German concern about radical Islamic terrorism, the report notes, adding that Germany now has the highest level of concern about migration among the countries surveyed.

The survey, which interviewed 12,000 people last fall, also provides a bleak insight into the thinking of many of the worlds wealthiest countries. Large parts of the populations in G7 nations believe their countries will be less secure and wealthy in 10 years time, the report states. But the prospects for the so-called BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are judged more positively by their populations.

A whopping 72 percent of the world's population now lives in autocracies, compared to 46 percent a decade ago.

See more here:
Russia no longer perceived as top threat by Germans - POLITICO Europe

Short on Soldiers, Ukraine Debates How to Find the Next Wave of Troops – The New York Times

Soldiers fight in freezing, muddy trenches bombarded by artillery, or in warrens of burned and blown-up houses in urban combat. Casualty rates are high, and dangerous missions, like storming enemy-held tree lines, abound.

As they planned for a renewal of Ukraines military under extreme conditions, both the countrys former top commander and his replacement have emphasized the same looming problem: a need to relieve exhausted, battered troops whose combat tours have stretched nearly two years.

In a tumultuous week for Ukraines war effort, President Volodymyr Zelensky removed his commanding general, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, on Thursday, while aid from the countrys largest source of weapons and ammunition, the United States, hung in doubt in Congress.

While Ukraine relies on allies for weaponry, replenishing the ranks is a domestic challenge. Small protests have broken out in opposition to a Parliament proposal to expand the draft to include younger men, but so far, lawmakers have slow-walked the measure.

Military analysts have mostly coalesced around the idea that Ukraine will, at best, hold existing front lines in ground fighting this year with a new influx of American weaponry and risk falling back without it. It plans to replenish its ranks through mobilization while keeping Russia off balance with long-range drone strikes and sabotage operations behind enemy lines and inside Russia.

In announcing the appointment of Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky to command the military, Mr. Zelensky said he wanted a new management team for the armed forces. He has signaled a search for a new strategy that accounts for exhausted frontline soldiers in Ukraines million-man army, which is fighting the largest war in Europe since World War II.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit andlog intoyour Times account, orsubscribefor all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?Log in.

Want all of The Times?Subscribe.

Read the original here:
Short on Soldiers, Ukraine Debates How to Find the Next Wave of Troops - The New York Times

Opinion | Ukraine supporters need to find a way around the MAGA obstructionists – The Washington Post

For months, MAGA lawmakers in both the House and Senate have been able to stop more U.S. aid going to Ukraine by pretending to be negotiating in good faith. Now, responsible lawmakers in both chambers are finally realizing that obstructionism is not a means to an end for the MAGA crowd it is their end. To get national security funding done or anything else in Congress leaders in both parties must work against or around them, not with them.

On Thursday, the Senate began debating a national security emergency supplemental bill that includes about $60 billion related to Ukraine and another $35 billion for Israel, the Indo-Pacific and to replenish U.S. weapons stocks. This bill was delayed for four months because House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his MAGA allies insisted they would support Ukraine aid only in conjunction with a deal to address the border. But then Johnson and the MAGA crowd (prodded by former president Donald Trump) came out against that border deal even before it was released a sure indication their demand for concessions was merely a delay tactic.

After the border-related provisions were jettisoned, 17 Senate Republicans voted with Senate Democrats Thursday to move forward with the rest of the package. In the Senate, at least, there are still Republicans willing to put national security over politics when the stakes are so high. The delays have already caused critical ammunition shortages for Ukrainian forces in the fight. We cannot abandon these allies and partners as they face existential threats, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said before the vote.

But that rare moment of political courage masks a cold reality: House Republicans have shown no sign of having similar backbone. Johnson wont even commit to bringing the Senate bill to the House floor. He is under pressure from MAGA lawmakers and outside conservative groups to permanently stop the Ukraine aid effort.

Until now, Johnson has walked a fine line: professing to be open to passing Ukraine aid while doing everything possible to avoid actually doing anything about it. For four months, his excuse was to point to the Senates inaction. Then last week, just before the Senate bill was unveiled, he showed his true intentions by introducing a bill that would provide aid for Israel, but not Ukraine.

Johnson argued that Israel aid was more urgent than Ukraine aid (it isnt). He even enlisted the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to pressure lawmakers to vote yes. But the White House and many Democrats called out Johnsons ploy for what it was a way to delay and perhaps kill any effort to pass Ukraine aid.

If this bill were to become law, there is no path to support Ukraine, House Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) said Tuesday on the House floor. Although 46 Democrats did vote for the Israel-only aid legislation, it failed to get enough support to advance.

Now, the House leadership is telling other GOP members that it will not take up the Senate national security package as is, several congressional officials told me. Johnson might break up the Senate package into three parts and pass only the sections that he and the MAGA crowd likes. He might write his own Ukraine aid bill, which could have significantly less aid.

Some Republicans believe Johnson feels he must change the bill in some way to save face with the MAGA crowd and then he would be willing to pass it. Under this theory, Johnson wants to pass the aid but needs political cover to get it done. However, once he starts tinkering with it, he opens a legislative Pandoras box that could delay the funding for weeks if not months. That would be too late for Ukraine.

Johnsons team are not even going to try to pass the bill the Senate sends over. They are scared of MTG, one GOP congressional source told me, referring to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) who has worked for years to kill Ukraine aid and who has referred to Ukrainian forces as a Nazi army. In fact, they dont really have the political incentive to do anything quickly.

In the face of this, Ukraine supporters have begun discussing ways to force the Senate bill to the House floor. One method under discussion is something called a discharge petition, which could initiate a floor vote without the speakers cooperation. These types of legislative maneuvers are tricky and rare, but they might be the only way to get the aid package to the presidents desk.

National-security-minded Democrats and Republicans must move quickly to pass the full funding through both chambers, using whatever maneuvers it takes. If MAGA obstructionism continues to go unchecked, Congresss impotence will have negative consequences far beyond the Ukrainian battlefield.

Read the original here:
Opinion | Ukraine supporters need to find a way around the MAGA obstructionists - The Washington Post