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Once upon a time, Milwaukee elected Frank Zeidler, the last socialist mayor of a major American city. His last term ended in 1960. As famously noted in Waynes World, he was actually one of three socialists the city historically elected to the seat. But historyeven if some argue that parts of what such mayors accomplished later became mainstreamis what it is.

In fact, in 2019, Milwaukee was rated the worst city for Black people to live. That has much to do with decisions by the citys contemporary leaders, including Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm, who still refuses to stop prosecuting marijuana possession unlike his peer progressive prosecutors.

Luckily enough for Chisholm and many others who suffer by comparison, the number of progressive prosecutorsidentified particularly as those elected post-2014 with the help of George Soros-affiliated Super PACs seeking to remold the professionhas stopped growing.

On May 17, two candidatesBrian Decker in Washington County (suburban Portland), Oregon and Damon Chetson in Wake County (Raleigh), North Carolina, whose platforms included elements of decarceration, drug policy reform and death penalty abolitionwere electorally defeated. That was despite major problems in the administrations of the incumbents they were challenging.

The movement is now firmly on defense, if not life support.

In Washington County, District Attorney Kevin Barton has opposed drug decriminalization and described defunding the police as a mistake. He has long wanted to criminalize violent video games, despite this being unconstitutional and far from mainstream public opinion. One of his top deputies, Bracken McKey, has infamously suggested that marijuana is associated with people beating their wives and neglecting their kids.

In Wake County, District Attorney Lorrin Freeman has repeatedly tried to shove capital punishment down local jurors throats, even though they have time and time again rejected it. After her office was forced to exonerate not one but two innocent Black men convicted of serious felonies, Freeman gave an impassioned defense of the prosecutor who obtained both convictions at trial.

No matter: Both Barton and Freeman secured comfortable election victories.

Numerous incumbent luminaries of the progressive prosecutor movement, such as Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby, are meanwhile under heavy fire. The movement is now firmly on defense, if not life support.

The broader political picture is that the momentum we saw for sweeping reform of the criminal-legal system in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests seems to have been well and truly stalled by right-wing exploitation of rising rates of violent crime (rates that still remain far below historic highs). Never mind that the fear of crime that conservatives love to stoke is not assuaged by higher incarceration rates.

There are of course nuances as to why the latest races may have turned out the way they did. Unlike in the recent past, Soros did not give millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to political unknowns running on a progressive platform for top local prosecutor seats. After giving $1 million to then-Manhattan DA candidate Alvin Bragg last year, Soros gave a comparatively measly $20,000 to Decker in Oregon. In North Carolina, Chetson got nothing.

Candidate selection has proven a major issue, in part because very few people want the stress of being a district attorney. It is a thankless job, and one that marks attorneys for professional retaliation if they lose.

And in the case of Damon Chetson, until very recently, he was a registered Republican, even if he also has a past of opposing the drug war. It is unsurprising that Soros would not spend money on him. And Soros money is all-but-essential to secure wins for reform candidatesa fact that underlines, as I have previously written, the argument for public financing for prosecutor campaigns.

The stigma against Republicans turned alleged progressives is not entirely irrational, either, especially with the impending repeal of Roe v. Wade. When I worked on Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) DA Spencer Merriweathers re-election campaign in 2018, part of my motivation was to prevent progressive challenger Toussaint Romain, also a recent former Republican, from getting elected.

While many fellow public defenders supported Romain, I could not get past the fact that Romain, a graduate of Regent Universitys hyper-conservative law school, called obtaining an acquittal for a man who attempted to incite violence against doctors who perform abortions a a win for the Kingdom; a win for this alum; a win for my Calling; a win for us!

San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin is almost certain to be recalled, and Los Angeles DA George Gascn faces a similar fate.

Did the so-called progressive prosecutor movement fail to do due diligence? Unfortunately, this is a pattern of such instances. In another 2018 race, the propped-up progressive who challenged Californias most influential conservative prosecutor, Sacramento DA Anne Marie Schubert, was outed for sending racist, misogynistic emails at work. Another so-called progressive who found his home in the movement was 2019 Pittsburgh DA candidate Turahn Jenkins, a public defender whose campaign tanked after it came out that he spewed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric at his church

The one brighter spot for progressives in a May 17 primary was that Durham DA Satana Deberry kept her seat. But compared to other progressive DAs, Deberry barely qualifies. When she first ran for DA in 2018, she, like Milwaukees Chisholm, refused to promise any decriminalization policies, for even the most trifling of nonviolent misdemeanors.

With San Francisco DA Chesa Boudinalmost certain to be recalled, and Los Angeles DA George Gascn facing a similar fate, the progressive DA movement is in dire straits.

Perhaps progressive prosecutors will one day be remembered similarly to Milwaukees socialist mayors: politicians ahead of their time, some of whose policies would later be mainstreamed. Is that the best supporters of criminal justice reform, unswayed by rampant media alarmism, can hope for?

Photograph by Domesticat via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

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Is the Progressive Prosecutor Movement on Its Last Legs? - Filter

By Bethany BlankleyThe Center Squarehttps://www.thecentersquare.com/

Gov. Greg Abbott is launching the Joint Border Security Operations Center to oversee a 15-agency effort to thwart illegal immigration funded by Texas taxpayers.

Texas shares the largest border with Mexico of 1,254 miles and is bearing the brunt of the surge illegal immigration. Last year, the state legislature allocated $4 billion for border security efforts, Abbott launched Operation Lone Star and Texas began building its own wall.

The command center will oversee these efforts on a larger agency-wide scale. It was launched on Friday in anticipation of a deluge of illegal immigrants expected to flood the southern border on Monday. The CDC has designated Monday as the day to lift Title 42, the public health authority that enables federal agents to quickly deport illegal immigrants.

However, also on Friday, a federal judge halted the administrations plan, keeping Title 42 in place.

Another federal court announced today what we have known all along: President Biden is ignoring federal law with his open border policies," Abbott said after Friday's ruling. "While todays court ruling rejecting President Bidens ending of Title 42 expulsions is a positive development, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants remain at our southern border ready to flood into Texas.

Texas will continue utilizing all available resources and strategies to prevent this mass illegal migration, including the deployment of Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard resources, the coordination with Mexican border governors, and the activation of the Joint Border Security Operations Center. We remain vigilant in fighting the lifting of Title 42 expulsions.

Last month, the attorneys general of Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri sued, asking a federal court in Louisiana to halt the administrations plan; days later more states joined as plaintiffs. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also filed a separate lawsuit in federal court in Texas.

Of the courts ruling, Paxton said, Once again, the courts rule against Joe Bidens lawless agenda. Title 42 is one of the last remaining protections we have from a deluge of illegals coming across our border. I am glad for our state and our nation that It will remain in place.

JBSOC, based at the Texas Department of Public Safetys headquarters in Austin, will coordinate the efforts of 15 agencies, led by the Texas Military Department, DPS and Texas Department of Emergency Management. It will provide 24-7 situational awareness by overseeing intelligence and tactical, marine, air, and ground operations, coordinating live feeds from Texas National Guard and DPS aircraft, UAVs, and detection cameras, and remaining in direct contact with law enforcement on the ground at the border.

"Texas will not stand by as President Biden puts our state and our nation in danger by allowing dangerous criminals, illegal weapons, and deadly drugs like fentanyl to flow unabated into the United States, and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis at our southern border," Gov. Abbott said.

Abbott also recently entered into agreements with four Mexican governors who pledged to work with Texas to combat illegal immigration, the first governor to do so in U.S. history.

Despite the historic agreements, more people are entering Texas illegally through these Mexican states. Shortly after the agreements were reached, one member of the Texas National Guard drowned attempting to save drug smugglers. His death, and the thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into Texas, suggest the agreements are more symbolic than they are effective, critics argue.

On Friday, Abbott said, "We continue taking unprecedented action to secure the border, ramping up every available strategy and resource in response to President Biden's ongoing border crisis, adding that JBSOC will play an integral role in our state's robust response to provide the border security strategy Texans and Americans deserve."

But several strategies exist that he hasnt yet taken, conservatives argue.

Conservatives have repeatedly called on Abbott to use his constitutional authority to protect Texas sovereignty and declare whats happening at the border an invasion, to shut down ports of entry, and to take other military measures, which he hasnt yet done. Theyve also called on Paxton to issue a legal opinion on the matter, which he hasnt done. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is the only one to issue such an historic opinion.

Even with Title 42 in place, due to the Biden administrations widespread reversal of immigration laws, more than 234,000 people were encountered entering the U.S. illegally, the greatest number in a single month in recorded U.S. history.

Thats a 1,376% increase from 17,106 encounters reported in April 2020 under the Trump administration.

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Texas launches operations center to oversee 15-agency effort to thwart illegal immigration - The Highland County Press

Border Patrol encountered more than 234,000 illegal border crossers in April, according to a court document filed this week. It's an all-time monthly record, and speaks volumes about what the Biden administration is telegraphing to migrants and the cartels that traffic them. The border is for all intents and purposes open, and everyone is taking full advantage.

But controlling immigration is not only something that's accomplished at the border. Most of the folks crossing our southern border are coming in search of better economic opportunitiesopportunities they have no problem finding. It's supply and demand, Economics 101. And what it means is that if you want to control the flood of illegal immigrants, you need to make it costly for businesses to hire to them. End the demand, and you'll staunch the supply.

And yet, the Biden administration is doing the exact opposite. Earlier this year, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a memo that he was putting an end to workplace immigration raids. Unsurprisingly, illegal immigration began to skyrocket soon after the policy shift was announced last fall, as migrants realized that once they made it into the United States, they'd be able to work under the table with little chance of detention and deportation.

Word spread in impoverished communities around the world, and folks started making preparations to illegally migrate to the United States, where even the lowest wages and worst working conditions are often better than what's available in their home countries.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas presented the end of ICE workplace raids as compassionate. He's wrong: It's not. It will only incentivize more illegal immigration and lead to more human suffering, as unscrupulous employers realize they can abuse undocumented workers with virtual impunity.

Ending the raids effectively grants amnesty not to undocumented workers but to the most inhumane, criminal employers in the country. After all, their illegal hiring isn't a victimless crime. Honest citizens and legal immigrants get passed over for jobs that would otherwise be theirs. Wages fall. And of course, the illegal workers themselves often face appalling abuse.

It has already happened in industries like agriculture, construction, and meatpacking, and the practice will only spread as long as the government turns a blind eye.

Consider a recent example from Georgia, where a human smuggling ring trafficked 200 undocumented workers across the border to work in conditions a U.S. attorney described as "modern-day slavery." These farm workers were bartered like cattle and sexually assaulted.

Scofflaw employers have almost total control over undocumented workers, who know that any complaints about unsafe working conditions or unfair labor practices could cause their managers to summarily fire themor report them to ICE.

As a recent story in the progressive magazine The American Prospect details, contractors often stiff undocumented workers injured on their job sites, leaving them on the hook for ruinous medical bills. Particularly cruel contractors will even report their injured employees to ICE rather than provide medical care.

Moreover, by effectively ignoring illegal hiring, the government is complicit in driving down wages for blue-collar Americans. The presence of undocumented workers in the labor force suppresses the average American's wages by 5 percent, and less-skilled workers by as much as 12 percent.

Black Americans, in particular, suffer. One study showed that mass migration could be responsible for around 60 percent of the Black-white wage gap. Honest employers also lose out because they can't compete with the artificially low wages and inflated margins of their exploitive rivals.

The prospect of a raid keeps many employers at the margin honest, which in turn helps keep illegal immigration levels down. During his first week in office, President Trump signed executive orders expanding the use of workplace raids, along with other border security and immigration enforcement measures. In just a few months, illegal immigration fell 70 percent, to a 17-year low. Not coincidentally, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, workers' wages rose faster for the bottom 10 percent than the top 10 percent of American earners, and fastest of all among Blacks and Latinos.

Taking away that deterrent incentivizes employers and migrants alike to flout the law.

Just a few months after President Biden took office and reversed the Trump-era immigration policies, the southern border was overrun. 2021 saw the highest number of illegal crossings ever recorded, along with a looming humanitarian crisis. 2022 promises to be even worse, with Border Patrol prepping for 18,000 daily migrant encountersmore than double the current ratestarting later this spring.

Raids deter illegal immigration and help prevent the worst sorts of workplace abuses. Ending them helps no one except the unscrupulous companies that use de facto slave labor to pad their bottom lines.

Mark Thies, Ph.D. is an engineering professor at Clemson University whose research is focused on energy and sustainability.

The views in this article are the writer's own.

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Ending Workplace Immigration Enforcement, Biden Incentivizes Slavery and Abuse | Opinion - Newsweek

As Russia intensifies push for Donbas, Ukraine rules out ceasefire

Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or concessions to Moscow as Russia intensified an offensive in the eastern Donbas region and stopped providing gas to Finland.

After ending weeks of resistance by the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia is waging what appears to be a major offensive in Luhansk, one of two provinces in Donbas.

Russian-backed separatists already controlled swathes of territory in Luhansk and the neighboring Donetsk province before the Feb. 24 invasion, but Moscow wants to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbas.

"The situation in Donbas is extremely difficult," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. The Russian army was trying to attack the cities of Sloviansk and Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces were holding off their advance, he said.

Earlier, Zelenskiy told local television that while the fighting would be bloody, the end would come only through diplomacy and that the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory would be temporary.

Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak ruled out agreeing to a ceasefire and said Kyiv would not accept any deal with Moscow that involved ceding territory. He said making concessions would backfire on Ukraine because Russia would hit back harder after any break in fighting.

"The war will not stop (after concessions). It will just be put on pause for some time," Podolyak, Ukraine's lead negotiator, told Reuters in an interview in the heavily guarded presidential office.

"They'll start a new offensive, even more bloody and large-scale."

Reuters

President Joe Biden tweeted a video of himself signing legislation authorizing an additional $40 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Biden inked the aid boost, which was overwhelmingly approved by Congress this week, during his state visit to Seoul, South Korea.

"This law will allow us to continue sending security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine as they continue to defend their democracy and freedom," the tweet from Biden's official White House Twitter account said.

Biden also during his visit signed the Access to Baby Formula Act, which is designed to alleviate a nationwide shortage of formula in the United States.

Both bills were flown to South Korea by a U.S. government official on a commercial jet who was already planning to travel to Asia for work-related duties, a White House official told NBC News.

Dan Mangan

A bus carrying service members of the Ukrainian armed forces, who surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel mill, drives away under escort of the pro-Russian military in the course of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in Mariupol, Ukraine May 20, 2022.

Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters

Concern mounted over the fate of the Ukrainian fighters who became Moscow's prisoners as Russia claimed seizure of the steel plant-turned-fortress in Mariupol.

The Russian Defense Ministry released video of Ukrainian soldiers being taken into custody after announcing that its forces had removed the last holdouts from the plant's miles of underground tunnels. The Azovstal steel plant became a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity, and its seizure delivers Russian President Vladimir Putin a badly wanted victory in the war he began in February.

Family members of the steel mill fighters, who authorities say came from a variety of military and law enforcement units, have pleaded for them to be given rights as prisoners of war and eventually returned to Ukraine. They are considered heroes by their fellow citizens.

Convoys of buses, guarded by Russian armored vehicles, left the plant Friday. At least some Ukrainians were taken to a former penal colony, while Russian authorities said others were hospitalized.

Denis Pushilin, the pro-Kremlin head of an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, said the Ukrainians were sure to face a tribunal. Russian officials and state media have sought to characterize the fighters as neo-Nazis and criminals.

"I believe that justice must be restored. There is a request for this from ordinary people, society, and, probably, the sane part of the world community," Russian state news agency Tass quoted Pushilin as saying.

Associated Press

Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the I-80 Speedway on May 01, 2022 in Greenwood, Nebraska. Trump is supporting Charles Herbster in the Nebraska gubernatorial race.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

Russia on Saturday released a list of nearly 1,000 Americans who are now permanently barred from entering the country, an action likely in response to sanctions imposed on the nation following its February invasion of Ukraine.

The list includes President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton and George Soros. It also names 211 Republicans and 224 Democrats from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

There are also a few notable omissions. Former President Donald Trump and Mike Pence, who served as his vice president, are not included. Former President Barack Obama is also not on the list.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more here.

Carmen Reinicke

Superyacht Valerie, linked to chief of Russian state aerospace and defence conglomerate Rostec Sergei Chemezov, is seen at Barcelona Port in Barcelona city, Spain, March 9, 2022.

Albert Gea | Reuters

McKinsey & Co., a major global consulting firm, worked with both a Russian weapons maker and the Pentagon simultaneously, NBC News reported today.

An NBC investigation uncovered that McKinsey advised Rostec, a Russian state-owned manufacturing company in recent years. The company manufactures engines for missiles, including many of the weapons that Russia has fired on Ukraine since its February invasion.

The scope of McKinsey's work with Rostec did not directly involve weapons, according to the report. Still, the consulting firm was working on national security contracts for the U.S. government, including the Defense Department and U.S. intelligence community.

It's the latest accusation of conflicts of interest faced by McKinsey. The consulting firm previously worked with opioid manufacturers while advising officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on opioids. Congress has also scrutinized the company for its work in China.

A McKinsey spokesman told NBC News that it has strict rules and firewalls to safeguard against conflicts of interest, and that its work abroad is walled off from its work in Washington.

Carmen Reinicke

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, center, talks to media in Irpin, Ukraine, Saturday, May 21, 2022.

Efrem Lukatsky | AP Photo

Antnio Costa, Portugal's prime minister, visited Kyiv today and made a joint appearance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss aid, the president's office said in a statement.

"I once again felt such a closeness of values and a common understanding by our nations of the future of Europe. Portugal has been helping Ukraine since the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of our land," Zelenskyy said, according to a statement.

"I am grateful to your country and to you personally, Mr. Prime Minister, for your defensive, political and humanitarian assistance, as well as for the great support for our citizens, forcibly displaced Ukrainians who fled the war and are now on the European continent in various countries, in particular in Portugal," he added.

Zelenskyy also called for Portugal's support in Ukraine's bid for accession to the European Union.

Costa is the latest of many world leaders to visit Kyiv or reach out to Zelenskyy to provide aid in recent weeks. In a tweet, he confirmed Portugal's support of Ukraine.

"We are all moved by the European choice made by Ukraine and its people and we welcome it with open arms," he said. "It is fundamental to accelerate Ukraine's political and economic convergence with the EU."

Carmen Reinicke

A soldier holds a Javelin missile system during a military exercise in the training centre of Ukrainian Ground Forces near Rivne, Ukraine May 26, 2021. Picture taken May 26, 2021.

Gleb Garanich | Reuters

Albania's defense minister said Saturday the Western Balkan country has bought anti-tank Javelin missiles to strengthen its defenses.

Niko Peleshi said Albania signed a contract with U.S. Lockheed Martin, without specifying the number of missiles, how much they cost or when they would be delivered.

Peleshi said buying the missiles was part of the army's modernization efforts.

Earlier this week, Lockheed Martin said the U.S. Army had awarded two production contracts for Javelin missiles and associated equipment and services with total value of $309 million. These contracts include more than 1300 Javelin missiles funded from the recent Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act and orders for several international customers including Norway, Albania, Latvia and Thailand.

"Not to create any panic, there is no concrete threat. We are a NATO member country and the national security issue resolved. We are protected," the minister told journalists.

Peleshi also said NATO is not a threat to any country, including Russia. Tirana supports the alliance's "open door" policy welcoming Finland and Sweden as new members, which Peleshi said were "two independent sovereign countries with high political, legal and also military standards."

Associated Press

Soldiers put camouflage atop a weaponized Geon Strike 1000 ATV on May 20, 2022 in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The commercially sold vehicle was modified by the Ukrainian Army for use against invading Russian soldiers. Troops from the 93rd brigade have been fighting to repel a Russian advance to the south from Izium.

KHARKIV OBLAST - MAY 20: Soldiers put camouflage atop a weaponized Geon Strike 1000 ATV on May 20, 2022 in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The commercially sold vehicle was modified by the Ukrainian Army for use again invading Russian soldiers. Troops from the 93rd brigade have been fighting to repel a Russian advance to the south from Izium. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

John Moore | Getty Images News | Getty Images

KHARKIV OBLAST - MAY 20: Ukrainian Army Major Oleh "Serafim" Shevchenko checks the steering on an amphibious Argo 8X8 ATV on May 20, 2022 in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Shevchenko modified the Canadian made vehicle, as well as the Ukrainian made Geon Strike 1000 (L) for military use against invading Russian forces. Soldiers from the Ukrainian Army's 93rd brigade have been fighting to repel a Russian advance to the south from Izium. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

John Moore | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Soldiers put camouflage atop a weaponized Geon Strike 1000 ATV on May 20, 2022 in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. T

John Moore | Getty Images

KHARKIV OBLAST - MAY 20: Camouflage covers Ukrainian military ATVs on May 20, 2022 in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Ukrainian Army troops from the 93rd brigade have been fighting to repel a Russian advance to the south from Izium. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

John Moore | Getty Images News | Getty Images

John Moore | Getty Images

Sat, May 21 20227:17 AM EDT

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the Presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, May 21, 2022.

Jeon Heon-Kyun | Reuters

President Joe Biden signed legislation to support Ukraine with another $40 billion in U.S. assistance as the Russian invasion approaches its fourth month.

The legislation, which was passed by Congress with bipartisan support, deepens the U.S. commitment to Ukraine at a time of uncertainty about the war's future. Ukraine has successfully defended Kyiv, and Russia has refocused its offensive on the country's east, but American officials warn of the potential for a prolonged conflict.

The funding is intended to support Ukraine through September, and it dwarfs an earlier emergency measure that provided $13.6 billion.

The new legislation will provide $20 billion in military assistance, ensuring a steady stream of advanced weapons that have been used to blunt Russia's advances. There's also $8 billion in general economic support, $5 billion to address global food shortages that could result from the collapse of Ukrainian agriculture and more than $1 billion to help refugees.

Biden signed the measure under unusual circumstances. Because he's in the middle of a trip to Asia, a U.S. official brought a copy of the bill on a commercial flight to Seoul for the president to sign, according to a White House official.

Associated Press

Sat, May 21 20227:09 AM EDT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a formal deal with allies outlining how to get compensation from Russia for the immense damage it has caused to Ukraine with its invasion.

"We invite partner countries to sign a multilateral agreement and create a mechanism ensuring that everybody who suffered from Russian actions can receive compensation for all losses incurred," Zelenskyy said in a video address Friday.

Under such a deal, Russian funds and property in nations which are part of the agreement would be confiscated and allocated to a compensation fund.

Ukraine's president says he will be addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos on May 23.

Ole Jensen | Getty Images News | Getty Images

"That would be fair. And Russia will feel the weight of every missile, every bomb, every shell which it has fired at us," he said, stressing that such a mechanism would prove that countries that act as invaders would have to pay for their aggression.

Several countries are discussing changing their laws to allow the redistribution of seized foreign assets for compensating war victims or rebuilding countries after war. Canada has already said it would change its laws to enable this.

Natasha Turak

Sat, May 21 20225:24 AM EDT

U.K. Boris Johnson spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, focusing on their two countries' cooperation and the war in Ukraine.

Johnson raised the issue of Turkey's opposition to Sweden and Finland's NATO membership applications, and "encouraged" Erdogan to work with both countries and NATO leaders to address his concerns, a U.K. government statement said. The 30-member alliance will be meeting in Madrid in June.

Sweden and Finland have made the decision to apply for NATO membership, which would mean a significant enlargement for the alliance along Russia's western border, as the two countries reassessed their security requirements amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

NATO requires unanimous consent to admit new members, and so far Turkey is the only state standing in the way, citing the Nordic states' support for Kurdish groups that Ankara classifies as terrorists.

Natasha Turak

Sat, May 21 20224:49 AM EDT

Representatives from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan walked out of a meeting of ministers during theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, Thailand. The walk-out was done while Russian economy ministerMaxim Reshetnikovwas speaking, in protest to Russia's military offensive in Ukraine.

The act was" an expression of disapproval at Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine and its economic impact in the APEC region," Reuters quoted one diplomat as saying.

Natasha Turak

Sat, May 21 20224:18 AM EDT

Russia is using 'reconnaissance strike' tactics which it previously used in Syria, finding targets via reconnaissance drones and then striking them with aircraft or artillery.

But Russia is "likely experiencing a shortage of appropriate reconnaissance UAVs for this task, which is exacerbated by limitations in its domestic manufacturing capacity resulting from sanctions," the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence wrote in its daily intelligence update on Twitter.

More:
Russia-Ukraine war updates for May 21, 2022

POKROVSK, Ukraine Camouflaged in a heap of branches cut from nearby trees, the weapon that Ukraine hopes will make a critical difference in its war with Russia is all but invisible from more than a few feet away.

Soon, a single round shoots out with a boom and a howling, metallic shriek as it sails toward Russian positions.

It is the American-made M777 howitzer. It shoots farther, moves faster and is hidden more easily, and its what the Ukrainian military has been waiting for.

Three months into the war in Ukraine, the first M777s the most lethal weapons the West has provided so far are now deployed in combat in Ukraines east. Their arrival has buoyed Ukraines hopes of achieving artillery superiority at least in some frontline areas, a key step toward military victories in a war now fought mostly on flat, open steppe at long ranges.

The American howitzers are chunky machines of steel and titanium swathed in hydraulic hoses and perched on four braces that fold up and down. They have already fired hundreds of rounds since arriving around May 8, destroying armored vehicles and killing Russian soldiers, Ukrainian commanders say.

This weapon brings us closer to victory, Col. Roman Kachur, commander of the 55th Artillery Brigade, whose unit was the first unit to deploy the weapon, said in an interview. Mixing confidence with an implicit plea for more weapons, he added: With every modern weapon, every precise weapon, we get closer to victory.

How close remains unclear, Western military analysts say. The arrival of the new weapons is no guarantee of success, as the Russians continue to engage in fierce fighting in the eastern Donbas region. Much depends on numbers.

Artillery is very much the business of quantity, Michael Kofman, the director of Russian studies at C.N.A., a research institute in Arlington, Va., said in a telephone interview. The Russians are one of the largest artillery armies you can face.

The United States said weeks ago it would provide the howitzers, but their use in combat has so far been mostly hinted at in online videos posted, mostly anonymously, by soldiers. On Sunday, the military provided The New York Times a tour of a gun line in eastern Ukraine, the first independent confirmation by international media that the guns are in use.

Military analysts say the full effect wont be felt for at least another two weeks, because Ukraine has yet to train enough soldiers to fire all 90 such howitzers pledged by the United States and other allies. Only about a dozen guns are now at the front.

Arming Ukraine with more powerful weapons is a politically sensitive issue. The United States, France, Slovakia and other Western nations have been rushing in artillery and support systems such as drones, counter-battery radar and armored vehicles for towing guns even as Russia accuses the West of fighting a proxy war in Ukraine, and threatens unspecified consequences if weapons shipments continue.

Disagreements over how aggressively to confront Russia have cropped up in the Western coalition. France, Italy and Germany have suggested that Ukraine use the leverage of more powerful weapons to push for a cease-fire that might lead to a negotiated withdrawal of Russian forces.

Ukrainian officials have pushed back. They insist that momentum is on their side and that talks should come only after battlefield wins and recapturing territory once an almost inconceivable idea that became more tenable after Ukraines military inflicted multiple setbacks on Russia even before the arrival of Western heavy weaponry.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview on Ukrainian television over the weekend, said a diplomatic solution would come only after additional military victories for Ukraine, along with an influx of weapons. The Ukrainian military has repelled Russian troops from Kyiv and from positions near the countrys second-largest city, Kharkiv, but is under intense pressure now in a more limited battle for control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

Its like an automobile, not a gas-powered, or electric, but a hybrid, he said of ending the war with a mix of military gains and talks. And that is how war is: complicated.

Victory will be bloody, Mr. Zelensky said.

In any case, diplomatic talks halted about a week ago, both sides said, throwing the outcome back to the battlefields. And not all has gone Ukraines way. Russian forces are now close to surrounding the city of Sievierodonetsk, threatening an encirclement of Ukrainian troops.

Im surprised people believe Ukrainian forces can absorb this level of losses and then be ready to go on the offensive right afterward, Mr. Kofman, the analyst, said.

Still, the new, longer-ranged Western artillery are the most powerful and destructive of the many types now being provided by NATO countries. They fire three miles farther than the most common artillery system used by the Russian army in the Ukraine war, the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer and 10 miles farther if shooting a precision, GPS-guided projectile.

Out on the open plains of the east, a long drive over potholed roads and dirt tracks ends with jeeps pivoting quickly into a tree line.

Secrecy is paramount in the cat-and-mouse artillery duels that have defined the war in recent weeks. Soldiers waste no time piling fresh-cut branches onto the vehicles, as camouflage against enemy drones.

In the artillery duels, soldiers value not just range but the ability to quickly hide and move guns and supporting vehicles.

Since their deployment two weeks ago, the dozen or so howitzers operating in two artillery batteries had by Sunday fired 1,876 rounds, according to Ukrainian officers.

With a mix of airburst, anti-personnel fragmentation rounds and other types of projectiles, the Ukrainian gunners have destroyed at least three Russian armored vehicles, and by Colonel Kachurs estimate killed at least several dozen Russian soldiers.

At the firing line in the trees, empty ammunition boxes and spent cartridges were scattered amid foxholes. Kalashnikov rifles leaned against tree trunks.

The officers didnt say what they were targeting.

The purpose of the guns will be to grind down Russian positions and military infrastructure, such as ammunition depots and command posts, he said. Ukrainian soldiers say the howitzers will also save civilian lives by striking Russian artillery firing on their towns.

The types of Western artillery flowing into Ukraine now have several advantages over Soviet legacy systems, Ukrainian artillery officers said. Among the most important is their compatibility with NATO caliber shells, easing fears that Ukraine might soon run out of Soviet-standard ammunition now made mostly in Russia.

In addition to the weapons the United States is sending, the French have promised Caesar truck-mounted howitzers, which are capable of quickly driving away after firing in a maneuver known as shoot and scoot. Slovakia has also pledged howitzers.

But the American M777, known as the triple seven, is likely to have the greatest effect for the quantity of guns provided, providing accurate, long-range fire when sufficient crews are trained to use them, military analysts say.

The bottleneck is training. The United States has so far trained about 200 Ukrainian soldiers in six-day courses at bases in Germany. The Ukrainian military divided this group roughly in half, sending some to the front and others to train more Ukrainians. Training soldiers for all 90 guns the amount that are scheduled to arrive could take another several weeks, said Mykhailo Zhirokhov, the author of a book on artillery in Ukraines war with Russian-backed separatists, Gods of Hybrid War.

Smaller numbers of the computer-controlled, self-propelled Caesar guns from France will also help, Mr. Zhirokhov said, but learning to use them takes months. Even the French think they are too complicated, he said.

After the soldiers fired the M777, the gun was horizontal again, its barrel covered in camouflaging branches. Move faster! an officer yelled. The crew then ran, in case the Russians had fixed their location.

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