Tag Archives: Russia-Ukraine war

The Guardian reports: Russian soldiers have shot dead a Ukrainian musician in his home after he refused to take part in a concert in occupied Kherson, according to the culture ministry in Kyiv. Conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko declined to take part in a concert “intended by the occupiers to demonstrate the so-called ‘improvement of peaceful life’ in Kherson”, the ministry said …

The Washington Post reports: Police and military officers swooped down on a Moscow business center this week unannounced. They were looking for men to fight in Ukraine — and they seized nearly every one they saw. Some musicians, rehearsing. A courier there to deliver a parcel. A man from a Moscow service agency, very drunk, in his mid-50s, with a …

Reuters reports: At least 11 people were killed and 15 more wounded at a Russian military training ground on Saturday when two attackers opened fire on a group of volunteers who wished to fight in Ukraine, RIA news agency said. The deadly incident is just the latest in a series of high-profile setbacks for Moscow’s forces since the Feb. 24 …

Reuters reports: Some of oilfield service firm Schlumberger’s more than 9,000 Russian employees have begun receiving military draft notices through work, and the company is not authorizing remote employment to escape mobilization, according to people familiar with the matter and internal documents. Schlumberger’s cooperation with authorities by delivering the military call-ups and its refusal to allow Russian staff to work …

Reuters reports: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will ask the leaders of the G7 group of nations to urgently supply Ukraine with air defence weapons, after Russia rained down cruise missiles in its latest escalation of its unravelling invasion. Ukrainians woke up to the wailing of new air raid sirens on Tuesday, with parts of the country left without power. Officials said …

Politico reports: The Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan on Sunday unilaterally cancelled joint military drills between the six nations making up the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, less than a day before they were due to start on its territory. The Kyrgyz defense ministry did not specify the reason for cancelling the “Indestructible Brotherhood-2022” command and staff exercises, which were …

Reuters reports: Russia fired cruise missiles at cities across Ukraine during rush hour on Monday morning, killing civilians and knocking out power and heat, in what President Vladimir Putin declared to be revenge for Ukrainian attacks including on a bridge to Crimea. The missiles tore into busy intersections, parks and tourist sites in the centre of downtown Kyiv with an …

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said …

The New York Times reports: The two Russians braved miles of open sea, traveling on a vessel from Russia to a small isolated island in Alaska with the apparent aim of avoiding being ensnared in President Vladimir V. Putin’s mandatory conscription to fight in Ukraine, two U.S. senators said on Thursday. The two escapees appeared to have accomplished their goal, …

The Times of London reports: Russia’s beleaguered enlistment officers were given a new way to entice men to join up this week: plying their families with fresh fish. The local chief of President Putin’s ruling party, Mikhail Shuvalov, promised islanders in the far-eastern Sakhalin island 5kg of flounder, pollock and salmon in exchange for sending their men to a war …

Reuters reports: President Vladimir Putin formally incorporated four Ukrainian regions into Russia on Wednesday even as his forces retreated within them, while Moscow stepped up its energy war with Europe by further cutting gas supplies. Pushing ahead with Europe’s biggest annexation since World War Two, Putin signed off on a law annexing the new territory, which represents up to 18% …

The Washington Post reports: Ukraine is applying for “accelerated ascension” into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia’s move to illegally annex four of the country’s partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened a Kremlin ceremony to start the process of absorbing parts of Ukraine into Russia, defying international law. The annexation ceremony in the Kremlin’s opulent white-and-gold St. George’s Hall will feature Putin and the heads of the four regions of Ukraine signing treaties for them to join Russia, in a sharp …

The New York Times reports: The Kremlin has dispatched still more forces to shore up its faltering war effort, but the units are headed not to Ukraine but to Russia’s borders with other countries, where on Tuesday they were confronting young Russian men trying to join an exodus out of the country. As the avenues for Russians to escape a …

Via press release from the State Department: On September 21, the Russian government began a mobilization of its citizens to the armed forces in support of its invasion of Ukraine. Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service. Commercial flight …

The Moscow Times reports: Kazakhstan will ensure the care and safety of Russians fleeing a “hopeless situation,” the president of the Central Asian country said on Tuesday, as Russian men fled the Ukraine military call-up. “Recently we’ve had many people from Russia coming here,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was quoted as saying by his press service. “Most of them are forced to …

The New York Times reports: As military officers across Russia race to enlist hundreds of thousands of men to fight in Ukraine, the Kremlin is also looking to bolster its flagging recruitment efforts by dragooning Ukrainians in occupied territories to fight against their own nation. In two regions, Kherson and Zaporizka, the Russian occupiers are beginning to round up men …

The BBC reports: Russian soldiers who surrender to Ukraine will be treated in a “civilised manner”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. In his nightly address, Mr Zelensky appealed to Russians to run away or surrender once at the front. It comes after Vladimir Putin signed a law doubling the punishment for Russian soldiers who desert or disobey orders. Speaking …

Reuters reports: Russia has sought to defend its seven-month old war at the United Nations, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that regions of Ukraine where widely-derided referendums are being held would be under Russia’s “full protection” if annexed by Moscow. The referendums in four eastern Ukrainian regions, aimed at annexing territory Russia has taken by force since its invasion …

The Associated Press reports: Military-aged men fled Russia in droves Friday, filling planes and causing traffic jams at border crossings to avoid being rounded up to fight in Ukraine following the Kremlin’s partial military mobilization. Queues stretching for 10 kilometers (6 miles) formed on a road leading to the southern border with Georgia, according to Yandex Maps, a Russian online …