Ukraine Briefly

January 13, 2023

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, Russia replaced the general in charge of its troubled campaign against Ukraine, amid hints of discord among President Vladimir Putin’s senior allies – a reshuffle that opponents say will not repair the Russian military’s problems, the New York Times reported. Gen. Valery Gerasimov,...

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Need to Know

December 19, 2022

Creating a New Chapter

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[featurecontent2] Russian soldiers have been building trenches on the Black Sea coast of the Crimean Peninsula, a Ukrainian territory Russia invaded and illegally annexed almost nine years ago in a move that now clearly presaged the wider war. The trenches run in a zigzag pattern that runs...

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Ukraine Briefly

December 16, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

RussiaUkraine

This week, Russia said that the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine by the end of the year is “out of the question,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who added that any peace deal with Kyiv is “impossible,” the Washington Post wrote. Peskov told...

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Need to Know

December 12, 2022

The Invisible Victims

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Earlier this year, doctors in Kherson, Ukraine immediately took action when they heard that Russians were invading their city. They quickly began making fake documents for orphans that claimed the children were too sick to move. “We deliberately wrote false information that the children were sick...

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Ukraine Briefly

December 09, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, Russia released Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who had been held in Russian prisons for months on drug charges, in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout. Thursday’s release brought an end to an ordeal that had sparked intense high-level...

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Ukraine Briefly

December 02, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the US and NATO of “directly participating” in the Ukraine war, saying that they are waging war against Russia “with the hands of Ukrainians,” USA Today reported. His remarks came on Thursday as Russian forces attempted to...

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The World Briefly

November 30, 2022

The Wait

Russia

Russia postponed arms-control talks with the United States this week, a worrying delay amid tense relations between the two nuclear powers following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, NBC News reported. The two nations were set to meet in the Egyptian capital of Cairo Tuesday with the aim...

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Ukraine Briefly

November 25, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, Ukrainian energy infrastructure has come to the brink of collapse, the Washington Post reported, as Russia continued its pummeling with airstrikes around the country. Russia has pushed Ukraine towards a humanitarian crisis this winter, with millions of people potentially facing life-threatening circumstances without...

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Need to Know

November 22, 2022

The Wizard of Oz

Russia

More than 100,000 Russian troops have died since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, according to American estimates that Agence France-Presse cited. The same experts estimated that Ukraine likely has suffered a similar number of losses. Ukraine has disputed those estimates, ABC News...

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Ukraine Briefly

November 18, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, in a rare display of public discord, Ukraine and its Western allies are openly clashing over who launched the missile that killed two people in NATO member Poland, NBC News reported. On Tuesday, Russia launched a barrage of missiles hitting a number of...

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Need to Know

November 15, 2022

A Game of Chicken

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As Russian forces retreated from Kherson and Ukrainian forces poured into the strategic southern Ukrainian city, one could be forgiven for wondering if the world was seeing the beginning of the end of the war. Six weeks ago, noted National Public Radio, Russian President Vladimir...

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The World Briefly

November 10, 2022

Daring to Hope

Russia

Russia and the US agreed this week to hold talks on the single existing nuclear treaty between the two countries, even as the war in Ukraine continues and Moscow has threatened to deploy tactical warheads, CNN reported. The talks will center on the New START treaty,...

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Ukraine Briefly

November 04, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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Russia has prepared the groundwork for withdrawing its troops from Kherson, the largest Ukrainian city its forces have occupied since the February invasion, one Western official told Politico. The official added that the Ukrainian army has achieved “spectacular” advances in its fight to reclaim...

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The World Briefly

October 31, 2022

A Different Kind of Hostage

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Russia suspended its participation in the United Nations-brokered deal to allow grain shipments from Ukraine over the weekend, a move that raised concerns over food shortages and skyrocketing cereal prices around the world, The Hill reported. Russia’s ministry of defense explained that the decision came after...

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Ukraine Briefly

October 28, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to accuse Ukraine of preparing to detonate a “dirty bomb,” an allegation with no basis, but one raising fears in the West that the Kremlin was manufacturing an excuse to intensify its war in Ukraine, according to the...

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Need to Know

October 24, 2022

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Central AsiaRussia

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are clashing on their border. Kazakhstan is poised for a “color revolution”. Uzbekistan is welcoming Russians fleeing conscription while its neighbors are wondering how to cope with the sheer numbers of these new arrivals. For years, Russia was the dominant power in the...

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Ukraine Briefly

October 21, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, there were more signs that Russia’s hold on gains in Ukraine is tenuous at best. For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in four of Ukraine’s illegally-annexed regions at the same time that Russia began evacuating large numbers of citizens from...

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Need to Know

October 17, 2022

With Friends Like These

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Armenians have a unique perspective on Russian power. On the farthest-most edge of Europe, the former Soviet republic in the Caucasus hosts a Russian army base and belongs to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance centered on Russia. But they also abut...

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Ukraine Briefly

October 14, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, capping days of attacks on Kyiv and other cities in what most Western officials believe is in retaliation for an explosion on a bridge linking Russia to Crimea, Russia launched a drone attack using Iranian hardware in the capital’s region and fired a...

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Need to Know

October 10, 2022

Great Russia

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When Ukrainian forces recently retook the city of Lyman from Russian occupiers, resident Elena Kharkovska was surprised to learn that Russian President Vladimir Putin had considered her to be one of his constituents for one day. Lacking electricity or communications while the bullets and bombs...

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