Ukraine Briefly

October 07, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed documents annexing four areas of eastern Ukraine – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson – even as Kyiv pushed the Russian army further out of three of those areas, the BBC reported. The annexation followed “shotgun” referendums in those...

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Need to Know

October 03, 2022

The Bear’s Market

Russia

Global economic growth will reach only three percent this year due to the lingering effects of Covid-19 and the economic ructions of the Russo-Ukraine War – think higher energy, food prices and other goods. Next year, for the same reasons, growth is expected to slow...

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Ukraine Briefly

September 30, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week, President Vladimir Putin said he would sign documents annexing the four Ukrainian regions on Friday, Reuters reported. Russia is racing to secure these territorial claims as the Ukrainian army has been recapturing territory held by Russia, a humiliating defeat for the bigger power....

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The World Briefly

September 28, 2022

Welcome to the Fold

Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden this week, nearly 10 years after the American whistleblower publicly disclosed classified information on US intelligence and mass surveillance programs, CNN reported. The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor has been living in exile in Russia...

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The World Briefly

September 27, 2022

The Spreading Plague

Russia

A gunman killed at least 17 people, including 11 children, at a school in central Russia on Monday, the latest school shooting in a country where such tragedies are relatively uncommon, the Washington Post reported. The shooting took place in the Russian city of Izhevsk with...

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Need to Know

September 26, 2022

The Dangers of Desperation

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The once-vaunted, now-demoralized Russian military could be on the brink of collapse – a retired British Air Marshal put the odds at 35 percent in a recent interview with Sky News. By now, seven months after the invasion of Ukraine, this mighty military was to have...

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Ukraine Briefly

September 23, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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This week saw moves by Russian President Vladimir Putin to shore up the effort to bring Ukraine to its knees, actions analysts say are a sign of Russia’s desperation in the face of battlefield successes by Ukraine. For example, Putin said Wednesday he would activate...

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The World Briefly

September 22, 2022

A Call For Sacrifice

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Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military draft Wednesday, a move that would put the nation’s people and economy on a wartime footing amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, CNBC reported. Putin announced that “mobilization events” would begin, adding that he had previously ordered a...

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Ukraine Briefly

September 16, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to “inject stability into a turbulent world,” amid global economic turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Washington Post reported. The announcement came as the two leaders met in Uzbekistan during a...

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Need to Know

September 12, 2022

Tectonic Shifts

Russia

After World War II, British influence gave way to American power everywhere around the globe except the heartland of Eurasia. There, the Soviet Union held sway. Today, however, a new page is turning in the history of great empires. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of...

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Ukraine Briefly

September 05, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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The Group of Seven industrialized nations will impose a price restriction on Russian oil, with the goal of undermining the Kremlin’s finances while keeping energy flowing to the West, the Washington Post wrote. The price cap plan aims to reduce the massive energy profits...

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Ukraine Briefly

September 02, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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Russia has lost more than 900 special forces soldiers, paratroopers, marines and pilots in over six months of war in Ukraine, the Moscow Times reported. The deaths of such soldiers are especially troublesome for the Russian Armed Forces because they are extremely expensive to...

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Ukraine Briefly

September 01, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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The European Union has struck a political agreement to suspend a visa facilitation arrangement with Russia, making it more difficult and expensive for Russian tourists to obtain visas, but the action falls far short of the blanket ban demanded by some politicians, the Washington...

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Ukraine Briefly

August 29, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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  Russia has obstructed the adoption of a joint declaration by a United Nations nuclear disarmament conference, the BBC reported. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is reviewed every five years by its 191 signatories, attempts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Russia objected to...

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Ukraine Briefly

August 22, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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  A fresh drone strike has targeted the Russian military in Crimea, the latest in a series of attacks this month against Russian personnel and equipment in the annexed peninsula, the BBC reported. On Saturday, a Ukrainian drone targeting Russia's Black Sea navy was shot...

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Ukraine Briefly

August 19, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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  Russia is fighting efforts by the US and other countries to officially label Russian diamonds as “conflict diamonds,” so-called because their sale helps pay for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the New York Times reported. Russia is the world’s largest supplier of small diamonds. Myanmar’s...

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Need to Know

August 18, 2022

A Grave Hour

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The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was among the worst nuclear accidents in world history. Now, the world is bracing for another. “Humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres earlier this month. Thirty-six years ago, the explosion and fire...

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Ukraine Briefly

August 18, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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China will send a contingent of troops to Russia to attend joint military drills involving several other countries, including India, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan, Radio Free Europe reported. Chinese officials said that participation in the joint exercises is “unrelated to the current international and...

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Ukraine Briefly

August 17, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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Estonia will remove all memorials in the eastern city of Narva that date to the Soviet Union, Politico reported. The government's decision to remove a controversial tank from Narva, a Russian-speaking city located on the Russian border, sparked tensions with local authorities in recent...

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Ukraine Briefly

August 16, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to increase military cooperation with allies Monday, saying Moscow is prepared to provide them with the most cutting-edge weaponry, the Associated Press reported. Putin asserted that Russia's exports of weapons are crucial to the creation of a “multipolar world,”...

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