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War in Ukraine

Ukrainian Official: Attack on Crimea Oil Depot Was Prep for Counteroffensive

  • A spokesperson for the Ukrainian military said Saturday’s attack on the Russia-occupied depot was part of Kyiv’s preparations for a new military push against Moscow (NYT)
  • Early this morning, a Russian missile attack wounded at least thirty-four people in the east Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad (AP)

Kyiv Vows Response to Deadly Russian Missiles Strikes

  • Russia will “face a fair response” to missile attacks that killed at least nineteen people in central and southeastern Ukraine last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform Telegram; the missile barrage was the first to target Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv in nearly two months, though no casualties were reported there (Reuters; AP)
  • Most of the deaths occurred at an apartment building in central Ukraine, far from the war’s front lines, and three children were among those killed (LA Times)
  • Ukraine’s defense minister said today that the country’s forces are ready to launch a long-awaited ground counteroffensive that aims to take back Russia-occupied territories; Ukraine’s foreign minister said the latest strikes on civilians showed that Russia is not interested in a peace deal (AFP)

Xi, Zelenskyy Hold First Call Since Start of Ukraine War

  • Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the war in Ukraine yesterday in a call that Zelenskyy described as “long and meaningful;” Kyiv has sought for Beijing to pressure Moscow to de-escalate its war efforts, though Ukraine previously rejected a Chinese blueprint for peace talks that did not stipulate the return of Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories (WaPo)
  • Xi said a Chinese envoy will travel to Kyiv to tout a political resolution to the conflict (AP)
  • A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said it was “a good thing” for Xi to hear a Ukrainian perspective on the conflict (ABC)
  • China has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Xi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in March (CNN)
  • Xi’s call with Zelenskyy came after China’s ambassador to France sparked outrage with comments that questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet nations; China’s foreign ministry later walked back the comments (NPR)

Ukraine Has Almost All Combat Vehicles Promised By Allies

  • More than 98 percent of the combat vehicles that Western backers promised Ukraine ahead of its planned spring counteroffensive have reached the country, a top North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) official said (NYT)

Putin Seizes Some Western Energy Companies’ Russia-Based Assets

  • The decree signed by Russian President Putin grants temporary state control over the Russian divisions of German firm Uniper and Finnish firm Fortum; the decree called the moves a response to “unfriendly” actions by the United States and its partners (Moscow Times)

UN Secretary General Condemns Russia’s Invasion

  • Diplomats from the United States, the UK, and Switzerland joined UN Secretary-General Guterres in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during a UN Security Council meeting that Russia chaired yesterday (CNN)

Top NATO Official Says Ukraine’s ‘Rightful Place’ Is in the Alliance

  • During a visit to Kyiv, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance will announce new military support for Ukraine, but he did not lay out a timeline for the country to join NATO (AP)

NATO Chief Makes First Wartime Trip to Ukraine

  • The visit by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg comes ahead of a meeting of NATO defense officials in Germany tomorrow (AFP, Reuters)
  • Meanwhile, U.S.-made Patriot missiles have arrived in Ukraine, Ukraine’s defense minister said (AP)

Gazprom Announces Middle East Unit

  • Russian state gas company Gazprom is setting up a unit in the Middle East, regulatory filings said; many Russian companies have sought business in the Middle East amid Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine (Reuters)
  • Meanwhile, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned Russia’s “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity” after he was criticized for saying both countries were responsible for initiating the conflict (The Guardian)

Putin Meets With Commanders in Russia-Occupied Ukraine After Military Shakeup

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to meet with military commanders in the Kherson and Luhansk regions in Ukraine, the Kremlin said, months after a shakeup in Russia’s military leadership (WaPo)
  • News of his visits came as jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow court for the first time; the court denied the appeal of his arrest on espionage charges, which the U.S. government and his employer reject (BBC)
  • Meanwhile, during a meeting in Japan, ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries pledged to continue to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” (Bloomberg)
  • Moreover, Egypt halted a plan to supply rockets to Russia last month, instead choosing to send artillery ammunition to Ukraine, according to leaked U.S. intelligence documents seen by the Washington Post; the reversal came after talks between U.S. and Egyptian officials (WaPo)

Russia Sentences Ukraine War Critic to Twenty-Five Years in Prison

  • Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who holds Russian and British citizenship, received the longest jail sentence given to a government critic for opposing the war in Ukraine (Guardian)
  • Meanwhile, Sergey Lavrov arrives in Brazil today before traveling on to Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba; he is expected to discuss the war in Ukraine with Brazilian officials (MercoPress)
  • On Sunday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the decision to start the war was “made by two countries” (Reuters)
  • Moreover, China’s defense minister began a four-day trip to Moscow over the weekend, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral military cooperation; the trip comes as Western countries have urged China to pressure Russia to put an end to the war in Ukraine (CNN)
  • Finally, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said in a press conference that Iraq is a country “capable of building bridges,” while Iraq’s foreign minister Fuad Hussein called for a ceasefire in Ukraine; Hussein said the same message was conveyed to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit in February (Reuters)

FBI Arrests Twenty-One-Year-Old Air National Guardsman in Probe of Intel Leak

  • The FBI arrested Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira in Dighton, Massachusetts, yesterday on suspicion of leaking classified documents (WaPo)
  • The documents purportedly showed recent intelligence about the war in Ukraine, including a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that the war is likely to continue into 2024, with neither side securing a victory and both refusing to negotiate an end to the conflict (WaPo)
  • A new batch of leaked documents, which have not been verified by U.S. officials, described broad infighting among Russian agencies involved in the war, the New York Times reported (NYT)
  • Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Qin Gang is the highest-level Chinese official to pledge that Beijing will not sell arms to any party in the Ukraine War; newly leaked U.S. intelligence cited information from Russia that said Beijing agreed to provide lethal aid to Moscow (AP)
  • An unnamed U.S. official told the New York Times this week that there was no indication that China decided to give lethal aid to Russia (NYT)

Russia’s ‘Near Shoot-Down’ of British Jet More Serious Than Originally Reported

  • Defense officials from the United Kingdom had reported a “potentially dangerous” incident involving Russian fire near a British surveillance jet in September, but recently leaked U.S. intelligence and interviews with U.S. officials confirmed that the attack nearly downed the aircraft and could have amounted to an act of war; U.S. defense officials told the New York Times that the Russian pilot mistakenly believed he had permission to fire (NYT)
  • Meanwhile, Kyiv launched an investigation into a video circulating online that appears to show Russian-speaking men beheading a Ukrainian soldier; the video’s authenticity and circumstances are still unverified (AP)
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces would be held responsible for the killing (Politico)

Russia, Ukraine Raise Conscription Requirements

  • Russia’s government passed laws making it more difficult to escape the draft, while Ukraine will now allow the government to serve conscription notices anywhere in the country; the moves come as Ukraine is expected to launch a spring counteroffensive against Russia (FT)

Top Ukrainian Official Visits India for First Time Since War Began

  • On a visit to New Delhi, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzhaparova, asked for India’s help in ending the war in Ukraine; while India has called for an end to hostilities in Ukraine, it has not publicly condemned Russia’s invasion (Hindustan Times)
  • Meanwhile, Russia launched air strikes and artillery attacks against several Ukrainian cities in the Donetsk region as it continues its campaign to gain control of Bakhmut; Ukraine is also reportedly reconsidering its planned counteroffensive in light of the classified U.S. document leak (Reuters)

U.S. Probes Apparent Intel Leak Regarding Ukraine War

  • U.S. officials restricted intelligence sharing and scrambled to liaise with allies over the weekend in the wake of what seems to be the biggest leak of secret U.S. military documents in years, the Washington Post reported (WaPo)
  • Photographs of classified U.S. documents that appeared on social media servers appear to be mostly real, though some had been doctored to overstate Ukraine’s losses in its war against Russia, unnamed U.S. officials told the New York Times; the documents indicate that stocks of missiles for Ukraine’s air defenses are nearly depleted and suggest deep U.S. penetration of Russia’s military apparatus (NYT)

FT: U.S., Germany, Hungary Oppose Road Map for Ukrainian NATO Membership

  • They are pushing back against attempts by countries including the Baltic states and Poland to support Ukraine’s future membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), four officials told the Financial Times (FT)
  • Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense is investigating the leak of secret U.S. and NATO plans to bolster Ukraine’s military that seem to have been modified to include disinformation before appearing on social media (NYT)

Poland Pledges Additional Fighter Jets to Ukraine

  • During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit yesterday, Poland said it will soon send ten more jets to Ukraine; Poland has already delivered four jets to the country (FT)
  • Additionally, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office told the Financial Times that Kyiv would discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow if Ukrainian forces reach the Russia-occupied peninsula’s border; the comments were a departure from previous statements that Ukraine would only accept the full liberation of Crimea (FT)
  • Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron appealed for China to ‘bring Russia to its senses’ on Ukraine at the start of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing today, saying China could have a “major role” in ending the war in Ukraine; Xi said he hoped peace would be achieved through a “political solution” but used softer language than Macron, urging “restraint from all political partners” in Ukraine (France 24, AFP)

U.S. Announces $2.6 Billion Aid Package for Ukraine

  • The new military support includes $500 million worth of munitions and air defense interceptors from U.S. stockpiles, as well as longer-term aid such as satellite terminals and funding to train Ukrainian forces (AP)
  • Meanwhile, African students who were studying in Ukraine at the time of Russia’s invasion and then fled to Europe have received limited support from European countries compared to Ukrainian refugees, the New York Times reported; many have been unable to finish their studies in Europe or their home countries, so some have returned to Ukraine (NYT)

European Leaders to Press Beijing on Ukraine War During Joint Visit to China

  • Ahead of a trip to China tomorrow, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Beijing should use its relations with Moscow to try to reign in Russia’s war in Ukraine (FT)
  • Macron is expected to urge Chinese President Xi Jinping to push for initiatives to help Ukrainian civilians and for peace talks, an unnamed French official told the Associated Press (AP)
  • The European leaders’ trip to China comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Poland (WaPo)
  • Additionally, Finland officially joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) today; the country’s accession to NATO reverses years of nonalignment in a shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (BBC)

Pro-War Russian Blogger Killed in St. Petersburg Café Explosion

  • Authorities said they arrested a woman suspected of planning the blast that wounded thirty-two people yesterday and killed blogger Maxim Fomin, publicly known as Vladlen Tatarsky, who wrote in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (FT)

U.S. Stops Sharing Nuclear Stockpile Information With Russia

  • The move is a response to Russia’s February decision to suspend its participation in the New START treaty on nuclear arms control, an official from the U.S. Department of Defense told lawmakers (Politico)

British, German Tanks Reach Kyiv as Ukraine Prepares for Spring Offensive

  • The first deliveries of British Challenger tanks and German Leopard 2 tanks reached the Ukrainian capital, German and Ukrainian officials confirmed (FT)
  • Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces completed training in the United Kingdom on how to use the Challenger tanks; Poland sent tanks to Ukraine late last month, and Spain is expected to do so by the end of the week (The Guardian)
  • Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive against invading Russian forces will depend on continued weapons support from the West, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said (BBC)
  • He will give a virtual address today to kick off U.S. President Joe Biden’s second annual Summit for Democracy (AFP)

Putin Says Russia Will Store Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

  • Following the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threatened sanctions against Belarus in a tweet, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (AP)

World Bank: $411 Billion Needed to Rebuild Ukraine After a Year of War

  • The sectors that most urgently need rebuilding, including energy, housing, and critical infrastructure, will require around $14 billion in 2023, the bank estimated; this week, the International Monetary Fund approved a $15.6 billion loan to support the country’s recovery (NYT)