ReportWire

Tag: ukraine

  • The unnecessary burden of war

    The unnecessary burden of war

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Governments could help millions of people and save a lot of money with targeted energy subsidies. Different kinds of households around the world suffer in various ways from the exorbitant energy prices and need different kinds of support, says Klaus Hubacek from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, in a new study that was published on 16 February in Nature Energy.

    All around the world, households are affected by soaring energy prices due to the war in Ukraine. But these households are affected in different ways: ‘This depends on their income level, how they spend their money, and how and where the products that they are using are being produced,’ explains Hubacek, Professor of Science, Technology, and Society. 

    Poverty

    ‘Our study is one of the very first that quantifies—at an unprecedented level of detail—the impacts of the energy crisis, including its impact on households, within many countries and with a global reach,’ says Hubacek. ‘Without such detailed knowledge, it is impossible to know who to help and how. If the governments were to use this as a guide, they could save a lot of money.’

    The increased fossil fuel prices potentially push millions of people into poverty, or even extreme poverty. Government measures to subsidize towering energy bills for households are inefficient because they do not take enough details into account. ‘If you look at the responses of governments, for example in Germany, the UK, the US, or the Netherlands, they have been using policies that do not sufficiently help those who need it most,’ states Hubacek. ‘Meanwhile they spend lots of money on people who don’t need it. That really frustrates me.’

    Food

    Energy prices affect households in two ways. Directly, through high energy bills, and indirectly, through the goods and services that became more expensive due to fossil fuel use in their supply chains. ‘So, for example, if you use a cell phone in the Netherlands you need direct energy, which is not a lot,’ explains Hubacek. ‘But a cell phone is made of many different components that come from Japan, China, Austria, the US, and so on.’ Therefore higher energy prices effect the price of a new smart phone indirectly.

    The same is true for food: energy prices push up costs for fertilizer, transport, etcetera. Energy inputs are required in production and transportation all the way to the final product. The rising costs of energy are passed on to the consumer through the price of the product, thus indirectly increasing the burden on households.

    Straw

    Because different households spend their money on different things, the kind of burden that the energy price shock imposes varies as well. ‘We show this in detail in our paper,’ says Hubacek. ‘For example, in some countries it is the increase in food prices that affects households most, in other cases it’s mobility, and so on. Knowing what causes the increased costs exactly allows you to really subsidize the products and services that put the highest pressure on households.’

    For both high- and low-income countries, the indirect energy costs impose the biggest burden, whereas for middle-income countries, direct energy costs have the biggest impact. A possible explanation is that in high- and low-income countries, households’ direct energy availability is uniform, according to Yuru Guan, one of Hubacek’s PhD students and first author of the paper. Therefore, they are affected more by consumption patterns of other goods. ‘For example, Dutch people basically use natural gas for heating, so when energy prices increase, everyone suffers from the same rate of increase in direct energy costs,’ explains Guan.

    In middle-income countries, households show larger disparities when it comes to the availability of energy. ‘In China, the rich have access to natural gas for heating, while the poorest burn coal or even straw,’ continues Guan. Therefore, the total burden on household expenditure is dominated by direct energy costs.

    Windfall tax

    Hubacek makes another point. He suspects that the increase of energy prices due to the Russian invasion in Ukraine wouldn’t have been as extreme if better policies had been made before. ‘Governments could have saved money by helping people with lower incomes to insulate their houses instead of digging for coal and investing in LNG terminals that are hugely inefficient,’ says Hubacek. ‘Now they invest in a very expensive infrastructure that we shouldn’t have in the first place if we take climate change seriously.’

    Governments could moreover increase their income relatively easy. ‘Energy companies’ profits have increased considerably since the onset of the war,’ according to Hubacek. ‘And many other sectors benefited as well. They increase their prices more than required to cover the extra energy costs, thus increasing their profits.’ Special windfall and carbon taxes could help enormously in the fight against poverty. ‘It’s all linked,’ says Hubacek. ‘Polluting sectors could be taxed and the money could be used to help poor households. It’s simple. It’s just politically difficult.’

    It is up to policy makers to make decisions that take the bigger picture into account, and to not just stick plasters. ‘However, there is no free lunch,’ as Hubacek puts it. ‘Renewable energy contributes to climate change as well. So the focus should be on policies that fight poverty and energy use in the long term.

    Reference: Yuru Guan, Jin Yan, Yuli Shan, Yannan Zhou, Ye Hang, Ruoqi Li, Yu Liu, Binyuan Liu, Qingyun Nie, Benedikt Bruckner, Kuishuang Feng en Klaus Hubacek. Burden of the global energy price crisis on households, Nature Energy, 16 February 2023

    [ad_2]

    University of Groningen

    Source link

  • China talks ‘peace,’ woos Europe and trashes Biden in Munich

    China talks ‘peace,’ woos Europe and trashes Biden in Munich

    [ad_1]

    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    MUNICH — China is trying to drive a fresh wedge between Europe and the United States as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine trudges past its one-year mark.

    Such was the motif of China’s newly promoted foreign policy chief Wang Yi when he broke the news at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that President Xi Jinping would soon present a “peace proposal” to resolve what Beijing calls a conflict — not a war — between Moscow and Kyiv. And he pointedly urged his European audience to get on board and shun the Americans.

    In a major speech, Wang appealed specifically to the European leaders gathered in the room.

    “We need to think calmly, especially our friends in Europe, about what efforts should be made to stop the warfare; what framework should there be to bring lasting peace to Europe; what role should Europe play to manifest its strategic autonomy,” said Wang, who will continue his Europe tour with a stop in Moscow.

    In contrast, Wang launched a vociferous attack on “weak” Washington’s “near-hysterical” reaction to Chinese balloons over U.S. airspace, portraying the country as warmongering.

    “Some forces might not want to see peace talks to materialize,” he said, widely interpreted as a reference to the U.S. “They don’t care about the life and death of Ukrainians, [nor] the harms on Europe. They might have strategic goals larger than Ukraine itself. This warfare must not continue.”

    Yet at the conference, Europe showed no signs of distancing itself from the U.S. nor pulling back on military support for Ukraine. The once-hesitant German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Europe to give Ukraine even more modern tanks. And French President Emmanuel Macron shot down the idea of immediate peace talks with the Kremlin.

    And, predictably, there was widespread skepticism that China’s idea of “peace” will match that of Europe.

    “China has not been able to condemn the invasion,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a group of reporters. Beijing’s peace plan, he added, “is quite vague.” Peace, the NATO chief emphasized, is only possible if Russia respects Ukraine’s sovereignty.

    Europe watches with caution

    Wang’s overtures illustrate the delicate dance China has been trying to pull off since the war began.

    Keen to ensure Russia is not weakened in the long run, Beijing has offered Vladimir Putin much-needed diplomatic support, while steering clear of any direct military assistance that would attract Western sanctions against its economic and trade relations with the world.

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Wang while in Munich | Johannes Simon/Getty Images

    “We will put forward China’s position on the political settlement on the Ukraine crisis, and stay firm on the side of peace and dialogue,” Wang said. “We do not add fuel to the fire, and we are against reaping benefit from this crisis.”

    According to Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who met Wang earlier this week, Xi will make his “peace proposal” on the first anniversary of the war, which is Friday.

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Wang while in Munich. He said he hoped to have a “frank” conversation with the Beijing envoy.

    “We believe that compliance with the principle of territorial integrity is China’s fundamental interest in the international arena,” Kuleba told journalists in Munich. “And that commitment to the observance and protection of this principle is a driving force for China, greater than other arguments offered by Ukraine, the United States, or any other country.”

    EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met Wang later on Saturday and called on him to “use [China’s] closeness to convince Russia to engage in real peace efforts. Borrell expressed hope that Wang’s visit to Moscow could be used to convince Russia to stop its brutal war,” according to an EU official familiar with the talks, adding the EU chief told Wang Russia conducted “gross violation of the letter and spirit of the U.N. Charter.”

    Many in Munich were wary of the upcoming Chinese plan.

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed China’s effort to use its influence to foster peace but told reporters she had “talked intensively” with Wang during a bilateral meeting on Friday about “what a just peace means: not rewarding the attacker, the aggressor, but standing up for international law and for those who have been attacked.”

    “A just peace,” she added, “presupposes that the party that has violated territorial integrity — meaning Russia — withdraws its troops from the occupied country.”

    One reason for Europe’s concerns is the Chinese peace plan could undermine an effort at the United Nations to rally support for a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which will be on the U.N.’s General Assembly agenda next week, according to three European officials and diplomats.

    Taiwan issue stokes up US-China tension

    If China was keen to talk about peace in Ukraine, it’s more reluctant to do so in a case closer to home.

    When Wolfgang Ischinger, the veteran German diplomat behind the conference, asked Wang if he could reassure the audience Beijing was not planning an imminent military escalation against Taiwan, the Chinese envoy was non-committal.

    Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said “what is happening in Europe today could happen in east Asia tomorrow” | Johannes Simon/Getty Images

    “Let me assure the audience that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory. It has never been a country and it will never be a country in the future,” Wang said.

    The worry over Taiwan resonated in a speech from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said “what is happening in Europe today could happen in Asia tomorrow.” Reminding the audience of the painful experience of relying on Russia’s energy supply, he said: “We should not make the same mistakes with China and other authoritarian regimes.”

    But China’s most forceful attack was reserved for the U.S. Calling its decision to shoot down Chinese and other balloons “absurd” and “near-hysterical,” Wang said: “It does not show the U.S. is strong; on the contrary, it shows it is weak.

    Wang also amplified the message in other bilateral meetings, including one with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. “U.S. bias and ignorance against China has reached a ridiculous level,” he said. “The U.S. … has to stop this kind of absurd nonsense out of domestic political needs.”

    It remains unclear if Wang will hold a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken while in Germany, as has been discussed.

    Hans von der Burchard and Lili Bayer reported from Munich, and Stuart Lau reported from Brussels.

    This article was updated to include details of the meeting between Wang and Borrell.

    CORRECTION: Jens Stoltenberg’s reference to Asia has been updated.

    [ad_2]

    Stuart Lau , Hans von der Burchard and Lili Bayer

    Source link

  • Russia envoy accuses US of fueling Ukraine war with ‘crimes against humanity’ charge

    Russia envoy accuses US of fueling Ukraine war with ‘crimes against humanity’ charge

    [ad_1]

    Washington is trying to “demonize Russia” and “fuel the Ukrainian crisis” by accusing Moscow of crimes against humanity, Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov said on Sunday.

    U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced Saturday that Washington has formally determined that Russia is committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine, in an address at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

    In a message on the social media network Telegram, Antonov said: “We consider such insinuations as an attempt, unprecedented in terms of its cynicism, to demonize Russia in the course of a hybrid war, unleashed against us. There is no doubt that the purpose of such attacks is to justify Washington’s own actions to fuel the Ukrainian crisis,” he said.

    Harris had said Russia is responsible for a “widespread and systematic attack” against Ukraine’s civilian population, committing war crimes — as the administration formally concluded last March — and illegal acts against non-combatants. She cited evidence of execution-style killings, rape, torture and forceful deportations.

    The Biden administration will continue to assist Ukraine in investigating these alleged crimes, she said, pledging to hold “to account” the perpetrators and “their superiors.”

    “Let us all agree: on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown: justice must be served,” Harris added.

    [ad_2]

    Leonie Cater

    Source link

  • Macron calls out Russia for work with ‘neo-mafia’ Wagner group

    Macron calls out Russia for work with ‘neo-mafia’ Wagner group

    [ad_1]

    MUNICH — French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called out Vladimir Putin for telling him last year that the paramilitary Wagner Group had nothing to do with Russia.

    “A year ago I spoke to Putin and he assured me Russia had nothing to do with the Wagner Group,” he told an audience at the Munich Security Conference. “I accepted that,” he said.

    The Wagner Group has since provided military services supporting Russia’s war effort. It means Moscow “formalized the fact that Wagner was an explicit, direct, diplomatic-military, neo-mafia medium of Russia around the world,” Macron said.

    Macron’s speech comes as country leaders and security officials gathered for a three-day event in the Bavarian capital, a conference dominated by the West’s efforts to allign on how to support Kyiv in its conflict with Russia.

    The French president said the time isn’t right for dialogue with Russia and called on Western states to “intensify” their backing of a Ukrainian counter-offensive. But he suggested that — when negotiations would end the war on terms acceptable to Kyiv — Europe and Russia should “create an imperfect balance” on the Continent.

    “It’s time for a transition,” he said, suggesting Russia and its adversaries will need to agree on a new regional security architecture, calling it an “imperfect balance.”

    But he emphasized the time isn’t right for negotiations, noting it’s “too early” to formulate such a Europe-Russia understanding.

    The comments reflect Macron’s long-held view that security guarantees for Russia are an “essential” component of any peace talks. Moscow has to be satisfied with how the war ends, or else any deal would be no more than a ceasefire and not a treaty, he argues.

    Laura Kayali contributed reporting.

    CORRECTION: This article was updated to correctly reflect Macron compared the Wagner group to the mafia.

    [ad_2]

    Jamie Dettmer and Alexander Ward

    Source link

  • EU to Steve Bannon: You don’t scare us … anymore

    EU to Steve Bannon: You don’t scare us … anymore

    [ad_1]

    BRUSSELS — The EU was “scared” of Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon during the European parliamentary election in 2019 — but those fears are gone ahead of the 2024 ballot, European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová said.

    Referring to Bannon’s attempts to form a “club” to support far-right populists such as the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders and France’s Marine Le Pen in the run-up to the last EU-wide election, Jourová said Brussels was genuinely concerned his ideas would take off.

    “We were scared by Steve Bannon organizing the pan-European campaign comprising Mr. Wilders, Madame Le Pen, and all the rest — finding everywhere useful partners and willing collaborators,” Jourová told journalists at a gathering on Thursday night.

    “It was a combination still of the effect of the migration crisis, of terrorism, and Trump,” Jourová said. “It was also the Cambridge Analytica case” — revelations that the infamous British data analytics firm had illegally accessed people’s social media data to target them in a number of elections and was linked to Trump’s successful 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. “It was also the time of rising disinformation, targeted disinformation campaigns — these were things which were relatively new for us.”

    Bannon, “with his simplified vision of Europe, could easily trigger something, which the others who know Europe could use as a platform. This was my fear,” Jourová said. But, “it didn’t happen. And I believe that now it will be a similar thing.”

    Jourová, who is the European commissioner for values and transparency, said she believed Russia’s war on Ukraine would see Europeans make safe bets in the 2024 election, during which citizens in the EU’s 27 member countries will vote to elect the members of the European Parliament.

    “I don’t think there will be a rise of extremist parties — far right or left,” Jourová said. “Because the people now see, especially in the time of crisis, it’s not the time for experiments.”

    Asked whether the revelations of corruption and influence-buying by countries such as Qatar and Morocco in the European Parliament would drive extremist sentiment in the ballot, Jourová said it was “hard to say,” as the election was still a year away.

    But, she added, “if I take a broader picture, when people see the politicians in jail, there are two kinds of instincts: ‘They are all rotten, they are all bad, we knew it.’ But then when the people see the system works, and when cases of corruption are closed and people are punished, I think that paradoxically, such scandal can even increase the trust of people in democratic institutions.”

    [ad_2]

    Zoya Sheftalovich

    Source link

  • US formally accuses Russia of crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Harris says

    US formally accuses Russia of crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Harris says

    [ad_1]

    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    MUNICH — The United States has determined that Russia is committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Saturday, the latest salvo in the West’s effort to hold Moscow accountable for its wartime atrocities. 

    In a marquee address at the Munich Security Conference, Harris detailed that Russia is responsible for a “widespread and systematic attack” against Ukraine’s civilian population, citing evidence of execution-style killings, rape, torture and forceful deportations — sometimes perpetrated against children. As a result, Russia has not only committed war crimes, as the administration formally concluded in March, but also illegal acts against non-combatants.

    “Their actions are an assault on our common values, an attack on our common humanity,” the vice president said, referencing images of bodies lying in the streets of Bucha and the sexual assault of a four-year-old girl by a Russian soldier. “Barbaric and inhumane.”

    Harris then declared: “The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.”

    The Biden administration will continue to assist Ukraine in its investigation into these alleged crimes, she said, vowing that the perpetrators and “their superiors” will be “held to account.” 

    She added: “Let us all agree: on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown: justice must be served.”

    The declaration is among the most forceful yet from a Western power as allies grapple with how to punish Russians responsible for violations. And it escalates the judicial side of America’s support for Ukraine, which has long said Russia was guilty of these crimes and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ultimately responsible.

    Harris didn’t cite Putin by name, but the clear implication is that the invasion he launched nearly a year ago is why Ukrainian civilians are now victims of these international law violations.

    While “crimes against humanity” are not officially codified in an international treaty, they are still adjudicated in the International Criminal Court and other global bodies. The Biden administration’s determination means the U.S. believes Russian actions have met a broader standard than war crimes but not as specific a violation as genocide.

    “In contrast with genocide, crimes against humanity do not need to target a specific group,” according to the United Nations. “Instead, the victim of the attack can be any civilian population, regardless of its affiliation or identity. Another important distinction is that in the case of crimes against humanity, it is not necessary to prove that there is an overall specific intent.”

    Some, however, would like the Biden administration to go further. Back in the United States, both of West Virginia’s senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, introduced a resolution to recognize Russia’s war on Ukraine as a genocide.

    Others like Tom Malinowski, a former member of Congress and senior human rights official at the State Department, believe “these debates about what to call Russia’s atrocities are less important than providing Ukraine the means to stop them.”

    Andriy Yermak, the chief of Ukraine’s presidential office, said his country wouldn’t feel safe until Russia’s leadership was punished | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

    “But yes, there’s no question that Russia is committing crimes against humanity,” he continued, “and we’re right to say so.”

    On Friday, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke via video to the gathering of officials and experts here, Andriy Yermak, the chief of Ukraine’s presidential office, said his country wouldn’t feel safe until Russia’s leadership was punished.

    “The fastest and easiest way to build the security of Ukraine and the whole world is to create a special tribunal to try the Russian leadership for the crime of aggression. Europe and the entire civilized world understand why it is necessary,” he said at the opening of the “Ukraine is You” exhibit.

    Last November, human rights organization Amnesty International said Russia was “likely” committing crimes against humanity, citing instances of the forceful transfer and deportation of people from Ukraine.

    [ad_2]

    Alexander Ward

    Source link

  • Biden wants Poland’s opinion — but he still has the power

    Biden wants Poland’s opinion — but he still has the power

    [ad_1]

    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    MUNICH — NATO’s eastern flank has found its voice — but Joe Biden’s visit is a reminder that Western capitals still have the weight. 

    After Russia bombed its way into Ukraine, the military alliance’s eastern members won praise for their prescient warnings (not to mention a few apologies). They garnered respect for quickly emptying their weapons stockpiles for Kyiv and boosting defense spending to new heights. Now, they’re driving the conversation on how to deal with Russia.

    In short, eastern countries suddenly have the ear of traditional Western powers — and they are trying to move the needle. 

    “We draw the red line, then we waste the time, then we cross this red line,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said over the weekend at the Munich Security Conference, describing a now-familiar cycle of debates among Ukraine’s partners as eastern capitals push others to move faster.

    The region’s sudden prominence will be on full display as U.S. President Joe Biden travels to Poland this week, where he will sit down with leaders of the so-called Bucharest Nine — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. 

    The choice is both symbolic and practical. Washington is keen to show its eastern partners it wants their input — and to remind Vladimir Putin of the consequences should the Kremlin leader spread his war into NATO territory. 

    Yet when it comes to allies’ most contentious decisions, like what arms to place where, the eastern leaders ultimately still have to defer to leaders like Biden — and his colleagues in Western powers like Germany. They are the ones holding the largest quantities of modern tanks, fighter jets and long-range missiles, after all. 

    “My job,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in Munich, is “to move the pendulum of imagination of my partners in western Europe.”

    “Our region has risen in relevance,” added Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský in an interview. But Western countries are still “much stronger” on the economic and military front, he added. “They are still the backbone.”

    They’re listening … now

    When Latvian Defense Minister Ināra Mūrniece entered politics over a decade ago, she recalled the skepticism that greeted her and like-minded countries when they discussed Russia on the global stage.

    “They didn’t understand us,” she said in an interview earlier this month. People saw the region as “escalating the picture,” she added. 

    Latvian Defense Minister Ināra Mūrniece | Gints Ivuskans/AFP via Getty Images

    February 24, 2022, changed things. The images of Russia rolling tanks and troops into Ukraine shocked many Westerners — and started changing minds. The Russian atrocities that came shortly after in places like Bucha and Irpin were “another turning point,” Mūrniece said. 

    Now, the eastern flank plays a key role in defining the alliance’s narrative — and its understanding of Russia. 

    “Our voice is now louder and more heard,” said Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu. 

    The Bucharest Nine — an informal format that brings together the region for dialogue with the U.S. and occasionally other partners — is one of the vehicles regional governments are using to showcase their interests.

    “It has become an authoritative voice in terms of assessment of the security situation, in terms of assessment of needs,” Aurescu said in an interview in Munich. NATO is listening to the group for a simple reason, he noted: “The security threats are coming from this part of our neighborhood.” 

    Power shifts … slowly

    While the eastern flank has prodded its western partners to send once-unthinkable weapons to Ukraine, the power balance has not completely flipped. Far from it. 

    Washington officials retain the most sway in the Western alliance. Behind them, several western European capitals take the lead.

    “Without the Germans things don’t move — without the Americans things don’t move for sure,” said one senior western European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. 

    And at this stage of the war, as Ukraine pushes for donations of the most modern weapons — fighter jets, advanced tanks, longer-range missile systems — it’s the alliance’s largest economies and populations that are in focus. 

    “It’s very easy for me to say that, ‘Of course, give fighter jets’ — I don’t have them,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters earlier this month. 

    Asked if his country would supply Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, Morawiecki conceded in Munich, “we have not too many of them.” | Omar Marques/Getty Images

    “So it’s up to those countries to say who have,” she said. “If I would have, I would give — but I don’t.”

    And even some eastern countries who have jets don’t want to move without their Western counterparts. 

    Asked if his country would supply Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, Morawiecki conceded in Munich, “we have not too many of them.” He did say, however, that Poland could offer older jets — if the allies could pull together a coalition, that is.

    Another challenge for advocates of a powerful eastern voice within NATO is that the eastern flank itself is diverse. 

    Priorities vary even among like-minded countries based on their geographies. And, notably, there are some Russia-friendly outliers. 

    Hungary, for example, does not provide any weapons assistance to Ukraine and continues to maintain a relationship with the Kremlin. In fact, Budapest has become so isolated in Western policy circles that no Hungarian government officials attended the Munich Security Conference. 

    “I think the biggest problem in Hungary is the rhetoric of leadership, which sometimes really crosses the red line,” said the Czech Republic’s Lipavský, who was cautious to add that Budapest does fulfill NATO obligations, participating in alliance defense efforts. 

    Just for now?

    There are also questions about whether the east’s moment in the limelight is a permanent fixture or product of the moment. After all, China, not Russia, may be seizing western attention in the future.

    “It’s obvious that their voice is becoming louder, but that’s also a consequence of the geopolitical situation we’re in,” said the senior western European diplomat. “I’m not sure if it’s sustainable in the long run.” 

    A second senior western European diplomat, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal alliance dynamics, said that the eastern flank countries sometimes take a tough tone “because of the fear of the pivot to China.”

    NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has also reiterated that western alliance members play a role in defending the eastern flank | Johannes Simon/Getty Images

    Asked if the war has changed the balance of influence within the alliance, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said: “Yes and no.” 

    “We have to defend our territories, it is as simple as that,” she told POLITICO in Munich. “In order to do so we had to reinforce the eastern flank — Russia is on that part of the continent.” 

    NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has also reiterated that western alliance members play a role in defending the eastern flank. 

    Asked whether NATO’s center of gravity is shifting east, he said on a panel in Munich that “what has shifted east is NATO’s presence.”

    But, he added, “of course many of those troops come from the western part of the alliance — so this demonstrates how NATO is together and how we support each other.” 

    And in western Europe, there is a sense that the east does deserve attention at the moment. 

    “They might not have all the might,” said the second senior western European diplomat. “But they deserve solidarity.”

    [ad_2]

    Lili Bayer

    Source link

  • It’s the end of the world as we know it — and Munich feels nervous

    It’s the end of the world as we know it — and Munich feels nervous

    [ad_1]

    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    MUNICH — Cut through the haze of hoary proclamations emanating from the main stage of the Munich Security Conference about Western solidarity and common purpose this weekend, and one can’t help but notice more than a hint of foreboding just beneath the surface.

    Even as Western leaders congratulate themselves for their generosity toward Ukraine, the country’s armed forces are running low on ammunition, equipment and even men. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who opened the conference from Kyiv on Friday, urged the free world to send more help — and fast. “We need speed,” he said.

    U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris turned the heat up on Russia on another front, accusing the country of “crimes against humanity.” “Let us all agree. On behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown: justice must be served,” she said.

    In other words, Russian leaders could be looking at Nuremberg 2.0. That’s bound to make a few people in Moscow nervous, especially those old enough to remember what happened to Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milošević and his entourage.

    The outlook in Asia is no less fraught. Taiwan remains on edge, as the country tries to guess China’s next move. Here too, the news from Munich wasn’t reassuring.

    “What is happening in Europe today could happen in Asia tomorrow,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.   

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did nothing to contradict that narrative. “Let me assure the audience that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory,” Wang told the conference when asked about Beijing’s designs on the self-governed island. Taiwan “has never been a country and it will never be a country in the future.”

    For some attendees, the vibe in the crowded Bayerischer Hof hotel where the gathering takes place carried echoes of 1938. That year, the Bavarian capital hosted a conference that resulted in the infamous Munich Agreement, in which European powers ceded the Sudetenland to Germany in a misguided effort they believed could preserve peace.

    “We all know that there is a storm brewing outside, but here inside the Bayerischer Hof all seems normal,” wrote Andrew Michta, dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the Germany-based Marshall Center. “It all seems so routine, and yet it all changes suddenly when a Ukrainian parliamentarian pointedly tells the audience we are failing to act fast enough.”

    The only people smiling at this year’s security conference are the defense contractors. Arms sales are booming by all accounts.

    Even Germany, which in recent years perfected the art of explaining away its failure to meet its NATO defense spending commitment, promised to reverse course. Indeed, German officials appeared to be trying to outdo one another to prove just how hawkish they’ve become.

    Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to “permanently” meet NATO’s defense spending goal for individual members of two percent of GDP.

    Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to “permanently” meet NATO’s defense spending goal for individual members | Johannes Simon/Getty Images

    Germany’s new defense minister, Boris Pistorius, a Social Democrat like Scholz, called for even more, saying that “it will not be possible to fulfill the tasks that lie ahead of us with barely two percent.”

    Keep in mind that at the beginning of last year, leading Social Democrats were still calling on the U.S. to remove all of its nuclear warheads from German soil.

    In other words, if even the Germans have woken up to the perils of the world’s current geopolitical state, this could well be the moment to really start worrying.

    CORRECTION: Jens Stoltenberg’s reference to Asia has been updated.

    [ad_2]

    Matthew Karnitschnig

    Source link

  • Your simple guide to a year of Russia’s war in Ukraine

    Your simple guide to a year of Russia’s war in Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    Almost a year has passed since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine for a full-scale invasion that several world leaders had warned of.

    The February 24 anniversary will bring a sense of mourning for Ukrainians. Many are grieving their relatives and all will remember the devastation that has rocked their country, as they reflect on what lies ahead.

    Thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including at least hundreds of children, and tens of thousands of troops on both sides have been killed. The exact tolls are hard to confirm, and most estimates are understood to be massively underestimated.

    Millions of others were forced to flee from their homes in search of safety.

    Looking ahead, there are fears of a wider conflict possibly involving nuclear warheads as relations between Russia and Ukraine’s allies in the West, which have worsened from lows as the war has raged, sink further.

    Here’s what you need to know about the conflict as it enters a second year.

    Why did the war start?

    President Vladimir Putin launched Russia’s full-scale invasion in the early hours of February 24 last year.

    In an address that morning, he described the offensive as a “special military operation”, saying the goal was to “demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine”.

    He argued that Ukraine’s government had been subjecting Russian-speaking civilians in the eastern Donbas region to “genocide” since 2014.

    That’s the year Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula and Moscow-backed separatists tried to break away from Kyiv’s control by seizing territory and setting up self-declared eastern states in the Donbas – the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic (DPR and LPR).

    Most of the world still recognises Crimea, DPR and LPR as Ukrainian lands, but in the years since 2014, about 14,000 people died in a simmering conflict between Ukrainian government forces and rebels supported by Russia.

    How many were killed on each side is hard to confirm, but few would agree with Putin’s use of the word “genocide”.

    Putin’s “de-Nazify” comment – which has persisted throughout the war – was in reference to the Azov Batallion, a Ukrainian brigade rooted in far-right ideology, comprising volunteers who had fought against the separatists in the east. The group is now known as the Azov Regiment and some of its fighters have since rejected the far-right label.

    On February 24, the Russian president also linked the invasion to the United States-led NATO transatlantic military alliance. He said Russia was intent on preventing NATO from expanding further eastwards and gaining a “military foothold” in Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union prior to its collapse in 1991.

    Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected all of Russia’s rationales.

    They say the war was unprovoked and aimed at seizing land and subjugating Ukraine. NATO has not moved to admit Ukraine as a member and says it is a purely defensive alliance.

    Which nations support each side?

    Ukraine’s allies are mostly in the West.

    The US, United Kingdom, European Union, Japan and Australia, among others, have all backed Kyiv with billions of dollars worth of military and humanitarian aid.

    Many NATO allies have been at the forefront of efforts to arm Kyiv with weaponry capable of repelling Russia’s forces.

    Russia’s main backer is its neighbour and close ally, Belarus. Russia’s military used Belarusian territory as a launchpad for the invasion.

    Moscow’s ex-Soviet Central Asian allies are treading a careful line. Over the year, most have called for peace and kept diplomatic ties with Russia, but analysts say a sense of worry is palpable as a war started by Russia, where Soviet power was established, grips a nation with a similar political history.

    At the same time, many countries – such as China, India and Turkey – have avoided fully supporting either side.

    How many people have been killed?

    According to a February 13 United Nations report, at least 7,200 civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed since Russia launched its invasion.

    The true toll is likely to be considerably higher as continuing fighting hampers efforts to count the dead.

    Tens of thousands of troops on both sides have also been killed, but again, the casualties are likely to be higher – according to Western officials, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have died.

    Neither side provides reliable figures for their own war dead.

    Outside Ukraine, the war has piled misery on millions of people suffering from acute food and energy crises. Ukraine and Russia are traditionally global exporters of food and the conflict has heavily disrupted supply chains.

    Russia is also an exporter of energy – namely oil and gas – and has slashed supplies to the West in response to waves of sanctions, fuelling inflation and deepening cost-of-living crises in Europe, in particular.

    What has happened so far?

    At the outset of its invasion, Russia poured soldiers – an estimated 200,000 of them – into Ukraine from the north, east and south.

    They captured vast swaths of territory and pressed towards the outskirts of Kyiv.

    But Russian troops failed to seize the capital.

    By the end of March, Ukrainian counterattacks had successfully pushed Russian units back in the north and south, retaking some areas and revealing atrocities carried out by occupation forces in places such as Bucha, a Kyiv suburb,

    Forced into retreat, Moscow’s troops regrouped in Ukraine’s east and Putin recast the Kremlin’s goal as “the liberation of Donbas”.

    Months of fighting along southern and eastern fronts followed. Moscow moved in late September to unilaterally annex four partly occupied territories – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – a move widely denounced as a meaningless tactic.

    Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces aided by Western arms supplies were busy staging sweeping counterattacks. By mid-November, the Ukrainians had recaptured the southern city of Kherson – the only regional capital Russian troops had seized since the outset of the war – a humiliating defeat for Moscow.

    Since then, both sides have been locked in bloody battles for control of territory in the Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

    What might happen next?

    Ukrainian officials believe Russia is beginning a renewed offensive to coincide with the first anniversary of the war.

    They fear Moscow may deploy hundreds of thousands of conscripts it mobilised late last year in an attempt to turn the tide of the conflict in its favour, perhaps even staging another attempt to capture Kyiv.

    Ukraine is preparing itself for new attacks, emboldened by enhanced Western military support in the shape of longer-range missiles and battle tanks.

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his government’s goal is not just to fend off offensives, but also to retake all Ukrainian territory captured by Russia, including Crimea.

    Kyiv has pleaded with its Western allies for more military support to rid Ukraine of Russia’s invasion forces, with its most recent requests focused on F16 fighter jets.

    Ben Wallace, the British foreign secretary, recently told The Sun newspaper that the world should “expect Russians to step up their indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas”, adding that Putin on the war anniversary “will lash out and kill more innocent people”.

    And at the start of this month, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov ominously warned in an interview with state media that Western events marking the anniversary “will not turn out to be the only events that will gain the world’s attention”.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • CBS News investigates alleged torture and war crimes by Russia in Ukraine

    CBS News investigates alleged torture and war crimes by Russia in Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    CBS News investigates alleged torture and war crimes by Russia in Ukraine – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, there have been countless accusations of war crimes by Russia against Ukrainians. Andriy Kovalenko, the head war crimes investigator for the Kherson region, told CBS News that Ukraine still doesn’t know the fate of more than 400 people abducted by the Russians. CBS News foreign correspondent Ian Lee reports.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russia prepares ‘air fight’ as Ukraine ground war grinds on

    Russia prepares ‘air fight’ as Ukraine ground war grinds on

    [ad_1]

    Russia may be planning to launch attacks on Ukraine with heavy air power to break a battlefield deadlock as NATO intelligence indicates Moscow is assembling fighter jets and helicopters near the border.

    The deployment of aircraft would mean it is crucial to get air-defence systems into Ukraine as fast as possible as Russia intensified its offensive with the anniversary of its invasion upcoming, NATO officials said on Tuesday.

    US defence chief Lloyd Austin, speaking at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels where officials were meeting, noted Ukraine’s air defences at the moment were “not enough and we’re going to keep pushing until we get more because that threat is out there”.

    “We do know Russia has substantial aircraft … and a lot of capability left,” said Auston. “We want to make sure they have the ability to protect themselves in the event Russia decides to introduce its air force into the fight.”

    NATO intelligence reports say Russia is “amassing fixed-wing and rotary aircraft close to the border with Ukraine”, the Financial Times quoted two defence officials as saying.

    “The Russian land forces are pretty depleted so it’s the best indication that they will turn this into an air fight,” one told the Times. “If the Ukrainians are going to survive they need to have as many air defence capabilities and as much ammunition … as possible.”

    Asked whether Ukraine’s allies discussed the issue of sending fighter jets to help the country in its war effort, Austin said, “I don’t have any announcement to make today.”

    ‘Crucial moment’

    Western defence chiefs met to discuss both new arms provisions to Kyiv and maintenance of existing supplies – including artillery shells whose production can hardly keep pace with the war.

    Ukraine renewed its appeal for fighter jets to help frustrate Moscow’s invasion as senior defence officials said the war with Russia is approaching a critical stage.

    Defence minister Oleksii Reznikov, when asked what military aid his country is seeking now, showed reporters an image of a fighter jet.

    Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed hard for combat planes last week when he visited London, Paris and Brussels on just his second foreign trip since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022. His plea came days after Western allies pledged to provide Kyiv with battle tanks.

    The possibility of sending combat aircraft to Ukraine was still being discussed. The United States has said no to sending fighter jets for Ukraine, but the United Kingdom is assessing the possibility and, on Tuesday, Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said providing jets “has to be part of the consideration”.

    Ollongren said Kyiv had requested US-made F-16 jets from the Netherlands.

    “We have to debate this with our partners, also with the United States, and we have to think about feasibility,” she said. “It is something that will take time and it is best done behind closed doors.”

    Slovakia has said it is willing to discuss sending Soviet MIG-29 planes to help replace losses to Ukraine’s air force.

    But German defence minister Boris Pistorius said procuring ammunition and air-defence systems is “much more important at the moment than the discussion about fighter jets”.

    Pistorius told reporters getting pilots up to speed on new aircraft and “training just to fly them takes several months, never mind teaching the abilities needed to deploy the weapons systems”.

    Offensives and counterattacks

    Meanwhile, the Kremlin said NATO continued to demonstrate its hostility towards Russia and was becoming more involved in the war in Ukraine.

    “NATO is an organisation which is hostile to us and which proves this hostility every day,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It is trying its best to make its involvement in the conflict around Ukraine as clear as possible.”

    Moscow has said weapons supplies to Ukraine by NATO countries are dragging out the conflict and raising the possibility of further escalation.

    On the battlefield, the fighting continued to rage. Russia’s forces have pressed in the east of Ukraine while bolstering their defensive lines in the south. The war has been largely static during the winter months, though both sides are expected to increase attacks when the weather improves.

    Austin said he expected Ukraine to launch an offensive against Russia in the coming months.

    “Ukraine wants to create momentum … We expect to see them conduct an offensive sometime in the spring,” he told reporters.

    Russia is introducing a number of new troops to the battlefield but many are ill-trained and ill-equipped, Auston added.

    “Ukraine has urgent requirements to help it meet this crucial moment in the course of the war. The Kremlin is still betting it can wait us out, but one year on we are as united as ever,” he said.

    The top American general, Mark Milley, took a shot at the leadership in Moscow saying it had already “lost’.

    “Russia is now a global pariah and the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience. In short, Russia has lost. They’ve lost strategically, operationally and tactically,” said Milley.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Moldovan president warns of Russian agent infiltration

    Moldovan president warns of Russian agent infiltration

    [ad_1]

    Maia Sandu says Moscow plans to sabotage her government, ‘overthrow the constitutional order’ and use Moldova in the war against Ukraine.

    Moldova’s president has accused Russia of planning to use foreign agents to infiltrate her government, use the tiny nation in the war against Ukraine and stop it from joining the European Union.

    Maia Sandu spoke on Monday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that Kyiv had uncovered a Russian intelligence plot “for the destruction of Moldova”.

    Sandu, whose country borders Ukraine, has repeatedly expressed concern about Moscow’s intentions towards the former Soviet republic and about the presence of Russian troops in the breakaway Transnistria region.

    Sandu alleged Moscow’s plan involves citizens of Russia, Montenegro, Belarus and Serbia entering the country to initiate protests to “change the legitimate government to an illegal government controlled by the Russian Federation”.

    “The plan for the next period involves actions with the involvement of diversionists with military training, camouflaged in civilian clothes, who will undertake violent actions, attack some state buildings and even take hostages,” Sandu told reporters at a briefing.

    “The purpose of these actions is to overthrow the constitutional order, to change the legitimate power from Chisinau to an illegitimate one, which would put our country at the disposal of Russia in order to stop the European integration process,” Sandu said.

    “The Kremlin’s attempts to bring violence to Moldova will not work,” she added. “Our main goal is the security of citizens and the state. Our goal is peace and public order in the country.”

    There was no immediate reaction from Russian officials to Sandu’s allegations.

    Russia denied last year wanting to intervene in Moldova after authorities in Transnistria said they had been targeted by a series of attacks.

    Moldova’s prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, resigned last week [File: Octav Ganea/Inquam Photos via Reuters]

    ‘Criminal elements’

    Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, Moldova, a country of 2.6 million people, has sought to forge closer ties with its Western partners. In June, it was granted European Union candidate status, the same day as Ukraine.

    Sandu said that between October and December, Moldovan police and the Intelligence and Security Service intervened in “several cases of organised criminal elements and stopped attempts at violence”.

    Over the past year, Moldova has faced a string of problems. These include a severe energy crisis after Moscow dramatically reduced its gas supplies, skyrocketing inflation, and several incidents in recent months involving missiles that crossed its skies and debris found on its territory.

    Moldovan authorities confirmed another missile from the war in Ukraine entered its airspace on Friday.

    ‘Order and discipline’

    Also last week, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita resigned following the economic turmoil and the spillover effects of the war in Ukraine.

    Former Interior Minister Dorin Recean, a defence adviser to Sandu, will replace Gavrilita.

    “The new government will have three priorities: order and discipline, a new life and economy, and peace and stability,” Recean said.

    Tensions rose on Friday when Moldova said a Russian missile violated Moldovan airspace before hitting Ukraine. It summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest.

    The foreign ministry condemned “the latest unfriendly actions and statements against Moldova” and said they were “absolutely unacceptable”.

    Sandu said Moldova’s parliament must adopt laws to equip its Intelligence and Security Service and the prosecutor’s office “with the necessary tools to combat more effectively the risks to the country’s security”.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine plots post-war rebuilding effort with JPMorgan Chase as economic advisor

    Ukraine plots post-war rebuilding effort with JPMorgan Chase as economic advisor

    [ad_1]

    A closer shot of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ministry of Economy (MoE) meeting with senior members of J.P. Morgan.

    Coutesy: JP Morgan Summit

    Ukraine’s government signed an agreement with JPMorgan Chase to help advise the war-afflicted country on its economy and future rebuilding efforts.

    Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy signed a memorandum of understanding with a group of executives from the New York-based bank on Thursday aimed at rebuilding and developing the country, according to a statement from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    One year into its conflict with Russia, which invaded in February 2022, Ukraine’s government is laying the groundwork to help rebuild the country. The invasion has cost thousands of civilian lives and set off Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the Second World War. It also ignited a corporate exodus from Russia, and has helped galvanize support for Ukraine.

    JPMorgan will tap its debt capital markets operations, payments, and commercial banking and infrastructure investing expertise to help the country stabilize its economy and credit rating, manage its funds, and advance its digital adoption, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement.

    Of particular importance is advising the nation on efforts to raise private funds to help it rebuild and invest for future growth in areas including renewable energy, agriculture and technology.

    “The full resources of JPMorgan Chase are available to Ukraine as it charts its post-conflict path to growth,” CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement.

    Dimon added JPMorgan was proud of its support for Ukraine and was committed to its people. The bank led a $20 billion debt restructuring for the country last year and has committed millions of dollars in support for its refugees.

    Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister Great Britain and Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State conducted a discussion with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky @ annual JPMorgan Summit held Feb 10. 

    Courtesy: JP Morgan Summit

    On Friday, Zelenskyy spoke via teleconference with guests of JPMorgan’s annual wealth management summit in Miami after the agreement was signed. The discussion was moderated by ex-U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • A big bang or a grinding assault? What to expect from Russia’s new offensive in Ukraine

    A big bang or a grinding assault? What to expect from Russia’s new offensive in Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    Russian citizens recruited as part of partial mobilization attend combat training in the training spots of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk, Ukraine on October 05, 2022.

    Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

    A renewed Russian offensive in the east of Ukraine is underway.

    It began last week with a renewed push by Moscow’s forces on the outskirts of Bakhmut in Donbas, and a wave of attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.

    Over the weekend, Russian forces shelled Ukrainian cities like Nikopol, a city in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, where one person was reportedly killed.

    Ukrainian officials had been expecting a renewed offensive in the days leading up to the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country, on Feb. 24, given the penchant for military symbolism and anniversaries in Moscow.

    The scope of Russia’s plans remains uncertain but whatever happens, it comes at a tricky time for Kyiv.

    Ukraine’s forces are already fighting intense battles in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, and while the country’s international allies have given it billions of dollars’ worth of weapons since the war began, the latest tranche is not due to arrive for several months, potentially delaying its ability to launch a counter-offensive.

    Still, Ukrainian officials are keen to stress that they are prepared for whatever is coming — despite noting that Russia has an advantage in terms of manpower, having mobilized several hundred thousand men in recent months.

    “Russia needs something to show [for the war],” Yuriy Sak, an advisor to Ukraine’s defense ministry, told CNBC. “During the last six months, the only thing they were able to gain control of are the ruins of the city of Soledar, which is a village.”

    He expects Moscow to try to gain full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

    “We are already seeing that they are amassing and building up their military presence in that part of the frontline, near Bakhmut and places like Kreminna … there are signs of them preparing for something,” he said, adding that Ukraine will do “everything possible and impossible” to make sure Russia doesn’t achieve its aims.

    Kyiv has not, however, seen the type of military build-up — such as armored vehicles, tanks and infantry — that suggests a high-intensity attack is immediately imminent, he added.

    Ukrainian servicemen make a trench near Bakhmut on Feb. 1, 2023, as they prepare for a Russian offensive in the area.

    Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images

    Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Ukraine’s former defense minister, told CNBC there was a sense of anticipation in Ukraine about the potential offensive, but not fear.

    “We are not intimidated by this too much. Of course, people are thinking and talking about that, and they’re concerned … but people just understand that we have some difficult time ahead and it’s not like the other months were easy,” Zagorodnyuk said.

    He expects an offensive to be concentrated on Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the northeast.

    “Basically there will be a lot of artillery involved,” he noted, “so it’s very similar to what we’ve seen during this war in the areas where they did offensives [before]. So essentially that would artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, the movements of troops — basically standard-maneuver warfare in a Russian way … What we’ll see different from now is just the amount of people and amount of equipment.”

    Objectives

    Western defense analysts agree that Russia is unlikely to deviate from a key goal in the war — to fully occupy a swathe of Ukraine stretching from the east to the south coast (essentially Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson) that it claims to have annexed last September.

    Moscow is thought to be focused on creating a land corridor to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsular that it annexed in 2014.

    “The main objective has to be to have fully occupied the territory of the four provinces annexed by Russia with great fanfare last year,” Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and international defense and security expert at think tank Chatham House, told CNBC.

    “Russia is controlling about 50% of the territory of those four provinces so clearly, that has to be the objective because anything less than that — to annex them and not fully control them — would be a humiliation for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he noted.

    Shea, who was deputy assistant secretary general for emerging security challenges at NATO until 2018, said he did not expect a big bang start to the offensive.

    Instead, he expects Russia to “grind out these slow advances,” a tactic it has been employing in the Donbas in recent months which has seen Russian forces make small but steady advances — albeit at the expense of heavy casualties.

    “The Russians are going to make sure they’ve got overwhelming superiority, advance a couple of kilometers, capture a village, and keep going with that step-by-step kind of progress,” Shea said.

    Ukrainian servicemen walk on the road toward their base near the front line in the Donetsk region on Feb. 4, 2023.

    Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images

    This strategy, he said, had the benefit for Russia of “grinding Ukrainians down.” In addition, Russia knows that the equipment Ukraine has been promised by allies isn’t going to show up until the summer.

    Oleksandr Musiyenko, a military expert and head of the Centre for Military and Legal Studies in Kyiv, said that while there was a danger in the sheer number of troops Russia had at its disposal, the country’s military had depleted its stock of heavy artillery and tanks.

    “They will mobilize everything in Russia, they will try to take even older tanks, even with older models and artillery systems, and they will try to use it. So yes, we are disturbed about this. Yes, we can see the danger in this. But we also can see that we that Ukrainian military forces, with the support of our partners, have made huge progress in the last year,” he noted.

    Former Defense Minister Zagorodnyuk added that Russia’s core weakness lies in the lack of care it shows its soldiers.

    “They have loads of equipment, they have loads of weapons, they have loads of people and money … The weakness is that this is still Russia … it’s still essentially an improved Soviet army,” Zagorodnyuk, the current chair of the Kyiv-based Centre for Defence Strategies, said.

    “But because they disrespect lives, they don’t spend much time on creating quality capability. So essentially, this is a low-quality force, even if it’s larger numbers.”

    Over the weekend, Ukrainian officials reportedly stated that Russia is already having trouble mounting its much-anticipated offensive.

    “They have begun their offensive, they’re just not saying they have, and our troops are repelling it very powerfully,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told Ukrainian television Saturday, according to an AP translation.

    “The offensive that they planned is already gradually underway. But [it is] not the offensive they were counting on.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biden to visit Poland to show support for Ukraine

    Biden to visit Poland to show support for Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    Biden to visit Poland to show support for Ukraine – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    President Biden will travel to Poland on Feb. 20 to show support for Ukraine as it marks one year since the start of Russia’s brutal invasion.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • This Ukrainian CEO Reveals What it Takes to Sustain a High-Performing Hybrid Team (Even During a War).

    This Ukrainian CEO Reveals What it Takes to Sustain a High-Performing Hybrid Team (Even During a War).

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The last couple of years has been incredibly challenging for businesses worldwide. None were left unaffected by the ongoing crises of global warming, Covid-19, or inflation. When the pandemic hit, it left companies with no other option but to adopt a new hybrid model of work culture. Each of us had to step out of our comfort zone and learn how to master work-from-home quickly.

    Just when we thought the pandemic was over, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine posed a new threat to the world economy and politics. The whole generation of Ukrainian entrepreneurs was now forced to find ways of supporting their businesses and teams regardless of the war. As the CEO of BetterMe, a company headquartered in Ukraine, I can share the experience of how I charge my team with energy and motivation, considering the major crises that keep unfolding around us in Ukraine.

    On the first day of the invasion, I was sure of nothing but one thing: If my team withstood this crisis, the company would keep thriving too. After almost a year of full-scale war, the Ukrainian tech industry is not just surviving — it continues growing day by day. According to data from the National Bank of Ukraine, IT industry export revenues actually increased by 23% year-on-year during the first six months of 2022 to reach $3.74 billion. Our teams stay strong and motivated despite the power outages, the mental health burden and the neverending bad news that the war brings daily. How is that possible?

    Related: Russia-Ukraine War And What It Is Doing To Businesses And Consumers

    Ralph Emerson once said, “Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single man.” Even if Emerson hinted at the leader, I believe the company is an extension of everyone who works there. If your team shares common goals and values with your business, it will withstand any storm coming its way.

    Values matter: How to motivate better performance in the workplace

    Company-wide and individual employee values should sync to achieve the best results on both sides. Such alignment makes them equals, working together towards one common goal. More than that, the company needs to know how to channel these values. If the candidates are aware of these values during the interview, they’ll know whether this company is a good match for them too.

    As a result, a value-united team will share a sense of mission they strive to achieve together. For example, at BetterMe, we aspire to make a healthy lifestyle available to millions of people worldwide. Our mission is creating happiness from within, which spreads not only to our users but also to our team. People are our greatest value, so we prioritized caring for them when the war knocked on our doors.

    Helping others became our team’s biggest motivation and value in 2022. We thought of ways we could support people, our fellow Ukrainians, at the time of this nationwide crisis. On the second day of the war, we opened free access to BetterMe: Health Coaching and BetterMe: Mental Health for all Ukrainians. Even though it was a challenging task, the team saw its tremendous value for the people and worked hard to make it happen. We had numerous volunteer initiatives throughout the year, including holding donation events or launching a charity sportswear collection to raise funds. We stay on track because everyone on the team is strongly motivated to contribute to others’ wellbeing and keep helping those affected by the war.

    Building a strong team starts with hiring the right people

    But great teams aren’t created when the crisis hits — this process starts much earlier. According to recent research, a bad hire isn’t only bad for the team but can also cost a company $15,000 on average. That’s why we practice bar-raising: It’s a great tool to cut unnecessary costs and ensure we hire the right people. This practice applies to the last interview stage, aiming to “scan” a person and see if they align with the company’s values.

    In the interview process, our C-level employees can ask the candidate anything from how they would act in various imaginary scenarios to how they envision their professional growth in the future. These questions can clarify their motivation, values and professional potential.

    Hearing their answers, your employee can assess whether this person is a good fit for your company. Bar-raising can bring you closer to that employee-company match and guarantee successful long-term relationships. Hiring “your” people creates stronger teams and companies that can deal with any crisis.

    What to do when a crisis puts your values on hold

    A crisis is only dangerous to the extent it affects your team’s wellbeing. Evolutionarily, a situation of danger puts all humans into a fight-or-flight mode, evoking our basic survival instincts and making everything else insignificant. Because how can one remain productive and motivated on a falling plane?

    When a plane is about to take off, all passengers hear instructions: “Put on your oxygen mask first before helping others.” This rule applies to business perfectly: Prioritize your wellbeing to help your clients later. Taking care of your team first is crucial to getting your company back on track as quickly as possible. When the full-scale invasion started, I instantly prioritized the safety and security of our team and their families. After helping with the evacuation, we encouraged our team to stay on track with our mental health app, regular sports, online English lessons, drawing, and planting masterclasses, floral design classes etc. Despite continuing to work hybrid, regular activities provided stability for our team in times of uncertainty.

    Related: Back-to-Office: Why Putting Employees First Will Be Your Best Business Move

    In some cases, hybrid work culture can even contribute to a sense of belonging in the workplace. For example, an online initiative can unite people who work remotely and make them feel like they’re all doing a part in a significant project together. In our case, we organized a Vyshyvanka Day flashmob when everyone recorded a short video wearing their piece of national garment and singing our national song, which lifted the whole team’s spirits. Under the company’s care and guidance, the team performance will gradually improve as everyone learns to adapt and manage stress better. The good news is — you’re all in this together.

    In times of crises and instability, businesses start seeing what matters the most. People are the company’s most important value: Whoever wins the talent race can scale better and faster than their competitors. By implementing these practices, you can get ahead in this race; strengthen and motivate the team to deliver results amidst the crisis. I know that a sense of shared mission and values in my team keeps our company thriving, even when the power outages hit Kyiv again.

    And remember: Any crisis coming your way is both a test and an exceptional opportunity for growth. It only matters how you handle it.

    [ad_2]

    Victoria Repa

    Source link

  • Europe is Ukraine’s ‘home,’ Zelensky tells EU lawmakers in emotional address | CNN

    Europe is Ukraine’s ‘home,’ Zelensky tells EU lawmakers in emotional address | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a heartfelt appeal to lawmakers in Brussels on Thursday to allow his country to become part of the European Union, insisting that Europe is Ukraine’s “home.”

    During an address to the European Parliament, Zelensky said his country and the EU share the same values, and that the “European standard of life” and the “European rules of life” are “when the law rules.”

    “This is our Europe, these are our rules, this is our way of life. And for Ukraine, it’s a way home, a way to its home,” Zelensky said, referencing Ukraine’s aim to join the European Union.

    “I am here in order to defend our people’s way home,” he added.

    Zelensky shakes hands with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola as he arrives at the EU parliament in Brussels.

    Zelensky’s emotional message was designed to try to connect with EU parliamentarians as he continues to push for Ukraine to join the bloc.

    He underlined that Ukraine shares values with Europe, rather than with Russia, which he said is trying to take his country back in time.

    The president warned European lawmakers that Russia wants to return Europe to the xenophobia of the 1930s and 1940s. “The answer for us to that is no,” he said. “We are defending ourselves. We must defend ourselves.”

    Zelensky thanked all the countries that have provided weapons and military assistance to Ukraine, while stressing that his country still needs modern tanks, long-range missiles and modern fighter jets to protect its security, which he said is also Europe’s security.

    “We need artillery guns, ammunitions, modern tanks, the long-range missiles and modern fighter jets,” Zelensky said. “We have to enhance the dynamic of our cooperation” and act “faster than the aggressor,” he added.

    European Parliament President Roberta Metsola introduced Zelensky ahead of his address, telling him: “Ukraine is Europe and your nation’s future is in the European Union.

    “We have your back. Freedom will prevail.”

    Zelensky made a “secret” trip to Brussels on Thursday, a day after he made a surprise visit to London and Paris as part of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals aimed at persuading the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

    Zelensky’s renewed appeal to join the EU comes after Ukraine officially became an EU candidate state last year. It is still likely to be years before Kyiv can start any accession talks to join the bloc.

    During his trip to Brussels, Zelensky was expected to renew his pleas to European leaders to provide Ukraine with Typhoon and F-16 fighter jets.

    Macron and Zelensky at the Velizy-Villacoublay airport southwest of Paris on Thursday morning.

    On Wednesday evening, the Ukrainian leader was hosted in Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

    Macron awarded the visiting Ukrainian president with France’s highest order of merit, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

    Earlier, Macron told Zelensky that France is “determined” to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia. “We stand by Ukraine, determined to help it to victory,” Macron said. “Ukraine can count on France and its allies to win the war, Russia should not and will not win the war.”

    European leaders have been clear in their support for defending Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, with several countries including Germany, Poland and the Netherlands recently giving the green light to provide Kyiv with heavy battle tanks.

    Scholz last June insisted that Ukraine “belongs to the European family.”

    “My colleagues and I have come here to Kyiv today with a clear message: Ukraine belongs to the European family,” Scholz said during a joint news conference in Kyiv with Zelensky.

    Earlier Wednesday, Zelensky addressed the UK parliament during a surprise visit to London, thanking Britain on behalf of his country’s “war heroes.”

    Zelensky expressed gratitude to British parliamentarians for supporting Ukraine during his speech in Westminster Hall. “Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your bravery,” he said. “Thank you very much. From all of us.

    “London has stood with Kyiv since day one,” he told lawmakers. “Since the first seconds and minutes of the full-scale war. Great Britain, you extended your helping hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react.

    He added: “We know Russia will lose. We know victory will change the world, and this will be a change the world needed. The United Kingdom is marching with us towards the most important victory of our lifetime. The victory over the very idea of war.

    “After we win, any aggressor, it doesn’t matter, big or small, will know what awaits him if he attacks international order.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine’s Zelenskyy expected to ask for more aid from European leaders in Brussels trip

    Ukraine’s Zelenskyy expected to ask for more aid from European leaders in Brussels trip

    [ad_1]

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses parliamentarians in Westminster Hall on Feb. 8, 2023, in London, England.

    Wpa Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    BRUSSELS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting European leaders on Thursday as he continues his second major trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine.

    The Ukrainian leader is expected to address the European Parliament Thursday morning and then attend an extraordinary meeting of the 27 EU heads of state later in the day.

    The discussions in Brussels come after a surprise visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday and a last-minute meeting with French and German leaders in Paris that evening. It is the second time that Zelenskyy is known to have left Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24 last year.

    The president is using his time abroad to thank allies for their support so far, while also asking for further commitments at a time when Ukrainian authorities are expecting a large-scale offensive by the Russians.

    In London on Wednesday, Zelenskyy brought a helmet from a Ukrainian pilot with the message “we have freedom, give us wings to protect it.”

    Last month, Zelenskyy asked Ukraine’s allies for fighter jets — a request that has so far not received the greenlight from Western nations. However, the U.K. said Wednesday it will provide training to Ukrainian pilots to fly fighter jets, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said nothing was off the table when it comes to supporting Ukraine.

    In Paris, Zelenskyy was also very clear with his requests to the French and German heads of state. “The sooner we get heavy long-range weapons and our pilots get modern planes, Emmanuel, the earlier our pilots can get modern planes, Olaf, the more powerful will be our tank coalition,” Zelensky said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushes for fighter jets on visit to U.K.

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushes for fighter jets on visit to U.K.

    [ad_1]

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed for fighter jets to ensure his country’s victory over Russia in a dramatic speech before the U.K. Parliament, where he also thanked the British people for their support since “Day One” of Moscow’s invasion. The embattled leader’s daring to visit Britain in a bid for more advanced weapons comes as Ukraine braces for an expected Russian offensive and hatches its own plans to retake land held by Moscow’s forces. 

    Support from Western allies thus far has been key to Ukraine’s surprisingly stiff defense — and now the two sides are engaged in grinding battles.
     
    Hundreds of lawmakers and parliamentary staff packed the 900-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest — and unheated — part of Parliament for Zelenskyy’s speech. It was only his second confirmed journey outside Ukraine since Russia invaded nearly a year ago.

    President Zelensky Makes Surprise Visit To The UK
    Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a peace sign as he is applauded by Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord McFall, (L) and Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle (R) after he addressed parliamentarians in Westminster Hall on February 8, 2023 in London, England.

    Getty Images


    Zelenskyy, wearing his trademark olive drab sweatshirt, urged allies to send his country jets, saying combat aircraft would be “wings for freedom.”
     
    The president, who planned to meet later with King Charles III, noted that the British monarch was a qualified military pilot.
     
    “The king is an Air Force pilot,” Zekenskyy said, and “in Ukraine today, every Air Force pilot is a king.”
     
    He brought a gift of a Ukrainian Air Force helmet, inscribed by a Ukrainian pilot with the phrase: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”
     
    In past wars, “evil lost,” Zekenskyy told lawmakers. “We know Russia will lose and we we know victory will change the world.″
     
    He also called for stronger sanctions against Moscow, until “Russia is deprived of any possibility to finance this war.”
     
    He said he was speaking on behalf of the brave people of his own country, and thanked Britons for their bravery.
     
    “London has stood with Kyiv since Day One,” he said, handing over a combat helmet as a thank you to Britain.
     
    Zelenskyy has rallied support for his country repeatedly through such speeches — mostly given remotely — to Western lawmakers.   
    The Ukrainian leader arrived on a Royal Air Force plane in London on Wednesday. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greeted him on the tarmac, tweeting a photo of him embracing the Ukrainian leader.

    “The United Kingdom was one of the first to come to Ukraine’s aid. And today I’m in London to personally thank the British people for their support,” Zelenskyy said on Instagram.
     
    A large convoy of vehicles left the airport and headed straight to Downing Street in central London. Both leaders posed briefly for photos in front of the famous black door that leads into the U.K. prime minister’s residence.
     
    The U.K. is one of the biggest military backers of Ukraine and has sent the country more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) in weapons and equipment.
     
    The visit comes as Sunak announced that Britain will train Ukrainian pilots on “NATO-standard fighter jets.” Ukraine has urged its allies to send jets, though the U.K. says it’s not practical to provide the Ukrainian military with British warplanes.
     
    More than 10,000 Ukrainian troops have also been trained at bases in the U.K., some on the Challenger 2 tanks that Britain is sending.

    Estonia NATO
    A British Challenger 2 tank moves during the Winter Camp 23 military drills near Tapa, Estonia, February 5, 2023.

    Pavel Golovkin/AP


    “I am proud that today we will expand that training from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future,” Sunak said.
     
    Coinciding with the visit, the U.K. government announced a new round of sanctions against six entities that Britain said supplied equipment to the Russian military.
     
    CST, a manufacturer of Russian drones and parts for helicopters used against Ukraine, were among those sanctioned. Others targeted included five individuals linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s luxury residences, including Boris Titov and Aerostart owner Viktor Myachin.

    Zelenskyy addressed the U.K. Parliament remotely in March, two weeks after the start of the invasion. He echoed World War II leader Winston Churchill’s famous “never surrender” speech, vowing that Ukrainians “will fight till the end at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost.”
     
    Before Sunak took office, Zelenskyy had formed a bond with Boris Johnson, who was one of Ukraine’s most vocal backers while he was prime minister. Sunak took office in October and has pledged to maintain the U.K.’s support.
     
    Zelenskyy visited the U.S. in December. On Wednesday, he may be seeking Western pledges of more advanced weapons before potential spring offensives by both Russia and Ukraine. Zelenskyy will also meet with King Charles III and U.K. military chiefs during his visit.


    Ukrainian captain exchanges gifts of gratitude with President Biden

    02:51

    In Brussels, there were increasing expectations that the Ukrainian leader might also make his first visit to European Union institutions since the war began.
     
    Leaders from 27-nation bloc will be gathering for a summit in Brussels on Thursday. That would enable Zelenskyy to meet with all major leaders of the bloc in one day. Zelenskyy has often addressed EU summits only through video calls from Ukraine.
     
    The EU’s legislature has also slated a special plenary session in Brussels for Thursday in the hopes that Zelenskyy will come following his trip to Britain.
     
    The London visit came as Russian forces blasted areas of eastern Ukraine with more artillery bombardments, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, in what Kyiv authorities believe is part of a new thrust by the Kremlin’s forces before the invasion anniversary.
     
    Russian forces over the past day launched major shelling attacks on areas near the front line in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a 74-year-old woman and wounding a 16-year-old girl in the border town of Vovchansk, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.
     
    Russian forces in Ukraine are focusing their efforts on “waging a counteroffensive” in the country’s industrial east, with the aim of taking full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.
     
    Russian troops launched assaults near Bakhmut and Vuhledar, two mining towns in the Donetsk region that have been among Moscow’s key targets, Ukrainian officials said. 


    Russian mercenaries on the “lies” that lured them to Ukraine

    03:01

    Seizing Bakhmut could severely disrupt Ukraine’s military supply routes. It would also open a door for Moscow’s forces to drive toward key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.
     
    Ukrainian authorities say the Kremlin’s goal is to complete full control of the Donbas, an expansive industrial area bordering Russia. That would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a major battlefield success after months of setbacks and help him rally public opinion behind the war.
     
    Military analysts say that after a Ukrainian counteroffensive that started last summer and recaptured large areas from Russia, the war has been largely static in recent months.
     
    Moscow, meanwhile, believes Ukraine is preparing its own battlefield push.
     
    The Russian-installed leader of the occupied Luhansk region said Wednesday the situation in some areas is “very difficult” because Kyiv is mustering forces for a counterattack.
     
    Leonid Pasechnik told Russian state TV that the situation is “very difficult” in areas around a key Russian supply route. “Unfortunately, the enemy is accumulating sufficient reserves there, forces to counterattack, to return the lost territories,” he said.
     
    It wasn’t possible to verify the claims by the two sides.
     

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • MH17 probe:

    MH17 probe:

    [ad_1]


    An update on MH17 | 60 Minutes

    01:11

    The Hague, Netherlands — An international team of investigators said Wednesday it found “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the supply of heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 with a Russian missile.
     
    However, the Joint Investigation Team said they had insufficient evidence to launch any new prosecutions and suspended their long running probe into the shooting down that killed all 298 people on board the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
     
    Russia has always denied any involvement in the downing of the flight over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, and refused to cooperate with the international investigation.
     
    Dutch prosecutors said in their summary of investigation findings that “there are strong indications that the Russian president decided on supplying” a Buk missile system to Ukrainian separatists. A Buk system was used to bring down MH17.
     
    Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said that without Russian cooperation, “the investigation has now reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted.”
     
    The announcement comes nearly three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel for their roles in shooting down the plane. One Russian was acquitted by the court. None of the suspects appeared for the trial and it was unclear if the three who were found guilty of multiple murders will ever serve their sentences.


    The long pursuit of justice for victims of MH17 | 60 Minutes Archive

    13:37

    The convictions and the court’s finding that the surface-to-air Buk missile came from a Russian military base were seen as a clear indication that Moscow had a role in the tragedy. Russia has always denied involvement. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the court in November of bowing to pressure from Dutch politicians, prosecutors and the news media.
     
    But the November convictions held that Moscow was in overall control in 2014 over the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the separatist area of eastern Ukraine where the missile was launched. The Buk missile system came from the Russian military’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based in the city of Kursk.
     
    The Joint Investigation Team is made up of experts from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine. Most of the victims were Dutch. It had continued to investigate the crew of the missile system that brought down the plane and those who ordered its deployment in Ukraine.
     
    As well as the criminal trial that was held in the Netherlands, the Dutch and Ukrainian governments are suing Russia at the European Court of Human Rights over its alleged role in the downing of MH17.


    [ad_2]

    Source link