WASHINGTON (AP) – Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul defied leaders of both parties Thursday and single-handedly delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $ 40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia’s three-month old invasion. With the Senate poised to debate and vote on the package of military and economic aid, … Read more
A Ukrainian army officer revealed on Twitter how his team destroyed a Russian pontoon bridge a couple of days ago, defeating attempts by Russian troops to cross the Siverskyi Donets river running between the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. “Artillerymen of the 17th tank brigade of the #UAarmy have opened the holiday season for [Russian forces]”the … Read more
Much of what we know about Mikhail Kavun was provided by his 24-year-old son, Aleksei Kavun, who contacted POLITICO in hopes of raising awareness about his medical case. According to Aleksei, several aspects of his personal history seemingly contradict the Kremlin’s depiction of him as a nationalistic Ukrainian Nazi with a hatred for native Russian … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Finland’s leaders Thursday came out in favor of applying to join NATO, and Sweden could do the same within days, in a historic realignment on the continent 2 1/2 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow’s neighbors. The Kremlin reacted by warning … Read more
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea imposed a nationwide lockdown Thursday to control its first acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that has spread to almost every place in the world. The outbreak forced leader Kim Jong Un … Read more
The Defense Ministry will advance plans for some 1,000 Palestinian homes in the West Bank, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Thursday, as the same office was convening to greenlight projects for some 4,400 Jewish settlement homes. The projects for both the Palestinians and the Israeli settlers will be located in Area … Read more
Placeholder while article actions load Ukraine has surprised the world with its ability to hold back Russian aggression. Yet its success in doing so appears to be prompting Western leaders to expand their goals for the war in ways that may carry extraordinary, underappreciated risk. The earlier hope was that a robust Ukrainian defense would … Read more
Placeholder while article actions load RIGA, Latvia – Russian authorities are forcing Ukrainians who seek safety to submit to strip searches and interrogations, placing some refugees in guarded camps, stripping them of their vital documents and in some cases forcing them to remain in Russia, according to displaced Ukrainians, volunteers helping refugees, and Ukrainian and … Read more
CNN – A Russian merchant ship loaded with grain stolen in Ukraine has been turned away from at least one Mediterranean port and is now in the Syrian port of Latakia, according to shipping sources and Ukrainian officials. CNN has identified the vessel as the bulk carrier Matros Pozynich. On April 27, the ship weighed … Read more
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the world has been shocked by scenes of massacred civilians and flattened residential blocks. Even in Kremlin-controlled media, the images have not been censored – they have been spun. As a result, many Russians still believe in the version of events presented to … Read more