Month: June 2023

Will Putin’s ‘siloviki’ now act to depose him?

 Brad Lendon (left) from CNN reports that, ” As the early stages of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian invaders is unfolding on the battlefield, hundreds of warplanes from some of Kyiv’s biggest supporters are in the skies over Germany as NATO holds its largest aerial war games ever.“Air Defender 2023” is bringing together 250 warplanes –

Why Ukrainian NATO membership would actually be good for Russia

Vladimir Putin claims one of the main goals of his Ukraine invasion is to prevent the country joining NATO. This objective may at first glance appear broadly reasonable, but on closer inspection, it actually goes directly against Russia’s own national interests. The idea that Ukrainian NATO membership would pose a security threat to Russia ranks

The two armored vehicles that will define the Ukrainian counteroffensive

The Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway. In early June, Kyiv launched its long-anticipated push to drive the Russian forces back. Progress has been slow and steady as the Ukrainian military leadership is trying to find the weak spot in the Russian defenses before it unleashes its main thrust. For the past several months, Ukraine has been

Beyond the counteroffensive: 84% of Ukrainians are ready for a long war

As Ukraine’s long awaited counteroffensive gets underway, a new survey has found that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians are ready to continue the war beyond the summer campaign if necessary in order to complete the liberation of the country. The poll, conducted in late May and early June by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology

Should NATO extend Stoltenberg’s term as leader?

As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meets with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday, there is a lot for them to discuss. Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive has just begun, and key decisions will face allies at the NATO Summit in Vilnius less than a month away. One of those decisions may be

Russia’s failing Ukraine invasion is exposing Putin’s many weaknesses

Vladimir Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine is exposing all of his personal weaknesses as a ruler. It is also casting an unforgiving light on the extensive damage he has done to Russia. In the early 1990s, I encountered Putin several times at international meetings in St. Petersburg, but I never really met him. I talked

Ukraine’s counteroffensive will likely create new reintegration challenges

As Ukraine’s long anticipated counteroffensive gets underway, international attention is firmly fixed on military developments. If the Ukrainian Armed Forces are able to achieve significant advances, the authorities in Kyiv will also be faced with the challenge of reintegrating communities that have lived for more than a year, and in some cases over nine years,

Ukraine’s counteroffensive hits strong Russian resistance

The war in Ukraine has entered its next phase. Ukraine is on the attack once more after launching its long-awaited counteroffensive on Sunday. The Ukrainian military is making slow progress, and the Russian forces are holding on better than most observers anticipated. But there is good reason for that — the most extensive fortification system

Could Russia be held accountable for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam?

In the early hours of June 6, the Kakhovka dam spanning the Dnipro River in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine collapsed, sparking a major humanitarian and ecological disaster in the surrounding area. The unfolding catastrophe has been labeled as a war crime and an act of ecocide, but holding anyone legally accountable will likely prove challenging. The

Kakhovka dam collapse threatens Europe’s largest nuclear plant

The blowing up of the Kakhovka dam in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine in the early hours of June 6 has produced a range of catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences. The resultant draining of the Kakhovka reservoir also creates significant risks for the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The plant, which is the largest in Europe, is