Putin news

Rumors have spread about the health of the Russian president following the invasion of Ukraine.

"Is this just me or Putin really looks less healthy and sound with each and every day of the war?" In early May, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin press secretary, announced the Russian president would not be attending the game. More questions arose after Putin did not appear at the Gala game at the Night Hockey League National Festival in Sochi on Tuesday night, even though he was "expected" to play.

Cut off from Western technology suppliers, Russia is moving to build an increasingly autarkic economy. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin created a ...

Just as the Kremlin has used its natural gas resources as a political tool against Europe, it may use the raw materials it supplies to the global semiconductor industry as a bargaining chip. By building a domestic technology industry and controls over internet traffic, the Kremlin has tried to gain independence from the Western technology industry and influence over the information available to Russian citizens. Chinese telecom firm Huawei has posted numerous job openings in Russia since the Kremlin launched its illegal war on Ukraine, and in the first two weeks of March, Huawei’s phone sales in Russia rose 300%. Barring significant risks to personnel on the ground or strong signals from Beijing, Chinese tech firms may expand further into the Russian market and increase Russia’s dependence on Chinese technology. But in shifting toward Chinese suppliers, the Kremlin will have to tacitly accept the “junior partner” role it has long sought to avoid vis-à-vis Beijing. In light of Western sanctions seeking to limit Russian access to strategic technology goods, China’s most significant contributions to Russia’s tech ecosystem could be in the form of hardware like semiconductors, the supply of which U.S. sanctions have sharply limited. Among them were a range of IT initiatives and a national moonshot, a $4 billion innovation hub called “Skolkovo.” A Silicon Valley analog in the Moscow suburbs inaugurated in 2010, Skolkovo aimed to become home to tens of thousands of researchers and tech professionals and a hotbed of homegrown startups. In this vein, Moscow has spoken about building a domestic Russian internet for years, reflecting its desire for a domestic information ecosystem it can entirely dominate. Over the past decade, the Russian government has attempted to achieve a measure of sovereignty over digital technology. Moscow’s official responses to the flight of IT workers—from deferring compulsory military service for tech workers to extending favorable lines of credit to firms that can manage to retain 85% or more of their March workforce numbers—show little sign of working. Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine has massively accelerated the push for technological sovereignty. Between sanctions, componentry shortages, and an exodus of Russian IT workers, Russia will struggle to become technologically autarkic in the short term. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin created a new commission on internet and technological “sovereignty” in Russia and placed Dmitry Medvedev, former president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council, as its head.

On the border with Russia, the Estonian town of Narva has strong cultural and linguistic ties with Russia. That makes it a target of Russian disinformation; ...

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Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while delivering his speech during an awarding ceremony for the Russian Olympic Committee medalists of the XXIV ...

That would strengthen China and be a longer-term political and economic catastrophe for Moscow and Putin. 4“The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Wednesday demanding that Russia immediately end its military operations in Ukraine. Known informally as the world’s ‘town hall’, the Assembly is where all 193 UN Member States have a voice. He will have beaten the Ukrainians and NATO and the West (or so he would proclaim) and he would continue his rule. His hope to reunite the former Soviet republics in his new Russia, with the possible exception of Belarus, however, will likely prove to be an impossibility in the short term. The certainty is that Russia would not cough up funds to rebuild anything outside the territory it controls, and Moscow would not pay to resettle refugees in what‘s left of free Ukraine. There is also the very real possibility that without an eventual and equitable peace treaty, a long, dragged-out guerrilla war will be waged by Ukrainian forces in the occupied lands, something that would likely be backed covertly by the West and would certainly slow all reconstruction. And let us be clear: there is no doubt that the Russian army has the bigger cannon.

Putin will have to accept that his invasion of Ukraine has failed and Russia will emerge from the war a lesser power, says U.K. Defense Secretary Ben ...

“Given this was supposed to be the great repositioning, so far, not so good,” Wallace said. In the Donbas region, where the Kremlin has touted a major offensive, Russian forces continue to rely on outmoded tactics, Wallace said. “Only President Putin can know where his off-ramp is going to be,” Wallace said. You can’t quite hide your inflation.” Wallace said Britain’s policy is to ensure that Russia is defeated in Ukraine. “ Putin needs to fail in Ukraine. The consequences of him being successful, would be ripples that would be felt globally.” You can hide bodies.

OTTAWA - Ralph Goodale, Canada's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, is accusing Vladimir Putin of "depra...

The director of national intelligence told senators that the Russian president may consider nuclear weapons in Ukraine but that she saw no imminent threat.

The weapons: Ukraine is making use of weapons such as Javelin antitank missiles and Switchblade “kamikaze” drones, provided by the United States and other allies. The United States has provided billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine this year. The intelligence community has observed close to 20 percent inflation in Russia, she said. “We expect their GDP will fall about 10 percent, possibly more, over the course of the year,” she added. The Senate is expected to follow suit this week. The most likely flash points in coming weeks will include Russian attempts to intercept Western security assistance to Ukraine, Haines said. “The next month or two of fighting will be significant as the Russians attempt to reinvigorate their efforts,” she added. Russia’s other goals include occupying Kherson in the south and controlling the waters off Crimea, Haines added. Russia’s nuclear threats are attempts to deter the West from providing Kyiv with more lethal aid, she said. Fighting has been focused in Donbas in recent weeks, according to U.S. and Western defense officials. Putin “is probably counting on U.S. and E.U. resolve to weaken as food shortages, inflation and energy shortages get worse,” she added. “But this is a case where I think all of us wish we had been wrong.”

Vladimir Putin has attempted to justify the invasion as a means of “denazifying” Ukraine — though its democratically elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is ...

The weapons: Ukraine is making use of weapons such as Javelin antitank missiles and Switchblade “kamikaze” drones, provided by the United States and other allies. I asked Lipstadt about the more general question of comparing the Holocaust to other events, a contentious issue for decades. “It’s a chance to break down barriers, to get people to consider what they thought was fact.” The Senate is expected to follow suit this week. “Would you rather die of covid or cholera?” Lipstadt said. If I can make a difference, then as we say, dayenu, it’s sufficient.” Lipstadt also accused the Trump administration of soft-core denial for failing to mention either Jews or antisemitism in the 2017 White House statement marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. “Hard-core denial is sort of seen now as wacko,” Lipstadt said. And now we have power using the Holocaust to speak lies to justify war crimes.” Decades ago, what seemed most threatening were outright deniers such as Irving or his French counterpart, Robert Faurisson. But today, what she has long called “soft-core denial” seems the more urgent problem: It does not so much deny well-established facts as blur them, allowing any number of bad-faith comparisons that are meant to chip away at the truth. “What’s becoming clear now is soft-core denial is equally as dangerous if not more dangerous than hard core, in part because — to use a highfalutin academic term — it’s squishier. “So what if Zelensky is Jewish?” Sergei Lavrov, Putin’s foreign minister, said last week on Italian television.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned Russia's Vladimir Putin on Wednesday against attacking any NATO nation, saying such a move would be a “game.

is that Russia doesn’t want to take on the NATO alliance.” But Austin said he believed Russia wouldn’t want to take such a risk. “If Russia decided to attack any nation that’s a NATO member, that’s a game-changer,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that a conflict with NATO is a fight that Vladimir Putin "really doesn't want to have and that would very quickly ...

"The short answer is yes, of course, we are militarily," Milley said. Sean Spoonts, editor-in-chief of the military news outlet SOFREP, told Newsweek recently that Russia has gone through thousands of critical weapons and cruise missiles in Ukraine that will cost about $1.5 million apiece. So, this is a fight that he [Putin] really doesn't want to have and that would very quickly escalate into another type of competition that no one wants to see." Last November, he said his country would respond if NATO crossed "red lines" by providing Ukraine with certain missile strike systems. "If Russia decides to attack any nation that's a NATO member, then that's a game changer," Austin replied. Austin appeared with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Mark Milley before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to testify on President Joe Biden's 2023 defense budget request.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy both addressed their nations on Victory Day this week. But while Putin's message ...

And he needs to be able to stand on a future Victory Day parade and sell the Ukraine debacle to the Russian people as a victory. Because of this, the President of Ukraine knows his nation needs to defeat more than a foreign leader or an invading horde of brutal Russian soldiers. But his tone, and his words, were designed to mobilise the Ukrainian people and to steel them for the sacrifices that still lay ahead. This is a war of two world views." As a former component of the Soviet Empire, Ukraine also commemorates May 9 for the sacrifices of its service personnel and citizens in the Great Patriotic War. And like Putin, Zelenskyy celebrated the final victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. A day before the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also gave a Victory Day speech.

Ralph Goodale, Canada's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, has accused Vladimir Putin of 'unconscionable depravity' for denying hungry people in ...

Drivers can expect more pain at the pumps this morning as gasoline prices push new records. Gas prices have smashed records in recent weeks as the world grapples with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demand has soared as the economy reopens. The party promised a policy-focused event, and largely delivered. It was the first of two official debates organized. The U.S. Senate fell far short Wednesday in a rushed effort toward enshrining Roe v. Qarmaapik House offers a safe house for parents and children, and its goal is to keep families together, ensuring Inuit resources intervene when families need help. Gas prices have smashed records in recent weeks as the world grapples with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demand has soared as the economy reopens. 1 hr ago Gas prices have smashed records in recent weeks as the world grapples with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demand has soared as the economy reopens. Here's a snapshot of who each candidate is, their political histories, and what kind of campaign they're running. Trudeau announced Tuesday morning that the confidence-and-supply agreement has been brokered, and is effective immediately. The stunning leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion to strike down the landmark Roe v.

OTTAWA — Canada has not ruled out imposing sanctions on Vladimir Putin's alleged girlfriend, Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast, says the foreign ...

"Our goal is to be completely in line with the European Union," she said. She confirmed that Canada has not ruled out adding Kabaeva's name to a future sanctions list. "It is our goal that all the sanctions by our allies also be put in place in Canada."

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the coming months could see a "more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory" in the ...

Russia could mobilize additional reserve forces – bringing thousands of more soldiers into the battle – but absent a declaration of war, Berrier said, "I don't see a breakout on either side." of terminals outside of Ukraine, including in Europe," she said. She noted that entrenched military engagement means there's no "viable negotiating path forward" for Ukraine and Russia in the immediate term. "That attack had an outsized impact," Haines told lawmakers. In Ukraine, an escalation of the conflict could also take the form of attacks on deliveries of Western security assistance, retaliation for sanctions or the staging of "another large nuclear exercise," Haines testified, though she said the intelligence community had detected no "imminent potential" for Putin to use nuclear weapons. Haines noted the intelligence community assesses that Russia has not waged a large-scale cyber attack against the U.S. amid its invasion of Ukraine due to "longstanding concern about the potential for escalation in cyber vis-a-vis the United States." But, she added, "That doesn't mean that they won't attack at some point."

Canada has not ruled out imposing sanctions on Vladimir Putin's alleged girlfriend, Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast, says the foreign affairs ...

"Our goal is to be completely in line with the European Union," she said. She confirmed that Canada has not ruled out adding Kabaeva's name to a future sanctions list. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

The ex-boyfriend of a Russian gymnast and former MP alleged to be Putin's mistress is being hunted by the president's personal CIA.

Kabaeva runs a Russia-themed gymnastics festival, where the army 'Z' symbol was common She is one of Russia's most decorated gymnasts, winning a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and bronze at Sydney in 2000. She is a leading researcher at the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia. A recent report in a Swiss broadsheet newspaper said a doctor from the country had delivered two of Putin's sons to Kabaeva, one in 2015 in Switzerland and the second in Moscow in 2019. But she was seen last month in Moscow posing in front of the 'Z' insignia of Putin's war in Ukraine. The equipment was to protect the ports of Provedeniya, Tiksi, Pevek and Sabetta - and was purchased after an alleged bribe from the suppliers. A teenage Kabaeva (right) smiles with Putin (left) during the gymnast's visit to the Kremlin Museliana and other defendants are accused of bribe-taking in the supply of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and speedboats to the guard's Arctic forces. He was married with a young daughter when he embarked on a relationship with Kabaeva in the early 2000s, and he said before she met Putin: 'We have been dating for almost two-and-a-half years, and I think I am her first and last [man]. Everything else is our private matter.' Colonel Museliana is accused by the Russian Investigative Committee of 'theft of state funds' linked to a series of sabotage Arctic ports. The Russian Investigative Committee is led by a university classmate of Putin's. The fugitive's alleged crimes came when he served as a colonel in charge of 'anti-criminal security measures' in the Russian national guard, a force that reports directly to Putin.

MARK ALMOND: With these new pacts, Boris Johnson is not only guaranteeing these democracies our support but demonstrating what a catastrophic mistake Putin ...

And it wasn't just bravado. The invasion of Ukraine, however, has changed everything. If not, he threatened, three million Russian troops would invade. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Appeasing a bully never works; it only emboldens them. With Russian forces floundering in Ukraine, it would be an act of insanity for Putin to launch attacks on either of the Scandinavian countries. No longer can any neighbour of Russia's feel secure. And despite constantly harking back to Russian history, Putin seems to have forgotten a key chapter; the Winter War of 1939 when Russia took on the Finns. Since the start of the invasion, the Russian leader has repeatedly tried to intimidate Finland and Sweden into not joining Nato, issuing threats about nuclear weapons in the region and sending military planes and ships into Sweden's air and waters. Russian President Vladimir Putin pictured during a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Talent and Success Educational Foundation in Sochi on Wednesday Take Boris Johnson's lightning tour of Scandinavia yesterday. Despite this proximity – and despite being ideologically closer to the West as liberal democracies – Sweden and Finland have remained outside Nato, adopting a position of neutrality which was widely supported by their respective populations.

Crafting strategy was always going to be a challenge for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spent years working at the KGB, the former Soviet Union's spy ...

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin attends a flower-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, on Monday, Victory Day. (photo credit: SPUTNIK/ ...

It reveals “a military machine on the Russian side that could not pull off a confrontation with any NATO power.” Moscow appears to have failed on so many levels: the quality of leadership, poor training, discipline, low morale of its soldiers, high casualty rates, including generals, supply lines, maintenance, communication, reliable equipment, and basic supplies like food, water, spare parts and ammunition. If he wants to see the Moskva he can buy one of the most popular postage stamps in recent history. The Israeli government has been supportive, but cautious out of strategic concerns. The streets are littered with too many hulks of destroyed Russian tanks, abandoned equipment and dead soldiers left by his fleeing army. Senator George Aiken of Vermont told Lyndon Johnson that Vietnam was a lost cause and the best strategy would be to “declare victory and get out.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Western sanctions against Russia are provoking a global economic crisis.

That will signal a bipartisan, heightened commitment to helping thwart the bloody Russian invasion. “And so the point is, we are having a very serious effect,” she said. It said Ukrainian forces repulsed nine Russian attacks and destroyed several drones and military vehicles. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has suffered heavy Russian bombardment during the war as Russia sought to encircle it. The Geneva-based council was set to vote on a resolution that would reiterate its demand “for the immediate cessation of military hostilities against Ukraine.” ___ Ukrainian authorities have launched investigations into their use, whch dozens of countries have agreed to ban under an international treaty. It is north of the Russian-held Black Sea port city of Kherson, and is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown. He didn’t detail where and when they allegedly were used. The claim could not immediately be verified. ___ ___

Finland's leaders announced Thursday their intention for the country to join NATO "without delay," a new setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Asked on Wednesday if Finland would provoke Russia by joining NATO, Niinistö said Putin would be to blame. Sweden, influenced by the eagerness and speed of its Finnish neighbors, is also widely expected to signal its intention to join the alliance in the coming days. “My response would be that you caused this. The end to Kyiv's long-standing desire to join NATO and the removal of Western troops in the region were central to Putin's pre-war demands, but Finland joining would double Russia's border with the Transatlantic alliance. Finland has traditionally been militarily neutral and enjoyed good relations with Moscow — but the war in Ukraine has led the country to rethink its security and self-determinism. The Nordic nation, which shares an 810-mile border with Russia, is expected to be given rapid accession to join the alliance and neighboring Sweden looks set to follow with its own bid in the coming days.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin says Western sanctions against Russia are provoking a global economic crisis. Speaking during a ...

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President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West had triggered a global economic crisis and a wave of ruinous inflation by imposing on Russia the ...

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The Finnish President has announced the country's first public declaration that it intends to join the security alliance.

Finland is particularly vulnerable because of its land border with the country. This week Britain signed mutual security pacts with both Sweden and Finland. If Finland, and then Sweden, join the alliance, Moscow would be surrounded by Nato members in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic. Becoming a Nato member would significantly increase the deterrent against it becoming a target of Russia’s aggression. The country became an official partner of Nato in 1994, and has taken part in several Nato missions, but has stopped short of actually joining the alliance in order to maintain good relations with its eastern neighbour. But the move would be a boost to Nato in northern Europe, according to experts, given that Finland’s competent armed forces already train with Nato troops and can work with them effectively.

It would send a message to President Vladimir Putin that if he goes beyond Ukraine he's taking on the entirety of NATO. Finland knows first hand what war with ...

Now, Finland is again poking the bear. Under the terms of a treaty agreed with the Soviet Union in 1948, Finland secured political autonomy but had to defang its military — meaning no operational subs. A short ferry ride from Finland’s capital Helsinki lies the fortress island of Suomenlinna, and a long-decommissioned submarine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Western countries were worse hit by sanctions imposed on Moscow over Ukraine than Russia, which he insists.

Putin also welcomed the “gradual” slowdown in inflation after it surged to 16.7 percent year-on-year in March, as well as the recovery of the ruble, which is now at its strongest since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. “We see it above all by looking at the sharp rise of inflation in Europe which is close to 20 percent in some countries,” he said in televised remarks.

Martial law would see the conflict escalate into 'a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory', top spy chief Avril Haines told a Senate ...

The Russian president hopes wants to fully capture the two eastern oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk and to “crush” Ukrainian forces in the east as well as occupy the Kherson region and control Crimea’s water supplies, Haines said. The concentration of his forces in Donbas was ” “only a temporary shift”, she said, adding that a Russian victory in the eastern region might not end the war, with Mr Putin facing “a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia’s current conventional military capabilities”. Vladimir Putin is poised to introduce martial law in Russia in an attempt to bolster the invasion of Ukraine, according to the director of US national intelligence Avril Haines.

Canada has not ruled out imposing sanctions on Vladimir Putin's alleged girlfriend, Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast, says the foreign affairs ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed to statistics showing slowing inflation and the ruble's surge , but those numbers fall short of telling the whole ...

The euro is at its lowest level against the dollar in five years, trading at 1.04 Thursday, a 14% decline since the start of 2022. 79%. That’s how much Russian car sales fell in April compared to April 2021, according to data from the Association of European Businesses trade group. In addition to rising energy prices on the global market, the recovery can be attributed to several policies from Russia’s central bank incentivizing citizens to hold rubles, including barring foreign currency sales and raising the interest rate to 20% February 28. But as soon as capital controls are put in place, then that obscures the picture.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month the ruble is under a “lot of manipulation.” The car sales data provide a look at how strong the impact of hundreds of foreign manufacturers’ exiting Russia is, though Putin noted Russian manufacturers are “filling in” for multinational companies that exited Russia in protest of its invasion of Ukraine in his Thursday speech, according to TASS. Putin said the exchange rate of the ruble is “strengthening” and “probably” has the “best dynamics” of any currency globally, according to a translation of his comments provided by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Western countries were worse hit by sanctions imposed on Moscow over Ukraine than Russia, which he insists ...

"It is obvious that... Putin also welcomed the "gradual" slowdown in inflation after it surged to 16.7% year-on-year in March, as well as the recovery of the ruble, which is now at its strongest since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis. "We see it above all by looking at the sharp rise of inflation in Europe which is close to 20% in some countries," he said in televised remarks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West had triggered a global economic crisis and a wave of ruinous inflation by imposing on Russia ...

The West’s attempt to economically isolate Russia – one of the world’s biggest producers of natural resources – has propelled the global economy into uncharted waters with soaring prices for food and energy. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West had triggered a global economic crisis and a wave of ruinous inflation by imposing on Russia the most severe sanctions in recent history over the conflict in Ukraine. The West’s attempt to economically isolate Russia has propelled the global economy into uncharted waters with soaring prices for food and energy.

Biden tackles the 'what does he want?' question about Putin. President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at the 'Villa la Grange' on June ...

“Those experiences would seem to make McCrory an ideal nominee in a post-Trump GOP animated by claims of election fraud and the politics of transgender rights. It also identified burial sites at more than 50 of the former schools, and said that ‘approximately 19 federal Indian boarding schools accounted for over 500 American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian child deaths.’ The number of recorded deaths is expected to grow, the report said.” It was at last year’s meeting where Biden announced $102 million in initiatives focused on the region targeting Covid-19 recovery, the climate crisis, economic growth and gender equality,” Politico's Brianna Crummy reports. Their algorithms optimize for eliciting a reaction from us, ignoring the fact that often the shortest path to a click is fear, anger or sadness.” “An initial investigation commissioned by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland cataloged some of the brutal conditions that Native American children endured at more than 400 boarding schools that the federal government forced them to attend between 1819 and 1969. And the problem I worry about now is that he doesn't have a way out right now, and I'm trying to figure out what we do about that,” Biden said. “Biden also nudged Congress to pass a stalled $10 billion package that would boost the availability of tests, therapeutics and vaccines nationwide. “I think that he is dealing with what I believe he thinks is the most tragic thing that's happened to Mother Russia — in that the Berlin Wall came down, the Empire has been lost, the Near Abroad is gone, et cetera. In a previous column, I suggested Biden sometimes effectively delivers an intelligence-style “profile” of Putin in public, measuring his motivations and the principles and pressures that shape his policies. “We the users want privacy, because it’s fundamental to being free. - “How can I say this in a public forum?” Biden began. On this day in 1970, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.

As Ukraine fights for survival, investigators scour the country for evidence of atrocities that are hard but not impossible to prosecute.

Think of universal jurisdiction as the way to try perpetrators of crimes so heinous that the world must act regardless of where the crimes were committed. But with no time limit on their apprehension, Putin and Russia’s other war criminals must always remain on edge, fearing the tick of the clock. A controversial mechanism, the last time trial in absentia was used was in 2009, at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was established at the request of the Lebanese government primarily to try the individuals who killed former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005. The notices provide date of birth, eye color, and other information about the accused (picture Putin’s mug on a wall of the “most wanted” at your local post office). And they allow for an alert to be issued simultaneously to member countries to be on the lookout for the named suspect, making it difficult for him to travel. It was also used to convict Adolf Eichmann in Israel in 1961, arrest former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet with a warrant issued by Spain, and extradite John Demjanjuk—an accused Nazi concentration camp guard—from the United States to Israel in 1985. “To conduct a trial without the accused is like trying to stage Hamlet without Hamlet,” according to the Asser Institute, an organization based in The Hague that researches European legal developments. Getting an indictment is no easy feat, and conducting a trial without a defendant present isn’t the same as having, say, the Nazi leader Hermann Göring in all his hateful glory in the dock. And above the officers and generals, there is one person atop the armed forces who must be held to account. While the tribunal indicted Milosevic, there was no mechanism for extraditing him from Serbia to stand trial. (This week, Ukraine’s prosecutor general said the country would try a Russian soldier for war crimes, the first such prosecution in the conflict that began this winter.) It charged Milosevic in 1999 with war crimes ranging from torture to genocide. Milosevic’s forces were brutal: In the forests of Srebrenica, they murdered some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, mostly men and boys.

If the West is behind mysterious fires in Russia, the ongoing—but deniable—threat could deter Putin from escalating. By Douglas London, a professor at ...

With few overt options short of going to war, covert sabotage operations might prove to be a critical deterrent—if not the best and only remaining one. The calculus may change for Russia if Ukraine manages to use Western weapons in repelling Putin’s forces and threatening Russia’s border or for the United States if nuclear and chemical weapons are employed. These actions need to balance preserving the narrative that the world is not at war with the Russian people but fighting an illegitimate and harmful dictator and his kleptocratic cronies. It is the fig leaf of deniability that serves not merely Ukraine and its likely U.S. and NATO facilitators but also Russia. The threat that Ukraine, with Western support, could escalate such operations might be one of the allies’ best means to deter Putin from crossing a line in using nuclear or chemical weapons—from which there might be no return. The West has few remaining options to exact further costs—beyond war itself—should Putin elect to employ weapons of mass destruction within Ukraine or expand his invasion to Moldova. U.S. and allied enabling of a Ukrainian sabotage campaign inside Russia telegraphs a significant and escalating cost Putin can ill afford—but it is not without risk. But slapping him in the face with public humiliation is, as Biden said himself, “ counterproductive” and likely to have precisely the opposite effect if the goal is to preempt and deter. The West has few remaining options to exact further costs—beyond war itself—should Putin elect to employ weapons of mass destruction within Ukraine or expand his invasion to Moldova. U.S. and allied enabling of a Ukrainian sabotage campaign inside Russia telegraphs a significant and escalating cost Putin can ill afford—but it is not without risk. But the mystifying manner in which U.S. officials appeared to casually acknowledge—if not boast—about sharing intelligence that helped Ukraine sink the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship Moskva and helped the Ukrainian military kill Russian generals makes one question whether or not the Biden administration has the necessary discipline to securely support such a Ukrainian-led effort. The West also has a unique advantage in its ability to leverage the experiences, resources, and reach of the former Warsaw Pact nations that are now NATO members. CIA director William Burns observed that Putin believes he can’t afford to lose in Ukraine, is likely to double down, and that his nuclear saber-rattling should not be taken lightly. And while it might have mitigated the risk Putin would employ “ false flag” provocations to justify using nuclear or chemical weapons, the revelations couldn’t preempt his Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Adding the specter of sabotage within Russia that threatens Putin’s carefully groomed mystique of invincibility and control at home might, however, stop him from escalating further. CIA director William Burns observed that Putin believes he can’t afford to lose in Ukraine, is likely to double down, and that his nuclear saber-rattling should not be taken lightly.

As Vladimir Putin's health reportedly declines, body doubles have been put on alert to stand in for the Russian not-so-strongman when he undergoes surgery, ...

Putin is said to bathe in the blood extracted from deer antlers, which are hacked off while they are growing and still full of fresh blood, the outlet said. Putin will be out of commission for up to 10 days and the body doubles will be used to make it seem like he’s still in control of the country, the anti-Putin Telegram channel “General SVR” reported. The mysterious Telegram account also claimed that pre-recorded footage will be released of Putin attending meetings and signing laws to make it seem like he is still working.

The case of Mikhail Kavun shows the paranoia of the Kremlin's wartime propaganda — and the very real threat to Jews under Moscow's regime.

In that same message, he also shared a bleak but defiant prediction about his fate: “There are long years of jail ahead, and there is probably no way back to the normal life. Aleksei has “two best-case scenarios” for his father’s case: The first is that the Ukrainian government will trade his father for a Russian soldier imprisoned in Ukraine. The second is that his father’s punishment will be softened to a hefty fine. “If everything is over here … I’ll realize that I’ve sacrificed my life [for the] sake of Ukraine,” Mikhail Kavun wrote in a letter to his son dated April 27. Mikhail Kavun — a fan of the FX show “Sons of Anarchy” — continued his travels on his Honda Gold Wing even after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, all while publicly voicing opposition to Moscow’s move and showing support for Kremlin critics such as Alexei Navalny. He attended Moscow State University, obtained his doctorate in geological and mineralogical sciences at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and has a Russian passport. On one particularly memorable motorcycle trip, Mikhail Kavun was stopped at a Russia-Ukraine border checkpoint and asked a series of confusing questions by Russian officers, according to his son. At the very beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Putin rationalized what he called a “special military operation” as designed to bring about the “demilitarization and de-Nazification” of the country. According to Aleksei, several aspects of his father’s personal history seemingly contradict the Kremlin’s depiction of him as a nationalistic Ukrainian Nazi with a hatred for native Russian speakers. In the 11 weeks since the start of Russia’s invasion, Putin has kept up his stream of disinformation about “de-Nazification,” to the detriment of the Kremlin’s broader messaging efforts. Still, Meylakh Sheykhet, the director in Ukraine for the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, insists that Putin’s claims of a Ukrainian government infiltrated by extremist paramilitary units and neo-Nazi Jews are completely made up. The wise Jewish people said that the most ardent antisemites are usually Jews.” Those remarks elicited a swift rebuke from Israel, Ukraine and the rest of the international community, and prompted an extraordinary apology from Putin to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Video footage of the raid showed the officers violently apprehending their target — forcing him into a corner of the room, pressing his face against the wall and restraining his hands behind his back as he cried out in pain.

Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of Ukraine's military intelligence and one of President Zelensky's inner circle, suggested Wednesday that General Gerasimov ...

The military governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Kryvyi Rih accused Russia of using prohibited cluster bombs and phosphorus munitions. Ukraine has previously accused Russian forces of using such munitions in the Donbas, and Ukrainian authorities have launched investigations into their use. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that negotiations were underway to release the wounded. Kyiv, they said, had now been demilitarized which would allow them to focus all of their efforts on liberating Donbas: A region in the east that Putin has declared to be independent. The Ukrainian military said that Russian forces were 'storming' two villages near Bakhmut, but the source of the blasts wasn't immediately clear. Fighting across the east has driven thousands of residents from their homes. But any gains in the east may have come at expense of territory elsewhere. And, on Thursday, Finland's prime minister and president took the much-anticipated step of saying they are in favour of joining NATO with a formal application expected within days. 'The Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Igor Osipov, was removed from his post and arrested. first deputy commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk. Arestovych stressed that his information is 'preliminary', but it comes after Gerasimov failed to appear during Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow on Monday which he was widely expected to attend. Arestovych, speaking to dissident Russian lawyer and politician Mark Feygin on YouTube last night, said: 'According to preliminary information, Gerasimov has been de-facto suspended.

A new documentary examines an 'unhinged' meeting that took place three days before Russia sent in troops. CBC Docs · Posted: May 11, 2022 11:52 AM ET | Last ...

This really is Vladimir Putin's war," Susan Glasser, the co-author of Kremlin Rising, says in the documentary. Through journalists' reporting and expert analysis, the film investigates what may have driven this leader to the destruction of Ukraine. Sitting in a row like school children several metres away from the Russian president, members of Vladimir Putin's security council take turns standing at a podium.

As Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine, Finnish leaders express support for joining an alliance that Moscow regards as an existential threat.

The only way to do that is to become a NATO [member].” Joining NATO would make Finland “part of the enemy” and “a target — or a possible target — for a strike,” deputy Russian ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said in an interview. “The Finnish population looked at Ukraine and said, ‘Russia could do this to Finland,’” said Charly Salonius-Pasternak, a security expert at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. “At the same time, there’s the realization that Russia talks about using nuclear weapons in a way Finland cannot address. “Russia’s strategic defeat is already obvious to everyone in the world and even to those who still continue to communicate with them,” Zelensky said. Russian airstrikes continued to rain down on the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, where the city’s last defenders have been holed up for weeks. If it doesn’t respond, which I think is likely, this shows yet again the weakness of Russia and that it’s full of empty threats.” “These actions amount to war crimes.” These are their stories. “This is precisely what Russia did not want: NATO expansion.” The photos could not be independently verified. “Another expansion of NATO does not make our continent more stable and secure,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to the Interfax news agency. Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay.”

It is the kind of scenario that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to avoid. Back before he unleashed the horror of a full invasion of his most immediate ...

A NATO senior official, speaking on background, said the membership process will be expedited to a degree and that the alliance is trying to clear as many hurdles as possible out of the way. "The challenge is that if they say they're joining the alliance, there's going to be a gap," Williams told CBC News recently. There is concern in both Scandinavian nations about the possibility one or more existing NATO members would hold up approval. "The 24th of February — that was the changing moment. The country is expected to apply for membership next week, setting off a security race against time. That was the game changer.