For today, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, the Moscow Times, and Tass, followed by a link to commentary from Indian Punchline; other articles are accessible by clicking on their sources’ names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date, so far, is HERE.) — MCM
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Putin offers citizenship to foreigners who fight for Russia. From Reuters. President Vladimir Putin issued a decree today allowing foreign nationals who fight for Russia in Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship for themselves and their families. The order said people who have signed contracts during . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war in biggest release so far. From AP. Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities said 230 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home in the first exchange in almost five months. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 248 Russian servicemen . . . READ MORE . . .
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NEWER Ukraine says destroyed Russian warplane in Ural Mountains. From the Moscow Times. Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence said today it had destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber deep inside Russian territory. Video published on the . . . READ MORE . . .
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NEWER Ukrainian troops shell Belgorod with Olkha MLRS. From Tass. MOSCOW — Ukrainian troops have shelled the city of Belgorod using an Olkha multiple launch rocket system, damaging 20 private residences, six apartments, 12 economic infrastructure facilities and 13 vehicles, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. “Twenty private residential buildings sustained various types of damage, six apartments in apartment buildings, and 12 economic infrastructure facilities. Also . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM DEC. 29 Putin lifts the fog of war, by M.K. Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline Russia has gained the upper hand in the proxy war while the United States is struggling to recreate a new narrative. For Putin, this is a moment of triumph where he has no reason to take advantage of the fog of war in Ukraine, whereas, for President Biden, the . . . READ MORE . . .