To start, links to reports by the Associated Press, Reuters, and National Public Radio; others are accessible with a click on the organizations’ names below. Then, links to two articles in Compact Magazine, by a U.S. senator and a journalist. — MCM

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UK boosts Ukraine support with high-tech missile system, by John Leicester | The Associated Press KYIV — The British government said today that the multiple-launch rocket systems it is offering to Ukraine will bring “a significant boost in capability” for the country’s efforts to resist Russia’s invasion. [Defense Secretary Ben Wallace’s] statement came after comments Sunday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned the West against sending longer-range rocket systems to Ukraine. The British government described the M270 weapon system as a “cutting edge” military asset which can strike targets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away “with pinpoint accuracy.” . . . The U.S. last week announced plans to deliver $700 million of security assistancefor Ukraine, including . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s Lavrov calls decision to block plane ‘unprecedented.’ From Reuters. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today described as “unprecedented” a move by three eastern European countries to block his plane from traveling to Serbia, adding that he had yet to receive an explanation for their decision. He said that he would instead invite his Serbian counterpart to visit him in Moscow, adding: “The main thing is no one will be able to destroy our relations with Serbia.” Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro – closed their airspace to an official plane that would have carried Moscow’s top diplomat to Belgrade on Monday. The Kremlin described . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kyiv hit by Russian airstrikes as information from Mariupol is throttled. Reported by Greg Myre | National Public Radio Russian missiles struck Kyiv over the weekend. The Kremlin is also tightening its grip on Ukrainian cities under Russian occupation, meaning relatively little information is getting out. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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No to Neoconservatism, by Josh Hawley | Compact Magazine Not so long ago, Republicans said they had sworn off nation-building. Following the failure of the neoconservative project in Iraq and Afghanistan, GOP leaders seemed . . . READ MORE . . .

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After the Clash of Civilizations, by Christopher Caldwell | Compact Magazine In late March, Volodymyr Omelyan, the former Ukrainian minister of infrastructure, went on NPR to denounce a “clash of civilizations” now underway. On one side, as Omelyan saw it, was Ukraine, which only wants “democracy,” “progress” and “development.” On the other was Russia, which wants. . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from Associated Press and Reuters; click on their names below for others. Then, via Popular Resistance, links to an essay about war crimes and another on casualty numbers and the Territorial Defense Forces in Ukraine. — MCM

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Russia hits Kyiv with missiles; Putin warns West on supplies, by John Leicester | The Associated Press KYIV — Russia took aim at Western military supplies for Ukraine with airstrikes in Kyiv today that it said destroyed tanks donated from abroad, as President Vladimir Putin warned that any Western deliveries of long-range rocket systems to Ukraine would prompt Moscow to hit “objects that we haven’t yet struck.” The cryptic threat of a military escalation from the Russian leader didn’t specify . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia puts more strength behind ‘creeping’ Ukraine advance, by John Leicester, Inna Varenytsia and AndreaRosa | AP  KYIV — Reinforced Russian troops backed by airstrikes pummeled a portion of eastern Ukraine on Saturday, blowing up bridges and shelling apartment buildings as they fought to capture two cities that would put a contested province under Moscow’s control, Ukrainian officials said. Russian and Ukrainian forces battled street-by-street in Sievierodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said. Russian strikes killed four people, including a mother and child, in the nearby village of Hirske, Haidai said. The cities are the last major . . . READ MORE . . .

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Putin warns United States against supplying Ukraine longer range missiles, by Guy Faulconbridge | Reuters * Putin warns United States over missile supplies * Russia will strike if longer range missiles supplied * Russia cracking West’s drones ‘like nuts’ – Putin | LONDON — President Vladimir Putin warned the United States in an interview broadcast today that Russia would strike new targets if the West supplied longer-range missiles to Ukraine for use in high-precision mobile rocket systems. The United States has ruled out sending its own or NATO forces to Ukraine but Washington and its European allies have supplied weapons to Kyiv such as drones, Howitzer heavy artillery, anti-aircraft Stinger and anti-tank Javelin . . . READ MORE . . .

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Exclusive: U.S. will allow two companies to ship Venezuelan oil to Europe, by Marianna Parraga and Matt Spetalnick | Reuters HOUSTON/WASHINGTON — Italian oil company Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol SA could begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to make up for Russian crude, five people familiar with the matter said, resuming oil-for-debt swaps halted two years ago when Washington stepped up sanctions on Venezuela. The volume of oil Eni and Repsol are expected to receive is not large, one of the people said, and any impact on global oil prices will be modest. But Washington’s greenlight . . . READ MORE . . .

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War Crimes, from Nuremberg to Ukraine, by Ellen Taylor | Counter Punch / Popular Resistance / Educate! I was in Nuremberg during the war crimes trials which followed WWII. My father, Brig. Gen. Telford Taylor, was Chief Prosecutor during the second, American phase. The French, Russian and British staffs had gone home to continue trials at home, but the US stayed longer, and scheduled about 400 additional defendants. They were divided into twelve categories: judges, doctors, industrialists, etc. There were 142 convictions and ten death sentences. I remember . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine: Casualty Numbers, Territorial Defense Forces, by Moon of Alabama | Educate! / Popular Resistance Over the last month I had come to the conclusion that the Ukraine is losing about 500 men per day due to intense Russian artillery fire. That number may have been too low. I had mentioned high . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, and National Public Radio; click on their names below for links to additional stories. Then, a link to James Brooke’s column in today’s Berkshire Eagle, accessible to subscribers. — MCM

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As Ukraine loses troops, how long can it keep up the fight? by John Leicester and Hanna Arhirova | The Associated Press ZHYTOMYR, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that Ukraine is now losing 60 to 100 soldiers each day in combat. By way of comparison, just short of 50 American soldiers died per day on average in 1968 during the Vietnam War’s deadliest year for U.S. forces. . . .  Gen. Viktor Muzhenko, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ chief of general staff until 2019. He warned that losses could worsen. “This is one of the critical moments in the war, but it is not the peak,” Muzhenko told The Associated Press. . . . In order to reduce losses, Ukraine now needs powerful weapons that match or even surpass Russian weaponry. This would enable . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says Russian troops are pushed back in key eastern city, by Max Hunder | Reuters * Ukraine says Russian troops being pushed back in Sievierodonetsk * UK says Russian air activity high over Donbas region * Macron says important not to humiliate Russia | KYIV — Kyiv said today it was pushing back Russian troops in Sievierodonetsk as intense fighting raged around the industrial city, the focus of a Russian offensive to take the eastern Donbas region. Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk province, said Russian forces had suffered severe defeats and were blowing up bridges across the Siverskyi Donets river to prevent . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia closes in on a city in eastern Ukraine after 100 days of war. Reported by Peter Granitz | National Public Radio Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has intensified around Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. A victory there would be a major accomplishment for President Vladimir Putin. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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Russia’s big red machine misfires, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle One of the most significant lessons is Russia’s much feared “modernized” army, the largest in Europe, is, well, not so impressive. . . . On Feb. 24, many Western pundits predicted that the Russian Army, the successor to the Soviet Union’s “big red machine,” would roll into Kyiv in days. Putin thought the same. . . . Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden sketched out where the military portion of $54 billion in aid to Ukraine will go this summer. . . .  Washington’s goal seems to be to cut the Russian Army down to size. Berkshire Eagle subscribers can read the whole column HERE. President Biden’s op-ed column in the New York Times published at the end of May is HERE.

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TO BE CONTINUED

For once I come across an essay by the ever-erudite Edward Curtin before a week or so has gone by since its posting. This one is worth a reading or two — soon. It will be picked up by the usual blogs and then some. As is often the case with his efforts, “Why Is Everything Broken?” is a syllabus for a course its readers won’t begin to have the time to take (besides, it doesn’t exist), but they may track down one or two of the works he mentions. Occasionally it pays to get sick. — MCM

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Why Is Everything Broken?

By Edward Curtin

Begin then with a fracture, a cesura, a rent; opening a crack in this fallen world, a shaft of light. — Norman O. Brown, Love’s Body

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Being sick for the past few weeks has had its advantages.  It has forced me to take a break from writing since I could not concentrate enough to do so.  It has gifted me with a deeper sympathy for the vast numbers of the seriously ill around the world, those suffering souls without succor except for desperate prayers for relief.  And it has allowed thoughts to think me as I relinquished all efforts at control for a few miserable weeks of “doing nothing” except napping, reading short paragraphs in books, watching some sports and a documentary, and being receptive to the light coming through the cracks in my consciousness.

I suppose you could say that my temporary illness forced me, as José Ortega Y Gasset described it, virtually and provisionally to withdraw myself from the world and take a stand inside myself – “or, to use a magnificent word which exists only in Spanish, that man can ensimismarse (‘be inside himself’).”

But as I learned, being “inside myself” doesn’t mean the outside world doesn’t come visiting, both in its present and past manifestations.  When you are sick, you feel most vulnerable; this sense of frailty breaks you open to strange and familiar thoughts, feelings, dreams and memories that you must catch on the fly, pin with words if you are quick enough.  I’ve pinned some over these weeks as they came to me through the cracks.

“Broken flesh, broken mind, broken speech,” wrote Norman Brown when he argued for aphoristic truth as opposed to methods or systematic form.  These days the feeling that everything is broken is the norm, that madness reigns, that truth is being strangled and all we have are lies and more lies. Carefully constructed arguments fall on deaf ears as dissociation of the personality, post-modern attention-disorder, gender confusion, and corporate/intelligence mass media propaganda techniques are used daily to sow confusion.  In simple colloquial language, people are badly fucked up.

Much of the world is suffering from megrims.  Bob Dylan puts it simply:

Broken lines, broken strings / Broken threads, broken springs / Broken idols, broken heads / People sleeping in broken beds / Ain’t no use jiving / Ain’t no use joking / Everything is broken.

Who can disagree?  Everyone’s mind seems to be at the end of its tether.

Why?  There are obvious answers, and while so many are true, they are insufficient, for they usually scratch the surface of a worldwide crisis that has been developing for at least a century and a half.  That crisis is spiritual.  Many can feel it rumbling beneath the surface of world events. It’s a rumbling in the bowels. It’s unspoken. It’s something very dark, sinister, and satanic. It seems to be a form of systemic evil almost with a will of its own that is sweeping the world.

For many decades I have studied, written, and taught in an effort to grasp the essence of what has been happening in our world.  My tools . . . READ MORE . . . in a more legible format

To begin, on day 100 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, links to stories from the Associated Press, Reuters and National Public Radio; links to their other stories are found by clicking on their names below. Then, a link to a report by Consortium News’s editor that Newsguard has accused CN of publishing false information. Linked next, also via Consortium News, Caitlin Johnstone’s take on an establishment view of a cosmetic change in Ukraine (with helpful links). — MCM

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Russia may be in Ukraine to stay after 100 days of war. By The Associated Press. When Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in late February, the Russian president vowed his forces would not occupy the neighboring country. But as the invasion reached its 100th day today, Russia seemed increasingly unlikely to relinquish the territory it has taken in the war. The ruble is now an official currency in the southern Kherson region, alongside the Ukrainian hryvnia. Residents there and in Russia-controlled parts of the Zaporizhzhia region are getting offered Russian passports. READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainians hold out as Russia storms eastern city on war’s 100th day, by Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk | Reuters * Too early to write off Sievierodonetsk, governor says * Russia warns U.S. on arming Ukraine * U.N. aid chief is in Moscow for grain talks | KYIV — Russian forces advanced deep into the ruined eastern factory city of Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian troops were still holding out on Friday as Russia’s assault on its neighbour entered its 100th day. A war that Western countries believe Russia planned to win within hours has ground on for more than three months, with Moscow having been driven back from the capital Kyiv but launching a huge new assault in the east. The past weeks have seen . . . READ MORE . . .

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Has military support for Ukraine from the U.S. and NATO peaked? Rachel Martin of National Public Radio speaks with defense policy expert Andrew Exum about whether the U.S. and its allies will continue to endure the economic cost of supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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U.S. Government-Affiliated NewsGuard Targets Consortium News, by Joe Lauria | Consortium News Consortium News is being “reviewed” by NewsGuard, a U.S. government-linked organization that is trying to enforce a narrative on Ukraine while seeking to discredit dissenting views. The organization has accused Consortium News . . . of publishing “false content” on Ukraine. It calls “false” essential facts about Ukraine that have been suppressed in mainstream media: 1) that there was a U.S.-backed coup in 2014 and 2) that neo-Nazism is a significant force in Ukraine. Reporting crucial information left out of corporate media is Consortium News‘ essential mission. But NewsGuard considers these facts to be “myths” and is . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine ‘Solves’ Nazi Problem With New Logo, by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com / Consortium News Problem solved. British empire rag The Times has an article out titled “Azov Battalion drops neo-Nazi symbol exploited by Russian propagandists,” which has got to be the most hilarious headline of 2022 so far (and I’m including The Onion and other intentionally funny headlines in the running). “The Azov Battalion has removed a neo-Nazi symbol from its insignia that has helped perpetuate . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and Reuters; click on their names below for more of their stories. Then, via both Consortium News and Popular Resistance, a link to commentary on contrasting views of the global food insecurity worsened by the war in Ukraine. Next, via Global Research, a second account of the firing of a Ukrainian official for her influential but dubious reports of Russian troops’ human rights violations. — MCM

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Volodymyr vs. Vladimir: How rival statues explain the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Reported by Greg Myre and Charles Maynes | National Public Radio. One of Ukraine’s most legendary figures is Volodymyr the Great. He ruled Kyiv from the year 980 to 1015, launching major building projects, pulling together divided tribes and introducing Christianity. Today, he’s honored with a soaring statue in Kyiv overlooking the Dnipro River that bisects the city. Yet Russia also claims him as central to its political and religious history. They know him by the Russian version of his name — Vladimir the Great. Six years ago . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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Soaring energy prices multiply the challenges for Ukraine’s allies in Europe. NPR’s Rachel Martin talks to Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about Europe’s push to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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UK pledges missiles to Ukraine; new U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, by John Leicester and Elena Becatoros | The Associated Press KYIV — Britain pledged today to send sophisticated medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine, joining the United States and Germany in equipping the embattled nation with advanced weapons for shooting down aircraft and knocking out artillery. . . . Kyiv also is set to get a diplomatic boost with the formal installation of a new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink was set to hand her credentials to Zelenskyy today. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine seeks UN-backed mission to export grain shipments through Black Sea. From Reuters. KYIV — Ukraine is working with international partners to create a United Nations-backed mission to restore Black Sea shipping routes and export Ukrainian farm produce, foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said today. Russia has captured some of Ukraine’s biggest seaports and its navy . . . READ MORE . . .

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G7 downplays U.S. sanctions’ role in food shortage, by John Ross | Consortium News / Educate! “There is really no true solution to the problem of global food security without bringing back the agriculture production of Ukraine and the food and fertilizer production of Russia and Belarus into world markets despite the war.” These blunt words by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres accurately describe the present global food crisis. As the U.S. and the G7 (comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) insist that cutting off food exports from Ukraine poses the biggest threat to world food security, rather than admitting the far more powerful negative effect of Western sanctions against Russia, their propaganda does immense damage to the world’s understanding and capability of avoiding a looming . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine Fires Own Human Rights Chief for Perpetuating Russian Troop ‘Systematic Rape’ Stories, by Zero Hedge | Global Research For over the past two months, an avalanche of stories have hit Western mainstream press which purported to document instances of mass rape carried out by Russian troops against Ukrainian civilians. One particular story in Time took off, driving outrage and condemnation by Western officials and receiving repeat coverage on CNN and other major US networks. It alleged “a systemic, coordinated campaign of sexual violence” — relying chiefly . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

The article linked below may contain nothing that is not in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s comprehensive 2021 book The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, but among its virtues is that it is brief. — MCM

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Sen. Roger Marshall: COVID Lab Theory Suppression Revealed by Fauci Emails, by Peter Malbin | Newsmax Emails between Dr. Anthony Fauci and other scientists reveal that there was an effort to suppress the theory that the coronavirus was leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, said Sen. Roger Marshall. Scientists sent emails at the beginning of the pandemic to Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. These . . . READ MORE . . .

FIrst, links to articles from the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, and the New York Post; click on organizations’ names below for more of their stories. Then, a link to Lionel thinking out loud again and promoting his next appearance; he begins with a long quote on propaganda by Edward Bernays. Next, a link to text and video of George Soros address at the World Economic Forum. Finally, via Consortium News, a link to a possible change in how Ukraine’s government feeds the news media. — MCM

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Biden says U.S. sending medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine, by Lolita C. Baldor | The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it will send Ukraine a small number of high-tech, medium-range rocket systems, a critical weapon that Ukrainian leaders have been begging for as they struggle to stall Russian progress in the Donbas region. The rocket systems are part of a new $700 million tranche of security assistance for Ukraine from the U.S. that will include helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapon systems, tactical vehicles, spare parts and more, two senior administration officials said Tuesday. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the weapons package that will be formally unveiled today. The U.S. decision to . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian forces advance in factory city, U.S. to send precision rockets to Ukraine, by Pavel Polityuk and Max Hunder | Reuters * Advanced U.S. rockets will not be fired into Russia – official * Russia conducts nuclear drills * Russian forces tighten grip on city of Sievierodonetsk * Russia cuts more gas to Europe after EU agrees oil ban | KYIV — Russian troops today pressed their assault on a factory city targeted in their push to grab a swathe of eastern Ukraine, while the United States said it would supply advanced rockets to Kyiv to help it force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces, now 98 days into their invasion, were pounding infrastructure in eastern and southern regions including the symbolically important industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, the main focus of Moscow’s offensive in recent days . . . READ MORE . . .

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The U.S. is sending long-range rockets to Ukraine. Reported by A Martínez and Tom Bowman | National Public Radio President Biden said in a guest essay in The New York Times that he’s decided to provide Ukraine with more advanced rockets that will enable it to more precisely strike targets on the battlefield. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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Biden reverses course, says US will send rockets to Ukraine, by Allie Griffin | New York Post President Biden announced in an op-ed today that his administration will send advanced missile systems to Ukraine — reversing course from a day earlier when he said the US would not deliver the rockets to the war-torn country.“We have moved quickly to send Ukraine a significant . . . READ MORE . . .

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Chaos Guns War Death Confusion in Synchrony, by Lionel. Here’s a statistic. How much did the Russians and Soviets suffer during World War II? 27M Soviets lost their lives, with as many as 11.4M military deaths joined by up to 10M civilian deaths due to military activity and an additional 8-9M deaths due to famine and disease. . . . Which of your children would you sacrifice for NATO expansion? . . . Would you advise any young person today to volunteer for the United States military in any capacity that could result in combat or war? READ MORE . . .

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Soros ‘on Russia, China, and the Fight for Our Lives.’ Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, George Soros discussed a wide range of topics, including why he believes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “. . . may have been the beginning of the Third World War and our civilization may not survive it.” Click HERE for the transcript and a video of the speech.

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Official Behind Media Reports of Russian Atrocities Fired by Ukrainian Parliament, by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com / Consortium News A Ukrainian government official frequently cited as a source by western news media for her allegations of atrocities committed by Russian troops has been fired by the Ukrainian parliament, in part because of the unevidenced nature of . . . READ MORE . . .

TO BE CONTINUED

To begin, via The Greanville Post, links to three commentaries from the other day. NOTE: an essay by Edward Curtin seen HERE in this blog eight days ago, was picked up by that blog; it can be found at the TGP website by scrolling down at the right hand side of the screen. ALSO, a late posting at this website yesterday, HERE, a link to Scott Ritter’s latest essay on the war. Then, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio and  the Daily Mail, a UK newspaper; click on these organizations’ names below for some of their other offerings. — MCM

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Will NATO Aggression Force Russia to Extend the Special Operation Beyond the Ukraine? by Batiushka for the Saker Blog | The Greanville Post The three aims of the Russian Federation’s Special Military Operation in the Ukraine were clearly announced by President Putin at the outset on 24 February. They were very specific, very limited and deliberately excluded the occupation of the whole of the Ukraine, let alone attacks on any territories outside it. Moreover, any suggestion of the use of nuclear weapons was quite absent – that was only ever raised by the hysterical irresponsibility and propaganda of Western politicians and journalists. Let us recall that the three aims were, firstly, the liberation of the Russian Donbass from the Nazis, and, secondly and thirdly, . . . READ MORE . . .

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As Things Continue to Deteriorate in Ukraine, Everyone Is Positioning Themselves For the Incoming Ukrainian Disintegration, spoken by Gonzolo Lira, with anonymous commentary | TGP So, everyone is realizing that the war is lost. That the Russians are going to win. And that it’s an inevitability at this point. . . . We see it from different perspectives — it’s really interesting. At Davis, for instance, Henry Kissinger, who . . . .  Click HERE for the video; a transcript is not provided.

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Grains of deceit (updated with visual of maritime corridor set up by the Russian Navy), by Nat South | TGP There are several evolving issues that are being watched regarding plans and developments made by the West to open Ukrainian Black Sea commercial ports. A medley of articles has recently popped up on grain shipments from Russia and the grain shortage caused by the conflict. As always, these articles from the corporate Western MSM are part of a propaganda effort to portray Russia in the worst light possible, articles with little or no evidence, just allegations, skewed data or blatantly omitting . . . READ MORE . . .

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In big bid to punish Moscow, EU bans most Russia oil imports, by Lorne Cook and Samuel Petrequin | The Associated Press BRUSSELS — In the most significant effort yet to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine, the European Union agreed to ban the overwhelming majority of Russian oil imports after tense negotiations that tested how far the bloc is willing to go to ostracize Moscow. From the moment Russia invaded on Feb. 24, the West has sought to make Moscow pay economically for its war. But targeting the lucrative energy sector was . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia widens Europe gas cuts as Gazprom halts Dutch trader’s supply, by Toby Sterling, Anthony Deutsch and Philip Blenkinsop | Reuters * Gazprom says it cuts off supply to GasTerra * Russians cite refusal to pay in roubles * Danish also on watch for possible cut * Move a day after EU agrees to slash Russian oil imports * European gas prices rise 5% | — Russia widened its gas cuts to Europe today with Gazprom (GAZP.MM) turning off supply to top Dutch trader GasTerra escalating the economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and pushing up European gas prices. The move comes a day after Denmark flagged a potential end to its Russian gas supply and the European Union’s toughest measure yet against Russia for its invasion . . . READ MORE . . .

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European Union leaders agree to ban 90% of Russian oil by the end of 2022. Reported by Leila Fadel and Rob Schmitz | National Public Radio The European Union embargo covers only Russian oil brought in by sea — allowing a temporary exemption for imports delivered by pipeline. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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Boris Yeltsin’s son-in-law QUITS as advisor to Putin amid growing speculation the Russian President is losing his grip on power with army ‘on verge of collapse’ after Ukraine disaster, by Jack Newman | The Daily Mail  * Valentin Yumashev has served as an aide since the presidency of Boris Yeltsin * He ran the presidential administration in 1997 when Putin was promoted * He has now departed, months after his daughter protested the Ukraine invasion | Boris Yeltsin’s son-in-law has quit his role as a Kremlin adviser amid speculation [President] Vladimir Putin is losing his grip on power due to his health. Valentin Yumashev, who is married to the former president’s daughter Tatyana, has served as an unpaid aide who was one of the last links inside the administration to Yeltsin’s rule. Under Yeltsin, who was Russian president from 1991 to 1999, Yumashev served as a Kremlin adviser and later as Kremlin chief of staff. READ MORE . . .

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To BE CONTINUED