First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Tass, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, via Popular Resistance, commentary comparing news reports of recent months with yesterday’s military actions by Russia. Next, from the Washington Post, commentary by Carl Bildt, prime minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and that country’s foreign affairs minister from 2006 to 2014. — MCM
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Kremlin war hawks demand more devastating strikes on Ukraine, by Dasha Litinova | AP TALLINN, Estonia — Moscow’s barrage of missile strikes on cities all across Ukraine has elicited celebratory comments from Russian officials and pro-Kremlin pundits, who in recent weeks have actively criticized the Russian military for a series of embarrassing setbacks on the battlefield. Russian nationalist commentators and state media war correspondents lauded Monday’s attack as an appropriate, and long-awaited, response to . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine leader to ask G7 for air defence weapons after Russian strikes, by Max Hunder and Jonathan Landay | Reuters * G7 leaders to discuss Ukraine later today * Expected to review Kyiv’s request for air defence systems * May also warn Belarus against closer involvement * Russia says it will respond to greater Western aid | KYIV — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will ask the leaders of the G7 group of nations to urgently supply Ukraine with air defence weapons, after Russia rained down cruise missiles in its latest escalation of its unravelling invasion. Ukrainians woke up to the wailing of new air raid sirens on Tuesday, with parts of the country left without power. Officials said 19 were killed on Monday in . . . READ MORE . . .
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NATO chief says Russia’s Ukraine strikes ‘sign of weakness.’ From AFP. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said today Russia was striking Ukraine’s infrastructure to make up for battlefield losses by its troops and vowed allies would “step up and sustain” support for Kyiv. “I think what we saw yesterday is actually a sign of weakness, because the reality is that they are not able to make progress on the battlefield. Russia is actually losing on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg told journalists.
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Russia puts Meta on its list of extremists and terrorists. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring today placed U.S. corporation Meta Platforms, Inc. (deemed extremist in Russia) on its list of extremists and terrorists. . . . In March, Moscow’s Tverskoy Court declared the social networks — Instagram and Facebook — owned by Meta, extremist and banned them across Russian territory.
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Ukraine says exhumed dozens of civilian bodies in recaptured Donetsk towns. From AFP. Ukraine said today that it had recovered the remains of dozens of civilians killed during Russia’s invasion in two towns in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine recently recaptured from Moscow’s forces. “In the liberated towns of Sviatogirsk and Lyman, law enforcement officers discovered the sites of mass burials of civilians,” the prosecutor general said in a statement, adding that 34 remains were exhumed in Sviatogirsk and another 44 in Lyman.
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Russia says it retaliated against Ukraine in response to an attack on a key bridge. Reported by Jason Beaubien and Kat Lonsdorf | NPR Russia has carried out a barrage of air-strikes across Ukraine in retaliation says Moscow for an attack on a key bridge over the weekend. Click HERE to listen and read.
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Russia’s strikes on Ukraine may also have been meant to quell doubts at home. Reported by Leila Fadel and Charles Maynes | NPR Russia carried out a barrage of airstrikes across Ukraine on Monday. But what has been the reaction in Moscow to its own military escalation? The Russian assaults were widely condemned by the West. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.
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Russia, having ‘run out of missiles,’ launches barrage on Ukraine, by Moon of Alabama | Educate! Back in March I had warned that Lies Do Not Win Wars. Here is another practical example. After allegedly having ‘run out of missiles’ and, more importantly, patience, the leadership of the Russian Federation decided to de-electrify Ukrainian cities with a ‘barrage of missile strikes’. But first came the propaganda blubber: . . . READ MORE . . .
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This is the best way to counter Putin’s nuclear threats, by Carl Bildt | The Washington Post Is Vladimir Putin really going to use nuclear weapons as part of his effort to subjugate and break up Ukraine? Some months ago, most observers dismissed this as . . . READ MORE . . .