For now, links to reports from Agence France-Presse, Reuters, the Kyiv Independent, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and the Kyiv Post; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Today’s GAZA entry is HERE.) — MCM
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NEWER Russian lawmakers back massive military spending increase. From AFP. Russian lawmakers backed a record increase in defense spending to fund Moscow’s ongoing offensive on Ukraine, in a first reading of the bill today. Parliamentarians in the State Duma voted to approve Russia’s spending plans for 2024-26, including a 68% increase in military spending next year. READ MORE . . .
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Export blockade chokes Ukraine’s once-mighty steel sector, by Max Hunder and Pavel Polityuk | Reuters ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Zaporizhstal, a Soviet-era steel plant in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, shut down temporarily last year for the first time since World War Two, and director Roman Slobodianiuk knows its future, and that of Ukraine’s once-mighty steel industry more broadly, is in doubt. READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine reveals remote-controlled, wheeled drone that can drive under Russian tanks, by Nate Ostiller and the news desk | The Kyiv Independent Ukrainian military tech developers created a new unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) with the ability to carry explosives and drive under armored vehicles, the project’s spokesperson, Viktoriia Kovalchuk, told Business Insider on Oct. 25. The UGV, named Ratel S or Honey Badger . . . READ MORE . . .
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For some Kharkiv schoolkids, class moved to safety underground in a subway station. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | NPR In Ukraine’s second-largest city, near the Russian border, grade-schoolers attend classes in a subway station that doubles as a bomb shelter. Click HERE to listen and read.
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Business owners in a Ukrainian front-line city adapt even as ‘a missile can come at any moment,’ by Hanna Arhirova | AP KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — In a city where damaged buildings are everywhere, the city council estimates there are 50 restaurants and 228 shops now open in Kramatorsk, three times the number open at the same period last year. Most are believed to be existing business that closed in the early days of the war and have reopened. READ MORE . . .
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Russia struggles for symbolic victory at Avdiivka, losses surging to record levels, by Leo Chiu and Stefan Korshak | Kyiv Post Russia is continuing its attempt to capture the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, disregarding huge losses that are approaching an all-time high, according to various sources. According to Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern forces, Russia’s losses in the last six days tallied at 2,500 dead and wounded in the area. According to. . . READ MORE . . .
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Longtime U.S. CIA officer in Middle East points to how global conflicts are linked. Reported by Erika Ryan, Patrick Jarenwattananon and Mary Louise Kelly | NPR Kelly talks with former CIA chief of station in the Middle East John Franchi about the State Department’s “Worldwide Caution” travel advisory issued to U.S. citizens. Click HERE to listen and read.
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MAY BE CONTINUED