First, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, from the Berkshire Eagle, a link to an op-ed its foreign affairs columnist on Brazil’s likely position on the war and other international matters from one president to the next. Last, the most recent video commentary by a London-based podcaster whose daily analyses were recommended last week, HERE, in an article from Consortium News. — MCM
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U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show Russia it’s open to talks – Washington Post. From Reuters. WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. The paper quoted unnamed . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine’s Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam damaged in shelling – Russian media. From Reuters. Ukraine’s Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces, Russian news agencies reported today, citing emergency services. The vast dam blocks the Dnipro river upstream of Kherson where Ukrainian forces have been making advances, has taken on vital strategic . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russian soldiers enter Kherson homes, dig in for urban war, by Andrew Meldrum and Yuras Karmanau | AP KYIV — Russian soldiers are forcing Ukrainian civilians from their apartments in the occupied capital of the Kherson region and moving in themselves, a resident said Friday. His account of soldiers spreading throughout the city of Kherson suggested that Russia could be preparing for intense urban warfare in anticipation of Ukrainian advances. Russia-installed authorities . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukrainian army concentrating tanks, armored vehicles in Kherson area, says official. From Tass. KHERSON — Ukraine’s armed forces are concentrating a large number of tanks and armored motor vehicles on the approaches to the Kherson Region, deputy head of the region Kirill Stremousov sai today. “Lots of equipment units are . . . READ MORE . . .
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How Russian soldiers ran a ‘cleansing’ operation in Bucha, by Erika Kinetz, Oleksandr Stashevskyi and Vasilisa Stepanenko | AP There was a method to the violence. What happened on March 4 in Bucha was what Russian soldiers on intercepted phone conversations called “zachistka” — cleansing. The Russians hunted people on lists prepared by their intelligence services and went door to door to identify potential threats. Those who didn’t pass this filtration were tortured and executed, surveillance video, audio intercepts and interviews show. The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” . . . READ MORE . . .
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Brazil’s Lula prefers the world over Washington, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle After a razor-thin victory of less than two percentage points, Brazil’s veteran left-wing politician Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will become president on Jan. 1 of a country deeply cut by a left-right divide. One “continuismo” will be the nation’s neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war. Partly due . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine facing defeat; U.S. sends ‘military inspectors,’ by Alexander Mercouris.