For today, links to reports from the Associated Press and Reuters published on Dec. 1 and 7, followed by commentary from this weekend’s Berkshire Eagle related to the first two items’ subject matter, and then links to more recent reports from National Public Radio, Reuters, and Tass; 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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Ukrainian spy agency stages train explosions on a Russian railroad in Siberia, Ukrainian media say, by Hanna Arhirova | AP KYIV — Ukraine’s spy agency staged two successive explosions on a railroad line in Siberia that serves as a key conduit for trade between Russia and China, Ukrainian media reported on Dec. 1. Ukrainska Pravda and other news outlets claimed the Security Service of Ukraine . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia detains man it accuses of blowing up trains at Ukraine’s behest. From Reuters. MOSCOW— Russia’s FSB security service said on Thursday it had detained a Belarusian man who had blown up two trains in Siberia on the orders of the Ukrainian intelligence services as part of a sabotage campaign against Russia’s critical infrastructure. The two attacks in Russia’s Buryatia region, which borders Mongolia, occurred on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30. A Ukrainian . . . READ MORE . . .
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Reaching across Russia, Ukrainians blow up cargo trains, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle Ukrainian saboteurs blew up two Russian cargo trains last week in an effort to block military supplies coming from China and North Korea. In a one-two punch . . . READ MORE . . .
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NEWER Winter setting in raises questions about Ukraine’s next stage in its counteroffensive. Scott Simon of NPR talks with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, and war studies expert, Phillips O’Brien, about Ukraine. There’s a stalemate on two fronts, the battlefield and funding. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Ukrainian troops train in Poland for harsh winter warfare, by Kuba Stezycki | Reuters WEDRZYN, Poland – In a snow-covered field in western Poland, Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in trench warfare, days before being sent to the front in the war of attrition against Russia. The training is conducted by soldiers from Poland, France and Belgium, in Wedrzyn, around 40 kilometres from the German border. Such exercises have been held in 24 out of the European Union’s 27 member states. READ MORE . . .
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Russian drone strike in Kherson Oblast kills 1, injures 1. From Reuters KYIV — One civilian was killed and another wounded after Russian forces dropped an explosive from a drone on a town in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, authorities said today. Prosecutors opened a war crimes investigation into the incident, which occurred . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukrainian army loses up to 80 troops in South Donetsk area — Russian top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — The Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 80 troops killed and wounded in the South Donetsk area in the past 24 hours, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported. “Near the settlement of Novodonetskoye . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine condemns Russian plans for elections on occupied territory. From Reuters KYIV — Ukraine today strongly condemned Russian plans to hold presidential elections next spring on occupied territory, declaring them “null and void” and pledging to prosecute any observers sent to monitor them. Russia’s upper house set the country’s presidential election this week for next March, and chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko said residents in four occupied Ukrainian regions would be able . . . READ MORE . . .