For today, links to reports from Agence France-Presse and the Kyiv Post, commentary from Responsible Statecraft and the Berkshire Eagle, and an interview from National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Wave of drones target Russia on final day of voting. From AFP. Russia said it was targeted by a wave of Ukrainian drones today, as thousands headed to the polls for a final day of elections set to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule. Queues of people were seen forming outside polling stations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg at noon, when . . . READ MORE . . .
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Drone swarm attacks another Russian oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban. From Kyiv Post. Explosions hit another oil refinery in southern Russia at around 3 a.m. local time today. The Nefte Peregonnyy Zavod in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, in the Krasnodar region was attacked by at least seven . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 15 Does Putin want to end the war? We should test him, by Branko Marcetic | Responsible Statecraft “It would be ridiculous for us to start negotiating with Ukraine just because it’s running out of ammunition,” Putin told interviewer Dmitry Kiselyov, on Wednesday, according to one particularly viral and widely cited tweet by Wall Street Journal chief foreign affairs correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov. . . . Except that’s not what Putin said. In fact, by reading the full text and . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 16 Russia faces tense first presidential election since Ukraine invasion, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle Some people are spoiling Vladimir Putin’s carefully choreographed presidential election party. On Tuesday, Ukraine launched three days of drone attacks deep into Russia. In the largest air attack on Russia since World War II, three . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 16 How the war in Ukraine has reshaped NATO. Scott Detrow of NPR talks with Jack Detsch, a national security correspondent for Foreign Policy, more than two years into Russia’s war on Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.