For today, links to reports from Tass, the Moscow Times, the Kyiv Post, and the New York Times, and to two pieces of commentary about the NYT report from ScheerPost and other commentary from the Berkshire Eagle and the Kyiv Independent; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names below. (GAZA entry for this date and a MEDIA entry are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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If Austin talks about risk of NATO-Russia conflict, it means U.S. has a plan for it — Lavrov. From Tass. ANTALYA, Turkey — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, by saying that NATO and Russia could end up fighting each other if Ukraine is defeated, proved that the U.S. has a plan for it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a diplomatic conference in Antalya. “The meaning of this statement . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russian drone attacks kill two in Kharkiv, Odesa. From the Moscow Times. Overnight Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Odesa regions killed at least two people, authorities said early today. Odesa officials said a Russian drone attack damaged multiple high-rise apartment buildings in the port city, killing a young man and injuring . . . READ MORE . . .
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NEWER Number of dead from Russian drone strike rises to 5, including one child. From Kyiv Post. An overnight Russian drone attack in Odesa destroyed 18 apartments in a high-rise building, killing five people, including one two-year-old, and at least eight more were injured. Emergency services said . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 25 Ukraine’s CIA deepened over a decade: Kiev officials courted agency, becoming vital to U.S. efforts against Russia, by Adam Entous and Michael Schwirtz | The New York Times Nestled in.a dense forest, the Ukrainian military base appears abandoned and destroyed, the command center a burned-out . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 29 The CIA in Ukraine — an ex-CIA agent’s view, by John Kiriakou | Original to ScheerPost The New York Times on Feb. 25 published an explosive story of what purports to be the history of the CIA in Ukraine from the Maidan coup of 2014 to the present. The story is one of initial bilateral distrust, but a mutual fear and hatred of Russia, that progresses to a relationship so intimate . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 29 The CIA in Ukraine — the NYT gets a guided tour, by Patrick Lawrence | Original to ScheerPost If you have paid attention to what various polls and officials in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West have been doing and saying about Ukraine lately, you know the look and sound of desperation. You would be desperate, too, if . . . READ MORE . . .
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The economic toll of 10 years of Russia’s war against Ukraine in charts, by Dominic Culverwell | The Kyiv Independent Russia’s 10-year aggression against Ukraine has caused widespread and sure to be long-lasting damage to the country’s economy and demographics. Positive growth predictions were squashed in 2014 and 2022. Nevertheless, Ukraine’s country’s financial sector and economy . . . READ MORE . . .
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As Ukraine loses ground, it gains some victories in the sky, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle On the ground, Ukrainian soldiers are on the defensive, outgunned and outmanned by Russia. In the air, it’s a different story. Over 13 days through Thursday . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine destroyed 13 Russian military aircraft in 2 weeks. How? by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent Ukraine reported the downing of 13 Russian warplanes within the last two weeks, among the highest Russian Air Force losses since the early days of the full-scale invasion. This list includes . . . READ MORE . . .