Ukraine, 3-21-23

First, links to reports from Reuters, National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, Tass, and the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, via Popular Resistance, an investigative article from Grayzone. — MCM

   

Putin praised by China’s Xi on visit to Moscow U.S. denounces as cover for war crimes. From Reuters. * Visit follows Putin arrest warrant for war crimes * Fighting continues in east * China seeks to broker Ukraine peace, Kyiv wants Russia out * Kyiv hopes to speak to Xi * Russian fighter jets scramble over Black Sea | Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were due to hold further talks on Tuesday amid Western criticism that Xi’s visit was giving a boost to Moscow as it struggles to make ground in its year-long war on Ukraine. The two men spoke for more than four hours on Monday and . . . READ MORE . . .

   

China’s Xi Jinping flexes his diplomatic muscle with a visit to Moscow, by John Ruwitch | NPR  China’s leader Xi Jinping landed in Moscow on Monday to show support for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and probe possible steps toward peace in Ukraine. After the three-day visit to Russia, Xi is expected to have talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The conversation would be the first since the start of the war. Click HERE to read more and listen.

   

Xi says invited Putin to visit China this year: Russian news agencies. From AFP. Chinese President Xi Jinping said today that he had invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to visit China this year “at a time that is convenient for him,” according to Russian news agencies. READ MORE . . .

   

West watches Xi-Putin meetings to see what they might mean for the war in Ukraine. Reported by Leila Fadel and Charles Maynes | NPR  China’s president Xi Jinping and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin begin their second day of a state visit in Moscow. Center stage is what this may — or may not mean — for the war in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

   

EU disburses another 1.5 bln euros in assistance to Ukraine. From Tass. BRUSSELS — The European Union has disbursed another 1.5 bln euros in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today. She said the EU’s support, totaling 18 bln euros in 2023, “helps keep Ukraine running, while defending itself.” It also “puts Ukraine firmly . . . READ MORE . . .

   

At Ukraine’s front, police try to evacuate holdout families, by Elena Becatoros | AP  AVDIIVKA, Ukraine — Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, about 25,000 people lived in battered front-line town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine. Despite the shelling, about 2,000 civilians remain, police chief Roman Protsyk said. It has fallen to police to try to persuade people to leave. A special unit . . . READ MORE . . .

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‘Rigorous’ Maidan massacre exposé suppressed by top academic journal, by Kit Klarenberg | TheGrayzoneThe massacre by snipers of anti-government activists and police officers in Kiev’s Maidan Square in late February 2014 was a defining moment in the US-orchestrated overthrow of Ukraine’s elected government. The death of 70 protesters triggered an avalanche of international outrage that made President Viktor Yanukovych’s downfall a fait accompli. Yet today these killings remain unsolved. Enter Ivan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian-Canadian political scientist at the University of Ottawa. For years, he marshaled overwhelming evidence . . . READ MORE . . .