To begin, reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, and National Public Radio. Then, via Global Research, Popular Resistance and the New York Times, analysis, reporting and commentary. It should be kept in mind that the Times published the article and the op-ed two or three days before U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s telephone conversation with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on May 13 (recorded in this blog the following day). — MCM
– – –
Interrogation, uncertainty for soldiers abandoning Mariupol, by Oleksandr Stashevskyi and Ciaran McQuillan | The Associated Press KYIV — Russia said today that nearly 1,000 Ukrainian troops at a giant steelworks in Mariupol have surrendered, abandoning their dogged defense of a site that became a symbol of their country’s resistance, as the battle in the strategic port city appeared all but over. Ukraine ordered the fighters to save their lives — and said their mission to tie up Russian forces is now complete — but has not called the column of soldiers walking out of the plant a surrender. The fighters face an uncertain fate, with Ukraine saying they hope for a prisoner swap but Russia vowing to try at least some of them for war crimes. READ MORE . . .
– – –
Russia uses new generation of laser weapons in Ukraine, by Guy Faulconbridge | Reuters LONDON — Russia today said it was using a new generation of powerful laser weapons in Ukraine to burn up drones, deploying some of Moscow’s secret weapons to counter a flood of Western arms supplied to its former Soviet neighbor. President Vladimir Putin . . . mentioned one called Peresvet, named after a medieval Orthodox warrior monk Alexander Peresvet who perished in mortal combat. Yury Borisov, the deputy prime minister in charge of military development, told a conference in Moscow that Peresvet was already being widely deployed and it could blind satellites up to 1,500 km above Earth. He said, though, that . . . READ MORE . . .
– – –
A lawmaker returned home to Ukraine’s south and formed his own reconnaissance team. Reported by Frank Langfitt | National Public Radio Col. Roman Kostenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, has built a reconnaissance and sabotage team to target Russian forces. His ultimate goal: free his family village from Russian control. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.
– – –
A Ukrainian refugee is still teaching her students, who are spread around the world. NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with Ukrainian refugee Daria Bietschasna about what life is like some two months after she fled Ukraine. “All what we get from life is opportunities,” she said, among other things. Listen HERE.
– – –
The significance of McDonald’s golden arches in Russia. NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Kristy Ironside, a Russia historian at McGill University, about the significance of McDonald’s leaving Russia. Listen HERE.
– – –
Are the U.S. and Ukraine Winning? By Julian Macfarlane | Global Research As you may know, some organizations, including SouthFront are talking about UAF “successes” in the Karkhov region as the RF pulls back and re-positions to strengthen itself in the Izyum area. SouthFront has generally taken the position that the Russians are fighting with one hand tied behind their collective back, and need to devote more resources to the Ukraine — and just get it over with. Theirs is a more conventional military view than mine, although . . . READ MORE . . .
– – –
N.Y. Times Shifts Pro-war Narrative, Documents Failure of U.S. in Ukraine, by John V. Walsh | Popular Resistance The New York Times has a job to do — and it has done that job spectacularly well over the past few months. The Times is a leader, in the opinion of this writer, THE leader in spelling out the U.S. narrative on the war in Ukraine, a tale designed to keep up morale, give the war a high moral purpose and justify the untold billions pouring from the taxpayers’ pockets into Joe Biden’s proxy war on Russia. Day in and day out in page after page of word and picture it has been instructing one and all, including politicians and lower level opinion shapers, exactly what to think about the war . . . . So, when the Times says that things are not going well for the U.S. and its man in Kiev, Volodymyr Zelensky, it . . . tells . . . READ MORE . . .
– – –
Russians Hold Much of the East, Setbacks Aside, by Michael Schwirtz, Marc Santora and Michael Levenson | The New York Times Russia’s . . . invasion of neighboring Ukraine has been punctuated by flawed planning, poor intelligence, barbarity and wanton destruction. But obscured in the daily fighting is the geographic reality that Russia has made gains on the ground. The Russian Defense Ministry said [early last week] that its forces in eastern Ukraine had advanced to the border between Donetsk and Luhansk, the two Russian-speaking provinces where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukraine’s army for eight years. The ministry’s assertion, if confirmed, strengthens the prospect . . . READ MORE . . .
– – –
America and Its Allies Want to Bleed Russia. They Really Shouldn’t. By Tom Stevenson | The New York Times The war in Ukraine has entered a new phase. . . . At first, the Western support for Ukraine was mainly designed to defend against the invasion. It is now set on a far grander ambition: to weaken Russia itself. Presented as a common-sense response to Russian aggression, the shift, in fact, amounts to a significant escalation. By expanding support to Ukraine across the board and shelving any diplomatic effort to stop the fighting, the United States and its allies have greatly increased the danger of an even larger conflict. They are taking a risk far out of step with any realistic strategic gain. READ MORE . . .