First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, teleSUR. and the Washington Post; click on news organizations’ names below to see other stories. Then, from Consortium News, a link to commentary by a blogger calling attention to the Washington Post report showing challenges for some soldiers on the Ukrainian government’s side of the war. Finally, a link to commentary for today from the Center for Action and Contemplation by a CAC cofounder who was last heard from in this blog HERE. — MCM
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Russia takes small cities, aims to widen east Ukraine battle, by Yuras Karmanau and Elena Becatoros | The Associated Press KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Russia asserted today that its troops and separatist fighters had captured a key railway junction in eastern Ukraine, the second small city to fall to Moscow’s forces this week as they fought to seize all of the country’s contested Donbas region. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the city of Lyman had been “completely liberated” by a joint force of Russian soldiers and the Kremlin-backed separatists. . . . Lyman . . . serves as a regional railway hub. Ukraine’s train system . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine’s former President blocked from leaving the country. From Reuters. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was prevented from leaving Ukraine to take part in a meeting of a NATO body in Lithuania, his party’s parliamentary faction said today. Poroshenko was stopped twice at a border crossing with Poland while he was on his way to the meeting of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly, a consultative interparliamentary organization, the statement said. Ukrainian media reported . . . READ MORE . . .
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Orthodox Church in Ukraine has decided to cut ties with Russia, by Julian Hayda | National Public Radio Followers of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine broke with its Moscow leadership. The Russian patriarch has supported the war and called opponents “forces of evil.” Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow or Monday, read.
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Putin Says Ukraine Should Open Its Ports ASAP. From teleSUR. During a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the Russian leader said that Ukrainian forces should clear the mined area near its ports as soon as possible. According to the Kremlin press service, “at the request of the Austrian chancellor, the Russian president assessed the situation in the context of the ongoing special military operation to defend Donbass and informed him about the efforts to ensure safe navigation in the Black and Azov Seas. . . . In this context, it was stressed that the Ukrainian side should demine its ports as soon as possible to ensure free passage of the blocked ships.” READ MORE . . .
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Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the east feel abandoned, by Sudarsan Raghavan | The Washington Post DRUZHKIVKA, Ukraine Stuck in their trenches, the Ukrainian volunteers lived off a potato per day as Russian forces pounded them with artillery and Grad rockets on a key eastern front line. Outnumbered, untrained and clutching only light weapons, the men prayed for the barrage to end — and for their own tanks to stop targeting the Russians.“[The Russians] already know where we are, and when the Ukrainian tank shoots from our side . . . READ MORE . . .
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WaPo’s Glimpse of the Battlefield, by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com The Washington Post has published [linked just above] an acknowledgement that Ukraine’s war against Russia has not been nearly the cakewalk that much of the public has been led to believe. . . . WaPo reports that contrary to the triumphant narratives the Western world is being spoon fed . . . READ MORE . . .
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The Shining Word ‘And.’ Richard Rohr of CAC offers a contemplative practice of embracing “and.” We encourage you to read these words slowly, allowing for a “both-and” space to emerge within: “And” teaches us to say yes. “And” allows us to be both-and. “And” keeps us from either-or. “And” teaches . . . Click HERE and scroll down to Saturday to read the rest.
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TO BE CONTINUED