First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. Then, a link to a Washington Post columnist seeing Russia “in slow-motion collapse, [with] too few people to protect it. Putin plays his hand boldly. But he’s holding fewer high cards than it might appear.” Next, a link to how one economist sees a potential basket of opportunities for China’s activity worldwide.— MCM
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Renewed Russian attacks strike several areas of Ukraine, by Cara Anna | The Associated Press KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Russia stepped up its onslaught against Ukraine today, with civilian casualties reported in several areas. . . . At least three civilians were killed and three more were injured in a Russian rocket strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chuhuiv in the early hours, a regional police chief said. . . . In the neighboring Sumy region . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia pounds Ukrainian cities, says it is stepping up operations, by Tom Balmforth and Max Hunder | Reuters * Southern city latest target of long-range bombardment * Around 40 killed in bombardments since Thursday, says Ukraine * Russia says it is stepping up operations to protect capture territory * Agreement close on lifting blockade on Ukrainian grain exports * War overshadows G20 meet | KYIV — Russian rockets hit a southern Ukrainian city on Saturday in the latest in a series of bombardments that Ukraine says have killed dozens of people in recent days, while the defence ministry in Moscow said its forces had been ordered to step up operations. Two people were killed in the southern city of Nikopol, on the Dnipro River, emergency services said, after . . . READ MORE . . .
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Chechen soldiers join Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Reported by Emily Feng | National Public Radio Soldiers from Chechnya, a Muslim territory, are part of the foreign fight against Russia in Ukraine. Russia brutally suppressed them in two wars, and their presence echoes old hatreds in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and read.
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Ukrainians from war-torn cities wonder if they’ll ever be able to return home. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | NPR Ukrainian officials promise to rebuild and revitalize Mariupol — which Russian forces have destroyed and now occupy. Some who fled the city doubt they will ever return. Click HERE to listen and, one day, read.
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Putin’s long game in Ukraine may not play out as he predicts, by David Ignatius | The Washington Post President Vladimir Putin is betting that a long war in Ukraine will exhaust his adversaries sooner than it does Russia. . . . The West’s trump card is its fundamental economic strength — if it can summon the will to exercise it. President Biden said on Feb. 24, the day the war began, that he would “impose severe costs on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time. … We’re going to impair their ability to compete in a high-tech 21st-century economy”. This threat of an ever-tightening squeeze on Russia’s economy . . . READ MORE . . .
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China to the rescue? By Branko Milanovic | Social Europe / IPS Journal The war between Russia and Ukraine, which has already lasted more than a hundred days with no end in sight, has been nothing short of disastrous. It has resulted in thousands (probably more than a hundred thousand) deaths and injuries, more than five million refugees, destruction of significant parts of Ukrainian territory and likely losses in gross domestic product of more than a third in Ukraine and around 10 per cent in Russia. It has exacerbated inflation in western Europe and the United States. Ideologically, it has led to a Tsarist-like revival of Russian nationalism and a return to a 1950s-style cold-war mentality in the west. And the effects keep piling . . . READ MORE . . .
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TO BE CONTINUED