First, links to an analysis from the Associated Press, a Reuters news story, and three National Public Radio segments; more are accessible by clicking on the organizations’ names below. Then, links to two opinion pieces by Paul Craig Roberts, one of them via Global Research, and the other by Jeffrey D. Sachs, via Consortium News. — MCM
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Russia’s messages with missiles tell West to back off, by Tamer Fakahany and Cara Anna | The Associated Press KYIV — The latest in a litany of horrors in Ukraine came this week as Russian firepower rained down on civilians in a busy shopping mall far from the front lines of a war in its fifth month. The timing was not likely a coincidence. . . . Were the attacks a message . . . ? READ MORE . . .
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Blasts rock Ukraine southern city as Russia grinds out gains in the east, by Pavel Polityuk and Simon Lewis | Reuters * ‘Stay in shelters!’ Mykolaiv mayor tells residents * Ukrainian troops say Russian artillery flattens buildings * Zelenskiy denounces ‘deliberately targeted Russian terror’ * Moscow says its forces ‘do not work with civilian targets’ | KYIV/KONSTYANTYNIVKA, Ukraine — Blasts shook Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv today as Russia’s artillery helped grind out gains in the east, after a week when the civilian death toll from Russian missile strikes climbed in urban centres well behind the frontline. “There are powerful explosions in the city! Stay in shelters!” Oleksandr Senkevych, mayor of the Mykolaiv region which borders the vital Black Sea port of Odesa, wrote . . . READ MORE . . .
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Odesa maintains some normalcy despite Russian aerial assault on southern Ukraine. Reported by Peter Granitz | NPR Russia has increased its aerial assault on southern Ukraine, firing missiles at areas outside of the Donbas. But despite the threat, it’s almost as if the war hasn’t touched the port city Odesa. Click HERE to listen and read.
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NATO commits to focusing on Russia and China. Reported by Frank Langfitt | NPR NATO wrapped up its summit in Madrid with a clear, unified message, but there were unsettling reminders of the brutal road ahead in Ukraine and political turmoil back in the U.S. Click HERE to listen and, one day, read.
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Two Ukrainian fighters describe the current state of the frontlines against Russia. Reported by Frank Langfitt | NPR Two Ukrainian fighters — one a volunteer solider, the other, a commander — describe what they’re seeing on the frontlines of the war against Russia. Click HERE to listen and, one day, read.
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Russia’s Ukraine Miscalculation, by Paul Craig Roberts | IPE / Global Research Russia’s Ukraine miscalculation dates to 2014 when the Kremlin refused the request of the Donbass Russians in Eastern Ukraine to be reunited with Russia. Historically part of Russia, the Donbass region was attached to the Ukrainian province of the Soviet Union by Soviet leaders as was Crimea. These Russian populated territories . . . rejected the anti-Russian rule installed in Kiev when Washington overthrew the Ukrainian government and installed a puppet regime. Had the Kremlin . . . READ MORE . . .
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More Evidence of Russia’s Lack of Political Realism: Russian toleration of U.S. neoconservative ambition is leading to war, by Paul Craig Roberts | PCR / IPE In her weekly briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova asks the gentlemen of Brussels and Lithuania” if Russia’s understanding is correct that “you have unleashed a war?” Why does she have to ask the question? Why not make a declarative statement? https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1819949/ Washington is brewing endless problems for Russia. Washington bribed the president of Kazakhstan, whose country Russia recently saved . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine Is the Latest Neocon Disaster, by Jeffrey D. Sachs | Common Dreams / CN The war in Ukraine is the culmination of a 30-year project of the American neoconservative movement. The Biden administration is packed with the same neocons who championed the U.S. wars of choice in Serbia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003), Syria (2011), Libya (2011), and who did so much to provoke Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The neocon track record is one of unmitigated disaster, yet Biden has staffed his team with neocons. As a result . . . READ MORE . . .