Ukraine, 7-31-22

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on the organizations’ names below. Finally, two pieces of commentary placing the war in Ukraine in a global context; the first, from the Associated Press, sees the war as having given NATO “renewed reason for being”; the other, via Consortium News, expresses opposition to NATO’s “policies and global aspirations.” — MCM

   

Drone explosion hits Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, by Susie Blann | The Associated Press KYIV — A small explosive device carried by a makeshift drone blew up today at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean Peninsula, wounding six people and prompting the cancellation of ceremonies there honoring Russia’s navy, authorities said. Meanwhile, one of Ukraine’s richest men, a grain merchant, was killed in what Ukrainian authorities said was a carefully targeted Russian missile strike on his home.  There was no . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Zelenskiy announces mandatory evacuation of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, by Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk | Reuters * Deputy PM Vereshchuk says evacuation needed before winter * Vereshchuk says region’s natural gas supplies destroyed * Kyiv says more than 100 Russian soldiers killed on Friday * Ukraine: rail links to Kherson over Dnipro river cut | KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday his government was ordering the mandatory evacuation of people in the eastern Donetsk region, scene of fierce fighting with Russia. In a late-night television address, Zelenskiy also said the hundreds of thousands of people still in combat zones in the larger Donbas region, which contains Donetsk as well as the neighboring Luhansk region, needed to leave . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Ukraine provides a bit of good news amidst a global food shortage. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | National Public Radio Ukraine says it is ready to resume grain shipments from its southern ports that stopped with the onset of the war with Russia. The grain could alleviate a global food shortage. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

   

In the Russia-Ukraine war, drones are one of the most powerful weapons, by Jason Beaubien | NPR  SOUTHERN UKRAINE — Sitting in the back of a Ukrainian military van, hidden under camouflage netting, Sacha is monitoring video from a surveillance drone. His team just launched the drone off a 30-foot-long slingshot. It’s now crossed the front line and is peering into a Russian-occupied village. Sacha zooms in further. “You see . . . Click HERE to listen and read. 

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A world changed, maybe permanently, by Ukraine war, by John Leicester | AP  PARIS July 16, 1945: An incandescent mushroom cloud in New Mexico heralds the dawn of the nuclear age. July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong takes a small step and a giant leap in the dust of the Moon. Feb. 24, 2022: Russian President Vladimir Putin chews up the world order and 77 years of almost uninterrupted peace in Europe by invading Ukraine, disrupting the supplies of food it produces for many of the planet’s 8 billion peopleAll were watersheds in world history, turning points . . . READ MORE . . .

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The World Does Not Want a Global NATO, by Vijay Prashad | Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research / Consortium News At No Cold War, an international platform seeking to bring sanity to international relations, we have been closely observing the shifting tenor of the war in Ukraine and the U.S.-driven pressure campaign against China. We have published three previous briefings from this platform in our newsletters; [linked in this column, readers] will find briefing No. 4, “The World Does Not Want a Global NATO,” which details the emerging clarity in the Global South regarding . . . READ MORE . . .