As the losses of Russian troops continue to mount, including numerous generals who have been killed, there are reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin is purging elites within the security services.
With pressure mounting on Putin after his ill-fated invasion of Ukraine, including from the oligarchs who now find themselves under crushing sanctions, some have speculated about the possibility of a palace coup.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have advanced on Ukraine by land, air, and sea. Understandably, much of the analysis of Moscow’s capabilities has focused on its conventional forces. However, as fierce Ukrainian resistance frustrates Russia’s invading military, it is critical for the West to fully understand a fourth domain where the Kremlin might try to gain superiority through its toolkit of aggression: space. This is particularly vital since space capabilities also enable Moscow’s nuclear infrastructure, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has put on high alert.
Why Is the US Bankrolling Them?
Now Western security officials believe that Iran and Russia have struck a cooperation deal to work together to evade Western sanctions once a new nuclear deal has been agreed by the Biden administration.
Targeting Russia Was the Easy Part
The international sanctions campaign that countries and companies have mounted against Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine is a remarkable achievement of multinational diplomacy and corporate responsibility. Much of the world has voluntarily terminated business with Russia, severing trade ties and financial relationships with the country and shocking the Kremlin by freezing many of its foreign assets. The speed, scope, and scale of these punitive economic measures and the nature of their target—one of the world’s largest and most important economies—are all without precedent.
How Putin and Zelensky Have Defined the Ukrainian Conflict
If anyone doubts the importance of individual leaders in the shape of world events, surely the war in Ukraine has dispelled them. It is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war and no one else’s, just as World War II in Europe was Adolf Hitler’s. Both men wanted war; both embraced it as a test of virility against a decadent enemy.
The bottom line
This week, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced a major shift in its military strategy in Ukraine—moving from the goals of taking Kyiv and winning control of the entire country to the much more limited objective of controlling the Donbas region.
Turkish-made drones have featured prominently in Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s invasion, taking out significant Russian targets in the first few weeks of the war. But the conflict, and any possibility of a Russian victory, have cast a shadow over the future of Turkey’s rapidly growing drone industry, which relies on Ukrainian engines.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that the U.S. will dispatch another $500 million in direct aid to Ukraine, the latest burst to Kyiv as the Russian invasion grinds on.
Turkey played host for the second time as peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine resumed today.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed in Istanbul after a two-week pause today. It’s the second time the sides have met in Turkey, which has sought to position itself as an honest broker in the conflict.
The round held at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace “achieved more meaningful progress” than any of the talks held so far, asserted Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after they ended. Russian negotiators called the talks “constructive.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused shortages of food in Iraq and forced the government to pay more in gasoline subsidies, but the high price of crude oil plus sanctions on Russia has opened new opportunities for Iraq.