Vladimir Putin has professed many justifications for Russia’s assault on Ukraine, from wild claims about “de-Nazifying” the country to anger at Kyiv’s desire to join NATO, the Western treaty alliance.
It may also be a way for him to highlight the weakness of democratic systems – while ridding Moscow of an inconvenient neighbor.
Blaming the West and what he sees as its Kyiv proxies, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced what amounts to a war of regime change, aimed at destroying Ukraine’s military potential and changing its geopolitical alignment. But he claimed his goal is not to permanently occupy the country.
The economic fallout from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine will hit citizens in the wallet as prices and borrowing costs rise, curtailing growth and creating an uncertain future, economists said.
It may be only a matter of time before Russian troops control the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and topple President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, that may not be the end of the story. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops could find themselves in Ukraine for the long haul depending on whether Ukrainians have the stomach to launch an insurgency.
Mainstream US media continues to celebrate the supposed strength of the US economy. Almost daily, headlines speak of hopeful numbers, sustainable growth, positive trends and constant gains. The reality on the ground, however, tells of something entirely different, which raises the questions: Are Americans being lied to? And for what purpose?
The war is still in its infancy, but the Russian president’s claims that Ukraine is an artificial entity have been upended by Ukrainians fighting fiercely to save their homeland
The war between Russia and Ukraine may turn out to be a long and bitter affair between two countries with well-equipped armies, so it’s presumptuous to summarize after just three days of fighting. But one thing that can be said almost for certain is that Russian President Vladimir Putin had too much belief in his own propaganda.
Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert as Zelenskyy agrees to talks with Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert, but the explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the start of the invasion appeared to subside around Ukraine’s capital overnight as the Kremlin’s military advances were slowed by an outgunned but determined resistance.
Jordanian jihadi ideologue, and Al-Qaeda supporter Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, shared several tweets commenting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In his tweets, the jihadi cleric highlighted social media reports that Chechen soldiers are fighting alongside the Russian forces in Ukraine, deeming that as deviant Muslims whose prayers will not be accepted.[1]
Ukraine Will Make Russia Regret This War
The West has underestimated Vladimir Putin again. Time and time again, the aging Russian president has declared that Ukraine is not a real country, that Russia’s historic lands sit in Ukraine, and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a Western puppet and an illegitimate leader. By November, more than 100,000 Russian troops were surrounding Ukraine on three sides, and soon the White House was issuing increasingly dire warnings of a coming attack. And yet somehow, most in the West shrugged. Many smart and experienced experts were convinced Putin was bluffing. They dismissed his saber rattling as merely a ploy to increase his hand at the negotiating table, where he unsuccessfully sought the right to have a veto over which countries joined NATO. Only at that point did Western countries turn up the pressure on Putin.
Chinese-Russian Convergence and the Future of American Order
The greatest strategic problem the United States faces is the convergence of its two main rivals, China and Russia—countries that don’t always like or trust each other but nonetheless derive great benefits from their simultaneous assaults on the existing international order. And as Moscow and Beijing contest the balance of power at both ends of Eurasia, they are drawing together in ominous ways.