Russian Ballistic Missile Attack a ‘Severe Escalation’, Says Zelenskyy

THE GUARDIAN: Ukrainian president appeals for tough global response, as Nato accuses Vladimir Putin of trying to intimidate Kyiv’s allies

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the use of an experimental ballistic missile by Russia amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation, as Nato accused Vladimir Putin of seeking to “terrorise” civilians and intimidate Ukraine’s allies.

Nato spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said: “Deploying this capability will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter Nato allies from supporting Ukraine.”

In a statement after Vladimir Putin’s address about Thursday’s strike on a military site in the city of Dnipro, Zelenskyy said the attack was “yet more proof that Russia has no interest in peace”, adding that “pressure is needed. Russia must be forced into real peace, which can only be achieved through strength.”

The Russian president threatened further attacks, saying Moscow “had the right” to strike western countries that provided Kyiv with weapons used against Russian targets. » | Pjotr Sauer, Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv and agencies | Friday, November 22, 2024

Putin Declares Russia Could Launch Nuclear Strike In Response to Conventional Attack | BBC News

Nov 20, 2024 | Vladimir Putin has signed a decree lowering the threshold for Russia's use of nuclear weapons. It follows a US decision to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range missile strikes on Russia using American weapons. Ukraine has carried out its first such attack, with Russia confirming that US ATACMS missiles have hit its Bryansk region.

Russia’s revised nuclear doctrine states that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack. An attack on Russia with conventional missiles, drones or aircraft could meet the criteria for a nuclear response.

The Kremlin urged other countries to study the changes. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the decree as “a very important text” and said "it should become a subject to a very deep analysis".

Recently Russia warned it would deliver “an appropriate and tangible” response to the US President's decision to let Ukraine use ATACMS missiles to strike the country. Russia's foreign ministry said that such an attack "would represent the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in hostilities against Russia”.

Joe Biden’s change of policy comes two months before Donald Trump is sworn in as the new US President. Mr Trump has claimed that he will help bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Steve Rosenberg, Nick Eardley, Vicki Young and Lyse Doucet.

U.S. Closes Its Kyiv Embassy, Warning of ‘Significant Air Attack’

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The unusual alert came a day after Ukraine used American-made ballistic missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time.

The United States Embassy in Kyiv issued an urgent warning on Wednesday morning that Russia might launch “a significant air attack,” closing the embassy and telling employees to shelter in place.

Air-raid alerts are a daily fact of life in Ukraine and the capital often comes under drone and missile attacks, but the embassy rarely issues such a specific alert or shuts down.

The warning came one day after Ukraine’s military used American-made ballistic missiles to strike into Russian territory for the first time, after receiving long-sought authorization from President Biden to do so. The Kremlin had long warned that such strikes would be treated as an escalation, and on Tuesday vowed to respond.

“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia,” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei V. Lavrov, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “And we will react accordingly.” » | Marc Santora | Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine | Wednesday, November 20, 2024

THE NEW YORK TIMES: As Trump Pushes Peace, Russia Intensifies Assaults on Ukraine: Overextended and exhausted, Ukrainian forces lack manpower and artillery against Russian forces willing to absorb staggering casualties. »

Russia Does Not Want to See a Nuclear War, Lavrov Says

Nov 19, 2024 | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says "we are strongly in favor of doing everything not to allow nuclear war to happen." This after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a doctrine to lower the threshold for using atomic weapons. Lavrov says the updated doctrine doesn't add anything the West wouldn't know. He speaks in Brazil at the G-20.

Russia Will React Accordingly to ATACMS Strike, Says Foreign Minister Lavrov

Nov 19, 2024 | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the use of ATACMS by Ukraine against Russia is a signal that the US wants "escalation" in the conflict. "Without the Americans, it’s not possible to use them,” he said while speaking to reporters at the G-20 in Brazil.

Ukraine Vows to 'Never Submit’ to Russia as War Reaches 1,000th Day | BBC News

Nov 19, 2024 | Ukraine has said it will "never submit" to Russia as it marks 1,000 days since the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of the country. "Ukraine will never submit to the occupiers, and the Russian military will be punished for violating international law," the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

It comes as eight people, including a child, were killed in a drone attack on Ukraine's north-eastern region of Sumy overnight, where 89 were also killed in a separate strike on Sunday.

Trump's Ukraine Plan Will 'Blow-up' in Putin's Face | Bill Browder & Brandon Silver

Nov 12, 2024 | Bill Browder and Magnitsky Award winner and international human rights lawyer Brandon Silver discuss their work to sanction the Kremlin and why Donald Trump's election 'alpha' ego could lead to a clash with Putin that ruins Russia's plan to freeze the war in Ukraine, on Frontline with Kate Gerbeau.

Putin's LAST CHANCE For Survival Is Trump Win - Bill Browder Explains

Nov 5, 2024

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How Is Russia Trying to Destabilise Europe? | ARTE Europe Weekly

Nov 1, 2024 | n Georgia, a former Soviet republic, the pro-Russia party Georgian Dream won the parliamentary elections, amid accusations of vote rigging and Russian interference. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is seeking to counter European influence both close to home and in emerging countries, particularly Africa. We look at how Russia and its allies are destabilising Europe.

Russian Court Fines Google More Than World’s GDP

THE TELEGRAPH: Moscow seeks compensation after tech giant blocked pro-Kremlin content

Russia has demanded Google pay a fine worth more than the world’s GDP for blocking pro-Kremlin media outlets.

Judges in Moscow are seeking around $20 decillion from the technology giant, many times the estimated $100-trillion size of the global economy. If written out in full, the fine would be 20 followed by 33 zeros.

The penalty, which far eclipses Google’s own $2-trillion market value, comes after the US technology business barred pro-Moscow propaganda channel Tsargrad TV, which is owned by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, from YouTube four years ago. » | Matthew Field, Senior Technology Reporter | Wednesday, October 30, 2024

For numbers bigger than a trillion, click here.

Kyiv Post: Moscow's Hold Over Former US President Trump

Oct 23, 2024 | Genté, currently on the ground in Tbilisi, Georgia, reveals what he has seen of Russia's attempts to influence the forthcoming Georgian and Moldovan elections - polls that Jason Smart argues will be a decisive part of Russia's next steps in the region.

According to a publicly available profile, since 2002, Régis Genté has permanently lived and worked "in the post-Soviet area, reporting for mainstream media such as RFI (Radio France Internationale), France 24 TV, le Figaro." He is the author of 4 books and numerous reports written for top-level think tanks, among others.

Régis Genté's "Notre homme à Washington," written in French, is already available for purchase.


KYIV POST here »

North Korean Troops in Russia: How Dangerous Is the World Right Now? | BBC News

Oct 27, 2024 | In his first BBC interview since standing down as chief of the general staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders has shared his views on whether peace with Russia is possible.

The ex-British Army chief has told Ukrainecast that he believes the world is more dangerous than it was during the Cold War.

Why Are North Korean Troops in Russia?

Over the last month, North Korea’s role aiding Russia in its war in Ukraine has significantly escalated. U.S. officials reported that North Korean soldiers are already operating in the Kursk region in western Russia, where Ukrainian forces are staging a counteroffensive. Michael Shear, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, explains what the deeping relationship between Russia and North Korea means for the war in Ukraine and the world. | By Michael D. Shear, Nikolay Nikolov and Laura Salaberry • October 26, 2024
Watch the NYT video here.

Inside Russia: Russia’s Central Bank Has Put Up the Interest Rate to 21%

Anyone’s savings would grow quickly with a rate like that! Read on and comment.
REUTERS: Russia's Nabiullina on raising rates to 21% »

Roundtable: Why Would Westerners Move to Russia?

Oct 23, 2024 | Russian President Vladimir Putin is inviting Westerners with shared values to live in Russia, portraying it as a "safe haven" for those looking to escape their neoliberal home countries.

Zelenskyy Meets with EU and NATO Leaders for Backing of His 'Victory Plan' | DW News

Oct 17, 2024 | Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced his long-awaited victory plan to end his country's war with Russia. His plan includes Ukrainian NATO membership and permission for strikes inside Russia. Today Zelenskyy is to present his plan to EU lawmakers in Brussels. The Ukrainian President has another high level engagement in Brussels later today: a meeting of NATO defense ministers. NATO officials gathered this morning for the first such event chaired by the alliance's new chief Mark Rutte.

North Korean Troops Set to Join Russian Army as Pyongyang ‘Fully Enters’ War

THE TELEGRAPH: Intelligence sources say a battalion of 3,000 has been secretly training to fight against Ukraine

An image released by North Korean state media of young people reportedly signing petitions to join or return to the army this week | KCNA via Reuters
A battalion of 3,000 North Korean soldiers will shortly join Russian troops in fighting Ukraine, marking Pyongyang’s full entry into the war.

Intelligence sources said the unit has been secretly training in Russia’s Far East ahead of deployment as part of a Russian airborne regiment.

“They are called the Buryat Battalion,” a senior Ukrainian military source told Politico. Buryatia is a remote region of Russia bordering Mongolia that the Kremlin has targeted heavily for military recruitment.

The Kyiv Independent quoted another Western intelligence source claiming that North Korea had sent 10,000 soldiers to join the Russian army. » | James Kilner | Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Meek Europe is now in North Korea’s crosshairs: Reports suggest Moscow may be about to receive 10,000 troops from Pyongyang. Why is no one in uproar? »

Russia Proposes a $4,300 Fine for Promoting Childlessness

Promoting a childless existence is against Russia’s traditionl values. The Russian Orthodox Church backs the proposals that have been put forward.

Delhi Audience Laughs as Russian Foreign Minister Says Ukraine War 'Was Launched against Us'

Mar 4, 2023 | Sergei Lavrov's description of the Russian invasion as 'the war, which we are trying to stop, and which was launched against us using the Ukrainian people' was met with laughter at the Raisina Dialogue conference in India.

EU Debates: Ursula von der Leyen Attacks Orbán’s Support for Russia in Fiery Speech to European Parliament

Ocy 9, 2024