The ground fight continues around Donetsk and Lunansk territories…
And Bakhmut….
German officals say they would arrest Russian President Putin on a International Arrest Warrant for War Crimes….
One doubts Putin is worried about this….
The Russian exodus in response to Putin’s Ukraine war has changed several countries…..
Sometimes the transplants reinvent their new communities. Sometimes they reinvent themselves.
Pavel Sokolov provides hydrotherapy to help dogs overcome trauma, but in his native Moscow, he was a marketing specialist. The adjustment to a new life was difficult, he said, but ultimately gave him confidence.
“We realized that we are competent people and that we won’t die of hunger,” Mr. Sokolov said.
Others arrived with their working tools.
Two colleagues came to Tbilisi from St. Petersburg carrying suitcases filled with theatrical props and decided to open a small puppet theater for children. They called it Moose and Firefly.
“The only thing we can do at this point in life is theater,” said Dasha Nikitina, 31.
Dmitri Chernikov, a 32-year-old tailor from Moscow, opened a salon in Tbilisi where he produces bespoke suits…..
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The expanding Russian footprint has irritated some locals, especially in Georgia, which fought its own war with Russia in 2008. In Tbilisi, some walk out of the Otkhi ceramics factory when they discover Ukrainians working side by side with Russians.
“We believe it is our mission to expand people’s worldview,” said Vlada Orlova, 37, one of the co-founders….
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Many Russians, aware that their situation is sensitive, try to tread carefully. They keep a low profile and contribute to local communities by bringing new services and volunteering…
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Some are trying to make amends for their homeland’s aggression against Ukraine….
Getting stubborn Ukraianians to move from combat zones……..
Thirteen months into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainians who are too sick or too prideful to have evacuated from the combat zone remain in grave danger, creating an urgent need for someone to come in, listen to their problems and persuade them to go. Ivlev-Yorke and Susik are part of a corps of helpers that estimate they have extracted 4,000 people since May, pulling them from some of the most dangerous places and helping them on their first steps to relocation in Ukraine or abroad.
Those who remain now are the true die-hards, and convincing them requires time and care, which are hard to come by in a war zone. The pitch is sometimes delivered under fire…
German authorities will arrest Putin if he sets foot in their country, in accordance with the ICC warrant, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told the Bild newspaper. Officials in Moscow described the warrant as unlawful and said they were investigating the German minister’s statement, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. It is highly unlikely that Putin would travel to any of the 123 nations, including Germany, that recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
- Putin’s itinerary in Mariupol was largely spontaneous,Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Sunday. The Russian leader visited an apartment complex, spoke to residents about their concerns and drove a car about the city, Peskov said. “We won’t bother you, please excuse us for dropping by so unexpectedly,” Putin told the inhabitants of a three-bedroom Mariupol apartment after appearing with television cameras, according to state TV.
- Russia’s president traveled to the city in Donetsk by helicopter, according to RIA Novosti. It was Putin’s first visit to the eastern Donbas region, according to Tass, and it comes a year after Russia’s bombardment of the Mariupol Drama Theater. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally claimed to have annexed in September.
- Ukrainian officials criticized Putin’s visit as a carefully orchestrated stunt, undertaken in darkness to minimize the damage his forces had wreaked on the city during a months-long siege. The Russian leader traveled at night “as befits a thief,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry tweeted. “The criminal always returns to the crime scene,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said of the visit.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to begin a state visit Monday to Moscow, where he will meet with Putin in Beijing’s strongest show of support since the war began. The Kremlin said the two will discuss “deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation.” Beijing, which insists it is neutral in the conflict and has sought to portray itself as a potential mediator, said Xi will promote peace talks.
- The Kremlin will publish a Putin-written article on Russia-China relations Sunday night, said Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman. Xi is also expected to release a similar article Sunday or early Monday, Peskov added.
- Russian forces sent 16 Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukrainian facilities around Kyiv and western parts of the country overnight Saturday, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat. Ukrainian forces struck down 11 of the 16 drones, he added, despite poor nighttime visibility. The Washington Post could not verify his claims.
- Ukrainian forces defended positions along multiple fronts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to a daily update posted Sunday by the Ukrainian army. “Bakhmut remains the epicenter of the fighting,” Kyiv military officials said. For months, Russian forces have laid siege to the city, where Ukraine’s army said Sunday its defenders had repelled attacks in the north.
- The decision by Russian-backed officials this month to designate Melitopol, rather than the much larger city of Zaporizhzhia, as the regional capital of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region suggests that Moscow does not expect its troops to advance far soon, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday. “The quiet declaration of an alternative capital is likely tacit acknowledgement within the Russian system that its forces are highly unlikely to seize previously planned major objectives in the near future,” officials said….