The story has been Bakhmut….
YES….
But another story IS unfolding…..
What will the end of conflict need or be?….
Both countries WANT the Crimea….
Russia took it in 2014….
Russian President Putin says it IS HIS…..
But it WAS part of the Ukraine since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991….
Putin has been pissed that his predessesors allowed that….
And has grabbed back….
The Ukraine President Zelensky wants it back.….
It WILL be a subject in ANY settlement between the two countries in the end….
Russian President is trying find friends against the US and NATO in dealing with the Ukraine…
It turns out that Russian Special Operators units , being merged with regular troops, are suffering a massive losses of troops….
More on the ‘leaks’……
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who is meeting with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has suggested that Beijing should be part of an effort to hold peace talks. Here is what we’re covering:
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In Beijing, Brazil’s leader endorses China’s stance on Ukraine.
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German and Chinese ministers trade tough words on Russia and Taiwan.
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Leaked document suggests a Ukrainian agent defied Zelensky’s orders and attacked a Russian plane in Belarus.
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Russia’s defense ministry offers rare acknowledgment of Wagner cooperation.
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China’s defense minister will head to Russia for a four-day meeting.
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Russia’s ambassador says the U.S. threatened ‘retaliatory measures’ unless a jailed reporter is released.
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A new report offers insight into Russia’s approach to fighting in space.
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The Russians took their children. These mothers went and got them back….
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Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
- A leak of military files has revealed close-held U.S. assessments of the Ukraine war, claiming that the fighting has gutted Russian commando units and that China had agreed to provide Moscow with weapons. The trove of classified files, first shared on the chat app Discord and obtained by The Post, has offered a window into U.S. intelligence. U.S. officials assessed that Russian commanders over-relied on the spetsnaz special forces that were deployed alongside infantry formations and that, like Ukrainians, suffered big losses at the front lines, The Post reported.
- The FBI has arrested a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard suspected of posting the classified material. On Friday, he was charged by the federal government with retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents.
- The suspected Pentagon leaker was arrested at his home in Dighton, Mass. Jack Teixeira, who has family members in the military, is believed to have shared hundreds of pages of documents that include recent reports on weaknesses in Ukraine’s air defenses and an ammunition shortfall hampering its forces.
- It could take Moscow years to rebuild its commando units, according to the U.S. assessments, which range in date from late 2022 to earlier this year. “The rapid depletion of Russia’s commando units, observers say, shifted the war’s dynamic from the outset, severely limiting Moscow’s ability to employ clandestine tactics in support of conventional combat operations,” The Post’s Alex Horton writes.
- German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also was in Beijing on Friday. While meeting with her Chinese counterpart, she said Europe would view any military escalation in the Taiwan Strait as “a horror scenario” that would have “inevitable repercussions. “”
- Russia can consider a prisoner swap of detained U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich only after a trial,according to Russian news agencies, which cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. The United States has declared that the Wall Street Journal reporter is “wrongfully detained” in Russia, which allows the State Department to expand efforts to secure his release. “The United States will do everything in its power to get the reporter back,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in remarks Friday.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Friday authorizing official electronic conscription documents, aimed at making enlistment more difficult to evade, Russian state media outlets reported.
- Russia has resumed its assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, prompting Ukrainian troops to withdraw from some positions, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an update Friday. Russian forces have been “re-energized,” the update said, by improved coordination between regular troops and fighters with the Wagner mercenary group. While Ukrainian forces still hold western districts of the town, they face resupply issues and have been “subjected to particularly intense Russian artillery fire over the previous 48 hours.”
- President Biden maintained Western support for Ukraine in a speech to the Irish Parliament on Thursday, as the classified documents painted a bleak view of prospects for a resolution of the conflict. Biden earlier downplayed the consequences of the leaks.
- Belarusian pilots completed training by Russian forces on operating Su-25 fighter jets, according to Belarusian state news agency BelTa. It said the training would help ensure military security, citing the Defense Ministry of Belarus, a neighbor and staunch ally of Moscow.
- Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu will visit Russia next week, his office announced Friday. He is set to meet with Russian military officials during the Sunday-Wednesday visit….