Ukraine Briefly

April 07, 2023

Ukraine, Briefly

RussiaUkraine

Listen to Today's Edition

This week, Russian troops led by mercenaries of the Wagner Group captured the center of Bakhmut even as Ukrainian forces continued fighting for the embattled eastern city in what’s now the war’s 58th week, Al Jazeera reported. Bakhmut has seen some of the fiercest and most lethal fighting of the war, with aerial drone bombardments becoming the norm, according to the New York Times.

Also this week:

• Ukraine unveiled this week a 12-point plan outlining how it would reintegrate Crimea back into the country if it regained the territory militarily, France 24 noted. However, analysts and Ukraine’s allies believe that Kyiv is getting ahead of itself, as the Ukrainian army is still fighting against Russian assaults in the east. The United States’ stance on Ukraine’s retaking of Crimea appears to be mixed, with some officials expressing support for the idea while others express skepticism and caution.

• The Biden administration committed an additional $2.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine on Tuesday, saying it will give air defense systems, gun trucks and laser-guided weaponry to counter Russia’s deployment of drones, the Washington Post wrote. Since Russia’s invasion over 14 months ago, the administration has offered more than $35 billion in military support to Ukraine.

• At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Poland this week and received pledges of military and economic cooperation, including the delivery of fighter jets and Polish weaponry, the Associated Press added. Both countries signed agreements to develop Ukrainian infrastructure and set up joint manufacturing plants for weapons and ammunition.

• The US, United Kingdom, Albania, and Malta walked out on Russian children’s rights envoy Maria Lvova-Belova as she spoke by video to the United Nations Security Council on evacuating children from conflict zones, Reuters reported The US and UK blocked the meeting from being webcast by the UN. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes related to the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine. Lvova-Belova presented a video of Ukrainian children in Russia during her speech while claiming Russia did not use children for propaganda purposes. Critics accuse Russia of using the program to erase Ukrainian identity and statehood.

• Russian officials detained a suspect in the bombing that killed one of the country’s most prominent military bloggers and accused Ukraine of working with supporters of a jailed opposition leader to carry it out, according to NBC News. Vladlen Tatarsky, an outspoken advocate of the war who helped define the Kremlin’s anti-Ukrainian narrative, died in an explosion Sunday night at a cafe in St. Petersburg’s center. More than 30 people were injured in the blast, which the Kremlin described as a “terrorist attack.”

• At least 200 Russian journalists have signed an open letter urging Moscow to release American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was detained and accused of espionage last week, the Moscow Times added. The signatories called suspicions that Gershkovich had been collecting state secrets about Russia’s defense industry while reporting for his employer, the Wall Street Journal, “preposterous and unjust.”

• Putin authorized a new Russian foreign policy concept aimed at confronting the US and its allies, declaring that an “era of revolutionary changes” in world relations had begun, Bloomberg wrote. According to the 42-page document, the US is “the source of fundamental risks to the security of the Russian Federation,” and most European states are pursuing an “aggressive policy” aimed at weakening Russia’s sovereignty.

This story originally appeared in the April 07, 2023 newsletter, Taking Out the Trash.