- Russia-Ukraine Daily News
- Posts
- Daily Briefing
Dear Reader, if you find this email interesting, helpful or of value, please do consider forwarding it to your friends or colleagues and encouraging them to subscribe. Thank you.
Morning Headlines
Reuters: The U.S. Department of Defense announced $400 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday, including air defense missiles, armored vehicles and small drones, as Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia grinds on.
AP News: Britain has “underplayed and underestimated” the threat posed by the Russian Wagner mercenary group and should ban it as a terrorist organization, a powerful committee of U.K. lawmakers said Wednesday.
WSJ: State-backed news outlets from Russia, China and Iran have rushed to join Threads, where they aren’t labeled as state media and have posted propaganda such as a doctored video of President Biden suggesting he has dementia.
Meduza breaks down the Russian State Duma’s newly adopted legislation to create “special militarized formations” armed by Russia’s National Guard.
ISW: Putin continued to manifest concern over potential threats that the Wagner Group and its financier Yevgeny Prigozhin may pose during an impromptu two-day extension of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s visit to St. Petersburg.
UK Ministry of Defence: Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has altered its posture since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, in preparedness to enforce a blockade on Ukraine.
Bloomberg: Money from Russia and China is helping North Korea's Kim Jong Un ignore sanctions and keep building his nuclear arsenal.
More News
POLITICO: The US national security adviser has said the administration will move “as fast as possible” to get F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. But so far, Western partners have yet to even agree on a plan to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the promised jets.
AFP: The Russian president plans to visit China for the Belt and Road Forum, his aide on international affairs said.
Meduza: Russia’s State Duma passed a series of amendments on Tuesday aimed at increasing the country’s pool of draft-eligible men and making it more difficult for them to get out of military service.
FT: The EU could provide alternative routes for almost all of Ukraine’s grain exports following Russia’s decision to stop their passage through the Black Sea, the bloc’s agriculture commissioner said.
Daily Sabah: The United Kingdom is working closely with Türkiye on restoring the landmark deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely from its seaports despite Russia’s invasion, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Tuesday.
The Kyiv Independent: In response to a question of whether the military was using cluster munitions that were recently delivered by the U.S. in battles around Bakhmut, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, replied that Ukrainian forces are "using the entire line of armaments provided to us by our partners" effectively.
BBC News: The US has imposed sanctions on three top officials of Mali's junta for their alleged involvement with the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries.
Newsweek: Russia is prepping its elite airborne forces, the VDV, to be deployed to Donbas hot spots in eastern Ukraine amid fears its troops could start a coup, an alleged leak of a secret memo obtained by Russian dissident in exile, Vladimir Osechkin, appears to show.
Reuters: Moldova's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it would summon Russian ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov for an explanation of media reports that equipment has been installed on the Russian embassy's rooftop that could be used for spying.
AFP: EU heavyweights Germany and France on Tuesday opposed a push to extend restrictions on sales of Ukrainian grain exports in five eastern European countries that have enraged Kyiv.
AFP: Wagner is openly active in at least four countries in Africa, typically shoring up fragile regimes in exchange for minerals and other natural wealth.
AP News: A Russian fighter jet flew within a few meters of a U.S. drone over Syria and fired flares at it, striking the American aircraft and damaging it, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
Reuters: The Kremlin on Tuesday accused the West, and in particular the United States, of trying to sabotage its showcase Russia-Africa summit later this week by pressuring African countries not to take part.
The EU Commission has paid a sixth tranche of €1.5 billion under the Macro-financial Assistance package for Ukraine worth up to €18 billion. With this instrument, the EU seeks to help Ukraine cover its immediate funding needs, with stable, predictable and sizeable financial support in 2023.
The Insider: Students, including minors, are assembling Iranian kamikaze drones for the Russian Defense Ministry in the Alabuga special economic zone in the Republic of Tatarstan, as revealed in an investigation by the media outlet Protocol.
The Moscow Times: Russia will receive “super priority” rights in acquiring the assets of strategic foreign companies that leave the country, Interfax reported Monday, citing an unpublished draft presidential decree. “Russia’s preferential right to acquire shares is realized regardless of the preferential rights of other persons,” the text reportedly reads.
AP News: In a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region, where silos were full when Moscow pulled out of the deal to export grain to the world. Ukraine’s defenses deflected most, but some made it through.
Sky News: Two Ukrainian naval drones have been destroyed after an attempted attack on one of Moscow's Black Sea ships, Russia has claimed.
AFP: Russia hosts African leaders this week for a summit aimed at boosting ties despite concerns in Africa over the war in Ukraine and the suspension of a deal on Ukrainian grain exports.
CNN: China and Russia are both sending high level delegations to North Korea this week in a rare flurry of diplomatic activity for the secluded nation as it prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
worth mentioning
Rare testimony reveals brutal life for Russian convicts fighting in Ukraine
Abandon, sell, keep? Unilever's Russia conundrum
Russian antiwar group in Serbia says authorities have rejected activist's residence permit
Russia Supplies African Ally Mali With Wheat as Ties Strengthen
Russa-Ukraine Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Do you think your friend or colleague should know about this newsletter? Forward it to them, please. They can also sign up here