- 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 United States will impose sanctions on over 500 targets on Friday in action marking the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Reuters: Armenia has frozen its participation in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation because the pact had failed the country, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview broadcast on Thursday.
Reuters: Revelations that a North Korean missile fired by Russia in Ukraine contained a large number of components linked to U.S.-based companies underline the difficulty of enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang, but could help uncover illicit procurement networks, experts say.
ISW: Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Medvedev’s mention of Russia’s possible intentions to occupy Odesa may be worth noting in light of recent developments in the pro-Russian breakaway republic of Transnistria in Moldova, the southern tip of which is about 50 kilometers from the city.
More News
WSJ: The U.S. government has been in direct contact with Russia to warn Moscow not to deploy a new nuclear-armed antisatellite weapon, which it said would violate the Outer Space Treaty and jeopardize U.S. national security interests, U.S. officials said (archive).
AP News: The White House is promising to unveil new sanctions on Iran in the coming days in retaliation for its arms sales that have bolstered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and threatening a “swift” and “severe” response if Tehran moves forward with selling ballistic missiles to Moscow.
Bloomberg: French President Emmanuel Macron has invited European leaders to Paris next week to discuss proposals to help war-ravaged Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday.
Reuters: The United States on Thursday charged the CEO of Russian-state owned VTB Bank Andrey Kostin and two U.S.-based associates with sanctions violations as part of a flurry of enforcement actions aimed at Russia two years after it invaded Ukraine.
ISW Special Report: Russian forces are conducting a cohesive multi-axis offensive operation in pursuit of an operationally significant objective for nearly the first time in over a year and a half of campaigning in Ukraine. The prospects of this offensive in the Kharkiv-Luhansk sector are far from clear, but its design and initial execution mark notable inflections in the Russian operational level approach.
AP News: Russian forces are probing Ukrainian defenses for weak points in the country’s northeast, an official said Thursday, an area where analysts believe the Kremlin seeks to build on its recent success in taking a key city by mounting an ambitious four-pronged offensive to break through the front line.
The Kyiv Independent: The Latvian parliament voted on Feb. 22 to ban the import of grain products from Belarus and Russia, becoming the first EU country to take such a measure.
The Moscow Times: The mother of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Thursday that Russian investigators had finally allowed her to see her son's body but are now pressuring her to hold a funeral for him in secret.
POLITICO: Russia has used at least 20 North Korean ballistic missiles in attacks on Ukraine since late December, the Security Service of Ukraine said Thursday.
Reuters: Denmark announced a new 1.7 billion crown ($247.4 million) military aid package for Ukraine on Thursday and made an urgent appeal to allies to step up donations to help the country in its war with Russia.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine can expect to receive the first batch of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets from Denmark already this summer, the Danish Defense Ministry announced on Feb. 22.
OHCHR: The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia has exacted a horrific human cost, inflicting immense suffering on millions of civilians, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said on Thursday.
Amnesty Intl: There can be no justice for Ukrainians without full accountability for all crimes committed by Russia since its military intervention in 2014, Amnesty International said.
Reuters: German lawmakers approved further military support for Ukraine on Thursday, including long-range weapon systems, but rejected a call by the opposition to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces struck a Russian military training ground in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast, killing around 60 Russian soldiers, Nataliia Humeniuk, a spokesperson of Ukraine's Southern Operational Command, said on Feb. 22.
UK announced more than 50 new sanctions to diminish Putin’s weapons arsenal and war chest.
AP News: Russian forces threatened to shoot down French pilots patrolling in international airspace over the Black Sea, signals of increasingly aggressive behavior from Moscow as its invasion of Ukraine struggles to make headway, France’s defense minister said Thursday.
AFP: The Polish and Ukrainian governments will hold talks on March 28, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Thursday, a day after the Ukrainian president offered to meet him at the countries' shared border.
The Moscow Times: Lithuania has announced a ban on passenger pick-ups and drop-offs for trains running to and from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad beginning next week. The ban, which takes effect on March 1, is part of Vilnius’ decision to close two crossings on its border with neighboring Belarus after two other crossings were closed in the summer of 2023.
POLITICO: Spanish intelligence services accused the Kremlin of orchestrating the murder of Maksim Kuzminov, the Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year.
New Zealand’s government announced on Feb. 22 that it would provide Ukraine with another defense and humanitarian aid package worth almost $26 million.
worth mentioning
The life of a Russian state banker: only the best for the wives and kids
Russia’s war machine runs on Western parts
Global trade rift widening as Ukraine war passes two-year mark
The square of no return. How the Revolution of Dignity changed Ukraine and Russia
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