24.03.2024

AFP: Russia's opposition has slammed Putin's broken security promise in the wake of the Moscow concert hall attack, saying the country's intelligence agencies were too focused on hunting Kremlin critics instead of actual threats.

The Moscow Times: Senior members of Putin's regime have called for the country to bring back the death penalty following Friday's attack on a Moscow concert hall. Critics have sounded the alarm over the demand, including due to Russia's broad use of counter-terrorism and anti-extremist laws to target Kremlin opponents and supporters of Ukraine.

RFI: Slovakia's recent shift towards Russia has hit a hurdle, analysts said Sunday, after the pro-West former foreign minister Ivan Korcok topped the first round of the presidential election.

Reuters: An underground gas storage site in Ukraine was attacked on Sunday in the latest wave of Russian missile strikes on power facilities, while officials restored power in cities, ordered imports and imposed rolling blackouts to deal with shortfalls.

Ukrainska Pravda: Polish farmers have completely blocked Ukrainian lorries travelling from Ukraine to Poland from passing through the Yahodyn and Rava-Ruska checkpoints.

Reuters: The Ukrainian military said it hit two large Russian landing ships in attacks on the annexed Crimean peninsula early on Sunday, as well as a communications centre and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea.

The Guardian: Islamic State has released new videos of the attack on the Crocus City concert hall outside Moscow that left 137 people dead, corroborating the terror group’s claim to have masterminded the slaughter even as Russia has sought to place the blame on Ukraine, which Kyiv denies.

AP News: Poland demanded an explanation from Russia on Sunday after one of its missiles strayed briefly into Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the NATO member to activate F-16 fighter jets. It was Russia’s third big missile attack on Ukraine in the past four days, and the second to target the capital, Kyiv.

ISW assesses that the Islamic State is very likely responsible for the Crocus City Hall attack.

23.03.2024

The Kyiv Independent: The explosions in occupied Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast killed Russian soldiers and destroyed their military equipment, according to Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR). HUR claimed to have orchestrated a joint attack with local resistance against a group of Russian serviceman in the city on March 22.

Meduza: Russian state-funded and pro-government media have been instructed by the Putin administration to emphasize possible “traces” of Ukrainian involvement in their reporting on Friday’s Crocus City Hall terrorist attack.

RFE/RL: Putin’s critics say that more than three decades after the demise of the Soviet Union, Russia remains a country in which the state puts its own interests far above those of its citizens. “The intelligence services are focused on political investigation and intimidation of citizens. They do not fulfill their direct responsibility to protect society from real threats,” political observer Dmitry Kolezev wrote.

Reuters: Russia said on Saturday it had arrested all four gunmen suspected of carrying out a shooting massacre in a concert hall near Moscow, and Putin pledged to track down and punish those behind the attack.

The Kyiv Independent: Spokesperson of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, Andriy Yusov, said that "an incident" took place at the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Russia's Samara Oblast overnight on March 23. Local Russian officials claimed that a fire that broke out at the oil refinery had been caused by a drone attack.

ISW: Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities may aim to degrade Ukrainian defense industrial capacity, and Russian forces are likely trying to exploit Ukrainian air defense missile shortages in a renewed attempt to collapse Ukraine’s energy grid.

22.03.2024

The Kyiv Independent: A large amount of ammunition will be sent to Ukraine "in the near future" within the Czech-led initiative to provide Kyiv with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on March 22.

AFP: Franco-German arms group KNDS, which focuses on making tanks, will produce military equipment and munitions in Ukraine, the countries' defence ministers said Friday in Berlin.

AP News: Poland’s government has prepared new legislation to boost the nation’s capacity for self-defense, including more funding for first aid courses, better public warning systems, and more emergency shelters, officials said Friday.

Reuters: Elite hackers tied to Russian intelligence last month targeted several German political parties with an eye toward burrowing into their networks and stealing data, according to an alert released by Germany's cybersecurity agency and security researchers working for Google owner Alphabet.

RFE/RL: The Vyorstka Telegram channel on March 22 cited four sources close to the presidential office and Defense Ministry as saying that Moscow plans to soon announce a new wave of military mobilization that would seek to enlist up to 300,000 people to bolster its troops involved in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters: Ukraine has scrapped its "sponsors of war" blacklist, the centrepiece of its campaign to pressure companies doing business in Russia, the agency in charge said on Friday after a backlash from countries from Austria to China.

AFP: Russia is building a group of over 100,000 soldiers in advance of what may be a major offensive this summer, Ukraine's ground forces commander warned Friday.

Reuters: Russia has added what it calls the "LGBT movement" to a list of extremist and terrorist organisations, state media said on Friday.

Reuters: A Ukrainian deputy prime minister said on Friday Russian oil refineries were legitimate targets for its forces, after a media report said the United States, a close ally, had asked Kyiv to stop conducting drone strikes on refineries.

Reuters: Russia pounded Ukrainian power facilities on Friday in an attack described by Kyiv as the largest airstrike on its energy infrastructure in two years of war, and portrayed by Moscow as revenge for Ukrainian attacks during its presidential election.

Reuters: All of India's refiners are now refusing to take Russian crude carried on PJSC Sovcomflot tankers due to U.S. sanctions, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

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.

Here are my: Telegram & Socials

Please do support my work