Daily Archives: January 22, 2023

NM Gov. Grisham calls for new gun control laws, citing recent …

Posted: January 22, 2023 at 1:03 am

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called for new gun control laws and greater accountability for firearm manufacturers while denouncing recent drive-by shootings of the homes of Democratic lawmakers in Albuquerque in her State of the State address Tuesday at the start of the annual legislative session.

New Mexico's Democratic-led Legislature is preparing to tap a multibillion-dollar budget surplus as it takes on daunting challenges of crime, lagging student achievement in schools and below-average workforce participation during its 60-day legislative session.

The governor and leading Democratic legislators want to expand preschool access, lengthen annual instructional time at public schools, increase public salaries and provide at least $1 billion in tax relief and rebates.

NEW MEXICO POLICE ARREST FAILED GOP HOUSE CANDIDATE IN SHOOTINGS TARGETING DEMOCRATIC POLITICIANS HOMES

But concerns about politically motivated violence loomed over the proceedings after police on Monday arrested a failed Republican candidate in connection with a series of shootings targeting the homes of Democratic lawmakers in Albuquerque.

Addressing a joint session of the state House and Senate, Lujan Grisham condemned what she called "despicable acts of political violence" and a "sickening scourge of gun violence that has infected our nation." She announced proposals to ban assault-style weapons, allow victims of gun violence to bring civil lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and crack down on black-market sales that funnel guns to ineligible buyers.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham delivers an address on the opening day of the annual legislative session in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Jan. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

"We all know that we cannot keep our people safe, we cannot keep our police officers and their families safe, if weapons of war continue to flood our neighborhoods," Lujan Grisham said.

"If we are bold and clear in our knowledge that now is the time to do the right thing, we can save lives and protect futures," Lujan Grisham said. "I'm not going to let up and I know that there will be other ideas and other strategies, and I know that we're going to work together."

Republicans in the legislative minority also condemned the attack on politicians in Albuquerque and said that gun control measures won't make people safer.

"I got concerned, I made sure that my own firearms were really close at hand," said state Sen. Craig Brandt of Rio Rancho. "Putting in more gun-control laws doesn't allow us to protect ourselves."

Republican state legislators hope to reinstate immunity from prosecution for policing agencies and tighten requirements for pretrial release of people charged of crimes.

SEMIAUTOMATIC WEAPONS BAN BECOMES ILLINOIS LAW

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe says he'll sponsor a bill that bans firearms at all polling locations in response to the fears and frustrations of election workers.

Lujan Grisham staked her reelection heavily on her support for preserving widespread access to abortion as a foundation of womens rights and democracy following the U.S. Supreme Courts decision last year that overturned Roe v. Wade and left legalization up to the states.

Leading Democratic legislators hope to send her a bill that would prohibit restrictions on abortion by local governments and shield patients and abortion doctors from harassment by out-of-state interests.

New Mexico also is grappling with the aftermath of catastrophic 2022 wildfires linked to climate change and drought.

State legislators want to make the state more resilient to climate-related disasters by speeding up the delivery of federal disaster aid and allowing small water districts to band together as they rebuild from wildfires.

Lujan Grisham hopes to fund the first New Mexico-based corps of elite smokejumper firefighters to ensure a rapid response to future fires. On Tuesday, she proposed the creation of a $75 million trust fund to address root causes of water scarcity and climate change.

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State government income is forecast to reach new heights $12 billion in revenue during the fiscal year that runs from July 2023 though June 2024. Thats about $3.6 billion in excess of current annual spending commitments.

Lujan Grisham urged legislators to tap that windfall to back her "cradle-to-career" strategy of expanding free public education, with new investments this year in daycare, preschool and tuition-free college as enrollments swell at public universities.

"Our commitment to making education accessible and affordable is lifting families out of poverty," Lujan Grisham said.

Legislators in the Republican minority say more public spending hasn't translated into greater student achievement on Lujan Grisham's watch. They want greater competition among K-12 schools, wider options for students with public funding of private and parochial schools.

"I think more choice for families ... to have that power back in the hands of parents, to chose where their children will get the best quality education, is where we have to go," Brandt said.

The governor and leading legislators are proposing a pay raise for state workers and public school educators of at least 4%. Taxpayers would pay for educators' individual health care premiums under a proposal from the governor.

Lawmakers also hope to sock away billions of dollars into specialized trust funds, and use future investment earnings to underwrite programs ranging from smoking cessation to highway construction.

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What Does Woke Mean in Politics?

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Provided by The Mary Sue WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - JUNE 14: Protestors march down Willis Street during a protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on June 14, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. The event in Wellington was organised in solidarity with protests in the United States following the killing of an unarmed black man George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Every quarter, researchers at the Oxford English Dictionary survey the landscape and add new words to what is considered the standard dictionary by which we should abide. One of the words added in recent years is woke, which youre no doubt familiar with, but lets talk about what it really means and where it came from.

The latest OED update occurred in September of 2022, when terms like side hustlen.U.S.colloquial(originally in African-American usage) a part-time job or occupation undertaken in addition to ones main job in order to earn extra income)were added, and updates to words like influencern. A well-known or prominent person who uses the internet or social media to promote or generate interest in products, often for paymentwere implemented.

While there are many conflicting ideas as to whether or not slang belongs in the official dictionary, there is a clear process for how these words are added. The vigorous vetting process can see hundreds to thousands of words considered every quarter, and the underlying criteria are usage and consensusbut we have to remain cognizant of usage by whom.

Side hustle, for example, is a term thats been used in the Black community for decades, but was only added to the dictionary this year. Is that an inherent problem on its own? No, but it must be noted that when other communities besides Black people started using the term, only then was it deemed valid enough. This comes on the heels of people misappropriating African American Vernacular English (AAVE), as internet slang on TikTok to the point where Henry Louis Gates Jr. will be tackling an Official AAVE Dictionary With Oxford Dictionary.

Interesting, but were here to talk about woke.

woke, adjective: Originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice; frequently instay woke.

Though created nearly 100 hundred years ago by Black Americans to warn each other about racist violence, the word is now mainly used derisively by conservative voices who oppose the emancipation of marginalized groups.

Woke was one of the words added to the OED in 2017, and you would think that being alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice would be a good thing, but conservatives and Republicans have not had a good nights rest since. I would, in turn, make the argument that the word itself has undergone such an intense shift since 2017 that its due to for an update.

Prior to 2014, if you asked a person outside of the Black community what that word meant, theyd have no clue. Woke, as a political concept, came into mainstream consciousness in 2014, largely connected to Ferguson and the killing of Mike Brown. In that instance, stay woke become linked to the Black Lives Matter Movement and police brutality, but in actuality, the word has been used to refer to some level of Black consciousness since the 20th century.

The earliest documented contemporary reference comes from Jamaican political activist and philosopher Marcus Garvey, in 1923, through a collection of ideas in which he urged the black diaspora to Wake Up! and have a degree of social and political awareness Garvey. The word then popped back up in a 1938 song called Scottsboro Boys by Blues musician Lead Belly. It described how a group of nine Black teenagers where accused of raping two white women in 1931. In the song, Belly directly uses stay woke as an call for Black Americans to be aware of white supremacists amongst them.

The term emerged once again in a 1962 piece published by The New York Times, written by William Melvin Kelly, entitled If Youre Woke You Dig It; No mickey mouse can be expected to follow todays Negro idiom without a hip assist. If Youre Woke You Dig It. The piece does not not give a definition of woke but rather examines the role language plays in the discourse.

The piece speaks to the ever shifting nature of Black vernacular, and being woke must include gatekeeping Black English from white audiences that would choose to exploit itand so said so done. An AAVE dictionary might sound like a good idea in theory, but with the amount of people that often misuse and appropriate it on social media, they might have to put a bit more thought into that one, because not everything should be accessible to the masses.

In one of his seminars, Kelly said, I would say there were two languages that were created by African Americans. One that is being created so that African people could communicate with European people and another language for African people to communicate with other African people. I imagine that at that point, English was the common language that we were using. So, OK, we would use English words, but we use them in an African way. That process takes a long time Its a question that African Americans will have to answer. Do we let it die out and learn standard English, or do we keep them both and develop a language and literature in both?

Though the loose idea can be traced back to Garvey, its contemporary usage stems from Kelly, which is why in 2014 the OED credited him with the coining of the term as its used today. According to Kelly, Black Americans have always had to engage with coded language since slavery to protect themselves and to communicate with one another. If your master did not know what you were talking about, he could not punish you, and you could maintain your ignorance and innocence.

With the advent of social media and speed at which information travels, it seems like this mindset is on its way to being obsolete.

The the most literal form of the wordslang for trying not to sleepspread through Black jazz music in the 60s, but its political meaning was once again brought to the forefront by Erykha Badus rendition of Master Teacher, originally sung by Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Even if yo baby aint got no money

To support ya baby, you

(I stay woke)

Even when the preacher tell you some lies

And cheatin on ya mama, you stay woke

(I stay woke)

Even though you go through struggle and strife

To keep a healthy life, I stay woke

(I stay woke)

Everybody knows a black or white, theres

Creatures in every shape and size

(I stay woke)

Thus began its use on social media, as #staywoke in conjunction with #blacklivesmatter.

The term blew into the mainstream mainstream with Jordan Peeles Get Out, the opening of which features the hit Redbone by Childish Gambino. On the surface, the song references a cheating partner, but when played in the context of a film like Get Out, where the main character has to literally stay awake in order to mitigate white violence, the track harkens back to the political side of the coin.

As with many things, when something starts to gain popularity, its detractors will be waiting in the wings. Once presented to a white audience, it wasnt long before critics began to take shots at woke culture and misrepresenting a term that originated from the protection of Black people into cancel culture. Some people viewed the term as performative, nothing but a Twitter hashtag that had no real bearing on the outsidean uninformed opinion, but one that spread like wildfire, as they often do.

Before long, cries about the woke mob (a leftist entity designed to tear down the lives of conservativessarcasm, if you didnt catch it) began to overshadow the original meaning. Suddenly, people everywhere were petrified of being canceled by said mob, which leads me to a tangent.

Cancel, another Black term that was co-opted, bastardized, and turned into a culture, is wokes fraternal twin. Cancel Culture generally refers to the ending of ones career through people getting angry on Twitter. (Theres that sarcasm again.) This usually happens when some aspect of said persons personality is brought to light, e.g. racism, homophobia, or transphobia. Im pretty sure youve already heard it, but if not, heres for the people in the back: Cancel Culture doesnt exist.

Someone getting rightfully called out for bigoted comments isnt canceling them; its holding them accountable and, in most cases, it doesnt mean anything. J.K. Rowling comes out every two business days to remind us of how transphobic she is, and shes still a billionaire and able to publish books just fine, and Netflix told us how they feel about Dave Chapelles transphobia, as well. If anything, its the marginalized communities that speak up who end up loosing things.

And when it comes to powerful people that have been actually canceled with the help of social media, its only some sexual predators, i.e. Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby. Why would you want either of those people back?

The battle over the word woke is about more than language or a simple misunderstanding. Its a right-wing dog whistle to stifle discussion about institutional injustice. At the end of the day, all of this leads back to racism and anti-blackness. It was once called PC Culture, but in the contemporary discourse, wokeness has become inextricable from blackness. Therefore, when conservative pundits are fear-mongering over cancel culture and the woke mob, the dog whistles can be heard from a mile away. Today, woke is already seen as cringe by non-Black progressives, while its still being used in some Black communities in the hopes of restoring its original meaningwhile, as Kelly said, theres already something new to replace it.

(featured image via CNN)

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What Does Woke Mean in Politics?

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Richard Barnett expected to testify in his trial – KATV

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Richard Barnett expected to testify in his trial  KATV

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Belarus coach who removed sprinter from Olympics charged

Posted: at 12:55 am

The Belarusian track coach who tried to force a sprinter to return home from the Tokyo Olympics after she was critical of the team has been charged with breaching the sport's integrity standards.

The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees disciplinary actions in track and field, announced the charges against Yury Maisevich on Thursday, alleging he broke rules in the sport's integrity code of conduct involving honesty, dignity and protecting reputation.

The charges stem from the ouster of 200-meter sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who went on social media during the Olympics to question why she had been entered in the 4x400 relay without her knowledge, the AIU said.

Coaches decided to send her home. As she was being guided through the Tokyo airport by team officials, Tsimanouskaya spoke on the phone to her grandmother, who told her of the backlash against her from state-run media at home, where President Alexander Lukashenko's government cracked down on dissent.

Tsimanouskaya sought help from police, who were able to take her away from the Belarusian officials. She ended up traveling to Poland on a humanitarian visa.

Four days after the episode, the IOC revoked credentials for Maisevich and another coach, Artur Shimak. Shimak was not charged in Thursday's AIU release.

The AIU alleges that, in respect of these circumstances of Tsimanouskayas removal from the Olympic Games, Maisevich did not act with integrity and acted in bad faith; failed to safeguard the athletes dignity and his actions constituted verbal and mental harassment; and that he brought athletics generally into disrepute," the release said.

The AIU did not explain what, exactly, the charges meant, what sort of hearing would be held or what the possible penalties were if Maisevich is found to have broken the rules.

Tsimanouskaya, 26, has gained Polish citizenship and has said she hopes to compete for that country at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Belarus coach who removed sprinter from Olympics charged

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Milano Cortina 2026: Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

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The competition for ideas has begun: students design olympic and paralympic mascots

Milano Cortina 2026 has received the Paralympic flag from Beijing 2022. Italy has thus officially become the next host country for the Paralympic Winter Games

The new anthem for Milano Cortina is Fino all'alba, composed by the young members of the musical group La Cittadina and performed by Arisa. The song received the most votes from Italians at the Sanremo 2022 contest

Diego Menardi is part of the History of Cortina dAmpezzo. He has lived with bobsleigh since the age of 16 and embodies the passion of an area that has fallen in love with this magnificent sport since the early 20th century

She is the queen of the downhill, winning gold at Pyeongchang 2018 and silver at Beijing 2022. A three-time World Cup winner, she suffered several injuries but always got back up stronger than before. Let's find out some fun facts about this extraordinary athlete

On February 5, 1956, the seventh Winter Olympic Games came to a close in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Seventy years later, on February 6, 2026, the 25th edition of the Games will be held here again in Milan. This is why you should visit the queen of the Dolomites while waiting for Milano Cortina 2026

JOIN THE DIGITAL COMMUNITY OFMILANO CORTINA 2026

Sport, Passion and Territory

This will be a particular challenge for the territories: the first Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to spread over an area of more than 22 km2. Two cities, Milan and Cortina, along with the support of two regions, Lombardy and Veneto, and two autonomous provinces, Trento and Bolzano, are joining forces to create a memorable edition of the Games. These are all the locations of the competitions and ceremonies.

Some 70 years after Cortina 1956 and 20 years after Turin 2006, the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are returning to Italy.On February 6, 2026, the curtain will rise on the Olympic Games; the date for the Paralympic Games is March 6, 2026. But the road to the Games has already begun; Milano-Cortina is already here. A new chapter in a long history of sports and passion.

Sports are at the foundation of the Milano-Cortina 2026 project. Sixteen Olympic and six Paralympic disciplines spread across 18 competition centres. Some 3,500 athletes from 93 countries will compete for a spot on the podium. The very first debut of ski mountaineering. Two million spectators are expected at the competition venues.

A LONG SPORTING HISTORY FROM CHAMONIX 1924 TO MILANO CORTINA 2026

This is the third time that Italy will host the Winter Olympics, each edition creating its own history

THE AMBASSADORS OF MILANO CORTINA 2026

A team of national and international testimonials will promote the Olympic and Paralympic values and support the initiatives of Milano Cortina 2026. Faces from the world of sport, entertainment, art, science, entrepreneurship that will bring younger generations closer to sports and will promote the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines, as well as the excellence of the territories of our country.

THE MILANO CORTINA 2026 FOUNDATION

The Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation was established on December 9, 2019. It will carry out all the organizational, promotional and communication activities for the sporting and cultural events related to the staging of the XXV Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

WORLDWIDE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC PARTNERS

OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC PARTNERS

OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC WEBSITES

NEXT OLYMPICS AND PARALYMPICS

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6 individuals from the Carolinas to participate in Special Olympics World Games in Berlin – WCNC.com

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Russia-Ukraine war updates for Jan.18, 2023 – cnbc.com

Posted: at 12:53 am

Wed, Jan 18 20239:43 PM EST

A Twitter account operated by the Russian Embassy in Sweden on Wednesday posted an image of Europe which identifies Crimeashown at the lower rightas part of Ukraine.

Twitter / Russian Embassy, SWE / Forum Mapping HU.

A Twitter account operated by the Russian Embassy in Swedenposted a map identifying Crimea as part of Ukraine.

Officially, Moscow claims Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula that extends into the Black Sea, as part of Russia. Crimea was seized from Ukraine when Russia invaded the region in March 2014.

Ted Kemp

Wed, Jan 18 20235:29 PM EST

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing on "Department of Defense's Budget Requests for FY2023", on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 7, 2022.

Sarah Silbiger | Reuters

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Berlin, where he will meet with his new German counterpart Boris Pistorius.

The two are expected to hold a joint press conference.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholznamed Pistorius as Germany's next defense minister on Tuesday after Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday. Lambrecht had previously faced criticism for her handling of the slow supply of offensive weapons to Ukraine.

Amanda Macias

Wed, Jan 18 20234:43 PM EST

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi talks to media in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 18, 2023. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) finalized the stationing of permanent missions at 3 Ukrainian nuclear power plants: Rivne, Chornobyl and Pivdennoukrainska NPPs.

Sergii Kharchenko | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The International Atomic Energy Agency is placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraine's nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of severe accidents as Russia's war against the country rages on, agency head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday.

The IAEA, which is affiliated with the United Nations, already has a permanent presence at Ukraine's and Europe's largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia that is held by Russian forces.

The IAEA's permanent presence at all of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, with at least 11 staff in total, marks an unprecedented expansion for the agency. IAEA technicians will also be at Chernobyl, the now-closed nuclear plant that was the site of a deadly nuclear accident in 1986 that spread fallout over much of Europe.

"From tomorrow, there will be two flags at all of the nuclear facilities in Ukraine; one of Ukraine and the second of the international nuclear agency," Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a joint press conference with Grossi at the government headquarters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Associated Press

Wed, Jan 18 20234:07 PM EST

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that his company's segment in Kyiv was not concerned with profitability because the popular ride sharing app was helping to save lives.

"They are risking their lives there getting doctors to hospitals, teachers getting to school transporting refugees and getting winter supplies to families in need," Khosrowshahi told CNBC during an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Khosrowshahi said that he recently visited Kyiv to see how Uber, which has been operating in the country since 2016, was contributing to Ukrainians' daily lives as Russia's war continues.

"There is a lot more work to be done," he added.

Amanda Macias

Wed, Jan 18 20233:16 PM EST

A cargo ship carrying Ukrainian grain, and another originating from Ukraine, sail at the entrance of Bosphorus, in the Black Sea off the coast off Kumkoy, north of Istanbul, on November 2, 2022.

Ozan Kose | AFP | Getty Images

Two vessels carrying 64,200 metric tons of grain and other food products have left Ukrainian ports, the organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from the country said.

One ship is destined for Germany and is carrying rapeseed. The other vessel is headed to Libya with corn.

TheBlack Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July among Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia's naval blockade and saw three key Ukrainian ports reopen.

So far, more than 660 ships have sailed from Ukrainian ports.

Amanda Macias

Wed, Jan 18 20232:37 PM EST

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson waits for the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry for a meeting on the situation in Syria at Lancaster House on October 16, 2016 in London, England.

Justin Tallis | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko presented former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with an "honorary citizen of the city of Kyiv" award.

"Boris repeatedly visited the Ukrainian capital - both in peace and in the most dramatic time of our struggle against the Russian aggressor.As Prime Minister of Great Britain, Johnson did everything possible to help Ukraine," Klitschko said.

Johnson, who was one of the first world leaders to visit Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv following Russia's invasion, quickly became one of the most visible Western supporters of Ukraine. He resigned from the prime minister post in July.

Amanda Macias

Wed, Jan 18 20231:53 PM EST

The helicopter crashed near a kindergarten in Brovary, Kyiv.

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden expressed their condolences to the families of those killed in the helicopter crash in Ukraine.

"Our hearts are also with the dozens of civilians who were killed or injured, including precious children, and their families," the first couple wrote in a statement.

The Bidens highlighted the work of Denys Monastyrsky, Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, who was killed in the crash along with several other Ukrainian officials.

The Bidens called him a "reformer and patriot," and said he "championed the will of the Ukrainian people."

"We will continue to honor that legacy through efforts to strengthen Ukraine's institutions, and in our unfailing partnership with the people of Ukraine to keep the flame of freedom bright," the Bidens wrote.

Amanda Macias

Wed, Jan 18 20231:19 PM EST

A fire engulfed a CHP power station hit by Russian missile on October 10, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Russia is preparing for an extended war so NATO must get ready "for the long haul" and support Ukraine for as long as it takes, the alliance's deputy secretary general told top military chiefs from across Europe.

Speaking at the opening of the military chiefs' meeting in Brussels, Mircea Geoana said NATO nations must invest more in defense, ramp up military industrial manufacturing and harness new technologies to prepare for future wars.

As Russia's war on Ukraine nears the one-year mark, NATO chiefs are expected to discuss how allies can expand the delivery of weapons, training and support to Ukraine in the coming months, and how they can further shore up their own defenses.

"We have no indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin's goals have changed," said Geoana, adding that Russia has mobilized more than 200,000 additional troops. "So we must be prepared for the long haul. 2023 will be a difficult year and we need to support Ukraine for as long as it takes."

Associated Press

Wed, Jan 18 202312:26 PM EST

"Mobilization of the world must outpace a next military mobilization of our joint enemy," Zelenskyy said via videoconference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that Western countries should send tanks before Russia's next offensive.

His comments come as analysts fear the Kremlin could soon launch a new mobilization drive and once again pile the pressure on the country's Western allies to deliver heavily armored vehicles to Kyiv.

Speaking via videoconference, Zelenskyy said, "Mobilization of the world must outpace a next military mobilization of our joint enemy."

"The supplying of Ukraine with air defense systems must outpace Russia's next missile attacks. The supplies of Western tanks must outpace another invasion of Russian tanks," he added.

Read the full story here.

Sam Meredith

Wed, Jan 18 202311:39 AM EST

In this file photo an Australian Open branded tennis ball is seen on court ahead of the 2015 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 11, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia.

Graham Denholm | Getty Images

Flags fromRussia and Belaruswere banned from the site of theAustralian Openafter more than one was brought into the stands by spectators on Day 1 of the year's first Grand Slam tournament.

Normally, flags can be displayed during matches at Melbourne Park. But Tennis Australia reversed that policy for thetwo countries involved in the invasion of Ukrainethat began nearly a year ago.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus were barred from competing at Wimbledon and team events such as the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup last year because of the war in Ukraine.

Associated Press

Wed, Jan 18 202310:50 AM EST

Rescuers carry the body of a dead person during a missile attack by the Russian army in Dnipro.

Sergei Chuzavkov | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov said the death toll from a Russian missile strike on a residential building has risen to 45 people.

Filatov said that at least 17 people remain missing in Dnipro and 12 bodies have not been identified, according to an NBC News translation. Another 25 people are recovering in the hospital.

Amanda Macias

Wed, Jan 18 202310:11 AM EST

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for announcing a new security package for his country, which includes armored personnel carriers.

"Today the Ukrainian army needs 200 Senator APCs more than ever. Together we are moving towards victory," Zelenskyy wrote in a tweet.

Anita Anand, Canada's defense minister, during a news conference with Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov, during a news conference at the Military Press Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023.

Ethan Swope | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand met with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv and said that Ottawa would buy a U.S. air defense system and donate it to Ukraine.

Amanda Macias

Wed, Jan 18 20239:30 AM EST

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that victory in the war in Ukraine was "inevitable" while NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Putin must realize he cannot win on the battlefield.

Speaking to workers at a weapons factory in St. Petersburg, Putin said "victory is assured, I have no doubt about it," state news agency Tass reported. Putin made the comments on the same day on which he commemorated the 80th anniversary of Soviet forces breaking the Nazi siege of Leningrad (modern-day St. Petersburg, Putin's hometown).

In this screen shot made on Ocober 12, 2022 French president Emmanuel Macron (R) speaks during an interview in front of pictures of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty Images

Meanwhile, NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg commented Wednesday that we have reached a "pivotal moment" in the war.

"President Putin has shown no sign of preparing for peace and therefore he must realize he cannot win on battlefield. This is a pivotal moment in the war and the need for a significant increase in support for Ukraine," Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"If we want a negotiated peaceful solution tomorrow we need to provide more weapons today."

Holly Ellyatt

Wed, Jan 18 20239:17 AM EST

The IEA's Birol said that prior to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, "Russia was the number one energy exporter to the world."

Natalia Kolesnikova | Afp | Getty Images

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A timeline of Ukraine’s history : NPR

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Demonstrators wave Ukrainian flags as they gather in central Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, on Oct. 6, 2019, to protest against broader autonomy for separatist territories. Protesters chanted, "No to surrender!" and some held placards critical of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Police said the crowd swelled to around 10,000 people. Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Demonstrators wave Ukrainian flags as they gather in central Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, on Oct. 6, 2019, to protest against broader autonomy for separatist territories. Protesters chanted, "No to surrender!" and some held placards critical of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Police said the crowd swelled to around 10,000 people.

As Russian forces begin an all-out assault on Ukraine after months of troop buildup and failed diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and its European allies to head off conflict, the situation for Kyiv is the most high-stakes in the country's 30-year history.

Since breaking from the Soviet Union, Ukraine has wavered between the influences of Moscow and the West, surviving scandal and conflict with its democracy intact.

Now it faces its biggest test as Russia threatens its very existence as an independent country.

Since the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, many Ukrainians have turned away from Moscow and toward the West, with popular support on the rise for joining Western alliances such as NATO and the European Union.

But along the country's eastern border with Russia, separatists backed by Moscow took control of two regions in 2014. Violence in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 14,000 people in the years since, according to International Crisis Group research. Russia's recognition of the two regions' independence set the stage for moving its troops into Ukraine.

Read on to understand how Ukraine came to where it is today.

1989 and 1990

Anti-communist protests sweep central and Eastern Europe, starting in Poland and spreading throughout the Soviet bloc. In Ukraine, January 1990 sees more than 400,000 people joining hands in a human chain stretching some 400 miles from the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk to Kyiv, the capital, in the north-central part of Ukraine. Many wave the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag that had been banned under Soviet rule.

Representatives of the Ukrainian Catholic Church protest the visit of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexi II to Kyiv on Oct. 29, 1990. Efrem Lucatsky/AP hide caption

July 16, 1990

The Rada, the new Ukrainian parliament formed out of the previous Soviet legislature, votes to declare independence from the Soviet Union. Authorities recall Ukrainian soldiers from other parts of the USSR and vote to shut down the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine.

1991

Following a failed coup in Moscow, the Ukrainian parliament declares independence a second time on Aug. 24, a date that is still celebrated as Ukraine's official Independence Day. In December, Ukrainians vote to make their independence official when they approve the declaration by a landslide 92% of votes in favor. The Soviet Union officially dissolves on Dec. 26.

Ukrainians demonstrate in front of the Communist Party's Central Committee headquarters in Kyiv on Aug. 25, 1991, the day after Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Anatoly Sapronenko/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

1992

As NATO allies contemplate adding central and Eastern European members for the first time, Ukraine formally establishes relations with the alliance, though it does not join. NATO's secretary-general visits Kyiv, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk visits NATO headquarters in Brussels.

December 1994

After the Soviet Union's collapse, Ukraine is left with the world's third-largest nuclear stockpile. In a treaty called the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine agrees to trade away its intercontinental ballistic missiles, warheads and other nuclear infrastructure in exchange for guarantees that the three other treaty signatories the U.S., the U.K. and Russia will "respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine."

President Bill Clinton (from left), Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk join hands in 1994 after signing a nuclear disarmament agreement. Under the agreement, Ukraine, the world's third-largest nuclear power at the time, said it would turn all its strategic nuclear arms over to Russia for destruction. Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

1994 to 2004

In 10 years as president, Leonid Kuchma helps transition Ukraine from a Soviet republic to a capitalist society, privatizing businesses and working to improve international economic opportunities. But in 2000, his presidency is rocked by scandal over audio recordings that reveal he ordered the death of a journalist. He remains in power about four more years.

2004

The presidential election pits Kuchma's incumbent party led by his hand-picked successor, Viktor Yanukovych, and supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin against a popular pro-democracy opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko.

In the final months of the campaign, Yushchenko falls mysteriously ill, is disfigured and is confirmed by doctors to have been poisoned.

Yanukovych wins the election amid accusations of rigging. Massive protests follow, and the public outcry becomes known as the Orange Revolution. After a third vote, Yushchenko prevails.

Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-Western hero of the Orange Revolution, became the third president of an independent Ukraine. Yulia Tymoshenko (left) became prime minister. Maxim Marmur/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

January 2005

Yushchenko takes office as president, with Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister.

2008

Following efforts by Yushchenko and Tymoshenko to bring Ukraine into NATO, the two formally request in January that Ukraine be granted a "membership action plan," the first step in the process of joining the alliance.

U.S. President George W. Bush supports Ukraine's membership, but France and Germany oppose it after Russia voices displeasure.

In April, NATO responds with a compromise: It promises that Ukraine will one day be a member of the alliance but does not put it on a specific path for how to do so.

An employee of the state-owned Russian natural gas company Gazprom works at the central control room of the company's headquarters in Moscow on Jan. 14, 2009. Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

January 2009

On Jan. 1, Gazprom, the state-owned Russian gas company, suddenly stops pumping natural gas to Ukraine, following months of politically fraught negotiations over gas prices. Because Eastern and central European countries rely on pipelines through Ukraine to receive gas imports from Russia, the gas crisis quickly spreads beyond Ukraine's borders.

Under international pressure to resolve the crisis, Tymoshenko negotiates a new deal with Putin, and gas flows resume on Jan. 20. Much of Europe still relies on Russian gas today.

2010

Yanukovych is elected president in February. He says Ukraine should be a "neutral state," cooperating with both Russia and Western alliances like NATO.

2011

Ukrainian prosecutors open criminal investigations into Tymoshenko, alleging corruption and misuse of government resources. In October, a court finds her guilty of "abuse of power" during the 2009 negotiations with Russia over the gas crisis and sentences her to seven years in prison, prompting concerns in the West that Ukrainian leaders are persecuting political opponents.

Anti-government protesters guard the perimeter of Independence Square, known as Maidan, in Kyiv on Feb. 19, 2014. Protesters were calling for the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych over corruption and an abandoned trade agreement with the European Union. Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images hide caption

November 2013 through February 2014

Just days before it is to be signed, Yanukovych announces that he will refuse to sign an association agreement with the European Union to bring Ukraine into a free trade agreement. He cites pressure from Russia as a reason for his decision.

The announcement sparks huge protests across Ukraine the largest since the Orange Revolution calling for Yanukovych to resign. Protesters begin camping out in Kyiv's Maidan, also known as Independence Square, and occupy government buildings, including Kyiv's city hall and the justice ministry.

In late February, violence between police and protesters leaves more than 100 dead in the single bloodiest week in Ukraine's post-Soviet history.

Ahead of a scheduled impeachment vote on Feb. 22, Yanukovych flees, eventually arriving in Russia. Ukraine's parliament votes unanimously to remove Yanukovych and install an interim government, which announces it will sign the EU agreement and votes to free Tymoshenko from prison.

The new government charges Yanukovych with mass murder of the Maidan protesters and issues a warrant for his arrest.

Russia declares that the change in Ukraine's government is an illegal coup. Almost immediately, armed men appear at checkpoints and facilities in the Crimean Peninsula. Putin at first denies they are Russian soldiers but later admits it.

Anti-government protesters clash with police in Kyiv's Maidan despite a truce agreed between the Ukrainian president and opposition leaders on Feb. 20, 2014. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images hide caption

March 2014

With Russian troops in control of the peninsula, the Crimean parliament votes to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. A public referendum follows, with 97% of voters favoring secession, although the results are disputed.

Putin finalizes the Russian annexation of Crimea in a March 18 announcement to Russia's parliament. In response, the U.S. and allies in Europe impose sanctions on Russia. They have never recognized Russia's annexation. It remains the only time that a European nation has used military force to seize the territory of another since World War II.

April 2014

With some 40,000 Russian troops gathered on Ukraine's eastern border, violence breaks out in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas violence that continues to this day. Russian-supported separatist forces storm government buildings in two eastern regions, Donetsk and Luhansk. They declare independence from Ukraine as the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, though they remain internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Russia denies that its troops are on Ukrainian soil, but Ukrainian officials insist otherwise.

A man holds a Crimean flag in front of the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol, Ukraine, on March 17, 2014. People in Crimea overwhelmingly voted to secede from Ukraine during a referendum vote on March 16, 2014, and the Crimean parliament declared independence and formally asked Russia to annex Crimea. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images hide caption

May 2014

The pro-West politician Petro Poroshenko, a former government minister and head of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine, is elected Ukraine's president. He promotes reform, including measures to address corruption and lessen Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy and financial support.

Sept. 5, 2014

Representatives from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany meet in Belarus to attempt to negotiate an end to the violence in the Donbas. They sign the first Minsk agreement, a deal between Ukraine and Russia to quiet the violence under a fragile cease-fire. The cease-fire soon breaks, and fighting continues into the new year.

Ukrainian troops train with small arms on March 13, 2015, outside Mariupol, Ukraine. The Minsk II cease-fire agreement, which continued to hold despite being violated more than 1,000 times, was nearing the one-month mark. Andrew Burton/Getty Images hide caption

February 2015

The Minsk group meets again in Belarus to find a more successful agreement to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine, resulting in the Minsk II agreement. It too has been unsuccessful at ending the violence. From 2014 through today, more than 14,000 people have been killed, tens of thousands wounded and more than a million displaced.

Together, the annexation of Crimea and the Russian-backed violence in the east have pushed Ukrainian public sentiment toward the West, strengthening interest in joining NATO and the EU.

2016 and 2017

As fighting in the Donbas continues, Russia repeatedly strikes at Ukraine in a series of cyberattacks, including a 2016 attack on Kyiv's power grid that causes a major blackout. In 2017, a large-scale assault affects key Ukrainian infrastructure, including the National Bank of Ukraine and the country's electrical grid. (Cyberattacks from Russia have continued through the present; the latest major attack targeted government websites in January 2022.)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy greets lawmakers during the solemn opening and first sitting of the new parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, in Kyiv on Aug. 29, 2019. Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

2019

In April, comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy is elected president in a landslide rebuke of Poroshenko and the status quo, which includes a stagnating economy and the conflict with Russia.

During his campaign, Zelenskyy vowed to make peace with Russia and end the war in the Donbas.

His early efforts to reach a solution to the violence are slowed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who briefly blocks U.S. military aid to Ukraine and suggests to Zelenskyy that he should instead work with Putin to resolve the crisis.

In a phone call with Trump in July 2019, Zelenskyy requests a visit to the White House to meet with Trump about U.S. backing of Ukraine's efforts to push off Russia. Trump asks Zelenskyy for "a favor": an investigation into energy company Burisma and the Bidens. A White House whistleblower complains, leading to Trump's first impeachment in December 2019.

Several U.S. officials later testify that Zelenskyy was close to announcing such an investigation, though he ultimately demurs, saying Ukrainians are "tired" of Burisma.

Russian troops take part in drills at the Kadamovskiy firing range in the Rostov region of southern Russia on Dec. 14, 2021. AP hide caption

April

Russia sends about 100,000 troops to Ukraine's borders, ostensibly for military exercises. Although few analysts believe an invasion is imminent, Zelenskyy urges NATO leadership to put Ukraine on a timeline for membership. Later that month, Russia says it will withdraw the troops, but tens of thousands remain.

August

Two years after his entanglement with Trump, Zelenskyy visits the White House to meet with President Biden. Biden emphasizes that the U.S. is committed to "Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression" but repeats that Ukraine has not yet met the conditions necessary to join NATO.

November

Russia renews its troop presence near the Ukraine-Russia border, alarming U.S. intelligence officials, who travel to Brussels to brief NATO allies on the situation. "We're not sure exactly what Mr. Putin is up to, but these movements certainly have our attention," says U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Russian troops take part in drills at the Kadamovskiy firing range in the Rostov region of southern Russia on Dec. 14, 2021. AP hide caption

December

Biden, speaking with Putin on a phone call, urges Russia not to invade Ukraine, warning of "real costs" if Russia does so.

Putin issues a contentious set of security demands. Among them, he asks NATO to permanently bar Ukraine from membership and withdraw forces stationed in countries that joined the alliance after 1997, including Romania and Balkan countries. Putin also demands a written response from the U.S. and NATO.

January

Leaders and diplomats from the U.S., Russia and European countries meet repeatedly to avert a crisis. In early January, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov tells U.S. officials that Russia has no plans to invade Ukraine.

The State Department orders the families of embassy staff to leave Ukraine on Jan. 23. NATO places forces on standby the next day, including the U.S. ordering 8,500 troops in the United States to be ready to deploy.

Representatives from the U.S. and NATO deliver their written responses to Putin's demands on Jan. 26. In the responses, officials say they cannot bar Ukraine from joining NATO, but they signal a willingness to negotiate over smaller issues like arms control.

French President Emmanuel Macron (right) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Feb. 7, 2022, for talks in an effort to find common ground on Ukraine and NATO. Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

February

Diplomatic efforts pick up pace across Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz travel between Moscow and Kyiv. Biden orders the movement of 1,000 U.S. troops from Germany to Romania and the deployment of 2,000 additional U.S. troops to Poland and Germany.

Russia and Belarus begin joint military exercises on Feb. 10, with some 30,000 Russian troops stationed in the country along Ukraine's northern border.

The U.S. and the U.K. urge their citizens to leave Ukraine on Feb. 11. Biden announces the deployment of another 2,000 troops from the U.S. to Poland.

In mid-February, the fighting escalates between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the two eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Separatist leaders call for evacuations. "In our view, what is happening in Donbas today is, in fact, genocide," says Putin on Feb. 15 a false claim that Western officials say Putin is using to create a pretext for an invasion.

Russia continues to build its troop presence on its border with Ukraine. Estimates range from 150,000 to 190,000 troops. U.S. officials, including Biden, increase the urgency of their warnings, saying that Russia has decided to invade.

On Feb. 21, Putin formally recognizes the independence of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic including territory claimed by separatists but controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces. He orders Russia's military to deploy troops there under the guise of a "peacekeeping" mission.

In response, Biden declares the move "the beginning of a Russian invasion." Together, the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union enact a broad set of sanctions targeting Russian banks and oligarchs.

On Feb. 24, Russian forces launch a devastating assault on Ukrainian territory the largest such military operation in Europe since the end of World War II. Missiles rain down on Ukraine's cities and columns of Russian troops from neighboring Belarus and from Russian-held Crimea reportedly begin streaming into the countryside. Ukrainian forces reportedly try to hold back the Russian advance on several fronts.

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A timeline of Ukraine's history : NPR

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Ukraine – History | Britannica

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Prehistory

From prehistoric times, migration and settlement patterns in the territories of present-day Ukraine varied fundamentally along the lines of three geographic zones. The Black Sea coast was for centuries in the sphere of the contemporary Mediterranean maritime powers. The open steppe, funneling from the east across southern Ukraine and toward the mouth of the Danube River, formed a natural gateway to Europe for successive waves of nomadic horsemen from Central Asia. And the mixed forest-steppe and forest belt of north-central and western Ukraine supported an agricultural population (most notably the Trypillya culture of the mid-5th to 3rd millennia bce), linked by waterways to northern and central Europe. The marshlands of these zones were frequent areas of both military conflict and cultural transmission.

Beginning in the 7th6th centuries bce, numerous Greek colonies were founded on the northern coast of the Black Sea, on the Crimean Peninsula, and along the Sea of Azov; these Hellenic outposts later came under the hegemony of the Roman Empire (see ancient Greek civilization; ancient Rome). During the 1st millennium bce the steppe hinterland was occupied successively by the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians. These peoples, all of Iranian stock, maintained commercial and cultural relations with the Greek colonies.

A period of great migrations began with the descent of the Goths from the Baltic region into Ukraine about 200 ce. They displaced the Sarmatians, but their own power was broken about 375 by the invading Huns from the east, who were followed in the 5th6th centuries by the Bulgars and Avars. Between the 7th and 9th centuries, the Ukrainian steppe formed part of the Turkic Khazar mercantile empire, which was centred on the lower Volga River. Khazar control of the steppe was breached in the late 9th century by the Magyars (Hungarians). The Pechenegs, who followed, dominated much of southern Ukraine in the 10th and 11th centuries, and they were in turn succeeded by the Polovtsians (Cumans). Throughout this period of nomadic invasions, only a few of the Greek settlements on the Crimean Peninsula, notably Chersonesus (see Tauric Chersonese), maintained a precarious existence, relying on the support of the Byzantine Empire.

In the meantime, under the impact of Germanic migrations, the movement of Slavic tribes from their primordial homeland north of the Carpathians began in the 5th and 6th centuries. While some Slavs migrated westward and others south into the Balkans, the East Slavs occupied the forest and forest-steppe regions of what are now western and north-central Ukraine and southern Belarus; they expanded farther north and to the northeast into territories of the future Russian state centred on Moscow. The East Slavs practiced agriculture and animal husbandry, engaged in such domestic industries as cloth making and ceramics, and built fortified settlements, many of which later developed into important commercial and political centres. Among such early settlements was Kyiv (Kiev), on the high right (western) bank of the Dnieper River.

The formation of the Kyivan state that began in the mid-9th century, the role of the Varangians (Vikings) in this process, and the name Rus by which this state came to be known are all matters of controversy among historians. It is clear, however, that this formation was connected with developments in international trade and the new prominence of the Dnieper route from the Baltic to Byzantium, on which Kyiv was strategically sited. Trade along this route was controlled by Varangian merchant-warriors, and from their ranks came the progenitors of the Kyivan princes, who were, however, soon Slavicized. In the early chronicles the Varangians were also called Rus, and this corporate name became a territorial designation for the Kyivan regionthe basic territory of the Rus; later, by extension, it was applied to the entire territory ruled by members of the Kyivan dynasty.

By the end of the 10th century, the Kyivan domain covered a vast area from the edge of the open steppe in Ukraine as far north as Lake Ladoga and the upper Volga basin. Like other medieval states, it did not develop central political institutions but remained a loose aggregation of principalities ruling what was a dynastic clan enterprise. Kyiv reached its apogee in the reigns of Volodymyr the Great (Vladimir I) and his son Yaroslav I (the Wise). In 988 Volodymyr adopted Christianity as the religion of his realm and had the inhabitants of Kyiv baptized. Rus entered the orbit of Byzantine (later, Orthodox) Christianity and culture. A church hierarchy was established, headed (at least since 1037) by the metropolitan of Kyiv, who was usually appointed by the patriarch of Constantinople. With the new religion came new forms of architecture, art, and music, a written language (Old Church Slavonic), and the beginnings of a literary culture. All these were vigorously promoted by Yaroslav, who also promulgated a code of laws, the first in Slavdom. Although Byzantium and the steppe remained his main preoccupations in external policy, Yaroslav maintained friendly relations with European rulers, with whom he established marital alliances for his progeny.

Following Yaroslavs death, Kyiv entered a long period of decline, only briefly stemmed in the 12th century under Volodymyr II Monomakh (Vladimir II Monomakh). Shifts in trade routes undermined Kyivs economic importance, while warfare with the Polovtsians in the steppe sapped its wealth and energies. Succession struggles and princely rivalries eroded Kyivs political hegemony. The ascendancy of new centres and the clustering of principalities around them reflected regional cleavageshistorical, economic, and tribal ethnicthat had persisted even in the period of Kyivs predominance. These differences were accentuated by the Mongol-Tatar invasions that began in the 1220s and culminated in the devastating sack of Kyiv in 1240.

The territory that largely coincides with modern Belarus, with Polotsk as the most important centre, was one such emerging region. The land of Novgorod to its north was another. In the northeast, Vladimir-Suzdal (and later Moscow) formed the core from which developed the future Russian state (see also Grand Principality of Moscow). On Ukrainian territory, in the southwestern part of Rus, Galicia-Volhynia emerged as the leading principality.

Volodymyr (modern Volodymyr-Volynskyy) in Volhynia had been an important princely seat in Kyivan Rus, and Galicia, with its seat at Halych, on the Dniester River, became a principality in the 12th century. In 1199 the two principalities were united by Prince Roman Mstyslavych to form a powerful and rich state that at times included the domains of Kyiv. Galicia-Volhynia reached its highest eminence under Romans son Danylo (Daniel Romanovich). New cities were founded, most importantly Lviv; tradeespecially with Poland and Hungary, as well as Byzantiumbrought considerable prosperity; and culture flourished, with marked new influences from the West. In 1253 Danylo (in a bid for aid from the West) even accepted the royal crown from Pope Innocent IV and recognized him as head of the church, although nothing substantial came from this. Danylos reign also witnessed the rise of boyar-magnate unrest, debilitating dynastic involvements with Poland and Hungary, and the Mongol invasion of 124041. These marked the onset of Galicia-Volhynias decline, which continued until the extinction of Romans dynasty in 1340.

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