Category Archives: Putin

ST PETERSBURG: President Vladimir Putin on Sunday signed a new naval doctrine which cast the United States as Russias main rival and set out Russias global maritime ambitions for crucial areas such as the Arctic and in the Black Sea.

Speaking on Russias Navy Day in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg founded by Tsar Peter the Great, Putin praised Peter for making Russia a great sea power and increasing the global standing of the Russian state.

After inspecting the navy, Putin made a short speech in which he promised that what he touted as Russias unique Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles, cautioning that Russia had the military clout to defeat any potential aggressors.

Shortly before the speech, he signed a new 55-page naval doctrine, which sets out the broad strategic aims of Russias navy, including its ambitions as a great maritime power which extend over the entire world.

The main threat to Russia, the doctrine says, is the strategic policy of the USA to dominate the worlds oceans and the movement of the Nato military alliance closer towards Russias borders. Russia may use its military force appropriately to the situation in the worlds oceans should other soft powers, such as diplomatic and economic tools, be exhausted, the doctrine says, acknowledging that Russia does not have enough navy bases globally.

Russias priority was to develop strategic and naval cooperation with India as well as wider cooperation with Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other states in the region, according to the doctrine.

Guided by this doctrine, the Russian Federation will firmly and resolutely defend its national interests in the worlds oceans, and having sufficient maritime power will guarantee their security and protection, the document said.

Putins speech did not mention the conflict in Ukraine, but the military doctrine envisages a comprehensive strengthening of Russias geopolitical position in the Black and Azov seas. Relations between Russia and the West have undergone deepening strain during the five months of the Ukraine conflict.

The doctrine also sets out the Arctic Ocean, which the United States has repeatedly said Russia is trying to militarise, as an area of particular importance for Russia.

Russias vast 37,650 km coastline, which stretches from the Sea of Japan to the White Sea, also includes the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

Putin said the delivery of Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles to the Admiral Gorshkov frigate would begin within months. The location of their deployment would depend on Russian interests, he said.

The key thing here is the capability of the Russian navy... It is able to respond with lightning speed to all who decides to infringe on our sovereignty and freedom. Hypersonic weapons can travel at nine times the speed of sound, and Russia has conducted previous test-launches of the Zircon from warships and submarines over the past year.

In Crimea, Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said Ukrainian forces struck the headquarters of Russias Black Sea Fleet in the Russian-held port city early on Sunday, wounding five members of staff.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2022

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Putin says United States is main threat to Russia - DAWN.com

Russian forces captured the nuclear site on the first day of the invasion (Picture: Getty)

When Russian forces entered the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone on the first day of the war in Ukraine, it took them just hours to capture the 300 workers, firefighters and guards, and claim victory.

Entering Ukrainian territory from neighbouring Belarus, this was a strategic move by Vladimir Putins troops and one the Western world thought would draw up the rest of the invasion.

But now, a Reuters investigation has revealed the infamous site in Pripyat was captured so easily because of a long-standing Kremlin operation to infiltrate it with secret agents.

Apart from the external enemy, we unfortunately have an internal enemy, and this enemy is no less dangerous, said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defence Council.

By the time Russias first tanks rolled into the country, Moscow already had agents in the Ukrainian defence, security and law enforcement sectors.

Mr Danilov declined to share the names of the traitors but said they needed to be neutralised at all costs.

Court documents and testimony further show Valentin Viter, Chernobyls head of security, is currently in detention.

He is being investigated for withdrawing from his post after he allegedly ordered the plants 169 guards to surrender.

Agents have also begun a second probe into him for suspected treason but his lawyer rejects the allegations.

In a statement to investigators, Viter said that on the day of the invasion he spoke by phone with the National Guard unit commander.

He advised the commander not to endanger his unit, telling him: Spare your people.

Ukraines State Bureau of Investigation has also said it is investigating former top intelligence official, Andriy Naumov, on suspicion of treason for passing security secrets about Chernobyl to a foreign state but it is unclear if this is Russia.

A source revealed to the news agency that Russian agents were deployed to the site last year to bribe officials and prepare for the attack.

At a national level, another source warned that Putins government was counting on activating sleeper agents inside the Ukrainian security.

It is believed they were also lining up hotelier Oleg Tsaryov to lead a puppet government in Kyiv after president Volodymyr Zelensky was ousted.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.

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Putin captured Chernobyl so easily 'because it was full of Russian spies' - Metro.co.uk

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday reshuffled his top officials, naming a new head of the state space corporation and giving new broad powers to one of his top ministers.

Putin removed Dmitry Rogozin as the head of state-controlled Roscosmos space agency that oversees the country's space program and includes rocket factories, launch facilities and numerous other assets.

He replaced Rogozin with Yuri Borisov, a deputy prime minister who was in charge of weapons industries. Borisov's duties were handed over to Denis Manturov, the minister of industry and trade who was also given the rank of a deputy prime minister.

Manturov has held the ministerial job since 2012 and reportedly has Putin's favor, accompanying the Russian president on most foreign and domestic trips.

The reshuffle follows predictions of Borisov's removal from the job that he held for four years amid reported flaws and deficiencies in Russian weapons programs spotlighted by the military action in Ukraine.

Borisov acknowledged some of the shortcomings in recent comments, saying that the military industries should have been more active in developing and producing drones. I think we were late with the deployment of drones," he said in an interview with state TV.

Borisov's appointment to the important position of Roscosmos chief indicates that he hasn't completely fallen from grace despite the weapons procurement issues.

There was no immediate word on a new job for Rogozin, who had served as Roscosmos chief since 2018 and became known for his blustery anti-West rhetoric.

In the early 2000s, Rogozin led a nationalist party, winning notoriety for his anti-migrant stance, and later served as Moscow's envoy to NATO. In 2011, he was named a deputy prime minister in charge of weapons industries and space, the job he held before Putin named him Roscosmos chief.

Some Russian media speculated that Rogozin still retains Putin's favor and could be given a new senior job to oversee Moscow-controlled territories in eastern and southern Ukraine.

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Putin reshuffles top officials - ABC News

Reports continue to raise questions over Vladimir Putins health as the Ukraine war rages (AP)

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been given just three years to live by doctors, its claimed.

A growing number of unconfirmed reports alledge the 69-year-old president has cancer and that his health is deteriorating quickly.

And now an FSB officer has claimed Putin has no more than two to three years to stay alive, adding the Russian president has a severe form of rapidly progressing cancer.

Messages said to be from the unidentified Russian spy to FSB defector Boris Karpichkov also say Putin is losing his sight and suffering from headaches.

Putin is under the spotlight as the Ukraine war shows no sign of ending soon (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

We are told he is suffering from headaches and when he appears on TV he needs pieces of paper with everything written in huge letters to read what hes going to say, the Russian officer told the Sunday Mirror.

They are so big each page can only hold a couple of sentences. His eyesight is seriously worsening.

The spy added that Putins limbs are now also shaking uncontrollably.

Previous footage from earlier this year appeared to show his hand shaking, while as he also appeared to grip a table for support during a meeting broadcast in April.

Whispers about his health appear to have originated with the hugely popular Russian Telegram channel General SVR.

It claimed Mr Putins doctors have warned him the surgery might incapacitate him for a short time, and that during this period the president will briefly hand over the reins of power to an aide.

Concerns for his health grew after former UK intelligence official Christopher Steele said the Russian leader left meetings for medical treatements.

Its claimed that Putin has not been able to control his anger and frequently experiences outbursts of uncontrolled fury (AP)

Meetings of the security council that are shown to supposedly last for a whole hour are actually broken up into several sections, Mr Steele, who wrote a dossier on Donald Trump and Moscows alleged interference in the 2016 US election, told LBC radio.

Hes constantly accompanied around the place by a team of doctors.

And earlier this month an oligarch with close ties to Mr Putin was reportedly recorded saying he is very ill with blood cancer.

The unnamed Russian alleged in the recording that the president had surgery on his back shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, according to the US-based New Lines magazine.

Follow our live coverage of Ukraine-Russia news here.

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Vladimir Putin given three years to live and is losing his eyesight ...

John Sweeney, a prominent British investigative journalist who has long covered Russian President Vladimir Putin, wrote in his new book that he feels the leader looks "seriously ill" with puffy cheeks that make him resemble a hamster.

In his forthcoming book (out July 21), Killer in the Kremlin, Sweeney described changes he has noticed in Putin's demeanor and physical appearance that he said scare him. He theorized the use of steroids for Putin's changes, noting the president could have started taking the medication years ago to treat a back injury sustained after falling off a horse. According to Sweeney, this could have led to a pattern of steroid abuse, which can cause a litany of health problems, such as major organ damage and tumors.

Rumors about Putin's health have been swirling for several months. Some people have cited videos of the Russian president appearing shaky or tense as evidence that he might have Parkinson's disease, even though some medical experts have disputed such talk. In April, an investigative report from Proekt Media claimed Putin was accompanied by doctorsincluding a thyroid cancer surgeonon trips from 2016 to 2019. The report also said Putin may have undergone surgery several years ago, but it did not directly say whether he was diagnosed with cancer or any other illness.

In his book, Sweeney said steroid poisoning may be afflicting Putin.

"Is it possible that Vlad the Poisoner could have ended up poisoning himself? It is," Sweeney wrote. "He is not a well man. And that raises a question. Would Vladimir Putin, knowing that he has not long to live, kill us all?"

Sweeney described witnessing steroid abuse before in the case of a British gangster who took so much that he eventually "died when his own heart blew apart." The "hyperaggressive" nature displayed by Putin in recent months reminded the writer of the gangster's "roid rage."

Recalling a time when he encountered Putin in person while reporting for the BBC in 2014, Sweeney said the leader at that time appeared "subtle, supple" and spoke "calmly" with him. But while the Putin of years ago "looked like a ferret or a reptile, thinfaced, lean," the Putin of 2022 "looks like a hamster, his cheeks stuffed, unhealthy."

Could Putin, who has long been accused of ordering the poisoning of critics of his administration, have unintentionally poisoned himself? Sweeney said it's plausible.

"And such a fate would be both grimly ironic and funny ha-ha so long as the Kremlin Patient does not have control of the world's biggest arsenal of nuclear weapons, however rusty they may be. But he does," he wrote.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian foreign ministry for comment.

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Putin Is 'Seriously Ill,' Looks Like a Hamster: Journalist

Military trucks were seen delivering defensive reinforced concrete pillboxes, which comes as Vladimir Putins forces are suffering devastating losses in the occupied Kherson region in Ukraine

Image: via REUTERS)

Vladimir Putin's army has been spotted moving in defensive reinforced concrete pillboxes - which is being seen as evidence Russia has "run out of strength to attack".

A picture shows a column of military trucks delivering the readymade blockhouses to invaded areas in Ukraine from Russia.

The move comes as Putins forces are staging an operational pause while also suffering devastating losses in recent days in the occupied Kherson region.

Pro-Ukrainian journalist Ivan Yakovina posted on Facebook the picture of ready-made reinforced concrete pillboxes brought to Ukraine from Russia."

He said this means that Putin has run out of strength to attack.

Image:

Yakovina continued: "He's going to dig in. I am sure that soon Moscow will be shouting about peace and the desire to stop the terrible war that the West started.

At the same time, Ukraine will be accused of bloodthirsty madness and senseless aggression.

I can directly hear these cries of TV propagandists and see these articles of Putin's supporters in the West: It's time to force Zelensky to start negotiations, Russia wants only peace, Kyiv insists on continuing the senseless massacre and all that stuff.

He said that to prevent this the West must immediately increase the volume of arms supplies to Ukraine.

The identities of two more colonels killed in the war emerged today.

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Lt-Col Valentin Danilov, 37, was killed in a HIMARS attack on Shakhtarsk in the Donetsk region.

He was commander of military unit 47084, from Vladikavkaz and his funeral was being held on Thursday.

The body of a Russian riot police colonel Igor Murzin was also repatriated to Russia this month after he was killed at the start of the war.

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Murzins funeral was held in the Siberian city of Kemerovo in Russia.

The deaths take the toll of dead Russian colonels to a staggering 76.

In the last three days, Putin has seen 14 colonels either killed in the latest fighting or identified as having been slain earlier in the war.

A dozen generals have also perished in the bloody conflict.

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Evidence which shows Vladimir Putin's Russia has 'run out of strength ...

Time to wake up and smell the cordite. Like shockwaves from an exploding missile, Vladimir Putins war on Europes edge is rapidly rolling westwards, blasting its way through the front doors of homes, businesses and workplaces from Berlin to Birmingham. Its fallout seeds a toxic rain of instability, hardship and fear.

The idea the Ukraine conflict could be confined to Ukraine Natos politically convenient grand delusion and that western sanctions and arms supplies would stop the Russians was always a nonsense. Now, enraged by Kyivs stubborn resistance and hell-bent on punishing his punishers, Putins aim is the immiseration of Europe.

By weaponising energy, food, refugees and information, Russias leader spreads the economic and political pain, creating wartime conditions for all. A long, cold, calamity-filled European winter of power shortages and turmoil looms. And like a coin-fed gas meter, the price of western leaders timidity and shortsightedness ticks upwards by the hour.

Russias destabilisation operations, social media manipulation, cyber-attacks, diplomatic double-talk, nuclear blackmail, plus its unrelenting slaughter of civilians in Ukraine, will only intensify Europes state of siege in the months ahead. The wests fanciful belief it could avoid continent-wide escalation is evaporating fast.

Though not entirely due to Putins war, Europe now faces fundamental challenges as big or bigger than the 2008 financial crash, Brexit, or the pandemic. Yet many EU and UK politicians skulk in denial. If, as predicted, the gas stops flowing and the lights dim, it will not just be a matter of closed factories, lost jobs, and depressed markets.

Freezing pensioners, hungry children, empty supermarket shelves, unaffordable cost of living increases, devalued wages, strikes and street protests point to Sri Lanka-style meltdowns. An exaggeration? Not really. Blowback, fanned by the Putin-admiring far right, is already gathering strength in Greece and Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

In prospect, too, is a shattering of EU solidarity as national governments compete for scarce resources. Brussels is due to publish a winter preparedness plan this week. But its provisions are unclear and unenforceable. The broader context is lack of an agreed, implemented EU-wide energy policy.

Despite bilateral cooperation pledges, a total Russian cut-off could pit country against country, further inflate prices, and split the anti-Moscow coalition. In such a scenario Putin would demand sanctions relief in return for resumed supplies, just as he has over blockaded Black Sea grain.

Import-dependent Germany is already taking unilateral steps, seeking alternative oil and gas suppliers. A national emergency moved closer after Moscow turned off the Nord Stream I pipeline last Monday. Many in Berlin fear (and some environmentalists hope) the shutdown and any subsequent rationing may become permanent.

Robert Habeck, Germanys vice-chancellor, fretted publicly about a political nightmare. Bruno Le Maire, Frances finance minister, sounded similarly panicky last week. He predicted an imminent gas cut-off. Waxing Napoleonic, he urged European countries to form up in order of battle. But as in 1812, Russia has General Winter.

As if the mounting misery of millions were not daunting enough, then consider, too, the wars knock-on impact on efforts to combat the climate and biodiversity crises. In the UK and elsewhere, net zero targets appear at increasing risk of being abandoned.

Because Europe faces very, very strong conflict and strife this winter over energy prices, it should make a short-term return to fossil fuels, Frans Timmermans, the European commissions vice-president, suggested. Once again, Germany is showing a lead, increasing electricity production from coal-fired power stations. Once again, the west looks to tyrannical Gulf oil sheikhs for salvation.

A European winter of chaos may also strain US ties. By comparison, Americas post-pandemic recovery is more advanced, its economy more resilient, its energy costs much lower. Yet it is US president Joe Bidens too-cautious leadership of Nato that has led Europe into this geopolitical cul-de-sac, even as a weakening euro slides below one dollar.

For Europeans, as they are re-learning to their cost, all wars are local. For Americans, as ever, all wars are foreign.

The sanctions, economic aid, and other non-military measures preferred by Biden were never going to be enough to bring Putin to heel. Some observers suspect a stalemate that slowly bleeds Russia suits US purposes, whatever the collateral damage. Yet right now, its Putin who is bleeding Europe. Sanctions are backfiring or poorly enforced. His energy coffers bulge. And Ukrainians aside, the pain is disproportionately felt by less wealthy European and developing countries. As instability grows, US-Europe divergence will feed pressure to change course.

The obvious escape route is a land-for-peace deal with Putin, agreed over Ukraines dead bodies. This kind of shoddy sellout has influential advocates. If (and its a big if), Russia returned to business as normal, it would alleviate Europes suffering though probably not Ukraines.

Yet such a deal would also be a precedent-setting disaster for future peace and security across the continent and globally, too. Just think Taiwan. Or Estonia. It would destroy the sovereign integrity of democratic Ukraine.

Fortunately, there is an alternative: using Natos overwhelming power to decisively turn the military tide.

As previously argued here, direct, targeted, forceful western action to repulse Russias repulsive horde is not a vote for a third world war. Its the only feasible way to bring this escalating horror to a swift conclusion while ensuring Putin, and those who might emulate him, do not profit from lawless butchery.

Intent on inflicting maximum disruption, Putin openly menaces the heartlands of European democracy. The writing is on the wall and may no longer be ignored. Enough of the half-measures and the dithering! Nato should act now to force Putins marauding troops back inside Russias recognised borders.

Its not only Ukraine that requires saving. Its Europe, too.

Originally posted here:

Putin is already at war with Europe. There is only one way to stop him - The Guardian

My friends and I had heard enough talk about Putin being corrupt to believe it. We were finally old enough to vote, and we took it seriously we researched the candidates, debated their campaign promises. Most of us liked Mikhail Prokhorov, an oligarch who promised to reverse the constitutional amendments and crack down on state propaganda and corruption. It felt like our generation, one that grew up under Putin, could finally make a change. Even my grandmothers confidence in Putin was shaken, and my whole family considered other candidates.

But something changed at the last moment there was a wave of negative press against Prokhorov and positive press for Putin. It felt like Russia needed someone experienced to protect us, and Putin was the only choice. I felt defeated and confused when the election day came. One of my friends felt the same way. Putin is the only rational choice now, and my unused ballot will automatically count for him anyway, she told me.

It came as no surprise that Putin was re-elected amidst allegations of fraud.

To my shame, it was the annexation of Crimea that placed me squarely into the pro-Putin camp. The Euromaidan revolution of 2013-2014 in Ukraine received a decent amount of airtime on Russian news. But instead of showing Ukrainians protesting a corrupt government and successfully ousting pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian narrative painted the new Ukrainian government as a fascist gang and extolled Putins effort to save Crimea and its ethnic-Russian population from fascist rule. The process was democratic, the propaganda swore. I remember seeing a photo online of an allegedly Crimean apartment building with many Russian flags hanging out of the windows and thinking that this was the most genuine piece of evidence one might need. My dad heard somewhere that even our hometown welcomed Ukrainian refugees, that Russians were giving up their spots in line for social assistance. I gained a respect for Putin I didnt have before.

It was easier to accept the Kremlin line as truth than to question each confusing argument, one by one.

According to the Levada Center, an independent Russian polling and research organization, Putins popularity spiked from 69 percent in Feb. 2013 to 82 percent in April 2014. Propaganda poured out from everywhere, and it overwhelmed me. It was easier to accept the Kremlin line as truth than to question each confusing argument, one by one. I came to believe that Western attacks on Putins actions were synonymous with attacks on my country. My concept of patriotism twisted into blind support of Russia. This time, I didnt discuss it with my friends, but I was certain they felt the same way.

Over the past years, it has become even harder for the casual news consumer in Russia to find independent media. The new difficulty has risen since the war in Ukraine started, with Putin signing a law that threatens anyone spreading fake news, or a non-Kremlin-approved narrative, with fines or up to 15 years in jail. Some news outlets froze their operations and many journalists left the country. Russians who still want to get real news use VPN to access the news websites that the Kremlin banned. For others, like my parents, its a flood of propaganda on TV and in print as well as social media.

Everything changed when I moved to West Virginia in January 2016 for a second bachelors degree. I wasnt actively political, but whenever the chance came up, I defended Putin and Russia against what I thought was American propaganda. One time, my friends were watching a documentary about what happened in Crimea, and I launched into a rant about everything being either fake or just an unfair case of cherry-picking. Surely there were no Russian tanks in Crimea, and Russians didnt kill anyone. Often, I would pull out that photo of the apartment building with Russian flags as proof. Most of the time, people on the other side of such rants either didnt care enough to argue or were too polite to challenge me.

But slowly, my suspicion that something was off with the Kremlins narrative started to grow. Moving to the U.S. physically removed me from the fresh supply of propaganda only the occasional pro-Putin arguments made their way to me through talks with my parents. And I fell in love with journalism after joining the college newspaper, learning how to gather and vet information.

Carrier says she wasnt actively political, but whenever the chance came up, she defended Putin and Russia against what she thought was American propaganda.|VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP via Getty Images

When the first news of Russias influence on the 2016 presidential election came out, I defended Russia to whomever would listen. Russian propaganda wasnt there to supply me with facts, so I read credible English-language reporting and couldnt make sense of it. It felt so black and white, nothing close to the real world.

I shared my confusion with my father back in Russia. I know what they teach us in journalism classes. I know how articles are put together and that journalists value facts. At what level of a news organization do lies about Russia make it into stories? I wondered.

It finally clicked for me at the end of the summer of 2017, after I spent some time surrounded by serious reporters. I got pushback on some of my claims that Russia saved Crimea and that Putin would never harm other nations. I went to a conference for journalists in Arizona and told one or two very successful reporters that the U.S. media was misled about Russia. Their quiet amusement got under my skin. One reporter whose work I admired just politely smiled and gave me a funny look. Another one, with the same kind of look, found my opinion interesting and quickly introduced me to his friend. I wasnt credible, and it was confusing or even entertaining to others, I realized.

Everything I believed about Russia, the world and myself came crashing down. It was disorientating and lonely. I couldnt talk to my parents because they were still pro-Putin. I couldnt talk to my Russian friends about it either they either ignored politics or got defensive, pushing whatever views they had as the only correct ones. My friends in the U.S. couldnt grasp the magnitude of personal loss. I didnt know who I was or what I believed anymore.

Carrier says she was surprised to learn that so much of what she considered common knowledge came from propaganda and conspiracy theories.|Jon Elswick/AP Photo

The next semester, an international relations class helped me work through my need to find a good guy after Russia lost the title. I learned that theres no such a thing as a good guy in international politics, that the world is more complicated than that. I leaned on Sally, a professor passionate about Russian politics, and with book recommendations and many talks, she guided me through the process of piecing together the truth about Russian politics and history. I would drop by her small office on a nearly daily basis to talk about what Id read in the books Sally had lent me the mass graves from Stalins repressions, the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the corruption and vindictiveness of Putin. We also talked about my parents their beliefs began to resemble conspiracy theories, revolving around a central theme that there was a centuries-old effort to cover up Russian greatness. They believed opposing things at the same time, going from Putin is so corrupt to Putin is the best thing to have happened to Russia in one conversation.

I was surprised to learn that so much of what I considered common knowledge came from propaganda and conspiracy theories. No, Ukraine hadnt been stealing Russian gas for years. No, Hillary Clinton wasnt behind the 2011 protests in Russia. No, Barack Obama isnt Muslim (Im ashamed to say I fact-checked this one just a couple of years ago). Ive done so much work to fix the damage, but every now and then I still catch myself using some nonsense as an argument rooted in what I think is history or science, and I have to reexamine my thinking.

This experience is common among people who have abandoned beliefs that once shaped their identities. My husband, an American who was raised Catholic, had a similar experience reevaluating his relationship with religion in high school. Through my reporting on QAnon, I met people who reconstructed their beliefs after they realized their conspiracy-fueled upbringings were filled with falsehoods. Those who quit QAnon describe the same sense of disorientation and political homelessness.

Sally and I still talk books and politics sometimes, and she recently told me that she had no clue how crucial shed been to my transformation. Without her, I would have slid back into propaganda or lost my mind.

My political realignment wasnt easy for my parents either. Its one thing to let your child move across the globe its quite another thing to watch the move change her, making it harder and harder to discuss things that were once common knowledge. We couldnt easily share what was on our minds when it came to politics. Most of the time, to avoid propaganda-fueled disagreement, we avoided the topic altogether.

Then, on Feb. 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, and everything changed. Suddenly, those political disagreements had very real and very bloody consequences. Russian propaganda intensified, capitalizing on the generational trauma of World War II by calling Ukrainians Nazis to justify the invasion.

My father called me the next day for emotional support. I could tell that he was just as crushed as I was. Something about his manner of speaking when he said, Were doing this to take out the Nazis, revealed a need for reassurance. I should have pushed back then he later told me he had doubts at the beginning of the war. But now hes done his research, and hes sure Russia did the right thing. A few days after the war started, my mom sent me a message, warning me that even liking posts critical of Russia was participating in informational warfare. Then she started sending me audios suggesting I send positive thoughts to Ukraine to even out the negative in the world.

This bloodshed has forced me to understand that there is a moral duty to stop this war and this propaganda-fueled monster.

My parents and I moved even farther apart. They are growing more patriotic about Russians taking out Nazis and saving civilians. They believe the crimes Russian soldiers are committing against Ukrainians are either committed by Ukrainians themselves or staged.

I have thrown my energy into reporting on Ukraine and the damage Russians have caused. For one story, I spoke with refugees who fled their homes and told me horrid stories of what they saw the bombings of civilian apartment buildings, the unprovoked shooting of civilians. The news media provided many more accounts of crimes: sexual violence against women and children; the images of bodies lying in Bucha; a genocide against the people Russian propaganda still claims to be our brothers and sisters.

My father and I discussed me writing about the war once. He hadnt read my stories and he didnt agree with my position, but he was proud of me for standing up for what I thought was right. My parents sacrificed a lot for me to be able to move to the U.S., even though they deeply dislike the American government. They supported me every step of the way. Recently, I discussed their political position with my Russian friend who knows them, and she was quite surprised to hear it. Your parents? Really? she asked. My parents aligning themselves with the Kremlin doesnt really make sense they are smart, educated, inquisitive, kind. They had more advantages than many Russians exposed to propaganda, but it still got to them.

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I Once Supported Putin. Now I Know the Truth. - POLITICO

Britains armed forces chief has dismissed speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not well or could be assassinated as wishful thinking.

The UK Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin was asked if President Putin, who launched an invasion of Ukraine in February, could be toppled or face regime change.

But he told Sophie Raworth on BBC Ones Sunday Morning show: I think some of the comments that hes not well or that actually surely somebodys going to assassinate him or take him out, I think theyre wishful thinking.

As military professionals we see a relatively stable regime in Russia, President Putin has been able to quash any opposition, we see a hierarchy that is invested in President Putin and so nobody at the top has got the motivation to challenge President Putin, and that is bleak.

He said the challenge of Russia is going to endure potentially for decades in terms of Russia as a threat, and the next prime minister should know that Russia is the biggest threat to the UK.

He added: So the biggest threat is Russia, and thats Russia in all its guises when you look at it militarily.

Its land forces are probably less of a threat in the short term because of that degradation, that depletion that were seeing with their struggle in Ukraine.

But Russia continues to be a nuclear power, its got cyber capabilities, its got space capabilities, and its got particular programmes under water so it can threaten the underwater cables that allow the worlds information to transit around the whole globe.

On what Britains armed forces would look like if defence spending increased to 3% of GDP, he said: I think they would be even more modern and they would have even more punch and they would have even more impact around the world, and thats clearly a choice for government.

Reflecting on a recent visit to Kyiv, he said Ukraines army absolutely believed it will win the war.

He added: They plan to restore the whole of their territory in terms of Ukraine, and they see a Russia that is struggling, a Russia that we assess has lost more than 30% of its land combat effectiveness.

We will always give them a brief on the current situation so they are aware of where we have our armed forces

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin on how he will brief the next PM

What that actually means is 50,000 Russian soldiers that have either died or been injured in this conflict, nearly 1,700 Russian tanks destroyed, nearly 4,000 armoured fighting vehicles that belong to Russia destroyed.

On how he will brief the next Prime Minister, he added: We will always give them a brief on the current situation so they are aware of where we have our armed forces.

Thats dominated by Ukraine and the support that we are providing to Ukraine but we also try to step back and give a wider threat picture.

And then we have to remind the Prime Minister of the extraordinary responsibility they have with the UK as a nuclear power, and that is part of the initiation for a new British Prime Minister.

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Speculation about Putins assassination wishful thinking, military chief says - The Independent

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has called on the U.S. to supply Ukraine with more weapons in order to quickly end the conflict with Russia.

McFaul shared a report by the U.S. Department of Defense that highlighted the success Ukraine has been having with the U.S.-provided HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems).

"Great News! So why not provide more? Help speed the end to Putin's barbaric invasion," McFaul wrote as a caption as he shared the report.

The M142 HIMARS system allows for the launching of multiple, precision-guided rockets. Already, the U.S. had provided eight of the systems to Ukraine and last week promised to send an additional four, for a total of 12 of the systems.

A senior military official spoke at a Pentagon briefing on Friday and gave an indication the use of HIMARS was impacting Russia's ability to fight on the frontlines in Ukraine.

"I think there has been significant impact on what's going on, on the front lines," the official said.

"If you think about the fact that the Ukrainians have been talking about a number of the targets [they] are hitting... they're spending a lot of time striking targets like ammunition, supplies, other logistical supplies, command and control.

"And all those things have a direct impact on the ability to conduct operations on the front line.

"Although they're not shooting the HIMARS, at the front lines, they hare having a very, very significant effect on that."

Military analyst Michael Kofman told the War on the Rocks podcast that while the HIMARS add to the capability of Ukraine's forces in targeting Russian logistics sites, he expected Moscow's forces would "begin to adapt and change the way they operate to make them less effective."

He added that their effectiveness will also be limited by how much ammunition it can get for the systems. "No matter how many batteries Ukraine receives of HIMARS," he said, "the issue of ammo production...will be, I think, an enduring choke point."

On July 12, McFaul issued a similar statement calling for the U.S. to support Ukraine with more weapons.

"The faster we send more long-range artillery and multiple rocket launches to Ukraine, the faster this horrible, barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine will end."

McFaul has remained outspoken of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and warned of the wider danger it posses to the world.

"Ukrainians are still fighting and dying for their sovereignty and democracy against an enemy that threatens not only Ukraine but European security as well," he wrote on Twitter on July 14.

"Please don't forget about them. #StandWithUkraine."

On June 30, while at the NATO summit, President Joe Biden said the United States would provide another $800 million in weapons and military aid to Ukraine, according to a Reuters report.

Biden added that the U.S. and its NATO allies were committed in standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I don't know how it's going to end, but it will not end with Russia defeating Ukraine. Ukraine has already dealt a severe blow to Russia," Biden said told a news conference.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

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U.S. Should Send More HIMARS To 'Help Speed The End' Of Putin's War: McFaul - Newsweek