Category Archives: Ukraine

There have been numerous reports that the Ukrainian military is outfoxing the Russians on the battlefield in a modern adaptation of deception tactics that go back to ancient times. Videos posted on social media platforms seem to show Ukrainian forces using US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, against Russian forces with a devastating effect.

Strikes with the long-range rocket artillery system have indeed destroyed large ammunition and fuel dumps deep behind Russian lines in southern Ukraine in recent weeks, wreaking havoc on Russian logistics. So targeting HIMARS is a high priority for Russia.

But now media reports indicate Ukrainian has a fleet of wooden HIMARS replicas set up to draw Russian fire, which reveals the location of Russian weapon placements and leads the Russian military to squander its finite supply of precision missiles. Though made of wood, the HIMARS reproductions bear a strong enough resemblance to their real counterparts, which may well help even the odds Ukraine faces against a larger, better-equipped Russian army.

Though the Ukrainian subterfuge replicates some of the most modern American equipment on the battlefield today, their imitation game is hardly new.

The Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun Tzu recommended this tactic in his military treatise The Art of War, written in the 5th century BCE. There, he called on military commanders to "set up decoys and feign confusion"and cause an enemy to miscalculate the opposing force. "All warfare is based on deception,"Sun Tzu wrote.

While at camp during Rome's Gallic Wars in what is today France and Belgium in the 50s BCE, Julius Caesar stationed some of his legionaries in such a way that they appeared to be a much larger force than they actually were and thereby exaggerated Roman strength. Caesar's accounts of his wars in Europe describe approaching and destroying Gaulish forces that had been distracted by his deceptively large forces at camp.

For centuries, military commandersalso sought to dupe enemy forces with fake equipment. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Confederate troops employed "Quaker guns large wooden logs painted black to look like cannons and named after the pacifist Quaker religious group to trick Union generals. At Centreville, in Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee built extensive fortifications with many rows of Quaker guns, appearing from a distance to be a heavily fortified defensive line.

Wooden so-called Quaker Guns were used in the American Civil War

After the advent of the internal combustion engine and its more widespread application in war, battlefield decoys gained new importance. The tank made its combat debut during World War I(1914-1918). With it, the British Army attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare. Quickly, both the British and Germans employed dummy tanks, made of wood and painted burlap cloth, to deceive the other side and lead the opponents to overestimate the adversaries' strength.

Although motorized military machines made their widespread operational debut during World War I, Europe's armies were not yet fully motorized but still relied partly on horses to move material across the battlefield. So the armies erected dummy horses made of wooden, blanket-covered frames to deceive enemy reconnaissance pilots' observations from the air.

During World War II (1939 - 1945), Nazi Germany and its allies, as well as the alliance of their opponents practiced deception on a much grander scale. Before the Western Allies crossed the channel and landed in Normandy, France, in 1944, troops in England had already made extensive use of inflatable tanks.

These dummies inflated German estimates of Allied strength, and in combination with false intelligence, this served to convince the Germans that the Allied invasion would take place elsewhere, which helped draw German forces away from the Normandy beaches.

So great was the importance placed on tactical trickery that the United States Army created the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops also known as the Ghost Army which was described as a "traveling road show of deception. Armed with inflatable tanks, trucks, and airplanes, and audio recordings of troop and vehicle movements which blasted out via powerful speaker systems, the American Ghost Army staged large deception operations in Belgium, France, Germany, and Luxembourg and is credited with saving the lives of thousands of US soldiers through their reception.

Both parties to World War Two used dummy tanks made of wood to dupe their enemies

Wartime trickery extends to nonstate actors as well. In 2016, the Iraqi Army captured wooden replicas of Humvees and tanks built by the terrorist Islamic State militia, intended to draw fire from the US-led air campaign. Though they were made primarily of wood, the imitation vehicles appeared genuine from a distance some even had bearded mannequins in the driver seats to complete the deception.

Lacking any airpower, the Islamic State hoped to distract coalition warplanes, negate the allied coalition's advantage in the air, and preserve the Islamic States' fleet of captured trucks, tanks, and personnel carriers.

Edited by: Rina Goldenberg

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Ukraine war and the long tradition of deception - DW (English)

The Ukraine war and the worlds reaction to it will be a decisive factor in shaping the global political and economic order in the decade ahead. In particular, the Western allies actions, narratives, and planning regarding both Russia and the role of the Global South in Ukraines postwar reconstruction will indicate what their long-term strategic goals are. Does the West simply want to see Russia defeated and NATO enlarged and strengthened, or can it envisage a victory in Ukraine that lays the foundations for a world in which democracy is more secure and global governance more inclusive and effective?

While the outcome of the fighting remains uncertain, the Wests strategic aims, particularly how it intends to treat Russia in the event that Ukraine prevails, will have huge consequences. The big question is whether the allies will seek to punish Russia as a whole by imposing severe reparations or instead target President Vladimir Putins autocratic regime in a way that limits the burdens imposed on the Russian people.

At the beginning of the war, the Western allies emphasized that defending the United Nations Charter and democracy were their primary objectives. In late spring, some U.S. strategists and officials advocated permanently weakening Russiaas a strategic goal, although it is not clear whether this would still be an objective in the event of regime change in Russia.

While any overall settlement of the Ukraine conflict must require Russia to bear some part of the reconstruction burden resulting from a war that it started, the severity of the terms imposed on the Russian people will have political ramifications. The harsher the terms, the more likely it will be that Russia embraces China even more closely, so that a tight Sino-Russian bloc becomes part of the postwar geopolitical order.

The effect of such an alliance should not be underestimated. While China would be the blocs center of gravity, Russias relatively small GDP (which isless than that of Italy) should not lead one to dismiss the countrys scientific capabilities, the size of its nuclear arsenal, its natural-resource wealth, and the strategic importance of its vast territory.

By pursuing measures that treat the Russian people differently than Putin and his autocracy, the worlds democracies might hope to prevent a long-term outcome in which Russia would be lost to them. Banning all Russians from entering the European Union, as some policymakersnow propose, is the type of measure that will push the country toward China. And misleadingly dividing the world into democracies and autocracies comes from the same ineffective, polarizing playbook. When dealing with dictatorships like Putins, a key element of any successful diplomatic strategy is to distinguish between political leaders and ordinary citizens.

True, Russias veto power in the U.N. Security Council made it impossible for the U.N. to play a coordinating role in countering Russias aggression in Ukraine. But the Western allies that assumed that task made little effort to consult the Global South in their decisionmaking, or to involve it in the postwar planning process.

It is of course also true that much of the Global South abstained from voting on thetwo major U.N. General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia in March. But the West should have recognized that developing countries response to the war reflected old and deep-seated reflexesnamely, the bitter collective memory of European colonialism and recollections of the Soviet Unions support for many of these countries during the struggle for independence.

Moreover, theLugano conferenceorganized by the Western allies in early July to launch aplatformfor Ukraines reconstruction did not include any countries from the Global South. One could argue that this was primarily a donors meeting, but it excluded rich Gulf states and included countries such as Albania and North Macedonia, neither of which is likely to be able to contribute.

Rebuilding Ukraine will requirehundreds of billions of dollars. This effort thus risks diverting substantial aid from the Global South, which is still trying to get rich countries to fulfill their longstandingpledgeto provide $100 billion per year to support climate-change mitigation and adaptation in poorer countries. It will also be interesting to see the extent to which the procurement rules for reconstruction projects in Ukraine will allow non-donor developing countries to bid effectively.

But it may not be too late for the West to involve the Global Southparticularly countries like India and South Africa, which have good technical capacities in certain sectorsin Ukraines reconstruction. The West should also include developing countries in setting the rules regarding possible remaining sanctions against Russia after the first phase of a settlement, as well as the regulations governing frozen Russian assets.

In the event that Ukraine prevails, the Wests treatment of Russia and its stance toward the Global South during Ukraines reconstruction will determine whether the wars outcome serves as the launchpad for global progress toward a more inclusive and equitable multilateralism. In the worst case, the West will have a achieved a pyrrhic victory that ends up strengthening autocracy and further deepening global divisions.

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What are the Wests strategic goals in the Ukraine war? - Brookings Institution

Sep 1, 2022

Aishwarya KumarESPN.com

NEW YORK -- After her straight-set loss to former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands with her Belarusian opponent. Instead, she raised her racket for a quick tap.

Kostyuk, who has been vocal about her unhappiness about Russian and Belarusian players' silence on the tour, said it was not appropriate to shake hands with Azarenka at the news conference after the match.

"It was my choice -- I don't feel like I don't know any single person who condemned the war publicly, and the actions of their government, so I don't feel like I can support this," she told ESPN.

"Don't get me wrong, she's a great competitor. But, it has nothing to do with her being a human being," Kostyuk added.

After the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., Ukrainian player Dayana Yastremska also refused to shake hands with Azarenka after the match. Yastremska fled Ukraine with her younger sister days after the Russian invasion began in February.

Belarus has been sanctioned by the United States for its "support" and "facilitation" of the invasion.

Kostyuk said that Azarenka has not reached out to her to have a conversation since the beginning of the war. Kostyuk said given Azarenka's reach both in Belarus and as a part of the WTA's Players' Council, she should use her voice to condemn the war.

Kostyuk also said she had texted Azarenka Wednesday after her practice session to "warn her" that she will not shake hands with her after the match today. Kostyuk also said she wanted to have a broader conversation with Azarenka on the war and hear her thoughts on where the Belarusian stood. Kostyuk said Azarenka responded that she was not on-site, and so they did not have the conversation.

Azarenka was removed from last week's USTA's Peace for Ukraine event -- a humanitarian event to raise funds for Ukraine -- after Kostyuk expressed her discomfort with Azarenka's participation in an interview with Ukrainian outlet BTU. Kostyuk said she refused to participate in the event as a result.

"Imagine there is World War II and there is a fundraiser for Jewish people and a German player wants to play," Kostyuk said of her decision following Thursday's match.

Immediately following Kostyuk's news conference, Azarenka told reporters that she had reached out via the WTA to have conversations with Ukrainian athletes in the past few months.

"I've been told it's not a good time," she said.

Azarenka added that she didn't have a close relationship with Kostyuk, and has never had a conversation with her, but has reached out to other Ukrainian players to listen and build relationships with them and would be willing to have a face-to-face with Kostyuk.

"I'm open to any time to listen, to try to understand, to sympathize. I believe that empathy in the moment like this is really important, which has, again, been my clear message in the beginning," she said.

Regarding the Peace for Ukraine fundraiser event, Azarenka said she was asked to participate in it and immediately agreed to do it, as "it's a no-brainer for me. Like, why wouldn't I participate in a humanitarian aid for people who are really struggling right now," she said.

"I thought that this was a gesture that really shows commitment," Azarenka said. "I'm not sure why it wasn't taken it that way."

Azarenka also said that she has had a clear message from the beginning of the war.

"I'm here to try to help, which I have done a lot. Maybe not something that people see. And that's not what I do it for. I do it for people who [are] in need, juniors who need clothes, other people who need money or other people who needed transportation or whatever. That's what is important to me, to help people are in need."

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Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk refuses to shake hands with Victoria Azarenka over perceived silence regarding war - ESPN

More than 1.8 million pounds of medical aid have been shipped to Ukraine since February. Shipments continued this week to Ukraine, as well as 11 other countries.

ver the past seven days, Direct Relief has delivered 307 shipments of requested medical aid to 39 US states and territories and 12 countries worldwide.

The shipments contained 5.4 million defined daily doses of medication, including antibiotics, insulin, antihistamines, cardiovascular medications, and more.

This week Direct Relief and Anera, a local NGO in Lebanon, announced an effort to establish reliable energy at medical clinics in the country. With solar panels, inverters, and batteries donated by Direct Relief, Anera will support four medical centers throughout Lebanon with solar power systems that will increase access to quality health services for refugees.

Since February 24, Direct Relief has provided medical aid to Ukraine weighing more than 1.8 million pounds, or 900 tons, with more on the way.

Over the past seven days, shipments including wound care supplies, PPE, nutritional supplements, and more departed Direct Reliefs warehouse in California bound for Ukraine.

Pakistan has endured an extreme and unprecedented monsoon season, leading to more than 1,000 deaths and causing widespread destruction of homes and public infrastructure.

Direct Relief is preparing a shipment of insulin, in coordination with Life for a Child, for distribution to 10 hospitals and healthcare facilities in Pakistan.

The shipment from Direct Relief contains enough long-acting insulin for 3,773 children and young adults under the age of 25 living with Type 1 Diabetes.

Direct Relief is also helping to inform response efforts by working with the World Food Program to analyze population movements and assess where evacuations have taken place and where aid may be needed.

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Operational Update: Medicines Arrive in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Resilient Power for Lebanon, and More - Ukraine - ReliefWeb

MILAN (AP) Ukraine held the lead for all of 55 seconds in its EuroBasket game against Estonia on Saturday.

They were the final 55 seconds.

Illya Sydorovs layup gave Ukraine its first lead of the game, and the war-torn nations team moved to 2-0 in the European championship tournament by topping Estonia 74-73 in a Group C matchup.

Its a super important game for us, Sydorov said. The main goal, why we get this win, is because we fight until the end and we stayed together for all four quarters.

It was a massive victory for Ukraine, which has its three toughest games of Group C play against Croatia, Italy and Greece still looming.

But its likely that Ukraine already has done enough to earn a spot in the second round, regardless of what happens in those three remaining contests.

And that is an enormous lift for a team carrying the weight of representing a country that has been devastated by the war that Russia started by invading nearly seven months ago.

Our main goal was to beat Great Britain and Estonia, Sydorov said. We all understand the main part was to win both games, and we did, and were very happy about it.

Svi Mykhailiuk led Ukraine with 18 points. Volodymyr Herun scored 12 and Sydorov added 11.

Maik-Kalev Kotsar led Estonia (0-2) with 17 points.

GROUP C

CROATIA 86, GREAT BRITAIN 65

Croatia outscored Great Britain 35-9 in the third quarter, building a 35-point lead, and cruised to a win.

Bojan Bogdanovic, Dario Saric and Ivica Zubac each scored 15 for Croatia (1-1), while Mario Hezonja finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Myles Hesson scored 18 and Patrick Whelan finished with 14 for Great Britain (0-2).

GROUP B

FRANCE 77, LITHUANIA 73

At Cologne, Germany, France rallied from a 13-point deficit and took the lead for good on Evan Fournier's 3-pointer with 3:08 remaining.

Fournier led all scorers with 27 points for France (1-1).

Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 for Lithuania (0-2), which got 14 from Rokas Jokubaitis, 13 from Marius Grigonis, 12 from Ignas Brazdeikis and nine rebounds from Domantas Sabonis.

GERMANY 92, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 82

Germany used an 18-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to erase what was an 11-point deficit and take the lead for good.

Franz Wagner and Dennis Schroder each scored 18 for Germany (2-0), which got 14 points from Johannes Thiemann and 13 from Andreas Obst.

Dzanan Musa scored 30 and Jusuf Nurkic added 21 for Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1).

GROUP A

MONTENEGRO 76, BELGIUM 70

Bojan Dubljevic scored 21 points and Montenegro (1-1) led nearly the entire way against Belgium (1-1).

Kendrick Perry scored 19 and Vladimir Mihailovic added 14 for Montenegro, which survived getting outscored 20-8 in the fourth quarter.

Retin Obasohan led all scorers with 25 for Belgium, and Manu Lecomte scored 10.

TURKEY 101, BULGARIA 87

Cedi Osman scored 25 points, Alperen Sengun added 20 and Turkey (2-0) used an 18-6 run in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Shane Larkin had 13 points and nine assists for Turkey. Aleksandar Vezenkov led Bulgaria (0-2) with 28 points, while Chavdar Kostov scored 15 and Dee Bost finished with 12 points and 13 assists.

SPAIN 90, GEORGIA 64

Willy Hernangomez scored 14 points, Jaime Pradilla added 12 and Spain (2-0) used a balanced attack on the way past Georgia (0-2).

Spain used 12 players; nine of them had at least seven points.

Rati Andronikashvili led Georgia with 13 points.

GROUP D

FINLAND 89, POLAND 59

At Prague, Sasu Salin scored 18 points, Lauri Markkanen added 17 and Finland (1-1) had no problem with Poland (1-1).

Elias Valtonen scored 12 for Finland. Mateusz Ponitka and Michal Sokolowski each had eight points for Poland.

SERBIA 81, CZECH REPUBLIC 68

Two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Serbia (2-0) led by as many as 23 in its win over the Czech Republic (0-2).

Vasilije Micic scored 13 for Serbia, Vanja Marinkovic had 11 and Nikola Kalinic added 10.

Vit Kerjci and Vojtech Hruban had 13 points apiece for the Czech Republic.

SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE

Group A and Group B are in action, while Group C and Group D get the day off.

In Group A, Bulgaria meets Montenegro, Spain faces Belgium and Turkey plays Georgia. In Group B, Lithuania squares off with Germany, Slovenia plays Bosnia and Herzegovina, and France meets Hungary.

___

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

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Ukraine rallies in the end, tops Estonia 74-73 at EuroBasket - USA TODAY

Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Chernyshov has discussed the reconstruction of Ukraine with American non-governmental organizations and analytical centers.

According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development

"As part of the visit to the United States of the government delegation led by Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov, a meeting was held with American non-governmental structures and analytical centers. The further reconstruction of Ukraine was discussed and the Ukrainian government program Rapid Recovery for Survival was represented, the report reads.

It is noted that Chernyshov named ensuring the stable passage of the heating season as main current challenge. Ukraine will also work on restoring infrastructure: housing, healthcare and educational institutions, kindergartens, utility facilities, roads, and bridges.

The minister emphasized that the government is getting ready for all possible crisis situations and has a developed work plan, quality and cost control tools, but needs financial assistance from partners to confront the enemy and survive in difficult conditions.

As reported, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will cooperate in restoring Ukrainian communities. Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko has already held more than 20 meetings with ambassadors of various countries regarding the restoration of Ukraine.

iy

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Chernyshov discusses reconstruction of Ukraine with American NGOs - Ukrinform

A priest prays for unidentified civilians killed by Russian troops in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 11. Eleven unidentified bodies exhumed from a mass grave were buried in Bucha that day. Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption

A priest prays for unidentified civilians killed by Russian troops in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 11. Eleven unidentified bodies exhumed from a mass grave were buried in Bucha that day.

As the week begins, here's a roundup of key developments from the past week and a look ahead.

The world follows as ships finally carry Ukrainian-grown food to global customers and destinations gripped by hunger, including in the Horn of Africa.

This week, Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region are expected to begin a criminal trial for captured foreigners, including men from the United Kingdom, Sweden and Croatia, accused of working as mercenaries, Interfax reported.

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry holds its Moscow Conference on International Security.

NPR will also keep an eye out for developments in talks over a possible prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States.

Aug. 8: The U.S. Agency for International Development said it's providing $4.5 billion more in budgetary support for Ukraine's government. And the Pentagon announced an additional $1 billion in security assistance to the country.

Russia suspended weapons inspections under its START nuclear arms control treaty with the U.S., saying Western sanctions on travel made the checks on U.S. compliance impossible.

Aug. 9: Ukraine said nine Russian warplanes were destroyed at a Crimea air base. Satellite images showed several damaged fighter planes. Neither Ukraine or Russia officially divulged how it happened, but some U.S. media quoted unnamed Ukrainian officials as saying Ukraine did it.

President Biden signed the U.S. ratification measure approving NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.

And the State Department announced $89 million to help Ukraine clear landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Aug. 10: Annual inflation in Ukraine reached 22.2%, The Kyiv Independent reported, citing official figures for July.

Aug. 11: Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for more shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine. The United Nations Security Council met to discuss the situation, with calls from the heads of the U.N. and the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop military action around the site and allow a mission to inspect it. The European Union and 42 countries issued a joint statement calling on Russia to remove its military forces from the facility.

Russia's government confirmed talks were underway for a possible prisoner exchange that could free U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner and fellow jailed American Paul Whelan. Lawyers for imprisoned WNBA star Griner said Monday they filed an appeal against her conviction and nine-year sentence on drug charges.

Aug. 12: Battles in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region continued, with Russian forces conducting ground attacks in different locations including around the city of Bakhmut, east of Siversk and northwest of the city of Donetsk, the think tank the Institute for the Study of War said.

Aug. 13: Ukrainian forces destroyed a bridge on a hydroelectric power dam in Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine's Kherson region, aiming to disrupt Russia's ability to resupply its military.

Aug. 14: A ship left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhne with grain bound for Africa as part of a World Food Programme initiative. The Lebanese-flagged Brave Commander is heading to Djibouti, from where the grain will be transferred to Ethiopia. It's one of more than two dozen ships reported to have left Ukraine in the past two weeks after Ukraine's grain exports had been mostly trapped in the country by the war.

Here's just how close the war in Ukraine has come to Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Who was behind the explosions in Crimea? Ukraine and Russia aren't saying.

Russia's war in Ukraine pushes Ukrainian steel production to the brink.

The Cold War to Brittney Griner: a new twist in U.S.-Russia prisoner swaps.

Latvia is growing its military as Russia becomes increasingly aggressive.

Russia's long played with U.S. racial politics. Brittney Griner is the latest example.

Russia's war in Ukraine is changing the world: See its ripple effects in all corners of the globe.

You can read past recaps here. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of NPR's coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR's State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.

Link:

Russia-Ukraine war: A weekly recap and look ahead (Aug. 15) - NPR

Russian minister of defense holds call with U.N. Secretary General

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres conducts a press briefing on the launch of the 3rd brief by the GCRG (Global Crisis Response Group) on Food, Energy and Finance at UN Headquarters.

Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Russia's Minister of Defense said he spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Russia's Sergei Shoigu discussed the safe operation of the facility and gave an update on events taking place on the ground, according to a Kremlin statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.

The two also discussed the U.N. initiative to facilitate the export of Russian fertilizers as well as Ukrainian agriculture products.

Amanda Macias

A Russian serviceman patrols the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Energodar on May 1, 2022. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, seized by Russian forces in March, is in southeastern Ukraine and is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world.

Andrey Borodulin | Afp | Getty Images

The spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General denied Russian claims that U.N. officials were canceling or blocking visits from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

"First, the IAEA is a specialized agency that acts in full independence in deciding how to implement its specific mandate. Second, the U.N. Secretariat has no authority to block or cancel any IAEA activities," wrote U.N. Secretary-General spokesman Stphane Dujarric in a statement.

Dujarric added that the U.N. supports a potential IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, should both Russia and Ukraine agree.

Amanda Macias

Ukrainian evacuees react in a bus while they drive on a road east of Kharkiv on May 30, 2022, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images

A Ukrainian official said Russian forces are currently carrying out reverse deportations of Ukrainian citizens.

Ukrainians who have been earlier forcibly taken away from Mariupol to Russia are now being returned from Pskov, Russia back to Mariupol, according to Petro Andryushchenko, who serves as an advisor to Mariupol's mayor.

Andryushchenko said on the messaging app Telegram that the groups of Ukrainian deportees have become a headache for local authorities.

Amanda Macias

Soldiers who were among several hundred that took up positions around a Ukrainian military base stand near the base's periphery in Crimea on March 2, 2014 in Perevalne, Ukraine.

Sean Gallup | Getty Images

The British military said in an intelligence update that Russian forces may not be able to occupy all of Donetsk in Ukraine.

"The Kremlin will likely see the military's failure to occupy the entirety of Donetsk Oblast thus far as a setback for its maximalist objectives in Ukraine," the British Ministry of Defense wrote in a statement on Twitter.

Russia has focused most of its hostilities in Ukraine's easternmost regions, including the area surrounding the city of Donetsk.

Amanda Macias

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the assembly during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 26, 2022.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Berlin would not back several fellow European countries that have called for an EU-wide move to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens.

The nations backing such a ban say that Russians should not be able to take vacations in Europe while Moscow wages war in Ukraine. Finland and Denmark want an EU decision and some EU countries bordering Russia already no longer issue visas to Russians.

"This is not the war of the Russian people. It is (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war and we have to be very clear on that topic," Scholz said.

"It is important to us to understand that there are a lot of people fleeing from Russia because they are disagreeing with the Russian regime," he told a press conference on the sidelines of a one-day meeting of the five Nordic leaders in Oslo to which the German chancellor was invited.

Associated Press

Maria Pshenychnykh, 83, sits in the kitchen of her war-damaged home near Kharkiv on May 18, 2022 in Vilkhivka, Ukraine, which had until recently been occupied by Russian forces. Seniors in the city have been relying on humanitarian aid, as their monthly government pension payments were suspended due to the fighting. In recent weeks Ukrainian forces have advanced towards the Russian border after Russia's offensive on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city stalled.

John Moore | Getty Images

Russia's war in Ukraine has left 17.7 million people in serious need of humanitarian aid, according to United Nations estimates.

"Millions of people across the country have endured months of intense hostilities without adequate access to food, water, health care, education, protection and other essential services," the group wrote in a report. "Massive destruction of civilian infrastructure has left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without their homes or livelihoods."

The U.N. warned that more people will be affected by the upcoming winter season.

"Too many are now living in damaged homes or in buildings ill-suited to provide protection for the upcoming harsh cold season, where the sub-zero temperatures could be life-threatening," the U.N. said.

The U.N. estimates that since Russia's war in Ukraine began more than five months ago, humanitarian organizations have scaled up operations in order to reach 11.7 million people.

Amanda Macias

A serviceman with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Aug. 4, 2022.

Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plantis operating with the risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards, according to an update from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office.

Russian forces took control of the facility in March, a few days after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

"Ukraine calls on the world community to take urgent measures to force Russia to give back control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for the sake of the security of the whole world," the statement added.

Amanda Macias

Ukrainian soldier Igor Ryazantsev with the Dnipro-1 regiment keeps watch outside his tent during a period of relative calm around their position near Sloviansk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. Members of the unit believe a Russian advance could be impending with the aim of seizing the strategic city.

David Goldman | AP Photo

The Ukrainian government extended its martial law for another 90 days as Russia's war marches into its sixth month.

Martial law is declared in an emergency and temporarily replaces civilian rule with military authority. The Ukrainian government will reassess if martial law needs to be extended again on November 21, according to an update posted on the Telegram messaging app.

Amanda Macias

Volunteers lower into a grave a coffin with one of fourteen unidentified persons killed by Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, during a burial ceremony in the town of Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine August 9, 2022.

Valentyn Ogirenko | Reuters

The United Nations has confirmed civilian 5,514 deaths and 7,698 injuries in Ukraine since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher, because the armed conflict can delay fatality reports.

The international organization said most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missiles and airstrikes.

Amanda Macias

Volunteers help to bring food rations to a food aid distribution center, managed by different NGOs and called "Everything is going to be allright", in the city center of Kramatorsk on July 11, 2022 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Miguel Medina | AFP | Getty Images

The World Food Program estimates that 20% of Ukrainians have insufficient food due to Russia's invasion.

"The situation is particularly concerning in the eastern and southern parts of the country, where one in every two families is facing challenges in putting food on their table," the World Food Program wrote in a report.

The group estimates that about 40% of female-headed families in hostile regions are food insecure and need help addressing specific dietary needs, especially those who are pregnant and breastfeeding.

"People with chronic illnesses or disabilities are also facing increasing challenges," the World Food Program wrote.

Amanda Macias

Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing on "Department of Defense's Budget Requests for FY2023", on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2022.

Sarah Silbiger | Reuters

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Armed Forces Gen. Valery Zaluzhny over the weekend.

"They discussed the unprovoked and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and exchanged perspectives and assessments. The chairman once again reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to a Pentagon readout of the call.

Milley last spoke with Zaluzhny on Thursday, the third call between the two leaders this month.

Amanda Macias

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a wreath-laying ceremony, which marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Russia June 22, 2022.

Mikhail Metzel | Sputnik | Reuters

President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia's weaponry is potentially decades ahead of its foreign counterparts.

"Promising models and systems that are future-oriented and will determine the future of the armed forces are of particular interest," he said. Putin was speaking at the opening of the "Army 2022" international military-technical forum on Monday.

"We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, about combat systems based on new physical principles," Putin said, according to Russian state news agency Interfax. "Many of them are years, maybe decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and in terms of tactical and technical characteristics they are significantly superior."

Speaking at the opening of the forum, Putin said Russia was ready to share its weapons technology with its allies.

"Russia sincerely values historically strong, friendly, truly trusting ties with the states of Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and is ready to offer its partners and allies the most modern types of weapons - from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles," the president said.

Commenting on the increasingly polarized nature of global geopolitics, particularly amid Russia's war in Ukraine, Putin said Russia appreciated "that today our country has many allies, partners, like-minded people on different continents."

These are states that, he said, "do not bend before the so-called hegemon, their leaders show real masculine character and do not bend."

Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian bomb disposal workers carry unexploded ordnance during mine clearance work in the village of Yahidne, in the liberated territories of the Chernihiv region on June 7, 2022 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

Russian forces have launched a massive shelling campaign against the Novhorod-Siverskyi community in the Chernihiv region in northeastern Ukraine which borders Russia, according to a Ukrainian official.

VyacheslavChaus, the head of Chernihiv's Regional Military Administration, commented on Telegram this morning that since 8am local time, "there have been more than 70 explosions" that he said were likely caused by enemy artillery on the outskirts of a village, Kamyanska Sloboda, before another village was targeted, with almost 60 explosions reported.

Civilian buildings have been damaged, he said but so far there had been no casualties. Chernihiv and the surrounding region was the scene of intense fighting at the start of Russia's invasion in February and March but the epicenter of the fighting quickly shifted to the east and south of Ukraine.

Holly Ellyatt

US' Women's National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, waits for the verdict inside a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022.

Evgenia Novozhenina | AFP | Getty Images

The defense team of BrittneyGriner, the U.S. basketball star jailed for nine years in Russiaon drugs charges, has appealed against her conviction fornarcotics possession and trafficking, Griner's lawyer MariaBlagovolina told Reuters on Monday.

Griner, who had played for a Russian club, was arrested at aMoscow airport on Feb. 17 after cannabis-infused vape cartridgeswere found in her luggage.

She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she had made an"honest mistake" by entering Russia with cannabis oil, which isillegal in the country. She was convicted on Aug. 4.

The U.S. government says Griner was wrongfully detained. Ithas offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian armsdealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.

Reuters

A DPR army fighter is seen in front of the tank as Russian attacks continue in Mariupol, Ukraine on May 04, 2022.

Leon Klein | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Russia is likely to be at the "advanced planning" stage for a referendum to be held in the pro-Russian "Donetsk People's Republic" in Ukraine on whether to become a part of the Russia.

It's been widely reported and presumed by Western officials and experts that Russia would seek to try to bring the breakaway region (and its neighboring self-proclaimed "People's Republic" in Luhansk, also in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine) into the Russian Federation at some point.

Russia has used the "defense" of these separatist regions, which it has supported since 2014 and made various attempts to "Russify," such as the handing out of Russian passports, as an excuse for invading Ukraine. Moscow has said that the "liberation" of these territories in the Donbas is its main aim of the war and its forces occupy much of Donetsk and are trying to push into Luhansk.

The U.K.'s Ministry of Defence said Monday that "it is likely that Russia is in the advanced planning stages to hold a referendum, though it is unclear if the final decision to go ahead with a vote has yet been taken."

It noted that on Aug.11, Russian media reported that Denis Pushilin, head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), had said that the date of a referendum on the DPR joining Russia would be announced after the DPR's "complete liberation."

Excerpt from:

Russia urged to withdraw forces from Ukrainian nuclear power plant; Putin turns to North Korea for friendship - CNBC

Despite recent pronouncements by Ukraines leadership about the militarys success along the Kherson front, troops have barely moved for weeks. Credit...Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

MYKOLAIV REGION, Ukraine In their summer campaign to drive Russian troops from the southern region of Kherson, Ukraines forces have decimated Russian command centers and ammunition depots, severed supply lines with precision strikes on key bridges, and sown terror among collaborationist officials with a spate of car bombings, shootings and, Ukrainian officials said, at least one poisoning.

But out in the sunbaked fields along the Kherson Regions western border, the Ukrainian fighters who would be called on to deliver the knockout blow in any successful effort to retake territory remain pinned down in their trenches. Cuts to Russian supply lines have not yet eroded the overwhelming advantage of Moscows forces in artillery, ammunition and heavy weaponry, making it difficult if not impossible for Ukrainian forces to press forward without suffering enormous casualties.

Without question we need a counteroffensive, I sincerely believe it will come, said a 33-year-old lieutenant with the call sign Ada, who commands an outpost of trenchworks in the neighboring Mykolaiv region, a few miles from the Russian lines in Kherson.

But he added: We need the advantage in numbers, we need the advantage in heavy weapons. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a problem for us.

Even though Ukrainian troops have not moved forward for weeks in Kherson, their artillery campaign appears to have borne fruit, slowing the flow of Russian arms, equipment and troops into the region, Ukrainian officials say. Using high-precision weapons such as the American-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, Ukrainian forces have pounded the three bridges over the vast Dnipro River that connect thousands of Russians to their supply lines in occupied Ukrainian territory east of the river.

The strikes have rendered these bridges inoperable, said Nataliya Gumenyuk, the spokeswoman for the Ukrainian militarys southern command. Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces launched yet another strike on the Antonivsky bridge, the main supply artery into the city of Kherson.

We clearly understand that the occupiers depend on those arteries to keep bringing in reserves and ammunition and military equipment, Ms. Gumenyuk said.

The question now is whether this pressure on Russias supply lines will be sufficient to cripple the fighting capacity of Russian troops and perhaps force the Kremlin to order at least part of the force to withdraw from Kherson and fall back across the river. Several Ukrainian officials in the region said this week that some Russian field commanders had already begun to move their headquarters east of the river, although two senior Ukrainian military officials said there was no evidence of this.

At the front, a withering barrage of Russian strikes inevitably kills a handful of Adas troops each day, the lieutenant said. A near miss by a grad rocket a day earlier charred the grass around one dugout position, and in the field nearby, the tail section of another rocket was visible sticking out of the ground. Periodically, a low-decibel thud reverberated across the plains.

It is the same all across the roughly 50-mile Kherson front, which cuts roughly north to south through fertile fields. Ukraines commanders and military analysts say that any lunge forward would require vastly more troops and equipment than Ukraine has in the Kherson theater at the moment.

Russia, meanwhile, has shifted resources from fighting in the eastern Donbas to reinforce its positions in the south.

Maj. Gen. Dmytro Marchenko, the commander of Ukraines forces in the region, recently acknowledged bubbling frustrations with the slow pace of Ukraines efforts to retake Kherson, but he said he could give no timetable for the start of major offensive actions.

I want to tell the people of Kherson to be a little patient that it will not be as long as everyone expects, General Marchenko said in an interview last week with RBK-Ukraine. We have not forgotten about them, no one will abandon our people and we will come to help them, but they need to wait a little longer.

If the Ukrainians can fully sever the bridges over the Dnipro and keep them cut, the Kremlin will have no choice but to withdraw some forces or force Russian troops to fight with limited supplies and hope they cope, said Phillips P. OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

If they havent built up considerable depots on the west bank, one would think they would run into major problems in a matter of weeks, he said.

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Russia-Ukraine War News: Latest Updates - The New York Times

It is an unusual arrangement for unusual times: Above a factory floor in Lviv, Ukraine, where Volodomyr Mysysk has relocated his furniture-making business, he and his 15 employees have become roommates. They have brought their children and their dogs, and share a kitchen above the machinery where they spend their days reviving a company that could have been destroyed by the war.

But Mr. Mysysk, 23, and his workers, who came to Lviv from the bombarded city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, have benefited from a spirit of solidarity and a government policy that aims to rescue industries threatened by an invading Russian army and help reassemble them, piece by piece, in cities along Ukraines western frontier.

This region is quickly being remade into the new economic heartland of Ukraine, with more than 200 transplanted businesses that make just about everything, including paint, construction materials and parts for electric vehicles.

Factories in Russian-occupied areas were packed up and moved on trains and trucks, and are being resurrected in the west. Manufacturers are creating jobs and hunting for skilled workers. Now closer to Poland Ukraines gateway to Germany and western Europe the reborn businesses are forging ties with the European Union, which Ukraine hopes to join soon.

The main motivation for them to come here is that they stay in Ukraine, said Andriy Moskalenko, the deputy mayor of Lviv responsible for economic affairs. Whether they come from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv they are all Ukrainian. We have to support them, he added, because Russia has destroyed a lot.

Ukraines economy is expected to contract by over a third this year. Inflation is rising, and is likely to climb above 30 percent, the countrys central bank recently said, and the finance minister recently announced the country had reached an agreement to stop paying some foreign creditors.

Under a government relocation program, Mr. Mysysk was able to offer workers at his small company, Roomio, an opportunity: Join him in the relative safety of Lviv and keep their jobs, although it meant living in close quarters with their boss until they could find their own lodgings.

Emotionally, it wasnt always easy: I tried not to look depressed, because I wanted to encourage everyone, said Mr. Mysysk, who moved large chunks of the assembly line to Lviv in a bakery truck lent by a neighboring bread maker. It took a month to move everything out of the old factory, by then pockmarked from shelling and gun battles.

I would smile and say everything is good, even when I wasnt sure I believed it, he said.

But the financial and political support companies like his have received, Mr. Mysysk said, has been an inspiration and a reminder of just how critical businesses are for helping keep the economy afloat.

Bigger companies are working as fast as possible to piece themselves back together though it is a daunting task trying to map out a business plan amid the constant uncertainty of war.

Oleksandr Oskalenko, the managing director of Pozhmashina, a maker of fire trucks and agricultural vehicles, halted production in March at its sprawling, modern factory in Chernihiv, the site of a brutal siege by the Russians, and looked to the safety of his 550 employees.

Things had been developing really well in Ukraine, he said. We still had problems with corruption, but those problems were getting less, and the economy was improving. But with Russias invasion, half of the country stopped working.

When President Volodymyr Zelensky announced an economic program in April to rescue businesses from the war-torn east, Mr. Oskalenko jumped at the chance. We took the factory apart piece by piece and put it onto trains to be shipped out, he said.

The government offered tax breaks and the free transport of equipment on Ukrainian railways. Lviv and other cities nearby have competed fiercely to lure the newcomers, offering additional financial sweeteners including cheap warehouse space, free legal counsel and fast-track paperwork to set up new operations quickly.

Beyond the 200 companies that have already moved, another 800 have applied for relocation, said Volodomyr Korud, vice president of Lvivs Chamber of Commerce.

On a recent weekday, a team of welders worked to remake Pozhmashinas paint shop inside a mammoth Soviet-era warehouse, attaching massive steel beams under streaks of sunlight through broken windows overhead. Once it is finished, agricultural trucks will emerge in fresh coats of olive green, and fire engines in cherry red.

Even so, Mr. Oskalenko said, it is hard to know when things will get back to business as usual.

The Russians have destroyed big industrial centers that produced energy, chemicals and steel, he said. Agricultural fields in occupied areas arent producing, he added. So making a business plan one to two years out is impossible.

But this has given us a perspective for the future, Mr. Oskalenko said, smiling as he surveyed the rebirth of his old factory. There are no trenches here, so it helps.

The war has also brought a flood of Ukrainians to settle in the relative safety of the west, with large numbers looking for work. For executives like Pavlo Chernyak, the head of Matro Luxe, one of Ukraines biggest mattress makers, relocating to Ukraines western frontier opens what he sees as a great opportunity to offer employment to some of the tens of thousands of people who lost jobs because of the war.

Under whizzing bullets and a hail of Russian rockets, he said, he moved over half of Matro Luxes equipment from factories in Kyiv and Dnipro, in the east, and plans on expanding the business. Mattresses are in demand at a time of war not only for soldiers but for families in bomb shelters or displacement centers. And whenever the war ends, he expects the demand to only grow amid a reconstruction boom.

Mr. Chernyak has vowed to expand his workplace in Lviv of 40 people up to 200 in six months, and up to 500 by the end of the year.

To me, its most important to keep workplaces for people we need to keep as many jobs here as possible in order to sustain our economy, pay our taxes, he added.

Even as they hunt for skilled workers, the replanted businesses face additional challenges operating in a wartime economy upended by supply shortages and damaged infrastructure.

At the new location for NPO Rost, a maker of interiors for passenger trains, a managing director, Aleksandr Pletiuk, is scrambling to fulfill orders in a small warehouse. Before Russias invasion, the company operated a 33-acre modernized plant in the now embattled city of Zaporizhzhia.

Today Mr. Pletiuks warehouse space in Lviv is tiny by comparison, and its production capacity is just 10 percent of the old site. Were trying to meet all our contracts as fast as possible, while settling into an empty space that doesnt even have electricity yet, he said.

A handful of employees were trying to fill orders for train windows but they were missing essential pieces needed to make the windows airtight. Because of the wars impact on Ukraines supply chain, Mr. Pletiuk said, it now takes twice as long to procure glass. Fuel costs have more than doubled.

The company signed contracts with clients before the war at fixed prices, but now expenses have surged: metal prices are 50 percent higher. And investments must be made in the new warehouse to bolster production capacity.

Still, Mr. Pletiuk said, When we win this war, we will have a lot more to do. Russian attacks have damaged at least 3,900 miles of railways in Ukraine. And many of the railway cars that ferried refugees and supplies will need to be refurbished, and new ones ordered.

He is not alone in seeing a boon: An irony of the great migration of eastern businesses is that it has not always led to financial hardship but gain.

Now just about 60 mile from Poland, Mr. Mysysk realized it would be easier to export Roomios furniture to European customers from Lviv than it was in Kharkiv. After emailing companies around Europe, he has gotten new clients in Denmark and Slovenia his first export opportunities.

In Ukraine, its considered cool to work with European countries. So I felt really happy when the first contract was made, he said. For our work I hate to say this, but its actually going better for us.

His company is not the only one now starting to find new business in Europe, a trend he believes is important not just for helping Ukraine keep its economy alive during the war, but for fostering closer ties with the European Union.

The more we are connected, the more the governments of the European Union and Ukraine will understand we should be one, he said.

Read more:

To Escape the War, Ukraines Factories Are Moving West - The New York Times