Notes and Essays -- John Brown

 via email, The Washington Post, 2/1/2023         By  Ishaan Tharoor with Sammy Westfall  Email   The argument for why the West should change course on Ukraine A Ukrainian serviceman looks on in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Jan. 2. (Yan Dobronosov/Reuters) (Stringer/Reuters) The war in Ukraine, at least for some policymakers in Western capitals, can be measured in deliveries of weapons.  Their response to the brutal onslaught unleashed by Russia last February has been a parade of armor and steel:  Javelins ,  howitzers ,  drones ,  strike vehicles ,  antiaircraft systems ,  HIMARS  and, most recently,  battle tanks . At every stage, Kyiv has clamored for more to throw out the invading Russians, and at almost every stage, the West has acceded to Ukrainian demands, though perhaps not at the speed Ukraine would like. The next round of wrangling may center on Ukraine’s desire for scores of multipurpose fighter jets, which Kyiv wants as it prepares to repulse a rumored forthcoming Russian offensiv

U.S. imposed sanctions against the military infrastructure it says supports Russia’s battlefield operations in Ukraine image from article: A man wearing a camouflage uniform walks out of PMC Wagner Centre. PHOTO:  IGOR RUSSAK/REUTERS By Mengqi Sun, The Wall Street Journal , Updated Jan. 26, 2023 2:41 pm ET [original article contains a video] The U.S. has imposed sanctions against the military infrastructure it says is supporting Russia’s battlefield operations in Ukraine, ramping up pressure on the Kremlin as the war   enters its next phase .   The U.S. took action Thursday against Russian private military group Wagner Group, designating it as a significant transnational criminal organization over its   actions in combat operations   in Ukraine on behalf of President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. Treasury Department said Wagner Group personnel also are involved in alleged ongoing criminal activity, including mass executions, rape and physical abuse in the Central African Republic and Mali.

A ‘Frontline’ presentation on PBS examines the relationship between Vladimir Putin and the five American presidents who have dealt with and often misjudged him.  image from article:  Vladimir Putin and the presidents he’s dealt with PHOTO:  COURTESY OF FRONTLINE By John Anderson,  The Wall Street Journal , Jan. 26, 2023 5:14 pm ET A primer on   Vladimir Putin   and a chronicle of diplomatic miscalculation, “Putin and the Presidents” sets out to establish a couple of dispiriting truths, one of which could be seen as a takedown of American optimism: Mr. Putin has always been exactly who he seemed to be. The leaders of the free world have been hoping he wasn’t.   Putin and the Presidents,  Tuesday, 10 p.m., PBS An episode of “ Frontline ” marked by the series’ customary directness, “Putin and the Presidents” maps out the various missteps committed by the White House as regards the former KGB agent who became Russia’s supreme leader in 1999 and whose tenure has been marked ever since by de

  By  Carole Landry Editor/Writer, Briefings Team; via email, 1/30/2023 Welcome to the Russia-Ukraine War Briefing, your guide to the latest news and analysis about the conflict. Ukraine ramped up pressure on the International Olympic Committee  to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes  from the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Britain’s former prime minister, Boris Johnson, said that President Vladimir Putin  made a veiled threat to fire a missile at him . The Kremlin called his claim “a lie.” NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, urged South Korea  to increase its support for Ukraine . Get the latest updates here . Ukrainian soldiers headed to battle in eastern Ukraine on Saturday. Lynsey Addario for The New York Times First, tanks; next, fighter jets? President Volodymyr Zelensky  is imploring Ukraine’s allies  to speed up deliveries of tanks and other promised weapons, even as his government pushes for more sophisticated weaponry — including long-range missiles and fighter jets. Ole