DAY 343 OF THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE...

FROM FEBRUARY 28TH - TODAY

| FROM THE NEWSROOM | FEBRUARY 28, 2022 | 5: 00 PM |

Russia’s actions against Ukraine and threats against other nations are like a child throwing a tantrum. President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan let the world know that the United States President is weak and inefficient. The world lost respect and fear of the American military due to his incompetence, which has directly led to Russia invading Ukraine, and China making preparations to take Taiwan. Under the previous Administration the U.S. was a major oil producer and also supplied Ukraine with many military weapons like anti-tank missiles. However, under the Biden Administration the U.S. is no longer an oil producing country due to green propaganda, the U.S. military has lost the respect of the world, and the

Biden administration has turned their back on ally nations.

Vladimir Putin after seeing the ineffectiveness and incompetence of the Biden Administration he began moving troops to the border of Ukraine. For years he was kept in check due to the strength of the U.S., the fact that the U.S. was able to prevent Russia from taking control of the oil producing market, etc. However, Biden stopped the U.S. from drilling oil which allowed Russia to get more of the oil export market allowing them to make large sums of money and even hiking the prices up. This allowed Putin to fund his invasion and war with Ukraine and he knows that President Biden is not a threat due to how he couldn’t even effectively withdraw troops and Americans from Afghanistan in the proper manner and also left billions of dollars worth of military equipment to America’s enemies. Putin started this invasion to show Russia’s strength, to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, and getting more concessions from other nations to prevent war. He is a tyrant, a child who wants to show that he isn’t weak and that he controls the oil market.

Former President Trump said in a statement on Monday, February 28, that it was his administration that funded NATO and provided Ukraine with advanced Javelin anti-tank missiles. He said, “I hope everyone is able to remember that it was me, as President of the United States, that got delinquent NATO members to start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars.” This largely contrasts to what the Biden Administration is doing, they have supplied non-military items like disaster relief items like blankets

when they desperately need weapons to defend their nation.

Many people have criticized President Biden’s actions as too little too late. The sanctions were not effective in preventing Russia from invading Ukraine. They place no substantial pressure on Russia. European nations such as Germany are the countries that are taking effective measures to force Russia to stop invading Ukraine. However, the former National Security Adviser John Bolton called on the U.S. and European countries to ban Russian citizens from entering the countries. In a statement he said, “Some will say this is too hard and disruptive. Really? Ask Ukraine what harsh and disruptive mean. The West has failed to deter Russia’s attack, and its post-invasion sanctions have so far been pinpricks, hardly even touching Russia’s critical energy sector. If there are better ideas than a visa ban, let’s get them out in public. Otherwise, we will just be sitting back watching the casualty list get longer.”

Russia and Ukraine also held peace talks which did not end well due to Russia’s aggressive demands that would not be met. Russia bombed Kharkiv which resulted in the deaths of dozens of people and hundreds were wounded. Reportedly after the failed negotiations Russians forced launched an attack on Kyiv. Russia has sowed discord, annexed parts of Ukraine, bombed residential areas, killed or injured civilians, etc. Ukraine has called for the UN to investigate what they call Russia’s war crimes. “Russian forces attempt to sow panic among the population by specifically targeting kindergartens and orphanages, hospitals and mobile medical aid brigades thus committing acts that may amount to war crimes,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko. Despite how the Russian-Ukraine negotiations failed a second round is expected to take place in coming days

according to an aide to Putin.

All in all President Biden is the main reason that Russia was able to invade Ukraine. If he was serious about stopping Russia from attacking U.S. allies then he would start allowing oil to be drilled in the country making the country an oil producing country like it was under former President Trump. We indirectly gave Russia the funds to invade Ukraine which is an ally. How does this make sense? We are paying Russia for oil, while also trying to sanction them to stop the war. We are giving money to an enemy nation while they are fighting an American ally while we are not giving any substantial aid to Ukraine. President Biden is an ineffective and incompetent president. He has undermined the respect and trust that the American people and American allies have in the government and the American military. America used to fight for freedom but now the Democrats are allowing freedom to be trampled on by Communist nations like Russia, and China.

| FROM THE NEWSROOM | MARCH 12, 2022 | 10: 35 PM | UPDATE |

On Tuesday, March 1, the top Ukrainian official Oleksiy danilow announced that authorities prevented an assassination attempt against the Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy. Danilov claimed that a Chechen paramilitary group was responsible for the failed attack.He also claimed that members of Russia’s Federal SEcurity Service who didn’t support Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, informed Ukrainian forces about the plot against Zelensky’s life.

This news follows assertions by Zelenskyy on Monday, February 28, that the Chechen mercenaries are operating in Kyiv under direct orders from the Kremlin. In January, the Wagner Group, a private army with ties to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, sent around 3,000 mercenaries to Ukraine. Around 400 of them were deployed to Kyiv, while others were sent to the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

European nations are putting increased pressure on Russia and Russian Billionaires. Germany has seized Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s $600 million yacht for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move comes a day after the European Union froze the 68-year-old's assets and issued him a travel ban, saying that Usmanov “actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine.” However, he is just one of the many Russian oligarchs that are being targeted across Europe due to the war. With the increased pressure on the Russian oligarchs many are now trying to prevent Putin from continuing the war and according to some analysts a leadership change is more than likely to take place in Russia if Putin doesn’t change his position.

On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he “authorized the [Department of Defense] to provide an additional $350 million in immediate military assistance to Ukraine to help defend itself from Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war.” But many are questioning why the U.S. didn’t provide military aid sooner. Retired Army Lt. General Jim Dubik said that, “Once the Stinger's employed, it has the ability to be a game-changer. The Russians don't have air dominance, but they do have air superiority ― and the Stingers won't take that away, but it'll be contested airspace, and that hurts the Russians' ability to conduct operations and increases Ukraine's ability to defend.” According to Democrat officials this is the limit of aid that they are willing to supply to Ukraine to avoid fighting directly with Russia or providing more sophisticated weaponry to fight against Russia’s invasion. Reportedly Ukraine forces have shot down approximately 200 Russian jets, and helicopters and destroyed around the same amount of tanks and armored vehicles, but the fight is far from over.

Many military experts and officials believe that Russia largely underestimated the strength and resolve of the Ukraine resistance before launching the invasion which is why the invasion and war has lasted far longer than Putin had planned. Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, said in a hearing by the House Intelligence Committee that, “We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose. But what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time given the significant costs he is incurring.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a no-fly zone to be implemented and NATO and other nations have started having an unconstructive back and forth about the situation. Defense Secretary Antony Blinken said that the U.S. gave Poland the green light for sending jets before actually talking to Poland, so Poland is sending the jets to a U.S. base in Germany so that the U.S. can do it. They both are fighting for the other one to do it because they don’t want to get involved in the war. However, Putin already considers other countries as involved, saying that sanctions are similar to an act of war. U.S. officials have also skirted the issue about enacting a no-fly zone saying it would incite more war on a larger scale but Putin’s ambitions don’t seem to be restricted to just Ukraine. More than two dozen foreign policy experts have signed a letter calling for the Biden Administration to enact a “limited no-fly-zone” over Ukraine saying, “What we seek is the deployment of American and NATO aircraft not in search of confrontation with Russia but to avert and deter Russian bombardment that would result in massive loss of Ukrainian lives. This is in addition to the request from Ukrainian leaders for A-10 and MIG-29 aircraft to help Ukrainians defend themselves, which we also strongly support.”

The following are the list of signatures for that letter:

Anders Aslund, senior fellow, Stockholm Free World Forum

Stephen Blank, senior fellow/Foreign Policy Research Institute

Gen. (ret.) Philip Breedlove, former supreme allied commander Europe

Ian Brzezinski, former deputy assistant secretary of defense

Orest Deychakiwsky, former policy adviser, U.S. Helsinki Commission

Larry Diamond, senior fellow, Hoover Institution and Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Paula Dobriansky, former under secretary of state for global affairs

Eric S. Edelman, former under secretary of defense

Evelyn Farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia

Daniel Fried, former assistant secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Poland

Andrew J. Futey, president, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America

Melinda Haring, deputy director, Atlantic Council Eurasia Center

John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Ben Hodges, former commanding general, U.S. Army Europe

Glen Howard, president, Jamestown Foundation

Donald Jensen, Johns Hopkins University

Ian Kelly, former U.S. ambassador to Georgia and OSCE

John Kornblum, former assistant secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Germany

Shelby Magid, associate director, Atlantic Council Eurasia Center

Robert McConnell, co-founder, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation

Claire Sechler Merkel, senior director, McCain Institute for International Leadership

David A. Merkel, former deputy assistant secretary of state and director, National Security Council

Barry Pavel, senior vice president and director, Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Herman Pirchner, president, American Foreign Policy Council

Michael Sawkiw Jr., director, Ukrainian National Information Service

Leah Scheunemann, deputy director, Atlantic Council Transatlantic Security Initiative

Benjamin L. Schmitt, former European energy security adviser, U.S. Department of State

William Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine

Alexander Vershbow, former U.S. ambassador to Russia and NATO

Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and special representative for Ukraine negotiations

Reportedly as of March 12, Russia has lost about 200 tanks, thousands of soldiers, while Ukraine has reportedly lost several hundreds of people, mainly civilians. Russia has bombed a maternity hospital, a children hospital, and a disability hospital. Russia has also arrested Russians and anyone in Russia that speaks out against Putin and the war. President Biden has signed a bill to send weapons and funding to Ukraine, which is late due to bureaucracy by the Democrats. Reportedly the 40-mile convoy that has been stalled is now on the move to Kyiv, and bombings have occurred across Kyiv as well as lots of urban battles happened. There are also videos showing Ukrainians firing rockets and tanks and taking them from the Russians. Experts say that the situation is expected to escalate due to the moving convoy, as well as the fact that Russia is also calling for Syrians to aid them in the war. When will the war end? When will the U.S. and NATO intervene? Are they cowed by the threats from Putin? NATO and the U.S. is already involved, so thinking that Putin will not retaliate against them is unrealistic so many experts are saying that their militaries should act to stop Putin before the situation turns worse.

| UPDATE | FROM THE NEWSROOM | MARCH 14, 2022 | 5: 00 PM |

Russian attacks have been constantly escalating since the war in Ukraine has been dragged on. The Ukrainian forces have held back a lot of the Russian offensive. However, Russian forces have started to shoot missiles into Ukrainian cities at random. These missiles have hit hospitals, tv towers, residential buildings, intersections, etc. Some of the recent attacks have injured or even killed journalists. Talks have been called off repeatedly due to Putin’s outrageous demands from Ukraine and other world leaders. All the while President Biden and his administration are sitting on their hands and have delayed sending help to Ukraine to defend against Russian forces.

A Ukrainian cameraman was killed when Russian bombed the TV Tower in Kyiv. Yevhennii Sakun was killed with four others in the strike on the tower. Brent Renaud was killed as Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle in Ukraine, and Benjamin Hall, a Fox reporter, was hospitalized while covering events outside of Kyiv. Russia’s indiscriminate bombing killing civilians, elderly, children, and reporters is an affront to justice and the Biden Administration has not offered any substantial aide until just recently.

Peace talks have been repeatedly failing because Putin has put forth outrageous demands of Ukraine. He wanted Ukraine to get rid of all weapons, wanted Ukraine to never want to be a part of NATO, and a lot more other demands. In the most recent talks there was a narrow diplomatic path opened while Russian forces pounded away at cities across Ukraine, which only worsened the humanitarian crisis. Yet still the world leaders stand by and watch delaying time with diplomatic platitudes while innocent people are killed and are suffering.

The weakness of President Biden has directly emboldened America’s enemies abroad to take action. Senator Ron Johnson said, “ Remember, President Biden laid out his number one goal is to unify and heal this nation. He's done the exact opposite, and that's where American weakness begins. We are disunified. And it is the left that continues to divide us. It's not the right. We're happy to let people live their lives and just keep government off our back and let us get on with our business. But the left forces everything on us. They keep pushing and pushing, and they divide us, and that also makes us weak,” on Newmax’s “Stinchfield.” Biden has weakened America from shutting down domestic oil and relying on foreign powers, to the disaster in Afghanistan, to his failed economic policies, etc which has made it so that Russia and China have taken the opportunity to expand and attack the neighboring nations. Even terrorist organizations have recieved weapons and equipment due to Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and used to to attack the area around the U.S. consulate in Iraq.

The enemies of freedom and democracy are banging down the door of America because they realize that the federal government is weak and incompetant and

cannot pose any effective threat to them or their goals.

This is America under the Democrat Party.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MARCH 18, 2022 | 4: 33 PM |

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is still ongoing and has continued to escalate. Putin has committed war crimes, he has arrested protesters, and Russia is suffering the consequences economically and socially. However, the Biden Administration has reacted too late to be of much help. They have not proactively stopped or impeded Russia from invading Ukraine. The President of the land of the free is throwing freedom and justice out the window by not standing up and proactively helping Ukraine. Putin is a war criminal. He has killed children, elderly, and citizens. He has bombed a maternity hospital, disability hospital, residential buildings, etc. However, the Kremlin says that calling Putin a war criminal is unacceptable and unforgivable. Isn't it the other way around? Isn’t it unacceptable and unforgivable for Putin to kill non-combatants, to go against the rules of war? President Biden took weeks to call Putin a war criminal, however, he originally said that Putin wasn’t a war criminal until his staff advised him to go back and change his statement. How could President Biden possibly think that Putin is not a war criminal? How can Biden just stand by and not send troops, or at the very least enact a no-fly zone which lots of experts are saying is needed? President Biden, his administration, and Washington Democrats are hypocrites. This has been proven by their actions and policies both foreign and domestic. They stopped Trump-era Ukrainian aid due to it being Trump who implemented it. This has caused Ukraine to be low on weapons and equipment prior to Russia’s invasion. Now after weeks of death and destruction President Biden said that the U.S. is sending more anti-aircraft, anti-armor, and drones to Ukraine in order to help it defend against Russia. However they still refuse to send jets. They still refuse to enact a no-fly zone. They still refuse to aid Ukraine as was promised decades ago when they denuclearized. Yet another instance of America under Biden forsaking allies and aiding Americans enemies. First Afghanistan and now Ukraine, is Taiwan next? Many countries and organizations have called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Russia’s indiscriminate bombing of hospitals, residential buildings, airports, etc have killed numerous civilians including elderly and children. The excuse given as to why there is not a no-fly-zone is that they don’t want to “escalate” the war. However, Putin continues to escalate the war regardless of their actions. NATO member Estonia’s Parliament has called on other UN member states to establish a no-fly-zone over Ukraine. In a statement they said, “The Riigikogu [Parliament] expresses its support to the defenders and the people of the state of Ukraine in their fight against the Russian Federation that has launched a criminal war, and calls on showing absolute support to Ukraine in its war for maintaining its freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” On Day 20, of the invasion, March 15, Russia carpet bombed a civilian airport in Dnipro preventing refugees from living and it is reported that some were injured or killed in the bombing. How many lives have to be lost before America finally reacts? Is this a repeat of WWII where millions of jews had to die before America stood up? As of March 16 3.2 million refugees have been able to flee Ukraine which includes 1.5 million children. “The scale of internal displacement in Ukraine [is] calculated to stand at 6.48 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine as of March 16,” said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It also said that, “Over 12 million people are estimated to be stranded in affected areas or unable to leave due to heightened security risks, destruction of bridges and roads, as well as lack of resources or information on where to find safety and accommodation. Humanitarian corridors with satisfactory security guarantees for the safe evacuation of civilians have still not been secured by both parties, and continue to be the most pressing and urgent need inside Ukraine.” All of these trevesties are happening in the same place yet American leaders still do not take a proactive approach in helping Ukraine. The Pentagon has estimated that Putin has committed 75% of his forces to the Ukrainian invasion. The pressure is on the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian people are dying, and yet Ukrainian allies are not sending them the help that they need. Russian forces keep being stalled by the Ukrainian forces but they are running out of equipment and they have requested help since the invasion began. Many Military officials estimate that Putin has around 14 days to either succeed or fail, however is that accurate? If Ukraine can hold off until their weapons and ammo are resupplied tehy could potential when the war but Putin could still send long range missiles to bomb the country so many are skeptical. Because Russia is losing the war, losing countless troops, tanks, and jets and being stalled at pretty much every turn they have taken it upon themselves to spread false propaganda. They have arrested protesters who are against the war, have arrested media members who don’t say what Russian officials ordered them to say. Their attacks have even killed American news personnel. If cracking down and silencing those who speak out against Russian officials isn’t enough. Many businesses in Russia have ended operations, Russia has been denied access to SWIFT banking system, etc. This is having a drastic impact on Russians and the Russian economy. Many rating agencies are now saying that Russia is on the verge of defaulting on government bonds with billions of dollars being owed to foreigners. If the default on their loans Russia will suffer and be isolated from the world economy even further they already are under numerous sanctions.

| FORM MORE UPDATES ON UKRAINE AND BREAKING NEWS GO TO | THETEXOMAREPUBLICNEWSPAPER.COM

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MARCH 22, 2022 | 5: 30 PM |

The Ukrainian have and are continuing to put up a large fight against Russian forces. They have reportedly kill around 10, 000 Russian troops, they have taken or destroyed hundreds of tanks, and they have taken down several jets and helicopters. Komsomolskaya Pravda, a pro-Putin daily newspaper, cited Russia's Ministry of Defense when it reported that 9,861 Russian troops had been killed and 16,153 injured during the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, according to the Washington Examiner. The U.S. and other NATO countries have largely been reactive and reacted to the invasion too slowly. Recently the U.S. decided to send weapons and equipment to Ukraine but still refused to send jets, or establish a no-fly zone over the country. The U.S. is reportedly sending Soviet-made air defense systems to Ukraine in an effort to support Ukraine. Yet the still refuse to send Mig jets, or declare a no fly zone due to threats from Putin saying that it would become a full fledged war with NATO and the U.S. if they sent such aide to Ukraine. Many Russian Generals have been reportedly killed in the invasion and several Russian troops have even surrendered because they were unaware that they were going to war and unwilling to invade Ukraine. Most recently Anrey Paliy, a commander in Russia’s Black Sea fleet, was reportedly shot and killed in battle near the embattled city of Mariupol. Ukrainian officials on Saturday said Russian Lieutenant-General Andrey Mordvichev was killed after forces took a command post at an airfield in Kherson, a port city in southern Ukraine. He was the fifth Russian general killed in battle. Paliy is the first Russian naval boss and sixth military leader to die since Russia invaded Ukraine last month. Due to the fact that Russia is losing a lot in the war they have begun to spread propaganda. Russia had threatened to use cyber-attacks but after President Biden told companies and agencies to protect themselves against such attacks, Russia said that it doesn’t engage in state banditry. Russian cyberattacks don’t attack businesses? They have always targeted businesses, social media platforms, etc. so they are trying to spread some more misinformation. Other propaganda is Russia’s sham trial of Kremlin critics. Alexei Navalny, who was publicizing information about what is going on in Ukraine. They found him guilty of “large scale fraud and contempt of court.” Russian forces are also kidnapping children and sending them to Russia according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry. The ministry said, “According to information received, on March 19, the Russian occupation forces illegally deported 2,389 children who were in the occupied districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the territory of the Russian Federation.” Russia is separating children from the parents and families likely to try and brainwash them or use them as hostages. The Mayor of Mariupol said in a statement talking about how people were being sent to Russia. He said, “It's known that the captured people were taken to 'filtration camps' where the occupier would check their phones and documents," a statement from the local government read. "After the check, some of the people were sent to the far-flung cities in Russia. The fate of others is unknown.” Along with all this the Pentagon is going to help NATO and the UN look into and investigate the allegations of Russian forces committing numerous war crimes like targeting civilians, residential areas, etc.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MARCH 25, 2022 | 4: 11 PM |

Ukrainian forces have begun to take back cities under Russian control, have destroyed tanks, armored vehicles, and planes, and reportedly destroy 50% of Russian forces. This is all as countries have refused or slow walked aid to the country. Zelenskyy during NATO talks called out NATO and said that they should not try to claim that the Ukrainian army does not meet NATO standards especially as they fought and are now pushing back Russian forces. While countries are scared to aid the Ukrainian, many individuals and groups have taken it upon themselves to help in their stead. Retired American soldiers have helped defend Ukraine, many groups are also offering humanitarian aid such as food, health, refugee relocation, etc. Many countries are scared of Putin. They refuse to defend the peace and stability of the world and are bowing down to Russia. Even the United States under the Biden Administration is slow walking aid to the Ukrainian people. However, the Ukrainian people have surprised the world by halting and fighting back against Russia’s invasion. They have taken it upon themselves to fight Russia even as their allies turn their back on them and refuse to send them jets, enact a no fly zone, or supply them sufficient ammo. Recently President Biden has said that they will send weapons to Ukraine but it isn’t expected to arrive for at least a few days. More than tens of thousands of citizens and former soldiers from more than 52 countries have joined Ukraine’s volunteer militia. More than 7, 000 U.S. citizens have applied to go to Ukraine according to Newsweek. U.S. military members who travel to Ukraine to join the fight might face administrative or legal ramifications if and when they return home. More than a month after Russia's invasion, Ukrainian troops were recapturing towns east of the capital Kyiv and Putin's forces were falling back on their overextended supply lines, Britain said on Friday. Russian troops have failed to capture a major Ukrainian city since the start of their assault, which Western countries believed was aimed at swiftly toppling President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government. Meanwhile Pope Francis is calling for an end to the war. On Friday, he presided over a special prayer for Ukraine that references a century-old apocalyptic prophecy about peace and Russia. He invited bishops, priests, and ordinary faithful from around the world to join him in the consecration prayer on Friday. The Mass is Francis’ latest effort to rally prayers for an end to the war while keeping open options for dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church and its influential leader, Patriarch Kirill. Francis has yet to publicly condemn Russia by name for its invasion, though his denunciations have grown increasingly strident and outraged in recent weeks.

| UPDATE | FROM THE NEWSROOM | MARCH 28, 2022 | 8: 22 PM |

Along with the “gaffes” of President Biden on his visit to Europe, which has forced White House officials to quickly walk back statements to not escalate the situation in Ukraine, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that Ukrainian’s in besieged cities are being taken to Russia and put into camps where they are “filtered there, as in Nazi Germany.” As these situations threaten to escalate, there are peace talks still ongoing between Ukraine and Russia, but they are not currently seeing any results. President Biden made comments such as telling troops what they would see “when” they are in Ukraine, saying that he wants to remove Putin from power, and comments about food shortages, etc. This has caused the White House to release statements to “clarify” Biden’s off-script comments. Biden after the White House walked back his statements tried to say that because he is the president doesn’t mean he can’t state his views, even though his views might escalate the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said to the Current Time tv channel, “They are sorted into trustworthy and unreliable, their documents are taken away, they are checked for tattoos. And if God forbid, a person has something in the form of a trident or our coat of arms, the person disappears, and they can’t find him anymore. Children are taken away from their parents, children from orphanages or boarding schools are also taken away in an unknown direction.” Ukraine's authorities are doing everything possible, including demanding from the Red Cross that if it opens a representative office in Rostov that it must make sure people are coming to their homeland in Ukraine and not being taken away in an "unknown direction," she added. Vereshchuk added that the information about the filtration camps is coming from "those who left Mariupol, those who saw how children, women, and old people were taken away before their eyes." As for the numbers, "what we know officially is about 40,000 people who were forcibly deported to Russia and their fate is still unknown," Vereshchuk continued. While all the chaos is going on there are peace talks still underway between Ukraine and Russia. Reportedly Ukraine is thinking about being a neutral country and giving up the Donbas region which is where the city's officials supported Russia’s actions. However, a spokesperson for the Russian government said on Monday that the Kremlin sees little progress in peace negotiations. "We cannot and will not speculate about progress for the time being, but the very decision to go ahead with face-to-face talks is important, of course," Peskov said, speaking of in-person talks that are set to take place soon in Istanbul, Turkey next week. Zelenskyy said that he is willing to compromise to get Ukraine back on track and then solve the complicated issue of the Donbas region, so that there would not be a WWIII.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MARCH 30, 2022 | 5: 00 PM |

Recent reports have said that Putin is withdrawing troops from Ukraine, but the ground reports show that Ukrainians are reportedly pushing Russian troops back. Putin, to try and save face is continuing to air bomb Ukraine while peace talks are still ongoing. The Pentagon said on Wednesday that Russia has started to reposition under 20% of the forces stationed around Kyiv, and said that they expect Russia to refit and resupply them for redeployment into Ukraine instead of withdrawing the troops back to Russia. Russian forces bombarded the outskirts of the capital Kyiv and the besieged city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine on Wednesday, a day after Russia said it would scale down military operations in both cities in what the West dismissed as a ploy to regroup by invaders suffering heavy losses. Ukrainian forces have continued to fight and push back Russian advances all while their U.S. allies refuse to get involved. Earlier on Wednesday, the top U.S. military commander in Europe told Congress that President Joe Biden's administration made a policy decision to keep U.S. warships out of the Black Sea prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The disclosure underscored the efforts that Biden took ahead of Russia's invasion to avoid giving Moscow any U.S.-related pretext for attacking Ukraine, something that Republican critics have seized upon in recent days as they press for a stronger U.S. response. Since the Black Sea is a major shipping route for grain, oil, and oil products, U.S. pulling out has allowed Russia to reportedly plant mines which have damaged or destroyed merchant ships causing prices to grow amid already high prices. Senator Rob Portman, Co-Chair for the Senate Ukraine Caucus hosted a meeting with Sen. Durbin and the Ukrainian parliament members Lesia Zaburanna, Yevheniya Kravchuk, Anastasia Radina, Maria Ionova, and Markarova and Polish lawmakers. The Ukrainian lawmakers met for a second day Wednesday with their counterparts in the U.S. Congress, urging American allies to more quickly provide additional military aid — fighter jets, tanks and other support — and to impose stiffer economic sanctions on the invading Russians they're trying to push from their country. “They desperately need more help both with military assistance and the tightening of sanctions,” said Portman after Wednesday's private meeting at the Capitol. Lawmakers emerging from two days of meetings with the Ukrainian lawmakers kept up a largely unified front, with both Republicans and Democrats saying more funding would be needed, beyond the nearly

$14 billion in military and humanitarian aid recently approved.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 3, 2022 | 11: 40 PM |

So far Ukrainian forces are showing exceptional strength and have pushed back Russian forces making them withdraw from several areas, however many analysts say that Russian forces are expected to regroup after they withdraw before launching another offensive. Amid Russian forces withdrawal there have been numerous atrocities committed by Russia and many U.S. citizens and organizations are trying to aid Ukraine as much as they can. The Guardian reported that Russian troops were using Ukrainian children as human shields. They reportedly put the children on the front of tanks to make Ukrainian forces not target them with artillery while they are withdrawing their forces. Ukraine’s Attorney General is taking note of every atrocious act taken by Russian forces to build a case book of unethical Russian military violations and human rights violations. Colonel Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said, “Enemies have been using Ukrainian children as a living shield when moving their convoys, moving their vehicles. Russian soldiers have used Ukrainian children as hostages, putting them on their trucks. They're doing it to protect their vehicles when moving. There have been cases of brutal behavior against minors been recorded, documented by a Ukrainian and international institutions, and we'd like to emphasize that information in each and every case will be given to the national criminal courts and the occupiers will be brought to justice for each and every military and war crime they commit.” However, this is not the only atrocity committed by Russian forces as they withdraw troops to regroup. Russian forces are reportedly also shooting civilians as they retreat, placing mines, etc. These acts are creating chaos and devastation in areas that are being liberated by the Ukrainian forces. Not all is lost though, many U.S. organizations and individuals have lent aid and are preparing to lend their aid once more. There are groups that supply food and necessary supplies to Ukrainian refugees and Ukrainian forces, but there are also groups stateside. As U.S. refugee resettlement agencies and nonprofits across the nation are gearing up to help Ukrainian refugees, members of farth communities are leading the charge to welcome those displaced by the war. In Southern California for example, pastors and members of their churches are stationing themselves at the southern border waving the Ukrainian flags, and offering food, water, and prayers for the refugees. Other religious groups are also getting ready to provide longer-term solutions for the refugees such as housing, work, healthcare, and schooling. As the war is ongoing many people across the United States and around the world are watching and offering aid where they can, in these trying times.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 8, 2022 | 3: 30 PM |

Even though the UN has removed Russia from the Human Rights Council it does not seem to have stopped or slowed down Russia’s violation of human rights. Ukrainian officials said that at least 50 people were killed, including at least 5 children, and at least 87 were injured by a Russian rocket attack on a railway station that was being used to evacuate citizens. There were reportedly 2 rockets that struck the station in Kramatorsk. The Governor of the Donetsk region said that there were reportedly thousands of people at the station trying to leave for safer areas as the region readies for a major Russian offensive. One of the rockets reportedly had “for children” painted on the side which shows that Russians were deliberately targeting children if the reports are true. While this is going on Ukrainian civilians in Mariupol were attacked by Russia Phosporus bombs on Thursday. Ukrainian Azov Regiment Deputy Commander, Svyatoslaw Ponomar, said, “In addition to aviation, tanks, naval, and land artillery, phosphorus bombs have been added.” White phosphorus is a chemical substance that can cause severe and indiscriminate harm to those affected. After it explodes it creates a thick cloud that once it comes into contact with human flesh it can burn all the way down to the bone. And it can also react to oxygen, so if bandages are removed it can even reignite. It can also enter the bloodstream and poison organs such as the kidneys, liver, the heart, and can even cause multiple organ failures. Russian attacks have only seemed to increase as they regroup and resupply their forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that the situation in the town of Borodyanka was "significantly more dreadful" than in nearby Bucha, where Russian forces' suspected killings of civilians have been broadly condemned. Local officials have said more than 300 people were killed by Russian forces in Bucha, 35 kilometers northwest of the capital Kyiv, and around 50 of them were executed. Many corpses were left in the streets, and there had been reports of Russians bringing in mobile crematoria to process -- some say conceal -- some of the dead. Moscow officials have denied targeting civilians and say that the images of bodies in Bucha were staged by the Ukrainian government to justify more sanctions against Moscow and derail peace negotiations. Russia has and continues to spread propaganda. They claim that Nazis are in charge of Ukraine which is proven false since Zleneskyy is Jewish. They have tried to claim the Ukrainian forces are targeting their own civilians but they are currently low on weapons and ammunition so that again is false. If they had the weapons they would rather use them on Russian forces who are brutally invading and attacking Ukrainian civilians. They don’t care about attacking civilians, children, women, or elderly. There are reports of Russian troops raping, shootings, robbing, looting, etc as they withdraw. Did the UN’s actions have any substantial effect on Russia? From the reports of what is going on it only seems to have caused Russia to ramp up their attacks and crimes on humanity.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 11, 2022 | 12: 10 PM |

Russia is becoming increasingly aggressive. According to reports by Ukrainian officials, Russian forces forcibly removed 674,000 Ukrainian, including 113,000 children and shipped them back to Russia. Russia has also appointed the “Butcher of Syria,” Alexander Dvornikov, to oversee the invasion of Ukraine. And finally Zelenskyy has commented that Russian aggression is not limited to Ukraine alone as Pope Francis has called for Russia to stop the war and declare Easter peace. Russian forces are reportedly promising Ukrainian citizens in Mariupol favorable and humane conditions in Russia, while forcibly removing those unwilling to leave back to Russia. Lyudimila Denisova said, “People are waiting for long and abusive filtering procedures – fingerprinting, registration of various documents, interrogation. The level of filtering is constantly growing – all citizens over 18 years old, regardless of gender, fall under it. Those people who do not go through filtering through a pro-Ukrainian position simply disappear.” Russian forces claim to be evacuating citizens out of the warzone but many Ukrainian have just disappeared and forcibly removing Ukrainian back to Russia and attacking Ukrainian evacuation lines shows that they actually do not care about evacuating citizens. Until now, Russia has had no central war commander for their invasion of Ukraine. The appointment of Dvornikov comes as the Russian military prepares for what is believed to be a large focused assault on Ukraine’s eastern border. Dvornikov gained prominence as the head of Russian forces when they were deployed to Syria in 2015 to help shore up Bashar Assads. Government during the country’s devastating civil war. US officials have said that Dvornikov has a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. Amid already mass slaughter of civilians, including children, women, and elderly Russian forces are expected to ramp up violence against civilians with the new commander who does not care about civilians. New satellite images show an 8 mile long convoy of military vehicles headed south through Ukraine to Donbas. Also on Sunday Russian forces bombed government controlled Kharkib and sent reinforcement toward Izyum to the southeast in an efferot to break Ukraine’s defenses, according to the Ukrainian military command. Despite the war crimes being committed by Russian forces, according to videos released from Russian sources showed that many Russians support the attack on Ukraine, most likely due to Russian propaganda saying the Ukrainian’s are just a bunch of Nazis, etc. The UN has also reportedly sent some investigators to Ukraine to investigate and report on the “alleged” war crimes of Russian forces, and bring it to the world stage. President Zelenskyy said late Saturday that “Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone” and that the “entire European project is a target for Russia.” His comments are true, according to many military experts Russian forces moves show that they have larger aims than just Ukraine and Russia has even said that they want to recreate the USSR meaning to take over Ukraine, the Baltic states, and said that they would retaliate against any country that attempts to stop their forces. Putin does not care what he has to do to achieve his goals and he wants to take as much as he can while the US, the UN, and NATO are weak. While Russia continues its invasion and increases the crimes on humanity, Pope Francis is calling for an Eastern Truce to make room for negotiating peace between Ukraine and Russia, saying that the leaders need to “make some sacrifices for the good of the people.” He called for “weapons to be laid down to begin an Easter truce, not to reload weapons and resume fighting, no! A truce to reach peace through real negotiations.” He also commented on the unjust death of husbands and sons, refugees trying to flee bombs, young people who were deprived of their futures and soldiers sent to kill their brothers and sisters. Pope Francis has tried to stop the war before it even began, he has tried to negotiate peace talks, but Putin does not care about peace according to his actions and disregard for human lives.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 12, 2022 | 5: 14 PM |

On Monday, April 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Nehammer said that the meeting was not a “friendly visit.” Nehammer released by Nehammer’s office talking about quotes during the visit. The chancellor said that “this is not a friendly visit. I have just come from Ukraine and have seen with my own eyes the immeasurable suffering caused by the Russian war of aggression.” He also said that he “addressed the serious war crimes in Bucha and other places and emphasized that all those responsible for them must be held accountable. I also told President Putin in no uncertain terms that sanctions against Russia will remain in place and will continue to be tightened as long as people are dying in Ukraine.” He went on to say that although he doesn’t believe that Putin will change his mind about anything, he thought it was necessary to confront Putin with the facts. Meanwhile on Monday Zelenskyy told South Korean lawmakers that the Kremlin was assembling “tens of thousands” of troops for a new offensive. He made the claims during a meeting with the South Korean National Assembly over sending possible aid to Ukraine. “The Republic of Korea has tanks, ships, and various equipment that can block Russian missiles, and we would be grateful if the Republic of Korea could help us fight back against Russia,” Zelenskyy said addressing the assembly. He went on to say that, “If Ukraine is able to receive such weapons, it will not only help us save the lives of our ordinary citizens but also provide Ukraine an opportunity to survive as a nation and also help prevent other countries from being attacked by Russia.” Late Monday night according to reports Russian forces used chemical weapons in an attack on the city of Mariupol. UK Member of Parliament, Liz Truss, said, “Reports that Russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack on the people of Mariupol. We are working urgently with partners to verify details. Any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict, and we will hold Putin and his regime to account.” The claims come from the Azob Regiment’s Telegram which said that an unmanned aerial vehicle dropped chemicals of an “unknown origin” on the city. The reports cannot be confirmed as of yet, but is currently being investigated about what chemicals if any were used and how many if any casualties the attack caused.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 13, 2022 | 9: 46 PM |

Amid Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia forcefully silencing dissidents has caused mass amounts of people to leave both Russia and Ukraine to escape Russia’s attacks. Now Russian tech workers are leaving the country in droves. In late March, a Russian Tech-industry trade group estimated that between 50,000 and 70,000 tech workers had fled the country and are continuing to do so. According to reports Russians are leaving the country because they do not want to live under Vladimir Putin’s tyrannical regime and fear reprisal for speaking out against the government’s war with Ukraine. With the max exodus from Russia along with the sanctions that are in place will have long lasting consequences on Russia’s economy. Russia is also being investigated for its human rights abuses and possible genocide by the UN, but President Biden said that U.S. has yet to commit to investigate the genocide claims against Russian forces. Biden said for the first time on Tuesday that Russia’s actions in Ukraine amounts to genocide, which is a significat escalation of his rhetoric against Russia, however he and his officials stopped short of investigating the claims. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden Administration would further assess whether to launch its own formal review. Also the U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the U.S. supported international lawyers trying to determine whether the U.S. would launch its own investigation. Along with that, the U.S. is thinking about how to actually support Ukraine more. According to reports the Pentagon is looking at a range of options for possibly training Ukrainian soldiers to use weapon systems provided to them since the Russian invasion began. Some of the equipment that is being sent to Ukraine will also require training on how to properly use it, which the Pentagon is trying to figure out the logistics for. The Biden Administration also recently announced that the $800 million aid package to Ukraine will include helicopters as well as artillery systems and armored vehicles. President Biden said in a statement which was released by the White House, “This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern [Ukraine's Donbas region]. These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers. I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters. In addition, we continue to facilitate the transfer of significant capabilities from our Allies and partners around the world.”

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 14, 2022 | 1: 55 PM |

Putin has been threatening other countries since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine. Russia officials have said that if any nation sends aid to Ukraine, continues to increase sanctions, sends jets, etc to Ukraine that they will receive swift retaliation from Russian forces. Now They are saying that if Finland and Sweden join NATO they would deploy new nuclear weapons to the Baltic Sea region. This warning came from Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s Security council, who said, “If Sweden and Finland join NATO, the length of the land borders of the alliance with the Russian Federation will more than double. Naturally, these boundaries will have to be strengthened. Seriously strengthen the grouping of ground forces and air defense, deploy significant naval forces in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. In this case, it will no longer be possible to talk about any non-nuclear status of the Baltic — the balance must be restored. It makes no sense to argue that if it were not for the special operation in Ukraine, then the question of these countries joining NATO would not have arisen at all and the situation would have been easier for Russia. This is not true.” Russia’s blatant disregard for human lives and its unprovoked war with Ukraine has sparked global outrage and has also increased the support for the country. It also has increased other nations around Russia to the threat of Russian forces making them more willing to join NATO to prevent Russia from launching similar attacks and also guarantee aid to their countries if Russia does attack. Also according to recent reports Russian forces have already begun mobilizing on the borders with Finland which also sparked a worry that they would invade even before they announced the possibility of joining NATO. Russia’s actions are similar to what they did before they invaded Ukraine. Russia does not care about the consequences but it is launching a war on freedom. No country or organization launched a war on Russia but Russia continues to escalate their war against countries along their border for the simple reason that they support freedom and not the communist way.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 18, 2022 | 5: 00 PM |

President Biden is facing mounting pressure to send more aid to Ukraine even after the aid package that was previously approved. Ukraine is being bombarded by long range missiles and is having civilians gunned down in the streets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited Biden to Ukraine, saying that Biden is “the leader of United States and that's why he should come here to see.” But many analysts and leaders within the Administration have said that PResident Biden will not travel to Ukraine to see the devastation. While many other world leaders have already made a trip to Ukraine and have seen the devastation caused by Russia and the desperate situation of Ukraine, Democrats still refuse to let the President go there. No leader can make effective decisions about what is going on across the ocean and understand the actual impact that a decision brings. President Biden’s decision to stop sending aid before the war began, to slow walk sending possible weapons, to still buy oil from Russia for weeks, to impose too little sanctions too late, etc have caused many Ukrainian to die under Russian aggression. Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said, “What the Ukrainians need desperately are long-range fires, rockets, artillery, and drones, that can disrupt or destroy the systems that are causing so much damage in the Ukrainian cities, and which also play a critical role in this next phase, if and when it begins.” Military aid is not just a one and done solution. Continual aid to stop the war is needed and with Russia’s actions it is estimated that if/when they take Ukraine they will continue towards other countries, and they are even expected there to be a possibility of nuclear weapons being used. Russian media confirmed over the weekend that another Russian general was killed in Ukraine. Russian Major General Vladimir Petovich Frolov, the 8th Army’s deputy commander, was killed in the Donbas region. Russia’s last publicly acknowledged military deaths was 1,351 as of March 25th, NATO however estimates the number is closer to 15,000 troops. Putin also honored the military unit that has been accused of the Bucha massacre which shot civilians, children, elderly, animals, and brutally executed them leaving them lying in the street with their hand behind their back. He bestowed upon them the honorary title of “Guards.” Putin said, “This is a high honor and recognition of your special merits, mass heroism and courage shown in defending the Fatherland, upholding the sovereignty and national interests of Russia.” Peace talks have been touch and go and Russia’s demands are meeting fierce resistance from Ukraine. Russia has demanded that Ukraine hand over the Donbas region, but Zelenskyy refuses to do so. He said, “I don't trust the Russian military and Russian leadership. That is why we understand that the fact that we fought them off and they left, and they were running away from Kyiv — from the north, from Chernihiv and from that direction — it doesn't mean if they are able to capture Donbas, they won't come further towards Kyiv.” He also went on to say that the world should be prepared for Russian forces to use nuclear weapons because as seen by videos Russians do not care about human lives. Pope Francis released a similar statement while also saying that he lamented politicians around the world who’ve vowed the holocaust will never happen again while another one is slowly brewing in Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers, meanwhile, resisted a Russian ultimatum to lay down arms on Sunday in the pulverized port of Mariupol, which Moscow said its forces had almost completely seized in what would be its biggest prize of the nearly two-month war. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said troops in Mariupol were still fighting despite a Russian demand to surrender by dawn. NATO has increased its military activity in the Arctic, and Russia says that there might be “unintended incidents” occurring if NATO forces do not withdraw. Another blatant threat by Russia against sending aid and trying to prevent another world war. Russian Ambassador-at-large Nikolai Korchunov said, “The recent increase in NATO's activity in the Arctic is a cause for concern. Another large-scale military exercise of the alliance was recently held in northern Norway. In our view, this does not contribute to the security of the region.” While one of Putin’s allies threatened NATO that if Sweden and Finland join NATO then Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in a European exclave. The war is escalating quickly and a full blown war is not far if Russia is not stopped. Russia wants to take over all countries that formerly belonged to the old USSR while also weakening its enemies. It has threatened to use nuclear weapons, killed civilians, massacred children and elderly, and must be stopped. If Russia is not stopped many analysts predict that Russia will continue its advance across the continent.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 20, 2022 | 6: 15 PM |

Russia has deployed around 20,000 mercenaries, which are from Syria, Libya, and elsewhere, as part of its new offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region. They were reportedly sent with no heavy equipment or armored vehicles and were expected to use guerilla warfare tactics on Ukrainian troops within cities in the region. The mercenaries were reportedly recruited by a Russian-back military company, Wagner group. A European official said, “What I can tell you is that we did see some transfer from these areas, Syria and Libya, to the eastern Donbas region, and these guys are mainly used as a mass against the Ukrainian resistance.” The Pentagon confirmed last month that Russia was planning on recruiting Syrian fighters who specialize in urban warfare in which Russian troops lack. Also according to other reports Russia’s cyber threat could extend beyond the border of Ukraine. In a statement, the Cybersecuirty and infrastructure Security agency cited an advisory, issued by 3 federal agencies and worldwide partners, as “the most comprehensive view of the cyber threat posed by Russia to critical infrastructure released by government cyber experts since the invasion of Ukraine.” The advisory also provided alerts of perpetrators from the Russian Federal Security Service, Russian Foreign intelligence Service, and others which said that they are planning “malicious cyber operations” in the coming days and weeks. Organizations and companies are encouraged to upgrade their security and safety networks to prevent damage to their systems. Due to these things and the ongoing deadly war in Ukraine top officials from Britain, the United States, and Canada walked out on Russia representatives at a G20 meeting on Wednesday, April 20, and many members condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that there could be no “business as usual” for Russia in the global economy, and British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak wrote in a statement that they are united in their condemnation of Russia and will push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia. This comes as many nations are stopping any business with Russia and sanctioning them to try and weaken Russia and hopefully stop the war. On a good note Airbnb said it has provided 11,000 Ukrainian refugees with free, temporary housing since the start of the war. In March, the company announced that it would be collaborating with the federal government to support those fleeing the country to escape Russian aggression. In a statement the organization said, “While Airbnb.org collaborates with organizations that are supporting all refugees, regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, or how they identify, these nonprofits which with Airbnb.org is now working are specifically dedicated to assisting people from marginalized communities who are fleeing Ukraine, including African students, people with rare diseases and their families, and those who identify as LGBT.”

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 21, 2022 | 2: 35 PM |

President Biden announced on Thursday, April 21, another $800 million in military aid to help Ukraine to fight against Russian aggression, but also commented that Congress will need to approve additional assistance. The new military assistance package includes much needed heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and drones for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden had previously approved for Ukraine. Also said that Russian ships would not be allowed into U.S. ports in retaliation for the war in Ukraine. President Biden went on to say that the ban would deny Russia “the benefits of international economic system that they so enjoyed in the past.” In his statement he said, “That means no ship, no ship that sails under the Russian flag or that is owned or operated by a Russian entity, will be allowed to dock in a United States port or access our shores. None.” Earlier this month European nations also banned Russian vessels from accessing their ports, however provided exemptions for agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid, and energy. This comes as Putin is escalating the war in Ukraine. He claimed victory in Mariupol even though there are still Ukrainian soldiers fighting against Russian forces and mercenaries. According to reports, Russian forces are planting Soviet World War II victory flags in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian town. Russia typically commemorates May 9 as World War II Victory Day with a huge military display and parade in Moscow. Analysts say that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to show the country on that date that he has been victorious in Ukraine. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine has largely stalled in recent weeks, with forces retreating from many areas of the country, including the capital Kyiv, after facing logistical issues and unexpectedly fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces. The recent reports say that Putin told Russian forces to not storm the last cell of Ukrainian troops in Mariupol because he was afraid to lose more troops in an attempt to take them out. The Ukrainian troops also reportedly refused to surrender and continue to oppose Russian occupation of Ukraine.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 25, 2022 | 2: 55 PM |

Russia is stepping up aggression against Ukrainian forces and civilians. Ukraine can push Russia out of the country if the West can send help and aid. According to reports by several people including Ukraine parliament members and US veterans, if other nations can help Ukraine the war can be ended quickly. Maxar Technologies released new satellite images which show more mass graves near Mariupol, which is still under the siege of Russian forces. The images show that a second cemetery has been drastically expanded over the past month and several long trenches that are believed to be mass grave sites. The crimes against humanity by Russia are being showcased left and right, Mariupol Mayor Boychenko wrote in a statement, “The worst crime of the 21st century in Mariupol. This is the new Babi Yar. Then, Hitler killed Jews, Romas, Slavs. Now, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is murdering Ukrainians. He already killed tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol. We need a powerful response from the civilised world to do anything possible to stop this genocide.” While the mass graves were discovered, the Steel Plant is still under siege as children and families are bunkering down in the tunnels being guarded by Ukrainian forces. According to recent reports, Russian forces tried to storm the plant, but failed. Russia’s effort in Mariupol is aimed at crushing the last pocket of resistance to the Russian onslaught since Mariupol is a city of deep symbolic and strategic value to Moscow. While they are trying to crush Ukrainian forces, Russia also launched Cyber attacks against many Ukrainian sectors like their Postal Service. The Ukrainian Postal Service released a stamp depicting a Ukrainian soldier making a crude gesture to a Russian Warship, which is what prompted Russia to launch the attack. The attack crashed the site and Ukrainian forces are trying to get it back up and running because the stamp is in high demand. Yevheniia Kravchuk said in an interview on ABC News that, “Right now Russians are putting artillery, tanks, everything they have and also they bombed civilians to terrorize the whole country. They bombed Odessa which is a southern city on the Black Sea yesterday with missiles and the missile clearly targeted … the building where civilians were at, killing [a] 3-months-old child. We are capable of winning and we’re capable of kicking Russians out because that’s the way …to end this war.” While a US veteran who is leading other former US military members said that if the U.S. can help secure the airspace that the war in Ukraine can end in at most 2 weeks. Secretary of State Blinnken and Secretary of Defense Austin visited Kyiv and after the visit said that the United States will help Zlenskyy in his fight against Russia. Austin and Blinken announced a total of $713 million in foreign military financing for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries; some $322 million is earmarked for Kyiv. The remainder will be split among NATO members and other nations that have provided Ukraine with critical military supplies since the war with Russia began, officials said. Such financing is different from previous U.S. military assistance for Ukraine. It is not a donation of drawn-down U.S. Defense Department stockpiles, but rather cash that countries can use to purchase supplies that they might need. If the United States and UN members are adamant about sending aid to Ukraine and securing the airspace above Ukraine many military advisors say that the war could be finished quickly.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 26, 2022 | 2: 35 PM |

Russia wants a third World War. Russia’s actions against Ukraine and their constant growing threats to nations around the world, show that they do not care about human life and instead only want more power and land. They seem to be following the lead of Nazi Germany during WWII. After top U.S. officials visited Ukraine, Russia Warned that the conflict risked escalating into WWIII. THe comments came after an outburst of support from Western nations that have sent tons of weapons and equipment to Ukraine to help them wage war against Russian troops. Russians killed at least 5 people and injured another 18 on Monday after a rocket attack targeted railway infrastructure in the Central Ukraine Region of Vinnytsia. However, on the same day a Russian Governor claimed that Ukraine bombed one of its villages, injuring two civilians and damaging several homes. In recent weeks Russia has been spouting Russian propaganda accusing Ukrainian forces of striking targets on Russian soil. Although there have been attacks there is no evidence to say if it was from Ukraine, Russian dissidents, or Russian forces to use as a false flag operation. According to reports, fire ripped through oil depots in the Russian City of Bryansk on Monday, which is less than 100 miles from the Ukrainian border. According to reports on Monday Russian forces are targeting 82 Ukrainian military sites, including four command posts, and two fuel depots. Russian forces fired high-precision missiles at 27 of the targets in their latest attacks and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that Russia was continuing to hit infrastructure and supply lines which were bringing military assistance from its allies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that weapons sent by Western countries will be targeted. While the war is ongoing, Russia has created concentration camps to house Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to reports from Gulagu.net, there are reports of Russian military members demanding money in exchange for the life of a Ukrainian prisoner. It also reported that the conditions of prisoners were severely inhumane. According to some Ukrainians who escaped Mariupol they witnessed some of the filtration camps and said that they resembled a “true concentration camp.” According to reports Russians are threatening the family members of prisoners to either pay 5,000 euros or they will be sent a video of the prisoner’s death. Russia’s actions are falling more in line with terrorist actions, killing women, children, elderly, threating with execution videos, inviting terrorists to help in the war, etc. With everything going on it is becoming increasingly clearer that another World War is not far away and it may also include nuclear weapons.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 27, 2022 | 7: 46 AM |

The U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Ukraine’s allies to send more and heavier weapons to Ukraine as Russian forces rained fire on eastern and southern Ukraine for the second day in a row. Russian Forces have destroyed two powerful radio antennas, and a strategic railroad bridge which links Ukraine’s Odessa port region to neighboring Romania. Russian forces have also cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria because of their support for Ukraine. Poland has been a major gateway for the delivery of weapons and supplies to Ukraine and even confirmed this week that they are planning on sending tanks as well. Poland said that they were prepared and have cut their reliance on Russian energy over the years and is expected to have two new pipelines coming on line. However, Bulgaria gets over 90% of its gas from Russia, but officials are saying that they are looking for alternate sources to get gas. Defense Secretary Austin convened a meeting on Tuesday with officials from around 40 countries at the U.S air base in Germany saying that they need to speed up the end of the war. After the Ukrainian forces showed unexpected fierce resistance to Russian forces in Easter Ukraine, Moscow said that its focus is to capture the Donbas region. Meanwhile in Mariupol, authorities said that Russian forces hit the Azovstal steel plant with 35 airstrikes over a 24 hour period. The plant is the last known stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the city, and about 1,000 civilians are said to be taking shelter in the plant. The southern Ukraine coastline and Moldova have been on edge since a senior Russian military officer said last week that the Kremlin’s goal is to secure not just eastern Ukraine but the entire south, so as to open the way to Trans-Dniester, a long, narrow strip of land with about 470,000 people along the Ukrainian border where about 1,500 Russian troops are based. With the potentially pivotal battle for the east underway, the U.S. and its NATO allies are scrambling to deliver artillery and other heavy weaponry in time to make a difference.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | APRIL 29, 2022 | 7: 16 PM |

Tensions are rising as May 9th nears. U.K.’s Defense Minister said that Putin will likely use the May 9 victory Day celebrations, which mark the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, to officially declare war on Ukraine, and not a special operation. As the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine moved into its 10th week on Thursday, Putin has not yet labeled it a war, but has instead maintained that it is a “special military operation,” the goal of which is the “denazification” of the former Soviet Union country. As Russia launched a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, U.K. Defense Secretary, Ben Wallace, warned that Moscow might dig in and become a cancerous growth in the country. In a statement Wallace said, “Well, I think it's certainly the case that Putin, having failed in nearly all his objectives, may seek to consolidate what he's got — sort of fortify and dig in, as he did in 2014. And just be a sort of cancerous growth within the country of Ukraine and make it very hard for people to move from them out of those fortified positions. So, I think it's really about if we want this to not happen, we have to help Ukrainians effectively get the limpet off the rock and keep the momentum pushing them back.” Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili does not think it is probable that Putin will use nuclear weapons in his war with Ukraine, it is a possibility that countries need to be prepared for just in case. “I don't think that [Putin's deployment of nuclear weapons] is probable but we can't completely exclude the possibility,” she said. She also said that she believes that Putin is planning a larger offensive in other neighboring states such as Moldove or her own Georgia. The Pentagon said the Ukrainian soldiers have begun to receive training on howitzer artillery systems and radars at U.S. military bases in Germany. According to the Pentagon the U.S. is teaching 100 more Ukrainians how to use the systems in a five day course, and 90 Howitzers will be sent to Ukraine as part of two aid packages worth $800 million each which were announced earlier this month. Radar training will also be provided to an additional 15 Ukrainians over the course of a week. Amid all the talk and training to prepare for the possible actions of Putin, a Ukrainian fighter pilot known as the “Ghost of Kyiv” who reportedly took out dozens of Russian aircrafts was killed in action. The pilot’s identity had previously been unknown but “The Time of London” publicly identified the war hero as Major Stepan Tarabalka, a 29 year old father. It is believed Tarabalka shot down up to 40 Russian aircraft before he himself was shot down March 13 while engaging with an "overwhelming" number of enemy planes, the newspaper said. Also as Russian forces launch a new offensive on targets in Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Zelenskyy, wrote in a statement, “Ukraine must decide for itself whether to strike at Russian military facilities, said @SecBlinken. Russia has attacked Ukraine and killed civilians. Ukraine will defend itself in any way, including strikes on the warehouses and bases of the killers. The world recognizes this right.” As the war intensifies and May 9 nears, there is expected to be an increase in casualties, increase in the severity of weapons used, etc.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 1, 2022 | 5: 33 PM |

As Russia continues its war against Ukraine, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Ukrainian President Vologymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to reportedly vow to continue to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Footage posted by Zelenskyy on Twitter on Sunday showed him, flanked by an armed escort and dressed in military fatigues, greeting a congressional delegation led by Pelosi outside his presidential office the previous day. Pelosi said in a statement, “Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine.” She went on to condemn Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. After failing to capture Kyiv, Russian forces have turned its attention to Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions. Russia continues to try and spread propaganda as explosions continue to rock inside Russia’s borders. Meanwhile the Pope continues to condemn Russia and Putin. Pope Francis described the ongoing war in Ukraine as a “macabre regression of humanity” that makes him “suffer and cry,” he also called for humanitarian corridors to evacuate people who are trapped in Mariupol steel plant as Russian forces surround and try to starve them to death. Pope Francis has not specifically mentioned Russia or Putin in any of his statements but his criticism leaves little doubt to who and what he is referring to. Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, said that there could be no other solution to the war in Ukraine besides Russia’s complete withdrawal from Ukraine. “It's a very black and white situation. It's Russia that crossed the border first in 2014 and now in 2022 again, and Ukraine is a peaceful sovereign country and we are fighting. We don't need anything that is not ours but we need to restore the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of our country,” she said. She went on to say that Russia has failed in all of its objectives and that they are just trying to use scare tactics to take over the country. As May 9 nears the war is intensifying and Representative Michael McCaul said on Sunday that the next few weeks will be pivotal in determining the outcome. He said, “The next two to three weeks are going to be very pivotal and very decisive in this war. And I don’t think we have a lot of time to waste in Congress. I wish we had this a little bit sooner, but we have it now.” He also said that he believes that Ukraine can win the war but in order to do so the United States must give them the supplies they need, and also said that any nuclear weapons used by Russia in Ukraine would be a “red line,” and that “we would have to react in kind.” He also said that he doesn’t believe that the world will stand by and watch Russia blatantly use chemical or nuclear weapons without fighting back against their

aggressive actions.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 2, 2022 | 3: 18 PM |

Democrats playing politics when lives are on the line. While Democrats try to sneak COVID legislation into the bill for Ukrainian aid, war is ongoing in Ukraine. AFter nearly two months of siege, civilians who were holded up at the steel plant in Mariupol began to be evacuated over the weekend, and according to officials people sheltering elsewhere in the city were to be allowed out on Monday. Meanwhile, Kremlin leaders and Russian state media have been warning Russians that the war with Ukraine could become a global war. Previously Russian forces have bombed Humanitarian corridors, but now videos on Sunday showed elderly women, and mothers with small children were climbing out of the rubble and debris of the steel plant and getting on a bus. They are expected to arrive in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday. Zelenskyy said in a statement, “Today, for the first time in all the days of the war, this vitally needed (humanitarian) corridor has started working.” More than 100 civilians were expected to be evacuated. UN humanitarian spokesman Saviano Abreu said that civilians will receive immediate humanitarian support, including psychological service. A Doctors Without Borders team was at a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, in preparation for the arrival of evacuees. After the first evacuees left the steel plant Russian forces started bombing the steel plant again while there are still civilians, 500 wounder soldiers, and numerous dead bodies according to Denys Shlega, commander of the 12th Operational Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard. In response to global support for Ukraine, Russian leadership has been preparing the Russian populace for a potential larger war. The are trying to draw parrellels between WWII and the invasion of Ukraine saying the Ukrainian’s are Nazis, etc. Putin spouted Russian propaganda saying, “[T]he forces that have always pursued a policy of containing Russia … they do not want such a huge and independent country that is too big for their ideas. They believe it endangers them simply by the fact of its existence, although this is far from reality. It is they who endanger the world.” Putin has also continued to threaten any country who supports Ukraine with retaliatory strikes and possible nuclear attacks. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, “[Y]ou have a nation the size of Russia with a nuclear arsenal their size and capability and a leader that is clearly as belligerent as Vladimir Putin, we have to take seriously the escalatory rhetoric that he and his leaders have been using lately. It would be — as irresponsible as it is for him to use that rhetoric, it would be equally irresponsible for us not to take it seriously. And so we do.”

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 3, 2022 | 3: 33 PM |

Representative Adam Kinzinger said on Sunday that he introduced a “red line” resolution to authorize military force against Russia if they use weapons of mass destruction during their ongoing invasion of Ukraine as they have repeatedly threatened to do there and abroad. Kinzinger, a House Foreign Affairs Committee member, revealed the Authorization for Use of Military Force to Defend America's Allies Resolution of 2022 saying, “I'm introducing this AUMF as a clear redline so the Administration can take appropriate action should Russia use chemical, biological, and/or nuclear weapons. We must stand up for humanity and we must stand with our allies.” This comes as Russia ramps up efforts to take over and annex parts of Ukraine while also threatening countries helping Ukrainian forces by saying that they will send retaliatory strikes like chemical weapons, tactical nukes, etc. Russia is doing this because as the British Ministry of Defense has noted, more than 25% of Russia’s military forces in Ukraine have been rendered “combat ineffective.” They said that “at the start of the conflict, Russia committed over 120 battalion tactical groups, approximately 65 percent of its entire ground combat strength.” And that it is likely that more than a quarter of those units have now been rendered combat ineffective. Also noted in the report is that Russia’s most elite units, including the VDV Airborne Forces, have suffered the highest levels of attrition and it will take Russia years to reconstitute these forces. Another note is there were reports that indicate the Russian President Vladimir Putin could leave the public eye for a short time as he is expected to undergo surgery linked to cancer and has named his hardline security council secretary Nikolai Patrusheve to “control” Russia” and the ongoing war in Ukraine. This comes as there were videos and reports that Putin's health is deteriorating and the fact that May 9 Victory day is upcoming. It is likely that Putin’s surgery will take place after May 9, so that he can officially declare war on Ukraine and get more Russian men to join the fight in Ukraine.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 5, 2022 | 3: 02 PM |

A leading member of the Russian State, Duma, suggested that the war in Ukraine could end if Russian forces capture Mariupol. According to Russian Federal news agency, SM NEWS, Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Defense Committee of the State Duman said, “It is necessary to complete the special operation in Ukraine, in accordance with the goals and objectives that were set, on time. We now see that the Mariupol epic is coming to an end. There remain some notorious scoundrels, the Nazis of 'Azov,' who are joined by the remnants of the 36th Marine Brigade. They are gathered at Azovstal. I think that in the coming days they will be optimized in various ways. Everything will be decided in the east of Ukraine. Blocking and defeating the main grouping will allow us to proceed with further actions. The most combat-ready grouping is concentrated there. It can number 100,000 men.” Meanwhile a Ukrainian war reporter showed photos of himself standing in front of the wreckage of one of Russia’s most advanced tanks. Andriy Tsaplienko’s photo shows the destroyed T-909M tank with smoke rising from the wreckage. The photo was reportedly taken in eastern Ukraine where the fighting is centrally located. He said in a statement, “This village in the Kharkiv region was recently [freed] by the Ukrainian military. But this morning the invaders tried to get into it again. As you can see, they did it badly.” This comes as Russian forces in Mariupol are still trying to take full control of Mariupol. Recent video footage shows Russian troops start to shell and bomb the Azovstal steel plant again. Russia has said that it has restarted attacks despite a cease-fire, claiming that Ukrainian soldiers used the drawdown on arms to move into firing positions. Russian forces are losing ground and momentum ahead of May 9th and they want to continue their onslaught, so they push the blame for the continuation of attacks on Ukraine. It is similar to other propaganda spread by Russia, like Ukraine if filled with Nazis, Ukraine will use chemical weapons, Ukraine bobing cities and killing civilains which all of which is untrue. However, it remains a fact that Russian forces are using or planning to use these methods in their unprovoked assault on Ukraine and Democracy.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 7, 2022 | 2: 58 PM |

Russia held a dress rehearsal on Saturday for the military parade to commemorate Victory Day on May 9, when the country marks the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II. This year’s Victory Day, which falls on Monday, won’t just honor a conflict that ended 77 years ago. Many Russians will be thinking about the thousands of troops in neighboring Ukraine. Signs of support for the military have grown across the country since the start of the invasion, with the letter “Z” appearing on billboards and signs in the streets and subways, and on Russian television and social media. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has said that with Victory Day celebration preparations in Russia that Americans should not attend large public gatherings. In a statement they said, “Annual Victory Day celebrations, including the main parade in Red Square, will take place in Moscow through May 9. Local authorities will restrict movement in event areas to facilitate rehearsals for the event. In the past, there have been heightened police presence surrounding these events. Given the ongoing tensions, U.S. citizens should avoid large public gatherings. Smaller Victory Day events are expected throughout Russia. The embassy may not always be aware of the exact time and place of these events in advance.” While preparations for May 9 are ongoing Russia has not stopped in its attacks or the spread of propaganda. They continue to bomb the eastern section of Ukraine, and claim that Ukrainian forces plan to blow up Russia’s Crimean Bridge on May 9. In a statement they said, “Information has appeared that on May 9 Ukraine plans to strike at the Crimean Bridge. This possibility must be kept in mind, since after supplies from Western countries, Ukraine has such an opportunity to strike at this very strategically important bridge, through which supplies arrive from Russia for the southern direction of the armed forces.” While Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on Saturday and bombarded a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, hoping to complete their conquest of the port in time for Victory Day celebrations. However, Ukrainian forces are not backing down. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it had sunk a Russian Serna-class landing boat off the coast of Snake Island, which has stood as a symbol of resistance since the start of the war. While rescuers finished evactuing the civilians on Saturday after a week of Russian bombs. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, “The president’s order has been carried out: All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.”

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 9, 2022 | 7: 15 PM |

May 9th known as Russian Victory Day is today, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the event. Monday’s Vicotry Day Parade, commemorate the Soviet Union's World War II defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, and reportedly Putin was draped with a heavy blanket despite being surrounded by older military veterans who didn’t need or have any extra coverings. Putin appeared to be in good spirits during his address, and didn't require extra assistance from the base of the speaker's podium. The Russian president, however, reportedly had a noticeable limp when getting up to make his speech. While the celebration was underway and Putin’s health was once again called into question, Russian troops are reportedly refusing to obey orders in the war with Ukraine due to poor moral and insignificant progress. A senior Pentagon official told reporters, “We still see anecdotal reports of poor morale of troops, indeed officers, refusing to obey orders and move and not really sound command and control from a leadership perspective. The official went on to say that “mid-grade officers at various levels, even up to the battalion level” have either refused to obey orders, “or are not obeying them with the same measure of alacrity that you would expect an officer to obey.” There has been no significant actions on the war front besides the two sides continuing to battle in eastern and southern Ukraine. Meanwhile Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Monday that peace talks with Ukraine had not stopped and were being held remotely. Moscow has accused Kyiv of stalling the talks and using reports of atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine to undermine negotiations. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls its “special military operation.” Ukraine and Russia have not held face-to-face peace talks since March 29, though they have met by video link. Also according to reports rescue groups have sprung into action to help displaced animals in war-torn areas of Ukraine. According to reports, volunteers have dutifully begun placing pet-accessible feeding stations throughout decimated Ukrainian neighborhoods, so the unprotected animals won't starve to death. ZooPatrol, one of the rescue groups, has reportedly managed to process more than 700 animal rescue requests. On its website they say, “With the consent of homeowners and the presence of neighbors, relatives or friends, they unlock doors. If they cannot get in touch with the owners, they bore holes in the windows or in the front door to feed and give water to the animals.”

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 10, 2022 | 3: 14 PM |

The day after Russia’s Victory Day celebrations Russian forces have stepped up their attacks in their war against Ukraine. According to reports Missile attacks launched by Russia hit numerous buildings in Odessa, including a hotel, a shopping center, and other “tourist infrastructure.” These are not military targets but indiscriminate attacks that target civilians, 1 person was killed and 5 injured in the attack on the mall, and 2 people were injured in the attack on the hotel. The attacks happened as European Council President Charles Michel visited the city and according to a senior EU official Michel was “briefed by the head of Ukraine's navy in particular on the damage caused by Russian missiles fired from the sea and was able to witness at first hand the wanton destruction of a residential building and the impact on innocent civilians,” adding that “during the meeting with the prime minister, the participants needed to interrupt the meeting to take shelter as missiles struck again.” To help their fight against indiscriminate, unprovoked attacks by Russian forces, Ukrainian officials and private companies are crowdfunding donations to bring in money, small weapons, and military equipment to increase their supplies and equipment. According to reports, these actions are bringing in millions of dollars in donations, as well as military-grade equipment, and even hobby-shop type drones that are being retrofitted to carry grenades in battle against Russia. Also reports are surfacing of military equipment of the United States and other NATO countries on the Russia-Finland border. There have been reports of military exercises in Finland, but Russian intelligence reportedly suspects the military buildup will remain until Finland joins NATO. The report also indicates Finnish authorities are anticipating Finland joining NATO within a few months. Russia views the actions by the U.S. and NATO countries as a serious threat to their sovereignty. Also according to recent reports Putin deployed thousands of troops to a Russian border town in anticipation of a Ukrainian offensive. According to reports the Ukrainian military officials said the Russian army had deployed 19 battalions of tactical groups, each with as many as 1,00 troops, to Belgorod. Belgorod is a city located on the Seversky Donets River, about 25 miles north of Russia’s border with Ukraine and the Donbas region. Ukrainian troops, armed with heavy weapons supplied by the West, were fighting Russian forces along a 300-mile front in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, with weeks of fighting Russian forces have only made sporadic, insignificant gains and are being pushed back constantly. The war in Ukraine is picking up and there is expected to be significant changes in the coming days.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 16, 2022 | 5: 19 PM |

Finland and Sweden are aiming to become members of NATO, and in retaliation Russian forces have been spotted moving nuclear missiles towards the border between Russia and Finland. According to reports, Finland's government declared a “new era” was under way after announcing its NATO intention hours before Sweden's governing party on Sunday backed a plan to join the Western alliance amid Russia's war in Ukraine. According to video footage obtained by The Sun, Russian forces transported Iskander missiles on Monday to Vyborg which is only 24 miles from the Finnish border. The short ranged missiles have a range of up to 310 miles and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and they can also be deployed for bunker-busting and anti-radar missions. The war between Russia and Ukraine may involve Finland in the future and according to Sebastian Gorka Putin won’t just stop there. Gorka interviewed one of the world’s greatest Kremlinologists, who he has known since his time serving in the British Territorial Army. According to him Ukrainian forces can no longer expect to have such easy targets as they have been encountering so far in the war. Russian forces have more weapons, equipment, and ammunition while the Ukrainian forces have much lower reserves and the Ukrainian Army on the front line is suffering from fatigue. He further went on to say that Putin’s war against Ukraine is a jihad or crusade, it’s a fight to the daeth and unless the West take decisive action that Russia will remain a threat and will not stop with Ukraine but continue their crusade. However, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Ukraine can win the war against Russia. During the Security alliance’s meeting in Berlin, Stoltenberg said the war “is not going as Mosvow had planned.” He went on to say, “They failed to take Kyiv. They are pulling back from around Kharkiv, their major offensive in the Donbas has stalled. Russia is not achieving its strategic objectives. President [Vladimir] Putin wants Ukraine defeated, NATO down and Europe and North America divided. But Ukraine stands, NATO is stronger than ever. Europe and North America are solidly united. Ukraine can win this war.” He also commented that in order for Ukraine to win NATO allies must continue to provide military support and even increase the support to Ukraine. According to British military intelligence, Russia has most likely lost nearly a third of its ground forces that it has deployed to Ukraine, and its offensive in the Donbas region “has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule.” Russian forces attempted early Monday morning to sneak into the Sumy Region for an attack but their attempts were thwarted. Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said in a statement, “The enemy opened fire on the border area of ​​Shostka district with mortars, grenade launchers, machine guns and submachine guns. Enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups tried to enter the region under cover of fire. Border guards gave battle to the Russians, the same retreat beyond the state border.” The failure by Russian forces is only the latest indication of Russian losses and Ukrainian successes in the ongoing war. According to some analysts Putin’s troops are losing ground in Ukraine and had been forced to go on the defensive due to their repeated failures.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 23, 2022 | 2: 33 PM |

It’s been about 3 months since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it has had disastrous effects on Russia, in the form of extensive sanctions by Western governments and economic punishment by several corporations. Many ordinary Russians are reeling from those blows to their livelihoods and emotions. Moscow’s vast shopping malls have turned into eerie expanses of shuttered storefronts once occupied by Western retailers. Many corporate giants have left Russia and are selling their Russian assets, like McDonalds, Starbucks, Shell, Renault. This has caused many Russians to flee for fear of Putin’s rage, laws, and even young men are leaving for fear of himi forcing them to serve in the military. Also, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called for “maximum” sanctions against Russia in a speech during the Davos World Gathering. AFter the scars of war have destroyed most of Ukraine, more than 270 people boarded an evacuation train on Sunday heading west to safer areas away from the intense fighting. “Ashes, ruins. The northern parts, the southern parts, all are ruined,” said 83-year-old Lida Chuhay, who fled the hard-hit town of Lyman, near the front line in the eastern Luhansk province. “Literally everything is on fire: houses, buildings, everything.” She and others who fled Lyman said the town was coming under sustained attack and much of it had been reduced to rubble. Those still left there were hiding in shelters. Barely anyone ventures outside as it’s too dangerous to walk in the streets. While civilians are fleeing Russian forces target Sievierodentetsk with heavy artillery. Sievierodonetsk is the main city under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province, which together with Donetsk province make up the Donbas. Luhansk's governor, Serhii Haidai, said Sunday that the Russians were “simply intentionally trying to destroy the city ... engaging in a scorched-earth approach.” He went on to say that Russian forces have occupied several towns and cities after they bomb the area city or twon for 24 hours. According to reports Russian forces launched an unsuccessful attack on Oleksandrivka, a village outside of the city. The battle between the two forces is not just in the east though. According to Ukrainian news agencies, The conflict was not confined to Ukraine’s east. Powerful explosions were heard early Monday, for example, in Korosten, about 100 miles west of Kyiv, and it is the third straight day of apparent attacks in the Zhytomyr District. And in Enerhodar, a Russian-held city 174 miles northwest of Mariupol, an explosion Sunday injured the Moscow-appointed mayor at his residence, Ukrainian and Russian news agencies reported.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | MAY 30, 2022 | 5: 46 PM |

According to reports, Russian forces are moving clsoer to the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodenetsk, which has been bombed for weeks in the battle for Ukraine’s industrial center. Sievierodonetsk is the easternmost city still under Ukrainian control. Its takeover will give Russia de facto control of Luhansk, one of the two eastern regions that make up the desired Donbas. A French Television Journalist was killed while covering the evacuation of civilians in the city. Fredieric Leclerc-Imhoff is the 8th journalist to be killed while reporting on the invasion. EU leaders gathered in Brussels hoping to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister VIktor Orban to accept the revised oil embargo on Russia as part of the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, which Budapest vetoed. Hungary imports 65% of Russia’s oil consumption through the Druzhba pipeline, and has demanded an exemption from the import ban. EU member nations have proposed temporarily removing the pipeline from the embargo. President Joe Biden has also said he would not send missile systems to Ukraine that could hit targets in Russia, despite urgent calls from Kyiv for such weapons. Biden and the Democrats have said that they will support Ukraine to fight against Russia but now are backing out by not supplying the weapons and equipment that they urgently need. In other reports, families of Russian troops who are refusing to carry out combat missions in Ukraine are being held hostage by the Russian Military. Ukraine and Western officials have said that Russia's forces are suffering from severely low morale in what Moscow calls its special operation to disarm and “denazify” its neighbor.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | JUNE 1, 2022 | 1: 25 PM |

President Biden said that he has agreed to provide Ukraine with advanced rocket systems but not the ones that Ukrainian forces need, in an aid package which is expected to be passed on Wednesday. Ukrainian officials have asked for longer-range missile systems that can fire rockets hundreds of miles away but the Biden Administration denied them saying they could be used to attack Russia. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Rybkov, said that Moscow views U.S. military aid to Ukraine “extremely negatively.” Russian officials are not happy with aid to Ukraine whether it comes from the U.S. or other nations. Ryabkkov said, “Attempts to present the decision as containing an element of ‘self-restraint’ are useless. The fact that the United States, at the head of a group of states, is engaged in a purposeful pumping of weapons into the Kyiv regime is an obvious thing.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that his country will supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, stepping up arms deliveries to the country amid criticism that Germany isn’t doing enough to help Ukraine. Scholz told lawmakers that the government has decided to provide Ukraine with IRIS-T missiles developed by Germany together with other NATO nations. He said Germany will also supply Ukraine with radar systems to help locate enemy artillery. Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has said that Russia now controls 70% of the city of Sievierodonetsk, which is the main crucible of Russia’s attack at the present time, and a key objective if Russian forces are to control the whole of the Donbas region. Haidai posted on Telegram saying, “the Russians control 70% of Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian troops retreated to more advantageous, pre-prepared positions. Another part continues fighting inside the city.” Also in an interview on “Rob Schmitt Tonight” Zelenskyy said, “We are the defensive perimeter. We are a strong defensive perimeter. It's not something conventional. It's not something natural. That's the physical barrier made up of our people.” He also called out the weakness of Putin and Russia, not only in failing to occupy Ukraine, but also failure to take him out as the leader of Ukraine. Putin cannot win, and the world must stop defending him amid his latest “atrocities,” according to Zelenskyy, who called out the lack of fully enforcing sanctions.

| UPDATE | JUNE 3, 2022 | BY TRAVIS K | 6: 34 PM |

100 days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, their war has brought the world many heart wrenching scenes of Russian brutality from corpses of civilians to leveled cities. No one really knows how many have died in the crossfire since the war is still ongoing and some data could be wrong or misreported. Moscow has released scant information about casualties among its forces and allies, and given no accounting of civilian deaths in areas under its control. In some places, such as the long-besieged city of Mariupol, potentially the war's biggest killing field, Russian forces are accused of trying to cover up deaths and dumping bodies into mass graves, clouding the overall toll. Even though the data cannot be confirmed, at least tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have died so far, according to Zelenskyy. In Mariupol alone officials have said that there were over 21,000 civilian deaths. Released Russian data which cannot be confirmed says that 1,351 soldiers have died and 3,825 are wounded, however these numbers are likely to be underreported due to Russia conscripted civilians enmasse and recruiting Syrian rebels to help them fight. Relentless shelling, bombing and airstrikes have reduced many cities and towns to rubble. Ukraine’s parliamentary commission on human rights says Russia's military has destroyed almost 38,000 residential buildings, rendering about 220,000 people homeless. Nearly 1,900 educational facilities from kindergartens to grade schools to universities have been damaged, including 180 completely ruined. Other infrastructure losses include 300 car and 50 rail bridges, 500 factories and about 500 damaged hospitals, according to Ukrainian officials. The war has also brought an economic crisis to the world. Russia has defaulted on loans, demanded that countries pay in rubles to buy oil, jacked up prices for oil, grain crisis due to Russia blocking Ukrainian ports, etc. Countries who once relied on Russian oil are seeking oil from elsewhere due to sanctions and Russia’s demands. This has also jacked up the prices that the Biden Administration’s policies already jacked up. This has also raised the prices of goods and services across the country. The impact to the world is large, but it is still ongoing. Ukraine’s state nuclear company said that they have signed a deal for the U.S. nuclear power company Westinghouse to supply fuel to all of its atomic power stations in an effort to end the country's reliance on Russian supplies. The agreement also increases the number of new nuclear units Westinghouse will build to nine from an earlier five, and the company will establish an engineering center in the country. Nuclear power powers around half of all the country’s electricity needs and the energy minister said that in the future Ukraine could also be a supplier of electricity to western Europe. Ukrainian forces have also taken control of around 20% of the territory they lost in Sievierdonetsk since the start of Russia’s invasion. “Whereas before the situation was difficult, the percentage [held by Russia] was somewhere around 70%, now we have already pushed them back by approximately 20%,” Serhiy Gaidai, the head of the eastern region of Luhansk, announced on national television on Friday. “Victory shall be ours,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video featuring the same key ministers and advisers who appeared with him in a defiant broadcast on 24 February, the day his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, launched his unprovoked assault. “The armed forces of Ukraine are here. Most importantly, our people, the people of our country, are here. We have been defending Ukraine for 100 days already … Glory to Ukraine,” Zelenskiy added.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | JUNE 7, 2022 | 6: 32 PM |

The war in Ukraine is escalating. Pro-Russian troops have fired missiles from the Donetsk region targeting the city of Avdiivka. The group said it used a TOS-1M multiple rocket launcher and the thermobaric ammunition to destroy its Ukrainian targets. They went on to say that the ammunition, also known as aerosol bombs and fuel air explosives, allows the enemy “no change” since they are able to “penetrate dugouts and trenches.” Russian Foreign Minister SEgey Lavrov also once again warned the United States and other nations that if they continue to give Ukraine long-range missile systems, that Russia will respond by taking control of more territory. “The longer the range of the systems that will be delivered, the further we will move back the Nazis from that line from which threats to Russian speakers and the Russian Federation may come,” he said. They went on to say that it may involve nuclear weapons being launched at the countries who aid Ukraine with missile systems. In contrast, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy visited the frontline troops to see how they were doing and if they needed anything, which boosted morale. Also, bodies from the Azovstal steel works plant in Mariupol have been recovered and they have reportedly been transferred to Kyiv, where DNA testing is underway to identify the remains. It is not clear how many bodies might still remain at the plant which was relentlessly bombed by Russian forces. The United States has stepped up sanctions against Russian oligarchs, by seizing two jets and a superyacht. The DOJ has authorized the seizure of two jets belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich who is charged with exporting two U.S.-origin planes to Russia without a license. The planes that he illegally transported to Russia where reportedly a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and a Gulfstream G650ER. THe U.S. government also won a legal battle on Tuesday to seize a Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji, which the FBI has linked to another Russian Oligarch, Suleiman Kerimov.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | JUNE 10, 2022 | 5: 30 PM |

According to the latest reports about the situation in Ukraine. The UL forgeign secretary, Liz Truss, will raise concerns about the case of two British men sentenced to death by the pro-Russian court in occupied Ukraine, when she speaks to Ukraine’s foreign secretary, Dmytro Kuleba, on Friday. A British MP has said the only person who can immediately resolve the situation with the two men is the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Robert Jenrick described the sentencing as a “war crime”, “absolutely outrageous” and “a flagrant breach of international law”. Ukrainian troops claim they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but say their only hope of turning the tide is with more artillery to offset Russia’s massive firepower. Zelenskiy said the country was “holding on” to key frontline cities in Donbas. “Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on,” he said, adding that Ukraine had had some success in Zaporizhzhia. Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, warned cholera and other deadly diseases could kill thousands of people in the Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine as corpses lie uncollected amid rising temperatures. Boichenko said wells had been contaminated by the corpses of people killed during weeks of Russian bombardment and siege. Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak, the UK’s defense ministry said in its latest report. The President of the EU, Ursula Von der Leyen, met with Pope France to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine and relieve the global food crisis that it is causing. In a social media post she said, “We stand with those suffering from the destruction in Ukraine. This war must end, bringing peace back to Europe.” She also met the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, who recently returned from Ukraine. The Vatican said their talks focused on the “common commitment to work to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, dedicating particular attention to the humanitarian aspects and the food consequences of the continuation of the conflict.” The Kremlin also said that it is planning to annex the occupied territories of Ukraine and combine them into a new federal district within Russian. The Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, as well as the territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions are the areas that Moscow plans to merge into one district.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | JUNE 15, 2022 | 8: 10 PM |

The Democrat leadership and the Biden White House have been clamoring to pass Ukrainian aid packages to send weapons, equipment, money, etc. to Ukraine, but bureaucratic red tape is significantly slowing the ability to get them to Ukraine. Accord to reports, defense industry executives, lobbyists, and technology experts at the Pentagon are frustrated that the system set up to acquire weapons, and ship them to the war-torn country, is taking too long, creating a “huge lag time” between the time the money is approved and when the gear arrives. While Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the U.S. needs to get cutting-edge equipment to Ukraine at "the speed of war" to help that nation hold off the Russian invasion, an anonymous industry official said the military bureaucracy is sending "mixed messages" about the urgency of getting the equipment to Ukraine while implementing “lumbering” military aid process red tape. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stotltenburg said that NATO defense ministers who are attending a two day meeting which started on Wednesday will be discussing beefing up weapons and supplies to Ukraine, and Sweden and Finland’s applications to join NATO. The meeting, less two weeks before a summit of NATO leaders in Madrid, comes with Kyiv imploring the West to send more and heavier weapons to help fend off Russia's onslaught in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile in Ukraine, Russian forces said that it used long-range missiles to destroy a depot in the western Lviv region of Ukraine where ammunition for NATO-supplied weapons was being stored. The strikes came as fighting raged for the city of Sievierdontetsk in the eastern Donbas area, which is the key focus of Russia’s offensive in the recent weeks. Russian forces also captured two U.S. veterans who volunteered for the Ukraine war effort near the city of Kharkiv. Alexander Druke, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, and Andy Huynh, a U.S. Marine veterans were reportedly manning a rocket-propelled grenade launcher when Russian tanks rolled up on a 10 man Ukrainian squad last Thursday in the village of Izbytske, 30 miles from Kharkiv. They are believed to be the first U.S. veterans to become prisoners of war in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This comes after the 3 British men, Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, and Andrew Hill, were captured and sentenced to death last week by a pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic. Getting Russia to release the two U.S. veterans is expected to be difficult, especially because Russia might leverage them for sanctions relief from the Biden Administration. A U.N. delegation investigating war crimes in Ukraine has visited areas of the country which were held by Russian troops and says there is evidence which could support war crimes allegations. The delegation chaired by Erik Mose said, “At this stage we are not in a position to make any factual findings or pronounce ourselves on issues of the legal determination of events. However, subject to further confirmation, the information received and the visited sites of destruction may support claims that serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, perhaps reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity, have been committed in the areas.”

| BY TRAVIS K | JUNE 18, 2022 | 6: 15 PM |

According to reports Ukrainian forces are fighting hard to defeat Russian forces and are stopping them from advancing and in some areas are even pushing Russian forces back. However, Ukraine has yet to see any of the aid from the United States and they are in desperate need for weapons, and ammunition. Reports also indicate that the $40 billion aid package to Ukraine is not all going to support Ukraine but around half of it is reportedly coming back to the U.S. to resupply weapons, train U.S. troops in Poland, etc. The Pentagon also said that it is considering sending four additional rocket launchers to Ukraine, but no telling when they will arrive, since it has been months since the Ukraine aid package was passed but they have yet to send it. The Senate Armed Services Committee sent to the full chamber its recommended 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which increases defense spending and extends the Pentagon’s ability to support Ukraine and Taiwan. A bipartisan 23-3 vote approved advancing the bill, which calls for $857.6 billion in defense spending, $45 billion above the budget requested by the Biden administration “to address the effects of inflation and accelerate implementation of the National Defense Strategy.” As the war in Ukraine is escalating, an outpouring of public support across Europe for Ukrainian refugees happened as the number of Ukrainians displaced by the conflict have surpassed 100 million. More than 6.5 million people have left since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four months ago, many finding accommodation in private homes or hotels, as well as in government-sponsored housing. A survey by pollster Ipsos also showed on Friday that the world has become more compassionate towards refugees, a finding it said suggested the war in Ukraine had increased public openness to people fleeing war or oppression. On the battlefront, Russia is reportedly sending a large number of reserve troops to Sieverodonetsk from other areas to try and gain full control of the besieged estaern city. Ukraine’s Luhansk region Governor said, “Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, they will throw in all the reserves they have … because there are so many of them there already, they’re at critical mass.” A big explosion also rocked an area near Sieverodonetsk on Saturday. Five civilians were reportedly killed on Saturday in Ukrainian strikes on the eastern separtist city of Donetsk, according to the local Russian-backed authorities. On Saturday, Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Synehubov said that several Russian missiles hit a gasworks in the Izium district in Eastern Ukraine. While Russian missiles destroyed a fuel storage depot in Novomoskovsk, another town in Eastern Ukraine. American veterans who are no longer serving the United States military were captured while fighting for Ukraine and on Friday video of two of the veterans were broadcasted on Russian television. Andy Huynh and Alexander Drueke volunteered to assist Ukrainian forces but were captured earlier this week. The video showed Drueke saying, “Mom, I just want to let you know that I'm alive, and I hope to be back home as soon as I can be. So, love Diesel for me. Love you.” Some analysts believe that Putin will use the lives of the soldier to either show that America is actively participating in the war, or to get America to relieve some of the war-time sanctions on the country. President Biden said that he had been briefed on the situations of the missing Americans, then said that Americans shouldn’t go to Ukraine.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | JUNE 24, 2022 | 12: 33 AM |

The European Union has approved the application of Ukraine to become a candidate country for admission to the Union. EU leaders met in Brussels after the recommendation of the European Commission, which was made on June 17. Zelenskyy welcomed the move and said, “Ukraine’s future is in the EU. It’s a victory… We have been waiting for 120 days and 30 years and now we will defeat the enemy.” In other news, the U.S. will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems. The latest aid package includes four high mobility artillery rocket systems and tens of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition as well as patrol boats, according to the Pentagon. In total the U.S has contributed over $6 billion to the war effort in Ukraine. Russian forces have captured two villages in easter Ukraine and are moving towards “a fearsome climax,” according to Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Zelenskyy. Russia is believed to be in control of all of Sievierdonetsk with the exception of the Azot Chemical plant. As the fighting intensifies local authorities are saying that no town is safe for Ukrainian residents in the eastern region. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said that Britain is willing to assist Ukraine with de-mining operations off Ukraine’s southern coast. They are also offering its expertise to help escort Ukraine’s grain from its port, according to UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss. Boris Johnson also added that Britain was considering offering insurance to ships to move millions of tonnes of grain which is stuck in the country. This comes as the Russian Navy has been giving order to lay mines at the ports of Odessa and Ochakiv and has already mined the Dnieper River as part of a blockade of Ukrainian grain exports. The war in Ukraine has destroyed more than 150 cultural sites in the country; the damage includes 70 religious buildings, 30 historical buildings, 18 cultural centers, 15 monuments, 12 museums, and 7 libraries. Ukraine has also recorded 200-300 war crimes committed by Russian forces on its territory every day. Iryna Venediktova said, “War crimes are our trouble. Every day we have 200 to 300 of them … We have a duty: when there is a crime, we have to start an investigation.” The also held a preliminary hearing in its first trial of a Russian soldier charged with raping a Ukrainian women during the invasion, the first in what is likely to be dozens of cases. The suspect, Mikhail Romanov, will be tried in absentia, and is accused of breaking into a house in March in a village in the Brovarsky region outside Kyiv, murdering a man and then repeatedly raping his wife while threatening her and her child. The U.S. embassy in Russia has also been pressuring the Kremlin this week to reveal the whereabouts of two Alabama men who were captured in Ukraine. The mother of one of the men captured said that her son and the other veteran were not mercenaries but volunteers, pushing back on statements from a Kremlin spokesperson who said that the two were facing execution.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | JULY 1, 2022 | 12: 48 AM |

Representative Michael McCaul on Wednesday slammed the Biden Administration for having a weak response to five Chinese firms that were caught violating sanctions by supplying support to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Commerce Department said that the five companies were being placed on the entity list, which prohibits American firms from exporting to them, but McCaul said that that isn’t enough. Putin also claimed that he has allowed NATO to expand. In a statement he said, “Our position has always been … that NATO is a relic of the Cold War and is only being used as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy designed to keep its client states in reign. This is its only mission. We have given them that opportunity, I understand that. They are using these arguments energetically and quite effectively to rally their so-called allies.” He also accused NATO of seeking to assert its “supremacy,” claiming that Ukraine and its people are just “a means” for NATO to defend their own interests.” The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday said that it has blocked a $1 billion Delaware-based trust connected to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov. This move comes after the United States already seized a $325 million superyacht tied to him in early June. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, “Treasury continues using the full range of our tools to expose and disrupt those who seek to evade our sanctions and hide their ill-gotten gains.” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that a new “iron curtain” is descending between Russia and the west, and that Moscow would not trust Washington and Brussels “from now on.” Ukrainian forces say that they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, which is a strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast. They went on to say that Russian forces fled the island in two speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes. A Russian missile reportedly struck a multi-story apartment building in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa early on Friday killing at least 10 people. A local official said, “The number of dead as a result of a strike on a multi-story apartment building has now risen to 10.” A brigadier general in Ukraine’s armed forces said that Russian forces are using inaccurate missiles from old Soviet stockpiles for more than 50% of its strikes in Ukraine, which is leading to a significant loss of civilian life. This comes as Russian forces’ continuous shelling makes it impossible for civilians to evacuate in the Eastern City of Lysychansk.

| UPDATE | BY TRAVIS K | JULY 4, 2022 | 4: 05 AM |

Russia has claimed that it has taken full control of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk in the Donbas region. This comes after Russian captured the final Ukrainian bastion of the city of Lysychansk, where Kyiv said it has withdrawn to save the lives of its troops. The region’s capture, which is a key aim by the Russian invasion, hands Moscow a boost after weeks of slow and stalled advances. Kyiv still controls a substantial amount of territory in the neighboring Donetsk region where some skirmishes have taken place. In the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Ukrainian forces reportedly hit a military logistics base with more than 30 strikes on Sunday, according to the city’s exiled mayor Ivan Federov. A Russian official also confirmed that the strikes had hit the city but no further information was given. Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey said on Sunday that Turkish custom authorities have detained a Russian cargo ship carrying grain which was stolen from Ukraine. Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said on Ukrainian television that, “We have full co-operation. The ship is currently standing at the entrance to the port, it has been detained by the customs authorities of Turkey.” He went on to say that the ship’s fate would be decided by a meeting of investigators on Monday and that Ukraine was hoping for the confiscation of the grain. This news comes as Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain from the territories that Russian forces have seized since the start of the invasion.

| UPDATE | BKY TRAVIS K | JULY 4, 2022 | 6: 56 PM |

The Russian invasion is ramping up. On Sunday, Russian State Duma Deputy Oleg Morozov told a Russian news outlet that the United States should be labeled as a “terrorist nation” for allegedly supply Ukrainian forces with targeting information that resulted in a series of deadly explosions in the border city of Belgorod which reportedly killed four. He said, “Now it has become obvious that this [U.S.] information is used to shell Russian cities. In fact, this is participation in the war on the side of Ukraine and aggression against Russia. This should be openly stated on all international platforms, demand the convening of a special U.N. Security Council meeting, and declare the United States a terrorist state.” Ukraine has denied firing on the Russian border city which is north of Kharkiv. Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, however, said the attack was planned by Ukraine to hit civilians in the city, and that Russian air defense had destroyed three Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles, causing “a fragment” to impact the flats. Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby also said in a statement, “We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians' decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out. We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case.” Casualty reports cannot be confirmed because the war is still ongoing but according to Ukrainian Armed Forces Russian casualties have surpassed 36,000 since the start of Russia’s invasion in late February. Moscow also said that it has lost thousands of tanks and armored vehicles, countless artillery systems, over a dozen warships, and nearly 200 helicopters. Mykhaylo Podolyak, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also reportedly said that the Russian ramped-up offensive in the Donbas has led to between 100 and 200 Ukrainian troops dying in combat every day. Russia has not confirmed its casualties numbers but instead said that around 23,367 Ukrainian troops and “foreign mercenaries” have perished since the start of the invasion, while Ukrainian National Security ADviser Oleksiy Arestovych said that the number was around 10,000. This comes as non-combatant civilian casualties have reached 4,731 killed, and 5,900 injuries, according to data from the United Nations.

| BY TRAVIS K | JULY 14, 2022 | 12: 42 AM |

Officials from Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey are set to meet with U.N. officials to talk about agriculture exports as the world faces food shortages that caused food prices to drastically rise. Turkey and the United Nations are mediating the negotiations. According to reports, the plan most likely will include Ukrainian vessels guiding ships through mined waters, Russia implementing a ceasefire during the process, and Turkey in charge of inspecting ships to make sure no weapons are smuggled. However, many say that Russia cannot be trusted to actually follow their words and implement a ceasefire, especially after the previous ceasefire was non-existent as refugees were trying to flee Ukraine. The number of foreign ships reaching Ukraine ports to help with grain exports has doubled to 16 within the last 24 hours, according to Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister, Yuriy Vaskov. Ukraine has restored long-decommissioned ports to facilitate the exportation of grain due to Russia’s Black Sea blockade, and expects to increase monthly exports to 500,000 tonnes. According to Kyiv, the death toll on the residential building that was hit by Russian rockets from truck-born systems late on Saturday has risen to at least 47. Ukrainian emergency services initially gave a death toll of 10, but as rescue teams continued to comb through the debris the number rose. Russian artillery and rockets also pound the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut overnight and into Wednesday morning. The Russian military of defense has said that it caused large losses to Ukrainian forces in the last 24 hours, claiming to have killed at least 425 service personnel and shot down three planes and nine unmanned drones, however the claims were dismissed by Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force. At least seven people were reportedly killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson, in a strike attributed to recently acquired US weapons. The explosion hit a warehouse close to a key railway line and a dam on the Dnieper river. Footage on social media showed a large explosion lighting up the night, burning ammunition and billowing smoke. North Korea has officially recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, the pro-Russian occupied territories in the east of Ukraine. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea becomes only the third UN member state to recognise them as legitimate authorities, after Russia and Syria. In response, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it has cut ties with North Korea. The war is still ongoing and according to reports is likely to escalate as Russia reaches out to foreign countries like Iran, Syria, China, North Korea, etc.

| BY TRAVIS K | OCTOBER 28, 2022 | 10: 45 PM |

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not going as planned they have started bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure which has caused Ukrainian authorities to announce rolling blackouts in and around the country’s largest cities. On Friday, Ukrenergo, the sole operator of Ukraine’s high-voltage transmission lines, said that the rolling blackouts of four hours a day or more will continue in the Kyiv region. While the capital region’s governor, Oleksi Kuleba, said that residents could expect to see “tougher and longer” power outages compared to earlier in the invasion. Officials across the country have urged people to conserve energy by reducing their electricity consumption during peak hours and avoiding the use of high-voltage appliances. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week said that 30% of Ukraine's power stations had been destroyed since Russia launched the first wave of targeted infrastructure strikes on October 10. Russian missile and artillery barrages killed at least four people and wounded 10 others in 24 hours, most of them in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province, the country's presidential office said Friday. Russian forces were gearing up for an assault on Bakhut following a string of setbacks in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Meanwhile Ukrainian forces attacked Russia’s hold on the southern city of Kerson on Thursday while fighting intensified in the eastern region of the country. The battles came amid reports that Mosvow authorities have abandoned the city, joining tens of thousands of residents who fled to other Russian-held regions. Ukrainian forces were surrounding Kherson from the west and attacking Russia’s foothold on the west bank of the Dnieper River, which divides the region and the country. As the battles unfolded, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow has no intention to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, despite repeatedly warning that he was prepared to use all available means to defend Russia, including its nuclear arsenal. Putin has also started firing biased, inflamatory rhetoric calling the west dictators and calling on the Ukrainian army to overthow their government of “terrorists” and “a gang of drug addicts and neo-nazis.” He also made other comments saying that the west has failed and shouldn’t enforce their beliefs on other countries. On Wednesday in Moscow, the Russian leader took a swipe at the populations of Western countries, which he described as the "golden billion", and asked why their leaders should “impose their own rules of conduct based on the illusion of exclusivity” which he believed was “inherently racist and neo-colonial.” He also commented about the New World Order saying that the current world order is over and that a new era is coming. He condemned the action of the west describing western nations as the “golden billion” and are trying to dominate the world by forcing their own rules of conduct on other nations.

| BY TRAVIS K | OCTOBER 31, 2022 | 7: 04PM |

Russian forces reportedly launched a wave of cruise missiles at hydroelectric dams and other key infrastructure across Ukraine Monday morning. Most were shot down, according to Ukraine's air command 44 of the 50 rockets were intercepted. However, the governor of Kyiv, Oleksiy Kuleba, said “massive shelling in the region” had damaged electricity and energy infrastructure. He said residents should expect emergency power cuts. He also added that “There is currently one victim. We are clarifying the information.” Kyiv’s mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, said 40 percent of the Ukrainian capital’s residents do not have water and 270,000 apartments are without power as of Monday evening. Twelve grain export ships have left from Ukraine today, despite Russia pulling out of the Turkey-UN brokered grain deal, according to Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov. Russia called ship movements through the Black Sea security corridor “unacceptable”. “Under the current conditions, there can be no question of guaranteeing the security of any object in the area until the Ukrainian side accepts additional obligations not to use this route for military purposes,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Monday. But Russia’s claims were quickly refuted by UN aid chief Martin Griffiths who said that Russia has no ground to stand on, showing that civilian cargo ships carrying Ukrainian grain may have been involved in a drone strike on Russia. Kyiv’s infrastructure ministry said on Sunday that 218 vessels were now “effectively blocked” in its ports – 22 loaded and stuck at ports, 95 loaded and departed from ports, and 101 awaiting inspections.

| BY TRAVIS K | NOVELMER 5, 2022 | 1: 20 PM |

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is being pushed back. Their soldiers are defecting, they are being pushed back by Ukrainian forces, they are running low on ammunition and weapons, etc. However, Russia is still adamant about invading ukraine. Russia has requested that North Korea send ballistic shells which are reportedly on the way. Iran recently also admitted that they have sent drones and other equipment to support Russia. Russian soldiers are also defecting in droves. They have been forced to fight a war that they didn’t want to fight in, being either killed or injured, so when Ukrainian forces offered to accept the surrender of Russian soldiers, they defected. In order to combat the loss of troops Putin has taken drastic measures. In a report, Russia has begun deploying units intended to block their military forces if they tried to retreat from Ukraine during the invasion. The British Ministry of Defence also said that the units are threatening to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to “compel” offensives against Ukraine. The report goes on to say, “Recently, Russian generals likely wanted their commanders to use weapons against deserters, including possibly authorizing shooting to kill such defaulters after a warning had been given. Generals also likely wanted to maintain defensive positions to the death.” While Russia is trying to threaten their current soldiers to keep them from defecting, they are also bolstering their forces by allowing criminals to join the military. According to reports, Putin has signed a law allowing the “military mobilization” of Russians who have committed serious crimes. In other words, the Kremlin now has the power to save convicted murderers and other violent criminals from prison and place them in battle positions against Ukrainian troops. On Friday, Putin said that approximately 318,000 men have recently joined the fight against Ukraine, including 18,000 volunteers. He went on to say that the mobilization legislation now includes people with unsealed criminal record “including those who committed serious crimes, excluding those convicted of child sex abuse, treason, spying,” or even terrorism, according to reports. Due to the war not going in Russia’s favor Putin has said that civilians still living in the Russian-annexed province of Kherson must be “evacuated” from the conflict zone. This comes after a 24-hour curfew has been imposed across the area. And while the civilians are under curfew, Russian soldiers are looting whatever they can in the city including the bones of Grigory Ptemkin, archives, paintings, sculptures, cars, etc. The stolen items are reportedly being taken across the Dnieper River. Also on another front Putin has been spouting rhetoric of using nuclear weapons which has received harsh backlash from several nations. The U.S. and western nations have said that if Russia uses nuclear weapons that there will be several consequences. Even Xi Jinping from China and Olaf Scholz from Germany have condemned Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons. The Chinese president stressed the need for greater cooperation between China and Germany in “times of change and turmoil”, while the German chancellor said Moscow was in danger of “crossing a line” if it used atomic weapons, in what was his first meeting with Xi. The UN has also increased military operations near Belarus to send the message that Russia’s intimidation will not work and they would push back.

| BY TRAVIS K | NOVEMBER 12, 2022 | 6: 58 PM |

Hours after Russia announced that it had withdrawn from the west bank of the Dnipro river, there was footage of civilians hugging Ukrainian soldiers and waving Ukrainian flags. On Friday, Zelensky said, “Today is a historic day. As of now, our defenders are on the approaches of the city. But special units are already in the city.” Ukrainian’s are celebrating Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson. A resident said, “I thought the Russian army would defend and there'd be a kind of siege like in Mariupol. It's a very significant day for Ukraine because it shows the entire world that Ukraine can and definitely will defend every square kilometer and inch of territory.” While Serhiy Khlan, a member of Ukraine's Kherson regional council, said, “The Ukrainian flag is raised in Kherson city. From now on, the Ukrainian flag will appear on all buildings in Kherson. This is what we have dreamed of from the first days of occupation.” Zelensky in a statement tried to appeal to Russian soldiers to surrender saying, “The Ukrainian flag is raised in Kherson city. From now on, the Ukrainian flag will appear on all buildings in Kherson. This is what we have dreamed of from the first days of occupation.” The final Russian withdrawal came six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed the Kherson region and three other Ukrainian provinces, vowing they would remain Russian forever. Moscow's forces still control about 70% of the Kherson region. The Kremlin said the pullback of troops did not represent an embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said that Mosvow still views the entire Kherson region as part of Russia despite its withdrawal of troops.

| BY TRAVIS K | NOVEMBER 19, 2022 | 9: 24 PM |

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday saying that Britain will provide a 50 million euros air defense package for Ukraine, including anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter drones from Iran. Zelenskyy thanked Sunakd and in a tweet he said, “With friends like you by our side, we are confident in our victory. Both of our nations know what it means to stand up for freedom.” According to reports from Ukraine, Russia has killed 437 children and more than 837 children were injured due to Russia’s invasion. Five people were injured in a Russian airstrike on a humanitarian station in southern Ukraine. Also about 60 Russian soldiers were killed in a long-range Ukrainian artillery attack this week. Due to the constant airstrikes from Russia on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, power outages are ongoing resulting in hours-long blacksouts. However, the energy ministry said that Ukraine’s electricity supplies were under control and there was no need to panic. Ukrainian forces are also expected to be in Crimea by the end of December according to Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Volodymyr Havrylov. Moscow had not officially contacted Kyiv about peace negotiations, but Russia would have to completely withdraw its forces for talks to take place, said Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian presidential chief of staff. Lastly, according to reports appeared to relocate 100 missiles from Belarus to mainland Russia as analysts fear a large-scale attack on Ukraine, due to Ukrainian forces pushing back Russian forces. Experts warn that the S-300 and S-400 missiles on the move could potentially indicate Russian President Vladimir Putin's intention to shift momentum with a dirty bomb blitz following Ukraine's successful counteroffensive campaign. The news comes in the backdrop of U.S. Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mark Milley confirmed on Tuesday that 111 Russian missile strikes and 26 kamikaze drone attacks were recorded, stating that it “was likely the largest wave of missiles that we've seen since the beginning of the war.”

| BY TRAVIS K | NOVEMBER 26, 2022 | 5: 30 PM |

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine is still ongoing even as Russian forces are losing the fight. There are growing fears that Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s power grid could threaten the safety of the country’s nuclear power plants, in the wake of an unprecedented emergency power shutdown on Wednesday. Petro Kotin, the president of Ukraine’s nuclear power company, Energoatom, said all safety mechanisms had worked as intended on Wednesday but two generators were damaged in the process. Authorities are gradually restoring power to the plants, but millions of people are still without heat or electricity after Russia’s air strikes. Russia kept up its onslaught on Ukrainian cities on Saturday with an attack on Dnipro which injured six people and destroyed seven houses, said the regional governor, Valentyn Reznichenko. Thirty-two civilians have been killed in Kherson since 9 November, when Russian forces withdrew from the southern city they had occupied for eight months, the Kyiv Independent quoted Ukraine’s national police chief, Ihor Klymenko, as saying. Since then, Russian troops have shelled Kherson frequently. According to the UK Ministry of Defense Russia is firing aging cruise missiles stripped of their nuclear warhead at Ukrainian targets due to Russia’s low stockpile. An intelligence update from the ministry on Saturday said the desperate improvisation by the Russian president’s struggling forces were “unlikely to achieve reliable effects.”

| BY TRAVIS K | DECEMBER 1, 2022 | 9: 37 PM |

Russian bombers have been reportedly seen near the Ukrainian border and have the capability to use nuclear warheads. Oleksiy Hromov, deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the general staff of the armed forced of Ukraine, said in a news conference on Thursday that the strategic bombers were seen in the airspace of three separate regions: Saratov, Samara, and Orenburg. They were also seen in the eastern region of

Russia and over the Barents Sea. Hromov said, “There is a threat of enemy's missile strikes on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine and military facilities in the nearest future. The aim of the enemy's actions is to cause panic among the population to destabilize the internal situation. The crews of two IL-78 long-range aircraft were practicing refueling in the air. The military transport aviation of the aggressor state performed the task of moving personnel, weapons and military equipment, stocks of material, and technical means to the airfields of

Millerovo, Rostov-on-Don-Central and Taganrog.” According to later reports, Russian and Chinese forces conducted joint patrols over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, which corroborates the reports coming from Ukraine. The bombers reportedly landed at a Chinese airbase located in the Zhejiang province. However, it is unconfirmed what happened upon landing but their presence has been the first instance of an aircraft ever inside Chinese borders.

| BY TRAVIS K | DECEMBER 7, 2022 | 8: 54 PM |

Even as Russian forces withdraw from key areas, Putin has said Russia will “defend ourselves with all the means at our disposal” and warned that the threat of nuclear war is “on the rise”. In an address to his human rights council, Russia’s leader said his army’s “special military operation” in Ukraine could be a “long process”, but he saw no need to mobilize additional soldiers at this point. According to NATO, Russia is trying to stall the fighting in Ukraine over winter to prepare for a renewed assault early next year. Shelling by Ukrainian forces killed at least six civilians in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk on Tuesday, according to the Russian-installed head of the separatist-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Alexey Kulemzin. The head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said Ukrainian shelling killed a deputy in the self-proclaimed republic’s People’s Council, Maria Pirogova. Dmytro Zhyvytsky, the governor of the Sumy region on the Russian border, said several people were wounded when Russian forces fired 226 shells on seven communities during the day. A drone attack set an oil storage tank on fire at an airfield in Kursk, the Russian region’s governor, Roman Starovoyt, has said. Video footage posted on social media showed a large explosion lighting up the night sky followed by a substantial fire at the airfield 175 miles from the Ukrainian border. The drone attack came a day after Ukraine appeared to launch attacks on two military airfields deep inside Russian territory. For Kyiv the strike represented an unprecedented operation to disrupt the Kremlin strategy of trying to cripple the Ukrainian electrical grid to provoke a humanitarian catastrophe in a country on the verge of winter. Other than military acts, Russia is also busy politically attacking Ukraine and the West. The Kremlin said that the U.S. military aid spending bill providing $800 million to Ukraine was “provocation towards our country.” The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said it had not “enabled” Ukraine to carry out strikes inside Russia, after a spate of drone attacks on military-linked facilities deep within Russian territory. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said he agreed with comments by Blinken about the need for lasting peace in Ukraine, but that Moscow does not see the prospect of talks “at the moment”. He went on to say that in order for talks to happen, Russia would need to have fulfilled their goals of its so-called

“special military operation.”

| BY TRAVIS K | DECEMBER 17, 2022 | 3: 27 PM |

Russian forces have fired more than 70 missiles into Ukraine on Friday in one of its biggest attacks to date. The attacks knocked out power in the second biggest city and forced Kyiv to implement emergency blackouts nationwide, according to Ukrainian officials. Three people were also killed when an apartment block was hit and another died in shelling in Kherson. Russian-affiliated officials in occupied Ukraine claimed that 12 people had died in the area due to Ukrainian’s retaliatory shelling. Zelenskyy said that Russia still has enough missiles for several more massive strikes and urged western allies to help by supplying Ukraine with air defense systems. “Whatever the rocket worshippers from Moscow are counting on, it still won’t change the balance of power in this war,” he said in a statement. Energy infrastructure was hit across the country, resulting in complete outages in Ukraine’s eastern and central regions of Kharkiv and Poltava. Nine power facilities in the country were damaged by Friday’s strikes, Ukraine’s energy minister, according to Herman Halushchenko. The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said the missile strikes caused “colossal” damage to infrastructure and left the city without power, heating and water. A senior Ukrainian presidential official said emergency power shutdowns were being brought in across the country. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that just a third of its residents had both heat and water and only 40% had electricity. He went on to add that the metro system, which is crucial transportation, remains shut down. The White House has said that the next security assistance package for Ukraine was coming and it was expected to include more air defense capabilities for the country. The Pentagon also said that it plans to expand its training of Ukrainian troops in Europe. Pentagon Press Secretary, Brigadier General Pat Ryder said, “We will expand U.S.-led training for the Ukrainian armed forces, to include joint maneuver and combined arms operations training, while building upon the specialized equipment training that we're already providing to the Ukrainians.” EU states should buy arms jointly to replenish stocks after supplying Ukraine, said the bloc’s defense agency, warning the US may not always be able to shield Europe from threats. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that she welcomes the agreement by EU leaders on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia. Despite Russia's consistent humiliating setbacks in their invasion of Ukraine, Senior Ukrainian officials said that Putin is preparing for a major new offensive at the start of the new year. Despite Ukraine’s ability to defend against a majority of Russia’s missiles from significantly damaging infrastructure and power grid, sources said that Russia is planning a major attack in the near future.