May 25 Buonasera Mag
Donbas, passportisation, Wagner, Italian peace plan, US waiver, Turkey, China, US
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Here are some of the stories we’re following…
President Zelensky has called the situation unfolding in the eastern Donbas region "extremely difficult", and argued that a regular supply of weapons to Ukraine was the best strategy to maintain global stability.
The Ukrainian army is under its greatest strain since those first chaotic weeks of the war when people thought the Russians were going to drive into Kyiv.
On the ground Russian troops are currently trying to encircle the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.
President Zelensky has said the West is lacking unity over the issue of weapons provisions and other support for his country. "Unity is about weapons. My question is, is there this unity in practice? I can't see it," he said, speaking by videolink at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, which won this year’s Eurovision song contest, is auctioning off its trophy to raise funds for the Ukrainian army, the group said.
Ukrainian prosecutors late on Tuesday released the names and photographs of 6 men of the Wagner Group and 2 of the Belarusian forces wanted for alleged war crimes – including murder and torture – in the village of Motyzhyn. Several are believed to have fought in Syria.
Canada to send artillery ammunition to Ukraine. In total, the country purchased 20,000 artillery shells from the U.S., spending about $75 million for NATO-standard ammunition, Defense Minister Anita Anand said on May 24.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Kuleba, accused Nato of “doing literally nothing” in the face of Russia’s invasion of his country. Kuleba praised the EU for its “revolutionary” decisions to back Kyiv but said the Nato military alliance had been “completely sidelined”.
Putin has signed a decree simplifying the process of handing Russian citizenship to residents of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Ukrainian MP Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said the decree “turns occupation into annexation”.
Interfax: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rudenko stated that Russia is ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for vessels carrying food to leave Ukraine, in return for the lifting of some sanctions.
Reuters: Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zakharova said an Italian peace plan for Ukraine was a “fantasy”. The plan would involve international groups such as the UN, EU and OCSE in Europe to act as facilitators to organise localised ceasefires initially.
The US is cutting off another financial route for Russia to pay its international debts, a move that could push the country closer to default. The US Treasury Department said it would end a waiver that had allowed US bondholders to accept payments, tightening sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.
Politico EU: Nearly six months after the Mirror first reported allegations of lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street, the results of senior civil servant Sue Gray’s investigation will be published Wednesday.
Senior Turkish officials separately met Swedish and Finnish delegations in Ankara today for a joint meeting all together: a joint statement is expected.
Changes to EU rules targeting Russian assets
The EU is moving to confiscate and sell — rather than just freeze — Russian oligarchs’ assets.
The rules would target Russian assets skirting EU sanctions, as part of a larger framework on targeting all assets from organised crime. "Organised crime has become more international," says VP MargSchinas. "70% of organised criminal groups now operate in more than one country".
Specifically, the proposal would add the violation of sanctions to the list of EU crimes, which would set common offenses and penalties across the union, making it easier to investigate, prosecute and punish violations.
Dirk Kurbjuweit, Olaf Scholz travels to Senegal, Niger and South Africa in 71 hours. Always Present: Vladimir Putin
Scholz insists to journalists that he’s “not as stupid as Kaiser Wilhelm II” to let Germany fall into a big war. He does not view Ukrainian victory as the goal and prefers a strategy of “active waiting” – cautiously participating until Putin says he has accomplished his war goals.
CEPA Event: Culture is a Prime Target in Russia's War in Ukraine | May 26, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT
Please add this event to your calendars: Putin’s war in Ukraine not only aims to destroy Ukraine’s territorial integrity but also the notion of Ukrainian nationhood. At the same time, the Kremlin’s constant stream of state-funded propaganda and suppression of independent Russian voices is destroying its own future. Many Ukrainians have called on international cultural institutions to suspend cultural cooperation with Russia in the arts until its troops are fully withdrawn from Ukraine. What is the role of culture in Putin’s war against Ukraine? How should the international community respond?
Nicholas Tenzer, No Ceasefire, No Freeze, Ukraine Must Win
Some European countries are once again toying with the idea that Ukraine should be forced to cease fire, even as its forces advance. This would be a disaster for the continent.
I’m posting Mr Tenzer’s timely article as there seems to be a narrative inching its way across certain intellectual, diplomatic and mainstream media circles and picking up steam: Ukraine must be ready to concede territory for peace.
Here in the EU, this idea isn’t new: it has been debated from day one of Russia’s full on attack on Ukraine, in Italian and German information spaces. In yesterday’s edition of Buonasera Mag, you’ll find the NYT’s Editorial article and Razom’s response.
As the war enters a critical stage for Ukrainian forces, we should be increasing our support not decreasing it.
Kharkiv
Alexander Vindman, America Must Embrace the Goal of Ukrainian Victory
Thus far, the National Security Council has stubbornly refused to end its policy of incremental assistance and adopt a strategy for supplying continuous aid to Ukraine. Such elevated support could prove to be a deciding factor on the battlefield.
At Davos
Ukrainian MP Anastasia Radina told reporters western countries such as Germany must overcome reluctance to supply Ukraine with modern weapons as Kyiv risks running out of stocks. She said:
We have only one choice, and this is to receive modern Nato style weaponry because we cannot win the war with the Soviet style weaponry that we have. What [the Russians] are doing is waiting for us to run out of weapons or (the) collective West to be less united and more preoccupied with their own problems.
Navalny’s statements in court
Navalny himself participated in the hearing via video link. In his final statement, he spoke little about the substance of the charges against him, focusing on the political situation in Russia and the war in Ukraine.
Your system is based on fear. To be afraid of yourself is a crime against your future and your children. My point is that these processes of yours are meaningless. What do you want to achieve? To gain control? To stop the progress of Russia? What do you want to do? On the whole, [everything] that you are doing makes no sense. You will suffer a historic defeat in this stupid war you have started. It has no purpose and no meaning. What are we fighting a war for? What should they [Ukrainians] do to get behind them?
Scilla Alecci, The faces of China’s detention camps in Xinjiang
Ten detainees wearing blue and yellow prison smocks sit in a basement cell, staring up at a TV that shows a speech by a local Xinjiang government official. Blue-clad guards, one holding a club about as big as a baseball bat, stand nearby.
A new leak of Chinese government records reveals thousands of never-before seen mug shots of Uyghurs and other photos from inside the notorious internment camps, as well as new details of the national mass detention program. Please take time to read this report with the ICIJ- The International Corsortium of Investigative Journalists.
Mass shooting in Texas
An 18-year-old suspect, identified by police as Salvador Ramos, opened fire at Robb elementary school, which is in a mostly Latino community about 85 miles west of San Antonio near the Mexico border, around 11.30am on Tuesday. Police said the suspect was killed, apparently by arriving officers.
After shooting his grandmother at his home, Ramos drove to the school, driving his car into the ditch, and tried to enter the school. He was met with resistance from law enforcement as he entered the school but was able to enter a fourth-grade classroom, where he barricaded himself and started shooting.
We’re signing off…thanks for reading…
Mo & Scott