This is a general thread for Ukraine related news and discussions.
Euro 2020: Ukraine's new football kit sparks Russian outrage over map including Crimea
Monday 7 June 2021
Ukraine's new Euro 2020 kit has sparked anger in Russia by featuring a map of the country that includes Crimea.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and considers it part of its territory - but it is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.
Russian MP Dmitry Svishchev said the use of the logo on the shirt was "political provocation".
The front of the yellow shirt shows the borders of Ukraine encompassing Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Lugansk - and in a promotional video unveiling the kit, the same border also lights up.
A slogan at the top of the back says "Glory to Ukraine!" - a patriotic chant used by demonstrators who forced out a pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 - and inside is lettering that declares "Glory to the heroes!"
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's leader is traveling to the United States this week in hopes of bolstering security ties with Washington and persuading the administration to ramp up sanctions against a new Russian natural gas pipeline that bypasses his country.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called Washington's failure to block the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany a grave political error, and he is expected to again raise the issue during his talks Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Zelenskyy has described the new pipeline as a powerful geopolitical weapon for Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 after the ouster of the former Kremlin-friendly president and has thrown its weight behind a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
Washington has strongly opposed the construction of Nord Stream 2, but the Biden administration has opted not to punish the German company overseeing the project while announcing new sanctions against Russian companies and ships.
Zelenskyy has warned that Nord Stream 2 would mark a major victory for Moscow and a “personal loss” for Biden. The undiplomatic comments reflect Ukrainian fears that the new pipeline will deprive it of $3 billion in annual transit fees for pumping Russian gas to Europe, erode its strategic importance and make it more vulnerable to Kremlin pressure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is stepping up pressure on Russia over a buildup of troops along its frontier with Ukraine.
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to meet his Ukrainian counterpart in Washington on Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat for Europe said the administration is watching the border situation closely and would regard any escalation with deep concern.
Karen Donfried, assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, told The Associated Press that senior Russian officials have been warned of potential consequences for any increased threat to Ukraine’s security from what she called “unusual military activity near Ukraine.” She would not discuss specific consequences for Russia, but administration officials have in the past said boosting military support for Ukraine is one option.
Donfried was part of a U.S. delegation led by CIA Director William Burns that visited Moscow last week and delivered that message personally to Kremlin officials. After leaving Moscow, Donfried traveled to Kyiv to brief Ukrainian officials on the meetings.
“Any time we see unusual Russian military activity near Ukraine we make clear that any escalatory or aggressive action is of great concern to the United States," she said. “We’re very clear that we support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and that our commitment to that has not changed and is unwavering and that we will continue to stand with Ukraine and we will condemn any Russian aggression against Ukraine in all its forms.”
(Alternet) Rep. Mike Turner's (R-Ohio) recent discussion with Fox News' Tucker Carlson took a turn for the worse when he had to explain to the news anchor why the United States would rather be allied with Ukraine as opposed to Russia.
On Wednesday night, the Republican lawmaker appeared on Carlson's primetime show where he discussed the United States' relationship with Ukraine. His appearance came several days after he and 14 other Republican lawmakers penned a letter to President Joe Biden asking him "'to immediately provide support to the Ukrainians' after satellite images showed a buildup of Russian military forces along Ukraine's northern border," Mediaite reports.
"Tucker, thank you so much for bringing attention to this issue," said Turner after Carlson welcomed him to the show. "This is one the mainstream media is not going to be reporting and is incredibly important for people to understand what Russia is doing and really the threat to the United States and the threat to the United States' allies."
After pointing out that many of his viewers are from military families, Carlson said, "I wonder if you could explain to them why it is in America's interest that their kids risk their lives in Ukraine."
"I'm totally confused" -- Tucker Carlson wonder why the US would be allies with Ukraine instead of Russia, since Russia has more energy reservers. Rep. Mike Turner reminds him that we're supposed to be on the side of democracies. Carlson responds by saying, "I guess"pic.twitter.com/XIXfJXKsML
— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1636595726
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the West on Thursday to “immediately” meet Russia's demand for security guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine, saying the U.S. is “on the threshold of our home.”
Speaking during a marathon annual news conference, the Russian leader welcomed talks with the U.S. that are set to start in Geneva next month as a “positive” move, but sternly warned that Moscow expects the discussion to produce quick results.
“We have clearly and precisely let them know that any further NATO expansion eastward is unacceptable,” Putin said.
Last week, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliance’s military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. A key principle of the NATO alliance is that membership is open to any qualifying country.
“Is it us who are putting missiles near the U.S. borders?" Putin said angrily. "No, it’s the U.S. who came to our home with its missiles, they are already on the threshold of our home. Is it some excessive demand not to place any strike weapons systems near our home?”
Ukraine Lawmaker Says Prosecutor Seeks Arrest of Former President Poroshenko
Source: Reuters
KYIV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office has asked a court to arrest former president Petro Poroshenko on suspicion of high treason and financing pro-Russian separatists, a lawmaker from Poroshenko's faction in parliament said on Friday.
"On Christmas Eve, the Prosecutor General office confirmed the information ... that the Prosecutor General had approved a motion to arrest Poroshenko with the possibility of bail set at 1 billion hryvnia ($37 million)," Iryna Gerashchenko said on Facebook.
(Politico) …the one thing that might bring Russians around to this potential war is if they believe that NATO, not Russia, is the aggressor.
“The logic is that if NATO is pulling us into a war, then we must respond in kind, in order to protect the Russian-speaking population in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics,” said (polster Denis) Volkov, referring to the unrecognized east Ukrainian statelets proclaimed by pro-Russian separatists.
So far, Volkov says, Russians mostly do blame NATO and the U.S. for the conflict with their former Soviet compatriots. But Volkov says it remains to be seen if they will unite behind Putin over Donbas the way they did for Crimea.
“It seems to me that there will be no such rally around the flag as happened after Crimea,” Volkov said. “People are tired of the Ukraine conflict, and tired of international tensions.”
(Vox) Russia has gathered troops along the Ukrainian border, Washington and Moscow engaged in a week of high-stakes negotiations, and NATO and European allies are trying to avoid a conflict that seems more likely by the day.
In this frightening morass, there’s one low-key wild card: a long-running energy infrastructure project that some consider an economic project, others consider a geopolitical tool of Russia, and that is a combination of all of those and more.
The project in question is Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion Russian-owned pipeline that has Washington in a difficult position with some of its European allies, divided other European countries among themselves, and weakened Ukraine.
When it’s up and running, Nord Stream 2 will bring natural gas from Russia to Europe. It is laid alongside Nord Stream 1, which flows from Russia along the Baltic Sea and directly into Germany. Experts said the pipeline will not dramatically increase Russian natural gas imports to Europe, but it could reroute it — meaning more natural gas will flow directly to Germany and potentially bypass other existing pipelines that run through other European countries. Most significantly, Ukraine.
The United States sees the pipeline as a Russian geopolitical tool to undermine Europe’s energy and national security. Ukraine definitely sees it this way too and wants the pipeline stopped. Once Nord Stream 2 is online, Russia will no longer need to pay transit fees to send gas through Ukraine, and both Russia and Europe have less need to rely on the pipeline that runs through Ukraine. “The thinking is that as long as that remains a critical transit corridor for Russian supplies to get to market, Russia maybe is less likely to interfere or to disrupt that source of transit,” said Emily Holland, assistant professor in the Russia Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College.
(TechCrunch) On February 24, Russia launched an invasion of neighboring Ukraine after months of a military build-up on its borders.
The attack began with cyberattacks that targeted Ukrainian government departments with floods of internet traffic and data-wiping malware, followed by a ground, sea and air incursion. News outlets in Ukraine are also reporting outages caused by cyberattacks, which the Ukrainian government says it has “unambiguously linked” to Moscow.
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The impacts of the invasion are…being felt across Ukraine’s wider tech ecosystem, which includes not only hundreds of startups and larger tech firms, but also research and development offices for some of the world’s biggest technology brands.
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A director at one major tech company, who asked us to not name the company for the safety of its employees, confirmed to us that it is in the process of working out how to evacuate all of its staff in Ukraine. The situation is being hampered by the fact that all airspace is now out of bounds, and public transportation is largely out of action. The current plan is to figure out how to get staff across the border either to Hungary or Poland.
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In Ukraine, there are many more home-grown startups that are also feeling the fallout (and bear supporting if you’re so inclined). They include Ajax, a home wireless security company; the AI-based grammar and writing engine Grammarly; the face-swapping app Reface; pet camera system Petcube; People AI, the sales and marketing intelligence startup; and language tutor marketplace Preply. These companies have raised funding from some of the world’s biggest VCs and one question will be how and if those relationships will be impacted with the latest developments.
Russia's war to shrink Ukraine economy 45%, World Bank says
Source: AP
LONDON (AP) — The World Bank says Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 45.1% this year because of Russia’s invasion, which has shut down half of the country’s businesses, choked off imports and exports, and damaged a vast amount of critical infrastructure.
Unprecedented sanctions imposed by Western allies in response to the war, meanwhile, are plunging Russia into a deep recession, lopping off more than a tenth of its economic growth, the World Bank said in a report Sunday.
The war is set to inflict twice the amount of economic damage across Europe and Central Asia that the COVID-19 pandemic did, the Washington-based lender said in its “War in the Region” economic report.
“The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis unleashed by the war is staggering,” said Anna Bjerde, the World Bank’s vice president for the Europe and Central Asia region. “The Russian invasion is delivering a massive blow to Ukraine’s economy and it has inflicted enormous damage to infrastructure.”
(TechCrunch) Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine has been going on for almost two months, and during this time, all sectors of the economy, including IT, have had to stand by the military.
Ukrainian IT did not break down — it shrank a little, but it is standing firmly, providing employment to people, paying taxes, organizing humanitarian help and assisting the Ukrainian army.
Here are a few key factors that have helped Ukrainian IT, and us as a company, survive:
Companies prepared for war before it started
The media was discussing the possibility of war long before it actually started. Even though everyone hoped for the better, Ukrainians acknowledged that they had a neighbor who could attack at any moment. With this in mind, many IT companies started to plan for emergencies and set up contingency teams. Preparation significantly helped us maintain cohesion when the war started on February 24.
Our company created an emergency team, whose main responsibilities were to ensure the accommodation and transportation of our employees from dangerous zones.
(American Chemical Society via EurekAlert) WASHINGTON, April 21, 2022 — With a $500,000 donation, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has joined the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in an effort to help researchers who are being forced to flee Ukraine because of Russia’s invasion. The donation will support the NAS’ Scientists and Engineers in Exile or Displaced (SEED) program, which is working to help scientists and engineers relocate and continue their work in Poland and other neighboring countries.
Under agreements with the Ukrainian and Polish academies of sciences, NAS support for researchers and their families includes providing the displaced researchers with grants and placements in appropriate research institutions for up to six months. The funding from ACS will be prioritized to assist Ukrainian chemical scientists to the extent possible.
Millions of Ukrainians have fled their country since the start of the war, including an estimated 20,000 researchers. With many male family members still in Ukraine, the NAS effort is initially supporting primarily female scientists, but this may change as the situation evolves. Although Poland has been the principal destination for refugee scientists, many are also fleeing to Estonia, Lithuania and elsewhere. The NAS plans to help expand the program to include partnerships with other science academies.
In addition to providing immediate assistance to these researchers and their families, the SEED program aims to ensure that Ukrainian science will be better positioned to be restored after the war ends. Keeping the affected researchers engaged in their work and connected to the international science community allows the world to continue to benefit from their ideas and discoveries.
“As our thoughts go out to all those impacted by this war, we appreciate the need to assist the scientists being displaced so that they can continue their work and their careers,” says Paul W. Jagodzinski, Ph.D., chair of the ACS Board of Directors. “Through NAS, we are proud to provide support for these skilled and talented people.”
(Farmers Weekly) Ukrainian farmers are wearing helmets and bulletproof vests to sow spring crops as their country’s war with Russia rages nearby.
Farmers in the Zaporozhye region of south-eastern Ukraine are risking their lives to carry out spring sowing less than 20 miles away from active combat zones.
The fields have to be checked for Russian mines and other explosives prior to drilling. During spring planting operations, safety is paramount, the farmers say, which is why they have started wearing body armour.
On 8 April, an unnamed farmer was photographed scouring land on foot in the Zaporozhye region and checking for any dangerous objects before the tractor driver could be given the all-clear to drill sunflowers.
The spring sowing campaign is under way in 22 of 24 regions of Ukraine, according to the country’s agriculture ministry. Despite the hostilities, the government hopes farmers will plant six million hectares of crops this year, which is equivalent to 80% of the area farmed last year.
(Axios) The U.S. will lift tariffs on Ukrainian steel for the next year in a bid to help Ukraine as its war with Russia continues, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced on Monday.
Why it matters: The move temporarily pauses part of a 2018 measure by the Trump administration to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on a broad swath of countries.
The big picture: While Ukraine is a relatively minor supplier of steel to the U.S. — coming in only 12th among foreign suppliers — the steel industry looms large in Ukraine and has been a source of economic growth, per the New York Times, which first reported the news.
Ukraine's steel industry employs 1 in 13 people in the country and many steel mills have "continued to pay, feed, and even shelter their employees" through the war, the Commerce Department noted in the press release.
The country ranks as the world's 13th largest steel producer and 80% of its steel output is exported, according to S&P Global.
Russia pounds vital port of Odesa, targeting supply lines
Source: AP
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops pounded the vital port of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday, an apparent effort to disrupt the supply lines and Western weapons shipments critical to Kyiv’s defense.
Ukraine’s ability to stymie a larger, better-armed Russian military has surprised many who had anticipated a much quicker conflict. With the war now in its 11th week and Kyiv bogging Russian forces down and even staging a counteroffensive, Ukraine’s foreign minister appeared to suggest the country could expand its aims beyond merely pushing Russia back to areas it or its allies held on the day of the Feb. 24 invasion.
One of the most dramatic examples of Ukraine’s ability to deny Moscow easy victories has been Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters remained holed up at a steel plant, denying Russia’s full control of the city. The regiment defending the plant said Tuesday that Russian warplanes continued pounding it.
Biden signs law aimed at streamlining US military aid to Ukraine
Source: CNN
President Joe Biden on Monday signed a bill into law aimed at streamlining the process for getting military assistance to Ukraine as Russia continues its invasion.
In an Oval Office signing ceremony for the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act on Monday afternoon, Biden said, “The atrocities that the Russians are engaging in are just beyond the pale.”
“I’m signing a bill that provides another important tool in our efforts to support the government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in their fight to defend their country and their democracy against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s brutal war – and it is brutal,” Biden said while flanked alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and the bill’s sponsors, Indiana Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.
Earlier Monday, Putin delivered an address on Russia’s annual Victory Day. Though many had speculated that the Russian leader may reveal more about his plans in Ukraine, Putin offered few clues about the direction of the conflict.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Putin’s claims about NATO “creating threats next to our border” were “patently false and absurd.”
Ukraine to Halt Key Russian Gas Transit to Europe, Use Alternative
Source: USNews/Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Tuesday it would suspend the flow of gas through a transit point which it said delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine, blaming Moscow for the move and saying it would move the flows elsewhere.
GTSOU, which operates Ukraine's gas system, said it would suspend flows via the Sokhranivka route from Wednesday, declaring "force majeure", a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control.
The company said in a statement that it could not operate at the Novopskov gas compressor station due to "the interference of the occupying forces in technical processes", adding that it could temporarily shift the affected flow elsewhere, to the 'Sudzha' physical interconnection point located in territory controlled by Ukraine.
But Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, said it was "technologically impossible" to shift all volumes to the Sudzha interconnection point, as GTSOU proposed.
EU backs Ukraine's membership bid to 'live the European dream'
June 17, 2022
BRUSSELS/KYIV, Ukraine, June 17 (Reuters) - The European Union gave its blessing on Friday for Ukraine and its neighbour Moldova to become candidates to join, in the most dramatic geopolitical shift to result from Russia's invasion.
"Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference, wearing Ukrainian colours - a yellow blazer over a blue blouse.
"We want them to live with us the European dream."
It was only the start of a process that could take many years, but it puts Kyiv on course to realise a goal that would have been far beyond its reach just months ago.
Ukraine applied to join the EU just four days after Russian troops poured across its border in February. Four days later, so did Moldova and Georgia - smaller ex-Soviet states also contending with separatist regions occupied by Russian troops.
Ukraine lays out $750bn ‘recovery plan’ for postwar future
Mon 4 Jul 2022
The eventual restoration of Ukraine through a $750bn (£620bn) recovery plan is the common task of the entire democratic world, the Ukrainian president said on Monday at the first detailed event to map out a physical future for the country in the event it survives as a western-facing nation after the Russian invasion.
Speaking by video link to a high-level conference in Lugano, Switzerland, attended by many senior Ukrainian politicians, Volodymyr Zelenskiy admitted the task ahead was colossal, claiming the war was a battle of outlooks in which Russia was determined to destroy his country’s physical and moral fabric.
He added the process of recovery being led by a Ukrainian national recovery council would allow his country to deepen its links with Europe.
The scale of the task is such that there is a danger of multilateral bodies duplicating offers, as well as tensions between plans developed by Ukraine itself and those prepared by bodies such as the European Investment Bank. The private sector’s willingness to invest billions in Ukraine will depend on the country’s security and Ukraine’s ability to resist the clutches of oligarchs.
Denys Shmyhal, the Ukrainian prime minister, said Ukraine’s direct infrastructure losses amounted to more than $100bn, adding more than 1,200 educational institutions, 200 hospitals and thousands of kilometres of gas pipelines, water and electricity networks, roads and railways had been destroyed or damaged.
