Latest news, headlines and top stories you need to know RIGHT NOW about Russia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
After numerous drone strikes over the past 24 hours on Russian soil, including an attack on the Kremlin, several Russian cities have decided to cancel their upcoming May 9 Victory Day parades – a celebration that commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
In the early hours of May 3, two purportedly Ukrainian drones struck the dome of the Kremlin’s Senate building which overlooks the Red Square. According to the Kremlin’s Spassky Tower which can be seen in the foreground of emerging social media videos of the attacks, the first drone struck at 2:27 a.m. with the second hitting at 2:43 a.m. While one drone appears to be destroyed in a cloud of smoke, the second one can be seen bursting into flames above the dome. Russian officials immediately alleged that Ukraine was behind the attacks and claimed that the incident was a failed assassination attempt on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A string of Russian freight train derailments near the Ukrainian border in recent days appears to be indicative that what have previously been irregular sabotage attempts are increasing as the anticipated Ukrainian spring counteroffensive stalls.
Farmers, firefighters, and others joined Union workers as they marched peacefully in protest against the authoritarian regime of President Emmanuel Macron. In addition to protesting the retirement law that the government imposed by dictate, bypassing parliament, the demonstrators called for France to exit the European Union and to end French support for the war in Ukraine. The marchers also condemned police violence, which the Macron regime has escalated against its own people throughout the Spring.
During a Monday press briefing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed that Russian forces have suffered more than 100,000 total casualties in the strategic city of Bakhmut since December. According to Kirby, that estimate includes 20,000 troops killed in combat and another 80,000 wounded.
On Saturday, Ukrainian forces aggressively shelled a Russian village in the Bryansk region close to the Ukrainian border, with initial reports indicating that 2 people had been killed in the attack. However, the number of casualties has risen as emergency responders have continued to search the rubble for survivors. According to governor Aleksandr Bogomaz, 4 civilians have been killed, with another two wounded in what he said was “as a result of the actions by Ukrainian nationalists.”
Among other rather unsavory revelations from the trove of Pentagon materials leaked by Airman Jack Teixeira, it has been discovered that the Biden administration’s efforts to slow Putin’s war in Ukraine by imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia are failing. According to the classified assessments, U.S. intelligence believes that Putin can afford to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine for at least another year. The assessments confirm what many in the West already knew to be true – economic sanctions are having little effect on Russia’s war.