Latest news, headlines and top stories you need to know RIGHT NOW about Russia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Lynne Tracy, the United States’ new ambassador to Russia, arrived at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow for the first time to chants of “war is a U.S. business” and “America is a terrorist country.”
The Biden administration is refusing to say whether or not it intends to provide Ukraine with radioactive depleted uranium rounds to accompany the Bradley Fighting Vehicles the U.S. intends to provide Kyiv.
Zelensky is using the war to escalate his policy of ethnic cleansing, hoping to reduce the minority populations in his western provinces by using them as front-line combat troops. These actions against ethnic minorities in Ukraine must be condemned as a war crime.
On Thursday, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen announced that the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group is among numerous Russian entities being sanctioned for their involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The most recent round of sanctions from both the Treasury and Department of State target the individuals and organizations supporting the infrastructure of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
In an effort to decrease Vladimir Putin’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine that Russia started in February 2022, the U.S. and other Western countries have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia. Since invading Ukraine, Russia has lost access to roughly half of its gold and foreign currency reserves.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that it will be increasing the production of artillery ammunition by 500% over the next two years due to depleted military stockpiles caused by sending millions of shells to Ukraine.
After weeks of debate within the Biden administration and building pressure from Germany and some members of Congress, the administration has announced that it will send 30 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in what is being seen as a breakthrough. The debate as to whether or not to send Western-made tanks to Ukraine has also been a source of division amid NATO allies.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian government confirmed the resignation of numerous high-ranking officials as the result of widespread corruption allegations. The situation is being called the biggest graft scandal since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago.
Speaking at a meeting of European Union Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó declared that “Sanctions have taken the EU to a dead end. Sanctions harm us Europeans more than the Russians. Everyone can see that. This is not a political statement, it’s a fact.”
Envoys From The EU and U.S. Threaten Serbia: Comply With Ultimatums Or Face “Serious Damage”.