As the war in Ukraine pushes into its eighth month, 30 House Democrats, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash) are pushing the Biden administration to “dramatically shift” its policy regarding Ukraine and to take an approach that could lead to a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, made his second call in three days to U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, on Sunday. The subject of the call was a bizarre accusation from Putin claiming that the Ukrainian military is preparing to provoke Russia by detonating a radioactive “dirty bomb.” Shoigu made similar calls to other Western countries including Britain, France, and Turkey. Lloyd purportedly told Shoigu that he “rejected any pretext for Russian escalation.”
In an effort to help the Ukrainian military hold ground over the coming winter months, NATO and the U.S. have sped up the transfer of warm clothing, arms, and technology to counter drone strikes to Ukrainian forces.
The Belarusian defense ministry announced Monday that it will begin conducting live-fire drills and anti-aircraft guided missile launches with Russian troops that are mustering in Belarusian territory as part of the joint grouping announced by Putin earlier this month.
Due to a shortage of missiles, Russia has begun using Iranian Shahed-136 drones in its recent assaults on Ukraine’s infrastructure. The increased airstrikes are retaliation for a Ukrainian blast that severely damaged the Kerch Bridge linking Crimea and the Russian mainland earlier this month.
On Saturday China’s Foreign Ministry issued an order for all Chinese nationals still in Ukraine to leave the country immediately. The evacuation order has brought rising concerns that China might be aware of more planned Russian airstrikes over many Ukrainian cities like those carried out last Monday and Tuesday.
At a NATO conference on Russian influence and power over Central Europe on Monday, Karel Řehka, head of the General Staff of the Czech Army, said that NATO and Russia have never been closer to a direct conflict than they are right now.
After sending a diplomatic note to Ukraine on Saturday accusing the country of planning an attack on Belarus, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is now partnering with Russian President, Vladimir Putin to reportedly allow Russian troops to amass in Belarus to “deploy a regional grouping” of Russian and Belarusian soldiers to Ukraine.
Concerns are growing that Belarus might enter Russia’s war against Ukraine as Belarus has accused Ukraine of planning to attack them.
The visa office of the German Consulate in Kyiv has been struck by Russian missiles amid a recent assault on the city in what is speculated to be retaliation for the destruction of the Kerch Bridge between Crimea and Russia over the weekend. While Ukrainians have not claimed responsibility for the bridge strike, they have celebrated the blast that rocked the Crimea region.