True Left

Vladimir Putin might already be dead, Volodymyr Zelensky suggested today in a bizarre speech.

Ukraine's president also told world leaders he is not sure who makes decisions in the Kremlin following claims Putin's recent appearances have been faked using TV special effects.

"What Chancellor Schulz is doing is the opposite to what he wishes, which is obviously a closer resolution to the war."

Germany must make a decision on Leopard tanks 'for Europe and for history' says former NATO Director of Public Policy Fabrice Pothier.

Retired US Army General and former Director of the CIA David Petraeus explains to CNN's Wolf Blitzer why he believes the United States is sending an "unhelpful message" in tanks dilemma with European allies. #CNN #News

CIA Director Bill Burns briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last week on the US’ expectations for Russia’s battlefield planning in the spring, according to a US official and two Ukrainian sources familiar with the meeting. #CNN #News

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley reiterated Friday that Russia's war in Ukraine will likely "end in a negotiation" and not on the battlefield. #CNN #News

War in Ukraine could drag on for years, Russian Wagner Group owner says

The owner of the Russian Wagner Group private military contractor actively involved in the fighting in Ukraine has predicted that the war could drag on for years.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video interview released late Friday that it could take 18 months to two years for Russia to fully secure control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas. He added that the war could go on for three years if Moscow decides to capture broader territories east of the Dnieper River.

Ukrainian and Western officials have warned that Russia could launch a new broad offensive to try to turn the tide of the conflict as the war approaches the one-year mark. But Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesman, Andriy Chernyak, told Kyiv Post that “Russian command does not have enough resources for large-scale offensive actions.”

“The main goal of Russian troops remains to achieve at least some tactical success in eastern Ukraine,” he said.

Russia has likely suffered its highest rate of casualties since the beginning of the war in the past 2 weeks, UK Defense Ministry says

The Ukrainian General Staff estimated that the mean average for the last seven days was 824 Russian casualties.

Western officials estimate that Russia could be approaching nearly 200,000 casualties.

The reason for the increase in Russian casualties is due to various factors, including a lack of trained personnel, coordination, and resources across the front, which the ministry notes can be seen in Bakhmut and Vuhledar.

Ukraine claimed on Tuesday that 1,030 Russian troops had been killed in the previous 24 hours, which would have marked the deadliest day for Russian forces in the war so far.

Ukraine: NATO in logistics ‘race’ as Russian offensive begins

NATO members and Ukraine’s other allies are meeting at the alliance’s headquarters on Tuesday to drum up more weapons and ammunition for the war-torn country.

Ukraine’s allies are in a race against time to produce enough ammunition, fuel, and spare parts to thwart an offensive by Russian forces that NATO’s chief says is already under way.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has again urged Ukraine’s Western allies to ramp up their military support. Asked Monday when he expects Russia’s so-called spring offensive to begin, Stoltenberg said “the reality is that we have seen the start already”.


Stoltenberg said NATO sees “no sign whatsoever that [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin is preparing for peace”, and arming Ukraine more quickly could save lives by bringing a quicker end to the conflict.

“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics. Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield. Speed will save lives,” he said.

On Wednesday they will discuss NATO’s defences on its eastern flank, close to Russia. Moves to beef up military budgets are also on the agenda.

“The city, the city’s suburbs, the entire perimeter, and essentially the entire Bakhmut direction and Kostyantynivka are under crazy, chaotic shelling,” said Volodymyr Nazarenko, deputy commander of Ukraine’s Soboda battalion.

“Every road is being shelled by artillery in a chaotic way.”

”We are waiting for them to start massive round-the-clock attacks,” said Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai.

As the new Russian offensive intensifies, Ukraine says it needs fighter jets and long-range missiles to counter this and to recapture lost territory.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz talks to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at the Munich Security Conference about supporting Kyiv in its war against Russia. #CNN #News

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda advocates disregarding any red line that Putin may have set in supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion. He speaks to us in an interview with DW's Teri Schultz at the Munich Security Conference

'Russia's starting over again' with 'slow, destructive' strategy, one year into war with Ukraine

Biden, Putin offer contrasting views on Ukraine in major speeches one year after invasion

Putin threatens to suspend participation in New START Treaty, which sets limits on nuclear arsenals

During a brief visit to Poland after visiting Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden told a crowd in Warsaw that democracy 'lifts up the human spirit,' and that decisions made over the next five years will shape the world for decades.


"Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never," he said at another point in his speech from the gardens of Warsaw's Royal Castle.

While Biden is looking to use his whirlwind trip to Europe as a moment of affirmation for Ukraine and allies, the White House has also emphasized that there is no clear endgame to the war in the near term and the situation on the ground has become increasingly complex.

Biden said there would be "hard and bitter days ahead, but he cast the world as being at an inflection point characterized by a number of stark choices, including between "democracy that lifts up the human spirit and the brutal hand of the dictator who crushes it."

Polish President Andrzej Duda preceded Biden, praising his "incredible gesture" of visiting Kyiv on Monday. Duda also offered Poland's continued support for Ukraine's defence.

"I call on all European states, NATO states, to show solidarity with Ukraine, to provide military support to Ukraine, so that they have something to fight with," said Duda. "Do not be afraid to provide this support."

The U.S. has committed about $113 billion US in aid to Ukraine since last year, while European allies have committed tens of billions of dollars more and welcomed millions of Ukrainian refugees who have fled the conflict.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western countries of igniting and sustaining the war in Ukraine, dismissing any blame for Moscow.

In his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, Putin cast Russia — and Ukraine — as victims of Western double-dealing and said Russia, not Ukraine, was the one fighting for its very existence.

Putin said that Russia would suspend its participation in the New START Treaty, signed with the U.S. in 2010 and extended in the early days of the Biden administration in 2021. But some hours later the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Russia will continue to observe limits on the number of nuclear warheads it can deploy as outlined in the treaty.

The Russian leader vowed no military let-up in Ukrainian territories he has illegally annexed, apparently rejecting any peace overtures in a conflict that has reawakened fears of a new Cold War.

"Western elites aren't trying to conceal their goals, to inflict a 'strategic defeat' to Russia," Putin said in the speech broadcast by all state TV channels. "They intend to transform the local conflict into a global confrontation."

Putin accused the West of launching "aggressive information attacks" and taking aim at Russian culture, religion and values because it is aware that "it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield."

Biden on Tuesday praised the commitment of Poland and its "willingness to open your hearts." More than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have settled in Poland since the start of the war, and Poland has also provided Ukraine with $3.8 billion in military and humanitarian aid, according to the White House.