Category: Vladimir Putin

UK Pledges to Train Ukrainian Pilots as Zelenskyy Makes 1st Visit Since Russian Invasion

Britain has announced plans to train Ukrainian pilots to fly NATO-standard fighter jets, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes the first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion began a year ago. The Ukrainian leader will have an audience with King Charles and address Parliament during the trip, which is only his second overseas visit…


Russia Denies Putin Threatened Boris Johnson With Missile Attack in Pre-War Phone Call

Russia has denied former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim that President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike in a call ahead of the invasion of Ukraine. In a new BBC documentary series, Johnson said the “extraordinary” conversation took place in February 2022, days before Russia launched an assault on Kyiv on Feb….


Putin Praises Russian Orthodox Church for Backing Troops in Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin on Saturday praised the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Moscow’s forces fighting in Ukraine in an Orthodox Christmas message designed to rally people behind his vision of modern Russia. The Kremlin issued Putin’s message after the Russian leader attended an Orthodox Christmas Eve service on his own inside a Kremlin cathedral rather…


The Year Putin’s Imperial Dream Became a Nightmare of Destruction

Commentary We know why Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine. Once upon a time (as recently as late February 2022), Vlad dreamed a splendid dream of imperial Russian glory restored. In Vlad’s grand reverie the architect, commander, and instrument of this repair of the Russian Empire’s Soviet Union-era crackup would be… Vlad. As grandiose, narcissistic hallucinations go,…


Putin Says Russia Ready to Negotiate Over Ukraine

MOSCOW—Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday. Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most deadly conflict in Europe since World War II and…


Ottawa Move to Seize Millions From Russian Oligarch Could Test Charter: Trade Lawyer

Canada’s attempt to seize and forfeit a Russian oligarch’s holdings could be a major test of how Ottawa balances sanctions and Charter rights. This week, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said she plans to use a new law to confiscate and divert assets held by people who have been sanctioned. The first case involves Roman Abramovich,…


Putin’s Latest Bad Bet: Strategic Bombing

Commentary For Ukrainians, Dec. 16 was another terrible day of war. Russia fired 76 missiles into their country, most of the missiles slamming into cities. On Dec. 19 Russia launched a similar attack, this time Iranian-made kamikaze (self-detonating) drones augmenting the missiles. According to Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin propagandists, the exploding drones and the short and…


Putin Says Russian Army Must Tackle Problems It Has Suffered in Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the Russian army must learn from and fix the problems it had suffered in Ukraine, promising to give the military whatever it needed to prosecute a war nearing the end of its 10th month. In a speech to defense chiefs in Moscow, Putin said there were no financial…


Russia’s Putin Pays Rare Visit to His Country’s ‘No. 1 Ally’ Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Minsk on Dec. 19 for a one-day “working visit,” during which he is slated to hold talks with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko. Putin was accompanied on the trip by Sergey Shoigu and Sergey Lavrov, his ministers of defense and foreign affairs, respectively. The Russian president last visited Belarus,…


Trade Alert: Griner for the Merchant of Death

President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin agreed to swap WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was in Russian prison for marijuana possession while traveling, for Viktor Bout, the “Merchant of Death” who sold arms and was convicted of conspiring to kill Americans. The real winner of this trade was clearly Russia, as Putin continues to…