Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 03-01-2024

Kyiv Post welcomes former Australian parliamentarian Michael Danby, who is now a Sky News Australian commentator, about how the international media sees Russia's war against Ukraine.

Lithuania said it's been “witnessing increased activity of Belarusian and Russian intelligence services” on its territory.

Lithuania on Friday closed two more border checkpoints with Belarus, a key ally of Russia, due to security concerns stemming from the war in Ukraine and activity by the Minsk government.

The Baltic state, which shelters many Belarusian opposition activists and is a staunch Ukraine supporter, closed two crossings last year after erecting a barrier along the border. 

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russia’s RT television channel, claimed she had an audio recording in which high-ranking Bundeswehr officers discuss strikes on the Crimean Bridge.

Not long after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s gaffe concerning the alleged deployment of British and French troops on the ground, Russia has jumped on an alleged audio recording in which German military officials discuss plans for attacking the Kerch Bridge.

In his speech to the Federal Assembly on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that dangerous actions and statements by the West in foreign policy threaten conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization.

While most in the Balkans were appalled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it also highlighted that many of the divisions that beset the former Yugoslavia still exist.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, while condemning the invasion, have not officially taken a position and have only provided a symbolic €150,000 in humanitarian aid. In fact, the country still maintains its 2015 ban on the export of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, which was imposed following the Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula.

However, Bosnian Serbs, led by hardline Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, have openly supported Russia and its war from day one, a stance that Dodik reiterated after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the city of Kazan on Feb.21.

Despite facing heavy resistance and engaging in intense combat, the assault groups inflicted significant losses on Kremlin forces, with approximately 100 Russian casualties.

The Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) has released intense footage on Telegram showcasing the liberation of Krasnohorivka in the Donetsk region, retaken from Russian troops with significant losses to Kremlin forces.

DeepState analysts reported early on Wednesday, Feb. 28, that Russian troops had advanced south of Krasnohorivka near Marinka, launching an attack on the southeastern part of the city and managing to enter its territory.

The Mobile World Congress stands as the premier global event in the realm of digitalization, drawing participation from 110,000 attendees worldwide.

At the Mobile World Congress, the Kyiv Digital app was recognised as the premier innovative solution for urban development, Petro Olenich, the head of Kyiv's digital transformation and deputy chairman of the Kyiv city state administration announced on Friday.

“We have emerged victorious in two distinguished categories: ‘Best Urban Innovation’ and Best Mobile Innovation for Digital Life,’” Olenich said.

The ceremony comes two weeks after Navalny died in an Arctic prison. His supporters accuse Putin of murdering his top critic and of trying to prevent him from having a dignified public burial.

You can watch Alexei Navalny's funeral and farewell service below:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz came under fire from NATO allies for hinting that the UK and France have deployed troops to Ukraine to help with long-range missiles they have supplied.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz came under harsh criticism after suggesting that UK and French troops having been deployed in Ukraine to assist the latter with firing the long-range missiles they have supplied.

While explaining Berlin’s reluctance to provide Kyiv with its Taurus long-range missiles on Monday, Feb. 26, Scholz said it was due to the necessity for German boots to be on the ground to assist with target control, suggesting the British and French already have missile-savvy personnel in Ukraine.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

At least 104 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire as they were waiting for food, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces said "the incident is under review." This comes as more than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war with Hamas began in October, the health ministry in the besieged enclave said Thursday. The US is considering airdropping aid into Gaza, two US officials told CNN. More than half a million people in the enclave are on the brink of famine, the UN said, and hospitals face dire conditions that have killed at least six children in recent days, according to Gaza's health ministry - CNN

Meanwhile, reactions have poured in from all over the world after Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians at a food aid distribution site in northern Gaza. French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza”. Turkey has accused Israel of committing another crime against humanity- France 24

Russia is ready to hand over to Ukraine the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were allegedly on board the IL-76 plane that crashed in the Belgorod region in late January.

Russia has signaled that it will hand over the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war who allegedly died aboard a Russian Il-76 plane in a Jan. 24 crash.

Russian Human Rights Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova told “RIA. News” that she is in contact with Ukrainian representatives and that “the Ukrainian side was interested in the possibility of transferring the bodies.”

Landmine contamination in Ukraine is mind-boggling, but Kyiv is slowly attacking the problem in the three main areas of the UN’s five pillars.

Kyiv is slowly attacking Ukraine’s mind-boggling landmine contamination problem in the three main areas of the UN’s five pillars: risk education, victim assistance and landmine clearance.

Desmond Tutu once wisely said that “there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time,” and that is the mindset of Ukraine as it does its best to deal with the daunting levels of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination it faces.

Plans to bury the Russian opposition leader in Moscow on Friday have been beset by the authorities’ security demands, concerns of police crackdown, and threats against his funeral ceremony.

Alexei Navalny’s supporters said on Thursday that attempts to hire a hearse to take his body to his funeral had been prevented after funeral homes in Moscow received anonymous threats that Navalny’s body should not be taken anywhere.

A memorial service had been planned two weeks after the 47-year-old former politician died suddenly in a Siberian penal colony after struggles to release his body after his death for which many have accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of being responsible.

After months of wrangling in the US Congress, the good news is that the aid package Ukraine is in dire need of looks as if it will pass. The bad news is that it will take much more time.

In October 2023, the White House submitted a request to Congress for a new supplemental aid package. The proposed legislation included assistance to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, as well as US border security.

For nearly four months, members of Congress debated the foreign aid bill. But before it could pass, several Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate argued that additional assistance could not be sent to America’s allies and partners without addressing national security matters within the United States. Republicans and Democrats then wrote and rewrote the legislation addressing these issues. But ultimately, a deal on border security fell through.

There’s little question that the Republican Party has become Vladimir Putin’s biggest political ally in his war against Ukraine, the author writes.

There’s little question that the Republican Party has become Vladimir Putin’s biggest political ally in his war against Ukraine. Some of them sabotage or oppose military aid simply to spite President Joe Biden. Some may possibly be on Putin’s payroll. Others are isolationist, fiscally conservative, or preoccupied with fighting China. But the lead saboteur is tainted — newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson. He and his Republican caucus defeated the $95-billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine and Israel that had been passed by the Senate, then a 2018 news story re-emerged that Johnson had received campaign funds from Russians who funneled money to him and other Louisiana Republicans through a Texas-based petroleum company they controlled.

After this was discovered in 2018, Johnson’s campaign immediately returned the funds and the donors’ wrists were merely slapped by electoral officials despite the seriousness of the breach. This is pertinent, given Johnson’s role in blocking aid to Ukraine. It’s also noteworthy that one of his guilty foreign donors was Konstantin Nikolaev, a ranking member of Putin’s inner circle of oligarchs whose companies are the biggest supplier of arms and ammo to the Russian army. And while no direct links to Johnson have been proven, the odor exists. As former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, observed recently that “blocking aid to Ukraine is giving aid to Putin”.

Maxim Marchenko, who lived in Hong Kong, operated a network that fraudulently bought large quantities of military-grade microelectronics from American distributors on behalf of Russia-based end users.

A Russian man pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally exporting electronics to Russia for possible military use, in violation of sanctions imposed after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the US Department of Justice said.

Maxim Marchenko, who lived in Hong Kong, operated a network with two other unidentified Russians that fraudulently bought large quantities of military-grade microelectronics from American distributors on behalf of Russia-based end users, according to the DOJ.

Pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway region of Transnistria asked Russia for "protection" from increasing pressure and an "economic blockade" by Chișinău. Is there a real threat of annexation?

Pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway region of Transnistria have asked Russia for "protection" from increasing pressure and an "economic blockade" by Chișinău. The discontinuation of customs exemptions for Transnistria at the start of this year has aggravated the situation there. Moscow has described the protection of the region as a priority. Is there a real threat of annexation?

Putin may repeat his Donbas strategy

Lavrov will attend part of the annual diplomatic forum in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya where he is to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov heads Friday to Turkey which has sought to revive moribund Russia-Ukraine peace talks and ways to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea.

Lavrov will attend part of the annual diplomatic forum in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya where he is to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian officials are reportedly concerned about the possibility of significant Russian territorial gains in Summer 2024 in the event of continued delays in Western security assistance.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin used his February 29 address to the Federal Assembly to attempt to convince the Russian public that his next term as president will be defined by Russian military success in Ukraine but not at the expense of stagnating or decreased social and economic welfare.
• Putin used tired rhetoric about negotiations and nuclear saber rattling during his Federal Assembly speech, likely to seize on Western attention to the speech to promote ongoing Kremlin information operations.
• Putin emphasized the Kremlin’s domestic focus on 2024 as the “Year of the Family” to address Russia’s ongoing demographic crisis during his Federal Assembly address.
• Putin did not respond to the February 28 request from the Congress of Deputies from pro-Russian Moldovan breakaway region Transnistria, but this lack of response still affords the Kremlin several possible courses of action (COA) at a later time.
• Ukrainian forces downed three more Su-34 fighter aircraft in eastern Ukraine on February 28 and 29.
• The Kremlin continues to assert its self-arrogated right to enforce Russian federal law on citizens of NATO member and former Soviet states over actions taken within the territory of their own countries.
• Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a threat to Armenian security as Russian officials refused to acknowledge Armenia’s reduced participation in the CSTO.
• The Kremlin has reportedly established high-level positions in all federal bodies to promote patriotism and history within each body, likely aimed at strengthening informational and ideological control over federal employees.
• Russian forces made confirmed advances near Avdiivka amid continued positional engagements along the frontline on February 29.
• Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec Head Sergei Chemezov stated on February 29 that Rostec plans to produce A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft on an unspecified schedule because Russian forces require more A-50 aircraft.
• Occupation officials continue to support Kremlin efforts to gain further control over religious groups in occupied Ukraine.

Four Ukrainian drones reportedly targeted the area, resulting in explosions that caused damage to a Russian self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and gun system.

Combat drones believed to be operated by the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of Ukraine conducted an attack in the Belgorod region of Russia, damaging a Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile systems, sources in Ukraine’s HUR told Kyiv Post. 

According to the Astra telegram channel, the incident occurred on Thursday, Feb. 29, near the village of Golovchino in the Grayvoronsky district.

Putin, in an address to the nation on Thursday, warned the West of "tragic consequences" for any country that sends troops into Ukraine to defend against Russia's invasion.

The United States on Thursday denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin's warnings of a risk of nuclear war as "irresponsible," but said there was no sign of greater risk.

"It is not the first time we have seen irresponsible rhetoric from Vladimir Putin. It is no way for the leader of a nuclear-armed state to speak," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces chief assured that corrective measures have been taken on the ground, including allocating additional ammunition resources and necessary reserves.

Oleksandr Syrsky, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), revealed via Telegram the “miscalculations” made by individual commanders in the Avdiivka sector.

“A particularly tense situation has developed in the Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia directions,” Syrsky said.

As NATO sails into dark waters in the face of a direct threat from Russia, four years down the line may be too late to finally elect a leader with the will to defend its eastern flank.

You may have a young colleague who is creative, hardworking, passionate and loyal to the team and who, by all accounts, deserves to reach the C-suite in the organization where you work. If you do, you’ll no doubt have witnessed the obstacles that often stand in the way of realizing such career dreams.

Organizations that recognize the strength of future leaders in their ranks and then allow them to apply those leadership skills are invincible in the market.