Russian Invasion of Ukraine (2022)

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      Trump Just Scrapped My Anti-Kremlin Streaming Platform, Votvot

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      The Trump administration’s decision to take a hammer to the funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty might be legally dubious, but politically pretty safe: Its programming wasn’t intended to reach American audiences, so who would miss it, really?In September 2022, I came to Prague, in an unusual role of a volunteer media expert, to observe the operations of the Russian-language TV channel and online news portal, Current Time — one of the many brands under the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty umbrella. An American from Latvia whose native language is Russian, I had spent much of the previous decade trying to build bridges between the U.S. and Russian TV industries, a dream wiped out overnight with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. Current Time had become an indispensable source of news for an audience misled by their own state media. Six months in, war coverage had pushed out almost all other reporting and fatigue was setting in. I wanted to be useful. If my knowledge of the Russian media could somehow help Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, I was happy to share it.Not to mention the fact that, as a lifelong fan of the band R.E.M., I’d never pass up a chance to visit the organization that helped inspire their debut single, “Radio Free Europe.”The organization’s headquarters was an imposing gray cube, just east of the city center. The general aura reminded me of a U.S. Embassy. It might be an editorially independent nongovernment entity, but its cultural and literal footprint was always that of an American values bulwark.I soon found I had landed in the middle of a philosophical debate. Would showing anything other than atrocities constitute catering to Russia? At the time of my arrival, the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty staff was considering starting a second channel that would run hard-hitting documentaries about Russian history and cruelties. I wondered who would be the audience for such depressing programming. A better tactic, I thought, would be to try to appeal to the persuadables, an audience many of whom had tuned out watching the news but retained a sense of right and wrong; an audience that Alexei Navalny, Russia’s opposition leader, had sacrificed his freedom — and, soon, his life — trying to reach.The walls of the headquarters were lined not only with photos of the likes of Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton, but also Duke Ellington and Tom Jones. Indeed, the older generation of Soviet citizens retained warm memories of the “enemy voices” (as Radio Liberty, Voice of America, and the BBC’s Russian Service were known) not because they delivered news from the West, but because they’d play jazz and rock ’n’ roll. Pop culture was the draw.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Ukraine and U.S. Sign Agreement in Lead-Up to Full Minerals Deal

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      The signed memorandum of understanding was thin on details, and the White House did not comment. But President Trump has said he expects to sign a minerals deal with Kyiv soon.Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding late on Thursday as a “step toward a joint economic partnership agreement,” according to Ukraine’s economy minister, bringing both sides closer to a minerals deal that has gone through multiple, contentious rounds of negotiations.The agreement was thin on details. While it referred to the creation of a fund that would invest in reconstruction in Ukraine — which has been devastated by the war Russia has waged since a full-scale invasion in 2022 — it did not specify the source of such revenue.There was no immediate comment from the White House. But the Ukrainian minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, who is also deputy prime minister, announced the agreement in a post on Facebook, after signing it on a video call with the U.S. Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, who was in Washington. Ms. Svyrydenko said the agreement would “benefit both our peoples.”Mr. Bessent, in his own comments on Thursday afternoon, did not mention he had signed the memorandum but said he expected a full deal next week.Yulia Svyrydenko, the Ukrainian economy minister, announced the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.Angelo Carconi/EPA, via ShutterstockEarlier drafts of a minerals deal had swiveled between what critics called a brazen extortion of Ukraine by the Trump administration and versions that included points sought by Ukraine, such as references to U.S. support for post-settlement security guarantees.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her

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      A barracks-style detention center in Louisiana is jammed with around 90 immigrant women, mostly undocumented workers from central and South America, sharing five toilets and following orders shouted by guards.There is also, among them, a Russian scientist.She is 30 years old, shy and prone to nervous laughter. She cannot work, because her laptop was confiscated. She plays chess with other women when the guards allow it. Otherwise, she passes the time reading books about evolution and cell development.For nearly eight weeks, Kseniia Petrova has been captive to the hard-line immigration policies of the Trump administration. A graduate of a renowned Russian physics and technology institute, Ms. Petrova was recruited to work at a laboratory at Harvard Medical School. She was part of a team investigating how cells can rejuvenate themselves, with the goal of fending off the damage of aging.On Feb. 16, customs officials detained her at Logan International Airport in Boston for failing to declare samples of frog embryos she had carried from France at the request of her boss at Harvard. Such an infraction is normally considered minor, punishable with a fine of up to $500. Instead, the customs official canceled Ms. Petrova’s visa on the spot and began deportation proceedings. Then Ms. Petrova told her that she had fled Russia for political reasons and faced arrest if she returned there.This is how she wound up at the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, La., waiting for the U.S. government to decide what to do with her.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Two Chinese Citizens Captured in Ukraine While Fighting for Russia, Zelensky Says

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      The Ukrainian president did not suggest that they had been sent by Beijing’s military, but he pointed to their presence as further evidence that Moscow was not truly interested in peace.President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Tuesday that two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces had been taken as prisoners of war.Mr. Zelensky said that the two Chinese citizens had been captured while fighting in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. He added that Kyiv had information that “there are many more such Chinese citizens in the enemy’s units,” without providing evidence. The claims could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from the Chinese or Russian governments.The announcement came at a fraught moment for Ukraine as the Trump administration has seemingly drawn closer to Russia while trying to act as a mediator in cease-fire talks.Mr. Zelensky on Tuesday did not suggest that the Chinese fighters had been sent by China’s military, but he pointed to their presence as further evidence that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was not truly interested in peace.“Russia’s involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war. He is looking for ways to continue fighting,” he wrote on social media.Mr. Zelensky said that he had instructed his foreign minister to “immediately contact Beijing and clarify how China intends to respond to this.” The foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, confirmed that he had summoned the Chinese chargé d’affaires to demand an explanation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Russia Strikes Kyiv as Ukraine Mourns Deadly Attack on Zelensky’s Hometown

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      While Russian missile and drone bombardments have been unrelenting over more than three years of war, they have intensified in recent weeks amid U.S.-led peace talks.Russia bombarded Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones on Sunday that killed one person and wounded at least seven others, the latest in a series of deadly attacks that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said makes clear Moscow has little real interest in cease-fire negotiations.While Russian drone and missile attacks have been unrelenting throughout more than three years of war, they have intensified in recent weeks amid ongoing peace talks led by the Trump administration.The Ukrainian authorities said the barrage on Sunday killed one man, damaged buildings and started fires in three neighborhoods of Kyiv, the capital. Damage and injuries were also reported elsewhere in Ukraine, as the country declared a day of mourning for a deadly strike on Friday in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.A missile strike on a residential neighborhood there killed 19 people, including nine children, and wounded 74 others. It damaged the courtyard of an apartment block, and emergency medical workers found some of the wounded in a playground, videos released by Ukraine’s emergency services showed. Russia’s ministry of defense said the missile hit a gathering of Ukrainian and foreign military personnel.A makeshift memorial at the site of Friday’s deadly strike in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky.Violeta Santos Moura/ReutersThough he has expressed support for the Trump administration’s efforts to secure a cease-fire, Mr. Zelensky was critical of the tepid U.S. response to the attack on Kryvyi Rih, his hometown.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Secret History of America’s Involvement in the Ukraine War

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      <!–> [–><!–> [–><!–>On a spring morning two months after Vladimir Putin’s invading armies marched into Ukraine, a convoy of unmarked cars slid up to a Kyiv street corner and collected two middle-aged men in civilian clothes.–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> –> <!–> [–> <!–> ]–> <!–> –><!–> –><!–> […] More

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      How Trump Insists on Thanks From Zelensky and Other Foreign Leaders

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      It’s not unusual for presidents to want to hear some words of gratitude. But the friction usually happens behind closed doors.After President Trump spoke on the phone with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine last week, the White House wanted to make one thing clear: The Ukrainian leader was grateful to the American president. Very grateful.The statement recounting the call mentioned four times that Mr. Zelensky had thanked the president for his efforts to negotiate terms of a ceasefire with Russia. It then went on to note that Mr. Zelensky was “grateful” for Mr. Trump’s leadership.The description revealed a pattern in the Trump administration’s shaping of its foreign policy agenda: When it comes to diplomacy, Mr. Trump wants an implicit or explicit display of personal gratitude from American allies.Michael Froman, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said that Mr. Trump’s transactional approach to diplomacy suggests that he sees aiding U.S. allies as a favor, rather than as a cornerstone of foreign policy that will pay dividends down the road.“That does sort of signal a fundamentally different notion of order than we have had for the last 80 years, which is that while our allies need to step up and do more for their own defense, our support of their defense is also in our interest,” Mr. Froman said. “ I believe President Trump is questioning that.”The starkest example of Trump’s insistence on a thank-you came during a meeting last month in the Oval Office that included Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Mr. Zelensky.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Russia and Ukraine to Hold U.S.-Mediated Talks in Riyadh: What to Know

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      American envoys will meet with Ukrainian officials on Sunday and with Russian officials the following day. The discussions are expected to focus on halting attacks on energy facilities.The United States will hold separate talks with Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia to iron out details of a possible limited cease-fire in what could be a crucial step toward a full cessation of hostilities in the war.Russia and Ukraine both agreed this past week to temporarily halt strikes on energy infrastructure, but how and when to implement that partial truce are questions that have yet to be decided as attacks persist.The talks — to be held in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with American representatives mediating — are expected to focus on hammering out those details and on safety for shipping in the Black Sea. Kyiv’s delegation will first meet with U.S. mediators on Sunday, a Ukrainian official said, followed by Moscow-Washington talks on Monday.The Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said Sunday’s talks would begin in the evening, Kyiv time. He added that the Ukrainian delegation might hold additional discussions with U.S. officials on Monday, depending on progress.Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, in Kyiv in February.Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated PressSteve Witkoff, whom President Trump has tapped to be his personal envoy to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, has said that the ultimate goal of the talks is a 30-day full cease-fire that would allow time for negotiations on a permanent truce.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More