Russian President Vladimir Putin

As Russian forces continue to advance across Ukraine, the U.S. is accusing the Kremlin of "starving" besieged Ukrainian cities, in the words of Secretary of ...

[That] is in no one's interest, including in the interest of the Ukrainian people," he said Monday in Riga. And no one -- no one -- should have any doubt about that." Our commitment to Article 5 -- an attack on one is an attack on all -- is ironclad. End it now." "Antony, deterrence is no longer enough, and we need forward defense here in place because otherwise it will be too late here, Mr. Secretary. Putin will not stop in Ukraine. He will not stop. Putin's older brother Viktor died of diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad before Putin was born. After noting that huge spike in refugees, Blinken said alongside Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, "Many more people are trying to flee, but they cannot get out of besieged areas. "Our efforts are all in the direction of ending this war as quickly as possible, ending the suffering as quickly as possible, and what we don't want to do is to widen it and to widen it to our own countries, to our own territory... Let the food and medicine in. Let the people out safely, and end this war of choice against Ukraine," he said. "That siege affected millions of Russian families, including President Putin's, whose one-year-old brother was one of the many victims. As Russian forces continue to advance across Ukraine, the U.S. is accusing the Kremlin of "starving" besieged Ukrainian cities, in the words of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who on Monday appealed directly to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to "end the war, end it now."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has now utilized nearly all the troops he had amassed on Ukraine's borders, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The official added, however, that “nothing has changed about President Biden's very clear direction that we will not be putting U.S. troops in Ukraine.” The United Nations estimates that there are now 1.7 million Ukrainian refugees. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did deploy roughly 500 U.S. military personnel to locations in Europe “to augment existing forces that are there,” according to the senior defense official. Soldiers help a child cross the river on March 7, 2022, in Irpin, Ukraine, where fighting has been intensifying. The official added that the U.S. has “anecdotal reports that, at places and at times, the Russians have not recovered their dead” troops in Ukraine. Officials in Ukraine have claimed to have killed thousands of Russian forces, and reports that lost troops are being left on the battlefield will likely only add to the backlash Putin is facing at home. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is weighing other ways to hurt Putin financially and further isolate Russia. The president held a secure call with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Monday where the allies “underscored their commitment to continue providing security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine,” according to a White House readout that provided few other details.

He told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan today that his campaign in Ukraine was going according to plan and would not end until Kyiv stopped fighting - but ...

"This is a permanent member of the Security Council, and India as well. And now sanctions have kicked in that are truly significant against the Russian economy. "However, this is obviously not true as Russian forces are bogged down in many places. "If he fails and looks weak it looks disastrous at home. "In fact, I think he has given himself no way out. But what I think it's also underlined is that Russia is just not used to doing this type of stuff. The right training and the right skills. He was trying to be manipulative of public opinion. He was trying to be fast. "That's clearly not worked. "He just can't hold that country. It's have you got the right people with the right morale?

President Vladimir Putin could still reduce cities in Ukraine to rubble, officials say. But European countries that once feared Russia say they are not so ...

Russian tank units, for instance, have deployed with too few soldiers to fire and protect the tanks, officials said. “It looks like the Ukrainians have been most successful when ambushing Russian troops,” Mr. Bullock said. But they are advancing on winding roads and their flanks and supply routes are overly exposed to Ukrainian attacks.” Why have the Russians performed so poorly in the early days of the war? Russia’s military leadership, with Gen. Valery Gerasimov at the top, is far too centralized; lieutenants must ask him for permission even on small matters, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. Russia remains keen to play down the war and provides little information about its victories or defeats, contributing to an incomplete picture. Even if they don’t, the officials say a frustrated Mr. Putin has the firepower to simply reduce Ukraine to rubble — although he would be destroying the very prize he wants. Many of the more than 150,000 largely conscripted troops that Moscow has deployed across Ukraine have been bogged down north of Kyiv, the capital. That Russia has so quickly abandoned surgical strikes, instead killing civilians trying to flee, could damage Mr. Putin’s chances of winning a long-term war in Ukraine. The brutal tactics may eventually overwhelm Ukraine’s defenses, but they will almost certainly fuel a bloody insurgency that could bog down Russia for years, military analysts say. The Russian soldiers have been plagued by poor morale as well as fuel and food shortages. “If you look at what’s on the other side, you’ll see that there isn’t really an opponent anymore,” he said. To be sure, most military experts say that Russia will eventually subdue Ukraine’s army.

Vladimir Putin will have you know that he did not want this war; that it was imposed on him. He did the impossible to avoid invading his beloved Ukraine, ...

Now that Putin has finally gotten the world’s attention, he needs to stop making threats and start making sense. But propaganda aside, he simply wanted to keep Russia in and the United States out of Ukraine. Putin may have also underestimated Ukrainians’ passion for independence and willingness to resist Russian hegemony. The West’s deployment of its formidable corporate arsenal against all spheres of Russian life is truly mind-blowing, whether in banking, technology, manufacturing, communication, transport or even entertainment. Putin believes Russia was born to be a great power; considering it was an empire before even becoming a nation. But without Ukraine, the “birthplace of the Russian nation”, Russia’s honour could never be restored. The Russian economy is smaller than even a medium Western economy like Italy. For much of the 1990s, Moscow engaged Washington to manage emerging challenges, coordinated democratic reforms, and even considered joining the European Union and NATO. But neither seemed welcoming or even remotely interested. Not after a 300-year partnership, not after all that Moscow had done for Ukraine, endowing it with territory, money and prestige. Uncharacteristically for a former KGB operative, Putin’s ominous speech on the eve of the Ukraine invasion was especially emotional, bitter and angry. Rather, like countless Russians, he was lamenting Russian disbursement and decline. He did the impossible to avoid invading his beloved Ukraine, but there are things that even a superpower, a super-duper patient leader cannot endure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently one of the world's most scrutinised men, but the 69-year-old has always remained ruthlessly private about his ...

Kabaeva is one of the most decorated gymnasts in rhythmic gymnastic history, with 2 Olympic medals, 14 World Championship medals, and 25 European Championship medals. Putin is thought to have had an affair with Krivonogikh, and Rozova herself has admitted that she bears somewhat of a resemblance to Russia's leader After completing her studies, Maria (centre) entered medical school in Moscow, and has since become a paediatric endocrinologist and one of Russia's top experts on dwarfism. Luiza is the daughter of cleaner-turned-multimillionaire Svetlana Krivonogikh, 45, now a part-owner of a major Russian bank and one of the country's wealthiest women. Luiza is the daughter of cleaner-turned-multimillionaire Svetlana Krivonogikh, 45, now a part-owner of a major Russian bank and one of the country's wealthiest women. Katerina Tikhonova, born Yekaterina Vladimirovna Putina, is the second child of the Russian President and the younger sister of Maria