Russia bars antiwar candidate from challenging Putin in March election
MOSCOW — Russian electoral authorities on Thursday banned the only remaining antiwar candidate, Boris Nadezhdin, from running against President Vladimir Putin in the March election, suggesting a degree of nervousness about an antiwar protest vote amid national war fatigue.
Russian authorities have long manipulated elections in a process officials have euphemistically described as “managed democracy,” and next month’s election is widely seen as a formality designed to ensure Putin’s long-term grip on power.
But the banning of Nadezhdin signals the Kremlin’s further shift from democracy to a system that Russian analysts describe as authoritarian, bordering on totalitarianism, where manipulated elections are used to provide a thin veneer of legitimacy for the 71-year-old president, without threatening his power
Read the full story here.
MOSCOW — Russian electoral authorities on Thursday banned the only remaining antiwar candidate, Boris Nadezhdin, from running against President Vladimir Putin in the March election, suggesting a degree of nervousness about an antiwar protest vote amid national war fatigue.
Russian authorities have long manipulated elections in a process officials have euphemistically described as “managed democracy,” and next month’s election is widely seen as a formality designed to ensure Putin’s long-term grip on power.
But the banning of Nadezhdin signals the Kremlin’s further shift from democracy to a system that Russian analysts describe as authoritarian, bordering on totalitarianism, where manipulated elections are used to provide a thin veneer of legitimacy for the 71-year-old president, without threatening his power
Read the full story here.
Zelensky replaces military chief, naming Syrsky top commander
KYIV — Oleksandr Syrsky will be Ukraine’s next military chief after President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Thursday night that he had replaced Gen. Valery Zaluzhny — the latest twist in a drawn-out saga between Zaluzhny and Zelensky, who told the military chief 10 days ago that he was being dismissed.
The decision to name Syrsky as Zaluzhny’s replacement is expected to be an unpopular one among Ukraine’s troops. The 58-year-old commander of Ukraine’s ground forces was credited with leading the defense of Kyiv in the first month of the war and then orchestrating a successful counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region in fall 2022.
But among rank-and-file soldiers, Syrsky is especially disliked, considered by many to be a Soviet-style commander who kept forces under fire too long in the eastern city of Bakhmut when Ukraine should have withdrawn.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Oleksandr Syrsky will be Ukraine’s next military chief after President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Thursday night that he had replaced Gen. Valery Zaluzhny — the latest twist in a drawn-out saga between Zaluzhny and Zelensky, who told the military chief 10 days ago that he was being dismissed.
The decision to name Syrsky as Zaluzhny’s replacement is expected to be an unpopular one among Ukraine’s troops. The 58-year-old commander of Ukraine’s ground forces was credited with leading the defense of Kyiv in the first month of the war and then orchestrating a successful counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region in fall 2022.
But among rank-and-file soldiers, Syrsky is especially disliked, considered by many to be a Soviet-style commander who kept forces under fire too long in the eastern city of Bakhmut when Ukraine should have withdrawn.
Read the full story here.
Front-line Ukrainian infantry units report acute shortage of soldiers
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military is facing a critical shortage of infantry, leading to exhaustion and diminished morale on the front line, military personnel in the field said this week — a perilous new dynamic for Kyiv nearly two years into the grinding, bloody war with Russia.
In interviews across the front line in recent days, nearly a dozen soldiers and commanders told The Post that personnel deficits were their most critical problem now, as Russia has regained the offensive initiative on the battlefield and is stepping up its attacks.
The reports of acute troop shortages come as President Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing to replace his military chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, with one chief disagreement being over how many new soldiers Ukraine needs to mobilize.
Read the full story here.
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military is facing a critical shortage of infantry, leading to exhaustion and diminished morale on the front line, military personnel in the field said this week — a perilous new dynamic for Kyiv nearly two years into the grinding, bloody war with Russia.
In interviews across the front line in recent days, nearly a dozen soldiers and commanders told The Post that personnel deficits were their most critical problem now, as Russia has regained the offensive initiative on the battlefield and is stepping up its attacks.
The reports of acute troop shortages come as President Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing to replace his military chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, with one chief disagreement being over how many new soldiers Ukraine needs to mobilize.
Read the full story here.
Putin, in rambling interview, barely lets Tucker Carlson get a word in
Russian President Vladimir Putin spent the first 30 minutes of his two-hour interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson giving a revisionist historical tirade on the founding myths of Russia and Ukraine, the breakup of the Soviet Union and NATO expansionism.
From there, admonishing Carlson when he interrupted, Putin pontificated on matters ranging from the war in Ukraine and relations with the United States to the case of imprisoned American reporter Evan Gershkovich, and even to artificial intelligence.
By the end of the conversation, it was clear that Putin had no intention of ending his brutal war against Ukraine. But Carlson, who was sacked from Fox last year, seemed ready to surrender. Putin offered to keep talking. Carlson, evidently exhausted by the Russian leader’s long-winded conspiracy theories and grievances against the West, thanked him and called it quits.
Read the full story here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spent the first 30 minutes of his two-hour interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson giving a revisionist historical tirade on the founding myths of Russia and Ukraine, the breakup of the Soviet Union and NATO expansionism.
From there, admonishing Carlson when he interrupted, Putin pontificated on matters ranging from the war in Ukraine and relations with the United States to the case of imprisoned American reporter Evan Gershkovich, and even to artificial intelligence.
By the end of the conversation, it was clear that Putin had no intention of ending his brutal war against Ukraine. But Carlson, who was sacked from Fox last year, seemed ready to surrender. Putin offered to keep talking. Carlson, evidently exhausted by the Russian leader’s long-winded conspiracy theories and grievances against the West, thanked him and called it quits.
Read the full story here.
Tucker Carlson exposed Putin’s true war motive: For Russia to own Ukraine
KYIV — Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, thought Vladimir Putin went to war in Ukraine because he feared an imminent attack by the United States or NATO. Instead, after a two-hour interview of the Russian president in Moscow, Carlson said he was “shocked” to learn that Putin invaded for a different reason: “Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has a historic claim to parts of … Ukraine,” he said.
“What you are about to see seemed to us sincere,” Carlson told his internet viewers before the interview was broadcast on Thursday evening: “A sincere expression of what he thinks.”
For Carlson, and the American audience that the Kremlin was aiming to reach by agreeing to the interview, that may have been a surprise. But for Ukrainians, who have been living for more than two decades with Putin denying Ukraine’s right to exist as a country separate from Russia, the interview sparked only fury.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, thought Vladimir Putin went to war in Ukraine because he feared an imminent attack by the United States or NATO. Instead, after a two-hour interview of the Russian president in Moscow, Carlson said he was “shocked” to learn that Putin invaded for a different reason: “Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has a historic claim to parts of … Ukraine,” he said.
“What you are about to see seemed to us sincere,” Carlson told his internet viewers before the interview was broadcast on Thursday evening: “A sincere expression of what he thinks.”
For Carlson, and the American audience that the Kremlin was aiming to reach by agreeing to the interview, that may have been a surprise. But for Ukrainians, who have been living for more than two decades with Putin denying Ukraine’s right to exist as a country separate from Russia, the interview sparked only fury.
Read the full story here.
Russian court sentences sociologist to five years for criticizing war
RIGA, Latvia — A Russian military court on Tuesday sentenced Boris Kagarlitsky, a prominent sociologist, to five years in prison for criticizing the war in Ukraine — a shocking turnabout after another court originally ordered Kagarlitsky to pay a $6,500 fine but no prison time.
The brutally toughened sentence was issued after an appeal from prosecutors, Russian state media reported, and it reflected a continuing harsh crackdown on the few dissident voices remaining in Russia after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Kagarlitsky is the editor in chief of the Marxist online publication Rabkor and a university professor who has been designated as foreign agent, a label Russian authorities have attached to many of those who have criticized the war.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — A Russian military court on Tuesday sentenced Boris Kagarlitsky, a prominent sociologist, to five years in prison for criticizing the war in Ukraine — a shocking turnabout after another court originally ordered Kagarlitsky to pay a $6,500 fine but no prison time.
The brutally toughened sentence was issued after an appeal from prosecutors, Russian state media reported, and it reflected a continuing harsh crackdown on the few dissident voices remaining in Russia after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Kagarlitsky is the editor in chief of the Marxist online publication Rabkor and a university professor who has been designated as foreign agent, a label Russian authorities have attached to many of those who have criticized the war.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine on verge of losing Avdiivka, strategic city long targeted by Russia
AVDIIVKA, Ukraine — As fighters from the Ukrainian Security Service’s “Alpha” special forces branch drove through the blackness with night-vision goggles last week, Post journalists riding along saw only an occasional flash of light on the horizon — from yet more explosions in the besieged city, which is now the focus of the most pitched fighting in the war. A Russian drone above could not be seen, but a handheld device confirmed its presence.
The ruined coke and chemical plant, once an economic pillar in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, is likely to be the last Ukrainian stronghold in Avdiivka, which has been embattled since 2014. Ukrainian troops say it is just a matter of time before they will have to surrender the city, and on Thursday the military said forces had already pulled back from some positions as the Russians have begun advancing rapidly.
Read the full story here.
AVDIIVKA, Ukraine — As fighters from the Ukrainian Security Service’s “Alpha” special forces branch drove through the blackness with night-vision goggles last week, Post journalists riding along saw only an occasional flash of light on the horizon — from yet more explosions in the besieged city, which is now the focus of the most pitched fighting in the war. A Russian drone above could not be seen, but a handheld device confirmed its presence.
The ruined coke and chemical plant, once an economic pillar in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, is likely to be the last Ukrainian stronghold in Avdiivka, which has been embattled since 2014. Ukrainian troops say it is just a matter of time before they will have to surrender the city, and on Thursday the military said forces had already pulled back from some positions as the Russians have begun advancing rapidly.
Read the full story here.
Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition leader, dies in prison, officials say
RIGA, Latvia — Russia’s jailed opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, died in a Russian prison colony on Friday, Russia’s prison service announced in the early afternoon, without giving the cause of his death. News of his death flooded across Russian Telegram news channels early Friday afternoon and was later confirmed in a curt announcement by prison authorities.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russia’s jailed opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, died in a Russian prison colony on Friday, Russia’s prison service announced in the early afternoon, without giving the cause of his death. News of his death flooded across Russian Telegram news channels early Friday afternoon and was later confirmed in a curt announcement by prison authorities.
Read the full story here.
Exclusive: Kremlin runs disinformation campaign to undermine Zelensky, documents show
When news first emerged last month that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was preparing to fire his top military commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, officials in Moscow seemed jubilant. They had been trying to orchestrate just such a split for many months, documents show.
“We need to strengthen the conflict between Zaluzhny and Zelensky, along the lines of ‘he intends to fire him,’” one Kremlin political strategist wrote a year ago, after a meeting of senior Russian officials and Moscow spin doctors, according to internal Kremlin documents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration ordered a group of Russian political strategists to use social media and fake news articles to push the theme that Zelensky “is hysterical and weak. … He fears that he will be pushed aside, therefore he is getting rid of the dangerous ones.”
Read the full story here.
When news first emerged last month that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was preparing to fire his top military commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, officials in Moscow seemed jubilant. They had been trying to orchestrate just such a split for many months, documents show.
“We need to strengthen the conflict between Zaluzhny and Zelensky, along the lines of ‘he intends to fire him,’” one Kremlin political strategist wrote a year ago, after a meeting of senior Russian officials and Moscow spin doctors, according to internal Kremlin documents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration ordered a group of Russian political strategists to use social media and fake news articles to push the theme that Zelensky “is hysterical and weak. … He fears that he will be pushed aside, therefore he is getting rid of the dangerous ones.”
Read the full story here.
For Putin nemesis Alexei Navalny, long-feared death arrives in Arctic prison
RIGA, Latvia — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the defiant anti-corruption crusader and democracy champion who was President Vladimir Putin’s despised nemesis, died suddenly in an Arctic Russian prison colony on Friday, penitentiary officials said, removing the most prominent figure inside Russia willing to challenge the Kremlin’s rule.
His death — foretold as almost inevitable, including by Navalny himself — sent shock waves across Russia and was quickly condemned by global leaders, some of whom joined Russian opposition figures in calling it a state-sponsored murder. Navalny, 47, had appeared a court hearing by video link the day before, seemingly in good health and with his trademark humor intact.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the defiant anti-corruption crusader and democracy champion who was President Vladimir Putin’s despised nemesis, died suddenly in an Arctic Russian prison colony on Friday, penitentiary officials said, removing the most prominent figure inside Russia willing to challenge the Kremlin’s rule.
His death — foretold as almost inevitable, including by Navalny himself — sent shock waves across Russia and was quickly condemned by global leaders, some of whom joined Russian opposition figures in calling it a state-sponsored murder. Navalny, 47, had appeared a court hearing by video link the day before, seemingly in good health and with his trademark humor intact.
Read the full story here.
Alexei Navalny’s wife and two children learned of his death from afar
As Telegram exploded with the news of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death, his wife, Yuliya Navalnaya was in Germany — about to attend the annual Munich Security Conference surrounded by world leaders, defense officials, and within view of countless television cameras.
Navalnaya has generally sought to avoid the spotlight, to shield her two children from the fallout of her husband’s political work, and also to deny his tormentors in the Kremlin, including President Vladimir Putin, the satisfaction of ever seeing her cry. But as she took to the stage and delivered a dramatic, surprise statement, grief and worry were etched across her swollen face, and her eyes were tearful and blotchy.
Read the full story.
As Telegram exploded with the news of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death, his wife, Yuliya Navalnaya was in Germany — about to attend the annual Munich Security Conference surrounded by world leaders, defense officials, and within view of countless television cameras.
Navalnaya has generally sought to avoid the spotlight, to shield her two children from the fallout of her husband’s political work, and also to deny his tormentors in the Kremlin, including President Vladimir Putin, the satisfaction of ever seeing her cry. But as she took to the stage and delivered a dramatic, surprise statement, grief and worry were etched across her swollen face, and her eyes were tearful and blotchy.
Read the full story.
Navalny team confirms death and demands authorities return body to family
RIGA, Latvia — A spokeswoman for Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died suddenly in an Arctic prison, demanded on Saturday that authorities hand over his body, as his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and lawyers struggled fruitlessly with officials to reclaim his remains.
Russia’s Investigative Committee refused a lawyer’s demand to surrender the body until an official medical investigation was complete, according to the spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh.
“We demand that Alexei Navalny’s body be handed over to his family immediately,” Yarmysh wrote in a statement on Saturday.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — A spokeswoman for Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died suddenly in an Arctic prison, demanded on Saturday that authorities hand over his body, as his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and lawyers struggled fruitlessly with officials to reclaim his remains.
Russia’s Investigative Committee refused a lawyer’s demand to surrender the body until an official medical investigation was complete, according to the spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh.
“We demand that Alexei Navalny’s body be handed over to his family immediately,” Yarmysh wrote in a statement on Saturday.
Read the full story here.
In Munich, Zelensky urges U.S. and other allies not to abandon Ukraine
MUNICH — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded on Saturday for the United States and other international supporters to stick with Ukraine, warning a gathering of political leaders and security and defense officials that his country, if left alone, will be destroyed by Russia.
Zelensky, in a speech at the annual Munich Security Conference, seemed to speak directly to members of Congress who are blocking critical aid as he highlighted short-term deficits on the battlefield as well as the longer-term threat posed by Russia’s aggression to the rules-based international order.
Read the full story.
MUNICH — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded on Saturday for the United States and other international supporters to stick with Ukraine, warning a gathering of political leaders and security and defense officials that his country, if left alone, will be destroyed by Russia.
Zelensky, in a speech at the annual Munich Security Conference, seemed to speak directly to members of Congress who are blocking critical aid as he highlighted short-term deficits on the battlefield as well as the longer-term threat posed by Russia’s aggression to the rules-based international order.
Read the full story.
Trump remains silent on Navalny’s death
Former president Donald Trump, who earlier this month set off worries among allies after he said would encourage Russia to invade a NATO country that wasn’t spending enough on defense, has remained silent on the death of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most potent political opponent.
The front-runner of the GOP presidential primary has made multiple public appearances since Russia announced Navalny’s death in a faraway Arctic prison on Friday. He has not commented on the dissident’s shocking death, even though he frequently speaks about what he would do as president when confronting Russia, Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Navalny embodied the resistance to Putin’s regime more than any other Russian opposition figure, and his death at 47 in the prison camp was seen as a watershed signal that no dissent will be tolerated in Russia as Putin shifts toward a highly centralized, deeply repressive totalitarian regime.
Read the full story here.
Former president Donald Trump, who earlier this month set off worries among allies after he said would encourage Russia to invade a NATO country that wasn’t spending enough on defense, has remained silent on the death of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most potent political opponent.
The front-runner of the GOP presidential primary has made multiple public appearances since Russia announced Navalny’s death in a faraway Arctic prison on Friday. He has not commented on the dissident’s shocking death, even though he frequently speaks about what he would do as president when confronting Russia, Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Navalny embodied the resistance to Putin’s regime more than any other Russian opposition figure, and his death at 47 in the prison camp was seen as a watershed signal that no dissent will be tolerated in Russia as Putin shifts toward a highly centralized, deeply repressive totalitarian regime.
Read the full story here.