Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[Frelga]

Medvedev is like that Anna Nalick song. Ain't been sober since maybe October of last year

[Frelga]

Not that I was serious about my conspiracy theory, but Ukraine hit another refinery in Russia today, so I guess my theory was wrong.

[N.E. Brigand]

President Biden has signed the long-delayed foreign aid package that includes $61 billion in assistance for Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion.

[N.E. Brigand]

There's new reporting in Politico on how this package cleared the House: President Biden "directed his senior aides to employ a two-pronged strategy: (1) privately make clear to Speaker Mike Johnson the stakes if Vladimir Putin takes Ukraine, leaning heavily on intelligence, and (2) lay off attacking the new speaker. Senior White House aide Steve Ricchetti spoke to Johnson regularly." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also played key roles, with "two consequential agreements that aided the Biden administration’s foreign aid request over the seven-month saga: keeping Ukraine assistance bound to Israel aid, and eventually moving forward together on a package without a border security component."

I have to say that I was both surprised and not surprised that it finally happened. I was not surprised because I thought that Biden would trade a lot to get it done. I was surprised at how quickly the situation appeared to turn around after months of inaction. The article says that Johnson's meeting last week with Donald Trump was strategic, giving him cover to move forward after making a relatively minor change to the Ukraine bill.

[N.E. Brigand]

Fox News reports on news from Britain:

Ukraine continues to see an international windfall following the passage of a significant U.S. aid package as the U.K. follows suit with a pledge of its single-largest military aid package.

"Defending Ukraine against Russia's brutal ambitions is vital for our security and for all of Europe," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said during a visit to Poland this week. "If Putin is allowed to succeed in this war of aggression, he will not stop at the Polish border."

Sunak’s pledge of £500 million ($620 million) to Ukraine bolsters an already substantial £2.5 billion ($3.1 billion) allocated for this financial year, the BBC reported. The funds will mainly go toward producing drones made in the U.K. and scaling up "domestic defense supply chains."

The British Ministry of Defense described the package as the "largest-ever single package of equipment from the U.K." that puts the country on "a war footing." Sunak has promised to spend an extra £75 billion ($93 billion) in defense spending over the next six years.

The U.K. will also provide 400 vehicles, more than 1,600 missiles, 4 million rounds of ammunition and 60 boats to bolster the country’s defense. It will also deploy a Royal Air Force squadron to watch over Poland’s skies for NATO next year.

[N.E. Brigand]

NBC reports that earlier this month, the U.S. provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS ballistic missiles "but did not reveal it publicly for operational security reasons". The missiles were part of a $300 million package that President Biden's administration announced last month. Ukraine has already used the weapons twice to strike Russian forces.

[N.E. Brigand]

From the BBC "Two British men in their early 20s have been charged with burning down Ukrainian businesses in England on behalf of Russian intelligence."

[Frelga]

Russia attacked Odesa with cluster munitions yesterday. They targeted a city park, killing people who were out walking their dogs (killing dogs, too) or just enjoying a spring day on the park benches.

[N.E. Brigand]

Given Russia's past attempts at and continuing interest in assassinating President Zelenskyy, I'm not sure the AP's sources should have revealed this information in advance, but: "Ukraine’s Zelenskyy preparing to visit DC on Wednesday." This would be President Zelenskyy's first travel outside of Ukraine since Russia's invasion started in February -- if it's not scuttled for security reasons.

At the organization where I work, I used to be in charge of renting out our spaces to other groups. One such group presented an annual book award ceremony we hosted on multiple occasions. Typically the awardees were announced well in advance, but one year the committee voted secretly to honor an author whose identity was only revealed publicly the night of the awards. I was the building liaison with the intelligence branch of the local police department, and even I didn't know who the secret guest was to be until she arrived that evening. That's how you plan a secret appearance. (Had I known, the name wouldn't have meant anything to me, although I had vaguely heard about the reason for her level of protection: when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was killed by an Islamist fanatic in 2004 in Amsterdam (I'd heard that news), the killer left a note saying that author and legislator Ayaan Hirsi Ali would be next -- and it was four years later that she was honored at this event.)

Unfortunately Ayaan Hirsi Ali's roots opposing theocracy led her ever farther to the right. Now she says that President Biden's critics are right to complain that he "botched the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, got America embroiled in a stalemated proxy war in Ukraine, and squandered the peace in the Middle East he inherited from Trump". (That's in a much longer article about how events in Gaza could affect Biden's reelection chances.)