Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash The EU says that the destruction of Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine has led to “devastating humanitarian and ecological consequences.” While evacuations of affected populations are underway, Ukraine has requested international EU assistance in the form of equipment and machinery for relief efforts. In an immediate response, the EU on Wednesday issued…
A senior NATO official told a Brussels conference she is confident war-torn Ukraine will soon join the western alliance. Burcu San, Deputy Assistant Secretary General, NATO, said the country was under a “brutal, unprovoked attack” and it was in the interests of the West to help Ukraine.” “It very much feels threatened so we must help Ukraine…
Photo by Freysteinn G. Jonsson on Unsplash On 19 May G7 leaders expressed support for the peace formula proposed by Zelenskyy and stressed the need for an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. Russia poses a threat to the entire civilised world – a war of invasion, which the Kremlin prefers to call a “special military operation”. This could…
Photo by Imad Alassiry on Unsplash Sanctions against the Russian military-industrial complex and a ban on imports of Russian raw materials will weaken Putin’s war machine Russian defence companies not hit by sanctions are importing goods from EU countries for the war against Ukraine. Among these purchases are rifles and body armour for soldiers, machine tools for missiles, and microchips…
Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash The European Commission has updated its list of “high risk” third country jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes. Two third-country jurisdictions were added to it: Nigeria and South Africa, while two other jurisdictions were taken off the list – Cambodia and Morocco. This list takes into account the changes decided at…
Photo by Hans-Jurgen Mager on Unsplash The Russian State Duma committee for state building and legislation has reviewed draft laws that introduce amendments to martial law. These amendments give the Russian authorities freedom of action regarding the occupied territories of Ukraine and their residents. Declaratively, they refer to the possibility of holding elections under martial law, which was…
Photo by Daria Volkova on Unsplash Throughout modern history, the Russian Federation has carried out numerous armed conflicts on the territory of other states and republics: the two Chechen wars, the occupation of Transdnistria, the war in Abkhazia, the Russian-Georgian war, and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. The war in Ukraine shows that the Russian authorities are trying to…
Photo by Dylan Hunter on Unsplash On 11 May, the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigeti, said he was aware of arms shipments from the republic to Russia. This precedent occurred in the first decade of December 2022, when the Russian ship Lady R was in the port of Simonstown, where, under conditions of strict secrecy, a…
Photo by Edoardo Ceriani on Unsplash Putin has consistently prepared for war with the West, which he considers a response to Russia’s “historic humiliation” – the collapse of the USSR. After the end of the Second Chechen War, Russia immediately began to accumulate military resources for territorial expansion in the post-Soviet space, no country within which the Kremlin…
Photo by Stephanie LeBlanc on Unsplash The EU’s €90 million preparatory action on defence research (PADR) was only partially useful in priming the EU for significantly ramping up its defence spending and paving the way for the €8 billion European Defence Fund (EDF), according to a report by the European Court of Auditors. Projects funded under the PADR…
