It's hoped that the flight data recorders will shed light on what happened to the Il-76 plane that crashed on Wednesday, killing all 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and nine Russians on board. Kyiv was initially silent as details of the plane crash emerged Wednesday morning. Later, Ukraine's intelligence agency confirmed that a prisoner exchange had been scheduled but did not take place. Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the south-western frontline at Mykolaiv and the nearby city of Odesa on Saturday. He insisted after his visit that Ukraine would not cede any of the occupied territories in the south of the country to Russia, which occupies the bulk of the countrys coastal areas. While Ukraines location has afforded it outsize attention relative to other conflicts, its also what makes the prospect of a drawn-out war even more likely.

• Compared with this time last year, Vladimir Putin is stronger, politically more than militarily.
• From the very beginning of the war, President Putin has drawn parallels between the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and the current military campaign against supposed "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine.
• Before we get to the show, Id like to tell you about a survey were conducting to find out more from our listeners about what you think of the show and what youd like to hear more of.
• The other, perhaps greater, risk is that Russian aggression could spread even farther afield, to the Baltics, which would not only draw NATO into a potential conflict, but also fundamentally threaten the postCold War order.
• So heres an example of why a war should end quickly, but sometimes doesnt.

"A frank and constructive dialogue is expected to improve relations between states," the Ukrainian president's office said on its official channel on the Telegram messaging app alongside a photo of Mr Szijjarto, Mr Kuleba and Mr Yermak. https://rentry.co/ says Europe is rich enough to do so if it has the political will, pointing to a recent report from the Estonian Ministry of Defence suggesting that committing 0.25% of GDP annually towards Ukraine would provide "more than sufficient resources". "The document referred to in the Financial Times article is a background note written by the secretariat of the council under its own responsibility which describes the current status of the Hungarian economy," the statement by the senior EU official said. A senior European Union official has denied member states are discussing financial coercion to force Hungary to agree on financing for Ukraine. The Week is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

Russian court jails prominent nationalist Girkin for four years over 'extremism'

That hasn't let up, if only because it's a powerful emotional and recruitment tool. Twenty million Soviets Russians, Ukrainians and others died fighting Hitler's armies. In other words, the war affected nearly every family here. This is a grinding trench and artillery war of attrition. The invasion has been a disaster for President Vladimir Putin and in order to justify it at home he at least has to take control of Ukraine's Donbas region, after which he can falsely claim that the army saved Russian citizens persecuted by Ukraine.