“Ukraine – Russia”

When the United States and other allies of Ukraine marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion by announcing a new wave of sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime, two Canadian companies were among 86 new entities targeted by the U.S. Department of Commerce for “a variety of reasons related to their activities in support of Russia’s defense-industrial sector and war effort.”

The Canada Border Services Agency has now revealed that these two companies were identified as part of a “global effort” that now includes U.S. officials being virtually embedded in Canada’s inspection system.

Canada don’t know nuffin

Now linked by extensive military and economic ties, the West and Ukraine still have different “ultimate objectives” concerning the end of the war, says former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

In an interview that aired Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, Ignatieff said Ukraine’s hatred for Russia was “deep and justified” and it was fighting for its survival. He said he hoped Ukraine could retake its territory and that Russia would soon realize it could not conquer the country.

“The uncomfortable thing we have to look at is that Ukraine wants to win. And the West wants Ukraine to survive — and those are not the same objectives,” Ignatieff told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.

The country’s high-skilled workers are leaving en masse

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there has been much talk about Russian brain drain — that is, educated professionals fleeing the country. While the total number of emigrants is unknown, it may be as high as 900,000.

People have fled Russia for a number of reasons: to find work, to escape political persecution and to evade the “partial mobilisation” announced last September. According to a survey of 2,000 migrants carried out in March and April, 81% had a university degree — compared to just 27% in the population at large. Russian brain drain is real.

Russian reservists are likely using “shovels” for “hand-to-hand” combat in Ukraine due to a shortage of ammunition, the UK’s Ministry of Defence says.

In late February, reservists described being ordered to assault a Ukrainian position “armed with only ‘firearms and shovels'”, the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

It mentioned a shovel known as MPL-50.

The tool was designed in 1869 and had changed little, the ministry said.

“The lethality of the standard-issue MPL-50 entrenching tool is particularly mythologised in Russia,” the ministry said.

#Ukraine: A Russian T-72B obr. 2022 was destroyed by the Ukrainian army near Marinka, #Donetsk Oblast – this is the first confirmed loss of this new "modernization".

Another T-72B obr. 2022 was also damaged and abandoned nearby. pic.twitter.com/ZQnD2qfU0J

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 5, 2023

War breeds euphemism and metaphor. In the battle for the Donbas city of Bakhmut, threatened with a closing encirclement by Russian forces after seven months of bitter fighting, there are “White Angels” and “Dark Angels”, the “road of life” (the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway, which is anything but) and the “Invincibility Centre”.

The White Angels, a police evacuation group, scour the lethal districts of the shell-ruined city to evacuate children and the elderly.

#Ukraine: A Russian Su-34/Su-30SM fighter jet was shot down over Russian-controlled Yenakiieve, #Donetsk Oblast. Two pilots ejected.

According to preliminary information, the jet was shot down in a friendly fire incident. pic.twitter.com/6Vw0peOAmi

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 3, 2023

The continent is still scrambling to find new energy sources

One can — still — almost hear the collective sigh of relief throughout Europe that this year’s winter was one of the warmest in recorded history. While it might be tempting to point to the irony of global warming saving Europe from the consequences of its own climate change policies, the real question is whether the crisis is truly over.

A three-week fight in the town of Vuhledar in southern Ukraine produced what Ukrainian officials say was the biggest tank battle of the war so far, and a stinging setback for the Russians.

KURAKHOVE, Ukraine — Before driving into battle in their mud-spattered war machine, a T-64 tank, the three-man Ukrainian crew performs a ritual.

The commander, Pvt. Dmytro Hrebenok, recites the Lord’s Prayer. Then, the men walk around the tank, patting its chunky green armor.

“We say, ‘Please, don’t let us down in battle,’” said Sgt. Artyom Knignitsky, the mechanic. “‘Bring us in and bring us out.’”

Two more anti-tank mines were successfully destroyed by Russian troops in the Vuhledar front pic.twitter.com/Vz2XjkgOQ5

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 28, 2023

The struggle to deliver on promises to provide Leopard 2 tanks for use against Russian forces has exposed just how unprepared European militaries are.

BERLIN — Nearly a month after Berlin gave European allies permission to send German-made tanks to Ukraine, the flow of tanks so many leaders vowed would follow seems more like a trickle.

Some nations have discovered that the tanks in their armory don’t actually work or lack spare parts. Political leaders have encountered unanticipated resistance within their own coalitions, and even from their defense ministries. And some armies had to pull trainers out of retirement to teach Ukrainian soldiers how to use old-model tanks.

A drone has crashed in the Moscow region in what was likely an attempt to target civilian infrastructure, the regional governor said.

Andrei Vorobyov was speaking after the defence ministry reported downing two Ukrainian drones in southern Russia.

Ukraine does not claim responsibility for attacks inside Russia.

Russian energy giant Gazprom operates a facility near the village of Gubastovo, about 100 km (62 miles) from Moscow, where the drone crashed.

A Russian military aircraft has been blown up by anti-war activists in Belarus in what has been described as the most successful act of sabotage since President Putin invaded Ukraine.

The Beriev A-50 surveillance aircraft was targeted with drones operated by members of the Belarusian resistance, according to Bypol, an opposition movement. The attack took place at the Machulishchy air base near Minsk, the capital.

#Ukraine: Another Russian BMP-2 IFV was destroyed by Ukrainian forces at the infamous crossing point in Mykilske near Vuhledar, #Donetsk Oblast- apparently by running over an anti-tank mine and being hit by an ATGM. pic.twitter.com/twvYwl3T84

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) February 27, 2023