Ukraine News
The Daily Signal provides reporting and analysis on the conflict in Ukraine, American military assistance, and the geopolitical consequences for Europe and beyond.
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news
Visit to a Mariupol Hospital Lays Bare Ukraine War’s Toll
MARIUPOL, Ukraine—In "All Quiet on the Western Front," Erich Maria Remarque wrote: “A hospital alone shows what war is.” The hospital here is no exception. The faces of soldiers, both young and old, recovering from wounds and sickness incurred on the front lines — located only eight miles away from here — speak to the… -
news
Ukraine Moves to Ditch its Soviet Past
KYIV, Ukraine—The Ukrainian parliament approved a law Thursday renaming the Great Patriotic War as the Second World War, underscoring a sweeping move by the post-revolutionary government here to ditch its Soviet past. Also on Thursday, Ukrainian lawmakers passed a law banning the promotion of symbols of “Communist and National Socialist totalitarian regimes,” as well as… -
news
Ukraine Bracing for Separatist Offensive
KYIV, Ukraine—Pro-Russian separatists have been put on “full alert” for a major offensive that Ukrainian and U.S. military officials anticipate will happen in the next two months, a Ukrainian military spokesman said here Wednesday. Ukrainian military officials and front-line troops say the attack will begin sometime from Orthodox Easter on April 12 to May 9,… -
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Why a Russian Decided to Fight for Ukraine
MARIUPOL, Ukraine—Even while speaking through a translator, Andrey is a man of few words. When asked why he defected from Russia to join a Ukrainian National Guard regiment, the 22-year-old Muscovite simply replied: “Common sense.” After an assurance that his face would not be photographed or his last name used, Andrey opened up, explaining in… -
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How One Ukrainian City Has Been Transformed by War
MARIUPOL, Ukraine—Like manmade thunder, the artillery concussions cut through the light drizzle on the grey, overcast day. Standing in the unpaved parking lot of the Ukrainian National Guard Azov Regiment camp, Ivan Kharkiv, a 20-year-old soldier who has been with the unit since May 2014, smiled and pointed in the direction of the shelling. “You… -
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Raw Footage: Watch Ukrainian Soldiers, Separatists Battle for Valuable Prize
BERDYANS’KE, Ukraine—Pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian Azov Regiment have been battling over the town of Shyrokyne for weeks. The small town on the Sea of Azov is only about nine miles east of Mariupol, an industrial port city on the Sea of Azov, which is considered by some Ukrainian military officials to be the last… -
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US Sending Soldiers to Train Ukraine National Guard
MARIUPOL, Ukraine—As part of a joint Department of Defense-State Department effort to bolster Ukraine’s internal defense capabilities, the United States will be sending Army paratroopers to train Ukraine’s National Guard, a U.S. Army Europe spokesman confirmed to The Daily Signal Monday. U.S. Army Europe spokesman Donald Wrenn said paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne… -
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Ukraine Cracks Down on Oligarchs and Volunteer Fighting Battalions
KYIV, Ukraine—In the course of one day last week, Ukraine’s government made several ambitious moves to centralize political and military control over the revolution- and war-torn country. “The war is a very good curtain to hide the corruption,” says a reserve lieutenant in the Ukrainian army. On the morning of March 25, Ihor Kolomoisky, one… -
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House and Senate Pressure President Obama to Send Military Aid to Ukraine
Resolutions asking President Obama to send lethal aid to Ukraine so that the country can defend its borders from Russian aggression have passed in both the House and Senate. A resolution by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., asking Obama to send military aid to Ukraine and condemning the “deliberate targeting of civilians” by “Russian-backed rebels” passed… -
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Ukraine Conflict Feeds Black Market of Military Weapons
KYIV, Ukraine—When Maxim Masur deployed to the front lines of the Ukraine conflict last June with the Aydar Battalion, his unit only had one assault rifle for every 10 men. “We had to take Kalashnikovs off of the dead enemy,” said Masur, 25, who served near the eastern Ukrainian town of Luhansk. “We had no… -
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Civilian Volunteer Battalion Prepares to Defend Ukraine’s Capital
KYIV, Ukraine—In an abandoned Soviet-era hospital on the outskirts of the city, a civilian volunteer battalion meets every weekend to prepare for a Russian invasion. The approximately 270 members of the 318th Kyiv Territorial Defense Battalion, which includes both men and women, range in age from 17 to 63, comprising students, lawyers, businessmen and former… -
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Why Ukraine Is a Mess and How It Got There
In Ukraine, the crisis is messy, the solutions elusive and the outlook bleak. That is the view of Eugene Rumer, a senior associate and director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Rumer spoke at The Heritage Foundation recently about his new book, “Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of… -
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International Monitors: Ukraine Cease-Fire Holding but ‘On Thin Ice’
KYIV, Ukraine—As the Ukraine cease-fire goes into its second month, international monitors say the fragile truce is still holding despite daily fighting and growing distrust on both sides about pledges to pull heavy weapons from the front lines. Speaking to reporters here Thursday, Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor of the Organization for Security and Cooperation… -
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Ukraine’s Grassroots Drone Program Takes Flight
KYIV, Ukraine—In the infield of a practice track outside this city’s Olympic Sports Complex, a motley group of college students and engineers from the Kyiv IT Academy gathered on a cold, cloudy day to showcase their latest achievement—a portable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system that can be unpacked from a suitcase and deployed in less… -
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Ukraine Showcases Captured Russian Military Hardware
Normally the square outside St. Michael’s Cathedral in central Kyiv is filled with sightseers taking photos of the famous golden-domed monastery while souvenir merchants hawk their goods. But this past week one of Kyiv’s most famous tourist spots was filled with evidence of the nearly year-old war in eastern Ukraine, including a Russian drone aircraft… -
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The Daily Signal Adds First Foreign Correspondent to Cover Ukraine Conflict
Nolan Peterson, a former special operations pilot and a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is joining The Daily Signal as the news organization’s first foreign correspondent. Peterson will be based in Ukraine to cover the conflict with Russia. Peterson joins a team committed to investigative and feature reporting and dedicated to covering the most… -
opinion
We Must Arm Ukraine. Here’s Why.
Yet another cease-fire agreement on Ukraine has been signed in Minsk. It went into effect Sunday amid low expectations of success. This is the second such agreement to come out of Minsk. The previous deal was signed in September, it collapsed almost immediately. There is precious little confidence that Minsk II will pan out any… -
opinion
How Can America Best Help Ukraine?
Should the U.S. send defensive weapons to the Ukrainian military? That question is currently consuming top policymakers in Washington, even as a renewed ceasefire agreement has been announced. Admittedly, this seems like a pressing issue, as Russian-backed separatists previously broke the September 2014 ceasefire agreement to seize additional territory in eastern Ukraine. Sending defensive weaponry… -
opinion
Ukrainians Are In for a Long Winter, and It’s Not Because of Russia
After a dramatic session that stretched into early Monday, Ukrainian lawmakers finally passed a budget bill amid concerns over its International Monetary Fund lending line and flat-lined economy. The bill takes modest but important steps to reduce energy subsidies and move toward a balanced budget. Advisors convinced the Ukrainian president that some short-term pain is… -
opinion
Russia Intimidating Religious Groups in Ukraine
Remember the KGB? According to Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom, Andrew Bennett, Russia is back to its old tricks of intimidation—specifically in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Bennett says Russian security officials have been found sitting in the back of Kiev Patriarch Orthodox churches taking notes during liturgies with the goal of intimidating worshipers and the clergy. In…