Ukraine says it shot down 61 of 71 missiles Russia fired in latest attacks
February 10, 2023
Post-war Ukraine reconstruction conference, in Berlin
KYIV (Reuters) – Russia launched 71 cruise missiles at Ukraine on Friday and 61 of them were shot down, Ukraine’s air force said.
“As of 11:30 a.m., the enemy had launched 71 X-101, X-555 and Kalibr missiles. The air defence forces, Air Force and other components of the Ukrainian Defence Forces destroyed 61 enemy cruise missiles,” it said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier on Friday that Russia had fired more than 50 missiles at Ukraine and most of them were shot down.
“Russia cannot accept failures and therefore continues to terrorize the (Ukrainian) population. Another attempt (on Friday) to destroy the Ukrainian energy system and deprive Ukrainians of light, heat, and water,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.
The Air Force said Russia had used eight Tu-95MS strategic bombers, and that they had fired X-101 and X-555 missiles from the Caspian Sea and the city of Volgodonsk in Russia.
Russian forces also launched Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea, it said.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
A Message to the World From Inside a Russian Prison
Ilya Yashin – February 10, 2023
People attend an anti-war protest in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Feb. 24, 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in Ukraine. Credit – Anton Vaganov—Reuters
Soon it’ll be a year since the start of the war that the Kremlin unleashed against Ukraine. It has taken thousands of human lives, destroyed entire cities, and turned millions of families into refugees. Vladimir Putin, as the one responsible for this tragedy, has become a true symbol of evil, cursed around the world. But it also seems that, more and more often, the Russian people are treated as enemies. The main claim against the Russians: You did not resist the aggressive policies of your government, and that makes you accomplices to crimes of war.
My name is Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition politician, whom the Kremlin has kept in prison since the middle of last summer. I’ve been sentenced to 8.5 years of incarceration, because I publicly spoke out against the war in Ukraine. But today I want to say a few words in defense of my nation.
First: We did resist. Since the start of the war and throughout 2022, the police in Russia arrested almost 20,000 opponents of the war. According to human rights groups, protests have taken place almost every day in different cities since February 24, 2022, and only 18 of those days have passed without arrests and detentions. Against this background, we have seen astonishing examples of civil courage. For instance, Vladimir Rumyantsev, a provincial fireman, got three years in prison for building a ham radio to broadcast reports against the war, while Alexei Gorinov, a member of the Moscow city council, got seven years after he called for a minute of silence during a meeting of that chamber to honor the Ukrainian children who had been killed.
Second: People are fleeing from Putin. In the past year, around 700,000 citizens have left Russia. The majority of them have emigrated, not wanting to be involved in military aggression. I want to draw attention to the fact that this is twice as many people left the country than were drafted into the army. Sure, you could probably blame those who chose to escape instead of choosing the path of resistance, prison, and torture. But the fact is that hundreds of thousands of my countrymen left their homes behind, having refused to become killers on the orders of the government.
Third: Those who remain in Russia are living with the rights of hostages. Many of them don’t support the war, but they remain silent, afraid of repressions. But the silence of a hostage who has a terrorist’s gun to his head does not make him an accomplice to the terrorist.
I want to appeal to the wisdom of the international community. Do not demean the Russians, as that kind of rhetoric will only strengthen Putin’s power. By shifting the blame for war crimes from the Kremlin junta onto my fellow citizens, you are easing the Putin regime’s moral and political burden. You are giving him a chance to hide from the just accusations of people who have in essence become a human shield in this situation. I see that as a serious mistake.
Putin has brought enormous suffering to the Ukrainian people. But with this barbaric war he is also killing my country—Russia. I believe that Russians can become allies of the free world in resisting this tyrant. Just extend a hand to my fellow citizens.
Jonathan Amos – BBC Science Correspondent – February 10, 2023
Satellite map
It seems almost insensitive to start to have a deep dive into the science behind Monday’s earthquake events in Turkey.
More than 22,000 people are already confirmed dead and an unknown number still lie trapped, with the window for their rescue closing rapidly.
And yet the science will go on. The insights gleaned from this event will save lives in the future.
Take a look at the map on this page. It is the most precise yet produced of how the ground lurched in response to the enormous energies that were unleashed.
The data behind it was acquired in the early hours of Friday by the European Union’s Sentinel-1A satellite as it traversed north to south over Turkey at an altitude of 700km (435 miles).
The Sentinel carries a radar instrument that is able to sense the ground in all weathers, day and night.
It is routinely scanning this earthquake-prone region of the world, tracing the often very subtle changes in elevation at the Earth’s surface.
Except, of course, the changes on Monday were not subtle at all; they were dramatic. The ground bent, buckled and in places ripped apart.
Researchers use the technique of interferometry to compare “before” and “after” views. But you do not really need to be an expert to see the consequences for Turkey in the latest Sentinel map.
The red colours here describe movement towards the satellite since it last flew over the country; the blue colours record the movement away from the spacecraft.
It is abundantly clear how the ground has been deformed along and near the East Anatolian Fault line.
For both the Magnitude 7.8 quake that struck first on Monday at 01:17 GMT and the Magnitude 7.5 event at 10:24, the motion is “left-lateral”. That is to say: whichever side of the fault you are on, the other side has moved to the left. And by several metres in places.
The shocking thing is that the lines of rupture have gone right through settlements; in lots of places they will have gone right through buildings.
Artist’s impression: The Sentinel routinely maps earthquake-prone Turkey
The Sentinel map will help scientists understand exactly what happened on Monday, and this knowledge will feed into their models for how earthquakes work in the region, and then ultimately into the risk assessments that the Turkish authorities will use as they plan the recovery.
There is sure to be a lot of discussion about how the two major tremors were related and what that could mean for further instability.
The map was processed by the UK Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (Comet). Its director, Prof Tim Wright, said the Sentinel observations vividly brought home the scale of the forces involved.
“News outlets always show earthquakes as ‘the epicentre’, as if it is a single point source (like a bomb). Actually, all earthquakes are caused by slip on extended faults, and the bigger the quake the bigger the fault that ruptured,” he told BBC News.
“We can map those ruptures with satellites because the ground around them is displaced, in this case by up to 5m or 6m. The rupture of the first event was 300km or so long and the second big event ruptured another 140km or so of a different fault. To put those distances in context, London to Paris is roughly 345km.
“Damage will be highest near the fault but of course spreads over a wide region either side of the fault, too. It’s absolutely horrific.”
The insights will assist Turkish authorities as they plan the recovery
In the era before satellites, geologists would map earthquake faults by walking the lines of rupture. It was a laborious process that naturally also missed a lot of detail. Radar interferometry from space was developed in the 1990s, and in recent years it has become a particularly compelling tool.
In part that is down to the quality of the sensors now in orbit, but it is also the result of more powerful computers and smarter algorithms.
It is possible today to get a data product on to the computers of experts, ready for analysis, within hours of a satellite making an overhead pass. Comet, unfortunately, had to wait several days for Sentinel-1A to be in the right part of the sky to get an optimal view of Turkey. But this will improve as more and more radar satellites are launched.
“By the end of the decade, we should be able to do this kind of analysis within a day of most damaging earthquakes, and then we would be more useful for the relief effort. As things stand, we are of course outside the 72-hour window for search and rescue,” Prof Wright said.
The Republican Distraction Farm Is Failing Because They’re Employing Less Talented Grievance-Farmers
Jack Holmes – February 10, 2023
Republican Grievance-Farmers Lose Green ThumbsPool – Getty Images
“Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now the governor of Arkansas, gave a rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address this week that suggested Republicans have learned precious few lessons from their dramatic underperformance in the midterms. Biden’s speech was a full-throated appeal to everyday Americans on populist economic grounds—one that actually echoed some of Donald Trump’s rhetoric in the 2016 campaign. Sanders brought the now-standard routine about The Woke Mob “that can’t even tell you what a woman is,” and that is ushering in a world where “children are taught to hate one another on account of their race.” She referred to “C.R.T.” as if everyone listening would know that stands for Critical Race Theory (and that it is inherently evil). Sanders did outline a plan to raise starting salaries for Arkansas teachers, which is welcome in an era in which the American right increasingly seeks to paint educators as rogue agents of Woke determined to brainwash your kids.
The latter is the kind of stuff that cost them seats in the midterms. It hits squarely with people who are up-to-date on their Fox News folklore, fluent in the language of culture-war apocalypto. But for most people, it’s probably pretty weird. They mostly like their kids’ teachers, who are usually trying to do the best job they can in sometimes challenging circumstances. For years, the Democratic Party was the one considered out of touch, if only because of the alienating way that some liberals talked about the issues. But that’s now the Republican Party’s stock-in-trade. The right’s rising star—at least in the view of media-politico types—is the governor of Florida, Ronald DeSantis, who has replaced his pandemic anti-interventionist crusade (which at least dealt with a major issue of public concern) with campaigns against Woke Corporations and in favor of the government’s prerogative to police what teachers teach in schools. It’s gotten fewer national headlines that he, too, has sought to raise salaries, but that nugget is competing with news that teachers have been told to remove or cover up books out of fear they could face criminal charges for their content.
Maybe DeSantis is reluctant to talk about other parts of his record because, as the political press finally turns to it, we’re fully realizing how committed he once was to changing Social Security and Medicare. (We’ve also seen how touchy Republicans get when you talk about this since Biden brought it up at the State of the Union. Even a talk-radio host interviewing Ron Johnson was explicitly trying to brand this stuff as “reforms” not “cuts.”) The president pointed out that some Republicans—including chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Lizard-American Rick Scott—have called for sunsetting all federal legislation after five years. This would by definition include Medicare and Social Security.
Time will tell if Ronald DeSantis is the kind of right-winger who can still thread the needle.SOPA Images – Getty Images
Maybe they would be renewed as-is, but that’s quite a bet to make, particularly when you examine the record of the hospital chain Scott once ran. DeSantis, though, used to be even more forthright. He supported privatizing aspects of both programs in his 2012 congressional campaign, CNN found, and once in Congress he supported Paul Ryan’s agenda on “entitlements.” (They are earned benefits.) All this is based on the combined notions that these programs are fiscally unsustainable and raising taxes is a kind of supreme evil. None of this is new: George W. Bush tried to privatize Social Security. Ronald Reagan launched his political career with this stuff. Maybe DeSantis is an example of how how you can get away with this kind of policy record, considering he’s extremely popular in the old folks’ Mecca of Florida. Or maybe we in the press have just done a godawful job.
Republicans lose votes when people get a good look at their proposals on these issues, so maybe it’s no wonder they’re now permanently engaged in culture-war food fights. Except that also seems to have lost its luster outside The Base. Trump at least had a canny ear for the more transcendent gripes, particularly in 2016. His would-be successors are less talented grievance farmers, and some absolute loony toons have joined their ranks in Congress. It’s not a change so much as it’s become more obvious than it was that Republicans have no plans to address problems in normal people’s lives. They’re getting so high on their own supply that they can no longer even explain some of these bedrocks of their politics. The Louisville Courier-Journal‘s Joe Sonka asked Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers for his definition of “woke” on Friday and he replied, “Woke? That is the definition to me that is a describing of a mentality or a culture that certain individuals have about how things are progressing through society.” Hey man, maybe carve out some time to think about this or just admit that it’s become a hollow vehicle for reactionary rage.
Two cardiovascular medicines were well-tolerated for small vessel stroke
February 9, 2023
Research Highlights:
No standard medical therapy exists for a stroke occurring in a small vessel in the deep areas of the brain called a lacunar stroke.
A preliminary study of two common cardiovascular medications, cilostazol and isosorbide mononitrate, suggests these two medications were safe and well-tolerated by adults who have experienced small vessel stroke, when taken alone or together.
A larger, more extensive study is planned to examine the effectiveness of the medications in treating the complications of small vessel stroke.
(NewMediaWire) – February 09, 2023 – DALLAS A study of two widely used cardiovascular medications cilostazol and isosorbide mononitrate in more than 350 patients confirmed the two medications were well-tolerated and safe for people who have experienced a stroke in a small blood vessel deep in the brain. The results suggest the medications may help improve patient outcomes, according to preliminary late-breaking science presented today at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2023. The meeting, held in person in Dallas and virtually Feb. 8-10, 2023, is a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health.
Small vessel disease of the brain accounts for about 20% -25% of all ischemic strokes, according to previous research. A lacunar stroke, or small vessel stroke, occurs when the inner lining of the tiny blood vessels inside the brain are damaged, leading to a stroke or dementia.
“Currently, there is no proven treatment to prevent poor outcomes after lacunar stroke, so the ultimate goal with this research is to evaluate if medications with potential modes of action on the inner lining of blood vessels might help improve small vessel function and prevent or slow long-term brain damage after lacunar stroke,” said lead study investigator Joanna M. Wardlaw, M.D., FAHA, professor of applied neuroimaging, honorary consultant neuroradiologist, head of neuroimaging sciences and the director of Edinburgh Imaging at Edinburgh University in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is also the foundation chair of the U.K. Dementia Research Institute.
The medications in the study are commonly prescribed for other cardiac conditions. Isosorbide mononitrate is used to treat chest pain by relaxing blood vessels and decreasing blood pressure. Cilostazol improves the flow of blood by relaxing the blood vessels and reducing blood clotting. It is often prescribed for people with peripheral artery disease a narrowing of the peripheral arteries that carry blood away from the heart to other parts of the body.
This study, called LACunar Intervention Trial 2 (LACI-2), is the second largest ever trial in lacunar stroke. It examined whether such a trial was feasible among people with lacunar strokes and if the medications would be well-tolerated for one year after lacunar stroke. Researchers also analyzed safety and other outcomes, including recurrent stroke, cognitive impairment, dependency, mood and quality of life. This detailed information is needed for the next stage of research a phase 3 trial, which would include more study participants. Results of the analysis on cognitive status at one year will be presented separately in the same Main Event session on Feb. 9.
From Feb. 2018 to May 2022, researchers enrolled 363 adults who had experienced lacunar stroke from 26 stroke centers throughout the United Kingdom. The participants were average age 64 years, and 31% were women. All study participants continued to take their usual prescribed medications as per stroke guidelines, including those that reduce blood clotting, lower blood pressure and/or lower cholesterol all of which may lower the risk of a second or recurrent stroke.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: 40-60 mg/day of oral isosorbide mononitrate alone; 200 mg/day of oral cilostazol alone; both medications; or neither medication for one year. The participants completed phone surveys at 6 and 12 months to assess health status, including recurrent stroke and heart problems, cognitive tests, symptoms, quality-of-life surveys, and had brain imaging at 12 months.
The study met its initial goals to determine if a larger trial was feasible and if the medications were safe and tolerable. After one year, 358 of the adults were still participating in the study, with 95% of participants taking at least half of medication doses prescribed for the trial. Safety criteria were also met: four participants died; there were four episodes of bleeding outside of the brain; no excessive falls or dizziness. Some participants experienced mild symptoms (such as headaches), which were expected.
Researchers also saw some potential benefits from the medication groups, including data that indicated the group who took the combined isosorbide mononitrate and cilostazol had a reduction in the amount of assistance they needed with everyday living tasks, a reduction in cognitive impairment and positive impacts on mood and quality of life. Isosorbide mononitrate alone reduced recurrent stroke, cognitive impairment and improved quality of life; cilostazol alone reduced the need for daily assistance.
“There appeared to be some potential benefits that will need to be confirmed in a larger phase 3 trial,” Wardlaw said. “We saw good hints of efficacy, particularly for isosorbide mononitrate on reducing recurrent stroke and cognitive impairment, and we also found that both medications together seemed to work synergistically, rather than counteracting any benefit. This is very encouraging since no study has previously found any medications that positively affect cognitive impairment in small vessel disease strokes. So, we cautiously hope that these medications may have wider implications for other types of small vessel disease.”
The study has some limitations, including that it was relatively small at 363 patients and not designed to measure efficacy, thus the results showing effectiveness should be interpreted cautiously. The trial was open label, meaning participants and clinicians were aware of which medication/s and doses they were taking; however, the follow-up staff for the study were unaware of which treatment the patients were assigned. Additionally, the investigators did not collect data on race or ethnicity, and many ethnic groups were suspected to be underrepresented.
Study co-lead author is Philip M. Bath, D.Sc., FAHA, UK Stroke Association Professor of Medicine at the University of Nottingham. The list of authors’ disclosures is available in the abstract.
The study was funded primarily by the British Heart Foundation, with support from the UK Alzheimer’s Society, the U.K. Dementia Research Institute, the Stroke Association, the Fondation Leducq, NHS Research Scotland and the U.K. National Institutes of Health Research Clinical Research Networks. The work was conducted by the University of Edinburgh and the University of Nottingham.
Statements and conclusions of studies that are presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Association’s scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, rather, they are curated by independent review panels and are considered based on the potential to add to the diversity of scientific issues and views discussed at the meeting. The findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are available here.
Zelensky visits London in rare trip outside Ukraine, pushes for allies to send fighter jets
Brad Dress – February 8, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to London on Wednesday to address the United Kingdom’s Parliament, telling British lawmakers and allies that his country will need more advanced weapons, including modern fighter jets, to fend off Russian forces.
Zelensky made a plea to the crowded British group packed inside the 900-year-old Westminster Hall, asking for not just weapons but also more sanctions against supporters of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I’m not just speaking about weapons. We’ve proved together that the world truly helps those who are brave in defending freedom,” the Ukrainian leader said, but “evil is still around today and the battle continues.”
Zelensky noted King Charles III once trained as a jet pilot, using it to segue into an ask for modern fighter jets.
“Provide us with modern planes to empower and protect pilots who will be protecting us,” Zelensky said.
Kyiv has been pushing since the war began to secure modern fighter jets from the U.S. and NATO allies to replace its aging fleet.
Ukrainians have also just completed a similar program to train on Britain’s Challenger 2 main battle tanks, which the country announced last month for Ukraine.
England is one of the largest backers of Kyiv and has provided about $2.5 billion for the country since the war began last February.
The U.K. on Wednesday also slapped a round of new sanctions against six entities with ties to Russia’s military.
The government is also extending an offer to provide longer-range weapons equipment for Kyiv, which Ukraine has also asked for to strike at Russian forces in occupied territory.
During his visit, Zelensky will meet with King Charles III, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the nation’s military chiefs.
Sunak on Wednesday said “President Zelenskyy’s visit to the UK is a testament to his country’s courage, determination and fight, and a testament to the unbreakable friendship between our two countries.”
“It also underlines our commitment to not just provide military equipment for the short term, but a long-term pledge to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for years to come,” Sunak said in a statement.
In what is starting to feel like a repeat of the recent tank saga, what seemed impossible is taking on an unassailable momentum. As then, Britain is leading the West.
Yes, if we commit to sending jets it will take Ukraine months to receive them, but this is going to be a long war, and saying we will send them will be a huge blow to Russian morale.
Most would agree that the West was far too slow to make the decision on tanks. If they had been sent nine months ago, where would we be now? How many thousands of lives could have been saved, how many billions of dollars?
As I argued recently, tanks are the first half of the winning equation, and fighter jets the second half. So let me underline why they matter so much at this critical moment, and challenge some of those who are anxious about sending them.
Though they may be few in number, the British Typhoon fighters would inevitably unlock a much larger number of European Typhoons or F-16s, as the British tank did with European tanks. It’s true that as things stand we have very few fighters to spare, but it would still leave our ultra-modern F-35 jets to defend UK shores. As with tanks, these donations would give us an ideal excuse to invest in new fighter aircraft to replace them. I’ll get to that.
More importantly, the donations would signal the most significant demonstration to Putin that we are in this for as long as it takes. The Russians still believe if they can stick the war out as long enough, they will crack the western will to keep supporting Ukraine. As I write, the Russians are apparently preparing 500,000 conscripts to throw into the melee for a final serious attempt to break the will of the Ukrainians. If that fails and the Russian army knows that Western jets are on the way, that could be crucial in future calculations. It might even be another to make them consider the cost of fighting in the first place.
I think there is undue pessimism about the amount of time it takes to train pilots for these aircraft. It’s true that tanks are more my expertise rather than fighter jets. But my instinct is that many of the delays are due to safety concerns – something of a luxury, I would argue, for a country fighting for its life. If the time it takes to train a soldier to use a Challenger 2 tank can be reduced from six months to six weeks, then surely this can be sped up.
Where I do agree with the more cautious commentariat is that all of this has underlined the perilous state of our Armed Forces. But for some that means we should send nothing to Ukraine. I take the opposite view: sending little will only maintain the status quo – holding onto tanks and planes will mean that nothing is done to invest in the future. Instead we should send what we can spare, then invest and expand. To subscribe to the ‘do nothing’ camp is – consciously or not – to facilitate and promote our current woeful policy.
The first duty of the government is to properly protect the nation. Pound for pound we still have the best fighting men and women in the world, but at the moment our lightweight capability is simply insufficient. Ukraine should shake us out of our delusions.
Perhaps one of the more heartening sides of Zelensky’s surprise visit to London was the cross-party unity on display in Parliament for Ukraine. It should give hope to the millions like me around the country that, on what really matters, politicians can come together. I hope MPs do not waste the opportunity and seriously invest in the future – not only our Armed Forces, but in supporting Ukraine to the hilt for the vital months to come.
Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE is a former commander of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment.
He is a regular contributor to The Telegraph’s daily podcast ‘Ukraine the Latest’ , which has over 22 million downloads. You can listen to our most recent episode, featuring Hamish, here.
Ukraine’s defiant city struggles to hold out as Russia pushes for a bloody victory
0:21 3:27 Russia and Ukraine battling for city of Bakhmut
Richard Engel and Marc Smith and Patrick Smith – February 9, 2023
BAKHMUT, Ukraine — Surrounded on three sides, this eastern Ukrainian city has held out for months in bloody defiance against invading forces, Russian shells pounding day and night against streets coated with snow and rubble.
But, as the Kremlin’s troops advance here and threaten a major offensive across the war’s front lines, gunfire could be heard on a recent visit while the few thousand remaining locals sheltered in basements, stubbornly refusing to leave what remains of their homes.
“Bakhmut holds” is a patriotic battle-cry heard across the country, cementing the city as a symbol of national resistance.
And it still holds, for now.
‘Death is not an option’
The long-awaited spring offensive from Russia’s military is expected in the coming weeks — if it hasn’t already begun. Analysts have warned that Moscow’s forces, pushing for a high-profile victory to coincide with the Feb. 24 anniversary of the invasion, could finally be on the brink of taking the city.
The people of Bakhmut are all too familiar with the most intense fighting of the war, with many living in shelters for as long as six months. Their resolve and determination holds firm.
Olena Molchanova, 40, is one of three doctors caring for the few thousand people who stayed behind from an estimated pre-war population of around 80,000. She lives with her husband in the basement under her clinic, where she works seven days a week, from morning to evening. Their 18-year-old daughter has fled to the relative safety of the capital, Kyiv.
Of the three patients to visit during NBC News’ trip, two were registering deaths. This is an everyday reality, she said. But she won’t leave.
“I’m here because people still here need medical help, they need treatment. How can I leave them?” she said. “Death is not an option for me…. I don’t want to die, I have reason to live, I have a job to do.”
Dr. Olena Molchanova, a family doctor who is living in a makeshift shelter under her Bakhmut clinic. (Dean Taylor / NBC News)
There is only one highway still under Ukrainian control here.
The road dips into a snow-covered valley and is clearly visible to Russian positions on nearby hilltops. “This part is dangerous,” NBC News’ Ukrainian military escort said. “We must go fast.”
Apartment blocks, offices, schools, shops and entire streets lie in ruins. If Russia does seize this city, it will be taking control of a place that is depleted and largely destroyed.
Battles rage for the town of Vuhledar, also in the Donetsk region, and increasingly in the neighboring Luhansk region. Together the two areas comprise the eastern Donbas, a huge swathe of the country famed for its industrial output and which Russian President Vladimir Putin appears intent on seizing to match his declared annexation.
The Wagner Group of mercenaries led by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin was involved in taking the nearby mining town of Soledar in January, and has helped lead the assault on Bakhmut with waves of ex-convicts thrown at Ukrainian lines. Prigozhin has been eager to claim credit for the gains, in what many experts interpreted as part of a growing internal power struggle.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a news conference Tuesday that his forces “were successfully developing operations” near Bakhmut.
A map produced by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, showed Russian forces at least claim to hold significant land to the south and east of the city, which they plan to connect to the large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine already held by Moscow.
A Ukrainian tank patrols near Bakhmut on Jan. 30, 2023. The city has been the center of intense fighting for months. (Adrien Vautier / Le Pictorium / AP)
Ukrainian officials have spoken of the increasing intensity of the fight for Bakhmut in recent days.
“The battles for the region are heating up,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk, in televised remarks Monday. “The Russians are throwing new units into the battle and eradicating our towns and villages.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s normally optimistic tone took a noticeable drop when referring to the eastern front over the weekend.
“I’ve often had to say the situation at the front is tough, and is getting tougher, and it’s that time again… The invader is putting more and more of his forces into breaking down our defenses,” he said in a televised address. “It is very difficult now in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Lyman and other directions.”
A shattered residential building in Bakhmut on Jan. 27, 2023. Only a few thousand civilians remain in the city. (Adrien Vautier / Le Pictorium / AP)
“It does look as though the Russians are making a very big push to take this town,” said John Lough, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, about Bakhmut.
“Within the Western community over recent months there’s been a general feeling that the Russians are getting their act together and prosecuting this war to a successful conclusion, from their point of view,” Lough added.
It’s unclear just how much strategic value the city holds. But after months of bombardment and fighting, the symbolism would be undeniable.
“This little town is neither here nor there,” said Jonathan Eyal, international director at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London. “The real important thinking is that it shows that the Russians despite having performed very poorly can turn it around and actually push Ukrainians back. So emotionally it is an important point,” he added.
Some Ukrainians here say they don’t understand the politics of the war, nor what Russia may be planning. But their resilience shows no signs of breaking.
Ludmyla, 70, makes a potato cake for the people sharing her makeshift shelter in the war-torn city of Bakhmut. (Dean Taylor / NBC News)
Ludmyla, 70, who declined to give her last name out of fear of retribution, was born in Bakhmut and has always lived here.
She makes potato cake for the six others sharing the dark, makeshift basement shelter she’s called home for three months.
Now retired, she worked in a passport office for decades. She has no family here, since her husband died three years ago. Her children and two grandchildren have moved away, but she won’t.
“It is very disgusting what is happening,” Ludmyla said. “We are civilians, we didn’t enter any lands, they came to our lands
Richard Engel and Marc Smith reported from Bakhmut, Ukraine, and Patrick Smith reported from London.
Asa Hutchinson says reelecting Trump ‘would not be healthy for our democracy’ as he eyes 2024 bid
Tom LoBianco, Reporter – February 9, 2023
WASHINGTON — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has been making more noise recently about a possible Republican run for the White House in 2024. The former federal prosecutor has been hitting the trail in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and is planning to host a border security summit in Arizona soon.
In an interview with Yahoo News Tuesday, he said he is “seriously” leaning toward running and said his time frame for deciding lands around one of the first big political events of the cycle, the Christian right Faith and Freedom Conference being held in Iowa on April 22.
Hutchinson has long cut a figure as a stalwart conservative in the party, leading the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton a quarter century ago, then running the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Bush administration, before serving two terms as governor.
But he has emerged as one of former President Donald Trump’s sharpest critics on the right, after breaking with him when Trump tried to overturn his 2020 election loss.
“My view of [Jan. 6, 2021] is that it was undermining our democracy, our institutions of government. It brought us disrespect globally and because what America always looked at was, my goodness, how we transferred power from one administration to the other,” said Hutchinson, who had chaired Trump’s 2020 reelection bid in Arkansas. “That was all undermined that day. And so it was unacceptable.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson in an interview in December. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Trump is facing a raft of legal trouble stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and deny the peaceful transfer of power — from a state-level probe in Georgia to the federal investigation being led by special counsel Jack Smith. Hutchinson said that even if there is evidence of a crime, prosecutors have to weigh the much heavier question of whether to try a former president.
Asked if he had seen any evidence of criminality by Trump, Hutchinson replied, “Well, that’s a big arena.”
He cited the state probes in New York and Georgia and the federal probes of Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and the removal of classified documents from the White House. “They’re complicated legal issues,” he said, “so we’ve got to let those play out.”
Hutchinson urged caution in determining whether to prosecute Trump and said the courts may not be the best venue for that.
“The public deals with these things through the elections. And in this case, I think the best answer is that the voters should speak out and say, Donald Trump’s not the best direction for America in the future. And voters can determine that very quickly,” he said.
Pressed on the fact that Trump continues to lead most early polling of the Republican field and could win reelection if he secures the party nomination a third time, Hutchinson stood by his position.
“It takes the voters to exercise that at some point along the way — whether that’s in Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina — someone needs to say we need to go a different direction. And thank goodness, there’s going to be alternatives to [Trump],” he said. “It would not be healthy for our democracy to have him reelected. That’s where I think we’re going as a country [and] as a party. It just takes a while and a little bit of pain to get there.”
Extremist groups
Decades before Trump-inspired white supremacist and extremist groups plotted their attack on the Capitol, Hutchinson fought similar extremists as the U.S. attorney for Arkansas. Serving as the youngest federal prosecutor appointed by President Ronald Reagan, whom he called the greatest Republican president of his lifetime, Hutchinson took on a white supremacist militia group in rural Arkansas, called the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord.
In the early ’80s, the armed militia group was cooking up plans to bomb federal buildings and assassinate federal officials, even him.
During a three-day standoff in 1985, Hutchinson donned a bulletproof vest and helped negotiate an end to the showdown. “We had SWAT teams from five different states, about 200 law enforcement officers. Very violent, dangerous situation. We got it resolved without a shot being fired.”
Modern white supremacist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys bear many of the same hallmarks of domestic extremist threats from decades earlier — but now it’s much easier for them to recruit.
“There’s probably more at risk today, in that sense, than back in the ’80s. If you wanted to inspire violence by others, and you were a charismatic leader, you did that face to face, you actually brought these groups together, which is a greater risk of being caught,” Hutchinson said. “But today, you know, with social media, with the internet, with all of the means of communication, you see people being inspired off of the internet.”
“What we see is that … enforcing the law makes a difference. Enforcing the law stops some of this violent suppression and violent actions by extremist groups,” he said. “Sadly, every generation has to face this at some level.”
A conservative lane
Before Trump stormed the Republican Party and ensconced conservative populism as a facet of the modern right, Hutchinson likely would have been viewed as one of the most conservative contenders.
But in the landscape upturned by Trump, Hutchinson has sounded more like an old establishment Republican — even if his positions fit squarely with much of the party.
Asked how he would handle the continued influx of undocumented immigrants across the border with Mexico, Hutchinson said, “It starts with securing the border.” He called for more funding for the Border Patrol and for physical and technological “fences.” He said the U.S. needs to do a better job targeting the Mexican drug cartels that smuggle immigrants and drugs across the border.
“But specifically you need to be able to send them back to their home country,” he said. “You start with putting the resources that are needed to process the cases to put the structures in place to protect our border. Then, down the road, you can talk about more comprehensive immigration reform, but it starts with securing the border.”
With Republicans now in control of the House and the simmering fight over raising the nation’s debt ceiling to pay its outstanding bills, Social Security benefits have moved back to center stage in the national debate.
A handful of House Republicans have talked about reworking Social Security benefits as part of the debt ceiling fight. Former Vice President Mike Pence sparked an uproar last week after he told a Washington audience he wants to “reform” the program and look at implementing “private savings accounts” for future recipients — a Bush-era proposal that generated such a strong backlash that touching Social Security benefits was deemed the “third rail of American politics.”
And President Biden, in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, appeared to lay a trap for House Republicans — drawing boos from the group when he said that some of them were looking at cutting the program, then goading them into applauding it.
“There’s challenges whenever you look at Social Security, the long-term funding of it. So let’s first just be committed to strengthening Social Security,” Hutchinson said. “I believe the right approach to addressing that is growing the economy, growing the private sector, unleashing their power. And that’s really the only way we’re gonna be able to reduce this burden of debt. You’ve got to be able to grow your way out of it.”
Abortion
In 2019, Hutchinson, as governor, signed a state “trigger” law that would launch a near-total ban on abortions in Arkansas if the Supreme Court ever overturned Roe v. Wade.
“I did expect that it would be overturned. I didn’t know they would be that quickly. I thought they might scale it back, and then look at it again down the road,” he said.
While some Republicans, notably Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have been pushing for a nationwide abortion ban, Hutchinson said he sides more with the camp that believes it should be decided state by state.
“If you look at it nationally, I think there’s going to be two debates as you go into the 2024 season. And one is, should there be a national standard, and then, secondly, you know, what should it be? Or should we just stick with every state being able to make their own decision?” Hutchinson said. “I’ve worked very hard for 40 years to say the states can make their decisions on this.”
But Hutchinson said Republicans still need to tread carefully on the issue.
“We want to be able to win the hearts and minds of Americans and you want to be able to win in November. And so you’ve got to approach this with that level of compassion and understanding, and the needs of, for example, a mom that has a pregnancy that might not have been expected or wanted or at risk. And we’ve got to deal with those in a positive way.”
Daunting medical issues for earthquake survivors are just beginning
David Ovalle – February 9, 2023
Members of the Lebanese Red Cross carry the corpse of a victim retrieved from the rubble of a collapsed building in the Syrian town of Jableh northwest of Damascus on Thursday. (Louai Beshara /AFP/Getty Images)
As international medical teams stream into the earthquake-ravaged areas of Turkey and Syria, the injuries they are encountering are horrific but no surprise: broken bones, arms and legs crushed by collapsed buildings, infected gashes.
But that’s only the beginning for doctors and paramedics working feverishly to save lives in a disaster that has already claimed more than 20,000 people, experts say.
In coming weeks, as search efforts turn to the grim task of recovering bodies, countless survivors will need medications for high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma left behind in the rubble. Many who are pregnant will give birth in makeshift shelters and refugee camps. Cancer patients will go without treatment.
Freezing temperatures mean survivors in thrown-together shelters face hypothermia or frostbite. Close quarters in shelters could also lead to the spread of the coronavirus and other respiratory viruses.
And there’s another looming risk: waterborne diseases such as cholera, which had already appeared in the affected war-torn region of northwest Syria because of poor water quality and sanitation.
“It’s a horrible situation. You can’t do everything you want to do and you have to adapt to a whole different way of treating people. It’s a mentally and morally taxing situation,” Thomas Kirsch, a professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said of the coming challenges for medical workers.
Paul Spiegel, director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the time period after the search-and-rescue efforts will be crucial, if less dramatic.
“You likely will save a lot more people by ensuring you have surveillance and thinking about continuing care and supplies,” he said.
Those efforts are already being spearheaded by the Turkish government, the World Health Organization and other aid groups that regularly send emergency teams into earthquake zones.
The challenges to providing medical care are especially daunting in Turkey and Syria, which was rocked by a 7.8-magnitude quake early Monday morning, and a second one hours later that was recorded at 7.5.
The disaster toppled hospitals and other medical facilities that would have been crucial for treating those injured in building collapses, not to mention other ailments. Buckled and impassible roads won’t make it any easier for medical organizations, said Kirsch, who has worked extensively in disaster zones, including in Haiti after it was devastated by a 2010 earthquake.
“The logistics and coordination of the health-care response is really a problem,” he said.
Syria is of particular concern because of the destruction of its health care infrastructure after years of civil war, Iman Shankiti, the WHO’s representative in the country, told reporters Wednesday.
“Definitely, the health needs are tremendous. It’s important to note that the health system has suffered for the last 12 years, and continues to suffer and continues to be strained by the ongoing emergencies, and the last one is this earthquake,” Shankiti said.
The WHO said it was sending three flights with medical supplies to both countries, including trauma kits, from a logistics hub in Dubai. It also has released $3 million in funding.
The Israeli Defense Forces has said it is setting up a field hospital in Turkey.
Nongovernmental groups will also be key. Doctors Without Borders, which was already in northwest Syria, said it is continuing to support seven hospitals, health-care centers and a burn unit in the area.
Americares, a Connecticut-based health-focused relief group, has already sent a shipment of hygiene kits, IV fluids and some chronic-disease medicines. A four-person team is already on the ground in southern Turkey.
“In the coming days, there’s going to be a tremendous need for those chronic-need medicines,” said Julie Varughese, the organization’s chief medical officer.
Project Hope, a global health and humanitarian aid organization, is also in Gaziantep, Turkey, a city hit hard by the earthquakes. Like many medical relief organizations, it is assessing what help each area will need with short- and long-term health care, as search-and-rescue operations continue to look for survivors.
The organization’s humanitarian health adviser, Pranav Shetty, fears that in coming days, doctors will see many of the same medical conditions that unfolded in Haiti after its devastating earthquake in 2010.
Doctors will need to work quickly to remove dead tissue from wounds, lest it lead to dangerous infections, he said.
Another pressing concern is what’s known as “crush syndrome,” which happens when survivors are pulled from the rubble, releasing pressure on muscles and releasing toxins from damaged tissue. That can wreak havoc on survivors’ kidneys, requiring dialysis – no easy task to provide when hospitals are destroyed.
“That’s a pretty robust intervention that requires a lot of resources,” Shetty said.
Still, the everyday maladies may end up being a wider problem as the months pass.
Kirsch, of George Washington University, said foreign medical assistance will be needed to help with everyday conditions such as diabetes, heart attacks and strokes.
“Turkey has a pretty strong health-care system, so its recovery will be better than a lot of less economically robust countries,” he said.
And both countries will need to pour resources into mental health treatment, not just for survivors but for medical personnel who have been overwhelmed ministering to those in need.
“At times you make decisions about life and death you wouldn’t have to make in other situations,” Kirsch said of medical personnel in earthquake zones. “That’s the struggle early on.”
