Author: Victor I. Nava, Washington Examiner

Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov urged Turkey’s president on Sunday not to assist with the evacuation of Ukrainian forces trapped underneath the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, calling some of the fighters “murderers and atheists.” Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen Republic of Russia, made his appeal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Telegram, arguing…

Ukrainian forces have driven Russia out of the Kharkiv region and back across the Russian border, officials say. Ukraine’s general staff said over the weekend that Russian troops were withdrawing from the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Video shared on social media by Ukrainian officials Sunday purported to show Ukrainian troops in Kharkiv…

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) announced on Sunday that he has been hospitalized after suffering a “minor stroke” over the weekend while giving a speech. The junior senator from Maryland said in a statement on Twitter that doctors at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., have informed him that “there are no long-term effects…

Elon Musk’s $44 billion deal to buy Twitter is “on hold” for the moment, the billionaire business tycoon said on Friday. “Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” Musk tweeted. MUSK PREFERS ‘LESS DIVISIVE’ CANDIDATE THAN TRUMP IN 2024 The price of…

Satellite photos of Ukraine’s Snake Island taken on Thursday show Russian ships taking evasive action against incoming missiles fired by Ukrainian forces, according to Maxar Technologies. The images also show the aftermath of a recent Ukrainian assault against Russian forces controlling the island, including a sunken ship and several damaged buildings and air defense vehicles,…

Family members of the Ukrainian soldiers trapped at the Azovstal steel plant staged a protest on Thursday in front of the presidential palace in Kyiv, pleading for their sons, husbands, and fathers to not be abandoned. The group of mostly female protesters demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the government do more to save…

The United States surpassed 1 million deaths due to COVID-19 on Thursday, and President Joe Biden commemorated the dark milestone in a statement urging the public to “remain vigilant against this pandemic” and calling on Congress to sustain resources for testing, vaccines, and treatments. In the Thursday morning statement, Biden also mourned the “irreplaceable” losses…

Finland’s leaders announced on Thursday that they are in support of the country applying for NATO membership. If Finland proceeds with the application process and is accepted into the alliance, it would expand NATO to 31 member nations. The announcement by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin comes amid Kremlin threats against…

Ukraine has offered to release captured Russian soldiers in exchange for the evacuation of injured Ukrainian soldiers trapped in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said on Wednesday. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that negotiations on the proposed swap are underway with Russia, which has refused to allow severely…

Ukrainian forces have knocked out two makeshift bridges in eastern Ukraine, foiling Russian efforts to move troops and tanks across a river, according to Ukrainian officials. Images released by the Ukrainian military on Wednesday show two pontoon bridges destroyed, side by side, reportedly in the Siverskyi Donets River in the Luhansk region. Two separate Ukrainian…