OUR PICKS: WAR IN UKRAINEThis Is the War’s Decisive Moment | Putin’s Failed State | Russian Trucks as Metaphors, and more

Published 17 April 2022

·  This Is the War’s Decisive Moment

·  The Next Phase of the Ukraine War Will Be Bloody 

·  Ukraine’s Lifeline

·  Here’s How the U.S. Should Respond to Any Russian Cyberattacks

·  Ukrainians Use Drones, Facial-Recognition Software as They Investigate Alleged War Crimes

·  When Do We Lift the Sanctions?

·  Russia’s Nuclear Warning as NATO Considers Expansion

·  U.S. Support for Ukraine Moves Further into Offensive Assistance

·  US Troops to Give Ukrainians a Crash Course in Battlefield Weapons

·  What Images of Russian Trucks Say about Its Military’s Struggles in Ukraine

·  Sweden’s NATO Decision Isn’t Just About Security

·  Vladmir Putin’s War of Delusions

·  The Myth Far-Right Zealots Run Ukraine Is Russian Propaganda

·  Putin’s Failed State

This Is the War’s Decisive Moment  (Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic)
The United States and its allies can tip the balance between a costly success and a calamity.

The Next Phase of the Ukraine War Will Be Bloody (Harry J. Kazianis, The Spectator)
The war in Ukraine is about to enter an even deadlier stage, one in which both Kyiv and Moscow will be tempted to apply more and more military might that could even draw in outside powers.
The Battle for Donbas, with another battle raging for what is left of the city of Mariupol, will be a new hell that Europe has not seen since the second world war. It has the potential even to mutate into World War III unless the conflict is brought to a conclusion — and fast.

Ukraine’s Lifeline  (Elliot Ackerman, The Atlantic)
Ukraine’s fate will be decided not by combat power alone, but by either side’s ability to employ effective logistics to sustain that combat power.

Here’s How the U.S. Should Respond to Any Russian Cyberattacks  (Dmitri Alperovitch and Samuel Charap, Washington Post)
Retaliation needs to be harsh enough to deter further hacks — but not so severe that it causes more escalation.

Ukrainians Use Drones, Facial-Recognition Software as They Investigate Alleged War Crimes  (Brett Forrest, Wall Street Journal)
Prosecutors gather evidence in the killings of hundreds of people in Bucha.

When Do We Lift the Sanctions? (Anatol Lieven, The Critic)
Sooner or later a diplomatic compromise will have to be reached.

Russia’s Nuclear Warning as NATO Considers Expansion  (Tom Ball, The Times)

Russia has warned that it will boost its forces in the Baltic region, including with nuclear missiles, if Finland and Sweden join NATO.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former president, said yesterday that NATO membership for the two Nordic countries would pose a direct threat to Russia’s security. He suggested that Moscow would respond with deployments of nuclear weapons to Kaliningrad, its Baltic exclave between Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members.