A Times investigation based on interviews, intercepts, documents and secret battle plans shows how a “walk in the park” became a catastrophe for Russia.
By Michael Schwirtz, Anton Troianovski, Yousur Al-Hlou, Masha Froliak, Adam Entous and Thomas Gibbons-Neff
Fumbling blindly through cratered farms, the troops from Russia’s 155th Naval Infantry Brigade had no maps, medical kits or working walkie-talkies, they said. Just a few weeks earlier, they had been factory workers and truck drivers, watching an endless showcase of supposed Russian military victories at home on state television before being drafted in September. One medic was a former barista who had never had any medical training.
Now, they were piled onto the tops of overcrowded armored vehicles, lumbering through fallow autumn fields with Kalashnikov rifles from half a century ago and virtually nothing to eat, they said. Russia had been at war most of the year, yet its army seemed less prepared than ever. In interviews, members of the brigade said some of them had barely fired a gun before and described having almost no bullets anyway, let alone air cover or artillery. But it didn’t frighten them too much, they said. They would never see combat, their commanders had promised.
Only when the shells began crashing around them, ripping their comrades to pieces, did they realize how badly they had been duped.
Salah Hamouri’s deportation from Israel ‘against the law’, says France
French-Palestinian human rights lawyer had been held in prison without charge since March
Jon Henley and agencies
France has denounced Israel’s expulsion of a French-Palestinian human rights lawyer, Salah Hamouri, who had been held in prison without charge since March accused of security offences against the state and ties to a banned militant group.
“We condemn the Israeli authorities’ decision, [which is] against the law,” the foreign ministry said, adding that Paris had “clearly communicated its opposition to this expulsion of a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, an occupied territory”.
Hamouri, 37, a lifelong Jerusalem resident without Israeli citizenship, arrived in Paris on a Sunday morning flight from Tel Aviv, where his wife, Elsa, as well as politicians, NGO representatives and supporters, were waiting to greet him at Charles de Gaulle airport.
Russian actress and poet Vera Polozkova brands Putin the ‘main maniac of 21st century
Speaking from exile, Ms Polozkova said Russia ‘now exists as a totalitarian sect’
Russian president Vladimir Putin has been branded the “main maniac of the 21st century” by a leading Russian actress as his war on Ukraine enters its tenth month.
Vera Polozkova, 36, expressed her feeling of “crazy pain and shame” over Russia’s self-styled special military operation in Ukraine, and urged her fellow citizens to prepare to acknowledge, repent and atone for Moscow’s “crimes”.
Ms Polozkova made her remarks during an interview with popular Russian journalist and YouTuber Yury Dud, known for his interviews with a series of critics of Mr Putin’s brutal attacks on Ukraine.
From One Extreme to the OtherCOVID Chaos Unfolds in China
Chinese leadership abandoned its zero-COVID strategy practically overnight. The consequences promise to be enormous. Rural areas in particular will struggle with the suddenly spiking caseload in the country.
By Christoph Giesen in Beijing
She is negative and no longer contagious. Finally, she is allowed to leave the quarantine center – and return to a country that has changed dramatically during the time she was forced to spend in this candy-colored container shelter in northeastern Beijing. The authorities kept her here for nine days, behind a fence festooned with warning signs: "COVID prevention and control. Please do not approach."
Now, Stacy, as she calls herself, is standing in front of the gates of the center, which only just opened a few weeks ago. Someone in the apparatus came up with the idea of calling it "Colorful Community.” While waiting for a taxi, Stacy tells her story.
Tunisia's election labeled a sham by observers
Legislative elections took place on Saturday, but just 9% of voters turned out to elect a new parliament. Observers doubt there will be any major changes given the president's tightening grip on power.
In the run-up to Saturday's election, the atmosphere on the streets of the Tunisian capital Tunis was anything but hopeful.
"I will not participate in the poll because there is no credibility or transparency," Lotfi Belhadi, a civil servant in Tunis, told DW, adding that "the elections are a sham, and the parliament will be a body without powers."
English teacher Soumaya Salhi also said she would not vote. "My participation would normalize an illegal and undemocratic situation," she told DW. "What's the point of electing deputies who can neither make their own decisions nor have the power to hold the president and members of the government accountable?"
Ukraine: Russia to deploy musicians to front to boost morale
Russia says it will deploy musicians to the front lines of its war in Ukraine in a bid to boost morale.
The defence ministry announced the formation of the "front-line creative brigade" this week, saying it would include both vocalists and musicians.
The UK's ministry of defence highlighted the brigade's creation in an intelligence update on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited frontline troops in Ukraine, the government said.
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