Back Story Newsletter
Good morning,
Ukraine - Mariupol
Ukraine’s fiercest fight to hold a maze of under ground tunnels at the Mariupol steel factory, appears to be nearing an end with orders from the President Zelenskiy “to save the lives of their personnel.” “We hope to save the lives of our boys.”
Buses controlled by the Russian army took away more than 260 Ukrainian soldiers, many of them wounded, from the besieged Azovstal steel plant appearing to cede control of the city to Russia after 82 days of bombardment.
The wounded have been taken to nearby Russian towns, where a prisoner swap appears to be in the offing but few details have been released. The Red Cross is involved in the swap, but Russia may well try to back track on some of agreed to terms and keep some of the Ukrainian fighters. And not all fighters have not left the steel plant.
Overall Russian forces are focusing their advance on the Donbas region where they hope to take the Ukrainian held city of Sievierodonetsk. The city is said to be virtually encircled and under heavy Russian artillery attack.
In the north Russian soldiers withdrew under Ukrainian counter attack so quickly near Kharkiv, some Russian soldiers were simply left behind by their units.
Putin’s invasion which has suffered huge losses, some say around 30 thousand KIA, is focusing on taking the Donbas area and a land bridge to Crimea. And the Kremlin may quickly annex those areas once occupied, and declare them part of Russia and protected by a ‘nuclear umbrella’.
We are in key weeks of this brutal war, as a change in Putin’s chaotic and ill planned strategy is being seen on the battle field.
Overnight more missile strikes on a training/equipping base near the Polish border and Lviv.
-NATO Expansion -
The parliaments of Finland and Sweden are debating their NATO memberships, after both Governments announced they intend to join the defensive military alliance out of fear of Putin’s aggression, and in the wake of the attack on Ukraine.
The Finnish vote in parliament is likely around midday today.
Turkey has threatened to block the membership bids with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stating the two Scandinavian nations need not send delegations to convince Turkey, a key Nato member, of their bids.
He is angered by what he sees as their willingness to host Kurdish militants. Erdogen will of come under extreme pressure now to allow the two Nordic countries to quickly join the NATO alliance, and Erdogen who counts on U.S. arms and economic support, may be a short hold out.
-McDonalds-
A temporary closure of McDonalds 850 restaurants employing 62,000 workers in Russia will now be a permanent sale and exit.
Based in Russia, I remember standing in line for a taste of home, at the McDonalds on Pushkin Square a few blocks from the Kremlin. The McDonalds franchise, like blue jeans, and later even Star Bucks and American cinemas, symbolized an open Russia and the integration of Russia into western economies.
For Russian’s McDonalds was a cheap lunch, and a taste of America.
Putin’s invasion has slammed the door on Russian normalization, and opened the door to isolation and dark days ahead. A great unravelling of a Russia that became part of the Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. Then Putin came to power a decade later in 2000 with some bent spy service vision of restoring a Russian Empire.
So sad for many Russians who have built terrific businesses and futures, put their kids in London schools, spent vacations in Turkey or France, or New York or Miami.
Putin has taken the country rapidly backwards and Russians have had no say in the decision.
McDonalds CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a letter to employees, "it is impossible to ignore the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.''
McDonald's said it's the first time the company has ever "de-arched,'' or exited a major market. It plans to start removing golden arches and other symbols and signs with the company's name.
Somalia U.S. Forces
Former President Trump withdrew 700 U.S. ground troops from Somalia, now more than half of them are going back under orders from President Biden to target the terrorist group Al Shabab.
The number of troops will be capped at 450, to “suppress” Al Shabab’s ability to plot and carry out operations, and to carry on a mission to target suspected leaders of the group linked to Al Qaeda.
I was in Mogadishu reporting on the first American invasion under President Clinton in 1992, to essentially open up food lines during a difficult famine. The peace keeping mission quickly became violent with scenes of American troops being dragged through the streets, the seeds of the movie Black Hawk Down.
But this deployment is small, largely advisory, and will no doubt involve U.S. air assets and special forces supporting African Governments efforts to fight terror.
That’s a quick look at whats happening this morning. More news on the Buffalo shooting includes the fact the shooter planned this violence for months. I will have more on Buffalo on Back Story podcast this week.
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Dana Lewis