Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Russia’s authorities are successfully using the “foreign agent” designation as a tool to manipulate public opinion, U.K. defense officials said Tuesday.

New polling by Russia’s state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Center assessed Russians’ attitudes toward people and organizations registered as “foreign agents” — a designation increasingly given to any person or entity seen to be under foreign influence, funding or a viewpoint contrary to the Kremlin’s.

The VTsIOM poll, published a week ago, found that 61% of those surveyed said that they considered “foreign agents” to be “traitors” who “disseminate lies” about Russia.

Commenting on the poll’s findings, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said it showed Russia had been successful in manipulating public opinion to support the state’s anti-West and pro-war narratives.

It also note that “Russia has broadened the foreign agent legislation since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine” meaning that the measures “significantly narrow the information space within Russia, making it increasingly difficult to articulate any viewpoint, including dissenting about the war, which deviates from the official line.”

Human Rights Watch describes Russia’s “foreign agent” legislation as vast and oppressive, saying the law “is yet another attack on free expression and legitimate civic activism in Russia, and should be repealed.”

“The law expands the definition of foreign agent to a point at which almost any person or entity, regardless of nationality or location, who engages in civic activism or even expresses opinions about Russian policies or officials’ conduct could be designated a foreign agent, so long as the authorities claim they are under “foreign influence.” It also excludes “foreign agents” from key aspects of civic life.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that it had destroyed 30 out of 31 “air targets” launched by Russia overnight.

The launches were carried out from Russian-occupied Crimea, the air force said in a post on Telegram, and were targeting the south and east of the country. The force added that air defense systems and units in the region were used to shoot down the “air targets.”

“The targets were destroyed in the areas of responsibility of the “South” and “East” air commands within Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions,” the air forces noted.

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information in the post.

— Holly Ellyatt

Top U.S. and Ukrainian officials discussed the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine’s “urgent” defense needs on Monday.

The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, and U.S. national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, had a phone call Monday to “discuss the situation at the front, Russian drone attacks, Ukraine’s defense needs and the issue of joint production of weapons,” the president’s office said in a statement.

Yermak briefed Sullivan on front-line developments, as well as the recent Russian air attacks — using Iranian-made drones — on Ukrainian infrastructure facilities.

“The parties discussed the urgent defense needs of the Ukrainian defense forces,” the statement added.

The officials also discussed joint arms production that was announced during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent visit to Washington.

“Yermak expressed gratitude to U.S. President Joseph Biden, the U.S. Congress for the continued support of Ukraine, and to all the people of America who support Ukrainians and our defenders in confronting Russia’s unjust aggression and authoritarianism,” the statement said.

The call comes at a tricky moment in U.S.-Ukrainian relations. Over the weekend, the U.S. Congress passed a stopgap funding bill that introduced a 45-day pause on new financial assistance for Kyiv. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, the U.S. has pledged more than $43 billion in security assistance to Kyiv.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Europe’s common victory “explicitly depends” on cooperation.

“I am confident that Ukraine and the entire free world can prevail in this confrontation. But our victory explicitly depends on our cooperation,” Zelenskyy said in an EU-Ukraine Foreign Ministers’ meeting published on the Ukrainian presidency website.

“The more powerful and principled steps we take together, the sooner this war will end. End fairly. With the restoration of our territorial integrity and a reliable guarantee of peace for the whole of Europe.”

The speech comes as war fatigue appears to be growing among some of Ukraine’s allies, with a pause in U.S. funding for Ukraine and a pro-Russian candidate having won Slovakia’s general election over the weekend.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Russia claimed Monday that war fatigue is spreading among Ukraine’s allies, stating that this was exemplified by the pause in U.S. funding for Ukraine and the triumph of a pro-Russian candidate in Slovakia’s weekend election.

“As we said earlier many times, according to our estimates, people in many countries, including the U.S., will be growing tired of this conflict, tired of this totally absurd sponsoring the Kyiv regime. This tiredness will lead to the political establishment splitting,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s press secretary, told reporters Monday.

Nonetheless, Peskov said the U.S.’ plan to temporarily halt funding for Ukraine for 45 days, as part of a stopgap funding bill passed by Congress at the weekend, did not mean U.S. support for Kyiv was over.

“This is a temporary occurrence, evidently. The U.S. will continue their involvement into this conflict, almost a direct involvement,” he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

German exports of military equipment to Ukraine grew more than fourfold so far this year, making Kyiv the main recipient of German arms, the economy ministry said on Monday.

Ukraine accounted for 3.3 billion euros ($3.48 billion) out of Germany’s total value of authorised military exports of 8.76 billion euros in the first nine months of the year.

By contrast, for the same period last year, 775 million euros’ worth of equipment had been approved for Ukraine.

Germany has repeatedly promised to support Ukraine for as long as necessary following the Russian invasion in February 2022, which prompted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to speak of a turning point in Germany’s attitude towards defense.

Hungary, which has long said it would increase its military spending, was the second-largest recipient at 1.03 billion euros, followed by the United States with 467 million euros.

— Reuters

Russia said it is watching political developments in Slovakia after the pro-Russian populist, and former prime minister, Robert Fico won a parliamentary election at the weekend.

When campaigning, Fico promised to halt military support for Ukraine and called on Kyiv and Moscow to reach a compromise to end the war.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was ridiculous that European politicians like Fico were labelled pro-Russian.

“Now anyone who thinks about the sovereignty and independence of their country are getting called pro-Russian. We would surely like to see experienced and cool-headed leaders in Slovakia,” he said, in comments translated by NBC.

Fico and his Smer party still needs to form a coalition in order to govern so their future coalition partner could determine which direction the country goes in when it comes to support for Kyiv.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s top diplomat said on Monday Washington’s support for Kyiv was not weakening, and played down the significance of a stopgap funding bill passed by U.S. Congress that omitted aid to Ukraine.

U.S. and other Western military assistance has been vital for Ukraine to fight back against the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February 2022.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv was in talks with Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress, and that the drama around the stopgap bill that averted a government shutdown on Saturday was an “incident” rather than something systemic.

“We don’t feel that the U.S support has been shattered… because the United States understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is much bigger than just Ukraine,” he told reporters as he greeted European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv.

“It’s about the stability and predictability of the world and therefore I believe we will be able to find necessary solutions.”

Kuleba said the question was whether what happened in the U.S. Congress at the weekend was “an incident or a system”.

“I think it was an incident,” he said. “We have a very in-depth discussion with both parts of the Congress – Republicans and Democrats. And against the background of the potential shutdown, the decision was taken as it was.

“But we are now working with both sides of the Congress to make sure that it does not (get) repeat(ed) again under any circumstances,” he said.

— Reuters