The Russian Invasion

Russian invasionPutin's Russia
New Russian military top arrested - suspected of bribery

A top Russian general has been arrested on suspicion of corruption, AFP reports. It is the third high-ranking military officer to be arrested within a month.

Vadim Sjamarin, second highest in Russia's defense staff, is suspected of having accepted extensive bribes. A military court has decided that he should remain in custody. If convicted, he faces eight to fifteen years in prison.

Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov have been arrested in recent weeks, also suspected of bribery. The same goes for General Ivan Popov, who was fired from a commanding role last year after he publicly addressed Russia's high death toll.

The crackdown on military leaders comes at the same time as Russia's Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu has been surprisingly replaced by economist Andrey Belousov.

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Putin's Russia
Estonia accuses Russia of removing 24 buoys

Russia's border guard removed 24 buoys from Estonian water in the river Narva last night, Hufvudstadsbladet writes with reference to a statement from Estonia's border guard.

Before Russia started the war of invasion against Ukraine, there was cooperation on the deployment of the buoys. This year, Russia has objected to the placement of some of the buoys, which are used for navigation.

Some of the shackles that have been removed must be ones that Russia has been against.

At a press conference, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas calls it a "border incident".

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The Russian invasion. The outside world's response
Norway tightens rules for Russians even more

Norway tightens the rules for entry from Russia, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl announces, according to VG. Exceptions must now only be made for Russian citizens who have close relatives in Norway.

The background to the decision is Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The new rules come into effect on May 29.

Already in the spring of 2022, Norway tightened the regulations for Russians, but the new strictures apply both to those who have visas issued before that year and those with visas issued by other Schengen countries.

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The Russian InvasionThe Battles
Experts: Need hundreds of thousands of soldiers to take the city of millions

Russia has a completely different strategy in trying to take control of Kharkiv now compared to 2022, says Petro Levkovsky, chief of staff of one of the battalions fighting around the million-strong city in the eastern parts of the country, to the New York Times.

Then they came marching in columns in the belief of meeting with open arms, while the Russians now fire artillery from a long distance and attack in groups from different directions - and with many soldiers.

The Swedish military analyst Johan Norberg, active at the Total Defense Research Institute, says that Russia needs hundreds of thousands of soldiers to be able to take the city.

He says Ukraine's defense strategies are as important as Russia's offensive methods.

- War is interactive.