As Russia’s war in Ukraine reaches 500 days, Zelensky used Snake Island to rally Ukrainians. “I want to thank this place, a place of victory, every one of our fighters for these five hundred days,” he said in a video posted early Saturday that showed him at the island, a small speck of land that to many Ukrainians has come to symbolize their resistance against Russia’s invasion.
Britain joined Germany in distancing itself from the U.S. decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions on Saturday, as Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted a clarification and assurances about Ukraine’s use of the controversial weapons. Canada also opposed the shipment, saying it is committed to ending the use of such weapons. President Biden defended the move to supply Kyiv with cluster munitions on Friday, telling reporters that Ukraine is “running out of ammunition.”
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Reaction to cluster munitions
But even as the state-controlled media is trashing Prigozhin as a greedy, treasonous opportunist, the Kremlin has permitted him to return to Russia and recover millions in cash and personal weapons, showing that it’s not so easy to make him disappear.
Still, the gaslighting efforts seem to be working, putting Russia’s shocked population back into passive mode and portraying Putin as stronger than ever. “As far as the general public is concerned, it seems like clinging to normalcy is still the most common and the most immediate reaction among the majority,” said Maria Lipman, a Russia analyst at George Washington University.
Robyn Dixon contributed to this report.
