Jonathan Brown

Home by Home, Russia Is Selling Occupied Ukraine to Russians Kremlin-linked construction firms reap profits from redevelopment of housing destroyed by Russia’s invasion.

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Derk Sauer, western media magnate in Russia, 1952-2025 Dutch editor founded The Moscow Times and Russian editions of magazines including Cosmopolitan and Playboy

on.ft.com/4mrAX6F

Devastating

'We refuse to see them die': AFP addresses about journalists' risk of starvation in Gaza

AFP says its journalists are starving to death in Gaza

Ukrainian Troops Struggle to Hold the Line on the Eastern Front

“It’s extremely difficult to deliver supplies, to rotate troops — to do anything, really.”

The Weapon That Terrorizes Ukrainians by Night

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/m...

MEZHOVA, Ukraine. June, 2025

📸 by Tetiana Dzhafarova for @afp.com

‘An epic failure’: Russia reels from surprise Ukrainian attack on bomber fleet Audacious drone raid threatens Moscow’s military operations and exposes vulnerability deep within its territory

on.ft.com/4kqZzvO

The Battlefield Lessons North Korea Has Learned Fighting Ukraine Combat experience has taught the Russian ally modern warfare tactics that, combined with ideological fervor, make it a significant adversary for the Ukrainians.

“Why are the Koreans the ones storming? They are better prepared psychologically and they are better prepared physically. In Kursk, they completed their mission.”

Great read from @janelytv.bsky.social, Dasl Yoon and Alistair MacDonald @wsj.com

Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine. April, 2025

📸 by Andriy Andriyenko of Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade, distributed by @afpfr.bsky.social

@afpnews.bsky.social KYIV:

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, adding that Kyiv would demand an explanation from Beijing and a reaction from its allies.

Russian Killing of Ukrainian Children Shows Limits of Trump’s Peace Efforts Ukraine held funerals for some of the children on Monday as Kremlin demands concessions for a cease-fire.

Russia’s killing of nine children in a missile strike has brought into focus the failure of President Trump to fulfill his campaign pledge of a swift end to the war.

www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Looks like this is the very crux of the controversy:

"The independent jury judges entries anonymously – without names of photographers or outlets they work for. The principle is that the jury is judging the entry, not the person or agency they work for."

www.worldpressphoto.org/news/2025/st...

Mariinka, Ukraine. April, 2025.

📸 stringer for @afpnews.bsky.social

'Paratroopers turned into battered infantry' — The rise and fall of Ukraine's Kursk gambit As Ukraine's seven-month-long incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast came to what appears to be its end, Ukrainian soldiers and military experts are questioning the operation's goal and the long-term ef...

As Ukraine's seven-month-long incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast came to what appears to be its end, Ukrainian soldiers and military experts are questioning the operation's goal and the long-term effect it will have on the war.

TUZ, Kyrgyzstan. March, 2025

📸 by Guliza Urustambek kyzy for @afpnews.bsky.social

Узбекистан, Таджикистан и Кыргызстан подписали Договор о точке стыка границ и открыли стелу Дружбы Президенты Узбекистана, Таджикистана и Кыргызстана по итогам трёхсторонней встречи в Худжанде подписали Договор о точке стыка государственных границ. Они также торжественно открыли стелу Дружбы в райо...

#CentralAsia certainly still has a lot of problems to deal with, but this photo of the presidents of three once hostile countries grinning as border disputes are settled after three decades really sums up the mood of optimism this has generated
www.gazeta.uz/ru/2025/03/3...

Four U.S. service members and their tracked vehicle went missing yesterday during exercises in Lithuania’s Pabrade training area, some 7 miles from the border with Belarus. www.rferl.org/amp/us-soldi...

#BREAKING Istanbul court orders arrest of AFP photographer after protests coverage: lawyer

Russia Jailed Her Husband In Occupied Ukraine. Then Natalya Swung Into Action. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are in Russian custody, some enduring torture—and there is no legal process for freeing them.

This a great story by Ian and Nikita @wsj.com that details the arbitrary detention of one Ukrainian woman's family by Russian forces and the lengths she goes to to free them, at great personal risk. And it reveals an important truth about Russia, about the power of money and corruption.

Exclusive: Intelligence shared with White House shows Ukrainians not 'encircled' in Kursk Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk have lost ground in recent days but are not encircled by Russian forces, contrary to recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to three U.S. and European officials familiar with their governments' intelligence assessments.

Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk have lost ground in recent days but are not encircled by Russian forces, contrary to recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to three U.S. and European officials www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Banned Russian Channel RT Secretly Pays Video Bloggers Who Promote Kremlin Narratives The bloggers rack up millions of views, promote Russia as a haven for conservatives, glorify the war in Ukraine — and never disclose any ties to the Russian government. The money tells a different sto...

NEW: Russian state-controlled channel RT has largely vanished from Western screens due to sanctions. But iStories found that RT is paying influencers who push pro-Russian narratives, deny Russian war crimes, and strive to make Westerners love — and move to — Russia www.occrp.org/en/investiga...

this is such a gorgeous listen -- what a spotlight on central asia and that club, as charles calls it, the soviet union.

KYIV, Ukraine. March, 2025

📷 by Roman Pilipey for @afpnews.bsky.social

Exclusive | Captured North Koreans Describe Fighting for Russia in a War They Didn’t Understand The two soldiers thought they would be fighting South Korean troops and were told to kill themselves rather than be captured.

www.wsj.com/world/north-...

Relatives of MH17 victims appeal to Trump to demand Russia admit responsibility for disaster as part of peace settlement — Meduza Relatives of the passengers killed in Russia’s 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine’s Donetsk region have appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President…

Relatives of MH17 victims have appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging them to demand Moscow admit responsibility for the 2014 downing as part of any future peace settlement.