Top headlines from today’s report: US intelligence says Putin badly misinformed by advisors while UK intel chief says some Russian soldiers are refusing orders; Senior French Intel official fired over Ukraine failures and Putin says natural gas must be paid for in roubles. Let’s get right to the full report today and remember you can always find links to our original sources in the Cipher Brief Daily newsletter. Sign up at thecipherbrief.com.
Today's top stories:
A U.S. General acknowledges a possible 'gap' in intelligence on Russia; Russia intensifies attacks around Kyiv despite words of de-escalation; Germany signals a pending emergency over energy; Ukraine publishes a list of alleged Russian intelligence officers and South Korea says the North's recent missile launch was staged. Let’s get right to the full report today and remember you can always find links to our original sources in the Cipher Brief Daily newsletter. Sign up at thecipherbrief.com.
Topping today's report: Biden seeks $813 Billion for DOD Budget -- US Deploying EW Aircraft to Europe -- Russia says it will scale back combat around Kyiv and Gulf States meet to discuss Yemen.
Topping today’s report: US Nuclear weapons policy under review; US and Europe strike natural gas deal; Ukraine says 300 killed in Mariupol theatre attack; Ukraine’s military takes back territory, and the US indicts Russians on hacking on infrastructure. Let’s get right to the full report today and remember you can always find links to our original sources in the Cipher Brief Daily newsletter. Sign up at thecipherbrief.com.
Topping today’s report: US and European officials kick off a round of emergency summits in Europe; Ukrainian forces score victories against the Russian military; North Korea tests an ICBM and US unsure if Iran talks can reach a deal. Let’s get right to the full report today and remember you can always find links to our original sources in the Cipher Brief Daily newsletter.
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Topping today’s report: US President Joe Biden departs on a 4-day trip where he will attend a NATO summit; Poland expels 45 Russian diplomats over espionage charges while the Kremlin warns that a Polish proposal for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine would be reckless and the US Army and Navy announce new efforts to increase cyber capabilities. Let’s get right to the full report today and remember you can always find links to our original sources in the Cipher Brief Daily newsletter. Sign up at thecipherbrief.com.
Topping the news today: Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy has rejected a Russian demand to surrender the city of Mariupol: US missile defense deploys in Slovakia; Biden to speak with European leaders ahead of Europe visit and Saudi Arabia to boost oil production investment. Let’s get to the rest of today’s report and remember you can always find links to our source material in the Cipher Brief’s free daily newsletter, sign up at thecipherbrief.com.
Today’s top story is the phone call that is underway between President Biden and President Xi, we’re waiting for the first readouts of that call. Also, Russian military continues its attacks in Western Ukraine; Germany announces a new national security strategy and South Africa’s President says NATO to blame for Ukraine war.
Today’s top story is that President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a war criminal and the US announces a major new military aid deal for Ukraine. This comes as many experts point to the stalled Russian advances in Ukraine as evidence of Russian military weakness. The White House also says Biden and Xi are set to speak tomorrow, so we'll be watching what comes out of that tomorrow.
Today's top story is Ukranian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy addressed a joint session of congress where he called for more military aid; this comes as Ukraine’s military says it successfully mounted counter-offensive operations against Russia as some media reports suggest signs of compromise are appearing between the two sides. We’ve also got reports of a failed North Korean missile launch and some news related to released prisoners out of Iran. Remember you can find links to all of our source material in The Cipher Brief’s free daily newsletter. Sign up at the thecipherbrief.com
Major headlines from today’s report are: Three EU leaders travel to Kyiv, a city under Russia bombardment as Ukrainian President Zelenskiy calls on Russia troops in Ukraine to surrender. Iran’s Foreign Minister is in Moscow for talks and US military forces conduct readiness drills in the Indo-Pacific region as North Koreas threatens to launch an ICBM. Let’s get to the full report now broken down by region of the world.
Topping today’s report: Cipher Brief Expert and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General (Ret) Phil Breedlove says ‘We in the West are completed deterred right now, Mr. Putin has deterred us.’ General Breedlove is one of 27 foreign policy experts calling for a limited no-fly zone in Ukraine to provide some protection for the humanitarian corridors. Speaking on CNN this morning Gen Breedlove says we need to shift to an ‘active deterrence’ state and retake the initiative from Russia and work to protect civilians in Ukraine. This comes as reports of new Russian attacks in the west of Ukraine, Russian advances on Kyiv and while some European leaders ramp up pressure on Putin for a ceasefire. We’ve also got news out of North Korea and why the US military wants to send commandoes back to Somalia. Let’s get to today’s report.
Topping today's report:
Ukraine’s president says babies are under ruble following reports of a Russian attack on a maternity hospital southern Ukraine. The US says its exploring options after rejecting a Polish plan to transfer jets to Ukraine and a senior Australian intelligence official warns of the risk of a ‘major power conflict’ following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s another very big news day with the war in Ukraine dominating the headlines. Let's get to the rest of it in today's episode.
We’re coming to you today from Colorado Springs. We’re out here working with our incredible team on a few projects. It’s an incredibly big news days. Topping today’s open source report is news that President Joe Biden has announced a ban on the US purchase and import of Russian oil. His comments came in a televised address. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also expected to announce a similar ban later today. This comes as US intelligence chiefs are testifying before Congress where they say that estimates are that up to 4000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far in the Ukraine war. Things are very fast moving in the news cycle right now so it’s likely that some of these stories are changing as we speak. Let’s get right to it.
It’s hard to know where to start. If someone would have told me before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 that on Monday March 7 we would be reading the range of headlines that we have in today’s report, I would have said you were insane. In this episode we have reports of US officials traveling to Venezuela, Iranian condemnation of Russia, the UN’s highest court holding a special hearing on Genocide and Saudi Arabia’s plan to leverage oil to get what it wants from the US. All of this is against a backdrop of unthinkable suffering in Ukraine as Russia continues to assault civilian areas and unprecedented economic sanctions against Russia that we are yet to fully understand how they will ultimately impact global financial stability. I have to reference General Hayden’s comments at our threat conference years ago when he said the world has never been more complicated, that was in 2017. I think we’ve now entered a whole new dimension of complicated. Let’s get to the rest of today’s report.
But Western officials are warning that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is turning into a “slow annihilation” of Ukraine’s military and that continued siege tactics will increasingly hit civilian targets. The warning comes as Russia is reportedly deploying heavier weaponry and greater numbers of troops. A Western intelligence official told CNN that Ukraine’s will to resist is “extending” the fighting but “the cruel military math” is that Russia will eventually be able to overwhelm Ukrainian forces, which are already outgunned and outnumbered. Ukrainian officials are calling for even more immediate security aid from the West to keep defenses going.
President Joe Biden says Russian President Vladimir Putin "has no idea what's coming' in State of the Union Address as the US continues to target Russia with financial punishment to include possible sanctions on Russia's energy sector. This comes as Russia claims controlof major Ukrainian Port while Ukrainian sources say that fighting in those key areas continues.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says reports of violations of human rights by Russia are ‘mounting by the hour’ and that Russian attacks are destroying critical infrastructure and targeting schools, hospitals and residential areas. He called the invasion of Ukraine ‘unprovoked and unjustified’ in a televised speech to the UN Security Council where he urged the members to assign accountability for this conflict to Russia. He also called into question whether Russia should be allowed to remain on the security council. Let's get to the rest of the report.