David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
Germany makes historic shift on defense after Russia invasion
Russian President Vladimir Putin has managed to do in five days what U.S. presidents of both parties have failed to do for a decade: Get NATO laggard Germany to spend more on defense. Published February 27, 2022
Ukraine sees win as Russia agrees on peace talks
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to emergency talks on ways to resolve their five-day war, with Kyiv officials saying the Kremlin's agreement to talk is already a sign things aren't going as planned for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Published February 27, 2022
In Russia, protests of invasion persist despite Kremlin crackdown
Protesters again took to the streets of Moscow and other major cities to protest the war in Ukraine, defying a crackdown by the Kremlin in a rare outbreak of determined domestic pushback against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Published February 27, 2022
Once-reluctant Germany boosts military in wake of Russian invasion
Russian President Vladimir Putin has managed to do in five days what U.S. presidents of both parties have failed to do for a decade: Get NATO laggard Germany to spend more on defense. Published February 27, 2022
Putin order puts Russian nuke deterrence force on high alert
President Vladimir Putin put Russia's massive nuclear arsenal on higher alert Sunday, citing what he said were military and economic moves by the U.S. and its allies in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Published February 27, 2022
U.S. boosts humanitarian aid to Ukraine in face of Russian invasion
The Biden administration is boosting humanitarian aid to Ukraine as it tries to fend off a fierce Russian offensive now in its fifth day. Published February 27, 2022
Global chess body cancels big events in Russia over invasion
In Russia, where chess is a very big deal, this one might hurt a little more. Published February 25, 2022
Putin offered heads-up, protection guarantee ahead of invasion: Belarus’ Lukashenko
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave him a heads-up that Moscow was about to invade neighboring Ukraine and promised Russian forces would help defend Belarus against any blowback from the operation. Published February 24, 2022
Putin’s friends in Europe turn on him after invasion
Some of Russian President Vladimir Putin's few sympathetic partners in Europe turned on him sharply Thursday in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, dimming further the Kremlin's hopes of creating new divides in the West as it responds to the crisis. Published February 24, 2022
Wheat prices soar as exporting giants Ukraine, Russia clash
Energy and stock market traders are not the only ones watching Russia's invasion of Ukraine with mounting alarm. Published February 24, 2022
NATO plans Friday virtual summit to coordinate Russia response
The NATO military alliance will hold an emergency virtual summit Friday to coordinate its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while issuing new orders giving NATO commanders greater freedom to redeploy troops quickly to Eastern Europe. Published February 24, 2022
Turkey’s Erdogan calls Russian moves against Ukraine ‘unacceptable’
Turkey, whose control of access to the Black Sea could play a critical role in the crisis in Ukraine, rejects Russia's recognition of two breakaway Ukrainian enclaves as "unacceptable," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call Tuesday. Published February 23, 2022
D.C.’s storied role as an incubator of Black chess in America
'As a matter of fact, one can claim the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area was the cradle for Black chess in America." Local writer and two-time D.C. chess champion Gregory Kearse made that claim in a seminal 1998 article for Chess Life, which noted that the thriving local area chess scene in the 1960s helped develop the first officially rated African American chess masters. Published February 22, 2022
Putin’s preoccupations drive a global crisis as he claims Russia has been disrespected
ANALYSIS: Russian President Vladimir Putin offered an intimate glimpse into his thinking in a rambling, peevish, hourlong address laying out exactly why he was effectively taking another bite out of neighboring Ukraine and risking sanctions and perhaps the nastiest war in Europe in decades. Published February 21, 2022
Putin orders troops to ‘protect’ breakaway Ukrainian provinces
Defying warnings from the U.S. and its allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two breakaway enclaves in neighboring Ukraine as independent states and authorized Russian troops to cross into Ukrainian territory as a "peacekeeping" force. Published February 21, 2022
Putin recognizes breakaway Ukrainian states, authorizes Russian ‘peacekeepers’
Russia will recognize the independence of two separatist enclaves inside Ukraine, defying efforts from the U.S. and its allies to tamp down the crisis in Eastern Europe, President Vladimir Putin confirmed in a national address Monday. Published February 21, 2022
Biden says Putin has decided to invade Ukraine within days
President Biden on Friday said Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and that an attack could come within days. Published February 18, 2022
‘Very high’ chance of invasion soon, Biden says
President Biden and his top aides unleashed a new volley of warnings Thursday that the Kremlin is preparing for a military invasion of neighboring Ukraine, perhaps in the next few days, as the administration brushed aside Russian protestations to the contrary. Published February 17, 2022
Blinken defends U.S. info blitz predicting Russian military action
Secretary of State Antony Blinken launched a scathing attack Thursday on what he said were Russian preparations for a possibly imminent invasion of Ukraine, saying the Biden administration has issued a blitz of warnings in recent weeks about potential Russian provocations as a way to head off war. Published February 17, 2022
Belarusian President Lukashenko to meet Putin Friday amid soaring Ukraine tensions
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whose country is hosting some 30,000 Russian troops for joint training exercises close to the border with Ukraine, will travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the official Belarusian press agency reported Wednesday. Published February 16, 2022