re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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The Transnistrian occupation government accused the Ukrainian government of plotting to kill Transnistria’s president, likely as part of the ongoing Russian information operations to undermine Ukrainian credibility and destabilize Moldova. The Transnistrian occupation Ministry of Security Services accused six people, including Ukrainian nationals and Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) personnel, on March 9 of plotting to assassinate senior Transnistrian occupation officials and the occupation head Vadim Krasnoselsky.[30] The SBU stated that the Transnistrian authorities’ accusation is a Kremlin information provocation

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Key Takeaways

Russian forces conducted the largest missile strike across Ukraine of 2023 likely only to advance Russian state propaganda objectives.

Russian forces likely advanced northwest of Bakhmut amid a likely increased tempo of Russian offensive operations in the area

The Wagner Group’s offensive operation in eastern Bakhmut appears to have entered a temporary tactical pause and it remains unclear if Wagner fighters will retain their operational preponderance in future Russian offensives in the city.

Russian forces may be preparing to resume offensive operations around Vuhledar, although persistent personnel and ammunition issues will likely continue to constrain Russian forces from advancing.

Internal dynamics within the Russian military may be driving the potential resumption of costly offensives near Vuhledar that offer little prospect of operational benefit.

Russian authorities are likely formalizing structures to create and coopt volunteer-based military formations under state-owned energy companies in order to distribute accountability, reduce burdens on the national budget, and avoid sanctions.

The Transnistrian occupation government accused the Ukrainian government of involvement in a claimed terrorist plot, likely as part of the Russian information operations to undermine Ukrainian credibility and destabilize Moldova.

Russian forces continued to conduct ground attacks throughout the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line.

Russian forces continued offensive operations in and around Bakhmut but have not completed a turning movement or enveloped or encircled the city.

Russian forces continued offensive operations along the outskirts of Donetsk City and near Vuhledar

Russian strikes completely disconnected the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Oblast, from all external power sources for 10 hours.

Ukrainian officials reported that Russian occupation authorities are preparing for a spring 2023 mobilization wave in occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that may include male teenagers born in 2006.

Russian officials and occupation authorities are continuing efforts to integrate occupied territories into the Russian political and bureaucratic systems.

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This was just a feint by Russia

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That means one in ten. Do you really mean more?

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There are, it must be said, some problems with the argument that this is the only correct meaning today.

The first problem is that even if decimate did refer to the practice of killing one of every ten soldiers in Roman times, it did so in the service of Latin, not English. We have many words in English that are descended from Latin but which have changed their meaning in their travels. We no longer think of sinister as meaning “on the left side,” even though that was one of the word’s meanings when it existed in Latin.

Another problem with insisting that decimate should have but a single meaning is that very few words in English retain but a single meaning. An enormous percentage of the items in our vocabulary are capable of semantic multitasking.

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Was the sense meaning “to select by lot and kill every tenth man of” the original use of decimate in English? Yes, it was, but not by much. Our earliest record of this meaning is from the end of the 16th century; by the beginning of the 17th century the word had already taken on an additional meaning (“to tithe”). Furthermore, the word decimation, meaning “a tithing,” had been in use for about 60 years before decimate began to be used in any fashion.

Perhaps you are one of those true stalwarts who will refuse to be swayed by any argument in this regard, and have resolved not only to continue to use decimate in this way but also to tell those who do not that they are wrong. In that case you deserve applause and support.

Come to think of it, you deserve more than that—you deserve an ovation. Except that the original meaning of ovation in English was “a ceremony attending the entering of Rome by a general who had won a victory of less importance than that for which a triumph was granted,” so I guess we can’t use that word.

No matter, we can say that if you stick to your guns you will surely have a triumph. Wait—the first meaning of triumph was “a ceremony attending the entering of Rome by a general who had won a decisive victory over a foreign enemy,” so let’s not use that.

As it turns out, decimate is hardly the only word in English that once had a precise single meaning dealing with Roman history; it just is the only one that people like to complain about. For those who truly believe that words which started out in English having a single meaning that pertains to ancient Rome should remain that way forever, the following list of such will come in handy:

Century: “a subdivision of the Roman legion.”
Forum: “the marketplace or public place of an ancient Roman city forming the center of judicial and public business.”
Tribune: “a Roman official under the monarchy and the republic with the function of protecting the plebeian citizen from arbitrary action by the patrician magistrates.”
Missiles: “Gifts thrown to the crowds by Roman emperors.”
Actor: “In Roman law, one that conducts a legal action.”
Legion: “the principal unit of the Roman army comprising 3000 to 6000 foot soldiers with cavalry.”

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As forces from Russian paramilitary group Wagner fight to expel Ukrainian troops from the eastern city of Bakhmut, the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, faces a defining moment.

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If Wagner succeeds in taking Bakhmut, it would be the first significant Russian victory since last summer. Mr. Prigozhin would show up the regular Russian military, whose efforts to take other towns in eastern Ukraine have failed.

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But if Mr. Prigozhin fails after seven months of fighting that, according to Western estimates, has cost Wagner tens of thousands of fighters, it could call into question the efficacy of the group’s soldiers and give fuel to his enemies in Russia’s political and military elite to further undermine Mr. Prigozhin.

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Tensions between Mr. Prigozhin and the Kremlin elite have risen over the years, as Wagner’s profile has grown.

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“People mostly ignored him when it was Syria and Africa, but in Ukraine it started angering everyone—and especially after the sledgehammer execution,” said a person close to the Kremlin. “People in the system feel that the state should have the monopoly on punishment.”

Mr. Prigozhin also lost allies in the Defense Ministry such as Col. Gen. Alexei Kim, the Russian army’s deputy chief of staff, who often flew with Wagner to places like Libya, said Gleb Irisov, a former Russian air-force officer who remains in touch with his former colleagues in the military.

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In February, he published a photograph of dozens of his soldiers that he said were killed on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine—bloodied, maimed and laid out for collection. In a video, he said the men died because of the Defense Ministry’s decision.

“Mothers, wives and children will receive their bodies, and who is guilty for the fact they died?” he asked.
“Those who should have solved the problem of supplying us with sufficient amounts of artillery,” he said, naming Mr. Shoigu and Gen. Gerasimov.

Analysts said regular Russian forces have been running short of artillery shells across the front line. But Mr. Prigozhin blamed the military leadership.

In early February, he said in a social-media post that one of his deputies, Andrey Troshev, had sent a spreadsheet to Mr. Gerasimov, highlighting 14 out of 21 different types of ammunition of which Wagner troops were in severely short supply.

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On Thursday, Mr. Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel that the shortage of artillery shells hadn’t improved and that the phone lines he uses to communicate with government agencies had been cut off. His access to government buildings has also been halted, he said, adding that the moves were aimed at stopping his complaints. His only outlet now, he said, was the media.

People familiar with the Kremlin’s thinking said Mr. Putin decided to restrain Mr. Prigozhin after complaints from top Kremlin officials. “They’ve decided that Prigozhin poses too great a threat, and it’s been decided it’s time to clamp down on Wagner,” said a former Russian intelligence agent with ties to the Kremlin.

Since January, references to Mr. Prigozhin and Wagner have become less frequent in Russian state media, after an order issued by the Kremlin, according to people close to Mr. Putin’s administration.

Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst, said he has been told by heads of state television and radio stations ahead of appearances in recent weeks to tone down references to Mr. Prigozhin and Wagner.

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Yet despite opposition from much of the Kremlin establishment, Mr. Prigozhin maintains the backing of Yuri Kovalchuk, a close friend and adviser to Mr. Putin, according to people close to the Kremlin. Mr. Kovalchuk didn’t respond to a request for comment.

A European intelligence official said of Mr. Prigozhin, “Russia is losing the war, so they still need him.”

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