Christina Harward, Grace Mappes, Nicole Wolkov, Karolina Hird, and Frederick W. Kagan

Putin claimed on May 28 during a press conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan that the Ukrainian Constitution provides for the extension of the powers of the Verkhovna Rada but "does not say anything about the extension of the powers of the president."[1] Putin claimed that although the Ukrainian law on martial law prohibits presidential elections during martial law, which Ukraine was under for one mo. [...] Putin claimed that "if [the Verkhovna Rada] wanted to hold presidential elections, then the law on martial law would have been abolished...and elections would be held." The Ukrainian Constitution states that "if the term of office of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expires during the period of martial law or a state of emergency, its powers shall be extended until the day of the first meeting of the. [...] The milbloggers' praise of Belousov and the dismissals comes with harsh criticisms of the corruption and ineptitude under former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, representing a significant break with the self-censorship largely enforced by the MoD following the Wagner Group rebellion in June 2023.[47] The condemnation of the MoD's ineptitude prior to the dismissals and the resulting praise for Belo. [...] Ukraine's Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reported on May 28 that the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has intensified efforts to recruit citizens of Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda and has created a specific assault formation for recruits from Africa.[98] The GUR reported that the Russian MoD promises to provide Central Africans who join the Russian. [...] Deputy Chairperson of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev claimed on May 28 that Russia must create an "alliance to fight against global terrorism" and get rid of the "fascism" that has existed in the world for 80 years.[107] Medvedev claimed that Russia's modern-day efforts against "fascism" are the continuation of the Soviet Union's fight against Nazism in the Second World War.