Russia-Ukraine 1000 Days, Hong Kong Activists Sentenced, Trump And Your Money
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What has happened in Ukraine after 1000 days of war?
It's been a thousand days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has devastated Ukraine and transformed life in Russia. How much further could it escalate as Moscow warns that U.S. missiles could trigger a nuclear response?
I'm Leila Fadil, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. In Hong Kong, dozens of pro-democracy activists are sentenced to prison under a national security law that critics say has crushed dissent. Why was a political poll considered a threat and what message is China sending with these verdicts?
And President-elect Trump is laying out big promises for tax cuts.
We will have no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits.
Sounds appealing, but could his plan blow a hole in the federal budget? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Today marks a thousand days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor Ukraine. The war forced the displacement of millions of Ukrainians from their homes. It's led to the death and maiming of hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers. But the war has also brought immense changes to life in Russia, and in the past hours, a possibly significant development. Joining us to talk about this is NPR's Moscow correspondent Charles Maines. He's reported out of Russia since the beginning of the conflict, and he's here to tell us more about this. Charles, good morning.
Hi there.
So before we get to the thousand days, tell us what you can about this breaking news.
Well, Russia's defense ministry today said Ukraine had carried out its first attacks on Russian territory using American-made long-range attackums. Now, according to the ministry, Ukraine fired six of these missiles on Russia's western Bryansk region, five of which Russian air defenses destroyed mid-flight, and the sixth the ministry claimed to have downed. No injuries were reported. We don't have any word from Kyiv yet. But if the claim is true, it appeared to be the direct result of the Biden administration's decision, reported by NPR and others, that it had lifted restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range Western weapons to target inside Russia.
Has there been any response from the Kremlin?
Well, not directly, but Russian President Vladimir Putin today signed a decree updating his country's nuclear doctrine, in effect expanding Russia's options for carrying out a nuclear strike in what would appear a response to the U.S. 's decision. Under the new changes, Russia now reserves the right to respond with a nuclear strike to a conventional attack by countries supported by a nuclear power. Now, I should add these changes had been previously announced, but it's hard not to see the timing of its signing as a coincidence.
Meanwhile, as all this is happening, we are marking a thousand days since Russia first launched its full-scale invasion. You've been living there. How do you think the war has changed the country?
Well, it's transformed Russia utterly. Everything from its geopolitics, where Russia now embraces military alliances with anti-Western rogue states like Iran and North Korea. to its domestic political culture. Russia under President Vladimir Putin was never a liberal bastion, but the repressions of seemingly any dissent since the war started make the earlier Putin years seem comparatively free.
Why were pro-democracy activists sentenced in Hong Kong?
And then there's the economy. Today, Russia is the world's most sanctioned state, but those are largely Western-imposed sanctions. So big-name Western companies like McDonald's, Apple, and Starbucks, they've all left. But the country has pivoted to new markets and new trade partners, often in China. So the result is that most of what you buy and what you say, read and watch, it's all changed.
So do we have a sense of what Russians think about all this? I mean, you've very much described just kind of the repressive political atmosphere there. But is there any way to know how Russians feel about the war, how they feel about all the changes it's brought?
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