CNN describes the fate of three Russian citizens fighting on the side of Ukraine against the occupiers. The first fighter with the call sign "Caesar" in the very first days of the full-scale invasion decided that he had to protect the Ukrainians. He took his family from Russia to Ukraine and, after several months of checking and training, joined the international battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the summer. "Caesar" assures that it has already killed about 15 Russian soldiers. He does not feel an internal conflict on this matter. "Yes, I kill fellow citizens ― but they turned into criminals. They came to a foreign land to kill and destroy. They kill civilians, children and women," he says. Another fighter with Russian citizenship, with the call sign "Silent", saw the beginning of the war in Ukraine, where he had come to visit relatives. After the atrocities of the Russians in the occupied settlements near Kyiv became known, he decided to help repel the Russian invasion. "Silent" has relatives in Russia who understand him, he says ― as well as his best friend, who was recently mobilized into the army. The friend also supports Ukraine, says the fighter, but itʼs still unclear how to get him out of the grip of the Russian military system. The third hero of the article, the fighter "Vinni", refused to be photographed without a balaclava. He worries that due to the disclosure of the identity of the Putin regime, his relatives who are still in Russia may suffer. He himself plans to take up liberation from the Russian dictatorship after the liberation of Ukraine. Other CNN interlocutors have the same intention.
Although Sweden has not yet been accepted into NATO, it has already become an example of how a member country of the alliance should behave, writes Defense News. And itʼs not only because of the aid to Ukraine, which is becoming more and more large-scale in terms of the number and types of weapons. After two hundred years of neutrality, Russian aggression has changed the vector of Stockholm ― now the government is strengthening its defenses against potential enemies from the east. The country launched the Total Defense program, under which Swedenʼs defense budget will increase by $800 million next year, with a special focus on cyber security, intelligence, civilian emergency preparedness and increasing the size of the armed forces. By 2025, Sweden plans to increase defense spending by 40% compared to current amounts. The country still has a sizeable military industry: "There is no other country with a population of less than 10 million people that can produce submarines, sophisticated artillery systems, combat vehicles and fighter jets," says the countryʼs Minister of Defense, Pal Johnson. With the countryʼs accession to NATO, the alliance will only benefit, he assures. And the Baltic Sea, especially after joining the defense alliance and Finland, will turn into an "intra-NATO lake", the publication concludes.