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Thomas Gibbons-Neff
For Thomas Gibbons-Neff's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Vasyl Vanzhurak, 24, sits in his home in the town of Verkhovyna, Ukraine, as his mother and younger brother help prepare dinner on March 22. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy probably changed the fates of thousands of Ukrainian men when he signed a law lowering the draft age to 25 from 27 this month.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2024
‘Waiting for my time to come’: Ukraine’s new draft law unsettles the young
Many of the young men who remain in Ukraine — although thousands of others have illegally fled the country — worry about their future.
A Ukrainian soldier with the 68th Brigade in a trench that is about 500 yards from a Russian position, in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, on Tuesday. After a Ukrainian summer counteroffensive in the south that fell far short of objectives, and with Russian troops currently on the attack and Western military aid less assured than in the past, the country’s prospects are looking bleak.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2024
Russia regains upper hand in Ukraine’s east as Kyiv’s troops struggle
Ukrainians are weary, short of ammunition and outnumbered, and their prospects look bleak.
People wait for the arrival of a train going west, in Kherson, Ukraine, on Oct. 31.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2023
Ukraine’s secret plan to save a city trapped in purgatory
Since Russian troops were pushed out of the city of Kherson, they have bombed it relentlessly. Closely held river operations could change that.
A Ukrainian sniper with the call sign Bart patiently waits at an abandoned building overlooking a Russian position, in southern Ukraine, on Sept. 21.
WORLD
Oct 1, 2023
Four seconds to impact: On the front line with Ukraine’s snipers
Overshadowed by high-tech killing tools, Ukraine’s snipers are no less essential than those of World War I were more than a century ago.
Relatives and friends touch the coffin of a man who was killed fighting Russian troops in Ukraine's Donetsk region, during a funeral ceremony in Kyiv on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 19, 2023
Troop deaths and injuries in Ukraine war near 500,000
Ukraine and Russia have lost a staggering number of troops as Kyiv’s counteroffensive drags on. A lack of rapid medical care has added to the toll.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 18, 2023
Russia, learning from costly mistakes, shifts battlefield tactics
Moscow’s forces remain uneven. But while bracing for a counteroffensive, they have improved discipline, coordination and air support, foreshadowing a changing war.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2023
As Kyiv reckons with deaths near a shelter, Russia evacuates border towns
Three people, including a woman and her child, were killed in an explosion near the entrance of a shelter early Thursday morning, having been locked out in the middle of an air raid.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 9, 2023
Leaked documents reveal depth of U.S. spy efforts and Russia’s military struggles
The information, exposed on social media sites, also shows that U.S. intelligence services are eavesdropping on important allies.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 8, 2023
New batch of classified U.S. documents appear on social media sites
The scale of the leak — analysts say more than 100 documents may have been obtained — along with the sensitivity of the documents themselves, could be hugely damaging, U.S. officials said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 26, 2023
Stolen valor: The U.S. volunteers in Ukraine who lie, waste and bicker
People who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front, with ready access to American weapons.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 3, 2023
Soaring death toll gives grim insight into Russian tactics
The slaughter from fighting in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and the town of Soledar has ballooned what was already a heavy toll.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 26, 2023
Western tanks are coming to Ukraine, but will they be enough?
Ukrainian troops still need to be trained to use the powerful Western war machines, and moving them into the conflict zone is far from an easy task.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 18, 2023
Pentagon sends U.S. arms stored in Israel to Ukraine
The Pentagon is tapping into a vast but little-known stockpile of American ammunition in Israel to help meet Ukraine’s dire need for artillery shells in the war with Russia.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 8, 2023
In a Ukraine workshop, the quest to build the perfect grenade
Since Russia's invasion began nearly a year ago, battlefield strategies have focused on dropping munitions from the air.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 31, 2022
In battered Ukrainian city, the latest battle is against winter
On the heels of Russian occupation in the spring and summer and Ukrainian liberation in the fall, emergency crews in Lyman are slowly getting reacquainted with a radically different city.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 18, 2022
‘This isn’t war. It’s the destruction of the Russian people by their own commanders.’
Russia has been at war most of the year, yet its army seems less prepared than ever.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 12, 2022
A gray area of loyalties splinters a liberated Ukrainian town
Sviatohirsk remains divided not by trench lines and artillery, but by where people's allegiances lie: with Moscow or Kyiv.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 26, 2022
Artillery is breaking in Ukraine. It’s becoming a problem for the Pentagon.
Ukrainian soldiers are firing thousands of shells daily, forcing the U.S. to replace gun barrels across the border in Poland.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 25, 2022
Under missile strikes, Ukrainians haul water, while surgeons work in the dark
Ukraine's engineers and emergency crews work desperately to restore services through snow, freezing rain and blackout conditions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 19, 2022
Ukraine’s counteroffensive forces face mobilized inmates and drones
Ukraine has been pushing a counteroffensive in the east and south, applying greater pressure to Russian forces, but there is no indication of any mass Russian withdrawal.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on