Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #6

[CoverMeCagney]

I personally appreciate the different opinions on this issue. It is certainly an elephant in the room. I am still fearful that we should not, but I hope we can continue to dialogue about it without major discomfort. It is a hard issue to substantiate with facts at this time, but the pains of increasing deaths in Ukraine is just sickening.

and by the way.... I am feeling certain that Putin's photographers were using Daniel Craig as the model for the 'Putin Action Figure" photos...

I am hopeful that we do not get involved, but it’s got so brutal you have to wonder how much Russian army would be left if NATO all joined in. It would be over, pretty quickly. But… nukes. We’re very much between a rock and a hard place.

 

[MassGuy]

I wonder how much Russia spends on mercenaries.

Those guys are truly terrifying, especially the Wagner Group. Hollywood movies have evil mercenaries, but these guys are as ruthless as anything that can be dreamed up in fiction.

 

[CSIDreamer]

I am hopeful that we do not get involved, but it’s got so brutal you have to wonder how much Russian army would be left if NATO all joined in. It would be over, pretty quickly. But… nukes. We’re very much between a rock and a hard place.

It's awful to watch. But my question regarding setting off WW3 is at what cost? While I have to search myself and ask why do I stand by NATO staying out of a no fly zone, I also have to ask what would the cost be to "close the skies" and potentially set off a nuclear war? Who is prepared for that cost?

Just musing. JMO

 

[CSIDreamer]

.

Those guys are truly terrifying, especially the Wagner Group. Hollywood movies have evil mercenaries, but these guys are as ruthless as anything that can be dreamed up in fiction.

They remind me of that old horror movie, The Seventh Sign. Scared me to death. JMO

 

[Sillybilly]

Hey everyone,

Fun while it lasted, but the posts about the Kim Jong-un story have been removed. Apparently it was a joke that the Mirror picked up on

https://twitter.com/XSovietNews

 

[CoverMeCagney]

It's awful to watch. But my question regarding setting off WW3 is at what cost? While I have to search myself and ask why do I stand by NATO staying out of a no fly zone, I also have to ask what would the cost be to "close the skies" and potentially set off a nuclear war? Who is prepared for that cost?

Just musing. JMO

Theres no correct answer that suits everyone, and we’re essentially sacrificing Ukrainians while we sit on the fence.

Nuclear war is just not an option, and with Putin at the helm who knows what he would do to prove a point. He’s too unstable to risk it. If I had to vote and it actually counted, I’d vote to sit tight on that fence, but I’d feel incredibly guilty watching innocent people die in front of my eyes. I guess that’s the situation our Presidents and Prime Ministers are in right now.

 

[fred&edna]

Those guys are truly terrifying, especially the Wagner Group. Hollywood movies have evil mercenaries, but these guys are as ruthless as anything that can be dreamed up in fiction.

ITA

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Slightly o/t but this article is interesting given current relations:

Russians to give American astronaut ride to Earth in spite of tensions

 

[Betty P]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

This is the new trend. Sad. MOO

Given their other beliefs, they will soon become extinct. JMO

 

[worldwatcher]

https://mobile.twitter.com/LatestAnonPress/status/1503904583898255361
Air alarm in almost all of Ukraine. The air alarm was announced in:

kyiv and region;
Lviv and regions;
Dnieper and region;
Cherkassy and region;
Ivano-Frankivsk and the region;
Odessa;
Kropyvnytskyi;
vinnytsia;
Poltava.

Prayers for Ukraine

 

[MassGuy]

This would be amazing.

Exclusive: Biden admin mulls providing Ukraine with Switchblade drones

The Biden administration is considering providing Ukraine with U.S.-made killer drones— cutting edge guided missiles that could accurately target Russian tanks and artillery positions from miles away, two Congressional officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.

No decisions have been made, but the officials said the White House is mulling whether to equip Ukraine with explosive-laden “loitering missiles,” called Switchblades, as part of a new package of military aid President Biden is expected to discuss on Wednesday.

There are two variants of the weapon, the Switchblade 300 and 600, that have been sold to U.S. Special Operations Command by manufacturer AeroVironment, based in suburban Washington, DC. The 300 is designed for pinpoint strikes on personnel, and the larger 600 is meant to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles.

<snip>

The Switchblades are essentially robotic smart bombs, equipped with cameras, a guidance system and explosives. They can be programmed to automatically strike a target miles away, and they can be steered around an objective until the time is right to strike. The company says the 600 can fly for 40 minutes and up to 50 miles.

They are a single-use weapon, which is why they have been dubbed “kamikaze drones.” But they are orders of magnitude cheaper than the Hellfire missiles fired by U.S. Reaper drones. The 300 can cost as little as $6,000, by some estimates.

Both weapons can be set up in minutes and launched from a tube. They fly much faster than the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones that Ukraine has been using to inflict damage on Russia, and presumably would be able to penetrate the spotty air defenses Russia is currently maintaining over its forces.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 15, 2022
3 EU prime ministers visit Kyiv as Russian attacks intensify | AP News
[...]

“It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here, that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that the future of us all hangs in the balance,” Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Twitter.

The long journey over land from Poland to Kyiv by Morawiecki, Poland’s deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Prime Ministers Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic and Janez Jansa of Slovenia sent the message that most of Ukraine still remains in Ukrainian hands.

[...]

The Central European leaders said they were on an EU mission. But officials from the 27-nation bloc insisted that the trio had undertaken the trip independently.

All three countries were once part of the communist bloc and now belong to both the EU and NATO.

Jansa described the visit as a way to send a message that Ukraine is a European country that deserves to be accepted one day into the EU. Two weeks earlier, Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal to the European Parliament on that very subject.

[...]

 

[CSIDreamer]

I'm kind of shocked there are enough cars left in one piece.

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1503904432035176459?t=m75VpE3Nd4iksEouligpKA&s=19

20,000 people were able to leave Mariupol today. So far only by own transport. Ukrainian humanitarian column is again blocked by Russian troops,–Zelenskyy."The situation there is very difficult"–he said

In total, on 15 March 28,893 people were evacuated.
Log into Facebook

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 15, 2022
US Senate approves resolution probing Putin for war crimes | AP News
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution late Tuesday seeking investigations of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine.

[...]

It says the Senate condemns Putin, the Russian Federation, the Russian Security Council, members of the Russian military and others of committing flagrant acts of aggression and other atrocities that rise to the level of war crimes.

The resolution calls for the U.S. and others to seek investigations of Putin and his regime at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice for potential war crimes.

 

[margarita25]

 

[fred&edna]

Informative

Putin's Road to War

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine-Russia war latest: ‘room for compromise’ in ceasefire talks; three EU leaders meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv – live | World news | The Guardian

5m ago 22:10
Nato is set to tell its military commanders on Wednesday to draw up plans for new ways to deter Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, including more troops and missile defences in eastern Europe, officials and diplomats said.

[...]

30m ago 01:46
The United Nations has said that since the war in Ukraine started on 24 February, every day 70,000 children in Ukraine have become refugees.

“That is equivalent to 55 children fleeing the country every minute, according to UNICEF — nearly one every second,” said a UN spokesman.

[...]

43m ago 12:35
More from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s late-night national address:

The third week is coming to an end. We all want peace. We all want victory. And there’s a feeling that just a little bit longer and we will achieve what we, Ukrainians, are entitled to by right.

Zelenskiy added that meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials continue.

Meetings continue. I’m being reported that the positions at negotiations are more realistic now. However, we need more time to make sure that the decision is in the interests of Ukraine.

[...]

 

[LadyL]

Ukraine's wartime rail chief has to be faster than the Russians tracking him

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 8 hrs ago
Russia announces leaving the Council of Europe, hours before its expected expulsion. It means that Russian citizens will not be able to bring cases to the European Court of Human Rights, and the Russian government can re-introduce the death penalty.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Journalists noticed the movement of a train with military equipment of the Belarusian armed forces and trucks with Iskander missiles near Minsk, Anton Motolko, a journalist and photographer from Belarus reports. MotolkoHelp on Twitter

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 7 hrs ago
Russian warships shelled Ukrainian coast in Odesa Oblast on March 15, leaving 2 people injured, according to Odesa authorities. Satellite images showed 14 ships of the Russian fleet sailing towards the city of Odesa, among them a 120-meter landing ship Pyotr Morgunov.

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
Another proof of the genocide in #Mariupol The occupiers fired from a tank at a man

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
UK Intelligence, March 15: "Russia is struggling to combat offensive in the face of sustained Ukrainian resistance. It is redeploying forces from as far as its Eastern Mil District,Pacific Fleet, Armenia. It will likely attempt to use them to free up its combat power" @DefenceHQ

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
As of March 15, Russia lost up to 40% of units involved in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine (they were either completely destroyed or lost their combat capability),–General Staff of UA, 24:00 EET Log into Facebook

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
The task of reaching Donetsk&Luhansk Obl.borders was not fulfilled by Russia; suffering losses, it returned to its starting position The worst situation remains near Mariupol where Russia is trying to block the city. Has significant losses, was forced to introduce marine reserves

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
The Russian leadership decided on the early graduation of Russian cadets with their subsequent involvement in hostilities against Ukraine, acc to the available info of Gen.Staff of UA.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
On March 15, Ukrainian Air Forces destroyed three Russian planes. Two are Su-34 fighter-bomber, one has not yet been identified. 1 RU, 3 UAVs, 2 cruise missiles were also shot down. Also, 9 air raids on columns of RU equipment and clusters were made.–Air Forces of UA

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 35 min ago
The Ukrainian army destroyed at least 3 Russian military helicopters at the Kherson Airport, new satellite images show. It's the most destructive known strike the Ukrainian military has conducted against Russian helicopters during the war,–CNN, 04:00 EET Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine (cnn.com)

 

[K.jill]

I wonder what Wali has been doing
the last few days.
We will never know but i think about it.