Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #13

[Stella123]

Well, the deal could be signed without Z or T.
Zelenskyy wanted to use the Oval Office as a podium to address the US public, I understand.

This is where good intelligence is important. Question, was it a good idea to try to reach US public this way? US is not Europe, far from war events, concerned with own quality of life and tax problems. I wonder if the majority even watched it tbh. (Don't know.)

In fact, instead, DT got the opportunity to reach own people and remind that things were better under his watch than under Biden’s one (not my statement, just what he said).

So all the podium went to DT. From this standpoint, it was a diplomatic mistake for Z, but Zelenskyy was probably desperate.

"Zelenskyy wanted to use the Oval Office as a podium to address the US public, I understand."

Has this been fact checked or is it just one of those rumours?

 

[JennieM]

4h ago14.49 GMT

Three Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia in UK​

Dan Sabbagh

Three Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia have been found guilty of espionage charges in a trial that heard how they were involved in a string of plots around Europe directed by a fugitive based in Moscow.

After more than 32 hours of deliberations, a jury at the Old Bailey reached unanimous verdicts on Katrin Ivanova, 33, a lab technician, Vanya Gaberova, 30, a beautician, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a painter and decorator, all of whom were living in London before their arrest.

The three were convicted for being junior members of a spy ring that was ultimately directed by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman who had fled to Russia in 2020 after a company he helped to run collapsed amid a €1.9bn fraud.

Full story:
Three UK-based Bulgarians found guilty of spying for Russia

Trump ‘strongly considering’ Russia sanctions until Ukraine peace agreed – as it happened

US president says he could implement ‘large scale banking sanctions and tariffs’ in post on social media

www.theguardian.com

 

[Stella123]

​

US suspends Ukraine’s access to satellite images​

By Jake Horton

The US has temporarily suspended Ukraine’s access to some satellite imagery, space technology company Maxar tells BBC Verify.

This comes after the US decided to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine following a breakdownin relations after the Oval Office clash last week.

Maxar, a US-based company, has contracts to provide satellite imagery to various governments and companies.

One of those is the Global Enhanced GEOINT Deliver (GEGD) programme, which gives users access to high quality imagery collected by the US government.

"The US government has decided to temporarily suspend Ukrainian accounts in GEGD," Maxar said. "Each customer makes their own decisions on how they use and share that data."

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, part of US Department of Defense - confirmed the suspension was "in accordance with the administration’s directive on support to Ukraine".

Satellite imagery is an important tool during a war as it allows armies gather intelligence on their rivals.

Wave of Russian strikes kill at least 20 and injures dozens, officials say

Ukraine's President Zelensky urges more sanctions against Russia as he says the strikes show the Kremlin's goals "are unchanged".

www.bbc.co.uk

I want to swear right now. How COULD he?!!! Blood on his hands.

 

[LovesPeace2]

Message from Oval Office that things will 'get back on track'​

​

We're hearing now from an official in the Oval Office who says the president has been "crystal clear" to both sides that the fighting needs to stop and that both need to come to the table.

He adds that both leaders have said "only" President Trump could do this.

He points to an initial engagement with Russia, and the proposed minerals deal with Ukraine which he thinks will "get back on track".

Trump adds that he thinks they will "get it settled and stopped".

Wave of Russian strikes kill at least 20 and injures dozens, officials say

Ukraine's President Zelensky urges more sanctions against Russia as he says the strikes show the Kremlin's goals "are unchanged".

www.bbc.co.uk

Ya trump wants the minerals and will hand Russia the land and Ukrainian people on a silver platter. Just like trump wants Greenland and Canada's minerals and natural resources.As a Ukrainian Canadian I have no reason to believe anything outta Trump's mouth .I have lost family in this war and my friends have lost children . Jmvho

 

[JennieM]

I want to swear right now. How COULD he?!!! Blood on his hands.

Peace President

 

[JennieM]

Watch: Trump says it's easier dealing with Russia​

01:00 [video at link]
Media caption,
Watch: Trump says 'may be easier dealing' with Russia than Ukraine
As we've been reporting, US President Donald Trump says he's "finding it more difficult to deal with Ukraine" than Russia in reaching a peace agreement.

Speaking to a room of reporters, Trump acknowledged that Ukraine are "taking tremendous punishment" and that Russia are "bombing the hell out of Ukraine".

Wave of Russian strikes kill at least 20 and injures dozens, officials say

Ukraine's President Zelensky urges more sanctions against Russia as he says the strikes show the Kremlin's goals "are unchanged".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[UK Girl]

Once again I will state (and this is not my opinion, this is a fact) that Trump DOES NOT have a mandate. Yes, he won the popular vote, but that is NOT a mandate. He beat Kamala Harris by 1.5 points but he didn't even receive a full 50% of the vote (he got 49.8% of the vote). More people did not vote than actually cast a vote for him. If we break it down into a percentage of people in the US eligible to vote (which is 245 million people), 90 million of them did not vote at all. Trump got 77 million votes, Kamala got 75 million. If we take Trumps 77 million votes from the 245 million eligible voters, that is 31% of Americans. 31% is NOT A MANDATE. 49.8% is NOT A MANDATE.

And since you found his speech to Congress to be so "amazing", here is the AP's breakdown of the lies that he told during the speech. FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump during his address to Congress

Several of the lies he told were about Ukraine and the war. My personal favorite was his claim that we spent $8M on turning mice transgender. It was especially jarring to hear actual cheers and applause from Republicans after that insanity. The truth is we spent money on transgenic research in mice, which helps HIV and asthma research.

Lol that is pretty bad tbh

 

[SouthAussie]

It also says Trump is considering sanctions and tariffs on Russia for their attacks before a peace process has been resolved. Do you think he gets it now? Putin doesn't want peace, he wants to win and Trump is enabling him by making Ukraine weaker. Maybe Trump genuinely thinks he can negotiate peace, but I think he's out of his depth in this situation and his tinkering has made things worse. JMO MOO

Let's hope he tinkers better in our situation. This is what Australia has experienced over the last week. The white line is the route of three Chinese warships, and they think there might also be a Chinese sub under there somewhere.

The US has now sent a warship to the Pacific.

As I have mentioned and linked before, Australia has a massive OTHR (over the horizon radar) system - among other things - for the benefit of us all in relation to happenings in Asia.

imo

Link

 

[Stella123]

Watch: Trump says it's easier dealing with Russia​

01:00 [video at link]
Media caption,
Watch: Trump says 'may be easier dealing' with Russia than Ukraine
As we've been reporting, US President Donald Trump says he's "finding it more difficult to deal with Ukraine" than Russia in reaching a peace agreement.

Speaking to a room of reporters, Trump acknowledged that Ukraine are "taking tremendous punishment" and that Russia are "bombing the hell out of Ukraine".

Wave of Russian strikes kill at least 20 and injures dozens, officials say

Ukraine's President Zelensky urges more sanctions against Russia as he says the strikes show the Kremlin's goals "are unchanged".

www.bbc.co.uk

What a load of claptrap. He says he would do the same thing if he was in Putin's position (blast the heck out of Ukraine) because Putin holds more cards. And Trump is only doing this to avoid deaths?

He's actively allowed more deaths by stopping aid and intelligence to Ukraine and encouraging Putin to attack more.

Someone should lock him up before he opens his mouth again. He is a total disaster. JMO MOO

 

[UK Girl]

Well, the deal could be signed without Z or T.
Zelenskyy wanted to use the Oval Office as a podium to address the US public, I understand.

This is where good intelligence is important. Question, was it a good idea to try to reach US public this way? US is not Europe, far from war events, concerned with own quality of life and tax problems. I wonder if the majority even watched it tbh. (Don't know.)

In fact, instead, DT got the opportunity to reach own people and remind that things were better under his watch than under Biden’s one (not my statement, just what he said).

So all the podium went to DT. From this standpoint, it was a diplomatic mistake for Z, but Zelenskyy was probably desperate.

I am not sure most agree with that tbh

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

<snipped for focus>

That was my personal favorite, too, and loved the response from our representatives from the House and Senate. It was a great speech overall.

I also particularly liked the breakdown of the 100, 150, 200, and even 300 year olds who are still the recipients of social security benefits, and when the President looked over at the Secretary for Health and Human Services and said jokingly "maybe Americans are more healthy than we thought!"

Of course there were also the tragic and sad experiences of the special guests that night, and it was made even more tragic and sad when the Democrats refused to stand and applaud for the victims of crime who had lost loved ones to illegal immigrants and also to a young boy who has battled cancer and was honored by the new administration. Talk about insanity.

They aren’t still receiving checks. The rolls have never been purged so those people are still listed but aren’t being sent checks. Keep spreading fake news.

 

[Vern]

John Donne, “No man is an island” and UK is part of Europe and NATO. Putin and other hostile countries are everyone’s problem.

NATO mandate does not require the nation in question to be a fellow member-nation for us to get invloved when the proverbial hits the fan to threaten democracy and a nation's sovereignty. That is actually a myth. NATO also has articles to take actions to promote, preserve and protect democracies in the world should it be necessary.

The United States is fully aware of that as well witness: Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Kosovo etc ... all of which saw NATO troops including the USofA taking military action.

The revisionism of history is large these days; it's important to keep stressing the actual truth and facts.

 

[Simply Southern]

Let's hope he tinkers better in this situation. The US has now sent a warship to the Pacific.

This is what Australia has experienced over the last week. The white line is the route of three Chinese warships, and they think there might also be a Chinese sub under there somewhere.

As I have mentioned and linked before, Australia has a massive OTHR (over the horizon radar) system - among other things - for the benefit of us all in relation to happenings in Asia.

imo

View attachment 568848 Link

Do you know the location where the US warship was sent in the Pacific?

Do you know of any reason why China would be messing around Australia? They're pretty neutral company and don't bother anyone.

 

[Stella123]

"Cynically and bizarrely demanding Ukraine end a war it did not start, the United States ended a longstanding intelligence-sharing arrangement with Ukraine this week."
"The split could hinder Ukrainian efforts to defend civilians from Russian missile raids and strike distant Russian targets. But it won’t halt those efforts. And in isolating Ukraine from lifesaving intel, the U.S. also isolates itself. Especially in space."


"But much of that leverage disappeared this week amid the Trump administration’s shocking lurch toward de facto alignment with Russian interests. “It’s pretty bad,” a source familiar with U.S.-Ukrainian intel sharing told CNN. “Combined with the stopping of military assistance and foreign aid, it pretty much guarantees a Russian victory without there needing to be a peace deal.”

The U.S. Is Trying To Blind Ukraine—By Kicking It Out Of Orbit

European countries and private firms can preserve Ukraine’s access to space intelligence.

www.forbes.com

 

[LoveyG]

Not only does the current administration plan to save SSI, but is advocating for removing taxes on SSI, which will be an incredible help to our senior citizens and others dependent on SSI. The President has been very clear that any cuts or changes to SSI will not happen under his administration. And yet the false narratives on U.S. msm continue to state this, I guess trying to scare the American people.

I've heard talk of possibly removing taxes on Social Security benefits but I haven't heard anything about removing taxes for SSI. Can you point me in the right direction for that information?

Edit: btw, this is a trick question. IYKYK

 

[Stella123]

"“As a result of this pause, there are hundreds of dead Ukrainians,” one of the officers told TIME in an interview on Friday in Kyiv, asking not to be named when discussing sensitive military operations. “The biggest problem is morale,” he added, as the armed forces of Ukraine are being left to fight without some of their best weapons systems, not as a result of Russian attacks but American pull backs. “It’s really causing an advantage for the enemy on the front line.”

Hundreds Dead: Inside the Trump Ukraine Fallout

The US intelligence pause has undercut supply lines to Kursk, cut satellite imagery and tanked morale.

time.com

 

[Stella123]

I think it's quite clear that everything Trump says is bluster and what he's actually doing is assisting Putin to win the war and take over Ukraine. JMO MOO

 

[JennieM]

Constructive call with Rubio, Ukrainian foreign minister says
​

IMAGE SOURCE, EPA

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says that a call with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, was "constructive".

In a post on X, Sybiha adds that the pair discussed next week's meeting between Ukrainian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia.

He reiterated that "Ukraine wants the war to end, and US leadership is essential for achieving lasting peace", adding that he and Rubio also discussed "ways to advance our bilateral cooperation".

Wave of Russian strikes kill at least 20 and injures dozens, officials say

Ukraine's President Zelensky urges more sanctions against Russia as he says the strikes show the Kremlin's goals "are unchanged".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Stella123]

Trump is a brutal warmonger, just like Putin. JMO MOO. Don't listen to what he says - watch what he does. JMO


"Trump brutally cuts off Ukraine’s access to Maxar satellite images"

"Maxar technologies who are a US aerospace company received an “administrative request” to disconnect Ukraine from accessing their satellite images, Ukrainian media outlet Militarnyi reported on Friday.

This will massively affect Ukrainian troops on the battlefield as the high-resolution satellite images has been relied on to make key strategic plans and used to track Russian troop movement across Ukraine and the occupied territories."

Trump brutally cuts off Ukraine’s access to Maxar satellite images - London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

Trump brutally cuts off Ukraine’s access to Maxar satellite images, impacting military strategy and intelligence operations.

londonlovesbusiness.com

 

[branmuffin]

Poland must be very very worried IMO. They border Ukraine.

Very true. Poland doesn't forget what happened to them in 1939 when Germany overran and occupied them. And it wasn't over in 1945 when the war ended. They ended up being a satellite country of the USSR, meaning they were essentially under the thumb of the Soviet Union. So when the USSR collapsed in 1989 Poland's Solidarity Trade Union lead by Lech Walesa led the country to free elections and ended Russia's chokehold on Poland. They are no strangers to the suppression, control and cruelty the USSR employs to keep their civilians under control. It's probably one of the reasons why they requested entry into NATO in 1999. To protect themselves from Russian aggression. Now Poland has a shiny new military base that's full of missiles that was built by the US. The US formally handed over the base to Poland and NATO in July of 2024. So one might think because Poland is in NATO and Ukraine is not, that the use of these missiles will not be employed if aggression escalades. Poland also borders Belarus. Belarus is not in NATO. Belarus and Russia have just ratified a security pact extending the umbrella of nuclear protection and military integration. So Poland has threats from the east and the south. Who is escalating this war? Not Ukraine and not NATO. NATO was created to protect against Russian aggression over land and water which means even Greece, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are currently under threat from Russia and now Belarus. Belarus is the Igor to Putin's Frankenstein. Yes, master.

Belarus Weekly: Belarus, Russia ratify security pact, expanding nuclear umbrella, military integration

Belarus and Russia ratified the Union State Security Pact, expanding the nuclear umbrella and military integration. Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko invites U.S President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Russian President Vladimir Putin to Minsk for peace talks...

kyivindependent.com