Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #15

[PommyMommy]

MAR 17, 2025

Lithuania suspects Russia behind arson attacks in Vilnius and Warsaw last year

The Lithuanian prosecutor’s office alleges that Russia's military intelligence formed a special group to carry out arson attacks across Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia.

kyivindependent.com

A fire broke out at the IKEA warehouse in Vilnius on May 9, 2024, causing an estimated 500,000 euros ($545,000) in damages. Investigators consider the incident a terrorist act and claim two Ukrainian citizens, allegedly recruited by Russian security services, were responsible. One suspect is a minor.

On May 12, 2024, a massive fire destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw with 1,400 stores. The incident has also been linked to Russian intelligence services.

‘Talk about an invasion is everywhere’ — How Lithuania is preparing for war with Russia

Throughout Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, repeated and escalating warnings of the potential for a wider war have only raised fears in the Baltic states that they could be next in the crosshairs of the Kremlin. Talk about a potential Russian invasion is "very common at parties...

kyivindependent.com

Western leaders and intelligence agencies have warned of a potential large-scale war in Europe within the next five years, citing Russia's increasingly aggressive posture. Lithuania's geography puts it directly in the firing line.

The country shares an eastern border with Russia's closest ally, Belarus, from whose territory Moscow's failed attempt to take Kyiv was launched.

Zelenskyy announces successful test of 3,000-kilometer range Ukrainian drone - Euromaidan Press

Ukraine has made significant progress in developing long-range weapons with a drone capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers passing recent tests, President Zelenskyy announced.

euromaidanpress.com

Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the developers and manufacturers involved in the project. “Our drone with a range of 3,000 kilometers has passed the tests. I am grateful to the developers, grateful to the manufacturers,” he said.

Ukraine has rapidly developed its drone industry since Russian full-scale invasino in 2022. In 2024, Ukraine produced up to 150,000 drones monthly. Drones like the Raybird-3 can fly up to 120 kilometers, serving reconnaissance and strike purposes.

Norwegian army drops tennis balls on tanks to test Ukraine’s FPV drone tactics - Euromaidan Press

Norwegian troops dropped tennis balls on tanks in NATO’s Joint Viking 2025, simulating Ukraine-style FPV drone strikes and testing armored vulnerabilities.

euromaidanpress.com

“To simulate attacks on participating forces, tennis balls were dropped, and FPVs were flown in dive attack patterns to simulate modern-day drone threats,” explained Maj. Tor Sellevold of Combat Lab, the Norwegian Army’s land warfare center. According to Sellevold, the exercise aimed to “provide insights to the participants of their own aerial signature, experience the threat from top-attack drones, and evaluate their standard operating procedures.”

The tests specifically involved first-person-view (FPV) drones, a technology that has become prominent in Russia’s war in Ukraine, where skilled operators guide these remote-controlled aircraft to deliver explosives with precision – sometimes even through the open hatches of armored vehicles.

 

[LovesPeace2]

MAR 17, 2025

Lithuania suspects Russia behind arson attacks in Vilnius and Warsaw last year

The Lithuanian prosecutor’s office alleges that Russia's military intelligence formed a special group to carry out arson attacks across Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia.

kyivindependent.com

A fire broke out at the IKEA warehouse in Vilnius on May 9, 2024, causing an estimated 500,000 euros ($545,000) in damages. Investigators consider the incident a terrorist act and claim two Ukrainian citizens, allegedly recruited by Russian security services, were responsible. One suspect is a minor.

On May 12, 2024, a massive fire destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw with 1,400 stores. The incident has also been linked to Russian intelligence services.

‘Talk about an invasion is everywhere’ — How Lithuania is preparing for war with Russia

Throughout Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, repeated and escalating warnings of the potential for a wider war have only raised fears in the Baltic states that they could be next in the crosshairs of the Kremlin. Talk about a potential Russian invasion is "very common at parties...

kyivindependent.com

Western leaders and intelligence agencies have warned of a potential large-scale war in Europe within the next five years, citing Russia's increasingly aggressive posture. Lithuania's geography puts it directly in the firing line.

The country shares an eastern border with Russia's closest ally, Belarus, from whose territory Moscow's failed attempt to take Kyiv was launched.

Zelenskyy announces successful test of 3,000-kilometer range Ukrainian drone - Euromaidan Press

Ukraine has made significant progress in developing long-range weapons with a drone capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers passing recent tests, President Zelenskyy announced.

euromaidanpress.com

Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the developers and manufacturers involved in the project. “Our drone with a range of 3,000 kilometers has passed the tests. I am grateful to the developers, grateful to the manufacturers,” he said.

Ukraine has rapidly developed its drone industry since Russian full-scale invasino in 2022. In 2024, Ukraine produced up to 150,000 drones monthly. Drones like the Raybird-3 can fly up to 120 kilometers, serving reconnaissance and strike purposes.

Norwegian army drops tennis balls on tanks to test Ukraine’s FPV drone tactics - Euromaidan Press

Norwegian troops dropped tennis balls on tanks in NATO’s Joint Viking 2025, simulating Ukraine-style FPV drone strikes and testing armored vulnerabilities.

euromaidanpress.com

“To simulate attacks on participating forces, tennis balls were dropped, and FPVs were flown in dive attack patterns to simulate modern-day drone threats,” explained Maj. Tor Sellevold of Combat Lab, the Norwegian Army’s land warfare center. According to Sellevold, the exercise aimed to “provide insights to the participants of their own aerial signature, experience the threat from top-attack drones, and evaluate their standard operating procedures.”

The tests specifically involved first-person-view (FPV) drones, a technology that has become prominent in Russia’s war in Ukraine, where skilled operators guide these remote-controlled aircraft to deliver explosives with precision – sometimes even through the open hatches of armored vehicles.

Eugh arson attacks aren't a surprise it's only going to get worse.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

The Trump administration is considering recognizing Ukraine’s Crimea region as Russian territory as part of any future agreement to end Moscow’s war on Kyiv, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Trump weighs recognizing Crimea as Russian territory in bid to end war

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 11, 2025

Ukraine's envoy warns of Russia's militarisation of occupied Crimea

Olha Kuryshko spoke to Euronews about repression, forced deportations and the transformation of the peninsula into a Russian military base. #EuropeNews

www.euronews.com

People crossing the border are at the mercy of Russian agents. Leniye Umerova, a 25-year-old Crimean Tatar, was detained by Russian authorities while crossing the Georgian-Russian border on her way to occupied Crimea to care for her father, who had been diagnosed with cancer in December 2022.

Initially accused of violating restricted zone regulations, Umerova was held at a detention centre near Vladikavkaz. She was then abducted by security forces, taken to an unknown location, and later transferred to a facility in Beslan.

After months of fabricated charges and procedural abuses, she was ultimately moved to Moscow's Lefortovo prison, where she faced false accusations of espionage. In September 2024, Umerova returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange.

Leniie Umerova, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar activist, at the European Parliament​

Leniie Umerova spent nearly two years in a Russian prison before her 26th birthday. Today, she shared her story and the story of other Ukrainian women with the European Parliament. She warned that history is repeating itself, with Russia trying to erase identities, rewrite borders, and crush lives.

 

[Lilibet]

Trump weighs recognizing Crimea as Russian territory in bid to end war

Of course he does. No surprise.

 

[Lilibet]

trying to erase identities, rewrite borders, and crush lives.

I feel for this woman. Sort of reminds me of what’s starting to happen in the U.S.

 

[SouthAussie]

MAR 17, 2025

Lithuania suspects Russia behind arson attacks in Vilnius and Warsaw last year

The Lithuanian prosecutor’s office alleges that Russia's military intelligence formed a special group to carry out arson attacks across Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia.

kyivindependent.com

A fire broke out at the IKEA warehouse in Vilnius on May 9, 2024, causing an estimated 500,000 euros ($545,000) in damages. Investigators consider the incident a terrorist act and claim two Ukrainian citizens, allegedly recruited by Russian security services, were responsible. One suspect is a minor.

More on this ...


"We've been reporting today on claims from Lithuanian authorities that Russia's military intelligence was behind an arson attack at an IKEA store in Vilnius last year.

The Lithuanian prosecutor's office said its suspect was a minor at the time and acted "in the interests of the military structures and security services of the Russian Federation".

The prosecutor general's office said in a statement that the suspect and another person undertook a plan to set fire to and blow up shopping centres in Lithuania and Latvia for a reward of €10,000 and a BMW.

It added the acts were aimed at "severely intimidating the society of both countries" and forcing them and the EU "to reduce or terminate" their support for Ukraine.

The attacks were also hoping to "destabilise the most important political, economic and social structures of the state," it said."

Arsonists hired by Russia were offered €10,000 and a BMW for services, Lithuania says

 

[SouthAussie]

"Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin "are very good friends" and are focused on ways to strengthen the bonds between the US and Russia, Tulsi Gabbard has said.

The US director of national intelligence said the ties between Russia and the US go "very far back".

Trump is committed to expanding a relationship centred "around peace, prosperity, freedom and security," she added.

"We have two leaders of two great countries who are very good friends and very focused on how we can strengthen the shared objectives and shared interests,” Gabbard said in an interview with India's NDTV.

Gabbard's comments highlight the seismic shift in US-Russia relations propelled by Trump, who has blamed Ukraine for Russia's invasion and started a shouting match with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House.

Gabbard has previously repeated Russian propaganda points about the war and expressed sympathy for Moscow."

Trump and Putin are 'very good friends', US director of national intelligence says

 

[SouthAussie]

Poor Ukraine. They have the wrong country negotiating.

imo


"Donald Trump has said he will speak to Vladimir Putin about "land and power plants" in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.

Mike Waltz, the US national security adviser, said over the weekend that Kyiv will receive unspecified security guarantees in exchange for unspecified territorial concessions.

As part of a long-lasting peace agreement, Mr Putin has consistently demanded the surrender of four Ukrainian regions his forces do not even completely control.
Last year, Mr Putin listed Kyiv's withdrawal of troops from all four regions as one of the demands for peace.

Mr Trump has said he plans to speak to Mr Putin about power plants as part of the proposed ceasefire deal .... It is likely he was speaking about the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia facility in southern Ukraine, Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Military analyst Michael Clarke says as well as the power plant in Zaporizhzhia, other key infrastructure that could be discussed in a ceasefire includes the Nova Kakhovka dam.
It once held a giant reservoir that supplied water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and the Crimean peninsula - which Russia claims to have annexed in 2014."

Which key pieces of infrastructure could be part of Ukraine ceasefire deal?

Donald Trump has said he will speak to Vladimir Putin about "land and power plants" in a bid to end the war in Ukraine. Here we look at key demands from both sides, and what infrastructure could become part of the proposed ceasefire deal.

news.sky.com

 

[Lilibet]

Poor Ukraine. They have the wrong country negotiating.

They certainly do. Ukraine will be sold down the river.
JMO

For those not familiar with the American idiom:

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/27/265421504/what-does-sold-down-the-river-really-mean-the-answer-isnt-pretty

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Putin-Trump call scheduled for afternoon, Kremlin confirms​

We have just heard from the Kremlin on the exact timing of the Putin-Trump phone call, with officials saying it is scheduled for 1pm to 3pm GMT (2pm to 4pm CET).

“There is a large number of issues from the normalisation of our relations and the Ukrainian issue, all of which the two presidents will discuss,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by AFP.

Trump and Putin agree temporary halt on energy infrastructure strikes as Zelenskyy welcomes proposal – as it happened

Trump hails ‘productive’ call with Russian president as Putin issues long list of conditions; Ukraine’s president reacts to Trump-Putin call

www.theguardian.com

 

[Lilibet]

Putin-Trump call scheduled for afternoon, Kremlin confirms​

We have just heard from the Kremlin on the exact timing of the Putin-Trump phone call, with officials saying it is scheduled for 1pm to 3pm GMT (2pm to 4pm CET).

“There is a large number of issues from the normalisation of our relations and the Ukrainian issue, all of which the two presidents will discuss,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by AFP.

Trump and Putin agree temporary halt on energy infrastructure strikes as Zelenskyy welcomes proposal – as it happened

Trump hails ‘productive’ call with Russian president as Putin issues long list of conditions; Ukraine’s president reacts to Trump-Putin call

www.theguardian.com

That will be 9am to 11am Eastern Daylight time (Washington DC)

I’m imagining Trump saying, “Help me out Vlad. I need the Nobel Peace Prize.”

JMO

 

[Mo Thuairim]

While Donald Trump talks of the “big beautiful ocean” separating the US from the war in Ukraine, 1,000 miles of rail track links London St Pancras to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine.

The 19-hour trip takes in Brussels, the German economic powerhouse of Frankfurt, and Vienna, the Austrian capital, before the train rattles into Kraków in south-east Poland and Przemyśl, the Polish border town where the slimmer railway gauges of western Europe meet the wider tracks of Ukraine and Russia to the east.

At each stop, Europeans are grappling in different ways with new and unsettling realities after the US president appeared in recent weeks to herald the end of Pax Americana.

You can read Daniel Boffey’s account of his train trip from London to Lviv, to follow how Trump’s new world order has shaken Europe, here.

From London to Lviv: how Trump’s new world order has shaken Europe

At each stop on 1,000-mile trip, discombobulated Europeans are grappling with new and unsettling realities as the US reforges its alliances

www.theguardian.com

(Some snippets)

Richard Shirreff, formerly a British general and previously Nato’s European deputy supreme allied commander, believes “the prime minister [Starmer] is still trying to be a bridge between Trump and Nato” and if the US is up for that “then fantastic”.

“But from a purely security perspective, I think we have to accept that Europe and Canada have got to stand on their own without America,” he says. “We’ve got to get real. America has not just drifted away. It’s cut itself off. Anybody who thinks that America is still committed to Nato is … I don’t know what they’re smoking.

“You have to assume that the American security guarantee for Europe has gone. We are in a new world. The French have been absolutely right about strategic autonomy, and the British line that America ‘will always be the leader of Nato’ has been proved completely wrong.”

[...]

It has been a particularly distressing time for Poles of a certain age as the Trump administration reveals its seeming indifference to European security, says Dr Natasza Styczyńska, an associate professor at Kraków’s Jagiellonian University.

“It’s a huge disappointment especially for the traditionally pro-Atlantic generation, people who still remember communism, for whom America was always the embodiment of democracy, freedom, minority rights, you know, all of these things we didn’t have,” she says. “For this generation this is a shock.”

[...]

During a visit to the Unbroken national rehabilitation centre in Lviv, Serhiy Kiral, the city’s deputy mayor, who also has a responsibility for international cooperation and visited Washington in that capacity shortly before the presidential inauguration, is no less despairing of the American approach.

He quotes Henry Kissinger: “To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”

“What will the Americans decide?” asks Kiral. “Are they going to side with Putin again? I think at some point, if that continues, we’ll probably have to say ‘enough is enough. You know, you’re either with Ukraine or you are with Russia.”

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Poor Ukraine. They have the wrong country negotiating.

imo


"Donald Trump has said he will speak to Vladimir Putin about "land and power plants" in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.

Mike Waltz, the US national security adviser, said over the weekend that Kyiv will receive unspecified security guarantees in exchange for unspecified territorial concessions.

As part of a long-lasting peace agreement, Mr Putin has consistently demanded the surrender of four Ukrainian regions his forces do not even completely control.
Last year, Mr Putin listed Kyiv's withdrawal of troops from all four regions as one of the demands for peace.

Mr Trump has said he plans to speak to Mr Putin about power plants as part of the proposed ceasefire deal .... It is likely he was speaking about the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia facility in southern Ukraine, Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Military analyst Michael Clarke says as well as the power plant in Zaporizhzhia, other key infrastructure that could be discussed in a ceasefire includes the Nova Kakhovka dam.
It once held a giant reservoir that supplied water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and the Crimean peninsula - which Russia claims to have annexed in 2014."

Which key pieces of infrastructure could be part of Ukraine ceasefire deal?

Donald Trump has said he will speak to Vladimir Putin about "land and power plants" in a bid to end the war in Ukraine. Here we look at key demands from both sides, and what infrastructure could become part of the proposed ceasefire deal.

news.sky.com

I have a difficult time understanding how there isn't a single person around Trump that has a hard time with this. The FBI, the CIA, everyone in his circle... they all hear these phone calls or know what's going on. How are they all just okay with this?

 

[SouthAussie]

"Four NATO countries – Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – say they are pulling out of the Ottawa Convention, a treaty banning antipersonnel landmines, citing the growing military threat from Russia.

Withdrawing from the 1997 agreement would allow them to resume stockpiling landmines, a move their defence ministers argue is necessary for border security.

“Military threats to NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus have significantly increased,” the countries said in a joint statement.

Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds added, “We have to prepare for Russia continuing to pose threats to our region, irrespective of the outcome of Russia’s war in Ukraine.” "

Poland and Baltics states to ditch landmine ban over Russian threat

 

[SouthAussie]

"Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, says Russia’s aggression extends beyond Ukraine, calling it “a war against Europe” during a speech in the Bundestag.

“This is not just an attack on Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” he told lawmakers, accusing Moscow of waging a broader campaign of sabotage, espionage, and disinformation aimed at destabilising Germany and the EU.

He pledged to counter these threats “with everything at our disposal” and outlined plans to rebuild Germany’s defence capabilities, saying procurement, satellite systems, and drones would be top priorities.

Merz also suggested a shift in defence policy, saying military contracts should go to European manufacturers “whenever possible”. "

Germany’s next chancellor warns of Russian ‘war against Europe’

 

[Missing Susan]

Why has VZ not been kicked off twitter?

 

[SouthAussie]

Why has VZ not been kicked off twitter?

Maybe X (Twitter) doesn't want to keep losing users who are moving to Bluesky.

Over 32,000,000 have moved to Bluesky already, and it is a relatively new platform.

Are You a 'Twitter Quitter?' Over 32 Million People Are Using Bluesky

 

[CaMan60]

Why has VZ not been kicked off twitter?

Didn't,t know he is on Twitter, Because he is well covered by
media already it might not make any difference. At some point
in the near future we hope the dispute ends and we see the media
moving on to more important issues along with VZ

 

[SouthAussie]

Didn't,t know he is on Twitter,

Many X (Twitter) posts by Volodymyr Zelenskyy are referenced on this thread. This is one example ... post #286
.