Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #4

[dotr]

Lengthy article
March 5 2022
Conrad Black: How the Ukraine crisis could strengthen the West | National Post

''But there is no reason to believe that this is the beginning of a permanent decline. And as it goes through this torpor, which is unprecedented in its own history, NATO has shaped up with refreshing and unexpected vigour, Germany has announced its return to its rightful role as Europe’s leading power but in a positive and collegial context, and the long-festering issue of what would happen to the former republics of the U.S.S.R. will be substantially answered satisfactorily. Ukraine may go through a period of Finlandization, but will join the West. The little Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) now seem likely to escape the control of Russia, as do the Caucasian republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. If Putin were to succeed in taking back Ukraine and turning it into another primitive subsidiary of Moscow like Belarus, it would be another severe defeat for the West and a substantial disgorgement of our great and bloodless victory in the Cold War, but this scenario seems extremely unlikely given the level of resistance we’ve witnessed from the Ukrainians.''

''Ultimately, the West will emerge stronger from Ukraine’s ordeal, China will receive a substantial disincentive to any thoughts it might have entertained of a military occupation of Taiwan, which would be infinitely more difficult than the attack on Ukraine, and Russia will certainly tire before long of the overlordship of China, giving us another chance to attract it to the West, where it belongs.''

 

[Arkay]

Inside The Post-Apocalyptic Yet Oddly Flourishing Chernobyl Of Today

Very informative about the situation in Chernobyl all these years later. Still high in radiation, and mainly a ghost town.

BUT this was written in July, 2021, so nothing in this article relates to the current situation.

IMO though, it gives a lot of insight about what happens to a city where a nuclear power plant was destroyed. And of course in Chernobyl's case, this was with no malicious intent.

 

[fred&edna]

The United Nations’ atomic watchdog says Ukraine has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that staff who have been kept at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant since Russian troops took control of the site a week ago are facing “psychological pressure and moral exhaustion.” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Thursday that the staff must be allowed to rest and rotate so their crucial work can be carried out safely and securely. Grossi received “a joint appeal from the Ukraine Government, regulatory authority and the national operator which added that personnel at the Chornobyl site ‘have limited opportunities to communicate, move and carry out full-fledged maintenance and repair work,’” the IAEA said in a statement.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/article258999243.html#storylink=cpy

 

[PommyMommy]

Videos:

'We'll Tear You Apart': A Mood Of Defiance In Ukrainian City (rferl.org)
Zaporizhzhya has so far been spared Russian air raids and shelling but heavily devastated towns further south, such as Mariupol or Melitopol, are not too far away and Russian forces are moving north. As air sirens sounded, defiant local residents told RFE/RL on March 2 that tension was ever-present.

Ukraine Shoots Down Russian Jet, Captures Pilot (rferl.org)
Video posted online showed a Russian jet being shot down near Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, on March 5. Later images showed the capture of the pilot, who ejected from his plane but was injured.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 5, 2022
Live updates: Ukraine reasserts that 10K Russians killed | AP News
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday echoed the president’s assertion that Russia has lost more than 10,000 troops.

[...]

“Russians keep bearing devastating losses on the ground, and I cannot understand how mothers, wives and daughters of these Russian soldiers bear this pain, seeing how President Putin sends more and more of their beloved ones to Ukraine,” Kuleba said.

[...]

PHOENIX — An Arizona-based ammunition company is offering to donate 1 million bullets to Ukraine’s military amid Russia’s invasion of its European neighbor.

CEO Fred Wagenhals of AMMO Inc. on Friday said it was his response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal for international assistance.

[...]

MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Doctors relied on light filtering in through windows and emitted from cellphones to tend to wounded Ukrainian soldiers Saturday at a hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, where a promised cease-fire collapsed.

Dr. Evgeniy said the hospital had no power or heat. Patients were lined up in beds along the corridors, and some people were curled up on the floor to protect themselves.

“We have some issues with supplies, not enough analgesics,” Dubrov said. “We’ve worked more than a week without a break.”

[...]

LVIV, Ukraine — Russian forces have now seized two Ukrainian nuclear power plants and are advancing toward a third, Ukraine’s president said during a call with U.S. senators Saturday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the third plant currently under threat is the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Mykolaiv, one of several cities the Russians were trying to keep encircled Saturday.

One of the plants under the Russians’ control is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar, the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe. The other is Chernobyl, which is not active but is still staffed and maintained. Previous Russian shelling sparked a fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant that was extinguished without a release of radiation.

[...]

 

[fred&edna]

Anyone following Russian special flight squadron and oligarch plane reports (elsewhere) besides me? And, I wonder if it's okay to post that sort of info here if backed-up with FR24 info... like a Rossiya Special Flight squadron plane that arrived in DC a couple of hours ago. Or maybe everyone that is interested is already following on FR24 and elsewhere

 

[Skigh]

I always enjoy reading plane reports . They are fine to be reported here with a link to FR24. I have so far resisted the temptation of FR24 as I would spend too much time on it! So always grateful for updates about interesting flights.

 

[Herat]

Secretary of State Bilkens's plan appears to be on the ground in Chisinau, Moldova.

Well, it appeared to be 5 minutes ago. Now it's "not visible"

Nor are the RAF Eutofighter Typoons jets that were hanging around eastern Romania a few minutes ago.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Anyone following Russian special flight squadron and oligarch plane reports (elsewhere) besides me? And, I wonder if it's okay to post that sort of info here if backed-up with FR24 info... like a Rossiya Special Flight squadron plane that arrived in DC a couple of hours ago. Or maybe everyone that is interested is already following on FR24 and elsewhere

I follow them. That's the plane picking up the expelled diplomats? RSD088?

 

[PommyMommy]

Speaking of planes...

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 12 minutes ago
️ Ukraine downs 2 Russian aircraft, 5 helicopters.

According to the Armed Forces, on March 5, Ukraine shot down two Russian aircraft, capturing three pilots and killing one. Ukrainian forces also destroyed five helicopters and an enemy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

 

[Herat]

I follow them. That's the plane picking up the expelled diplomats? RSD088?

Is that the one showing up as "blocked" on FR24, just south of the Maine coast right now (13:54 PST)?

Strangely enough, tracking that flight appears to show it departing from "Bob Sikes Airport" in southern Alabama. What is that all about?

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Israeli PM's visit to Moscow underlines talks' urgency

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett travelled to Moscow to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin earlier.

The urgency of Bennett's visit was underlined by the fact that the Israeli prime minister - who's an Orthodox Jew - broke Shabbat (the Jewish day of rest) in order to fly to Moscow. Exceptions can only be made under Jewish law in situations in which life is threatened.

Bennett's trip was also kept under wraps until he was already in the Kremlin holding some two-and-a-half hours of talks with President Putin.

The two men have met several times before and appear to have a good relationship. The Ukrainian President Vlolodymyr Zelensky had earlier called on the Israeli prime minister to mediate in the current conflict.

Among those accompanying Bennett was the Housing Minister Zeev Elkin, who has long served as a Russian translator for Israeli leaders. He was born in Kharkiv and has relatives still in Ukraine.

Following the talks, PM Bennett travelled on to Germany where he is set to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Ukraine latest news: Russia continues full-scale attacks as residents trapped - BBC News

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 5, 2022
Ukraine: the situation is "catastrophic" in Mariupol (ln24.be)
In Mariupol, the situation is catastrophic and getting worse by the day," Laurent Ligozat, the NGO's emergency coordinator in Ukraine, told AFP.

"Today there is no more water; people have a lot of problems accessing clean water and it becomes a bit of an essential issue. There is no more electricity, there is no more heating. Food is running out, shops are empty," he said from the western city of Lviv.

[...]

"It is imperative that this humanitarian corridor, which could have seen the light of day today but which has not really been set up following a non-respect of the ceasefire, is put in place very quickly to allow civilian populations, women and children to leave this city," he said.

 

[Chelly]

sbm

It's mainly "the younger generation" who are in someone else's country killing innocents rn though... jmo.

That has always been the case as military is comprised of the country's youth and ruled by the country's old men

 

[CSIDreamer]

Is that the one showing up as "blocked" on FR24, just south of the Maine coast right now (13:54 PST)?

Strangely enough, tracking that flight appears to show it departing from "Bob Sikes Airport" in southern Alabama. What is that all about?

I dont see Alabama. But I'm pretty sure its the blocked one. Shows leaving but no departure time and no destination.

 

[Chelly]

What is the "end game" here? Russia will "split the baby"? And keep part of Ukraine? Call that a "face saving" win?

Or will this conflict continue to escalate? As long as the United States keeps buying Russian oil, we are choosing to fund and forgive this war.

That's correct, because we Americans will refuse to limit our use of oil and gas.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️ (Update) Ukrainian Air Force says 5 Russian aircraft, 4 helicopters were downed on March 5.

Ukraine now claims a total kill count of 44 planes and 44 helicopters.

 

[MassGuy]

Huge move:

BREAKING: Mastercard and Visa suspend all operations in Russia

More: Visa and Mastercard cards account for 74% of payment transactions in Russia - WSJ

https://twitter.com/bnonews/status/1500234200913518599?s=21

https://twitter.com/bnonews/status/1500238754438594564?s=21

 

[Mo Thuairim]

I listened to a BBC podcast earlier (Ukrainecast) in which a Scottish man, a former BBC Moscow correspondent, who was a PR consultant for the Russian government for three years, was interviewed. He worked with Putin and co and observed their inner workings and dynamic fairly closely. It was his job to give them honest feedback on how Russia appeared to the west. He said in the beginning they were interested in improving their perception internationally but were perplexed when he told them that it damaged their image in the west when they were killing journalists and locking up dissidents. But they still wished to be perceived favourably. He said by the end of his contract they no longer cared how they appeared to the west. They didn't give a damn that they were seen as totally undemocratic and were just going to do their own thing. He thinks the Kremlin is incapable of taking external advice. He also said in his opinion there was no one in Putin's inner circle who would be willing to take him down.

 

[Chelly]

PayPal shuts down its services in Russia citing Ukraine aggression
PayPal shuts down service to Russia!

So, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal shut down in Russia. What goes next?