Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #4

[MassGuy]

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

There's no way Putin anticipated even a fraction of the sanctions and moves that have been made by the world.

This is unreal.

 

[SouthAussie]

Huge move:

BREAKING: Mastercard and Visa suspend all operations in Russia

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

Mastercard released a comprehensive statement about it.

Excerpt ... "We don’t take this decision lightly. Mastercard has operated in Russia for more than 25 years. We have nearly 200 colleagues there who make this company so critical to many stakeholders."
Mastercard Statement on Suspension of Russian Operations

 

[Herat]

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

It almost has to be. Shows you that the route tracking on FR24 can easily be manipulated.

I read it actually left St. Petersburg, Russia. I assume it's returning to Moscow, not St. P.

 

[Cool Cats]

Putin says Ukraine's future in doubt as cease-fires collapse

 

[CSIDreamer]

It almost has to be. Shows you that the route tracking on FR24 can easily be manipulated.

I read it actually left St. Petersburg. I assume it's returning to Moscow, not St. P.

If I remember, the original path was St P to Moscow to DC.

 

[PommyMommy]

Some powerful images from Emilio Morenatti, the Editorial Manager and Chief Photographer for The Associated Press in Spain and Portugal.

Emilio Morenatti on Twitter
People crowd as they try to get on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Friday, March 4. 2022. Ukrainian men have to stay to fight in the war while women and children are leaving the country to seek refuge in a neighboring country.

Emilio Morenatti on Twitter
A machine-gunned bus is photographed after an ambush where at least three ukrainian citizen were killed in the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 4, 2022.


Emilio Morenatti on Twitter
Ukrainian soldiers help a fleeing family crossing the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Emilio Morenatti on Twitter
Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee crossing the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022.

Emilio Morenatti on Twitter
An exhausted woman is attended by Ukrainian soldiers after crossing the Irpin river as fleeing the city in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022.

 

[Chelly]

There's no way Putin anticipated even a fraction of the sanctions and moves that have been made by the world.

This is unreal.

I wish we could bite Putin in the A$$ where it would really hurt by purchasing just half of our oil allotment. Why can't we Americans cut down on our fuel usage?

Why can't we financially impair the Russian oligarchs? (and I don't mean by just disabling their yachts.). And where is the CIA these days?

 

[Herat]

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

There are several other flight-associated places: Flyertalk, Pprune.org, Aviation Herald, check in on FlightAware

I just resist having to subscribe, create a log-in or do anything much other than lurk. I stay away from FB, twitter, & IG so that really precludes me from most all of the posting boards. I think that's for the best.

 

[PommyMommy]

More details of the Russian aircraft downed by Ukrainian forces on Mar 5.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter

 

[SouthAussie]

Canada has told its citizens to leave Russia "while commercial means are still available," saying security conditions were unpredictable and could deteriorate without notice.

"Flight availability is becoming extremely limited ... The ability of our embassy to provide consular services in Russia may become severely limited," Canada's foreign ministry said.

Live: Putin says Western sanctions on Russia are 'akin to declaration of war'

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Ukraine calls for more Nato help in meeting with US; western sanctions akin to declaration of war, says Putin – live | World news | The Guardian

41m ago 17:05

John Bolton, former US national security adviser under Donald Trump and, previously, anti-United Nations US ambassador to...the United Nations, speculates in an interview that Vladimir Putin was waiting before invading Ukraine for Trump to win a second term in the White House and pull the US out of NATO.

That didn’t happen so now he’s invaded anyway - though he waited more than a year (did he think <modsnip>that Trump was going to overturn the election result and return to the White House...?). So it seems outlandish. But worth noting in passing...

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

'Does Putin Want To Kill Us All?' Kharkiv Civilians Under Siege As Russia Changes Tactics (rferl.org)
With Russian and Ukrainian forces engaged in tough fighting for control of major cities across Ukraine, Moscow has shifted its tactics to increasingly rely on rockets, artillery, and air attacks to hit civilian infrastructure.

For Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city located in the country's northeast, this has meant an increasingly indiscriminate campaign that has seen civilians caught in the shelling of their homes, as rockets and artillery have rained down on supermarkets, schools, hospitals, apartment blocks, and churches.

[...]

Taxi drivers in the city are unwilling to take people to the train station to leave the city out of fear of taking fire, she said, and trains out of Kharkiv are not operating on a set schedule, making it difficult to plan an escape from the besieged city.

"It's very scary to come to the station and not go anywhere because you [might] have to get back home [quickly] and there is shelling all the time," Evsa said. "What does [Russian President Vladimir] Putin want -- to kill us all? Destroy everything? I don't understand the purpose [of this war]."

[...]

Ukrainian and Western forces say they believe Moscow is shifting tactics to a new strategy of pummeling civilian areas to try and demoralize Ukrainian resistance and reignite Russia's stagnant military advance. "Given the slowing down of the offensive and the resistance of the Ukrainians, Russia is changing its tactics," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in a March 5 statement.

Kharkiv's Freedom Square, the center of the city's public life, was hit by what Ukrainian officials say was a Russian cruise missile. Other cities in Ukraine's east are also the sites of intense fighting and are seeing their residential areas come under intense shelling as they are encircled by Russian forces.

The area near the regional administration building in Kharkiv, which city officials said was hit by a missile strike.

The square outside the headquarters of the Kharkiv administration after it was shelled on March 1.

In launching an invasion into Ukraine, the Kremlin has said its demands for ending the war consist of Ukraine recognizing the 2014 annexation by Russia of its Crimean Peninsula, declaring neutrality, demilitarizing, and the country undergoing "de-Nazification."

Putin has accused the Ukrainian government of being beholden to far-right, neo-Nazi elements -- despite President Volodymyr Zelenskiy being Jewish -- and has also cited alleged discrimination against Ukraine's Russian-speakers as one of his reasons for the conflict.

[...]

"We are fighting against an enemy that is much stronger than us," Kuleba said. "But international law is on our side and hopefully it will make its own contribution to help us prevail. The question now is how the international community will respond."

 

[dotr]

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

rsbbm. imo.
Not unlike a real life "Caucasian Chalk Circle''
The Caucasian Chalk Circle - Wikipedia
''It is revealed that Natella only wants the child because all the estates and finances of the Governor are tied to her heir and cannot be accessed without him. Grusha's defence does not go over well, as it develops into her and Simon insulting Azdak for taking bribes. Azdak fines them for this but, after consideration, claims he can't find the true mother. He decides that he will have to devise a test. A circle of chalk is drawn, and Michael is placed in the centre. The true mother, Azdak states, will be able to pull the child from the centre. If they both pull, they will tear the child in half and get half each. The test begins but (akin to the Judgment of Solomon) Grusha refuses to pull as she cannot bear to hurt Michael. Azdak gives her one more chance, but again she cannot pull Michael''.

''Azdak declares that Grusha is the true mother, as she loves Michael too much to be able to hurt him.''

 

[TGIRecovered]

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.

Political posturing is what is keeping us beholden to Putin for oil. We were energy independent and we can be energy independent again.
Putin is never going to be satisfied or deescalate as long as he holds the world hostage with threats of nuclear war. It will get worse if he isn't immediatly met with the full force of financial sanctions and military might.
Failing to enforce a no fly zone won't prevent Russian escalation because Putin is a madman. I am thoroughly disgusted that Russia gets one penny from the sale of oil to the US. MOO

 

[MassGuy]

Talked to @elonmusk. I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds. Next week we will receive another batch of Starlink systems for destroyed cities. Discussed possible space projects . But I’ll talk about this after the war.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1500246977086373891?s=21

 

[fred&edna]

There are several other flight-associated places: Flyertalk, Pprune.org, Aviation Herald, check in on FlightAware

I just resist having to subscribe, create a log-in or do anything much other than lurk. I stay away from FB, twitter, & IG so that really precludes me from most all of the posting boards. I think that's for the best.

I've just been following Jack Sweeney's discord... amazing info.

https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article259056448.html

 

[Herat]

There's no way Putin anticipated even a fraction of the sanctions and moves that have been made by the world.

This is unreal.

Truly.
He can't have envisioned shutting down Russia's gas and oil supplies to Europe, shutting down banking and finance to the extent it has been, shutting down his aviation industry.

Sure, he has spent years, if not decades, in revising much of how Russia finances it's major expenditures so they are less susceptible to currency and banking changes, but you can't really envision it all and there are many many shut downs that have already started to affect the Russian population,

Shutting off the oligarchs will take years to make enough impact for them to shut him down. They have such vast resources, they can wait it all out.

 

[Arkay]

Currently watching the news, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveling to Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian officials near the Polish border.

As a person of Jewish heritage, I do get a thrill seeing powerful, brave Jewish men in Ukraine, like Zelenskyy of course, and Blinken showing up in person. I say this just because my great-grandfather, who died before I was born, was hung from a tree in Ukraine long before the Nazi era, by Cossacks. And I think everyone is aware by now that Zelenskyy's grandfather was the only survivor in his family of the concentration camps.

Also, Baba Yar was the scene during the Nazi era of one of the most atrocious mass executions of Jews, and that was done by Ukranians.

I'm 1000% pro-Ukraine, though, because these people are not those people. These people voted for a Jewish comedian as their president, and no one IMO can be as heroic, loyal and dedicated as he has been.

I admire Blinken for showing up in person, on the ground, in a war zone. No amount of security detail can protect him and his retinue from a bomb or missile.

I admire all the international journalists who are operating from Ukraine, for the same reason. Look what happened to the Sky News crew.

I cherish the idea that PayPal and MasterCard etc. have halted their operations there. At least I cherish the notion of it. In reality I'm afraid it may impact the ordinary Russian much more than Putin and the Kremlin.

Last year I read an extremely interesting and insightful biography of Putin. The author enlightened me to so much about him. For one thing, he has billions and billions stashed away, and enough supplies to last a millennium. Unfortunately, IMO he will do just fine, while the population suffers. I know he's a power-hungry megalomaniac, and he needs a people to rule, but if Russians perish he will take whomever is left over and try to conquer other nations.

Still, I'm glad for each entity that cuts Russia off. The symbolism is important, as well as the practical repercussions. But again, I think the ordinary Russian citizen will suffer the most.

Jmo

 

[Chelly]

Talked to @elonmusk. I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds. Next week we will receive another batch of Starlink systems for destroyed cities. Discussed possible space projects . But I’ll talk about this after the war.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1500246977086373891?s=21

"Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution," Musk tweeted.
SpaceX chief Musk warns that its Starlink system could be 'targeted' in Ukraine

 

[JerseyGirl]

Report: Zelensky aide says not yet clear what Bennett-Putin meeting achieved

Sergey Nikiforov says that in Naftali Bennett’s phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky — after the former’s meeting with Putin in Moscow this evening — the Ukrainian leader did not hear anything particularly new.