Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #7

[CoverMeCagney]

Oh my word, imagine finding that in your kitchen



Video footage shows a Ukrainian bomb disposal team casually removing a missile which crashed through the roof of a Ukrainian house. The massive rocket landed in a residential area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, today.

Russian missile is found in Ukrainian kitchen by bomb disposal crew who give it a wiggle | Daily Mail Online

 

[Dontknow?]

It's too close to 5 am in Ukraine. Prayers for Mariupol & all of Ukraine. Can't say what I want for Russia here.

 

[CSIDreamer]

It's too close to 5 am in Ukraine. Prayers for Mariupol & all of Ukraine. Can't say what I want for Russia here.

I'm clock watching, too. And I don't know why. It isn't like we have any control. JMO

 

[LadyL]

The lonely funeral of a young soldier in Ukraine

 

[sds71]

March 21 (Reuters) - There is an ammonia leak at a chemicals plant in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy besieged by Russian troops, Sumy regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said on Monday.

Zhyvytskyy did not say what had caused the leak reported at 04:30 local time (02:30 GMT) at the Sumykhimprom plant. He said the area within a five-kilometre radius around the plant was hazardous.
Ammonia leak reported at chemicals plant in Ukraine's besieged Sumy

 

[Charlot123]

Chip Franklin.com
@chipfranklin

BREAKING: France just froze the assets of the Central Bank of Russia. That's 24,340,000,000 dollars Putin no longer has available. How do you feel?

I don’t quite understand the banking system. Is it normal to keep own assets abroad? Could they be private? I imagine gold is not kept outside, are these French francs or dollars?

 

[Charlot123]

Great article.

People always bring up that Zelenskyy was just an actor before becoming president, and that he now uses those skills to effectively convey his messages to the world.

I think that's great, if that's what led to his ability to get his message across. After all, Ronald Reagan was an actor, too, and his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" is one of the most memorable and effective lines from his eight years as the United States president.

IMO though, the principal reason for Zelenskyy's heroism is his courage. Out in the streets of Kyiv, refusing offers of sanctuary outside of Ukraine, visiting with his troops, visiting hospitals, clearly getting no sleep as he wills himself to address world leaders everywhere. Knowing that at literally any second he can be killed where he stands. It's unbelievable to me, how brave and determined he is to keep his country alive. I stand in awe.

I think that Ukrainian politicians not leaving their country provides a very potent message. I always felt that Poroshenko was a more mature politician, but it is sheer luck that Zelenskiy is at this job during the war. However, all of them are very courageous people, the 300s.

 

[SouthAussie]

Saudi Arabia’s state oil company [Aramco] said it would increase spending on oil production to meet rising global demand, as it reported a doubling of profits in 2021.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been asked in recent days by western governments to pump more oil to end their reliance on supplies from Russia.

The Gulf countries are the only two leading oil producers that have immediate spare capacity able to offset the shortfall in Russian-produced energy.
However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a recent report that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are so far “showing no willingness to tap into reserves”.

Aramco is just the latest of the world’s big oil companies to post soaring profits.

Saudi Aramco to increase oil production to meet global demand

 

[Charlot123]

Russia has given Ukraine until 5am to surrender Mariupol, after which it says it'll let the 130,000 remaining civilians leave. The language it uses for Kyiv's forces – "nationalists," "foreign mercenaries," "bandits" – leaves little doubt about what Russia has in store for them.

https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1505639872769449985

Just to remind, Mariupol is, essentially, a Russian-speaking city. Its population is ethnically mixed, as in many coastal cities.

 

[SouthAussie]

I don’t quite understand the banking system. Is it normal to keep own assets abroad? Could they be private? I imagine gold is not kept outside, are these French francs or dollars?

This article says they have assets in several countries, which is done to "prop up the ruble, and stave off inflation".
(The money in the accounts would be in the currency of the holding country, I would think. Euros may be more stable than rubles. imo)

Graphic: Russia's frozen billions


This other article says that as well as the Central Bank of Russia's assets, private citizens accounts at other banks were also frozen, as well as the freezing of lots of real estate.

"We have frozen the assets of the Central Bank of Russia in the amount of 22 billion euros. In addition, we have frozen assets in private individuals' accounts in French financial institutions in the amount of 150 million euros," Le Maire told the RTL radio.

France also froze real estate in the country worth half a billion euros, which is about 30 properties and apartments owned by Russian citizens, according to the minister.
Ukraine crisis: France freezes $24 bn of Russian Central Bank's assets

 

[dotr]

Ukraine war: Russia's deadline passes with Ukraine refusing to lay down arms and surrender Mariupol | World News | Sky News
''Key developments:
• Thousands of Ukrainians from Mariupol have been "forcibly deported" to Russia, according to the city council
• Russia said it had launched a hypersonic missile attack on Ukraine for the second consecutive day on Sunday
• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Israeli parliament, calling for stronger action against Russia, and accusing Russia's president Vladimir Putin of trying to carry of a "final solution" against Ukraine - a term used by Nazi Germany for its genocide of six million Jews in the Second World War
• US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Mr Putin's ground forces are "essentially stalled", telling CBS that Ukrainian resistance "had the effect of him moving his forces into a woodchipper".
• About 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes, the UN has said
• Thousands of anti-war protesters have been arrested in Russia''

 

[Cool Cats]

Russia invasion: Putin becoming 'pariah' before world stage, experts say

The reputational damage of Putin's invasion of Ukraine 'will cripple Russia for a generation to come'

 

[Cool Cats]

Ukraine rejects Russia's demand to surrender Mariupol in exchange for safe passage; Zelenskyy seeks help from Israel: Live updates

 

[Charlot123]

So now because of far-reaching sanctions, the dictator, his military, some of the oligarchs and elites will now nationalize everything and back to communism they go. Close the borders, keep monies in country and try and absorb more from the former USSR states, by way of invasion, to get back the glory days of their national hero Stalin? All very bleak and it could come to be, IMO...
OR a Russian revolution needs to happen in favor of a more open country that embraces world views, not censorship and bullies. Like what Ukraine did <3

Well, about revolutions. Today I was remembering the failed coup of 1991, when GKCP tried to revert the system back to the old time. Thousands and thousands of young muscovites came to the square before the Russian “White House” to protect Yeltsin and the deputies. The army refused to storm the WH. The burial of the three young fallen heroes turned into the demonstration of the “freedom”.

Now I am thinking how come that, possibly, the same people who were before the White House in August of 1991, might be now saying they support the invasion? How come things changed?

My hubby reminded me, these are the same people who lived through the Russia’s 90-es. Today’s oligarchs and their yachts are nothing in comparison to inflation, lawlessness, “shootouts” between mafia groups, etc, etc. (It was so bad, that, as I have read, in 1996 the communists got more votes than Yeltsin. Not quite sure as elections are tricky, but at least, there was a huge fear that they could be re-elected. And of course there was the reason for Yeltsin to be afraid that his family could be prosecuted after he retired). So in comparison to this, Putin’s first years were incredibly organized. All these satrapies, governors from the same bandit clans, were suddenly gone. Berezovsky disappeared. How, then, we are where we are now? It all changed slowly, perhaps, the first bad sign was acquisition of the independent TV channel, but people didn’t foresee what would follow. I, not having lived through the 90-es in Russia, can not fully understand how people feel about it. I still suspect the age of 40 would split two groups in their opinions.

 

[Cool Cats]

Canada Gives Russian Letter Lamenting Humanitarian Disaster A Scathing Rewrite

Canada’s mission to the United Nations took red ink to a letter from its Russian counterparts that decried the humanitarian disaster unfurling in Eastern Europe as a direct result of the Vladimir Putin-ordered military invasion of Ukraine.

Canada’s mission didn’t have patience for the sympathy purportedly expressed by the Russian envoy, and completely rewrote the note.

It changed this part:

I am reaching out to you with regard to an urgent matter related to the dire humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine. Like other members of the international community, we are gravely concerned about its deterioration.

To this:

I am reaching out to you with regard to an urgent matter related to the dire humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine which we have caused as a result of our illegal war of aggression. We are not gravely concerned about its deterioration because we are the primary cause.

The Canadians also demanded to know: “How do you account for the bombing of a maternity ward and the destruction of over 200 schools?”

And: “How do you account for Russia forces besieging cities, preventing civilians from fleeing, denying humanitarian aid, attacking humanitarian corridors and looting aid?”

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Renewed Russian shelling leaves civilians dead and parts of Kyiv | Daily Mail Online

 

[gregjrichards]

The city council also claimed Russian soldiers have forced more than 1,000 city residents to be relocated to Russia.

"The occupiers illegally took people out of the Levoberezhny district and a shelter in the building of a sports club where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from constant bombing," the council said.

Ukrainian passports were taken from people who were given a piece of paper that "has no legal weight and is not recognized throughout the civilized world," the city council said. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday that she could not confirm those reports but expressed concern about the prospect of Russian-organized "concentration and prisoner camps."

U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," said it is "unconscionable for Russia to force Ukrainian citizens into Russia and put them in what will basically be concentration and prisoner camps."

Ukraine updates: No Mariupol surrender; Zelenskyy calls on Israel

I am in a state of disbelief at what has and is happening to the poor people in Ukraine in 2022. I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to have an evil leader of a country bomb your country killing your loved ones, your neighbours, children, destroying your home, your workplace, and then you are forced to go on a train to that despicable leader’s country against your will not knowing what will happen to you. It is unbelievable, heartbreaking and absolutely devastating what is happening.

When will this living nightmare and incredible human suffering end for the people of Ukraine?

 

[SouthAussie]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ukraine expects 7 humanitarian corridors on March 20, including from Mariupol. The corridors are in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Donetsk oblasts, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
<RSBM>

So, it seems that Mariupol didn't make the cut.
Three hours ago - at 10am Moscow time - they opened the 2-hour window for Ukraine fighters to lay down their arms and leave Mariupol (surrender).
I guess it is probably all closed up now. Those poor people, so isolated.


Agreement has been reached on creating eight humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from besieged towns and cities on Monday but the city of Mariupol is not among them ....

She said efforts to reach Mariupol with humanitarian supplies continued to fail.

Ukraine says no agreement reached to evacuate Mariupol civilians on Monday

 

[GRT]

I'm clock watching, too. And I don't know why. It isn't like we have any control. JMO

I think that's what makes everyone feel the worst--the lack of control or ability to help.

 

[Legally Bland]

Apologies if already posted. The girl who sang let it go in a bomb shelter singing at a charity concert in Poland.