Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #7

[Bit of hope]

'Nederland gevoelig voor energieboycot' • Zelensky: gesprekken met Rusland zwaar

10 HOURS AGO
Zelensky: Talks with Russia are tough
Negotiations with Russia are "heavy" and "sometimes scandalous", according to Ukrainian President Zelensky. He said that in a video message yesterday. Delegations from both countries are in regular contact about a possible end to the war, but a deal is not yet in sight for both sides.

"At various levels, we are trying to move Russia towards peace. Ukrainian representatives participate in talks that take place almost every day," Zelensky said. "And we continue," he added.

The Ukrainian president also used the video message to accuse Moscow of thwarting the evacuation attempts of residents from the besieged city of Mariupol.

 

[Bit of hope]

‘We have one enemy’: The Belarusians who oppose the Ukraine war

Very interesting write up about the position of Belarusians against the Belarus regime and pro-Ukraine.

‘We have one enemy’: The Belarusians who oppose the Ukraine war
Those who fled political violence in Belarus fear being associated with the actions of a government they do not support.

Just before dawn on February 24, Marina, a 33-year-old IT specialist from Belarus, woke up in her Kraków apartment. She’d been having a nightmare. She noticed that her husband, Alexey, was not sleeping either. He was on his phone, reading the news.

“Has it started?” Marina asked.
“It has,” he responded wearily.

(snipped)

The young couple had moved to the Polish city of Kraków two and a half weeks earlier, fleeing the Ukrainian city of Lviv where they had settled after escaping political violence and repression in Belarus. “I didn’t want to leave Ukraine,” Marina explains. “It was a wonderful place, I lost my home and I found a new home, and I lost that too.”

Later that day, Marina and Alexey joined the anti-war protest outside the Russian Consulate in Kraków. “When I saw how many people came and that they were outraged as well, it made me feel a bit better,” she says.

Although the majority of the protesters were Polish and Ukrainian, Marina spotted quite a few Belarusians, wrapped in the white-red-white flags of the Belarusian opposition, in the crowd.

When Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko won a sixth term in office in an election widely regarded as rigged in August 2020, a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters ensued. As a result, tens of thousands of Belarusians – seeking refuge from an unprecedented campaign of mass arrests and state-sponsored violence – fled to nearby countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia, Poland and Russia. Ukraine also became a common refuge for Belarusians in exile.

(snipped)

Forty hours after Russia invaded Ukraine, Marina stood outside the train station in Przemyśl, Poland, just 14km (8.7 miles) from the Ukrainian border. She was waiting for her friend Dina, 34, another Belarusian dissident.

(snipped)

“My heart was bursting into pieces,” Marina says, recalling how it was unbearable to overhear snippets of conversations revealing lives ripped apart by the war.

Marina is all too familiar with the pain of leaving one’s home and family behind. After taking part in the pro-democracy movement in Belarus, during and after the August 2020 election, Marina was arrested twice and threatened by the Belarusian KGB. In detention, she was beaten and denied food and water for days.

When she was released in August 2021, she fled to Ukraine with her husband, leaving her elderly mother behind. “We miss each other and we understand there’s a possibility I will never see her again,” Marina says.

(snipped)

Originally from Minsk, Gerard left Belarus in the aftermath of the mass arrests in August 2020, and lived in Irpin’, not far from Kyiv, before the war.

“Lukashenko’s regime took everything from me,” says Gerard, explaining how he was persecuted and arrested in Belarus. “Ukraine has given me a new home, a new job, and a really good life.”

Gerard is currently undergoing military training in the battalion alongside other volunteers. Although worried about what is to come, he is resolute in his decision to fight for Ukraine. “I have to protect what is mine,” he says.

(snipped)

“Many [Belarusians] feel a sense of disconnect, many have family there [in Ukraine], they perceive Ukrainians as their brothers and sisters,” says Liubakova. “They want to protect Ukraine.”

‘The weaker Putin is, the weaker Lukashenko is’
The outcome of this invasion could also have consequences for Belarus. A Russian defeat in Ukraine could threaten the Belarusian regime as Lukashenko has become increasingly dependent on Moscow in the last year and a half.

As the US and EU imposed a series of sanctions on the Belarusian regime following the violent crackdown on civilians in August 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped in, offering Lukashenko funds and security forces.

But Putin’s help did not come cheap. Lukashenko allowed Moscow to deploy thousands of troops to Belarus, using the country as a springboard for the invasion of Ukraine.

(snipped)

‘I’m afraid of speaking Russian in the streets’
While Lukashenko has denied that he plans to send Belarusian troops to the front line, Belarus is among the few nations – together with North Korea, Eritrea and Syria – that voted against the UN resolution condemning the invasion.

“Ukrainians will now think we’re bad people,” says Marina, voicing a fear shared by many Belarusians. Since the invasion, anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian sentiments have been brewing in some countries and some Belarusians say they have been denied entrance to bars and shops because of their nationality.

‘We are in the same boat’

(snipped)

More than 800 Belarusians were arrested while protesting against the war in Ukraine. These protests were a desperate act of defiance. In the last year and a half, the regime has arrested more than 35,000 Belarusians in an effort to suppress the country’s pro-democracy movement.

Etc.

 

[dotr]

Russia-Ukraine War LIVE Updates: Centre Evacuated 22k Students from Ukraine, Parl Told; Russia Destroys Chernobyl Nuclear Power Lab (news18.com)
Mar 23, 2022 18:19 rbbm.
''Belarus Asks Some Ukrainian Diplomats to Leave Country
After Poland’s move to expel 45 Russian ‘spied’, Belarus on Wednesday has asked some Ukrainian diplomats to leave the country.''

''Russia to Demand Payment in Ruble for Gas Purchases from 'Unfriendly Countries'
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia will demand payment in ruble for natural gas purchases from ‘unfriendly countries’ reports The Spectator Index.''

'''Active Phase' of Russian Invasion Will Break Down by April: Ukrainian Adviser
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych on Wednesday said he expected the active phase of the Russian invasion to be over by the end of April as the Russian advance had already stalled in many areas.''

''President Putin Plans to Attend G20 Summit in Indonesia, Says Russian Ambassador
President Vladimir Putin plans to attend a G20 summit later this year in Indonesia, Moscow’s envoy said Wednesday, dismissing suggestions Russia could be excluded from the group over the war in Ukraine''

''Scholz Told Putin Not to Use Biological, Chemical Weapons in Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Russian President Vladimir Putin in direct talks not to use biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine, a government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said.''

''Ukraine-Russia War: Reuters Removes TASS from Its Content Marketplace
Reuters has removed TASS from its business-to-business marketplace for customers, according to a Reuters message to staff on Wednesday, amid growing criticism of how Russia’s state-owned news agency is portraying the war in Ukraine. “We believe making TASS content available on Reuters Connect is not aligned with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles,” Matthew Keen, interim CEO of Reuters, wrote in an internal memo to staff on Wednesday.''

''Poland Seeks Expulsion of 45 Russians Suspected of Spying, Moscow Says Will Retaliate
Poland has identified 45 Russian intelligence officers using diplomatic status as cover to stay in the country and authorities are seeking to expel them, officials said. Poland’s Internal Security Agency said it was asking the Foreign Ministry to urgently expel the Russians, who were described as a danger to Poland’s security. Russia will retaliate if its diplomats are expelled from Poland, the RIA news agency cited the foreign ministry said.''

 

[Elley Mae]

Putin adviser Anatoly Chubais resigns and leaves Russia

https://m.jpost.com/international/article-702085

Russian climate envoy and personal advisor to Putin Anatoly Chubais has resigned and left the country on Wednesday, citing his opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Chubais is the highest-level official to break off from Moscow over the invasion.

 

[worldwatcher]

''Poland Seeks Expulsion of 45 Russians Suspected of Spying, Moscow Says Will Retaliate
Poland has identified 45 Russian intelligence officers using diplomatic status as cover to stay in the country and authorities are seeking to expel them, officials said. Poland’s Internal Security Agency said it was asking the Foreign Ministry to urgently expel the Russians, who were described as a danger to Poland’s security. Russia will retaliate if its diplomats are expelled from Poland, the RIA news agency cited the foreign ministry said.''

<Snipped for focus >
More on this subject:

“Poland to expel 45 Russian diplomats for spying as smoke is seen rising from the Russian embassy amid claims its officials were burning secret documents”

Poland to expel 45 Russian diplomats for espionage as ‘spies burn embassy documents’

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Ukraine expects 9 humanitarian corridors to open on March 23. The corridors will evacuate people from besieged Mariupol and other cities in the Donetsk region, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and from the outskirts of Kyiv, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Kharkiv Oblast shelled 32 times overnight. 8 civilians were injured in Lozova, a city in Kharkiv Oblast, according to the governor of Kharkiv Oblast Oleh Synyehubov.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Russian invaders destroy Chernihiv bridge to Kyiv. The bridge was used to evacuate civilians from Chernihiv, located 130 kilometers northeast of Kyiv, and bring humanitarian aid to the city, which has no electricity and suffers from the shortage of supplies.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
UK intelligence: Russian troops trying to encircle Ukraine's forces in eastern Ukraine. To do that, Russians are advancing from Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south, according to a March 23 report by the British Defense Ministry.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Akhmetov: Mariupol's metal plants won't work under Russian occupation. Ukraine’s richest oligarch told the Wall Street Journal that his Azovstal and Ilyich plants, now closed, would not operate if Mariupol gets occupied. Together they employ 40,000 people.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Bucha City Council: Ukraine's military surround the towns of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel near Kyiv. It means that the Russian troops north-west of Kyiv are now encircled.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russia uses white phosphorus bombs in Hostomel and Irpin. Russian forces targeted Kyiv’ suburbs with phosphorus bombs on the night of March 22, according to Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushin. The use of such weapons against civilians is banned by the Geneva Conventions.

 

[PommyMommy]

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - Video, 5 hrs ago
Another use of banned phosphorous munition by the Russian occupiers was recorded in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Obl Video Reported by Deputy Chief of the Kyiv Patrol Police Oleksiy Biloshytskyi on 22 March
Чергове застосування фосфорних... - Олексій Білошицький | Facebook

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
Russia is preparing to block Russians from leaving occupied Crimea According to Ukrainian Intel, Russian Nat'l Guard prepares to block Kerch bridge, ferry & air connection Since 24 Feb, panic is rising in Crimea, Russian military, occupation administrations try to leave https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=276571667987594&id=100069042885845

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Russia is looking for new ways of involving Belarusians in the war against Ukraine: offering a $1000-1500 monthly reward for conducting "special tasks" and preferential training in Russian military universities - Ukrainian intelligence https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=276594251318669&id=100069042885845

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Advisor to Ukrainian President tells Ukraine's partners what Ukraine needs:
1) modern air defense, if you can't close the sky
2) offensive weapons - cruise missiles/shells for heavy rockets
3) tough oil embargo
4) closed ports for all Russian ships

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 10 min ago
In late evening of 22 March, Russia shelled NW outskirts of Kyiv (Hostomel-Irpin area) with banned phosphorous munitions, Irpin mayor Oleksandr Markushyn reported. Geneva Conventions ban use of phosphorous munitions against civilians https://t.me/markushyn/2049?single… PHOTO CREDIT: Oleh Hryb, ITV

 

[CSIDreamer]

Another one bites the dust.

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1506544661304905739?t=wbWDg6ZzccmeyFrTP_alEg&s=19

Colonel Alexei Sharov, commander of the 810th Marine Brigade of the # Russian Army, was killed near # Mariupol. https://t.co/1btjX3vBzz

 

[PommyMommy]

NEXTA on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Journalist Roman #Tsimbalyuk reported that a #Russian serviceman ran over his commander with a tank, who sent his comrades-in-arms to their certain death. Now the run over colonel is being treated in a #Belarusian hospital.

NEXTA on Twitter
Businessman Vasily Melnikov, owner of the Medstom company, was murdered together with his family in #NizhnyNovgorod. The businessman, his wife and two minor children were stabbed to death in their own home. An investigation is underway. A contract killing is not ruled out.

NEXTA on Twitter - 2 hrs ago, video
In the center of #Moscow, an unknown person threw a Molotov cocktail at the #Kremlin wall.

NEXTA on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
#Russian Foreign Ministry reports that #Moscow and #Kyiv conducted two prisoner exchanges.

NEXTA on Twitter - 1 hr ago
#Ukraine refutes the report of the #Russian Foreign Ministry about the exchange of prisoners.

 

[Sundog]

<Snipped for focus >
More on this subject:

“Poland to expel 45 Russian diplomats for spying as smoke is seen rising from the Russian embassy amid claims its officials were burning secret documents”
View attachment 337497

Poland to expel 45 Russian diplomats for espionage as ‘spies burn embassy documents’

If I remember correctly, this is common practice for embassy diplomats to destroy files when they leave a foreign country. I recall reading about this when U.S. embassy diplomats have had to evacuate from foreign countries.


EBM formatting

 

[Sundog]

Russia-Ukraine War LIVE Updates: Centre Evacuated 22k Students from Ukraine, Parl Told; Russia Destroys Chernobyl Nuclear Power Lab (news18.com)
Mar 23, 2022 18:19 rbbm.
<snipped for focus>
''Russia to Demand Payment in Ruble for Gas Purchases from 'Unfriendly Countries'
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia will demand payment in ruble for natural gas purchases from ‘unfriendly countries’ reports The Spectator Index.''

I wonder if requiring payment in rubles for gas purchases is being done to shore up the value of the ruble.

 

[worldwatcher]

‘Press conference ahead of tomorrow's extraordinary Summit of #NATO Heads of State and Government #NATOSummit’

https://twitter.com/jensstoltenberg/status/1506614785806323723

Is that, this??:
https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/audio/2022/3/audio/220323a.mp3

 

[dotr]

March 23 2022
Chernobyl: Russia destroys radiation monitoring lab, says Ukraine - CNN
''(CNN)Russian forces have looted and destroyed a laboratory near the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was used to monitor radioactive waste, the Ukrainian government said Wednesday.

The site of the world's worst nuclear disaster fell into Russian hands in the first week of Russia's invasion, triggering fears that safety standards inside the exclusion zone could be compromised.''

A satellite image of the power plant on March 10.
''According to a Ukrainian government agency, the laboratory was part of a European Union-funded attempt to improve radioactive waste management -- through on-site analysis of waste samples, as well as the packaging used to dispose of waste.
The government agency also reported that samples of radionuclides -- unstable atoms that can emit high levels of radiation -- had been removed from the lab. It said it hoped Russia would use the samples to "harm itself, and not the civilized world."


It is the latest scare at the infamous site in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus. On Tuesday, Ukraine's government warned of several fires close to the plant, which it said had probably been triggered by Russian artillery or arson.''

 

[Dontknow?]

Natasha Bertrand
@NatashaBertrand
47m

The first deliveries of the US' $800 million in new military aid to Ukraine have started to arrive in country, per an official. Once fully delivered, the aid package will include 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems and 100 armed drones. via
@kaitlancolli

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
Russia-Ukraine war latest news: concern for trapped Chernihiv residents as Russians ‘bomb bridge’ – live | World news | The Guardian
''There are growing concerns about the situation in the encircled city of Chernihiv, north of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Ludmila Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, claimed that the population had effectively been turned into hostages by Russian forces who have cut off the main routes for humanitarian aid.

She said: “Today Chernihiv remains completely cut off from the capital. The occupiers bombed the bridge across the river Desna, through which transported humanitarian aid to the city and evacuated civilians.

“The city has no electricity, water, heat and almost no gas, infrastructure is destroyed. According to local residents, the occupiers are compiling lists of civilians for the ‘evacuation’ to Lgov [Kursk region of Russia]. The racists, cutting off Chernihiv from the capital, turned its inhabitants into hostages.”

"Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Russian forces of seizing a humanitarian convoy near Mangush west of Mariupol. “Employees of the state emergency service and bus drivers have been taken captive,” he said, adding that 100,000 people remained in the city living “in inhumane conditions. In a total blockade. Without food, water, medication. Under constant shelling, under constant bombing”.

 

[Charlot123]

Yes the crazy siblings in North Korea, don't know which one is worse. Russia now wants to get a civil war started there. This is what Putin has wanted all along. Do the North Koreans love their children too!?

Are the majority of the Russian people really that blind to the truth of things going on in the world, in their backyard, or just that complacent? Surely the Russians love their children too!?

Is China going to let the craziness of North Korea and Myanmar explode into their neighborhood without jumping in and smacking Putin down? Surely the Chinese love their children too!?

Fight for Ukraine, fight for the Korean peninsula, maybe a move by China on Taiwan?
Who's next...?

Surely they do...but cutting off IG and FB is depriving them of information. Anyhow, regular people are probably scared of the future. And they can not get to any bunker, you understand. Which brings up a point...so far, I see only China having long-term plans on dealing with the situation. To their profit. This concerns me.

 

[Dontknow?]

CBS News
@CBSNews
8m

Nestle will stop making brands including KitKat and Nesquik in Russia, amid public pressure to halt all business in the country.

 

[Dontknow?]

Illia Ponomarenko @IAPonomarenko
2h

80% of the Irpin urban territory has been taken back by Ukraine

The Kyiv Independent@KyivIndependent
Stoltenberg: NATO to supply Ukraine nuclear, chemical protection equipment. NATO Secretary General said the alliance will agree to provide Ukraine with “cyber security equipment” and supplies to “protect against chemical, biological, radiological & nuclear threats.”

KyivPost@KyivPost
25m

"The EU gave #Ukraine 1 billion euros for the armament," the Head of the European Council

Baerbock: further Strela missiles are on their way to Ukraine. According to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the country will provide Ukraine with Strela surface-to-air missiles, after weeks of delivery delays.

 

[ilovewings]

You are sooooo correct. This is a war with no reason. It makes no sense. Putin just wanted a war.

Putin is now in rarified company: Hitler and Stalin--- he is apparently attempting to go down in history as one of the worst, vilest dictators in history. This is not a war--- this is an invasion- This monster (psychopath IMO), is enjoying murdering thousands of innocents- he does not see them as humans, but as objects - he has a goal and the Ukranian people are in the way of his goal- to control the Ukraine- these innocents are pawns- he wants to murder as many as possible, to reign terror on the Ukranian people in order to bring the Ukraine to its knees so they will surrender. I am concerned that his need and obsession with the Ukraine, coupled with his blind hatred of the West could motivate him to go to further lengths that could bring us to a third world war with nuclear potential. I don't know if Putin has gone "mad", if he is bordering on insane, or he is just exhibiting the potential that was always within him. I truly believe he needs to be taken out, before he takes this planet out. What we are witnessing is beyond heartbreaking and cruel.

 

[worldwatcher]

If I remember correctly, this is common practice for embassy diplomats to destroy files when they leave a foreign country. I recall reading about this when U.S. embassy diplomats have had to evacuate from foreign countries.


EBM formatting

I wonder,....why now?
Call me suspicious,but this gives me a bad feeling and imo more to the story that we know so far...

“ The detainee worked in the archives of Warsaw’s registry office,” he said. “The activity of the suspect posed a threat to both (the) internal and external security of Poland.”


Poland expels ’45 Russian spies pretending to be diplomats’


I dont think Putin is a fool,given his nota on paying in ruble.
He must be LAO