Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #8

[dotr]

Attacks on civilians have spurred Ukrainians to join war effort against Russia — in any way they can | CBC News
''Tears welled up in Nastia Estomina's eyes, in spite of a forced smile for the benefit of her young children, every time she thought of the difficult journey fleeing her home in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine.
While still there, they were under constant threat of shelling, with fighter planes flying so low at times Estomina could pick out the expression on the pilots' faces.
Holding in the memories of life in Kharkiv before the war for the sake of calming her children is difficult, she told CBC News.''

April 11 2022
Live updates: Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine (cnbc.com)
“We are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence,” said Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, during a UN Security Council meeting on the conflict.

“The combination of mass displacement with the large presence of conscripts and mercenaries, and the brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians, has raised all red flags,” Bahous said.

She also noted that women comprise 80% of all health and social care workers in Ukraine “and many of them chose not to evacuate.”

The risk of human trafficking is also on the rise, as 90% of refugees from Ukraine are women and children, according to U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

“When men like President Putin start wars, women and children get displaced, women and children get hurt, women and children get raped and abused, and women and children die,” Thomas-Greenfield told the UNSC.''
............

''Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have left at least 148 children dead and 233 injured since late February, according to the United Nations.
The threat to children in Ukraine extends far beyond death and injury, Fontaine noted. Nearly half of the estimated 3.2 million kids who remained in their homes during the Russian invasion “may be at risk of not having enough food,” he said.

“A whole generation of children have already seen their lives and educations abandoned during the past eight years of conflict,” he said.''
— Kevin Breuninger

 

[Arkay]

Read the attached "CONCLUSION"

Russian oligarch's luxury yacht seized in Spain at US' request - CNNPolitics

The US judge who allowed the seizure, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, issued a scathing eight-page order in which he cited Putin's "murder of civilians" and destruction of Ukraine's cities.

"The seizure of the Target Property is just the beginning of the reckoning that awaits those who would facilitate Putin's atrocities. Neither the Department of Justice, nor history, will be kind to the Oligarchs who chose the wrong side," Faruqui wrote.

This is fantastic if I’m reading the last sentence correctly…wasn’t the message of the brave soldiers on Snake Island the “F***you, Russian warships?” How clever of the judge to incorporate that message discreetly within a legal document!

 

[Sundog]

Russia welcomes first EU head of state to Moscow since Ukraine invasion began

The Austrian leader stressed that the Monday trip was "not a friendly visit," but rather his "duty" to exhaust every possibility for ending the violence in Ukraine.

 

[dotr]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: child among Kharkiv shelling victims, says mayor; Austrian leader’s talks with Putin ‘open and tough’ (theguardian.com)
''17:53
Multiple casualties, including one child, after shelling of Kharkiv, mayor says
Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv came under heavy shelling today, resulting in multiple casualties, mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a televised interview, Reuters reports.
Among the casualties in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was the death of one child, the region’s mayor said.
When asked about the risk of a new Russian assault on the city, Terekhov said that Ukrainian forces were focused and ready to defend the city.''

''6m ago21:59
Ukraine’s ombudswoman for human rights said she had recorded horrific acts of sexual violence by Russian troops in Bucha and elsewhere, including a case in which women and girls were kept in a basement for 25 days, the New York Times has reported.

Nine of those victims are now pregnant, according to the ombudswoman, Lyudmyla Denisova.''

 

[dotr]

April 11 2022
Ukraine round-up: Austria pessimistic after Putin talks - BBC News
"After suffering some of the worst fighting in Ukraine's conflict, could the port city of Mariupol be about to fall to Russia?

A brigade fighting in the city said they could be facing a "last battle" and that they would soon have to choose between Russian captivity and death.

But the exact picture of what is happening in the city is unclear. Mariupol's deputy mayor called the reports "fake" and said Ukraine's forces were holding out.

Mariupol's defence against Russian occupation has turned the city into a national symbol of resistance.''

IMAGE SOURCE,.

The port city - which Russian forces have tried and failed to capture fully since the beginning of the war - is critical for Moscow as it would establish a land corridor between Russian-occupied Crimea and the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

For weeks Russian troops have cut off essential supplies into Mariupol, bombarding its buildings and blocking survivors from escaping.''
....
''Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he went to the Russian capital to confront Putin with the facts, but didn't leave with a positive impression.

"If you're asking me whether I am optimistic or pessimistic, I'm rather pessimistic," he said, adding there was "little interest" on the Russian side about a direct meting between Mr Putin and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.''
......
''Millions of social media users are viewing posts portraying Russian president Vladimir Putin as smiling, benevolent and peace-loving.

But a joint BBC investigation into ten pro-Putin Facebook groups found that many of their most active posters were actually duplicate accounts.

It's an example of pro-Kremlin "astroturfing," an online tactic designed to create the impression that a movement has more support than it does.''

.....
''Marina Ovsyannikova, the editor who was detained and fined after holding an anti-war protest during a live broadcast on Russian state television last month, has a new role.
The 43-year-old journalist has been hired as a correspondent by the company which owns Die Welt newspaper.
Ms Ovsyannikova will be reporting for the outlet from Ukraine and Russia - she previously said that despite fearing for her safety she would not leave Russia.''

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 11, 2022
Azov says Russia used chemical weapons in besieged Mariupol (kyivindependent.com)
Ukraine’s Azov regiment said on April 11 that Russia had used a poisonous substance against Ukrainian troops in Mariupol, a besieged port on the Sea of Azov.

Azov leader Andriy Biletsky said that three people have clear signs of chemical poisoning. He added that there are no “disastrous consequences” for their health.

The claim followed a call by Russia’s proxies in the Donbas to use chemical weapons against Azov.

If confirmed, this is the first known use of chemical weapons by Russia during its aggression against Ukraine. Western leaders have pledged to step up their response to Russian aggression in case of a chemical attack.

Azov said that the poisonous substance had been distributed by a drone. Its victims have shortness of breath and vestibullocerebellar ataxia, the regiment said.

[...]

 

[sunshineray]

Brave woman <3

Russian protester hired by German media

Marina Ovsyannikova, the editor who was detained and fined after holding an anti-war protest during a live broadcast on Russian state television last month, has a new role.

The 43-year-old journalist has been hired as a correspondent by the company which owns Die Welt newspaper.

Ms Ovsyannikova will be reporting for the outlet from Ukraine and Russia - she previously said that despite fearing for her safety she would not leave Russia.

Ukraine round-up: Austria pessimistic after Putin talks

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Zelenskiy voices concern at possible chemical weapons attack in ‘new stage of terror’ – live (theguardian.com)

3h ago 20:29
More than 10,000 civilians died in Mariupol, mayor says

Vadym Boychenko said the death toll could surpass 20,000, as weeks of attacks and privation leave the bodies of Mariupol’s people “carpeted through the streets” in an interview by phone on Monday with the Associated Press.

Boychenko also accused Russian forces of having blocked weeks of thwarted humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to conceal the carnage there from the outside world.

[...]

22m ago 22:41
Russian forces have reportedly seized a cargo ship docked in the port of Mariupol along with those on board, Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman said.

Lyudmyla Denisova said 18 Ukrainians and one Egyptian were taken off the ship, named the Smarta, in an update on her Telegram channel late on Monday.

All contact with the crew has reportedly been lost.

The Liberian-flagged ship docked in Mariupol on 21 February, days before the Russian invasion, on its way to Turkey and had been unable to put to sea again, Denisova added.

 

[Vern]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Zelenskiy voices concern at possible chemical weapons attack in ‘new stage of terror’ – live (theguardian.com)

...
Russian forces have reportedly seized a cargo ship docked in the port of Mariupol along with those on board, Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman said.

Lyudmyla Denisova said 18 Ukrainians and one Egyptian were taken off the ship, named the Smarta, in an update on her Telegram channel late on Monday.

All contact with the crew has reportedly been lost.

The Liberian-flagged ship docked in Mariupol on 21 February, days before the Russian invasion, on its way to Turkey and had been unable to put to sea again, Denisova added.

RSBM. So now this begins to spread to other nations in the MSM. I believe it was last week that a cargo ship from a Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic was struck by Russian shelling, caught fire and has since sunk.

Is this going to become a 'thing'? What's to be done about the fact Russians are targeting non-Ukranian targets now? Need to go look for a link.

Edit to add link and a bit from where I learned that. I take it that the Liberian ship your article references is the same one mentioned below as being 'held' captive at the time this DR-registered ship was shelled and sunk.

Cargo Ship Sunk by Russian Shelling at Port of Mariupol (maritime-executive.com)

On 4th April 2022, around 22:40 [local time], the vessel was heavily fired upon by Russian armed forces after intentionally shelling the vessel twice a day earlier. Specific characteristics of firing on the vessel remain unknown, crew reported shelling, bombing and repeated hits by missiles, causing a fire in engine room," the Dominica Registry reported in a statement. "[The] administration received information that as a result of the attack and spreading fire, m.v. AZBURG sank . . . The crew managed to evacuate and found refuge on board neighboring vessels. One person was found wounded and received medical assistance."

The 427-foot vessel reportedly has a crew of 12 and has been trapped in Mariupol since the beginning of the invasion. She departed Burgas, Bulgaria on February 17 arriving in Mariupol on February 23, the day before the Russians entered Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry released a statement reporting that the vessel was struck during “shelling from the sea” by Russia. The Russian news agency Tass confirmed the reports that a vessel was on fire in the port but said it might have been caused by Ukrainian nationalists who they said are now trapped in the industrial area at the port in the city.

The Ukraine Shipping Magazine reports that there are four other foreign-registered vessels still in the port of Mariupol. They said the vessels, which remain with their crews, are registered in Malta, Jamaica, and Liberia.

 

[Vern]

Just about to head out of the house, but I'm seeing breaking news about the possible use of chemical weapons by Russia this morning. If that's already been put out there, I missed it.

With "UK stating that all options are on the table if Russia uses chemical weapons".

Will look for a link when I get to work as I can't seem to find one right now.

 

[Grouse]

Just about to head out of the house, but I'm seeing breaking news about the possible use of chemical weapons by Russia this morning. If that's already been put out there, I missed it.

With "UK stating that all options are on the table if Russia uses chemical weapons".

Will look for a link when I get to work as I can't seem to find one right now.

Link here --> Ukraine War: US 'deeply concerned' at report of Mariupol chemical attack

• The US and Britain say they are looking into reports that chemical weapons have been used by Russian forces attacking the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

• Last month US President Joe Biden said Nato "would respond" if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine.

• US President Joe Biden has said Nato "would respond" if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine.

• The president - who is in Europe for talks with allies - did not spell out what that might mean.

 

[dotr]

April 12 2022 8:20 a.m. rbbm.
Ukraine updates: Fears rise over Russia's use of chemical weapons (usatoday.com)
''Global concerns that Russia will resort to chemical weapons in Ukraine were rising Tuesday after a separatist spokesman suggested to a Russian TV audience that separatists may use chemicals against Ukrainian soldiers holed up at a giant steel factory in Mariupol “to smoke them out of there.”

Eduard Basurin, who said 80% of the Mariupol port had been "liberated" by Russian-backed separatists, was later quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying separatist forces “haven’t used any chemical weapons in Mariupol.” The comment came after a Ukrainian unit defending Mariupol claimed without providing evidence that a drone had dropped a poisonous substance on its positions.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby called the reports of chemical weapons use "deeply concerning." U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said officials were working to "urgently" investigate what she called "a callous escalation" of the war.''

Ukraine checking reports of Russian use of chemical weapons | Reuters
"We know that last night around midnight a drone dropped some so-far unknown explosive device, and the people that were in and around the Mariupol metal plant, there were three people, they began to feel unwell," he told CNN.
They were taken to hospital and their lives were not in danger, he said.
Asked about the total number of dead in Mariupol, Kyrylenko said: "We are currently discussing 20-22,000 people dead", adding that the figure needed to be checked very carefully.
Chemical weapons production, use and stockpiling is banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Although condemned by human rights groups, white phosphorous is not banned under the CWC.
Russia's defence ministry has not responded to a Reuters request for comment. Russian-backed separatist forces in the east denied using chemical weapons in Mariupol, the Interfax news agency reported.'

Ukraine president warns of ‘new stage of terror’ as west probes chemical weapons claims | Ukraine | The Guardian
''About 120,000 civilians are in dire need of food, water, warmth and communications, the mayor said. Only those residents who have passed the Russian “filtration camps” are released from the city, Boychenko said.

Improvised prisons were organised for those who did not pass the “filtering”, while at least 33,000 people were taken to Russia or to separatist territory in Ukraine, he claimed.

A Russia-allied separatist official, Eduard Basurin, appeared to the use of chemical weapons on Monday, telling Russian state TV that Russian-backed forces should seize a giant metals plant in Mariupol by first blocking all the exits out of the factory. “And then we’ll use chemical troops to smoke them out of there,” he said.

Ukrainian lawmaker Ivanna Klympush said Russia had used an “unknown substance” in Mariupol and that people were suffering from respiratory failure, but did not know if chemical weapons had been used.''

 

[dotr]

fatal attraction putin animated meme i won't be ignored - Google Search

Live updates: Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine (cnbc.com)
''Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed there is no doubt that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he has described as a “special military operation,” will achieve its objectives. He also warned Russia “cannot be isolated” from the West.

“There’s no doubt that the goals and objectives in operation in Ukraine will be fulfilled,” Putin said, according to a translation.

“Russia will not self-isolate and it cannot be isolated,” he added.

Putin was speaking alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a visit to the Vostochny Cosmodrome to mark Russia’s annual Cosmonautics Day.''

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Five Ukrainian regions hit by Russia overnight. Khmelnytskyi Oblast was hit by a missile while shelling continued in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts. At least nine people died, and tens are injured.

NEXTA on Twitter
Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila #Denisova told foreign media about mass rapes in #Bucha. The occupiers kept about 25 girls aged 14 to 24 in the basement and regularly tortured and sexually abused them. Many of them are now pregnant.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - Video
Ukrainian marines of the 36th brigade shared a farewell video from Mariupol, saying they are devoted to Ukraine till the end. However, no ammunition was delivered to them in the besieged city. They ask to finish the job and fight for victory.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Mariupol defenders, who criticized command, say they keep fighting. “We held every part of this city to the best of our ability,” soldiers fighting with the 36 Marine Brigade said in a video address. They added that ammunition is scarce & it’s unknown how long they can hold.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
The 36th Marine Brigade accused the country’s leadership of abandoning them in the besieged port city with no ammunition left. “For over a month, (we) fought without replenishment of ammunition, food, water, drinking from a puddle and dying in batches.”

Defenders of besieged Mariupol plead for help, criticize commandment (kyivindependent.com)
[...]

On the night of April 11, Azov reported a chemical attack conducted by Russia in Azov.

The regiment said that an unknown substance was distributed by a drone, and that three people who came in contact with it were having trouble breathing.

[...]

Just hours earlier, Russian proxies in Donetsk called for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces defending the city.

Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for Russian-controlled Donetsk proxies, said that it made no sense to storm the well-fortified Ukrainian-controlled Azovstal plant in Mariupol because Russian troops would suffer heavy casualties, and instead Russian “chemical forces” should “smoke them out.”

[...]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
Azov: Injured by poisonous substance spread in Mariupol are in 'relatively satisfactory condition.' The Azov Regiment issued a statement saying that victims have high blood pressure, eye rash and shortness of breath.

Russia ‘using weapons smuggled by Iran from Iraq against Ukraine’ | Ukraine | The Guardian
Russia is receiving munitions and military hardware sourced from Iraq for its war effort in Ukraine with the help of Iranian weapons smuggling networks, according to members of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias and regional intelligence services with knowledge of the process.

RPGs and anti-tank missiles, as well as Brazilian-designed rocket launcher systems, have been dispatched to Russia from Iraq as Moscow’s campaign has faltered in the last month, the Guardian has learned.

[...]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
CNN: Large Russian military column spotted heading to Donbas. CNN geolocated a video showing a group of Russian military vehicles near Russia’s Matveev Kurgan, a settlement in the Rostov region. The vehicles were seen facing northwest, in the direction of Ukraine’s Donbas.

NEXTA on Twitter
#Russia plans terrorist attacks on its territory "Russian special services are planning a series of terrorist attacks with mines and bombing residential areas. As well as missile attacks on city of #Belgorod or one of the cities of Crimea,"said head of #Ukrainian Intelligence.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
State Investigations Bureau says it seized 10 Russian ships worth over $34 million. The Bureau blocked eight Russian cargo ships and two tankers from leaving Ukraine. According to Ukrainian law, the state can seize Russian property without compensation.

 

[PommyMommy]

[URL='https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/apr/12/russia-ukraine-war-latest-mariupol-mayor-says-more-than-10000-civilians-killed-zelenskiy-taking-chemical-weapons-threat-seriously']Russia-Ukraine war latest: Putin defends ‘noble’ invasion; alleged Mariupol chemical attack investigated – live (theguardian.com)[/URL]

1m ago 14:35
Putin: peace talks with Ukraine in a 'dead end', military operation going as planned

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been speaking again at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far east of Russia, where he is visiting with Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko. The key lines that have been reported by news agency Tass and Reuters so far include:

• Putin said Ukraine had deviated from the agreements made at a peace conference in Istanbul, and that talks are in a “dead end”.
• He said the military operation was going as planned, and that Russia’s aim in Ukraine was to meet all its goals and minimise losses. He said the end of the military operation depends on the intensity of the fighting.
• Putin claimed Russia’s financial system was operating well and the West’s economic “blitzkrieg” had failed, but he said the risk of harm from sanctions could rise in the medium and longer term. He said regarding the sanctions that he hoped common sense would prevail in the West.
• He said the West does not understand that difficult conditions unite the Russian people.
• Putin said images and footage of dead bodies strewn across the Ukrainian town of Bucha were fake.

 

[Bit of hope]

Among other things that rip my heart out, this is devastating. Mariupol will fall. I understand they are pointing a finger to Ukrainian leadership, but considering the circumstances....Russians rule in big parts of the city...starving people out...it would have been equally impossible to deliver weapons and food for the troops. In my eyes this are heroes of the last hour. It must be very hard to take in and to deal with. Very good thoughts for all of them and their families.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - Video
Ukrainian marines of the 36th brigade shared a farewell video from Mariupol, saying they are devoted to Ukraine till the end. However, no ammunition was delivered to them in the besieged city. They ask to finish the job and fight for victory.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Mariupol defenders, who criticized command, say they keep fighting. “We held every part of this city to the best of our ability,” soldiers fighting with the 36 Marine Brigade said in a video address. They added that ammunition is scarce & it’s unknown how long they can hold.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
The 36th Marine Brigade accused the country’s leadership of abandoning them in the besieged port city with no ammunition left. “For over a month, (we) fought without replenishment of ammunition, food, water, drinking from a puddle and dying in batches.”

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Putin defends ‘noble’ invasion; alleged Mariupol chemical attack investigated – live (theguardian.com)

3h ago 06:35
A British man fighting in Ukraine has said his unit has no choice but to surrender to Russian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol, his family and friends told the BBC.

Aiden Aslin, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, is a marine in the Ukrainian military after moving to Ukraine in 2018. Over the past few weeks, his unit has been defending the southern port city of Mariupol, which has come under heavy bombardment by Russian forces.

His mother, Ang Wood, told the BBC:

He called me and said they have no weapons left to fight. I love my son. He is my hero. They put up one hell of a fight.

But he sounded OK. Boris [Johnson] needs to take Putin down.

A friend of Aslin also said he had spoken to him by phone and was told the unit had no food, ammunition or supplies, leaving them no option but to surrender.

He said:

They can’t get out. They can’t fight back. So they had no choice. I’m sure sure if they had a bullet left, they would have shot it.

Jake Hanrahan on Twitter
British #Ukraine Marine Aiden Aslin (AKA Cossack Gundî / Johnny) has had to surrender with his unit to Russian forces in Mariupol. They fought like hell for 48 days and have now run out of food and ammunition due to #Russia’s siege and destruction of the city.

Jake Hanrahan on Twitter
Aiden will become a Prisoner of War of the Russians. His family agrees that this information should be shared far and wide, so please share. He is a friend and fellow East Midlands lad. He previously fought against ISIS in Syria with the YPG.

 

[dotr]

Keeping in mind all the good people in this world!

'Open hearts': Communities of all backgrounds hold donation drives for Ukrainians | CP24.com
''April 12, 2022
Canadians from all backgrounds are finding ways to support Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, from Ukrainian Canadians across the Prairies holding regular perogy fundraisers to Sikhs and Muslims in Calgary collecting donated household items.

Members of the Sikh community dropped off cash donations, blankets and other items at the Dashmesh Culture Centre in northeast Calgary last weekend as they arrived to gather, eat a vegetarian meal or volunteer.

"We believe in brother and sisterhood. This is our duty as a Sikh," said the centre's president, Amanpreet Singh Gill.


Members of the Sikh community give donations to a "Stand with Ukraine" campaign at the Dashmesh Cultural Centre in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, April 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

"People are suffering for over a month now and they are going through a very tough time in their life and finally are arriving to Calgary. We should be helping with open hearts."

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said Monday that it has received more than 117,000 applications from Ukrainian nationals since March 17, and 31,000 of those applications have been approved. Many are expected to come to the Prairies, where there is a large Ukrainian community.

The Ahmadi Muslim Women of Calgary are spending Ramadan — a month of fasting, prayer and community that goes until May 1 — collecting household items.

"We know that coming to a new country has its challenges," said Adila Munir, one of the organizers.''

 

[sds71]

@cliffordlevy

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent Russian opposition leader, was detained in Moscow after criticizing Putin over the Ukraine invasion. Kara-Murza was poisoned twice in recent years with toxins that sent him into comas.

Vladimir Kara Murza calls Putin regime a 'regime of murderers'. He was arrested in Moscow an hour later.

[URL="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/04/11/russia-putin-poison-vladimir-kara-murza-bigpicture-cnnplus.cnn"]Russian 'regime of murderers' revealed by twice-poisoned Putin critic - CNN Video[/URL]

@SecBlinken
United States government official
The United States is troubled by Russian authorities' detention today in Moscow of prominent civil society leader Vladimir Kara-Murza. We are monitoring this situation closely and urge his immediate release.

@PaulaChertok
Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 15 days in jail in Russia, after criticizing Putin's war in interviews w/ US media.

 

[worldwatcher]

Among other things that rip my heart out, this is devastating. Mariupol will fall. I understand they are pointing a finger to Ukrainian leadership, but considering the circumstances....Russians rule in big parts of the city...starving people out...it would have been equally impossible to deliver weapons and food for the troops. In my eyes this are heroes of the last hour. It must be very hard to take in and to deal with. Very good thoughts for all of them and their families.

It does not look good and tbh, am amazed how much they hold on to Mariupol!
With yesterday's news about chemical attacks and the previous warning of Pr. Biden, it is obvious Putin 'brings nuclear football' to space port with Lukashenko with him...
, as a threat|reminder for us to see,worry about?

Anyway, I do think chemicals were used to smoke them out..

Read this:
" In 1942, as Hitler’s forces swept through the Soviet Union, the Red Army went underground. Outside the city of Kerch in Crimea, 10,000 Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian soldiers dug into the caves of a limestone quarry, ready to defend their position to the last man. Intent on flushing them out, the Nazis bombed them from the skies, flooded the complex and, according to testimony from survivors, pumped noxious gas into the tunnels.

That siege, 80 years ago, would have been the last time that chemical weapons were used in combat in Europe. Until, perhaps, yesterday. Just over 100 miles north of Kerch, in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, locals have reportedly complained of lung and ear problems after a drone dropped its payload overhead..."

Is Putin using chemical weapons in Ukraine? | The Spectator