Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #9

[Sundog]

Russia Warns Long-Range U.S. Missiles at Ukraine Border 'Intolerable'

Russian ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov said Saturday that Russia hopes "common sense will prevail and Washington will not take such a provocative step."

www.newsweek.com

According to this Newsweek article, it doesn't sound like it is a done deal that the U.S. will be sending long range missiles to the Ukraine border.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Civilians are being denied medical care.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1530879124264431620

 

[Sundog]

Biden says US won’t send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach Russia

President Biden on Monday said the United States will not send rocket systems to Ukraine that could potentially reach into Russia, after reports that the administration was preparing to send long-range systems to the besieged European ally.

www.foxnews.com

The U.S. will not be sending these rocket systems to Ukraine, as it could potentially escalate a U.S. and Russia war.


The Washington Post reported that the State Department had said the White House had concerns that providing Ukraine with the MLRS could result in a situation in which Ukrainians fire rockets into Russian territory -- which would spark a major escalation in the conflict. Officials had reportedly mulled managing the risk by withholding some of the longest-range rockets available.

Russia has objected loudly to moves by the West to provide Ukraine with weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken to leaders of France and Germany on Saturday and warned against continued transfers of weapons to Ukraine.

 

[CSIDreamer]

I suppose Russia is going to expect payment?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531378226018254848

 

[Mo Thuairim]

The European Union has agreed to an embargo on most Russian oil imports after late-night talks at a summit in Brussels.

The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, hailed the deal as a “remarkable achievement”, after tweeting on Monday night that sanctions will immediately impact 75% of Russian oil imports, “cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine”.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said the ban “will effectively cut around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year” because Germany and Poland had committed to renounce deliveries via a pipeline to their territory.

Michel added that the package also included removing access to Swift payments for Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank; banning three more Russian state-owned broadcasters; and further sanctions against “individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine”.

Von der Leyen called the agreement on a sixth sanctions package was “an important step forward” and said the bloc had agreed a “massive investment in renewable energy” in order to compensate for the diversifying away from Russian oil.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, later tweeted: “A landmark decision to cripple Putin’s war machine. Our unity is our strength.”

(...)

EU leaders agree to partial embargo of Russian oil imports

Some 75% of imports will be banned and Sberbank ejected from Swift but Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia to keep supplies

www.theguardian.com

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 31, 2022

Sievierodonetsk mayor says Russian forces seize half of city

SLOVIANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces in a “frenzied push” have seized half of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk that is key to Moscow’s efforts to quickly complete the capture of the industrial Donbas region, the mayor told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

apnews.com

Russian forces in a “frenzied push” have seized half of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk that is key to Moscow’s efforts to quickly complete the capture of the industrial Donbas region, the mayor told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“The city is essentially being destroyed ruthlessly block by block,” Oleksandr Striuk said. He said heavy street fighting continues and artillery bombardments threaten the lives of the estimated 13,000 civilians still sheltering in the ruined city that once was home to more than 100,000.

[...]

War crimes meeting held at Hague over Russia-Ukraine war

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Representatives of a group of nations working together to investigate war crimes in Russia's invasion of Ukraine are meeting in The Hague amid ongoing calls for those responsible for atrocities to be brought to justice.

apnews.com

Representatives of a group of nations working together to investigate war crimes in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are meeting in The Hague amid ongoing calls for those responsible for atrocities to be brought to justice.

Tuesday’s coordination meeting at the European Union’s judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, of members of a Joint Investigation Team and International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan comes as Russian forces continue to pound Ukrainian towns.

[...]

Hungary's Orban wins exemption in EU Russian oil embargo

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's divisive leader has once again got his own way with the European Union — this time in tough negotiations on Russian oil at a summit in Brussels.

apnews.com

Hungary’s divisive leader has once again got his own way with the European Union — this time in tough negotiations on Russian oil at a summit in Brussels.

And nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban wasn’t shy about trumpeting his success in leveraging the bloc to win significant concessions, allowing his country to continue purchasing Russian crude even as war rages on in neighboring Ukraine.

The European Commission’s “proposal to ban the use of Russian oil in Hungary was defeated,” Orban said in a video statement on Facebook. “Families can sleep well tonight as the most outrageous idea has been averted.”

[...]

 

[dotr]

''Russian oligarch puts million-dollar bounty on Vladimir Putin's head | 60 Minutes Australia''​

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531546852272766976

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531585582736060417

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531589460101562368

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531710616200675328

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531719272992591872

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531727131381833730

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian forces now control more than two-thirds of Sievierodonetsk – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

www.theguardian.com

37m ago20.57

Summary​

• The US will send Ukraine four sophisticated, medium-range rocket systems and ammunition to help try to stall Russian progress in the Donbas region. The rocket systems are part of a new $700m tranche of security assistance that also includes helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapon systems, radars, tactical vehicles, spare parts and more. It will take at least three weeks to get the precision weapons and trained troops onto the battlefield, the Pentagon said.
• Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the supply of US advanced rocket systems to Ukraine increases the risk of a “third country” being dragged into the conflict. Lavrov’s deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, said that Moscow viewed US military aid to Ukraine “extremely negatively” and that it would increase the risk of a direct confrontation. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added: “We believe that the United States is purposefully and diligently adding fuel to the fire.”
• The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Ukraine has given “assurances” that it will not use long-range weapons systems provided by Washington against targets on Russian territory.
• Following Biden’s announcement, the UK has reportedly asked the US to sign off on a plan to send advanced, medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine within a few weeks. Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, spoke with Biden about the transfer of US-made M270 multiple launch rocket systems, which will be followed by a discussion between his foreign secretary, Liz Truss, and the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Thursday, Politico cited a source as saying.
• Russian forces now control more than two-thirds of the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, according to the regional governor of Luhansk. “Unfortunately, today, Russian troops control most of the city,” Serhiy Gaidai said, adding that a number of civilians are sheltering from Russian shelling under a chemical plant. The expected loss of Sievierodonetsk, the largest still held by Kyiv in the Luhansk region, “is unlikely to be the crux” of Russia’s Donbas campaign, a western official said.
• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, conceded that Kyiv’s forces are currently suffering up to 100 fatalities and 500 wounded every day. The most difficult situation is in the east of Ukraine and southern Donetsk and Luhansk, Zelenskiy said in an interview with the US Newsmax television channel. Western officials said Ukraine’s estimate that it is losing 60 to 100 troops a day killed is “pretty credible”.
• A Russian missile hit rail lines in the western Lviv region, a key conduit for supplies of western weapons and other supplies, officials said. Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy said five people were wounded in the strike. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the country’s interior minister, said the Russians hit the Beskidy railway tunnel in the Carpathian Mountains in an apparent effort to cut a key railway link and disrupt shipments of weapons and fuel.
• Russia said it has completed testing of its hypersonic Zircon cruise missile and will deploy it before the end of the year on a new frigate of its Northern Fleet. President Vladimir Putin has described the Zircon as part of a new generation of unrivalled arms systems, travelling at nine times the speed of sound.
• Russian troops have been accused of committing acts of torture against residents in the Russian-controlled Kherson region in southern Ukraine. The BBC has gathered multiple first-hand testimonies from Kherson residents who say they were tortured while in the hands of Russian forces.
• Denmark has voted overwhelmingly to join the EU’s common defence policy, becoming the last of the bloc’s members to sign up. The referendum on Wednesday, in which voters backed the government’s proposal by 66.9% to 33.1%, followed historic applications by Denmark’s previously non-aligned Nordic neighbours, Finland and Sweden, to join Nato last month.
• Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said he will convene a meeting in Brussels in the coming days with senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey to discuss Turkey’s opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance. Blinken said there was a “strong consensus within Nato, broadly, to support the rapid accession of Sweden and Finland” to Nato and he was confident it would happen.

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532080043631034368

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532139804711956480

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532175992365756417

 

[Sundog]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532080043631034368

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532139804711956480

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532175992365756417

So Ukraine is saying that the U.S. supplied missile systems can be used to hit deep inside of Russia? I read that Biden specifically said that the missile systems that the U.S. is providing are for defensive use only, that is, to be used in Ukraine, NOT to be used to fire inside of Russia.

Biden agrees to provide Ukraine with longer range missiles

The United States is providing Ukraine with high mobility artillery rocket systems that can accurately hit targets as far away as 80 km (50 miles) after Ukraine gave "assurances" they will not use the missiles to strike inside Russia, senior administration officials said.

<snip>

Ukrainian officials have been asking allies for longer-range missile systems that can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of miles away, in the hopes of turning the tide in the three-month-long war.

Biden on Tuesday told reporters that "we're not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that strike into Russia."

 

[PommyMommy]

So Ukraine is saying that the U.S. supplied missile systems can be used to hit deep inside of Russia? I read that Biden specifically said that the missile systems that the U.S. is providing are for defensive use only, that is, to be used in Ukraine, NOT to be used to fire inside of Russia.

Biden agrees to provide Ukraine with longer range missiles

The United States is providing Ukraine with high mobility artillery rocket systems that can accurately hit targets as far away as 80 km (50 miles) after Ukraine gave "assurances" they will not use the missiles to strike inside Russia, senior administration officials said.

<snip>

Ukrainian officials have been asking allies for longer-range missile systems that can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of miles away, in the hopes of turning the tide in the three-month-long war.

Biden on Tuesday told reporters that "we're not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that strike into Russia."

BBM I'm not seeing where Ukraine said that. ? I think we have the same understanding - the HIMARS are capable of hitting Russia but they are not being furnished for that purpose, nor will they be used inside Russian territory.

Biden announces new $700 million in military aid for Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a new $700 million weapons package for Ukraine that will include high mobility artillery rocket systems, which can accurately hit targets as far away as 80 km (50 miles).

www.reuters.com

[...]

Biden announced the plan to give Ukraine precision HIMARS rocket systems after receiving assurances from Kyiv that it would not use them to hit targets inside Russian territory. Biden imposed the condition to try to avoid escalating the Ukraine war.

"The Ukrainians have given us assurances that they will not use these systems against targets on Russian territory," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at an appearance with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

[...]

 

[Sundog]

duplicate post

 

[Sundog]

BBM I'm not seeing where Ukraine said that. ? I think we have the same understanding - the HIMARS are capable of hitting Russia but they are not being furnished for that purpose, nor will they be used inside Russian territory.

Biden announces new $700 million in military aid for Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a new $700 million weapons package for Ukraine that will include high mobility artillery rocket systems, which can accurately hit targets as far away as 80 km (50 miles).

www.reuters.com

[...]

Biden announced the plan to give Ukraine precision HIMARS rocket systems after receiving assurances from Kyiv that it would not use them to hit targets inside Russian territory. Biden imposed the condition to try to avoid escalating the Ukraine war.

"The Ukrainians have given us assurances that they will not use these systems against targets on Russian territory," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at an appearance with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

[...]

I was replying to your post, above this one, where the Kyiv Independent says that the missile systems can hit "deep inside Russia."

 

[PommyMommy]

I was replying to your post, above this one, where the Kyiv Independent says that the missile systems can hit "deep inside Russia."

Sloppy reporting perhaps?

Here's the Kyiv Independent article:

Reuters: US intends to sell Ukraine armed drones in coming days.

The U.S. plans to sell Ukraine four long-endurance MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones, which can be armed with up to eight Hellfire missiles, undisclosed sources told Reuters. While the sale could still be blocked by Congress, it is significant because it would provide Ukraine with an advanced reusable...

kyivindependent.com

...it is significant because it would provide Ukraine with an advanced reusable U.S. system able to hit deep inside Russia.

Go to the source of this news (see Reuters article below)

EXCLUSIVE U.S. plans to sell armed drones to Ukraine in coming days -sources

The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia, three people familiar with the situation said.

www.reuters.com

...significant because it puts an advanced reusable U.S. system capable of multiple deep strikes on the battlefield against Russia for the first time.

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532322904687403008

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532339279380328450

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532343199066382338

 

[dotr]

June 2 2022 rbbm.

Arms sent to Ukraine will end up in criminal hands, says Interpol chief

Jürgen Stock urges members to cooperate on arms tracing as arms will flood hidden economy when war ends

www.theguardian.com

''Weapons sent to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February will end up on the global hidden economy and in the hands of criminals, the head of Interpol has said.

Jürgen Stock says once the conflict ends, a wave of guns and heavy arms will flood the international market and he urged Interpol’s member states, especially those supplying weapons, to cooperate on arms tracing.


“Once the guns fall silent [in Ukraine], the illegal weapons will come. We know this from many other theatres of conflict. The criminals are even now, as we speak, focusing on them,” Stock said.

“Criminal groups try to exploit these chaotic situations and the availability of weapons, even those used by the military and including heavy weapons. These will be available on the criminal market and will create a challenge. No country or region can deal with it in isolation because these groups operate at a global level.”

He added: “We can expect an influx of weapons in Europe and beyond. We should be alarmed and we have to expect these weapons to be trafficked not only to neighbouring countries but to other continents.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...rocket-systems-to-ukraine-is-no-silver-bullet

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532376808037011456

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532482194303864853

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532532015609823234

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532624973147295745

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532689856446533632

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532705983121719297