Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 **Media Thread** NO DISCUSSION #2

[PommyMommy]

Russian banks are looking into issuing cards that operate on a Chinese payment system after American Express, Visa and Mastercard cut off services in Russia citing the invasion.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi expressed little hope that peace talks will result in an end to the war. Russia will continue to pound Ukraine until “the country has surrendered, probably installs a friendly government and defeats the resistance. That’s what the facts demonstrate.”

The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine surpassed 1.7 million on Monday, and an EU official warned the number could reach 5 million.

Russia is recruiting Syrian mercenaries to fight its war in Ukraine, a senior Defense Department official said Monday. There are no indications that Syrians had arrived in Ukraine. The recruiting effort is noteworthy given what the official described as Russia’s struggles to overcome significant resistance from Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, nearly 100% of the Russian combat forces Putin deployed to Ukraine’s borders are now inside the country. The official said the main force of Russian troops appears stalled outside Kyiv. Ukrainian airspace remains contested, the official said, with Ukraine able to fly the majority of its warplanes.

Ukraine live updates: Talks begin; Russia may be recruiting Syrians

 

[PommyMommy]

Far from Putin’s Russia, Tajikistan’s people feel sanctions pain

US says Russia is recruiting Syrian fighters to aid in the Ukraine invasion and help take Kyiv: report
"Deir Ezzor 24, a media outlet based in Syria, reported last week that Russia was offering $200 to $300 for Syrian mercenaries willing to go to Ukraine for six months to "operate as guards." The outlet said Russia was contracting Syrians who fought in Libya's civil war. "

The Turkish Bayraktar TB2
The first drone to have its own song!
De Turkse Bayraktar TB2
(English subtitles)

 

[PommyMommy]

Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations
''1 Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations1 is amended by adding the following in numerical order:

1. Mikhail Albertovich MURASHKO (born in 1967)
2. Dmitry Nikolayevich PATRUSHEV (born in 1977)
3. Vladimir Rudolfovich SOLOVYOV (born in 1963)
4. Margarita Simonovna SIMONYAN (born in 1980)
5. Oleg Vladimirovich DERIPASKA (born in 1968)
6. Pavel Vladimirovich KRASHENINNIKOV (born in 1964)
7. Victor Evdokimovich GAVRILOV
8. Dmitry IVANOV
9. Konstantin Lvovich ERNST (born in 1961)
10. Dmitry Sergeyevich PESKOV (born in 1967)

2 Items 187, 258 and 328 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations are repealed.

Application Before Publication
3 For the purpose of paragraph 11(2)(a) of the Statutory Instruments Act, these Regulations apply according to their terms before they are published in the Canada Gazette.''

 

[PommyMommy]

Illia Ponomarenko on Twitter
We’re having air combat over Kyiv now.
Two Russian aircraft have been downed over the city, the military says.

Alec Luhn Retweeted
Scripps environmental journalism fellow interested in the far north. Former Russia correspondent for@guardian&@telegraph

Road sign in Odessa
Straight on: **** off
Left: **** off again
Right: **** off to Russia

 

[PommyMommy]

AAP Foundation takes care of lions and African wild dogs from Ukraine shelter
In a race against time because of Russian bombing, a number of big cats have been evacuated to Poland from a rescue center near Kiev. Four lions and an African wild dog are given a new and safe home thanks to the AAP foundation from Almere.

The five predators will be transferred to the AAP sanctuary in Villena near Alicante. When that happens depends on the condition of the animals. "They have been on the road in a truck for three days in the cold and now they first need rest," spokesperson Peter de Haan told this site. The big cats arrived Thursday at Zoo Poznán, a partner of the foundation. ,,I think we will be heading that way with a team and a vet in the middle of next week."

DPG Media Privacy Gate

 

[PommyMommy]

Moldova braces for 'spectrum of threats' as Russia bids to seize south of Ukraine

Moldova braces for 'spectrum of threats' as Russia bids to seize south of Ukraine
Intelligence sources fear pro-European state with a breakaway pro-Russian enclave could be next on Vladimir Putin's list

Russian forces could join up with troops in Transnistria, a breakaway pro-Russian state in the east of Moldova, which could give Mr Putin a foothold to take over the rest of the country, intelligence sources fear.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has signed an application to join the EU & there is an informal EU summit next week in France where she hopes the Moldovan application will extend the formal invitation for participation.

 

[PommyMommy]

Putins Stasi-Ausweis | MDR.DE
The DDR still has a lot of bunkers ,connecting with each other underground.

Also it seems vlad Putin was a taxi driver,after his return from Germany; DPG Media Privacy Gate

ETA:
Putin's time as a KGB officer in Dresden
“In 1985 Putin came to Dresden, where he lived with his family and his dog. As he later said, the years in Dresden were among his finest. Little was known about the environment in which the KGB man lived in Dresden, what colleagues he worked with and in what structures. MfS Colonel Günter Wenzel has worked with Putin for many years. For Wenzel, Putin was a conscientious organizer who kept his promises.“
Putin als KGB-Offizier in Dresden | MDR.DE

Everything you ever wanted to know about Putin’s work in East Germany

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukrainian President Zelensky seen in his office for first time since Russian invasion began

Looking out of the window before closing the curtain, Zelensky opened his video statement, saying:

“I’m staying in Kyiv. In my office. I’m not hiding. And I’m not afraid of anyone,” Zelensky said.
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine

Curators in the city of Lviv believe the collections they protect in the National Museum of Ukraine will become targets of Vladimir Putin’s war and so they have moved to secure them.

The museum building dates back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and has seen the Soviets come and go. In the 1950s the Soviets destroyed more than 1,700 pieces of cultural significance and the staff here are taking few chances today.

The collections will be divided and housed in secret locations and there are back-up plans to move them further afield if the museum feels like they are vulnerable.
Live: City at breaking point as hundreds of thousands flee Russian invasion

 

[PommyMommy]

Germany sticks with Putin for its oil and gas
BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday pushed back hard against calls from the U.S. and Ukraine for a ban on imports of Russian gas and oil as part of international sanctions on Moscow.

Live: City at breaking point as hundreds of thousands flee Russian invasion
Ukraine has established an "international" legion for people from abroad and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly urged foreigners to "fight side-by-side with Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals" to show support for his country.

Standing outside the ticket hall of Lviv station yesterday were a group of British men in military uniform, waiting for a train to Kyiv. They were in high spirits, often exchanging fist-bumps and handshakes with Ukrainian refugees who thanked them for fighting for their country.

They were led by Ben Grant (pictured right), from Essex in England, who said he had served in Britain's Royal Marines and had just completed a stint as a security advisor in Iraq.

He was unclear whether his men would be deployed independently or as part of a Ukrainian unit.

 

[PommyMommy]

'We. Will. Not. Forgive,' Zelenskyy says in impassioned Forgiveness Sunday speech

Here are the 10 Russians Canada sanctioned today from Alexei Navalny's list

Blinken invokes Putin's dead brother in accusing Russia of 'starving' Ukrainians

Ukrainians fleeing to Poland face long journey, frigid weather

'Hand-to-hand combat': Street battles rage on Kyiv's edge

'Terrified' Ukrainians reach relatives in Greece

Russia snubs UN court hearings in case brought by Ukraine

‘The Exodus’: Why some Russians are fleeing their homeland amid Ukraine invasion

 

[PommyMommy]

Analysis: Vladimir Putin's clumsy military campaign in southern Ukraine makes little sense - CNN

Putin's clumsy military campaign in southern Ukraine makes little sense

I think we are going to see Moldova and especially the province of Transnistria come into strategic Russian attack as they try to completely stop any Ukranian Black Sea coastline claim. Odessa was the obvious target for them.

Having part of coastline near Crimea potentially in the hands of a NATO-aligned Ukraine could prevent Putin from completely controlling the northern Black Sea.

This also could involve the country of Georgia, too.

Opinion | What I Wish the U.S. Had Done About Putin Years Ago — And What Biden Should Do Now

This is a long article about four US presidents whose policies were not strict enough against Putin, and how that emboldened Putin to become more and more aggressive. The author is familiar with Russian politics and Putin's mindset..

It's from September, so before this invasion, but it offers great insight into what has happened now.

I’m going to self-report, because this is political but regarding generalized policy, not to a particular political opinion or a specific politician.

 

[PommyMommy]

Democrats and Republicans agree on plan to suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus – as it happened

On Day 12 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Washington mulls whether to ban Russian oil imports into the US. House speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that the House would pursue legislation into the matter this week, while Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said the US was in active discussions with its European partners – who are much more dependent on Russian oil than the US and could be pushed into a recession if the US banned imports – about this possible tactics. This morning, sources were telling Reuters that though the White House was previously hesitant, given the skyrocketing gas prices across the country, the Biden administration is willing to move forward on a ban without the participation of its European partners.

Congress has indicated that it plans to take aggressive action in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the $10bn aid request to Ukraine included in the $1.5tn omnibus package that must be passed ahead of the 11 March deadline for government funding. The leaders of the House ways and means committee and the Senate finance committee announced they would be introducing bipartisan legislation that will suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus.

 

[PommyMommy]

US Secretary of State Blinken's plane has departed Shannon, Ireland and is over the mid-Atlantic returning to DC.

SAM494

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

US Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to leave DC on March 9 for Poland.

 

[PommyMommy]

Pentagon sends 500 additional troops to Europe.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has sent 500 additional troops from the United States to Europe to help reassure NATO allies and deter Russia from advancing beyond Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said on Monday.

Over the weekend, Mr. Austin ordered KC-135 refueling aircraft and aircrews to Suda Bay, Greece; air support units to Poland and Romania; and ordnance and maintenance support troops to Germany, the official said.

The new deployments bring to more than 15,000 the number of troops the Pentagon has sent to Europe, including the Baltics and NATO’s eastern flank, in the run-up to Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 and since then. A total of more than 100,000 U.S. troops are now stationed in Europe on permanent or temporary assignments, the Pentagon said.

 

[PommyMommy]

In the Black Sea, the Ukrainian Armed Forces hit a Russian navy warship.

That’s according to Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman of the Operational Headquarters of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Ukrinform reports.

"We will be destroying the enemy. Minus one enemy warship. The enemy suffers losses. Good job, you guys. Glory to the Armed Forces," Bratchuk said.”

However,when you look it up,it seems more of a patrolship??
(*Second link)
Ukraine Army hits Russian warship in Black Sea

*Patrol Ship Pavel Derzhavin - Project 22160

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1500973270094462976?t=rf-u0xNDrtgne6NUdcnNqg&s=19

00:00 EET Russian troops regrouped to organize the assault on Kyiv. They plan to involve the most combat-ready units, including the Special Regiment of Ramzan Kadyrov (Kadyrovtsy), and the private military company Liga (former Wagner) - General Staff Log in or sign up to view

00:00 EET Russian 3 BTGs regrouped with the goal to advance to the south from Kyiv. Another group of 1 BTG tried to advance towards Kyiv from the north but was stopped with the losses while crossing the Irpin river - General Staff Log in or sign up to view

00:00 EET Trying to take Izium (Kharkiv Obl), Russians suffered losses and retreated, resorted to shelling civilian housing and infrastructure. Multiple attempts to break through Ukrainian defense in Donbas to reach Severodonetsk and other cities had no success - General Staff

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1500970511911825413

The Kyiv Independent@KyivIndependent · 39m️Ukraine kills Russian Major General Vitaly Gerasimov near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Defense Ministry said.

Gerasimov was a senior military official who participated in the second Chechen war and was awarded a medal for “capturing Crimea.”

Ukraine claims it has killed another Russian general during fighting in Kharkiv
[...]

“During the fighting near Kharkiv, Vitaly Gerasimov, a Russian military leader, major general, chief of staff and first deputy commander of the 41st Army of the Central Military District of Russia, was killed. A number of senior Russian army officers were also killed and wounded.

[...]

The latest high-profile killing, comes after Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division and a deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, was shot and killed by a sniper.

Mr Putin confirmed that a general had been killed in a speech updating the Russian people on the progress of the conflict, eight days into the deadly invasion.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

NEXTA@nexta_tv·8m️The World Bank Council decided to support #Ukraine with $723 million.

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1500995744920227848?s=20&t=ha6Tx5cmLgS2LPdW2I5T7Q

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia will stop 'in a moment' if Ukraine meets terms - Kremlin

Russia has told Ukraine it is ready to halt military operations "in a moment" if Kyiv meets a list of conditions, the Kremlin spokesman said on Monday.

Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was demanding that Ukraine cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognise the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.

It was the most explicit Russian statement so far of the terms it wants to impose on Ukraine to halt what it calls its "special military operation", now in its 12th day.

Ukraine aid growing as lawmakers shape big budget bill

“The clearest signal Congress can send to Vladimir Putin this week is passing a bipartisan aid package,” said Schumer, referring to the Russian president, “leaving no doubt that the democratic nations of the world stand with Ukraine and against Putin’s deeply immoral and bloody war.”

Proposed U.S. aid for Ukraine and its European allies has grown beyond $12 billion, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday, as congressional bargainers worked toward a bipartisan government-wide spending deal that would also contain fresh sums for battling COVID-19.

 

[PommyMommy]

Kyiv - Kyiv in an independent Ukraine
Another wave of protests rocked Kyiv in 2013–14, when Yanukovych, who had succeeded Yushchenko as president, backed out of a planned association agreement with the European Union at the eleventh hour. Pro-EU demonstrators set up a camp in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (“Independence Square”) and occupied city hall. Scores were killed in February 2014 when police and security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters. Downtown Kyiv became a battlefield, and the buildings surrounding the Maidan were scorched by petrol bombs. Abandoned by his political allies and under threat of impeachment, Yanukovych fled to Russia, and the protesters, dubbed the Euromaidan movement, ushered in a pro-Western government.