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

[PommyMommy]

'That's what dads do': US man goes to Ukraine for daughter | AP News
[...]

William Hubbard recently flew to Poland and crossed the border to Ukraine on foot before joining his daughter, Aislinn, and her 8-month-old son, Seraphim, at their home near Kyiv, WCVB-TV reports.

Aislinn moved to Ukraine in 2018 at age 16 to study ballet at the prestigious Kyiv Choreographic College. She tried to leave before Russia began its invasion, but her son does not have a birth certificate or passport because he was born in a home during the coronavirus pandemic.

William previously flew to Ukraine to help arrange a DNA test to prove Seraphim’s U.S. citizenship, but it was unsuccessful.

Hubbard and his wife, Deborah, spent weeks trying to help from their home in Fitchburg. But as Russian forces advanced, William decided to make his way to Aislinn and Seraphim and help them flee.

“I did what any dad would do, I guess, in this situation,” Hubbard told WCVB-TV.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

China-Australia Relations Hit New Low Over Military, Politics, Science

Ukraine: Russia uses banned phosphorus munitions • American journalist killed | NOS
Ambassador Russia in Buitenhof: 'We are not attacking civilians'

China-Australia Relations Hit New Low Over Military, Politics, Science

MAR 7, 2022
As the world shuns Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Iran strengthens its ties with Moscow - Atlantic Council

 

[PommyMommy]

Jane Ferguson on Twitter - Award-winning correspondent for @PBS @NewsHour (2 hrs ago)
Just left roadside spot near Irpin where body of American journalist Brent Renaud lay under a blanket. Ukranian medics could do nothing to help him by that stage. Outraged Ukranian police officer: “Tell America, tell the world, what they did to a journalist.”

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 50 min ago
Mariupol city council: Death toll of civilians rises to 2,187. Russia bombed Mariupol, a besieged city in Donetsk Oblast, 22 times in the last 24 hours, according to the city council. About 400,000 residents are stuck in the city, as Russia continues to block evacuation.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 35 min ago, Video
At least 22 air bombings on Mariupol in 24 hours with 100+ bombs. Russians are purposefully targeting apartment buildings & hospitals. At least 2,187 Mariupol residents have been killed, - city council wrote, saying the greatest danger is from the sky Telegram: Contact @mariupolrada

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 3 min ago, Video
Faced with logistical problems, [Russian] Army has legalized looting, Defence Intelligence of [Ukraine] reports: The army of the occupier legalizes looting (gur.gov.ua) Videos showing Russian soldiers looting stores & offices in occupied territories spread on social media. First episode shows tank "liberating" a chicken store

NEXTA on Twitter - 24 min ago
In the #Donetsk region, #Avdeevka coke and chemical plant is on fire.

NEXTA on Twitter - 24 min ago, Video
A convoy of invaders enters #Sadovsk.

NEXTA on Twitter - 6 min ago, Video
Today a large column of military equipment with V-signs was noticed not far from #Gomel, #Belarus. Video: Zerkalo. io

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest news: dozens reportedly dead after military base hit; US journalist killed by Russian forces | World news | The Guardian
2h ago 10:51

Summary
Here’s a round-up of today’s latest events as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, where at least 35 people were killed in a rocket attack near Lviv.

• A Russian air strike has killed at least 35 people and wounded 134 at a military base in Yavoriv, 50km west of Lviv and less than 10 miles from the Polish border. The attack happened hours after the Kremlin had warned that western supply lines into the embattled country were “legitimate targets”.
  
• Brent Renaud, an award-winning US film-maker whose work has appeared in the New York Times and other outlets, has been killed by Russian forces in town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Juan Arredondo, a US photographer, was wounded and is in hospital.
• The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is running out of its last reserves of food and water, according to its local authority. Earlier on Sunday, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a supply convoy was only two hours away from the city, where 400,000 people are currently stuck.
• Kyiv has a two-week supply of food in case of a blockade, its local authority has reported.
• Ukrainian and Russian delegates from peace talks have sounded positive, ahead of more negotiations in the next few days. Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said talks had become more constructive. Leonid Slutsky, a Russian delegate said there had been significant progress and they hoped to soon arrive at a “joint position”, Reuters reports.
• Senior Christian figures have called for fighting to stop in Ukraine and for the fighting to end. Pope Francis said Ukrainians are being massacred and called for the invasion to stop. “In the name of God, let the cry of the suffering people be heard, and let the bombings and attacks stop. In the name of God, I ask you, stop this massacre.”
• Meanwhile the Orthodox world’s spiritual leader Bartholomew I has called for a ceasefire in Ukraine while praising the nation’s “powerful resistance” against invading Russian forces.
• More than 14,000 people in 112 cities have been arrested in Russia for anti-war protests since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, according to an independent human rights body in the country.
• Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman has claimed Russia used banned phosphorus munitions in an attack overnight in Popasna in eastern Ukraine, which would constitute a war crime.
• India is temporarily relocating its embassy in Ukraine to Poland, its government confirmed.
  
• The mayor of a city in southern Ukraine is the latest to have been kidnapped by Russian forces, according to Ukraine’s foreign minister. Dymtro Kuleba said that Yevhen Matveyev from Dniprorudne has been “abducted” by Russian forces.
  
• Nine people were killed in airstrikes on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. The city is seen as key in any future assault on the port of Odesa, further down the Black Sea coast.
• Polish president Andrzej Duda says he fears Vladimir Putin could use chemical weapons, and if so it would be a “gamechanger” in the conflict.
• The UK has now issued more than 3,000 visas to Ukrainian refugees, with the government believing the final number who could end up in Britain could be in the tens of thousands, according to government minister Michael Gove.
• The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has said there is no case for new investments in Russia. In a statement issued alongside a video on Sunday morning, he urged companies to “think very carefully” about their holdings.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 13, 2022
‘Stop this massacre’: pope condemns invasion of Ukraine | Pope Francis | The Guardian
Speaking to thousands of people in St Peter’s Square for his Sunday blessing, Francis also said the killing of children and unarmed civilians was “barbaric” and had “no valid strategic reason”.

He called besieged Mariupol a “martyred city” and again appealed for “truly secure humanitarian corridors” to allow residents to leave.

“In the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre,” the pope said, adding that Ukrainian cities risked “being reduced to cemeteries”.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Journalists forbidden from entering Irpin after Russians kill US reporter on March 13. Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said the measure was put in place to protect journalists and Ukrainian soldiers alike. Irpin is a satellite town near Kyiv, and a site of fighting.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Between 20,000 and 30,000 people rally in support of Ukraine in Berlin. The column of protesters demanding that Russia stops the war walked through the center of the German capital on March 13.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russia claims it killed 180 'foreign mercenaries' in missile strike on Yavoriv military training ground in western Ukraine. The Russian government added that it will continue to kill foreign nationals in Ukraine whom it considers mercenaries.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Local Ukrainian authorities said that 35 people were killed in the March 13 attack, and 134 were injured. They didn't disclose the nationality of the victims.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
The training ground was the site where foreign military instructors used to train Ukrainian troops. However, the instructors were reportedly ordered by their governments to leave Ukraine before the invasion started.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 8 min ago
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Ukrainian soldiers wounded in battle as they are getting treatment at the military hospital in Kyiv.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
18:00 EET Russian troops are focusing on advancing in the direction of Kryvyi Rih and Mykolayiv in the south. They are also accumulating troops to capture Vuhledar and Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast. The navy in the Black sea is in full readiness - GenStaff Оперативна інформація станом / General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine | Facebook

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
According to available information, Russians are planning sabotage on the routes of transport convoys with humanitarian and military aid. The Russian army has legalized looting which is now widespread along with other crimes against civilian population - General Staff

 

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Oleksandr Kononov killed
Near Severodonetsk Russian occupation troops executed Ukrainian activist Olexander Kononov - head of Luhansk regional administration Sieverodonetsk - Ukraine Interactive map - Ukraine Latest news on live map - liveuamap.com

“Fifteen years ago, more than a hundred people lived in Desyatyny, Zhytomyr Oblast. Today, this rural community counts only 30 inhabitants. The village would have completely disappeared if not for one brave and enterprising man, Olesandr Kononov.

Until very recently, Oleksandr was held captive and tortured in a dark cellar in the so-called “LNR”, but the terrorists failed to break his spirit. Once liberated, Oleksandr acquired one of the many abandoned homes in Desyatyny, moved his beloved goats and sheep across the country, and started re-building not only his own life, but also the future of the local community.”

Oleksandr the Good Shepherd | EUROMAIDAN PRESS | Euromaidan Press

 

[PommyMommy]

Could Putin actually fall?

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine War: Russia strikes base 15 miles from NATO territory

Ukraine War: American photographer and film-maker killed in Ukraine

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 13, 2022
Interview: How The Coming Weeks Could Decide The Future Of The Ukraine War (rferl.org)
[...]

To find out more, RFE/RL spoke with Gustav Gressel, a former Austrian defense official and Russian military expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

RFE/RL: How should people make sense of the varying and at times conflicting casualty figures we are seeing from U.S, Ukrainian, and Russian officials? What’s the reasoning behind these diverging figures and how should we view the gaps? Also, can you explain some of the difficulties in tracking a conflict in real time like this?

Gustav Gressel: ... If the Russian [casualty] counts were true, ghosts would have had to [be] driving all the tanks. When a tank blows up in split seconds, there's no way the crew gets out and Russian tanks have a three-man crew.

So, you can roughly [guess], at least from the vehicle crews, that there are much higher casualties than [what Moscow is disclosing.]

[...]

RFE/RL: Given that Russian casualties are likely much higher, are we seeing any shift in strategy now from Moscow?

Gressel: ... So I think they're playing for April 1 where you have new conscripts moving in and old conscripts demilitarizing. [The Russian military] wants, of course, to pressure a lot of these demilitarizing conscripts into signing up [again] or [signing] contracts to take part in this war.

This is why, I think, we [currently] see no peace solution or no serious negotiations on the Russian side. They are [waiting] for April 1, [when they could get] another round of force regeneration and [until] they haven’t [tried to use] them…I don't think Russia will make any serious attempt to make peace.

RFE/RL: What’s your sober assessment of Russian military tactics used so far?

Gressel: ... The problem is that switching gears is difficult because they have not brought a lot of the organizational elements that they have at home [into the military theater] in Ukraine, so they actually need to restructure and reorganize the forces very deeply, which is why I think we are seeing such a pause in combat.

The disorganization [and] the logistical problems, they go very deep [because] Russia has been mostly generating this force from [readied] professional soldier battalion tactical groups, which is a good way to [quickly] create a force and quickly deploy it, but for what low-intensity warfare proposes, [Russia] does not have the logistical stamina to fight a full-scale war and -- [other] than [its] armor and mechanized infantry -- [Moscow] doesn't have the organizational backbone [for it].

RFE/RL: Are Russian forces still capable of regrouping and maybe encircling Kyiv and achieving their main military goals, even if they’ve faced major setbacks?

Gressel: If the West manages to crash the Russian economy [in a way] other than how Putin anticipated [and] if [the West] supplies Ukraine with a lot of weapons to keep the kill rate as high as it is, [then] I think Russia might start to [look] for an exit and Russian society might not support the war in the way that Putin [hopes].

[...]

This is hard to predict. We are at a very decisive time and our actions now will determine the course of the war in the coming weeks and whether Ukraine has a chance or not to [keep] standing.

[Russia’s goals] are all [still] achievable goals. [But] the price is much higher than Russia has anticipated.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 13, 2022
Invasion jolts Russia's friends in tiny West-leaning Moldova | AP News
[...]

In Gagauzia, a small, autonomous part of the country that’s traditionally felt closer to the Kremlin than the West, people would normally back Russia, which they never wanted to leave when Moldova gained independence. But this time, most have trouble identifying with either side in the war.

Anna Koejoglo says she’s deeply conflicted.

“I have sisters (in Ukraine), I have nephews there, my own son is in Kyiv,” the 52-year-old said, quickly adding that her other, younger, son is studying in Russia.

“My heart is (broken), my insides are burning,” she told The Associated Press.

[...]

Although Moldova is neutral militarily and has no plans to join NATO, it formally applied for EU membership when the Russian invasion began. It’s also taken in about a tenth of the more than 2.3 million Ukrainians who fled their country for safety.

[...]

An ethnic Ukrainian who lives in Balti said her sympathies were divided.

“I’m very sorry for the people of Ukraine ... but I also feel sorry for Russians,” said Iulia Popovic, 66. “I understand that it is all (happening because of) politics and that the situation is very difficult.”

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 13, 2022
Russia's war idles some European mills as energy costs soar | AP News
MILAN (AP) — Italian paper mills that make everything from pizza boxes to furniture packaging ground to a halt as Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent natural gas prices skyrocketing.

And it’s not just paper. Italian steel mills, likewise, turned off electric furnaces last week. And fishermen, facing huge spikes in oil prices, stayed in port, mending nets instead of casting them.

Nowhere more than in Italy, the European Union’s third-largest economy, is dependence on Russian energy taking a higher toll on industry. Some 40% of electricity is generated from natural gas that largely comes from Russia, compared with roughly one-quarter in Germany, another major importer and the continent’s largest economy.

Over the past decade, Italy’s dependence on Russian natural gas has surged from 27% to 43% — a fact lamented by Premier Mario Draghi. It will take at least two years to replace, his energy transition minister says.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 13, 2022
Collaborate Or Die: Ukrainian Councilor Alleges Russian Threats To Local Officials (rferl.org) - Video
Russian forces are threatening to shoot municipal officials in Kherson, according to a councilor from the Ukrainian city, where the Russian Army has seized control. Sergei Khlan said the Russians were searching for local activists and officials who were now in hiding. This is an excerpt from an interview with Current Time presenter Yevhenia Tahanovych on March 12.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Mykolaiv zoo asks public to buy tickets to save animals from starvation. The southern city has been under attack for days. The struggling zoo, which has been shut down, is asking the public to donate by buying tickets online: Nikolaev Zoo - kontramarka.ua

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Zelenskyy went beyond his office circle and visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv. For the first time since the invasion. Video: Володимир Зеленський відвідав у госпіталі поранених захисників України. - YouTube

NEXTA on Twitter
1717 facts of war crimes of the #Russian army in #Ukraine have been documented.

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
Galina Danilchenko, head of the occupation administration of #Melitopol, said that #Russian propaganda channels began broadcasting in the city.

NEXTA on Twitter
Peskov announced negotiations between #Russia and #Ukraine for March 14, TACC

NEXTA on Twitter
The humanitarian aid convoy once again failed to reach #Mariupol "We stopped in #Berdyansk because of the crushing airstrikes in Mariupol itself, but tomorrow morning we will try to break through again," said #Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine (cnbc.com)
''At least 596 people, including 43 children, have been killed since Russia began its invasion on Ukraine, the United Nations said. An additional 1,067 civilians, including 57 children, were wounded as of midnight on Saturday.

U.N. officials have said they believe actual casualties are “considerably higher,” as reports in some areas are delayed and others are pending confirmation.

Most of the casualties have been caused by the use of explosive weapons that have a “wide impact area,” including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, missiles and airstrikes, the agency said.''

''2 HOURS AGO
A second mayor captured by Russian forces, Ukrainian official says
A second Ukrainian mayor was abducted by Russian forces on Sunday according to Dmytro Kuleba, the nation’s top diplomat.

“Today, Russian war criminals abducted another democratically elected Ukrainian mayor, head of Dniprorudne Yevhen Matveyev,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter. ''

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent
2m
Ukraine says that there were no foreign citizens among the 35 people killed in the missile attack on the military training ground in western Ukraine on March 13. Earlier, Russia claimed that the air strike killed "180 foreign mercenaries."

Михайло Подоляк on Twitter
Again. Negotiations go non-stop in the format of video conferences. Working groups are constantly functioning. A large number of issues require constant attention. On Monday, March 14, a negotiating session will be held to sum up the preliminary results…

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: China to face consequences if it helps Russia evade sanctions. Sullivan is due to meet with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on March 14.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Russian vehicles couldn't pass Serpent's Walls - thousands y.o. slopes that were protecting Ukrainian lands, Territorial Defense writes. They likely mean the walls near Bilhorodka, Kyiv Obl. but didn't provide the exact photo. The remnants of the walls remain in different places

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Humanitarian aid couldn't reach Mariupol again. However, it turned not backward but to the neighboring city, Berdiansk from where it will try to reach Mariupol again tomorrow, Minister for Reintegration Iryna Vereshchuk said.

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
While the head of the Catholic Church calls to stop the massacre in #Ukraine, in #Moscow the #Russian Orthodox Church "blesses" the head of the Russian Guard, Zolotov, for the genocide of the #Ukrainian people.

Except for Belarus, all of Russia’s ‘allies’ in the EAEC and OCST have failed to support Moscow on Ukraine | Euromaidan Press
If one to view the Russo-Ukrainian war as a stress test for Russia’s allies in the Eurasian Economic Community and the Organization for the Collective Security Treaty, all of them except for Belarus failed to come through for Moscow: they have remained neutral in what one Moscow commentator sees as “a silent betrayal.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Violinists Across the World Play for Ukraine

Ukrainian Violinists Play in Solidarity with 94 Other Violinists from 29 Countries | Open Culture
94 violinists from 29 countries play an old Ukrainian folk song called Verbovaya Doschechka.

An astonishing collaboration forming an international violin choir of support for Ukraine. Illia Bondarenko had to film this between explosions, because he could not hear himself play.

Nine other young violinists sheltering in Ukraine join in unison, and are accompanied in harmony by players from London Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, the Hollywood Studios, and top violinists from all over the world including Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Belgium, Georgia, Poland, South Korea, South Africa, Moldova, Denmark, India, and the entire violin section of the Munich Chamber Orchestra

 

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GOP senator says a war between NATO and Russia 'would end pretty quickly'

"I think it'd end pretty quickly, because with the conventional forces that he's had there, we haven't seen this kind of ineptness in a long, long time," he continued.

Sébastien Roblin wrote at The Week that Russia's performance in the war so far has "gravely degraded Russia's military position in Europe — and above all its ability to compel with threats of force that fall under the nuclear threshold."

"Putin knows that no one wins a nuclear exchange. If he ordered a strike on the United States, a general would shoot him in the head," Sen. Lindsay Graham said during an appearance on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures. Graham has previously called for a Russian assassin to kill Putin.

 

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Op-Ed: How Putin uses propaganda to show power - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
MARCH 13, 2022

When Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s denazifying Ukraine, he no doubt expects some people, in Russia and abroad, to believe him. Many in the West and on the international stage have expressed bewilderment at these claims. But this does not mean his propaganda strategy is failing. He is engaging in “hard propaganda,” which is meant to convey the speaker’s power — not persuade.

In contrast, propaganda scholars call efforts to genuinely persuade “soft propaganda.” Yet propaganda strategies can be crafted to function on both levels at once — to persuade those who are persuadable while simultaneously intimidating those who aren’t.

Here then is one way to understand the Kremlin’s present propaganda goals: a subset of the Russian public will be susceptible to persuasion that uses the denazification rationale, while an international audience, and probably many others in Russia, can be influenced only by a raw display of strength.''