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

[PommyMommy]

Putin is 'lashing out,' U.S. adviser says of Western Ukraine missile strike

Russian President Vladimir Putin, "frustrated" by Ukraine's surprisingly stiff resistance, is increasingly escalating the scope of the war, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Russia fired waves of missiles at a Ukrainian military base in Lyiv, which is near the Polish border and far from the frontlines of the war.

"This does not come as a surprise to the American intelligence and national security community," Sullivan said on CNN's "State of the Union.”

"What it shows is that Vladimir Putin is frustrated by the fact that his forces are not making the kind of progress that he thought that they would make against major cities including Kyiv, that he is expanding the number of targets, that he is lashing out, and that he is trying to cause damage in every part of the country," Sullivan continued.

 

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[URL='https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/mar/13/ukraine-news-russia-war-ceasefire-broken-humanitarian-corridors-kyiv-russian-invasion-live-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskiy-latest-updates-live']Russia-Ukraine war latest news: dozens reportedly dead after military base hit; US journalist killed by Russian forces | World news | The Guardian[/URL]
1h ago 14:50

Zelenskiy urged Microsoft, Oracle and SAP to stop supporting their contracts and products in Russia on Sunday. Microsoft has stopped accepting new clients in Russia but Zelenskiy said moves like this were half measures, and presented it as a black-and-white decision. Microsoft, SAP and Oracle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

10m ago 15:53

US officials say Russia has requested military equipment from China since the start of the invasion, according to the Financial Times. This has sparked fears in the White House that China may decide to help Russia and undermine western efforts to aid Ukraine.

Another person told the FT that the US was “preparing to warn allies about the situation amid some indications that China may be preparing to help Russia”.

“Other US officials have also said there were signs that Russia was running out of some kinds of weaponry as the war in Ukraine approaches the start of its third week,” the FT report said.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia and Ukraine give brightest assessment yet of progress in talks on war
(Reuters) -Russian and Ukrainian officials gave their most upbeat assessments yet on Sunday of progress in their talks on the war in Ukraine, suggesting there could be positive results within days.

Separately, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Russia was showing signs of willingness to engage in substantive negotiations about ending a conflict in which thousands have died. More than 2.5 million people have fled.

Ukraine has said it is willing to negotiate, but not to surrender or accept any ultimatums.

"We will not concede in principle on any positions. Russia now understands this. Russia is already beginning to talk constructively," Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a video posted online.

"I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days," he said.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
Heavy shelling is taking place in #Kharkiv

Amichai Stein on Twitter - Video
Ukraine: Rockets on Kharkiv

NEXTA on Twitter
If Kadyrov really is near Kyiv, the AFU will destroy him, - Advisor to the President of Ukraine Alexey Arestovich on the air of "UARazom" Today Ukrainian media reported that the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is in Ukraine.However, no one has confirmed this information yet.

Сaptured Russians said they allegedly went to Ukraine to guard humanitarian convoy and fight Nazis

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[PommyMommy]

MAR 2, 2022
Russian troops given food seven years out of date as low morale and Cold War mindset hinder Putin's invasion (inews.co.uk)

Russia’s attack on Ukraine is being weakened by poor communications and low morale among undertrained soldiers given rations that are seven years out of date, claim defence intelligence experts.

Analysts are baffled by Vladimir Putin’s military tactics so far, saying they lack planning and that the 40-mile convoy to Kyiv appeared “an incredibly stupid thing to do”.

Russia’s warfare weaknesses could be in part down to poorly trained troops, many of whom are still conscripts, said James Rands of Janes, a trusted defence intelligence agency.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Aanval militaire basis bij Polen 'is een boodschap, maar geen dreigement naar de NAVO'
Attack military base near Poland 'is a message, but not a threat to NATO'

Military Goods
The base is used as a supply route for military supplies and as a training location for foreign volunteers, explains Nagtzaam. "Before the war, the base was used for exercises with NATO, but now as a supply route for military goods."

This attack could be a message to the West to stop supplying weapons, says defense specialist Dick Zandee. weaken army Yet that is not the only reason that the military base is attacked. Zandee thinks that the Russians mainly want to weaken the Ukrainian army with the missile attack. "If you attack a Ukrainian training facility where weapons are stored, you don't make them stronger," Zandee said. "The goal of the Russians is to destroy their military equipment." Zandee explains that the base in Yavoriv is used to store weapons brought to Ukraine from the West. "The truck drivers with military goods drive across the border, but do not take the risk of driving far into Ukraine. They take the goods to a place where they can be transhipped, such as the military base..."

Personal sanctions US hit 'friend' Putin: mega yacht and private jet blocked | Foreign | AD.nl

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 13, 2022
Kadyrov Reportedly Travels To Ukraine, Where Chechen Paramilitaries Are Fighting (rferl.org)
[...]

The TV channel controlled by Kadryov’s administration in Chechnya posted a video to the Telegram messaging app on March 13 saying Kadyrov was in Ukraine, though it did not give his exact whereabouts or say when the video was taken.

[...]

Kadyrov speaks only briefly in the video, as a soldier explains how a unit took control of an orphanage 7 kilometers from Kyiv.

“The strategy that you suggested to us turned out to be 100 percent correct,” the soldier says.

The video is captioned: "Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov together with fighters participating in a special military operation in Ukraine."

[...]

... Kadyrov’s forces have been linked to widespread rights abuses, kidnappings, and collective punishment. Kadyrov has also overseen a brutal purge that has targeted gay men.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russian forces completely destroy 7 hospitals, damage additional 104. Moscow’s troops have also killed 6 medical personnel while severely injuring 12 more since the start of the all-out war, Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Republican senior senator calls for no-fly zone over Ukraine. While visiting Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Rob Portman urged the U.S. and NATO to close the sky over Ukraine contrary to Washington’s intelligence community worries that such a move would risk an escalation.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Russia has opened 14 recruitment centers in Syria. It has already gathered thousands of Syrian mercenaries: members of the so-called "National Defense Militia" and units of the 5th Syrian Corps to deploy them in Ukraine - UA Intelligence https://bit.ly/3q1oax7

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
The Syrian mercenaries are expected to use heavy artillery and sniper weapons against the Ukrainians. Their monthly salary will be $300-600. Libyans are also recruited - UA Intelligence https://bit.ly/3q1oax7

António Guterres on Twitter - Secretary-General of the @UN
There are hundreds of thousands of people in Ukraine in need of emergency assistance. Supplying hospitals with medical equipment is also an urgent priority. I appeal for passages to be open and kept safe so that people can get lifesaving aid and escape to safety.

 

[PommyMommy]

Hundreds arrested at anti-war protests across Russia

Russia detained more than 250 people for protesting Moscow's "military operation" in Ukraine today, as the conflict continues for a third week.

Protesters risk fines and possible prison sentences by taking to the streets.

OVD-Info, which monitors arrests during protests, said police had detained 268 people during demonstrations in 23 Russian cities.

[...]

In Russia's second city Saint Petersburg, AFP saw multiple arrests, including a protester being dragged across the ground.

The city's central Nevsky Avenue was closed off by police with a dozen police vans parked along the road. According to AFP, several journalists were detained.

Dressed in a yellow hat and blue jacket, 20-year-old Kristina said she was "expressing her protest" by wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

"It's scary to go outside, of course, they are detaining everyone. Many of my friends have been detained in the past few days, some were even expelled from university," she told AFP.

Last weekend, police arrested more than 5,000 protesters across Russia.

(...)

 

[PommyMommy]

[URL='https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/mar/13/ukraine-news-russia-war-ceasefire-broken-humanitarian-corridors-kyiv-russian-invasion-live-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskiy-latest-updates-live']Russia-Ukraine war latest news: dozens reportedly dead after military base hit; US journalist killed by Russian forces | World news | The Guardian[/URL]
21m ago 17:06

Software company Oracle says it was the first of those requested to stop all of its operations in Russia in response to a tweet from President Zelenskiy urging the company, as well as Microsoft and SAP, to cease supporting all products in Russia.

7m ago 17:21

More than 5,550 people were evacuated from cities on the frontline, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video statement.

They were evacuated through nine humanitarian corridors and 3,950 were evacuated from towns and cities in the Kyiv region, according to Reuters.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 13, 2022
Ukraine refugees tell harrowing tales even as numbers ease | AP News
SUCEAVA, Romania (AP) — Elena Yurchuk saw families with children blown up and the hospital she worked in reduced to rubble during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I don’t know if I have a home or not,” said the 44-year-old nurse from the northern Ukrainian town of Chernihiv. “Our city is under siege and we barely escaped.”

[...]

“People in cars are blown up by mines, a car with children and a young family was blown up … literally behind us,” Yarchuk said.

[...]

“When I went through Lviv there was an explosion. They bombed two military bases,” said Elizaveta Zmievskaya, 25, from Dnipro. “The sky became red.”

[...]

“We had to travel by ourselves,” he said. “It was very crowded, lots of people sleeping on each other. In the cabin for six people there were eight to 10 people inside. It was just very hard.”

[...]

For Natalia, a 55-year-old Ukrainian refugee from Zaporizhizhia, this was her second time fleeing, after leaving the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, when Russia annexed it.

“It was scary,” she said. “We did not wait for them (Russians) and this is not our first experience. But it was scary.”

[...]

At dawn on Sunday, a bus carrying about 50 Ukrainian refugees overturned on a major highway in northern Italy, killing one person, Italian firefighters said.

[...]

“Everybody dreams that they will go back home soon,” she said.

 

[PommyMommy]

''March 13, 2022 5:22PM EDT
War censorship exposes Putin's leaky internet controls | CP24.com
BOSTON (AP) - Long before waging war on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was working to make Russia's internet a powerful tool of surveillance and social control akin to China's so-called Great Firewall.

So when Western tech companies began cutting ties with Russia following its invasion, Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov was alarmed. He'd spent years exposing Russian censorship and feared that well-intentioned efforts to aid Ukraine would instead help Putin isolate Russians from the free flow of information, aiding the Kremlin's propaganda war.

“Look, guys the only space the Russians have to talk about Ukraine. and what is going on in Russia. is Facebook,” Soldatov, now exiled in London. wrote on Facebook in the war's first week. “You cannot just, like, kill our access.”

Facebook didn't, although the Kremlin soon picked up that baton, throttling both Facebook and Twitter so badly they are effectively unreachable on the Russian internet''

 

[PommyMommy]

Several British MPs are calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to kick out the children of oligarchs who are being educated at the UK's elite institutions.

"Putin's princelings are enjoying education in the finest places of our country while he destroys Ukrainian schools"

"Why should the children of Putin's cronies benefit from an education in this country when Ukrainian children are being murdered?"

The heirs to some of Russia's largest fortunes are rebelling against Vladimir Putin's war

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine: ICRC calls for urgent solution to save lives and prevent worst-case scenario in Mariupol

Hundreds of thousands of the city's residents are now facing extreme or total shortages of basic necessities like food, water and medicine. People of all ages, including our staff, are sheltering in unheated basements, risking their lives to make short runs outside for food and water. Dead bodies, of civilians and combatants, remain trapped under the rubble or lying in the open where they fell. Life-changing injuries and chronic, debilitating conditions cannot be treated. The human suffering is simply immense.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia has asked China for military equipment to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to US officials, sparking concern in the White House that Beijing may undermine western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country.
https://twitter.com/FT/status/1503094784763781122

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that it would "absolutely" face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
China faces consequences if it helps Russia evade sanctions, U.S. says

 

[PommyMommy]

“As millions of women and children flee across Ukraine's borders in the face of Russian aggression, concerns are growing over how to protect the most vulnerable refugees from becoming victims of human traffickers or other forms of exploitation.

(...)

Police in Wrocław, Poland, said on Thursday they detained a 49-year-old suspect on rape charges after he allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old Ukrainian refugee he lured with offers of help over the internet.

(...)

Police in Berlin warned women and children in a post on social media in Russian and Ukrainian against accepting offers of overnight stays, and urged them to report anything suspicious.”
'Many, very dangerous propositions': Human trafficking fears as refugees flee war in Ukraine

 

[PommyMommy]

Pro-war Russians target opponents by daubing 'Z' insignia on doors

The symbol of pride in Vladimir Putin's invasion in Ukraine is being used as a warning to anti-war protesters

Pro-war Russians are targeting those who oppose the invasion by daubing the letter Z on their homes, the rallying symbol for supporters of Vladimir Putin...

Pro-war Russians target opponents by daubing 'Z' insignia on doors

 

[PommyMommy]

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that it would "absolutely" face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

The spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington responded to media reports on Sunday that Moscow had asked Beijing for military equipment since launching its invasion of Ukraine by saying, "I've never heard of that."

China faces consequences if it helps Russia evade sanctions, U.S. says

Chinese embassy says has never heard of Russian requests for help

 

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The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent
8m
UK: Russia cut off Ukraine from international maritime trade. The U.K. Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian fleet established a blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

 

[PommyMommy]

“The following article was submitted by the author to the Chinese-language edition of the US-China Perception Monitor. The article was not commissioned by the US-China Perception Monitor, nor is the author affiliated with the Carter Center or the US-China Perception Monitor.”

Possible Outcomes of the Russo-Ukrainian War and China's Choice - U.S.-China Perception Monitor