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

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine invasion: Who stands against - or WITH - Putin? Map shows which nations support Russia

Calls to boycott Coca-Cola grow after company refuses to pull out of Russia

 

[PommyMommy]

@CraigCaplan

House Foreign Affairs Republican Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) is at Ukraine-Poland border today. He announced his plans for the overseas trip Thursday on Capitol Hill. https://c-span.org/video/?c5004355/representative-brian-fitzpatrick-travel-poland-ukraine-border

https://twitter.com/RepBrianFitz/status/1500126082804207616?s=20&t=2KSO-Z72bdo0IiFVmKQ6TQ

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia says it has WNBA player Brittney Griner in custody

Russia Says It Has American Basketball Player in Custody

“The Russian Federal Customs Service said that its officials had detained an American basketball player after finding vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow.”

Many WNBA players compete in Russia, where salaries are more lucrative, during the American off-season. Griner, a seven-time All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury, has played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg for several years.

@alexaphilippou

Statement from the Phoenix Mercury on the reported arrest/detainment of Brittney Griner in Russia on drug charges: “We are aware of and are closely monitoring the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia. We remain in constant contact with her family, her representation…

 

[PommyMommy]

March 5 2022
''Conflict pulling in many countries
With more than a million refugees from Ukraine relocating in Europe, the conflict is drawing in countries far beyond Ukraine's borders.

• Ceasefire effort in Ukraine falters amid reported Russian shelling, evacuation in Mariupol on hold | CBC News
  
• ''Singapore on Saturday announced sanctions against Russia, becoming one of the few governments in Southeast Asia to do so. The sanctions target four banks and also involve an export ban on electronics, computers and military items.
• ''Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's will speak with Putin on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Turkish leader said. "This war must be stopped immediately and there must be a return to the negotiating table," Ibrahim Kalin told broadcaster NTV in Istanbul on Saturday.

• Germany will deploy air defence capabilities to Lithuania, and the United States will send a troop battalion armed with tanks, Lithuania's defence minister said on Saturday. Lithuania had asked NATO to add more troops and equipment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

• Italian police have seized villas and yachts worth at least 140 million euros ($153 million US) from four high-profile Russians who were placed on a European Union sanctions list following Moscow's attack on Ukraine, sources said on Saturday.

• At least 4,000 people marched in Tokyo on Saturday protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We cannot accept the Russian government's violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another sovereign state," Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement, which gave no timeframe for when the sanctions would take effect''

 

[PommyMommy]

Another senator on the call said that Zelensky advocated for banning Russian oil imports, suspending all commercial transactions — like Visa and Mastercard — and implored the lawmakers to help Ukraine get more planes that Ukrainian pilots are trained in and can fly. He said they would do the fighting and flying, but he needs the aircraft.
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine

 

[PommyMommy]

News Archive – The Kyiv Independent

Saturday, March 5

Ukrainian forces take control of Mykolaiv, seize Russian occupiers' equipment.
According to Mykolaiv Oblast Governor Vitaly Kim, there are casualties among civilians, but their number is yet to be determined. Mykolaiv is a regional capital in southern Ukraine.

Nuremberg Trials prosecutor: Putin should be 'behind bars.'
Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of Nazis officials at the 1945-1946 Nuremberg trials, told the Mirror that “those responsible should be held accountable for aggression, crimes against humanity and plain murder.” Ferencz also said Putin can be jailed, but that Russia would need a whole new government.

Putin says Ukraine could 'lose its statehood.'
Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin said that if Ukraine “continues to behave in the same way,” that will “bring into question the future of its statehood,” during a meeting broadcast on TV.

About 400 civilians evacuated from Volnovakha despite thwarted evacuation.
The number was announced by Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. The evacuation of civilians from Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast, was supposed to be held today, but Russian forces violated the temporary ceasefire they had previously agreed on with Ukraine.

To combat Russia, Ukraine invites foreign fighters. Here’s how to apply
Ukraine, as it combats Russia’s full-fledged invasion, is rapidly creating its own International Legion, a military force composed of international volunteers enlisting to help defend Ukraine. Three days after the start of Russia’s further invasion, on Feb. 27, Ukraine’s...

Media: Italy seizes property worth $150 million from Russian oligarchs.
According to The Guardian’s sources in Italian police, a villa owned by the billionaire Alisher Usmanov on Sardinia, and a villa on Lake Como owned by the Russian state TV host Vladimir Soloviev, have both been seized. Yachts belonging to Russia’s richest man, Alexei Mordashov, and Gennady Timchenko, close to Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin were also confiscated.

Hundreds of thousands of households left without gas due to Russia's war.
Due to damages, the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSO) had to shut down 16 gas distribution stations in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Russian forces kill Hero of Ukraine, captain Chybineiev.
Thirty-four-year-old Ukrainian captain Valeriy Chybineiev was killed in the battle near Hostomel, a city on the outskirts of Kyiv, on his birthday on March 3.

Russian pilot captured near Chernihiv.
The pilot was taken prisoner after Ukraine’s military shot down his plane.

Media: SBU kills member of Ukrainian negotiations team suspected of treason.
According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation that met with Russia, was shot dead by the Security Service of Ukraine officers as they were trying to detain him. The man was allegedly Denys Kirieiev, a former deputy chairman of Oschadbank. The SBU had “strong evidence” he was leaking information to Russia.

Civilians' evacuation in Mariupol postponed as Russian forces break temporary ceasefire agreement.
The evacuation of civilians from Mariupol was supposed to start at 11 a.m. today, but the city administration announced that it will not take place as Russian forces continue shelling the city and its neighboring areas. According to the head of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, Russian occupiers also block setting up humanitarian corridors in the city.

Zelensky: 'I'm sure that soon we will tell our people – come back, it's safe now.'
In his latest address to the nation, Zelensky thanked Poland for welcoming hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the war. “We effectively don’t have a border with Poland anymore. It’s not the time for borders,” he said.

Ukraine wins 7 medals on first day of Paralympics.
Ukrainian athletes won three gold medals, three silver and one bronze in the biathlon discipline on the opening day of the competition at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

Kherson citizens rally against Russian occupiers.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Russian forces occupying the city are trying to block the protesters to not let them break into the city administration building.

Blinken: 'Ukraine can absolutely win against Russia'.
“If it’s the intention of Moscow to try somehow to topple the government and install its own puppet regime, Ukrainians are going to reject that one way or the other,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told BBC. The war has already not gone as Russian President Vladimir Putin might have planned, he added.

(more at the link...)

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: western sanctions akin to declaration of war, says Putin, as talks over Mariupol ceasefire continue – live | World news | The Guardian
2h ago 09:15

Only about 400 people were evacuated from Volnovakha and nearby areas during today’s ceasefire, BBC News reports, citing Ukrainian officials.

Authorities had been aiming to evacuate more than 15,000 civilians from the region during the partial ceasefire, which began at 7am GMT.

But regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said: “Although we had the intention and necessary transport to evacuate a lot more people, we had to stop the movement of the column, because the Russians once again started shelling Volnovakha mercilessly, and it was very dangerous to move there.”

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: western sanctions akin to declaration of war, says Putin, as talks over Mariupol ceasefire continue – live | World news | The Guardian
2h ago 09:25

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it understood that evacuations of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha in Ukraine would not start on Saturday, according to Reuters.

“We remain in dialogue with the parties about the safe passage of civilians from different cities affected by the conflict,” the ICRC said in a statement.

“The scenes in Mariupol and in other cities today are heart-breaking. Any initiative from the parties that gives civilians a respite from the violence and allows them to voluntarily leave for safer areas is welcome.”

The plan had been to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha. The ICRC is the ceasefire’s guarantor.

[...]

1h ago 10:28

Vladimir Putin has claimed that Ukraine sabotaged the evacuations from Mariupol and Volnovakha after attempts at ensuring safe passage of civilians failed on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. Ukrainian authorities have said Russian forces continued their attacks, preventing civilians from escaping the cities.

The Russian president has also claimed Ukraine’s leadership was casting doubt on the future of the country’s statehood, saying that “if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience”.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: western sanctions akin to declaration of war, says Putin, as talks over Mariupol ceasefire continue – live | World news | The Guardian
26m ago 10:58

Russian forces have seized a psychiatric hospital with 670 people inside in the town of Borodyanka in Ukraine’s Kyiv region, the regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba has said.

Today we do not understand how to evacuate these people, how to help them,” Kuleba said. “They are running out of water and medicines,” Kuleba said. “These are people with certain special needs, they need constant help ... many of them have been bedridden for years.”

Borodyanka is around 60km from Kyiv.

5m ago 11:21

Zelenskiy makes "desperate plea" for aircraft and calls for no fly zone and Russian oil ban in call with US senators
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy reportedly made a “desperate plea” for eastern Europe to provide Russian-made aircraft to Ukraine during a call with US senators. He is also understood to have called for a no fly zone, lethal aid, a ban on Russian oil and a suspension of Visa and Mastercard in Russia.

[...]

4m ago 16:25

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, has rounded off an hour-long video call with United States senators in which he called for more support to defend his country from Russia’s invasion.

All 50 US senators were invited to the Zoom call, with aides briefing reporters afterwards that Zelenskyy requested the delivery of more planes and drones. James Lankford, a Republican senator, tweeted afterwards that the Ukrainian president also wants “the world to stop buying Russian products (like oil and gas).”

Zelenskyy made a “desperate plea” for eastern Europe to provide Russian-made aircraft to Ukraine during a call the call, according to the Senate’s majority leader, Chuck Schumer.”These planes are very much needed. And I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer,” Schumer said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Congressional leaders are working on a package worth around $10bn in economic and security assistance to Ukraine, with aides briefing that fighter jets may be sent to the conflict via a third country. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, tweeted that Nato should “immediately facilitate the transfer of fighter aircraft from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia to Ukraine.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 5, 2022
Evacuation Plans Halted, As Ukrainians Say Russian Troops Ignoring Declared Cease-Fire (rferl.org)
[...]

"For security reasons, the evacuation is therefore postponed," Mariupol city authorities said via Telegram. They said talks were continuing with Russia on how to "ensure a safe humanitarian corridor."

"We ask all residents of Mariupol to return to their places of refuge," they said.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video statement that Russia had "violated the agreement" and despite the mediation of the Red Cross "is shelling the city of Volnovakha."

Vereshchuk cited ongoing attacks with "heavy weaponry" and called on the Russian side to "cease shelling, restore the cease-fire, and allow the formation of columns of the humanitarian corridor so that children, women, and the elderly can leave the settlements."

She also urged Russia to provide an opportunity for humanitarian supplies including "medicine, insulin, and so on, as well as food" from the cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhya.

It was not clear that Russian bombardments stopped at any point.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Erdogan To Speak With Putin As Turkey Pushes For End To Ukraine War (rferl.org)
A spokesman for Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Turkish president will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 6 and that Ankara is ready to do what it can to stop the war in Ukraine.

Turkey, a NATO member, has close relations with both Kyiv and Russia and has been urging an end to the fighting since Putin announced the full-scale invasion on February 24.

Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in Istanbul on March 5 that Turkey was ready to help resolve the crisis.

He repeated Turkey's offer to host talks between Russia and Ukraine and called for an immediate stop to the violence.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian Anti-War Activist Gets 30 Days In Jail Over Call For Protest (rferl.org)
Russian opposition activist and former Moscow lawmaker Yulia Galyamina has been sentenced to 30 days in jail on a charge of violating the law on public events over her attempt to organize a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Galyamina's lawyer, Maria Eismont, said Moscow's Savelovsky district court sentenced her client on March 5, a day after she was detained.

Russian authorities have been trying to stamp out public expressions of opposition to the unprovoked attack on Ukraine and have erected unprecedented barriers to independent reporting.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 6 hours ago
️Zelensky addresses the nation: "Today is Saturday but it means nothing. Our country doesn’t have weekends anymore. It doesn't matter what’s on the clock or in the calendar. And it will be this way until we win."

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - Video, 5 hours ago
Pregnant women and mothers with their newborn babies hide at the basement of a maternity hospital in Odesa, a port city in southern #Ukraine, during an air raid alert.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 3 hours ago
️Media: Italy seizes property worth $150 million from Russian oligarchs.
According to The Guardian, the list includes villas of billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Russian state TV host Vladimir Soloviev, yachts of Russia’s richest man, Alexei Mordashov, and Gennady Timchenko.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 23 minutes ago
️Ukraine's richest man Akhmetov speaks up about Russia's war.
Ten days after Russia launched an all-out offensive on Ukraine, oligarch Rinat Akhmetov told Ekonomichna Pravda that he had cut business contacts with Russia and had no more interests or assets in the country.

 

[PommyMommy]

@BarakRavid
Israeli Prime Minister Bennett travelled secretly to Moscow. Meeting Putin now

State Dept says “US citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately.” It warns “some credit and debit cards may be declined” when purchasing flights as a result of sanctions; cash in short supply; potential harassment of foreigners.

Russia – Level 4 – Do Not Travel

 

[PommyMommy]

2m ago 11:42

Axios reporter Barak Ravid says that Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett traveled to Moscow in secret:

Barak Ravid(@BarakRavid)
BREAKING: Israeli Prime Minister Bennett travelled secretly to Moscow. Meeting Putin now

March 5, 2022

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel's Naftali Bennett in Russia for Ukraine talks with Vladimir Putin

The meeting comes as Israel has been trying to balance the national security importance of coordination with Russia before airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria, where the Russian Army is the dominant force, with Israel's strongest strategic alliance with the US and support for democracy and international order.

Israel condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine through Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and a vote in the UN General Assembly, but Bennett has been reticent to say anything about Russia. In his recent statements he has expressed support for the Ukrainian people and called for negotiations.

Bennett spoke twice with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine. Zelensky has asked Bennett to try to mediate between the sides.

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel's Bennett meets Putin in Moscow over Ukraine invasion - Israel News - Haaretz.com

Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday to discuss the Ukraine crisis, his office said.

According to the Israeli statement, the two leaders met for more than two and half hours.

Israel, home to a substantial population of Russian immigrants, has offered to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, though officials have previously played down expectations of a breakthrough.

Bennett is accompanied by Ukrainian-born Minister Zeev Elkin, who joined previous meetings between Israeli prime ministers and Russia's Putin, as well as senior advisers.

 

[PommyMommy]

Erdogan To Speak With Putin As Turkey Pushes For End To Ukraine War

A spokesman for Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Turkish president will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 6 and that Ankara is ready to do what it can to stop the war in Ukraine.

Turkey, a NATO member, has close relations with both Kyiv and Russia and has been urging an end to the fighting since Putin announced the full-scale invasion on February 24.

 

[PommyMommy]

Kyiv minister asks Shell 'doesn't Russian oil smell of Ukrainian blood?' as Brits stop tankers | Daily Mail Online

Ukraine's foreign minister has slammed Shell for buying Russian crude oil - asking the Dutch energy giant whether the oil 'smells like Ukrainian blood for you?'

Dmytro Kuleba tweeted the criticism at the energy company on Saturday afternoon and Shell has since confirmed it did make the purchase on Friday - but said it had 'no alternative'.

It comes after Shell announced on Monday plans to sell its stake in all joint ventures with Russian partner Gazprom, calling the Ukrainian invasion 'senseless' and a threat to European security.

 

[PommyMommy]

The man who put a $1 million bounty on Putin believes the dictator’s inner circle will turn on him

A Russian entrepreneur who offered a $1 million bounty for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin says he posted the reward because he wants to solidify Putin’s public image as a war criminal.

“I did it because I want to contribute to the change of perception of Putin from an unquestionable ruler to somebody who is perceived by Russians as a criminal, and an illegitimate president who is essentially a usurper of power,” Alex Konanykhim, CEO of software company TransparentBusiness, told Fortune.

Now, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Konanykhim says Putin’s allies will turn their backs on him.

“Oligarchs used to be strong supporters of Putin for one very simple reason: he was good for business,” Konanykhim said. “Now Putin is bad for business. Oligarchs, particularly, are trying to hide their assets. Their yachts are getting seized. They're trying to distance themselves from Putin to such a degree that everyone knows they’re no longer friends.”

On Wednesday, Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire who is known to be close to Putin, announced that he would sell his Chelsea soccer team and pledged to give the proceeds to victims of the Ukrainian war. It was a clear sign of the turning tides, according to Konanykhim.

“In less than a week, the [Russian] oligarchs are no longer friends with Putin, and Putin realizes it quite well because he's not stupid,” Konanykhim told Fortune.

[...]