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

[PommyMommy]

Meta Platforms will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by the Reuters news agency, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.

The social media company is also temporarily allowing posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to a series of internal emails to its content moderators.

Ukraine tells IAEA it lost contact with Chernobyl power plant

 

[PommyMommy]

March 10 2022
Why India's failure to take a hard stance on Russia could backfire | CBC News
''As Washington was raising the alarm about convoys of Russian military forces heading toward the Ukrainian border in early December, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin were posing for cameras at a grand New Delhi palace.

During the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit, both leaders reaffirmed their "special and privileged strategic partnership," signing a military and technical co-operation pact to boost trade to $30 billion US per year, including a $5.4 billion US missile defence system for India.''

''Since Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago — shelling several major cities, hampering efforts to evacuate and causing the deaths of at least 400 civilians so far — India has abstained on every United Nations vote condemning Russia's actions. These include votes at the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council and at the International Atomic Energy Agency.''

'''We do not want to see Russia tilting entirely toward China'
From a foreign policy perspective, India and Russia diverge when it comes to a rising China.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, hosted a banquet for Putin in Beijing last month, declaring that Moscow and Beijing would be at the centre of the new global order and that their bilateral friendship knew "no limits." China, too, abstained on every vote aimed at curbing Russian aggression in Ukraine.''

 

[PommyMommy]

Why Vladimir Putin's war has not been swift

(...)

Eoin McNamara is a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He says: "Russia, at least in the early phases of this war, has relied on a lot of conscript soldiers, very young men, only just out of school, and often away from home for the first time [have been] sent to the border with Ukraine over the last few months".

He says while these things can happen in war planning, the conscripts "have essentially been lied to, they were told that they were just going for training exercises and all of a sudden they find themselves in live battle against the very, very motivated enemy on the ground defending their country in Ukraine.

"So, morale is low, motivation is low and experience is low, and this has led Russia to suffer quite a number of battlefield casualties."

(...)

Mr McNamara says because they are now bitter adversaries, we forget that these two states were once part of the same union, and that senior Ukrainian army officers would have received a remarkably similar military education to the Russians.

"The Ukrainians knew how the Russians were likely to fight." (BBM)

He cites the typical Russian military doctrine of putting their armour out in front.

"That armour blitzes the opposition and then the logistics, which are the lifeblood of any army as it moves forward, delivering ammunition, delivering fuel, delivering food and other supplies to soldiers as they march forward."

But Mr McNamara says the Ukrainians hit the Russian supply chains, after letting the armour go through.

"In this asymmetric conflict that should otherwise advantage Russia, that [targeting of logistics] has devastated Russia's advance and has now probably made Vladimir Putin's vision of a short and sharp...victory an impossibility."

(...)

Another factor that may have slowed Russia’s progress in Ukraine is the quality of the intelligence President Putin was relying on before waging war.

Domitilla Sagramoso is a senior lecturer at the Department of War Studies at King's College London.

She blames this on the structure of the Russian political system, that is firmly ruled from the top with little room for dissent.

"It’s possible that within the intelligence community, analysts may feel that they had to provide a particular kind of answer [to Putin]."

She says they were probably never provided with enough information ahead of the invasion to properly war-game scenarios.

"It seems to have been the case that Putin decided to keep the decision to actually use force so secret that the analysts were not asked to really examine these scenarios."

Dr Sagramoso says it’s clear there were serious problems inside the structures of the Russian intelligence community.

She says it’s ironic and indeed quite astonishing, given Vladimir Putin’s background in the world of espionage, adding "That's the area where one would have expected him to really know how things work."

(...)

 

[PommyMommy]

House leader asks for Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to speak in Canadian parliament next week | Globalnews.ca
''Government House leader Mark Holland has asked House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota to approve Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking to Canada’s Parliament next week.

Zelenskyy has accepted an invitation to speak to MPs and senators and Holland proposes he do so at 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday.''

''Holland says this would give Canadians a chance to hear directly from Zelenskyy about the “urgent and dire” situation in his country, which was invaded by Russia just over two weeks ago''

 

[PommyMommy]

Satellite images taken on Thursday show a large Russian military convoy, last seen northwest of Kyiv near Antonov airport, has largely dispersed and redeployed, a private U.S. company said on Thursday.

Maxar Technologies said images show armored units maneuvering in and through the surrounding towns close to the airport. It said images also show convoy elements further north have repositioned near Lubyanka with towed artillery howitzers in firing positions nearby. (Reporting by Eric Beech; editing by Diane Craft)

Russian military convoy northwest of Kyiv has dispersed, redeployed -Maxar

 

[PommyMommy]

Steve Herman
@W7VOA
#Russia warplanes have bombed the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, which contains an experimental nuclear reactor, according to
@Gerashchenko7

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1502033951606591496?t=8iIQNr44CBcK4Bb5kL0p4w&s=19
️#Russians shelled Nizhyn in the #Chernihiv region with Hurricanes during the day. Eight wounded and two dead are known - said Nizhyn Mayor Oleksandr Kodola.

 

[PommyMommy]

The British public will be able to offer accommodation to Ukrainian refugees

The public will be able to offer accommodation to Ukrainian refugees as the government announces a new route to the UK for those fleeing the Russian invasion.

After criticism of the government’s strategy and the bureaucratic delays facing Ukrainians with family ties to the UK, the British public will be asked to house refugees who have no family ties who would be eligible to work, access state benefits and public services.

UK government to allow members of public to house Ukrainian refugees

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
6m
Russia puts forth new requirements for humanitarian corridors. Russia is demanding lists of all evacuating vehicles and accompanying officials and forbids any communications equipment, except for Red Cross representatives.

The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
8m
The corridors are planned for Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mariupol.
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/with_replies

The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
14m
U.N Security Council to meet over Russia’s claims of “military biological activities of the U.S. on the territory of Ukraine." Russia requested the meeting for March 11 to discuss its unsubstantiated claims. The U.S. has denied the accusations.

 

[PommyMommy]

"Tell me straight!": Putin berates own spy chief over recognition of Ukrainian breakaway regions

 

[PommyMommy]

Putin's Road to War: Julia Ioffe (interview) | FRONTLINE

Putin's Way (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

 

[PommyMommy]

How U.S. Bioweapons in Ukraine Became Russia’s New Big Lie

US intel head rejects Russia's claims about Ukraine biolabs

Frank Stronach: How we can put an end to the loss of life in Ukraine | National Post
''The conflict in the Ukraine should never have come to this point, but it’s still not too late to stop the killing and halt the war. There is only one diplomatic solution to this crisis: the US and Europe must enter into a binding agreement that Ukraine will never join NATO and remain a neutral country in exchange for a complete Russian withdrawal. The only other possible end to the crisis is by waging war — and it will come with a great deal more bloodshed and destruction.

I believe the army generals in Russia — not only Vladimir Putin — have a significant say in the country’s affairs, especially when it comes to their national security. They harbour a very real and deep-seated concern about Ukraine joining NATO and having an antagonistic neighbour right on their doorstep.''

 

[PommyMommy]

"However, he then tried to assure those present that the situation would not be a new Chernobyl-style disaster, saying, "the neutron generator facility had a very small inventory. It was a subcritical facility to use neutrons for scientific experiments."
...

"It was a relatively new one [facility], part of an operation between the US and Ukraine from the Obama administration. It was a scientific institute," he said.
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-700566

 

[PommyMommy]

April 2020

U.S.-Ukraine Partnership to Reduce Biological Threats

The U.S. Embassy would like to set the record straight regarding disinformation spreading in some circles in Ukraine that mirrors Russian disinformation regarding the strong U.S.-Ukrainian partnership to reduce biological threats.

Here in Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Biological Threat Reduction Program works with the Ukrainian Government to consolidate and secure pathogens and toxins of security concern in Ukrainian government facilities, while allowing for peaceful research and vaccine development. We also work with our Ukrainian partners to ensure Ukraine can detect and report outbreaks caused by dangerous pathogens before they pose security or stability threats.

Our joint efforts help to ensure that dangerous pathogens do not fall into the wrong hands. We’re proud to partner with the Ministry of Health, State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, and the Ministry of Defense to make us all safer.

U.S.-Ukraine Partnership to Reduce Biological Threats

 

[PommyMommy]

Why a Russian embassy expansion alarmed the Government

 

[PommyMommy]

Moldova USED TO have 29 MiG fighters according to Wikipedia

"In 1994 the Moldovan Air Force consisted of 1,300 men organized into one fighter regiment, one helicopter squadron, and one missile brigade.[5] Armaments used by the air force included thirty-one MiG-29 Fulcrum aircraft, eight Mi-8 Hip helicopters, five transport aircraft (including an Antonov An-72 Coaler), and twenty-five SA-3 Goa/SA-5 Gammon surface-to-air missiles.

The 86th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment had been located at Mărculești since October 1951, and had been reequipped with MiG-29s in 1988.[8] It had been part of the 119th Fighter Aviation Division, which had been resubordinated to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet since December 1989.

Twenty-one of the MiG-29s were sold to the United States in October 1997 to prevent their sale on the world market, and for research purposes. All the spare parts for those aircraft were also purchased, as were the accompanying 500 air-to-air missiles. [9] All the aircraft were transported from Moldova to the National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport planes over a period of two weeks.[10]

As of 2006 all the MiG-29 fighters had either been sold or scrapped, and the Moldovan Air Force had only 2 An-2 Colts, 1 An-26 Curl, 2 An-72 Coalers, 8 Mi-8 Hips, and 12 SA-3 'Goa' SAMs in service, manned by 1,040 personnel.[7]"

 

[PommyMommy]

Biolabs: Russia and QAnon have the same false conspiracy theory about Ukraine - CNN
A new conspiracy theory has become popular among some of the online communities that formed around QAnon -- one simultaneously being promoted by the Kremlin as a justification for its invasion of Ukraine. The false claim: the United States is developing bioweapons in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin has stepped in to save the day and destroy the weapons.

QAnon's core prophecy has always been that there is a "plan" and that former President Donald Trump will rid the world of an evil cabal, culminating in the unmasking, imprisonment or even execution of cabal members. But that prophecy dates back to when Trump was actually president -- now that he's not, believers have been convincing themselves there is evidence that the plan is still very much in place, maybe even more so than ever before. In the Kremlin's disinformation, some have seen that hope.

There are US-funded biolabs in Ukraine, that much is true. But they are not building bioweapons. Actually, it's the opposite: Part of the reason for their creation was to secure old Soviet weapons left behind in the former Soviet republics. The State Department has described the claims as nonsense -- and the US and Ukrainian governments have repeatedly, and for years now, tried to bat down conspiracy theories about the labs and spoken about the work that is actually being done in them

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian Lab Explosion Raises Question: Should Smallpox Virus Be Kept Or Destroyed?

I'm not very concerned about bio research labs that partner with the US and are kept safe, secure and guarded.

What I've worried about long, long before Covid is about Russia being one of only two countries in the world to have stored samples of smallpox.

As smallpox is the only virus ever to have been fully eradicated, I've never quite understood why samples are contained at the CDC in Atlanta and at a lab in Siberia. But I’m not a scientist, and I know that scientists have debated for decades whether or not these samples should be destroyed.

Also for decades, I’ve read about much of the world being concerned that the USSR, now again called Russia, would be one of the countries to have it. That’s due to mistrust in the various leadership of the country.

This article is from 2019 regarding the explosion that occurred in the Russian lab housing the smallpox sample. The article therefore is not about the present tragedy in Ukraine.

I’m posting it because in light of this present discussion about bio labs and Putin promising to do something drastic, this would be my actual fear. I cannot imagine that even Putin would unleash something like smallpox because he could not control the spread if he decided to let it loose. But one never knows what he may do.

IMO this talk about Ukraine planning a bio warfare attack is complete Russian disinformation. It’s junk talk. But in real life,Putin does have access to smallpox.

 

[PommyMommy]

Update for 10 March
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 10 | Institute for the Study of War (understandingwar.org)
The likelihood is increasing that Ukrainian forces could fight to a standstill the Russian ground forces attempting to encircle and take Kyiv. Russian forces also appear to be largely stalemated around Kharkiv and distracted from efforts to seize that city. Russian advances in the south around Mykolayiv and toward Zaporizhya and in the east around Donetsk and Luhansk made little progress as well in the last 24 hours. Russia likely retains much greater combat power in the south and east and will probably renew more effective offensive operations in the coming days, but the effective reach and speed of such operations is questionable given the general performance of the Russian military to date.

There are as yet no indications that the Russian military is reorganizing, reforming, learning lessons, or taking other measures that would lead to a sudden change in the pace or success of its operations, although the numerical disparities between Russia and Ukraine leave open the possibility that Moscow will be able to restore rapid mobility or effective urban warfare to the battlefield.

Russian forces around Kyiv did not attempt to renew offensive operations on a multi-battalion scale on March 10 following the failure of limited efforts on March 8-9. Ukrainian forces badly damaged a Russian armored column in the Brovary area east of Kyiv, likely further disrupting Russian efforts to set conditions for offensive operations on the east bank of the Dnipro. Ukrainian resistance all along the Russian lines of communication from eastern Kyiv to the Russian border near Sumy continues to disrupt Russian efforts to bring more combat power to bear near the capital. The episodic, limited, and largely unsuccessful Russian offensive operations around Kyiv increasingly support the Ukrainian General Staff’s repeated assessments that Russia lacks the combat power near the capital to launch successful offensive operations on a large scale.

Key Takeaways

• Russian operations around Kyiv remained largely stalled over the past 24 hours.
• Ukrainian forces badly damaged a Russian armored unit east of the capital, likely disrupting Russian efforts to encircle or assault the city from the east.
• Russian forces continue to struggle in efforts to seize Chernihiv city and to secure the long ground lines of communication from Sumy, which the Ukrainians still hold, to eastern Kyiv.
• A new Russian invasion from western Belarus, with or without Belarusian ground forces’ support, appears increasingly unlikely.
• Russian forces remain pinned down attempting to reduce Mariupol by siege and bombardment.
• Russian efforts to bypass Mykolayiv and establish a reliable ground line of communication across the Southern Bug River to the north of Mykolayiv remain stalled.
• Ukrainian air force and air defense operations continue to hinder Russian ground forces maneuver by likely limiting Russian close air support and exposing Russian mechanized forces to Ukrainian air and artillery attacks.

Immediate items to watch

• Russian forces around Kyiv may undertake another operational pause to prepare for renewed efforts to encircle Kyiv from east and west and/or to seize the city center itself following their failures of the previous 48 hours;
• Russian troops may drive on Zaporizhya city itself within the next 48-72 hours, likely attempting to block it from the east and set conditions for subsequent operations after Russian forces besieging Mariupol take that city;
• Russian forces may attempt amphibious landings anywhere along the Black Sea Coast from Odesa to the mouth of the Southern Bug River in the next 24-48 hours.

 

[PommyMommy]

NBC News @NBCNews 1m
NEW: U.S. Senate votes 68-31 to pass a $1.5T spending bill that would prevent a government shutdown and provide $13.6B in emergency aid for Ukraine; the legislation now heads to President Biden's desk.

interactive map for the world's deadly germ studies:
A New Interactive Map Reveals Where the Deadliest Germs Are Studied

 

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U.S. Battles Russia and China on Ukraine War Disinformation

WASHINGTON — One of Russia’s most incendiary disinformation campaigns ramped up days ago, when its defense and foreign ministries issued statements falsely claiming that the Pentagon was financing biological weapons labs in Ukraine.

Then Chinese diplomats and state media organizations repeated the conspiracy theory at news conferences in Beijing, in articles and on official social media accounts.

Now, the Biden White House has taken the extraordinary step of calling out both countries on their coordinated propaganda campaign and saying they might be providing cover for a potential biological or chemical weapons attack on Ukrainians by the Russian military.

“Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening. “It’s a clear pattern.”

Using news conferences, state media and the social media accounts of diplomats around the world, China has been trying to inflame the situation with fiery rhetoric and conspiracy theories rooted in Russian disinformation, say current and former U.S. officials and independent researchers. As Mr. Xi was talking to the European leaders on Tuesday, Zhao Lijian, a Foreign Ministry spokesman whom many Chinese citizens hail as a fiercely patriotic “wolf warrior” diplomat, raised the issue of biochemical weapons in Ukraine at a news conference in Beijing, asserting that “Russia has found during its military operations that the U.S. uses these facilities to conduct bio-military plans.”

“It has 26 bio-labs and other related facilities in Ukraine, over which the U.S. Department of Defense has absolute control,” he said. “All dangerous pathogens in Ukraine must be stored in these labs and all research activities are led by the U.S. side.”

Mr. Zhao has spread anti-U.S. conspiracy theories to try to deflect criticism of China’s poor handling of the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan and questions over the research of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. He said in March 2020 that the U.S. military might have brought the virus to Wuhan and asserted that research at Fort Detrick, Md., might have been at the root of the pandemic. He mentioned Fort Detrick again on Thursday.

Chinese state media have repeated the entire range of official Russian statements on the Ukraine war, from the false assertion that Ukraine is full of neo-Nazis to arguments that the United States is an “empire of lies” pulling the puppet strings of Kyiv.

Global Times, a nationalistic newspaper published by the Communist Party, posted an article on Tuesday that said the U.S. government was trying to stir up anger against China over the Ukraine war by planting stories in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Voice of America. Other stories in Chinese state media accused Ukraine of using civilians as human shields, a Kremlin talking point, while avoiding any mention of civilian deaths at the hands of the Russian military.