Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 **Media Thread** NO DISCUSSION #3

[PommyMommy]

MAR 16, 2022
Trapped in Mariupol: ‘They shoot hard, we sit in the basement’
Witnesses on Wednesday reported a huge bomb blast near the Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama. “No one can reach the blockages, we don’t know if there are any survivors,” one said. “The bomb shelter is also covered with debris, there are both adults and children there.”

MAR 11, 2022
Civilians at Mariupol Drama Theatre - Ukraine

 

[PommyMommy]

Kaitlan Collins@kaitlancollins
1m
Biden announces the U.S. will send drones to Ukraine.

@JenniferShutt
Biden officially announces an additional $800 million in assistance to Ukraine, thanking Congress for providing the funds. Says this brings total new U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to $1 billion "just this week."

Biden announces new US aid to Ukraine will include anti-aircraft systems & says US helping Ukraine identify & obtain longer-range air defense systems

Biden says drones are among the weapons the U.S. is sending to Ukraine, "which demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for defense."

Biden: "I want to be honest with you, this could be a long and difficult battle. But the American people will be steadfast in our support of the people of Ukraine."

@John_Hudson
Zelensky doesn't get his No-Fly Zone but he gets quite a bit: Biden announces the U.S. will send Ukraine:

- drones
- 9,000 Anti-armor systems
- 800 Anti-aircraft systems
- 7,000 Small arms,
- 20 million rounds in ammunition

 

[PommyMommy]

President Biden gives special report

 

[PommyMommy]

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-701495
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak announced the release of Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, Zaporizhia region, who had been abducted by the Russian Forces.

"Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov has been released from Russian captivity," Ermak wrote in a telegram on Wednesday.

@rustem_umerov
Ivan Fedorov, the Mayor of Melitopol, is released from the Russian captivity.

3 more still in Russian captivity:
Ievhen Matveev — Mayor of Dniprorudne, Yurii Prylypko — Head of Hostomel community, Serhiy Priyma — Head of Melitopol district council

 

[PommyMommy]

Paul McLeary @paulmcleary
3m
Confirmed: The US is sending 100 Switchblade armed drones to Ukraine. The loitering munition has been used by US special operations forces for several years, and is good at penetrating armor

 

[PommyMommy]

UK says Russia is calling in reinforcements
Russia has also been reassigning troops from "its Eastern Military District, Pacific Fleet and Armenia" as well as calling on "private military companies, Syrians, and other mercenaries" to fight in Ukraine, CNN reported.

“Russia will likely attempt to use these forces to hold captured territory and free up its combat power to renew stalled offensive operations,” the British assessment reportedly said.

 

[PommyMommy]

Mariupol theater: Russians bomb building where hundreds had taken refuge, officials say - CNN
"The Drama Theater in Mariupol was attacked on Wednesday. The number of casualties is unknown

"It is still impossible to estimate the scale of this horrific and inhumane act, because the city continues to shell residential areas," the council wrote on Telegram. "It is known that after the bombing, the central part of the Drama Theater was destroyed, and the entrance to the bomb shelter in the building was destroyed," it added.

Petro Andruishchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, described the theater as the largest shelter "in number and size" in the city's center. "According to preliminary data, more than a thousand people were hiding there," he said. "The probability of getting there to dismantle the rubble is low due to constant shelling and bombing of the city."

The city has no electricity, water, food, with residents melting snow or dismantling heating systems for a drop to drink, he said on Tuesday.''

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent
Ukrainian air defenses destroy 10 Russian aircraft. Today, Ukraine’s Air Defenses destroyed three Su-30SM fighters, one SU-34 fighter-bomber, two helicopters, one unknown aircraft, and one UAV. The Ground Forces additionally shot down one fighter, one bomber, and a helicopter.

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says another Russian general has been killed during fighting.

He didn't name the officer, but an adviser to Ukraine's interior ministry said Maj Gen Oleg Mityaev had been killed by the far-right Azov Battalion.

Gen Mityaev was killed near Mariupol, Ukrainian media said.

He is the fourth general reportedly killed, leading some to ask why such senior members of the Russian military are so close to the front-line.

Analysts believe that around 20 generals are leading Russian operations in Ukraine, meaning that if all the reported deaths are confirmed, one fifth of Russia's generals have been killed in action.

With such high losses, some experts believe that the generals have not simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that Ukraine is likely to be targeting top-level Russian officers.

War in Ukraine: Fourth Russian general killed - Zelensky

 

[PommyMommy]

Spanish officials have impounded two more yachts as they enforce sanctions against Russia and Belarus, while another tycoon’s boat is stuck in Norway after suppliers refused to provide the fuel needed for the ship to depart.

The Crescent, a 135-metre (443-foot) super yacht with two helicopter landing pads and a swimming pool, was detained Wednesday ....

The ship’s owner isn’t publicly known, though it is believed to belong to Russian Igor Sechin – the head of Moscow-based Rosneft Oil Co

The Crescent is the second yacht detained by Spanish authorities in the past two days, following yesterday’s impounding of the 48-metre Lady Anastasia in Majorca. On Monday, officials also blocked the 85-meter Valerie from leaving Barcelona.

The three boats have an estimated combined value in excess of $US700 million

Australia news LIVE: Russia-Ukraine war continues

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine and Zelensky addresses Congress (cnn.com

'22 min ago rbbm.
11,000 people leave besieged Mariupol, as Orthodox priests accompany buses through Russian-occupied territory''

''For people able to make it as far as Berdyansk in their own cars but unable to drive further, fifteen buses were supplied to complete the journey and Orthodox priests accompanied the buses, the council said.

By Wednesday evening, officials said more than 6,400 Mariupol residents had made the journey through Russian-occupied territory to Zaporizhzhia, which is still in Ukrainian hands. More than 2,000 children were among them.''

''31 min ago
"Children" was spelled out on two sides of Mariupol theater before bombing, satellite images show

The Russian word ДЕТИ, or "Children" is seen on the grounds of the Mariupol theater prior to being bombed. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies)

New satellite images from Maxar Technologies show that on Monday, the word "children" was spelled out outside the theater that the Mariupol City Council said was bombed on Wednesday.

The City Council said that on Wednesday that Russian forces had "purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol. The plane dropped a bomb on a building where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding."

 

[PommyMommy]

@lookner
Ukrainian news site reports that Mayor of Melitopol was released by Russia today in exchange for nine Russian captured soldiers, all conscripts born in 2002-2003
Мера Мелітополя виміняли на російських строковиків – ОП

 

[PommyMommy]

NATO makes plans to boost its military presence in eastern Europe as Ukraine war grinds on

Slovakia preliminarily agrees to send key air defense system to Ukraine

Anonymous declared a 'cyber war' against Russia. Here are the results

Berlin train station turns into refugee town for Ukrainians
Vadim, a 17-year-old teenager who came on his own from Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, traveled for three days and nights before arriving in Berlin on Tuesday afternoon. “No sleep,” is all he said, a tired, petrified look in his eyes.

When asked where his parents were, the teen, who gave only his first name, simply shrugged his shoulders, grabbed a dirty backpack and slowly walked away.

 

[PommyMommy]

Council of Europe expels Russia from human rights body
The 47-nation organization’s committee of ministers said in statement that “the Russian Federation ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe as from today.”

In a highly symbolic move after the decision, Council of Europe staff went outside of its headquarters in Strasbourg and took down the Russian flag, neatly folding the tricolor before it was taken away.

 

[PommyMommy]

Reuters @Reuters 7m
U.S. President Biden calls Russian President Putin a 'war criminal' over his country's invasion of Ukraine, prompting the Kremlin to say the comment is 'unforgivable' https://reut.rs/3MQAuKl

New supplies from Italy to Ukraine
“The Italian Hercules has left Rzeszow airport at 17:11 to return to Pisa.

The aircraft has carried supplies for Ukraine.

We do not know what kind of aid. Italy has also approved the sending of arms to Ukraine.”
New supplies from Italy to Ukraine

 

[PommyMommy]

“There can be something a little distasteful about Western onlookers (myself included) cheering on Ukrainians for a cause that our countries are not willing to join, a stance that risks raising the price of a peace that will be paid only with Ukrainian blood. Nevertheless, it is possible to recognize this, to be inspired by what Zelensky represents, and then to be shamed by his example.

Here is a nation and a leader willing to sacrifice so much for the principle of independence and the right to join the Western world. And yet, much of the West is jaded and cynical, apparently devoid of any such mission, cause, or sense of idealism anymore. What is it that the West believes in now? When you think of the great liberal heroes of our age, Angela Merkel and Barack Obama, say, they are actually deeply pragmatic conservatives, constantly hedging, calculating, and balancing interests with little grand vision or cause to pull their policies together.”

What Volodymyr Zelensky’s Courage Says About the West

 

[PommyMommy]

March 16 2022
Putin warns of pro-Western 'traitors' in Russia, references 'self-cleansing' of country | CBC News
''The Kremlin leader assailed Russians who he said were more mentally in tune with the West than Russia and said the Russian people would quickly be able to tell the difference between traitors and patriots.''

"Of course they (the West) will try to bet on the so-called fifth column, on traitors — on those who earn their money here, but live over there. Live, not in the geographical sense, but in the sense of their thoughts, their slavish thinking," he told government ministers, three weeks into Russia's war with Ukraine.''

"Any people, and especially the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors, and just to spit them out like a midge that accidentally flew into their mouths," Putin said.''

Russia experts said the message was chilling.

"Putin in an Orwellian way has divided the citizens of Russia into clean and unclean," wrote Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political analyst.''

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden called Putin a "war criminal" in his sharpest condemnation of the Russian leader since the invasion began.''

 

[PommyMommy]

Planes and smartwatches near Finland's Russian border had GPS issues, and not for the first time

“On March 9, national airline Finnair reported encountering GPS disturbances during flights near the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, while flights between the Finnish capital Helsinki and the eastern town of Savonlinna were cancelled for nearly a week because of them.

The plane turned around when the fault was found, in line with normal procedures. When it arrived back in the Helsinki area, all signals were working fine again," Jyri Koponen, a spokesperson for regional airline Transaviabaltika, told the Finnish broadcaster Yle.

In June 2021, a number of ships in the Black Sea off Ukraine reported anomalies in their publicly-available positioning data.

In one case, British and Dutch warships on patrol were made to look as if they were approaching the port of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

SBM

Why are there GPS disturbances on Finland’s border with Russia?

HMS Defender: AIS spoofing is opening up a new front in the war on reality

“An incident involving a British warship off the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea on June 24 may have begun online - with a virtual voyage that never really happened.

HMS Defender made headlines after sailing 12 km off the Crimean coastline. The Kremlin regards those waters as Russian territory. For much of the rest of the world, they belong to Ukraine.

Russia's Defence Ministry claimed it fired warning shots and dropped bombs to deter the Royal Navy vessel. Britain's Ministry of Defence denied those claims.

A BBC reporter on board HMS Defender said the ship was harassed by Russian fighter jets and coastguard vessels.

But data sourced from ship tracking site Marine Traffic shows the two sides may have engaged in what one expert called "virtual naval diplomacy" even before Thursday's incident.”

Fake ships, real conflict: How misinformation came to the high seas

And more of course:
Russia jammed GPS during major NATO military exercise with US troops - CNNPolitics

 

[PommyMommy]

Biden says US will send its 'most cutting-edge systems' to Ukraine — including Switchblade drones, anti-tank weapons, and guns — to fight Putin's 'depraved onslaught'

A screenshot from AeroVironment’s Switchblade 300 presentation video.

The administration is giving Ukraine 100 armed Switchblade drones as part of the package Biden announced on Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware confirmed to Insider.

"Drones can be very helpful...for the Ukrainian people in terms of being able to know where your enemy is," Carper said. "They're hard to hit, hard to knock down by the enemy. And it gives the Ukrainians a tactical advantage."

Unlike other unmanned aerial vehicles used by the US for targeted killings, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, Switchblade drones don't fire missiles but act as a missile. Switchblades, sometimes referred to as "kamikaze drones," are precision, single-use drones that fly directly into their targets and explode.

There are two versions of the Switchblade, the 300 and the 600. The 300 is for targeting personnel and the 600 is designed to target armored vehicles like tanks. It's unclear which version of the Switchblade the US is sending. The 600 can fly for up to 50 minutes and travel up to 40 miles, the company that designs them, AeroVironment, recently told NBC News.

 

[PommyMommy]

Captured Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov rescued by Ukrainian forces: Report

Kidnapped Ukrainian mayor Ivan Fedorov rescued in ‘special operation’ | News | The Times

Melitopol Mayor exchanged for nine Russian POWs

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov has been released from captivity in exchange for nine captured Russian servicemen, Trend reports citing Ukrinform.

"Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was released from Russian captivity. For more than five days, the kidnappers detained the mayor, forcing him to cooperate, but Fedorov did not surrender. Russia received nine of its captive soldiers born in 2002-2003 in exchange for him. They are actually children," spokesperson to the Head of the President’s Office Darya Zarivna said on the air of the nationwide telethon.