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

[PommyMommy]

NEXTA on Twitter - 6 hrs ago
#Ukrainian flag is again visible over the #Chernobyl nuclear power plant As reported on the official page of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the operating personnel of the station raised it today, April 2.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Conflict Intelligence Team: Missile hitting Belgorod Oblast came from Russia. Observers report that the missile that fell in the village of Nikolskoye in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast on April 1 came from the country’s northeast or east, ruling out Ukraine’s involvement.

NEXTA on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
“When the #Europeans “sober up from the #American bourbon,” the time will come to reassess relations with the #Russian Federation and enter into a state of dialogue,” Putin’s spokesman Peskov said.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
About 620,000 Ukrainians have returned to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion. “In the first weeks of the war, most Ukrainians returning home were men, but now we see increasing numbers of women and children coming back,” said State Border Guard Service spokesman.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Lithuania becomes first EU country to ban Russian gas. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that starting in April, the country will not import Russian gas. He added that other European countries should follow the Lithuanian example.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Governor: Russian forces shell hospital in Kharkiv Oblast. According to Governor Oleh Synehubov, Russia shelled a hospital in occupied Balakliia to frame Ukraine’s Armed Forces. He added that the building is partly destroyed & 70 people require immediate evacuation. 1/2

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
The Kyiv Independent can’t confirm this information at the moment. 2/2

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Georgia, Moldova Formally Apply For EU Membership Amid Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine. However, joining sanctions against Russia would threaten Russian gas supplies to Moldova, while the Kremlin would not feel restrictions, Sandu said https://ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3446165-sandu-explains-moldovas-move-not-to-join-russia-sanctions.html

 

[PommyMommy]

April 2, 2022

A Lamp, A Giraffe, And A Packet Of Buckwheat: What One Ukrainian Family Took With Them When They Fled (rferl.org)
In their desperate rush to get out, besides some clothing, the family grabbed three otherwise ordinary items: a giraffe keychain, a packet of buckwheat, and a desk lamp.

Now, living as refugees in Poland, the Pavlenkos cling to those three mementos of everyone they left behind ...

Alyona, 45, and her husband, Viktor, 48, have five children ... aged from seven to 24.

Red Cross Heads Again For Mariupol As Zelenskiy Warns Russia Is Creating A 'Disaster' With Mines (rferl.org)
An advisor to Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said he was hopeful about the Mariupol evacuations. "I think that today or maybe tomorrow we will hear good news regarding the evacuation of the inhabitants of Mariupol," Oleksiy Arestovych told Ukrainian television.

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Kyiv says 30 areas retaken from Russian forces; protest in occupied town violently dispersed – live | World news | The Guardian

38m ago 17:47 Chernihiv governor Viacheslav Chaus has also accused Russian troops of planting mines as they drew back from positions around the regional capital.

“There are a lot of mines. They (the villages) are strewn with them,” he said on national television. Russia’s defence ministry has yet to comment on the allegations, Reuters reports.

 

[PommyMommy]

Dmitry Rogozin - Wikipedia
Dmitry Rogozin is a "Russian politician who is Director General of Roscosmos since 2018. Previously he was Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in charge of the defense industry from 2011 to 2018. Prior to that, he was Russia's ambassador to NATO from 2008 to 2011."

"Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, said in a social media post that the aim of the sanctions was to “kill Russian economy and plunge our people into despair and hunger, to get our country on its knees”. He added that they “won’t succeed in it, but the intentions are clear”.

“That’s why I believe that the restoration of normal relations between the partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other projects is possible only with full and unconditional removal of illegal sanctions,” Rogozin said.

Russia to halt cooperation over International Space Station

 

[PommyMommy]

If the war in Ukraine is a fight against authoritarianism, why are these democracies sitting on the fence? | The Star
''To be sure, Putin’s unprovoked invasion shows the perils of unconstrained power. But the unpredictable reactions of so many other leaders shows the limits of democratic engagement.

Across Western and Central Europe (and parts of East Asia), the cohesion is impressive. But some of the most influential democracies around the world are still sitting on the fence instead of standing up for freedom and defending sovereignty.

From India to Israel, elected leaders are walking a fine line between doing right versus military might:''

• ''India boasts of being the world’s biggest democracy, long espousing its Gandhian values of peace, non-violence and non-interference. Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suddenly gone silent over the invasion, and India abstained from a UN vote condemning the invasion (as did neighbouring Sri Lanka and Pakistan).

• Israel styles itself the Middle East’s beacon of democracy, born in the aftermath of the Holocaust. But Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has decidedly lost his voice.

• Turkey imagines itself a democratic role model for the Islamic world and a bulwark of NATO. Yet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is having it both ways.

• South Africa, an exemplar of post-apartheid pluralism and democracy, is siding with Russia. President Cyril Ramaphosa pointedly blamed NATO for provoking the invasion and also abstained from the UN vote.

Each of these outsized nations has long made a virtue of its foreign policy values, in good times and bad. Now, high-minded international principles of territorial integrity are captive of core national interests — and military armaments.''

 

[PommyMommy]

Transnistria - Wikipedia

"The right of citizens to change their government was restricted ... Authorities reportedly continued to use torture and arbitrary arrest and detention ... In Transnistria authorities limited freedom of speech and of the press ... Authorities usually did not permit free assembly ... In the separatist region of Transnistria the authorities continued to deny registration and harassed a number of minority religious groups ... The separatist region remained a significant source and transit area for trafficking in persons ... Homosexuality was illegal, [sic] and gays and lesbians were subject to governmental and societal discrimination."

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 45 min ago
More than 4,200 people evacuated from dangerous areas on April 2, including from Luhansk Oblast, Mariupol, and Berdiansk.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Ukrainian eastern operational command claims the Ukrainian army destroyed the entire Russian battalion tactical group yesterday when it attempted to attack in the Donbas area. The strike was inflicted primarily by artillery. https://facebook.com/otueast/posts/687794462646297

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
The occupiers fled in fear, leaving behind looted valuables and alcohol. The #AFU also received a lot of trophy assault rifles and armor vests.

NEXTA on Twitter
The #Ukrainian special operations forces seized a #Russian helicopter.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar: Whole Kyiv Oblast now free from Russian occupiers. The region sustained some of the most intense fighting as Russians tried to reach the capital.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO
The Ukrainian Muslim battalion "Crimea" has found corpses of civilians near Motyzhyn in Kyiv Oblast who were shot. According to preliminary information, it is the family of village head Olha Sukhenko who was abducted on 23 March. Official info to follow Telegram: Contact @iponKrim

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates | Ukraine says 765 evacuate besieged Mariupol | AP News
(25 min ago)

• Ukraine’s deputy prime minister says 765 residents managed to make it out of Mariupol in private vehicles on Saturday.

• Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said a team with three vehicles and nine staff members planned to get into Mariupol on Saturday ...

• By late Saturday, there was no word if the Red Cross convoy had reached Mariupol ...

• The Mariupol city council said earlier Saturday that 10 empty buses were headed to Berdyansk, a city 52 miles (84 kilometers) west of Mariupol, to pick up people who managed to get there on their own.

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine says it has retaken entire Kyiv region - BBC News
''Summary

1. Ukrainian forces have retaken the entire region around Kyiv, the deputy defence minister says, as Russian forces withdraw from key towns
2. Russian troops have abandoned Hostomel airport near the capital, leaving behind the wreckage of the world's largest aircraft
3. But as Moscow's forces retreat, evidence of civilian killings is mounting
4. Reporters in the town of Bucha, just outside Kyiv, have found at least 20 bodies strewn in the streets
5. The BBC has confirmed the killing of at least two civilians on a highway leading to the capital
6. A pro-Ukraine protest held by residents of an occupied town in southern Ukraine has been violently dispersed
7. Video from Enerhodar, home to Europe's largest nuclear plant, shows people running away from explosions in a square''

''New evidence of atrocities

• As Russian forces retreat, journalists in Ukraine say they've seen at least 20 bodies - dressed in civilian clothes - on a street in a town near Kyiv
• The reporters travelled to Bucha with Ukrainian troops, after Russian forces retreated
• One commander said all men aged between 18 and 60 had been rounded up and executed by Moscow's soldiers
• Meanwhile, the mayor of Bucha told AFP news agency a mass grave in the town contained 280 bodies
• Ukrainian authorities said the body of a well-known photographer, Maks Levin, had been found near a village in the region around Kyiv''

 

[PommyMommy]

Putin 'running out of missiles' because all the parts are made in Ukraine

Putin Accompanied by Doctors, Thyroid Cancer Surgeon on Sochi Trips – Report - The Moscow Times

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukrainian journalist found dead near Kyiv after going missing over two weeks ago | The Times of Israel
''According to Ukrainian News State Agency Ukrinform, Levin had contributed to Reuters, BBC, TRT World, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Breaking news Poland, and other major international publications.''

Ukrainian war photographer Maks Levin is 'shot dead by Russian troops' | Daily Mail Online

''Ukrainian war photographer and documentary maker Maks Levin is found dead near Kyiv after being 'shot by Russian soldiers'

• Maksym 'Maks' Levin was killed by two bullets allegedly fired by Russian military on outskirts of Kyiv on Friday
• 40-year-old's body was found in the Huta-Mezhyhirska village, sources report
• Levin had been missing since March 13; he leaves behind a wife and four sons''

 

[PommyMommy]

What I Heard From Passengers on the Last Train Out of Russia
[...]

Some of the passengers declined to talk. The day before, a middle-aged man responded by saying cryptically, “If I talk to you they will come for me,” before rushing off.

[...]

... I learned that one young man sold all his furniture and car to exchange deeply devalued rubles into euros to pay for the train ticket, and arrived with very little remaining money. He wandered off into Helsinki in search of a hostel. A young woman came off the train weeping, and a woman who offered to comfort her told me her pro-Putin family had disowned her and vowed never to see her again. Many had jobs or spouses in Europe or Canada and had travel documents enabling them to travel more freely than the average Russian. All of them were required to have an EU-approved Covid vaccination, which does not include Sputnik, the vaccine most widely used in Russia.

[...]

Maria, a 32-year-old technology professional from St. Petersburg, explained, “I am running away from Russia because of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, along with many people who are young and in the IT field. Everybody wants to leave. On the metro, on the street and at the airport, police are stopping people and reading their phone messages. Some people think I am not a patriot, that I hate my country. But I love my country so much. I don’t like the government. A patriot is somebody who also sees the negative side. When I criticize my country, I am like a good mother, who loves her children but helps them understand how to work on negative things and become better. I am afraid Russia could become like North Korea. Yesterday my mother showed me her cemetery documents so I could find her if I ever do go back.”

“I was born in the Soviet Union,” Karina, a 50-year-old art director, told me. “It’s all coming back now. The army is all over Moscow. If you say something out of line they will stop and arrest you. There is fear everywhere. The problem is that there are many Russians who cannot admit our mistakes, cannot realize that we are trapped in a nightmare. Russians are very sensitive to criticism. They can criticize ourselves, but if it’s coming from outside, they take it very personally. People don’t want to admit mistakes. It’s much easier to watch TV and absorb the government propaganda. It’s easier to not think. We did it for the 70 years of the Soviet Union and now it’s the same psychology again. Anti-Putin people are probably in the minority. You have this vast country with many people who are poor and who have never travelled abroad. They are very isolated, with no communication, only their television. They work hard all day, come home exhausted and the TV is their only source. But the world needs to know that not all Russians are for Putin. I love my country. It’s a great country. I am proud to speak Russian, to be Russian. But now I must leave my country and not come back. My poor 81-year-old mother dreamed all her life for her country to be free. At the train station this morning she was crying as she said goodbye to me with the saddest words I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“I was born behind this wall,” her mother said, “and now I will die behind it as well.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Almost 300 buried in mass grave in Bucha, near Kyiv: Mayor

United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect

Bodies litter Ukraine town's street of death

 

[PommyMommy]

“The Chykmariovs’ car suddenly stopped and so I stopped,” said Halyna. “I saw a door open in the front car and two legs drop out. A thought came to my head, I just thought everybody is killed. It happened so quickly, I don’t know. My husband screamed, ‘turn round, turn round’. Then I felt something hit my right shoulder, a bullet. I pushed my husband to get out of the car. But he wasn’t moving. I realised he was dead. I just opened my door and ran.”

‘It is a war crime’: two young boys among neighbours shot dead during attempted evacuation

 

[PommyMommy]

[URL='https://twitter.com/Podolyak_M/status/1510336853261623301']Михайло Подоляк on Twitter [/URL]- 3 hrs ago, WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO
(Adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine)
Bucha, Kyiv region. The bodies of people with tied hands, who were shot dead by Russian soldiers lie in the streets. These people were not in the military. They had no weapons. They posed no threat. How many more such cases are happening right now in the occupied territories? (1/2)

Михайло Подоляк on Twitter
Russia is waging a war to destroy the Ukrainian nation. But we do not ask for sympathy. We do not ask for likes. And we are definitely not asking to fight with Russia for us. We ask only one thing: give us weapons so that we can protect civilians. Everything else we will do ourselves.(2/2)

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO'S
Some more photo evidence of intentionally executed civilians is coming from Bucha and Motyzhyn which Ukrainian troops entered today. No official comments were given about the incidents or investigation so far.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Rescuers deactivate more than 640 explosive devices in liberated town of Irpin near Kyiv in one day. The mayor of Irpin said the city won't be safe for a month, as the military will be clearing it from explosives left by Russians.

NEXTA on Twitter
In the liberated #Irpin, sappers found 643 explosive objects during the day. Work on clearing the territory continues, the State Service for Emergency Situations reports.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 1 hr ago
280 people, killed by Russian invaders, have been already found in Bucha, since the Ukrainian army retook control of the city near Kyiv. Bucha's mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk told this @AFP by phone.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russians destroyed Ukraine’s biggest oil refinery in Kremenchuk during the April 1 missile attack. Russia has been conducting targeted attacks on oil depots around the country, including in Lviv and Dnipro.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO
"Dead civilians are seen near a highway 20 km outside of Kyiv. Under the blanket are 4-5 dead naked women whom the Russian barbarians tried to burn right there on the side of the road"– @mpalinchak

Defence of Ukraine on Twitter - Video
New Srebrenica. The Ukrainian city of Bucha was in the hands of Russian animals for several weeks. *Local civillians were being executed arbitrarily*, some with hands tied behind their backs, their bodies scattered in the streets of the city.

NEXTA on Twitter - WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
More and more bodies of civilians murdered by the occupiers are found in the liberated suburbs of #Kyiv. The whole world must see the atrocities of the invaders.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
"We still hold Mariupol, but the enemy has partially gained a foothold in the city. We are besieged, no resources come here but we can live on motivation w/o food for long. The main problems are human resources and anti-tank weapons"–Azov's Chief of Staff https://youtu.be/jaaSlV9uD0c

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian troops retake entire Kyiv region as evidence emerges of execution of civilians – live | World news | The Guardian

1h ago 18:11
The head of Latvia’s natural gas storage operator said on Latvian radio today that the Baltic states were no longer importing Russian natural gas.

AFP is reporting that Uldis Bariss, CEO of Conexus Baltic Grid, said: “Since 1 April, Russian natural gas is no longer flowing to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania."

This interview came after Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda called on the rest of the Europe to follow the example of the Baltic states.

[...]

Crosses to honour civilians killed mark a mass grave in the forest of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP

Anti-tank mines are spread out on a bridge in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv on 2 April. Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP

[...]

Louise Callaghan on Twitter (Middle East correspondent for The Sunday Times)
De-mining experts going into Irpin told us it would take months, if not years, to clear all the regions the Russians had held around Kyiv. These areas might have been liberated, but not one soldier or civilian we met was celebrating. There was just sorrow, and anger.

Louise Callaghan on Twitter
Reporting from @AFP and @Reuters inside Bucha shows bodies lying on the streets or in half-dug graves, some with their hands tied behind their backs. Mass graves. Executions. Soldiers and civilians we spoke to say they will never forgive this.

Ukrainian forces retake areas near Kyiv amid fear of traps | AP News
Ukrainian troops moved cautiously to retake territory north of the country’s capital on Saturday, using cables to pull the bodies of civilians off streets of one town out of fear that Russian forces may have left them booby-trapped.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukrainian photographer and Reuters contributor, Maksim Levin, killed covering war

Live updates | Zelenskyy: Troops shell retreating Russians | AP News
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops retaking areas around Kyiv and Chernihiv are not allowing Russians to retreat without a fight, but are “shelling them. They are destroying everyone they can.”

Zelenskyy, in his Saturday night video address to the nation, said Ukraine knows Russia has the forces to put even more pressure on the east and south of Ukraine.

“What is the goal of the Russian troops? They want to seize the Donbas and the south of Ukraine,” he said. “What is our goal? To defend ourselves, our freedom, our land and our people.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

The child remembers seeing the Russian soldiers with their weapons and is receiving support from family and specialists, Sergiy says.

"The only words he said when he got to a safe place, to his grannies, were: 'We won't be sleeping in a basement any longer, will we? And there won't be any scary men?'"

Family’s bid to reach safety ends in tragedy

 

[PommyMommy]

Zelensky speaks of 'genocide' • Ukraine: city at Chernobyl nuclear power plant recaptured | NOS
Another major evacuation attempt in Mariupol • 'No prospect of a peace agreement yet'

• This is the live blog of Sunday 3 April about the war in Ukraine.
• Red Cross evacuation attempt in Mariupol . again
• Russians: 'No prospect of a peace agreement yet'
• Zelensky: Russia now shifts focus to east and south of Ukraine
• UK helps collect evidence of war crimes

3 HOURS AGO

Smoke over Odessa
Black smoke rises over Odessa after explosions were heard in the Ukrainian port early this morning.

Video embedded.

 

[PommyMommy]

Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron
The images reaching us from Boutcha, a liberated town near kyiv, are unbearable. In the streets, hundreds of cowardly murdered civilians. My compassion for the victims, my solidarity with the Ukrainians. The Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes.

Mark Rutte @MinPres
Shocked by reports of horrible crimes in areas from which Russia has retreated. This must be investigated, and the Netherlands and its partners will not rest until perpetrators of war crimes are held accountable.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian troops near Kharkiv died after eating poisoned stuffed buns given to them as 'gifts' by Ukrainian citizens, a Ukrainian intelligence agency has claimed.

Two soldiers from the 3rd Motor Rifle Division died immediately after eating the delicacies served by the citizens of Izium, a Facebook post by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine announced on Saturday.

Another 28 Russian troops are in intensive care after the poisoning with several hundred others also suffering from 'severe illnesses' after drinking poisoned alcohol given to them by civilians.

Two Russian troops dead and 28 in hospital after being POISONED by laced Ukrainian buns | Daily Mail Online