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

[PommyMommy]

‘Disgrace’ German Chancellor slammed over delay in sending high-end tanks to Ukraine

Yet Mr Scholz added it was important for him to coordinate among EU and NATO partners to ensure “that we provide such military support in the same way, and that no one is rushing ahead including Germany.”

He added: “I believe that this is precisely an issue where it would be a grave mistake for Germany to take a special role and a special path.”

The discussion to send tanks to Ukraine comes amid a growing acceptance in Berlin and other Western capitals that Russia’s war in Ukraine could drag on for months or years, and as Kyiv directly appeals for such equipment.

UK and Germany won’t send tanks to Ukraine

LONDON — It “wouldn’t be appropriate” for Western allies to fulfill all of Ukraine’s requests for weaponry, the British prime minister said Friday.

Boris Johnson was speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz following their first in-person meeting in London, hours after Berlin declined to send Marder tanks to Ukraine, arguing that Germany needs them for its own defense needs.

 

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“These dogs are starved, traumatized and now stuck in a war zone," said Kate Parker, a wildlife crime campaign manager at Naturewatch Foundation.

Parker told CBS News that the shelters in areas like Borodyanka and Bucha have been destroyed. They no longer have access to water or electricity. And there is not enough staff left in the area to care for these animals when they are sent back, as those people are fleeing to safety, as well.”

More than 100 shelter dogs that survived starvation in war-torn Ukraine turned away at the Poland border, animal charity says

 

[PommyMommy]

Dilemma voor herdenkingscomités: zijn Russen nog welkom?

Dilemma for memorial committees: are Russians still welcome?

Just like every year on April 9, red candles were lit at the Soviet Field of Honor in camp Amersfoort this morning, exactly at 6.30 am. Today marks 80 years since 77 Soviet POWs were executed here.

In other years, diplomats from Russia and other former Soviet states were invited to this commemoration. That did not happen this year, because of the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine. For more commemoration committees, the question is whether a Russian representation is welcome in the near future. A small tour shows that committees are responsible for this in different ways.

Director Remco Reiding of the Soviet Field of Honor Foundation has ultimately decided not to invite representatives of the national government this year either. He thought it was a difficult decision: "We would like to welcome everyone, but we also wanted this tenth commemoration to go ahead without discussion. That is why we have decided not to invite any diplomats."

However, the deputy mayors of Amersfoort and Leusden were present at the commemoration, along with about 130 people from all over the country. Among them, Reiding saw people from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus and also Russians. "They stood there as human beings," said Reiding.

Commemoration Soviet Field of Honor
On April 9, 1942, the second largest shooting in our country in the Second World War took place in Amersfoort. The 77 Soviet soldiers were part of a group of 101 Soviet soldiers who had been taken prisoner of war. For the other 24, who had previously succumbed to hunger, disease and abuse, 24 white candles were lit this morning.

This group of soldiers came mainly from Uzbekistan. They had been captured by the Germans on the Eastern Front. The Germans regarded these Asian prisoners of war as untermenschen . During their stay in Kamp Amersfoort they were treated brutally.

A monument has been erected on the site of their execution, where the Soviet Field of Honor Foundation has held an annual commemoration since 2012.

etc.

 

[PommyMommy]

"But industry bosses and political leaders have warned that the damage to Germany by turning off the taps would be far greater than any benefit it brings to Ukraine.

“What use to anybody is a weakened Germany?” a source close to the government told the Guardian this week"
‘Firms will go bust’: Germany prepares for a future without Russian gas

"Putin also regularly takes a bath in deer antler blood as a form of alternative medicine, says Proekt. He does this on the advice of his Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu."
Poetin is de afgelopen jaren tientallen keren bezocht door een kankerspecialist, en neemt naar verluidt verjongingsbaden in hertenbloed

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter- 7 hrs ago
Ukraine and Russia agree on 10 evacuation corridors for April 9, from:
Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast;
Berdyansk, Tokmak, Energodar and Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Hirske and Rubizhne in Luhansk Oblast.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
US official says Russia seeks to recruit more than 60,000 reservists. Russia has started mobilizing reservists but it is unclear how successful that effort will be, the official told Reuters on April 8.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ukraine charges head of Mariupol occupation administration with high treason. Russia's proxies in Donetsk Oblast on April 6 named Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, a member of the Mariupol city council from a pro-Kremlin party, a "mayor" of the Russian-occupied parts of Mariupol.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - Video
Ukrainian police and forensic experts are exhuming bodies of those killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha and buried in a mass grave near a local church. As of now, 20 bodies have been recovered. Two belonged to the Ukrainian military.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
The bodies are to be examined, identified, and then buried at a local cemetery. According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, this mass grave contained a total of 67 bodies.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russian forces continue shelling Luhansk Oblast. According to Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai, one person was killed in Severodonetsk, four people were injured in the shelling of a residential building in Rubizhne, and there are mass fires in Lysychansk.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ombudsman: Russia increases forced deportations of Ukrainians. Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova said Ukraine is not yet able to verify the exact numbers, but the government is investigating the forced deportations.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
British PM Boris Johnson meets with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on April 9, in what appears to be an unannounced visit. Source: Andrij Sybiha, deputy head of Zelensky's administration.

 

[PommyMommy]

Finland and Sweden could soon join NATO, prompted by Russian war in Ukraine - CNNPolitics

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 9, 2022
Voices of besieged Mariupol: 'It’s not even comparable to hell' (kyivindependent.com)
“Sometimes hope returns to me. But sometimes it leaves, and I think that we are all going to die,” says Anastasiia Kiseliova, a 40-year-old mother of three, as she walks through the streets of Mariupol, voice-recording herself on an iPhone.

“The city is gone,” she adds, her voice trembling. She bursts into tears seconds later.

[...]

A large missile hit their property, sliding under the house, but not exploding. Another missile hit their neighbors’ yard. The family made a decision to leave, driving over to Kiseliova’s parents.

For two weeks, her husband, who is working abroad, thought that his wife and children were dead. All communications in the city have been shut since early March, meaning that many thousands of Ukrainians with friends and family in Mariupol have no way of knowing if they are alive.

[...]

Trying to escape Mariupol on March 17, Kiseliova joined a column of civilian cars that moved towards the outskirts of the city. For hours, she drove her three children, as well as her oldest son’s girlfriend, to safety, maneuvering between unexploded missiles and hundreds of mines that were scattered through roads and fields.

[...]

The next day, as evacuating cars carefully moved through a mined field just outside Mariupol, near an abandoned village of Kamianka, Russians shelled the convoy.

“They shelled cars that had signs that said ‘children’,” Kiseliova said. “One car was burned down, five people were injured. One girl had surgery performed right in the field.”

After crossing into Ukrainian territory, the family eventually made their way to Lviv, a regional capital in western Ukraine that has become the main destination for internally displaced Ukrainians flocking from the east, south and north.

[...]

“I didn’t want to leave Mariupol until the very end, until a person was killed in front of me,” says Maria Ruban-Vaskevich, 44, tightly holding onto an icon while sitting at a hostel in central Lviv.

Behind her are her two kids, Vasilisa, 12, and Volodymyr, 11, and a few small bags of clothes. This is all they got left after escaping from besieged Mariupol.

[...]

One day, as Ruban-Vaskevich and her family were hiding in her brother’s store, Russian soldiers shot a civilian man, named Viktor, right near the entrance.

[...]

As he was dying, he asked Ruban-Vaskevich to collect his documents from his house nearby. The medics would take him to the hospital, the man thought, but that never happened.

Instead, he died in the arms of Ruban-Vaskevich, as she was trying to stop his bleeding with medical tape.

[...]

The next day, on March 22, the woman saw a nine-story apartment building burning in its entirety. She also saw three Russian tanks shooting at an apartment block. She knew she had to leave.

[...]

For days, her family walked through the city which became filled with graves, dead bodies, and burning houses. There was a car with a large pool of blood underneath. And a body of a man without arms and legs.

[...]

Together with the kids, Ruban-Vaskevich stood in line for 30 minutes, when a stranger came up offering to get them out to Zaporizhzhia, a Ukraine-controlled city where most escapees from Mariupol arrive. Together with three other families, the volunteer drove them to safety.

“We got so lucky,” Ruban-Vaskevich said. “In a month, they turned our life into a horror movie. It’s not even comparable to hell.”

[...]

“No one counts the dead there. We buried people in our yard. There are cemeteries in every park. And how many people burned in their homes? How many died of natural causes and just lay in their flats? No one will find them.”

On April 6, Mariupol City Council said the Russian military began using mobile crematoriums to burn the bodies of killed Ukrainians.

Ukraine may never uncover the true scale of Russia’s atrocities in Mariupol.

 

[PommyMommy]

Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) / Twitter - 7 hrs ago
According to Slovakian media, Slovakia and Ukraine have almost finalized a Deal on the Sale of Slovakian-made 16 ZUZANA 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzers. This is one of those weapons Ukraine has been asking for with a firing range of 41 kilometers.
Ukraine agrees to buy self-propelled guns from Slovakia - Perild

NEXTA on Twitter
#Russian troops are regrouping in eastern #Ukraine before the attack on #Kharkiv This was stated in an interview with CNN by the head of military intelligence of Ukraine, Major General Kirill Budanov.

NEXTA on Twitter
“They are regrouping towards the city of Izyum through Belgorod. They bring additional troops into Belgorod to make up for their losses.They plan to attack Kharkiv first. They will try to finish off Mariupol then they will try to take initiative to attack #Kyiv,” Budanov said.

NEXTA on Twitter
In #Kherson, the former head of the regional administration Andrei Putilov was kidnapped, #Ukrainian media report.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Rescuers detect 4000+ explosive devices every day around Kyiv. Mines were placed under helmets, in boxes with ammunition, at the entrances to cellars & even on the front door of the Hostomel unit of rescuers. 5000 volunteers are helping with rubbles - MIA Денис Монастирський | Facebook

NEXTA on Twitter
EU obliges trucks from Russia and Belarus to leave their territory by April 16 Due to the new #European sanctions, trucks from #Russia and #Belarus are prohibited from entering the #EU territory.

NEXTA on Twitter
Scholz turned to Putin:“You are destroying the future of your country” Vladimir Putin has an imperial mindset “known to us from the 19th, 18th, 17th and other centuries,”said #German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, once again demanding an immediate ceasefire in #Ukraine.

NEXTA on Twitter
Russian military attacked border guards in Luhansk region with kamikaze drones, State Border Service of Ukraine reported. The ministry said that border guards shot down one of the drones. Another one attacked a position a few minutes later, where at that moment there was no one.

NEXTA on Twitter
Poland freezes relations with Hungary because of position on #Ukraine This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs of #Poland Yaroslav Kaczynski.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
There are more than 15,000 Ukrainians registered as missing so far. It is hard to name the precise number of killed & raped civilians but "our psychologists are overwhelmed by such cases," the ombudswoman for Human Rights said.
Людмила Денісова | Facebook

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
"Given that Russians during their atrocities appeared on numerous cameras in looted houses & posted photos themselves, it is not difficult to detect them in a matter of hours." Many murderers are already found, Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformations said https://t.me/zedigital/1546

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
Employees of the State Emergency Service of #Ukraine continue to dismantle the rubble in #Borodyanka. 237 rescuers, 35 pieces of equipment and 70 volunteers work at the site. The department reported that during the search, the body of a one person was found.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Near Rubizhne, Russians hit a tank with dangerous nitric acid for the 2nd time It is dangerous if inhaled, swallowed, in contact with skin. Luhansk Obl Head urged residents not to go out, prepare face masks soaked in soda solution and watch wind direction https://facebook.com/watch?v=698752801158495

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Military expert Mykhaylo Samus explains why fighter jets are necessary for Ukraine’s victory, despite Western media &politicians’ claims they won't help “that much.”Medium-range air defense systems, artillery, armored vehicles are also Ukraine's priorities Yes, Ukraine needs MiG-29s, medium-range air defense, heavy weapons | Euromaidan Press

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
CNN: Quarter of Russian forces in Ukraine 'effectively inoperable.' CNN quoted an unnamed European official, who said that 29 Russian battalion tactical groups are out of order.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 10 min ago
Luhansk Oblast Governor: Russian troops hit nitric acid tank in Rubizhne, again. Governor Serhiy Haidai urged residents of the region not to leave bomb shelters and to close windows and doors.

 

[PommyMommy]

Jan 28, 2015
Russian General Staff expects its casualties at 56-70 killed per day, brought in 7 mobile crematoria | Euromaidan Press
In interview to Channel 5 TV, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Security Service Valentin Nalyvaychenko disclosed that, on the orders of Russia’s General Staff, bodies of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine are burned in mobile crematoria.

[...]

Nalyvaychenko noted that each of these crematoria burns 8-10 bodies per day [that would mean Russia expects its regular army losses not to exceed 56-70 KIA per day, the total capacity for all 7 crematoria – Transl.]

According to the information, the work of these “death furnaces” is coordinated directly by Russian military intelligence. At the end of 2014, these “special” KAMAZ trucks were reported being in the Rostov oblast of Russia near the border with Ukraine.

[...]

He noted that the Ukrainian government will behave humanely and will return mothers of Russian soldiers the bodies of their sons together with personal effects.

[...]

 

[margarita25]

 

[PommyMommy]

PM Orbán Condemns Bucha Massacre, Supports Intl Investigation

 

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The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
26 Ukrainian prisoners of war released in new exchange. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said they include 12 soldiers and 14 civilians, but she didn’t disclose the number of prisoners of war sent back to Russia. It is the third prisoner exchange since Feb. 24.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ukraine imposes a complete trade embargo with Russia. The decision prohibits the import of all goods from Russia, Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in the parliament said on April 9. In 2021, Ukraine imported over $6 billion worth of goods from Russia.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
For decades, Russia pumped up its war machine thanks to Western technologies. Now, sanctions have already crippled its military sector. Yet, Ukraine has no time to relax: Russia still has stockpiles from its years of preparing for a Big War.
How Western sanctions cripple Russia's war machine | Euromaidan Press

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russian governor accuses Ukraine of firing mortars at Russian territory. Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoyt claimed that a border crossing in Elizavetovka, located several kilometers away from Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast, was shelled on April 9.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of attacking its territory with no proof, which Ukraine has denied.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
In Mariupol Russians collect corpses in underground passages and then destroy them in mobile crematoriums "Hundreds of corpses every day. Ruscists do all to hide the tragedy.Because the scale of crime is ten times worse than genocide in Bucha"–CityCouncil Telegram: Contact @mariupolrada

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Underground crossing in Sadkiv district on Mariupol outskirts. Here Russians set up one of its collection points for bodies of residents killed by Russian military. The largest point is in a warehouse near Staryy Krym. Russians destroy bodies in mobile crematoria or bury in mass graves

NEXTA on Twitter
The mayor of #Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, reported that the #Russian invaders were dropping bombs on the city by parachutes and warned people not to come close to such projectiles.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Zelensky: Supporting Ukraine's struggle for peace is not only a moral duty of all democracies, of all European forces. It has to be the defense strategy of every civilized state.

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 9, 2022

War Crimes Watch: A devastating walk through Bucha's horror | AP News
[...]

Like many who stayed in Bucha, Babak is older -- 61. It was not as easy to leave. He thought he would be spared. And yet, in the end, the stressed-out Russians accused him of being a saboteur. He spent a month under occupation without connection with the world, without electricity, without running water, cooking over a fire. He was not prepared for this war.

Maybe the Russians weren’t either.

Around 6 p.m. on March 31 — and Babak remembers this clearly — the Russians jumped into their vehicles and left, so quickly that they abandoned the bodies of their companions.

Now he watches police and other investigators arrive, look at the bodies in the courtyard, and leave. He wonders when the bodies will be taken away so families can mourn. Down the road is an empty playground, steps away from six charred bodies. People don’t know who they are.

“On this street we were fine,” Babak says, taking stock of the occupation. In Bucha, everything is relative. “They weren’t shooting anyone who stepped out of their house. On the next street, they did.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

April 9 2022
Kremlin rants against Baltic 'neo-Nazi' state in chilling echo of Moscow's threats to Ukraine | Daily Mail Online
''Putin's deranged regime branded Latvia a 'neo-Nazi' state in a chilling echo of Moscow's threats to Ukraine after the Baltic state made May 9 a day of remembrance for victims of Russian aggression.

In an extraordinary rant, Moscow called Riga's decision to commemorate Ukrainian war victims next month - on the same day as Russia's Victory Day to mark the surrender of Nazi Germany - 'blasphemous'.

Latvian MPs passed the legislation to draw attention to ' Russia's military aggression'. Latvian national flags will be raised alongside Ukrainian flags at every residence and government building.''

''It comes as a former senior officer in the Russian army laid out a battle plan on state TV which includes the Russian army invading the NATO Baltic states and parts of Sweden, a politically neutral country.

Speaking live on TV channel Rossiya 1, retired Russian military Colonel gestured to the map showing Gotland, Sweden's largest island with a population of around 58,595, circled in red. ''

''Sweden has been politically neutral throughout its recent history, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine brought the prospect of the Nordic country joining NATO to the fore of political discussion.

Russia has threatened Sweden and Finland over NATO membership repeatedly since the invasion began.''

 

[PommyMommy]

US sends Patriots to Slovakia so Ukraine can get its anti-aircraft system: Pentagon

 

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Ukraine War: Volunteers gear up for combat

Russia Intensifies Violent Campaign in Eastern Ukraine

 

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: Boris Johnson makes surprise trip to Kyiv for talks with Volodymyr Zelenskiy – live (theguardian.com)

2h ago 18:36
[...]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 9, 2022. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

British prime minister Boris Johnson offered fresh financial and military support during the surprise visit.

[...]

Ukraine can never be bullied again, never will be blackmailed again, never will be threatened in the same way again,” Johnson said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk at Khreschatyk Street and Independence Square during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 09, 2022. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

And appearing earlier in the day with Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer, also in Kyiv, Zelenskiy warned in a news conference that while the threat to the capital had receded, it was rising in the east.

"This will be a hard battle, we believe in this fight and our victory. We are ready to simultaneously fight and look for diplomatic ways to put an end to this war.”

Ukranian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskiy and Russian president Vladimir Putin would not meet until after the country defeated Russia in the east, which would bolster its negotiating position.

"We are paying a very high price. But Russia must get rid of its imperial illusions,” he said, according to the Interfax Ukraine news agency.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine news live: Ukrainian embassy reveals PM's 'surprise' trip to Kyiv; Russian general with 'savage' record in Syria 'put in charge of war' | World News | Sky News

8 Apr 09:43
Russian forces abandon tanks in hasty withdrawal that may indicate 'collapse of will' - official

A western official has been providing some interesting comments on intelligence from the ground in northern Ukraine.

They said Russian forces had abandoned "a lot" of tanks, vehicles, and artillery in a "hasty" withdrawal.

Vladimir Putin's operations had been "disastrous", the official said, and the abandonment of vehicles may be a sign of a "collapse of the will to fight".

"We can confirm that there are no longer units in northern Ukraine," they told a news conference.

"It has been a pretty hasty withdrawal by Russian forces and there's a lot of Russian equipment which has been abandoned in that hasty withdrawal and that's only going to exacerbate the challenge they have in terms of the refurbishment and reconstitution of their forces as they remove them both into Belarus and into Russia.

"Some of it's kind of unclear as to why it's been abandoned because you might have thought there is some of these vehicles are still usable and you think they would have been able to take and I think there's something around the collapse of morale and the collapse of the will to fight."

 

[PommyMommy]

Meer treinen uit Loegansk om burgers te evacueren • 'Massagraf bij Kiev ontdekt'

More trains from Lugansk to evacuate civilians • 'Mass grave discovered near Kiev'

2 HOURS AGO
Dozens of civilians in mass grave near Kiev'
A mass grave has been discovered in Buzova, a village near Kiev. This is reported by Reuters news agency, based on a local official. In the grave, in a ditch at a gas station, the bodies of dozens of civilians are said to lie. Reuters said it was unable to verify the reporting.

With the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kiev region, it is becoming increasingly clear how many civilians have been killed, as a result of fighting but also of targeted actions. The best-known example is Boetsja, where there are presumably hundreds of civilian casualties.

3 HOURS AGO
Lugansk residents get a new chance to evacuate
Residents of the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk will be given the opportunity to leave the area on nine trains today. That's what Governor Gaidai said. Yesterday he appealed to residents to leave, to prevent them from getting caught up in the violence of war.

Lugansk, together with Donetsk, forms the Donbas region, an industrial area in eastern Ukraine where the majority of Russian is spoken. Russia has said it is targeting the Donbas after the withdrawal from Kiev.

6 HOURS AGO
British military intelligence: Russia continues to use improvised bombs
According to British military intelligence, Russian troops continue to use improvised explosive devices to inflict casualties, lower morale and restrict Ukrainians' freedom of movement. Russian forces also continue to attack infrastructure targets that also endanger civilians, the defense ministry said in a statement.

Russia denies attacking civilians.

7 HOURS AGO
Also on the front in Mikolayiv, Russians are targeting schools and clinics
East of the city of Mikolayiv, the Ukrainians have recaptured a large area from the Russians.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war by the numbers: Live Tracker

Explained: Why Europe is balking at a proposed ban on Russian energy