Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 **Media Thread** NO DISCUSSION #4

[PommyMommy]

Russisch Telegram-kanaal publiceert 700 namen van buitenlandse ’huurlingen’ in Oekraïne

Source: De Telegraaf is a daily newspaper in the Netherlands and a related news website, published by Uitgeversmaatschappij De Telegraaf (UMT), a subsidiary of the Belgian Mediahuis . The newspaper , founded in 1893, which appears nationwide six days a week, includes national and foreign news and has a daily financial section,

MOSCOW - The pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar has shared 700 names of foreign 'mercenaries'. The list would include Belgians, French, Dutch and British.

The pro-Russian Telegram account, which has nearly 400,000 followers, has published a list of the names of 700 foreign "mercenaries" currently fighting in Ukraine. The list contains first and last name, date of birth and the number of their identity card. They would be part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, also known as the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. It is unclear where exactly the list comes from.

The list would already be at least 30 French and 100 British. Seven Belgians are also mentioned. It seems that there are also 9 Dutch people on the list.

[...]

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry had released the names and photos of ten Russian soldiers. They might be involved in the war crimes in Butsha. The 700 names of the "mercenaries" were posted to Telegram just hours later.

 

[PommyMommy]

Relatives: Former US Marine killed fighting in Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. Marine was killed alongside Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia, his relatives told news outlets in what’s the first known death of an American citizen fighting in Ukraine.

Rebecca Cabrera told CNN her 22-year-old son, Willy Joseph Cancel, was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine.

“He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn’t come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to be involved in it,” she said.

Cabrera said her son’s body has not been found.

“They haven’t found his body,” she said. “They are trying, the men that were with him, but it was either grab his body or get killed, but we would love for him to come back to us.”

She said her son flew to Poland on March 12 and entered Ukraine shortly after.

 

[PommyMommy]

Lavrov: Rusland niet in oorlog met de NAVO • Nederlandse marechaussees begin mei naar Oekraïne

11 HOURS AGO
Dane of Ukrainian Foreign Legion killed
A 25-year-old Dane who had registered with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion was killed in a Russian attack on the city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday. The Danish TV station TV2 has received reports about this, including from fellow combatants.

The commander of the division in which the Dane fought says his body is in Russian hands. "It is therefore difficult for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get confirmation of his death," TV2 said. The Dane's family has been informed by the division commander.

 

[PommyMommy]

Putin accepts invitation to attend G20 summit, setting up Biden showdown

"Putin expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the G20 summit and he said he would attend," Widodo said.

An official with Indonesia's Foreign Ministry, Triansyah Djani, confirmed last month that Indonesia would "remain impartial" and invite all G20 members to the summit, as per established procedures.

 

[PommyMommy]

European gas prices have surged 28% since Russia halted supplies to Poland and Bulgaria

European gas prices surged on Wednesday, after Russia halted supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, stoking concern that other countries in the continent could be targeted for their support towards Ukraine.

Benchmark Dutch futures contracts tracking Europe's wholesale gas price rose as much as 28% to 117 euros per megawatt hour ($124) in early trading Wednesday, according to data from Investing.com.

 

[PommyMommy]

Pope Francis reached out to Putin three times asking to allow the ship with a Vatican flag to evacuate civilians trapped in Mariupol's Azovstal steel mill, but all three times his requests were rejected, according to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero
Putin per tre volte ha detto “no” al Papa per i corridoi umanitari a Mariupol, sfumata l'idea di una nave con bandiera vaticana

 

[PommyMommy]

“The President may authorize the United States Government to lend or lease defense articles to the Government of Ukraine or to governments of Eastern European countries impacted by the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine to help bolster those countries' defense capabilities and protect their civilian populations from potential invasion or ongoing aggression by the armed forces of the Government of the Russian Federation.”

“Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall establish expedited procedures for the delivery of any defense article loaned or leased to the Government of Ukraine under an agreement entered into under subsection (a) to ensure timely delivery of the article to that Government.”

Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 - Wikipedia

Definition Of Defense Article.—In this Act, the term “defense article” has the meaning given that term in section 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794).

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg...ODE-2020-title22-chap39-subchapIV-sec2794.pdf

Defense article, except as provided in paragraph (7) of this section, means, with re- spect to a sale or transfer by the United States under the authority of this chapter or any other foreign assistance or sales program of the United States—

(A) any weapon, weapons system, munition, aircraft, vessel, boat, or other implement of war,
(B) any property, installation, commodity, material, equipment, supply, or goods used for the purposes of making military sales,
(C) any machinery, facility, tool, material, supply, or other item necessary for the man- ufacture, production, processing, repair, servicing, storage, construction, transpor- tation, operation, or use of any article listed in this paragraph, and
(D) any component or part of any article listed in this paragraph,
but does not include merchant vessels or (as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 [42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.]) source material (except uranium depleted in the isotope 235 which is incorporated in defense articles solely to take advantage of high density or pyrophoric char- acteristics unrelated to radioactivity), byprod- uct material, special nuclear material, produc- tion facilities, utilization facilities, or atomic weapons or articles involving Restricted Data

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 29, 2022
Russian troops leave shattered lives in Makariv (kyivindependent.com)
[...]

Ripped-open buildings and craters are everywhere, the scars of violent battles that repelled the Russians from this strategic town located 30 kilometers west of Kyiv.

Over 200 buildings were destroyed and 600 severely damaged by mortars and artillery. Russians retreated on April 1, after occupying the northern part of the city, from where reports of atrocities keep emerging.

[...]

When Russians tried to take the town on Feb. 28, an old man, his daughter and her eight-year-old girl tried to evacuate. Russians opened fire at them. Only the girl survived, under the corpses of her family, Tokar said. His family survived.

The Russians mainly occupied the northern part of the town. They placed mines and explosives where they lived or looted, and booby traps have been found even in refrigerators and washing machines.

[...]

Maksym, who didn’t want to reveal his full name in case of another Russian attack, said that one of his neighbors was killed after Russians entered his garden with a tank. Some residents saw them loot items from his house.

“We buried him in his garden,” he said. “They took all his tools to fix their tank, the garage was completely destroyed.”

[...]

Maksym pointed out a house nearby.

“A 32-year-old woman was raped there,” he said. “Russian soldiers slit her throat.”

[...]

Mykola Buryak, 62, told the Kyiv Independent the houses nearby were mostly occupied by ethnic Russians and ethnic Siberians such as Buryats.

[...]

The Russian soldier ordered him and his neighbor to do Nazi salutes and laughed watching them. He finally got tired and left them alone.

“He wanted me to insult Ukraine, but I will never say that,” Buryak said. “We’re ready to die here for Ukraine.”

Makariv Chief of Police Oleksandr Omelianenko told the Kyiv Independent that his team keeps exhuming bodies from around Makariv every day. They show the same pattern every time: young males, hands tied behind their backs, shot in the head and dumped into shallow mass graves.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 9 hrs ago
Governor: Russian forces used phosphorus munition in Donetsk Oblast. Russian troops use phosphorus munition in the village of Solovyove, according to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Forbes Ukraine: Russia fired missiles worth in total at least $7.5 billion. Forbes Ukraine added that only when the class of the launched missiles was identified the price was added into the total count.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 8 hrs ago
Police say Russian troops tortured, killed combat medic. The 27-year old was murdered in Kharkiv Oblast's Izyum District, Serhiy Bolvinov, the chief investigator of Kharkiv Oblast's police, said on April 29.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 6 hrs ago
Ukrainian troops blow up railway bridge in Donetsk Oblast. The bridge across the Siversky Donets River has been blown up along with Russian rail cars, making it impossible for Russian troops to go by rail to the city of Lyman, the Joint Forces Operation said on April 29.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Russian submarine stroke Ukraine with cruise missiles. Reportedly this is the 1st time Russian military used submarine strikes agst Ukraine –Reuters A satellite image collected this morning revealed the loading of probable Kalibr missiles on Kilo-class submarine in Black Sea Sevastopol port @Maxar

NEXTA on Twitter
Newborns in #Mariupol are given birth certificates of self-proclaimed DPR Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova confirmed this information. She said that issuance of such documents violates rights enshrined in UN Convention on Rights of the Child.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 1 hr ago
The psychologist showed a drawing of an 11-year-old boy who was raped by the Russian invaders: he had just started talking The war in Ukraine: another mass grave was found in Kyiv region, – Zelensky (obozrevatel.com) Among the hundreds of Kyiv Oblast residents who have been victims of rape by the Russian soldiers there are children.

Hundreds of Ukrainian women were raped by Russian soldiers | Euromaidan Press

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine (cnbc.com)
''Russian forces are concentrating on Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, but continue to face stiff resistance, the U.K.’s defense ministry said. In the areas Russia has taken under its control, it may soon hold “sham referenda,” U.S. and Ukrainian officials have warned.

In an interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said NATO “considers itself” at war with Russia, even though Moscow doesn’t see itself at war with NATO.''

'' HOURS AGO
Russia says it’s not at war with NATO, blames alliance for war in Ukraine
Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow does not consider itself at war with NATO.

In an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya TV channel, Sergei Lavrov said: “Unfortunately, NATO, it seems, considers itself to be at war with Russia.”

“NATO and European Union leaders, many of them, in England, in the United States, Poland, France, Germany and of course European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrell, they bluntly, publicly and consistently say, ‘Putin must fail, Russia must be defeated,’” he told the network.

“When you use this terminology,” he said, “I believe you think that you are at war with the person who you want to be defeated.”

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war: US damns Putin’s ‘cruelty and depravity’; Zelenskiy questions lack of powerful response to ‘humiliation’ of UN in Kyiv – live (theguardian.com)
''Mariupol was “beyond a humanitarian catastrophe”, a Ukrainian commander inside the facility said. Serhiy Volyna, from the 36th separate marine brigade, said there were hundreds of people in the steelworks, including 60 young people, the youngest of them four months old. Ukraine hoped to evacuate civilians holed up in the steel plant with the last fighters defending the southern city, Zelenskiy’s office said. The president described the besieged city as a “Russian concentration camp in the middle of ruins”.

• ''The Pentagon press secretary, John Kirby, has spoken of Vladimir Putin’s “cruelty and depravity” in Ukraine, calling his actions “unconscionable” and his justifications for the invasion “BS”. “It’s hard to square his … BS that this is about nazism in Ukraine, and it’s about protecting Russians in Ukraine, and it’s about defending Russian national interests, when none of them, none of them were threatened by Ukraine,” Kirby said. “It’s brutality of the coldest and the most depraved sort.”

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian army piles pressure on Putin to unleash its full might on Ukraine

Harsh criticism of the ‘dwarves in the Kremlin’ over failed blitz on capital Kyiv and stalled offensive

When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine at the end of February, Vladimir Putin dubbed it a “special operation” and barred Russian media from using the word “war”, thinking it would all be over in a few weeks.

More than two months later, the offensive has stalled, and an increasingly impatient Russian military establishment is pushing Putin to declare an “all-out war”.

“The military are outraged that the blitz on Kyiv has failed,” said Irina Borogan, a Russian journalist and author with contacts in the security services.

“People in the army are seeking payback for failures of the past and they want to go further in Ukraine.”

And it seems their calls are being heard. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, said yesterday Putin was likely to announce general mobilisation of the Russian population within weeks to make up for military losses.

“He is probably going to declare... that we are now at war with the world’s Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people,” Mr Wallace said.

The Defence Secretary added that the announcement could come on May 9, when Russia celebrates the victory of the Soviet army over Nazi Germany.

Meanwhile, Gen Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian army, has reportedly been dispatched to eastern Ukraine, in a highly unusual move that observers said could be a precursor to an escalation of the conflict.

The Kremlin has in recent years showered the armed forces with funding and praise while sabre-rattling at any opportunity – in part to make up for humiliating military campaigns over the past few decades, including in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The strengthened armed forces now appear to be getting frustrated with Putin’s scaled-down offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Igor Girkin, a retired military intelligence officer better known for leading separatist forces in eastern Ukraine before he was recalled to Moscow in 2014, has over the years provided a window into the thinking of rank-and-file Russian officers.

(...)

After reeling off a list of Moscow’s failures – from the sinking of the flagship of its Black Sea fleet to “acts of sabotage” against infrastructure within Russia – he asked: “What else has to happen before the dwarves in the Kremlin realise they are in an all-out, harsh war and start to act accordingly?”

Alexander Arutyunov, a retired Russian commando and usually one of the country’s most popular pro-Kremlin bloggers, has turned into another voice of discontent. “Vladimir Vladimirovich, can you please make up your mind: are we fighting or are we playing around?” he asked in one emotional video. He questioned why Russia had yet to turn Ukraine’s airfields into “lunar craters”.

Declaring all-out war with Ukraine would entail two things the Kremlin has so far tried to avoid: martial law and mass mobilisation.

Mobilisation would mean Russia will need to call up reservists and keep conscripts beyond their one-year term, a politically fraught decision.

Martial law would close the country’s borders and nationalise large parts of the economy, which is hanging by a thread.

(...)

 

[PommyMommy]

How effective was Arnold Schwarzenegger's viral video message to Russia?

"There is research showing that the source of information is less effective if people are forewarned of the persuasion attempt,” says Shane Timmons of the ESRI.

(...)

In the video, Schwarzenegger attempts to cut through the propaganda of the Russian government and state media to highlight atrocities carried out in Ukraine, and to persuade ordinary Russians to turn away from their government’s narrative and see the war for what it really is.

But how effective is the video at achieving this aim? And is it a useful way to combat misinformation?

(...)

“So essentially if people consuming the video are aware that there’s an intent here to persuade me about something, then that can kind of put a psychological barrier up.”

For this reason, Schwarzenegger’s status as a famous celebrity and familiar face may be blunted somewhat if people watching the video are wary that he is trying to change their minds.

“So the effect of a likeable source on people’s willingness to accept information is less strong if people expect that someone is trying to persuade them of something and it’s something that people already feel quite strongly about,” Timmons said.

(...)

Timmons also points out that by appealing to emotion rather than focusing on facts, or prompting Russians to consider the information they are being shown, Schwarzenegger’s video may be less effective at combating misinformation.

“There is research showing that when people are in heightened emotional states their susceptibility to fake news or misinformation actually increases,” he said.

“So the recommended strategy for people to reflect on information and accuracy is to get them to go into that more cerebral, reflective state, rather than an emotional one.”

This could be done by nudging people to consider whether a claim is true or false to analyse something themselves.

“So, prompting people to consider the accuracy of something, to get them to slow down and think, is this something likely to be accurate? That tends to be more effective than trying to heighten emotions.”

(...)

There is also no way of quantifying how many Russians actually saw Schwarzenegger’s video in the first place.

(...)

According to an analysis by Sotrender, a Poland-based analytics website, the video received most of its views and engagements in the Western world. However, the analysis found that within a few days of being posted on Telegram, the video had 800,000 views and was forwarded more than 33,000 times.

(...)

Schwarzenegger did draw the ire of Kremlin-backed state TV, however, with a number of programmes and hosts criticising him, showing that the video may have reached enough Russians to provoke a response.

(...)

Due to the extreme uncertainty and polarisation of wars, and extensive propaganda campaigns by warring nations, they are hotbeds of misinformation.

“We know that uncertainty is something that breeds scope for misinformation. I mean, we saw that during the early stages of the pandemic as well,” said Timmons.

Some of the best approaches to tackling misinformation can be “pre-bunking” or trying to inoculate people against it.

“That’s trying to teach people the methods that are used to spread misinformation and the hallmarks of it.

“That can be kind of effective, but it tends to be an opt-in thing. So you have to kind of want to be inoculated against misinformation and the people who want to be inoculated against it are usually the people who need to be inoculated less.”

(...)

 

[PommyMommy]

'Ook Poetin moet voelen: ik loop tegen stootblokken aan'

Western countries are sending more and more weapons to Ukraine to support the country in the fight against Russia. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin threatens to "strike back at lightning speed" if a country "creates unacceptable threats to Russia".

Is the relationship between the West and Russia escalating, and where does that lead? "Little by little we are getting more and more involved in the war," said former NATO top official Timo Koster. "I don't think we can do otherwise."

We need to start talking some more Putin's language.

Tom Middendorp, former Commander of the Armed Forces
US President Joe Biden wants to support Ukraine with an additional $33 billion, of which $20 billion in military assistance. The Hague decided to send the heaviest ground gun that the Netherlands has: the armored howitzer .

"That can best be regarded as an escalation," says Koster. "Because heavy weapons such as armored howitzers and tanks are offensive weapons. But we cannot prevent us from taking escalating steps, at least in the eyes of Putin. Because we cannot leave Ukraine to its fate."

'We make it our war'
Other military experts also see this increasing involvement of the West as (partly) inevitable. But ex-Commander of the Armed Forces Tom Middendorp does not want to talk about 'escalation'. "What we are doing is helping Ukraine to defend the country, with increasingly heavy means. You can see a kind of intensification in the support we give, but it remains Ukraine's fight against Russia."

"We must not forget that there is one party that has escalated and that is Russia itself. They invaded a sovereign country themselves and started using brute force."

Professor of International Relations Rob de Wijk sees this differently. According to him, the West is indeed escalating. "Absolutely. Not only the weapons that are delivered are getting heavier, but also the rhetoric that sounds from the West."

He was aware that the US Defense Secretary is no longer talking about helping Ukraine, but "weakening" the Russians. And a British deputy minister called it completely legitimate for Ukraine to use Western weapons in Russia. Van Wijk: "Basically, it's not our war, but that's how we make it our war."

According to him, the risk of this can be clearly seen in the words that Putin then uses. Van Wijk: "Putin shouts: if this continues, we fear an existential threat to Russia." He then implicitly threatens to deploy nuclear weapons.

What if Putin indeed deploys a nuclear weapon?

What if Putin deploys a nuclear weapon?
Middendorp agrees with Van Wijk that the language used by the West is escalating. "We are now talking about driving the Russians out of Ukraine, which is a bit more offensive rhetoric."

But he sees this as a necessary development. "It is good that we offer some counterweight to Putin. He is a man who talks in terms of power and strength. And actually we should start talking his language a bit more."

The same goes for military support. "We are now going to counterbalance the Russians more so that Putin also feels: I am going to run into borders, against buffers."

Professor Van Wijk believes that Western arms supplies "have fallen on a sliding scale", but Middendorp and Koster disagree. "We have to take our responsibility to offer as much assistance as possible to a European country, which is in fact also fighting for our freedom," says Koster.

Even if Ukraine attacks supply lines in Russia with Western weapons, "these are still legitimate targets," says Middendorp. "Although you do go one step further on the escalation ladder."

†
We really shouldn't fall for the frame that would escalate the West.

Wopke Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Middendorp does not take Putin's threats with nuclear weapons too seriously. "That's rhetoric again. He has absolutely no interest in us going to an escalation that also damages Russia enormously. Putin uses everything we say to us. We should also not be fooled by his rhetoric." That's a very close game that we have to learn to play."

Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) confirmed this on Friday: "We really should not fall for the frame that the West would escalate. That is exactly what Putin wants, that we allow ourselves to be intimidated."

However, Middendorp believes that the United States and the United Kingdom should be careful not to get too ahead of the troops in their rhetoric. "A few countries cannot dictate what the West is going to say. We have to fine-tune that the words we use don't escalate but deter. That is strategic communication."

 

[PommyMommy]

[URL='https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1520282268446695426']NEXTA on Twitter [/URL]- 7 hrs ago
#Russian Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov, in an interview with the Chinese #Xinhua news agency, urged #NATO countries to stop supplying weapons to #Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Popasna Mayor: Russian forces fired at two evacuation buses, no information about casualties yet. Mayor Mykola Khanatov said only 31 people were evacuated from Popasna in the eastern Luhansk Oblast.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
On April 30, one of evacuation buses gunned down by a Russian saboteur group with grenade launchers was found - Luhansk RegAdm Serhiy Haiday The Ukrainian military arrived found only one empty bus with traces of blood inside.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
On 29 April Russia lost 22 tanks - Ukraine General Staff Also, it lost 27 pieces of other armored vehicles and about 200 troops, GenStaff says.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
Russian troops may stage false-flag operations in Luhansk Oblast wearing Ukrainian uniforms - RegAdm Head Serhiy Haiday "We have 100% confirmed information that they've found several containers with our military clothes," he said.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ukraine's Intelligence: Resistance can ruin Putin's plan to establish proxy-state in Kherson. Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate says ongoing fighting in Kherson Oblast & civil protests in the regional capital are set to ruin Russian plans to hold a fake “referendum.”

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Podolyak: Ukraine seeks Mariupol evacuation, Russia rejects proposals. Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the Ukrainian president’s office, said Russia is unwilling to allow a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol. “It is symbolic for them to destroy Mariupol and Azov fighters.”

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Putin rejected Pope Francis’ call for Mariupol humanitarian corridors three times. Pope Francis has tried to convince Vladimir Putin to allow a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol, but the Kremlin claimed “it cannot guarantee security,” Italian newspaper Il Messaggero writes.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - Video
Ukrainian forces destroyed "more than 30 pieces of Russian equipment" in Izyum area, Kharkiv Oblast - Ukraine National Guard NG says it revealed a Russian command point with a lot of equipment, passed the coordinates to the Army, whose artillery finished the job. Polish gas station networks may appear in Ukraine – Zelensky (suspilne.media)

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Grave with bodies of 3 men discovered in Kyiv Oblast. The men were tortured and then shot by Russian soldiers, according to Chief of Police in Kyiv Oblast Andriy Nebytov. Their bodies were found in a shallow grave in the forest in the Buchansky District of the oblast.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Donetsk Oblast comes under heavy fire, at least 4 civilians killed, including 1 child. The regional police said that the Russian forces shelled 12 settlements over the past 24 hours, destroying at least 36 civilian infrastructure sites, including a school and a hospital.

 

[PommyMommy]

'Ook Poetin moet voelen: ik loop tegen stootblokken aan'

Western countries are sending more and more weapons to Ukraine to support the country in the fight against Russia. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin threatens to "strike back at lightning speed" if a country "creates unacceptable threats to Russia".

Is the relationship between the West and Russia escalating, and where does that lead? "Little by little we are getting more and more involved in the war," said former NATO top official Timo Koster. "I don't think we can do otherwise."

We need to start talking some more Putin's language.

Tom Middendorp, former Commander of the Armed Forces
US President Joe Biden wants to support Ukraine with an additional $33 billion, of which $20 billion in military assistance. The Hague decided to send the heaviest ground gun that the Netherlands has: the armored howitzer .

"That can best be regarded as an escalation," says Koster. "Because heavy weapons such as armored howitzers and tanks are offensive weapons. But we cannot prevent us from taking escalating steps, at least in the eyes of Putin. Because we cannot leave Ukraine to its fate."

'We make it our war'
Other military experts also see this increasing involvement of the West as (partly) inevitable. But ex-Commander of the Armed Forces Tom Middendorp does not want to talk about 'escalation'. "What we are doing is helping Ukraine to defend the country, with increasingly heavy means. You can see a kind of intensification in the support we give, but it remains Ukraine's fight against Russia."

"We must not forget that there is one party that has escalated and that is Russia itself. They invaded a sovereign country themselves and started using brute force."

Professor of International Relations Rob de Wijk sees this differently. According to him, the West is indeed escalating. "Absolutely. Not only the weapons that are delivered are getting heavier, but also the rhetoric that sounds from the West."

He was aware that the US Defense Secretary is no longer talking about helping Ukraine, but "weakening" the Russians. And a British deputy minister called it completely legitimate for Ukraine to use Western weapons in Russia. Van Wijk: "Basically, it's not our war, but that's how we make it our war."

According to him, the risk of this can be clearly seen in the words that Putin then uses. Van Wijk: "Putin shouts: if this continues, we fear an existential threat to Russia." He then implicitly threatens to deploy nuclear weapons.

What if Putin indeed deploys a nuclear weapon?

What if Putin deploys a nuclear weapon?
Middendorp agrees with Van Wijk that the language used by the West is escalating. "We are now talking about driving the Russians out of Ukraine, which is a bit more offensive rhetoric."

But he sees this as a necessary development. "It is good that we offer some counterweight to Putin. He is a man who talks in terms of power and strength. And actually we should start talking his language a bit more."

The same goes for military support. "We are now going to counterbalance the Russians more so that Putin also feels: I am going to run into borders, against buffers."

Professor Van Wijk believes that Western arms supplies "have fallen on a sliding scale", but Middendorp and Koster disagree. "We have to take our responsibility to offer as much assistance as possible to a European country, which is in fact also fighting for our freedom," says Koster.

Even if Ukraine attacks supply lines in Russia with Western weapons, "these are still legitimate targets," says Middendorp. "Although you do go one step further on the escalation ladder."

†
We really shouldn't fall for the frame that would escalate the West.

Wopke Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Middendorp does not take Putin's threats with nuclear weapons too seriously. "That's rhetoric again. He has absolutely no interest in us going to an escalation that also damages Russia enormously. Putin uses everything we say to us. We should also not be fooled by his rhetoric." That's a very close game that we have to learn to play."

Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) confirmed this on Friday: "We really should not fall for the frame that the West would escalate. That is exactly what Putin wants, that we allow ourselves to be intimidated."

However, Middendorp believes that the United States and the United Kingdom should be careful not to get too ahead of the troops in their rhetoric. "A few countries cannot dictate what the West is going to say. We have to fine-tune that the words we use don't escalate but deter. That is strategic communication."

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine war news latest: Putin ‘may declare all-out war on Kyiv’ on Victory Day | The Independent
April 30 2022
''Vladimir Putin could soon drop the term “special operation” and declare all-out war on Ukraine in a bid to salve “outrage” in his military over failures during the invasion, Russian and Western officials reportedly fear.

Seeking “payback” for Moscow’s failures in Kyiv, top army officials are claimed to be imploring Russia’s president to announce the shift during an annual Victory Day parade on 9 May.''

The move would allow the Kremlin to enable martial law, to call on its allies for greater military help, and to drum up the mass-mobilisation of its own population.

Mr Putin’s forces are believed to have so far made minimal gains during their renewed assault in Donbas, with the UK’s Ministry of Defence claiming Moscow has “been forced to merge and redeploy depleted and disparate units” from its failed earlier advances.

Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations over shaky peace talks on Saturday, with president Volodymyr Zelensky saying chances were “high” that the negotiations – which have not been held in person for a month – would end because of Russia's “playbook on murdering people”.

Ukraine-Russia war LIVE - Putin's bloodthirsty assassins just minutes from killing President Zelensky and his family (thesun.ie)
''The hero president spoke in detail of the imminent danger he was in as war broke out in Ukraine during the early days of the Russian invasion.

Zelensky, 44, said kill teams of Russian special forces were parachuted into Kyiv on the day of the invasion.

Armed with Kremlin orders to assassinate or capture him and his family, he claims the mercenaries made two attempts to storm the presidential compound while he was still holed up inside with his wife and two children, aged 17 and nine.

In a video released just hours after the attempt on his life on February 25, Zelensky was filmed saying: "We're all here. Our military is here. Citizens in society are here.

"We're all here defending our independence, our country, and it will stay this way."

 

[PommyMommy]

Watch how Russian TV explains slow progress of war with Ukraine

Since the start of the war, state-controlled Russian TV has been telling its viewers that the 'military operation' in Ukraine is going according to plan.

But as Putin's army stalls in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance, pundits have attempted to explain the lack of progress.

Russians are told that their troops exercise restraint, with Ukraine repeatedly accused of using civilians as human shields.

“In such conditions we naturally have to act quite carefully, and that is indeed extending the length of the campaign,” Vyacheslav Nikonov, an MP for the Kremlin-backed United Russia party, told viewers of his own talk show, The Great Game.

Nikonov, whose grandfather was Stalin’s foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, claimed that Russian forces were acting with “nobility”, something that “simply does not exist in the West”.

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1520424026090389504?t=ium7ERc60RWSG6r3ML-lLg&s=19

️ Russian occupiers allegedly steal lung ventilators from Mariupol hospital.

Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko said Russians were looting the mostly-occupied city, including stealing medical equipment such as lung ventilators and taking it to Russia.

 

[PommyMommy]

Angelina Jolie spotted in Western city of Lviv | Daily Mail Online
''Actress Angelina Jolie surprised Ukrainians after turning up to a cafe in Lviv on Saturday.
Jolie, 46, drew attention as she appeared wearing nondescript clothing at the cafe, with Maya Pidhorodetska posting a video of the famous actress and filmmaker on Facebook.

'Nothing special. Just Lviv. I just went to have coffee. Just Angelina Jolie,' she wrote in Ukrainian after filming the actress, who waved to her from the counter. 'Ukraine is simply supported by the whole world.'''
rbbm.