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

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  • #481
[...]

Only about 30 people remain, living in basements and gutted buildings in this small village southeast of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, according to resident Anatolii Klyzhen. About 1,000 lived here when Russian troops rolled over the border in February, occupying the village shortly after.

Those forces abandoned Hrakove around Sept. 9 as Ukrainian soldiers advanced in a lightning counteroffensive. That blitz could be a turning point, setting the stage for further gains in the east and elsewhere — but it could also trigger a violent response from Moscow, leading to a new and dangerous escalation in the war.

There were no signs the Russian soldiers were about to leave. “Nobody knew anything. They left very quietly,” said Viacheslav Myronenko, 71, who has lived in the basement of his bombed-out apartment building with three neighbors for more than four months.

The detritus of a fleeing army still litters the village: packs of empty Russian army food rations, abandoned crates with instructions for using grenades, a gas mask dangling on a tree, an army jacket trampled into the mud. Just outside the village by the bus stop, a Russian tank lies rusting on a road pockmarked with craters from shells, its turret and cannon blown off its body.

Feral dogs roams the mud-rutted streets, and authorities warn of mines and booby-traps in the weeds.

[...]
 
  • #482
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  • #484
The document adopted a markedly harsher tone than previous statements by officials from the Vienna-based IAEA, who largely limited themselves to calling for a “security zone” around Europe’s largest nuclear plant. The resolution says the board “deplores the Russian Federation’s persistent violent actions against nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including forcefully seizing control of nuclear facilities.”

It urges Russia to “immediately cease all actions against, and at, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and any other nuclear facility in Ukraine.” Russia seized radioactive waste facilities in Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, at the start of the war but later withdrew.

“What was a wave of hunger is now a tsunami of hunger,” he said, pointing to rising conflict, the pandemic’s economic ripple effects, climate change, rising fuel prices and the war in Ukraine.

Since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, Beasley said, soaring food, fuel and fertilizer costs have driven 70 million people closer to starvation.

Despite the agreement in July allowing Ukrainian grain to be shipped from three Black Sea ports that had been blockaded by Russia and continuing efforts to get Russian fertilizer back to global markets, “there is a real and dangerous risk of multiple famines this year,” he said. “And in 2023, the current food price crisis could develop into a food availability crisis if we don’t act.”

Germany is taking control of three Russian-owned refineries in the country to ensure energy security before an embargo on oil from Russia takes effect next year, officials said Friday.

Two subsidiaries of Russian oil giant Rosneft — Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH — will be put under the administration of Germany’s Federal Network Agency, the Economy Ministry said in a statement.

In a video he apparently rushed out to underscore the gravity of the discoveries just hours after exhumations began, Zelenskyy said hundreds of civilian adults and children, as well as soldiers, had been found “tortured, shot, killed by shelling” near Izium’s Pishchanske cemetery. He cited evidence of atrocities, such as a body with a rope around its neck and broken arms.

In the video, Zelenskyy said more than 400 graves have been found at the site but that the number of victims isn’t yet known. Zelenskyy, who visited the Izium area on Wednesday, said the discoveries showed again the need for world leaders to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

The U.N. General Assembly voted Friday to allow Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deliver a pre-recorded address to next week’s gathering of world leaders because of his need to deal with the war following Russia’s invasion, making an exception to its requirement that all leaders speak in person.

The 193-member world body approved Zelenskky’s virtual address by a vote of 101-7 with 19 abstentions.
 
  • #485
  • #486

Woman who quit Russia to fight for Ukraine is killed on front: report


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Ukraine pays tribute to Russian woman who fought on its side


www.ctvnews.ca


Sept. 17, 2022
''KYIV, UKRAINE -
An honour guard fired a three-gun salute toward cloudy skies as friends and comrades-in-arms gathered in Kyiv to bid farewell to a Russian woman who was killed while fighting on Ukraine's side in the war with her native country.

Olga Simonova, 34, was remembered for her courage and kindness at a funeral in the Ukrainian capital on Friday.

Simonova's coffin was draped in the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag, with a cuddly toy lion on top. Her nom de guerre was "Simba," like the main character in the Disney cartoon "The Lion King."

"I had this internal feeling that I could handle it and that what I was doing was right and necessary, because I can't turn a blind eye to the situation," she said. "I just had to buy a one-way ticket. I bought it and I left."

Simonova said she never hid her Russian origin from her colleagues and gained their trust by showing her commitment to Ukraine on the battlefield. In 2017 she received Ukrainian citizenship.

She became a sergeant and was given command of both infantry and artillery units.''
 
  • #487
St Petersburg—Russia's second-most important city—has long been surrounded by a protective ring of 14 anti-aircraft missile bases. Now several of them stand empty.

yle.fi

Exclusive: Russia moves missiles from St Petersburg to Ukraine

Satellite images obtained by Yle show that Russia has been transferring anti-aircraft missiles away from St Petersburg, close to the Finnish border.
 
  • #488
  • #489
SEP 18, 2022
Patrushev is one of Putin’s closest associates. Speaking during a meeting with Guo Shengkun, a top official of China’s Communist Party, he said “in the current conditions, our countries must show even greater readiness for mutual support and development of cooperation.”

Patrushev’s office said in a terse statement after the talks in the Chinese city of Nanping that the parties agreed to “expand information exchanges on countering extremism and foreign attempts to undermine the constitutional order of both countries in order to derail independent policies of Russia and China serving their national interests.”

“Russia is an unpredictable and aggressive state. Three-quarters of its citizens support the war. It is unacceptable that people who support the war can freely travel around the world, into Lithuania, the EU,” Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said Monday.

“Such support for hostilities can pose threats to the security of our country and the EU as a whole,” she added.

SEP 19, 2022
The IAEA, which has stationed monitors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, said a main transmission line was reconnected Friday, providing the electricity it needs to cool its reactors.

But the mayor of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia plant is located, reported more Russian shelling Monday in the city’s industrial zone.

While warning Friday of a possible ramp-up of strikes, Putin claimed his forces had so far acted with restraint but warned “if the situation develops this way, our response will be more serious.”

“Just recently, the Russian armed forces have delivered a couple of impactful strikes,” he said. ”Let’s consider those as warning strikes.”
 
  • #490
  • #491
Four Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine have said they are planning to hold “referendums” on joining the Russian Federation in a series of coordinated announcements that could indicate the Kremlin has made a decision to formally annexe the territories.

Moscow may be betting that a formal annexation would help halt Russian territorial losses, after a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that has reclaimed large portions of territory in Kharkiv region.

[...]

“To guarantee ‘victory’, Putin is ready to hold referendums immediately in order to obtain the right (in his understanding) to use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory.”

Also on Tuesday, the Russian state duma passed new amendments to the legal code that directly refer to “mobilisation” and “martial law” and introduce criminal liability for desertion or wilful surrender during that period.

The Kremlin has so far resisted a full mobilisation, likely due to fear of a political backlash. Now, however, it seems that the Kremlin may be willing to go further than before, including using nuclear blackmail in order to freeze the war and solidify its territorial gains in Ukraine.

Four occupied Ukraine regions plan imminent votes on joining Russia

www.theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com
 
  • #492
Montreal Coun. Serge Sasseville says he took this photo as police interviewed the man who tried to stop the peaceful demonstration in front of the Russian Consulate. (Serge Sasseville/Twitter)
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Sasseville has been demonstrating almost daily in front of the Russian Consulate since March. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

Sept 20 '22
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/russian-consulate-montreal-ukraine-1.6588382
''Serge Sasseville lives across the street from the Russian Consulate in Montreal and has been wheeling a stroller covered in red paint out his door nearly every day at noon since mid-March.

He then stands in front of the consulate, usually with fellow demonstrators at his side, and blasts the Ukrainian anthem with a wireless speaker while yelling support for a country that was invaded by Russia in February.

The anthem is preceded by the sounds of sirens and gunshots so the people inside the consulate can hear what it's like in Ukraine, Sasseville said.

And even though he tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, the anthem was still played Monday as his fellow demonstrators took over the daily ritual.

Everything was going as planned until Sasseville's phone rang.

It was Claude Fournier and Fournier's sister-in-law calling to say something had gone terribly wrong.''

"Mostly he was saying, 'get out of here or else I'll get you out of here!'" Fournier recounted. "At one point, I faced him, and he said, 'I am giving you five seconds to get out of here or else!'"

''Fournier is 91 years old and has a pacemaker.

He decided it wasn't safe to stand up to the man. He stepped into the street. His sister-in-law took out her phone and tried to film the altercation, but the man went after her, Fournier said''

''It's unacceptable. You have citizens who are committed to demonstrating their opposition to a genocidal war and you have employees from a consulate who are attacking them," he said.

"They are not only killing people in Ukraine. They are attacking Canadians."
 
  • #493
  • #494

Russians google how to leave the country while waiting for Putins speech

In anticipation of a speech by dictator Vladimir Putin, which did not take place as expected on 20 September, Russians began to actively search up how to leave the country and how to defer army service.

September 20, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russian parliament amends law on military service, state media reports

The bill sets a jail term of up to 15 years for resistance related to military service or coercion to violate an official military order, involving violence or the threat of its use, during the period of mobilization or martial law.


There was no official explanation from the Kremlin about why the speech was delayed — or even that it had been planned at all. But coming on a day when Russia’s occupation authorities in four Ukrainian regions announced “referendums” starting Friday on joining Russia, the back-and-forth telegraphed the breakneck speed — and apparent improvisation — with which the Kremlin is plotting out its next moves.

The referendums, analysts say, would be a prelude to annexation of the territory by Russia — at which point Moscow could declare it would treat any further attacks on those regions, parts of which are still controlled by Ukraine, as an attack on Russia itself, and threaten nuclear retaliation.

In addition, Russian Parliament on Tuesday passed a law that introduced the concepts of “mobilization” and “martial law” into Russia’s criminal code — further stoking speculation that Mr. Putin could officially declare war and a nationwide draft.


After setbacks on the battlefield, Moscow pressed to consolidate its hold over occupied Ukrainian territory on Tuesday, with the Kremlin’s proxy officials across eastern and southern Ukraine abruptly scheduling referendums to formally join Russia.

U.S. officials have warned for months that Mr. Putin could use sham referendums in occupied areas — which many residents have fled amid fierce fighting — to try to legitimize the illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine.
 
  • #495

Putin orders partial Russian 'mobilisation', warns over 'nuclear blackmail'​

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two, warning that Moscow would respond with the might of all its vast arsenal if the West continued with what he called its "nuclear blackmail".

The blunt warning from Russia's leader, whose country has more nuclear warheads than even the United States, marks the biggest escalation of the war in Ukraine since Moscow's 24 February invasion.

(...)

www.rte.ie

Putin orders partial Russian 'mobilisation'

www.rte.ie
www.rte.ie

Putin announces partial mobilisation and threatens nuclear retaliation in escalation of Ukraine war​


The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has announced a partial mobilisation in Russia in a major escalation that places the country’s people and economy on a wartime footing.

Putin also threatened nuclear retaliation, saying that Russia had “lots of weapons to reply” to what he called western threats on Russian territory and said that he was not bluffing.

In a highly anticipated televised address, Putin said the “partial mobilisation” was a direct response to the dangers posed by the west that “wants to destroy our country” and claimed the west had tried to “turn Ukraine’s people into cannon fodder”.

(...)

Putin announces partial mobilisation and threatens nuclear retaliation in escalation of Ukraine war

Russian president threatens west with nuclear retaliation, saying ‘we will use all the means at our disposal’
www.theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com
 
  • #496
SEP 21, 2022
Putin has suffered tens of thousands of casualties, has command and control issues, terrible troop morale, desertion problems and is “forcing the wounded back (into) the fight,” Kirby said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Only those with relevant combat and service experience will be mobilized, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. He added about 25 million people fit this criteria but only around 1% of them will be mobilized.

Another key clause in the decree prevents most professional soldiers from terminating their contracts and leaving service until the partial mobilization is no longer in place.

Putin’s announcement came as the U.N. General Assembly was taking place in New York. Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 has been the target of broad international criticism at the assembly that has kept up intense diplomatic pressure on Moscow.

Large numbers of Russians rushed to book one-way tickets out of the country while they still could Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of military reservists for the war in Ukraine.

Flights filled up quickly and the prices of tickets for remaining connections sky-rocketed, apparently driven by fears that Russia’s borders could soon close or of a broader call-up that might send many Russian men of fighting age to the war’s front lines.

Tickets for the Moscow-Belgrade flights operated by Air Serbia, the only European carrier besides Turkish Airlines to maintain flights to Russia despite a European Union flight embargo, sold out for the next several days. The price for flights from Moscow to Istanbul or Dubai increased within minutes before jumping again, reaching as high as 9,200 euros ($9,119) for a one-way economy class fare.
 
  • #497
About mobilization

Rob Lee, a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia program, characterized Wednesday’s announcement as “one of the most significant/riskiest political decisions Putin has ever made.”
In the short term, Lee wrote on Twitter, the partial mobilization of reservists and new measures to forcibly extend the contracts of volunteers currently serving in Ukraine “could be enough to prevent a collapse of Russian forces. Otherwise, Russia’s manpower issues could have become catastrophic this winter when many short-term volunteers likely would not sign another contract.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...een poorly trained, or untrained, for combat.
 
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  • #498
www.cnn.com

Live updates: Russia's war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization after multiple Kremlin-backed authorities in occupied Ukraine said they would hold referendums this week on joining Russia. Follow here for the latest.
www.cnn.com
www.cnn.com


www.nbcnews.com

Putin mobilizes more troops for Ukraine, threatens West with nuclear retaliation

In a rare national address Wednesday, the Russian leader announced the partial mobilization of reservists after a series of battlefield setbacks.
www.nbcnews.com
www.nbcnews.com
 
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