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

[PommyMommy]

Russia closes its airspace to 36 countries, including Canada | CP24.com
February 28, 2022
''MOSCOW — Russia has closed its airspace to carriers from 36 nations, including European countries and Canada, responding in kind to their move to close their respective airspaces to all Russian aircraft.

The move, announced Monday by the state aviation agency, follows a decision by the EU and Canada over the weekend to close their skies to the Russian planes in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.''

 

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Zelensky warns next 24 hours will be "crucial" as Ukraine-Russia peace talks begin

Ukrainian and Russian officials arrived at the Ukraine-Belarus border for peace talks that kicked off at 6am ET Monday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Day 5 of the invasion that the next 24 hours would be "crucial" to Ukraine's fate.

The latest: A senior U.S. defense official told reporters that Russia's advance on Kyiv from the north moved only 5 kilometers from Sunday, putting them roughly 25 kilometers outside the center of the capital.

• Russia has deployed nearly 75% of its assembled combat power inside Ukraine, and has launched approximately 380 missiles so far, the official said.
• Five days into the war, Russia has still not achieved air superiority over Ukraine, with its ground forces "running out of gas and having logistics problems," the official added.
• The official said the Russians' goal continues to be to "encircle Kyiv from multiple locations," and to capture the cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol to allow them to section off eastern Ukraine.

State of play: An adviser to Zelensky tweeted at 9:40am ET that a third round of talks were getting underway, nearly four hours after negotiations began.

• As peace talks were ongoing, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said dozens of civilians had been killed and hundreds wounded by indiscriminate shelling in Kharkiv, a city on the border with Russia.
• French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which Putin said a deal "is possible only if Russia’s legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account," according to a Kremlin readout.
• The State Department accused Russia on Monday of "widespread" human rights abuses during the invasion: "Russia’s invasion has damaged and destroyed schools, hospitals, radio stations, and homes, killing and injuring civilians, including children."

The big picture: Zelensky's office called for an "immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine" as several high-ranking Ukrainian officials headed to the talks, but he expressed little optimism that the negotiations would result in an end to the attack.

What else is happening: In his latest address, Zelensky called for Ukraine's immediate accession to the EU — one day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine is "one of us and we want them in."

• 16 Ukrainian children have been killed and 45 have been wounded during the war, while Russia has suffered 4,500 casualties, Zelensky said. International monitors have not verified these numbers.
• Zelensky said that he will allow prisoners with combat experience to be released to help defend the country and "compensate their guilt."
• Ukraine's deputy defense minister also claimed Ukraine has received "thousands" of requests from foreign volunteers to join a new "International Legion" to fight Russia.
• Russia closed its airspace to Germany, France, the U.K. and 33 other countries, after the EU froze out Russian aircraft on Monday.
• More than 500,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries, including Poland, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, the U.N. said.

Zoom out: Russia's currency collapsed in overnight trading, with the ruble plummeting against the dollar as the West imposed unprecedented, crippling sanctions and massive corporations said they would end their business in Russia.

• The Russian central bank raised interest rates from 9.5% to 20% and announced a raft of measures — including the suspension of stock trading on the Moscow Exchange — in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.
• The Biden administration announced Monday morning that Russia's central bank will be prohibited from undertaking transactions in dollars under a new concerted effort by the U.S. and its allies that is set to accelerate Russia's economic tailspin.

 

[PommyMommy]

Putin's Attack on Ukraine Is an Attempt to Delay His Own Inevitable Demise — TIME

Putin fears death—like any 69-year-old. His fear, however, is particularly acute. He makes (or so the consistent rumour goes) visiting officials submit faeces test to ensure they are disease free. Since COVID-19, officials have to isolate several days before they see him. Those who don’t, like the visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, are seated down the other end of an absurdly long table. Is Putin immune-compromised? Maybe. He’s clearly petrified and paranoid of death.

Unlike the rest of us, he can project his fears onto whole countries. In his embarrassing ramblings about Ukraine he never talks about the future—he wants to escape the future and what it brings. He “justifies” his invasion through the desire to return the past: take Ukraine back to the 19th century, to the Soviet Union, to his youth. He rambles menacingly about restoring the glories of the Russian Empire, picking apart Lenin’s creation of Soviet Republics, undoing the revolution against his satrap Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.

When he met President Macron, Putin quoted a vile Russian rape joke where sleeping beauty is sexually abused. Conflating Ukraine and Sleeping Beauty, he put himself in the role of the rapist: “Whether you like it or not my beauty, you will need to put up with all I do to you.” The choice of fairy tale was telling. Sleeping Beauty never gets old, even as the castle around her overgrows with rust and ivy.

In his replies the 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quipped “Ukraine is indeed a beauty but she’s not yours.”

How easy it would have been for Putin to create a flourishing Russia, with its vast oil wealth and human talent, to become a country that Ukraine would want to be close to! Instead, he created a country that stinks of fear, death, and murder that Ukraine has been trying to escape from. The Soviet writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn once found a metaphor for the Kremlin’s system in the title of one of his novels: Cancer Ward. It remains a potent metaphor. Cancers want to spread: to metastasize through Europe and beyond.

Putin’s diagnosis is terminal. Who will it kill? Ukraine is fighting to the death—and choosing life.

 

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Ukrainian World Congress on Twitter
KYIV, UKRAINE (AP) -- Ukraine's leader Zelenskyy applies for Ukraine to join the 27-nation European Union on 5th day of Russian invasion.

 

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Ukraine live updates: Ukraine asks for ceasefire in talks with Russia - BBC News

Russian and Ukrainian representatives have concluded talks held in Belarus aimed at brokering peace amid the ongoing conflict.

Both sides will return to their capital cities for consultation ahead of a second round of talks, which could take place in the coming days, the Reuters news agency cites Belarus' Belta news as saying.

Expectations for a peaceful resolution had not been high before Monday's meeting.

Ukraine said it wanted a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal, while the Kremlin said it would not announce its position. Russia's negotiators have talked of striking a deal that's in the interests of both sides.

 

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Talks end between Russia and Ukraine

From CNN's Seb Shukla and Tim Lister

Russian and Ukrainian talks have ended in Belarus and the two parties have returned to their capitals for consultations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser, Mikhaylo Podolyak, told reporters after the talks.

"Ukrainian and Russian delegations held the first round of negotiations. Their main goal was to discuss ceasefire and the end of combat actions on the territory of Ukraine. The parties have determined the topics where certain decisions were mapped out. In order for these decisions to be implemented as roadmap, the parties are returning for consultations to their capitals. The parties discussed holding another round of negotiations where these decisions can develop," he said Monday.
In the last few moments, three large explosions were heard in Kyiv.

Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian President Vladimir Putin's brazen and unprovoked assault on Ukraine is fast turning his fears of a more resolute Europe, and potentially expanded NATO alliance, into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Putin's fears of a unified, stronger Europe are fast becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy

1h ago10:57
Switzerland, a favourite destination for Russian oligarchs, has set aside its tradition of neutrality and announced that it will adopt all the sanctions already imposed by the European Union on Russia.

Following a government meeting on Monday, Switzerland’s president, Ignazio Cassis, said the country would immediately freeze the assets of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, and the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, as well as all 367 individuals sanctioned last week by the EU.
Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Putin ‘willing to consider’ halting attacks on civilians, says France – live

 

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18m ago12:03

Ukraine has demanded that Russia be expelled from the International Police Criminal Organisation, commonly known as Interpol, accusing it of abusing the organisation and using it to target political opponents worldwide and in Ukraine, the Guardian’s Ruth Michaelson writes.

Ukrainian minister of internal affairs Denis Monastyrsky demanded Russia’s immediate expulsion via Facebook. “Russia should be expelled from Interpol for violating its basic principles and massive misuse of tools and services to cover up its crimes and persecute political enemies, particularly in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian broadcasting organisation Hromadske reported. The Guardian has approached Interpol for comment.

Interpol is a supranational police force focused on information-sharing among its 195 member states, primarily through its red notice system intended to alert member nations about the cross-border movement of criminals.

In recent years it has increasingly drawn criticism for abuse of the red notice system by oppressive regimes including Russia, where anti-democratic nations using it to flag political dissidents in exile or escaping abuse rather than those proven to commit crimes.

Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Putin ‘willing to consider’ halting attacks on civilians, says France – live

 

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The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent)

• Zelensky signs Ukraine's official application for EU membership.

The historic signing follows Zelensky's call for the EU to accept Ukraine, while the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that "Ukraine is “one of us and we want them in.” https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1498350916138844167?s=20&t=efR-vBlJPzf82COA4SvqVg

The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent)

• Russian forces launch an attack on Kyiv soon after the Ukraine-Russia negotiations are over. https://t.co/8u4EYP8pkQ https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1498345781425811458?s=20&t=Z-8NhjfCIkOW0xE_cFvo8g

Video at link

 

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Vladimir Putin's popularity may not survive a bank run
A key reason he has managed to retain power for so long is that the Russian economy has grown fairly consistently under his rule"

<modnsip> two brief sections of the article:

"Measures the Russian government is taking in response are also likely to have quite an impact — such as the requirement announced today forcing Russian companies to sell 80 per cent of their foreign currency earnings to buy roubles, partly to support the rouble itself but also so as to increase the Russian authorities’ access to foreign currency and to limit hoarding.

Many Russians are only too aware of how bad things can get economically from its experience in the 1990s.

Russian inflation reached nearly 130 per cent. Russian GDP contracted over 5 per cent on top of the huge contractions it had been experiencing through the 1990s during the transition from communism to capitalism, and with the crash in the value of the rouble the Russian economy overall, in 1998, ended up smaller than Belgium’s.

It was off the back of these events that Putin became Prime Minister and then President in 1999. A key reason he has managed to retain power for so long is that the Russian economy has grown fairly consistently under his rule when it had shrunk consistently for most of the decade that preceded him.

 

[PommyMommy]

EU eyes Ukrainian membership, could be bargaining chip in Russia talks

Ukraine crisis: Fifa and Uefa ban all Russian clubs and national teams Fifa and Uefa ban all Russian teams

The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent
️NATO rules out 'no-fly zone' over Ukraine.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO had no intention of entering Ukraine by land or air to stop Russia.

Idrees Ali
@idreesali114

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Shell said on Monday it intends to exit its joint ventures with Russian gas giant Gazprom and related entities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian airline Aeroflot violated Canadian airspace after ban, Transport Canada says | CBC News
''Russian airline Aeroflot on Sunday violated a ban on aircraft from the country using Canadian airspace, Transport Canada said, on the same day the restriction was imposed in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"We are aware that Aeroflot Flight 111 violated the prohibition put in place earlier today on Russian flights using Canadian airspace," Transport Canada said in a tweet late on Sunday.

Flight 111 travels from Miami to Moscow and took off at 3:12 p.m. ET, according to FlightRadar24.

There are no direct flights between Russia and Canada, but several Russian flights a day have until now passed through Canadian airspace to other countries, a spokesperson for Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said.''

 

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I can confirm that Roman Abramovich was contacted by the Ukrainian side for support in achieving a peaceful resolution, and that he has been trying to help ever since,’ Abramovich’s spokesperson told the PA news agency.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich slammed by MP over Russia-Ukraine peace talks claim

 

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"Ukraine to issue ‘war bonds’ to fund armed forces

"Ukraine’s finance ministry said it was offering citizens, businesses and foreign investors the chance to invest in military government bonds “in the time of military aggression” by Russia.

It added: “The proceeds from the bonds will be used to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and to ensure the uninterrupted provision of the state's financial needs under the war.”

The auction is set to take place tomorrow, with the tenure of the bonds set at one year."

 

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The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ukraine went into talks demanding an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine.

IOC calls for ban on Russian athletes amid Ukraine invasion

The New York Times
@nytimes
14m

Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, said Monday it would exit four oil and gas joint ventures with Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, valued at about $3 billion. The decision is a further blow to Russia and its oil industry.

AFP News Agency
@AFP
17m

The UK on Monday said it would freeze the assets of all Russian banks over the invasion of Ukraine, tightening the international economic stranglehold on Moscow over its "unjustified aggression"

 

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‘Correction of history’: Syria president praises Ukraine invasion
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad tells his Russian ally Putin the assault on Ukraine is justified and aimed at ‘restoring’ post-Cold-War balance.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article258867343.html
‘I called my family… I heard their tears.’ See 1,000+ people pray for Ukraine at Capitol

gif-putin-family-guy-tv-shows-1103397.gif (400×252) (joyreactor.com)

putin like a girl animated gif - Google Search

 

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Phil Stewart
@phildstewart

(Reuters) - Monaco, an international hub often favoured by wealthy Russians, will also proceed with freezing assets and imposing sanctions on Russians in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said a statement by the Monaco Royal Palace.

First round of Russia-Ukraine talks concludes
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov has appealed to Russian soldiers, saying they will receive full amnesty and monetary compensation if they lay down their weapons.

“Those of you who do not want to become a murderer and die can save yourselves,” he said in a post on social media.

 

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Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
3m
Airbnb says it will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Snake Island soldiers who told Russian warship to ‘go f--- yourself’ are ‘alive and well

"The official statement from the Naval Forces said that those aboard “were illegally captured by the Russians” and that the ship’s seizure “is a violation of the rules and customs of war and international humanitarian law”. They call upon the international community to assist in any way it can in forcing their release.

In response to Russia’s aggression towards the soldiers on Snake Island, “hacktivist” group Anonymous broke into the maritime data of a $97 milllion (£72 million) luxury yacht believed to be owned by Vladimir Putin and made it appear that it had crashed into the island. They also changed the destination of the yacht to “Hell”.

Link:
Snake Island soldiers who told Russian warship to ‘go f--- yourself’ are ‘alive and well’

 

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""If President Vladimir V. Putin is looking for international support and approval for his invasion of Ukraine, he can turn to the Chinese internet.

Its users have called him “Putin the Great,” “the best legacy of the former Soviet Union” and “the greatest strategist of this century.” They have chastised Russians who protested against the war, saying they had been brainwashed by the United States.

Mr. Putin’s speech on Thursday, which essentially portrayed the conflict as one waged against the West, won loud cheers on Chinese social media. Many people said they were moved to tears. “If I were Russian, Putin would be my faith, my light,” wrote @jinyujiyiliangxiaokou, a user of the Twitter-like platform Weibo.

the world overwhelmingly condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Chinese internet, for the most part, is pro-Russia, pro-war and pro-Putin.""

Why the Chinese Internet Is Cheering Russia’s Invasion

 

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Norway will provide military equipment to Ukraine

From CNN's Niamh Kennedy in London

Norway will provide $226 million in humanitarian assistance and military equipment to Ukraine.

The Norwegian government announced the support measures in a statement Monday, saying that this "extraordinary allocation to Ukraine is intended to enhance the efforts of humanitarian actors to help the most vulnerable groups, including children."

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre condemned Russia's "military attacks in Ukraine," which he said were "causing widespread loss of life and suffering in the civilian population, destroying vital infrastructure and forcing people to flee their homes."

As far as military aid is concerned, Norway will send "military equipment such as helmets and bulletproof vests to Ukraine." The equipment was all requested by Ukraine and can be sent quickly, Norwegian Defense Minister Roger Enoksen added.
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine