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

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Recent footage of Putin, 68, "suggests he has possible symptoms of Parkinson's Disease," the newspaper said, quoting Moscow political scientist Professor Valery Solovei.

Russia denies Putin 'stepping down as leader due to Parkinson's disease'

…
UK media report that Putin is ill and poised to quit is nonsense, says Kremlin

UK media report that Putin is ill and poised to quit is nonsense, says Kremlin

The Kremlin on Friday rejected as untrue a report in Britain’s mass market Sun newspaper which suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have Parkinson’s disease and be poised to quit early next year.

 

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US braces for Russian cyberattacks as Ukraine conflict escalates. Here's how that might play out | CNN Business

"Ukraine has already faced multiple cyberattacks since the conflict with Russia started, including one on Wednesday that targeted the website of the country's parliament as well as several banks and government agencies.
Analysts say even targeted cyberattacks against Ukraine could potentially have implications beyond the country's borders (both physical and virtual). In a report Tuesday, analysts at S&P Global Ratings flagged "a heightened risk of cyberattacks on Ukraine... which could create knock-on effects for corporations, governments, and other parties in the region and beyond."
Companies worldwide that work with organizations in Ukraine need to be particularly careful, the analysts added, "since connections to Ukrainian systems might be used as a pivot point to other targets."

"Even if Russian hackers don't directly set their sights on US entities, Ukraine's dependence on foreign technology can pose big problems for the United States, according to Lin.
"For example, Ukraine doesn't have its own spy satellites, so where does it get its spy imagery? It gets it from commercial satellites," Lin said, with some of the companies behind those commercial satellites potentially located in the United States. "That's an obvious place you would expect Russian cyberattacks to be targeted. And that's just one example of what could be possible."
Should the conflict in Ukraine escalate further, Lin added, "all the stuff in the United States that directly helps the Ukrainian military machine... becomes fair game for the Russians to target."

 

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Security Council Presidency

February 2022
Russian Federation

Permanent Member

Security Council Presidency | United Nations Security Council

 

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Christopher Miller
@ChristopherJM
2m

Citing martial law signed by Zelensky today, Ukraine's Interior Ministry says the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine is prohibiting men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country.

 

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Kyiv furious as EU wavers on banning Russia from Swift payment system

(...)

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, voiced his anger as EU heads of state and government appeared likely to decide against blocking Russia from an international payments system through which it receives foreign currency.

With casualties mounting, Kuleba warned that European and US politicians would have “blood on their hands” if they failed to impose the heaviest toll on Moscow by cutting Russia from the so-called Swift payments system.

“I will not be diplomatic on this,” he tweeted. “Everyone who now doubts whether Russia should be banned from Swift has to understand that the blood of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children will be on their hands too. BAN RUSSIA FROM SWIFT.”

(...)

 

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The White House on Twitter
In response to President Putin's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, the United States, along with Allies and partners, is imposing severe and immediate economic costs on Russia. Read more: FACT SHEET: Joined by Allies and Partners, the United States Imposes Devastating Costs on Russia | The White House

 

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Baltic countries, which lived under Soviet rule, worry they could be Russia's next target | CBC News
''Viewed from Paris, London and Washington, the events unfolding in Ukraine may seem like a new Cold War taking shape in Europe.

From the Baltic countries, it looks much worse.

To Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians — particularly those old enough to have lived under Soviet control — Russia's belligerence toward Ukraine has some worried that they could be the next target. The escalating tensions that preceded Thursday's attack brought back memories of mass deportations and oppression.

"My grandparents were sent away to Siberia," said Jaunius Kazlauskas, a 50-year-old teacher in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital.

"My father was persecuted by the KGB. Now, I live in a free democratic country, but it seems that nothing can be taken for granted."

"Russia always measures the military might but also the will of countries to fight," said Janis Garisons, state secretary at Latvia's Defence Ministry. "Once they see a weakness, they will exploit that weakness."

 

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Fox News on Twitter
PHOTOS: The human cost of Putin's war is paid with the tears of Ukrainians

 

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Ukraine attack: Hundreds arrested in anti-war protests in Russia
Police in Russia arrested nearly 1,400 people at anti-war protests staged in cities across the country after President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, an independent monitor said.

“More than 1,391 people have already been detained in 51 cities,” said OVD-Info on Thursday, which tracks arrests at opposition rallies.

The invasion of Ukraine is taking place during an unprecedented crackdown on the Russian opposition, with most protest leaders assassinated, jailed or forced out of the country.

One petition, started by a prominent human rights advocate, Lev Ponomavyov, garnered over 150,000 signatures within several hours and 289,000 by the end of the day.

More than 250 journalists put their names on an open letter decrying the aggression. Another one was signed by some 250 scientists, while by 194 municipal council members in Moscow and other cities signed a third.

 

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DHS Warns Of Urgent Cyberattack Threat As Russia Tensions Escalate

 

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Countries around the world light up buildings in Ukrainian flag colours | Daily Mail Online

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy today, with the colours of the Ukrainian flag illuminated on the historic landmark following Putin's invasion

Brandenburg Gate is seen lit up in the colours of Ukrainian flag during an anti-war protest, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany

The front of 10 Downing Street, the residence of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is light up blue and yellow in an expression of solidarity with Ukraine

Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Australia was seen lit up in yellow and blue to show solidarity with Ukraine today as Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion continues

 

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Ukraine fighting to stop ‘a new iron curtain’ after Russian invasion

"As Ukrainian diplomats pleaded with the world to stop the Russian aggression, Zelenskiy warned of a bleak return to the past. “What we have heard today are not just missile blasts, fighting and the rumble of aircraft,” he said.

“This is the sound of a new iron curtain, which has come down and is closing Russia off from the civilised world. Our national task is to make sure this curtain does not fall across our land."

 

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Decision to invade Ukraine raises questions over Putin’s ‘sense of reality’

Officials in western capitals concerned by ‘despotic mindset’ of Russian president and rambling Monday speech increased doubts

Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch a catastrophic new European war, combined with the sheer weirdness of his recent public appearances, has raised questions in western capitals about the mental stability of the leader of a country with 6,000 nuclear warheads.

They worry about a 69-year-old man whose tendency towards insularity has been amplified by his precautions against Covid, leaving him surrounded by an ever-shrinking coterie of fearful obedient courtiers. He appears increasingly uncoupled from the contemporary world, preferring to burrow deep into history and a personal quest for greatness.

(...)

After Macron held five hours of talks with the Russian leader in Moscow at opposite ends of a 15-metre table, he told reporters on the return flight that “the tension was palpable”. This was not the same Putin he had last met at the Elysée palace in December 2019, Macron said. He was “more rigid, more isolated” and was off on an “ideological and security drift”.

Following Putin’s speech on Monday, an Elysée official made an unusually bold assessment that the speech was “paranoid”. Bernard Guetta, a member of the European parliament for Macron’s grouping, told France Inter radio on Thursday morning, after military invasion began: “I think this man is losing his sense of reality, to say it politely.” Asked by the interviewer if that meant he thought Putin had gone mad, he said “yes”.

 

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Michael Kofman is a Senior Research Scientist at CNA and a Fellow at the Wilson Center researching and writing on the Russian military.

The following PBS News video is an interview with Mr. Kofman:


What Russia is hoping to achieve in Ukraine


https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael

 

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Володимир Зеленський on Twitter
We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities.

Chilling footage shows mobile crematorium which could be used for Russia soldiers

 

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China rejects calling Russia move 'invasion' | Toronto Sun

Taiwan warns Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone

Chinese embassy in Ukraine tells citizens to display Chinese flags on vehicles | National Post

Excerpt:

BEIJING — China’s embassy in Kyiv told its citizens in Ukraine to stay home or at least take the precaution of displaying a Chinese flag on their vehicles if they needed to drive anywhere, following Russia’s attack on the country.

 

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Anonymous' hackers reportedly take down Putin website
Activists from the hacker group 'Anonymous' blocked access to Russian President Vladimir Putin's website for several minutes on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Internet users in Russia were unable to access the www.kremlin.ru web site for several minutes, the report said.

Ukraine calls on hacker underground to defend against Russia - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

Silicon Valley Companies Worried About Cyber Attacks From Russia – NBC Bay Area
''Russia is not only invading Ukraine, but also hitting the country with a baggage of cyber attacks targeting banks and businesses, shutting down websites and spreading dangerous misinformation.

And Silicon Valley companies fear they could be targeted next.

Inside cyber security company Barracuda Networks, they refer to a certain area as the "war room.”

"We wanna be on the forefront to detect and stop the attack at the very beginning," said Chief Technology Officer Fleming Shi.

He said they're tracking chaos the minute by minute moves not of Russian ground troops, but cyber attacks.''

 

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More than 1,700 people detained in widespread Russian protests against Ukraine invasion | CBC News
''Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands Thursday to decry their country's invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media.

Around 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow, according to OVD-Info, which has documented crackdowns on Russia's opposition for years.

Hundreds of posts came pouring in condemning Moscow's most aggressive actions since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.''

 

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'Russian warship, go f*** yourselves': Final words of Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island | Daily Mail Online
In 2009, the UN determined that the Island of Snakes, a small strategic island in the Black Sea, belonged to Romania, not Ukraine.

Today, Putin took it back, killing 13 men that guarded the facility.

 

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Financial sanctions are easier than ever for Russians to evade. Thank Bitcoin - CNN

But digital currencies operate outside the realm of standard global banking, with transactions recorded on a public ledger known as the blockchain.

"If the Russians decide — and they're already doing this, I'm sure — to avoid using any currency other than cryptocurrency, they can effectively avoid virtually all of the sanctions," said Ross S. Delston, an expert on anti-money laundering compliance.

The US Treasury is well aware of this problem. In an October report, officials warned that digital currencies "potentially reduce the efficacy of American sanctions" by allowing bad actors to hold and transfer funds outside the traditional financial system. "We are mindful of the risk that, if left unchecked, these digital assets and payments systems could harm the efficacy of our sanctions."