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

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World rages at Putin's war: Hundreds of thousands of protestors take to streets of Berlin, Madrid | Daily Mail Online

A nuclear attack would most likely target one of these 6 US cities — but an expert says none of them are prepared.

After Ukraine, Russian cyberattacks could come to US: How to defend yourself

Sweden to Send Military Aid to Ukraine - PM Andersson | World News | US
Sweden will send military aid to Ukraine, including anti-tank weapons, helmets and body armour, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Sunday.

"Sweden is now proposing direct support for Ukraine's armed forces. It includes 135,000 field rations, 5,000 helmets, 5,000 body shields and 5,000 anti-tank weapons" Andersson told a news conference.

 

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[URL='https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/feb/27/russia-ukraine-latest-news-missile-strikes-on-oil-facilities-reported-as-some-russian-banks-cut-off-from-swift-system-live?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-621b5f4c8f0873d0384b205e#block-621b5f4c8f0873d0384b205e']Russia-Ukraine latest: Putin orders nuclear deterrence forces on high alert; Zelenskiy says Ukrainian and Russian delegations to meet | The Guardian[/URL]

2h ago 11:24 Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelinskiy has been talking about the prospect of talks with Russian officials planned to take place close to the border with Belarus, Reuters reports. It has the following lines so far:

• Zelinskiy said talks with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko were “very substantive”.
• He said he doesn’t want troops to move from Belarus to Ukraine and Lukashenko assured him of this.
• Zelinskiy said we all need to act pragmatically to achieve our goal and he said Ukraine’s goal was territorial integrity.

2h ago 11:28 The German railway, Deutsche Bahn, has said that refugees with a Ukraine passport or identity card will be able to travel free on long-distance trains from Poland to Germany.

2h ago 11:34 Rallies in support of Ukraine have been under way in Cyprus, home to more than 40,000 Russian citizens.

In Nicosia’s freedom square, in the heart of the divided Cypriot capital, demonstrators gathered this afternoon demanding an end to the war.

2h ago 11:40 Protests have been continuing too in Russia, reports the Associated Press news agency, with the number of people arrested reaching 1,474 on Sunday across 45 cities, according to a count by the OVD-Info rights group, which is tracking arrests.

“It is a crime both against Ukraine and Russia,” said Olga Mikheeva, who protested in the Siberian city of Irkutsk. “I think it is killing both Ukraine and Russia. I am outraged, I haven’t slept for three nights, and I think we must now declare very loudly that we don’t want to be killed and don’t want Ukraine to be killed.”

1h ago 11:51 Security experts have been considering Vladimir’s move to place Russia’s nuclear forces in a “special regime of combat duty”.

In televised comments the Russian president said: “Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country”.

The White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed Putin is engaging in a pattern he used before launching the invasion, “which is to manufacture threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression.”

 

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Russia-Ukraine latest: Putin orders nuclear deterrence forces on high alert; Zelenskiy says Ukrainian and Russian delegations to meet | The Guardian

1h ago 12:02 Turkey’s foreign ministry has signalled that it intends to block Russian warships from passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits that lead to the Black Sea, a shift in Turkey’s formerly neutral position where officials underlined alliances with both Russia and Ukraine.

1h ago 12:05 Reuters is quoting Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying he will use every opportunity to secure peace, ahead of talks planned between Russian and Ukrainian representatives close to the Belarus border.

“I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try so that later not a single citizen of Ukraine has any doubt that I, as President, tried to stop the war, when there was even a small, but still a chance,” Zelenskiy said.

40m ago 12:43 As British business face pressure to untangle themselves from Russian links after the invasion of Ukraine, one of Britain’s biggest companies, BP, said on Sunday it had decided to exit its 19.75 % stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft. It is a significant move that could cost the company up to $25bn, according to figures in its own statement.

38m ago 12:46
The European Union has announced it will ban Russian-state backed television channels RT and Sputnik in an unprecedented move against the Kremlin media machine.

30m ago 12:54 Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor and former world heavyweight boxing champion, has described the Ukraine capital as “encircled” and said a civilian evacuation would not be possible “because all ways are blocked”.

“We are at the border of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he told Associated Press on Sunday as a curfew continued in the city which he said allowed authorities to hunt “saboteurs” on the streets. “Right now, we have electricity, right now we have water and heating in our houses. But the infrastructure is destroyed to deliver the food and medication.”

 

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UPDATED: 12:56 EST, 27 February 2022
Ukraine war: Belarus poised to declare war as special forces are 'loaded onto planes in' | Daily Mail Online
The Ukrainian state security service has officially reported that a rocket attack on Zhytomyr Airport - located some 93 miles west of Kiev - was launched from the territory of Belarus.

[...]

Ukrainian intelligence has reportedly learned from within Belarus that ‘special ops’ troops have been spotted loading up planes for a major attack.

Videos have circulated of the explosion at Zhytomyr Airport, with reports of shockwaves nearby.

A widening of the conflict to potentially include Russian ally Belarus could signal Vladimir Putin’s growing fury and frustration as the Russian campaign appears to get bogged down in fierce fighting around Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city. It could also run the risk of sucking in other states including NATO allies, triggering a pan-European conflict.

In a bizarre rant on Sunday, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko warned that the war in Ukraine will ‘become a meat grinder’.

[...]

 

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Global Support Photographs
Global support for Ukraine continues – in pictures

US is ‘ready to accept Ukrainian refugees’ fleeing invasion

Bloodthirsty Chechen fighters were lined up to storm Ukraine weeks before Russian invasion
"Conversations that appear to be between Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and one of his top aides, suggest the pair knew their men would be involved in Moscow's assault from at least early February - when the Kremlin was telling Liz Truss in Moscow Russia had no plans to invade."

 

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Russia-Ukraine latest: Putin orders nuclear deterrence forces on high alert; Zelenskiy says Ukrainian and Russian delegations to meet
Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor and former world heavyweight boxing champion, has described the Ukraine capital as “encircled” and said a civilian evacuation would not be possible “because all ways are blocked”.

“We are at the border of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he told Associated Press on Sunday as a curfew continued in the city which he said allowed authorities to hunt “saboteurs” on the streets. “Right now, we have electricity, right now we have water and heating in our houses. But the infrastructure is destroyed to deliver the food and medication.”

“That’s why the message for everyone is: support Ukraine together ... We are strong,” he said. “Every Ukrainian is proud to be independent, proud to be Ukrainian, and we are proud to have our own country.”

 

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BP abandons stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft

" FTSE 100 oil giant will offload its 20pc stake in Rosneft, previously valued at $14bn (£10bn), and abandon its seat on the board following pressure from the UK Government.

Rosneft is run by Igor Sechin, a close friend and ally of Vladimir Putin."

 

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Ukraine Says It Used Turkish-Made Drones to Hit Russian Targets (wsj.com)
A video posted on Twitter by the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara showed a convoy of more than a dozen vehicles consumed by a fireball and a plume of smoke. The embassy tweeted two more videos taken out the window of a moving vehicle showing the charred wreckage of military vehicles.

The Ukrainian air force confirmed that one of these videos depicted the result of a TB2 strike in the town of Chornobaivka, in southern Ukraine, an area that has experienced serious fighting over the past couple of days.

Russia-Ukraine war: 'First footage ever' shows Turkish drone strike Russian forces | Middle East Eye
Ukraine's military on Sunday published a video that it claims shows a Turkish armed drone carrying out strikes against Russian forces.

The aerial footage of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone being used in Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion appears to be the first-ever footage of a TB2 in action.

Ragıp Soylu on Twitter - Video

Ragıp Soylu on Twitter - Video

 

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The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️Belarus missile ruins historical building in Chernihiv.

According to the UNIAN news agency, it was an Iskander ballistic missile system that was fired from Belarus and hit the 1939 building in central Chernihiv, a regional capital 150 kilometers north of Kyiv.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️Another air raid alert in Kyiv.
People must urgently go to the nearest shelter.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
СLARIFICATION: The missile was fired from the territory of Belarus, but it's not known whether it was shot by Belarusian or Russian forces.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️EU imposes sanctions on Belarus, bans petroleum imports, sharing technologies. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that Belarus is actively taking part in the war against Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️100,000 Ukrainians mobilized in 2 days.
According to Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, 50,000 are military reservists and 50,000 are Territorial Defense volunteers.

 

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MAPS

Russia invades Ukraine

Maps: Tracking the Russian invasion of Ukraine (reuters.com)

Maps of Ukraine and Russia show Russian invasion (usatoday.com)

Ukraine crisis: Five maps to explain Russian invasion - BBC News Pidgin

Six maps explaining the conflict in Ukraine - CNN

Ukraine maps: Tracking Russia's invasion - BBC News

 

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Ukraine maps: Tracking Russia's invasion - BBC News

The fight for Kyiv
Russian forces arrived near Obolon on the outskirts of Kyiv on Friday, but so far have not advanced into the centre of the capital.

Strike from the north
From the north, Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine at the three-way junction between Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, at Senkivka.

Strike from the east
Russian forces have breached Kharkiv. On Sunday morning there were reports of street fighting and explosions.

Strike from the south
An advance from Mariupol to the east would create a land bridge between Crimea and territory held by pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russian troops around Ukraine
Russia is now in full control of significant parts of Ukraine's territory.

After Ukraine's air defences and other military infrastructure came under attack on Thursday, columns of tanks moved into position, backed up by artillery and air power.

 

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Ukraine refugees to receive help from Franklin Graham's humanitarian aid nonprofit

Samaritan’s Purse volunteers who are on the ground and providing aid in Ukraine estimate that close to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed over to Poland.

"It’s a continual stream of people," Graham said.

"And the problem is with Moldova, Romania and Poland — they’re just not set up to handle this refugee crisis."

Samaritan's Purse in North Carolina is on the ground and talking to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine. They are also working with over 3,200 churches in Ukraine and are getting ready to deploy 5 field hospitals and other medical supplies as they get a cargo aircraft ready for the flight to the Poland-Ukraine border.

 

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Reuters Pictures on Twitter
An armed local resident carries a cat in a carrier and a fish in an aquarium, which he took out of an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine
Ukraine's civilians caught in the crossfire | Reuters.com

 

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Ukraine cannot negotiate with a gun to its head, Joly says | CBC News

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Ukraine cannot negotiate a peace agreement with Russia while under intense military threat.

"We understand the importance of diplomacy, but at the same time, Ukraine cannot negotiate with a gun [to] their head," Joly said in an interview Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live.

[...]

"I'm very concerned about the irrationality of President Putin. But I think that the question of using nuclear weapons in this situation is unconscionable, it's unjustifiable. This madness has to stop."

[...]

Joly said Sunday "many, many more options are on the table" when it comes to additional sanctions, but did not specifically answer a question on whether that included actions against Russia's important oil and gas industry.

[...]

"What we need to do right now is continue to have an ambassador in Russia, because the glimpse of hope is definitely that we're seeing Russians themselves ... speaking out and taking a lot of risk against the Russian regime."

[...]

Bob Rae, Canada's representative to the United Nations, said Putin's actions were a sign of "deeper irrationality" and appeared to other Russians in positions of power to chart a more reasonable course.

[...]

"This campaign has proven to be a significant disaster for President Putin, and I think the Russian people are increasingly coming to understand that."

[...]

 

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Prominent Putin propagandist rages on live TV about losing Italian villas because of sanctions | Daily Mail Online
Prominent Putin propagandist rages on live TV about losing his Italian villa - which is next to George Clooney's - because of sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine

• Vladimir Soloviev, 58, griped about losing access to two multimillion-dollar estates he owns in Lake Como due to sanctions that followed Russian invasion
• 'Is this the Iron Curtain?' he said on the set of his late-night program The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev
• Soloviev, a known anti-Ukrainian propagandist, complained about the backlash, comparing the treatment of Russians by other nations to the Cold War
• He fumed: 'All of a sudden, now they say: "Are you Russian? Then we will close your bank account, if it’s in Europe"'
• As he fumed about how the war was affecting his quality of life, Kyiv and Moscow are planning t hold peace talks at the border with Belarus
• Meanwhile, the EU unveiled a new package of sanctions against Vladimir Putin's regime, closing off its airspace to all Russian planes

 

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Ukraine's children: How to help vulnerable kids amid Russia's attack | Fox News

Save the Children (STC)
This group aims to improve the lives of young people through better education, health care and economic opportunities. In response to the Ukraine crisis, it has now listed a new page.

The organization also provides emergency aid in natural disasters, war and other conflicts and has worked in Ukraine continuously since 2014.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
UNICEF says it has been working for eight years to widen programs across Ukraine. HOW TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE

To read more on this subject, check out: How to help the people of Ukraine: 3 ideas for giving.

 

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Current state of the skies on Flight Radar. Lots of smaller private jets heading back to Moscow, and a big gap over Ukraine and Belarus. Looks like the commercial / passenger airlines (the blue ones) are steering well clear of the region.



https://www.flightradar24.com

 

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Wikipedia: Countries that have nuclear weapons.

Map of nuclear-armed states of the world NPT-designated nuclear weapon states (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) Other states with nuclear weapons (India, North Korea, Pakistan) Other states presumed to have nuclear weapons (Israel) NATO member nuclear weapons sharing states (Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey) States formerly possessing nuclear weapons (Belarus, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Ukraine)

 

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US company tracking power outages in Ukraine in first-of-its-kind war zone effort

The newest venture to provide the world updates on Ukraine’s power outages has not been without its challenges.

Robinson said it has been difficult to access some of the publicly available data because electric providers have been hardening their systems to protect their infrastructure from cyber warfare.

Before the heart of the conflict, about 70% of the eastern European nation was available to be viewed on PowerOutage.com/ua.

Fortunately for residents in Ukraine, power outages have mostly lower end of the impact scale, with only around 70,000 outages reported country-wide as of Friday evening.

Robison said it appears the conflict has only had a limited impact on the electric grid and most infrastructure remains intact.

 

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The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️Klitschko's spokesperson denies that Kyiv is 'encircled.'

In an interview with AP, Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that ‘Kyiv was encircled’ but ready to fight.

His spokesperson said that he misspoke, and that such information is “a lie and a manipulation.”