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

[PommyMommy]

Kherson mayor indicates the city has fallen

From CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and Tim Lister

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kherson Ihor Kolykhaiev has said that the Ukrainian military is no longer in the city and that its inhabitants must now carry out the instructions of “armed people who came to the city’s administration” — indicating that the city has now fallen under Russian control.
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine

 

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The elite squad of Chechen troops that was tasked with assassinating Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been eliminated by the country’s armed forces, National Security and Defense Council’s Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on March, 1.

During a live broadcast by the Rada TV channel, Danilov said that certain sources in Russia’s FSB security service oppose the war Moscow wages on Ukraine, gave Kyiv critical intelligence that led to Ramzan Kadyrov’s “elite” squad being eliminated.

“They were divided in two groups, we were tracking them,” said Danilov.

“One group was handled near Hostomel, the other one is in our sights.”

Kadyrov’s elite Chechen squad eliminated in Ukraine, says Danilov

 

[PommyMommy]

The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands said on Wednesday it would immediately proceed with an active investigation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan said in a statement 39 of the court’s member states had requested for the investigation to proceed.

“Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced,” Khan said, noting the investigation will cover incidents in Ukraine from 2013 to the present.
Khan said his office "had already found a reasonable basis to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court had been committed, and had identified potential cases that would be admissible."

The ICC's chief prosecutor implored all parties engaged in conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law.

Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine

ETA Added Excerpt:
With an active investigation now underway, I repeat my call to all those engaged in hostilities in Ukraine to adhere strictly to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law. No individual in the Ukraine situation has a licence to commit crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, on the Situation in Ukraine: Receipt of Referrals from 39 States Parties and the Opening of an Investigation

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1499178314069643270?t=pmVCr11U5QVacszx-fDaqw&s=19

️️️Air raid alerts in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Chernihiv Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa.

Residents must go to the nearest shelter.

 

[PommyMommy]

Now on top of worrying about the Ukrainian people, I am worried about these poor zoo animals and their caretakers as well. There is a gorilla named Tony and an elephant named Horace among the animals at the Kyiv Zoo.

"For now, we have food supplies for around ten days."

"The zoo is closed to visitors, but about 50 “critically needed” workers have stayed there to care for the animals in a time of “horrible stress” - even in the evening."

Why is Ukraine’s only gorilla ‘impossible to evacuate’?

Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv zookeepers calm the elephant and reassure the gorilla during the siege

 

[PommyMommy]

Pics and bio of each of P's inner circle at link.

Ukraine conflict: Who's in Putin's inner circle and running the war? - BBC News
''Vladimir Putin cuts a solitary figure, leading Russia's military into a high-risk war that threatens to tear apart his country's economy.

He has rarely looked more isolated than in two recent, choreographed appearances with his inner circle, where he sits at a resolute distance from his closest advisers.

As commander in chief, ultimate responsibility for the invasion rests with him, but he has always relied on a deeply loyal entourage, many of whom also began their careers in Russia's security services. The question is who has his ear, during this most fateful moment in his presidency.''

 

[PommyMommy]

The Russian state media RT and Sputnik are almost completely banned by the EU. President von der Leyen of the European Commission already announced this on Sunday and now it has been officially endorsed. RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik are currently banned from TV, satellite, internet, online platforms and apps.
Russische staatsmedia geweerd uit EU, journalisten kritisch over 'censuur' | NOS

Several Russian warships have left Crimea and are heading to Odesa. An amphibious assault on Ukraine’s third largest city could come as soon as Thursday: U.S. officials
7:30 PM · Mar 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/LucasFoxNews/status/1499195429988278278?cxt=HHwWjIC51Z2Tm84pAAAA

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in southern city of Mykolaiv

Russian soldier calls home: One of the captured Russian soldiers was filmed while being allowed to call his mother on the telephone, according to a video posted on Telegram by the region's governor, Vitaliy Kim.

"Don’t worry, I am okay," the soldier told his mother.
A Ukrainian soldier took over the call and said, "You know what your son does? He fights and kills our civilians."

The Russian soldier added, "Mom, I am a prisoner. And, basically, Mom, go to the military registration and enlistment office and start getting together the Council of Soldiers' Mothers so that they would get our people out of here, those who are fighting in Ukraine."

The Ukrainian soldier added, "We will not touch him because I am half Russian and Ukrainian."

Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine

 

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: ICC starts collecting evidence for war crimes inquiry; battle for Kherson – live | World news | The Guardian
''Japan will accept Ukrainian refugees forced to flee their homes by the Russian invasion, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said.
The move is being seen as a break with Japan’s reluctance to accept refugees and asylum seekers - it approves just a few dozen applications a year - with Kishida describing the offer as a “demonstration of solidarity with the Ukrainian people at such a crucial moment”.

''Wife, daughter, baby son and parents of Oleg Fedko reportedly killed in attack while cameraman and Israeli DJ among other fatalities

Oleg Fedko lost his wife, Irina, children – Sofia, six, and Ivan, six weeks – and his parents, Oleg and Anna, while they were trying to flee Kherson, Ukraine. Photograph: Twitter

Alexandra Topping and Hibaq Farah
Wed 2 Mar 2022 19.11 GMT
''The brutal impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was laid bare on Wednesday, as reports emerged that a Ukrainian police officer had lost his entire family while others including a Ukrainian TV cameraman and an Israeli DJ were cited as among other victims.'''

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian military vessel had hit 3 commercial vessels last week ( reported Feb 26 ) injuring at least 2 crew members. So add firing on non-combatant commercial vessels ( hauling fuel, wheat, cargo vessel) onto your crimes list.

Ukraine says two commercial ships hit by Russian missiles near Odessa port

 

[PommyMommy]

️Russia's Ministry of Enlightenment announced it will stream an ‘All-Russian Open Lesson’ on why “the liberation mission in Ukraine is a necessity” on Mar. 3 at 12 p.m. Moscow time.

️The lesson will discuss why “NATO posses a threat to Russia” and why Russia “stood up to defend the “peaceful residents of Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics.”

https://twitter.com/kyivindependent/status/1499211278925152261?s=21

 

[PommyMommy]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1499214146038079489?t=WYZ94eBob4l0t9T5U2RtaQ&s=19

️A number of cities and towns in Ukraine, including Okhtyrka and Kharkiv sustained heavy damages after Russian shelling.

In Kharkiv, Russian strikes hit at least 3 schools, and Kharkiv’s Assumption Cathedral. In Okhtyrka, dozens of residential buildings were destroyed.

 

[PommyMommy]

#UN confirms more than 1 million refugees have fled #Ukraine since hostilities began.

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499213299933659136?cxt=HHwWgICykbOjo84pAAAA

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine denies Russia has taken port city of Kherson ahead of 2nd round of talks | CBC News
rbbm Last Updated: 1 hour ago
"In a video address released early Thursday in Ukraine, Zelensky didn't comment on whether the Russians have seized several cities, including Kherson.

"If they went somewhere, then only temporarily. We'll drive them out," he said.

He gave an upbeat assessment of the war and called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.

"We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy," he said. "They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment."

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who "go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat."

"These are not warriors of a superpower," he said. "These are confused children who have been used."

''In a move that aimed to politically isolate Russia, the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops. The vote was 141 to five, with 35 abstentions. It came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session since 1997.

Countries that voted against the resolution included Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea. The abstentions included China and India, as expected, but also two usual Russian allies, Cuba and Nicaragua. Assembly resolutions aren't legally binding, but they do have clout in reflecting international opinion. ''

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️BBC to launch shortwave radio service in Ukraine and Russia to ensure access and the “resilience of its news operations.”
Listeners can tune their receivers to 15735kHz from 18:00-20:00 and 5875 kHz from 00:00-02:00, Kyiv time.

️'If the enemy thinks that Ukraine will only defend itself, they are wrong. We will do as we see fit.' Ukraine’s Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said on March 2.

️In a post on the official Canadian government website, Western nations have called on Russia to stop state-sponsored disinformation campaigns in Ukraine.
The statement was endorsed by the governments of Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, the U.K. & the U.S.

️'Russia's friends: North Korea, Eritrea, Syria, Belarus and no one else.'
Ukrainian President Zelensky made this comment in reference to the only 4 countries that voted against a resolution at the UN General Assembly calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.

️Air raid alerts in Kyiv.
Residents are asked to go to the nearest shelter.

️UN: 752 civilian casualties as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said as of midnight on March 1 it has recorded 752 civilian casualties in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

 

[PommyMommy]

The volunteer fighter: ‘Life will never be the same’ | News | The Guardian
As Russian troops amassed on the Ukrainian border, 22-year-old Volodymyr Ksienich decided to leave his job working for an NGO in Warsaw to return to his Ukrainian homeland in its hour of crisis.

He describes to Michael Safi how he and his father joined a territorial support unit in Kyiv where he has been learning to operate an automatic rifle, spending nights in the woods preparing to repel a Russian attack.

[...]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: 1m refugees have fled since invasion; Russian controls imposed in Kherson, says mayor– live | World news | The Guardian
50m ago 21:45
A British pub landlord has arrived in Ukraine with a minibus of aid after a 1,000-mile (1,600km) journey from the UK, the BBC reports.

Tom Littledyke, a former Royal Marine, set off from Dorset in south-west England on Monday before dropping supplies in Poland and then driving over the border to Lviv in western Ukraine.

He is now using his 16-seater minibus to ferry people from the city’s train station back to the Polish border.

Channel 4 News on Twitter
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has only seen his family once since Russia invaded his country a week ago.

 

[PommyMommy]

141 countries vote to condemn Russia at UN (axios.com)


Data: United Nations; Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

141 countries voted in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution "deploring" Russia's aggression against Ukraine and demanding the immediate and complete withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.

Why it matters: The resolution is non-binding, but reflects Russia's historic isolation on the world stage just one week into its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

• The full UNGA vote came after Russia vetoed a similar resolution in the 15-member UN Security Council.
• Four countries joined Russia in voting against the resolution — Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria — while 35 abstained.

[...]

... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the outcome of the vote, tweeting, "I’m grateful to everyone & every state that voted in favor. You have chosen the right side of history."

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine authorities say seized Russian tanks don’t need to be declared on tax form | Ukraine | The Guardian
''It’s not often that tax can lift people’s spirits but Ukrainian authorities may have done just that, assuring citizens that any Russian military equipment they seize won’t need to be declared for tax purposes.

“Have you captured a Russian tank or armoured personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the motherland!” Ukraine’s National Agency for the Protection against Corruption (NAPC) said, according to the Ukraine arm of the Interfax news service.

The agency went on to explain there was “no need to declare the captured Russian tanks and other equipment, because the cost of this ... does not exceed 100 living wages (UAH248,100) ($8,298).”

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian billionaires are heading for the Maldives archipelago, according to the MarineTraffic website that tracks the ships. The islands are located southwest of India and have no extradition treaty with the US.

On Wednesday, for example, aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska's yacht docked in the port of the capital Malé, about 600 kilometers off the coast of India. Deripaska's company Rusal has been facing US sanctions since 2018.

Russische superjachten meren aan op Malediven,

List of Russian billionaires - Wikipedia

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️At least 1 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s invasion began seven days ago, says UN Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
️Canada sanctions 10 people in Russia’s energy sector, offers further support to Ukraine.
Sanctioned individuals included people from two Russian energy companies, Rosneft and Gazprom.