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

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine War: What to know on Day 9 of Russian assault
By The Associated Press an hour ago

Russia’s war on Ukraine is now in its ninth day. Russian forces have shelled Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, sparking a fire there that was extinguished overnight.

Horrific deja vu in Ukraine for those who fled other wars
By AJ NADDAFF and CHRISTOPH NOELTING today



NUREMBERG, Germany (AP) — When Russia launched its war on Ukraine, a Syrian student in the city of Kharkiv joined the exodus of people fleeing the onslaught. It was the third time that 24-year-old Orwa Staif, who grew up in the suburbs of Damascus, was being displaced by war and crises.

China seeks to unify public in support for Russia
By ZEN SOO today



SINGAPORE (AP) — As the West condemns Russia, President Vladimir Putin has vocal supporters in China, where the ruling Communist Party tells its people they are fellow targets of U.S.-led harassment

Russia’s isolation over Ukraine war grows at UN rights body
48 minutes ago

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s top human rights body overwhelmingly approved a resolution Friday that aims to set up a three-member panel of experts to monitor human rights in Ukraine.

The decision demonstrates growing international unity against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Moscow's increasing international isolation.

Russian lawmakers approve prison for ‘fake’ war reports
By JAMES ELLINGWORTH 40 minutes ago

DUSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Russians could face prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading information that goes against the Russian government's position on the war in Ukraine, a move that comes as authorities block access to foreign media outlets.

Russians heading home; reserve right to later legal action
today



BEIJING (AP) — The Russian Paralympic Committee will leave Beijing and has no immediate plans for legal action.

The RPC issued a statement Friday criticizing the decision to exclude Russian athletes from the Paralympics and said the move was "absolutely politicized.” It said its lawyers had determined that the Court of Arbitration for Sport would not be able to render a decision “during the accelerated proceedings.”

Russia ready again for urgent court case over World Cup ban
By GRAHAM DUNBAR today

GENEVA (AP) — Russia’s expulsion from international soccer ahead of the World Cup playoffs is heading toward yet another urgent case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And Russian sports have had some success in the court.

EXPLAINER: Weapons used in the Russia-Ukraine war
today



MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the largest conflict that Europe has seen since World War II, with Russia conducting a multi-pronged offensive across the country.

Ukrainian diaspora helps civilians back home escape the war
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER today



BERLIN (AP) — Yan Skvyrskyi talks on the phone to his mother in Ukraine at least 12 times a day, spends sleepless nights worrying about her but fears it may be too dangerous to help her flee the war-torn country right now.

US hits Putin allies, press secretary with new sanctions
By AAMER MADHANI and FATIMA HUSSEIN today

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration ordered new sanctions blocking Russian business oligarchs and others in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle on Thursday in response to Russian forces' fierce pummeling of Ukraine.

 

[PommyMommy]

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said on TV that his country isn't participating or planning to participate in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
He claimed that the Belarusian forces are protecting the country’s borders. If Belarus joined the war, it would be a ‘gift’ to the West, he added.

 

[PommyMommy]

Meet the American teen tracking Russian oligarchs' jets
Jack Sweeney first attracted public attention after starting a Twitter account devoted to tracking Tesla founder Elon Musk's private plane. Now the teenage college student has a new pet project involving another set of billionaires: publicizing the movements of private jets owned by Russian oligarchs.

"People want these people tracked down and have their assets tracked down and to take their yachts and jets," Sweeney said.

 

[PommyMommy]

More than 1.3mn flee conflict in Ukraine

Half of the refugees have crossed the border into Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine last week. Hungary has received 145,000 while Moldova 103,000.

Another 149,000 have emigrated to Russia, which includes 96,000 from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions who left between February 18 and February 24.

UNHCR expects as many as 4mn will flee Ukraine in the coming weeks and months.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 20 minutes ago
️Coming days of war are 'likely to be worse,' says NATO chief.
Jens Stoltenberg expects “more deaths, more suffering, and more destruction,” as Russia continues its full-scale invasion of the country. However, the alliance has ruled out a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 minutes ago
️Microsoft suspends sales of its products and services in Russia.
The company has joined other large tech companies that pulled out of the Russian market earlier, including Apple. Microsoft is also stopping many aspects of its business in Russia to comply with sanctions.

Q&A with US Chargé d’Affaires Kristina Kvien: ‘From now on, Russia will be a pariah state’ (kyivindependent.com)
Editor’s Note: Chargé d’Affaires Kristina Kvien has served as acting United States ambassador to Ukraine since January 2020.

A week into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent talked to U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Kristina Kvien about sanctions, Ukrainians courage and a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Before the invasion started on Feb. 24, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine had relocated its core staff first to Lviv, then to Poland.

According to the United Nations, over 600 civilians have been killed as a result of Russia’s attacks in Ukraine.

Kvien said that the U.S. will do everything possible to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to justice for what he is doing to Ukraine.

“From now on, Russia will be a pariah state and President Putin himself will be an international pariah. There is no possibility for him to recover from this,” Kvien told the Kyiv Independent.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 3, 2022
'I Don't Want To Be A Refugee, I Want To Go Home': The Stories Of The Ukrainian Women Who Had To Flee (rferl.org)
PRAGUE -- "This is where I live. This is what my town looks like now," Olha Drahan says, as she points to her phone screen.

Visibly shaken, she flips through photos of Bila Tserkva, a town some 80 kilometers south of the capital, Kyiv, where many houses and streets have been reduced to rubble by the Russian bombardment.

[...]

Drahan, 43, is now one of dozens of Ukrainian women and children being housed in a dormitory normally used for youth players of Slavia Prague, which along with Prague natural-gas concern, Prazska Plynarenska, is footing the bill.

With her 13-year-old daughter and sister, Drahan says she left her apartment in Bila Tserkva on February 27 on a three-day odyssey, trudging across muddy terrain, traveling on trains, and in private cars.

[...]

"The trip from Korczowa, on the Polish border, to Prague, took 14 hours. And it was expensive. My sister and I paid $300," Drahan says, adding that all she took was a small suitcase with documents and the bare necessities.

Her husband and elderly mother remain in Bila Tservkva. "I talked with them earlier today," she says. "And they are both safe."

Ukrainian refugees apply for residence permits at Prague's foreigner's police headquarters on March 2.

[...]

Like many others in Ukraine, Drahan has ties to Russia, including a sister in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, and a brother in Chita, Siberia.

"They couldn't believe what was happening [in Bila Tservkva]. I had to send them photos to convince them," Drahan explains, underscoring the information vacuum many face in Russia, where state-run media have portrayed Ukraine as the aggressor and whitewash or ignore Moscow's brutal assault.

[...]

Over 7,600 people have been arrested in 121 cities in Russia since the start of the Russian attack on February 24, according to data collected by the human rights organization OVD-Info.

[...]

"I don't want to be a refugee," says Sichova, an auto insurance agent just a few weeks ago.

"I want to work. I want to go home."

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 3, 2022
Putin's War At Home: Russian Government Pushes Hard To Enforce Total Unanimity On Ukraine War (rferl.org)
On March 3, a key Russian parliamentary committee approved a draft law that would impose prison terms of up to 15 years for disseminating "fake" information about Russian military operations.

[...]

And, also on March 3, Russia's Education Ministry held an "online lesson" to explain to schoolchildren and their teachers "why the liberation mission in Ukraine was necessary."

With President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war on neighboring Ukraine entering its second week, his government has stepped up its battle at home -- seeking not only to control the narrative about the war and the consequences of unprecedented Western sanctions, but also to impose a Soviet-style national unanimity.

[...]

Ekho Moskvy First Deputy Editor in Chief Sergei Buntman told RFE/RL that the government is, in fact, imposing "military censorship in the absence of a war or state of emergency" because the Kremlin insists on calling the Ukraine invasion a "special military operation."

[...]

"If they allowed them to keep broadcasting such programs, then the public would have learned the truth about what is happening in Putin's war in Ukraine," he told RFE/RL's Russian Service. "And as soon as they learned, it would produce revolts calling for an end to the war."

At the same time, Russia's state-controlled television and other media are pushing the Kremlin's risible claims that Ukraine is ruled by "Nazis and drug addicts" doing NATO's bidding and committing "genocide" against Russian-speakers.

[...]

On March 2, Dozhd television Editor in Chief Tikhon Dzyadko announced he and several other Dozhd journalists were leaving Russia after their station was blocked.

"After the illegal blocking of Dozhd and Dozhd's social media accounts, and also following threats against several employees, it has become clear that the personal safety of many of us is under threat," he told Current Time.

 

[PommyMommy]

Europeans panic-buying iodine after Putin nuclear alert: reports

The Russian elite daughters of Putin’s inner circle are using Instagram to slam his invasion of Ukraine
Young Russian elites are advocating for peace in Ukraine on social media, highlighting the generational divide that threatens Putin's power in Russia.

Russian elites publicly protesting the war include the children of oligarchs and government officials close to Putin.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Nato chief says worse days ahead after Putin’s forces seize nuclear power plant – live | World news | The Guardian

10m ago 10:10

People remove personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

45m ago 09:34
The US Embassy in Ukraine said that attacking a nuclear power plant is a war crime after Russia seized a Ukrainian nuclear facility, the biggest in Europe.

“It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin’s shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further,” US Embassy Kyiv said in its post.

[...]

2h ago 08:27
Russia is using cluster bombs in Ukraine, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said.

We have seen the use of cluster bombs and we have seen reports of use of other types of weapons which would be in violation of international law.

 

[PommyMommy]

Mike Sington on Twitter - Video of the staff exiting the newsroom
The entire staff of a Russian TV channel resigns in protest to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

[PommyMommy]

[URL='https://apnews.com/d30c144383033e2fc9bce6f3d5cfeb0b/']Pelosi supports halting Russian oil imports to US: 'Ban it'[/URL]

Bipartisan bill banning Russian oil sets up clash with White House
[...]

Bill supporters noted that even as they hope other countries will introduce their own bans, the U.S. prohibition would only affect a small slice of the global energy market. U.S. imports of Russian crude and petroleum products dropped sharply over the course of last year as the industry shifted to other sources amid rising tensions in Europe. December’s import total of 405,000 barrels per day was about half the volume recorded in August, according to the DOE’s Energy Information Administration.

Europe relies much more heavily on Russia’s supply, purchasing more than 2.5 million barrels per day, or about half the country’s exports. The EU also gets nearly 40 percent of its gas from Russia. It is not considering stopping those shipments.

Still, the tightening financial sanctions on Moscow were taking their toll on Russian oil shipments, with traders around the globe declining to take delivery. Prices for at least one type of Russian oil were quoted at $27 a barrel below prevailing crude oil prices.

“The market is shrinking,” Manchin added. “There are very few people buying Russian production. We are not disrupting the world distribution.”

 

[PommyMommy]

Germany's storage caverns currently stand at 30% full, according to industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe data.

Domestic gas production peaked in the 1990s and now covers only 5% of annual consumption.

The chief executive of German utility Uniper (UN01.DE) last month pegged Russia's share of Germany's gas supply at half, although this can fluctuate from month to month.

ICIS analysis data for German supply showed that in December 2021 Russian pipeline gas accounted for 32%, Norwegian gas 20% and Dutch 12%, with storage 22% and the rest from other smaller sources including domestic production.

Factbox: How dependent is Germany on Russian gas?

 

[PommyMommy]

Vitriol directed at Russian hockey players is ‘madness’ | The Star
''The repercussions of Russia’s unprovoked attack have reverberated throughout the hockey world. The International Ice Hockey Federation banned the country from all competition for the rest of the year and removed it as host for the 2023 world junior tournament, while the NHL suspended business with its Russian partners.

Equipment manufacturer CCM dropped Alex Ovechkin and other Russians from its global marketing initiatives.

Dinamo Riga and Jokerit Helsinki both withdrew their participation from the KHL playoffs while several foreign players terminated their contracts with Russian-based teams in order to flee the country.

Asked whether any of his Russian clients had considered leaving their NHL teams to return home, Milstein responded: “Absolutely not.”

 

[PommyMommy]

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted that the Zaporizhzhia plant’s reactors were protected by robust containment structures and were being safely shut down.

Still, descriptions from the scene painted troubling images.

Nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the facility and had set fire to one of its six reactors. That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said.

But experts say the situation, while extremely dangerous, was unlikely to produce an apocalyptic explosion.


Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant fire prompts Chernobyl comparisons

 

[PommyMommy]

Personer med ukrainskt pass åker gratis med SL-trafiken
The Stockholm Transport Committee decided on Wednesday that a Ukrainian passport should be valid as a ticket in public transport. The decision applies immediately and until further notice.

March 4 2022 rbbm
NATO warships arrive in Dundee as Ukraine war intensifies - Daily Record
"Two huge NATO warships have docked in Dundee as the war in Ukraine intensifies.

The vessels from Germany and Denmark tied up in the city early on Friday morning.

It is understood there’s a third ship is moored close to Arbroath.''
The ships' information appeared on the marinetraffic.com website here.

MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic

The ships came from Norway overnight.

''It confirmed the vessels- a German logistics ship and a Danish warship - had sailed from Stavanger in Norway.

The appearance of the ships will only increase fears that the invasion of Ukraine is further intensifying.''

 

[PommyMommy]

Nuclear power stations not built for war, major disaster threatens upon impact'

"Largest nuclear power plant in Europe Six reactors are lined up in Zaporizhzhya. They are actually six nuclear power plants in themselves, but together they are the largest nuclear power plant in Europe; thirteen times bigger than Borsele. 20 percent of all electricity in Ukraine is generated there. That makes the nuclear power plant an important strategic target for the Russians. When the power can be shut down in a large part of the country, this is a great weapon."

"Nuclear power stations are absolutely not designed to function in a war zone," says nuclear physicist and emeritus professor Wim Turkenburg. He fears an unintended bomb impact on a cooling bath or reactor. "Then a major disaster can happen."

'Kerncentrales niet gebouwd op oorlog, bij inslag dreigt grote ramp'

 

[PommyMommy]

Invasion of Ukraine city by city as Russian troops enter crucial city
The invasion of Ukraine - city-by-city as Russian troops enter the crucial port city of Mykolaiv | Daily Mail Online

Naval vessel Zr.Ms De Zeven Provinciën departs for NATO fleet association

The air defense and command frigate Zr.Ms. De Zeven Provinciën will leave Den Helder next Sunday. Over the next four months, the naval vessel will join Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), one of the rapid-deployment fleet groups from NATO's flash force."
Marineschip Zr.Ms De Zeven Provinciën vertrekt voor NAVO-vlootverband

 

[PommyMommy]

March 3 2022
'THIS IS CRAZY': Gas hikes, shortages as further record prices loom | Toronto Sun
''GTA gas prices are once again expected to reach record highs at 1.75 a litre, but gas analysts see potential for prices nearing $1.90 a litre in the not-too-distant future.''

“I guess the war in Ukraine is the reason behind the gas price spike,” he said.
Some stations ran out of gas as people stocked up before Thursday morning’s sticker shock.

“It’s difficult to get gas today,” said Natalie Hollinshead, who said it usually costs about $80 to fill her tank.

Now it costs her $100 to fill up''

 

[PommyMommy]

NATO rules out Ukraine no-fly zone: 'Painful decision'

 

[PommyMommy]

“
In a televised speech today, Vladimir Putin called on Russia's neighbors not to escalate the situation in Europe, reports the news agency Reuters.

- We have no evil intentions when it comes to our neighbors. I want to advise them not to escalate the situation, and not to impose any new restrictions, Putin said when he participated in the link during the inauguration of a new ferry.

The president further said that he sees no reason for deteriorating relations, and that Russia's actions should be seen as a response to the actions of other countries.
“

Putin varnar grannländerna: Trappa inte upp situationen