Everything I have come across on Ukraine War. Not my views Personal Views. There are always two sides to each and every coin and we need to look at both sides.
There are only losers in wars. Innocent people get killed whilst the Men who make these hideous decisions hide in Bunkers or flee the Country to safety abandoning the people
Ram
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Ukraine-Russia crisis: State of emergency as world warned of ‘moment of peril’
Russia Orders Troops Be Deployed to Rebel-Held Regions of Ukraine
The BBC reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops to be deployed in two rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine. On February 21, Putin recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, calling the contested region an integral part of Russia's history.
Ukrainian soldiers are on surveillance duties near areas controlled by pro-Russian militants.
5:48am, Feb 24
Ukraine is declaring a state of emergency and telling its citizens in Russia to flee, as the UN warns the world is “facing a moment of peril”.
Shelling is intensifying in eastern Ukraine, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised the independence of two rebel regions and where Russian troops are being deployed as “peacekeepers”.
But by 6.30am Thursday there was still no clear indication of whether Mr Putin plans to follow that up with a massed assault on Ukraine involving the tens of thousands of troops he has gathered near his neighbour’s borders.
“Predicting what might be the next step of Russia, the separatists or the personal decisions of the Russian president – I cannot say,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Mr Zelenskiy said his country wanted security guarantees from Russia as a step towards ending the stand-off between the two countries.
“I have many times suggested that the president of Russia sit down at the negotiating table and speak,” he said.
As well as planning for a month-long state of emergency, the Ukrainian government has announced all men of fighting age will be required to be ready for military service.
Ukrainians living in Russia (more than 3 million people, according to a 2010 census) have been told to get out of the country to protect their lives.
Ukraine’s parliament has passed the bill for the state of emergency, to come into effect from Thursday morning (local time).
It could stop conscripted reservist soldiers leaving the country so they are ready to be called up to fight, impose curbs on media, and lead to personal document checks.
Ukraine is declaring a state of emergency and telling its citizens in Russia to flee, as the UN warns the world is “facing a moment of peril”.
Shelling is intensifying in eastern Ukraine, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised the independence of two rebel regions and where Russian troops are being deployed as “peacekeepers”.
But by 6.30am Thursday there was still no clear indication of whether Mr Putin plans to follow that up with a massed assault on Ukraine involving the tens of thousands of troops he has gathered near his neighbour’s borders.
“Predicting what might be the next step of Russia, the separatists or the personal decisions of the Russian president – I cannot say,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Mr Zelenskiy said his country wanted security guarantees from Russia as a step towards ending the stand-off between the two countries.
“I have many times suggested that the president of Russia sit down at the negotiating table and speak,” he said.
As well as planning for a month-long state of emergency, the Ukrainian government has announced all men of fighting age will be required to be ready for military service.
Ukrainians living in Russia (more than 3 million people, according to a 2010 census) have been told to get out of the country to protect their lives.
Ukraine’s parliament has passed the bill for the state of emergency, to come into effect from Thursday morning (local time).
It could stop conscripted reservist soldiers leaving the country so they are ready to be called up to fight, impose curbs on media, and lead to personal document checks.
‘Moment of peril’
Meanwhile, the UN’s General Assembly met to discuss the crisis.
The Assembly was told the US estimates 5 million people could be displaced if Russia invades Ukraine.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said the meeting was happening “in the face of the most serious global peace and security crisis in recent years, and certainly in my time as secretary general”.
He said this moment is one he “truly hoped would not come”.
“The latest developments regarding Ukraine are a cause of grave concern, and they include reports of increased ceasefire violations across the contact line, and a real risk of further escalation on the ground,” Mr Guterres said.
He said he was “fully committed to resolve this crisis without further bloodshed”.
“It is time to establish a ceasefire and return to the path of dialogue and negotiation,” Mr Guterres said.
Russia blames the West as more sanctions loom
Russia denies planning an invasion and has described warnings as anti-Russian hysteria.
But it has taken no steps to withdraw the troops deployed along Ukraine’s frontiers.
On Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, told the BBC the idea that Russia is to blame for the crisis in Ukraine is an invention by the West.
“Lets talk about the reputation of the West…how many people have been killed because of Washington and London,” she said, in response to a question about Russia annexing Crimea in 2014.
“The West’s reputation is covered in blood.”
Ms Zakharova said sanctions were designed to halt Russia’s “development”.
The US has described Russia’s actions as the start of an “invasion” but along with allies has so far unveiled mostly incremental sanctions while making clear they were keeping tougher measures in reserve in case of a full-scale invasion.
The New York Times reports that information from two US government officials suggests the next step would be that the Biden administration would issue economic sanctions on the company building the gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany.
US President Joe Biden later confirmed the plan, saying: “I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers”.
US deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo said on CNBC on Thursday morning that government would also be prepared to impose a ban on exports of American technology that are vital to the Russian economy.
“If he [Mr Putin] chooses to invade, what we’re telling him very directly is that we’re going to cut that off, we’re going to cut him off from Western technology that’s critical to advancing his military, cut him off from Western financial resources that will be critical to feeding his economy and also to enriching himself,” Mr Adeyemo said.
Meanwhile, the UN’s General Assembly met to discuss the crisis.
The Assembly was told the US estimates 5 million people could be displaced if Russia invades Ukraine.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said the meeting was happening “in the face of the most serious global peace and security crisis in recent years, and certainly in my time as secretary general”.
He said this moment is one he “truly hoped would not come”.
“The latest developments regarding Ukraine are a cause of grave concern, and they include reports of increased ceasefire violations across the contact line, and a real risk of further escalation on the ground,” Mr Guterres said.
He said he was “fully committed to resolve this crisis without further bloodshed”.
“It is time to establish a ceasefire and return to the path of dialogue and negotiation,” Mr Guterres said.
Russia blames the West as more sanctions loom
Russia denies planning an invasion and has described warnings as anti-Russian hysteria.
But it has taken no steps to withdraw the troops deployed along Ukraine’s frontiers.
On Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, told the BBC the idea that Russia is to blame for the crisis in Ukraine is an invention by the West.
“Lets talk about the reputation of the West…how many people have been killed because of Washington and London,” she said, in response to a question about Russia annexing Crimea in 2014.
“The West’s reputation is covered in blood.”
Ms Zakharova said sanctions were designed to halt Russia’s “development”.
The US has described Russia’s actions as the start of an “invasion” but along with allies has so far unveiled mostly incremental sanctions while making clear they were keeping tougher measures in reserve in case of a full-scale invasion.
The New York Times reports that information from two US government officials suggests the next step would be that the Biden administration would issue economic sanctions on the company building the gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany.
US President Joe Biden later confirmed the plan, saying: “I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers”.
US deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo said on CNBC on Thursday morning that government would also be prepared to impose a ban on exports of American technology that are vital to the Russian economy.
“If he [Mr Putin] chooses to invade, what we’re telling him very directly is that we’re going to cut that off, we’re going to cut him off from Western technology that’s critical to advancing his military, cut him off from Western financial resources that will be critical to feeding his economy and also to enriching himself,” Mr Adeyemo said.
Related: Experts have their say on Australia’s response to Russia
Ukraine crisis: Russia 'nearly 100% ready' for invasion, says Pentagon official
A senior US defence official in Washington said the Russian forces arrayed along Ukraine’s borders are “as ready as they can be” for an invasion, with about 80% in what the US considers "forward positions, ready to go” within 5 kilometres to 50 kilometres of the border. "We still cannot confirm that Russian forces have moved into the Donbas area,”...
Ukraine crisis: Russia 'nearly 100% ready' for invasion, says Pentagon official
A senior US defence official in Washington said the Russian forces arrayed along Ukraine’s borders are “as ready as they can be” for an invasion, with about 80% in what the US considers "forward positions, ready to go” within 5 kilometres to 50 kilometres of the border. "We still cannot confirm that Russian forces have moved into the Donbas area,”...
European Union sanctions approved on Wednesday will add all members of Russia’s lower house of parliament who voted to recognise the separatist regions in Ukraine to a blacklist, freezing their assets and banning travel.
EU leaders will also hold an emergency summit on Thursday to discuss what to do next.
The UK announced restrictions banning Russia from the issuing of new bonds in its security markets and called for its broadcasting regulator to investigate Russia’s RT international TV news channel as a propaganda outlet.
“There will be even more tough sanctions on key oligarchs, on key organisations in Russia, limiting Russia’s access to the financial markets, if there is a full scale invasion of Ukraine,” UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.
Allies’ sanctions are designed to hit Russia’s elite including Mr Putin’s inner-circle and their families.
Breakaway-region leaders speak
The Russian-backed leader of the breakaway Donetsk region said on Wednesday he wanted to peacefully settle its borders with Ukraine but reserved the right to ask Russia for help.
Meanwhile, Denis Pushilin, who heads the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic that was recognised by Russia this week, said he favoured dialogue with Ukraine in the first instance.
But he told a news conference the situation in their long-running conflict had become critical and the separatists would win with support from “big Russia”.
Russia’s recognition of Donetsk and the neighbouring self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic on Monday was declared illegal by the US and many of its allies.
“Aggression from the Ukrainian side is growing,” Mr Pushilin said, accusing officials in Kyiv of staging “provocations” and causing civilian casualties.
Ukraine denies accusations by the separatists that it is stoking the conflict with the aim of recapturing their territory by force.
Mr Pushilin said a relocation of women and children which began last week was necessary to enable the separatist army to focus on defending the borders of their territory.
Ukraine’s military said one soldier had been killed and six wounded in increased shelling by pro-Russian separatists using heavy artillery, mortar bombs and Grad rocket systems in the two breakaway areas over the previous 24 hours.
-with AAP
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US: Russia troops 'in advanced state of readiness'
The Pentagon says Russian troops are "in an advanced state of readiness" as the Kremlin has indicated that rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine have asked Russia for military assistance. (Feb. 23)
Explosions have been heard across Ukraine, just minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack early on Thursday morning (local time).
Confirmation of Mr Putin’s order came via a televised speech from Moscow at 5am – almost exactly as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was speaking in New York with another plea to calm tensions in the region.
“Stop your troops from attacking Ukraine,” Mr Guterres said.
Shortly after Mr Putin’s announcement there were reports of massive explosions in the city of Kramatorsk, in Ukraine’s breakaway Donetsk region. There were also reports of more blasts in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, its second-largest city of Kharkiv and the Black Sea port city of Odessa.
State-run news agencies RIA-Novosti and TASS said Mr Putin had urged Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms and go home.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had approved an offensive against his nation. In an address posted to his Facebook account, Mr Zelensky said the trigger for an invasion could come at “any minute”.
“The whole world is saying this can happen any day now. The trigger can appear any minute,” he said, speaking in Russian.
“You are being told this fire will free the Ukrainian people. But Ukrainian people are free.”
Mr Zelensky said he wanted to “address all the Russian citizens”, in an emotional plea to his neighbours.
“Not as a president. I address Russian citizens as a citizen of Ukraine,” he said.
“There are over 2000 kilometres of common border between us. Your army is along that border now. Almost 200,000 soldiers. Thousands of military vehicles.
“Your leadership approved for them to take a step further, to the territory of another country.”
Mr Zelensky concluded: “This step can become a beginning of a great war at the European continent.”
Mr Putin’s declaration came as the United Nations Security Council held its second emergency meeting on the Russian threat for the week. The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, confirmed military operations were underway in Donbass.
Also on Thursday (Australian time), separatists in Ukraine asked Moscow to help repel “aggression” and explosions rocked the breakaway eastern city of Donetsk, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the invasion could come “before the night is over”.
Hours after the breakaway regions issued their plea, at least five explosions were heard in the separatist-held eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk early on Thursday morning, a Reuters witness said. Four military trucks were seen heading to the scene.
Elsewhere, a conflict monitor zone has warned airlines should stop flying over any part of Ukraine because of the risk of an unintended shoot-down or a cyber attack targeting air traffic control amid the escalating tensions.
“Russia has positioned its forces at the final point of readiness,” Mr Blinken told NBC Nightly News late on Wednesday (US time).
“Everything we’ve seen over the last 24-48 hours has Russia putting the final touches on having its forces in place across all of Ukraine’s borders, to the north, to the east, to the south, to be ready for a full-on invasion”.
Announcing Australia had joined Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison also said there were reports of a likely full-scale attack within 24 hours.
Pentagon officials also told a briefing Russian troops were moving into disputed breakaway regions.
A Reuters witness has reported seeing convoys of military equipment, including nine tanks, moved towards the eastern Ukrainian area of Donetsk from the direction of the Russian border late on Wednesday (local time).
Shelling has intensified in the east, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised two separatist regions as independent and ordered the deployment of what he called peacekeepers, a move the West calls the start of an invasion.
Tensions High In Kyiv, Ukraine As Russia Threatens
In Ukraine's capital city, frustration and concern mount over the possibility of a Russian invasion.
Moscow has long denied that it has plans to invade, even though Mr Putin has tens of thousands of troops massed on the Ukraine border.
The leaders of the two breakaway areas want Mr Putin to intervene.
“I am asking for help to repel the Ukrainian regime’s military aggression against the population of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” said Denis Pushilin, who heads the area Moscow recognised as independent, according to TASS news agency.
The White House rejected the comments as another Russian false flag operation, a fake crisis manufactured to justify greater Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
“This is an example of it,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
“That is suggesting that they feel under threat. By whom? The Ukrainians that the Russians are threatening to attack?”
Mr Zelensky said Moscow had approved an offensive and not replied to an invitation for talks.
“Today I initiated a telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation. The result was silence,” he said.
Satellite imagery taken on Wednesday showed new deployments in western Russia, many within 15 kilometres of the border with Ukraine and less than 80 kilometres rom the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, a US company Maxar said.
The images showed field deployment, military convoys, artillery and armoured personnel carriers with support equipment and troops. The images could not be independently verified by Reuters.
A 30-day state of emergency in Ukraine restricting the freedom of movement of conscripted reservists, curbing the media and imposing personal document checks began on Thursday.
The Ukrainian government has also announced compulsory military service for all men of fighting age.
While the West has held off the most stringent sanctions measures it could impose, the US stepped up the pressure by imposing sanctions on the firm building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its corporate officers.
-with AAP
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25th Feb 2022:
This are all Forwards and I did not pen them, but makes sense to me.
Many Aussie friends share this view but not those living in USA which is understandable.
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NATO is for maintaining Peace not Create Wars 👇👇👇👇
Sad that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has left Ukraine for the safety of Munich, Germany. As far as I know, he's still there, urging his people to fight to the death from a safe place.
Had NATO declared that it would never absorb Ukraine and make it a neutral buffer state, the Russian invasion would never have occurred.
By moving U.S. and Canadian trainers onto Ukrainian soil, and by arming them with advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, we recklessly posed an existential threat to Russia. President Putin reacted much like JFK did during the Cuban missile crisis.
Ukraine cannot win. We are arming them and urging them to fight and die with no possibility of success. It's so easy for US politicians to bluster and bully while Ukrainians pay the bloody price.
The puppet of Arms, Pharma, Oil lobby Biden had provoked Putin who doesn't take threats
Now The NATO nations will buy more US arms, Oil has rocketed and Pharma has its own run
Russia will lose nothing, it will emerge more powerful but the US decay is assured.
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Another Biden/Blinken Blunder
By Percy AllanFeb 25, 2022
Biden and Blinken will now notch up their second humiliating defeat following the US rout in Afghanistan. Ukraine could have become a Finland. (Image: Flickr / U.S. Indo-Pacific Command)
Biden and Blinken (an appropriate surname) will now notch up their second humiliating defeat following the US rout in Afghanistan.
As I expected, Russia has invaded Ukraine because both Ukraine and the West refused to preclude its membership of NATO.
This has been a festering security issue for Russia since Ukraine applied for NATO membership in 2008 and George Bush Jnr supported its request.
Since Ukraine is a bulwark between Russia and NATO Europe, its refusal to commit to being a neutral country like Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, and Cyprus (each of whom belong to the EU, but not NATO) looks now to have consigned it to being a client state of Russia like Belarus.
The US and NATO refused to commit to defending Ukraine yet let the issue of NATO membership fester for 14 years.
Biden and Blinken (an appropriate surname) will now notch up their second humiliating defeat following the US rout in Afghanistan.
As I expected, Russia has invaded Ukraine because both Ukraine and the West refused to preclude its membership of NATO.
This has been a festering security issue for Russia since Ukraine applied for NATO membership in 2008 and George Bush Jnr supported its request.
Since Ukraine is a bulwark between Russia and NATO Europe, its refusal to commit to being a neutral country like Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, and Cyprus (each of whom belong to the EU, but not NATO) looks now to have consigned it to being a client state of Russia like Belarus.
The US and NATO refused to commit to defending Ukraine yet let the issue of NATO membership fester for 14 years.
Also, Ukraine never gave the two eastern provinces (parts of which broke away) the self-governing autonomy they were promised in the Minsk Agreements.
Biden and Blinken (an appropriate surname) will now notch up their second humiliating defeat following the US rout in Afghanistan. Ukraine could have become a Finland, but now is likely to end up being subjugated, or at least that half of it east of the Dnieper River.
All very sad and avoidable if Russia’s fundamental grievance over NATO expanding to its border had been addressed. Putin’s aspiration for Ukraine re-joining Mother Russia is for domestic consumption, not its prime concern which was always security related.
Thomas Friedman in a New York Times article titled “US not blameless in Putin’s war” quotes George Keenan, the architect of America’s successful containment of the Soviet Union, telling him that NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe (while refusing Russian membership) was a mistake because it provoked a post-communist Russia to feel besieged. Also, it amounted to overreach as NATO does not have the resources nor the intention to protect these states.
When Cuba wanted to join the Warsaw Pact 60 years ago, America attempted an invasion (Bay of Pigs) and then threatened Russia with WWIII if it did not withdraw its missiles and armed forces.
Now Russia is doing the same over Ukraine joining NATO, but Biden unlike Khrushchev did not heed the warning.
Biden and Blinken (an appropriate surname) will now notch up their second humiliating defeat following the US rout in Afghanistan. Ukraine could have become a Finland, but now is likely to end up being subjugated, or at least that half of it east of the Dnieper River.
All very sad and avoidable if Russia’s fundamental grievance over NATO expanding to its border had been addressed. Putin’s aspiration for Ukraine re-joining Mother Russia is for domestic consumption, not its prime concern which was always security related.
Thomas Friedman in a New York Times article titled “US not blameless in Putin’s war” quotes George Keenan, the architect of America’s successful containment of the Soviet Union, telling him that NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe (while refusing Russian membership) was a mistake because it provoked a post-communist Russia to feel besieged. Also, it amounted to overreach as NATO does not have the resources nor the intention to protect these states.
When Cuba wanted to join the Warsaw Pact 60 years ago, America attempted an invasion (Bay of Pigs) and then threatened Russia with WWIII if it did not withdraw its missiles and armed forces.
Now Russia is doing the same over Ukraine joining NATO, but Biden unlike Khrushchev did not heed the warning.
The Democrats will pay a big electoral price on insisting Ukraine’s right to join NATO when they never had the intention of enforcing it.
Sanctions are a bad joke, Russia has huge foreign exchange reserves, a big budget surplus and can get anything it needs from or through China. The only thing that might move Putin is the seizure of properties that Russian oligarchs own in London.
I’m starting to warm to Donald Trump returning to the White House because he withdrew from foreign wars rather than nurturing them. He of course would further divide and diminish America, but that might distract it from more empty bluster in foreign affairs.
Sanctions are a bad joke, Russia has huge foreign exchange reserves, a big budget surplus and can get anything it needs from or through China. The only thing that might move Putin is the seizure of properties that Russian oligarchs own in London.
I’m starting to warm to Donald Trump returning to the White House because he withdrew from foreign wars rather than nurturing them. He of course would further divide and diminish America, but that might distract it from more empty bluster in foreign affairs.
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Let's Hope Biden and Putin just throw words at each other God Forbid they decide to use their Nuclear arsenal. The world needs to forget about who is right and who is wrong and to understand the aftermath of a nuclear warfare. Watch this video carefully. Hope Biden, Kamal Harris and Boris Jhonson see this video too and Save the World 👇👇👇👇👇👇
Aftermath of Nuclear Warfare
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Putin : "How would America React to Russian Missile Placed on its borders?"
Like it or not they are very valid questions by Putin
Very nice explanation 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻.Respect for Putin 🇷🇺
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A Bit of Applied Comedy
NATO is a Real Comedy of Errors.
Do we need a Cold War in 2022 ?
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Whose side is India on in this Ukraine War ?
The Answer my Friend is Blowing in the Wind
The answer is Blowing in the Wind
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Now don't ask me who or what Weibo Netizens are
as I am clueless just like you
Weibo netizens posted this explanation of the relationship between Russia, Ukraine, the United States, etc. with a family ethics drama. The narrative below will explain the situation but with a bit of family drama thrown in.
Google translate:
I'm sure everyone is confused. If the news version of Russia vs Ukraine is too complicated, it is recommended to read the commentary of the novel version. See translation
More than 20 years ago, Ukraine divorced her ex-husband (Russia), and several children belonged to her.
The ex-husband was also very accommodating to her and left her a lot of family property. After that, the ex-husband also paid off more than 200 billion debts for her.
After getting rid of her ex-husband, Ukraine started flirting and flirting with the village bully (USA) and a group of prostitutes (Western states) until she was completely in their arms. That's still okay, (but) she completely listened to the village tyrant, and hooked up to attack her ex-husband.
The ex-husband was very angry and insisted on returning a child: Crimea.
Ukraine began to hold grudges and dreams. She wanted to marry into the NATO family and squeeze her ex-husband.
The village bully didn't want to marry her. He just wanted to use her to bully her ex-husband. With every effort, the two children were forced to cry and look for their father.
The village bully was always on the sidelines, just sending some expired items (ammunition) from time to time.
Ukraine thought she had someone to support her, and was even more presumptuous towards her ex-husband.
The ex-husband couldn't bear it anymore, and looked at the poor children, and rushed over with the guy to ask the two children to go back, so they started fighting.
😁
( If you don't find it funny don't laugh OK)
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26th Feb 2022:
Received this message
"I have friends in Ukraine who tell me things are not a bad as CNN hype it up to be. More importantly, it is US trying to insinuate to China what will happen if they take Taiwan by force."
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【Did US betray Ukraine?】
Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia, a country with enough nuclear war heads to destroy the planet in less than 24 hours. Over the past few years, Putin has patiently pleaded and negotiated with the United States and its Western allies to give Russia a break.
But instead of listening to Putin's demands, the U.S. and allies aim to make Ukraine a member of NATO. That way they can park missiles with nuclear warheads outside of Russia.
Now Putin is attacking Ukraine. Missiles are flying. Russian tanks are marching into Ukrainian territory. Then Putin tells the Ukrainian nationals to put down their weapons and just go home back. He also tells the world that whoever meddles or threatens Russia will get a quick response like they have never experienced in history.
Biden and his so-called alliances are then frozen. They had greatly underestimated Putin. They are now explaining in chorus that NATO forces are not in Ukraine. Their troop movements near Russia were for defensive purposes only. Is that true?
Ukraine is now on its own to defend itself. The U.S. and allies are turning their backs on them with their tails between their legs. Russia will deal with Ukraine without NATO help. The war will be over soon before summer begins.
So what happened?
The US and allies got greedy. They became so comfortable with invading countries and killing people on their own terms. There was no credible opposition.
They sowed the seeds of chaos from Iraq, to Iran, to Libya, to Syria, to Afghanistan and many more weak countries. They steal land, oil fields and plunder the wealth of small nations.
The U.S. and allies indulge in terrorizing countries, establishing puppet governments, and building businesses that suck host countries dry of their resources. They fund insurgencies. Provide weapons and war equipment and enjoy watching a country kill its own people.
Ukraine is just another "project" for the US and allies. They put a puppet government in place. They provide weapons to kill separatists. And just recently, they thought Ukraine was ripe for a new base to expand and terrorize the area near Russia.
Now the big bear is angry and is attacking with full force. All of its fangs and long claws are ready to strike. Putin says Russia is now ready to bear all the consequences. Bring it on!
Biden's bluff has been called. Putin is putting all his chips in. If this is the end of the world, so be it!
The ball is now in America's and NATO's court. So far, Biden's knees are still shaking. One false move and Russia could let go of its biggest warheads and head for Washington! Biden is now busy looking for a good excuse not to confront Russia militarily.
Poor Ukraine.
The Philippines and another island to her north must watch and learn from this situation. Neither the U.S. nor its Western mob are trustworthy allies. They run faster than rabbits when a real tough guy stands up and is willing to fight them to the death.
The Philippines and another one island to her north must choose wisely and not choose a US puppet as their president. Otherwise it will end up like Ukraine. Fooled, raped, milked and now abandoned.
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Putin spotted in London
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Words of Wisdom
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Interesting this Video is not available now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD6jX1QlB_E&t=3172s
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Until 1990: NATO had 16 members
Russia: Don't expand further
America: Okay we will not expand (verbally, not written)
1999: Poland, Hungary and Czech republic joined NATO
Russia: But you said you won't expand! America: Where is the written document, so, jack off
2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO
Russia: But you said you won't expand! America: Where is the written document, so jack off
2009: Albania and Croatia joined NATO
Russia: But you said you won't expand
America: Where is the written document, so jack off
2017: Montenegro and North Macedonia joined NATO
Russia: But you said you won't expand!
America: Where is the written document, so, jack off
2021: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine will join
Russia: Enough is enough, you are betraying us ever since 1990s, if we allow you, you will deploy missiles on our borders.
World: Russia is so aggressive, they are evil, they don't think about humanity, Russia is expanding. Putin is being unreasonable......
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Boney Ms Prediction in 1978
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BBC News
When the Soviet Union collapsed it gave the vassal territories a chance to obtain their ethnic nationhood. So there was a logic to seeking the protection of NATO.
Anybody who was part of the communist block did want to risk going back to the old days and they were too small to stand up to fascist forces. So they also sought NATO protection ( in addition to EU membership).
Opinion 2: All US presidents and their Sec of State make blunders. Trump-Pompeo, Obama-Clinton, and so on.
US foreign policy is basically stupid for the past 50 years or more. All Biden had to say was that NATO will not expand to Ukraine. That is all Russia wanted.The US military industrial complex wants war so more US weapons could be supplied.
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UIkraine was doing very well
until USA came to lend its support
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BBC NEWS
This is Scary to say the Least.
Let's hope it is a Fake News
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26th Feb 2022
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Ordinary Ukrainians take up arms as Russia begins battle for Kyiv | ||||
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‘Terrified’: Ukrainian-Australians fear for loved ones caught in war | ||||
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We have three options to respond to Russia’s attack. None are good | ||||
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26th Feb 2022,
Why the US won’t send troops to Ukraine
Nuclear weapons are containing the Ukraine war. They also helped cause it.
In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait in a naked war of territorial aggression. The next year, the US and an allied coalition intervened under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council, repulsing the Iraqi invasion. Today, as Russia is engaged in a similar aggressive war against Ukraine, there is no similar American effort in the offing — even as Ukrainian leaders have pleaded for Western assistance.
There are many dissimilarities between the situations in 1991 and 2022, but the biggest one is this: Saddam Hussein, rather famously, did not have nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin has approximately 6,000 of them. And that makes all the difference.
Both before the invasion and afterward, the Biden administration has consistently ruled out the deployment of US troops. “Let me say it again: Our forces are not — and will not — be engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine,” the president said in a Thursday address. Despite the warnings of American involvement from commentators on the Trumpist right and “anti-imperialist” left, there are no signs of this policy changing. Nuclear weapons are the chief reason why.
The logic of mutually assured destruction that defined the Cold War still works, to some degree: Russia’s arsenal makes any direct intervention in Ukraine riskier than any rational American leader could tolerate. In a sense, then, Russia’s nuclear weapons make it less likely that the conflict will kick off World War III.
But in another sense, Russia’s nuclear arsenal also helped create the conditions where Putin’s invasion could happen in the first place.
Political scientists call this the “stability-instability paradox,” the notion that nuclear deterrence has had the paradoxical effect of making certain kinds of conventional warfare more likely. Russia can be relatively confident that the United States and its allies won’t come to Ukraine’s defense directly, because such a clash carries the threat of nuclear war. This could make Putin more confident that his invasion could succeed.
Putin himself has suggested as much. In his speech declaring war on Wednesday night, he warned that “anyone who would consider interfering from the outside” will “face consequences greater than any you have faced in history” — a thinly veiled threat to nuke the United States or its NATO allies if they dare intervene.
“This is about the clearest evidence I have ever seen for the stability-instability paradox,” Caitlin Talmadge, a professor at Georgetown University who studies nuclear weapons, writes of Putin’s speech. “Putin’s behavior suggests that revisionist actors [can] use their strategic nuclear forces as a shield behind which they can pursue conventional aggression, knowing their nuclear threats may deter outside intervention.”
The nuclear balance between the United States and Russia, one of the Cold War’s defining features, is coming back to the forefront of international politics. We can only hope that things don’t get scarier from here.
How nuclear weapons make US involvement in Ukraine unthinkable
Nuclear weapons are the only weapons humanity has yet devised that, deployed at scale, could swiftly wipe out our entire species. The risks of conflict between two nuclear-armed powers are so great that virtually any rational leader should, in theory, seek to avoid one.
This is especially true of the United States and Russia, who together control an estimated 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads. The issue is not merely the size of their arsenals but also their structure — both countries have robust “second strike” capabilities, meaning each can sustain a devastating nuclear first strike from the other side and still retaliate. The US and Russia maintain second strike capabilities in part through the so-called “nuclear triad”: bombers armed with nuclear bombs, submarines equipped with nuclear missiles, and land-based missile launchers.
The result is that neither the US nor Russia can hope to “win” a nuclear war. Even if one nation struck first, decimating major military bases and population centers, the other would still be able to launch a devastating nuclear counterattack on their enemy’s homeland from (for example) submarines out to sea. The only way to win is not to play.
This appears to be the reason the Biden administration has been so adamant on avoiding any kind of involvement in Ukraine; the risks of any direct intervention are far too high.
Conventional warfare between nuclear powers does not necessarily escalate to nuclear conflict: see the 1999 Kargill conflict between India and Pakistan, the 2018 battle between US special forces and Russian mercenaries in Syria, or the recent border clashes between India and China. But the risk of such a conflict escalating to nuclear use is always there, especially if one side believes that vital national interests or its very survival is at stake.
For Putin, the Ukraine war seems to fit the bill. A significant US or NATO intervention in the conflict would, by sheer fact of geography, pose a threat to the territorial integrity of the Russian homeland. Were it to turn the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor, Russia could very conceivably use its nuclear arsenal against its NATO enemies.
“Their nuclear strategy envisions possible first use if they are losing a conventional conflict or facing an existential threat,” Nick Miller, an expert on nuclear weapons at Dartmouth University, explains.
We have no guarantee that deploying US troops to Ukraine would, in fact, lead to nuclear warfare. But the risks would be high, very likely exceeding the most dangerous moments of the Cold War, like the Cuban missile crisis. There are scenarios where you could imagine an American leader launching a conflict with a nuclear power — if it was necessary to protect the US homeland, for example — but defending Ukraine, which isn’t even a formal US ally, simply isn’t one of them.
How nuclear weapons helped make the Ukraine war possible — and could make it much worse
Some leading scholars look at the logic of deterrence and conclude that nuclear weapons are actually a good thing for the world. This “nuclear revolution” theory, most commonly associated with the late political scientist Kenneth Waltz, holds that the spread of nuclear weapons will spread peace by expanding deterrence. The more countries can make aggression unthinkably risky, the less likely war will become.
The evidence for this theory is spotty. While nuclear deterrence does seem to have played a role in preventing the Cold War from turning hot, examining other cases — including smaller nuclear armed states like India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea — leads to a much more complicated picture.
The stability-instability paradox is one of these complications. In its most classic form, the paradox argues that two countries with nuclear weapons can be more likely to engage in small-scale conflict. Because each side knows that the other doesn’t want to risk a wider war given nuclear risks, they can feel more confident engaging in smaller provocations and assaults. What looks like nuclear stability actually breeds conventional instability.
Ukraine is not a nuclear state, but the NATO alliance has three of them (the US, Britain, and France). Because NATO states don’t want a wider war with Russia, one that carries a risk of a nuclear exchange, they’re less likely to intervene in a conflict they might otherwise join. Putin knows this; his public threat to use nukes against any intervening country suggests he’s counting on it.
So what we’re seeing is a kind of twist on the classic paradox: Putin is relying on nuclear fear to allow him to get away with invading a country (Ukraine) that a nuclear-armed third party (NATO) might otherwise want to defend.
This dynamic is familiar from the Cold War; it’s in part why the Soviets could send troops to Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 to suppress popular anti-communist uprisings without real fear of Western intervention.
To be clear, the stability-instability paradox is not an ironclad law of international relations; scholars disagree about exactly how frequently it actually causes conflict. But neither is nuclear deterrence: There are several near-miss examples where a nuclear exchange was just barely avoided.
In 1983, for example, Soviet Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov was alerted by an early warning system that a US nuclear strike was likely incoming. Had Petrov informed his superiors of that message, it’s very likely they would have launched missiles in response. Yet Petrov and his staff correctly concluded this was a false alarm and chose to say nothing — potentially saving hundreds of millions, if not billions, of lives.
Nuclear deterrence depends on both sides having good information and making rational decisions. But in a conflict like the one we’re seeing in Ukraine, taking place near the borders of NATO members, the risks of accidents, misperceptions, and miscalculations inches incrementally higher. For example, says Miller, “you can imagine a Russian jet straying into NATO airspace accidentally” and sparking a wider conflict.
Without a NATO presence inside Ukraine, the risks of such a disaster remain extremely low; Miller cautions that “both sides have a strong incentive to avoid direct conflict and avoid minor incidents escalating.”
But the fact that we’re even talking about it illustrates how nuclear weapons, by their very nature, make the world a riskier place. While they likely are playing a major role in keeping the US out of the Ukraine conflict directly, they helped create the conditions where Russia could launch the war in the first place — and, in the very worst case, could escalate to complete disaster.
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PUTIN's STORY
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Scomo Gets Bagged
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Time for a Laugh
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Ukrainian President Speaks
On a Lighter Vein
UK RAISES ALERT LEVEL
By John Cleese – British writer, actor and tall person.
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent Russian threats and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. The Russians have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s Get the Bastards.” They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.”
The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose.”
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, Mate.” Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far, no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
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26th July
Palki Sharma - WION
27th Feb 2022:
A Bit of American History for You
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
Obama was criticised heavily for patronising this preacher above.
But Obama himself authorised the largest increase in terror bombing of civilian territories overseas, using drones armed with fearful weapons, operated remotely by pilots sitting safely in the USA, dependent on second hand information about their targets, under orders from non-combatants with no military command.
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27th Feb 2022:
February 26, 2022
President Joe Biden and US officials got the intelligence right: They said Russia would invade Ukraine, despite Russia's assurances to the contrary. After a supreme miscalculation on how the pullout from Afghanistan would go, misguided intelligence on the run-up to the war in Iraq and many other mistakes, this is an important moment for the US intelligence community.
I asked Tim Weiner, the author of the engaging and exhaustive 2007 CIA history "Legacy of Ashes," for his thoughts on what has changed.
Our email conversation, lightly edited, is below.
How did the US intelligence community get it right?
WHAT MATTERS: One notable element of the run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine is that the US intelligence appears to have been spot on. The US warned that Russia would invade, despite Russia's denials. And then Russia invaded. How did the US intelligence get it right this time?
WEINER: The CIA director, Bill Burns, a career diplomat, and his boss, the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, a former deputy CIA director, came to office a year ago. The American intelligence community, including the National Security Agency, which intercepts communications, had been hyper-focused on counterterrorism for 20 years. Burns and Haines refocused on Russia and China, concentrating on collecting and analyzing intelligence on the authoritarian regimes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. For the first time in a long time, American intelligence agencies were thinking strategically, looking out over the horizon, as opposed to reporting what happened five minutes ago.
The result was a clear and prescient picture of Putin's intentions toward Ukraine.
How spy craft changed in 2 years
WHAT MATTERS: You wrote an exhaustive history of the CIA that documents numerous intelligence failures, repeated cover-ups and bungled operations that cost the lives of thousands of people working for or encouraged by US intelligence during the Cold War. How has American intelligence-gathering changed with regard to Russia since the early 1990s?
WEINER: The question is how it's changed since Donald Trump left office. In general, American intelligence does what the White House tells it to do. Trump's high regard for Putin -- which hasn't changed -- and his curious affinity for the Kremlin's viewpoints meant that whatever the CIA was telling him about Russia had little bearing on American foreign policy. That has changed, obviously. When President Joe Biden calls Putin a despot, he's drawing on reporting from the CIA, the State Department and their sister agencies.
The battle for the truth
WHAT MATTERS: Beyond intelligence-gathering, the US effectively used intelligence almost in real time. The Biden administration strategically declassified and released intelligence in an effort to preempt Russian false flag operations. What are your thoughts on this new tactic?
WEINER: It's not a new tactic. It's an old one. What the US is doing is political warfare -- something it hasn't done effectively since the end of the Cold War. (This is is the subject of my last book, "The Folly and The Glory.") Political warfare is the way in which nations project their power and work their will against an enemy, short of launching missiles or sending in the marines. Its conduct requires the full spectrum of intelligence and diplomacy, from covert operations and espionage to coercive diplomacy and economic sanctions, and the skillful orchestration of these instruments by the president. The use of political warfare -- including the rapid declassification and publication of secret intelligence -- exposed and effectively blunted Putin's plans to use disinformation and lies as instruments of war. Ultimately, this is a battle for the truth, and shaping people's views of authoritarian regimes is part of the way political warfare is waged.
How could US spies be involved in this conflict?
WHAT MATTERS: Biden has pledged repeatedly not to commit US military troops on the front lines of a war between Ukraine and Russia, so as not to start World War III. Given that pledge, how would and could the US intelligence community be utilized inside Ukraine?
WEINER: The CIA and the National Security Agency could support the Ukrainian resistance with battlefield intelligence. The CIA also could provide lethal weapons like Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. The CIA shipped billions of dollars in weapons to the Afghan rebels fighting the Soviet armed forces occupying Afghanistan in the 1980s. The CIA has been training small groups of Ukrainians in irregular warfare -- that is, paramilitary operations -- for eight years. It's conceivable -- if this conflict turns into a long and bloody occupation -- that CIA officers could join the battle themselves, which would be a risky proposition, to say the least. There is certainly a cadre of CIA paramilitary who would be only too happy to send Russian soldiers back home in body bags.
A new focus of US intel
WHAT MATTERS: From a larger perspective, how is the US intelligence community repositioning itself, now that the US has pulled out of Afghanistan, from a focus on the war on terror of the early 21st century to the war between democracy and autocracy that Biden has warned about?
WEINER: This war is going to shape the world throughout the 21st century. Burns and Haines have made China and Russia their highest priorities. Xi and Putin want to project their power far beyond their borders -- and political warfare is the primary way in which they will seek to gain a greater influence over nations near and far. But the United States will be hard-pressed to win that struggle unless and until it repairs its own democracy. The greatest defeat the United States ever suffered in the realm of political warfare came at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a wannabe autocrat came perilously close to overthrowing the rule of law.
© 2022 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved.
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Russian forces meet resistance as they pound Ukraine, FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reports
Russian attacks are going on on many fronts in Ukraine, but Ukrainians are setting up checkpoints and removing road signs in an effort to slow down Russian forces heading toward the capital of Kyiv, FRANCE 24's correspondent Gulliver Cragg reports from Khomutynsi, Ukraine.
6:20am, Feb 27
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed Ukraine won’t lay down weapons as the Russian army faces stiff resistance in its battle to overthrow the capital Kyiv.
Mr Zelenskiy said the capital and other important cities remained under the control of the Ukrainian army amid Russian attacks as he took to Twitter to disprove reports he had fled Ukraine.
In a video the defiant president said ‘I’m still here’ while in other Twitter posts he thanked a number of world leaders he had spoken with for their support, including France, Greece and Turkey.
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading democratic economies are convening an emergency online conference to discuss coordinated responses to Russia’s aggression.
Meanwhile, the US, Britain, Europe and Canada have moved to block Russia’s access to the SWIFT international payment system as part of another round of sanctions.
The measures, which will also include restriction on the Russian central bank’s international reserves, will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement.
“This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally,”Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement on Saturday.
Fighting on many fronts
The battle against Russian forces is continuing across Ukraine as Russia pressed ahead for a third day on a mission to capture the centre of Kyiv and “install their puppets here,” said Mr Zelenskiy.
“We will not put down weapons. We will defend our state,” he said.
But fears of urban warfare in the capital have not yet come to pass even though the city has been rocked by the sounds of gunfire and explosions overnight and troops had advanced into the northern districts.
The mayor of Kyiv extended a curfew from 5pm until 8am every day.
Mr Zelenskiy had earlier warned Ukrainians that Russian troops would likely “storm” the city during the night and called on people to “stop the enemy wherever possible”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed Ukraine won’t lay down weapons as the Russian army faces stiff resistance in its battle to overthrow the capital Kyiv.
Mr Zelenskiy said the capital and other important cities remained under the control of the Ukrainian army amid Russian attacks as he took to Twitter to disprove reports he had fled Ukraine.
In a video the defiant president said ‘I’m still here’ while in other Twitter posts he thanked a number of world leaders he had spoken with for their support, including France, Greece and Turkey.
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading democratic economies are convening an emergency online conference to discuss coordinated responses to Russia’s aggression.
Meanwhile, the US, Britain, Europe and Canada have moved to block Russia’s access to the SWIFT international payment system as part of another round of sanctions.
The measures, which will also include restriction on the Russian central bank’s international reserves, will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement.
“This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally,”Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement on Saturday.
Fighting on many fronts
The battle against Russian forces is continuing across Ukraine as Russia pressed ahead for a third day on a mission to capture the centre of Kyiv and “install their puppets here,” said Mr Zelenskiy.
“We will not put down weapons. We will defend our state,” he said.
But fears of urban warfare in the capital have not yet come to pass even though the city has been rocked by the sounds of gunfire and explosions overnight and troops had advanced into the northern districts.
The mayor of Kyiv extended a curfew from 5pm until 8am every day.
Mr Zelenskiy had earlier warned Ukrainians that Russian troops would likely “storm” the city during the night and called on people to “stop the enemy wherever possible”.
Ukrainian civilian volunteers check their guns at home. Photo: GettyHeavily armed Kyiv residents, many toting automatic weapons handed out to the populace in recent, patrolled the city, setting up road blocks and establishing ambush zones.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Mr Zelenskiy, said Russian forces were still trying to move a large number of troops and equipment into the city and that fighting was taking place in outlying areas.
But Ukrainian troops were mounting a strong defence and “both in the city itself and on the outskirts of Kyiv, the situation is under control,” Mr Podolyak said in comments carried by Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency.
In order to disrupt the Russian advance, the Ukrainian Road Administration called for roads signs to be dismantled.
“The enemy has a pathetic mobile connection, he cannot orient himself by terrain,” the authority announced via the Telegram message channel.
“Let’s help him go straight to hell.”
Authorities told people in Kyiv to hunker down in bomb shelters if they can and take precautions like staying away from windows.
“Last night was difficult but there are no Russian troops in the city,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a video published on the Telegram news channel on Saturday morning.
But he added: “The enemy is trying to advance into the city.”
By any means necessary
Kyiv’s infrastructure was still intact and underground trains were running.
The Ukrainian army meanwhile called on the population to help stop the invasion in every possible way.
“Cut down trees, build barricades, burn tyres! Use everything available!” the armed forces said in a statement quoted by the country’s UNIAN news agency.
Smoke rises from a Russian tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces. Photo: Getty
Both Russia and Ukraine released new figures on the war’s toll in terms of lives and infrastructure, although the information could not be independently verified.
Russia has crippled the operations of more than 800 Ukrainian military infrastructure sites, including airfields, command posts, anti-aircraft missile systems and radar stations, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Saturday, the third day of Russia’s offensive.
Russia insists it is only going after military targets — despite allegations to the contrary from Kyiv and witnesses on the ground — and says it is Ukrainian forces that are shelling residential areas in the eastern Donbass region.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said 3500 Russian soldiers had been killed and 200 others captured.
In addition, it said 14 planes, eight helicopters and 102 tanks as well as more than 530 other military vehicles were destroyed.
According to the Ukrainian government, at least 198 civilians have been killed and 1115 people injured across the country, including 33 children, after three days of attacks by Russian ground and air forces.
Among the dead were three children, Health Minister Viktor Liashko wrote on Facebook.
Both Russia and Ukraine released new figures on the war’s toll in terms of lives and infrastructure, although the information could not be independently verified.
Russia has crippled the operations of more than 800 Ukrainian military infrastructure sites, including airfields, command posts, anti-aircraft missile systems and radar stations, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Saturday, the third day of Russia’s offensive.
Russia insists it is only going after military targets — despite allegations to the contrary from Kyiv and witnesses on the ground — and says it is Ukrainian forces that are shelling residential areas in the eastern Donbass region.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said 3500 Russian soldiers had been killed and 200 others captured.
In addition, it said 14 planes, eight helicopters and 102 tanks as well as more than 530 other military vehicles were destroyed.
According to the Ukrainian government, at least 198 civilians have been killed and 1115 people injured across the country, including 33 children, after three days of attacks by Russian ground and air forces.
Among the dead were three children, Health Minister Viktor Liashko wrote on Facebook.
Women and babies from Ukraine after crossing into Poland. Photo: GettyMeanwhile, Ukrainians continued to try and escape the violence by crossing into neighbouring countries.
The Polish deputy interior minister said on Saturday about 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the country since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
The world demands peace
Protesters at the White House in America. Photo: Getty
Thousands of anti-war protesters in Russia have been detained as they defied warnings from the authorities and took to the streets to voice their anger.
Nearly 2,700 people had been arrested since Thursday, according to the independent protest monitoring site OVD-Info.
Calls are growing inside Russia for President Vladimir Putin to stop the war against Ukraine.
Dozens of Russian humanitarian organisations published an open letter to Mr Putin, asking him to stop the war: “War is a humanitarian catastrophe that leads to pain and suffering… We consider violent solutions to political conflicts inhumane and call upon you to cease fire and begin negotiations.”
Even a member of the Russian Communist Party demanded an end to the war.
He said that it had not been his intention to unleash a war with his vote in parliament to recognise the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.
“I think that the war should be ended at once. When I voted for the recognition of DNR/LNR, I voted for peace and not for war,” Mikhail Matveev said, using the Russian acronyms for the self-declared republics.
On social media, many Russians have voiced their dismay at the war in Ukraine.
A tweet from Prince William and his wife Kate announced that they stood with the people of Ukraine as they “bravely fight” the invasion by Russia.
It was a rare public comment for British royals on political issues.
“In October 2020 we had the privilege to meet President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy and the First Lady to learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine’s future,” Queen Elizabeth’s grandson William and Kate said on Twitter.
“Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”
In a sea of blue and yellow flags and banners, protesters around the world have shown their support for the people of Ukraine and called on governments to do more to punish Russia and avoid a broader conflict.
Thousands of anti-war protesters in Russia have been detained as they defied warnings from the authorities and took to the streets to voice their anger.
Nearly 2,700 people had been arrested since Thursday, according to the independent protest monitoring site OVD-Info.
Calls are growing inside Russia for President Vladimir Putin to stop the war against Ukraine.
Dozens of Russian humanitarian organisations published an open letter to Mr Putin, asking him to stop the war: “War is a humanitarian catastrophe that leads to pain and suffering… We consider violent solutions to political conflicts inhumane and call upon you to cease fire and begin negotiations.”
Even a member of the Russian Communist Party demanded an end to the war.
He said that it had not been his intention to unleash a war with his vote in parliament to recognise the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.
“I think that the war should be ended at once. When I voted for the recognition of DNR/LNR, I voted for peace and not for war,” Mikhail Matveev said, using the Russian acronyms for the self-declared republics.
On social media, many Russians have voiced their dismay at the war in Ukraine.
A tweet from Prince William and his wife Kate announced that they stood with the people of Ukraine as they “bravely fight” the invasion by Russia.
It was a rare public comment for British royals on political issues.
“In October 2020 we had the privilege to meet President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy and the First Lady to learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine’s future,” Queen Elizabeth’s grandson William and Kate said on Twitter.
“Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”
In a sea of blue and yellow flags and banners, protesters around the world have shown their support for the people of Ukraine and called on governments to do more to punish Russia and avoid a broader conflict.
A protester in Sydney upset by the invasion of Ukraine. Photo: AAP
Several hundred people marched through heavy rain in Sydney chanting “Ukraine will prevail” while protesters in Tokyo called for Russia to be expelled from the United Nations Security Council.
Thousands of people also took to the streets in Europe, with protesters — including many Ukrainians living abroad — in London, Nicosia, Berlin, Athens, Helsinki, Madrid and Milan draping themselves in flags and holding “stop the war” placards.
A rally that organisers estimated to number 20,000 people was held in the Swiss capital of Bern.
In Istanbul, Ukrainians living in Turkey sang their national anthem and held banners with images of bloody handprints.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in the square in front of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, carrying signs such “Make Ukraine a member of NATO now” and “Say no to Putin”.
The protests come on the heels of other demonstrations around the world in the past days.
In Latin America, protesters joined rallies on Friday in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru, chanting “Long live Ukraine”.
-with AAP
Several hundred people marched through heavy rain in Sydney chanting “Ukraine will prevail” while protesters in Tokyo called for Russia to be expelled from the United Nations Security Council.
Thousands of people also took to the streets in Europe, with protesters — including many Ukrainians living abroad — in London, Nicosia, Berlin, Athens, Helsinki, Madrid and Milan draping themselves in flags and holding “stop the war” placards.
A rally that organisers estimated to number 20,000 people was held in the Swiss capital of Bern.
In Istanbul, Ukrainians living in Turkey sang their national anthem and held banners with images of bloody handprints.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in the square in front of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, carrying signs such “Make Ukraine a member of NATO now” and “Say no to Putin”.
The protests come on the heels of other demonstrations around the world in the past days.
In Latin America, protesters joined rallies on Friday in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru, chanting “Long live Ukraine”.
-with AAP
