Russia's Invasion of Ukraine - Consolidated Thread

[schwartzie]

Zelensky Prods Biden to Impose ‘No-Fly Zone’; Psaki: ‘Not a Good Idea’


NICK GILBERTSON28 Feb 20221,508

3:05

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the D.C. outlet Axios in a statement on Monday that his country “needs the West to impose a no-fly zone,” a significant escalation potentially tantamount to an act of war.



“The sanctions are heading in the right direction. In addition to disconnecting the Russian Central Bank from SWIFT and providing more Stingers and anti-tank weapons, we need the West to impose a no-fly zone over significant parts of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a statement to Axios.



“Ukraine can beat the aggressor. We are proving this to the world. But our allies must also do their part,” he added.



On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told MSNBC that it is “not something the president wants to do,” and “that’s not a good idea."

Continued at link

[shalom]

Zelensky to Arm Prisoners Who Have “Combat Experience” and Drop them in the “Hottest Spots” of the War to Fight for Ukraine and “Compensate for Their Guilt”

By Julian Conradson

Published February 28, 2022 at 5:45pm




On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will begin releasing prisoners who have “real combat experience” so they can “compensate for their guilt” by fighting for Ukraine on the frontlines of its war with Russia.



Inmates who are qualified will be released from custody, equipped with military kits, and deployed to the “hottest spots” where the fighting is most intense to help with the “struggle for our state,” Zelensky explained in his early-morning public announcement.



As long as they have previous fighting experience, anyone and everyone in custody is being considered for deployment. There are even some criminals who were classified as terrorists by the country’s Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) that will be armed and sent off to battle.



From Zelensky:



“Under martial law, Ukrainians with real combat experience will be released from custody and will be able to compensate for their guilt in the hottest spots of the conflict.



All sanctions against some individuals who participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation will be lifted. The key thing now is defense.”



The extreme decision to provide weapons to the criminals was “not easy” to make, but it was “useful,” according to Zelensky.

Continued at link

[bloodbought]

U.N.: Half a Million People Have Fled Ukraine Since Russian Invasion


GABRIELLE REYES28 Feb 202216

3:19

An estimated 500,000 people have fled Ukraine to the eastern edge of the European Union (E.U.) since Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday, U.N. High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi said on Monday.



“More than 500,000 refugees have now fled from Ukraine into neighbouring countries,” he wrote in a statement shared by Twitter on February 28.



Earlier on February 27, Grandi wrote on Twitter, “The number of refugees from Ukraine who have crossed to Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and other countries is escalating and is now 368,000.”



UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo estimated on Monday that of Ukraine’s displaced people, “281,000 [were] in Poland, 84,500 in Hungary, 36,400 in Moldova, 32,500 in Romania and 30,000 in Slovakia.”



“The rest were scattered in unidentified other countries,” she added, as quoted by the Associated Press (AP).



The news agency said it witnessed Ukraine’s mass exodus flooding the borders of “Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and non-EU member Moldova” on February 28. On Monday, the AP visited a temporary migrant reception center in the Hungarian village of Beregsurany — which borders western Ukraine’s Berehove Raion district — as the center accepted people traveling from Ukraine to the E.U.



“Many of the refugees at the reception center in Beregsurany, as in other border areas in Eastern Europe, are from India, Nigeria and other African countries, and were working or studying in Ukraine when the war broke out,” the news agency revealed.



“Hungary, in a turnaround from its long-standing opposition to immigration and refusal to accept refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, has opened its borders to all refugees fleeing Ukraine, including third-country nationals that can prove Ukrainian residency,” the New York City-based AP observed.



Russia’s military invaded Ukraine on the morning of February 24, prompting many Ukrainians and other people residing in Ukraine to leave the country over the past four days.



“Most of those fleeing Ukraine were entering the EU from its eastern flank, with some traveling on to countries further west,” the AP noted of the mass migration.



A woman named Aksieniia Shtimmerman is one example of a refugee who traveled further into the E.U. beyond Ukraine’s immediate border. Shtimmerman, 41, told the news agency she and her four children traveled for three days from Kyiv, Ukraine’s national capital, before arriving in Berlin, Germany, on Monday.

Continued at link

[bloodbought]

Ukraine Claims over 5,000 Russians Killed So Far


JOHN HAYWARD28 Feb 2022

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar claimed on Monday that roughly 5,300 Russian troops have been killed since the Russian assault began on February 24.



Ukraine’s state Ukrinform news service translated Maliar’s Facebook post claiming the high number of Russian casualties, plus Russia’s loss of 29 combat aircraft, 29 helicopters, 191 tanks, 816 armored fighting vehicles, and 74 artillery pieces, among other equipment captured or destroyed.



Maliar conceded these estimates were “approximate” and difficult to verify while combat is still ongoing. She said her ministry is receiving data from the battlefield “the next day,” and sometimes a day later.



Armed Forces Ukraine made a similar claim of casualties and equipment destroyed on Twitter, presumably relying on the same data as the deputy defense minister.



Kharkiv Mayor Oleh Sinegubov claimed on Sunday night that Ukrainian forces repelled a major offensive and completely wiped out the invading force, capturing dozens of Russian troops and their equipment.



“Control of Kharkiv is completely ours” after Ukrainian forces completed “a full clearing of the city of the enemy,” said Sinegubov.



The Russian military made its first admission of casualties on Sunday, although it did not offer any numbers of dead and wounded, or an inventory of equipment captured or destroyed by the Ukrainians.



Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov acknowledged “there are dead and wounded among our comrades,” but insisted Russia’s losses are “many times” smaller than casualties suffered by the Ukrainians.



Konashenkov saluted the “courage and heroism” of Russian forces and claimed the Ukrainians are torturing their prisoners, an offense he vowed to avenge.



“All faces, voices, phones, their coordinates, IP addresses, as well as correspondence of all Ukrainian Nazis involved in the torture of our comrades have been recorded and identified. This also applies to the leaders of the Kyiv regime and their perpetrators, who directly call for bullying of Russian servicemen in violation of the convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. All of you will be found and will inevitably bear severe responsibility,” he said.



Konashenkov claimed Russian forces have destroyed 254 Ukrainian tanks and armored fighting vehicles, 31 combat aircraft, 46 rocket launchers, and 103 artillery pieces.



“Just today, 7 anti-aircraft missile systems were destroyed, including one S-300 near the city of Kramatorsk,” he said.



Outside observers have not been able to confirm either Ukrainian or Russian claims. At a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) briefing on Sunday, senior American military officials said the Ukrainians are putting up “stiff resistance,” while Russia is facing “fuel and logistics shortages,” especially in their attack on the vital Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and their drive to reach the capital of Kyiv.



“We still, as of this morning, have no indication that the Russian military has taken control of any cities,” DoD said, contradicting Russian claims to the contrary.



“The airspace over Ukraine is still contested. And that means that the Ukrainians are still using both aircraft, and their own air and missile defense systems, which we believe are still intact and still viable,” DoD noted, lending some credibility to Ukrainian claims of destroying Russian planes and missile launchers.



U.S. officials offered some interesting observations on Russia’s heavy reliance on short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), noting that over 320 have been launched against targets in Ukraine – possibly the heaviest SRBM cross-border bombardment in history – but the effect on Ukrainian defenses seems considerably less than Russia anticipated. The Russians are therefore adopting “siege tactics” around Ukrainian cities, which could create a humanitarian crisis.

Continued at link

[maybetoday]

Developing: 40 Kilometer-Long Russian Convoy of Trucks and Tanks Is Heading towards Kiev, Ukraine

By Jim Hoft

Published February 28, 2022 at 8:53pm




Ukraine claimed on Monday night that a Russian convoy leading up to Kyiv is 40 kilometers long.



Ukraine also claimed that 352 civilians have died in the Russian Military operation which has today entered into the sixth day. Negotiations between the delegates of both countries began on Monday and are still on.



FOX News discussed the Russian advance on Ukraine this evening.

Video at link

[Midnight]

Russian Troops Reportedly Capture Several High-End NATO Weapons in Ukraine

NATO exists to further the corruption of the banking elite....



(National File) Russian troops appear to have captured several NATO-supplied anti-tank weapons as they continue to advance through Eastern Ukraine. On Sunday, troops from the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) — with support from Russian forces — captured a handful of U.S. made SMAW-D anti-tank weapons, which were supplied to Ukraine as part of a lethal aid package last year.

[Midnight]

Snake Island Ukrainian Soldiers Feared Dead Still Alive: Surrendered to Russian Forces



The group of Ukrainian troops were defending Snake Island in the Black Sea when they were approached by a Russian warship, and were believed to have been killed. File Photo courtesy Фотонак/WikimediaUPI/Wikimedia

PAUL BOIS1 Mar 20228

2:10

The famous Ukrainian Snake Island soldiers who reportedly fought to the last man after telling a Russian warship to “go f**k yourself” actually surrendered and were captured alive.



During the invasion of Ukraine by Russia last week, a popular story that quickly went viral pertained to Snake Island and the 13 soldiers who valiantly fought and died there, as Breitbart News reported.



However, the Ukrainian Navy confirmed on Monday the story was only partly true and had a very different ending to that first reported.



“We are very happy to learn that our brothers are alive and well with them!” the Ukrainian Navy said.



“Illegal capture of a civilian ship – a non-combatant without performing any military mission, is a violation of the rules and customs of war, international humanitarian law,” the Ukrainian Navy added. “We demand from Russia the immediate release of illegally occupied citizens of Ukraine.”



The story went viral after the Ukrainian military lost contact with the marines and border guards on Snake Island after a Russian attack decimated the island’s infrastructure.



Continued at link

[Pink Rose]

'Putin believed he'd be received in Ukraine with flowers': Exiled oligarch suggests deluded Russian leader will be forced to WITHDRAW from his invasion to suppress uprisings at home as sanctions hammer his own citizens

Vladimir Putin ‘really believed he would be received in Ukraine with flowers’, exiled Russian oligarch claimed

Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky claimed the Russian tyrant ‘nowadays lives in his own world’

He rubbished allegations that Putin has gone made and called on the West to impose further sanctions

Khodorkovsky also predicted Russian troops would be withdrawn to quell anti-war protests and public panic

By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 04:20 EST, 1 March 2022 | UPDATED: 12:15 EST, 1 March 2022




Vladimir Putin ‘really believed he would be received in Ukraine with flowers’ when he launched the biggest war in Europe since 1945, an exiled Russian oligarch has declared.



Mikhail Khodorkovsky claimed the Russian tyrant ‘nowadays lives in his own world’ and insisted that ‘in the world he has created around him over the last 20 years he really believed he would’ be welcomed by people in the former Soviet republic as a liberator’.



Rubbishing allegations that Putin has gone ‘mad’, the former oil tycoon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Everything that is happening today, is totally unexpected [to him]’.





Khodorkovsky, who was jailed after falling foul of Putin and fled to London in 2013, also predicted that the Russian warmonger would be forced to withdraw his forces to suppress anti-war uprisings and a general public panic as his economy goes into meltdown.



He called on the West to impose further stringent sanctions on Moscow’s central bank to stop Putin’s aggression and force Russian troops out of Ukraine ‘by any available means’.



Suggesting that Putin could fall from power within three years, the exiled oligarch said: ‘I think that the West has taken a very important action. The blocking of the accounts of the central bank is, in my opinion, the only sanction which can in the short-term stop the aggression in the short term.



'But this is not enough. In this connection, the accounts of other banks and the accounts of oligarchs, who fund him and allow him to control the financial situation as previously and to maintain the momentum to continue the aggression.



‘In order not to waste this first step, all the Kremlin’s options for using currency should be blocked. People like me will be all right until the moment when matters become clearer. It is important to block all the accounts from which Putin can draw resources. One or two months do not matter, we can wait.’



He added: ‘I would never have said this before, but now, when people close to me are being killed, in Kharkiv for example, I say that Putin’s troops should be forced out of Ukraine by any available means.



‘In Ukraine he is using the same troops that he uses to suppress people in Russia. If a situation arises where currency resources in Russia are limited and people will not be able to hold out until the end of the month for their salary, and people go out into the streets, Putin will have to withdraw the troops.

Continued at the link

[Pink Rose]

Kyiv TV tower is hit by Russian bombs which also strike Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial, killing at least five after Kremlin issued chilling threat telling civilians to flee or die as military begins bombarding 'strategic' targets


Russia's ministry of defence warned civilians to evacuate as it targets intelligence services in Kyiv with strikes

Several large explosions seen around Kyiv's 1,300ft TV tower shortly afterwards, though it remained standing

The tower stands by the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site where 34,000 Jews were slaughtered in two days

40-mile long convoy of Russian tanks and armour has been spotted heading to Kyiv, as analysts warned that Putin intends to besiege it and bomb it into submission using 'medieval' tactics

Belarus has also entered the war, Ukraine claimed, with troops launching an attack on city of Chernihiv

By CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE and WIRES



PUBLISHED: 10:02 EST, 1 March 2022 | UPDATED: 12:40 EST, 1 March 2022

\
Russia has been slammed as 'barbaric' for bombing the Babyn Yar holocaust memorial in Kyiv on the site of one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Holocaust.



Explosions erupted around the capital's 1,300ft TV tower this afternoon, built by the ravine where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed by SS troops in two days in 1941 during Adolf Hitler's campaign against the Soviet Union.



At least two large blasts were seen near the foot of the tower, around three miles from central Kyiv, around 5.30pm local time. The first missile struck the TV tower but the second hit the memorial.





At least five people were killed in the latest onslaught which came just hours after Russia told civilians to evacuate because it was about to begin bombarding 'strategic' targets.



It was not immediately clear whether the tower had been the target of the strikes, or whether they had been targeting nearby buildings. The tower remained standing, but several state broadcasts went off air.



After the latest attack, Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: 'To the world: what is the point of saying "never again" for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar? At least 5 killed. History repeating…'



Meanwhile the Ukrainian foreign ministry said: 'Russian troops fired on the TV tower, near the Memorial complex #BabynYar. Russian criminals do not stop at anything in their barbarism. Russia = barbarian.'



It came shortly after Moscow's ministry of defence said it would be launching strikes into the city targeting Ukraine's security service and intelligence agencies with what it called 'precision munitions'.



That raised fears that Kyiv was about to come under heavy bombardment after the cities of Kharkiv, Mariupol and Kherson were hit by indiscriminate shelling earlier in the day.



A column of Russian artillery units and tanks 40 miles long has been pictured snaking its way towards Kyiv as analysts warned it will likely be tasked with surrounding the city, besieging it and bombing it into submission as Putin resorts to 'medieval' tactics in an attempt to force victory.



But the convoy has reportedly stalled as its forces face logistics challenges, including a shortage of food for some units, and Russians appear to be reevaluating how to move forward on the city, a senior U.S. defence official said on Tuesday.



'One reason why things appear to be stalled north of Kyiv is that the Russians themselves are regrouping and rethinking and trying to adjust to the challenges that they've had,' the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.



Meanwhile Ukraine warned that Belarus had also thrown its own soldiers into the fight with an attack on the north eastern city of Chernihiv.



Day 6 of the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II has found Russia increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have thrown its economy its disarray and left the country practically friendless, apart from China and Belarus.

Continued at the link

[Pink Rose]

President Zelensky accuses Russia of WAR CRIMES over brutal shelling of Kharkiv which saw 11 civilians killed and schools destroyed as Ukraine's ambassador to the US claims Putin dropped deadly thermobaric VACUUM BOMB during invasion


In an address last night, Zelensky said there would 'definitely be an international tribunal' against Russia

He said it had committed a 'violation of all conventions' after launching an attack on eastern city of Kharkiv

Attack with alleged cluster bombs on the city today killed at least 11 and injured 44

Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. claimed that Russia has also used a vacuum bomb during its invasion

If Russia is confirmed to have used cluster bombs it could constitute a war crime

By CHRIS PLEASANCE and HARRY HOWARD and MARK NICOL, DEFENCE EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL and NICK CRAVEN IN LVIV, UKRAINE FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 12:55 EST, 28 February 2022 | UPDATED: 06:23 EST, 1 March 2022


Ukraine's president has accused Russia of war crimes after Vladimir Putin's forces launched what were believed to be cluster and vacuum bomb attacks in an attempt to turn the tide of a conflict that they have so-far been losing.



In a late night address directed at Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky said there would 'definitely be an international tribunal' for what he said was a 'violation of all conventions' and added that 'no one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people.' Prosecutors at The Hague say they intend to open a probe 'as soon as possible.'



Zelensky spoke after what appeared to be a cluster bomb attack on the city of Kharkiv on Monday which killed at least 11 people and wounded scores more, and after Ukraine's ambassador to the US accused Putin's forces of using a banned thermobaric bomb on the capital of Kyiv overnight.





The bombardment of Kharkiv continued Tuesday morning with a rocket landing just in front of the civilian public administration building, destroying the road outside and blowing the windows out of the building itself. Footage from inside shows the building was heavily damaged, with ceilings collapsing and rubble strewn around.



Ukraine war: The latest

Russia promised on Monday that it would hit back against the EU following its support of Ukraine and warned the West against supplying weapons to the country

A second round of talks aimed at ending Russia's attack on Ukraine is set to take place after the first meeting ended without resolution

Ukraine's MoD says Russia has lost 5,300 soldiers, 29 planes, 29 helicopters and 151 tanks

Russia's MoD has for the first time acknowledged suffering losses, but refused to say how many

Ukraine reports 352 civilian deaths since the start of the invasion, including 14 children. The UN puts the civilian toll at 102, including seven children.

Russian economy entered freefall as Western sanctions put in place over the weekend took effect, with ruble sliding to its lowest level ever

Moscow's central bank has more-than doubled the interest rate to 20 per cent

Russia orders people and companies to sell 80 per cent of their revenue in foreign currencies, forcing them to buy the ruble to help prop it up

Moscow stock exchange won't open until at least 3pm in an attempt to head off all-out crash

Zelensky has allowed Ukrainian prisoners to be freed if they join defence forces to 'repay their debt'

Ukraine president also announced creation of 'international brigade' for foreign volunteers wishing to join military, after 'thousands' applied

Spain's foreign minister called Putin's order to put nuclear forces on high alert 'one more sign of [his] absolute irrationality'

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his country should be open to hosting nuclear weapons

Germany announced a $112million fund to rebuild the country's armed forces, more-than double its current self-defence budget

EU announced, for the first time in its history, that it will send funds to Ukraine for weapons - including fighter jets





It came as Russia's invasion of Ukraine - which met with heavy defeat in its initial plan to seize key targets and infrastructure in precision strikes - entered a new phase, with the aim seemingly to surround and besiege cities such as Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy and Kherson which have so-far put up fierce resistance - and bomb them into submission using indiscriminate weapons in echoes of tactics Russia used against rebel forces in Syria while fighting alongside dictator Bashar al-Assad.



Fears that Kyiv will be hard-hit have been growing and reached new heights on Tuesday as satellite images revealed a column of Russian vehicles heading towards the capital is actually 40 miles long, as opposed to the 4 miles that were reported on Monday.



The most-advanced units in the column are now just 15 miles from the city, having been significantly slowed by Ukrainian resistance but never-the-less inching closer day by day. Russia's plan appears to be using the heavy armour to encircle and shell the city, before troops move in for street-to-street fighting.



A taste of what was to come struck Kharkiv on Monday when bombs rained down on the most Russia-friendly city in Ukraine – which sits 25 miles from the border and is home to 1.5million people – in a bid to break its will to resist.


Continued at the link

[schwartzie]

Putin Sends in His Private Militia to Assassinate Ukraine’s President and Other Government Officials

By Amber Crawford | Feb 28, 2022


Reports have indicated that more than 400 mercenaries from the barbarous, Russian-backed Wagner Group have been deployed to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with the mission of assassinating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other government leaders.



The Wagner Group, which was supposedly flown in five weeks ago, is reported to have a hit list of 23 prominent figures, including President Zelensky, Ukraine’s prime minister, the cabinet, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother, Wladimir, who both have joined the military fight against the Russian forces.



However, according to a senior US defense official, the reconnaissance forces in Kyiv are not confirmed to have been ordered to assassinate Zelensky.



The Wagner Group was founded by Dmitry Utkiny, a former member of the Russian intelligence agency, GRU. It is reportedly owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, one of Putin’s closest allies.



Prigozhin has acquired the nickname “Putin’s chef” because he runs a catering business that provides its services to the Kremlin.

Continued at link

[maybetoday]

From Amir Tsarfati's Telegram Page:

The miles long Russian convoy that is making its way to Kiev is pretty much stuck without fuel for vehicles and other essential supplies. This is why I fear that the blitz from the air will start very soon.
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Ukrainian ZN newspaper reports Russian demands in the peace talks held in Belarus:

1. neutral status of Ukraine

2. recognition of separatist republics in Donbass within borders of Donetsk & Lugansk regions

3. "denazification"

4. Status quo of Crimea
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The Putin-backed president of Belarus Lukashenko, has warned that World War III could be about to begin as he reportedly prepares his troops to assist with Russia’s mass-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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The map of Ukraine presented by Belarusian President Lukashenko during a Security Council Meeting shows possibility of amphibious assault on Odessa and another front that could open up from the Moldovan breakaway republic of Transnistria.
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Putin and Iran works in the same modus operandi - when you have countries that aren’t on your side, create in them areas with people loyal to you and use them in times of war to work on your behalf.

Donbas from the east and Transnistria from the west in Ukrainian’s case.

Iran did the same in Lebanon with Hezbollah, in Yemen with the Houthis and in Iraq with Hashd-Al Shaabi.
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Over half a million Ukrainians fled out of their country in the last 5 days. The millions that were left behind are either stuck in homes or in an underground metro station with little to no food.

Millions of children are traumatized as powerful bombs fall literally all around.

Remember that next time you watch on social media a spoiled American sipping from his coffee mug while inside his car telling you that praying for Ukraine is overrated.

What happened to us Christians?

I know what war is. I also know the power of prayer.
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The second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv, is falling right now into the hands of the Russian army.

[maybetoday]

Putin's losses grow even heavier as Kyiv says 5,700 invading troops have been killed and 200 captured while nearly 200 tanks and 850 armoured vehicles have been destroyed

Ukraine claims its forces have inflicted heavy losses on advancing Russian units

Russia has reportedly lost 5,710 personnel, along with 29 aircraft and 198 tanks

Russian authorities meanwhile refused to release a death toll for their forces

But they say it is far lower than the figures being touted by Ukrainian sources

Russia's invasion forces have stalled amid fierce resistance on the ground

But Putin began a bombing campaign of Kyiv and Kharkiv yesterday, which has seen the civilian death toll rise significantly

By DAVID AVERRE FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 06:51 EST, 1 March 2022 | UPDATED: 07:04 EST, 1 March 2022


Ukrainian forces have inflicted heavy losses on advancing Russian forces as bitter fighting in Ukraine enters its sixth day, according to a spokesperson for the nation's general staff.



Ukraine claimed that Russian forces have lost 5,710 personnel in the fighting thus far, along with 29 aircraft, 198 tanks and 846 armoured vehicles which were either destroyed or significantly damaged - though these figures cannot be verified.



Moscow acknowledged for the first time yesterday that its forces had incurred losses amid the invasion but have refused to give concrete figures, stating only that the numbers are far lower than those given by Ukraine.





Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russian forces had dealt significant damage to Ukrainian defences in kind.



'A total of 311 tanks and other armoured military vehicles, 42 airplanes and helicopters, 51 multiple launch rocket systems, 147 field artillery weapons and mortars, and 263 specialised military vehicles have been destroyed,' he said.



Russia's invasion - which met with heavy defeat in its initial plan to seize key targets and infrastructure in precision strikes - entered a new phase yesterday, with the aim seemingly to surround and bombard cities such as Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy and Kherson.



Ukrainian army units and civilian defence forces have put up fierce resistance and have stalled the Russian onslaught on the ground for now, prompting Putin to launch an indiscriminate bombing campaign of Ukraine's two largest cities - Kyiv and Kharkiv.



The civilian death toll has increased significantly in the past two days since Russia began its bombardment, with Ukrainian authorities reporting 352 civilian deaths since the start of the invasion, including 14 children.

Continued at link

[maybetoday]

Revealed: The tearful Ukrainian campaigner who broke down as she confronted Boris is an American-educated anti-corruption chief who fled Kyiv but has family still stuck in under-siege capital

Daria Kaleniuk called for tougher sanctions on Russia during Poland press talk with Boris Johnson

The founder and executive director of Anti-Corruption Action Center berated the PM during press talk

She tearfully said Ukrainian children were 'taking the hit' for NATO inaction and called for a no fly zone

Mr Johnson also accused Putin of 'barbaric and indiscriminate' tactics and urged 'maximum pressure'

PM is on a trip to Poland and Estonia on latest diplomatic mission against Russia's aggression in Ukraine

Mr Johnson suggested that more than 200,000 refugees could end up coming to the UK from Ukraine

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Putin has 'blood on his hands' in speech to the UN Human Rights body

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE and JAMES ROBINSON FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 03:05 EST, 1 March 2022 | UPDATED: 14:46 EST, 1 March 2022


Ukraine war: The latest

Russian army tells citizens in Kyiv they can 'freely leave' as it hints of attacks on civilian areas

Russian forces shell Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, killing at least 11 civilians in residential areas

Russian forces reach the southern city of Kherson near Moscow-controlled Crimea

Kyiv says 352 civilians have been killed, including 14 children, since the invasion began last Thursday

Nearly 520,000 people have fled Ukraine in the last five days, the UN's refugee agency says,

International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan says he is investigating the 'situation in Ukraine', saying there is a 'reasonable basis' to believe 'war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed'

Turkey blocks warships from the Bosphorus and Dardanelles strait, limiting the movement of Russian and other naval assets by invoking a 1936 treaty

Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia end a first round of talks with no breakthrough. Both sides agree to conduct a second round 'soon'

In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin demands 'demilitarisation and denazification' of Ukraine

Head of UN's atomic watchdog 'gravely concern' that invading Russian troops are operating close to Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's largest nuclear power station

Twitter and Facebook move to curb the online presence of Russian state-linked news outlets

Russia is expelled from the 2022 World Cup and its teams suspended from all international football competitions 'until further notice'

International Olympic Committee urges sports federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes

US moves to expel 12 members of Russia's UN mission from America for being 'intelligence operatives'

US and Canada ban all transactions with Russia's central bank in an unprecedented sanction. EU adds more Putin allies to its sanctions blacklist

Putin orders emergency capital controls and forces exporters to buy rubles to prop up his currency, which plunges by a fifth, reaching record lows.

Lawmakers in traditionally non-aligned Finland - which has a long border with Russia - are to debate NATO membership

Disney and Sony Pictures stop the release of their films in Russian cinemas because of its invasion of Ukraine

The woman who broke down in tears as she demanded Boris Johnson tighten UK sanctions against Russia is a high-profile Ukrainian campaigner who helped establish the country's anti-corruption court.



Daria Kaleniuk's voice began to crack as she urged the Prime Minister to impose tougher sanctions on Russia and its oligarchs following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.



During a press conference in Poland, where Mr Johnson is visiting today ahead of talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Ms Kaleniuk said Ukrainian children were 'taking the hit' because of the refusal of NATO to get involved in the conflict.



She also urged the Prime Minister to get tough on Russian billionaires such as Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and their families, including Vladimir Putin's, who she said were safe 'in mansions' while Ukrainian children were hiding in bomb shelters.



Mr Abramovich vehemently denies he is close to the Kremlin or has done anything that would merit sanctions being imposed against him.



Breaking into tears as she talked, Ms Kaleniuk, who said she recently fled her home in Kyiv, where many of her family and colleagues remain, she told the Prime Minister: 'These are Ukrainian children who are there taking the hit.



'You're talking about more sanctions Prime Minister but Roman Abramovich is not sanctioned.



'His children are not in the bombardments. His children are there in London. Putin's children are in Netherlands, in Germany, in mansions, where all these mentioned seized? I don't see that.



'I see that my family members, that my team members, I'd say that we crying. We don't know where to run. This is what is happening Prime Minister.'



Ms Kaleniuk, believed to be a mother-of-two, is the co-founder and executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), an organisation that has shaped Ukraine's anti-corruption legislation



After listening in awkward silence, Mr Johnson replied that he was doing what he could, but 'cannot pretend' that the West will step in militarily.



'Unfortunately the implication of that would be that the UK would be engaged in shooting down Russian planes, engaged in direct combat with Russia, that's not something we can do,' he said.





The confrontation came after Mr Johnson accused Mr Putin of using 'barbaric and indiscriminate tactics' against innocent Ukrainian civilians.



As the invading forces escalated their attacks with harrowing pictures of children falling victim to the violence, he warned that the world was witnessing an 'unfolding disaster'.



The UN says at least 136 civilians have been killed so far, including 13 children, and hundreds more injured.

Continued at link

[maybetoday]

Mastercard and Visa cut off Russian banks from their networks: Exodus of foreign firms plunges Russia's economy into freefall as ruble hits record low and Moscow residents continue scramble for hard currency

Visa and Mastercard have blocked multiple Russian banks from their network

It means that many Russians awoke Tuesday unable to use their bank cards

Everyday Russians have been making runs on banks to withdraw cash

The ruble has plunged in value amid punishing Western sanctions

Scores of companies are pulling out of Russia in response to Ukraine invasion

By KEITH GRIFFITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and REUTERS



PUBLISHED: 10:53 EST, 1 March 2022 | UPDATED: 10:54 EST, 1 March 2022




Visa and Mastercard are the latest Western companies to cut off or curtail their business activities in Russia following punishing sanctions that have sent the Russian economy into freefall.



The two payment network giants said on Monday they had blocked multiple Russian financial institutions from their network, complying with government sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.



It meant that many Russians awoke on Tuesday unable to use some of their credit or debit cards, confirming fears that had led to huge bank runs over the weekend as everyday Russians rushed to withdraw cash.





Queues of people snaked through Moscow shopping malls again on Tuesday as the scramble for hard currency continued.



Some Moscow residents waited for hours, only to find that automatic tellers were empty or carried only rubles, which hit a record low on international exchanges on Monday before recovering slightly.



Russian assets continued their freefall on Tuesday with the Ishares MSCI Russia ETF dropping 50 percent in the past week and Russia's biggest lender, Sberbank, plunging 85 percent since the invasion as investors raced for the exit.



Russia said on Tuesday it was placing temporary curbs on foreigners seeking to exit Russian assets, attempting to put the brakes on an accelerating investor exodus.



An increasing number of Western companies are voluntarily pulling out of Russia, with movie studios suspending releases, energy firms divesting, and sports bodies cancelling competitions.

Continued at link

[ShofarSoGood]

[Pink Rose]

'We were sent as cannon fodder. We're killing peaceful people': Weeping Russian POWs say they had no idea they were being sent to war and were made ‘to attack people defending their territory’


Russian troops captured by Ukrainian forces in opening days of war described themselves as 'cannon fodder'

Crying soldiers said they were not told they were going to attack 'peaceful people defending their territory'

Comes after Putin's troops suffered a number of embarrassing defeats in the opening stages of the conflict

But Russia is now rearming and adjusting before a bloody 'second phase' to overcome Ukrainian defenders

Click here for MailOnline's liveblog with the latest updates on the Ukraine crisis

By LAUREN LEWIS FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 05:58 EST, 2 March 2022 | UPDATED: 10:34 EST, 2 March 2022




Weeping Russian prisoners of war have said they had no idea they were being sent to invade Ukraine and were used like 'cannon fodder' by commanders who threw them into battle against 'peaceful people defending their territory' after Vladimir Putin's forces took heavy losses in the opening days of the conflict.



Ukraine war: The latest

Russian paratroopers land in Ukraine's second city amid heavy fighting

'There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit': Interior Ministry official

Joe Biden brands Vladimir Putin a 'dictator' in his annual State of the Union address as he bans Russian aircraft from US airspace

Russia steps up its bombing campaign and missile strikes, hitting Kyiv's main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital

Russian forces push into the besieged Black Sea city of Kherson in the south

Russian attacks leave Mariupol, another Black Sea port further to the west without electricity

More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN's refugee agency says

The UN's International Court of Justice says it will hold public hearings on March 7 and 8 over Ukraine's allegations of 'genocide' by Russia

Russia blocks an independent television channel and a liberal radio station, tightening a virtual media blackout

A string of Western companies announce they are freezing or scaling back business with Russia

Russians race to withdraw cash after the introduction of capital controls and as the ruble hits record lows

Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 goes insolvent after Germany halts the pipeline following Moscow's invasion

Oil prices soar past $110 a barrel, despite agreements to release 60 million barrels from stockpiles

The World Bank prepares a $3-billion aid package for Ukraine, including $350 million in immediate funds

'This is not our war. Mothers and wives, collect your husbands. There is no need to be here,' an injured soldier sat in front of a Ukrainian flag was filmed saying. Other footage showed handcuffed Russian prisoner crying, while saying: 'They don't even pick up the corpses, there are no funerals'.



Ukraine says Russia has lost 5,840 soldiers in the opening days of the conflict - some of its fastest losses since the Second World War, if the figure proves accurate - with Putin's men suffering a series of embarrassing defeats as they tried to pull off a quick victory but instead met with stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces.



Russia's advance has since slowed to a crawl as commanders regroup, change strategy, and renew their assault in what is now expected to become an increasingly bloody war of resources with Kyiv's men facing overwhelming odds. The Ministry of Defence said Russia had renewed the fight on 'all fronts' Wednesday and 'suffered losses'.



Kherson, an important port city in Ukraine's south, appeared to be an early casualty as Russian tanks occupied the city centre overnight and then began arriving in numbers. Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, also came under heavy bombardment in the early hours as paratroopers dropped in, sparking gunfights near a military hospital.



Mariupol, another key port city in Ukraine's south, is also reported to be under heavy bombardment as Russian forces attempt to encircle it. If the city falls then Putin's men are expected to push northwards, trying to encircle Ukrainian forces fighting near Donetsk and force them to surrender.





While both US and Ukrainian intelligence believes morale within the Russian ranks is low, Putin and his commanders have showed no sign they are about to give up the fight - and have instead vowed to press even harder to try and capture key objectives.



Sergey Shoigu, the country's defence minister, said on Tuesday that they offensive would keep going until all objectives had been completed - which he said was the removal of threats to Russia by the West.



Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is trying to erase Ukraine and its people as Vladimir Putin's invasion entered its seventh day today with renewed attacks on all fronts including an expected assault on the city which houses Europe's largest nuclear power plant.



Zelensky, who has become a symbol of Ukrainian defiance and courage since the war began, told his people today that Russians 'know nothing about our capital. About our history. But they have an order to erase our history. Erase our country. Erase us all.'


Continued at the link

[Pink Rose]

RUSSIA-UKRAINE LIVE: Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko vows 'we will fight' after more Russian airstrikes, China offers to hold peace talks, Ukraine says 2,000 civilians dead and UN reports 874,000 had fled since war broke out

'Russia wants to erase us all': Zelensky offers grim warning as paratroopers attack Kharkiv and officials warn 'Putin's madness' risks 'nuclear catastrophe' as Ukrainians defend Europe's biggest atomic plant

Russia's foreign minister warns: 'A third world war will be NUCLEAR and destructive'

Kyiv holds its breath as Putin prepares to lay siege: Defiant mayor Vitali Klitschko vows 'we will fight' after Russian airstrikes battered the capital and other cities come under attack

Roman Abramovich puts Chelsea up for sale through a US bank and wants £3BILLION, with focus on finding an American tycoon buyer, after Swiss medical magnate confirmed he's among those in talks

Get the latest breaking news and updates from Russia's invasion of Ukraine

By MARK DUELL FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 02:29 EST, 2 March 2022 | UPDATED: 11:25 EST, 2 March 2022



Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko today warned Russian forces were 'getting closer' to Ukraine’s capital after a rocket strike on a TV tower killed five people.



Fears are growing Russia could intensify bombing on the Ukrainian capital with a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other military vehicles amassed on its outskirts.



Russia has also renewed its assault on Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv in a pounding that lit up the skyline with balls of fire over populated areas.





Both sides have said they are ready to resume talks aimed at stopping the war in eastern Europe, with China appearing to offer to mediate ceasefire negotiations.



Seven days in, roughly 874,000 people have fled Ukraine according to the UN and Ukraine's State Emergency Service said more than 2,000 civilians have died.





About 80 per cent of Russia's invasion force are now said to be in Ukraine, with as many as 15,000 troops - an entire Russian army division - bearing down on Kyiv.



Britain has ruled out Nato policing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, while the Foreign Office is expected to announce further financial sanctions on Moscow banks.



And Joe Biden warned Russia that Vladimir Putin 'has no idea what's coming' as he accused the country of 'underestimating' western allies and Ukrainian people.



Here, follow MailOnline's liveblog for all the updates on the crisis in Ukraine today:

Continued at the link

[Honoria]

"Full scale genocide' unfolds in Mariupol where mayor says '15 hours of shelling' has left 'hundreds dead': Putin steps up attacks on cities as terrifying video captures Ukrainian cheating death when missile slams into tower block


Russia has renewed its attack on Ukraine today, with military saying that fighting is underway 'on all fronts'

Mariupol, in the south, has been under bombardment non-stop for 15 hours with 'hundreds' dead, official said

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, has come under renewed bombing as video captures building being blown up

Kherson, also in the south, had been overrun by Putin's forces which also surrounded a nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia amid reports they had opened fire on civilian guards

Click here for MailOnline's liveblog with the latest updates on the Ukraine crisis

By CHRIS PLEASANCE and TOM PYMAN FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 01:13 EST, 2 March 2022 | UPDATED: 16:31 EST, 2 March 2022



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Russia has today stepped up its attacks on Ukraine's major cities as officials in Mariupol said a 'full-scale genocide' was underway as Putin's men unleashed a 15-hour artillery barrage while Kharkiv also came under heavy bombardment in a dark sign of what could be to come in the capital Kyiv.



Mariupol, located in the south of Ukraine on the Black Sea, has been surrounded by Russian forces and struck by artillery in an apparent attempt to bomb the city into submission as Putin's men resort to 'medieval' tactics. Sergiy Orlov, the deputy mayor, said entire districts had been levelled with such heavy barrages that medics cannot get in to retrieve the dead.



'We are near to a humanitarian catastrophe,' he said. 'Russian forces are several kilometers away on all sides,' he added. 'The Ukrainian army is brave and they will continue to defend the city, but Russia does not fight with their army, they just destroy districts... We are in a terrible situation.'





Meanwhile Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, came under heavy barrage in the early hours as Russian troops try to surround and seize it after days of fighting - with a rocket slamming into a university building and police station in the early hours before the city council was also struck, with one of the explosions caught in a dramatic video.



The bombardment gives a dark taste of what is likely to come for other cities such as Kyiv after analysts warned Russia's military - having suffered heavy losses trying to pull off ambitious precision strikes - was likely to resort to surrounding cities and bombing them into submission to force a bloody victory.



Ukraine war: The latest

Russian paratroopers land in Ukraine's second city amid heavy fighting

'There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit': Interior Ministry official

Joe Biden brands Vladimir Putin a 'dictator' in his annual State of the Union address as he bans Russian aircraft from US airspace

Russia steps up its bombing campaign and missile strikes, hitting Kyiv's main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital

Russian forces push into the besieged Black Sea city of Kherson in the south

Russian attacks leave Mariupol, another Black Sea port further to the west without electricity

More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN's refugee agency says

The UN's International Court of Justice says it will hold public hearings on March 7 and 8 over Ukraine's allegations of 'genocide' by Russia

Russia blocks an independent television channel and a liberal radio station, tightening a virtual media blackout

A string of Western companies announce they are freezing or scaling back business with Russia

Russians race to withdraw cash after the introduction of capital controls and as the ruble hits record lows

Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 goes insolvent after Germany halts the pipeline following Moscow's invasion

Oil prices soar past $110 a barrel, despite agreements to release 60 million barrels from stockpiles

The World Bank prepares a $3-billion aid package for Ukraine, including $350 million in immediate funds

Ukraine's emergency services estimate that 2,000 civilians have been killed so-far during Russia's invasion, though that figure is likely to be an under-count once Wednesday's figures are tallied.



If Mariupol falls, then thousands of Ukrainian troops dug into trenches along the old frontline in Donetsk are at risk of being surrounded next. Chernihiv, in the north east, and Sumy, in the east, face similar fates - as does the town of Konotop with residents today given the ultimatum of 'surrender or be destroyed'.



Against that backdrop, the two sides are expected to meet on the Belarus border today for more peace talks, with a ceasefire on the table - Russia says - provided its goals of banning Ukraine from NATO and the total demilitarisation of the country are achieved.



Kherson, a strategic port city in the south of Ukraine, has also been surrounded but appeared to have fallen to Russian forces on Wednesday without being heavily bombed. Russian troops and tanks were seen going street-to-street in the city centre, though the mayor suggested some key buildings were still under government control.



Russian forces had also surrounded Zaporizhzhia, home to Europe's largest nuclear power plant, amid reports that soldiers had attacked civilian checkpoints set up around the facility to try and keep it safe. Ukraine's interior ministry had warned of a 'nuclear catastrophe' if it was hit.



'An accident can happen like at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Russian generals - think again! Radiation does not know nationalities, does not spare anyone,' an adviser to the country's interior minister said.



In Zhytomyr, a city to the west of Kyiv, airstrikes hit the headquarters of the 95th Ukrainian armed forces brigade while also damaging a hospital, leaving two people dead. The city of Bila Tserkva, some 50 miles south of Kyiv, was also hit overnight.



Meanwhile Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned that - if a Third World War were to begin in Europe - it would be 'nuclear and destructive' in a thinly veiled threat for NATO not to get involved in Ukraine.



Ukraine's armed forces said Wednesday morning that Russia is 'trying to advance in all directions' but are 'being resisted everywhere and suffering losses'. It estimates that 5,840 Russian troops have been killed so far - though that figure cannot be verified.



Despite the near-universal condemnation of the war internationally, a new state poll in Russia taken over the weekend showed support for Putin has risen from around 60 per cent to 70 per cent since the week before.



Russia also launched a recruitment drive for more mercenary soldiers in state media, with newspaper Novaya Gazeta running adverts offering soldiers-for-hire £1,760 a month in a drive for the 'recruitment of people for protection in the near abroad'.



As the fighting continued today, both sides said they are ready to resume talks aimed at stopping the new devastating war in Europe. It was not clear when new talks might take place - or what they would yield. Ukraine's leader earlier said Russia must stop bombing before another meeting.



Seven days into the war, roughly 874,000 people have fled Ukraine and the UN refugee agency warned the number could cross the one million mark soon. The overall death toll was not clear, but Ukraine's State Emergency Service said more than 2,000 civilians have died. It was impossible to verify that claim.



Countless others have taken shelter underground as Russia continues its bombardment.



Another attack came on Wednesday on Kharkiv, a city with a population of about 1.5 million, and a reported strike on a hospital in the country's north. A 40-mile convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on the capital of Kyiv, while Russian forces pressed their assault on the strategic southern city of Kherson.

Full story with pictures and video at link

[Honoria]

Moscow admits nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and 1,600 more injured since invading Ukraine as pictures show charred remains of Russian convoy blown to pieces by Ukrainian resistance near Kyiv

The figures, released today, come days after Russia claimed it had not suffered any casualties in the war

They are also far lower than the figures released by Ukrainian authorities on Russian casualties in Ukraine

Pictures have emerged from the streets of Ukraine showing the smouldering wrecks of Russian tanks

Well-armed Ukrainian soldiers have wreaked havoc on the invaders' vehicles and destroyed entire convoys

Images from Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv show an road littered with burnt-out vehicles and piles of debris

Ukraine claims its forces have inflicted heavy losses on advancing Russian units with up to 5,840 killed

Armed Forces general staff also claimed its soldiers destroyed 61 aircraft, over 200 tanks and 862 vehicles

Russian authorities meanwhile refused to release a death toll but they say it is far lower than Ukraine claims

Russia's invasion forces have stalled amid fierce resistance from Ukrainian defences in recent days

But Putin began a bombing campaign of Kyiv and Kharkiv on Monday which has extended to other locations

Click here for MailOnline's liveblog with the latest updates on the Ukraine crisis

By DAVID AVERRE FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 08:29 EST, 2 March 2022 | UPDATED: 22:05 EST, 2 March 2022



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Moscow has admitted that nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and 1,600 more have been injured in its first report of casualties from fighting since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's savage invasion of Ukraine.



The figures, released on Wednesday, come days after Russia claimed it had not suffered any casualties in the war.



The Kremlin has engaged in a propaganda campaign designed to favourably mould the narrative through state-owned media channels, but has insisted its losses are considerably lower than the figures offered by Ukraine.





Ukrainian authorities have said more than 5,800 Russian soldiers have been killed in the last week as the country mounts a fierce resistance against Putin's forces.



Speaking today, spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said 498 Russian troops have been killed and 1,597 more sustained wounds.



Konashenkov rejected reports about 'incalculable losses' of the Russians as 'disinformation' and revealed Russia's military casualties in Ukraine for the first time since the start of the attack last Thursday. He assured that families of those killed are receiving all necessary assistance.



The Russian general also claimed that neither conscripts, nor cadets have been involved in the operation in Ukraine, dismissing media reports alleging otherwise. The is despite a number of prisoners of war being captured by Ukraine's forces and shown to be young men - some barely into adulthood.



The report came after Ukraine's armed forces announced that they have killed 5,840 Russian troops since the beginning of the invasion - updating its tally that has been consistently published since the war began.



The general staff claimed Ukrainian soldiers had also destroyed 61 aircraft, over 200 tanks, 862 armoured vehicles, 85 artillery systems, nine anti-aircraft systems, 60 fuel tanks and had seized 40 Russian rocket launchers via a Facebook post. These statistics could not be independently verified.



Earlier today, pictures emerged from the streets of Ukraine showing the smouldering wrecks of Russian tanks destroyed amid brutal urban fighting as Putin's invasion of his neighbour continues.



Huge convoys of Russian armour have rumbled into several Ukrainian cities, only to be met with defiance and well-armed troops using a mixture of their own and NATO-supplied anti-tank weapons to wreak havoc on the invaders.

Full story with pictures at link

[ShofarSoGood]

Ukraine’s Secret Weapon Against Russia: Turkish Drones

Billy Perrigo

Tue, March 1, 2022, 3:40 PMA


In a video that went viral on Twitter Sunday night, a massive explosion rips through what appears to be a Russian convoy, scoring a direct hit on a surface-to-air missile system.



The black-and-white footage, posted to the account of the Ukrainian armed forces, is one of several that have emerged on social media in recent days showing the devastating impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian hardware. As the drone’s payload explodes in the video—which appears to be a cellphone recording of a screen in a Ukrainian drone facility—people at the facility can be heard gasping in awe before breaking out in cheers and applause.



The video racked up more than 3 million views on Twitter in two days. “Have fear, enemies! There will be no peace for you on our earth!” the Ukrainian armed forces wrote in the video’s caption.



The star of this video and others circulating on Twitter is the Bayraktar TB2 – a type of Turkish drone that the Ukrainian military has increasingly deployed against Russian forces in recent days. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian military said that Bayraktar drones had destroyed one tank and two surface-to-air missile systems overnight. In other videos shared on Twitter, Bayraktar drones, in use by the military since at least 2021, are shown blowing up what appears to be a Russian fuel convoy and a group of supply trucks. 


Continued at link

[Midnight]

Russian Warships & Amphibious Assault Ships Approaching Odessa

[Midnight]

$1 million bounty on Putin offered by Russian businessman

By TZVI JOFFRE - Yesterday 4:56 AM






A$1,000,000 bounty for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin was offered to military officers by Russian entrepreneur Alex Konanykhin in a post he published on social media this week, as Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine.


"I promise to pay $1,000,000 to the officer(s) who, complying with their constitutional duty, arrest(s) Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws," wrote Konanykhin on LinkedIn. "Putin is not the Russian president as he came to power as the result of a special operation of blowing up apartment buildings in Russia, then violated the Constitution by eliminating free elections and murdering his opponents."



"As an ethnic Russian and a Russian citizen, I see it as my moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia. I will continue my assistance to Ukraine in its heroic efforts to withstand the onslaught of Putin's Orda," added the businessman. Orda is the Russian word for "horde," a predatory, plundering gang.



The post was accompanied by an image with a photo of Putin and the words "Wanted: Dead or alive. Vladimir Putin for mass murder."



Konanykhin has a turbulent history with the Russian government.



According to a 1996 article in The Washington Post, Konanykhin studied at the Moscow Physics and Technical Institute before abandoning his studies and opening a student construction cooperative. He then branched out into a number of other businesses, including banking, stocks and real estate.

Continued at link

[Midnight]

Russia confronts Finland, Sweden as invasion of Ukraine enters 8th day

Air raid sirens blared throughout Ukraine overnight * At least eight Ukrainians were killed in Russian strikes overnight

By TZVI JOFFRE, REUTERS Published: MARCH 3, 2022 08:21

Updated: MARCH 3, 2022 10:41

Russia sent letters to Finland and Sweden demanding that they provide security guarantees, according to the Echo of Moscow radio station, as the Nordic countries expressed interest in joining NATO and Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its eighth day.



The liberal aligned "Echo of Moscow" radio station was taken off the air by Russian authorities on Tuesday. The board of directors of the Echo of Moscow decided to dissolve the station and its website on Thursday morning.

The Russian demands come after surveys in both Finland and Sweden showed rising public support for joining NATO and two citizens' initiatives calling on the Finnish government to hold a referendum on the matter or to join the alliance without a referendum reached the number of signatures needed to require parliament to discuss them.



The latest initiative stated that Finland must join NATO in order to fulfill its constitutional obligation to safeguard human rights.

Continued at link

[Pink Rose]

Putin's breath-taking hypocrisy: Russian dictator declares Ukrainians are 'extreme gangsters' and accuses them of using civilians as 'human shields' as his forces relentlessly bombard families' homes


Vladimir Putin has tonight denied that his troops are killing civilians or targeting cities, instead accusing Ukrainian soldiers of holding people hostage and hiding their military equipment in civilian areas

Russian leader also claimed his 'special military operation' is going on time and to schedule, despite his troops missing key objectives, suffering embarrassing defeats, and getting bogged down in fighting

It will do little to assure people the war could be over soon, but suggests Putin is rattled at level of resistance

Came just hours after he shared a call with Emmanuel Macron, vowing that Russia would fight until 'the end'

Macron said he believes 'the worst is yet to come' in Ukraine after 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin ended with his Russian counterpart declaring his goals will be achieved 'in any case'

Talks were held between Ukraine and Russian negotiators, who agreed for safety corridors to be created

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to Putin directly to sit down with him for talks

Click here for MailOnline's liveblog with the latest updates on the Ukraine crisis

By CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE



PUBLISHED: 06:16 EST, 3 March 2022 | UPDATED: 15:07 EST, 3 March 2022



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Vladimir Putin has today branded Ukrainians 'extreme gangsters', claimed their army is using civilians as 'human shields', hailed his soldiers as heroes who are fighting to save innocent lives and said his invasion is going exactly to plan and schedule in a stunning act of hypocrisy and outright denial.



The Russian leader, who eight days ago declared all-out war against Ukraine in a bid to topple its elected government and reunify it with Russia by force, denied that his troops are deliberately targeting civilians - despite reams of evidence to the contrary - and instead blamed 'neo-Nazis' holding citizens hostage.



Referring to the invasion as a 'special operation' aimed only at protecting the eastern Donbass region, he acknowledged that some Russian forces including a senior commander had died in the fighting - but claimed the officer had blown himself up in a heroic act of sacrifice while taking out several Ukrainian soldiers.





The address, one of the first Putin has made in public since announcing the start of his 'special operation' eight days ago - will do little to reassure anyone that the war is close to being over, or that Russia can be brought to the negotiating table without more blood being shed.



But it also hints that Putin is rattled as the fighting proves harder than Russian commanders anticipated, and western sanctions go harder and deeper than even European or American observers predicted. All hope of a swift victory has now been dashed, leaving Putin facing a long, bloody and expensive war to achieve his aims.



Thursday evening saw Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky call on Putin to sit down with him at the negotiating table in person. His comments came in response to a reporter's question on guarantees Ukraine can offer.



'Guarantees for what?' Zelensky fired back at the interviewer in Russian. 'We aren't attacking Russia and we have no intention of doing so. Guarantee what? We aren't in NATO. We don't have nuclear weapons. What am I supposed to say, what am I supposed to give, and to whom?



'You must understand - this is also a huge thing that everybody is talking about - what am I supposed to give? Jesus, what do you want from us?!'



In an appeal to his Russian counterpart, Zelensky said: 'Get off our land. You don't want to leave now? Then sit down with me at the negotiation table. I'm available. Sit. Just not 30 metres away like with Macron or Scholz etc. I am your neighbour. You don't need to keep me 30 metres away.



'I don't bite. I'm a normal bloke. Sit down with me and talk. What are you afraid of? We aren't threatening anyone, we're not terrorists, we aren't seizing banks and seizing foreign land.'



Ukraine's president, who has become an inspirational figure both at home and abroad for his defiance in the face of Russian aggression, also called on the West to supply planes to help his military control the skies. It came after NATO members ruled out enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine for fear of igniting World War Three.



'If you do not have the power to close the skies, then give me planes!' Zelensky told a news conference. 'If we are no more then, God forbid, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia will be next,' he said, adding that direct talks with Putin were 'the only way to stop this war'.



Zelensky - who just weeks ago sought to calm Ukrainians over US allegations that Russia was planning to invade his country - said: 'Nobody thought that in the modern world a man can behave like a beast.'



Soon after Putin's address, Ukraine announced that it has agreed with Russia to create safe corridors - backed by ceasefires - to evacuate civilians and deliver aid to areas under attack by Russian forces. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky also said the agreement had been made during talks, describing it as 'substantial progress'.



The agreement was the only tangible progress from a second round of talks between Moscow and Kyiv, according to an adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, and it was not immediately clear how they would work.



Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia said afterwards that a third round of talks on the war will be held shortly.



So far, more than one million people have fled Ukraine as Putin's armies have laid waste to key cities.



Meanwhile the Russian economy is tanking with the ruble at record lows, the stock market unable to open because it faces near-total collapse, and European countries seizing assets from billionaire oligarchs. Protests have also sprung up in Russia, coupled with high-profile political figures and celebrities calling for the war to end.



Ukraine war: The latest

Peace talks between the two sides resumed today, with negotiators meeting on the Belarus border

An agreement was made for safe corridors to be created to allow for people to evacuate cities and for aid to be delivered, both sides confirmed

Vladimir Putin called Emmanuel Macron to tell him that he has no intention of calling off the invasion, will keep going until 'the end', and may increase his demands despite suffering losses

In an appeal to his Russian counterpart, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to Putin to sit down with him in-person for negotiations

Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea

US launches 'KleptoCapture' with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club

Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian troops to come and collect their sons

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion

US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion

Just hours before the TV address, Putin had phoned Emmanuel Macron to tell the French President that he has no intention of pulling back from Ukraine or watering down his security demands, will achieve his aims 'whatever happens' and will continue fighting until 'the end'.



Macron's aides said after the call that they believe Putin intends to take the whole country, and that the 'worst is yet to come' as the Russian attacks step up, and that 'there was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us.'



Mr Macron is said to have told Putin he is making a 'major mistake' and 'lying to himself'. Macron said Russia would end up poor, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time.



'There was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us. He showed great determination to continue the operation,' Macron's aide said, before adding that Putin 'wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine'.



Putin's two statements today - the first he has made in public since announcing the start of his 'special operation' eight days ago - will do little to reassure anyone that the war is close to being over, or that Russia could be brought to the negotiating table without more blood being shed.



News that the convoy has been at least partially damaged or destroyed will come as a huge boon to the people of Kyiv, as it was feared the vehicles would be used to surround and bomb the city into submission. The Ukrainian capital is still under attack by Russian rockets and missiles, but has largely escaped the intense fire being rained down on other locations.



Perhaps the hardest-hit has been the city of Mariupol, on Ukraine's eastern Black Sea coast, which came under bombardment by Russian forces surrounding it yesterday - with the fire kept up near-continuously into today. Local officials say the city is without water, heat, or electricity, and cannot clear the dead from the streets.



Harrowing pictures revealed at least part of the civilian death toll, with a father seen weeping over the body of his son who was killed when a Russian shell destroyed his legs. Two elderly women were also pictured being evacuated from their homes and covered in blood after Russian attacks.



Despite the vicious shelling, the city still remains in the hands of Ukrainian forces - as a defiant Zelensky vowed today that Ukraine will be rebuilt with Russian money as he praised his troops' 'heroic' defence.



Kharkiv, in the east, and Chernihiv, in the north west, also remained under Ukrainian control despite coming under heavy rocket fire. Nine people died in Chernihiv after Russian rockets hit a school and nearby apartments. There were also fears the Russians were about to launch a major amphibious assault against the port city of Odessa after a large fleet of ships was spotted near Crimea in the early hours.



The Ukrainian president said that 'all lines of defence are holding' with the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mykolaiv all resisting Russian attacks. He even claimed the city of Kherson remains in Ukrainian hands, despite the mayor seeming to confirm overnight that it had been taken by Russian forces.



'They wanted to destroy us. They failed. We've been through so much. And if anyone thinks that, having overcome all this, Ukrainians will be frightened, broken or surrender, they know nothing about Ukraine,' Zelensky said, adding: 'We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word 'reparations'.



'You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian, in full.'



Separately, one of his presidential advisers said the Ukrainian army is now getting ready to launch counter-attacks on Russian forces after their initial assault on the country stalled - amid reported of fuel and food shortages, heavy casualties, and mismanagement of the operation.



'Help to us is increasing every minute and the strength of the enemy is decreasing every minute. We're not only defending but also counter-attacking,' the adviser said in a televised briefing.



President Zelensky's office said a second round of negotiations had concluded. A first round of talks on Monday ended without an agreement.



Ukraine war: City by city

Kyiv: Four large rocket strikes hit the Ukrainian capital overnight, including one which struck a train station being used to evacuate civilians , while others struck TV and radio stations.



Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet over Irpin, a satellite city of Kyiv which has come under heavy attack, in the early hours of Thursday



Kharkiv: The second-largest city in Ukraine continue to come under bombardment with pictures showing destroyed residential buildings and rubble littering the city centre.



Izyum, a city 70 miles to the south of Kharkiv towards Donetsk, also came under heavy bombardment with explosions lighting up the night sky



Chernihiv: Located to the north-west of Kyiv, the city has been the site of fierce fighting with Russian troops since the early days of the invasion



Despite being surrounded and under heavy shelling, the city remains under Ukrainian control



Mariupol: Heavy Russian shelling which began targeting the city on Wednesday continued into Thursday, with the mayor saying the bombardment is so heavy that medics can't get into the streets to rescue the dead and injured



Despite the attacks, the city remains in Ukrainian hands



Kherson: City feared captured by Russian forces after mayor says 'armed visitors' joined a local council meeting and had imposed a curfew



However, the British MoD said Thursday morning that the military situation is still 'unclear' - suggesting that Russia may not be in full control



Zaporizhzhia: Russian forces have surrounded the city and its nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe



Civilians set up road blocks around the plant to defend it, with the city's mayor saying one came under fire by Russian troops on Wednesday leaving two people hurt



Odessa: The Black Sea port city, and Ukraine's main naval base, is preparing for a Russian assault after a dozen warships were seen forming up near Crimea



Mayor said fighter jets appear to be testing air defences by flying sorties overhead, as residents prepare makeshift defences made of old railway sleepers and lay landmines on the beach



Ahead of the invasion, Washington had warned that Russia's superior forces would be able to quickly overwhelm Ukraine's 200,000-strong army - taking out air defences, achieving superiority in the skies, and then raining death down on those below.



But none of that has come to pass. Ukraine's skies remain contested, US intelligence says, while attacks have been piecemeal with troops under-supplied and not fighting in a coordinated fashion, leading to large numbers of dead along with some abandoning their vehicles which have then been captured.



'This is a colossal intelligence failure that vastly underestimated Ukrainian resistance, and military execution has been terrible,' Michael Vickers, former US Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.



'[Putin's] main attack has been underweighted. It's been piecemeal. His reconnaissance elements have been captured, columns have been destroyed,' he said. 'It's just a disaster, through and through.'



But many caution that Russia's initial failures could simply pre-sage a secondary phase of the fighting in which it uses superior numbers and force of arms to surround and bomb Ukrainian troops into submission, causing large civilian casualties.



Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, agreed with that assessment today as he issued a warning that the 'worst' is still to come as Russia switches to a 'logic of siege' with major cities in danger of being surrounded.



He spoke as Europe continued to step up its assistance to Ukraine, with Germany pledging another 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to bolster the Ukrainian defences. That comes on top of 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft weapons it has already sent, in a stunning reversal of its long-standing pledge not to supply weapons.



Kyiv has so-far escaped what observers feared would be Russian attempts to surround and bomb it into submission, after skirmishes in the outskirts led to Moscow's men being pushed back. Sight of the convoy earlier this week seemed to confirm that Putin would resort to 'siege' tactics to force a bloody victory.



But, as of Thursday morning, the convoy was near-motionless - having stalled late Monday. The exact reason is unclear, but American and British intelligence believe it is due to a combination of Ukrainian resistance and logistical problems within the convoy itself.



Reports from the ground indicate that Russian vehicles have been running out of fuel, while pictures also appear to show some vehicles have been poorly maintained and their tyres are falling apart.



A Pantsir missile system bogged down and abandoned in a muddy field lost several of its tyres when Ukrainian forces tried to tow it away, with Trent Teletenko - a former Department of Defence civil servant - wrote on Twitter that it appears Russia has failed to maintain the tyres on its vehicles properly, leaving them brittle.

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