Politics, Everyday, All day... morning, noon and night....II

[Canoe]

Guards at the Slovakian border cheer up a couple Ukrainian kids entering the country

https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/stat ... 9025209344

[Canoe]

I love the Russian people. That is why I have to tell you the truth. Please watch and share.
https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/stat ... 4199669762

Arnold Schwarzenegger's anti-war video trends on Russian social media
A video address by Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Russian people was trending on Russian Twitter on Friday and has sparked reaction.

Kremlin TV Just Declared War on… Arnold Schwarzenegger

Moscow’s mouthpieces did not take well to a recent video message from Arnold Schwarzenegger, in which he urged the Russian people to see through Putin’s web of lies on Ukraine.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-s ... arzenegger

[Canoe]

Conservative retired Appeals Court Judge Thomas Griffith, nominated by W. Bush: "Judge Jackson is independent and adjudicates based on the facts and the law, and not as a partisan. Time and again, she has demonstrated that impartiality...Her rule is simple -- follow the law."

https://twitter.com/AndrewJBates46/stat ... 9257232390

[Token]

TRIGGER WARNING

This is about a video tweet I saw a number of days ago, say a week +, on a twitter account that had been a source for me early in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It was a good source, as he showed some of what was happening on the ground (so we knew some of the what, and that it was happening), and he also reposted similar from other sources. At no time did I consider posting this video. Kept my mouth shut. And as I expected, within two days of the video tweet, the account was permanently terminated. I've been torn on disclosing what the video was that got that account permanently terminated, but to give a more complete view of the kind of crap going on in war, here is a discription of the video.

A number of video tweets had been going around showing dead Russian soldiers laying on the ground with some snow. Some claimed they had frozen to death (well bundled, some with weapon close or even in hand, no visible injuries). This video started and showed looking down on a dead Russian soldier, waist up, in full kit laying on his back in the snow. We don't know the story; common with this poster. The setting & soldier looked very familiar, so I expect I saw this dead soldier before, in the same pose, and most likely from this poster. But now there was an uneven light coating of snow on top of the soldier, up to maybe a half inch deep, including covering his face. Then the snow on his face was getting washed off. Then the yellow stream coming in from the bottom of the frame gave away how the snow was getting washed off.

Took 35 fucking years for an appropriate use of Andres Serrano in context.

[Canoe]

Took 35 fucking years for an appropriate use of Andres Serrano in context.

You win.
I never imagined anything about that video would make me laugh.

[Canoe]

A 96-year-old prisoner of Nazi concentration camps Borys Romanchenko survived Buchenwald, Peenemünde, Mittelbau-Dora and Bergen-Belsen, but was killed by a russian missile in his own apartment in Kharkiv, #Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/DariaSipigina/statu ... 1820536839

Zelenskyy references Holocaust survivor killed by Russian strike: Borys Romancheko former POW in Nazi Germany. 96 years old. survived Buchenwald. killed by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv. “every day we understand more and more what their 'de-nazification' means."

[Canoe]

Guards at the Slovakian border cheer up a couple Ukrainian kids entering the country
https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/stat ... 9025209344

same same, but different

They say smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear. Respect to the volunteers for their gesture.

https://twitter.com/ohitsbenji/status/1 ... 7217969152

They sure go for those Kinder Eggs.
(Kinder Eggs aren't allowed in the U.S.. Not allowed to have an edible product that contains a “non-nutritive object”. Sorta like when Canada came out with the gold coloured one-dollar Loonie coin, and people were hurting their teeth trying to break them open to get at the chocolate...)
.

[Poland]
Sierakowski, 2015: by rejecting refugees, PiS is stirring up a nationalist backlash (https://bit.ly/3ioc9NI)

Sierakowski, 2022: by accepting refugees, PiS is stirring up a nationalist backlash (https://bit.ly/352ZU6o)

https://twitter.com/danieltilles1/statu ... 1483738117

[Problem is, did they steal, did they steal because they're hungry & got inadequate help because they're Gypsies, or is this solely because they're Gypsies...]
Gypsies from #Kyiv were evacuated to #Lvov to steal.
Don't steal!!!

https://mobile.twitter.com/RF200_NOW/st ... 9755364358

RSF: A Ukrainian fixer working for Radio France was held in captivity and tortured for 9 days by Russian soldiers

https://twitter.com/UmarFarooq_/status/ ... 0891060225

[Canoe]

Don't know much about what will happen during Judge Jackson's confirmation, but I'm sure she won't cry and tell us she loves beer.

[Canoe]

‘Clear sign’ Putin is weighing up use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, says Biden

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... says-biden

[Canoe]

In recent days, citing Ukraine farming production & exports to the world, I've seen a number of sources talk about concerns or even predictions regarding 'food security' and outright shortages, ...

"War in Ukraine means hunger in Africa": The conflict's impact on global food security | DW News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF-SeW-ycCE

Egypt fixes price of bread as Ukraine war hits wheat supply

Commercially sold bread set at 11.50 Egyptian pounds a kilo as Russian invasion sends wheat prices soaring

The move comes after war shut off access to cheaper wheat from the Black Sea region, particularly affecting exports to the Middle East and north African region. Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer, bringing in about 60% of its grain from overseas. Russia and Ukraine accounted for 80% of the country’s imports last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... eat-supply

[Canoe]

Looks like Russian soldiers used tear gas to disperse the protest in occupied Kherson today, in addition to live fire. If so, it is a war crime and a clear violation of the 1925 Geneva protocol, ratified by Russia, that forbids the use of riot control gas by military forces..

https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1505917930621612040

[Canoe]

He is Misha, who surrendered with a T-72. Now Misha will be subject to intelligence checks, and if he is not scum, Misha will receive $10,000 after the war and possibly a Ukrainian passport.
#Russian soldiers, like Misha.

[Google translate] A Russian soldier named Misha came to the Ukrainian special forces in a tank, because he was promised a reward. He surrendered himself, handed over his equipment and is now in comfort, and is not hiding in the forest from Ukrainian hunters.

This was told by the adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Viktor Andrusiv.

According to him, for several weeks the National Police have identified phones used by Russians. These are Ukrainian numbers, to which text messages are regularly sent, how to surrender and hand over equipment.

"A few days ago, 'Misha' called us. We passed information about him to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. They determined a place for him to drive up. He drove up. They made sure from the drone that he himself was not an ambush. After that, the commandos detained him," Andrusiv said. As it turned out, the rest of the tank crew fled, and Misha was left alone, and saw no point in fighting. I couldn’t return home either, because the commander said that he would shoot and write it off for combat losses. Misha said that there was practically no food left, the command and control of the troops was chaotic and practically absent.

Now Misha has received very good conditions of detention. He will also receive $10,000 after the war and the opportunity to apply for citizenship. Until the end of the war, he will live in comfortable conditions with a TV, telephone, kitchen and shower.

"So that" the Russians surrender ". Also with equipment," summed up Viktor Andrusiv.

https://www.rbc.ua/rus/styler/rossiyski ... 40801.html

https://twitter.com/RF200_NOW/status/15 ... 2020186116

[Canoe]

For the second day in a row Russian troops appear to have used tear gas to disperse a peaceful protest by Ukrainians in the occupied city of Kherson.
The Russian forces are becoming more violent trying to break the resistance there.

https://twitter.com/Reevellp/status/1506271504006361094

A Russian court has found Alexey Navalny guilty of fraud in a new political trial. Prosecutors have asked for 13 years in a prison camp.

The Russian judge has sentenced Alexey Navalny to 9 years in a prison camp.

Unbelievable. Russian police have now also detained Alexey Navalny's lawyers after his sentencing to 9 years. They were giving post-court statements to the media outside the prison when police accused them of interfering with the work of the facility and took them away.

https://twitter.com/Reevellp/status/1506259637217243141

we need to say that this is not our war that mr putin is trying to say it's a war in the name of the russians

Who is Alexei Navalny?
Frustrated with the corruption in the Russian government, Navalny co-founded the Russia of the Future party nearly a decade ago to oppose President Vladimir Putin's United Russia. He amassed a major following on social media, and has been arrested multiple times during anti-government protests. In August 2020, Navalny was the target of suspected assassination attempt when he was poisoned with Novichok nerve agent. He spent a month recovering in a Berlin hospital. Since his arrest, many of his closest allies have left Russia after facing multiple criminal charges. His Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of nearly 40 regional offices were outlawed as "extremist" and Navalny has been added to an official list of terrorists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGaS5Oa2dg DW

[Canoe]

There's a WILD situation in Georgia, where judges at risk of losing an election can say they're resigning many months from now—and that cancels the election, pulls the rug out from challengers, & allows the Gov to install a justice while skipping voters!

https://twitter.com/Taniel/status/1506047212828209154

[Canoe]

"Putin is taking action against people from the apparatus whom he knows personally": he expected police action in Ukraine rather than war - now Putin is disappointed and the secret service agents have to pay for it, ... First his anger hit the notorious FSB, now the National Guard. ...

Commander of #Russia’s 6th army gen. Vladislav Yershov sacked, put under house arrest. The fall guy for his army’s devastating casualties in #Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status ... 8007904262

.
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Intercept of #RussianArmy.

- No one wants to go there. It’s a one way ticket. 100% death.
- Don’t go, of course!
- Then I go to prison.
- How can they send 40 if you to prison?
- They don’t give a fuck.

https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status ... 1255426055

Russian troops have been spotted wearing Ukrainian combat boots Talan.
Apparently, they prefer Ukrainian products over their own items manufactured amid their gargantuan military budgets.

https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/statu ... 3038140423

* Let's just hope they don't start using Ukrainian tractors
* Their boots are probably the same quality as their rations.
* And tyres
* And training
* I also saw some pictures of Russian soldiers wearing simple rubber boots. The Russian gear seems to be, ehm, extraordinary.

[Canoe]

I have no way of easily determining if the info is correct, let alone the opinions, but it's an interesting read. Falling into reading propaganda?

How to sabotage Russian war efforts?

There are ways to sabotage Russian war capacities by focusing on its three major bottlenecks: demographic, economic & institutional. Let's start with demography. Russian started this war suffering from the shortage of young draftable males. [thread]

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/ ... 6834457619

* Russian-Ukrainian war is may be the first major war between two quickly depopulating nations.
* Today an average age in Russia 40 years. In 1914 in the age of huge families and no family planning it was 16 years old.
* Russia had a constant excess of youth which its emperors could utilise for their imperial delusions
* From the high school class of 1941 only 3% were alive by the end of the war
* Most of file and rank of the Russian army are either current or former conscripts. They are young guys from small towns and usually underprivileged background.
* Draft was a misfortune, a bad accident, you should avoid
* conscripts who don't know their rights will be persuaded, pressured or just forced to sign a contract and become контрактники professional soldier
* With ethnic Russians quickly depopulating, minorities provide disproportionally high share of young draftable males.
Chechnya is a vassal kingdom of Kadyrov in personal union with Russia. ... Chechen conscript don't go to Russian army, they go to its "Chechen regiments" which are led by and personally loyal to Kadyrov
* Russian regular army is much less Russian than in any previous epoch since 16th c. It's an army of minorities & provincial poor
* Now Russia is a low fertility depopulating country which accidentally started a major war. It didn't plan a war, it planned a nice and easy occupation.
* policy recommendation. Open the green corridor. Many Russian soldiers would actively look for the ways out but they don't want to sit in Ukrainian prison СИЗО which happens if they just surrender. So, open the corridor abroad to any poor warm country ... Take photos with them there, distribute in Telegram
* give them cash for destroying the equipment and documenting it. ... 2% of saboteurs is very, very much and inflicts enormous damage. Equipment destroyed, trust destroyed
* if desertion from the Russian army increases, Russian commandment will be much more reluctant to send any low morale (=almost any) troops to Ukraine.
.
* The president of Ukraine offers rewards for surrender with military equipment. But it had a very high standard, here are ideas closer to the soldiers who are suffering most.
* Your ideas are very good, but how do you get word to the Russian soldiers?

... for several weeks the National Police have identified phones used by Russians. ... text messages are regularly sent, how to surrender and hand over equipment.
A Russian soldier named Misha came to the Ukrainian special forces in a tank, because he was promised a reward. He surrendered himself, handed over his equipment and is now in comfort, and is not hiding in the forest from Ukrainian hunters. He will also receive $10,000 after the war and the opportunity to apply for citizenship. Until the end of the war, he will live in comfortable conditions with a TV, telephone, kitchen and shower.

Many imagine Russian army being proud, exhilarated and very well respected. Not quite. Russian army has no respect at all. Just look how this TV host yells on a veteran who suggests making a minute of silence for "our boys in Ukraine"

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/ ... 9056522246

[Canoe]

What is a fact that sounds like a shitpost but is 100 percent real?
* Ted Cruise went to Princeton with the Menendez brothers
* That must have been awful, but it doesn't excuse what they did.

"Given current events in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world, we determined it was appropriate to remove the name of Karl Marx that was placed on a group study room at the University of Florida in 2015", Hessy Fernandex, the school's director of strategic communications, told Campus Reform.

They can vote...
> I was looking for my phone wit the flash of my phone
> wtf Where was it?

[Token]

In recent days, citing Ukraine farming production & exports to the world, I've seen a number of sources talk about concerns or even predictions regarding 'food security' and outright shortages, ...

"War in Ukraine means hunger in Africa": The conflict's impact on global food security | DW News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF-SeW-ycCE

Egypt fixes price of bread as Ukraine war hits wheat supply

Commercially sold bread set at 11.50 Egyptian pounds a kilo as Russian invasion sends wheat prices soaring

The move comes after war shut off access to cheaper wheat from the Black Sea region, particularly affecting exports to the Middle East and north African region. Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer, bringing in about 60% of its grain from overseas. Russia and Ukraine accounted for 80% of the country’s imports last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... eat-supply

This may end up producing more casualties than the war itself.

At first glance, India and China produce mountains of wheat. But they also feed 2.5B people locally with it. Their per capita production is very low.

Russia and Ukraine produce allot of wheat and have a large per capita excess. They literally are the bread basket for a big chunk of the world.

Let’s hope sleepy Joe and Trudeau can act while there is time to up NA production.

Doubt it cuz we love our Corn Syrup and Soy feed for cattle so much.

Let them eat cake.

[Canoe]

[Prior reports that some Russian soldiers were freezing to death]
Continued morale issues among Russian soldiers seen, senior defense official says.

In addition to food and fuel shortages, the Pentagon now observes frostbite as an issue.

https://twitter.com/DanLamothe/status/1 ... 4146060289

The Russian Association for Electronic Communications predicts that 70,000–100,000 I.T. specialists might emigrate from Russia next month in a new wave of brain drain.

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/statu ... 1032348674

* many have already left (remote contractors working for US companies)
* For example, me and several of my fellow programmers have already left
* They already are doing this - I have multiple former students (I worked at a Russian IT University) message me to say they have left or are leaving.
* I just met a Russian IT-guy here in Thailand who has left. Says most of his work friends are leaving to Europe, Turkey and Georgia as well.
* And more than just them leaving, many of then are taking their startup businesses with them as well. I know of at least two small companies which are moving their HQ out of Russia and taking the entire team into other CIS states.
* Damn, were they asked to use Astra Linux or something
* When I read yesterday about the new restrictions on scientists going to international conferences, I thought more brain drain to come
* There’s a Russian YouTube vlogger called NFKRZ who’s just left for Georgia, and he’s finding that none of the banks in Tbilisi are letting Russian citizens open accounts.

Ukrainian Chief of Staff announced today a massive rejection of the war from the Russian 155th Marine Corps (Naval Infantry Brigade). [155-я отдельная Мозырская бригада]
Approx. 220 soldiers have refused to go to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

https://twitter.com/OSINT_Tactical/stat ... 1500805120
[True? How the hell do they pull that off? Invent good technical reasons? Guess who's on the next flight, train or starting marching...]

[Canoe]

[Problem is, did they steal, did they steal because they're hungry & got inadequate help because they're Gypsies, or is this solely because they're Gypsies...]
Gypsies from #Kyiv were evacuated to #Lvov to steal.
Don't steal!!!

https://twitter.com/RF200_NOW/status/15 ... 9755364358

* green paint/dye that sticks to skin [once source said it's from pharmacy]
* "suspected of looting" [suspected. Read as: gypsies, carrying belongings in bag, so they must have been looting, therefore...]
* In the US it's "driving while black", where in that part of the world it is "refugeeing while Roma"
* Men in Ukrainian soldier uniforms standing around them tied to the pole, casually 'guarding' them

[Canoe]

* The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces released the information claiming that as of March 22 the Russian military sustained 15,300 casualties. Over the ten years of the USSR’s war in Afghanistan, the reported number was 15,051.
* Flooding along the Irpin river is impeding Russian advance on Kyiv. Flooding is said to be due to Russians blowing a dam in the early days of the invasion.
* Fighting in and around the southern port city of Mariupol remains fierce, as Russia tries to claim a first strategic victory after weeks of fighting. It now includes naval shelling launched from the Sea of Azov, the senior defense official said.
* Some fidelity on Russian naval action. There are about 21 Russian ships in the Black Sea, senior defense official says. That includes 12 surface combatants and nine tank landing ships.
* Talking to refugees from Mariupol here in Zaporizhzha. Heartbreaking tales of suffering. And these are the lucky ones - the ones who had cars and petrol. “There were old women on roadside begging to be given a lift - holding out money in one hand, icons in the other”

Russian warship, likely Admiral Grigorovich Class Frigate, shot 8 x Kalibr cruise missiles from Sevastopol, Crimea around 8pm tonight
https://twitter.com/CovertShores/status ... 7473496072

Russian military and separatist checkpoints in Mariupol.
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1506411157057327108

What was once a potent Russian R-330ZH Zhitel jamming and radio reconnaissance station, now completely destroyed by Ukrainian fire.

It is notable that recently Ukrainian authorities specifically requested that citizens help them find these powerful systems.
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/15 ... 1579694086

A little insight on what kind of munitions were used by the Russian forces to disperse the pro-Ukrainian rally in #Kherson - an empty VGM93.200 CS irritant round for the GM-94 grenade launcher was found on the ground.
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/15 ... 6816350209

Experts say the withdrawal of most of the Russian helicopters that were deployed at Kherson Air Base could be a telltale sign of Russian military setbacks in the south of the country.

https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1506444603012091912

The famous Canadian sniper "Valley" shared a new photo and confirmed that he is alive and well.
Kremlin clowns have already buried "Vali" several times, each time inventing a new death for him.

https://twitter.com/RF200_NOW/status/15 ... 4925349888

Are Russian soldiers on guard?

https://twitter.com/RF200_NOW/status/15 ... 5222876162

Also Peskov, on @amanpour 's question if Putin's leveling of Ukrainian cities is a reflection of his anger with Ukrainians: "Putin is not angry at Ukrainians. He is only angry at those Ukrainians who want to join NATO."
I.e. Putin is angry at only 78% of Ukrainians.
* General Staff of Armed forces of Ukraine: Russia has conducted 80 sorties today, including 29 from Baranovichi and Babruisk in Belarus

Russian air force action increases despite flood of antiaircraft missiles into Ukraine
On Monday, a senior U.S. defense official said Russia had flown about 300 sorties in the previous 24 hours, up from an average of about 200 per day earlier in the war.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... air-force/

https://twitter.com/christogrozev/statu ... 1473789953

Rare access as crews patrol NATO's frontline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um6qr7HpoRE

[This seemed obvious when it first came out, but now it's being clarified by others. Very disingenuous of the reporter to present it as a "raised the threat".]

This is the actual video, so yes, very explicitly a restatement of existing policy, and stated only in response to being pressed on that question, nothing more

President Putin has raised the threat of using nuclear weapons – and his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to rule out their use, in an interview with me tonight.
https://twitter.com/amanpour/status/1506346172977491978

https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/sta ... 9435472902

When I say that Putin will not stop in Ukraine, I mean exactly that. State Russian TV show in prime time discusses possible nuclear strike on Europe, Russian invasion of Poland and Lithuania and corridor to Kaliningrad, threatens Germany and Baltic states. Act now #StopRussia.

https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1 ... 5771348994

P.S.
Some live streams of Ukraine cams on youtube are getting locked private when they rollover to a new stream. Makes me wonder what was in it that the owner made it private.

[Canoe]

This is wild...

Fascinating claimed intercepted call from Russian officer near Mykolaiv to superiors in Russia. He says:

- This is worse than Chechnya
- 50% of troops have frostbite
- They can’t evacuate the dead
- Don’t have enough tents
- RU plane dropped a bomb on their own position

https://twitter.com/DAlperovitch/status ... 3267241994

Getting bombed by your own side is never a great thing for troop morale, but definitely matches what we have seen with the Russian Air Force operating procedures.

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/stat ... 5328319489
https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/stat ... 4325628930

How likely is it that blown out units on the front sitting in cold muddy trenches for 4 weeks are being left out there to keep them from coming back and telling others what happened?
Seems like command would rather they just sit there and wait to be wiped out than relieve units.

* IMO it is probably a very good day if Russian pilots are even offered a breakdown of what units are in the AOR, much less where they actually are.
* if the captured pilots with a ripped out sheet of notebook paper with coordinates are any indication they’re not getting much
* Reminder Russia airforce pilots fly only about 8 hours a month.
* "we were supposed to have 4 tents but we only have 1 and they say it's not for us. And we don't have any stove for it".
* What amazes me most is the part where his superior talks about that this thing is even worse than Chechenya

[Canoe]

‘We’re going back to a USSR’: long queues return for Russian shoppers as sanctions bite

After an hour and a half queuing for sugar, or worse still fighting for it in a market, Russians are feeling the effect of shortages caused by an unprecedented cutoff from the world

* The lines for sugar in Saratov were hard not to compare to the Soviet era, part of a recent run on Russian staples that have revived fears that the Kremlin’s invasion in Ukraine will lead to a virtual slide back to the shortages or endless queues of the Soviet Union.
* “I think we are steadily going back to a USSR,” said Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist for the Institute of International Finance, indicating that the Russian government would likely continue to close off from the world economy. “I’m not seeing it as a temporary shock and then we’re going to go back to the liberal democracy and reintegration into the world, unless there is a change in government.”
* More worryingly, medicines such as insulin have begun disappearing from pharmacy shelves. Some polls have indicated that Russian doctors are facing shortages of more than 80 medicines at pharmacies, including insulin and a popular children’s anti-inflammation medicine. Once again Russian officials blamed panic buyers, noting that most western pharmaceutical companies have said that they will not limit shipments of essential medicines to Russia.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... tions-bite

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Russian couple who protested against war in Ukraine claim asylum in UK
‘We would never have forgiven ourselves if we had stayed silent,’ they said

* A Russian couple who staged a solitary protest against their government’s invasion of Ukraine is thought to be among the first to have claimed asylum in the UK since the war started.
* The couple, Anya and Igor (changed names), both 28, who cannot be identified because of the risk to themselves and to their families in Russia, protested with anti-war placards saying: “No to Russian aggression in Ukraine. No to war,” in the main square of their home town in the south of Russia on 24 February, the day Russia invaded its neighbour. They said that most people in the town are supportive of Vladimir Putin and of the Russian invasion. One other woman in the town staged a lone protest earlier the same day and was arrested.
* Anya made a donation of €50 (£42) to an organisation providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainians. She was later horrified to discover that Russia had passed a new law making this kind of donation a criminal offence.
* Last year, never believing that rumours of war would translate into reality, they applied for and obtained visitor visas to see their friends in the UK. After deciding that they had to flee Russia they escaped to Armenia and then Georgia although they were “intensely” questioned at the border by Russian officials about where they were going and for how long. They then were able to get a flight from Georgia via Turkey to the UK. “We arrived at Stansted Airport and claimed asylum immediately. The Border Force officials seemed surprised to see us. I think we were the first Russians they had seen who had reached UK and claimed asylum since the war started. Russians who want to escape are going to countries like Georgia and Turkey. It’s very difficult for them to reach the UK.”
* “This war is bringing nothing but death and destruction. Apart from the atrocities being committed against Ukrainians, it will throw Russia back a few decades at least,” said Anya.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... ylum-in-uk

[Canoe]

Chechnya’s losses in Ukraine may be leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s undoing
Analysis: Putin’s ally needs to show enemies at home and abroad his strength, but needs his forces intact to prop up his brutal rule

His fighters were part of the first wave assault on the country, and died in large numbers around the Hostomel airbase, with one key commander among those killed.

Elite Chechen squads were also reportedly recruited for failed attempts to assassinate key Ukrainian leaders in the first 48 hours of the invasion, western intelligence said.

More recently Kadyrov’s men have appeared among forces imposing a brutal siege on the port city of Mariupol, where targets have included a maternity hospital and the suffering of hundreds of thousands has become emblematic of Ukrainian pain.

And the Chechen leader himself even posted a video on social media recently, which he claimed was a strategy session filmed in a basement bunker in Ukraine. He used it to menace Kyiv residents with the prospect of a “personal visit”.

Ukrainian intelligence services say the video was likely false bravado, filmed at home in Chechnya. Intelligence from phones and internet suggested he never crossed into Ukraine, and even Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to endorse the video, saying the Kremlin had “no data” on a possible trip into Ukraine.

[A photo op 'on the ground with a captured' Ukrainian military vehicle, was shot with his presidential palace in the background]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... vs-undoing

[Simon of the Playa]

Take His Fucking Boat.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... s-to-putin

[Canoe]

WARSAW, March 23 (Reuters) - Poland is expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Russian intelligence, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Russia said the accusations were baseless.

Relations between Russia and Central European countries that once formed part of its sphere of influence have long been fraught but the invasion of Ukraine has significantly increased fear and suspicion about Moscow's intentions.

"In total, 45 people with varying diplomatic status... were ordered to leave the territory of the Republic of Poland within 5 days," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina told a news conference. One person had been given 48 hours to leave, he added. "Russia is our neighbour, it will not disappear from the map of Europe, but the aggression towards Ukraine proves that it is an unfriendly state, and even hostile to Poland." The 45 diplomats being expelled represented around half of those currently working at the embassy, he said.

Earlier, Special Services Spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn told reporters that 45 people had been identified by Poland's Internal Security Agency as working for Russian intelligence.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/po ... 022-03-23/

[Canoe]

Since Russia began its invasion, at least 1,500 civilian buildings and vehicles in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed. More than 953 civilians have been killed, including at least 78 children, says the UN — real toll was likely to be way higher.
https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1506615250459795458

1143 buildings in Kharkiv have been destroyed by Russian troops, 998 of them are residential buildings, - Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov

https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/15 ... 5905816582

Mariupol.

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1506686575282999301
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1506686073405157377
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1506666026330730507

* DPA: The German Defense Minister submitted a request to the Federal Security Council to supply 2,000 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine
* Sweden will send another 5,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, Minister of Defense tells national news agency TT

A senior NATO military officer says the alliance estimates that Russia has suffered between 30,000 and 40,000 battlefield casualties in Ukraine through the first month of the war, including between 7,000 and 15,000 killed (via AP) https://trib.al/RWXwrQY

Keep in mind that the 120 BTGs that were assembled for the invasion had approximately 85,000-95,000 troops + Rosgvardia/separatist forces. The rest of the figure comes from support units. The BTGs have sustained most of these casualties, possibly as much as 1/3rd of their troops.

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1506682468857954309

At a Young Russian Soldier’s Funeral: „Kirill is here as a warrior of Christ,” the priest began. “He fought against evil, Satanic spirits: Ukrainian Nazis, created by American multinational corporations.”

https://twitter.com/FlorianFlade/status ... 8440335365

[Canoe]

' .. you have middle-level officers who might understand what actually is going on in Ukraine, but they are quite unwilling to report this to the generals, and the generals obviously think twice about whether to channel this information to Putin '

https://twitter.com/YourAnonNews/status ... 1232029698

* So putin is winning at his level only

and on the other side...

https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1506635894903779342

#NATO will double its number of deployed battlegroups, sending them to Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

Sec Gen Stoltenberg says he expects further announcements tomorrow reinforcing the alliance's eastern flank.

https://twitter.com/terischultz/status/ ... 2747491330

Russian climate envoy Anatoly Chubais steps down and leaves the country, citing his opposition to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine https://bloomberg.com
https://twitter.com/tonyhalpin/status/1 ... 6858038281

This is pretty huge if confirmed
https://twitter.com/AndreiSoldatov/stat ... 9250187265

Confirmed by a Tass source now
https://twitter.com/PjotrSauer/status/1 ... 6801364993

A week ago, a theatre in the besieged city of Mariupol where hundreds of civilians were sheltering was attacked. Ukraine accuses Russia of dropping a bomb from a plane. Moscow denies it. A lot remains unclear. Here's what our investigation has found out:

Analysis by McKenzie Intelligence Services for the BBC says it is likely the attack was carried out with a laser-guided bomb launched from an aircraft. From the accuracy of the strike it is very likely that the theatre, clearly marked as a civilian shelter, was the chosen target.

https://twitter.com/hugobachega/status/ ... 1162376195

https://twitter.com/hugobachega/status/ ... 1162376195

[Canoe]

Ukraine war increases global food insecurity | DW News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogbIpVl3PRE

Ukrainian Intelligence (SBU) are interrogating the individuals
One had green lantern hanging from his window to signal his position.The other was taking photos of key/sensitive positions & checkpoints, *note that one of them is a Ru citizen.

https://twitter.com/OSINT_Tactical/stat ... 1946503173

[Canoe]

Why Israel Refused to Help Ukraine Defend Itself From Russian Missiles

Israel not only refused to sell its Iron Dome missile defense system to Ukraine, but also blocked the U.S. from sending Iron Dome batteries owned by the U.S. Army to Kyiv.

https://theintercept.com/2022/03/23/ukr ... ns-israel/

The Russian military has abducted the 75 year old father of journalist Svetlana Zalizetskaya, who refused to cooperate with them in occupied Melitopol. They told her mother that they will return the man only after the journalist comes to them.

https://twitter.com/avalaina/status/1506701086903705600

This is 14-year-old Yura. He and his father rode bicycles to the center of occupied Bucha for humanitarian aid and medicine. They met a Russian soldier. "We stopped, raised our hands, said we had no weapons". His father was killed in front of his yeas. Yura received bullet wounds

https://twitter.com/avalaina/status/1506625459861303302

Russia has blocked @googlenews for featuring independent reports on the invasion of Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/statu ... 6405451782

Today on Russia’s First Channel, reporters allege British mercenaries are defending Ukrainian positions in Luhansk.

Their proof? This volume of Shakespeare’s works (well-known personal fave of all English assassins)

https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1506697963892006912

me, normal british mercenary, packing my russian-language hardback of shakespeare on my deployment

https://twitter.com/DrJadeMcGlynn/statu ... 4403671051

Look, if there's one thing that UK-Russian relations in recent years has taught me, it's that most mercenaries are primarily concerned with culture and sightseeing.

[* On 4 March 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, were poisoned in the city of Salisbury, England.
British authorities identified two Russian nationals, using the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, as suspected of the Skripals' poisoning, and alleged that they were active officers in Russian military intelligence. Later, investigative website Bellingcat stated that it had positively identified Ruslan Boshirov as being the highly decorated GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, that Alexander Petrov was Alexander Mishkin, also of the GRU, and that a third GRU officer present in the UK at the time was identified as Denis Vyacheslavovich Sergeev, believed to hold the rank of major general in the GRU.
* They said they were ordinary tourists who had wished to see Stonehenge, Old Sarum, and the "famous ... 123-metre spire" of Salisbury Cathedral. In a 13 September 2018 interview on the state-funded television channel RT, the accused claimed to be sports nutritionists who had gone to Salisbury merely to see the sights and look for nutrition products, saying that they took a second day-trip to Salisbury because slush had dampened their first one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_poisoning]

https://twitter.com/EmmaMAshford/status ... 9763141637

* if you have a chance to read shakespeare in his native russian you definitely should