“Russia has never attacked anyone over the course of all its history"- Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov
He's actually right. You just have to ignore...
*Finland
*Poland
*Syria
*Ukraine
*Georgia
*Chechnya
*Hungary
*Czechoslovakia
*Afghanistan
*Estonia
*Latvia
*Lithuania
*Manchuria
*Iran
And Ukraine
So Putin's plan was to invade Georgia under Bush's watch, Crimea under Obama's... nothing under the President he helped "install" ... and then Ukraine under Biden.
Am I doing this right?
"Peace Keeping"
trigger warning: Russian tracked-vehicle swerves to run over car
https://twitter.com/56blackcat/status/1 ... 8439072768
Didn't expect this... real?Let me see if I have this correct, Donald Trump thinks Putin is a smart guy for murdering innocent people in Ukraine. Said so on Fox network? At a GOP gathering there were cheers over this atrocity? Marco Rubio thinks it’s funny & made a joke about it? What country is this?
The Japanese ambassador to Ukraine stayed in Kyiv. His great-grandfather's samurai sword and traditional armor was delivered to him from Tokyo, Japan. He declared that the samurai must protect the country in which he is!
“Glory to Japan! Glory to Ukraine"
https://twitter.com/KellyJeanClair/stat ... 1169662977
Claims now that it's not Russian, but a Ukrainian vehicle that lost control. Disinformation?Canoe wrote: ↑Fri Feb 25, 2022 8:10 pm"Peace Keeping"
trigger warning: Russian tracked-vehicle swerves to run over car
https://twitter.com/56blackcat/status/1 ... 8439072768
I love how the president of Ukraine just gave every person around an assault rifle and is just walking in the city giving orders.
Putin should give people of Moscow guns and walk among them for five minutes, see what happens.
Rittenhouse should go to the Ukraine to protect their private property.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Associated Press journalists around Ukraine and beyond are documenting military activity during Russia’s invasion. With disinformation rife and social media amplifying military claims and counterclaims, determining exactly what is happening is difficult. Here’s a look at what could be confirmed Friday.
Activity with direct witnesses:
Announced by Ukrainian and Russian authorities, and others:
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... 492ca2af08
So those javelins at issue in Trump Impeachment I were in fact quite important to Ukraine, it would seem.
I’ve seen at least one Telegram video where a captured Russian calls his mother and she had no idea he was sent to Ukraine—he told her he was captured because he didn’t know the terrain.
1. Russia had taken the Chernobyl nuclear site. Reports that radiation levels there had spiked 16x higher than usual; suspected due to disturbed dust.The Ukrainian Defense Ministry is apparently launching a hotline for the mothers of Russian soldiers captured or killed in #Ukraine.
Smart move to reach out to families in #Russia and break through some of the Kremlin-enforced silence.
https://twitter.com/Matthew_Kupfer/stat ... 8871453711
Russian propaganda has gone off the rails and speculates Ukraine might be preparing to drop a ‘dirty bomb’ on the Russian territory. This is a sick fake. Ukraine doesn’t have nuclear weapons, doesn’t conduct any work to create/acquire them. We are a responsible member of the NPT.
https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status ... 0606400516
[Edit: Gee, I wonder that the Russians are preparing a cover for...]
some in Ukrainian uniforms
And then there's ...Simon of the Playa wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:25 amThe nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson is an attempt to “defile” the supreme court and “humiliate and degrade” the US, the Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson claimed on Friday night.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... n-fox-news
One columnist called his comments “the perfect distillation of white supremacy”.
Lindsey Graham wrote: If media reports are accurate, and Judge Jackson has been chosen as the Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Breyer, it means the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again. The attacks by the Left on Judge Childs from South Carolina apparently worked.Brian Tyler Cohen wrote: lol you literally voted to confirm her to the US Court of Appeals in June.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Michelle_Childs (a short wiki)
On January 28, 2022, the White House stated that Childs was among those being considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, to fill the seat that will be left vacant after Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement. Two days later, one of her home-state U.S. senators, Republican Lindsey Graham, voiced his support for her potential nomination. Childs' surprising ascent from district court judge to supreme court finalist can also be attributed to Jim Clyburn, the number 3 Democrat in the house who has been lobbying Biden to nominate Childs notwithstanding concerns over Childs' conservative record as a judge and trial lawyer. Labor rights groups voiced their displeasure with Childs' consideration for the U.S. Supreme Court given her private sector experience working at a law firm many considered to be an "anti-union" law firm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketanji_Brown_Jackson (a long wiki)
The Times said, Jackson's earlier rulings "comported with those of a liberal-leaning judge", including her opinions blocking various Trump administration actions. Additionally, a review of over 500 of her judicial opinions indicates she would likely be as liberal as Justice Stephen Breyer, the justice she is nominated to replace.
In early 2016, the Obama administration officials vetted Jackson as a potential nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia. Jackson was one of five candidates interviewed as a potential nominee for the vacancy.
In early 2022, news outlets speculated that Biden would nominate Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat vacated by Stephen Breyer. Biden pledged during the 2020 United States presidential election campaign to appoint a Black woman to the court, should a vacancy occur. Jackson's appointment to the D.C. Circuit, considered to be the second most influential federal court in the United States, behind only the Supreme Court, was viewed as preparation for a potential promotion to the Supreme Court.
Jackson's potential nomination to the Supreme Court has been supported by civil rights and liberal advocacy organizations. The Washington Post wrote that Jackson's experience as a public defender "has endeared her to the more liberal base of the Democratic Party". While her supporters have touted her history as a public defender as an asset, during her 2021 confirmation hearing, Republicans showed that they might cast her public defender work as a liability.
On February 25, 2022, Biden announced that Jackson was his nominee for associate justice of the Supreme Court.
Unarmed Ukrainian civilians, "stopping" tank...
https://twitter.com/lapatina_/status/14 ... 9077215233
Video of UNARMED citizens of the town of Backman, forcing a Russian Convoy to turn around.
https://twitter.com/naturalhp/status/14 ... 0852683776
Occupants have shot at medical personnel that were carrying a wounded person
https://twitter.com/ua_parliament/statu ... 3040087046
Russian attack helicopters over #Hostomel / Antonov AirPort.
https://twitter.com/Tanmaycoolkarni/sta ... 4752493569
[edit: follows multiple earlier reports of Ukrainian forces destroying a column of the Chechen Russian Guard that was trying to take the airport by ground.]
The Russian "suicides" have started. The financial director for Gazprom, the largest publicly-listed natural gas company in the world and the largest company in Russia by revenue, has been found dead by suicide in St. Petersburg.
[Edit: alternates]
* found dead on a street in Saint Petersburg, in what appears to be “suicide”
* found dead by his wife in the garage of their home near St. Petersburg, Russia. He allegedly committed suicide on the morning of Feb. 25. This time no window or balcony.
While authentic footage and images shared by journalists and local residents documented Russia's invasion of Ukraine (see: https://reut.rs/3vk9mx3), @ReutersFacts also identified mislabeled imagery
https://twitter.com/ReutersFacts/status ... 9701321729
[Following a big Russian push that was reported made it inside the city of Kharkiv, said to include 850 Spetznaz troops]
Every Russian unit in Kharkiv as been eliminated. Ukrainian military now have full control of the region. - Kyiv Independent
The Ukrainian Army is fully back in control of the country’s second largest city after hours of fighting this morning.
Kharkiv’s mayor says that the encountered Russian special forces “are completely demoralized”.
Ukrainian MP Oleksi Goncharenko responds to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s statement that Russia is willing to begin negotiations when Ukraine “restores democratic order.”
“F*ck you, Lavrov.”
Ukraine receives a large batch of air-to-air missiles from Western partners - @genstaffUA
"They are already under the wings of our fighters. We thank the allies of the anti-Putin coalition for their strong support of the Ukrainian army," Air Force Command says
210 Ukrainians civilians killed
4,300 Russian troops killed and 146 tanks destroyed
Chechen special forces sent to kill president 'wiped out in air strike'
General Magomed Tushaev, a senior fighter in the notorious Chechen fighting force, has reportedly been killed overnight. The battle worn fighter is one of likely dozens of Chechens killed when a column of tanks was hit by a Ukrainian air strike which has been confirmed by the Ukrainian government. Tushaev was commander of the 141th motorized national guard brigade - Chechen head of state Ramzan Kadyrov's elite force. He has been pictured alongside Kadyrov and headed up a force known for hunting down and torturing gay men.
According to Ukrainian sources claimed Russian military losses 24-26 Feb:
Approx. 4,300 personnel
A massive air assault of two major cities is being planned, according to the Mirror's defence correspondent.
Chris Hughes, having spoken to a Snr Ukraine military source, says: "Reliable sources in Belarus say Belorussian special ops forces loading airplanes for air assault on Kyiv and Zhytomir. "It will mean that Belarus joins Russia in its invasion sovereign Ukraine."
Belarus has previously allowed Russian troops to march through its land into Ukraine.
Polish people showing love for Ukrainian refugees arriving to Poland in specially chartered trains.
Deutsche Bahn [Germain train] offers: "Refugees with a Ukrainian passport or identity card can now use all long-distance trains from Poland to Germany free of charge. We want to make it easier for refugees to continue their journey from the border and within Germany"
Various reports that non-white people are having trouble getting out of Ukraine due to issues at borders, be it exiting or entering. One video claimed and appeared to show Ukrainian security forces abusing Indian female students at the border; the tweet disappeared.
Black students trying to flee into Poland https://twitter.com/RobTheRich0001/stat ... 8210742273
Some reports are of non-white males held from transport to the border due to priority being given to women & children, as men of fighting age are remaining to fight.
An unknown Ukrainian brewery has stopped beer production to make Molotov cocktails in the fight against Russia. The label reads, "Putin is a dickhead."
[photo]https://twitter.com/SamboMambo79/status ... 7225620486
"Even the big brewery from Carlsberg offered their bottles for free." "They don't specifically say for Molotov Cocktails, but you can actually read it between the lines." "If anybody needs thousands of bottles, they can be collected at our address"
https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status ... 5614338049
[edit: too many videos of making & storage of Molotov Cocktails show details that dox the location]
Russian tank & self-propelled gun stuck in mud, abandoned.
https://twitter.com/NewVoiceUkraine/sta ... 0474917890
Russians killed civilians fleeing
https://twitter.com/ValeriiUKR/status/1 ... 3769341952
and finally, something that will cause him sleepless nights...Destruction of fighting when in civilian areas
https://twitter.com/MarQs__/status/1497916353008734208
Vladimir Putin has been suspended as honorary president and ambassador of the International Judo Federation as the fallout to Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues
This after* Ukraine confirms peace talks with Russia today.
* During a phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.
* Lukashenko has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation's travel, talks and return, Zelensky's office wrote.
"I wouldn’t trust him to feed my dogs""Reliable sources in Belarus say Belorussian special ops forces loading airplanes for air assault on Kyiv and Zhytomir. "It will mean that Belarus joins Russia in its invasion sovereign Ukraine."
oops...
Paris (AFP) – The Russian head of delegation at a major UN climate conference apologised for his country's invasion of Ukraine on Sunday, which he said lacked justification, according to several sources who heard him speak at the virtual meeting.
"Let me present an apology on behalf of all Russians not able to prevent this conflict," Anisimov said at the closing plenary of the virtual, 195-nation forum, according to three sources who heard him speak. Delegates and observers to the sometimes fraught meetings, which had been scheduled to end Friday, were stunned by the back-to-back statements Sunday, according to half-a-dozen participants. Those who see what is happening, he added speaking in Russian, "fail to find any justification for the attack on Ukraine".
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/2 ... imate-meet
There's a brutal kinetic war on the ground in Ukraine. There's also a dark information war. Putin is losing both at the moment. People like Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson have been key tools of Putin's infodemic. They should not be allowed to escape accountability.
Putin thought Ukraine would crumble, Zelensky would flee and the Western response would be divided and weak. He was wrong about every one of them. There will be darker days ahead but time for someone in Moscow to pull the plug
Putin doesn't want peace. He wants his Soviet empire back, he wants to wield terror and chaos to stay in power, crush all resistance to prevent a revolution. He wants to punish Ukraine for being a democracy: a threat to his power.
Putin raising alert status of his strategic missile forces is a sign of Russian weakness. His campaign has stalled and he is running out of time & resources. He has united the world against him. None of this was in his playbook scenario. He has now left his "script".
I didn't think I would live to see a mad man threaten the world with #nuclear weapons.
Trigger warning:I believe the “peace negotiation” will amount to:
1) An attempt to kill Zelenskyy’s delegation,
2) A threat to nuke Kyiv unless Ukraine surrenders.
There is no conversation to be had here, and everyone should expect that going in.
Permanent membership on the UN Security Council doesn't belong to Russia it belongs to the USSR. If we agree a successor state inherits that seat, it could go to Ukraine as legitimately as to the Russian Federation.
Interesting takeUkrainian in car stops to talk to Russians outside their stopped tracked carrier.
The Ukranian from the car ask them if they have some issues.
Soldiers: out of fuel
Ukrainian: we can tow you buck to Russia
RU:haha
Ukrainian: where you going?
RU: we don't know
Ukrainian: you going to Kiev. For the moment all is in our side... Your people give up easy...
* Videos of Ukrainians scrounging armament & munitions off of damaged or abandoned Russian equipment.The Russians do not want to die as cannon fodder for Putin so they filled their tanks to half to find an excuse to get stuck on highway and going no where. Best strategy to desert in a war.
* When Prague city officials removed the statue of Soviet Marshal Konev in 2020, it kicked off a firestorm with Moscow. Since its removal, there's been a plywood on the pedestal, pending a new statue. Yesterday, people painted the pedestal in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.[edit: Is this a Russian tank crew not wanting to hurt their neighbours or being prudent as to Molotov Cocktails or other ambush?]
Residents from a town in Zaporizhzhia Oblast blocked the path of a Russian T-90A tank and forced it to turn around.
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1497972204851634191
The investigative news project @wwwagentsmedia is tracking and verifying Russian soldiers killed or captured in Ukraine, debunking Moscow’s official claims of zero combat losses.
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/statu ... 4510201856
Unconfirmed: Sweden announced it will deliver 5000 anti-armour rocket launchers, 5000 body armour kits, 5000 helmets, and 135,000 field rations to the Ukrainian armed forces.Tass reported the numbers of equipment they lost and servicemen who were killed or taken hostage during the invasion in #Ukraine. But then quickly deleted it. According to that information,more than 3,500 soldiers were killed or captured. Russians need to know what's happening.
https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/stat ... 9539326979
https://www.reddit.com/r/flightradar24/Thousands Are Watching The Ukrainian Conflict Through Flight Trackers
https://jalopnik.com/thousands-are-watc ... 1848589509
Moscow braces for rouble to crash at least 25% as new sanctions hit
Russian currency expected to plunge in first day’s trading since Swift ban and ECB says state-owned Sberbank subsidiaries are set to collapse
Moscow is bracing for economic panic when markets open on Monday morning, with the value of the rouble expected to plummet at least 25% after the US and European Union announced unprecedented sanctions over the weekend. Those measures targeted the Russian central bank, which has intervened to prop up the value of the rouble following Vladimir Putin’s order to invade Ukraine. They also marked the first time Russian banks have been excluded from the Swift international payments system.
Major Russian banks such as Sberbank and VTB Bank have assured their customers that they will be able to access their rouble deposits and make exchanges into foreign currencies like dollars and euros. But the European Central Bank said on Monday morning that Sberbank Europe, a fully-owned subsidiary of Sberbank Russia, which in turn is majority owned by the Russian state, is failing or likely to fail along with its Croatian and Slovenian units.
“Sberbank Europe AG and its subsidiaries experienced significant deposit outflows as a result of the reputational impact of geopolitical tensions,” the ECB said in a statement. “This led to a deterioration of its liquidity position. There are no available measures with a realistic chance of restoring this position at group level and in each of its subsidiaries within the banking union.”
Videos circulated on social media of long lines at some Russian ATMs on Sunday morning, although the rush for currency is expected to begin in earnest on Monday as markets open.
But the sanctions on the Russian central bank, which could see a significant portion of its $630bn (£470bn) in reserves frozen in G7 countries, mark a quantum leap in the west’s sanctions campaign over the Russian invasion into Ukraine.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ctions-hit
In a historic announcement to parliament, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said a fund of €100bn (£85bn) will be set up immediately to boost the strength of the country’s armed forces, as he also announced a sustained increase in defence spending over the coming years. In the emergency session of the Bundestag: “It is clear that we must invest significantly more in the security of our country, in order to protect our freedom and democracy.” He called it “Germany’s historical responsibility” to ensure that Vladimir Putin “does not turn the clocks back”.
The move came after the government made the surprise announcement on Saturday that it would be sending weapons and other supplies to Ukraine, including 1,000 anti-tank weapons, 500 surface-to-air Stinger missiles and thousands of gallons of petrol. The decision marks a historical break with Germany’s postwar pledge to not export weapons to conflict zones.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... aine-putin
Back from a few days ago, originally on a protest sign, making the rounds for at least the second time: "Hey Putin. Could we just skip to the end, where you end yourself in a bunker?"Switzerland and Sweden were neutral even during World War II.
* Switzerland will likely impose sanctions on Russia and Sweden is sending 5000 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.
* Sweden and Finland joined a NATO brief.
* Kosovo is asking for NATO membership.
* Finland petition currently with 65k signatures demanding public referendum on NATO membership. At 50k parliament is legally required to take it under consideration.
* Poland is asking for Ukraine to be put on an express lane to EU membership and the EU President saying she wants them in.
* The Turks closing off the Black Sea to Russian navel vessels.
* Germany's emergency measure to hugely up their defence spending, and sending military aid to Ukraine - a conflict zone.Putin has united and awakened the free world — perhaps more than ever before.it’s interesting that Trump and Putin tried their best to weaken NATO and because of their actions NATO will become stronger.
Amnesty International has condemned Russia's reported use of cluster munitions in Ukraine, saying an attack on a pre-school "may constitute a war crime". The human rights charity said "a 220mm Uragan rocket dropped cluster munitions on the Sonechko nursery and kindergarten in the town of Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast" on Friday.
Cluster munitions (heavy shelling? MLRS?) observed in use against residential areas in Kharkiv
https://twitter.com/KnightMirko/status/ ... 5381111813
https://twitter.com/AntonovCompany/stat ... 0660768768
Targeting residential areas
https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status ... 3490295811
Alarming video from the western part of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. A convoy of 38th Air Assault Brigade of the Belarusian army (not Russian) near Kobryn in Brest region. Most of the vehicles are marked with red squares - makes sense if Lukashenko is about to join the war.
https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/statu ... 1034554372
Julie Fisher @USAmbBelarus wrote:The United States of America has suspended operations of our embassy in Minsk. All American staff have departed Belarus.
Belarus’ complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine has shown the regime’s loss of sovereign decision-making.
Belarusian authorities have taken a series of hostile actions to limit @USEmbBy ability to work with the Belarusian people and advance America’s interests, including forced staff reductions, closure of @USAIDBelarus & US cultural center in Minsk.
Our commitment to the people of Belarus endures. We will continue our support from Washington, NY, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw and other diplomatic posts as we support those promoting democracy, the rule of law and accountability.
Secretary Antony Blinken wrote:We have suspended operations at our Embassy in Minsk and authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency employees and family members at our Embassy in Moscow. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens.
Approx. 4,300 personnel