Typical repuke hypocrisy. Trumplicans and tell us Russia has the right to reclaim the Ukraine and protect its borders from NATO expansion. Yet if that happens, Biden will get blamed for being weak.

 

@silkythighs has been at the Koolaid again.
Wonder who told her deplorables think Putin has a right to claim the Ukraine?

 

It's all about the oil,

 

While our military worries about climate change and gender diversity, Russia and China continue developing their military's lethality.

War is a risky business in which things are broken and people hurt. Given the US's poor future war planning, winnowing of troops based upon poorly defined and inappropriate cultural categories such as "White Supremacist" and "vaccine status," along the incessant PC training and demands upon which our Joint Chiefs Staff (JCS) insist for our military, it is clear that we need a change beginning at the very top. It is also clear that under Biden this will never happen -- not until something catastrophic happens. By then though, we would have potentially, unnecessarily, lost many men and women.

The vast majority of US military leadership has grown up in an organization which is risk-adverse. To these men and women, not making a mistake, i.e., not taking risks, has always been the most successful road to advancement.

But the DOD and the JCS have apparently been selected for their ability to go along with our PC culture (I include Trump's selections in this)... The bureaucrats of the DOD need to be rooted out just as change is demanded in the JCS -- the false war heroes need to be removed and real war fighters selected in their stead. And this change should begin at the top, with Gen. Milley, Chairman, JCS.

This is a long article, read as little or as much as you want. However, the title tells you all you need to know.

The US is not Ready for a Peer to Peer Fight in Europe
By Keith Nightingale

As we all have, I have been watching the impressive Russian ground forces arrayed to invade Ukraine from three sides. Some comments after consultation with a good friend in the Marines:

Upon due consideration, it might have been unthoughtfully wise to not place our military in harm’s way simply because it would have its clock handed to it. Our military, particularly the Army, is tailored for the 20-year war in the Sandboxes-not a Peer conflict.

Of equal import is that all the doctrine, tactics and professional skills are on the Sandbox model. None of our uniforms have had any experience in fighting Peer-Peer. We went into Korea and Vietnam with a goodly amount of leaders in both officer and NCO ranks who had such experience and could both adapt and train to the threat level required. That no longer exists.

We are also grossly dependent upon sophisticated comms and satellite systems that probably would not exist after the first round. (Sidebar: Find a Lieutenant that can read a map and land navigate with only a compass and paper map.)

Our land units-small units (squad-company/team), the cutting edge and only true maneuver elements, are not trained to operate in isolation from higher. The trained ability to make crucial decisions absent guidance and control does not exist. NTC and JRTC routinely proves that.

Unfortunately, we are not even close to being a peer force compared to the Russians less nuclear weapons. Consider the following as today’s state of military capabilities:

TACTICAL/BATTLEFIELD GROUND FORCE EQUIVALENCIES / COMPARISONS:
We removed our relatively competent heavy forces in Germany and cannot replace them in less than six months if that and that is with the acquiescence of German which is problematical-The EU has to ask in its heart of hearts: Do we want a US-Russia conflict on our land?

Our ready to go 82d, Ranger Regiment and JSOC forces are completely inappropriate for use against Russia except under the most select of circumstances with minimal to no capability to be a game changer. And casualties are virtually irreplaceable in a timely manner. (Sidebar: The 173d is required to deploy only with NATO approval. If it deploys on an independent operation, the Italians have threatened to bar its return.)

Tough to get a carrier into the Black Sea and it would be a new reef very quickly. Concurrently, POMCUS/heavy force lift ships in sufficient quantity to lift a brigade do not exist other than in converting commercial RO/RO’s.

A robust F35 structure does not exist in Theatre nor are there sufficient heavy lift aircraft to make a dent in reinforcement requirements.

LONG RANGE (NON-NUCLEAR) BALLISTIC MISSILES AND ROCKETS:
The US has NONE in the US Army, and the other Services have NONE OTHER THAN sea-launched and air-launched conventional, low flight level, subsonic cruise missiles. NO long range, land-based, conventional ballistic missiles in the US Armed Forces. How did this happen?

The US National Military Strategy is as much a defense industry-driven wish list of combat systems they want to build, as opposed to a threat-defeating strategy based on US Ground Forces out-matching our peer military adversary. Russia, for example, has many hundreds (if not thousands) of state-of-the-art missile launchers, tens of thousands of missiles (plus the Zircon that flies at Mach 6-9 - hypersonic speeds), as well as a full suite of tailored, target appropriate warheads, at multiple throw weights that can be selected based on the target to be attacked. We - the US - have ZERO such weapons.

BATTLEFIELD ROCKETS AND MISSILES:
The US has a few hundred (aged) MLRS and HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in the entire US Army and a couple of dozen in the Marines. BUT, their ranges in distance, numbers of launchers, and throw weights are a minuscule fraction of the hundreds of launchers and thousands of rounds in Russian battle groups. The US never converted the US Army’s Pershing family of battlefield missile systems to conventional warheads from their IMF-directed destruction of the nuclear warheads on the Pershing One and Pershing Two missile bodies. While the Russians and Chinese advanced their development and procurement of advanced surface-to-surface (200 to (+/-) 1,000-mile range), non-nuclear missile systems, the U.S. disestablished the Army’s long range missile commands and stopped development and procurement of peer defeating systems. This month, the US Army had a Eureka Moment announcing the establishment of a long-range fires command; BUT – hold your applause - -that’s only the establishment of the HQ, not standing-up any systems of long-range launchers, or missiles or control systems, as the US Army doesn’t have any. Note: the US’s MLRS and HIMARS Systems top out at about 120-mile range for the very few, extended-range variants. The vast majority are in the roughly 29 to 48-mile range.

GROUND BASED AIR DEFENSE (AD) SYSTEMS:
From having peer threat-capable and numerous ground units and AD systems in the US Army’s inventories during the Cold War, that capability has since been dramatically reduced in the US Army to largely shoulder-fired systems, plus three Stryker or Humvee-mobile AD battalions equipped with, at a ready state, 4-AD missiles and 1-25 mm Chain Gun, per vehicle. The Marines have no AD battalions; they removed the ones that they had in the Marine Air Wings in the 1990’s. Shoulder-fired AD Systems are the Marines only ground-based AD. Why are the US Armed Forces so ill equipped? They spent twenty years focused on counter insurgency operations against enemies that lacked offensive aviation assets that would call for US AD units employed in opposition to them. At the opposite side of this scale, the Russians ground forces have huge numbers of modern, armor protected mobile AD systems, as well as shoulder-fired AD capabilities, in units at and above battalion levels.

CONCLUSIONS:
a. These are just three areas of gross US national defense neglect. There are a dozen more. Just consider the paucity of US Army ground force Electronic Warfare, Cyber, Deception, Cavalry, Mechanized Division-Level units with lethal, mobile, armor protected manned weapon systems with their own, integrated supply and logistics support.

· Other than the US Army’s 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and three Stryker brigade combat teams, there are none.

· The US Marines, our fire brigade along with the 82d, are less capable of combined arms engagement today than at any time since the 2003-14 Iraq War, as to the Marine Corps:

It has no tank units (that’s not a misprint: USMC = ZERO Tanks)

No self-propelled, armor protected artillery or self-propelled, armor protected air defense (AD) systems.

The most lethal, armor protected mobility systems are the Marines 40-year-old, light armored vehicle-equipped, reconnaissance battalions (LARB’s). But even these lack tank-killing, direct-fire weapons or threat-defeating protective armor. The LARB’s have no air defense, NBC and EW variants (these were mothballed from Marine FMF units 20-30-years ago).

b. On the other side of the threat comparisons, and in apparently “combat ready” status in Europe, the Russian ground forces have trained and equipped combined arms forces at numbered Corps and even titled Army levels with their own tanks, infantry fighting vehicle (IFV’s), self-propelled armor protected artillery, rocket/missile battalions, EW, logistics, chemical and biological warfare units, as well as attack and transport fixed wing and helicopter units with linked/secure communications systems (to and from) aircraft to company level ground combat systems to titled army levels (2nd Guards Army, 3rd Shock Army, etc.). On the bright side, there appears to be no evidence of the Russians deploying Operational Maneuver Groups (OMG) near Ukraine, but such units could be task-organized from Corps or Army assets under an OMG command group.

c. The G. W. Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations, the US Department of Defense, and our Congress have been derelict in their duties to provide America with ready and peer defeating ground combat unit capabilities. Rather - we have a ground combat armed force so woefully ill-equipped to fight and win against our peer level threats, such as Russia, that the National Strategy/Policy question is: What they have been focusing on, if not such a vital national military capability? A safe bet would be that one or all of these are their exclusive focus (es): Domestic politics? Their re-election? Increasing their personal celebrity and wealth? Not their concerns or interest?

d. Apparently, current and past US Administrations, the US Department of Defense, nor our Congress have Defense Capability and Continuity Offices with the job of ensuring that the US Armed Forces retain a peer threat defeating advantage in ground combat systems and units. Or if they have, they are so far down in the basement as to never see daylight.

e. The Russians will employ this impressive force to invade across Ukraine’s borders. Our DOD and Armed Forces Lessons Learned offices are about to see how far our ground combat forces are from being fully capable of defeating a Peer, such as the Russians will use imminently.

f. Biden did DOD and the Nation a great favor, albeit inadvertently, by avoiding any armed conflict with Russia. We now have time to fix what’s broken but will we actually get to it?

https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/us-not-ready-peer-peer-fight-europe

 

As a very unpopular former politician in my area once said---"we know what's wrong, we know how to fix it, but nobody wants to fix it''

 

Putin is not instigating a war, it's Crime Boss Biden and the Ho (halfcracker/soros 3.0) that is instigating this and the crackpot organization aka NATO...

This is simple Putin doesn't want the UN/NATO near the Russian borders, and rightfully so, the UN/NATO is as corrupt as the Crime Boss Biden and the Ho (halfcracker/soros 3.0) Administration is...just a bunch of woke fuck pussy assed gypsies.

February 16, 2022

Why Putin won’t invade Ukraine

Vladimir Putin faces a Ukrainian paradox he cannot resolve by unleashing his army on the former Soviet republic. By conflating three vital Russian national-security interests into four demands, Putin created internal contradictions and conflicts that will make a military intervention in Ukraine as disastrous for Russia as the invasion of Afghanistan was for the Soviet Union.

What does Putin want? A security framework in Europe favorable to Russia based on pre-1997 conditions, in which NATO agrees to cease all expansion and Ukraine remains well disposed to Moscow. Why, then, did he not say that and thus avoid antagonizing NATO and uniting it in powerful opposition?

Instead, Putin issued unacceptable demands, including a requirement that NATO reposition its forces and weapons systems away from eastern members of the Alliance who joined after 1997. He specified a legally binding, enforceable agreement that NATO will cease its “open door” policy and all further expansion. Putin also demanded that Ukraine never join NATO nor have nuclear weapons stationed on its territory

Had Putin looked closely at these demands, he would have found them riddled with enough contradictions to delight any confirmed Marxist or Leninist.

The demand for a pre-1997 security framework would significantly affect Russia as well. It had no forces in Ukraine or Georgia at that time. Would it withdraw its forces from those countries now? Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea bordering Poland and Lithuania, would likewise be affected as Iskander and other more modern missile systems would have to go under the terms of Russia’s proposed treaty with NATO.

As for NATO, Putin, trained as a lawyer, knows that no legal agreement will guarantee NATO foregoing expansion. The litany of abrogated US-USSR-Russian Federation treaties drives this home. The Anti-Ballistic Missile, Open Skies, and Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaties are no longer in force. This pursuit of an unenforceable agreement is a contradiction. What is Putin’s solution? Someone should ask.

 

Shooter is beginning to see parallels with the Ottawa truckers protest and Putins threats aimed at Ukraine.

 

This is what would happen to Earth if a nuclear war broke out between the West and Russia

Matthew Rozsa, Salon
February 19, 2022



Mushroom cloud from nuclear bomb (Shutterstock)
Suddenly, the threat of nuclear war feels closer than it has in decades. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists updated their Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight, and President Joe Biden has issued increasingly ominous statements reflecting how the looming conflict over the Ukraine that could ensnare both Russia and the west into conventional war.

This article first appeared on Salon.

And, some fear, war with nuclear weapons. It is a prospect that has haunted human beings since the dawn of the Cold War. Politicians who were perceived as too open to the idea of nuclear war would pay for their hawkishness at the polls. Motion pictures from "Dr. Strangelove" to "The Day After" have depicted an uninhabitable world, filled with lethal amounts of radiation and short on necessities like food and water. As our electrical infrastructure collapsed around us, people would resort to looting and other violent methods to survive. The seeming deterioration of civilization during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic would be nothing compared to the anarchy and destruction that would follow nuclear war.

Yet decades of living with nuclear weapons have produced a broad body of knowledge as to what a nuclear war might do to the planet, and to humanity. If even a "small" nuclear war were to break out, tens of millions of people would die after the initial blasts. A blanket of soot would wrap the rays of the Sun and cause a nuclear winter, destroying crops all over the planet and plunging billions into famine. In the northern hemisphere, there would be such severe ozone depletion from the nuclear smoke that organisms would suffer from increased exposure to damaging ultraviolet light. While things would not be as bad in the southern hemisphere, even well-positioned countries like Australia would face the ripple effects from a small nuclear war in the northern hemisphere by sheer virtue of its interconnectedness with the global community.

RELATED: Fine-tuning the doomsday machines: Understanding the nuclear-missile dispute

"The worst-case scenario is that US and Russian central strategic forces would be launched with the detonation of several thousand warheads," Hans M. Kristensen, Director, Nuclear Information Project and Associate Senior Fellow to SIPRI, Federation of American Scientists, told Salon by email. "A large nuclear exchange would not only kill millions of people and contaminate wast areas with radioactive fallout but potentially also have longer-term climatic effects."

Yet Kristensen said he does not believe the current Ukraine conflict is likely to become a nuclear war. He is not the only nuclear weapons expert who feels that way.

"First, there is little chance of that happening barring some massive miscalculation, accident or escalation of any conflict there," Geoff Wilson, the political director of Council for a Livable World, a non-profit dedicated to eliminating nuclear weapons from America's arsenal, told Salon by email. Ukraine is not part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and, as such, the United States has not committed to use its military if Ukraine's sovereignty is encroached. While American policymakers can provide material aid and punish Russia through sanctions, it is unlikely that they will risk open warfare.

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter The Vulgar Scientist.

That said, the world's nuclear powers (which, in addition to the United States and Russia, also includes China, India, Israel, France, North Korea, Pakistan and the United Kingdom) still have vast arsenals at their disposal. In addition, President Donald Trump has overseen the development of new weapons like the W76-2 low-yield nuclear warheads. As such, the possibility of nuclear war always remains — not likely in this scenario, perhaps, but never entirely out of the question.

"The fact that the United States has started to develop these weapons again is crazy, and it sends a very poor message to the rest of the world when we have been pushing nations to end nuclear proliferation and reduce the size and scope of nuclear arsenals for so long," Wilson explained. "What's more, it sends a dangerous signal to our adversaries that we think that tactical nuclear weapons are important again, and will likely signal to them that they should follow suit."

Like Kristensen, Wilson made it clear that if conventional war with nuclear weapons ever did break out, it would end disastrously.

"Researchers have estimated that a 'regional nuclear war,' say, a couple hundred low-yield weapons exchanged between India and Pakistan, could lead to the deaths of billions people worldwide, due to the effects on global food production," Wilson explained. "So, yeah, it would not be good."

Since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshoma in 1945, intellectuals from a number of disciplines have advocated for world government as an alternative to a possible nuclear holocaust. Andreas Bummel, co-founder and director of the international campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly and of Democracy Without Borders, has made that argument as well, telling Salon that there are no national policies which can entirely eliminate the threat.

"The only way is institutional and structural by creating a workable international system of collective security which is not only based on total elimination of WMD but also radical conventional disarmament, setting up UN capacities for rapid intervention and democratic decision-making bodies and procedures," Bummel explained by email. He added that it is "doubtful" whether this can happen in a meaningful way "while major nuclear powers are autocratic and one-party dictatorships."

Kristensen offered some less sweeping alternatives.

"Arms control agreements to reduce the numbers and role of nuclear weapons," Kristensen told Salon. "Crisis management agreements to reduce the chances for and risks of misunderstandings and overreactions. And changes in national policies so countries refrain from taking aggressive action. All of this requires political will to change."

https://www.rawstory.com/nuclear-war-with-china-russia/

 

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE AND IT WILL BE TRUMP'S FAULT!!"

Who the fuck thinks even biden is incompetent enough to make Ukraine a nuclear issue?
Theres a better chance, once biden helps Iran go nuclear, that Israel would get nuked by Iran.

 

Don't think Israel would let it get that far.
At least so far they haven't.
Course Biden might pull a Ukraine on Israel, tell em to let it happen or lose US aid.
Israel would tell biden to take a long walk off a short pier.

 

Invading Ukraine may never have been Putin’s aim – the threat alone could advance Russia’s goals

https://theconversation.com/invading-ukraine-may-never-have-been-putins-aim-the-threat-alone-could-advance-russias-goals-177178?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Weekly Highlights February 20 2022 - 2209821924&utm_content=Weekly Highlights February 20 2022 - 2209821924+CID_d4d5fdd6c85973d0e77d2f639ea88a8a&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Invading Ukraine may never have been Putins aim the threat alone could advance Russias goals

 

We see pro Putin/Russian false propaganda on this forum every day

Putin’s ‘shills’ in the GOP are making Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more likely: conservative

Bob Brigham
February 21, 2022



Gage Skidmore.

Republicans and Fox News personalities were called out by conservative Charlie Sykes as "Putin's right-wing shills" on Monday.

"President Biden has agreed “in principle” to a summit with Putin, which may or may not avert a catastrophic war. We don’t know. What we can know, however, is that Putin is fully aware that he faces a divided U.S., and that influential voices on the right have been channeling much of his own propaganda. By now the cast of Putin’s useful idiots is familiar, ranging from Tucker Carlson and Josh Hawley to Candace Owens, MTG, and Maria Bartiromo," The Bulwark editor-at-large wrote.

Will Vladimir Putin care more about what is considered the position of the Republican Party or the assumed position of the MAGA movement?

"Fiona Hill, the former senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council, calls them "the ultimate stooges," but at least for now, these right wing voices do not speak for most congressional Republicans, who have tended to take a far more hawkish stance. But Putin can be forgiven if he thinks his 'conservative' allies represent the sentiment of MAGAWorld, coming as they do from some of Trump’s most loyal acolytes. And he may be especially emboldened if he believes that Trump himself may actually return to the Oval Office," he explained. "So these right-wing shills matter."

READ: Trump's attacks on NY AG Letitia James in court blew up in his face: former prosecutor

Sykes noted Russia state-TV praise for Tucker Carlson and Josh Hawley.


Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
#Russia's favorites, Tucker Carlson and Josh Hawley, are again being featured on state TV. Their efforts to undermine U.S. support for Ukraine are much appreciated in Moscow.


Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
THE RED PACK: Russia is thrilled with the split within the Republican party and thankful to Tucker Carlson, Josh Hawley & Co. Russia's state TV is predicting Trump's triumphant return: "Having elected him the first time... we can manage to do it again.” https://thedailybeast.com/russian-s...e-thank-you-to-tucker-carlson-and-josh-hawley
10:50 AM · Feb 13, 2022

"Tucker is not the only voice on Fox News arguing that the focus on Ukraine-Russia is all a big distraction. The conspiracy maven formerly known as the 'money honey,' Maria Bartiromo, insists that the whole Ukraine-Russia threat has been fabricated to distract from (checks notes) Hillary Clinton," he wrote. "Ben Shapiro’s Candace Owens has not only defended Putin’s position, she has also suggested that we should be be invading Canada instead."

Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
Marge Greene yesterday told a complete lie that “Ukraine was the number one donor to Hillary Clinton when she was running for president.”

7:20 AM · Feb 20, 2022

He also noted comments by Ohio Senate hopeful J.D. Vance and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ).

"What is Putin making of all of this? I think it’s reasonable to assume that he thinks these are the authentic echoes of the Once and Future MAGA king. And Putin very much has the measure of the man, who has lavished him with praise, tried to weaken NATO, sided with him over his own government’s intelligence agencies, and actually held up military aid as part of his pressure campaign to get Ukraine's president to dig up dirt on Biden," Sykes wrote.

Read the full report.

https://www.rawstory.com/republicans-putin-2656756682/

 

AHA! Shooter finally understands why Putin is so anxious to invade Ukraine!

A Ukrainian reservist learns fighting skills she hopes never to use (yahoo.com)


KYIV (Reuters) - Alisa, a 38-year-old Ukrainian with an office job in the capital, had always enjoyed sport shooting and joined a local territorial defence unit more than a year ago to acquire combat skills.

Now she is worried she might have to use those skills in a real war with Russia.

 

Treasonous conservative/Republicans will cheer to know Putin is on TV right now claiming he has created two new "independent countries" inside Ukraine.

And the thing I find most concerning is it sounds like he is just babbling like a happy little brook not really making sense but does seem to be saying he plans to invade.

 

Wait.
Ukraine is an independent country.
Why does Putin get to arbitrarily make new countries inside Ukraine?

Could even stumbler, the American hater, imagine Trudeau arbitrarily deciding that say, Wisconsin is now the separate country of cheese?

Yeah, that would work.

Betcha biden takes this and runs with it, you know, cause Putin.
And whatever he does, betcha stumbler cheers for it.

 

Putin to recognise Ukraine rebel regions’ independence: Live
Moscow’s move will likely torpedo a last-minute bid for a summit to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine.


Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russia of plotting 'false flag' operations to fake Ukrainian attacks in order to serve as a pretext for an all-out assault on its neighbour [File: Serhiy Takhmazov/Reuters]
By David Child and Ramy Allahoum
Published On 21 Feb 202221 Feb 2022
|
Updated:
7 minutes ago
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of France and Germany he plans to sign a decree recognising the two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities, the Kremlin says.

The French and German leaders voiced disappointment after hearing the decision, the Kremlin said in a readout of the phone calls.


Here are the latest updates:



10 mins ago (19:18 GMT)

Putin: Ukraine seeks to build nuclear weapons
Vladimir Putin says Ukraine plans to build its own nuclear weapons, calling it an unacceptable move for Moscow.

In a televised address, Putin claimed Ukraine sought to achieve it by using Soviet technology.

19 mins ago (19:08 GMT)

Putin: Ukraine authorities are ‘contaminated’
Vladimir Putin says Ukraine’s authorities are “contaminated” by the virus of nationalism and corruption, bashing the neighbouring country’s leaders.

In a televised address, the Russian president also said Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood.

45 mins ago (18:42 GMT)

EU warns of sanctions if Russia recognises Ukraine breakaway regions
The EU has joined calls for Russia not to annex or recognise breakaway Ukrainian regions, warning of sanctions from the 27-nation bloc should Moscow do so.

“If there is annexation, there will be sanctions, and if there is recognition, I will put the sanctions on the table and the ministers will decide,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.

1 hour ago (18:15 GMT)

France’s Macron calls national security meeting on Russia-Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron called an emergency national security meeting to address developments linked to the crisis in Ukraine, the Elysee Palace has said.

Macron earlier on Monday spoke to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, the Elysee said in a statement. He also spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU leaders to coordinate Europe’s reaction to the latest developments.

2 hours ago (17:38 GMT)

Putin to deliver video address to nation
President Vladimir Putin will deliver a video address to the nation on television later in the evening, the Rossiya-24 state television channel said.

It did not say exactly when it would happen, but that it would be soon.

Putin said earlier that Russia would decide whether or not to recognise the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine later on Monday.

2 hours ago (17:30 GMT)

Russian foreign minister says Minsk agreements are only way to solve Ukrainian conflict
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock that the Minsk agreements are the only way for long-term regulation of the Ukrainian internal crisis, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Lavrov, who spoke to Baerbock by phone, said Germany should put pressure on the Ukrainian leadership to prompt it to adopt a more constructive position amid the unfolding crisis in eastern Ukraine, the ministry added.

2 hours ago (17:17 GMT)

Ukraine says everyone must focus on de-escalation efforts
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that after Russian statements on possible recognition of breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, everyone has to focus on de-escalation efforts.

“Everyone realizes consequences. A lot of emotions out there, but it’s exactly now that we all should calmly focus on de-escalation efforts. No other way,” Kuleba tweeted.

Kuleba said he would discuss de-escalation efforts with US Secretary of State on Tuesday during a trip to Washington.

2 hours ago (17:14 GMT)

Russia recognising breakaway Ukraine regions would be ‘deplorable’ -US
It would be “deplorable” if Russia recognised two regions of eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists as independent, the US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe said.

“If carried out, this would again result in the upending of the rules based international order, under the threat of force. This, dear colleagues, is deplorable, and … condemnable. And should be (condemned), by all of us,” Michael Carpenter said in a statement to a meeting of OSCE participating states.

3 hours ago (16:37 GMT)

Biden meets national security team on Russia, Ukraine, official says
US President Joe Biden is meeting his national security team about Russia and Ukraine, a White House official said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the White House official made the comments after a Reuters eyewitness saw Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrive at the White House on the US Presidents Day federal holiday.

3 hours ago (16:25 GMT)

UK says unilateral sanctions against Russia would play into Putin’s narrative
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace has warned that imposing sanctions on Russia unilaterally would play into President Putin’s narrative.

Asked by a lawmaker whether it was now time to start imposing sanctions, Wallace said: “If we were to unilaterally deliver them now, and America wasn’t, and the European Union wasn’t, I think there is a danger that President Putin would play into a divide and rule narrative.”

3 hours ago (15:59 GMT)

Putin says Russia is considering recognising, not annexing Ukraine’s breakaway regions
President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia was considering recognising the independence of two breakaway Ukrainian regions, but not annexing them and formally adding them to its own territory.

He made the comments during a long televised meeting of Russia’s security council during which all the participants said they backed recognising the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic.

4 hours ago (15:55 GMT)

Strong cause to believe Putin still committed to Ukraine invasion: UK’s Wallace
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace has said that there is strong cause to believe that President Putin is still committed to an invasion of Ukraine.

Wallace said there had been a continued increase in troop numbers near the border as well as a “proliferation” of so-called false flag events.

“We’ve seen over the last few weeks, the Russian playbook being implemented in a way that gives a strong cause for concern that President Putin is still committed to an invasion,” Wallace told parliament, urging Putin to rule out an invasion and recommit to a diplomatic process.

4 hours ago (15:44 GMT)

Residents of breakaway regions did not recognise 2014 ‘coup’: Putin
Putin has said that the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk didn’t recognize the 2014 protests in Ukraine that ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanykovych.

The protests are known in Ukraine as “the revolution of dignity,” but Putin has for years called them a “coup.”

“The coup was anti-constitutional and bloody,” he said in televised remarks. “Kyiv authorities conducted two military, punishing operations in these regions,” he said.

He said the ongoing tensions in the region are a “third escalation” masterminded by Kyiv and its Western partners.

4 hours ago (15:25 GMT)

Russian invasion ‘storm’ gathering on Ukraine border: Western officials
Three Western officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters news agency that Russian troops were now “poised” for an invasion of Ukraine while previously posturing for an invasion.

They said they did not know whether or not President Putin had yet ordered an invasion, but raised concerns about an increase in false provocations in Russian-backed rebel regions in Ukraine.

“Our concern about what we are seeing on the ground has only risen,” said one of the Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Our overall picture, I have to say, is a very dark one with storm clouds gathering on Ukraine’s borders.”

A second official said Russian forces continued to build up, including S-400s, aircraft and armoured vehicles being deployed into forward locations. Russia now has 110 battalion tactical groups in the area of operations, the official said.

“This is a move from being postured for military operations to being poised for military operations,” the official said.

4 hours ago (15:11 GMT)

Russia’s Shoigu says Ukraine has built up serious forces near breakaway regions
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine had built up serious forces near breakaway regions in the east of the country and may be preparing to try and take them back by force, something Kyiv has repeatedly denied.

Shoigu accused Ukraine of stepping up shelling of the breakaway regions. Earlier on Monday, Kyiv denied responsibility after Russia said a shell fired from Ukrainian territory had completely destroyed a border guard post in Russia’s Rostov region.

5 hours ago (14:55 GMT)

Ukraine’s chief diplomat dismisses ‘diversionary reconnaissance’ claims
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has dismissed Russia’s accusations of a border breach by Ukrainian forces.

“I categorically refute Russia’s disinformation. Ukraine did not attack Donetsk, Luhansk; didn’t send saboteurs or APCs across the border; didn’t shoot Russia’s territory or checkpoint at the border; didn’t organise diversions and doesn’t plan such actions,” he wrote on Twitter.

“I demand that Russia stops its fake [news] factory,” he added.

5 hours ago (14:27 GMT)

Why don’t Ukrainians believe Biden’s ominous warnings of war?
And why has trust in Western powers declined? Find out here.

5 hours ago (14:18 GMT)

Putin says recognition of breakaway Ukraine regions needs to be considered
Putin has told Russia’s Security Council it is necessary to consider an appeal from the leaders of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine for Moscow to recognise them as independent.

The Russian leader also warned that tensions with the West over Ukraine posed a looming threat to Moscow.

“The use of Ukraine as an instrument of confrontation with our country poses a serious, very big threat to us,” he said, adding that Moscow’s priority was “not confrontation, but security”.

5 hours ago (14:03 GMT)

Rebel republics ask Putin to recognise their independence
The leaders of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, have asked Putin to recognise them as independent.

Should Russia take that step, it could pave the way for Moscow to openly send military forces into both regions, using the argument that it is intervening as an ally to protect them against Ukraine.

6 hours ago (13:45 GMT)

Putin’s plan for Ukraine invasion ‘has begun’, UK PM’s spokesman says
The United Kingdom’s government has seen intelligence that suggests Putin has put into motion a plan for invading Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman says.

“The intelligence we are seeing suggests that Russia intends to launch an invasion and that President Putin’s plan has already begun,” the spokesman told reporters.

“We’re seeing seen elements of the Russian playbook that we would expect to see in certain situations, starting to play out in real time.”

6 hours ago (13:40 GMT)

Ukrainian official denies Russian reports of Rostov incident
Ukraine has firmly denied Moscow’s claims that Russian forces killed five Ukrainian “saboteurs” who allegedly crossed the border to stage an attack.

“Not a single one of our soldiers has crossed the border with the Russian Federation, and not a single one has been killed today,” Anton Gerashchenko, an official at Ukraine’s interior ministry, told reporters.

6 hours ago (13:11 GMT)

Russia’s Rostov allegations, Kyiv’s counter-claims mark a ‘major escalation’
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Moscow, says the alleged incident in Rostov marks a “significant” development in the crisis.

“The information we are getting about this alleged incident is coming from the Russian military itself and not the separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine,” she said.

“This means the Russians are accusing the Ukrainian military of having armoured personnel carriers on Russian soil, which the Ukrainian military has denied as ‘fake news’ … [and] so this is going to be seen as a major escalation.”

6 hours ago (13:06 GMT)

Russia says it prevented border breach from Ukraine, Kyiv calls it fake news
Russia’s military has said that troops and border guards prevented a “diversionary reconnaissance” group from breaching the country’s border from Ukrainian territory and that five people had been killed, according to reports by Russian news agencies.

Ukraine rejected the report, calling it fake news, and said no Ukrainian forces were present in the region where the incident was alleged to have taken place.

Interfax cited the Russian military as saying that Ukrainian armed vehicles had been destroyed.



7 hours ago (12:17 GMT)

Biden asked Macron to offer summit to Russian leader: French official
Biden had asked French President Emmanuel Macron to make Putin the offer of a summit, an official from the French presidency says.

“We’re slowly changing the course of things. We’re creating a diplomatic perspective the Kremlin accepts,” Reuters quoted the French presidential adviser as saying.

“He is a facilitator,” added the French presidential adviser, commenting on Macron’s role.

8 hours ago (11:43 GMT)

Lithuanian foreign minister demands additional EU sanctions on Belarus
Lithuania’s foreign minister has called on the European Union to impose additional sanctions on Belarus for hosting Russian troops, suggesting such measures could target oil and potash exports.

“We have to be very specific about the cost for the current build-up for Belarus,” Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters in Brussels, where EU foreign ministers were meeting over the Ukraine crisis.

He added the bloc could also close loopholes in the existing sanctions it has already targeted Minsk with.

8 hours ago (11:20 GMT)

Ukraine denounces Russian shelling claim as ‘fake news’
Kyiv has dismissed a claim from Moscow that Ukrainian forces had shelled and destroyed a Russian border post, denouncing it as “fake news” designed to inflame tensions.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) had earlier alleged that a projectile fired from Ukraine had destroyed a border facility used by its guards.

8 hours ago (11:00 GMT)

Germany’s Scholz to hold telephone talks with Putin
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will speak with Putin by telephone later today in a further effort to ease tensions, a spokesman for Germany’s government says.

Steffen Hebestreit said the planned call “this afternoon” had been “closely coordinated” with Macron, who spoke to Putin on Sunday.

He said the talks were part of “joint diplomatic efforts” by the West to “prevent a catastrophe” in Ukraine.

9 hours ago (10:53 GMT)

‘No one can resolve our issue without us’
Ukraine’s top security official has said his country welcomes the possibility of a summit between Biden and Putin but also warned that nothing can be solved without Kyiv’s involvement.

“No one can resolve our issue without us,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told a news briefing. “Everything should happen with our participation.”

9 hours ago (10:40 GMT)

Moscow claims Ukrainian shell has destroyed a border facility
Moscow says a shell fired from Ukraine has destroyed a border facility used by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

The security service said in a statement that the “unidentified projectile” had flattened the facility located about 150 metres (164 yards) from Russia’s border with Ukraine, in the country’s southwestern Rostov region.

The statement added that no one had been injured in the incident and that Russian military engineers had arrived at the scene. Video released by the FSB showed a small, apparently one-room building with its roof and walls caved in and a Russian flag leaning against strewn debris.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claim.

Kyiv has battled Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since they seized a swath of territory in the region in early 2014 [File: Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo]
9 hours ago (10:24 GMT)

Satellite images show new military movements by Russia
As diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions around Ukrainian continue, satellite images show new field deployments of armoured equipment and troops from Russian garrisons.

Read more here.

9 hours ago (10:21 GMT)

Ukraine-Russia crisis: What is the Minsk agreement?
Macron has pointed to the 2015 Minsk Agreement between Kyiv and Moscow as the blueprint for a breakthrough in the Ukraine crisis.

The Minsk II deal, named after the Belarusian capital where it was settled, was aimed at ending the war in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv has battled Russian-backed separatists since they seized a swath of territory in the region in early 2014.

But the agreement, which came on the back of Minsk I, an earlier failed attempt at a ceasefire pact, was never fully implemented. Years on, there has been no full political settlement and the deadly fighting in Donbas continues.

Click here to read more.

9 hours ago (10:15 GMT)

Ukraine’s military reports many ceasefire violations
Ukraine’s military says there have been 80 ceasefire violations by Russian-backed forces in conflict-hit eastern Ukraine within the past 24 hours.

The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in a statement that one soldier had been injured during an instance of shelling on Sunday which was in violation of the Minsk agreement.

“The occupation forces continue to cowardly shell positions of Ukrainian defenders from behind the civilian settlements, hiding behind civilians as behind a human shield,” JFO spokesman Pavlo Kovalchyuk said.

The JFO added there had been 94 instances of shelling on civilian settlements in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions over the previous five days, injuring two people as well as damaging 44 homes and four schools.

10 hours ago (09:37 GMT)

Russia says 60,000 ‘refugees’ have crossed from rebel-held eastern Ukraine: Report
Russia’s emergencies ministry has said more than 60,000 “refugees” from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine have crossed into Russia following evacuation orders issued by the territories’ separatist authorities last week, the RIA Novosti news agency reports.

10 hours ago (09:24 GMT)

Separatists allege one ‘serviceman’ killed
Moscow-backed separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have alleged in a statement released to Russian news agencies that a local “serviceman” has been killed during an attack on the breakaway region by Ukrainian forces.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claim, which comes after multiple warnings by top Western officials that Russia could attempt to manufacture a “pretext” for invading Ukraine.

10 hours ago (09:11 GMT)

Firm agreement on Biden-Putin meet ‘a long way away’
Al Jazeera’s Jabbari, reporting from Moscow, says Putin and Biden are “a long way away” from reaching a firm agreement on holding discussions.

“It is going to be up to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his meeting with his American counterpart, Antony Blinken, on Thursday whether or not Putin and the US president will meet,” she said.

“I think the Russians are going to be very clear that in order for that meeting [between Putin and Biden] to take place, the US president has to be willing to discuss Russia’s security concerns – that NATO does not expand any further eastwards and that there is no military equipment in NATO countries around Russia.”

Putin has accused Western powers of ignoring Russia’s main security concerns [File: Thibault Camus/Pool via Reuters]
10 hours ago (09:06 GMT)

No firm plans yet for Putin-Biden talks, Kremlin says
The Kremlin has said Putin and Biden could set up a call or meeting any time but there were no concrete plans yet for a summit.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that although tensions were growing, diplomatic contacts were active.

But he dismissed reports that Russia had drawn up a list of Ukrainians to capture or kill after any invasion were an “absolute lie”. He also described as “highly unusual” a US embassy warning to Americans in Russia that they should prepare plans to leave the country if necessary.

The security alert cited media sources as saying there had been threats of attacks against shopping centres, railway and metro stations and other public places, including in Moscow, St Petersburg and areas near the Russia-Ukraine border.

11 hours ago (08:53 GMT)

DPR separatists claim they are in a shoot-out with Ukrainian ‘sabotage’ group
Pro-Russian separatists have claimed they are engaged in a shoot-out with a Ukrainian “sabotage” group that entered the DPR earlier today.

The breakaway territory’s state security ministry alleged in a statement that the Ukrainians blew up an artillery and ammunition storage.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the rebels’ claims, which come after multiple warnings by top Western officials that Russia could attempt to manufacture a “pretext” for invading Ukraine.

11 hours ago (08:42 GMT)

Kyiv says it hopes Biden and Putin meet will materialise
Ukraine hopes the proposed summit between Biden and Putin can be implemented and that Kyiv can join the meeting, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov says.

“I have hopes that this initiative, thanks to President Macron and supported by President Biden … will be implemented,” Reznikov told a news briefing.

11 hours ago (08:33 GMT)

France sees ‘diplomatic hope’ to resolve Ukraine crisis
France’s foreign minister says Paris sees a chance to resolve the Ukraine crisis after Biden and Putin accepted, in principle, to hold a summit.

“There is a diplomatic hope that was revived by the president” with the summit proposal, Clement Beaune told LCI TV, referring to Macron.

“If there is still a chance to avoid war, to avoid a confrontation and build a political and diplomatic solution, then we need to take it,” he added.

11 hours ago (08:23 GMT)

‘Don’t play with human lives,’ German minister tells Moscow
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has accused Russia of playing an “irresponsible” game with the civilian population of eastern Ukraine and urged it to return to the negotiating table.

Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east has intensified since Thursday.

“I urgently call on the Russian government, on the Russian president: don’t play with human lives,” Baerbock told reporters after arriving in Brussels.

“What we have seen over the last 72 hours in terms of attacks, violent disputes is really concerning,” she added. “The responsibility lies with the Russian government which is why I call urgently on the Russian government: come back to the negotiating table. It is in your hands.”

11 hours ago (08:00 GMT)

Russian troops to return when ‘objective need’ arises, says Belarus
Russian armed forces will return to their permanent bases when an “objective need” to do so arises, the Belarusian defence ministry has said, a day after announcing joint military drills with Russia would be extended.

The ministry said the troop withdrawal would depend to a large extent on a pullback of NATO forces from near the borders of Belarus and Russia.



12 hours ago (07:47 GMT)

Who are the Russia-backed separatists?
Since fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, separatist rebels of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have been accused of being proxies for Russian interests, if not simply Russian soldiers in disguise.

But who exactly are the rebels in the statelets known as the DPR and LPR, home to 2.3 million and 1.5 million people respectively?

Read more here.

12 hours ago (07:25 GMT)

EU supports further talks between US and Russia on Ukraine
The EU supports the latest attempt to arrange further talks between Washington and Moscow to find a diplomatic solution, the bloc’s foreign policy chief says.

“Summit meetings, at the level of leaders, at the level of ministers, whatever format, whatever way of talking and sitting at the table and trying to avoid a war, is badly needed,” Josep Borrell told reporters in Brussels.

“We will support anything that can make diplomatic conversations the best way, the only way to look for a solution to the crisis,” he added.

12 hours ago (06:59 GMT)

Russia has lists of Ukrainians ‘to be killed or sent to camps’
The US has warned the UN it has “credible information” that Russia has lists of Ukrainians “to be killed or sent to camps” in the event of an invasion, according to a letter sent to the UN rights chief.

The letter, which came as Washington warned of an imminent invasion by Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border, said the US is “deeply concerned” and warned of a potential “human rights catastrophe”.

13 hours ago (06:45 GMT)

Biden agrees to Ukraine summit
Macron says Biden and Putin have agreed to a summit over Ukraine, offering a possible path out of one of the most dangerous European crises in decades.

Macron’s office said in a statement the French president had pitched to both leaders a summit on “security and strategic stability in Europe”.

A White House statement said Biden had accepted the meeting “in principle” but only “if an invasion hasn’t happened”.

13 hours ago (06:32 GMT)

‘Confidence-building measures’ in place to reassure Putin
PJ Crowley, former US assistant secretary of state, has said the West is working hard to simultaneously prevent a Russian invasion as well as to put something on the table that will deter Putin from sending his troops across the border.

“I think it is useful for Western leaders to continue to try to say: ‘If not this then what else could we help you with?’ to try to convince [Putin] that what’s happening in Ukraine and western Ukraine does not pose a threat to Russia,” Crowley told Al Jazeera.

“There have been constructive discussions about resurrecting treaties that have elapsed and other confidence-building measures, [and] transparency in terms of operations on NATO territory,” he added.

“At the end of the day, this is a crisis that Putin has created. He has assembled a formidable military force surrounding Ukraine and it will be his decision as to whether he carries out the invasion or not.”

13 hours ago (06:24 GMT)

Ukrainian crisis tops EU meet agenda
The Russian threat against Ukraine will be at the top of the agenda in a gathering of EU foreign ministers later today in Brussels.

The bloc has warned it will impose sweeping sanctions on Moscow should it launch an attack, echoing threats made by the US and former member state, the United Kingdom.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies


https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/21/us-warns-of-possible-targeted-killings-by-russia-live-news

 

Bellingcat on the job to show Putin is a fraud and a liar........good job!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...krainian-attacks-made-by-russias-fake-factory

Thinskin

 

ABC is reporting that Russia has invaded Ukraine?
Is this true?

 

This is something I was wonde3ring about myself today watching Putin's speech on CNN. It could be an act I suppose but if it wasn't Putin wasn't even making sense today, He sounded more like Trump the way he just babbled along like a happy little brook.''

Putin is increasingly 'paranoid' as he embraces a 'Russian version of QAnon': Former CIA official

Matthew Chapman
February 21, 2022



Annual Direct Line with Vladimir Putin in Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin" live call-in show. - -/Kremlin/dpa

On Monday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," former CIA official John Sipher, who headed up Russian counterintelligence, said that Vladimir Putin is becoming unmoored from reality and paranoid of those around him in the leadup to his planned invasion of Ukraine.

"I know you saw, but anyone who didn't see Putin's address to the Russian nation tonight did not see the room," said anchor Erin Burnett, showing an image of Putin sitting at the far end of a large chamber with everyone else on the far side. "This was when he was speaking to his security council, before the actual address to the nation ... in light of that long table we saw the other day, which applied to certain presidents, not all, not one who took a Russian PCR test, these are all Russian PCRed people who are in the inner circle of Putin, so that can't be the excuse. What do you make of it?"

"Yeah, there's been a lot of reports that Putin is getting more and more paranoid," said Sipher. "He's obviously been cracking down domestically for the last six months to a year quite a bit, there's been stories about people visiting and have to wait in quarantine for weeks to go visit him. You know, you're a dictator for twenty years, you worry about not dying in your sleep as an old man."

READ MORE: A major backlash is brewing against high-profile Republican governors: columnist

Sipher then added that he's increasingly worried that Putin now believes his own propaganda.

"I assumed when I heard that speech that Putin knows that his lies are lies," added Sipher. "But listening to him today, it sounds like he really believes his own BS, it's like a Russian version of QAnon stuff, and that's scary because if he actually believes this stuff, it's hard to negotiate with crazy."



https://www.rawstory.com/vladimir-putin-2656763872/