Vladimir Putin Russia Ukraine war

2022 - 3 - 20

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Atlantic Council"

Vladimir Putin's criminal war has killed the myth of Russian ... (Atlantic Council)

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was meant to secure Vladimir Putin's place in history and reunify what Moscow views as the divided lands of historic Russia.

The war in Ukraine is a watershed event for the entire world that will shape the geopolitical landscape for many years to come. “The amount of animosity from the average Ukrainian towards the average Russian is already huge and growing more with every single new airstrike, every new civilian death. The savagery of the Russian assault has forced many Ukrainians to dramatically rethink their attitudes toward Russia. While relations have always been far more complex that the simplistic “brotherly nations” propaganda promoted by the Kremlin, millions of Ukrainians and Russians have traditionally enjoyed strong mutual bonds. It is also striking that many of Russia’s most brazen war crimes have targeted the same Russian-speaking Ukrainians that Vladimir Putin has long claimed to be protecting. It will take many decades before the hatreds of this poisonous war subside. Polls consistently demonstrate strong Russian public backing for the invasion, while anti-war protests in Russia have been small and underwhelming. After Moscow’s initial blitzkrieg plans were derailed by the Ukrainian military, the Kremlin has switched tactics and is increasingly focusing its efforts on the indiscriminate bombing of towns and cities. In his notorious 7,000-word July 2021 essay “ On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” Putin laid out his imperialistic vision of Ukraine’s place within a wider Russian world and argued that any sense of a separate Ukrainian identity was artificially manufactured. During the first three weeks of the war, Russian troops have committed countless individual atrocities against the civilian Ukrainian population. With the conflict now in its fourth week, it is already clear that Putin’s invasion has backfired disastrously. This fixation has included frequent declarations that the two nations inhabit a single historical whole and have been unnaturally separated by the fall of the USSR. “I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia.”

Putin's Russia looks increasingly desperate as Ukraine war nears ... (CNBC)

Putin's forces have exerted brutal force and destruction on much of Ukraine, but Russia has achieved few military victories.

The battle (and Russia's support) were seen as a turning point in the civil war, and cementing Assad's regime. Putin underestimated us and I think that the whole world underestimated us. He said Russia was now relying significantly more on air power and was hitting more civilian targets, such as a theater in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, where civilians were sheltering. They failed to do it and so the tactic and strategy has changed into a really grueling, grinding war." Meanwhile, thousands of civilians are still trapped in the city. "He just can't go further because our army is holding the ground. While many managed to evacuate the heavily destroyed city last week, intense fighting has continued with street battles taking place at the weekend. "And so time is working against them now," he said. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it targets civilians, despite the evidence to the contrary. Volker said that Russia's desperation for a quick win in Ukraine means that it is now resorting to what he described as "barbarian tactics" including "targeting civilians directly, shelling cities" to try to create "fear and exhaustion in the population." They are having trouble with ammunition. They're having trouble with supplies.

Putin's "Back Is Against The Wall", May Use Chemical Weapons ... (NDTV)

Ukraine's military said on Tuesday residents should brace for more indiscriminate Russian shelling of critical infrastructure, as U.S. President Joe Biden ...

Japan reacted angrily on Tuesday after Russia withdrew from peace treaty talks citing Tokyo's decision to join the international campaign of sanctions. Ahead of the trip he discussed Russia's "brutal" tactics in a call with European leaders on Monday, the White House said. Emergency services combed wreckage to the sound of distant artillery fire. A part of Mariupol now held by Russian forces, reached by Reuters on Sunday, was an eerie wasteland. Ukrainian officials hope that Moscow will negotiate a withdrawal. Several bodies lay by the road, wrapped in blankets.

Why Mariupol Matters to Ukraine and Russia (Bloomberg)

It's basically the only major port serving those regions. When Ukrainians managed to recapture it from the separatists during the first Russian invasion, that ...

Ukraine latest updates: Zelenskyy rejects Moscow's ultimatums (Aljazeera.com)

Ukraine news from March 21: President Zelenskyy accuses Moscow of seeking to 'destroy' Ukraine.

Ukraine needs diplomatic support,” Janez Jansa announced on Twitter as he added that the diplomats will return to Kyiv on a voluntary basis. The Ukrainian government planned to send nearly 50 buses to Mariupol on Monday for further evacuations, Vereshchuk said. We are working to make #EUdo the same. “The people will have to speak up and respond to this or that form of compromise. “We’ve come most of the way, such as substituting pipeline gas for liquefied natural gas and being ready to use oil from other countries. “I am not so optimistic that two or three days or even a week will close the issue. Ukraine has a high number of orphans and children born through surrogate mothers who had not been picked up by their parents. Amidst increased violence and a disrupted supply chain, delivering essential goods in many parts of the country is getting harder — not easier,” Rocca said from the Romanian capital Bucharest. He was taken to Buchenwald in 1942 and survived three more concentration camps, Ukrainian media reported. More time to use unsanctioned Russian banks in Europe? Time to pull the plug. “But there are investigative processes that are going to go on, and we’re going to let that happen. The International Red Cross was sent documents to facilitate an exchange with captured Russian soldiers, according to the Kremlin’s human rights commissioner.

Nothing left of Mariupol 'only ruins' - Zelensky (RTE.ie)

Ukraine's president has said there is "nothing left" of the city of Mariupol after weeks of Russian bombardment, and Kyiv appealed to Moscow to allow the ...

Ukraine said Russian troops used stun grenades and gunfire to disperse a rally of protesters in the occupied city of Kherson today. is due to their own ineptitude." "They are slowed. "Kherson's 300k citizens face a humanitarian catastrophe owing to the Russian army's blockade. "Ukraine cannot fulfil Russian ultimatums," he said. Mr Danylyuk said what Russia is doing "is completely illegal" according to the international law and he has accused Moscow of a "violation of all of the international security system built after the end of the Second World War." "This is a very difficult story for everyone. CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed several hundred protesters in Kherson's Freedom Square running to escape. They're running out of food. "There is nothing left there. Reuters could not independently verify the report. Russia did not immediately comment on it.

Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 27 of the invasion (The Guardian)

Russian forces inside besieged Mariupol as 300000 people in Kherson said to be running out of food.

Russia plans to unleash a “great terror” on the southern occupied city of Kherson by kidnapping residents and taking them across the Russian border, an FSB whistleblower has said. Writing toLe Parisiennewspaper, Olena Zelenska paid tributeto Europeans who have been housing and helping Ukrainian refugees, saying they deserved a Nobel peace prize. Russian forces are now inside the besieged southern city of Mariupol, a senior US defence official said.