from Publicae publisher of the above on youtube this morning:
A defiant Ukrainian president Zelensky has posted a new video in the streets of Kyiv on Saturday morning. Zelensky urged his compatriots to keep fighting after his soldiers battled through the night with Russian troops encircling the capital Kyiv and besieging cities throughout the country. As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its third day, Volodymyr Zelensky assured citizens in a video recorded outside his office on Saturday morning: “I’m here. We are not going to put down any arms. We will defend our country.” The centre of Kyiv was still under Ukrainian government and military control on Saturday, its leaders said, as the country’s outgunned troops continued to resist the biggest invasion force in Europe in half a century. Gunfire and explosions were heard in several parts of the capital overnight. In a telephone call, the Ukrainian President told US President Joe Biden ‘I need ammunition, not a ride,’ when offered the chance of a US-backed evacuation. Zelensky said in response to the offer of refuge: ‘The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,’ according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation, who described Zelensky as upbeat.
“Glory to Ukraine” (Ukrainian: Слава Україні! Героям слава!, romanized: Slava Ukraini! Heroiam slava!; transl. ”Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!”) is a Ukrainian national salute. It appeared at the beginning of the 20th century in different variations, when it became wildly popular among ethnic Ukrainians during the Ukrainian War of Independence of from 1917 to 1921.
[…]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s the slogan began to be heard at rallies and demonstrations. After Ukraine declared independence in 1991, the phrase “Glory to Ukraine” became a common patriotic slogan. In 1995, President of the United States Bill Clinton used the phrase in his speech in Kyiv (together with “God bless America”).
Ukraine is not yet dead, nor its glory and freedom, Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians. Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine, and we, too, brothers, we’ll live happily in our land. We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom
“We are now prohibiting Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on our platform anywhere in the world,” Nathaniel Gleicher, the social media giant’s security policy head, said on Twitter.
He added that Facebook would “continue to apply labels to additional Russian state media.”
Facebook’s parent company Meta said earlier Friday that Russia would hit its services with restrictions after it refused authorities’ order to stop using fact-checkers and content warning labels on its platforms.
Social media networks have become one of the fronts in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, home to sometimes misleading information but also real-time monitoring of a quickly developing conflict that marks Europe’s biggest geopolitical crisis in decades.
“Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labelling of content posted on Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations,” Meta’s Nick Clegg said in a statement. “We refused.”
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp’s umbrella company Meta says it has taken a number of measures to fight misinformation and to protect its platforms against cyberattacks amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The situation in Ukraine is devastating. Our teams at Meta have implemented a number of measures to keep our platforms and our users in the region as safe as we can,” wrote Meta’s VP of global affairs Nick Clegg in a Twitter post Thursday.
According to Clegg, Meta has established a Special Operations Center “staffed by experts and native speakers,” that will respond in real time to remove misinformation, hate speech, or content that incites violence on its platforms. Meta will also label content from state-controlled media, as well as content that its fact checkers have rated false.
and some good lines in his new rules segment, particularly the one starting at 2:50 in that culminates with “okay, something must be shifting if gutless wonders like mike pence and mcconnell are daring to say outloud ‘the emperor has no clue.'” also worthy of a listen is the last part about how dems should employ lincoln’s “malice toward none”.
So Kazakhstan tells Putie to screw off – denying Russia the same military support they requested and got from them to quell an uprising in the recent past. Good on the Kazakhs.
The Ukrainian government claimed that Russia has “suffered” about 3,000 troop casualties and lost 516 kinds of various military vehicles, 80 tanks, 10 airplanes, and seven helicopters so far on Friday, possibly indicating that the Ukrainian people have had some success against the Russian invaders.
The announcement came at approximately 3:00 pm local time and was issued by Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar. Malyar also told the Ukrainian people, “We are strong! Victory will be ours!” in its effort against the Russian military invasion which began early Thursday morning local time.
“Russian forces have lost about 2,800 servicemen and 80 tanks during their assault on Ukraine, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Friday,” according to Reuters.
With the anti-America party supporting KGB agent Putin I will be curious as to how they will react when he is corralled and removed from power? Okay, rhetorical question. The issue is how much longer can they live in an alternative universe when the reality is easily observed?
The NY Times has a article about E.F. Kennedy going nutso and being an anti-vaccination fool. He says he changed after being educated by anti-vaccination idiots about children dying or being diagnosed with Autism. The background for those stories was exposed as a fraud and many trials have shown no correlation. But, he lives in his alternate universe now and is unwilling to leave it. Perhaps he had some mental problem because earlier in his life he was doing very good things. Now, he might as well sell foil hats.
Estonia, Latvia and Romania joined a growing list of countries moving to close their airspace to Russian airlines after Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine, widening the impact of the bans as Russia responded with its own closures.
“We invite all [European Union] countries to do the same,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Saturday. Latvia’s national carrier airBaltic canceledall flights to and from Russia because of “increased risk and imposed restrictions,” as the country’s Transport Ministry called for barring airlines registered in Russia.
The announcement came soon after Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria made similar decisions, prompting Russia’s aviation authority on Saturday to close its skies to aircraft from the three countries. In response to the air traffic bans, S7 Airlines, Russia’s largest private carrier, said earlier it was suspending flights to Europe until March 13.
After Russian troops and tanks rolled into Ukraine, Britain barred Aeroflot, Russia’s flag carrier and largest airline, and all scheduled Russian airline flights from entering British airspace.
Air carriers have routed flights around Ukraine as the conflict erupted this week, with Germany’s Lufthansa and Ireland’s Ryanair suspending services. In Washington, the Federal Aviation Administration has prohibited U.S. airlines from operating in Ukraine and parts of Russia.
What we are witnessing is the emergence of a figure who will become a key part of Ukrainian history for the next century. There will be statues of him all over the country. Ukrainians will name their children after him. This is like watching another country’s Washington or Churchill emerge in real time.
I hope we all appreciate how special this is. And how rare. Because normally when world-historical figures emerge, it’s because they’re bad guys.
But at some point he may have to make a judgment about how his life best serves his country. Is it more important that he stay alive to lead? Even if he has to eventually leave Kyiv? Or would sacrificing himself to the Russians make the symbol even more powerful?
It is hateful to talk this way about a man because it is important to remember that Volodymyr Zelensky is not just a symbol. He’s a real person. He’s 44 years old. He’s married. He has two children, one of whom is not yet 10.
But from here on in, history has its eye on him. This is a tremendous privilege but also an unimaginable burden.
May God protect this man and the Ukrainian people.3
Yet during those same centuries, a sense of Ukrainiannessdeveloped too, linked to the peasantry, serfs, and farmers who would not or could not assimilate. The Ukrainian language, as well as Ukrainian art and music, were all preserved in the countryside, even though the cities spoke Polish or Russian. To say “I am Ukrainian” was, once upon a time, a statement about status and social position as well as ethnicity. “I am Ukrainian” meant you were deliberately defining yourself against the nobility, against the ruling class, against the merchant class, against the urbanites.
For the Ukrainian people this is not new.
From Ukrainian poet,
“Dear God, calamity again!It was so peaceful, so serene;We had just begun to break the chains”
The poem is called “Calamity Again.” The original version was written in Ukrainian, in 1859, and the author, Taras Shevchenko, was not speaking metaphorically when he wrote about slavery. Shevchenko was born into a family of serfs—slaves—on an estate in what is now central Ukraine, in what was then the Russian empire.
That bind our folk in slaveryWhen halt! Once again the people’s bloodIs streaming …
Like most everyday armchair optimists I’m always eager to pounce on any tiny scrap of good news and wave it about as if it were somehow the first robin of a fantastic new spring only just beginning to unfold. To wit:
Jay Arnold
@jadedcreative
·
1h
Reports that Russian tanks have run out of fuel and Russian soldiers have been walking around ASKING FOR FOOD.
One takeaway for me.
Russia can’t take on our army. Nor can it expand beyond Ukraine. Their Army doesn’t have the ability. So McCafferty’s dusting off and polishing the “Domino theory” is just so much misguided punditry.
Ukraine is a tougher nut than the Russians realized. They may win but they can’t hold.
For Russia Holding is the most important and they are surrounded with ethnic territories they have to hold not just the Ukraine.
As I’ve said before we can make central Asia a nightmare not just for Russia but China too.
Jack
Rick and I were discussing over breakfast whether it would be better for Zelensky to stay or live and be a symbol of the true Ukrainian government and to keep broadcasting from another country. We both think the latter would be better. But… it is not our decision… it is Zelensky’s.
And on another note… we booked this week to go to our wild wooly northern part of NH for Rick to ski Loon Mt. about 6 months ago. We’ve decided there’s no reason for us not to go and are leaving in a couple of hours. Although… in the face of what’s happening… I doubt I’ll be talking about hot tubbing up there.
I will be bringing my iPad. So if you live blog The State of the Union on Tuesday… I might join you.
Even as the Russian troops continue to advance at a rapid pace towards Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv, there are reports of several Russian military tanks running out of fuel, food and stranded on Ukrainian highways.
In the clip, which has since been widely shared on social media, Russian troops can be seen next to a large tank as a man in a car spots them on the side of the road and engages in a conversation. Their banter seems friendly and has taken the social media by surprise. WATCH:
Multiple videos on social media of Russian military out of fuel, food and stuck on highways pic.twitter.com/UTKLmTJf38
Victor Kovalenko, a former Ukrainian journalist, tweeted a translation of the exchange. The man in the car, a Ukrainian national, stops and asks the soldiers whether the tank broke down. The Russian troopers say they are “waiting for diesel”.
The driver jokes: “I can tow you back to Russia!” which is followed by laughter.
As per Kovalenko’s tweet, the Russian soldiers did not know where they were going. The man in the car cheekily says Ukraine is winning and that the Russians are surrendering.
“Do you know where are you going? – No. What’s in the news? – Ukraine wins. Your guys surrender,” the tweet read.
As the minute-long video continues, another tank is seen abandoned further down the road.
So we rolled into Baghdad , and pulled down that statue pretty fast, all well and good . Then that fellow drove that cement truck filled with fertilizer and diesel oil right into our well laid plans.
Putin thought he’d ring that Ukrainian chicken’s neck right quick.
Some chicken, some neck.
Channeling Winston.
As for his nuke threats , someone needs to e-mail him his targeting location.
“President Joe Biden is seriously weighing whether to support expelling Russia from SWIFT…”
“The move would be considered the nuclear option when it comes to responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden and his aides have highlighted how complicated blocking Russia from SWIFT would be, noting the US cannot move unilaterally. ”
Kick Russia off of the UN Security Council while you’re at it. Make Vlad a pariah in his own country. He should go to his bunker and pull an Adolf. Good riddance.
So suppose those tanks to ran out of diesil. Anybody knows that tanks have very low milage. They need to be refilled frequently and everybody know just about where they will need to be refilled. So you don’t send tanks and other armored vehicles without lots of tanker trucks coming along behind them. So there are possibilities, the Russians are idiots and can’t count higher than the tn fingers on their hands and it is possible. But if I was a group of Ukrainian soldiers armed with rifles and a few RPGs I might let the tanks go on by and take out some softer targets those tanker trucks would make a nice fun target.
Jack
I keep seeing little things which individually mean little. Taken together they still do not do much other than show a bit of Ukrainian fight. One tidbit I think is solid and important is that Kyiv is still Ukrainian. Russian military did not get it when they first attacked. The other little pieces such as Russian convoys destroyed, including many dead, reports of soldiers looking for food, some swapping for civilian clothes, many surrendering, and the best, Anonymous is attacking Russia. One report says Russian radio stations are playing the Ukrainian anthem. We need intelligence confirmation to feel like KGB agent Putin screwed himself.
how will the additional weapons and ammo promised today get to ukraine?
will there be alliance fighter jets escorting the necessary cargo planes?
what happens if said escorts fire on russians trying to intercept/destroy cargo plane? WWWIII?
…flown into germany, trucked over western Ukrainian border, there are reports that Biden is setting up backchannels to Russia to avoid engagement between us and them
bink, so do you mean the promise not to send troops in only refers to american combat troops?
IOW the promise does NOT include other kinds of personnel (drivers, pilots, trainers, techies etc.) and does NOT prohibit other nato countries to send in their troops?
I read yesterday they were trucking in through Poland. How they get it to where it is needed is anybody’s guess. I suspect it is a problem for (whatever Black water is called) to deal with if I were them I would bring some quality portable anti-aircraft weapons.
But then I wouldn’t be there either.
Jack
After a week of offering wet kisses to Vladimir Putin and explaining that Ukraine isn’t really a “democracy,” but is instead a “pure client state of the United States State Department,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson did a sudden about-face last night and decided the Russian invasion of Ukraine is actually a “tragedy,” and what’s more, it’s all Vladimir Putin’s fault.
Yes, really, go figure! Please send all clips of Tucker downplaying the invasion straight down the Memory Hole, because he’s discovered that war is in fact a bad thing.
We suppose we should at least be impressed that Carlson went on air last night without a neck brace, because damn, that was a fast 180 degree turn.
At the rate Russia is reported to be losing tanks, my proposal for the US to buy the entire fleet in exchange for lifting sanctions before the invasion would have been a great deal for Putin. Now, they’re scrap-metal, Slava Ukraine
“At least six lobbying firms that previously represented now-sanctioned Russian banks and companies tied to a Russian natural gas pipeline terminated their contracts or representation this week…”
“The exodus marks the rupture of a Moscow-to-K-Street conduit that has long employed former federal officials and members of Congress of both parties, experts said.”
“Dropping contracts with fully blocked banks “is not a gesture in solidarity with Ukraine, this is a requirement under US law…”
“Lobbying firms Roberti Global and BGR Government Affairs both said this week that they would stop representing Nord Stream 2 AG, the pipeline’s Swiss parent company, which is owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom and was sanctioned by Biden on Wednesday. The lobbying firms’ exit was first reported by Politico. Nord Stream 2 AG has paid Roberti Global more than $9 million for lobbying since 2017…”
Notice that “Z” is painted on the Russian equipment ?
Invasion stripes . Pretty simple to fake.
What the Krane’s need are “Stinger” missiles, to cut down on all those helo assaults. And to see how good they are against those pesky jets.
Ukrainian Forces Repel Russian Attack on Kyiv, Prepare for Next Assault
Thousands of civilians take up arms to help defend the capital, while Russian forces face fierce resistance throughout Ukraine
Z also name of a book and a 1969 movie. hope zelensky fairs better than the man on whom they’re based. however (according to wiki) The film’s title refers to a popular Greek protest slogan (Greek: Ζει, IPA: [ˈzi]) meaning “he lives,” in reference to Lambrakis.and i hope that Z is the one meant for him. otherwise, again according to wiki:
Russian forces have aimed one of their deadliest weapons, a multiple rocket launcher called “Grad,” at the nuclear power plant, according to the ministry.
[…]
An attack on Ukraine’s nuclear fleet, one of the world’s largest, could potentially have disastrous consequences.
The nuclear fleet includes four power plants and 15 reactors and provides about half of the country’s power.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian ministry of infrastructure said Ukrainian forces had intercepted a Russian missile headed for the Kyiv Reservoir.
“The destruction of the reservoir could create a cascade effect that could destroy other dams and even damage the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,” the ministry of infrastructure said in a statement.
BiD, the way things are going right now somebody in Russia will be glad to take him out. He is starting to embarrass people.
From CNN US military sources
(Russia) encountering “stiffer than expected” resistance from the Ukrainian military as well as unexpected difficulties supplying its forces, two senior US officials with direct knowledge tell CNN.
Remember my comment earlier today, I did run across a picture, BBC I think where somebody had blown a supply convoy all to hell including a tanker truck that looked like it was still functional as soon as somebody decided to drive it. So maybe Ukraine got a little extra diesel.
From what I googled as the crow flys it is only 60 miles from Kyiv and the nearest border. about a 50 min drive a bit longer cause they probably have to take backroads. But even so it has been 3 days. You could have supplied them with pack mules by this time.
One other thing in the article, Russia still doesn’t control the airspace above Ukraine. Ukraine still has functional aircraft flying. The sad thing about it is they only had about 50 planes. It has been 3 days. We had control of the skys over Iraq in about 15 min.
Jeez, Putin should be bright red with blush.
Jack
I keep thinking about the Russian tank that swerved and crushed a citizen’s car, just rolled over it. Horrified, I was very happy to watch the driver climb out of the car unhurt. I want a car like that. Safety first. But really, why would that Russian do that to a citizen? Horrible. I’m watching, but the coverage makes me sick. So many innocents being blown up. Children marching endlessly towards the border. Even George W. Bush weighed in and condemned the invasion. No more seeing a kind soul beyond those soulful eyes. I considered Bush and Cheney war criminals 18 years ago but nothing came of that. Trump and Tucker Carlson running their mouths for Putin is just sickening. And then Pompeo appeared to say he hates communism, always has. But they all love Putin.
I joke a lot about hitting the lottery, which is truly just joking, but if I ever did hit the big one, I’d certainly contribute any way I could to the Ukraine peoples’ relief funds.
The Nightwatchman reports 4 bells and all is well. 🙂
from Publicae publisher of the above on youtube this morning:
wiki regarding thread title “Slava Ukraini!”
‘toons of the day
and
It’s alive!!!
LP’s latest
Почему любой молодой человек должен умереть за этого старика? Why should any young man die for this old one?
musical interlude, something we’ll be hearing for a while.
English Translation:
Ukraine is not yet dead, nor its glory and freedom, Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians. Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine, and we, too, brothers, we’ll live happily in our land. We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom
Russia shutting down access to Facebook and other platforms where Russians can express anti-war views.
New Yorker: Putin invasion may make him a war criminal. https://t.co/E7cbGtALCD
Gen. Barry McCaffrey: “Putin is deranged. His next step will be the Baltic states, Romania and Poland” (MSNBC)
Graphics
more from the meta-verse
Ukraine crisis: Meta bars Russia state media from earning money on Facebook | World News – Hindustan Times
Ukraine Vice PM asks Meta, Google, Netflix to block services in Russia | Technology News | Inshorts
Meta sets up special team to deal with hate speech and misinformation about Ukraine (mashable.com)
Bill reacts to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in his Real Time monologue.
and some good lines in his new rules segment, particularly the one starting at 2:50 in that culminates with “okay, something must be shifting if gutless wonders like mike pence and mcconnell are daring to say outloud ‘the emperor has no clue.'” also worthy of a listen is the last part about how dems should employ lincoln’s “malice toward none”.
New Rule: With Malice Toward None | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) – YouTube
So Kazakhstan tells Putie to screw off – denying Russia the same military support they requested and got from them to quell an uprising in the recent past. Good on the Kazakhs.
One who bloody thinks he’s some kind of Lucky Luciano, and another one who thinks he’s some kind of Latter Day Napoleon.
I’m sick of these people.
With the anti-America party supporting KGB agent Putin I will be curious as to how they will react when he is corralled and removed from power? Okay, rhetorical question. The issue is how much longer can they live in an alternative universe when the reality is easily observed?
The NY Times has a article about E.F. Kennedy going nutso and being an anti-vaccination fool. He says he changed after being educated by anti-vaccination idiots about children dying or being diagnosed with Autism. The background for those stories was exposed as a fraud and many trials have shown no correlation. But, he lives in his alternate universe now and is unwilling to leave it. Perhaps he had some mental problem because earlier in his life he was doing very good things. Now, he might as well sell foil hats.
And the just world watches it happening.
I guess the Russian people won’t think anything is wrong when something has gone awry with their access to social media.
Slap a Ukrainian flag decal on a US drone and take out their effing tanks.
Russia is being cut off in the skies. WAPO.
I guess spring break in Moscow is off…
A Lot of good writing going on out there.
From the folks at the “Bulwark” a never trump political blog
As I’ve pointed out before Anne Appelbaum has been on fire with her essays over at the Atlantic, her latest discusses the Ukranian national identity and it history.
Both are highly recommended reading
Jack
For the Ukrainian people this is not new.
From Ukrainian poet,
From the applebaum article linked above.
Jack
Like most everyday armchair optimists I’m always eager to pounce on any tiny scrap of good news and wave it about as if it were somehow the first robin of a fantastic new spring only just beginning to unfold. To wit:
Jay Arnold
@jadedcreative
·
1h
Reports that Russian tanks have run out of fuel and Russian soldiers have been walking around ASKING FOR FOOD.
“Excuse me Mr comrade Russian, could I interest you in one of our fine Ukrainian wooden pitchforks?”
One takeaway for me.
Russia can’t take on our army. Nor can it expand beyond Ukraine. Their Army doesn’t have the ability. So McCafferty’s dusting off and polishing the “Domino theory” is just so much misguided punditry.
Ukraine is a tougher nut than the Russians realized. They may win but they can’t hold.
For Russia Holding is the most important and they are surrounded with ethnic territories they have to hold not just the Ukraine.
As I’ve said before we can make central Asia a nightmare not just for Russia but China too.
Jack
Sturge,
interesting if true a sign of Russian incompetence.
But I would remain doubtful, it is too early in the campaign.
Jack
Sitting back and watching while the world does nothing, and taking notes:Xi
Rick and I were discussing over breakfast whether it would be better for Zelensky to stay or live and be a symbol of the true Ukrainian government and to keep broadcasting from another country. We both think the latter would be better. But… it is not our decision… it is Zelensky’s.
And on another note… we booked this week to go to our wild wooly northern part of NH for Rick to ski Loon Mt. about 6 months ago. We’ve decided there’s no reason for us not to go and are leaving in a couple of hours. Although… in the face of what’s happening… I doubt I’ll be talking about hot tubbing up there.
I will be bringing my iPad. So if you live blog The State of the Union on Tuesday… I might join you.
india today:
how will the additional weapons and ammo promised today get to ukraine?
will there be alliance fighter jets escorting the necessary cargo planes?
what happens if said escorts fire on russians trying to intercept/destroy cargo plane? WWWIII?
For anyone who has a kindle or ebook they no longer use, this is a way to do a good thing:
Kindle Classroom Project
jamie, what useful thing can one do with unworkable outmoded 3G phones?
So we rolled into Baghdad , and pulled down that statue pretty fast, all well and good . Then that fellow drove that cement truck filled with fertilizer and diesel oil right into our well laid plans.
Putin thought he’d ring that Ukrainian chicken’s neck right quick.
Some chicken, some neck.
Channeling Winston.
As for his nuke threats , someone needs to e-mail him his targeting location.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/biden-ukraine-russia-swift/index.html
“President Joe Biden is seriously weighing whether to support expelling Russia from SWIFT…”
“The move would be considered the nuclear option when it comes to responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden and his aides have highlighted how complicated blocking Russia from SWIFT would be, noting the US cannot move unilaterally. ”
Kick Russia off of the UN Security Council while you’re at it. Make Vlad a pariah in his own country. He should go to his bunker and pull an Adolf. Good riddance.
I wouldn’t trust those out of fuel tanks and friendly troops, either.
It could be the old fumblerusky.
So suppose those tanks to ran out of diesil. Anybody knows that tanks have very low milage. They need to be refilled frequently and everybody know just about where they will need to be refilled. So you don’t send tanks and other armored vehicles without lots of tanker trucks coming along behind them. So there are possibilities, the Russians are idiots and can’t count higher than the tn fingers on their hands and it is possible. But if I was a group of Ukrainian soldiers armed with rifles and a few RPGs I might let the tanks go on by and take out some softer targets those tanker trucks would make a nice fun target.
Jack
Germany finally kicks in, to send thousands of weapons to Ukraine in major reversal https://t.co/PK2N7pp1U5
I keep seeing little things which individually mean little. Taken together they still do not do much other than show a bit of Ukrainian fight. One tidbit I think is solid and important is that Kyiv is still Ukrainian. Russian military did not get it when they first attacked. The other little pieces such as Russian convoys destroyed, including many dead, reports of soldiers looking for food, some swapping for civilian clothes, many surrendering, and the best, Anonymous is attacking Russia. One report says Russian radio stations are playing the Ukrainian anthem. We need intelligence confirmation to feel like KGB agent Putin screwed himself.
…flown into germany, trucked over western Ukrainian border, there are reports that Biden is setting up backchannels to Russia to avoid engagement between us and them
trust ?
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-02-26/how-the-crew-of-the-international-space-station-could-become-unlikely-collateral-victims-of-the-conflict-in-ukraine.html?outputType=amp
bink, so do you mean the promise not to send troops in only refers to american combat troops?
IOW the promise does NOT include other kinds of personnel (drivers, pilots, trainers, techies etc.) and does NOT prohibit other nato countries to send in their troops?
above my paygrade, patd
it’s only cheating if you get caught
HA! hitting ’em where it hurts.
Poland, Sweden refuse to play Russia in FIFA World Cup qualifiers; Lewandowski says ‘I can’t imagine playing’ – CBSSports.com
my interpretation of the US offer to evacuate Zelenskyy is that we might “have some guys” 🤫
I read yesterday they were trucking in through Poland. How they get it to where it is needed is anybody’s guess. I suspect it is a problem for (whatever Black water is called) to deal with if I were them I would bring some quality portable anti-aircraft weapons.
But then I wouldn’t be there either.
Jack
Ukraine: France seizes Russian ship over sanctions – BBC News
i don’t know what Amazon prime’s specific routes in Eastern Europe are😜
geography version of wordle, got my first one right today in 3 tries!
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/
maybe rupert said something to him?
wonkette:
or maybe one too many ‘toons like this made the tucker do a reverse
At the rate Russia is reported to be losing tanks, my proposal for the US to buy the entire fleet in exchange for lifting sanctions before the invasion would have been a great deal for Putin. Now, they’re scrap-metal, Slava Ukraine
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/lobbying-firms-russian-businesses-sanctions-invs/index.html
“At least six lobbying firms that previously represented now-sanctioned Russian banks and companies tied to a Russian natural gas pipeline terminated their contracts or representation this week…”
“The exodus marks the rupture of a Moscow-to-K-Street conduit that has long employed former federal officials and members of Congress of both parties, experts said.”
“Dropping contracts with fully blocked banks “is not a gesture in solidarity with Ukraine, this is a requirement under US law…”
“Lobbying firms Roberti Global and BGR Government Affairs both said this week that they would stop representing Nord Stream 2 AG, the pipeline’s Swiss parent company, which is owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom and was sanctioned by Biden on Wednesday. The lobbying firms’ exit was first reported by Politico. Nord Stream 2 AG has paid Roberti Global more than $9 million for lobbying since 2017…”
Remember that not all armies from Russia have been all that good .
“I need ammunition , not a ride”
President “Z”.
Notice that “Z” is painted on the Russian equipment ?
Invasion stripes . Pretty simple to fake.
What the Krane’s need are “Stinger” missiles, to cut down on all those helo assaults. And to see how good they are against those pesky jets.
“Z” = Target.
Ukrainian Forces Repel Russian Attack on Kyiv, Prepare for Next Assault
Thousands of civilians take up arms to help defend the capital, while Russian forces face fierce resistance throughout Ukraine
WSJ
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/webb-telescope-reaches-major-milestone-all-its-light-is-in-one-place/
Z also name of a book and a 1969 movie. hope zelensky fairs better than the man on whom they’re based. however (according to wiki) The film’s title refers to a popular Greek protest slogan (Greek: Ζει, IPA: [ˈzi]) meaning “he lives,” in reference to Lambrakis. and i hope that Z is the one meant for him. otherwise, again according to wiki:
Ukrainians crushing Putin’s war-machine, holy shit
the first vid is apparently Ukraine losses, but there are white ‘Z’s all over the second video
‘z’ markings thought to denote deployment-regions, other Russian equipment has different markings
https://www.distractify.com/p/what-does-the-z-mean-on-russian-tanks
Russian military threatens Ukraine nuclear power plant | TheHill
Someone needs to take out Vlad.
Zelinsky will give you a gun, BiD
You raise a good point, though: who’s the successor? Megalomaniacs tend not to leave one. Lavrov? Medvedev?
ok slava Ukraine
BiD, the way things are going right now somebody in Russia will be glad to take him out. He is starting to embarrass people.
From CNN US military sources
Remember my comment earlier today, I did run across a picture, BBC I think where somebody had blown a supply convoy all to hell including a tanker truck that looked like it was still functional as soon as somebody decided to drive it. So maybe Ukraine got a little extra diesel.
From what I googled as the crow flys it is only 60 miles from Kyiv and the nearest border. about a 50 min drive a bit longer cause they probably have to take backroads. But even so it has been 3 days. You could have supplied them with pack mules by this time.
One other thing in the article, Russia still doesn’t control the airspace above Ukraine. Ukraine still has functional aircraft flying. The sad thing about it is they only had about 50 planes. It has been 3 days. We had control of the skys over Iraq in about 15 min.
Jeez, Putin should be bright red with blush.
Jack
The thing that probably hurt/embarrassed Vlad the most is when Tucker finally turned on him.
I keep thinking about the Russian tank that swerved and crushed a citizen’s car, just rolled over it. Horrified, I was very happy to watch the driver climb out of the car unhurt. I want a car like that. Safety first. But really, why would that Russian do that to a citizen? Horrible. I’m watching, but the coverage makes me sick. So many innocents being blown up. Children marching endlessly towards the border. Even George W. Bush weighed in and condemned the invasion. No more seeing a kind soul beyond those soulful eyes. I considered Bush and Cheney war criminals 18 years ago but nothing came of that. Trump and Tucker Carlson running their mouths for Putin is just sickening. And then Pompeo appeared to say he hates communism, always has. But they all love Putin.
I joke a lot about hitting the lottery, which is truly just joking, but if I ever did hit the big one, I’d certainly contribute any way I could to the Ukraine peoples’ relief funds.
The Nightwatchman reports 4 bells and all is well. 🙂
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