The heightened tensions regarding Russian military buildup on Ukrainian borders, threatening with renewed large-scale invasion, have just reached their | Uacrisis.org
— Read on uacrisis.org/en/escalation-not-evacuation
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Russian proxy forces fired at Ukrainian positions 20 times in the morning of Feb. 18
— Read on english.nv.ua/nation/escalation-in-donbas-continues-as-russian-proxy-forces-fire-on-ukrainian-positions-50217896.html -
KIEV, UKRAINE – OCTOBER 01: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media on October 1, 2019 in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine has been at the core of a political storm in U.S. politics since the release of a whistleblower’s complaint suggesting U.S. President Donald Trump, at the expense of U.S. foreign policy, pressured Ukraine to investigate Trump’s rival, Joe Biden, and Biden’s son, Hunter. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Zelensky traveled to Munich to shore up relationships with the western leaders. In an impressive interview with Christaine Amapour, Zelensky made the following points:
• If the West is so sure Putin is going to invade, why not implement sanctions now?
• The West will not even provide a detailed list of sanctions.
• What is the point of sanctions after the Russians have destroyed the economy and the infrastructure.
• You cannot live in a country anticipating war every day. What kind of economy would you have then? Panic would crush the national currency, business would flee. There would be no stability.
• Living in fear only strengthens the enemies from within who want Ukraine to be weak – to have a weak economy, a weak military.
• Ukrainians have to assess the situation and decide how to react. (Note: I presume this means rather than being told how to react).
• If panic starts people will withdraw money from accounts. If you want to help give us arms, invest in our country.
• Ukrainians and Western leaders have a “different vision” on sanctions. Ukraine doesn’t need sanctions after the country is fired at, attacked, when we will have no economy, no borders and our country will be occupied.
• It was “important” for Zelensky to come to Munich. (Note: Several U.S. military commentators on corporate news, warned that he should not leave Ukraine.) One of the CNN commentators said he understood why Zelensky had come, since he garnered a world audience to plead his case. Zelensky noted that he had breakfast in Ukraine and would have dinner in Ukraine.
From other sources, Ukraine:
- There are orders of a “massive and urgent” evacuation of civilians near Rostov in Donbas.
- This can mean that a decision has been made on an offensive operation in Donbas.
- These evacuations can be used as provocation blamed on the Ukrainians.
- Some tweets from Ukraine were noting this morning that people were afraid to get on the evacuation busses because they feared Russians would attack the busses to create a provocation by blaming the Ukrainians.
- Russian-installed Donetsk and Luhansk leaders have declared mobilization of 18-55 year old men, banning them from leaving.
- Russian state media is saying that a shell hit Russian territory.
- Russian troops have not left Belarus (where they were supposedly doing exercises).
- Tweet: Evacuation means Escalation.
- Richard Engel (NBC): Russia has nearly half it’s military forces in attack positions around Ukraine. Putin is accusing Ukraine of genocide. The Russians are accusing the west of being hysterical?
- Russia is blaming Ukraine for preparing “chemical weapons” but does not call international inspections to check to see if this is true.
- Zelensky got a thunderous standing ovation after an interview in Munich.
- (Note: I think the snake Chris Coons was in the audience).
- Russian media has been portraying Ukraine as an aggressive state for years.
- The narrative that Ukraine is an aggressive state has intensified in the past months.
- Russian media is accusing Ukraine of a military buildup.
- Russia has pushed proxies in occupied Donbas to announce massive evacuations.
- Putin continues the narrative of a “genocidal” Ukraine.
- Parallels are made by Russians to “Nazi” crimes. (Note: Again, this has been going on for years).
- Russia shelling Ukrainian positions near border to provoke a response and justify an attack.
- There are those predicting that this indicates an escalation around Donbas again.
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Russian government-backed hackers have acquired sensitive information on the development and deployment of US weapons by breaching American defense contractors over the last two years, US security agencies said in a public advisory on Wednesday.
— Read on www.cnn.com/2022/02/16/politics/us-russia-defense-contractors-hackers/index.html -
KIEV, UKRAINE – OCTOBER 01: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media on October 1, 2019 in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine has been at the core of a political storm in U.S. politics since the release of a whistleblower’s complaint suggesting U.S. President Donald Trump, at the expense of U.S. foreign policy, pressured Ukraine to investigate Trump’s rival, Joe Biden, and Biden’s son, Hunter. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/15/uk-blames-russia-notpetya-cyber-attack-ukraine
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/15/uk-blames-russia-notpetya-cyber-attack-ukraine
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apple.news/A75758TV1Tv2jlK1onSrsxA
In the event of a Russian invasion, analysts fear the bridge could be one of many potential routes for Russian forces currently deployed to Belarus for military exercises to make their way further into Ukrainian territory.
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Russia’s State Duma on Tuesday backed a resolution calling for diplomatic recognition of Eastern Ukraine’s pro-Russian Donbas People’s Republics, raising tensions between Russia and Ukraine another notch, even as Russian troops began a partial withdrawal from the Ukrainian border.
— Read on www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/02/15/russian-parliament-backs-plan-to-recognize-breakaway-ukrainian-regions-a76381 -
No one should be surprised if Russia counterattacks, Russian envoy to the EU has said.
— Read on english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/russia-will-not-take-action-on-ukraine-if-not-provoked-to-do -
A few days ago, maps of Ukraine with flags representing Russian troops suddenly changed. There at the bottom left, in another country bordering Ukraine, was a flag. How did that get there?
The flag is on Ukraine’s southwestern flank and on Moldova’s eastern border. Why, I wondered, did we never hear about Russians moving troops into Moldova? I soon found out. Russia occupies that part of Moldova.
They occupy that strip of Moldova without the consent of the Moldovians. The area, east Mondova’s Dniester River is called Transdniestria. There are reportedly 1,500 to 2,000 Russian soldiers with significant stockpiles of weapons and ammunition occupying the region. The Russians also exercise overall control over separatist armed groups in Transdniestria. This is yet another region where Russia supports proxy forces.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a short civil war between Moldovan loyalists and Transnistrian separatists in the early 1992. Moldova, NATO, Ukraine and the U.s. have all called on Russia to withdraw the troops.
Since 2002, Russia has been issuing passports to residents which has infuriated Kyiv and Chisinau, Moldova’s capital.
Transnistria has its own security services, government, currency, and border control. It also has a site which is estimated to be the “largest ammunition depot in Eastern Europe.” It is in the village of Cobasna, where 22,000 tons of ammunition is housed.
The European Court for Human Rights has found Russia guilty of human rights violations in the Transnistrian region. Ion Manole, executive director of the human rights group Promo-LEX has stated:
“We cannot speak about respect for human rights in this region. The main reason for this is impunity. It’s a closed territory where journalists, specialists, lawyers, and human rights defenders are not accepted. So we cannot even monitor the status of human rights as we would like.”
One company appears to own almost all of the petrol stations, supermarkets, and distilleries – Sheriff, a name synonymous with Transnistria. It is owned by a former Soviet police officer, Viktor Gushan. The opaque organization is influential in politics, Transnistrian trade and everyday life.
According to Freedom House, this unrecognized state is “not free.”
Sources:
https://www.rulac.org/browse/conflicts/military-occupation-of-moldova-by-russia#collapse1accord
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/11/transnistria-ukraine-crisis
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210927-in-separatist-transnistria-sheriff-calls-the-shots
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Interfax: 2/14/22
There is a report that the Russian Duma is going to vote on 2/15/22 on “two resolutions asking for Putin to recognize the independence of the “self-proclaimed republics of Donbas” This will kill Minsk and open the way for Putin to invade Ukraine.
Other reports:
- Ukrainian International Airlines is moving seven of its 25 planes out of the country “at the request of lessors.”
- Spokesman for the Pentagon, John Kirby is being asked about potential refugees from Ukraine.
- Anne Applebaum is calling for the British to announce the names and addresses of Russian oligarchs in London who will be sanctioned and whose sources of income and donations to the Tory party are under investigation. Twitter
- Richard Engel on MSNBC is reporting that several European media outlets had been claiming that the Russian attack could come on the 16th. Zelensky gave a speech in which he referenced the 16th, but his office is now saying that he was referencing those media reports, not his own evaluation.
- Ukraine has requested 12,000 anti-tank missiles from Germany.
- Richard Engel notes that Putin wants to get rid of Zelensky and get a more compliant government in Kyiv.
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2/14/22
President Zelensky of Ukraine has stated that he has been informed that a Russian attack will occur on Wednesday. He has not said, as reporters have pointed out, that he believes this information.
Commentators on CNN are talking about reports that the Ukrainians have said that they would be willing to talk about agreeing not to join NATO for the time being in exchange for ending the standoff. Michael Bociurkiw maintains that such a move or agreement would be a death knell for Zelensky and perhaps provoke demonstrations on the streets.
It has also been reported that Ukrainian officials have been talking about giving the Russians access to Crimea and Donbas and ceasing to object to Russian control of the two regions. Should Putin gain such a concession, it would mean that without firing a shot, he has gotten through threat what he couldn’t get at negotiations.
Julia Davis, the Daily Beast, is reporting that the head of RT has gone on Russian television, crying and stating that Russia has no choice but to intervene in Ukraine before they (the Ukrainians) start building concentration camps and gassing people.
