Russia launches Ukraine invasion

**panama hat** · 28-02-2022, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by Joe 90

Putin will be dead within the year.

Within a day or so would be favourable.

**Switch** · 28-02-2022, 11:12 AM

Putin needs a 3 month cease fire to re-equip his vulnerable armed forces. He probably believes that Ukraine will not enjoy the same opportunity to re-supply, (via Poland with western resources of plentiful order).
He wouldn’t dream of trying anything on with a strong, well motivated Poland, who also happen to be a full NATO member. That threat is far more than subliminal.
It is a very real and serious threat that Putin has so far chose to ignore. Scary it is!

**panama hat** · 28-02-2022, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Switch

He wouldn’t dream of trying anything on with a strong, well motivated Poland, who also happen to be a full NATO member.

Hence Ukraine . . . who is being supplied with weapons and petrol every hour of every day.

Putin simply needs to die now.

**malmomike77** · 28-02-2022, 02:14 PM

Putin is feeling the squeeze, Socal's much lauded $600Bn+ of reserves are going to be dwindling fast, if he's even able to access them.

Ukraine conflict: Russian rouble plunges after new sanctions announced

The rouble has slumped by 30% against the US dollar, after Western nations announced new sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The new record low for the Russian currency comes after some of the country's banks were banned from using the Swift international payment system.

On Sunday, Russia's central bank appealed for calm amid fears that there could be a run on the country's banks.

Growing tensions also helped push Brent crude oil above $100 (£75) a barrel.

The move by the European Union, United States and their allies to cut off a number of Russian banks from Swift is the harshest measure imposed to date on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict.

The assets of Russia's central bank will also be frozen, limiting the country's ability to access its overseas reserves.

The intention is to "further isolate Russia from the international financial system", a joint statement said.

Russia is heavily reliant on the Swift system for its key oil and gas exports.

"Unless the Russian central bank and Russia's largest banks - which have already been cut off from correspondent banking - find an alternative means of reaching the global financial system Russia faces Iran and North Korea-style isolation from the global economy," Ari Redbord from blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs told the BBC.

Mr Redbord was formerly at the US Treasury Department, where he was a senior advisor to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Investors were also wary on Monday after Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's military to put its deterrence forces, which include nuclear weapons, on "special alert".

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60550992

**hallelujah** · 28-02-2022, 02:34 PM

What bravery from the Ukrainians.

It doesn't sound like the average Russian soldier understands why they are there though.

Lives lost on both sides because of a crazed dictator.

**Troy** · 28-02-2022, 03:58 PM

Is there any more information on possible talks at the border with Belarus? There was no date or time given and this could be crucial to Russia saving face and both sides saving lives.

Russia is very much in a lose lose situation now with Putin having lost his gamble on Ukraine citizens siding with him and against their government.

**tomcat** · 28-02-2022, 04:14 PM

...an excellent article that explains how to increase Putin's pain:

Can Putin Recover From This?

The Fed and the European Central Bank move hard, fast, and together.

By David Frum (The Atlantic)

The European Central Bank (former headquarters pictured) will impose strict sanctions on Russia. (Andre Pain / AFP / Getty)

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

About the author: David Frum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy (2020). In 2001 and 2002, he was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

The EU Commission announced this afternoon that the European Central Bank will deploy its most powerful financial weapon against Russian aggression. Several hours later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Federal Reserve will impose sanctions of its own upon the Russian central bank.
Central-bank sanctions are a weapon so devastating, in fact, that the only question is whether they might do more damage than Western governments might wish. They could potentially bankrupt the entire Russian banking system and push the ruble into worthlessness.

Russia is also being hit by a partial cut-off from the SWIFT system. SWIFT is a messaging technology based in Belgium that allows banks to talk to one another in secure ways, enabling the safe and sure electronic transmission of funds. SWIFT is not a bank, nor is it exactly a payments system. It is instead a way to guarantee that money moves where it is supposed to go. Countries cut off from SWIFT, as Iran was in 2012, are effectively cast back into the precomputer era—forced to rely on primitive barter transactions, or Breaking Bad–style pallets of physical cash, to fund their governments and their economies.

Details are still pending about the Western central-bank sanctions. To better understand the possibilities, I spoke with Michael Bernstam, an economist and Soviet-born analyst at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Bernstam has studied the potentially decisive impact of such sanctions since the prior Russian invasion of Ukraine, in 2014.
Bear with me as I walk you through some banking and currency technicalities. I promise the destination will be worth the trouble.
Suppose you are a Russian company that buys things from the outside world and sells them to Russians. You earn your income in rubles. You spend in euros, U.S. dollars, British pounds, Japanese yen, South Korean won, or possibly Chinese renminbi. How does that work, exactly?

Well, a Russian business or individual might convert the rubles earned inside Russia into foreign currency at a Russian bank. Or—because the ruble has a strong tendency to lose value against foreign currency—that Russian business or individual might set up an account at a Russian bank denominated in euros or dollars. Both of those are legal to do in postcommunist Russia.

Most of these conversions from rubles into foreign currency take the form of computer clicks that credit or debit the electronic ledgers of financial institutions. The deposit of rubles into a bank is a click. The sale of rubles for euros or dollars is another click. The arrival of the foreign currency into the Russian customer’s account is only one click more. Very seldom does any actual paper money change hands. There’s only about $12 billion of cash dollars and euros inside Russia, according to Bernstam’s research. Against that, the Russian private sector has foreign-currency claims on Russian banks equal to $65 billion, Bernstam told me. Russia’s state-owned companies have accumulated even larger claims on Russia’s foreign reserves.

Despite the relative scarcity of physical foreign currency inside Russia, all of these clicks can happen because Russians generally have confidence that their banks could pay foreign cash if they had to. If every Russian depositor—individual, corporate, state-owned—showed up at the same time to claim their dollars and euros, you’d have a classic bank run. But Russians don’t run on their banks, because they believe that in a real crunch, the Russian central bank would provide the needed cash. After all, the Russian central bank holds enormous quantities of reserves: $630 billion at the last tally before the start of the current war on Ukraine. In an emergency, the central bank would draw upon its reserves, provide cash to the commercial banks, and every depositor could be paid in full in the currency promised. With $630 billion in reserves, there is no way Russia would ever run out of foreign currency. You’ve probably read that assertion many times in the past few days. I actually wrote such an assertion myself in an article published last week.

Not so fast, argues Bernstam. What does it mean that Russia “has” X or Y in foreign reserves? Where do these reserves exist? The dollars, euros, and pounds owned by the Russian central bank—Russia may own them, but Russia does not control them. Almost all those hundreds of billions of Russian-owned assets are controlled by foreign central banks. Russia’s reserves exist as notations in the records of central banks in the West, especially the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve. Most of Russia’s reserves are literally IOUs to the Russian central bank from Western governments.

Remember the saying “If you owe the bank $10,000, you have a problem—but if you owe the bank $10 billion, the bank has a problem”? We, the people of the Western world collectively owe the Russian state hundreds of billions of dollars. That’s not our problem. That’s Russia’s problem, an enormous one. Because one thing any debtor can do is … not pay when asked.

To finance its war on Ukraine, Russia might have hoped to draw down its foreign-currency reserves with Western central banks. The Russian central bank would tell the Fed or the ECB to credit X billion dollars or euros from the Russian central bank to this or that private Russian bank. That bank would then credit the accounts of Russian businesses or individuals. Those businesses or individuals would then pay Western companies to whom they owe money.

All of this requires the cooperation of the Fed or ECB in the first place. The Fed or ECB could say: “Nope. Sorry. The Russian central bank’s money is frozen. No transfers of dollars or euros from the Russian central bank to commercial banks. No transfers from commercial banks to businesses or individuals. For all practical purposes, you’re broke.” It would be a startling action, but not unprecedented. The United States did it to Iran after the revolutionary regime seized U.S. diplomats as hostages in 1979.
Iran did not feel that freeze, however, because it was earning massive amounts of new foreign currency from oil sales. But if Russia’s foreign income slows at the same time as it is waging a hugely costly war against Ukraine, it will need its reserves badly. And suddenly, it will be as if the money disappeared. Every Russian person, individual, or state entity with any kind of obligation denominated in foreign currency would be shoved toward default.

Of course, long before any of that happened, everybody involved in the transactions would have panicked. Depositors would race to cash out their dollar and euro holdings from Russian banks, the Russian banks would bang on the doors of the Russian central bank, the Russian central bank would freeze its depositors’ foreign-currency accounts. The ruble would cease to be a convertible currency. It would revert to being the pseudo-currency of Soviet times: something used for record-keeping purposes inside Russia, but without the ability to buy goods or services on international markets. The Russian economy would close upon itself, collapsing into as much self-sufficiency as possible for a country that produces only basic commodities.

Russia imports almost everything its citizens eat, wear, and use. And in the modern digitized world, that money cannot be used without the agreement of somebody’s central bank. You could call it Bernstam’s law: “Do not fight with countries whose currencies you use as a reserve currency to maintain your own.”
There is one exception to the rule about reserves as notations: About $132 billion of Russia’s reserves takes the form of physical gold in vaults inside Russia. Russia could pledge that gold or sell it. But to whom? Most potential customers for Russian gold can be threatened with sanctions. Those who might defy the threat couldn’t afford to take very much: The entire GDP of Venezuela, for example, is only about $480 billion.

Only one customer is rich enough to take significant gold from a sanctioned nation like Russia: China.
Would China agree to take it? And if China did agree, would it not demand a big and painful discount for helping out a distressed seller like a sanctioned Russia? How exactly would the transaction occur? Would China be content merely to take legal ownership of the gold and leave the metal inside in a Russian vault? Doubtful. One ton of gold is worth about $61 million, so $139 billion would weigh about 2,290 metric tons. It’s certainly conceivable for a locomotive to pull a train of that weight from Moscow to Beijing. But it would constitute a considerable logistical and security undertaking to load, move, unload, and secure the gold for a train trip across Siberia.

What would be accomplished by such a move? Russia already has $84 billion of assets denominated in Chinese renminbi. If Chinese-denominated assets were of any real use to Russia, Russia would not need to sell the gold to China in the first place. Russia’s renminbi reserves can certainly be used to buy things from China. But that does not solve the real problem, which is not to buy specific items from specific places, but to sustain the ruble as a currency that commands confidence from Russia’s own people. China cannot do that for Russians. Only the Western central banks can.

And here we bump into the limits of central-bank sanctions as a financial weapon: A weapon that altogether crushes an adversary’s banking system may be just a little too powerful. The West wants to administer penalties that cause Russia to alter its aggressive behavior, not to crush the Russian economy. The central-bank weapon is so strong that it might indeed provoke Putin into fiercer aggression as a desperate last gamble. So the next question is: Is there any way to use the central-bank-sanctions weapon more incrementally?

Perhaps there is. Western banks do not need to freeze the Russian central bank’s accounts altogether. They could put the Russian central bank on an allowance, so many billions a month. That would keep Russia limping along, but under severe restraint—asphyxiation rather than sudden strangulation. The West could not prevent Putin from spending foreign currency on his war or favoring cronies in the distribution of foreign currency. But the restraint would rapidly make the terrible cost of Putin’s decisions much more rapidly visible to every power sector in Russian society. It’s not the full blow, but it might hurt enough—and of course, the full blow could be applied later.

The central-bank-sanctions tool will also deliver a humbling but indispensable lesson to Putin. Putin launched his war against Ukraine in part to assert Russia’s great-power status—a war to make Russia great again. Putin seemingly did not understand that violence is only one form of power, and not ultimately the most decisive. Even energy production takes a country only so far. The power Putin is about to feel is the power of producers against gangsters, of governments that inspire trust against governments that rule by fear. Russia depends on the dollar, the euro, the pound, and other currencies in ways that few around Putin could comprehend. The liberal democracies that created those trusted currencies are about to make Putin’s cronies feel what they never troubled to learn.

Squeeze them.

**malmomike77** · 28-02-2022, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Troy

Is there any more information on possible talks at the border with Belarus? There was no date or time given and this could be crucial to Russia saving face and both sides saving lives.

No timing yet but this is on the Beeb news feed, lets hope they happen and things de-escalate

Posted at 9:139:13
Ukraine officials arrive for Russia peace talks
Abdujalil Abdurasulov
BBC News, reporting from Kyiv

Ukrainian authorities have announced that their delegation has arrived at the Ukraine-Belarus border to start peace talks with the Russian delegation.

The main issue on their agenda, they say, is a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops from the Ukrainian territory.

Earlier it was reported that the talks kept being postponed due to logistical and safety issues.

In his address on Sunday, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that he didn’t expect a breakthrough from these talks.

But, he added, they should try and use this chance even if it is small, so that no-one can blame Ukraine for not trying to stop the war.

**David48atTD** · 28-02-2022, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by Troy

Is there any more information on possible talks at the border with Belarus? There was no date or time given and this could be crucial to Russia saving face and both sides saving lives.

Russia is very much in a lose lose situation now with Putin having lost his gamble on Ukraine citizens siding with him and against their government.

Ukraine officials arrive at Belarus border for talks; Russia central bank hikes rates to 20%.

36 Min Ago Ukrainian officials arrive at Belarusian border for talks with Russia

A Ukrainian delegation has arrived at Ukraine’s border with Belarus to hold talks with Russian officials, the Ukrainian president’s office has announced.
In a statement on the Ukrainian Parliament’s official Telegram account, the government said Ukraine’s delegation included Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, Presidential Office Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak, and Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytsky, among others.

“The main subject of the negotiations is an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine,” the statement said.

---

The Central Bank of Russia announced Monday that it would raise its key interest rate to 20%, up from 9.5%, as the ruble hit a record low against the dollar.

The rate hike “is designed to offset increased risk of ruble depreciation and inflation,” the central bank said.
It comes after attempts to halt foreigners’ bids to sell Russian securities to contain the market fallout from a slew of sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West.
The ruble fell as far as 119.50 per dollar on Monday, down a whopping 30% from Friday’s close.

Russia-Ukraine updates: Ukrainian delegation meets Russian officials

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 04:49 PM

Wagner mercenaries in Kyiv with orders to kill Zelensky: Report

The government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains defiant as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military on Monday morning claimed “the Russian army has reduced the pace of the offensive in all directions, and the Ukrainian military is successfully repelling all attacks.”

Despite the Ukrainian claims, there are concerns in the West Russia remains determined to personally target Zelensky to hasten an end to the hostilities.

The Times of the UK reported on Monday “More than 400 Russian mercenaries are operating in Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to assassinate President Zelensky and his government and prepare the ground for Moscow to take control.”

The Times reported the mercenaries are part of the Wagner Group, a private contractor that has operated in multiple conflict zones such as Syria, Libya, Mali and Central African Republic. The Times claimed Wagner Group mercenaries were flown in from “Africa five weeks ago on a mission to decapitate Zelensky’s government in return for a handsome financial bonus”.

The New York Times had then reported “mercenaries had been placed in the rebel territories to engage in sabotage and stage false flag operations intended to make it seem as if Ukrainian forces were attacking civilian targets.”

The mercenaries have been given a hit list with 23 targets including Zelensky, his cabinet, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir. The Times claimed “between 2,000 and 4,000” Wagner mercenaries had arrived in Ukraine in January, with different missions including operations in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Last week, Zelensky conceded he was “target no 1” for Russia and was at personal risk. The US had offered to evacuate Zelensky, reports said; however, he had declined.

https://www.theweek.in/news/world/20...ky-report.html

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 05:04 PM

Belarus Issues Dire World War III Warning as It Gets Ready to Send Troops to Ukraine

The Putin-backed president of Belarus has warned that World War III could be about to begin as he reportedly prepares his troops to assist with Russia’s mass-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Washington Post reported Sunday that the U.S. expects Belarus to send soldiers into Ukraine as early as Monday, with an unnamed Biden administration official commenting: “It’s very clear Minsk is now an extension of the Kremlin.” If Belarus was to join the invasion, it could endanger talks between Ukraine and Russia which are set to be held at the Ukrainian border with Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned that the crisis in Ukraine could spark a global conflict, writing in a statement: “Russia is being pushed towards a third world war. We should be very reserved and steer clear of it. Because nuclear war is the end of everything.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/belaru...raine?ref=home

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 05:32 PM

Ukraine says Russia has lost 5300 troops, 191 tanks, 58 aircraft

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on Facebook that approximately 5,300 Russian personnel had died.

It claimed Russia had lost 29 aeroplanes and 29 helicopters, 191 tanks and 816 armoured combat vehicles among other equipment.

Ukraine also claimed to have destroyed two Russian maritime craft.

Ukraine's Zelensky says prisoners with military experience and those who want to fight the Russians will be released.

LIVE | Ukraine says Russia has lost 5300 troops, 191 tanks, 58 aircraft, World News | wionews.com

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:02 PM

Russian forces seize two small cities in Ukraine- Interfax

Russian invasion forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, but ran into stiff resistance elsewhere as Moscow's diplomatic and economic isolation deepened.

Having launched the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two, President Vladimir Putin put Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert on Sunday in the face of a barrage of Western-led reprisals for his war on Ukraine.

Blasts were heard before dawn on Monday in the capital of Kyiv and in the major city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian authorities said. But, Russian ground forces' attempts to capture major urban centres had been repelled, they added.

Russia's defence ministry, however, said its forces had taken over the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhya region as well as the area around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Interfax reported. The plant's operations continued normally, it said.

Ukraine denied that the nuclear plant had fallen into Russian hands, according to the news agency.

As Western governments mustered more support for sanctions against Moscow, diplomatic manoeuvring continued with the Vatican joining efforts to end the conflict by offering to "facilitate dialogue" between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine said negotiations with Moscow without preconditions would be held at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. Russian news agency Tass cited an unidentified source as saying the talks would start on Monday morning.

U.S. President Joe Biden will host a call with allies and partners on Monday to coordinate a united response, the White House said.

The United States said Putin was escalating the war with "dangerous rhetoric" about Russia's nuclear posture, amid signs Russian forces were preparing to besiege major cities in the democratic country of about 44 million people.

British defence minister Ben Wallace said that he does not expect Russian President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons.

As missiles rained down, nearly 400,000 civilians, mainly women and children, have fled into neighbouring countries, a U.N. relief agency said.

A senior U.S. defence official said Russia had fired more than 350 missiles at Ukrainian targets since it launched the invasion last week, some hitting civilian infrastructure.

"It appears that they are adopting a siege mentality, which any student of military tactics and strategy will tell you, when you adopt siege tactics, it increases the likelihood of collateral damage," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson by telephone on Sunday that the next 24 hours would be crucial for Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

So far, the Russian offensive cannot claim any major victories. Russia has not taken any Ukrainian city, does not control Ukraine's airspace, and its troops remained roughly 30 km (19 miles) from Kyiv's city centre for a second day, the official said.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

Russian forces seize two small cities in Ukraine- Interfax | Taiwan News | 2022-02-28 17:55:00

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:04 PM

EU plans to grant Ukrainians right to stay for up to 3 years

The European Union is preparing to grant Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the 27-nation bloc for up to three years, senior EU and French officials said.

At least 300,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered the EU so far, and the bloc needs to prepare for millions more, they said. EU members Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary have land borders with Ukraine.

"It is our duty to take in those who flee war," French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France 2 TV on Monday, saying EU interior minister had on Sunday tasked the European Commission with preparing draft proposals to grant them protection.

Ministers will meet again on Thursday to agree on the details.

The EU temporary protection directive, drawn up after the 1990s war in the Balkans, but never used so far, provides for the same level of protection, for one to three years, in all EU states, including a residence permit, access to employment, social welfare and medical treatment.

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said most ministers had brought their support to the move on Sunday, with just some questioning if now was the time to do it or if it was best to wait a bit.

The issue, she said, concerns all of the EU.

"We already see a lot of Ukrainians leaving the countries of first entry and go to other member states, especially those that have a big Ukrainian population already," she told a news conference on Sunday. "Poland is one of them but also Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic."

"All EU member states are prepared to accept refugees from Ukraine," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

"This is a strong response by Europe to the terrible suffering that Putin inflicts with his criminal war of aggression: Together, we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine."

Citing U.N. estimates, Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said four million Ukrainians are expected to flee the country as refugees.

With men of conscription age prevented from leaving Ukraine, mostly women and children are arriving at the border in eastern Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and in northern and northeastern Romania.

EU plans to grant Ukrainians right to stay for up to 3 years | Taiwan News | 2022-02-28 18:00:00

**Shutree** · 28-02-2022, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by misskit

Russia is pushing towards a third world war.

FTFY, Mr. Lukashenko.

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:06 PM

Russia-Ukraine conflict: 352 Ukrainian civilians killed, 1,684 injured

As the conflict intensifies, 352 Ukrainian civilians have been killed so far, the interior ministry of Ukraine said.

These victims include 14 children. Around 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded, it said.

However, the statement of the ministry on Sunday did not give any information on the casualties among armed forces of Ukraine.

Russia-Ukraine conflict: 352 Ukrainian civilians killed, 1,684 injured, World News | wionews.com

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:17 PM

Russia Blocks Number of Independent and Ukrainian Media Outlets

Russia has blocked a series of independent media outlets for violating rules on coverage of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Roskomnadzor state media watchdog announced that it was blocking RFE/RL’s Current Time Russian language TV channel, its Krim.Realii Crimea-focussed service, and the New Times news website.

The agency also blocked a series of Ukrainian media, including Interfax Ukraine’s Russian-language service.

Roskomnadzor had previously threatened outlets with blocks if they used any information apart from official Russian Defense Ministry announcements in their reporting on the war in Ukraine.

Russian state media have described the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a “special operation”, aimed at protecting Russian-speakers in the east of the country. Official Roskomnadzor guidelines ban use of the words “war,” “offensive,” and “invasion” to describe the events.

The independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper has said that Roskomnadzor has ordered it to delete an article for violating its rules.

Russia’s bombardment of Kyiv and other cities has not been widely covered by state media.

Until yesterday, the Russian Defense Ministry had not admitted suffering any casualties. On Sunday, the ministry announced that its forces had suffered an unspecified number of losses.

Russia Blocks Number of Independent and Ukrainian Media Outlets - The Moscow Times

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:19 PM

Some of Russia’s Elite Oppose War in Ukraine

A growing number of Russia’s business and political elite have publicly spoken out against the country’s invasion of Ukraine, in a rare show of defiance for Russia’s opaque and Kremlin-loyal elite.

On Sunday, Alfa Bank co-founder Mikhail Fridman, whose parents live in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, called the war in Ukraine “a tragedy” and said that the “bloodshed” must end.

The same day, metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska wrote on his Telegram channel: “Peace is very important. Negotiations must begin as soon as possible.”

Neither attended a Friday meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior businessmen in the Kremlin on Friday, where Putin claimed he had no option but to invade Ukraine.

Statements from business magnates were matched by signals from within Russia’s political elite.

On Thursday, as the war began, Tatiana Yumashev, the daughter of Putin’s predecessor Boris Yeltsin and a driving force behind his appointment as president in 1999 joined celebrities, artists and ordinary Russians in changing her Facebook profile picture to a black square, captioning it “No to war.”

She was joined by a range of other well-connected figures, including the daughter of oligarch Roman Abramovich, the son-in-law of Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu, and the son of RosTech chief and longtime Putin friend Sergei Chemezov.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s ex-wife and daughter joined the anti-war chorus, with both speaking out on Instagram. Daughter Liza Peskova, 24, shortly afterwards deleted her anti-war post.

On Sunday, the anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition activist and former deputy prime minister who opposed Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, provided a flashpoint for opposition to the war.

Anatoly Chubais, a 1990s era economic reformer who now serves as a special presidential envoy on climate change, posted a picture of Nemtsov on his Facebook page, a gesture widely interpreted as a veiled comment against the war.

Three Communist Party members of the State Duma, Russia’s Kremlin-loyal parliament, have also spoken out against the invasion.

Some of Russia’s Elite Oppose War in Ukraine - The Moscow Times

**sabang** · 28-02-2022, 06:26 PM

Seems all very Cold War like, really- but at heightened fever pitch. Who on earth is going to benefit from that, besides arms manufacturers and China? Savvy financial traders I suppose, and a few more niche arenas. But it would appear the so called 'peace dividend' has been pretty much entirely eliminated. Slower economic growth, higher energy costs, arms races, inflation and higher interest rates are the macroeconomic outlook now. In times like this, I am glad not to be a father.

**malmomike77** · 28-02-2022, 06:28 PM

From the Beeb live feed

Posted at 9:259:25
Ukraine claims more than 5,000 Russian soldiers killed

Kyiv's defence ministry claims that more than 5,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the first four days of fighting in Ukraine.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Ukrainian officials said approximately 5,300 Russian troops have been killed, and claimed that 191 tanks, 29 fighter jets, 29 helicopters and 816 armoured personnel carriers have been destroyed by Ukraine's forces.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify these claims, though the UK's Ministry of Defence believes Russia has taken "heavy" casualties in the opening stages of the conflict.

The claims follow acknowledgements by the Russian defence ministry on Sunday that its forces have suffered losses, though officials did not provide an exact figure.

Meanwhile, independent observers said they had confirmed at least 94 civilian deaths during the first days of fighting.

It said the invasion had triggered "severe humanitarian consequences" and that casualties could be considerably higher.

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:32 PM

Ukrainian diplomacy mobilizes unprecedentedly broad anti-Putin coalition to support Ukraine – FM

Ukrainian diplomacy has mobilized an unprecedentedly broad anti-Putin coalition to support Ukraine in the People's War, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"Ukrainian diplomacy has mobilized an unprecedentedly broad anti-Putin coalition to support Ukraine in the People's War against the Russian invasion. It currently includes 84 countries and 13 international organizations. Russia is already suffering unheard of losses. And this is just the beginning," the Foreign Ministry's press service quotes the words of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba in Telegram on Monday.

It is noted that during the first 100 hours of defense of Ukraine from Russian invaders, Ukrainian diplomacy mobilized more than $1 billion in partner assistance for the purchase of modern weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

"The United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the EU and other countries provide us with a large number of man-portable air defense systems, anti-tank installations, small arms, cartridges, mine-clearing equipment, bulletproof vests, helmets, medical kits, and fuel for military equipment. Now the issue of transferring combat fighter jets to our state is being decided in order to more effectively repel enemy attacks in the air," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry informed.

The Foreign Ministry also recalled that the anti-Putin coalition of states imposed three packages of painful sanctions against Russia, in particular, the list of Russian banks to be disconnected from SWIFT is being finalized, half of the financial reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation have been frozen, restrictions have been imposed on Sberbank of the Russian Federation, a ban on the sale, supply, transfer and export of oil refining technologies to Russia has been introduced, dual-use export licenses have been suspended, and visas for Russian citizens have been stopped in some countries.

"The Russian ruble has already fallen to a historic low. For the first time in modern history, sanctions have been imposed against the incumbent head of state, Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian diplomacy is conducting an active diplomatic offensive towards a complete embargo on Russian oil and gas. Some 32 countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines and aircraft," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.

In addition, in Europe, the Russian disinformation channels RT and Sputnik are massively closed.

"The coalition is developing a sanctions offensive against the aggressor state. Preparations have begun for the fourth package of sanctions against Russia, which, in particular, will include the expulsion of some Russian diplomats, further strengthening of sanctions against the banking system and Putin's entourage. The EU is considering the creation of a so-called 'register of Russian corrupt officials,' which will include both government officials and businessmen close to the Kremlin who will not be able to have financial relations or do business with the civilized world," the report says.

The Foreign Ministry said that the partners had decided to provide financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of more than $1.5 billion dollars.

"We have raised more than $160 million to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression. The amount of this assistance is increasing every day," the message says.

Ukrainian diplomacy mobilizes unprecedentedly broad anti-Putin coalition to support Ukraine – FM

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:34 PM

Russian army attacks Kharkiv with Grad rocket launchers – A. Gerashchenko

The Russian army massively shelled Kharkiv with Grad multiple rocket launchers, as a result of the shelling dozens of people were killed, hundreds more were wounded, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said.

"Kharkiv has just been massively shelled with Grad multiple rocket launchers. Dozens of dead and hundreds of wounded! This horror must be seen by the whole world! Death to the occupiers!" Gerashchenko wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

Russian army attacks Kharkiv with Grad rocket launchers – A. Gerashchenko

**bsnub** · 28-02-2022, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by malmomike77

Ukraine claims more than 5,000 Russian soldiers killed

With the torrent of evidence on social media, I would agree with them. Most of eastern Ukraine is littered with the burnt hulks of Russian vehicles and the bodies of dead Ruskies. This is going to be worse than Afghanistan for Russia.

**misskit** · 28-02-2022, 06:38 PM

Zelenskyy: Ukraine should be immediately admitted into the EU by special procedure

Alyona Mazurenko – Monday, 28 February 2022, 11:02 AM

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested the European Union to enact a special procedure enabling Ukraine to join the EU.

Source: President's address

In Zelenskyy’s words: "We are asking the European Union to immediately accede Ukraine by special procedure."

Zelenskyy: Ukraine should be immediately addmitted into the EU by special procedure | Ukrayinska Pravda

**sabang** · 28-02-2022, 06:38 PM

As I understand it, Russian heavy munitions are steadily trundling towards the front lines- including Kiev. If they can't arrive at some sort of peace, or at least cease fire, I can sadly but firmly opine right now this is gonna get considerably worse.

Thread: Russia launches Ukraine invasion

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