Thread: Russia launches Ukraine invasion

Cyprus refuses ships of Russian Navy to enter ports of island

The Republic of Cyprus has withdrawn its permission for the planned entry of Russian Navy ships to the port of Limassol, the Cypriot newspaper Fileleftheros reported on Saturday, citing diplomatic sources.


According to the newspaper, five Russian ships were to make a visit to the port of Limassol for refueling as part of an agreement between Cyprus and Russia. Among them are frigates and support boats.


"Diplomatic sources have confirmed to Fileleftheros that the Republic of Cyprus has not allowed five ships of the Russian Navy to anchor," the newspaper reported.

Cyprus refuses ships of Russian Navy to enter ports of island – media

Bloomberg News Suspends Work in Russia, CNN Stops Broadcasts

Bloomberg News announced Friday it was suspending the work of its journalists in Russia and CNN said it will stop broadcasting in the country.


The moves by Bloomberg and CNN come after Russian lawmakers passed legislation that criminalizes independent reporting.

"We have with great regret decided to temporarily suspend our news gathering inside Russia," Bloomberg quoted the news agency's editor-in-chief John Micklethwait as saying.


"The change to the criminal code, which seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country," Micklethwait said.


CNN said the 24-hour U.S. cable television news network "will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward."


The moves came after Russian lawmakers threatened to impose jail terms for publishing "fake news" about the Russian army, part of an effort to stifle dissent over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.


The BBC announced Friday it was halting its journalists' work in Russia and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said it was temporarily halting reporting from Russia.


"This legislation appears to criminalize the process of independent journalism," BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement.


He warned that journalists could face "the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs."

Bloomberg News Suspends Work in Russia, CNN Stops Broadcasts - The Moscow Times

U.S., Russian Militaries Set Up 'Deconfliction Line' — Pentagon

The U.S. and Russian armed forces have set up a direct phone line to reduce the risks of "miscalculation" amid the war in Ukraine, the Pentagon said Friday.


The "deconfliction line" between U.S. European Command and the Russian Ministry of Defense was established earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.


"I don't have any information about whether it's been used," Kirby told reporters. "It's only been in place for a couple of days."


The line is manned by "staff level officers" from U.S. European Command.


"We know it works," Kirby said. "When we tested it they did pick up the other end and acknowledged that they got the call."

The Pentagon spokesman noted that a "deconfliction line" had been used previously between the United States and Russia to prevent incidents in Syria.


"We want to be able to have a way of speaking directly at an operational level with the Russian Ministry of Defense," Kirby said.


"We think it's valuable to have a direct communication vehicle... to reduce the risks of miscalculation and to be able to communicate in real time if need be," he said.


He said it was particularly important because airspace over Ukraine is "contested by both Russian and Ukrainian aircraft" and the contested airspace "buttresses right up against NATO" countries.

U.S., Russian Militaries Set Up 'Deconfliction Line' — Pentagon - The Moscow Times

Western Sanctions Are Like Declaration Of War, Says Putin


Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated that his aims in Ukraine are to defend Russian speaking communities through the "demilitarisation and de-Nazification" of the country so that it became neutral.


London: President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war and warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be tantamount to entering the conflict.
Putin reiterated that his aims in Ukraine are to defend Russian speaking communities through the "demilitarisation and de-Nazification" of the country so that it became neutral.


Ukraine and Western countries have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for the invasion he launched on Feb. 24 and have imposed a sweeping range of sanctions aimed at isolating Moscow.


"These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war but thank God it has not come to that," Putin said, speaking to a group of women flight attendants at an Aeroflot training centre near Moscow.


He said any attempt by another power to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be considered by Russia to be a step into the military conflict. NATO has rejected Kyiv's request for a no-fly zone, on the grounds it would escalate the war beyond Ukraine.


Putin said there were no conscripts involved in the military operation, which he said was being carried out only by professional soldiers.

"There is not one conscript and we don't plan for there to be," Putin said. "Our army will fulfil all the tasks. I don't doubt that at all. Everything is going to plan."


Putin dismissed concerns that some sort of martial law or emergency situation could be declared in Russia. He said such a measure was imposed only when there was significant internal or external threat.


"We don't plan to introduce any kind of special regime on Russian territory - there is currently no need," Putin said.

His government has clamped down on protests in Russia against the war.

Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Western Sanctions Are Like Declaration Of War, Says Russian President Vladimir Putin

This is heartbreaking

^ Putin would just say it is fake news.

How to deal with such a liar?


Putin Denies Bombing Ukraine Cities, Says Ready For Talks If Demands Met


Ukraine War: Putin further denied that Russian troops were bombing Ukrainian cities, dismissing such information as fake, the Kremlin said.


Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denied that Russian troops were bombing Ukrainian cities, dismissing such information as fake, the Kremlin said Friday.
Putin said reports about "the alleged ongoing air strikes of Kyiv and other large cities are gross propaganda fakes," the Kremlin said in a statement.


He added that dialogue on Ukraine would be possible only if Russian demands are met.


Putin "confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue with the Ukrainian side, as well as with everyone who wants peace in Ukraine. But under the condition that all Russian demands are met," the Kremlin said.


These include the neutral and non-nuclear status of Ukraine, its "denazification", recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and of the "sovereignty" of separatist territories in eastern Ukraine.

"Hope was expressed that during the planned third round of talks, the representatives of Kyiv will take a reasonable and constructive position," the Kremlin added.

The next meeting of delegations from Russia and Ukraine is expected during the weekend, according to one of Kyiv's negotiators.

Ukraine Russia War: Putin Denies Bombing Ukraine Cities, Says Ready For Talks If Demands Met

Originally Posted by misskit

Putin would just say it is fake news.

He'd probably say she was a Nazi.

Ukrainian authorities accuse Russians of opening fire on civilian protest

New video posted to social media shows at least one man getting hit by gunfire during a protest against the Russian military in the small town of Novopskov in northeastern Ukraine.


CNN has geolocated and confirmed the authenticity of the video.


"People tried to stop the Russians, but they opened fire on the unarmed people. There are three wounded, they are in hospital," according to Sergiy Haidai, the head of the Luhansk regional administration.
CNN cannot confirm the reported casualty figures.


The video from Saturday showed a crowd walking up a street carrying Ukrainian flags and chanting "Ukraine." A man in front of the crowd walked toward troops before shots rang out. He fell to the ground, apparently wounded in the leg.


"Everybody must leave the area now," a voice is heard saying in the distance.


A photograph from the scene showed a man with a bloodied leg being carried away; it appears to be the same individual.


A few sporadic shots rang out, and then a barrage of small arms fire followed as the crowd scatters. It's unclear whether the gunfire is being directed at or above the crowd.


Additional videos from the scene show that prior to the man being shot, the Russian military was firing their guns — not hitting the protesters — and giving apparent warning shots.


One of the videos, taken before the protester was hit, showed the crowd walking forward toward the Russian troops, who have set up camp in an open-air market, surrounded by grocery stores and shop in the center of town.


Despite the gunshots, the crowd did not move.

Ukrainian authorities accuse Russians of opening fire on civilian protest

‘Depart Russia Immediately’: State Dept. Warns Americans Against Reprisal, ‘Severe Limitations’ on Ability to Assist

The U.S. Department of State issued a new level 4 travel advisory warning against reprisal and “harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials” on Saturday.


The new advisory is an update to a previous level 4 warning issued about a week ago against travel to Russia and American remaining in Russia during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent increase in sanctions against the Russian federation and wealthy Russian oligarchs connected to Vladimir Putin.

“Do not travel to Russia due to the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine,” it says, as well as “the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials.”


“The Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia, COVID-19 and related entry restrictions, terrorism, limited flights into and out of Russia, and the arbitrary enforcement of local law,” are all listed as reasons for the Do Not Travel warning.


“U.S. citizens should depart Russia immediately. U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately,” it reads.


Air travel is becoming increasingly difficult, though some flights are still available, and “overland routes by car and bus are still open,” the State Dept. explains in the warning.


“There is the potential throughout Russia of harassment of foreigners, including through regulations targeted specifically against foreigners,” the advisory warns a second time.


It also warns against travel to or remaining in the North Caucasus, including Chechnya and Mount Elbrus, and course in Crimea.

In addition to airlines canceling incoming and outgoing flights, or abandoning travel related to Russia altogether, airspace across Europe has been affected by shutdowns of travel routes due to the conflict, further limiting the ability to depart.


Here’s the warning, emphasis in original.
Get Out: State Warns of Reprisal Against Americans in Russia

Originally Posted by misskit

Cyprus refuses ships of Russian Navy to enter ports of island

The Republic of Cyprus has withdrawn its permission for the planned entry of Russian Navy ships to the port of Limassol, the Cypriot newspaper Fileleftheros reported on Saturday, citing diplomatic sources.

Since he's spent all that money and effort bombing Syrian civilians, he can go and use his base in Tartus.
After all, that's what he was after. Fucking parasite.

U.S. and allies quietly prepare for a Ukrainian government-in-exile and a long insurgency


The Ukrainian military has mounted an unexpectedly fierce defense against invading Russian forces, which have been dogged by logistical problems and flagging morale. But the war is barely two weeks old, and in Washington and European capitals, officials anticipate that the Russian military will reverse its early losses, setting the stage for a long, bloody insurgency.


The ways that Western countries would support a Ukrainian resistance are beginning to take shape. Officials have been reluctant to discuss detailed plans, since they're premised on a Russian military victory that, however likely, hasn't happened yet. But as a first step, Ukraine's allies are planning for how to help establish and support a government-in-exile, which could direct guerrilla operations against Russian occupiers, according to several U.S. and European officials.


The weapons the United States have provided to Ukraine's military, and that continue to flow into the country, would be crucial to the success of an insurgent movement, officials said. The Biden administration has asked Congress, infused with a rare bipartisan spirit in defense of Ukraine, to take up a $10 billion humanitarian aid and military package that includes funding to replenish the stocks of weapons that have already been sent.

Should the United States and its allies choose to back an insurgency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be the pivotal force, officials said, maintaining morale and rallying Ukrainians living under Russian occupation to resist their powerful and well-equipped foe.


The possible Russian takeover of Kyiv has prompted a flurry of planning at the State Department, Pentagon and other U.S. agencies in the event that the Zelensky government has to flee the capital or the country itself.


"We're doing contingency planning now for every possibility," including a scenario in which Zelensky establishes a government-in-exile in Poland, said a U.S. administration official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive security matter.


Zelensky, who has called himself Russia's "target No. 1," remains in Kyiv and has assured his citizens he's not leaving. He has had discussions with U.S. officials about whether he should move west to a safer position in the city of Lviv, closer to the Polish border. Zelensky's security detail has plans ready to swiftly relocate him and members of his cabinet, a senior Ukrainian official said. "So far, he has refused to go."


Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, declined to describe any contingency plans Ukraine was making in the event that Russian forces capture the capital.

"One can only say that Ukraine is preparing for the defense of Kyiv as purposefully as Russia is preparing for its attack on Kyiv," Podolyak said.


"This war has become a people's war for Ukrainians," he continued. "We must win the war. There are no other options."


Volodymyr Ariev, a member of Ukraine's parliament from the opposition European Solidarity party, expressed confidence that the Rada, Ukraine's parliament, would continue to be able to meet despite the wartime situation and noted that many lawmakers remain in Kyiv.


"In our party, we didn't discuss any plan of evacuation, because we don't want to give up," Ariev said. "We are not in this government, but we have arms, and we will fight against invaders here, together with the people. This is the only plan we have - no evacuation, nothing."


Nevertheless, European diplomats, like their American counterparts, are starting to prepare for how to support the Ukrainian government if Kyiv falls or the country is entirely occupied by Russia. A United Nations resolution this past week condemning the invasion, which drew 141 votes, is one element of "laying the groundwork" to recognize Zelensky's administration as Ukraine's legitimate government and to keep it afloat even if it no longer controls territory, said a senior European diplomat.


"We haven't made a plan yet, per se, but it would be something we would be ready to move on right away," the diplomat said. "In our experience, it helps to know generally you have international support."


As early as last December, some U.S. officials saw signs that the Ukrainian military was preparing for an eventual resistance, even as Zelensky downplayed the threat of invasion.


During an official visit, a Ukrainian special operations commander told Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and other lawmakers that they were shifting training and planning to focus on maintaining an armed opposition, relying on insurgent-like tactics.


Ukrainian officials told the lawmakers that they were frustrated that the United States had not sent Harpoon missiles to target Russian ships and Stinger missiles to attack Russian aircraft, Moulton and Waltz said in separate interviews. The United States diverted some military aid to Ukraine that it had planned to send to Afghanistan, but that package mostly included small arms, ammunition and medical kits meant for a fight against the Taliban, not Russia, said Waltz, who served in Afghanistan as a Special Forces officer.


As the Russian military struggles with logistical challenges - including fuel and food shortages - Waltz anticipates that the Ukrainians will repeatedly strike Russian supply lines. To do that, they need a steady supply of weapons and the ability to set improvised explosive devices, he said.


"Those supply lines are going to be very, very vulnerable, and that's where you really literally starve the Russian army."


Moulton, who served in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer, said that he is in favor of sending Harpoons and Stingers - the administration has decided to send the latter weapons, according to a U.S. official and a document obtained by The Washington Post - but that using them also will require training.


"You can't ship them to Ukraine at the last minute and expect some national guardsman to pick up a Stinger and shoot down an aircraft," he said. Continuing a resistance campaign will require continued clandestine shipments of small arms, ammunition, explosives and even cold-weather gear.


"Think about the kinds of things that would be used by saboteurs as opposed to an army repelling a frontal invasion," Moulton said.


Officials remain cautious about overt support for a Ukrainian insurgency lest it draw NATO member countries into direct conflict with Russia. In Moscow's eyes, support for a Zelensky government operating in Poland could constitute an attack by the alliance, some officials warned.


But Ukraine's leaders and its citizens aren't likely to be deterred by NATO's concerns.


"I doubt very much that the Ukrainians will not continue an underground resistance campaign even after the Russians establish control," said a senior Western intelligence official.


Moscow has "grossly underestimated Ukraine's ability to resist," the official said. "I'm reminded, especially by my eastern colleagues, about Ukrainians themselves. Ukrainians were some of the fiercest fighters . . . for the Soviets during World War II." He predicted that a resistance would continue for months and possibly years.


The United States has backed and fought against successful insurgencies. Veterans of such conflicts say that the Ukrainians so far have demonstrated the key ingredient.


"The number one thing you have to have is people on the ground who want to fight," said Jack Devine, a retired senior CIA officer who ran the agency's successful covert campaign to arm Afghan fighters who drove out the Soviet military in the 1980s.


If Russian and Ukrainian negotiators who have been meeting near the border in Belarus reach some settlement, that will likely diminish the momentum for an insurgency and support for it, Devine predicted.


Marta Kepe, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp. who studies resistance movements, said that they often change during the course of a war.


"As occupation progresses and extends for a longer time, what can start out as a more centralized resistance often changes into smaller resistance groups or units. It is not a negative thing," she said. "In fact, smaller groups allow more resilience."


NATO policymakers admire the spirit of the Ukrainian forces, but they also say that their ability to hold out against Russia is not unlimited, especially as stocks of ammunition dwindle and the Russian military extends its encirclement of major cities.


"Russia has more troops than Ukraine," said a second senior European diplomat. "Ukrainian troops are very brave, but they are already fighting more than a week."


Experts in resistance and urban warfare said Russian occupation forces will try to squeeze supply pipelines and cut off cities.


Rita Konaev, director of analysis for Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said Ukraine should be preparing its citizens for combat in cities accompanied by mass air and artillery bombardment, which Russia will use to try to reduce the amount of door-to-door fighting that taking cities requires.


Konaev said that Ukrainians should also lay in supplies in advance, because Russian forces will likely disable the electrical grid and cut off access to water in the cities, and that they should establish safe areas underground to survive the aerial bombardment.


Once Russian forces try to move into the cities, Ukrainians will have an advantage because they know the terrain, she said. They can build barriers, destroy bridges to limit entrances into the city, and place snipers on rooftops.


"In urban warfare, defense has the advantage," Konaev said.


European leaders have been trying to game out what Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept as a potential end state for a defeated Ukraine. Policymakers say they don't have a clear sense, although the first European diplomat said that Putin might attempt to reduce Ukraine "to a much smaller state."


Under that scenario, western Ukraine would remain independent. The other territories would be incorporated into Russia, occupied, or declared independent states, as the Kremlin has already done with the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.


But Russia's ability to impose that vision is "most improbable," the diplomat said, given the profound anger in Ukraine against the Russian invasion.


"This is a country of 40 million [people]," the diplomat said. The Kremlin "can try to have a strategy. But I think in our strategic calculations we are always forgetting one small obstacle, and that's the will of the people. Putin has forgotten how to be elected in a democratic way."


NATO leaders also say that even if Russia captures Kyiv, that would not end the resistance, nor the existence of the Ukrainian state.


"Russians cannot occupy all the country and subdue it," said Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks, whose country maintained a diplomatic service in exile for 51 years after it was occupied in 1940 by the Soviet Union. Washington never recognized the annexation of the three Baltic states.


"There will be a partisan war, there will be resistance. So even if Kyiv falls that does not mean the end of the war," Pabriks said.

U.S. and allies quietly prepare for a Ukrainian government-in-exile and a long insurgency

Putin’s War may take control of cities by force, but they are unlikely to be capable of sustaining such fragile victories.
Zelensky probably realises that his role will be defined by martyrdom, but the timing of his death will be seen as crucial to invigorating a resilient population.
He understands that government in exile is not the option his people want or need.

Making life difficult for Putin is a built in response for Ukrainian insurgents.

If Putin is seeking to Occupy, he deserves what he will end up getting. But is that his objective?

Originally Posted by sabang

If Putin is seeking to Occupy, he deserves what he will end up getting. But is that his objective?

He would like to reply to that question, but he is struggling to find an answer.

Hector served two violent tours in Iraq as a United States Marine, then got out, got a pension and a civilian job, and thought he was done with military service. But on Friday, he boarded a plane for one more deployment, this time as a volunteer in Ukraine. He checked in several bags filled with rifle scopes, helmets and body armor donated by other veterans.

“Sanctions can help, but sanctions can’t help right now, and people need help right now,” said the former Marine, who lives in Tampa Bay, Fla., and like other veterans interviewed for this article asked that only his first name be used for security reasons. “I can help right now.”

He is one of a surge of American veterans who say they are now preparing to join the fight in Ukraine, emboldened by the invitation of the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who earlier this week announced he was creating an “international legion” and asked volunteers from around the world to help defend his nation against Russia.

Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, echoed the call for fighters, saying on Twitter, “Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too.”

Hector said he hoped to train Ukrainians in his expertise: armored vehicles and heavy weapons.

“A lot of veterans, we have a calling to serve, and we trained our whole career for this kind of war,” he said. “Sitting by and doing nothing? I had to do that when Afghanistan fell apart, and it weighed heavily on me. I had to act.”

All across the United States, small groups of military veterans are gathering, planning and getting passports in order. After years of serving in smoldering occupations, trying to spread democracy in places that had only a tepid interest in it, many are hungry for what they see as a righteous fight to defend freedom against an autocratic aggressor with a conventional and target-rich army.

“It’s a conflict that has a clear good and bad side, and maybe that stands apart from other recent conflicts,” said David Ribardo, a former Army officer who now owns a property management business in Allentown, Pa. “A lot of us are watching what is happening and just want to grab a rifle and go over there.”

After the invasion, he saw veterans flooding social media eager to join the fight. Unable to go because of commitments here, he has spent the past week acting as a sort of middle man for a group called Volunteers for Ukraine, identifying veterans and other volunteers with useful skills and connecting them with donors who buy gear and airline tickets.

“It was very quickly overwhelming, almost too many people wanted to help,” he said. In the past week, he said he has worked to sift those with valuable combat or medical skills from people he described as “combat tourists, who don’t have the correct experience and would not be an asset.”

He said his group has also had to comb out a number of extremists.

Fund-raising sites such as GoFundMe have rules against collecting money for armed conflict, so Mr. Ribardo said his group and others have been careful to avoid specifically directing anyone to get involved in the fighting. Rather, he said, he simply connects those he has vetted with people who want to donate plane tickets and nonlethal supplies, describing his role as being “a Tinder for veterans and donors.”

A number of mainstream media outlets, including Military Times and Time, have published step-by-step guides on joining the military in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government instructed interested volunteers to contact its consulates this week.

Several veterans who contacted the consulates this week said they were still waiting for a response, and believed staff members were overwhelmed.

On Thursday, Mr. Zelensky claimed in a video on Telegram that 16,000 volunteers had joined the international brigade, though it is unclear what the true number is. The New York Times was not able to identify any veterans actively fighting in Ukraine.

The outpouring of support is driven, veterans said, by past experiences. Some want to try to recapture the intense clarity and purpose they felt in war, which is often missing in modern suburban life. Others want a chance to make amends for failed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and see the fight to defend a democracy against a totalitarian invader as the reason they joined the military.

To an extent not seen in past conflicts, the impulse to join has been fueled partly by an increasingly connected world. Americans watching real-time video in Ukraine can, with a click, connect to like-minded volunteers around the globe. A veteran in Phoenix can find a donor in London with unused airline miles, a driver in Warsaw offering a free ride to the border and a local to stay with in Ukraine.

Of course, war is rarely as straightforward as the deeply felt idealism that drives people to enlist. And volunteers risk not only their own lives, but also drawing the United States into a direct conflict with Russia.

“War is an unpredictable animal, and once you let it out, no one — no one — knows what will happen,” said Daniel Gade, who lost a leg in Iraq before going on to teach leadership for several years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He said he understood the urge to fight but said the risk of escalation resulting in nuclear war was too great.

“I just feel heartsick,” he said. “War is terrible and the innocent always suffer most.”

The risk of unintended escalation has led the U.S. federal government to try to keep citizens from becoming freelance fighters, not just in this conflict, but for centuries. In 1793, President Washington issued a Proclamation of Neutrality warning Americans to stay out of the French Revolution. But the efforts have been uneven, and often swayed by the larger national sentiment. So over the generations a steady stream of idealists, romantics, mercenaries and filibusters have taken up arms, — riding with Pancho Villa in Mexico, ferrying arms to Cuba, battling communists in Africa and even trying to establish new slave states in Central America.

The civil war in Spain just before the start of World War II is the best-known example. More than 3,000 Americans joined what became know as the Lincoln-Washington Battalion, to fight with the elected leftist government against fascist forces.

At the time, the United States wanted to avoid war with Europe, and stayed neutral, but the Young Communist League rented billboards to recruit fighters, and members of the establishment held fund-raisers to send young men overseas.

That effort, now often romanticized as a valiant prelude to the fight against the Nazis, ended badly. The poorly trained and equipped brigades made a disastrous assault of a fortified ridge in 1937 and three-quarters of the men were killed or wounded. Others faced near starvation in captivity. Their leader, a former math professor who was the inspiration for the protagonist in Ernest Hemingway’s novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” was later captured and most likely executed.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, told the Russian News Agency that foreign fighters would not be considered soldiers, but mercenaries, and would not be protected under humanitarian rules regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.

“At best, they can expect to be prosecuted as criminals,” Mr. Konashenkov said. “We are urging all foreign citizens who may have plans to go and fight for Kyiv’s nationalist regime to think a dozen times before getting on the way.”

Despite the risks — both individual and strategic — the United States government has so far been measured in its warnings. Asked during a news conference this week what he would tell Americans who want to fight in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken pointed to official statements, first issued weeks ago, imploring U.S. citizens in the country to depart immediately.

He said: “For those who want to help Ukraine and help its people, there are many ways to do that, including by supporting and helping the many NGOs that are working to provide humanitarian assistance; providing resources themselves to groups that are trying to help Ukraine by being advocates for Ukraine and for peaceful resolution to this crisis that was created by Russia.”

That has not dissuaded a number of veterans who are all too familiar with the risks of combat.

James was a medic who first saw combat when he replaced another medic killed in fighting in Iraq in 2006. He did two more tours, in Iraq and Afghanistan, seeing so much blood and death that 10 years after leaving the military he still attends therapy at a veteran’s hospital.

But this week, as he watched Russian forces shell cities across Ukraine, he decided that he had to try to go there to help.

“Combat has a cost, that’s for sure; you think you can come back from war the same, but you can’t,” James said in a phone interview from his home in Dallas, where he said he was waiting to hear back from Ukrainian officials. “But I feel obligated. It’s the innocent people being attacked — the kids. It’s the kids, man. I just can’t stand by.”

Chase, a graduate student in Virginia, said that he volunteered to fight the Islamic State in Syria in 2019 and felt the same urgency for Ukraine, but he warned against simply going to the border without a plan.

In Syria, he said he knew well-meaning volunteers who were detained for weeks by local Kurdish authorities because they arrived unannounced. He arranged with Kurdish defense forces before arriving in Syria. There he spent months as a humble foot soldier with little pay and only basic rations.

Tactically, as an inexperienced grunt, he said, he was of little value. But to the people of northeastern Syria, he was a powerful symbol that the world was with them.

“I was a sign to them that the world was watching and they mattered,” he said.

A few months into his time in Syria, he was shot in the leg, and eventually returned to the United States. He came home and worked for a septic tank company, then got a job writing about used cars. When he saw explosions hitting Ukraine this week, the part of him that went to war three years ago reawakened.

“Everything here is just kind of empty and it doesn’t seem like I’m doing anything important,” he said in an interview from an extended-stay hotel in Virginia where he is living. “So I am trying to go. I don’t think I have a choice. You have to draw the line.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/05/u...ne-russia.html

The U.S. remains in discussions with Poland to potentially backfill their fleet of fighter planes if Warsaw decides to transfer its used MiG-29s to Ukraine, four U.S. officials tell POLITICO.

The ongoing talks, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleads with Congress for help, underscore the frantic push to find weapons to equip Ukrainian forces as they continue to fight off the massive Russian invasion.

As Poland weighed sending its warplanes to Ukraine last week, Warsaw asked the White House if the Biden administration could guarantee it would provide them with U.S.-made fighter jets to fill the gap. The White House said it would look into the matter. The Biden administration didn’t oppose the Polish government giving Kyiv the MiGs, which could potentially escalate tensions between NATO and Moscow. Poland, for now, has held on to its fighter jets.

Discussions between Warsaw and Washington are still underway, though authorization for new, replacement fighter jets to Poland could take a long time.

“We are working with the Poles on this issue and consulting with the rest of our NATO allies,” a White House spokesperson told POLITICO. “We are also working on the capabilities we could provide to backfill Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine.”

Several Eastern European countries like Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia retain dozens of Russian-made aircraft in their inventories and have been hesitant to give up those planes without guarantees from the U.S. that they could replace them.

Poland has been modernizing its aircraft fleet since 2006, when it first started flying F-16s, and in 2020 signed a $4.6 billion deal for 32 F-35s, the first of which will arrive in 2024, making those older Russian-made planes expendable.

The issue of sending aircraft into the fight is more complex than the effort underway by over two dozen European countries to send anti-armor and anti-air defensive weapons to Ukraine. A steady stream of U.S. and British military planes have been landing in Poland in recent days filled with those missiles, along with other munitions, rations, and small arms and ammunition.

Over the past several weeks the U.S. has sent 12,000 troops to Europe to backstop nervous allies along NATO’s Eastern front, the majority of which went to Poland to join the 4,000 U.S. troops already stationed there. The troops are conducting training missions with the Polish military, and could be called on to assist with a humanitarian emergency if the flood of war refugees overwhelms Polish and E.U. authorities.

The White House has “in no way opposed Poland transferring planes to Ukraine,” the spokesperson added, pointing out how difficult an operation it would be to get the planes into Ukraine. Russian officials have pledged to attack any convoys carrying weapons entering the country.

The issue of transferring American F-16s to Poland is a complex one, given the sensitive avionics on American planes that may not always be legal to transfer overseas.

After Zelenskyy’s impassioned Zoom call with senators on Saturday, during which he urged the U.S. to send planes, drones and Stinger missiles to Ukraine and impose oil sanctions on Russia, Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) sent a letter to President Joe Biden throwing their full support behind backfilling Poland with F-16s if they were to hand over their Russian planes, saying they would work to ensure there was funding to finance the transfer.

The on-again, off-again effort to get MiGs into Ukraine started last weekend, when European Union security chief Josep Borrell made the startling announcement that several countries would soon ship fighter jets to the border for transfer to Ukraine’s armed forces.

Ukrainian officials told POLITICO at the time that several of their pilots had already arrived in Poland for the handoff, but the deal stalled out. Bulgaria and Slovakia also rejected the idea, and the Ukrainian pilots left empty-handed.

The U.S. has already shipped $240 million of the $350 million in military assistance Biden approved recently, with the rest expected to arrive in the coming days.

White House weighs three-way deal to get fighter jets to Ukraine - POLITICO

Originally Posted by bsnub

Hector served two violent tours in Iraq as a United States Marine, then got out, got a pension and a civilian job, and thought he was done with military service. But on Friday, he boarded a plane for one more deployment, this time as a volunteer in Ukraine.

The Language will be a issue for him.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

The Language will be a issue for him.

Any Polymaths on TD who could go with him?

March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. payments firms Visa Inc (V.N) and Mastercard Inc on Saturday said they were suspending operations in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, and that they would work with clients and partners to cease all transactions there.

Within days, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside of the country and any Visa cards issued outside of Russia will no longer work within the country, the company said.
The move by the payments firms could mean more disruption for Russians who are bracing for an uncertain future of spiraling inflation, economic hardship and an even sharper squeeze on imported goods.

Visa, Mastercard suspend operations in Russia over Ukraine invasion | Reuters



This is great news!!

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Within days, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside of the country and any Visa cards issued outside of Russia will no longer work within the country, the company said.

Going to really piss off all the Russians that are in Thailand hoping to avoid all this shit.

No doubt the Thais will be all over this like a cheap suit asking them to settle their bills tomorrow and pay in advance if they wish to stay.

Good grief. That will hit hard. Russia might need to start thinking about repatriation flights to a large number of very pissed off Russians (who will have been exposed to more than state propaganda).

Wouldn't you just max out your credit card if you are a Russian overseas and then... not pay? That's what I would do anyway- it beats starving. Sweet fa visa and mastercard can do about it either, in Russia- they've pulled out. But I'm sure the companies have budgeted for an expected surge in bad debts.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

Good grief. That will hit hard. Russia might need to start thinking about repatriation flights to a large number of very pissed off Russians

Except Aeroflot is only operating out of Belarus now and Lloyds have withdrawn their insurance cover also.

Originally Posted by sabang

Wouldn't you just max out your credit card if you are a Russian overseas and then... not pay? That's what I would do anyway- it beats starving. Sweet fa visa and mastercard can do about it either, in Russia- they've pulled out. But I'm sure the companies have budgeted for an expected surge in bad debts.

Cant use the cards here in Thailand. Nobody is accepting them. Pretty hard to max them out.