Author: Blazingcatfur

Ukraine has criticised a proposal by Moscow to open refugee corridors as “immoral” and “unacceptable” after the Russian defence ministry announced that civilians fleeing some cities would only be allowed to leave for Belarus or Russia.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, dismissed Russia’s six proposed corridors after it emerged that only two of them – from Sumy and Mariupol – involved evacuation routes that led to other parts of Ukraine, with all other routes leading directly to Russia or pro-Russian Belarus.

As Russian forces continued to pound Ukrainian cities, including residential areas, with missile strikes and artillery fire, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidency also said civilians must be allowed to flee their homes through Ukrainian territory.

#Ukraine: After a day without aircraft shootdowns, it appears likely that a RuAF jet was downed over #Kharkiv after being hit by 2 Ukrainian missiles.

Unfortunately details are lacking, but the UA side has officially claimed the shootdown, with the plane crashing near Kulinichi. pic.twitter.com/pMX3Rjbi0q

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 6, 2022

Here are the BMPs; seems it was very intense urban fighting. pic.twitter.com/4wdNHB37iG

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 7, 2022

Just what is at stake in Ukraine?  Oh, maybe everything.  Besides the horrendous loss of life, the conscription of young Ukrainian boys to repel Russian soldiers’ advance, the streaming of hundreds of thousands of homeless refugees across Europe, and widespread property destruction, the war has become an immediate referendum on the West’s cherished “rules-based international order.”

The latest measures are far more effective than Western powers’ past efforts to target Russia’s elite.

The United States, United Kingdom, and European Union had barely announced sanctions on overseas Russian wealth when the oligarchs began to whine and protest. That meant the policy—enacted after Russia invaded Ukraine—was working as intended, to punish Russia’s elites for supporting President Vladimir Putin. By last weekend in Moscow, the Russian-state-television host Vladimir Solovyev raged on camera over what the sanctions would mean for him personally: loss of access to his two luxury homes in Lake Como, Italy, near the villa of George Clooney.

The cries of disbelief from many in the Western foreign policy intelligentsia which met the Russian armored columns pouring into Ukraine were intense if unsurprising. While the latest act in the tragedy of great power politics is certainly devastating, the wailing and gnashing of teeth in Washington and the capitals of Europe would be comical if they were not so pathetic. Some lamented that history appeared to be returning after its hiatus, but in fact, it never left. Those who profess to analyze international affairs, and certainly those who lead nation-states, would do well to dwell in reality vice an aspirational world. Western leaders sleepwalked into this crisis. Their strategy was premised on flawed theoretical assumptions, and its failure carries important implications for U.S. policy going forward.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that if NATO will not establish a no-fly zone over his country, then NATO should supply Ukraine with military aircraft to defend itself. He said in a news conference on Thursday, “If you don’t have the strength to provide a no-fly zone, then give me planes. Would that not be fair?”

Poles are doing everything possible to help their Ukrainian neighbours.

Solidarity is one of those words that no one seems to be able to define. Decades of vague posturing – disconnected from any real action – has hollowed out whatever meaning it once had. In today’s climate, solidarity seems to mean little more than a change of profile picture, sharing a graphic on social media, or adding pronouns to your email signature. But in Poland this past week, I have seen solidarity come alive.

There are, of course, symbols galore here in Warsaw. Ukrainian flags are everywhere – shops have blue and yellow displays, lapels bear two-colour pins, and every bus in Warsaw sports the wheat-and-sky mark of Ukrainian national identity.

Reality is manipulated to strengthen their regime

The war in Ukraine poses a palpable threat to Western democracies, but this has little to do with Russia posing an inherent strategic threat to the United States or its European allies. No — more so than the Russian state, the threat to the West comes from within, a consequence of our congealing perceptions towards the conflict.

Bombs are not raining down on our cities; instead, what we are experiencing is the psychological weaponisation of war — and its exploitation as a tool of indoctrination and statecraft in the hands of the establishment.

Ukraine’s government has a contingency plan in place if President Volodymyr Zelensky is killed during the Russian invasion, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed on Sunday.

Zelensky survived three assassination attempts by Russian-backed groups just this week, the Times reported on Friday.

During an interview with CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday, Blinken was asked if Russian leader Vladimir Putin would face ‘consequences’ for Zelensky’s murder.

U.S., Brit special forces training for high-risk Zelenskyy rescue: Report

Commandos from Britain’s famed SAS and U.S. special forces are undergoing intense training for a potential high-risk rescue of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to published reports.