Author: Blazingcatfur

Videos and photos show the bodies of soldiers left behind on the battlefield, officials say, and the charred remains of tanks and armored vehicles.

WASHINGTON — When Russia seized Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir V. Putin was so worried about Russian casualty figures coming to light that authorities accosted journalists who tried to cover funerals of some of the 400 troops killed during that one-month campaign.

But Moscow may be losing that many soldiers daily in Mr. Putin’s latest invasion of Ukraine, American and European officials said. The mounting toll for Russian troops exposes a potential weakness for the Russian president at a time when he is still claiming, publicly, that he is engaged only in a limited military operation in Ukraine’s separatist east.

The International Cat Federation has banned Russian cats from its competitions following the country’s move to invade Ukraine last week.

The federation, which is also known as FIFe after its French name, Fédération Internationale Féline, said in a statement that it was “shocked and horrified” that Russian forces had attacked Ukraine and “started a war.”

In Afghanistan, he was nicknamed Wali.

And the name stuck for the former sniper with the Royal 22e Regiment, who — earlier this week, in the dead of night — crossed the border into Ukraine from Poland, answering a call from Ukraine’s president for a foreign legion to help repel the Russian invasion.

The border was a surreal experience, even for a former Canadian soldier used to the unpredictability of war in the sun-scorched grape fields of Kandahar. Wali said he and the three other former Canadian soldiers who made the journey with him were greeted with hugs, handshakes, flags and photos by Ukrainians after they crossed the border.

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been seized by Russian military forces, according to regional authorities, after a fire sparked by overnight shelling burned for several hours at the largest facility of its kind in Europe.

The Ukrainian state inspectorate for nuclear regulation said in a statement on its Facebook page the plant had been “captured by the military forces of the Russian Federation”, but added that employees were continuing to work on the premises.

Ukraine: Why has Russia’s 64km convoy near Kyiv stopped moving?

Russia’s huge military convoy, said to be 40 miles (64km) long, near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has hardly moved in three days, the UK defence ministry says.

But US defence officials say Russia still intends to surround and seize the city where some three million people live – by siege tactics if necessary.

Recent satellite images showing the size of the convoy sparked fears that an attack would be imminent.

When it comes to a surprise attack against another country, there are two schools of thought. First, you can attack with 100% of your military strength to subdue the country instantly. Call it the “ripping off the Band-Aid” or the “shock and awe” approach to conquest. Second, you can go in with some delicacy to see how much pushback you’re going to get from the country before you commit your best troops, especially if you’d like to keep civilian casualties to a minimum.

#Ukraine: In a recent ambush in Irpin, #Kyiv Oblast Ukrainian Troops (Possibly special forces) destroyed 3 BMD-2 (One with 9M113 ATGM) and a BTR-D.

It seems that at least one RPG-22 was used, as it can be seen expended. pic.twitter.com/rbDMReveLJ

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 3, 2022