As Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated an invasion of Ukraine early Thursday and reports of attacks emerged, prominent American liberals found a way to make the situation about race.
Russia
The USA’s Biological Threat Reduction Program In Ukraine
Studying the “most dangerous viruses in the world” at Russia’s border.
Putin didn’t destroy those labs – he wants to seize them intact. What a PR coup against the USA!
Address by the President of the Russian Federation
I will begin with what I said in my address on February 21, 2022. I spoke about our biggest concerns and worries, and about the fundamental threats which irresponsible Western politicians created for Russia consistently, rudely and unceremoniously from year to year. I am referring to the eastward expansion of NATO, which is moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border.
Biden set to unveil new Russia sanctions as GOP faults ‘weak’ leadership
President Biden was set to announce new sanctions on Russia Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a massive overnight invasion of Ukraine — while some congressional Republicans claimed Biden’s “weak” leadership had help cause the war.
The 12:30 p.m. speech follows a phone call lasting more than an hour between Biden and other leaders of the G7 group of nations to discuss the precise punishments to be laid on Moscow’s government and economy.
- Biden remarks moved from 12:30 to 1:30 P.M.
Trudeau condemns Russia’s attack on Ukraine, says Russia will suffer consequences
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine and calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw all military forces from the country.
“Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s egregious attack on Ukraine,” Trudeau said in a statement late Wednesday.
Ukraine conflict: Russian forces invade after Putin TV declaration
In a pre-dawn TV statement Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia did not plan to occupy Ukraine and demanded that its military lay down their arms.
Moments later, attacks were reported on Ukrainian military targets.
Ukraine said that “Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine”.
Russia’s military breached the border in a number of places, in the north, south and east, including from Belarus, a long-time Russian ally. There are reports of fighting in some parts of eastern Ukraine.
Russia attacks Ukraine; conflict reverberates around globe
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine’s government said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in what it called a “full-scale war” that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose fallout already reverberated around the globe.
America Can Defend Both Ukraine and Taiwan
It is doubtful that Beijing is poised to invade Taiwan or that it would assume that the deployment of sizable U.S. ground forces to Europe provided an opportunity to strike the island.
In a February 13, 2022, essay that was published in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Ukraine Is a Distraction From Taiwan,” Elbridge Colby and Oriana Skylar Mastro argue that the United States will increase the danger of prompting an opportunistic Chinese attack on Taiwan if it deploys military forces to deal with Russia’s threat to Ukraine.
To support this argument, the authors assert that “…China poses an increasingly imminent [emphasis added] threat to Taiwan,” and, given its huge military power, “…reasonably doubt[s] that the U.S or anyone else would mount a meaningful response to an invasion of Taiwan.” In addition, the authors assert that any additional U.S. ground troop deployments to Europe will weaken the U.S. capacity to defend Taiwan, and hence will indeed tempt China to attack.
Putin announces military operation in Ukraine
Putin announces military operation in Ukraine
Russia’s Putin announces military operation in Ukraine
Breaking: Video reportedly shows large explosion in Kharkiv, Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/mX9QWr6my2
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) February 24, 2022
From RT – Putin announces ‘special operation’ in Donbass
The special military operation will be aimed at “the defense of” the newly-recognized republics of Donetsk and Lugansk
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced he ordered his country’s military to conduct a special operation in the Donbass region after the leaders of the breakaway republics asked Moscow for military assistance in response to what they claim is an increase in “Ukrainian aggression.”
Assuming that remains the goal then nothing has really changed.
Mariupol pic.twitter.com/6VokxlCAGS
— Андрей (@AndreyZhukovv) February 24, 2022
Harsh conditions mean Russian troops near Ukraine will need to be moved soon
Russian forces massing near Ukraine’s borders can only remain in position for a few days before they have to be sent back to nearby bases or risk their capability being significantly degraded, western officials and experts believe.
That means that President Vladimir Putin will come under increasing pressure to use them in a full invasion of Ukraine – or send them back to staging areas, still in Russia’s south or west, but tens or even hundreds of kilometres back.
Such advance positions, often with poor protection from the cold, can be held only for a short period – and there is some evidence on social media of the poor conditions endured by soldiers near the border.
Canada announces new sanctions on Russia amid Ukraine tensions – Oh. Does that mean we’re gonna stop buying Putin’s Oil?
“… Trudeau said the first round of economic sanctions will ban Canadians from all financial dealings with the breakaway regions Putin recognized, Donetsk and Luhansk. The sanctions will also target members of the Russian Parliament who voted for the decision to recognize the separatist regions, as well as ban Canadians from engaging in purchases of Russian sovereign debt, Trudeau said.”
WTF? We Buy Putin’s Oil?
Did you know that Eastern Canada buys over $550 million of Russian oil each year? https://t.co/q2kwcntjXw pic.twitter.com/2ScicoSmhZ
— Martin Pelletier (@MPelletierCIO) February 22, 2022
Ukraine crisis: Five reasons why Putin might not invade
The optics look dreadful.
Russia has deployed more than two-thirds of its military combat capability to within striking distance of Ukraine’s borders.
Its 30,000 troops that were supposed to withdraw from neighbouring Belarus at the weekend are still there. So are pontoon bridges and other logistic equipment needed for an invasion.
Violence is flaring in the two Russian-backed breakaway republics in Eastern Ukraine. Russia’s demands from Nato remain unmet and diplomacy has so far failed to bring about any significant withdrawal of Russian forces.
Do Russian Troops In Belarus Mean War Is Inevitable?
On Saturday, in a novel way to appeal for support, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky denounced world leaders for not aligning themselves more forcefully with his country. At the annual security conference in Munich, where Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2007 had originally decried what he depicted as America’s hubristic quest for global hegemony, Zelensky upbraided various governments for “arrogance” and “appeasement.” Even as Zelensky issued his complaints, however, Putin continued to up the pressure on Ukraine, conducting nuclear drills and taking in civilians into Russia from Donetsk.
Clinton tears into GOP, Fox News at NY Democratic convention
Hillary Clinton slammed former President Trump, the GOP and Fox News while speaking at New York Democratic Convention on Thursday.
“We can’t get distracted. Whether it’s by the latest culture war nonsense or some new right-wing lie on Fox or Facebook,” Clinton told the crowd in New York City.
The former secretary of State and presidential nominee went on to allude to Fox News’s coverage of Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Coalition of the unwilling: Western elites prefer not to fight authoritarianism
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan addressed the British Parliament, expressing optimism about the “global campaign for democracy now gathering force.” Less than a decade later, the Soviet Union collapsed. After that, it was widely believed that authoritarianism was in decline and that the community of free nations was bound to grow and prosper.
That belief was incorrect. These days we monitor what political scientist Larry Diamond dubbed the “democratic recession.”