“Ukraine – Russia”

Experts have said they are baffled by the ineptitude of the tactics displayed by Russia’s armies after drone footage yesterday showed a column of tanks getting picked off one-by-one in an ambush carried out by Ukraine’s forces.

Analysts have said Russian tank commanders allowed the Ukrainians to ambush their unit by driving down the middle of a main road leading into Kyiv – and straight into a death trap. By multiple counts, President Vladimir Putin’s forces have lost more tanks than are operational in entire German army.

The devastating artillery strikes came as Putin’s troops inched closer to Kyiv, and saw a number of Russian T-72 tanks and other vehicles destroyed or routed in the surprise attack from the front and back of the convoy.

#Ukraine: UAV footage showing a Russian T-72 variant tank being hit by Ukrainian forces anti-tank fire in #Mariupol. pic.twitter.com/DycyL46A3a

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 11, 2022

#Ukraine: More losses of the Russian army – a BTR-82A APC was damaged by fire after being abandoned and an IVECO LMV “Rys” was completely burnt down. Location is unknown. pic.twitter.com/EouEcN9Wu0

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 11, 2022

Satellite images taken by a US firm of a large Russian military convoy near Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, show it has “largely dispersed and redeployed”.

The convoy was last seen near Antonov Airport, north-west of Kyiv, and its movement could signal a renewed push towards the city.

The firm that took the photos, Maxar Technologies, said parts of the convoy were in positions in surrounding towns.

Other parts are further north, with artillery now in firing positions.

#Ukraine: New footage presumably showing the downing of a Russian Mi-24/35 attack helicopter. However we can't verify yet where precisely it occurred or if this helicopter was not documented previously. pic.twitter.com/VB1WfBswfA

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 11, 2022

#Ukraine: A Ukrainian Stugna-P anti-tank guided missile operator successfully hits and destroys a Russian tank. pic.twitter.com/WPdOFix0ut

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 11, 2022

WARSAW — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau capped a weeklong European trip Friday by slapping new sanctions on the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has become an international poster boy for the largesse that enabled President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Abramovich is a major shareholder in Evraz, a British multinational manufacturing company that operates a steel mill in Regina. Britain also sanctioned Abramovich on Thursday, as pressure continued to grow on the Boris Johnson government to bring down the hammer on the owner of its famed Chelsea Football Club. Abramovich has aimed his super yacht into the Mediterranean Sea to avoid having his assets seized.

One of the biggest questions about the war in Ukraine at this point is what Russian president Vladimir Putin’s exit ramp would look like. He has too much of his standing and prestige invested in this expedition for the United States and its allies to expect him to execute a U-turn and a tail-between-the-legs withdrawal, even if Ukrainian resistance were to continue being as stubborn and effective as it has been so far. For any outcome to be acceptable, Putin has to be able to portray himself, with the aid of his propaganda apparatus, as a winner.

Russian soldiers are posting on social media only to have their identities revealed by facial recognition software.

Tactical Systems Academy, a law enforcement and military training company, tweeted the results of its facial recognition searches to reveal the identities of two Russian soldiers since the invasion into Ukraine began. It specializes in gathering intelligence via open sources, and its clients include the French Armed Forces and several police departments.

From one end of Western Europe to the other, the mass migrations of the last generation or two have turned the words “immigrant” and “refugee” into veritable synonyms for “Muslim.” Thanks to government generosity on a Herculean scale, Muslims by the million have been provided, at taxpayer expense (but without taxpayers ever being consulted), with incomes, homes, furnishings, cars. They’ve been allowed to bring over their family members, who in turn have been allowed to bring over their family members. Some have been grateful; some have even gone on to pursue estimable careers and contribute to the general welfare. Many, however, have responded to all this largesse with a contempt for their hosts – a contempt rooted largely in the Koran’s teachings about infidels – and a staggering sense of entitlement.

The first casualty of war is time. Ask the young soldier at the front when the attack happened, or the old lady in the hospital bed when her home was shelled, and they look at you confused. Was it 24 hours ago, or 48? The days have become one, they tell you.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, time is elastic. It’s close to the border with Russia and the nightly shelling from Russian artillery and warplanes gives no rest. The past two weeks have seemed like an eternity, yet peace can be remembered as if it were yesterday.

If you don't recognise these tactics, then you haven't been paying attention. From Kharkiv's frontline, #Ukraine @dcinfocus and Feras. With thanks to our local team. @BBCNews @BBCWorld Graphic content warning. pic.twitter.com/hhGK1tudpp

— Quentin Sommerville (@sommervilletv) March 10, 2022

Volodymyr Zelensky’s former press secretary tweeted then deleted a post on Thursday saying it would be a ‘tragedy’ if Vice President Kamala Harris were to one day be president after she laughed through questions at a press conference in Poland about the refugee crisis in Ukraine.

‘It would be a tragedy if this woman won the presidency,’ Iuliia Mendel, who served Zelensky’s administration from June 2019 until July 2021, wrote on Twitter before quickly deleting the post.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he was forced to deny Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to authorize a no-fly zone over Ukraine citing fears about triggering an escalation from Russian forces.

Speaking to CTV National News Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme, Trudeau confirmed Zelensky asked him directly to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine during a phone call Thursday.

Dramatic drone footage emerged on Thursday of a Ukrainian ambush on a Russian armoured column just outside Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv.

Bellingcat, the specialist open source investigator, said it had geolocated the video, to a lightly inhabited area on the E95 road about 35km (22 miles) from the centre of Kyiv, a direct route to the east of the capital where Russian forces have been trying to mass.

#Ukraine: A huge Russian convoy were struck by the Ukrainian artillery fire in Skybyn, #Kyiv Oblast. As a result, several vehicles were destroyed and damaged. pic.twitter.com/l2jYdByDim

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 10, 2022

#Ukraine: More recent footage from the eyes of the Bayraktar TB2 drone in the hands of the Ukrainian military; another 9K317 Buk-M2 TELAR completely destroyed. pic.twitter.com/y2uUGKil99

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 10, 2022

#Ukraine: Recent video showing claimed Ukrainian fire hitting Russian armour in the vicinity of #Borodyanka.

We estimate that we can see an apparent T-72B3(M) damaged, a BMP-2 destroyed, and another T-72B3(M) totally destroyed. pic.twitter.com/0s7uiZIrT7

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 10, 2022