Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says it’s up to individual Canadians to decide whether they want to travel to Ukraine to help Kyiv fight the Russian invasion.
As Moscow’s forces are laying siege to Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the formation of a foreign “international legion” of volunteers to defend Ukraine.
Ms. Joly in a news conference on Sunday reiterated that the government has warned against travelling to Ukraine because of the insecurity there. But she says it’s up to Canadians if they want to join the fight.
Putin rolled the dice of war and didn’t beat Ukraine. This, in strategic terms, probably means he lost the campaign. In retrospect, the Kremlin’s plan consisted of an airborne/airmobile/Spetsnaz descent on Kyiv, the mission of which was to establish an airhead in the capital and capture the Ukrainian government until relieved by mechanized forces racing in from the north. An airmobile assault was attempted at Gostomel to Kyiv’s immediate north.
It was a hard day in Bucha, Kyiv region — Russian forces tried to clear their way to Kyiv. Russian attempts to break through stopped after Ukrainian Bayraktar destroyed a column of armored vehicles marked with a V letter — as we know now, it was Chechen so-called Kadyrov’s Guard pic.twitter.com/gY28tiXF73
More remarkable footage emerged today as the war in Ukraine entered its third day.
Locals and cameramen captured the latest developments in the bloody conflict in eastern Europe, as Ukraine refuses to surrender amid an onslaught of Russian attacks.
Remember when your parents made you visit a cranky old person you never wanted to meet.
By tying itself to a reckless and dangerous America, the Ukrainians made a blunder that client states will study for years to come
Russian President Vladimir Putin chose this war, Joe Biden said in his Thursday afternoon speech to America regarding the conflict in Ukraine. That is true, but U.S. elites also had something to do with Putin’s ugly and destructive choice—a role that Democrats and Republicans are eager to paper over with noble-sounding rhetoric about the bravery of Ukraine’s badly outgunned military. Yes, the Ukrainian soldiers standing up to Putin are very brave, but it was Americans that put them in harm’s way by using their country as a weapon, first against Russia and then against each other, with little consideration for the Ukrainian people who are now paying the price for America’s folly.
Ukrainian soldiers believed to have died while defending an island after telling a Russian warship to “go fuck yourself”, may still be alive, according to Ukraine’s State Border Guard.
Initial reports said the 13 border guards had died after refusing to surrender Snake Island, which sits 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea, from a Russian air and sea bombardment on Thursday.
In his address after the first day of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, announced he would posthumously award all the soldiers the Hero of Ukraine award. “All border guards died heroically but did not give up,” Zelenskiy said.
Did they survive? Ukrainian troops reported by President Zelenskyy to have been killed after telling Russian navy to ‘Go f**k yourselves’ now seen to be ALIVE after pictures released by Russia show them being held as prisoners of war
I will remain agnostic on this one. It’s such a good story, but remember back in the day we were lead to believe Iraqi soldiers ripped Kuwaiti babies from incubators… truth is the first casualty etc etc etc.
Canada closes airspace to Russian planes amid Ukraine conflict
There are no direct flights between Russia and Canada, but several Russian flights a day pass through Canadian airspace to other countries, a spokesperson for Alghabra said.
Ukraine’s president says Kyiv has agreed to send a delegation for talks with Russian officials on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.
“We have agreed that the Ukrainian delegation will meet with Russian [officials] without prior conditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, in the area of the Pripyat river,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.
He did not give a precise time for the meeting, but said Lukashenko, a Putin ally, “has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation’s travel, talks and return.”
Putin puts Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert as tensions rise with West
President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces to be placed on high alert, due to what he described as “aggressive statements” by Western adversaries.
During a meeting with top Russian officials, Putin directed the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty.”
Russia central bank urges calm amid cash run fears
Russia’s central bank has issued an appeal for calm amid fears that new financial sanctions could spark a run on its banks.
It said it “has the necessary resources and tools to maintain financial stability and ensure the operational continuity of the financial sector”.
The EU, the US, the UK and Canada have announced that the assets of Russia’s central bank will be frozen.
Putin shunned by world as his hopes of quick victory evaporate
Vladimir Putin was facing growing international isolation and the prospect of pariah status on Saturday night as long-term allies dramatically turned against him following the invasion of Ukraine, and western nations planned further decisive military and financial action against Moscow.
Ukrainian forces say they have repelled an attack on the country’s second city Kharkiv after fierce clashes with Russian forces.
Regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said the city was now rid of Russian troops – after street-to-street fighting overnight.
Residents described intense shelling, with one woman saying it was “something like Star Wars above your head”.
A nine-storey residential tower was hit, emergency services said.
The building was severely damaged and an elderly woman was killed, according to emergency services. Rescuers said about 60 people were spared injury as they had taken refuge in the basement.
Fighting on streets of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, as west bars Russian banks from Swift
The war in Ukraine intensified on Sunday, as Russian troops entered the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and Vladimir Putin unleashed a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities.
Kharkiv residents were urged to stay indoors by governor Oleg Sinegubov, who said “there has been a breakthrough in light equipment including in the central part of the city”. A nine-storey building was reportedly hit, with one woman killed.
A company worth of Russian tanks and other vehicles reportedly in Chernihiv Oblast. What is notable is how old these tanks are, including T-72A, T-72AV, T-72B obr 1985 and 1989, MT-LB, and BMP-2. Likely an Eastern Military District unit. https://t.co/bTR1C5mCCApic.twitter.com/jbSuWTSmgK
Wow that Russian VDV column in Bucha was destroyed apparently by artillery or MLRS fire, including BTR-82A, BMD-2, R-419MA1, BTR-D, and other vehicles. https://t.co/nMNe9ZrIf9pic.twitter.com/PtOIzuZW5L
The news came as a surprise to many in Beijing. Barely 24 hours ago, Chinese pundits predicted that a war in Ukraine was not inevitable. In New York, as Russia geared up for a full-on assault on its neighbour, China’s UN envoy, Zhang Jun, urged in a security council meeting that “the door to a peaceful solution to the Ukraine issue is not fully shut, nor should it be shut”.
But when people in Kyiv woke up to sound of bombs in what the Nato chief called a “deliberate, cold-blooded” invasion, the door had clearly been closed. China’s state media, however, insisted it was a “special military action” by Russia. Quoting Vladimir Putin, China’s central television tweeted: “Russia was left with no other choice.”
This guy is good to follow on Twitter.
A destroyed group of Rosgvardia vehicles. The use of Rosgvardia and riot police units in this operation has thus far been puzzling to say the least. https://t.co/Gc0yyviIU0
Having been overseas last week, it is my task to cover in this column both the postmortem on the truckers movement and events in Ukraine. As I wrote here two weeks ago, the truckers were right to be outraged at the escalated requirement for the 10 per cent or so who are unvaccinated to quarantine for two weeks when returning from the United States. That provision is oppressive and malicious. The truckers also acted for millions of other Canadians in rising up against the compulsive and imperishable authoritarianism of the substantially failed Canadian COVID regime and the smug acceptance of it by much of the media.
The EU, US and their allies have agreed to cut off a number of Russian banks from the main international payment system, Swift.
“This is intended to cut off these institutions from international financial flows, which will massively restrict their global operations,” a German government spokesman said.
Russia is heavily reliant on the Swift system for its oil and gas exports.
But the move could also harm Western businesses doing business with Russia.
History shows that it’s much easier to start a war than to end one.
That’s certainly true of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. And it might turn out to be the same for President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
There’s an old axiom that military plans never survive the first contact with the enemy. It certainly appears to be true for Russia’s forces in Ukraine.
Ed Arnold, an expert on European security at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), describes Russia’s initial assault as “underwhelming” and “slower than expected”.
NLAW seen during a firefight. Insane video filmed reportedly on the outskirts of Ivankov. pic.twitter.com/a0mtrFPzhT
62% of Americans think Putin WOULDN’T have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president, poll claims – and 59% say Biden’s weakness made Russia decide to declare war
Close to two thirds of Americans believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump were still president, according to a new survey released Friday.
A recent Harvard Center for American Political Studies-Harris Poll survey revealed that 62 percent of those Americans polled felt that Putin would not be launching an offense against Ukraine if Trump, rather than incumbent President Joe Biden, was still in office. Broken down, 39 percent of Democrats and 85 percent of Republicans believe that Trump would have made Putin think twice about launching the war.
Fierce fighting broke out in Kyiv as Russian forces tried to push their way towards the city centre from multiple directions in the early hours of Saturday, and as the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, bluntly rejected a US offer to evacuate him from the country’s capital.
“The fight is here,” Zelinskiy said. By 8am, however, residents were reporting a lull in the attack as it appeared Kyiv’s defenders had held out against another night of Russian advances from multiple directions, including both north and south of the main western route from Zhitomyr to Kyiv, and in the area of the motorway towards the country’s south.
That was the message greeting visitors to dozens of Ukrainian websites on Wednesday afternoon.
From 16:00 local time webpages for banks and government ministries started going down.
Naturally, fingers quickly pointed towards Moscow – Russia’s cyber army once again accused of hacking to spread fear and confusion online as troops massed on Ukraine’s borders.
Ever since he first seized the Russian presidency 20 years ago, a question has lingered around Vladimir Putin. Is he crazy, or not?
The jury always seemed to be out. On the one hand, there were the signs of relatively harmless crazy. The tiger-wrestling, semi-naked horseback riding and more. There were also more than enough signs of harmful crazy. Such as sending his henchmen to poison enemies in foreign capitals using nerve agents which, if leaked, would have killed tens of thousands of people in those cities.
