LIVE BLOG: Ukraine Arms Citizens Against Russia, Zelensky Gets Radio Silence From NATO
Zelensky calls out the West’s virtue signaling: “We have been left alone in defending our nation. Who is ready to fight with us? I don’t see anybody. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee to join NATO? Everyone is afraid.”
On Thursday, February 24 (my 41st birthday), Russia struck Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said over 150 people died and over 300 were injured.
Here is a live stream I keep open all day and night. Kyiv is 7 hours ahead of ET. So when it is 7 AM ET it’s 2 PM there.
Loud Explosions in Kyiv
I am using the DW webcam on Maidan Square.
Will Kyiv Fall?
Zelensky warns Russia will storm Kyiv tonight in “vile, cruel and inhuman” fashion.
“We have to persevere tonight. The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now. The night will be hard, very hard, but there will be a morning, pic.twitter.com/8bioVWKDaA
— max seddon (@maxseddon) February 25, 2022
Putin and Lavrov Sanctions
Again, as I said before, they likely don’t have assets here and these sanctions are nothing more than virtue signaling.
Treasury Department: “Today, the U.S. … continued to forcefully respond to Russia’s unjustified, unprovoked, & premeditated invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin & Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov…”https://t.co/DHpOQqgxXn pic.twitter.com/Ftp1U05NAB
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) February 25, 2022
Report: Ukraine Shot Down Il-76 Russian Transport Plane
From The Telegraph:
Ukraine has shot down an Il-76 Russian transport plane 20km from Kyiv which was reportedly carrying more tha 100 paratroopers ready to launch an assault on the city.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff said the Russian Ilyushin II-76 aircraft was carrying landing forces near Vasylkiv, south of Kyiv.
NATO Activating Response Force for the First Time
This sounds like a cool thing, but once again. NATO will not be going into Ukraine (emphasis mine):
According to NATO, the Response Force “is a highly ready and technologically advanced multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces (SOF) components that the Alliance can deploy quickly, wherever needed.”
The NATO Response Force will provide defensive air, land, and sea support to NATO allies in Europe. NATO noted that the Response Force will not enter Ukraine but will remain on alert in case Russian President Vladimir Putin expands his military operation.
“This is an historic moment and the very first time the Alliance has employed these high readiness forces in a deterrence and defense role. They represent a flexible, combat credible force that can be employed in multiple ways and we are utilizing fully their inherent agility,” NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Tod Wolters said in a statement.
Wolters called the unprecedented measures “prudent” and necessary to “enhance our speed, responsiveness, and capability to shield and protect the one billion citizens” of NATO’s member nations.
Separately, at a press briefing, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “brutal act of war,” and labeled the attack “unjustified and unprovoked.”
“In response to Russia’s massive military build-up, we have already strengthened our collective defense on land, at sea, and in the air,” Stoltenberg said.
Sanctions Against Putin and Lavrov Don’t Matter
This is probably the only time I’ll ever believe Russia. Does anyone think Putin and Lavrov did not do everything to protect all their assets? Come on.
Russian Foreign Ministry says neither Putin nor Lavrov have accounts either in Britain or anywhere else abroad in response to today’s sanctions
— RIA
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 25, 2022
Power Outage
The camera in Maidan Square in Kyiv went down. I looked and looked…seems like a power outage took it out.
Kyiv mayor Klitschko tells Reuters that five blasts hit city's CHP-6 power station, northeast of the city. "The situation now – without exaggeration – is threatening for Kyiv. The night, close to the morning, will be very difficult."
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) February 25, 2022
Zelensky is Still in Ukraine
Zelensky posts a video with top aides + his prime minister, apparently from above ground in Kyiv.
“We are all here, our soldiers are here … we are defending our independence” pic.twitter.com/CX7s7Rq0ED
— Felix Light (@felix_light) February 25, 2022
Russia Threatens Finland and Sweden if They Join NATO
Russia, I wouldn’t threaten Finland. They handled you pretty well in WWII. Well, a lot of that credit goes to White Death!
💬#Zakharova: We regard the Finnish government’s commitment to a military non-alignment policy as an important factor in ensuring security and stability in northern Europe.
☝️Finland’s accession to @NATO would have serious military and political repercussions. pic.twitter.com/eCY5oG23rL
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 25, 2022
Putin Cronies Trying to Trump Up a Case Against Ukraine
💬FM #Lavrov: All these years, our Western colleagues have protected the Ukrainian regime by turning a blind eye to war crimes against civilians.
Through their silence, they encouraged the onset of neo-Nazism & Russophobia, which resulted in tragedy.
🔗 https://t.co/zxhp3tB4Kr pic.twitter.com/FL1U9kD9B4
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 25, 2022
💬#Zakharova: Ukraine’s current regime lacks any sovereignty. All it can do is follow instructions coming from overseas.
☝️We hope that Ukrainians free themselves from the yoke of the nationalist government which has been milking the country in the interests of foreign companies pic.twitter.com/Xj7shIkl1G
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 25, 2022
Putin Calling for a Coup
The man has lost his mind.
Putin claims Russia is mostly fighting "nationalists" and calls on Ukraine's armed forces to surrender.
"Take power into your own hands. It looks like it'll be easier for us to make a deal with you than this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis." pic.twitter.com/Gi9QmJ9u2s
— max seddon (@maxseddon) February 25, 2022
Putin describes Ukraine’s government as “a gang of drug addicts” and calls on the country’s forces to surrender pic.twitter.com/OseH9EaFuR
— Evan Gershkovich (@evangershkovich) February 25, 2022
Talks With Russia?
Ah, yes. Russia supposedly ready for talks with Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus. Tell me. How did all of those other talks in Minsk work out for Ukraine? Minsk is not a neutral location. Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko is as chummy with Putin as one can get. Don’t fall for it, Ukraine.
REUTERS: Russia is ready to send a delegation Minsk for talks with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, a day after Moscow launched a massive invasion of its southern neighbor.
Ukraine said it is willing to discuss declaring itself a neutral county
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) February 25, 2022
Sanctions on Putin and Lavrov?
Will the EU freeze Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s assets? Something tells me the men already made moves to protect all of their assets.
EU to freeze personal assets of Putin and Lavrov
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) February 25, 2022
Russia Says It has Hostomel Airfield
The airport is near Kyiv. It could be another way for Russia to cut off the city from the West.
*RUSSIA DEFENSE MINISTRY SAYS FORCES HOSTOMEL AIRPORT: IFX
RUSSIA'S DEFENCE MINISTRY SAYS MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE FROM UKRAINE SPECIAL UNITS WERE ELIMINATED ON CAPTURE OF HOSTOMEL AIRFIELD – IFX
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 25, 2022
Missles in Kyiv
Booms heard on the live cam at 4:20 AM Kyiv time. The pictures show residential areas on fire and somewhat destroyed by missiles or an aircraft. It looks like Ukrainian forces might have intercepted the attack.
Question: Will Ukraine get a no-fly zone over Kyiv?
The wreckage that was shot down over #Kyiv fell on a residential area. pic.twitter.com/1BRBBKtPUP
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 25, 2022
Rescue workers in Kyiv respond to a fire at a residential highrise struck by a Russian missile attack. https://t.co/MGyz14deAF https://t.co/oWiqvbwRN7 pic.twitter.com/x5Ezzjb66k
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) February 25, 2022
Woke up to two loud bangs in central Kyiv, around 04:20 am.
Videos (unverified!!) shared by residents on social media show an explosion in the sky raining burning shrapnel onto the city.
Twitter suggesting it is the work of Ukraine’s air defences intercepting a missile pic.twitter.com/TD9tjvxeCr
— Polina Ivanova (@polinaivanovva) February 25, 2022
Another video showing a building I’ve geolocated to Pozniaky district southeast of Kyiv. A high-rise apartment building in fire. Unclear whether this is damage from the incident in the previous video but location suggests it might be. pic.twitter.com/YofGqt3kTk
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 25, 2022
NATO is Scared of Russia
I ended last night’s blog with this story because it’s chilling and shows the West is not serious about protecting Ukraine:
Today, I have asked 27 European leaders whether Ukraine will be in NATO. I have asked directly – everyone is afraid. No one answers. But we are not afraid. We are not afraid of anything. We are not afraid to defend our country. We are not afraid of Russia. We are not afraid to talk to Russia.
But there is a second thing. We have been left alone in defending our nation. Who is ready to fight with us? I don’t see anybody. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee to join NATO? Everyone is afraid.
“I have asked 27 European leaders whether Ukraine will be in NATO. Everyone is afraid, no one answers.”
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy says his country has been left alone to fend off Russia’s military incursion pic.twitter.com/0wWsKPJahw
— TRT World (@trtworld) February 25, 2022
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Comments
This is absolutely messed up.
It all feels like a set-up. A really bad script.
A real bad script. Ever read one of those books where you can’t find a protagonist in ANY of the central characters? This is one of those novels. For instance:
Zelensky, while perhaps courageous, is wholly incompetent. The time to train and ARM your population is before the invasion begins as the Japanese did in earnest the last 2-YEAR of WWII. He didn’t set explosives on key bridges to slow down the Russians as you made tactical retreats? Really? You didn’t fortify key infrastructure points and airports in YOUR CAPITAL CITY?
Joe Biden didn’t pour critical weapons into Ukraine when Russia amassed 70K troops LAST MARCH? We’re buying the same amount of oil from Russia today as we did…last week? Vladmir Putin’s AMEX, Mastercard and Visa still work? We didn’t round up every Russian passport holder and send their asses back to Russia?
In this novel, it’s the background players who are the heroes; the Ukrainian service members and – unpredictably – the surprising number of Russian people who had the courage to protest their own tyrant, a guy who has a rich history of disappearing his political foes. It’s a weird book.
Very nice description.
Ukraine sent 5,000 troops to Iraq on a 5 year mission – did they learn ANYTHING? Where are the shaped IED’s buried in roadways? Where are the snipers? Is it true the Ukrainians are handing out guns to unknown, untrained randos – that’s the plan?
That’s certainly part of the plan. But you’re right. They seen a capable insurgency up close and personal. I hope they learned the lessons they’ll need in the coming days and weeks.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has announced that the USA will continue to buy Russian Oil. And, the Dept of the Interior went to court yesterday to defend the revocation of oil and gas leases on Federal lands in the US.
Biden supporters and the MSM think that people in other countries can’t read or see what they are doing. Putin’s people have clearly been watching.
After seeing the Biden government treating American citizens like the enemy, encouraging Trudeau to treat Canadian citizens like they are the enemy and seeing the totally corrupt actions of the FBI, military leaders et al, Putin can easily see that the Biden crowd has no interest in anything but what makes them richer and more powerful.
And that no matter what happens, they will simply blame Trump.
Putin doesn’t see Biden as weak, but simply as the leader of a completely morally corrupt regime which will do nothing to help its own country, let alone others like Ukraine.
Of course, where else would we get it? Biden shut down so much domestic production, almost as if to try to appease Russia. Then he doubled-down a few days ago and cancelled more leases on public land if I recall correctly. Is that a rational move if the goal is to hurt Russia financially? Now we will buy even more from them and at much higher prices. Europe will also be buying more and at higher prices.
Really, it seems like the US is financing Russia’s war here.
It does feel like a set up.
An armed citizenry is no match for the Russkies Wolverines!
Russia can take Ukraine with 130,000 soldiers. But, they cannot hold Ukraine with 130,000 soldiers. Their only hope is to get enough sympathetic / opportunistic Ukrainians to occupy themselves.
There are 42 million Ukrainians in a country twice the size of Texas.
According to MapFight, the area of Ukraine is a bit more than 3/4 the size of Texas.
I was going off reported size. Stupid me for trusting the Media.
If you are going to arm your citizens you should do it before the enemy invades, not as an after thought when it’s too little too late. And don’t forget the ammo.
Yeah. And compel people to actually shoot because a bunch of dumb f***s with rifles aren’t really worth a whole hell of a lot. And maybe make the required marksmanship practice something fun. Like, I dunno. A festival?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%BCtzenfest
“A Schützenfest (German: [ˈʃʏtsn̩ˌfɛst], marksmen’s festival) is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on their shooting abilities, for example, by shooting at a wooden representation of an eagle. The competition’s winner becomes the Schützenkönig (“king of marksmen”) until the following year’s competition…”
I would persuade, not compel. Not big on compulsion.
I thought I covered this in my earlier comment about letting citizens have guns all the time.
“NATO is scared of Russia”. Translation: NATO waiting for America (again) to save them (again).
Sadly, we will. Again.
“We have been left alone in defending our nation. Who is ready to fight with us? I don’t see anybody. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee to join NATO?”
This is how I felt while I was on the phone to State Farm trying to buy homeowner’s insurance… while my house was on fire.
To recap: America is part of NATO, so NATO isn’t waiting for America unless you mean America is waiting for America. Which would be silly.
As for ‘save them’, save NATO from what? Nobody’s attacked NATO. Nobody is massing forces on the border of a NATO country. Nobody in NATO has invoked Article 5.
European members of NATO don’t need America to save them. Two thirds of NATO’s nuclear capable members are in Europe, and frankly, here in the UK our experience is that American turns up too late, kills as many of our forces as the enemy then tries to claim all the credit.
Still waiting for American thanks for the British Empire’s help in preventing a Japanese invasion of the US.
Hey! Here;s a thought! Let the citizens have guns all the time, not just now when the Russkies are massing on the border; Classify this under “shit I’ll never have.”
‘
Heres a thought;
How about Fuck off.
Oh, wait that’s what the Ukrainians told the Russians.
I’m mad as a snake.
Oh, wait.
I wish, one day, to have one iota of balls that those Ukrainian soldiers had.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/25/europe/ukraine-russia-snake-island-attack-intl-hnk-ml/index.html
Apparently I have to spell every bloody thing out. And I mean bloody.
No, NATO will not fight for Ukraine in Ukraine. And no, Ukraine will not become part of NATO. That is what the bottom line is for Putin and he is proving it. The government of Ukraine is utterly corrupt and thus radio active-no pun intended- for any direct Western involvement. Westerners will loot Ukraine, hello Biden family, but nothing more. Our sanctions will hurt Russia some, but they have a very willing ally today in China. China will buy all the grain Russia wants to sell them. Same with oil and gas since those things are needed in China and Russia has plenty.
NATO is not all on board with full sanctions as Italy and Germany, both large economies, are holding back. Ukraine will fall and hopefully the population and army will be able to mount an effective and determined insurgency. Turn themselves into a major quagmire.
Why demand that the Ukraine not be admitted to NATO while simultaneously providing the very reason to do so?
Because when Putin is finished there, the matter will be moot.
LET THE CHIPS FALL.
where they may.
Europe is scared of Russia.
Hell, Europe is scared of everything. Give it to the Russians, let them deal with the BS.
They’re not scared of Muslims. Let they them come in hordes. Maybe they can arm them to fight this time around.
Russia takes Ukraine easily.
World sits back and watches.
Nothing else happens.
Next crisis, please.
Europe remembers another small pale man who was consumed by a burning rage because his country lost a world war and suffered badly in its aftermath. He finally came to power and WW2 followed. Putin is just such a man. Europe is always Europe.
“Europe remembers…”
Yeah, but not very well.
Europe remembers about as well as Guy Pierce’s character in “Memento”.
The Ukraine needs to hire advisers from Afghanistan. They beat both Russia and us.
I say again: there is nothing, nothing about the Ukraine is worth the life of a single American citizen.
I take the points of Whitewall and TargaGTS. Yes, the time to prepare is before your neighbor attacks. I don’t know how much the Ukraine did but they have known for years that this day would come. If they weren’t prepared it’s on them. And yes, the Ukraine is a kleptocracy; it is one of the most corrupt lands on the earth today.
I’m not losing any sleep over this one. Ukraine is not worth the life of a single American.
We have no direct much less critical national interests in Ukraine. BUT – and it’s a big but – this is happening right next door to Poland with Putin now staging 30K troops on the Polish boarder.
Poland is not only a NATO member, but they’ve been a GREAT friend to the US as well. There were more Polish soldiers KIA in Afghanistan than Australian soldiers. Poland stayed in Afghanistan until AFTER Biden announced the withdrawal date which was SEVEN YEARS longer than Canada (our ‘best ally) stayed. And they helped evacuate many people including US citizens.
This is all important in the context of this discussion; if we should help and how we should help Ukraine. The more bloodied Russia is in their war with Ukraine the less likely they may be on acting on their (Putin’s) grand designs of reconstituting the 19th Century Russian Empire…which includes large parts of Poland.
If Russia wraps up Ukraine by next week, Poland – the US and the world – had better gird their loins.
A good point; yes, there would be another pressure point on Poland. The points to make are that a) Poland IS a member of NATO; b) Poland IS a representative democracy, member of the EU, and in general good order; c) Poland HAS been upgrading its military and military readiness (unlike, say, the Germans); and d) Poland is in general good graces with America — the public here likes and respects them. There’s much more good will to tap.
So Poland is a different situation.
Admittedly, I don’t have a very deep understanding of how the internet backbone works. So, maybe it’s just very difficult to take down on a national level. But, I’m surprised we’re this far into this war and the Ukrainians – at least in the more urban areas – still seem to have reasonably reliable access to the internet.
I’m not sure if it’s a good sign, a bad sign or an unrelated sign about how things are going. Just that it’s interesting.
Someone wants it up.
Hundreds of Ukrainians have already been killed and many more will be, but no sympathy from President Zelenskiy. Now he wants to arm civilians so they can protect the capital. He keeps saying his life’s in danger, “I am the target. I am target number one”, no doubt as justification for getting out of Dodge.
Here is a live stream I keep open all day and night. Kyiv is 7 hours ahead of ET. So when it is 7 AM ET it’s 2 PM there.
You do realize that the Reuters video isn’t a live stream, right? It’s just a recording of approximately 3 hours of the capital. But it certainly isn’t live from the Ukraine.
A friend spoke to a Ukrainian resistance person in Kyiv last night. They are challenging anyone on the streets that looks suspicious, especially if they are in groups of two or more. If they do not speak Ukrainian they get two in the face. He was dead serious about this.
interesting caption to a Ukraine photo ..
Bodies of Russian servicemen wearing Ukrainian service uniforms lie inside and beside a vehicle after their raiding party was shot during a skirmish in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on February 25th, 2022.
It was 60 years ago that Russia responded to western pressure on its borders by deploying ballistic missiles in Cuba.
Biden is old enough to remember, but his handlers may not…
Biden is old enough to remember, but due to the onset of alzheimers he can’t remember what he had for breakfast.
NATO has scheduled an emergency meeting at an undisclosed 5 star hotel catered by Chinese prostitutes. Mixed messages will be released until the whole thing is over.