Ukraine War Updates: Fighting Rages on as Russian Invasion Hits One-Year Mark
AP News: “Fighting is grinding on in Ukraine after the country marked the anniversary of Russia’s invasion, with Ukrainian authorities on Saturday reporting dozens of new Russian strikes and attacks on cities in the east and south.”
Fierce fighting raged along the Ukrainian front line as Russia’s invasion of the country hit the one-year mark. “Fighting is grinding on in Ukraine after the country marked the anniversary of Russia’s invasion, with Ukrainian authorities on Saturday reporting dozens of new Russian strikes and attacks on cities in the east and south,” the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Despite superior firepower and months of siege, the invading Russian forces are struggling to take the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. “Ukrainian troops are still fighting to defend the area after Moscow ramped up its campaign to encircle the city early this year,” the TV channel Sky News (UK) reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the somber anniversary with a defiant speech, lauding his country’s resistance to the Russian invasion against all odds. The British daily Guardian reported:
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has declared victory to be inevitable as his country marked the anniversary of the moment invading Russian tanks poured across its border and missiles pummelled its cities, an event he described as “the longest day of our lives”.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv late on Friday, Zelenskiy said: “If our partners respect all their promises and deadlines, victory inevitably awaits us.”
In a national address earlier in the day, Zelenskiy told Ukrainians they had been proven invincible over “a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity”. He paid homage to cities that have become bywords for Russian war crimes, such as Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol, describing them as “capitals of invincibility”.
Russia did not formally mark the anniversary, but President Vladimir Putin gave a televised speech on Tuesday, in which he blamed the U.S. and the West for the conflict.
The Reuters reported:
“I am making this address at a time which we all know is a difficult, watershed moment for our country, a time of cardinal, irreversible changes around the world, the most important historic events that shape the future of our country and our people, when each of us bears a colossal responsibility.”
“I have already said many times that the people of Ukraine have become the hostage of the Kyiv regime and its Western overlords, who have effectively occupied this country in the political, military and economic sense… Today’s Ukrainian regime essentially serves not the national interests but those of third countries.”
“The elites of the West do not hide their purpose… That is, they intend to transform a local conflict into a phase of global confrontation. This is exactly how we understand it all and we will react accordingly, because in this case we are talking about the existence of our country. But they also cannot fail to realize that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield. Therefore, they are conducting more and more aggressive information attacks against us.”
After 12 months of blood fighting, Russian forces have occupied nearly 41,500 square miles, approximately 18 percent of Ukraine. The main Russian gains have been in the easter Donbas region, a predominately Russian-speaking area and Ukraine’s main industrial hub.
Russia and Ukraine have not provided reliable casualties figures since the start of the war, but estimates suggest that hundreds and thousands may have been killed or injured on both sides.
Biden, EU Announce New Sanctions on Russia
The Biden administration marked the one-year anniversary of the war with a fresh round of sanctions against Russia and pledged an additional $2 billion for Ukraine.
The BBC reported:
The latest restrictions target more than 100 entities both within Russia and worldwide, including banks and suppliers of defence equipment.
Specifically, the US said it wants to stop those helping Russia exploit loopholes to get sanctioned materials. The White House’s fresh round of aid for Ukraine is worth $2bn (£1.7bn).
A further $550m (£459m) will be supplied to both Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova to strengthen their energy infrastructure.
“One year on, the commitment of the United States, together with some 50 countries who have rallied to rush urgently needed assistance to Ukraine, has only strengthened,” the Department of Defense said.
The European Union, which is having a hard time keeping all its 27 members on board with regards to the conflict in Ukraine, also slapped new sanctions on Russia.
“The European Union agreed on Friday to slap a new round of sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, a hard-fought decision that almost missed the bloc’s self-imposed deadline of 24 February that was supposed to coincide with the war’s one-year anniversary,” the French TV channel Euro News noted.
Anti-War Protest in Germany
On Sunday, Germany’s capital Berlin is expected to witness the largest anti-war protest since the Russian invasion 12 months ago. The demonstration, organized by a loose coalition of right- and left-wing groups, is opposed to Germany supplying battle tanks and other heavy weapons to Ukraine.
Sunday’s anti-war protest, called by Germany’s Left Party (Die Linke) leader Sahra Wagenknecht, has been backed by the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Germany’s state-run Deutsche Welle TV reported:
One of the organizers, renegade former socialist Left Party leader Sahra Wagenknecht told public broadcaster ZDF that, “We have made clear that rightwing extremist symbols have no place at this rally,” but added, “Of course, everyone is welcome who wants to demonstrate for peace with an open heart.”
The rally follows a protest in solidarity with Ukraine, attended by some 10,000 people in Berlin on Friday night — the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Saturday’s protest has been organized by Wagenknecht and publicist Alice Schwarzer. The pair have applied for permission for 10,000 people to attend.
Two weeks ago, the organizers published a “Manifesto for Peace,” which has been backed by the signatures of more than 620,000 people, according to the change.org website.
The pair say they want to see “negotiations and compromises” on both sides of the yearlong Ukraine conflict to prevent it from escalating into possible nuclear war.
In an interview with Germany’s DPA news agency, Schwarzer said in view of the number of people who have signed the manifesto, she said it is “well on the way to becoming a real citizens’ movement.”
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Comments
This is not the one-year anniversary of the invasion. The invasion started in 2014. This is the one year anniversary of Russia trying to take the rest of the country.
The 2014 western-backed coup, essential services denied to Ukrainians in Crimea a la Clinton’s war in Serbia, the military-paramilitary axis assault on Ukrainians who did not take a knee, beg, an apartheid regime with US aided progress, a vice/president who visits to cover a trail of lust, abortion, and redistributive change, A Slavic Spring in Obama’s World War Spring series. Perhaps they should follow precedent and carve a Rosovo out of Ukraine.
That’s a nice word salad and set of bogus Russian propaganda claims. I’ll just pick one point: I know that Russia has the highest abortion rate in the world, but what does that have to with anything and how could it possibly excuse Russia violating their treaties and committing genocide?
I said it a year ago – Ukraine CAN NOT and WILL NOT actually win against the Russian military. Their only ‘victory’ was going to come from drawing it out long enough that maybe Russia would decide that the cost wasn’t worth it. There was never an actual PLAN for victory other than ‘hey lets all get our graft on and sooner or later Putin will withdraw’.
The problem is that, just like with the initial invasion and the drooling dementia patient’s laughable threats, they have backed Putin into a corner where he CANNOT simply walk away with anything that he cannot claim as a victory, because the pathetically weak idiot Biden would immediately start yelling about how he ‘beat Putin’. Looking weak is how dictators get put up against walls and shot.
The drooling moron and his woke generals started an idiotic war of attrition while simultaneously ensuring that Putin COULD NOT walk away with anything less than a victory.
There is no plan to do anything other than continue feeding over the corrupt and unaccountable fire hose of graft pouring into Ukraine.
And for pointing this out a year ago I was called all manner of things from ‘Putin lover’ to ‘Russia sympathizer’.
And here we are a year and almost $150 billion later. Still no actual articulated plan other than ‘continue pouring money into the corrupt black hole that is Ukraine’.
Ukraine can and will win. So long as people like you don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Putin is not being backed into a corner. He is being backed into his GIANT country. He also is the stereotypical bully that folds when you stand up to him — many of his “red lines” have been crossed already and he hasn’t done squat about it.* Leaving him an out or manner to declare victory is weakness and guarantees a longer and more destructive war and more wars in the future as he bites off more pieces of Russia’s neighbors.
We aren’t $150 billion into it. The money is authorized over multiple years, hasn’t been spent yet, and may not need to be spent. For the most part we are sending equipment and only a little money and we are getting a major return in the massive reduction of a global enemy.
My heart bleeds for you given that your talking points are in practice pro-Russia. I’ve been called stupid, brainwashed, accused of watching CNN and MSDNC, a liberal, Biden supporter, gay for Zelensky, anti-American, globohomo supporter, WEF supporter, Great Reset supporter, accused of having a mail-order Ukrainian bride, coward for not volunteering for their military, etc.
* I take that back. His other standard response is to murder non-combatants far behind the front lines with cruise missiles like after the Kerch bridge was damaged.
Ukraine must win to make the country safe for Nazis and Bio Labs.
Nazis, Dezis, TransNazis, and Wuhan-style labs.
The last time Nazis and Commies went at it we backed the commies and it resulted in the Cold War. It makes sense to try something different this time.
You get 25 rubles for the retarded biolabs idiocy.
On the other hand the reaction by the West has accelerated the use of non USD denominated trade. Recall that Russia’s largest trade partners are not in the West, which is why the sanctions are not as effective as some would like.
The overall effect has been to push Russia towards a closer relationship with China. Turkey, nominally a NATO member has continued to work with Russia and has set themselves up as an honest broker which increases their prestige and potential to fulfill their own ambitions of empire. India and other non aligned Nations are not onboard with sanctions.
In sum this is a huge negative for the West. Instead of viewing this as a territorial dispute between an Non NATO eastern European Nation and the dominant Eurasian Power in which we don’t have a national security interest the US allowed itself to drawn into this dispute.
The question is why? Can’t be territorial aggression b/c that means the US is obliged to involve itself in every territorial dispute which I don’t see folks arguing for.
What happens if Russia wins? What if Russia loses. What repercussions will occur and what does each mean for US national security? Consider the economic security interests of creating the first steps towards a world which doesn’t use the USD as the currency of choice in trade. Consider the impact of the USD losing its status as the reserve currency.
I am willing to be convinced that the US has a national security interest in this consummate to our level of assistance militarily, economically, diplomatically. However no one has made clearly articulated arguments on this which can explain why the US burden is higher than that of the Europeans. It is their neighborhood not ours. Nor have I seen anyone explain how these weak arguments about territorial aggression provided so far wouldn’t also be used to preclude a future US action to subdue territory in Mexico when/if we finally realize the cartels have turned it into a hostile narco State we share a nearly 2,000 mile border with.
There are no white hats in this conflict.
About Mexico and cartels, this writer with whom I am acquainted, put this forth more than once. His bio is found on his page:
https://turcopolier.com/how-to-stop-the-mexican-and-other-cartels/
“However no one has made clearly articulated arguments on this…”
You’ve seen who’s US President since this started, right?
Sure and the self appointed surrogates commenting haven’t done so either.
It’s not like we have a long celebrated tradition of being coherent about wars in rationale or execution.
They can’t justify wars (or anything else) as they are because they won’t address the actual question: “Is this war (or whatever) worth doing even as badly as we’ll inevitably do it?’
It is NOT about Ukraine.
It is about RUSSIA AND THE ENEMY NATIONS THAT THEY SUPPORT.
Chewing them up diminishes the power and prestige and threat of that entire worldwide network of enemies.
Just to make sure I was clear: Due to Russia’s alliances they are a global problem not a regional one.
Not sure if talking points are pro Russian. Ukraine has not addressed Russians in the country and missed threaten them. Ukraine has let other countries used them as a graft exchange for both Russians and new World Order factions. A piece agreement is what is needed for humanity. If that is pro Russian then I am, but this war has been going one for a long time. When so many people question the validity of our county’s last two election, lying about the pandemic, woke indoctrination and broken legal system, we have lost the will to fight when the time comes. I trust no one.
Ukrainians of Russian heritage in the traditional model.
Russian-Ukrainians or 1-2 compromise in the modern diversity model.
There WERE agreements. Russia broke them. Another agreement would just be a temporary cease fire until Russia breaks that one too. Kicking Russia out and forcing them to surrender is the only way forward.
Does your heart also bleed for the 900,000 civilians killed by US bombs and sanctions? Russia’s Special Military Operation in the Ukraine was absolutely humane to America’s “Shock-and-Awe” campaigns.
Clinton destroyed Serbia’s power grid in 1990. Is he a war criminal? Bush destroyed Baghdad’s power & water systems in 2003. Is he a war criminal? Obama threw Libya into bloody chaos in 2011. Is he a war criminal? Biden is illegally occupying Syria’s oil and food production and blocking efforts to provide earthquake relief. Is he a war criminal?
My heart bleeds for the Ukrainians who have been deliberately targeted for war crimes by Russia. For your mental health I recommend not reading about the UN and others’ investigations and what they reveal about kidnapping, murder, torture, and rape including children by Russian forces. One of the Russian units at Bucha was even awarded unit citations by Putin himself so these actions are not collateral damage or rogue elements, but officially sanctioned.
If Obama hadn’t been so incredibly weak, Russia would never have invaded Ukraine in 2014 (which is NINE years ago, not just one).
If Obama had stood up against that aggression, Russia would not have invaded again last year.
For those that aren’t supporting our efforts on behalf of Ukraine, this is not about Ukraine. Its about standing up to an aggressor so that the same thing doesn’t happen again, on a bigger scale, elsewhere a few years down the road.
Its not like this is the first time we’ve seen this pattern. There was a rather big war last century that never would have happened if the aggressor had been blocked earlier on in a much smaller conflict.
Crimea invited Russia to liberate them from the Ukraine’s illegal Nazi government in 2014. Crimea was never part of the Ukraine except in a managerial sense, and its people identify as Russians.
Obama helped orchestrate Maiden. Obama was the aggressor..
This war started when Clinton broke our promise not to expand NATO towards Russia’s borders.
It accelerated when the US encouraged an illegal coup against the democratically elected government of the Ukraine and armed and trained the Ukraine’s nazi military.
It became inevitable when the Ukraine, Germany and France conspired to break the Minsk Accords before they were even signed.
Russia’s Special Military Operation was not meant to start a war. It was designed to end a 30-year war against Russia.
NATO, a supposedly defensive alliance, has been conducting wars of aggression all over the world for decades. The US and its allies have toppled governments and killed nearly a million civilians in Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and now the Ukraine. Not to “preserve democracy” but to advance the West’s hegemony over the rest of the planet.
It also turns out people would rather live under Western influence than they would under the influence of Uncle Ho or Uncle Ivan 😂😂
Plenty of folks coming over the Southern border to enter the US. Lots of folks taking boats across the Mediterranean to enter the Nations of the EU.
Can you please explain how push/pull migration patterns have jack squat to do with US National security interests in Ukraine?
A nation doesn’t need migration to live under Western influence instead of Russian influence. It just needs to switch its’ alliances and policies. Once Ukrainians threw out the Russian stooge and continued turning towards the EU is when Putin started the invasion.
Let’s be real here – Ukrainian nationalists have been trying to ethnically cleanse Ukraine of Russians for a long time.
Now, I’m not saying they don’t have historical reasons for their grievance, but Ukraine is not fighting for freedom, or justice, or the American way – they’re fighting to rid themselves of an ethnicity they hate.
Given the media coverage, you would think Ukraine some sort of enlightened liberal multicultural democracy – it’s not anything near that, not by a long shot. It’s corrupt, tribal, violent, and literally oppressive of those who do not toe the government line.
If Ukraine had managed to build a vibrant, multi-cultural democracy after the fall of the Soviet Union, and welcomed their russian-ukrainian brothers as equals and protected minority rights there, Russia wouldn’t have a leg to stand on for their “special military operation”. As it stands, everything we’re going to prop up Kyiv and their dictatorial ethnic cleansing government only makes Putin’s point.
These people are fighting a war over ethnic differences and history that dates back to the early 20th century. This isn’t anything about freedom.
The Ukrainians have grievances against the Russians that go back for at least 300 years. This is a Slavic civil war (or if you will, a delayed post-Soviet civil war). It is best that we don’t get too heavily involved beyond shipping conventional weapons to the Ukrainians. The conflict is currently stalemated, with both sides running low on ammunition. The stalemate will be broken if and when China joins the contest by selling massive quantities of artillery shells and tubes to Russia.