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LIVE: Russia Shells Europe’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant, Flames Engulfing One Part

LIVE: Russia Shells Europe’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant, Flames Engulfing One Part

Russia has Kherson, but the Ukrainians have kept Russians at bay.
Posted by Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 07:00am
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The Russian army is still trying to take over Ukraine. The troops captured Kherson, an important port city. I keep seeing tweets saying air raid sirens in Kyiv but so far the Russians have not entered the heart of the city.

I wish the major media companies would keep the camera on Maidan Square live 24 hours. Here are other live streams:

Russia heading Towards Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

They already have Chernobyl:

The mayor of the Ukrainian town of Energodar said a column of Russian troops was headed toward the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, late on Thursday.

Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities reported that Russian troops were stepping up efforts to seize the plant in southeast Ukraine and had entered Energodar with tanks.

“Loud shots can be heard in the town,” said Mayor Dmytro Orlov in an online post.

Russia has already captured the defunct Chernobyl plant, some 100 km north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

Kharkiv

ITV has a report from Kharkiv.

Putin: Ukrainians ‘Extreme Gangsters’ but Russians & Ukrainians are One People

The more Putin speaks the more I believe something is way off with him:

In a live address, the president described Russian soldiers as “real heroes”, and though he admitted to having “lost a few small towns”, he insisted that Russia’s special military operation was going “according to plan”.

The “success” of the Russian army in Ukraine was an example of that “heroism”, Putin claimed.

He said Ukrainians and Russians were “one people” but that Ukrainians were “threatened and brainwashed”.

Putin went on to claim that Russian troops were providing humanitarian corridors for civilians to flee – in direct contradiction of what Ukraine has said.

If you get in arrested Russia…Better yet, you know, just get out while you can.

33 Dead in Chernihiv

Chernihiv is located about 88 miles north of Kyiv.

People Fleeing Russia Because Putin Might Declare Martial Law

Rumors floating around say Putin will impose martial law on Friday. A lot of people have packed planes out of the country today.

Blasts in south Ukraine and near Kyiv

Talks Ended

Oh, look. Nothing Happened.

Moldova Applies for EU Membership

Moldova is Europe’s poorest country. But this is huge:

Moldovan President Maia Sandu signed a formal application for Moldova to join the European Union on Thursday and said it would be delivered to Brussels in the coming days.

“We want to live in peace, democracy, freedom,” she said at a briefing in the capital Chisinau

I’ve written about Moldova’s own breakaway region: Transnistria. It’s a battle between Moldova, Romania, and Russia.

After the breakdown of the USSR, Moldovia had an uprising of Romanian nationalism. The official language became Moldovian and they used the Latin alphabet. Others wanted unity with Russia, keeping it as the official language and using that alphabet.

The BBC has a Moldova timeline. It’s fascinating.

Not a lot of people know about it. You can trace the origins of Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, back to 1924.

Separatists and Moldovans fought a war between 1990-1992. It ended with a ceasefire. Russia has a military in the region. It also helps “keep the peace.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Speaks to Journalists

Zelenskyy did not hold back:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, when asked by Fox News’ Trey Yingst Thursday about his conversations with President Biden and overall support from the U.S., said, “It’s a pity it began after the beginning of this war, but we have it.”

Yingst asked: “You spoke this week with President Biden. How would you describe your conversations with the U.S. leader? Do you believe the Americans waited too long to give Ukraine the support you need to push back this Russian offensive?”

“We have good contact. I can tell you the truth,” the Ukrainian leader responded. “It’s a pity it began after the beginning of this war, but we have it. My appreciation to him and to his team. We can speak now often.”

He also wants to meet Putin:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling Thursday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 meters,” Zelenskyy told reporters, in an apparent reference to a long table that has appeared in recent images of Putin meeting with other world leaders.

“I don’t bite. What are you afraid of?” Zelenskyy added, according to the Associated Press. “Any words are more important than shots.”

“Peace” Talks Happening on the Belarus Border

You know Russia will not stop until Ukraine bends the knee.

Zoo Animals Saved!

A Polish zoo took in animals from Ukraine:

A truck carrying six lions, six tigers, two caracals and an African wild dog from a sanctuary east of Kyiv reached Poland on Thursday after a two-day drive to escape the Russian invasion, a Polish zoo official has said.

The owner of the sanctuary had asked for help from Poznan zoo in western Poland to get the animals to safety.

“They had to go a long way around to avoid Zhytomyr and other bombardment zones. They had to turn back many times, because all the roads were blown up, full of holes, impossible to pass with such cargo, which is why it took so long,” said Poznan zoo spokesperson Malgorzata Chodyla.

“But here they are, and we just can’t believe it.”

A first attempt to make the journey failed after the truck encountered Russian tanks and could not get through.

Russia Bombs Mariupol Continuously

It’s not looking good for Mariupol.

Report: Estonian Ship Sunk off Coast of Odesa

Estonia is a member of the EU and NATO.

Civilian Deaths

The UN said the war has killed 227 civilians:

The UN said Wednesday that it had recorded nearly 230 civilian deaths in Ukraine, including 15 children, since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, warning that the true toll was likely far higher.

The UN rights office, OHCHR, said it had registered 752 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including 227 people killed and 525 people wounded, between February 24, when Russia invaded, and midnight Tuesday.

“OHCHR believes that real figures are considerably higher,” it said in a statement.

This was particularly true in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government, it said, pointing out that “the receipt of information from some locations where intensive hostilities have been going on was delayed and many reports were still pending corroboration.”

The UN rights agency said that most of the casualties were “caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and air strikes.”

China Knew

Of course, Communist China knew Putin would invade Ukraine. But instead of talking Putin out of war, the Commies asked him to wait until after the Beijing Winter Olympics:

The report indicates that senior Chinese officials had some level of direct knowledge about Russia’s war plans or intentions before the invasion started last week. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia met with President Xi Jinping of China in Beijing on Feb. 4 before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Moscow and Beijing issued a 5,000-word statement at the time declaring that their partnership had “no limits,” denouncing NATO enlargement and asserting that they would establish a new global order with true “democracy.”

The intelligence on the exchange between the Chinese and Russian officials was classified. It was collected by a Western intelligence service and considered credible by officials. Senior officials in the United States and allied governments passed it around as they discussed when Mr. Putin might attack Ukraine.

However, different intelligence services had varying interpretations, and it is not clear how widely the information was shared.

One official familiar with the intelligence said the material did not necessarily indicate the conversations about an invasion took place at the level of Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin. Other officials briefed on the intelligence declined to give further details. The officials spoke about the report on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the intelligence.

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Comments

caseoftheblues | March 3, 2022 at 7:20 am

Meanwhile the US/media are running articles concerned about transgender rights and their documents in the Ukraine…
This country…it’s government and it’s mirror/the media have in no way any level of competence and seriousness capable of dealing with any grave issues. Not only are they not the adults in the room as they like to brag…they are an embarrassing moronic 3 ring clown show

scooterjay | March 3, 2022 at 7:41 am

Media blames the voters they influence IF there was no “malarkey” happening with vote tallies. Division and chaos.
Only a bullet will stop them.

Owego | March 3, 2022 at 8:07 am

Of course. Other than the matter of degree perhaps, no one expected otherwise.

Here’s how it will go. Russia will take over Ukraine, she simply cannot withdraw or even negotiate a cease fire. Resistance will have been fiercer than anticipated and casualties, both Russian and Ukrainian, will be higher than anticipated. Infrastructure and physical damage will be significantly higher than expected. The Russian military will have been exposed, yet again, as an inefficient, brutal bunch that, when it prevails, does so basically as a result of also being a rampaging horde. Russia will have underestimated the reaction of the rest of the world to its endeavor, but that won’t change anything; it will simply be an inconvenience to be addressed as an afterthought.

Russia will declare Ukraine as having been liberated and at the same time that It will have protected itself from the aggressions of the West that continually threaten to overwhelm it. Continuing resistance from within will be dealt with harshly. Those supporting resistance with arms and supplies will be labeled warmongers. The West will huff and puff. Sanctions will continue . . . for a while. Then, little by little they’ll be relaxed, some for humanitarian reasons, some the result of negotiated agreements the terms of which Russia will ignore, and some for just plain old pragmatism – the Germans are getting cold, oligarchs need places to hide their money (from their Russian successors), berth their yachts, and banks, casinos, and resorts need their high rolling customers back. That’s a best case scenario; Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and other free neighbors may have different perceptions.

    Fuzzy Slippers in reply to Owego. | March 3, 2022 at 8:25 am

    I think this might have been the way things would have gone a decade or two ago, but not now. The world has rallied behind Ukraine and rightly so, in my book; I don’t care what kind of shambles their government is or was, that’s for the Ukrainians to decide, not Russia (or the U.S.), so no, this is not going to go according to any Russian plan. Ukrainians do not want to be part of a new Soviet Republic, they make this clear by the day, and that matters.

    Everything is wrong with this Russian invasion: Ukraine is a free state; it gave up its nukes (like dummies) in exchange for (empty, well, NSS) promises from Russia and U.S.; and most importantly, its people reject Russia, en masse. They do not want to give up their freedom and autonomy as a people. Do you blame them?

    Sorry, no. You don’t get to just roll over sovereign nations that want nothing to do with you, your worldview, or your imposition of your authoritarian Marxism on them, a free people. This cannot stand. And it will not.

      alaskabob in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 9:13 am

      The West will eventually tire of this immediate “short-term” crisis as described by Mayor Pete. first of all, the Left doesn’t like “detterence” …They say…why spend money on things you never use…spend the money elsewhere and spend only as a crisis arrives.

      The “old” NATO states have their buffer now of the old Warsaw Pact countries. In the end, the energy will flow and Europe will settle down into the new reality.. Will Europe really risk nuclear war over the second poorest country in Europe? The corrupt money will cease to ftow to The Big Guy…but who cares?

      We got into this mess by getting comfortable with a false status quo. All the while letting the real threat pick up the bribing of the West.

      Owego in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 9:51 am

      I would like to be wrong. I agree with all your observations and stated sensitivities, so much so that they weren’t even brought up. The situation is this, Russia will be in Ukraine. That said, being in-occupying, that’s what it is-Ukraine will be a difficult task. What the rest of the world, well China not so much, thinks of it will be a far distant second concern for Russia’s immediate future. Or possibly a third concern depending upon how far internal Russian protests go or if they get out of hand, a happy thought.

      If things get out of hand for the Russians either in Ukraine or at home it will go badly for them and for Putin. But the Ukrainians are going to have to throw off Russia alone, and even with material and moral support from most of the world, that will be a Herculean task. All else aside militarily, at the end of the day the Russians are a horde, perhaps the single biggest obstacle for Ukrainian victory. Failing to eject Russia, the furor will die down, the dust will settle, faux humanitarians, incrementalists and pragmatists will encroach, and Ukraine will be “occupied” by any other name. See Crimea for details.

      Honestly, I really do want to be wrong.

        Fuzzy Slippers in reply to Owego. | March 3, 2022 at 1:50 pm

        Thanks, Owego. I hope you’re wrong, too, but you probably aren’t. The question then becomes how far does this go? I mean they’ve already threatened Finland and Sweden. And they’ve told Biden that the U.S. needs to remove its nukes from all of Europe. Where do Putin’s ambitions end? At the part of the Risk board that China has claimed for itself?

      CommoChief in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 12:10 pm

      Fuzzy,

      This ends with Russia in control of some portion of eastern Ukraine, possibly as far west as the Dnieper but almost certainly the two ‘breakaway’ areas and a land bridge to Crimea. The Russians are, for now, still selling Nat gas to the west which Europeans need. They will use that revenue alongside oil revenue from China, India among others to somewhat stabilize the Ruble. Ukrainian grain feeds some very unstable Nations in Africa, Mideast and Central Asia. Spring planting is upcoming and fighting will disrupt that which will have second and third order impacts.

      We don’t have to like the reality of the situation, I certainly do not, but we need to be clear eyed when evaluating the facts on the ground.

        Fuzzy Slippers in reply to CommoChief. | March 3, 2022 at 1:41 pm

        Good points, Chief!

        artichoke in reply to CommoChief. | March 4, 2022 at 12:32 pm

        Yes, according to a map I saw, it looks like Russia’s goal is the Dnieper. That will give them Kiev, but Lviv will be in the remaining area which might be neutral.

        I even saw one prediction that it could be offered to NATO Poland and Hungary, with strings attached. Poland and Hungary desperately want those areas and feel attachment to that land, and that if Russia plays it right it could create a lot of internal stresses within NATO.

      henrybowman in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 12:25 pm

      “most importantly, its people reject Russia, en masse.”

      Once again, that isn’t what I have been told by those who know people in the Ukraine. The easternmost sections have been persecuted by the central government and would much rather live under Russian rule. The Crimea actually voted that way in a referendum, 90% for.

        Fuzzy Slippers in reply to henrybowman. | March 3, 2022 at 1:39 pm

        Didn’t they vote that way after Russia had already annexed them? I’m not against people who want to be part of the Soviet Union becoming so, move there (if the Russians will take you, their borders aren’t wide open like ours, so it’s not a sure thing). What you don’t do is invade a free country to “liberate” them from their freedom to make such a choice. No one in Ukraine is throwing flowers at the Russian troops in welcome, they are throwing seeds. For a reason.

          mailman in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 3:42 pm

          There is some history here too. Initially the Ukranians welcomed the Nazis in during Babarossa as saviours freeing them from the Russians…which then royally fucked that up by trying to kill everyone…thus ending up trying down valuable resources trying to protect supply routes and so on in an area that would happily have helped the nazis.

          georgfelis in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 3:50 pm

          We tend to think of Ukraine as one giant homogeneous mass of people, but there are dozens of groups who hate each other or despise other groups in conflicts that date back centuries. Several eastern provinces are majority Russian, speak Russian, and think of themselves as Russian, just as much as the western portions don’t. There’s no sharp dividing line for the most part, and while I can see several of the eastern chunks ‘breaking away’ to join Russia (since the Ukrainians have been less than hospitable to them, to say the least), Putin has overplayed his hand on a grand scale. If he had just nibbled off the eastern bits, no serious consequences would have resulted, but going for the whole enchilada is giving him a mighty case of heartburn.

          henrybowman in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 5:04 pm

          @georgefelis That’s precisely my understanding. Ukraine is an unhappily “blended family,” like Czechoslovakia used to be, and we all know what happened there.

          And keep it in mind the next time you hear a “diversity preacher” calling you to Jaysus. It’s exactly what they’re hoping to do to the USA.

          artichoke in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 4, 2022 at 12:29 pm

          The reason they’re not throwing flowers is that it’s still winter. There are no flowers to throw. The locals have much more to fear from the side that won’t let them flee the cities and is force-conscripting them. You’re leaving out the Nazis on Zelensky’s side and the atrocities against Russian-speakers for 8 years.

          One could probably go to the Soviet Union in those days, and one can go to Russia now, and get official normalized status. It’s a lot easier if you don’t have $500K or belong to some preferred group of refugees than coming to USA. Our leaky border for illegals isn’t a good comparison — “knock on wood” we haven’t had a mass amnesty since Reagan.

        Fatkins in reply to henrybowman. | March 4, 2022 at 5:18 am

        Sorry Henry your being naive. A few anecdotal reports from friends does not give a clear picture. We know from how Ukraine has responded as a whole how the feel about the invasion. There are many many reports of Ukrainian feelings include Russians who who think that it’s an unjust war. Hell Russian soldiers didint even know they were invading until after the fact.

      MAJack in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 3, 2022 at 1:40 pm

      Joe is once again many days late and trillions of dollars short.

        artichoke in reply to MAJack. | March 4, 2022 at 12:23 pm

        No he’s doing the right thing. If you want to fight for Ukraine, you can. Zelensky has invited foreign fighters. You can get a free Kalashnikov if you go, but leave the rest of us out of it.

      artichoke in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 4, 2022 at 12:36 pm

      Someone brought up the near-stationary 40 mile long Russian convoy inching toward Kiev. Why aren’t we told it’s being shelled at night? Probably because it isn’t.

      I don’t see the evidence that the Ukrainian people reject Russia’s incursion en masse. Some areas probably, other areas definitely not.

    Bartlett in reply to Owego. | March 3, 2022 at 9:09 am

    “Continuing resistance from within will be dealt with harshly.”

    You mean, like the Nazis completely suppressed Ukrainian partisans by committing atrocities and destroying their will to resist? Oh, wait – that didn’t happen at all. The idea that you can oppress that particular people into obedience was tested rather thoroughly and found wanting. Unless Ukrainians have changed a great deal, Russia, even if they end organized mechanical resistance, will be in the position of a bear who has “conquered” a hornet’s nest. Nothing in it for Russia but international opprobrium, and nothing but pain on both sides for the soldiers and civilians.

    Nor is this about the West at all. The West will huff and puff ineffectually – you’re right there – but they’ll also smuggle arms of all sorts to a people who are not rational about their resistance. This is historical, religious (introducing the Chechens was an act of insanity), ethnic, and bitter.

    My hope is that Russia does what they did the last time they tried something this stupid – Afghanistan – and that they bug out sooner rather than later. But Russia is also insane and persistent, so my hope is not high.

      Owego in reply to Bartlett. | March 3, 2022 at 10:14 am

      Again, as with Fuzzy, I agree with you and share your hope, and sadly pessimism that a quick and positive outcome is likely. I’d like to be wrong.

      There may be an unintended consequence and silver, if blood soaked, lining, to the Russian atrocity in Ukraine; it may give China pause with respect to Taiwan. It took years, but Hong Kong is now all but completely subsumed into communist China. It may not wish to be subjected to the contempt being heaped on Russia. Only the final suppression of internal dissenters required the use of force and, even with all the world wide visibility and objections that received, it is largely forgotten only two or three short years later.

        artichoke in reply to Owego. | March 4, 2022 at 12:22 pm

        I think China will be afraid that if they go after Taiwan, the US Navy will be on top of them. The US stayed out of the Ukraine conflict, preserving all our military strength.

        China was surely hoping to see a war between the US and Russia. I think they’ve been aiming at that for 10 or 20 years, which includes their guy Obama’s color revolution in Ukraine. We have not been sucked in, and so their plan to weaken us and Russia both do not appear to be succeeding.

TX-rifraph | March 3, 2022 at 9:26 am

We think we know what is going on based on information from the UN and media?

MDP | March 3, 2022 at 10:55 am

I have seen letters from reliable sources reported to be updates from pastors and missionaries in Ukraine. There are multiple reports of Russian vehicles running out of gas and drivers asking Ukrainians for help, not at all understanding what is going on or why they are there, or assuming that the Ukrainian people want them there as “liberators”.

    alaskabob in reply to MDP. | March 3, 2022 at 11:31 am

    Standard MO for Russia. Same thing back in Prague Spring 1968. Now that the easy money can’t be sucked out of Ukraine what will the DC swine do? Go for more slop from China.

    artichoke in reply to MDP. | March 4, 2022 at 12:17 pm

    So Russia can continue if the local populace supports them. Given Zelensky’s vicious crackdown on locals, it looks like the locals are inclined to do that. In eastern Ukraine they did need liberating.

henrybowman | March 3, 2022 at 12:23 pm

“‘It’s a Pity’ Biden Sent Ukraine Help ‘After the Beginning’ of the War”

Given that there is precisely 0% constitutional authority for the federal government to do anything of the sort, Zelensky can count himself lucky he got it.

    Pasadena Phil in reply to henrybowman. | March 3, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    Zelensky should be addressing those comments to the Europeans. This is THEIR war, not ours. If NATO is not willing to confront the Russians, which is their reason for existing, and won’t pay their NATO dues, why does their security suddenly become OUR responsibility? We have important national interests there too but why do OUR soldiers always have to be the ones who do the fighting?

    There are a lot of suspiciously odd aspects to this conflict. I believe Biden is in on the advance planning or was at least played. His bizarre comment about “minor” Russian invasion suggests he was unclear about HOW the invasion would be conducted not that it would happen. He was confused.

    Second, Russia itself is making strange moves. That “40-mile long” caravan heading to Kyiv is a sitting duck proceeding at about 3 mph. Why is Putin not protecting them? Where is the air cover? Yet our neocon and progressive idiots are calling for declaring a no-fly zone?

    Third, I suspect that Russia is pulling it’s punches, not so much getting bogged down, to spread and prolong the pain to the US and Biden is falling into the trap. For us to ban Russian oil imports would absolutely crush the Russian economy. Yet not only won’t he do that, he has double down his own war on US domestic oil and gas arguing that depriving ourselves of fossil fuels will punish the Russians by removing our demand (this is after he begged Putin to sell us oil in the first place).

    No one knows what is going on for sure and we seem to be getting sucked into the propaganda from all sides. We are as devious and crooked as any player in this thing. It’s all about maintaining the status quo that is close to destroying Western civilization into a Davos empire for Russia and China to dominate. Biden is acting like a Russia/China ally, not an enemy.

    I understand that we are watching a vicious holocaust in real time and it is more than very unfortunate. Russia even declared that they will start holding public executions in cities they now control. And all we will do is watch because Europe just won’t protect itself. Everyone gets fed to the bear one-by-one until on one is left. And We are not willing to do the right thing because (1) we are too weak to impose our power and influence on the players, (2) are allied with duplicitous cowards and (3) don’t have the moral fortitude as a nation to do anything right anymore.

    This is all a cynical exercise of bravado where the outcome was never in doubt before it started. If Europe doesn’t step up and fight, there will be no one there for us to help in THEIR fight. The quicker this is understood by Europe, the more reason there will be to hope that there may be a better outcome. If they fail to grasp this, we should start pulling our troops out of Germany ASAP and begin recalibrating our global military presence to protect and defend OUR national interests.

    Leaving everyone else out there in the wilderness of their making to fend for themselves just may be the cure that has ails Europe. Maybe that Davos Nazi Klaus Schwab and his globalist cabal have a fallback up plan to their Fourth Reich plan failing. We can call it the Fifth Reich.

    artichoke in reply to henrybowman. | March 4, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    I suspect and hope Zelensky is saying that to appear stronger himself. As he traps his citizens in cities so they’ll “fight for Ukraine”, he needs to appear like he has allies. In fact he’s not even getting the old MiG 29’s he was promised a few days ago.

    n.n in reply to oldschooltwentysix. | March 3, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    In theory, yes. In practice, since the violent Western-backed coup in Kiev, the successive regimes have had 32 trimesters to reconcile and offer remediation to the Ukranian people… persons affected. This is Obama, Biden, Clinton, McCain, Biden’s Slavic Spring, in the Spring series, in progress since 2014.

thetaqjr | March 3, 2022 at 2:05 pm

Every time I see the videos showing the miles long Russian military convoys, I begin to wish intensely for the next images to be the 2022 version of Iraq’s 1990 Highway of Death.

    jb4 in reply to thetaqjr. | March 3, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    As to that stationary 40 mile convoy, I do not get it. Even absent air power, why isn’t it being reported that the convoy is being shot up at night?

      artichoke in reply to jb4. | March 4, 2022 at 12:11 pm

      Maybe because it isn’t being shot up at night? Eastern Ukraine speaks Russian and suffered a great deal under Zelensky. Russia could not do this if their action were not broadly popular among the locals.

        artichoke in reply to artichoke. | March 7, 2022 at 12:06 am

        lol a “mysterious sniper” gave me a downvote without explanation. Touche. I’m less popular with that reader than the Russians are in eastern Ukraine.

n.n | March 3, 2022 at 2:42 pm

Russian peacekeepers venture where UN elected to avoid. That said, Ukraine is a sacrificial “burden” in the Obama, Biden, Clinton, McCain, Biden’s Slavic Spring with “benefits”.

AnAdultInDiapers | March 3, 2022 at 6:14 pm

Out of curiosity, given Belarus launch sites are sending missiles into Ukraine and Ukraine have claimed Belarus military units have been ordered to invade: Does Russia have a mutual defence agreement with Belarus?

If it doesn’t, and hasn’t guaranteed Belarus protection, a multi-national force could launch missile and air attacks on Belarus to prevent its aggressions against Ukraine.

To defend Belarus, Russia would have to attack those other countries; if they were in NATO that could trigger Article 5. I don’t want WW3 but frankly if we’re going to end up forcing Russia to decide, can we just get on with it?

    artichoke in reply to AnAdultInDiapers. | March 4, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    Russia and Belarus can voluntarily ally with each other. That appears to be what is happening. Given their loyalty, I assume Russia would not ignore an attack on Belarus.

    NATO was hoping the USA would do the work for them, as usual. We’re not, and we see how deep the alliance really is. As deep as a kiddie pool. A fig-leaf for the US paying for buffer states. Trump tried to get them to pay, and they paid a little but not enough. They’re in default.

    If you want to “get on” with WW3, you can probably go to Ukraine and pick up a Kalashnikov. Zelensky has asked for foreign fighters. Then it can be your personal WW3, but leave the rest of us out.

artichoke | March 4, 2022 at 11:51 am

So now Zelensky wants to negotiate with Putin, but close enough that physical safety is not maintained? It’s very good news (if true) that they’ve established procedures for humanitarian corridors, because I heard the Azov Battalion wasn’t letting Mariupol residents flee and shot them instead.

I’d be very surprised if Putin, the political face of Orthodox Christianity, wants to level Kiev. Or trying to conscript his political opposition in Russia. One can always dream up crazy scenarios and say this or that guy is crazy and might do it. People were saying Biden’s senile, even after his nearly 2 hour press conference. And Trump’s in bed with Russia. And this or that crazy story.

Speaking of Grozny and Chechens, there is still respect for Putin among the Chechens. They are fighting on his side.

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