LIVE: Russian Target Civilians in Irpin, Ukraine Promises to ‘Punish Everyone Who Committed Atrocities’
Oil hits a 13-year high so of course, the U.S. is open to banning Russian oil imports while not opening the Keystone XL pipeline or opening new fields.
Russia is still attacking Ukraine. The Russians blame Ukraine for breaking the ceasefire in Mariupol, which means residents cannot evacuate. They have no water, electricity, and see bodies all over the street.
Ukrainian officials still warn that Russia can take Kyiv.
Russia Claims It Will Honor Ceasefire
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia says Russia will carry out a ceasefire on Tuesday morning at 10am Moscow time (7am UK time) and open humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens from Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy and Mariupol.
Mr Nebenzia took the floor at the end of a UN Security Council meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine on Monday.
“This proposal doesn’t have any demands about the citizens being sent necessarily to Russia, into Russian territory,” he said.
“There’s also evacuation offered towards Ukrainian cities to the west of Kyiv, and ultimately it will be the choice of the people themselves where they want to be evacuated to.”
Russia Stalled Outside of Kyiv
The Kyiv Independent’s Illia Ponomarenko told Fox News that Russia is stalled outside of Kyiv.
Talks Ended
Mihailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said “as of today, there are no results that would substantially improve the situation.”
“We will have more effective ways to aid people who are suffering because of Russian Federation aggression,” he said. “In terms of [the] key political track, which includes cease-fire, reconciliation and end of fighting, intense consultation will continue.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte With the Mic Drop
Self-reliance is a good thing:
The Dutch prime minister said the “painful reality is that we are very much still dependent” on Russian oil and gas.
Mr Rutte noted there would be “enormous ramifications” if Russian oil and gas imports were blocked, and said the process would have to be gradual. This is a step-by-step approach.”
China Loves Russia
You think supply is bad now? Wait until China gets involved:
The Chinese Foreign Minister called Moscow the “most important strategic partner” to Beijing as war rages between Russia and Ukraine for the 12th day.
“No matter how perilous the international landscape, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of a comprehensive China-Russia partnership in the new era,” Wang Yi told reporters Monday at a news conference of the annual meeting of China’s ceremonial parliament.
“The friendship between the two peoples is iron clad,” he said, and noted that Chinese ties to Russia constitute “one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world.”
China has broken with the U.S., Europe and others that have imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Chinese officials last week said they are not considering sanctioning Russia for the invasion, instead continuing with “normal trade cooperation.”
Third Round of Talks
Yup. This again.
*UKRAINE'S PODOLYAK: TALKS WITH RUSSIA ARE STARTING pic.twitter.com/wb04cbSSof
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) March 7, 2022
Kyiv
An advisor to interior minister of Ukraine said Russian occupiers will try to seize Kyiv very soon, local media reported.
Vadym Denysenko said Russia has concentrated a “sufficient number of troops and equipment” near the capital, and the “key battle in the war” will take place in the next few days, the Kyiv Independent reported.
High Oil so Blinken is Open to Banning Russian Oil
West Texas Intermediate Crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose 9.5% to $126.64 a barrel as of 7:00 PM on Sunday evening. Brent Crude, the international benchmark, shot up 12% to $130.98 a barrel.
WTI hit an all-time high of $147.27 and Brent hit $147.50 in July 2008.
If you’re not going to drill here in America or open the Keystone XL pipeline then you should not ban any oil imports:
The Biden administration has issued a rash of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, but has left the country’s oil industry largely unscathed so far.
That could change this week as Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the administration is coordinating with key allies to potentially ban imports of Russian oil.
“We are now in very active discussions with our European partners about banning the import of Russian oil to our countries, while of course, at the same time, maintaining a steady global supply of oil,” Blinken told NBC Sunday.
Russians Kill Civilians in Irpin
Irpin is on the outskirts of Kyiv. The New York Times‘ Lynsey Addario witnessed Russian troops targeting and killing civilians trying to leave.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES: Today I witnessed Russian troops deliberately targeting civilians fleeing for their lives from the village of Irpin. At least three members of a family of four were killed in front of me. @nytimes https://t.co/lR0a5FRpXX
— lynsey addario (@lynseyaddario) March 6, 2022
My good friend bought an apartment in Irpin in early fall, he had a housewarming party in late September. He was so happy to finally have his own place, in a cozy suburb.
Now, his building, together with those nearby, is completely destroyed by Russian missiles. Heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/gQp3Yre2It
— Oleksiy Sorokin (@mrsorokaa) March 6, 2022
*STRONG GRAPHIC VIOLENCE IN THE VIDEO*
The Irpin Bridge shelling incident pic.twitter.com/UbJ6oUnZm1
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) March 6, 2022
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Comments
The only claim I see about Russia intentionally targeting civilians is from a … NY Times reporter. Given their interest in starting a broader war involving America, I don’t think I’ll trust them alone when it comes to claims of atrocities. The “bridge incident” had a soldier standing right there – not necessarily “targeting” civilians.
And if you believe the stuff about how all the munitions are precision now and armies can now avoid hitting any sort of civilian infrastructure, then you’ve been drinking our media’s kool-aid. Most armies don’t have our capabilities (even Russia) and even our folks sometimes make a mistake and sometimes hit civilian locations because there are enemy soldiers there.
I’m pro-Ukraine in all of this, but the flippant comments I see in numerous ‘conservative’ blogs about “atrocities” and how Putin’s army is “lost because it’s all bogged down” demonstrates a real lack of knowledge about real warfare.
(I think it’s just the headline that’s a little flippant here. What’s actually reported is handled without any “Russia is so evil!” gloss.)
“And if you believe the stuff about how all the munitions are precision now and armies can now avoid hitting any sort of civilian infrastructure”
As a man who spent the majority of his adult life as an infantry officer, I can confidently say this is….uninformed. We’re not seeing an errant bomb hitting a building here or there. In fact, for reasons not entirely understood, the Russians have been very circumspect in the application of air power. Instead, what we’re seeing the systemic targeting of civilian infrastructure…and housing. They’re using heavy artillery and Grad missiles to level entire city blocks, the consequences of which are clearly visible in copious still and video imagery. Under the laws of armed conflict, there is ZERO justification for this kind of engagement. More importantly, targeting civilian power generation is also a war crime and the Russians have targeted no less than three nuclear power plants.
Keep in mind that we haven’t yet entered the urban warfare phase in earnest. Even two-weeks into the conflict, Russia has their infantry loitering on the edges of the biggest population centers and is plainly unwilling to send mechanized forces and armor into these areas (knowing that in a country awash with capable anti-armor missiles, it would be a blood bath for them). Instead, they’re simply shelling the middle of the cities from outside.
There’s a reason ‘Shock & Awe’ only lasted not even a full night; there are only so many military targets (mostly Command and Control) in any city. When I entered Baghdad in April of 2003, it looked surprisingly intact and after extraordinarily fierce pockets of resistance by the so-called Republican Guard. Why? Because we didn’t sit outside and lob artillery rounds into it for a week or more. Iraq didn’t see this kind of widespread civilian destruction until we fought battles in Anbar province in places like Fallujah years after the initial invasion. It was only then – with infantry and armor engaging the enemy in urban areas (that were largely already abandoned by civilians) – did we see anything even remotely approaching the damage that has been endured in Kyiv and (particularly) Kharkiv.
There’s no question Russia is targeting civilians. It’s Putin’s MO. It’s literally how he rose to power.
Is Russia a signatory Nation to Geneva Convention and Protocols? As I remember it the Soviet Union was signatory to the Conventions 1-4 and then later protocols in 1989 but Russia later rescinded the Protocols. Frankly I am not convinced that the Russians are a legal party to the Conventions but a strong case can be made that they inherited those obligations and duties just as Russia inherited the seat on the UN Security Council.
Honest question, not trying to quibble. I don’t disagree with your analysis about potential violations. The Russians seemed fairly reluctant to inflict damage and death to civilians early on but in the face of stiffer resistance seem to have moved towards the use of less humanitarian tactics. Their willingness to inflict intentional infrastructure damage is growing.
I am hesitant to declare all the shelling as a violation. A belligerent can attack military targets co-located with civilian. It’s equally a violation to place legitimate military targets in civilian areas/population in order to prevent targeting. I doubt that the Russians likely care too much about the niceties of the convention at this point. If they move on Kiev it will be very, very ugly.
“The Russians seemed fairly reluctant to inflict damage and death to civilians early on”
This goes back to my comment about Russia being ‘circumspect’ in its application of air power. It won’t be some time until there’s a fuller understanding of exactly what happened and when. But, my sense we may have mistaken inability for restraint. Complex close-air support operations may be beyond the reach of Putin’s air force. And absent that ability, they relied on artillery and rocket launchers to bring force to bear on these cities…and that simply took some time to get into place. There is some precedent for this Russian war-fighting style. It’s EXACTLY what they did in Grozny.
With respect to the Geneva Conventions, the Soviets were signatories as is every country in the permanent security council. As you pointed out, if those Soviet legacy agreements don’t apply, then they shouldn’t be on the permanent security council anymore.
I haven’t seen any information – much less any credible information – that Ukraine is housing critical military infrastructure in plainly civilian structures including churches, schools and hospitals all of which have endured significant destruction the last week in particular.
Fair enough and I agree that Grozny is the likely example to draw from. The next week or ten days will be very bad.
The article didn’t make any of that argument or post any of that evidence.
Oh, and you claimed I don’t know what I’m talking about with precision munitions (that is the part you quote), but then you don’t actually counter my statement with anything but an argument from a war we absolutely controlled and we had a stockpile of precision munitions to use. And which I was trying to remind people was not the standard for warfare. Gulf Wars 1 and 2 were pretty unique in warfare.
My point was that not only is Russia not using ‘precision’ air ordinance, it’s using air ordnance – dumb & smart – sparingly, certainly WAY below what their capabilities are, at least on paper. Instead, they’ve chosen to largely employ wholly imprecise ordnance (particularly imprecise when being employed by poorly trained troops). In another comment, I offered one possible reason (incompetent air power) and effective defensive use of MPADS is another. But, there’s another reason as well; they simply don’t care how many civilians they kill. The imprecision of the weapon platforms they’ve chosen to employ is a feature to them, not a bug.
Lastly, there are excellent, compelling reasons why the US and NATO should not directly confront Russia, in Ukraine or anywhere else, unless it’s plainly in defense of NATO territories. But, making that argument based on the premise that Russia isn’t clearly committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine and the ‘deep state media lies a lot’ is uncompelling at best, specious at worst.
Vladmir Putin is a murderous despot who has a rich history of committing unspeakable crimes against civilian populations to help him meet his objectives. What’s happening in Ukraine is very on-point for him.
A careful observer of the rules would notice that the rules favor the more prosperous Nations which write them. Conventional bombs and standard artillery shells are cheap. Precision munitions of every kind are expensive. A cynical person might draw the conclusion that Nations with more economic resources are attempting to create a high cost barrier to wage war. One which essentially prices out any competition.
An even more cynical person might point out that these wealthy, largely Western Nations instituted all these protocols and efforts to end territorial aggression after they themselves had already secured the territory most important to them; an example of pulling up the ladder.
None of that excuses what is happening in Ukraine but those truthful observations are important in understanding the why other nations use dumb ordinance and by Western standards, outmoded tactics. That our western elite is dumbfounded by their use suggests that they have an intellectual and moral blind spot and the people of Ukraine are suffering because of it.
Given those rules predate precision munitions I think a careful observer of the rules would be surprised at your interpretation.
Diaper,
Nice try but no. The first ‘smart bombs’ were used by the US v Vietnam in the late 1960’s. The specific language being relied upon comes from the Geneva Protocols not the Convention(s).
Article 52 (General protection for civilian objects) deals with the question of the duty to exclude purely civilian ‘objects’ from the conflict. IOW A belligerent has duty not to target civilian infrastructure for destruction.
This and similar provisions with far more specific and clarifying language than previously existed was drafted by the IRCC in the early 1970s and incorporated into the Geneva Protocols in the late 1970s.
@commochief
I’m not really sure that weapons from the Vietnam war will be anyway near as precise as modern weaponry. In fairness I think the point stands. I’d also point out that precision weaponry doesn’t preclude ground engagement as opposed to indiscriminate artillery fire. It’s a deliberate choice. Russia has a in past used it’s overwhelming numbers to achieve its objectives. Clearly that’s evolved into war crimes to prevent mass infantry casualties.
Fatkins,
Of course they aren’t. The chronology matters because that was the point; wealthy nations made new rules that exploited their ability to finance precision weapons. It isn’t a controversial position; those with the gold make the rules.
I don’t see your point on ground engagement or mass infantry casualties. It’s totes ok to shell the hell out an infantry formation. Precision ground engagement has existed since the development of the rifled barrel; from Napoleonic War era British Riflemen to modern day snipers. Another example would be the Javelin anti tank platform which replaced the Dragon. That was a wire guided precision anti tank system developed in the mid 1970s; prior to the protocols being adopted.
Modern artillery can use precision munitions and has for nearly 50 years. An example from 1975 is the copperhead round for the US Army. Which was also developed prior to the ratification of the Protocols mentioned above. These types of precision artillery ammunition are far more costly than standard dumb munitions.
We can’t trust the news so how do you know? 99% of the pictures are fake
That’s a bizarre thing to say. The news on the whole is relatively good at reporting basic facts, where it does fall over is when it drifts into opinion pieces. The reality is there are a lot of journalists from multiple organisations who generally speaking tell a similar story.
Can’t believe the media. On everything, absolutely everything
We always knew they were lying, now we know why. There is no journalistic integrity anymore., wonder if there ever was. Wondered what Dr.s such as Malone amd McCullough were never on TV. Wasn’t till they went on Rogan, who has 3 times the audience of Tucker, that the left freaked out.
https://emeralddb3.substack.com/p/fox-news-and-newsmax-took-biden-money?s=r
That’s bat shit crazy. You do realise that Fox news has peddled an anti Vax stance right? As has News Max.
Can explain why Fox news narrative has been anti Vax yet has been compromised by alleged government money? How the hell does that even work?
Oh amazing, I’ve just looked up Emerald Robinson. What an unhinged lunatic, too crazy even for News Max.
Do you really take this person seriously, and if so why!?
The Biden admin decided on day one to undermine our energy security by invalidating drilling leases on federal land, halt keystone XL pipeline, restore the various regulatory barriers, exploration, drilling, development and transport that DJT had removed. Russia decided to act, clearly telegraphed it’s intentions but Biden refused to impose any sanctions to deter Russia. Then Biden personally stated that ‘a small incursion’ into Ukraine would not be met with severe sanctions. Russia acted.
The elite/Davos/globalist crowd in the US and the west is shocked that an incursion/invasion occurred. They are even more shocked that their soft power, interconnected world view and policy choices don’t leave them the ability to act without severe consequences. GER specifically and Europe in general chose to become utterly dependent on Russian energy and for most NATO and EU members have consistently refused to spend on defense. Instead they spent on social programs and unfair subsidies of export goods to the detriment of US domestic production while relying upon the US to bear the cost of their security.
Oil prices are skyrocketing and there is little that can be done short term to stop it from impacting our already inflationary economy. Instead of reversing course the Biden admin has flatly refused to assist domestic oil production, transport or refining capacity. Instead they are going to rush into a horrible deal with Iran and are also very likely to strike a deal with Venezuela in hopes that these nations increased oil production returned to world markets helps stabilize oil prices.
IMO, until these deals are completed the Biden admin will continue to resist declaring an embargo on the purchase of Russian oil .
Pretty sure the globalist crowd is behind those beating the war drums. They have no interest in a strong America, and would love to have the US relegated to third- world status. If it takes a world war to accomplish that, so much the better. As per Bill Gates, gotta get that carbon part of the equation (and people are 18% carbon by mass) as close to zero as possible.
The globalist are absolutely stoking the flames by insisting that the Ukrainians fight to last man. Their grand illusion of a soft power, interconnected world governed by a technocratic elite managerial class who take their marching orders from western Oligarchs; Bezos, Gates, Soros among many adherents of the WEF, has been shattered.
Russia, under Putin and Russian Oligarchs, don’t choose to let the Davos crowd order their thinking or actions. Nor do India or the Saudis or the Turks. The Chinese don’t either, except to the extent they exploit the current western attitudes and policy failures for their own benefit. All these Nations can and will use hard power when it suits their interests while giving mere lip service to the ideals of the Davos crowd.
No, this is exactly what the WEF wants. Chaos to bring about the Great Reset and install themselves permanently in power. Covid wasn’t enough, they needed more, and got it from Putin, who is himself a devotee of WEF. Meanwhile Biden is financing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, as Obama did, only he’s doing it in full public view. That will assuredly create more chaos once they test a working unit (the actual test most likely being the destruction of a first world city).
You are stating that Putin is a devote of WEF and the Davos crowd? No. He is diametrically opposed to their ideology. Does he hope we in the west are stupid enough to allow the technocrats to destroy us from the inside with ESG, DEI, CRT and foolish climate policies? Sure, in that respect he does support them; as a group of useful idiots.
Come on, man. Climate Change is the “existential threat”. We can’t have more energy produced in the USA, especially since the Ukraine war is releasing tons of carbon into the atmosphere. /s
The trouble is these ESG and DEI proponents aren’t sarcastic but deadly serious as to what constitutes an existential threat.
With respect to NATO it seems a daft argument really. NATO militarilly far out strips Russia, it has a vastly more ground forces, air forces and naval forces. The reality is europe have spent money on nice things for the population not on the military complex. It’s likely that European countries will continue to do exactly the same but invest more in NATO so how does that reflect on the US which spends exclusively on the military?
Fatkins,
The US doesn’t spend ‘exclusively’ on the military. Look at combined Federal, State and local spending for healthcare, housing, food assistance, education, transportation, welfare of various forms; we have over 80 separate programs at the federal level alone. If you are only counting Federal spending and ignoring State and local spending in the US and comparing that to other Nations then it’s inaccurate and deliberately misleading.
NATO doesn’t have a separate force that members contribute to. NATO forces are the sum of the individual member Nations military forces. I have no idea where you are getting this erroneous idea to the contrary. Nearly every major NATO member Nation is increasing defense spending, including Germany which is reportedly kicking around reinstating conscription.
This is just me talking, but it’s not like Putin hasn’t telegraphed his moves here.
Not one country, especially the Ukraine made preparations to rattle Russia from the inside out.
Our electrical grid which is among the best in the world is fragile on a good day. How resilient do you think Russia’s infrastructure is.
And, based on what I just found out last night, the US is defacto financing all of this.
Basically, the Crimea, Donsk and other conflict regions have either the largest or second largest untapped natural gas reserves in Europe. And because many gas pipe lines run through the Ukraine, it is trivial to hook up the fields.
Most of Russia’s geopolitical power rests on them being the sole supplier of NatGas to Europe, but if the Ukrainian fields come on line, that is over.
Thing is, that is only leverage when Natural Gas prices are high, if it was still at historic lows, it would not matter how much gas the UA could pump, RU’s power would be gone.
The problem is, the US torches our gas field at the beginning of Biden’s term, which sent prices through the roof. That both armed the Russians and made Ukraine’s fields an existential threat. So what has been the admin’s reponse? Burn the US fields and for people to buy Russian gas.
Also understand, Russia does not need to use the Donbar finds, they just need to prevent them from coming on line, so turning Ukraine into a bloody meat grinder is still a victory for them.
By shutting our fields we are forcing Europe to finance killing fields in Ukraine, then turning around and selling the Ukrainians the tools to not lose, but never using the tools to win.
You didn’t know that? Heck, I’ve known it since The World Is Not Enough when Pierce Brosnan played Bond. 😉
(But yeah, that was actually a thing back in … 1999. Though it was Azerbaijan in the movie.)
Lets all remember that there is a major fog of war going on right now. Ukraine (at least on paper it has a problem with kleptocracy) has a very significant arsenal; could the Russians be targeting hidden weaponry?
The entire war is an aggressive Russian invasion, I’m not defending that and every civilian death as a result is on Russian hands but we should wait before stating civilians are the intended target we don’t know what the Russians think they know or know.
Lets all remember the endless amounts of collateral civilian deaths the United States caused in Afghanistan and Iraq before jumping to conclusions through the fog of war.
Where are all the NGO’s that accuse Israel of war crimes? Their silence is deafening.
Even if Biden ordered Keystone to open it wouldn’t change anything.
First, it would take months before they could even start construction. The workers have moved on to other jobs, the materials have been moved elsewhere or are likely in scarce supply, and Canada is redirecting their end of the pipeline elsewhere.
Second, construction wouldn’t begin anyway, even if it could be started instantly, because nobody would trust Biden not to cancel it again.