ONGOING ARMED CONFLICT Russia Declares Open War on Ukraine And Launches Missles on Major Cities

[Meatpie]

Good afternoon.

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the east Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to 44, Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov has said.

“I am here. Already 44 dead,” Filatov wrote on Facebook, making clear he was visiting the scene of Saturday’s attack, Reuters reports.

Regional authorities said earlier on Tuesday that a child’s body was among the latest retrieved from the rubble

 

[Meatpie]

Putin Ally Medvedev Warns NATO of Nuclear War if Russia is Defeated in Ukraine​

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, warned NATO on Thursday that the defeat of Russia in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war.

Striking a similar tone at what he described as an anxious time for the country, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said trying to destroy Russia would mean the end of the world.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Medvedev has repeatedly raised the threat of a nuclear apocalypse, but his admission now of the possibility of Russia's defeat indicates the level of Moscow's concern over increased Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

"The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war," Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Putin's powerful security council, said in a post on Telegram.

"Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends," said Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012.

Medvedev said NATO and other defence leaders, due to meet at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday to talk about strategy and support for the West's attempt to defeat Russia in Ukraine, should think about the risks of their policy.

Russia and the United States, by far the largest nuclear powers, hold around 90% of the world's nuclear warheads. Putin is the ultimate decision maker on the use of nuclear weapons.

Asked if Medvedev's remarks signified that Russia was escalating the crisis to a new level, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "No, it absolutely does not mean that."

He said Medvedev's remarks were in full accordance with Russia's nuclear doctrine which allows for a nuclear strike after "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened".

While NATO has conventional military superiority over Russia, when it comes to nuclear weapons, Russia has nuclear superiority over the alliance in Europe.

Putin casts Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine as an existential battle with an aggressive and arrogant West, and has said that Russia will use all available means to protect itself and its people.

"ALARMING TIME"​

Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The United States and its allies have condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an imperial land grab, while Ukraine has vowed to fight until the last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory.

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said in a sermon: "We pray to the Lord that he bring the madmen to reason and help them understand that any desire to destroy Russia will mean the end of the world."

"Today is an alarming time," state news agency RIA quoted him as saying. "But we believe that the Lord will not leave Russian land."

NOT BACKING DOWN​

Since a grim New Year's Eve message describing the West as Russia's true enemy in the war on Ukraine, Putin has sent several signals that Russia will not back down. He has despatched hypersonic missiles to the Atlantic and appointed his top general to run the war.

Putin said on Wednesday that Russia's powerful military-industrial complex was ramping up production and was one of the main reasons why his country would prevail in Ukraine.

Washington has not detailed in public what it would do if Putin ordered what would be the first use of nuclear weapons in war since the United States unleashed the first atomic bomb attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns cautioned Putin's spy chief Sergei Naryshkin in November about the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons by Russia, U.S. officials said at the time.

Russia has 5,977 nuclear warheads while the United States has 5,428, China 350, France 290 and the United Kingdom 225, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Medvedev, 57, who once presented himself as a reformer who was ready to work with the United States to liberalise Russia, has recast himself since the war as the most publicly hawkish member of Putin's circle.

He said that the nuclear risks of the Ukraine crisis should be obvious to any Western politicians who had "preserved at least some traces of intelligence".

Putin ally warns NATO of nuclear war if Russia is defeated in Ukraine

An ally of President Vladimir Putin warned NATO on Thursday that a defeat of Russia in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war, while the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said the world would end if the West tried to destroy Russia.

www.reuters.com

 

[Meatpie]

Ukraine’s victory is of “almost indescribable importance” Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, told a news conference today adding that Ukraine was fighting for the freedom of all of Europe.

 

[Meatpie]

Handsome Ukranian commander badly injured and disfigured by Putin's meaningless war.

 

[Meatpie]

Berlin Agrees to Send German Leopard tanks to Ukraine, According to Reports as USA also Plants to Supply Abrams Tanks​

Good evening.

This is just from minutes ago.

Berlin has reportedly succumbed to huge international pressure and is planning to send German-manufactured tanks to Ukraine, according to media reports on Tuesday evening citing government sources.

It is reported to be planning to send a company of Leopard 2A6 battle tanks in conjunction with other partners, namely Scandinavian countries in possession of the units. Berlin is understood to have said it would give its permission for export licences for countries such as Finland, Sweden and Poland who have bought the tanks from Germany, allowing them to be sent to Ukraine.
Meanwhile the Biden administration is also finalizing plans to send US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine and could make an announcement as soon as this week.
More updates soon.

Berlin plans to send German Leopard tanks to Ukraine, according to reports

Germany will send its 2A6 battle tanks in conjunction with other countries such as Finland, Sweden and Poland, say reports citing government sources

www.theguardian.com

 

[Meatpie]

Austrian soldiers drive a Leopard tank during a military exercise in Grafenwoehr, Germany, in 2017.

 

[Dupytrens]

The German armored anti-aircraft vehicles use Swedish ammunition, and the Swedes have not authorized over 1000 rounds to be transferred.

 

[Meatpie]

Good evening my friends and thank you for following our WW3 updates.

Plenty of war news today and It feels like a huge development in the war as it approaches nearly a year since Russia invaded Ukraine.

So let me offer you a quick recap of where things stand at the moment and what is still to come:

• After weeks of intense pressure Germany has confirmed it will send 14 of its Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine
• Other European countries which have the German-made tanks will also be allowed to send their vehicles to Ukraine after Germany granted permission to do so
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is one of Kyiv's leading supporters
• President Zelensky thanked the German Chancellor during a phone call between the two leaders
• Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the decision as a "big step towards stopping Russia".
• But, the Kremlin has branded the move "extremely dangerous"
• US President Joe Biden will make an address on Ukraine at the White House at noon local time - that will be 17:00 here in the UK. He is widely expected to announce plans to send at least 30 of America's advanced combat vehicles to Ukraine

 

[Meatpie]

Avdiivka today.

 

[Meatpie]

34-year-old Ukranian soldier unable to recover more than six months after he was injured in the war. His dad talks to him every day.

 

[Meatpie]

Russia Planning 24 February Offensive, Ukrainian Defence Minister Says​

Ukraine's defence minister has said Russia is preparing a major new offensive, and warned that it could begin as soon as 24 February.
Oleksii Reznikov said Moscow had amassed thousands of troops and could "try something" to mark the anniversary of the initial invasion last year.
The attack would also mark Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day on 23 February, which celebrates the army.
Mr Reznikov said Moscow had mobilised some 500,000 troops for the offensive.

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a general mobilisation of some 300,000 conscripted troops, which he said was necessary to ensure the country's "territorial integrity".
But Mr Reznikov suggested that the true figure recruited and deployed to Ukraine could be far higher.

"Officially they announced 300,000 but when we see the troops at the borders, according to our assessments it is much more," he told the French BFM network. The BBC cannot independently verify this figure.
Despite some heavy fighting in the eastern Donbas region, the war has entered something of a stalemate in recent months since Ukraine retook the southern city of Kherson.
With the exception of the Russian seizure of the town of Soledar, neither side has made major territorial advances.
But a Russian spring offensive - and a Ukrainian counter-offensive - has long been considered likely. The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) recently said that Moscow could seek to "undertake a decisive action" and launch a "big offensive" in the east.
Mr Reznikov said Ukraine's commanders would seek to "stabilise the front and prepare for a counter-offensive" ahead of the rumoured Russian advance.
"I have faith that the year 2023 can be the year of military victory," he said, adding that Ukraine's forces "cannot lose the initiative" they have achieved in recent months.

Ukraine war: Russia planning 24 February offensive, Ukrainian defence minister says

Ukraine's defence minister says Russia has amassed some 500,000 men for an attack in the coming weeks.

www.bbc.com

 

[Meatpie]

Zelensky Personally Thanked Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a Powerful Speech in Westminster Hall, London on February 8, 2023.​

"Boris, you got others united when it seemed absolutely, absolutely impossible," Zelensky said. "Thank you."

"You, all of you, you all showed your grit and character back then. Strong British character," he added.

"You didn’t compromise Ukraine, and hence you didn’t compromise your ideals. And thus you didn’t compromise the spirit of these great islands. Thank you very much."

He also thanked Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III for their support.

 

[Meatpie]

Good evening.

Some WW3 photos for the history books from Feb 8, 2023.

 

[Meatpie]

My favourite WW3 photo from Biden's surprise visit in Kyiv today, Feb 20, 2023. Zelensky and Biden have bonded amazingly well in a father-son like relationship.

Photo will go in digital history books for the ages.

Biden lost his real son Beau in 2015 and this completely changed his worldview he knows the pain Ukranian families are feeling right now at the hands of that murderous tyrant hiding in the Kremlin and he clearly pointed it out in his speech today in Kyiv.

I think Biden gave a great speech today in Kyiv and Putin watched it.

 

[Meatpie]

The war is not over but Ukraine is still able to recover from the damage inflicted upon its infrastrcture and buildings which is truly amazing achievement in its own right.

Foreign journalists reported that yesterday Kyiv was bustling with life.

 

[Meatpie]

I posted this thread exactly a year ago and since then Ukraine has staged an extraordinary and inspiring fight back that no one imaged was possible in the first days of the invasion. Ukrainian forces had reclaimed half the territory that was initially taken by the Russians. But the war rages. Putin will not give up until he is completely defeated on the battlefield or removed from power.
Over 500 Ukranian kids have been slaughtered so far in Putin's meaningless land-grabbing war.
Despite this horrific toll, Ukrainians remain upbeat. Almost the entire nation believes in victory: 95%, according to a poll conducted this week.

I too believe Ukraine will win the war this year.


Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an event at the Kremlin, on February 9 in Moscow.

 

[Meatpie]

Three Russian rockets launched against Ukraine from Russia's Belgorod region are seen at dawn in Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 9.

Good afternoon.

Key events so far today:

• Ukraine and Russia both claimed that hundreds of enemy troops were killed over the previous 24 hours in the fight for Bakhmut, with Kyiv fending off attacks and a small river that bisects the town now marking the new frontline.
• Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, said 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 wounded in Bakhmut.
• Russia’s defence ministry said that up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the broader Donetsk part of the frontline.
• Ukraine’s military repelled more than 92 Russian assaults in five areas over the past day, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces claimed.
• According to the Institute for the Study of War , Russian forces did not make any advances in Bakhmut on Saturday.
• Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said he believes that a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea will be extended from its current March 18 deadline.
• But Russia’s foreign ministry said that Russian representatives had not yet taken part in negotiations on extending the Black Sea grain deal.
• The National Police of Ukraine reported Russia had launched 48 attacks against civilians in Donetsk Oblast over the past day. The police said 15 cities and towns, including Bakhmut, Kostyantynivka, and Avdiivka, came under attack.
• Three civilians were killed in Russian shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, denouncing what he called “brutal terrorist attacks” by pro-Moscow units.
• More than 40 missiles have hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv since the beginning of the year, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Saturday.
• Ukraine’s foreign minister urged Germany in an interview published on Sunday to speed up supplies of ammunition and to start training Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter jets. Dmytro Kuleba told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that ammunition shortages were the “number one” problem in Ukraine’s attempt to repel Russia’s invasion.
• Switzerland is scrapping outdated Rapier surface-to-air missiles that could have been used by Ukraine to shoot down low-flying targets, Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported. The Swiss government prohibits countries that purchase Swiss arms from re-exporting them without permission.
• Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has thanked Canada for its decision to ban imports of Russian aluminium and steel products, and urged other countries to do the same.
• The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has reportedly said there is infighting in the Kremlin’s inner circle, and that the Kremlin has in effect ceded control over the country’s information space.
• Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has asked Pope Francis and other religious leaders to persuade Ukraine to stop a crackdown against a historically Russian-aligned wing of the church.
• Most Britons think housing Ukrainian refugees is a good thing, a study shows. Eight in ten people who took in Ukrainians fleeing the war said they had a positive experience of hosting refugees, while most of the public think the UK should continue to take in people from war zones, according to a study.

 

[Meatpie]

The international criminal court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.

The court’s pre-trial judges assessed there were “reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children”.

The judges considered issuing secret warrants but decided that making them public could “contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes”.

Moscow has said it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC.

ICC judges issue arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes

Arrest warrants issued for Russian leader and his children’s rights commissioner for ‘unlawful deportation’ of Ukrainian children

www.theguardian.com

 

[Meatpie]

A Ukrainian police officer takes cover in front of a burning building that was hit in a Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, Ukraine, on March 17.

 

[Meatpie]

Russia and China have "similar goals," Xi tells Putin​

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on March 20.

China and Russia "share similar goals," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday during a visit to Moscow.

"It is true that both of our countries share the same, or some similar goals. We have exerted efforts for the prosperity of our respective countries…we can cooperate and work together to achieve our goals," Xi said.

"I'm very happy that I can visit Russia again, at your invitation. And that Russia is the first country that I visited after my re-election as China's President," Xi told Putin.

Xi also expressed support for Putin to be reelected.

"I know that the Russia presidential election is next year. Russia's development has significantly improved under your firm leadership. I believe that the Russian people will continue to strongly support you,” he said.

Xi said China “highly values” China-Russia ties and that both countries can cooperate to fulfill their development goals.