Russians running yearslong Trolling operation to project their blame onto Ukraine.

BudmanTX

BudmanTX

Well-Known Member
sanctions dropped.....now for the EU to block them from using SWIFT.....

US:
The United States is not doing this alone, he said, adding that the 27 EU members and G7 members will participate in these sanctions.
Here are the sanctions he announced:
  1. Limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen to be part of the global economy.
  2. Stop the ability to finance and grow the Russian military.
  3. Impair their ability to compete in high-tech 21st century economy.
  4. US sanctioned Russian banks that together hold around $1 trillion in assets.
He added, "we're also blocking four more major banks. That means every asset they have in America will be frozen."
 
hanimmal

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
Southernontariogrower said:
I heard hes threatened to bomb the west. So was wondering.
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I see, he started doing the Trump threat of 'consequences you've never seen', so vague enough to really be a ink blot test.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-moscow-kyiv-626a8c5ec22217bacb24ece60fac4fe1Screen Shot 2022-02-24 at 2.10.26 PM.png
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions, warning other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.”

Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of an Russian invasion that could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure and explosions are heard across the country. Zelenskyy said he had just talked to President Joe Biden and the U.S. was rallying international support for Ukraine. He urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic

Biden pledged new sanctions meant to punish Russia for an act of aggression that the international community had for weeks anticipated but could not prevent through diplomacy.

Putin justified it all in a televised address, asserting the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine — a false claim the U.S. had predicted he would make as a pretext for an invasion. He accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees, and credulously claimed that Russia doesn’t intend to occupy Ukraine but will move to “demilitarize” it and bring those who committed crimes to justice.

Biden in a written statement condemned the “unprovoked and unjustified attack” on Ukraine and he promised the U.S. and its allies “will hold Russia accountable.” Biden said he planned to speak to Americans on Thursday after a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders. More sanctions against Russia were expected to be announced Thursday.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the action as a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine” and a “war of aggression,” adding, “Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”

The Russian military said it has struck Ukrainian air bases and other military assets and hasn’t targeted populated areas. The Russian Defense Ministry statement said the military is using precision weapons to target Ukrainian air bases, air defense assets and other military infrastructure. It claimed that “there is no threat to civilian population.”

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Facebook that the Russian military has launched missile strikes on Ukrainian military command facilities, air bases and military depots in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.

After the initial explosions in Kyiv, people could be heard shouting in the streets. But then a sense of normality returned, with cars circulating and people walking in the streets as a pre-dawn commute appeared to be starting in relative calm.

Beyond casualties that could overwhelm Ukraine’s government, the consequences of the conflict and resulting sanctions levied on Russia could reverberate throughout the world, affecting energy supplies in Europe, jolting global financial markets and threatening the post-Cold War balance on the continent.

Asian stock markets plunged and oil prices surged after the military action got underway. Earlier, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1.8% to an eight-month low after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine asked for military assistance

Anticipating international condemnation and countermeasures, Putin issued a stark warning to other countries not to meddle, saying, “whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to the consequences you have never seen in history.”

Putin urged Ukrainian servicemen to “immediately put down arms and go home.”

In a stark reminder of Russia’s nuclear power, Putin warned that “no one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to the destruction and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor.” He emphasized that Russia is “one of the most potent nuclear powers and also has a certain edge in a range of state-of-the-art weapons.”

Though the U.S. on Tuesday announced the repositioning of forces around the Baltics, Biden has said he will not send in troops to fight Russia.

Putin announced the military operation after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine asked Russia for military assistance to help fend off Ukrainian “aggression,” an announcement that the White House said was a “false flag” operation by Moscow to offer up a pretext for an invasion.

Putin’s announcement came just hours after the Ukrainian president rejected Moscow’s claims that his country poses a threat to Russia and made a passionate, last-minute plea for peace.

“The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace,” Zelenskyy said in an emotional overnight address, speaking in Russian in a direct appeal to Russian citizens. “But if we come under attack, if we face an attempt to take away our country, our freedom, our lives and lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.”

Zelenskyy said he asked to arrange a call with Putin late Wednesday, but the Kremlin did not respond.

In an apparent reference to Putin’s move to authorize the deployment of the Russian military to “maintain peace” in eastern Ukraine, Zelensky warned that “this step could mark the start of a big war on the European continent.”

“Any provocation, any spark could trigger a blaze that will destroy everything,” he said.

He challenged the Russian propaganda claims, saying that “you are told that this blaze will bring freedom to the people of Ukraine, but the Ukrainian people are free.”

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Ukraine because of the imminent threat of a Russian invasion, members still unaware of Putin’s announcement appealed to him to stop an attack. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting, just before the announcement, telling Putin: “Stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died.”

NATO Secretary-General Jen Stoltenberg issued a statement saying he strongly condemns “Russia’s reckless and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which puts at risk countless civilian lives. Once again, despite our repeated warnings and tireless efforts to engage in diplomacy, Russia has chosen the path of aggression against a sovereign and independent country.”

Anxiety about an imminent Russian offensive soared after Putin recognized the separatist regions’ independence on Monday, endorsed the deployment of troops to the rebel territories and received parliamentary approval to use military force outside the country. The West responded with sanctions.

Late Wednesday, Ukrainian lawmakers approved a decree that imposes a nationwide state of emergency for 30 days starting Thursday. The measure allows authorities to declare curfews and other restrictions on movement, block rallies and ban political parties and organizations “in the interests of national security and public order.”

The action reflected increasing concern among Ukrainian authorities after weeks of trying to project calm. The Foreign Ministry advised against travel to Russia and recommended that any Ukrainians who are there leave immediately.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Wednesday the Russian force of more than 150,000 troops arrayed along Ukraine’s borders is in an advanced state of readiness. “They are ready to go right now,” Kirby said.

Early Thursday, airspace over all of Ukraine was shut down to civilian air traffic, according to a notice to airmen. A commercial flight tracking website showed that an Israeli El Al Boeing 787 flying from Tel Aviv to Toronto turned abruptly out of Ukrainian airspace before detouring over Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. The only other aircraft tracked over Ukraine was a U.S. RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane, which began flying westward early Thursday after Russia put in place flight restrictions over Ukrainian territory.

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hanimmal

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-media-kyiv-bcbfb2c802a44d94b89343ac1d3afbae
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Associated Press journalists are documenting military activity across Ukraine, where disinformation is spiking during a Russian ground and air offensive. With social media amplifying a torrent of military claims and counter-claims, determining exactly what is happening can difficult. Here’s a look at some of what can be confirmed.

Activity with direct witnesses:

— Russian military vehicles crossing from Belarus into Ukraine at the Senkovka crossing point in the Chernihiv region

— Russian military vehicles crossing a bridge near Tavriysk and Novaya Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region, and Russian military helicopters flying over the area

— Security camera footage showing Russian military vehicles crossing from Crimea into government-held territory at Armyansk checkpoint

— Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship in field near Kyiv after purportedly being forced to land.

— Russia-backed separatists on armored vehicles crossing a river in footage from the eastern Luhansk region, saying they seized territory from Ukrainian forces.

— Explosions around Kyiv, and their aftermath

— Helicopters flying over Kyiv, believed to be Russian

— Fire near the headquarters of the Ukrainian intelligence agency

— Explosions in Dnipro in eastern Ukraine

— Explosions near an airfield and bomb depot in Myrhorod in eastern Ukraine, including sounds of shelling.

— A residential neighborhood shelled in Mariupol, a strategic city on the Azov Sea near Russia’s border. The mayor said three people were killed. An anti-aircraft base was also struck, and the mayor said the airport runway nearby was damaged.

— Fighting in Hostomel, a town 7 kilometers (4 miles) from Kyiv, and home to the Antonov aircraft maker and an airport with a runway long enough to receive all types of aircraft, including the biggest cargo planes. At least one home destroyed, according to footage obtained by AP.

— An exploded shell inside an apartment building in the eastern city of Kharkiv; a resident described the blast and said a neighbor was injured in the leg and taken away by an ambulance

— Just outside the separatist-held areas, in Bakhmut, military officers stationed on the road and crowds lining up at gas stations and banks to prepare to flee

— In Sievierodonetsk, families hiding in a bomb shelter after reports of two explosions

Announced by Ukrainian and Russian authorities:

— Russian forces seized the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear accident (Ukrainian presidential advisor)

— A military plane crashed in the Obukhiv region, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of downtown Kyiv. There were 14 people aboard, no determination of casualties. (Ukrainian emergencies ministry)

— The air bombing of an electrical plant in Tripilya, about 40 kms (25 miles) south of Kyiv, in roughly the same area where the Ukrainian military plane was reported to have crashed earlier (Ukrainian president’s office)

— Russian military says it destroyed 83 Ukrainian military facilities and confirmed that its forces have moved into Ukraine from Crimea. (Russia’s Defense Ministry)
 
hanimmal

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/us/politics/biden-putin.htmlScreen Shot 2022-02-24 at 12.47.05 PM.png

WASHINGTON — In a series of top-secret meetings last October, President Biden’s national security team presented grim intelligence that would soon trigger a fierce effort to prevent what could become the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, was preparing to invade Ukraine, top intelligence and military officials told Mr. Biden. Gathering each morning in the Oval Office for the global threat assessment known as the President’s Daily Brief, they described satellite images of Russian forces methodically advancing toward Ukraine’s border.

Not only did the United States have images of troops moving into position, it also had the Russian military’s plans for a campaign against Ukraine — elements of which had already begun. At one of the morning meetings, Mr. Biden dispatched William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, to Moscow with a message for Mr. Putin:
We know what you’re planning to do.

Stopping him would be a challenge. Many of America’s closest allies were skeptical that Mr. Putin — a master of disinformation — would actually invade. The use of U.S. military force against Russia was off the table, so the allies would have to threaten Mr. Putin with economic pain so severe it would also have consequences in Europe and the United States. And it was far from certain that Republicans in Congress would back whatever the administration did.

On Monday, after delivering a grievance-filled speech attacking Ukraine’s sovereignty, Mr. Putin ordered troops into two Russia-backed separatist regions in the country. But it remains unclear how far, or quickly, the Russian military will advance. And by day’s end, the United States and its allies imposed only limited sanctions, reserving the full might of their response for moves that Mr. Putin might yet make.

The White House acknowledged from the start that its campaign to stop Mr. Putin might not actually prevent Russia from invading Ukraine. But at the very least, White House officials say, Mr. Biden exposed Mr. Putin and his true intentions, which helped unite, at least for now, the at-times fractious NATO alliance.

Over the course of three and a half months, Mr. Biden made three critical decisions about how to handle Russia’s provocations, according to interviews with more than a dozen senior administration officials and others who requested anonymity to discuss confidential meetings. Early on, the president approved a recommendation to share intelligence far more broadly with allies than was typical, officials said. The idea was to avoid disagreements about tough economic sanctions by ensuring that everyone knew what the United States knew about Mr. Putin’s actions.

Mr. Biden also gave the green light for an unprecedented public information campaign against Mr. Putin. With the support of his top intelligence officials — and with a promise to protect the intelligence agencies’ “sources and methods” — the president allowed a wave of public releases aimed at preventing Mr. Putin from employing his usual denials to divide his adversaries.

And when it became clear this year that Mr. Putin was continuing to build up forces at Ukraine’s border, the president approved sending Ukraine more weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, and deploying more troops to other countries in Eastern Europe as a show of solidarity with Ukraine and to reassure nervous allies on NATO’s eastern flank.

On Sunday morning, nearly four months after those meetings, Mr. Biden once again gathered his national security team.

They had been right about Mr. Putin’s intentions. And they had managed to secure unity among allies and even Republicans behind sanctions. But all along, the decision about whether to go to war was Mr. Putin’s alone. Despite all of the efforts, it looked like war was inevitable.

At the meeting on Sunday, the discussion shifted to new questions: whether to send more troops to NATO countries; how to support a Ukrainian resistance when Russia invades; how to deal with a flood of refugees; and how to manage the economic consequences of sanctions in Europe and the United States.

“The risk for the United States is that the allies don’t stay together,” said Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff at the C.I.A. and the Defense Department under President Barack Obama. “This crisis and this mode of a standoff with Russia is going to be around for months and years, not days and weeks.”

Wooing Allies

Meetings with the leaders of America’s closest allies began days after the secret October briefings, during Mr. Biden’s trip to Rome for a meeting of the leaders of the Group of 20 nations. There, he convened the biggest NATO members known as “the quint”: the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

The president and his counterparts began to sketch out the response to Russia’s aggression that day in Rome. But soon, Mr. Biden’s plan to widen the circle of trust on Ukraine was put in place, officials said.

In a series of secure video meetings from the White House, the president and his national security team started sharing highly classified information with a larger group, including Poland, Romania, and the presidents of the European Union and Canada, as well as the top officials at NATO.

Not everyone was convinced.

On Nov. 17, Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, traveled to NATO headquarters for a key presentation.
Although the United States has sometimes balked at sharing its best intelligence with the entire NATO alliance, worried about Russian moles in various governments, in this case the United States had already delivered a broad warning to Russia about what it knew. The briefing marked a significant shift in the allied view, officials said.

European and American intelligence officials said that Mr. Putin initially believed Europe and the United States would remain divided and unwilling to impose strong sanctions, particularly in the defense of Ukraine. He thought that he could build up a significant force and then either attack Ukraine or extract concessions from Kyiv, without much unified opposition from Europe, the officials said.

“According to our assessment, at the end of summer, Putin likely gave instructions to prepare for military options against Ukraine,” said Mikk Marran, the director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service. “And in autumn 2021, we detected the attitude of President Putin: He felt the West was weak and the issue of Ukraine needed to be fixed.”

In fact, the alliance had its shaky moments. Four years of President Donald J. Trump’s raging against NATO had taken its toll. And Mr. Biden had angered some key European allies by what they described as a failure to consult with them about the details of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. A spat with France over a nuclear submarine deal did not help.

But Mr. Putin’s assessment ended up being a miscalculation, according to American and European officials. As the United States shared more intelligence both with NATO and individual allies, the positions hardened against Russia. The Eastern European intelligence official said that Mr. Putin’s timetable for an attack might well have been pushed back in the face of the unexpected cohesion among the allies.

“I have been in constant contact with our allies in Europe, with Ukrainians,” Mr. Biden told reporters in early December.

He said that he was putting together what he believed would be “the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do.
“But that’s in play right now,” he added.

Going Public

By late November, Mr. Biden knew it was time to talk with Mr. Putin again. The Russian force was still growing and the threat of war loomed.

Screen Shot 2022-02-24 at 2.39.37 PM.png

Mobilizing Troops

On Christmas Day last year, the Russian military publicly announced the withdrawal of 10,000 troops from Ukraine’s border, calling it proof that Mr. Putin had no intentions of invading his neighbor any time soon.
Inside the White House, the president and his team were not buying it.

Intelligence officials had seen repeated instances in which the Russians would move a battalion tactical group close to the border, set up the infrastructure necessary for a rapid invasion, and then move the troops back out, leaving a shell that could be used by other battalions, the Russian National Guard or other military forces loyal to Mr. Putin.

The movement of troops back and forth was not evidence of a retreat, officials said. It was evidence of the opposite: preparations for an invasion of Ukraine.

But Mr. Biden had agreed to send Mr. Blinken and others for a week of intense diplomacy in Europe the week of Jan. 10. Those talks culminated in discussions in Vienna on Thursday, Jan. 13, with the goal of convincing Mr. Putin not to risk crippling sanctions by sending his forces into Ukraine.

The next day, tens of thousands of Russian troops started pouring into Belarus, Ukraine’s northern neighbor, for what Russia called joint military exercises.

Screen Shot 2022-02-24 at 2.38.10 PM.png

The Endgame

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hanimmal

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
I decided to put on Fox, and find it really weird that 'the Five' is actually not being complete douchbag's. It is obviously killing Jesse Watters who is trying to still shit talk Biden though.

BudmanTX said:
now this could make things interesting......
www.theglobeandmail.com

Chechens and Georgians in Ukraine preparing to continue fight against Putin on a new front

Ukraine and its chaotic democracy have become a magnet for many, including some dissident Russians, who are opposed to Mr. Putin and his increasing dominance over the post-Soviet space
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

and they both despise Russia
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Nothing like being kicked out of your country by Putin to really wake people to wanting to fight I would bet.
 
M

mooray

Well-Known Member
hanimmal said:
I decided to put on Fox, and find it really weird that 'the Five' is actually not being complete douchbag's. It is obviously killing Jesse Watters who is trying to still shit talk Biden though.

Nothing like being kicked out of your country by Putin to really wake people to wanting to fight I would bet.
Click to expand...
I really like to see moments of...something else. CNN reported the other day that Romney was right on Russia and Obama was wrong, thought that was pretty cool from CNN. Nice to see that some people are still willing to swallow a little pride sometimes and throw the other side a bone.
 
BudmanTX

BudmanTX

Well-Known Member
hanimmal said:
I decided to put on Fox, and find it really weird that 'the Five' is actually not being complete douchbag's. It is obviously killing Jesse Watters who is trying to still shit talk Biden though.

Nothing like being kicked out of your country by Putin to really wake people to wanting to fight I would bet.
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ok first line..........ewwwwwwwwwwww fox...come on man.....think the only fox channel i watch is 29 here for the "weather" and early morning news before i head into work......most commercials now are about the elections coming and the cannidates when those come on <mute>, i did get to watch gordon ramsey cooking show last night was pretty good.

nothing like it man, and the Ukrainian are willing to take them in as well especially according to there charter ck it...

According to part 18 of Article 4 of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, foreigners and stateless persons who signed contracts to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine according to the established procedure, shall be considered as legal temporary residents on the territory of Ukraine for the ...
 
hanimmal

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
mooray said:
I really like to see moments of...something else. CNN reported the other day that Romney was right on Russia and Obama was wrong, thought that was pretty cool from CNN. Nice to see that some people are still willing to swallow a little pride sometimes and throw the other side a bone.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Fox just played a clip of little Douchey though, who every statement was just dripping with sarcasm in everything about Biden.
 
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