“Ukraine – Russia”

A Russian soldier reportedly drove over his colonel with a tank — while two other service members were caught venting about strongman Vladimir Putin’s “bulls—” invasion of Ukraine amid reports of heavy losses.

The Russian soldier who was behind the wheel of the tank “blamed the commander of the group, Col. Yury Medvedev, for the deaths of his friends,” Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsimbalyuk said on Facebook.

There are numerous pieces floating about purportedly illustrating the breakdown of the Russian army. I am not sure I trust them.

Unsecured radio networks allowed Ukrainians with radio jammers to mock Russian troops during an attack on a town near Kyiv, a New York Times investigation reveals.

Russians advancing on the town of Makariv on February 27 encountered significant resistance and — over their radio networks — even derision amid their attack, the paper reported.

Another two pr. 775 landing ships – "Novocherkassk" and "Caesar Kunikov" were damaged too, however they managed to sail away. Presumably, the cause of the incident is a Ukrainian "Tochka-U" ballistic missile hit. pic.twitter.com/dBinch60rd

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 24, 2022

The clip at the end of this post was filmed in April 2021, if you can believe it, but it’s making the rounds on political Twitter today thanks to some new English subtitles that reveal the prescience of the speaker, Alexander Nevzorov. A little googling proves him to be an interesting character, a journalist turned parliamentarian turned filmmaker turned horse-riding enthusiast turned fierce critic of religion and Putin’s government. Some of his specific forecasts about a war between Russia and Ukraine turned out to be on the money, as you’ll see, from the high morale of Ukrainian troops that no one in the Kremlin expected to the shocking haplessness of the Russian air force.

A month since Russia launched its shock invasion, Ukraine’s leader pleaded Thursday for NATO to “save” his shattered country with unrestricted military aid, so its armed forces could transform their dogged defence into attack.

While Kyiv and Western intelligence report battlefield gains against the Russians, the vast scale of civilian suffering was made stark as the UN said more than half of all Ukraine’s children have been driven from their homes.

After urging global street protests to denounce the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO leaders that Russia had unleashed phosphorus bombs on Ukraine along with indiscriminate shelling of civilians.

‘Shame on you’: How President Zelensky uses speeches to get what he needs

While his army has fought tenaciously on the battlefields of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has waged an information war on the capitals of the Western world.

He’s addressed 10 parliaments in two weeks, receiving standing ovations everywhere.

Live by video link from a besieged capital, wearing a green t-shirt and sporting several days of stubble, he often signs off with a clenched fist salute. As applause rings out, he disappears. He’s a man in a hurry, after all, with truly existential matters to attend to.

VIDEO: ‘Ukraine matters.’

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky calls on the world to “show your standing”, urging people to “come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities” to “say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters” pic.twitter.com/89Mg5ZGvvi

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 24, 2022

Make no mistake. By supplying Ukraine with weapons, ammunition, and intelligence the United States and NATO are waging a proxy war against Russia. And in his speech to Congress, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky pulled on America’s heartstrings in a plea for Washington to “do more.” That is, to deepen U.S. involvement. But the United States and NATO already are pushing their support for Ukraine into a danger zone where the risk of a direct U.S./NATO confrontation with Russia is rising. At the same time, negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow suggest a diplomatic resolution of the war is within reach. It is to this effort to end the war that Washington’s energies should be focused.

#Ukraine: Very dramatic footage showing a claimed Russian tank obliterated by a Stugna-P ATGM. pic.twitter.com/q6YG800QhD

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 23, 2022

US President Joe Biden has called on private companies and organisations in the US to “lock their digital doors”, claiming that intelligence suggests Russia is planning a cyber-attack on the US.

The UK’s cyber-authorities are also supporting the White House’s calls for “increased cyber-security precautions”, though neither has given any evidence that Russia is planning a cyber-attack.

Russia has previously stated that such accusations are “Russophobic”.

However, Russia is a cyber-superpower with a serious arsenal of cyber-tools, and hackers capable of disruptive and potentially destructive cyber-attacks.

The lines for sugar in Saratov were hard not to compare to the Soviet era, part of a recent run on Russian staples that have revived fears that the Kremlin’s invasion in Ukraine will lead to a virtual slide back to the shortages or endless queues of the Soviet Union.

Bags of sugar and buckwheat began disappearing from local markets in early March, just a week after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. And when the local mayor’s office announced that it would hold special markets for people to buy the staples last week, hundreds showed up.

Anastasia Taran, a 30-year-old waitress who escaped Irpin, described how the invasion of the Russian forces has turned the city into “hell,” Euromaidan Press reported.

“There are plenty of Russian soldiers out there who just shoot people who enter private homes and, at best, just kick people out of their homes,” said Taran who now provides tips on Instagram on how to get out of the city.

“They rape women and the dead are just being dumped. They open the basements where people are hiding and shoot them.”

Two superyachts linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich have docked in Turkey, beyond the reach of UK and EU sanctions.

Each of the vessels cost more than $500m and are among a number tracked by Lloyd’s List Intelligence. The shipping data experts have been monitoring on-board tracking devices and have shared this information exclusively with the BBC, enabling the journeys of these and other vessels linked to sanctioned Russians to be plotted.

A boatload of young Ukrainians tried to stop the superyacht My Solaris docking in Bodrum in Turkey. The other Abramovich-linked yacht Eclipse sailed to Marmaris.

Wealth and privilege can be violently snatched away

Russia’s loyal oligarchs have always been liable to become chess pieces in political struggles. After the revolution broke out in Petrograd in February 1917, the long-despised Romanov aristocracy were ruthlessly stripped of their property and most prized possessions. The people demanded nothing less than their total humiliation and dispossession.

A former Canadian Armed Forces sniper now fighting Russian forces in Ukraine says he was the last to learn of his own death.

The former CAF member — who goes by the nom de guerre Wali — told CBC News he returned to a safe location in Ukraine Monday after a week spent battling Russian forces on the front lines in the Kyiv region. When he turned on his phone, he discovered hundreds of urgent messages from people convinced he’d been killed in action.

This comes from the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, which means it’s time for another round of everyone’s favorite game when processing war news, “Truth or propaganda?”

It has been three weeks since Russia updated the official death toll to its invasion in Ukraine, leaving open the question of how many of its soldiers have been killed or wounded in the chaotic opening stages of its war.

In early March, the Russian defence ministry admitted that 498 Russian soldiers had been killed in action and 1,500 wounded, a large number after just 10 days of fighting that pointed to the danger of its attempts to take Kyiv in a lightning raid.