“Ukraine – Russia”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will investigate possible war crimes in Ukraine, but experts say it’s unclear whether the move could sway Russian President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate his government’s invasion of the country.

“Maybe, and maybe not, but I don’t think people should expect that,” said Mark Kersten, a senior researcher at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto and an expert on international criminal law.

“I don’t think anyone should rightly ever expect that just because there’s an intervention by the International Criminal Court that that will solve the war, that that will lead to peace.”

As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine enters its third week, the naughty little law of unintended consequences is lifting its head above the parapet.

The most striking illustration of this so far is the debunking of Putin’s brazen claim that there is not and has never been a Ukrainian nation and that Ukraine is nothing but Russia misspelled. Putin insisted that Ukraine was nothing but a creation of Lenin, ignoring the fact that it was Lenin who signed away Ukraine to the Germans in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine has prompted demonstrations around the world, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to condemn the war.

But anger towards the Russian leader has also ensnared an unlikely casualty: a French-Canadian delicacy of potato fries, cheese curds and gravy.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday warned that any country that offers the use of its airfields to Ukraine’s military for attacks on Russian assets could be considered as having entered the conflict.

“The use of the airfield networks of these countries to base Ukrainian military aircraft and their subsequent use against the Russian armed forces may be regarded as the involvement of these states in an armed conflict,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told the Interfax news agency on Sunday evening local time.

Is this when the Balloon goes up?.

A ceasefire, and a chance for civilians to leave, was announced on Saturday morning in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where an estimated 200,000 people are trapped under heavy bombardment by Russian forces.

The city arranged 50 buses, and many people travelled to the city centre to get them. But after less than two hours, Russia’s army began shelling residential areas again, trapping civilians who had begun their escape.

The city is now in its fifth day with no running water, no power, no sanitation, and food and water are fast running out.

Maxim, a 27-year-old IT developer who is caring for his grandparents in their sixth-floor apartment, spoke to the BBC on Saturday night to describe a day that began with hope and ended in despair.

Russian troops are firing from Gradov, located in a densely populated village. This was recorded by air reconnaissance.

The Russian military leadership claims that it does not fire on the civilian population of Ukraine.#kyiv #ukraine #war #stopwar #stopputin #Mariupol pic.twitter.com/RvMhroHk22

— Indy Man (@IndyMan2020) March 6, 2022

NATO’s strategic objective should now be to bring down Russian President Vladimir Putin and see him replaced by a less dangerous leader. If he fails to achieve his goals in Ukraine, harsh constraints are imposed on Russian oligarchs, and suffering is inflicted on ordinary citizens by Western diplomatic and economic action; his current adventure might cause him to self-destruct.

If that does not happen, Putin will remain a permanent threat to NATO, Europe and the world. Russian law now allows him to hold onto power at least until 2036. He apparently aims to re-create the Soviet Union in a new form and restore Russia’s superpower status by pushing NATO back, regaining Moscow’s dominion over its eastern neighbours. He is now also demanding the nuclear disarming of Europe.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the United States is working on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with jets amid Russia’s invasion.

“We are looking actively now at the question of airplanes that Poland may provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill should Poland decide to supply those planes,” he told reporters on Sunday during a visit to Moldova. “I can’t speak to a timeline but I can just say we’re looking at it very, very actively.”

#Ukraine: It seems that the Russian VDV was hit hard in #Mykolaiv. No less than 5x BMD-2 IFV (All with 9M113 ATGM, possibly more inside) and one with a RP-377VM C-IED jammer, as well as 2x BTR-D, were lost to Ukrainian forces. pic.twitter.com/99Y55Pg3vf

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 6, 2022

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau departed for Europe on Sunday to meet with allies about the intensifying situation in Ukraine.

Trudeau has meetings set for Monday in London with the prime ministers of Britain and the Netherlands.

In the days to come, Trudeau is to meet with other leaders in Riga, Latvia, Berlin and Warsaw, Poland.

The Kremlin is ‘preparing’ to pound Odessa and ‘choke’ off its lifeline as a ceasefire is called for the besieged city of Mariupol – amid fears Putin could blast the escape route of refugees with airstrikes for a second time.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky today warned that Russian forces are preparing to shell Odessa – a historic port city on the Black Sea coast.

Russia has made progress in southern Ukraine since its invasion 11 days ago, overrunning the city of Kherson and shelling the port of Mariupol, but Odessa has so far been largely spared.

Russia targeting cities as strength of Ukraine’s resistance ‘continues to surprise’, UK says

The strength of Ukraine’s resistance “continues to surprise Russia”, a British intelligence report has said, despite attempts by invading troops to break Ukrainian morale by targeting populated areas.

In its daily intelligence report, the Ministry of Defence said Russia had responded to the unexpected ferocity of the Ukrainian military response by targeting cities such as Kharkiv, Chirnihiv and Mariupol.

It used similar tactics in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016, employing both air and ground-based munitions.

Ukraine: Russia has attacked schools and hospitals, says deputy PM

Russia is striking civilian targets in Ukraine, including hospitals, nurseries, and schools, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister has said,

Olha Stefanishyna told the BBC that, after “strong resistance” from the Ukrainian army, there was an “enormous operation” by Russia against civilians.

She accused Russia of a “terroristic plan”, with attacks coming from the air and also by land.

The World Health Organization also said health facilities are being attacked.

#Ukraine: Serious capture and destruction of Russian assets in #Mykolaiv– as it seems an entire artillery position was taken out.

Includes 7x transport trucks (approx), MT-LB, BTR-80, 10x D-30 122mm howitzer, BTR-D and more. Presumably the ammo was hit. pic.twitter.com/7X93AfDBGk

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 6, 2022

The floodgates of military aid for Ukraine appeared to burst open this week as European countries lined up to announce the delivery of tens of thousands of rockets aimed at striking Russian tanks and helicopters, along with other critical supplies.

Western officials insist that the shipments aren’t too late to influence the fight against the 150,000-plus Russian troops pushing toward Kyiv and other major cities, though the routes to get the weapons into the country are few, and increasingly perilous.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg announced on Friday that Russian forces have used cluster bombs in Ukraine. “We have seen the use of cluster bombs and we have seen reports of use of other types of weapons which would be in violation of international law,” Stoltenberg said, adding that NATO is “collecting information and monitoring very closely what is going on in Ukraine.” Stoltenberg’s statement comes on the heels of accusations, leveled by Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, that Russia has deployed and used thermobaric weapons in Ukraine. Also referred to as “vacuum bombs,” these weapons suck up surrounding oxygen to trigger a huge explosion. The employment of such weapons is widely condemned by international human rights organizations and could be classified as a war crime if used against civilian populations. Earlier this week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced a war crimes investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court (ICC), said an “advanced team” of investigators is already traveling to Ukraine, adding that the work will begin as soon as possible.

O sultan, Turkish devil and damned devil’s kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? The devil shits, and your army eats. Thou shalt not, thou son of a whore, make subjects of Christian sons. We have no fear of your army; by land and by sea we will battle with thee. F*ck thy mother.

And Joe Biden’s State of the Union pitch to lower drug prices won’t change that.

It took Russia’s naked aggression against Ukraine for Germany to admit that Donald Trump was right all along: Europe needs to stop relying on U.S. subsidies and spend more on its own defense.

In a stunning policy reversal, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would do what Trump was long urging and commit at least two percent of GDP to defense spending.