“Ukraine – Russia”

Our shared cultural identity is a legitimate factor

Why do we care so much about the invasion of Ukraine — and not, say, the current conflict in Ethiopia? That too involves violence against civilians, so why aren’t western capitals thronged with marchers for Tigray? 

Does our concern for suffering people stop at the borders of Europe? According to Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer-winning journalist, what we think of as our continent is a “geopolitical fiction” and thus the “alarm” over the Ukraine is a “dog whistle to tell us we should care because they are like us”

Trained military observers watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold are finding themselves baffled by by both the scale of the operation and its seeming lack of coordination and effectiveness. Russia is a world power and its military is that of a world power. In the air and on the ground, not taking into account guerilla warfare, the Russians should be performing much better than they are. Particularly when it comes to the air war, there shouldn’t have even been one, the Russians should have been able to achieve total air superiority right from the start. The fact that the Russian forces still don’t have total air superiority is baffling trained military experts.

The lasting symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began last Thursday should be the tank flying a big red hammer and sickle flag of the Soviet Union as it crossed the Russian border into Ukraine. It was no accident.

Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union the “evil empire.” Thanks to him — and Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II — the Soviet Union lost the Cold War and fell apart. Former KGB Colonel Vladimir Putin said that the fall of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of its empire was a major geopolitical catastrophe.

As Russian forces continue their violent march into a largely white nation, into a Slavic country in the east of Europe, what is the woke set saying? ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Seriously. The modish identitarians who make up what passes for ‘the left’ these days have finally found something in the Ukraine calamity that they can get truly, noisily agitated about. No, not the fact that a nation’s sovereignty is being pummelled by an unforgiving external power. Not even the fact that many Ukrainians have already lost their lives in this terrible invasion. No, it is reports about Africans in Ukraine being mistreated during the vast exodus of Ukrainians to Poland that has animated these race-obsessed activists and finally got them tweeting and crying with passion.

OTTAWA — Canada will be sending anti-tank weapons and “upgraded ammunition” to Ukraine and is banning all crude oil imports from Russia, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday.

“Canada will continue to deliver support for Ukraine’s heroic defense against the Russian military,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “We are announcing our intention to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia, an industry that has benefited President Putin and his oligarchs greatly.”

To retain our deterrence abroad, we must tighten our belts at home, pump oil and gas, start to balance our budget, junk wokeism as a nihilist indulgence, and recalibrate our military.

One of the oddest commentaries about the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the boilerplate reaction that “borders can’t change in modern Europe” or “this does not happen in the 21st century.”

But why in the world should the 21st century be exempt from the pathologies of the past 20 centuries? Are we smarter than the Romans? More innovative than Florentines? Do we have more savvy leaders than Lincoln or Churchill? Are they more mellifluous than Demosthenes? Does anyone now remember that some 130,000 were slaughtered just 30 years ago in the former Yugoslavia, as NATO planes bombed Belgrade and nuclear America and Russia almost squared off?

Five days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, false or misleading videos and images about the invasion continue to go viral.

Among the things spreading quickly are old videos being depicted as current – along with claims that pictures such as the one above are old, even when they verifiably come from the present conflict.

The Ukraine War scenes of Russian soldiers crying in shame and main battle tanks abandoned due to lack of fuel tell the story of a war gone seriously wrong for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An embattled Ukraine moved to solidify its bond with the West on Monday by applying to join the European Union, while the first round of Ukraine-Russia talks aimed at ending the fighting concluded with no deal but an agreement to keep talking.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted photos of himself signing the EU application, a largely symbolic move for now that could take years to become reality and is unlikely to sit well with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long accused the West of trying to pull Ukraine into its orbit.

From Russia — without love.

Adult entertainers in Russia have been blocked from OnlyFans amid financial sanctions imposed upon the country following its invasion of Ukraine.

Several kinky content creators spoke out on Sunday saying that they were unable to share new videos and access money earned via their OnlyFans accounts.

h/t Mauser

Rogers and Bell said Sunday they will no longer be carrying Russian state-controlled network RT in their TV channel lineups in the latest action against Russian entities following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Bell confirmed it is no longer carrying RT as of Sunday, while Rogers said it will pull the TV network on Monday. It was not immediately known if the moves are permanent.

Seriously the CBC is no different, in fact it’s worse.

Russian rocket attacks killed dozens of people in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv as ceasefire talks between Kyiv and Moscow got under way, with the Kremlin facing unprecedented international sanctions that have created “a new economic reality” for Russia.

After four days of fighting and a slower Russian advance than many expected, the Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said Kharkiv had been “massively fired on”, leaving “dozens of dead and hundreds of wounded”.

The news came hours after the Ukrainian presidency said it had begun negotiations with a Russian delegation on the border with Belarus, aimed at achieving “an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces”.

Ukraine invasion: Would Putin press the nuclear button?

Let me begin with an admission. So many times, I’ve thought: “Putin would never do this.” Then he goes and does it.

“He’d never annex Crimea, surely?” He did.

“He’d never start a war in the Donbas.” He did.

“He’d never launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” He has.

I’ve concluded that the phrase “would never do” doesn’t apply to Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian sailor sinks Russian boss’s $7.7 million luxury superyacht

A Ukrainian sailor sunk his Russian boss’ $7.7 million luxury superyacht in Spain before accusing him of selling weapons to Vladimir Putin.

The yacht, named the Lady Anastasia, is owned by businessman Alexander Mijeev.

Mijeev took over Rostec, a Russian state-owned weapons supplier, in 2016.

Kharkiv.
Russian BM-21 Grad liberate Ukrainians from their lives and properties#Ukraina #Kharkiv #RussiaGoHome
pic.twitter.com/t9gkyho1tJ

— UKRAINE/RUSSIA CONFLICT | UPDATES (@_UKRAINERUSSIA) February 28, 2022

Russia has more than doubled its interest rate to 20% in a bid to halt a slump in the value of its currency.

The Bank of Russia raised the rate from 9.5% after the rouble sank 30% after new Western sanctions. The currency then eased back to stand 20% down.

The collapse in value erodes the currency’s buying power and could wipe out the savings of ordinary Russians.

Amid pictures at the weekend of queues at cash machines, Russia said it had the resources to ride out sanctions.