Any Ukrainian riders?

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/16/russia-ukraine-war-news-zelensky-live-updates/#link-HQTX44YIWNHKTOYHKPYUQE7OJI

By Paul Sonne5:49 a.m.

 

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov expresses hope for ‘compromise’ with Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday there is “hope for reaching a compromise” with the Ukrainian delegation in peace talks, echoing comments by Ukrainian officials that progress has been made.

Lavrov, speaking in an interview with the Russian television channel RBC, said he was basing his assessment on the view of the Russian negotiators.

“They state that negotiations are not easy for obvious reasons but nevertheless there is some hope for reaching a compromise,” Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister said the Ukrainian delegation has issued similar statements expressing hope for an agreement.

 

The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said Ukraine during the talks has proposed a model similar to that of Austria or Sweden, “neutral demilitarized state but a government with its own army and naval powers.”

“The preservation and development of Ukraine’s neutral status, the demilitarization of Ukraine — a whole range of issues related to the size of the Ukrainian army are being discussed,” Medinsky said, according to Russian state news service RIA Novosti.

[Paul A]

 

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/16/russia-ukraine-war-news-zelensky-live-updates/#link-HQTX44YIWNHKTOYHKPYUQE7OJI

By Adela Suliman and Hannah Knowles4:15 a.m.

 

Zelensky says peace talks headed in ‘more realistic’ direction

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address late Tuesday that negotiations with Russia were heading in a “more realistic” direction, as the war nears its third full week.

“The meetings continue, and I am informed that the positions during the negotiations already sound more realistic,” Zelensky said, speaking at his desk. “But time is still needed for the decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine.”

“Everyone should work … for negotiations with the Russian Federation,” he said, adding that “it is difficult but important as any war ends with an agreement.”

 

On Tuesday, Zelensky hinted that he may have backed down, for now, from his long-standing desire for Ukraine to join NATO — a sticking point for Russia.

“It is clear that Ukraine is not a member of NATO. We understand this. … For years we heard about the apparently open door, but have already also heard that we will not enter there, and these are truths and must be acknowledged,” Zelensky said during an address to leaders of 10 North Atlantic countries led by Britain, a group known as the Joint Expeditionary Force.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/15/ukraine-britain-homes-refugee/

By Karla Adam

Yesterday at 7:16 a.m. EDT

 

More than 100,000 Brits sign up to house Ukrainian refugees

LONDON — More than 100,000 Britons have signed up to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes in less than 24 hours, signaling a huge willingness by the British public to go further than the United Kingdom has done so far on providing support for refugees.

 

“Homes for Ukraine,” as the program is known, launched Monday afternoon, and within six hours, 44,000 Brits had signed up before the government website crashed. Less than a day later, more than 100,000 had registered their interest to take in a refugee.

 

Richard Shakespeare, 62, a retired detective, and his wife, Wendy, 52, are empty-nesters who have signed up to offer a room in their three-bedroom house near Norwich, a city in the east of England.

“We felt that this was something positive and real, and we could see the end result. We want to help a family in a terrible situation,” Shakespeare said. He added that he was “slightly exasperated” by Britain’s response on refugees so far but added, “The British public are stepping up to the plate and offering help in numbers.”

[Paul A]

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/15/china-does-not-want-to-be-impacted-by-russia-sanctions-fm

15 Mar 2022

China says it does not want to be impacted by Russia sanctions

Foreign Minister Wang Yi says Beijing is ‘not party’ in the Russia-Ukraine war as pressure grows on it to withdraw Moscow support.

China’s foreign minister has told his Spanish counterpart his country does not want to be impacted by Western economic sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine last month, according to state media.

“China is not a party to the crisis, still less wants to be affected by the sanctions,” Wang Yi said, according to a readout of a phone call with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares that was published on Tuesday.

 

He added that China rejects sanctions in principle and “has the right to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”, calling the nearly three-week conflict in Ukraine “the product of the accumulation and intensification of European security contradictions over the years”.

For his part, Albares wrote on Twitter: “I have talked to my counterpart from China, Wang Yi about the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the means to end it.”

The discussion came as pressure grows on China to withdraw support from an increasingly isolated Russia, which has been hit by a series of tough sanctions imposed by the United States and Western allies.

The readout of the call did not mention recent reports citing US officials that Russia had asked China for military and economic help after the start of the war on February 24. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman had previously dismissed the reports as “malicious” US disinformation.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/16/russia-ukraine-war-news-zelensky-live-updates/

March 16, 2022

President Biden announced he will activate $800 million more in security assistance “to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s assault.” He outlined the new assistance package that will include anti-aircraft systems and drones to help fend off Russian attacks.

Biden calls Putin a ‘war criminal’ publicly for the first time.

Biden administration identifies 50 Russian elites as targets for global hunt to seize assets.

 

Biden details new security assistance package for Ukraine

President Biden on Wednesday detailed a new assistance package for Ukraine, which will include drones to defend against Russian air attacks.

Biden said he’s using his presidential authority again to “activate additional security assistance to continue to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s assault.”

He said the United States will send an additional $800 million in assistance to Ukraine, bringing the total new security assistance this week to $1 billion. These transfers are being made in the form of equipment sent from the Defense Department to Ukraine.

“This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine,” Biden said in remarks ahead of signing the new package. “It includes 800 antiaircraft systems to make sure the Ukrainian military can continue to stop the planes and helicopters that have been attacking their people and to defend Ukrainian airspace.”

Biden said that at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the United States will help Ukraine “acquire additional longer-range aircraft systems and the munitions for those systems.” The new assistance package, he said, also includes anti-armor systems, armored vehicles, machine guns, shotguns, ammunition and grenade launchers.

Finally, the package also includes drones, “which demonstrate our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for its defense,” Biden said.

The president noted that the United States is “not doing this alone.”

“Our allies and partners have stepped up to provide significant shipments of security assistance, and we’ll continue to help facilitate these deliveries, as well,” Biden said.

[supercurio]

Latest video from Ecodrift (doesn't allow embedding, probably for a reason) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBWpdyaSAC8

The intro says "We are against aggression and express our condolence to all its victims"

Edit:
Ah shoot, it was made private already It was an Abrams review.

Edited March 17, 2022 by supercurio

[Paul A]

https://www.reuters.com/world/japan-spots-four-russian-amphibious-transports-sailing-far-east-2022-03-17/

March 17, 2022

Japan spots four Russian amphibious transports sailing from Far East

TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters) - Japan's military said on Thursday that it had spotted four large Russian amphibious warfare ships sailing close to its islands as they traveled west, possibly towards Europe.

Pictures of the amphibious transports, typically used for landing expeditionary forces ashore, published by Japan's defence ministry showed what appeared to be military trucks loaded onto the deck of one of the vessels.

We don't know where they are heading, but their heading suggest it is possible," a Japanese defence ministry spokesman said. Asked if they could be bound for Ukraine, he said "it is possible".

It is unusual for Russian ships to pass through the strait so close to Japanese territory, the military spokesman said.

 

Armed with anti-tank weapons supplied by the United States and other countries Ukrainian fighters have taken a heavy toll on Russian armour and fuel trucks, meaning Moscow, which describes its attack as a "special operation," may need to reinforce its forces with new equipment.

NATO allies, which have already supplied 20,000 anti-tank and other weapons to Ukraine, on Wednesday said they would keep helping the country resist the Russian attack.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/17/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-BW44K2GWVJDCJBX7FOJ5QOMR7E

By Donna Cassata8:17 a.m.

 

Biden to speak to Chinese president as U.S. warns China against helping Russian war effort

President Biden will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday as the United States warns China against providing assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

In a statement Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the conversation “is part of our ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC [People’s Republic of China]. The two Leaders will discuss managing the competition between our two countries as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine and other issues of mutual concern.”

[supercurio]

As a follow-up to my previous post, Ecodrift re-published their Abrams review without the intro supporting Ukranine. Since it's at the same URL, it means they trimmed it out using YouTube video editor.

 

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/17/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-BW44K2GWVJDCJBX7FOJ5QOMR7E

By Aaron Gregg8:28 a.m.

Russia says it has ordered a $117 million interest payment on two dollar-denominated bonds, according to news reports, but it remains to be seen whether that is enough to avoid default.

Whether the payment due Wednesday goes through depends on whether an American bank is allowed to process it, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Reuters. U.S. sanctions have frozen Moscow’s foreign currency accounts.

“The capability or incapability of meeting our obligations in foreign currency equivalent does not depend on us,” Siluanov said, according to Reuters. “We have the money, we have made the payment, now the ball is in the court, primarily, of the American authorities.”

The payment marks a crucial test of Russia’s solvency at a time when sanctions over the war in Ukraine have cut Moscow off from the global financial system. The country’s credit rating has been downgraded to “junk” by leading agencies amid concerns about possible default. Its financial markets have been shuttered for nearly three weeks, and foreign corporations have left the country in droves.

If the payment does not reach creditors, Russia would then attempt to pay in rubles, rather than dollars as required by the terms of the two government bonds, Siluanov told Tass, a state-owned Russian news outlet, earlier this week. But if the government of President Vladimir Putin fails to deliver the required dollars within a 30-day grace period, the country would officially be in default, according to Fitch, a leading credit-rating agency.

[Paul A]

Ukrainian Forces Destroy Russian Armored Column Іn Kyiv Region

297,842 views

Mar 18, 2022

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

450K subscribers

 

 

Ukrainian forces say they launched a successful counterattack against a Russian armored column in the Kyiv region.

On March 15, RFE/RL correspondent Levko Stek surveyed the aftermath of the battle.

 

 

[Paul A]

'Dad, Please Don't Die!': Harrowing Video Captures Deadly Russian Attack On Ukrainian Father And Son

1,105,288 views

Mar 4, 2022

 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

450K subscribers

 

*Viewer discretion advised.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Paul A]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/17/arnold-schwarzenegger-video-russia-putin-ukraine

Fri 18 Mar 2022

Arnold Schwarzenegger appeals to Russian people to reject Kremlin misinformation

Former California governor, 74, calls on Putin to stop attack on Ukraine and says ‘this is not the Russian people’s war’.

Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday told the Russian people that they are being fed misinformation about their country’s assault on Ukraine and appealed to President Vladimir Putin to stop the attack.

The Hollywood star said in the nine-minute video on Twitter that the Kremlin was intentionally lying to Russians by saying the invasion was intended to “denazify” Ukraine. Russia describes its actions as a “special operation”.

 

“Ukraine did not start this war, neither did nationalists or Nazis,” he said, noting that the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is Jewish. “This is not the Russian people’s war.”

Addressing in turn Russian citizens, troops and the country’s leadership, he said he was speaking with the same “heartfelt concern” with which he spoke to the American people after the 6 January insurrection last year.

 

Schwarzenegger’s Twitter account has 4.9 million followers – and is one of the 22 followed by the Kremlin’s official account.

“I love the Russian people. That’s why I have to tell you the truth. Please watch and share,” Schwarzenegger said in the tweet accompanying his video, which had already amassed more than a quarter-million likes by Thursday lunchtime.

Schwarzenegger asked Russians to spread the word about the “human catastrophe” and told Russian protesters the world is watching.

“The world has seen your bravery. We know you have suffered the consequences of your courage,” he said. “You are my new heroes.“

 

The video concludes with Schwarzenegger pointing out that 11 million Russians have family connections to Ukraine.

“Every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or sister,” he said.

[Paul A]

Arnold Schwarzenegger tells Putin to "stop this war"

159,571 views

Mar 18, 2022

 

The Telegraph

2.72M subscribers

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger has made an impassioned attempt to tell Russian soldiers, and the Russian people, the truth about the war in Ukraine.

Describing himself as a "longtime friend of the Russian people," the "Terminator" star released a nine-minute video, with Russian subtitles, on platforms including Telegram as he tried to bypass Kremlin propaganda.

 

[Funky]

Imagine this scenario: Nato and everyone is wrong and actually are "nazis". And Putin "The mighty" is right and he's fighting for world peace. Trying to stop "Covid v2" made in Ukraine.

But as their country has no "freedom of speech" we can clearly see through a glass what it is.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Funky

[RagingGrandpa]

3 hours ago, Funky said:

"freedom of peach"

Google says that's Polish, not Russian? 

https://www.opi.com/shop-products/nail-polish-powders/nail-lacquer/freedom-of-peach

[Funky]

10 minutes ago, RagingGrandpa said:

Google says that's Polish, not Russian? 

https://www.opi.com/shop-products/nail-polish-powders/nail-lacquer/freedom-of-peach

xD English is hard, i like peaches.

[Paul A]

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3433508-anonymous-vow-unprecedented-attacks-on-russian-government-sites.html

Friday, 18 March 2022

Anonymous vow "unprecedented attacks" on Russian government sites

Since the launch of Russian invasion of Ukraine, Anonymous have hacked more than 2,500 Russian and Belarusian official websites and announced further "unprecedented" attacks on Russian government-run platforms

This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to the group's Twitter account.

"Anonymous launching unprecedented attacks on the websites of Russian gov't. Increasing their capacity at peak times from 500 GB earlier, it is now up to 1 TB. That is, two to three times more powerful than the most serious incidents," the hackers said.

They added that they had already downed more than 2,500 sites in Russia and Belarus.

 

"Since declaring 'cyber war' on Kremlin's criminal regime, Anonymous has hacked over 2500 websites of Russian & Belarusian gov't, state media outlets, banks, hospitals, airports, companies & pro-russian 'hacking group' in support of Ukraine," the statement said.

As Ukrinform reported, earlier the international hacker group Anonymous, in response to the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear power plant by Russian invaders, hacked the website of Rosatom and its subsidiaries, gaining security data of the companies.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/07/ukraine-airbnb-booking-donations/?itid=lk_inline_manual_6

March 7, 2022

People are booking Airbnbs in war-torn Ukraine to donate directly to owners: ‘It was important for me to do something’

 

Hilary Mak was at home in Surrey, England, on Thursday afternoon when her daughter shared an Instagram post about a way to send money to Ukrainians.

The idea, the message said, was to book Airbnbs.

“It captured my imagination,” Mak, 59, said in an interview with The Washington Post.

“I have donated to charities, but I thought maybe this was a way to connect to people in an individual way … and to let them know that people are behind them and want to do whatever they can to help.”

 

Mak found a rental in Kyiv and messaged the host telling her she wanted to help. The host responded immediately, Mak said.

“She said, ‘Our children are sheltered in the basement,’ ” Mak, a psychiatrist, recalled, adding that the host sent a picture from the shelter showing her daughters bundled in winter coats and hats and eating on a bed next to their car. “She said, ‘I hope you never know what war is.’ ”

“I just cried,” Mak said. “It was very personal.”

 

Mak is among thousands of people using Airbnb as an immediate and intimate way to help those living through war in Ukraine.

On Wednesday and Thursday, more than 61,000 nights were booked in Ukraine from people around the world, according to an Airbnb spokesman, who added that the total booking value was nearly $2 million.

 

The company late last week waived all guest and host fees on bookings in Ukraine and said that operations in Russia and Belarus were suspended.

Last Monday, Airbnb announced it was offering “free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine,” according to a news release.

 

Susan Moray, 70, heard about the initiative on Twitter.

The campaign felt personal, she said, since she gets her primary income from being an Airbnb host in her hometown of Portland, Ore.

Moray considered what it would mean for her to suddenly lose that income.

So, she decided to book a “stay” from March 5 through 8, the soonest option available since hosts get paid only once the rental begins, she said.

“I think any way you can get money directly to them is such a great way to help,” Moray told The Post.

Moray made sure to book a stay from someone living in Kyiv, rather than a corporation or hotel.

Her host responded and thanked her for the support.

 

“We will use this money to help all those who need help in this difficult time — the elderly, women, children who stayed in Kyiv and need food, medicines, warm clothes,” the host, Iryna, wrote to Moray in messages reviewed by The Post.

“We have united a group of like-minded people and created a volunteer team that delivers everything people need.”

[Wolverine]

 

[Wolverine]

 

[Paul A]

https://citizenlab.ca/author/jsrailton/

John Scott-Railton is a Senior Researcher at The Citizen Lab. His work focuses on technological threats civil society, including targeted malware operations, cyber militias, and online disinformation.

 

His greatest hits include a collaboration with colleague Bill Marczak that uncovered the the systematic use of Pegasus spyware to target civil society in several countries, including Mexico and the UAE. Pegasus is developed by the Israeli cyber-warfare company NSO Group and sold exclusively to governments. That investigation also uncovered the first iPhone zero-day and remote jailbreak seen in the wild.

 

Other investigations with Citizen Lab colleagues include the first report of ISIS-led malware operations, China's "Great Cannon," the Government of China's nation-scale DDoS attack, and the 'tainted leaks' disinformation campaigns strongly linked to the Russian Government.

These investigations, and others, have served as the basis for criminal investigations and lawsuits.

 

John has also investigated the manipulation of news aggregators such as Google News, and privacy and security issues with fitness trackers. Recently, John was a fellow at Google Ideas and Jigsaw at Alphabet.

 

John has undergraduate degrees from the University of Chicago and a Masters from the University of Michigan. He is completing a PhD at UCLA. Previously he founded The Voices Projects, collaborative information feeds that bypassed internet shutdowns in Libya and Egypt.

 

John's work has been covered by Time Magazine, BBC, CNN, The Washington Post, and the New York Times. He can be reached at jsr [at] citizenlab.ca

______________

 

The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto.

[mrelwood]

Thank you so much @Paul A and others for keeping this thread alive with the latest important updates on the Ukraine situation! This thread is honestly my main source of Ukraine related information at the moment. 

[Paul A]

Thanks for the kind words Mr. Elwood, much appreciated.

This site shows that a fellow member is still visiting the forums, even if he hasn't made any recent comments.

Russian censorship and threats of 15 years of jail, to oppress spread of information.

Hopefully, the numerous contributions to this thread by many members, are providing access and morale.