Any Ukrainian riders?

[Paul A]

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3478192-canadian-prime-minister-visits-irpin.html

Sunday, 08 May 2022

Canadian prime minister visits Irpin

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has visited Irpin, Kyiv region.

According to Ukrinform, Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn announced this on Facebook.

"I just had the honor of speaking with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. He came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupiers have done to our city. And, of course, he was shocked. He saw that those burnt and completely destroyed were not military facilities, but the homes of Irpin's residents, who until recently enjoyed life and had their own plans for the future," Markushyn said.

 

He thanked Trudeau for Canada's support for Ukraine. Markushyn also noted that he believes in further cooperation between the two countries in rebuilding Ukrainian cities after the victory.

 

 

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/08/mariupol-azovstal-fighters-ukraine-azov-battalion/

By Annabelle Timsit, Fredrick Kunkle and Annabelle C. Chapman

 

Updated yesterday at 9:42 a.m. EDT

 

 

Last Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol vow to fight ‘as long as we are alive’

As the last civilians were evacuated from Mariupol’s embattled steel plant, leaders of the remaining Ukrainian fighters holing up there took to Zoom to issue a defiant message: That they will fight until the very end.

 

 

"We will always fight, as long as we are alive, for justice,” Azov Deputy Commander Cap. Sviatoslav “Kalina” Palamar said in an unusual news conference from within the Azovstal steel plant.

Russian forces continued to storm the steel plant on Sunday, the fighters said. “We don’t have much time, we are under constant shelling, so we need to begin,” Palamar warned at the start of the video conference.

Kyiv’s defense of Mariupol appeared to be nearing an end this weekend as more than 300 civilian women, children and elderly were evacuated from Azovstal steel plant — the last holdout for the city’s resistance — though the two fighters said they could not confirm that every single civilian had been evacuated from the plant.

 

He said fighters were wary of reports of Russia’s mistreatment of prisoners of war and feared they would be killed after surrender. With Russian forces attacking the plant, there was little hope of escape to Ukrainian-held territory, he said.

“Surrender for us is unacceptable,” Samoilenko said. “Being captured means being dead.”

 

Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov Regiment (left) and Azov lieuenant Illia Samoilenko (right) hold a news conference over Zoom from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. (Annabelle Timsit/The Washington Post)

[Hellkitten]

Asov............😬😬😬 

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/09/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/

By Robyn Dixon, Julian Duplain, Bryan Pietsch, Rachel Pannett, Jennifer Hassan, Victoria Bissett and Adam Taylor

 

Updated today at 5:30 a.m. EDT

 

 

Vladimir Putin, on Victory Day, defends invasion but does not announce escalation

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking from Moscow’s Red Square at the start of a military pageant, did not use a Victory Day speech to announce plans to intensify the war against Ukraine or order a mobilization of men to fight as Ukrainian officials had feared.

 

Instead, he defended his country’s military action in Ukraine as “necessary, timely and the only right solution.”

He told the 11,000 assembled service personnel gathered to mark Victory Day, a commemoration of the Soviet Union’s World War II role in defeating Nazi Germany, that Russian forces entered Ukraine as “preemptive pushback” to what he claimed, without evidence, were Western plans to carry out attacks on eastern Ukraine.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/09/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-PZWIOXWDVFF37OF56LKUUIIIH4

By Reis Thebault 5:51 a.m.

 

 

Russia to begin shipping through port of Mariupol, officials say

Russia is poised to begin shipping goods through the port of Mariupol in the coming weeks, officials said Sunday, signaling that Moscow will soon try to capitalize on the strategic value of the ruined southeastern city where it carried out a weeks-long siege that Ukrainian authorities say killed an estimated 20,000 civilians.

 

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin and the leader of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, toured the port in recent days, Pushilin said on Telegram. He said shipments will begin this month.

 

“Work is in full swing there — more than 400 employees have already been hired,” Pushilin wrote.

He said Khusnullin sees the port as “a transport hub — a loading and unloading platform for everything needed for large-scale work.”

 

In the early days of Russia’s invasion, analysts and experts highlighted Mariupol’s strategic importance as the largest trading port on the Sea of Azov.

If seized, they warned, maritime movement between Russia and its separatist allies in the Donbas region and Crimea would become easier, and it would open up a land bridge between them.

[Freeforester]

 

[Paul A]

Ukrainian Artillery Crews Aim To Drive Russian Forces From Kharkiv Region

62K views · 3 hours ago

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
578K subscribers

 

 

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/09/president-biden-ukraine-lend-lease-signing/

By Amy B Wang

Updated today at 5:15 p.m. EDT

 

Biden signs Ukraine lend-lease act into law, expediting military aid

President Biden signed into law on Monday afternoon a bill that will expedite the process of sending military aid to Ukraine, as the Eastern European country presses into its third month of fighting off a Russian invasion.

 

Flanked by Vice President Harris and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, Biden vowed the United States will continue to support Ukraine “in their fight to defend their country and their democracy” against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

[Paul A]

Russia’s Ministry of Defence has proposed compensation payments for the families of deceased service personnel be overseen by military rather than civilian officials.

This likely reflects a desire to hide the true scale of Russia’s losses from the domestic population.

 

 

 

[Paul A]

Russia’s Victory Day puts focus on military's losses in Ukraine

160,112 views

May 9, 2022

Al Jazeera English

9.03M subscribers

 

While Russia is preparing a show of force to celebrate the anniversary of its World War II victory, the reality of its battle in Ukraine seems much bleaker.

Ukraine’s military says more than 25,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion on February 24, while Moscow’s Defence Ministry says less than 1,300 soldiers have been killed.

Al Jazeera was given rare access to the bodies left behind as Russia retreated from the Kyiv region.

 

*Viewer discretion advised.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[UniVehje]

The scale of Russian deaths is amazing. They are doing everything to hide the numbers and only a handful of deaths are from Moscow and St. Petersburg areas. They are killing men from poor ethnic groups that nobody in Moscow cares about. Most of the victims don't know why they are there and don't want to be there. Yet, better them than Ukrainians. The Russian people seems to have their minds completely subjugated. 

[Paul A]

Yes, Russian soldiers' low morale indicates that they don't want to be there.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/01/russia-low-morale-ukraine-invasion/

March 1, 2022

 

It’s hard for Russia to invade Ukraine when its soldiers don’t want to be there

Many Russian soldiers don’t want to be in Ukraine

Evidence is mounting that many Russian soldiers are reluctant to fight.

Social media is littered with videos of lost and hungry soldiers looting, begging for food or ditching their tanks and trucks.

Captured soldiers have expressed confusion about the war’s purpose and have surrendered once they discovered they were not on a training exercise.

 

Hundreds of armored vehicles have been abandoned or captured by Ukrainian forces and, in at least one case, by a local farmer.

Many of Russian equipment losses have been because of abandonment and capture, not destruction.

Indeed, dozens of videos of lines of stranded military equipment can be found on TikTok.

Russian military authorities have threatened physical abuse or worse to enforce discipline in some units.

 

 

The Russian Army has built-in problems that undermine morale

Scholars offer four reasons soldiers fight hard on the battlefield: ideology, including nationalism and patriotism; material benefits such as money; for fellow soldiers; and fear, including of one’s own commanders.

 

Like many armies, Russia’s military is marked by prewar inequalities between soldiers that undercut combat motivation.

Take, for example, the status and economic hierarchies between contract soldiers, who make up about 70 percent of the military, and conscripts.

Contract soldiers serve for three-year contracts, are paid fairly well (about $1,100 a month) and are better-trained.

As officers, they also enjoy numerous opportunities to engage in corruption, including siphoning off conscript pay.

 

Conscripts, in contrast, are poorly trained, receiving four months of basic training, and serve for only a year, during which they are often victimized by their own contract officers, who often violently haze young recruits.

For their troubles, they are paid less than $25 a month.

Small wonder that there’s a robust black market in seeking deferments to avoid conscription.

Poor pay and the chasm between contract soldiers and conscripts combine to undermine unit cohesion.

 

 

Inequality’s corrosive effects are amplified by the Russian army’s design.

Logistics and transportation units that handle fuel, ammunition and food shipments are heavily staffed by conscripts.

Poor morale in these critical units has a snowball effect, crippling front-line units.

What’s more, maneuver units and even elite airborne units are typically one-third conscripts, creating opportunities for a contagion of low morale.

 

Perhaps these cracks could be papered over if political authorities offered a compelling reason for the war.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin made little effort to prepare soldiers to fight against fellow Slavs or explain why war was necessary.

The Kremlin has refused to use the term “war,” referring instead to a “special operation,” a term that de-emphasizes the cost and sacrifices needed for victory.

 

The Kremlin even denies that conscripts are present, erasing their sacrifice.

By presidential decree, conscripts are not legally allowed to operate outside Russian borders.

On the eve of war, thousands of conscripts had their status forcibly changed to contract status to circumvent the decree, creating a new set of grievances against military authorities.

 

 

Low morale may bring Russian brutality — and put civilians in the crosshairs

The problem of low morale has three implications for Russian force deployment.

 

First, low morale creates incentives to use indiscriminate violence.

Concerned by the prospect of low morale and unsure whether enough of its soldiers have the skills to conduct modern combined arms operations, Russian commanders might turn to other forms of violence to restore battlefield momentum.

In this scenario, sieges and aerial bombardment of cities reduce reliance on ground forces and their tangled logistics while increasing coercive leverage over Kyiv.

For reluctant soldiers, such operations can seem to promise quicker returns while minimizing additional casualties that might further erode morale.

The cost, of course, is borne by civilians unable to escape these cities.

 

 

Second, low morale can increase the brutality of war.

Historically, divided armies such as Russia’s have drawn on auxiliaries to do the war’s dirty work.

Russia dispatched a large detachment of pro-Moscow Chechen forces, known as the Kadyrovtsy, to Ukraine to bolster Russian forces.

These forces, hated and feared by Russian soldiers, were meant to act as shock troops in tough urban battles.

They also have little regard for civilian casualties.

These units accelerate the slide into brutality by committing atrocities that can leave victimized populations demanding retribution.

Safely surrendering becomes nearly impossible, leading even unmotivated soldiers (in this case, on the Ukrainian side) to fight harder to avoid death.

 

Third, low morale creates new vulnerabilities.

Selective conscription armies such as Russia’s historically record the highest casualty rates of any type of army.

Soldiers who might not want to fight may seek opportunities to flee or otherwise shirk their duties.

Commanders, fearing widespread indiscipline, often simplify operations and tactics to help improve command and control.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/10/russia-ukraine-war-news-live-updates/#link-TJMMOGT57BBCTLUBPKYOESOURM

By Andrew Jeong 4:38 a.m.

 

Pentagon: Equivalent of two Russian battalion tactical groups still in Mariupol

The equivalent of two Russian battalion tactical groups are still in the shattered port city of Mariupol, but most of the Russian forces that had pinned down the remaining Ukrainian fighters there have now been deployed elsewhere, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday.

About 700 to 900 troops are in one such group.

 

The Pentagon assessed last month that almost a dozen Russian battalion tactical groups would be free to be used elsewhere in Ukraine should Mariupol come under Russian control.

The last Ukrainian fighters at the Azovstal steel plant in the city — most of which has been under Russian control since April — vowed on Sunday to hold out until the very end.

[UniVehje]

Interesting look into the acceptance of death in these poor areas of Russia. Complete zombification of the nation. 
 

 

[Paul A]

 

[Freeforester]

Arab spring 2.0, anyone?

[Paul A]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61408700

UK agrees mutual security deals with Finland and Sweden

Published

7 hours ago

 

The UK has agreed mutual security pacts with Sweden and Finland, agreeing to come to their aid should either nation come under attack.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited both countries to sign the deals, amid debate about them joining Nato.

The pacts also state that Finland and Sweden would assist the UK in a crisis.

Mr Johnson and Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson said co-operation was "even more important" given Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The second deal was announced in a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

[Paul A]

At The Washington Post, we take seriously our duty to clarify news and information in ways that illuminate the facts and discover the truth. Critical to this effort is our visual forensics team, who ensure that what you see — and share — is real. This kind of verification is particularly important as we cover the war in Ukraine. This year, we are doubling our investment in visual forensics, and you’ll see that reflected in the recently published database of more than 200 Post Verified videos exposing the horrors of the war in Ukraine. On the ground in Ukraine and here in our newsroom, our team worked night and day to verify video content, pinpoint locations and determine timing to separate genuine video from misinformation. The result is a stunningly comprehensive account of what is perhaps the world’s most documented war to date — told largely through cellphone video. Across our coverage, from the streets of Minneapolis to the steps of the Capitol, we are committed to reporting the facts with all the tools available to us, and to empowering you with the tools and information to do your own research. The visual forensics team, together with The Post’s Fact Checker, have written two guides to help you evaluate the stories you encounter online.

How to spot a fake video » The Fact Checker’s Guide to manipulated video »

Seeing isn’t always believing. But verifying is. Thank you for supporting our journalism.

Sally Buzbee Executive Editor, The Washington Post

 

________________________________________________________________

How to spot a fake video.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/19/how-spot-fake-video/?utm_medium=ret-all&utm_content=sallyvf&utm_campaign=dr-may-22&utm_source=email

 

The fact checker's guide to manipulated video.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/fact-checker/manipulated-video-guide/?utm_medium=ret-all&utm_content=sallyvf&utm_campaign=dr-may-22&utm_source=email

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/11/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-5QG36MJPLFGWJCDNPGSAP6JBA4

By Paulina Firozi 10:30 p.m.

 

Canada to charter flights for Ukrainians and family members

The Canadian government announced Wednesday that it will charter three flights for Ukrainians who want to travel to Canada.

Flights will be available May 23, May 29 and June 2 from Poland to the Canadian cities of Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax, respectively, according to a news release.

The flights for Ukrainians and family members will be for individuals approved through a Canada-Ukraine authorization program for emergency travel. The Canadian government said it would also provide up to two weeks of temporary accommodations for those who may not have other places to stay.

 

Nearly 6 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion, according to data tracked by the U.N. refugee agency.

“Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced and forced to flee their homes, and these charter flights will help make sure that those who want to come to Canada have the support they need,” Sean Fraser, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, said in a statement.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/11/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-5QG36MJPLFGWJCDNPGSAP6JBA4

By Jeanne Whalen 3:51 p.m.

 

Sanctions force Russia to use dishwasher chips in military gear, U.S. official says

 

Russia is having a harder time manufacturing military equipment and other goods because of U.S.-led sanctions blocking the country from importing computer chips, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Two Russian tank manufacturers have had to idle production, according to Raimondo, whose department oversees the export controls enacted by the United States and its allies after Russia’s invasion began.

 

“We have reports from Ukrainians that when they find Russian military equipment on the ground, it’s filled with semiconductors that they took out of dishwashers and refrigerators,” Raimondo added, noting that she recently met with Ukraine’s prime minister.

“U.S. exports of technology to Russia have fallen by nearly 70 percent since we imposed these export controls,” she told the hearing, which was reviewing the Commerce Department’s latest budget request.

The export controls were designed to “cripple their ability to continue a military operation. And that is exactly what we are doing,” Raimondo said.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/11/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-5QG36MJPLFGWJCDNPGSAP6JBA4

By David Stern 3:16 p.m.

 

Ukraine offers prisoner exchange to evacuate injured Azovstal fighters

Ukraine is proposing to turn over Russian prisoners in exchange for the evacuation of injured fighters at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post Wednesday that Ukraine offered Russia a proposal in which seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers would be allowed to flee through a humanitarian corridor. In exchange, captured Russians would be handed over in accordance with established rules for prisoner exchanges.

“There is no agreement yet,” she wrote. “Negotiations are ongoing.”

 

The plight of the injured soldiers has become the focus when it comes to control of the facility — the last sliver of Mariupol still in Ukraine’s hands.

Russia has called on the Ukrainian troops to surrender, while Ukraine wants the injured fighters to be allowed to flee.

Hundreds of civilians who were trapped at the sprawling complex have already been evacuated.

“Defenders of Azovstal do not want to surrender,” Vereshchuk said. “This is worthy of respect.”

There was no immediate response from Russia regarding the proposal.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/11/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-5QG36MJPLFGWJCDNPGSAP6JBA4

By Paulina Firozi 2:22 p.m.

 

Finland’s president says Putin’s actions sparked potential NATO membership

 

When asked how Russian President Vladimir Putin might react to Finland joining NATO, the nation’s president said he would tell the Russian leader: “You caused this. Look at the mirror.”

During a news conference with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto underlined that “this is not the first time we’re discussing NATO.”

 

The remarks come as militarily nonaligned Finland and Sweden are expected to apply to join NATO, a move that NATO and U.S. officials have said they would embrace.

“They have made it very clear in earlier years that if you join NATO, [Russia] will do whatever, they have explained, some contra-steps,” Niinisto said. “What they are, that is for us to guess.”

But he said the situation has changed, in part because of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

“They are ready to attack a neighboring country,” he said. “So when you ask whether — how they see [Finland potentially joining NATO], if that would be the case that we join, what my response would be, that ‘you caused this. Look at the mirror.’”

 

 

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, right, at a news conference Wednesday alongside British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Helsinki. (Frank Augstein/Pool/Reuters)

[Paul A]

China wants to form its own military alliance

30,677 views

May 12, 2022

CaspianReport

1.14M subscribers

 

[Paul A]

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3481203-russians-block-exits-from-underground-passages-at-azovstal-mariupol-defenders-counterattack.html

Thursday, 12 May 2022

Russians block exits from underground passages at Azovstal, Mariupol defenders counterattack

Russian troops are blocking the exits from underground passages at the Mariupol-based Azovstal plant, but Ukrainian defenders are launching counterattacks.

The relevant statement was made by Advisor to Mariupol Mayor Petro Andriushchenko on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Yesterday the enemy did not stop their ground assault attempts. The key objective is to block the exits from underground passages, which have been shown to the enemy by a traitor. Nevertheless, Mariupol defenders are making counterattack attempts, risking everything. There are no words to describe the heroism of Mariupol defenders,” Andriushchenko wrote.

 

In his words, enemy drones are one of the biggest problems. If there had been a way to blind or down them, things would have been much easier for Mariupol defenders.

[Paul A]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/12/russia-ukraine-war-news-live-updates/

By Mary Ilyushina and Annabelle Timsit 9:23 a.m.

 

Russia says it could take ‘retaliatory steps’ if Finland joins NATO

RIGA, Latvia — Russia suggested that it might take “retaliatory steps” after Finland’s top leaders said they intended to push for the Nordic nation to join NATO “without delay.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said NATO accession would damage relations with Helsinki, and could destabilize the region.

“Finland’s accession to NATO will cause serious damage to bilateral Russian-Finnish relations, maintaining stability and security in the Northern European region,” the ministry said in a statement. “Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop the threats to its national security that arise in this regard.”

 

“The expansion of NATO does not make our continent more stable and secure,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday, according to Russian news outlet Interfax.

Peskov said Russia could take measures to “balance the situation” if Finland joins the alliance.

“NATO is moving in our direction,” he said.