It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, February 27, 2022
HACKERS VS RUSSIA
Anonymous claims responsibility for Russian government website outages
TSAR PUTIN
Igor Bonifacic ·Contributing Writer Sat, February 26, 2022, 12:00 PM·2 min read
On Saturday morning, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its third day, some of the country’s official government websites went down following a series of alleged cyberattacks. Among the sites that aren’t accessible as of the writing of this article include that of the Kremlin and the country’s Ministry of Defence. Several Twitter accounts claiming affiliation with Anonymous say the international hacking collective is behind the attacks.
“Faced with this series of attacks that Ukraine has been suffering from the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, we could not help but support the Ukrainian people,” said one account. At the start of the conflict, the group said it would launch a “cyber war against the Russian government.” However, the Kremlin has denied Anonymous is behind the attacks, according to CNN.
It’s believed Anonymous is also responsible for hacking several Russian state TV channels. People have uploaded videos showing those channels playing Ukrainian music and displaying images of the country’s flag and other nationalistic symbols.
The collective has also pledged to “keep the Ukrainian people online as best we can,” even as the invasion takes a heavy toll on the country's internet infrastructure. While there hasn’t been a widespread blackout, some parts of Ukraine, particularly those areas where fighting has been the most intense, have seen greatly diminished access. That's something that has prevented people from staying in touch with their loved ones.
Kremlin website goes down as Russian TV channels ‘hacked to play Ukrainian songs’
Graeme Massie Sat, February 26, 2022
The Kremlin’s website went down and Russian TV channels were “hacked to play Ukrainian songs” following a string of reported cyberattacks as Vladimir Putin’s attack on the country continued.
Ukraine’s state telecommunications agency announced on Saturday that six Russian government websites, including the Kremlin’s, were down, according to The Kyiv Independent.
The agency also stated that the Russian media regulator’s website had gone down, and that hackers had got Russian TV channels to play the Ukrainian music.
Hacking collective Anonymous took to Twitter on Saturday morning and said that it was “at war with Russia. Stay tuned.”
The latest move comes after the collective’s Twitter account declared on Thursday that the group was “currently involved in operations against the Russian Federation.”
“We want the Russian people to understand that we know it’s hard for them to speak out against their dictator for fear of reprisals,” they stated.
“We, as a collective want only peace in the world. We want a future for all of humanity. So, while people around the globe smash your internet providers to bits, understand that it’s entirely directed at the actions of the Russian government and Putin.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine’s armed forces had “derailed” Vladimir Putin’s plans to capture Kyiv.
Following intense fighting in Kyiv which saw an apartment building in the capital hit by a missile, president Zelensky remained defiant as he urged Ukrainians to defend the nation stating: “We will give you arms,” in a video address.
(AP) UKRANIAN CIVILIAN VOLUNTEER YELLOW ARM BAND
“We have withstood and are successfully repelling enemy attacks. The fighting goes on,” the Ukrainian president said in an emotional speech.
The country’s state rail service also announced on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had blown up all rail lines linking the country with Russia.
Anti-war sentiment grows in Russia
despite govt crackdown
DASHA LITVINOVA and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
MOSCOW (AP) — As Russian troops were closing in on the Ukrainian capital, more and more Russians spoke out Saturday against the invasion, even as the government's official rhetoric grew increasingly harsher.
Street protests, albeit small, resumed in the Russian capital of Moscow, the second-largest city of St. Petersburg and other Russian cities for the third straight day, with people taking to the streets despite mass detentions on Thursday and Friday. According to OVD-Info, rights group that tracks political arrests, at least 460 people in 34 cities were detained over anti-war protests on Saturday, including over 200 in Moscow.
Open letters condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine kept pouring, too. More than 6,000 medical workers put their names under one on Saturday; over 3,400 architects and engineers endorsed another while 500 teachers signed a third one. Similar letters by journalists, municipal council members, cultural figures and other professional groups have been making the rounds since Thursday.
A prominent contemporary art museum in Moscow called Garage announced Saturday it was halting its work on exhibitions and postponing them “until the human and political tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine has ceased."
“We cannot support the illusion of normality when such events are taking place,” the statement by the museum read. “We see ourselves as part of a wider world that is not divided by war.”
An online petition to stop the attack on Ukraine, launched shortly after it started on Thursday morning, garnered over 780,000 signatures by Saturday evening, making it one of the most supported online petitions in Russia in recent years.
Statements decrying the invasion even came from some parliament members, who earlier this week voted to recognize the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, a move that preceded the Russian assault. Two lawmakers from the Communist Party, which usually toes the Kremlin's line, spoke out against the hostilities on social media.
Oleg Smolin said he “was shocked” when the attack started and “was convinced that military force should be used in politics only as a last resort.” His fellow lawmaker Mikhail Matveyev said “the war must be immediately stopped” and that he voted for “Russia becoming a shield against the bombing of Donbas, not for the bombing of Kyiv.”
Russian authorities, meanwhile, took a harsher stance towards those denouncing the invasion, both at home and abroad.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said Moscow may respond to Western sanctions by opting out of the last nuclear arms deal with the U.S., cutting diplomatic ties with Western nations and freezing their assets.
He also warned that Moscow could restore the death penalty after Russia was removed from Europe's top rights group — a chilling statement that shocked human rights activists in a country that has had a moratorium on capital punishment since August 1996.
Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Kremlin human rights council, deplored it as a “catastrophe” and a “return to the Middle Ages.”
The Western sanctions imposed new tight restrictions on Russian financial operations, a draconian ban on technology exports to Russia and froze the assets of Putin and his foreign minister. Russian membership in the Council of Europe was also suspended.
Washington and its allies say even tougher sanctions are possible, including kicking Russia out of SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions.
Medvedev was a placeholder president in 2008-2012 when Putin had to shift into the prime minister’s seat because of term limits. He then let Putin reclaim the presidency and served as his prime minister for eight years.
During his tenure as president, Medvedev was widely seen as more liberal compared with Putin, but on Saturday he made a series of threats that even the most hawkish Kremlin figures haven't mentioned to date.
Medvedev noted that the sanctions offer the Kremlin a pretext to completely review its ties with the West, suggesting that Russia could opt out of the New START nuclear arms control treaty that limits the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals.
The treaty, which Medvedev signed in 2010 with then-U.S. President Barack Obama, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance. The pact, the last remaining U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control agreement, had been set to expire in February 2021 but Moscow and Washington extended it for another five years.
If Russia opts out of the agreement now, it will remove any checks on U.S. and Russian nuclear forces and raise new threats to global security.
Medvedev also raised the prospect of cutting diplomatic ties with Western countries, charging that “there is no particular need in maintaining diplomatic relations.” Referring to Western threats to freeze the assets of Russian companies and individuals, Medvedev warned that Moscow wouldn't hesitate to do the same.
Cracking down on critics at home, Russian authorities demanded that top independent news outlets take down stories about the fighting in Ukraine that deviated from the official government line.
Russia’s state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, charged that reports about "Russian armed forces firing at Ukrainian cities and the death of civilians in Ukraine as a result of the actions of the Russian army, as well as materials in which the ongoing operation is called ‘an attack,’ ‘an invasion,’ or ‘a declaration of war’” were untrue and demanded that the outlets take them down or face steep fines and restrictions.
On Friday, the watchdog also announced “partial restrictions” on access to Facebook in response to the platform limiting the accounts of several Kremlin-backed media.
On Saturday, Russian internet users reported problems with accessing Facebook and Twitter, both of which have played a major role in amplifying dissent in Russia in recent years.
‘Our families are dying,’ say demonstrators as truck convoy rolls to Buckingham Fountain to show support for Ukraine, call for peace
A TRUCKER CONVOY I SUPPORT John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS Stephanie Casanova, Chicago Tribune Sat, February 26, 2022, 3:36 PM·4 min read
Zoryana Smozhanyk and her parents stood outside their cars across from the Buckingham Fountain late Saturday morning talking as they waited for a truck convoy in support of Ukraine to arrive.
Close to noon, trucks began to pull up along Columbus Drive, lining up from Jackson Drive to Roosevelt Road and parked as the Smozhanyks and hundreds of other Ukrainians and their backers who gathered to welcome them looked on.
The event, Trucker Convoy for Ukraine, began about 8:30 a.m. in northwest suburban East Dundee. Dozens of semis rolled out about an hour later, ending up at the fountain.
Downtown, demonstrators spread out on all corners of Columbus Drive and Ida B. Wells Drive holding yellow and blue flags and signs and condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin for his actions, some with harsher language than others.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, igniting the largest attack on European soil since World War II. Putin has ignored widespread condemnation of his actions and threatened any interfering country with “consequences you have never seen.”
Stepan Nozhak, who has been a truck driver more than six years, organized the convoy as a way to stand behind Ukraine’s efforts to keep control of their country as Russia invades, said Nozhak’s wife, Mariia Salii.
“This is how we can let (the) world know what is happening in our country,” Salii said. “That our families are dying.”
Salii rode in her husband’s truck as the vehicles, also including vans and cars, drove about 40 miles into Chicago, getting honks from other motorists.
Protesters also marched Thursday and Friday in the Loop drawing attention to what’s happening to their country.
Nozhak moved to the U.S. almost 9 years ago and Salii 7 years ago.
Nozhak’s mother and his 16-year-old sister live in Ukraine. So does Salii’s dad, she said.
Salii said she’s scared when she gets a phone call from home or a text message, or when she opens a news story.
Late Wednesday night, Salii got a text from a friend saying, “There is war in Ukraine,” she said.
She said it was unreal and she didn’t believe it would actually happen.
“I was shocked. I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I had panic attacks and this anxiety.”
Salii worried her dad will be asked to join the front lines.
Iryna Ostafiichuk’s parents are in Western Ukraine where they’re not on the line of fire but they have still heard sirens and hidden in their basement.
“It is definitely scary because the person who started the war, no one knows what to expect from him,” said Ostafiichuk, who held a Ukrainian flag. “It’s just devastating to hear all the news. That our spirit, Ukraninans’ spirit just irritates someone’s demons so bad that they’re just starting a war.”
Smozhanyk was working out when she saw that her country was being attacked.
“I was on a StairMaster at a gym and I saw it on the TV, and I almost fell off the StairMaster,” she said. “So it was not a good feeling. I had slept three hours that day. And I had a very long workday afterward. I was very shaky physically, emotionally.”
Smozhanyk and her parents moved to the U.S. in 2010 after getting approved for a green card, she said. They wanted a better life for their daughter.
She has a sister and two brothers with their own families in Ukraine, along with extended cousins.
“My cousin told me he was in bomb shelter and he saw smoke coming out from the shelling,” Smozhanyk said.
Their family is trying to move away from the line of fire but plans to stay in Ukraine for now, she said.
As they waited Saturday, Smozhanyk and her parents chatted with a friend they’d just met, Aleksei Kobernik, who is from Russia and was at Saturday’s rally to speak up against Russia’s recent attacks on Ukraine.
Kobernik said he sees it as his duty to show solidarity and to say not all Russians are supportive of their president.
Kobernik, who moved to U.S. two years ago, spoke in Russian, Smozhanyk translating for him.
“I wish for this to end as soon as it possibly can,” Kobernik said. “So as few as possible Ukrainians have to die for this.”
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Russia's embassy in Lebanon was surprised by the Lebanese foreign ministry statement that condemned the Russian military operations in Ukraine, it said in a statement on its Facebook page.
"The statement... surprised us by violating the policy of dissociation and by taking one side against another in these events, noting that Russia spared no effort in contributing to the advancement and stability of the Lebanese Republic," the statement said.
Lebanon condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday and called on Moscow to halt its military operations at once.
The foreign ministry statement led to internal criticism from some cabinet ministers, members of parliament and political parties including the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
"What foreign policy is Lebanon following and where is Lebanon's interest in that? Please clarify for us foreign minister," Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Al Moussawi wrote on Twitter.
Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Hugh Lawson)
Russian troops enter Ukraine's second largest city
Luciana Lopez, Craig Harris, Caren Bohan, Mike Snider and Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv and fighting is underway in the streets, according to the Associated Press.
Videos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and a light vehicle burning on the street. Residents were urged to stay inside.
Elsewhere, Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv. The explosion created mushroom-cloud and could cause an “environmental catastrophe,” warned the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection. Residents were advised to cover their windows with damp cloth or gauze and to drink plenty of fluids.
At least 240 civilian casualties are confirmed by the United Nations, including at least 64 people killed in the fighting — though it believed the “real figures are considerably higher” because many reports of casualties remain to be confirmed. More than 150,000 people have fled the Ukraine to neighboring countries and the United Nations warned that number could grow to 4 million.
Meanwhile, the United States and its European allies agreed to remove “selected” Russian banks from the international SWIFT messaging system, which allows for the movement of financial transactions.
They also moved to impose restrictions on Russia's central bank, a measure the White House and its partners said would further hammer Russia's financial systems and hit the country's wealthy and political elites.
Russia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine targeting airfields and fuel facilities in what appeared to be the next phase of an invasion that has been slowed by fierce resistance. The U.S. and EU responded with weapons and ammunition for the outnumbered Ukrainians and powerful sanctions intended to further isolate Moscow.
Huge explosions lit up the sky early Sunday south of the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale assault by Russian forces.
–Associated Press
'You cannot defeat a whole nation'
On Sunday morning, Ukranian writer Illarion Pavliuk plans to set out on a dangerous journey to help his countrymen as explosions rock Kyiv, and outgunned Ukrainian forces continue to maintain control of their capital.
Pavliuk is not a solider, but he does have a military background. In 2015, he was an intelligence volunteer in the war in Eastern Ukraine. And yet, this is what Ukraine has become – a country where internationally acclaimed artists are forced to kiss their children goodnight before they go off to defend their homeland from the occupying force. "We will never give up and we are going to win this war. You cannot defeat the whole nation. And Ukrainians are absolutely united as a nation now."
His words are haunting and powerful, with his children in the background.
"What can I tell you about this war? It is difficult to say a couple of words," he says. "I would never ever imagine my four children dropping their toys and running to sit in the thickest doorway in the house because of cruise missiles above our city; ballistic missiles.
"And I would never imagine this and I will never forgive Russia."
French president asks Belarus leader to order Russian troops to leave
French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his Belarus counterpart to demand that the country, Ukraine’s neighbor, quickly order Russian troops to leave.
In a phone conversation Saturday, Macron denounced “the gravity of a decision that would authorize Russia to deploy nuclear arms on Belarus soil,” a statement by the presidential palace said.
Macron told Alexander Lukashenko that fraternity between the people of Belarus and Ukraine should lead Belarus to “refuse to be a vassal and an accomplice to Russia in the war against Ukraine,” the statement said.
Belarus was one one of several axes used by Russia to launch attacks on Ukraine, with Belarus the point to move toward the capital Kyiv, a senior U.S. defense official has said.
Macron has pushed persistently to try to claw out a ceasefire amid the war, using the telephone to talk to all sides, diplomacy and sanctions by the European Union.
– Associated Press
UN: At least 240 civilian casualties
GENEVA — The United Nations says it has confirmed at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 people killed, in the fighting in Ukraine that erupted since Russia’s invasion on Thursday — though it believed the “real figures are considerably higher” because many reports of casualties remain to be confirmed.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs relayed the count late Saturday from the U.N. human rights office, which has strict methodologies and verification procedures about the toll from conflict.
OCHA also said damage to civilian infrastructure has deprived hundreds of thousands of people of access to electricity or water, and produced a map of “humanitarian situations” in Ukraine — mostly in northern, eastern and southern Ukraine.
The human rights office had reported early Friday an initial count by its staffers of at least 127 civilian casualties – 25 people killed and 102 injured – mostly from shelling and airstrikes.
– Associated Press
US, allies committed to removing certain Russian banks from SWIFT
The United States and its European allies have agreed to remove “selected” Russian banks from the international SWIFT messaging system, the White House announced on Saturday. The White House also announced that the US and allied countries will move to impose new ”restrictive measures” on Russia’s central bank.
The new economic penalties on Moscow come as Russia’s military continues to bombard Kyiv and other population centers in its deadly invasion of Ukraine.
A senior administration official said the U.S. and EU will work to finalize the list of Russian banks that will be barred from the SWIFT system. But Russia will feel the impact of the decision well before it’s enacted, said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
“I have great confidence the effects of these measures will be felt immediately in Russia’s financial markets,” the official said.
The U.S. official suggested some banks that handle energy transactions could be exempted in the SWIFT delisting process. That would help cushion the economic blow to Europe, which relies heavily on Russia for oil and gas.
The SWIFT system is based in Belgium, where officials will have the final sign-off on the list of barred institutions.
The U.S. and EU countries also announced new steps to limit the sale of “golden passports,” which allows wealthy individuals become citizens of European countries.
– Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY
Zelenskyy says he’s open for talks with Russia
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s open for talks with Russia.
Zelenskyy said in a video message Saturday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev offered to help organize such talks. He added that “we can only welcome that.”
Zelenskyy also said he and Erdogan “agree that a ban on the passage of Russian warships into the Black Sea is very important today,” adding that “it has been done.” Turkey, however, hasn’t announced any ban for Russian warships to move through Turkish Straits following Erdogan’s talk with Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy said that “Ukrainians’ readiness to protect our state, our solidarity and courage have thwarted the scenario of occupation of our country.”
“The world has seen that Ukrainians are strong, Ukrainians are brave, Ukrainians stand on their land and will not surrender it,” he said.
– Associated Press
Germany to send anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, drops opposition to SWIFT sanctions for Russia
In a significant shift, the German government said Saturday it will send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine and supports some restrictions of the SWIFT global banking system for Russia.
Germany’s chancellery announced it will send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine “as quickly as possible.”
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It threatens our entire post-war order,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement. “In this situation, it is our duty to help Ukraine, to the best of our ability, to defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.”
In addition, the German economy and climate ministry said Germany is allowing the Netherlands to ship 400 German-made anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
Germany had long stuck to a policy of not exporting deadly weapons to conflict zones, including Ukraine. As recently as Friday, government officials said they would abide by that policy.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and German Economics Minister Robert Habeck announced the decision in a joint statement that indicated there might be limits in how far Germany is willing to go on the issue.
“We are working flat out on how to limit the collateral damage of a disconnection from #SWIFT, so that it hits the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT,” the officials wrote in a statement.
SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. It is a global messaging system connecting thousands of financial institutions around the world.
SWIFT was formed in 1973, and is headquartered in Belgium. It is overseen by the National Bank of Belgium, in addition to the U.S. Federal Reserve System, the European Central Bank and others, NBC News reported. It connects more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, so banks can be informed about transactions.
Earlier Saturday, Zelenskyy said that Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi also voiced his approval for disconnecting Russia from SWIFT.
The U.S. did not impose removing Russia from SWIFT following concerns from European allies in what was seen as America's harshest punishment at its disposal.
Russian forces meet firm resistance on path to Kyiv
Russian forces have grown increasingly frustrated by Ukrainian resistance, particularly near the capital of Kiev, and the Russian advance remains about 18 miles from the city, a senior Defense Department official said Saturday.
Russia has, however, sent reconnaissance forces into Kyiv, the official said, declining to say how many of those troops have penetrated the city.
The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the Pentagon had used several means to determine that Russian forces invading Ukraine had been stalled by determined resistance.
The official warned that the battlefield situation is fluid and changing rapidly.
Addressing reports that some Russian military vehicles had run out of gas, the official said the invading force sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin had expended more fuel resources than it had planned for.
Ukrainian forces continue to contest the airspace over the country with warplanes and missile defense, the official said.
Also Saturday, the Pentagon announced that $350 in emergency military aid to Ukraine. That package includes Javelin anti-armor missiles, ammunition and body armor, according to the official. Prior to the invasion, military materiel had been arriving in Ukraine by cargo aircraft. U.S. military aid has continued to flow into Ukraine in the last few days but the official declined to say how it has arrived there.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that “the speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slowed likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.”
“Russian forces are bypassing major Ukrainian population centres while leaving forces to encircle and isolate them,” the ministry said.
Fleeing to the border: Over 150,000 Ukrainians seek refuge
MEDYKA, Poland – At least 150,000 people have fled Ukraine into Poland and other neighboring countries in the wake of the Russian invasion, the U.N. refugee agency said Saturday.
Some walked many miles through the night while others fled by train, car or bus, forming lines miles long at border crossings. They were greeted by waiting relatives and friends or headed on their own to reception centers organized by neighboring governments.
“The numbers and the situation is changing minute by minute,” said Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. “At least 150,000 people have fled, they are refugees outside of Ukraine. ... At least 100,000 people – but probably a much larger number – have been displaced inside Ukraine.”
Those arriving were mostly women, children and the elderly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy banned men of military age from 18 to 60 from leaving. Some Ukrainian men were heading back into Ukraine from Poland to take up arms against the Russian forces.
- The Associated Press
Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner hands over Premier League club
The move came after a member of the British parliament called for the Russian billionaire to hand over the club in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, made no mention of the war in his statement.
Former president Poroschenko: everyone understands risk of death
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroschenko, Zelenskyy’s predecessor, said he was prepared to die to defend his country.
“I think that we should do our best to protect our nation,” he told CNN in an interview Saturday. “To protect the nation against the Russian aggressor definitely bring the risk of life.”
Poroschenko, who was wearing a flak jacket and standing outside in Kyiv with members of the Ukraine military, sounded clear-eyed and defiant.
“Everybody here – all the young and old people – fully understand that we have this risk,” he said. “Somebody has a choice to go abroad. Somebody has a choice to be the refugee in some regions of Ukraine. But many, the biggest part, make a decision to take the rifle and to protect the nation.”
“I proud for these people. I proud for this country. And I proud to be Ukrainian.”
– Ledyard King
Biden authorizes $350 million more in US military aid for Ukraine
The Biden administration is providing an additional $350 million in immediate U.S. military assistance to Ukraine as Russia continues a full-scale attack on the country with intense fighting in the capital city of Kyiv.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the drawdown of funds Saturday morning after Biden authorized the emergency military aid late Friday night through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
“This package will include further lethal defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armored, airborne, and other threats it is now facing,” Blinken said in a statement. “It is another clear signal that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign, courageous, and proud nation.”
The aid brings the U.S.’s total assistance to Ukraine to more than $1 billion over the past year, according to Blinken, including $200 million in military assistance in December and $60 million last fall.
Zelenskyy has urged Ukraine civilians to join the fight against Russia, and as he remains defiant about not leaving Kyiv, he’s made clear about the need for more help.
“I need ammunition, not a ride,” he said in a video Friday.
– Joey Garrison
In Kyiv, residents seek shelter after night of explosions, street clashes
KYIV, Ukraine – Russian troops pressed toward Ukraine’s capital Saturday after a night of air strikes and street fighting.
Ukrainian officials have reported some success in fending off assaults. A U.S. official told reporters Friday the Pentagon had information suggesting that Moscow had expected a faster advance on Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused an American offer to evacuate, insisting he would stay. “The fight is here,” he said.
Skirmishes reported on the edge of Kyiv suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces. A missile struck a high-rise apartment building in the city’s southwestern outskirts near one of Kyiv’s two passenger airports, Mayor Vitali Klitchsko said, leaving a jagged hole of ravaged apartments over several floors. A rescue worker said six civilians were injured.
Russia claims its assault on Ukraine is aimed only at military targets, but civilians have been killed and injured during Europe’s largest ground war since World War II.
– Caren Bohan and Associated Press
TikTok is Russia's newest weapon in arsenal for anti-Ukraine propaganda
Armies of trolls and bots stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiment. State-controlled media outlets look to divide Western audiences. Clever TikTok videos serve up Russian nationalism with a side of humor.
The effort amounts to an emerging part of Russia’s war arsenal with the shaping of opinion through orchestrated disinformation fighting alongside actual troops and weapons.
Analysts at several different research organizations contacted by The Associated Press said they are seeing a sharp increase in online activity by groups affiliated with the Russian state. That’s in keeping with Russia’s strategy of using social media and state-run outlets to galvanize domestic support while seeking to destabilize the Western alliance.
Researchers saw a sudden and dramatic increase in anti-Ukrainian content in the days immediately before the invasion. On Valentine’s Day, for instance, the number of anti-Ukrainian posts created by the sample of Twitter accounts jumped by 11,000% when compared with just days earlier. Analysts believe a significant portion of the accounts are inauthentic and controlled by groups linked to the Russian government.
Troops from NATO member nations could be deployed to defend Slovakia
Slovakia’s defense minister says up to 1,200 foreign troops from other NATO members could be deployed in his country in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The plan is part of the NATO initiative to reassure member countries on the alliance’s eastern flank by sending forces to help protect them. Slovakia borders Ukraine.
Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said forces from the Netherlands and Germany are among those expected to come. Germany will also provide the Patriot system to boost Slovakia’s air defense.
The country’s government and Parliament have not yet approved the plan.
Nad also said his country’s government has approved sending arms and fuel worth 11 million euros ($12.4 million) requested by Ukraine. The aid will include 10 million liters (2.6 million gallons) of fuel, 2.4 million liters (630,000 gallons) of aviation fuel and 12,000 pieces of ammunition.
– The Associated Press
Zelenskyy mobilizes Ukrainian reservists and those eligible for service
After Russia launched a military invasion into Ukraine early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called up reservists and those liable for service for a full military mobilization.
As many Ukrainians fled to neighboring countries, the Ukraine State Border Guard Service announced that men ages 18 to 60 were prohibited from leaving the country, ahead of a possible draft to increase the country's military service.
The Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces, the military reserve of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, take part in a military drill outside Kyiv on February 19, 2022.
Talk of conscription led to questions in the U.S. about whether the government could ever reinstate the draft. That is highly unlikely in a country where antiwar sentiment has grown in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress would have to reinstate the draft since induction authority expired in 1973. If approved, the president would then be authorized to induct civilians through the Selective Service Administration into the armed forces under an amendment to the Military Selective Service Act.
Even though there is no draft currently, almost all men and male immigrants aged 18 to 25 are required to register with the Selective Service. Women make up close to 17% of the U.S. armed forces, but Congress would have to pass legislation amending the act to require women register.
– Chelsey Cox
Russian protesters risk arrest to decry Putin's war
MOSCOW – Risking arrest and intimidation, Russian citizens have taken to the streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities to protest President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Russians with prominent platforms – celebrity actors, television presenters, comedians and pop stars – risked their state contracts and jobs to make anti-war statements.
Many Russians have seen horrifying images from the Ukraine conflict, broadcast by independent media. Some show the Russian army destroying apartment blocks with people inside, a tank rolling over a vehicle with an elderly man inside and bleeding women crying for an end to the fighting.
Demonstrators shout slogans in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands Thursday to decry their country's invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media. Some 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow.
In St. Petersburg, Sergei Bobovnikov, an antique art expert, joined a street rally Thursday night where hundreds of people crowded the central avenue, Nevsky Prospect.
"No to war!" they chanted. "Hands off Ukraine!"
Some 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, cities across Europe saw large gatherings where people voiced their outrage.
In London, demonstrators outside the Downing Street residence of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held up placards Friday that read "Stop the war" and "Total embargo on Russia."
A senior Russian official has warned that Moscow could react to Western sanctions over its attack on Ukraine by opting out of the last remaining nuclear arms pact and freezing Western assets.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, shrugged off a set of crippling sanctions that the U.S., the European Union and other allies slapped on Russia as a reflection of Western “political impotence.”
In comments posted on his page on Russian social media VKontakte, Medvedev said the sanctions could offer Moscow a pretext for a complete review of its ties with the West, suggesting that Russia could opt out of the New START nuclear arms control treaty that limits the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals.
-- Associated Press
Czechs to send more arms to Ukraine
The Czech Republic’s government has approved a plan to send more arms to Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said it is immediately sending machine guns, submachine guns, assault rifles and pistols together with ammunition worth 188 million Czech crowns ($8.6 million).
The ministry said the Czechs will transport the weapons and deliver them to a place determined by the Ukrainian side.
The Czech Republic has already agreed to donate some 4,000 pieces of artillery shells worth 36.6 million Czech crowns ($1.7 million) to Ukraine.
A soldier walks along Ukrainian armored vehicles blocking a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital Saturday, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter.
“No more words, time to act!” said association president Cezary Kulesza on Twitter, saying the move was prompted by the “escalation of the aggression.”
The match had been scheduled for March 24.
-- Associated Press
Ukrainian health minister: Nearly 200 dead, 1,000 wounded
The Ukrainian health minister says that 198 people have been killed and more than 1,000 others have been wounded in the Russian offensive.
Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said Saturday that there were three children among those killed. His statement made it unclear whether the casualties included both military and civilians.
He said another 1,115 people, including 33 children, were wounded in the Russian invasion that began Thursday with massive air and missile strikes and troops forging into Ukraine from the north, east and south.
-- Associated Press
PRZEMYSL, POLAND - FEBRUARY 25: A man holds a sleeping baby after arriving by bus to a supermarket parking lot from the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing on February 25, 2022 in Przemysl, Poland.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine is fighting 'with weapons in hand'
Zelenskyy detailed further diplomatic efforts to drum up support for Ukraine Saturday, tweeting about a conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"Ukraine is fighting the invader with weapons in hands, defending its freedom and European future. Discussed with @vonderleyen effective assistance to our country from (the European Union) in this heroic struggle. I believe that the #EU also chooses Ukraine," he tweeted.
"I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth," he declared, denouncing as disinformation claims that he had surrendered or fled.
-- Associated Press
KYIV, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 26: An empty street is seen on February 26, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Explosions and gunfire were reported around Kyiv on the second night of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has killed scores and prompted widespread condemnation from US and European leaders.
Sean Penn calls Russian invasion of Ukraine 'a brutal mistake' while filming documentary there
Sean Penn, in Ukraine working on a documentary about the ongoing Russian assault, called the invasion "already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken."
"If he doesn't relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind," Penn said in a statement to USA TODAY early Saturday morning. President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people "have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost."
Biden's hitting Russia's yacht-riding rich with sanctions. Will it blunt Putin's Ukraine invasion?
Russia's wealthy oligarchs and political elites flaunt a level of in-your-face affluence across the world. This week, their wealth and connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin made some of them targets of President Joe Biden's sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine.
But if the Biden administration really wants to hurt Russian oligarchs enough to rein in Putin's actions in Ukraine, it needs to hit them much harder – and hit a lot more of them, some U.S. officials and kleptocracy experts told USA TODAY.
By any measure, the new rounds of U.S. financial blockages issued this week go far beyond what has been done in the past to pressure Putin into curbing his rogue behavior, White House officials said. The sweeping actions would cause extreme hardship for some of Russia’s largest financial institutions and a small handful of Russian oligarchs and kleptocrats that Biden said use them as their own “glorified piggy bank.”
-- Josh Meyer
A view shows a high-rise apartment block which was hit by overnight shelling in Kyiv on February 26, 2022. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINE EMERGENCY MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE / AFP)
US sanctions on Russian oligarchs miss richest of rich
The term Russian oligarch conjures images of posh London mansions, gold-plated Bentleys and sleek superyachts in the Mediterranean, their decks draped with partiers dripping in jewels.
But the raft of sanctions on oligarchs announced by President Joe Biden this week in response to the invasion of Ukraine may do little to dim the jet-setting lifestyles of Russia’s ultra-rich and infamous – much less force a withdrawal of tanks and troops.
U.S. sanctions target Russian President Vladmir Putin and a handful of individuals believed to be among his closest security advisers, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
But the list is just as notable for who isn’t on it — most of the top names from Forbes’ list of the richest Russians whose multi-billion-dollar fortunes are now largely intertwined with the West, from investments in Silicon Valley start-ups to British Premier League soccer teams.
Citing the concerns of European allies, the U.S. also didn’t impose what was seen as the harshest punishment at its disposal, banning Russia from SWIFT, the international financial system that banks use to move money around the world.
