PANDESAL forum moderator Wilson Lee Flores texts me: “Gud pm. Hi, China’s top journalist will be interviewing you this Thursday noon to noon at the Kamuning Bakery Café. Topics on the Ukraine crisis and its impact on the Asia…” The subject was dear to my heart, as evidenced by my two columns from last week: “Pushed against the wall, did Putin have any other choice? So while I limited my attendance at the regular event, being picky about what to discuss, I thought Wilson’s invitation was worth attending.

Turns out the main course of the day was a breakdown of election campaign pleas from some leftists I wouldn’t touch with a 10ft pole again – the Gabriela party slate, for example, having been exposed by the Group of national work to end Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) Vice President Hermogenes Esperon Jr. as a legal front organization of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army funded from abroad and therefore a no-no for that the Electoral Commission (Comelec) was accredited as a candidate but, for some rather dubious reason, had nevertheless been qualified for the election. Thus, the accreditation of Gabriela on the party list can only explain what people generally perceive as great corruption within Comelec. For this reason, I have this personal crusade underway to abolish Comelec, since I do so, no good elected official can come out of an electoral process that is bad.

Anyway, I did not come to the forum for this agenda, but to share the discussion on the Ukrainian crisis with Chinese journalists and members of a newly formed think tank, Philippine Asian Century Strategic Studies Inc. (Phil-Acssi), Herman Tiu Laurel, Anna Malindog-Uy and Ado Paglinawan.

Much of what reaches the country about the war in Ukraine comes from the Western media and therefore must advance the concerns of Western powers. There is nothing wrong with that. Charity begins at home, as they say. What’s wrong is when we take the hook, line and sinker of Western media, so to speak. In this case, we behave as one with the West, which we are not.

As I pointed out in my last two columns, the war in Ukraine is not a war between Russia and Ukraine, but between Russia and the United States and the tandem of NATO, with the Ukraine only as a battlefield. It is the encirclement of the United States and NATO over the past two decades that has troubled Russia and Ukraine’s application for NATO membership must strike Russia as the only remaining move to its ultimate conquest by Western powers. What was there to do for Russia but strike or perish?

As various interviews show, Russian President Vladimir Putin did his best to avoid a confrontation with the United States and NATO. As early as 2020, he indeed offered to apply to join the alliance, but the offer was rejected. So from that moment he said, “If you can’t accept our covenant, don’t make enemies of us. The problem is that the United States and NATO surrounded Russia, gaining the alliance of neighboring countries, Romania, Poland, the Baltic States, until Ukraine offered to complete the maneuver of the Western pincers by asking for NATO membership. In addition to this maneuver, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty (INFT), which would allow it to deploy nuclear weapons anywhere in NATO countries; if Ukraine turns to NATO, the United States could position nuclear missiles capable of hitting Russia in 7-10 minutes, and in the case of hypersonic missiles, 5.

“We have made it very clear that NATO’s further eastward expansion is unacceptable,” Putin said in an interview. So, realizing that Ukraine’s membership would allow NATO to complete this expansion, what can Putin do but hit Ukraine first? This is a basic move in warfare.

Most analysts overlook this attitude of Putin as a necessary given in the Ukrainian crisis. All they see is a war waged by a powerful country against a weak country. They gobble up Western media histrionism by portraying Ukrainian civilians pitting bare physical guts against Russian armed troops and armored vehicles. First of all, where is the Ukrainian army in this regard? Why does he allow Ukrainian civilians to bear the brunt of the battles for them? And why does Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tolerate this act which smacks more of cinema than science of war. You are attacked by columns upon columns of Russian troops, why send civilians to fight them? Western media proliferates with, say, motherhood under attack. It’s part of the story. The other part, mostly untold, is that Ukrainian troops, fighting the attacking Russian forces, take up firing positions in the hospital. So what do you expect Russian soldiers to do, not retaliate even if they get shot? It’s the war. The first act of a country’s military is to ensure the safety of its civilians. Judging by Western media accounts, in Ukraine the first act of the army seems to be hiding behind civilians. And when civilians are affected, do you mourn war crimes?

President Putin had posed the question very clearly: “I am addressing the Ukrainian military. Do not let the neo-Nazis, these banderites (Ukrainian nationalists) use your children, your wives and your old people as human shields. It will then be easier for us to reconcile with you than with a band of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have settled in Kiev (Kyiv) and have taken the entire Ukrainian people hostage.

One of the facts of the Ukrainian crisis is President Putin’s passionate determination to bring this war to, in his words, a “logical end”. Here is a man born and raised during the rise and fall of the once mighty Russian Empire. Now that he finds himself at the helm of this reborn empire and once again entrenched in a dominant position in the world order, he is not ready to once again give up his newfound glory. If Ukraine must be recaptured to safeguard that empire’s protection against the insatiable Western lust for world domination, then let war settle the matter.

How could Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky live up to this magnificent Putin obsession? The best he seems able to do is hole up in his dungeon and endlessly complain about NATO’s inaction in the face of his desperate call for the imposition of a no-fly zone over of Ukraine to prevent Russian bombardment. Clearly, in pushing Ukraine to join, NATO had only been assessing Russia’s ultimate ability to repel its continuing aggression since the partition of the vast territory of the Soviet Union into 1991. With Russia responding resolutely now with what is effectively a war of self-defense, NATO realizes that it cannot afford a frontal confrontation and therefore must leave Ukraine to fight Russia alone.

In view of the facts, the United States and NATO are showing themselves to be faithful to their word not to engage Russia militarily in Ukraine. All the United States and NATO are prepared to do is impose economic sanctions which, in any event, infuriates Putin even more, retaliating with growing determination to take on Ukraine once for all. Zelenskyy’s oft-repeated statement to fight to the last Ukrainian is purely theatrical. He would do his best for his nation and his people by shedding his illusory cinematic pretensions and executing his only remaining honorable recourse, as did Emperor Hirohito who, in 1945, after America’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which razed the cities and killed some 200,000 Japanese and wounded many more, went on the radio announcing Japan’s final surrender in World War II:

“Furthermore, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, causing many innocent victims. If we continue to fight, it will only result not only an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also that would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.”

The key for Zelenskyy to end the war is, in the previous quote, to substitute “Ukraine” for “Japanese nation”. Putin had made a sincere offer to settle the problems with the Ukrainian army. First of all, wasn’t Ukraine once part of Russia?

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Kyiv residents urged to visit bomb shelters

An air alert was declared in and around Kyiv, with residents urged to get to bomb shelters as quickly as possible.

“Kiev region, air alert. Threat of missile attack. Everyone immediately under cover,” regional administration chief Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.

For days, as Moscow’s forces besieged Ukrainian towns, attempts to create corridors to evacuate civilians safely failed amid relentless fighting.

Russian forces have seen their advances halted in some areas, notably around the capital Kyiv, by fiercer-than-expected Ukrainian resistance

Lavrov travels to Turkey for talks with Kuleba

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is visiting Turkey where he will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, TASS news agency quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.

Evacuation of Sumy in Ukraine continues: governor

A humanitarian corridor out of the beleaguered Ukrainian city of Sumy will continue to operate, regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said.

About 5,000 people bussed out of the northeastern city on Tuesday after Moscow and Kyiv agreed on the corridor, he said, and about 1,000 cars were also able to leave, heading to the city of Poltava.

IAEA says it has lost contact with Chernobyl nuclear data systems

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is no longer transmitting data to the UN’s atomic watchdog, the agency said, expressing concern about personnel working under Russian guard at the Ukrainian facility.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, “reported that the remote transmission of data from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had been lost,” the agency said in a statement. a statement.

“The Agency is reviewing the status of safeguards monitoring systems in other locations in Ukraine and will provide further information soon,” she said.

Pentagon says Polish jet offer to Ukraine ‘unsustainable’

The Pentagon rejected Poland’s surprise announcement that it would give the United States its MiG-29 fighter jets for use in Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Poland’s statement that it intended to deliver the 28 jets to the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany raised the worrying prospect that warplanes depart from a US and NATO base to fly in contested airspace with Russia in the Ukraine conflict.

“We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies on this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is tenable,” Kirby said in a statement.

Hungary will not support sanctions against Russia over oil and gas imports: PM

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced that his country is against possible sanctions against Russia which would cover imports of its oil and natural gas.

Orban said Hungary condemned Russia’s launch of a war against Ukraine but would not allow Hungarian families “to be forced to pay the price of war”. Noting that the sanctions imposed on Russia affect all countries in Europe, he said the extension of sanctions to the Russian energy sector will affect Hungary “very seriously”.

Orban said Hungary buys most of its oil and natural gas from Russia and 90% of Hungarian families heat their homes with gas, adding that the Hungarian economy could not function without oil and gas.

Russian central bank limits cash withdrawals abroad

Russia’s central bank said it is limiting the amount of money citizens with foreign currency accounts can withdraw under a “temporary procedure”.

The procedure runs from March 9 to September 9, the bank said in a statement posted on its website.

Account holders can withdraw up to $10,000 in cash, and the rest of the funds must be in rubles at the market rate on the day of issue.

Russia allows Ukrainian civilians to leave major cities

Russian forces will stop firing from 10:00 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) to provide humanitarian corridors for people to leave the capital Kyiv and four other cities, senior Russian officials said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office said it has verified 1,335 civilian casualties in Ukraine so far, including 474 killed and 861 injured, but the true toll is likely to be higher.

Ukraine says its forces have killed more than 11,000 Russian soldiers.

Russia has confirmed around 500 casualties.

Neither side disclosed any Ukrainian casualties.

Civilian evacuations took place on Tuesday, in particular from the city of Sumy, from where two convoys left during the day.

Evacuations also took place outside the capital Kiev.

But attempts to evacuate the port city of Mariupol have repeatedly failed in recent days, with Kyiv and Moscow blaming the other side for the failures.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president has called for an end to the war with Russia, saying the two countries should hold talks for the good of the people.

“The war must end. We must sit down at the negotiating table – not for outdated murderous ambitions, but for the interests of the people,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message.

Japan may quit Sakhalin energy projects to stop Russian aggression

Japanese Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda has said Tokyo may consider pulling out of “Sakhalin projects”, referring to energy projects on Russia’s Sakhalin island, if it helps stop China’s aggression. Russia versus Ukraine.

Hagiuda made the comment during a parliamentary session.

For Tuesday (March 8) live updates, click here

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday reiterated his call for the United States and other countries to pave the way for Soviet-era fighter jets to supplement his military and to impose a no-fly zone over his country, while expressing confidence in President Biden’s ability to do so.

The United States is looking for ways to meet Ukraine’s demand for fighter jets and replenish Poland’s arsenal if it hands over Soviet-era planes to its embattled neighbor.

In an interview, Mr. Zelensky told ABC News via a government interpreter that his country lacked air supremacy, noting the bombardment of civilian infrastructure with Russian missiles. He said he shared that view with Mr. Biden during a call on Monday.

While Mr Biden and other leaders have said creating a no-fly zone would force allies to fire on Russian planes, Mr Zelensky focused on the need to shoot down Russian missiles that , according to him, hit civilian infrastructure.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has rejected requests for a no-fly zone, saying it would risk war with Russia, an outcome that Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened if NATO members enter. the dispute.

He suggested that the question of whether Mr. Putin deliberately targets civilians is irrelevant: “Why should I care? The result is the same.”

Russia would not stop at Ukraine, he warned, but would continue to threaten other democratic countries.

“We are a place in Europe, a place of freedom, a zone of freedom,” he said. “When the limits of rights and freedoms are violated and trampled on, then you must protect us. Because we’ll come first, you’ll come second.

He confirmed reports that he had been offered safe passage out of the country if the situation deteriorated further, but said he would stay, noting that he is Ukraine’s democratically elected leader.

“I’m sure Ukrainians are ready to face Russia all their lives,” he said, noting the civilians who fought back against Russian forces.

“We are going to endure, and even if they come to all our cities, there will be an insurrection, an insurrectional war,” he said. “No one will give up our independence.”

Finally, Mr. Zelensky addressed the American public in English, saying that while Americans often talk about freedom, the example of Ukrainians resisting the Russian invasion demonstrated the meaning of freedom.

“We are not far from you,” he said. “If you see and understand how we feel… how we fight all enemies for our freedom, support us.

The meeting comes at a critical time in the war, as Russian forces encircle major cities and Ukraine reels in a humanitarian crisis. Russian and Ukrainian diplomats are continuing bilateral talks, but several diplomatic overtures by third parties, including efforts by French President Emmanuel Macron, have stalled.

Israel is in a unique position to potentially barter a deal, or at least send messages between Western allies Russia and Ukraine, given its alliance with the United States, its quiet cooperation with Russia in Syria and its shared cultural ties with Ukraine. Mr. Bennett and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are the only two Jews in the world to head national governments.

Mr. Bennett’s office said in a statement on Saturday evening that the meeting with Mr. Putin lasted about three hours and took place “in coordination and with the blessing of the US administration”. In addition, the statement added, Mr. Bennett was working in coordination with Germany and France and was “in permanent dialogue with Ukraine”.

There was no immediate information on the results of the meeting. A spokeswoman for Mr. Bennett said he spoke with Mr. Zelensky after his meeting with Mr. Putin.

The Israeli government has tried to maintain good relations with Russian and Ukrainian leaders during the current crisis, and Mr. Bennett had previously been invited by Mr. Zelensky to mediate between the parties.

Mr Bennett left Moscow on Saturday evening to travel to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Mr. Scholz was in Israel for a short visit this week and, in a meeting with Mr. Bennett, discussed Israel’s possible role in mediating between Russia and Ukraine.

Mr. Bennett had spoken by phone with Mr. Putin on Wednesday, hours after speaking with Mr. Zelensky, the latest of a few rounds of phone conversations between them.

In a sign of the mission’s urgency, Mr. Bennett, an observant Jew, left Israel Saturday morning over the Sabbath, breaking the religious injunction banning travel. According to Jewish religious law, the sanctity of the Sabbath is superseded by the principle of preservation of human life.

Mr. Bennett was accompanied by Zeev Elkin, Israel’s housing minister, who helped with the translation, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. Mr. Elkin has frequently acted in a similar capacity over the past decade in meetings between Mr. Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mr. Putin.

Mr. Elkin, who is also an observant Jew, was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 1971, when it was part of the Soviet Union, and emigrated to Israel in 1990. Mr. Elkin has a brother who still lives with his family in Kharkiv, where Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting for control.

The Israeli delegation also included the prime minister’s national security adviser, Eyal Hulata, his diplomatic adviser, Shimrit Meir, and his spokesperson, Matan Sidi.

Mr Bennett had faced criticism in recent days, including from Mr Zelensky, for not taking the more vocal side of Ukraine and for refraining from supplying him with material military.

Israeli officials have said Israel must maintain good relations with Russia so that it can continue Israel’s military campaign against entrenching Iran and Hezbollah in Syria, where Russia maintains a significant presence.

They said Israel was also concerned about large Jewish communities in Russia and Ukraine. After Saturday’s meeting at the Kremlin, Mr. Bennett’s office said he also spoke with Mr. Putin about the situation of Israelis and Jewish communities following the conflict in Ukraine.

Saturday’s meeting comes after several requests by Mr. Zelensky, to both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Bennett, to mediate between him and Mr. Putin. The latest request was made in a telephone conversation held on February 25, during which Mr. Zelensky also asked for military equipment. While refusing to send defensive equipment, Mr Bennett agreed to try to mediate between the countries.

Several rounds of phone conversations followed between Mr. Bennett and Mr. Putin, between Mr. Bennett and Mr. Zelensky, and between officials in their teams. Israeli officials believe Israeli mediation had some effect in getting Ukraine to agree to start talks with Russia in Belarus.

Mr. Hulata, Israel’s national security adviser, briefed the White House National Security Council on developments since the telephone conversation with Mr. Zelensky.

Israeli officials said the Kremlin meeting also touched on the progress of talks in Vienna for a return to a nuclear deal with Iran, and Mr Bennett voiced Israel’s opposition to a return to the nuclear deal. ‘OK.

A scout speaks to a group of women and children as they arrive at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Saturday, March 5, 2022, after fleeing Ukraine. PA

Fed up with Putin’s government, the Russian citizen left her native country six years ago and moved to Ukraine, where she helped raise funds for women and children whose homes had been destroyed during the years of fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass. Region.

Then, this week, she was on the move again – fleeing her adopted city of Kiev from Putin’s invaders.

“It looks like I’m a double refugee now because I fled Russia first because I was against Putin,” said Olena, who spoke on the condition that she be identified only by her name. first name for fear of reprisals against her or her family. “I fled Russia, then Russia came to Ukraine.”

Olena and five colleagues left Kiev after three nights in an air-raid shelter, the thuds of explosions echoing. They arrived in Hungary on Thursday after a harrowing three-day flight.

Sitting on a train in the Hungarian border town of Zahony before departing for the capital Budapest, Olena said she had taken part in anti-Putin protests in Russia but realized that “Putin will reign as long as that he will live”. I chose to vote with my legs and leave.”

She moved to Ukraine, she said, because she was inspired by the 2014 Maidan revolution, when sustained protests forced the ousting of Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

“As long as Putin is in power, I will never come back,” she said.

But now Ukraine was no longer an option, either for her or for the hundreds of other refugees who boarded the train for the five-hour journey from the border to Budapest. Dozens of volunteers welcomed them, providing food, transport and accommodation.

Olena was grateful to be in friendly territory, but the future seemed uncertain. “I don’t have a home, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I just have to hope,” she said.

She lost access to her money after Ukraine blocked the bank accounts of Russian citizens, fearing they could be used to fund Russia’s assault on the country.

“I understand their reasons, because they are afraid that the Russians will use this money to fight. But I am only a civilian. I just lost all my income, I lost all my source of money and I lost my bank account, just because of this Russian passport,” she said.

This passport, she said, caused her problems on the trip from Kiev. Some Ukrainians expressed their hostility, associating it with the enemy.

But she stressed that many Russians at home and abroad oppose the war, and she hopes “people will separate the government from ordinary people who don’t want to fight.”

“Ukrainians are like a brother people,” she said. “We can’t fight each other. Putin is the real enemy. When Putin came to power, I didn’t like him but I didn’t realize the full extent of his madness.”

On Thursday, Olena and her colleagues secured accommodation in a leafy suburb of Budapest. It’s a welcome respite.

“We no longer hear explosions. We no longer hear sirens every couple of hours when we have to pack our bags and rush to the air-raid shelter,” she said. “When we crossed the border, it was such a relief that we are alive and we are safe.”

Short link:

One of the most moving videos I’ve seen in days – or ever – is this. A German translates a message from Ukrainian President Zelensky to her country. In the middle, the translator breaks down in tears. When she can recover a little, she says: “Entschuldigung” – “Excuse me.”

• Imagine this: at the end of a religious service in New York, an organist, on a large instrument, intones “La Grande Porte de Kiev”, or Kyiv. He follows it with a soft, prayerful “Abide with Me” (“Abide with me, fast falls the eventide”).

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a more moving musical experience.

• A friend wrote to me saying, “What is ‘Kiev’ instead of ‘Kiev’? Is this politically correct? I covered this topic in 2019: “A Name of One’s Own: Ukraine Journal, Part I.” I quote a bit:

I always wrote “Kiev”. But it is a fighting word – a fighting spelling – for Ukrainians. They say “Kiev”. It’s not a question of fuss. It is in fact a question of importance.

For an excellent article on this subject, try Peter Dickinson, here.

Briefly, “Kiev” is a transliteration of the capital’s Russian name; “Kiev” comes from Ukrainian.

However, I will persist in writing “the hen of Kiev” and “the great gate of Kiev” (the part that ends Mussorgsky’s text). Pictures at an exhibition).

• Casey Michel is an investigative journalist with particular knowledge of the “post-Soviet space”. He is an expert on global financial corruption – the dark world of oligarchs and their maneuvers. Putin’s regime floats on oceans of silver. However, this money is usually not found in Russia. Much of it is here in the United States of America. I podcasted with Casey Michel last week. Interesting stuff — here.

• I’m not entirely comfortable calling Putin’s assault on Ukraine a “war”. I appreciated what Mitt Romney said, “This is not a war. This is not a battle between two armies. This is a brutal invasion of a free democratic people by an authoritarian thug, and there is no justification for it.

• I also liked this, from Romney:

I join the world in awe of the real heroes: brave President Zelensky, brave Ukrainian soldiers, citizen armies, mothers cradling their frightened children, and journalists risking their lives to bring us the truth. God bless them and God bless us to never forget.

Romney voted to convict President Trump in Trump’s first impeachment trial – the trial over Trump’s dealings with Zelensky. At the time, Romney was the only person in US history to vote against a president from his own party in an impeachment trial.

Romney is despised by both left and right, but not by some of us.

“Traitor! Traitor!” chanted Trump rallyers on a plane, directing their chant at Romney. He and they were traveling from Salt Lake City to Washington on January 5, 2021. The next day, addressing his rally, Trump mocked Romney: “I wonder if he enjoyed his flight last night.”

• “Ukrainian teacher and volunteer Julia cried while waiting to be deployed to fight Russian troops around Kiev on Saturday.” I quote the New York Times, here. This woman, Julia, said, “I just want to live in our country, and that’s it.

His words go straight to the point, don’t they? “I just want to live in our country, and that’s it.”

• Putin’s forces are committing war crimes — many of them — in Ukraine. The Hague will have a lot of work to do. I have no illusions that anyone will be brought to justice. I hope, however, that war crimes will be documented – beyond obfuscation by propagandists and liars.

• In cities across Russia, people are risking their lives to protest Putin’s war on Ukraine. What brave people they are. I imagine that right now a lot of Russians are feeling shame: shame at what the government that governs them is doing to their neighbor. This shame, this revulsion could leave Putin’s dictatorship even more shaken than it is.

• In Belarus too, people are protest. The risks that these people take, in a police state. The bravery they show. Incredible.

• Every day, every hour — with every blow he strikes — Putin strengthens Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian resolve. May his crimes turn against him in many ways, including his ousting in Moscow.

• The Ukrainians make the Kremlin propaganda lie – propaganda you hear echoed in the West, including the United States: Ukraine is not a real country. You can’t really detach it from Russia. The people of western Ukraine are arrogant: they want to join the European Union and NATO; people from the East feel Russian and want to join Russia. Any push for democracy is just a CIA project. All this exercise.

• Sweden sends 5,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. “So what?” you say. For Sweden, this is a very important step. The Swedes, along with the Finns and others, are well aware of the threat from Putin’s Russia. In 2017, I submitted a report from Stockholm: “Sweden, abruptly awakened: the defense posture of a ‘nation of peace’”.

• The President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, tweeted photos of Taiwanese cities, illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. “Our country and our people #StandWithUkraine against Russian aggression,” she wrote. I doubt anyone in the world – except perhaps the Balts – feels a stronger sense of solidarity with the Ukrainian people than the Taiwanese right now.

• All over Europe, Putin has his fanboys and his fangirls, his defenders and his apologists. They tend to be scrambling right now – because the war is not going well for Putin, at least in terms of propaganda. At least in terms of image. A title of Politics says, “Putin’s European cronies have to swallow their words.” the articlecaption: “The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine is a great embarrassment for European politicians who got too close to Putin.”

Take Matteo Salvini. He’s the guy who wore a Putin T-shirt in Red Square. His party has created a “Friends of Putin” group in the Italian parliament. They signed a “friendship and cooperation” agreement with Putin. (“A historic deal,” Salvini said.) Salvini is a darling of the “national conservative” crowd, which gathered in Rome two years ago.

Well, Salvini was just filmed delivering a bouquet of flowers to the Ukrainian embassy. Isn’t that sweet? If the war went well for his son Putin, Salvini would convey his congratulations to the Russian embassy.

• Even Viktor Orbán in Hungary says he won’t block EU sanctions against Putin. When Putin visited Budapest in 2017, Orbán said: “We all feel – it’s in the air – that the world is in the process of a profound realignment”. For his part, Putin hailed Hungary as an “important and reliable partner of Russia in Europe”.

The relationship may be on the rocks — for now.

• In the 1970s, we had an expression in American culture: “scared straight”. Young people – budding criminals – met ex-prisoners, who recounted the horror of their lives. As a result, young people would be “directly frightened”.

For many years, many Americans and others have played kisses with the authoritarians, semi-authoritarians, and would-be authoritarians of Europe. (Latin America too.) Maybe the assault on Ukraine will scare them. Perhaps autocracy will lose some of its luster. Maybe the old maligned liberal democracy isn’t so bad after all.

• Right here is a report: “I will stand with Russia”: pro-Putin sentiment is spreading online. Candace Owens reportedly said, “Ukrainians are dying because of the Biden family’s criminal ties and insistence on stoking conflict in the region. She has millions of followers, and many like her too. They have a serious influence on the global American understanding. I mean, how could they not?

• You may be familiar with Snake Island. Right here is a report: “On the island of snakes in Ukraine, a provocative last stand against Russian forces.” The article begins,

As the Russian military pounded targets across Ukraine with an array of bombs and missiles, a small team of Ukrainian border guards on a rocky, desolate island received an ominous message: Give up or be attacked.

“I am a Russian warship,” said a voice from the invaders, according to a communications recording. “I ask you to lay down your arms and surrender to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and death. Otherwise, you will be bombarded.

The Ukrainians responded boldly.

“Russian warship”, was the reply, “fuck you”.

The Russians opened fire, eventually killing 13 border guards.

• For years Vladimir Putin talked about what he wanted to do to Ukraine. A lot of these guys are very blunt – the Iranian mullahs, the ruling Kim family in North Korea, etc.

I think of the story of the Holocaust survivor who, shortly after the war, was asked, “What is the greatest lesson you have learned?” He replied, “When someone says they want to kill you, believe them.”

• A few years ago, Robert Kagan, this eminent foreign affairs historian and analyst, wrote a book with the striking title: The jungle grows back. It does. To eternal vigilance there is no alternative – no good alternative. Eternal vigilance is tiresome, God knows. And expensive. But letting our guard down – militarily, civilizationally? More expensive.

Stop an expansionist dictator as soon as you can. Because this guy won’t stop. He can only to be stopped.

Ukraine’s capital Kiev could fall to the Russians “within hours”, a senior Western intelligence official has said.

The warning, first reported by Bloombergcomes after Moscow on Thursday targeted airbases and other military infrastructure across Ukraine, following President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade its neighbor.

Russian troops crossed the border on Thursday morning from their own territory as well as from Belarus.

Kremlin forces have so far destroyed 83 of Ukraine’s “above ground military installations” since the start of the invasion, according to a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman.

Explosions were heard near the cities of Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Mariupol and in Kiev in a multi-pronged attack by Moscow.

The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine has been the target of particularly heavy fire, a diplomatic source said. Reuters.

Elsewhere, Russian troops entered the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, capturing the area on Thursday afternoon.

Follow our live blog for all the latest updates on the Russian invasion

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kiev had lost control of the site, located about 100 km north of the capital, after heavy fighting.

Ukraine’s Health Ministry said Thursday evening that 57 Ukrainians had been killed so far, one of the victims believed to be a young boy, who was hit by a shell in the Kharkiv region.

Meanwhile, the first Ukrainian refugees arrived in Poland by road and rail after fleeing their homes.

Much of the international community has condemned the Russian assault, with G7 leaders calling it “unprovoked and totally unjustified” which violates international law.

“This crisis is a serious threat to the rules-based international order, with ramifications far beyond Europe,” they said in a joint statement.

The leaders added: “President Putin has reintroduced war on the European continent. He put himself on the wrong side of history.

“We call on the Russian Federation to stop the bloodshed, immediately defuse and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.”

Countries like the United Kingdom and the United States have announced new sanctions against Moscow for its aggression against Ukraine. These economic measures will cut off Russian banks from the sterling and dollar markets.

February 15, 2005 — Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has tapped liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, an old friend who stood by his side during the Orange Revolution, as an adviser to help boost Russian investment and restore ties with Russia.

“The decree on my appointment clearly describes my task: I must attract Russian investments, and thus help to improve the investment climate in Ukraine,” Nemtsov said on Monday.

“I am not a Ukrainian government official and I am not a Russian government official, so there will be no stubborn lobbying,” he said by phone.

Nemtsov – a former leader of the Union of Right Forces party who has held various government posts over the past decade, including a stint in 1997-98 as deputy prime minister – said he would continue to live in Moscow and would receive no salary as an adviser to Yushchenko.

Yushchenko’s spokeswoman, Irina Gerashchenko, said Nemtsov would not join the presidential staff but would act as an outside adviser – and as such would not receive a paycheck. Ukrainian law prohibits the president from hiring non-Ukrainian staff.

Gerashchenko said Nemtsov was appointed with the aim of not only increasing Russian investment, but also strengthening Kyiv-Moscow relations. “At the moment there are a lot of myths about Ukraine in Russia – myths that we are anti-Russian,” she said. “If it can help to show that’s not the case, that would be wonderful.”

Nemtsov is the second liberal from Russia’s business and political elite to be exploited by a government of a former Soviet republic. Last year, industrialist Kakha Bendukidze was appointed Georgian minister after Mikheil Saakashvili became president of that country’s Pink Revolution.

Nemtsov strongly supported Yushchenko during the Orange Revolution, the weeks of nationwide protests against a fraudulent November 21 election won by Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych. The election was canceled and Yushchenko won a new vote at the end of December.

Nemtsov and Yushchenko struck up a friendship in 1997, when Nemtsov was deputy prime minister and Yushchenko was chairman of the Central Bank of Ukraine, Nemtsov said.

During the election crisis, Nemtsov made serious efforts to persuade the Kremlin to adopt a friendlier stance toward Yushchenko, a source close to the Kremlin said.

Nemtsov also stood with Yushchenko in Kiev’s Independence Square as it was packed with tens of thousands of protesters. “A union between a chekist and a repeat offender is perverse,” Nemtsov told the crowd the day after the Nov. 21 election, referring to President Vladimir Putin’s KGB career and Yanukovych’s criminal record.

“We need a democratic Ukraine the same way we need a democratic Russia,” he said.

Nemtsov continued to criticize Russian leadership on Monday and suggested that Russian companies may move to Ukraine if the investment climate does not improve in the country. “It’s no secret. Many of my friends and acquaintances look to Ukraine with envy. And many are considering moving there permanently if the situation becomes unbearable here,” he said.

Russian business leaders are very worried about their investments, capital and personal safety, he said. “But instead of putting their money in offshore accounts, they would gladly invest it in the Ukrainian economy,” he said.

The legal assault on Yukos, stalled reforms, widespread corruption and signs of crackdowns on civil liberties have raised serious concerns among investors, political observers and parts of the public.

Nemtsov said many Russians see the Orange Revolution as an opportunity for change, but “I’m not talking about exporting revolutions. That’s a very bad approach.” Instead, he said, they are encouraged by Yushchenko’s drive to bring Ukraine closer to Europe and embrace democratic reforms. “If they succeed, it means Russia has a chance too,” he said.

One of Nemtsov’s first tasks as an adviser will be to deal with fears that Ukraine will backtrack on shady privatizations carried out under President Leonid Kuchma. Only on Monday, Kiev announced that it had canceled the sale of the Kryvorizhstal steel plant to a member of Kuchma’s family last year. The plant was sold for nearly half the price offered by other bidders.

“My position is that there should be a law limiting these renationalizations to a specific list, so others know they are safe,” Nemtsov said, adding that he will urge Yushchenko to support the necessary legislation.

Market watchers said Nemtsov’s appointment is partly a symbolic gesture of Yushchenko’s commitment to economic transparency, democratic freedoms and the fight against corruption – platforms that the Our Yushchenko’s Ukraine and Nemtsov’s SPS.

Andriy Blinov, senior economist at the Kyiv International Center for Policy Studies, said Yushchenko was trying to create a stark contrast between his promises to level the playing field for business and Putin’s style of government. “Yushchenko’s policy is to be rather anti-Russian, not in an ethnic sense, but in the sense that he is against Putin’s vertical of power,” he said.

Blinov said the appointment could ruffle some feathers in Moscow. “Many politicians will probably see this as a hostile act,” he said.

Dmytro Tarabakin, head of sales at Dragon Capital, Ukraine’s largest brokerage firm, said Nemtsov should be able to strengthen business relations, even though Russian interest in Ukrainian assets is already very high. . Ukraine’s economy jumped 12% last year and more than 9% in 2003. The benchmark PFTS index has risen more than 200% last year and about 30% since Jan. 1.

“There was a huge pickup from virtually all Russian brokers,” Tarabakin said. “Before, we used to go to Moscow to meet them. Now they come to Ukraine to meet us.”

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin consultant, noted that while Nemtsov’s appointment could be seen as a slap in the face, it would likely be overshadowed by other controversial appointments, such as Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister.

Valeria Korchagina reported from Moscow and Greg Walters reported from Kyiv.