War in Ukraine

You mean to tell me that Ukraine’s negotiating position changed once it became clear they could possibly win the war militarily? Increasing your demands as your position improves relative to the opposition is widely considered an unfair business practice that simply isn’t done in the modern era.

 

Cnn live

"France is ready "to go further" and ban Russian oil, French finance minister tells CNN

From CNN’s Livvy Doherty and Chris Liakos

France is ready “to go further” and ban Russian oil, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told CNN on Friday.

Le Maire called the attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk, which left at least 50 people dead, “a massacre” and said those responsible must be “identified, prosecuted and possibly convicted for these crimes.”

France did not want to wait and a ban on oil would be a “game changer,” Le Maire said, but added that European unity was needed to implement stricter sanctions on energy.

“As France is concerned we stand ready to go further and to decide a ban on oil and I’m deeply convinced that the next steps and the next discussions will focus on this question of the ban on Russian oil,” he said."

 

Btw. Where the heck are the UN Peacekeepers? I'm confused as to why they're not involved. If nothing else since Russia & China claim it's all fake propaganda they should be begging for Peacekeepers to go in & help.

 

I think you need a security council vote to authorize UN Peacekeepers, and we all know how that vote would go.

 

Which again proves how much Russia wants to hide. I say bring up the resolution, put the reasoning on record, & watch Russia squirm trying to justify why they wouldn't want peacekeepers there.

 

Cnn live

"164 bodies have been found in Bucha, Ukrainian prosecutor general says

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktovae revealed on Friday that 164 bodies have been found in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where a massacre of civilians was uncovered following the withdrawal of Russian troops.

"As of yesterday (April 7), 164 dead have been found in Bucha," she said in televised remarks. "Plus today 21 that we exhumated from the mass grave before heavy rain started."
Venedyktova said 26 bodies had been retrieved yesterday from under the rubble of a collapsed building in another Kyiv suburb, Borodianka, and that two more bodies had been recovered Friday. She warned that more bodies were likely to be found in destroyed buildings in the town."

 

Throw them out, put Ukraine in their place in EU & NATO

"EU Commission chief warns Hungary: If you pay in rubles, you violate EU sanctions

From CNN’s Emmet Lyons and Arnaud Siad

Hungary will be breaking EU sanctions if they make good on their promise to pay for Russian energy in rubles, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has told CNN.

“We did an analysis of the decree of Putin, and the legal case is very clear. What Putin is suggesting – this transforming euros into rubles and then paying the gas bill — it would be a breach of sanctions. If you do that, pay in rubles, you breach the sanctions, you circumvent the sanctions we put on Russia,” EU Commission President von der Leyen told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview on Friday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had indicated that his country would be willing to pay for Russian gas in rubles after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree demanding that ‘unfriendly countries’ will be required to pay for gas in the currency.

“So far Hungary has stuck to the sanctions, so until we don’t see the opposite, it’s fine. Never before have we seen the European Union so united, so determined, so fast. And I think for each of our member states, also a question, do I want to be the first one to break that unity? I think no,” she said. "

 

I'd pull everyone in protest to begin with & throw every Russian diplomat/ambassador out. They have no interest in being part of the civilized world.

"Russia expels 45 Polish diplomats, Russian Foreign Ministry announces

From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova in Dubai


“As a response to Poland's unfriendly actions to expel Russian diplomats, based on the principle of reciprocity, 45 employees of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland and the consulates general of the Republic of Poland in Irkutsk, Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg were declared 'persona non grata'," the Russians Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on Telegram.

“They must leave the territory of the Russian Federation before the end of the day on April 13. The corresponding note was handed over to the Ambassador of Poland in Russia,” the statement said.

The Polish Ambassador to Moscow, Krzysztof Kraevsky, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday to express “strong protest” over Poland’s decision to expel 45 Russian diplomats as persona non grata, according to the statement.
....

“The ambassador was told that we regard this step as confirmation of Warsaw's conscious desire to finally destroy bilateral relations. The responsibility for this lies entirely with the Polish side,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said."

 

She's got balls to go there in person, I'll give her that...

"Ukrainian President Zelensky is meeting with European leaders now in Kyiv

From CNN's Radina Gigova

A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has started in Kyiv, Zelensky's office said in a statement Friday.

"Negotiations will take place in a narrow circle, after which the Head of State and EU representatives will make statements to Ukrainian and foreign media and answer their questions," the statement says without providing additional details.
Borrell and von der Leyen arrived in Ukraine earlier on Friday. During a visit to Bucha, von der Leyen said those responsible for the atrocities committed there "will be brought to justice."

"It was important to start my visit in Bucha. Because in Bucha our humanity was shattered. My message to Ukrainian people: Those responsible for the atrocities will be brought to justice," von der Leyen said on her official Twitter account Friday. "

 

Slovakia has given Ukraine russian advanced air defense missile systems.

Slovakia says it has given S-300 air defence system to Ukraine

“I can confirm that the Slovak Republic has donated the S-300 air defence system to Ukraine, following Ukraine’s request for assistance,” Heger wrote.

“The donation of the system does not mean that the Slovak Republic has become a part of the armed conflict in Ukraine,” he added.
....................
Last week, Pentagon officials said not all the weaponry President Joe Biden had promised to Ukraine in mid-March, including the S-300, had been delivered yet.

Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs, told a congressional hearing: “We have focused on getting countries that hold Soviet legacy systems including S-300 systems, that have spare parts, missiles, different parts of that S-300 system, who are willing to send that to Ukraine.”

She added that the US was in discussions with Slovakia, which has sought to replace its S-300s with more modern US-made Patriot missile batteries.

 

Ukrainians shocked by 'crazy' scene at Chernobyl after Russian pullout reveals radioactive contamination

Ukrainians shocked by 'crazy' scene at Chernobyl after Russian pullout reveals radioactive contamination - CNN

 

Not shocked. I'm sure it's because they're secret US agents or something.

"Moscow forces closure of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch offices in Russia

From CNN's Abby Baggini

The Russian Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation announced Friday that it has revoked the registration of 15 representative offices of international organizations and foreign NGOs, including that of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The groups "were expelled after they were found to be in breach of the current legislation of the Russian Federation," a ministry statement said.
In response to the expulsion, Amnesty International said that Moscow is "effectively closing it down." Russia’s media regulator previously blocked access to Amnesty International’s Russian-language website on March 11.

“Amnesty’s closing down in Russia is only the latest in a long list of organizations that have been punished for defending human rights and speaking the truth to the Russian authorities," said Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International.

"In a country where scores of activists and dissidents have been imprisoned, killed, or exiled, where independent media has been smeared, blocked, or forced to self-censor, and where civil society organizations have been outlawed or liquidated, you must be doing something right if the Kremlin tries to shut you up," she continued.
The Russian ministry's announcement, which did not specify the details of the violations, comes as several NGOs accuse Russia of committing crimes under international law."

 

Response to the Russians closing them down

"The independent rights group Human Rights Watch said over the weekend that it has documented a number of allegations of war crimes by Russian forces in occupied regions of Ukraine, which “include a case of repeated rape; two cases of summary execution, one of six men, the other of one man; and other cases of unlawful violence and threats against civilians between February 27 and March 14, 2022."

“The authorities are deeply mistaken if they believe that by closing down our office in Moscow, they will stop our work documenting and exposing human rights violations," said Callamard. "We continue undeterred to work to ensure that people in Russia are able to enjoy their human rights without discrimination. We will redouble our efforts to expose Russia’s egregious human rights violations both at home and abroad.""

 

Cnn live

"EU gives Ukraine an "important step" to full membership of the bloc

From Amy Cassidy in London

The European Union on Friday gave Ukraine an “important step” towards membership of the bloc, with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ceremoniously handing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a questionnaire to complete as part of the long-winded membership process.

“Ukraine belongs to the European family. We’ve heard your requests loud and clear. And today, we’re here to give you a first positive answer,” von der Leyen said speaking to reporters in Kyiv alongside Zelensky and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell.

“In this envelope, dear Volodymyr, there is an important step towards EU membership. The questionnaire that is in here is the basis for our discussion in the coming weeks. It is where your path towards Europe and the European Union begins.”
.....

Thanking her as he received the document, Zelesnky joked: “We’ll be ready with answers, Ursula, in one week”."

 

Cnn live....wouldn't feel bad if some infected soldiers from the Chernobyl region came in contact with a lot of others including Putin, for the parade.

"Russia aiming to achieve victory over Ukraine by May 9, European officials say

From CNN's Oren Liebermann

The Russians are feeling “self-imposed pressure” to achieve some sort of victory by May 9, according to two European officials. May 9 is the day Russia celebrates Victory Day over Germany in World War 2.

Traditionally Russia marks the holiday with a military victory parade through Red Square and a speech from President Vladimir Putin. With one month to go until the holiday, the officials say Russia is regrouping and shifting its forces to southeastern Ukraine — a far more limited goal than seizing large swaths of the country — with the aim of achieving some sort of regional victory.

“Consolidating and trying to at least have something to talk about is clearly in their interest,” one official said.

The official noted that the time pressure could lead Russian forces to make mistakes, compounded by the logistical issues and the morale problems they already face."

 

So much crazy in here.

And sad:

 

Hope they're ok but somehow I think they'll end up collateral damage from the fallout. The infected soldiers probably came in contact with the prisoners.

THEM I feel sorry for.

 

That is shocking. It is as if Putin wants to alienate the rest of the world. I almost wonder if that was really put on there by Russians, but it was reportedly viewed by reporters within minutes of it falling.