Ukraine War Watch Thread

[wjfox]

[Yuli Ban]

Yikes...

[wjfox]

This could be disastrous in terms of geopolitical stability.

Even a rise of 10% would be bad. But some commodities are pushing nearly 20%...

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Global food prices rise to highest ever levels after Russian invasion

Fri 8 Apr 2022 13.40 BST

Global food prices rose to their highest ever levels in March as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UN has reported.

Cooking oils, cereals and meats hit all-time highs and meant food commodities cost a third more than the same time last year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s monthly food price index published on Friday.

The Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted Black Sea exports of crucial commodities from a region that had been producing more than a quarter of the world’s wheat exports.

The war has helped push cereal prices up 17% over the past month with the closure of ports throttling wheat and maize exports from Ukraine. Russian exports have also been slowed by financial and shipping problems.

World wheat prices soared by 19.7% during March, while maize prices posted a 19.1% month-on-month increase, hitting a record high along with those of barley and sorghum.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... aine-wheat

[wjfox]

Yikes...

Death toll is now 50+. Up to 300 injured.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramators ... ay_bombing

[caltrek]

Just cuz I hate trying to follow stories via Twitter.

United Nations Condemns Deadly Attack on Train Station, Dozens Of Civilians Killed
April 9, 2022

https://www.eurasiareview.com/09042022- ... ns-killed/

Introduction

(UN News via Eurasian Review) In eastern Ukraine, a reported Russian missile attack on a railway station that’s killed dozens of civilians including children, has been condemned by the United Nations. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement, that the strike – and others against civilians and civilian infrastructure – were “gross violations” of international law.

Mr. Guterres said the strike on the Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine, which killed and injured scores of civilians waiting to be evacuated, “including many women, children and elderly”, was “completely unacceptable.”

The statement issued by his Spokesperson went on to remind “all parties of their obligations under international law to protect civilians, and of the urgency to agree on humanitarian ceasefires in order to enable the safe evacuation of, and humanitarian access to, populations trapped in conflict.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his appeal to all concerned to bring an immediate end to this brutal war.”

In an earlier statement, on Friday, UN Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, Amin Awad, said that many had suffered terrible injuries at the railway station and that the number of fatalities was likely to rise.

[raklian]

[andmar74]

Following the meeting, Downing Street said the UK would send 120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems to support Ukraine.

"We are stepping up our own military and economic support and convening a global alliance to bring this tragedy to an end, and ensure Ukraine survives and thrives as a free and sovereign nation."

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Friday, Mr Johnson said the UK will send additional military equipment including Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles.

The only sensible thing for Russia to do, is to step down. Their casualties will sky-rocket.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61052643

[raklian]

The only sensible thing for Russia to do, is to step down. Their casualties will sky-rocket.

Yeah, it's difficult to defend against those kinds of missiles especially when they're being launched in an urban setting by tens of Ukrainian soldiers all at once, and there's thousands of them having at least one of those, probably.

[caltrek]

Putin is learning the hard way that the only way to win is not to play the game. Of course, Ukrainians are paying a steep price for the glory of teaching him that lesson.

[weatheriscool]

Mariupol mayor says 31,000 residents deported at 'gunpoint' to Russian 'filtration camps,' evacuations stalled

The mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol said that roughly 31,000 residents have been forcibly deported and sent to Russian "filtration camps" in occupied eastern Ukraine.

Mayor Vadym Boychenko said in a Telegram post Friday that he had "verified" that Ukrainians from the southern port city were being taken "at gunpoint" to a camp in Novoazovsk – a Ukrainian border town 35 miles from Mariupol and just 9 miles from the Russian border.

Novoazovsk is located in the Donetsk People’s Republic – a breakaway region in Ukraine’s most eastern front that has been backed by Russian forces and engaged in armed conflict with the Ukrainian army since 2014.

Just days before the February invasion, the Russian State Duma passed a bill officially recognizing the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, which was then signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Boychenko said Ukrainians have been at the camps for weeks.

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/mariupol-mayor-s ... 19266.html

[weatheriscool]

That takes balls to travel to Ukraine in the middle of a war! Imagine if Putin ordered a missile through that room during this meeting.

[weatheriscool]

A Russian rocket that hit a Ukrainian train station had "For the children" written on the side.

The Friday morning attack in Kramatorsk killed dozens and injured over 100 people, authorities said.

Civilians had flocked to the train station to evacuate the city ahead of an anticipated Russian assault.

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/russian-rocket-s ... 32642.html

[Member]

Imagine if Putin ordered a missile through that room during this meeting.

That would be too risky, killing the prime minister of uk would start ww3 and I doubt putin would remain in power after a failed attempt.

[Cyber_Rebel]

Russia’s Ukraine Propaganda Has Turned Fully Genocidal
Egged on by the language of annihilation and extermination, Russian soldiers have become willing executioners.

On Feb. 26, only two days into the war, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published an op-ed titled “The Coming of Russia and of the New World.” Its author, without a trace of irony, praises Russian President Vladimir Putin for the timely “solution of the Ukrainian question.” A few hours later, the article was removed and is now only available in web archives. It’s unclear why it was removed—whether because of its uncomfortable proximity to the lexicon of systematic mass murder or because it described a plan for dismantling Ukrainian statehood after a successful invasion presented itself as an accomplished fact when, in reality, Russian forces were being routed.

But this op-ed wasn’t a fluke or an editor’s oversight. Putin’s hatred of Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign state is well known: He reportedly complained that “Ukraine is not even a real country” to then-U.S. President George W. Bush back in 2008. The same conviction is evident in his later treatises and, finally, his bizarre televised speech three days before he launched the war. Since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Ukraine’s eastern regions, television rhetoric has followed Putin’s cues and been extremely derogatory toward Ukraine and its leadership—but not so much ordinary Ukrainians as a people.

That has dramatically changed. Since the failure of Putin’s apparent plan to rush into Kyiv, decapitate the Ukrainian government, and install a puppet regime became evident—and it became clear to him that ordinary Ukrainians weren’t waiting to be liberated by Russia—the language on Ukraine and Ukrainians has turned much more radical and toxic.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/09/ru ... test062921

It's become a full-on proxy war as most know by this point, but should it be risked further? Do we risk more by not doing so?

[wjfox]

Russian shipyards halt production of ships due to lack of foreign components - intelligence

09.04.2022 18:11

The Russian military-industrial complex remains dependent on imported high technology, which is why Russia is unable to continue the production of modern weapons. Thus, Russian shipyards stop the production of ships due to the lack of foreign components.

[...]

Production of gunpowder charges for naval artillery has also been stopped due to the lack of foreign components and the absence of Russian analogs.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/34 ... gence.html


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S&P downgrade indicates Russia headed for historic default

By FRANK BAJAK
yesterday

BOSTON (AP) — The credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded its assessment of Russia’s ability to repay foreign debt, signaling rising prospects that Moscow will soon default on external loans for the first time in more than a century.

S&P Global Ratings issued the downgrade to “selective default” late Friday after Russia arranged to make foreign bond payments in rubles on Monday when they were due in dollars. It said it didn’t expect Russia to be able to convert the rubles into dollars within the 30-day grace period allowed.

S&P said in a statement that its decision was based partly on its opinion that sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine “are likely to be further increased in the coming weeks, hampering Russia’s willingness and technical abilities to honor the terms and conditions of its obligations to foreign debtholders.”

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... a4c301d9f1

[andmar74]

Why Ukraine Is Winning
Ukraine’s success illuminates a strategy that has allowed a smaller state to—so far—outlast a larger and much more powerful one.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... iv/629514/

[andmar74]

[Time_Traveller]

Ukraine preparing for "massive attack in the east" as Russia regroups, ambassador says

Ukraine is preparing for a potential "massive attack in the east" as Russian troops regroup in the contested Donbas region, Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova told "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

Russian military decided to shift focus to the east after failing to take the capital of Kyiv amid fierce Ukrainian resistance. But Russia's record of committing "atrocities" and launching "horrible attacks" since its invasion of Crimea eight years ago suggests a brutal assault is to come, Markarova said.

"Yes, the enemy — the Russians — they are demotivated," she said. "They are war criminals, but there are so many of them and they still have so much equipment. And it looks like they're going to use all of it. So we are preparing for everything."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-ru ... he-nation/

[weatheriscool]

Putin's New Commander in Ukraine 'Executioner' of Civilians: Ex-General
Source: Newsweek/MSN

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly appointed General Aleksandr Dvornikov as the new commander for his invasion of Ukraine, with one former U.S. military official likening him to an "executioner."

Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Mark Hertling, a retired U.S. Army general and former Commanding General of the U.S. Army in Europe, discussed Dvornikov's past in the Russian military and explained why he seems to fit Putin's desired strategy in Ukraine. Currently serving as the commander for Russia's southern military district, which includes regions like Chechnya and Crimea, Hertling explained that Dvornikov is well-versed in campaigns involving attacks on civilians and the sewing of chaos.

"The way he has conducted combat operations in the past has caused him to be... [perceived as] the kind of executioner we've seen prosecute these kinds of campaigns where there's an awful lot of civilian attacks, civilian destruction, [and] chaos on populations, both in Syria and Grozny," the retired general said. "So this is the guy who's going to be asked to deliver success before the [May 9th], Mayday Parade in Moscow."

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pu ... ar-AAW46Eb

[weatheriscool]

Ukrainian defense ministry says it found '132 tormented bodies' in Makariv
Source: ABC News

Ukraine's defense ministry said it found 132 "tormented bodies" of tortured, murdered citizens in the town of Makariv, after Russian forces retreated.

The ministry said it uncovered "new monstrous war crimes," saying the town is "half ruined."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/International/li ... 6#83983531