In a scenario straight out of a Tom Clancy novel, Vladimir Putin has initiated an invasion of Ukraine under the pretext of it always being a part of Mother Russia. However, insufficient infantry occupation forces, lack of leadership, supplies and a will to fight against the Ukrainians, has left the invasion in danger of stalling out. This could result in Putin turning towards tactical nuclear weapons as an option, especially in light of the activation of the multi national NATO Response Force and the increase in defense support to the Ukraine from around the world

To date, the U.S. has activated 14,000 troops for Europe. Half of those have mobilized unilaterally, including 4,700 82nd Airborne Division soldiers to Poland, 1,000 2nd Cavalry Regiment soldiers to Romania and 300 XVIII Airborne Corps soldiers to Germany.

Earlier this week, another 1,000 troops started moving out, including aircrew, maintainers and staff to support six Air Force F-35 strike fighters, 32 Army AH-64 Apache helicopters and 800 members of an infantry task force battalion to the Baltic states, Poland and Romania.


With the activation of the NATO Response Force, the U.S. expects to start attaching more troops to that organization, as part of a deterrence effort should Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threaten NATO territory.

“It’s a menu of options that are going to be available to national leaders,” Kirby said. “And again, what I can promise you is, as we get solidity on this, and more specificity, we’ll detail that.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...nse-force-activation-amid-russia-attack/

Putin puts forces on nuke alert, Zelenskyy agrees to meet in Belarus
"President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces put on high alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin asserted at a meeting with his top officials on Sunday that leading NATO powers had made “aggressive statements” along with the West imposing hard-hitting financial sanctions against Russia, including the president himself.
The alert means Putin has ordered Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch. He told the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty.
Meanwhile, the office of Ukraine’s president has confirmed that a delegation will meet with Russian officials as Moscow’s troops draw closer to Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy office said Sunday on the Telegram messaging app that the two sides would meet at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border and did not give a precise time for the meeting.
The meeting news came shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces put on high alert in response to what he called “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers."
https://www.militarytimes.com/flash...er-ukraines-2nd-largest-city-of-kharkiv/

Ukraine Slows Russian Advance Under Shadow of Nuclear Threat
KYIV, Ukraine — Outgunned but determined Ukrainian troops slowed Russia’s advance and held onto the capital and other key cities — at least for now. In the face of stiff resistance and devastating sanctions, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s nuclear forces put on high alert, threatening to elevate the war to a terrifying new level
Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraine’s border with Belarus. It's unclear what, if anything, those talks would yield.
Terrified Ukrainian families huddled in shelters, basements or corridors, waiting to find out. Exact death tolls are unclear, but the U.N. human rights chief said 102 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded — warning that figure was likely a vast undercount — and Ukraine’s president said at least 16 children were among the dead. More than 500,000 people have fled the country since the invasion, another U.N. official said Monday — among the millions who have left their homes.
Neighboring Belarus could send troops to help Russia as soon as Monday, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of current U.S. intelligence assessments. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
U.S. officials say they believe the invasion has been more difficult, and slower, than the Kremlin envisioned, though that could change as Moscow adapts. The British Defense Ministry said Monday that the bulk of Putin’s forces are about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Kyiv, their advance having been slowed by Ukrainian forces.
Western nations ramped up the pressure with a freeze on Russia’s hard currency reserves, threatening to bring Russia’s economy to its knees. Russians withdrew savings and sought to shed rubles for dollars and euros, while Russian businesses scrambled to protect their finances.
In addition to sanctions, the U.S. and Germany announced they will send Stinger missiles to Ukraine among other military supplies. The European Union — founded to ensure peace on the continent after World War II — is supplying lethal aid for the first time, including anti-tank weapons and ammunition. At least one Western country is studying a request from Ukraine to provide fighter jets, a European official said. She spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not yet public.
In addition to sanctions, the U.S. and Germany announced they will send Stinger missiles to Ukraine among other military supplies. The European Union — founded to ensure peace on the continent after World War II — is supplying lethal aid for the first time, including anti-tank weapons and ammunition. At least one Western country is studying a request from Ukraine to provide fighter jets, a European official said. She spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not yet public.
The Russian military claimed Monday it had taken full control of Ukraine’s airspace after showering its air bases and air defense batteries with air and missile strikes. But a similar claim on the first day of the invasion turned out to be untrue, and U.S. officials said Sunday that Moscow has failed to fully control Ukrainian skies.
In Mariupol, where Ukrainians were trying to fend off attack, a medical team at a city hospital desperately tried to revive a 6-year-old girl in unicorn pajamas who was mortally wounded in Russian shelling.
During the rescue attempt, a doctor in blue medical scrubs, pumping oxygen into the girl, looked directly into the Associated Press video camera capturing the scene.
“Show this to Putin," he said angrily. “The eyes of this child, and crying doctors."
Their resuscitation efforts failed, and the girl lay dead on a gurney, covered by her blood-splattered jacket.
https://www.military.com/daily-news...ance-under-shadow-of-nuclear-threat.html

Chechens Are Fighting on Both Sides of Russian-Ukrainian Conflict

https://themedialine.org/top-storie...oth-sides-of-russian-ukrainian-conflict/

US-RUSSIA nuclear war would kill 34 million people within hours and is increasingly likely.
The simulation, the result of a study at Princeton‘s Science and Global Security programme (SGS), suggests 34 million people would be killed and 57 million injured in the first hours of an all-out nuclear conflagration – not counting those left ill by fallout and other long-term problems.
In the animation, electronic trails of ballistic missiles arc across the screen, before blossoming into a carpet of white discs.
Worldwide destruction would include the nuclear incineration of Europe, which scientists claimed could be brought about by the escalation of a conventional war between Nato and Russia.
SGS claims the video is “based on real force postures, targets and fatality estimates”. The first simulated nuclear blast appears to occur just inside Poland, near Wroclaw and the borders with Germany and the Czech.
They say: In hopes of halting a US-NATO advance, Russia launches a nuclear warning shot from a base near the city of Kaliningrad. NATO retaliate with a single air strike. As the nuclear threshold is crossed, fighting escalates to a tactical nuclear war in Europe. Russia sends 300 nuclear warheads via aircraft and short-range missiles to hit Nato bases and advancing troops. Nato responds with approximately 180 nuclear warheads via aircraft.
After that, hundreds of further strikes are made on both sides against military nuclear forces. In the video, Russia’s red streaks lift away from the ground moments before America’s rain of blue obliterates swathes of the country; then, Moscow’s bombs crash into the US from coast to coast.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...tin-simulation-europe-nato-a9109116.html

Russia-Ukraine news: Ukrainian ambassador accuses Russia of using devastating ‘vacuum bomb’

https://nypost.com/2022/02/28/russia-ukraine-news-latest-updates-of-war-in-europe/

The treacherous Ramzan Kadyrov is about as big a snake as you can ask for. He fought against the Russians in the First Chechen War and sided with Russia in the Second Chechen war and became president of Chechnya after his father, who was president before him, was assassinated in 2004, most likely by Russia..
"A Russian daily, Gazeta, reported that according to a poll conducted by the independent Levada Center, only 33 percent of Russians believe that Kadyrov can be trusted, while 35 percent believed that he cannot. Asked whether they thought Kadyrov could normalise the situation in Chechnya and end the bloodshed there, 31 percent said yes and 38 percent said no."

International Criminal Court in The Hague is already investigating "war crimes" in Ukraine.

Chechnya's a prime example of Putin's modus operandi. The Russian troops decimate the population, the Kremlin installs a bootlicking puppet government to suppress whatever's left of the local population and when push comes to shove they will use your traditionally hostile population as cannon fodder. He did this in Chechnya, he's going to do the same to Ukraine and afterwards Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia will follow.

US Intel agencies' top priority: understanding Putin's state of mind.

Also the military interventions in Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014 and Syria in 2015, Syria went very well for him and became a testing ground for Russian weapons and tactics that it can now bring to bear in Ukraine.

I would say study the behavior of Vito Genovese and you will understand Putin, the wealthiest, most powerful gangster in the history of the world.

Hundreds of volunteers from western europe are going to Ukraine, dozens of dutch afghanistan veterans.

Imagine the residents of DC. they'd be giving the Russians food and killing Americans to take their fuel because they'd feel bad. Wake up America!

Russia takes increasing aim at Ukraine urban areas on seventh day of war.
The latest details about Russia’s attack on Ukraine:
“Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget.”
5:41 a.m. EST March 2
Ukraine’s leader decried Russia’s escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign, while U.S. President Joe Biden warned that if the Russian leader didn’t “pay a price” for the invasion, the aggression wouldn’t stop with one country.
“Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after Tuesday’s bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in the capital. He called the attack on the square “frank, undisguised terror” and a war crime.
The assault on Kharkiv continued Wednesday, even as Russia said it would be ready to resume talks with the Ukrainian side in the evening. A Russian strike on the regional police and intelligence headquarters, according to the Ukrainian state emergency service. It said three people were wounded.
The strike blew off the roof of the police building and set the top floor on fire, and pieces of the five-story building were strewn across adjacent streets, according to videos and photos released by the emergency service.
Biden used his first State of the Union address to highlight the resolve of a reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and adopt tough sanctions, which he said have left Russian President Vladimir Putin “isolated in the world more than he has ever been.”
“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden said. “They keep moving. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.”
As Biden spoke, a 40-mile (64-kilometer) convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on Kyiv, the capital city of nearly 3 million people, in what the West feared was a bid by Putin to topple the government and install a Kremlin-friendly regime.
The invading forces also pressed their assault on other towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odesa and Mariupol in the south.
As the seventh day of the war dawned Wednesday, Russia found itself increasingly isolated, beset by the sanctions that have thrown its economy into turmoil and left the country practically friendless, apart from a few nations like China, Belarus and North Korea. Leading Russian bank Sberbank announced Wednesday that it is pulling out of European markets amid the tightening Western sanctions.
As fighting raged, the humanitarian situation worsened. Roughly 660,000 people have fled Ukraine, and countless others have taken shelter underground.
The death toll was less clear, with neither Russia nor Ukraine releasing the number of troops lost. The U.N. human rights office said it has recorded 136 civilian deaths, though the actual toll is surely far higher.
One senior Western intelligence official estimated that 5,000 Russian soldiers had been captured or killed in the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II.
Many military experts worry that Russia may be shifting tactics. Moscow’s strategy in Chechnya and Syria was to use artillery and air bombardments to pulverize cities and crush fighters’ resolve.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said it had seen an increase in Russian air and artillery strikes on populated urban areas over the past two days. It also said Kharkiv and Mariupol were encircled by Russian forces and that troops had reportedly moved into the center of a third city, Kherson. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had seized Kherson, though the claim could not be confirmed.
Ukrainian authorities said five people were killed in the attack on the TV tower near central Kyiv. A TV control room and power substation were hit, and at least some Ukrainian channels briefly stopped broadcasting, officials said.
Zelenskyy’s office reported that the site of the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial, which is adjacent to the TV tower, was also hit. A spokesman for the memorial said a Jewish cemetery at the site, where Nazi occupiers killed more than 33,000 Jews over two days in 1941, was damaged, but the extent would not be clear until daylight.
Zelenskyy expressed outrage Wednesday at the attack on Babi Yar and concern that other historically significant and religious sites, such as St. Sophia’s Cathedral, could be targeted.
“This is beyond humanity. Such missile strike means that for many Russians our Kyiv is absolutely foreign,” Zelenskyy said in a speech posted on Facebook. “They have orders to erase our history, our country and all of us.”
Russia previously told people living near transmission facilities used by Ukraine’s intelligence agency to leave their homes. But Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Wednesday that the airstrike on the TV tower did not hit any residential buildings. He did not address the reported deaths or the damage to Babi Yar.
In Kharkiv, with a population of about 1.5 million, at least six people were killed when the region’s administrative building on Freedom Square was hit with what was believed to be a missile. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said its consulate in Kharkiv, located in another large building on the square, was destroyed.
The attack on the square — the nucleus of public life in the city — was seen by many Ukrainians as brazen evidence that the Russian invasion wasn’t just about hitting military targets but also about breaking their spirit.
The bombardment blew out windows and walls of buildings that ring the square, which was piled high with debris and dust. Inside one building, chunks of plaster were scattered, and doors lay across hallways.
Another Russian airstrike hit a residential area in the city of Zhytomyr. Ukraine’s emergency services said Tuesday’s strike killed at least two people, burned three homes and broke the windows in a nearby hospital. About 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Kyiv, Zhytomyr is the home of the elite 95th Air Assault Brigade, which may have been the intended target.
In the southern port city of Mariupol, the mayor said the attacks were relentless.
“They have been flattening us non-stop for 12 hours now,” Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. “We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/flash...raine-urban-areas-on-seventh-day-of-war/

Volunteer fighters arrive in Ukraine. But the untrained should stay home.
Pussies need not apply.
Several hundred volunteers willing to fight Russians alongside Ukrainian forces have already arrived in that embattled nation, according to a government official there.
A defense official at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington D.C. told Military Times that they have already received more than 3,000 applications for U.S. citizens wanting to fight. That figure, he said, includes many military veterans. He could not say how many.
The Ukrainian officials spoke to Military Times on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.
On Sunday, Military Times reported that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy created “The International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.”
It is a new effort, the Ukrainian official told Military Times, to help bolster the fight.
The Russian advance on Kyiv is stalled at the moment, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Thursday morning, in part because of a stiff Ukrainian resistance. Military Times also reported that Ukrainian aircraft and other assets have struck a 40-mile long convoy about 25 kilometers north of Kyiv.
A number of veterans have reached out to Military Times, either saying they are planning to travel to Ukraine to fight or want to. Ukraine’s embassy in Washington, D.C. did not immediately respond to questions about how many U.S. veterans had signed up.
The call for volunteers has been met with enthusiasm on several online forums like Reddit and Discord.
One Reddit page for those volunteering to fight for Ukraine has more than 32,000 members according to the site.
While the forums do have people claiming to be combat veterans, many seem to be young people who have never seen combat or even picked up a gun, heading to Ukraine in search of adventure in the name of a good cause.
A former SEAL turned CIA officer who writes under the name Frumentarius offers his own advice about going.
Notify the U.S. State Department first, he urges. And he offers a note of caution to those who want to fight.
“You aren’t Rambo,” he writes in SANDBOXX.
“If you are determined to go, be professional, responsible, and realistic in your expectations,” Frumentarius writes. “Follow the Ukrainian government’s advice about how to officially register, and do not go there telling them where and how you want to participate in the fighting.
“They will place you in whatever capacity they need you, and wherever they need you most. You are not Rambo, there to single-handedly slay Russians and post your selfies. You will be part of a military machine that is under extreme stress, and you need to seamlessly integrate into that system to be an effective part of it.”
No volunteers will be allowed to bring their own weapons, said the Ukrainian official. Those who fight will be issued at least rifles, he added. He would not comment on whether they will be issued other types of weapons.
Ukraine officials stress to Military Times that they are looking for foreign volunteers with combat experience who require little training before being armed and sent to the front line.
The instructions for joining the legion require “documents confirming military service or work with law enforcement agencies and participation in combat.”
“We are asking for trained people to come,” said the official in Ukraine. “We don’t have time for training.”
The defense official in Washington said there are opportunities for help beyond combat.
“We do not want to send people who are not trained, but at the same time, people can provide medical help. Or some can analyze mass media if they do not wish to fight.”
The defense official, however, stressed all these efforts are voluntary.
“We are not hiring anyone,” he said.
https://www.militarytimes.com/flash...aine-but-the-untrained-should-stay-home/

Fire in Zaporizhzhya, Europe's largest nuclear power plant
In Zaporizhzhya, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, a fire rages in the night from Thursday to Friday. The mayor of nearby Energodar, in southeastern Ukraine, reports in a Facebook video that the fire started after an attack by Russian ground forces. The fire can be seen in unverified images on social media.

Russian troops have been trying to capture the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in recent days. The developments surrounding Energodar already led on Thursday to a response from the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, which called on Russian and Ukrainian troops not to fight in the area around the nuclear power plant.

For no country to put a stop to this , it just goes to show how corrupt all countries and politicians are.

it was so nice of Pelosi and all these other worthless politicians to back full sanctions after 5 days to get ahead of selling off their Euro stock interests.
Disgusting, all of them.

Italian authorities have seized a super yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov, Russia 's richest man.

Five Sky News journalists were shot at Monday while working near the Ukrainian capital Kiev, UK news channel chief Ukraine correspondent Stuart Ramsay reported Friday. Cameraman Richie Mockler is said to have received two bullets to his bulletproof vest and Ramsay himself was injured by a bullet in his lower back.

i wonder if putin will stop at ukraine or will keep going for the rest of europe

If he attacks NATO Russia will be destroyed, they have no chance. NATO 's budget is ten times as large and they have the best technologies/weapons.

Nearly 20,000 people from 52 countries have volunteered for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. "The whole world is on our side today, not only in words, but also in deeds," said Kyiv Independent Foreign Minister Dmitro Koeleba, who announced the number on Sunday.
According to Koeleba, this concerns both veterans and people without military experience. He declined to say which countries the volunteers come from or how many of them are already in Ukraine.

the thing is that he might use nuclaer weapon
and then nato and all of the world will suffer a lot. even if they win the war.

It's part of the Russian doctrine, but to actually do it is another thing. I don't think Putin want to destroy his own country NATO's nuclear umbrella is also essential for Europe's security.

Why Putin will regret launching this war

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/06/opinions/bergen-mike-repass-putin-invasion/index.html