Photo: Max Levin, Pixabay, collage The Page
The world continues to describe the RF aggression in Ukraine, bombing of cities, and how Vladimir Putin has already violated all the rules of warfare. We have already reported that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that the Allies of Ukraine did not learn the lessons of Russian aggression and didn't do enough for Kyiv.
He also suggested six steps to save Ukraine—assistance with defense, refusal of Europe and the United States from Russian oil and gas, strengthening the Eastern Flange NATO, and sanctions against Belarus are among them.
The New York Times main page that on March 5 showed life in Mariupol after bombing and shelling today released a photo gallery in different cities of Ukraine during the war.
The Page has made a new overview of what European and American media report, highlighting 11 days of active Russian invasion.
Zelenskyy’s "desperate" plea for aircraft
Military.com reports a call to the Congress, in which Volodymyr Zelenskyy asks the United States to help get more military aircraft for its armed forces and block the import of Russian oil. Through a private video call, the President of Ukraine appealed to US legislators, stating that they might see him alive for the last time. The outlet points out the words of Zelenskyy that he remained in Kyiv—the capital, which has a vast Russian armored column threatening from the north.
The President has been asking to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine or give him more combat aircraft for several days.
"President Zelenskyy made a desperate statement," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
According to him, the President of Ukraine wants the United States to facilitate the transfer of aircraft from the Eastern European allies.
"I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer," Schumer assured.
Fighter jets are already going to Ukraine
The Secretary of State Antony Blinken reported the issue of transferring fighter jets is under consideration after his meeting with Dmyrto Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, at the Poland-Ukraine border.
"We are discussing this issue and working on everything," Blinken told reporters.
Later, Blinken confirmed that the United States gave the "green light" to NATO countries if they decide to provide Ukraine with fighter jets for war with Russian invaders.
He also assured that the support of the United States of Ukraine "not only has been unprecedented, not only is it going to continue, it’s going to increase."
Oil, 10 billion, and drones
The US Congress is working on a military and humanitarian assistance package in the amount of $10 billion. Schumer told Zelenskyy that lawmakers hope to quickly send it to Ukraine.
When the leader of the Republicans in the Senate Mitch McConnell asked what kinds of military support his country needs, Zelenskyy said that drones would be most useful, as well as aircraft.
Also, during the conversation, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia asked Zelenskyy what he was thinking about the ban on the import of Russian oil in the United States. According to the Senator, the President of Ukraine replied that such a ban would be effective for putting pressure on Russia.
Republicans and the growing number of Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, support the idea of banning the import of Russian oil. The Biden administration has still resisted this step, fearing the price rise at the pump.
Zelenskyy urged US lawmakers to impose sanctions against the oil and gas sector in Russia, which has so far managed to resist the increasing sanctions imposed by the Biden administration and other countries.
Fears of Zelenskyy’s deaths
As Military.com notes, American lawmakers are concerned that Zelenskyy will be killed in the Russian invasion. They are also worried that the Ukrainian government under assault will not be able to function and receive assistance.
When one MP asked diplomatically what would happen if he was killed, he acknowledged the concerns but urged Congress to do whatever it can to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s assault on his country.
Senator Ben Sasse, Republican from Nebraska, said in his statement:
"Zelenskyy’s message is simple: close the skies or give us planes.’"
Biden-warrior, Putin-disruptor, and Zelenskyy-Churchill
Photo: Getty Images
BBC News calls Vladimir Putin "the most destructive international leader of the 21st century."
The outlet believes that the President of the Russian Federation became a mastermind of many sufferings—from Chechnya to the Crimea, from Syria to Salisbury, and strives— sometimes successfully—to redraw the map of Europe, immobilize the United Nations, weaken the United States and hasten its split and decline.
As the outlet notes, Putin is obviously a more formidable adversary, harder to deal with than even Leonid Brezhnev or Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
But it calls Joe Biden "a Cold War warrior" who devoted its presidency to protecting democracy at home and abroad. In an effort to re-establish the traditional post-war role of America as a leader of the free world, he sought to mobilize the international community, offered military assistance to Ukraine and imposed the toughest regime of sanctions ever targeted against Putin.
At the same time, the publication notes that Vladimir Zelensky is praised and extol, since he went away from the comedian to Colossus Churchill.
At the same time, the outlet notes that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is lauded and lionized, since he rose from comedian to Churchillian colossus.
Curtsey to Berlin and "Zelenskyy’s naive romanticism"
Also, BBC expectedly emphasizes the decisiveness of Western countries, in particular, Germany that sent anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine (putting an end to the policy of refusing to send weapons into the active war zones), halted the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, supported blocking SWIFT in Russia, and even committed itself to spend 2% of their GDP on defense expenditures.
The biggest assault on the European state since the Second World War strengthened European determination. Bearing in mind the the unsuccessful withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan and the possibility of Trump 2.0 presidency, European leaders seemed to realize that they could no longer rely so much on Washington to protect democracy at this time of maximum danger. Leadership in the free world in this crisis has become a common matter.
According to the BBC, it would be naive to be swept away by the romanticism of Zelenskyy's speeches or get all excited when there is news in the social media about the seizure of Russian super-yachts. Putin is intensifying the war
But the last week sent Moscow—as well as Beijing—a signal that the post-war international order still continues to function, despite the deployment of the Russian military machine to bring about its collapse. ust as history never ended, nor has liberal democracy.
Germany to Russia: We know certain things about Nazism
Sky News quoted tweets of German Embassy in South Africa in response to the tweet of the Russian embassy that Moscow "fights Nazism in Ukraine," saying:
"Sadly, we're kinda experts on Nazism."
Of course, this does not stop Moscow rhetoric, and according to the Russian media, they continue to boost the theme of the Nazis in Ukraine hiding behind the civilians.
In its message, the Russian embassy argued that it received a "large number of letters of solidarity" from South Africans.
Sky News also quotes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who stated today that the United States received "credible reports" about the deliberate attacks of Russia on civilians in Ukraine. According to him, Washington documents these messages to help relevant organizations in the investigation of potential war crimes.
"We have seen very credible reports about the use of certain weapons. What we're doing right now is documenting all of this, putting this all together, looking at it and making sure that as people and the appropriate organizations and institutions investigate whether war crimes have been or are being committed," he stated.
Putin was lying even to his circle: Kremlin is shocked
Photo: Getty Images
Mail.Online quotes the words of a source close to the Kremlin, who claims that Vladimir Putin kept his cabinet in ignorance about his plans to invade Ukraine, and officials were not ready for the level of international sanctions against Russia.
The Russian cabinet knew that the Russian leader was planning to recognize two separatist regions in the east of Ukraine, but was shocked by learning that he was invading the territory of the whole country. A lot of top Kremlin officials were not prepared for the scale of economic sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow.
'This is f***ed up. They are out of their f***ing minds!' a source told the site.
Government officials wanted to resign in protest against this step, but feared that it would be perceived by Putin as state treason, the source said, adding:
"The resignation will only lead to the prison camp."
A Kremlin insider noted that 'no one calculated' the West's strict financial sanctions, such as the banning of Russians banks from the use of the SWIFT banking system because Putin had kept his invasion plans secret from most of the leadership.
Even heads of Russian Army and FSB is stunned
Photo: Getty Images
Mail.online notes that it has information about the group of senior officials of 14 men and one woman in Putin's government who were stunned by his plans on the invasion of Ukraine.
These are the most influential people in the Kremlin, including the heads of the army and security service who, as stated, were very afraid of the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the devastation which would follow.
Mailonline received a message that top aides are unlikely to ever stand against Putin, because he made them fabulously rich as a reward for their cronyism, and they still feel a terrible fear of the Kremlin dictator.
This group includes a former head of the FSB Patrushev—the main puppet master in the Security Council, who, as many consider, convinced 69-year-old Putin that Ukraine is awash with the Nazis. It is alleged that he also seeks his son Anton Patrushev, 44 years old, the current Minister of Agriculture, to become a possible successor to Putin.
The number of those "shocked with invasion" includes the 59-year-old Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko, who is also considered as a future candidate for the highest post if Putin's health fails, although he is not so far a member of the security council.
And Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as chief of the defense staff Valery Gerasimov, assured UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in Moscow last month there would be no invasion.
War was a "Putin's personal decision"
Photo: Getty Images
The publication reports that the opinion of Shoigu and Gerasimov was not taken into account at the beginning of the war, or as they call in Russia — a "special military operation", since it was a personal decision of Putin.
One Kremlin Insider said:
"If Putin trusts them to run Russia, this trust is plainly limited—he no longer sits anywhere near them in face to face meetings."
Because Putin’s circle had no idea of the full-scale war (which the state media is ordered to call a 'special military operation', rather than war or invasion), the Russian government did not predict the crippling blow to the country from Western sanctions.
The outlet’s sources report that almost the entire group that is part of the influential Security Council of Russia knows that they are facing imprisonment if they ever dare to speak out. But they also live in fear that they and their families will lose a luxurious lifestyle and private fortunes.
The highest echelon of Russia trembles in fear: There are no heroes left
Photo: Getty Images
Experts note that technically the cabinet could stop Putin if they all refused to obey him. But there are concerns that they will never act in collusion to put an end to the war, although most of them consider the Russian invasion to be "madness".
The aides face losing everything if they resign from their posts. They also understand that they themselves can be on trial because of their role as associates of the Kremlin leader, if he lost power.
The publication quotes a Western diplomat who had two stints in Moscow:
"Putin corrupted the entire upper echelon of Russia. They took top posts, served Putin loyally, and were allowed to milk the system."
Also the outlet quotes the words of political analyst and former speechwriter Abbas Gallamov, who claims that the coup in order to overthrow Putin is unlikely, regardless of how paranoid his behavior may seem to the outside world or even his own henchmen.
"It would be wrong to expect any moves from them. The elite have always been afraid of Putin but now they are even more afraid of him. If he [is] ready to bomb Kyiv, he could imprison them—and not only that. They all know about the torture cells. There are no heroes left.'
Instead of conclusions. The West seems to be ready to help Ukraine close the sky on their own, officially without joining the war. It is also encouraging that Europe and the United States discuss the issue of refusing Russian oil and gas and even more tough sanctions that will strangle the Russian economy. Of course, Ukrainein dire need of fighter jets, because the bombing continues, and Putin is obviously not ready to stop until the entire military potential of the Kremlin is exhausted.
The split and shock in the RF dictator’s circle instills little hope, because we should not expect actions from these people—they are too afraid of repression and losing their rich life. But the fact that they saw the real situation is not not the worst news.
Ukraine continues to resist the attacks of the occupiers, fighting for its freedom and hoping that the West also had an epiphany and will enhance its support. Because Kyiv confronts a bloody dictator who recently planned after the blitzkrieg in Ukraine to bring Anglo-Saxons on their knees, and he definitely will not stop. And this is perfectly understood by the neighboring countries—on March 5, Lithuania and Poland stated that they had begun to doubt the sense and security of NATO and no longer believed that the Alliance could protect them.