As we can see there appear (at least by this map) to be no real troop offensive in or around Kyiv. To the degree that Russia was attempting to surround or take Kyiv, they seem to have broken off the attempts. This was their declared strategy, whether by choice or by force.
On the flip side the areas to the east and south are starting till fill up with pink and red. They were have said to have taken over 30 villages over the past couple of days and the city of Mariupol is basically in Russian hands. The idea that about 2000 Ukrainians hiding in underground bunkers and tunnels means that the city is still under Ukrainian control seems a bit off the mark. There is rhetoric and their is propaganda. People hiding underground refusing to surrender does not a victory make.
To the degree that Russia has claimed to want to "liberate" Donbas and Luhansk, those goals appear to be more achievable than moving on Kyiv or other Ukrainian strongholds. As the Ukrainians get more supplies and armory from the western allies, they should be able to strengthen their hand up north. That being said, as much as the Ukrainians might want to think about an offensive to drive the Russians out down south, that seems like a much tougher road once the Russians get dug in down there a bit. More to the point there are Russian followers in that area, more so than you see in other areas of Ukraine.
If the strategy really is to consolidate down in those regions, then Russia might be seeing signs of their first real success. Whether that is a sign of more to come or just fleeting remains to be seen.
82 comments:
21m ago05.29
More from the Ukrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk on the Mariupol evacuation, which will be evacuating civilians towards Zaporozhye.
Earlier this morning, Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram:
I appeal to our citizens who are preparing for the evacuation today. We have just received information that the occupiers may be trying to organize their own corridor for evacuation to Russia in parallel with us.
So, please be careful and vigilant. Do not succumb to deception and provocation.”
She said the Ukrainian corridor will lead exclusively towards Zaporozhye (via Mangush, Berdyansk, Tokmak, Orikhiv).
Updated at 05.30 EDT
36m ago05.13
Reuters has this line on Russia’s plans to arm its military with nuclear-capable ballistic Sarmat missiles:
Russia plans to deploy the first military unit armed with nuclear-capable ballistic Sarmat missiles no later than this autumn, Tass news agency reported on Saturday citing Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency.
The unit will be based in Uzhur, in the Krasnoyarsk region, about 3,000km (1,860 miles) east of Moscow, Tass quoted him as saying in an interview with the state Rossiya 24 TV channel.
The missile, a new addition to Russia’s nuclear arsenal, was tested this week. The Pentagon said Russia had properly notified it ahead of its test launch, and that the test was routine.
The Russians want to have a direct connection to Crimea. If the Ukrainian forces hold on to that particular path, Putin may get crazier and may use tactical nuclear weapons.
Unless there is a domestic coup, this could take another year.
But the bottom line is that Ukraine will not concede one square inch.
Their courage is remarkable.
11m ago05.53
A senior Russian military commander said Moscow plans a permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory taken in the war, leading Volodymyr Zelenskiy to warn that Russia’s invasion of his country is just the beginning.
Rustam Minnekayev, the acting commander of the central military district, said Russia was now aiming to seize control of southern Ukraine and form a land bridge to Crimea.
The best coverage is from
https://www.theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/apr/23/russia-ukraine-war-latest-zelenskiy-warns-moscow-wants-to-capture-other-countries-as-moldova-expresses-concern-over-russian-plans-live
KYIV/MARIUPOL, Ukraine, April 23 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russia's invasion of his country was just the beginning and that Moscow has designs on capturing other countries, after a Russian general said it wants full control over southern Ukraine.
"All the nations that, like us, believe in the victory of life over death must fight with us. They must help us, because we are the first in line. And who will come next?" Zelenskiy said in a video address late on Friday.
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Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of Russia's central military district, was quoted by Russian state news agencies as saying full control over southern Ukraine would give it access to Transnistria, a breakaway Russian-occupied part of Moldova in the west. read more
That would cut off Ukraine's entire coastline and mean Russian forces pushing hundreds of miles further west, past the major Ukrainian coastal cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa.
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The statement was one of the most detailed about Moscow's ambitions in Ukraine and suggests Russia does not plan to wind down its offensive there anytime soon.
Ukraine's defence ministry said Minnekayev's comments showed Russia was no longer hiding its intentions.
Moscow, it said on Twitter, had now "acknowledged that the goal of the 'second phase' of the war is not victory over the mythical Nazis, but simply the occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine. Imperialism as it is."
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But despite Russia's ambitious objectives and claims to have seized Mariupol, its forces made no major gains in the last 24 hours, British military intelligence said on Saturday.
Ukrainian counterattacks continue to hinder Moscow's efforts, and heavy fighting is frustrating Russian attempts to capture the key port city, impeding their progress in the Donbas, the Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin. read more
Russia says it is conducting a "special military operation" to demilitarise Ukraine and liberate its population from dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and its Western allies call Russia's Feb. 24 invasion an unjustified war of aggression.
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Moldova's foreign ministry said it had summoned Moscow's ambassador on Friday to express "deep concern" about the general's comments. Moldova was neutral, it said. Moldova last month applied to join the European Union, charting a pro-Western course hastened by Russia's invasion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on whether Russia had expanded its goals or on how Moscow saw the political future of southern Ukraine.
Kremlin’s territorial ambitions go beyond Ukraine, Zelensky warns; U.N. chief to meet Putin
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/23/russia-ukraine-war-news-mariupol-live-updates/
Why does every Ch Ukraine commentary make it seem that he is Rootin for Pootin?
Halfbaked above is much more American in his commentary.
MEANWHILE THIS MORNING IN AMERICA
McCarthy Responds to Getting Caught Lying by Lying
April 23, 2022 at 7:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 2 Comments
New York Times: “Kevin McCarthy’s prime concern on Friday, according to a person familiar with the situation, was about Republicans he thought would be upset by his private criticism of Mr. Trump — not those who might be alarmed by the fact that he had been exposed as a liar in denying it.
“As if to underline the point, Mr. McCarthy repeated the falsehood on Friday, telling reporters in Ridgecrest, Calif., ‘I never thought that he should resign.’
“There were few expressions of outrage from Republican members of Congress about their leader — one who would be in line to succeed the president if he achieves his aspiration of being speaker of the House — having been caught in a falsehood. They appeared to be following the lead of Mr. Trump.”
LYING AND SUPPORTING LIERS IS NOW AN OPENLY ACCEPTED AND RESPECTED ACTIVITY OF THE GOP
Democratic Fatalism Intensifies
April 23, 2022 at 7:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment
New York Times: “The collective mood of Democratic insiders has darkened appreciably in recent weeks.
“Pollsters and prognosticators are forecasting increasingly dire results for their party in the November midterm elections. Inflation, the No. 1 issue on the minds of voters, is accelerating. And despite a booming job market, the president’s average approval rating hasn’t budged since January, when it settled into the low 40s.”
Meadows Was Warned January 6 Could Turn Violent
April 23, 2022 at 7:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments
“Mark Meadows, the final chief of staff for President Donald Trump, was told that plans to try to overturn the 2020 election using so-called alternate electors were not “legally sound” and that the events of Jan. 6 could turn violent, but he pushed forward with a rally anyway, the House committee investigating the Capitol attack alleged in a Friday night court filing,”
the New York Times reports.
“In the 248-page filing, lawyers for the committee highlighted the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a White House aide in Mr. Meadows’s office, who revealed new details about the events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob.”
Trump’s Endorsements Bring Cash Windfall, Backlash
April 23, 2022 at 7:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments
“Former President Donald Trump’s late endorsements in hypercompetitive Republican Senate primaries in Ohio and Pennsylvania have unlocked a flood of support for his chosen candidates, including millions in cash,”
the AP reports.
“But the endorsements have also provoked backlash from some Republicans who believe Trump has betrayed his core supporters by backing Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance in Ohio and TV’s Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania. Both candidates have been criticized for time spent outside their states and being insufficiently committed to the former president and his ‘America First’ agenda.
“The blowback has included calls by a major conservative group aligned with a Vance rival to boycott the rally Trump is holding Saturday night to try to boost his candidate. The state’s tea party movement, which overwhelmingly supports Trump, is also planning a protest outside.”
Person Sets Self on Fire at Supreme Court
April 22, 2022 at 11:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 112 Comments
Someone set themself on fire Friday at the plaza in front of the US Supreme Court building,
CNN reports.
WE DO NOT YET KNOW WHO OR WHY.
One of Ukrainian-born Karolina's latest videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XaRhbdogA8
She also raises money for Ukraine.
KYIV/MARIUPOL, Ukraine, April 23 (Reuters) - Russia resumed its assault on the last Ukrainian defenders holed up in a giant steel works in Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said on Saturday, days after Moscow declared victory in the southern port city and said its forces did not need to take the factory.
Russian forces were hitting the Azovstal complex with air strikes and trying to storm it, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said, adding "the enemy is trying to strangle the final resistance of Mariupol's defenders".
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The biggest battle of the conflict has raged for weeks as Russia seeks to capture a city seen as crucial to its attempts to link the eastern Donbas region with Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow seized in 2014.
Russia's defence ministry said on Friday the remaining fighters had been "securely blockaded" at the steel plant. On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin had declared the city "liberated" and ordered his defence minister to block off the Azovstal complex "so not even a fly can get through" rather than try to storm it.
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"There's no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities" Putin said on television.
Arestovych said Ukrainian troops in the Azovstal complex were still holding out "despite the very difficult situation" and were attempting counterattacks.
More than 1,000 civilians are holed up with the troops at the Azovstal plant, according to Ukrainian authorities
OT but criminal evidence of the attempted coup is becoming increasingly clear.
GOP lawmakers plotted with White House to prevent Joe Biden from taking office: Mark Meadows aide
Tom Boggioni
April 23, 2022
According to a report from Politico, a late court filing on Friday showed that a former aide to ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has pointed the finger at multiple GOP lawmakers who were strategizing with Donald Trump's administration on ways to keep Joe Biden from assuming the presidency.
Friday the House select committee investigating the Jan 6th insurrection made a filing that included a deposition from Cassidy Hutchinson that included names of lawmakers who were "frequently present in meetings" regarding overturning the election as well as discussions about how to "replace the leadership of the Justice Department with figures who would sow doubts about the legitimacy of the election."
Politico's Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu reported, "Lawmakers who attended meetings, in person or by phone, included Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and numerous members of the House Freedom Caucus."
According to the report, "The new evidence underscores the expansive cast of elected Republicans who had ultimately enlisted themselves in Trump’s last-ditch effort to cling to power. Members traded theories about ways to push then-Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly stop Biden’s election, they parried with the White House Counsel’s Office on the boundaries of the law regarding presidential electors, and they met directly with Pence’s staff to encourage him to take direct action on Jan. 6, when Congress convened to count electoral votes."
According to Hutchinson, "They felt that he had the authority to — pardon me if my phrasing isn’t correct on this, but — send votes back to the States or the electors back to the States."
"Some of the GOP lawmakers were present in December meetings, Hutchinson recalled, when members of the White House Counsel’s Office raised significant legal doubts about a plan for pro-Trump activists to submit 'alternate' electors in states won by Joe Biden," Politico's Cheney and Wu reported, adding, "Others attended a Dec. 21 meeting where Rudy Giuliani, then the president’s personal lawyer, and some associates advocated a plan for Pence to unilaterally refuse to count Biden’s electors and instead send the election back to various GOP-controlled state legislatures to replace Biden’s electors with Trump’s."
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/gop-lawmakers-deeply-involved-in-trump-plans-to-overturn-election-new-evidence-suggests-00027340
If they had succeeded Donald Trump would be the President of the United today.
The disclosure came as part of a Friday evening court filing by the select panel asking a federal court to throw out Meadows’ lawsuit against the committee. In the filing, the select committee revealed that Meadows turned over 2,319 text messages during a brief period of cooperation but withheld more than 1,000, citing various privileges.
“[H]e was not acting as anything like a typical White House Chief of Staff advising the President on official matters of government policy,” House General Counsel Doug Letter wrote. “Mr. Meadows was playing a campaign role, attempting to facilitate a strategy that would have reversed the certified results of the 2020 election.”
The committee indicated that Meadows told Jordan in a text message that he supported efforts to convince Pence to send the election back to the states.
thebradfordfile
https://twitter.com/thebradfordfile/status/1517635049746743302
That would be the big Biden
and btw why is NATO and the European countries only providing a very small portion of the Ukraine aid/support ?
Why is it Joe?
Is he compromised everywhere ?
thebradfordfile
https://twitter.com/thebradfordfile/status/1517635049746743302
The President of the United States was using his crack smoking son to launder him cash while VP from a corrupt country he is now sending billions in foreign aid, so naturally the media is focused on the kabuki theater related to January 6th.
That would be the big Biden
and btw why is NATO and the European countries only providing a very small portion of the Ukraine aid/support ?
Why is it Joe?
Is he compromised everywhere ?
'Really bad health' Putin sparks major health fears with bloated face as he holds table
James Lee
Reports have long emerged the Russian president is hiding a serious illness, with rumours the president has cancer and has been regularly visited by oncologists. The rare public appearance and video of Putin speaking to Sergei Shoigu sees the Russian premier claim his forces have "liberated" the besieged city of Mariupol on the coast of the Black Sea in Ukraine.
However, Putin's ailing posture has catalysed rumours his health is fading as a weakened posture and apparent bloating in his face and neck suggest not all is well for the leader.
During the video, Putin congratulated Mr Shoigu over the ongoing "special operation" in Ukraine, but in a rare admission of caution, stated an operation to invade an industrial area in Mariupol had been cancelled over fears of losing more soldiers and equipment.
Yet, analysis of the video shows an uncomfortable Putin who at times can be heard slurring his words.
The president can also be seen gripping the table, whilst constantly tapping his foot as if in discomfort.
Although the rumours about cancer are yet to be confirmed, one side effect of combining steroids with chemotherapy can lead to water retention and bloating and could explain the swelling around Putin's face and neck.
Reports have suggested Putin is "constantly" accompanied by a doctor specialising in thyroid cancer.
Surgeon Yevgeny Selivanov, of Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital, has flown to the Russian leader no less than 35 times in the Black Sea resort of Sochi
Rumours are also spreading the health of the defence minister is not much better.
Mr Shoigu can also be seen slurring words after allegations he recently suffered a heart attack.
Various analysts have commented on the video.
Anders Aslund, a Swedish economist and former adviser to Ukraine and Russia, said the video showed both Putin and Shoigu "depressed and seemingly in bad health".
He added: "Shoigu has to read his comments to Putin and slurs badly, suggesting the rumours of his heart attack are likely.
"He sits badly. Poor
Professor Erik Bucy, a body language expert from Texas Tech University, told The Sun "It's an astonishingly weakened Putin compared to the man we observed even a few years ago.
"An able-bodied president would not need to keep himself propped up with a hand held out for leverage and would not be concerned about keeping both feet planted on the ground.
"This is not a portrait of a healthy Putin but one appearing increasingly feeble and barely able to hold himself upright at a small conference table."
Ukrainian journalists have also jumped on the video in light of Putin's apparent health scare.
Illia Ponomarenko, a reporter for the website The Kyiv Independent said on Twitter: "Is this just me or does Putin really look less healthy and sound with each and every day of the war?
"I can see a drastic difference between now and late February."
Is Putin hiding a serious health condition? Who could replace Putin should he die? What will happen to Ukraine if Putin dies? Let us know what you think by CLICKING HERE and joining the conversation in our comments section below - Every Voice Matters!
CNN's Frida Ghitis also commented on Putin's appearance.
She said: "Putin, sinking in his chair, gripping the table.
"He's okay, right? Healthy?"
And Louise Mensch, an author and former member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, linked to an article she wrote last month speculating Putin may be hiding an illness.
She said: "I reported, Vladimir Putin has Parkinson's disease and here you can see him gripping the table so that his shaking hand is not visible but he cannot stop his foot from tapping."
No official reports have been released by Russian sources confirming or denying any illness the president may be suffering.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1599591/vladimir-putin-health-update-news-cancer-fears-bloated-face-ukraine-war-latest
Catturd ™
https://twitter.com/catturd2/status/1517636485461250049
2023 … Marjorie Taylor Greene for Speaker of the House.
another poll out Friday (Gallup) with Joe's lowest approvals yet
Wait until he really gets investigated
* lowest of the Gallup polling
Donald Trump Jr.
@DonaldJTrumpJr
WATCH THIS RIGHT NOW 🔥🔥🔥
VIDEO:
https://mobile.twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1517679248416387075
"The leadership of the Republican Party sold us out on trade. The leadership of the Republican Party has fought consistently against strong & secure borders." - @JDVance1 to @TuckerCarlson #OHSen
Maybe Tucker will pick up the 10,000 CNN+ viewers to add to his largest audience on television
and growing
How about a roundtable with Tucker, Elon Musk and Joe Rogan ?
Most watched ever ???
* Where are the young voters who are not in the 21% who think Joe is doing a good job going to go ?
Apartment buildings
KYIV, Ukraine — An adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister says Russian forces have fired at least six cruise missiles at the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
Anton Gerashchenko said in a Telegram post on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were able to shoot down several missiles, but at least one landed and exploded.
“Residents of the city heard explosions in different areas,” Gerashchenko wrote. “Residential buildings were hit.”
Brandon Straka
https://twitter.com/BrandonStraka/status/1517606926791622656
A duly elected Republican member of Congress is under assault from Democrats who are engaging in total abuse of judicial process to trample her rights & try to have her unseated-& not a single word from the GOP Chairwoman, RNC, or any congressional Republican that I’ve seen yet.
Dump McConnell and McCarthy
Poland is spending billions helping Ukraine refugees.
* Save America and Save Democracy
Benny CNN+ Lifetime Member
PICTURE:
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1517678721800589313
The longer you stare at this photo of DeSantis destroying woke corporate America the better it gets
FACT CHECK - TRUE
Madison Cawthorn
https://twitter.com/CawthornforNC/status/1517616971315126272
I guess the left thinks goofy vacation photos during a game on a cruise (taken waaay before I ran for Congress) is going to somehow hurt me?
They're running out of things to throw at me...
Share your most embarrassing vacay pics in the replies🤦♂️
https://cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2299
“Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine needs $7 billion per month to make up for economic losses caused by Russia’s invasion of his country.”
He’s like the Greta Thunberg of presidents. He demands, demands and demands.
https://americandigest.org/noted-in-passing-the-persistence-of-folly/#more-31782
LOL
Associated Press
Sanctions hit Russian economy, although Putin says otherwise
1h ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly two months into the Russian-Ukraine war, the Kremlin has taken extraordinary steps to blunt an economic counteroffensive from the West. While Russia can claim some symbolic victories, the full impact of Western sanctions is starting to be felt in very real ways.
As the West moved to cut off Russia’s access to its foreign reserves, limit imports of key technologies and take other restrictive actions, the Kremlin launched some drastic measures to protect the economy. Those included hiking interest rates to as high as 20%, instituting capital controls and forcing Russian business to convert their profits into rubles.
As a result, the value of the ruble has recovered after an initial plunge, and last week the central bank reversed part of its interest rate increase. Russian President Vladimir Putin felt emboldened and proclaimed — evoking World War II imagery — that the country had withstood the West’s “blitz” of sanctions.
“The government wants to paint a picture that things are not as bad as they actually are,” said Michael Alexeev, an economics professor at the University of Indiana, who studied Russia’s economy in its transition after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A closer look, however, shows that the sanctions are taking a bite out of Russia’s economy:
— The country is enduring its worst bout of inflation in two decades. Rosstat, the state’s economic statistic agency, said inflation last month hit 17.3%, the highest level since 2002. By comparison, the International Monetary Fund expects consumer prices in developing countries to rise 8.7% this year, up from 5.9% last year.
— Some Russian companies have been forced to shut down. Several reports say a tank manufacturer had to stop production due to the lack of parts. U.S. officials point to the closing of Lada auto plants — a brand made by Russian company Avtovaz and majority-owned by French automaker Renault — as a sign of sanctions having an effect.
— Moscow’s mayor says the city is looking at 200,000 job losses from foreign companies shutting down operations. More than 300 companies have pulled out, and international supply chains have largely shut down after container company Maersk, UPS, DHL and other transportation firms exited Russia.
— Russia is facing a historic default on its bonds, which will likely freeze the country out of the debt markets for years.
Meanwhile, Treasury officials and most economists urge patience that sanctions take months to have full effect. If Russia can't get appropriate amounts of capital, parts or supplies over time, that will cause even more factories and businesses to shut down, leading to higher unemployment.
It took nearly an entire year after Russia was sanctioned for seizing Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 for its economic data to show signs of distress, such as higher inflation, a decline in industrial production and a slowdown in economic growth.
“The things that we should be looking for to see if the sanctions are working are, frankly, not easy to see yet,” said David Feldman, a professor of economics at William & Mary in Virginia. “We’ll be looking for the price of goods, the quantity of goods they are producing and the quality of goods. The last being the hardest to see and probably the last to appear.”
Transparency into how sanctions are affecting the Russian economy is limited, largely because of the extraordinary lengths the Kremlin has taken to prop it up and its largest sector — oil and gas — is largely unencumbered due to European, Chinese and Indian reliance on Russian energy.
Benjamin Hilgenstock and Elina Ribakova, economists with the Institute of International Finance, estimated in a report released last month that if the European Union, Britain and the U.S. were to ban Russian oil and natural gas, the Russian economy could contract more than 20% this year. Current projections forecast a 15% contraction.
While the EU has agreed to ban Russian coal by August and is discussing sanctions on oil, there’s been no consensus among the 27 nations so far about halting oil and natural gas. Europe is far more reliant on Russian supplies than Britain and the U.S., which have banned or are phasing out Russian oil. In the meantime, Russia gets $850 million a day from Europe for its oil and gas.
The U.S. and its allies have argued that they have tried to tailor sanctions to affect Russia’s ability to wage war and financially hit those in the highest echelons of government, while leaving everyday Russians largely unaffected.
But Russians have noticed a spike in prices. Residents of one Moscow suburb said 19-liter jugs of drinking water they regularly order have become nearly 35% more expensive than before. In supermarkets and stores in their area, the price for 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sugar has grown by 77%; some vegetables cost 30% to 50% more.
Local news sites in different Russian regions in recent weeks have reported that multiple stores are shuttered in malls after Western companies and brands halted operations or pulled out of Russia, including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Apple.
The Kremlin and its allies on social media have repeatedly pointed to the recovery of Russia’s ruble as a sign that Western sanctions aren’t working. The ruble crashed to around 150 to the dollar in the early days of the war but recovered to around 80 to the dollar, about where it was before the invasion. A gauge of weekly inflation by Rosstat has shown inflation slowing, but that is not surprising after the central bank raised interest rates as quickly as it did.
Russia’s central bank had doubled its benchmark interest rate to support the ruble’s plunging value and stop bank runs. It dropped the rate to 17% from 20% this month and signaled it might lower it further.
This isn’t the first time Russia has thrown its full force behind defending the ruble’s value as a symbol of resistance against the West. Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, the Soviet Union had an official exchange rate of one ruble equaling about $1.35, whereas the black-market exchange rate was closer to four rubles to the dollar. The Russian debt crisis of the late 1990s also was caused partially by the Kremlin’s active defense of the currency’s value.
U.S. Treasury officials have dismissed the significance of the ruble’s recovery.
“The Russian economy is really reeling from the sanctions that we put in place,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, adding that the ruble’s value has been artificially inflated by central bank intervention.
If and how Russia wins the economic war will come down to whether the Kremlin can drive division in the West, causing the sanctions to become patchy and less effective. At the same time, Russia will have time to develop alternatives for goods it can no longer access, a concept known as import substitution.
Looking back at the 2014 sanctions, the Congressional Research Service said in January that the impact on Russia was modest only because the U.S. effectively acted alone. This time, there are multiple international actors.
But Alexeev, the University of Indiana professor, sees one glaring gap.
“As long as Russia can continue to sell oil and gas, they will muddle through this,” he said.
Sanctions are not a deterrent, pederast. Sloppy Joe is on the record saying so.
But as long as they make clowns like you feel better so you can brag about meaningless and empty gestures...
LOL:
Exxon bans LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter flags from being displayed at company flagpole: Report
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/exxon-bans-lgbtq-black-lives-matter-flags-from-being-displayed-at-company-flagpole-report
Butt pirate employees go apeshit.
Come on rat no one ever breaks sanctions
France, Germany, and at least 10 other European nations sold £230million worth of military hardware and defensive kits to Moscow which was used by Kremlin during the war in Ukraine, an EU analysis revealed. The selling of the weapon systems was apparently ‘illegal’ under the EU embargo that bans the arms sale to Russia after the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russians. Primarily, France, Germany and Italy have exploited the loophole in the arms embargo and exported missiles, rockets, guns and bombs to Moscow, as first reported by UK’s The Telegraph.
EU nations flowed arms to Moscow in breach of own embargo imposed post Crimean annexation
The wide ranging report revealed that EU nations evaded the sanctions that banned “the direct or indirect sale, supply, transfer or export of arms and related material of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts, therefore, to Russia.”
The embargo was inacted by European Union eight years ago, however, the EU nations flowed in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of arms in breach of the contracts signed before August 1, 2014, as per the report. France sold defence equipment to Russia worth €152 million as part of 76 export licences, pushing the total sales to €1billion by Europe. Germany had been supplying Russia with tanks and howitzers that were used by the Russian troops in its special military intervention in Ukraine.
The New York Times analysis makes sense.
The Biden administration deserves credit for laying the groundwork for multilateral sanctions, which are the only kind that have the hope of success. The greatest effects seen so far from the sanctions have been by unplugging Russia, if only partially, from the international financial system through moves like freezing billions of dollars in assets overseas and taking some Russian banks off SWIFT, the global messaging system for financial transactions. These far-reaching punishments, unthinkable even a few months ago, displayed a new sense of cooperation among the United States and the other Group of 7 countries.
Even Mr. Putin acknowledged that they have “achieved certain results.” But focusing on helping Ukraine financially and with military equipment might prove more productive than thinking up new sanctions on Russia. The Biden administration appears to recognize this, at least in part, with its latest $800 million in military aid and $500 million in emergency funding announced on Thursday.
Sanctions alone — at least any sanctions that European countries would be willing to now consider — will not bring Russia to its knees any time soon. As long as Europeans still depend on Russian oil and gas, Russia will be able to depend on significant income from that relationship. The spat over whether gas deliveries will be paid in rubles, as Russia has demanded, only highlights the bind that European countries find themselves in.
The oligarchs who are losing their yachts and the people who are tightening their belts have little sway over the Kremlin. In Russia, with average citizens, Mr. Putin has grist for a loud “I told you so” about the West’s purported longing to bring down Russia.
Will the sanctions imposed by the Group of 7 nations truly isolate Russia? No. A number of countries, including Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and, most significantly, China, remain on friendly terms with Russia. The fact that this list also includes archrivals Pakistan and India, as well as Iran and Israel, illustrates Mr. Putin’s influence as an arms dealer and a power broker in South Asia and the Middle East.
The United States could tighten the economic screws on Russia by imposing secondary sanctions. U.S. officials already appear to be threatening as much in meetings and calls with officials in India and China. Secondary sanctions are a powerful tool to compel other countries to get in line with American policy. But the potential benefits need to be weighed against the risks and costs. The extraterritorial application of American laws can also incite deep resentment, even from European allies at times. Secondary sanctions should be used sparingly, and only after consultation with partners.
Sanctions can have other unintended consequences as well. They can actually end up strengthening a dictator’s grip on power by tightening state control over the economy. Private businesses can have a hard time weathering the storm of sanctions, but authoritarian regimes and their state-owned enterprises often find ways to circumvent them. Sanctions also provide dictators with a credible external enemy to blame for the misery of their people. Instead of pushing people to rise up against their rulers, sanctions often inspire a rally-around-the-flag effect. After Western sanctions were placed on Russia in 2014, in the aftermath of the annexation of Crimea, 71 percent of Russians saw them as an attempt to “weaken and humiliate Russia,” according to an independent poll.
It is also worth remembering that, although Russia’s invasion proves that economic integration is no cure for war, economic isolation is also not a recipe for peace. Sanctions are often sold as an alternative to war. But they can also be a precursor to war, as seen with the institution of the American oil embargo against Japan and the freezing of Japanese assets about five months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
So, while sanctions can hobble economies, they rarely compel the kinds of wholesale political changes that American officials would like to see. Research has shown that they produced some meaningful changes in behavior about 40 percent of the time. Change is unlikely to occur when sanctions are imposed without communicating the steps that must be taken for them to be rolled back.
All the more reason that the United States should have a clear plan for how and under what circumstances it would be appropriate to roll back these latest sanctions. Right now, this has been left deliberately vague to allow the Ukrainians to directly negotiate with Russia. It is laudable to give deference to Ukrainians whose lives are on the line in this terrible war. But creating clear goals and communicating benchmarks for sanctions relief are important factors in successful sanctions. Too often, sanctions are left in place for decades, without evaluation of whether or not they are achieving what they were put in place to do.
The United States and its allies have been wise in tightening the economic screws on Russia, so long as they bear no illusions about what this can and cannot achieve.
It is impossible to predict what will happen in the future.
But we have avoided a third world war so far.
A free link
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/22/opinion/sanctions-russia-ukraine-war.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DJDmwYiOMNAo6B_EGKfqNlbMcy2DKAAcVcK6QuTblvzfVWPkpgDhahuN2EhJEBaW0TmL6EY1kXjdjLTKxqtnjjdHW4I-Nyg-Hj4hyPaGTuRPfV03w-IAhg8481JVn8xXUMz67CFOAi0tl82ewzRcwvHUd2byiKvfnqDRR8KY_GOkmasl9qLrkfDTLDntec6KYCdRFSCz_FSHB-42U96rBMKY9dffa_f1N7Jp2I0fhGAXdoLYypG5Q2W4PV8r1turTMohaNo9GkCyKD1hVDHmAcCyYaQ8dPLw&smid=url-share
I'm not being political on this topic.
It far too important.
Blogger Caliphate4vr said...
Come on rat no one ever breaks sanctions
France, Germany, and at least 10 other European nations sold £230million worth of military hardware and defensive kits to Moscow which was used by Kremlin during the war in Ukraine, an EU analysis revealed.
Yeah... the elites not wanting to fucking freeze to death can be a powerful motivator.
LOL.
I think it's cute that our resident alky and pederast are impressed by sanctions that even Sloppy Joe said were not a deterrent.
Btw, it's nice to see that Zelenskyy's cocaine supply hasn't been interrupted.
https://www.rawstory.com/2657202066/
This is a long story but it makes sense.
Russian propaganda dumb shit
Ukraine reports Russians trying to storm Mariupol plant
Associated Press
April 23, 2022
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces attacked a steel plant in the shattered Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said, apparently seeking to eliminate the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the strategic city the Kremlin claims its military has otherwise seized.
The assault was reported by an advisor to Ukraine’s presidential office as an estimated 1,000 civilians sheltered in the Azovstal plant alongside the remaining Ukrainian fighters, while Russian forces pressed their offensive elsewhere in the eastern Donbas region amid fierce Ukrainian counterattacks.
The presidential advisor, Oleksiy Arestovich, said during a briefing that Russian forces had resumed air strikes on the massive seaside plant and were trying to storm it, which would represent a reversal from an order Russian President Vladimir Putin gave two days earlier.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin on Thursday that the whole of Mariupol, with the exception of Azovstal, had been “liberated” by the Russians. At the time, Putin ordered him not to send Russian troops into the plant but instead to block off the facility, an apparent attempt to starve out the Ukrainians and force them to surrender.
Ukrainian officials have estimated that about 2,000 of their troops are inside the plant along with the civilians sheltering in the facility's underground tunnels. Arestovic said the Ukrainian forces were trying to counter the new attacks.
The article continues.
________
I am not rootin for pootin.
Nothing the fabulist liars at RAW STORY!!!11! writes makes sense alky.
The fact that you continuously plagiarize them validates that fact.
Do you think NATO's position on a no-fly zone is right?
I think it's the right position for NATO and the United States. It doesn't bind their hands to maintain a no-fly zone, which would mean active NATO engagement with Russian airplanes. But also I think establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine would lend credence to the argument that this war is about NATO expansion – when we all know that it isn't.
Do you agree with those who say that if the US and NATO established a no-fly zone, it would be a sign of direct conflict with Russia?
I don't think it would be a sign of direct conflict with Russia, but I think it puts us in a position in which we have to be willing to have direct engagement. If a Russian plane is shot down, that’s direct engagement. What will NATO be willing to do? What will the US be willing to do?
I also think about how Russia would react.
You have to understand that before you have a no-fly zone.
What kind of reaction would there be?
This is the question, right?
Putin is not crazy. He's not an irrational actor. Avoiding direct conflict with NATO is key to understanding how Russia does what it does in Ukraine, but also how Russia has engaged with Ukraine since 2014.
Putin does not want direct engagement with NATO, because Russia cannot win. Putin understands that. If there were direct engagement, I think Russia would find an off-ramp relatively quickly. Russia cannot defeat NATO. Its military doesn't have the training and skill needed.
We can think broadly about the saber-rattling, the threats to Finland and Sweden after joining NATO. But what would the consequences be?
Putin’s not willing to say what they would be.
No. The idea that Putin is mystical – “We'll never understand him – that's a narrative beneficial to Putin, not western intelligence.
Going back to the saber-rattling, they tested an intercontinental ballistic missile yesterday. That seems to be a pretty good and sizable saber to rattle. What do you read into that? Why did he do that?
I'm trying to figure out the most diplomatic way of putting this.
Please don't.
Commander Hints at Broader Russian Ambitions
April 23, 2022 at 11:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments
A Russian commander said that Moscow wants to take “full control” of eastern and southern Ukraine, in part so it could have a path to neighboring Moldova — raising fears that the nearly two-month war could spill outside of Ukrainian borders,
the Washington Post reports.
The author
John Stoehr is a fellow at the Yale Journalism Initiative; a contributing writer for the Washington Monthly;
A series of cruise missile strikes killed at least five people in Ukraine’s Odesa region, Kyiv officials say.Ukraine says Russian troops are trying to storm Mariupol steel plant where holdout fighters and civilians are hunkered down.Luhansk governor says two people killed by Russian shelling in the city of Popasna.Russia admits one sailor killed and 27 missing after the Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet sank last week.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says NATO must avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia that could lead to a third world war.Zelenskyy says Ukraine’s allies are delivering the weapons it asked for to respond to Russia’s invasion.
Blogger The Real Halfbaked Soars Pundit said...
The author
John Stoehr is a fellow at the Yale Journalism Initiative; a contributing writer for the Washington Monthly;
Ooh, a gen-u-ine IVY LEAGUE leftist hack.
That makes him better than your garden-variety leftist hack, right alky?
If you were smart you'd focus more on accomplishments and less on pedigree.
I know more than a few highly credentialed leftists who, were it not for their trust funds would be fucking homeless.
And I also know more than a few high school graduate millionaires who would've struggled to get accepted to a state school, and are now sitting on a pile and some retired early.
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
- Calvin Coolidge
The Russians want to have a direct connection to Crimea. If the Ukrainian forces hold on to that particular path, Putin may get crazier and may use tactical nuclear weapons.
Apparently Roger the genius cannot tell from looking at the map that there is actually a direct connection from Russia to Crimea. But understanding how to read maps is something that many geniuses struggle with.
A Russian general outlined what he said was Vladimir Putin’s goal for his invasion of Ukraine after his failure to capture the capital, Kyiv: build on the 2014 annexation of Crimea by securing full control of the south and the eastern Donbas region, reaching as far as neighboring Moldova.
While the U.S. and its allies dispatched more military hardware to Ukraine, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it’s a “realistic possibility” Moscow will win the war. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he aimed to avoid an open conflict with Russia that could lead to nuclear confrontation.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres plans to meet both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy next week as the world body seeks urgent steps toward peace.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron appeared on the cusp of winning a second term tomorrow after a surprisingly tight race against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
The world’s biggest technology companies could face billions of dollars in fines for breaches of new European Union legislation after lawmakers reached an agreement on its scope early today.
I just took a quick look and your correct I miss read 📚
But they want the other port from Ukraine 🇺🇦
Apparently Roger the genius cannot tell from looking at the map that there is actually a direct connection from Russia to Crimea. But understanding how to read maps is something that many geniuses struggle with.
Hopefully some Ivy League-credentialed leftist hack can interpret the map for him.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/04/19/orwell-teach-democrats-working-class-00025047
The Biden administration has to address the cultural issues 🙄
The left's issue with the working class isn't cultural, alky. It's economic. The guy making $60K/year is getting crushed by this idiot. You Cuckoo's Nest isolation keeps you from seeing what's really going on out in America.
Having said that, I really want the left to continue to think it's cultural. That's keeps the left from correcting the issues that might, might, win back some working class voters.
So carry on.
Roger...
Biden has to address inflation, how to deal with rising interest rates, war, Covid, crime, and the border....
Nobody gives a bigger shit what a dithering 80 year old fart thinks about "social issues". Hell the man didn't want Beau and Hunter to go to school with black kids because it would be racial "jungle". Who the hell is he to lead anyone on "culture" of any sort.
Townhall.com
VIDEO:
https://mobile.twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1517567339960717312
BIDEN: "You know our natural wonders, uh, are uh, you know, inspired and the reflection inspires to take action."
Biden talking to roger
Greg Price
VIDEO:
https://mobile.twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1517573807627771905
Biden: "What we should be doing is paying the Brazilians not to cut down their forests. We got to cut ours down. We got the benefit of it. We got these third world countries, not third world countries, some are, the industrial countries got to help.
our "leader"
Nobody gives a bigger shit what a dithering 80 year old fart thinks about "social issues".
You just have to hope that there are millions of "alky" leftists out there who truly believe that if we just had more drag queen story hours, more tranny support groups, and a few more windmills and solar panels, democrats will cruise to victory in 2022 and 2024.
James's Fucking Daddy.
Did you read James believe that Ukraine will be exporting grains at the same production level as they did Pre-War?
Roger was cheering the Transitory drop of the Rubel.
Now he changes his tune.
Always funny to watch Roger rim his own ass.
"U.S. Treasury officials have dismissed the significance of the ruble’s recovery."
KansasDemocrat said...
James's Fucking Daddy.
Did you read James believe that Ukraine will be exporting grains at the same production level as they did Pre-War?
He's not the brightest bulb in the tulip patch
kind of like Biden
When was the last time a democrat president had a 21% approval from 21-36 year olds ?
Lowest in history?
* 18-34 year olds
* lowest in any age category...
highest was 48% among oldsters over 65
* oldsters probably influenced the most by the FAKE NEWS media
Ukraine: Russians try to storm Mariupol plant, strike Odesa
By DAVID KEYTON and YESICA FISCH
41 mins ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces in Ukraine tried to storm a steel plant housing soldiers and civilians in the southern city of Mariupol on Saturday while attempting to crush the last corner of resistance in a place of deep symbolic and strategic value to Moscow, Ukrainian officials said.
The reported assault on the eve of Orthodox Easter came after the Kremlin claimed its military had seized all of the shattered city except for the Azovstal plant, and as Russian forces pounded other cities and towns in southern and eastern Ukraine.
A 3-month-old baby was among six people killed when Russia.
Satellites pictures don't show that they succeed
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine's president says he will meet Sunday in Kyiv with the U.S. secretary of state and secretary of defense.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of the plans Saturday during a press conference. He did not immediately share more detail about the visit from Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin.
The White House declined to comment on Saturday.
Zelenskyy has for weeks urged Western allies to send Ukraine more weapons to counter the Russian invasion.
She is the French version of Trump and DeSantis
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WORLD
France is about to vote for its president. The West is watching anxiously.
Making her third bid for power, the far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen has never been closer to the Élysée Palace, an outcome that would send shock waves across the West.
A fierce nationalist and Eurosceptic, Le Pen aims to drastically shift France’s place in the European family of nations.Max Butterworth / NBC New
April 22, 2022, 8:02 AM PDT
By Patrick Smith and Armelle De Oliveira
When President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen faced off in a heated debate this week ahead of Sunday’s election, it wasn’t just millions of TV viewers at home in France watching closely.
Also paying attention were the 450 million citizens of the European Union and governments from Washington to Kyiv, for whom this election could have seismic implications.
Making her third bid for power, the far-right nationalist Le Pen has never been closer to becoming the first woman to occupy the Élysée Palace, the official residence of French presidents since 1848.
It’s an outcome that seemed unthinkable until recently and would send shock waves across the West, handing Russian President Vladimir Putin a major victory in his campaign to recast the balance of power in Europe even as his military struggles on the ground in Ukraine.
Macron, seeking his second term, is a former banker and liberal centrist who burst onto the global stage five years ago with a new political party. He swept to power with grand ambitions, sidelining the traditional powerhouses on the center-right and center-left as he sought to position Paris as a European leader in the Western alliance, but has seen his tenure beset by domestic criticism, the pandemic and now a major war on the continent.
President Macron faces far-right Le Pen in critical French election test
He may be leading in the polls, but his technocratic, aloof style is far from universally popular. One woman told the president at a campaign event Thursday that to her, Sunday’s election amounted to choosing between “plague and cholera.”
Opinion polls since the pair advanced from the first round this month have shown Macron pulling ahead by around 10 percentage points, at 55 percent. But that’s far closer than when the two last contested the presidency in 2017.
A fierce nationalist and Eurosceptic, Le Pen aims to drastically shift France’s place in the European family of nations by ending its senior leadership in NATO, reducing payments and legal deference to the E.U., restricting non-French people’s access to social benefits and advocating a radical rapprochement with Putin.
As the campaign reaches its conclusion, analysts and diplomats are anxiously weighing what the result could mean for the war in Ukraine and the future of NATO.
Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin.
How are they identifying currently ?
other than idiots
guess that is self evident
Are they going to go over their Afghanistan withdrawal "strategy" with Zelensky?
Or let him know where to find $85 Billion of abandoned weapons?
Joe is not strong enough to Make NATO Pay for the Arming of Ukraine.
Why is that that ever post I put up about Ukraine, the reverend believes it is cheerleading for Putin?
Roger have you given up on your May 7th Wedding?
The January 6th is is still looking for enough information
A former aide to ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows testified to the Jan. 6 Select Committee that Meadows met with several right-wing House members in December to discuss efforts to overturn the election, a new court filing reveals.
Why it matters: The committee filed a motion for summary judgment late Friday night that sets out to prove Meadows' centrality to Jan. 6 and former President Trump's efforts to overturn the election – and the relevance of his testimony.
Meadows, who handed over some documents to the panel before refusing to testify and ceasing his cooperation, is challenging the legality of its subpoenas.The motion is aimed at defeating Meadows' lawsuit and forcing him to sit for testimony.
If the former President directed him to steal the election....???
the reverend believes it is cheerleading for Putin?"
Answer : The Reverend is a dumb ass unable to think/write for him/her/it self.
Facts , like math confuse him.
Roger is you unsecured debt crushing your top dreams.
New Car
New House
New punching bag aka wife #3
Roger how is it you have a sin =500 credit score?
Here are the latest updates:
32 seconds ago (18:31 GMT)
Foreign powers to back different Ukrainian regions under reconstruction plan: Zelenskyy
President Zelenskyy has said that foreign countries would sponsor different Ukrainian regions as part of a post-war reconstruction plan.
31 mins ago (18:00 GMT)
Future of peace talks in Turkey depends on Putin, Zelenskyy says
President Zelenskyy has said that the likelihood of further peace talks with Russia in Turkey depended on Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, but that Kyiv wanted substantive talks to happen.
36 mins ago (17:56 GMT)
Ukraine not ready to try break Russia’s siege of Mariupol, Zelenskyy says
President Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine’s army was not ready to try to break through Russia’s siege of Mariupol by force, but that Kyiv had every right to try and do so.
He told a news conference in Kyiv that it was vital that he meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks if Ukraine planned to resolve the war through diplomacy.
52 mins ago (17:40 GMT)
Top US diplomat, defense secretary to visit to Kyiv on Sunday: Zelenskyy
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to Kyiv on Sunday and hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian leader said.
Joe gave away US Oil/Gas Independence and the Socialist Democrats cheered.
It was such a stupid move.
President Zelenskyy did not Flee as Cowardly Feckless Joe Wanted.
Joe opens a 2nd front on his war Against American.
The federal government said Wednesday that it won’t deliver water to farmers in California’s agricultural belt, which produces roughly a quarter of the nation’s food."
Joe assures food shortages .
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