TheNewsGuru

Tag: Russia

  • Ukrainian army shoots down several Russian fighter planes

    Ukrainian army shoots down several Russian fighter planes

    The Ukrainian army said on Tuesday that it had shot down several Russian fighter planes as Russia’s invasion of its neighbour country entered its sixth day.

    Five Russian fighter planes and a helicopter were shot down during aerial attacks on Monday, the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper and the Ukrainian air force reported.

    The information could not however be independently verified.

    The planes were reportedly shot down during aerial attacks on the cities of Vasylkiv and Brovary in the area surrounding Kiev, and a cruise missile and a helicopter were shot down near Kiev.

    Ukrainian warplanes reportedly fired missiles and bombs at Russian tanks and troops near Kiev and close to the city of Zhytomyr.

    Bombs were reportedly dropped in the northern region of Chernihiv and the southern Ukrainian city of Berdyansk, currently under Russian control.

    Meanwhile, satellite imagery has shown a convoy of Russian military vehicles estimated to be 64 kilometres long heading towards the Ukrainian capital Kiev, according to Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.

    More than 100 civilians have already died during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the UN.

    Ukraine’s government puts the civilian toll at more than 150.

  • Russia’s isolation intensifies as Ukraine fighting rages

    Russia’s isolation intensifies as Ukraine fighting rages

    Moscow faced increasing isolation on Tuesday as President Vladimir Putin showed no sign of stopping an invasion of Ukraine, where fierce fighting and Russian bombardment have killed dozens and sparked a refugee crisis.

    Russia’s invasion, launched last week, appears not to have achieved the decisive early gains that Putin would have hoped for.

    The Russian leader faces mounting diplomatic isolation for launching the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two,and the systemic impact of Western sanctions led to a near 30 per cent collapse in the rouble on Monday before central bank intervention rescued the currency from its lows.

    Ceasefire talks held Monday failed to reach a breakthrough and negotiators have not said when a new round would take place.

    The United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on Russia’s central bank, its top businesses, oligarchs and officials, including Putin himself, and barred some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.

    NATO ally Turkey delivered another blow to Moscow on Monday by warning warring countries not to send warships through its Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits that separate the Black Sea from the Mediterranean, effectively bottling up Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

    Washington has ruled out sending troops to fight Russia or enforcing a no-fly zone as requested by Ukraine, fearing an escalation between the world’s top two nuclear powers.

    But, the United States and its allies have instead promised military aid to Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned the capital was under constant threat.

    “For the enemy, Kyiv is the key target,” Zelenskiy said in a video message late on Monday.

    “We did not let them break the defence of the capital, and they send saboteurs to us … We will neutralise them all,” he added.

    Zelenskiy said Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”, was targeting a thermal power plant providing electricity to Kyiv, a city of 3 million people.

    Human rights groups and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs.

    The United States said it had no confirmation of their use.

    Staging a push for the capital, Russia has massed a convoy of armoured vehicles, tanks and other military equipment that stretches about 40 miles (64 km), U.S. satellite company Maxar said.

  • President Putin and the resurgence of global geopolitical gangsterism – By Dennis Onakinor

    President Putin and the resurgence of global geopolitical gangsterism – By Dennis Onakinor

    By Dennis Onakinor

    Dennis Onakinor wades into the discourse on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and condemns President Putin’s embrace of international brinkmanship and gangsterism, previously associated with American leaders like Ronald Reagan, George Bush (Sr.), and George Bush (Jr.). While observing that the war machine of a global military power like Russia can effortlessly overrun a weak neighbouring country such as Ukraine in a matter of days or weeks, he calls on Putin to retrace his steps from the path of destructive militarism, and learn from the Soviet debacle in Afghanistan as well as the American misadventures in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

    “There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face,” wrote William Shakespeare in his 1606 play, “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” And, the mind-reading art is even more illusory when the subject is an international spymaster trained in the art of simulation and dissimulation. Indeed, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, a former Soviet “Committee for State Security” (KGB) agent, has just shown the world that mind-reading is an illusion, following his country’s military invasion of neighbouring Ukraine after several months of strident denial of such intention.

    Since October 2021, when Russia commenced massing about 150,000 – 200,000 heavily-armed troops on its borders with Ukraine, President Putin and his spokespersons have vehemently denied allegations of an imminent Russian military invasion of its neighbour. Even in the face of credible intelligence reports from Ukraine’s US-led NATO allies, Russian functionaries, especially Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, branded all related information as US-orchestrated anti-Russian hysteria.

    As US’ President Joe Biden and other Western statesmen, such as NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, continued to sound the imminent invasion alarm, Russian officials derided it all as “hollow and unfounded attempt to incite tensions,” adding that “Russia doesn’t threaten anyone.” On January 28, 2022, Lavrov sought to quash all related rumours as he told an interviewer that “There won’t be a war as far as it depends on the Russian Federation, we don’t want a war …”

    Such was the vehemence of the Russian denials that an embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky pitiably admonished Western leaders against further warnings concerning the imminent invasion of his country. Thus, when President Biden, on February 15 2022, warned that the invasion was only a matter of days away, only a few people took the information seriously, with Putin laughing it off in what would turn out to be an exercise in grand deception.

    Reality soon dawned on the world, when in the early hours of February 24, 2022, the Russian war machine rumbled into Ukraine. Not many people expected it to happen. On February 15, 2022, Yours Sincerely had published a related article in THE NEWS GURU titled “War Is Not Inevitable If Preventive Diplomacy Is On the Cards.” There, I stated that “Questionable as its massive military presence on Ukraine’s borders may be, it is doubtful that Russia really intends invading its neighbour – with all the consequences. Perhaps, Putin simply wants NATO to pay attention to Russia’s concerns that have been ignored for too long.” Alas, I miscalculated spectacularly, like most people, who fell for the anti-invasion lies of Putin and his cohorts.

    It is now obvious that preventive diplomacy was never really part of Putin’s options in respect of the Ukraine crisis. Steeped in Russian irredentism, he had decided from the onset to resolve the crisis militarily. His vehement denials and blatant lies about the imminent invasion were nothing but tactical delays calculated to ensure adequate preparations for the assault on Ukrainian military infrastructures, towns, and cities.

    In his televised national address preceding the invasion, Putin articulated a casus belli, rooted in his much-trumpeted demand for security guarantees from NATO and its Ukraine partner: “As NATO expands to the east, with every passing year, the situation for our country is getting worse and more dangerous … We can no longer just watch what is happening … Further expansion of the NATO infrastructure and the beginning of military development in Ukraine’s territories are unacceptable for us … This is a real threat not just to our interests, but to the very existence of our state, its sovereignty. This is the very red line that has been talked about many times. They crossed it.”

    Sounding angry and belligerent, Putin highlighted the objectives Russia hoped to achieve from its unprovoked aggression against its neighbour: “We have been left no other option to protect Russia and our people, but for the one that we will be forced to use today. The situation requires us to take decisive and immediate action … I decided to launch a special military operation … And for this we will pursue the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.”

    In a manner reminiscent of the bellicosity of President George Bush (Jr.) in the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Putin issued a stark warning to any adversary who might want to intervene on the side of Ukraine: “Whoever tries to hinder us, or threaten our country or our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to consequences that you have never faced in your history. We are ready for any turn of events. All necessary decisions in this regard have been made. I hope that I will be heard.”

    International political analysts have likened Putin’s disdain for preventive diplomacy to the hawkish militarism of US’ President Ronald Reagan, whose administration was characterized by what an analyst referred to as “global geopolitical gangsterism.” Some people opine that Putin’s brazen invasion of Ukraine was directly scripted from the devil-may-care attitude of Reagan in his actions against Grenada, Libya, Nicaragua, etc. Others maintain that he is emulating the predatory attack of George Bush (Sr.) against Panama. Still, others say that he is borrowing a leaf from the playbook of George Bush (Jr.) on Iraq.

    It would be recalled that on October 25, 1983, President Reagan ordered the military invasion of the Caribbean island state of Granada, ostensibly to intervene in that country’s political crisis – said to have been engineered by the CIA. He also authorized the CIA to mine Nicaragua’s territorial waters against the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in June 1986. He severely diminished Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s aura of invincibility when he launched a preemptive aerial assault on the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi on April 15, 1986. Elsewhere, he confronted Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran, humbling its naval force in a series of battles fought in the Persian Gulf between 1987 and 1988.

    Upon succeeding Reagan in January 1989, a hawkish President George Bush ((Sr.) decided to tackle Panama’s military dictator, General Manuel Noriega, who was resisting extradition to the US for alleged drug trafficking offense. Brushing aside all international opposition, he ordered an invasion of the Central American country on December 20, 1989. Noriega was captured and flown to the US, and was subsequently sentenced to a 40-year jail term in April 1992, although he was paroled after 17 years due to “good behaviour.”

    President George Bush (Jr.), having ousted the ruling Taliban and its al-Qaeda terrorist associates from power in December 2001, decided to humble Iraq’s strongman Saddam Hussein. Against the United Nations’ opposition, he ordered the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, ostensibly to rid the country of its weapons of mass-destruction (WMD). Subsequent events would reveal that the invasion was based on falsified intelligence information.

    In a statement insinuative of the popular axiom, “What goes around comes around,” Putin alluded to some of the above-highlighted acts of international brinkmanship in his bid to draw parallels with the Ukrainian invasion: “First, without any approval from the UN Security Council, they carried out a bloody military operation against Belgrade, using aircraft and missiles right in the very centre of Europe … Then came the turn of Iraq, Libya, Syria … However, there is a special place for the invasion of Iraq, which was carried out also without any legal grounds. As a pretext, they put forward supposedly reliable information from the United States about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

    While Putin’s examples of America’s violation of international law may be germane, he has failed to realize the simple truth that two wrongs do not make a right. In Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he stands inextricably guilty of the same international lawlessness for which he holds the US severally culpable. Like Presidents Reagan, Bush (Sr.) and Bush (Jr.), he is presently exhibiting the global geopolitical gangsterism that was associated with American great-power chauvinism and hubris.

    There is no gainsaying the fact that the war machine of a great military power like Russia can humble a militarily-weak country such as Ukraine in a matter of days or weeks. But, the bitter experience of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and that of the US in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, have shown that the real trouble of great-power interventionism lies in post-invasion pacification. Putin has failed miserably in learning this vital lesson.

    While analysts agree that Russia’s strategic security concerns in relation to NATO and Ukraine are genuine, they however find it hard to understand how the invasion of Ukraine will effectively resolve the security concerns in its favour. For, after all the death and destruction occasioned by the invasion, it would still have to engage its adversaries in a negotiated solution to the conflict. And, if that be the case, of what purpose was the war?

    Thus, in light of the Soviet’s Afghan debacle, and the US’ Vietnamese, Iraqi, and Afghan military misadventures, President Putin would do well to reverse course from the path of destructive militarism to that of diplomacy. It is never too late to embrace the option of peace.

    Meanwhile, a revanchist President Xi Jinping is closely watching developments in Ukraine, while tactfully refraining from condemning or supporting Russia’s act of aggression. Undoubtedly, the outcome of events in Ukraine will determine China’s ultimate move against Taiwan. Perhaps, the world is witnessing a resurgence of global geopolitical gangsterism.

     

    Dennis Onakinor, a global affairs analyst, writes from Lagos – Nigeria. He can be reached via e-mail at dennisonakinor@yahoo.com

  • Ukraine ceasefire talks begin

    Ukraine ceasefire talks begin

    Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began on the Belarusian border on Monday, Moscow said, as Russia’s diplomatic and economic isolation deepens four days after invading Ukraine.

    The invasion of Ukraine has become the biggest assault on a European state since World War II.

    Russian forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, the Interfax news agency said on Monday but ran into stiff resistance elsewhere.

    Talks began with the aim of an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces, the Ukrainian president’s office said, after a Russian advance that has gone more slowly than some expected.

    Russia has been cagier, with the Kremlin declining to comment on Moscow’s aim in negotiations.

    It was not clear whether any progress could be achieved after President Vladimir Putin on Thursday launched the assault and put Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert on Sunday.

    The talks are being held on the border with strong Russian ally Belarus, where a referendum on Sunday approved a new constitution, ditching the country’s non-nuclear status at a time the former Soviet republic has become a launchpad for Russian troops invading Ukraine.

    The Western-led response to the invasion was sweeping, with sanctions that effectively cut off Moscow’s major financial institutions from successive Western markets sending Russia’s rouble currency down 30 per cent against the dollar on Monday.

    Countries also stepped up weapons supplies to Ukraine.
    Blasts were heard before dawn on Monday in the capital of Kyiv and in the major eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian authorities said.

    But Russian ground forces’ attempts to capture major urban centres had been repelled, they added.

    Russia’s defence ministry, however, said its forces had taken over the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhya region as well as the area around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Interfax reported.

    The ministry added, however, that the plant’s operations continued normally.

    Ukraine denied that the nuclear plant had fallen into Russian hands, according to the news agency.

    There was fighting around the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol throughout the night, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional administration, said on television on Monday.

    He did not say whether Russian forces had gained or lost any ground or provide any casualty figures.

    At least 102 civilians in Ukraine have been killed since Thursday, with a further 304 wounded, but the real figure is feared to be “considerably higher”, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Monday.

    More than half a million people have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

    A senior U.S. defence official said Russia had fired more than 350 missiles at Ukrainian targets since Thursday, some hitting civilian infrastructure.

    “It appears that they are adopting a siege mentality, which any student of military tactics and strategy will tell you when you adopt siege tactics, it increases the likelihood of collateral damage,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    Partners in the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) defence alliance were providing Ukraine with air-defence missiles and anti-tank weapons, Chief Jens Stoltenberg said in a tweet on Monday.

    The Kremlin accused the European Union (EU) of hostile behaviour, saying weapons supplies to Ukraine were destabilising and proved that Russia was right in its efforts to demilitarise its neighbour.

    It declined to comment on whether there was a risk of confrontation between Russia and NATO.

    Russia has demanded that NATO never admit Ukraine.

    Germany said it would increase defence spending massively, casting off decades of reluctance to match its economic power with military clout.

    Russia’s rouble plummeted nearly 30 per cent against the dollar on Monday, after Western nations had unveiled sweeping sanctions on Saturday including blocking some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.

    Russia’s central bank scrambled to manage the broadening fallout, saying it would resume buying gold on the domestic market, launch a repurchase auction with no limits and ease restrictions on banks’ open foreign currency positions.

    It also ordered brokers to block attempts by foreigners to sell Russian securities.

    Several European subsidiaries of Sberbank Russia, majority-owned by the Russian government, were failing or were likely to fail due to the reputational cost of the war in Ukraine, the European Central Bank said.

    Britain said on Monday it was taking further measures against Russia in concert with the United States and EU.

    Corporate giants also took action, with British oil major BP, the biggest foreign investor in Russia, saying it would abandon its stake in the state oil company Rosneft at a cost of up to 25 dollars billion.

    Rolling protests have been held around the world against the invasion, including in Russia, where almost 6,000 people have been detained at anti-war protests since Thursday, the OVD-Info protest monitor said.

    The UN Human Rights Council agreed on Monday to Ukraine’s request to hold an urgent debate this week on Russia’s invasion, minutes after Kyiv’s envoy told the Geneva forum that some of Moscow’s military actions “may amount to war crimes”.

    The 47-member council adopted the proposal by a vote of 29 in favour, with five against, including Russia and China.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday asked the EU to allow Ukraine to gain membership immediately.

    “Our goal is to be with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be equal… I am sure we deserve it,” he said in a video speech shared on social media.

    U.S. President Joe Biden will host a call with allies and partners on Monday to coordinate a united response, the White House said.

    Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

    The EU shut all Russian planes out of its airspace, as did Canada, forcing Russian airline Aeroflot to cancel all flights to European destinations until further notice.

    The EU also banned the Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik.

  • Ukraine sues Russia over genocide claim in UN’s highest court

    Ukraine sues Russia over genocide claim in UN’s highest court

    Ukraine has filed a lawsuit against Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanding immediate action against Russia and has invoked the convention against genocide.

    Ukraine said Russia had “falsely claimed” that genocide was being committed in the breakaway republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in order to justify an invasion.

    Russia “emphatically” denies the allegations, the indictment states.

    The court is now expected to declare in emergency proceedings that “Russia has no legal basis” for its military action in and against Ukraine.

    A date for a hearing has not yet been set.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi had earlier announced the lawsuit via Twitter.

    In the indictment, Ukraine also accuses Russia of “planning acts of genocide in Ukraine” and “intentionally killing or seriously injuring people of Ukrainian nationality.

    “The court is expected to order immediate measures to prevent the violation of the rights of Ukraine and its citizens.’’

    Court proceedings before the International Court of Justice are usually lengthy.

    However, in the case of an urgent application, a hearing can be scheduled within a few weeks.

    A case against Russia was already underway before the UN court.

    Ukraine had accused the country of occupying the Crimean Peninsula, as well as funding pro-Russian separatists in its eastern region of Donbass and supplying them with weapons.

    The function of the International Court of Justice is to settle conflicts between states peacefully, and its judgements are binding.

    However, the court has no means of forcing a losing state to implement its ruling, though it can appeal to the UN Security Council if its ruling was ignored.

  • Ukraine crisis: Russia retaliates closure of airspace; 35 countries affected

    Ukraine crisis: Russia retaliates closure of airspace; 35 countries affected

    In response to the decision by multiple countries to close their airspace to Russia, Russian aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, on Monday announced that it was closing Russian airspace to 35 countries.

    Countries affected by the indefinite ban include all EU member states and Canada.

    The EU took the decision to ban Russian aircraft from its airspace as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    Humanitarian flights were exempted from the ban, while exceptions can also be made in other cases via Russian government ministries.

  • Ukraine’s President Zelensky contacts Roman Abramovich

    Ukraine’s President Zelensky contacts Roman Abramovich

    Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been asked by Ukraine to help support their attempts to reach a “peaceful resolution” with Russia.

    The Russian billionaire’s spokesperson said Abramovich was contacted by Ukrainian officials and “has been trying to help ever since”.

    Ukraine has called for a ceasefire before peace talks in Belarus.

    Abramovich announced on Saturday that “stewardship and care” of the club was being given to trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation.

    The 55-year-old is one of Russia’s richest people and is believed to be close to Russian President Putin.

    Ukrainian film director and producer Alexander Rodnyansky confirmed the Chelsea owner’s involvement in attempts to reach a peaceful resolution, but added he is unsure of the impact it will have.

    “I can confirm that the Ukrainian side have been trying to find someone in Russia willing to help them in finding a peaceful resolution,” said Rodnyansky.

    “They are connected to Roman Abramovich through the Jewish community and reached out to him for help. Abramovich has been trying to mobilize support for a peaceful resolution ever since.

    “Although Abramovich’s influence is limited, he is the only one who responded and taken it upon himself to try.

    “If this will have an impact or not, I don’t know, but I am in contact with [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s staff myself, and know that they are grateful for his genuine efforts.”

  • Ukraine’s turbulent history since independence in 1991

    Ukraine’s turbulent history since independence in 1991

    Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, right after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in eastern Ukraine.

    Here is a timeline of the main events in Ukraine’s political history since it won independence from Moscow in 1991.

    1991: Leonid Kravchuk, leader of the Soviet republic of Ukraine, declares independence from Moscow. In a referendum and presidential election, Ukrainians approve independence and elect Kravchuk president.

    1994: Leonid Kuchma beats Kravchuk in a presidential election deemed largely free and fair by observers.

    1999: Kuchma is re-elected in a vote riddled with irregularities.

    2004: Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is declared president but allegations of vote-rigging trigger protests in what becomes known as the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-run of the vote. A pro-Western former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, is elected president.

    1994: Leonid Kuchma beats Kravchuk in a presidential election deemed largely free and fair by observers.

    1999: Kuchma is re-elected in a vote riddled with irregularities.

    2004: Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is declared president but allegations of vote-rigging trigger protests in what becomes known as the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-run of the vote. A pro-Western former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, is elected president.

    2005: Yushchenko takes power with promises to lead Ukraine out of the Kremlin’s orbit, towards NATO and the EU. He appoints former energy company boss Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister but after in-fighting in the pro-Western camp, she is sacked.

    2008: NATO promises Ukraine it will one day join the alliance.

    2010: Yanukovich defeats Tymoshenko in a presidential election. Russia and Ukraine clinch a gas pricing deal in exchange for extending the lease for the Russian navy in a Ukrainian Black Seaport.

    2013: Yanukovich’s government suspends trade and association talks with the EU in November and opts to revive economic ties with Moscow, triggering months of mass rallies in Kyiv.

    2014: The protests, largely focused around Kyiv’s Maidan square, turn violent. Dozens of protesters are killed.

    February 2014: The parliament votes to remove Yanukovich, who flees. Within days, armed men seize parliament in the Ukrainian region of Crimea and raise the Russian flag. Moscow annexes the territory after a March 16 referendum which shows overwhelming support in Crimea for joining the Russian Federation

    April 2014: Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern region of Donbass declare independence. Fighting breaks out, which has continued sporadically into 2022, despite frequent ceasefires.

    May 2014: Businessman Petro Poroshenko wins a presidential election with a pro-Western agenda.

    July: 2014: A missile brings down passenger plane MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. Investigators trace back the weapon used to Russia, which denies involvement.

    2017: An association agreement between Ukraine and the EU opens markets for free trade of goods and services, and visa-free travel to the EU for Ukrainians.

    2019: A new Ukrainian Orthodox church wins formal recognition, angering the Kremlin

    Former comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy defeats Poroshenko in an April presidential election on promises to tackle corruption and end the war in eastern Ukraine. His Servant of the People party wins a July parliamentary election.

    U.S. President Donald Trump asks Zelenskiy in July to investigate Joe Biden, his rival in the U.S. presidential race, and Biden’s son Hunter over possible business dealings in Ukraine. The call leads to a failed attempt to impeach Trump.

    March 2020: Ukraine goes into its first lockdown to curb COVID-19.

    June 2020: The IMF approves a $5 billion lifeline to help Ukraine stave off default during a pandemic-induced recession.

    Jan. 2021: Zelenskiy appeals to Biden, now U.S. president, to let Ukraine join NATO.

    Feb. 2021: Zelenskiy’s government imposes sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, an opposition leader and the Kremlin’s most prominent ally in Ukraine.

    Spring 2021: Russia masses troops near Ukraine’s borders in what it says are training exercises.

    Oct. 2021: Ukraine uses a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone for the first time in eastern Ukraine, angering Russia.

    Autumn 2021: Russia again begins massing troops near Ukraine.

    Dec. 7, 2021: Biden warns Russia of sweeping Western economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine.

    Dec. 17: Russia presents detailed security demands including a legally binding guarantee that NATO will give up any military activity in eastern Europe and Ukraine.

    Jan. 14: A cyberattack warning Ukrainians to “be afraid and expect the worst” hits Ukrainian government websites.

    Jan. 17: Russian forces start arriving in Belarus, to the north of Ukraine, for joint drills.

    Jan. 24: NATO puts forces on standby and reinforces eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets.

    Jan. 26: Washington presents a written response to Russia’s security demands, repeating a commitment to NATO’s “open-door” policy while offering “pragmatic” discussions of Moscow’s concerns.

    Jan. 28: President Vladimir Putin says Russia’s main security demands have not been addressed.

    Feb. 2: The United States says it will send 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to help shield NATO allies in eastern Europe from any spillover from the crisis.

    Feb. 4: Putin, at the Beijing Winter Olympics, wins Chinese support for his demand that Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO.

    Feb. 7: French President Emmanuel Macron sees some hope for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis after meeting Putin in the Kremlin. Macron then visits Kyiv and praises the “sang-froid” of Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people.

    Feb. 9: Biden says “things could go crazy quickly” as the U.S. State Department advises Americans in Ukraine to leave immediately. Other countries also urge their nationals to leave.

    Feb. 14: Zelenskiy urges Ukrainians to fly flags and sing the national anthem in unison on Feb. 16, a date some Western media say Russia could invade.

    Feb. 15: Russia says some of its troops are returning to base after exercises near Ukraine and mocks Western warnings about a looming invasion. Russia’s parliament asks Putin to recognise as independent two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

    Feb. 18: U.S. ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Michael Carpenter says Russia has probably massed between 169,000-190,000 personnel in and near Ukraine.

    Feb. 19: Russia’s strategic nuclear forces hold exercises overseen by Putin.

    Feb. 21: Macron says Biden and Putin have agreed in principle to a summit over Ukraine.

    In a televised address, Putin says Ukraine is an integral part of Russian history, has never had a history of genuine statehood, is managed by foreign powers, and has a puppet regime. Putin signs agreements to recognise breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent and order Russian troops there.

    Feb. 22: U.S., UK, and their allies enact sanctions on Russian parliament members, banks, and other assets. Germany halts the final certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that was still waiting for approval.

    Putin, in a television address, demands Ukraine demilitarise and says the Minsk peace agreement over breakaway republics no longer exists, blaming Kyiv for killing the deal.

    Feb. 23: Russian-backed separatist leaders ask Russia for help in repelling aggression from the Ukrainian army.

    Feb. 24: Russian President Putin authorizes “special military operations” in eastern Ukraine and asks Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms in a televised address. Russian forces begin missile and artillery attacks on Ukrainian forces and air bases, striking areas in major cities.

  • Consider leaving Russia now – U.S. urges citizens

    Consider leaving Russia now – U.S. urges citizens

    U.S. citizens should consider leaving Russia immediately on commercial flights, the State Department said on Sunday, citing an increasing number of airlines canceling flights and countries closing their airspace to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

    “U.S. citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available,” said a security alert dated Feb. 27 on the web site of U.S. embassy in Moscow,” the State Department added.

    It has asked U.S. citizens to have “a contingency plan that does not rely on U.S. government assistance.”

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two, has unleashed a barrage of Western reprisals, with U.S. and European governments imposing sanctions on Russian banks and financial institutions.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the attack a “special operation” through which he aims to demilitarise Moscow’s southern neighbor.

    The State Department has kept its travel advisory for Russia at “Level 4: Do Not Travel”. On Feb. 20, the U.S. embassy in Moscow had advised Americans in the country to have an evacuation plan, citing the threat of attacks in Moscow and along the Russian border with Ukraine.

  • Anyim in pains over safety of Nigerians in Ukraine, prays for their safety, urges speedy action from FG

    Anyim in pains over safety of Nigerians in Ukraine, prays for their safety, urges speedy action from FG

    …says this is the time to show all our citizens, that our nation cares for every Nigerian in distress

    Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, presidential aspirant in the 2023 general election in pains over the wellbeing of Nigerians in war-ravaged Ukraine and said he is fervently praying for their safety.

    In a statement he personally signed on Sunday evening, the former President of the Senate said he is worried about Nigerians studying in Ukraine who have been trapped in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

    The former SGF who is a frontliner on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said he was happy that the Federal Government (FG) said it was on top of the development and urged the Administration to intervene, at the appropriate time, in the matter by evacuating Nigerians trapped in the crisis before any harm befalls any of them.

    In the statement titled: “Developments in Ukraine” reads: “We are watching with apprehension, the unfolding events in Ukraine.

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with our citizens residing in Ukraine at these tensed and uncertain moments.

    “I join all Nigerians, particularly parents of young people who are studying in Ukraine, in praying for your safety.

    “I call on the Nigerian government to watch the developments closely and not to spare any efforts to ensure the safe evacuation of our citizens as quickly as it becomes possible.

    “The Federal Government has given assurances that it is abreast with the latest developments and I earnestly urge all our officials, at home and abroad, to rise to the occasion with the sense of urgency it deserves.

    “Now is the time to show all our citizens, that our nation cares for every Nigerian in distress; and that we shall spare no efforts to reach out to all law-abiding Nigerians, here and abroad, whenever they are in need”, the statement concluded.

    It would be recalled that Russia recently invaded Ukraine complaining that she was uncomfortable with Ukraine’s romance with America and the West especially Ukraine’s reported plan to join the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).