BREAKING: INVASION HAS BEGUN..... Putin's "3-day war"... NOW... 1 YEAR 338 DAYS ...WAGNER HEAD SAYS GROUP STANDING DOWN AFTER CLAIMS OF DEAL

[lightbright]

U.S. To Send Patriot Air-Defense System To Slovakia After Its Donation Of S-300 To Ukraine

A Russian S-300 air-defense system launches a missile during military exercises near Astrakhan in 2019

U.S. President Joe Biden has thanked Slovakia for donating its Soviet-era S-300 air-defense system to Ukraine and said it will be replaced with a U.S.-made Patriot system.

Biden said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has raised the need to transfer such systems to Ukraine.

"To enable this transfer and ensure the continued security of Slovakia, the United States will reposition a U.S. Patriot missile system to Slovakia," he said in a statement on April 8.

Biden said that while the Russian military “may have failed in its objective of capturing Kyiv,” it continues to inflict “horrific acts of brutality on the Ukrainian people."

Prime Minister Eduard Heger said earlier that Slovakia would donate its Soviet-era S-300 air-defense system to Ukraine. Heger announced the donation as he visited Kyiv with top EU officials ahead of a meeting with Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy mentioned S-300s by name when he spoke to U.S. lawmakers by video last month, appealing for defense systems that would allow Ukraine to “close the skies” to Russian warplanes and missiles.

NATO members Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Greece have the S-300s, which can fire missiles hundreds of kilometers and knock out cruise missiles as well as warplanes.

NATO allies Germany and Netherlands last month sent three batteries of the Patriot air-defense system to Slovakia, which Bratislava said would complement rather than replace the S-300. But it said it was willing to give its S-300 to Ukraine on condition that it has a proper replacement.

The Patriot system and a team of U.S. soldiers will arrive in Slovakia in the coming days, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. The length of the U.S. soldiers’ deployment has not been set, Austin said in a statement.

“I salute the generosity of the Slovak government in providing an S-300 air-defense system -- a critical defensive capability -- to Ukraine,” Austin said in the statement. “It’s a strong testament to how determined Ukraine’s neighbors are to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against Russia’s unprovoked invasion of their homeland.”

He saidthe move “aligns perfectly” with previous efforts to bolster NATO’s defensive capabilities.

U.S. To Send Patriot Air-Defense System To Slovakia After Its Donation Of S-300 To Ukraine (rferl.org)

 

[Mask]

Apparently the russians operated a torture chamber that has been discovered. I made the mistake of watching a few seconds so I won't post it here. Google "144 yablunska st" and you will find it but it is some wild shit.

Yea that was some grimy stuff…

 

[zod16]

Apparently he is not the only cac over there having flashbacks.

 

[Mask]

Last week Ukraine president Z said he don’t want no more of those untrained volunteers

 

[Mask]

Apparently he is not the only cac over there having flashbacks.

The YouTube comments, are really impressed with this old fucker

 

[Don Coreleone]

Apparently the russians operated a torture chamber that has been discovered. I made the mistake of watching a few seconds so I won't post it here. Google "144 yablunska st" and you will find it but it is some wild shit.

Didn't the Bush administration have a torture chamber in Guantanamo Bay? I mean the United States did waterboard muthafuckas IJS!!!

 

[Mask]

man if y’all have time look at the torture video and tell me what you noticed

 

[zod16]

Didn't the Bush administration have a torture chamber in Guantanamo Bay? I mean the United States did waterboard muthafuckas IJS!!!

Waterboarding/sleep deprivation/constant music/light is torture in my book but google the address and look at the hits you get for the torture chamber they created and you will see that this is on another level. I am not highlighting this crazy russian shit in ignorance of what Our own government is/isnt doing in places like Yemen or Syria.

 

[Mask]

This was from the end of March…

first time I’ve seen an article that speaking on both sides losses

Four Ukrainian Su-24, One Su-27 Aircrafts Besides 19 Drones Shot Down in a Day: Russian MoD
Posted by Linda Kay on Mar 28th, 2022


The Russian Ministry of Defense has claimed that it downed five Ukrainian planes including four Su-24s and a Su-27 over the Chernihiv and Donetsk regions in a single day.
“Aircraft and air defense systems of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down four Su-24 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force over the Chernihiv region in a day in the air, two of them in the Repka area, and two more in the Gorodnya area,” the official said on Monday. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Konashenkov.
Get alerts:


“One Ukrainian Su-27 fighter was shot down near Kramatorsk, Donetsk region,”he said.


Konashenkov said that 19 Ukrainian drones were destroyed in a day, including one in the Mariupol region.

“In addition, five rockets of the Ukrainian Smerch multiple launch rocket system were shot down in the air near the Chernobaevka airfield in the Kherson region,” he said.
Konashenkov said that on March 27, operational-tactical aviation and missile forces hit 36 military facilities of Ukraine. “Among them are two command posts, two anti-aircraft missile systems, one multiple launch rocket launcher, three ammunition depots and two fuel and lubricants depots, 23 areas where Ukrainian military equipment is concentrated,” he added.
According to him, since the beginning of the special military operation, 308 Ukrainian drones, 1,713 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 170 multiple rocket launchers, 715 field artillery pieces and mortars, 1,557 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed.
“A group of troops of the Russian Armed Forces, continuing successful offensive operations, wedged 2 kilometers deep into the defenses of the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and reached the southern outskirts of Novoselivka,” Konashenkov said.
“During the offensive, units of the Luhansk People’s Republic advanced 5 kilometers, captured the settlements of Ivanovka, Novosadovoye and reached the Novolyublino-Terny line,”Konashenkov said.
Russian losses as per Ukrainian MoD
The Ukrainian defense ministry said it destroyed 586 Russian tanks, 1694 armored personnel carriers, 302 artillery system, 95 MLRS, 54 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 123 aircraft, 127 helicopters, 1150 vehicles, 7 boats and cutters, 73 fuel tanks, 66 drones and 21 special equipment.

 

[Dr. Truth]

Waterboarding/sleep deprivation/constant music/light is torture in my book but google the address and look at the hits you get for the torture chamber they created and you will see that this is on another level. I am not highlighting this crazy russian shit in ignorance of what Our own government is/isnt doing in places like Yemen or Syria.

What is it? Talk about don’t post the pics

 

[ThaBurgerPimp]

Apparently he is not the only cac over there having flashbacks.

The YouTube comments, are really impressed with this old fucker

I bet they going to get Tom Hanks to portray this guy in a biopic movie...

 

[zod16]

Dead wagner group nazis

Spoiler: **GRAPHIC**

Українська артилерія біля Попасної накрила російських найманців ПВК "Вагнера" (фото)

ЗСУ дали "вагнерівцям" відсіч та ліквідували нападників.

www.unian.ua

 

[zod16]

What is it? Talk about don’t post the pics

Just google "144 yablunska st". Click any link you see for torture chamber. I fucked up and clicked that shit for a few seconds. Not posting that shit here.

 

[zod16]

This was from the end of March…

first time I’ve seen an article that speaking on both sides losses

Four Ukrainian Su-24, One Su-27 Aircrafts Besides 19 Drones Shot Down in a Day: Russian MoD
Posted by Linda Kay on Mar 28th, 2022


The Russian Ministry of Defense has claimed that it downed five Ukrainian planes including four Su-24s and a Su-27 over the Chernihiv and Donetsk regions in a single day.
“Aircraft and air defense systems of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down four Su-24 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force over the Chernihiv region in a day in the air, two of them in the Repka area, and two more in the Gorodnya area,” the official said on Monday. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Konashenkov.
Get alerts:


“One Ukrainian Su-27 fighter was shot down near Kramatorsk, Donetsk region,”he said.


Konashenkov said that 19 Ukrainian drones were destroyed in a day, including one in the Mariupol region.

“In addition, five rockets of the Ukrainian Smerch multiple launch rocket system were shot down in the air near the Chernobaevka airfield in the Kherson region,” he said.
Konashenkov said that on March 27, operational-tactical aviation and missile forces hit 36 military facilities of Ukraine. “Among them are two command posts, two anti-aircraft missile systems, one multiple launch rocket launcher, three ammunition depots and two fuel and lubricants depots, 23 areas where Ukrainian military equipment is concentrated,” he added.
According to him, since the beginning of the special military operation, 308 Ukrainian drones, 1,713 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 170 multiple rocket launchers, 715 field artillery pieces and mortars, 1,557 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed.
“A group of troops of the Russian Armed Forces, continuing successful offensive operations, wedged 2 kilometers deep into the defenses of the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and reached the southern outskirts of Novoselivka,” Konashenkov said.
“During the offensive, units of the Luhansk People’s Republic advanced 5 kilometers, captured the settlements of Ivanovka, Novosadovoye and reached the Novolyublino-Terny line,”Konashenkov said.
Russian losses as per Ukrainian MoD
The Ukrainian defense ministry said it destroyed 586 Russian tanks, 1694 armored personnel carriers, 302 artillery system, 95 MLRS, 54 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 123 aircraft, 127 helicopters, 1150 vehicles, 7 boats and cutters, 73 fuel tanks, 66 drones and 21 special equipment.

That is almost 2 weeks old and sourced from the Russian MOD.

They track/document all loses here: https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html

The russians have lost a lot more equipment which is why you see more pictures/videos of their losses.

 

[Supersav]

 

[4 Dimensional]

 

[Supersav]

Waterboarding/sleep deprivation/constant music/light is torture in my book but google the address and look at the hits you get for the torture chamber they created and you will see that this is on another level. I am not highlighting this crazy russian shit in ignorance of what Our own government is/isnt doing in places like Yemen or Syria.

People die everyday

 

[zod16]

Boris Johnson pledges financial, military aid after meeting Zelensky in Kyiv

Johnson's surprise visit was "a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people," British and Ukrainian officials said.

www.axios.com

Which western politician will be the next to come to Kyiv?

 

[BKF]

It's like the stock market. You can't just look at the short term gain/loses but the long term gains/loses. So we shall see how this all shakes out.

 

[Mask]

Yea remember when I mention Greece was looking at President Zelenskiy sideways…
This is why




Greek Parliament platforms Azov Battalion fighter: Gov’t spox says “it was wrong and inappropriate”
Athens Bureau
“Including a message from an Azov Battalion member was wrong and inappropriate”, said government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou in the aftermath of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking to the Greek Parliament.


Zelensky gave his video address in the presence of President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras, the head of the opposition Movement for Change (KINAL) parliamentary group Michalis Katrinis and MeRA25 representative Giorgos Logiadis. The parliamentary groups of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), MeRA25 and the right-wing Elliniki Lysi were absent.

Controversy arose though when Zelensky included a video message from a member of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, who claimed to be Greek.



The appearance of the neo-Nazi fighter prompted SYRIZA MP’s Nikos Filis, Thodoris Dritsas and Yiannis Giolas to walk out of the session.

“The speech by members of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in the Greek Parliament is a challenge. They spoke of a history day, but it’s a historic shame. Solidarity with the Ukrainian people is a given. But the Nazi cannot have a say in parliament,” said SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras.


Following this, government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said “Including a message from an Azov Battalion member was wrong and inappropriate.”

For his part, the Azov Battalion fighter, who claimed to be Greek but could not speak Greek, said in Ukrainian: “I am addressing you as a Greek.”

“My name is Michael, my grandfather fought in the war against the Nazis, I was born in Mariupol and I participate in the defence of the city,” he added.

The Azov Battalion are based in Mariupol and have long led a campaign of terror against civilians, including the 120,000 Greeks that live in the port city and its surrounding villages, including Sartana.

With Russian forces besieging Mariupol, in which 120,000+ ethnic Greeks live, SKAI news spoke with a Mr Kiouranas who lives in the city and exposed that Ukrainian “fascists” are killing people for trying to leave the city.

When asked by SKAI news if he planned to leave the city, Kiouranas responded “how can I leave? When you try to leave you run the risk of running into a patrol of the Ukrainian fascists, the Azov Battalion.”

“They would kill me and are responsible for everything,” he added.



Who are the Azov Battalion?

Azov Special Operations Detachment (Ukrainian: Окремий загін спеціального призначення «Азов»), or Azov Battalion, is a right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, based in Mariupol, in the Azov Sea coastal region.

In 2014, the regiment gained notoriety after allegations emerged of torture and war crimes, as well as neo-Nazi sympathies and usage of associated symbols by the regiment itself, as seen in their logo featuring the Wolfsangel, one of the original symbols used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

Representatives of the Azov Battalion say that the symbol is an abbreviation for the slogan Ідея Нації (Ukrainian for “National Idea”) and deny connection with Nazism.

In 2014, a spokesman for the regiment said around 10–20% of the unit were neo-Nazis.

In 2018, a provision in an appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Congress blocked military aid to Azov on the grounds of its white supremacist ideology; in 2015, a similar ban on aid to the group was overturned by the Congress.

Members of the regiment come from 22 countries and are of various backgrounds.

The unit’s first commander was far-right nationalist Andriy Biletsky, who led the neo-Nazi Social-National Assembly and Patriot of Ukraine.

In its early days, Azov was a special police company of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, led by Volodymyr Shpara, the leader of the Vasylkiv, Kyiv, branch of Patriot of Ukraine and Right Sector.

In 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives also passed a provision blocking any training of Azov members by American forces, citing its neo-Nazi connections.

The House had previously passed amendments banning support of Azov between 2014 and 2017, but due to pressure from The Pentagon, the amendments were quietly lifted.

This was protested by the Simon Wiesenthal Center which stated that lifting the ban highlighted the danger of Holocaust distortion in Ukraine.

 

[Don Coreleone]

Boy this country really is playing a fucking dangerous ass game. And anybody who calls for a regime change in Russia is either crazy or senile.

 

[Supersav]

 

[blackbull1970]

Let Us Not Forget What This War Is Really About.

Louisa Khovanski
Born in Kiev, Ukraine
40F - 26 - 36

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​

 

[Mask]

That should end every conflict or start many more

 

[ThaBurgerPimp]

Let Us Not Forget What This War Is Really About.

Louisa Khovanski
Born in Kiev, Ukraine
40F - 26 - 36

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​

She must be kept safe..

as must Russian pornstar Jia Lissa

 

[black again]

Let Us Not Forget What This War Is Really About.

Louisa Khovanski
Born in Kiev, Ukraine
40F - 26 - 36

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The Ukraine girls really knock me out...

The Beatles

 

[lightbright]

Damn... Boris Johnson just said fuck it.... I'm going in...


Boris Johnson pledges financial, military aid after meeting Zelensky in Kyiv

Boris Johnson pledges financial, military aid after meeting Zelensky in Kyiv (axios.com)


.

 

[lightbright]

Putin Is Sending A New General To Win The War In Ukraine

In this pool photo taken on Thursday, March 17, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses with Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov during an awarding ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to direct the war in Ukraine as his military shifts plans after a failure to take Kyiv, according to a US official and a European official.

The officials told CNN Army Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, commander of Russia’s Southern Military District, has been named theater commander of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine

“It speaks to a Russian acknowledgement that it is going extremely badly and they need to do something differently,” the European official said.

A new theater commander with extensive combat experience could bring a level of coordination to an assault now expected to focus on the Donbas region, instead of multiple fronts.

Dvornikov, 60, was the first commander of Russia’s military operations in Syria, after Putin sent troops there in September 2015 to back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. During Dvornikov’s command in Syria from September 2015 to June 2016, Russian aircraft backed the Assad regime and its allies as they laid siege to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, bombarding densely populated neighborhoods and causing major civilian casualties. The city fell to Syrian government forces in December 2016.

Russian forces have used a similarly heavy-handed approach in parts of Ukraine, striking residential buildings in major cities and demolishing much of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

CONTINUED:
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine (cnn.com)

 

[zod16]

Serbia



Notice the anti EU/NATO banner







Meanwhile in Poland...



Both Serbia and Poland are filled with ignorant cacs but past history has shaped their present view on the current situation.

 

[london]

Let Us Not Forget What This War Is Really About.

Louisa Khovanski
Born in Kiev, Ukraine
40F - 26 - 36

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I support this

 

[ThaBurgerPimp]

Putin Is Sending A New General To Win The War In Ukraine

In this pool photo taken on Thursday, March 17, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses with Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov during an awarding ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to direct the war in Ukraine as his military shifts plans after a failure to take Kyiv, according to a US official and a European official.

The officials told CNN Army Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, commander of Russia’s Southern Military District, has been named theater commander of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine

“It speaks to a Russian acknowledgement that it is going extremely badly and they need to do something differently,” the European official said.

A new theater commander with extensive combat experience could bring a level of coordination to an assault now expected to focus on the Donbas region, instead of multiple fronts.

Dvornikov, 60, was the first commander of Russia’s military operations in Syria, after Putin sent troops there in September 2015 to back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. During Dvornikov’s command in Syria from September 2015 to June 2016, Russian aircraft backed the Assad regime and its allies as they laid siege to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, bombarding densely populated neighborhoods and causing major civilian casualties. The city fell to Syrian government forces in December 2016.

Russian forces have used a similarly heavy-handed approach in parts of Ukraine, striking residential buildings in major cities and demolishing much of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

CONTINUED:
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine (cnn.com)

Taking bets on how long he'll stay alive

 

[Mask]

Antonov An-225 Mriya: World’s largest plane wrecked in Kyiv fight
Wreckage of huge aircraft at Ukraine’s Gostomel Airport a testament to Kyiv’s defence.

The cargo-lift plane had an 88-metre (290-feet) wingspan [Genya Savilov/AFP]
Under a shattered crescent hangar at Ukraine’s Gostomel Airport, the world’s largest plane lies buckled and broken, an immovable monument to the battle Russia waged to take this foothold towards the capital, Kyiv.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya – a cargo-lift plane with an 88-metre (290-feet) wingspan that is the largest of any aircraft in operational service – has been mauled by blasts.

“Mriya” – meaning “dream” in Ukrainian – was once printed on the nose. The name is now lost in a mass of scorched metal scraps and abandoned ammunition.

The plane was once a source of national pride but it was sacrificed in the fight to keep Russian troops outside the city gates.

“We are talking with a destroyed ‘Dream’ as a backdrop,” said interior minister Denys Monastyrsky, standing before the crippled giant striped with the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag.

“It’s emotionally difficult because I was here with my team two days before the war started,” he said.

“It was intact then.”

Gostomel Airport saw heavy fighting after Russia invaded Ukraine [Genya Savilov/AFP]


On the doorstep of Kyiv, Gostomel Airport was where Russia hoped to stage a decisive victory over Ukraine.

One day after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on February 24, the Kremlin claimed to have seized the hub, allowing them to airlift armaments to the cusp of the capital.

However, Ukrainian forces fiercely contested the area. It was in Gostomel and the surrounding Kyiv suburbs where Russia’s advance from the north faltered, then failed.

“The initial idea was that cargo planes with paratroopers and vehicles would land here and it should’ve been an entrance point to Kyiv,” said Monastyrsky.

He estimates that “thousands” of paratroopers were deployed to Gostomel in wave after wave, commanded to bring the landing strip under Russian control.

“They didn’t manage to accomplish this task,” he said, touring the complex in pixelated camouflage uniform.

“We are confident that it won’t be possible to achieve now too.”

Last week, Putin cancelled his Kyiv offensive, pulling troops back into Belarus. It is anticipated they are regrouping for a fresh assault on Ukraine’s eastern flank.

It has been reported the “Dream” was destroyed on the fourth day of combat.

The plane was once a source of national pride [Genya Savilov/AFP]

All around the airport is evidence of the deadly contest which took place over the last month.

There are tatters of drab clothing, dislocated tank tracks and other unrecognisable vehicle parts.

At least one undetonated grenade is visible, concealed among the desiccated remnants of military hardware which jangles underfoot.

Daggered into the tarmac of one road approaching from the south is the body of an unexploded missile.

Other unspent rounds of heavy ammunition the size of fireplace logs are piled in one spot next to a crumpled road sign reading: “Danger”.

Two soldiers pick across the debris towards the open taxiway.

They carry rifles slung across their backs and brooms in their hands – a comic image and an optimistic gesture among all this debris of chaos.

 

[Mask]

Ukraine: Zelenskyy seeks peace despite expected Russian attacks
Ukrainian leader says he is still committed to pressing for peace, renewed his plea for more weapons.
Zelenskyy said he is confident Ukrainians would accept peace despite the horrors they have witnessed in the war [Reuters]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians and he renewed his plea for more weapons ahead of an expected surge in fighting in the country’s east.

Zelenskyy made the comments a day after at least 52 people were killed in an attack on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, and as evidence of civilian killings came to light after Russian troops failed to seize the capital Kyiv where he has hunkered down.

“No one wants to negotiate with a person or people who tortured this nation. It’s all understandable. And as a man, as a father, I understand this very well,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We don’t want to lose opportunities, if we have them, for a diplomatic solution.”

Wearing the olive drab that has marked his transformation into a wartime leader, he looked visibly exhausted yet animated by a drive to persevere.

He spoke from inside the presidential office complex, where windows and hallways are protected by towers of sandbags and heavily armed soldiers.

“We have to fight, but fight for life. You can’t fight for dust when there is nothing and no people. That’s why it is important to stop this war,” Zelenskyy said.

Russian troops that withdrew from northern Ukraine are now regrouping for what is expected to be an intensified push to retake the eastern Donbas region, including the besieged port city of Mariupol that Ukrainian fighters are striving to defend.

The president said those defenders are tying up “a big part of the enemy forces”, characterising the battle to hold Mariupol as “the heart of the war” right now.

Zelenskyy said he is confident Ukrainians would accept peace despite the horrors they have witnessed in the more than six-week-long war.

Those included gruesome images of bodies of civilians found in yards, parks and city squares and buried in mass graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha after Russian troops withdrew.

Ukrainian and Western leaders have accused Moscow of war crimes.

Russia has claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged. It also put the blame on Ukraine for the train station attack in Kramatorsk as thousands of people rushed to flee ahead of an expected Russian offensive.

Despite hopes for peace, Zelenskyy acknowledged that he must be “realistic” about the prospects for a swift resolution given that negotiations have so far been limited to low-level talks that do not include Russian President Vladimir Putin.

02:46

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits Ukraine
Zelenskyy showed a palpable resignation and frustration when asked whether the supplies of weapons and other equipment his country has received from the United States and other Western nations were enough to turn the tide of the war.

“Not yet,” he said, switching to English for emphasis. “Of course it’s not enough.”

Still, he noted that there has been increased support from Europe and said deliveries of US weapons have been accelerating.

Just this week, neighbouring Slovakia, a European Union member, donated its Soviet-era S-300 air defence system to Ukraine in response to Zelenskyy’s appeal to help “close the skies” to Russian warplanes and missiles.

Some of that support has come through visits by European leaders.

After meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv earlier on Saturday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he expects more EU sanctions against Russia even as he defended his country’s opposition to cutting off deliveries of Russian natural gas.

The US, EU and UK responded to the images from Bucha with more sanctions, including ones targeting Putin’s adult daughters.

While the EU went after the Russian energy sector for the first time by banning coal, it has so far failed to agree on cutting off the much more lucrative oil and natural gas that is funding Putin’s war chest.

Europe relies on those supplies to generate electricity, fill fuel tanks and keep industry churning.

British PM Boris Johnson also made an unannounced visit to meet Zelenskyy, with his office saying they discussed Britain’s “long-term support”.

In Kyiv on Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented Ukraine’s leader with a questionnaire marking the first step for applying for EU membership.

The head of the bloc’s executive arm said the process for completing the questionnaire could take weeks – an unusually fast turnaround – though securing membership would take far longer.

 

[Mask]

War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The latest: Officials in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine this weekend urged residents to evacuate immediately, as shelling intensified amid Russia’s shift to the country’s east. Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, on Saturday said there were “far fewer people” willing to evacuate after a missile strike on a railway station killed at least 52 people and injured 98.

The shift east, away from Ukraine’s largest cities, could prove challenging for Ukrainian troops and advantageous for Russian troops, who Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted last week are more skilled at fighting in rural terrain. Meanwhile, Russia has appointed Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, who commanded Russian forces in Syria, to oversee its war on Ukraine, a senior U.S. official confirmed on Saturday. His appointment marks the first time a single commander has taken control of the operation in Ukraine, which has faltered amid low morale.

The fight: Russian forces continue to mount sporadic attacks on civilian targets in a number of Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian prosecutors have been taking detailed testimony from victims to investigate Russian war crimes.

The weapons: Ukraine is making use of weapons such as Javelin antitank missiles and Switchblade “kamikaze” drones, provided by the United States and other allies. Russia has used an array of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts.

In Russia: Putin has locked down the flow of information within Russia, where the war isn’t even being called a war. The last independent newsletter in Russia suspended its operations.

Photos: Post photographers have been on the ground from the very beginning of the war — here’s some of their most powerful work.

How you can help: Here are ways those in the U.S. can help support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating.

 

[Mask]

Ukraine, Russia Gear Up for War’s Biggest Battles


Officials expect large-scale tank and artillery battles; it “will remind you of the Second World War,” says Ukraine’s foreign minister

Ukraine and Russia poured reinforcements into eastern Ukraine this weekend, preparing for what is likely to become the war’s biggest battles as refugees continued to flee the looming Russian assault.


Russia’s main objective now is to seize the parts of the eastern Donbas region not yet controlled by Moscow. Unlike the first phase of the six-week-old conflict, that shift is forcing Ukraine into fighting conventional battles involving tanks, artillery and aircraft on flat, often barren terrain that allows Russia to leverage its superiority in military equipment.


Fresh Russian tank and artillery units, as well as forces withdrawn from areas around Kyiv, began arriving in recent days to staging grounds for the offensive north of the Ukrainian city of Izyum, according to footage shown on Russian military television. Ukraine, too, started moving toward Donbas combat units from areas of northern Ukraine that it recovered after Russian troops retreated.


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for urgent assistance ahead of this new round of the conflict, warning that Moscow hasn’t given up on its aspirations to subjugate Ukraine. “Russia can still afford to live in illusions, gathering new armor and new troops on our soil. And that means that we need even more sanctions, and even more weapons for our state,” he said in a late Saturday video address.


Attempting to disrupt the Ukrainian redeployment, Russia has said that its forces carried out a series of airstrikes on Ukrainian railway hubs. Some 52 people died in Friday’s Russian missile attack on the railway station in the Donbas city of Kramatorsk just as it was packed with civilians trying to board evacuation trains toward the relative safety of western Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities. Moscow denied it carried out that particular strike.


Authorities over the weekend urged all civilians in Ukrainian-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions—which comprise Donbas—and two districts of the Kharkiv region to use all available means to leave immediately. They organized additional trains and buses.


Russia launched several additional missile strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk region just west of Donbas on Sunday, destroying an infrastructure facility in the city of Dnipro and an industrial facility in the city of Pavlohrad, the regional administration said. Ukrainian forces overnight destroyed a Russian column that was moving toward Izyum, according to the governor of Kharkiv. The claim couldn't be independently verified.


Russia’s Defense Ministry said it targeted Dnipro with Kalibr missiles from a Black Sea fleet frigate and that its missiles also struck the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolayiv and a military airfield near Kharkiv, where it said it destroyed an S-300 antiaircraft missile system. Those claims couldn't be confirmed independently. Dnipro—one of Ukraine’s biggest cities—is the logistical hub for Ukrainian military operations in Donbas.


Russia’s initial attempt to seize Kyiv and other cities in northern Ukraine collapsed in late March, in part because nimble Ukrainian units attacked Russian tanks and armored vehicles using guerrilla tactics, striking at Russia’s long supply lines that ran through woods and villages whose residents relayed intelligence to Ukrainian forces. Light, portable missiles supplied by the U.S. and its European allies, such as the Javelin and the NLAW, played a big role in that success, as did Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed drones.