Live: Putin’s ‘final push’ as airborne assault begins
Russia has reportedly launched its largest assault of the invasion with a new round of airstrikes targeting Ukraine. WARNING: Graphic
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There are growing signs Russia is ramping up its attack against Ukraine, with claims Vladimir Putin’s “final push” is now underway.
US Republican Senator Marco Rubio – who is also a member of the Senate intelligence committee – tweeted that Moscow had launched “ what appears to be the largest airborne assault of the invasion”.
“It is likely a final push to take control of the SE approach to #Kharkiv, a city he expected to take quickly without resistance & be welcomed by grateful residents as a liberator.”
AFP also reported a series of air strikes have “pummelled populated areas in the heart” of Kharkiv, sending the civilian death toll soaring with residential blocks targeted.
PLANS TO INVADE MOLDOVA LEAKED
The President of Belarus appears to have accidentally revealed top-secret plans to invade a new country.
Alexander Lukashenko – a close ally of Vladimir Putin — fronted security officials in a live TV broadcast while positioned in front of a battle map that seemingly indicates a planned Russian operation into Moldova.
The map included Russian lines of attack into Ukraine – some of which have already come to pass – and also outlined attacks which have not yet occurred.
One of those seems to point to an operation stretching from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa into Moldova.
At today's security council meeting, Lukashenko showed what looks like an actual invasion map. It shows Ukraine military facilities destroyed by missiles from Belarus, attacks directions (everything agrees except Odessa-Transnistria). Also, Ukraine is divided into 4 sectors. pic.twitter.com/ueqBIFUbyM
— Tadeusz Giczan 🇺🇦 (@TadeuszGiczan) March 1, 2022
Mr Lukashenko’s apparent blunder came within hours of the Ukrainian parliament confirming the presence of Belarusian troops in Ukraine.
Ukraine said Belarusian troops entered the Chernihiv region just hours after Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko claimed he had no plans to join Mr Putin’s war.
In a statement, Ukraine parliament said: “Belarusian troops have entered Chernihivregion.
“The information was confirmed to the public by Vitaliy Kyrylov, spokesman for the North Territorial Defence Forces.”
According to local reports, a column of 33 tanks rolled through the villages of Slabyn, Pakul, and Mykhailo-Kotsyubynsky.
BIDEN’S WARNING TO PUTIN, RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS
US President Joe Biden has closed American airspace to all Russian aircraft as he warned during his State of the Union address not dealing with a “dictator” like Vladimir Putin would lead to “more chaos”.
“Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways, but he badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into the Ukraine and world would roll over.
“Instead, he met with a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined. He met the Ukrainian people,” Mr Biden said to applause.
Mr Biden said Mr Putin would suffer the economic fallout of his invasion.
“He has no idea what’s coming” in terms of economic penalties and punishment, he said.
He also took aim at Russian oligarchs and “corrupt leaders” who he said have bilked billions of dollars off Putin’s regime, warning them: “We’re coming for your ill-begotten gains.”
Full details here
RUSSIANS HIT KYIV TV TOWER
Russian forces stepped up deadly attacks on cities across Ukraine on Tuesday after warning they would target security buildings in the capital Kyiv.
As Moscow intensified its offensive on the sixth day of the invasion, Kyiv’s TV tower was damaged in an air strike, and at least five people were killed.
According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, two missiles hit and set fire to a building next to the TV tower. The fire has been extinguished.
Russian forces have just fired at the #Kyiv TV Tower.#StandWithUkraine#StopRussia#StopPutinNOWpic.twitter.com/Prf3WMB4gt
— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (@ua_parliament) March 1, 2022
According to the Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian television channels stopped broadcasting moments after the blast.
“They are trying to cut us off from communications,” the newspaper’s defence reporter Illia Ponomorenko wrote on Twitter.
Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko confirmed the area around the TV tower had been struck.
“Most of TV channels will be out of service for a while until we switch on alternative routes,” Herashchenko said.
Footage of the firey explosion around the capital’s 1300ft tower was shared widely on social media.
The bomb site – in the territory of Babyn Yar – was where one of the biggest single massacres of Jews occurred during the Nazi Holocaust in 1941. More than 30,000 Jews were killed there in just two days.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba described the latest attack as “evil and barbaric”.
“80 years later, Russian Nazis strike this same land to exterminate Ukrainians,” he wrote on Twitter.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia’s military threatened to carry out strikes on Ukrainian State Security Agency facilities and the country’s psychological operations unit, telling nearby residents to leave their homes, according to a statement reported by Russian state media TASS.
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed the strikes would be “to suppress information attacks against Russia”.
CHECHEN DEATH SQUAD ‘ELIMINATED’
An elite Chechen death squad with orders to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were killed or captured on Tuesday, according to a Ukrainian official.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said on Ukrainian TV that two Chechen units that “came to kill our President” had been “eliminated,” according to a report in The Telegraph.
He said one unit had been captured, and the other was engaged by Ukrainian forces.
It is not clear how close the Russia-backed group was able to get to Mr Zelensky.
CHINA ‘WANTS TO PLAY MEDIATOR ROLE’
China has indicated its willingness to play a mediator role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In his first phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, since the outbreak of the war, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said that Beijing “laments” the outbreak of the conflict and is “extremely concerned” about the harm to civilians.
State-owned China Central Television said Mr Kuleba asked China to use its influence to help mediate in its conflict with Russia. It added that Mr Kuleba “asked for help in finding a diplomatic solution”.
The Chinese foreign ministry said the call was initiated by the Ukrainian side.
“Ukraine is willing to strengthen communications with China, and it looks forward to China playing a mediation role in achieving a ceasefire,” according to a Chinese readout, which cited Mr Kuleba.
It comes as Russian politicians who voted to recognise the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk are now condemning Mr Putin’s invasion.
Three members of the Communist Party have spoken out against the military action, saying they did not realise what they were voting for.
APPLE SUSPENDS PRODUCT SALES IN RUSSIA
Apple has halted sales of its products in Russia, joining Silicon Valley companies including Google and Facebook-owner Meta in blocking access to Russian state media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik.
“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence,” the company said in a statement. Customers are now unable to make purchases from the Russian version of Apple’s online store, which shows products including the latest iPhones as “currently unavailable”.
It comes as Russia is hit hard with product boycotts by the international community in a bid to deter the aggressive invasion.
Full details here
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES STANDING OVATION
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a standing ovation following a video address to the European Parliament.
Mr Zelensky expressed gratitude for the unprecedented measures Brussels has deployed against Russia and in support of his armed forces, including the funding of arms deliveries.
“Without you, Ukraine is going to be alone. We have proven our strength. We have proven that, at a minimum, we are exactly the same as you are,” Zelensky said from Kyiv.”
Prove you are with us, do prove that you will not let us go.”
The EU’s two top officials, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, expressed full backing.
“It’s not only Ukraine that is under attack,” Michel said.
“International law, the rules-based international order, democracy, human dignity are also under attack. This is geopolitical terrorism, pure and simple,” he said.
Von der Leyen called it “a moment of truth for Europe”.
“The destiny of Ukraine is at stake, but our own fate also lies in the balance,” she said.
As part of the EU’s response, she said, Brussels would provide 500 million euros in extra funding to help deal with the “humanitarian consequences” of the war, including the flow of refugees into the bloc.
Michel and von der Leyen underlined the measures the EU has already taken in coordination with the US, Britain, Canada and Japan. They include sanctions that are causing Russia’s economy to buckle, for example banning transactions with its central bank, targeting President Vladimir Putin and some of his top ministers and aides as well as oligarchs propping up his rule.
There is also a prohibition on Russian flights in EU airspace and a ban on state-linked Russian media organisations broadcasting into the bloc.
‘STOP THE AGRESSOR’: ZELENSKY’S PLEA TO BIDEN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged US counterpart Joe Biden to deliver a strong and “useful” message about the Russian invasion at his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
The White House said the two leaders spoke for just over 30 minutes, and discussed Russia’s increasing strikes on civilian sites, including Tuesday’s bombing of Kyiv’s main television tower near the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial.
“Just had a conversation with the US President. The American leadership on anti-Russian sanctions and defence assistance to Ukraine was discussed,” Mr Zelensky said on Twitter.
“We must stop the aggressor as soon as possible.”
Details on the phone call are expected to be released later in the day.
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EU BANS RUSSIAN MEDIA OUTLETS, BANKS FROM SWIFT
The European Union banned Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik from broadcasting in the bloc while banning “certain” Russian banks from the SWIFT bank messaging system Tuesday, the EU’s presidency said.
The moves, due to come into force Wednesday after publication in the official journal of the EU, come as Brussels intensifies its sanctions regime on Moscow in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Representatives of the 27 EU member states also agreed a ban on participating in projects co-financed by the RDIF sovereign wealth fund.
The United States and Western allies have sought to cripple Russia’s banking sector and currency with a barrage of sanctions.
They include cutting selected Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, and thus isolating from the rest of the world.
SWIFT’s system allows banks to communicate rapidly and securely about transactions - cutting Russia off is aimed at preventing it trading with most of the world.
Western measures that prohibit transactions with Russia’s central bank have also helped plunge the country’s economy into turmoil.
The ruble is down 27 per cent against the dollar since the start of the year and is trading at more than 100 rubles per US unit, its weakest level on record.
Russians are consequently flocking to cryptocurrencies that operate on a decentralised network and therefore are not directly affected by sanctions.
CIVILIANS TARGETED IN KHARKIV
Ukrainian officials reported several dozen civilians had been killed in Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv after indiscriminate Russian forces shelling of apartment blocks.
“Barbaric rocket attacks and MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) of peaceful cities are evidence that they are no longer able to fight armed Ukrainians,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Facebook.
âš¡ï¸The moment of the Russian attack on a TV tower in Kyiv, captured by a witness.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 1, 2022
Video: https://t.co/NMbJkyj9jWpic.twitter.com/GeYDSD91dw
He said there were unverified reports of dozens dead, some have put the figure close to at least 70, but so far 11 had been formally accounted for as killed from a series of explosions overnight and early this morning local time.
Kharkiv is largely a Russian-speaking city close to the border and defence analysts have said the Putin forces inability to capture the city as well as the capital Kyiv could lead to more desperate attacks on the civilian population.
A critical supply line shortage for fuel and armaments by the Russian forces is being cited for their lack of progress.
“The Russian advance on Kyiv has made little progress over the past 24 hours probably as a result of continuing logistical difficulties,” the British defence ministry said in a military intelligence update.
“Russian forces have increased their use of artillery north of Kyiv and in vicinities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv. The use of heavy artillery in densely populated urban areas greatly increases the risk of civilian casualties.”
Ukraine regional officials did confirm some 70 Ukrainian servicemen were killed on Sunday by Russian shelling of a base in the town of Okhtyrka, between Kharkiv and Kyiv.
PUTIN’S PLANS STALLED
Stunned by their failure to capture Kyiv in a planned 48-hour blitz, Russian military chiefs are becoming more ruthless yesterday bombing homes, schools and hospitals in the Ukrainian capital.
And any hopes for a negotiated truce during supposed high-level talks were quickly dashed yesterday, with the Kremlin sending a lowly “adviser on culture” to lead discussions of a possible withdrawal.
Ukraine nationals are in a fury after Russian missiles and mortars were directed at civilians, footage even showed an ambulance carrying a critically-wounded child being attacked.
Ukrainian leaders have warned Russian frustration and desperation at being held back “and defeated” from major cities Kyiv and Kharkiv had now changed the direction of war, with Russian forces targeting military installations as well as urban settings.
Moscow formally denied it was now targeting civilians despite abundant evidence of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals. In perhaps a signal of what was to come, Russia offered a “safe corridor” for any locals wishing to flee Kyiv before troops were ordered in.
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As well as the surrounding of capital Kyiv, Russian forces lay siege to the northern city Kharkiv and southern port of Odessa as their frustrations of armed resistance grew.
The fast moving conflict saw:
•new satellite images reveal hundreds of tanks, armoured and artillery descending on Kyiv and positioned 25km from the centre;
•Seven Ukrainian soldiers killed and 44 wounded in a battle in Kharkiv in Ukraine’s north;
•Young Russian soldiers taken hostage during fighting reveal how they thought they were just training before the invasion of Ukraine the told Ukraine’s “liberation” by Russia would be welcomed by the population;
•International Criminal Court proceed with alleged war crimes investigation by Russian forces;
•the EU issued asset freezes and travel bans on another 26 individuals including President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov;
•the United Nations General Assembly’s 193 members hold an extraordinary debate on the invasion of the ex-Soviet state;
•the United States expel 12 members of Russia’s UN mission from America for being “intelligence operatives”; and
•Russia turfed from the 2022 World Cup and its teams suspended from all international football competitions “until further notice”
The conflict raged as the first face-to-face talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials since the war began opened yesterday. The delegations met at a long table with the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag on one side and the Russian tricolour on the other. Ukraine demanded a ceasefire and troop withdrawal but while the country had its defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and other top officials, Russia left it to just Mr Putin’s private adviser on culture with many believing the appointment of the envoy a sign as how serious Moscow view the potential for peace talks.
Yesterday both parties just agreed to keep negotiations going.
“The next meeting will take place in the coming days on the Polish-Belarusian border, there is an agreement to that effect,” an aide to Mr Putin, Vladimir Medinsky, said.
Across Ukraine, mounting fury on Russia’s assault had seen thousands of young Ukrainians sign up and retired military veterans resign to take the war to Russia.
Such was the line up, the Ukraine military sent many away saying they already had more new recruits than they had uniforms, body armour and weapons to give them.
AUSTRALIANS IN RUSSIA AUTHORISED TO LEAVE
The families of Australian diplomats in Russia have been authorised to leave amid increasing hostilities sparked by the invasion of Ukraine.
The federal government approved the “voluntary departure of dependants of Australian Embassy staff in Moscow” the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Tuesday confirmed through its Smartraveller website.
“Do not travel to Russia due to the security environment and military conflict with Ukraine,” the Smartraveller advice for Russia stated.
“If you’re in Russia, leave immediately using the limited commercial options available or private means if it’s safe to do so.
“The security situation could deteriorate further with little warning. Remain vigilant and avoid any protests or demonstrations.”
Australians have been warned commercial travel routes between Russia and Europe “have been impacted by measures taken in response to military action in Ukraine”.
“A number of Russian airports are now closed to the public,” DFAT said.
“There are reports that train services from St Petersburg to Helsinki are limiting passengers to Russian and Finnish citizens.
“If you’re planning to depart Russia, confirm with your transport operator that services are still operating.
“There are reports of non-Russian credit and debit cards being declined in Russia.
“Be prepared with alternate means of payment should your cards be declined.”
MYSTERY ‘GHOST OF KYIV’ FIGHTER HAUNTING RUSSIANS
Ukraine has been captivated by reports of a “Ghost of Kyiv” traversing the skies in a Mig-29 fighter and responsible for the downing of at least six Russian aircraft.
The government posted dramatic 30-second video clips on its official site declaring the air ace was now dominating the skies over the embattled capital.
They refuse to identify the pilot but have used his exploits as being a “nightmare for invading Russian aircraft” to flag the number of retired pilots rejoining the service for their country.
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‘BEST I CAN DO IS KILL SOME F---KING RUSSIANS’
A few months ago, 30-year-old composer Miroslav was writing a film score for a series of short films being produced in Australia.
Music and the arts has always been his passion and life but yesterday he was signing up to become an infantry soldier to be sent to fight Russian forces in capital Kyiv.
“I can come back to the music after this but I can’t come back to anything if we don’t have a country,” he said yesterday as he stood outside Lviv army barracks to join.
He’s one of many civilians taking up arms to protect their nation.
Another, Andrii Yvarov, simply said: “There is war in our country so the best I can do is kill some f – king Russians.”
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GIRL IN PINK PYJAMAS SUMS UP PUTIN’S MADNESS
This is the harrowing scene that sums up Vladimir Putin’s madness.
In one of the most heart breaking videos you wish you would never see, a crumpled bloodied girl in pink pyjamas arrives in an ambulance at a Ukraine hospital.
Paramedics attempt CPR in the back of the van as her mother clutching her six-year-old child’s bobbled beanie and tiny slippers, wails at the back pleading for them to save her life.
The child is frantically worked on by medical staff in an operating theatre before they stop and look away, tears streaming down their faces. “Show this to Putin – the eyes of this child, and crying doctors,” a medico in scrubs tells the photo journalist.
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RUSSIAN SHOWDOWN LOOMS OVER BIDEN ADDRESS TO NATION
Confronted with the worst US-Russia crisis since the Cold War, US President Joe Biden faces a tough task when he delivers his first State of the Union address this week.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday that Mr Biden’s address on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) would take on a different tone than is customary because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“That is certainly something that is present in all of our lives and certainly in the president’s life in this moment,” she said on US ABC’s This Week.
“There’s no question that in the State of the Union, the American people and anybody watching around the world will hear the president talk about the efforts he has led over the past several months to build a global coalition to fight against the autocracy and the efforts of President Putin to invade a foreign country.”
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