Russo-Ukrainian War Thread - Page 100

On April 23 2022 20:18 Silvanel wrote:
I would guess, by now, they know better than that. More likely is: some civilian reported the location of command post to Ukrainian army. After all, Russians are operating on hostile terrain and civilians still have access to cell phones and internet here and there.

On April 23 2022 21:56 Ghanburighan wrote:


There's also speculation that UK is helping UA with SIGINT.

Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has pledged to strengthen his country's deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, saying the country stands on the "front line" of the war in Ukraine.

In a written interview with Kyodo News, Ciuca thanked Japan for a total of $200 million in emergency humanitarian aid for displaced people in Ukraine as well as Romania, Moldova, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic following "Russia's brutal, unjustified and unlawful invasion of Ukraine."

Ciuca hailed NATO's recent decision to deploy four new combat units in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia as part of efforts to bolster security on the eastern border of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

"We are an ally situated on the front line of this crisis," he said. "Romania is deeply concerned about the continuous Russian military aggression against Ukraine, with severe consequences for regional, European and international security."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent troops into Ukraine in what he calls a "special military operation" to demilitarize and "denazify" the country, a claim dismissed by the United States and other Western countries as a pretext for waging war.

After failing to take the capital Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities, Russia has shifted its forces to a battle focused on southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, including the key port city of Mariupol.

Ciuca expressed hope that he, U.S. President Joe Biden and other NATO leaders will shape a "coherent, efficient and well-balanced" deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank for the long term when they gather for a summit in Madrid in June.

He condemned Russian attacks on nuclear power facilities in Ukraine and Putin's earlier announcement that he was placing his nuclear forces into "special combat readiness."

"Russia must understand that threats to use nonconventional weapons will not yield any positive result," Ciuca said. "To the contrary, its international position will be further diminished, and the international community will continue to condemn such threats, no matter the disinformation spun by the Kremlin and the Russian state media."

"No propaganda can justify such threats or their materialization," he said.

Since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, more than 640,000 Ukrainians, including many children, have entered Romania, and the government and local people have provided food, shelter and social services such as access to education, according to the prime minister.

"We have been monitoring the situation very carefully and have taken several measures to manage the massive inflow of people, in coordination with our neighbors and partners," he said. "We are facilitating the entry of all Ukrainian citizens that need protection."

Ciuca said most of the Ukrainians who entered Romania did not apply for asylum in the country because they were in transit to other European states where they have relatives.

"The numbers are fluctuating daily and it is difficult to estimate, at this point, how future inflows will look like," he said.

On April 23 2022 21:56 Ghanburighan wrote:


There's also speculation that UK is helping UA with SIGINT.

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1517690157142532096

...

In other news, Ukrainians and pretty much all allies are fed up with Germany. A diplomatic row is looming on a grand scale. In the tweet, a German in Washington keeps hearing questions about whether Germans know how much they're damaging their own reputation.

https://twitter.com/ulrichspeck/status/1517531407530274816

Follow this thread of UA aid workers on how they need to find schemes to bypass Germany to get shipments from other countries to UA:

https://twitter.com/krides/status/1517621458880634880

On April 24 2022 01:07 KwarK wrote:
There is a lot of concern when Russia massacres the Ukrainian general population but where is that concern when Ukraine wipes out the Russian General population. Hypocrisy much?

On April 24 2022 00:24 zatic wrote:

It's incredibly frustrating. Especially since Scholz and his party stand alone among the mainstream parties in this. Scholz really showing that he is just not up to the job .

This thread does a good job summarizing
https://twitter.com/HeleneBismarck/status/1517846781014458368?t=_N-7Jf8vwOUj0-J9he36qg&s=19

Brussels is drawing up plans for a sixth package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, with measures expected to be presented to European Union countries early next week, according to several diplomats.

The new package is set to include some form of ban on Russian oil imports, and may also target more Russian banks by expelling them from the SWIFT international payments system, four diplomats told POLITICO.

As the Ukraine war drags on, demands have been growing on EU leaders to cut off the Kremlin's vital revenue stream that comes from Russia's lucrative energy sector, particularly exports of oil and gas.

In its five previous packages, the EU has backed a ban on coal and removed a number of Russian banks from SWIFT in an effort to ratchet up economic pressure on Moscow. But as evidence emerges of atrocities reportedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, Western governments have stepped up military support for Kyiv and resolved to intensify sanctions against President Vladimir Putin and his regime.

Large Russian banks such as Gazprombank and Sberbank have so far been excluded from the sanctions, as they are involved in energy transactions. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told German newspaper Bild on Sunday that the new sanctions will likely hit Sberbank, Russia's largest bank. One EU diplomat expected the Commission to target all Russian banks, including Gazprombank.

Some countries, such as the Baltics, are also pushing for more measures to tackle Russian disinformation operations in the sixth package. Brussels has previously banned Kremlin-backed media outlets RT and Sputnik. The more hawkish capitals have suggested several other Russian media outlets should be banned in the EU as well, while others worry such a measure could backfire against the West, as the move might be used for Russian propaganda goals.

On oil, it's unclear how quick and comprehensive a future phaseout of imports from Russia will be. With oil and gas revenue making up a critical source of funding for Russia's war machine, sanctions on energy are seen as a vital next step for the EU's response to the invasion.

But countries like Germany and Hungary, which rely on Russian energy imports, have been trying to water down the proposals.

Germany has warned of a recession if the EU immediately blocks Russian gas and oil. On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also urged caution. “Europe clearly needs to reduce its dependence on Russia with respect to energy, but we need to be careful when we think about a complete European ban on, say, oil imports,” Yellen said during a press conference in Washington. She warned an immediate ban on oil by the EU "would have a damaging impact on Europe and other parts of the world."

An oil ban is likely to differentiate between various grades of Russian oil and their method of delivery — via shipping or pipelines. There is also discussion ongoing in Brussels about the need for potential transition periods to give EU countries time to prepare for any embargo on oil imports from Russia.

One EU diplomat said they expected the next sanctions package to be presented to EU countries as soon as Monday, after which EU ambassadors could discuss it during the week and potentially adopt it by Friday.

However, others were more cautious, arguing there has been no formal decision on timing from the European Commission just yet, even though they all expect some kind of initiative early in the week. "Next week is a reasonable time to get the proposals," one senior EU diplomat said.

April 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine has repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in Donbas this week, a British military update said on Sunday.

Despite Russia making some territorial gains, Ukrainian resistance has been strong across all axes and inflicted a significant cost on Russian forces, the UK Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.

"Poor Russian morale and limited time to reconstitute, re-equip and reorganise forces from prior offensives are likely hindering Russian combat effectiveness," the update added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.