.
Magyarország
2022. március 1. 06:00 M1 Híradó /video/ (Forrás: Híradó): https://tinyurl.com/5sck4rpd
2022. március 1. Budapest. A szomszédunkban háború zajlik. A biztonságunkat fenyegető kihívással eltökélten és egységesen kell szembeszállnunk. Így tettünk a koronavírus és az azzal járó gazdasági válság idején is. Ma erősebbek vagyunk, mint korábban, a szövetségeseinkkel közösen képesek vagyunk megőrizni a biztonságunkat. Meg kell védenünk a magyar gazdaságot is, fékeznünk kell az energiaárak emelkedését, ne mi, magyarok fizessük meg a háború árát. Történelmünkből túl jól ismerjük a háborúk következményeit, ezért nem sodródhatunk bele egy fegyveres konfliktusba. Ebből a háborúból ki kell maradnunk. De segítenünk kell azoknak a magyaroknak és ukránoknak, akik otthonukat hátrahagyva a háború elől menekülnek. Az elmúlt napokban egy emberként mozdult meg az ország, és segített a bajbajutottakon. Mindenkinek köszönöm! Őrizzük meg Magyarország békéjét és biztonságát! (Forrás: Miniszterelnök, Facebook)
Germany
01/03/2022 - 14:24 Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week led to renewed calls for some form of military service. Hellmich, a politician for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), called for an "urgent" debate on the issue in an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper today to help "promote public spirit", also calling for careers in the Bundeswehr to be made more attractive to young people. Sensburg, the president of the German Reservists' Association, has called for the reintroduction of military service through a general framework for both men and women. This could take the form of "one year in which young people who are of age and have completed their education do something for the state and the community", he told the Rheinische Post. Voices from the conservative CDU, now in opposition, have also come out in favour of conscription. In the state of Lower Saxony, CDU members have put together a paper calling for the reintroduction of military service as "a decisive signal for ensuring an effective military deterrence," according to Die Welt newspaper. CDU MP Linnemann told the Bild daily he was in favour of "a year of compulsory service for young men and women after completing their schooling". This could also take the form of a year of service in the social care sector or the emergency services, he said.Conscription was introduced in Germany in 1956 with men over 18 expected to serve in the army for a year, though they could claim exemption due to moral objections. The practice was gradually wound down and finally scrapped in 2011 as part of moves to save money. Germany has steadily reduced the size of its army since the end of the Cold War, from around 500,000 at the time of reunification in 1990 to just 200,000 today. The reintroduction of military service would require a two-thirds majority vote in the Bundestag lower house of parliament. Hahn of the CSU said Germany needs "technology and weapons systems", not just an increased head count. In February 27, Sunday, in a landmark speech, Social Democrat (SPD) Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the world was entering a "new era". He promised an extra 100 billion euros of investment in the chronically underfunded Bundeswehr in 2022 alone, committing to spend more than two percent of GDP on defence. (Source: France24 / AFP)
Belarus
1 March 2022 President Lukashenko addressed security officials today. He has appeared in front of a battle map during a state TV broadcast. The map displayed by Lukashenko is split into four sections which align with the command districts of Ukraine's military, showing Russian attacks from Belarus, along Ukraine's eastern border, and from occupied Crimea. It detailed Russian lines of attack heading into Ukraine, some of which have materialised in the first few days of the invasion - such as forces storming towards Kyiv from the north, and towards Kherson from Crimea. A two-pronged pincer movement is shown targeting Kyiv - an attack that is currently playing out - which forces are also shown heading out of occupied Donetsk and Crimea before linking up at Melitopol, which Russia has captured. But attacks are also shown hitting the city of Dnipro, which has yet to take place - Kharkiv is along the route. Another attack appears to be heading for the city of Cherkasy via the city of Sumy, where Russian forces have also been held up, while a third appears to break off from the Kyiv assault towards Zhytomyr. But they also showed off several attacks that have yet to come to pass - with one even appearing to point from the port city of Odessa towards Transnistria, a breakaway region of Moldova that Russia occupies. In a clip of the meeting posted online, Lukashenko can be heard talking about missile strikes launched from the Mazyr region Belarusian territory at Ukraine in advance of the main Russian assault. A Ukrainian military official said Belarusian troops joined the war today in the Chernihiv region in the north, without providing details. But just before that, Lukashenko said his country had no plans to join the fight. (Source: DailyMail)
Donbass
1 Mar 2022 After living eight years in the conflict zone, the residents of Ukraine’s separatist-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions have rejoiced at Russia’s recognition of their self-proclaimed republics’ independence, thinking it would bring peace and stability. The joy of the February 21 announcement lasted just three days as Russia’s President Putin used the security of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) in eastern Ukraine as a pretext for a full-scale invasion of the country on February 24. Residents of the separatist republics about life after recognition, the all-out war, as well as their relationship with Russia and Ukraine: (Source: AlJazeera): https://tinyurl.com/nhu37h4d
Russia
March 1, 2022 The Russian currency plunged about 30 per cent against the US dollar after Western nations announced moves to block some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system and to restrict Moscow's use of its massive foreign currency reserves. The US announced more sanctions to immobilise any assets of the Russian central bank in the United States or held by Americans. The Biden administration estimated that the move could impact “hundreds of billions of dollars” of Russian funding. Biden administration officials said Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, the European Union and others will join the US in targeting the Russian central bank. Russia's so-called oligarchs, who once exercised significant influence over President Yeltsin in the 1990s, are facing economic chaos after the West imposed severe sanctions on Russia over Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Billionaire Fridman, born in western Ukraine, has called for an end to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. 'While a solution seems frighteningly far off, I can only join those whose fervent desire is for the bloodshed to end. I’m sure my partners share my view," he said. One of Fridman's long-term partners, Aven, attended a meeting at the Kremlin with Putin and 36 other major Russian businessmen last week, the Kremlin said. Putin, after consulting his security council of senior officials, said there he ordered the special military operation to protect people, including Russian citizens, from "genocide". The billionaires who gathered for a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin in February 24 were silent. Businessmen understand very well the consequences. But who is asking the opinion of business about this? The Russian billionaire, Deripaska, used a post on Telegram to call for peace talks to begin "as fast as possible". Deripaska is the founder of Russian aluminium giant Rusal, in which he still owns a stake via his shares in its parent company En+ Group. Washington imposed sanctions on Deripaska and other influential Russians because of their ties to Putin after alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, which Moscow denies. (Source: Indiatoday)
1 March 2022 Russia is expelled from the 2022 World Cup and its teams suspended from all international football competitions 'until further notice.'International Olympic Committee urges sports federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes. Disney and Sony Pictures stop the release of their films in Russian cinemas because of its invasion of Ukraine. (Source: DailyMail)
Ukraine
1 March 2022 Explosions erupted around the capital's 1,300ft TV tower, near the Memorial complex BabynYar, around three miles from central Kyiv, around 5.30 pm local time. The tower remained standing, but several state broadcasts went off air. The Kyiv Independent reported at 23:29 local time (21:29 GMT) that Russian bombs have struck Vyshneve, a town outside the capital. It also said the neighbourhoods of Rusanivka, Kurenivka and Boiarka - as well as the area near Kyiv International Airport - were coming under fire. Rusanivka in particular is very central. It also reported a loud explosion was heard at Bila Tserkva, a city in Kyiv Oblast, when a duel depot was attacked, according to the UNIAN news agency. The locations of the reported attacks suggest Russian forces are tonight closing in from multiple sides of the capital, particularly from the west. A new round of explosions were heard at around 22:50 local time. (Source: DailyMail)
March 1, 2022 What happened to Russia's Air Force? What's driving Russia's apparent risk-adverse behavior in order to dominate Ukraine's skies? The first six days have seen Moscow act delicately with its air power. The United States estimates that Russia is using just over 75 aircraft in its Ukraine invasion. The confusion over how Russia has used its air force comes as President Biden's administration rejects calls by Kyiv for a no-fly zone that could draw the United States directly into a conflict with Russia, whose future plans for its air force are unclear. Vastly outmatched by Russia's military, in terms of raw numbers and firepower, Ukraine's own air force is still flying and its air defenses are still deemed to be viable. Military experts have seen evidence of a lack of Russian air force coordination with ground troop formations, with multiple Russian columns of troops sent forward beyond the reach of their own air defense cover. That leaves Russian soldiers vulnerable to attack from Ukrainian forces, including those newly equipped with Turkish drones and U.S. and British anti-tank missiles. Ukraine's experience from the last eight years of fighting with Russian-backed separatist forces in the east was dominated by static World War One-style trench warfare. By contrast Russia's forces got combat experience in Syria, where they intervened on the side of President Assad, and demonstrated some ability to synchronize ground maneuvers with air and drone attacks. Deptula, a retired U.S. Air Force three-star general who once commanded the no-fly zone over northern Iraq, said he was surprised that Russia didn't work harder to establish air dominance from the start. "The Russians are discovering that coordinating multi-domain operations is not easy," Deptula told. "And that they are not as good as they presumed they were." Both sides are taking losses. Ukrainian troops with surface-to-air rockets are able to threaten Russian aircraft and create risk to Russian pilots trying to support ground forces. Ukrainian air force fighter jets are still carrying out low-level, defensive counter-air and ground-attack sorties. Ukraine's ability to keep flying air force jets has been a morale booster to its own military and Ukraine's people. It has also led to mythologizing of the Ukrainian air force, including a tale about a Ukrainian jet fighter that purportedly single-handedly downed six Russian aircrafts, dubbed online as "The Ghost of Kyiv." A Reuters Fact Check showed how a clip from the videogame Digital Combat Simulator was miscaptioned online to claim it was an actual Ukrainian fighter jet shooting down a Russian plane. (Source: msn / Reuters)
Mar 1 2022 The Russian defence ministry announced it was planning strikes on the Ukrainian security service and its alleged 'Psyops Unit' in central Kyiv. Spokesman Konashenkov said: "In order to suppress information attacks on Russia, the technological infrastructure of the SBU and the 72nd main PSO (Psychological Operations Unit) centre in Kyiv will be hit with high-precision weapons. "We call on... Kyiv residents living near relay nodes to leave their homes." Russia knocked out Kyiv's main TV tower in a strike. Tonight, footage showed a fireball erupting next to the TV transmitter tower where the Holocaust memorial is located - temporarily knocking out all broadcasts. It comes after Russia's defence ministry warned targets in the centre of Ukraine's capital will be hit with "high precision weapons'. Images showed Russian ground forces close in Zdvyzhivka, northeast of Kyiv. The Russian army urged Ukrainians to leave Kyiv "freely" on one highway out. Ukraine claimed that Belarus troops stormed across the border in the north to join the Russian invasion. The country's parliament said Belarusian troops entered the Chernihiv region. (Source: TheU.S.Sun)
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 Russia used the potent vacuum bomb during its invasion of Ukraine, Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States told yesterday night, after a meeting with U.S. lawmakers. A vacuum bomb, also called a thermobaric weapon, works by taking in oxygen to create powerful, high-temperature explosions. If used in a civilian setting, such an attack could constitute a war crime. The bomb destroyed a Ukrainian army base in the northeastern town of Okhtyrka, killing 70 soldiers, Sumy region administrative chief Zhyvytskyy said on his Telegram channel. Images from the scene showed the middle third of a main building gutted by the blast. Okhtyrka Mayor Kuzmenko described the weapon used in the attack as a vacuum bomb. Ukrainian media have carried eyewitness video of the blast, which had a timestamp of 5:32 p.m. yesterday. (Source: Politico)
Note: Okhtyrka, situated between Kharkiv and Kyiv.
March 1, 2022 Mariupol was under constant shelling. "They are pounding us with artillery, they are shelling us with GRADS, they are hitting us with air forces," Boichenko, the mayor of the southern port city said today morning in a live broadcast on Ukrainian TV. Ukraine's largest steelmaker Metinvest BV has most of its facilities located in Mariupol where it has halted production. The company sent most workers home while reduced shifts ensured equipment was not breaking down. Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv also came under heavy attack, the regional administration head said today. 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. (Source: Reuters)
1 March 2022 A convoy made up of hundreds of tanks, artillery pieces, attack vehicles and support trucks - that stretches all the way from Hostomel, around 15 miles from central Kyiv to the village of Prybirsk, some 40 miles away - heads towards Ukrainian capital. Russian forces reach the southern city of Kherson. Nearly 520,000 people have fled Ukraine in the last five days, the UN's refugee agency says. (Source: DailyMail)
March 1, 2022 Four ways the war in Ukraine might end. Although the situation in Ukraine is fluid, the scenarios outlined here offer four plausible ways in which the conflict might end. Even the rosiest of these possibilities - which we’ve dubbed the “Miracle on the Dnipro” - is fraught with danger. Scenario 1: Miracle on the Dnipro: Bolstered by defensive assistance from NATO members, Ukraine’s military and civilian resistance overcome the odds and grind Moscow’s advance to a halt, preventing Russian President Putin from toppling Kyiv’s government and establishing a puppet regime. Ukraine remains a sovereign. The short war has claimed thousands of lives on both sides, leaving widespread bitterness in its wake. Ukraine's still-dangerous neighbor faces an uncertain future with the Russian political landscape at a tipping point. Scenario 2: A quagmire: After weeks of intense fighting in Kyiv and other major cities, Russia manages to topple Ukraine’s government and install a puppet regime. However, neither Ukraine’s armed forces nor its population are ready to surrender. Ukraine’s regular forces are diminished over time, major cities such as Kyiv are occupied. Russia is forced to devote far more of its resources over a much longer period of time than it had anticipated. The conflict drains Moscow’s coffers and resolve, ultimately forcing a withdrawal. Scenario 3: A new Iron Curtain: Ukraine eventually collapses under the weight of the Russian invasion. Despite intense opposition, Russian forces manage to take control of the country through the use of increasingly heavy-handed weapons and tactics. Resistance against a Putin-installed puppet government is simmering and omnipresent, but it is put down with force and does not prove strong enough to pose a significant challenge to the substantial Russian forces that remain in Ukraine. A new Iron Curtain descends in Eastern Europe, running along the borders of the Baltic states in the north through those of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania in the south. Sweden and Finland join NATO. Newly suspicious NATO and Russian troops now stare at one another across a suddenly militarized border, once again raising the prospects of direct conflict by accident or design. The antagonists prepare themselves for a long, bumpy standoff, with no clear outcome. Scenario 4: A NATO-Russia war - the most dangerous scenario for the future of Europe and the global order. There are multiple pathways: 1. NATO could decide to escalate its involvement in Ukraine by, for example, attempting to implement a no-fly zone or another form of direct intervention, if Russia escalate its bombardment of civilians. 2. Russia could inadvertently strike a NATO member’s territory - for example, through imprecise targeting or erroneous identification of friend and foe - prompting countermeasures from the alliance. This scenario would see the beginnings of direct conflict, perhaps air-to-air or air-to-ground, in border regions of Ukraine. In turn, this could set off a tit-for-tat cycle of strike and counterstrike leading to open hostilities. 3. A prospect concerns the possibility that Putin has broader designs well beyond Ukraine. If Russian forces make rapid progress in Ukraine and achieve effective control over the country, Putin may turn his attention to reconstitute a sphere of influence that broadly aligns with the territory of the former Soviet Union. The obvious candidates to test his designs would be the Baltic states (all of which are members of the Alliance). Putin might harbor a belief that NATO will back down if pushed; NATO insists it will fight any Russian military incursion on a member state. These four scenarios reflect plausible outcomes - but they hardly exhaust all possibilities. Putin could end up strengthened or weakened within Russia, depending on domestic developments (a popular uprising or coup) and external ones (China bolstering or reducing its support for Putin himself). He could make a play for Moldova or Georgia, or even attempt to take the Suwalki gap between Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus. (Source: TheAtlanticCouncil)
Turkey
March 1, 2022 While calling Russia's invasion an unacceptable violation of international law, Turkey has carefully formulated its rhetoric not to offend Moscow, with which Ankara has close ties in energy, defence and tourism. It has called for dialogue and offered to host peace talks. Forging close ties with Russia, Turkey has also sold drones to Ukraine and signed a deal to co-produce more, angering Moscow. It also opposes Russian policies in Syria and Libya, as well as its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Turkey is calling on all sides in the Ukraine crisis to respect an international pact on passage through the straits to the Black Sea, Defence Minister Akar was cited as saying today after Ankara closed access. "We tell all sides that it would be beneficial to abide by Montreux," Akar told after yesterday's cabinet meeting. Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu was cited by state media as saying that Turkey had demanded all Black Sea and non-Black Sea states to halt passage through its straits. Under 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara has the right to limit transit through the straits during wartime, to curb Russian warships going to the Black Sea. The pact grants exemption to ships returning to their home bases. Isik, an Istanbul-based geopolitical analyst and head of the Bosphorus Observer consultancy, told that Turkey had closed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to all states, not only to Russian ships. At least four Russian ships are waiting to cross from the Mediterranean. (Source: Reuters)
United States
14:16 ET, Feb 28 2022 Updated: 8:59 ET, Mar 1 2022 US releases new nuclear attack guidelines including social distancing and mask-wearing rules. The updated nuclear guidelines come after Russian President Putin demanded his nuclear force be put on high alert. One section on Ready.gov asks Americans to find the nearest building seeking shelter to avoid radiation. The next step tells them to "stay inside for 24 hours unless local authorities provide other instructions. "Continue to practice social distancing by wearing a mask and by keeping a distance of at least six feet between yourself and people who not part of your household," the website explains. Several Twitter users ripped the steps saying, if we ever experience a nuclear explosion, "Covid will be the least of our worries." (Source: TheU.S.Sun)
NATO
March 1, 2022 Poland shares a border with Ukraine, and the air base in the central Poland city of Lask is home to NATO’s Polish and U.S. F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg today visited troops in Poland with Polish President Duda. Despite Russia’s threats about nuclear weapons, the alliance sees no need to change its nuclear weapons alert level, Stoltenberg said. And while Ukraine is not a member of NATO, it is the alliance's responsibility to “ensure that we don’t see a development where a conflict in Ukraine spiraled out of control and becomes a full-fledged confrontation between NATO and Russia in Europe." (Source: USAToday)
Globalization (?)
Tue, Mar 1 2022 3:56 AM EST Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a Twitter post from an account named “Anonymous” — with 7.4 million followers and nearly 190,000 Tweets - summoned hackers around the world to target Russia. Subsequent posts claimed the group was responsible for pulling down websites of the Russian oil giant Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian news agency RT and numerous Russian and Belarusian government agencies. A post from the account on Feb. 24 stated the loosely connected global group was gearing up for action against the country. In the days thereafter, posts by the account claimed responsibility for disabling websites belonging to the Russian oil giant Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian news agency RT, and numerous Russian and Belarusian government agencies, including the Kremlin’s official site. The person — or persons — behind the “Anonymous” Twitter account denied that it is the group’s official account, stating in a post: “We are a decentralized resistance movement. There is no official #Anonymous account.” An article on RT published on Feb. 28 confirmed that its own website, as well as that of the Kremlin, had in fact been shuttered by Anonymous last Friday. The article also stated the group had targeted other Russian and Belarusian media outlets yesterday, replacing their main pages with the message “Stop the war.” A post by the “Anonymous” Twitter account last week reiterated that the group is not at war with Russia as a whole, or its people. (Source: CNBC)
March 01, 2022 Google blocks RT, Sputnik YouTube channels in Europe. Google, which owns YouTube, said in a tweet on March 1 that the move will take effect immediately. The move by Google comes hours before European Union members are expected to green light sanctions proposed by the European Commission. On February 27, European Commission President von der Leyen said RT and Sputnik are part of the "the Kremlin’s media machine” and the EU would move "to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.” The sanctions are expected to prohibit EU operators from publishing any content from the two outlets in any form, acccording to Breton, the bloc's internal market commissioner. RT's main YouTube channel has more than 4.5 million subscribers. (Source: radiofreeeuroperadioliberty)
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 What is now the central driving force behind the war frenzy - an immense social and economic crisis in Washington and other capitals? The Putin regime, representing the interests of a faction of the Russian oligarchy, is responding to the consequences of the dissolution of the Soviet Union through the promotion of Russian nationalism, combining nuclear brinksmanship and threats with an attempt to forge some sort of agreement with American and European empirealism. Already substantially armed and with weapons pouring in, Ukraine is the front line in a war aimed at regime change in Moscow and the complete subordination of Russia to NATO. The escalation of this war threatens mankind with a catastrophe. Massive economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European powers are aimed at crippling the entire Russian economy. One calculation is that the destruction of the Russian economy and the ruble will deepen divisions within the Russian oligarchy and fuel social discontent, creating the conditions for regime change and even the breakup of the country. Delivering advanced weapons systems directly to Ukraine, the United States has sent $1 billion in military aid in the past year, with the most recent tranche of $350 million committed by US Secretary of State on Sunday, February 27. Washington is directly arming Ukraine with Stinger surface-to-air missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles. The Ukrainian forces are already using the advanced “fire-and-forget” Javelin technology against Russian supplied to them by the United States in January, before the invasion. The European Union is also, for the first time, financing the purchase and delivery of weaponry to Ukraine. Germany will also be supplying direct military aid to Ukraine, German Chancellor announced in February 27. Private fighting forces are sent from countries to Ukraine. On Sunday, Ukrainian President announced that Ukraine would establish an international legion for its war against Russia. Since 2014, these forces had worked with the Azov battalion and the Georgian National Legion - networks receiving the open assistance of the British and American governments. UK Foreign secretary said Sunday that she “absolutely” supported British citizens traveling to Ukraine to serve as combatants. US and European officials are issuing increasingly bellicose statements that they are planning for direct war with Russia. The addition of 7,000 US troops to Eastern Europe announced by the Biden administration last week brings the total US deployment on the continent to over 100,000. Asked yesterday whether the additional troops would be incorporated into the NATO “rapid reaction force,” which was activated on Friday, February 25, Defense Department spokesman Kirby said: 'Should it be activated, we want to be sure we’re ready.' Ukrainian President is also deliberating 'the West' to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, in which US military forces would directly engage Russian aircraft. Members of the US Congress, including Republican congressman Kinzinger, as well as UK politicians have demanded that the US and NATO impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. There is a coordinated and ferocious anti-Russia campaign in the media, aimed at creating a climate of hatred directed at Russia and Russians. The claims that the US is not targeting the Russian people are belied by the campaign to prevent Russian musicians and athletes from performing and competing in international events. A central aim of this propaganda offensive is to distract the population from the social crisis, soaring prices, staggering levels of death from the pandemic - attempt to direct mass anger behind the war drive, creating popular confusion and disorientation. (Source: wsws)
Space
March 1, 2022 The European Space Agency works with Russia. A planned launch of a European-Russian mission to Mars this year is "very unlikely," the space agency said yesterday. Four NASA astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts, and one European Space Agency astronaut are stationed aboard the International Space Station, their home traveling 17,500 mph some 200 mile above Earth. NASA astronaut Hei is scheduled to return March 30 aboard a Russian spacecraft. President Biden has promised that sanctions will target the Russian aerospace industry. The warning led to a tweet from Russian space chief Rogozin asking "who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe." (Source: USAToday)
.
