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Ukraine news - live: Zelensky claims Putin invasion a 'complete failure'

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  john-russell  •  2 years ago  •  8 comments

By:   Arpan Rai, Rory Sullivan, Matt Mathers (The Independent)

Ukraine news - live: Zelensky claims Putin invasion a 'complete failure'
Latest Ukraine updates today

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Moscow sacks top military chiefs over strategic war failures

Arpan Rai,Rory Sullivan,Matt MathersThursday 19 May 2022 13:35 Comments ✕ Close

President Zelensky meets US officials

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has branded Russia's claim to be using laser weapons "a sign of the complete failure of the invasion".

Moscow said it was using a new generation of the powerful weapons to burn up drones to counter a flood of Western arms supplied to Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky mocked the claim, saying Russia was looking for a "wonder weapon", something Nazi Germany did when it was losing the Second World War.

Meanwhile, Russia has fired some of its most senior military commanders over the failure to capture Kharkiv and the sinking of the Moskva warship in April, the UK's ministry of defence (MoD) has said.

"Lieutenant General Serhiy Kisel, who commanded the elite 1st Guards Tank Army, has been suspended for his failure to capture Kharkiv," officials said.

They added: "Vice Admiral Igor Osipov, who commanded Russia's Black Sea Fleet, has also likely been suspended following the sinking of the cruiser Moskva in April."

The defence ministry said a "culture of cover-ups and scapegoating is probably prevalent within the Russian military and security system".


Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused huge environmental damage for which Kyiv will seek compensation in international courts, Ukraine's environment minister said on Thursday.

Ruslan Strilets, minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, said the war had destroyed ecosystems, deprived wildlife of its natural habitat and contaminated land in one of the world's main grain producers.

"Over the past 20 years, this is the first military conflict in the world that has caused such large-scale environmental damage," he told a news conference.

"Russian missiles hit our oil depots, thermal power plants, chemical plants - this definitely affects the environment. Forests are burning, valuable protected things are being destroyed."

Matt Mathers19 May 2022 13:351652962686

Russian soldier asks Ukrainian widow for forgiveness over husband's murder


A 21-year-old Russian soldier asked a Ukrainian widow to forgive him for the murder of her husband, in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia's invasion.

Vadim Shishimarin, a tank commander, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian in the northeast Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka.

"I acknowledge my blame ... I ask you to forgive me," he told the widow, Kateryna Shalipova, at the Kyiv court on Thursday.

Boyish, dressed in a tracksuit and with his shaven head lowered, Shishimarin cut a forlorn spectacle in a glass booth for defendants. He spoke calmly, but looked frightened.

The Kremlin has said it has no information about the trial and that the absence of a diplomatic mission in Ukraine limits its ability to provide legal assistance.

The widow told the court she had heard distant shots fired from their yard and that she had called out to her husband.

"I ran over to my husband, he was already dead. Shot in the head. I screamed, I screamed so much," she said.

Shalipova told the court she would not object if Shishimarin was released to Russia as part of a prisoner swap to get "our boys" out of the port city of Mariupol, a reference to hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who have given themselves up to Russia.

Ukraine war is fuelling global food crisis, says UN


The world faces a global food crisis due to Russia's war in Ukraine, with hunger levels already "at a new high", the UN's secretary general has warned.

Antonio Guterres, the former Portuguese prime minister who now heads the UN, said on Wednesday that he was engaged in "intense" discussions with Russia and Ukraine to improve the situation.

My colleague Rory Sullivan reports:

Ukraine war is fuelling global food crisis, says UN


Kremlin's failure to open Ukrainian ports would be 'declaration of war on global food security', says UN World Food Programme boss

Matt Mathers19 May 2022 11:471652956692


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JohnRussell
Professor Principal
1  seeder  JohnRussell    2 years ago
Mr Zelensky mocked the claim, saying Russia was looking for a "wonder weapon", something Nazi Germany did when it was losing the Second World War. Meanwhile, Russia has fired some of its most senior military commanders over the failure to capture Kharkiv and the sinking of the Moskva warship in April, the UK's ministry of defence (MoD) has said.
 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
2  seeder  JohnRussell    2 years ago

Has everyone noticed how the media attention on the war has receded as the weeks have gone by? 

Its almost become routine and lost the sense of urgency everyone felt right after the initial invasion. 

 
 
 
Just Jim NC TttH
Professor Principal
2.1  Just Jim NC TttH  replied to  JohnRussell @2    2 years ago
Has everyone noticed how the media attention on the war has receded as the weeks have gone by?

One thing I did notice over the last few weeks is the fact that high profile (Pelosi, Jill Biden) people have been going there at will. The place is in a war. How in the hell do you accomplish that without the enemy kicking your ass. Something is fishy about this. Flights in an out? Reminds me of Vietnam where bombing and attacking the capital inside a 25 mile (if memory serves) radius was a no no. Are we seeing the same thing (rules) here? Just seems weird to me.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
3  Kavika     2 years ago

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been a complete disaster for Russia.

Yes, the media coverage is much less than it was at the start but that has not lessened the war itself which is brutal. I would imagine that the coverage in Europe is much more than in the US.

The flights are into Poland than rail or motor into Kyiv. Russia still does not have control of the air and counter batteries have served the Ukrainians well.

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
3.1  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Kavika @3    2 years ago

American interest can only be sustained for so long.  We are already seeing an increasing number of "conservatives" complaining about having to send money and material to Ukraine. That whining wasnt happening in the beginning. 

 
 
 
Greg Jones
Professor Participates
3.1.1  Greg Jones  replied to  JohnRussell @3.1    2 years ago

They're not complaining about sending material aid, but there needs to be some financial accounting. 40 Billion bucks in one fell swoop seems to be a tad excessive.

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
3.1.2  Jeremy Retired in NC  replied to  Greg Jones @3.1.1    2 years ago
needs to be some financial accounting

And that's what Democrats are fighting.  They don't want to be held accountable.

 
 
 
Nerm_L
Professor Expert
4  Nerm_L    2 years ago

We've been told for 30 years that Russia is the greatest threat to NATO, Europe, and the United States.  That claim has been used as justification for spending trillions of dollars on the military over the last 30 years.  It appears we've been spending exorbitant amounts of money to defend against a bogeyman.  Can we get a refund?

Personally, I didn't expect Russia to invade Ukraine.  I thought an invasion would spin out of control and risk Russia's control over Crimea.  And control of Crimea is Russia's only strategic interest in Ukraine.  I missed that Russia would be allowed to enter Ukraine unopposed.  In hindsight Biden was sending signals that Putin could invade without repercussions.  The United States has sanctioned Russia several times and Biden's threat of sanctions, against that history, was a green light to Putin.  Biden's 'no troops' pledge meant that the United States would not defend Ukraine.  All the rest was just political showmanship for the unwashed, ignorant voters in the United States.  Slava Ukraini.

The increased trade ties between Europe and Russia has been the real threat to the United States.  Economic ties between Europe and Russia lessens the need for NATO which would weaken the influence of the United States in Europe.  Growing European dependence on imports from Russia would allow greater Russian influence in Europe the same way that China influence has grown in the United States.  Biden has used the Russian invasion of Ukraine to expand NATO and eliminate economic relations between Europe and Russia.  Biden has used Ukraine as a test bed for a neoliberal approach to addressing the dependence of the United States on Chinese imports.  That neoliberal experiment in weaponizing economics hasn't gone well.

Economic isolation of Russia certainly will not transform Russia into a western democracy.  The Russian people will most likely blame the United States and Europe.  Economic isolation may remove Putin but it seems likely the Russian people will want a stronger leader than Putin.  Toppling Putin would likely result in a hardline government that relies more heavily on nuclear threats.  So, Biden's approach may well have made the world less safe.

What have we learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine?  Russia really hasn't been a military threat to NATO, Europe, or the United States.  We really don't need to spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year on a conventional military to defend against Russia.  Politicians, the military, and intelligence experts have been lying to the American people for 30 years.  Russia is a nuclear threat.  And Russia's nuclear arsenal completely nullifies the superiority of a conventional military.  The war in Ukraine has proven, beyond doubt, that a country needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the United States.  We shouldn't be surprised to see an upsurge in nuclear proliferation around the world.

All of this could have been avoided with diplomacy.  Putin gave the United States and Europe plenty of warning and opportunity to begin diplomatic efforts.  The Russian invasion of Ukraine was definitely not a surprise attack.  The Minsk agreements negotiated in 2014 provided a beginning framework for working towards a diplomatic resolution and mutual understanding.  But that's not what happened.  Biden deliberately chose to use Ukraine as a proxy to confront Russia economically.  Biden never intended to defend Ukraine.  Biden has only used the war in Ukraine to strengthen the influence of the United States in Europe and remove a threat to that influence in Europe.  Biden intentionally threw Ukraine under the bus to pursue his own political goals.  

 
 

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