(20-04-2022, 11:57 AM)Notdumb Wrote: Next few days Ukraine will complain "Stop shooting down our planes....we trying to fight!"🤣🤣🤣
Now 'Russian sphere of influence' - see why Donbas is key to Putin's ideology. Russia-Ukraine. April 20,.
Putin forces have started wave of battle for Donbas in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky, as he underscored that war will continue fighting against him.
Ukrainian forces have repelled "numerous attempted advances" by Putin forces on the Donbas. As line of control by Moscow’s shelling and attacks in the area "continue to increase," UK defense intelligence says.
Civilians in Luhansk have been urged to evacuate after Ukrainian forces "lost" control of the town of Kreminna during heavy fighting.
While, Ukrainian forces in port city Mariupol, with a Ukrainian commander telling CNN situation at the Azovstal plant, one under control, is "critical" as a large number of troops are wounded.
Donbas: Mariupol's Azov shipyard has been heavily damaged by fighting, a new video released by the Mariupol City Council shows. CNN has geolocated the video and verified its authenticity.
In the video, the shipyard's entrance sign and gate can be seen. Debris is scattered outside the gate, where a car and a forklift appear to have been strategically placed to block access, the gate has been destroyed by an explosion, two Czech hedgehogs — three metal beams welded together to act as an anti-tank barrier — can be seen.
Some context: CNN the situation at the nearby Azovstal steel plant — one of the city’s last bastions still under Ukrainian control —
2 hr 49 min ago
US believes Russia will target routes used for weapons shipments, defense official says
The United States believes Russia will target routes used for weapons shipments, according to a defense official, in an attempt to slow the supply of US and partner weapons flowing into Ukraine.
Russian forces have not frequently struck moving targets such as convoys or rail deliveries, but they could try to destroy the bridges, roads and rails used to transport the weapons and supplies into the country, the official said.
Even if the Russians were successful in striking those routes, the official said, they would be unable to stop the shipments in their entirety. There are simply too many shipments going in.
Weapons into Ukraine: The US and partner nations have shipped nearly 70,000 anti-tank and anti-armor weapons into Ukraine, including Javelins, NLAWs, RPGs and more, the official said. The shipments have also included nearly 30,000 anti-aircraft missiles, such as Stingers, and some 7,000 launchers for these weapons.
Earlier this month, Joints Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee that some 60,000 anti-tank weapons and 25,000 anti-aircraft weapons had been sent into the country. Since then, the US has authorized hundreds of millions more dollars in military assistance.
Slowdown Russian. Part of success has come from Ukraine’s adaptation of decentralized command and control which allows junior commanders to make important battlefield decisions without higher authorization, the official said
Russia retains some advantage: The official also noted that Ukraine has had years to prepare for Russia’s offensive in southeast Ukraine, since the Donbas region has seen regular fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed proxies.
Ukraine has prepared trenches, anti-armor ambushes and more ahead of this imminent fight, the official said, but warned that Russia still retains the advantage in military technology and overall military power. Instead of spreading that power out over much of Ukraine, it is now concentrated in the south and east for what may be a massive assault.
4 hr 32 min ago
Ireland's Defense Minister calls on Russia to agree to immediate humanitarian ceasefire
From CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian
Simon Coveney, Minister for Defense of Ireland, speaks during a press conference ahead of the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations on April 19, in New York City.
Simon Coveney, Minister for Defense of Ireland, speaks during a press conference ahead of the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations
“The price of
“The most vulnerable around the globe cannot become collateral damage in yet another
A shelter above the sarcophagus covering the exploded reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine, seen on Saturday, April 16.
A
“This was clearly not a sustainable situation, and it is very good news that the regulator can now contact the plant directly when it needs to,” Grossi said
6 hr 5 min ago
US ambassador to the UN calls on organization to step up response to the Ukraine refugee crisis
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations on Tuesday, April 19 in New York City.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations on Tuesday, April 19 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
US
“We know that the world is looking to the UN and wondering how to respond in the wake of Russia's unconscionable actions,” she said. “Supporting refugees and the countries taking them in is one of the most powerful and immediate ways that we all can help and it is so important that the UN plays a key role in that.”
Thomas-Greenfield called on her fellow nations on the council to
“Let's show the world that when Russia provoked the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, the rest of the Security Council and the United Nations stepped up and helped those most in need,” she said.
Thomas-Greenfield praised the work of humanitarian aid workers, noting “they are impartial, and they
(Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky/Facebook)
(Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky/Facebook)
Russia will be marked as a “source of evil” for targeting civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Tuesday.
“Forever the Russian army will be written in history as the most barbaric and inhumane army in the world,” Zelensky said, “The targeted killing of civilians and
In Mariupol, the situation remains “brutal and unchanged,” Zelensky said. He claimed that Russian
“It’s very important to ensure stable activities at all of the borders,” he said.
6 hr 47 min ago
Ukrainian-born US lawmaker recounts visiting war-torn homeland: "The destruction was just unbelievable"
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Republican from Indiana
The Ukrainian-American lawmaker said that 70% of the city of Chernihiv was "left in destruction" and many people survived without basic necessities.
"I really can't believe things like that are happening in the 21st century. You know you read things like that in the books about World War II. Well, my grandma, who is is 95, said this destruction, this area hasn't seen even during Stalin times and World War II. But this is the tragedy of women and children. You look at the kids playing in the rubble. Really cleaning the rubbles and women are trying to get their life together," she said.
Spartz added, "I just cannot believe that one person can hold the whole world hostage. And we see what
"I think the West, if we do not want to destabilize the world and have this crisis and war continue even further, we have to get serious and put pressure on Putin to get
7 hr 11 min ago
The US is preparing another $800 million security assistance package for Ukraine, multiple sources say
From CNN's Kylie Atwood, Alex Marquardt, Kaitlan Collins, Jennifer Hansler and Oren Liebermann
The US is preparing another $800 million security assistance package for Ukraine, according to three senior administration officials and two sources familiar with the planning.
Details of the
Per the
The size of the package could also change at the last minute, the second official said.
The latest package comes just a week after the Biden administration authorized another $800 million security package, which included artillery and anti-artillery radars for the first time since the Russian invasion began.
The Biden administration is working to get the security assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible because they believe the war is in a critical stage and the continued US assistance could make a difference when Russia’s more aggressive assault begins in Eastern Ukraine, the third administration officials said.
The more open terrain in that region favors the use of artillery and long-range systems, which is why the administration has placed a premium on getting those types of systems in quickly as the fighting moves away from Kyiv and into the Donbas region.
The region also borders Russia, allowing the Russian forces to maintain shorter supply lines needed to sustain an assault. Ukraine and Russia, through its own forces and proxies, have fought in the Donbas region for the last eight years, making it familiar territory for both forces.
More background: This week US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, in Washington, DC, to discuss aid for Ukraine and
This would be the last presidential drawdown until Congress approves more money for weapons to Ukraine. In a presidential drawdown, the Defense Department pulls weapons and equipment from US inventories to send to Ukraine instead of purchasing new weapons from manufacturers.
7 hr 17 min ago. Still ok alife
Ukrainian commander requests. Maj. Serhii Volyna, commander of Ukraine's 36th Separate Marine Brigade, spoke by phone with CNN, from besieged city of Mariupol Tuesday evening and requested that a third country provide evacuation for 
troops trapped in Azovstal steel plant under heavy 
Asked how evacuation might be facilitated, Volyna said, "Should...level of agreements. If talking about practical application, it could be a
ship with helicopters???, for example, that could pick us up.
Or international humanitarian mission that can come to us and guarantee our security and accompany us on the way to the state that will make such commitments." Volyna described the situation at the plant as "
dead critical," with a large number of wounded troops and limited medical care.
"
We are completely surrounded," he said. "There are about 500 wounded military, it is very difficult to provide them with medical
"We appeal to absolutely all world leaders: Whoever will be able to make such commitments, whoever will be able to succeed in the short term in agreeing on such a procedure," he said. "We know that there are some developments and talks with the Turkish side that it is acting as a guarantor.
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US for Help.
