Ukraine

[Volkonski]

Geoff Bennett
@GeoffRBennett
·
4m
NEWS: The U.S. believes Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and communicated those plans to the Russian military, three officials tell
@nickschifrin
. Two admin officials say they expect the invasion to begin next week—echoing what Secretary of State Blinken has said.

[Volkonski]

Breaking: US Evacuating Americans From OSCE Ukraine Special Monitoring Mission

https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politi ... ssion.html

The United States will evacuate all American staff from the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (SMM), according to an internal US State Department document seen by the Kyiv Post on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.

A US citizen currently working for the SMM confirmed to Kyiv Post he had received a copy of the order, and that his chain of command had instructed him to prepare to leave Ukraine by Tuesday 15 Feb.

The US State Department contractor PAE, a Virginia-headquartered contractor responsible for US government staffing in overseas missions worldwide, said in the evacuation order all 46 US citizens working for the SMM must evacuate. The order has “immediate effect,” it said.

US staff with the SMM are PAE employees on contract to the US State Department. The SMM operates from bases across Ukraine, including one base in non-government-controlled Luhansk and a second base in non-government-controlled Donetsk.

[Volkonski]

CBS News
@CBSNews
·
22m
“LEAVE NOW”: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging Americans in Ukraine to leave immediately as concern grows that Russia could invade its neighboring nation “at any time.” https://cbsn.ws/3LvAWg8

[Volkonski]

Kelly O'Donnell
@KellyO
·
23m
.
@SecBlinken
"An invasion could begin at any time. And to be clear, that includes during the Olympics. We’re continuing to draw down our embassy. We will continue that process. And we’ve also been very clear that any American citizens who remain in Ukraine should leave now.”

[Volkonski]

Geoff Bennett
@GeoffRBennett
·
57s
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House urges Americans to leave Ukraine in next '24 to 48 hours,' warns US won't rescue civilians if Russia invades.

[Volkonski]

Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
·
6m
No words.
Quote Tweet
Kayla Tausche
@kaylatausche
· 7m
NOW: NSA Sullivan says a possible Kremlin strategy is a "rapid assault on the city of Kyiv"

[Volkonski]

Dmytro Kuleba
@DmytroKuleba
We have officially triggered the risk reduction mechanism in accordance with para. III of the Vienna Document, and requested Russia to provide detailed explanations on military activities in the areas adjacent to the territory of Ukraine and in the temporarily occupied Crimea 1/4
8:44 AM · Feb 11, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

Dmytro Kuleba
@DmytroKuleba
·
4h
Replying to
@DmytroKuleba
According to the Vienna Document, Russia needs to provide detailed explanation on the objectives, precise location and dates of completion of its military activities, as well as designation, subordination, number and types of formations, as well as types of equipment involved 2/4
Dmytro Kuleba
@DmytroKuleba
·
4h
Russia has 48 hours to reply. In case of absence of reply or its insufficiency/irrelevance, Ukraine will address Russia, as well as other participating states of the Vienna Document, in order to convene an extraordinary meeting where Russia will have to provide explanations 3/4
Dmytro Kuleba
@DmytroKuleba
·
4h
We will keep using all diplomatic means to ensure security of Ukraine 4/4

[tek]

Gonna happen during the Superb Owl.

Mark my words.

[filly]

I wonder if that Soviet era General who came out and told Putin this was a huge mistake has been disappeared yet?

[Volkonski]

US orders evacuation of most embassy staff in Ukraine as fears of a Russian invasion grow

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/politics ... index.html

A travel advisory issued by the State Department on Saturday said it had "ordered the departure of most US direct hire employees from Embassy Kyiv due to the continued threat of Russian military action."

It also stated that consular services would be suspended but stressed a small diplomatic presence would be maintained in the city of Lviv in the west of the country, about 50 miles from the Polish border to handle emergencies.

Numerous countries are also downgrading their diplomatic presence and urging their citizens to leave Ukraine.

The announcement came ahead of a scheduled call between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin as American officials increased the urgency of their warnings that Moscow may be about to invade.

The only thing that Putin will respect is force. Biden should expel every Russian diplomat now in the USA.

[John Thomas8]

What's the end game? Why is this needle-dicked ex-kgb agent being allowed to be a complete shitstain on the planet?

There's enough bad going on in the world without this camel licker making more of a mess.

[Volkonski]

[Foggy]

Umm ... I wish I could see an end game that doesn't result in the incineration of the planet. OK, maybe it's not that bad. I don't know.

It seems like Putin can't back down, for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it would make him look weak, and he could lose the presidency. Russians might put more value in being macho than many people.

But he's committed, and I think he is definitely going to invade Ukraine REAL SOON.

And then, as we know, the West is going to impose crippling sanctions and support Ukraine militarily, and we'll have ringside seats as we find out whether or not this leads to WWIII.

I'm hoping not, but that's just me, my life is exciting enough already, thanks.

[Volkonski]

UK troops sent to help train Ukrainian army to leave country
Armed forces minister says personnel will withdraw after fears of ‘no-notice attack’ from Russia

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... is-weekend

Britain, in common with all other Nato allies, has said it would not fight against any Russian attack, a point repeated by the minister in a BBC interview. Ukraine is not a member of Nato, although in 2008 it was given a promise that it would one day be able to join.

British troops helping with training in Ukraine will leave the country this weekend, the armed forces minister James Heappey said as he warned that Russia could launch an attack “at no notice”.

Heappey said the small number of UK personnel sent to train Ukrainian troops on anti-tank missileswould be withdrawn, alongside about 100 helping with wider troop training as part of Operation Orbital.

Britain, in common with all other Nato allies, has said it would not fight against any Russian attack, a point repeated by the minister in a BBC interview. Ukraine is not a member of Nato, although in 2008 it was given a promise that it would one day be able to join.

“There will be no British troops in Ukraine if there is to be a conflict there,” Heappey said. “They will be leaving over the course of the weekend.”

[Volkonski]

[filly]

Umm ... I wish I could see an end game that doesn't result in the incineration of the planet. OK, maybe it's not that bad. I don't know.

It seems like Putin can't back down, for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it would make him look weak, and he could lose the presidency. Russians might put more value in being macho than many people.

But he's committed, and I think he is definitely going to invade Ukraine REAL SOON.

And then, as we know, the West is going to impose crippling sanctions and support Ukraine militarily, and we'll have ringside seats as we find out whether or not this leads to WWIII.

I'm hoping not, but that's just me, my life is exciting enough already, thanks.

I don't think Putin will lose the Presidency. After all he just kills his opponents via poison or windows.

That said I too am very worried about this. I am concerned that all of those Russian hackers who nestled into thousands of business and government computer systems will start flipping switches (or whatever they do) to take down much of the US computer grids, including banking, electric and water treatment systems. The media was all over this story a year or so ago and then just abandoned it. In any event, if Monday comes around with no disruption I'm going to the bank and getting some cash. If you've lived through Katrina and Harvey etc. you know cash is king in times of crisis.

[Foggy]

Poor Mr. Putin, I bet he's kicking himself for not invading Ukraine when he had a Russian puppet in the White House.

[filly]

Heard this yesterday on MSNBC with Jason Johnson interviewing Michael Crowley:

* When Macron met with Putin this week the Russians demanded Macron take a Russian Covid test first. Macron refused.

* Apparently world leaders are very careful not to leave their DNA around the Russians. The concern is that the Russians will use it to create some kind of specific pathogen to attack the leader at a later time OR run a DNA profile to determine said leader's health risks.

*Pointed out that when a US official meets with the Russians the Secret Service is careful to confiscate anything the US guy/gal has sipped water from, touched, etc.

*This is fascinating to me and amazing that this was reported as an aside when Jason Johnson stumbled on a question that provoked this information.

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Ukraine crisis: 'We don't have the option to leave'

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60361911?xt ... st+type%5D

Despite the warnings of an imminent invasion, Ken Stuart can't leave Ukraine.

His wife Tatiana has just given birth to a son, Douglas. He's due to take them both to their home in Kyiv from hospital on Saturday.

Ken, who is originally from Edinburgh, tells BBC Radio 5 Live: "He doesn't have a birth certificate yet - it takes one to two weeks to get that - and without a birth certificate, he can't have a passport and without a passport, we can't leave the country."

An email from the British government sent to Ken and other UK nationals told them they "should not expect increased consular support or help with evacuating following any Russian military activity in Ukraine".

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Reuters@ReutersGermany's Baerbock says Ukraine crisis is escalating http://reut.rs/3szfIWd

[RVInit]

Remember the asset we had that was right next to Putin, in the Kremlin? And we had to pull him(?) out because of fears the Dotard outed him? Sure would be nice if we still had that asset in place.

That said, it sounds like we have good intelligence. I wonder if Putin expected Dotard to do far more damage to US intelligence than what he probably was able to accomplish.

[Suranis]

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/statu ... 184032773?

Angry Staffer@Angry_Staffer·5h

Something worth watching in Russia this week:

Navalny has his next court date on the 15th. If the rumors are accurate and that’s around when the invasion starts, I also really worry for Navalny’s personal safety. Putin loves sleight of hand, and everyone will be distracted.

[neeneko]

I wonder if Putin expected Dotard to do far more damage to US intelligence than what he probably was able to accomplish.

I am in the camp that suspects all of this was put into motion a few years ago when Putin expected Trump to still be in the white house, and it just was not easy to stop once moving. Like Kim Jong-un, Putin appears like a singular power from afar, but depends on the support of various institutions below him. If he made promises, say to generals concerned about NATO in Ukraine, he might not have the political capital to change course.