Russian military vehicles roll through outskirts of Donetsk after Putin orders troops into Ukraine

[Godfather]

Tank wheels roll over "crusty stuff"

Ya that's what I'm reading now too, sorry for the scare mongering - the spike in levels seems to be relative, don't think it's anything crazy like a reactor leak.

[Godfather]

You can literally hear bombs going off on the street cameras in Kyiv, this is wild. Can't turn it off.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Paul Best | Fox News




Anonymous, an international hacking collective that has conducted cyberattacks against governments and corporations, appeared to declare war against Putin and Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.

The "YourAnonNews" Twitter account, which boasts 6.5 million followers, made the declaration on Thursday, saying that the hacking group is "currently involved in operations against the Russian Federation."

"We want the Russian people to understand that we know it's hard for them to speak out against their dictator for fear of reprisals," the decentralized hacking collective said.

"We, as a collective want only peace in the world. We want a future for all of humanity. So, while people around the globe smash your internet providers to bits, understand that it's entirely directed at the actions of the Russian government and Putin."

RT.com, a Russian government-funded media outlet that the U.S. State Department describes as a critical element in "Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem," said that it was targeted in what appears to be a widespread denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

A DDoS attack is a coordinated effort to knock a website offline by flooding it with traffic.

Websites for the Kremlin and State Duma lower house of parliament were also intermittently unavailable on Thursday, which could have been caused by DDoS attacks.

Ukraine Defense Ministry officials requested assistance from the country's hacker underground on Thursday morning to beef up their cybersecurity defenses, Reuters reports.

Yegor Aushev, the co-founder of a cybersecurity company in Kyiv, told the news outlet that offensive volunteers will conduct digital espionage against Russian forces, while defensive volunteers will help protect the country's infrastructure.



Several Ukrainian government websites were hit by DDoS attacks on Thursday as Russian troops inched closer to Kyiv.

The U.S. government is bracing for potential cyberattacks on the nation's financial institutions, a homeland security official told FOX Business on Thursday.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Tyler O'Neil | Fox News


A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military action in the breakaway regions of Ukraine, Russian forces appear to be closing in on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Russian troops have entered the Obolon district of Kyiv, Ukraine's defense ministry reported.

Russian troops are attempting to infiltrate the capital, Ukrainian authorities warned.

The official Twitter account for the cabinet ministers of Ukraine warned that Russian troops are cunningly trying to break into Kyiv. They seized two Ukrainian military vehicles, changed into Ukrainian military uniforms, and drove to the center of Kyiv.

The Ukrainian military flagged that vehicles have been seized by Russian troops, warning that Russia is using them to penetrate Kyiv. It highlighted vehicle tags, urging Kyiv residents to call the police.

Russian troops appear to have reached the town of Vorzel, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Friday morning, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced.

Explosions could be heard in Kyiv early Friday local time. Many Ukrainians had rushed to leave the capital Thursday.



"Russian mechanized forces, which came in from Belarus, are 20 miles outside of Kyiv," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers Thursday night, according to reporting from Axios. Austin added that the military is looking into ways to provide Ukrainian forces with more equipment, including ammunition.

Kyiv residents reported loud explosions, the Kyiv Independent reported. Ukrainian forces might have shot down a Russian missile in the capital, according to the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, noted that the last time foreigners attacked Kyiv took place in 1941.

"Horrific Russian rocket strikes on Kyiv. Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany," Kuleba said. "Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out of [everywhere]."

Russian shelling outside Kyiv had already done significant damage.



The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that Russia had lost an estimated seven aircraft, six helicopters, more than 30 tanks and 800 troops, as of 3 a.m. Friday. It was not clear what Russia's take is on the number of casualties it has incurred.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that three people were injured, one in critical condition, as a result of a rocket explosion in a residential building.

The Kyiv Independent posted photos of the destruction.

Russian forces were attacking through three corridors, the official said in a report the Department of Defense released Thursday.

There was also fighting around Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city located near the border with Russia in the east.

Russian forces also attacked from the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in southern Ukraine, which Russia illegally seized in 2014. The Pentagon report stated that those three "axes" were designed to take key population centers.

[Muddy]

Sad sad sad..smh..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Rebecca Rosenberg | Fox News




Russian President Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine and plans to take over the capital of Kyiv and install his own government, experts told Fox News Digital.

RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES

"The capital of Kyiv is critical," said retired U.S. Army Gen. Jack Keane, who serves as chairman of the Institute for the Study of War. "Putin’s political objective for this entire military campaign is regime change, and that brings in the capital city of Kyiv because that is the seat of government."

Keane said Russian forces were en route to the capital from Belarus in the north. Russian troops have streamed into the country from the north, east and south as missiles and airstrikes rained down on cities and bases. Kyiv is approximately 230 miles from the Russian border.

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Yoshiko Herrera agreed with Keane.

‘Kyiv is key’

"Taking control of the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, is key to [Putin’s] plan," said Herrera, an expert on U.S.-Russian relations. Given the opposition of the Ukrainian government and people, she said "the prospect of an insurgency or protracted struggle, unfortunately, seems likely."

Keane said it was unclear what form Putin’s control of Kyiv would take. Troops could enter the city or surround it and use special operation forces to target key government leaders and elites.

"That new government will likely be Ukrainian-led leaders who are pro-Russian similar to Viktor Yanukovych," Keane told Fox News Digital.



Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power in 2014 after widespread protests over corruption and his desire to seek stronger ties with Russia instead of the European Union.

‘Back to Mother Russia’

Putin said his objective is not to occupy Ukraine but "demilitarize" the western-looking, democratic country that was a founding member of the former Soviet Union. Ukraine gained its independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Russian forces rolling into Kyiv will have a stunning psychological impact on the Ukrainian people, Keane said.

"The capital is a symbol of their government, and now we’re going to see Russia’s military take it over," he told Fox News Digital.

"This is mostly about bringing Ukraine back to Mother Russia that Putin believes was so wronged by making Ukraine an independent state," he explained. "Putin sees this as his legacy. It’s very personal."

Putin said on TV as the attack began that Russia needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have been fighting for almost eight years.

The autocratic leader ominously warned other countries to back off, threatening that any interference would "lead to consequences you have never seen in history" in what many interpreted as a reference to Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

Security buffer

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served as national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is about security. He predicted that Putin would likely take Kyiv and the eastern third of Ukraine to create a security buffer for Russia.

Putin doesn’t want any nation that aspires to be part of the U.S.-led NATO alliance to border Russia. NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance intended to guarantee its members' security through political and military means.

"We see NATO as a defensive alliance, Putin sees it as an encroaching offensive alliance," Kellogg said.

The organization has grown from 12 members to 30, and some of them were once part of the Soviet Union.

Keane said that even if Russia captures Kyiv, the story isn’t over.

"I think Putin is underestimating the Ukrainian people," Keane said. "The Ukrainian military will be defeated eventually, but the Ukrainian people aren’t going to be defeated, and that is a problem for Putin over time."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Louis Casiano | Fox News


France's foreign minister said Russian President Vladimir Putin should understand that NATO also has nuclear weapons when making threats to deploy his arsenal.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was speaking with French television network TF1Info when he was asked if Putin's remarks were "tantamount to threatening Russian use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict," Reuters reported.

He said he believed so.

"Yes, I think that Vladimir Putin must also understand that the Atlantic alliance is a nuclear alliance," he answered during the Thursday TV appearance. "That is all I will say about this."

Hours earlier, Putin spoke from the Kremlin in Moscow where he said Russia would respond with force should other nations try and interfere with its military operations in Ukraine.

"Whoever tries to hinder us, and even more so, to create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia's response will be immediate. And it will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history," the Russian president said.

Ukraine came under siege Thursday as Russia launched multiple airstrikes, prompting many to flee their homes and seek safety elsewhere.

Le Drian said Ukraine has not asked NATO member states to deploy military forces on the ground but is requesting humanitarian aid and financial assistance. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, and leaders there have called for the alliance to cut diplomatic ties with Moscow.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Russia but has not pledged to respond with a military presence.

"Strangling Russia economically and financially will in the long run be stronger than any intervention," the foreign minister said.

[lost in melb.]

Jesus

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Patrick Reilly - New York Post


Ukrainian border guards defending a Black Sea island defiantly told an invading Russian warship to “go f–k yourself” when asked to surrender and were killed when the warship opened fire.

The 13 guards were posted on the small but strategic Snake Island off Ukraine’s southeastern border when they were approached by two vessels on Thursday, according to Ukrainian media outlets.

The Russians contacted the guards and identified themselves as a “Russian warship,” demanding that the Ukrainians surrender or they would open fire, according to audio of the exchange.

“This is a Russian warship, I repeat. I suggest you surrender your weapons and capitulate otherwise I will open fire. Do you copy?” the Russians told the border guards.

“This is it,” one of the Ukrainian guards can be heard saying in the clip.

“Should I tell him to go f–k himself?” he appears to ask a comrade.



“Just in case,” another guard responds.

The guard then turns up the volume on his comms and bluntly responds, “Russian warship, go f–k yourself.”

The Russians reportedly bombarded the 42-acre island with barreled guns from the warship. They then bombed the island with aircraft.

Video apparently taken by one of the guards killed during the attack shows the guard outdoors, wearing a military helmet. He can be heard yelling out and hitting the ground as loud gunfire erupts.

All of the guards were killed, officials said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that the 13 border guards will receive a posthumous Hero of Ukraine medal for “heroically” defending the island.

“On our Zmiinyi Island, defending it to the last, all the border guards died heroically,” Zelensky said. “But [they] did not give up.”

“May the memory of those who gave their lives for Ukraine live forever,” he said.

By late Thursday, Ukraine’s state border service lost all communication with the guards. The island is believed to be occupied by Russian forces.

Ownership island has been hotly disputed in the past between Ukraine and Romania.

[DemonGeminiX]

brave guards

Fuck Russia

[Godfather]

Those men of Snake Island are the ultimate heroes of their nation.

[RBP]

Anyone else get the feeling that Zelenskyy knows exactly what he's doing? Feeding on Putin's ego to intentionally pull them into the Kyiv?

[lost in melb.]

Anyone else get the feeling that Zelenskyy knows exactly what he's doing? Feeding on Putin's ego to intentionally pull them into the Kyiv?

Nto sur eyet

[lost in melb.]

I'm amazed how well the Ukrainians are doing so far, given the odds stacked against them. I think Putin was expecting them to fold.