Ukraine Crisis: Chaos Descends on Ukrainian Capital

Feb 26, 2022 • On Sky News Breakfast live from Kyiv with Mark Austin on Saturday February 26:

- Ukraine says fighting has been ongoing on the streets of Kyiv overnight. It is understood Russian troops are approaching Kyiv from two sides in an attempt to surround the capital.

- No casualties were reported by Ukraine's Foreign Minister following a missile strike on a residential apartment building in Kyiv.

- Fighting is continuing across much of Ukraine, but Russian troops are largely concentrated in three main areas: to the south, near Crimea, to the north west near the border with Belarus, and close to Kharkiv.

Angela Stent: Putin Wants “a Disruptive World Order Where There Are No Rules” | Amanpour & Company

Feb 26, 2022 • In 2019, renowned foreign policy expert Angela Stent wrote "Putin’s World" -- a book that examined the dictator's creation of a paranoid and polarized world. Now, in her latest article in Foreign Affairs, Stent outlines “the Putin doctrine,” whereby the West is manipulated into viewing Russia as if it were the Soviet Union: a power to be respected and feared. Stent sits down with Walter Isaacson to discuss the meaning of all this -- and the crisis in Ukraine.

Russian Forces Close In on Ukraine Major Cities | DW News

Feb 25, 2022 • Ukrainian forces battled Russian troops on multiple fronts, including the outskirts of Kyiv.

Ukraine's border guard has said that males aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave the country in a statement posted on its Facebook account. The border guard said that this restriction will last for the duration of the period of martial law in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law earlier on Thursday shortly after it was reported that Russia had attacked Ukraine.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar has warned that Russian forces are poised to enter areas just outside the capital, Kyiv, on Friday. A government adviser, Anton Herashchenko, said the Russian troops planned to break through into the capital using tanks but that Ukrainian forces were ready to counter the attack with anti-tank missiles supplied by foreign allies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier said the government had information that "subversive groups" were moving on the city. This comes after a night of reported air raids in the city that were said by a DW correspondent to have set some residential buildings on fire. Many Kyiv residents have taken shelter in underground metro stations.

The Ukrainian general staff of the armed forces said Ukrainian troops were firmly resisting what he called "Russian occupiers" in the Kyiv area. Ukrainian airborne assault troops were reported in a statement to have stopped "overwhelming enemy forces" at the Teteriv River near the settlements of Dymer and Ivankiv, northwest of the capital. The statement said a bridge over the river was destroyed. "The hardest day will be today. The enemy's plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankiv and Chernihiv to Kyiv,'' Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram.

Ukraine: Russia Influence Is Now a Tory Conflict of Interest

Feb 26, 2022 • When Boris Johnson says he’s appalled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I can’t help but think it’s because he sees it as a massive threat to future Russian funding of his party. Will Rishi Sunak, Alok Sharma, Robert Buckland and the dozen or so other Tory MPs and ministers who have taken donations linked to Russia now return them? Will Johnson’s friend, Evgeny Lebedev, the son of a KGB agent, be allowed to continue as a legislator in the House of Lords? And did Jacob Rees Smug’s Somerset Capital Management have inside information when deciding to sell all their shares in one of the Russian banks before it was sanctioned? I think we can guess the answers.


As a one time dyed-in-the-wool Tory voter, it hurts me to have to say this, but I will say it nevertheless: I wouldn't trust BoJo further than I could throw him! Nor the band of shysters he surrounds himself with. These days, the good ol' Tories–the decent ones–are nowhere to be seen on the benches of the House of Commons. – © Mark

„Ich bin hier, wir legen die Waffen nicht nieder“

Präsident Wolodymyr Selenskyj spricht über sein Smartphone im Zentrum von Kiew zur Nation. | Bild: DPA
SELENSKYJS BOTSCHAFTEN
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der ukrainische Präsident wendet sich mit Videos immer wieder an sein Volk. Selenkyj wählt einfache Worte und wirkt entschlossen. Damit will er den Kontrast zu Putin erhöhen – dem er gleichzeitig Verhandlungen anbietet.

Am frühen Samstagmorgen hat Wolodymyr Selenskyj ein 39 Sekunden langes Selfie-Video veröffentlicht. Im morgendlichen Licht steht der ukrainische Präsident im olivfarbenen Pullover auf dem Platz vor seinem Amtssitz im Zentrum von Kiew. Diesen Ort erkennt jeder Ukrainer, der schon einmal Nachrichten geschaut hat – es ist der Hintergrund, vor dem in anderen Zeiten zu Besuchen in Kiew ankommende Staatsgäste gefilmt wurden.

„Allen guten Morgen, Ukrainer!“, beginnt Selenskyj. Es werde gerade viel Desinformation verbreitet: Dass er die Armee aufrufe, die Kämpfe einzustellen und selbst die Stadt verlasse. „Das ist nicht so. Ich bin hier. Wir legen die Waffen nicht nieder. Wir werden unseren Staat schützen. Unsere Waffe ist unsere Wahrheit, unsere Wahrheit sind unser Land, unsere Kinder. Und all das werden wir verteidigen. Das ist alles, was ich Euch sagen wollte. Ruhm der Ukraine!“ » | Von Reinhard Veser, Redakteur in der Politik. | Samstag, 26. Februar 2022

Ukraine: Who Is Not on the UK Sanctions List?

Mr Deripaska (left) pictured with President Putin in 2014 | GETTY IMAGES
BBC: The UK government has announced more individuals and companies that it is sanctioning following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But there are still several Russian individuals who have been sanctioned by the US or the EU but not by the UK.

Their names appeared on a list of 35 people who Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny suggested should be sanctioned, which was read out in parliament by Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran. Oleg Deripaska » | Reality Check team, BBC News | Friday, February 25, 2022

Ukraine invasion: West imposes sanctions on Russia's Putin and Lavrov: Western nations have ordered personal sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the invasion of Ukraine. »

Ukrainian Fighters Battle to Hold Kyiv

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Ukrainian capital is transformed into a battle zone, and President Volodymyr Zelensky warns against false reports of his demise. NATO leaders said more troops would be deployed.

The scene Saturday morning after fighting in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. | Sergei Supinsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian defense forces, outmanned and outgunned, waged a ferocious resistance to the Russian invasion on Saturday, battling to keep control of the capital, Kyiv, and other cities around the country.

There was intense street fighting, and bursts of gunfire and explosions could be heard across the city, including its heart, Maidan square, where in 2014 Ukrainian protests led to the toppling of a pro-Moscow government. Here are the latest developments: » | The New York Times | Saturday, February 26, 2022

Ukraine conflict: UK intelligence fears ‘bloody and brutal’ war: Cabinet ministers received what one source described as an "ominous assessment" from defence and intelligence chiefs on Thursday night about what may lie ahead for the people of Ukraine. »

What Is Putin’s Endgame? Garry Kasparov on Russia’s Attack on Ukraine | Amanpour & Company

Feb 24, 2022 • A vocal critic of the Russian leadership is Garry Kasparov, the chess grandmaster who repeatedly ranked world number one for 20 years before turning his attention to politics. He tells leaders to “help Ukraine fight against the monster you helped create.” Kasparov speaks with Walter Isaacson. Originally aired on February 24, 2022

Beyond Ukraine, the Target Is What Putin Calls America’s ‘Empire of Lies’

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Russian leader is consumed by revanchist fury and convinced of a relentless Western plot against Moscow.

PARIS — President Vladimir V. Putin has ordered Russian troops into Ukraine but made clear his true target goes beyond his neighbor to America’s “empire of lies,” and he threatened “consequences you have never faced in your history” for “anyone who tries to interfere with us.”

In another rambling speech full of festering historical grievances and accusations of a relentless Western plot against his country, Mr. Putin reminded the world on Thursday that Russia “remains one of the most powerful nuclear states” with “a certain advantage in several cutting-edge weapons.”

In effect, Mr. Putin’s speech, intended to justify the invasion, seemed to come closer to threatening nuclear war than any statement from a major world leader in recent decades. His immediate purpose was obvious: to head off any possible Western military move by making clear he would not hesitate to escalate.

Given Russia’s nuclear arsenal, he said, “there should be no doubt that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country.” He added: “All necessary decisions have been taken in this regard.”

Mr. Putin’s move into Ukraine and his thinly veiled nuclear threat have now shattered Europe’s notions of security and the presumption of peace it has lived with for several generations. The postwar European project, which produced so much stability and prosperity, has entered a new, uncertain and confrontational stage. » | Roger Cohen | Thursday, February 24, 2022

Leer en español:

Más allá de Ucrania, el objetivo de Putin es lo que llama el ‘imperio de la mentira’ de EE. UU. : El líder ruso parece consumido por la furia revanchista y convencido de la existencia de un implacable complot occidental contra Moscú. »

Kray Casper | BYU Changed My Life: My Gay Mormon Story

Premiered 21 hours ago • Kray was a remarkably normal Mormon. He knew he was gay, but did everything in his power to deny and hide it. If you bury it, it doesn’t exist, right? He gave everything to the Church, served a full-time mission, and then enrolled at BYU. All this to bury what he was (a normal gay man).

As he was leaving his mission, Kray’s mission president made him a promise: if you date and marry a woman, your SSA (same-sex attraction) will disappear. Kray believed him.

It was his experience at Brigham Young University (BYU), Idaho that changed Kray’s life forever. His story involves a professor, a new friend, an affair, losing his education at the University, and reassembling the shattered pieces of a life that ‘once was’.

Kray’s story is more familiar and relatable than most want to admit. It is raw and candid.

The Guardian View on Putin’s Ukraine War: Promoting Bloodshed, Not Ending It

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The Russian president is threatening the international system by taking what he wants, irrespective of the human cost

The aftermath of a Russian air strike in Kyiv. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images
Just a few weeks after its 30th anniversary, the Russian Federation has gone to war with Ukraine, a country proud of its history, but which spent 700 years largely under foreign rule. The initial Russian offensive began on three fronts on Thursday to the sound of a missile barrage. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, sent tanks to pound Ukraine’s cities. His warships attacked from the sea. Innocent civilians are being killed, their homes reduced to rubble. With Russian forces closing on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the government asking its three million people to take up arms, Mr Putin’s war “to stop genocide” may promote one.

Mr Putin is acting like a thug. He is threatening the international system by taking what he wants, irrespective of the human cost. A humanitarian crisis looms as tens of thousands of refugees cross into eastern Europe. The images beamed from the streets of Ukraine have rekindled memories of the wars of the 20th century – of a kind that once seemed unimaginable in 2022. Many have been left to wonder: is this a new cold war? Or the beginning of a third world war? Of the two, the former is unwanted but preferable to a global conflagration. » | Editorial | Friday, February 25, 2022

„Bleibt standhaft. Ihr seid alles, was wir noch haben“

Kampf um Kiew: Soldaten der ukrainischen Nationalgarde am Freitag im Zentrum der Hauptstadt | Bild: REUTERS
KRIEG IN DER UKRAINE
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: An der polnischen Grenze warten Angehörige im Chaos auf Kinder und Enkel, in Kiew melden sich die Männer zum Kriegsdienst, Präsident Selenskyj ruft zum Durchhalten auf. Eindrücke aus der Ukraine.

Drei Tage in Kiew, vor und nach Ausbruch des großen Krieges. Abend Nummer eins: Drei Freunde sitzen zusammen. Es sind, grob gesagt, Mittfünfziger. Dmytro, der Unternehmer, Olexander, der Verleger, und der Schriftsteller Andrej Kurkow sitzen in einer Küche beisammen. Wo früher vermutlich ein Samowar stand, steht ein Wasserkocher. Es gibt Tee und Gebäck. Der Unternehmer, der Verpackungsmaterial produziert, kann sich nicht vorstellen, dass die russische Luftwaffe Kiew bombardiert, Kiew, im Mittelalter die „Mutter der russischen Städte“. » | Von Sofia Dreisbach, Redakteurin in der Politik; Gerhard Gnauck, Politischer Korrespondent für Polen, die Ukraine, Estland, Lettland und Litauen mit Sitz in Warschau; Alexander Haneke, Redakteur in der Politik | Freitag, 25. Februar 2022

Poutine: la patiente reconquête du petit kagébiste, métamorphosé en champion de l’Empire russe

Vladimir Poutine, jeudi 24 février au Kremlin, avant sa rencontre avec des hommes d’affaires moscovites. SPUTNIK/via REUTERS
LE FIGARO : RÉCIT - L’ancien lieutenant-colonel du KGB, marqué par la chute du mur de Berlin, a autorisé une opération militaire en Ukraine. Une forme de revanche.

Vladimir Poutine a sonné l’heure de la revanche. L’heure de régler enfin ses comptes avec l’Histoire. Avec l’Ukraine. Et avec l’Occident. Rien ne peut être compris de la folle aventure qui a commencé ce jeudi au petit jour avec l’attaque massive par la terre et par l’air lancée par l’armée russe à travers tout le territoire ukrainien, si on n’a pas en tête que l’homme tout-puissant qui est aux commandes de la Russie veut se venger. Avec un grand V.

«Nous allons démilitariser et dénazifier l’Ukraine», a-t-il lancé à la face du monde, en annonçant «une opération spéciale», utilisant - ce qui est loin d’être un hasard - un vocable propre aux tchékistes de l’époque soviétique pour désigner la guerre qu’il a déclaré à l’Ukraine. Il s’agit d’une reconquête. Où s’arrêtera-t-elle? » | Par Laure Mandeville | Publié : jeudi 24 fevrier 2022 ; mis à jour : vendredi 25 février 2022

Réservé aux abonnés

La Story par Renaud Girard : «Je croyais Poutine rationnel, il est en fait paranoïaque»

LE FIGARO : Renaud Girard parle de la guerre en Ukraine et Vladimir Poutine ici.

Guerre en Ukraine : Pologne, Moldavie, Slovaquie... plus de 50 000 Ukrainiens ont fui leur pays en moins de quarante-huit heures

LE MONDE : Le Conseil de l’Europe a suspendu la Russie vendredi. Vladimir Poutine a appelé l’armée ukrainienne à « prendre le pouvoir » à Kiev et à renverser le président Zelensky. Mais il s’est dit prêt à envoyer une délégation pour des pourparlers à Minsk.

LIVE EN COURS ICI.

French Cooking Academy with Stephane: Northern France’s Answer to Boeuf bourguignon: Slow-cooked Beef in Dark Belgian Ale

Carbonnade flamande
Feb 24, 2022 • if you are tired of the boeuf bourguignon than try the carbonnade flamande. slow cooked beef with caramelized onions, fresh herbs and dark Belgian beer.

Ingredients:

1 kg chuck steak I (or any cuts beef suited for slow cooking)
4 onions ( finely sliced)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour (toasted)
1 tablespoon capers
4 tablespoons mixed herbs (parsley, chives, tarragon)
salt and pepper to season
400 ml Belgium dark ale I (e.g. Chimay grande reserve)
Some extra water for topping up

Stjepan Hauser & Petrit Çeku : Concierto de Aranjuez

Hauser and Petrit Çeku performing Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, October 2017.

Elisabeth Fuchs, conductor
ilmed and edited by MedVid production
Sound and mixing by Morris Studio

Die Schwulenheiler 2 | Panorama - die Reporter | NDR

Apr 8, 2015 • Nicht nur christliche Hardliner lehnen Homosexualität ab, auch in den evangelischen Landeskirchen glauben einige, Homosexualität sei Sünde und ließe sich therapieren.

Homophobie in Russland - Wenn die "Falschen" Händchen halten

Jul 16, 2015 • So heftig reagieren Passanten auf Moskaus Straßen, wenn zwei Männer Händchen halten. Zwei russische Videoblogger haben sich von einer versteckten Kamera filmen lassen und die Reaktionen eingefangen.

A Plea to the Free World, US and Israel: Tell Putin That Zelensky Must Not Be Harmed

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: Ukraine’s president fears he is Russia’s ‘number one target’ and his wife and children are number two. Our pledged support for Ukraine must include demanding his safety

Russia “has marked me down as the number one target,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in a video message early Friday. “My family is the number two target. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.” He reportedly told EU leaders in a video call late Thursday that it might be the last time they see him alive.

Having interviewed Zelensky barely two years ago in his presidential offices in Kyiv, and with my heart going out to him and his people, I want to issue what is both a personal and a principled plea to the US, the free world, and emphatically Israel’s leadership, too, to do their best to ensure that he is not targeted or harmed.

President Joe Biden on Thursday stressed that while American troops would not be deployed to fight Russia in Ukraine, the United States “will support the Ukrainian people as they defend their country.” In a conversation with Zelensky on Thursday, he condemned the Russian invasion and, similarly, promised “to provide support and assistance to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

In a phone call of his own with Zelensky on Friday, Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett “offered Israel’s assistance with any humanitarian aid needed,” the Prime Minister’s Office announced, “and said that he stands by the people of Ukraine in these difficult days.” » | David Horovitz | Friday, February 25, 2022

Putin calls on Ukraine army to remove ‘neo-Nazi’ leadership in Kyiv »