The Tarbabys Blog

The Lincoln Project – YouTube.com

Mother Russia Thanks its GOP Comrades

Let’s pay tribute to these GQP patriots for their support of comrade Putin.

February 28, 2022

Reuters

Nordic countries prepare to shut airspace to Russian planes

Anne Kauranen and Niklas Pollard – February 27, 2022

(Reuters) -Sweden, Finland and Denmark said they were preparing to close their airspace to Russian planes on Sunday, joining a string of European countries taking this measure after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The moves follow similar closures of airspace of Britain, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Romania to Russia’s aircraft. Baltic countries Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are also closing their airspace to Russian airliners, while Germany said it was preparing to do so.

Iceland has also decided to shut its airspace to Russian air traffic, Icelandic Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Gylfadottir tweeted on Sunday.

“It is now absolutely necessary to proceed with further touch measures to isolate Russia,” Swedish EU Minister Hans Dahlgren told public service radio SR.

A European Union-wide ban for Russian flights could be part of a fresh package of sanctions on Moscow to be discussed later on Sunday by the bloc’s foreign ministers, an EU official said separately.

Dahlgren said such a ban would be the most efficient way to pressure Moscow.

Denmark would also support a cross-EU ban to Russian aircraft, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said in a tweet.

Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka said in a tweet late on Saturday that Finland, which shares a long land border with Russia, was preparing a similar closure.

Russia’s likely countermeasure will heavily hurt Finland’s state carrier Finnair .

“If Russia in parallel closes its airspace from Finnish aircrafts, it would have significant impact on Finnair as our Asian traffic would in practice come to a standstill”, Finnair spokeswoman told Reuters in an emailed statement on Sunday.

“Going around Russian airspace prolongs flight times so much that it would not be financially possible to operate our Asian flights,” she said.

The flag carrier of Sweden and Denmark is SAS.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru, Anne Kauranen in Helsinki, Niklas Pollard in Stockholm; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Spiegle International

Europe Wakes Up: How Putin’s War Has Spurred the EU into Action

The EU has long found it difficult to find a common policy on Russia. Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine has now brought the bloc together, and Brussels has responded decisively.

An Analysis by Maximilian Popp – February 28, 2022

Less than two weeks ago, the German government was blocking the delivery of East German howitzers from Estonia to Ukraine. Italy was refusing to impose sanctions against Russia to avoid a negative impact on Gucci’s bottom line.

And now?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to provide special funding of 100 billion euros to the German military. The EU intends to send fighter jets to Ukraine. BP, the British energy conglomerate, has announced it is selling its 20 percent stake in the Russian oil company Rosneft – worth approximately $14 billion.

Dawning of a New Era

Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine has caused bewilderment across the world. In Berlin and elsewhere, it drove several hundred thousand people onto the streets on Sunday. It has also led to one of the most dramatic political reversals in postwar European history.

Regardless of what one thinks of the details of the measures, it’s clear that a new era has dawned in Europe. It is almost impossible to keep track of all the taboos that have evaporated in recent days, of all the principles abandoned by European decision-makers. Politics, economics, diplomacy, military – almost all spheres have been affected by the change.

Ukrainische Soldaten nach Gefechten mit Russland in Kiew: Weltweite Fassungslosigkeit Foto: SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP

For years, EU member states have been at an impasse about whether and how refugees should be distributed across the continent. On Sunday, EU interior ministers unanimously decided to grant Ukrainians blanket protection status for three years without first having to go through an asylum process. Even if it raises questions about why similar solidarity does not exist for refugees from Syria or Afghanistan, it is a huge step for the EU. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also spoke in favor of Ukraine joining the EU.

Brussels Suspends Transactions with the Russian Central Bank

EU states have also overcome their misgivings on sanctions. Germany, Italy and even Hungary, which is ruled by the autocratic Viktor Orbàn, gave up their resistance to the exclusion of Russia from SWIFT, the international payment network, over the weekend. Even more importantly, Brussels has stopped many transactions with the Central Bank of Russia. The Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik are no longer allowed to transmit in the EU.

But the most decisive change has taken place in defense policy. The 100 billion euros that the German government wants to spend on armaments is a sum that, even just a few days ago, seemed unimaginable. The EU is intending to deliver arms worth 450 million euros to Ukraine. And even traditionally pacifist Sweden is sending weapons. German Chancellor Scholz justifiably described it in his Sunday speech before a special session of German parliament as a “watershed.”More on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

•  Hero in the Making: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Standing Tall in the Face of Danger By Christina Hebel in Moscow
• Chancellor Scholz Takes the Plunge: Germany Completes Historic Foreign Policy About-Face By Christian Teevs und Charles Hawley

In the past, the EU has been accused of being divided and phlegmatic. It often reacts late and half-heartedly to crises like the one this past summer in Afghanistan, often resorting to inconsequential declarations of solidarity. In the conflict with Russia, it is now showing a remarkable power to act.

The question is whether it comes too late. It is likely that the determination shown by the internationally community has made an impression on Putin. The Russian president likely considered sanctions in his planning, but probably not to this extent. It remains unclear, though, if that will lead him to break off his military campaign in Ukraine. Putin’s barely veiled nuclear threat over the weekend combined with events on Monday, which saw the Russian military continue bombarding Kharkiv even as “negotiations” between Russian and Ukrainian delegations were being held, made it look like such hopes remain farfetched.

The Kyiv Independent

Reports suggest Belarus prepares to send its troops to Ukraine, joining Putin in war

Oleksiy Sorokin – February 27, 2022

A message was shared in the diplomatic circles on Feb. 27 that Belarus airborne forces were preparing to invade Ukraine.

Unnamed Belarusian opposition journalists were said to be the source. According to the report, Belarus special forces were boarding planes on Feb. 27, preparing for deployment in or near Kyiv and Zhytomyr.

It’s not entirely possible to verify this report, since most opposition journalists have fled Belarus, escaping repressions by the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

A Telegram channel that collects eyewitnesses reports about the moving of Russian and Belarusian troops in Belarus recorded the movement of two military transport planes taking off from an airfield in western Belarus.

As of now, Belarus is de facto conducting war against Ukraine by letting Russian troops use its territory, and providing them with access to hospitals and intelligence. Now, according to the report, Belarus is preparing a full-out invasion.

On Feb. 27, President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke over the phone with Lukashenko.

During a phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Zelensky agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.

On the same day, Lukashenko threatened Ukraine with an all-out war.

“Is he pushing me to conduct a special operation so that I can free my people there?” said Lukashenko. He added that he allowed Russian troops to shoot missiles from Belarus territory on Ukraine.

Lukashenko spoke at the ballot during a staged referendum on the constitution amendments that the Belarus autocrat proposed after suppressing protests that began due to electoral fraud committed during the 2020 Belarus presidential elections.

Meanwhile, Zelensky asked the people of Belarus to make the right choice.

“Be Belarus, and not Russia,” he said. “Make the right choice.”

Russia is trying to force Ukraine into negotiations in Belarus, which is actively assisting Kremlin’s forces.

A Russian delegation arrived in Belarus on Feb. 27 for negotiations with Ukraine, despite Ukraine not agreeing to negotiations in Belarus.

On Feb. 27, Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for talks with Russia, but only in a country “from which missiles aren’t flying,” rejecting the idea of meeting in Belarus.

He suggested meeting in Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, or Baku instead.

“We want to talk, we want to end the war,” Zelensky said in a video address.

Author: Oleksiy Sorokin is the political editor and chief operating officer of the Kyiv Independent. Following a BA from the University of Toronto, Oleksiy became a political writer at the Kyiv Post. He broke stories on government and judiciary topics and investigated the former president and the current Prosecutor General.

The Kyiv Independent

Amid fierce defense, Ukraine foils Russian blitz victory plans

Illia Ponomarenko – February 28, 2022

More than 72 hours after the start of the all-out invasion on Feb. 24, Russia has failed to inflict a quick defeat to Ukraine’s armed forces or gain a foothold in any of the country’s key cities.

As of Feb. 27, all the biggest cities – Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Mariupol, Kherson – are still under full Ukrainian control, despite Russia’s massive and costly effort to seize or isolate them. 

If Russia aimed to take the Ukrainian capital in a shock and awe operation, it failed.

The situation tends towards hard, dragged-out war rather than a demoralizing blitz run the Kremlin likely counted on, judging from their immediate rush toward Kyiv.

The enemy has made a series of moderate advancements in Ukraine’s north, northeast, south, and in Donbas beyond the largest urban areas.

Fierce and effective Ukrainian resistance seen elsewhere has seriously slowed the Russian military down, and in many locations engaged its main axes in exhausting confined space warfare.

After the first 48 hours of advancement, the Russian military started indicating poor coordination and planning, as well as troublesome fuel supply. 

Ukrainian resistance, especially when it comes to destroying advancing Russian armored convoys, has so far met optimistic expectations. 

Massive missile strikes and all-out advances decisively failed to demoralize the Ukrainian military in the first hours of the attack or strip it of effective air defense, which has also demonstrated surprisingly high effectiveness since the very start. 

The Ukrainian military stick to offering resistance near key cities, in addition to engaging the Russian reinforcements. 

Meanwhile, the West goes in full swing at derailing Russia’s economic and political stability with severe financial sanctions. More nations, including long-time opponents like Germany, agree on massive weapons supplies to Ukraine and support Russia’s full isolation and denial of resources to continue with the war. 

“Moving and taking small towns and automobile communications remain the occupying power’s foremost tactics,” the Ukrainian General Staff asserted early on Feb. 27. 

“Thanks to massive civilian and military resistance, attempts the take the large cities have failed. The enemy’s main goal, which is to block Kyiv, remains unsuccessful.” 

In its intelligence update dated Feb. 27, the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry also said Russia was not making the progress it had planned, while Russian forces were suffering from logistical challenges and strong Ukrainian resistance. 

Read also: Russia’s war on Ukraine: Where fighting is on now (Feb. 27 live updates)

Popular involvement in the war effort remains increasingly active. Over 37,000 civilians have joined Territorial Defense formations assuming auxiliary missions in the rear behind the military back. Over Hr 1,16 billion have been transferred in popular donations to the military, as of early Aug. 27.

As of late Feb. 26, Ukraine reported over 3,000 Russian manpower killed in action and over 200 taken prisoner, along with 16 airplanes, 18 aircraft, 102 tanks, 540 personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles, a Buk-1 missile system, and over 20 cars, destroyed. 

Ukrainian losses are yet to be assessed and confirmed. 

Among that, despite false claims in media, Russia’s hostilities feature massive civilian harm, including via massive indiscriminate use of multiple launch missile systems like BM-21 Grad in numerous locations, from Kharkiv Oblasts’s Okhtyrka to Mariupol, the northern suburbs of which were desolated in Russian missile attacks. 

In general, multiple pieces of evidence, particularly verifiable pictures and videos posted elsewhere on social media indicate grave destruction and loss of life in affected areas.

As of late Feb. 26, Ukraine’s Health Ministry reported 198 civilian deaths, including three children, due to hostilities. 

Besides, Russia’s increasingly brutal and indiscriminate warfare has triggered or threatened a range of environmental disasters in Ukraine. 

Read also: Kyiv residents calm after heavy night fighting

Late on Feb. 26, a Russian missile strike destroyed an oil terminal in the city of Vasylkiv south of Kyiv. Amid fierce hostilities in the area, the destroyed facility started releasing extremely hazardous chemical emissions. The local authorities called for mass evacuation of civilians, which ended up being not possible due to grueling warfare in the area.

Besides, overnight into Feb. 27, a Russian artillery shell was reported to have targeted a nuclear waste depot in Kyiv, triggering fears of radioactive contamination in the city. However, according to subsequent reports, the Russian barrage did not inflict immediate damage to the storage facilities. 

Upon Ukrainian estimates, the Russian forces have employed in combat nearly 50% of its combined Russian-Belarusian military force of over 150,000 troops. 

After days of fierce fighting, the Russian forces still failed to enter Kyiv via two key axes in the northwest (via the cities of Bucha, Hostomel, and Irpin) and the north via the Obolon district. 

Multiple attempts to break Ukrainian defenses have failed as of early Feb. 27, although the streets of Kyiv have seen fierce clashes with small Russian sabotage groups infiltrating the city. 

As of early Feb. 27, Russia has also failed to establish control of three key airfields near Kyiv: Hostomel in the northwest, the Kyiv airport in the city, and Vasylkiv in the south, despite extremely fierce efforts to ensure a safe landing ground for its airborne groups. 

In Donbas, combined Russian-militant forces starting from Feb. 26 also made serious advancements near Mariupol and in Luhansk Oblast, entering Ukrainian-controlled territories unresisted. 

On Feb. 26, a Russian military group coming from the occupied Crimea in Ukraine’s south continued with its pressure upon Mykolaiv and Kherson but also redirected a part of its power for a march along the Azov Sea coastline toward Mariupol. 

Mariupol, as of Feb. 27, is expected to be encircled and attacked with a massive enemy force. 

“Ukrainian resistance remains remarkably effective and Russian operations,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said on Feb. 27. 

“Especially on the Kyiv axis have been poorly coordinated and executed, leading to significant Russian failures on that axis and at Kharkiv. Russian forces in northeast Ukraine face growing morale and supply issues, likely due to poor planning and ad hoc command structures.” 

Russian forces will likely increase their use of bombardment in the coming days to overcome heavier-than-anticipated Ukrainian resistance, the ISW also said, adding that “Russia’s surprising failure to accomplish its initial planned objectives around Kyiv has given the Ukrainians an opportunity.” 

However, the think tank said, Russian forces remain much larger and more capable than Ukraine’s conventional military and Russian advances in southern Ukraine may threaten to unhinge the defense of Kyiv and northeastern Ukraine if they continue unchecked.

“Ukrainian leaders may soon face the painful decision of ordering the withdrawal of those forces and the ceding of more of eastern Ukraine or allowing much of Ukraine’s uncommitted conventional combat power to be encircled and destroyed,” the ISW added

Author: Illia Ponomarenko is the defense and security reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He has reported about the war in eastern Ukraine since the conflict’s earliest days. He covers national security issues, as well as military technologies, production, and defense reforms in Ukraine. Besides, he gets deployed to the war zone of Donbas with Ukrainian combat formations. He has also had deployments to Palestine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an embedded reporter with UN peacekeeping forces. Illia won the Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellowship and was selected to work as USA Today’s guest reporter at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Reuters

Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

(Reuters) – February 28, 2022

Here’s what you need to know about the Ukraine crisis right now:

HEADLINES

* Russian artillery bombarded residential districts of Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv on Monday, killing possibly dozens of people, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow’s invading forces met stiff resistance from Ukrainians on a fifth day of conflict. Talks on a ceasefire ended without a breakthrough. A member of the Ukrainian delegation said the discussions were difficult and the Russian side was biased. read more

* Russian President Vladimir Putin told France’s Emmanuel Macron that a Ukraine settlement was only possible if Kyiv was neutral, “denazified” and “demilitarised” and Russian control over annexed Crimea was formally recognised, the Kremlin said. read more

* Russia faced deepening isolation and economic turmoil as Western nations, united in condemnation of its assault, hit it with an array of sanctions. read more

* Ukraine’s Western allies increased weapons transfers in support. Finland agreed to ship 2,500 assault rifles and 1,500 anti-tank weapons. read more 

* Russia’s defence ministry said its nuclear missile forces and Northern and Pacific fleets had been placed on enhanced combat duty, Interfax news agency reported, in line with an order the previous day from President Putin. read more

* The head of a U.N. agency said on Monday over 500,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries since the start of Russia’s invasion. read more

* The European Union is preparing to grant Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the 27-nation bloc for up to three years, EU officials said. read more

* Ukraine and its allies called on Monday for a United Nations inquiry into possible war crimes committed by Russia during its military actions in Ukraine. read more

* The websites of several Russian media outlets were hacked on Monday, Reuters checks showed, with their regular sites replaced by an anti-war message and calls to stop President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. read more

SANCTIONS AND ECONOMIC FALL-OUT

People fleeing Russian invasion of Ukraine arrive at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland, February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Supplies for refugees fleeing the Russian invasion in Ukraine are slightly covered in snow at the border checkpoint in Medyka,

Armored vehicles are seen as pro-Russian separatists of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Russian regular forces enter Mykolaivka amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine February 27, 2022 in this still image taken from video. REUTERS/via REUTERS TV

* Russia’s central bank more than doubled its key policy rate on Monday and introduced some capital controls as the country faced deepening economic isolation, but its governor said sanctions had stopped it selling foreign currency to prop up the rouble. read more

* The United States on Monday blocked Americans from engaging in any transactions involving Russia’s central bank, National Wealth Fund and finance ministry in further punishment of Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. read more

* Airlines on Monday braced for a potentially lengthy dispute after the European Union banned Russian airlines from its airspace and Moscow responded in kind, barring carriers from 36 countries including all 27 members of the EU. Dozens of flights were cancelled or sent on costly detours as the crisis hit airline shares. read more

* FIFA is set to suspend Russia’s national teams from international football until further notice, a source with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters on Monday. read more

* The International Olympic Committee’s executive board has recommended that international sports federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events, the IOC said on Monday. read more

* Energy giant BP, global bank HSBC and the world’s biggest aircraft leasing firm AerCap joined a growing list of companies looking to exit Russia on Monday, as Western sanctions tightened the screws on Moscow. read more

* The Russian rouble fell to fresh record lows on Monday while world stocks slid and oil prices jumped, as the West ramped up sanctions against Russia over its Ukraine invasion, with steps including blocking banks from the SWIFT global payments system. read more

QUOTES

* “I took a train from Kyiv to Lviv to a point where the taxi put us. I walked the last 50 kilometres,” a Ukrainian woman said on arrival at a border crossing with Poland in snowy freezing weather. read more

* “There are bombings, sirens, we have to go (downstairs). We also receive treatment here, medications we have, but we need more food…basic stuff,” said a tearful Maryna, a mother at a Kyiv children’s hospital where her nine-year-old son is suffering from blood cancer. read more

KYIV Post – Ukraine’s Global Voice Since 1995

Military and Humanitarian Aid Pouring into Ukraine

By AFP –  Published February 28, 2022

Greek soldiers wait to unload aid for Ukraine at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, on Feb. 27, 2022 (Photo by Tatiana BOLARI / AFP)Photo by AFP

Since Russia invaded last Thursday, many countries have started to send military or humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The United States, Canada and 19 European countries have so far responded to Ukrainian appeals for military equipment. Washington is sending an extra $350 million (313 million euros) in military aid to Kyiv to bring its total support to more than a billion dollars over the last year.

For the first time in its history, the EU is financing the buying and delivery of arms after leaders agreed to transport weapons worth 450 million euros to Kyiv. Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says some nations are sending fighter jets.

Canada is sending lethal military weaponry and loaning Kyiv around $392 million to help the city defend itself.

While Germany has broken the longstanding taboo of not exporting arms to conflict zones by vowing to send Ukraine 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles and nine howitzers. It is also donating 14 armoured vehicles and 10,000 tonnes of fuel.

Sweden is also breaking its historic neutral stance to send 5,000 anti-tank rockets to Ukraine, as well as field rations and body armour. It’s the first time Sweden has sent weapons to a country in armed conflict since Stalin invaded neighbouring Finland in 1939.

France, which has already sent help, is dispatching more military equipment, as well as fuel and humanitarian aid. Paris says it has reacted to earlier Ukrainian requests for defensive anti-aircraft and digital weapons.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to “provide further UK support to Ukraine in the coming days”, without specifying details.

Belgium says it will supply Ukraine with 3,000 more automatic rifles and 200 anti-tank weapons, as well as 3,800 tons of fuel. The Dutch Defence Ministry says it is sending “200 Stinger missiles as soon as possible”, which follows a shipment of sniper rifles and helmets dispatched on Saturday. This is on top of the 20 million euros of humanitarian aid it has already promised.

Prague is sending 4,000 mortars and an arsenal of 30,000 pistols, 7,000 assault rifles, 3,000 machine guns, as well as scores of sniper rifles and a million bullets. The Czechs have already promised Kyiv 4,000 mortars worth 1.5 million euros, which have yet to be delivered.

Portugal is giving Ukraine night-vision goggles, bulletproof vests, helmets, grenades, ammunition and automatic G3 rifles, while Greece is sending “defence equipment”.

Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine, is offering to treat the wounded in its 11 military hospitals. Bucharest is also sending fuel, bulletproof vests, helmets and other “military material” worth three million euros.

Humanitarian Aid

Rome has sent 110 million euros in immediate aid to the Ukrainian government as “a concrete sign of our support”. The US and Britain are also contributing. Washington announced $54 million in new humanitarian aid for Ukraine to be spent through NGOs, with London adding 48 million euros.

France, which is bringing a humanitarian aid resolution to the UN Security Council on Feb. 28, has sent 33 tonnes of aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Another 33 tonnes are being sent for those who have fled into Moldova.

The Dutch government says it is sending 20 million euros in humanitarian aid. Spain has promised to send 20 tonnes of aid to Ukraine, mostly medical and defensive equipment such as bulletproof vests.

Israel says it is sending 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid, such as medical equipment, water purifiers, tents and sleeping bags.

Turkey’s disaster relief agency is sending three lorries full of aid to Moldova for Ukrainian refugees. The Red Crescent is sending help to people fleeing into Romania.
Greece is sending a shipment of humanitarian aid through Poland.

Yahoo! News

Russian climate official apologizes for Ukraine invasion: Reports

Ben Adler, Senior Editor – February 27, 2022

The leader of the Russian delegation at an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) conference on Sunday apologized for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported.

The news agency cited three anonymous sources who were in the virtual, 195-nation meeting, which is closed to the press and the public. Politico and the Washington Post also confirmed the report.

“Let me present an apology on behalf of all Russians not able to prevent this conflict,” Russia’s Oleg Anisimov reportedly said at the closing plenary meeting. Those who see what is happening “fail to find any justification for the attack on Ukraine,” he added.

Anisimov, a veteran climate scientist who has authored previous IPCC reports, expressed “huge admiration” for the Ukraine delegation, which has kept working even as its country is under attack from its much larger neighbor.

Participants told AFP that everyone present found Anisimov’s comments moving, especially in light of the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin is known for ruthlessly punishing internal dissidents. “He knows that there is a risk for him; it was a very sincere message,” said one participant.

The comments were made in Russian and simultaneously translated into English. AFP received only the translated remarks, not the original Russian.

“The surprise intervention from Russia’s Oleg Anisimov at the closed-door meeting followed an electrifying live statement from his Ukrainian counterpart, Svitlana Krakovska, who spoke passionately about her country’s plight,” AFP reported.

“We will not surrender in Ukraine, and we hope the world will not surrender in building a climate-resilient future,” Krakovska said in English, according to AFP’s sources.

“Human-induced climate change and the war on Ukraine have the same roots — fossil fuels — and our dependence on them,” she added. It is unclear what exactly she meant by that, but Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenues, and Europe’s dependence on Russian gas has made it unwilling to extend its sanctions to cutting off Russia’s ability to sell gas on the continent. If Europe did not rely on fossil fuels to generate energy, it might be able to more effectively counter Russian aggression, according to global energy market experts.

The IPCC’s Working Group II, which focuses on the human impacts of climate change, is scheduled to release its report for this, the sixth, “assessment cycle,” on Monday morning. Krakovska expressed disappointment that the war in Ukraine will likely overshadow it in media coverage.

Business Insider

Russian billionaires’ yachts and private jets are still traversing the globe despite tough sanctions from the US and its allies

Avery Hartmans – February 28, 2022

• Private jets and yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs are still criss-crossing the globe.
• They’ve evaded sanctions from global powers in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• If that changes, those high-end assets could be frozen, rendering them unusable.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing economic sanctions against the nation’s elite haven’t deterred some of its wealthiest citizens from continuing to traverse the globe in megayachts and private jets — at least not yet.

Bloomberg’s Benjamin Stupples and Tom Maloney reported Friday that aircraft owned by Russian billionaires continue to fly in and out of Moscow. Jets belonging to Dmitry Mazepin, chairman of chemical firm Uralchem, and steel baron Alexey Mordashov both landed in Moscow Thursday, with Mazepin’s aircraft flying in from New York on a Gulfstream G650 and Mordashov’s Bombardier Global 6000 arriving from the Seychelles.

Mordashov, with a net worth of $23 billion, is Russia’s second-richest person. He also owns the $500 million megayacht Nord, which is currently cruising around the East African island nation, according to Bloomberg.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich also flew into Moscow from an airport near Monte Carlo last week aboard his Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, Bloomberg reports. Abramovich — who’s worth roughly $14 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index — is the largest shareholder of Russian steelmaker Evraz and the owner of Chelsea Football Club. Amid growing backlash to his ownership of the club, Abramovich announced Saturday that he would hand off stewardship of the team to the club’s charitable foundation, though he remains the team’s owner.

Beyond his private jet, Abramovich also owns a fleet of megayachts, including the Eclipse, which is among the world’s largest yachts, and the Solaris, which is said to be one of the most expensive custom yachts ever built. The Solaris is currently being refitted at a shipyard in Barcelona, The Guardian reported.

Two other Russian-owned megayachts are currently moored in Barcelona: the 242-foot Aurora, owned by billionaire Andrey Molchanov, and the 230-foot Galactica Super Nova, which is owned by oil and gas company Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov, The Guardian reported.

Russian oligarchs are known for owning some of the world’s most expensive private aircraft and sailing vessels in addition to high-end real estate and purchases like Abramovich’s Premier League club. But many of those ultra-wealthy Russians have avoided becoming ensnared by sanctions from the US, UK, and European Union, leaving them free to continue jet-setting.

While some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle have already been the target of stiff sanctions, the yachts and jets of the super-rich could be further targeted in the future — if that comes to pass, those assets would be frozen and rendered unusable, Stacy Keen, a sanctions expert at law firm Pinsent Masons, told The Guardian.

In the case of the yachts currently docked in Spain, for example, EU businesses wouldn’t be allowed to service the yacht in any capacity, whether that’s providing fuel or staffing the crew, Keen said.

“In effect, the yacht wouldn’t be able to function,” she said.

CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reported Monday that multiple billionaires, including Lukoil’s Alekperov, are currently moving their yachts toward Montenegro and the Maldives, possibly with the aim of avoiding them being frozen or seized.

Town & County

Russian Oligarchs Are on the Run

Danielle Stein Chizzik – February 28, 2022

As rockets fall and tanks roll on the cities and towns of Ukraine, the rest of the world has borne witness with an unprecedented intensity, due almost entirely to the internet. Anyone who has scrolled social media in the last few days has seen dozens of disturbing images from the ground in Ukraine, protests from St. Peterburg to Sydney to Times Square, and iconic buildings around the globe illuminated in blue and yellow. Plus there is the intel gleaned from Twitter and foreign news organizations that are now more globally available than ever, not to mention the internet’s own direct role in the conflict—reports of Ukrainian hackers combating Russian propaganda and Anonymous taking over Russian airwaves to play the Ukrainian national anthem, to name two examples.

In one of the latest displays of the power of the internet, a Twitter account called Russian Oligarch Jets appeared just yesterday that tracks the current movement of the private aircraft of the likes of Roman Abramovich (one of his jets landed in Latvia yesterday) and Alexander Abramov (one of his planes recently landed in Abu Dhabi, another in Munich).

Another, @PutinJet, is also tracking planes owned by Putin and Russian VIPS. Meanwhile, other internet sleuths are tracking oligarch-owned yachts.

The takeaway: Russians with means seem eager to get their assets as far from Russia as possible. Not that foreign shores will necessarily be friendly: a Ukranian sailor in Mallorca was arrested this weekend for sabotaging the $8 million yacht of Russian arms dealer Alexander Mikheev, and Anonymous hackers sent Putin’s yacht, the reportedly $97 million “Graceful,” straight to “hell”