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Russia, much to Putin's dismay, has continued to fail to make significant advancements or even capture a single major city in Ukraine. Today there was a peace meeting between the Russians and Ukrainians along the Belarus border both delegations are returning to their respective leaders to discuss the next moves. Like most people predicted and expected nothing of significant value has occurred.
Russian Troop Movements
Something that sadly should be of no surprise to anyone is the complete lack of care for human life in Ukraine. With troops really bogged down in Kyiv it seems that Russia has focused the last day or so on Kharkiv which is in Eastern Ukraine much closer to the Russian border than Kyiv is. Kharkiv is the city that Russian troops did get into at one point but were forced out due to heavy fighting and where a Children's Cancer Hospital was bombed by the Russians as well. Russia has once more upped the ante again as they have begun to use the BM-21 Grad. This system is a multiple launch rocket system that is used for area denial meaning 40 rockets can be fired at once these warheads can be high explosive fragmentation. This system is known to not be the most accurate and it should not be used where pinpoint strikes are needed like in densely populated areas.
A couple of cluster bomb attacks have already been confirmed by international sources. These have come from ballistic missiles and whether it was the target or not one hit a hospital and another hit a kindergarten. The biggest issue with these weapons is that as the first munition goes off it shoots out a bunch of smaller bombs which just causes widespread and indiscriminate damage. Another issue is that the smaller munitions might not detonate and thus people could stumble across them after the fact. These munitions are already super controversial because of the discrimination that they have when dropped on enemies now Russia is using them on civilians and it is resulting in death.
Miles long columns of military vehicles have been seen headed towards Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine. Just today a convoy of 40 Russian armored vehicles including tanks tried to enter a Ukrainian town and the way that this was prevented was genius. Unarmed Ukrainians came together and formed a human shield around the city and after attempting several times to enter the WHOLE CONVOY LEFT!
Reports continue to come out of Ukraine about Russian soldiers surrendering and even being shocked that they are in Ukraine as they were told they were just participating in a training exercise. Other issues have continued to mount including running out of fuel and even more embarrassing food. Russian troops are giving up not due to lack of arms or gas but because they were sent in with little to no food. These embarrassing failures have made the second-largest military in the world look like nothing but a paper tiger due to the failure of those who planned this invasion.
Along the Black Sea, Russian troops continue to push forward and try and expand their footprint and it could be argued that this has been the most successful part of the operation and even that is not that successful. Odessa continues to remain in Ukrainian hands but a city of 100,000 people that hosted a small naval base did fall into Russian hands yesterday. Really though that one city is all that they have under Russian control which has shocked me, to be honest.
Ukrainian Response
Ukrainians have continued to overcome all odds and stun Russia in their ability to hold out. They have continued to take out tons of Russian armor last night we even saw a Ukrainian drone strike take out a column of vehicles trying to get into Kyiv. While losses continue to mount more and more of them seem to be civilians and the bombings caught on live TV would seem to back that up that bombs are hitting these residential areas and the civilians are not always able to get out and into a shelter in time.
A video that has gone viral around the world is the Ukrainian farmer who hooked a Russian tank that ran out of gas/broke down to his tractor and decided to take it home! The videos of this farmer's move have further exacerbated the idea that Russia has dramatically failed in what they thought would be a quick and easy victory. Today was the first day that in some Ukrainian cities people were able to go out and buy food which led to people emptying store shelves preparing for the long haul.
Ukraine continues to ask for assistance with different things and thus far they seem to have gotten what they needed if not even more. It has emerged that Ukraine has asked for immediate acceptance to the EU and that the President of the EU did not dismiss this idea making this a possibility especially as the capital continues to hold out.
Western Powers and Allies
Boy oh, boy has it appeared Russia did not fully understand what they were doing. Recent sanctions and freezes have resulted in Russia's cash and gold being stuck in different banks across the globe including in the US. Russia had built up over $600 billion in reserves for this invasion over the years but now a lot of that money is stuck abroad and he cannot access it.
Putin also forced Europe's hand and what was revealed was not what Putin had thought. Not only has Germany flipped and began to arm the Ukrainian forces but even more telling is how the EU is proving fighter jets to the country to replace those that have been lost! Countries like Sweeden, Norway, and others who typically avoid sending arms and would rather send food and other resources are sending guns, ammunition, missiles, and food aid. This is completely unprecedented and something that I believe Russia did not think would happen.
In an important move, Switzerland has continued in lockstep with the West in sanctions and has even added on additional ones. Like I have mentioned before Switzerland has long been known for its lax money laws hence the phrase "he's hiding it in his swiss bank account" but with Russia Switzerland remands defiant. Additional news has come out that Turkey is moving to block access for all warships be it NATO or Russian in an attempt to stop or at least minimize the possible naval escalation.
The last Dictator of Europe the President of Belarus announced last night something that I was unaware was even going on. For those of you who do not know in 2020 mass protests broke out due to the fraudulent elections in the country and only through sheer violence and force were the protests put down. Well it turn out they had a constitutional referendum and the country has now decided to abandon its place as a nuclear-free state and now the President has the "right" to ask for Russia to provide the country with nuclear warheads if he wants. This is a shocking turn and if Russia fails in its push to topple Ukraine Belarus could fall as a consequence.
Belarus also is located next to NATO countries meaning Poland would suddenly have a nuclear neighbor which would lead to more and more NATO countries asking for nukes of their own and this could then lead to another arms race. It has been said that hypersonic launch vehicles were the next arms race but this situation seems to be resetting the idea to nuclear arms being the thing to get. Nukes in more countries would just further make the world unsafe and the possibility of an accident much too high. Hopefully, this issue is also addressed and resolved when Russia abandons its failed invasion.
Final Thoughts
While Ukraine continues to hold out rumors of Putins outrage over the slow development of this invasion have begun to grow louder and louder. This is concerning because no one know really what to expect from him and if he will completely become unhinged and just launch an all out arial bombarment or all out assault of Kyiv. If this does happen then the number of deaths and amount of suffering will be at levels that have not been scene in recent history. Over 500,000 Ukrainians have made it out of the country safely meaning that the neighbors of Ukraine like Poland and others will be needing immense help in caring for the massive influx of numbers people.
There has also already been a "land bridge" or way for these arms to be delivered via land established. Not only that but the US and other Western Powers continue to be able to fly in these arms and systems to the Ukrainian people! The airspace in Urkaine is contested it is not under Russian control. This lack of control is a huge issue for Russia as it allows for rearming to continue to occur. That is why we are seeing Russia attempt to surround Kyiv to try and choke off the city but due to the terrain it is a lot harder then you would think. We have seen Russian armorment breaking down and part of this is due to the wet muddy conditions that these systems are operating in. This is not something that these systems are used to and is compounding the logistical issues facing Russia. It is also why you have columns of tanks and other military equipment on roads only. They are trying to get there equipment places however this is also making it an easy target for Ukrainian forces.
At last check and before taking Bitcoins price run into consideration over $20 million dollars had been raised for the country of Ukraine via cryptocurrency. With this being as successful as it is I am very hopeful to see further charities and other organizations roll out the option of cryptocurrency donations as it lowers the barrier of people to help. Money can also be quickly distributed to those in need of it making the idea of banking the unbanked more and more likely!
