Author: Steven Sahiounie

Russia and its allies from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics launched a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday aimed at “demilitarising and denazifying” the country in the face of a security crisis of a scale unseen in Europe in decades. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a temporary halt to the Russian military operation in Ukraine on Friday afternoon in connection with the expectation of negotiations with Kiev, but the operation was resumed Saturday afternoon after the Ukrainian leadership refused to talk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. “Yesterday afternoon, in connection with the expected negotiations with the Ukrainian leadership,…

The tit-for-tat move followed the “unfriendly” response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine Russia shut down its airspace for passenger airlines owned by or registered in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria on Saturday after the three European countries banned Russian flights over their territory, citing conflict in Ukraine as the reason. The ban takes effect from 3pm Moscow time, Russia’s state aviation agency said, citing “unfriendly decisions” by Warsaw, Prague, and Sofia. Estonia and Latvia also announced on Saturday that they are closing their airspace to Russian planes. However, Moscow’s retaliatory move on them is yet to be announced. Several European…

Earlier, local media reported that the Ukrainian military had left the frontline Lugansk region city on Friday, taking their heavy military equipment with them.Ukrainian nationalist forces have shelled residential areas in the city of Starobelsk using heavy Grad artillery, killing civilians, the Russian Defence Ministry has reported. “At 10:30 am on the 26th of February, Ukrainian nationalists shelled residential areas of the city of Starobelsk using Grad multiple launch rocket systems. The attack resulted in a fire breaking out in the city; there is destruction of residential buildings; there are civilian casualties,” the Ministry said. The MoD said further that…

Near Kiev, the offensive stopped at the Irpen-Bucha line, fighting resumed by midnight. The north-western regions of the capital, the areas of Bucha, Irpen, Vorzel and Gostomel, are now the main battlefield. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Gostomel Airport remains under Russian control. At the same time the level of insecurity in Kiev was significantly increased by the decision of the local authorities to distribute weapons to civilians. The military mainly did not ask for any documents or permissions to carry weapons. Various spots of distribution were almost robbed by scared civilians as well as angry nationalists. Long queues…

“The crucial moment has come,” the Ukrainian leader has claimed amid Russia’s operation in his country Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for an urgent decision on EU membership for his country, saying “the crucial moment has come.” On Saturday morning, the third day of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Zelensky said he had discussed “further effective assistance and heroic fight of the Ukrainians for their free future” with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel. “The crucial moment has come to close the long-standing discussion once and for all and to make a decision on Ukraine’s membership in the…

US President Joe Biden boasted in January he had already sent more than $600 million worth of military aid to Ukraine since taking office a year prior. On Thursday, Congressional Democrats announced plans to send another $600 million. The Russian military said on Friday it had seized a large cache of Western-supplied weapons inside of Ukraine.The cache included American-made FGM-148 Javelin and British-made MBT NLAW anti-tank missiles, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.The two fire-and-forget missile systems have been a key part of Western aid supplied to Ukraine in recent years, intended to be a soft defense against Russia’s considerable armored…

In response to the Russian operation in Donbass, Europe is sanctioning Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov, amid hesitation from Germany and Italy regarding the EU sanctions. The European Union has agreed Friday to freeze the European assets linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over Moscow’s operation in Donbass. The 27-nation block implemented the punitive economic measures after several EU leaders proposed a sanctions package, which Brussels put up for validation by the EU foreign ministers. Germany and Italy showed some hesitation when it came to implementing the measure, though the majority of fellow EU…

The Lebanese foreign ministry’s statement condemning Russian military operation in Ukraine surprised Russia’s embassy in Lebanon, according to a statement posted on its Facebook page. “The statement… surprised us by violating the policy of dissociation and by taking one side against another in these events, noting that Russia spared no effort in contributing to the advancement and stability of the Lebanese Republic,” the statement read. The statement added that “the basis of the Russian Federation’s policy is not the policy of encroaching on Ukrainian interests, but rather to preserve Russian national security due to the threats posed by the Kiev…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Russian military forces have entered Ukraine from several directions including Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions. Strikes on the military airport just outside of Kyiv, the capital, have been reported, and Ukrainian civilians have been sheltering in underground bunkers in the capital. President Vladimir Putin of Russia has asked the Ukrainian Army to lay down their weapons, while the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a state of emergency and instituted martial law. The war began today, but has been brewing since January 10, when Russian and American officials met in Geneva to discuss…

The news comes amid the start of a special Russian military operation in the Donbass region declared by President Vladimir Putin early on 24 February. The operation’s goal is to protect the DPR and LPR and “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine.A Ukrainian military airplane went down near Kiev, Ukraine’s State Service for Emergency Situations has stated publishing a photo from the site of the incident. According to the service, five people were killed in the incident.The emergency situations service said that the plane was carrying 14 people in total and that all fatalities were caused by a fire that started after…