Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

The alliance’s secretary general announced the move following Russia’s attack on Ukraine NATO will commence “defense plans” to enhance security in Eastern Europe, according to the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, following Russia’s military attack on Ukraine on Thursday morning. “What we have made clear is that we have already increased and we are increasing the presence of NATO troops in the eastern part of the alliance on NATO territory,” Stoltenburg said. He also confirmed that, despite plans to enhance the NATO presence in the region, there were no alliance troops in Ukraine. “There are no NATO combat troops, no NATO troops at…

Beijing claims the US has ‘poured oil on the flames’ China has blamed the US for creating the tensions which led to Thursday’s Russian attack on Ukraine. Beijing further called on the international community to avoid “stoking panic” over the situation. During a press briefing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the key question was the role played by the Americans, whom she branded “the [main] culprit of current tensions.” “If someone keeps pouring oil on the flames while accusing others of not doing their best to put out the fire, such kind of behavior is clearly irresponsible and…

Advisor to Lugansk People’s Republic’s Interior Minister, Vitaly Kiselev, announces control over Schastia and Stanystia Luhanska. Advisor to the Lugansk People’s Republic’s Interior Minister, Vitaly Kiselev, said on Thursday that the cities of Schastia and Stanystia Luhanska are again under the control of the Lugansk Republic. Lugansk’s People’s Armed Forces also announced the downing of two Ukrainian Su-24 aircraft, adding that the Ukrainian army is refusing to obey orders, and is deserting its positions. Lugansk announced earlier today that its armed forces have launched a military campaign to liberate the Republic’s lands. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that members…

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a special military operation on Thursday in order to defend the people of Donbass, and “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine. “It’s not a beginning of war, it is prevention of a situation that could lead to global military confrontation. It is also the end of the war that was being carried out [in Donbass],” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an interview, as she addressed the special operation in Ukraine authorised by President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. The spokeswoman added that it was the US who refused to engage…

Russian military action against its neighbor is “unacceptable,” the Turkish president says Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan condemned Russia for its attack against Ukraine on Thursday. Ankara considers both Moscow and Kiev friends and “feels true regret” over their military conflict, the Turkish leader said as quoted by the Anadolu news agency. Russia’s operation “violates international law and poses a threat to regional stability,” according to Erdogan. The Turkish leader chaired a National Security Council meeting after talking to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone on Thursday. Ankara called on Moscow to seek reconciliation with Kiev based on the 2015 Minsk agreement. The…