Ukraine update: Russia is trying to offset incompetence with increased brutality

Children being treated in the basement of a pediatric hospital after damage to the building above.

Four days into Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine, the world has united in sanctions against Russian financial systems, in freezing or seizing assets of Russian oligarchs outside of Russia, in denying Russian airlines the airspace to conduct flights, and in preventing Russian manufacturers from getting access to parts and supplies. All of this is vitally important.

This highly connected, highly digital world is in the process of answering a question that may be among the most important ever asked: Is it possible to enact restrictions severe enough that they more than offset any possible gains to be made through a war of acquisition? We don’t yet know the answer to that question, but finding it may be a step toward ending war. Not this war. War.

However, all of that does little to lessen the weight that currently rests on the Ukrainian people. They are actively engaged in defending their nation and their homes against a military that, for all the flaws revealed over the last week, is still massive and powerful.

The execution of Ukraine proves conclusively that Vladimir Putin’s reputation for strategic genius was massively overrated. It also proves that the Russian military’s reputation for tactical execution was equally exaggerated.

But the reputation of both for simple brutality remains intact. If anything, on Monday in Ukraine, that reputation is growing.

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 6:51:38 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Continuing coverage can be found here.

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 3:45:48 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

#Ukrainians in occupied #Berdyansk come out to protest even during the wartime pic.twitter.com/yeg014BWNe

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 3:51:50 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

From inside one of those apartment buildings being battered by Russian bombs on Monday in Kharkiv. 

Apartments of civilians in #Kharkov pic.twitter.com/e62ibQKDZz

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 3:54:08 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

The Guardian reports that a majority of Finn’s — 53% — now support joining NATO. This is a huge swing from the last poll in 2017, when only 19% of Finns supporting joining NATO. 

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 3:56:00 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

From the Appropriate Comparisons Department:

Yes, Kyiv and Kharkiv have been shelled for the first time since 1941.
Two men gave such an order — Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin.

— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 3:56:59 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Heartbreaking in every possible direction.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the @UN @SergiyKyslytsya reads text messages between a Russian soldier and his mother moments before he was killed.⁰

"Mama, I'm in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here. I'm afraid. We are bombing all of the cities...even targeting civilians." pic.twitter.com/kbWYZfbSpE

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 4:33:00 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Coming soon: FIFA will reportedly ban Russia from international play "until further notice."

When you've lost the most historically corrupt organization on the planet ... pic.twitter.com/ig0fyXoN1L

— The Recount (@therecount) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 5:07:53 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

President Zelensky signs an application for Ukraine’s membership in the EU. pic.twitter.com/GdYbB7Fa5c

— Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 5:12:14 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

This huge explosion…

⚡️⚡️⚡️Video of a very powerful explosion in #Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/fKQWsBJSaQ

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 28, 2022

May be the attack reported in this thread. 

Breaking: Russian air strike hits radar communications military center in Brovary.

— Terrell Jermaine Starr (@terrelljstarr) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 5:17:26 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Warnings are sounding in Kyiv signaling not an air raid, but a “missile strike threat.”

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 5:27:42 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

International Olympics Committee recommends that Russia and Belarus can just keep their drugged and systematically abused teenagers at home for the foreseeable future.

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 5:44:01 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

I’m sure there’s a science fiction novel somewhere that predicted this. But it was probably considered a “wild satire.”

The future is a very weird place. Ukrainians are uploading videos on TikTok about how to drive abandoned or captured Russian military vehicles. pic.twitter.com/ElE7lxoBV8

— Read The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin (@JoshuaPotash) February 28, 2022

Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 5:51:48 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Villages destroyed by missiles from GRAD systems in Chernihiv region. Images not included here, as they include people lying dead, slaughtered in their homes.