Tim Mak (from NPR) on Twitter:
Morning to those in the U.S. from Ukraine, where Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
One week ago at around 5 a.m., and like many Ukrainians, I received the rudest wakeup call of my life.
The Russians were invading, and a bombardment had begun.
Our in-country team at NPR was scattered all across Ukraine. We rallied a few hours outside of Kyiv, focused on talking only rural roads for safety, and spent the next few days driving to relative safety -- a trip that pre-war would have only taken a few hours.
Here are a series of short (~10 min) podcasts on various military matters.
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR: A GUIDE FROM WAR ON THE ROCKS
Here are a series of tweets translated by Google from Russian :
Many people ask me to comment on the sanctions.
In short, my scientific conclusion as a professor of finance, doctor of the University of Chicago is FUCKED.
And double fucked up that the inhabitants of Russia, even the educated, for the most part do not understand what awaits them.
Tom Nichols/Atlantic:
Putin’s violence may still get worse. But Americans shouldn’t root for a dangerous escalation of hostilities.
In my rage, I want someone somewhere to do something. I have taught military and national-security affairs for more than a quarter century, and I know what will happen when a 40-mile column of men and weapons encircles a city of outgunned defenders. I want all the might of the civilized world—a world of which Putin is no longer a part—to obliterate the invading forces and save the people of Ukraine.
Others share these impulses. In recent days, I’ve heard various proposals for Western intervention, including support for a no-fly zone over Ukraine from former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Philip Breedlove and the Russian dissident Garry Kasparov, among others. Social media is aflame with calls to send in American troops against the invading Russians.
And yet, I still counsel caution and restraint, a position I know many Americans find impossible to understand. Every measure of our outrage is natural, as are the calls for action. But emotions should never dictate policy. As President Joe Biden emphasized in his State of the Union address, we must do all we can to aid the Ukrainian resistance and to fortify NATO, but we cannot become involved in military operations in Ukraine.
AP:
Is stuck convoy in Ukraine a setback for Russia?
Mason Clark, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, says the convoy saga may be emblematic of shortcomings in the Russian army, which is relatively inexperienced in the execution of large-scale operations that combine air, ground and naval forces. But it is unlikely to prevent Russia from prevailing against the outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian defenders.
Remember: Betteridge's law of headlines is an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."
Marcy Wheeler/emptywheel:
“THANKS TO YOUR BULLSHIT WE’RE NOW UNDER SIEGE”
As numerous outlets have reported, a January 6 Committee challenge to John Eastman’s attempt to shroud his communications regarding the attempted coup under a privilege claim laid out three crimes they want the judge to use to consider crime-fraud exceptions to the claims. Two of the crimes they say they’ve got solid evidence Trump committed are the ones I said Trump would be prosecuted for back in August.
AP:
Fire out at key Ukraine nuclear plant, no radiation released
Ukrainian firefighters on Friday extinguished a blaze at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant that was ignited by a Russian attack and no radiation was released, U.N. and Ukrainian officials said, as Russian forces pressed their campaign to cripple the country despite global condemnation.
The head of the United Nations’ atomic agency said that a Russian “projectile” hit a training center at the Zaporizhzhia plant. Ukrainian officials have said Russian troops took control of the overall site, but the plant’s staff are continuing to ensure its operations. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi sad that Russian forces were at the plant, but the Ukrainians were in control.
Ukraine’s state nuclear plant operator Enerhoatom said that three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two wounded in the attack. Grossi said two people were injured in the blaze that broke out.