Ukrainian and Belarusian flags being waved side-by-side as thousands rally to reject the #Kremlin's imperial ambitions in #Belarus and #Ukraine.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: Russian Mil Mi-28 helicopters flying over #Belgorod (π·πΊ), several several dozen km from the Ukrainian border.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: as Russian Buk missile systems moved into position close to the Ukrainian border, several airline insurers decide to no longer cover flight over the country, airlines like KLM cancel all flights.
In 2014 #MH17 was shot down by a Russian Buk, similar to this one.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: a American V-22 Osprey has been deployed to Rzeszow in eastern #Poland π΅π±, as the #US is deploying additional forces to eastern European #NATO countries.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: Russian T-80U tanks rolling through the city of #Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: after the #US has informed @ZelenskyyUa the #Kremlin might invade this Wednesday (16/02), the president has announced that day to be a day of national unity.
He calls on Ukrainians to raise the Ukrainian flag that day and join together to sing the national anthem.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: the Ukrainian armed forces uploaded a new video wishing everyone a happy #ValentinesDay.
And while they were at it, they also fired some javelin missiles.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: this footage reportedly shows Russian tanks being moved back off the line again.
Oi the #Kremlin was indeed planning to invade tomorrow, then the element of surprise was gone & it would make sense to hold off for the moment. Doesn't mean the invasion is off entirely
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: today the #Duma voted to approve an appeal to president #Putin, requesting him to recognize the separatist entities in #Donetsk and #Luhansk known as the #DNR & #LNR.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: meanwhile the buses have arrived to evacuate civilians from the separatist entities to #Russia.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: children are obviously panicking as the sound of the air sirens spread throughout the city.
The separatists authorities have closed down all schools.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: traffic at a border crossing between the #DNR and #Russia as civilians are not waiting for the buses to be evacuated. Thousands are leaving at their own initiative.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: children of this orphanage are among the first to be put on the bus out of #Donetsk into #Russia.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: orphans in #Donetsk are being put on the bus.
Please please please let them arrive safely in Russia without any incidents along the way.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: the Commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces calls on people living in the separatist entities of the #Donbass to no believe the lies of the separatist authorities, stating they are being used to escalate the situation
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: a car exploded on the parking lot of a government building in #Donetsk.
No words on casualties.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: footage of the remains of the car that exploded just outside of a government administration building in #Donetsk.
Note that the pro-russian reporters are conveniently fast to arrive at tge scene and call the incident a "terror attack"
I am no car expert but the exploded vehicle appears to be a (military?) jeep of some sorts.
Explosion was clearly small if the front of the vehicle is still largely intact.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: civilians leaving #Donetsk on the separatist-organised buses.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: explosions and the sound artillery fire can be recorded in the distance in #Luhansk tonight.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: a Ukrainian truck was destroyed earlier today by (pro-) Russian shelling along the frontline in #Luhansk
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: Dennis Pushilin has officially requested #Putin to recognize the separatist entity in #Donetsk, a request he made live on Russian state-TV
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: while the #Kremlin talks heavy clahses are ongoing in Schastya, on the Ukrainian side of the frontline in #Luhansk.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: the Belarusian government-in-exile has called on the #Kremlin to withdraw its forces from #Belarus, and condemns the involvement of Belarusian territory in an invasion of Ukraine.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: the Ukrainian government has announced the deaths of two servicemen along the line of contact in #Donbass over the night.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: heavy smoke rises over Schastya (#Luhansk) after the local power station got hit by (pro-) Russian shelling.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: sounds of shelling can be heard in Schastya (#Luhansk). Black smoke can be seen from far away.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦ BREAKING: #Putin just clearly stated on TV that the #Kremlin recognizes separatist sovereignty over the entirety of the #Donetsk and #Luhansk oblasts, making further aggression towards Ukrainian-held #Donbass basically inevitable.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: as #Putin declares he recognizes the separatists' claim over the entire #Donbass, people in #Mariupol rally to reject the notion of separatist rule over their city.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: CCTV footage of (pro-) Russian rockets hitting the village of Schastya, in Ukrainian-held #Luhansk territory.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: large protest in the #Donetsk city of #Kramatorsk tonight against the #Kremlin's invasion and separatist-rule over the region.
People sing the national anthem as they wave Ukrainian flag.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: photos ans videos have surfaced reportedly showing separatists in #Donetsk picking men of the streets to take them to recruiting centers.
Separatist authorities have called on all men to report for duty.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦ BREAKING: the separatist entities in #Donetsk and #Luhansk have officially requested the #Kremlin for military support in pushing the Ukrainian armed forces out of #Donbass.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: in his latest address president @ZelenskyyUa appeals to Russian society, calling on the Russian people to do whatever they can to prevent war, one which seems to become more imminent by the hour.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: Russian authorities have closed the airspace over the πΊπ¦/π·πΊ border tonight.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: sounds of distant but intense shelling in #Donetsk tonight.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: sounds of shelling can be heard on the eastern side of #Mariupol.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: another video of shelling this very moment in #Mariupol. It sounds less intense but still very constant
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: latest footage from the front in #Donbass. Sounds of intensified shelling can be heard in the village of Talakivka, east of #Mariupol.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: #Putin is giving an emergency speech this very moment.
Not a single international outlet is broadcasting it, not even RT English
BREAKING: #Putin announces that he calls a "special military operation" in #Ukraine πΊπ¦.
The invasion is a fact.
#UKRAINE πΊπ¦ BREAKING: EXPLOSIONS CAN BE HEARD IN #KYIV.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: long lines at the gas stations just outside of #Kyiv.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: CNN reports explosions are closing in on the city center of #Kyiv
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: long traffic lines in #Kharkiv as well, as ambulances speed into the opposite direction
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: footage from an hour ago shows the intensity of Russian shelling on #Kharkiv.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: Russian missiles are flying over the heads of innocent Ukrainian civilians.
Welcome to 2022
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: Ukrainian fighter jets defending the city of #Dnipro
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: multiple plumes of smoke visible over the town of Chuguev, east of #Kharkiv.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦ BREAKING: air raid sirens going off in #Kyiv
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: air sirens going off over the Ukrainian capital of #Kyiv
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: the Chuguev airbase near #Kharkiv has clearly been targeted, large fires are visible on the compound.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦ BREAKING: CNN reports Belarusian regime forces have participated in Russian attacks on Ukrainian border posts.
Stock photo.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: the international airport in #Kherson is on fire.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: missile debris stuck in a pavement in #Kyiv.
*Kharkiv
#UKRAINE πΊπ¦: CNN BROADCASTS LIVESTREAM OF RUSSIAN/BELARUSIAN INVASION FORCES MOVING ACROSS THE BORDER INTO UKRAINE
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: massive explosion in #Lutsk (#Volyn region), westernmost reported strike, only ~80 km from the border with #NATO-member #Poland π΅π±
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: troop movements in occupied #Crimea, towards the frontline with the Ukrainian military.
#Ukraine πΊπ¦: air sirens going off in #Lviv as well
I've just come back from #Venezuela π»πͺ where I spent 2.5 weeks, witnessing the run-up to the presidential vote, and what was arguably the most outrageous election steal in the modern history of Latin America.
I'll share some thoughts below π§΅
First off before going into the political situation I just wanted to stress how great it was to be reminded how easy it is to fall in love with Caracas, and how amazing the Venezuelan people are.
Someone I'd met briefly 7 years ago, would greet me again as if we were family.
I was never big about celebrating my birthday, so I figured I'll just arrive in Venezuela that day, do some work and let the day pass quietly, no big deal.
Well that wouldn't fly when I told my Venezuelan friends there. They insisted on celebrating, and even brought friends.
I just came back a trip around the resistance territories of southern Karenni state (Myanmar).
During my time I went to the frontlines, visited IDP camps in the jungles, stayed the night at an abandoned junta base, met resistance fighters, refugees and community leaders.
π§΅:
Karenni state (also known as Kayah state) as around the size of Qatar, which makes it the smallest of Myanmar's different states and regions.
Yet because of its proximity to the capital Naypyidaw (120 km) it is still a very strategic region.
After three years of anti-coup resistance and armed struggle around 90% of Karenni is under resistance control.
Karenni is divided into 7 townships: Loikaw (capital), Demoso, Hpruso, Bawlakhe, Hpasawng, Shadaw, Mese.
Seriously watch the original IDF video (re-uploaded minutes ago). At 1:48 the IDF spokesman literally said they found a single gun "just minutes ago", same room as where @TreyYingst walks through in his report. Yet Trey's report shows two extra guns placed in the exact spot
Although it doesn't disprove that the guns are from Hamas or that there are any guns in the hospital. It is a very clear sign that the IDF is moving guns around the hospital and places them in suspicious locations.
This puts everything they show about the hospital into question.
#Palestine π΅πΈ BREAKING: AJE reports that Israeli forces have informed the staff of al-Shifa that they will storm the #Gaza hospital tonight.
#Palestine π΅πΈ: multiple reports now that Israeli forces are INSIDE al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza city and are "carrying out operations" within the facility.
#Palestine π΅πΈ: the #IDF has released footage of their troops supposedly dropping off medical supplies at al-Shifa hospital.
But everything that's important is missing here. Where are the patients? Where are they alleged #Hamas tunnels?
The dry season is starting in #Myanmar π²π². The drier weather and more accessible roads will mean an intensification of fighting between the junta and resistance across the country.
#Myanmar π²π²: junta warplanes have repeatedly targeted the village of Nyaung Kone in the Mogok Township (#Mandalay region) as fighting between junta forces and #TNLA & #PDF resistance groups is ongoing in the region.
#Myanmar π²π²: junta forces clashed with local #PDF resistance in the Tabayin Township of #Sagaing region, after the soldiers ventured out into the countryside and tried to enter a resistance-controlled village.