A thread explaining the military, humanitarian, and diplomatic situation of #Mariupοl after around 10 days of siege of the city.
1/11
In the humanitarian scene, electricity has been cut off from the city since the beginning of the siege as a result of the Russian army’s targeting of power supply stations, causing the heating stopping in a cold winter weather with temperatures of -10 in the evening.
2/11
We are talking about more than 300,000 people who did not leave the city with the interruption of the food supply. This pushed the population towards consuming canned food, which is also starting to run out, with very limited sources of drinking water.
3/11
According to local sources, the number of civilians killed exceeded 1,000. The number of casualties was high as a result of snipping & the unstoppable indiscriminate bombardment of the city, with a lack of medical supplies and closure of most hospitals.
4/11
There are cases of sick people with chronic diseases who are in dire need of health care, people infected with the Covid-19 virus who need oxygen, but there is little availability while most of the population lives underground.
5/11 #Ukraine#USA#NATO#EU#UK#Russia
On the military front, the Russian army, despite the insane bombing of the city, tried to storm it only twice, and was met with resistance from the Ukrainian army and the National Resistance. Until this moment it has not been able to enter any of the city's neighbourhoods.
6/11
The reasons of the siege on the city are the following: The Russian army, through this difficult humanitarian scene, wants to push the Ukrainian army to protect the population there by surrendering and handing over the city without resistance.
7/11
Nor does Moscow want to allow civilians in a city to go to the areas of the Ukrainian government so that they do not join the National Resistance and return to fight them again.
8/11
On the diplomatic scene, Ukrainian officials, headed by the foreign minister, are still trying to pressure #Russia internationally to open a safe crossing to the city, or at least deliver urgent aid, but today #Lavrov answered that the decision is not in his hands.
9/11
Yes, the decision is not in Lavrov's, nor Shoigu's hands. The decision on all the war crimes that are taking place in Ukraine & before that in Syria are in Putin's hands. He decided the invasion of Ukraine & the killing of its people. He is the one who should pay the price.
10/11
I call on all political forces in the world to press for the evacuation of civilians from #Mariupol, so that we do not witness scenes that we have experienced in the past in #Syria. Human lives cannot be used as a bargaining chip to meet the demands of an arrogant human being.
11
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Thread : 🧵
Today, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu announced that there are more than 16,000 volunteers ready to support and fight in #Lugansk and #Donetsk if #Russia requests it.
1/11 #Ukraine#USA#NATO#EU#UK#Biden
This announcement was not surprising to me or to those familiar with the scene in #Syria in particular and the Middle East in general. In my opinion, #Moscow is able to mobilize more than double that number and has already started accepting recruitment requests.
2/11
There are two types of militias in the Middle East, one part carrying a religious ideology (like #Hezbollah), and another part in the form of security companies, among which the fighters volunteered for economic reasons (25th Brigade in #Syria).
3/11
Thread🧵:
As I predicted two days ago, the Russian invasion of #Ukraine would directly affect the course of the negotiations in #Vienna on #Iran's nuclear program, which was declared frozen today. 1/6 To understand why, you can read the thread:👇
Signing the agreement would have meant a stab in the back for #Russia by opening the way for Iranian oil and gas to be pumped into the global market, which would turn the most dangerous Russian weapon against the West less severe. 2/6 #Iran#USA#EU#UK#NATO
A rejection of the agreement would create to the West anger and disappointment with all the economic and security concessions made by #France, #Germany and the #US, which in one way or another caused tension in western relations with #SaudiArabia and the #UAE. 3/6
Thread :🧵
Yesterday, the Polish government announced its agreement to relinquish a number of MiG-29s "immediately and free of charge" to the United States and transfer them in to the Ramstein base in #Germany.
1/11 #Ukraine#Russia#USA#NATO#Poland#EU#UK
This step was met with fear and anxiety by the #Pentagon in #Washington under the pretext that it does not want the #US or any of the #NATO countries to have a direct role in the ongoing war in #Ukraine.
2/11
At the outset, it must be emphasized that the launch of any warplane from any of the #NATO bases in the vicinity of Ukraine and its entry into the Ukrainian airspace will be considered by Moscow as a direct participation in the war, and thus a broader clash and a global war.
3/11
A number of TV channels and websites close to #Iran published a statement attributed to the so-called "Syria's Allies Operations Room" confirming that the #IDF targeted two of their sites in the vicinity of the Syrian city of #Palmyra.1/6 #Syria#Israel#IRGC#USA#Russia
The statement indicated that the attack was carried out from over the Al-Tanf area and confirmed the deaths and injuries among the fighters of these militias. It also explicitly referred to an American role in this attack, and vowed to respond "very strong".2/6
This is not the first time that the so-called "Syria's Allies Operations Room" makes a statement. It has issued a number of previous statements, including the attacks of the #IDF on #Syria, and the battles of the city of #Aleppo against the Syrian rebels.3/6
Based on the complications and the Turkish officials high tone statements, the main question will be what are #Turkey's options in responding to what happened in southern Mari'? 1/6 #Russia#USA#Syria#Biden#Erdogan#Putin#Iran
The first option, #Turkey may move towards exploiting what happened to carry out a media attack on the #YPG militia preparing for a military operation in another area less sensitive to #Russia (Ein al-Arab - Kobane city for example).2/6
This operation more likely will be coordinated with #Moscow in order to push the Kurdish militias in eastern #Syria to get closer to the #Assad regime and #Russia, as they are able to protect them from #Turkey.3/6
#Turkey
A Turkish convoy near the city of Mari', north of #Syria, was attacked by two anti-armour missiles from the Tal Rifat area, which led to the destruction of two cars, the death of two Turkish policemen, and injuring a number of others.1/7 #Russia#USA#YPG#SDF#Erdogan
The Turkish Interior Ministry confirmed that the Kurdish #YPG militia was behind this attack, as it controls the Tal Rifat area, while a number of Turkish officials confirmed that #Turkey will not remain silent this time.2/7 reuters.com/world/middle-e…
At the outset, some important points should be highlighted to understand what happened and can take place in light of this tension as the information that confirms #Ankara's intention to start a new military operation in #Syria.3/7 #USA#Russia#Turkey