Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a "special operation" in Ukraine on Thursday morning, around 05:30 Moscow time. Soon, strong explosions began to resonate in several cities in Ukraine. A powerful explosion was reported near the barracks of a mechanized brigade in Odessa, two powerful explosions - in Kiev. Explosions were also reported in Kramatorsk, Nikolaev and Berdyansk.
Russia's Security Council voted on Monday (February 21st) to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin signed decrees for the independence of the two regions and sent Russian troops to parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. to ensure the maintenance of peace. The West condemned Russia's decision and said it would impose sanctions. Ukraine has called for the immediate convening of the UN Security Council.
A state of siege is introduced in Kiev and the Cherkasy region. In Kiev, it will be introduced from 22:00 to 07:00. During this period, public transport will not operate, but subway stations will be open 24 hours a day as shelters. People need to have documents with them. In the Cherkasy region, the siege will take effect between 22:00 and 6:00. During this time, traffic on the street and in other public places without special permits and certificates will be banned, which will be issued only to the employees of the enterprises, institutions and organizations that direct the activities of the region.
Russian actors, singers, TV presenters and bloggers have sent messages of solidarity in the current war situation caused by the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine. They have called on the Kremlin authorities to stop hostilities in the country. Several Russian celebrities such as Ivan Urgant, Maxim Galkin and Ksenia Sobchak have spoken out on social media against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and called for an end to hostilities. They posted completely black images with the hashtag #NOWAR.
Belarus, a Russian ally that borders Ukraine to the north, allows tens of thousands of Russian soldiers to cross its border into Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian government.
Lukashenko recently said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called him to inform him of his military operation against Ukraine. He said Belarus' own national forces were "not taking part in the operation".
An emergency summit of the European Union will soon take place to decide on new sanctions against Moscow.
Russia, which has started the war against Ukraine, has announced its readiness to begin negotiations with Kiev on Ukraine's neutral status (not to join NATO) and its refusal to introduce nuclear weapons into its territory. The announcement was made by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov.
Asked if Russia is now ready to talk to Ukraine's leadership on the issue, Peskov said, "If Ukraine's leadership is ready to talk about it."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Putin, but he did not answer the phone.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying announced in a press conference that his country will start importing wheat from Russia today, as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping agreed when they met before the Games. Olympic Games since the beginning of the month.
In addition, the Chinese official refused to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine on Thursday, saying instead that "respect for territorial sovereignty" was needed, but also that the US "fuels tensions and only the US can put out the flames." In fact, prior to this statement, the same spokesman stated: "Did the US think about the consequences when they put a country as big as Russia on the wall?"
Journalists in the international press point out that during the 90-minute conference, Chunying avoided answering 11 questions about the situation in Ukraine. In addition, journalists repeatedly insisted and asked if Beijing considered Russia's action an invasion, and the Chinese official finally replied, "Why are you obsessed with this question?"
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference that "peace on our continent has been shaken," and that "Russia is using force to try to rewrite history."
"I convened a virtual summit of NATO leaders tomorrow. This is the new normal for our security: peace cannot be taken for granted. Strategic competition is on the rise. We will deploy additional ground and air defense forces in eastern NATO, as well as naval forces. We have increased the level of training of our forces, in order to be able to face all the scenarios ", it is shown in the communiqué of the North Atlantic Alliance.
A Reddit user posted a screenshot of what is supposed to be - an Amazon’s e-mail template.
And no, nobody hacked it or anything. It came into this world the same way I did. By accident.
Someone at the company sent it out and we don’t know if that person still has their job or not, but let’s appreciate the brilliant text either way. It now has tens of thousands of upvotes. As of this article, the actual number is 76K.
A few funny comments to look at:
- It's basically a writing equivalent to Lorem ipsum... quick brown fox is a pangram which is useful for more than just filler text.
- I said this out loud in my kitchen and the furniture started floating.
- CTA: Call To Action (took me a moment)
- I use short sentences. I use sentences of medium length. I make music. Music.
