As the war continues the Russians are employing more barbaric methods every day. The latest? Kidnapping Ukrainian children and holding them hostage in Russia. As the Polish president says, they are acting like the SS.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Russian forces have illegally removed 2,389 Ukrainian children from Donetsk and Luhanks oblasts to Russia. This is not assistance. It is kidnapping.
— U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) March 22, 2022
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Polish President Duda compares Ivan to Fritz: “Today, the Russian army is behaving in exactly the same way — and its leaders like Hitler — as the German SS,” Duda said, according to Poland’s The First News website.
“I deeply believe that the world will be able to bring to account the perpetrators of these crimes in order to discourage other potential leaders and commanders who want to carry out their criminal goals.”
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Mariupol holds out: “Despite heavy fighting, Ukrainian forces continue to repulse Russian attempts to occupy the southern city of Mariupol,” the Brits said in a tweet.
“Russian forces elsewhere in Ukraine have endured yet another day of limited progress with most forces largely stalled in place,” it added.
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FNC: “Russia is the aggressor here,” Pentagon spox John Kirby said. “And I think we have seen here at the Pentagon, we certainly see clear evidence that the Russian military is conducting war crimes. We think it’s important for the investigative process to continue. We’re going to contribute to that.
“But obviously, relations with Russia are not at a premium, nor should they be given the unprovoked and illegal aggression that Russia has put on the people of Ukraine,” he continued.
Kirby said although there is “clear evidence” Putin has committed war crimes, investigations into the matter remain ongoing.
“There will be consequences from that on the international scale,” Kirby warned regarding the conclusions of the probe. “What needs to happen now is this war needs to end. Mr. Putin always had diplomatic options. He didn’t have to do this.”
“We are not exactly clear what their end game is now, it’s just that we just know that the end game they started with 27 days ago they have been frustrated that they have not been able to achieve,” Kirby said.
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Russians get a taste of their own ack ack: The Allies are sending previously supplied Russian anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine to knock Russians out of the sky.
The S-300—called the SA-10 by NATO—is a long-range, advanced air defense system that protects large areas over a wide radius. The SA-8 is a short-range, tactical air defense system made to deploy with ground forces and provide cover from aircraft and helicopters. While the SA-8 has a shorter range, it is highly mobile and potentially easier to hide. The Russians will get a big taste of both.
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Lindsey Graham wants Putin put on warning: “I’m begging NATO to let Putin know what would happen if he used chemical weapons on the poor suffering people of Ukraine,” Graham said. “If he explodes a nuclear weapon in Ukraine to scare us all away, we should say the radiation coming to NATO countries is an attack with NATO itself, and you are picking a fight with NATO.
“We should impose a no-fly zone immediately because that’s breaking all the rules that we have established since World War II,” he said, reiterating that “if Putin explodes a nuclear weapon inside of Ukraine, the radiation will affect most of Europe. We should consider that attack on NATO itself.”
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Congressman Dan Crenshaw, Republican of Texas: “We don’t have to listen to Putin every time he says, ‘Oh, you can’t do something’ – They are increasingly in a state of weakness. The Ukrainian morale is high. We need to get them the weapons they need.
“There are plenty of people willing to fight, but they remain under-armed and without the equipment they need, for the most part,” added Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL.
“He’s losing this war. It’s the only reason he’s at the negotiating table whatsoever. I think Zelenskyy is doing the best job he can in making public statements, for instance, that he won’t give back Donbass – that he won’t give back Crimea,” he said. “Putin is now more and more negotiating from a state of weakness and losing support domestically as well.”
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