(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ukraine Invasion Day 363: US sent Russia a 'deconfliction' warning during Biden trip [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-20 "After the all-night trip, the train pulled into Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky station at 8 a.m. local time. The platform had been cleared. On a sunny day with blue skies and a brisk chill in the air, Mr. Biden disembarked, now wearing a blue suit with a tie featuring Ukrainian colors. He was greeted by Bridget A. Brink, the American ambassador." Not exactly Ukrainian Amtrak, it took many hours to get from Poland to Kyiv. The U.S. and Russia have for years maintained "deconfliction" lines to decrease the risk of a confrontation that could quickly spiral into a broader conflict. Russia lost about 16 tank regiments in the war, which significantly affected the ability of the occupiers to break through the Ukrainian defense, The Day of Remembrance of the Cyborgs occurs annually on 16 January. The Kremlin has met Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine with official silence, as analysts and pundits suggested the US leader’s historic trip was an unwelcome twist ahead of a speech by Vladimir Putin and other state events set to mark the anniversary of the full-scale invasion. Biden’s surprise trip to Ukraine has undercut the Kremlin narrative that the west’s support for Ukraine is waning, with promises of another $500m (£415m) in military aid and fresh sanctions set to be imposed before the end of the week. And the visit to wartime Kyiv has also exposed Putin’s own hesitance to visit the front after launching the invasion exactly one year ago, with the Russian president ridiculed for hiding in a “bunker”. Putin is due to give a state of the nation speech to Russia’s Federal Assembly on 21 February. In anticipation, the Kremlin is planning to hold a celebratory concert at the Luzhniki Stadium on the same day, and then to convene extraordinary sessions of the Duma and Federation Council on Wednesday. www.theguardian.com/… The visit produced an indelible image of the two presidents striding to a memorial for fallen soldiers in broad daylight even as an air-raid siren blared, a show of defiance of Moscow quickly beamed around the world. “I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war,” Mr. Biden said during his five hours on the ground in Kyiv before leaving again. He was speaking, in effect, not just to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia but to fellow Americans back home doubting his decision to invest so deeply in Ukraine’s war. “It’s not just about freedom in Ukraine,” he said. “It’s about freedom of democracy at large.” www.nytimes.com/… Mr. Biden arrived about 4 a.m., and the plane took off at 4:15 a.m. for the flight across the Atlantic. Mr. Biden was joined by a handful of aides — Mr. Sullivan; Jen O’Malley Dillon, a deputy chief of staff; and Annie Tomasini, the director of Oval Office operations. The plane touched down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany at 5:13 p.m. local time, where, with its shades down, it was refueled before taking off again at 6:29 p.m. It then made its way to Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in Poland, landing at 7:57 p.m. Mr. Biden was put in a motorcade with roughly 20 cars and driven without sirens for about an hour along a mostly empty highway to the small city of Przemyśl and taken to the train station where many thousands of refugees have arrived from Ukraine over the past year. Arriving at 9:15 p.m., the travelers found few people there and the stalls closed. [...] The train pulled away from the station without ceremony at 9:37 p.m. and crossed the border into Ukraine around 10 p.m. The White House was so intent on keeping the secret that it lied to reporters back in Washington. About four hours after Mr. Biden crossed the border into Ukraine, his office back in Washington issued a public schedule falsely stating that the president was still in the nation’s capital and not planning to leave for Europe until Monday evening. www.nytimes.com/... The very success of the Biden visit in underlining the US’s commitment to Ukrainian resistance could end up accelerating the drift of the Republicans towards anti-Ukrainian positions, now the preserve of a pro-Trump minority on the far right of the party, as the leadership looks for attack lines against Biden. In his Fox interview, DeSantis downplayed the Russian threat. “I think it’s important to point out, the fear of Russia going into Nato countries and all that, and steamrolling, that has not even come close to happening,” he said, sketching out what may become the Republican line in 2024. The conventional wisdom, reinforced by decades of polling, is that foreign policy does not tend to sway presidential elections. What Kennedy and Reagan’s famous Berlin speeches would have done for them electorally is unknown. Kennedy was killed before he could stand for a second term, and Reagan had already been re-elected and was in his penultimate year in office. For Biden, the jury is out. The train ride to Kyiv will go down in history, but making history does not necessarily win elections. www.theguardian.com/... Joe Biden has visited Kyiv, defying threats of Russian missile attacks, as Ukraine prepares to mark the sombre anniversary of last year’s full-scale Russian invasion. The US president, closely surrounded by a large security detail, was escorted by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on a walkabout around central Kyiv as air sirens could be heard. Biden announced a new package of additional US weapons supplies to Ukraine worth $500m (£415m) including artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars. The timing of his visit to Kyiv – before a planned address by Vladimir Putin – was seen as a deliberate rebuke of the Russian president. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he and Biden spoke about “long-range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine , even though it wasn’t supplied before”. But he did not detail any new commitments. Biden’s visit to Kyiv came as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels. The 27-nation bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the EU needs to ensure that Ukraine has enough ammunition to continue its fight against the Russian invasion. “It is the most urgent issue. If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger. The Russian artillery shoots about 50,000 shots a day, and Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have cannons but they lack ammunition.” Fighting continues in the east of Ukraine and Russia regularly carries out missile attacks beyond the frontlines. Russian troops reportedly shelled the Kharkiv region three times on Monday morning: two people were injured, a woman may be under the rubble of a private residential building. Russia probably lacks the reserves to dramatically increase the scale or intensity of its offensive in Luhansk this winter, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its latest intelligence update. The US thinktank added that Russian forces likely secured small gains in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut and in its eastern outskirts. Russia will claim that Bakhmut has been captured to align with the anniversary, regardless of the reality on the ground , the UK Ministry of Defence has claimed. Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near, the latest British intelligence report says. The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has acknowledged a “major problem” with ammunition supplies for his fighters , accusing Russian officials of deliberately denying his fighters sufficient ammunition. In an emotional seven-minute-long audio message published on his official Telegram channel, he said he was required to “apologise and obey” to someone “high up” who he has a “difficult relationship with” in order to secure ammunition. Belarus’s authoritarian president has said the ex-Soviet nation will form a new territorial defence force amid the fighting in neighbouring Ukraine. Alexander Lukashenko has cultivated close military ties with Russia, which used Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine nearly a year ago at the start of what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation”, the Associated Press reported. Japan will pledge a new £4.6bn financial aid package for Ukraine, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has announced. Kishida, speaking at a global forum in Tokyo, also said he would mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by hosting an online Group of Seven (G7) summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy has warned that there will be a “world war” if China decides to support Russia in its war on Ukraine. Speaking ahead of a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today, Zelenskiy said Kyiv would like Beijing “to be on our side” in an interview with Die Welt. “If China allies itself with Russia, there will be a world war, and I do think that China is aware of that,” he said. www.theguardian.com/… Key Takeaways US President Joe Biden visited Kyiv on February 20 ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine signaling continued US commitment to supporting Ukraine in its efforts to liberate its territory. Ukrainian officials continue to respond to statements made by unspecified US defense officials on the pace and prospects of the war as it approaches the one-year mark. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced the formal integration of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’ (DNR/LNR) militias into the Russian Armed Forces on February 19 in response to growing criticism about reported command changes within the proxy units. The decision to reorganize the DNR and LNR militias amidst an ongoing offensive likely indicates that the Russian MoD does not understand the scale of the challenges of integrating irregular forces into a professional military during intensive combat operations. The restructuring of proxy militias suggests that the Russian military command is trying to achieve all its desired reforms while the Russian MoD has the favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian military command has likely cut off Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin’s independent access to artillery shells and heavy weaponry as part of the effort to professionalize the Russian conventional forces. Prigozhin may have misrepresented the devastating impact of the lack of artillery ammunition on Wagner to mask his true frustrations with Wagner’s inability to have and operate its own artillery systems. Chechen Republic head Kadyrov likely attempted to assuage Prigozhin’s possible anger at Kadyrov’s likely refusal to join Prigozhin’s informational campaign against the Russian MoD. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the US government is concerned about China’s possible consideration of sending lethal aid to Russia. The Russian MoD likely responded to a call for the Russian military to systematically target electrical infrastructure supporting Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs) by setting possible informational conditions for strikes aimed at forcing emergency shutdowns at these NPPs. Russian forces continued ground assaults along the Svatove-Kreminna line. Russian forces continued offensive operations around Bakhmut as well as in the Avdiivka-Donetsk City area and western Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces continue to militarize the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces may be struggling to repair air defense systems deployed in Ukraine. Russian occupation authorities are using an "anti-terrorist" commission to justify seizing and nationalizing assets in occupied Crimea for economic and military benefit. www.understandingwar.org/... x ⚡️ WAR IN #UKRAINE - FEB 20 Changed ratios due to data cleanup, loss update expected tomorrow Data from my 🇨🇿 friend @Rebel44CZ VISUALLY CONFIRMED: 3.12x losses to date ⬆ 2.70x since 🇺🇦 counteroffensive (Aug 29) ⬆ 3.49x 30-day average ⬆ 📈 https://t.co/A5H3xvXuhH pic.twitter.com/oqfc1c2wpp — Ragnar Gudmundsson 🇮🇸🇺🇦 ragnarbjartur@masto.ai (@ragnarbjartur) February 20, 2023 x Feb. 24, 2022, was supposed to bring the existence of a 40-million European nation to an end. “One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands,” Biden said in Kyiv. How did this happen? https://t.co/wQcc0s2iAD — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 20, 2023 Russian Subordinate Main Effort #2—Donetsk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas) Russian forces continued ground attacks around Bakhmut and made incremental tactical gains between February 19 and 20. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks near Bakhmut itself; north of Bakhmut near Vasyukivka (10km north), Dubovo-Vasylivka (8km north) Berkhivka (6km north); northeast of Bakhmut near Vyimka (22km northeast) and Fedorivka (15km northeast); and west of Bakhmut near Ivanviske (5km west) and Chasiv Yar (10km west).[39] Geolocated footage posted on February 19 shows Russian forces removing a Ukrainian flag from a building in Paraskoviivka (5km north of Bakhmut), confirming Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin’s February 17 claim that Wagner captured the settlement.[40] The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) issued a statement on February 20 that "volunteers of assault detachments," paratroopers, and Southern Military District (SMD) units took Paraskoviivka, continuing the Russian MoD’s efforts to undermine Wagner’s role in securing gains around Bakhmut by calling the group "volunteers of assault detachments."[41] Additional geolocated footage posted on February 19 shows marginal Russian advances on the eastern and northeastern outskirts of Bakhmut.[42] Russian sources claimed that following the capture of Paraskoviivka, Wagner forces are attacking toward Berkhivka and Yahidne (on the northwestern outskirts of Bakhmut) in order to encircle the northern tip of Bakhmut.[43] Russian milbloggers additionally reported that Russian troops are advancing along certain streets in eastern and southwestern Bakhmut and trying to regain lost positions on the Chasiv Yar-Ivanivske line near the T0504 Kostyantynivka-Chasiv Yar-Bakhmut highway following a Ukrainian counterattack in the area.[44] www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... https://t.co/5VfE8f55Lg Russian Subordinate Main Effort #1-Luhansk Oblast ( Russian objective: Capture the remainder of Luhansk Oblast and continue offensive operations into eastern Kharkiv Oblast and northern Donetsk Oblast) Former Russian officer and prominent milblogger Igor Girkin claimed on February 19 that Russian forces crossed the border into Kharkiv Oblast from Russia (Russian troops already occupy part of Kharkiv from Luhansk Oblast) and occupied one or two unspecified border settlements.[27] Girkin claimed that skirmishes between Ukrainian and Russian forces along the border of Sumy Oblast intensified.[28] ISW has no independent confirmation that Russian forces have crossed the border into Kharkiv Oblast and seized settlements but has previously assessed that the threat of cross-border raids from Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk oblasts into northern and northeastern Ukraine is likely an attempt to force Ukraine to deploy limited elements to these areas to protect against such attacks, thus dispersing Ukrainian troops as Russian forces continue offensive operations elsewhere in the theater.[29] The Russian military does not have the combat power necessary to launch a new major assault from Ukraine’s northern borders at this time. www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... Supporting Effort—Southern Axis (Russian objective: Maintain frontline positions and secure rear areas against Ukrainian strikes) Russian sources reportedly conducted a limited ground attack in Zaporizhia Oblast on February 19. A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces conducted a localized offensive near Novodanylivka, Zaporizhia Oblast.[54] Ukrainian Mariupol Mayoral advisor Petro Andryushchenko stated on February 20 that Russian forces are concentrating forces near Orikhiv and will likely deploy roughly 15 Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs) worth of personnel to the area by February 24.[55] Andryushchenko claimed that Russian forces are concentrating these forces in preparation for offensives from the direction of Robatyne (14km south of Orikhiv), Pyatikhatky (25km southwest of Orikhiv), and Novopokrivka (15km southeast of Orikhiv).[56] ISW has not observed Russian forces recently concentrating forces in the Orikhiv area. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces continue to militarize the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Ukrainian state nuclear energy agency Energoatom reported on February 20 that Russian forces deployed more than 600 mobilized personnel and cadets to the ZNPP and are continuing to build fortifications and military facilities around the ZNPP’s dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility.[57] Energoatom also reported that Russian forces have stationed a machine-gun position on the roof of the fifth power unit at the ZNPP.[58] Russian forces may be increasing efforts to militarize the ZNPP to increase pressure on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in negations concerning the creation of a safety zone around the ZNPP, likely hoping to prompt the IAEA to concede on formally recognizing Russia’s control of the plant. www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... Mykola Avokadov would never do that. He just eats Russians! They call him the Hamburglar of Kherson for the amount of soldiers he's eaten in combat. The war with Ukraine will be over unless the EU finds a way in weeks to speed up the provision of ammunition to Ukraine, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, warned on the final day of the Munich security conference. He said a special meeting of EU defence ministers slated for 8-9 March will provide a chance for countries to offer ammunition from their existing stocks, adding it is taking up to 10 months for European armies to order and receive a single bullet. “We are in urgent war mode,” he said. “This shortage of ammunition has to be solved quickly; it is a matter of weeks.” He said if it was not the war would be over. www.theguardian.com/... x “Russia will not become a democracy until it falls apart,” writes Oksana Zabuzhko. “That’s because Russia is not really a nation-state but the same premodern multiethnic empire living on geographic expansion and resource looting as 300 years ago.” https://t.co/k6vDKRABJC — New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) February 21, 2023 x Environmental damages, losses and needs for recovery should be part of all peace-building calculation. Nature remains one of the very innocent victims of all wars. Here: #Ukraine wants to make #Russia pay for #environmental toll of #war; https://t.co/AtBWLm7lon — Haris Sherzad (@HarisSherzad) February 20, 2023 x The pandemic and war in Ukraine highlighted weaknesses in commodity markets where a 'significant' concentration of firms, banks, exchanges and clearing houses threatens to transmit losses to the wider economy, the G20's financial watchdog said on Monday. https://t.co/KZWUhe0NI2 — Qudach (@qudach) February 20, 2023 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/20/2154096/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-363-US-sent-Russia-a-deconfliction-warning-during-Biden-trip Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/