Russian invasion continues to accelerate in the southern part of the country as Putin is hoping to complete his land bridge from mainland Russia to Crimea. Only one major town remains, Mariupol, and it continues to hold out after an onslaught of attacks that really might be worse than Kyiv and Kharkiv as these attacks have moved to focus on densely populated apartment buildings. Hundreds of civilians are expected dead but due to the constant attacks, it has been hard for rescue workers to get to the injured and trapped leading to even more death.
Russian Troops Slaughter Civilian Famliy Fleeing Including a Newborn Child
I ran across an article from a paper in the United Kingdom yesterday but did not want to comment on it until I could find additional details that would back it up. Sadly I found the information needed to confirm that such a terrible atrocity had in fact occurred. It occurred in the area of the city of Kherson on the first day of the invasion. The parents of a policeman came to pick up his family while he was working to keep them safe. In two cars the mans parents, mother to his children, and his two children a 6 year old girl and newborn baby boy where traveling to safety when they ran into Russian troops.
The policemans' brother was on the phone with their mother and heard the entire ordeal unfold. After saying there were children in the car and begging them not to the Russian soldier opened fire killing everyone inside. Not only that though after they fired and stopped and a moment was taken the fired upon the innocent family again making sure that they were dead. This was on the first day of the invasion when Russian troops would have know civilians were trying to get out of the city. The age of the grandparents both 56 and children show the truly vicious nature of this attack. While a ton of Russians soldiers have either talked about having no idea what was going on before they were captured some did and things like this show that they do not care. That Putin has most likely not only allowed but may have sanctioned such attacks.
Russia Nuclear Attack
The biggest headline in the last 12 hours or so has been the artillery attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which is the largest nuclear plant in Europe and from what I have been told provides roughly 25% of the power of Ukraine. Now I do not think it is a crazy idea to say under no condition should a nuclear power plant be stuck or even a nuclear disposal area something that has also occurred. While they now control the plant at the time they were shelling so much that a fire broke out that could not even be addressed due to incoming strikes. Since the Russians are equipped with thermal imaging they were able to see what they were hitting but kept going.
This is a modern design though so they are "supposed" to be able to handle a direct strike and if the reactor were to meltdown it wouldn't be the same as Chernobyl due to the physics involved but it would have let out the most radiation ever if it had been broken open. This is wrong on so many levels and since the air travels west to east literally Putin would have been dumping this radiation all over his own country. With the plant under his control, he now has the ability as intel sources tell us to possibly threaten to cut off the power, leak small amounts of traditions, or even just blow the whole thing up.
Today he was supposedly moving towards and already shelling around another facility as well. This is so outrageous and dangerous to not only the people of Ukraine and Europe but to his own people as well! It is nothing short of madness and wanting to be able to threaten nuclear war/fallout without having to use a single nuke.
Oligarchy Asset Seizure
The yachts of the rich and the rest of their finances are all under intense heat. Multiple superyachts have been seized in Europe while others try to flee to the Maldives. A few are left in the Caribbean so it will be interesting to see what those countries decide to do. Panic has also been set off in the high-end real estate market as Russians who haven't been sanctioned yet try to liquidate their holdings and move them out of harm's way. A prime example of this is the owner of Chelsea's football team who also owns a $100 million house on Billionaires Row in London. One thing that will be interesting to watch in the US is if the government goes after Little Moscow in Miami. The individuals that live here are not the richest of the rich but are still buying properties worth 10s of millions of dollars. Could sanctions be levied against high dollar assets sales in the US and Europe possibly? Only time will really tell but these oligarchs have already lost 1/3 of their wealth.
Final Thoughts
While a lot has been done to help the people and military of Ukraine I no longer believe NATO is doing enough. Do I want an all-out war? No. However, the civilians are trapped and some have been since the start. If you lived in the south and east of the Crimean peninsula then you were trapped from the get-go. If you lived anywhere around the second largest city of Kharkiv you were also stuck. When they were striking military targets it was one thing but that consistent striking of civilians and the terrifying reports coming out from the much more populated areas under Russian control is terrifying. At a minimum, the West should be putting the area of Western Ukraine, away from the conflict, under a no-fly and tell the Russians that. They have no need to cross this far over when they still don't have a city 50 miles from their border. This allows people to flee and be safe while doing so. Personally, I am at the point that the whole country should be no-fly forcing Russia and Ukraine to a level playing field and preventing the crazy areal attacks from helicopters and planes. It would also cut off the use of drones which would deal Ukraine a huge blow but the civilian lives are worth it.
More news has also come out about the 40-mile long column and it appears that the Ukrainians are also beginning to impact those sitting targets as well. Is the damage crazy? No, but is it still occurring and still affecting Russia? Yes. In Russia, the Regime is further clamping down on news and information because of how bad it is going. With over 10,000 killed and the way, Ukraine has captured Russians and let them call home has hit Russia right in the jaw. I have been able to confirm that Ukraine will let a soldier free under one condition. Their mother has to pick them up. With most of the captured in major cities, it would force the mother to see what horrendous acts her government and son participated in.
For the first time, we have seen an oligarch or at least a former one as he does not have ties to Russia or Putin anymore offer a bounty for Putin's head where he is dead or alive. The man has gone on record calling for the military to step up and remove him and in return, this man will give the soldiers $1 million which with the collapse of the Ruble is a huge sum. Putin has also continued to try and send his Wagner Group and Chechnian special forces to get the Ukrainian president with three attacks already having been neutralized.
