Update on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine for March 4th

    

Okay, so I took a brief break from discussing the Ukrainian conflict yesterday, and focused on a recent visit to New York City with my son instead. There was also a comedic short video clip of what felt like a real New York welcome, although it is not one you are apt to see on any tourist brochures or video clips designed to entice you to visit the city.

However, the Ukrainian conflict continues and, in many respects, it is growing more serious by the day. The humanitarian crisis there is, if anything and growing more grave with each passing day. Neighboring countries continue to absorb Ukrainian refugees, with Poland seeming to take in the lion's share of them. 

Russian forces attacked the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. They shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, located in eastern Ukraine. As a result, there was a fire that broke out, but it was successfully put out, but this obviously caused alarm all around the world. Zelensky said that the Russians attacked the planet deliberately, and that they were trying to create a nuclear disaster that would be six times worse than Chernobyl.              

Yeah, attacking a nuclear plant. That’s always a good idea.              

There was some progress in talks between Ukrainians and Russians in Belarus, with Russians agreeing to create humanitarian corridors. So there should be some protection for innocent civilians from the escalating violence in the now war torn country.              

Western nations are now adding still more sanctions against Russia, as well as Belarus, the country that has been aiding Russia with this invasion, allowing Russia to launch some crucial parts of the invasion from it’s territory. Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv is in the northern section of the country, and the ability of Russia’s military to use Belarus as a launching pad for some of the invasion forces allowed them to attack parts of Ukraine from the west, as well as from the north and east, where it borders Russia outright.              

There was more shelling of civilian areas, with obvious, visible, and often extensive damage to residential complexes. There are now several videos showing shelling attacks in residential areas, and the damage that these did, as well as the fear that they generated. Zelensky stated that Russians would be paying for the damage that their invading military force is causing throughout the country.              

In Russia itself, Moscow is tightening it’s control of the media, enforcing even more censorship of coverage of te Ukrainian conflict. Two independent broacasters, TV Rain and Echo of Moscow, are now off the air, and they no longer are available on the internet, either. According to the Russian government, they were spreading what the prosecutor general described as “deliberately false information.” Free speech was attacked in the United States during wartime, and more recently, during the Trump years. So how much of a surprise can it be that this is happening in Russia during a major war.              

Meanwhile China, which had remained largely silent on the subject of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are beginning to grow more vocal in their criticism, largely due to civilian casualties and injuries. Many had viewed China’s reticence to criticize Russia’s Ukraine invasion through a sinister lens, and possibly as proof that they intend to do the same thing to Taiwan in the not so distant future.              

We shall see.              

American Secretary of State Anthony Blinken suggested recently that Russia should perhaps lose it’s permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council, since they attacked another member of the United Nations. This is one thing that I find a little disingenuous, since the United States, also a permanent member, also attacked other United Nations members in the not so distant pass, particularly Iraq, under false premises. In fact, each of the five permanent members are guilty of doing this, and numerous times since the end of World War II, for that matter. Shall we examine these instances, perhaps as grounds to dismiss these famous and powerful nations, as well? Would we perhaps be better without a select group of privileged and powerful nations exerting such an influence over the entire rest of the world?

Russian forces shelling Europe's largest nuclear power station published by Axios, March 4, 2022:  

https://www.axios.com/russians-shelling-ukraine-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-6183147f-e674-4b0d-bbf0-9aa93fef678b.html