Russian invasion of Ukraine

"The existing crisis with Russia has origins that go far beyond Putin. Russia has a foreign and security blob, just as does the United States, with a set of semi-permanent beliefs about Russian vital interests rooted in national history and culture, which are shared by large parts of the population. These include the exclusion of hostile military alliances from Russia’s neighborhood and the protection of the political position and cultural rights of Russian minorities. In the case of Ukraine, NATO membership for that country implied the expulsion of Russia from the naval base of Sevastopol in Crimea (a city of immense importance to Russia, both strategic and emotional), and the creation of a hard international frontier between Russia and the Russian and Russian-speaking minorities in Ukraine, making up more than a third of the Ukrainian population."

"These Russian policies have been linked to a specific set of post-Soviet issues and Russian regional goals. They are not part of some grand malign design to destroy international order, or to act as a willful “disruptor.” Insofar as Russia has set out deliberately to damage Western interests...it has been as a way to put pressure on the West in pursuit of those goals. It may also be pointed out that in the Middle East, it is the U.S. that has frequently acted as a disruptor as with the invasion of Iraq, the destruction of the Libyan state, and Trump’s decision to abandon the nuclear agreement with Iran, while Russia has often defended the status quo—partly due to a fear of Islamist terrorism that it shares with the U.S. In other words, while the terms of any compromise with Russia over Ukraine would involve some tough negotiation, we can seek such a compromise without fearing that this will open the way for further Russian moves to destroy NATO and subjugate eastern Europe—a ridiculous idea for anyone who knows either the goals of the Russian establishment or the character of Poles and Estonians."

"President Joe Biden cast a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine in stark historical terms Tuesday, saying, “it would be the largest invasion since World War II... It would change the world,” said Biden, if the tens of thousands of Russian troops who have been amassing on the Russian-Ukrainian border were to launch an incursion into Ukrainian territory. Biden’s remarks reflect a growing consensus among experts that any conflict in Ukraine is unlikely to be confined to a small area or a short window of time, and that its effects will ripple through Europe and beyond."

"The Ukraine crisis is the classic case of a known unknown: We know that we don't know what Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to do as he amasses troops on the Ukrainian border. So how imminent is the threat of a full-scale war? Some fears appear to have receded slightly following key talks that included Russian and Ukrainian officials. But the Pentagon also says the Russian troop buildup continues, and President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on a call Thursday that there was a distinct possibility Russia could launch an invasion in February."

"Imagine if a powerful Russian-led military alliance were asserting the right to be joined by its ally Mexico—and in the meantime was shipping big batches of weapons to that country—can you imagine the response from Washington? Hidden in plain sight, the extreme hypocrisy of the U.S. position on NATO and Ukraine cries out for journalistic coverage and open debate in the USA’s major media outlets. But those outlets, with rare exceptions, have gone into virtually Orwellian mode, only allowing elaboration on the theme of America good, Russia bad."

"It is always said that the Russian troops are nearer to the border to Ukraine. They are 350 kilometers far away from the border to Ukraine. But the NATO troops, including German troops, including U.S., Canada and British troops, they are 150 kilometers far away from St. Petersburg, a historical city of Russia. Who is in aggression to whom, when you are looking to these faces? And again, NATO is spending $1.1 trillion for military purposes. Russia is spending $65 billion for military purposes. Can you imagine that the country whose military budget is one-fourteenth of the budget of the other will be the aggressor? These are stupid stories which only show that the aggression comes from the NATO."

"The founding myth of 2014 and the war in eastern Ukraine – that Russian-speaking Ukrainians would gladly join Russia – did not result in a pro-Russia groundswell of opinion across the country. While this was realised in Crimea and parts of Donbas, Russophone cities such as Kharkiv and Odesa remain Ukrainian. “This was a huge miscalculation and disappointment for the authors of the attempted Russian takeover of eastern Ukraine,” Plokhy said."

"The Kremlin’s dismembering of Ukraine in 2014 de facto removed millions of the most pro-Russian voters from Ukraine’s electoral rolls. It also turned the tens of millions still living under Kyiv’s authority decisively against Russia. The share of Ukrainians holding a favourable view of Russia sank from 84 per cent in 2010 to a mere third in 2019, according to polling by the Pew Research Center. Part of the fall, but not the whole of it, can be explained by the exclusion of those living in territories now controlled by Russia or its proxies."

"Do you realize that if Ukraine joins NATO and decides to take Crimea back through military means, the European countries will automatically get drawn into a military conflict with Russia? Of course, NATO’s united potential and that of Russia are incomparable. We understand that, but we also understand that Russia is one of the world’s leading nuclear powers, and is superior to many of those countries in terms of the number of modern nuclear force components. But there will be no winners, and you will find yourself drawn into this conflict against your will. You will be fulfilling Paragraph 5 of the Treaty of Rome in a heartbeat, even before you know it."

"Hysteria has reached its peak. [rejecting claims that Russian troops massed near Ukraine might attack]"

"President Joe Biden told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said Saturday. It offered no suggestion that the hourlong call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe. Biden also said the United States and its allies would respond “decisively and impose swift and severe costs” if the Kremlin attacked its neighbor, according to the White House...Russia denies it intends to invade but has massed well over 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and has sent troops to exercises in neighboring Belarus, encircling Ukraine on three sides."

"The problems with Russia are not just NATO expansion. There were also a process that began with the second Bush administration of withdrawing from all of the arms control — almost all of the arms control agreements that we had concluded with the Soviet Union, the very agreements that had brought the first Cold War to an end.... In effect, what the United States did after the end of the Cold War was they reversed the diplomacy that we had used to end the Cold War, and started sort of doing anything, everything the opposite way. We started, in effect, trying to control other countries, to bring them into what we called the “new world order,” but it was not very orderly. And we also sort of asserted the right to use military whenever we wished. We bombed Serbia in the ’90s without the approval of the U.N. Later, we invaded Iraq, citing false evidence and without any U.N. approval and against the advice not only of Russia but of Germany and France, our allies. So, the United States — I could name a number of others — itself was not careful in abiding by the international laws that we had supported.... To get into another insane arms race, when we have so many other common problems we need to deal with, I think, is extraordinarily unwise."

"Today, across the border of every single African country, live our countrymen with whom we share deep historical, cultural and linguistic bonds. At independence, had we chosen to pursue states on the basis of ethnic, racial or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars these many decades later. We believe that all states formed from empires that have collapsed or retreated have many peoples in them yearning for integration with peoples in neighboring states. This is normal and understandable. After all, who does not want to be joined to their brethren and to make common purpose with them? However, Kenya rejects such a yearning from being pursued by force. Kenya registers its strong concern and opposition to the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states...Let me conclude, Mr. President, by reaffirming Kenya's respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.""

"Russian troops are on sovereign Russian territory...There is no invasion. There is no such plans"

"President Biden announced new economic sanctions targeting two key Russian financial institutions and five Russian oligarchs on Tuesday in response to the Kremlin's escalating aggression against Ukraine, penalties that join measures from Western allies that seek to punish Russia for its latest actions. "This is the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine," Mr. Biden said at the White House. "So I'm going to begin to impose sanctions in response, far beyond the steps we implemented in 2014.""

"The Associated Press reported the U.S. could eventually move to kick Russia out of the SWIFT system, a network used by banks and financial institutions to process transactions around the world. U.S. officials have been reluctant to take that step, with deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh recently citing "spillover effects" that made kicking Russia out of SWIFT unlikely, at least initially. "We always will monitor these options, and we'll revise our judgments as time goes on," Singh told reporters last Friday."

"People’s republics of Donbass approached Russia with a request for help. In connection therewith, ... I made the decision to hold a special military operation. Its goal is to protect the people that are subjected to abuse, genocide from the Kiev regime for eight years, and to this end we will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine and put to justice those that committed numerous bloody crimes against peaceful people, including Russian nationals."

"Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences... that will impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time... The threat of the sanctions ... imposing the sanctions and seeing the effect of the sanctions are two different things. He's going to begin to see the effect of the sanctions. It's going to take time... We have to show resolve so he knows what is coming. And so the people of Russia know what he's brought on them. That's what this is all about.... Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict... Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine but defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east... Putin's actions betray a sinister vision for the future of our world, one where nations take what they want by force...[the Russian president's actions would] end up costing Russia dearly, economically and strategically. ...I know this is hard and that Americans are already hurting... I'll do everything in my power to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump...[President Putin] has much larger ambitions than Ukraine. He wants to, in fact, reestablish the former Soviet Union. That's what this is about. I think that his ambitions are completely contrary to the place where the rest of the world has arrived."

"Former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine violates international law and "threatens security" in Europe and around the globe, joining the other living former Presidents in condemning the Kremlin's attack on its neighbor. "Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine using military and cyber weapons violates international law and the fundamental human rights of the Ukrainian people," Carter said in a statement posted on Twitter. "I condemn this unjust assault on the sovereignty of Ukraine that threatens security in Europe and the entire world, and I call on President Putin to halt all military action and restore peace." The US and allies, the former President said, "must stand with the people of Ukraine in support of their right to peace, security, and self-determination.""

"Former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton shared Carter's sentiments, condemning the invasion in their own statements on Thursday. "The American government and people must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as they seek freedom and the right to choose their own future. We cannot tolerate the authoritarian bullying and danger that Putin poses," Bush said in his statement. Obama called for bipartisan support of Biden's sanctions, saying, "There may be some economic consequences to such sanctions, given Russia's significant role in world energy markets. But that's a price we should be willing to pay to take a stand on the side of freedom." Clinton said that "the world will hold Russia and Russia alone accountable, both economically and politically, for its brazen violation of international law." On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump called Russia's military operation in Ukraine "a very sad thing for the world" and claimed in a Fox interview that it wouldn't have happened during his administration. But speaking to a conservative radio show on Tuesday hosted by Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, Trump had hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin's dismembering of independent, democratic, sovereign Ukraine as an act of "genius.""

"An aircraft was shot down over the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv after two explosions were heard in the city, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters via CNA. The Ukrainian interior ministry advisor Anton Herashchenko said via Telegram that attacks with “cruise and ballistic missiles have just resumed.” Meanwhile, the Ukrainian State Border Service says there are casualities after Russian missiles hit a border post in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhya, according to multiple reports. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said scores of people have been killed after Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine, in a video message late Thursday. Zelenskyy signed a decree on Thursday ordering the broad-based mobilization of all conscripts and reservists to face Russian troops. Ukraine has banned male citizens 18-60 years of age from leaving the country, according to the State Border Guard Service."

"I will begin with what I said in my address on February 21, 2022. I spoke about our biggest concerns and worries, and about the fundamental threats which irresponsible Western politicians created for Russia consistently, rudely and unceremoniously from year to year. I am referring to the eastward expansion of NATO, which is moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border."

"The illegal use of military power against Libya and the distortion of all the UN Security Council decisions on Libya ruined the state, created a huge seat of international terrorism, and pushed the country towards a humanitarian catastrophe, into the vortex of a civil war, which has continued there for years. The tragedy, which was created for hundreds of thousands and even millions of people not only in Libya but in the whole region, has led to a large-scale exodus from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe. A similar fate was also prepared for Syria...But the example that stands apart from the above events is, of course, the invasion of Iraq without any legal grounds."

"Overall, it appears that nearly everywhere, in many regions of the world where the United States brought its law and order, this created bloody, non-healing wounds and the curse of international terrorism and extremism. I have only mentioned the most glaring but far from only examples of disregard for international law."

"Incidentally, US politicians, political scientists and journalists write and say that a veritable "empire of lies" has been created inside the United States in recent years. It is hard to disagree with this – it is really so. But one should not be modest about it: the United States is still a great country and a system-forming power. All its satellites not only humbly and obediently say yes to and parrot it at the slightest pretext but also imitate its behaviour and enthusiastically accept the rules it is offering them. Therefore, one can say with good reason and confidence that the whole so-called Western bloc formed by the United States in its own image and likeness is, in its entirety, the very same "empire of lies"."

"For the United States and its allies, it is a policy of containing Russia, with obvious geopolitical dividends. For our country, it is a matter of life and death, a matter of our historical future as a nation. This is not an exaggeration; this is a fact. It is not only a very real threat to our interests but to the very existence of our state and to its sovereignty. It is the red line which we have spoken about on numerous occasions. They have crossed it."

"We can see that the forces that staged the coup in Ukraine in 2014 have seized power, are keeping it with the help of ornamental election procedures and have abandoned the path of a peaceful conflict settlement. For eight years, for eight endless years we have been doing everything possible to settle the situation by peaceful political means."

"I would also like to address the military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Comrade officers, Your fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers did not fight the Nazi occupiers and did not defend our common Motherland to allow today’s neo-Nazis to seize power in Ukraine. You swore the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people and not to the junta, the people’s adversary which is plundering Ukraine and humiliating the Ukrainian people. I urge you to refuse to carry out their criminal orders. I urge you to immediately lay down arms and go home. The military personnel of the Ukrainian army who do this will be able to freely leave the zone of hostilities and return to their families..."

"I want to emphasize again that all responsibility for the possible bloodshed will lie fully and wholly with the ruling Ukrainian regime."

"At the end of the day, the future of Russia is in the hands of its multi-ethnic people, as has always been the case in our history. This means that the decisions that I made will be executed, that we will achieve the goals we have set, and reliably guarantee the security of our Motherland."

"Today I initiated a phone call with the president of the Russian federation. The result was silence. Though the silence should be in Donbass. That's why I want to address today the people of Russia. I am addressing you not as a president, I am addressing you as a citizen of Ukraine. More than 2,000 km of the common border is dividing us (between Ukraine and Russia). Along this border your troops are stationed, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles. Your leaders approved them to make a step forward, to the territory of another country (Ukraine). And this step can be the beginning of a big war on European continent."

"We know for sure that we don't need the war. Not a Cold War, not a hot war. Not a hybrid one. But if we'll be attacked by the troops, if they try to take our country away from us, our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. Not attack, but defend ourselves. And when you will be attacking us, you will see our faces, not our backs, but our faces. The war is a big disaster, and this disaster has a high price. With every meaning of this word. People lose money, reputation, quality of life, they lose freedom. But the main thing is that people lose their loved ones, they lose themselves."

"They told you that Ukraine is posing a threat to Russia. It was not the case in the past, not in the present, it's not going to be in the future. You are demanding security guarantees from NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization), but we also demand security guarantees. Security for Ukraine from you, from Russia and other guarantees of the Budapest memorandum."

"But our main goal is peace in Ukraine and the safety of our people, Ukrainians. For that we are ready to have talks with anybody, including you, in any format, on any platform."

"The war will deprive [security] guarantees from everybody — nobody will have guarantees of security anymore. Who will suffer the most from it? The people. Who doesn't want it the most? The people! Who can stop it? The people. But are there those people among you? I am sure."

"I know that they (Russian government) won't show my address on Russian TV, but Russian people have to see it. They need to know the truth, and the truth is that it is time to stop now, before it is too late. And if the Russian leaders don't want to sit with us behind the table for the sake of peace, maybe they will sit behind the table with you. Do Russians want the war? I would like to know the answer. But the answer depends only on you, citizens of the Russian Federation."

"Russian warship: 'Snake Island, I, Russian warship, repeat the offer: put down your arms and surrender, or you will be bombed. Have you understood me? Do you copy?'"

"...the word being translated as ‘fuck’ here is khuy. Idi nakhuy (иди наxуй) – ‘go to dick’ or, more loosely, ‘go sit on a dick’ – is what the Ukrainians (and the road signs) have been saying. Translating swear words is never simple...‘Иди наxуй is the worst thing you can say,’ my sister Mariana tells me. She lives in Europe, and my Russian’s OK but hers is still fluent. ‘You can’t say it in jest, unlike pizdets or ebat. You can play with those two words. You can’t play with idi nakhuy. It’s a really aggressive, serious swear word.’...‘Go the fuck, you fucks’ gets us closer, but only a bit. The truth is, there’s nothing in English that goes quite so far. (In Spinal Tap terms, our curses go up to ten, but Russian words go to eleven.)"

"The use of the phrase ["Russian warship, go fuck yourself"] by Ukrainian society has been lauded as one of the examples of how the country sought to undermine the legitimacy of Russia’s invasion through non-military means. However, the Snake Island incident also has been cited as a case study of how unverified information had the potential of spreading during the war."

"Take these seeds so sunflowers grow when you die here...Guys, put these seeds into your pockets. Take these seeds. You will die here with them. You’ve come to my land … Do you understand? You’re occupiers. You’re enemies. And from now on, you’re cursed."

"You’re occupiers. You are fascists. Why the fuck did you come here with your guns?...Take these seeds and put them in your pocket so, at least, sunflowers will grow on your graves."

"Good for her! Good for her! Let’s just recognise for a second how ice cold that insult is. 'Take these seeds and put them in your pocket so sunflowers will grow when you die...That woman brought seeds to a gunfight and still comfortably won."

"We are seeing Russian military operations inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine on a scale that Europe has not seen in decades. Day after day, I have been clear that such unilateral measures conflict directly with the United Nations Charter. The Charter is clear: “All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” The use of force by one country against another is the repudiation of the principles that every country has committed to uphold."

"Russia’s widespread military invasion of Ukraine is a clear and flagrant act of aggression in violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, with no plausible legal justification. These actions are deeply destabilizing to the international order and undermine the foundational legal regime that has governed international relations since the end of World War II."

"While one may be able to mount a legal challenge to Russia’s contention that its joint operation with Russia’s newly recognized independent nations of Lugansk and Donetsk constitutes a “regional security or self-defense organization” as regards “anticipatory collective self-defense actions” under Article 51...The bottom line is that Russia has set forth a cognizable claim under the doctrine of anticipatory collective self defense, devised originally by the U.S. and NATO, as it applies to Article 51 which is predicated on fact, not fiction."

"The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride."

"Pope Francis went to the Russian embassy to the Holy See on Friday to relay his concern over Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Moscow's ambassador, in an unprecedented departure from diplomatic protocol. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope spent more than half an hour at the embassy. "He went to express his concern over the war," Bruni said, declining to give details about the visit or the conversation... The ambassador was quoted as saying that the pope "called for the protection of children, the protection of the sick and suffering, and the protection of people.""

"After decades of ignoring Russia’s national security concerns, the West is confronted with a military invasion of Ukraine which serves as a precursor for a new Cold War that will define Russia’s relationship with the West for years to come. Let there be no mistake, on Feb. 24, the world awoke to a new reality. Prior to this date, Russia was treated by the West as an annoyance, belittled by economic and even military elites as little more than a “giant gas station masquerading as a nation,” to quote John McCain... Because no one took Russia seriously, no one could imagine a large-scale ground war in Europe...."

"Ukraine’s defense ministry is telling residents to make Molotov cocktails and firebombs to help fight back in Kyiv as Russian forces close in on the capital city. In a Facebook post, the agency warned citizens they need to be ready to fight if Russian forces get into the city, BBC reported. Residents need to "inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails [firebombs] and neutralise the enemy.”"

"Is Russia really interested in having a tiny strip of Ukrainian soil, to integrate into their country? No. Putin is putting on pressure because he knows he can do it, he splits the European Union...On eye level, he wants respect. And my God, giving him respect is low cost, even no cost. It is easy to give him the respect he demands, and probably deserves."