NO ONE IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION HAS LIVED MORE LAVISHLY
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Protests in Russia threatens the country's stability. Day 11.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuphogM4K_Q
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEfSfAkau60
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Kremlin officials 'privately denounce' Putin's 'clusterf**k invasion' as officials warn cornered Russian leader could use small NUKES on Ukrainian cities in worst-case scenario with his forces bogged down in snow and -20C freeze on the way
- Russian politicians and powerful business figures are privately denouncing the invasion, it has been claimed
- Comes as President Putin's invasion grinds to a bloody halt, with no significant territory captured in days
- Temperatures are set to plunge in coming days - down to as low as -20C with wind chill
- The worsening conditions will pose major difficulties for refugees and soldiers on both sides
- Kyiv claims 12,000 Russian soldiers have now been killed in fighting, with more than 300 tanks destroyed
- Russian forces continue to bomb major cities, with a strike on Tuesday killing 21, including two children
- A US military think tank warned that Russian forces could launch a major assault on Kyiv as early as tonight
- US also announced a plan to ban imports of Russian oil which has sent gasoline and oil prices skyrocketing
- Zelensky meanwhile addressed the House of Commons with a rousing speech reminiscent of Churchill
- Click here to read MailOnline's liveblog with the latest updates on the Ukraine crisis
Kremlin officials are ‘privately denouncing’ Vladimir Putin’s ‘clusterf**k’ invasion as US officials warned that the isolated Russian despot could lash out in anger at Ukraine’s fierce resistance by using small nuclear weapons on some of its cities.
Russian journalist Farida Rustamova, who was well-connected in government circles before fleeing the country as the Kremlin launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent, has claimed that officials in Moscow never believed that Putin would go to war.
They are now allegedly making ‘apocalyptic’ forecasts about the weeks and months ahead as fighting grinds on and punitive sanctions bite.
When asked how Russian politicians were reacting to the crisis, one source told Rustamova: ‘They’re carefully enunciating the word clusterf**k. No one is rejoicing. Many understand that this is a mistake, but in the course of doing their duty they come up with explanations in order to somehow come to terms with it.’
Kyiv estimates that 12,000 Russians have now died fighting and while that number cannot be verified, casualties are almost certainly higher than Putin bargained for when he gave the order to attack 13 days ago. Captured soldiers have complained of a lack of food, fuel, and overall battle plan – with conditions set to get worse in the coming days.
A pronounced cold snap will see temperatures drop to -10C overnight in the middle of the week around Kyiv and Kharkiv – down to -20C when wind chill is taken into account – with many Russian soldiers stuck outdoors in a 40-mile column of stalled vehicles near the Ukrainian capital.
US intelligence chiefs on Tuesday branded Putin an ‘angry’, isolated leader grappling for global clout, frustrated about how his Ukraine invasion has not gone to plan, and lobbing provocative nuclear threats at the West. Some have even privately expressed concern that, in a worst-case scenario, he might order deployment of mini-nukes on a city.
CIA Director William Burns told US lawmakers that Putin is now likely to ‘double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties’. At a congressional hearing on global threats, he said the despot has been ‘stewing in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition for many years’ and regarded the invasion of Ukraine a matter of ‘deep personal conviction’ for Putin.
‘I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,’ Burns said.
The Russian strongman has encountered a tidal wave of opprobrium for the deadly invasion, leaving him isolated like never before. The US intelligence community warned of the potential for Putin to lash out, especially noting an elevated nuclear threat.
Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, said Russia under Putin has been working overtime to modernize its weaponry, particularly smaller-yield nuclear weapons.
Putin has ‘invested in tactical nuclear weapons,’ Berrier said. ‘I believe that he thinks that gives him an asymmetric advantage.’
Putin took the shock step last month of putting Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said ‘Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling’ has put the West on notice.
‘We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference, and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose,’ Haines told the panel. ‘But what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time.’
Putin’s invasion has produced ‘a shock to the geopolitical order with implications for the future that we are only beginning to understand, but are sure to be consequential’, it was heard.
The CIA’s Burns also warned that with Putin under immense pressure, the ‘system’ the Russian president created of a circle of close advisors is getting ‘narrower and narrower’ – and that in such a system, ‘it’s not proven career enhancing for people to question or challenge his judgment’.
It comes after a US military think tank dramatically warned on Monday night that Russian forces could launch their assault on Kyiv as early as tonight.
The Institute for the Study of War said the Russian military has been bringing reinforcements and supplies to its front lines, as well as carrying out air and artillery strikes on key Ukrainian military targets to weaken their position and to intimidate the city’s defenders ahead of a large assault.
Three civilians died near Kyiv on Tuesday after stepping on a landmine, a six-year-old girl died from dehydration in Mariupol after water was cut off, and hundreds of people were pictured evacuating from the city of Irpin in bitter conditions whilst snow fell.
Irpin has been the scene of some intense clashes as Russian forces try to take it on their mission to surround and besiege Kyiv, with one commander reporting hand-to-hand fighting as Putin’s men battle street-to-street.
Vitaliy Shichko, resident of nearby Bucha, said Russian forces have been attacking the town since last week – initially throwing in men ‘they weren’t afraid of losing’ but increasingly moving in better armed and equipped troops to capture and hold ground.
Others said that Russians had cleared residents out of their homes so they could set up sniper positions, with some alleging that civilians had been fired at as they tried to flee. Ukrainian artillery is now being brought to bare on Russian forces as they set up the next phase of their attack, commanders said.
Ukraine’s commanders have claimed that Putin’s invasion has ‘slowed significantly’ in recent days, with American intelligence saying he has now committed all of the forces he built up along the border to the fight.
Kyiv’s military, giving an overview of combat as the war entered its 13th day, said defensive operations continue in the north, east and south of Ukraine, with all major cities other than Kherson in Ukrainian hands. Russian troops are ‘demoralised and increasingly tend to looting and violations of international humanitarian law’, commanders added.
It has also emerged that another Russian commander – Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, first deputy commander of Russia’s 41st army – was killed in Kharkiv on Monday, just the latest in an increasingly long line of senior military figures to lose their lives in Ukraine.
Ukrainian artillery targeting Russian military trucks in Kozarovychi in the Kyiv Oblast
Civilians continue to flee from Irpin due to ongoing Russian attacks as snow falls in Irpin, Ukraine, March 8, 2022
Ukrainians cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge while fleeing Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, March 8, 2022
This handout video grab taken and released by the Russian Presidential Press Service on March 8, 2022 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin giving a speech for the International Women's Day, in Moscow
A children's playground is seen in front of an apartment building hit by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022
People help an elderly woman to walk in a street with an apartment building hit by shelling in the background in Mariupol, Ukraine, Monday, March 7, 2022
The fire at the warehouse after a Russian Kalibr missile debris was shot down over Kalynivka village, near Brovary, the eastern frontline of Kyiv region, Ukraine, 08 March 2022
A Ukrainian firefighter in action trying to extinguish the fire at the warehouse in Kalynivka village, near Brovary, Ukraine, 08 March 2022
Heartbreaking pictures have emerged of Ukrainian children, trapped in the besieged port city of Mariupol, hiding in shelters from Russian bombs as the occupiers continued their indiscriminate bombing campaigns
An elderly woman placed in a shopping trolley is carried over a destroyed bridge as she is evacuated from the city of Irpin, west of Kyiv, as snow falls on Tuesday morning
An elderly Ukrainian woman, placed inside a shopping trolley, is carried over a destroyed bridge on the outskirts of Irpin, near the capital Kyiv, which has been the scene of brutal street-to-street fighting
People flee the city of Irpin, west of Kyiv, on Monday as Russian forces pummelled d Ukrainian cities from the air, land and sea
People carry a wounded woman during the evacuation by civilians of the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv
A police officer says goodbye to his son as his family flees from advancing Russian troops as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues in the town of Irpin
Heavy snow falls as Ukrainian civilians flee across a river in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, where heavy fighting is going on
Ukrainian soldiers help an elderly woman to cross a destroyed bridge as she evacuates the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv
A person is carried on a stretcher during the evacuation by civilians of the city of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv
A woman carrying a swaddled baby walks down a motorway near the city of Irpin as she evacuates amid heavy snowfall
Russian troops continue to try and surround Kyiv ahead of what is expected to be an attack on the city, with intense fighting reported in the north west including hand-to-hand combat with Russian forces
Kyiv claimed today that 12,000 Russian troops have now died fighting in Ukraine, while 300 tanks have been destroyed along with more than 1,000 armoured vehicles, 48 planes, 80 helicopters and three boats. Moscow has acknowledged taking losses but has not given a recent update. Ukraine's losses are unknown.
Strikes on civilian areas also continued Tuesday morning, with the city of Sumy - in the east - struck by bombs which the local mayor said killed 21 people including two children and left others wounded. Ukraine's parliament published a photo of a bloodied infant they said was hurt in the attack.
Russia again offered to open up 'humanitarian corridors' today to allow civilians to flee bombarded cities - but the move was swiftly dismissed by Kyiv, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of 'cynicism', saying its troops have laid mines across the routes and blown up buses intended to be used as transports.
'There was an agreement on humanitarian corridors. Did that work? Russian tanks worked in its place, Russian Grads (multiple rocket launchers), Russian mines,' Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram. 'They ensure that a small corridor to the occupied territory is open for a few dozen people. Not so much towards Russia as towards the propagandists, directly towards the television cameras.'
At least one of the corridors - out of Sumy - was operating today despite the fatal Russian strikes early in the morning. Ukraine's deputy prime minister announced this evening that more than 5,000 civilians were evacuated from the northern Ukrainian city under a temporary ceasefire that mostly held.
Regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky said around 1,700 of the evacuees were foreign students studying at universities in Sumy, adding the ceasefire was broken only once by a shooting near a checkpoint.
But Ukraine's foreign ministry said the route out of Mariupol, which has been without water or electricity for the best part of a week, was shelled.
Mariupol is one of the Ukrainian cities worst hit since the invasion began, with Russian forces bringing widespread destruction to residential and administrative centres.
And each time Russia has agreed to open 'humanitarian corridors' allowing citizens to flee the city, its forces have broken their ceasefire agreement and continued shelling in what appear to have been targeted attacks on innocent civilians.
Zelensky said people stuck in the blockaded urban centre are beginning to suffer from a lack of supplies as the city runs dangerously low on food, water and medicine.
Ukrainian territorial defence forces have been able to deliver vital supplies to some residents, but many more remain isolated and unable to access lifesaving rations.
In Bucha, to the northwest of Kyiv, the mayor said the city is under such heavy shelling that medics cannot get into the streets to retrieve the bodies of the dead - which are now being 'pulled apart' by stray dogs. 'It's a nightmare,' he added.
The United Nations said the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine has already reached 2 million - the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II. One million were children, UNICEF spokesman James Elder tweeted, calling it 'a dark historical first.' Most others were women.
In Zhyotymyr, west of Kyiv, a fire at an oil depot was extinguished in the early hours of the morning while in Mykolaiv, in the south, several fires in residential areas had broke out due to Russian attacks - with four civilians killed and five others rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital
In Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling set nine floors and 27 apartment units of a residential building on fire - a blaze that took rescuers more than four hours to extinguish. At least four people were killed.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, speaking to the BBC today, said Russian forces are 'getting more desperate' and 'we are seeing the Russians just double down on brutality' as the attack stalls.
He says 'Russia has still not been making its advances, it's day 13. That northern column that we have often talked about is still pretty much stuck, I mean really stuck, so that's not advancing.'
He said the UK would be increasing the amount of lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine, details of which he would announce in Parliament on Wednesday, and is helping organise delivery of aid through Nato and other EU countries.
On the subject of Poland possibly supplying jets for the fight in Ukraine, he said there was a debate going on at the moment about whether Poland would.
'The UK could not supply jets directly to Ukraine, we don't have the same type of fighter jets they fly, Mig-29s and others... Our view would be that it is for Poland on a bilateral basis to decide whether to support Ukraine,' adding the UK would support Poland as an old ally.
Meanwhile Russia has threatened to turn off the main gas pipeline supplying Europe if the West goes ahead with sanctions on its oil sector - a move that Moscow says would push the price up above $300 per barrel.
Germany and the UK have ruled out penalising Russia's energy sector - one of the nation's only economic lifelines - arguing that the European economy needs more time to adjust before the taps are turned off.
But the US today announced plans to ban imports of Russian oil, sending the average price of gasoline in the US to a record $4.17 per gallon.
The national average rose by 10 cents per gallon in one day, and is up 55 cents since last week, according to American Automobile Association data.
The previous high was set 13 years ago when the national average price hit $4.10 per gallon.
The price of benchmark US crude also jumped 8 per cent Tuesday to more than $129 per barrel.
Americans can expect the current trend at the pump to continue as long as crude prices climb, the AAA said.
'We will not be part of subsidizing Putin's war,' Biden declared, calling the new action a 'powerful blow' against Russia's ability to fund the ongoing offensive.
The US imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5 per cent of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8 per cent of US imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine well into its second week, a steady rain of shells and rockets continues to fall on population centres like Bucha.
The mayor of the Kyiv suburb, Anatol Fedoruk, said military fire had been heavy and constant.
'We can't even gather up the bodies because the shelling from heavy weapons doesn't stop day or night,' Mr Fedoruk said.
In one of the most desperate cities, the encircled southern port of Mariupol, an estimated 200,000 people - nearly half the population of 430,000 - are still hoping to flee, but Ukrainian authorities have been reluctant to accept Russia's offer of humanitarian corridors, arguing that previous ceasefire arrangements had been broken with many civilians killed as a result.
The Russian UN ambassador on Monday night forecast a potential cease-fire for the morning and appeared to suggest that humanitarian paths leading away from Kyiv and other cities could give people choice in where they want to go - a change from previous proposals that offered only destinations in Russia or Belarus.
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