Economically:

  • From @granit :Sergey Glazyev suggests that Western enterprises that closed down in Russia should be handed over to their employees.
  • RTG: Peskov said making gas (and other commodities) be paid for in rubles is not to “click on the nose” of the west, but so that euros and dollars are not taken away from Russia due to sanctions, and because there is an erosion in the trust in the dollar and euro, and many countries doubt their reliability and develop calculations in national currencies.
  • MSM: India’s power sector, and thus India’s populace, will face one of the worst summers ever due to a “perfect inflationary storm”.
  • MSM: From @granit: Europe’s ambitious timetable to cut Russian energy imports will require a lot of steel, copper and aluminum to build more wind, solar and LNG terminals. The problem: Russia is a major supplier of those metals, and the war is making them expensive
  • RTG: Slovakia, which gets about 80% of its natural gas from Russia, says that gas supplies from Russia cannot be stopped and so they will pay in rubles.
  • Transport Minister Martin Kupka of the Czech Republic says that the country has natural gas reserves for about a month and is working on getting natural gas from Qatar, after having cut off Russian natural gas.
  • German Retail Association says that German food retailers will raise prices by minimum 20% to maximum of 50% on Monday.
  • EU should discuss ban on Russian gas imports - German defense minister

Multipolar World:

  • TWA: Sergei Glazyev: “The era of liberal globalization is over. Before our eyes, a new world economic order is being formed — an integral one, in which some states and private banks lose their private monopoly on the issue of money”

Poverty:

  • TWA: Bread lines in Milan.
  • RCM: Mexico is forced to cancel gasoline subsidies in regions boredering the US, as too many Americans are crossing the border to buy fuel there as it’s cheaper than in the United States.
  • RCM: WTO warns of a major food crisis and halves global trade growth forecast, saying that while Ukraine + Russia only make up 2.5% of the world’s economy, they are extremely significant in certain sectors. The African Development Bank says that many African nations have seen food prices rise by 20-50% in the past month.
  • RCM: A UK ex-diplomat says that the EU has sanctioned itself into fuel poverty or worse, saying that Europe simply cannot replace Russian oil and gas no matter how much the US and Qatar provide.
  • MSM: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all stop importing Russian natural gas. They currently have enough supply to get them through the coming months, but are saying that they will need to build a second LNG terminal to get enough imports - from where, I don’t know.
  • RTG: German Finance Minister Christian Lindner says that the situation in Ukraine will lead to a decrease in the well-being of German citizens.

Other:

  • MSM: UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng suggests that the UK could build seven new nuclear power stations by 2050 to boost homegrown energy supply. What they plan to do in the 30 years until that point is still unknown.

Diplomatically and Politically:

  • MSM: Peace talks will continue tomorrow.
  • MSM: Sri Lanka blocks social media platforms and imposes a curfew to contain public unrest caused by the ongoing crisis, as +10 hour blackouts engulf the country.
  • RTG: An assassination attempt on the President of Kazakhstan was foiled. According to Kazahkstan, the detainee confessed to acting on the instructions and in the interest of a foreign state. Wow, they got that info out of him fast!
  • RTG: Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, advises the president to dissolve parliament in preparation for early elections. President agrees.
  • RTG: Parliament refuses to vote for no-confidence in the Pakistani PM, so he will continue his responsibilities. Actual US plot that failed, or him taking advantage of the zeitgeist? I don’t know.
  • RTG: Scholz, in February 19th, tried to persuade Zelensky to abandon the course of trying to join NATO, as it would de-escalate the situation. Instead, Ukraine and the West could have signed an agreement on security guarantees in Ukraine in exchange for neutrality.
  • RTG: Russian oil tankers are being refused refuel at European hubs, raising serious problems for oil tankers travelling from Baltic ports to Asia, and may cause problems if they get stuck at sea with flammable cargo.
  • RTG: There is talk from “Ukrainian sources” that Zelensky will give no territorial concessions, making the peace deals pointless.
  • RCM: Zelensky said that Ukraine has not received security guarantees from any country.
  • RTG: Georgia’s prime minister states that sanctioning Russia will only hurt Georgia, but still participates in all international sanctions. However, Georgia will continue to export mineral and fresh water, ferroalloys, wine and agricultural products. Russia is one of Georgia’s largest trading partners.
  • RTG: The Pakistani Army says “We have nothing to do with what is happening in the political arena.” - so a coup in Pakistan has probably been averted.
  • Pakistani FM Qureshi received a message from the Chinese foreign minister that “China has always protected Pakistan’s sovereignty & territorial integrity and will continue to do so,”
  • RTG: The Czech Interior Ministry states that $450 million has been spent on the refugee crisis caused by the Ukraine invasion, and that 300,000 refugees have already been taken in. They expect another 300,000 to arrive before the crisis is over.
  • African immigrants in Belgium are reportedly rightfully outraged that Ukrainian refugees have more rights than they do.
  • RTG: People in Latvia who support Russia in their invasion may have their passports taken from them.
  • RTG: The mayor of Dnipro called for killing Russians all over the world. Boris Filatov posted about this on Facebook (banned in Russia). The moderators of the social network did not block it.
  • RTG: Pro-Russian rally in Germany today, with over 5000 cars in support of Russia, flying their flag and the USSR flag.
  • RTG: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Lavrov: “China and Russia must deepen bilateral ties in every area … China-Russia partnership ‘stronger than ever’”

Militarily:

Ukraine in general:

  • According to the Ministry of Defense, Russia hit 51 military facilities of Ukraine overnight, including four command posts, four field warehouses, two air-defense systems, two artillery batteries, two multiple launch rocket launchers, and 32 strong points of the APU.
  • RTG: Ukrainian forces control all territory up to the Belarus border in the north after the successful withdrawal of Russian forces over the last couple days.
  • RTG: Russian armed forces destroyed large fuel storage facilities in Konstantinovka, Slavuta and Ternopil, which supplied Ukrainian troops from the Mykolaiv and Donetsk directions.
  • RTG: Mykolaiv hit with Russian missile strikes, according to mayor.
  • An article on Russia’s military and how the west underestimated it
  • DPA giving his analysis on the military situation.

Northern Ukraine:

  • MSM: Ukraine reports that Russia has killed 300 civilians, all shot in the back of the head, in a Ukrainian town outside Kiev, and that Ukraine is digging mass graves for them.
  • MSM: Ukraine claims the full control of Kiev Oblast.

Southern Ukraine:

  • A series of explosions in Odessa, targeting an oil refinery and three storage facilities for fuel and lubricants.

Dipshittery and Cope:

  • RTG: Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister says that the US should deploy 150,000 troops to European countries to increase their presence and provide Europe with security. He also says deploying tactical nuclear weapons against Russia would “significantly strengthen Moscow’s deterrence” and that while the question does not arise at the moment, it may change soon.
  • MSM: Ukraine says Russia has abducted 11 mayors from occupied territory, including in Kiev, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Donetsk.