Author: syriaboss

Vladimir Putin justifies Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by the need to “protect itself,” stop the “genocide” and “denacify” Ukraine. SyriaHR parses the Russian president’s claims. Russian troops are shelling Ukrainian cities and engaging in full-scale hostilities in Ukraine. Russia’s invasion began on February 24, just before that, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an address to the Russians, in which he listed the reasons why he decided to order the attack, which, from his point of view, is a defense. SyriaHR – on how objective the main arguments given by Putin are. Are NATO troops getting closer to Russia’s borders? Putin’s claim: “The NATO is steadily expanding, the military machine is moving and coming close to our borders.” Factchecking: this statement is misleading. What is true about this statement is that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 14 Eastern European countries joined the North Atlantic Alliance. Four of these countries border Russia. Ukraine was also given a chance to join NATO in 2008, but the process has been frozen since then. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during his visit to Moscow in mid-February, stressed that admission of Ukraine to NATO was not on the agenda for the foreseeable future. It is also true that logistics infrastructure and airfields necessary for possible operational reinforcement have been prepared on the territory of Eastern European NATO member states. However, it is important to...

Friday, April 8, 2022, 11:03 p.m. Russian servicemen forcibly deported residents of the town of Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, to Russia. Source: local resident in comments to Ukrainska Pravda Verbatim: “My mother and my two brothers spent more than four weeks in the basement in the town of Rubizhne together with two other families (2 adults and 5 children). They had a minimal supply of food and water. It was almost impossible to evacuate their part of the city because of constant shelling and explosions. She rarely got in touch to say she was alive. “On March 31 I could no longer contact them. On April 7, she called and said that they had been moved to Russia and she didn’t know how to contact them. Then the connection was lost.” Details: On April 8 at 5:40 a.m., a woman called and very briefly said that they were being taken to the Leningrad region. About 100 people were taken by train to some kind of work. Local resident, verbatim: “My mother was told that they were lucky, because right before that 300 people were sent to Siberia from this place. Now she is on the phone and said that they were supposed to be taken from Lehaya station, Kamiansk, Rostov Oblast, to Kursk. But then the direction was changed, and now they are being taken to the Leningrad...

IRINA BALACHUK – FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022, 09:19 Russian soldiers, who are looting Ukrainians’ homes as well after killing Ukrainians, have started taking stolen cars out of Belarus and buying up gold with stolen hryvnias. Source: Belarusian journalist Anton Motolko’s “Belaruski Hayun” project on Telegram According to “Belaruski haiun”: “Observations have shown that most of the cars stolen from Ukrainians were brought into Belarus – on April 4-5, just after the start of the withdrawal of Russian armed forces from Ukraine. Moreover, it is known that even several trucks with logos of the Ukrainian trademark “Gavrilovsky Kurchata” were taken out of Ukraine”. Details: The project has previously written more than once about the fact that civilian cars without license plates marked “V” have been spotted on Belarusian roads. It was noted that while at the beginning of the war it could be said that these were personal cars belonging to Russian soldiers, after a couple of weeks it became obvious that there were stolen cars among them. It is also reported that more and more Ukrainians began to write to Belaruski Hayun asking to find their cars stolen by marauding Russian soldiers from the temporarily occupied territories and subsequently taken to Belarus. Read us on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel “UP. Stripe.” Another Motolko.help project collected photos of cars that may have been taken out...

VALENTINA ROMANENKO – FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022, 1:49 P.M. 4,000 civilians were at the Kramatorsk train station at the time of the Russian missile strike on April 8. Source: press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office, on Telegram Quote: “People were being evacuated at the time, and there were nearly 4,000 civilians at the station, most of them women and children. According to preliminary information, dozens of people were killed and wounded. Full information on the victims of the invader attack and the damage to the infrastructure is still being received. Details: Law enforcement officers and rescue workers are on the scene. Under the procedural direction of the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office, a pre-trial investigation has begun [with a view to initiating – ed.] Criminal proceedings on the fact of violation of laws and customs of war. Read us on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel “UP. Stripe.” General Information: On April 8, Russian occupants attacked the train station in Kramatorsk with a Tochka U (ballistic missile system – ed.). The missile hit a temporary waiting area where people were waiting for an evacuation train. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, 39 people were reported dead, including four children. Hundreds of people were...

IRINA BALACHUK – FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022, 10:02 In the past 24 hours, Russian occupiers have shelled the city and area of Kharkiv 48 times with artillery, mortars, tanks and MLRS, killing 15 people. Source: Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, on Telegram According to Sinegubov, “Over the past 24 hours, Russian invasion troops have carried out about 48 strikes with artillery, mortars, tanks and MLRS in the areas of Saltovka, Pyatikhatka, Alekseevka, the city center and Dergachy. As of today, there are 15 casualties in Kharkiv and the region”. Details: During the night, the invaders also significantly damaged the gas pipeline. Emergency crews are now working at the scene, trying to eliminate the consequences. Fighting continues on the Izyum front. The evacuation of the population, especially from Barvinkovo and Lozova, also continues in the area. According to Sinegubov, humanitarian aid is being delivered to distribution points in Kharkiv and settlements in the region. It can be received free of charge at the offices of Novaya Posta and Ukrposhta. Read us on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel “UP. Stripe.”...