today about old MIG 29 planes(own safety - comfort) which US offered would replace with brand new F16s https://ausertimes.blogspot.com/2022/03/polandkaczynskis-government.html...That much about Slavic brotherhood and its pride worldwide. Defending their backyard what Ukraine is and getting in return rotten apples...
16,000 foreigners have volunteered to fight for Ukraine during Russian invasion, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that 16,000 foreigners have volunteered to fight for Ukraine during the ongoing Russian offense, The Washington Post reports.
In a video shared on Telegram, the president referenced the "international legion" of 16,000 foreign volunteers he's asked to "join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world," per the Post. Earlier this week, Ukraine temporarily lifted certain visa requirements so foreign volunteers could partake in the push to hold back the Russians.
Though foreign citizens have been fighting in Ukraine since 2014, "when Russia-backed separatists seized parts of the Donbas region," experts have noted that this latest international effort is far more ambitious, the Post reports.
After Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba initially called for foreign volunteers last week, "countries like Latvia have voted unanimously to allow their citizens to fight for Ukraine, while leaders in nations such as Denmark and Canada have warned of the dangers but are not stopping their residents from making the individual choice to fight against Russia," the Post writes.
It is legal for U.S. citizens to, under certain circumstances, join foreign militaries, but the State Department has cautioned that citizens might run into trouble if they are recruited or hired while still in America.
Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces said Thursday that anyone interested in fighting for Ukraine "could apply by going to their Ukrainian embassy, or calling or emailing them. Once their application is processed, they will be given assistance on routes to arrive in Ukraine," the Post writes.
It's, at the moment, unclear as to where the 16,000 are coming from. Foreign fighters currently in Ukraine include volunteers from other post-Soviet states, though media reports also suggest "they're from countries such as Japan, Britain and the United States."
I am Lithuanian. Ukrainians are fighting for my future too
If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, will the Baltic states be his next target?
Lithuanians have been protesting against Russia's invasion of Ukraine |
Julija Stankevičiūtė | NARA (www.nara.lt)
"Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė has called Russia a 'terrorist state' and warns that the current conflict in Ukraine could spread further if not stopped," reported The Baltic Times.
The story sounds as if it was published this morning. But it's actually from 2014. It was a reaction to Russian forces annexing the Crimea peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine. At the time, Grybauskaitė stood alone with her statement.
This week, when Russian forces bombed civilian buildings in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyi repeated what Grybauskaitė had pronounced eight years ago: “Russia is a terrorist state. Obviously.”
For many Lithuanians, Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine has resulted in a grim ‘I told you so’ feeling.
News digest: NATO troops to bring technology worth a billion, but Slovak society remains split over their presence
Slovakia marks two years of the pandemic. The country has three gold medals from the Paralympic Games.
Čítajte viac: https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22855641/news-digest-nato-troops-to-bring-technology-worth-a-billion-but-slovak-society-remains-split-over-its-presence.html
Slovaks remain split over NATO troops' arrival
The Slovak public is split over the presence of NATO troops in Slovakia.
While 50 percent of those recently polled by the Focus polling agency said they agreed with NATO's presence in the country, 45 percent said they were against it. The remaining 5 percent declined to give an opinion.
The poll was conducted for the private broadcaster TV Markíza between February 22 and March 1 on a representative sample of 1,003 respondents, meaning that it was partly conducted before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, on February 24.
On the same day, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď confirmed that NATO was going to create an enhanced forward defence in Slovakia, consisting of hundreds of NATO troops.
Public opinion, however, is negative when US soldiers are considered: only 29 percent of those polled by the Focus agency said they were in favour of their presence in Slovakia, while 67 percent said they were against it. Four percent of respondents declined to give their opinion.
The poll has also shown that 61 percent of Slovakia's inhabitants support NATO membership, while 36 percent of those polled were against it and 3 percent did not answer the question.
Meanwhile, PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) said over the weekend that NATO troops should arrive in Slovakia with technology worth about a billion euros. Under normal circumstances, it would take Slovakia years to procure this technology, he added.
Heger confirmed the plans that the government had announced earlier: NATO will set up an enhanced forward defence unit in Slovakia, with about 1,200 troops from Germany, the Netherlands, Czechia, Poland, and Slovenia. The German and Dutch soldiers are to arrive with the Patriot anti-missile system, while the Czech soldiers will help Slovakia with cyber security. If the US provides its Sentinel air and missile defence radar system, American troops would be part of the NATO presence in the country.
The exact date of the allies' arrival is not clear for now. It will depend on agreements within NATO.
Heger also spoke about the possibility of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which the Ukrainian government has been calling for. The Slovak prime minister said that "everything is on the table," but stressed that a no-fly zone is one step before the last.
President Zuzana Čaputová also commented on a no-fly zone on weekend political talk shows, saying that such a step might result in World War III
Refugees from Ukraine in Vyšné Nemecké. (Source: TASR)- Altogether 128,170 people from Ukraine crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border as of Monday morning; 6,078 have asked for temporary protection and 153 for asylum. The waiting time at the Ubľa crossing is currently about 10 hours, while people at the border crossings in Vyšné Nemecké and Veľké Slemence are being processed without waiting on the Slovak side, according to the Interior Ministry.
- A group of Slovak MPs filed a criminal complaint against Russian officials with President Vladimir Putin at the helm, in connection with the invasion of Ukraine on March 4. On Monday, two OĽaNO MPs submitted a criminal complaint against several politicians for their statements concerning war in Ukraine, in which they mostly spread Russian propaganda and defend the steps of the Russians.
- The state will only pay out a financial contribution for accommodation to people who lodge refugees with temporary protection status, Finance Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) has said. To avoid potential frauds, limits for the number of refugees accommodated in one unit should be set.
- The Slovak cabinet has approved the arrival of 50 soldiers and technology from the Czech Republic, who will come to help with the inflow of refugees from Ukraine. They will build a camp with capacity of 400 people near Liptovský Mikuláš. (TASR)
- During the weekend the police and several media outlets reported a story of an 11-year-old boy from the Zaporizhzhia region who crossed the border alone, carrying a plastic bag, his passport and phone number written on his hand, as his parents had to stay in Ukraine. He was treated by the volunteers, before they called his relatives who later picked him up at the border. Altogether 69 unaccompanied children crossed the border as of Monday, the Sme daily reported.
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