Two people have been killed in Poland after two stray rockets landed near the border with Ukraine.
It has not yet been confirmed if the rockets landed in the NATO state as a result of Russia’s mass bombardment of Ukrainian cities earlier today, which saw over 100 rockets launched.
Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has convened the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs “as a matter of urgency”, government spokesman Piotr Müller confirmed, with local news sites claiming this is likely the result of the explosions.
According to the PSA, there are three important steps to take.
The first step is to “get inside” of a building fast and move away from any windows.
The second step is to “stay inside” and head into a basement if you have access to one. If you were outside during the nuclear blast, get clean immediately, removing and bagging all outer clothing to keep radioactive dust or ash away from your body.
The speech of Russian president Vladimir Putin was perhaps the best showcase of a war in Ukraine not going according to plan, and Putin backed in the corner as Russian oligarchs ponder their future finances.
There’s a number of possibilities as Putin desperately tries to rationalize the invasion of Ukraine, with one of the worst case scenarios still being on the table.
30 top TikTok stars gathered on a Zoom call to receive key information about the war unfolding in Ukraine. National Security Council staffers and White House press secretary Jen Psaki briefed the influencers about the United States’ strategic goals in the region and answered questions
This week, the administration began working with Gen Z For Change, a nonprofit advocacy group, to help identify top content creators on the platform to orchestrate a briefing aimed at answering questions about the conflict and the United States’ role in it. Victoria Hammett, deputy executive director of Gen Z For Change, contacted dozens with invitations via email and gathered potential questions for the Biden administration.
The invitations to the event were distributed Tuesday and Wednesday. Kahlil Greene, 21, a creator with more than 534,000 followers on TikTok, said he wasn’t surprised when an invitation arrived in his email inbox. “People in my generation get all our information from TikTok,” he said. “It’s the first place we’re searching up new topics and learning about things.” So, he figured, it made sense that the Biden administration would engage people like him on the platform.
The briefing was led by Matt Miller, a special adviser for communications at the White House National Security Council, and Psaki. The Washington Post obtained a recording of the call, and in it, Biden officials stressed the power these creators had in communicating with their followers. “We recognize this is a critically important avenue in the way the American public is finding out about the latest,” said the White House director of digital strategy, Rob Flaherty, “so we wanted to make sure you had the latest information from an authoritative source.”
The nuclear fear is building around the planet.. after all these decades of “mutually assured destruction” … after a Cuban Missile Crisis in which Kennedy privately made a deal… after the 1980s Star Wars race..
It has come to this in the modern age: Vladimir Putin vs the world. And he has nukes..
According to Russia watcher Fiona Hill, Putin would use nukes..
She told this to POLITICO in a rare interview:“Ukraine has become the front line in a struggle, not just between democracies and autocracies but in a struggle for maintaining a rules-based system in which the things that countries want are not taken by force,” Hill said. “Every country in the world should be paying close attention to this.”
There’s lots of danger ahead, she warned. Putin is increasingly operating emotionally and likely to use all the weapons at his disposal, including nuclear ones. It’s important not to have any illusions — but equally important not to lose hope.
“Every time you think, ’No, he wouldn’t, would he?’ Well, yes, he would,” Hill said. “And he wants us to know that, of course. It’s not that we should be intimidated and scared…. We have to prepare for those contingencies and figure out what is it that we’re going to do to head them off.”
Meanwhile, a collection of news links on the matter piling up:
One section on Ready.gov asks Americans to find the nearest building to avoid radiation.
However, the government’s guidelines were dragged by social media users for including Covid protocols.
After seeking shelter in the nearest building, the next step tells Americans to “stay inside for 24 hours unless local authorities provide other instructions.
“Continue to practice social distancing by wearing a mask and by keeping a distance of at least six feet between yourself and people who not part of your household,” the website explains.
Seeing a lot of sunflowers on your news feed?? It is because of the Ukraine/ Russia conflict..
A brief history..
Sunflowers made their way to Ukraine through the efforts of the early explorers of North America, where it was one of only a few native food crops (along with squash, blueberries and pecans). Seeds were brought back to the old world, and found to grow well in hot, dry places with rich soil, such as the “Black Earth” regions of Ukraine..
Later, Soviet plant breeders developed a line of sunflowers that produces much more oil, and oil of a type that doesn’t go bad when it’s heated to a high temperature. In the 1990s, when the world began to turn away from trans-fats, the new sunflower oil quickly became popular– especially for frying potato chips – and even more fields were planted.
Fast forward to today: A viral video appears to show a Ukrainian woman telling Russian soldiers to put seeds in their pockets so flowers will grow when they die in her country.. A viral video appears to show a Ukrainian woman telling Russian soldiers to put seeds in their pockets so flowers will grow when they die in her country..
Ukrainian woman confronts Russian soldiers in Henychesk, Kherson region. Asks them why they came to our land and urges to put sunflower seeds in their pockets [so that flowers would grow when they die on the Ukrainian land] pic.twitter.com/ztTx2qK7kB
The attack happened on Monday when Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a small city about 49 kilometers (30 miles) from the border with Russia and 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Kharkiv.
“Bodies continue to be pulled from underneath the rubble,” Dmytro Zhyvytskyy, the head of the Sumy regional administration, said on Tuesday morning. “Places for about 70 dead Ukrainian soldiers are being prepared in the cemetery.”
Other details about Monday’s attack were not immediately known, but Zhyvytskyy released photos and videos which showed that multiple buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged.
“The enemy also got what it deserved,” he added, while showing photos of 4 bodies which he said belonged to Russian soldiers.
Hundreds of soldiers and civilians have been killed since Russia launched a full invasion of Ukraine. The incident in Okhtyrka appears to be the deadliest attack since the war began.
North Korea is on its way toward developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can hit the United States. Trump has said this is unacceptable. Under Obama, such a viewpoint would have been theoretical and lacked teeth. Under Trump, it’s a different story.
And that may be why the Senate is headed to the White House, something I’ve never heard of before unless it was for a picnic.
A similar briefing for House members is being arranged, according to Reuters
Can we all get a collective chill and ponder aloud as to the future of this world?
TRUMP APRIL 26. TRUMP APRIL 26. TRUMP APRIL 26. TRUMP APRIL 26. TRUMP APRIL 26. TRUMP APRIL 26.
