Japan Today
world

Russian troops enter Ukraine's 2nd largest city

46 Comments
By YURAS KARMANAU, JIM HEINTZ, VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and ZEKE MILLER

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


46 Comments

Comments have been disabled You can no longer respond to this thread.

Putin has had a brain malfunction. He's a paranoid madman now. The oligarchs are even realising that the lunatic is a complete liability.

Like a mob boss that gets too drunk on his own power, usually there is someone in the structure that takes him out. Fingers crossed.

25 ( +36 / -11 )

The world sees Vlad the Butcher for what he really is - a demented madman, killing innocent Ukrainian citizens by the scores...

He has sealed his identity in history - a bloody dictator on par with Hitler and Stalin...

21 ( +32 / -11 )

Russia claims its assault on Ukraine from the north, east and south is aimed only at military targets, but bridges, schools and residential neighborhoods have been hit.

Sounds similar to Russia and its supporters said about Syria.

Given the reported scale of the invasion of Ukraine and the kinds of equipment that has been reported to have been moved in, this invasion must have been planned for a long time. Those who claimed the west was exaggerating and warmongering saying Putin was planning an invasion and that Putin wasn't lying have been shown to be falsehood swallowing, loyal true-believers in their 'Lord' while claiming their beloved warmonger idol is being victimized by the MSM as the body counts rise. Curious whether the Russian media have reported any Russian casualties. Yet still the Putinphiles will claim the west is worse. Then say something about events from decades ago. And the defenders of the global oil barons will say the planet needs to stay dependent on burning huge amounts of oil and gas, that the world isn't ready for alternatives. Just keep on fracking so other fossils can keep the fossil cycle going.

1 ( +13 / -12 )

In the above: Sounds similar to what Russia and its supporters said about Syria.

0 ( +9 / -9 )

An earlier story noted that each Ukrainian adult had been issued a rifle. What a tragedy, what a waste: the endgame is clear: Russia will lose. But the human loss this entails is heartbreaking.

7 ( +18 / -11 )

Hoping and praying the Ukrainians hit the invaders and defend their homeland with everything they have - and then some. I hope the tens of thousands of Molotov cocktails the citizens have prepared rain down on the brutal Russians, who have been shelling civilian apartment buildings and running their tanks over unarmed civilians in their cars.

We stand with you, Ukraine.

11 ( +20 / -9 )

I am sure Putin's propaganda trolls will be posting again shortly defending his action. However, it is clear that Ukraine is putting up a much stronger fight than Putin imagined and reports he is extremely frustrated now with the speed and resistance. The majority of the rest of the world has strongly united against him and taking stronger actions than he anticipated. In Russia, he is facing all sorts of criticism from sports figures, celebrities, and other intellectuals. Massive protests but the government is doing everything possible to block these on TV and social media. Stay strong Ukraine.

16 ( +23 / -7 )

Totally madness by a delusional man that is trying (and will fail) to revive the Soviet Union.

And we thought that crazy dictators a la Hitler were gone with the last century.

And here we are in 2022 with a mass murder as dictator killing innocent people.

Absolutely disgusting.

19 ( +27 / -8 )

There are many Pro Russians hiding in the ranks of the Ukraine defenders sending important intelligence to the invaders. Ukraine is fighting on two front but doing so with grim courage.

Weapons are being sent to assist Ukraine forces and even my country has gone from sending non lethal aid only, to funding lethal aid, arms and munitions to Ukrainian defenders through established European corridors. As more nations do so the weapons available to defend and once over run to resist the Russians grows. Russia will term them terrorists and the majority of the world will call them the resistance and freedom fighters.

Russia can now blame nobody but Putin for the death and destruction ahead. Like most of the world already does.

War is stupid. So is Putin.

16 ( +23 / -7 )

I admire Ukrainians fighting heroically to defend their country from the Russian invaders. I’m no big fan of Putin but we might look at the situation from the Russia perspective. A Ukraine as a NATO member would be a knife against Russia’s soft belly. Putin couldn’t allow that to happen.

-19 ( +7 / -26 )

I wish the Russian army realizes that the only way to avoid more bloodshed is to overthrow putin.

He’s already killed thousands of innocent soldiers and even more are going to die unless putin is removed!!!

15 ( +22 / -7 )

A Ukraine as a NATO member would be a knife against Russia’s soft belly. Putin couldn’t allow that to happen.

The obvious solution to any perceived threat from NATO would be to make friends with them instead of making them an enemy.

Russia and the west managed cooperation after the wall came down. Disarming old Soviet nuclear weapons outside Russia, and dismantling old nuclear reactors in decommissioned Soviet submarines and financed by the west. The road to peace and cooperation was there and being welcomed by both sides. Until Putin decided that being friends and cooperating was not in Russian interests as Russia should be a world power on its own. This is not from history books, I lived through those times. German friends celebrating in pubs with German reunification. They joy in Europe as the wall dividing it crumbled.

Putin has much to answer for with his choice to make the West an enemy again. Russia could have joined the EU but would have been once voice in many and not directly in charge. He wanted a strong Russia and nobody can fault a leader wanting their nation to be strong. But he also wanted power over other nations around him and in Europe.

He continues to build a Russian empire to be remembered (liked or not) through history as a leader who altered the destiny of hundreds of millions in Europe. This step is one of many already taken, bigger than most, but by no means the last step or the biggest.

The second largest city of modern Ukrainian civilization is suffering destruction, murder and slavery at Putin's dirty hands. It will not be the last city to suffer such a fate at his hands.

7 ( +14 / -7 )

Putin couldn’t allow that to happen.

Yes, Putin could and should have allowed that to happen. Ukraine is a sovereign nation and needs to be treated as one, Ukrainian people should have been allowed to help their elected leaders decide which group they want to affiliate with. Ukraine is a democracy, after all.

But Putin's a megalomaniac who's got a Napoleon complex and seems to want to go down in history as the Russian leader who ruled the largest territory. It lloks like he's competing with Stalin to replace him as most popular Russian in history. Even though Stalin was a Georgian by birth. And so far, at least as far as anyone knows, Putin hasn't killed as many people as Stalin did, but if Putin keeps attacking sovereign nations he might get to Stalin's level. But it's doubtful anyone in Russia will know how many he killed, because Putin like Stalin and all dictators controls information and media..

5 ( +10 / -5 )

They sent in a battalion of Chechen’s today who were incidentally all killed

can this be confirmed ?

if yes, the world is a better place without those scum

0 ( +9 / -9 )

Kharkiv is probably a rehearsal for street fighting in Kyiv. Putin, the butcher of Grozny, is reportedly using Chechen cannon fodder to save on Russian body bags. Ukrainians will show no mercy to captured mercenary interlopers from the Caucasus.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

I think entered? Little bit soft wording. As for Chechens, well a mob of hit men with little regard for anybody might be closer to the truth. A terror weapon, Rather then a military useful group. Dalwinger Brigade type. Look it up. That’s how low the Putin regime needs to stoop.

4 ( +9 / -5 )

but we might look at the situation from the Russia perspective. A Ukraine as a NATO member would be a knife against Russia’s soft belly. 

let’s stop it with this excuse as justification for Putin’s actions - it’s lame.

How about we fix your comment -

‘but we might look at the situation from the Ukrainian perspective. A Ukraine as a non-NATO member would make a perfect target for a Russian invasion’

5 ( +10 / -5 )

MeiyouwentiToday  05:34 pm JST

A Ukraine as a NATO member would be a knife against Russia’s soft belly. Putin couldn’t allow that to happen.

All Putin had to do was maintain good safe relations with Ukraine so that they would not apply for NATO membership. So by your argument the 6 other European nations that border Russia are also all knives pointed at Russia's underside and Putin will have to invade them too?

There is no excuse for Putin's actions.

11 ( +15 / -4 )

Zelenskyy vows to stay on, even in the face of death, for the sake of the people he leads.

Putin vows to destroy all (at the protected end of his long table), even if it kills countless others, for the sake of himself.

One of these men is a true and moral leader.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

They sent in a battalion of Chechen’s today who were incidentally all killed, but if that’s ok, it’s high time the west sent in their own mercenaries to support a vastly outnumbered army.

A battalion is between 300 and a 1000 soldiers.

Strange, The Russians are reporting that Chechens ( a group that is despised in Russia) are fighting for Ukraine.

I guess you can't believe everything that you see on the net.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/02/03/veteran-chechen-commander-killed-fighting-in-ukraine-a43523

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

War is aweful.

But dont compare putin to stalin or hitler on a Japanese site because emperor hirohito was much worse and not too long ago.

War is aweful.

-15 ( +1 / -16 )

A Ukraine as a NATO member would be a knife against Russia’s soft belly. Putin couldn’t allow that to happen.

I’m sick of hearing this BS excuse parroted to defend this lunacy. Ukraine wasn’t anywhere near joining NATO and even if it was it is a sovereign country that can choose to do so if it wants to even if Russia doesn’t like it.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Strange, The Russians are reporting that Chechens ( a group that is despised in Russia) are fighting for Ukraine.

I guess you can't believe everything that you see on the net.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/02/03/veteran-chechen-commander-killed-fighting-in-ukraine-a43523

I ain’t opening a link from the Moscow Times but judging from the URL it is 7 years old.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Ukraine is a true war zone and a humanitarian disaster so why has Japan not offered a visa free entry for the refugees?

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Some of us in fact most of us understand war is bad and want this war to be over sooner rather than later. Some of us in fact most of us understand that if NATO is drawn into conflict the situation will be much worse. No matter what you think of putin or what has happened the energy should be and always should be on reducing the war and getting people around the table.

Agreed. The faster the Ukrainians destroy the fascist Russians attacking them the better.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Hopefully these foreign invaders will get their butts kicked.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Some reports that Putin has Parkinsons, and that the meds he is on is grossly affecting his cognitive functions. Could be some truth to this considering the way he is acting making threats about releasing nukes.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Pray for these brave individuals who are fighting for their homeland. Tyrants like Putin are seeing weakness and are using these times to further their long term goals. See what happens when tyrants start slowly and put in place rules and slowly clampdown on dissent. At first people accept it, then they start to question it, then they are afraid to step up or speak out, then they say “we were just following orders”. It starts small and if you let people like Trudeau and other leaders of other countries that are shutting down individuals and there freedom, they will continue to take more. It’s time for countries to stand up against these tyrants and stop stomping on their own citizens with ridiculous rules and regulations that are destroying livelihoods. Next countries should start putting into place deterrents and other measures to protect Taiwan. You know China is seeing this weakness as an opportunity to take back Taiwan.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Anyone who thought Putin ISN'T evil, are you now convinced?

Russia is getting their azzes kicked. They are getting desperate and reckless. Their troops are unmotivated. Ukraine is highly motivated - they have a democracy to defend. Their citizens are lining up to repel the Russian invasion.

Putin made a HUGE miscalculation.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

Ukraine’s defence ministry is reporting that Russia has lost 4300 soldiers so far.

For perspective, that means they have lost almost twice as many troops in just 3 days of fighting as the US lost in 20 years of fighting in Afghanistan.

Keep fighting, Ukraine, the world is on your side.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

As Russia throws its much larger and better armed military at Ukraine in order to remove freedom from their people, Putin is finding many more people than he realized, or had been told by his security people are prepared to defend Ukraine freedom. So many ordinary citizens are actually willing to fight and die to maintain their freedoms. The very loud pro Russian minority in parts of Ukraine have mislead Putin as to the number of supporters they have in Ukraine. This miscalculation is showing that there really is a vast majority of Ukrainian citizens that back the current government and direction of freedom their nation has chosen.

It comes as a shock to Putin who may have genuinely believed that many more Ukrainians wanted closer ties to Russia than Western Europe. They do not, and men and women arming themselves with small arms and the odd grenade and shoulder fired missile are lining up to repel the invaders.

Unable to admit wrongdoing Putin can not simply withdraw. It is all or nothing unless he manages to save face with some sort of negotiated peace. This also throws into question just what percentage of people in the terrorist enclave actually support the pro Russian stance. And the same in Crimea.

Hard to know as being honest can get you killed when faced with armed pro Russian terrorists who want their way or else.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

What is the Ukrainians are not defeated by conventional means?

Does this mean that Vladimir Putin will use more deadly weapons?

If this is the case then the nuclear option might be on the table and then we will see a third world war

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Its just got a little bit madder. Truss of UK supporting English people who want to go to Ukraine and fight. I am sure some will go but will soon regret it once the cold, hunger and danger of it dawns on them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApQzRP9DiKU

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

I'm a bit worried what the Russian's will do if they start to lose. They have some very serious weaponry.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

As Putin's Russia savagely invades Ukraine it's a big wonder why the UN is not sending peacekeeping troops for humanitarian purposes.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

As Putin's Russia savagely invades Ukraine it's a big wonder why the UN is not sending peacekeeping troops for humanitarian purposes.

There is no wonder. Russia has a veto in the security council so any attempt will fail. That is why power of veto should be removed from all five permanents SC members and why there should no longer be any permanent members.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

They sent in a battalion of Chechen’s today who were incidentally all killed, but if that’s ok, it’s high time the west sent in their own mercenaries to support a vastly outnumbered army.

And why is the west not willing to send the regular army, ukranians and that too the neo-nazi ukranians have realized that they are on there own.. no one is willing to commit paramilitary forces..strange allies..

-10 ( +0 / -10 )

The UN's paralyzed inaction to Putin's savage killings of Ukraine's men, women, children and the elderly makes the institution obsolete and an associate of the invaders.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Fighto...

I hope the tens of thousands of Molotov cocktails the citizens have prepared rain down on the brutal Russians, who have been shelling civilian apartment buildings and running their tanks over unarmed civilians in their cars.

The "Molotov cocktails" are for your benefit to watch on TV, absolutely useless in this conflict. The missile that we saw hitting the thankfully, empty apartment building, was a Buk -M1 ground to air missile fired by the Ukrainians. The guy in the car was breaking his own governments curfew. The armored troop carrier skidded out of control and rolled over the car. Somehow the driver survived, the Russians didn't stop to give aid or exchange insurance details which is not very nice of them.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

The Ukrainian government have announced that any foreign freedom fighters are welcome.

I’m sure there’ll be no shortage of volunteers

11 ( +14 / -3 )

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites