Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rallied his people, but in a worrying sign for Ukraine, video from Russia's Western border with Ukraine showed TOS-1 heavy flamethrower tanks moving towards its neighbour. The tanks are capable of firing high-power thermobaric weapons - dubbed the 'father of all bombs'.
This is right up there with "remember the Alamo" legend that created the state of Texas, and the "let's roll!" uttered by Todd Beamer on doomed airliner Flight 93 on 9/11, as civilians decided to give their lives fighting Islamic terrorists. Yesterday, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responding to a United States offer to be airlifted to safety, simply said "I don't need a ride, I need ammo". And with that, the Ukraine people have rallied to stage a truly impressive fight against the feared Russian army of Vladimir Putin. But is it enough?
"The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." Exodus 14:14 (KJB)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy may have started out as a comedian who got elected president of Ukraine, but no one is laughing now as one of the greatest displays of bravery in recent memory is on full display. And yes, Ukrainian soldiers have killed over 3,500 of Putin's storm troopers, and captured another 200, something no one saw coming. But are we to believe that Vladimir Putin has spent the last 21 years planning the invasion of Ukraine just to lose it in a week? Something tells me that Putin is about to up the ante, and do something truly horrific. Please keep the brave Ukrainian people in your prayers this weekend, and join us for our Sunday Service where we will pray for them as a church family.
If Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv can hold off the Russian advance on Kyiv for 10 days, the Kremlin may have to enter negotiations
FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: The head of Britain’s MI6 Secret Intelligence Service has said be believes Russia’s war in Ukraine will prove ‘unwinnable’ because President Vladimir Putin will never attain political victory over the country's people.
Richard Moore, the chief of MI6, wrote how a report suggesting Putin’s forces will ultimately fail in Ukraine because it underestimated its neighbour’s military strength and fierce determination ‘makes sense to me’. The article Moor, 58, was reacting to was penned by Lawrence Freedman, the Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London.
In the article titled ‘A Reckless Gamble’, Professor Freedman said Putin had ‘become obsessed with Ukraine, and prone to outrageous theories which appear as pretexts for war but which may also reflect his views.’ He wrote that victory for Moscow does not come in the form of a successful invasion that overthrows Ukraine’s government, but with winning over the people of Ukraine. This, the professor writes, is something Russia does not have the strength for.
‘Even if the government loses control of the capital and is forced to flee, and the command systems for Ukrainian forces start to break down, that does not mean that Russia has won the war,’ he wrote.
In an unusual move for the chief of MI6, Moor shared the article with his over 130,000 Twitter followers, writing: ‘Fascinating. Makes sense to me.’
In a rebuke of Putin’s human rights record, Moor also wrote around the same time in a separate tweet: ‘With the tragedy and destruction unfolding so distressingly in Ukraine, we should remember the values and hard-won freedoms that distinguish us from Putin, none more than LGBT+ rights.’ Moor's endorsement of the article came as other intelligence sources claimed Putin’s war with Ukraine is not going to plan due to Kremlin ‘overconfidence’, poor tactical planning, and ‘shock’ at the fierce resistance put up by brave Ukrainians fighting for their nation's survival.
Dramatic video on Saturday showed a destroyed Russian convoy with Z-markings near Kherson in the south of the country on the third day of fighting after Ukraine’s army held control of Kyiv and last night successfully repelled Russian advances on the capital.
In addition to the video of the destroyed convoy, another video purportedly showed the destruction of a 20-vehicle Russia military column in Kharkiv. Images of the carnage is the snow - from which it is suspected there were no survivors - appear to show Putin’s invasion suffering brutal losses. Kyiv’s defence ministry has so far put Russia’s losses at around 2,800 troops, 80 tanks, 516 armoured vehicles, and 10 airplanes and seven helicopters so far.
The Russian army has now been ordered to broaden its advance ‘from all directions’, with Kyiv residents braced Saturday for another night sheltering underground, as Russian troops closed in on the capital and skirmishes were reported on the outskirts. However, a senior US defence officials claimed Russia is facing more resistance than Moscow anticipated in its invasion of Ukraine, and appears to have lost some of its momentum. Professor Freedman's article backed this theory. He wrote: 'Despite the superiority of Russian forces they made less progress than might have been expected on the first day of the war when they had the advantages of tactical surprise and potentially overwhelming numbers.
'The Ukrainians demonstrated a spirited resistance and imposed casualties on the invaders,' he added.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military is asking people to remove the names of streets, cities and villages from road signs in their regions in order to ‘confuse and disorient the enemy’. In a tweet, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said: ‘We will do everything possible to clear Ukraine of the Russian occupier as soon as possible!’.
A sign over a part of the Boryspil highway triumphantly declared: ‘Russian warship, go f**k yourself!’, in reference to the killing of a small group of Ukrainian border guards stationed at Snake Island off the coast of Ukraine after they refused to surrender to Kremlin forces. Estonia’s former defence chief Riho Terras has now claimed that Putin’s war is not going to plan because Russia is fast running out of money and weapons, and will have to enter negotiations with Volodymyr Zelensky’s government if Kyiv holds off the Russians for 10 days.
Russia’s tyrant has allegedly convened a meeting with the oligarchs in a bunker in the Ural Mountains, at which it is claimed that he furiously vented that he thought the war would be ‘easy’ and ‘everything would be done in one to four days’. Citing Ukrainian intelligence sources, Terras claimed that the war is costing Russia around £15billion-per-day, and that they have rockets for three to four days at most, which they are using sparingly.
He claimed that Putin’s plan has relied on panicking the country, firing missiles at residential buildings ‘at random’ to ‘intimidate’ the Ukrainians, trigger mass army desertions, national surrender, and Zelensky’s flight from the country. Terras also alleged that Russian special operations have been near Kyiv since February 18, and had planned to swiftly seize the capital and install a puppet regime.
‘The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered. The Ukrainians must avoid panic! ... Ukraine must stay strong and we must provide assistance!’, he wrote on Twitter.
However, in a worrying sign for Ukraine, video from Russia's Western border with Ukraine showed TOS-1 heavy flamethrower tanks moving towards its neighbour. The tanks are capable of firing high-power thermobaric weapons - dubbed the 'father of all bombs'. In Russian, 'TOS' stands for 'heavy flame thrower'. However, what the TOS-1 launches is perhaps even more frightening - fuel-air explosives (FAE) that cause a 'wall of napalm'. As the bomb explodes, it scatters dust that ignites when it meets oxygen, causing the very air around it to appear as if it is bursting into flames. READ MORE
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