Putin beordrar styrkor att gå in i Ukraina - INVASION NU (2022-02-24)

Germany has said this is a pretext and that Moscow is using gas as a weapon to drive up prices and weaken the European Union's resolve over sanctions. Russia denies this and says Western sanctions are the reason for high gas prices.

"The announcement by the Canadian Foreign Minister is confirmation of the exemption granted by the Canadian government in July for the transport of a total of six turbines for the Nordstream 1 pipeline to Germany," Siemens Energy said.

It added one of the turbines had already been in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany, for several weeks after undergoing maintenance at its site in Montreal.

Russian political scientist Sergei Markov, a Putinist and former MP, spoke to the Russian journal *BusinessOnline* about the RF failures. Both [*Dialog*](https://www-dialog-ua.translate.goog/war/267849_1676216307?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_ hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp) and [*Unian*](https://www-unian-net.translate.goog/russianworld/svo-provalilas-v-rossii-pridumali-novuyu-prichinu-porazheniy-svoey-armii-12142830.html?_x_tr_sl=auto &_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp)
report on it and I’ve combined below:


> Russian political scientist and ex-deputy of the State Duma Sergei Markov said that the "special operation" of the Russian Federation in Ukraine failed.

> Putin's confidant contended that it was not the Russian army that turned out to be weak, but rather, the “Ukrainian army is very, very strong. The Ukrainian army is a unique combination of a Russian soldier, a fascist officer and an American general," the pro-Kremlin political scientist said.

> He said that the Russian Federation had been preparing for two types of wars—a nuclear war with the United States and a war with ‘paramilitary formations’ ... like with a type of Syrian-style militants, or Afghan [they’d been told the Armed Forces would flee], but ended up in a third type [of war]. We did not expect this at all. The special operation has practically failed for us. We are waging war with an enemy of equal strength,” he said.

> *He notes that the Russian army had not even managed to suppress the air defense system of Ukraine.* Markov admits that the Kremlin hoped to suppress the Ukrainian air defense, after which the aircraft of the invaders could dominate the air, but this part of the plan also failed. Russian planes do not risk flying over Ukraine. As a rule, they fly up to the border, fire missiles and quickly go deep into the Russian Federation as far as possible so that they are not shot down. The situation is similar with artillery: as soon as the Russians begin to advance, they immediately come under heavy fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, the Russian Federation did not have an army that could adequately resist the Ukrainian military.

> He noted that at such a pace, it will take them about 10-15 years to "capture Kyiv: If we take settlements, like how Soledar and Bakhmut took for several months, then we will reach Kyiv in 10 or 25 years," Markov said.

> The Russian political scientist also said that it is pointless to conduct a second wave of mobilization in the Russian Federation, since they could not arm the previous mobilized.

"They penetrate at high speed, < ... > starting from the limbs and ending with the abdominal, thoracic cavity and even the cavity of the skull. Their correct shape at high speed causes a very serious damaging effect