Ukraine sticker online store and newest war developments? It is dubbed a “special military operation” by the Kremlin, but Russians’ opposition to the war in Ukraine is showing through, according to an intelligence update from Britain’s Defense Ministry on Friday. Speaking out against Russia’s invasion is being criminalized, the ministry noted, adding that the war “has accelerated the state’s long-term trajectory towards authoritarianism” and that Russia’s parliament has moved to introduce 20-year jail terms for Russians who fight or take up arms against the nation. But among everyday Russians, the mood is changing, the ministry said. “Despite the majority of Russians telling pollsters they support the ‘special military operation’, elements of the population both actively and passively demonstrate their opposition,” it said. “Some high profile Russian officials have highly likely been side-lined after criticizing the war.” It said skepticism was “particularly strong” among Russia’s business elite, with migration applications indicating that some 15,000 Russian millionaires “are likely already attempting to leave the country.” Motivations for such an exodus include “personal opposition to the invasion and an intent to escape the financial impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia,” the ministry added. Discover more Ukraine relief info on Ukraine Hoodies.
March 2014: With Russian troops in control of the peninsula, the Crimean parliament votes to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. A public referendum follows, with 97% of voters favoring secession, although the results are disputed. Putin finalizes the Russian annexation of Crimea in a March 18 announcement to Russia’s parliament. In response, the U.S. and allies in Europe impose sanctions on Russia. They have never recognized Russia’s annexation. It remains the only time that a European nation has used military force to seize the territory of another since World War II. April 2014: With some 40,000 Russian troops gathered on Ukraine’s eastern border, violence breaks out in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas — violence that continues to this day. Russian-supported separatist forces storm government buildings in two eastern regions, Donetsk and Luhansk. They declare independence from Ukraine as the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, though they remain internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Russia denies that its troops are on Ukrainian soil, but Ukrainian officials insist otherwise.
May 25: Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the militia of the Russia-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, says Russia is for now abandoning the larger strategy of surrounding all of Ukraine’s forces in the east with a grand pincer movement, instead focusing on piecemeal isolations. Zelenskyy blasts former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for suggesting that Ukraine surrender land to Russia. He likens it to the policy of appeasement in the 1930s. May 26: Russian forces continue a slow encirclement of Severdonetsk, and are reportedly in possession of the northeastern portion of the city. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Anna Malyar says “fighting has reached its maximum intensity. The enemy is storming the positions of our troops in several directions simultaneously”.
As Russian forces begin an all-out assault on Ukraine after months of troop buildup and failed diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and its European allies to head off conflict, the situation for Kyiv is the most high-stakes in the country’s 30-year history. Since breaking from the Soviet Union, Ukraine has wavered between the influences of Moscow and the West, surviving scandal and conflict with its democracy intact. Now it faces its biggest test as Russia threatens its very existence as an independent country. Since the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, many Ukrainians have turned away from Moscow and toward the West, with popular support on the rise for joining Western alliances such as NATO and the European Union.
February 27: Russian troops press towards three cities, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says Russian civilian aircraft are banned from EU airspace, and Russian state-owned media Russia Today, Sputnik and their subsidiaries are banned from EU airwaves and the internet. February 28: The EU approves a 500 million euro ($537m) support package for the Ukrainian military. “This is the first time in history that the EU will be providing lethal equipment to a third country,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says. Total EU aid has since risen to 4.5bn euros ($4.8bn). Ukraine applies to join the EU, which bans transactions with Russia’s central bank. The Russian rouble tumbles 30 percent. See additional Ukraine aid details at https://www.liinks.co/ukraineshirts.