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Last summer, the Taliban rapidly advanced to Kabul as the US departed after 20 years of a failed and futile attempt to turn Afghanistan into a semblance of self-sustaining nation with a democratic government. Afghanistan's soldiers offered no resistance before surrendering. President Ashraf Ghani and the other inept leaders fled before the Taliban were within sight.
In contrast to that, Ukrainian civilians and their soldiers are courageously taking on the much more powerful Russian military and slowing them in their tracks. Ukraine's president is bravely rallying and leading his people. Ukrainians like their western-style way of life and their government and don't like Putin and the Russians.
Ukrainian forces slow Russian advance as the U.S. and its allies take action on Russian banks.
(NY Times)Through intense fighting in the streets of Kyiv and other cities, Ukraine's defense forces and civilian volunteers resisted Russia’s invasion for a third day, battling for control of the capital as international pressure mounted on Moscow and support for Kyiv’s besieged government grew.
Here are the latest developments:
Russian forces bombarded Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, again on Saturday night, after a day of pitched fights around the city. Most of the more than 150,000 Russian troops who had massed around Ukraine are now fighting in the country, U.S. officials said.
The Biden administration and key European allies announced on Saturday that they would remove certain Russian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system, essentially barring them from international transactions.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine tried to rally international support and said in a video that his country’s fighters had “withstood and successfully repelled enemy attacks.”
