what would you take Imagine the moment – to hear the sound of sirens, the bang of guns, the crash of bombs – when you know you have to run away from your favorite home to any safe place.

You grab a bag or two – you can’t carry much – your children are crying, your heart is cold with terror. Do you take your little one’s favorite teddy bear?

Will you put this precious picture in the frame of your late parents in your backpack while holding back tears for the sake of the children?

Ukrainian civilians who came to Poland because of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine are seen at the station in the city of Medica

Armed military police talk to gendarmes as they watch refugees flee the conflict in neighboring Ukraine on the Romanian-Ukrainian border in Siret, Romania

Of course, someone has to carry your cat, your dog, because they are also a family.

The nightmare of the Ukrainian people is very real and in this, the 21st century, we have a place in the ring of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Through the internet and the tireless efforts of news crews, reporters and photographers, we are witnessing the grief and the interior of a European nation attacked by a ruthless tyrant.

Seeing the dramatic images and reading the details of how the horrific events unfold, what else can we do but feel a powerless mixture of horror, sadness and rage on their behalf?

But, of course, we can do more. In moments like this, it is not enough to shed a tear at the heartbreaking picture of a small child screaming in terror in front of a crowded train window.

Such powerful images have the power to cut through the applause of a dictator and the rhetoric of international leaders and the mind-boggling details of international finance, sanctions, and so on.

Cars lined up on the way to the Shekhini border checkpoint as people flee to Poland after the Russian invasion

They must be allowed to speak to our hearts.

Now is the time to allow these people to like us as fellow men, women and children as we reach out with the practical help they so desperately need.

Yes, of course, it is important that people in Western countries take to the streets to protest the war.

But the horrible images of lives turned upside down call to us for concrete support in terms of money.

Perhaps we are witnessing the worst refugee crisis on the European continent since the fall of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

That is why the Daily Mail joins our sister newspaper Mail on Sunday to call for donations to help the innocent people of Ukraine.

Refugees fleeing the conflict in neighboring Ukraine walk in a refugee camp set up on a football field in Siret, Romania

Oh, it’s easy to turn away from events in a foreign land. It’s too easy to say, “It’s not my problem.”

But when you see pictures on the streets of Kiev – noticing the type of cafe you enter on the way to work, a beauty salon where women like you do their nails, a large supermarket for the weekly family store, etc. on – look at a bustling European city like ours, where people like us fall in love, grieve, study, worry about grandma and want the best for their children, as we do.

When I read about the hundreds of thousands of displaced women and children separated by husbands and fathers and stumbling long, cold, icy miles to the Polish and Romanian borders of Ukraine, I couldn’t help but think of my own family.

What if my own daughter had to flee in terror with her two children, leaving her husband a soldier, my beloved son-in-law, to fight?

Making that emotional leap and imagining your own family torn apart doesn’t mean making their suffering all for you; on the contrary, it is to invoke one of the most precious and sublime aspects of humanity.

“Empathy” means understanding and feeling another person’s situation as if it were yours. This goes far beyond simple “sympathy” – or pity for someone.

No, life empathy is the enormous imaginary energy that catapults you into their hearts.

What if the bombs fall on Manchester? What if your 19-year-old son was lying on his stomach with a weapon ready to defend your city?

What if your sister gives birth to her baby in a subway station full of terrified people?

Would you join your friends and neighbors in a panicked improvised weapons production line to keep the invaders away from your street?

Maybe your hometown is twinned with another city elsewhere. You may remember that the post-World War II twinning movement was seen as a way to bring European people closer together and to promote cross-border projects and peace.

In other words, the universal dream of humanity, which is usually destroyed by politicking and power.

But we must cling to the dream and never let it go. That is why I am pleased to write that Kiev is still twinned with Edinburgh, Donetsk with Sheffield, Luhansk with Cardiff, Lviv with Rochdale, Odessa with Liverpool… and I am sure there should be more.

The idea of ​​”twinning” may be symbolic, but it matters. To feel the plight of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine as if it were our own means to make a powerful statement about all that is best for the human spirit.

We are moved by the agony of those who have left their homes in fear because we know how we would feel in the same circumstances.

And in that case, won’t we hope and pray with all our hearts and souls, strangers somewhere to open their hearts and help us?

Nearly 15 years of writing on my Saturday Mail Advice column have brought me very close to my readers – and that’s why I know what good hearts you have.

The generous people of Poland and Romania have already shown what it means to offer immediate practical help to Ukraine’s needy neighbors as they desperately cross borders.

We are not so close in the UK, but we can still dig deep, knowing that the crisis can only get worse.

Clothing, food, medical supplies and shelter are already in short supply and reputable charities are making concrete plans to help the affected families in the best possible way.

But let’s be realistic: it will require a lot of money. My money and yours. Please help us to help them.

More than 900 people were detained in 44 cities yesterday after anti-war protests erupted in Russia.

Here in Moscow, the regime took no chances, filling boulevards and squares with police and troops.

In Pushkin Square, a planned protest was stopped by several hundred officers in urban camouflage uniforms and helmets with visors, located in groups of three and five yards apart in every public space.

Threatening men in civilian clothes but with black cloth face masks stood at the entrances to malls, shops and clubs, ready to repel protesters if they tried to escape.

Small groups of young people, who listened to the calls on social networks for protest, stood around, nervously chatting and smoking.

At the moment, both repression and propaganda machines are working effectively to keep the Russian people in terrible awe of their leader.

Each time a group of six or more formed, police raided, demanding documents and handbags and backpacks.

A young man who dared to shout “No to war!” His hands were pressed behind his back by three “astronauts” – slang for members with helmets of the famous brutal paramilitary police of Omon – and was taken by a frog to a line of waiting police officers vans.

On Gogolevsky Boulevard last night, near the Kremlin towers, a group of nearly 100 people gathered for an anti-war prayer in a nearby cathedral quickly found themselves surrounded and captured by police forces, at least twice their number.

A lieutenant from Omon approached me as I stood next to three young directors with cameras tucked under their coats.

After a short calculation, he decided not to detain us. But he growled a threatening order.

“My friend. Throw away that cigarette.

The young operator obeyed quickly.

In cafes around the city, young people exchanged news from Meduza, an independent online news site now based in Latvia after being expelled from Russia, and exchanged footage of their friends in police vans.

Yasha, a 21-year-old theater student, said: “Once you are arrested, you are imprisoned for two days and you get a criminal record.

“For the second time, it’s three months. And they throw out of college or their job. This is really horrible.

Nearly 3,000 people have been detained in Russia since the invasion began.

An already repressive treason law – which provides for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison – has been updated to include “any action that benefits or assists the enemy”.

The amendment was clearly intended to criminalize anti-war protests with severe punishment.

Today there are two Moscow and two Russia. One made up mostly of young and technology-savvy people who have access to independent news on the internet; others, older and less educated, who still depend on state television for information

Access to Facebook, popular with anti-Putin Russians, has been suspended.

Instagram, Twitter, Google and YouTube may soon follow the sanctions-inspired ban on all revenue from these platforms, which goes to Russian government-linked entities.

Telegram, a more secure social media site where protest organizers share information about planned meetings, is being closely monitored by the Federal Security Service and police, which saturate planned protest areas with officials as soon as they are announced.

The Russian government has also announced a Soviet-style ban on all references to “war” or “invasion” in any media – declaring the aggression against Ukraine to be called a “limited military operation.”

At the same time, the Kremlin’s media machine has stepped up in an attempt to convince Russian viewers and listeners that the Kremlin is “liberating” Ukraine from a “fascist” US-backed puppet government.

Dmitry Kiselyov, one of the Kremlin’s most venomous television propagandists, accused German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of “solidarity with today’s genocide”, which Kiselyov, like Putin’s parrot, said was being used against Russian-speakers in Ukraine.

Yet the reality of Western sanctions on the Russian economy – in particular the suspension of Swift’s banks, the international interbank transfer system – is already becoming apparent.

In many branches of Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, ATMs are running out and yesterday withdrawals were limited to just 300 rubles – about £ 2.50.

However, there are Muscovites who continue to support Putin. ‘

“Everything will end quickly as soon as we get these fascists out of Kiev,” said Marina Gordeeva, 38, a producer on a TV shopping channel.

“The Ukrainian people will thank us.”

Many other Russians remain convinced that the conflict was provoked by the West.

“NATO pushed us into this war,” said Vladimir Butirkin, 61, a retired truck driver.

“We are a peaceful nation. Nobody in Russia wanted that. Ukrainians are our brothers – but sometimes you have to fix your brothers when they come up with stupid ideas.

Today there are two Moscow and two Russia.

One made up mostly of young and technology-savvy people who have access to independent news on the internet; others, older and less educated, who still depend on state television for information.

Surveys show that the latter groups make up about 70 percent of the population.

In his 20s in power, Putin has assembled a huge army of police, Interior Ministry troops and 350,000 Russian National Guards with the exact aim of suppressing public dissent.

If Putin’s army stops facing more than expected resistance and its economy collapses under the pressure of unprecedented sanctions, more Russians will begin to doubt the party line.

He also created a highly professional and well-funded propaganda machine.

If Putin’s army stops facing more than expected resistance and its economy collapses under the pressure of unprecedented sanctions, more Russians will begin to doubt the party line.

But for now, both repression and propaganda machines are working effectively to keep the Russian people in terrible awe of their leader.

Sisters Victoria and Diana Petrova are the lucky ones who escaped the bloodshed and reached Poland – but it was a difficult journey to safety.

They spent the first night on Vladimir PutinThe bombing slept roughly with his family in a parking lot in Kiev.

But last night, teenagers and their 46-year-old mother, Elena, took refuge in one of nine centers set up by Polish authorities for Ukrainians fleeing bloodshed. The center is in Korcova, which is close to the Polish-Ukrainian border.

“It was not safe to sleep in the basement,” said the visibly exhausted 19-year-old Victoria. The only alternative was the subway, but there was no space.

Polish border guards carry child to Poland-Ukraine border post after Russia launches large-scale military operation against Ukraine in Medica, Poland

The family, who are from Zaporizhia in southeastern Ukraine, spent two days in traffic jams trying to escape before crossing the border into Poland.

Ukrainian refugees crossing on foot were picked up by buses by border guards. Some were even transported by ordinary Poles who volunteered to help.

The family described how locals responded to a call to help their neighbors as they fled Russia’s military attack.

“Poles were waiting at the border with lots of food and warm clothes,” said 14-year-old Diana as she sat on a makeshift bed in the former refugee camp.

Mrs. Petrova smiled with gratitude, telling about the kindness shown. The family told the Daily Mail that a stranger had offered them an elevator to Lubin, a six-hour drive near the German border.

“We are safe now,” Ms. Petrova said. “Maybe the situation in Ukraine will not last that long and we will be able to return in a week or two.”

The large aircraft hangar-like building, now called Kiev Hall, has 600 makeshift camp beds. The operation is led by the Polish military, which takes over the logistics and distributes supplies to those in need.

Donations of food, clothing, medicine and even toys were distributed after massive efforts by locals in Poland.

Ukrainian refugees arrive by train from Kiev at Warszawa Wschodnia station in Warsaw, Poland

In the camp, food is left in cardboard boxes and shopping carts to be collected by refugees.

17-year-old Gaia Kosholko and her school friend Martina Farion, 18, spent yesterday handing out teddy bears to younger children.

Isabella Novak, 31, told the Mail how she assembled a group of 30 volunteers to create a soup kitchen for refugees.

“We will be here as long as necessary,” she said.

Miss Novak works in a computer shop run by 38-year-old Adam Holboy, who decided to close his business to help Ukrainians.

Last night the Mail saw how the locals withstood the freezing temperatures to welcome the newcomers.

They gathered in front of Kiev Hall when two buses, both full of people, stopped and offered free taxis to other parts of the country. Some had even come from afar to help.

Ukrainian family eats on their camp beds in an emergency center set up for refugees from the Ukrainian war in a warehouse in Korchova

Frank Cork, a 27-year-old wind turbine technician, said he drove from Prague overnight to be here to take the Ukrainians to safety.

“I felt it was better than just watching what was happening on TV,” Mr Cork said. “We Czechs were also under Soviet occupation, so I wanted to help.”

Polish volunteer drivers pass through the building, calling out their destination with the loudest voice. – Is there anyone in Berlin? A man shouted.

But last night, there were reports that African migrants in Ukraine were blocked from entering Poland. A man said he and his family had been removed from the border and said “no blacks”, The Independent reported.

Most of the newcomers spend only a few hours here before going to hotels, apartments or staying with relatives in other parts of Poland. The center has a high turnover, with people coming and going for almost an hour.

An NGO official who declined to be named said there had been an increase in weekends. “It’s really chaos here now,” he said. “We are trying to find beds for people or at least places to go.

“Most of those who cross the border seem to want to stay in Poland or go to Germany.”

Ever since the last days of World War II, when clouds of mushrooms rose over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, humanity has been living in the shadow of nuclear war.

As a student in the 1980s, I vividly remember the paranoia of the following decades. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, I assumed that those days were over.

But now, with Vladimir PutinThe chilling statement that he is putting Russia’s nuclear forces on “special alert” against the West is once again in a world haunted by Armageddon’s nightmares.

Should we take Putin’s nuclear threat seriously? As shocking as the last few days have been, I find it hard to believe that he will invite a full-scale war. But no one who has read about the massacre in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where more than 200,000 civilians are believed to have been killed, can feel remotely satisfied.

As a student in the 1980s, I vividly remember the paranoia of the following decades. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, I assumed that those days were over

It is appalling that today’s nuclear weapons are far more deadly than their predecessors. And if you read the recently declassified Cold War documents of the National Archives, you will find that even in the 1950s and 1960s, the death toll here in Britain after a nuclear exchange was expected to reach tens of millions.

Older readers will remember, of course, that we have been close to the edge before. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, the secret installation of Soviet nuclear weapons on Fidel Castro’s island in the Caribbean provoked an outraged reaction from the United States and almost provoked World War III.

For 13 long, horrible days, the world trembled on the edge. For the first time in history, US President John F. Kennedy raised the nuclear alarm on Defcon 2 – the highest level since the actual war.

Some U.S. generals have called on him to order preemptive air strikes against Cuban bases. If he had followed their advice, the result would almost certainly have been a full-scale conflict.

The Soviet cargo ship Anosov was escorted by a Navy plane and the destroyer USS Barry while leaving Cuba in 1962.

But Kennedy kept his cool. Instead, he declared maritime quarantine around Cuba, and although Soviet ships sailed very close, Kremlin Nikita Khrushchev eventually blinked. The Soviet leadership agreed to withdraw its missiles from Cuba. In return, the Americans quietly pulled their own missiles out of Turkey, and the world sighed with relief.

Although the Cuban Missile Crisis remains the worst omission in history, there have been others. As tensions escalated during the Arab-Israeli war in October 1973, with reports of possible Soviet military intervention against Israel, Richard Nixon raised the alarm on Defcon 3, although this was not widespread.

An even more horrific moment occurred in November 1983, when the Kremlin completely misread NATO’s massive military game codenamed Able Archer.

Convinced that Ronald Reagan was on the verge of ordering a preemptive strike, the Soviet leadership warned its agents around the world that the war could only be over. At a Moscow clinic where Soviet leader Yuri Andropov was dying, a military aide was waiting by his bed, ready to send nuclear codes. The minutes passed, the tension almost unbearable.

Ever since the last days of World War II, when mushroom clouds rose over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (above), humanity has been living in the shadow of nuclear war.

Only when the fighting game Able Archer ended without an attack, the Russians realized that their fears were unfounded.

But Putin’s threat feels different. This is not a mistake; it is a deliberate, cold-blooded threat from a violent, angry, and increasingly paranoid man.

During his indiscriminate declaration of war on Ukraine last week, the Russian strongman warned that the West would “face consequences greater than any you have ever encountered in history” if it dared to intervene. Three days ago, he again warned of “military and political consequences” if Finland and Sweden join NATO.

And now, in his latest chilling address to the Russian people, he seems to be preparing the ground for a possible nuclear strike – something completely unimaginable just a few days ago.

I may be naive, but I cannot believe that the Russian president will voluntarily initiate a nuclear conflict in which tens of millions of his own people will surely be destroyed.

What frightens me, however, is the possibility that with growing discontent, growing economic pressure and the sinking of his army, this vicious, resentful man may embark on a desperate attempt to save his regime.

Older readers will remember, of course, that we have been close to the edge before. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, the secret installation of Soviet nuclear weapons on the Caribbean island of Fidel Castro provoked an outraged reaction from the United States and almost provoked World War III.

Can he prepare Russian public opinion for the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Ukrainian military positions? Can he seriously consider a nuclear strike against the city of Kiev?

A week ago, I would have considered such proposals completely fantastic, something like a terrible nightmare. But after the horrors of the last few days, with an increasingly unstable and irrational dictator in the Kremlin, I no longer feel so confident.

But one thing is for sure. The Russian president would not have made such threats unless he believed we were weak and was convinced that we would collapse.

Last week he had to teach us the folly of atonement. And even in the face of its terrifying noise, we must keep our nerves and stand up for freedom.

The Pacific Northwest is bracing for what meteorologists are calling an “atmospheric river,” a stream of water vapor due to arrive from the Pacific on Sunday evening and bring heavy rain and flooding on Wednesday.

The main impact of the storm system was expected in the mountains of northern Oregon and western Washington, where up to seven inches of rain can inundate rivers flowing from mountain ranges, said Dustin Guy, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Seattle.

“These amounts, combined with fairly high levels of snow, can significantly increase water levels in our rivers,” Mr Guy said.

It was too early on Sunday afternoon to know which rivers might be the most flooded, Mr Guy said, so the weather service had yet to issue any flood warnings.

Parts of Oregon and Western Washington had winter weather warnings in place as heavy rain was expected from Sunday evening through Tuesday morning. Seattle weather service. Lighter rain is forecast for Wednesday, with possible flooding starting late Monday or Tuesday.

Gusty winds and “distant, energetic ocean waves” are expected along the coast. Weather service in Portland, Oregon.

You thought winter was over, didn’t you? Seattle Weather Service reports. Twitter on Sunday morning. “Well, it’s not.”

Mr Guy said it was “definitely not unusual” that there is an atmospheric river in the west at this time of the year, with only a few weeks left before the end of the rainy season.

An atmospheric river is a trail of water vapor that moves through the sky in much the same way that a river moves through the earth. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Think of it as “a long ribbon of very humid air pointing right at us,” Mr. Guy said.

This week’s atmospheric river will be at least the second to hit the western United States in the past few months.

In October atmospheric river converged with a bomb cyclone cause heavy rainfall in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nearly 100,000 customers lost power due to landslides and hazardous road conditions in areas of Northern California.

The Russian communications regulator has demanded this Google restores access to its state-sponsored YouTube media channels in Ukraine after accusing Facebook and other major technology companies of “censorship” to limit its programs.

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulator, said on Sunday that it had written a letter to Alphabet Inc., Google and YouTube’s parent company, demanding that all restrictions imposed on state media such as RBC, TV Zvezda and Sputnik be lifted.

YouTube blocked access to state media channels on Saturday at the request of the Ukrainian government, which Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed to Twitter early saturday morning local time.

“We intend to help the Russians and the world learn the truth. I contacted @YouTube to block Russian propaganda channels – such as Russia 24, TASS, RIA Novosti. If they are afraid to tell the truth, we must stop this flow of poisonous lies, “he wrote in his tweet.

Russia’s communications regulator has asked Google to restore access to its state-sponsored YouTube media channels in Ukraine. Above, President Vladimir Putin spoke at the National Space Agency in Moscow on Sunday

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulator, said Sunday it had written a letter to Alphabet Inc., Google and YouTube’s parent company seeking to remove all restrictions imposed on state media such as RBC (YouTube homepage, pictured on -up)

YouTube blocked access to state media channels on Saturday at the request of the Ukrainian government

“In response to a request from the government, we have restricted access to RT and a number of other channels in Ukraine. We will continue to monitor the news and may take further action, “a YouTube spokesman told Axios on Saturday.

The spokesman said that YouTube was also “interrupting the ability of a number of channels to generate revenue from YouTube, including several Russian channels related to recent sanctions” due to “emergency circumstances in Ukraine”.

A YouTube spokesman also said the company would “significantly limit recommendations for these channels”.

Just hours before YouTube’s move, Google announced it was blocking Russian state-run media channels from selling ads.

The move came hours after Google, which is owned by Google, said it was blocking Russian state-run media channels, including RT, from selling YouTube ads worldwide or making them available in Ukraine.

Russian forces enter Ukraine’s second-largest city, Ukraine, today after failing in a night-long effort to take control of the capital, Kiev

YouTube has also restricted Russian state media from monetizing sanctions against the country

Following another request from the Ukrainian government, Google also removed the Russian state television network RT, formerly known as Russia Today, from its Google Play Store in Ukraine.

YouTube has removed hundreds of channels and thousands of videos in the past few days that violated its policies by participating in “coordinated fraud.” CNN reported.

Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner also pressured YouTube on Friday, writing a letter saying his staff could see RT earn from the platform.

Warner said he had warned the Justice Department and the Treasury Department to report that the platform had allowed sanctioned entities to generate revenue, CNN reported.

Alphabet is not the only major technology company to infuriate Russian despot Vladimir Putin, as Meta said he forbade Russian state media from running ads or providing revenue from Facebook content.

Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook’s security policy, announced the ban on Twitter on Saturday, writing: “We now ban Russian state media from running ads or earning revenue from our platform anywhere in the world.

“We also continue to apply labels to additional Russian state media. These changes have already begun to take effect and will continue over the weekend.

Putin ordered a “partial” blockade of Facebook on Friday, with Kremlin officials saying it was a response to the technology giant’s “censorship” of its state media.

The EU has also taken action against Russian state media, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference Sunday that RT would be banned in the EU.

“We will ban the Kremlin’s media machine in the EU. “State-owned Russia Today and Sputnik and their subsidiaries will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war,” she said.

YouTube has also removed hundreds of channels and thousands of videos in the last few days for “coordinated fraud.” Above was a protest against the war, which took place in Pushkin Square in Moscow on Friday

A man was carrying a banner during an anti-war protest in Moscow, Russia on Friday

“We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful misinformation in Europe,” she added, but did not provide further details.

Russia’s media regulator is cracking down on the country’s own media, ordering the media to remove reports describing the Kremlin’s attack as “attacking, invading or declaring war” or to block and fine a person.

In a statement, Roskomnadzor accused several independent media outlets, including the Dozhd TV channel and the country’s leading independent newspaper, of spreading “unreliable socially significant false information” about the shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Russian army and the deaths of civilians.

Citing a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the communications regulator said the media, which included Echo of Moscow radio, would be blocked unless “unreliable information” was removed.

“Roskomnadzor has also launched an administrative investigation into the dissemination of unreliable socially significant information from the aforementioned media,” the supervisory body said. The crime is punishable by a fine of up to 5 million rubles ($ 60,000), the statement said.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said today that it had killed more than 4,300 Russian soldiers in the first three days of fighting. Russia has not released up-to-date information on its military losses. Above, a fighter from the Ukrainian Territorial Defense inspected the destroyed Russian infantry mobile machine GAZ Tiger after a fight in Kharkov

Russia’s media regulator also said “reliable information” could be found in “official Russian news outlets.”

Putin’s war appears to be unpopular in Russia, with protesters taking to the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg calling for an end to the violence.

This week, Russian police detained 1,702 people in 53 Russian cities, at least 940 of them in Moscow and more than 340 in St. Petersburg’s second-largest city, according to OVD-Info, which tracks arrests of opposition rallies.

Meanwhile, the Russians are believed to have been warned by the authorities that any “negative comments” about Putin’s aggression would be treated as “betrayal”.

This comes after human rights activists warned of a new wave of repression against dissent in Russia as protests began.

There will be new (criminal) cases for saboteurs, spies, treason, prosecution for anti-war protests, detentions of journalists and bloggers, authors of critical posts on social networks, bans on investigating the situation in the army, etc. onwards, “Pavel Chikov, a prominent human rights defender, wrote on Facebook.

“It’s hard to say how big this new wave will be, given that everything has already been suppressed.”

More than 150 senior Russian officials have signed an open letter condemning Putin’s invasion as an “unprecedented atrocity” and warning of “catastrophic consequences.”

Deputies said they were convinced that Russian citizens did not support the war and accused Putin “personally” of ordering troops in Ukraine in an attack “for which there is no and cannot be justified.”

Several Russian celebrities and public figures, including those working for state television, have also spoken out against the attack.

Russian forces entered Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, today after failing in a night-long effort to take control of the capital, Kiev.

Also today, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said it had killed more than 4,300 Russian soldiers in the first three days of fighting. Russia has not released up-to-date information on its military losses.

Tom Cruise pilots his own helicopter as he lands and waves to adorable fans in South Africa to film scenes from Mission: Impossible 8

from Jonathan Rose for Mailonline

Published: 18:53 GMT, 27 February 2022 | Updated: 6:55 PM GMT, February 27, 2022

Tom Cruise met his status in action while piloting his own helicopter to land South Africa on Sunday.

The 59-year-old Hollywood heavyweight waved amicably and smiled at fans when he arrived to film scenes from Mission: Impossible 8 at Hoedspruit, Limpopo.

The movie star wore a blue polo shirt, gray pants and boots and took off his mask after getting off the helicopter.

All smiles: 59-year-old Tom Cruise waved friendly and smiled at fans when he arrived to film scenes from Mission: Impossible 8 at Hoedspruit, Limpopo

He is reportedly staying in the small northern town of Hoedspruit, near the border with Mozambique.

The actor, who plays Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible, flew alone on stages in the nearby Kruger National Park and remained in the city between the photos.

He told fans this week: “It’s so great to see you. I can’t wait to watch the next movie. Thank you for coming out today.

Chopper: Hollywood heavyweight fulfills its action status while piloting its own helicopter to land in South Africa on Sunday

Daily: The movie star wore a blue polo, gray pants and boots and took off his mask after getting off the helicopter

One of them asked Tom if he would ever move to South Africa, to which he said: “I would like to, it would be nice to live here. We are very excited. We have wanted to shoot here for a very long time.

Discussing what he saw during his helicopter trip, he said, “We just saw a few cheetahs or lions, they were right in front of someone’s alley.”

Before leaving, the star added: “Thank you all for your hospitality. It means a lot to me. ‘

Movie star: He is reportedly staying in the small northern town of Hoedspruit, near the border with Mozambique

Mission: Impossible 7 is scheduled for release on July 7, 2023, following a tumultuous production that requires an unprecedented cost of $ 290 million.

One notable factor in the film’s huge budget is the global pandemic that engulfed continental Europe shortly after the start of major filming in Venice in February 2020.

The blockade and desperate attempt to circumvent COVID-19 led to an unfavorable start to production – with cast and crew forced to stop work after northern Italy closed its doors.

Sources claim that persistent infections, combined with national health restrictions and the pandemic’s refusal to abate, have led to higher costs, as crew members had to be paid, paid and offered hotel accommodation during prolonged quarantine and blocking periods.

Chatter away: Actor who plays Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible flies alone on stage in nearby Kruger National Park and stays in town between photos

Smooth Landing: Mission: Impossible 7 is scheduled for release on July 7, 2023, after a tumultuous production that requires an unprecedented cost of $ 290 million

Meanwhile, the release date of the film is subject to change, with its initial release in September 2021 being postponed to July 2022, Paramount citing “delays due to the ongoing pandemic”.

The wait adds interest to the already exaggerated budget, while having a domino effect on the current work Mission: Impossible 8, which is now expected to start on July 24, 2024 instead of the planned release date of July 7, 2023.

The relentless pressure to complete the film may have been the catalyst for the high-profile shooting of Tom on the set in December 2020, after a crew member violated the COVID protocol, putting the production at additional risk.

“We are the gold standard!” Tom was heard shouting a recording of the incident. “They’re there in Hollywood and making movies right now for us!”

Daredevil: Tom is known for making his own stunts in Mission Impossible movies (pictured in Mission Impossible 2)

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Former Pentagon staffer Kash Patel targeted the Biden administration on Sunday over recent reports that the White House shared intelligence about the movement of Russian troops near Ukraine with China.

President Joe BidenRussia’s top officials hold six meetings over three months with colleagues in Beijing as Russian president Vladimir Putin aggressively accumulated troops on Ukraine’s borders, New York Times announced on Friday.

The United States reportedly hoped for a Chinese president Xi Jinping will dissuade Putin from attacking his neighbor. Western requests for help were rejected each time, with China saying the invasion was unlikely.

Meanwhile, Beijing shared sensitive information with Moscow.

China’s message to the Kremlin, along with US intelligence reports, was that the Americans only wanted to sow discord and signaled that China would not stand in the way of any of Russia’s plans, officials told the Times.

“This is a colossal failure of leadership and shows another difference between the Biden administration and the Trump administration,” Patel told Fox Sunday Morning Futures.

Fighters of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense test the automatic grenade launcher taken from the destroyed Russian infantry mobile machine GAZ Tiger after the battle in Kharkov on February 27

A fighter from the Ukrainian Territorial Defense examines a destroyed Russian infantry mobile machine in Kharkiv. Ukrainian forces have taken a historic stand against Moscow’s invasion

Putin personally ordered a “military operation” against Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning. Within minutes, explosions shook areas around the country’s cities. Since then, the Kiev military has repulsed an unprovoked attack from Moscow, which includes air, land and sea offensives.

Biden gave a press conference on the crisis last week, asking if he would call on China to “help isolate Russia.”

The president said he was “not ready to comment on this at the moment”.

“The fact that the commander-in-chief would not answer this question, which is not covered by anyone, leads me to believe that he took secret intelligence – and the reports are now accurate from many sources – and passed it on to our worst enemy. the world, the biggest enemy of the United States, its biggest enemy, China, “Patel said Sunday.

Patel was chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller after serving on Trump’s National Security Council. He was also among the first members of Trump’s orbit to be summoned by the House of Representatives election commission investigating the Capitol attack.

On Sunday, he said Biden should have foreseen that China and Russia were likely to share information provided by the United States.

Patel, who briefly served as Pentagon chief of staff under the Trump administration, has called for an investigation into Biden over reports his officials have shared with Beijing about intelligence reports on the movement of Russian troops.

“Of course, China would turn and give it to Russia, because Xi Jinping and Putin have united and united against the United States,” Patel said.

“The fact that this commander-in-chief did not know this was going to be outrageous.”

He took the accusations another step, daring to say that providing China’s intelligence reports was actively harming Ukraine and Europe’s efforts to prevent the first shooting war on the continent in the 21st century.

“But what is tantamount to violating American national security is that we are actually doing it. We, like the United States, are in fact sharing classified information that threatens Ukraine’s national security interests, European national security interests and American lives, “Patel said, although no US troops have been sent to face Russia directly in Ukraine. .

“This is shared with our enemy, who shares it with America’s next biggest enemy. It’s just something that never happened to Trump, and the fact that it’s happening to Biden needs to be fully investigated.

The United States has reportedly shared information about the movement of Russian troops with Beijing in an attempt to get Xi Jinping (left) to dissuade Vladimir Putin (right) from attacking Ukraine.

Shortly before Trump’s first impeachment – which focused on a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, during which the US president used security aid in exchange for an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter – Patel was accused of communicating with Trump on Kiev issues through the wrong back channel.

Fiona Hill, Trump’s chief adviser on Russia at the time, told impeachment investigators in the House of Representatives that Trump believed Patel was its director in Ukraine and that they were reporting issues to the Eastern European nation outside the National Security Adviser’s normal channels.

This alarmed national security and foreign policy officials at the time, who worried that US relations with Kiev had been influenced by Trump loyalists.

Patel denied the allegations in a statement to Axios.

“Any report to the contrary and any testimony given to Congress is simply false, and any current or former staff who suggest that I have raised or discussed Ukraine issues with President Trump are similarly misinformed or spread outright lies,” he said. he on time.