Vladimir Putin

Friday February 24, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 24, 2023

Total number of civilian casualties in Putin’s invasion

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is precisely one year old, Vladimir Putin having announced his “special military operation” on 24 February 2022.

January 26, 2023

Western nations have ramped up military suport for Kyiv since the near year, with Germany and the US both announcing in January that they would send battle tanks to Ukraine.

Berlin will provide 14 Leopard 2 tanks from military stocks as a first step. The training of Ukrainian troops in their use will begin in Germany soon, with logistics support and ammunition part of the package.

The US will meanwhile send 31 M1 Abram tanks in the coming months.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz came under huge international pressure to approve the use of the Leopard 2 models, with nations requiring permission from Germany to re-export those in their own armies. The eventual decision to go ahead paves the way for other countries such as Poland, Spain and Norway to supply their stocks of Leopard 2 tanks too.

December 22, 2022

Between the war’s commencement on 24 February 2022 and 21 February 2023, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded 21,293 civilian casualties in the country: 8,006 killed and 13,287 injured.

According to the UN OHCHR, of the adult civilian casualties whose sex is known, men accounted for 61.1 per cent of civilian casualties and women for 39.9 per cent.

At least 487 children were killed and 954 injured.

An estimated 90.3 per cent of civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons with wide area effects, including artillery shells, cruise and ballistic missiles, and air strikes. Most occurred in populated areas.

The OHCHR has also recorded 632 civilian casualties – 219 killed and 413 injured – caused by mines and explosive remnants of war.

September 14, 2022

The UN understands the actual number of civilian deaths are considerably higher than reported, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.

According to Ukraine’s leading war crimes prosecutor, more than 100,000 Ukrainian civilians are believed to have been killed over the course of the last year, more than 10 times the current official death toll.

The horrific tally illustrates the scale of devastation in the country, which has fought a relentless onslaught from Vladimir Putin’s forces since their invasion on 24 February last year.

Speaking to The Independent, prosecutor Yuriy Belousov revealed his fears about the human cost on the civilian population.

“There could be 100,000 civilians killed across Ukraine, whose bodies will have to be found and identified once occupied territory is liberated,” Mr Belousov said. The current official death toll published by the UN this week puts the official death toll at 8,000.

March 1, 2022

Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has branded Mr Putin a “nobody” and suggested it is too late for face-to-face peace talks with the Russian leader to make any difference.

In an interview, Mr Zelensky described the Russian president as a “man who said one thing and then did another” as he said he was not interested in meeting him.

Speaking in English, he said: “It is not interesting for me. Not interesting to meet, not interesting to speak. Why? Because we had meeting with him in Normandy Format, it was before full-scale invasion.

“I saw the man who said one thing and then did another. So for me, I can’t understand – is it his decisions or somebody else? So to meet what – to shake hands? Not interesting. To speak? I really don’t understand who makes decisions in Russia.”

He also accused Russia’s president of having a disregard for his troops and throwing them “into the meat grinder”, ahead of an anticipated new offensive. (The Independent)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Thursday January 26, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 26, 2023

Tank re-enforcements on their way to defend Ukraine

April 12, 2022

President Biden has announced he is sending American tanks to Ukraine after weeks of disagreement between Nato allies over helping Kyiv to repel the Russian invaders.

As the war in Ukraine enters its 12th month, Biden said the US would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks, equivalent to a Ukrainian tank battalion.

The announcement coincided with a U-turn by Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, who promised about 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks for an international tank battalion “as soon as possible”, with another battalion likely to follow.

The Americans had been reluctant to send Abrams, arguing that they were too complex and difficult to maintain. It will be months before they arrive.

“Germany has really stepped up,” Biden said. “The expectation on the part of Russia is we’re going to break up [as a coalition]. But we are fully, totally and thoroughly united.”

The announcement came after a conference call between world leaders, including Rishi Sunak. Britain has already agreed to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks, a move that heralded the broader change of heart across the biggest players in Nato.

October 12, 2022

President Zelensky had called for 300 tanks to push the Russians back from territory they have taken. With contributions from other countries, it is believed Ukraine will receive at least 125. Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, said last night that Kyiv would now press for modern fighter jets, including American F-16s.

After weeks of tension between the US and Germany, and occasionally harsh recriminations from other allies, both Scholz and Biden were at pains to stress western unity. Biden said the US and its European partners were in “lockstep” and heaped praise on his German counterpart.

The Ukrainian government reacted jubilantly to the German-American package, which Zelensky’s chief of staff hailed as a “real punching fist of democracy against autocracy from the bog”, in a reference to President Putin’s Russia. Zelensky said he was “sincerely grateful” for “these important and timely decisions”.

February 25, 2022

Moscow has alternated between condemnation and displays of indifference. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, recently said western tanks would “not fundamentally change anything” in the conflict and today said they would “burn like all the rest” in Ukraine.

Peskov then warned that the delivery of the tanks would “bring nothing good to the future relationship” between Berlin and Moscow.

Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, added that a further donation of American Abrams tanks would be “another blatant provocation.” (The Times of London) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Thursday December 22, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 22, 2022

Putin Finally Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

September 22, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a significant statement this week as he called the conflict in Ukraine a “war” for the first time since he ordered a full-scale invasion into the neighboring country.

On Thursday, Putin advocated for an end to the “war,” a word he has avoided using to describe what he and the Kremlin have otherwise insisted to be a “special military operation” for the last 10 months.

“Our aim is not to fan the flames of this military conflict, on the contrary, it is to end this war,” Putin told reporters.

Up until now, the Russian president has repeatedly asserted that the ongoing escalation in Ukraine is not a “war” but a “special military operation” that Russia had “no choice” but to conduct to protect Russians living in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Just earlier this month, Putin said the “special military operation” was taking longer than expected as he acknowledged that the battle was taking a toll on his army. Speaking with members of his Human Rights Council, Putin vowed to “consistently fight for our interests” despite it being a “lengthy process.”

September 1, 2022

But Thursday’s comment marks a departure from the narrative Putin has sought to maintain throughout Russia’s invasion, and revealed how fraught the conflict remains just days before Christmas. Calculations from Newsweek estimate that Russia’s death toll is expected to pass 100,000 troop losses on Thursday.

On Thursday, Russia reiterated that it is open to negotiations—a claim that has been met with much skepticism from Ukraine and the West.

“I have said many times: The intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses,” Putin said. “All armed conflicts end one way or another with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track.”

“Sooner or later, any parties in a state of conflict sit down and make an agreement. The sooner this realization comes to those who oppose us, the better. We have never given up on this,” the Russian president added.

December 24, 2018

His comments come a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an in-person address to Congress during his first trip outside of Ukraine since the conflict began on February 24.

“Russia could stop its aggression…but you can speed up our victory,” Zelensky told American lawmakers on Wednesday night.

Asking for continued assistance from the U.S., the Ukrainian president said, “Your money is not charity, it’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

During the visit, President Joe Biden announced an additional $1.8 billion in military aid for Ukraine, saying, “I think it’s important for [Zelensky] to know we are going to do everything in our power to see that he succeeds.” (Newsweek) 

 

Thursday November 10, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 10, 2022

Trump team pushes to delay 2024 launch as DeSantis star rises in GOP

Former president Donald Trump’s standing as the dominant figure in the Republican Party was challenged Tuesday night by a string of election results that even some of his advisers viewed as wounding to his political future.

February 4, 2021

Trump is taking blame from Republicans for disappointing performances by many of the candidates he backed, at the same time that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won a landslide reelection, instantly elevating his profile as a serious 2024 presidential contender.

In a sign of Trump’s diminished and newly uncertain footing, some longtime allies are now encouraging Trump to delay a presidential announcement he had planned for next week as a victory lap for a red wave that didn’t materialize.

“Republican chairmen across a wide spectrum of states were counting on Donald Trump to deliver victory for them last night and he didn’t, they are let down,” David Urban, a top adviser to Trump’s winning 2016 campaign in Pennsylvania and a longtime ally, said Wednesday. “It is clear the center of gravity of the Republican Party is in the state of Florida, and I don’t mean Mar-a-Lago.”

February 26, 2021

The immediate cause for Trump advisers to discuss delaying his promised “very big announcement” scheduled for Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Fla., resort, was a Senate runoff in Georgia. Trump’s handpicked Senate candidate, football legend Herschel Walker, trailed incumbent Democrat Raphael G. Warnock by about 1 point as of Wednesday afternoon, with neither candidate clearing 50%, leading to a runoff on Dec. 6.

“Everything is about Herschel. I’ll be advising him to put it off until after the runoff,” said Jason Miller, a longtime adviser and sometime spokesman for Trump. “I’m not alone when I say President Trump’s best moves are to put all his efforts to get Herschel Walker elected.”

Trump has been eager to jump into the 2024 race, to the point that he kicked off a last-ditch scramble by aides and Republican leaders to stop him from announcing his candidacy on Monday night, on the eve of the election. Instead, Trump said he would make an announcement next Tuesday.

October 10, 2020

But the election returns so far have failed to add up to the blowout Trump was hoping to capitalize on, and he gave only brief, subdued remarks Tuesday night from a watch party at Mar-a-Lago, in the path of a hurricane and subject to an evacuation order.

Two people present with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night said he was in good spirits, but one of these people said he spent time on Wednesday fuming about the loss by his endorsed candidate, Mehmet Oz, in the Pennsylvania Senate race and the Republican adulation of DeSantis.

By contrast, DeSantis spent election night celebrating a whopping, nearly 20-point victory with supporters chanting for him to run for president. A person close to the governor described his team as “euphoric” and called Tuesday’s results “disastrous” for Trump.

July 21, 2020

“I have never seen anything like it, and I don’t think any Republican has in Florida,” said Brian Ballard, a longtime powerful lobbyist in Florida. “He has realigned voting coalitions in Florida that I think will benefit the party for generations. After the election yesterday, he is even more so a leader in the Republican Party.”

Two DeSantis allies predicted the governor would wait until Florida’s legislative session ends in May to announce a White House bid, and in the meantime would campaign for Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff. A spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about DeSantis’ plans for the Georgia runoff or the 2024 race.

October 12, 2016

People who’ve worked with DeSantis say gaming out his moves is difficult because he keeps decision-making to himself, his wife and his chief of staff. A longtime legislative aide in Tallahassee said Tuesday’s results showed that DeSantis is a viable alternative to Trump, but that may not matter if Trump barrels ahead anyway.

“Nobody thinks the path for DeSantis is taking Trump head-on at this point,” the aide said, expecting Trump would “run the party to the ground.”

Even before Tuesday’s election results, Trump viewed DeSantis as a threat, according to the former president’s advisers, and Trump did not wait for polls to close to start attacking him. He mocked him last week as “Ron DeSanctimonious.” On Monday, he threatened to release damaging information about DeSantis should he run, according to the Wall Street Journal. (The Washington Post) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

 

 

Wednesday October 12, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 12, 2022

Ukraine-Russia war: G7 countries will back Kyiv ‘for as long as it takes’

Leaders of the G7 group of rich nations have said they will back Ukraine for “as long as it takes” in the wake of Monday’s major Russian missile strikes.

February 26, 2022

The group, which met for emergency virtual talks, said it would keep on giving military and humanitarian aid.

Nato also said it would stand with Ukraine for as long as necessary.

At least 19 people were killed and scores more injured, as Russian missiles hit regions across Ukraine, including central Kyiv.

Strikes continued into Tuesday, with civilians advised to stay in air raid shelters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attacks were in retaliation for a strike on a key bridge linking Russia with occupied Crimea, for which he blamed Ukraine.

Western leaders were quick to condemn the Russian escalation, and the G7 on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to Ukraine.

“We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support and will stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the group said in a statement.

April 12, 2022

The bloc also condemned Mr Putin’s recent attempts to annex four regions of Ukraine with self-styled referendums.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the G7 for further air defence capabilities.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military bloc would also continue to stand by Ukraine.

In a press conference, Mr Stoltenberg suggested that Nato needed to produce more weapons, as supplies have run low due to the war. Nato is in discussions with member nations and defence companies, he said.

Following indirect threats from Mr Putin, Mr Stoltenberg said the alliance was closely monitoring Russia’s nuclear forces, but had not seen any changes in their posture.

March 4, 2022

He added that any attack on infrastructure critical to Nato would trigger a “united and determined response”. It comes two weeks after a series of attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which many Western leaders indirectly suggested may have been caused by Russia.

In its statement the G7 said is was “deeply troubled” by these attacks, and welcomed further investigation into what caused them.

The G7 is made up of the seven largest “advanced” economies.

It includes Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US. (BBC)