Russia moves to categorize Facebook's parent company Meta as an 'extremist organization'



Russian authorities have called for Facebook's parent company Meta to be categorized as an "extremist organization," according to an Interfax report.

Earlier this month, Russia reportedly banned access to Facebook. Now, Russia's prosecutor general's office is attempting to label Facebook's parent company as an "extremist organization."

Last week, Facebook temporarily allowed users to post threats to Vladimir Putin and the Russian military forces involved in the invasion of Ukraine.

Now, Russia has declared the parent company of Facebook to be an "extremist organization," while also restricting access to the Instagram application.

Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed, "Messages shared on Instagram encourage and provoke violent actions toward Russians."

On Monday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri responded to the social media block: "This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as ~80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong."

Meanwhile, Facebook has enabled users to temporarily express violent posts calling for the death of Vladimir Putin and Russian military forces.

Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said, "Our policies are focused on protecting people's rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country. The fact is, if we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable."

"We have no quarrel with the Russian people a d will not tolerate Russophobia or any kind of discrimination, harassment or violence towards Russians on our platform," Clegg added.

Meanwhile, Russia has made a crackdown on anti-war demonstrations and reportedly arrested nearly 800 people in 37 Russian cities.

Ukraine President Zelenskyy appears to blast Biden for watching 'from a distance' as Russia inflicts horror on Ukraine, says country has been 'left alone' to defend itself



Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to hit out at President Joe Biden and others in an early Friday morning video, saying that the embattled country has been "left alone" to defend itself against invading Russian forces.

What are the details?

In recorded remarks, Zelenskyy said that Western allies are not doing enough to help Ukraine stop Russian aggression amid the deadly invasion.

“This morning, we are defending our country alone,” Zelenskyy lamented. “Just like yesterday, the most powerful country in the world looked on from a distance. Russia was hit with sanctions yesterday, but these are not enough to get these foreign troops off our soil. Only through solidarity and determination can this be achieved.”

"Who is ready to fight with us?" he asked. "Honestly, I do not see such. Who is ready to guarantee Ukraine's accession to NATO? ... Today we heard from Moscow that they still want to talk. They want to talk about Ukraine's neutral status. I tell all the partners of our state: Now is an important moment — the fate of our country is being decided. I ask them: Are you with us? They answer that they are with us. But they are not ready to take us to the Alliance."

He continued, "Today, I asked the twenty-seven leaders of Europe whether Ukraine will be in NATO. I asked directly. Everyone is afraid. They do not answer."

In the video, Zelenskyy also added that he and the Ukrainian citizens appreciate the outpouring of support from Russian citizens who took to St. Petersburg to protest against the country's invasion.

"To all the citizens of the Russian Federation who went out to protest, I want to say: We see you,” he said. “This means you heard us. This means you are starting to believe us. Fight for us, fight against the war.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zelenskyy said that Russia's attacks on civilians will not be forgiven.

"The enemy strikes not only at military facilities, as it claims, but also at civilians. They kill people and turn peaceful cities into military targets. This is vile and will never be forgiven.

What else?

Biden on Thursday said that U.S. troops would not be sent to Ukraine, but would instead defend NATO member states that may be impacted by the aggression.

"Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine," Biden said in remarks on the ongoing invasion. "Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO allies."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday added that the bloc had no plans to send troops to engage in the conflict.

Russia claims destruction of 74 Ukrainian military facilities as land assaults begin — citizens flee cities in fear, take shelter in subway stations



Russia's Defense Ministry claimed early Thursday that the Russian military had already destroyed 74 Ukrainian military facilities — including 11 airbases — only hours into the launch of its full-scale invasion of the neighboring country.

What are the details?

As of Thursday morning, Ukraine reported at least 40 soldiers and up to 10 civilians had been killed in the shocking military advance, though those numbers are expected to rise in the coming hours and days.

Only hours before, Russian President Vladimir Putin cast aside global condemnation and threats of harsh economic sanctioning when he announced a "special military operation" had begun in southeastern Ukraine. The West called the maneuver what it actually was: a declaration of war.

Under the cover of darkness, the Russian military launched airstrikes on cities across Ukraine, from the Donbas region — where Putin falsely claims he is acting in defense of Russian separatists — to Kharkiv in the northeast just 30 miles from the Russian border, to Ukraine's capital in Kyiv.

Explosions seen across eastern Ukraine as Russia launches full scale invasion www.youtube.com

On Thursday, Ukraine’s military chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, reportedly said Ukrainian troops were fighting the Russian army in the country's north and south.

According to the Associated Press, Zaluzhnyi said a battle was raging near the Hostomel airbase just under five miles northwest of the capital, Kyiv. The north-central location of the capital indicates that Russian troops had advanced significantly into Ukraine.

He added that in the south, more fighting was going on near Henichesk, Skadovsk, and Chaplynka. Putin has claimed Russia will only attack Ukrainian military facilities.

In Luhansk, in the southeast, video appeared to show Russian tanks traveling through emptied city streets. Meanwhile, Putin carried on as usual, reportedly maintaining his scheduled meeting in Moscow with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

What else?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly said that Russian forces were trying to seize the area surrounding the former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, near the Ukraine-Belarusian border.

"Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated,” Zelenskyy said in a statement, adding, "This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe."

The president previously severed diplomatic ties and declared martial law. In a tweet, he also pleaded with sympathetic Russian citizens to protest their government's warring.

We have severed diplomatic relations with Russia. For all those who have not yet lost their conscience in Russia, it is time to go out and protest against the war with Ukraine.
— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1645696512

Anything else?

Many Ukrainians have responded to the onslaught by attempting to withdraw cash and flee major urban centers, though reporters have noted that highways have quickly become jammed with traffic and ATMs have been emptied of cash. Grocery stores, too, are reportedly being rapidly cleared of products.

Others have taken shelter in subway stations, hoping they will serve as improvised bomb shelters.

"I heard noise and woke up. I realized it sounded like artillery," one Kyiv resident recounted to reporters. He jumped from the couch and ran to wake his mother as another explosion went off behind him.

Air raid sirens began to sound in the city.

Video of #Kiev residents taking shelter inside metro stations in \n#Ukrainepic.twitter.com/YEHLiu9HFX
— Manish Shukla (@Manish Shukla) 1645712183

Still others have remained defiant in the face of attack, the AP reported.

"I’m not afraid. I’m going to work. The only unusual thing is that you can’t find a taxi in Kyiv," another resident lamented early Thursday. Perspective may change as the day draws out.

That sentiment was offered by another, who said, "I’m not scared at the moment. Maybe I’ll be scared later."

War on the European content is unprecedented for this generation. The reality is perhaps taking longer to set in for some.

"I feel panic, scared and excited. I don’t know who I should ask for help," added another Kyiv resident. "We didn’t believe this situation would come."

Ukraine hit with another massive cyber attack; one GOP senator warns Russian missile strikes could follow



The Ukrainian government said it was hit with another critical cyber attack on Wednesday, this one taking down several government websites and banks in the Eastern European country.

What are the details?

The attack, called a mass distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS, reportedly began around 4 p.m. local time, according to a post by Mykhailo Fedorov, head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, CNBC reported.

In a post on his Telegram, Fedorov reported that websites for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet of Ministers, and Verkhovna Rada, the country’s parliament, were among those affected by the attack.

The government websites were offline as of Wednesday morning as officials attempted to switch traffic to another provider in order to minimize damage.

CNBC noted that a DDoS attack is when a hacker floods a target's network or server with traffic so that others can't access it.

What's the background?

The sweeping cyber attack is the second in the course of a week. Though the source of the attack has not yet been confirmed, it comes as Russia becomes increasingly hostile toward its neighboring country, threatening a full-scale military invasion.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent "peacekeeping" troops to Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russian-speaking regions in southeastern Ukraine, promoting global backlash. President Biden considered the brazen move the start of an invasion and responded by ordering sanctions against the country.

The United States attributed last week's attack — which affected Ukraine's Defense Ministry, army, and state banks — to Russian agents, though Russia denied any involvement.

What else?

Over the weekend, reports surfaced indicating that the U.S. had obtained intelligence that Russia planned to invade Ukraine in the coming days.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said in a tweet Wednesday that massive cyber attacks on the Ukrainian government and the disruption of communications were part of Russia's plan.

He also warned that the cyber attacks would be "followed by targeted missile strikes against air defense sites [and] ammunition/weapons depots."

A number of key government websites in #Ukraine just went dark\n\n#Russia\u2019s plan calls for a massive cyber attack on the Ukrainian government & disruption of communications followed by targeted missile strikes against air defense sites & ammunition/weapons depots
— Marco Rubio (@Marco Rubio) 1645628254

It remains to be seen if and when the Russian military decides to carry out missile strikes.