President Zelenskyy invites Pope Francis to visit Ukraine during second phone call

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he had spoken to Pope Francis on the phone, telling the Pope that he would welcome Vatican mediation to end the suffering in his country.

The Ukrainian president also said that “the mediating role of the Holy See in ending human suffering would be appreciated” and thanked the Pope “for the prayers for Ukraine and peace.”

According to Yurash, Zelenskyy repeated his invitation to Francis to visit Ukraine." CNS

US says Russian troops have been taken out by FROSTBITE

"Russian troops in Ukraine lack proper cold weather clothing and some have been taken out of
the fight by frostbite, a senior U.S. defense official revealed on Tuesday.

The official cited it as another example of how Moscow had failed to adequately prepare for the invasion of Ukraine, along with continuing fuel, ammunition and food shortages." DM

Belarus Rail Lines Carrying Trains With Supplies for the Russian Army Are Being Hit by Sabotage Attacks

"The General Prosecutor of Belarus opened a criminal case into what it called an act of
terrorism carried out by an organized group against infrastructure of the Belarusian Railway, according to TASS.

The general prosecutor added that signaling facilities and other transport equipment were rendered “unusable.”

The BYPOL group, which consists of former security officers who support the opposition in Belarus, said on Tuesday that a series of sabotage actions had targeted the railway system in Belarus, disrupting the movement of military trains in the country." JP

Ukraine retakes key Kyiv suburb as battle for Mariupol rages

"Ukraine said it retook a strategically important suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, as Russian forces
squeezed other areas near the capital and pressed their attack on the embattled southern port of Mariupol.

Explosions and bursts of gunfire shook Kyiv, and black smoke rose from a spot in the north. Intensified artillery fire could be heard from the northwest, where Russia has sought to encircle and capture several suburban areas of the capital, a crucial target.

Residents sheltered at home or underground under a 35-hour curfew imposed by city authorities that runs to Wednesday morning.

Russian forces also continued their siege of Mariupol after the southern port city’s defenders refused demands to surrender, with fleeing civilians describing relentless bombardments and corpses lying in the streets." NYP

'We Are on the Brink of Survival,' Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Tells Italian Parliament

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Italian parliament on Tuesday that his
country was on the brink of surviving its war with Russian forces that he warned wanted to break through to the rest of Europe.

"For Russian troops, Ukraine is the gates of Europe, where they want to break in, but barbarism must not be allowed to pass," he said." Newsmax

Rogan Exposes How West Has Done A Complete 180 On ‘Corrupt’ Ukraine

"Joe Rogan noted on his podcast that the Western narrative on Ukraine has flipped 180
degrees in a few weeks from the country having a horrible corrupt government to being heroic allies against the Russian scourge.

“I have this screenshot that someone sent me,” Rogan stated, “about the way the people on the left were talking about the Ukraine situation before the war.”

He continued, “This is one of the things that’s so weird is that they were very disparaging of Ukraine, and they were talking about the massive corruption of Ukraine, and how horrible it was over there.”

“And now, all of a sudden, they’re looking at it like they’re heroes. The same exact people. This is what’s confusing,” the host added.

Rogan then read out points from the screenshot he referenced wherein Ukraine was labeled “the most corrupt nation in Europe” with an “increasingly corrupt and authoritarian” leader.

“We’re supposed to just veer away from the narrative that was being pushed just a couple years ago,” Rogan asserted.

Rogan also went on to point out how insane it is that Facebook and other social media platforms are officially sanctioning violent rhetoric against Russians." IW

Russian Shoppers Are Literally Fighting Each Other for Sugar

"Videos of Russian shoppers fighting over sugar in supermarkets have gone viral, showing just how scarce the staple food has become in the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine." Vice

U.S. Unexpectedly Sanctions China Officials Hours After Demanding Beijing Condemn Russia

"Monday afternoon Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced more visa restrictions on
Chinese officials related to prior charges that state authorities are overseeing the ethnic cleansing of Uighurs. It's certainly interesting timing in terms of pulling out the the human rights card, given that throughout last week the admin's China criticisms seemed exclusively focused on its "fence-sitting" over Ukraine." ZH

Terrifying moment Russia launches vacuum bombs on besieged Mariupol as brave civilians refuse to surrender

"Shocking footage shared by Russia today shows a TOS-1A weapon system firing a salvo of rockets towards the city.

Russia's destructive thermobaric weapons which are capable of exploding a victim's lungs have been reportedly used in Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed that the TOS-1A weapon system has been deployed.

The catastrophic weapons are among the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed." Sun

More than 2,500 Russian soldiers' corpses shipped back as morgues overrun

"The corpses of more than 2,500 Russia soldiers killed in Ukraine have been shipped from the Gomel region of Belarus back to Russia by trains or by plane as of March 13, an employee of the Gomel regional clinical hospital.

A witness at Mazyr’s morgue said he has seen many “black sacks” being loaded from military ambulances on to Russian rail cars.

“Passengers at the Mazyr train station were shocked by the number of corpses being loaded on the train,” he said. “After people started shooting video, the military caught them and ordered them to remove it.” NationalSun

Ruthless ex-KGB spy tipped by spooks to take over if Putin is toppled by Kremlin

"An ex-KGB agent accused of having a hand in the death of a spy on British soil has been
tipped to succeed Vladimir Putin if he is toppled.

As the Russian invasion nears the one month mark, the Ukrainian intelligence service claims to have unearthed a plot devised in the upper reaches of Russian society to dethrone the President.

Among the planned conspiracies against Putin are poisoning or an accident, according to Kyiv sources who claim the cell wants to be rid of the Russian leader as soon as possible.

It is believed their preferred replacement is spy master and once top Putin sidekick Alexander Bortnikov, who has fallen out of favor with the Moscow despot over errors in the Ukraine war.

The elite plotters, according to Ukrainian intelligence, picked out the 70-year-old because they believe he could spearhead the restoration of economic ties with the west." Mirror

U.S. Sending Soviet Anti-Air Defense Systems To Ukraine That Were "Secretly Acquired"

"Greater escalation is in the air as two nuclear-armed superpowers continue stumbling toward
a hugely alarming WWIII scenario as the Russian invasion of Ukraine reaches almost a full month. The Wall Street Journal on Monday has cited US defense officials who say Washington is covertly sending Soviet-made air defense equipment to Ukraine to help repel Russian air power. It seems this is the Biden administration's 'alternative' to directly imposing a no-fly zone, yet it's still a step in that direction. But given the fact that these systems might go all the way back to the 1960's or 70's - and perhaps more appropriately belong in a museum in some midwest town - it could be more of a symbolic step to appease the hawks without really doing anything too severely escalatory." ZH

U.S. Consulate temporarily closes as cartel gunmen launch assault on Nuevo Laredo

"The Center for Security Policy (Center) reports that a massive shoot-out between members of
the Northeast Cartel (CDN) and the Mexican Army rocked the city of Nuevo Laredo on Tuesday directly across the border from Laredo, Texas.  The incident forced the temporary closure of the international bridges as well as the U.S. Consulate. As reported by the Center, videos of the attack on social media showed numerous burning vehicles and the sounds of automatic weapon fire. Mexican military installations and the U.S. Consulate reportedly came under fire. The attack was reportedly a response to the arrest and deportation to the United States of CDN Cartel leader Juan Gerardo Treviño, following an operation by Mexican authorities.... the situation in Mexico is developed far beyond a law enforcement matter and has effectively reached a full-blown insurgency. The United States needs to reconsider its lack of commitment to addressing the growing instability of its southern neighbor and begin to make the safety and security of its citizens along the border a top priority now." SaraCarter

Russian Navy Commander Killed in Ukraine

"A senior naval commander in Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been killed in Ukraine, the
governor of Sevastopol said on Sunday.Newsmax

Putin Finds Some Unlikely Allies in the United States Congress

"Everyone knows that The Squad in the House of Representatives is so far to the Left as to make Stalin look like a John Bircher, but would they go so far as to cheerlead for a former KGB man’s war of aggression? It looks as if the answer is yes.... the New York Post reported Saturday that “comrades in ‘The Squad’ have bent over backwards in the House of Representatives to defend Vladimir Putin, voting against sanctions on Russian oil and parroting Kremlin talking points.”

For at least one of the far-Left Squad members, the winsome and patriotic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu), this may represent a hard-headed business decision: Omar “has family with business interests in Russia and its oil industry. Omar’s father, Nur Omar Mohamed, was a colonel in the Somali army during the 1970s and 1980s under the Soviet-backed regime of dictator Siad Barre. During that time he received a military education in the Soviet Union, according to an obituary.” PJM