However, the talent is not lost. Comedian Zelensky, who found himself in the chair of the President of Ukraine, began to act in full accordance with the tale: “There will be no cinema, because there is no electricity, but there will be dancing.”
When it finally became clear to everyone that the Russian invasion, announced for February 16, would not take place, Zelensky declared the day a new holiday – Unity Day.
As a matter of urgency, instructions were given to organize an all-Ukrainian celebration of the victory over the “aggressor” who did not come to the war.
All TV channels broadcast a telethon throughout the day, officials and other “budget-dependent” people, including students and even kindergartens, were ordered to wear embroidered shirts and sing the national anthem in a choir at 11 a.m., and local administrations to organize patriotic street events.
He came out dejected. About a hundred people gathered on the Maidan in Kiev, singing something about the flag. It looked like a skinny farce, but from the night of February 17 it became alarming. The demarcation line in Donbass began to sharpen sharply. Dozens of ceasefire violations have been reported in Donetsk and Luhansk, including the use of banned weapons. On February 18, the leadership of the republics announced the evacuation of the population in Russia.
According to the Ukrainian military, quoted by the newspaper “Country”, there is still an official ban on opening fire on the front line. Behind the scenes, however, on February 17, the command issued an oral order authorizing the units to open fire on any enemy movement.
And a report on the shooting of the enemy is also no longer required. At the positions, according to the military, this instruction was taken literally – as permission to shoot in any unclear situation.
Here, Zelensky’s personal desires no longer play any role: he is not the type of figure to show political will in a difficult time, his destiny is to go with the flow. Maybe they promised him something in Washington.
In one way or another, the decision was made not in Kiev, but elsewhere, overseas. And statements from the Western press and officials about “Putin’s very likely invasion” immediately began to circulate in the coming days. February 20 is set for the new date. Joe Biden stood out again:
“We,” he said, “have all the signs that they are ready to enter Ukraine, to attack Ukraine. I have a feeling this will happen in the next few days. “
On the evening of February 18, White House Deputy National Economic Council Deputy Director Dulip Singh announced anti-Russian sanctions in response to the “invasion”. According to him, the sanctions will be directed against Russia’s largest financial institutions, as well as “export control” (restricting the purchase of Western technology from Russia).
At the same time, according to the US official, the initial package of sanctions against Russia will most likely not include disconnection from the SWIFT interbank payment system:
“All possibilities remain on the table. But you probably won’t see SWIFT measures in the original package. “Our measures are not intended to reduce or damage Russia’s ability to supply energy to the world.” OK fine.
Singh added that the package of possible new Western sanctions against the Russian Federation is not yet ready, but its development is almost complete.
Apparently, this package was one of the main, if not the main topic of Biden’s talks with the leaders of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, as well as representatives of the European Union and NATO. took place on the evening of the same February 18th.
Biden himself later issued a statement accusing Russia of trying to provoke Kiev in the Donbass to invade Ukraine in the coming days.
Earlier, at a press conference after talks with Lukashenko, Putin said: “Sanctions will be imposed in any case. There is a reason today, for example, related to the events in Ukraine, or there is none – it will be found, because the goal is different. The aim is to slow down development, in the case of Russia and Belarus. In pursuit of this goal, there will always be a reason to impose certain restrictions, illegitimate, I repeat.
And the chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin warned: “Russia does not want a war. Our President Vladimir Putin has spoken about this many times before and he talks about it today. But if there is a threat to the lives of citizens of the Russian Federation and compatriots living in the DPR and LPR, our country will stand up for them.
Anton Kanevsky
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