UKRAINE - Experts had expected the invaders to use their planes to pick off Ukraine’s forces at will. Yet in the first two weeks of combat, Russia’s air force has played a minimal role. It is clear, though, that the Russian air force has held back its full capabilities. “Fast jets have conducted only limited sorties in Ukrainian airspace, in singles or pairs, always at low altitudes and mostly at night,” notes Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute, a think-tank in London. When hostilities began, Russia sent a volley of cruise and ballistic missiles towards Ukraine’s air bases in an attempt to ground its planes and air-defence systems, and to hobble its radars and anti-aircraft missiles. That effort failed. Ukraine had wisely dispersed its air-defence systems, making them harder to find. American defence officials say that Ukrainian air and missile defences consequently “remain effective and in use”—a claim that can be corroborated with open-source intelligence. Russia has lost substantial numbers of aircraft. These currently run to 11 fixed-wing aircraft, 11 helicopters and two drones.

UK - Britain is trying to purge the London property market of unsavory owners. Whether or not it succeeds, Russian oligarchs will need new places to launder dirty money. This week, UK politicians agreed to set up a register of overseas companies with title to property in Britain. The idea was first raised six years ago during a wave of outrage against corrupt money, but fell by the wayside as Brexit and the pandemic dominated public debate. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has bumped the clampdown back up the agenda.

USA - The Pentagon on Tuesday evening shot down a Polish proposal to transfer their MiG-29 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and receive replacement aircraft from the United States. The Pentagon said in a statement that the plan was not “tenable.” The Pentagon statement came after the Polish government announced earlier in the day that it was ready to transfer 28 MiG-29 fighter planes to a US base in Germany to hand over to Ukraine, which is in the midst of a war with Russia. The Biden administration has been so far leery of direct US military involvement in the war, including through NATO, of which Poland is a member. The involvement of any NATO member in the war could involve the entire alliance.

GERMANY - Annalena Baerbock, the former co-leader of the environmentalist Greens and now the first woman to serve as Germany's top diplomat, marks three months in office on International Women's Day (March 8).She has emerged as one of the countryˈs most popular politicians, winning overwhelming praise also from conservative quarters for her clarity and steadiness in a time of great upheaval across Europe and major changes in German foreign policy. Across the board, German news outlets, such as the weeklies Der Spiegel and Die Zeit, have been applauding the foreign minister for "speaking plainly" about the crisis and also talking directly to the Kremlin. When she went to Moscow in the days before the invasion, she seemed unflustered by her surroundings. In her speech last week at the United Nations, Baerbock looked straight at her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and said: "You are abusing your power as a permanent member of the Security Council... You can deceive yourself, but you do not deceive us."

UKRAINE - While Russian-Ukrainian war is ongoing, let's take a look at the composition of the Ukrainian government: The core decision-making inner circle of Ukrainian President Zelensky is actually based on his circle of friends when he was an actor.

GERMANY - Leaders from across the political divide in Berlin have called for compulsory service to be re-introduced, as Germany re-evaluates its relationship with its armed forces. Reintroducing compulsory service would “do real good” for German society and help to bring people together, said Carsten Linnemann, deputy leader of the conservative CDU, on Sunday. The debate includes influential voices from the governing centre-left SPD, which is also calling for a return of conscription among men and women over-18. “What we’re witnessing at the moment is that peace is not a law of nature,” Mr Linnemann told broadcaster ZDF. He added that compulsory service would counteract polarisation in society, with “too many people putting themselves before the state”. As recently as 2011, all adult German men were expected to perform a year of compulsory military service…

SWITZERLAND - Elite members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) seem to be actively covering up all of their plans now that the exposure of their influence and control is gaining more traction. In a new step, the World Economic Forum has removed Cyber Polygon from its webpage. So what is Cyber Polygon? It’s a simulation similar to event 201, but it focuses on a large scale cyber attack that plunges the entire world into darkness. Schwab even said it would make Covid look like a “minor inconvenience.”

POLAND - Secretary of State Tony Blinken started a rumor on Face the Nation on Sunday morning. He suggested that Poland will send its fighter jets to the Ukrainians. That would put Poland on a war footing. The Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland labeled it fake news hours before Blinken’s appearance on the CBS Sunday News show. So, basically, Blinken lied – again. The Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland state with certainty, “Poland won’t send its fighter jets to #Ukraine as well as allow to use its airports. We significantly help in many other areas.” Blinken was just in Poland visiting refugee centers. He even met with Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau. He knew the truth. What do you think he was trying to do?

RUSSIA - Russian citizens and companies must apply for a special permit to deal with "unfriendly" foreign entities. The countries, international organizations and territories considered "unfriendly" include: "Australia, Albania, Andorra, United Kingdom, including Jersey, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, the member states of the European Union, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, USA, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Japan." Russia lists Taiwan as being part of China.While Israel has publicly condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, it was not included on the list. Israel has taken on a mediation role during the conflict, seeing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett flying to Moscow on Saturday to speak with Putin.

RUSSIA - Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was demanding that Ukraine cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognise the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. It was the most explicit Russian statement so far of the terms it wants to impose on Ukraine to halt what it calls its “special military operation”, now in its 12th day. Peskov told Reuters in a telephone interview that Ukraine was aware of the conditions. “And they were told that all this can be stopped in a moment.” There was no immediate reaction from the Ukrainian side.

UKRAINE - In less than a week, the United States and NATO have pushed more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelin missiles, over the borders of Poland and Romania, unloading them from giant military cargo planes so they can make the trip by land to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and other major cities. So far, Russian forces have been so preoccupied in other parts of the country that they have not targeted the arms supply lines, but few think that can last. But those are only the most visible contributions. Hidden away on bases around Eastern Europe, forces from United States Cyber Command known as “cybermission teams” are in place to interfere with Russia’s digital attacks and communications — but measuring their success rate is difficult, officials say. A Flow of Arms Becomes a Torrent: To understand the warp-speed nature of the arms transfers underway now, consider this: A $60 million arms package to Ukraine that the US announced last August was not completed until November, the Pentagon said. When the president approved $350 million in military aid on February 26 — nearly six times larger — 70 percent of it was delivered in five days.

RUSSIA - Vladimir Putin has sent the EU into chaos after diverting gas flow from a key pipeline away from Europe as prices skyrocket to record highs once again. Russia’s state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, cut off gas transiting through the Yamal-Europe pipeline on Friday. Russia has been ramping up its gas deliveries to Europe in recent weeks despite its “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine. But now, it appears Germany’s gas has been slashed yet again. The pipeline between Poland and Germany is usually responsible for around 15 percent of Russia's westbound deliveries to Europe. Russia supplies 40 percent of Europe’s natural gas, making the Yamal pipeline a key route for its supplies to reach the continent. EU gas storage has reached “historically low levels”, with fears soaring over the “low debit in the gas pipelines from the East”.

GERMANY - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he opposes cutting off energy supplies from Russia, calling imports of oil and gas of “essential importance” to the European economy. While the European Union needs to find alternatives, “this won’t happen overnight,” Scholz said Monday in a statement. “It’s therefore a conscious decision on our part to continue the activities of business enterprises in the area of energy supply with Russia.” The comments represent an open acknowledgment of Germany’s dependence on Russia to heat its homes and fuel its factories, and the stance puts the brakes on European efforts to impose sanctions on the country’s oil and gas sector. Germany relies on Russia for more than half of its gas and coal supplies and more than a third of its oil. To compensate for lost Russian gas, the country would need deliveries from the world’s entire 600-vessel fleet of liquefied natural gas tankers, business lobby DIHK estimates.

CHINA - Chinese Premier Xi Jinping has offered a lifeline to Vladimir Putin as the two countries look to evade western sanctions on Russia using China's financial systems. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, countries around the world, including the UK, US and EU have hit Putin with harsh sanctions. The strongest of these sanctions have been the ones aimed at the removal and exclusion of multiple Russian banks from the SWIFT financial services network and international payments system which severely affected Russian finance.

VATICAN - Pope Francis employed his strongest rhetoric to date to condemn the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine, calling for an end to the assault and the establishment of humanitarian corridors for those fleeing. “Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine,” the pontiff told crowds gathered in the Vatican Sunday for his weekly Angelus address. “It is not merely a military operation, but a war, which sows death, destruction and misery.” “The number of victims is increasing, as are the people fleeing, especially mothers and children,” he lamented. “The need for humanitarian assistance in that troubled country is growing dramatically by the hour.” In conclusion, the pope called for prayers for Ukraine and its people, while also asserting the readiness of the Vatican to intermediate in any way possible to help bring the crisis to a close.