BEIJING: As the West condemns Russia, President Vladimir Putin has vocal supporters in China, where the ruling Communist Party tells its people they are fellow targets of U.S.-led harassment.

“If Russia is destroyed, we will be next. This is for sure,” said Wang Yongchun, a retiree in Beijing.

“The United States wants to dominate the world.”

Such comments reflect the stance of a ruling party that is the closest thing Putin has to a major ally: The war should stop but the United States is to blame.

President Xi Jinping’s government has tried to distance itself from Russia’s offensive but avoided criticizing Moscow.

The government has offered to act as mediator and denounced trade and financial sanctions against Russia.

Ruling party control of all Chinese media and intensive internet censorship make it hard to gauge public opinion.

But what the party allows online and requires media to publish make clear what it wants the public to think.

Media outlets were told last week to post only pro-Russian content and to censor anti-Russian or pro-Western views, according to a copy of instructions posted on the social media account of the newspaper Beijing News.

The post was later deleted.

Online and in social media, expressions of sympathy for Ukraine and support for Russia appear but not criticism of Moscow.

“When a war begins, is it not the children of ordinary people who serve as cannon fodder?” said a post signed Da Ke Ming Yi on the Weibo social media platform.

“Those who died were the children of ordinary people.”

A letter signed by five professors from prominent universities that criticised Russia for attacking a weaker neighbor appeared briefly on social media before being deleted.

“We stand against unjust wars,” said the academics from schools including Tsinghua University in Beijing, alma mater of many ruling party leaders.

Comments posted by nationalists criticized the professors for failing to stick to the ruling party’s official position of neutrality.

The ruling party has spent decades using school textbooks and the entirely state-controlled media to nurture a sense of nationalist grievance.

It accuses the United States of trying to block China’s rise to its rightful position of global leadership.

State media repeat Beijing’s position that the United States and its European allies are to blame for the Ukraine war because they failed to respond to Russian concerns that its democratic neighbour should be barred from joining NATO, the Western military alliance.

That echoes Chinese complaints that Washington and its allies are interfering in its domestic affairs and issues of national sovereignty, including its claim over Taiwan, territory disputes in the South China Sea, as well as in Xinjiang, the far-western region where China has been accused of detaining over a million Uyghurs.

Russia’s attack, as a historical event, “is not a good one,” but “people think the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is because the United States stirred up trouble,” said Zheng Bowen, a 38-year-old engineer.

The state-run newspaper Capital News exhorted the public to line up with the ruling party: “The nation’s attitude is our attitude.”

“China has always upheld a fair and responsible attitude, calling on all parties to exercise restraint and ease the situation, and return to dialogue and negotiation,” it said.

However, the newspaper appeared to support Putin’s demand that Ukraine become a neutral buffer between Russia and Europe and give up the possibility of NATO membership.

“Ultimately, Ukraine should be a bridge between East and West, rather than a frontier of confrontation between major powers,” the Capital News said.

Comments online have called for China to support Russia by purchasing its exports of oil, gas and other goods.

“Let the Russian Embassy sell their goods on livestream. Let’s show them China’s buying power,” said a comment signed Bao Zou Guang Xiao Pang on Weibo.

It received 42,000 likes.

A separate comment advocating that China maintain normal trade with Russia, an implicit rejection of sanctions, received nearly 80,000 likes.

Social media platforms have urged users to act responsibly and say they have removed thousands of postings about the attack on Ukraine.

Douyin, a short-video service operated by the Chinese owner of TikTok, said it deleted more than 3,500 videos and 12,100 comments due to “vulgar, war belittling, sensationalist and unfriendly comments.”

The popular WeChat message service also complained about “vulgar posts” that it said have a “negative impact on cyberspace.”

It said some users “took the opportunity to publish bad information about international current affairs,” including comments belittling the war such as crass jokes about “gaining course credits by going to Ukraine and fighting in the war” and asking “Ukrainian beauties to come to China,” the platform said.

WeChat’s post was later shared by a unit of China’s internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China.

Weibo said it removed more than 4,000 posts that were vulgar and ridiculed war.

It said more than 10,000 accounts were closed.

“Peaceful environments do not come easily,” the company said in a social media post.

It called on users to “maintain an objective and rational attitude” and take part in discussion “in a reasonable manner.”

Russian troops are shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power station in Ukraine.

“We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire. There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe,” Andriy Tuz, spokesperson for the plant in Enerhodar, said in a video posted on Telegram.

The plant accounts for about one quarter of Ukraine’s power generation.

Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the Zaporizhzhia plant and had set fire to one of the facility’s six reactors.

That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said.

Firefighters cannot get near the fire because they are being shot at, Tuz said.

A live-streamed security camera linked from the homepage of the nuclear power plant showed what appeared to be armoured vehicles rolling into the facility’s parking lot and shining spotlights on the building where the camera was mounted.

Deadly Russian air strikes hit a residential block in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv and the main TV tower in the nation’s capital, Kyiv said on Tuesday, with Ukraine’s president accusing the Kremlin of a “war crime” as the civilian toll of the invasion mounted.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has announce that the US is banning Russian planes from its airspace in retaliation for the Ukraine invasion, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The announcement follows similar actions by Canada and the European Union and is set to come during his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

Despite sanctions and warnings of a humanitarian crisis, the fresh assaults on day six of Russia’s invasion came as a massive military convoy was closing on the capital, and Moscow warned terrified residents living near security infrastructure to leave their homes.

“This is state terrorism on the part of Russia,” charged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing Moscow of committing a “war crime” in Kharkiv.

Padang (Indonesia) (AP):  A strong, shallow earthquake off Indonesia’s coast Friday panicked people in Sumatra island and neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, damaged buildings and injured several people.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 6.2 magnitude and struck about 66 kilometers (41 miles) north-northwest of Bukittinggi, a hilly town in West Sumatra province. It struck about 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) below the Earth’s surface.

Dwikorita Karnawati, head of Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks.

Television reports showed the strong temblor sending streams of panicked people into the streets in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, and patients in a hospital at West Pasaman district the closest area to the epicenter were being evacuated from the building.

People in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore also reportedly felt the tremors. A video that circulated on social media showed residents gathered in streets after high-rises in Kuala Lumpur swayed for a few seconds. Witnesses reported seeing their doors and chairs shaking and photos and paintings fixed to the walls trembling.

Hamsuardi, the West Pasaman district head, said Friday’s earthquake caused minor to moderate damage to dozens of houses and buildings and injured several people, but no deaths were reported.

Authorities are still collecting information about the full scale of damage in the affected areas.

In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.

Indonesia has a number of seismic faults and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia. (AP)

Washington: Nearly 400 Indian students in Ukraine’s Sumy city bordering Russia have taken shelter in a basement after Russian forces took control of it and have appealed to the government of India to evacuate them.

Sumy in northeastern Ukraine is about 50 miles from the Russian border. The city mayor surrendered to Russian forces on Thursday.

The students, most of whom are studying in Sumy State Medical University, said they fear for their safety as gunshots can be heard outside.

“Right now, we are hiding in the basement of our dormitory. We do not know if this basement is enough for us to survive. We urge the Indian government to try to evacuate us from the eastern side of Ukraine,” Lalit Kumar, one of the students.

“Travelling on our own is not possible. Martial law has been imposed here and that means no outing, no cars, no buses and no private vehicle can travel. ATMs and supermarkets are also not working,” he said.

The students also shared short videos of the basement they are hiding in.

Kumar, a fifth-year student, said they have limited supplies.

“We do not have enough supplies here to continue. The Indian government is our last hope… we want go to our motherland and see our loved ones. Kindly help us,” he said in a message.

Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine on Wednesday night. Russia has launched multiple attacks on several areas in central and eastern Ukraine.

At a media briefing on Thursday, India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla assured all Indian citizens, including students, in Ukraine and their family members that the government will take all possible steps to bring them back safe and sound.

He said there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days.

Joe Biden / Vladimir Putin

Washington: President Joe Biden said the US will intervene if Vladimir Putin moves into NATO countries, stressing that if his Russian counterpart is not stopped now, he will be emboldened.

Biden said he has no plans to talk to Putin but he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and assured him that the US will provide humanitarian relief to ease the suffering of the people of Ukraine.

“Well, if he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) did move to NATO countries, we will be involved. The only thing that I am convinced of is if we don’t stop (him) now, he’ll be emboldened. If we don’t move against him now with these significant sanctions, he will be emboldened,” Biden told reporters on Thursday at a White House news conference, where he also announced a series of tough sanctions against Russia.

Responding to questions, the president said it is already a large conflict.

“The way we’re going assure it is not going to spiral into a larger conflict is by providing all the forces needed in the eastern European nations that are members of NATO. NATO is more united than it has ever been, and I have no plans to talk with Putin,” he said.

Amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US has deployed additional troops to defend its NATO allies, particularly in eastern Europe.

Biden claimed Putin has much larger ambitions in Ukraine.

“He wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union. That’s what this is about. And I think that his ambitions are completely contrary to the place where the rest of the world has arrived,” he said.

Biden said he spoke to Zelenskiy late last night and assured him that the US, together with its allies and partners in Europe, will support the Ukrainian people as they defend their country.

“We will provide humanitarian relief to ease their suffering. In the early days of this conflict, Russia propaganda outlets will keep trying to hide the truth and claim success for its military operation against a made-up threat,” he said.

“We stand up for freedom. This is who we are,” he added.

The US has said it will not send troops to Ukraine to fight against Russian forces. Biden warned Russia against launching cyberattacks on US firms and infrastructure.

“Let me also repeat the warning I made last week — if Russia pursues cyberattacks against our companies, our critical infrastructure, we are prepared to respond. For months, we’ve been working closely with the private sector to harden our cyber defences, sharpen our ability to respond to Russia’s cyberattacks as well,” he said.

To a query on banning Russia from the SWIFT financial system, Biden said the sanctions proposed by the US on all Russian banks are of equal or maybe more consequence than that.

“It is always an option, but right now, that’s not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take,” he said.

There is no doubt that when a major nuclear power attacks and invades another country that the world is going to respond, and markets can respond all over the world, he noted.

Biden announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions target Russian banks, oligarchs, and high-tech sectors.

Joe Biden / Vladimir Putin

Kyiv(AP): In what appeared to be a last-ditch diplomatic gambit brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House said US President Joe Biden has agreed in principle to a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as long as he holds off on launching an assault that US officials warn appears increasingly more likely.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration has been clear that we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to meet on Thursday in Europe as long as a further invasion doesn’t occur.

We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war,” Psaki said in statement. “And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.

In Kyiv, life outwardly continued as usual for many on a mild winter Sunday, with brunches and church services, ahead of what Biden said late last week was an already decided-upon Russian attack.

Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine’s northern border, a move that US leaders said put Russia another step closer to what they said was the planned invasion of Ukraine. Residents of Ukraine’s capital filled a gold-domed cathedral to pray for peace.

Russia’s action extends what it said were military exercises, originally set to end Sunday, that brought an estimated 30,000 Russian forces to Belarus, Ukraine’s neighbor to the north. They are among at least 150,000 Russian troops now deployed outside Ukraine’s borders, along with tanks, warplanes, artillery and other war materiel.

The continued deployment of the Russian forces in Belarus raised concern that they could be used to sweep down on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, a city of about 3 million people less than a three-hour drive away.

Katerina Spanchak, who fled a region of eastern Ukraine when it was taken over by Russian-allied separatists, was among worshippers crowded into the capital’s St. Michael’s monastery, smoky with the candles burned by the faithful, to pray that Ukraine be spared.

We all love life, and we are all united by our love of life,” Spanchak said, pausing to compose herself. We should appreciate it every day. That’s why I think everything will be fine.

Our joint prayers will help to elude this tragedy, which is advancing,” said another worshipper, who identified himself only by his first name, Oleh.

A US official said Sunday that Biden’s assertion that Putin has made the decision to roll Russian forces into Ukraine was based on intelligence that Russian front-line commanders have been given orders to begin final preparations for an attack. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive intelligence.

The United States and many European countries have charged for weeks that Putin has built up the forces he needs to invade Ukraine – a westward-looking democracy that has sought to move out of Russia’s orbit – and is now trying to create pretexts to invade.

Western nations have threatened massive sanctions if Putin does.

US officials on Sunday defended their decision to hold off on their planned financial punishments of Russia ahead of any invasion, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called passionately Saturday for the West to do more.

If you pull the trigger on that deterrent, well then, it doesn’t exist anymore as a deterrent,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Fox on Washington’s sanctions threat.

Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea.

The announcement that Russia was reversing its pledge to withdraw its forces from Belarus came after two days of sustained shelling along a contact line between Ukraine’s soldiers and Russian-allied separatists in eastern Ukraine, an area that Ukraine and the West worry could be the flashpoint in igniting conflict.

Biden convened the National Security Council at the White House on Russia’s military buildup around Ukraine. White House officials released no immediate details of their roughly two hours of discussion. (AP)

New Delhi: In a fresh advisory, the Indian embassy in Ukraine on Sunday asked Indian nationals to leave the eastern European nation temporarily if their stay is not essential.

The advisory came following rising tensions between the NATO countries and Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

“In view of the continued high levels of tensions and uncertainties with respect to the situation in Ukraine, all Indian nationals whose stay is not deemed essential and all Indian students, are advised to leave Ukraine temporarily,” the embassy said.

It said available commercial flights, and charter flights may be availed for travel, for an “orderly and timely departure” from Ukraine.

“Indian students are advised to also get in touch with respective student contractors for updates on charter flights, and also continue to follow E embassy Facebook, website and Twitter for any update,” the embassy said.

According to an official document in 2020, Ukraine had a small but vibrant Indian community and there were about 18,000 Indian students studying in that country.

The US and its Western allies have been severely critical of Russia over its build-up of forces near the Ukraine border.

The US has already sent extra troops to Europe to support its allies in the backdrop of fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has positioned around 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine besides sending warships into the Black Sea for naval exercises, triggering concerns among the NATO countries about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Washington (AP): The Pentagon ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert to potentially deploy to Europe as part of a NATO response force amid growing concern that Russia could soon make a military move on Ukraine.

President Joe Biden consulted with key European leaders, underscoring US solidarity with allies there.

Putting the US-based troops on heightened alert for Europe on Monday suggested diminishing hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin will back away from what Biden himself has said looks like a threat to invade neighboring Ukraine.

At stake, beyond the future of Ukraine, is the credibility of a NATO alliance that is central to US defence strategy but that Putin views as a Cold War relic and a threat to Russian security. For Biden, the crisis represents a major test of his ability to forge a united allied stance against Putin.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said about 8,500 US-based troops are being put on alert for possible deployment not to Ukraine but to NATO territory in Eastern Europe as part of an alliance force meant to signal a unified commitment to deter any wider Putin aggression.

Russia denies it is planning an invasion. It says Western accusations are merely a cover for NATO’s own planned provocations.

Recent days have seen high-stakes diplomacy that has failed to reach any breakthrough, and key players in the drama are making moves that suggest fear of imminent war.

Biden has sought to strike a balance between actions meant to deter Putin and those that might provide the Russian leader with an opening to use the huge force he has assembled at Ukraine’s border.

Biden held an 80-minute video call with several European leaders on the Russian military buildup and potential responses to an invasion.

I had a very, very, very good meeting — total unanimity with all the European leaders,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “We’ll talk about it later.

The White House said the leaders emphasized their desire for a diplomatic solution to the crisis but also discussed efforts to deter further Russian aggression, including preparations to impose massive consequences and severe economic costs on Russia for such actions as well as to reinforce security on NATO’s eastern flank.

A day earlier, the State Department had ordered the families of all American personnel at the US Embassy in Kyiv to leave the country, and it said that nonessential embassy staff could leave at US government expense.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Oleg Nikolenko, said that US decision was a premature step and a sign of excessive caution. He said Russia was sowing panic among Ukrainians and foreigners in order to destabilize Ukraine.

Britain said it, too, was withdrawing some diplomats and dependents from its Kyiv Embassy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said an invasion was not inevitable but the intelligence is pretty gloomy.

Ordering even a modest number of American troops to be ready for potential deployment to Europe is meant to demonstrate US resolve to support its NATO allies, particularly those in Eastern Europe who feel threatened by Russia and worry that Putin could put them in his crosshairs.

What this is about is reassurance to our NATO allies, Kirby told a Pentagon news conference, adding that no troops are intended for deployment to Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance but has been assured by Washington of continued US political support and arms supplies.

The Pentagon’s move, which was done at Biden’s direction and on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s recommendation, is being made in tandem with actions by other NATO member governments to bolster a defensive presence in Eastern European nations.

Denmark, for example, is sending a frigate and F-16 warplanes to Lithuania; Spain is sending four fighter jets to Bulgaria and three ships to the Black Sea to join NATO naval forces, and France stands ready to send troops to Romania.

In a statement prior to Kirby’s announcement, NATO said the Netherlands plans to send two F-35 fighter aircraft to Bulgaria in April and is putting a ship and land-based units on standby for NATO’s Response Force.

NATO has not made a decision to activate the Response Force, which consists of about 40,000 troops from multiple nations.

That force was enhanced in 2014 the year Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and intervened in support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine by creating a spearhead force of about 20,000 troops on extra-high alert within the larger Response Force.

If NATO does decide to activate the Response Force, the United States will contribute a range of military units, Kirby said.

It is a NATO call to make, Kirby said. For our part, we wanted to make sure that we were ready in case that call should come. And that means making sure that units that would contribute to it are as ready as they can be on as short a notice as possible.

He said some units will be ordered to be ready to deploy on as little as five days’ notice. Among the 8,500 troops, an unspecified number could be sent to Europe for purposes other than supporting the NATO Response Force, he said. Without providing details, he said they might be deployed if other situations develop.

Prior to the US announcement, NATO issued a statement summing up moves already described by member countries. Restating them under the NATO banner appeared aimed at showing resolve. The West is ramping up its rhetoric in the information war that has accompanied the Ukraine standoff.

Russia has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border, demanding that NATO promise it will never allow Ukraine to join and that other actions, such as stationing alliance troops in former Soviet bloc countries, be curtailed.

NATO said Monday it is bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region. The alliance will take all necessary measures to protect and defend all allies, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

“We will always respond to any deterioration of our security environment, including through strengthening our collective defense.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was NATO and the US who were behind the escalating tensions, not Russia.

All this is happening not because of what we, Russia, are doing. This is happening because of what NATO, the US are doing, Peskov told reporters.

The NATO announcement came as European Union foreign ministers sought to put on their own fresh display of unity in support of Ukraine, and paper over concerns about divisions on the best way to confront any Russian aggression.

In a statement, the ministers said the EU has stepped up sanction preparations, and they warned that any further military aggression by Russia against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe costs.