The War Room: As his soldiers and volunteers fight on against the Russian invasion, Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky spoke to the British Parliament yesterday invoking Winston Churchill saying, “We will fight to the end, at sea, in the air.” He said, “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the streets.”

  Zelensky asked the Brits once again to help establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but got no response.

  Russia today is reported to have agreed to a twelve-hour cease fire to allow for civilian evacuation of six of the most embattled areas. The problem with that is it allows the Russians to resume levelling what they can claim is unoccupied civilian areas. 

  Yesterday the US rejected an offer by the Polish government to send its MiG-29 fighter planes to a US air base in Germany to then be turned over to Ukraine. The US said that just won’t work.

  US Intelligence leaders told Congress yesterday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been surprised by Ukrainian resistance and might look for a way out of Ukraine if his invasion seriously stalls, but that the fight is likely to heat up before that happens. 

  Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, told members of the House Intelligence Committee that “what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time, given the significant costs he is incurring.”

  The Russians have taken serious losses, which could rile up their leader.  “I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” said CIA Director William Burns, a former ambassador to Moscow. Burns cautioned that Putin “has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians.” 

  After the meeting, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said, “One thing Putin does fear is the ability of the Russian people to rise up against him. Until he feels that his own regime is at risk, it’s hard to see him looking for an exit ramp.”

Combat Report: The Russian warship that opened fire on Ukraine’s Snake Island at the outset of the war has been destroyed by a land-based missile in defense of the port city of Odessa, Ukrainian forces claim. 

  In an incident that may or may not have been propaganda fiction, the Russian corvette Vasily Bykov was reported to have demanded the island’s surrender and the Ukrainians responded “Go fuck yourself.”

  Casualties are hard to count. US intelligence estimates that the Russians have lost 2,000 to 4,000 men since the outbreak of the war. Ukraine claims to have killed as many as 10,000, but so far Russia has admitted to only 498, and that was days ago.

  The US estimates that the Russian still have 95 percent of the combat powered they started with. 

Economic War: President Biden yesterday banned the importation of Russian oil into the US, another move to put economic pressure on Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine.

  Under demands to respond to the invasion, McDonald’s and Starbucks announced that they are temporarily closing their shops in Russia. McDonald’s has nearly 850 restaurants over there, a mix of corporate and Russian-owned. Starbucks’s coffee shops are owned by a Kuwaiti conglomerate.

  Coca Cola is closing its Russian operations.

  In a sign that Russia is beginning to feel the economic pinch of foreign sanctions and the closure of  international businesses, President Vladimir Putin signed orders to relieve people affected, in particular poor families with children. 

  Fearing price spikes and shortages, Russians are beginning to make a run on the grocery stores, causing retailers to put limits on purchases of flour, sugar, and oil.

   “The state will do everything necessary to support families,” Putin said in a televised speech. 

  In what has become predictable doublespeak, he promised that draftees will not be forced to fight in Ukraine and that professional soldiers “will reliably protect the security and peace of the people of Russia,” as if it’s Russia under attack.

The Information War: The Russian media continues to report that what’s happening in Ukraine is a “special military operation.” They do not use the word “war” or broadcast video of destroyed military equipment or bombarded Ukraine cities.

  In just one example, they broadcast a meeting Vladimir Putin had with a group of 20 female pilots for Aeroflot, Russia’s primary air carrier. “We all support your actions, the special military operation that is proceeding there,” one pilot said to Putin. “We know that civilians do not suffer, but please reassure us what is at the end of this path.”

  Russian broadcasters have also accused the Ukrainian military of blowing up their own civilian buildings with people inside and using civilians as human shields. They offered no proof.

 Patriot Games: A Texas man who was armed with a handgun when he helped lead the charge in the January 6^th Capitol insurrection yesterday became the first defendant from the mob found guilty after trial.

  Guy Wesley Reffitt, 41, whose own son testified against him, is an oil field worker from Wylie, Texas, outside of Dallas. Prosecutors had described Reffitt as the “tip of this mob’s spear.”

  Reffitt had filmed his own actions that day with a helmet camera. The video revealed him urging people to storm the Capitol and drag lawmakers out of the building. He then led a section of the mob up a staircase, until he was subdued with pepper balls and chemical spray. 

  Also yesterday, Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the right wing Proud Boys, was charged in a federal indictment with conspiring to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election by helping to plan and launch the Capitol attack. 

The Spin Rack: Britain’s Prince Andrew has paid an undisclosed sum to Virginia Giuffre, who sued the British royal claiming he had sex with her when she was an underage teenager. — Undersea researchers have found the wreck of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s wooden ship Endurance, which sank in 1.9 miles of water off the coast of Antarctica in 1915. The operation’s director of exploration said, “This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation.” — Apple unveiled what it calls a “cheaper” iPhone that will sell for $429, which ain’t cheap.