Russia: international moves, W responses, Putin...Ukraine...China...Africa...internal devts. 17
Ceci est la suite du sujet Russia: international moves, W responses, Putin...Ukraine...China...internal devts. 16.
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1margd
Pekka Kallioniemi @P_Kallioniemi | 2:25 AM · Apr 30, 2024 {X}:
Creator of #vatniksoup and The Soup Central. {VA}
Russia:
- Invades a country at the heart of Europe, completely demolishing its cities and killing its civilian population
- Assassinates people in European countries with painful nerve agents and radioactive substances
- Sabotages European weapons factories
- Runs a sophisticated spy/illegal network around Europe
- Interferes with elections and provokes civil unrest
- Uses GPS jamming against civilian planes
- Sabotages Europe's energy infrastructure
- Sends waves of immigrants (who are probably joined by spies and agent provocateurs) to EU
- Bribes European politicians so that they would promote pro-Kremlin narratives for local audiences
- Spreads propaganda and disinformation on a massive scale
- Nationalizes Western companies and equipment worth of billions of euros
Europe:
- We should do more business and pay more taxes to Russia!
Financial Times "Western business, the Kremlin and the War" (https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1785193733895417973/photo/1)
Creator of #vatniksoup and The Soup Central. {VA}
Russia:
- Invades a country at the heart of Europe, completely demolishing its cities and killing its civilian population
- Assassinates people in European countries with painful nerve agents and radioactive substances
- Sabotages European weapons factories
- Runs a sophisticated spy/illegal network around Europe
- Interferes with elections and provokes civil unrest
- Uses GPS jamming against civilian planes
- Sabotages Europe's energy infrastructure
- Sends waves of immigrants (who are probably joined by spies and agent provocateurs) to EU
- Bribes European politicians so that they would promote pro-Kremlin narratives for local audiences
- Spreads propaganda and disinformation on a massive scale
- Nationalizes Western companies and equipment worth of billions of euros
Europe:
- We should do more business and pay more taxes to Russia!
Financial Times "Western business, the Kremlin and the War" (https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1785193733895417973/photo/1)
2margd
Moldova eyes energy lever to topple Kremlin puppet regime in Transnistria {breakaway province on border w Ukraine}
Gabriel Gavin | April 29, 2024
...Since gaining independence in the 1990s, Moldova has been locked in a frozen conflict with Moscow over Transnistria, a Kremlin-backed separatist region near Moldova’s eastern border with over a quarter of a million people.
...The face-off has been tense, but maintained by a powerful connection: Moldova gets cut-rate Russian energy via Transnistria, which gets hundreds of millions of euros a year in return. The link allowed Russia to preserve control over the strategic strip of land along the Ukrainian border, where its troops are stationed despite Moldova’s objections.
That dynamic is changing, however. Moldova in recent years has integrated with Europe under pro-EU President Maia Sandu. Brussels has offered millions of euros and more links to its energy supplies as part of a yearslong process to get the country, one of Europe’s poorest nations, ready for EU membership.
“Moldova is no longer dependent on Transnistria,” Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi told POLITICO. “When it comes to gas, we buy gas on the international market. On the electricity side, we are building high-voltage lines to connect ourselves to Romania.”
The switch is a problem for Transnistria, but also for the Moldovan government. Stopping payments to Transnistria would collapse the separatist state’s budget and leave hundreds of thousands of people there without incomes and basic services — a challenge that, for a country Moldova’s size, would be akin to the reunification of Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall...
Russia’s ability to intervene is, in practice, limited. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, local Russian forces have been cut off from their usual supply lines, unable to bring in reinforcements or fly in hardware. Many haven’t been rotated in or out of Moldova in years, and have settled down and raised families locally. And while they sit atop one of Europe’s largest arsenals of weaponry and ammunition at the closely guarded Cobasna depot, it is widely believed to hold little else but decaying WWII-era equipment that hasn’t already been sold off or repurposed by the Russians.
...in Moldova’s case, there’s no ethnic animosity driving efforts to end the standoff. Almost all Transnistrian residents have Moldovan passports and move freely through the Russian-guarded checkpoints. Just like Moldovans living elsewhere in the country, Transnistrian residents stand to benefit from the economic boom of joining the EU — no matter what Putin might want for them.
...Moscow...can still create problems for Moldova. Last year, Kyiv’s intelligence services warned it had intercepted a Moscow plan to stage a coup and oust Sandu, using a pro-Russian opposition party to overthrow the government. Presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for October will be a critical moment for Moldovans to decide their future — and a chance for outside powers like Russia to meddle...Brussels has deployed a mission to the country to help counter disinformation designed to weaken Moldova’s EU ambitions...
https://www.politico.eu/article/moldova-eye-energy-lever-topple-kremlin-puppet-r...
Gabriel Gavin | April 29, 2024
...Since gaining independence in the 1990s, Moldova has been locked in a frozen conflict with Moscow over Transnistria, a Kremlin-backed separatist region near Moldova’s eastern border with over a quarter of a million people.
...The face-off has been tense, but maintained by a powerful connection: Moldova gets cut-rate Russian energy via Transnistria, which gets hundreds of millions of euros a year in return. The link allowed Russia to preserve control over the strategic strip of land along the Ukrainian border, where its troops are stationed despite Moldova’s objections.
That dynamic is changing, however. Moldova in recent years has integrated with Europe under pro-EU President Maia Sandu. Brussels has offered millions of euros and more links to its energy supplies as part of a yearslong process to get the country, one of Europe’s poorest nations, ready for EU membership.
“Moldova is no longer dependent on Transnistria,” Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi told POLITICO. “When it comes to gas, we buy gas on the international market. On the electricity side, we are building high-voltage lines to connect ourselves to Romania.”
The switch is a problem for Transnistria, but also for the Moldovan government. Stopping payments to Transnistria would collapse the separatist state’s budget and leave hundreds of thousands of people there without incomes and basic services — a challenge that, for a country Moldova’s size, would be akin to the reunification of Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall...
Russia’s ability to intervene is, in practice, limited. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, local Russian forces have been cut off from their usual supply lines, unable to bring in reinforcements or fly in hardware. Many haven’t been rotated in or out of Moldova in years, and have settled down and raised families locally. And while they sit atop one of Europe’s largest arsenals of weaponry and ammunition at the closely guarded Cobasna depot, it is widely believed to hold little else but decaying WWII-era equipment that hasn’t already been sold off or repurposed by the Russians.
...in Moldova’s case, there’s no ethnic animosity driving efforts to end the standoff. Almost all Transnistrian residents have Moldovan passports and move freely through the Russian-guarded checkpoints. Just like Moldovans living elsewhere in the country, Transnistrian residents stand to benefit from the economic boom of joining the EU — no matter what Putin might want for them.
...Moscow...can still create problems for Moldova. Last year, Kyiv’s intelligence services warned it had intercepted a Moscow plan to stage a coup and oust Sandu, using a pro-Russian opposition party to overthrow the government. Presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for October will be a critical moment for Moldovans to decide their future — and a chance for outside powers like Russia to meddle...Brussels has deployed a mission to the country to help counter disinformation designed to weaken Moldova’s EU ambitions...
https://www.politico.eu/article/moldova-eye-energy-lever-topple-kremlin-puppet-r...
3margd
800 days of this awful war today.
- Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en | 1:37 PM · May 3, 2024 {X}
All these months and years of war were very challenging and exhausting. This is a marathon we did not choose.
There are a lot of losses. There is uncertainty ahead. These are dark times with little light. We have already come a long way and are very tired.
But we still have faith. It gives us strength to keep going, to keep fighting.
Many people read my posts. It gives us strength. It shows that we are not alone. And I am very grateful to you. For every word of support, for every good deed you do. For each of your prayers for Ukraine.
Thank you, friends!
- Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en | 1:37 PM · May 3, 2024 {X}
All these months and years of war were very challenging and exhausting. This is a marathon we did not choose.
There are a lot of losses. There is uncertainty ahead. These are dark times with little light. We have already come a long way and are very tired.
But we still have faith. It gives us strength to keep going, to keep fighting.
Many people read my posts. It gives us strength. It shows that we are not alone. And I am very grateful to you. For every word of support, for every good deed you do. For each of your prayers for Ukraine.
Thank you, friends!
4John5918
‘I love my country, but I can’t kill’: Ukrainian men evading conscription (Guardian)
As the war stretches on indefinitely, there are few eager recruits and Kyiv’s armed forces are short of soldiers... Nevertheless, the army is trying to find new people to replace those who have been killed or injured and to relieve exhausted soldiers propping up the frontline. In spring 2022 volunteers queued to joined up, but with the war stretching on indefinitely, there are few eager recruits. Measures allowing the military to call up more soldiers and to tighten punishment for evasion were approved by Volodymyr Zelenskiy in April. The mobilisation age was reduced from 27 to 25 and, from 18 May, draft evaders can lose their driving licence and have their bank accounts frozen and property seized. The government has also said it is withdrawing consular services from Ukrainian men living abroad in countries such as Poland and Lithuania... With draft officers roaming the streets of Ukrainian towns and cities, some men of conscription age are hiding. Telegram channels have sprung up where users can report sightings of state representatives in order to avoid them...
5margd
Ukraine’s plan if Russia assassinates Zelenskyy
Jamie Dettmer | August 1, 2023
...Ever since he rebuffed an evacuation offer by telling his would-be American rescuers “I need ammunition, not a ride,” the Ukrainian president has played a key role in mustering international support for the fight against Russia.
No wonder Russian lawmakers and ultra-nationalist military bloggers have formed a chorus demanding he be targeted. Zelenskyy’s status as a symbol of what the West sees as a righteous fight, his ability to beg and berate his allies until he gets his way, his willingness to brazen his way to frontline photo ops and parliamentary appearances — these have painted him with a bullseye.
A few weeks after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, a top Zelenskyy adviser, Mikhail Podolyak, disclosed there had been at least a dozen serious assassination attempts on his boss by Russian sabotage and intelligence teams, including Chechens and Wagner mercenaries attempting to breach Kyiv’s heavily guarded and monitored government quarter...
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraines-plan-volodymyr-zelenskyy-dies-russia-wa...
------------------------------------
Ukraine claps back after Russia puts Zelenskyy on ‘wanted list’
Jacopo Barigazzi | May 5, 2024
... the Kremlin’s “wanted list”...is an online database of those the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs accuses of being criminals. Russia reportedly said the Ukrainian leader was wanted “under an article of the criminal code” but did not provide further details.
...In February Moscow added Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to its wanted list for “desecration of historical memory and hostility towards Russia.”...
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-claps-back-russia-volodymyr-zelenskyy-wa...
----------------------------------------
Comment of the {Ukraine} MFA Press Office on Russian reports of putting Ukraine's President on the wanted list
04 May 2024
Russian reports about the alleged addition of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs' wanted list demonstrate the desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda, which are at a loss for what else to invent to garner attention.
We would like to remind everyone that, unlike the worthless Russian announcements, the International Criminal Court's warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges is real and enforceable in 123 countries.
https://mfa.gov.ua/en/news/komentar-pressluzhbi-mzs-shchodo-rosijskih-povidomlen...
Jamie Dettmer | August 1, 2023
...Ever since he rebuffed an evacuation offer by telling his would-be American rescuers “I need ammunition, not a ride,” the Ukrainian president has played a key role in mustering international support for the fight against Russia.
No wonder Russian lawmakers and ultra-nationalist military bloggers have formed a chorus demanding he be targeted. Zelenskyy’s status as a symbol of what the West sees as a righteous fight, his ability to beg and berate his allies until he gets his way, his willingness to brazen his way to frontline photo ops and parliamentary appearances — these have painted him with a bullseye.
A few weeks after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, a top Zelenskyy adviser, Mikhail Podolyak, disclosed there had been at least a dozen serious assassination attempts on his boss by Russian sabotage and intelligence teams, including Chechens and Wagner mercenaries attempting to breach Kyiv’s heavily guarded and monitored government quarter...
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraines-plan-volodymyr-zelenskyy-dies-russia-wa...
------------------------------------
Ukraine claps back after Russia puts Zelenskyy on ‘wanted list’
Jacopo Barigazzi | May 5, 2024
... the Kremlin’s “wanted list”...is an online database of those the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs accuses of being criminals. Russia reportedly said the Ukrainian leader was wanted “under an article of the criminal code” but did not provide further details.
...In February Moscow added Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to its wanted list for “desecration of historical memory and hostility towards Russia.”...
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-claps-back-russia-volodymyr-zelenskyy-wa...
----------------------------------------
Comment of the {Ukraine} MFA Press Office on Russian reports of putting Ukraine's President on the wanted list
04 May 2024
Russian reports about the alleged addition of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs' wanted list demonstrate the desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda, which are at a loss for what else to invent to garner attention.
We would like to remind everyone that, unlike the worthless Russian announcements, the International Criminal Court's warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges is real and enforceable in 123 countries.
https://mfa.gov.ua/en/news/komentar-pressluzhbi-mzs-shchodo-rosijskih-povidomlen...
6John5918
Cubans lured to Russian army by high pay and passports (BBC)
Russia has likely been recruiting Cuban nationals to fight in its army in Ukraine, research by the BBC has shown. In September and October 2023, passport details belonging to over 200 Cubans who allegedly joined the Russian army were leaked online by a pro-Ukrainian platform called InformNapalm... A Facebook search has shown that 31 of the names mentioned in the Ukrainian leak match accounts whose owners appear to be in Russia or linked to the Russian army. Some, for instance, have posted photos of themselves wearing Russian military uniform, or in locations that bear Russian street signs or Russian number plates. Others list Russia as their current place of residence. Many of those Facebook users started posting Russia-related content in the second half of 2023, indicating when they might have arrived in the country. Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has suffered heavy losses on the battlefield. A BBC investigation confirmed the names of more than 50,000 Russian troops killed in Ukraine - but the real number is likely to be much higher. Ukraine's own estimate puts the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded in the war at nearly 500,000. Recruiting foreigners to replace some of the losses also helps the Kremlin avoid the risks posed by trying to mobilise Russians by force. When Russia declared a partial mobilisation in 2022, hundreds of thousands of men left the country...
7John5918
Ukraine parliament passes bill for prisoners to join army (Al Jazeera)
Ukraine’s parliament has passed a bill that would enable some prisoners to fight in the armed forces as the military faces a critical personnel shortage and Russian forces continue to advance on the battlefield. The move on Wednesday marks a U-turn in Ukraine’s approach on the matter. Kyiv had long opposed the measure and had repeatedly criticised Moscow for mobilising prisoners to fill its ranks... Mobilisation would be voluntary and open only to certain categories of prisoners. Among those not eligible to serve include those found guilty of sexual violence, killing two or more people, serious corruption and former high-ranking officials, Shuliak said. Only prisoners with under three years left to serve on their sentence may apply, she said. Any prisoners who are mobilised would be granted parole rather than a pardon...
8John5918
Putin watches Russian military parade featuring a solitary, Soviet-era tank (Guardian)
A solitary, symbolic tank has featured in Russia’s annual 9 May military parade for the second year in a row as the country was forced to pare down its normal display of military might during a full-scale war in which it has suffered unprecedented losses over the last two years. The single tank to roll across Red Square as Vladimir Putin reviewed about 9,000 troops was a second world war-era T-34 carrying the banner that the Soviet Union used when it defeated Nazi Germany alongside other allies. The tank has gained iconic status, but is not in combat use and is instead a token of those that used to be part of the 9 May Victory Day celebrations. It is just one way in which the largest land war in Europe since the second world war has affected Russia’s main military and political celebration. Photographs from Red Square also showed patrolmen carrying anti-drone rifles to guard against sabotage attacks that have become a concern due to the proliferation of drones on the battlefield – and increasingly at military and energy sites inside Russia... Oryx, the open-source intelligence defence analysis website, estimates the Russian army has lost at least 3,000 tanks in the last two years, including 2,000 destroyed and another 514 captured by Ukraine. Those are of an estimated 15,724 lost armoured vehicles, including 11,202 that have been destroyed. The actual number is thought to be even higher...
9margd
‘The goal is not peace’: What’s behind Putin’s wartime Russia reshuffle?
Niko Vorobyov | 13 May 2024
President’s surprise reshuffle to see deputy prime minister and economist Andrei Belousov seize Shoigu’s defence minister’s role.
...Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister of 12 years, of his post and appoint him as secretary of the Security Council, a position previously held by Nikolai Patrushev since 2008
...Putin’s decree also removes the FSVTS from the Ministry of Defence, leaving Shoigu only answerable to the president himself.
...Military expert Rob Lee wrote on Xg,...“The big loser in this shuffle appears to be Patrushev, who was also one of the key decisionmakers behind the invasion of Ukraine.” It is yet unclear where Patrushev’s new assignment will be....
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/13/the-goal-is-not-peace-whats-behind-puti...
Niko Vorobyov | 13 May 2024
President’s surprise reshuffle to see deputy prime minister and economist Andrei Belousov seize Shoigu’s defence minister’s role.
...Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister of 12 years, of his post and appoint him as secretary of the Security Council, a position previously held by Nikolai Patrushev since 2008
...Putin’s decree also removes the FSVTS from the Ministry of Defence, leaving Shoigu only answerable to the president himself.
...Military expert Rob Lee wrote on Xg,...“The big loser in this shuffle appears to be Patrushev, who was also one of the key decisionmakers behind the invasion of Ukraine.” It is yet unclear where Patrushev’s new assignment will be....
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/13/the-goal-is-not-peace-whats-behind-puti...
10margd
Hanna Notte @HannaNotte | 4:50 AM · May 11, 2024:
Russia's foreign & security policy | Middle East | Nukes | Director for Eurasia @JamesMartinCNS | Snr. Associate @CSIS @csiserep | PhD Oxford Uni | Berlin-based
Russian embassy in #Mali & #Niger:
On May 9, children attending the private Leonid Tolstoy school in Mali: Wearing Soviet caps and St. George ribbons, standing under Soviet banners, singing Soviet songs.
Quote
Ambassade de Russie au Mali et au Niger @ambassade_russe | 7:09 PM · May 9, 2024:
Малийские учащиеся частной школы им Л.Н.Толстого исполнили во время протокольного мероприятия 9 мая в Посольстве России в Мали песни "На безымянной высоте","День Победы".
Ученики школы при Посольстве прочитали стихи, посвященные Великой Отечественной войне.
Google translate: Malian students of the private school named after L.N. Tolstoy sang the songs "On a Nameless Height" and "Victory Day" during a protocol event on May 9 at the Russian Embassy in Mali. Students of the school at the Embassy read poems dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.
0:20, 0:47, 0:48 (https://twitter.com/ambassade_russe/status/1788708011931775165)
#Победа79 #ДеньПобеды
Russia's foreign & security policy | Middle East | Nukes | Director for Eurasia @JamesMartinCNS | Snr. Associate @CSIS @csiserep | PhD Oxford Uni | Berlin-based
Russian embassy in #Mali & #Niger:
On May 9, children attending the private Leonid Tolstoy school in Mali: Wearing Soviet caps and St. George ribbons, standing under Soviet banners, singing Soviet songs.
Quote
Ambassade de Russie au Mali et au Niger @ambassade_russe | 7:09 PM · May 9, 2024:
Малийские учащиеся частной школы им Л.Н.Толстого исполнили во время протокольного мероприятия 9 мая в Посольстве России в Мали песни "На безымянной высоте","День Победы".
Ученики школы при Посольстве прочитали стихи, посвященные Великой Отечественной войне.
Google translate: Malian students of the private school named after L.N. Tolstoy sang the songs "On a Nameless Height" and "Victory Day" during a protocol event on May 9 at the Russian Embassy in Mali. Students of the school at the Embassy read poems dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.
0:20, 0:47, 0:48 (https://twitter.com/ambassade_russe/status/1788708011931775165)
#Победа79 #ДеньПобеды
11margd
Institute for the Study of War @TheStudyofWar | 12:30 PM · May 13, 2024:
ISW is a policy research organization focused on U.S. national security. {DC}
Defeating Russia’s operation in Kharkiv Oblast requires defeating Russia’s glide bomb threat. Russian forces are using glide bombs launched from Russian airspace to enable Russian ground maneuver in Kharkiv Oblast. (1/3)
Map of Ukraine in range of glide bombs launched from Russian airspace (https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1790057061289459877/photo/1)
ISW is a policy research organization focused on U.S. national security. {DC}
Defeating Russia’s operation in Kharkiv Oblast requires defeating Russia’s glide bomb threat. Russian forces are using glide bombs launched from Russian airspace to enable Russian ground maneuver in Kharkiv Oblast. (1/3)
Map of Ukraine in range of glide bombs launched from Russian airspace (https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1790057061289459877/photo/1)
12margd
Doktor Klein 🇪🇸 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 @Doktor_Klein | 11:30 AM · May 15, 2024 {X}:
With music you can also fight against tyranny. España {NAFO? https://nafo-ofan.org/en-ca/pages/we-are-nafo }
Red lines are now officially over.
" Ukraine 'has to make decisions for itself' when deciding how to use U.S.-supplied weapons that could strike targets inside Russian territory, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on May 15."
0:29 (https://twitter.com/Doktor_Klein/status/1790766793344098785)
With music you can also fight against tyranny. España {NAFO? https://nafo-ofan.org/en-ca/pages/we-are-nafo }
Red lines are now officially over.
" Ukraine 'has to make decisions for itself' when deciding how to use U.S.-supplied weapons that could strike targets inside Russian territory, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on May 15."
0:29 (https://twitter.com/Doktor_Klein/status/1790766793344098785)
13margd
>9 margd: contd.
Putin Begins Defense Ministry Purge Amid Nuclear Secrets Leak Rumor
Newsweek | May 14, 2024
...two weeks before Shoigu's sacking, Igor Sushko, the executive director of the Wind of Change Research Group, claimed that the former defense minister and his deputies, Ivanov and Tsalikov, had been accused of leaking nuclear secrets and could be facing state treason charges.
"Raids on Ivanov & accomplices yielded data on classified military projects including nuclear installations," Sushko wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on April 28.
Osechkin also made the same allegations in a video posted to YouTube the day before. "In contravention of all top secret protocols, Tsalikov and Ivanov provided access to secret documents about Russia's nuclear shelf, among other things, to persons who did not have any level of security clearance," he alleged...
https://www.newsweek.com/shoigu-defense-resigantion-putin-russia-1900451
Putin Begins Defense Ministry Purge Amid Nuclear Secrets Leak Rumor
Newsweek | May 14, 2024
...two weeks before Shoigu's sacking, Igor Sushko, the executive director of the Wind of Change Research Group, claimed that the former defense minister and his deputies, Ivanov and Tsalikov, had been accused of leaking nuclear secrets and could be facing state treason charges.
"Raids on Ivanov & accomplices yielded data on classified military projects including nuclear installations," Sushko wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on April 28.
Osechkin also made the same allegations in a video posted to YouTube the day before. "In contravention of all top secret protocols, Tsalikov and Ivanov provided access to secret documents about Russia's nuclear shelf, among other things, to persons who did not have any level of security clearance," he alleged...
https://www.newsweek.com/shoigu-defense-resigantion-putin-russia-1900451
14davidgn
Col. Davis on the collapse of the front line in Kharkiv. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt6fhuiM2Co
cf.
Anti-corruption group reveals fake companies in Kharkiv fortification contracts
https://english.nv.ua/nation/anti-corruption-activist-exposes-suspicious-wood-su...
and cf. Col. Wilkerson
Putin's Major Offensive Commences, Devastating Ukraine's Military | Col. Larry Wilkerson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH4RjU_hNvY
cf.
Anti-corruption group reveals fake companies in Kharkiv fortification contracts
https://english.nv.ua/nation/anti-corruption-activist-exposes-suspicious-wood-su...
and cf. Col. Wilkerson
Putin's Major Offensive Commences, Devastating Ukraine's Military | Col. Larry Wilkerson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH4RjU_hNvY
15margd
To attack Kharkiv, Russia taking advantage of delay in US support, plus US ban (now "lifted") on using its weaponry on targets across the border in Russia...
16davidgn
>15 margd: And to those who saw this coming long before any Congressional delay, you would say what?
Davis addresses some of this, answering Petraeus
https://www.youtube.com/live/rt6fhuiM2Co?si=Zu-5ULLqXTAwyQ5P&t=996
Davis addresses some of this, answering Petraeus
https://www.youtube.com/live/rt6fhuiM2Co?si=Zu-5ULLqXTAwyQ5P&t=996
17Ardagor
The Russian Kharkiv offensive is slowing down, it looks like it is contained for the moment. There was not enough troops for a breaktrough anyway, probably a distraction to force Ukraine to spread their soldiers to thin.
18margd
Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en | 3:52 AM · May 18, 2024 {X}:
https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1791060700426617230
China has again refused Putin's request for the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project.
The construction of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline is postponed. Russia and China have yet to agree on key details of the project.
A new contract with Beijing is desperately needed by Gazprom, which lost its European market and lost more than half of its exports after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Last year, Putin met twice with Chinese President Xi Jinping, trying to convince him to accept the project, which the Kremlin has been pushing for more than seven years, but both times the talks ended in nothing. Looks like the third time was not the charm, too...
Quote
Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en · May 16
"Russian and Chinese are brothers forever," - Putin during his visit to China.
Russia positively assesses China's position on the Ukrainian issue, according to a joint statement after talks between Putin and Xi Jinping.
Beijing and Moscow noted the need to stop any steps that could lead to a prolongation of hostilities and further escalation, Russian media reported...
_________________________________
China Eyes Russia's Far East as Putin's 'History Lesson' Backfires
Aadil Brar | Feb 13, 2024
...China has a historical claim to Vladivostok, which was handed to Tsarist Russia in 1860 as part of the Treaty of Peking. Under the treaty, the boundary between China and Russia was set along the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, which gave Russia access to Vladivostok, a major port city in Russia's Far East.
...In recent years, a movement among sections of Chinese nationalists has emerged, asking that Russia return Vladivostok to China. These claims have been intensified by Putin's interview {w Tucker Carlson}, in which he contrasted the alleged historical foundation of the Russian state, which he said dated back to the 9th century, with the "invention" of Ukraine in the 20th century.
...Chinese state media has largely kept silent on the issue of Vladivostok as Beijing considers the Kremlin's support a bulwark against U.S. influence in international affairs.
...In August 2023, a map published by China's Ministry of Natural Resources laid claim to other disputed areas with Russia and neighboring countries. These included Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, or Heixiazi, at the confluence of two border rivers, of which ownership is legally shared between the two countries. China's official map painted the entire 135-square mile piece of strategic land into its easternmost territory.
Earlier versions of the map had also renamed key places in Russia's east. Vladivostok was renamed Haishenwai and Sakhalin Island as Kuyedao.
https://www.newsweek.com/china-russia-vladivostok-lesson-far-east-backfires-1869...
https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1791060700426617230
China has again refused Putin's request for the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project.
The construction of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline is postponed. Russia and China have yet to agree on key details of the project.
A new contract with Beijing is desperately needed by Gazprom, which lost its European market and lost more than half of its exports after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Last year, Putin met twice with Chinese President Xi Jinping, trying to convince him to accept the project, which the Kremlin has been pushing for more than seven years, but both times the talks ended in nothing. Looks like the third time was not the charm, too...
Quote
Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en · May 16
"Russian and Chinese are brothers forever," - Putin during his visit to China.
Russia positively assesses China's position on the Ukrainian issue, according to a joint statement after talks between Putin and Xi Jinping.
Beijing and Moscow noted the need to stop any steps that could lead to a prolongation of hostilities and further escalation, Russian media reported...
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China Eyes Russia's Far East as Putin's 'History Lesson' Backfires
Aadil Brar | Feb 13, 2024
...China has a historical claim to Vladivostok, which was handed to Tsarist Russia in 1860 as part of the Treaty of Peking. Under the treaty, the boundary between China and Russia was set along the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, which gave Russia access to Vladivostok, a major port city in Russia's Far East.
...In recent years, a movement among sections of Chinese nationalists has emerged, asking that Russia return Vladivostok to China. These claims have been intensified by Putin's interview {w Tucker Carlson}, in which he contrasted the alleged historical foundation of the Russian state, which he said dated back to the 9th century, with the "invention" of Ukraine in the 20th century.
...Chinese state media has largely kept silent on the issue of Vladivostok as Beijing considers the Kremlin's support a bulwark against U.S. influence in international affairs.
...In August 2023, a map published by China's Ministry of Natural Resources laid claim to other disputed areas with Russia and neighboring countries. These included Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, or Heixiazi, at the confluence of two border rivers, of which ownership is legally shared between the two countries. China's official map painted the entire 135-square mile piece of strategic land into its easternmost territory.
Earlier versions of the map had also renamed key places in Russia's east. Vladivostok was renamed Haishenwai and Sakhalin Island as Kuyedao.
https://www.newsweek.com/china-russia-vladivostok-lesson-far-east-backfires-1869...
19margd
Jim Sciutto {CNN} @jimsciutto | 5:41 AM · May 19, 2024:
New: Ukraine’s navy said it sank another Russian warship overnight. “Last night, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed the Russian Black Sea Fleet's “Kovrovets” 266-M trawler,” the Naval Forces Command PR office wrote on Telegram. CNN cannot independently verify the claim.
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Defense of Ukraine@DefenceU | 4:29 AM · May 19, 2024:
Official page of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine 🇺🇦
Another bad day for the russian Black Sea Fleet.
Overnight, Ukrainian defenders destroyed a russian minesweeper Project 266M "Kovrovets".
Great job, warriors!
Photo of vessel (https://x.com/DefenceU/status/1792110322028822560/photo/1)
New: Ukraine’s navy said it sank another Russian warship overnight. “Last night, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed the Russian Black Sea Fleet's “Kovrovets” 266-M trawler,” the Naval Forces Command PR office wrote on Telegram. CNN cannot independently verify the claim.
----------------------------
Defense of Ukraine@DefenceU | 4:29 AM · May 19, 2024:
Official page of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine 🇺🇦
Another bad day for the russian Black Sea Fleet.
Overnight, Ukrainian defenders destroyed a russian minesweeper Project 266M "Kovrovets".
Great job, warriors!
Photo of vessel (https://x.com/DefenceU/status/1792110322028822560/photo/1)
