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Ukrainian troops are encircling Russian forces in Lyman, an occupied town in the northeast of the country, as Kyiv presses on with its counteroffensive to recapture seized territory. Maps detailing Ukrainian advance in the region amid a continued counteroffensive show its forces moving north across the Siverskyi Donets river from areas east and west of town, and east across the Oskil river from positions north of Lyman. The British Defense Ministry assessed on Wednesday that over the last few days, Ukraine has pressed its offensive operations in the northeast of the country. Its units advanced on at least two axes...

As Russia pummels Ukraine in an invasion waged on Thursday, Moscow’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, leveled the same type of sentiment at Israel as the Kremlin did towards Ukraine. “We’re concerned over Tel Aviv’s announced plans for expanding settlement activity in the occupied Golan Heights, which contradicts the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Convention. Russia doesn’t recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights that are part of Syria,” he tweeted. Putin refused to recognize republics Donetsk and Luhansk as sovereign Ukraine like the Golan. Interestingly, Polyanskiy referred to Israel’s capital as Tel Aviv rather than Jerusalem. Russia has...

The United Nations is a completely corrupt organization that gives cover to tyrants and pedophiles, and that has made destroying Israel its primary focus. On Wednesday, even as Russian troops were massed on Ukraine's border, the U.N. Security Council found time to hold a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Just to show how farcical the United Nations is, despite Russia being poised to attack Ukraine, the U.N. Security Council nevertheless followed its usual leadership rotation, making Vladimir Putin the Security Council chairman. Thus, Russia helmed the meeting regarding the U.N.'s obsession: Israel.The meeting occurred just a few hours after Israel announced...

State Department pushes back on signature Trump admin foreign policy decision The Biden administration is walking back the United States' historic recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the contested Golan Heights region along Israel's northern border, a significant blow to the Jewish state and one of the Trump administration's signature foreign policy decisions. The Trump administration declared the territory—seized by Israel from Syria in 1967 and later annexed by the country—to be wholly part of the Jewish state in 2019. Then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo took a trip to the area in 2020 and reaffirmed that America formally abandoned a decades-long...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed plans to construct a new settlement in the Golan Heights named after President Trump. The funding for “Trump Heights” was approved on Sunday, which will allocate $2.3 million towards the settlement. This big move expressed gratitude for President Trump’s decision to steer clear from prior foreign policies that actively worked against the state of Israel. “Today, we will begin practical steps to construct the settlement ‘Trump Heights’ in the Golan Heights, which Israel’s sovereignty over it was recognized by President Trump,” stated the prime minister. (more at link)

Syria’s air defenses responded to an Israeli attack in the Damascus countryside, according to state media. The report comes after a blast near Israel’s nuclear plant, which IDF pinned on a missile launched from Syria. The Israeli strike reportedly targeted a site in al-Dumayr, located some 24 miles (40km) from the Syrian capital, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported early on Thursday morning. The country’s air defenses were said to have intercepted “most of the enemy missiles,” according to a military spokesman. “The Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression with bursts of missiles from the direction of the...

Syrian and Russian warplanes on Tuesday carried out military drills amid increasing Israeli strikes, according to a military statement released by Syrian defense ministry. The drills and patrols took place near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in southern Syria and also in the northern and eastern parts of Syria. Two Russian SU-35 jets and six Syrian MIG warplanes took part in the drills...

Russian men who are fleeing the country to avoid being drafted into Moscow’s war against Ukraine should seek asylum in the US, the White House said Tuesday. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her regular briefing that the response inside Russia to the so-called “partial mobilization” ordered last week by the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, shows “this war that was started by the Kremlin is unpopular.” “Regardless of their nationality, [people] may apply for asylum in the United States and have their claims adjudicated on a case by case basis,” Jean-Pierre added. “We welcome any folks who are seeking...

Tucker Carlson accurately outlined the most likely suspect of the sabotage against Russia’s Nord Stream I and II pipeline today. When you consider the media blitz by Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, last weekend (ABC, CNN, NBC and CBS); specifically pointing out the U.S. position against Russia; it is almost a certainty that U.S. action was behind the underwater detonation of explosives to take out Nord Stream pipeline system.

Russia has just finished a Potemkin referendum conducted in the illegally occupied Ukrainian oblasts (provinces) of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson (see Vladimir Putin to Address Russia; Annexation of Ukraine Provinces and Mobilization Seem to Be on the Table). The “voting” began on September 23, and the question is whether those provinces wish to be annexed to Russia.There are complicating factors. All four oblasts are on the front line of a war between Putin’s invading army and the armed forces of Ukraine. Many, if not most, of the residents, are refugees. The voting began within 48 hours after the announcement....

HAS ANYONE HEARD THIS REPORT? PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: “PUTIN LEFT MOSCOW TO HIS SECRET PALACE NEAR LAKE VALDI BETWEEN MOSCOW & ST PETERBURG WHEN RUSSIA & RUSSIA’S ADMINISTTATION WAS IN SUCH A MESS! LEAVING HIS COUNTRY WITHOUT A LEADER WHHILE HIS COUNTRY WAS ON FIRE & CITIZENS WERE WAITING FOR A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS. PRO-PUTIN POLITICAL OFFICIALS STATED THAT THE RUSSIAN LEADER WENT TO THE LUXURY COMPLEX TO REST HIS BODY AND SOUL.”

The “partial mobilization” of Russian men to fight in Putin’s War in Ukraine is shaping up pretty much the fiasco we thought it would be (see Vladimir Putin to Address Russia; Annexation of Ukraine Provinces and Mobilization Seem to Be on the Table). It is equal parts black comedy, political thriller, and tragedy. But, don’t worry, the comedic and thriller elements will go away very soon. The war in Ukraine has left Russia facing a military personnel crisis. About 75% of Russia’s regular ground forces participated in the opening act of the Special Military Operation (SMO). These were reinforced by...

Biden: "If Russia invades... then there will be no longer a Nordstream 2. We will bring an end to it." Reporter: "But how will you do that exactly? (...)" Biden: "I promise you we will be able to do it" Victoria Nuland 1/27/2022: "If Russia invades Ukraine, by any means, Nord Stream 2 will not exist"

Did Putin’s frogmen blow up Europe’s gas supplies? Western leaders blame ‘deliberate’ sabotage after Nordsteam pipe from Russia ruptured off Sweden causing 3000ft-wide bubbles and sending prices spiking Three leaks reported in Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines near Danish island last night and this morning Pipelines are leaking gas into the Baltic Sea, with one area more than 3,000ft wide churning with bubbles Danish PM Mette Frederiksen has said her government believes the leaks were caused by 'deliberate actions' Ukraine also pointed the finger at Moscow, describing the incident as a 'terrorist attack and act of aggression' Latvian Defence...

BERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had weeks ago warned Germany about possible attacks on gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, German magazine Spiegel said on Tuesday, after gas leaks in Russia pipelines to Germany were reported.

Poland and Norway opened a new gas pipeline via Denmark on Tuesday, hailed as a much-needed alternative to Russian-controlled routes. At a ceremony in Poland, Norway’s Energy Minister Terje Aasland said the opening of Baltic Pipe was “a milestone on the important path towards European independence”... Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it “marks a crucial geopolitical step for all of us.” “Putin uses Russian energy as a weapon to destabilise Europe, to divide us. He cannot be allowed to succeed,” Ms Frederiksen said, referring to the Russian president. Poland, one of the fiercest advocates in Europe of isolating Moscow,...

Two undersea pipelines crucial to delivering Russian natural gas to Germany were hit with mysterious leaks on Thursday, prompting concerns of sabotage. Why it matters: The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have been central to the energy crisis that has enveloped Europe in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Nord Stream 2 hasn't entered commercial operation — its certification was halted on the eve of the invasion — Nord Stream 1 provided a crucial pathway for Russian gas to reach Europe until earlier this month, when Russia closed the pipeline citing maintenance concerns. The big picture: Two...

Tuesday is the final day of voting in a series of referendums on joining Russia. The votes, widely seen as rigged and illegitimate, are likely to pave the way for Russia to announce it has annexed more of Ukraine by the end of the week, analysts say. The votes have been taking place in two pro-Russian, self-proclaimed “republics” in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and southern occupied regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. There have been multiple reports of votes being staged and coercion and aggression being used to force people living in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to vote...

Danish authorities on Monday asked ships to steer clear of a five nautical mile radius off the island of Bornholm after a gas leak overnight from the defunct Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 pipeline drained into the Baltic Sea. The German government said it was in contact with the Danish authorities and working with local law enforcement to find out what caused pressure in the pipeline to plummet suddenly. On Monday evening, the operator of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which ran at reduced capacity since mid-June before stopping supplies altogether in August, also disclosed a pressure drop on both lines...

Nearly five months into its senseless war against Ukraine, Russia has concocted a wild new explanation for why the Kremlin’s plans for a quick takeover fell apart so spectacularly—because Ukrainian troops were turned into superhuman killing machines during “secret experiments” in American-run biolabs, of course. Never mind the myriad reports of Russian troops refusing to fight by the thousands, sabotaging their own shoddy equipment and even deliberately wounding themselves to abandon the war, Russian lawmakers claim the real setback for Moscow was “drugged up” Ukrainian soldiers. That claim was made Monday by two Russian lawmakers heading up a commission to...