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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...

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.”

Russian-installed officials in occupied regions of Ukraine reported huge majorities on Tuesday in favour of becoming part of Russia after five days of voting in so-called referendums that Kyiv and the West denounced as a sham. Hastily arranged votes had taken place in four areas - the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and to the south Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - that make up about 15% of Ukrainian territory. Luhansk authorities said 98.4% of people there had voted to join Russia. In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian-appointed official put the figure at 93.1%. In Kherson, the head of the voting committee put...

A series of unusual leaks on two natural gas pipelines running from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany triggered concerns about sabotage Tuesday, overshadowing the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to bolster Europe’s energy independence from Moscow. Seismic stations Sweden, Norway and Finland registered two explosions Monday near the leaks. Bjorn Lund, a seismologist with Uppsala University who is part of Sweden’s national seismic network, said the first explosion was recorded in the early hours southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm. The latter and stronger blast that night was northeast of...

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...

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"

"Soldiers of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ambushed the enemy in a forest massif in Donetsk region." The video shows Ukrainian soldiers running through the forest during a counteroffensive in a separatist region of Ukraine that has been a key battleground for both sides since Russia's invasion on February 24. Over the weekend, nearly 370 civilians were evacuated from the area, according to the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. "After the ambush, the operators of the SSO of Ukraine began to perform other tasks without losses," the General Staff of the...

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed leader of Chechnya, has criticised the Russian army’s leadership after it appeared to be caught off guard by Ukraine’s fightback against the Russian invasion in the north-east. In a sign that the Kremlin may face serious fallout over the loss of territory that the Russian occupation administrations had repeatedly stated they planned to keep “for ever”, Kadyrov also suggested that Vladimir Putin might not be aware of the real state of affairs. “They have made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions,” Kadyrov said in an audio message posted to his Telegram channel...

Russian forces have withdrawn from key eastern towns, as a rapid Ukrainian counter-attack makes further gains. Ukrainian officials said troops entered Kupiansk, a vital eastern supply hub for Russian forces, on Saturday. Russia's defence ministry then said its troops have retreated from nearby Izyum to allow them "to regroup". The ministry also confirmed the withdrawal of troops from a third key town, Balaklyia, in order to "bolster efforts" on the Donetsk front. The Ukrainian advances - if held - would be the most significant since Russia withdrew from areas around Kyiv in April. Izyum was a major military hub for...

But Russia has adjusted during the second phase of the war by hiding its men behind its fearsome artillery. “Russian artillery has been the decisive factor, but only because it’s had to be the decisive factor,” says Mason Clark, a senior analyst and Russia team lead at the Institute for the Study of War. Russia has at least 10 times as many artillery and missile systems as Ukraine, and in some places on the front line the disparity is closer to 20 to 1, former Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk says. With a range of hundreds of miles Russian missiles can...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, ordered the Ukrainian military to re-establish control over coastal regions in southern Ukraine. Ukraine is amassing a million-strong fighting force in order to achieve this goal.Source: Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, in an interview for The Times [of London]Details: "Ukraine is massing a million-strong fighting force equipped with western weapons to recover its southern territory from Russia," The Times wrote.Reznikov said that President Zelenskyy had ordered Ukraine’s military to retake occupied coastal areas which are vital to the country’s economy.Quote from Reznikov: "We understand that, politically, it’s very necessary for our country. The president...

So, the G-7 leaders are in agreement, more war with Russia. Without actually saying exactly that, that was the main takeaway from he meeting of the most feckless leaders in the world. They also pledged $600 billion they don’t have to fund global infrastructure projects to ‘combat China’s Belt and Road Initiative.’ One wonders where all this money and, in the case of Europe, energy is going to come from to fund all of this. But the question I’ve had from the beginning of this obvious war of attrition the West wants to impose on Russia is the following: Do...

President Biden on Friday declined to rule out Ukraine having to cede part of its territory to Russia in order to end Moscow’s more than three-month-old invasion.“Does Ukraine have to cede territory to achieve peace?” a reporter asked Biden after his remarks on the May jobs report.“But it appears to me that at some point along the line, there’s going to have to be a negotiated settlement

Ukraine will not comply with the restrictions allegedly imposed on it by the Americans on the use of long-range multiple launch rocket systems. This is confirmed by the latest statements of Ukrainian politicians, including from among the Zelensky team. In the wake of the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Yegor Chernev, who said that Ukraine does not intend to comply with any restrictions on the use of American MLRS, the "mouthpiece" of the Kyiv regime, Alexei Arestovich, who holds the post of adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, spoke in the same vein. True,...

As the US celebrates its Memorial Day weekend, remembering its fallen war heroes, the situation in Ukraine has shifted dramatically. While a week ago Ukrainian leaders were confident that they could drive the Russians from Ukrainian territory, now it appears they are heading for a major defeat in the Donbass region, the area of Eastern Ukraine that stretches all the way down to the Azov Sea and beyond. If the Russians do defeat the main force of Ukraine’s army, or trap them in an unfolding pincer operation, Ukraine will inevitably have to reach a settlement with Russia. All of this...