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"More and more brazen attacks are being launched against Russia and Washington is doing little to hide US fingerprints. Why? The Biden Administration seems to be moving us closer to nuclear war over Ukraine and Biden himself seems to know it. Last week he said, Putin “is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons…” For the “first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use [of nuclear weapons] if in fact things continue down the path they are going.” So the question is if...

As Ukraine continues to lose ground in the east, its leaders are inexplicably demanding three-quarters of a trillion dollars to "reconstruct" areas controlled by Russia. Once widely considered the most corrupt country in Europe, Western leaders have already dumped in billions with zero oversight. Will they keep writing checks? Podcast ...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) returned from a visit to Turkey over the weekend saying he will do everything in his power to close a sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara. President Biden signalled his support for the weaponry sale to Turkey in a statement on Thursday, expressing optimism that Congress will pass this measure. Biden had met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the day prior, but shut down the notion that the proposed deal was a “quid pro quo” for Turkey supporting Finland and Sweden’s applications to join the NATO military alliance. In a Twitter thread on Sunday,...

Kyiv Pride was never supposed to be held outside of Ukraine's capital, but among the rainbow flags at Warsaw Pride in neighboring Poland, Ukraine's ubiquitous blue and yellow stood out. "I'm here because I can't go to Pride in Ukraine," one participant said. "We're all people regardless of who you love." Central Europe's biggest Pride march kept a focus on Ukraine's fight against Russia, as well as its LGBTQ+ community's fight for equal rights. ...

During a briefing, the head of the press center of the security and defense forces of the operational command of the South, Nataliya Gumenyuk, said that only the military can comment on the advance of the Ukrainian troops. “Any analysts, deputies, other political or just active figures at the moment only do harm with such statements…” Gumenyuk said. “Firstly, it does not correspond to reality, and secondly, it disorients our people, the local population. It harms not only the military operation, but the image of those who say such things.” Earlier, the UK weekly newspaper The Economist reported, citing a...

The war in Ukraine risks turning into a protracted conflict that Russia will eventually win, a leading think-tank has said.The report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) warned that current Russian advantages and Ukrainian weaknesses are leading to a style of conflict that favours Moscow.The capture of the city means that Russia has essentially gained control of the entire Luhansk region, marking Russia's biggest victory since it captured the southern port of Mariupol in late May.Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrlo Budnov said his defence forces had withdrawn "to advantageous positions in order to gain tactical superiority" after the Russians...

Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images As Vladimir Putin’s war rages on for the fifth month in Ukraine and repression suffocates civil liberties back home, Russian Jews are worried they’ll soon become the Kremlin’s targets. Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves; those who’ve stayed behind are terrified of directly criticizing the war, which Putin has cynically claimed he launched to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. “In our congregation, we don’t talk about any political issues,” said a Moscow rabbi who asked not to be named. He added that after a 2011 crackdown on protests linked...

LUGANO, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday the reconstruction of his war-battered country is the “common task of the entire democratic world,” as his prime minister laid out a $750 billion recovery plan once invading Russia’s guns fall silent.“The reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project, is not a project of one nation, but a common task of the entire democratic world — all countries, all countries who can say they are civilized,” Zelenskyy told hundreds of attendees in Lugano. ”Restoring Ukraine means restoring the principles of life, restoring the space of life, restoring everything that...

President Biden said the United States is “rallying the world to stand with Ukraine” and pledged to support the cause “as long as it takes.” U.S. officials have downplayed the (Russian} gains, calling them halting and incremental. The scrutiny is fueled by U.S. government assessments of other wars, notably in Afghanistan, where officials habitually glossed over widespread dysfunction and corruption and sidestepped questions of whether battlefield successes were not only achievable but sustainable. A Ukrainian lawmaker shared similar concerns. “We are losing the most valuable thing, our soldiers and officers.” Benjamin Friedman, a policy director at Defense Priorities, said that...

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that Moscow and its allies now controlled all of Ukraine’s Luhansk region after capturing the last major city, Lysychansk. (cut) The ministry had said earlier on Sunday that its troops had captured the villages surrounding Lysychansk, encircling the area, and were fighting inside the city. Calls to the Ukrainian General Staff and Defence Ministry went unanswered. The ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops to Seversk, Donetsk region, will allow Ukrainian forces to reduce the risk of immediate encirclement by Russian occupation forces. This is reported by the Censor.No, with reference to data from the Institute for the study of war (ISW). So, it is noted that yesterday Russian troops managed to enter Lisichansk and advance within the city, but the Ukrainian military did not officially announce the withdrawal of troops from Lisichansk, but also did not report on defensive battles around the city. Also, according to American analysts, Russian forces may establish control over the remaining territory of...

Volunteers to the country’s territorial defense forces, reserve units of Ukraine’s armed forces, were initially assigned unglamorous but safe tasks in relatively tranquil regions like western Ukraine, where the Russians did not invade. But severe losses of manpower in the Donbas region, where Russia is grinding forward with ferocious bombing and shelling, has forced Ukraine’s military to draw reinforcements from the West. Many of the fighters like Mr. Brukhal, who had no previous military experience, are simply unprepared for that escalated level of fighting. And the training they receive is limited — sometimes two weeks or less. Colonel Kurko said...

A newly released transcript of a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reveals Putin prioritized a game of ice hockey ahead of scheduling peace negotiations with U.S. President Joe Biden.The transcript of the Feb. 20 phone call between Putin and Macron was obtained and jointly published by AFP and the French-language publication Le Temps. The transcript revealed that during the call between Macron and Putin, the French president asked Putin to agree to meet U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland for peace talks…

Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have started the war in Ukraine if he was a woman, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn't, but if he were, I really don't think he would've embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has," Johnson told German broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday evening. Putin's invasion of Ukraine is "a perfect example of toxic masculinity," he said, calling for better education for girls around the world and for "more women in positions of power."

General Timo Kivinen said Finland has prepared for decades for a Russian attack and would put up stiff resistance if it happened. He added a crucial factor is Finns would be motivated to fight. The defence chief said: "Ukraine has been a tough bite to chew [for Russia] and so would be Finland." He added the Nordic country has built up a substantial arsenal. General Kivinen said: "We have systematically developed our military defence precisely for this type of warfare that is being waged there [in Ukraine], with a massive use of firepower, armoured forces and also airforces." Helsinki has...

The conflict in Ukraine is driving a modernization of NATO weaponry, honing the alliance’s ability to face off against Russia and adding to the list of unintended consequences from Moscow’s invasion of its smaller neighbor. Former East Bloc NATO members have been arming Ukraine with Soviet-designed equipment similar to Kyiv’s existing gear. That has permitted a military housecleaning of their own arsenals on a scale that would have been unimaginable months ago. In turn, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will help its eastern members replace those arms with newer ones, greatly improving efficiency.

Posted Jun 20, 2022 by Martin Armstrong Britain’s Military Chief of the General Staff had just taken that position and he has already told the army they need to prepare for war against Russia in Europe. He has told every soldier to prepare to fight Russia in a potential World War III. He has pledged to forge an Army that can beat Russia in battle and said that we must now prepare “to fight in Europe once again.” He added on his fourth day on the job: “There is now a burning imperative to forge an Army capable of fighting...

'It seems now it's our turn to get our lands back': Smirking Putin threatens Sweden and compares himself to tyrant Peter The Great while issuing chilling threat to Scandinavia Vladimir Putin has compared himself to Russian tyrant Peter the Great as he bragged about 'reclaiming' land in Sweden in a chilling new threat to European security. Putin, speaking on the 350th anniversary of Tsar Peter's birth, referenced the Great Northern war which saw an anti-Sweden coalition - led by Moscow - smash the Swedish empire and establish Russia as a new imperial power in Europe. 'It seemed [Peter] was fighting...

Since progress is reportedly being made on the Russian-Turkish talks to open up a “grain corridor” in the Black Sea, it makes sense why Moscow might have ordered its naval forces to pull back a bit to show that it’s negotiating in good faith, although there hasn’t yet been any confirmation from the Kremlin about this. Kiev claimed that its forces coerced the Russian navy to “retreat” 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian Coast, though this development hasn’t been independently confirmed. In the event that there’s any credibility to Moscow’s reported naval movements, then it’s unlikely that they were done under...

The buckets of cold water Turkey is pouring on Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO may be coming from the sea around the shore of Cyprus, the divided Mediterranean island that is a bargaining chip for the Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan. There is mounting evidence that Turkey could be using its status as a member of NATO to wield its veto power over the anticipated accession to the alliance of the two Nordic countries as a lever to force the international community to confer legitimacy on its de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. London’s Sunday Express recently reported...