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On the global stage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been consistently on message: In visits to Washington and other Western capitals, he has focused on keeping Kyiv supplied with more advanced arms, ammunition and financing. At home, however, he faces a human resources problem. The war is approaching the end of its second year, and Ukraine’s military needs more manpower to sustain a bloody war of attrition against Russia, a country with more than three times the population of Ukraine. In a recent essay, Ukraine’s top military commander, Valery Zaluzhny acknowledged that training and recruiting troops was becoming a serious...

the collapse begins....

Ichabodovich spending 80M usd (shell buyers) on yachts as ukie military crumbles

Finland has accused Russia of flooding its borders with migrants from the Middle East and Africa over its decision to increase defense cooperation with the United States, a claim which Moscow denies. As many as 300 migrants from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria have arrived in Finland this week, Reuters reported, citing the Finnish Border Guard. The arrivals have prompted Finland to erect barricades at the border with Russia to stop the migrants from crossing freely into the country. The razor-wire barriers were put up Friday around midnight at the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala border posts in southeast Finland,...

In the early hours of Thursday, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Estonia launched a pointed accusation against Russia, alleging a failure to detain illegal migrants at its borders. The incident sparking this contention involved eight Somali citizens attempting to circumnavigate immigration control, attempting to enter Estonia via Narva. Geopolitical Tensions Highlighted This incident brings to light the ongoing concerns around border security and immigration control, issues that hold significant weight for Estonia, given its geographical location and strained political relations with Russia. The accusation by the Estonian official not only underscores these concerns but also spotlights the intricate complexities...

HELSINKI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Finland will erect barriers at four crossings on its border with Russia from midnight, officials said on Friday, in a bid to stem an increase in migrants that Helsinki says has been orchestrated by Moscow. Finland has accused Russian authorities of funnelling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its decision to increase defence cooperation with the United States, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin. Barriers will go up at four of the nine crossings with Russia, at Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala in its southeast, the Finnish Border Guard said. "Our aim is to...

On Tuesday, Michigan Judge James Redford ruled that Donald Trump will remain on the Michigan Presidential ballot for 2024. A Michigan judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that tried to use the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban” to remove Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot.The judge separately ruled that Michigan’s secretary of state doesn’t have the power under state law to determine Trump’s eligibility for office based on the constitutional amendment.The rulings mark a major victory for the former president, who has a commanding lead in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, according to recent polling. Recently, a ruling in...

At 3:30 p.m. Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass participated in a press conference to discuss the blaze that has crippled the downtown commute for hundreds of thousands of Angelenos. Newsom began the press conference by describing the fire as being set with “malice intent,” saying the fire burned within the fence line and appeared to be an act of arson. Newsom had previously said that the area was being leased by a company that the state knew well and was involved in active litigation with, adding that the lease had recently expired. “The structural...

A Moscow appeals court has upheld a 19-year prison sentence for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was convicted on extremism-related charges in August. Navalny, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is already serving a 9-year sentence on fraud and embezzlement charges. In August, the court said Navalny had financed and incited "extremist activities" with his group the Anti-Corruption Foundation. The group was banned by Russian authorities in 2021 and labeled as extremist. Navalny has rejected the charges as politically motivated by the Kremlin in an attempt to silence him. (snip) The appeal was held in a closed...

Russian forces have ramped up attacks in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to gain ground near two key front line cities, Ukrainian military officials said Sunday.Moscow's troops have begun a push to regain territory near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city that was the site of the war’s bloodiest battle before falling into Russian hands in May, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces wrote on the Telegram messaging app.Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive has so far resulted in only incremental gains and heavy losses, with Ukrainian troops struggling to punch through Russian lines in the south.

VIDEOJohn Heilemann aka "Bozo's Friend" has just gotten CANCELLED along with his Showtime show, "The Circus." When Heilemann is not in the protective cocoon of the scripted "The Circus" or around only his fellow liberals, he often goes into angry CURSING meltdown mode as you can see here.

Western authorities are raising alarm bells over the imminent Russian military activity in Avdeyevka. Reports indicate that Russian forces are pulling reserves together in preparation for a potential assault on the city, with preliminary artillery bombardment anticipated.

... Now, again, Zelensky has made demands of Ukraine’s army, this time over his favorite hobby horse, Bakhmut while also insisting on the need to defend Avdiivka. Again the top leadership saw these two objectives as traps that would consume increasingly scarce manpower and equipment. The fighting continues in both places, although the Russians have taken control of a strategic slag pile in Avdiivka which gives them unobstructed fire control over the city and a direct path to the massive coke plant that dominates the city’s skyline. In Bakhmut the Ukrainians made some initial gains to the south of the...

The three incidents that resulted in damage to a gas pipeline and two telecom cables between Estonia, Finland and Sweden "are related", Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said. Finland on Friday said it had raised its risk assessment for gas supply security as a result of the damage to the Balticconnector Finland-Estonia pipeline, which operator Gasgrid has said could be out of commission until April or longer. "An important gas import connection will be out of use during the winter season 2023/2024 for at least five months," the Finnish National Emergency Supply Agency said in a statement. The risk level...

We lack water, electricity, fuel, and our besieged services are staggering under the massive numbers of injured. No one is safe ... The bombardment of Gaza is now constant. My nine-year-old asked me if he would go to heaven or hell Mahmoud Shalabi We lack water, electricity, fuel, and our besieged services are staggering under the massive numbers of injured. No one is safe Here in Gaza, what is happening under Israeli military bombardment has never been seen before. Homes are being destroyed without residents being warned. Israeli missiles are hitting high-rise buildings, mosques, streets – and we are asking...

The reflexive identification with Israel, by both US media professionals and politicians, always obscures the fuller picture of what’s happening between Israel and the Palestinians. On 7October, the National SecurityCouncil spokesperson Adrienne Watson stated that the US “unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians”. Every one of us must stand up and denounce the killing of every civilian, Israeli or Palestinian or otherwise. But Watson’s use of the word “unprovoked” is doing a lot of work here.... What exactly counts as a provocation? Not, apparently, the large number of settlers, more than 800 by one media...

Western militaries are running out of ammunition to give to Ukraine, NATO and British officials warned Tuesday, as they urged the bloc’s nations to ramp up production to “keep Ukraine in the fight against Russian invaders.”The news of possible ammunition shortfalls comes after money to buy weapons for Ukraine was not included in a stopgap spending bill the US Congress passed at the weekend to avoid a federal government shutdown.Fresh uncertainty over the future of US aid arose Tuesday when US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who advocated for support of Ukraine, was ousted from his leadership position by Republican colleagues.The...

US officials are growing frustrated with how Ukraine is fighting the war, The New York Times said. The officials are worried that Ukrainian forces are not consolidating their power in the right areas. If Ukraine wants to speed up its counteroffensive, it will need to change tactics, they said.As Ukraine presses ahead in its slow-moving counteroffensive against Russia, some US officials appear to be growing increasingly concerned.Half a dozen US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The New York Times and other outlets that they are starting to question some of Ukraine's military tactics, including where on the...

Drone attacks on Russian territory have become an almost daily occurrence in recent weeks.... Hodges, who has been one of Kyiv's most vocal advocates in the U.S., said in an interview on Monday that the growing drone threat "is a part of the counteroffensive" that is currently raging in southeastern Ukraine. There, Ukrainian troops are pushing into Russian fortified lines, hoping to precipitate a defensive collapse.... "You've got what I would call 'strategic bombing,'" he added. The campaign has seen "drone strikes that have hit Moscow several nights in a row as well as other places throughout Russia, by Ukrainian...

The CIA warned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “the Ukrainian offense was not going to work,“ reports veteran journalist Seymour Hersh. The end of the Biden Regime’s “murderous and failing war policy in Ukraine” is near, Hersh wrote. Hersh cites an unnamed intel official who said that SecState Antony Blinken “has figured out that the United States” and Ukraine “will not win the war” against Russia. On Thursday, the Washington Post reported the U.S. intel community realizes the Ukrainian offensive will fail to achieve its key goal of taking the southeastern city of Melitopol, a strategic Russian logistics...