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WASHINGTON—The war in Ukraine has depleted American stocks of some types of ammunition and the Pentagon has been slow to replenish its arsenal, sparking concerns among U.S. officials that American military readiness could be jeopardized by the shortage. The U.S. has during the past six months supplied Ukraine with 16 U.S. rocket launchers, known as Himars, thousands of guns, drones, missiles and other equipment. Much of that, including ammunition, has come directly from U.S. inventory, depleting stockpiles intended for unexpected threats, defense officials say. One of the most lethal weapons the Pentagon has sent are howitzers that fire high-explosive 155mm...

“The war in Ukraine will continue until the complete defeat of Russia,” protested Igor Girkin, a far-right nationalist, in a video address to his 430,000 Telegram followers on Monday. “We have already lost, the rest is just a matter of time,” he writes characteristically.

The Institute for the Study of War released a Thursday report claiming that Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kherson and the Donbas is taking its toll on the Russian high command. Specifically, ISW pointed to Ukrainian victories outside the cities of Kharkiv and Russian-controlled Izyum as creating significant fissures within the Kremlin's "information space" and eroding confidence in their leadership. Ukrainian forces reportedly moved 31 miles to Russian defensive positions in Balakliya on Thursday, but Moscow forces failed to acknowledge any such advancement. According to ISW, the silence caused an eruption of Russian internet backlash against the military.

…Next topic: World oil prices are surging above $90, quite possibly to $100 or more, but the radical climate people populating the Biden administration with the president’s enthusiastic support continue to wage war against all forms of fossil fuels and pipelines. Europe and the rest of the world need more oil and natural gas and they need it right now. We’ve got enough of an inflation problem as it is. So naturally, Team Biden is doing everything it can to prevent this. Of course, they have stopped the drilling in Alaska, stopped the Keystone XL pipeline and jacked up drilling...

SOUTHERN UKRAINE — In dimly lit hospital rooms in southern Ukraine, soldiers with severed limbs, shrapnel wounds, mangled hands and shattered joints recounted the lopsided disadvantages their units faced in the early days of a new offensive to expel Russian forces from the strategic city of Kherson. The soldiers said they lacked the artillery needed to dislodge Russia’s entrenched forces and described a yawning technology gap with their better-equipped adversaries. The interviews provided some of the first direct accounts of a push to retake captured territory that is so sensitive, Ukrainian military commanders have barred reporters from visiting the front...

Moscow has largely stopped exporting gas to Europe, saying supplies will not resume until sanctions are lifted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday criticised the West's "provocations" against Russia, saying the attitude taken by western states was a mistake that triggered the energy crisis in Europe. Erdogan, who is on a state visit to Belgrade, said in a televised address that the West cannot get results through provocative policies. "Russia should not be underestimated," Erdogan said. "Russia is not a country to be taken lightly. The West is making a mistake." Erdogan also said that Europe should have thought...

EU and U.S. imports of Russia's main base metal products aluminium and nickel during March-June increased by as much as 70%, official trade data compiled by Reuters from the United Nations Comtrade database show. The total value of EU and U.S. imports of the two metals from March to June were $1.98 billion... Analysts said the United States and Europe have learned lessons after huge disruption on construction, auto and power sectors caused by sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump on Russian aluminium 2018. Russia's Rusal is the world's largest aluminium producer outside China and accounts for about...

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to walk with a limp as he attended Russia's major Vostok war games today, raising fresh doubts over his health. The Russian leader, 69, observed the major military exercises from inside a command post while sitting next to his defence minister Sergei Shoigu who is said to have been 'sidelined' by Putin due to Russia's heavy losses in Ukraine. As Putin arrived at the command post at the Sergeyevsky training range in Russia's Far East, he appeared to be walking with a limp when he crossed the room to watch the war games. Video shows...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused the U.S. of wanting to maintain a “dictatorship” over global affairs at the expense of Europe and the rest of the world. Putin slammed the West repeatedly during a speech before business leaders gathered in far eastern Russia, saying sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine were a “danger” to the whole world and left Europe worse off. “The pandemic has been replaced by new challenges of a global nature, carrying a threat to the whole world, I’m talking about the sanctions rush in the West and the West’s blatantly aggressive...

[G]athered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, the Belarusians preparing to leave Warsaw to join the Ukrainian army look more like a bunch of computer programmers getting ready for a long car trip. Maybe that’s because they are a bunch of computer programmers—or anyway, some of them are—gathered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, getting ready for a long car trip...If they are identified, members of their families could be visited, harassed, even arrested by the Belarusian police. “Our relatives are hostages,” one of them told me. Already, mothers of Belarusian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have...

The German government plans to charter another floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for winter 2023/24, bringing the total number to five, as part of its strategy to diversify away from Russian energy. The fifth state-owned floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will come to Wilhelmshaven, where another FSRU is already planned, and has a capacity of 5 billion cubic metres per year, said the Economy Ministry on Thursday. Companies E On Se Engie SA BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The German government plans to charter another floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for winter 2023/24, bringing the total number...

Europe has caused an energy crisis for itself by phasing out energy production, the mayor of Belgium's Antwerp city said in a television interview. Bart De Wever, the Antwerp mayor and leader of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, gave an interview to the VRT television channel. “This is, of course, not a crisis that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has caused, but that Europe has brought on itself by phasing out its own primary energy production this century,” he asserted. He explained that exploitation of oil, gas, and coal reserves was not allowed while “the dumbest countries, Germany and...

CHINESE space designers have unveiled plans to build their proposed lunar bases in the volcanic caves of the Moon, allowing for longer-term stays. The researchers believe that these underground hollow lava channels would offer astronauts offer a natural shield against space radiation and the extreme temperatures prevalent on the Moon. This would provide a boost to Beijing’s plans to allow astronauts to stay on the Moon for long periods by 2035. The underground tunnels, also known as lava tubes, were created by molten rock during ancient volcanic eruptions.

NEW YORK, UN. Sept 7 (Interfax) - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he believes that the area around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant should become a demilitarized zone, while the Ukrainian side should pledge not to move into this territory. "An agreement on a demilitarized perimeter should be secured," Guterres said at a UN Security Council meeting. "That would include the commitment by Russian forces to withdraw all the military personnel and the equipment from this perimeter and the commitment by the Ukrainian forces not to move into it," he said. "The Zaporizhzhya facility and its surrounding...

Big banks in Europe are preparing for an energy crisis as Russia tightens the gas taps, per Reuters. JPMorgan may use diesel generators, while Deutsche Bank turned off fountains and hot water. The insurer Zurich said it could close its gym and some office floors if the situation worsens. Major banks across Europe are implementing measures in the workplace to cut down on energy consumption as Russia tightens its gas supply to the continent. The Kremlin shut off its natural-gas flow to Europe via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline last week and said it wouldn't reopen it until the...

Is that on sale? White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre received social media scorn Tuesday after she accidentally called Russia’s Nord Stream 1 pipeline “Nordstrom” — as in the department store. The slip of the tongue came as President Biden’s chief spokeswoman accused Russia of fueling an energy crisis in Europe by shutting down the pipeline, which supplies natural gas to large swathes of the continent. “What we see Russia is doing, we’ve been very clear about this, they’re using energy, they’re weaponizing energy,” Jean-Pierre told reporters during her regular press briefing. “One of the things that has been out...

As the war in Ukraine rages on and the people living there suffer as their leaders stubbornly resist any rational diplomatic settlement to end the crisis, it is important to take a closer look at the idea of Ukrainian territorial integrity. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intransigently stated when discussing possible negotiations to end the conflict, “Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt.” President Biden and other American political leaders have vociferously declared “the commitment of the United States to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” But if we are supporting a war...

What is the scale of the energy challenge?We got a very shocking sense of the staggering numbers involved in the existential, crippling European crisis earlier today when Norwegian energy giant Equinor echoed what Zoltan Pozsar said in March, warning that “European energy trading risks grinding to a halt unless governments extend liquidity to cover margin calls of at least $1.5 trillion." As Bloomberg put it, in its best non-Zoltan imitation, "aside from inflating bills and fanning inflation, the biggest energy crisis in decades is sucking up capital to guarantee trades amid wild price swings. That’s putting pressure on European Union...

You gotta see this... Making an art form out of messing people's minds... Roughly, 'This winter's going to be really serious, see ya in the spring.....' А зима будет большая, Вот, гляди-ка, за рекой Осень тихо умирает, Машет желтою рукой. Плачут мокрые осины, Плачет дедушка Aрбат, Плачет синяя Россия, Превратившись в листопад. И, сугробы сокрушая, Солнце брызнет по весне, А зима будет большая - Только сумерки да снег.

Yesterday, Medvedev posted a rant on his messaging app (for some reason) in which he accused the United States and NATO of plotting to “break up” the Russian Federation. But he warned that even if the alleged plot succeeded, the result would be “doomsday,” and any country attempting it would be engaged in a “chess game with Death.” And I think we all know what that means. (Associated Press)