Here we go again-Ukraine once again pt2

[Dargo]

Was not meant to offend just an opinion of others globally we have crisis politically one by one democracy's getting those clowns voting in because politics of today can not solve basic problems sad fact is those clowns can not solve it either so a disappointment next they vote an extremer clown who neither can do what they want because what they want was a lie altogether. Heard German government say yeah we give 8 billion now with that EU 50 billion aid it is not meant that we Germany will pay for that on top our aid. Figures politicians at their best but still am glad to live in a democracy than in Russia, China or those other authoritarian countries. Am not that of a patriot, but that's the Dutch way we are not that polarized do not expect revolution will never happen here we are too depended on each other else we drown if we can do what we want without them interfering it is OK. For Ukraine, all bits help, no mater how many military or otherwise all is welcome the bigger countries do not give that much in regard to their GDP this was fact from the beginning but if we do the maths Russia has an economic foe against him of 25:1 let them beat that I know they can not same as the Tsars, Bolsheviks or Putin Russia never can be want it longs to be.

[Dargo]

Russia seeks scapegoat after downing of A50 aircraft

Internal investigations are being conducted in Russia following the downing of a Russian radar detection aircraft, with several top officers being suspended. "There is information that several internal investigations are being conducted there [in Russia – ed.]. So far it is known that a few top officers have been suspended, and it can be assumed that a scapegoat will be found and punished. There was the crew [of the A50 – ed.]. The information is being established and later it will be published with their names disclosed. This is a very painful loss for the Kremlin politically, militarily and in terms of image. So there is a strong emotional reaction." https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/01/18/7437870/

[Jimbuna]

Civilians in the West should prepare for 'all-out war' with Russia, NATO official says

A leading NATO official has warned that civilians in the West should prepare for all-out war with Russia.

Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the NATO military committee, said that while armed forces are already prepared for the outbreak of a war, citizens should also be ready for a conflict that would require a significant change to their lives.

Admiral Bauer said: "We have to realise it's not a given that we are in peace. And that's why we [NATO forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia."

"But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role."

Admiral Bauer said Sweden had done the right thing by calling for its population to prepare for war earlier this month.

"It starts there," he said. "The realisation that not everything is plannable and not everything is going to be hunky dory in the next 20 years."

The official's warning comes ahead of the launch of NATO's biggest exercise since the Cold War, as the alliance practices repelling an invasion by Russian forces.

Some 90,000 troops are set to join the Steadfast Defender exercise that will run through May, including 20,000 troops from the UK.
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-w...ussia-12541713

[Jimbuna]

Russian oil depot hit in Ukrainian drone attack

Fire has broken out over a large area of an oil storage depot in southern Russia after officials say it was hit by a Ukrainian drone.

Russian media say four oil tanks caught alight and the fire then spread over an area of 1,000 sq m (10,763sq ft).

Russian authorities in the Bryansk region say no-one was hurt.

The Bryansk governor said the drone was intercepted near the town of Klintsy and its explosives then fell on the oil depot.

The drone strike is the second on Russian oil facilities in two days.

An unprecedented attack targeted a major oil loading terminal in Russia's second city, St Petersburg, on Thursday.

Russian reports suggested that drone was shot down without causing damage but there were indications in Kyiv that the attack, so far from the Ukrainian border, marked a new phase in strategy.

"Yes, last night we hit the target. This thing crossed 1,250km (776 miles) last night," said Ukraine's Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin on Thursday.

Russia's defence ministry said on Friday that its air defence systems had brought down a Ukrainian drone over Bryansk at 06:40 local time (03:40 GMT) and regional head Alexander Bogomaz said later that two further drones had been destroyed without damage.

As the fire raged for several hours at the Klintsy oil depot some 70km north of the Ukrainian border, black smoke was seen billowing over neighbouring railway tracks. More than 30 people were evacuated, the governor added.

There were also reports of a drone strike on a gunpowder factory near the city of Tambov, hundreds of kilometres north-east of the Ukrainian border.

A source at Ukraine's main intelligence directorate told media in Kyiv there would be further attacks on military targets inside Russia as most of its air defence and electronic warfare systems had been concentrated in occupied parts of Ukraine.

Russia has made little progress in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in recent months, but the defence ministry claimed to have captured the village of Vesele on Thursday, close to the devastated city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Kyiv has not confirmed the claim.

Ukraine has warned repeatedly that its army is facing severe ammunition shortages, but has set a target of producing a million drones domestically this year. Mr Kamyshin pointed out that the drone that targeted St Petersburg on Thursday cost only $350 to make.

Meanwhile, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has become the latest senior European figure to warn that Russia could seek to expand its war with Ukraine to a Nato member state in the coming years.

"We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day, most recently again against our friends in the Baltic states," he told Tagesspiegel newspaper.

"Our experts calculate that in a period of five to eight years it could be possible," he said, adding that he wanted to shake up German society so that the Bundeswehr, Germany's military, would become "war-ready".

Nato commanders announced on Thursday that some 90,000 troops would take part in the alliance's biggest exercise since the Cold War. Steadfast Defender begins next week and will continue until May, involving all 31 member states and Sweden, which is set to join the alliance in the coming months.

Sweden's military chief and its civil defence minister both issued a warning this month to prepare for the possibility of war.

"My ambition with this is not to worry people; my ambition is to get more people to think about their own situation and their own responsibilities," commander-in-chief Gen Micael Byden explained.

Last October, a report by the German Council on Foreign Relations warned that once the Kremlin halted intensive fighting in Ukraine, Moscow "may need as little as six to 10 years to reconstitute its armed forces", and the Nato alliance would have be prepared to fend off a Russian attack.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68029235

[Jimbuna]

'World War 3 has already begun' as warning issued 'no chance of peace for decades'

In a sobering gathering of international experts at the Foreign Strategy conference on 'UK and Global Security: Scenario after the war between Russia and Ukraine' in central London today, dire warnings echoed through the halls as scholars and veterans dissected the complexities of the ongoing conflict.

Among the attendees was Marina Litvinenko, wife of Alexander Litvinenko, a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, who, as a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, advised British intelligence and coined the term "mafia state".

The atmosphere was charged with a sense of urgency, as renowned figures such as Taras Kuzio, Alexander Osovtsov, and Vladimir Socor delivered grave assessments of the current geopolitical landscape.
Their insights suggest that the war in Ukraine is not merely a regional dispute but a harbinger of a much broader, global conflict-one that has, according to some, already initiated the ominous spectre of World War Three.

A chilling narrative unfolded during the conference which painted a picture of a world on the precipice, where peace may remain elusive for decades to come.

Taras Kuzio, Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, started by addressing the role of external actors in prolonging the conflict. He emphasised the impact of President Biden's policy on military aid to Ukraine. He said: "War would have been over if Biden didn't push for his 'drip-drip' policy on military aid to Ukraine - same as Macron."

Kuzio drew attention to the stark differences in the approaches of various nations, pointing out that the UK openly supports the defeat of Russia.

"This is not just a war about Ukraine; the foundation of this war is that Ukraine doesn't exist," Kuzio claimed, urging the international community to revisit Putin's 2007 Munich speech, which was largely ignored.

He characterised Russia as a "Schizo-fascist state," accusing Putin of harbouring grand ambitions to enter Russia's history following Stalin's footsteps.

Kuzio's alarming statement continued, claiming that Russia and Iran share the goal of eradicating Ukraine and Israel "from the face of the earth". He added that these countries perceive themselves to be at war, while Western governments, particularly the Biden administration, are seemingly oblivious. "For them, World War Three has already begun," Kuzio added.

Alexander Osovtsov, a veteran of Russian politics, offered a broader perspective on the conflict, emphasising the interconnected nature of the ongoing war.

"It's one war, not two different wars - two pieces of one war - one war of one bloc, the bloc of aggressive dictatorships, Russia, Iran and their proxies." Osovtsov identified China as the current leader of this bloc and stressed the need for a united front from democratic countries worldwide.

"The main aim today is to destroy Russia's military forces - not to achieve peace," Osovtsov claimed, expressing scepticism about the possibility of political change in Russia. He labelled the Russian state as inherently distractive and suggested that the global community's duty is to oppose this bloc of aggressive dictatorships.

Vladimir Socor, a Romanian-American political analyst, focused on the likely outcome of the conflict, predicting the de-facto partition of Ukraine. He warned that such an outcome would not lead to compromise but rather to a total victory for Russia against the West.

Socor stressed that there would be no clear line between the state of war and peace, asserting that hostility may subside but will never end, drawing comparisons to the current status quo of South Korea against North Korean aggression.

"There will be no state of peace. Ukraine will be granted consolation prizes - the war will continue without end," Socor said. He highlighted the impracticality of offering Ukraine fast-track integration into Europe "after the war," as the war in Ukraine is multidimensional and likely to persist even after a ceasefire.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...9e5589a6&ei=24

[Skybird]

Zeitenwende in action! Germany finally is flexing its muscles!

https://www-dw-com.translate.goog/de..._x_tr_pto=wapp


Or so it wants everybody to believe.

[Jimbuna]

Biden signs measure to avert shutdown but Ukraine aid remains frozen

Joe Biden on Friday signed a measure to keep the US government funded but as Washington shivered under its second major snowfall in a week, the bill did not unfreeze funding for Ukraine.

Hard-right House Republicans, led by the speaker, Mike Johnson, are ensuring the chances of more money and weapons for Kyiv in its fight with Moscow hinge on negotiations for immigration reform.

On Wednesday, the president welcomed Johnson and other senior Republicans, as well as Democratic leaders, to the White House for talks.

Though the meeting ended with the two sides still short of agreement on immigration and the southern border, Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, said he was optimistic a deal could be struck and aid to Ukraine thereby put back on the table.

“Once Congress avoids a shutdown, it is my goal for the Senate to move forward to the national security supplemental as soon as possible,” Schumer said. “Our national security, our friends abroad, and the future of democracy demands nothing less.”

On Friday, addressing a group of mayors at the White House, Biden said he was “ready to act” and believed, “God willing and the creek not rising”, the Senate would agree an immigration deal.

“The question for the speaker and the House Republicans,” Biden said, was: “Are they ready?”

After the Wednesday White House meeting, however, Johnson told reporters: “We understand that there’s concern about the safety, security and sovereignty of Ukraine. But the American people have those same concerns about our own domestic sovereignty and our safety and our security.”

Many observers suggest Republicans do not want a deal on immigration and the southern border, instead using the issue, and the concept of more aid for Ukraine, as clubs with which to attack Biden in an election year.

“The GOP is more interested in nursing grievances and stoking anger than actually solving problems,” Eugene Robinson, a Washington Post columnist, wrote. “That’s exactly what Donald Trump has trained them to do.”

Robinson went on to quote the Texas congressman Troy Nehls, who this month told CNN: “Let me tell you, I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating. I will not help the Democrats try to improve this man’s dismal approval ratings. I’m not going to do it. Why would I?”

Amid such familiar dysfunction, one slightly dystopian possibility stood out: Democrats, senior party figures said, might provide the votes to keep Johnson as speaker – against a likely rebellion from his right – should he bring any Senate deal on immigration to the House floor, thereby putting Ukraine aid back on the table.

“Our job is not to save Johnson but I think it would be a mighty pity, if he did the right thing … for us not to support him,” Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking Democrat on the House homeland security committee, told Politico. “Up to this point, he’s been a fairly honest broker.”

In October, Democrats could have saved Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, from becoming the first speaker ever ejected by his own party – but chose not to.

Whether stoked by Trumpist isolationism or by equally Trumpist authoritarianism, and therefore preference for Vladimir Putin and Moscow, resistance to aid for Ukraine remains strong among Republicans in Congress.

But the party is not united. On the presidential campaign trail, Trump’s closest challenger for the Republican nomination, the former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley, told voters in New Hampshire on Thursday that though the US did not “need to put troops on the ground anywhere … what you do have to do is deter.

“There’s a reason the Taiwanese want the US and the west to support Ukraine. Because they know if Ukraine wins, China won’t invade Taiwan.”

Haley also linked Ukraine aid to helping Israel against Hamas – another issue awaiting discussion should immigration talks succeed.

In the House, Michael McCaul, chair of the foreign affairs committee, tried a more emotive tactic, appealing to Republicans’ better angels – or at least to their foreign policy traditions.

Johnson, McCaul told the Post, “is going to have to make a hard decision about what to do. If we abandon our Nato allies and surrender to Putin in Ukraine, it’s not going to make the world safer, it’s going to make the world more dangerous … [Ronald] Reagan would never have surrendered to the Soviet Union. Maybe that’s a shift in our party.”

Most observers would suggest that it is, Republicans long having surrendered to Trump. In his own contribution to the debate over whether to do a deal on immigration and get back to supporting Ukraine, Trump struck a predictably harsh note, clearly meant to stiffen Johnson’s spine.

“I do not think we should do a border deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION,” the former president wrote on his social media platform.

“Also, I have no doubt that our wonderful speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, will only make a deal that is PERFECT ON THE BORDER.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ine-aid-frozen

[Dargo]

Despite overwhelming superiority in numbers of men and equipment despite Ukraine having to send in supplies across 2 rivers, Russia's second-best army still can't destroy Ukraine's small Dnipro river bridgehead.

[Dargo]

Defense firm denies German politician's claim on missile supplies to Ukraine

German defense contractor Taurus Systems said on Jan. 20 that it could build up its Taurus cruise missile production very quickly, even if Germany sent some to Ukraine. The company effectively denied a statement made earlier by Johannes Arlt, an expert at Germany's Social Democratic Party.

He claimed that Germany's defense industry would struggle to replenish its needed stockpiles if it sent the missiles to Ukraine. The head of the company that makes Taurus missiles, Joachim Knopf, posted on Twitter that it would not be a problem to quickly scale up production of new ones... https://news.yahoo.com/defense-firm-...195331917.html

[Dargo]

Explosion and air defence activity reported in several cities in Russia. Smolensk, Tula, Oryol. One of the hits in Tula was at the Shcheglovskiy Val plant. A Russian military-industrial complex enterprise that manufactures military products. It is known that this is one of the places in Russia where the Pantsir-S(1) is being assembled, as well as armoured vehicles. Almost 3 years into Russia's "special military operation" and these Ukrainian attacks on strategic targets well within Russian borders are becoming increasingly routine.

The terminal of the Russian Novatek natural gas company caught on fire in the port of Ust-Luga (an important Russian export hub nearly 1000 km from Ukraine) in the Leningrad region, regional governor Alexander Drozdenko announced on Telegram. This is one of the key sea terminals where Russia loads its oil on the "shadow fleet" of tankers and sells it to China.


The Russian news channel Shot reports on Telegram that residents nearby heard drone sounds followed by explosions. Russian news site Fontanka speaks of an attack by two drones.

[Jimbuna]

Explosion at St Petersburg gas terminal, officials say

An explosion has occurred at a gas export terminal near the city of St Petersburg in Russia, officials say.

The blast caused a large fire, state-owned RIA Novosti news agency said. It said the fire had been contained, and there were no reports of injuries.

The cause of the fire is not known, but local media have reported that drones had been seen in the area.

Both Russia and Ukraine have used drones in the current conflict. Ukraine usually does not admit such attacks.

Russia launched its full-scale of invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, but has made little progress in recent months.

On Sunday, 25 people were killed and 20 injured by shelling in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Alexei Kulemzin, the city's Russian-installed mayor said. Kyiv has also not commented on that attack.

Regarding Sunday's explosion near St Petersburg, regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said a "high alert regime" was in place after the incident at the terminal of gas producer Novatek, in Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland. He shared a video of what appeared to be a large fire.

Novatek later announced that work at the terminal had been suspended, and said the fire was the result of "external influence", without providing further details.

Russian news outlet Shot quoted local residents as saying they heard a drone followed by several explosions at Ust-Luga, close to Russia's border with Estonia.

Fontanka, a St Petersburg-based news outlet, said at least two drones were spotted flying towards the city before the fire broke out.

It said there were three large international tankers near the fire, although there were no reports of damage to them.

The BBC has not verified the details of what happened, and there has been no comment from Ukrainian officials.

Russia's defence ministry also said it shot down three Ukrainian drones in Smolensk Region, close to its border with Ukraine, on Saturday night. It earlier said it had shot down drones over Tula and Oryol, both in western Russia.

There were no reports of casualties.

Russia and Ukraine have been targeting each other's energy infrastructure, and on Friday a fire broke out at an oil depot in Bryansk, south-west Russia, which Moscow blamed on a Ukrainian drone strike.

That came a day after an attack targeted a major oil loading terminal in St Petersburg.

On Thursday, Russia claimed to have captured a village close to the devastated city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Kyiv has not confirmed the claim.

Ukraine has warned repeatedly that its army is facing severe ammunition shortages, but has set a target of producing a million drones domestically this year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68046347

[Skybird]

It seems the Ukrainians found a new favourite hobby.

[Jimbuna]

Russia has lost more than 376,000 troops since start of the war, says Ukraine

Russia has lost approximately 376,030 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of the war the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces reported on Sunday. The number, which has not been independently verified, includes 760 casualties over the past day.

The figures, which cover the period from the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 up to 21 January 2024, also include details such as the number of weapons, vehicles and defence systems Ukraine says Russia has lost. According to the release, this includes 6,181 tanks, 11,466 armored fighting vehicles, 11,862 vehicles and fuel tanks, 8,875 artillery systems and 968 multiple-launch rocket systems among others since the start of the war.


Russia's capture of Krokhmalne is a 'temporary phenomenon', says Ukrainian military

Russia’s capture of the village of Krokhmalne in the Kharkiv region, is a “temporary phenomenon,” the Ukrainian ground forces command spokesperson Volodymyr Fityo said, reports the Kyiv Independent citing comments made on the Ukrainian digital broadcasting station Hromadske on Sunday.

“We simply don’t report on the repulse of 100-200 meters, and for Russian propagandists, any victory must be presented to explain why they lost 7,055 soldiers at the front in the Khortytsia zone of responsibility in January alone,” Fityo said during the live televised broadcast.

He added that the frontlines shift daily and that the loss of the small village, which had a prewar population of 45, is a “temporary phenomenon.” Fityo also said that Ukrainian troops had been moved to prepared reserve positions to hold the defence and prevent Russia from advancing further.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday, in its morning summary, that Russian forces had taken control of the village of Krokhmalne.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/li...toggle-desktop

[Skybird]

[TS] Against the backdrop of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the largest NATO maneuver in decades begins on Monday. According to NATO, the "Steadfast Defender" military exercise with around 90,000 soldiers is intended to rehearse a Russian attack on Alliance territory as a real-life scenario. The large-scale maneuver will last until the end of May. All 31 alliance countries and the accession candidate Sweden are taking part in the four-month military exercise. According to Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the military alliance is using the exercise to "prepare for a conflict with Russia and terrorist groups".

In June, NATO had already held the large-scale NATO air force maneuver "Air Defender" over German airspace. It was the largest deployment exercise of air forces since the founding of NATO almost 75 years ago. It involved 250 aircraft and around 10,000 soldiers from 25 countries. (Reuters)

[Skybird]

https://www.economist.com/by-invitat...a-game-changer


Reasonable - or wishful thinking? I am undecided.

The agreement between Ukraine and Britain could prove much more significant. It is the first of its kind to touch the core of the former Russian empire; Mr Putin considers Ukraine to be an integral part of “historical” Russia. It is the first between Ukraine and a major power which enshrines emerging geopolitical reality in a legal agreement. It marks the deepest shift so far in the West’s approach to the Russian concept of its “spheres of influence”.

The subdued reaction of the British media to the agreement shows how normal and routine Anglo-Ukrainian defence and security relations have become in the public mind.

If he is not mistaken there...
Couldn't it also simply mean - a lack of enthusism of media and public?