Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
Ukraine is urging the United Nations (UN) to call an emergency Security Council meeting to condemn what the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is calling “nuclear blackmail” on the part of the Kremlin.
According to a statement issued by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Sunday, “Ukraine expects effective measures to counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail by the United Kingdom, China, the USA, and France, in particular, as permanent members of the UN Security Council.”
“We demand to immediately convene an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council for this purpose,” the statement added.
The request from Ukraine came in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing over the weekend that Russia has made an agreement with neighboring Belarus to place tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, which Ukraine views as a serious escalation aimed at not only Ukraine but also its Western allies.
Putin attempted to justify the move by claiming that it was needed to counter NATO, saying, “We are doing what they have been doing for decades.” It is likely that Putin was referring to the tactical nukes that the U.S., and therefore NATO, have had placed in Turkey, across the Black Sea from Russia’s southern border, for decades. The nuclear weapons in Turkey are part of a “nuclear sharing” policy between NATO allies.
Putin claimed that Russia could have nukes stationed in Belarus by the summer, but numerous analysts believe that to be unlikely. Regardless, many in the West viewed the claim as the Kremlin’s determination to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal to pressure Ukraine’s Western allies to shy away from supporting Kyiv.
Putin’s remarks were condemned by Western leaders as being irresponsible, even though many in the West doubt that Russia will make changes to the way it deploys nuclear weapons.
Amid other claims, Putin has stated that 10 Belarusian aircraft have been retrofitted to carry Russian nuclear weapons and also noted that a storage facility for the weapons would be ready by July 1.
Analysts have been quick to point out that even if Putin followed through on his remarks and did transfer some of Russia’s nuclear warheads to Belarus, it would not significantly alter the Russian nuclear threat as it already has the ability to target a large range of territory from within its borders.
There is also the ongoing history of Western allies having U.S. tactical nuclear weapons stationed in a host of European countries, which Russia has long condemned, so Putin’s insistence that the warheads are being repositioned to counter NATO is by far more of an excuse than it is a credible reason.
On Monday, British Minister of State for Defense, Annabel Goldie, said that the U.K. would provide depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds for the Challenger 2 battle tanks it plans to send to Ukraine. The depleted uranium rounds are “highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles,” Goldie said in trying to justify the decision. The move would represent a significant escalation in the war.
While the British downplay any nuclear risks related to this irresponsible move, injecting this type of material into a country that has already suffered the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster is the height of irresponsibility. Depleted uranium shells punch a hole through the target upon impact, while uranium burns itself into tiny particles that spread out in the atmosphere. Inhaled or ingested, they can enter human bodies, causing disastrous damage due to radiation exposure and heavy metals.
Depleted Uranium (DU) has 60 percent of the radioactivity of natural uranium and is considered very dangerous. The United States used depleted uranium ammunition in former Yugoslavia and in the Iraq War. That decision inflicted serious long-term damage on the populations of those countries. A British Medical Journal study found that “The available evidence suggests possible associations between exposure to depleted uranium and adverse health outcomes among the Iraqi population.”
Through this reckless decision, the British have increased the likelihood of a nuclear conflict. During a joint press conference with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters, “Russia will have to react accordingly, bearing in mind that the collective West is already beginning to use weapons that have a nuclear component.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a harsh response condemning the move. “We regard the statement made by British Minister of State for Defense Annabel Goldie about the U.K. government’s plans to send armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds for the Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine as yet another proof of London’s intention to take the lead in the anti-Russia campaign…. London has apparently forgotten about the well-known serious consequences of the use of toxic and radioactive munitions by the West during the conflicts in Yugoslavia and Iraq,” the statement reads. “A desire to increase the suffering of civilians and to do irreparable environmental damage shows that the British have no regard whatsoever for the Ukrainian people. This openly cynical British policy has once again shown who the real aggressor and warmonger in Ukraine is. London must know that it will bear full responsibility for violating the fundamental norms of international law…. We will respond to such actions accordingly.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson also condemned the move, stating that “NATO dropped 15 tons of depleted uranium bombs on Yugoslavia causing death and agony to linger for generations after the war. In Serbia after 1999, many children suffered from tumors and 366 participating NATO Italian military personnel died of cancer.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby brushed off concerns about the U.K.’s escalation of the conflict, stating “Depleted Uranium Is ‘Commonplace Munition.’ If Russia Is Worried About Their Tanks, Move Them Out Of Ukraine.”
This led Russia’s Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, to declare, “Commenting on this kind of nonsense is really hard. U.S. officials have reached a new low with their irresponsible statements. There is a continuous flow of lethal weapons to Ukraine, which are used to annihilate civilians, residential areas, schools, hospitals, and kindergartens. It seems that the enlightened West, led by Washington, has irrevocably decided to bring humanity to a dangerous line, beyond which a nuclear Armageddon is looming ever more distinctly.”
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
The Pentagon announced this week that it intends to continue patrolling international territory despite Moscow putting the U.S. on notice after an incident last week in which an American MQ-9 Reaper drone was intercepted and then subsequently crashed into the Black Sea. The Kremlin has announced that it has closed some of the airspace over the Black Sea as part of a ‘special operation’ taking place in Ukraine.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov issued a new warning indicating that Moscow will take “countermeasures” against any U.S. or NATO drone flights over the area of the Black Sea where the previous drone interception incident occurred.
Ryabkov cautioned, “We warn them against trying to play on their nerves, testing our patience.” According to Ryabkov, the U.S. drone “was in a zone where we introduced a special regime associated with conducting military exercises.”
He went on to reiterate that Russia would protect its security and sovereignty “by all means available” and that “no American drones, whether reconnaissance, strike, strategic, or any other kind,” will “shake their determination.”
While U.S. drone flights have remained in international airspace, the Pentagon has shifted the flight paths further away from Crimea after last Tuesday’s drone collision with a Russian jet over concerns that another such incident could lead to a direct conflict with Russia. According to one U.S. official, the drone flight paths were altered “to avoid being too provocative” with Moscow.
The official did note that while the drone paths will remain further away from the Crimean Peninsula “for the time being,” there is already “an appetite” to move the flight paths closer to Crimea.
Russian forces are reportedly working to recover the U.S. drone that crashed into deep waters in the Black Sea last week.
Please follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, GabTV, Truth Social, Gettr, Twitter
Jan Emeryk Rościszewski, Poland’s Ambassador to France, made the startling declaration that Poland would declare war on Russia should Ukraine lose the war. “If Ukraine fails to defend its independence,” the ambassador told French television, “we will have no choice, we will be forced to enter the conflict.”
The statement is another example of the aggressive pro-war policy pursued by NATO and the European Union. It produced shock and outrage in France. Florian Philippot, President of the Les Patriotes Party remarked on Twitter, “Crazy statement from the ambassador of Poland in France: he announces the entry into war of his country against Russia if Zelensky loses! France embarked with this country via the EU and NATO?! These madmen refuse Peace!”
The Polish Embassy in France quickly denounced the statement of its own ambassador, insisting that the media interpreted the ambassador’s words “out of context.” They claim that in other parts of the interview Rościszewski “clearly says that Poland is not at war, but will do everything to help Ukraine defend itself in this conflict.” Nevertheless, the video is clear that the ambassador stated categorically that Poland would enter the war against Russia if Ukraine is feated. Is Warsaw launching a trial balloon for launching World War III?
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, GETTR, Truth Social
The Pentagon is concerned amid a rise in “troubling” reports that cooperation is increasing between Moscow and Beijing regarding China’s efforts to build new nuclear weapons. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Department of Defense (DOD) made an official accusation regarding the reports.
The Assistant Defense Secretary for Space Policy, John F. Plumb, said during a Wednesday House Armed Services’ strategic forces subcommittee hearing, “It’s very troubling to see Russia and China cooperating on this.”
“They may have talking points around it, but there’s no getting around the fact that breeder reactors are plutonium, and plutonium is for weapons. So I think the [Defense] Department is concerned. And, of course, it matches our concerns about China’s increased expansion of its nuclear forces as well because you need more plutonium for more weapons,” Plumb added.
Despite Plumb’s comments during the hearing, the DOD appeared to have a hard time keeping up with which radioactive material Russia was supplying to China.
Plumb also discussed Beijing diversifying its high-tech weapons arsenal with assistance from Russia. Changes to the arsenal include high-altitude surveillance balloons, like the one shot down by the U.S. last month, and even hypersonic missiles with nuclear tips.
“China is engaged in a significant and fast-paced expansion and diversification of its nuclear forces. Also, Russia and China view space as a warfighting domain,” Plumb told the subcommittee.
Meanwhile, Congressmen are calling on the Biden administration to disrupt the relationship between China and Russia to interrupt the sharing of weapons technology between the two countries.
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), who is the subcommittee chairman, said, “I’m hopeful that we will see a comprehensive strategy from the administration to break this relationship – and ideally shatter Rosatom.”
The DOD’s accusations come dangerously close to the recent pull out of Russia from the New START nuclear arms treaty, with Putin announcing last month that Moscow was suspending the agreement.
Lamborn said about the New START suspension and the exchange of treaty-mandated nuclear information, “It is curious that we provide Russia with this benefit under the treaty when Russia is no longer reciprocating.”
Many in Washington are beginning to view the Russian and China ‘threats’ as intertwined, largely in part to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Beijing’s continued support for Moscow.
In recent weeks, American intelligence has begun to report that Beijing is considering providing lethal weapons to Russia for its use in Ukraine.
Last week Rep. Mike Tuner (R-OH) told NBC’s Meet the Press, “The problem with China entering this is because you’ve got the West giving weapons to Ukraine.”
“You’ve got Russia depleting their stores. We obviously – the West together have an ability to impact Ukraine greater than Russia alone does,” Turner added.
Unfortunately, with China’s backing, Russia would become a much more powerful enemy for Ukraine and its Western allies to contend with. In the meantime, the U.S. government continues put pressure on Beijing over its ‘no limits’ partnership with Moscow.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
A top Department of Defense (DOD) official confirmed on Tuesday that American weapons provided to Ukraine have been captured by Russian forces on the battlefield. The U.S. has provided Ukraine with almost $45 billion in military aid over the past year.
According to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Colin Kahl, Moscow has been capturing American weapons from Ukrainian battlefields and selling them on the black market.
“Our assessment is if some of these systems have been diverted, it’s by Russians who have captured things on the battlefield, which always happens,” Kahl said.
Beginning shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Biden administration began transferring an unprecedented number of weapons to Kyiv. From January 24, 2022, to January 15, 2023, Washington has provided Ukraine with $44.3 billion in military aid, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Kahl noted that there is “no evidence” to indicate that Kyiv had anything to do with the weapons entering the black market.
During the beginning of the war, CNN reported that Washington was lacking oversight regarding the weapons it sent to Kyiv. A source told CNN last April, “we have fidelity for a short time, but when it enters the fog of war, we have almost zero. It drops into a big black hole, and you have almost no sense of it at all after a short period of time.”
Jonas Oman, founder and CEO of Blue-Yellow, a Lithuanian-based organization that has been supplying the Ukrainian frontlines with military aid, told CBS News at the same time, “All of this stuff goes across the border, and then something happens, kind of like 30% of it reaches its final destination.”
Meanwhile, Congressman Matt Gaetz confronted Kahl about American weapons given to Ukraine ending up in the hands of neo-Nazis. Gaetz cited a 2018 Global Times article that found that American weapons were being used by the neo-Nazi militia Azov Battalion, which was absorbed into Ukraine’s National Guard. Kahl dismissed Gaetz’s question stating that the claim was “Beijing’s propaganda.”
The Azov Battalion has been seen with Western-made anti-tank weapons. According to a tweet by NEXTA in March, “A shipment of NLAW grenade launchers and instructors from #NATO countries arrived in Kharkiv. The Azov regiment was the first to learn about new weaponry.” The tweet included photos of Ukrainian soldiers with Nazi patches on their uniforms.
In July, a report was released by the American organization, the Stimson Center that said, “[The Azov Battalion’s] role in key Ukrainian theatres creates risks that arms could be diverted to Azov troops in contravention of U.S. law.”
According to Kahl, however, weapons given to Kyiv are tracked by Ukraine with scanners provided by the U.S., with the data then transferred to American officials at the embassy in Kyiv.
Despite the oversight that is in place, it is unclear how American arms have fallen into the hands of the Azov Battalion or if the Battalion is trafficking those arms to the Russians.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
Top Zelensky officials are considering a potential ‘strategic pullback’ from the beleaguered eastern city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted that he is not prepared to order the continued defense of the city at all costs. Both Ukraine and Russia are suffering tremendous casualties in the fight for the city, but Russia has superior artillery fire, which it has been using nonstop around the clock. The city is almost completely surrounded by Russian troops.
According to Zelensky aide Alexander Rodnyansky, Kyiv has not yet pulled Ukrainian forces out of Bakhmut, but Zelensky may soon decide that the cost of defending the city “outweighs the benefits.”
“Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options,” he said. “So far, they’ve held the city, but if need be, they will strategically pull back because we’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing,” Rodnyansky added.
Zelensky has also said that defending Bakhmut has been “most difficult” for Ukrainian troops. However, on Wednesday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner Grop, said that Ukrainian forces have continued to put up fierce resistance to Russia’s continuous attacks on the city.
“The Ukrainian army is throwing extra reserves into Artyomovsk and trying to hold the town with all their strength,” Prigozhin said. Artyomovsk is the Russian name for Bakhmut.
“Tens of thousands of Ukrainian army fighters are putting up furious resistance. The bloodiness of the battles is growing by the day,” Prigozhin added.
Videos appearing on social media show the devastation. A barren battlefield has replaced a once peaceful, bustling city.
City streets and neighborhoods have been abandoned, bombed, and turned into a war zone.
With Russian forces pounding Bakhmut with nonstop artillery fire, there are no signs that things will improve for Ukrainian troops in the region. According to a retired U.S. Marine fighting in Ukraine, the frontlines in Bakhmut are a “meat grinder” where soldiers only survive an average of “four hours.”
On Tuesday, Zelensky said, “Russia does not count people at all, sending them to constantly storm our positions.”
“The intensity of fighting is only increasing,” Zelensky concluded.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kyiv is preparing to launch attacks in an effort to recapture Crimea. The plan for the attacks includes forming new military units and sending forces to train in other countries.
“There are military steps, and we are preparing for them. We are ready mentally. We are preparing technically: with weapons, reinforcements, the formation of brigades, in particular the assault brigades, of different categories and nature,” Zelensky said during a press conference.
According to the local news agency, Ukrinform, Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces were being sent to other countries for training on how to use new weapons. “We have to be ready. Then, there will be corresponding fair de-occupation steps, and, God willing, they will be successful,” he continued.
While other top Ukrainian officials, along with Zelensky, have made it known that recapturing Crimea is one of their main goals for the war, it will be difficult as Russia controls much of the territory north of Crimea in the Kherson Oblast region. Assessments from the Pentagon also indicate that retaking Crimea will be unlikely for Kyiv. The Crimean Peninsula was taken by Russia in 2014.
Despite the Pentagon’s doubt, the Biden administration has said that it will remain supportive of Ukrainian attacks on Crimea. “Russia has turned Crimea into a massive military installation… those are legitimate targets, Ukraine is hitting them, and we are supporting that,” said Victoria Nuland, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs.
However, the U.S. supporting Ukrainian assaults on Crimea would risk a serious escalation with Moscow. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has acknowledged the risk of causing further escalation, referring to the peninsula as a “red line” for Russian President Vladimir Putin
Putin has exhibited a willingness to escalate the war over attacks on Crimea, given that Russia’s relentless missile and drone assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure did not begin until Kyiv bombed the Kerch Bride, which connects Crimea with the Russian mainland.
Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, and, according to polling in the region since Moscow’s takeover, the majority of residents in the Crimea Peninsula are happy that their territory joined with Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced Thursday that they have intelligence reports that the Zelensky regime is plotting a provocation in the Transnistria region of Moldova in an effort to draw the Republic of Moldova into the war in Ukraine.
“According to obtained information, in the near future, the Kiev regime is planning an armed false-flag operation against the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic which will be implemented by the units of Ukraine’s armed forces with the involvement of the Azov nationalist formation,” a defense ministry spokesperson told reporters.
The spokesman specified that a staged invasion by allegedly Russian troops from Transnistria will be used as the pretext for the invasion. “To this end, Ukrainian saboteurs involved in the false-flag invasion will be wearing the uniforms of the servicemen of the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces,” he added.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin added that the West had ordered the government in Chișinău to stop any interaction with the Moscow-backed Transnistrian administration.
The news caused consternation among the public in the Republic of Moldova. Authorities in Chișinău denied any knowledge of the information presented by the Russian Defense Ministry and issued a call for calm. “We call for calm and invite the public to follow the official and credible sources of the Republic of Moldova. Our institutions cooperate with foreign partners, and in case of any danger to the country, they will inform the public opinion without delay,” the Moldavian Government said in a statement to TVR Moldova.
Some analysts say it appears the Ukrainians have been working recently to involve Moldova in the conflict in their attempt to extend the fighting as close to NATO borders as possible and to shore up Western support for Zelensky. The recent installation of a NATO-approved government in Moldova was allegedly a direct result of these efforts. This possibly led Vladimir Putin earlier this week to withdraw formal Russian recognition of Moldavia’s sovereignty.
The situation in Moldova is a powder keg. If Ukraine succeeds in drawing Moldova into the conflict will NATO become directly involved in the war given recent assurances by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis that Romania will defend Moldova's territorial integrity by all means possible? It should be noted that today’s Republic of Moldova, along with southern Bessarabia and northern Bucovina currently in Ukraine, are historical Romanian territories brutally stripped from Romania by the Soviets at the outset of World War II.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
According to 2 unnamed U.S. officials, it is believed that Russia conducted a test launch of an extremely provocative intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) while President Biden was visiting Kyiv Monday.
The sources said that the U.S. believes the test “failed,” but no details of the failed launch were given, other than Putin leaving the test out of his speech Tuesday in Moscow.
According to one official, Russia notified the U.S. of the launch prior to it taking place through deconfliction lines. A second official noted that the test did not pose a risk to the U.S., nor did Washington view the test as something out of the ordinary or as an escalation.
The test reportedly was of the SARMAT missile, which is nuclear-capable and known in the West as the ‘Satan II.’
The reason U.S. officials believe the test was a failure is that, had it been successful, Putin would have most likely touted the country’s nuclear capabilities and the test in his State of the Nation address on Tuesday.
However, Putin made no mention of the launch in his remarks, which lasted almost 2 hours. Although Putin never mentioned the Satan II test, he did announce that Moscow will be unilaterally suspending Russia’s involvement in the New START nuclear treaty, which is meant to limit the development of nuclear capabilities for both the U.S. and Russia.
Assuming that the test launch did occur, there is still the possibility that Russia will release menacing footage of it later this week, should Putin choose to send a threatening message to the U.S. and its Western allies, given the increasing provocations between Russia and the West.
The Kremlin has been known to widely publicize its major weapons test launches by releasing official videos of the events, some of which are released well after the tests.
Should Putin decide to release footage of the Satan II ICBM test launch while Biden is still on his tour of Eastern Europe, it would, without a doubt, be taken as a direct threat to the West and seen as a massive escalation of the conflict between Russia, Ukraine, and its Western allies. Hopefully, no such occurrence takes place.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
On Thursday, NORAD announced that in addition to the interception of 4 Russian aircraft on Monday, Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were intercepted off the coast of Alaska on February 14 as well.
As in the first incident, NORAD scrambled two F-35 fighter jets to intercept the Russian bombers as they approached Alaska's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), officials announced Thursday.
According to a NORAD statement, "This is the second intercept of Russian aircraft over two days. This Russian activity near the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative."
Two interceptions within 48 hours are extremely rare, so it seems odd that NORAD calls the interceptions "routine," given that what has previously been referred to as "routine," is 6 to 7 interceptions a year over the past decade, not multiple interceptions per week.
Not only are the interceptions abnormally frequent, but Russian state media is also actively publicizing the exercises off Alaska and is including videos of the maneuvers.
According to the NORAD statement released after Monday's incident, "Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative."
While tensions with Russia are already running high due to the war in Ukraine, the increased interceptions come following a series of "unidentified objects" that have been located and shot down over the U.S. in recent weeks, including a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon, which was first detected over Alaska.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
As Washington looks for new ways to fund the war in Ukraine, the U.S. Army has begun assessing the possibility of sending thousands of Iranian weapons and more than a million rounds of ammunition to Kyiv.
According to anonymous U.S. and European officials, the weapons and ammo to be turned over to Ukraine would include more than 5,000 assault rifles, 1.6 million rounds of small arms ammunition, a small number of antitank missiles, and more than 7,000 proximity fuses, which were seized recently in the Gulf of Oman while allegedly being shipped to Yemen.
While the weapons and ammunition pale in comparison to what Western allies have sent to Kyiv over the past year, Pentagon officials see the handover of the small weapons cache as a symbolic punishment for Iran, which has been supplying drones to Russia and has recently entered into an agreement with Moscow to build a manufacturing site for Iranian drones inside Russian territory. Both Iran and Russia have denied that Tehran has been supplying Moscow with drones.
According to the U.S. official, “It’s a message to take weapons meant to arm Iran’s proxies and flip them to achieve our priorities in Ukraine, where Iran is providing arms to Russia.”
There are still legal hurdles to clear before the Biden administration can send the weapons to Ukraine. According to the UN arms embargo on Iran, Western countries are required to destroy, store, or get rid of any seized weapons.
President Joe Biden could possibly overcome the legal challenges by creating an executive order or by working with Congress to all the U.S. to seize weapons under the civil forfeiture authorities and then pass them along to Kyiv.
Regarding the U.S. looking for ways to send the seized Iranian weapons and ammo to Ukraine, Yemen’s Deputy Information Minster told the Wall Street Journal, “What change can this make to war?”
NATO Secretary General told NATO defense ministers during a meeting in Brussels on Monday that “The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production.” Ukraine’s Western allies recently requested Latin American nations to also donate some of their weapon stocks to Kyiv – a request which was immediately denied.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro responded to the request last month, saying, “We are not with either side. We are for peace.” Meanwhile, Brazilian leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Biden during a meeting that “Brazil is a country of peace. At this moment, we need to find those who want peace, a word that has so far been used very little.”
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said of the idea, “I don’t think sending weapons to prolong a conflict has support in Latin America.”
The Argentinian government gave a similar sentiment when a defense ministry spokesperson said that the country “will not cooperate with the war.”
While the U.S. and its Western allies continue to look for money and weapons to send to Ukraine, Moscow has issued repeated warnings that should Western countries continue to provide weapons and support to Kyiv, they risk becoming directly involved in the conflict.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
NORAD announced Tuesday that on Monday, it scrambled jets to intercept 4 Russian inbound military aircraft near American airspace off the coast of Alaska.
According to an official statement regarding the incident, “The Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected, tracked, positively identified, and intercepted four Russian aircraft entering and operating within the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on February 13, 2023.”
In response to the inbound aircraft, NORAD scrambled two U.S. F-16 fighter jets that were assisted by two F-35A fighters, two KC-135 Stratotankers, and an E-3 Sentry. The Russian aircraft included Tupolec Tu-95 “Bear” long-range bomber and an SU-35 fighter jet.
According to NORAD, having Russian aircraft near the coast of Alaska is “routine” as it has occurred an estimated 6 to 7 times a year over the past decade or longer. U.S. airspace was not breached, just the ADIZ perimeter.
“Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative,” the statement added.
While the Russian flight may be routine, it comes at amid heightened tension between Washington and Moscow, due to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the identification and takedown of a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon earlier this month.
The Balkan has received eyewitness reports from trusted sources that a missile exploded today over the skies of Romania near a military base outside of Cluj-Napoca in the northwestern part of the country. The explosion shook buildings in nearby Florești. Eyewitnesses report that the missile came from the northwest, in the direction of Poland. No damage has been reported and Romania officially denies any incident took place, but something is clearly amiss.
Earlier today, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, told Ukrainian Pravda that “Two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles crossed the state border of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova on 10 February at 10:18. At approximately 10:33, these missiles crossed into Romanian air space. After this, the said air targets re-entered Ukrainian airspace where the borders of the three states meet. At the moment, this target is being monitored, and measures to shoot it down are also being taken. The missile was launched from the Black Sea.”
Volodymir Zelensky then claimed that the rockets represented, “a provocation for NATO and its collective security.” Ukrainian officials added that they had the ability to shoot down the missiles but did not do so because they did not want to endanger civilians in the neighboring countries.
Kiev was clearly engaged in a disinformation campaign to try to prop up fading support for the Zelensky regime. The Ukrainian claims, however, were quickly debunked. “At this moment, we have no indications of a military threat by Russia against Romania or the Republic of Moldova.” Vedant Patel, a U.S. State Department Spokesman.
An official statement from the Romanian Ministry of Defense declared: “The aerial surveillance system of the Romanian Air Force detected on Friday, February 10, an aerial target launched from the Black Sea from a ship of the Russian Federation, near the Crimean Peninsula, most likely a cruise missile, which evolved in the airspace of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and re-entered the Ukrainian airspace without intersecting, at any time, the airspace of Romania. The closest point of the target's trajectory to Romania's airspace was recorded by radar systems approximately 35 kilometers North-East of the border.” The Defense Ministry made no mention of the incident over the skies of Transylvania.
So what can we make of the reported missile explosion over the skies near Cluj-Napoca? Clearly, no Russian missile was involved. If it had been, Romanian and NATO authorities would have raised the alarm and used the incident to strengthen support for Kiev. The missile that exploded over Transylvania was reported to have come from the northwest in the direction of Poland. Are Ukrainian troops there being trained in the use of long-range missiles and was this some sort of training exercise, error, or a deliberate action by the Ukrainian regime to blame Russia for an incident that could be used for propaganda purposes? We do not have the answers, but the refusal of the authorities to even acknowledge the incident speaks volumes.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
While the U.S. and Europe have joined forces in an effort to target putting sanctions on Iranian-made drones that are being shipped to Russia, Iran and Russia have agreed to establish a joint drone manufacturing facility in Russia, according to a weekend report from Wall Street Journal.
Iran has been supplying Russia with its kamikaze drones, including the Shahed-136, which Moscow has been using to launch persistent strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure. The drones cost $20,000 to produce, and Iran and Russia now have plans to construct a manufacturing site for the drones inside Russian territory. The new facility would allow Russia to produce an additional 6,000 drones for use in its war against Ukraine.
The deal to build a facility in Russia was reportedly agreed to with Iran in November at the height of Russia’s consistent drone attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Concerns are growing, however, that the new manufacturing site could result in new UAVs. A delegation of high-level Iranian officials visited Russia in January to work out the necessary details to get the site running. Russia and Iran plan to use the new facility to design and build a faster drone that would pose new threats to Ukraine and challenge its air defenses.
The Russian facility is also seen as an attempt to avoid what the Biden administration referred to as its plans to “choke off Iran’s ability to manufacture the drones” as U.S. forces assist “Ukrian’s military to target the sites where the drones are being prepared for launch,” according to statements from U.S. officials.
It is an uphill battle for Ukraine as the air defense systems used to intercept and destroy Iran’s kamikaze drones cost far more than the drones themselves. Now, with Iran moving production of the drones to neighboring Russia and increasing production numbers, protecting its cities and infrastructure will become an even bigger challenge for Kyiv.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
While the U.S. used the “domino theory” with success in order to gain support from the American public during the Vietnam War, former UK Defense Minister Sir Gerald Howarth is attempting to use the same argument to justify his reasoning for inserting NATO troops in Ukraine.
Despite most of the European and American populations being against engaging in war with Russia, established officials seem to be intent on pushing the issue.
NATO and the West’s willingness to no longer send only defensive weapons but now also tanks and longer-range rockets will be seen by Russia as an act of aggression, to which it will respond with more force. That act will then be seen by NATO as a call to escalate things further.
The former Defense Minister does admit that alternative media has been saying for a while that Kyiv’s efforts have come to a halt without additional support from NATO forces, as military funding and weapons can only go so far without additional troops to back them up.
Howarth suggests in his commentary that NATO cannot allow Russia to succeed in its invasion and takeover of Ukraine as it will then embolden Putin to attack other neighboring countries. While there is no solid evidence to support Howarth’s argument, it seems that NATO officials are working to gain favor with the public regarding inserting troops in Ukraine.
In essence, Howarth’s argument seems to be that the West will end up at war with Russia regardless of how fast or slow the West and NATO proceed, so NATO and its allies might as well rip off the proverbial band-aid and take the next big step that many fear will lead to a third World War.
Guest post by Colonel Jim Waurishuk, USAF (Ret.)
Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) need to shut-up and sit the hell down on Ukraine, NOW! I don’t care if they are Senators and veterans, they show ignorance about military strategy and operations, especially in the context of Russia's 'near abroad'. They certainly are totally clueless on the history of the region. They are out of control in their call for escalation in Ukraine -- as they are calling for boots-on-the-ground, massive deployment of military equipment -- tanks, missiles, and combat aircraft.
Geopolitically, they are completely ignoring the lack of national security imperative for the confrontation. Ukraine is not an ally of the U.S., nor is it an ally of NATO. Both fail to admit there is absolutely no “vital national interest” in Ukraine for the United States, never has been. PERIOD! No U.S. national security plan, directive, or policy addresses or identifies Ukraine as a vital national security interest in any way, shape, or form. Both of these Senators are absolutely wrong on policy, wrong on objectives, and wrong on their stance for increased U.S. involvement.
FACTS and HISTORY: To be blunt, everyone needs to understand this is a ‘border dispute’ between Ukraine and its eastern Russian speaking border which has been on going for centuries. The people and locally run provincial governments of the two main border provinces are Russian, speak Russian and want to be Russian. These provinces and people have absolutely no interest in being part of Ukraine. They never have been interested. Ukraine should let them go, and as a concession (for peace), let those provinces decide for themselves. Don’t let yourself be fooled like Graham and Cotton are.
Neither grasp or conceptually have an understanding of what is at play; in fact, they are being led, coerced, and obviously bankrolled by the Defense Industrial Complex. They are reckless and are proposing an absolute disaster. They are part of the Washington Establishment NeoCon War Machine and are LOCKSTEP with Biden. We are on the precipice of getting into a hot war with Russia. Their failure to grasp and understand the geopolitical ramifications, and the lack of missionm the lack of objectives, are literally “Sleepwalking into World War III”. And then there is this third idiot, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) who is not ruling out a ‘nuclear first strike option’ by the U.S. These members of the UniParty Coalition (Leftists and Establishment Republicans) in Congress are pushing for much greater escalation. They are “gaming the system”, essentially “wagging the dog” for the U.S. to get into a shooting war with Russia.
Graham, Cotton, and Wicker have demanded a complete surrender on logic and policy and have joined with “permanent Washington” and the radical, illogical Democrats, and the ‘forever war NeoCon warmonger defense contractor corporatists.’ These three are the same ‘Republicans in Name Only leftists’ who signed on with their close friend, the installed and current occupant of the White House Joe Biden on the Omnibus Bill. If fact, Cotton has never been critical of Biden saying, “Biden has not been ‘escalatory enough’ on Ukraine” by not getting U.S. troops involved directly with Russia quicker.
WHAT IS MISSING? A THING CALLED DIPLOMACY. I must ask … whatever happen to diplomatic negotiation – aka peace talks? Have they heard of the Dayton Accords, which were implemented and negotiated in Eastern Europe 28-years ago, following the fall of the Soviet Union and the Communism in Yugoslavia? Since Biden was installed, there has been zero effort to hold talks with Putin. Zelenskiy needs to sit down and talk. In fact, in September 2019, President Trump told Zelenskiy he needed to sit down and talk with the Russian president. Granted, there needs to be discussions and concessions worked out from the standpoint of both sides. But the process called “Diplomacy” needs to be attempted to the ‘nth degree’ -- that must happen first, and so far, the Biden Regime has refused to allow it.
Let’s remember, as President Trump said, he could and would deescalate the current situation within 24-hours, as was the case during his 4-years as President. President Trump will be laying out his solution and plan for Ukraine, on Saturday, January 28th during his events in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
We are now on a fast track for WWIII rather than rationality, reason, and logic. Where will the trillion dollars, or more for this insanely contrived catastrophe come from to pay for this new wartime venture before we are all “lit up” by an RS-28 SATAN II?
In an effort to decrease Vladimir Putin’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine that Russia started in February 2022, the U.S. and other Western countries have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia. Since invading Ukraine, Russia has lost access to roughly half of its gold and foreign currency reserves. Russian supply chains and economic connections between firms are also undergoing a slow reconfiguration process. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has also lost access to the European energy market due to the EU’s oil embargo and the G7 price cap on Russian oil. Russia has been forced to sell its crude for $47 a barrel, which includes a discount of $30-40 depending on the purchaser. Next week, an EU embargo on Russian oil will take effect as well.
Unfortunately, despite all the embargos, sanctions, and other restrictions, Putin still has enough funds to pursue his war in Ukraine for at least the next 3 years unless something drastic changes.
Russia has ample reserves of gold and Chinese yuan, and even if the Kremlin is forced to cut spending in the future, military and social spending will not be affected as they are ring-fenced.
To protect its military expenditure, Russia’s budget is designed so that military spending does not depend on volatile oil and gas income but is rather backed by more “predictable” income streams. The Russian Finance Ministry anticipates the ring-fenced expenditures will need to increase by 0.5% of GDP to roughly 17.2 rubles (11.5% of GDP) and then hold at that level through 2025. The increase will take the military expenditure up to 9.5 trillion rubles and social spending to 7.3 trillion rubles.
“The economy is functioning: taxes are collected, businesses are adapting,” a Russian federal official said last week as Putin promised that the military expenditure would not see a reduction. “We still have a piggy bank,” the official added. Should there be a financial shock in the future, it is expected that the Kremlin would cut infrastructure spending and use quasi-state institutions, like development banks, to cover the cost of infrastructure projects.
Russia currently has a surplus of $227.4 billion from 2022, and most expect it to have a surplus this year, despite all the sanctions from the West. One of Russia’s continued exports is its hydrocarbons. However, income from those exports is expected to dip substantially.
Predictions for Russia’s economic future are fairly inaccurate, given that many official forecasts are not accurate. The Russian state budget currently includes 1.7 trillion rubles of revenue from the exportation of 125 billion cubic meters of gas. However, those figures are inaccurate as the macro forecasts do not account for the Nordstream pipeline explosion and loss of revenue as a result. The pipeline explosion occurred right before the budget was submitted in September. “If 90 billion cubic meters [of gas] are exported, that’s already a good result,” said Alexander Isakov from Bloomberg Economics.
In addition to inaccurate export estimates, the budget also does not account for the caps on oil and gas prices or the fact that Russia may agree to discounts on gas and payment deferrals for Turkey in 2023. Loko Bank analyst Dmitry Polevoy wrote, “I value them at $29 billion and $42 billion respectively – we are talking about $18 billion.”
On Monday, Russia extended a deferred payment of insurance premiums until 2024. The deficit was 2.1 trillion rubles more than expected in December. One of the reasons for that is that it needed to pay off 772 billion rubles in deferred insurance premiums. It is unclear how the Kremlin spent the remaining 1.3 trillion rubles.
The deferment on insurance premiums this month means that those costs will not be reflected in the budget until 2024. As a result, the deficit is likely to be 2.3% of GDP. It is officially expected to be 2%, based on oil prices of $70 a barrel, which, as mentioned above, is an inaccurate figure.
According to estimates from Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the IIF, a decrease of $10 in the average price of oil over the course of this year would cost Russia $15 billion. Meanwhile, Bloomberg Economics has a more conservative estimate showing that if Russian crude costs an average of $50 a barrel, then the deficit will increase to about 3% of GDP.
The deficit will not affect Putin’s ability to fund the war, however, because Russia has enough reserves of yuan, euros, and gold to cover the deficit for the next 3 years. Bloomberg has also estimated that the sale of foreign currency could increase from 55 billion rubles this month to 120 billion rubles in February. While unlikely, if oil prices fell as low as $25 a barrel, Russia would burn through its reserve of yuan in a year.
Even if there was a sharp decline in oil and gas revenue and Russia emptied its other financial reserves, military expenditure can still be taken from tax revenues. If the situation were to become that dire, then investment in economic development would likely also be transferred to quasi-state institutions, and Russians would suffer the consequences.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
Russia's state TASS has announced that the Russian navy will be participating along with China and South Africa in joint naval exercises beginning in February off the coast of South Africa.
Three weeks prior to the announcement of the joint exercises, the Russian frigate 'Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov' left port armed with Russia's newly developed Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles for deployment in the Atlantic.
It is believed that the Zircon hypersonic missile can travel at nine times the speed of sound with a range of over 620 miles. The Russian frigate is expected to cross the Mediterranean before heading to the Russian port of Tartus and then heading south.
According to the TASS report, "'Admiral Gorshkov'... will go to the logistic support point in Syria's Tartus, and then take part in joint naval exercises with the Chinese and South African navies."
The joint exercises have also been confirmed by the South African National Defense Force, which has said the drills will take place between February 17 and 26 and will be located off the port cities of Richards Bay and Durban. The Defense Force also described the goal of the drills as being "to strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia, and China."
The upcoming exercises will be the second time the 3 countries have held joint drills since a 2019 exercise.
It should also be noted that the timing of the drills coincides with the one-year anniversary of the February 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Given that South Africa is a U.S. ally, the country is coming under a great deal of criticism for hosting the exercises as well as for allowing Russian warships to enter its ports. South Africa is also one of roughly 3 dozen countries to abstain from a UN vote in 2022 that condemned Russia's annexation of 4 eastern Ukrainian territories.
A statement released by David Feldman, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, said, "We note with concern" South Africa's plan to move ahead with the joint drills "even as Moscow continues its brutal and unlawful invasion of Ukraine."
"We encourage South Africa to cooperate militarily with fellow democracies that share our mutual commitment to human rights and the rule of law," Feldman added.
On Monday, Russia and Belarus launched joint aerial exercises in Belarusian airspace. The exercises are expected to last a full 2 weeks, ending on February 1. It is a worrisome sign for neighboring Ukraine as its war with Russia enters a full year next month.
Due to accusations from Kyiv that Belarus is about to join Russia in its war against Ukraine, Minsk called the drills “defensive in nature” in an attempt to downplay joint exercises that are being taken as an escalation by Ukraine. Minsk has also referred to the exercises as “technical drills.”
An Al Jazeera correspondent in Moscow noted that ” We all know that last month President Vladimir Putin went to Minsk, where he met his counterpart [Alexander] Lukashenko, where they agreed that Russia will provide the Belarusian air force with training to be able to use what they described as aircraft that could carry unconventional weapons.”
The correspondent added, “there are many concerns with the role Belarus is playing with respect to the war, whether this is going to have [an] impact.”
While there have been numerous reports over the last few weeks of heavy Russian equipment being transported by train into Belarus, the Pentagon said last week that it had yet to observe any Russian troop movements in Belarus that would suggest that Moscow and Minsk are planning new attacks on Ukraine.
The joint air force exercises being conducted over the next two weeks are set to include joint air patrols, airborne operations, action to support ground forces, transport flights, and air reconnaissance. It is unknown how many aircraft will be involved in the drills.
In anticipation of the joint exercises, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visited a military base where Russian troops are stationed 10 days ago.
At the time of Lukashenko’s visit, a defense ministry official said, “At this stage, units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are ready to carry out tasks as intended.” Lukashenko has also previously referred to Moscow’s war in Ukraine as part of Belarus’s “common cause” with Russia.
While the buildup of forces in Belarus for the joint exercises holds the attention of NATO and its Western allies, Kyiv has maintained a position that Russia is using Belarus as a staging ground to launch drones in its continued attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, GETTR, Truth Social
In a move that Russia is likely to interpret as an escalation, French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Wednesday to provide French-made AMX-10 RC light tanks to Ukraine. Macron is the first Western leader to provide tanks to the war-torn country.
The tanks were designed in the 1980s and are currently being phased out of the French military. Until this week, Macron has refused to provide armor to Ukraine for fear of escalating already mounting tensions with Russia.
Despite France's hesitation to send tanks in the past, the Western country has provided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with air defense systems, artillery, armored vehicles, and anti-aircraft missiles. In addition to providing arms to Ukraine, Macron has been one of the only European leaders to consistently call for peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev to attempt to bring the conflict to a peaceful resolution.
The transition from encouraging peace negotiations to now providing armored tanks is a clear indication that hopes of negotiation are dwindling among Western leaders. A French presidential aide told reporters that "The president wanted to increase aid [to Ukraine] by accepting to deliver AMX-10 RC light tanks." The aid continued, "It is the first time that Wester-designed tanks are supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces."
In response to the gesture, Zelensky wrote on Twitter, "Had a long and detailed conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron on the current situation. Thanked for the decision to transfer light tanks and Bastion APCs to Ukraine, as well as for intensifying work with partners in the same direction."
Days after Macron's commitment to send tanks, U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to send Bradley M2s to Kiev. Germany also vowed to send Marder IFVs to Zelensky, which is a bit risky given that Germany has had to move its Marder vehicles to the front-line service after the tanks purchased to replace them have had numerous problems and have been deemed unusable in actual battle.
Previously this year, Germany reversed its long-standing policy to not send or sell weapons in combat zones after the invasion of Ukraine last February. Following the invasion, Germany also announced that it would finally begin to meet its NATO spending requirements for its military, after having neglected its military for years.
While Western leaders continue to hope for a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine, it appears that multiple countries are preparing to support Ukraine for the long haul, given the refusal of either side to negotiate a peaceful end.
The Ukrainian military is getting arrogant with the constant supply of the most expensive, lethal weapons western militaries can offer -- a hundred billion dollars worth.
See the video below from 'Captain Himars'. Himars is the U.S. rocket launch system which the Kremlin says killed a large number of conscripts at a barracks recently in the Russian-controlled, Eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass.
Judge for yourself.
With a new GOP House being currently sworn in, it remains to be seen if the weapons gravy train will continue from U.S. DoD. Many new House members are not fond of unlimited funding for another 'forever war' where the U.S. has no vital interest.
Russian forces have just suffered what may be their single biggest loss of the war in an attack, after a Ukrainian strike killed multiple dozens, or possibly hundreds, of newly mobilized troops in the east of the country. Moscow is now pointing to a US role in the devastating attack.
"Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday that Ukrainian forces used a U.S.-supplied Himars rocket system to destroy a facility used as a base for mobilized troops in the city of Makiivka," The Wall Street Journal reports of the attack in Russian-occupied Donbas.
The defense ministry confirmed that 63 Russian troops died in the blast, saying that a wave of HIMARS rockets delivering "high-explosive warheads" struck the facility that housed the troops...
To read more visit Zero Hedge.
According to a report by investigative journalist Jack Murphy that was released Sunday, the CIA has been using the intelligence services of a European NATO country to conduct sabotage attacks in Russian territory since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The report cites multiple unnamed former US intelligence and military officials.
While the report states that no US personnel are on the ground in Russia, it does confirm that the operations are being directed by the CIA with the use of an ally’s intelligence which adds a second layer of plausible deniability. That added layer of deniability is a large part of why President Biden approved the operations, according to a former US special operations official.
Murphy did not name the NATO ally whose intelligence services the US is working with in the report because “doing so might endanger the operational security of cells that are still operational inside of Russia.”
According to Murphy’s report, the covert operation in Russia took years to plan. Two former military officials confirmed that the NATO ally’s intelligence service had hidden a cache of explosives and other gear in Russia over a decade ago and that some of it have been used recently.
A former US special operations official said that the CIA did not get involved in Russia until 2014. The first sleeper cells directed by both the CIA and the NATO ally’s intelligence service were in 2016. More sleeper cells that are directed by both agencies have entered Russia since.
The NATO country’s spy service provided the operatives and gave them cover stories to explain why they were in Russia along with the necessary documentation to support the stories. The NATO ally activated the sleeper cells around the time that Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24 and the cells were immediately ready to take orders regarding targets to strike.
While it is unclear how many attacks the sleeper cells have carried out thus far, there have been numerous unexplained explosions at Russian railroads, military installations, and powerplants since the invasion of Ukraine. Murphy’s report indicated that the cells could have been behind a fire at the research institute of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces in April, which killed more than 20 people.
The kind of sabotage operations that the CIA is directing cannot be executed without a presidential finding. Former President Barack Obama signed a finding in 2016 allowing covert operations against Russia due to unproven allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
The finding Obama signed allows for cyberweapons to be planted in Russia’s infrastructure, which is the digital equivalent of a bomb that could be detonated if things escalated between the US and Russia in the future.
There is some debate about what Obama’s finding permitted, with one former CIA official saying that the finding allowed for sabotage operations against Russia while different former officials have said that the current operations would require either a new finding or an amendment to Obama’s finding.
While a spokesperson for the CIA denied the report’s allegations, it should be noted that the CIA legally has the authority to deny the existence of its covert operations.
While Ukraine’s recent strikes inside Russian territory could lead to a nuclear escalation between NATO and Russia, the CIA directing acts of sabotage in Russia could easily escalate the situation to the same level.
According to Murphy, his report “went through a vigorous fact-checking process and was deemed newsworthy,” adding that he published the report to inform the public, saying, “Indeed, the Russian government knows perfectly well who is sponsoring these sabotage strikes. Moreover, the intelligence community wants them to know. The only party left in the dark is the public at large, left unaware of the shadow war taking place behind the scenes.”
Murphy published the report on his personal website. He offered the following explanation as to why it was not published by a media outlet. “While working with editors at mainstream publications, I was asked to do things that were illegal and unethical in one instance, and in another instance, I felt that a senior CIA official was able to edit my article by making off-the-record statements before he leaked a story to The New York Times to undermine this piece,” Murphy wrote at the end of the report.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, GETTR, Truth Social
Russian media reported Monday morning that a Ukrainian drone had attacked an airbase deep inside Russian territory, killing 3 soldiers. According to reports, the drone was intercepted before debris rained down on the base.
The drone was over Engels airbase in the Saratov region of southern Russia, more than 600km from the Ukrainian border. The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying, “On December 26, at around 01:35 Moscow time, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region.”
The statement continued, “As a result of the drone’s wreckage falling, three Russian technicians who were at the airfield were fatally injured.” According to the Defense Ministry, no aircraft were damaged in the attack, and the governor of Saratov, Roman Busargin, told locals that there is currently “absolutely no threat” to the region.
Due to the panic caused by the Ukrainian drone, Busargin told the public that “All stories about the evacuation from the city are blatant lies, created far from the borders of our country.”
Not only was the drone attack one of the only times that Russian soldiers have been killed on a base far away from the frontlines. Engels is known to house advanced hypersonic and nuclear-capable bombers.
Despite Russian reports that the drone was intercepted by an anti-air defense system, there is speculation that the drone made a direct impact on the base but that Russia is altering the narrative to deny that the Ukrainian operation was successful. Due to the speculation, Busargin cautioned residents not to spread “fake information.”
The drone attack Monday is the second time in 10 months that Engels air base has been attacked by Ukrainian forces.
Despite multiple videos showing what is alleged to be the moment of impact, Russian officials have claimed that the drone was intercepted and shot down “at low altitude” and that the explosions were caused by falling debris hitting the ground.
Earlier this month, on December 5, Ukrainian forces launched simultaneous drone attacks on both Engels and another air base in Ryazan in western Russia, which also hosts nuclear-capable strategic bombers. The previous attack on Engels was the deepest Ukrainians had attacked inside Russian territory.
Ukraine advancing its assaults further into Russian territory could cause Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate the war and expand its attacks on Ukraine. Only recently has Putin begun to refer to the conflict as a “war” having previously only used the term “special military operation” to refer to Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. As things escalate, fears are mounting that Belarus will officially join Russia’s war by sending in ground troops.
With a building string of successes in Crimea and now Russia, it is likely that Ukrainian forces will continue to launch strikes inside Russian territory. Ukraine has also been consistently receiving longer-range weapons from both the U.S. and NATO, which will allow them to launch assaults further from the front line. U.S. intelligence has also been stepping up to assist Ukraine with identifying and locating targets. While it is unclear whether or not the U.S. assisted with the drone attack at Engels, it is a possibility.
Ultranationalist Ukrainian politician Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, went on the Ukrainian television station 24TV to call for a dangerous expansion of the war with Russia beyond the country’s borders, seeking to draw other countries into the conflict.
Danilov called on the Republic of Moldova to resume a decades-old military conflict with the separatist region of Transnistria, claiming that if it fails to do so, Moldova cannot remain an independent state. He also called on Georgia to take military action to reclaim Abkhaziaand South Ossetia, occupied by Russian forces since 2008.“I am certain that, sooner or later, the Moldovans and Georgians will have to join this war because the war of liberation of their territory is mandatory for any country,” Danilov said.
The Ukrainian official noted that it would be easier for Ukraine to fight against Russia if the Republic of Moldova and Georgia joined the military conflict to free their territories from Russian control. Not surprisingly, Danilov did not call on Romania or Moldova to liberate the territories of Northern Bucovina and Southern Bessarabia, as well as Snake Island, seized from Romania by the Soviet Regime and currently occupied by Ukraine.
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, GETTR, Truth Social
While Russian President Vladimir Putin made a questionable visit to neighboring Belarus, the Kremlin began calling on the U.S. to avoid further escalation of the war in Ukraine over Washington’s support for the war-torn country. The warning from the Kremlin comes as concerns mount that Belarusian forces could join the fighting in Ukraine and only days after the Pentagon announced that it would be providing long-range Patriot defense systems, with long-range missiles, to Ukraine.
According to Russian state media reports, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced Monday that the “dangerous and short-sighted policy” of the U.S. has put it “on the brink of a direct clash” with Russia.
Zakharova continued, “It is the US’ desire to maintain American hegemony at all costs… as well as its arrogant unwillingness to engage in a serious dialogue on security guarantees” that led to the current war in Ukraine.
The statements come as a reaction to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price recently blaming Russia for the deterioration of US-Russia relations calling them “unstable nd unpredictable.”
Zakharova’s Monday remarks continued with her saying, “After teh high-profile fiasco in Afghanistan, America is increasingly drawn into a new conflict, not only supporting the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev financially and with weapons, but also increasing its military presence on the ground.” It was unclear what “presence on the ground” Zakharova was referring to, but there have been multiple reports that US intelligence has been assisting Ukrainians more with different aspects of the war including targeting.
The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson concluded Monday’s statement saying, “This is a dangerous and short-sighted policy that puts the US and Russia on the brink of a direct clash. For its part, Moscow urges the Joe Biden administration to soberly assess the situation and not to unleash a spiral of dangerous escalation. We hope that they will hear us in Washington, though there is no reason for optimism so far.”
The warning comes after the US agreed to give in to persistent Ukrainian requests for Patriot missile systems and also after it was revealed last week that US intelligence had helped Ukrainian forces identify, locate, and target multiple Russian generals during the beginning of the war.
Overnight into Tuesday a third airfield deep inside Russia came under attack, suffering a fire after an oil storage depot was bombarded by what the Kremlin described as a drone attack that was repelled after the initial blast. A large blaze raged throughout the night as emergency crews responded.
It came the day after two explosions rocked a pair of air bases even further inside Russian territory, which killed three military personnel in the Ryazan region, and Russian Engels-1 airbase in Saratov. Those incidents were also subsequently described by the defense ministry as the result of drone attacks.
The Russian city of Kursk, which lies closer to Ukraine than the other two sites of attack, had thick black smoke rising over its airfield in the early Tuesday hours. “Oil tankers at a base near the city of Kursk, around 60 miles from the border, were on fire and streaming smoke into the sky early Tuesday morning,” The Daily Mail writes based on regional sources…
To read more visit Zero Hedge.
What has now been identified as a Russian-made, but Ukrainian-launched S-300 air defense missile, landed in the village of Przewodow in eastern Poland on Tuesday, 15 miles from the Ukrainian border. The errant missile landed on a grain silo and the explosion killed 2 people.
Immediately following the incident, Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki called an urgent meeting with the government committee for national security and defense affairs while Poland’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that a “Russia-made” missile had landed on the border with Ukraine and summoned the Russian ambassador for a meeting.
The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying that the country had not engaged in “strikes against targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” as Polish sources had claimed. The Russian statement went on to accuse Poland of attempting to escalate the situation. While the Pentagon said that it could not corroborate the reports at the time, a senior U.S. intelligence official told reporters that Russian missiles crossed into Poland, killing two people and a Pentagon spokesperson said that the U.S. was ready to “defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President, Joe Biden, offered his condolences to Polish President, Andrzej Duda...
To read more visit Tsarizm.
Ukraine’s recent military offensives have upended many people’s expectations of how Russia’s invasion will end. Western supporters have been pleasantly surprised by Ukraine’s successes east of Kharkiv.
That is nothing, however, compared to the complete surprise of Russian observers. As Ukraine recaptured more territory in two weeks than Russia had gained in six months, Russian television was littered with analysts attempting to cope in real time with the cognitive dissonance of failure.
Russian shock at the country’s reversals on the battlefield is unsurprising. Russian experts have inculcated a fair number of myths about the war and the broader state of the world in the seven months since the start of war. As Columbia political scientist Jack Snyder noted in his book Myths of Empire, self-serving nationalist stories that make territorial conquest sound easy are common in regimes that mix elements of autocracy and democracy...
To read more visit Vox.
Democrats and NeoCons are rushing toward nuclear war with Russia, and even President Biden seems resigned to that possibility. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis has the nuclear clock ticked closer to midnight. The federal government is so concerned they have purchased $290 million in drugs to combat radiation sickness. New York city has run public service ads for what to do in the event of a nuclear war. And former and current military leaders talk openly about winning such a war. They seem to believe that a nuclear exchange would be limited to the Ukraine, therefore acceptable. What they do not know is the mind of Putin and his generals.
From the first days of the war, it was clear that on paper, Russia should easily have beaten the Ukrainian army, but Western intervention has evened the odds. Russians have lost territory over the past few months due to their own military weaknesses in combination with NATO weapons deliveries. The US has supplied Ukraine with tens of billions in aid, irrespective of the disposition of those arms and money. Reports have been that much of the equipment is not reaching frontline units, rather sold.
During Russia-Ukraine negotiations for a ceasefire in March 2022, where Russian’s main demand was permanent Ukrainian neutrality, failed when Western nations pushed for a military victory for Ukraine, along with regime change in Russia. As a result, the war continued, and thousands more were killed, wounded or made homeless.
Now, more than seven months later, Western intervention has convinced the Ukrainians and NATO nations that the war is winnable. Media and the political class continue to fan the flames of war. Worse, they provide an endless parade of former generals to explain how Putin’s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons, while possible, would only lead to a NATO response that would destroy the Russian army. Foreign affairs experts explain to us how Putin is a desperate, isolated madman who needs to be removed. How can they not see that cornering the proverbial wounded animal is not a good idea. This is the same madman whose army we threaten to destroy should he use tactical nuclear weapons, without mentioning that might possibly result in his use of thermonuclear weapons on the US and Western Europe. They forget that Saddam Hussein expected the Gulf War to be limited to Kuwait, only to find the US strategy was to eliminate “centers of gravity”. It is a core principle of US military strategy.
Gen. Sergey Surovikin has now been named the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. Surovikin is a veteran of brutal wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, and most recently Syria, where he earned the nickname “General Armageddon”, for his indiscriminate destruction of Aleppo. In Syria, Surovikin bombed civilian targets, using everything from conventional to chemical weapons. It is clear with his appointment that Putin is willing to do anything to avoid defeat, including tactical nuclear weapons. In his first week as commander, Suroviken authorized the launching of missile and drone attacks on Kiev. It seems Western leaders did not contemplate his actions based on months of reporting an imminent Ukrainian victory.
Western leaders have forgotten the shocking information we gathered in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. For five decades, NATO operated under the assumption that neither side in a European war would resort to first use of nuclear weapons. The treasure trove of documents we obtained after the collapse indicated that not only were the use of nuclear weapons possible, but they were integral to Soviet war plans to defeat the airpower advantage NATO had over the Warsaw Pact. Their day one plans were to strike our airfields with chemical and nuclear weapons to disable our air forces, and deny the use of those bases by reinforcements.
If the generation now leading the Russian Federation, both politically and militarily, were trained in a system that used nuclear and chemical weapons as just one tool in their arsenal, it is also reasonable to assume the war in Ukraine could result in a tactical nuclear war, then escalate to nuclear Armageddon. Western leaders possess two of the most dangerous attributes -- naïveté and overconfidence. The American political leadership was 'selected' not for their experience, but their gender pronoun and ethnicity. Our military leadership has been promoted despite military failures in Afghanistan and Iraq for similar qualities as their civilian counterparts. We stand on the precipice of a nuclear war, with ideologs at the helm. Only time will tell, but our best hope may lie with the man they have declared a madman, and his willingness to exercise restraint.
A USAFA grad, Brent flew F-15 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. After completing his service, Brent immigrated to Israel, where he was drafted into IAF active service.
There is massive propaganda from both sides in this Information War in the Ukrainian conflict.
Armed Forces Press will launch a weekly program that will livestream every Sunday at 3:30pm EST starting 09 October 2022. The name of the show will be called 'Ukraine SitRep' to try and bring sense to chaos. Guests of the show will have direct in-country experience and expertise.
Russian authorities said that an explosion involving a truck on Saturday caused a fire and destroyed a section of a bridge linking Russia and Crimea. The bridge is regarded as a key supply route for Russian troops in southern Ukraine.
The Crimean Bridge – also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge – is a structure 19 kilometers (12 miles) in length that passes across the Kerch Strait and links southern Russia to the Crimean Peninsula. The Kerch Strait links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, writes Zero Hedge.
“Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled,” wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aide, Mikhail Podoliak on Twitter.
To read more and watch the videos visit Tsarizm.com, our sister site in Eastern Europe.
Reports of a Russian unit specializing in nuclear weapons being deployed for a possible test of an underwater nuclear device, or even use of a tactical device in the conflict, have surfaced.
Below is verbiage from the intelligence firm Inkerman. The video below is from a source inside Russia of special forces being bused to deploy with this unit, escorted by police.
The soldier says, “Don’t worry, everything is going to be ok”...
To read more visit Tsarizm.
U.S. Army Major Dr. Jamie Lee Henry, who came out as the first openly trans officer on 2015, is accused of betraying the military and country he serves by working with his wife Dr. Anna Gabrielian, an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins, to give medical records to Russia on patients at Fort Bragg and Hopkins, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday by the Department of Justice. The couple was dealing with an undercover FBI agent posing as a Russian embassy staffer after Gabrielien had allegedly reached out to the Russian embassy. Gabrielian reportedly claimed she was motivated by patriotism for Russia. Gabrielian’s profile at Hopkins says she speaks Russian and English.
Harris came out as trans in 2015 in an article published by Buzzfeed.
Press release by the DOJ details a stunning story:
To read more visit The Gateway Pundit.
Guest post by Nikola Mikovic
Seven months after Russia launched the so-called ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, the Kremlin has decided to raise the stakes. It seems to be a matter of time before Moscow incorporates the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, as well as southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia into the Russian Federation – a move that will undoubtedly lead to further escalation of the conflict.
On September 20 leaders of the Donbass republics set out plans for referenda on joining Russia. In an apparently coordinated move, Russia-controlled military-civilian administrations of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions also announced their plans to hold a plebiscite on becoming part of the Russian Federation. Referenda are scheduled for September 23-27, and the results will be published on September 28. After that, the four regions will send the official request to Moscow, and the Kremlin is expected to act promptly, which means that by the end of October Russia might de facto and de jure get new territories.
The problem for Moscow, however, is the vast majority of the United Nations members will not recognize the results of the referendums, and will continue to see the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as part of Ukraine. The Kremlin, for its part, will treat the territories as an integral part of the Russian Federation, meaning that – from the Russian perspective – any Ukrainian attack on Donetsk, Kherson or Melitopol will represent an attack on Russia. That is why Moscow seems to be preparing to fight an “all-out war”.
On September 20 Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with bosses of the country’s military-industrial complex, urging them to boost production of weapons and ammunition. He emphasized the Russian Armed forces must receive the necessary equipment “as soon as possible”, and that Russia must ensure “a one hundred percent import substitution” in the field of military industry. More importantly, Russia’s lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, has passed a bill introducing the concepts of “mobilization” and “martial law” into the Criminal Code, which suggests that the Kremlin intends to soon change the form of its special military operation in Ukraine.
It remains to be seen how he Russian sanctions-hit economy will manage to adapt to a new reality, and increase production of military hardware. Unlike the Soviet Union, that was a relatively self-sufficient country, Russia’s military-industrial complex is dependent on the import of various components. Thus, in order to ensure “a one hundred percent import substitution”, Russia would have to completely transform its current neo-liberal economic model. It is not impossible for Moscow do make such a move, although it is a long-term process, and it is rather questionable if time is on the Russian side.
The West will undoubtedly continue supplying all sorts of weapons to Ukraine. Moreover, Kyiv will likely attempt to restore control over significant parts of the Donbas and southern Ukrainian regions before they officially become part of the Russian Federation. But even afterwards, Kyiv will unlikely stop fighting. The only difference is that Russia will fight the war on de facto its own territory, which means that Moscow can implement its military doctrine and eventually use nuclear weapons.
“Judging by what is happening and what is about to happen, this week marks either the threshold of our imminent victory or the threshold of a nuclear war. I can’t see any third option”, said Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-owned broadcaster RT.
As the United States President Joe Biden recently stressed, using nuclear weapons would “change the face of war unlike anything since World War II”. Although such a scenario is not improbable, at this point it is more realistic that Russia will attempt to change the situation on the ground by deploying more troops to Ukraine. That is one of the reasons why Putin declared a partial mobilization on September 21. For the foreseeable future, Moscow will likely continue implementing short-term solutions, but eventually it might be forced to take some radical steps.
Russian political leadership is quite aware that a military defeat in Ukraine could have dramatic consequences for the very existence of the Russian Federation. Still, it remains unclear if Moscow is determined to fight “until victory”, or if it will continue seeking to reach a deal with Kyiv. Thus, even a potential use of tactical nuclear weapons could represent a method of pressure on Ukraine to sign a peace deal under the Russian conditions.
Even though Russia has decided to mobilize 300,000 reservists, there is no guarantee that such a move will help the Russian military to seize more territory. Mobilization itself is not a magic wand. It takes time to prepare troops for fighting. But does Russia have time?
Finally, it remains to be seen if the Russian political leadership still aims to establish full control over all of Ukraine and achieve the original goals of its “special military operation”, or if it now sees the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as a “consolation prize” in a “new cold War” between Russia and the West.
Nikola Mikovic is a freelance journalist from Serbia. He covers mostly Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Nikola writes for several publications such us Geopolitical Monitor, Global Security Review, Global Comment and International Policy Digest, among others. He is also a regular contributor to KJ Vids YouTube geopolitical channel where he writes video scripts on geopolitical issues.
The Ukraine war is now essentially a stalemate. Yes, Ukrainian forces have had some recent success near Kharkiv, but at a high price. The brutal reality is that Russia has approximately 150M people, Ukraine has 40M. Ukraine is a border region of the Russian Federation, and very important to the Kremlin. Now that he has committed forces, Putin cannot let control of the Donbass region go, no matter the casualties. If he allowed that to happen, he would lose power. So, he will follow the old Russian tactic of throwing bodies at the conflict in a long war of attrition. After all, worked well against Napoleon, Hitler, etc.
Ukraine is not fighting this war against Russia. In reality, it is the United States with a mercenary army. America is supplying the weapons, the logistics, the tactics, and many highly-trained troops.
I have personally spoken to dozens of former U.S. special operators who have been involved in recent months in Ukraine. America is fighting this war alright, just not with uniformed soldiers.
The globalists in control of The White House want nothing less than a continuation of the conflict, so they can sell lots of weapons. The globalists desperately do not want to lose control of the Ukrainian playground, where they can launder money and run ‘bio research facilities’.
So, they are throwing the kitchen sink against Russia, and having some recent success.
However, this strategy will lead to continued escalation. The Ukrainian military leadership recently said the quiet part out loud – this could lead to the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons by Russian forces.
Putin will have nothing to lose.
Perhaps this is what the globalists want.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
