Surely you remember Ukraine and its troubles with Russia, right?
I’ll bet you have not been keeping up with doings there basically because the MSM has been ignoring the conflict in favor of the fluff of the election and the horror of Gaza.
Not to worry that is why you visit IST for I ignore nothing and have an opinion on just about everything.
News from around the battlefield….
The world’s attention may be elsewhere, but the Russia-Ukraine war goes on, and it appears to be trending in Vladimir Putin’s favor:
- Front-line position lost: Ukraine’s army has pulled out from the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, surrendering another front-line position under a relentless Russian onslaught. The village was reduced to rubble, which “made it impossible to hold the positions there,” a Ukraine military spokesperson told the AP in a written message. Control of the village has changed hands at least three times since the Russian invasion began.
- River position lost: Elsewhere, Ukraine troops lost a strategic position on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River near the southern city of Kherson, reports the New York Times. Ukrainian forces pulled out of the nearby village of Krynky, which is also described as being in ruins. The river divides the armies in the south, and Ukraine was trying to establish a position on the Russian-controlled eastern side.
- Strategy: Kyiv is employing a bend-but-don’t-break strategy to buy time until it can get more Western weapons and ammunition to the front, per the AP. By ceding some territory, Ukraine has been able to fight from better defended positions, army officials and analysts say. Leaders from across Europe met in England on Thursday to discuss European security and more help for Ukraine.
Not looking good after all the weapons that the world has given to Ukraine and it still has a losing position….
Not to worry there is a new plan to raise cash for the war to continue….
Ukraine’s government proposed its first wartime hike in taxes on Thursday to raise billions of dollars in new funds for weapons and military salaries as the war with Russia nears the 29-month mark.
At its weekly meeting, the government approved draft changes to its 2024 budget law, increasing defence spending by 495.3 billion hryvnias ($11.9 billion), government officials and lawmakers said.
Until now, Ukraine has been targeting defence spending of about 1.7 trillion hryvnias for 2024. The changes still need to be backed by parliament and signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy before they enter into force.
The government also proposed an increase in taxes and other duties, ranging from a war tax paid by its residents to introducing additional duties on some imports and raising excise duties for fuel.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-07-18/ukraine-government-proposes-first-wartime-tax-hikes-to-fund-defence
This conflict is getting expensive and a drain on many NATO countries…..Germany will slash its monetary support….
Germany is planning to cut its spending on military aid for Ukraine in half next year and is telling Kyiv to look elsewhere for more funding.
According to Germany’s draft budget for 2025, Berlin will bring its spending on Ukraine to 4 billion euros ($4.35 billion), down from 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion).
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was initially reluctant to arm Ukraine and initially resisted sending heavy weapons such as tanks, citing the risk of World War III. But he eventually agreed, and Germany has become the top supplier of weapons to Ukraine in Europe.
The draft budget still needs to be finalized and could face some resistance in parliament. However, Scholz’s government officials appear set on making the cuts to cover other spending. Another issue is that Germany’s military has depleted much of its stockpiles by arming Ukraine.
According to POLITICO, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said after the cabinet meeting that approved the draft budget that Ukraine would have to rely more on funds from other “European sources,” including a $50 billion that may be provided using frozen Russian assets.
(antiwar.com)
“Other sources” should send a shiver down the spines of American taxpayers…..for the bigger hand will be held out for more and more and more….
Finally Russian diplomat has weighed in on Trump’s promise to end the conflict in Ukraine….
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she noted comments from former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance about ending the war in Ukraine but said Moscow needed to be “realistic” about the prospect.
“We saw the statements — Trump said he would resolve the conflict within 24 hours, then Vance said that China is a bigger problem for the United States than the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” she said, according to Reuters.
“It’s necessary to separate pre-election rhetoric from statements by government officials vested with the appropriate powers. If we talk about whether it’s possible to resolve the conflict, let’s be realistic,” she added.
Zakharova pointed out that during the previous Trump administration, the president and some of his advisors made statements about bringing peace to the Middle East. “They prepared for the ‘deal of the century’ for quite a long time, but it did not end in anything, and under Biden, on the contrary, a colossal historical tragedy happened,” she said.
In an interview with The New York Times last month, Vance outlined some ideas for a potential peace plan. “What I would like to do … is you freeze the territorial lines somewhere close to where they are right now. That’s number one. Number two is you guarantee both Kyiv’s independence but also its neutrality. It’s the fundamental thing the Russians have asked from the beginning,” he said. “And then three, there’s going to have to be some American security assistance over the long term. I think those three things are certainly achievable, yes.”
(antiwar.com)
On one point I agree with the Russian….”let’s be realistic”.
And there is the news of the week from the front lines in Ukraine.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
