Tag: Russia

News From Ukraine

I realize there is a lot going on in our country right now with the election of a president and all the silliness around the issues…..but while we are scratching our heads the conflict in Ukraine remains and thanx to Biden is beginning to expand.

Those long range missiles that Biden told to fire into Russia…..

Ukraine fired six US-made missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, days after US President Biden eased restrictions on Ukrainian use of American-made weapons in the war that has reached its 1,000-day milestone, per the AP. Ukraine claimed it hit a military weapons depot in Bryansk in the middle of the night, though it didn’t specify what weapons it used. In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the Russian Defense Ministry said the military shot down five Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, and damaged one more. The falling debris sparked a fire at an unspecified military facility, but didn’t inflict any damage or casualties, the ministry said.

Neither side’s claims could be independently verified. The announcement came after Biden authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the longer range weapons after Russia deployed thousands of North Korean troops in the conflict. Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials reported a third Russian strike in three days on a civilian residential area in Ukraine killed at least 12 people, including a child. The strike by a Shahed drone in the northern Sumy region late Monday hit a dormitory of an educational facility in the town of Hlukhiv and wounded 11, including two children, authorities said, adding that more people could be trapped under the rubble.

Ukrainian civilians have repeatedly been hit by Russian drones and missiles during the war, while on the battlefield its army is stretched extremely thin at places on the 600-mile front line against a bigger adversary. On Sunday, a Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions struck a residential area of Sumy in northern Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounding 84 others. On Monday, a Russian missile barrage sparked apartment fires in the southern port of Odesa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 43. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the series of aerial strikes proved that Russian President Vladimir Putin wasn’t interested in ending the war. “We must force Russia to a just peace by force,” he added.

For a couple of years I have read about how Putin will use nukes…..and now did Biden make that a possibility?

Russia just loosened its rules on when it can unleash nuclear weapons, and Reuters sees the timing as a clear warning to the US. On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin formally changed Moscow’s nuclear doctrine by lowering the threshold for when it can use nukes against its enemies. The move follows through on a pledge Putin made in September, notes the New York Times, but implementation of the change comes just days after the US reversed itself and gave Ukraine permission to fire longer-range American missiles inside Russia. In fact, Ukraine fired the first of those missiles on Tuesday.

  • New doctrine: Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional weapons attack that creates “a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity,” per Reuters. The previous doctrine stipulated a threat to the “very existence of the state,” per CNN.
  • Joint attack: Further, the new doctrine considers an attack by a nonnuclear nation backed by a nuclear ally to be a joint attack by both, per the AP. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called this a “very important paragraph,” notes the Times.

“The big picture is that Russia is lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a possible conventional attack,” Alexander Graef of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg tells Reuters

Is this escalation?

The United States Embassy in Kyiv closed its doors Wednesday as it issued a warning that Russia might launch “a significant air attack.” It said it had “received specific information” about a possible attack but did not elaborate; employees were advised to shelter in place and Americans were told to heed air-raid alerts. The New York Times reports Ukraine’s capital is frequently the target of drone and missile attacks, “but the embassy rarely issues such a specific alert or shuts down.” CNN goes further, reporting the embassy had not previously fully closed since the war began in February 2022. More:

  • Russia on Tuesday promised to “react accordingly” to what Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called “a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia.” He was speaking of Ukraine’s first-ever use of American-made ballistic missiles, which were fired into Russian territory on Tuesday. Over the weekend, President Biden authorized the use of long-range missiles provided by the US for strikes deeper into Russia.
  • CNN sees the closure as “a stark reflection of how this war is escalating,” though “it is unlikely Russians will hit the US Embassy directly—that would be a severe escalation in the closing months of a White House soon to be replaced by a more sympathetic President-elect Donald Trump.”
  • The Times puts some numbers to what Kyiv has suffered so far: It reports that in the first 1,000 days of war, more than 2,500 missiles and drones have been unleashed on the capital from Russia, per data from the city’s military administration. About half of the attacks have occurred in 2024.
  • And while there have been around 1,370 air alerts to date, the paper notes there is rarely much of a heads up when ballistic missiles are launched. Due to their speed, they can reach their target within minutes. The AP reports Italy and Greece also closed their embassies in Kyiv, but the UK opted to keep its embassy open.

Something that is not reported much oin this conflict is the Ukrainian people unless there are children killed then it is a major story (not so much for Gaza or Lebanon)

To cap off his finally few days Biden has done an unthinkable…..mines.

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will be providing Ukraine with widely-banned anti-personnel mines, breaking its own policy that’s meant to prohibit the transfer of the indiscriminate weapons.

The provision of anti-personnel mines is the latest escalation from the Biden administration and comes after President Biden authorized Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory using US missiles, which Ukrainian forces have already begun firing into Russia.

Anti-personnel mines, which are designed to kill or maim people, are banned by 164 countries under the Ottawa Treaty, but the US and Russia are not signatories. Ukraine has signed the treaty but has violated it by using anti-personnel mines in the conflict.

(antiwar.com)

To continue his final days Biden will forgive loans to Ukraine….

The State Department announced on Wednesday that it has moved to forgive about $4.7 billion in US loans to Ukraine as the Biden administration is trying to spend as much as it can on Ukraine during the transition period.

The $61 billion in aid for Ukraine that was authorized by Congress earlier this year included about $9.4 billion in economic and budgetary aid provided in the form of loans, an idea first promoted by President-elect Donald Trump. However, the law allows the president to forgive the loans if Congress doesn’t stop him.

After November 15, President Biden was allowed to forgive the first half of the loan. “We have taken the step that was outlined in the law to cancel those loans,” said State Department spokesman Matt Miller. On January 1, 2026, Trump will be able to forgive the second half of the loan if he chooses to do so and Congress allows it.

(antiwar.com)

Is it not time to make these slugs in DC start thinking about the taxpayer and the money they throw at this despots?

It seems the war is popular only with those that make their living with it….

A poll released by Gallup on Tuesday found that the majority of Ukrainians want peace talks to end the war with Russia.

The poll, conducted in August and October, found that 52% of respondents wanted talks with Russia to end the conflict as soon as possible, while 38% believed Ukraine should keep fighting, and 9% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.

Out of the 52% who favor negotiations, 52% said Ukraine should be open to territorial concessions, while 38% disagreed, and 10% said they weren’t sure.

The survey marked the first time since the Russian invasion that a Gallup poll found the majority of Ukrainians favored negotiations to end the war. The support for peace talks is stronger in eastern areas of Ukraine near the frontlines, where 63% want negotiations to end the war, and only 27% want the fighting to continue.

The poll, published on the 1,000th day of the war, came amid a major US escalation in the war as Ukraine began striking Russian territory with long-range US-provided missiles. The Biden administration appears to be doing whatever it can to escalate the conflict before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20.

The US is escalating the proxy war despite Ukraine having no clear path to victory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing for more US support as part of his so-called “victory plan,” but even he has acknowledged the war will likely end through diplomacy in 2025.

(antiwar.com)

2025 looms and we all known what the president-elect has said, right?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ukraine: The Push Is On

This week’s good news (for some that is) is that Ukraine has sent troops into Russia in a bold move….this is said to have many facets although few are available to peasants like me…..

But what does it all mean?

A week after the biggest military invasion of Russia since World War II, details are beginning to solidify about Ukraine’s stunning move.

  • Numbers: Ukraine forces have advanced nearly eight miles into the country and control more than two dozen villages, the acting governor of Russia’s Kursk region told Vladimir Putin and other officials Monday. The Washington Post is tracking military movements here. Ukraine’s top military commander said his forces control nearly 400 square miles, per the AP. More than 100,000 Russians have been evacuated or left of their own accord, and Russia says 12 civilians have been killed.
  • Big picture: “It’s an attempt to give Russia somewhat of a shock,” Eric Schmitt of the New York Times tells that newspaper’s Morning Briefing. “It could give Ukraine a win, or at least make them feel good for a few days. Does it change the larger calculus on the battlefield? That remains to be seen.” One big question is whether Ukraine will be able to hang on to the territory it seizes.
  • Momentum shift? Vladimir Putin is downplaying the move, suggesting that Ukraine is trying to gain leverage for potential peace talks and that his troops will soon oust the invaders. It is nonetheless “an embarrassment” for Putin and his army, per Reuters. The move has the potential to divert Russian troops from other areas, lift morale back in Ukraine, and boost support from the US and the West for Ukraine’s military fight, per the Times.
  • Ukraine’s hope: “The clearest logic behind Ukraine’s latest move has been provided by President (Volodymyr) Zelensky who says he wants to ‘bring the war home’ to Russia,” and erode support for it, writes Jonathan Beale at the BBC. “Whatever happens, Ukraine may believe that this gamble was worth it.” He adds, however, that such sentiment shifts often turn out to be fleeting and “won’t win the war.”
  • Senators swayed: Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham visited Ukraine, spoke with Zelensky, and said Ukraine seems more optimistic than ever, per the Washington Post. “The breakthrough in Kursk on that front is historic,” said Blumenthal on Monday. “It is a seismic breakthrough.” Both senators want to free up Ukraine to use US weaponry for long-range attacks within Russia.

When Ukraine stops will they be able to hold the territory?

Some NATO countries think they will out soon….

NATO countries think it’s unlikely Ukraine will be able to hold territory in Russia’s Kursk Oblast even if it takes weeks for Russian forces to drive the Ukrainians out, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing a Western intelligence official.

Despite that assessment, the report said NATO doesn’t “harbor reservations” about Ukraine’s invasion of Russian territory, which the US and NATO claim they were unaware of until the attack started. Another NATO official told Bloomberg that the incursion shows Ukraine can challenge Russia.

Heavy fighting has been raging in Kursk since over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers and dozens of armored vehicles, including many provided by the US, entered Russian territory last Tuesday. While Ukrainian forces have captured dozens of villages, they are also taking heavy losses.

(antiwar.com)

Will they be able to hold what they have taken?

I believe if they can then it will be used as a bargaining chip any future ceasefire talks….a way to counter the loss of territory within Ukraine to the Russians.

One other question….Why now?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

News From The Front

The Ukraine/Russia front that is…..

This does not seem to be a popular meme these days…..I think all the propaganda and armchair analyst that know everything about nothing have moved on.

Enough said about buffoons.

Looks like we may have an all out cross border war going on……Ukraine enters Russia …..

Vladimir Putin is calling it a “major provocation.” NBC News refers to it as an “unprecedented cross-border incursion.” Russia on Tuesday said as many as 300 Ukrainian troops had attacked the Kursk region in southern Russia with support from tanks and armored vehicles. The details remain somewhat hazy, Ukraine’s leaders have not confirmed the attack, and the AP reports open-source monitors have not yet verified the claims. The Guardian, however, reports it got confirmation from a junior official that an attack was underway. More:

  • On the ground: Things are murky, with Russia’s Defense Ministry originally stating the “Ukrainian sabotage group retreated to its territory,” per the Guardian. But Russian military bloggers have suggested the Ukrainian troops were not pushed out but rather made it up to 9 miles deep into the territory, and the New York Times reports the Ministry confirmed fighting was continuing on Wednesday.
  • What could make it ‘unprecedented’: The Times explains that Ukraine’s previous cross-border assaults involved armed groups of Russian exiles that had military backing. This attack, however, appears to be the work of Ukrainian troops.
  • Implications: If confirmed, NBC News reports it “would mark a dramatic shift in strategy” and raise “questions about why Ukraine might have launched an incursion into Russian territory with regular troops just as military observers say it’s bleeding soldiers and weapons in the vulnerable east, particularly near the towns of Pokrovsk and Toretsk in the Donetsk Region.”
  • Analysts’ take: Those NBC News spoke with suggested Ukraine could be trying to force Russia to shift troops to an area that hasn’t seen much action since spring 2022, or it could be a “publicity stunt” designed to grab the world’s notice.

Now there is an idea I had not considered….a PR stunt….but when I think about it it makes sense….the world has turned a blind eye to this particular conflict and something is needed to return the attention to Ukraine.

Will this continue or will it be short lived?

Will Ukraine use its new F22 jets and attack deeper into Russia?

Did Ukraine sacrifice troops to make a point?

What will they do?

This is getting to the point of ridiculous….this conflict needs to be resolved and save what lives they can now.

Keep in mind that this war is all about the money and will continue as long as there is cash to be made…..

Lindsey Graham voiced out loud part of an agenda that is usually hidden from public view or the media – it isn’t talked about (admitted) openly. It’s a veritable “gold mine,” Graham confessed, and America can’t afford to lose control of it. Here’s the translation of Graham’s admission:

It’s About the Money.

Our reliably hawkish Republican Senator is well known for provocative statements. As early as 2022 (at the beginning of the Ukraine war) Graham was all in for regime change in Russia, when everyone else in the West was trying to downplay such a prospect. Moreover, he is quoted as saying at a press conference with Zylensky that “Russians are dying” in the war, while US aid was the “best money we’ve ever spent.”

But with the panache and subtlety of a train wreck the good senator created another stir recently, admitting on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” why Russia must not be allowed to prevail in Ukraine. The latter possesses $10 to $12 trillion worth of rich deposits of critical minerals.

https://original.antiwar.com/F_Andrew_Wolf/2024/08/05/us-ukraine-russian-war-its-about-the-money/

Not a fan of Graham’s but in this case he is being up front about this conflict.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Three For One

That is the deal made with Russia….we get 3 prisoners they get one…..sounds like a one sided deal but consider there was actually about 20+ prisoners involved with this trade…..

The deal that resulted in the biggest and most complex prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War took more than a year of secret negotiations, reports Reuters. The most well-known names involved are Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, but 22 other prisoners also were in the mix, and at least six nations were involved in the swap. Coverage:

  • 3 US citizens: Russia released 16 people from custody, while US-led Western nations freed eight prisoners. A total of three American citizens were released: Gershkovich, 32, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who was held more than a year; Whelan, 54, a former US Marine held since 2018; and Alsu Kurmasheva, 47, a Russian-American editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who was arrested last year, per the New York Times. All three were expected to arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland later Thursday.
  • Linchpin: The big name freed on the Russian side is Vadim Krasikov, described by the Wall Street Journal as the “linchpin” to the entire deal. Krasikov, seen as a Russian assassin, had been serving a life sentence in Germany after murdering a former Chechen rebel there in 2019.
  • Pulitzer winner, others: Others freed include Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist and prominent critic of Vladimir Putin. He is a contributor to the Washington Post, which has a running list of bios of all those released.
  • Biden: “Their brutal ordeal is over, and they’re free,” President Biden said in remarks Thursday afternoon. He called the deal to secure the prisoners’ freedom a “feat of diplomacy,” adding: “Multiple countries helped get this done. … I personally thank them all again.” The Journal reports that Biden made a pivotal call to the prime minister of Slovenia on July 21, only about an hour before he informed the nation he would not seek reelection. Slovenia released two Russian prisoners key to the swap.
  • In Ankara: The actual exchange took place in Ankara, Turkey, where planes with prisoners from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Russia converged, per the Times.
  • Two big names: Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, had been detained more than a year, and Whelan, a former US Marine, had been held since 2018. Both were convicted of espionage charges that the US says are bogus.
  • Prison movement: Reuters reports that Whelan and Russian-British dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza had disappeared from view in recent days, and at least seven Russian dissidents had been moved from their prisons. The outlet says the swap involved prisoners held by Russia and Belarus on one side, and prisoners held by the US and Germany, and perhaps other nations, on the other. The AP estimates about two dozen people were involved.
  • Russia’s side: The New York Times reports that among the pro-Putin prisoners freed is Vadim Krasikov, a convicted assassin. Journalist Christo Grozev, who the Daily Beast reports was involved in negotiations, calls the deal “bittersweet” because it shows that as long as Putin “hoards ‘swap capital’ he will always be able to get his killers, hackers, and spies back.”
  • Dissidents: The Washington Post lists Russian dissidents Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, Oleg Orlov, and artist Alexandra Skochilenko as among those who’d been moved from their prisons.

Will this make it into some movie in the future…..we seem to glorify these sort of things….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Putin: The Next Peter The Great?

I know while we await the big event of the evening to begin let’s talk about Putin…..every armchair expert’s favorite subject.

Some think that Putin is trying to regain the lost territory from the USSR days….while others think he is trying to become yet another Peter the Great…..

Even Vlad the Invader is thinking of myself as another Peter the Great…..

Russian energy giant Gazprom is reported to have been hit particularly hard by sanctions imposed as a result of the war with Ukraine. An internal report – obtained and published by the Financial Times – has forecast that the company is unlikely to recover gas sales lost as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for at least a decade.

But Gazprom chairman Alexey Miller is apparently pressing ahead with his plan to build an 82-metre triumphal column in front of his company’s landmark St Petersburg Lachta Centre skyscraper. The column will celebrate the defeat of Sweden in the great northern war, after which Russia declared itself to be an empire for the first time.

The conflict was fought by Russia at the head of a coalition including much of what would become Poland and Germany as well as Britain, by virtue of its king, George I, also being the ruler of Hanover. It pitted one of the dominant historical figures of the age, Charles XII of Sweden, against Peter I of Russia – also known by the epithet “the Great”.

On September 10 1721, Russia and Sweden signed the Treaty of Nystad, which awarded Estonia and large parts of what is now Finland to Russia and enabled Peter to declare Russia to be an empire. St Petersburg, which the tsar had founded in 1703 at the mouth of the River Neva on the Baltic Sea, was the seat of the empire and would remain so until February 1917 and the abdication of then tsar Nicholas II.

So Vladimir Putin’s enthusiasm for the project could be said to reflect his own aspirations and ambitions for 21st-century Russia under his leadership. There are a number of parallels the Russian president is keen to stress as part of his projection of himself as a modern-day Peter the Great.

https://theconversation.com/how-vladimir-putin-projects-his-image-as-a-modern-day-peter-the-great-232612

I know a lot has been said about Putin’s ambition and this article takes a good look at those ambitions.

Is he the next Peter the Great?

My thought is no he is not…..in his mind he may be but in action he will fall way short.

Does anyone have a thought they would like to share?

I Read, I Write, you Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Kim-Putin Deal

Here is something that was not reported.

I was wondering when this region would once again grab the attention of the media.

Recently Vlad the Invader visited North Korea…..and after a bit of PR work the two leaders signed a mutual defense pact.

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un made a big deal of their newly cemented partnership on Wednesday, with the Russian leader calling it a “breakthrough” and his North Korean counterpart labeling it a “most powerful agreement.” But what exactly does it say? Neither side has released the text, and the details in this case are seen as crucial. Coverage:

  • Putin’s words: “The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement,” said Putin, per Reuters. The Russian leader is visiting North Korea for the first time in two decades.
  • Unclear: Does that mean Russia would unleash a “full-fledged military intervention” if North Korea is attacked, and vice versa? That’s not clear, reports the New York Times. The newspaper notes that the two nations had a Cold War-era aggression pact of this nature, but it has been defunct since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
  • Hard to assess: At the BBC, Paul Adams writes that it will be difficult to gauge just how groundbreaking this is until the formal text is released. Putin made a point to say the pact “did not exclude the development of military-technical cooperation with North Korea.” But exactly what the aforementioned “mutual assistance” might entail is the big unknown. “Perhaps the two leaders will prefer for that to remain ominously ambiguous.”
  • Potential impact: “Depending on the exact wording of the pact … it could be a dramatic shift in the entire strategic situation in Northeast Asia,” per Reuters, quoting Artyom Lukin of Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University. A big question is what China, which has heretofore been North Korea’s biggest benefactor, will think of all this. So far, Beijing has not weighed in.
  • On the other hand: The two nations already have been assisting each other militarily, notes the Wall Street Journal, with Russia in dire need of North Korea’s ample stock of conventional weaponry. For now, “there is nothing fundamentally new about this relationship today that was not true before Putin’s visit,” says Patrick M. Cronin, the Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute. That would change only if the pact spells out a military commitment to retaliate on each other’s behalf. Still, the fast-growing partnership has ramifications on everything from the West’s ability to limit North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to the war in Ukraine, which could be prolonged as Putin beefs up his arsenal.

Then after this the news is that China is all butt hurt over the visit and the pact….

China was already worried that whatever control it has over North Korea was weakened when Pyongyang reportedly supplied almost 7,000 containers worth of weapons to Moscow. And this is why, in April, the Middle Kingdom sent its third most senior leader within the Chinese Communist party hierarchy, Zhao Leji, to assure the North Korean strongman that Beijing was still a strong ally.

Now the defensive pact that draws Moscow and Pyongyang closer threatens to further diminish China’s influence over Kim. The Kremlin knows that one of Beijing’s greatest fears is that a renegade North Korea may one day point its weapons at China.

And this is a key reason behind Putin’s peace treaty with Pyongyang.

https://theconversation.com/kim-putin-deal-why-this-is-a-coded-message-aimed-at-china-and-how-it-worries-beijing-232863

The US is also concerned with this meeting and the document signed….so much so that it dispatched a carrier group to the South China Sea….

A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived Saturday in South Korea for a three-way exercise involving Japan for stepped-up military training to cope with North Korean threats, which have escalated following the announcement of a security pact with Russia. The arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group in Busan came a day after South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The exercise that is expected to start this month, the AP reports.

Not to worry the War Department is on the job.

Everybody is flexing their muscles and no one is paying attention to the consequences of their actions.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Peace In Our Time

I am sure that most knowledgeable people recognizes those words (if not look it up)…..but this time it is used in conjunction with the conflict in Ukraine.

The world has seen enough carnage and stupidity and they have come together to try and work out some sort of peace for Ukraine…..

Officials from more than 100 countries gathered in Switzerland over the weekend to discuss ways to end the conflict in Ukraine, devising a “peace formula” even as Western leaders continue to flood the battlefield with weapons.

The conference kicked off on Saturday near the city of Lucerne, where delegations from the US, Germany, France, and scores of other states met to consider how to achieve a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine.” However, a joint communique issued by the participants on Sunday offered no new proposals, instead repeating generic statements about Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” and the “principles of sovereignty.”

In place of a workable peace plan, the joint statement outlined three basic points regarding the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, the importance of food security and the global supply chain, and the need for prisoner of war exchanges between Kiev and Moscow. It went on to reiterate past United Nations resolutions calling for an end to the war.

Ahead of her speech at the meeting on Saturday, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced an additional $1.5 billion in aid for Kiev. This includes funds to rebuild infrastructure, $379 million in humanitarian assistance, and another $300 million to support “civilian security.” The new package follows the over $50 billion in US military aid already supplied throughout the war, including long-range missiles, main battle tanks, and other heavy weapons.  (I have a problem with the cash for interior stuff….a good place for corruption to take control….and what the Hell is “civilian security”?)

Ukraine’s War Backers Hold ‘Peace’ Conference

Good idea but for one small thing….Russia was not included and for this to work they need to be heard.

Putin put out his own version of a ‘peace’ deal….

Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out four conditions for Ukraine that he said would lead to an immediate ceasefire and, ultimately, an end to the conflict. According to the Kremlin, Kiev’s neutral, non-aligned, non-nuclear status and the lifting of all Western sanctions are necessary conditions for ending the conflict.

In a speech to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday, Putin said that if Ukraine withdraws its forces from the four regions annexed by Moscow – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson – then he would order a halt to operations and begin negotiations to end the war.

Putin Makes Public Peace Offer to Ukraine

This is a no go for the territories involved are one of the biggest disputes of this as well as Ukraine and NATO….NO I am not supporting Russia’s claim to anything….just that it could be a starting point for massive negotiations.

This is not the first time that ‘peace’ has been attempted….there was an offer in 2022….

In April 2022, Ukraine and Russia were on the brink of signing a deal to end the war just weeks after it began. The New York Times published documents showing President Vladimir Putin was willing to make concessions to get an agreement signed.

According to the documents, Putin initially sought to have Kiev recognize Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. However, a draft agreement from April 15, 2022, suggests both parties were prepared to set aside the issue to end the conflict. “Paragraph 1 of Article 2 and Articles 4, 5, and 11 of this Treaty shall not apply to Crimea and Sevastopol,” the document says.

In December, Ukrainian negotiator Oleksandr Chalyi explained that an agreement was reached in the spring of 2022, stating the two sides “managed to find a very real compromise. We were very close in the middle of April, in the end of April, to finalize our war with some peaceful settlement.”

Documents: Putin Was Willing To Compromise To End War in 2022

Now if they were close then what changed?

Why is no one actually aggressively pursuing a peaceful road?

I have an idea why….but it is too gruesome to mention and I hope I am wrong.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Russian News….(None Of It Good)

0500 hrs and it is 87 degrees….top that!

Right now there is a laser focus on the carnage that is Gaza and a lot of news around Ukraine/Russia mash up goes under reported.

I will try to let my readers know of things that are a changing…..this is not in support of Russia just me reporting on news that fell through the cracks of the MSM.  (So please withhold in lame misguided BS)

Star Wars!  Oh my bad…. Space Wars……

War Department has said that there is a new Russian weapon in orbit….

The militarization of space is really heating up after the Pentagon accused Russia of launching a satellite that national security officials believe is capable of attacking other satellites in orbit, the BBC reports.

And most chillingly, this satellite, which the Russians launched last week, is on the same orbit as a US government satellite.

“Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter space weapon,” said Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder on Tuesday, as reported by the BBC.

“Obviously, that’s something that we’ll continue to monitor,” Ryder told ABC News. “Certainly, we would say that we have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the space domain and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the joint and combined force. And we’ll continue to balance the need to protect our interests in space with our desire to preserve a stable and sustainable space environment.”

https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-russia-orbital-weapon

If you are a worry wart then maybe the time to do so is now.

Vlad the Invader (Putin) has offered up a plan for a ceasefire with Ukraine….

Vladimir Putin insists that Russia is ready to keep fighting in Ukraine, but he’s reportedly also amenable to “freeze the war” there—with one big condition. Russian sources tell Reuters that their leader is prepared to negotiate a ceasefire, but one recognizing that territory currently under Russian control would stay that way. Those sources say Putin thinks he can sell such a concession as a win to the Russian people, and that he’d rather avoid another national mobilization, as the last one he ordered caused his popularity to plummet. Freezing the conflict now along battlefield lines would leave Russia with “substantial chunks of four Ukrainian regions” in its possession, or about 18% of Ukraine. Asked for comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was open to dialogue on the matter and didn’t want “eternal war.” More:

  • Ukraine’s take: Kyiv likely won’t agree to any deal in which Russia gets to keep territory it has already seized, notes the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine has its own peace plan, including a summit in Switzerland next month—”a real diplomatic track that has every chance of contributing to a just peace,” National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko said on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has consistently said Ukraine will take back all of its territory seized by Russia, including Crimea, and in 2022, he signed a decree saying talks with Putin were “impossible,” per Reuters.
  • US take: Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he didn’t think Putin was serious about wanting to negotiate peace. A US State Department rep tells Reuters that “the Kremlin has yet to demonstrate any meaningful interest in ending its war, quite the opposite,” and that any peace talks must respect Ukraine’s “territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders.”
  • Macron weighs in: The French president similarly doesn’t think Putin is at all serious about a goal of peace, specifically because the Russian leader has rejected a truce with Ukraine at the Olympics, reports the Hill. “This is a big clarification moment, because every week until now President Putin was claiming to be available for peace,” Macron said in an interview that aired Thursday on CNBC. “So for everybody in the world, it’s clear he is the one who decided to launch his war, and he is not ready to make peace.” Zelensky also ruled out an Olympics truce.
  • White House debate: Meanwhile, citing sources involved in the discussion, the New York Timesreports there’s “vigorous debate” in the Biden administration over allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to strike targets across the border in Russia for the first time. The sources say Blinken now supports what would be a dramatic shift in policy because Russia is attacking Kharkiv with weapons placed just over the border, knowing that Ukraine can only respond with non-US weapons.

Tee Hee!  This is a none starter.   Why?  Neither Zelensky or the War Department will accept this…..but to me at least there may be an opening for talks on ending the carnage in Ukraine.

Blinken, who is Sec of State, is pushing for US weapons to be used inside Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is leading a push within the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to use US-provided missile systems and other weapons to hit Russian territory, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The report said there is a “vigorous debate” within the administration in the wake of Russia’s new offensive in Kharkiv, which was launched from over the border in Russia’s Belgorod oblast.

It’s unclear how many other high-level officials agree with Blinken, but the pressure is growing on President Biden to lift the prohibition on Ukraine using US weapons on Russian territory, a ban that, according to the Times, is designed to “avoid World War III.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and many other members of Congress are also calling to lift the ban. Ultra-hawk Victoria Nuland, who left the State Department in March, appeared on ABC News this week to make the pitch for Ukraine to extend its use of US weapons to Russian territory.

“I think there’s also a question of whether we, the United States and our allies, ought to give them more help in hitting Russian bases, which heretofore we have not been willing to do,” Nuland said.

Moscow recently warned the UK that if Ukraine used British weapons on Russian territory, Russian forces would target UK military sites in Ukraine “and beyond.” The warning came after British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Ukraine had the “right” to use British arms in attacks on Russia.

Russia is currently conducting tactical nuclear drills that it launched in response to provocative rhetoric from Western officials about sending troops to Ukraine. The Times report said that the US was also considering deploying troops for training, although Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown said there were “no plans” to do so at the moment.

(antiwar.com)

This is a decision to be made by those above my pay grade….my only concern is when did America’s top diplomat start working for the War Department?

A warmongering jerk like Blinken has no place in the State Department which is suppose to focus on diplomacy not starting wars.

But alas the conflict will rage on.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ukraine Update

Ukraine?

Is there still a war going on there?

Yes there most certainly is a continuing conflict going on in Ukraine. You have not heard much about it because most people are so wrapped up in the Israel-Gaza thing to care the old hat conflict in Ukraine.

Let me give an update….

The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces have captured five villages as part of a renewed ground assault in northeastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials haven’t officially confirmed whether Russian had taken the villages, which lie in a contested “gray zone” on the border of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and Russia. Ukrainian journalists reported that the villages of Borysivka, Ohirtseve, Pylna, and Strilecha were taken. Russia said the village of Pletenivka also fell, the AP reports. The Institute for the Study of War, Washington-based think tank, described recent Russian gains as “tactically significant.”

The renewed assault has forced more than 1,700 civilians residing in settlements near the fighting to flee, according to Ukrainian authorities. It comes after Russia stepped up attacks in March targeting energy infrastructure and settlements, which analysts predicted were a concerted effort to shape conditions for an offensive. Russia’s recent push in Kharkiv also seeks to exploit ammunition shortages before promised Western supplies can reach the front line and pin down Ukrainian forces in the northeast, keeping them away from heavy battles in the Donetsk region where Moscow’s troops are gaining ground, analysts said.

Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a “buffer zone” that President Vladimir Putin vowed to create to halt Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions. Fears also mount that Russia might be able to cut supply routes and besiege Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million, per the AP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Friday evening in a video on X that Russian forces were expanding their operations. He called on the country’s Western allies to ensure that promised deliveries of military aid swiftly reach the front lines. “A package that truly helps is the actual delivery of weapons to Ukraine, rather than just the announcement of a package,” he said.

As this conflict wears on we should ask the question with all the investment by the West….can Ukraine win this thing?

The long-awaited counteroffensive last year failed. Russia has recaptured Avdiivka, its biggest war gain in nine months. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been forced to quietly acknowledge the new military reality. The Biden Administration’s strategy is now to sustain Ukrainian defense until after the U.S. presidential elections, in the hope of wearing down Russian forces in a long war of attrition.

This strategy seems sensible enough, but contains one crucially important implication and one potentially disastrous flaw, which are not yet being seriously addressed in public debates in the West or Ukraine. The implication of Ukraine standing indefinitely on the defensive—even if it does so successfully—is that the territories currently occupied by Russia are lost. Russia will never agree at the negotiating table to surrender land that it has managed to hold on the battlefield.

https://time.com/6695261/ukraine-forever-war-danger/

That is just sad.

One year ago, all signs were encouraging. Ukrainian forces had been bloodied, but they held on to territory in the east in defiance of expectations. Successful counteroffensives allowed Ukraine to regain territory in the south. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy defiantly declared the coming year one of “our invincibility.” American aid to the country offered a king’s ransom in artillery and anti-tank weapons through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and the flow seemed unceasing.

Inspired by Ukraine’s stunning success against the much larger and more advanced military, the West galvanized behind Zelensky and his troops. Tragically, all these indicators led to unrealistic expectations.

Ukraine can no longer win

No one wants the carnage to stop….the US has elections….Russia is obstinate….the rest of NATO waits for the US to act….the rest of the world has stopped caring….

It is a dilemma that the Ukrainians are paying for with their lives.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Remember Terrorism?

First of all….I would like to wish everyone a ‘Happy Earth Day’….

Now he is a subject that has taken a backseat in the media….and because it is under reported the American people have moved on to the point of blocking this out of their minds.

AQ is a mere shadow of its former self and ISIS, well ISIS is still there and still performing acts of terror and mayhem.

Then just recently the world got another wake up call….the attack in Moscow.

With its “war on terrorism,” the United States launched a global campaign against the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks as well as a number of other targets. The campaign probably created more terrorists than it killed. Moreover, U.S. interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq—the first with only a tangential relationship to al-Qaeda, the second with no connection whatsoever—killed a huge number of civilians as well.

Having failed to accomplish its poorly defined objectives, the United States eventually refocused on other national security threats. The “war on terrorism” disappeared from the headlines. Today, the world is more worried about the wars conducted by states: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s attack on Gaza, and the potential conflict between China and Taiwan.

But as the latest attack in Moscow demonstrates, some terrorist organizations are still going strong. On May 22, militants associated with the Islamic State chapter in Afghanistan attacked concertgoers at a Moscow venue, killing more than a 100 people. It was a shocking reminder of how vulnerable states can be in the face of determined non-state actors.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or Daesh according to the Arabic acronym) is perhaps the most prominent terrorist organization operating in the world today. It emerged from the wreckage of the U.S. war in Iraq and the civic uprising against Bashar al-Assad in Syria. For several years beginning in 2014, these radical Islamists managed to govern a vast swath of territory straddling Iraq and Syria. Though it attracted recruits from around the world, ISIS also attracted the enmity of a range of states that otherwise didn’t agree on anything else. After repeated attacks by these diverse states—the United States, Russia, Syria, Iraq—the self-declared caliphate collapsed in 2019.

Even without its mini-caliphate, the Islamic State persists. It still launches attacks within Syria and wields considerable influencein the huge al-Hol facility in eastern Syria for detained ISIS fighters and their families (along with many unfortunates who have no connection to ISIS).  It still has something of a foothold in Southeast Asia. Several groups in both the Sahel and in sub-Saharan Africa are still operating.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/04/09/the-return-of-terrorism/

Terrorism did not go away nor was it defeated….however the importance in the media did go away….but now with this attack there should be a renewed interest in the happenings around ISIS and other groups bent on destruction and death.

But after all how important can it be when we have an election to fret over?

How will this play out?

Your thoughts, please.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”