“Ukraine – Russia”

SHEVCHENKOVE, Ukraine—When Russian armored columns drove into this rural community of 20,000 people on the first day of the invasion, Mayor Valeriy Prykhodko tried to count the tanks, artillery pieces and fighting vehicles that rolled past his windows.

After the first few hundred, he gave up. “It was too big for counting,” Mr. Prykhodko said. “The horror.”

Located some 35 miles from the Russian border, Shevchenkove fell without a fight the afternoon of Feb. 24. In the six months of Russian rule that followed, many locals came to believe that Moscow, with its awe-inspiring military might, would stay here forever.

The least surprising aspect of a new report claiming that President Biden lost his cool during a phone call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymr Zelensky, is how quickly Russian media seized on it. More perplexing is the little-known dynamic between the two leaders, and what the minor meltdown portends for Ukraine as the war there drags on.

NBC first reported that it was during a call in June that Mr. Biden “lost his temper.” Citing sources familiar with the call, the network reported that Mr. Biden had “barely finished telling Zelensky he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelensky started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting.”

Critics of the massive US weapons pipeline to Ukraine have long pointed out there’s no accountability or appropriate tracking once those arms enter the country, presenting ripe opportunities for criminals, terrorists, or lucrative black market arms sellers to take advantage.

So it was perhaps only a matter of time before headlines like this began showing up in international publications – “NBI: Arms sent to Ukraine in criminal hands.” The NBI is Finland’s federal National Bureau of Investigation, and the report is from Finland’s national public broadcasting company Yle, and provides confirmation that arms intended for Ukrainian forces are going outside the country.

No war avoids crime.

Russia has launched a wave of cruise missiles at hydroelectric dams and other critical infrastructure across Ukraine, with explosions reported near the capital, Kyiv, and in at least 10 other cities and regions.

Ukraine’s air command said it shot down 44 out of 50 enemy rockets. Video footage suggested that several missiles were intercepted in the skies around Kyiv, soon after 8am local time. Air raid sirens went off nationally, with citizens told to seek shelter.

#Ukraine: A bad day for Mi-8 of both sides in the East- a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade in the vicinity of Berestove, #Donetsk Oblast, apparently using a MANPADS. pic.twitter.com/d66giwq7eK

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) October 31, 2022

Ouchy!

Watch until end!
Those Russian troops somewhere in Kherson Oblast in this footage got under Ukrainian artillery fire and frantically tried to escape. The end of the video shows how this concluded. #Ukraine #Kherson pic.twitter.com/UpLxWYZ7ar

— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) October 30, 2022

RUSSIA’S INVASION of Ukraine in February 2022 has produced an outpouring of international support for Kyiv. The United States has led these efforts. Even before Russian forces surged across the border, the United States and many of its allies signaled their opposition to Moscow’s predatory ambitions by warning of a range of potential sanctions Russia would incur, working to mobilize a potential diplomatic coalition against Moscow, and bolstering Ukraine’s military forces. Since the invasion, the United States has taken the lead in providing Ukraine with military equipment and training, economic aid, a near-blank check of diplomatic support, intelligence of use for stymying Russia’s offensive, and threatening draconian consequences should Russia use nuclear weapons in its campaign. Increasingly fervent bipartisan calls to penalize Russia, Ukraine’s lobbying efforts for additional aid, mounting calls from many think tankers and pundits to do more on Kyiv’s behalf, and the Biden administration’s gradual increase in support for Kyiv since February all suggest the American commitment may only grow in the future.

They’re in with both feet now, abandoning an “ally” won’t play well on the world stage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin might be suffering a humiliating military defeat in Ukraine, but reducing American support for Kyiv — as some American politicians are suggesting — will not only constitute an unconscionable betrayal of the Ukrainian cause. It will encourage Putin, and allies such as Iran, to conduct further acts of territorial aggression.

With the Ukraine conflict now in its eighth month, it is, perhaps, inevitable that a degree of conflict fatigue has set in among some politicians. But with Ukraine still managing to inflict significant defeats against its Russian adversary, the Ukrainians require more support, not less, if they are to succeed in their goal of achieving a conclusive victory and liberating their country from Russian occupation.

There are worrying concerns, though, that instead of intensifying military support for Kyiv to provide it with the firepower it requires to achieve victory over Russia, America’s political classes are tiring of their support role, and are instead looking for ways to scale down their contribution.

#Ukraine: Remarkable video of today's attack on the Russian Sevastopol Naval Base.
Ukrainian Uncrewed Surface Vessels (Drone boats filled with explosives) apparently managed to hit a Project 11356R frigate (presumably Admiral Makarov) & the Ivan Golubets Project 266M minesweeper. pic.twitter.com/6nJVkwvgKW

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) October 29, 2022

Kim Dotcom has a spotted history, but he also has a reputation for being on top of news stories that involve information and technology. In this case, his information is that Liz Truss, when she was foreign secretary, and Antony Blinken, currently the U.S. Secretary of State, were complicit in the sabotaging of the Nord Stream pipelines that brought natural gas from Russia to Europe. Currently, there’s evidence that both supports this claim and refutes it.

Read the whole thing. It really has me concerned as I have suspected US involvement. Have we been lied to again?

In early December last year, a small US military team led by a young major arrived in Ukraine on a reconnaissance trip ahead of a larger deployment. But the major quickly reported that she needed to stay.

“Within a week we had the whole team there ready to go hunting,” one of the team recalls.

They had come to detect Russians online and their Ukrainian partners made it clear they needed to start work straight away.

I realize this is the military equivalent of flag football but the facade of non-intervention by the US and likely other NATO allies can no longer be maintained.

Britain on October 29 denied a Russian Defense Ministry claim that British Navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, saying the accusation is the latest “invented story” put out by Moscow.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that Russia’s accusation was designed to “detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

Was it all about keeping Germany in line?

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia announced Saturday that it will immediately suspend its implementation of a U.N.-brokered grain deal that has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine during the war and has brought down soaring global food prices.

The Russian Defense Ministry cited an alleged Ukrainian drone attack Saturday against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships moored off the coast of occupied Crimea as the reason for the move. Ukraine has denied the attack, saying that the Russians mishandled their own weapons.

#Ukraine: A Russian T-80BV tank was destroyed by the Ukrainian 30th Mechanized Brigade in the vicinity of Bakhmut, #Donetsk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/1jMPWsZTnH

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) October 29, 2022

It feels like I’m watching a scene from a James Bond film.

Somewhere near Moscow, Russia’s president is up on stage being quizzed about the Apocalypse. The moderator reminds Putin he had once predicted that, after a nuclear war, Russians would go to heaven.

“We’re in no rush to get there, are we?” the moderator enquires hopefully.

There’s a long, uncomfortable pause. Seven seconds of silence.

“Your silence is worrying me,” the moderator says.

“It was meant to,” replies Putin with a chuckle.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is warning of “tougher, rough years ahead,” for his country and Europe. In his address Friday dubbed a “state of the nation” speech, the German president said the war in Ukraine has led to “the deepest crisis” in a reunified Germany, citing an energy crunch, the soaring cost of living, and increasing poverty rates.

“This crisis demands that we learn to be modest again,” Steinmeier said during the speech at his official residence, Bellevue Palace, in Berlin. He pledged Germany’s commitment to support Ukraine and its partnership with NATO and EU allies.

Russia could start conscripting women to join the war against Ukraine as part of ongoing mobilization efforts, according to a former commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces.

Army General Vladimir Boldyrev, who led the Russian ground forces from 2008 to 2010, made the remarks on October 21 in response to a politician’s calls for military service to be extended to women.

#Ukraine: Two Russian 2S19M2 Msta-SM2 152mm self-propelled howitzers were destroyed and another one was captured in damaged condition by the Ukrainian army in #Kharkiv Oblast. pic.twitter.com/h8Vrt5v5fn

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) October 28, 2022