When people speak of “escalating the war in Ukraine,” they commonly refer to the possibility of a nuclear conflict between the West and Russia. But there is another sense in which the present conflict can grow: it can enlarge in scope through the participation of new great power alliances formed to exploit the changed conditions. The collapse of Russia as a great power has kicked off a frenzy of adjustment among other global players.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden on Monday decided to join neighboring Finland in seeking NATO membership, ending more than two centuries of military nonalignment in a historic shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The move drew strong objections from Turkey, a key NATO member who declared the two nations should not be allowed to join because they have been too lax in taking action against Kurdish militants. Countries can only join NATO if all current members agree.
The Russian military has lost a significant portion of its ground forces in Ukraine since invading nearly three months ago while its latest offensive has stalled, according to the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry.
Russia has lost roughly a third of the ground combat forces that were committed to the Ukraine fight, the agency said on Sunday, adding that Moscow’s forces have sustained “consistently high levels of attrition.”
#Ukraine: More footage of the covert ground launch system for UK-supplied Brimstone missiles, used by the Ukrainian Army- apparently a launch platform with 3 missiles loaded (Similar to an already known test rig) is placed on a truck chassis. pic.twitter.com/25N7SZlpvl
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 15, 2022
May 16 (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) said on Monday it would sell all its restaurants in Russia after more than 30 years, making it one of the biggest global brands to exit since the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company expects to record a non-cash charge of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion following the sale. Last year it generated about 9%, or $2 billion, of its revenue from Russia and Ukraine.
Arby’s manager caught urinating in milkshake mix
An Arby’s manager allegedly urinated in the milkshake mix at the fast-food eatery for his own “sexual gratification” on at least two occasions, cops said.
Stephen Sharp, who was being investigated for child pornography, admitted to police that he enjoyed relieving himself in the restaurant’s milkshake mix while working as a night manager at a Vancouver, Washington location, according to police.
The Moscow city government will take over a factory belonging to the French carmaker Renault and use it to revive the Soviet-era Moskvitch in Russia’s first major nationalisation of a foreign company during its war in Ukraine.
The development, which Russians who remember the Moskvitch as a clunker ridiculed, is part of a wave of western companies such as McDonald’s and Siemens leaving the Russian market as the war in Ukraine nears its fourth month.
Miliary-grade weaponry in Ukraine is allegedly being sold on to international buyers on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, including some hardware made in the United States.
Weapons that have been allegedly collected in Ukraine during the country’s ongoing war with Russia have been put up for sale on Telegram channels, including various kinds of automatic rifles and small arms.
Nato’s secretary general says Russia’s war in Ukraine is not going to plan and that its attempt to capture the eastern Donbas region has “stalled”.
Jens Stoltenberg also said Ukraine could win the conflict.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) estimates Russia has lost about a third of its ground combat force since the war began in February.
The Russian invasion has been hampered by stiff Ukrainian resistance and logistical issues.
… Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense is not releasing combat casualty numbers to maintain morale, but experts believe it has lost at least 25,000 troops — up to 11,000 deaths and 18,000 wounded —since the February 24 invasion. Over two and a half months into the war, Ukraine’s losses are at least 10% of their now undoubtedly exhausted army of under 250,000. This is, however, many, many fewer than Russia’s casualties, believed to be over 35,000, and buttressed by an astonishing loss of weapons and equipment, such as tanks and warships.
Nearly 90 days into Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian troops have apparently become so demoralized and desperate to quit they’ve begun deliberately injuring themselves.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate on Saturday released audio of what it said was an intercepted call revealing the batshit new trend.
Shot after shot pounded into the Russian missile battery hidden by the lighthouse on Snake Island, a Black Sea rock 22 miles (35km) from the Ukrainian coast. The edited video, released by the Ukrainian military, showed the strike and its aftermath – all taken from a Turkish-designed Bayraktar TB2 drone.
Until then, evidence of the TB2 – a remotely piloted killer drone with a range of up to 190 miles – had largely disappeared from the conflict. The assumption was that the two dozen or so that Ukraine had bought from Turkey had been shot down and Ankara, not wanting to upset Russia, had declined to supply more.
#Ukraine: A Russian ammo depot with MRLS rockets and at least three cargo trucks were destroyed by the Ukrainian SSO (SOF).
The most interesting thing here is the weapon used – a UA-made Punisher Airstrike drone which dropped a UB-75HE 2kg unguided high-explosive bomb. pic.twitter.com/l6NcQ9hNR5
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 12, 2022
President Zelensky has vowed to hold Eurovision in Mariupol next year after an outpouring of support from the European public propelled Ukraine to victory – as Britain’s Sam Ryder earned a shock second place.
Britain surprisingly topped the jury vote and led for most of the night before Ukraine were awarded a mammoth 439 points in the public vote.
The war-torn nation ended on 631 points while the UK finished second with 466 points. Spain finished third with 459 with Sweden fourth on 438.
They expect us to accept the subsidy of our “enemy” through the purchase of their oil & gas while our tax dollars foot the bill for weapons to fight them.
In return they offer us “Eurovision.” Do I have that right?
Flood of weapons to Ukraine raises fear of arms smuggling
President Joe Biden is expected to sign in the coming days a $40 billion security-assistance package that will supercharge the flow of missiles, rockets, artillery and drones to a war-torn Ukraine.
But what remains unclear is Washington’s ability to keep track of the powerful weapons as they enter one of the largest trafficking hubs in Europe.
Ukraine’s illicit arms market has ballooned since Russia’s initial invasion in 2014, buttressed by a surplus of loose weapons and limited controls on their use.
The Soviet Union had a powerful PR machine; today’s Russia less so
During the Cold War, the Soviets would place defectors from the West under house arrest as soon as they arrived in Russia. The assumption was that, as soon as they realized what a dump the USSR was, they would try to sneak back home. And they were probably right. Still, it’s a credit to the Soviet propaganda machine that they showed up in the first place.
Back then, Russia did a great job of marketing itself. They paid top dollar to seduce high-ranking scientists and intelligence officials, while young radicals lined up to do the Kremlin’s bidding. Their disinformation was second to none.
It was late on Feb. 23 when I read the first reports of bombing in Ukraine. A friend texted that her aunt in Kharkiv had heard explosions. I was shocked and horrified. I thought it was surely the end of the regime built by Russian President Vladimir Putin. So many Russians have relatives and friends in Ukraine; they would surely protest this invasion, right?
Wrong.
As soon as I posted a message condemning the war on VK (a Russian social media platform similar to Facebook), my uncle replied by defending the actions of the Russian military.
Sadly there’s lots of propaganda on both sides.
The decades-long spy conflict between Russia and the West is intensifying over the Ukraine war. But what are Russia’s intelligence services suspected of doing and how will their officials’ expulsion from capitals affect Putin’s clandestine overseas operations?
When Russia first targeted its military forces on Ukraine in 2014 it also unleashed its intelligence services on the West – from interfering with the US elections using cyber attacks to poisonings and sabotage in Europe.
But in recent months the spy war has intensified as Western countries have sought to hit back and inflict lasting damage on the ability of Russian intelligence to carry out covert operations. This is symbolised by the unprecedented expulsion of 500 Russian officials from Western capitals.
Russia has reportedly lost more than 650 tanks and about 3,000 other armored vehicles and heavy equipment so far in its invasion of Ukraine. Experts put the losses down to the advanced anti-tank weapons given to Ukraine by Western countries, poor strategy, low morale, and important design flaws.
Ukraine says Russia has lost almost 1,200 tanks, a number that we cannot verify. However, the military and intelligence blog Oryx, which counts Russian military equipment losses in Ukraine based on photographs sent from the front lines, says Russia has lost 664 tanks (as of May 13, 2022) and about 3,000 other armored vehicles and heavy equipment so far.
