“Ukraine – Russia”

On Thursday, Sergei Naryshkin, the chief of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), accused Washington and Warsaw of plotting to gain a sphere of influence in western Ukraine.

“According to the intelligence received by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Washington and Warsaw are working on plans to establish Poland’s tight military and political control over its historical possessions in Ukraine,” read a statement issued by the SVR, as per Reuters.

The alleged Polish-U.S. plan involves deploying Polish peacekeeping forces, without a NATO mandate, in parts of western Ukraine.

#Ukraine: Two more Russian tanks were destroyed/damaged in the vicinity of #Izyum.

Given the precision of the first strike, it is possible that a loitering munition was used, which was also suggested by the source. pic.twitter.com/Q1jGRN0lB1

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

#Ukraine: Remarkable video from the Ukrainian 30th Mechanized Brigade showing a BM-27 Uragan MRL resupply point of the Russian Army struck by artillery in Irmino, #Luhansk.

3x 9P140 launchers, 2x 9T452 transloaders & 5x trucks full of rockets are seen- almost entirely destroyed. pic.twitter.com/vcGCkPzyaK

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

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Viktor appeared nervous as masked Ukrainian security officers in full riot gear, camouflage and weapons pushed into his cluttered apartment in the northern city of Kharkiv. His hands trembled and he tried to cover his face.

The middle-aged man came to the attention of Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, after what authorities said were his social media posts praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for “fighting with the Nazis,” calling for regions to secede and labeling the national flag “a symbol of death.”

“Yes, I supported (the Russian invasion of Ukraine) a lot. I’m sorry. … I have already changed my mind,” said Viktor, his trembling voice showing clear signs of duress in the presence of the Ukrainian security officers.

Russia’s invasion cheerleaders: ‘Sisters for Victory’ don nurses’ outfits with controversial ‘Z’ emblem as they pose with occupying troops in Ukraine

Dressed in nurses’ uniforms from a bygone era, social media influencers and models pose by tanks in a crude effort to boost Russian war propaganda.

The smiling group – called ‘Sisters for Victory’ – mingled with Vladimir Putin’s troops as their uniforms displayed the Z sign promoting the brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Online posts claimed some of the women are ‘wives and girlfriends’ of servicemen fighting in Ukraine.

Of course they are. Germany and its chancellor Olaf Scholz keep talking about “Zeitenwende,” a supposed shift in policy that promises to end reliance on cheap Russian energy and a firmer commitment to investment in common security in Europe. Talk is cheap, however, when Russian energy is cheap, and it’s getting cheaper now that Vladimir Putin is getting desperate.

For every euro of military aid that Germany has given to Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion, it has paid €200 for Russian energy imports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called this “blood money.” Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski recently declared it “inadmissible from a political and moral point of view.”

It is also tragic and unnecessary. For this, we can blame former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Cynical state chicanery is costing lives on both sides.

This business of being “only a little bit at war” is a grim reminder that others stand to profit at the death of others.

Trudeau hopes to use the crisis to further his climate scam agenda.

He is engaged in Green Murder by sending arms.

The nights are the hardest, when he lies there on his cot, the whine of the air-raid sirens in his ears and his phone still buzzing beside him. Its screen makes his face look like a ghost in the dark, his eyes scanning messages he didn’t have a chance to read during the day. Some from his wife and kids, many from his advisers, a few from his troops, surrounded in their bunkers, asking him again and again for more weapons to break the Russian siege.

Men under 65 are spending their days in hiding, leaving wives and sisters to take over their jobs

An aggressive draft campaign by the Russian-backed separatists who control parts of eastern Ukraine has emptied the area’s streets of military-age men, with many in hiding to avoid being sent to the frontline.

In a sign of how desperate pro-Russia authorities are to bolster the ranks of fighters, in late March they announced that the upper age limit of the draft had been raised from 55 to 65 in Donetsk, local media reported. And on Saturday authorities announced a mobilisation in the region of Kherson, which was largely captured by Russia after the war began.

A fatal design flaw in Russian tanks dating back to the Gulf War has made them ‘sitting ducks’ for Ukrainian attacks, experts have revealed.

Unlike in Western tanks, Russian vehicles store up to 40 shells in a carousel at the base of the turret, making them extremely vulnerable.

Even an indirect hit can spark a chain reaction, igniting all the ammunition at once and decapitating the vehicles dubbed ‘mobile coffins’ by Western military experts.

The fiasco in Ukraine could be a reflection of a bad strategy or a poor fighting force

THE JOB of organising NATO’s biggest military exercise since the cold war kept Admiral James Foggo, then the commander of American naval forces in Europe and Africa, busy in the summer of 2018. Trident Juncture was to gather 50,000 personnel, 250 aircraft and 65 warships in the European Arctic in October. As logistically taxing as that sounds, it was small fry compared with what Russia was planning in Siberia in September. The Vostok exercises would be the biggest since the Soviet Union’s mammoth Zapad drills of 1981, boasted Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister: they would involve 300,000 troops, 1,000 aircraft and 80 warships.

This was a huge feat. “It was a big lift for us to get 50,000 people in the field,” recalled Admiral Foggo recently. “How did they do that?” The answer, he eventually realised, was that they did not do it. A company of troops (150 at most) at Vostok was counted as a battalion or even a regiment (closer to 1,000). Single warships were passed off as whole squadrons. This chicanery might have been a warning sign that not everything was as it seemed in the Russian armed forces, even before they got bogged down in the suburbs of Kyiv.

President Biden is asking Congress to authorize more than $30 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine to help the country fend off the prolonged Russian attack over the next five months, administration officials said Thursday.

The White House says it needs Congress to approve just over $20 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, including $5 billion for weapons and other military aid, $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and $4 billion for the State Department’s foreign military financing program, an administration official told reporters on a call previewing the request.

Despite risk of breaching sanctions, stakes are high after supplies to Poland and Bulgaria are cut off

Energy companies in Germany and Hungary have confirmed they intend to comply with Vladimir Putin’s demand that buyers of Russian gas pay for contracts in roubles. But the EU has warned there is a risk the companies would be in breach of sanctions prohibiting transactions with Russia’s central bank. The stakes are high, because the Kremlin has already switched off supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.

Ukraine war: Putin warns against foreign intervention

Any country trying to intervene in the Ukraine war will face a “lightning-fast” response, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned.

“We have all the tools no-one can boast of… we will use them if necessary”, he said, in what is seen as a reference to ballistic missiles and nuclear arms.

Ukraine’s allies have stepped up the supply of weapons, with the US vowing to make sure Ukraine defeats Russia.

Western officials say Russia is being hampered in its efforts in the east.

#Ukraine: A Ukrainian 9P140 Uragan multiple rocket launcher and 9T452 transporter-loader were hit by a claimed Iskander SRBM, West of Balakliya, #Kharkiv Oblast.

Pretty interesting way to use a ballistic missile. pic.twitter.com/C3tE2gXS6B

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 27, 2022

#Ukraine: Video of a drone operated by the 59th Motorized Brigade of the Ukrainian Army dropping munitions onto a Russian T-72 pattern tank- it seems it is at least damaged. pic.twitter.com/aouPgivh8y

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 27, 2022

His invasion was set in motion last spring

“It’s much worse than everyone thinks.” Alan Riley is drinking tea on the outside patio of the Radisson hotel in central Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. “The recent winter energy crisis was exceptional. And we now realise that it was Russia softening up Europe for the war.”

If Riley, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, is correct, Putin’s tactics have more than paid off. Gas and electricity prices could soon reach £3,000 in the UK, while household energy bills are predicted to reach €3,400 in Germany, €2,800 in France and just below €2,000 in Italy and Spain.

The unavoidable truth looming over Europe’s response to the invasion of Ukraine is that Russian gas heats the continent’s homes and powers its industries.

While European leaders have vowed to wean themselves off Kremlin-controlled supplies, both of gas and oil, the reality is that this is very hard to do in short order. There will be at least one more cold winter to come before major energy-hungry economies that rely heavily on Russia, such as Germany and Italy, can tap other sources.

The Achilles Heel.

Mysterious explosions in Transnistria, a breakaway Russian-controlled territory in Moldova bordering on Ukraine, have raised fears that the Ukraine conflict may be spreading.

Separatist authorities said Ukrainian “infiltrators” were responsible. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Russian special services.

Russia says it is concerned. It has about 1,500 troops in Transnistria.

An official has said Russian speakers in Moldova are being oppressed.

This is the same excuse used to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces capture several villages in push into eastern Ukraine

Russian forces have pushed deeper into eastern Ukraine and captured several villages in their offensive to fully control the two provinces of Donbas, Kyiv has said, while to the west there are mounting fears that the war may spill over into neighbouring Moldova.

The Ukrainian defence ministry said on Wednesday that Russian forces had pushed Kyiv’s army out of Velyka Komyshuvakha and Zavody, in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, and gained control over Zarichne and Novotoshkivske in Donetsk.

#Ukraine: A Ukrainian drone watches a Russian BMP take refuge next to a building- but it is then targeted with accurate indirect fire, likely causing damage. pic.twitter.com/3f7t0DrCLG

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 26, 2022

#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 110th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade hit Russian Armour in #Zaporizhzhia Oblast with indirect fire. As a result, 3x BMP-2 IFV were destroyed/damaged along with an T-80BVM tank. pic.twitter.com/1zlrSRs3IS

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 26, 2022

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said he was moving his “deterrent forces” – meaning nuclear weapons – to “combat ready” status.

This has raised fears that Moscow could use “tactical” nuclear weapons – not an all-out nuclear war, but still a dramatic development.

Tactical nuclear weapons are those which could be used over relatively short distances.

This distinguishes them from “strategic” nuclear weapons. In the Cold War, these were the bombs which the two superpowers, the US and Soviet Union, could launch over long distances at each other’s homeland.