No end in view for Ukraine war
BY M. K. BHADRAKUMAR | INDIAN PUNCHLINE | NOVEMBER 10, 2022
The US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s meetings with Ukrainian leaders, including President Vladimir Zelensky, in Kiev has created a lot of confusion and misperceptions. On one side, the White House maintains that the trip aimed “to underscore the United States’ steadfast support to Ukraine and its people.” The readout stated that Sullivan also affirmed “the continued provision of economic and humanitarian assistance, as well as ongoing efforts with partners to hold Russia accountable for its aggression.”
However, unnamed US officials gave the spin that Sullivan’s real mission was to “nudge” Zelensky to negotiate with Moscow and urge that “Kyiv must show its willingness to end the war reasonably and peacefully.” Politico later reported that Zelensky indeed heeded Sullivan’s “soft nudging”. The US media also reported that the US officials have been nudging the Ukrainians for sometime.
The Washington Post reported last week that the Biden administration privately encouraged Ukrainian officials to show they are willing to engage in dialogue with Russia, in an acknowledgment of the growing frustration in the US and some of its allies at the cost and duration of the war. But, apparently, the Ukrainians pushed back.
Sullivan also added some spice to the media speculation by claiming on Monday that the US has channels to communicate with Russia at senior levels. The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported, citing unnamed US and Western officials, that Sullivan had allegedly held a series of confidential meetings recently with Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev on the conflict in Ukraine. (Moscow has not reacted to these reports.)
The heart of the matter is that Sullivan has been on a PR exercise in the run-up to the midterms in the US (November 8) in a concerted strategy aimed at countering the growing criticism among the Democrats and Republicans that the Biden Administration is avoiding the diplomatic track to try to end the war in Ukraine. In fact, all indications are that the Biden Administration is preparing for the long haul in Ukraine.
Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday that a three-star general will lead a new Army headquarters in Germany called the Security Assistance Group Ukraine, or SAGU, that will include about 300 US service members responsible for coordinating security assistance for Ukraine. On Sunday, The New York Times had reported that Lt. Gen. Antonio Aguto Jr., head of the First US Army headquarters at Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, was a leading candidate for the new job.
The SAGU will be based out of US Army Europe and Africa headquarters in Wiesbaden. Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters the new command will “ensure we are postured to continue supporting Ukraine over the long term.” She added the US remains “committed to Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
It is improbable that Moscow has fallen for Sullivan’s dissimulation. There is reason to believe that Sullivan who is a thoroughbred neocon from the Clinton clan would only have urged Zelensky to expedite the planned Ukrainian offensive on Kherson, which has been in the limelight. The Biden Administration is badly in need of a success story from Ukraine as the newly-elected Congress convenes in January with a likely Republican Party majority in the House of Representatives.
No doubt, the Russians are taking the Ukrainian offensive in Kherson seriously. In a stunning announcement in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu ordered a troop pullout from the western side of the Dnieper River in the Kherson Region. The fact that the Kremlin is risking criticism from the Russian public opinion for ordering such a retreat (from a region that is actually an integral part of Russia) underscores the gravity of the Ukrainian military threat. Zelensky is forcing Moscow to literally eat its words about the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine!
Zelensky continues to be in a belligerent mood. On Monday, Zelensky did make a peace offer but with five conditions for a settlement:
- Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity;
- Russia respecting UN Charter on sovereignty and territorial integrity;
- Russia paying off all war reparations;
- Punishing each war criminal; and,
- Guarantees that such an invasion and atrocities will not happen again.
The only “concession” Zelensky made is that he didn’t mention his earlier precondition that President Vladimir Putin should relinquish office before any negotiations.
There is no end in view for the war in Ukraine. By the way, although the midterm elections are typically the point in a US presidential cycle where one expects to see top Cabinet members begin to turn over, there is no sign of that happening to Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Austin, 69, being a critical voice in the Ukraine conflict, who mobilised billions of dollars worth of military aid from around the world for Kiev, Biden anticipates that the war effort may only become more entrenched and this is not the time to change up the top ranks of the Pentagon.
Indeed, the ground situation shows that the ongoing Russian operations in the areas of Ugledar and Bakhmut in Donetsk have run into strong resistance from Ukrainian forces, contrary to the Russian narrative Kiev’s military is a demoralised lot.
In particular, the advance of the Russians around Ugledar got stuck in the village of Pavlovka, located on the important crossroads, and in a fierce battle three days ago, reportedly, hundreds of Russian soldiers were killed. Putin’s decision to retreat in Kherson is probably meant to avoid a similar fate, as the Russians are experiencing logistical difficulties to supply their forces on the western side of Dnieper river.
Of course, this seamy picture is not the whole picture insofar as the phase of regrouping and resupplying following the Russian mobilisation is still a work in progress and the ongoing fighting in Donbass and Kherson is at the tactical level and does not involve any large movements of troops.
Equally, the intensive Russian strikes on Ukrainian depots, command centres and artillery and air-defence systems plus the destruction of Ukraine’s military-industrial facilities and energy system are yet to impact Kiev’s capacity to wage the war.
To be sure, the situation on the front lines in Kherson region remains extremely tense. The Ukrainian forces are on the prowl probing the Russian defence line incessantly to break through to capture the city of Kherson. A large-scale offensive by the Ukrainian forces on Kherson is to be expected any day. So far, Russians are holding their positions, repelling the ongoing Ukrainian attacks and fortifying their defences.
From Kherson, Ukrainian artillery can threaten Crimea. In the prognosis of Moscow’s close ally, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, “Challenging times are ahead of us. Next winter will be even harsher than this one because we’re facing the Battle of Stalingrad, the decisive battle in the conflict in Ukraine, the battle for Kherson.” He predicted that both sides are likely to deploy thousands of tanks, aircraft and artillery pieces in the struggle for the key city.
Vucic said, “The West thinks it’ll be able to ruin Russia that way, while Russia believes it’ll be able to defend what it secured at the start of the war and bring it to an end.”
Western Intelligence Services Played Key Role in Staging Mass Riots in Iran: Moscow
Samizdat – 09.11.2022
MOSCOW – Western intelligence services played a key role in organizing mass riots in Iran and spreading further disinformation about the situation in the country, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday.
“We note the key role of Western intelligence services in organizing mass riots in Iran and the subsequent dissemination of misinformation about the situation in the country through the Persian-speaking Western media controlled by them. We perceive this as blatant interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,” Patrushev said at a meeting with Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) of Iran Ali Shamkhani in Tehran, as cited by the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
On September 16, a series of protests against the current political regime of Iran broke out throughout the country. Riots were ignited by the reports of the death of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by morality police for wearing a hijab improperly.
Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police in Tehran on September 13 for wearing an “improper” hijab, an offense punishable by prison. The woman was sent to one of the FARAJA centers belonging to the police department and military intelligence for an explanatory conversation. In the center, Amini reportedly had a heart attack, after which she was immediately taken to hospital where the young woman passed away on September 16.
Tehran said that the weeks-long mass riots were planned from abroad and summoned the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Norway, and the charges d’affaires of France in Iran in late September. The European diplomats were given a note of protest in connection with anti-Iranian media reports and calls to overthrow the Iranian government.
German MP added to Kiev’s ‘terrorist list’ because he called for a ceasefire
Free West Media – November 9, 2022
BERLIN – The head of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich said the Ukrainian government put him on a “terrorist list” because he had called for a cease-fire in Ukraine. He added that he had also “received threats”.
The criteria according to which Kiev differentiates its friends from its enemies has irked the president of the group SPD in the Bundestag, Mützenich. German politicians are particularly indignant that their names are now on the list of people who “promote narrative people in accordance with Russian propaganda”.
This document is published on the website of the Center for Combating Disinformation to the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine.
“I was irritated that the Ukrainian government had put me on a terrorist list on the grounds that I was working for a cease-fire or for the possibility of taking new diplomatic measures,” he told the German news agency dpa. According to him, he has since also received “secondary threats, so to speak, which are not easy to manage either”.
Mützenich stressed that if the commitment to a cease-fire is a criterion for inclusion on this list, then the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, must also be included. He complained of “discrimination” against those who, like him, campaign for diplomacy as a means of ending the conflict.
He also accused the partners of the SPD coalition, namely the Greens and the FDP, of resorting to the same discrimination. “I oppose this rigorism. The fact remains that most wars did not end on the battlefield.”
The deputy has been on the list since July. As proof, the Ukrainians cited an article published on the website of the German information agency RND.
The article indicated that the deputy found it “normal” that the German Chancellor, with the American and French Presidents, discussed ways to end the war in Ukraine. According to the article, Mützenich referred to the sanctions packages, but also to the attempt to achieve humanitarian ceasefires.
Combining COVID-19 BA4/5 and Influenza mRNA
Recipe for Disaster
By Dr. Peter McCullough & John Leake | Courageous Discourse | November 5, 2022
Recently both Pfizer and Moderna announced they were developing a combination injection utilizing mRNA coding for the BA4/BA5 Omicron subvariant and new mRNA coding for antigens contained in the influenza virus.[i] Because the COVID-19 component is under Emergency Use Authorization, has failed in animal studies and no human trials have been reported, that component should be off the table from the start.
A recent paper from Chemaitelly and colleagues demonstrated in the Omicron era, COVID-19 boosters had unacceptably low protection against acquiring the infection and no valid study has ever demonstrated reductions in hospitalizations and deaths.[ii]
To make matters worse, any theoretical benefit from a COVID-19 vaccine would last < 6 months, so additional shots would be out of phase with the other component of the combination product. mRNA coding for influenza would be a new biological product not under EUA so should have to go through the full 5-year regulatory development cycle for genetic biologicals. It looks like the vaccine companies are trying the shortcut this development cycle by combining the non-emergency flu shot with the EUA COVID-19 vaccine. Influenza A and B are the cause of seasonal epidemics, and the segmented RNA genome enables frequent antigenic changes. For this reason, the seasonal vaccines are developed annually based on the expected circulating strains of two influenza A viruses– H1N1 and H3N2, and two influenza B viruses– Victoria and Yamagata lineages.[iii] Because of the strain mismatches, the effectiveness has been abysmal.
Last year, Chung and colleagues reported the influenza vaccine had 16% vaccine efficacy which was statistically insignificant from zero.[iv]
Combining the genetic code for both the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and conserved proteins of influenza A and B would mean installation of the long-lasting genetic code for multiple foreign proteins in the human body. Production of these proteins will induce an ongoing multi-pronged immune response which is likely to create amplified side effects, above and beyond each component alone, rendering even greater incapacitation than we have seen with the COVID-19 vaccine alone. Dr. David Wiseman, PhD, former JNJ scientist and vaccine developer commented on the combined vaccine product for NTD news. He made the case that safety signals would be confused and impossible to sort out.
NTD News: Dr. David Wiseman: Combined mRNA BA4/5 and Influenza Vaccines are Ill-Conceived
In the history of drug development, when a technology goes bad and delivers side effects and fails to stop or ameliorate an illness, that line of development should be dropped. In the case of mRNA, the bio-pharmaceutical complex is hell-bent on forcing these new products into large populations no matter what adverse health consequences emerge. So, the next time you are in the clinic and about to take another vaccine, ask the nurse “does this vaccine have mRNA in it?” If the answer is yes, then consider deferring or seeking an alternative. Thus far, there is no mRNA vaccine that is either safe or effective.
[i] Reuters : Pfizer, BioNTech start COVID-flu combination vaccine study
[ii] Chemaitelly H, AlMukdad S, Ayoub HH, Altarawneh HN, Coyle P, Tang P, Yassine HM, Al-Khatib HA, Smatti MK, Hasan MR, Al-Kanaani Z, Al-Kuwari E, Jeremijenko A, Kaleeckal AH, Latif AN, Shaik RM, Abdul-Rahim HF, Nasrallah GK, Al-Kuwari MG, Al-Romaihi HE, Butt AA, Al-Thani MH, Al-Khal A, Bertollini R, Abu-Raddad LJ. Covid-19 Vaccine Protection among Children and Adolescents in Qatar. N Engl J Med. 2022 Nov 2. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2210058. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36322837.
[iii] Rcheulishvili N, Papukashvili D, Liu C, Ji Y, He Y, Wang PG. Promising strategy for developing mRNA-based universal influenza virus vaccine for human population, poultry, and pigs- focus on the bigger picture. Front Immunol. 2022;13:1025884. Published 2022 Oct 17. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.1025884
[iv] Chung JR, Kim SS, Kondor RJ, Smith C, Budd AP, Tartof SY, Florea A, Talbot HK, Grijalva CG, Wernli KJ, Phillips CH, Monto AS, Martin ET, Belongia EA, McLean HQ, Gaglani M, Reis M, Geffel KM, Nowalk MP, DaSilva J, Keong LM, Stark TJ, Barnes JR, Wentworth DE, Brammer L, Burns E, Fry AM, Patel MM, Flannery B. Interim Estimates of 2021-22 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness – United States, February 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022 Mar 11;71(10):365-370. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7110a1. PMID: 35271561; PMCID: PMC8911998.
Iran Unveils New Air Defense Missile
Al-Manar – November 6, 2022
A new solid-propellant missile paired with Iran’s homegrown air defence system ‘Bavar-373’ was unveiled on Sunday.
The new missile, dubbed ‘Sayyad 4B’, has a range of 300 kilometers.
In a recent test, the Bavar-373 air defence system successfully hit a target at a distance of over 300 km with the new missile.
The Iranian air defence system managed to detect the target at a range of more than 450 kilometers with its optimized radar and tracked the target at a distance of around 405 km before detonating it with Sayyad 4B.
Sayyad 4B missile’s engine runs on hybrid solid fuel and has undergone an operational test for the first time.
The new breakthrough has increased the range of the detection radar of Bavar 373 from 350 to 450 km, while its tracking radar’s range has risen from 260 to 400 kilometers.
The employment of Sayyad 4B also means that the range of the Iranian air defence system missiles has been extended to 300 km and the altitude of engagement has increased from 27 to 32 km.
Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headway in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the defence sphere.
Iran maintains that its military might poses no threat to regional countries, stressing that the Islamic Republic’s defence doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.
NYC Apartment Fire Caused by Electric Bike Battery Injures Nearly 40 People
Samizdat – 06.11.2022
The fire was caused by a lithium-ion battery which power micro mobility devices like electric scooters, bikes, and hoverboards. The New York Fire Department (FDNY) reported that they found five electric bikes in the fire.
At least 38 people were injured in a fire on the 20th floor of a New York City apartment building on Saturday. City officials said that a majority of the victims suffered from smoke inhalation, while two victims were left in critical condition.
The fire erupted on Saturday on the 20th floor of a high-rise apartment complex at 429 East 52nd Street in Manhattan at about 10 AM. Firefighters found five electric bikes as the source of the fire, and wrote on social media to remind the public of the dangers of lithium-ion batteries.
“The cause of this fire is a lithium ion battery which is meant to power a micro mobility device. This is our 200th fire this year caused by lithium ion batteries from micro mobility devices. The fire was right behind the front door, we recovered at least five bikes from the apartment. We want to stress our lithium ion safety tips,” said Daniel Flynn who is the Chief Fire Marshal of the FDNY, who adds that at least six people have died due to lithium ion battery fires this year.
Authorities believe someone in the apartment was repairing the electric bikes and are investigating the resident’s business activity. The FDNY added that fire protection and planning at the building will also be investigated.
“The alarm didn’t go off, but it seemed like everyone got the memo and started going out,” said a 26-year-old resident of the building.
“I run down the stairs, and as I’m running out on the courtyard, the window bursts and glass flies around as I’m on the phone with my mom screaming for my life,” said a 23-year-old resident of the building, who said she only first became aware of the fire after smelling smoke from the fire.
A video captured and posted to social media shows firefighters hanging by ropes from a window as they attempt to rescue a woman from the 20th floor of the building.
“What we saw today was our training, our team work, and our absolute dedication,” said Frank Leeb, the Deputy Assistant Chief of the FDNY. “From the units that operated up there with the lifesaving rope to passing them off to our exceptionally trained EMS personnel to get these patients all off scene in a matter of a couple of minutes and off to local hospitals.”
“The lithium-ion battery adds a different degree when we talk about the fire dynamics of it,” Leebs added. “These rooms flash over in just a mere matter of seconds.”
Ukrainian Starlink units go dark over funding issues – media
RT | November 4, 2022
Some 1,300 Starlink satellite terminals went offline in Ukraine last week due to a failure to pay the military’s internet bills, deepening fears that the country will no longer be able to afford the pricey satellite service, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN on Friday.
The terminals, all part of a block purchased from a British company in March, began to go dark on October 24 for lack of funding, causing a “huge problem” for the military that depended upon them. Aware the bill was coming due and that they would be unable to pay it, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense asked its UK allies for $3.25 million to cover the monthly cost and rotated the terminals out of use so they wouldn’t wink out at a critical moment. However, their request was turned down.
Starlink parent company SpaceX alerted the Pentagon in September that it could no longer pay the full cost of Ukraine’s Starlink usage, asking Washington to pick up the slack, according to CNN. With approximately 25,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine, Musk estimated the military’s use of the service would cost nearly $400 million over the next 12 months. Fewer than 11,000 were being paid for at the time he wrote to the Pentagon.
Musk then appeared to change his mind about footing the bill for the service a few days later, tweeting “We’ll just keep funding Ukraine for free.”
However, a senior defense official told CNN SpaceX has continued negotiating with the Pentagon, adding that officials are eager to get Musk to commit resources in writing because they fear he will change his mind.
He has reportedly refused to operate Starlink in Crimea, fearing this would invite an escalation from Moscow, while Western media have accused him of hindering the network’s operation by Ukrainian troops in Russian-controlled areas, which Musk denies. Last month, he warned that even though the company has “diverted massive resources toward defense” as the Russian military attempts to take the system out, “Starlink may still die.”
Moscow believes Starlink is a legitimate target, reasoning that the US and its allies have been using “elements of the civilian space infrastructure, including commercial, for military purposes.” Because this “essentially constitutes an involvement in military action through a proxy,” the “quasi-civilian” satellite network is fair game, Russian diplomat Konstantin Vorontsov told the UN last month.
Biden administration sponsors yet another campaign against Orbán
Free West Media | November 3, 2022
The US government has opened a new chapter in the propaganda and disinformation war against Hungary. It now supports an allegedly “independent” media portal, whose sponsors, however, make it quite easy to see the goals which are being pursued against the country.
According to its own statements, the Internews platform focuses “on promoting a strong independent media sector” in Hungary. There will be further activities in Armenia, Georgia, Poland, Romania and the Ukraine. The aim is to “resist powerful interests trying to manipulate, isolate or control the press”.
The US embassy recently even produced a video listing Hungarian politicians and journalists who have allegedly made “anti-American” statements by name. Essentially these voices either criticized globalist policies to foment the Ukraine war or spoke out against the futility of sanctions.
The list of sponsors for the news portal is revealing. On it one will find, among other things, the well-known Open Society Foundations (OSF) by George Soros, the Rockefeller Foundation and Freedom House, which is financed by the US government. US-based global tech giants like Facebook and Google are also among the backers.
Those in the know recall that Internews is not the US government’s first attempt to reshape the Hungarian media scene. As early as 2017, the US State Department launched a support program right before the elections for “independent Hungarian media in the countryside”. At the time, the government in Budapest accused the US State Department of interfering in Hungarian domestic politics. The programme was later de facto scrapped, presumably because ex-President Donald Trump valued good relations with Hungary.
Under the Biden administration, however, “democracy” exports are back in fashion. Just a few months ago, the Hungarian opposition’s prime ministerial candidate caused a scandal when he admitted that he had received a substantial sum of money for his election campaign from a US foundation.
Moscow Has Info on UK’s Transfer of Unmanned Underwater Drones to Kiev Ahead of Sevastopol Attack
Samizdat – 03.11.2022
The Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s ambassador to Russia on Thursday in connection with last week’s Ukrainian attack targeting Russian military and civilian vessels in Sevastopol. The act of terrorism prompted Moscow to temporarily freeze its participation in the Black Sea grain export deal with Kiev.
Moscow summoned British Ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert in connection with London’s suspected involvement in the October 29 attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Foreign Ministry has revealed.
In a statement, the Ministry indicated that it had information that London transferred a number of unmanned underwater drones to Kiev, and that British specialists have been actively involved in the training and supply of Ukrainian special operations forces, including those involved in sabotage operations at sea.
Moscow warned that Britain’s actions threaten to escalate the security crisis and lead to “unpredictable and dangerous consequences,” and that such “hostile provocations” on London’s part were “inadmissible” and must be stopped immediately.
“If such acts of aggression, fraught with [the UK’s] direct involvement in the conflict, continue, the entire responsibility for their disastrous consequences and the growth of tensions in relations between our states will lie entirely on the British side,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet port of Sevastopol repelled a massive drone attack on October 29, shooting down multiple UAVs and remote-controlled surface vessels in Sevastopol Bay. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, the warships attacked included ships providing security for the so-called ‘grain corridor’ – the secure maritime route agreed by Moscow and Kiev this summer through which cargo vessels carrying grain from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea for export abroad.
The Russian military later retrieved drone wreckage from the sea floor to examine the remains, finding Canadian-made navigation modules installed on the maritime drones. Preparations for the drone attack were carried out under the guidance of British specialists in the Ukrainian port city of Ochakov, according to the Russian MoD. Russia destroyed a multi-million pound British-built and financed military base in Ochakov in a missile strike in February during the opening stages of its military operation in Ukraine.
The Sevastopol attack is the second time in weeks that Moscow has called out London on terrorism-related charges. Last week, Russia’s Defense Ministry concluded that the Royal Navy took part in the planning, organization and execution of the late September attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline network.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asked London to explain the mysterious “It’s done” iPhone text message reportedly sent by now former Prime Minister Liz Truss to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just moments after Nord Stream was struck.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian and Western media reported that Moscow and Kiev appeared to be on the brink of a peace agreement this spring, but that (now former) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quickly dispatched to the Ukrainian capital to scuttle any potential agreement.
Russia tells UN it will inspect Black Sea ships
Samizdat – October 31, 2022
Ukraine “grossly violated” the Istanbul agreement on grain exports via the Black Sea and forced Moscow to suspend it indefinitely, Russia’s envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Monday. The Russian navy will inspect all cargo ships bound for Ukraine, even those unilaterally cleared by the Turkish-based coordination center, he added.
“This subversive action of Kiev grossly violates the Istanbul agreements and, in fact, puts an end to their humanitarian dimension. It is now obvious to everyone that the Black Sea humanitarian corridor is being used by the Ukrainian side for military sabotage purposes,” Nebenzia said, referring to Saturday’s drone attack on Sevastopol.
Russia “cannot guarantee the safety of civilian ships participating in the Black Sea initiative,” Nebenzia added, as “We do not know what other terrorist attacks Kiev is preparing with the support of its Western sponsors.”
On Sunday, after Moscow announced the suspension of the arrangement, the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul said it had greenlit 16 ships to navigate the corridor on Monday and “informed” Russia about the decision. According to maritime traffic data, at least two ships left the Black Sea port of Odessa in the morning, reporting Istanbul as their destination.
“Decisions and measures taken without our participation are not binding on us,” Nebenzia told the UN. Moscow “cannot allow ships to pass without our inspection and will be forced to take independent measures” to inspect ships authorized by the JCC without Russian approval.
Meanwhile, the UN coordinator for the Black Sea grain initiative, Amir Abdulla, insisted that “the food must flow.”
The UN and Türkiye mediated a deal in July under which Ukrainian grain could be exported via the Black Sea, while Western obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilizer would be removed. The US and its allies insist they had never sanctioned grain exports – but their sanctions on Russian ships and insurance made them impossible in practice.
Moscow has criticized the West for not living up to its part of the deal and pointed out that the bulk of Ukrainian exports went to the EU and not the African nations most affected by food insecurity.
Ukraine power executive says supplies have run out
Samizdat | October 31, 2022
Ukraine’s largest private power utility, DTEK Holding, said on Monday that it had run out of equipment to repair damage inflicted by Russian attacks. The latest round of missile strikes plunged Kiev and several other cities into darkness.
“Unfortunately, we have already used up the stock of equipment we had in warehouses after the first two waves of enemy attacks that have been taking place since October 10,” DTEK executive director Dmitry Sakharuk told Ukrainian media.
Sakharuk added that DTEK has been able to buy some replacement parts at a cost of “hundreds of millions of dollars,” and is now “working on how to purchase it or get it from our partners.”
Ukraine’s power grid uses Soviet-standard equipment that is incompatible with parts from the West and difficult to obtain outside of Russia. DTEK, owned by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, accounts for a third of the country’s electricity market via coal-powered plants.
Another wave of missiles struck Kiev, Kharkov, Cherkasy and Vinnitsa on Monday. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said some 350,000 apartments were without power, while water supply was disrupted in about 80% of the city. The metro system in Kharkov was offline.
Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergy has introduced rolling blackouts in many regions, begging the population to reduce power consumption in order to avoid a “total collapse.”
Russia began targeting Ukraine’s power grid on October 10. President Vladimir Putin explained the change of tactics by saying Kiev has carried out “sabotage” attacks against Russian infrastructure, including nuclear power plants. The October 8 suicide attack that damaged the Crimean Bridge was the final straw, the Russian president said.
Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
Russia Retrieves and Examines Parts of Drones Used in Sevastopol Attack, MoD Says
Samizdat – 30.10.2022
MOSCOW – The Russian Defense Ministry raised from the sea bottom and inspected fragments of drones that were used to strike ships and infrastructure of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Saturday, which revealed that they were launched near the port city of Odesa, the ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry noted that its specialists, in coordination with experts from other state agencies, examined the Canadian-made navigation modules installed on the maritime drones.
“According to the results of recovery of the information read from the memory of the navigation unit, it was established that the launch of the maritime drones was carried out from the coast near the city of Odesa,” the ministry said.
The drones were moving along the safe zone of the so-called grain corridor before swerving towards Russia’s navy base in Sevastopol, according to the ministry.
“Coordinates of the trajectory of one of the maritime drones suggest that it was launched from the waters of the ‘grain corridor’ safe zone in the Black Sea. According to experts, this may indicate a preliminary launch of this drone from one of the civilian vessels chartered by Kiev or its Western supporters to export agricultural products from Ukrainian ports,” the ministry said.
On Saturday, the Russian defense ministry said that Moscow was suspending its participation in the grain deal following Ukraine’s drone attack on vessels of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
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From the Archives
A superpower and “the world’s sickest warrior state”
By Paul J. Balles | March 8, 2010
Living through five or six major wars has hardened me to what I thought were the extremes of inhuman cruelty and brutality.
Two things made those extremes almost bearable: the brutality always revealed – at least according to the media coverage – the viciousness of the enemy. It was therefore quite understandable when our “brave men and women” pulverized the enemy.
Films of Japanese torturing captive Americans somehow justified holding Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II; and only a small percentage of Americans found the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki unreasonably vengeful at best, at worst, depraved.
The media giants in America portrayed the North Koreans as barbaric beasts with their captives, quite unlike their southern counterpoints – our allies during the Korean War. No one ever felt the need to explain how the South Koreans were a civilized breed while the North Koreans were absolute savages, at least according to the official line.
In Vietnam, our warriors justifiably (or so the media made us believe) dropped napalm on the North Vietnamese who had the gall to hide in villages and tunnels to ravage our invaders. At least it was accepted practice until some rogue photojournalist filmed a young girl screaming down a Vietnamese road in flames. … continue
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- Israel is assassinating journalists again, more than any other nation, anywhere, ever – Not a ceasefire Day 170
- Over 300 US service members wounded, majority have brain injuries – Not a ceasefire Day 169
- Researchers at Human Rights Watch Resign Over Blocked Report on Palestinian Refugee Return
- Jewish Groups Are Backing a War Americans Don’t Want
- Eric Fingerhut Thinks He’s the President of the Jews
- Top Jewish Philanthropists, Rabbis Urge Israeli President to Take Action Against ‘Jewish Extremists’
- Don’t Be Fooled. Zionist Leaders Have Always Wanted to Control Southern Lebanon
- Israel’s widespread use of torture is a core element of its genocide against the Palestinian people
- In Israel’s War on Iran, Many Middle East US Bases Rendered “All But Uninhabitable”
- No Tricks Zone
- New Study Finds Warming Saves Lives…Cold Temperatures 12 Times More Deadly Than Excess Heat
- German Science Blog Accuses PIK Climate Institute Of Hallucinating Climate Tipping Points
- Devastating Assessment Of Comirnaty Vaccine By Former Senior Pfizer Europe Toxicologist
- New Study: CO2 Is ‘Effectively Negligible’ As An Explanatory Climate Change Factor Since 2000
- Former Pfizer Toxicologist Dr. Helmut Sterz Tells Bundestag Hearing Pfizer Vaccine Should Have Never Been Approved
- Energy Expert: Germany’s Nuclear Phaseout Was A “500 Billion Euro Mistake”
- New Research: South Australia’s Mid-Holocene Sea Surface Temperatures Were 4°C Warmer Than Today
- Storing Green Energy To Last Germany 10 Days Would Require A 60-Million Tonne Battery
- New Studies: UK Sea Levels Were 4 Meters Higher Than Today During The Mid-Holocene
- Destructive Green New Deal: German Energy And Metal Group Warns Of Drastic Crisis
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