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Resistance to military conscription deepens in Ukraine as leaders talk of role as a mercenary power

By Dmitri Kovalevich | Al Mayadeen | August 15, 2024

Every day, across the country, police are reporting arson attacks against Ukrainian military vehicles. Military personnel in the rear are increasingly wary of leaving their vehicles on the streets overnight, instead parking them near police stations. But even this does not always help.

Those detained by police for these attacks have mostly been teenagers between 12 and 18 years of age, according to governor Oleh Sinegubov of Kharkiv Oblast (province), writing in early August.

Shoot the youth who are attacking military vehicles?

As a result of such attacks increasing in number, Oleh Romanov, commander of an anti-tank unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), has declared he has given permission to shoot on sight those who set fire to military vehicles in the rear. “In coordination with higher command, using military immunity, I give verbal permission to my fighters to shoot those things on the spot. Such traitors must be eliminated on the spot, considering wartime conditions.” His unit is the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, formerly a unit of the neo-Nazi ‘Azov Battalion’ now fully integrated as an autonomous unit of the regular army.

So the commander of what is today a regular Ukraine military unit is openly claiming that he has issued orders to shoot without trial civilian youths should they be caught in the act of damaging military equipment… or be only accused of doing so.

Ukrainian authorities are not denying that many of the attacks against military equipment are carried out by teenagers, nor do they deny that orders to shoot perpetrators are being issued and are bypassing the formal, decision-making of the country’s government and armed forces general staff. Such orders are also bypassing the Ukraine constitution, which since the year 2000 (at the insistence of the European Union at the time) has prohibited the death penalty.

All of this highlights once again that the ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi formations embedded within the AFU are accustomed to acting without regard for the law and at their own discretion, arguing that without their actions, the military front and the entire Ukrainian state machine could well crumble.

At the same time, the Ukrainian telegram channel Rubicon believes that the order issued by the commander of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade to “shoot on the spot” arsonists or others engaged in damaging military equipment could only be authorized from above (for example, from the presidential office), aiming to intimidate not only potential arsonists but anyone contemplating civil disobedience against the Ukraine government’s war policies.

Fear of military conscription only deepening

Ukrainian authorities traditionally blame Russia for any antiwar protests that may take place in Ukraine, but the fact that the vehicles of military enlistment officers were the first to be burned many months ago suggests more of a spontaneous protest against conscription than anything being covertly organized.

The Ukrainian Telegram channel Kartel comments on the recent trends, writing, “Arson attacks against the vehicles of employees of [military enlistment officers in Ukraine], that is, the vehicles of those who are hunting down men of the age of military service, are now being recorded all over the country. And the public does not consider the people behind these incidents as playing along with Moscow; the arsons have actually become a symbol of protest against forced conscription, corruption, and all the other injustices committed by authorities.”

Protests against conscription have manifested themselves in the form of arson attacks on military vehicles, physical assaults on individual Ukrainian soldiers in the rear, and spontaneous rallies against conscription officers at work. In early August, the town of Kovel near the Polish border in western Ukraine exploded. Crowds turned out for a rally demanding the release of three forcibly conscripted locals. The crowd stormed the military enlistment office and the protest continued through the night until residents secured the release of the three detainees.

The next day, authorities accused the protesters of “working for Russia” and launched criminal prosecutions. Ukrainian MP Yevhen Shevchenko wrote in Telegram on August 3 that the events in Kovel showed that “the party of peace is growing in the form of people voting against the war with their feet”. He continued, “How are the blind philosophers in Ukraine coping with this? Will they continue to brag about the fact there is no such thing in Ukraine as a formal party of peace?”

The Telegram channel Rubicon notes that riots against military enlistment officers are not a rare or unique phenomenon in Ukraine. There have been mass rallies protesting the continued war against Russia in Zaporozhye city and region; in Carpathia region (western Ukraine), where road blockades of burning tires have been erected by Roma people; and in Odessa city several months ago, where a mass brawl took place between ambulance crews and military enlistment officers when one of the crew was seized and threatened with forced conscription. But what happened in Kovel differs significantly from everything that has happened before. There, it was a mass confrontation and brawl against military and government authorities that unfolded in which men who would ‘normally’ be quietly hiding at home to avoid being forcibly conscripted took part.

The conscription crisis is a sign of a failing war

According to the writers at ‘Rubicon’, the government in Kiev cannot change its current conscription regime. Volunteering for the army has run out, all-but ending as early as 2022. Meanwhile, financial motivations to gain recruits, as are widely available in Russia, are very expensive and unrealistic for a depopulated Ukraine with a moribund economy, notwithstanding the funds that the U.S. government has allocated to boost recruitment.

Nevertheless, the large Western governments continue to demand intensified conscription by the Ukraine government, which means more capture and kidnapping by military conscription officers without the slightest heed or attention to human rights. Ukrainian MP Fyodor Venislavskyy wrote on Telegram on August 6 that Ukraine’s Western ‘partners’ are also raising periodically the proposal that Ukraine lower its official age of military service (conscription). He writes, “They believe that the age range of 18-25 is the most optimal and effective age of military service for citizens when physical and psychological qualities needed to be able to fight are at their prime.”

Currently, the age of military registration in Ukraine is 18, while the youngest age for military service is 26.

Ukrainian politicians and analysts typically offer ‘regrets’ to the Ukrainian population for the demands by Western governments for more military recruitment, at the same time saying that Ukraine’s Western allies have the right to pronounce on such a domestic matter because they are the ones providing the funds and equipment to wage war against Russia.

More war dead in order to improve negotiating position 

Western analysts and politicians are unrelentingly pushing Ukraine further into battle, using the argument that Kiev needs more combat in order to improve its future negotiating position. This argument was used in 2022 and again in 2023. Today, it is the equivalent of flogging an exhausted and worn-out horse. It also shows a complete misunderstanding of the aims of the political and military leadership in Russia.

Western capitalists measure everything against themselves. They imagine future negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as resembling one company up against its business competitor, each side seeking to strengthen its respective position. But for the Russian leadership, nothing changes should the AFU occupy a Russian town or two or should it withdraw from there to the relative safety of the border of Poland.

The list of demands and conditions by Russia for an end to the war (including an end to the dream by NATO and Kiev for a rump, NATO-member Ukraine) will remain unchanged no matter what happens. This rigidity and unchanging of military goals is the key to Russian stability and to the slow and steady military advances it is making.

This is being continually reinforced by the deep wellspring of historic memory of the Russian people. They recall only too well the harsh, social and economic disaster of the post-Soviet years of the 1990s, when promises by the West to Russia of eventual integration into the Western world’s economy had the ear of the Russian governments of the day while many Russian people themselves held such hopes. The 25 years since then, and in particular the past ten years, have shown to the Russian people that their country does not need economic ties to the Western economy to survive and even prosper. Indeed, Russia is doing quite well today having lost much of its trade and investment ties to the West.

Flight of youth from Ukraine, and mass desertions from the armed forces 

Expecting a lowering of the conscription age, young people in Ukraine are fleeing the country daily by the dozens and hundreds. Some are dying while making perilous crossings across the rough river border in western Ukraine. Oleksiy Arestovich, a former adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, wrote in early August in the online Eurasia Daily that ‘official’ estimates of the flow of men of conscription age trying to escape from Ukraine are being underestimated by 30 times.

“If I tell you how many people are trying to escape from Ukraine every day, you would gasp. The State Border Service admits 100 or so people trying to leave each day, while a Rada deputy has recently admitted 200. But the real figure is approximately 30 times higher… Imagine, each day, the equivalent numbers of five military brigades are seeking to escape from Ukraine. Many try to cross the Tisa (Tisza) River [which borders Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia in places] each day by whatever means possible.”

According to recent estimates by the National Bank of Ukraine, a further 700,000 people will leave Ukraine in 2024-2025. The Bank expects a gradual return of Ukrainians to their homeland only from 2026 and only if, by then, the security situation improves, new housing is built, and the overall economic situation improves.

Mass desertion is no less of a problem than is conscription for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Germany’s Deutsche Welle state broadcaster reported on August 2 that desertion from the Ukrainian army in 2024 has reached an alarming scale. Every 14th serviceman has quit his unit arbitrarily, the publication reports. Overall, since the beginning of 2022, the prosecutor’s office has counted 63,200 criminal proceedings for desertion.

Poliltnavigator news website reports on August 5 that according to retired SBU (secret police) colonel Oleg Starikov, more and more soldiers are deserting. “I have a comrade who is now deputy commander of a battalion of paratroopers. He is not a professional soldier; he was conscripted and rose to the rank of lieutenant. I asked him about the personnel situation he faces, and he replied that the soldiers serving under him, quite simply, ‘do not want to serve, they do not wish to fight’.”

” ‘So what are they doing out there?’, I asked. ‘They dig trenches and build fortifications’, he replied. ‘But that is logistical support,’ I replied, ‘who is doing the actual fighting?’, I asked again. ‘They do not want to fight’, came the reply.”

A mercenary role for the future Ukraine?

Although the Armed Forces of Ukraine are constantly short of men and Ukrainian troops have been slowly retreating along the front lines all year, Ukrainian authorities and security services are finding in countries other than Ukraine new recruits, weapons, and other means to fight for the interests of the West. Ukraine has no special interests in these other countries, but the U.S., UK, Germany, and France do.

In August, two African countries, Mali and Niger, severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine. Both accuse Kiev of supporting radical terrorist groups [linked to Al Qaeda] that have been fighting the governments of these two countries since they began to distance themselves economically and militarily from the West last year.

The Mali government reacted to statements by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) which praised an alleged involvement by Kiev in an attack against Mali government forces last month near the border with Algeria. “The actions taken by the Ukrainian authorities violate the sovereignty of Mali, go beyond the scope of foreign interference, which is already condemnable in itself. They constitute clear aggression against Mali and clear support for international terrorism,” the Malian government charged.

In Senegal, Ukraine’s interference in Mali’s affairs also caused outrage. The Ukrainian ambassador was summoned to that country’s foreign ministry to hear its condemnation.

On July 31, the Kyiv Post reported that Ukrainian forces made a strike on Russian and Syrian forces at the Kuweires Air Force base in Syria. As well, in the spring of 2024, there were published reports of Ukraine’s involvement in the fighting in Sudan. As reported by the Wall Street Journal in March, Ukraine has participated in combat in Sudan because “the West has been reluctant to get directly involved”.

Thus does the Kiev regime try to sell itself to the West as resembling an effective, private military company that will fight against anti-imperialist movements around the world whenever and wherever the Western governments do not dare to introduce their own troops. Rubicon Telegram channel reports on August 6, “We can only state this curious precedent in international relations when an entire state begins to position itself as a large, highly specialized, private military company (PMC).

In the early days of August, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced its support for a draft law ‘On International Defense Companies’ which, in essence, would legalize the operations of PMCs (mercenary companies) on the territory of Ukraine. One author of the bill, MP Serhiy Grivko, proposes to send Ukrainian soldiers to serve in other global hot spots, saying that many will not wish to surrender their weapons and return to peaceful life.

“Following the demobilization of a large number of personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there is a risk of a wide range of negative consequences,” the bill says. The ‘negative consequences’ for Ukraine in this case is the presence of a large number of foreigners with weapons in hand on Ukrainian soil, the reactions should payments to PMCs (which the Ukrainian budget cannot afford) ever be reduced, and the beginning of anticipated “destructive political processes in the country”.

Simply put, Ukrainians are to become expendable human material spending their entire lives fighting wars and working to pay off international loans, all for the sake of preserving the hegemony of Western imperialism.

August 15, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Why Western Media Suddenly Found Ukrainian Connection in Nord Stream Bombing

By Andrei Dergalin – Sputnik – 15.08.2024

Media outlets such as the WSJ recently started to peddle a narrative that the Nord Stream pipeline destruction in 2022 was allegedly orchestrated by a group of high-ranking Ukrainian officers led by Gen. Valery Zaluzhny.

Despite Western media efforts to implicate Ukraine, the United States still looks like the “main beneficiary and customer of the sabotage of the Nord Stream  pipeline,” says German political analyst and independent journalist Dr. Gregor Spitzen.

“This has been clear from the very beginning, both in terms of the basic Roman law principle of ‘Cui bono?’ [who benefits?] and the statements by President Joe Biden and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland that the US would not allow the pipeline to go into operation,” he tells Sputnik.

Efforts by German politicians and media to draw the attention away from the US by “throwing new and implausible versions into the information field,” while understandable – “if the US is found guilty of an act of state terrorism on the object of German property, the whole architecture of European security will collapse” – are still no less outrageous, Dr. Spitzen remarks.

“Germany’s attempts to pin the blame on Ukrainian saboteurs who acted without a clear mandate from their government, while at the same time taking President Zelensky out of harm’s way, looks legally flawless, but completely implausible,” Dr. Spitzen elaborates. “It can be predicted that the specific Ukrainians accused of sabotage will never be found. Either they will be found to have died of natural causes under suspicious circumstances, or they will have committed suicide.”

“This would be the best solution to the Nord Stream sabotage case. The pipeline is destroyed, US guilt is not proven, German politicians’ reputations are saved, Ukrainian political leaders are exonerated, and the specific perpetrators, who acted on their own initiative, are dead or missing,” he adds.

Former CIA operations officer Philip Giraldi also branded media efforts to pin the blame on Ukraine as a “cover story,” arguing that Kiev simply lacked the resources to carry out the Nord Stream bombing.

“The US did and had even stated its intention in advance to destroy the pipeline if Russia were to invade Ukraine. And there is also the involvement of Norway which is not plausible if it were a Ukrainian operation,” he said.

Both Spitzen and Giraldi suggested that the fact that the story about Ukraine’s alleged role in the Nord Stream bombing surfaced simultaneously in the US and German media hints at the likelihood of a coordinated effort to craft “an acceptable narrative regarding what took place,” as Giraldi put it.

“It suggests to me that they are coordinating some new approach in dealing with Ukraine and Zelensky though I am not sure what that might be,” Giraldi added.

August 15, 2024 Posted by | False Flag Terrorism | , , | Leave a comment

Zelensky aide denies Kiev’s involvement in Nord Stream attack

RT | August 15, 2024

Kiev had nothing to do with the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, Mikhail Podoliak, a top adviser to Ukrainian leader, Vladimir Zelensky, has said.

Podoliak made the statement to Reuters on Thursday in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal, claiming that Zelensky authorized the September 2022 attack which ruptured the key energy infrastructure built to deliver Russian gas to Germany and the rest of Europe.

According to the US outlet’s sources, which included officers allegedly involved in the operation, Zelensky initially approved the attack on Nord Stream. He later tried to call it off under pressure from the CIA, but then Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny told him it could not be done as the sabotage group had already been dispatched and there was no way to contact it.

“Such an act can only be carried out with extensive technical and financial resources… and who possessed all this at the time of the bombing? Only Russia,” Podoliak told the agency.

Russia has ridiculed claims that it would destroy its own pipelines, which provided it with steady revenue. Top officials in Moscow, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have previously pointed the finger at Washington, arguing that it stood to gain the most from the disruption of Russian gas supplies to the EU.

“Ukraine has nothing to do with the Nord Stream explosions,” Podolyak insisted, adding that Kiev did not gain any strategic or tactical advantage from the sabotage.

The report by the WSJ claimed that “a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen” came up with the idea of blowing up the pipelines during a drinking party in May 2022, a few months after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The plotters believed that it would reduce Russia’s energy profits and make the EU less dependent on Moscow, it said.

Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, told the outlet that claims of his – or Kiev’s – involvement in the destruction of Nord Stream were a “mere provocation.” A senior official in the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, also denied the report, insisting that Zelensky in particular “did not approve the implementation of any such actions on the territory of third countries and did not issue relevant orders.”

The WSJ said its reporting is partially corroborated by the findings of the German police investigation into the Nord Stream explosions. The German Federal Public Prosecutor issued a first arrest warrant in connection with the sabotage this week, according to local reports. The suspect is believed to be a Ukrainian citizen identified as ‘Vladimir Z’.

The newspaper suggested that the police investigation could “upend” relations between Kiev and Berlin, which has been Ukraine’s biggest backer in the EU amid the conflict with Russia.

August 15, 2024 Posted by | Deception, False Flag Terrorism | , , , | Leave a comment

White House Suppressed Docs Showing Hunter Sought State Dept Help for Burisma

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | August 14, 2024

Newly released documents show that Hunter Biden sought to inappropriately benefit the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was vice president. The records were suppressed by the White House.

The files, obtained by the New York Times and reported on Tuesday, show Hunter sent a letter to the US ambassador in Italy in 2016 requesting assistance for Burisma. At the time, Hunter was making tens of thousands of dollars per month as a board member of the Ukrainian energy company, a position he was handed in 2014.

The diplomatic staff in Italy felt the request was not appropriate. “I want to be careful about promising too much,” an official based at the US Embassy in Rome wrote. “This is a Ukrainian company and, purely to protect ourselves, [the US government] should not be actively advocating with the government of Italy without the company going through the [Department of Commerce] Advocacy Center.”

While the Times received records from the State Department, the outlet was not provided with the full text of the letter. The paper suggested the State Department may have more records related to Hunter Biden that it is withholding, also noting the documents it obtained were only released “after President Biden dropped his re-election bid.”

Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Hunter, claimed nothing untoward took place, maintaining he merely “asked various people” to arrange a meeting with the governor of Italy’s Tuscany region, where Burisma was “pursuing a geothermal project.” The White House claims President Biden was “not aware” of Hunter’s outreach to the embassy in Italy at the time, according to the Times.

As Joe Biden campaigned for the White House in 2020, questions arose about his son’s ties to Burisma – a major gas firm founded by Ukrainian oligarch and ex-environment minister Mykola Zlochevsky. At the time, Hunter sat on the company’s board and raked in between $50,000 and $83,000 each month, despite having no prior experience in the energy sector or in Ukraine more broadly. Then VP under the Obama administration, the elder Biden was directing US policy in Ukraine when Hunter got the job. The country was in a state of instability and civil war following a US-backed coup in 2014.

The Biden campaign and White House have attempted to dismiss charges that Hunter acted inappropriately and exploited his father’s political influence, deeming the claims Russian disinformation.

August 14, 2024 Posted by | Corruption, Deception | , , | Leave a comment

Anyone not supporting Ukraine gets shot – Serbian deputy PM

RT | August 12, 2024

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is risking his life by refusing to back Western nations on the Ukraine conflict, a senior member of his government has claimed.

Serbia, a traditional Russian ally, has declined to impose sanctions on Russia or support the policies of the US and Kiev’s other backers. Brussels in-turn has insisted that Belgrade’s aspiration to join the EU will not be realized unless it changes course.

In an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti published on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that Serbian authorities are concerned about the president’s safety, following attempts on the lives of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and former US President Donald Trump.

“After the attempt on Mr. Fico, and later Trump, I told Vucic to be on guard,” Vulin said, “that’s because something happens to everyone calling for a peaceful resolution on Ukraine, they get shot at.”

In May, Fico, a vocal critic of the Western Ukraine policy, survived a shooting by a 71-year-old man. His government blamed incendiary rhetoric by opposition politicians for motivating the shooter.

Trump, who claims he could end the Ukraine conflict in 24 hours if reelected, was grazed by a bullet during a presidential campaign rally in July. The shooter was killed by a counter-sniper. US investigators have not disclosed any suspected motive for the attempted assassination.

Vulin also criticized organizers of a mass protest which took place in Belgrade last Saturday, claiming that its ultimate goal may be to topple the Serbian government.

“As we know, [sometimes] ouster [of the national leader] means not only the change of power, but also physical elimination of the person imbued with the power,” the minister said.

The demonstration, which attracted some 27,000 protesters, according to government estimates, was staged in opposition to a project to develop lithium mining, which critics claim will cause massive environmental damage.

Belgrade granted a license to extract the valuable metal to the British-Australian company Rio Tinto in 2022, but later revoked it following public pressure. The project resumed last month, however, after a Serbian court overruled the government’s decision. President Vucic intends to put the issue to a referendum.

Vucic also said last week that the Russian government had warned Serbian authorities that the rally may be a cover for a ‘color revolution’ – a hostile foreign operation that uses anti-government demonstrations and spiraling public disorder to force regime change.

August 12, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Ukraine accused of ‘new level of nuclear aggression’

RT | August 12, 2024

A Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) started a fire at the facility and caused serious damage to one of its cooling towers, nuclear power agency Rosatom has said. Its CEO Aleksey Likhachyov also noted that the attack represented “a completely new level of targeted aggression aimed at the infrastructure of nuclear facilities.”

In a statement on Monday shared by Russian media, Rosatom said one of the cooling towers at the Zaporozhye NPP had been hit by two Ukrainian attack drones on Sunday evening. The strikes resulted in a fire that burned internal structures, it added.

While the fire was mostly extinguished by first responders within a couple of hours, “the internal structures of the cooling tower suffered serious damage. The risk of the structure collapsing will be assessed by specialists as soon as possible, Rosatom stated.

The agency accused Ukraine of “nuclear terrorism,” arguing that the strike had targeted crucial cooling equipment, adding that Zaporozhye NPP, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, as well as the city of Energodar have frequently been attacked by Kiev in the past.

Commenting on the incident, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky claimed that “Russian occupiers started a fire” at the facility, without mentioning any drone strikes. He also shared footage showing a large blaze in the lower levels of the tower, with plumes of smoke rising hundreds of meters into the sky.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a mission at Zaporozhye NPP, said that its experts heard “multiple explosions” at the facility, without attributing responsibility to either Russia or Ukraine. The watchdog stated that “no impact has been reported for nuclear safety.”

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi also condemned what he called “reckless attacks” that “endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident.”

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blasted the IAEA for its apparent inaction. “Where is Rafael Grossi and the rest of the IAEA? Is there at least an imitation of the work of this UN body in this critical area?” she asked, adding that the “terrorists in Kiev, under the leadership of the collective West, destroyed their country… and now they have begun the nuclear terror of the continent.”

Zaporozhye NPP was seized by Russian forces in 2022, several days after the start of the conflict. While Zaporozhye Region joined Russia in a public referendum in the autumn of 2022, the facility itself is located not far from the front line. Against this backdrop, Ukraine and Russia have often traded accusations over who was behind attacks on the facility.

August 12, 2024 Posted by | Nuclear Power, War Crimes | , | Leave a comment

Ukrainian advance into Russia’s Kursk Region halted – Moscow

RT | August 7, 2024

Ukraine’s attempted incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region has been halted, the chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, said on Wednesday. Kiev’s forces have suffered 300 casualties in the attack, he added.

Reporting to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gerasimov stated that border security services had stopped the Ukrainian advance with the help of reinforcement units, air strikes, missile forces, and artillery fire.

Kiev’s forces suffered 315 casualties during the attempted incursion, with at least 100 troops killed and 215 wounded, Gerasimov estimated. Ukraine also lost 54 armored vehicles, including seven tanks, he added.

Ukraine initially launched the attack at 5:30am on Tuesday with a force numbering up to a thousand, with the goal of taking over the Sudzhinsky district of Kursk Region, Gerasimov said.

He insisted that Russia’s counter-operation will end with the enemy forces being destroyed or driven back beyond the border.

Previously commenting on Tuesday’s attack, Putin stated that the incursion was yet another large-scale provocation undertaken by the Kiev regime, which he said has again resorted to indiscriminately targeting civilians.

Ukrainian forces “are conducting indiscriminate fire from various types of weapons, including rocket weapons, at civilian buildings, homes and ambulances,” Putin said at a government meeting on Wednesday.

More than 2,000 people have fled the border areas, some with the assistance of rescuers, since the fighting broke out on Tuesday morning, regional governor Aleksey Smirnov has reported. Authorities have provided emergency shelters for those who need them, while neighboring regions are also offering their help to the refugees.

August 7, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, War Crimes | , | Leave a comment

EU national convicted for looting in Ukraine

File photo: Filip Siman © Telegram
RT | August 6, 2024

A 27-year-old Czech who had fought in a Ukrainian volunteer unit has been sentenced by a Prague court to seven years in prison for looting in the towns of Bucha and Irpin. Filip Siman has argued that he was just following orders.

Filip Siman enlisted in the ‘Carpathian Sich’ unit at the start of the Ukraine conflict and boasted on social media of “liberating” the belongings of both civilians and fallen soldiers. Czech authorities charged him last month with looting and with serving in foreign armed forces.

“The defendant is guilty both due to the video recordings he took on the territory of Ukraine, as well as the statements of the witnesses,” Judge Hana Krestynova of the Prague City Court said on Tuesday, as quoted by the newspaper Ceske Noviny (CTK).

“Although the houses were demolished and their owners may be dead, or at best left their homes, they are still things that belong to someone and cannot be appropriated under any circumstances,” Krestynova added, rejecting Siman’s defense that he was taking “spoils of war” under orders to do so.

Siman’s case is the first criminal conviction related to Ukraine, Prosecutor Martin Bily told CTK. He noted that the court acquitted Siman of serving in foreign armed forces, because Prime Minister Petr Fiala and then-president Milos Zeman had promised an exemption to Czech volunteers in Ukraine.

Although Siman was technically guilty, “when two leading representatives of the state promise something so serious to the media,” and Prague openly supports Kiev in the conflict with Moscow, a conviction would be unfair, said Krestynova.

If the Czech Supreme Court upholds her verdict, Siman’s case could set a precedent for other cases involving Czechs fighting for Kiev.

Siman traveled to Ukraine in March 2022 and ended up in command of a group of volunteers. The ‘Carpathian Sich’ (now the 49th Assault Battalion) sent them to Bucha and Irpin, north of Kiev, for “clean-up duty.”

According to videos he posted on social media, Siman looted both civilian homes and the personal effects of fallen soldiers. Among his acquisitions were jewelry, Gucci eyeglasses, silver and gold bars, and cash. He also took rings and berets off his fallen comrades.

Looting is a crime under Czech law, punishable by anywhere from eight to 20 years in prison, or even more in aggravated circumstances. The court sentenced Siman to less than the minimum, however, noting he had led “an orderly life” before. Prosecutors said they would appeal the sentence as too lenient, as they asked for at least ten years.

August 6, 2024 Posted by | War Crimes | | Leave a comment

Mali Cuts Ties with Ukraine Over Kiev’s Support for Al-Qaeda

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | August 6, 2024

Mali has severed its diplomatic ties with Ukraine following an attack by the local Al-Qaeda affiliate on Malian forces. Kiev called the move short-sighted.

Late last month, opposition forces, including an al Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), killed scores of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group that is supporting Bamako.

Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), said Kiev aided JNIM in its assault. “The rebels received the necessary information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals.” An estimated 84 Russian contractors were killed, along with nearly 50 Malian soldiers.

Bakamo expressed “deep shock” over the “subversive remarks” and received the statement as an admission of Kiev’s involvement in the slaughter of its soldiers.

Malian government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga denounced Ukraine for supporting JINM. He said Yusov’s remarks confirmed “Ukraine’s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups.”

“Mali condemns the hostility of the authorities of Ukraine who do not observe that Mali has always called for a peaceful settlement of the crisis between the Russian Federation and Ukraine,” he added.

Kiev responded by claiming Bakamo failed to provide evidence proving Ukraine backed the terrorists. “It is regrettable that … Mali decided to sever … relations … without conducting a thorough study of the facts and circumstances of the incident … and without providing any evidence of Ukraine’s involvement in the said event,” a statement from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

Kiev added it has the right to take all necessary political and diplomatic retaliations.

Following the 2011 American-backed uprising in Libya that ousted long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, jihadist groups spread into neighboring countries and throughout the African Sahel. In the following decade, Mali experienced several coups as the jihadists destabilized the region.

During the latest coup in 2021, Assimi Goïta swept into power in Bakamo. Part of the policy of the junta has been to expel France, Mali’s long-time colonial ruler. Under Goïta, Mali has stepped up ties with Moscow including the private military firm Wager.

August 6, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , | Leave a comment

EU pressured Georgia to send mercenaries to Ukraine – MP

RT | August 6, 2024

Western officials, together with representatives of Georgia’s main opposition party, the National Movement, tried to pressure Tbilisi into adopting sanctions on Russia and sending mercenaries to fight for Kiev, Georgian parliamentary speaker Shalva Papuashvili has said.

The South Caucasus country has maintained a neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict since its outbreak in 2022 and refused to impose sanctions on Moscow, arguing that such a move would harm its national interests. At the same time, Georgia has said it will not allow itself to be used to circumvent Western restrictions placed on Russia.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Papuashvili claimed the National Movement had repeatedly urged the ruling Georgian Dream party to sign up to sanctions on Russia. However, the government refused “because it would have been tantamount to being drawn into a war.”

“Together with the National Movement, foreigners also told us that we should have introduced sanctions, sent mercenaries [to Ukraine], and so on. The Europeans also told us the same,” Papuashvili said.

Back in May, the speaker made similar comments, stating that “certain friends and foes,” as well as non-governmental organizations, had been pestering Tbilisi with demands to “send fighters to Ukraine,” which he said would have risked a direct war with Russia.

While Georgia has officially only provided political and humanitarian support to Ukraine, a large number of Georgian mercenaries have been spotted fighting on Kiev’s side. The Russian Defense Ministry estimated back in March that some 1,042 Georgian fighters had taken part in the conflict, compared to 1,113 fighters from the US and 2,960 from Poland. At least 561 Georgian nationals serving within the Ukrainian military have been killed over the course of the conflict, according to Moscow.

Relations between Tbilisi and the West have deteriorated over the past year, particularly since Georgia passed a controversial ‘foreign agents law’ in May. The rule requires NGOs, media outlets and individuals that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities “promoting the interests of foreign powers.”

Washington has labeled the law an attack on democracy and threatened Georgia with sanctions, while suspending more than $92 million in aid. The EU has suspended talks on Tbilisi’s accession to the bloc, and froze $32.5 million in payments to the Georgian Defense Ministry.

August 6, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

The European Union wants to break Hungary’s will

By Dénes Albert | Remix News | August 5, 2024

Let us not delude ourselves for a moment, because the European Commission’s failure to stand by our country in blocking the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine is just one of the “pieces” of a plan to overthrow the legitimately elected Hungarian government.

The other retaliatory measures taken by Brussels against our country have the same purpose. This is not a new EU idea, supported by Washington.

Charles Gati, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and not least a member of the advisory board of Action for Democracy, has spoken about this before. It was this organization that was suspected of attempting to interfere in the 2022 Hungarian elections, which Hungarian intelligence services deemed a national security risk. More than a decade ago, Gati said that “there are ways to move the government, democratically if possible, and otherwise if not.” Add to this that Gati is a confidant of the Soros empire.

Gati, in another statement to the Hungarian press, has already fleshed out the idea in five points, including that “in the absence of IMF and EU loans, the economy will continue to deteriorate while hundreds of thousands of people protest in the streets.” Then comes a discussion of the options, which reach the conclusion of civil war.

The plan has not worked. It could be said that those who masterminded the overthrow of the government have completely failed, since a dozen years were not enough to remove the right-wing conservative government in Hungary. However, they are doggedly sticking to the original idea.

The retaliatory measures that Brussels is taking against our country are out of all proportion. Most recently, for example, it imposed a fine of €200 million on us for not letting in illegal migrants.

Despite our country’s arguments that the EU sanctions on Russia do not apply to oil entering the bloc by pipeline, we have finally reached the point where the EC has abandoned the possibility of negotiation. It did not stand by Hungary and Slovakia, both of which protested Ukraine’s decision to unilaterally turn off the tap.

So, the oil transit issue is a tool for the EU, and of course for Ukraine, to use blackmail to force Hungary to change its policy towards the war.

The Eurocrats in Brussels “elegantly” overlooked the fact that it had already been made clear it was technically impossible to build an alternative oil supply for Hungary and Slovakia. “I don’t think the commission would be keen to help Hungary,” said a diplomat, who of course requested anonymity.

August 6, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

West too fearful of escalation with Russia – Zelensky

RT | August 5, 2024

Ukraine is pushing NATO nations to create a coalition that would attempt to intercept Russian missiles, Vladimir Zelensky has said. The US-led military bloc has previously declined to do so.

Kiev has long been pressuring its Western backers to become more involved in the conflict with Moscow and start shooting down Russian drones and missiles over Ukrainian territory. However, its efforts have been rebuffed by foreign powers reluctant to engage in a direct military confrontation with Russia.

“[Western nations] are always concerned about possible escalation. We are fighting against that. We will work on it,” Zelensky told journalists on Sunday. The government in Kiev is considering “technical possibilities for neighboring nations to use military aircraft against missiles that strike Ukraine” after flying in the general direction of NATO countries, he added.

Zelensky has been calling for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine since the outbreak of hostilities with Russia in February 2022. Military experts pointed out that any realistic enforcement of Kiev’s wish would require NATO members to attack Russian planes in the air and at airfields inside Russia.

The idea of a less ambitious shield over Western Ukraine was floated last month, as Kiev signed a bilateral security deal with Warsaw and ramped up its lobbying efforts ahead of a NATO leaders’ summit in the US.

The Polish government indicated it was willing to answer the Ukrainian call, provided that NATO approved, although other nations, including the US, objected. Washington said it believed that supplying more air defense systems to Ukraine to operate on its own was the best way to counter Russian barrages.

Zelensky spoke to the press after confirming that sponsors had delivered US-designed F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Media reports have suggested that the new Ukrainian capability is too small-scale to become a gamechanger on the front line. It would likely be used to intercept cruise missiles delivering long-range strikes instead, defense experts have suggested.

Moscow has been targeting Ukrainian military assets as well as some key infrastructure sites, such as power stations, which it considers crucial for Kiev’s war effort. According to Russian officials, the conflict is a US-led proxy war in which Ukrainian troops serve as “cannon fodder” for Western geostrategic interests.

On Saturday, Zelensky said Kiev wants to attack targets deep inside Russia, a type of operation for which Ukraine is not allowed to use donated Western weapons and relies on domestically produced kamikaze drones instead.

August 5, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

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