>>16060002, >>16060015 BREAKING: New York Democratic Lt. Governor Brian A. Benjamin Arrested

The article and charges, this is pretty damning:

(CNN)New York Democratic Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin has been indicted on charges includingbribery and related offensesin connection with his alleged participation in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for securing a state grant, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is expected to hold a news conference on the indictment at 12 p.m. ET. The office declined to comment further.

Benjamin was indicted on multiple counts, including bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy, bribery, honest services wire fraud, and two counts of falsification of records.

CNN has reached out to a spokesperson for Benjamin for comment.

A campaign spokesperson previously told CNN, "Neither Lieutenant Governor Benjamin nor his campaign are being accused of any wrongdoing and they are prepared to fully cooperate with authorities. As soon as the campaign discovered that these contributions were improperly sourced, they donated them to the Campaign Finance Board, pursuant to guidance obtained from the CFB."

This story is breaking and will be updated.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/12/politics/brian-benjamin-new-york/index.html

WTF he’s still working as an airline pilot

https://twitter.com/jameshohmann/status/1513583703460618245?s=20&t=8kbNa8OyKfnpdCmdwFiQsw

>>16060427

Washington

Has US Rep. Kai Kahele Given Up On Washington?

The Hawaii congressman, who hasn’t been to the nation’s capital since January, has been having other members cast his votes for months.

WASHINGTON — When Kai Kahele announced he was running for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District in 2019, he vowed one thing to his future constituents — that he’d show up and do the job.

It was a stark contrast to the person who was sitting in the seat at the time.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, had just announced she was running for president, and there were concerns that she had already given up on the district she had represented since 2013. Kahele attacked Gabbard’s naked political ambition and promised he was different.

Now, he seems to have backed away from that commitment.

A Civil Beat analysis of Kahele’s voting record found that over the past four months Kahele has rarely spent any time in Washington.

He skipped President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, was the only member of the state’s federal delegation to miss out on meetings with city officials who were in D.C. to talk to the Federal Transit Administration about the future of Honolulu’s $10 billion rail project and was a no-show for a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week to discuss the Department of Defense’s $773 billion budget request for fiscal year 2023.

So far in 2022, Kahele has only cast five votes in person, all of them over the course of three days in January.

His remaining 120 votes — including one on April 2 to decriminalize marijuana that he boasted about in a press release including photos of him at a Big Island dispensary — were cast via proxy, meaning he had asked a fellow member to vote on his behalf on the House floor while he stayed home in the islands.

Since the beginning of the year, House voting records show Kahele voted by proxy more than all but three of his 429 colleagues.

Prior to December, Kahele only voted by proxy 49 times, with most of those coming in March 2021 when Hawaii suffered historic flooding.

In early December, Kahele was still regularly coming to Washington for business, and even made headlines when he grilled top Navy officials about a fuel leak at the Red Hill fuel storage facility on Oahu that poisoned the drinking water for thousands of families.

But soon after, he began spending almost all of his time back in Hawaii.

Kahele has refused to talk about his absence in Washington.

When Civil Beat contacted his office to request an interview, his communications director, Michael Ahn, responded with an email saying that the first-term congressman was “not available.”

The office also refused to provide Civil Beat with a copy of Kahele’s schedule over the past four months to show how he has been spending his time representing his district. What is known is that Kahele has said he is seriously considering a run for governor in 2022, although that pronouncement came nearly two months after he stopped showing up for in-person votes.

“It’s unusual to have someone gone this long with no explanation,” said John Hart, a professor of communication at Hawaii Pacific University. “I presume Democratic leadership would prefer for him to be there so I think it’s legitimate for the public to question why he’s not. For most of us if we don’t show up for work people ask why. If we don’t have a good reason then there are consequences.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office did not respond to a request for comment about Kahele’s extended absence.

In letters filed with the House Clerk’s Office, including one dated April 4,Kahele wrote that he is voting by proxy “due to the ongoing public health emergency.”

His social media accounts, however, have shown him traveling around Hawaii, including between islands, to meet with local officials and constituents and hold press events while courting a run for the governor’s office.

Kahele, too, continues towork as a Hawaiian Airlines pilot, a job that paid him nearly $120,000 in 2020, according to his most recent House financial disclosure report.

As a member of Congress he earns an annual salary of $174,000.

Kahele’s absence has not gone unnoticed, according to two Washington-based lobbyists who spoke to Civil Beat on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to do so by their firms.

Congress is now in the middle of appropriations season and members are crafting their requests for federal dollars.

There are also concerns that Kahele is not fully engaged with his committees, which oversee transportation and the military, two critical topics for Hawaii, and that his office has done little to pick up the slack for him while he’s been gone….

https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/04/has-us-rep-kai-kahele-given-up-on-washington/

Always deceiving AP leaves out the reason

https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1513712096302698496?s=20&t=8kbNa8OyKfnpdCmdwFiQsw

APRIL 11, 2022

The Russia-Ukraine Crisis We’re All Overlooking

PRUDENCE ROBERTSON

All eyes are on Russia and Ukraine, but another tragedy is taking place in both countries that has largely been ignored until now: these two countries have some of the highest abortion rates in the world.

Recent statistics show that inRussia, 53.7 abortions occur annually per one-thousand women. In Ukraine that number is 27.5. It is notable that despite Russia’s population being more than three times larger than Ukraine’s (their populations being 145.8 million and 43.3 million respectively), both still clock in with higher abortion rates than communist countries such as Cuba and China.

Why are so many abortions occurring in this part of the world, and is anything being done to end these killings? A look at the prevalence of abortion throughout recent history in Eastern Europe can help us answer this question.

In 1920, Soviet Russia, which would later become the Soviet Union and include Ukraine, became the first nation to legalize abortion widely through a “Decree on Women’s Health.” This was well before the United States or other European countries made similar moves to legalize abortion. Though Soviet leaders viewed abortion to be an “evil,” they also recognized pregnancy and childbirth as a barrier to their socialist agenda to use women to expand the working class. This propelled the government to make it easier for women to obtain abortions, with their decree permitting women to obtain abortions from doctors completely “free of charge.” This coincided with women entering the work force in waves, and a drastic decrease in the Soviet birthrate from 45 births per one-thousand women in 1927 to 30 in 1935.

Enter Joseph Stalin in 1936 who, upon consolidating power, recognized the decreasing birthrate as a potential long-term threat to Russia’s population and national survival. Hardly a pro-life humanitarian, Stalin declared the killing of unborn children by abortion illegal, and vastly increased childcare and maternity resources to meet the needs of mothers and babies and encourage women to have children. Unfortunately, two years after Stalin died in 1955, Soviet leaders again became fixated on socialist aspirations, and reinstated legal access to abortion…

https://catholicexchange.com/the-russia-ukraine-crisis-were-all-overlooking/

The media outlets threw journalistism ethics out the door a long time ago.

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1509629004965453824?s=20&t=8kbNa8OyKfnpdCmdwFiQsw

Five Principles of Ethical Journalism: Implications for Media Representations

5.Accountability

“A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to hold ourselves accountable. When we commit errors, we must correct them, and our expressions of regret must be sincere not cynical. We listen to the concerns of our audience. We may not change what readers write or say but we will always provide remedies when we are unfair.”

It is difficult to admit errors and call attention to mistakes. However, failure to do so creates a condition where more harm is done by perpetuating the spread of misinformation.

It is possible that a person may fail to draw attention to his or her mistakes because they fear that the audience will lose trust in their reporting.

However, failure to notify the public of errors deprives the public of the opportunity to make informed decisions based on accurate information.

Take responsibility for accountability by checking the accuracy of work before publishing by verifying information and using original sources.

Provide sources and citations for material.

In the event that information was reported and later discovered to be inaccurate, share this new information.Disclose what was said and why it was inaccurate. Publish retractions when necessary

https://asatonline.org/for-media-professionals/ethical-journalism-autism-treatment/

The FBI’s Whitmer Kidnapping Case Looks Like A Potemkin Terror Plot

Long but good read

BY: MAX MORTON

JULY 26, 2021

With the help of a strong supply of snitches, the FBI rounded up some unemployed, homeless, mostly alone, and angry loudmouths to build a fantasy football-style display of domestic terrorism fear-porn. The only thing more depressing than realizing middle America is now just a bunch of NPCs in the latest version of “Call of Duty: Rogue National Security State” is that there are likely more of these manufactured cases coming to an America near you.

How Powerlessness Affects a People

In a republic like America, there is a designed tension between the citizen and the state. The citizen, as the individual, is protective of his natural rights, privacy, and liberty, while the state, as the establishment, is ostensibly concerned with the prosperity, safety, and security of the republic as a whole.

Our Constitution was designed to balance the friction between Alexander Hamilton’s “The vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty” and John O’ Sullivan’s “The best government is that which governs least.” When that balance is disrupted, there is political conflict.

The elite and powerful can express their political concerns with big-money donations to politicians and pithy outrage from their blue-check Twitter accounts. The little people, the working-class flotsam and jetsam of America, have to just suck it down. They can vent their frustrations on social media, but no one is listening to them—except for people like Dan and the army of informants employed by the government.

The powerless often cope with their powerlessness through what can only be called LARPing, or live-action role-playing. This and ill-advised braggadocio is a way to feel like they have some control over their lives.

One LARP Faction Against Another

A majority of the defendants in this case were clearly LARPing as revolutionary-style patriots. This was evident when, as the FBI informants and agents pushed the plot along to more dangerous ends, many of the group’s members got cold feet and quit, with some go so far as to move out of state.

In a better America, the FBI would recognize this and dispatch an agent or two to deliver a wake-up call to these LARPers. After all, is the FBI’s purpose in inserting themselves into these types of organizations to avert political violence, or is it to manufacture cases that lead to political headlines and promotions for those agents involved?

Obviously, in America now, it is the latter—and that is the crux of the problem. Essentially, the FBI and its collection of law enforcement partners in the Joint Terrorism Task Forces are also LARPing, as counterterrorism heroes.

For the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces and their army of informants, there is money to be made in counterterrorism inflation. According to the Department of Justice Inspector General, the FBI spends more than $42 million per year on paid informants. Some informants have earned upwards of $4.9 million for their work. In this case, informant Dan earned nearly $55,000 for six months of work, in addition to his U.S. Postal Service salary.

Counterterrorism is hard work. Finding an actual domestic terrorist in a country with very few incidents of domestic terrorism is an even harder task. It appears it is much easier, more profitable, and a much better career move for all involved to create a Potemkin terror plot and then swoop in to play the part of counterterror hero.

The trouble is, while they are wasting valuable time and resources creating shocking headlines, federal agents are ignoring the real threats to Americans, while meddling in and ruining the lives of the most powerless in our society….

https://thefederalist.com/2021/07/26/the-fbis-whitmer-kidnapping-case-looks-like-a-potemkin-terror-plot/

>>16060558

He sounded pathetic then and he still does now

>>16060549

I wonder if the mayor set the FF up to divert whats going on in government there.

https://twitter.com/BradWilcoxIFS/status/1513474230058377219?s=20&t=8kbNa8OyKfnpdCmdwFiQsw

Theres a simple answer to them not reporting on this, they dont want the public to compare their reporting of the “Whitmire Hoax” before, to the results of aquitals. Have to keep the programming strong, cant have the public lose faith in the fake news.

Plus if they criticize the FBI they wont get the scoop on the next planned Hoax.

And they cannot reveal our government law enforcement agency is a terrorist organization, more political then ever about law enforcement; just like all of government.

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1513174443023032320?s=20&t=8kbNa8OyKfnpdCmdwFiQsw

Daily Caller

WATCH: Saudi Arabia TV makes fun of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and honestly it’s funnier than SNL https://t….

This is freakin funny

https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1513691975924518916?s=20&t=8kbNa8OyKfnpdCmdwFiQsw

Bidan is not at 35% polls are bullshit, but good news in NV because he’s polling so bad

https://twitter.com/TomBevanRCP/status/1513900206533890051?s=20&t=8kbNa8OyKfnpdCmdwFiQsw

12 Apr, 2022 15:31

Indian PM may be dropped from G7 meeting – media

Modi is at risk of being ditched from the gathering over New Delhi’s stance on the Ukraine conflict, Bloomberg reported

Germany wanted to invite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a guest to a G7 summit that it will host in June, but may reconsider due to New Delhi’s refusal to condemn Russia for its attack on Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The list of guests for the event in Bavaria was compiled before the attack in late February by Russia and also includes nations like Senegal, South Africa and Indonesia, the news outlet said, citing sources familiar with the situation.

When asked for comment, a spokesman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the head of the German government “would like to see as many international partners as possible joining the [anti-Russian] sanctions,” and that the list of G7 invitees would be revealed when it is finalized.

The G7, or Group of Seven, is an informal cohort of nations that were the biggest economies in the world in the 1970s, when it was formed. It includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US. The same nations are at the forefront of an attempt to punish Russia with crippling economic sanctions for its attack against Ukraine.

Critics say the G7 is an obsolete institution that has failed to keep up with the times as new economic powerhouses like China or India have risen to prominence. Many nations in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa refused to join the US-led anti-Russian campaign. Beijing went further and sided with Moscow in blaming the expansion of NATO in Europe for setting the stage for the hostilities.

India has refused to cut its trade with Russia, a major supplier of weapons for its armed forces. It also reportedly ramped up purchases of energy from Russia just as the US and its allies tried to undercut Russian oil and gas trade.

New Delhi’s defiance “had not gone unnoticed in the chancellery,” one source told Bloomberg. The outlet noted that Western nations are facing a similar diplomatic conundrum during a G20 summit in Indonesia later in the year.

The more representative economic forum includes Russia, which values its participation in G20 summits highly. Western nations would want any final communique arising from the November event to condemn Russia, but do not want to see a public divide on the issue.

Russia was given a place at G7 in 1997, which was consequently rebranded G8, but got kicked out in 2014 as punishment for its role in the Ukrainian crisis. That year, an armed coup in Kiev ousted the democratically elected president of the country. This caused uproar in Russia-leaning eastern parts of the country, with Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk breaking away. Crimea was reabsorbed by Russia after a referendum while the two others fought a war against Ukrainian military sent by Kiev to quash the rebellion.

“The Elite” in these countries are waking up the world. They all want to be dictatorships, in the name of deocracy of course. Its a pathetic high school clique.

https://www.rt.com/news/553752-germany-g7-india-guest/

12 Apr, 2022 13:39

Russia-Ukraine peace talks 'deadlocked' – Putin

The Russian president has accused Kiev of reneging on what was agreed in Istanbul

Kiev has gone back on the tentative agreements made between the Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams in Istanbul in late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. According to Putin, the peace talks have now “returned to a deadlock”.

Ukraine has refused to recognize Crimea as Russian and the Donbass republics as independent, the Russian president explained at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East on Tuesday. He emphasized that those two points were key topics without which no progress could be reached in the talks.

The latest round of negotiations between Moscow and Kiev was held two weeks ago in Istanbul, Turkey, where, according to the Russian side, the Ukrainian delegation offered its first draft of written proposals on how to resolve the conflict.

While the head of Russia’s negotiating team, Vladimir Medinsky, expressed some cautious optimism in the wake of the talks in Istanbul, saying Ukraine had signaled that it was ready to declare itself a neutral state, there still remained some major stumbling blocks.

Moscow is demanding that Kiev officially recognize Crimea as part of Russia and the republics in Donbass as independent states. Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia shortly after the 2014 Maidan coup in Kiev. During the talks in Istanbul, the Ukrainian delegation promised that Kiev would not attempt to reclaim the Donbass republics by force, and suggested holding separate negotiations on the status of Crimea over the course of 15 years.

However, last Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine had submitted new written proposals that deviated from what was offered during the in-person talks. The new proposal, according to Lavrov, fails to mention that the security guarantees Kiev wants to obtain from leading world powers do not cover Crimea.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Germany’s Bild on Friday that Kiev still sees talks with Russia as the only way out of the current crisis.

Ukrainian negotiators proposed in Istanbul that Ukraine become a non-aligned country in exchange for legally binding security guarantees. Russia repeatedly named Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO as one of the reasons for the military campaign Moscow launched against the neighboring state last month.

https://www.rt.com/russia/553750-ukraine-peace-talks-deadlock/

12 Apr, 2022 15:56

Ukrainian troops to train in UK

Soldiers will learn to operate armored vehicles that London will supply to Kiev, a junior defense minister has said

UK anons, does any citizen there like this government, they seem like very sick warmongers? BoJo is no Churchill!

James Heappey, the UK armed forces minister, confirmed on Tuesday that the country’s military will train Ukrainian soldiers on British soil. An unspecified number of troops are expected to arrive within the “next few days” to learn how to operate armored vehicles that Britain has pledged to supply to Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.

“There’s 120 armored vehicles that are in the process of being made ready,” Heappey told LBC Radio.

“And the Ukrainian troops that will operate them will arrive in the UK in the next few days to learn how to drive and command those vehicles.”

The new arms delivery to the Ukrainian authorities was pledged by London last week amid the surprise visit of PM Boris Johnson to Kiev. He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, touring the capital and pledging further “financial and military aid, which is a testament of our commitment to [the] country’s struggle against Russia’s barbaric campaign,” Johnson said.

Apart from the 120 armored vehicles, the package also includes Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, 800 NLAW anti-tank missiles, and “high-tech loitering munitions,” also known as ‘suicide drones’. The consignment also includes anti-ship missiles, Heappey confirmed on Tuesday in a separate interview with BBC.

“There are more shoulder-launched anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles that we are sending as well as loitering precision munitions, and as you heard the prime minister say at the weekend, we’re also sending an anti-ship capability as well,” he said.

London has been among the most ardent supporters of the Kiev authorities in their standoff with Russia, with the two countries enjoying strong military ties long before the ongoing conflict broke out. The UK has already sent more than 4,000 NLAW anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, and awarded Kiev a massive £1.7 billion ($2.2 billion) loan package in 2021 to boost its naval capabilities while rallying its allies to ramp-up their military aid to Ukraine.

Britain has also been actively training Ukrainian military personnel, running the so-called Operation Orbital since 2014.Some 22,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been trained under the project, but it was suspended in February in the wake of the Russian assault on Ukraine.

https://www.rt.com/news/553756-ukrainian-troops-britain-training/

12 Apr, 2022 16:09

World Bank considers massive loan to Ukraine

The UN-affiliated lender says a $1.5 billion support package is awaiting approval

Holy fucking shit, massive money laundering again

The World Bank’s President David Malpass said on Tuesday thelender is preparing a $1.5 billionsupport package for war-torn Ukraine. The loan will include a $1-billion payment from the development lender’s fund for the poorest countries.

(Btw this is what started the maidan rebolution, a loan offer from the IMF was denied by the president in 2014, they were going with Russia’s loan instead because the terms were so punitive on Ukraine. So Ukraine will always be under the bankers now)

According to Malpass, who was speaking in Warsaw, the package was enabled by Monday's approval of $1 billion in International Development Association (IDA) aid by donor and recipient countries, as well as a $100-million IDA payment to neighboring Moldova.

He explained the bank’s support as aimed at helping Ukraine provide critical services, including paying wages for hospital workers, as well as funding pensions and social programs.

“The World Bank was created in 1944 to help Europe rebuild after World War II. As we did then, we will be ready to help Ukraine with reconstruction when the time comes,” Malpass said.

Sources told Reuters that the plan still needs full approval by the World Bank’s board of directors in coming weeks.The funding comes on top of about $923 million in fast-disbursing financing approved by the World Bank last month, which also includes donor-country contributions.

Malpass said the bank was in close contact with Ukrainian authorities to provide support and was working to assist Ukrainian refugees and the countries hosting them.The World Bank is analyzing global impacts of the war in Ukraine, including the spike in food and energy prices, and is “preparing a surge crisis response that will provide focused support for developing countries,” Malpass added.

Has anyone added up all the money and weapons that ukraine has received, its gotta be in the high billions by now?

https://www.rt.com/business/553759-world-bank-considers-ukraine-loan/

12 Apr, 2022 16:15

Boris Johnson to be fined(that should be “to be fired”)

Police won’t rule out further punishment for UK PM

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife, along with Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, will be fined for flouting the very lockdown restrictions they imposed on the British public at the height of Covid-19, officials confirmed Tuesday morning.

PM Johnson thus entered history as the only sitting UK prime minister in the UK to be penalized for breaking the law.

Spokespeople for the three said they had not been informed which specific event the fines stem from, but the three reportedly attended the prime minister's birthday party in June 2020.

The news has sparked a renewal of calls for Johnson's resignation, which reached a crescendo in January amid the deepening scandal, dubbed “partygate” by the media, with Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Liberal Democrat Party leader Ed Davey, and advocacy groups like Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice lending their voices to the chorus of denunciations.

Twenty such fines were issued in March, and Metropolitan Police will issue another 30, according to a police statement on Tuesday.

More punitive measures ahead are possible as the investigation continues into a dozen alcohol-fueled social gatherings that flouted lockdown measures with which the UK sought to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The Metropolitan Police has declined to identify the recipients of the fines, but they include former head of propriety and ethics Helen MacNamara, by her own admission.

Johnson admitted this past January to going to a garden party in May of 2020. At the time, lockdown regulations made it illegal for people to meet more than one person outside their households, cutting millions off from in-person contact with friends and family and forbidding visits to sick and dying patients in hospitals.

His office also apologized to Queen Elizabeth II and her family and claimed “responsibility” for a separate late-night staff party wherein members of his team drank and danced into the night on April 16, 2020, the eve of her husband Prince Philip’s funeral. That this breach in lockdown measures happened at a time of national mourning significantly fueled the public anger and outcry leading to ongoing calls for Johnson’s resignation.

https://www.rt.com/news/553767-boris-johnson-lockdown-punishment/

12 Apr, 2022 13:01

UNICEF responds to Ukrainian child abduction claims

UN agency has stated it has no evidence to support Kiev's claims, as Russia denies it forcibly relocated any refugees

Moscow has denied accusations that it has forcibly sent Ukrainian refugees to Russia, while UNICEF has stated that it possesses no evidence to suggest that Russia has been abducting children, in response to claims from Kiev.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova reported on Tuesday that over 500,000 civilians from the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Ukraine have willingly relocated to Russia since the start of the military conflict.

“I responsibly declare that there has never been any forceful relocation of refugees to Russia, these are all lies,” said the ombudswoman, referring to Kiev’s accusation that Moscow has forcibly sent over 500,000 civilians to Russia to “use them as hostages” to pressure Ukraine to surrender.

Moskalkova says she personally spoke with several refugees, all of whom claimed they specifically wanted to seek refuge in Russia. The ombudswoman claims all refugees are being provided with the necessary food, clothes and medication.

She went on to insist that officials from The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) should come visit the temporary accommodation points in Russia to confirm the wellbeing of the asylum seekers for themselves.

Earlier, Moskalkova said that Karim Atassi, the acting head of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Russia, visited a temporary accommodation center in the Rostov region, which is near the DPR, and gave a very positive assessment of Russia’s efforts in aiding refugees.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian human rights commissioner Lyudmila Denisova has been calling on international organizations such as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to intervene in what she claims to be the forceful abduction of children from Ukraine by Russia.

Denisova claims that over 121,000 children, including orphans and children with parents, have been forcefully sent to Russia and that the Kremlin is planning to simplify adoption procedures for these kids.

However, UNICEF’s emergency programs director Manuel Fontaine, who recently returned from Ukraine, stated during a press conference on Tuesday that, while the organization has heard similar reports, it does not currently possess any evidence to support Kiev’s claims, but is “willing to look into it.”

UNICEF provided some alarming numbers on the number of children affected by the military conflict. According to the organization, over two thirds – 4.8 million out of 7.5 million – Ukrainian children have been displaced since the start of the hostilities, while some 142 have reportedly been killed and 229 injured.

“We know these numbers are likely much higher – and many of them were caused by crossfire or the use of explosive weapons in populated areas,” Fontaine said.

The organization also warns that half of the3.2 million children that remain in Ukraine “may be at risk of not having enough food,” with those in besieged cities like Mariupol facing the most dire situation.

UNICEF has previously claimed that over 4.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the military conflict while 7.1 million are now internally displaced. The organization states that over 90 per cent of the refugees are women and children.

https://www.rt.com/russia/553745-unicef-ukraine-children-refugee/

12 Apr, 2022 13:39

Moscow assesses West’s sanctions ‘blitzkrieg’

The strategy on which foreign powers counted has failed, the Russian president has said

The West’s onslaught of sanctions has failed to cripple Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a joint press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday.

“The ‘blitzkrieg’ on which our opponents counted, has failed, this is quite obvious. Our financial system and industry are working rhythmically,” Putin stated, noting the Russian economy’s resilience and stability in light of the sanctions, and highlighting the importance of adapting the economy to new realities and limitations.

The president noted that while the Russian economy has maintained a stable mode of operation and the ruble has regained its strength against foreign currencies, there is still a risk of things escalating, as Russia’s adversaries intend to continue their economic warfare against it.

He added that he believes that the best course of action is to de-bureaucratize the economic sphere and expressed hope that common sense will ultimately prevail in the West in light of the consequences they themselves face due to some of the sanctions imposed.

Putin did acknowledge that Russia has problems and that the sanctions have introduced some difficulties, particularly in the logistics sphere, warning there might be more challenges to come for the Russian economy, but noted that the nations imposing these restrictions are also set to face their fair share of consequent issues.

He insisted that it is necessary to allocate additional resources to support small and medium-sized businesses and create better growth conditions for new industries based on new and yet-to-be-developed supply chains, and added that he believes the sanctions will result in new leaders emerging within Russia’s economy.

https://www.rt.com/news/553751-putin-sanctions-blitzkrieg-failed/