24 Jul, 2022 19:49

Ukrainian governor ‘suspects everybody’ of helping Russia

The governor of Nikolayev wants to put the city into lockdown to hunt for alleged spies and saboteurs

The southwestern Ukrainian city of Nikolayev is set to be put into a full lockdown in the coming days, governor Vitaliy Kim has revealed. The extreme measure is needed to catch alleged spies and saboteurs believed to be colluding with Russia, he told The Telegraph in an interview.

So far, the city’s authorities and the military have detained twelve individuals believed to be working for Russia amid the ongoing conflict, Kim revealed. Asked about the numbers of alleged “spies,” the governor admitted he suspects literally everybody in the city of being a traitor.

“I suspect everybody,” Kim stated, adding that he has a “hidden strategy” to uncover and catch the purported spies.

In order to remain strong in the face of Russian forces one needs to keep “a clear head as well as a heated heart,” the official asserted. The remark came as an apparent nod to a saying, commonly attributed to Bolshevik revolutionary and the head of early Soviet state security bodies, Felix Dzerzhinsky, that a true security agent should have “clear head, heated heart and clean hands.” The latter, apparently, does not apply to Ukrainian spy-hunters.

Earlier this week, Kim announced a $100 bounty for tips about alleged saboteurs and spies. The compensation will come in exchange for information on “those who reveal to the occupiers the places of deployment of Ukrainian troops,” he said, adding that the $100 tip will be paid only for credible reports.

Multiple Ukrainian officials have repeatedly sounded alarm over allegedly rampant “collaboration” and “treason” among the country’s citizens and employees of security agencies. The issue led to the downfall of Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova and the head of the country’s top security agency, Ivan Bakanov. The two officials were fired during the week by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who said that “some 651 criminal cases have been registered on high treason and collaboration activities of employees of the prosecutor’s office, pre-trial investigation bodies, and other law enforcement agencies.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/559573-ukrainian-governor-spy-hunt/

24 Jul, 2022 07:30

Ukraine deal will help Russian exports – UN

While boosting Ukraine’s exports, the grain deal will also slash logistical costs for Russia, lowering food prices, according to a UN official

While Ukraine resumes crucial grain exports from its Black Sea ports following a deal with Moscow, Russia will also benefit from lower export costs, the secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on Saturday.

Rebeca Grynspan noted that the agreement, signed on Friday in Istanbul, will partially ease the sanctions pressure on Russia.

“There are delivery problems, insurance problems, payment problems, freight problems, and all these things make prices go up. So the main thing I foresee is that these difficulties will ease and transaction prices will come down,” she told RIA Novosti news agency.

The UN official said that according to UNCTAD calculations, half of the increase in global grain prices is a result of transportation and logistics costs, concluding that “if we facilitate trade, then trade flows will resume and prices will go down.”

Grynspan said the UN will create a working group aimed at facilitating trade flows in the region.

“We will communicate with our partners in Europe, the US, with our Russian partners in order to understand the problems and obstacles they face as far as food and fertilizers are concerned,” she stated.

The Russia-Ukraine deal, brokered by Turkey and the UN, sets out a framework for resuming Ukrainian grain exports via Black Sea ports. In addition, Russia and the UN signed a memorandum implying UN involvement in lifting restrictions on the export of Russian grain and fertilizers to world markets. According to officials, the UN will broker the removal of obstacles created by US and EU sanctions on transactions, insurance, and logistics related to Russian agricultural exports.

The UN has repeatedly warned of the global threat posed by a grain and fertilizer shortage, and Friday’s agreement was seen as a way of averting a global food crisis.

https://www.rt.com/business/559540-ukraine-deal-russia-exports/

23 Jul, 2022 10:09

Monsieur général: How France's Macron is trying to distract from the economic crisis by impersonating a military tough-guy

Will transforming into a pro-American version of the fiercely independent Charles De Gaulle wash with the public?

(Long opinion)

At the Paris military event in honor of Bastille Day on July 14, infantry troops from nine countries – France’s NATO allies Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – were the first to march along the Champs-Elysees. The French state-run radio broadcaster RFI called this event a “parade under the banner of Ukraine.”

By inviting states from the Bucharest Nine to open the celebrations, “France is demonstrating its support for these countries as members of the EU and NATO,” the French Ministry of Defense stressed. “The countries in the Bucharest Nine are now concerned about Russian aggression and the immediate threat it poses {to them}.”

Colonel Vincent Mingue, commander of an 800-strong French-Belgian detachment stationed in Romania, said: “We must be ready for all scenarios,” explaining that there is no sense at the moment of how far the conflict in Ukraine will go.

Such a vague statement from a French army colonel, combined with the sensational statements Macron made about France’s transition to a “war economy” at the opening of the Eurosatory exhibition in Villepinte, is cause for concern.

Is France headed down the path to war? Will its support for Kiev end with the supply of CAESAR self-propelled artillery and Milan anti-tank missiles? The revision of Paris’ existing military programming law (LPM 2019-2025, unveiled in July of 2018), which was announced by the prime minister, Elizabeth Bourne, appears to be a large-scale project. “Now, on entering a period of war, we must be able to produce certain types of equipment more quickly and intensively. This is a deep reorganization,” Macron said at the end of June, commenting on the work set out for the French Armed Forces Minister and Chief of Defense Staff.

Macron’s strategy regarding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, in the early stages, consisted of an attempt at a diplomatic settlement, which was accompanied by numerous calls to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, at the end of April, a decision was made to send Ukraine CAESARs, followed by a batch of Milans. The French government thus replaced humanitarian support with military aid. By June 7, Paris had sent Ukraine military equipment totaling over €162 million since the beginning of Russia’s military offensive, according to the Kiel Institute of World Economy. This is mainly howitzers and ATGMs.

Interestingly, this selective assistance to Kiev in the form of 155mm howitzers directly corresponds to the recommendations of the British Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) lobby group, which is funded by the arms industry.

In a special report released in July entitled ‘Ukraine at War: Paving the Road From Survival to Victory’, it is noted that Western countries should streamline the support they provide to Kiev and move from supplying large amounts of weapons requiring special training to more targeted ones. Thus, the Institute’s specialists note that Ukraine needs 155mm howitzers in particular “to prevent Russian troop concentration and support.”

“France is supporting the Ukrainian army not only in the form of verbal commitments, but also through the deployment of equipment on site… accompanied by effective training and, above all, rapid deployment,” Marcon said in Madrid at the end of the NATO summit, last month.

Thus, the military frontier has moved from Africa to the borders of Eastern Europe. On June 14, the president visited French soldiers stationed at a NATO base in Romania. This was followed by statements about the need to increase the number of the country's military personnel in the region and even equip the contingent with Leclerc tanks in the second half of 2022.

Macron’s image of a diplomat has been replaced by that of a military commander. Over the past two months, his ‘militarization’ and increasing commitment to the conflict have become noticeable. Earlier frequent calls for dialogue between Russia and Ukraine have given way to regular statements asserting that “Kiev is a democracy” (despite the fact that it isn't) and “Russia cannot and should not win.”…

https://www.rt.com/russia/559445-macron-dictatorship-fifth-republic/

24 Jul, 2022 14:46

US comments on designating Russia ‘terrorism sponsor’

Washington is considering doing so and will ‘continue to hold Russia to account,’ head of US diplomatic mission in Kiev has said

The US is considering the matter of recognizing Russia as “a state sponsor of terrorism,” US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink has said, emphasizing that the issue must be carefully analyzed from a legal point of view.

“With regard to designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, this is something we are looking at and reviewing. Any such designation requires a careful review in accordance to our own laws,” she said.

In a Sunday interview with Radio Liberty, Brink also emphasized that the US is already using all available means to keep pressure on Russia, including the ones normally applying to state sponsors of terrorism. She promised that Joe Biden’s administration will “continue to hold Russia to account” in accordance with US law.

The envoy echoed remarks made in April by US State Department spokesman Ned Price, that the government was looking into the potential steps it could take against Moscow and noted that already-imposed anti-Russia sanctions are the same steps that “would be entailed by the designation of a state sponsor of terrorism.”

Countries daubed with this status – currently Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria – are subject to harsh sanctions.

Russia, though not on the list, has already become the most sanctioned country in the world, amid its military offensive in Ukraine.

Over the last months, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has been regularly urging his country’s allies to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, citing atrocities against civilians allegedly committed by Russian forces (Moscow vehemently denies these claims).

Earlier this month, he welcomed the initiative of US senators Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham to introduce a Senate resolution directing Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Russia with this status.

Earlier this week, Politico reported that the speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi had made the same request to the country’s top diplomat, warning that if Blinken didn’t do it, Congress would step in.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to this report, saying Moscow “very negatively assesses the consequences for relations with Washington if the US Congress recognizes the Russian Federation as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism.’” He added, however, that it would be difficult to do anything that could damage the relations between the two nations any further.

https://www.rt.com/russia/559566-us-designating-russia-terrorism/

24 Jul, 2022 11:44

Congressman gives update on HIMARS shipments to Kiev

Washington and its allies intend to provide Kiev with up to 30 multiple-launch rocket systems, a senior US congressman said

The United States and its Western allies intend to provide Ukraine with additional 25-to-30 rocket systems, Adam Smith, the head of the Armed Forces Сommittee of the US House of Representatives, revealed on Saturday.

That will include both high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) from the UK and some other countries, Smith said in an interview with Radio Liberty. The committee chair admitted that the number of weapons is lower than what Kiev had requested but offered assurance that the US and its partners will provide as much artillery and missiles for the systems as possible.

Smith made the announcement following his visit to Kiev last week, in which he and several other members of Congress met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, said Sunday that the logistics of delivering the of ammunition for the Western MLRS is key for the effective use of the launchers “on various sectors of the front.”

Following the meeting with Zelensky, the American delegation issued a statement pledging to continue “to seek ways to support President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people as effectively as possible.”

Ahead of the gathering, the Ukrainian president wrote on Telegram that his country especially needs “HIMARS launcher systems, shells and unmanned aerial vehicles.”

Earlier in July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said that Kiev needed about 50 HIMARS systems for effective defense, and a least 100 for “an effective counteroffensive.”

As of July 22, the US provided 16 HIMARS systems to Ukraine. Overall security assistance to the country since the launch of the Russian offensive in late February has amounted to $7.6 billion.

Last week, the Russian military claimed that in a period between July 5 and 20, it had destroyed four of the US-supplied systems in Ukraine. One US official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, insisted that no HIMARS launchers sent to Ukraine had been destroyed. Meanwhile, the government in Kiev has accused Moscow of spreading “misinformation” calculated to dissuade the West from sending Ukraine more weapons.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine has lost over 760 multiple-launch rocket systems and more than 3,100 artillery pieces since the beginning of Russia’s military operation.

Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against sending weapons to Kiev, saying that this would only prolong the conflict, increase the number of casualties and lead to long-term consequences.

(We may have the stupidest lawmakers in the world)

https://www.rt.com/russia/559557-himars-ukraine-supplies-us/

24 Jul, 2022 13

Ukrainian commander reports more deaths of foreign fighters

Two Americans, a Canadian and a Swede were killed in a Russian ambush in Donbass, their superior officer says

A Ukrainian commander of pro-Kiev foreign fighters has disclosed the circumstances of the death of two Americans, a Canadian and a Swede during clashes with Russian forces in Donbass.

US citizens Luke ‘Skywalker’ Lucyszyn and Bryan Young, Canada’s Emile-Antoine Roy-Sirois and Edvard Selander Patrignani of Sweden were killed on July 18, their commander Ruslan Miroshnichenko told news outlet Politico on Saturday.

The four men were part of a special operations unit within the Ukrainian territorial defense forces in the town of Seversk, which has recently been the scene of heavy fighting.

On Monday, the fighters were part of a group sent on a mission to the village of Grigorovka, some three kilometers northwest of Seversk, where advancing Russian forces attempted a river crossing, Miroshnichenko said.

They had completed their task but “at the end of the mission they were ambushed by Russian tanks,” he recalled.

“The first shell injured Luke. Three guys, Edward, Emile, and Bryan, they immediately attempted to help Luke, to do first aid and evacuate him from this spot. Then the second shell killed them all,” the commander revealed.

The US State Department confirmed the deaths of the two Americans, but declined to mention them by name “out of respect to the families during this difficult time.”

Politico has also obtained a situation report on the events in Grigorovka, which stated that, besides the fatalities, a fighter named Finn “was injured in his left arm and leg,” while his counterpart, named Oskar, had “received numerous injuries [and] both moved to the evacuation point independently.”

The group of mercenaries was faced with at least six Russian tanks, four armored personnel carriers and up to 70 infantrymen, according to the document.

The foreign fighters were also bombarded with heavy artillery “corrected by drones” for more than two hours, it added.

Thousands of foreign fighters have arrived in Ukraine since the start of the conflict, forming the so-called “International Legion,” after a call by the country’s president Vladimir Zelensky.

In April, the Russian military estimated their numbers at almost 7,000 but, earlier this month, it said that only 2,741 soldiers of fortune remained in Ukraine. Many of them were eliminated while others fled abroad, some complaining about disorder in the ranks of the Kiev forces, and about poor equipment.

Russia’s defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has recently warned that foreign mercenaries aren’t viewed as combatants under international law and “the best thing that awaits them if they are captured alive is a trial and maximum prison terms.”

Earlier this week, the International Legion’s spokesperson Damien Magrou revealed to NBC News that “there’s been a gradual dip in the number of arrivals over the course of the last few months,” blaming such state of affairs on “Russian disinformation.”

https://www.rt.com/news/559560-ukraine-mercenaries-us-canada/

24 Jul, 2022 02:55

China blasts Japan’s radioactive water plan

Tokyo approves the discharge of Fukushima wastewater into the ocean

Japan's nuclear regulator has given its final approval to a controversial plan to release over 1.3 million tons of water stored at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, triggering a harsh response from its neighbor China over unpredictable consequences for the environment.

“The disposal of nuclear-contaminated water in Fukushima could affect the global marine environment and the public health of Pacific-rim countries. It is by no means a private matter for Japan,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to the Friday decision.

“If Japan insists on putting its own interests above the public interest of the international community and insists on taking the dangerous step, it will surely pay the price for its irresponsible behavior and leave a stain in history,” he added.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant cooling systems were knocked out when it suffered three meltdowns in the wake of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent devastating tsunami in 2011. At the time, large quantities of contaminated water flowed into the Pacific, prompting mass evacuations from areas along Japan’s east coast.

The water, used to cool reactors in the aftermath, has been stored in hundreds of tanks at the plant ever since. Even though it was filtered and passed an advanced treatment process, which removed much of the radioactive contamination, it still contains some radioactive isotopes, mostly tritium.

The disposal plan, officially approved by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday, will see this wastewater released about one kilometer off the Fukushima prefecture coast through an underwater tunnel. Tokyo hopes to launch the process by next spring, and the discharge may take decades as tritium-contaminated water has to be released slowly and diluted to levels in line with Japanese regulations.

Japanese authorities told the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO), on Friday it should “try to reduce the amount of water contaminated with radioactive materials and streamline work toward the discharge.”

The discharge plan, deemed by Japan as the only viable option, has long stoked controversy in Japan and beyond. Fishermen in the Fukushima Prefecture have been protesting over fears the water could be harmful to residents and wildlife. Activists in South Korea and elsewhere in the region have also opposed the plan, in addition to the Chinese government repeatedly voicing concerns about pollution.

(They are not even trying anymore)

https://www.rt.com/news/559538-fukushima-radioactive-water-china/

24 Jul, 2022 15:38

Grave of Ukraine’s Nazi ‘hero’ defaced in Germany

Photos purportedly showing spray-painted memorial were published by a visitor from Belarus

The grave of Ukrainian Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera has been targeted by vandals in Munich, Germany, Belarusian opposition activist Ales Caicyc claimed on Saturday.

Caicyc published four photos showing the grave covered in purple graffiti on Facebook. “The tomb of Stepan Bandera in Munich, damaged by vandals. I decided to visit it for the first time, and there are police and this sight,” he wrote.

The images show the Soviet symbol of a hammer and sickle in spray paint on the grave, along with a number of anarchist emblems and swastikas. Bandera’s name was also heavily daubed in paint.

It’s not the first attack on the grave of the hardcore nationalist, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, and is considered a hero in present-day Ukraine. On March 7, then-Ambassador of Ukraine Andrey Melnik reported “a daring act of vandalism” and called on local police to find and punish the “disgusting scum” who had covered the monument with an unknown substance.

“What a shame that the demonization of S.Bandera is not only carried out by Moscow propaganda, but also by respected German historians,” he wrote on Twitter at the time.

During his almost eight-year tenure as his country’s top diplomat in Germany, Melnik, known for his deep sympathy for the controversial Ukrainian national hero, found himself at the center of several scandals. Last month, speaking to German podcaster Tilo Jung, Melnik repeatedly denied that Bandera was implicated in the mass murder of Jews and Poles during WWII on the territory of modern-day Ukraine. The ambassador’s statements prompted criticism from both Poland and Israel. The international outrage forced Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry to step in to explain that the remarks did not represent Kiev’s official stance.

On July 9, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky relieved Melnik of his post.

https://www.rt.com/russia/559569-bandera-grave-vandals-report/

24 Jul, 2022 07:33

Trump slams US aid to Ukraine

The EU has given Kiev only ‘a tiny fraction’ of what Washington has, the former president says

The US has too many problems of its own to hand money and weapons to Ukraine for its conflict with Russia, former US President Donald Trump has said. It’s Europe that should be providing more help to Kiev as it’s far more affected by the situation, he insisted.

Speaking at the Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida on Saturday, Trump recalled how he pushed for NATO members in the EU to increase their defense spending to 2% of their GDP during his presidency. Back then, the US was “taken advantage of by Europe,” and now the same thing is happening again over Ukraine, he said.

“We’ve so far given more than $60 billion to Ukraine. Well, the European countries, who are obviously far more affected than us, have given a tiny fraction of that number,” the ex-president noted.

If he were still in office, he “could’ve gone over there [to Europe] and said: ‘Listen, you’re going to put up the same money or more money than us.’ And they would’ve done it gladly,” Trump claimed.

“But we just give money out. And we have $35 trillion in debt. We have all of these problems,” he said, referring to record inflation in the US, the energy crisis, and other issues.

Trump also doubted whether even the massive levels of US assistance would change the situation on the ground in Ukraine. “Now, it’s much tougher to solve,” he said about the crisis. “Russia has 35 times the fire power. And they’re looking to obliterate the weapons as we send them in. A lot of bad things are happening,” he added.

During his term, the US had “no problem” with Russia, China or North Korea, and “nobody even talked about” Ukraine, the ex-president claimed.

But in just two years under Joe Biden, the US “has gone from the strongest that it has ever been… to perhaps the weakest, especially when you include recognition and respect from all around the world. We’re not respected any longer by anybody,” said Trump.

“Two years ago we were energy independent… Now we are a beggar nation, with Biden down on his knees pleading for energy from all over the globe; going to Venezuela, Saudi Arabia. Going to countries all over the world, asking for help,” he added.

https://www.rt.com/news/559541-trump-us-eu-ukraine/