10 Feb, 2023 13:37

IOC president blasts Ukraine – media

Pressure from Kiev for countries to boycott the Paris 2024 Games goes against the Olympic Charter, Thomas Bach reportedly said

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has reportedly urged Kiev to cease its calls for a boycott of the Paris 2024 Games. Ukraine has claimed that allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete would promote Moscow’s military operation – an allegation that the IOC has dismissed as “defamatory.”

In a letter sent to the president of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), Vadim Guttsait, and seen by several media outlets, Bach called on the authorities in Kiev to end their threats regarding the next edition of the Summer Games, and to refrain from pressuring other countries into a boycott.

Bach noted that the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag at the 2024 Games had “not even been discussed in concrete terms yet.” He also suggested that a letter from Guttsait to other NOCs had been sent prematurely and had caused dismay among numerous IOC members.

“Your letter at this premature stage to your fellow NOCs, to the International Federations, IOC Members and to future Olympic hosts, pressuring them in an attempt to publicly influence their decision making, has been perceived by the vast majority of them as, at the very least, extremely regrettable,” Bach is said to have written.

The IOC president reportedly reminded Kiev that a boycott is a violation of the Olympic Charter, which “obliges all NOCs to ‘participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes.’”

Bach also condemned “defamatory statements” made by several Ukrainian officials who have accused theIOC of being a “promoter of war, murder and destruction.” Last month, the organization denied allegations that it took bribes from Moscow and warned that such claims would not lead to “constructive discussion.”

In January, the IOC announced it was looking at ways to permit athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the Paris 2024 Games under a neutral flag. Senior Ukrainian officials, including President Vladimir Zelensky, responded to the news by vowing to lobby for a boycott of the event. They have repeatedly insisted on isolating Russian and Belarusian athletes from any international sporting events.

https://www.rt.com/sport/571287-ioc-ukraine-paris-boycott/

Ukraine is slowly convincing the world to not support them.

10 Feb, 2023 08:40

US role in Kiev’s artillery warfare identified – media

The American military is “controlling every shot” with Pentagon-supplied rockets, a Ukrainian official told the Washington Post

The Ukrainian military requests precise coordinates from the Pentagon for almost every rocket fired from US-made artillery systems, and would not fire a shot without getting them, according to a report by the Washington Post.

Three Ukrainian officials and one senior US official spoke to the newspaper, on condition of anonymity, about America’s involvement. One Ukrainian source implied thatWashington has the final say on every action, making the case for the delivery of longer-range rockets to Kiev.

“You’re controlling every shot anyway, so when you say: ‘We’re afraid that you’re going to use it for some other purposes,’ well, we can’t do it even if we want to,” the senior official was quoted as saying.

The US official disputed the characterization, claiming that Ukraine selected targets and that the American side simply provided intelligence to make best use of the GPS-guided munitions. But the Ukrainian official said thatwhen the US fails to provide coordinatesas requested, Ukrainian troops simply don’t open fire.

The US has supplied the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to prop up the Ukrainian military against Russia, while the UK has sent the M270 Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

Both systems can fire various types of rockets, but the US has declined to provide the longest-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) tactical ballistic missiles. Washington reportedly has concerns that Kiev would use them to attack targets in Russia, while Kiev has been lobbying for lifting the restriction.

Russian officials have accused Washington of waging a proxy war against it, citing, among other things, its role in targeting Ukrainian strikes.

HIMARS launchers were reportedly used in attacks on civilian targets, such as the October 2022 strike on a river crossing in Kherson Region, which killed four and injured 13 others. A Ukrainian military spokesperson claimed at the time that the victims were Russian troops disguised as civilians.

Another incident occurred in January, and involved a HIMARS strike on a hospital in the city of Novoaydar in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The attack killed 14 people and injured 24 others, according to the Russian military.

https://www.rt.com/russia/571265-us-coordinates-ukrainian-strikes/

10 Feb, 2023 12:52

Kiev sounds alarm over ammo

More whining from Ukraine!

Top Ukrainian official Igor Zhovkva told Bloomberg the country’s stocks are “almost zero”

Intense fighting in Ukraine means that its military is running out of ammunition, with stocks not being replenished in time, Igor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s office, has told media. The official also called on the West to provide Kiev with long-range artillery systems, tanks and fighter jets.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Zhovkva lamented that “now we are having like almost zero ammunition,” a situation that makes it harder for the Ukrainian military to respond to Russian shelling.

“We are running [out] of the ammunition very quickly because the fights are intensive,” he explained, adding that Russia has more firepower.

Zelensky’s staffer also noted that Kiev needs long-range missiles to “de-occupy Ukrainian territory,” as opposed to hitting targets inside Russia. According to the official, this type of weaponry would be crucial to launch a counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces.

On the subject of fighter jets, Zhovkva named several reasons why Ukraine is seeking to get hold of them. He pointed out that, among other things, such aircraft are “very good in intercepting the ballistic missiles.”

He expressed hope that the upcoming Ramstein format meeting on February 14 will see Kiev’s Western backers pledge more weapons, adding that “it’s high time” they stopped caring about Moscow’s reaction to such deliveries.

Commenting on the military aid already provided by the West, Zhovkva said that it was “too late, too little, and too slow.”

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reacted to the news of the British government possibly considering donating some of its warplanes to Ukraine, by warning that the UK and several other European nations are becoming increasingly involved in the conflict.

“The line between indirect and direct involvement is gradually disappearing,” he stressed, adding that this fuels further escalation.

Peskov pointed out, however, that while unnecessarily prolonging the fighting, Western arms shipments will not be able to change the outcome of the conflict or prevent Russia from achieving its goals.

(Bullshit, stop selling everything on the black market)

https://www.rt.com/russia/571284-zelensky-advisor-ukraine-ammo-shortages/

9 Feb, 2023 16:34

Much-hyped tanks for Ukraine in short supply – WSJ

European NATO members are “dragging their feet” on sending Leopards to Kiev, the outlet says

NATO members have developed “sudden misgivings” about sending tanks to Ukraine because they don’t seem to have any to spare, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Finland, which pressured Germany to approve exports of Leopard 2 tanks, may only be able to send “a few” of its own – and most likely not until it formally joins the US-led military bloc.

This has left Berlin as the only major supplier of tanks to Kiev, something Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been keen to avoid, the Journal noted.

There are more than 2,000 Leopard 2 tanks in the stocks of various European NATO armies, but only Berlin and Warsaw have committed to sending any. Germany and Poland have promised about 14 apiece. Warsaw will also throw in 60 of its modified T-72s, while Berlin is buying up almost 190 decommissioned Leopard 1s for refurbishment, some of which may need to be cannibalized for parts.

In a December interview, Ukraine’s top generalasked for 300 tanks right away. Canada has promised four tanks, while Portugal wants to send three.

“The fact that there areso few operational battle tanksand that they are so incompatible with each other should be taken as an alarm signal in Europe,” Nico Lange, a former German defense official who is now a senior fellow at the Munich Security Conference, told the Journal.

The Netherlands and Denmark will not send any of their tanks, but agreed to help Germany fund the purchase and refurbishment of around 100 older Leopard 1 models, which wereretired 20 years agoand are currently in various states of disrepair.

Denmark only has 44 Leopards and the Dutch operate 18 that are on lease from Germany, noted Minna Alander of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Finland faces a different “limitation” due to its own need to protect the country’s long border with Russia, she added.

Finland will be “part of the Leopard 2 cooperation in some way,” an anonymous senior official told the Journal, but declined to give any details. Helsinki has “signaled” it would “most likely” avoid tank deliveries until it officially joins NATO, according to a senior bloc official, likewise unnamed. Even then, it may only be able to spare a few of its 240 operational tanks.

The UK has promised 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks, saying they ought to be delivered by the end of March. The US pledged 31 Abrams tanks as well, but getting them to Ukrainemight take up to two years. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has already moved on, demanding fighter jets on his trip to London, Paris and Brussels.

The US and its allies have spent over $120 billion to prop up the Kiev government over the past year, while insisting they are not a party to the conflict. Moscow has warned them that supplying Ukraine with weapons only prolongs the fighting and risks direct confrontation.

https://www.rt.com/news/571237-nato-tanks-ukraine-shortage/

Kek, Ukraine fatigue is setting in.

9 Feb, 2023 16:10

Ukraine is taking care of Europe – Zelensky

The Ukrainian president used a controversial slogan before alleging Moscow wants to destroy the “European way of life”

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has claimed to EU lawmakers that Moscow poses to a threat to the entire continent. The leader was speaking at the European Parliament on Thursday as part of a tour to rally support and weaponry for Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia.

Starting his address with the slogan ‘Glory to Ukraine’, which iscommonly associated with World War II-era Nazi collaboratorsbut is widely used in present-day Ukraine, Zelensky reiterated Kiev’s aspirations to join the EU, describing it as “home.”

“We want to come home to Europe,” the Ukrainian leader told the assembled lawmakers in Brussels, adding: “I’m here in order to defend our people’s way home.”Zelensky went on to describe Russia as “the most anti-European force” in the world, alleging that Moscow is intent on destroying the “European way of life” for all 27 members of the EU.

“This is our Europe, these are our rules, this is our way of life,” Zelensky stated, earning applause from the audience. “Europe will always be, and remain Europe as long as we are together and as long as we take care of our Europe, as we take care of the European way of life.”

Joining the EU has been a significant talking point for pro-Western Ukrainian politicians for decades. Yet little to no actual progress had been made along that path prior to hostilities breaking out between Moscow and Kiev last February. The conflict has greatly sped up the accession process, with Ukraine receiving EU candidate status in June.

Zelensky’s European tour began a day earlier when he traveled to the UK, meeting leaders and lawmakers in London. The president inspected the ongoing training of Ukrainian troops on British soil and secured additional support from the UK.

“I am proud that today we will expand that training from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future,” said a statement from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he met Zelensky.

Ukraine has consistently increased its demands for advanced weaponry from the West, including tanks, drones, fighter jets, and longer-range missiles. Kiev has insisted that the hardware is needed to drive Russian forces out of territories that Ukraine claims as its own. Moscow has repeatedly urged the West to stop “pumping” Ukraine with weaponry, maintaining that continuous military aid will only prolong the hostilities, rather than change their ultimate outcome.

https://www.rt.com/news/571234-ukraine-russia-european-life/

9 Feb, 2023 19:19

Russia didn’t start the fight but will finish it – Putin

Ukraine began the war in 2014 by targeting civilians in Donbass, the Russian president said

Moscow is trying to end the conflict in Ukraine, which was started by Kiev following the 2014 US-backed coup, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

“Let me repeat:we did not start the military activities, we are trying to end them,” the president said in a meeting with aviation industry executives in Moscow. Ukrainian nationalists first resorted to force in 2014, with the coup d’etat in Kiev, followed by events in Crimea and in Donbass, he argued.

“They started the war,” Putin said. “For eight years, that war continued –a war to exterminate peoplewho live there, who feel themselves related by blood to Russia and Russian culture.

How long were we supposed to tolerate that?”

The Russian president also accused Ukraine of violating the agreements and commitments made with Western mediation, in an apparent reference to the Minsk Protocols. The Franco-German proposal officially aimed to peacefully resolve the conflict between Kiev and Donbass, but leaders of both Western countries at the time – as well as the Ukrainian government – have since admitted the Minsk accords were a ploy to buy time.

Putin has previously said the Ukraine conflict could have been avoided had the US not backed the nationalist coup in 2014. He has also accused the West of not caring for Ukrainian lives, using them as “cannon fodder”and pawns in a geopolitical proxy war against Russia.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, launching a military operation in aid of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR/LPR), which it recognized as independent states. Moscow has since accepted their request to become part of Russia, along with the formerly Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye.

The US and its allies imposed economic sanctions against Moscow and sent over $120 billion worth of money, weapons and supplies to Ukraine, while insisting they are not a party to the conflict. Putin noted the West did not expect how effectively Russia would counter their economic war, and that even Western analysts are now forced to admit it.

https://www.rt.com/russia/571248-putin-ending-ukraine-war/