4 Jul, 2023 21:05

Ukraine shifts its counteroffensive focus

Kiev now aims to inflict maximum damage on the Russiansrather than make rapid territorial advances, a top security official says

The “maximum destruction” of Russian military personnel and hardware is currently “the number one task” for Ukraine, the country’s national security chief, Aleksey Danilov, has claimed.

“At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s Defense Forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts artillery and air defense forces of the Russian army,” Danilov said in a Twitter post on Tuesday,claiming that the “last few dayshave been particularly fruitful.”

“Now the war of destruction is equal to the war of kilometers. More destroyed means more liberated,” he added.

Danilov’s remark is thelatest in an apparent damage-control effortlaunched by Kiev to explain the lack of any meaningful results in its long-heralded counteroffensive effort, which has been going on for about a month already. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged in mid-June that the progress of the counteroffensive was “slower than desired.”

Multiple senior Ukrainian officials have insisted that expectations about the campaign have been blown out of proportion, with Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov even claiming the intense warfare was merely a “preview” and totally “not the main event,”which had been hyped up for months.

The counteroffensive “preview” has resulted in heavy casualties for the Ukrainian military, which lost thousands of personnel and hundreds of pieces of hardware over the past month, including multiple Western-supplied combat vehicles such as US-made Bradley IFVs and German-made Leopard 2 tanks.

Thus far, Kiev has lost 16 Leopard 2 tanks, which, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Monday, “practically amounts to 100% of the tanks of this type supplied by Poland and Portugal.” He further alleged that Ukraine’s foreign sponsors were pressuring Kiev to continue assaults on Russian positions despite the loss of some 2,500 pieces of heavy weaponry during the conflict.

(Kiev changing their narrative with no proof of maximum destruction. I think this whole war is a psyop at this point. Russia has provided pictures and videos, Kiev have provided talk with no proof!)

https://www.rt.com/russia/579213-ukraine-counteroffensive-focus-shift/

4 Jul, 2023 22:08

Multiple victims in ‘fierce’ Ukrainian strike on Donbass – officials

Residential and healthcare facilities came under fire in Makeevka and Donetsk, according to local officials

Multiple victims in ‘fierce’ Ukrainian strike on Donbass – officials

The town of Makeevka in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic came under intense shelling on Tuesday, according to the region’s acting head, Denis Pushilin. Ukrainian forces reportedly targeted residential districts, damaging multiple houses, as well as a school and a hospital complex.

At least two dozen people were injured in the strike, including two young children, according to preliminary data shared by Pushilin. “Late in the evening, the enemy carried out fierce strikes on residential areas and the hospital complex in the Chervonogvardeysky district of Makeevka,” the official wrote on Telegram.

The number of victims was later revised to 36 as more people requested aid. The victims are receiving the necessary medical care, even after multiple local healthcare facilities were damaged in the attack, officials added.

It is unclear what type of munitions might have been used, but the blasts were felt by “most” residents of Makeevka and Donetsk, Pushilin claimed. The DPR mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination recorded dozens of hits from self-propelled multiple rocket launcher systems over the past day.

The capital of theDPR also came under intense shelling on Tuesday, with at least two people reported killed and several injured earlier in the afternoon, according to the mayor of Donetsk, Aleksey Kulemzin. In total, the Ukrainian forces attacked the city and its suburbs two dozen times on Tuesday, firing some 166 shells from 155mm artillery provided by Western nations, the official claimed.

Donetsk has been a frequent target of Ukrainian strikes since the outbreak of the conflict between Kiev and the Donbass republics back in 2014, as Ukraine’s military established heavily fortified positions around the city. The attacks on DPR’s capital intensified after the launch of Moscow’s military operation against Kiev in February 2022, leaving scores of civilians killed and delivering major damage to infrastructure.

The Donetsk People’s Republic became part of Russia last October together with the People’s Republic of Lugansk and Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, following referendums in which the local populations voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move.

https://www.rt.com/russia/579217-makeevka-donetsk-attack-victims/

4 Jul, 2023 20:07

Germany, Poland at odds over tank-repair center for Ukraine – Der Spiegel

Joint project is more than a month behind schedule as first damaged Ukrainian tanks arrive in Poland to be fixed, the outlet said

Kiev has been left without a maintenance and repair hub for its Western-supplied tanks because of adispute between Berlin and Warsaw, German news outlet Der Spiegel reported over the weekend. The project, announced by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, is more than a month behind schedule as Germany and Poland struggle to find common ground, according to the report.

In April Pistorius announced the project on the sidelines of a meeting of Ukraine’s Western backers at the US’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The repair hub for the German-made Leopard tanks was scheduled to be established on Polish territory by the end of May, the minister said at that time.

By early July, the project had hardly moved past the declaration of intent that Pistorius had signed with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak at the very same Ramstein meeting, Der Spiegel reports. According to the outlet, the first draft contractagreement between Berlin and Warsaw that emerged last week has not been signed by the sides, due to various controversies.

German defense-industry giants are blaming the delays on Warsaw, the report continues. Under the initial agreement, two German tank manufacturers – Rheinmetall and KMW – were to set up a joint venture in Poland together with the Polish state-owned PGZ company. The tank-repair costs were then to be assumed by the German government.

Poland then set “unrealistic prices” on the repair services, sources within industry circles told Der Spiegel. PGZ charged more than 100,000 euros for an initial checkup of a damaged tank, they said, adding that a similar procedure would cost only about 12,000 euros in Germany.The Polish side reportedly also refused to provide any warranties for the repairs.

Der Spiegel’s report claims that it’s political play in Poland that is supposedly behind what it called the “unusual” demands put forward by Warsaw. It said it was “obvious” that the controversies surrounding the project are “politically motivated.” It did not present any evidence other than that Poland had repeatedly accused Germany of being too slow when it came to military aid for Kiev.

Several Ukrainian Leopard tanks in need of repairs have already arrived in Poland, Der Spiegel added.

On Monday, Pistorius discussed the issue with Blaszczak during a visit to Poland. The German minister demanded rapid progress on the project, adding that he expected a solution to be found within ten days. Blaszczak called the talks “not easy,” adding that neither of the two ministers is “responsible for overseeing the industry.”

He also said that the two sides had managed to clarify one of the three “points of contention”they’d identified. Poland is “fully open” to cooperation with Germany, he maintained, adding specifically that he was aware of the “misunderstandings” reported by Der Spiegel.

(They are now eating themselves…)

https://www.rt.com/news/579214-germany-poland-tank-repair-ukraine/

BREAKING:Independence Day Victory for Free Speech – Trump-Appointed Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction Prohibiting DHS, FBI, DOJ, and Other Agencies from Colluding with Big Tech to Censor Americans in MO v. Biden Case – with Gateway Pundit as Lead Plaintiff!

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by Jim Hoft Jul. 4, 2023 2:15

Monumental Independence Day Verdict! A Trump-appointed federal judge issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting DHS, FBI, DOJ, and other agencies from its government-wide, fascist conspiracy with Big Tech to censor speech and manipulate the public.

Before we delve into the details of this recent development, it’s crucial to trace our steps back and understand the sequence of events that led us to this juncture.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported in May that Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, along with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, filed a lawsuit (Missouri v. Biden) against the Biden Administration, including Biden himself, Anthony Fauci, the Department of Homeland Security, and nearly a dozen federal agencies and Secretaries.

The suit alleges a massive coordinated effort by the Deep State (permanent administrative state) to work with Big Tech to censor and manipulate Americans – from average citizens to news outlets – on issues including the Hunter Biden Laptop from Hell, 2020 Election Integrity, COVID-19 origin and extent skepticism, COVID-19 vaccine skepticism, among other issues.

In June 2022, The Gateway Pundit began assisting Missouri AG Schmitt’s team and providing critical evidence of Facebook and Twitter censorship of the Gateway Pundit on all of these issues. (Read more here.)

The case reached a CRUCIAL turning point in July when AG Schmitt and his team won a huge victory. They persuaded the federal judge to grant them limited discovery (investigatory powers) BEFORE the Court. (Read more here.)

This allowed AG Schmitt to compel the GOVERNMENT AND FACEBOOK AND TWITTER, and a few other social media platforms to turn over documents and communications exchanged between the government and the social media platforms, in which censorship was discussed.

In August 2022, we reported that TGP’s Jim Hoft himself became the lead non-governmental plaintiff in the lawsuit against the government. (Read more here.)

Since then, AG Schmitt’s team has been engaged in a slug-fest with the government and Big Tech to turn over the demanded documents.

Neither the government nor Big Tech wants to disclose the damning evidence against them and they’ve fought like hell to stop the disclosure.

Since that time, numerous government officials including Dr. Tony Fauci have been deposed and testified in the case.

When former Attorney General Eric Schmitt became a sitting US Senator the new Missouri AG Andrew Bailey took over.

Terry A. Doughty, the chief U.S. district judge in the Western District of Louisiana, is overseeing the case. The government is obviously very concerned about this case as it proceeds….

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/breaking-independence-day-victory-free-speech-federal-judge/

>>19124670

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On November 22, 2022, The Government filed a massive MOTION TO DISMISS (the lawsuit). Subsequently, the Government and States of Missouri and Louisiana and The Gateway Pundit have been battling, in multiple lengthy legal briefs, why the federal court should NOT dismiss our lawsuit.

In support of our efforts to avoid getting knocked out, on MONDAY, March 6, 2023, Missouri and Louisiana filed a massive summary of the evidence, so far uncovered in the case, along with a supplemental preliminary injunction brief.

The fact-finding summary is remarkable because it is the most comprehensive summary to date – anywhere – detailing the fascist, government-wide conspiracy with Big Tech to suppress speech and thought during the COVID-19 insanity, the 2020 election, and beyond.

The summary is the most powerful indictment yet of the oligarchy within the federal government’s disgusting campaign to subvert our First Amendment rights and the will of, and manipulate and control, the public. (Read the 364-page documents here.)

On Tuesday, July 4th, 2023 – Judge Doughty issued his Order DENYING the Government’s MOTION TO DISMISS.

WHAT THIS MEANS

The past year’s legal battle has solely been over Missouri, Louisiana, and Gateway Pundit, et al’s ability or right to prosecute this lawsuit. The Government’s efforts heretofore have been focused on obfuscating and stonewalling evidence on the one hand, and engaging in numerous tactics to extricate itself from the lawsuit, including through the filing of multiple motions to dismiss and to change venue (that is, to change courts in order to draw a communist judge who favors authoritarian government and widespread governmental censorship.

Now that the Government lost its main effort to crush us, the real war begins.

Having lost this crucial battle, the Government will be compelled to engage in full, “general” discovery. This means that Missouri, Louisiana, The Gateway Pundit, and the rest of the plaintiffs will be empowered to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into the Government’s fascist conspiracy with Big Tech to shut down speech, censor thought, and engage in population manipulation through information control, in contravention of our First Amendment (Find a Copy of Judge Doughty’s Order Denying the Motion to Dismiss, here.)

On this day, July 4, 2023, a landmark decision emerges in Missouri v. Biden. The federal judge has partially granted an injunction that now prohibits DHS, FBI, DOJ, and numerous other federal agencies from colluding with Big Tech to censor posts on social media.

“IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part,” said Judge Terry Doughty, United States District Judge.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/breaking-independence-day-victory-free-speech-federal-judge/