11 Jan, 2024 16:01

Medvedev warns Kiev of potential nuclear response

The former president said any attacks against Russian missile launch sites would trigger a devastating reaction

Moscow could use nuclear weapons even if it is attacked by conventional arms, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned. His comments came in response to calls in Ukraine to target missile launch sites inside Russia.

Writing on his Telegram channel on Thursday, Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, stated that“some thick-headed warmongers from Banderostan [Ukraine]” have suggested that the best method to fight Russia is to destroy its launch sites with long-range missiles supplied by the West.

The only consequence of such actions, according to Medvedev, would be the triggering of a nuclear response. He explained that Russian military doctrine allows it to deploy tactical nuclear weapons against a country that puts Russian statehood at risk, even through the use of conventional arms.

“This is not a right to self-defense, but a direct and obvious basis for us to use our nuclear weapons against such a state,” Medvedev wrote. He further warned that “all the heirs of Hitler, Mussolini, Petain and others in today’s Europe who support the Nazis in Kiev should remember this.”

The former Russian president did not specify whose comments he was reacting to. However, earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yury Ignat stated that Kiev does not have the resources to shoot down the thousands of S-300 missiles being stored in Russian warehouses, and that could be fired at Ukraine.

Speaking on national TV,Ignat suggested that the “best method” to defend against such attacks is to destroy missile launchers located on Russian territory. In order to accomplish this, the official stated that Kiev would need to use high-precision weapons.

https://www.rt.com/russia/590468-medvedev-ukraine-nuclear-response/

11 Jan, 2024 15:24

$1 billion US military aid for Ukraine not properly tracked – Pentagon

Nearly 40,000 pieces of highly sensitive military equipment sent to Ukraine were poorly tracked, a new report concludes

More than $1 billion worth of sophisticated weaponry sent to Ukraine by the US was poorly tracked, a new report by the Pentagon’s inspector general states.A redacted version of the report was made publicon Thursday, a day after the document was submitted to the US Congress.

The probe explored the implementation of the so-called enhanced end-use monitoring (EEUM) procedures by the Pentagon. The EEUM applies to a limited number of highly sensitive and sophisticated equipment and weaponry, such asshoulder-mounted missile systems, kamikaze drones, night-vision devices, and other hardware.

The US and its “partner nations” have supplied Ukraine with an estimated $1.699 billion worth of EEUM-designated hardware, according to the report. Despite the effort of the Pentagon and the Ukrainian military to conduct required inventories of said equipment, “Significant personnel limitations and accountability challenges remain.” A reported 59% of the total value, just over 1$ billion, remains improperly tracked as of June 2, 2023, the document reads.

Lack of proper accountability “may increase the risk of theft and diversion” of the sophisticated EEUM-designated equipment, the report notes. Thus far, the inspector general was not actually tasked with finding out whether the untracked hardware actually ended up stolen.

“It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been a diversion of such assistance,” the report reads. The Pentagon inspector general “now has personnel stationed in Ukraine” and continues toinvestigate “allegations of criminal conductwith regard to US security assistance to Ukraine.” (Did the US set this up so that they will find criminal conduct in leadership so that they could cut loose Kiev and the leaders when the truth comes out?)

Claims of misuse and theft of military hardware, lavishly poured into Ukraine by the collective West, emerged early into the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, which broke out back in February 2022. For instance, sophisticated weapons supplied to the country, such as the US-made ‘Switchblade’ kamikaze drones or NLAW shoulder-fired anti-tank missile launchers, have been reportedreadily available for purchase on the Darknet.

Weaponry destined for Ukraine has also reportedly surfaced during conflicts around the globe, including the ongoing escalation in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

https://www.rt.com/news/590463-everything-wrong-with-ukraine-aid/

I have no doubt it's much higher than $1 billion.

11 Jan, 2024 15:21

Moscow’s top spy warns exchange-program graduates of US colleges

America is trying to seize the slightest opportunity to shake up the situation in Russia ahead of election, Sergey Naryshkin said

Washington is planning to use Russian graduates from student-exchange programs in the US to meddle with the presidential election this March, the head of the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin has said.

Over the years, some 80,000 Russian studentshave traveled to the US under such programs as Access, Advance, Summer Work and Travel, FLEX, Fulbright, Global UGRAD and other programs, Naryshkin told the media on Thursday.

“In advance of the presidential election in Russia, the Americans are seizing on even the slightest opportunity to shake up the internal political situation in our country,” he said, adding that this includes “intensifying work” with Russian graduates of these exchange programs.

According to the spy chief, the US authorities believe that with “the right preparation”these graduates are capable of becoming “the core of the fifth column”in Russia and replace members of the opposition, many of whom had fled abroad after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine.

Washington plans to actively involve these graduates “in the political struggle against the Russian authorities,” he stressed.

A special training program has already been developed for them, focusing on teaching its students “the methods of inciting inter-ethnic and social hatred, of interfering in elections and discrediting Russia’s leadership on social media,” Nasryshkin said. A lot of attention will be paid toestablishing secure communicationsbetween the graduates and their American “curators,” he added.

An inaugural seminar as part of the program is to take place in Latvia’s capital Riga mid-February, the SVR director said. American spies, who work undercover atUS diplomatic missionsin Moscow and Riga, are going tooffer coaching at the event, he said.

As for the students who will attend the seminar,it won’t be difficult for the Russian intelligence services to establish their identities, Nasryshkin warned.

During his meetings with the leaders of the grouping in the Russian parliament last month, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that any attempts to interfere in the country’s internal affairs are going to be “curbed strictly and in accordance with the law. ”The government is going to protect the freedom of the Russian people, their sovereignty and their right to choose their future” during the election, scheduled to take place between March 15 and 17, he reassured the assembled lawmakers.

https://www.rt.com/news/590458-election-us-meddling-naryshkin/