21 May, 2024 09:25

Zelensky ‘yelling at generals’ – The Economist

The Ukrainian president allegedly believes that he is being kept in the dark about the situation at the front

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky believes his generals are hiding the truth from him and has taken to shouting at them, The Economist has claimed, citing a government source.

Purported fits of presidential rage were mentioned in a Monday report on the situation in Kharkov Region, where Russian forces have gained significant ground over the last month. According to the British newsweekly, Ukrainian troops deployed there are angry at the development and have competing theories about the causes.

Some blame the US and its allies for insufficient and untimely aid, not unlike Zelensky himself, while others“suspect that incompetence, or even treachery, played a more significant role.” There are also “conspiracy theories” about politicians in Kiev and Washington conspiring to sell the territory “down the river ahead of an ugly peace deal.”

Denis Yaroslavsky, a local commander who made national headlines for complaining thatfortifications that were supposed to prevent Russian advances did not really exist, told The Economist that Zelensky “is being kept in a warm bath” – that is, being told comforting lies by his aides.

The Economist's anonymous government source said the president has been clashing with Ukrainian generals after allegedly sensing that he was not getting the whole truth about the frontline situation.

Zelensky’sstrained relations with the military leadership, which reportedly stems fromhim putting his political goals ahead of military objectives, has previously been covered by Ukrainian and international media.

In December, the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda claimed that the president was actively undermining Valery Zaluzhny, who at the time was Ukraine’s most senior general, in favor of Aleksandr Syrsky.

“It seems Zelensky has two kinds of troops: ‘good’ ones commanded by Syrsky and other favorites and ‘bad’ ones under Zaluzhny,” a source told the outlet. “This demoralizes [Zaluzhny] and prevents him from commanding the army as a whole.”

In February, the Ukrainian leader fired Zaluzhny and appointed Syrsky as his replacement.

A profile of Zelensky published by Time magazine last November said the president’s uncompromising drive for a battlefield victory over Russia was“verging on the messianicand had put him at odds with some officers.

A military official described how at one point the president’s office issued a direct order to a unit on the ground to “retake” a certain city, and received the reply:“With what?” The unit had neither weapons nor soldiers, the source explained.

(Zelensky is failing and desperate, and the "war" is disintegrating. His backers are hiding and ducking out)

https://www.rt.com/russia/597968-zelensky-yells-generals-economist/

>>20895670

14 May, 2024 14:15

Ukrainian military stole money intended for fortifications – local media

With millions of dollars reportedly embezzled, Russian armor was free to roll across the border into Kharkov

(This is where all the money is going)

Military and civilianauthoritiesin Ukraine’s Kharkov Regionpaid millionsof dollars to fake companies for the supply ofnon-existent building materials to construct defensive fortifications, the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported on Monday.

With no fortifications built, Russian forces have advanced rapidly through the region. (When Ukraine’s own media report this corruption, it’s not propaganda)

Russia has seized dozens of towns and villages in the northern part of Kharkov Region after launching an offensive last Friday.

According to the latest update from the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian troops had captured the village of Bugrovatka on Monday and are inflicting losses on Ukrainian manpower and hardware near Veseloye, Volchansk, and Liptsi, the latter of which is located just 20km from the outskirts of Kharkov city.

Writing in Ukrainska Pravda on Monday, Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Martina Boguslavets explained thatKharkov’s Department of Housing and Communal Services (ZhKG) and Regional Military Administration (OVA) had been given 7 billion hryvnias ($176.5 million) to build fortificationsto hold back this advance.

Much of this money was embezzled, Boguslavets claimed. For the supply of wood, the ZhKG andOVA signed contracts worth 270 million hryvnias($6.8 million) withfive companies that were set up immediatelyafter the contracts were announced. No bidding process took place, and at least two of these companies were owned by the same person, Boguslavets wrote.

“Moreover,the ownersof these firms do not resemble successful businessmen and businesswomen,” she wrote. “They have dozens of court cases, from whiskey theft to domestic violence against a husband and mother; some of them are deprived of parental rights and have had enforcement proceedings for bank loans.”

Boguslavets described these business ownersas “avatars,”placed in charge of the companies either for a small fee or without their knowledge. One of thesupposed CEOs, whose firmwas paid 52 million hryvnias ($1.3 million) is an agricultural laborer, according to Boguslavets’ documents.

“The naked eye can see how a government official mercilessly registers new companies, using for this purpose people who, due to the circumstances, may not be aware of this,” she wrote.“And this someone continues to make money on blood.”

The lack of defensive fortifications allowed Russian forces to enter Kharkov Region almost unopposed, Denis Yaroslavsky, commander of a Ukrainian special reconnaissance unit, told the BBC on Monday.

“There was no first line of defense. We saw it. The Russians just walked in. They just walked in, without any mined fields,” Yaroslavsky said.

“Either it was an act of negligence or corruption. It wasn’t a failure. It was a betrayal,” he added.

The story of the embezzled defense money is the latest in a long series of tales of corruption to emerge from Ukraine. Earlier this week,

Poland canceled trade talks with Kiev after Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Nikolay Solsky was accused of illegally appropriating state land worth nearly $7.4 million. Several months earlier, Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, announced that it had uncovered a major embezzlement scheme in whichUkrainian officialsand private contractors stole around$40 million earmarked for shell procurement.

https://www.rt.com/russia/597583-ukraine-corruption-defense-kharkov/

(A later article stated that President Zelensky himself said he inspected the "new built fortifications" that were never there.)

>>20895738

Do anons know how impossible it was to find a negative mention of Zelensky in the news all through 2021, 2022. He was a god a "winston churchill".

At the end of 2022 there were opinion articles just slightly criticizing Ukraine or Zelensky.

Now there are multiple articles a week on him, the country, the military etc. and many pretty negative.

Obviously the West have taken off the brakes on the media, and they can report whatever they want about Zelensky and the country.

21 May, 2024 14:11

One dead, several injured as severe turbulence strikes Boeing aircraft (VIDEO)

Passengers were launched into the ceiling when the Singapore-bound jetliner plunged 6,000 feet in minutes

One person was killed and several others were injured when a Singapore Airlines flight from London encountered severe turbulence en route to Singapore on Tuesday. The Boeing 777 was forced to divert to Bangkok.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 departed Heathrow Airport on Monday night with 211 passengers and 18 crew on board. As the plane crossed the Bay of Bengalnear Thailand on Tuesday, it was stricken by “severe turbulence”and forced to land just before 4pm local time, the airline said in a statement.

“We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER. Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” the statement read.

Data from FlightRadar24 showed thewidebody jet dropping from 37,000 feet (11,278 meters)to 31,000 feet (9,449 meters) in aroundthree minutesas it neared the Thai coast.

“Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing a seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,” passenger Dzafran Azmir told Reuters.

“Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it,” Azmir said.

Video footage shared on social media captured the moment passengers were thrown from their seats by the sudden drop. Photos apparently taken after the jet had landed showed the cabin strewn with rubbish and some passengers and crew members with visible injuries.

Horrific IncidentSingapore Airlines Boeing 777 flight from London to Singapore dropped about 6000 feet due to severe turbulence. 1 Passenger has died and over 30 injured

#SingaporeAirlines#Boeing#london#VedantAgarwal#Porschepic.twitter.com/2IPhvHe1Jz — CA Anshul Garg (Modi ka Pariwar) (@AnshulGarg1986) May 21, 2024

Singapore Airlines flight Boeing SQ321 fell from 6000 feet due to turbulence 1 person died and several injured Always have your seat belts when inflight #SingaporeAirlines#SQ321pic.twitter.com/Yta1iylDOD— Sidra (@SidRa18350) May 21, 2024

Turbulence is an unpredictable phenomenon with multiple causes. Rolling air currents passing over mountain tops, jet streams, and tropical storms can all disrupt calm air and cause turbulence. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) classifies four levels of turbulence ranging from ‘light’ to ‘extreme’. In ‘severe’ cases of turbulence, “the aircraft experiences abrupt changes in altitude and/or attitude, and may be out of the pilot’s control for short periods,” according to the NOAA.

While modern airliners like the Boeing 777 are designed to withstand even ‘extreme’ levels of turbulence, it can still be hazardousto passengers who aren’t wearing seatbelts. Last August, 11 people were hospitalized after a Delta Airlines flight from Milan to Atlanta ran into severe turbulence while descending through a thunderstorm over Georgia, and between 2009 and 2021, the US Federal Aviation Administration recorded 146 serious injuries as a result of turbulence.

Singapore Airlines’ last fatal accident occurred in 2000, when one of its Boeing 747s crashed while attempting to take off from a closed runway during a typhoon at Taiwan’s Chiang Kai-shek Airport; 79 passengers and four crew members were killed when the jet collided with construction equipment parked on the runway.

https://www.rt.com/news/597992-singapore-airlines-turbulence-death/

>>20895846

Anons does this sound normal and possible?