18 Aug, 2024 03:33

Chechen leader mounts machine gun on Cybertruck (VIDEO)

The Tesla vehicle “will be of great use” to Russia on the front lines, Ramzan Kadyrov has said

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic, has taken a Tesla Cybertruck for a test drive and pledged to send it to the front lines, saying the electric vehicle – now equipped with a machine gun turret – “will be of great use” to the troops.

In a video posted on Telegram on Saturday, Kadyrov claimed he received the vehicle from the “esteemed Elon Musk” and decided to personally test it to see if it deserves the title ‘Cyberbeast’.

After taking it for a spin in central Grozny, the Chechen leader said he “literally fell in love” with the vehicle, calling it “undoubtedly one of the best cars in the world.” He noted its comfort, speed, maneuverability, and cross-country performance.

“A real invulnerable and fast animal… Given such excellent characteristics, the Cybertruck will soon be sent to the Ukraine conflict zone, where it will be used in appropriate conditions. I am sure this ‘beast’ will be of great use to our fighters,” he said.

“I express my sincere gratitude to Elon Musk!”Kadyrov continued, calling the entrepreneur one of the “greatest geniuses of our time.”

“Elon, thank you! Come to Grozny; I will welcome you as my dearest guest!” the Chechen leader said, adding that he is sure the Russian Foreign Ministry would not be against the visit.

Musk has not yet commented on Kadyrov’s claims regarding the vehicle. Although Tesla cars are not officially supplied to Russia, many are available through resellers, with prices for Cybertrucks starting at over $200,000 on various platforms.

(This is interesting, Adin Ross gives one to Trump, Tucker interviews a Maine forest clearer after Elon sent a Truck to him for checking out., The Maine guy report's it a great truck; and now it shows up in Chechnya with the leader saying the same. Did Elon use Trump's interview as start of marketing it?)

https://www.rt.com/russia/602743-kadyrov-chechnya-cybetruck-musk/

17 Aug, 2024 16:22

Ukraine making a ‘serious nuclear gamble’ – ex-Pentagon official

Kiev’s alleged “dirty bomb” threat is an attempt to gain leverage over Moscow, Michael Maloof has said

The alleged Ukrainian plot to attack Russian nuclear power plants demonstrates Kiev’s desperation and warrants a “full force” response from Moscow, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof told RT on Saturday.

In a report on Friday, Russian military journalist Marat Khairullin claimed that Kiev was “preparing a nuclear false flag – an explosion of a dirty atomic bomb” which would target “the storage sites of spent nuclear fuel of a nuclear power plant.” The attack would reportedly be launched on either the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Energodar – also not far from the frontline – or the Kursk NPP in Kurchatov, and then blamed on Russia.

“This is pretty serious, if true. To play this nuclear gamble is quite serious indeed,” Maloof told RT. “This is Kiev’s effort to gain leverage, knowing that its own back is against the wall. This is desperation, but going the nuclear route would not only create an immediate problem in that region, but throughout all of Europe, so I think that this is really draconian, if that’s indeed what the Ukrainians have in mind.”

The threat is made more pressing by the fact that the Ukrainian military has weapons – including drones and American-supplied HIMARS rockets – capable of reaching both plants, Maloof continued.

Moscow should therefore take “pre-emptive action” and target Ukrainian military sites within range of the facilities, the former security policy analyst suggested.

In a statement on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that any attempt by Kiev to create a nuclear disaster would be met with “tough military and military-technical countermeasures.”

By “dangling the nuclear threat in front of everyone,” Ukraine aims to force Russia to the negotiating table on its own terms, Maloof claimed. With Russian forces winning the battle of attrition in the Donbass, Kiev “knows it has no alternatives” and wants “to have things a little more favorable and have that leverage that they need in order to negotiate,” he added.

The Ukrainian military has repeatedly attacked the Zaporozhye NPP since it was seized by Russian forces in 2022. A drone attack on the plant last week caused a fire inside one of the facility’s cooling towers, forcing technicians to place the NPP’s six reactors in a state of “cold shutdown.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly condemned attacks on the Zaporozhye plant, but has refused to pin the blame on Ukrainian forces. Kiev denies any plant to carry out a false-flag attack on either the Zaporozhye or Kursk plants; Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky accused Russia of setting fire to its own nuclear plant last week.

https://www.rt.com/russia/602731-ukraine-dirty-bomb-gamble/

18 Aug, 2024 09:33

Ukraine pushing Russia to use nuclear weapons – Belarus

Kiev may have launched its Kursk incursion to provoke a drastic response by Moscow, President Alexander Lukashenko believes

Ukraine’s incursion into internationally recognized Russian territory looks like an attempt to compel Moscow to use nuclear weapons, which would irrevocably damage its image globally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.

In an interview with Russia-1 aired on Sunday, Lukashenko warned that Kiev’s operation in Kursk Region – the largest cross-border assault by Kiev since the outbreak of the conflict – posed enormous risks to global security.

“The danger is that this kind of escalation on the part of Ukraine is an attempt to push Russia into asymmetric actions, for example, the use of nuclear weapons,” the Belarusian leader said, adding that such a move would be a PR bonanza for both Kiev and its Western backers.

“Then we would probably have hardly any allies left. There would be no sympathetic countries left at all,” he noted, explaining that this reaction would be based on the universal aversion to the fallout that could be caused by nuclear weapons.

Lukashenko also responded to statements by Ukrainian officials that the Kursk incursion was aimed at improving Kiev’s diplomatic position for possible talks with Russia.This plan is “a classic, but it does not work in a struggle against a great empire that has not even begun to fight in earnest,” he argued, adding he was sure that the Ukrainians would eventually be expelled from Kursk Region.

According to its current nuclear doctrine, Russia can deploy its nuclear arsenal only “in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, and also in case of aggression against Russia with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said on several occasions that there is no need to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine campaign. Moscow has warned that it may change its nuclear doctrine, but said that any changes would be in response to what it perceives as escalatory moves by NATO.

https://www.rt.com/russia/602749-ukraine-pushing-russia-nuclear-weapons/

18 Aug, 2024 13:41

Ukraine could be ‘destroyed’ – Lukashenko

The Belarusian president has suggested that Moscow and Kiev return to talks based on a tentative agreement reached in Istanbul

Moscow and Kiev must eventually settle their differences through negotiationsor the conflict will end in the total destruction of Ukraine,Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.

In an interview with the Russia-1 channel released on Sunday, Lukashenko urged the two countries to return to the peace talks that collapsed in the spring of 2022 after what Moscow has called Western interference.

“We must sit down at the negotiating table and discuss the issues. But if it goes on like in Kursk Region, this will be an escalation that would result in Ukraine’s destruction,” the Belarusian leader warned, referring to Kiev’s large-scale assault on internationally recognized Russian territory earlier this month.

Lukashenko noted that the belligerents could re-engage based on a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who suggested picking up where Moscow and Kiev left off last time.

“Yes, the situation on the ground has changed, but this [document] could be a start. A start for a discussion,” he said.

Last month, Putin recalled that the Istanbul deal, under which Ukraine would have agreed to “permanent neutrality” and to downsize its military while receiving certain security guarantees, “remains on the table and could serve as the basis” for a new round of peace talks.

Moscow has said that the talks were on the verge of a breakthrough but were derailed by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who allegedly advised Kiev to “keep fighting.”Although Johnson has denied the accusation, staff who were close to Vladimir Zelensky admit he had an influential role.

While Russia has repeatedly said throughout the conflict that it is open to talks with Ukraine,Putin has recently said that any engagement with Ukraine is impossible as long as it is conducting attacks on civilians and threatening nuclear power plants– both of which Moscow has accused Kiev of doing during the Kursk incursion.

Zelensky admitted last month that Ukraine could open talks with the current Russian leadership, despite a still-active presidential decree signed in 2022 that forbids doing so. The decree was approved after four former Ukrainian regions voted overwhelmingly to join Russia.

https://www.rt.com/russia/602756-ukraine-destroyed-talks-russia/

17 Aug, 2024 13:48

Ukrainian attack ruined ‘secret’ peace talks – WaPo

Moscow and Kiev were negotiating a moratorium on striking energy infrastructure before the Kursk incursion, the paper has reported

Ukrainian attack ruined ‘secret’ peace talks – WaPo

The Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region has derailed secretive Qatar-mediated talks between Moscow and Kiev that could have paved the way for a “partial ceasefire,” the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing sources.

An unnamed diplomat told the paper that both sides intended to send delegations to Doha to negotiate a landmark deal that would halt mutually devastating strikes on energy infrastructure. However, when Ukrainian troops launched a large-scale attack on Russian territory last week, the planned talks were thrown into doubt, the article said.

According to one WaPo source, Russian officials postponed the meeting, describing the attack on Kursk Region as “an escalation.” An unnamed diplomat claimed, however, that Russia “didn’t call off the talks, they said give us time.”

Talks to end the infrastructure strikes have been going on for the past two months, the paper reported, adding that only minor details of the agreement needed to be worked out before the summit. Some of those involved in the discussions even reportedly hoped they could pave the way for a broader agreement to end the conflict.

Senior officials in Kiev, however, were more skeptical about the negotiations, estimating their chance of success at 20% or less, the Washington Post said. After Russia decided to take time-out, the Ukrainian delegation reportedly wanted to go to Doha regardless, but Qatar refused, seeing no point in such a format of talks.

The Post noted that Ukrainian officials are increasingly worried about whether the country will be able to survive winter if Russia continues to pound its energy infrastructure. Kiev estimated in May that as much as 50% of Ukraine’s energy capacity had been knocked out.

”We have one chance to get through this winter, and that’s if the Russians won’t launch any new attacks on the grid,” a Washington Post source said.

However, a Russian academic suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be in the mood to make any deals with Kiev after the Kursk incursion. The Russian leader said that any peace talks with Ukraine are impossible as long as it conducts “indiscriminate strikes on civilians… or tries to threaten nuclear energy facilities.”

The last time Ukraine and Russia held peace talks was in Istanbul in the spring of 2022. While the negotiations initially made progress, they later collapsed, with Moscow blaming the interference of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who allegedly advised Kiev to keep fighting. Johnson has denied the allegation.

https://www.rt.com/russia/602725-kursk-attack-ruined-secret-talks-ukraine-russia/