16 Sep, 2024 10:29

Latest assassination attempt on Donald Trump: What we know so far

A pro-Kiev activist allegedly brought a Kalashnikov assault rifle to the former US president’s golf course.1/2

Former US President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term in the White House, appears to have been the target of an attempted assassination for a second time in three months.

The suspect is reportedly a Ukraine-obsessed man who was involved in recruiting foreign fighters for Kiev.

The incident

What the US Secret Service described as a possible attempt on the life of the Republican presidential candidate took place shortly before 2pm on Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Agency personnel fired several gunshots at an armed man who they spotted near the property line, it said.

The suspect fled but was caught later in the day in neighboring Martin County. The sheriff’s office confirmed that it had arrested a suspect who was driving north on I-95. Deputies were acting on information shared by their counterparts from West Palm Beach County.

The FBI has taken charge of the investigation.

Sniper nest

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has shared images of the location where the suspect was hiding, in bushes on the perimeter of the golf club. Items recovered reportedly include an AK-47-style assault rifle with a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tiles, which were hanging on the fence, and a GoPro camera, he said.

The sheriff said a Secret Service agent had spotted the barrel of a rifle sticking out of the bushes and engaged the gunman, forcing him to flee. The man and his vehicle were spotted by an eyewitness, who confirmed the suspect’s identity after he was arrested, Bradshaw added.

Pro-Kiev suspect

Multiple media outlets identified the would-be shooter as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, originally from North Carolina and residing in Hawaii. Photos of a man wearing a pink T-shirt and sitting inside a police cruiser are circulating online.

Routh has previously spoken to US media about his pro-Kiev stance and his role in recruiting foreign fighters who he thought the Ukrainian government could use.

In June 2022, he told Newsweek that he considered the Ukraine conflict to be “definitely black and white,” and “about good versus evil.”

He had initially intended to join the ranks of the Ukrainian military but apparently failed to do so. He reportedly went on to other projects, including an attempt to recruit and send Afghan commandos who had fled the Taliban to the front line in Ukraine.

”We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he told the New York Times in March 2023.

In an interview with Semafor the same month, Routh expressed his frustration with Kiev, which was suspicious about his proposal.He was identified by the outlet as the head of the International Volunteer Center (IVC) in Ukraine, a pro-Kiev non-profit.

https://www.rt.com/news/604117-trump-assassination-ukraine-supporter/

>>21601769

2/2

Dr. Simon Goddek

@goddeketal

BREAKING: Ryan Routh was featured in an AZOV propaganda video in 2022. For those unaware, AZOV is a violent, far-right Ukrainian militia with neo-Nazi origins, notorious for its anti-Russian extremism—and supported by the CIA. Yet the media stays silent.

Sept. 15, 2024

https://x.com/goddeketal/status/1835496716373524824

In May 2022, his face briefly appeared in a video, which appealed to the international communityto pressure Russia on behalf of the Azov Battalion, the infamous Ukrainian unit with ties to white nationalist groups around the world. Hundreds of its fighters were captured in the city of Mariupol that month, after they surrendered a heavily fortified former steel mill, which they used as a base. Supporters wanted them released as soon as possible….

Reaction

Public figures across the political aisle have condemned the latest apparent attempt to kill Trump.

”As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump in the November election, said she was “deeply disturbed” by the incident, and thankful that her opponent was safe.

Trump has expressed his gratitude to the Secret Service, Sheriff Bradshaw and his office for the “incredible job done.” He remarked that “it was certainly an interesting day!”

Brush with death in July

In mid-July, a sniper fired at Trump during a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. One shot grazed Trump's ear, while further shots killed one of the ex-president’s supporters and wounded several others. The shooter was killed by return fire from a Secret Service agent.

The incident subjected the Secret Service to intense criticism over perceived lapses in security provided to Trump. Then Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down from her position following bipartisan pressure. Ronald L. Rowe Jr. succeeded her as acting head of the agency.

https://www.rt.com/news/604117-trump-assassination-ukraine-supporter/

15 Sep, 2024 09:27

Ukraine hails call for EU to end refugee payments

(Kek no one wants to fight their stupid war, they don't want to get dead)

Restricting benefits would force Ukrainian men to return home and sign up to fight Russian forces, Poland’s foreign minister has said

Kiev’s Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga has welcomed Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s call on European governments to halt the provision of welfare benefits to Ukrainian men of military age who are living in the EU.

Following a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kiev, Sikorski said the suspension of social payments for the male refugees would also benefit state finances in EU countries.

“Stop paying those social security payments for people who are eligible for the Ukrainian draft. There should be no financial incentives for avoiding the draft in Ukraine,” Sikorski said at a conference of international leaders in Kiev.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga welcomed Sikorski’s call.

“It’s time really to raise the question of the European Union developing programs to return Ukrainians home,”Sibiga said, adding that appropriate conditions should be created for this. “I support the idea of Minister Sikorski,”Sibiga said. Being abroad should in no way give some Ukrainian men of military age an advantage over others, fighting at the battlefield, Sibiga stressed. “This duty applies to everyone, regardless of where they are,” he concluded.

Over four million Ukrainians who have fled their country since the escalation of its conflict with Russiain 2022 had temporary protection status in EU countries as of July this year. Adult men make up slightly more than a fifth of the total, according to data provided by the bloc’s statistics bureau Eurostat.

Kiev introduced a new law this year to boost the rate at which it forcibly drafts citizens for military service in order to compensate for battlefield losses as Russia advances in Donbass.

Under the new law, Ukraine lowered the call-up age for combat duty to 25 from 27. Kiev has also ordered Ukrainian men living abroad to update their conscription details online, calling on them to return and fight.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky claimed in February that his country had suffered around 31,000 fatalities.

Earlier this week, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergey Shoigu, accused Kiev of rejecting multiple opportunities to end the hostilities, citing the high death toll among Ukrainian soldiers.

“There was a first wave of mobilization, second wave of mobilization… They have reduced the age limit for mobilization. This was not necessary,” Shoigu said.“Every day they lose 28 square kilometers on average,” the official added. “But the most important thing is that they lose up to 2,000 people every day.”

Ukraine has suffered more than 12,795 troop casualties since the beginning of the Kursk incursion in early August, according to the latest estimates provided by the Russian military.

(Why does every leader in Ukraine look angry and arrogant?)

https://www.rt.com/russia/604041-kiev-backs-poland-call-stop-benefits/

16 Sep, 2024 12:02

Putin orders increase in size of Russian military

The president has signed a decree to set the strength of the country’s armed forces at nearly 2.4 million people

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that officially increases the number of personnel in Russia’s armed forces to almost 2.4 million people,including 1.5 million servicemen.

The latest increase comes after a similar decree in December 2023, when the president boosted the number of employees in the Russian military to just over 2.2 million, including 1.3 million troops.

In his order on Monday, Putin also instructed the Russian government to allocate the necessary funds for the Defense Ministry to carry out the increase, which formally takes the number of personnel in the armed forces to 2,389,130.

The last time the president expanded the number of Russian troops, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that the movewas the result of the “proxy war” being waged against Moscow by the West. “The security of our country must be, of course, ensured,” Peskov stated at the time.

“This is connected with the war that the countries of the collective West are waging. A proxy war, which includes elements of indirect participation in military actions and elements of economic warfare, financial warfare, legal warfare, going beyond the legal framework, and so on.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry also stated at the time that theexpansion of the army would be done through citizens who voluntarily wish to serve under contract.

It also explained that the decision to increase personnel numbers was due to the threat posed by NATO’s continued expansion. Members of the US-led bloc have significantly expanded their military presence along the Russian border, deploying additional air defense systems and strike weapons.

“An additional increase in the combat strength and numbers of the armed forces is an adequate response to the aggressive activities of the NATO bloc,” the ministry wrote.

https://www.rt.com/russia/604128-putin-increases-military-size/