26 Jan, 2025 13:47

Two more athletes refuse to return to Ukraine

Evgeny and Darya Pilipyuk have apparently cut ties with their home country after a youth karate tournament in Venice, Italy

Ukrainian karate athletes Evgeny and Darya Pilipyuk have been kicked out of the country’s Karate Federation for refusing to return homeafter taking part in an international youth tournament, the sports governing body has said.

The athletes were stripped of their membership in the organization for “non-return to Ukraine and violation of the rules of mobilization,”according to a statement posted on the federation’s Facebook page earlier this week.

The governing body also said it is planning to seek a lifetime disqualification from the World Karate Federation (WFK) for the Pilipyuks, as well as the annulment of their awards, adding that their actions are “damaging the reputation of Ukrainian karate.”

The 2024 Karate 1 Youth League, organized by the WKF, took place in early December in Venice, Italy.

Aleksandr Pikulin, the president of the Karate Federation of the city of Chernovtsi, told the media that he trained Evgeny Pilipyuk for 19 years and feels partly responsible for what happened.

“They did not get in touch with me, we tried to contact in different ways, through other athletes, we wanted to persuade him to return, but the efforts were in vain,” he said.

Earlier this month, Larisa Zhalinskaya, a Ukrainian rower and former member of Ukraine’s national team, told RT that she fled the country and moved to Russia via Poland and Belarus.She claimed that she was forced to join the Ukrainian National Guard amid the conflict with Russia.

Last week, the coach of the Croatian national gymnastics team, Vladimir Madzarevic, told local media that Ukrainian Olympics silver medalist Ilya Kovtun was planning to change his sports citizenship to represent the Balkan state.

In November, the head coach of the hockey club Sokil Kiev, Oleg Shafarenko,said that two of the team’s players did not return to Ukraine after the Continental Cup in Italy. Media reports emerged that defender Vladimir Aleksyuk and forward Roman Blagoyapplied for political asylum in the EU.

Kiev has been struggling to find new recruits to replenish its losses amid the conflict with Russia. The mobilization efforts in Ukraine have faced widespread draft evasion and desertions. Last year, the government in Kiev overhauled its national mobilization system to address the shortage of military personnel. The measures included lowering the draft age from 27 to 25, tightening the mobilization rules, and imposing harsher penalties for draft evasion.

https://www.rt.com/russia/611653-ukraine-karate-athletes-refuse-return/

26 Jan, 2025 19:11

Zelensky explains ban on talks with Moscow

Kiev sought to forestall all “negotiation processes” it could not control, the Ukrainian leader has said (Liar, he's been blocking it all the time because of the money from the US. Now he will be blamed for 100s of 1000s unnecessary deaths)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has explained that he banned negotiations with Russia in order to prevent what he called “separatist” talks outside official government oversight.Russia tried to reach out to Kiev through various intermediaries, including Ukrainian lawmakers, European parliamentarians, US contacts, and even ordinary people, he claimed in comments to journalists on Saturday.

Speaking at a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Zelensky complained that Moscow started “setting up a large number of various channels” it could use for talks after the start of its military campaign against Kiev in February 2022.

“There were a lot of negotiation processes, many shadowy political corridors,” he added.

“There were many various negotiation venues. I just realized that we and our relevant authorities cannot control it,” he told journalists, adding that he “quickly stopped” it, calling any talks with Moscow outside of his government’s control “separatism.”He also admitted that Russia did have “a large number” of negotiation channels in Ukraine prior to the ban.

Zelensky signed a decree banning any talks with Russia on October 4, 2022. The document only stated that any negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin were “impossible.” It did not specify whether Zelensky or anyone else could still speak with the Russian leadership.

Russia has consistently stated its readiness for peace talks and has accused Kiev of avoiding seeking a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing conflict.

Earlier this week, Putin told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubinthat any negotiations between Moscow and Kiev would be “illegitimate” as long as the ban stays in place. Any results of such talks could easily be made null and void, the Russian president warned, adding that, although some preliminary contacts could be made right now, any “serious” steps are not possible until the situation changes.

Putin also called on Kiev’s Western backers to exert pressure on Ukraine and make it lift the prohibition on talks. The Russian president said he believedKiev was in no rush to lift the ban since it was satisfied with the current situation that allowed it to receive “hundreds of billions [of dollars] from its sponsors” that it can “chomp down on.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/611672-zelensky-explain-ban-talks-moscow/

If Trump sees this, he'll know it was always Ukraine that continued the warHis excuses are lies.

26 Jan, 2025 00:57

Church to change name in bid to fight off EU state’s crackdown

Estonian officials have threatened to shut down monasteries if they don’t cut ties with Russia

The Estonian Orthodox Church (EOC) will change its name in response to pressure from the authorities to sever its historical ties with Russia.

The announcement comes after the Estonian government approved draft legislation requiring religious organizations to cut ties with foreign leaders and entities whose actions could be deemed a threat to national security. “There should be no connection to entities that support military aggression,” Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets said on Thursday.

The EOC is a self-governing church that has maintained canonical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. In a statement on Friday, EOC said it will change its name to the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church.

“The government-approved bill violates the freedom of religion and is directed against our church,”Bishop Daniel of Tartu said, adding that, if made into law, the legislation could “significantly restrict the activities of our church.”

He argued that the new name would “further highlight the church’s local identity and demonstrate that we are acting in accordance with the law and, at the same time, we are respecting the church canons.”

Most Estonians are not religious. Around 16% of the population are Orthodox Christians, and 8% are Lutherans, according to government statistics. Estonia was part of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991. Around 27% of the population are Russian speakers.

Earlier this week, Laanemets called the EOC “the most important instrument of influence for Russia and the Kremlin in Estonia.”

Last year, the minister threatened to shut down monasteries that refuse to cut ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and even threatened to classify the Russian Orthodox Church as a terrorist organization.

Moscow Patriarchate spokesman Vladimir Legoyda slammed Laanemets’ comments as a “witch hunt,” suggesting that the Estonian government is using the crackdown on the church to distract the taxpayers from “real issues.”

In August 2024, the EOC revised its charter and removed the mention of the Moscow Patriarchate from its official name, though Laanemets said the measure was insufficient.

EU officials have criticized the Russian Orthodox Church for its support of the Russian troops in Ukraine. In 2022, the UK imposed sanctions on the church’s head, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

https://www.rt.com/russia/611635-church-renaming-after-crackdown/

The EU and Europe have become what the Soviet Union did, ban all churches. Now they are doing what the communists did. If a church in Europe disagree with the government, they will be eliminated. Not one word of serious protest from the UN.

>>22440533 A Forensic Arborist claims Nearly All Wildfires in California since Paradise have been Caused by DEWPN

Trump said we know what the NC floods and hurricanes, were caused from, but we won't talk about it now. He for sure knows what the CA fires were and are caused from.

I hope to God Newsom gets arrested soon.