WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/MaimunkaNews/status/1782705621361369246

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/RT_com/status/1782872069543518433

https://www.rt.com/business/596461-s...frozen-assets/

‘Neutral’ Switzerland blocking $14 billion worth of Russian assets[/B]
Switzerland is holding an estimated 13 billion francs ($14.3 billion) in Russian assets frozen in its financial institutions, around half of which belongs to the state and half to private individuals, the national agency overseeing sanctions revealed on Tuesday.

While the value of Russia’s state assets remains unchanged, Swiss authorities reported a sharp drop in the value of privately owned funds.

As of the end of December, a total of 5.8 billion francs ($6.3 billion) in funds and properties belonging to sanctioned Russian individuals or entities was frozen in Switzerland, authorities have said. The figure represents a 1.7 billion franc ($1.9 billion) decline from the 7.5 billion francs registered at the end of 2022, according to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

“The decrease is explained by a loss in value of certain blocked assets – particularly securities related to Russia – as a result of international sanctions,” SECO said in a statement.

The sum is separate from the 7.24 billion francs ($7.9 billion) in assets belonging to the Russian central bank, which has also been blocked in Switzerland.

Swiss authorities said last year that they had frozen an additional 580 million francs ($636 million) in financial assets and two more properties, following their own investigations and “detailed clarifications” by banks. The current estimate includes 17 properties, luxury cars, works of art, furniture and musical instruments belonging to sanctioned Russians.

The agency also revealed that 140 million francs ($153.5 million) in frozen funds had been released “after further investigations found the legal requirements for their freezing were not met.”

Despite not being an EU member and considering itself to be a neutral state, Switzerland has supported the West’s Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia. The Swiss government said on more than one occasion that it had been closely following EU discussions on the prospect of seizing frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, but has yet to outline plans to do so.

Moscow has repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of the asset freezes, slamming the practice as “theft” and warning of countermeasures should the West move to confiscate the funds.

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https://x.com/IslanderReports/status...69051862802613

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https://x.com/ArthurM40330824/status...44335785607375

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https://x.com/mazzenilsson/status/1783188013129830698

https://www.ft.com/content/c2fc7827-...6-1476208c22da

Russian court orders seizure of $440mn from JPMorgan
Move follows lawsuit from state-owned bank VTB to recover funds held at America’s largest lender

A Russian court has ordered the seizure of JPMorgan Chase funds totalling $439.5mn a week after Kremlin-run lender VTB launched legal action against the largest US bank to recoup money stuck under Washington’s sanctions regime.

The move highlights some of the fallout western companies are feeling from the punitive measures against Moscow. It is also further evidence of the difficulties western lenders are encountering when trying to follow through with pledges to close their Russia operations since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The seizure order, published in the Russian court register on Wednesday, targets funds in JPMorgan’s accounts and shares in its Russian subsidiaries, according to the ruling issued by the arbitration court in St Petersburg. The assets had been frozen by authorities in the wake of the western sanctions.

The dispute centres around $439mn in funds that VTB held in a JPMorgan account in the US. When Washington imposed sanctions on the Kremlin-run bank, JPMorgan had to move the funds to a separate escrow account. Under the US sanctions regime, neither VTB nor JPMorgan can access the funds.

In response, VTB last week filed a lawsuit against the New York-based group to get Russian authorities to freeze the equivalent amount in Russia, warning that JPMorgan was seeking to leave Russia and would refuse to pay any compensation.

The following day, JPMorgan filed its own lawsuit against the Russian lender in a US court to prevent a seizure of its assets, arguing that it had no way to reclaim VTB’s stranded US funds to compensate its own potential losses from the Russian lawsuit.

JPMorgan and VTB declined to comment on the ruling.

When JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs announced their intention to close their Russia businesses, which made up just a small part of their worldwide operations, experts warned that any exit could take more than a year to accomplish. Other western banks including Citigroup, Italy’s UniCredit and Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International are still operating in Russia.

Since a decree issued in 2022, exiting Russia requires a greenlight from President Vladimir Putin himself. Seven banks — out of 45 then operating in the country — have been granted presidential approval, including Mercedes-Benz Bank, Ikano, J&T and Intesa.

In early 2022, Russia also banned shareholders from “unfriendly countries”, including the US, from withdrawing their dividends.

Last summer, a Russian court froze about $36mn worth of assets owned by Goldman following a lawsuit by state-owned bank Otkritie. A few months later the court ruled that the Wall Street investment bank had to pay the funds to Otkritie.

In March 2023, another Russian court seized $204mn worth of Volkswagen’s assets in Russia pending a lawsuit by its former partner Gaz Group, owned by sanctions-hit oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The assets were later unfrozen as VW received permission from the Russian authorities to sell its Russian business to Avilon, one of the country’s largest car dealers.

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1782832156571570388

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/RT_com/status/1783098562349342733

https://www.rt.com/russia/596490-smo...lities-drones/


Ukraine strikes Russian oil facilities
Ukrainian drones have targeted energy infrastructure in Russia’s Smolensk Region, local Governor Vasily Anokhin said on Wednesday morning.

“Our region is again under attack by Ukrainian UAVs,” Anokhin wrote on Telegram at around 5am local time, adding that Russian air defenses were responding to the situation.

The drone attack targeted “civilian fuel and energy facilities” and resulted in several fires in the Smolensky and Yartsevsky districts, according to the official. Firefighters are tackling the blaze, Anokhin added, urging the residents to remain calm.

Smolensk Region is around 300 kilometers southeast of Moscow and borders Belarus. The distance from the city of Smolensk to the border with Ukraine is 400km.

Ukraine attempted to bomb another undisclosed oil facility in Smolensk last week. The drones were downed, but debris fell onto a storage unit of oil and lubricants, resulting in a small fire, according to Anokhin.

On Saturday, Russian air defenses intercepted several Ukrainian drone raids across the western part of the country, destroying some 50 UAVs over the border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, and also deeper into Russia – in Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga, and Moscow Regions.

Since January, Ukraine has launched a series of long-range attacks on Russian energy facilities, including oil depots and refineries, using kamikaze drones. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has suggested the strikes are meant to impress Kiev’s Western backers to compensate for a lack of progress on the frontline.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that US Vice President Kamala Harris met privately with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February, telling him to refrain from targeting Russian oil refineries. President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly believes that such attacks could raise global energy prices and provoke a massive Russian retaliation.

According to the media outlet, the Ukrainian head of state “brushed off the recommendation.” Despite the US becoming more and more insistent over the following weeks, Kiev doubled down on its strategy.

[Michel Leclerc]

Posted by shaberon (here)

Posted by christian (here)
We're not getting anywhere by siding with any of the big governments present today.

I'm not.

I'm personally not concerned about governments and borders; window dressing.

I, however, and some others, do side with what might be called "cultures". One of those is the Religion of Jerusalem. It is my Friend. I don't agree with them. But I have found they "live well" in a way that I am comfortable sharing the planet with.

Unfortunately it has been disagreed with since the 200s by the Church of Rome in a way not conducive to sharing. Take the Fourth Crusade as an example.

European countries in the vast majority have kicked out or prevented the Religion of Jerusalem, and, not because they got an upgrade or anything I would consider for a flat second. Seems to be due to supremacism.

I am not "pro" Russia, Iran, or China in terms of governments or political systems or anything, what I mean is some of the aspects of culture held by some of the nicer people there. In place of what I would call the lack of culture established in my own system. Most of all I am against the geo-strategic meddling at the taxpayers' expense.

In the long run, "my system" has never been up for debate, and, these days are probably the force that is needed to break it.

It would disappoint Mr. Medvedev because we do not really have what it takes to split into multi-nations with opposing air forces and commit SMOs on each other. On the other hand, I don't see how it is going to continue unbroken, either.

Propaganda is a rhetoric designed to transfer Reputation from one side to another. In that sense, I am doing propaganda *for* the Religion of Jerusalem. Due to events, it is effectively centered in Moscow. That is why I automatically understand them much more easily than English speakers and most Europeans.

Thank you Shaberon. I agree with the essence of what you are defending, as always. I would maybe – but that is only a matter of words – substitute for the word and concept of “culture” (which in its etymological base means something like “turning around, encircling, taking care of”, and is related to “wheel”, “cycle”, “chakra" and “polis/politics” ) the word and concept of “civilisation” (meaning in its base “allowing humans to sleep together and make love”, and is related to “home”) because it is closer to essence — the religious consequence of it would be to try and aspire at “the depth of it” (the depth of religious ideas, concepts, words) or, in other words: the “esoteron” of it, i.e. the "more inward" aspect of them, the "esoteric" aspect of them..

If people would open themselves up to the "holy primitivity” of the words they use, they would never come to prefer their identifications with superficialities to “the depth of it all" – which teaches them that they are each other’s brothers and sisters – who can never become estranged from each other.

[ExomatrixTV]

• WARNING! this is about to get MUCH worse, Putin readies for NATO attack | Redacted w Clayton Morris:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LaAMQOgIVd4

[Ewan]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Text:

What is Project Maven AI and how is it disappointing US?

Project Maven AI is US Defense Department’s flagship project that uses artificial intelligence to make decisions on the battlefield in lieu of humans.

The technology is being tested in the Ukraine conflict area, with Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, Commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, cynically calling Ukraine “our laboratory”.

In theory, the system is supposed to process data from multiple sources, including satellites, drones, and even social media accounts of Russian soldiers, before anticipating, detecting, and destroying enemy targets by generating swarms of GPA-guided missiles with little input from humans.

However, field commanders have complained of the system’s failure in delivering “the picture of the battlefield” to “soldiers in the trenches”, according the New York Times.

In addition, Bloomberg has reported that while soldiers can accurately identify a tank 84% of the time, Project Maven AI is only managing 60%, a figure that tanks to 30% in snowy environments.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1783172171277185388

Unfortunately, as with any AI learning model, it is going to get better and better.

Skynet is only a few years away.

[norman]

The US quietly shipped long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine
REUTERS
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...on%20Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The United States in recent weeks secretly shipped long-range missiles to Ukraine for use in its battle to fight off Russian invaders, and Ukraine has now used them twice, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The missiles were contained in a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine that U.S. President Joe Biden approved on March 12, said the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official would not say how many of the missiles were sent.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, at a briefing for reporters, confirmed that a "significant number" of the missiles had been sent to Ukraine and said "we will send more."

He said Ukraine has committed to only use the weapons inside Ukraine, not in Russia.

Some of the missiles were contained in a $1 billion weapons package for Ukraine that President Joe Biden approved on Wednesday, Sullivan said.

The missiles were used for the first time in the early hours of April 17, launched against a Russian airfield in Crimea that was about 165 km (103 miles) from the Ukrainian front lines, the official said.

The official said Ukraine used the weapon a second time overnight against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine.

Whether to send the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) with a range up to 300 km was a subject of debate within the Biden administration for months. Mid-range ATACMS were supplied last September.

[shaberon]

Posted by Michel Leclerc (here)
...substitute for the word and concept of “culture” (which in its etymological base means something like “turning around, encircling, taking care of”, and is related to “wheel”, “cycle”, “chakra" and “polis/politics” ) the word and concept of “civilisation” (meaning in its base “allowing humans to sleep together and make love”, and is related to “home”) because it is closer to essence — the religious consequence of it would be to try and aspire at “the depth of it” (the depth of religious ideas, concepts, words) or, in other words: the “esoteron” of it, i.e. the "more inward" aspect of them, the "esoteric" aspect of them..

If people would open themselves up to the "holy primitivity” of the words they use, they would never come to prefer their identifications with superficialities to “the depth of it all" – which teaches them that they are each other’s brothers and sisters – who can never become estranged from each other.

The two are close; this is the main usage I am working from:


Culture --> Nation

Civilization --> State


"Culture" in this sense having a primary meaning of shared language and similar diet.

A "state" is a physical area defined by a border, which may house any kind of individuals. It is a legal entity, with no straightforward basis in nature.

My understanding is that "civitas" is in distinction to "state of nature"; there is an agreement where a person sacrifices some freedoms and takes on some responsibilities. Whereas you could have a shamanic culture, or one of the essentially lawless decisions of petty kings, a civilization is a type of bond over the res publica or "public things", a broader agreement than the words of one individual.

The "wheel-like" aspect of culture is represented in some of the early Renaissance paintings, which appear to show the civic person in "new roles" that are colorful, sportive, and conversational, above and beyond what is considered a "muddy and drab" lifestyle.

My issue and argument is with relatively recent political documents that confound "Nation" and "State". You can't call America a "Nation" without making a very narrow WASP-centric meaning of it. Moreover, it represents, and causes, the loss of culture. Therefor, I, personally, dovetailed into others, which in the long run prove to be mostly Japanese and Indian. In this thread, we have featured a number of American individuals who have emigrated to Russia for this very purpose, in some cases by re-joining the root of Christianity. One of them, Father Joseph Gleason, so strongly resembles the one that ran the Mission I visited, I had to track down all of his possible bio's to eliminate the possibility he had ever lived in my area. Different person. Went over around 2017:


All Roads Lead to the Third Rome





So that link has the basics about his conversion; here is a video chat from 2023. Overall, his satisfaction sounds like that of the farmers.

That is the Greek sphere or culture, which has no reason to particularly answer to Latinisms.

Correspondingly it uses the term and office Metropolitan Bishop.

One could almost exactly map the conflict of east and west according to the performance of Bishops.

In most places such as France, the Roman Empire tended to leave local officials such as magistrates and earls intact. What they installed was a system of Bishops. Naturally, post-Empire, this hive is self-propagating. And it has a vested interest, more like "preaching to the congregation", rather than "supporting the community". Followed with its own re-education.

Then you still have problems such as Bishops as Electors in Germany well into the modern conflicts.

At the very least, the "polis" culture is very different from the "non-polis", Bishops being a type of interface between "the elite and the masses", which has worked differently in these two spheres.

In the area of Toulouse, we find the first known "privatization of public infrastructure", i. e., several miles of a navigable river, converted to property transferable to heirs and assigns in the 800s. Prior to Industrialization, the main aggravator of such corporatocracy was "de Nimes" or "denim", a commodity featuring majority ownership also in southeastern France. Currently, the land and infrastructure of Ukraine is in a dubious corporate ownership. Russia, on the other hand, has clamped down on "vampirism".

The Greek civilization is, I suppose, still Bavarian, if it chooses pro-western policies that often lack public support.

[Tintin]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Text:

According to a source close to the security forces, in addition to Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, three more people were detained. Investigations are currently underway.

Preliminary info is that, all are employees of the Ministry of Defense/state structures.

Ivanov himself was guarded by an elite special unit that was authorised open fire on anyone who tried to detain Ivanov.

The only place where he was without protection was a meeting with the top leadership of the country where he was detained


Text:

🇷🇺 The Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation was sent to a pre-trial detention center until June 23, 2024

Timur Ivanov received a bribe while carrying out contract and subcontract work for the needs of the Ministry of Defense

Sergey Borodin, was sent to a pre-trial detention center for two months

According to the investigation, Borodin, as well as Ivanov, has been charged with committing the specified crime
Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Here's Simplicius The Thinker's take on this from today's published article. I expect it's pretty well on the mark as well

The other more likely explanation goes as follows:

The beginning of neat purges before the counter-offensive of the Russian army...

Apparently, the Kremlin will trample all-in, which is why it is giving a clear signal to the entire power vertical (including Shoigu’s group) to mobilize.

Mobilize - take care of your direct obligations, and also clearly understand the fact that for every failure you will have to pay not with the careers of middle echelon representatives - subordinates, but with your own head.

Some believe that Putin had planned to do a mass purge of all the corrupt after his inauguration on May 7th, when his hands are more freed politically. This could be a final purge of any remaining corrupt, 6th columnist, and liberal factions before plunging the SMO into a new phase of the expected large-scale offensives to come.

Furthermore, as the above hints, it could be a final message-sending attempt to everyone involved on the eve of these coming military escalations. While on the surface it may seem like an embarrassing or damaging mark on Russia’s or the MOD’s reputation, in fact the news thus far has been taken with great excitement among the Russian forces, elevating morale. It sends a message that Russia is cleaning up all corruption, and that even the highest levels of the military echelons, to the “fat cat suits” of the defense ministry, are not immune to consequences and accountability for fraud, deception, betrayal, and treason.

This is why I believe the optics of carting off Ivanov to the court room glass cage in full military general regalia were very deliberate. It was a message sent to the public that the time has come to tighten the belt and allow no more leeway for corruption and betrayal, no matter who you are.

This powerful image will resonate very well with the armed forces.



Interestingly, there was a ‘rumor’ that Ivanov was at the center of the MOD’s calamitous friction with the Wagner group, though I haven’t been able to corroborate that just yet. Of course, it wouldn’t be surprising if two corrupt mafia bosses squared off over the leavings on the table. Anticipating the next logical challenge, I can already say that concern trolls will use this instance to declare that “Prigozhin (and Strelkov) was right all along, the MOD is a corrupt gang”, etc., etc. But any corruption within the MOD does not absolve Prigozhin’s own proven corruption. It just so happens that Prigozhin was a much more charismatic actor and salesman of his deeds, and thus comes across as the quintessential ‘folk hero’ of the saga, when the truth is far more granular than that.

Either way, this stir has the potential to shake things up in even bigger ways than we realize, and could be the start of something much bigger, good or bad, though in my estimations it’s extremely good and feels like it marks a new change in ethos of the entire country.

------------------------------

[Tintin]

OK, posted 20 hours or so ago (so April 24th) Lukashenko has approved the positioning of 300,000 Belarussian troops to protect their borders.

Text here:

🇧🇾 Alexander Lukashenko: We are facing a NATO threat. So, we are face to face with NATO on our western borders. A plan to deploy a military group of 300,000 soldiers on the eastern flank of the bloc has been approved.

Source: https://twitter.com/DD_Geopolitics/s...23885875155118

[Tintin]

Gentle as the PDFs now do load following DNS repairs now effected by The Pythonic Cow, for any of you interested in the CIA history. Now time-stamped for today.

Probably one of the most important historical resources concerning the history of Ukraine. This document: AERODYNAMIC VOL.9 (DEVELOPMENT AND PLANS)_0001.pdf runs to 25 pages and I've extracted some of the passages from the first two pages here that should I hope cement in the minds of anybody reading this, both member and guest, the depth of the collaboration and of course its real origins.

Embedded are the first two pages of this document.

-----------------------------------

DESIGNATION: TOP SECRET CONTROL
TYPE: OPERATIONAL MEMORANDUM
DATE: INFO. November 1946
DISTRIBUTED: 27 December 1946
COUNTRY: UKRAINE
SUBJECT: OPERATION BELLADONNA
ORIGIN: Amzon
SOURCE: KILKENNY

A. HISTORY OF THE OPERATION

1. Operation Belladonna originated in April 1946 with the introduction
of source to members of the Oriental (Catholic) Church familiar
with Eastern affairs. Through Father Ivo Zeigar at that time
special adviser to the chief of-the Vatican Mission to USFET at
Kronberg, source was introduced to Father Diaczisyn , formerly also
on the staff of the-Vatican Mission but then in'Rome. Through
Diaczisyn in Rome, source met the Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Buczko,
adviser to the Vatican on Ukrainian affairs and a long standing
member of Ukrainian nationalist movements, who supplied information
and introductions to other informants. Eventually both BuCzko and
Diaczisyn withdrew as active contacts, after sending source on to a
leader of the Ukrainian organization in Germany, Vasily Mudry,
former vice-president of the Polish Sejm. After considerable contact with source, Mudry also withdrew from the operation, on the grounds that, although he is a vice-president of UHVE, he s only an overt Ukrainian political representative and does not deal with any secret affairs. He passed source on to the real leaders, 'Father Ivan Hrinioch' and Yury Lopatinsky who accorded source their confidence and agreed to collaborate on intelligence operations.

2. Contact was thus established with the UHVE for the purpose of
obtaining intelligence concerning the USSR and Soviet operations at
home and abroad. - It was understood from the beginning that the
Ukrainians considered themselves not agents but collaborators of
the Americans and that their subordinate agents should remain
ignorant of the American aspects of their work. On this basis,
contact has been maintained with the representatives of the UHVR at
the highest level: Hrinioch, Lopatinsky, and Lebed. An additional
contact is a Ukrainian, Michael Korzan, an ABN representative in
Austria, whom source employs as an informant and liaison man.
Source is known by his real name to Hrinioch, Mudry, Buczko, and Lebed
but with Hrinioch he also uses the name Dr. Felix Novak and
with Lebed Dr. Micheli. Incidental information has been supplied
by Mudry, Bishop Buczko, Father Diaczisyn, and other less prominent
Ukrainians.

After mutual confidence had been established, Hrinioch delivered to source
two long, detailed reports on Ukrainian centers as well as much other information,
and agreed to furnish agents to enter the Ukraine. A questionnaire submitted to Lopatinsky in May 1946, however, was not answered owing to the UHVR group's understanding that they were to deal directly with source and with no one else in his absence. That difficulty was resolved, and satisfactory arrangements were made for contacts through other means in source's absence. The work of selecting and preparing agents continued, although source has not been in contact with Hrinioch for several weeks. One agent (Basil) was briefed and dispatched from Bayreuth
in October, arrived at Przemysl, and is expected to return soon, A second agent, intended for Poland, went only as far as Vienna because of the lack of necessary documents and has returned to Munich to await further assignment.

(Tintin: there is no 3. bullet - an error/typo - and next para continues labelled 4.)

4. Background and personnel of the UHVE are discussed in Sections B
and E respectively, and their future operation plans in Section D,
Most of the information on personnel and organizations was supplied
by the members of R-33 (see below) and the operational plans were
also supplied by them. In reference, R-33 means primarily,
Hrinioch, Lebed, and Lopatinsky.

Link: https://avalonlibrary.net/Tintin/194...emo_page_1.pdf




Link: https://avalonlibrary.net/Tintin/194...emo_page_2.pdf

[Tintin]

Posted by Tintin (here)
OK, posted 20 hours or so ago (so April 24th) Lukashenko has approved the positioning of 300,000 Belarussian troops to protect their borders.

Text here:

🇧🇾 Alexander Lukashenko: We are facing a NATO threat. So, we are face to face with NATO on our western borders. A plan to deploy a military group of 300,000 soldiers on the eastern flank of the bloc has been approved.

Source: https://twitter.com/DD_Geopolitics/s...23885875155118

Um, this doesn't look good at all

Text:

BREAKING

Head of the KGB (?) Ivan Tertel has just confirmed the Lithuanian Drone Attack on Belarus

He said the “Belarusian Special Services prevented drone strikes from Lithuanian Territory on Minsk”

Source: https://twitter.com/mrbarnicoat/stat...59882705809450

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/RT_com/status/1783454218906391027

https://www.rt.com/russia/596559-bel...-drone-attack/

Belarus reveals alleged plot to attack Minsk from EU
Security forces in Belarus have prevented a plot to launch combat drones from Lithuania and attack targets in and near the capital, Minsk, the head of the Committee for State Security (KGB) Ivan Tertel has revealed.

The operation took place “recently” and in cooperation with “colleagues from other security structures,” the senior official said on Thursday, as he was delivering a speech to the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, a leading political body.

The senior official told members of the assembly that his agency has concerns regarding the further escalation of tensions in the world, potentially leading to a “conflict of a global scale.” Belarus would prefer to remain peaceful and independent, but its sovereignty and status as a close Russian ally “make it the target of the West’s destructive intentions,” he noted.

The US and its allies seek full control of Belarus and its national wealth, Tertel claimed. Lithuania, as well as Poland and Ukraine, host militant forces, which Western nations intend to use as tools against Belarus; to destabilize it and potentially topple its government, he warned.

“The radicals are producing combat drones to deliver strikes on critical sites in Belarus,” Tertel claimed.

He said his agency was not in a position yet to make public details about the plot to attack Minsk, but assured that “we continue the work on this issue.”

Since the beginning of 2023, the agency has put a stop to over 40 criminal operations, which sought to smuggle weapons, including explosives, from Ukraine into Belarus, Tertel reported.

He said Ukrainian special services were behind multiple attempted terrorist attacks in Belarus and Russia, and the threat remained a “daily reality for members of the border guard, interior affairs and state security.”

The Ukrainian government has plans to use Belarusian nationals to seize territory and install a Western-backed government, the KGB chief claimed. The agency estimates the strength of the would-be occupation force at 1,000 troops.

Tertel identified a specific hospital in Kiev, which he claimed served as a base of operations for the Ukrainian-backed radicals.






Text:

❗️The Belarusian opposition and its curators plan to seize the Kobrin district, located near the border with Ukraine, declare a new government and contact NATO about sending troops, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.

The opposition is planning cyber attacks on the nuclear power plant and critical infrastructure, provoking disasters in production and railways, the head of Belarus' KGB added.


https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1783454023825170475

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/MaimunkaNews/status/1783537597542715758

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
⚡️ Pentagon instructors arrive in Ukraine

"In addition to missiles, Pentagon military instructors disguised as advisers from the US Embassy in Kiev have arrived in the AFU," said Leonid Ivlev, a State Duma deputy from the Crimea region,

He added that in this way the US is becoming more and more involved in the conflict in Ukraine.

http://t.me/ukraine_watch

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1783512057955975584

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
https://x.com/RT_com/status/1783486116273762748

https://www.rt.com/news/596546-atacm...raine-antonov/

Moscow reacts to secret US delivery of ATACMS missiles to Kiev
The long-range ATACMS missiles that the US has supplied to Ukraine will not help Kiev turn the tide of the conflict against Moscow despite “extremely dangerous weapons,” Russian ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov has said.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Wednesday that US President Joe Biden had ordered the provision of Kiev with a “significant” number of ATACMS missiles for use inside Ukraine back in February. The ATACMS, which have a range of 300km, “were transferred quietly to Ukraine in order to maintain operational security,” Pentagon spokesman Major Charlie Dietz stressed.

The delivery of long-range missiles to Kiev is “impossible to justify,” Antonov wrote in a post on Telegram on Thursday. The move by Washington “increases the threat to the security of Crimea, including Sevastopol, the new Russian regions [the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions] and other Russian cities,” he added.

The assurances by the US officials that the long-range missiles will not be used against Russian territory are “particularly cynical,” the ambassador stressed. “How can we ignore the numerous terrorist attacks by Kiev’s criminals? Deadly strikes on hospitals, schools, kindergartens, bridges and even their own servicemen?”

Antonov reminded that the Russian forces have already shot down mid-range ATACMS missiles, which Ukraine had received last September. The same will happen with their long-range counterparts, he assured, adding that “neither these missiles nor other weapons can help defeat Russia.”

“Aren’t local politicians [in the US] afraid of drowning in the quagmire of conflict? Washington will not be able to get out of the horrible swamp that has absorbed the blood of ordinary soldiers,” the ambassador warned.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed to the fact that Washington’s acknowledgement of the delivery of long-range ATACMS to Ukraine comes amid attempts by Kiev and its Western backers to “deceive the international community into some kind of conference on the ‘Zelensky formula’.”

“Washington’s plan is sickeningly simple: drag everyone into a pointless meeting under the pretext of ‘peaceful intentions’, while at the same time boosting [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky’s terrorist potential,” she said on Telegram.

Switzerland said earlier this month that it is going to host a peace conference on Ukraine in June, without Russia’s participation.

READ MORE: Pentagon’s ‘new’ Ukraine aid package was spent months ago – Politico
Zelensky’s plan for ending the conflict, which he has been promoting since 2022, calls for Russia to withdraw from all territory held by Ukraine prior to 2014, for Moscow to pay reparations, and for the formation of a war crimes tribunal. Russia instantly rejected the plan as “unrealistic” and a sign of Ukraine’s unwillingness to look for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

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https://x.com/tassagency_en/status/1783336200620622185

https://tass.com/politics/1780283?ut...m_social_share


Transfer of US ATACMS missiles to Ukraine cannot be justified — Russian ambassador

"Neither these missiles nor other weapons can help defeat the Russian Federation," Anatoly Antonov said

WASHINGTON, April 25. /TASS/. The "underhand" transfer of US ATACMS missiles to Ukraine cannot be justified as it increases security threats to Crimea and other Russian regions, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said.

"Local officials 'retroactively' confirmed the fact that extremely dangerous weapons had been sent to Kiev," he said in a commentary posted on the embassy’s Telegram channel. "It is obvious that the transfer of ATACMS to the [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky regime increases the threat to the security of Crimea, including Sevastopol, new Russian regions and other Russian cities."

He slammed the US’ assurances that the Ukrainian military allegedly promised not to use missiles against targets in Russia as "particularly cynical." "Who should be reassured by such lies? How can we ignore the numerous terrorist attacks by Kiev’s criminals? Deadly strikes on hospitals, schools, kindergartens, bridges and even their own servicemen?" he said, adding that even US media, "which are far from being in our favor, recognize the duplicity of the "puppets" and their attacks on Russian cities."

He recalled that Russian forces have already shot down several ATACMS missiles and will continue doing this. "Neither these missiles nor other weapons can help defeat the Russian Federation," he stressed.

"Washington will not be able to get out of the horrible swamp that has absorbed the blood of ordinary soldiers," he added.

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/tassagency_en/status/1783374934095335677

https://tass.com/politics/1780293


Potential nuclear facilities in Poland to be military target for Russia — senior diplomat

According to Sergey Ryabkov, discussions around the deployment of NATO nuclear facilities in Poland are an "unfolding story"
MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. NATO nuclear facilities, if permanently deployed in Poland, will be a military target for Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS.

He warned that joint nuclear missions of NATO countries close to the Russian border add to the treats to Russia’s security.

"Let alone permanent deployment hotheads in Warsaw are speaking about," Ryabkov said. "That is why all those politician who are discussing such an option in and outside Poland should understand: any steps in this direction will not add to Poland’s security and relevant facilities will inevitably be a target. And they will be in the fore in our military planning."

According to the senior Russian diplomat, discussions around the deployment of NATO nuclear facilities in Poland are an "unfolding story." He stressed that Moscow is keeping a close eye on how "various bodies of Poland’s executive branch "are mulling this topic in their domestic discourse."

In an interview with the Fakt newspaper on Sunday, Duda said that Poland is ready to deploy nuclear warheads under NATO’s Nuclear Sharing program. According to the Polish president, he has discussed this matter with US partners more than once.

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https://x.com/Kanthan2030/status/1783559581962236347

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🇺🇸 💰🇺🇦The US Congress approved aid to America and debt bondage to Ukraine - Al Jazeera

▪️ Americans will spend more than half of the new aid package for Ukraine on themselves. Kiev will receive a small part of the $61 billion allocated as a loan. The “aid package” can only be called debt bondage for Ukraine, states Al Jazeera

▪️ The assistance package provided in the form of a loan includes the following items:
— $23.2 billion — replenishment of our own stocks of weapons and ammunition to replace those already supplied to Ukraine
— $13.8 billion — purchase of advanced weapons systems and other military equipment from American contractors and other countries
— $11 billion — funding for current military operations of the US Armed Forces in the region
— $7.85 billion — direct budget support for Ukraine

▪️ Aid will begin to arrive in Ukraine only in the second half of June, after all bureaucratic procedures are completed

▪️“The new American aid package to Kiev will bury the Ukrainian economy and deprive the country of its future - this is debt bondage from which there is no escape ,” Al Jazeera emphasizes

DDgeopolitics

https://x.com/dana916/status/1783509334774743301

[Ravenlocke]

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I figured I’d put the international funding for the Ukrainians for 2024-2025 into perspective. Based on the tracking sources, funding for periods 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 amounted to approximately $200 billion. On top of this, funding for the months we don’t yet have clear figures for, late 2023 through early 2024 amounted to about a $1 billion per month, so we can say that the Ukrainians received about $210 billion up until the latest funding bills. Earlier this year, the EU approved an addition $50 in multiyear funding, and the latest American aid bill allocates $61 billion. Along with other bits and bobs, we can say that, as far as we know, funding for the Ukrainians for 2024-2025 will amount to approximately $120 billion. I know many will shout, “But the majority of this money is not going TO the Ukraine, but rather to weapons contractors, international support organizations, and aid organizations, with much of it going to economic and public spending and only a small portion going to military funding.” However, the same can be said about the earlier funding packages. For the sake of argument, I’ll assume that the composition of the latest round of funding will be like the earlier rounds, for the sake of giving the AFU the benefit of the doubt.

Therefore, the latest round of funding brings the financial resources and support for the Ukraine back to the average for the previous two years. However, a lot has changed over that time. The amount that Russia is committing to its armed forces has doubled since 2022, and has increased dramatically since 2023 (2022: $75 billion, 2023: $110 billion, 2024: $150 billion). The RF now has a much more capable system of military production and has reformed its tactics and strategies to conform to the new realities of modern warfare. Further, the number of soldiers that the RF has in theater has increased by multiples since 2022.

What we can conclude is that the same amount of funding, even assuming the composition is the same, will simply not be able to stop the Russian advances, and it definitely won’t last long enough to fund the theorized “renewed Ukrainian offensive” of 2025. Another round of funding will be necessary just to keep the lights on for next year. For a Ukrainian 2025 offensive to even be on the table, they will need another round of funding packages. According to everything that I’ve seen, the bare minimum necessary for the Ukrainians to retake their lost territories in 2025 will be what I call “The 3X Plan.” Basically, $300 billion, 300k shells delivered per month, 30k new recruits ABOVE losses per month (60k in total), 300 F 16s, and 300 tanks delivered per month. This is a political non starter to say the least.

https://x.com/vestnik_russia/status/1783507974553563250