WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

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https://twitter.com/ReadovkaWorld/st...46468609982464

[Tintin]

I don't remember seeing this posted here on this thread, and although quite a lot of the ground has already been discussed in quite some detail before is further emphasised here with the combined intellectual clout of both Alexander Mercouris and Scott Ritter in conversation with Norwegian Professor Glenn Diesen.

Every utterance in just under 2 hours I simply can't repudiate, at all.

It's beyond excellent and has an energy that I'd say surpasses previous examples of these conversations that we've listened to here before.

Amongst other salient observations are these I share with Alexander: that our country (UK) position regarding Ukraine has been an embarrassment and one that invokes a sense of shame. I'd go as far as to say that it's been nothing short of xenophobic flim flam - our politicians an international disgrace.

Scott, and he isn't the only commentator to have almost pleaded for it, is as desperate as all of us might be for mature voices to prevail and a diplomatic platform to be encouraged and built prospectively in dealings with Russia npt the least of which involves the security infrastructure that Europe should now seek to adopt in concert with Russia's very reasonable demands made, and typically ignored, back in December of 2021.

There are more takeaways but this might be a good summary:

Ukraine lost the war in May and Russia has succeeded in demilitarising NATO as a result of the economic blowback on the 'west' (inc. NATO) and its (the west's) inability to provide for ammunition losses or be able to sustain any kind of conflict now due to its vastly depleted industrial base.

Scott's anecdotes are too, as always, very illuminating.

Recorded August 19th.

Discussing Ukraine. Glenn Diesen interviews Scott Ritter and Alexander Mercouris

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fD44Eb1xDhE

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Shelling of Energodar by Ukrainian Troops Leaves Nine Injured - Local Administration

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The shelling of the city of Energodar in the Zaporozhye region has left nine people injured, two of whom are in serious condition, the head of the regional military-civil administration Yevgeny Balitsky said.


On Sunday, the city authorities said that four artillery strikes had been carried out by Ukrainian troops, targeting Energodar's residential district. Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional military-civil administration, said on Telegram after the strikes that seven people were injured in the shelling.
"Today, at about 22.00 [19:00 GMT on Sunday], artillery strikes were inflicted on the residential area of ​​the fifth microdistrict of Energodar by Ukrainian armed formations. …At the moment, nine victims, two of whom are in serious condition, are in intensive care: the man has a complex leg injury, the woman has a chest injury, pneumothorax [collapsed lung]. Doctors are fighting for their lives," Balitsky said on Telegram.
He specified that Ukrainian troops had made three targeted hits on residential buildings and there is a kindergarten in one of the buildings’ courtyards.
Balitsky said that about 40 parked cars were damaged by shrapnel, 25 got burned down, and window frames and windows were broken in many apartments.

According to the head of the regional military-civil administration, work of special commissions for assessing and eliminating the consequences of the Ukrainian troops’ shelling has begun and Zaporozhye authorities will provide assistance and support to all those affected.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) had been shelled again by Ukrainian troops. Three shells fell in the area of a special building of the ZNPP, which stores new TVEL nuclear fuel and solid radioactive waste. One shell fell next to the ZNPP's sixth power unit, and five others landed opposite a pumping station, which provides cooling for one of the reactors.

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[9ideon]

What's up with the reports on that Ukrainian Offensive near Kherson supposed to have started couple hours ago?

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https://www.rt.com/russia/561699-un-...ar-zaporozhye/

Timeline for UN mission to Zaporozhye nuclear plant revealed


The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has formed a delegation that will visit Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine as early as this week, the watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, announced on Monday. The plant has been under Russian control since March and has been repeatedly shelled by Ukrainian forces.

“The day has come, IAEA’s Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporozhye (ISAMZ) is now on its way. We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that he is “proud to lead this mission,” which is set to arrive at the site later this week.

Earlier, Grossi said the goal of the mission is to see what exactly is happening at the plant, assess its integrity, speak to both Russian and Ukrainian staff, and establish a permanent presence on the ground.

UN assembles team for Zaporozhye nuclear plant – NYT
UN assembles team for Zaporozhye nuclear plant – NYT
On Saturday, the New York Times reported that the IAEA delegation consists of independent experts from “mostly neutral countries,” and neither the US nor the UK have any representatives on the team due to their strong support for Kiev.

On Sunday night, Ukrainian forces shelled Energodar, the city where the plant is located, the local authorities said. According to Evgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russian military-civilian administration, three residential houses were deliberately hit by artillery fire, injuring nine people, with two sustaining heavy wounds.

The city authorities also claimed that the attack was meant to torpedo the IAEA mission. “This provocation by Kiev-controlled militants is aimed at derailing the visit of the IAEA chief to the Zaporozhye NPP,” they said.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukrainian forces of attacking the nuclear plant and Energodar, while warning that the shelling could trigger a disaster that would eclipse the 1986 Chernobyl incident. Kiev insists that Russian forces are shelling the site while stationing military hardware there.


https://www.rt.com/russia/561742-ukr...wer-plant-hit/

Kiev shelling damages roof of nuclear reactor fuel storage – official

A Ukrainian strike has hit a reactor fuel storage at the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, local authorities said on Monday.

The roof of the building has been damaged as a result of the attack, Vladimir Rogov, the spokesman for Zaporozhye Region’s administration, said on Telegram.

He also posted a photo of a hole in the roof that was supposedly caused by the strike.

The affected storage facility holds fresh nuclear fuel for the reactors of the plant, which is the largest in Europe.

Russia said earlier that a Ukrainian drone targeting the nuclear facility had been shot down.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev's forces of targeting the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant – which has been under Russian control since March, but operated by Ukrainian staff – with artillery and ‘kamikaze’ drones.

Moscow urges ‘all nations’ to pressure Kiev over nuclear site
Moscow urges ‘all nations’ to pressure Kiev over nuclear site
It warned that those attacks could trigger a disaster that would eclipse the 1986 Chernobyl incident. Radioactive material could potentially reach Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Belarus, and even Germany in a worst-case scenario.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has claimed that the Russian forces have turned the nuclear plant into a military base and that they’ve been shelling the facility themselves to pin the blame on Kiev.

Russia has repeatedly denied those accusation and urged for international inspectors to visit the site to assess the situation for themselves.

Earlier on Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi announced that such a mission will take pace after all, with IAEA specialists expected to arrive at the Zaporozhye plant this week.

[Ravenlocke]

https://www.rt.com/russia/561707-dug...econd-suspect/

Second suspect identified in Dugina assassination

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has identified a Ukrainian man, named Bogdan Tsiganenko, as an accomplice in the plot to murder Russian journalist and political activist Darya Dugina.

The daughter of the well-known philosopher and ‘Eurasia’ advocate Aleksandr Dugin, was killed in a Moscow car bombing earlier this month.

Tsiganenko allegedly helped the primary suspect, Natalya Vovk, obtain a fake Kazakhstani passport and assemble an improvised explosive device, which she later used in the crime, according to the statement.

The suspected 42-year-old bombmaker entered Russia from Estonia in late June and left a day before the bomb attack on August 20, the FSB said on Monday. The IED was made at a rented garage, the agency added. The FSB believes that the two acted together as members of a “Ukrainian sabotage-terrorist group.”

The agency released images and footage said to show Tsiganenko traveling with Vovk in her car, receiving falsified car plates for the vehicle, and entering and leaving Russia.

The statement also provided new details about the assassination itself. The FSB released footage showing Vovk surveilling Dugina at a parking lot of the family festival where she presumably planted the bomb. The Ukrainian woman followed her target in her car and set off the explosion, which killed Dugina on the spot, according to the FSB.

READ MORE: Dugin names target of attack that killed his daughter
Dugina was a vocal critic of the government in Kiev and a supporter of Russia’s military action in Ukraine. She was also the daughter of controversial philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, who Western media has long described as a secret influencer of Russian foreign policy.

After Vovk was identified as the primary suspect in the case, Russia accused Ukraine of masterminding the assassination. Kiev has denied any involvement.

Vovk managed to leave Russia after killing Dugina, crossing into Estonia, according to the FSB.

[Kryztian]

Shell CEO Warns Energy Crisis May Last More Than One Winter

• Van Beurden stresses need for efficiency savings, rationing
• European Union looking at steps to bring down power prices

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...han-one-winter

By Stephen Treloar
August 29, 2022 at 9:33 AM EDT

European oil major Shell Plc cautioned that Europe may have to brace for a string of winters with exorbitant power bills and electricity rationing as Russia squeezes gas supplies.

“It may well be that we have a number of winters where we have to somehow find solutions through efficiency savings, through rationing and as a very, very quick build out of alternatives,” Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden told reporters at a conference in Stavanger, Norway. “That this is going to be somehow easy or over, I think is a fantasy we should put aside -- we should confront the reality.”

Europe is facing an energy crisis as Russia curbs gas flows following its invasion of Ukraine. That’s fueling a sixfold increase in prices from a year ago. While German gas stores are filling up faster than expected, the country risks not being able to go through the winter if Moscow halts flows to the region’s largest economy.

The European Union said it’s planning urgent steps to push down soaring power prices that are laying bare the limitations of the current electricity market design. Governments across the region have already set aside some 280 billion euros ($278 billion) in relief packages.

Last month, Shell’s CEO said energy markets are likely to remain tight, with supply to be constrained and prices volatile “not only for the remainder of this year but well into next year.”

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https://www.rt.com/russia/561731-nov...raine-attacks/

Civilians evacuated to shelters as Ukraine attacks Russian-held town

The Russian-controlled city of Novaya Kakhovka in Ukraine’s Kherson Region is evacuating civilians due to constant artillery attacks by Kiev’s forces, the local administration reported on Monday.

“Over 24 hours, there were some ten rocket salvos, each including six or eight or more rockets. Many civilian objects were damaged by them,” including a city market and a driving school in the city center, the Kakhovka district’s head, Vladimir Leontyev, told the media.

He said Ukraine was using US-provided HIMARS rocket launchers to harass the city, which is located on the left bank of the Dnepr River and hosts a hydroelectric power plant. Ukrainian forces are stationed on the opposite side of the river.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson claimed on Monday that Kiev’s forces have launched an offensive in the south of the country, which includes Kherson Region, where Novaya Kakhovka is located.

Natalya Gumenyuk, who spoke on national TV on behalf of Ukraine’s southern command, declined to offer any details about the purported operation, only claiming that Kiev’s forces breached the “first line of defense” of the Russian forces.

Zelensky aide explains Ukraine's ‘information warfare’
Zelensky aide explains Ukraine's ‘information warfare’
Ukrainian officials have for months teased a looming offensive to retake the city of Kherson and push Russian forces back from Kherson Region. But earlier this month, Mikhail Podoliak, an aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, explained that these types of promises should be considered part of information warfare against Russia.

“Certainly, all public comments are part of information warfare. We need to demoralize the Russian army,” he told the BBC in an interview.

Sergey Aksyonov, the head of Russia’s Crimean Republic, which borders Kherson Region, dismissed Gumenyuk’s words as “fake news, like the previous ones.” He suggested that the claim was made for Kiev’s “Western masters who need to be shown action.” In reality, Ukraine’s forces are suffering significant losses on the southern front, Aksyonov claimed.

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