Tag: russia

The battle for the skies over Ukraine is about to commence – either Russia or NATO will be humiliated and a key factor for the outcome of the war for Ukraine will be determined

From here:

F-16 fighters are coming to Ukraine soon (usatoday.com)

“Ukraine will soon begin receiving U.S.-made F-16 Fighting Falcon jets from Western allies to use in the war against Russia, a move designed to bolster Ukrainian defenses and challenge Russian air superiority.”

Around 100 F-16’s of varying vintage are due in Ukraine in the next week, of which:

“The Netherlands will begin delivering 24 jets to Ukraine “without delay,” Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said during a visit to Kyiv on July 6. Other nations will send F-16s as well. Norway will give 22 jets and Denmark and Belgium will transfer an unspecified number of the aircraft.

The F-16’s from the Netherlands represents almost a quarter of the 107 in its air force, Norway had 57, but these were phased out in favour of F-35’s in December 2021 (32 were sold to Romania – 3 of which arrived a few weeks ago). Belgium has pledged 30 out of its stock of 45. Poland has pledged some of its 58 F-16’s, maybe Romania has as well. The USAF and UK’s RAF have pledged none, preferring to send sophisticated “air to air” and “air to ground “missiles instead.

“The F-16 is considered a fourth-generation fighter jet, the modern standard in combat aircraft, according to militaryfactory.com.”

Here is a link to another article around the US F-16’s here:

F-16s head to Ukraine to begin flights this summer – POLITICO

“The U.S., Denmark and the Netherlands announced during the NATO Summit in Washington on Wednesday that the two latter countries had sent over the aircraft, though they did not say how many. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also mentioned the news during a public forum.”

Here is one take on how dogfights – if such things even happen these days of distance killing – might fare:

Russia’s Su-57 Felon vs. F-16 Fighters in Ukraine War: Who Wins? | The National Interest

“The Felon sports air-to-surface missiles in addition to air-to-air missiles to take on ground targets and carry out longer-range air combat operations. With two internal weapons bays, the Su-57 can carry up to eight K-77M air-to-air missiles. The airframe is powered by Izdeliye 117 or AL-41F1 turbofan engines, which Moscow asserts will be replaced by newer Izdeliye 30 engines.

 Since Moscow is struggling financially under sanctions, this engine upgrade may not occur as soon as the Kremlin wishes. “

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TWO-FACED ZELENSKY: Floats End of ‘Hot Stage’ of War in 2024, While Insisting for Permission To Shoot Long-Range Western Missiles Into Russian Territory

While the Russian Federation are taking up territory with a speed that makes it incredibly hard to even enumerate the towns and villages conquered, and with the main defense lines in the vital Donetsk region seemingly about to crumble, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky keeps on unabated with his foreign trips asking for more money, weapons, planes, missiles – the works.

But in the last few days Zelensky introduced a new talking point in which he states that the active phase of hostilities in the war may be imminent.

During his trip to the UK, he said that he hopes to see the end of the ‘hot stage’ of the war with Russia by late 2024.

The New York Post reported:

“‘I believe that if we are united and follow, for example, the format of the peace summit, we can end the hot stage of the war’, Zelensky told the BBC, adding ‘we can try to do it by the end of this year’.”

The Ukrainian leader didn’t get into particulars regarding what that actually means.

“’It doesn’t mean that all territories are won back by force’, he added. ‘I think the power of diplomacy can help. By putting pressure on Russia, I think it is possible to agree to a diplomatic settlement’.”

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The real reason why Russia invaded Ukraine

I shall here state and — by means of links to my sources — document, the actual history of the war in Ukraine, and then will present the Russian version of this history, as that was stated at the U.N. Security Council on July 16th by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The most important difference between these two historical accounts is that whereas mine attributes Russia’s 24 February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to Russia’s main reason for the invasion being Russia’s need to prevent the U.S. Government from achieving its long-held dream of placing its nuclear missiles a mere 317 miles away (five minutes of missile-flying time away) from The Kremlin (since only Ukraine is even nearly that close to the Kremlin); Russia’s instead attributes its 24 February 2022 invasion of Ukraine to Russia’s main reason for the invasion (“Special Military Operation”) being Russia’s desire to protect the residents in the breakaway far-eastern former Donbass region of Ukraine (which by then had separated itself from Ukraine), to protect them from the military attacks that ever since April 2014 Ukraine’s government was making against the residents there.

Did Russia do it to protect itself, or to protect the Donbassers?

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Could a Change in Tone Lead to Peace Talks in Ukraine?

Though hope, which has raised its head before only to be decapitated, may be too optimistic a word, recent changes in tone, coming from many parties to the conflict, forecast the chance that negotiations to end the war on Ukraine are, at least, peaking above the horizon. Those changes come from recent European elections, upcoming American elections and even from within Ukraine itself.

Donald Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as his vice-presidential running mate signals a possible change in Ukraine policy should the Republicans win the November election. Trump has already telegraphed that change with his repeated promise that, if elected, he will solve the war in Ukraine before he even takes office.

Suggestions have now emerged as to how he plans to accomplish that. Two key Trump advisers, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst, have submitted a plan to him. According to Kellogg, “We tell the Ukrainians, ‘You’ve got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, support from the United States will dry up.’ And you tell Putin, ‘He’s got to come to the table and if you don’t come to the table, then we’ll give Ukrainians everything they need to kill you in the field.’”

The plan conditions continued U.S. support for Ukraine on Ukraine’s commitment to negotiating a diplomatic end to the war. That diplomatic end would include a promise not to offer Ukraine NATO membership for an extended period of time. It would further include a ceasefire along the current battle lines. Ukraine would not have to formally cede the lost territory to Russia but would have to pursue its recovery diplomatically.

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WSJ Reporter Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison, Employer Calls It a ‘Disgraceful, Sham Conviction’

An American reporter for the Wall Street Journal was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison after being convicted of espionage in what his employer called “a hurried, secret trial that the U.S. government has condemned as a sham.”

Evan Gershkovich was ordered to serve the sentence at a high-security penal colony, the Journal reported.

“The court’s Friday verdict — after three days of hearings — was widely viewed as a foregone conclusion, since acquittals in Russian espionage trials are exceedingly rare,” according to the report.

“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour said in a statement.

Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 by Russian authorities while on assignment for the Wall Street Journal in Yekaterinburg.

Russian officials “have produced no public evidence to support their allegations,” the Journal reported.

“Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the U.S.,” the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. State Department said Gershkovich was “wrongfully detained” and said it is working to secure his release.

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Russia Says It May Deploy Nuclear Missiles in Response to New US Missile Deployment to Germany

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Thursday that Moscow won’t rule out deploying nuclear missiles in response to the US planning to deploy missile systems to Germany in 2026 that were previously banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

“I don’t rule anything out,” Ryabkov said when asked about the possibility of a nuclear deployment.

Ryabkov went on to reference Kaliningrad, the Russian Oblast on the Baltic Sea that’s wedged between Lithuania and Poland and separated from the rest of Russia. He said the territory “has long attracted the unhealthy attention of our opponents.”

Hinting Russia could respond to the US deployment by sending weapons to Kaliningrad, Ryabkov said, “Kaliningrad is no exception in terms of our 100 percent determination to do everything necessary to push back those who may harbor aggressive plans and who try to provoke us to take certain steps that are undesirable for anyone and are fraught with further complications.”

The INF, which the US withdrew from in 2019, prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles. The planned US deployment to Germany includes a land-based version of nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of about 1,000 miles and are primarily used by US Navy ships and submarines.

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Fascists Must Be Destroyed: Kremlin Condemns Azov Battalion’s Brutal Execution of Russian PoW

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the shooting of a Russian serviceman by Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Battalion* was committed by fascists that must be destroyed.

On Monday, the Ukrainian Azov Battalion* posted a video in which a Russian serviceman was killed at close range.

A video shows footage from an action camera mounted on a militant’s helmet. As he walks through a trench, he encounters a wounded Russian soldier sitting unarmed on the ground, unable to offer any resistance. The militant opens fire on him despite having enough time to realize that the prisoner posed no threat. The Azov* member yells curses at the Russian and fires several more shots to ensure he is dead. Other militants communicating with him via radio supported his actions.

“Fascists are fascists, they must be destroyed,” Peskov told reporters.

The Russian Investigative Committee stated that it is examining the details surrounding the shooting of a Russian soldier.

“The investigators of the Russian Investigative Committee will study… the circumstances of the shooting of a Russian serviceman,” the statement said.

The investigators will establish all the circumstances of the incident and the circle of persons involved in the crimes.

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Republican vice presidential candidate: if he wins, Trump will discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine with the Russian Federation

Even before the official start of the election campaign, former US President Donald Trump repeatedly stated that if he were the head of state, and not Biden, the military confrontation in Ukraine would not have begun at all. In the current situation, if he returns to the Oval Office, and after the assassination attempt, the chances of this are very high, Trump promised to stop the war in Europe literally within 24 hours.

Until recently, the former US President did not reveal how he intends to do this in the current realities. Ohio Senator James David (JD) Vance, who became a vice-presidential candidate at the Republican Party convention, provided some clarity on this topic in an interview with the American Fox News channel.

Donald Trump has promised to negotiate with Russia and the Ukrainians to quickly end this problem so that America can focus on the real problem, which is China.
the politician said.

He noted that the Biden administration is spending billions to help Kyiv, but the current American government does not have a clear strategy and goals for this support, except perhaps statements about the need to “weaken and defeat” Russia. According to Vance, further escalation of the conflict with the support of the United States could ultimately escalate into a nuclear war, which no one in the world needs, including the United States itself.

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Germany pledges to expand commitment to Ukraine, agrees to host U.S. cruise missiles

Germany, already the second-largest military donor to war-torn Ukraine after the United States, has pledged to expand its commitments to Kyiv during the recent summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Washington, D.C., including allowing the U.S. to host Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles for “security” purposes.

This comes after the U.S. announced its intention to deploy missiles to Germany in a move that would have been prohibited by the now-defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty which then-President Ronald Reagan signed with General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev of the former Soviet Union.

The treaty banned land-based missile systems with ranges between 310 and 3,400 miles. Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the treaty in 2019, claiming Russian non-compliance with its contents.

The current proposal would see American Tomahawk missiles – and potentially other long-range weapons systems – deployed in Germany beginning sometime in 2026.

Tomahawk missiles, launched from ships or submarines, have a range exceeding 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles), although exact figures are classified. It should be noted that the Tomahawk missiles are capable of being fitted with nuclear warheads.

In addition to Tomahawks, the White House announced that it will also deploy other “conventional long-range” missiles to Germany on an “episodic” basis, including SM-6 anti-air missiles and experimental hypersonic weapons. All of these would significantly increase the ranges of current land-based missile systems in Europe.

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Lithuania Moves to Exit Cluster Ban Treaty, Citing Weapons Effectiveness

Lithuania is taking its first steps towards exiting an international pact that bans the use of cluster munitions on the battlefield. Due to their impact on civilians, cluster bombs have been widely outlawed. 

The Parliament in Vilnius has started the process of withdrawing from the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). “Russia’s war against Ukraine shows that it is extremely difficult to effectively substitute cluster munitions and their defensive power to stop a large-scale attack,” the legislation’s sponsor, Deputy Defense Minister Renius Pleskys, said. “By replacing standard munitions with cluster munitions, the amount of munitions needed to achieve the same effect is significantly reduced.”

The CCM came into effect in 2010 and has over 112 nations as signatories. The treaty bans all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. 

Cluster bombs are anti-personnel weapons that have submunitions or bomblets that spread out over a wide area. After their initial use, many of the submunitions remain unexploded and often kill and maim civilians years or decades after a conflict ends. 

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