Tag: russia

Under the fog of war, Ukraine cancels its 2024 presidential elections

A very significant political event occurred in Ukraine earlier this month, and almost nobody noticed.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, the leader of the war-torn country, just received approval from his parliament to extend Martial Law another 90 days. There have been many parliamentary extensions of the wartime mandate, but this one carried special significance because the 2024 presidential elections in Ukraine were scheduled for March 31, 2024, coinciding with the end of Zelensky’s five year term. Now that Martial Law is in place to cover that time period, Ukraine’s presidential elections have been canceled indefinitely.

There is currently no set date for a next election, as lawmakers in the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) have failed to entertain the matter. They only agreed that elections should take place no sooner than six months after the end of the war with Russia.

While it’s not particularly unreasonable to want to postpone elections during a devastating war, the case of Ukraine deserves a closer examination, given the series of events leading up to the decision to extend Martial Law.

In November, a former Zelensky adviser named Oleksiy Arestovych announced that he would be challenging Zelensky for the presidency, promising to focus on a negotiated settlement to end the war with Russia. Arestovych was fiercely critical of Zelensky’s approach to the conflict, maintaining that a settlement was in the best interests of Ukrainians. Far from a pro-Moscow shill, the Russian government has an active arrest warrant out for him.

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3 NATO member countries to build BUNKERS along their border with Russia

Three member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have announced plans to build bunkers along their border with Russia amid growing fears of World War III.

The three nations – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – agreed to the decision as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the Sun. The Baltic trio will construct an “extensive network of fortifications” along the borders with Russia to deter Moscow from invading their countries. The project is estimated to cost around £51.2million ($64.4 million).

The construction will begin in Estonia, with its government planning some 600 bunkers grouped around the border crossing points of Narva in the north and Voru in the south, Newsweek revealed in a report. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have long been considered the most likely targets for Russian President Vladimir Putin should he look to attack NATO countries – a claim he promptly denied. (Related: WWIII looms: Russia warns West of catastrophic consequences if their already strained relations further deteriorate.)

Susan Lillevali of the Estonian Ministry of Defense (EVK) explained that the overall intention of the bunkers is to ensure readiness “to fight the enemy from the first meter and first hour.” She added: “These installations serve, first, the purpose of avoiding military conflict in our region, as they could potentially change the enemy’s calculus.”

“Counter-mobility and fortification measures have played a significant role in wars in our region in history, for example in Finland. As the war in Ukraine has demonstrated they are perfectly valid also in this century. The war in Ukraine has shown that taking back already conquered territories is extremely difficult and comes at great cost of human lives, time and material resources.”

The Baltic nations’ bunkers are part of readiness measures the entire continent has been engaged in for some time now. Aside from bolstering defense, Europe has also been warned to ramp up weapons stocks to “wartime levels” in anticipation of a potential Russian attack.

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Did the Leak of Alleged Russia National Security Threat Kill The Bill To Reform Warrantless Surveillance?

The contentious US surveillance program’s reauthorization faced a major setback over the last week. The United States House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) played a pivotal role in derailing the process, leading to a stalemate that hindered any progress before Congress’s focus shifts to the impending government shutdown in March.

Negotiations between opposing House committees unraveled on Wednesday when HPSCI members, instead of participating in a key meeting, chose to derail a pre-agreed plan for a “compromise” bill. This development came as a blow to months of efforts aimed at renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a controversial intelligence tool that has, despite promises not to, has allowed the warrantless surveillance of US citizens.

This deadlock in Congress has left the intelligence community in disarray and pushed security advocates to defend surveillance practices, despite their acknowledged susceptibility to misuse.

Key insiders reveal that HPSCI leaders reneged on a privately negotiated deal after lengthy discussions. As reported by Wired, these sources, who requested anonymity, indicated that the collapse of the deal was due to an amendment proposal. This amendment aimed to stop the government from buying information from US companies without a warrant, focusing particularly on cell phone location data often used for tracking individuals.

HPSCI Chair Mike Turner was at the center of this upheaval. He skipped a critical hearing that took place on Wednesday, where lawmakers were to set the voting rules. His absence, coupled with HPSCI’s failure to file necessary amendments, signaled a lack of commitment to the process. Concurrently, Turner was reportedly involved in private discussions with House Speaker Mike Johnson, threatening to torpedo the bill he had previously endorsed.

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EU state will give all its artillery to Ukraine – PM

Denmark will transfer all of its artillery to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said during a panel debate at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. According to her, despite production issues, Copenhagen and the EU in general have enough arms stockpiled to supply the country with the necessary weaponry.

Kiev has increasingly complained of personnel and ammunition shortages on the front lines, appealing to its Western supporters for more financing and arms. However, Brussels is yet to finalize its next aid package, while the EU’s earlier pledge to provide Ukraine with one million artillery rounds by March this year has not been met.

“If you ask Ukrainians – they are asking us for ammunition now, artillery now. From the Danish side, we decided to donate our entire artillery to Ukraine,” Frederiksen stated, adding that other EU member-states should follow suit.

“I am sorry to say, friends, but there is still ammunition in stock in Europe. This is not only a question about production because we have weapons, we have ammunition, we have air defense, that we don’t have to use ourselves at the moment, that we should deliver to Ukraine,” she said.

Frederiksen noted that it would be ineffective to wait for the US aid package to come through to make decisions on supplies to Ukraine. US lawmakers failed to approve additional funding of around $60 billion for Kiev before going on winter break, and are expected to resume discussions on the package on February 28.

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Putin Opponent Alexei Navalny Dies in Arctic Jail, Russia Says

Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny collapsed and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony where he was serving a long jail term, the Russian prison service said.

Mr. Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, rose to prominence more than a decade ago with blogs on what he said was vast corruption and opulence among the “crooks and thieves” of Russia’s elite.

The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said in a statement that Mr. Navalny felt unwell after a walk at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) north east of Moscow into the Arctic Circle.

He lost consciousness almost immediately, it said.

“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results,” the prison service said, adding that causes of death were being established.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was told about the death.

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British intelligence operative’s involvement in Ukraine crisis signals false flag attacks ahead

Shadowy UK intel figure Hamish de Bretton-Gordon was at the forefront of chemical weapons deceptions in Syria. Now in Ukraine, he’s up to his old tricks again.

With Washington and its NATO allies forced to watch from the sidelines as Russia’s military advances across Eastern Ukraine and encircles Kiev, US and British officials have resorted to a troubling tactic that could trigger a massive escalation. Following similar claims by his Secretary of State and ambassador the United Nations, US President Joseph Biden has declared that Russia will pay a “severe price” if it uses chemical weapons in Ukraine.

The warnings emanating from the Biden administration contain chilling echoes of those issued by the administration of President Barack Obama throughout the US-led dirty war on Syria.

Almost as soon as Obama implemented his ill-fated “red line” policy vowing an American military response if the Syrian army attacked the Western-backed opposition with chemical weapons, Al Qaeda-aligned opposition factions came forth with claims of mass casualty sarin and chlorine bombings of civilians. The result was a series of US-UK missile strikes on Damascus and a prolonged crisis that nearly triggered the kind of disastrous regime change war that had destabilized Iraq and Libya.

In each major chemical weapons event, signs of staging and deception by the armed Syrian opposition were present. As a former US ambassador in the Middle East told journalist Charles Glass, “The ‘red line’ was an open invitation to a false-­flag operation.”

Elements of deception were especially clear in the April 7, 2018 incident in the city of Douma, when an anti-government militia on the brink of defeat claimed civilians had been massacred in a chlorine attack by the Syrian army.

Veteran inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found no evidence that the Syrian army had carried out any such attack, however, suggesting the entire incident had been staged to trigger Western intervention. Their report was subsequently censored by organization management, and the inspectors were subjected to a campaign of smears and intimidation.

Throughout the Syrian conflict, a self-proclaimed “chemical warrior” named Hamish de Bretton-Gordon was intimately involved in numerous chemical weapons deceptions that sustained the war and ratcheted up pressure for Western military intervention.

This February 24, just moments after Russia’s military entered Ukraine, de Bretton-Gordon surfaced again in British media to claim that Russia was preparing a chemical attack on Ukrainian civilians. He has since demanded that Ukrainians be provided with a guide he wrote called, “How To Survive A Chemical Attack.”

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“What Are They, the 51st State?”: Congressman Questions Why Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Has Ukraine Flag Alongside US Flag in His Office

In a post on X Twitter on Thursday, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) questioned why Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a Ukraine flag alongside the United States flag in his office, as seen on video of a teleconference from Wednesday, “Why does Sec. Def have a Ukrainian flag in his office? What are they, the 51st State?”

Former trump National Security Advisor Gen. Mike Flynn (USA, Ret.) concurred, “.@DeptofDefense spokesperson, this is a great question. WTH!?”

Austin was speaking from his home office in Northern Virginia to a meeting in Brussels of the Ukraine Defense Contract Group. Austin was scheduled to attend the meeting in person but a recent re-hospitalization for complications from treatment for prostate cancer forced him to change plans. Austin returned to the Pentagon on Thursday.

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Yesterday’s Hysteria-Inducing Intelligence On Scary New Russian Space Weapon Quickly Downgraded

Yesterday all of the major news networks paused their coverage of literally everything else to turn their focus through the whole afternoon to the “major, imminent, grave, terrifying security threat” and ‘fire-alarm’ based on apparent US intelligence related to the Russians(!) and reports that they possess new space defense technology, which is possibly even nuke-related.

Ambiguous reports pointed to a weapon designed to be used to take out satellites. On Thursday the White House has finally revealed more about the nature of the ‘threat’, with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby belatedly confirming it is related to “an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing,” but that “This is not an active capability that’s been deployed.”

Or in other words, compared to yesterday’s atmosphere of temporary panic and CNN pundits’ hurried breathing, less than 24 hours later it ends up being the big nothingburger which many predicted it would be. This trend of inflated and fear-mongering headlines is very likely to continue right up to the November election, as we’ve noted.

And just like that, Wednesday’s big ‘threat’ now simply becomes ‘troubling’…

“And though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling there was no immediate threat to anyone’s safety,” Kirby continued.

“We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth,” Kirby added.

Initially, Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio set Capitol Hill media correspondents into a frenzy of speculation after he issued an ominous-sounding statement about “information concerning a serious national security threat.”

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The Biden-Schumer Plan To Kill More Ukrainians

President Joe Biden is refusing to fold a losing hand as he bets with Ukrainian lives and US taxpayer money. Biden and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer propose to squander the lives of tens of thousands more Ukrainians and $61 billions of federal funds to keep Biden’s disastrous foreign policy failure hidden from view until after the November election.

The $61 billion will make no difference on the battlefield except to prolong the war, the tens of thousands of deaths, and the physical destruction of Ukraine. It will not “save” Ukraine. Ukraine’s security can only be achieved at the negotiating table, not by some fantasized military triumph over Russia.

$61 billion is not nothing. This worse-than-useless outlay would exceed the combined budgets of the U.S. Department of Labor, Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, and the Women, Infant, and Children nutrition program.

Almost exactly 10 years ago this month, Biden did much to put Ukraine on the path to disaster. This is well known to those who have looked carefully at the facts but is kept hidden from view by the White House, the Senate Democrats, and the mainstream media that back Biden. I have previously provided a detailed chronology, with hyperlinks, here.

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush, Sr. and his German counterpart Chancellor Helmut Kohl promised Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand eastward if the Soviet Union accepted German reunification. When the Soviet Union disbanded in December 1991, with Russia as the successor state, American leaders decided to renege.

President Bill Clinton began NATO expansion over the vociferous opposition of top diplomats like George Kennan and the opposition of his own Secretary of Defense, William Perry. In 1997 Zbigniew Brzezinski upped the ante, with a plan for NATO to expand all the way to Ukraine. He famously wrote that without Ukraine, Russia would cease to be a great power.

Russian leaders have repeatedly made clear that NATO expansion to Ukraine is understandably the reddest of Russian redlines. In 2007, President Vladmir Putin stated that NATO enlargement to that date was a cheat on the 1990 promise, and that it must go no further. Despite these clear warnings, including by his own diplomats, George W. Bush Jr. committed in 2008 to expand NATO to Ukraine and Georgia in order to surround Russia in the Black Sea.

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‘Russian Nuke in Space’ the October Surprise Come Early?

The big ‘national security threat’ announced today is supposedly about Russia wanting to put a nuclear weapon in space, prompting some to question whether it’s all an election year ploy.

The controversy began when House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) asked President Biden to declassify information about a “serious national security threat”.

According to ABC News, “Two sources familiar with deliberations on Capitol Hill said the intelligence has to do with the Russians wanting to put a nuclear weapon into space.”

The weapon would reportedly be designed to be used to take out satellites.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) responded by telling reporters he wanted “to assure the American people, there is no need for public alarm.”

The big, scary threat is serious business and involves a space-based nuke controlled by evil dictator Putin, but it’s also “not an immediate crisis,” according to what three members of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee have told Politico.

Okay, then. Just for election season, is it?

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