Tag: russia

Russian Forces Destroy More US Patriot Launchers & Advance Closer To Pokrovsk

Amid the continued rapid advance of Russian forces in Ukraine’s east, and with the Donetsk villages of Vesely Gai and Pushkino (15km south of Pokrovsk) having been captured, Russia is also going after US-made Patriot batteries.

“Russian forces have destroyed four Patriot anti-aircraft missile launchers provided to Ukraine by Western nations,” the Defense Ministry announced Saturday.

The statement said that air force jets along with with drones and artillery groups, “destroyed a combat control vehicle, an AN/MPQ-65 radar station and four launchers of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system made in the US.”

Zelensky has pleaded with the West to hand Ukraine at least 25 Patriot batteries, and some European countries have recently donated theirs to Ukrainian forces.

This isn’t the first time that Russia has taken out Patriots. Back in October the defense ministry said its forces struck “two Patriot launcher stations made in the US” along with a control station and radar set part of the Patriot defensive network.

At that time a Ukrainian member of parliament had revealed that at least one Patriot battery was damaged in the October attack, but Kiev typically doesn’t comment on the extent of damage to its Western-supplied weapons systems.

Early last summer the Biden administration took the drastic step of pausing all Patriot deliveries to allies, instead announcing that they would be redirected to Ukraine.

“We’re going to reprioritize the deliveries of these exports so that those missiles rolling off the production line will now be provided to Ukraine,” Biden said at the time, with these first shipments having rolled out by late summer and into fall.

Patriot missile batteries have also been sent to to Ukraine from US bases of operations in neighboring Poland. All of this has been controversial as it impacts Europe’s home defense.

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NATO Head Says “Wartime Mindset” Needed; Redirect “Pensions, Health, Social Security” To Military Spending

Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who was this year selected as the Secretary General of NATO, has stated that Europeans need to “shift to a wartime mindset” and that military spending must be increased, likely at the expense of things like health care.

Rutte made the remarks at, ironically, a meeting of The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Brussels, declaring that Russia is trying to “crush our freedom and way of life.”

“Hostile actions against Allied countries are real and accelerating… These attacks are not just isolated incidents. They are the result of a coordinated campaign to destabilise our societies and discourage us from supporting Ukraine,” he added.

Rutte further asserted that Russia is using unconventional “hybrid warfare” attacks against Europe, circumventing NATO’s traditional defence and bringing “the front line to our front doors. Even into our homes”.

“Ukrainians are fighting against Russian swarms of drones. That’s what we need to be prepared for”, Rutte told the conference.

“I know spending more on defence means spending less on other priorities. But it is only a little less,” he continued, adding that “On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social security systems.”

“We need a small fraction of that money to make our defences much stronger, and to preserve our way of life,” he proclaimed, reasoning that “freedom does not come for free.”

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Commentary on Ukraine & Syria & Big Picture

Today’s Simplicius article focused on Zelensky’s dilemma to lower the draft age to satisfy the blood-hungry Outlaw US Empire politicos who demand such an act in exchange for more weapons that don’t work, thus making clearer than ever their policy of fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian. And then there’s the fact that Europe will be forced to pay for its own defense which is one of the main causes for the political chaos we’re seeing. Here’s my comment:

What we haven’t seen is mass kidnaping of people in far western Ukraine for military servitude, which is also where the bulk of Ukraine’s remaining economy resides. However, as I’ve commented here before, the best Ukie soldiers are now deployed in the major cities that are already or soon to come under attack. Outlying areas can thus be rapidly advanced over since what troops are there lack will and means–a company holding a village is reduced to a platoon or two that then retreats to the next village to augment the company that’s there, and the situation gets repeated over and over. This is seen a lot, which enables Russia to allow rather large flank areas thinly defended for long periods. The methodical advancement in Toretsk and Chasov Yar suggest Russian taking few casualties while almost all Ukie resistance is KIA’d via bombardment. A slow-moving Pac Man gobbling up everything is an a-visual analog to what’s happening on the ground. And the Russian advance seems slow because the high frequency of rotation, which keeps down casualties–fresh, warm, alert troops fight better and safer as they don’t need to take big risks.

Politically, EU/NATO is proving to all that it’s a liberal totalitarian entity as Rutte demanded all EU/NATO states give up social spending to support the war. Macron went to Poland because he has no government in France. The majority of Europeans have no will nor reason to fight Russia–it’s only those bribed by the Outlaw US Empire or EU/NATO freaks who insist. Many are thinking that they didn’t get freed from Soviet Colonialism to become serfs to US Colonialism. And we haven’t even entered the deeper half of Winter yet. Richard Wolff said it well today that Europeans are being forced to do something they don’t want to do and enter a future very few want, and the only way to avoid both is to revolt.

Syria is and will remain a tragedy for an unknown amount of time. Pepe Escobar wrote a very dark article on the situation, which also explains why Assad was never able to reconstitute the Syria that existed before 2010—the vast multitude of factions most of which could easily be bought and owned to be used as proxies. Nothing like Hezbollah or IRG existed in Syria that could form the power core for the political class. Politically, the situation was similar to Lebanon but much worse factions-wise: There’ were never enough unifiers and still aren’t. And for the ordinary apolitical people, it’s either go along to get along or become a refugee—neither of which will be easy to do. And as Escobar notes, the Zionist advance into Syria exposes Hezbollah’s left flank, which it probably never considered needed extensive defenses; now it does. More than ever the economic siege on the Genocidalists needs to be kept and escalated. That Hamas congratulated HTS is significant, but to what degree remains unknown.

Many interesting points were again made by the Hudson/Wolff duo on Nima’s show this morning that’s linked to above. One item I caught while looking for news was Medvedev’s visit to China for talks with Xi using his position as head of the United Russia party instead of his Security Council position. IMO, the ruse didn’t fool anyone as Putin has a very heavy domestic calendar, more of which will be posted later. Today he was very busy presenting state awards. One of the issued discussed by Hudson was should BRICS become a military alliance to counter NATO? Now, both Russia and China have made great efforts to note that neither the SCO or BRICS is or intends to become a military alliance. SCO already has a very potent anti-terrorism program—and we know who the #1 terrorist is—which is ready to confront the Outlaw US Empire’s Terrorist Foreign Legion. I agree that the only real power projection ability remaining for the Empire is its Terrorists, thus BRICS and the Global Majority only need to prepare themselves to combat that, not full-scale military operations. Having missiles capable of keeping the USN at bay as Ansarallah has shown ought to be enough for most nations. That leaves far more capital available for development.

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Russia Responds To Recent ‘Ukrainian’ ATACMS Attacks On Russian Soil, Sending Hundreds Of Missiles Into Ukraine

Russia has responded as advertised for ‘Ukraine’ launching 6 ATACMS against a Russian airfield yesterday.

Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine on Friday, firing 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing it as one of the heaviest bombardments of the country’s energy sector since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost three years ago, reported ABC News.

In response to Kiev’s attack on a military airfield in Taganrog using ATACMS missiles, the Russian army carried out a precision strike on major Ukrainian fuel and energy facilities that support the country’s defense industry, the Defense Ministry reported, reported Russian state news agency TASS.

Defense Ministry report

– In response to the ATACMS missile attack on the Taganrog military airfield, Russia’s military carried out targeted strikes on crucial Ukrainian fuel and energy infrastructure facilities that ensure the operation of its defense enterprises, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

– The attack was carried out with the help of high-precision long-range airborne and sea-based weapons, as well as strike drones.

– According to the ministry, the strike was a success, hitting all designated facilities.

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Moscow Threatens Retaliation After Ukraine Strikes Russia With 6 US-Made ATACMS Missiles

Moscow has announced a very serious escalation out of Ukraine on Wednesday, with defense ministry officials saying that six US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles were launched against a Russian airfield inside the country’s sovereign territory.

Taganrog is a Black Sea port city in southwestern Russia, and was targeted in the heavy attack. The military claimed that all six were able to be intercepted and downed before reaching their target, with two reported intercepts by a Pantsir air defense system, and the others destroyed after electronic warfare systems diverted them.

“Missile fragments caused injuries among personnel. There was no destruction, but two buildings in the airfield’s technical area and three military vehicles sustained minor shrapnel damage. Civilian vehicles in a nearby parking lot were also damaged,” the Russian Defense Ministry statement said.

Apparently this damage occurred through “falling fragments of the missiles” according to the ministry, which also vowed that retaliation is coming for the strike.

“This attack by Western long-range weapons will not go unanswered, and appropriate measures will be taken,” it added, but without specifying anything further.

It appears that at least other drones or missiles which were part of the broader assault made it through Russian aerial defenses:

In the early hours of Wednesday, Dec.11, multiple explosions shook the city of Taganrog in Russia’s Rostov region, regional governor Yuri Slyusar reported, describing the attack as a “missile strike.”

The attack, reported around 4:20 a.m., triggered air defense systems and caused at least ten explosions, local residents told the Shot Telegram channel. Eyewitnesses suggested the target might have been a military airfield, according to CHEKA-OGPU Telegram channel.

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U.S. Gives Ukraine $20 Billion in Stolen Russian Assets

The Biden administration announced today that the U.S. will pump Ukraine with $20 billion in stolen Russian assets to keep the war going — which is part of a $50 billion effort by the G7 announced in October

“These funds – paid for by the windfall proceeds earned from Russia’s own immobilized assets – will provide Ukraine a critical infusion of support as it defends its country against an unprovoked war of aggression,” Janet Yellen, the secretary of the Treasury, said in a statement. She continued: “We are sending an unmistakable message of resolve by making Russia increasingly bear the costs of its illegal war, instead of taxpayers in our coalition.”

(U.S. taxpayers already sent Ukraine over $60 billion in weapons.)

The International Monetary Fund warned in May that the Western push to confiscate Russian assets or the interest on these funds could dramatically undermine the global monetary system.

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Now We Know Why the Presidential Election Results in Romania Were Cancelled – The Winning Candidate Threatened US Weapons Pipeline to Ukraine

The Eastern European country of Romania was in shock after the first round of its Presidential elections in late November as independent, rightwing candidate, Călin Georgescu, a Euroskeptic who has called the United Nations ‘satanic’ came out as the big winner.

Almost as shocking was the fact that the Prime Minister, a leftist-globalist-euro-fanatic candidate, whom all opinion polls called the favorite, came in third and was out of the race.

The BBC reported:

“With more than 99% of votes counted, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu has an unassailable lead of nearly 350,000 votes over center-right candidate Elena Lasconi, with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the pre-election favorite, in third.

The strong showing of Georgescu, who has no party of his own and campaigned largely on the social media platform TikTok, came as the biggest surprise of the election.”

Following his surprising win on Sunday, Călin Georgescu went out and posted a video glorifying God and condemning the emptiness and godlessness of the globalist elites.

Well, Călin Georgescu’s celebrations did not last long.

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Russian Security Service Busts Ukrainian-Linked Criminal Scam Network

Russia has repeatedly warned Western countries that Ukraine’s US-backed so-called “IT army” would become a huge problem for Europeans, as more than 1,000 “call centers” in Ukraine are engaged in the extortion of money under fraudulent pretenses.

A sprawling criminal call center network linked to Ukraine has been busted by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

Here’s What’s Known So Far:

The global criminal group operated call centers where, under the guise of making investment deals, perpetrators defrauded unwitting victims, according to the FSB statement.

Eleven individuals, including leaders and employees of the network’s Russia-based offices, have been detained by security forces.

The network was led by Israeli/Ukrainian citizen Yakov Keselman, who has been detained, and Israeli/Georgian citizen David Todva, who is on the run.

Around 100,000 people across more than 50 countries, including the EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, India, and Japan fell victim to the scammers, who raked in close to a million US dollars a day, according to an FSB statement.

The fraudulent scheme “operated in Russia on behalf of former Georgian Defense Minister and Milton Group founder David Kezerashvili, who is currently hiding in London.”

Kezerashvili is wanted on charges of disseminating anonymous messages upon instructions from the Ukrainian Security Service in 2022 about alleged impending attacks in Russia supposedly being planned, per the FSB.

An investigation into the criminal operation is ongoing.

Anglo-Saxon curators of the Kiev regime have sent their special services’ cyber units to Ukraine to train their hackers engaged in activities against Russia, Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik this January. He said that Ukraine has de facto become a NATO ground for testing methods of fighting Russia in the digital space.

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In Syria, be careful what you wish for: Sharia law and new wave of refugees is more likely than ‘democracy’ following fall of Assad and U.S. meddling

Why, exactly, did Washington back Sunni rebels taking down Assad, and if Washington wants a Turkish-backed Sunni Muslim caliphate in Syria, should we as Christians cheer Washington getting its way?

All of those in the West celebrating the fall of the Assad regime in Syria had better be careful what they wish for.

I’ve heard some awfully dumb statements coming from conservative circles in recent days about the “stunning” nine-day collapse of Syria. It’s not so stunning when you learn that the American CIA had been planning the offensive for months with the full support of its NATO ally Turkey.

One prominent regular guest commentator on Fox News has come out and said both sides in the Syrian Civil War are made up of really bad guys, but that he was hoping the coalition of “rebels” which include the former El Nusra, al-Qaida and other Sunni Muslim terrorists would win. Why? Because they’re against Russia and Iran, whom he fears more.

But even that nonsense pales in comparison to some of the other chatter out there in conservative and even Christian circles, where I’m hearing it said that there is “hope” now for a democratically elected constitutional republic to emerge in Syria. Where is there another example of such a government — of, by and for the people — anywhere in the Middle East? I would actually go further and say I don’t see a government anywhere on Earth right now that reflects those vaunted principles.

Let’s face it: The U.S. didn’t support the rebels who overran Syria because they thought Assad was too brutal of a dictator. They supported them because it was yet another way to deal a black eye to Russia.

Instead of Russia and Iran running the show in Syria, now we face the very real possibility that Russia and Iran will be replaced with Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Syria’s new jihadist regime has reportedly already started rounding up the Christians.

But, however unjustified, the celebrations continue here in America in certain Christian and conservative circles. Yay, we beat Russia again! Score one for the good guys!

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Zelensky rejects Trump’s call for peace

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has rejected a call by US President-elect Donald Trump for an immediate truce and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Following a meeting between Trump, Zelensky, and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday, the US president-elect issued a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform saying, “there should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin” to settle the Ukraine conflict. According to Trump, Ukraine “would like to make a deal and stop the madness.”

However, Zelensky made it clear that this is not the case, in a post published on X on Sunday, in which he said the conflict “cannot simply end with a piece of paper and a few signatures.”

“A ceasefire without guarantees can be reignited at any moment… To ensure that Ukrainians no longer suffer losses, we must guarantee the reliability of peace and not turn a blind eye to occupation,” the Ukrainian leader stated.

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