Tag: ukraine

Is Ukraine Going Rogue Or Did It Attack Russia’s Early Warning Systems With American Approval?

Russian-US relations deteriorated further than ever in late May as a result of three developments.

First, the US set the ball rolling by more openly allowing Ukraine to use its arms to strike targets inside of Russia, then Poland said that the US will hit all of Russia’s forces in the special operation zone if Moscow uses nukes, and finally, President Putin signaled that he expects NATO to majorly escalate the conflict by sometime this summer. All of this is bad enough, but it’s made even worse by what Ukraine just did.

Russia confirmed that Ukraine hit at least one of its early nuclear warning systems, while Kiev claims to have targeted a second one deeper inside its opponent’s hinterland that hasn’t (yet?) been confirmed. These structures detect incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles of the sort that could be launched by the US in the scenario of a first strike, thus enabling Russia to prepare for an inevitable second strike. They have nothing to do with the Ukrainian Conflict and everything to do with strategic stability.

Both reportedly remain operable, but this nevertheless represents an unprecedented development since never before has any country ever targeted another’s such systems, which could partially blind them to a first strike in the worst-case scenario and thus give the attacking party a huge edge in that event. The further deterioration of Russian-US relations that occurred independently of this development raised tensions to their highest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis so this couldn’t have come at a worse time.

The most important question in the world right now is whether Ukraine is going rogue, perhaps to provoke a crisis like the aforesaid one in the expectation that it could force Russia to withdraw from at least some of the territory that Kiev claims as its own, or if this was done with American approval. The Washington Post’s report about how US officials are concerned about what Ukraine just did lends credence to the first view, but that might just be disinformation for plausible deniability purposes.

At the same time, however, it’s worth remembering how Ukraine defied the US’ public demands not to target Russian oil refineries. The Biden Administration doesn’t want that commodity’s price to spike ahead of the November elections, yet Zelensky still ordered his forces to hit refineries anyhow. That also came amidst the Congressional deadlock over more Ukraine aid that was resolved shortly after those strikes became problematic. It therefore wouldn’t be unprecedented for Ukraine to go rogue yet again.

On top of that, the Financial Times reported that “some Ukrainian officials say (ties with the US) have hit their lowest ebb” due to the abovementioned restrictions on targeting Russian oil refineries and Zelensky’s “paranoia” (as one of their alleged Ukrainian insiders described it) of the US’ intentions. He’s also offended that Biden won’t participate in the upcoming Swiss “peace talks” after snubbing them for a fundraiser, which reportedly prompted him to send a memo ordering officials to criticize the US leader.

Keep reading

The West Is Hell-Bent On Provoking Russia Into Hot War

The warning by President Putin could not be starker: “In the event of the use of long-range weapons, the Russian Armed Forces will again have to make decisions about expanding the sanitary zone further (…) Do they want global conflict? It seemed they wanted to negotiate [with us], but we don’t see much desire to do this.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then came up with the appropriate metaphor to designate NATO’s ramped-up military outbursts: not only NATO is raising the degree of escalation but delving into a warlike “ecstasy”.

It does not get more serious than that. “They”, as Putin alluded to, do seem to want “global conflict”. That’s at the heart of NATO’s new suicidal “ecstasy” strategy.

For all their circumlocutions, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have effectively greenlighted Kiev using Western weapons for attacks deep inside the Russian Federation. The alleged debate, still ongoing, is just a “smokescreen” for the real objective: a pretext that could lead to WWIII.

There’s no reason to think Kiev will stick to “limited” strikes against relatively unimportant targets. Instead, it is likely to target critical security infrastructure in hopes of provoking an unrelenting Russian response, which in turn would pave the way for NATO to invoke Article 5 and de facto engage in a Hot War.

Keep reading

Ukrainian Military Loses Over 35,000 Troops in May – Russian Defense Minister

Ukraine’s armed forces lost more than 35,000 servicemen and over 290 tanks in May this year, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said.

“The Russian Armed Forces are systematically depleting the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In May, the enemy suffered losses of more than 35,000 troops and 2,700 units of various weapons. Among them were 290 tanks and armored combat vehicles, including four Abrams, seven Leopards, and 12 Bradleys. In addition, 11 planes and four helicopters were shot down, while 730 field artillery and multiple rocket launchers were destroyed,” Belousov said at a meeting of the CSTO Council of Defense Ministers in Almaty on Friday.

According to him, “deprived of the opportunity to seize the initiative on the battlefield, the Kiev regime continues to demonstrate to its Western sponsors its ability to damage the Russian Federation by hitting civilian infrastructure.”

Keep reading

US Weapons Already Used in Attempts to Strike Russian Territory – Kremlin

Attempts to strike Russian territory with US weapons are already being made, clearly indicating Washington’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian president, said on Friday.

“We are aware that attempts to strike Russian territory with American-made weapons are already being made. This is sufficient for us, and it clearly demonstrates the extent of the United States’ involvement in this conflict,” he told journalists.

Earlier, a US State Department representative told Sputnik that President Joe Biden had authorized Ukraine to use American weapons for counter-battery operations against targets on Russian territory that threaten the Kharkov region, while maintaining the ban on the use of ATACMS tactical missiles and other long-range strike systems.

Keep reading

Ukraine Targets Radars That Are Part Of Russia’s Nuclear Warning System

A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that a Ukrainian drone targeted a radar deep inside Russian territory that’s part of Russia’s early-warning system to detect nuclear missiles. The incident marks the second time within a week that Ukrainian officials reported attacks on a Russian nuclear warning system, known as “Voronezh M” radars.

The source said that the strike targeted a radar near the city of Orsk in Russia’s Orenburg Oblast, which is over 900 miles away from Ukrainian territory. The source didn’t say if there was any damage, and Russian media reported a drone was downed in the Orenburg region and that no civilian infrastructure was hit.

On May 22, a Ukrainian drone targeted a Voronezh M radar in Russia’s Krasnodar Oblast at a radar station about 300 miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory.

The US-state-funded RFE/RL reported there was damage to the radar site, citing satellite images, although Reuters said it could not verify the imagery.

While the Russian radars can track missiles fired by Ukraine, the primary function of the early-warning system is to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles to determine if Russia is coming under a nuclear attack.

Ukraine’s targeting of the systems could lead to a major response from Russia or potentially a miscalculation as the attacks come at a time of unprecedented nuclear tensions between Washington and Moscow.

The Telegraph reported that the attack on the radar in Krasnodar “sparked alarm” in the west. The report quoted Thord Are Iversen, a Norwegian military analyst, who said it was “not a particularly good idea…, especially in times of tension” and that it was “in everyone’s best interest that Russia’s ballistic missile warning system works well.”

Keep reading

Harsh Electronic WARFARE among Russia and Ukraine-NATO Military Forces

Ukraine’s stocks of American-made Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) munitions are being jammed by Russian electronic warfare equipment, three informed sources familiar with the ‘problem’ told Reuters.

The Boeing/Saab Group-developed GLSDB is a ground-launched variant of Boeing’s GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb – a 129 kg glide munition with a 93 kg fragmentation warhead and a 150 km range designed for strikes against heavily entrenched targets.

The GLSDB can be fired from M270 and M142 HIMARS precision multiple launch rocket installations – which the United States began delivering to Ukraine in mid-2022, and which Russian forces initially had difficulties locating due to the systems’ rapid shoot-and-scoot [the ability to come out of cover, quickly fire and go back into hiding] capabilities.

GLSDBs began to be sent to Ukraine in early 2024 in a bid by the Pentagon to extend Ukraine’s long-range strike potential, which Kiev has used to target both military and civilian targets in the Donbass and elsewhere.

Keep reading

Ukraine Conflict: Path to Nuclear World War

President Biden has decided to permit Ukraine to use US weapons to strike military targets inside Russia, where missiles are being launched from. This move is supported by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Until now, the US had disagreed despite Stoltenberg’s urgings, and several NATO members continue to voice their objections.

The decision is crucial for Ukraine’s chances of winning the war. However, it marks an escalation, bringing the US closer to conflict with Russia, the world’s largest possessor of nuclear warheads. A video released by the Russian government warns that by enabling Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, the West has revealed its “true motive.” The Moscow claims that these weapons are not for defense but are intended to strike civilian infrastructure inside Russia.

Putin told reporters in Tashkent that constant escalation could lead to dire consequences in Europe and the United States. He warned Western leaders that their decision was dangerous and could trigger a global conflict. Specifically, he said that sending French troops to Ukraine would be a step too far. Additionally, he ominously stated that some European countries have small landmasses but dense populations. Regardless of where one stands on the Ukraine war or whether the US and NATO should be involved, the Kremlin is correct in saying that each successive escalation brings the world closer to a global conflict.

Keep reading

Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with US weapons

The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv — using U.S.-provided weapons, three U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the move said Thursday, a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city.

“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” one of the U.S. officials said, adding that the policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.”

Ukraine asked the U.S. to make this policy change only after Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv began this month, the official added. All the people were granted anonymity to discuss internal decisions that haven’t been announced.

In the last few days, the U.S. made the decision to allow Ukraine “flexibility” to defend itself from attacks on the border near Kharkiv, the second U.S. official said.

In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian territory. But the official said Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, to hit military targets deep inside Russia.

It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield –– namely Russia’s advances and improved position in Kharkiv –– led the president to change his mind.

The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Keep reading

WW3 WATCH: Senior Biden Officials ‘Signal Openness’ to Allowing Ukraine to Strike Inside Russia With U.S. Missiles

Senior aides within the Biden administration are moving towards supporting the use of American missiles to strike targets inside Russia.

According to a report from POLITICO, two senior administration officials have “opened the door” to reversing the current policy, which prohibits the Ukrainian military from firing missiles directly at targets within the Russian mainland.

The report states:

The move, if made, would come as European allies, lawmakers and Ukrainian officials exert pressure on the White House to lift the restrictions, and as Russia has made major advances on the battlefield. It also suggests that President Joe Biden and his team are increasingly worried about Kyiv’s ability to fend off Russia’s attacks, especially its latest advance in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaled the possible change during a visit to Moldova when pressed by reporters. A “hallmark” of the Biden administration’s approach toward Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion two years ago “has been to adapt as the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed.”

“We’ve adapted and adjusted, too, and we’ll continue to do that,” he continued.

Shortly afterward, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, while stating that there’s “no change” in the current policy that says Ukraine can’t use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russian territory, also noted that America’s “support to Ukraine has evolved appropriately.”

The apparent shift comes just days after Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, indicated his support for lifting the ban despite the obvious risks of escalation that propels the world into a Third World War.

“I think the time has come for allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they are put on the use of weapons they have donated to Ukraine because, especially now when a lot the fighting is going on in Kharkiv, close to the border,” Stoltenberg said.

“To deny Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very hard for them to defend themselves.”

Keep reading

Britain’s King Charles accepted award from Ukrainian Nazi – media

Britain’s King Charles received an award from a Ukrainian Nazi veteran while still Prince of Wales in 1983, an investigation by the media outlet Declassified UK has found.

The outlet has discovered a photograph showing the then Prince Charles receiving an honorary law degree during a ceremony at the University of Alberta in Canada from Peter Savaryn, a former member of the Waffen-SS, who served as the university’s chancellor from 1982 to 1986.

According to the report, in his acceptance speech Charles praised those who had “sacrificed their lives 40 years ago” in the fight against Adolf Hitler, yet the award was conferred on him by a veteran who fought for Nazi Germany.

Originally from what was then eastern Poland, Savaryn served in a Ukrainian Waffen-SS unit during World War II.

Millions of Ukrainians served in the Soviet Red Army during the war, but thousands of others fought on the German side under the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, known as the Galicia Division.

The division, formed in 1943, attracted volunteers from what is now western Ukraine. Its members took a personal oath to Adolf Hitler and have been accused of atrocities against Jews as well as other Polish and Soviet civilians.

Keep reading