Tag: ukraine

Energy Truce In Shambles: Ukraine Strikes Russian Refinery Despite Trump’s Warning Amid Global Diesel Crisis

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that Ukrainian forces struck the Syzran refinery in Russia’s Samara region, about 75 miles west of Samara and 466 miles southeast of Moscow. The strike comes days after President Trump urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian refineries, as average US retail diesel prices jumped above $6 a gallon and alarming disruptions to global refining capacity threaten fuel supplies ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter. 

Zelenskyy wrote on X: 

Russia continues to attack our energy sector, regular logistics, and critical infrastructure. And our responses to them for this are tangible. There are new results from the Defense Forces of Ukraine regarding the refinery in Syzran. There was also a strike in Taganrog on a drone production facility, as well as on a drone preparation and launch site in the Oryol region. Targets were hit in the Black Sea as well. I thank every one of our warriors for the effectiveness of our long-range sanctions!

The day before, the United States also announced a significant decision regarding Russia’s VTB Bank – one of Russia’s systemic banks, which is heavily involved in schemes supporting Russia’s war and, in particular, its relations with the Iranian regime. All such schemes that work against peace truly need to be dismantled. I thank our partners for this useful step!

There is no alternative to ending this war. And all forms of pressure on Russia must create the right diplomatic conditions. Glory to Ukraine!

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Germany to Assist Zelensky’s Man Hunt

Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has now suggested that Germany could provide Kyiv with information on Ukrainian men of military age living inside Germany. His words were revealing: “We know who lives here.” Of course they do. The government knows who receives benefits, who has registered an address, and who holds a residence permit. These men escaped Ukraine believing Europe was offering them sanctuary from a war. Now Germany is openly discussing using the information collected on those refugees to help Zelensky’s government find them.

Wadephul claims nobody should be sent back “under coercion.” Wonderful. Then why does Kyiv need their information? Ukraine already prevents most military-age men subject to mobilization rules from simply leaving the country, subject to various exemptions, because Zelensky desperately needs bodies for the front. We have all seen reports of the forced mobilization confrontations inside Ukraine. Men have been stopped in public places and confronted by recruitment officers while videos of violent encounters have circulated for years. Kyiv has repeatedly tightened mobilization because it cannot manufacture young men the way Europe can manufacture another billion euros.

Now the net may be expanding beyond Ukraine. The European Commission has already proposed that Ukrainian men who were not legally permitted to leave because of military obligations should not automatically receive temporary protection if they arrive in the EU. Think about what that means. Europe spent years proclaiming that Ukrainians were fleeing for their lives and that Europe had a moral obligation to protect them. Apparently that promise comes with an expiration date if Zelensky needs more men.

This is why I have called them cannon fodder. Zelensky is not going to the front. The politicians in Brussels are not going to the front. Their sons are not being grabbed and sent into trenches. They sit behind desks talking about defending democracy “for as long as it takes” because somebody else’s children are doing the dying. Ukraine has a manpower problem that another weapons package cannot solve. You can print money. You can manufacture artillery shells. You cannot print another generation of Ukrainian men.

Wadephul was simultaneously complaining that Ukraine was not buying enough weapons from German manufacturers. Germany sends billions to Ukraine, Ukraine buys weapons, and now Germany discusses helping Kyiv locate military-age Ukrainian men. The defense industry gets another customer, politicians get another speech about democracy, and some Ukrainian kid gets a rifle and a trench. This is what war looks like when the people running it have absolutely no personal risk whatsoever.

Many of these men went to Germany precisely because they wanted nothing to do with this insanity. They were promised safety in Europe. They established homes, found jobs, registered with governments, and trusted that the information they provided would be used to administer their residency rather than potentially assist Kyiv in contacting them over military service. Now those same databases could become useful to the government they escaped. You cannot call yourself a sanctuary and then start discussing handing over information on the refugees when their government needs more soldiers.

The neocons wanted their proxy war against Russia, and Europe went along with it like obedient fools. Every failed strategy required another weapons package. Every battlefield setback required another billion. Every shortage of soldiers required another mobilization. Nobody in government ever admits the policy itself has failed. They simply demand more money, more weapons, and eventually more human beings.

Europe should be demanding negotiations before another generation of Ukrainians is destroyed. Instead, politicians who promised to save Ukraine are reaching the point where they may help Zelensky locate the very Ukrainian men who fled the slaughter. Today Wadephul tells us there will be no coercion. Fine. Remember those words. Governments always begin by saying something is voluntary. The moment the manpower crisis becomes desperate enough, the definition of “voluntary” has a remarkable tendency to change.

This is no longer about saving Ukraine. You do not save a nation by bleeding its young men dry. You do not defend freedom by trapping men inside their own country and then looking abroad for those who escaped. Zelensky needs bodies because this war has consumed an entire generation, and the European political establishment refuses to admit that its strategy has failed. They promised these men refuge. Now they know their names, they know where they live, and they are discussing helping Kyiv reach them. If that does not disturb you, then you have learned absolutely nothing from history.

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FALSE FLAG? Russia Arrests Guard at UK Embassy in Moscow Accused of Spying on British Diplomats on Behalf of Ukraine, Part of Terrorist Plot to Make London Join Kiev’s Fight

A ‘False Flag’ to lure Britain into Ukraine’s war against Russia was foiled, Moscow says.

Out of all the warmongering European powers, no other country has become a bigger enemy to Russia than the United Kingdom.

So why is the Russian Security Service arresting a guard in the UK embassy in Moscow for spying on British diplomats on behalf of Ukraine?

Because that’s (allegedly) exactly the point.

Russia’s FSB alleges that the man was involved in a deadly terrorist plot targeting British diplomats to force threw the UK into joining Kiev’s war – a classic ‘false flag’ attack.

The Telegraph reported:

“The Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed the man, a Russian citizen working for an agency guarding the British embassy in Moscow, had gathered detailed information about the movements of British diplomats, including Nigel Casey, the ambassador to Russia.

It alleged that Ukraine intended to use the intelligence to stage a terrorist attack against British envoys and pin the blame on Moscow, to draw Britain into direct armed conflict with Russia.”

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Ukraine Peace Talks: No Deal Reached, More War Expected

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held more than three hours of talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sept. 5, marking their first visit to the city since January.

In recent months, the war in Ukraine has received less attention as Washington has focused U.S. foreign policy and military resources on the conflict with Iran. The Moscow visit was intended to revive negotiations that had been stalled for nearly eight months.

The Kremlin meeting concluded without an immediate announcement about its outcome. Putin’s adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as “constructive and extremely frank.” He said the two sides discussed resolving the war, economic issues, and potential “mutually beneficial Russian-American projects.”

Ushakov told Russian reporters that “note was made of the Russian army’s tangible advances in the combat zone.” The passive, unattributed phrasing is typical of Kremlin readouts of closed-door diplomatic sessions. Moscow was placing its military progress on the record with the Americans, likely to project strength and shape its negotiating position.

Ushakov added that the talks needed to address the “root causes” of the conflict. “Root causes” is longstanding Kremlin language, used since before the 2022 invasion, for Russia’s underlying justifications for the war.

These include Ukraine’s NATO aspirations and broader Western military alignment; Ukraine’s governance and political orientation, which Russia has at times framed around “denazification” and the protection of Russian speakers; and the post-Cold War security architecture in Europe, which Russia argues expanded NATO into its sphere.

In this framing, Russia’s demands go beyond retaining the territory it currently occupies. They also include Ukraine renouncing NATO membership and reducing the size of its armed forces. Moscow separately said it remains confident that it can achieve its military objective of seizing the remainder of eastern Ukraine.

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You Can’t Make This Stuff Up – Ukraine Wants To Pay For Its Bombs With OnlyFans

Ukraine’s parliament is weighing a bill that would legalize pornography production so the state can tax OnlyFans creators and funnel the proceeds straight into the defense budget. The measure, co-authored by opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, cleared its first reading in July and now sits awaiting a second vote. Fenix International, the parent company of OnlyFans, already handed Ukrainian tax authorities records showing 7,900 locals pulled in $131 million on the platform last year. Zhelezniak claims legalization could yield roughly $25 million annually, enough to buy about 30,000 drones.

That figure looks microscopic next to Ukraine’s stated annual defense requirement of $120 billion. The gap underscores how far the country has been reduced to scraping for loose change while the larger conflict grinds on. Current law still treats pornography as a criminal offense, with penalties reaching seven years in prison for production, distribution, or even possession. Tax officials, however, have been chasing the same creators for unpaid levies on their earnings. The result is a perfect trap: pay the taxes and risk prosecution for the underlying activity, or withhold the taxes and face charges for evasion, writes the Wall Street Journal.

One prominent creator, Svitlana Dvornikova, who claims over a million subscribers, has flown repeatedly to France and Spain to film content and says she has already remitted $900,000 in taxes. Police raided her home anyway, seizing electronics and $200,000 in cash she had set aside for further payments. She filed a petition to President Zelensky that gathered 25,000 signatures. Tax lawyer Lesia Mykhalenko, who has represented more than 100 OnlyFans models, notes that the existing statutes simply overload the courts at a moment when resources should be directed elsewhere. Separate reporting from Ukraine’s general prosecutor indicates police departments in three regions each collect over $20,000 a month in bribes tied to the adult industry.

Former waitress Iryna Mosiychuk now runs Beezone, a company registered as a consulting firm that actually operates webcam studios outside Lviv serving mostly American clients. Models there reportedly clear $2,000 to $7,000 a month. The arrangement illustrates the parallel economy that has taken root while official policy remains frozen in contradiction. As the Wall Street Journal documented, these arrangements persist precisely because the legal framework offers creators no safe path forward.

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Russian Drone Strikes Ukraine’s SBU Headquarters in Kiev – Zelensky Calls It ‘an Assassination Attempt’ on the Security Agency Head Oleksandr Poklad

This comes a day after Russian Aerospace Forces General Nikolai Varpakhovich was shot by an assassin in Engels.

Today marks the eighth straight day of drone and missile strikes in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.

Russia has increased fivefold the number of jet-propulsed drones involved in attacks, and has spread those along the whole day, so there’s multiple air-raid alarms sounding, totally disrupting life in the country.

But, today (4), a drone has struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s security service SBU in Kiev, in what regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky called ‘an assassination attempt’ on Oleksandr Poklad, the head of the service.

“Heavy black smoke rose in Kiev city center following the attack, which Ukraine’s foreign minister said marked a ‘major escalation’ of the war.

‘Unfortunately, a Russian drone hit the central building of the SBU on Volodymyrska Street in Kiev, opposite the St Sophia Cathedral’, Mr. Zelensky said on social media. ‘The drone was aimed directly at the office of the head of the security service in that building’, he added.”

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The Ukraine Money Pit — Estonia’s €70 Million Scandal

Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has resigned after a €70 million ammunition deal intended to supply Ukraine blew up into a procurement scandal. Estonia agreed to purchase artillery shells from Datasel, an Italian-registered company owned by India’s Neco Defense Munitions, despite the companies having no established history of selling artillery shells. Millions were paid in advance, deliveries ran into problems, Estonia terminated the contracts, and the dispute has now gone to arbitration. This is what happens when government declares everything an emergency and suddenly the normal rules surrounding public money become inconvenient.

Pevkur says he did not negotiate the contracts and had not even read them. His explanation was rather revealing: “The defence minister does not conduct contract negotiations. The defence minister does not count socks and ammunition.” He said his responsibility was making the fundamental political decision to support Ukraine. He nevertheless resigned because the National Audit Office’s findings raised the question of political responsibility. At least somebody in government still remembers what that phrase means.

The scandal goes directly to the problem with Europe’s entire approach to Ukraine. The politicians declare that Ukraine must be supported at any cost, and once you use those words, cost ceases to matter. Due diligence becomes something bureaucrats complain takes too long. Money must be spent immediately because politicians tell everyone that Europe itself will fall if another artillery shell does not reach Ukraine yesterday.

Estonian officials have essentially admitted that extraordinary risks were accepted because of the urgency surrounding Ukraine. One official told reporters that they knew these procurements involved “greater risks than usual” but believed those risks were justified by what was at stake. There is the entire problem in one sentence. When government decides that the political objective is important enough to justify greater financial risk, taxpayers become the insurance policy when something goes wrong.

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Trump Will Demand Repayment From the EU Over Biden’s Massive Military Aid to Ukraine

Rather belatedly, but it will be demanded.

In the context of a social media burn against ‘SCUM’ journalists who are suggesting that the missile and ammo stockpiles would be dangerously low, President Donald J. Trump suggested that the European Union should repay the US for the untold billions that creepy Joe Biden’s administration sent to Ukraine.

Le Monde reported (translated from the French):

“Donald Trump on Thursday criticized his predecessor, Joe Biden, for providing Ukraine with hundreds of billions of dollars in aid and ammunition for free, believing that the Europeans should have borne the cost and announcing his intention to ask them for the money.

‘Hundreds of billions of dollars have been given for free to Ukraine and NATO, money that Europe would have paid if it had just been asked, but we will claim this money, even if it’s a little late!’ the US president wrote on Truth Social.”

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Norway Seizes Russian Cruise Ship in the Arctic

Norway seized the Professor Molchanov at the request of Ukrainian authorities.

We have been reporting here on TGP on how Western powers have been intercepting and seizing cargo vessels suspected of being part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’.

The official justification is that these are sanctioned ships transporting Russian oil under false flags but, in fact, these ships provide the perfect soft targets for the European warmongers to show some semblance of ‘victory’ over bogeyman Vladimir Putin.

These ‘shadow fleet’ tankers are invariably released to continue their voyages after a few days, after the Globalist ‘leaders’ have postured enough.

But yesterday, the stakes were raised considerably as Norwegian forces seized Russia’s Professor Molchanov, a much more benign ship.

The Professor Molchanov is a Russian Arctic oceanographic research vessel that has been repurposed as a cruise ship.

The Norwegians seized the ship in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard at the request of Ukraine’s energy firm Naftogaz, enforcing a $4.22 billion arbitration award.

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Crackhead Hunter Biden Admits He Used Burisma Cash to Fund His Drug Binges — Joe Biden ‘Showed Up’ at His DC Crack Den With a Secret Service Motorcade

Hunter Biden just confessed that the millions he collected from the corrupt Ukrainian energy giant Burisma didn’t just sit in some consulting account. He used that foreign cash to keep his crack pipe lit.

And while he was living in a Washington, D.C. drug den with a homeless crack dealer nicknamed “Bicycles,” his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, rolled up in a taxpayer-funded motorcade of six SUVs, Secret Service agents at his side, and knocked on the door, Page Six reported.

Hunter dropped the details on the addiction podcast Dopey with host Dave Manheim. When asked how he never went broke during years of crack, prostitutes, luxury bungalows at the Chateau Marmont, and motel benders, Hunter didn’t hesitate.

“I never went broke… Well, I still had the residual. Like for instance, I still was on the board of Burisma.”

He stayed on that board for years after his father left the vice presidency. The requirement? Show up four times a year.

“Even when I was a crack addict and out of my mind, I could show up for four meetings a year,” Hunter bragged.

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