Tag: ukraine

‘Billions for Ukraine, Pennies for Americans’: Netizens Fume Over Stingy Hurricane Relief

As Hurricane Helene-related deaths grow and officials in the states of North and South Carolina – reportedly the worst hit – are trying to airdrop supplies, restore power, and clear roads, the administration of US President Joe Biden has put together yet another bulky package of military assistance for Ukraine.

Americans on social media are calling into question how stingy US relief funds for victims of the devastating hurricane Helene are compared with the vast amounts of aid funneled to Ukraine.

The Biden administration unveiled a new $2.4billion aid package for the purchase of new arms for Ukraine last week, as well as $5.55 billion worth of weapons to be drawn from Pentagon stockpiles. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that victims of Hurricane Helene, which claimed at least 223 lives and wrought devastating destruction since making landfall in Florida on September 26, will get $750 apiece as immediate aid money.

“$2.4B to Ukraine. $750 to the victims of Hurricane Helen $1B+ of FEMA money to illegal aliens No FEMA funds for hurricane survivors,” fumed Michael Seifert, CEO of the digital marketplace PublicSquare.

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Ukrainian frontline military commanders in favour of talks with Russia

Ukrainian military personnel now on the front line, fearing an eternal conflict, are in favour of talks with Russia, the Financial Times reported. The article predicts that Ukraine is approaching the “darkest hour” of the conflict, admitting that the Ukrainian army is losing on the battlefield to Russia, which is advancing relentlessly.

“Right now, I’m thinking more about how to save my people,” said Mykhailo Temper. “It’s quite hard to imagine we will be able to move the enemy back to the borders of 1991,” the Ukrainian battalion commander added.

Another commander also told the newspaper that he is now in favour of negotiations with Russia, adding that he fears that “his grandson might one day inherit an endless conflict.”

An officer of the 72nd Mechanised Brigade operating in Kurakhove said: “If the US turns off the spigot, we’re finished.”

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Russia Elevates Nuclear Threat: Implications for Ukraine and the Global Power Balance

In what the Kremlin has labeled a warning to Western nations, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to lower the nuclear threshold, allowing for nuclear retaliation in response to large-scale air assaults and treating attacks by non-nuclear states, when supported by nuclear powers, as joint offensives.

Moscow aims to raise the stakes and discourage further support for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, both the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation and the Kremlin’s 2024 National Threat Assessment call for displacing the U.S. and the West as global leaders, with the fall of Ukraine viewed as a crucial step in reshaping the international order under Moscow and Beijing.

As the cost of supporting Ukraine rises, the cost of allowing its collapse may be even greater.

Russia’s Defense Ministry is set to gain the power to assess whether conditions for deploying nuclear weapons are met, as part of upcoming changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

The revisions are being made in response to increased involvement of nuclear powers in the war in Ukraine and NATO’s expanded presence near Russia.

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Ukrainian Lines Collapsing In East With World’s Attention On Middle East War

Moscow’s wide-reaching offensive in eastern Ukraine has continued making steady gains, as looming major war between Israel and Iran has largely taken over the news cycle and daily headlines.

Currently Russian forces have advanced to merely within a few a few kilometers of Pokrovsk, a key Ukrainian logistical hub in the region. As we’ve highlighted before, the collapse of Pokrovsk will likely portend a Russian takeover of the whole of Donetsk. 

On Wednesday the Ukrainian army announced that it has fully withdrawn from the eastern town of Vuhledar, describing that it abandoned the area after being almost fully encircled, and coming under heavy Russian artillery bombardment.

“The High Command gave permission for a maneuver to withdraw units from Vuhledar in order to save personnel and military equipment and take up a position for further operations,” a Ukrainian unit deployed there said in a Telegram post.

It cited specifically the “threat of encirclement” and heavy troop losses, and there are reports that Russian forces had already taken control of Vuhleda by the time the Ukrainian announcement was made.

Vuhleda is a significant achievement, and suggests Russia forces will continue to plow through Ukrainian defenses, given it was dubbed a “fortress” city given its long having heavily-fortified surroundings and being in an upland position.

Even The Daily Beast recently underscored that while President Zelensky was pitching his ‘victory plan’ in Washington, his forces were suffering loss after loss:

On a visit to the U.S. last week, Volodymyr Zelensky gave the hard sell to his “Victory Plan” for Ukraine. In meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and an awkward encounter with former President Donald Trump, the Ukrainian leader insisted his country could still–with Western help–emerge victorious in its long-running war with Russia.

…After two and a half years of war, soldiers are tired. The same soldiers who gave Vladimir Putin’s forces a bloody nose after the February 2022 invasion, and pushed the invaders from Kyiv and Kharkiv, say they are under-equipped and complain that they are being ordered to carry out impossible missions as Kyiv struggles to supply the military with new recruits and acquire more Western weapons to ward off Russian advances.

The same report has said that in some instances entire battalions are refusing orders from command centers as they see them as “suicide missions”.

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Media Urge Expansion of Ukraine War—Nuclear Risk Be Damned

Ukraine has for months been asking the Biden administration for permission to use long-range US, British and French weapons to strike deeper in Russian territory, which would be a clear escalation in the war. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the move would cross a red line for him, and recently announced that he was loosening Russia’s nuclear doctrine for using nuclear weapons.

Despite the risks of such escalation—and a lack of evidence that it would shift the war in Ukraine’s favor—Biden’s public reluctance to loosen his limits has been met in the war-hungry media primarily with derision.

The US, Britain and France have all supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles, including Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). But Biden has thus far limited their use to border areas. Britain and France are following Biden’s lead on range limitations.

Last month, in response to further advances by Russia into Ukraine, Ukraine launched a surprise invasion into Russian territory in Kursk. Since then, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pressed the US for more and longer-range missiles, Putin has increasingly raised the specter of nuclear retaliation.

Under its 2020 nuclear doctrine, Russia could respond with nuclear strikes to nuclear or conventional attacks it deemed a “threat to its existence,” if they came from a nuclear power. His new doctrine lowers the bar, so that a “critical attack” on Russia carried out with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” would be grounds for launching a nuclear response—including against the supporting power.

In other words, if Ukraine used long-range missiles supplied by a NATO power to launch an attack on Russia that it deemed “critical,” Putin could respond with a nuclear strike, against either Ukraine or against that NATO country.

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Ukraine’s Army Is In Bad Shape, Over Half Of Recruits Survive Just For A Few Days

The Ukrainian army is suffering from a steady decline in the capabilities of its front-line units, according to Polish news outlet Do Rzeczy, citing a report in the London Financial Times that between 50 and 70 percent of recruits survive only a few days on the frontlines.

Soldiers have low motivation and are prone to panic, while losses among trained and experienced units have led to a dependence on conscript units with very limited operational capabilities.

Training standards were reportedly so poor that not all of them knew how to hold a weapon. Furthermore, the depletion of the number of men considered fit to fight means that the average age of recruits now stands at 45.

The report follows a statement by Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was appointed in early February. Syrsky said that recruits were consistently lacking the necessary training for frontline operations. Lamenting the sheer technological superiority of Russian forces, he said that personnel had received just two months of training, although other sources indicated that the training time was much shorter.

Meanwhile, Military Watch Magazine has said that poor training standards in frontline units have repeatedly emerged over the past two years, and back in mid-2023, the Wall Street Journal even reported that the Ukrainian army was recruiting poor men from the countryside, equipping them with Soviet-era rifles and uniforms, and then sending them to the front after just two nights at a base.

When some of the conscripts tried to sign a waiver, citing a lack of proper training, a Ukrainian sergeant replied, “Bakhmut will teach you,” referring to the frontline city that was then the epicenter of the fighting.

One of the conscripts recalled protesting that he had never held a gun before. The Wall Street Journal had written that such poorly trained and equipped men were necessary, as Western-trained and better-equipped brigades would be needed for the upcoming offensive. 

Since the beginning of June 2023, multiple offensives have resulted in extensive losses and further increased Kyiv’s reliance on conscripts.

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Famine in Europe: the real goal of anti-Russian policies

The controversy over Ukrainian agricultural products continues. Ukrainian food products have simply invaded the European market and are driving thousands of farmers out of business. Despite the protests and political pressure, no EU decision-maker seems interested in changing this tragic scenario. However, the crisis seems to have even deeper dimensions and could be a real time bomb for the entire European society.

The Bulgarian government recently asked the European Commission to pass a resolution banning the import of Ukrainian chicken eggs. According to the Bulgarian authorities, the large amount of cheap Ukrainian eggs on the European market is hurting Bulgarian producers, who rely on egg sales as a vital part of their business. Thousands of Bulgarian farmers are going bankrupt, and the crisis is only expected to get worse in the near future.

The problem is not limited to eggs or Bulgaria. Selling grain, meat, dairy products and everything that is produced in the countryside seems to be no longer an attractive business in Europe. Since 2022, protests for change have been taking place in all parts of the European continent. From Poland to France, no European farmer is happy to see his products being replaced on the market by massive quantities of cheap Ukrainian agricultural items.

This is due to the irrational decision of European decision-makers to ban all import tariffs on Ukrainian food products. The measure is allegedly intended to boost the Ukrainian economy during the crisis caused by the conflict with Russia – which ironically is sponsored by the West itself. In the current European market, it is cheaper to import Ukrainian food than to resell the native products, which is obviously causing thousands of farmers to abandon their businesses.

As well known, most of Europe does not have a very strong agricultural sector, with local farmers relying on government aid to stay active in the market. Without this aid and with the invasion of Ukrainian products, it is simply no longer profitable to be part of European agribusiness, which is why thousands of people are likely to stop working in the rural areas and join the growing class of the European “precariat”.

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What Kamala Harris Said to Volodmyr Zelensky on September 26th

On September 26th, Ukraine’s leader Volodmyr Zelensky and America’s possibly next President Kamala Harris, held a brief conversation as a U.S. White House “briefing,” a category which differs from a White House “press conference” because none of the press are present at a “briefing,” no questions are taken, and no video of the event is released — consequently, only a transcript of this conversation has been released to the public. This transcript is headlined “Remarks by Vice President Harris and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine Before Bilateral Meeting”. Its contents are very important for anyone who intends to vote in the U.S. Presidential election. Here are highlights, with added commentaries by me [in italics placed between brackets]:

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS: This is our seventh visit together. And welcome back to Washington, D.C. As I have made clear on our six previous meetings and throughout Putin’s brutal aggression and war against Ukraine, my support for the people of Ukraine is unwavering. … I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war. 

[Her phrase “Putin’s brutal aggression” is founded upon the false presumption that this war was started by Russia’s Government on 24 February 2022, and NOT by the United States Government on 20 February 2014, which was the actual case.] 

To be safe, secure, and prosperous, the United States must continue to fulfill our long-standing role of global leadership. We must stand with our allies and our partners. We must des- — defend our democratic values and stand up to aggressors. And we must stand for international order, rules, and norms. 

[Like all neoconservatives do, she presumes that “To be safe, secure, and prosperous, the United States must continue to fulfill our long-standing role of global leadership,” or, in other words, that the continuation of America’s leadership of the world ever since 25 July 1945, is essential in order for the American people “to be safe, secure, and prosperous”; and, so, America will have to be the world’s very first imperial power that will be permanent, even if the United States Government will, at some point in the future, have no possible way of continuing its dominance without initiating WW3 — a nuclear war between superpowers — in order to retain this position of global leadership into the future. Furthermore: her phrase “stand up to aggressors” ignores that the U.S. Government itself has led the entire world in international invasions, coups, subversions, sanctions and other forms of aggressions, ever since 25 July 1945; and, so, is like a black kettle calling a gray kettle “black” and so is hypocritical in the extreme. Furthermore: her statement that “we must stand for international order, rules, and norms” conspicuously AVOIDS mentioning international laws — which the U.S. Government seeks to REPLACE by its “international rules,” so that it can do whatever it wants, as ‘justified’ by its “international rules-based order”. Of course, these propagandists NEVER cite the SOURCE of those ‘rules’.] …

The Ukrainian people are bravely defending their homes and their homeland, their freedom, and their democracy against a brutal dictator. 

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More Money for Ukraine, More Weapons for Israel

Whether they like it or not (and they seem very much to like it), the Democratic Party has become America’s war party.

This is especially true with respect to Ukraine. Zelensky has won another $7.9 billion in its war with Russia, prompting this “thank you” from him:

I am grateful to Joe Biden, US Congress and its both parties, Republicans and Democrats, as well as the entire American people for today’s announcement of major US defence assistance for Ukraine totalling $7.9bn and sanctions against Russia.

On behalf of the Ukrainian people and our brave warriors on the frontlines, I thank our closest ally, the United States, for finding a way to allocate the remaining security assistance to Ukraine and ensure that the Presidential authority is not expired by the end of the US financial year.

We will use this assistance in the most efficient and transparent manner to achieve our major common goal: victory for Ukraine, just and lasting peace, and transatlantic security.

I am grateful to the United States for providing the items that are most critical to protecting our people. An additional Patriot air defence battery, other air defence capabilities and interceptors, drones, long-range missiles, and air-to-ground munitions, as well as funds to strengthen Ukraine’s defence industrial base.

I also appreciate the decision to expand programs to train more of our pilots to fly F-16s, as well as the strong sanctions measures imposed to further limit Russia’s ability to fund its aggression against Ukraine.

Kamala Harris is committed to supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” meaning, I guess, some sort of “victory” over Russia, however unlikely that is. So look for a lot more dead and wounded Ukrainians and Russians and a world still hovering on the brink of nuclear war.

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Why Kamala Harris Will Kill at Least 5 Billion People if She Becomes President

Kamala Harris said on September 26th that the United States is at war with Russia in Ukraine, and that Donald Trump would “surrender” to Russia if he becomes President again. She made clear that the war between Russia and Ukraine is also war between Russia and America — it is America’s war, just as-if Ukraine were a U.S. state. Here is how this was reported by France’s Agence France-Presse, under the headline “Harris meets Zelensky and slams Trump’s ‘surrender policy’ for Ukraine”:

Harris did not mention Trump by name but said there were “some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory.”

“These proposals are the same of those of (President Vladimir) Putin. And let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender,” she said, referring to the Russian leader.

She was virtually repeating President Joe Biden’s statement on the same day, that Ukraine must and will win this war against Russia with America’s help, and must never yield any of the territory in Ukraine that Russia now occupies. “Russia will not prevail, Ukraine will prevail, in this war”, he said. He made this commitment there, in the presence of, and to, Ukraine’s leader, Volodmyr Zelensky. In other words: If WW3 is necessary in order defeat Russia in Ukraine, then America will do it.

On the night of September 25th, CNN headlined “Republicans follow Trump’s lead of icing out Zelensky”, and reported that,

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized Volodymyr Zelensky and claimed the Ukrainian president “refuses to make a deal” amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, marking Trump’s most explicit criticism of Zelensky’s handling of the war to date. 

“Those cities are gone, they’re gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelensky. There was no deal that he could have made that wouldn’t have been better than the situation you have right now. You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt,” Trump said during a campaign speech in Mint Hill, North Carolina. …

 Republican leaders are so far declining to meet Zelensky while he is in Washington, DC, while Democrats are embracing the opportunity. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are not currently scheduled to meet with the Ukrainian president, sources told CNN, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to have meetings. …

“Every time he came to our country, he’d walk away with $60 billion. He’s probably the greatest salesman on Earth,” Trump said of Zelensky on Wednesday.

Trump says Ukraine should have given up territory to stop the war earlier

In his speech, Trump blamed Biden and Harris for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and claimed they “caused this situation by the stupidity of what they said, by every move they make, but they caused the situation and now they’re locked in.”

“They just don’t know what to do. They’re locked into a situation. It’s sad, they just don’t know what to do. Because Ukraine is gone, it’s not Ukraine anymore. You can never replace those cities and towns, and you can never replace the dead people, so many dead people,” Trump said.

He said making a deal earlier in the conflict to cede some territory to the Russians would have prevented more catastrophe. Trump argued Biden should have been able to orchestrate a deal between Russia and Ukraine that avoided any bloodshed and argued that even a “bad deal” and one where Ukraine had “given up a little bit,” would’ve been preferable to the war.

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the Democratic Party, have made clear, again and again, that the U.S. will never allow Russia to win in Ukraine. Everyone by now agrees that Russia is winning in Ukraine. Zelensky is asking Biden for permission to use U.S. weapons in order to strike deep into Russia, including The Kremlin itself — with U.S. weapons.

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