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Ukraine uncovers another $40 Million in weapons fraud


SOTT, Melanie Sun, The Epoch Times, Sat, 27 Jan 2024

he war-torn nation has announced a clean-out of its weapons procurement process amid ongoing corruption.

Ukraine’s National Police and Security Service on Ukraine (SBU), alongside the country’s Ministry of Defense, announced on Saturday they have uncovered an insider network that has been charged with embezzling almost $40 million in funds marked for weapons purchases.

Five individuals who formed a suspected criminal organization have been served “notices of suspicion” — the first stage in Ukrainian legal proceedings — for “appropriation, embezzlement of property, or possession of it by abuse of official position,” the SBU said.

Four of the suspects are current or former employees of the Ministry of Defense, including the head of the Department of Military and Technical Policy, Development of Weapons and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense, and the head and commercial director of the Lviv Arsenal company.

Another suspect is an ex-official from the ministry, who has been detained while trying to leave the country at a border crossing point.

A businessman representing a foreign company, presumed to be the arms supplier, has also been charged………………………………………………………………………………

To date, the United States has provided more than $44 billion in military aid to Ukraine since February 2022. But the Pentagon has run out of funds to replenish its stocks, so most military aid to Ukraine, for the time being, has halted.

Congress is currently debating a $105 billion supplemental spending package, proposed by the Biden administration in October 2023, that packages together defense funding for Israel, Ukraine, and the U.S. southern border.

Analysts previously told The Epoch Times that Ukraine doesn’t have a viable pathway for victory without foreign arms shipments and monetary support amid the waning U.S. support, as the Pentagon spreads its resources over increasing threats to the international rules-based order in the South China Sea as well as the Middle East.

Without international arms shipments, Ukraine would most likely be forced into a brutal stalemate with Russia and, at some point, would need to cede some of its territory to its aggressor, analysts say.

Comment: It brings to mind the old saying: “A fish rots from the head down”. So perhaps they should take a closer look up to uncover their “problems”. When a country’s leadership is completely corrupt, we can’t be shocked when more corruption is found lower down the ranks.

See also:

January 29, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UN Nuclear Chief Says ‘Very Real’ Threat Remains at Moscow-Held Zaporizhzhia Plant

Moscow Times 26 Jan 24

The possibility of a nuclear disaster at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine remains “very real,” according to the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog. …….

Regular shelling and drone attacks around the plant have raised the risks of a radioactive disaster, while Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of planning provocations.

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been on the ground monitoring the Zaporizhzhia plant since September 2022.

“The plant’s six reactors have been shut down since mid-2022 — five of them in cold shutdown and one in hot shutdown. But the potential dangers of a major nuclear accident remain very real,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on Thursday.

Grossi warned that issues with access to power could lead to a disaster at the Moscow-controlled nuclear plant.

Emergency diesel generators are now “the last line of defense against a nuclear accident” after they were activated eight times when the plant lost all off-site power, he added.

“The plant is currently relying on just two lines of external power, and sometimes just one, or for a period the backup power was not properly configured. This demonstrates the highly precarious situation regarding essential off-site power.”………. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/01/26/un-nuclear-chief-says-very-real-threat-remains-at-moscow-held-zaporizhzhia-plant-a83860

January 27, 2024 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

  Ukraine to start building 4 new nuclear reactors this year

By Pavel Polityuk. January 25, 2024

KYIV, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Ukraine expects to start construction work on four new nuclear power reactors this summer or autumn, Energy Minister German Galushchenko told Reuters on Thursday, as the country seeks to compensate for lost energy capacity due to the war with Russia.

Two of the units – which include reactors and related equipment – will be based on Russian-made equipment that Ukraine wants to import from Bulgaria, while the other two will use Western technology from power equipment maker Westinghouse.

All four reactors will be built at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in the west of Ukraine, Galushchenko added.

The timeline is more aggressive than previously outlined by Kyiv, which has spoken of starting work in some time in 2024 and without specifying that all four reactors could be developed simultaneously.

“I think (we’ll start construction) in summer-autumn,” Galushchenko said in an interview. “We need vessels,” he added, referring to the reactor pressure vessels that will have to be imported. We want to do the third and fourth units right away.”

Construction of the 3rd and 4th reactors at Khmelnytskyi began in the 1980s but was frozen.

Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has built three new nuclear reactors – one each at Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants…………………

In parallel with the construction of the Soviet-era VVER-1000 units, Ukraine wants to start preparatory construction work to accommodate two modern Western AP-1000 units, also at Khmelnytskyi.

“We need to pass (parliamentary) legislation and we have draft laws on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th units. This is VVER-1000s, while the 5th and 6th we want to build the AP-type. This is a parallel process,” he said.

In December, Ukraine’s nuclear power firm Energoatom and Westinghouse signed an agreement on the purchase of equipment for Khmelnytskyi’s 5th power unit.

Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Nick Macfie  https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ukraine-start-building-4-new-nuclear-reactors-this-year-minister-2024-01-25/

January 27, 2024 Posted by | politics, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Swastikas seen on US-made Ukrainian military hardware (VIDEO)


 https://www.rt.com/russia/590928-bradley-ifv-ukraine-swastikas/ 22 Jan 24

Nazi symbols can be seen in footage taken by a local journalist covering the frontline

A video featuring a Ukrainian crew repairing a US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicle near the frontline with Russia has revealed the apparent fondness for Nazi symbols among Kiev’s forces.

The footage, which was shared online by journalist Alla Khotshnyavska, showed a Ukrainian crew repairing the IFV’s tracks at an unspecified location in Donbass. Covered in mud, the Bradley sports a pair of swastikas scratched into the dirt on the side of the vehicle.

Radical Ukrainian nationalists played a key role in toppling the government in Kiev in 2014, and later attained significant influence in the country’s military. Their ideology stems from the forces that collaborated with the invading Nazis against the Soviet Union during World War II.

The presence of far-right activists, including neo-Nazis, in the Ukrainian armed forces was widely acknowledged in the West until hostilities with Russia erupted in February 2022.

Nazi insignia worn by Ukrainian troops has regularly been caught on camera. In one example, a member of President Vladimir Zelensky’s guards was seen with a skull and bones patch on his uniform when the Ukrainian leader was visiting the front line in September 2022. The image closely resembled the insignia of the 3rd SS Panzer Division ‘Totenkopf’.

The same month, a Ukrainian armored vehicle with a swastika painted on it was filmed by a crew from German television channel N-TV.

Last year, former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko wore a military-style shirt with a patch featuring another Nazi-linked symbol, the Black Sun (or ‘Sonnenrad’), as he was delivering equipment to troops.

An article by the New York Times in June acknowledged the controversial popularity of Nazi iconography in Ukraine, but claimed it did not reflect the ideology of the people using the symbols.

One of Moscow’s goals in its confrontation with Kiev is ‘denazification’ and the removal of radical Ukrainian nationalists from positions of power. Russian officials have argued that the discrimination against ethnic Russians in modern Ukraine is based on Ukrainian supremacism and is similar to Nazi ideology.

President Vladimir Putin told reporters last December that Moscow would not have been compelled to intervene in Ukraine “if they didn’t start to eradicate Russia on our historic lands in Ukraine, expel people from there, [and] declare Russians non-native.” Officials in Kiev were “crazy” to introduce such policies, he suggested.

January 24, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Ukraine | Leave a comment

German defense chief against going ‘all in’ on Ukraine

23 Jan 24,  https://www.rt.com/news/590954-germany-defense-minister-pistorius-no-ukraine-all-in/

Boris Pistorius says donating too many weapons to Kiev would weaken Berlin’s own forces

Germany should exercise some caution in its support for Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has told the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. He also revealed that Berlin is considering reverting to a compulsory military service system.

The defense chief warned last month that European nations have less than a decade to ramp up their military capabilities in anticipation of a potential armed confrontation with Russia, and predicted that the US would shift its focus to the Asia-Pacific region.

In an interview published on Friday, Pistorius dismissed criticisms that Germany is not sending enough weaponry to Ukraine, pointing out that Berlin is the second largest contributor to Kiev after the US. However, he stressed that shipping German-made long-range Taurus cruise missiles, which Kiev has been requesting for months, is currently out of the question.

“We have so far delivered everything that is possible,” he said, adding that Germany carefully weighs up the potential impact of each new shipment to Ukraine.

Pistorius cautioned that Berlin must also “keep an eye on its own defense capabilities” meaning that it can’t go “all in” for Ukraine as some are demanding.

“Otherwise we would be defenseless ourselves,” he warned, while calling on other European nations to ramp up their defense production, to become more independent of the US.

The German minister suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin could eventually “attack a NATO country,” while acknowledging that such a scenario was unlikely at present. Germany must thoroughly upgrade its armed forces and civil defense, he concluded.

As part of these efforts, the Bundeswehr will simplify its recruitment policies and loosen its enlistment criteria, he noted, while mentioning the current debate on reintroducing compulsory military service.

A survey last month revealed that only 17% of German adults would be prepared to defend their country without question in case of a military conflict.

Earlier this week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed that Berlin would shell out more than €7 billion ($7.6 billion) on military aid for Ukraine this year.

Berlin provided Kiev with nearly $23 billion in aid between February 2022 and November 2023, according to the Kiel Institute for World Economy (IfW).

Since Kiev’s summer counteroffensive fizzled out with no major gains and heavy losses, top Ukrainian officials have increasingly been pressuring their Western backers for more weaponry.

January 23, 2024 Posted by | Germany, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

At least 25 killed in Russian-occupied Ukraine following missile strike, officials say

BY MIRANDA NAZZARO – 01/21/24,  https://thehill.com/policy/international/4420260-at-least-25-killed-in-russian-occupied-ukraine-following-missile-strike-officials-say/

The shelling of a market in a part of Russian-occupied Ukraine killed at least 25 people on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian-installed authorities in the city of Donetsk, said another 20 people, including two children, were wounded in the strike on the outskirts of the city, the AP reported. He claimed shells were fired by the Ukrainian military.

Pushilin claimed the area was hit with a 155 mm caliber and 152 mm caliber artillery, with shells being fired from the direction of Ukrainian cities Kurakhove and Krasnohorivka, per the news wire.

Kyiv did not comment on the event and the claims could not be independently verified, the news wire noted.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in a translated statement, called the incident a “barbaric terrorist act against the civilian population of Russia.”

“The terrorist attacks of the Kiev regime clearly indicate its lack of political will for peace and the settlement of the conflict by diplomatic means,” the statement said. “The need to achieve all the goals and objectives of a special military operation is obvious. Security threats and acts of terrorism should not come from the territory of Ukraine.”

A fire also broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia’s Ust-Luga port after two explosions, the AP said, citing local media reports. Local media reported the port was attacked by Ukrainian drones and a gas tank exploded.

Yuri Zapalatsky, who heads Russia’s Kingisepp district, where the port is based, reported no causalities and that the area was on high alert, the AP reported.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense also announced Sunday that Moscow’s forces took control of the village Krokhmalne in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the news wire added. Ukrainian forces confirmed the settlement was occupied, describing the incident as a “temporary phenomenon.”

The war between Ukraine and Russia is approaching its two-year mark next month, with thousands of troops killed on each side.

January 22, 2024 Posted by | Ukraine | Leave a comment

Western mercenaries used to fill Kiev’s expertise gaps, ex-CIA man tells RT

 https://www.sott.net/article/488077-Western-mercenaries-used-to-fill-Kievs-expertise-gaps-ex-CIA-man-tells-RT

French fighters killed in Ukraine could have been clandestine weapons specialists, Larry Johnson has said…05

Ukraine is likely experiencing a shortage of soldiers capable of operating complex Western weapons systems, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson has told RT. A Russian report this week about a strike on “French mercenaries” in Kharkov may be a warning to would-be clandestine arms technicians that Paris plans to supply, he believes.

In response to the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement, France has denied having mercenaries in Ukraineor any other part of the world. Moscow claimed that approximately 60 foreign fighters, mostly French, were killed in the long-range attack. Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans to supply additional air-launched SCALP cruise missiles to assist Kiev in its fight.

“I strongly suspect that many of those French ‘mercenaries’ – and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brits and Americans scattered in there as well – are being brought in to help operate systems that they’ve been trained on previously in prior military careers.”

He named the US-made long-range Patriot anti-aircraft missile and the Storm Shadow, the British counterpart to SCALP, as examples of donated arms that may require competent foreign staff to deploy.

France is making itself a target by openly arming Kiev, Johnson told the broadcaster, contrasting current events with how the US acted in the past, when it sought to undermine the USSR:

“When the US ran covert operations through the CIA to fund the mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviets, it was done with some measure of secrecy and at least keeping up a pretense that we were not directly in conflict.

“I think Russia sent a very clear message in killing these mercenaries: If you are going to send them over here, if you are going to send that materiel, we’re gonna kill you.”

Johnson believes that Moscow could have acted in a far bolder manner in targeting Ukraine’s foreign donors, and that its reluctance to do so has been taken in the West as a sign of weakness.

“It’s not that, but the West has a track record of misinterpreting Russia on many points.”

Comment: Kiev is in critical manpower crisis as Zelensky pressures anyone semi-upright to take up arms and pretend they are soldiers…women, elderly, the infirm. French mercenaries? In a minute.

The following information is in regard to French PMCs (Private Military Company):

Site: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

With the ongoing developments in Ukraine, French PMCs offer their services to train Ukrainian forces in Eastern European countries. Since June 2022, they have been bringing onboard volunteers to participate in hostilities on Kiev’s side. Former members of the armed forces of EU countries and nationals of African countries are their first choice. French nationals taking part in the hostilities in Ukraine often get there via foreign PMCs or the Ukrainian International Legion.

Under French law, most of them do not fall under the Criminal Code article on mercenarism, because their remuneration for taking part in combat operations does not exceed the salary paid under a corresponding position in the French armed forces. Ukrainians that go to Ukraine from France in order to participate in the conflict, including the ones who are “on leave” from the French Foreign Legion are not qualified as mercenaries even if they hold French citizenship, since the people who are originally from a country participating in an armed conflict cannot be considered as such.

Military support functions are often delegated to “expendable” PMCs which recruit low-level personnel on the ground. A similar arrangement is used in Ukraine as well. Former French Foreign Legion members hailing from the countries in question often act as instructors. Ample supply of personnel from the ranks of former legionnaires makes it simple to create and use expendable PMCs for missions where use of force and/or participation in hostilities is likely.

About 100 French PMCs operate internationally. They are usually headed by former gendarmerie officers, and sometimes by retired security service officers. Mostly, these firms are mission-specific outfits and are put together for limited periods (for example, Lyon-based Byblos provided evacuation of French citizens from combat zones early on during the special military operation in Ukraine).

The most prominent French PMCs are as follows:

Aeneas Groupe, founded in 2004, provides consulting, security, and defence services, and trains personnel in France and abroad.

Anticip performs a variety of missions in war zones, such as crisis management, physical protection, armed escort, and site protection. It has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and has subsidiaries in Nigeria and the UAE.

Chiron participates in the training of Ukrainian special forces. The instructors are former military members and French special service employees.

Défense Conseil International (DCI) is one of the leading companies of that kind and is unofficially used by the French Defence Ministry to perform a wide range of missions in the interests of friendly countries where, for some reasons, the use the French Armed Forces is impractical. It operates through 23 training centres in France and branches in 50 countries, such as Brunei, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Qatar, and the UAE, to name a few. It provides combat training for ground, air and naval forces, special forces, advanced training in cybersecurity and radio electronic warfare, as well as interaction between different branches of the military. DCI operates through six subsidiary PMCs, the most famous of which – La Cofras – was hired by international organisations for demining in the Gulf area, Angola and Mozambique.

Gallice Défense is a group based in France, Europe and Africa that was founded in 2007. Its employees work under short-term contracts in the Sahel, LAC, Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Geos was founded in 1998 by Stephane Gerardin, a former employee of the Main Directorate of Foreign Security (foreign intelligence), to address specific tasks abroad. It is staffed mostly by former employees of special services, the Defence Ministry and the Interior Ministry. It specialises in providing government customers with consulting services, economic intelligence, risk assessment-based analytical materials for major projects in various regions of the world, but also offers physical security and protection services. Operating in 80-plus countries, Geos has offices in Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Ukraine and Venezuela,. The company is actively involved in training AFU personnel. Since June 2022, it has been recruiting volunteers to participate in combat operations on Kiev’s side. In total, at least 2,000 people have been recruited. The European Peace Foundation provides the funding. Candidates are trained in Eastern Europe.

Groupe Corpguard was founded in 2006. In 2016, it concluded a contract with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire as part of the operation to maintain peace and stability in the country.

Salamandre was founded in 1996. It brings together intelligence, counterintelligence and nuclear specialists. It has close ties with the French Directorate General for External Security and often acts on its behalf.

KBS Sécurité was founded in Lyon in 2007 as a company specialising in arms and military equipment sales. Currently, it offers security services and operates in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

January 22, 2024 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Zelensky Courts JPMorgan, Bank of America & Bridgewater CEOs At Davos, Urges More Money From West

Zero Hedge, BY TYLER DURDEN, WEDNESDAY, JAN 17, 2024

As expected, anything related to Ukraine presented at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has been focused on more weaponry and seeking more vows of integration among Western allies. 

“Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told World Economic Forum participants. “They need a sufficient and sustained supply of weapons to defend Ukraine and regain its rightful territory.”

As for President Zelensky, in addressing world leaders at the forum he emphasized that the West needs to help Ukraine achieve air superiority if his forces are to have a chance to emerge victorious against Russia……………………………………

At the summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised that Washington will keep up its support for Ukraine, however while keeping things vague – following Biden’s proposed foreign defense budget request being reject by GOP members in Congress; and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg suggested Ukraine is moving closer to entry into the alliance.

Stoltenberg acknowledged a “serious battlefield situation” but also said there is “cause for optimism” after nearly two years of fighting, and NATO’s constant support.

Below is a portion of the NATO press readout based on his panel speech: 

…………  Ukrainians are now firmly oriented to the West, aspiring for membership in NATO and the European Union. The Secretary General also stressed that “support for Ukraine is not charity; it’s an investment in our own security”.………

But realistically, the prospect of Ukraine gaining full NATO membership would be a process of years, and would likely trigger WW3 with Russia–so to some degree this is all empty posturing.

But here’s what’s happening at Davos which is arguably more important to Kiev at the moment:

Ukraine is seeking new ways to finance its rebuilding plans as vital aid from the West slows down. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly has plans to meet JP Morgan’s CEO at the World Economic Forum.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is reportedly planning to meet JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon at the World Economic Forum in Davos to seek new ways of financing its rebuilding plans. 

JP Morgan, the biggest US bank with almost half a trillion dollars of market capitalization, has already been advising Ukraine on financing reconstruction.

It’s as yet unclear if any firm promises were made or agreements struck at the Davos meeting which also included Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, as well as Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio. 

According to further details of who was in attendance via Fox Business: “Other meeting attendees included David Rubinstein of the private equity firm Carlyle Group; billionaire entrepreneur Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies; Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund; Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity fund; and Philipp Hildebrand, representing BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager.”

Additionally, “Dimon was accompanied by Mary Erdoes, who runs JPMorgan’s asset-management unit. The White House was represented by Penny Pritzker, of the super-wealthy Pritzker family and a major Democratic Party donor.” Pritzker has been appointed Biden administration’s special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery.  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-courts-jpmorgan-bank-america-bridgewater-ceos-davos-urges-more-west

January 20, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, politics international, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Zelensky rejected favorable peace deal with Russia – ex-aide

 https://www.rt.com/russia/590696-arestovich-ukraine-interview/

Ukraine now faces ten to 15 years of war, Aleksey Arestovich has said

Ukraine had the chance to make peace at the 2022 Istanbul talks but something or someone changed President Vladimir Zelensky’s mind, according to an interview with his former aide, Aleksey Arestovich, published on Monday.

Freddie Sayers, the editor in chief of the British outlet UnHerd, interviewed Arestovich almost a year after Ukraine’s top spin doctor left Zelensky’s service. He has since moved to the US, saying that Kiev wants him arrested on politically trumped-up charges.

“I was a member of the Istanbul process, and it was the most profitable agreement we could have done,” Arestovich told Sayers. The Ukrainian delegation “opened the champagne bottle” when they came back to Kiev, believing the agreement was a done deal, he added.

The protocols were “90% prepared” for a direct meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Arestovich, when Ukrainian president called off the talks.

His rejection of a deal has been widely attributed to the ‘Bucha massacre’, which Ukraine accused Russia of, but Arestovich said he did not know that for a fact. Something “absolutely” changed Zelensky’s mind and “historians will have to find an answer to what happened,” Arestovich said.

“A lot of people say it was the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who came to Kiev and put a stop to this negotiation with Russia. I don’t know exactly if that is true or false. He came to Kiev, but nobody knows what they spoke about except, I think, Zelensky and Boris Johnson himself,” he told UnHerd.

Johnson’s role in scuttling the Istanbul peace talks was reported as early as May 2022 by the outlet Ukrainska Pravda. According to the outlet, he came to Kiev with “two simple messages,” that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “a war criminal” who should not be negotiated with, and that even if Ukraine was ready to sign some kind of agreement with Russia, the West was not.

David Arakhamia, the leader of Zelensky’s party in the Ukrainian parliament, brought up the visit in a November 2023 interview, paraphrasing Johnson’s message as telling the Ukrainians “let’s just continue fighting.”

The former British PM finally commented on the matter last week, saying he merely told Zelensky the UK would support Ukraine “a thousand percent” and that any potential agreement with Russia would be “pretty sordid.” He insisted he did not “order” anyone to do anything, however.

According to Arestovich, the conflict has now evolved beyond Russia and Ukraine, pitting the collective West against the ‘Global South’.

“We have to negotiate for an all-new security system for Europe, taking into account all sides of this problem,” he told UnHerd, adding that NATO would need to discuss with Russia “what it would take to guarantee not to use military force in Europe to decide political questions.”

“I should perhaps add that I am absolutely pessimistic that this will happen. I think we face ten or 15 years of war in Europe,” Arestovich said.

January 18, 2024 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Former Polish PM admits Ukraine’s strategy failed

 https://www.rt.com/russia/590598-poland-ukraine-fail/ 15 Jan 23

The conflict is “going in the wrong direction,” Mateusz Morawiecki told the UK’s Express newspaper

Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive was “not successful” and Russia has the upper hand strategically, former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki admitted, in an interview with Britain’s Express newspaper published on Friday.

The conflict in Ukraine is “not going in the right direction,” Morawiecki told the outlet, outlining his “huge concern” with a situation in which Moscow had apparently outflanked its opponents.

Russia has “huge resources,” he explained, noting the country’s military production capabilities significantly outweighed the EU’s own. “They have this strategic depth, and they have patience in international politics,” he added, also dismissing the country’s elections scheduled for March as mere “theater” unlikely to change the balance of power in Moscow.

Morawiecki also argued, however, that Ukraine’s failure had a silver lining for NATO in that it had brought Finland and Sweden into the alliance and was “awakening” countries like Denmark and Romania. The Scandinavian countries, he said, were among the most vocal in calling attention to the threat allegedly posed by Russia.

“Not only the security of the eastern flank of NATO, but also for the security of the United Kingdom, security of Germany, Denmark and the Scandinavians, they do understand it very, very well,” he said.

The former premier (2017-2023) was speaking to the British press for the first time since his successor, current PM Donald Tusk, had two lawmakers from Morawiecki’s Law and Justice Party (PiS) arrested earlier in the week. The ex-leader described the MPs as “political prisoners” and accused Tusk’s admittedly pro-EU government of “representing Brussels and Berlin, not Warsaw.”

While international attention has largely shifted away from the Ukraine conflict to Israel’s war with Gaza as the latter threatens to erupt into a broader conflict, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Kiev on Friday to bestow his government’s largest gift yet on the government of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, announcing £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) to be paid out over the coming financial year and starting in April, and a bilateral agreement that includes security guarantees for Ukraine “in the event that it is ever attacked by Russia again.”

Zelensky has been vocal about his concern over flagging international support for Kiev’s fight, after unprecedented amounts of foreign aid from the UK, US, and EU failed to appreciably move the needle against Russia. Legislative gridlock has stalled planned aid packages in the US even as the Biden administration insists on an urgency to it, with his political opposition countering that accountability for funds spent must be a requirement for any future aid.

January 17, 2024 Posted by | politics international, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Talks on Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’ are pointless – Kremlin

 https://www.rt.com/russia/590675-zelensky-peace-formula-talks-useless/ 15 Jan 24

Russia’s absence means the negotiations in Davos could not have produced any concrete results, Dmitry Peskov has said

Top officials from dozens of countries who met in Switzerland to discuss Ukraine’s ‘peace formula’ were engaged in a completely useless endeavor without Russian participation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

On Sunday, national security advisers from 81 nations and international organizations gathered in Davos ahead of the World Economic Forum to talk about a 10-point initiative floated by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in October 2022 to end hostilities with Russia.

The plan calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory Kiev claims as its own and insists on the creation of a tribunal to prosecute Moscow for alleged war crimes. Russia has dismissed the proposal as divorced from reality.

Commenting on the Davos meeting, Peskov called it “talking for the sake of talking,” reiterating that the same applied to previous rounds of talks in such a format. “This process is not aimed and cannot be aimed at achieving a concrete result for an obvious and simple reason – we are not there.”

Russia was also absent from previous discussions last year in Denmark, Saudi Arabia, and Malta. At the same time, Moscow has never categorically refused peace talks with Kiev, despite Zelensky signing a decree banning all negotiations with the current Russian leadership after four regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in the autumn of 2022.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported on Sunday that the Davos talks had ended “with no clear path forward” despite Ukraine’s hopes that it would be able to secure backing for its plan from members of the Global South, many of whom have proclaimed neutrality in the conflict. That was denied by Ukrainian officials, however, who nevertheless acknowledged differences of opinion among the meeting’s participants.

On Sunday, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis echoed Peskov’s remarks, arguing that any Ukraine peace talks should involve Russia in one way or another.

January 17, 2024 Posted by | politics international, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

IG report finds Pentagon failed to account for more than $1B in weapons sent to Ukraine

Pentagon finds nearly 40,000 weapons sent to Ukraine were not properly tracked

 By Danielle Wallace , Liz Friden Fox News, 11 Jan 24

A new Department of Defense Inspector General report released Thursday finds more than $1 billion worth of weapons sent to Ukraine were not properly tracked by U.S. defense officials. 

The DOD IG has personnel stationed in Ukraine and is investigating with its Defense Criminal Investigative Service allegations of diversion of weapons. For now, the IG says, “It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been diversion of such assistance.” 

The weapons in question are small and include shoulder-fired missiles, one-way attack drones and night-vision devices. 

“From a monetary perspective, the delinquent serial numbers account for more than $1.005 billion of the total $1.699 billion (59 percent of the total value) of EEUM‑designated defense articles as of June 2, 2023,” the report says. “Until those challenges are resolved, the DoD will not be able to fully account for all of the more than $1.699 billion in EEUM‑designated defense articles provided to Ukraine.”

As Congress weighs sending more U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, a growing number of lawmakers are demanding greater oversight. ……………………………………………….. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ig-report-finds-pentagon-failed-account-more-1b-weapons-sent-ukraine

January 14, 2024 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Ukrainians will benefit from Zelensky’s fall – exiled opposition leader

Signs of The Times (SOTT) 10 Jan 2024

President Vladimir Zelensky is doomed to be ousted this year, having antagonized all of his domestic and foreign allies, exiled Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk has said. Zelensky’s demise, however, will be good for the Ukrainian people, he added.

Medvedchuk was the leader of the Opposition Platform – For Life party, which Zelensky’s government banned for allegedly being “pro-Russian.” He was arrested and forced out of Ukraine in a prisoner exchange with Moscow.

The politician has since been promoting a project, which would make his home nation a neutral state, prioritizing national interests, as opposed to being a Russian enemy.

In a column published on Wednesday, Medvedchuk blasted the incumbent Ukrainian president, branding him an “unfunny parody of a dictator,” whose weakness sends a signal to all “political predators to eat him.”

“Zelensky has antagonized everyone he could: big businessmen, whom he blacklisted as traitors and oligarchs, professional Nazis, who see his cowardice, the military, who sees his incompetence, and last but not least the people, who see his indifference and cruelty.”

Ukraine is in a deep crisis that is bound to lead to a national disaster once Western funding for the proxy war against Russia is reduced, he claimed.

Ukrainian citizens need to realize that Zelensky’s downfall “does not necessarily mean a defeat of the Ukrainian people.”Instead, the opposite is true, according to Medvedchuk. It will be a victory for them, since the president “has long betrayed them and is selling them out for cannon fodder.”

The column predicted hard times for the US, which Medvedchuk believes has lost its direction, and the EU, which he expects to be sacrificed by Washington to support the American economy.For Ukraine, it means no EU membership, and its citizens should know that “Europeans will have to give their financial goodies to the American elites, not Ukrainian refugees.”………………………………………………………………………………….https://www.sott.net/article/487699-Ukrainians-will-benefit-from-Zelenskys-fall-exiled-opposition-leader

January 12, 2024 Posted by | politics, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Pentagon ‘out of money’ for Ukraine

 https://www.rt.com/news/590145-pentagon-no-money-ukraine/ 5Jan 24

The US Congress must approve additional funds to maintain the flow of arms to Kiev, a top general has said

The US government has exhausted its funds for military assistance to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder has said, noting that Washington is simply “out of money” unless lawmakers pass a new aid package.

Speaking to reporters at a Thursday briefing, Ryder explained that while the Pentagon is authorized to spend another $4.2 billion on weapons for Ukraine, the actual funds are not available and must be set aside by Congress.

“We have the authority to spend that [$4.2 billion] from available funds but wouldn’t have the ability to replenish the stocks by taking money out – or taking stuff out of our inventory,” the spokesman said, adding “We’re out of money.”

The admission came after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that his country had no “plan B” without American military aid, reiterating demands for new combat drones, long-range missiles and air defense capabilities, among other gear.

Kuleba also noted growing political divisions In the US regarding Ukraine, as a vocal group of Republican critics have blocked the passage of additional aid funds while demanding sweeping immigration reforms. Though the party backed dozens of separate aid packages following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, some GOP members have soured on the American largesse in recent months, creating a widening partisan divide on the issue.

While President Joe Biden has urged lawmakers to pass a massive aid package including some $61 billion for Kiev, Congress has remained deadlocked for weeks amid Republican opposition, though independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema has said lawmakers are “closing in” on a deal. 

Nonetheless, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Thursday to expect decreases in US aid in the future, voicing hopes to eventually help Ukraine “build its own military industrial base so it can both finance and build and acquire munitions on its own.”

The United States has authorized nearly $45 billion in direct military assistance to Ukraine since the conflict with Russia escalated in early 2022, in addition to other indirect military aid and financial and humanitarian assistance. Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western arms shipments to Kiev, arguing they would only prolong the fighting and do little to deter its military aims.

January 8, 2024 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear disasters–in–waiting

RICHARD STONE, Science 4 Jan 24

Having taken a heavy toll on Ukraine’s ecosystems and water resources, the war with Russia threatens to create a another environmental disaster: damage to the region’s extensive nuclear infrastructure—including 15 power reactors and three research reactors.

“There continues to be a highly precarious nuclear safety and security situation across Ukraine,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement after explosions were heard near the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant and its two Soviet-era reactors on 28 November 2023—the second near-miss in a single month at the site. “All of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities remain vulnerable, either directly if hit by a missile or indirectly if their off-site power supplies are disrupted.”

Russia’s assault on Ukrainian nuclear sites began on the very first day of the full-scale invasion. On 24 February 2022, troops overran the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, infamous for the explosion and fire there in 1986 that sent a plume of radioactive smoke into Western Europe. During 5 weeks of occupation, Russian soldiers ransacked labs and kicked up radioactive soil and dust as they dug trenches and slogged through contaminated forests in the exclusion zone around the defunct plant. To the east that spring, Russian troops frequently shelled the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, damaging a hall containing a subcritical nuclear reactor.

Shelling has also flared up repeatedly around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, a complex of six reactors that constitutes Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Russia captured the plant in March 2022 and the reactors were shut down 6 months later, eliminating the risk of a core meltdown. Still, a prodigious amount of nuclear material remains there: The reactor halls hold 1380 tons of fresh and spent uranium oxide fuel, and two repositories store an additional 2100 tons of spent fuel laced with nasty long-lived radionuclides—the ingredients, many Ukrainians fear, of a “dirty bomb” that would use conventional explosives to spread radioactive isotopes……………………………………….

The presence of IAEA observers at the Zaporizhzhia station since September 2022 has deterred the theft of dirty-bomb ingredients. But a major missile strike on one of its spent fuel repositories could turn the plant itself into a dirty bomb, spreading radioactive contamination in a radius of up to 30 kilometers, says Volodymyr Borysenko, a nuclear engineer with the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine’s Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants (ISPNPP).

Even a smaller strike could contaminate the reactor complex. And the spent fuel is also at risk from repeated electricity blackouts that have struck the plant, the latest in early December 2023. Diesel-fueled generators can supply power for up to 10 days, but a prolonged outage could be dangerous, as power is needed to pump cooling water into the plant’s uranium reactor cores and pools holding spent fuel.

A lesser known radioactive risk is situated about 150 kilometers upstream from the Zaporizhzhia plant on the Dnipro River. During the Cold War, the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant was one of Europe’s largest uranium ore processing facilities. The complex accumulated some 40 million tons of tailings—leftovers of milling uranium—and other foul residues before it closed in 1992. By early 2022, Ukraine, with help from the European Union, had fenced off highly contaminated areas. But a missile or artillery strike on a tainted building or dump could disperse radioactive dust over the nearby city of Kamianske.

One relative bright spot is Chornobyl, where Ukrainian scientists are restoring labs damaged early in the war. But large parts of the exclusion zone remain off limits because of the threat of mines and unexploded ordinance, says ISPNPP Director Anatolii Nosovskiy. Complicating matters for radiation monitoring, he says, the Ukrainian army has built defensive fortifications in the zone, near the border with Belarus…………………. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn7987 

January 7, 2024 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

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