TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

Good morning Resisters. That was a pretty big storm last night . Arrived pretty late considering the weather lady said 3PM and it got here around 10PM

Goodnight Resisters everywhere

The US officials explained that the authorization to strike with US weapons was given in relation to the entire Russian border area, not just the Kharkiv region.

This statement was made by Michael Carpenter, spokesman for the US National Security Council.

“This includes enabling Ukrainians to defend themselves. Yes, across the border against Russian attacks coming from there,” Carpenter emphasized.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has officially confirmed that Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission to use American weapons to strike military targets in Russia.

“Over the last few weeks, Ukraine has come to us and asked for permission to use the weapons we are providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are concentrating on the Russian side of the border and then attacking Ukraine. This is a right to the president, and as you heard, he approved the use of our weapons for this purpose,” Blinken said during the press conference.

According to a declassified Pentagon report, North Korean missile debris has been found throughout Ukraine. The report reveals that Russia is extensively using North Korean missiles to attack Ukraine, targeting not only front-line cities, Reuters writes.

The report details various aspects of North Korea's short-range solid-fuel ballistic missiles and includes comparisons of the wreckage found in Ukraine with images of missiles displayed by North Korean state media.

A radical Islamist terrorist attack in Mannheim, Germany.

An Islamist man stabbed people who criticized the Islamization of Europe and attacked police until he shot.

The first minutes in freedom, on native land. Exciting moments of our Defenders returning home from Russian captivity.

We do not stop working to free all our people from slavery!

@ukrainejournal

During the exchange, Maryana Checheliuk - an investigator from Mariupol, who was in captivity for 2 years, returned home.

Together with her sister, she escaped from shelling in the Azovstal bunkers.

Representatives of the UN and CH promised to take Maryana and Alina to Zaporizhzhia, but they took them to the village of Bezimenne for filtering. The sister was freed, but Maryana was captured.

❗️In her letters to her mother, the girl wrote that she was starved, beaten and abused.

Now she is at home 😌

‼️After a long break, another exchange of prisoners took place: 75 defenders and civilians were released from enemy captivity.

👇👇👇to continue

Good morning Resisters. Rain around 9 and Tstorms at 3.

Goodnight Resisters

🔥 Moscow is on fire! The former "Toros" machine-building plant is burning violently.

The fire has already covered 4,000 m². There is a threat of the fire spreading to neighboring buildings (fingers crossed!) The cause of the fire is unknown, but locals wrote about "kabooms". No casualties.

Pentagon opens ammunition factory in Texas to keep arms supply to Ukraine, — New York Times.

The factory under construction in Mesquite, Texas, will soon produce 30,000 155-mm artillery shells per month, roughly double the current US production capacity. In particular, they should cover Ukraine's need to counter Russian forces.

To keep Ukraine’s artillery crews supplied, the Pentagon set a production target last year of 100,000 shells per month by the end of 2025. 

However, the launch of a single new factory may not be enough to change the outcome of the fighting in Ukraine's favor.

“The steady increase of artillery ammunition production is significant for long-term U.S. and Ukrainian needs,” said Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “but even in the best case scenario, I would say those late-2025 output targets will arrive late in this war, and it is likely that Russian artillery output will still be higher than the US and Europe combined at that point.”

Macron intends to create a European coalition of military instructors in Ukraine, — Le Monde, citing its own sources.

According to the publication, several hundred specialists from several countries may be involved to train sappers or even help form a new motorized infantry brigade.

It is noted that consultations on this issue are planned to be accelerated in the coming days in order to make a statement during the meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron in France on June 6-7.

Sweden's new military aid package, announced on May 29, includes two ASC 890 airborne early warning and control aircraft equipped with the latest radar systems.

The ASC 890 aircraft function as advanced radar tracking systems and airborne command posts capable of coordinating the operations of aviation, naval forces, and missile forces, while detecting a variety of threats, such as fighter jets, helicopters, cruise missiles, and naval targets.

"ASC 890" stands for Airborne Surveillance and Control, meaning Air Combat Command and Air Surveillance Platform in Swedish. It is a twin-engine Saab 340 propeller aircraft equipped with a fixed Erieye radar on the roof, developed by the Swedish military-industrial complex.

The Erieye radar can track ships, planes, missiles, and even hovering helicopters up to a distance of 300-400 km at an altitude of 6,100 meters. It covers an effective observation area of over 500,000 square kilometers, allowing the ASC 890 to operate from a safe distance from enemy forces.

The aircraft is equipped with a wide range of communication facilities, providing connectivity with involved units and other control centers both on the ground and in the air, allowing anti-aircraft troops to transmit their data through the plane.

According to the official specifications, the ASC 890 can perform the following missions:

▫️Air and sea surveillance, including reconnaissance
▫️Early air warning
▫️Control over own military assets
▫️Surveillance and control of national borders
▫️Search and rescue
▫️Alarm notification
▫️Airspace protection

The crew consists of six people, and the aircraft can fly for about six hours.

These aircraft will provide Ukraine with "absolutely new opportunities for radar reconnaissance and combat control of targets in the air and at sea."

🤔United States Secretary of State Blinken made statements today in Moldova on Ukrainian use of US weapons to strike russia in self defense

Journalist to Blinken (visiting Moldova): "Mr. Secretary, in recent days a number of leaders – Macron, Scholz, Secretary General Stoltenberg – have spoken about potentially letting Ukraine use Western arms to strike directly on Russian soil when Russia is directly targeting Ukraine.  You’ve been publicly reported to be the most forward-leaning senior American official to be pushing for that.  Do you think President Biden can be persuaded to agree on that?"

Blinken: "Another hallmark of our support for Ukraine over these now more than two years has been to adapt.  As the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how it’s pursuing its aggression, escalation, we’ve adapted and adjusted too, and I’m confident we’ll continue to do that. "

Prices for coffins have soared in Russia

The war with Ukraine provoked a sharp increase in the cost of funeral services and goods in Russia. In February, citizens had to pay an average of 7.4 thousand rubles to make a coffin. Compared to the same month in 2022, the price jumped by 66% - then a coffin could be purchased for about 4.5 thousand rubles, “Important Stories” calculated based on Rosstat data.

At the same time, digging graves is becoming more expensive. Last year, the increase in prices for this service reached 11.25% and became the maximum for the entire time of available statistics (since 2016). In February of this year, such work cost an average of 10.2 thousand rubles, while in the same month of 2022 it was necessary to pay about 7.9 rubles for them. Cumulatively, over two years of war, digging graves became 23% more expensive.

The cost of cremation has also increased. If in February 2022 you had to pay an average of 21 thousand rubles for it, now it’s already 32 thousand rubles (+52%).

- Russians taking part in the so called special operation may wish to place their orders now before prices increase further.

Rest in Peace

On May 29, during a rotation in the Kharkiv region, Iryna Tsybukh, a paramedic of the Ukrainian volunteer medical battalion “Hospitallers,” was killed. She was only 25 years old🕯️

This battalion has been participating in the Russo-Ukrainian war in Donbas since 2014. They provide first aid, pre-medical assistance, and evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the hottest spots on the front line.