TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
26 regions of Russia are now considered "unsafe" by international airlines
Flydubai and Turkmenistan Airlines are the latest operators to suspend their flights in Russia following the downing of flight 8243 near Grozny. Israeli airline ElAl, Kazakhstan's QAZAQ, and Azerbaijan Airlines (AzAl) have all previously done the same.
Overall, international flights flying above 26 regions of Russia have been halted. Most of these regions were hit by drone attacks in the past.
All the countries that suspended flights to Russia have been a way for Russians to get to other countries, since the airspace of Europe and the US remains closed for them. And now, during winter holidays, vacationing abroad will become much more difficult for them, or even next to impossible.
Alabuga Start became the finish line - Russia tricks girls from Africa into working for the war.
They are promised money, education, and career advancement. However, instead of an "adventure in faraway Europe," they ended up at a defense company under sanctions and a legitimate target for Ukraine, where they are now forced to assemble drones for the Russian side.
◾️ Alabuga Start is a recruitment program of the Russian plant for the production of Iranian Shahed-136 drones located in Alabuga Special Economic Zone (Tatarstan).
To make up for the acute shortage of labor, Russian students were initially recruited to work at the production facility for free. Now, they recruit women from 18 to 22 years old from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. The campaign is also spreading to Asian countries (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) and Latin America. There is a branch designed to recruit female workers from some CIS countries.
At first, victims were lured through online job advertisements and private recruiters.
◾️ Alabuga's recent activity in African countries indicates an expansion of the recruitment program. According to David Albright David Albright, founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, plant representatives recently visited Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Madagascar, where they signed memorandums of cooperation with local organizations.
◾️ As Voice of America has learned, several African and other governments have shown willingness to cooperate. For example, Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Education posted an advertisement for the Alabuga Start program.
Investigative journalists found similar documents from the governments of Uganda, Mali, and Burkina Faso. The Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training announced that it was accepting applications for the program.
◾️ The program is aimed at countries with high unemployment and low living standards.
Many African women recruited by the program expected that the free flight, earnings, and Russian language training promised by the program would be a good start to getting a higher education, such as medical education, and becoming a qualified specialist.
Instead, they were expected to work in workshops with toxic materials under the strict control of Russian supervisors. Alabuga Start participants are mainly employed to assemble UAV fuselages, which do not require extensive training and high qualifications.
◾️ In interviews with the Associated Press, some women complained of long hours of work under constant surveillance, false promises about training and wages, and caustic chemicals that caused skin pockmarks and severe itching.
No protests by the governments of countries whose citizens have been enslaved by Putin's military-industrial complex have been reported.
📹: promotional video published by Alabuga Start Program in January 2024
🇬🇪 Georgian President Zurabishvili has announced that she will step down as president after the inauguration of Mikhail Kavelashvili.
She said that the inauguration of the pro-Russian Kavelashvili is a parody, and the Georgian Dream party is a "Russian tragedy."
Zurabishvili had previously stated that she would remain in office, as she does not recognize the results of the parliamentary elections held on October 26 and the subsequent selection of Kavelashvili.
Meanwhile, Mikheil Kavelashvili took the oath in the Georgian parliament building.
🤬 Police in Georgia have begun brutally detaining protesters, attacking both men and women.
Strange behavior has been recorded of the Russian ship Sparta.
This ship was intended to reach Port Said in Egypt and now its destination is unknown, in addition, its direction has changed. It is necessary to pay attention to the strange behaviors of Russian ships due to two recent incidents: the sinking of a Russian ship in the Mediterranean Sea and the capture of another Russian ship in the Gulf of Finland.
It is unclear whether the Sparta is still traveling in formation with two other Russian military ships, the Ivan Gren and Aleksandr Otrakovskiy. Both vessels appear to be heading to Syria to transport military equipment, possibly as part of Russia’s withdrawal from the region.
The Russian cargo ship Sparta continues its eastward journey. Currently, the vessel is located in the central Mediterranean, sailing north at approximately 6 knots after abruptly changing course, initially, she was heading southeast, seemingly towards the Libyan port of Benghazi.
The reason for this course change remains unknown, but naturally, it draws attention following the incident involving the second ship of the convoy, the Ursa Major.
Interestingly, the Sparta no longer lists Port Said as its destination, as it did earlier, now displaying the generic status “for orders.” This practice of indicating a false destination has been observed before with Russian ships later bound for Syria, which is likely the case here.
itamilradar.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦 Liz
After the damage to the underwater power cable near the coast of Finland, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is sounding the alarm about the so-called Russian shadow fleet and calling for further sanctions from the EU.
'Almost every month, ships damage important underwater cables in the Baltic Sea. The ship crews lower anchors into the water, drag them for kilometers along the seabed for no apparent reason, and then lose them when they are raised,' Baerbock said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe on December 28.
She emphasized that it is hard to believe these incidents are simply a coincidence. 'This is an urgent alarm for all of us. In the digital world, underwater cables are the communication arteries that connect our world,' said the German Foreign Minister.
Source:
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦
A video has gone viral on Chinese social media calling for China to take advantage of Russia's weakened state and seized large pieces of its territory.
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I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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