TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 73 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
😱 A foreigner tried to take a Ukrainian woman abroad for sexual exploitation
During the transfer of a 27-year-old Ukrainian woman abroad, border guards together with National Police officers detained a Hungarian citizen. The foreigner intended to fly with his victim to the Kingdom of Cambodia. It was established that the perpetrator got to know the girl on social networks and, taking advantage of her difficult life situation, inclined her to work in brothels. As a result of searches, money, bank cards, draft records and a car used as a means of committing the crime were seized from the suspect.
The man was informed of the suspicion of committing a criminal offence. Investigations are ongoing.
@ukrainejournal
According to Reuters, the cumulative emergency downtime at Russian refineries due to UAV raids has reached 3.5 million tons, a figure ten times higher than the previous two years.
The drone attacks in March paralyzed nearly a tenth of fuel production in the Russian Federation. Approximately 13% of the total capacity of primary oil refining units at Russian refineries are currently in emergency downtime mode.
The number of damaged installations has tripled, and by mid-March, the volume of emergency downtime was 1.4 times higher than planned repairs.
Considering only refineries producing gasoline and diesel fuel, the economy has lost approximately 9% of production, equivalent to 77.4 thousand tons per day.
This drop in production has led to a surge in wholesale fuel prices in Russia.
Other estimates stated 600,000 barrels per day of Russia's oil refining capacity was disabled as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes, - Gunvor.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz
Fears of loud sounds and aircraft noises, grieving, depression and stigmatization by Russian peers based on Ukrainian accent and origin. This is exactly what Russian-kidnapped and transferred Ukrainian children keep living through every single day based on the Meduza investigation.
Russian students are pumped up with toxic propaganda calling Ukrainians ‘neonazis’ and ‘fascists’. That’s why children from Ukraine are often beaten and bullied after being enrolled into Russian schools.
Cultural origin of Ukrainian kids is disregarded. The true reason for the Russian invasion remains unexplained to them. Teenagers don’t have a clear vision of the reasons for this war. So the Kremlin released a specific manual teaching competent bodies and organizations of how to deal with it to transform their identity into the Russian one. Russian officials keep convincing illegally deported children from Ukraine that none will come after them and they should forget their homeland. In case a child's parents or relatives are missing it’s talked into believing they are dead even if it’s not proven.
"Supporting Ukraine is not charity, but a way to Make America Great Again," stated General Tod Walters, former commander of US and NATO forces in Europe.
"In a column for the Atlantic Council, Walters argues that all but the shortest wars are fought in stages, often reaching a stalemate when both sides need to rearm and train their personnel before further operations can proceed.
He sees the current situation as a limited period for rearmament and Ukraine's reassessment of its theory of victory. Walters views President Zelensky's replacement of the head of the Armed Forces as a prudent step toward laying the foundation for a new approach to victory.
Walters believes that continued support for Ukraine will have a significant impact on the lives of most Americans:
- Confirming the global superiority of the USA without the loss of American lives.
- Further enhancing US global leadership, particularly in matters of artificial intelligence and space activities.
- Inflicting a military defeat on Russia through an updated American defense and industrial base, prompting China to reconsider the United States' ability and willingness to defend Taiwan.
However, if the United States fails to support Ukraine, Walters warns of adverse consequences:
- An emboldened Russia is likely to continue sowing global discord.
- Europe may seek to reduce its reliance on the American defense industry and military cooperation.
- The ability of the United States to protect its global interests may diminish as countries become reluctant to cooperate with an unreliable partner.
Walters meticulously analyzes and counters the arguments of opponents who advocate discontinuing aid to Ukraine.
He concludes by emphasizing that supporting Ukraine is not an act of charity but a means for the United States to reassert itself at a time when its influence is waning. Turning its back on Ukraine would leave its allies vulnerable, potentially triggering a series of failures for America that could last for decades.
Russian daily losses
https://t.me/Ukraine_Report/20542
Alina Habba has her own disaster
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/disastrous-news-for-trump-attorney-alina-habba/55103/
Russia is tired of its ships converting to submarines
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-ordered-defenses-meant-stop-112442591.html
TOP NEWS TODAY 👀🔝
🇵🇱Poland and 🇩🇪Germany have formed a new joint "Tank Coalition" for Ukraine.
🇩🇪 Germany has announced a package of military aid to Ukraine worth €500 million.
‼️ The evacuation of 9,000 residents (children) was announced in Belgorod region, Russia.
🇫🇮 Finland will provide €30 million for the purchase of artillery shells for Ukraine.
🇺🇦 This year, we will achieve the maximum Ukrainian defense production, — Zelensky
🇵🇱 It is better to use frozen assets to prevent the consequences of aggression, - Sikorski
⚡ GUR helps Russian volunteers to fight against Putin's regime, - Yusov.
🇪🇺 "EU to impose tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus", - Financial Times
🇺🇸 Republicans are getting serious about one potential solution to the monthslong fight over Ukraine aid: loan", - Politico
🇩🇪 Germany will cover the costs of 180,000 artillery shells for Ukraine outside the EU.
🇱🇺 Luxembourg joins the artillery coalition led by France and Germany!
From "The Analyst":
THE MOLDOVA QUESTION
It has no coast, it has one of the lowest per capita incomes in Europe, almost nobody flies there except its own tiny airline. And its eastern side is a separatist area with alleged Russian ‘peacekeeper forces’ who spend most of their time spying on Ukraine as they protect a massive ammo dump right on Ukraine’s border.
Transnistria is operated almost as the personal fiefdom of the Sharif family. They control everything from the mobile network to the supermarkets and the petrol stations. In places the area is barely 1km wide. Moldovan military capabilities are minimal and they have no means of dealing with another outbreak of fighting.
Moldova itself - once known as Bessarabia, was Russian, then after WW1 became part of Rumania - which it has most in common with ethnically and culturally. In 1939 the USSR demanded it back and Hitler acquiesced in an updated territorial redistribution post Nazi-Soviet Pact, forcing Romania to cede it. Then in 1941 the Romanians took it back as they assisted in Operation Barbarossa. By late 1944 the Russians took it back again and kept it as the Bessarabian SSR, until the fall of the Soviet Union when it declared itself an independent republic and used the name Moldova 🇲🇩.
It seemed a relatively safe spot. Jammed between Ukraine and Romania it had no natural enemies.
But Russia never saw it that way. Like many of the territories it seized it colonised them with ethnic Russians, especially around the military bases on the border with Ukraine, that eventually broke away as Transnistria.
The west did what it always does and looked away. It was a nowhere worth knowing about backwater with no resources and no money to be made. Neither Ukraine or Romania were too happy about the Russians sending peacekeepers but it was what the separatists wanted and the only way of solving the problem. And that’s how it’s stood for most of this century to date.
Suddenly Moldova is right on the frontlines again. Its neighbour is under siege, the Russians are literally on their doorstep in Transnistria and they’re not in any military or political alliance. The current President Madam Maia Sandu, treads a forceful but determined line - EU membership is on the cards. To forestall any changes to that path she’s just called a referendum to ensure that should it be a positive outcome, no future government can change that process.
The opposition party is rabidly pro-Russian and their leader has recently just been to Moscow asking for Putin’s help to ‘save’ the country from the west. The country is riven with Russian disinformation campaigns and they never stop trying to undermine the elected government. Moldova with a pro-Russian leadership right on Ukraine’s border and NATO’s is a dream condition.
Recently there have been suggestions the Russians would send in airborne troops to assist in overthrowing President Sandu. In any other time they would do it but I can’t imagine how they could ever cobble together a force even if they wanted to. The airborne forces were largely obliterated in their original form last year on the frontlines.
The question then, that remains unanswered is what if President Sandu asks Romania to intervene to save it - with possible Ukrainian assistance? Would they do it? I think they well might. Romania would never have thought of it before but now, after what’s happened it feels like it’s on the frontline too. NATO is building its biggest base ever in Romania, at the cost of $2.5 billion. It knows it’s not alone and its accommodated everything NATO has asked of it. Romania is turning into a bulwark and a staunch supporter of Ukraine. Seeing Moldova fall to an illegal pro-Russian take over isn’t going to be acceptable. Not any more.
Any potential crisis in Moldova will need to be dealt with quickly. Only Romania can do that. No doubt Hungary would be up in arms about it but there’s a cost for doing anything.
Moldova deserves the opportunity of being in the EU and eventually NATO, with Ukraine.
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 73 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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