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
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder remains optimistic that his personal relationship with Vladimir Putin could help bring an end to the war in Ukraine, as reported by Deutsche Welle.
"We have cooperated well for many years. Perhaps this can still help to find a solution at the negotiating table, because there is no other solution," he stated in an interview with the dpa agency.
Schröder developed a friendship with Putin during his tenure as chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. He currently works for the Nord Stream gas pipeline company, which is predominantly under Russian control. Despite referring to the Russian armed invasion of Ukraine as a "fatal mistake," Schröder has never distanced himself from Putin.
His alignment with Putin led to his ostracization by the leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, although they were unable to expel him from the party.
When questioned about his continued friendship with Putin despite the tens of thousands killed and the war crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Schröder responded that "there is another dimension here." The former chancellor advocates for launching a new mediation initiative at the government level.
Schröder believes that "France and Germany must take the initiative in this matter. It is obvious that the war cannot end with the total defeat of either side."
@ukrainejournal
✅ Shells to be sent to Ukraine in April under the Czech initiative
The Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine outside of NATO has been completed and is now awaiting delivery, reported Corriere della Sera.
The full amount has now been raised to purchase more than a million artillery shells, which Ukraine is to receive in April.
In total, more than 15 countries raised approximately €1.8 billion as part of the Czech initiative.
As previously reported, the country’s representatives managed to find about 500,000 155-mm artillery shells and 300,000 122-mm shells abroad. Subsequently, the Czech Republic reported that it had found an additional 200,000 shells, but did not provide details on the caliber of the shells or other details.
To date, about 20 countries have joined the Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells outside NATO and the EU, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway, Canada, Sweden, Portugal and Lithuania.
@ukrainejournal
❗️"Although we managed to hold back the Russians, we are not ready to defend ourselves against another major Russian offensive. We need help." - Zelensky to CBS News.
Key points:
▪️ "A new offensive by the Russian Federation is expected at the end of May or in June."
▪️ "Usually, when the Russians attack with artillery and destroy villages, they always try to occupy them afterwards. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. So we must prepare."
▪️ "As spring approaches, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have managed to hold back the Russian offensive. We have stabilized the situation. We have not seen a major counteroffensive from the Russian Federation."
▪️ "If Ukraine loses, Putin will not stop there. War can come to Europe and the USA. Even tomorrow, missiles could reach any state."
▪️ "Putin is determined to restore the Soviet Union."
▪️ "We have stabilized the situation. It is better than it was two or three months ago when we had a major shortage of artillery ammunition and various types of weapons."
▪️ "We absolutely have not seen a major counteroffensive from the Russian side... They have not succeeded.
@ukrainejournal
A corporate exodus from russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has resulted in foreign companies experiencing more than $107 billion in write-offs and lost revenue, as reported by Reuters.
Approximately a thousand companies have already departed from the russian federation. However, according to an analysis by the Yale School of Management, hundreds of companies are still operating in russia or have suspended their businesses.
Among the companies still active or conducting business in russia are Mondelez International, PepsiCo, Auchan, Nestle, Unilever, and Reckitt. However, some, such as Intesa Sanpaolo, are facing bureaucratic hurdles in their efforts to exit the russian market.
@ukrainejournal
Russians destroy Ukrainian churches and torture priests in the occupied territories, — Institute for Religious Freedom.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has destroyed or damaged about 630 religious buildings. Most of them were destroyed in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions.
It has been documented that some churches and prayer houses were looted by the Russian military, closed or converted into administrative buildings by the occupation authorities.
Ukrainian religious leaders continue to be imprisoned, tortured, and killed in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Those who did not agree to collaborate and refused to submit to Russian religious centers are subject to repression.
His campaign is not raising much.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-is-falling-further-into-deficit/55276/
Unless a bond company helps him out, it's not gonna happen.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/trump-still-doesnt-have-the-money/55268/
Putin's words about the "Kyiv footprint" in the terrorist attack, with the help of which the Kremlin leader wants to force Russians to rally around the war with Ukraine, are senseless propaganda and nonsense, said John Kirby, a representative of the US National Security Council.
"It is absolutely clear to the U.S. and its allies that ISIS bears full responsibility for this attack in Moscow.
My uncle used to say that the best fertilizer salesmen often carry samples in their mouths.
Russian officials appear to be great manure sellers," The Hill quoted Kirby as saying.
He added that on the eve of the March 22 terrorist attack, the U.S. government provided Russian authorities with detailed information about the terrorist threat related to the mass gathering of people in the capital.
"The United States tried to help prevent this terrorist attack, and the Kremlin knows it. In particular, on the morning of March 7, Washington gave the Russian intelligence services a written warning about the attack, and the next day, the embassy issued a public warning asking American citizens to avoid large gatherings and concerts in Moscow," Kirby said.
“FROM THE ANALYST”
15,000 FLIGHTS JAMMED BY RUSSIA
Q: Why are they doing it?
A: Because they can.
In essence the Russians are proving themselves to be a complete nuisance. It’s their way of making us uncomfortable and everything awkward for western airlines.
It’s simply a way of making it perfectly clear that while NATO may geographically and militarily control the Baltic Sea, there’s absolutely nothing they can do to prevent the active jamming of GPS from the Kaliningrad exclave.
The jamming is widespread.
It covers much of Poland and Lithuania, its effects can be felt over eastern Germany, parts of Denmark and much of south and east southern Sweden, as well as strips of the other Baltic states.
These areas are not the only ones.
Northern Norway and northern Finland are also affected where the Russian border meets Norway.
Civilian airliners are learning to cope with it. One way, oh sweet irony, has been to use Russian Glonass, but they started turning it off when they realised what was happening.
Instead, old fashioned map reading skills, and radio beacons have been put into service. There really hasn’t been much choice.
It has caused a few very minor incidents but as time goes on the effectiveness of the jamming is undermined by the effectiveness of the airlines in learning to cope with it.
It has affected military exercises and operations, yet strangely it’s also helped understand how these things really work and how to cope with them. It may be an inconvenience in the modern age, but it’s also been an interesting and important experience that’s taught everyone a sharp lesson about operating in an electronic warfare environment. In some ways we should thank the Russians for the warning and the lesson. And now we all know where the jamming is coming from, target locked!
It’s also an extraordinarily expensive thing to sustain. Putting that much energy out 24/7 day in day out is no cheap undertaking. You have to wonder if it’s really worth the hassle.
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
@ukrainejournal
39 Nobel laureates have signed an open letter to world leaders. They ask to support Ukraine and not to recognize Putin's presidency.
"Two years ago, Putin unleashed an unprovoked full-scale aggression against Ukraine, resulting in death and destruction not seen since World War II. This war has been accompanied by an escalating brutal suppression of political life and freedom of speech in Russia itself. Recently, the world was shocked by the death of Alexei Navalny, Putin's main political opponent. Before he was imprisoned, tortured and eventually killed, Navalny survived an attempted poisoning with chemical weapons orchestrated by the Putin regime. In spite of this terrible assassination attempt, he returned to Russia with unprecedented courage and patriotism.
The war in Ukraine and the murder of Alexei Navalny are not only about Russia and Ukraine.
Putin's regime has shown that it poses a direct and clear threat to all of humanity. Since coming to power in 2000, Putin has systematically destroyed post-Soviet democratic institutions and fomented conflict in the former Soviet Union.
The full-scale aggression against Ukraine and the murder of Alexei Navalny is a transfer of the threat to a new level, since the Putin regime no longer sees any restrictions when it violates human rights and international norms.
The horrors of the world wars of the twentieth century are a reminder that humanity can avoid self-destruction only if the principles of democracy and international human rights law are respected. Putin's regime has cynically trampled on them.
The tragedies of totalitarianism call for respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual. Putin openly mocks them. He has turned Russia into a highly militarized police state with the largest nuclear arsenal and a threat to the very existence of the world.
We, the scientists of the world, call on political leaders to speak out with all their strength for peace, progress and human rights. As members of the international scientific community, we are deeply concerned that scientific progress is threatened by dictators who suppress intellectual freedom, especially when global cooperation is so important against the backdrop of pandemics, climate change, and the existential threat of weapons of mass destruction.
We call on world leaders and all people of good will to abandon any illusions about Mr. Putin and his criminal regime. History teaches us that appeasement of the aggressor leads to further crimes against humanity. No amount of temporary benefits can justify it. We are resolutely opposed to a repeat of Munich 1938!"
@freerussia_report
The Nobel laureates called on world leaders to fulfill five points.
- Substantially increase aid to Ukraine. In this war, Ukraine must win, not just "not lose". Timely assistance to Ukrainians will reduce the loss of human lives and help drive the aggressor out of their land. Putin's failures in the course of military aggression will be seen as a moral victory by millions of Russians, bolstering their hopes for a democratic future, and mobilizing the anti-war movement.
- Support human rights and the democratic opposition in Russia. The international community must unite to protect political prisoners who are being tortured in Russia. The lives of opposition leaders Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, Lilia Chanysheva and many others are in mortal danger.
- Strengthen support for Russian citizens who are at risk of reprisals because of their democratic and anti-war political beliefs and who are in need of asylum.
- Support Russia's pro-democracy anti-Putin organizations, including independent Russian media, whose role in regime change is critical.- Delegitimize Putin's illegal retention of power in Russia. Despite the lies of propaganda, Putin's regime is desperately seeking recognition from the international community. The refusal of world leaders to recognize Putin as re-elected president would send a powerful signal to the world that he can no longer be considered a "partner."
We call on all people of goodwill and civil society organizations to use all the resources available to them to actively influence political leaders with a call to resist Russian aggression and speak out in support of Ukraine. In memory of Alexei Navalny, who gave his life for this, we stress the importance of promoting democracy and the rule of law so that Russia becomes part of the community of democracies. Together, we can contribute to peace in Europe and prevent a global catastrophe.
Source
@freerussia_report
Speculation swirls of “Men in Blue” in Crocus City Hall terrorist attack linked to FSB. Nexta
FSB officers may have been in the concert hall during the terrorist attack in Moscow, according to speculation posted on the Nexta TG channel.
“We analysed the footage of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall and found that in the concert hall where the bloodiest events of the terrorist attack took place, there are several people dressed similarly, wearing blue sweatshirts and jeans,” a post by Anna Lena said that includes pictures from the concert hall just before the shooting began.
While no concreate evidence has been presented, Russian social media is buzzing with conspiracy theories, linking the FSB security services to the attack.
Several observers have pointed out that there are at least four men wearing identical blue sweatshirts and jeans in the concert hall. Studying the video from those first moments after shots were fired the men appear to remain calm while the rest of the crowd panicked.
“First of all, their clothes. The blue sweatshirt and jeans are a pretty casual combination that helps them blend in with the crowd while being highly visible to each other. They are clearly visible at the exit, but if you look closely you can spot the “men in blue” in other parts of the hall,” according to Lena.
“Second, their behaviour. They are all calm, not running anywhere and not panicking. In the video, a man in a blue sweatshirt and jeans even pushes a woman who was heading for the exit back into the aisle between the seats. Later, this man starts filming with his phone. You can see that the “Men in Blue” look at each other from time to time.”
At some point in the video, a male voice from behind where the alleged "FSB officer" is sitting suggests closing the doors, and the "men in blue" take turns supporting this idea, creating the illusion of mass support for this idea. As a result, many people are unable to leave the hall because the doors are closed and die.
In day following the tragedy many people have raised questions about the official response and suggested that the FSB had a role the attack with the intension to use what has been the biggest terrorist attack on Moscow in two decades as an excuse to further tighten repression. The attack is also a way to prepare the population for a new mass mobilisation to raise fresh troops for the war in Ukraine.
Critics say that the attack was a massive security failure by the FSB that appears to have been caught completely off guard. Questions have been raised at the authorities’ slow response. The Russian Guard’s rapid response team took over an hour to arrive at the scene after the alarm was raised. Moreover, Russia’s OMON riot police have a building in the same district only 10 minutes’ drive away from the Crocus City mall but also failed to respond to the alarm.
The FSB has been accused several times of being complicit in terror acts that have been subsequently politically useful to the Putin regime. The most famous was a series of apartment bombings in 1999 ahead of the elections in 2000 that installed Putin as president. Blamed on Chechen terrorists, evidence later emerged that the FSB may have been behind the bombings, which Putin used to justify scaling up Russia’s military presence in the second Chechen war.
Likewise, following the Dubrovka terrorist attack in 2002, where a group of militant Chechen terrorists took hundreds of hostages in the Nord Ost theatre siege, it was suggested that the FSB had also played a role.
Famous Russian opposition journalist Anna Politkovskaya told state TV host Vladimir Solovyev in 2003 that she had sources that claimed the terrorist attack was organised by Russian secret services. Politkovskaya was later shot dead in cold blood outside her apartment on Putin’s birthday.
Source
@freerussia_report
A convicted Wagnerite who returned from the war stabbed an acquaintance and got a lenient sentence
In Crimea, a court sentenced Vyacheslav Duplenko, a pardoned mercenary of the Wagner PMC, to 5.5 years in prison. He was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death.
As “Layout” found out, the war participant who lost his leg stabbed his friend in the stomach in response to “bullying” and statements about disability. After the attack, Duplenko urinated on the victim who died three days later.
When sentencing the “Wagnerite,” the court took into account his military awards and the “immorality of behavior” of the deceased victim.
Before the war in Ukraine, Duplenko was already convicted under the article of causing grievous harm resulting in death, and cases of theft and robbery.
@freerussia_report
Mourning with missiles.
Nothing better sums up Putin’s Russia than grieving for the nation’s dead while continuing to attack civilians of a neighbor.
A day of national mourning was observed in Russia on Sunday. Billboards with candles on them have already appeared on the streets of Moscow to honour the memory of those killed.
Next to them are other, slightly less recent ones, imploring citizens to enlist in the army, now in its third year of invading Ukraine. Despite observing a solemn day of national mourning, though, Russia nevertheless scrambled 11 Tu-95 strategic bombers to attack a string of cities across Ukraine, from Kyiv and Odesa to Lviv. Nothing is more emblematic of the trap into which Putin has led Russia than the fact of these two simultaneous acts.
Pilots wearing mourning armbands in memory of the Muscovites killed at the hands of terrorists, apparently thought nothing of firing a missile salvo at civilians in Kyiv. The streets of Moscow are full of such symbolism: sincere mourning for slain compatriots co-exists here with the motherland’s calls to join the ranks of its murderers.
The FSB, whose bread and butter has become the identification of so-called Ukrainian saboteurs and LGBT extremist cells, chose to ignore the warning of the evil West, while Putin went one step further and called it Western blackmail and a provocation.
Z-propagandists are now performing painful contortions to link the terrorist attack with Ukraine in some way, in line with the fact that, as Z-propaganda has insisted for years, that’s where the “enemies of Russia” live.
They have no option but to follow the narrative settled on by the Kremlin and to blame Ukraine, even if they never receive a single scrap of supporting evidence for that claim. After all, it would quite simply be preposterous to wage war on Ukraine for over two years, kill thousands of civilians and raze entire cities to the ground, only to then concede that Russia’s enemies should actually have been sought elsewhere. So what likely lies ahead now is a vast effort to fabricate evidence pointing to Islamist fundamentalists who received their assignments from Kyiv.
It’s already clear that this attack was only made possible by the abject failure of Russia’s 'counterterrorism agencies', which in recent years have focused their efforts on intimidating political dissidents and covering up the crimes committed by occupying Russian forces in Ukraine.
In a democracy, such a catastrophic failure to protect the nation would result in an independent parliamentary inquiry, in which the elected representatives of the people would act as prosecutors.
Of course, in Z-landia the official investigation will instead be classified, and the so-called parliament will confirm whatever version has been approved by Putin.
Read more
@freerussia_report
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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