TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian 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 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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 😌
🕊 🇺🇦 🇨🇭 Zelenskyy stated that three points out of ten will be presented at the June peace summit in Switzerland:
🟠 Nuclear energy safety. We have an occupied nuclear power plant, six blocks. I have said more than once that it could be six Chernobyls;
🟠 Food safety. For example, the grain agreement, from which the Russians withdrew last year. Similar agreements should be concluded with a large number of partners so that it is difficult for the Russian Federation to withdraw from the agreements;
🟠 Exchange of all for all and return of children deported by Russia.
The Pentagon gave Ukraine precise instructions on what strikes the armed forces of Ukraine can inflict on the territory of Russia, — New York Times.
It is reported that the instructions were given to Kyiv by the commander of NATO in Europe, Christopher Cavoli.
"A few days ago, the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, gave the order to allow Ukraine to open fire with American weapons on military facilities on the Russian border. American officials now say that they expect the first counterattacks with American weapons to begin within hours or days," — it is stated in the material.
Note that the NYT report contradicts the words of Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, who stated that the US policy regarding strikes with American weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation has not changed. At the same time, journalists speculate that Singh may not have known all the details of Austin's orders at the time of the media briefing.
(CONTINUED 2/2)
The Biden administration hinted that a decision had either been secretly made or forthcoming in recent days. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who supports a restriction lift, became the first U.S. official to publicly hint that Biden may shift course and allow such strikes, telling reporters that U.S. policy toward Ukraine would evolve as needed. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby later did not rule out a potential change.
Those messages came after top U.S. allies, such as the United Kingdom and France, said Ukraine should have the right to attack inside Russia using Western weapons. Lawmakers from both parties also supported the move publicly and privately, while top U.S. military officials briefed Congress behind closed doors that relaxing the restriction had “military value,” POLITICO first reported.
Some officials are concerned that Ukraine, when it attacks inside Russia using its own drones, has hit military targets unrelated to Russia’s invasion. The U.S. has strongly delivered the message that Kyiv must use American weapons only to directly hit Russian military sites used for its invasion of Ukraine, but not civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian officials, from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on down, have pushed for the Biden administration to change its policy ever since Russia launched a large assault on Kharkiv. For weeks they’ve said an inability to attack Russian troop positions over the border complicated Ukraine’s defense of Kharkiv and the country writ large.
In a discussion with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov made a “hard push” to use U.S. weapons in Russia, according to a person with knowledge of the call.
@ukrainejournal
Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with US weapons - Politico
The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv — using U.S.-provided weapons, two U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the move said Thursday, a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city.
“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” a U.S. official said, adding that the policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.”
Ukraine asked the U.S. to make this policy change only after Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv began this month, the official added. All the people were granted anonymity to discuss internal decisions that haven’t been announced.
In the last few days, the U.S. made the decision to allow Ukraine “flexibility” to defend itself from attacks on the border near Kharkiv, the second U.S. official said.
In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian territory. But the official said Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, to hit military targets deep inside Russia.
It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield –– namely Russia’s advances and improved position in Kharkiv –– led the president to change his mind.
The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CONTINUES (1/2)
continues
Thanks to the efforts of the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the long-awaited exchange of prisoners took place for the first time since February this year, on the instructions of the President of Ukraine.
➡️Today, 75 defenders, as well as civilian Ukrainian women, are returning to their families. Among the liberated defenders are 70 men and five women, six officers and 65 representatives of private and non-commissioned officers. At least a third of those rescued have injuries, serious illnesses or disabilities.
This time, 37 representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were released from captivity, including 13 soldiers of the Naval Forces and two representatives of the Air Force. Also, 21 national guardsmen were released from captivity. Seven Border Guardsmen, six Teroboronmen and four Ukrainian civilian women are returning home.
☝️ 19 Defenders of Zmiiny Island, 14 military personnel who guarded the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, as well as ten Defenders of Mariupol managed to return to their native land. Ukrainians captured in the Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Sumy directions are returning home.
Today's exchange is the 52nd since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. As of now, 3,210 Defenders of Ukraine have been freed from the captivity of the occupiers. We express special thanks to the United Arab Emirates for their active participation in the implementation of this exchange.
Many Ukrainian Defense Forces and Ukrainian civilians are still in enemy captivity. Despite all the difficulties and opposition of the aggressor state, the Coordination Headquarters does not stop making efforts so that all our people return home as soon as possible.
@ukrainejournal
‼️After a long break, another exchange of prisoners took place: 75 defenders and civilians were released from enemy captivity.
👇👇👇to continue
Discussing how to whitewash the use of the N word.
Hopefully a motion will be filed soon to rid us of this clown.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/goodnight-aileen-cannon/56363/
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian 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 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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