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
⚡️Russia plans to respond to Ukraine's Kursk Oblast incursion, military intelligence says.
Russia is planning to respond to Ukraine's operation in Kursk Oblast, Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, said during an event in Kyiv on Aug. 21, Lb.ua media outlet reported.
"The operation is ongoing. Russia is planning a response. There are plans, we know about them. Our government and military leadership know about them so they can continue it (the operation) and disrupt the (Russian) plans," Skibitsky said.
Ukrainian fighter jet destroys an enemy underground command post with a French-guided bomb AASM Hammer in the Kursk direction
Video: Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Mykola Oleksiiuk.
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Proposal to exclude Hungary temporarily from the Schengen area due to "Express-visas for russians".
The European Parliament was proposed to suspend Hungary's participation in the Schengen area after Budapest decided to relax visa requirements for citizens of Russia and Belarus. A letter with such a demand was signed by a group of 70 MEPs, writes Politico.
"We call on the European Commission to take urgent measures to investigate Hungary's decision, as it could represent a loophole and potentially jeopardize the overall functioning of the Schengen area and its role as a safe space for citizens," the document says.
If the Hungarian government refuses to change its visa policy, then the European Commission and all EU countries "should review the Hungarian presence in the Schengen area by introducing new measures to protect European citizens, including new controls at Hungarian borders."
In early July, Hungary included Russians and Belarusians in the "national card" program, which allows you to get a job in any industry, move your family and obtain a permanent residence permit in the country in three years. As Deutsche Welle noted, this happened after a meeting between Orban and Putin in Moscow.
Previously, other deputies like the Finnish MEPs from across the political spectrum interviewed by Yle called for stricter sanctions against Hungary, which is seen as a loose cannon. Maria Ohisalo (Green) and Sebastian Tynkkynen (Finns) said that Hungary's right to vote in the European Council should be suspended.
"Hungary has shown that it is not committed to [our] common values and rules of the game. This should be a good enough incentive for the member states to introduce Article 7 of the EU Treaty, which enables the removal of Hungary's right to vote in the Council."
According to Article 7, EU membership and participation in its activities depend on respect for fundamental values and that serious and persistent violations of them may be subject to sanctions.
It says that membership rights, such as voting rights in the European Council, may be suspended "if a country seriously and persistently breaches the principles on which the EU is founded…[including] respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights.
"Hungary's current leadership is clearly not committed to the common values and principles of the Union. Orbán's solo moves endanger the credibility of the Union's foreign policy and the results of the Union's activities in the world," said MEP and ex-finance minister Eero Heinäluoma (SDP) said and called to react forcefully to Hungary's undemocratic development and its self-serving actions within the EU.
"These reactions should include denying Hungary the right to vote, halting its EU grants and reviewing Hungary's status as part of the Schengen zone."
@EU_Report
@freerussia_report
When you decide to go cheap...
Software developed in Belarus and Russia found on British nuclear submarines.
According to The Telegraph, the UK Ministry of Defence is investigating a "serious threat" to national security. Four years ago, the development of software for the system, which is used by engineers working with British nuclear submarines, including those carrying nuclear missiles, was outsourced to Minsk.
Rolls-Royce Submarines, which manages a fleet of nuclear submarines on behalf of the Ministry of Defense, decided in 2020 to modernize its internal communications network and hired WM Reply as a contractor. The work had to be done only by programmers located in the UK who had access to classified information. However, WM Reply handed over part of the code development task to programmers from Belarus. One of them, according to documents that are now being studied by the Ministry of Defense, in reality worked from Russia - from Tomsk.
The internal network of Rolls-Royce Submarines contains personal data of all employees of the company, as well as information about organizational structures working with nuclear submarines. The involvement of Belarusian and Russian developers in such projects is a clear risk to national security, says Marion Messmer, a senior fellow at the Chatham House think tank.
According to her, if attackers gain access to the personal data of those working in the British submarine fleet, the latter could become victims of "blackmail or targeted attack": "From a strategic point of view, submarines are good because they are very difficult to detect and they are very mobile. If someone had access to a tracking system showing where submarines are stationed at all times, it would give them a huge strategic advantage: when planning an attack on the UK, they could first target nuclear submarines and disable Trident [nuclear missiles]."
In order not to lose the contract, the management of WM Reply tried to hide the involvement of foreign programmers from Rolls-Royce. Some staff members expressed concern about this fact. But the executives decided not to tell Rolls-Royce, and to hide the Belarusian names, replacing them with the names of the deceased Britons.
WM Reply wanted to use foreign developers to cut costs. Belarusian programmers were "significantly cheaper" than British programmers, so involving them in a project worth around £500,000 "would have increased the rate of return", according to documents obtained by the Ministry of Defence.
@freerussia_report
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Already into its 4th day burning, chaos continues at Russia's Rostov oil storage complex as all attempts to contain the inferno continue to fail.
22 of 40 tanks are engulfed.
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The UN acknowledges the involvement of UNRWA staff in the massacre in Israel on October 7.
The United Nations has admitted that at least nine employees of its Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) may have been involved in the attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. This was stated by UN spokesman Farhan Haq following the investigation.
An internal UN investigation affected 19 employees of the agency, which performs virtually all humanitarian and social functions in the Gaza Strip. In relation to nine employees, sufficient evidence of their involvement in the attack was found, which was necessary for their dismissal. In relation to nine other employees of the agency, there was not enough evidence for conclusions, no data on participation in the attack was found for one employee.
The Israeli side has repeatedly stated that UNRWA is closely associated with the radical group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, which is recognized as terrorist in the United States and Europe, and which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1200 civilians, including children, women and the elderly, and taking more than 250 people hostage. According to Israeli representatives, the number of UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip linked to Hamas could be in the hundreds. UNRWA denied such figures, but promised to investigate.
In January, Israel submitted a report to the United Nations that found that agency employees may have been involved in crimes. It was based on data obtained by the Israeli army and security services based on an analysis of the October 7 attack. The head of the agency, Philip Lazzarini, said that an investigation would be carried out and the employees involved in the illegal activities would be fired and charged in court.
Some UN member states, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Australia and Canada, have suspended funding for UNRWA.
🇪🇺@EU_Report
China admits responsibility for the explosion of a gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea.
The explosion on the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which connects the gas networks of Finland and Estonia, in October 2023 occurred due to a Chinese ship, the New Polar Bear, flagged in Hong Kong. This conclusion is contained in a report by China, which was sent to law enforcement agencies in Finland and Estonia, the South China Morning Post reports, citing the document.
According to Beijing, the accident was the result of a severe storm, during which the container ship Newnew Polar Bear under the flag of Hong Kong damaged the gas pipeline with an anchor. Thus, the incident was accidental, the Chinese authorities emphasize.
The Chinese Ministry of Justice has yet to respond to detailed queries from Estonia and Finland. It is understood there has been willingness voiced to comply with the European probes at a later date.
Meanwhile, the document, which was drafted in Chinese and under the rules of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), does not say anything about the two communication cables, also damaged by the anchor. One of them provided a link between Estonia and Sweden, and the second belonged to Russia.
At the same time, the gas pipeline was damaged in Finnish waters, and one of the cables in Estonian waters. The accidents occurred about two hours apart against the backdrop of a strong storm in the Baltic.
At the end of October last year, an anchor was raised from the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which, according to the Finnish police, belonged to the Chinese ship New Polar Bear and damaged the gas pipeline along with cables. The vessel itself was in the Gulf of Finland at the time of the gas pipeline explosion, after which it sailed to St. Petersburg.
The 77 km long Balticconnector gas pipeline is a key source of gas for Finland. Last November, Finnish authorities said Beijing had promised to cooperate with the investigation, and in January, incumbent Finnish President Sauli Niinistö held what he said were "constructive" talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping over the damaged gas pipeline.
The disabling of the Balticconnector by the Chinese ship heightened concerns in the EU about the vulnerability of underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The explosion on the Estonian-Finnish gas pipeline occurred after three of the four branches of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which connected Russia and Germany, were blown up in September 2022.
Source
@freerussia_report
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❗️At least 10 unmanned aerial vehicles were launched at Moscow overnight
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says this is one of the largest attacks on the Russian capital. He claims that all the drones were shot down on their approach to the city.
The Russian Ministry of Defense says that 45 drones were shot down over Russia overnight: 11 over the territory of Moscow Oblast, 23 over Bryansk Oblast, six over Belgorod Oblast, three over Kaluga Oblast, and two over Kursk Oblast.
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In Proletarsk, priests were called in to help extinguish the fire at the oil depot, and they read an akathist
For four days now, Russians have been unable to extinguish the fire in the Rostov Oblast.
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A Russian car ran over a TM-62 anti-tank mine somewhere in Donetsk region.
Six children aged 11 to 17, who were injured by Russian shelling in Malokaterynivka, Zaporizhzhia region on August 20, are currently hospitalized.
According to the doctor, two boys are in serious condition with suspected spinal cord injuries.
It is also noted that a 14-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries from the shelling while in the hospital.
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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