TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

Kyiv Independent

https://mailchi.mp/kyivindependent/welcome-to-the-ukraine-daily-newsletter-17585218?e=7763f0b74a

Macron called the world leaders cowards and called on them to step up in the war against Russia.

Tensions between Berlin and Paris spilled into the open Tuesday as German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius hit back at President Emmanuel Macron for urging Europe not to be "cowards" in the defense of Ukraine.

Speaking at a meeting with the French community, Macron said: "Europe clearly faces a moment when it will be necessary not to be cowards." He added that people "never want to see the tragedies that are coming".

Pistorius retorted that Macron's language was counterproductive. "We don't need really, from my perspective at least, talk about boots on the ground or having more courage or less courage," Pistorius told reporters during a press conference with his Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his visit to Prague, Macron said later that Germany had not been the target of his comments, but that it was "necessary" to shake up France's allies. “If we are passive … we run the risk of suffering setbacks on the field, suffering possible disappointments in the U.S.,” he said.

France and the Czech Republic are "well aware that war is back on our soil [in Europe], that some powers have become unstoppable and are threatening us more everyday, attacking us even more, and that we ... need the courage that it requires", said Macron.

The Czech government is leading a campaign to finance the purchase of 800,000 shells for Kyiv from non-EU suppliers to help plug the war-stricken country's ammunition gap.
France has already supported the Czech plan to supply shells.

Macron asked Petr Pavel “Is this or is it not our war? Can we look away in the belief that we can let things run their course? I don’t believe so, and therefore I called for a strategic surge and I fully stand behind that … We want no escalation, we’ve never been belligerent".
Source1. Source2.
@freerussia_report

Update FRR
A resident of Tolyatti, detained last year for anti-war posts on social networks and publishing “instructions for surrendering,” was finally charged - under six articles she could face up to 22.5 years in prison.

Polina Yevtushenko supported Ukraine openly and ran her social networks accordingly. She published a petition demanding to initiate impeachment of Putin, photos of banknotes with anti-war slogans and links to the telegram channel of the Legion “Freedom of Russia”.

Initially, she was accused of "preparing treason" - according to investigators, she allegedly persuaded a resident of Samara to join the “Russian Freedom Legion”.

However, in the end, Polina was charged with six counts (preparing for treason, promoting terrorism, calls for extremism, justifying terrorism, fakes about the army)

Polina left a daughter behind, she turned six years on March 1.

@freerussia_report

The women taking on Putin, one flower at a time .

A growing number of women in Russia are protesting the fact their husbands and sons have been called up to fight in Ukraine.
The group, led by Maria Andreyeva, are risking the ire of the Kremlin by holding weekly gatherings.

Each Saturday she dons her white scarf and heads to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow to protest her husband's prolonged absence on the battlefield in Ukraine.

"I simply no longer want my husband to give precious years of his life to the army of the Russian Federation, which — I'm sorry — will not take care of us after."

It's an act of defiance in a country where dissent is crushed on a daily basis, particularly when it relates to President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

Tensions are even higher than usual in Russia, following the death in custody of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in the lead-up to this month's presidential election.

Speaking out against any aspect of Putin's war in Ukraine is highly risky in Russia. But the mothers and wives of mobilised soldiers are granted liberties that other protesters don't get, explains
Ekaterina Schulmann, a Russian political scientist at the Carnegie Centre in Berlin.

"You can't beat up a group of women, especially women whose husbands are on the front line."

"Even the Nazis tolerated the protest of the wives of Jewish husbands who were to be deported. It was the one single case of public political protest in Nazi Germany — the famous wives of the Rosenstrasse."

It's far harder for authorities to crack down on the women attending these protests than if they were the actions of students or Navalny supporters.

"They possess a certain moral capital which no one else has. You can't say that they are Western agents. They are in a sense, supporting traditional family values. They want their husbands back," she said. "There is a palpable, evident injustice in the way their husbands were treated. They agreed to be mobilised almost a year-and-a-half ago, and now they are still there on the frontline."

The women had become bolder with their messaging in recent months and it resonates with many people. "During the months that this movement became active, the popularity of the SMO has sharply declined. We may now state, based on various polling data, that by the end of 2023, the core militaristic support base has shrunk to 10 to 12 per cent."

Read more

@freerussia_report

North Korea has handed over 1.5 million artillery shells to Russia, but half of them are either unusable or need at least a thorough inspection — The Times.

"As of today, given the available statistics, Russia has already imported 1.5 million rounds of ammunition from North Korea, but these shells were manufactured in the 70s and 80s. Half of them do not work, and the rest need to be either repaired or tested before use.

North Korea is giving away old things... North Korea is increasing domestic production and asking for certain technologies in exchange, particularly missile and submarine technologies, to develop its own defense industry. This proves once again that Russia lacks the production capacity to rapidly and strongly increase missile production.

If they didn't, why would they ask North Korea to do so?" says Vadym Skibitsky, a representative of the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence.

Today, I approved the candidate for the position of our country's ambassador to the UK. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi told me that this is the direction he would like to take – diplomacy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has sent a corresponding request for agreement. Our alliance with Britain should only get stronger.

And today there are several decrees worth mentioning. I have signed two decrees on awarding state decorations to our warriors – 520 more servicemen of the Armed Forces. And today there is also a decree to discharge conscripts – those who were called up for military service before the start of the full-scale invasion.

Now, at the request of the military command, a few weeks are needed for preparatory procedures – for replacing people in terms of defense tasks, and from April, the conscripts will be sent to the reserve. I know that some of them have signed a contract to serve in the Defense Forces. I am grateful to everyone.

Glory to Ukraine!

@ukrainejournal

The Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system was damaged as a result of shelling in the Belgorod region. Two soldiers were wounded.

According to ASTRA sources, 4 drones attacked the area near the village of Golovchino in the Grayvoronsky district at noon on February 29. The drones exploded, causing damage to a Russian self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and gun system "Pantsir-S1".The strike put the system out of operation while the crew suffered two casualties. No civilians were harmed.

Also overnight Friday, one of Russia’s leading defence enterprises, Sverdlov Plant in Dzerzhinsk Nizhny Novgorod region, came under attack. The Sverdlov plant produces explosives and defence products.
Source1. Source2.
@freerussia_report
Source.

Rest in Peace

On 6 March 2022, Oleksandr Marchenko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the VIII convocation, died while defending the independence of our country.

Oleksandr Marchenko was elected to the Parliament in the constituency No. 90 in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region. He served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Construction and Architecture of the Committee on Construction, Urban Development and Housing and Communal Services.

In 2014, Oleksandr Marchenko defended Ukraine as a member of the 72nd Black Zaporozhians Brigade, with the call sign "Kameniar". He was awarded the Order "For Courage", III class, and the medal "For Defence of Avdiivka".

On the second day of the full-scale russian invasion, on 25 February 2022, Oleksandr Marchenko joined the ranks of the defenders of Ukraine again. Oleksandr Marchenko was killed along with three comrades-in-arms, covering the retreat of his comrades near the village of Moshchun, Kyiv region.

Eternal memory and glory to the Heroes

Niall Ferguson, a Scottish–American historian, Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, author of several bestselling books:

"If Russia wins this war, or if it, to put it very, very modestly, is able to retain control of those parts of Ukraine that it currently does control, that so-called "land bridge" that extends right down to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, that will be the first big defeat of Cold War II for the West. Because we were all in, we were all in in our support for Zelenskyy. How many speeches did Western leaders make in support of Ukraine? How many promises did they make? How many pledges were there to be there for as long as it took? If we lose, our credibility is shot."

@ukrainejournal

SBU detains Russian agent who tried to blow up post office in Zaporizzhia

As a result of a special operation, the SBU detained a Russian military intelligence agent who tried to blow up a local post office.

To commit the crime, the offender manufactured a remote-controlled improvised explosive device in his own home. He received instructions for making the explosive from the Russian special service.

The traitor hid the finished device in fruit boxes to send them to the cargo department of one of the postal operators.

After receiving a message about the delivery of the "order" to the post office, the suspect was supposed to detonate the explosives by phone call.

According to the available data, the occupants hoped that the bombing of the institution would lead to numerous civilian casualties and spread panic in the frontline city.

However, the SBU officers were proactive and exposed the suspect at the stage of preparation of the terrorist attack.

In addition, during the investigation, the SBU established that an additional task of the Russian agent was to identify places of mass concentration of personnel and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

He was to pass the information to the aggressor to prepare sabotage against the Defense Forces or to carry out air strikes.

According to the investigation, the enemy accomplice was a local resident. At the beginning of 2023, he was remotely recruited by a staff member of the 316th Intelligence Center of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (known as the game).

To engage the man in covert cooperation, the Russian special service used his friend, a resident of the temporarily occupied part of the region.

Subsequently, the enemy agent received a task to commit a terrorist attack through the "liaison", as well as instructions and money for the manufacture of explosives.

In case of committing a bombing and performing other hostile tasks, the occupiers promised their agent a monetary "reward".

He faces life imprisonment.

From "The Analyst":

FRONTLINE UPDATE

The northern front continues to be the site of running and often intense but localised battles in which neither side gains a specific advantage. Russia continues to probe in force at areas along the front.
The continuous assertion that there is this force of 100k Russian troops in the region just waiting to attack, keeps coming back but there’s never been any real evidence that this is true. If they were there why haven’t they been used? There’s been plenty of opportunities to do so.
On the Bakhmut front the Russians have made small gains into Ivaniske against strong opposition.
Above Ivanivske there is a notable area of high ground and the Russians are making efforts to approach this from its ‘easy’ side in the north, an area that’s very open and hard to defend. If they gain the heights then they dominate what goes on in the town to the south of them and it’s pretty much game over for the defenders. This is a key area on the way to attacking Chasiv Yar directly.
If Ivaniske falls then so will Kliesheivka as that will be faced with being taken from behind as they advance south. The entire area is not easy to defend and yet geographically it’s a big chunk of land Ukraine won’t want to just give up on. Besides which their aim is to attrit the Russians as much as possible.
Since the withdrawal from Avdivka the front lines have straightened out across the neck of the salient and seem to have stabilised.
Further south Russian forces continue to make small gains in Krasnohorivka and Marinka.
Another area that is suffering constant attrition from Russian advances is the Robotyne salient captured last year during the abortive summer offensive. As I predicted in the autumn, this salient is just an invitation to attack and that’s what the Russians are doing. Slowly but surely they push at the sides and slice off small pieces. They have done this so much over the past months they have taken back all of the Surovikin line trenches for what they’re worth.
Krynky continues to be a huge thorn in Russia’s side. Its tiny enclave has been deeply destructive to Russian troops and operations in the area. Losses of men and material, utterly demoralised Russian forces who complain constantly, have been kept at bay. The Ukrainians have successfully suppressed Russian operations to such a degree it’s become almost a no-go zone that’s considered a one way street to the morgue.
The missile attack on President Zelensky and the Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis
seems to have been an opportunistic launch. The missile was an Iskander fired from Crimea so there was no warning time as its flight time would have been no more than three to four minutes. There were casualties at the point of impact some 400m away.
The Greeks were signing another security and cooperation agreement with Ukraine.

Slava Ukraini🇺🇦!

She does not eat Russians for breakfast.

https://t.me/WarriorsUkrainian/22876

From "The Analyst":

CANADA INEXPLICABLY CUTS ITS DEFENCE BUDGET

No real reason has been given, but Canada has one of the lowest percentage budgets in NATO at just 1.3% of GDP. The cuts are said to be $1.3 billion. In order to meet the 2%  NATO goal, it would need to add $18 billion to its budget.
Canada says it will not reduce funding on key upgrades to the NORAD radars and sensor networks, that it will be looking at improving recruitment, it won’t drop any of the funding for the P-8 Poseidon program or the F-35. The usual ‘we’ll become more efficient’ line was rolled out - a favourite of defence cutting governments that never holds true.
More to the point it’s the message it sends. Russia and Canada have little in common - but one they do share is that Canada has a similar sized economy to Russia. That it cannot afford to maintain let alone increase its defence commitments at a time like this - and with Trump across the border sure to focus on such transgressions as an argument against NATO, it sends the wrong message to the rest of the West. 
With growing Chinese and Russian activity in a rapidly warming Arctic Ocean, expected to be effectively ice free within 10-20 years at current rates of warming- Canada is a lot more in the front line than it seems to realise.
True they say they won’t cut procurement and they will maintain high levels of readiness. But it’s just not playing ball when everyone else is struggling in difficult economic times to do better.

Good morning from Roman
https://t.me/WarriorsUkrainian/22895

Good morning Resisters

Robert Reich

https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/what-biden-must-do-tonight-in-sou?r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Belarus Weekly
https://mailchi.mp/kyivindependent.com/welcome-to-the-ukraine-daily-newsletter-17585214?e=7763f0b74a

Deadline looming in E Jean Carroll case

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/e-jean-carroll-deadline-is-donald-trumps-worst-nightmare/54855/

Russia uses Serbian agent to infiltrate EU institutions, intelligence says. Politico.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has been using a Serbian national named Novica Antic to infiltrate EU institutions and spread pro-Kremlin views, Politico reported on March 5, citing Western intelligence briefs they had reviewed.

According to the outlet, Antic, allegedly an "active agent of influence" of the FSB, met with members of the European Parliament and representatives of trade unions. Politico wrote that nothing indicates that these officials were aware of Antic's connections to Russian intelligence services.

Antic reportedly works closely with Russian national Vyacheslav Kalinin, who runs Veteran News, a military-themed media website connected to the FSB and the Russian Defense Ministry.

"They took every opportunity to promote Russian propaganda relating to the war in Ukraine," the briefing read regarding Antic and Kalinin's activities in Serbia and the EU.

Antic, the leader of the Serbian Military Union, has criticized Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Serbia's Armed Forces. He was detained in Serbia last month on unspecified charges, Balkan Insight reported.

Unlike some of its neighbors, Serbia positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war. While condemning Russia's aggression, Belgrade has refused to join sanctions against Moscow or to supply arms to either belligerent.

🇺🇦@ukraine_report🇺🇦🔱Liz

🦉 Svitlana Samoilenko, the organizer of the pseudo-elections in Zaporizhzhia, was liquidated in Berdyansk, GUR reported.

Since 2022, she cooperated with the occupiers and intimidated Berdyan residents to participate in illegal voting. The woman was a member of the "election commission" in the upcoming illegal "elections of the president of russia" with the right to a decisive vote.

Samoilenko was blown up in her car today. Russian media wrote that explosives with a capacity of 1.5 kg in TNT equivalent were planted under the car. The woman died from her injuries in the hospital.

@ukrainejournal