TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

Jeff Tiedrich

https://open.substack.com/pub/jefftiedrich/p/this-week-in-stupid-june-15-edition?utm_source=direct&r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Joyce Vance
It was actually the D day celebration, not G7
https://open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/a-little-civil-discourse-93d?r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Ukraine got back 14 more children from Russia and the temporarily occupied territories

It is noted that among these rescued children are two deprived of parental care. In total, the Save Ukraine team has already returned 373 children who were deported or were under occupation to Ukraine.

There are Russian journalists at the Peace Summit in Switzerland, Radio Liberty reports

In particular, RIA Novosti, TASS, Kommersant, Meduza and Dozhd are present.

🇨🇭Admitting the Russian media to the Summit was the position of Switzerland, the host neutral party.

I think It's the right thing to have them

Meaningful meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris at the Peace Summit in Switzerland. Thank you for participating in the summit.

We discussed the receipt of weapons from the defense packages announced by the United States, the implementation of our agreements reached with President Biden in Italy on additional Patriot air defense systems, and the situation at the front.

Thank you for your very important assistance – the allocation of more than 1 1.5 billion for the needs of our state.

— Zelensky Official

Very well written

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/the-terrorist-scotus/56612/

Good morning Resisters everywhere.

Russia capturing towns that don't exist.
https://t.me/ukrainejournal/13440

https://t.me/WarriorsUkrainian/30189

US State department releases statement by the Governments of the United States of America, Canada, and the United Kingdom on Russia’s subversive activity and electoral interference targeting Moldova.

President Maia Sandu and Moldova’s security institutions have warned that the Kremlin is seeking to undermine Moldovan democratic institutions in the lead-up to the October presidential elections and a referendum on Moldova’s EU membership.  

We share President Sandu’s strong concerns about the Kremlin’s use of criminal groups to finance political activities and undermine Moldova’s democratic institutions.  

We commend Moldova’s leaders for continuing to capably manage these threats, build resilience, and maintain peace and security, while driving forward democratic reforms and reviving the country’s economy.

That is why today, in defense of our shared democratic values, we are taking this step to warn our democratic partners and Allies that Russian actors are carrying out a plot to influence the outcomes of Moldova’s fall 2024 presidential election.  

They intend to incite protests in Moldova should a pro-Russia candidate not win.  They seek to foment negative public perceptions of Western governments and Moldova’s incumbent leadership, while degrading public confidence in Moldova’s ability to secure itself and maintain rule of law.   

Russia is currently supporting candidates for Moldova’s presidency and is exacerbating societal tensions.  These Russian actors are actively using disinformation and propaganda online, on the air, and on the streets to further their objectives.  They are agitating criticism of the incumbent Moldovan president’s government and political party, in order to incite protests.  

Part of these operations would include spreading lies about the incumbent president’s character and intentions, and about supposed electoral irregularities.  

If Russia’s election meddling proves unsuccessful in Moldova, there is reason to believe Moscow will work to incite protests.  

Russia’s political interference in Moldova in the lead-up to the October election goes back years.  

For example, personnel of state-funded media outlet RT have been involved in providing direct support to fugitive Moldovan Ilan Shor for several years with Russian government assent.  

All three of our governments have sanctioned Shor for his destabilizing electoral activities.

https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-exposing-russias-subversive-activity-and-electoral-interference-targeting-moldova/

The proposal for a ceasefire from Russian President Vladimir Putin is an ultimatum that cannot be trusted, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by Reuters.

In a speech earlier in the day, Putin said Russia would end the war in Ukraine if Kyiv agreed to abandon its NATO membership ambitions and surrender all four oblasts claimed by Moscow.

Speaking on Italian TV channel SkyTG24 on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Zelenskyy said he believed Putin would not stop his military offensive even if his demands for a ceasefire were met.

"These are ultimatum messages, which are no different from messages from the past. He will not stop. This is the same as what Hitler did (...) That is why we should not trust these messages," Zelenskyy said.

The Russian Federation must pay Ukraine for the damage caused, so far 486 billion dollars, according to a G7 statement.

"Russia must stop its illegal war of aggression and compensate Ukraine for the damages. The G7 continues to evaluate all legal avenues to recover the damages from Russia. Russian assets in the West will remain frozen until the conflict ceases and the specified amount is paid to Kyiv. The G7 countries are ready to provide Ukraine with a loan of $50 billion, to be repaid using revenues from Russia's frozen assets. The G7 will exert significant pressure on Russia's revenues from energy and raw materials," the statement said.

Inspired by some of today's "initiatives".

Ukraine needs a full, just and sustainable peace.

Otherwise:

Peace in exchange for territory is annexation.
Peace in exchange for sovereignty is surrender.
Peace in exchange for people is slavery.
Peace in exchange for a non-aligned status is suicide.
Peace in exchange for a frozen conflict is the transfer of this war to the shoulders of our children and grandchildren.

That is why the full implementation of the Peace Formula is important.

The Formula is a formula because it must contain all the components. And it is Ukraine, which is suffering from this aggression, that has a fair right to determine the parts of this Formula.

Tomorrow, Ukraine will make the first step towards the implementation of the Peace Formula together with a hundred like-minded countries.

I sincerely wish our country success at this, undoubtedly, the main international event.

Together we will win!

Glory to Ukraine! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Glory to Ukraine's defenders! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Glory to our partners who are working with us side by side to bring our common Victory closer! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk

Ukraine Accuses Russia, China Of Trying To Sabotage Peace Summit - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Dozens of states have agreed to attend the Ukraine peace summit on June 15-16 in Switzerland, but Russia and China will not join, and Ukraine accuses them of trying to sabotage the event. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to discuss a peace formula, but absence of Russia and China highlights ongoing tensions.

🕯️ Fencer Rostyslav Livach died in the war — the Youth and Sports Committee.

Rostyslav was a candidate for master of sports in sabre fencing, a participant in national competitions, a winner and multiple prize-winner of the Lviv region championships.

With the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion, Rostyslav defended Ukraine in the ranks of the 10th separate mountain assault brigade "Edelweiss" of the operational command "West" of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and later — in the 78th separate airborne assault regiment "Hertz" of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

He died on 6 June...

Blessed memory and eternal glory to the Hero!

Source: NOC of Ukraine

"I had to survive to hug my son again": Azov Brigade sergeant comes back home after 2 years in russian captivity

During the 52nd prisoner-of-war (POW) swap, Ukraine liberated Nataliia Manuilova, a servicewoman belonging to the Azov Special Operations Detachment who had spent over two years in russian captivity.

The story of defender Nataliia, who survived separation from her son, a mock trial and witnessed Ukrainian soldiers being tortured, was shared by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (CHTPOW).

Nataliia joined Ukraine's Armed Forces back in 2017 when she signed a contract to serve as a cook. Later, she was promoted to head the canteen.

Following the onset of the full-scale invasion, she continued to provide meals to Ukrainian defenders at the Azovstal steelworks despite constant russian bombardment.

"Even after the part of the steelworks housing the field kitchen was destroyed, the unit's cooks continued to prepare meals on small stoves," the headquarters said.

After being evacuated from the steelworks in late May 2022, Nataliia immediately rushed to see her son, who was in the russian-occupied territory.

Along the way, she passed through russian checkpoints and bombardments. The boy developed a complicated pneumonia, which she tried to treat without medication while hiding from the russians.

"russian soldiers broke into our house one morning. They put a bag over my head, twisted my arms and took me to the Donetsk pre-trial detention centre. I was worried about my child again, uncertain about his fate," Nataliia shares her memories.

Nataliia was held in various places of detention in russian captivity, in one of which she was involved in a mock trial broadcast by russian propaganda media.

The CHTPOW noted that the russians even kept Nataliia in a cage. Additionally, Manuilova witnessed firsthand the suffering of Ukrainian POWs subjected to torture.

It was only in late May that she was brought back to the territory of Ukraine, where she was finally able to hug her son again after 27 months of captivity.

"All this time, he was filming his achievements and interesting events on his phone to show his mother after she came back so that he could make up for the lost years," the headquarters added.

@ukrainejournal

Bots working for the Kremlin published 120 thousand posts overnight with fake quotes from Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Alain Delon and other celebrities

Bots associated with the Russian authorities from the Double network, the largest of the Kremlin’s disinformation networks working for Western audiences, began a massive campaign to distribute pictures with fake quotes from celebrities. The posts they published on Friday evening and Saturday night have already received several hundred thousand views. In the pictures, the stars are credited with calls to stop helping Ukraine and words about a “collapsing” Europe.

Since Friday evening, bots have published 50 pictures with fake quotes on the X network (formerly Twitter), after which other “Double” accounts have retweeted them more than 120 thousand times, a representative of the “Bot Blocker” project told the Agency. These posts collected more than 500 thousand views, according to project statistics. To publish fake quotes, 62% of bots were used, which are usually engaged in distributing pictures and videos as part of the “Double”.

▪️This is the standard intensity of a campaign with fake quotes. Over the past six months, Bot Blocker has detected six such campaigns.

▪️Bots published pictures with quotes in English, French, German and Polish. Fake statements were attributed to famous people, including actors Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Alain Delon, director Luc Besson, singer Elton John, and football player Lionel Messi.

▪️A significant part of the fake quotes contain calls to refuse support for Ukraine. “We are impoverished, it’s time to forget about Ukraine,” says “Jennifer Aniston.” “Ukraine no longer exists. All our money was thrown away,” Lionel Messi echoes.

▪️ “All countries have begun to think about themselves, and the EU is falling apart,” says a quote attributed to Scarlett Johansson. “Europe is impoverished. Politicians are getting crazier. The officials in the European Parliament are corrupt,” says the fake Angelina Jolie. And the fake Elton John in his statement combines the themes of Ukraine and the EU: “We fell into the Ukrainian trap. Now the EU is collapsing."

The new campaign began almost immediately after the European Parliament elections, in which parties supported by the Kremlin achieved success in France and Germany.

▪️All previous campaigns with fake quotes were also aimed at stopping aid to Ukraine.

From "The Analyst":

BATTLE FOR CHASIV YAR INTENSIFIES

The Russians have intensified their attacks on the canal district east of the canal itself.
Having attempted to take a key village to the north of it to attempt an outflanking manoeuvre, and been sorely beaten back and forced to retreat from the positions they captured, once again they resorted to mass attacks on the frontal approaches.
These have been supported by an extensive glide bomb campaign that has reduced to rubble almost all of the remaining high rise buildings, certainly making them untenable for the defenders. Backed up by unusually high numbers of T-90M breaching tanks and IFV’s, of which some 70% were lost to drones and especially ATGM’s, Russian airborne forces slowly made gains.
Yet again the glide bomb strikes proved decisive. When I say gains, it’s literally a couple of streets, the Ukrainians still control half of the district.
The Russians are however close to making that unviable as defences and Ukraine will eventually have to withdraw over the canal and blow the bridges to prevent the Russians crossing it.
What the Ukrainians could do with is a long range anti-air battery to hit the Russian aircraft dropping the glide bombs. Take that out of the equation and their ability to defend rises dramatically, as the Russians have neither the quantity of artillery or other ground based weapons to do what they did in Bakhmut last year.
If not it looks like the Russians will just endlessly throw more and more troops at the town to take it, with glide bombs doing the heavy destruction.
The restoration of Chasiv Yar as a priority point in the last few days seems to be an effort to distract from the Kharkiv situation. I think they think the Ukrainians are so close to winning that battle decisively they hope to create a sense of urgency further south to distract them. Add to that, that this should have been their priority all along and it seems they may well have refocused their energies towards it, fighting a rear guard action at Kharkiv to keep the Ukrainians engaged, while attempting to distract them enough to withdraw forces and prevent a clean victory.
While that may be their intention, I think that Ukraine now has enough to manage both areas and maintain their positions and prosecute both fronts.
They should not in my opinion, give up on driving the Russians out of Kharkiv completely. They have the initiative and they can do it. A full Russian defeat there would be a significant military and morale boosting victory long needed.

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!

Russia is accelerating the development of roads in the occupied south. The occupiers are hastening the completion of a new railway and doubling the land road corridor near Mariupol, according to the "Center for Journalistic Investigations."

"Fresh satellite data indicate the complete readiness of two bridges on the first branch of the new railway, which Russia has been laying from scratch since last fall. Construction is in the final stages of laying the rails and is progressing surprisingly quickly. An 80 km new railway track between the villages of Burne and Novoselivka will allow the delivery of goods from Mariupol to the north and east of the occupied part of Donetsk region four times faster," the investigation says.

In parallel, work is being carried out on other sections of the new railway and highways, including the expansion of the land corridor from Russian Rostov to the occupied Ukrainian Crimea through the territory of the Azov region.

In April, the occupiers began to build a bypass road north of Mariupol. This 70 km long section of the land corridor can consist of parallel roads and railways.

Active work on the construction of roads continues not only in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions but also in the Kherson region. Journalists assume that the occupiers will build a Taganrog-Mariupol branch parallel to the Rostov-Melitopol railway branch.

"Then these 100 km between the cities will become the main logistics route for supplying the Russian army of occupation on both the Zaporizhzhia and eastern fronts. By tying the Kherson region to the Rostov-Crimea and Donetsk-Crimea routes, Russia will complete its 'Ring of Azov' logistics operation," the investigation emphasizes.

The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, stated that the Ukrainian military's destruction of Russian strike positions near the border has significantly reduced the intensity of Russian shelling of the city.

He added that approximately 11,500 people have arrived in Kharkiv from regions experiencing heavy shelling. Additionally, the mayor emphasized the critical need for Western air defense systems to protect the city.