TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

A republican lesson in the difference when two do the same...
Trump's vice presidential candidate claims Israel's right to be the first to hit Iran

The decision to launch a preemptive strike on Iran should remain with Israel, and the United States should support its ally, said US vice presidential candidate from the Republican Party James David Vance.

"It's up to Israel to decide what they need to keep their country safe, and we have to support our allies as they fight the bad guys. I believe this is the right approach to the Israeli issue," Vance said at a televised debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz (quoted by TASS).

So how come duplicitous Trumpists do not see that Ukraine has the very same right - not even for preemptive strikes but just to hit military targets in russia - as "they fight the bad boys"? For Ukraine the big Vance echoes just Putin's Victory plan, "give up and roll over."

@freerussia_report

Two oil depots caught fire in Russia overnight. But nothing happened, really.

In Voronezh Oblast debris of Ukrainian drones unerringly hit the oil depot which was engulfed in flames, but without causing damage to the facility or any casualties, assured the head of the region, Alexander Gusev.

In the Perm territory reported the Ministry of Emergency Situations that "in the industrial zone of the village of Osentsy, a private base for the storage of petroleum products on 10.00 m² is on fire. The fire engulfed the fuel tanks."
But no worries, it's contained and will not allowed to spread to private residential buildings, an administrative building and dry vegetation. They are considering "careless handling of fire" and "emergency mode of operation of electrical equipment" as possible cause.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Military Disinformation reported on the "destruction and interception of 18 Ukrainian drones" overnight, Belgorod region- (6), Voronezh region - (6), Sea of Azov - (5) and Rostov region (1).

Videos and pictures follow in next reports.

@freerussia_report

A Ren-TV employee posed as a BBC journalist in order to get close to the opposition in Europe.

Journalists found out that an employee of the Russian federal TV channel Ren-TV, Airat Shiryaev, posed as a special correspondent for the BBC Russian Service "Mark Nazarov" in order to film events of the Russian opposition in Europe.

Airat Shiryaev is a former employee of NTV and the Izvestia media group, now working for a company that produces content for REN TV. He created WhatsApp and Telegram on a British phone number under the name Mark Nazarov, and also created an email with the address of marknazarov.bbc@gmail.com. In addition, he forged the press card of a BBC correspondent, but made a mistake in the word "valid" - he wrote it with a "w".

In particular, under the guise of a BBC journalist, he tried to get accredited for a meeting with Tatyana Lazareva in Dusseldorf. One of the organizers of the meeting, Yuri Nikitin, suspected forgery and turned to the editorial office of the publication. The BBC asked to let "Mark Nazarov" in to meet him at the event.

However, Nazarov did not come to Düsseldorf, he sent there the local stringers he hired - Olga and Sergey, whom he also convinced that he worked for the BBC. Olga showed reporters a list of questions for an interview with Tatyana Lazareva, which he sent her. Among others were the following: "In Russia, you were included in the list of terrorists and extremists. What do you think about this?", "Russian propaganda says that you are happy about the strikes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russia, if you do not take it out of context, as you actually said?"

Olga called "Mark Nazarov" at the phone number from which he wrote to her on WhatsApp, and asked who he really was. He assured her that he was a BBC reporter, had previously worked "at Echo, at Venediktov's" and "left Russia after the start of the special military operation." After that, the BBC journalists themselves called him, but he continued to assure them that he worked for the BBC, and offered money for a video recording from a meeting with Lazareva.

"Don't ask stupid questions so you don't get stupid answers. And I don't want to tell you. Especially for comrades like you. Change your position, come to Moscow, maybe I will tell you how my photo ended up on the BBC press card. And now I suggest that you merge into the sunset and not interfere with our work," he eventually wrote in response to a request from the BBC editorial board on Telegram.

@freerussia_report

Operational information of the General Staff as of 08.00 on 04.10.2024 regarding the Russian invasion

Glory to Ukraine!

The nine hundred and fifty-fourth day of the large-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has begun.

During the past day, 142 combat clashes took place.
According to detailed information, yesterday the enemy launched three rocket strikes using three rockets, as well as 67 air strikes, including 135 guided air bombs, on the positions of Ukrainian units and populated areas. In addition, it carried out more than four thousand attacks, including 105 from rocket salvo systems, and used 1,585 kamikaze drones for strikes.

The enemy carried out airstrikes, in particular in the areas of Katerynivka, Volfine, Komarivka, Bilopillya, Richki, Khotyn, Yastrubyne, Iskryskivshchyna, Budivelne, Tokari, Yunakivka, Bilovody of Sumy region and the village of Zorya of Chernihiv region.

Over the past day, missile forces and artillery of the Defense Forces have struck fifteen strikes on the areas of concentration of personnel and anti-aircraft defenses of the enemy, in addition, two depots of fuel and lubricants, an artillery system, an anti-aircraft vehicle and a radio-electronic warfare station were hit.

In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy carried out offensive and assault actions four times in the districts of Staritsa and Vovchansk.

The number of combat clashes per day in the Kupyansk direction reached eleven. The defense forces repelled the attacks of the occupiers in the areas of Sinkivka, Kurylivka, Pischany, Vyshnevo, Petropavlivka, and Pershotravnevo.

In the Limansk direction, our troops stopped 13 enemy attacks. The invaders concentrated their main efforts in the areas of the settlements of Makiivka, Novosadove, Torske, Druzhelyubivka, Grekivka, and Dronivka.

One attack near Spirny was repulsed by the Defense Forces in the Siverskyi direction.

Six attempts by the invaders to advance near Chasovoy Yar, Andriyivka, Bila Hora and Stupochky were stopped by Ukrainian soldiers in the Kramatorsk direction. The situation is under control. The enemy acted with the support of aviation - hit with anti-aircraft guns in the area of ​​Chasovoy Yar.

The aggressor's aviation bombarded the areas of Katerynivka, Druzhba and Kleban-Bik settlements in the Toretsk direction, and the enemy tried to advance nine times in the Toretsk, Dachnoi and Nelipivka areas.

30 attacks, this number over the past day were repelled by our defenders in the Pokrovsky direction. The enemy tried to advance in the vicinity of Sukha Balka, Hirnyk, Promeny, Novotoretsky and Krutoy Yar. The main efforts of the enemy were concentrated in the areas of Mykolaivka and Selidovoy, where nine and seven skirmishes took place, respectively; in addition, bombarded Mirnograd, Bilytske and Selidove, dropping seven guided aerial bombs.

Defense forces continue to restrain the enemy in the Kurakhiv direction. In the districts of Novooleksandrivka, Tsukuryny, Georgiyivka, Kostyantynivka, Trudovoy, Vozdvizhenka, Antonivka, and Katerynivka, the occupiers tried to break through Ukrainian defense lines 23 times.

Three enemy attacks were stopped by our defenders in the area of ​​Bogoyavlenka and one - near Maksimivka, in the direction of Vremivsk.

In the Orihiv direction, enemy units twice tried to advance in the districts of Kamianskyi and Novodanilivka.

The operational situation on the Volyn and Polissky directions has not changed significantly. No signs of formation of enemy offensive groups were detected.
On the border with the Chernihiv region, the enemy maintains a military presence, conducts reconnaissance and artillery fire.

Defense forces of Ukraine continue operations in the Kursk direction. Over the past day, the enemy launched one rocket and fourteen airstrikes on its own territory, using 30 guided air bombs; in addition, he fired almost 300 shots.

Join the Defense Forces!
Together we will win!

@ukrainejournal

Russian oil depots had another explosive night with storage locatons in the Russian regions of Voronezh and Perm Krai burning for hours.

Perm Krai is 1700km from Ukraine.

continues

Yermak does not shy away from long working days and primarily directs using his cell phone. He and Selensky often spend the night in the presidential office, says journalist Trubetskoy. "Yermak has no wife, he is always available, and Zelensky appreciates that. On the other hand, he does not like it when his ministers sit in restaurants for long periods." But in the country itself, Yermak is not very popular - despite his omnipresent nature.

Davydiuk reports that rumors are circulating in Kiev that Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal should be replaced so that Yermak can hold the position. Then he would have to take political responsibility for his decisions. After the war is over, the issue will certainly have to be dealt with more closely.

Like the president, Yermak, who is six years older than him, was not in politics before Zelensky was elected president in 2019. They had already worked together, Yermak as a media lawyer and producer, Zelensky as an actor and comedy star, who brought some of his companions from the world of entertainment into politics. Among them was Yermak, now 52, ​​who did not initially have a prominent role. He organized his boss's schedule in the Ukrainian presidential office. Zelensky has since separated from almost all of his other early employees.

Initially, Yermak coordinated the president's schedule and became a negotiator for the prisoner exchange with Russia. After Zelensky had been in office for nine months, he made Yermak head of the presidential office in early 2020. Since then, he has been involved in all major foreign policy processes or even managed them for Ukraine - such as the negotiations with Ukraine's so-called partners, the peace summit in Switzerland, the return of the abducted Ukrainian children or the prisoner exchange.

In fact, observers agree here too, Yermak acts as the foreign minister. Trubetskoy sums it up like this: "He is Zelensky's top diplomat, and the president listens to him on all personnel issues." Yermak is responsible for relations with the USA, he has a close connection to the White House. In July, Yermak - not the foreign minister - traveled to the USA to discuss, among other things, possible military targets in Russia and to coordinate joint action.

The Presidential Office moderates all political processes very closely itself. Important topics, such as the next peace conference, sanctions against Russia or a special tribunal to punish Russian crimes, go through the Presidential Office and thus through Yermak. The ministries are subordinate in areas that seem important to the Presidential Office.

Yermak's original task of coordinating the President's schedule and granting access to him has remained insofar as he and his team still manage who the President meets. He therefore also has control over who is close to the President and who is not. As a result, there are fewer and fewer people who have direct access to Zelenskyj without going through Yermak, says Trubetskoy.

Yermak has a strong influence on the President's personnel table in general. There are hardly any politicians in the government - "they are more like managers," says Trubetskoy. If a minister or official crosses Yermak's red lines, says one who has experienced this, then their political career is over.

If, for example, someone acts too independently or is too close to the president and thus escapes Yermak's control, Yermak replaces these positions with his people. The last prominent example of the pattern was Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who had to vacate his position at the beginning of September. His successor, Andriy Syibiha, was previously one of Yermak's deputies in the presidential office. And the Minister for Reconstruction, Oleksiy Kuleba, who is responsible for particularly large budgets, was also previously deputy head of the presidential office. His boss there was Andriy Yermak.

The article is google-translated. Read the original here.

@ukrainejournal

Why is Andriy Yermak so powerful?

The head of the Ukrainian presidential office is actually an office manager. But President Zelensky has given Andriy Yermak far more power. Who is the man - and how powerful is he really? - An article by Isabel Schayani, WDR/tagesschau.

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at the UN Security Council last week, a man wearing olive-green clothing could be seen sitting just to his right behind him. Even when he talks to heads of state or visits soldiers near the front, the tall "green cardinal", as some in Kiev call him, can always be seen in his immediate vicinity.

At the Swiss peace summit in June, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, stood in the front row between the heads of government for a group photo. The then Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was only spotted in the second row. Yermak, the shadow of Zelensky, has long been conspicuous in Ukraine and abroad.

The journalist and knowledgeable observer of Ukrainian politics, Denis Trubetskoy, sums it up like this: "It's not possible to have much more power than that which Yermak has." There is no doubt "that Yermak is the second most powerful man in Ukraine." This assessment is not only shared by the independent Ukrainian press, but can also be heard from those close to the presidential office.

On the one hand, the constitution does not provide for this amount of authority for the head of the presidential office - on the other hand, Yermak acts on behalf of the president. His political opponents see him as a power-hungry politician who wants to succeed the president.

The well-connected political scientist and blogger Mykola Davydiuk also describes Yermak's power as "enormous." He is stronger than the prime minister and everyone else in the power apparatus. "He is the producer who serves the president and does all the stuff for him so that the star has a free hand and can move and shine."

However, Davydiuk points out that in a country at war, there is more chaos in the presidential administration than in peacetime. This could justify the otherwise unusually high level of power wielded by its leadership.

to continue
@ukrainejournal

💥💥💥
“This is how it is, guys.
They're bombing it.”

The moment a Ukrainian UAV hit an oil depot in the Anninsky district of the Voronezh region.

@ukrainejournal

🇺🇦🇷🇺⚠️ Ukraine bombed Kurchatov in the Kursk region of Russia, which is the city where the Kursk NPP is located.

—> One of the bombs fell 5 km from the power plant.

The nuclear power plant is currently operating normally, and background radiation levels are normal.
@ukrainejournal

Video with this one.
https://open.substack.com/pub/twogrumpyoldmenonukraine/p/who-will-explain-to-this-little-girl?r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

They are Trolls. How to make them get back under the bridge
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/2024-election-video-of-the-week-why?r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

I dreamed of this day. Ted Cruz gonna lose.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/ted-cruz-goes-off-the-deep-end-as-colin-allred-gains-on-him/58402/

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/it-just-doesnt-add-up/58398/

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-strikes-out-3/58416/

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/turning-liberty-on-its-head/58399/

WHY DID ISRAEL HIT A RUSSIAN AIR BASE?

The Hemimm Air Base in Syria was attacked by Israeli forces yesterday, just an hour after an Iranian 747-200F cargo plane had landed there - believed to be carrying weapons for Hezbollah.
This follows Israel finding stacks of Russian weapons in Hezbollah hands in southern Lebanon.
The weapons discovered included shoulder launched anti-air weapons and launchers as well as small arms and rifles.
Of course everything Russia does to support Iran is all about Russia distracting us from the war in Ukraine - its overwhelming goal.
If we help Ukraine defeat Russia we also defeat Iran and force it to realise it’s very much on its own and its behaviour will be less aggressive.
Russia tries to cause as much trouble for the west as it can while it persecutes the war on Ukraine. It needs us distracted and worried more about oil prices and the security of Israel than it does arming Ukraine to win the war.
Russians are masters at the art of distraction.
We should never forget it.

‘The Analyst’ MilStratOnX

The Analyst

SENTIENT AI

SENTIENT AI is not a forecast for the future. It is the secret United States National Reconnaissance Office AI system called Sentient.
In recent weeks it’s had a few parts of its secret program partly publicised. Largely due to an AI conference.
What we know is that its primary use is to process tens of thousands of images from satellites and other military sources every hour. Not only does it analyse the images and bring them to the attention of operators if parameters require it, it can actually direct satellites and other systems including signals intelligence all by itself. That enables it to actively investigate what it deems to be suspicious activity.
Lately Sentient is believed to have tracked - by using thousands of images collected globally, the patterns of the Russian ‘dark tanker fleet’ so that it’s known where they are at all times.
Sentient is believed to have contributed along with the privately owned BlackStar system AI to Ukraine’s ability to destroy so much of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
It’s almost certainly involved in the alerting of US military commanders to the activation of the Iranian missiles that attacked Israel and even the original attack on Ukraine.
The scale of Sentient is classified but it is vastly more capable and all encompassing than anyone outside of the program can even imagine.
Except perhaps the Chinese who are unquestionably developmentally not far behind.
The point of these systems is far more complex than just spying. It’s about learning enough about enough to actually predict what might happen next.
Sentient is here now. Every day.
It’s more powerful than the public would be happy with but it’s utterly vital to keeping the United States alert to what’s happening in the world.

I am completely exhausted. Got 8 banana boxes of mostly hickory. Pretty good for a 72 year old man. Going to bed early. Goodnight Resisters

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-just-cant-bring-himself-to-do-it/58400/

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/senile-donald-trump-brags-to-half-empty-venue-about-how-hes-filled-the-place-to-capacity/58414/