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
NATO warns of the risk of unconventional attacks by Russia with "significant" losses.
"We are in a situation similar to a boiling frog," said NATO spokesman James Appathurai, adding that Russia's hybrid attacks are reaching a scale that would have been unacceptable even five years ago.
There had been a particular rise in more "kinetic" acts - like cutting vital undersea cables, sabotage against buildings and the planting of incendiary devices inside aircraft cargo - since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"We can definitely count dozens, up to 100 for sure, but then there's a lot of foiled plots," Mr Appathurai, NATO's deputy assistant secretary general for innovation, hybrid and cyber, said in an interview at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.
Appathurai notes that the increase in the number of hybrid attacks is the Kremlin's response to the military support of Ukraine by Western partners.
"That part is true. So they don't like what we're doing, but they also see us as the enemy. And it's getting worse," he said.
Asked whether Russia's hybrid attack could cross the line and provoke NATO to use its collective response under Article 5, Appathurai said he was concerned that one of the attacks would "go beyond the scope and become large-scale."
"So there is a real prospect that one of these attacks will cause significant casualties or very significant economic damage," Appathurai said.
Deborah Haynes Sky News
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦 Liz
“The billions of euros from Russian gas are being used to kill civilians in Ukraine,” Zelensky said in response to Fico’s mission, to keep Russian gas supplies, adding that “when Slovakia says they can lose money or that it will be expensive to buy non-Russian gas, Ukraine has lost much more – we’re losing people”.
Slovakia can secure non-Russian supplies
In detail ( apologies for the length of this, it shows Fico who often parrots Kremlin speech, is not that dependent on Russia's gas after all, because Slovakia itself has alternative suppliers )
Slovak analysts argue that the country can adapt to the end of Russian pipeline supplies and that Fico’s stance has more to do with his close political ties with Orban and Putin, the cosy private business links that both countries continue to have with Russia, and his domestic political problems, rather than energy security.
Slovakia has already demonstrated the ability to get through the winter without Russian gas, Slovakia’s energy analysts point out. Slovak gas reserves are currently three quarters full.
Slovakia’s continued imports of Russian energy is “not a question of energy security”, Alexander Duleba, senior research fellow at the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), told bne IntelliNews, explaining that Slovakia will have a sufficient amount of gas. Duleba highlights that Slovakia survived the last winter practically without Russian imports.
“The consumption of Russian gas fell from 100% in the winter of 2021-22 to 8% in the winter of 2022-23”, he says, pointing out that the country imported 35% of gas from Norway via Czechia and Germany, while securing another 30% from LNG imports.
Additionally, this was accomplished without the capacities provided by the Polish Świnoujście LNG terminal, which completed its expansion in 2023, opening another route for imports to Slovakia.
Slovakia and its energy companies – including the state gas group SPP and gas transporter Eustream, where EPH of Czech energy and media oligarch Daniel Křetínský has a 49% stake and managerial control – “managed to secure a sufficient amount of gas” without Russia, Duleba says, adding that now Slovakia has a contract with Norway is extended, “so at least 35% can be imported from Norway”.
Radovan Potočár, editor-in-chief of the Slovak energy-focused outlet Energie Portal, says that Fico’s stance is mainly for political reasons. He told bne Intellinews in Bratislava last month that ultimately the government has the tools to intervene in energy price policy.
“Fico does not have to point a finger at Ukraine, he wants to do that,” Potočár observes.
In mid-December, Fico’s cabinet confirmed it will continue subsidising energy prices, and Saková’s ministry estimated the additional costs of subsidising energy prices will amount to €291.5mn.
bne Intellinews.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦 Liz
Jimmy Carter cleaned up a partial nuclear meltdown.
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/jimmy-carter-nuclear-meltdown-clean-up-canada-navy-history
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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