TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z 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 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
Mirna Ayshoa, an Iraqi woman who immigrated to the US 10 years ago, learns Ukrainian, cooks Ukrainian dishes, and plays Ukrainian music on the drums.
She fell in love with Ukrainian culture while helping refugees from Ukraine.
Big opportunity!
The Crimea 24 channel showed how European migrant workers will come to work in occupied Crimea, giving up their salaries and social benefits for the “Russian dream.”
What do you say? Time to make the move?
Why not enjoy life in a war zone on illegally occupied territory with missiles flying over your head, frequent air raid alerts and pollution from sinking russian tankers?
There is a temporarily existing bridge that you can cross at your own risk and rampant inflation.
You have the chance today - enjoy!
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stars in the Ukrainian film “Train to December 31.”
The comedy is set to hit theaters on January 1.
🪐 Subscribe to Live: Ukraine
Dragmarks found on Baltic sea floor near broken cables
OSLO, Dec 29
Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks that drag on for dozens of kilometres along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecoms cables with its anchor.
The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters where the crew of the impounded tanker is being questioned
A break in the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia occurred at midday on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 linking the two countries, grid operators said. They said Estlink 2 might not be back in service before August.
Finnish police suspect the Eagle S caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
Investigators have identified a "dragging track" but have yet to find a missing anchor, Sami Paila, tactical leader and detective chief inspector of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, said in a statement.
"The track is dozens of kilometres in length," Paila said.
Photos taken of the Eagle S on Friday showed the vessel missing its port side anchor
Finland's customs service believes the ship is part of a "shadow fleet" of ageing tankers being used to evade sanctions on exports of Russian oil.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Finland's seizure of the ship was of little concern to it.
Russia has denied involvement in any of the previous Baltic infrastructure damage incidents.
Source: Reuters
Expect Russian hybrid warfare to intensify and become more openly confrontational - Anders Puck Neilson.
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 Z 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 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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