TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

We here in the Ozarks are finally getting out of the freezer for an afternoon anyway. It's been over a week since we have been above freezing. But right now it's 31⁰F and 10:30 AM. Should hit 40⁰ this afternoon

Officials from the Odesa Regional Military Commissariat are suspected of embezzling over seven million in funds allocated for food procurement for the Armed Forces, according to the Prosecutor General's Office. It is believed that the actual amount of misappropriated funds may be much higher, as only one instance of embezzlement has been discovered. The investigation has revealed that the officials, in collusion with the director of the company, had inflated the market value of the products when signing the contracts.

The European Union has allocated a seventh package of €500 million and an additional €45 million for a military assistance mission to Ukraine, according to Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

It is clear that the Russians are still clinging to their outdated and ineffective threats, believing that they will be able to scare off their European partners. Initially, these threats may have been effective, as they prevented the Europeans from providing us with tanks, air defense systems, MLRS, etc. However, now these threats are seen as nothing more than empty words and are no longer taken seriously.

Calling it now, Sinema switches to Republican before 2024

#Politics

MCCARTHY is dining tonight with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. https://c.im/@hammancheez/109792850317726324

Iranian Protester On Death Row Given Stay Of Execution https://iranwire.com/en/news/113318-iranian-protester-on-death-row-given-stay-of-execution/

Iran protester on death row gets stay of execution | The Times of Israel

Only a temporary stay.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-protester-on-death-row-gets-stay-of-execution/

Kramatorsk radiological accident - Wikipedia

What one cesium capsule can do. A mining company in Australia lost one recently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accident

Opinion | Iran executing protesters sends a message to others: You could be next. - The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/01/iran-executions-justice-repression/

Senate inquiry recommends listing Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group, further Magnitsky sanctions - ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-01/senate-inquiry-iran-human-rights-abuses-report-irgc-terrorists/101917152

80% of the Wagner Group's "troops are killed, missing, deserted or surrendered." Those who have been captured are suffering from diseases ranging from AIDS and syphilis to tuberculosis and pneumonia that -- due to danger to Ukrainian medical staff -- often must go untreated.

It doesn't sound like the Wagner Group's raping and pillaging paid off in the end. Karma is a Ukrainian.

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-730301

#Ukraine #WagnerGroup #Ukrainian #Russia #Russian #Putin #News #war

Wagner Group posing. https://libretooth.gr/@stopgopfox/109795082973319791

The European Parliament has passed a resolution to impose sanctions on Russia, including a full embargo on imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia, and the termination of joint gas projects with Russia such as Nord Stream 1 and 2. The resolution was approved by 489 votes, with 36 votes against and 49 abstentions.

Russia has shut down mobile internet access in the occupied Luhansk region, which is expected to make it more difficult for Ukrainian agents to provide information about the occupiers' positions to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The National Bank of Ukraine has set the official hryvnia to euro exchange rate for February 3, 2023 at 40.1724, which is an increase of UAH 0.3401 and the first time the rate has exceeded UAH 40. The hryvnia to dollar exchange rate has remained unchanged since July 2022 at UAH 36.5686. Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, the NBU has fixed the hryvnia exchange rate against the dollar and euro. However, the euro has been affected by the energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the strengthening of the US dollar due to strong economic growth, the Federal Reserve's actions to raise interest rates, and capital inflows. Recently, the dollar has been falling against major currencies, and the euro has risen to the level of 1.10 per dollar, driven by expectations of different rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Thus, the appreciation of the euro in Ukraine is solely related to the trend in global markets.

Denmark intends to purchase 20 Leopard 1A5 tanks from German company FFG and provide them to Ukraine, according to OLFI. Torsten Peter, Sales Director of FFG, stated that they can have 20 tanks repaired and ready to be shipped within three months, and an additional 20 tanks within six months.