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
Every soldier wants a pet.
Kharkiv. It is impossible to watch this footage with a cold heart.
A young firefighter cries at the site of the impact, where Russia cynically killed his father, a 52-year-old rescuer, a few minutes before.
The deceased Vladyslav Loginov devoted his life to work in the fire service. His son, Volodymyr, also following his father's example, became a firefighter and worked as a guard chief at a nearby fire station. On this hellish night, immediately after the first explosions, the father and son and their colleagues immediately left for the place of impact.
Vladyslav and Volodymyr worked next to each other, literally a few houses away from each other. When a powerful explosion rang out, the son immediately understood that it had most likely flown to where his father was.
It is hard to imagine the emotions he experienced when he saw the bloody body of his father. Great grief for relatives, colleagues, friends.
We sincerely sympathize with each family's loss.
We remember everyone 🕯️
@ukrainejournal
Pope Francis remembered a Ukrainian soldier from Bakhmut who died at the front of Avdiivka.
At his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square in Rome he was holding a rosary and a New Testament wrapped in camouflage colors in his hands, personal belongings of the young man.
“This boy's name was Oleksandr: 23 years old. Oleksandr read the New Testament and the Psalms, and in the book of Psalms he had underlined Psalm 129: 'Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice'. And this 23-year-old boy died in the war. He lost the life that he would have had before him,”
Francis said. The Pope called on the faithful to observe a minute's silence in memory of "this boy and all others who, like him, died in this insane war."
The fallen soldier's belongings were presented to the Pope by the nun Lucía Caram, a contemplative Dominican of Argentine origin, on March 13, the 11th anniversary of the start of his pontificate. Since the beginning of the war she has been involved in Ukraine.
@ukrainejournal
The terrorist attack in the suburbs of Moscow encouraged Russians to go and fight in Ukraine
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, during the interviews held over the past week, most of the candidates indicated the desire to take revenge for the victims of the tragedy that occurred on March 22, 2024 in "Crocus City Hall" as the main motive for signing the contract.
The Russian military declares that only in the last 10 days, 16,000 citizens signed up for the war in Ukraine, and 1,700 people come to the selection points every day.
Russia is persistently looking for a "Ukrainian trace" in the terrorist attack near Moscow, despite the fact that the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack.
❗️The Washington Post (WP) with reference to American officials writes that the USA warned the Russian Federation 2 weeks before the attack that "Crocus City Hall" and a synagogue in Moscow were potential targets for terrorists.
Putin, on the other hand, has previously rejected Washington's warnings, calling them "blackmail."
The US regularly shares information about the preparation of terrorist attacks with other countries, but the target is rarely revealed - in order not to betray its sources.
75 years ago, on 4 April 1949, an agreement was signed in Washington that established the North Atlantic Alliance.
75 years ago, NATO's 12 founding members came together to be stronger together. And to counter security challenges together.
Over the past 75 years, the Alliance has expanded to include 32 full members, and today NATO is the principal military and political alliance united by common principles, values and standards.
For Ukraine, membership in the North Atlantic Alliance is one of the strategic goals of our security policy.
On 30 September 2022, together with the President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, I signed Ukraine's application to join NATO.
Since then, many parliaments have expressed political support for Ukraine's accession to the Alliance.
And I am convinced that NATO countries can invite Ukraine to join the Alliance right now.
In July, the NATO Summit in Washington will take place, and Ukraine is counting on this decision.
This is what Ukrainian soldiers on the front line defending NATO's eastern flank expect.
This is what civilians who experience russian terror every day are waiting for.
And this decision can be a powerful step towards de-escalating the security situation on the European continent.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk
@ukrainejournal
Article: Putin's German aides
Mariupol was completely destroyed by Russia. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and displaced. Reconstruction plays a central role in the Russian propaganda war. According to Monitor research, German companies are also involved.
It was one of the most terrible battles of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For weeks, Russian troops besieged Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, starving the population and sparing neither the patients in hospitals nor civilians hiding in the theater. Many survivors were driven out by Vladimir Putin's army. A large city was completely ruined.
When the Russian flag was raised on the destroyed buildings of Mariupol, construction work on the "new" Mariupol began. A Russian city, with Russian residents, built on behalf of the Kremlin. There are construction sites all over the city, blocks of flats built out of the ground.
This is so important for Russian propaganda that even Putin personally got an impression of the progress of the work last year. "We will rebuild the apartments, schools, hospitals, theaters and museums," Putin said of Mariupol. Everything that he previously had brutally destroyed.
But who will help him with this project? Among other things, German companies. For example, the Knauf company, the world leader in plaster production. Also because it has been doing important business in Russia for a long time. Company patriarch Nikolaus Knauf was Russian honorary consul for more than two decades; in photos he smiles next to President Putin. He retained this post even after the annexation of Crimea, and in 2018 he described the subsequent sanctions against Russia as “terrible”. Knauf says it continues to employ 4,000 people in Russia and has billions in sales there.
Even if building materials are not generally covered by the EU's sanctions rules, companies must be able to "effectively rule out that there is a military connection, any military connection, from what they supply." This “military relationship” arises from the client: an official Knauf dealer publicly advertises that he has built a residential building project with Knauf building materials on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Monitor editorial team has photos of this construction site with Knauf sacks.
But Knauf is not an isolated case. In the images and videos evaluated by Monitor, concrete blocks in green packaging film are noticeable on numerous construction sites. On it is the logo of a German company from Münsterland in North Rhine-Westphalia - WKB Systems GmbH. The company equips, among other things, factories for the production of concrete blocks.
The company's main shareholder is the Russian oligarch Viktor Konstantinovich Budarin. Budarin used his German company as a supplier to the construction industry in Putin's Russia. Customs data available to Monitor show: For several years, WKB Systems GmbH supplied entire systems for factories for the production of such aerated concrete blocks to a Russian company from Budarin - apparently the very company with whose products Russia is trying to consolidate its power in Mariupol.
Numerous Russian oligarchs have already been sanctioned in recent years. Budarin is not one of them.
Read the full article here:
https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/monitor/ukraine-mariupol-wiederaufbau-russland-100.html (use the translation tool of your browser)
@ukrainejournal
Warning: violent!
Fat ruzzians being beaten up.
Paddy Power!
In Ireland some ruzzians made the mistake of chanting Putin on the street.
If they love Putin's Russian World so much, why aren't they there?
@ukrainejournal
German companies help Russia rebuild occupied Mariupol, — ARD.
At least two companies from Germany — Knauf and WKB Systems are supplying construction materials for use by Russia in occupied Mariupol, according to an investigation by the ARD TV program Monitor.
The authors of the investigation note that after the occupation of the completely destroyed city, its restoration “plays a vital role in Russia's propaganda war.” “When the Russian flag was raised over the destroyed buildings of Mariupol, the construction of a 'new' Mariupol began. A Russian city, with Russian residents, built on behalf of the Kremlin,” the publication says.
At the request of the editorial staff, Knauf stated that they condemn Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine and comply with all EU sanctions against Russia, and that Knauf products manufactured in Russia are intended exclusively for the Russian market. According to ARD, Knauf currently has four thousand employees in Russia and makes billions of dollars in sales on the Russian market.
In addition, in photos and videos from construction sites in Mariupol, ARD journalists noticed concrete blocks in green packaging film with the name of the German company WKB Systems from the Münsterland region of North Rhine-Westphalia. Among other things, this company supplies concrete block production plants. WKB Systems did not respond to journalists' requests for comment.
The photo shows the ruins of the Mariupol Drama Theater, which was first destroyed and now being rebuilt by the Russians.
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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