TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/hope-hicks-is-on-the-stand-testifying-against-donald-trump/55856/

Gives them no grounds to appeal

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/judge-merchan-calls-out-donald-trump/55859/

The Dunning Kruger affect in action.

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/is-trump-about-to-fire-his-attorneys/55852/

If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request, France would need to consider the possibility of deploying its troops there, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview for The Economist.

Here are a few more points from his interview:

◾️"I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out. We have undoubtedly been too hesitant by defining the limits of our action to someone who no longer has any and who is the aggressor!"

◾️"I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine. If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe."

◾️"We mustn’t rule anything out because our objective is that Russia must never be able to win in Ukraine."

◾️"France is a country that has carried out military interventions, including in recent times. We deployed several thousand troops in the Sahel to fight terrorism, which could have posed a threat to us. We did so at the request of sovereign states."

(Operation Barkhane of the French armed forces in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger against Islamist terrorist groups).

◾️"If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request—which is not the case today—we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question. I think to rule it out a priori is not to learn the lessons of the past two years."

◾️"The aggressiveness of the Russian response to what I said showed that this was having the desired effect, which was to say: Don’t think that we will stop here if you don’t stop."

@EveryUkraineWarVideo Subscribe

Reality: on March 15, 2022, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly voted for Russia to "immediately withdraw from the Council of Europe" as it "committed grave violations of the CoE statute incompatible with the status of a member state."

Russian reality: "We left the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a reason. PACE began to be formed of different kinds of persons of non-traditional orientation, forcing parliaments of different countries to delegate representatives of different groups, transgender people and so on to PACE" - Chairman of Russian State Duma Volodin.

Lies, propaganda and distortion of reality are the three Russian pillars these days.

Over the past five months, the Russian military has killed at least 15 Ukrainians who tried to surrender into captivity. In addition, they shot six military men who had already surrendered - Human Right Watch

HRW verified videos of extrajudicial executions that were previously posted in Telegram channels.

In March, a report published on the official website of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that since December there had been reports of the killing of at least 32 captured or surrendered Ukrainians, but not all of these reports could be confirmed.

Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on April 22 requesting information on this and whether Russian servicemen receive orders to kill surrendering Ukrainian soldiers instead of taking them prisoner. There was no response to the letter.

@EveryUkraineWarVideo Subscribe

800 days now and still strong

https://t.me/WarriorsUkrainian/26973

🔥In the Belgorod region, there was a powerful fire due to a drone attack this morning.

Russian Telegram channels report that a kamikaze drone apparently targeted a gas station in Shebekino, Belgorod

The United States accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in the war against Ukraine. This is stated in the official statement of the US State Department on the introduction of new sanctions against the Russian Federation.

More than 200 individuals and companies are included in the sanctions list by the Ministry of Finance. The State Department imposed sanctions against about 80 more companies and individuals directly, including in connection with Russia’s alleged violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

According to the report, the State Department concluded that Russia used the chemical agent chloropicrin against the Ukrainian military. This substance is included in the black list of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Chloropicrin is not a nerve agent - the most dangerous - toxic substance, but has an irritating and, in high concentrations, a suffocating effect. It was used in particular in the First World War.

🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz

https://english.nv.ua/nation/baltic-countries-to-build-defenses-along-russian-border-50385727.html

https://english.nv.ua/nation/latvia-starts-to-fortify-its-border-with-russia-and-belarus-50415424.html

🟠 "Somebody is radicalizing our students" Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz spoke after NYU and New School raid this morning, "we will find out who that is". Chief of Patrol John Chell showed literature found inside the New School 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' after it was sweeped, that reads: "Death to Israeli Real Estate, Death to America! Unschool!"

🇮🇱 @israel_report

Debris flew 1.5 km: video of the moment a rocket with a cluster munition hit Odesa.

The footage was published by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin. He noted that during the attack on Odesa, the Russians used an Iskander ballistic missile with a cluster warhead. In a radius of 1.5 km from the site of the shelling, metal fragments and debris of the rocket were recovered.

"The investigation has reason to believe that the decision to use such a weapon was made by the officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation deliberately in order to kill as many peaceful Ukrainians as possible," the Prosecutor General noted.

🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz

https://t.me/WarriorsUkrainian/26937

The SBU detained the assistant of the former Gauleiter from the Kharkiv region, who was preparing a fake referendum of the Russian Federation

The Security Service detained another organizer of the illegal referendum of the Russian Federation during the occupation of part of the Kharkiv region.

The perpetrator turned out to be the headman of one of the villages of the Vovchan district, who supported the invaders after the capture of the community.

For this, in the summer of 2022, the occupiers appointed him assistant to the head of the local occupation administration of the aggressor country.

While in the "post", the collaborator was engaged in preparations for a pseudo-referendum on the "accession" of Kharkiv Oblast to Russia.

The figurehead led the campaigning squads of the Russian Federation, which went around the yards of private households, where they called on people to learn how to "vote".

He also looked for "like-minded people", from whom he planned to form occupation "electoral committees".

However, the invaders failed to hold a fake plebiscite, as the Defense Forces liberated the region during a counteroffensive in the fall of 2022.

After the de-occupation of the community, the elder-collaborator hoped to avoid justice, but after a thorough collection of the evidence base and relevant examinations, the investigators of the Security Service informed him of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

▪ Part 1 of Art. 14, part 5 of Art. 111-1 (collaborative activity);
▪ Part 2 of Art. 110 (encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine).

The detainee is currently in custody. He faces up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Complex measures were carried out by SBU employees in the Kharkiv region under the procedural guidance of the regional prosecutor's office.

FDNY Donnie

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-steps-in-it-on-truth-social-deletes-posts/55854/

Montana Governor Gianforte has gone to the trouble of registering a brand, but owns NO cattle.

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/down-the-rabbit-hole-we-go-2/55834/

Institute for the Study of War Ukraine Frontline Update (05/02/24)

Luhansk Oblast

Russian forces continued assaults along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on May 2, and Ukrainian forces reportedly made recent gains south of Kreminna.

*Ukrainian Khortytsia Group of Forces Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn stated that Ukrainian forces recently improved their tactical positions in the Serebryanske forest area (south of Kreminna).*

A Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces are actively counterattacking with extensive first-person view (FPV) drone support west of Kreminna near Yampolivka and Terny.

Donetsk Oblast

Northern Bakhmut Area

Positional fighting continued in the Siversk direction (northeast of Bakhmut) on May 2, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline.

Chasiv Yar

Russian forces continued offensive operations east of Chasiv Yar on May 2, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline.

Ukraine-based open-source organization Frontelligence Insight reported on May 2 that Russian forces have temporarily crossed the Siverskyi-Donets Donbas Canal south of Chasiv Yar where the canal flows underground but have not established enduring positions on the western side of the canal, which is consistent with ISW’s current assessment of Russian advances in the area.

Avdiivka Direction

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances west of Avdiivka amid continued Russian offensive operations in the area on May 2.

Geolocated footage published on May 2 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced north of Ocheretyne (northwest of Avdiivka) and south of Pervomaiske (southwest of Avdiivka)

Donetsk City Direction

Russian forces continued offensive operations west and southwest of Donetsk City on May 2, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline.

Southern Axis

Western Zaporhizia Direction

Positional fighting continued in western Zaporizhia Oblast near Robotyne and Verbove (east of Robotyne) on May 2, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline.

A milblogger claimed that Russian forces are struggling to provision frontline forces in western Zaporizhia Oblast with critical equipment like radios.

Kherson/Krynky Direction

Positional fighting continued on east (left) bank Kherson Oblast near Krynky on May 2, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline.

❗️Ukraine can strike inside Russia with British weapons, UK’s Cameron says

UK’s top diplomat also pledges £3 billion of annual military help to Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes.’

Speaking in the Ukrainian capital, the foreign secretary said it was Ukraine's decision on how to use the supplied equipment and Kyiv "absolutely has the right" to strike back.

Britain has supplied billions of pounds worth of equipment, and on a visit to Kyiv, Lord Cameron said: "In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view, it is their decision about how to use these weapons, they're defending their country, they were illegally invaded by Putin and they must take those steps.

Asked if that included targets inside Russia, he said: "That's a decision for Ukraine and Ukraine has that right.

"Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can quite understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it's defending itself, it's getting the Russians out of its country, and it has the ability to strike back."

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark says Ukraine War an Endurance Contest

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark on Wednesday suggested Ukraine’s war with Russia is a test of endurance as both countries appear to be against compromise in the more-than-two-year conflict.

“I don’t think Ukraine is willing to compromise and give up its territory. I don’t think the Ukrainian military is going to collapse even though things are pretty tough right now until that American assistance gets there,” Clark said on NewsNation’s “The Hill.”

“And I don’t think Russia is willing to give up, so it’s an endurance contest, and it’s also a contest of national will and whether the United States and NATO will stand firm to support a beleaguered democracy,” Clark added.

He previously served as NATO’s supreme allied commander. 

Clark suggested the Ukraine-Russia war cannot be looked at in terms of time.

“Because what you got here is a critical situation that affects global security,” he said. “For Ukraine to collapse, we’d be faced with a huge national security crisis in Europe, and it would empower the Chinese to go after Taiwan. So we can’t measure it on the clock.”

Clark predicted Russia will attempt a “big play” at taking over more land in Ukraine this summer as U.S. aid trickles into the war-torn nation.

“It’s going to be a hair-raising time in Ukraine and for the West and then … summer will probably end with a Ukrainian counteroffensive that regains much of the territory lost,” he said. “2025 may be decisive.”

- The Hill