TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

Trump found out people hate him.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trumps-ugly-encounter-with-reality/56283/

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/president-biden-is-just-getting-started-on-this-one/56263/

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/new-trouble-for-matt-gaetz-5/56274/

France to open plant for production of 155mm shells in Belgium.

France plans to open a new plant for the production of 155mm artillery shells in Belgium.

The plant will be opened next week by KNDS Mecar in Belgium, a subsidiary of the French company Ouest-France. In the long run, this will provide a significant increase in the production of artillery shells, which are now so much needed by both Ukraine and European militaries.

The Petit-Roeulx-les-Nivelles plant will specialize in producing the artillery shells, which will be filled with explosives at other enterprises in Belgium and France.

Despite the opening, the plant’s full operation will begin no earlier than 2025, but the increase in production rates will be noted earlier.

In addition to expanding the production of 155-mm shell casings, France is also expanding the production of special modular artillery charges used to fire artillery shells. The French gunpowder and explosives manufacturer Eurenco will increase production of modular powder charges for artillery to 500.000 units per year. The company will launch production and produce up to 1,200 tons of artillery powder per year at its facilities in Bergerac, in which it has invested over €500 million.

The new Eurenco gunpowder production line, which was laid in mid-April 2024, should to meet the growing needs of the EU and Ukraine. The new production line of the plant should begin work in early 2025. Currently, the bottleneck in the production of artillery ammunition for Europe is the supply of gunpowder.

In parallel with this investment, EURENCO is also increasing its production capacity at its other sites in Europe, said the company in a press release.

Two planes of Yamal Airlines broke down in the air in a day

Russian airlines continue to face technical problems in the transportation of citizens. On Wednesday, May 22, two Yamal planes were forced to urgently land in Tyumen due to breakdowns, according to the Ural Transport Prosecutor's Office.

In the morning, the crew of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, which was flying from Ufa to Novy Urengoy, reported an automatic failure. The aircraft commander decided to proceed to the alternate airfield of Roshchino in Tyumen.

In the afternoon, another aircraft of Yamal Airlines, an Airbus 320, with 93 passengers on board following the route Ufa - Noyabrsk, made an emergency landing at the same airport due to depressurization of the cockpit.

The day before, due to a technical malfunction, the SSJ-100 aircraft of the Red Wings airline could not fly from Chelyabinsk to Novy Urengoy. The flight of 38 passengers was delayed for 16.5 hours.

The number of air incidents and more serious accidents caused by technical malfunctions has increased after the Russian aviation industry came under EU and US sanctions for the war in Ukraine. In 2023, at least 74 different aircraft breakdowns in the air were recorded, which is 38 more than in 2022, according to the German research company Jacdec. For every 100 thousand flights, there were almost 10 air accidents, while a year earlier - only five, according to an analysis by the research company Cirium.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, in just 11 months of last year, 670 air incidents occurred in the country, of which 400 were related to the failure of equipment, including engines. The problems are obvious: carriers cannot legally purchase new foreign aircraft and original spare parts, and the aviation authorities allow parts to be used longer than safety standards allow, which leads to accidents, said the head of RunAvia Andrey Patrakov.

Russia has not yet been able to establish its own production. According to the forecast of the consulting company Oliver Wyman, by 2026 the country's fleet will be reduced by more than half.

Source

@freerussia_report

German AfD candidate steps down after SS comments as EU's far right splits.

The leading candidate for Germany's far-right party in the European election stepped back from campaigning on Wednesday to try to quell the backlash after declaring that the SS, the Nazis' main paramilitary force, were "not all criminals".
Maximilian Krah said in a statement that he would not attend future campaign appearances and also resigned from the senior leadership team of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with immediate effect.

The move comes as French far-right leader Marine Le Pen announced her party was making a "clean break" with the AfD, suggesting the German party had become too toxic an ally ahead of the European election in June.

The AfD, which has slipped in the polls in recent weeks, said it had suffered "massive damage" and that Krah had taken full political responsibility.
In an interview published last weekend, Krah told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that "SS were not all criminals". The SS, or "Schutzstaffel", was the main paramilitary force of Adolf Hitler's Nazi party, and, among its many roles, took a leading part in the Holocaust, the slaughter of 6 million Jews and other groups targeted by the Nazis.

It appeared to be the last straw for Le Pen, who in a radio interview on Wednesday morning accused the AfD of being rudderless and in hock to radical elements within it.
Le Pen told Europe 1 her party urgently needed to sever its ties with the German party. "The AfD goes from provocation to provocation," she said.

Le Pen's comments come a day after the RN, leading the race for the EU election in France, said it will no longer sit with the AfD in the European Parliament.

Anders Vistisen, the lead candidate for Denmark's far-right DF who is also representing the group in pre-election debates, wrote on X on Tuesday evening that "Maximilian Krah from the AfD has shown with his statements and actions that he does not belong in the ID group.If the AfD does not take advantage of the situation and get rid of Krah, the DF's position is that the AfD must leave the ID group," he added.

The AfD has also faced mass street protests after senior figures attended a meeting where the deportation of Germans with immigrant backgrounds was discussed, and over allegations that it harbours agents for Russia and China.
Krah's own aide was charged with spying for Beijing, putting more pressure on the politician, who tops the list of AfD candidates and would be the first to get a seat in the European parliament after the election.
Last week, a German court ruled that domestic security services could continue to keep the AfD under surveillance as a potentially extremist party.

Read more

🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇩🇪

Astra keeps counting.
Another 4 FABs dropped by ruZZian planes on the Belgorod region in 2 days

On May 22, FAB-250 was found near a residential building in Yasnye Zori, Belgorod District. Residents of the street were evacuated. On May 23, a FAB-250 fell on the territory of a hunting farm in Polyana (Shebekinsky urban district). On the same day, two more FAB-500s were found in a field near Pristen in the same district.

Thus, over the past 3 months, the russian Fuckeration has dropped 59 FABs on its own regions and the occupied territories of Ukraine. According to the count of The Insider (May 13th) the Belgorod region had the dubious honor to receive the main share of Z-strikes in 2024: 38 different modifications of the FAB and one Kh-59 missile. At least twice FABs fell in Belgorod city.

As this turns into a regular event, (nothing to see folks, just another FAB) perhaps we should only publish only every 25th or even 50th case of self-bombing...

@freerussia_report

Deluded much?
Georgia wants to reintegrate Abkhazia and South Ossetia to its composition and become a member of the EU by 2030, wrote Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

After forcing the ruZZian "foreign agent" law through against the wishes of the Georgian people, he tries to make a gain move with EU?
It seems the GD politicians are remembering that they got their votes because people want to join EU, and now try again to bait them with that.

Well, forget EU, it has enough problems as it is with pro-Kreminal assholes like Orban and Fico. No need for more. And any accession talks have to include an automatic "get-kicked-with-immediate-interruption-of-all-EU-money-and-payback-obligation"-clause if the candidate strays off the rule of law.

@freerussia_report

I don't know what is going on in the Eastern part of the county, but two ambulances have gone West in the last hour. The Eastern part has no cities. The towns are less than 100 people.

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/lithuania-plans-to-purchase-iris-t-slm-air-defense-systems/

I am currently resting from weeding. I filled an 8 cubic foot two wheel wheelbarrow. After I rest I take it down the hill to my burn pile. Then I start to fill it again. There are about two more wheelbarrow loads in that section. The bed I am weeding is 140 feet long and 8 feet wide.

Every year on the last weekend of May, the capital of Ukraine celebrates Kyiv Day

It is not known how old Kyiv actually is. Some sources mention the year of the foundation of the capital as 852, but this is not certain. In fact, this is the first written mention of Kyiv with a fixed date in "The Tale of Bygone Years". A city or settlement likely existed long before that.

Good Night!

Video: Instagram - moisei.

I wanted to share with you several points from an interview Radosław Sikorski, Foreign Minister of Poland gave to the Guardian media. Link to the full article is below.

◾️Poland backs the right of Ukraine to strike at military targets inside Russia - the West has to stop constantly limiting itself in what it does to support Ukraine.

◾️On sanctions: "We should drop the principle of unanimity in sanctions. Some of them have been delayed by one member state blocking them. And also it should be an EU crime to breach EU sanctions and therefore prosecutable by the European prosecution service."

◾️On Putin: "He is an absurd leader of the international conservatism. We are talking about a KGB colonel, for Christ’s sake."

◾️On whether it was permissible for Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia: "The Russians are hitting the Ukrainian’s electricity grid and their grain terminals and gas storage capacity, civilian infrastructure. The Russian operation is conducted from the HQ at Rostov-on-Don. Apart from not using nuclear weapons, Russia does not limit itself much."

◾️ On "red lines": "Always declaring what our own red line is only invites Moscow to tailor its hostile actions to our constantly changing self-imposed limitations."

Link to full interview of sikorskiradek: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/25/poland-foreign-minister-radoslaw-sikorski-long-term-rearmament-europe

@worldnewschat

https://t.me/WarriorsUkrainian/29017

ATACMS delivered to Ukraine in April became a new formidable weapon against russia: in a month they hit airfields four times, and air defense systems three times

Since mid-April, when Ukraine began using US-supplied ATACMS missiles with a range of 300 km, it has managed to strike several military targets in the Russian rear. The airfield in Dzhankoy (twice), the Belbek airfield in Sevastopol (twice), as well as the military communications center and the location of air defense systems were attacked. If the United States lifts the restriction on the use of these weapons exclusively on Ukrainian territory, the new missiles will be able to reach Voronezh, Lipetsk, Bryansk and Kaluga .

The transfer of ATACMS missiles with a range of 300 km to Ukraine became known at the end of April. As Reuters wrote, citing a source, Washington sent them secretly, but they were included in the military assistance plan approved by Joe Biden on March 12.

▪️According to the agency, Ukraine first used missiles on April 17, hitting an unnamed Crimean airfield 165 km from the front line. On this day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the airfield in Dzhankoy. The fire also spread to aircraft parking areas, but it is unknown whether the equipment was damaged.

▪️According to Politico, ATACMS was also used for an attack in the Berdyansk area of the Zaporozhye region. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that the attack targeted the S-300 radar systems.

▪️On April 30, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched another attack on the airfield in Dzhankoy. As a result, at least one launcher of the S-300 or S-400 air defense system was damaged, Radio Liberty wrote . On the same day, the Russian head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, reported on the use of ATACMS missiles by Ukraine.

▪️On May 15 and 16, the Ukrainian Armed Forces twice attacked the Belbek airfield near Sevastopol with ATACMS missiles. According to satellite images, two MiG-31 fighters, one Su-27 and a fuel storage tank were destroyed . The MiG-29 fighter was also seriously damaged. On May 19, as a result of an ATACMS attack on a pier in Sevastopol, the small missile ship Cyclone sank . Information about the defeat of the ship was confirmed by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as the investigation group Conflict Intelligence Team.

▪️At least two successful ATACMS attacks became known this week. On Wednesday, a strike was carried out on an S-400 air defense complex near the city of Mospino in the Donetsk region (45 km from the front line. The Wall Street Journal attributes the attack to new long-range missiles. This strike was caught on video. Pro-war telegram-channel Fighterbomber writes that “the entire S-400 crew is alive.”

▪️Another ATACMS attack occurred the next day, Thursday. The strike was carried out on the army communications center in Alushta, Radio Liberty writes , citing satellite images obtained by the publication.

▪️ “Long-range ATACMS systems have significantly increased the range, value and number of deep targets that Ukraine can attack,” writes The Wall Street Journal. Former US Marine Corps officer and fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Mark Canzian believes that Crimea has become an attractive target because there are many stationary military installations on the peninsula, such as airfields and ports.

▪️For now, Kyiv can only use American missiles to launch strikes on Ukrainian territory. However, it is possible that this restriction may be lifted in the near future. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg are also in favor of this. If this happens, the missiles will be able to reach targets deep behind russia's internationally recognized regions, according to a map compiled by ISW analysts.

@ukrainejournal

From "The Analyst":

RUSSIA STILL ISN’T WINNING

As Ukrainian drones destroy a Russian ICBM warning radar that can also see ATACMS launches from Ukraine, and strike Russian airfields with confirmed hits on several aircraft, China surrounds Taiwan and begins an outrageous propaganda campaign demanding war.
The world it seems sits on an almost permanent knife edge, never quite knowing what will happen next.
The grinding progress of Russian activity with losses that are simply mind numbing, is costing them vast amounts for minimal gain. And all this while Ukraine has been almost at its weakest since the war started.
With vast amounts of aid now flowing for the US and the other allies, Russian progress is going to get slower and any progress more costly.
The loss of key strategic sites in Crimea to missile and drone attacks as well as command and control sites, have shocked the Russian military.
Ukrainian targeting of the refineries has been devastating to Russian oil production processing diesel and petrol supplies. It’s making life far more expensive in Russia for fuel.
Russia is in the ludicrous position of exporting crude oil and having to import refined oil products at huge expense.
It’s not all gone Ukraine’s way. The Russians have advanced even if it’s a small distance overall. Its power grid and generation systems are at just 30% - most energy is now imported from Poland and Romania. Zelensky’s legal term in office expired on May 20th and Russia is already using that as a propaganda weapon, despite the Ukrainian constitution allowing such a situation.
Ukraine’s finances are a mess, it’s almost totally dependent on western fiscal manoeuvres and support. The bill to rebuild the country just grows every day - fast approaching $1 trillion.
Oddly Russia and Ukraine are spending about 35% of their state budgets on the war. But Russia’s economy is overheating and burning up resources. Meanwhile the west is spending barely 0.5% of its GDP on the war and slow rolling industrial production to fight Russia through Ukraine.
Overall Russia is losing and has less time to waste. It’s not getting anywhere fast enough - and its economy is likely to melt down faster than it can replace its vast losses.
This war will be about degradation and opportunity. Russian forces just don’t have the equipment they had and they can’t build it fast enough. The pendulum of war is moving slowly back to Ukraine - by 2025 Russia will have started the slippery road to defeat.

A mural dedicated to the fallen Hero Taras Berezyuk was opened in Lviv .

Artist Oleksandr Pryimak painted the nearly 30-meter-long mural for 8 months on a high-rise building located next to the school where the soldier studied.

The mural was opened and consecrated in Sikhov. This is the district that Taras loved the most, because he lived and studied here. Even in the army, the fallen hero had the call sign "Sikhivskyi".

Taras was born in Lviv Oblast. He was an activist of the Lviv football club "Karpaty". He worked as a teacher of history and sociology, head of the economic and technological department at the Lviv Vocational College of Food and Processing Industry of the National University of Food Technologies.

He participated in the Revolution of Dignity. In 2014, he went to war as a volunteer.

With the beginning of a full-scale war, Taras again went to defend Ukraine in the ranks of the 24th OMBr.

Taras Berezyuk died on August 24, 2022. The soldier is 34 years forever.

https://open.substack.com/pub/seymourhersh/p/bidens-permanent-cold-war?r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

"Nobody allowed her to leave", says her father.
https://mailchi.mp/kyivindependent/wtf-is-wrong-with-russia-bgy98x23u2?e=7763f0b74a

Looking forward to it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/debunk-series-starting-next-friday?r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email