TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 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
The main competitor of Scholz promises to deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine if Putin does not stop the war.
The candidate for chancellor from the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, stated that in case of his victory in the elections, he will present an ultimatum to Putin.
Merz will demand that Russia stop the war within 24 hours, threatening that otherwise Germany will deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine and allow strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation.
"Our position must be clear: Germany must help Ukraine successfully defend itself.". @ukrainejournal
The main competitor of Scholz promises to deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine if Putin does not stop the war.
The candidate for chancellor from the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, stated that in case of his victory in the elections, he will present an ultimatum to Putin.
Merz will demand that Russia stop the war within 24 hours, threatening that otherwise Germany will deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine and allow strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation.
"Our position must be clear: Germany must help Ukraine successfully defend itself.". @ukrainejournal
Marco Rubio's stance on Russia's war in Ukraine — what we know
Republican Senator Marco Rubio is likely to be the next U.S. secretary of state, according to reports on Nov. 12 that mark the latest insight into how President-elect Donald Trump's White House will approach Russia's war in Ukraine.
Rubio's public statements on Ukraine appear to be very much in line with Trump's broad plans for the war — a swift end to it.
"I think the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave and strong in standing up to Russia," Rubio said on Nov. 6.
"But at the end of the day, what we are funding here is a stalemate war, and it needs to be brought to a conclusion, or that country is going to be set back 100 years.
Read more here.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Russia preparing a 50,000-people-strong offensive in latest attempt to push Ukrainian army out of Kursk Oblast
Over the past week, Russia had been gathering forces in what appears to be preparations for a decisive push in the country's Kursk Oblast.
"The situation is changing every day. Not long ago, we were on the offensive, and now we are on the defensive," a 35-year-old artilleryman with the callsign Spys, fighting in the area, told the Kyiv Independent.
Read more here.
Photo: Oleg Palchyk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
⚡️ SBU behind car bombing that killed Russian navy officer in Crimea, source says.
The car bombing that killed Russian Navy officer Valery Trankovsky in occupied Sevastopol on Nov. 13 was an operation carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
Trankovsky was chief of staff of the 41st Missile Boat Brigade and a "war criminal who has ordered cruise missile launches from the Black Sea against civilian sites in Ukraine," the source said.
Showing how the people are willing to follow all kind of orders blindly
Voronezh teachers made tin foil hats for "protection from NATO" on the "order" of United Russia.
In the Voronezh region, teachers of seven schools, following a false order, organized the "Helmet of the Fatherland" campaign, during which they made and put on foil hats to "protect themselves from the effects of NATO satellites." The author of the prank was the Belarusian prankster Vladislav Bokhan, who sent out "orders" on behalf of United Russia.
Bohan explained the essence of his joke: "According to our legend, evil NATO members are going to irradiate the Russian people. Our teachers must learn to resist this impact with simple protective equipment, such as a foil cap."
To enhance the effect, the activist used an old letterhead with the United Russia logo and created an "order" through a neural network, which he specially taught the "bureaucratic language". The document described the possible consequences in case of non-compliance with the instructions, and also indicated the purpose of the action - "strengthening patriotism, raising awareness and skills of teachers in the field of civil defense, the ability to use improvised materials to create primitive means of protection in the face of threats from NATO."
He also added a photo of people in foil hats near one of the Moscow metro stations, presenting them as participants in a similar flash mob in a school in the capital. The message was also accompanied by detailed instructions for making hats.
The action found a response in seven schools. In a video sent from the Bobrovsky Educational Center "Leader", one of the teachers called making hats an interesting creative activity and an "important patriotic act" symbolizing the readiness to defend the homeland from external threats. At the same time, she stressed: the foil cap should become "a symbol of unity and resilience in the face of external challenges."
@freerussia_report
"For 72 days, I was electrocuted, beaten, and not allowed to eat or sleep."
How convicts are driven into "meat assaults"
In October, Putin signed a law that will greatly simplify the recruitment of convicts or those under criminal prosecution to the front. The contract can now be concluded already at the investigation stage and the Z-regime plans to call up to 40% of prisoners.
In the war, convicts are assigned to so-called "Storm" units, which, according to the website of the Ministry of Deceit, "were created to break through the most difficult and echeloned areas of the defense of the AFU." In fact, stormtroopers, once an well-trained elite unit, are used as expendable material in areas where fighting is the toughest and the most desperate, and they bear the brunt of the infamous “meat-grinder assaults.” Storm units also serve as punishment battalions, where commanders of regular army units exile fighters who, from the point of view of the commanders, are guilty of transgressions.
The Inside spoke to former Storm unit fighters and learned how their commanders had ripped them off, tortured and beaten them, and forced them into suicide assaults. Fearing a long and agonizing death, many shoot themselves even before they are sent to the battlefield.
The Russian army has suffered incredibly high personnel losses since the first day of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Among the reasons are poor coordination and planning. But as Russian prisoners of war and deserters have confirmed, an even more important factor is their commanders’ indifference to the human costs of accomplishing tasks assigned from the top. The approach to fighting has led to the development of “expendable” Russian infantry, whose only purpose is to carry out “meat assaults,” in which the overwhelming majority of the participants will inevitably die. At the same time, as the last year has shown, this tactic does not bring any large-scale achievements, and its final goal is not clear. Yet the top military brass is visibly in no hurry to change it.
In the first months of the full-scale war, Russia's huge losses looked to be unintentional. Starting from the summer of 2022, however, a division became apparent: some soldiers were used for suicidal assaults, while others remained on the second line and performed different tasks.
“Our unit was there to scare the mobilized and volunteers,” says Grigory Kirsanov, one of the prisoners who fought as part of Storm V. “We had a deep hole nearby. Newcomers were beaten and thrown into the pit until they came to their senses."
Read more (English-long read)
@freerussia_report
What's more on the radar?
Kremlin denies that Putin has spoken with Trump. "There was no conversation. <… > This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, this is just false information," press parrot Peskov said and stressed that so far Putin "has no specific plans for contacts" with Trump. Then, according to Peskov's Law it must be true.
Beer will return to stadiums after the collapse of interest in football. The initiative to return beer to the stadiums was supported by the Russian Football Union (RFU). The dry spell started in 2005 and the number of active football fans has decreased fivefold over the past 19 years.
Price of new apartments began to fall after the abolition of preferential mortgages, especially in the cheaper segment. Stability in prices could be maintained in regional markets where there are defense enterprises. Experts don't expect a large-scale drop in real estate prices, but a stagnation in sales due to high mortgage rates. So raised Sberbank its market mortgage rates by 3 percentage points from October 22: the minimum rate for new buildings increased to 24.9%, and for secondary real estate to 24.6%.
Trump vodka in russia. RoZpatent has received an application for registration of the "Trampovka" brand, under which it is planned to produce vodka in honor of Trump, to be sold by the IT company from St. Petersburg RAU IT, which serves Gazprom, Rosatom and Lukoil. Trump Vodka has been produced in the US under an agreement with the Trump organization since 2005, but left the market in the US in 2011 due to weak sales and a conflict with Trump over non-payment of royalties. Kosher Trump Vodka made from potatoes was popular in Israel during the Passover holiday. Will it beat "Putinka"?
State Duma deputies proposed to limit the rental of housing for migrants, only contract of under one year without subleasing. In June, the State Duma adopted a law that restricts the rights of foreign citizens; they include entering migrants in a special register, restricting their right to change their place of residence, drive transport, marry and open bank accounts. Russia wants also ban them from bringing their families, and limit education access for the children.
The Z-regime checked more than 3 million russians aged 18-49 years for the ability to give birth to children - the half of the ordered amount. By the beginning of November, more than 3 million russians of reproductive age had undergone a fertility test as part of a free medical examination. The check is "voluntary, but actively proposed." In total, in 2024, the government instructed the regions to check the reproductive health of 6 million Russians. The regional authorities were required to "intensify work with the population on this issue." In response newly married in Ulan-Ude get a "Newlyweds' Certificate" for the check right at the registry offices; in a number of regions, the age limit for men was raised from 49 to 60 years, women began to receive calls from insurance companies and others send out teams of mobile complexes equipped with fluorographs and mammographs to the villages.
Putin announced shortage of apples. As announced in October, the current apple harvest will be only 30-40% of the usual, which led to an increase in prices. At the same time, Putin demanded to prevent a jump in apple prices back in June, when the Ministry of Agriculture first reported the loss of part of the crop. To reduce prices, the government announced imports from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia, China, Belarus, "Transnistria" and even North Korea. Now he demanded to grow more.
@freerussia_report
Former Minister of Kazakhstan Bishimbayev, sentenced to 24 years for the murder of his wife, disappeared from the colony.
The former Minister of Economy of Kazakhstan, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who killed his wife, disappeared from the colony, the publication Airan found out. The journalist of the publication went to the colony, but there she was told that they had never had Bishimbayev.
His lawyer confirmed to the journalist that the former minister is not in the colony in Arshaly. In the colony in Stepnogorsk, his presence was also not confirmed. Where exactly Bishimbayev is and whether he is serving his sentence is unknown.
The Committee of the Penitentiary System denies this information. "False information about the escape of convict Kuandyk Bishimbayev is being spread on social networks. This information is not true. This convict is serving his sentence in the maximum security institution," the department said, but Bishimbayev was never shown.
In May 2024, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of Saltanat Nukenova. After the appeal, the convict was allegedly transferred to the maximum security colony in Arshaly.
@freerussia_report
Musk to be in charge of supervising his own companies
How many remember Jared Kushner for his part in the murder of an American journalist by a Saudi Prince?
Or his interception and diversion of medical supplies from "liberal" hospitals in New York.
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 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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