Tag: Germany

UKRAINE: Putin rips off the mask.

June 11th, 2022
FRIDAY 10 JUNE 2022

THE TELEGRAPH Podcast, Ukraine the Latest
- The two British men captured in Ukraine several weeks ago, have been sentenced to death for fighting in the war and trying to take power. There has been talk of a prisoner swap. A pro-Russian politician in Ukraine may be swapped for the two British men.
- Both British men have been accused as being mercenaries. Is this a threat to all foreign fighters? Is this an attempt to signal outsiders that if they come to Ukraine to help, they will be put to death if captured?
- Russia is happy to ignore conventions in every area.
- One of the captured men has joint Ukrainian citizenship. But, nevertheless, if they are combatants, they are prisoners of war and by international law receive the protections of the Geneva Conventions.
- The Wagner Group fights for Russia and they are a mercenary group. Are they prepared to be tried and given the death sentence? (Note: The Wagner group is a mercenary group used by the Russian government to fight in areas where they don’t want to take the responsibility. They have a reputation of being especially vicious and violent. It was thought in the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine that they were put in Ukraine primarily for their scare potential.)
- The sentencing of the two British men to death is thought to be a power play to be used for propaganda purposes. They will most likely be handed over.
- Ukrainians have tried combatants for war crimes, but not for being combatants or mercenaries. (Note: Russian propaganda attempt to equate the two actions.)
- There is likely to be an outbreak of cholera in Mariupol. Medical services are near collapse. They are struggling to provide basic services.
- It will be extremely difficult to hold territories taken by the Russians with such suffering present in these areas. (Note: People will not forget that after taking over Mariupol promising to take care of basic services, the Russians allowed a cholera outbreak.)
- Ammunition is running short for the Ukrainians. The expected Western munitions are of a different caliber. The Ukrainians are having to change their systems to adapt to the new munitions. (See article in the Guardian 6/10/22).
- Desertion in the Ukrainian forces. There is a feeling that Western munitions are not coming in quickly enough and this has led to a discouragement. There is bothh a material effect and an effect on morale of the promised weapons not being delivered.
- There is a feeling among Ukrainians that the West is tiring of the situation.
- The West’s commitment to this war is vital to morale. There is a feeling that France and Germany are wanting to make concessions and not send the weapons they had promised.
- Putin’s speech on 9 June, compared himself to Peter the Great.
- Putin just threw away any pretense that this war was about anything but territorial expansion.
- Speaking in Moscow, Putin said that Peter the Great was “reclaiming” territory. He presumably thinks that he is doing the same.
- The mask is cast aside with a flourish of Peter the Great.
- It’s not about de-nazification, it’s not about NATO expansion, it’s about one man’s ego and expansionism.
- It’s “pick a side time.” There can be no question now that Putin is responding to any of the imagined threats he previously named.
- This blatant announcement of Putin’s intentions is a strategic mistake. Macron and others will have to take a side and can no longer claim that Putin has a rationale for the invasion.
- Putin only sees a few countries as relevant – United States, Russia, and China. Others are irrelevant.
- Putin was proud of what he was saying. There was no question of it being a mistake or a gaff. Reporters think they were honest words. There’s nowhere to hide for people who are seeking to hide from Putin’s intentions.
- This important speech is not adequately being covered.
- They must beef up NATO forces on the eastern front.
- “Hugely significant speech.”
- There is an Article in Telegraph about Putin’s speech.
- One of the debates has been whether Putin is a Czarist or wanting to reunite the Soviet Union. It’s obvious now, that it is the former.
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UKRAINE UPDATE: Germany is clearly delaying

June 10th, 2022
10 JUNE 2022

UKRAINE WORLD
- From January to April, Germany increased imports from Russia by 60% and transferred almost 6 billion euros to Moscow.
- The British citizens who were captured by the Russians were sentenced by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.
- EU should grant Ukraine a candidate status. (Note: They should make Ukraine a member.)
- A base of the mercenary group Wagner was destroyed in Luhansk.
- An entire unit of Russian mechanized troops deployed near Kharkiv has refused to fight due to loses that it was previously born.
- The global food crisis caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine is likely to spark a new migrant crisis.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
- Countries opposing Ukraine being granted EU status are Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.
- Russia is transferring grain from Ukraine to Russia.
NEW VOICE OF UKRAINE
- Zelensky: “Some Western politicians and media are starting to prod Ukraine towards ending the war on unfavorable conditions for us.”
- Former German Chancellor Merkel refused to admit that Berlin’s Russian policy had been wrong. (Note: Jesus).
- According to Der Spiegel, Scholz is “clearly delaying” security assistance to Ukraine.
- “German policy became a mis of incompetence and lack of will, seeking to hide behind its allies.”
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“No one can beat us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians.”

May 28th, 2022
SATURDAY 28 MAY 2022

On Twitter @cjjohns1951

UKRAINE UPDATE

UKRAINE WORLD: Twitter
- This is day 94 of the was against Ukraine.
- U.S. to send long-range rocket launchers to Ukraine.
- Excerpts from Russian TV, political discussion show. (Talking about Germany’s Chancellor saying that Russia can’t dictate the terms)”Do you think we will accept your terms? Think again. If you can’t accept our terms, then we’ll force you.” “…if you force us to use nuclear weapons we’ll have no other choice.”
- Belarusian troops have become more active on its southern border.
UTube from Ukraine World
- Stalemate on the frontline in Donbas.
- The entire of Ukraine is being attacked, missiles attack interior regions.
- 90% of Luhansk has been occupied by Russia.
- Russians are retreating from Kharkiv. They are focusing on Luhansk oblast.
- Even though they have taken Mariupol they have not taken the rest of the Donetsk oblast.
- Ukraine needs these long-range weapons. The delivery is slow.
- In two or three months we may see the counter offensive. The weapons have to arrive and people have to be trained.
- The war is going off the radar of the international media. There is a fatigue on their part. Russia attacked from territories they occupied from 2014.
- Civilians are not let out of Kherson. Russians shelled a caravan of leaving cars. Civilians form a human shield against the Ukrainians. Russians try to mobilize these civilians into the army. Third, they want to orchestrate a referendum with these people to join Russia.
- Belarus. The attack on Kyiv was made from Belarus. Missiles are launched against Ukraine from Belarus.
- The war against Ukraine is very unpopular in Belarus. It is also unpopular among the defense establishment. He Lukashenko could lose power if he assists openly in an invasion.
- Sanctions: Gas and oil exports are even more lucrative for the Russians since the war began.
KYIV INDEPENDENT
- There are repeated demands from Russia to lift sanctions in order to “increase food and fertilized exports.”
- Russian Orthodox Church denies claims that its Ukrainian branch became independent.
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UKRAINE UPDATE

April 8th, 2022
FRIDAY 8 APRIL 2022

Twitter: @cjjohns1951

CNN
- Ukrainian filmmaker, Volodymyr Demchenko, says waiting is the most difficult part of the war. He is waiting to be sent into the fighting. Demchenko’s superior officer was killed today.
- CNN anchor is asking about Demchenko’s “emotions.” I don’t understand why these anchors repeatedly ask about this. There is something lurid and obnoxious about the questions. “How do you feel?” “What does it feel like?” “How do you handle this mentally?” Personal interest story after personal interest story. This is not a soap opera, it is a war. We need information, analysis, not just personal interest stories.
- Story of Ukrainian mayor killed with her husband and son.
- There was a missile strike on a train station.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
- Reports of rape in Kyiv suburbs by Russian soldiers.
- The Foreign Minister, Kuleba, tweeted a report that a 14-year-old was raped by five men in the occupying army. She is now pregnant. This was in Bucha. Another report of an 11-year-old boy raped in front of his mother who was tied to a chair to watch. Bucha.
- UK sent 100 million pounds worth of military equipment to Ukraine.
- UK and Germany won’t send tanks to Ukraine reported by Politico, posted by Euromaidan.
- A car full of Ukrainian electric workers heading to repair power lines ran over a mine. One dead, two wounded.
- Kramatorsk railway station hit with missile. The hospital was unable to cope with the wounded. “many people heavily wounded, without arms and legs, they are operated on by 30-40 surgeons at the same time.”
- Russian soldiers risk prison or injure themselves so as not to fight in Ukraine.
- Japan bans coal imports from Russia, expels 8 diplomats.
- Deputy Security Council Chairman Medvedev says Western sanctions against Russia could be described as an act of international aggression. “Earlier, he called acts of aggression one of reasons for Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons.”
- 132 bodies executed by shooting were found in Makarov (near Kyiv) after liberation.
- “Several incinerated bodies of civilians, including 1 child, were found in the cellar of a house in Husarovka village (near Kharkiv) after it was liberated from Russian occupation. Russians did this deliberately, as no houses burned.”
- Reported rape of 9-year-old girl by 11 Russian soldiers.
- Russian shelling has effectively wiped the village of Andriyivka (near Kyiv) off the face of the earth.
- Russia has lost 19,000 troops in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.
- While Russians were occupying Chornobyl, they destroyed documents Ukraine compiled over decades. They also damaged and looted offices, destroyed millions of pounds worth of laboratory that provided analysis and solutions for nuclear research.
- Russia is completing the redeployment of troops to Luhansk and is preparing for a major battle for the Ukrainian Donbas.
- 7 April, Russian troops fired at the civilian vessel Kapitan Belousov, stationed in Mariupol.
- 8 April, Russian army did not allow Ukrainian humanitarian convoy to enter besieged Melitopol, they confiscated cargo together with trucks and buses.
- Approximately 700 people have died in Chernihiv since the Russian invasion.
- Taiwan tech firm Acer is halting all business in Russia.
- Thousands take to the streets in Bulgaria to support Ukraine.
- Russian banks try to circumvent sanctions. “Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, Otkrytie transfer clients’ foreign assets to brokers. Sberbank broker transfers clients with foreign securities to BCS, Aton.”
- Russians are attacking gas stations which are needed to provide fuel for military and agriculture.
- Russian forces shelled Ukrainian icebreaker in Mariupol with only civilians aboard.
TWITTER
- When the 23^rd article of the Un Charter was formulated in 1945, the USSR was placed as a permanent member with the right to veto, and it no longer exists. Russia is not necessarily heir to the USSR, Ukraine was the second largest country of the USSR and may legally replace it.
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UKRAINE UPDATE:

April 4th, 2022
On Twitter: @cjjohns1951

MONDAY 4 APRIL 2022, 9:30 PM

KYIV INDEPENDENT
- Germany has admitted that the policy of establishing Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was a mistake.
- The bodies of men who appear to have been tortured were discovered in the basement of a children’s health resort in Bucha.
- Pro-Russian party stages fake mayor elections in partly occupied Mariupol.
- The Russian military controls part of Mariupol.
- 355 dogs died in animal shelters because food and water couldn’t be brought to them.
- Kuleba: “This is a plea of the victims of rape, torture, murder, their relatives, and the entire Ukrainian nation.” The plea is for the strictest sanctions.
- Germany expels 40 Russian diplomats in response to Bucha.
- The Ukrainian General Staff says that Russians use civilians’ labor to build fortifications in Kherson.
- US to ask UN General Assembly to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
MSNBC: Joy Reid
- Velshi:
- Russia and the America right are claiming that the dead and tortured bodies in Bucha are fake. Then, when satellite images showed up to prove that the bodies were there when the Russians occupied the region, they started saying that the people who did the satellite images were faking them.
- France has expelled Russian diplomats.
- Bucha has changed the tone. People were talking about talks and diplomacy, but this has changed the tone for Ukrainians. What will the west do?
- Member of Ukrainian Parliament, Inna Sovsun: Whether Russians are made to pay the price for the killing depends on the courts. Those proceedings take time and cooperation from the Russian side. I hope Putin will not be there forever. We will seek for justice. Bucha is close to Kyiv. She would go for a walk to Bucha for a walk.
- Note: Joy Reid asked Sovsun what it was like to see people who had been killed and who were “just like you.”
- Sovsun: “This is random. It could have been any of us.” It is happening in other cities. We are just asking for investigation. “please help us stop the crimes…” We need more weapons, not sanctions.
- Reid: Red Cross prevented getting into Mariupol. What can be done?
- Amna Nawaz, PBS: Sources are sending images that are just too horrifying and even describing them is inhumane. (Note: Why?) Senior officials say they will be rolling out more sanctions. Humanitarian aid if they can get it in. Those sanctions will take time. How much time? Jake Sullivan said, it would be “protracted” and we could be talking about months. “That changes the conversation.”
- The International Criminal Court is conducting an investigation of crimes in Ukraine.
UKRAINE WORLD
- “Will Mariupol and Bucha become a point of no return for the world? After which it sill stop thinking about endless “compromises” with the killers? Or will they be just another “shocking content” to be blocked on social networks before a regular delicious dinner?”
- “We need more weapons to continue our fight and hold accountable those responsible for Bucha.”
- “Russians want to conquer Kharkiv to prepare a large-scale assault in the EasternUkraine.”
- Russian soldiers sent home things they looted in Ukraine. Some sent over 400 KG each, including equipment, tables, tents, TVs, etc.
- Velika Dymerka liberated from Russians. They killed the dogs. The dogs are lined up on the street as if they were called or offered food and then killed.
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UKRAINE UPDATE

March 30th, 2022
WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH 2022

KYIV INDEPENDENT
- Russia and Ukraine talks will resume on April 1.
- The Russians are announcing a ceasefire to evacuate residents of Mariupol.
- A special UN mission is needed to eliminate the risk of nuclear accident at Chornobyl.
- Germany has signaled a “general willingness” to provide security guarantees to Ukraine but did not specify whether that would include guarantees of military assistance.
TWITTER
- Victor Kovalenko: Seven busses of Russian soldiers suffering from Acute Radiation Syndrome arrived in Belarus from Chornobyl exclusion zone.
- Journalist Iryna Dubchenko and transported her to occupied Donetsk for trial.
- Petri Makela: The Ukrainian army has counterattacked and taken the town of Sloboda in the Chernihiv region.
- Alex Kokcharov: in Mariupol, 95% of the buildings have een destroyed.
- Andrew A. Michta: “As I watch Russian deployments in Belarus and Donbas, I’m increasingly convinced that another major RUS offensive is about to begin.
NEW YORK TIMES
- Major news sources are reporting that Putin is not being given correct information about the invasion of Ukraine
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Ukraine: Sanctions

February 20th, 2022
2/20/22

Weeks ago, the German press was reporting that Biden had taken off the table what was said to be one of the most effective sanctions against Russia, i.e., removing Russia from the SWIFT system. Reuters reported the German article but did not independently confirm the story. Then, a whole group of articles started to appear in the Western press about how removing Russia from SWIFT could backfire on Western economies.

On Friday, U.S. officials admitted that it was unlikely that any sanctions package would include removal of Russia from the SWIFT system. The corporate media (to my knowledge) has yet to ask a government official what the purpose was of taking SWIFT off the table at a time when President Zelensky is begging for sanctions.

The Journal, a podcast of the Wall Street Journal, is reporting that the “crippling sanctions” threatened by the Biden administration are likely not to be effective. The reason is simple. The only sanctions that will seriously hurt Russia are those involving cutting off revenues from gas and oil. As the commentator notes, this is unlikely to happen.

Germany needs Russian gas. Germany is trying to transition off both coal and nuclear. Some experts don’t think Germany is even able to do without Russian gas. The pipeline gave Germany access to cheap gas for the first time. Before, they were buying more expensive gas from other pipelines. Now, Germany is Russia’s biggest customer.

Even though Biden blithely announced that if Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. would stop Nordstream 2, it is unclear that he can do that.
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Tag: Germany

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