Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[N.E. Brigand]

Looks like Orban decided that his bread is buttered on the EU side. Not only he came around on the Ukrainian aid package, he also said he would not object to Swedish entry into NATO. Sweden's membership was recently approved by Turkey, which coincidentally will finally be allowed to buy fighter jets from the US.

CNN: "Sweden clears final hurdle in bid to join NATO after Hungary approves accession."

[Frelga]

European leaders, including the Czech President Petr Pavel and the French President Emmanuel Macron, say they are open to the idea of Western troops being sent to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukraine skipped a day downing a Russian plane, but they did sink another ship. And possibly downed a helicopter.

And, Hungary’s president formally signed a bill approving Sweden's NATO entry. Sweden has maintained neutrality for the last 200 years.

[Frelga]

Euromaidan Press:

Russian forces struck Odesa while President Zelenskyy met with Greek PM Mitsotakis.

A missile landed just 150 meters away, leaving no time to seek shelter. Zelenskyy confirmed casualties in the city and emphasized Ukraine's urgent need for air defense systems.

Mitsotakis and Zelenskyy were inspecting the apartment building that Russia struck with the Shaheed drones on Monday, killing several people, including small children.

[N.E. Brigand]

Looks like Orban decided that his bread is buttered on the EU side. Not only he came around on the Ukrainian aid package, he also said he would not object to Swedish entry into NATO. Sweden's membership was recently approved by Turkey, which coincidentally will finally be allowed to buy fighter jets from the US.

CNN: "Sweden clears final hurdle in bid to join NATO after Hungary approves accession."

And it's done: "Sweden officially joins NATO, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality."

Because Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, two nearby and formerly unaligned nations are now NATO members.

[N.E. Brigand]

Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, met with Donald Trump on Saturday and then endorsed Trump's U.S. presidential candidacy.

Trump has said that if elected, he could end the war in Ukraine immediately.

Last night, Orbán said on Hungarian radio that Trump would do that by stopping U.S. funding: "he will not give a single penny for the Russo-Ukrainian war. That’s why the war will end, because it's obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own two feet."

As we all suspected, Trump's plan is for Ukraine to surrender.

[Sunsilver]

Wow! I'm sure Biden will be using this in his campaign speeches!

And Trump and his syncophants are trying to say the Democrats are Communist... https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/r ... communists

[N.E. Brigand]

I've seen a lot of commentary from the far right over the past year claiming that Ukraine and the U.S. have blown up opportunities to negotiate a peace settlement with Russia. Some new reporting is getting that spin from the Washington Post, but the description of Russia's late 2022 position is that they would consider peace only in exchange for keeping the territory they had seized to that point in Ukraine.

[Frelga]

There are reports of battles on the territory of the Russian Empire Federation. From NOELREPORT

Freedom of Russia Legion, The Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberia Batallion have entered the Kursk and Bilhorod regions in Russia. Heavy fighting is reported in the border area.
...
Russian media and the Russian Ministry of Digital Development make notice that a number of electronical services of the Bilhorod region such as the electronical document management are unreachable due to cyberattacks.

...
The Russian Volunteer Corps show footage of their units operating at the border area with Russia.

"Well, folks, we are back and we are at the point of attack again. The Kremlin regime's army is dropping its weapons before the fight even begins. If you've been waiting for a moment to join us, this is it. Stay tuned for more details," they add.

...
"When the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to penetrate into the Bilhorod and Kursk regions, over 100 people, 6 tanks, Caesar self-propelled guns, 20 enemy armored vehicles and a strongpoint were destroyed," the Russian FSB claims.

they forgot Star Trek Enterprise.

[Frelga]

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones have been taking out oil refineries all over Russia. Today, it Rosneft’s Ryazan facility, which refines 17 million tons of oil a year.

The Russian air base in Buturlinovka and a military airfield in Voronezh were also struck, per Visegrad and other sources.

PS: in completely unrelated news, Vice President of Lukoil, Vitaly Robertus, suddenly died at the age of 54. This is the latest in the series of sudden deaths affecting heads of major Russian companies, especially in the energy sector

[N.E. Brigand]

I'd never seen this fascinating early 2022 conversation before, but it's from a documentary released later that year:

[N.E. Brigand]

European leaders, including the Czech President Petr Pavel and the French President Emmanuel Macron, say they are open to the idea of Western troops being sent to Ukraine.

Speaking of the Czech Republic, this apparently was in the news more than a week ago but only seems to be getting attention in the U.S. today: by "activating relations dating back to the Cold War," the Czechs have "sourced around 800,000 artillery shells from a diverse coalition of suppliers spanning the globe and identified another 700,000 that could be secured with extra funds." The cost is $3.3 billion, the shells should begin arriving with a few weeks, and they are enough to sustain Ukraine for a few months. By which time, hopefully the U.S. has finally provided the $60 billion in aid currently stalled in Congress.

[Frelga]

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues hitting Russian refineries. Ironically, they do it in large part because of the US stalling at providing aid. US weapons come with the stipulation that they can't be used on the territory of Russia itself, but there are no such restrictions on the Ukrainian drones.

At each refinery, the same structure has been hit, which would be particularly difficult to replace, especially with the sanctions in place.

[N.E. Brigand]

New from the Washington Post:

Former president Donald Trump has privately said he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine by pressuring Ukraine to give up some territory, according to people familiar with the plan. Some foreign policy experts said Trump’s idea would reward Russian President Vladimir Putin and condone the violation of internationally recognized borders by force.

This would be as if Mike Dukakis in 1991 said he could end Iraq's invasion of Kuwait by pressuring Kuwait to give up some territory.

This has been Trump's position on Ukraine since at least 2015, mind you: what Russia wants, Russia should get.

[N.E. Brigand]

Two leading Republican members of the House of Representatives, Michael McCaul of Texas (who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee) and Mike Turner of Ohio (who chairs the House Intelligence Committee), have said over the past week that some Republicans are repeating Russian talking points.

[N.E. Brigand]

Missed this yesterday: speaking on Fox News, Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley listed China, Iran, and Ukraine as nations which are more "aggressive" because of President Biden's supposed fecklessness. Could be a slip of the tongue for "Russia," I suppose.

[N.E. Brigand]

David Cameron, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a Conservative who opposed Brexit but made it happen who last year was given a life peerage as The Right Honourable The Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and simultaneously named Foreign Secretary by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, met in Florida with Donald Trump and then spoke to members of the United States Congress. This evening Lord Cameron made an amazing gaffe during a CNN interview:

"The point I'm making is that it's, I think, profoundly in Britain's interest, but also in America's interest, that Trump doesn't get to win Ukraine."

[N.E. Brigand]

The U.S. House of Representatives is finally going to vote on an aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Speaker Johnson says the vote will be Saturday evening. It must then be passed by the U.S. Senate before President Biden, who today issued a statement of support for the bill, can sign it into law. What benefit did Donald Trump and the Republicans accrue from delaying it so long? Your guess is as good as mine. (It's not the same bill that the Senate previously passed, by the way, but it's pretty similar!)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Presumably, he will need Democrats to support the bill for it to pass.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Because people in his party want to do things like this.

[Frelga]

You forgot

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