News Related To The Ukraine / Russian War

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Russia pushes sex-at-work scheme as population crisis escalates​

Caitlin McFall / Sat, September 21, 2024 at 9:19 AM EDT

Russia pushes sex-at-work scheme as population crisis escalates
The Kremlin’s top doctor this week encouraged all Russians to engage in a "sex-at-work" scheme in a move to back President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to counter a growing population crisis.
Despite cash incentives, tax breaks, a nationwide push to discourage abortions and Putin’s years-long attempt to encourage procreation across the country, Russia saw its lowest birth rate in the last quarter-century for the first six months of 2024, reports said following UN findings on worldwide population rates.
Speaking during a Eurasian Women’s Forum on Wednesday, Putin encouraged women’s role in the workplace, but he also reiterated his push for higher birthrates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Eurasian Women's Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 18, 2024.

RUSSIA SEES HISTORIC POPULATION DROP SPURRING DEMOGRAPHIC CRISIS AMID WAR IN UKRAINE

"Proper conditions are being created for women to succeed professionally while remaining guardians of the hearth and lynchpins of large families with many children," he said, according to report by Newsweek.
The Kremlin chief reportedly said that women can cope with the load of being both a career-woman and a mother because they "possess a secret that men are unable to fathom."

When pressed by a female reporter about when women are supposed to find the time to manage a family, Russia’s Health minister Dr. Yevgeny Shestopalov said, "Being very busy at work is not a valid reason, but a lame excuse."

Russia pushes sex-at-work scheme as population crisis escalates

Russian officials are making a huge push across the country to boost birth rates and get women to procreate by encouraging sex at work as Russia's population crisis escalates and Putin scrambles.

news.yahoo.com

note:
Ukraine may not be able to do much to increase Russia's birthrate, but may yet boost Russia's mortality rate.

 

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On Tuesday 24/10/15 PBS NewsHour interviewed author Bob Woodward from The Washington Post about Woodward's new book WAR .
During this PBS interview the following exchange was reported between U.S. Secretary Austin, and Russian Sec. Shoigu about Russian first use of nuclear weapon in Ukraine:

"If you did this, all the restraints that we have been operating under in Ukraine would be reconsidered ... . This would isolate Russia on the world stage to a degree you Russians cannot fully appreciate." U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin

"I don't take kindly to being threatened." Sec. Sergei Shoigu

"I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don't make threats." U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin

"We have all this intelligence that says the Ukrainians are thinking about using a dirty bomb." [releasing radioactive material into Ukraine] Sec. Sergei Shoigu

"This seems to us like you are trying to establish the predicate for using nuclear weapons ... . Don't do it." U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin

"I understand." Sec. Sergei Shoigu

We are lucky to have such competent public servants supervising U.S. involvement in Russia's War in Ukraine.
The stakes there may be far higher than some U.S. voters realize.

"... The characteristics of Trump are, he really has no plan, it's just what comes into his mind. And he has no team. And he operates alone." Woodward 24/10/15

Vote Harris / Walz November 5, 2024

 

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North Korean Troops Deserting Ukraine Frontline Days After Arrival: Report​

Some 18 North Korean soldiers are believed to have deserted the Russian frontline, with Kremlin fighters reportedly searching for them.

The troops were deployed in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk oblasts, about four miles from the border with Ukraine, when they deserted, the public broadcasting company of Ukraine, Suspilne, reported.

Intelligence officials cited by the broadcaster said ...

North Korean troops deserting Ukraine frontline days after arrival: Report

At least 18 soldiers provided to Putin by Kim Jong Un were said to have abandoned their positions after arriving to the front, Ukrainian media reports.

www.newsweek.com

 

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Birds of a feather can go flock themselves?

Saint Thomas More said: "A drowning man will clutch at a straw." These two dictators are desperate.

North Korean Troops Deserting Ukraine Frontline Days After Arrival: Report​

Some 18 North Korean soldiers are believed to have deserted the Russian frontline, with Kremlin fighters reportedly searching for them. #43

Desertion I understand. But that implies seeking refuge. Where?
And for the North Korean dictator (KJU), it's a tough secret to keep. KJU could inform the family the deserter was KIA. Where's the body?
As existence seems to be the purpose of a totalitarian dictatorship, KJU would need some persuasive compensation from Russia for North Korea to continue the supply of troops.
Just how much Stolichnaya can the NK porker guzzle?

“We fell in love.” President Trump commenting on his relationship w/NK/KJU

 

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North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to support Russia in war against Ukraine – Reuters​

Alona Mazurenko — Wednesday, 23 October 2024, 14:54

South Korean intelligence has reported that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support the occupation forces in the war against Ukraine and is also trying to isolate the families of selected soldiers in a certain place to prevent information from spreading.
Source: Reuters
Quote: "North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support the Kremlin's forces in its war in Ukraine and thousands more were expected to follow, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday."
Details: Seoul reported that Pyongyang has promised to provide a total of about 10,000 troops, whose deployment is expected to be completed by December.
The latest figures came after Seoul's National Intelligence Service said that about 1,500 special forces soldiers had arrived in Russia by ship: "Signs of troops being trained inside North Korea were detected in September and October."
Moscow and Pyongyang deny any arms transfers but have pledged to strengthen military ties by signing a mutual defence treaty at a summit in June. The Kremlin has dismissed as fake news South Korea's claim that Russia was sending North Korean troops to war.

North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to support Russia in war against Ukraine – Reuters

South Korean intelligence has reported that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support the occupation forces in the war against Ukraine and is also trying to isolate the families of selected soldiers in a certain place to prevent information from spreading.

www.pravda.com.ua

There's more to this story, even if not all is disclosed in this article. Is this Putin "leadership" consolidating the dregs political regimes of the planet ? If so, what next? If not, what?

What sort of desertion rate can North Korea / Russia expect from these NK troops? And what will become of North Korean deserters? Comfortable living in South Korea?

Over 30,000 North Korean defectors now living in South Korea, with majority in Seoul area​

Over 30,000 North Korean defectors now living in South Korea, with majority in Seoul area - The Korea Daily

The number of North Korean defectors residing in South Korea has surpassed 30,000, according to recent data. Representative Han Jung-ae of the Democratic

www.koreadailyus.com

 

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Germany's upstart leftists chip at pro-Ukraine consensus​

By Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke / November 3, 2024 12:02 AM GMT-5


BERLIN, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Germany's new leftist populist party aims to exact a high price from mainstream parties for helping them govern three eastern states: demanding that their regional officials join calls to stop arming Ukraine.
Such concessions risk eroding the pro-Ukraine consensus in Germany, Kyiv's second biggest military supporter against Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germanys-upstart-leftists-chip-pro-ukraine-consensus-2024-11-03/

The risks to Germany of Russian military expansionism are obvious. Unified Germany is an occupied nation, just as former West Germany was, an ever-present reminder.

 

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Biden to urge Trump not to walk away from Ukraine, US security adviser says​

US election live updates: Biden to urge Trump not to walk away from Ukraine, US security adviser says

When the pair meet on Wednesday, they are expected to discuss the "top priorities" for domestic and foreign policy.

www.bbc.com

Vance boasted he doesn't care about Ukraine.

What Trump and his administration need to understand:
if Putin isn't smacked back to Russia, if Putin is allowed to profit, to benefit from his ruthless military adventurism, there's certain to be more of it.

So the U.S. can help Ukraine to defend itself by providing matériel and intelligence.
Or we can let Russia's authoritarianism and military adventurism grow, and as it grows, expands, strengthens, Western Europe, our NATO allies, our trade partners become progressively more vulnerable.
Reductio ad absurdum: it's either U.S. matériel today, or U.S. blood and treasure tomorrow.

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored - Aldous Huxley

note:
It's more than a wild guess.
This is going to be a very tough sell for Biden. The most persuasive:
political repercussions certain to strike during the next 4 years if the U.S. & Western Europe allow Putin to benefit.
Is there persuasive evidence Biden is prepared to pitch that angle to Trump? Count me a skeptic, and thus, deep trouble for Ukraine ahead.

 

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Like father like son? Donald Jr. on Zelensky:

Donald Trump Jr mocks Zelensky by suggesting that he’s just weeks away from ‘losing allowance’​

James Liddell / Mon, November 11, 2024 at 7:23 AM EST
Donald Trump Jr took a swipe at Volodymyr Zelensky after sharing a social media post suggesting that the Ukrainian president was just weeks away from losing his “allowance” – a reference to US military funding for fighting Vladimir Putin’s.
President-elect Donald Trump has staunchly criticized the Biden Administration spending more than $64 billion in providing security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of the nation in February 2022, according to figures from the US Department of State.
On Sunday, Trump’s eldest son mocked Zelensky in a social media tirade, teasing that Ukraine’s military aid budget was about to be abolished.

Donald Trump Jr mocks Zelensky by suggesting that he’s just weeks away from ‘losing allowance’

President-elect’s eldest son also called to keep ‘neocons and war hawks’ out of the Trump Administration

news.yahoo.com

 

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Biden allows Ukraine to use US arms to strike inside Russia​

Mike Stone and Humeyra Pamuk / Updated Sun, November 17, 2024 at 2:29 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden's administration has allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday, in a significant reversal of Washington's policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.
The move comes two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20 and follows months of pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to allow Ukraine's military to use U.S. weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.
The change comes largely in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv, a U.S. official and a source familiar with the decision said.

Biden allows Ukraine to use US arms to strike inside Russia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden's administration has allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday, in a significant reversal of Washington's policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Ukraine...

news.yahoo.com

Long overdue Joe.

 

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#49

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr accuse Biden of trying to start WWIII with Ukraine missiles move​

James Liddell / Mon, November 18, 2024 at 6:29 AM EST
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr have accused President Joe Biden of trying to start World War III after he gave Ukraine the green light to use US-supplied long-range supersonic missiles to strike inside Russia for the first time.
The Biden administration’s granting of Kyiv’s request to use the ATACMS missiles outside of its own borders marks a change in stance in the president’s final days in office, before President-elect Donald Trump – who has indicated he will limit US support for Ukraine – returns to the White House in January.

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr accuse Biden of trying to start WWIII with Ukraine missiles move

Biden’s decision marks a change in stance in the president’s final days in office, before President-elect Donald Trump – who has indicated he will limit US support for Ukraine – returns to the White House in January

news.yahoo.com

Ironic perhaps that sycophants to one with megalomaniacal tendencies would be so clueless about Putin's expansionist aspirations.
They're half right.
Biden's policy change is risky. BUT !
After 1,000 days of War in Ukraine, allowing Ukraine to slowly lose its capacity to wage defensive War might easily be expected to set up a whole new row of dominoes to fall to Russian military conquest.

The carnage in Ukraine is a catastrophe.
Biden lifting this restriction may potentially help prevent the Ukrainian catastrophe from suddenly developing into global cataclysm.

It seems M.T. and Dj value partisanship over survival.

 

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Russia claims it shot down US-made ATACMS missiles and issues nuclear threat​

DAVID BRENNAN and PATRICK REEVELL / Tue, November 19, 2024 at 9:44 AM EST
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it defeated a Ukrainian ATACMS attack in the western Bryansk region, shortly before the Kremlin updated its nuclear weapons doctrine to allow for nuclear strikes in response to foreign ballistic missile attacks.

Russia claims it shot down US-made ATACMS missiles and issues nuclear threat

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it defeated a Ukrainian ATACMS attack in the western Bryansk region, shortly before the Kremlin updated its nuclear weapons doctrine to allow for nuclear strikes in response to foreign ballistic missile attacks. Ukrainian forces fired six...

news.yahoo.com

 

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Putin’s threats escalate after Russia fires new hypersonic missile at Ukraine​

Tensions in Ukraine spike after Russia fires a new hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. With less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the fate of vital U.S. military support for Kyiv remains unclear.
Published 5:07 PM GMT-5, November 22, 2024 https://apnews.com/video/ukraine-russia-vladimir-putin-kyiv-fires-26c648c5dda94e81bb5986291f75fe8f

Putin's inner circle is divided into two categories:
- "Yes" men, &
- corpses.

Evidently there's no one left to inform Putin he's lost. NK fatso isn't going to change the Putin War result, only the body count.

 

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The Russian deserters trying to flee the war​

The losses incurred by the Russian military since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over 1,000 days ago are unimaginable - the worst by any industrialised nation in a conflict since World War II.

Accurate numbers are difficult, given the Russian Government doesn’t like to talk about them, but two independent investigations put the figures around 150,000 dead, with perhaps double that severely wounded.

For almost three years Russian troops have been fed into a meat grinder, so it is perhaps no surprise that ...

CONTINUED

 

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"The losses incurred by the Russian military ... around 150,000 dead" #53

- ghastly -

I can easily understand Ukraine's incentive for encouraging Russian troop desertion, NK's as well. BUT !

Who will take them? Ukraine has incentive for that as well, but it would seem an expensive proposition to warehouse them for the duration. p u

 

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Opinion

Trump Picks Ukraine Envoy With Some Twisted Plans in Mind​

Malcolm Ferguson / Wed, November 27, 2024 at 2:24 PM EST
Trump’s pick for special envoy to Ukraine wants to force Ukrainians to negotiate with Russia by holding aid hostage.
https://news.yahoo.com/news/trump-picks-ukraine-envoy-twisted-192425344.html

 

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In generations past political bias within mainstream media was often manifest as "spin", a metaphorical glass half full vs glass half empty distinction.
In the Trump eras recognizable media brands such as FOX have dropped the journalistic fig-leaf.
This has rendered "Consider the source." a U.S. news consumer's prerequisite.

U.S. news consumers may hope to sidestep such domestic U.S. journalistic bias by contrasting domestic U.S. news reports against other sources, BBC & al Jazeera for examples.
Senior citizens may recall the Soviet Cold War boogeyman, when malice may have been inferred even where not implied. Are MAGAs fearmongering? Or is there valid justification for alarm toward this trigger-happy nuclear power?

Despite the U.S. president-elect's Putin-friendly world view, Russia's authoritarian long ago forfeited legitimate claim of benign internationalism.
While that "opinion" may mesh with the MAGA xenophobes, we have an off-shore sanity check. What's Russia up to? What's to be done about it?

Could Russian ‘hybrid warfare’ trigger NATO retaliation?​

German intelligence chief says Russia’s hybrid war could prompt NATO allies to invoke the mutual defence Article 5.
By Sarah Shamim / Published On 29 Nov 202429 Nov 2024
German intelligence chief Bruno Kahl said this week that Russia’s extensive use of “hybrid” warfare measures “increases the risk that NATO will eventually consider invoking its Article 5 mutual defence clause”, under which an attack against one NATO member is considered an attack against them all.
Hybrid warfare is the use of both conventional and unconventional means to create instability in countries without making it seem like an all-out war.

Are underwater pipelines, cables being sabotaged in the Baltic Sea? Why?​

Putin threatens Ukraine with new missile as Russian barrage hits power grid​

Russia threatens Europe with strikes while gnawing at Ukraine’s east​

How does Trump envoy Keith Kellogg want to end the Russia-Ukraine war?​

These kinds of tactics can include election interference, assassination plots and attacks on critical infrastructure, such as undersea cables, but they can be extremely difficult to prove.
So could these sorts of incidents really trigger retaliation against Russia by NATO countries?

What sort of hybrid warfare incidents have occurred recently?​

Kahl’s comments on Wednesday came just days after two cables in the Baltic Sea were cut on November 17 and 18.

Could Russian ‘hybrid warfare’ trigger NATO retaliation?

German intelligence chief says Russia’s hybrid war could prompt NATO allies to invoke the mutual defence Article 5.

www.aljazeera.com

 

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World·Fortune

Russia’s ruble is still worth less than a penny, and the Kremlin’s piggy bank for propping it up is running low​

Russia's sovereign wealth fund has been tapped repeatedly to prop up the ruble, leaving the Kremlin with less firepower to battle another currency collapse.

The sinews of war, a limitless supply of money. Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

Vlad:
The Soviets lost the Cold War because of this. The West $spent the Kremlin into oblivion. You're a Cold Warrior Vlad. It's obviously your comfort zone. You obviously don't even understand how to compete in global markets.
So you figure, roll tanks ...

and here you are, threatening yet another Russian failure, hat in hand on bended knee, seeking help from North Korea, another global economic dynamo. Sober up Vlad.
You lost, again. How many more tens of thousands of Russians do you intend to march into your pointless meat-grinder before you scurry back to Moscow?

 

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"President-elect Donald Trump has stridently condemned Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles against Russian targets. In the interview that accompanied his selection as Time magazine Person of the Year, he declared “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?”"

Putin has just suffered a terrible defeat. America can now exploit it

President-elect Donald Trump has stridently condemned Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles against Russian targets. In the interview that accompanied his selection as Time magazine Person of the Year, he declared “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia...

news.yahoo.com

Trump's bias is clearly with Russia.
That's a problem for Ukraine and Western Europe to deal with in the short term. In the long term, American blood & treasure forfeited to presidential incompetence.

 

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High-ranking Russian general killed in explosion in Moscow
Iryna Balachuk — Tuesday, 17 December 2024, 07:24
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s nuclear troops, and his aide have been killed in an explosion in Moscow. Prior to that, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) had served the general with a notice of suspicion in absentia.
Details: The explosion occurred near a residential building on Ryazansky Prospekt as the men were entering the building.
According to Russian Telegram channels, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, and his driver (or, according to another version, his aide) were killed as a result of the explosion.

High-ranking Russian general killed in explosion in Moscow – photos, video

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s nuclear troops, and his aide have been killed in an explosion in Moscow. Prior to that, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) had served the general with a notice of suspicion in absentia.

www.pravda.com.ua

An escalation?
Will Putin be dropping Ukrainians in Kyiv?

Based on the "attrition" rate of Putin's enemies / opponents, this December 17 report is not the end of the story.

 

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North Korean soldiers kill themselves to avoid capture in Ukraine, U.S. says​

North Korean troops are being treated as “expendable” and ordered to take on “hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses,” National Security Council official John Kirby said.
Dec. 28, 2024, 6:42 AM GMT-5 / By Mithil Aggarwal
Russia is deploying “human waves” of North Korean soldiers, the U.S. said Friday, and at least one soldier captured by Ukraine died of his injuries.
According to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, some North Korean soldiers have taken their own lives rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces.

North Korean soldiers kill themselves to avoid capture in Ukraine, U.S. says

North Korean troops are being treated as “expendable” and ordered to take on “hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses,” National Security Council official John Kirby said.

www.nbcnews.com

Suicide as a result of the propaganda invading troops receive before combat?
Why lie to them?

- Kim Jong Un has a legacy to build. If North Korean troops desert en masse, it would jeopardize Kim Jong Un's plausible national defense.
- Vlad Putin has a war he wants to win.
Some military commanders believe their battlefield troops will fight more tenaciously it such troops perceive their own survival to be at stake.

And if North Korean troops learned if captured, their healthcare and diet as POW will almost surely be better than any of the NK POW blood kin living North of the DMZ. Similar story for Russia's troops.

The above article continues:

These suicides, he said, were “likely out of fear of reprisal against their families in North Korea in the event that they’re captured.”
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service had confirmed on Friday that the North Korean soldier captured the previous day had died.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram Friday that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers have died or been wounded in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces mounted a lightning incursion in August.
But Russia has since amassed thousands of troops in a counterattack.

North Korean soldiers kill themselves to avoid capture in Ukraine, U.S. says

North Korean troops are being treated as “expendable” and ordered to take on “hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses,” National Security Council official John Kirby said.

www.nbcnews.com

Vlad!
You're a sinker.