Friday, March 24, 2023

Gazprom Invited to Recover Object Found Near Nord Stream Pipeline

"Denmark has invited Russian energy giant Gazprom to help recover a mystery object that was spotted near the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline six months after sections of it were sabotaged....experts believe that the object could be a signal antenna to activate an explosive in that part of the pipeline." MT

Notorious Australian neo-Nazi joins Ukrainian forces to fight Russia

"Daniel Newman, ....extremist and a violent criminal, has flown from Australia to Ukraine to join the fight against Russian troops, Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) newspaper reported. 
The development coincides with efforts by Canberra to prevent violent extremists from traveling to the war-torn country to gain combat experience, SMH said.
Newman first traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and then to Europe in February, before arriving in Ukraine this month, the report claims, adding that the man had supposedly told his associates he was planning to take up arms against Russian forces.
Newman is a member of an international extremist group named Combat 18, or C18. Founded in the UK in the early 1990s, it then expanded its network to other nations in Europe and beyond. The group’s members have reportedly been linked to several murders, including in the UK and Germany. In 2019, Canada put C18 on its terrorist list.
Newman himself was previously jailed for violent offenses in the Australian state of Victoria. He then helped Australia’s neo-Nazis forge connections with prison gangs as well as set up a cell in Tasmania." RT

Estonia Expels Russian Diplomat Engaged in Undermining Security and Propaganda

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia announced on Friday that it is expelling an
employee of the
Russian Federation embassy from the country.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the diplomat took an active part in undermining the security and constitutional order of Estonia. "The diplomat in question has been engaged in directly and actively undermining Estonia’s security and constitutional order, spreading propaganda that justifies Russia’s military action and causing divisions in Estonian society," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated." Pravada

US launches airstrikes in Syria

"American forces have carried out retaliatory strikes in Syria in response to a deadly drone
attack on a
US-led coalition base in the northeastern part of the country, the Pentagon has said.
One US contractor was killed while five American troops and a contractor were wounded after “a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle” struck a maintenance facility near town of Hasakah around midday, the Department of Defense reported. “The intelligence community assesses the UAV to be of Iranian origin,” it added.
In the same statement, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said he had been directed by President Joe Biden to authorize “precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).” RT

Ukraine's Security Service detains 2 Russian agents, including design engineer of Motor Sich plant

"The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) says that its cyber specialists have exposed two
agents of the Federal Security Service of the
Russian Federation (FSB) who conducted reconnaissance and subversive activities in Kyiv Oblast and Zaporizhzhia.....n early February 2023, the Ukrainians were recruited by a career employee of the FSB Department for the Altai Republic. Recruitment took place via a Telegram channel, where the suspects periodically published their pro-Kremlin comments." Pravada

Occupiers retreat from Nova Kakhovka

"all units of the occupying army deployed in the settlement of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson
Oblast have left the town
".
As the General Staff states, this was preceded by searches in the houses of the local population with the aim of looting. The occupiers "confiscated" a large quantity of household appliances and electronic devices, jewellery, clothes and mobile phones." Pravada

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Seymour Hersh: CIA Planted Nord Stream Cover-Up Story

"Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article on Substack that said the CIA was instructed to come up with a cover story for the
Nord Stream bombings that was fed to The New York Times and the German newspaper Die Zeit.
The cover-up story was created to shift blame from the US after Hersh’s bombshell report published on February 8 that said President Biden ordered the attack on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany. "It was a total fabrication by American intelligence that was passed along to the Germans, and aimed at discrediting your story," Hersh was told by a source within the American intelligence community.
Hersh said that the CIA was ordered to come up with a cover story after President Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on March 3. Scholz’s visit was very brief and did not include the routine joint press briefing that usually follows a meeting between the president and another world leader. Hersh was told that his report detailing how the US took out Nord Stream was discussed by Biden and Scholz." ZH

Russia to Introduce Benefits for Children Wounded in Ukraine

 "Russia will introduce special social security benefits for children wounded in the war in
Ukraine...." MT

US Moves Drone Flight Paths Further From Crimea On Russian Threats Of "Countermeasures"

"Russia is putting the US on notice after last week's drone intercept incident which resulted in an American MQ-9 Reaper drone crashing into the Black Sea. The Pentagon said it intended to continue patrolling international territory despite the Kremlin asserting it had closed down some airspace over the Black Sea as part of its 'special operation' in Ukraine.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in a new warning has said Moscow will take "countermeasures" against any further US or NATO drone flights over these parts of the Black Sea where the intercept incident occurred.
"We warn them against trying to play on their nerves, testing our patience," Ryabkov said, according to RIA Novosti. The US drone "was in a zone where we introduced a special regime associated with conducting military exercises," he said." ZH

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Explosion rings out in Khmelnytskyi

"An explosion rang out in the city of Khmelnytskyi in western
Ukraine after an air-raid warning was issued in Khmelnytskyi Oblast...... Air defence systems were activated in Kyiv and Zhytomyr oblasts following a Russian attack." Pravada

Crimean naval base attacked by drones

"At least three naval drones were involved in an early morning attack on
Russian warships
stationed at the port of Sevastopol.....The
Russian Navy’s assets were not damaged but the windows of several buildings near the coast were shattered by blast waves from the destroyed drones." RT

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Russia reacts to Canadian call for ‘regime change’

"The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned Canada’s top diplomat in Moscow to lodge a formal complaint, after the Canadian foreign minister made “inadmissible remarks” earlier this month.
Melanie Joly told a news conference on March 10 that Ottawa was seeking “potential regime change in Russia.” Members of the cabinet are “seeing potential” for that outcome thanks to their efforts to isolate “the Russian regime” economically, politically and diplomatically, she stated.
The Canadian charge d’affaires in Moscow, Brian Ebel, was summoned on March 20 and issued with a formal protest over the remarks, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Moscow believes the comments to be “inadmissible and at variance with Canada’s obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.” 
Joly made the “regime change” remark soon after Ottawa announced the latest round of anti-Russia economic sanctions, which included restrictions on trade in steel and aluminum. She later doubled down on using that term, claiming she always made a distinction “between the regime and the people of a given country.” RT

French MPs threatened with guillotine ahead of crucial vote

"French politicians are being threatened with the guillotine if they attempt to protect President Emmanuel Macron’s government from a pair of no-confidence votes in Parliament, according to a handful of MPs who claimed to have received death threats over the weekend. Police told French media that hundreds of such messages had been sent to lawmakers ahead of Monday’s vote." RT

Japan PM Kishida arrives in Kyiv

“Ukraine is happy to welcome Japan’s PM Kishida Fumio. This historic visit is a sign of
solidarity and strong cooperation between
Ukraine and Japan
. We are grateful to Japan for its strong support and contribution to our future victory,” Ukrainian First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Emine Dzheppar wrote on Twitter." UKRIN

Ukrainian drone attack repelled in Crimea

"Several Ukrainian drones were brought down by air defenses in the town of Dzhankoy in
Crimea....One of the UAVs was destroyed above a technical college, crashing to the ground between an academic building and a dormitory."
RT