Category: Ukraine


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • It’s been a long time but worth remembering, if you can, that when the Twin Towers and Building 7 at the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, the whole world watched in horror.  The events of that day were repeated on television over and over and over again, to the point where they became afterimages lodged in people’s minds.

    As a result, although the buildings were not brought down by the impact of planes (no plane hit Building 7) but by explosives planted in the buildings (see this and this, among extensive evidence), most people thought otherwise, just as they thought that the subsequent linked anthrax attacks were directed by Osama bin Laden when they were eventually proven to have originated from a U.S. military lab (thus an inside job), and, as a result of a massive Bush administration/corporate media propaganda campaign, most Americans supported the invasion of Afghanistan, the subsequent invasion of Iraq, and decades of endless wars that continue to this day, bringing us to the edge of nuclear war with Iran and Russia.

    It is impossible to understand the United States’ full-fledged support today for Israel’s genocide in the Middle East without understanding this history. Israel’s genocide is the United States’ genocide; they cannot be separated.

    All these wars involve the machinations of the neo-conservative clique that in 1997 formed the Project for the New American Century that ran George W. Bush’s administration and whose protégées have come to exert great control of the foreign policies of Democratic and Republican administrations since. It is not that they lacked power before this, as a study of American foreign policy as far back as the Lyndon Johnson administration and its non-response to Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty confirms.

    Contrary to the widespread claims that Israel runs U.S. Middle East foreign policy, I think it is important to emphasize that the reverse is true.

    It is convenient to claim the tail wags the dog, but it is false.

    Israel’s war crimes are U.S. war crimes.  If the U.S. wanted to stop Israel’s genocide and expansion of war throughout the region, it could do so immediately, for Israel is totally reliant on U.S. support for its existence – as they like to say, “It’s existential.”

    All the news to the contrary is propaganda.  It is a sly game of responsibility ping-pong: shift the blame, keep the audience guessing as they hit their little hollow ball back and forth.

    Control of the Middle East’s oil supplies and travel routes has been key to American foreign policy for a very long time.  Such geo-political control is linked to the United States’ endless war on Russia and the control of natural resources throughout the vast region (a look at a map is requisite), stretching from the Middle East to southwest Asia up through the Black and Caspian Seas through Ukraine into Russia.

    In both cases, the attacks of September 11, 2001 and Israel’s genocide of Palestinians whose ultimate target is Iran (America’s key enemy in the region as far back as the CIA’s 1953 coup d’état against Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh), savage wars of extermination have been promoted through decades of carefully orchestrated propaganda.  In the former case, through the mainstream corporate media’s magic of repetitive cinematic images, and in the latter, through their absence.  To be shown photos of many thousands of dead and mutilated Palestinian children does not serve the U.S./Zionist’s interests. Propaganda’s methods must be flexible. Show, conceal.

    The September 11 attacks and the current genocide, each in its own way, have been justified and paid for with similar but different credit cards without spending limits, the so-called wars on terror waged on the visual credit card of planes hitting buildings preceded and followed by endless pictures of Osama bin Laden, and the genocide of Palestinians on the holocaust credit card minus images of slaughtered Palestinians or any awareness of the terrorist history of the Zionist’s century-long racial nationalist settler movement of “ethnically cleansing” Palestinians from their land.

    To know this, one has to read books, but they have been replaced by cell phones, functional illiteracy being the norm, even for college graduates who are treated to four years of wokeness education and anti-intellectualism that reduces their thinking to mush and graduates them with sciolistic minds at best.  I am being kind.

    The eradication of historical knowledge and the devaluation of the written word are key to ignorance of both issues.  Digital media and cell phones are the new books, all few hundred words on an issue conveying information that conveys ignorance.  Guy DeBord put it succinctly: “That which the spectacle ceases to speak of for three days no longer exists.”  Amnesia is the norm.

    To which I might add: that which the mass media spectacle continues to speak of or show images of for many days exists, even if it doesn’t.  It exists in the minds of virtual people for whom images and headlines create reality.  The electronic media is not only addictive but hypnotically effective, producing cyber people divorced from the material world.  News and information have become a form of terrorism used to implode all mental defenses, similar to the floors at the World Trade Center that went down boom, boom, boom.

    The war crimes of US/Israel are readily available for viewing outside the coverage of the corporate mainstream media. Most of the world views them, but these are the unreal people, the ones who don’t count as human beings.  These war crimes are massive, ruthless, and committed proudly and without an ounce of shame.  To face this fact is not acceptable.

    Those who pretend ignorance of them are guilty of bad faith.

    Those who support either Harris or Trump are guilty of bad faith twice over, acting as if either one does not support genocide or that genocide is a minor matter in the larger scheme of things.

    Choosing “the lesser of two evils” is therefore an act of radical evil hiding behind the mask of civic duty.

    That it is commonplace only confirms these words from the English playwright Harold Pinter’s extraordinary Nobel Address in 2005:

    The United States supported and in many cases engendered every right wing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second World War. I refer to Indonesia, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Haiti, Turkey, the Philippines, Guatemala, El

    Salvador, and, of course, Chile. The horror the United States inflicted upon Chile in 1973 can never be purged and can never be forgiven.

    Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn’t know it.

    It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

    Little has changed since 2005, except that these crimes have increased along with the propaganda denying them, together with vastly increased censorship – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Russia via Ukraine, etc. – all targets of U.S. bombs, just like Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, etc.  Now the U.S. has brought the world to the brink of nuclear war and the voting public is all worked up over choosing between candidates supporting genocide and the massively expanded Israel attack on neighboring countries.  It is a frightening spectacle of moral indifference and stupidity as we await the Israel/U.S. bombing of Iran and Iran’s response.

    Yet I ask myself and I ask you: Is there a connection between the voting public’s support for these war criminals and attention deficit disorder, amnesia, and dementia?

    Or is this embrace of the demonic twins’ – US/Israel – foreign policy a sign of something far worse? A death wish?

    Soul death?

    The post Soul Suicide in the Ballot Box as Palestinians Are Butchered first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Ukraine urged North Korean soldiers arriving in Russia to surrender, offering them food and shelter, as the United States and NATO confirmed for the first time they have evidence of North Koreans deployed to Russia. 

    North Korea and Russia have denied that North Korean soldiers are being sent to help Russia with its war in Ukraine but South Korea and its allies have warned of a dangerous escalation of the conflict.

    “We appeal to the soldiers of the Korean People’s Army who were sent to support the Putin regime. Don’t die senselessly on foreign soil. Do not repeat the fate of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who will never return home,” said the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate, or GUR, in a Korean-language message on its Telegram messaging channel on Wednesday. 

    “Surrender! Ukraine will provide you with shelter, food, and warmth,” it added, introducing its surrender hotline “I Want to Live.”

    The project was originally designed to help Russian servicemen in Ukraine who did not want to participate in the Russian invasion, launched in February 2022, to safely surrender to Ukrainian forces.

    As of June, more than 300 Russian soldiers had surrendered through the hotline, according to the Ukraine government.

    “It doesn’t matter how many soldiers Pyongyang sends or to which sector – they will be accepted. Ukrainian prisoner-of-war camps are ready to receive soldiers of any nationality, religion, or ideology,” the GUR said.

    The message was posted with a video, just over a minute long, showing facilities where surrendered North Korean soldiers would stay. 

    “In camps, prisoners of war are housed in large, warm, bright rooms with separate sleeping quarters. They receive three meals a day, and their diet includes meat, fresh vegetables, and bread,” the narrator of the video said in the Korean language.  

    north-korea-ukraine-hotline_10242024_2.png
    A message posted on the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate’s Telegram channel for the surrender hotline “I Want to Live” project. (Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate)

    Ukraine’s message to North Korean soldiers came after the U.S. and NATO confirmed they had evidence that North Korean troops had deployed to Russia.

    Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense chief, said it remained to be seen what exactly Pyongyang’s forces were doing there, but according to South Korean and Ukrainian warnings, they were preparing to join Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine.

    Austin added the U.S. was also still attempting to determine what North Korea would get in return for helping Russia with manpower.


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    ‘Security consequences’

    NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said in a statement that alliance members had “confirmed evidence of a DPRK troop deployment to Russia.”

    “If these troops are destined to fight in Ukraine, it would mark a significant escalation in North Korea’s support for Russia’s illegal war and yet another sign of Russia’s significant losses on the front lines,” Dakhlallah said.

    The Democratic People’s of Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name. 

    NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned that the involvement of North Korean troops could significantly escalate the conflict.

    The U.S. and NATO confirmation followed a report by South Korea’s spy agency that more than 3,000 North Korean troops had been sent to Russia, with the total expected to reach 10,000 by December.

    The South has vowed to take “phased” measures in response to growing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, including sending weapons to Ukraine for the first time.

    In response, Russia’s foreign ministry warned on Wednesday that South Korea would pay a heavy price if it got involved.

    “They should think about the security consequences if they get involved in the Ukrainian crisis. The Russian Federation will react to those aggressive steps, if our citizens are under threat, under peril,” said ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

    “We sincerely hope that the Seoul authorities are guided by common sense,” she added.

    north-korea-ukraine-hotline_10242024_3.JPG
    Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova attends a press conference in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, June 11, 2024. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

    Zakharova also dismissed the reports of the North’s troop dispatch as “fake.”

    “The armed forces of North Korea exist, but you should turn to Pyongyang to identify their location,” she said. “I cannot [understand] why there has been so many gossips, so many loud noises around this. This is a propaganda work.”

    “Russian cooperation with North Korea in military and other areas corresponds to international law … That is the first, and the second is that we don’t inflict any damage to South Korea,” she added. 

    “I cannot understand so much fuss about it coming from Seoul.”

    On Monday, North Korea’s representative to the United Nations dismissed reports it was sending soldiers to support Russia in its war as “groundless rumors,” adding that its cooperation with Moscow was “legitimate and cooperative.”

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The death toll in Russia’s war on Ukraine is reaching alarming new heights. Roughly 1 million soldiers and civilians on both sides have been killed or wounded, a recent in-depth review of available data published by the Wall Street Journal found. As Russia attempts to secure key towns and cities in the Donbas region, the war of attrition along the front line has become extremely violent as the…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • “War is not healthy for children and other living things,” reads a poster titled “Primer” created by the late artist Lorraine Schneider for an art show at New York’s Pratt Institute in 1965. Printed in childlike lowercase letters, the words interspersed between the leaves of a simply rendered sunflower, it was an early response to America’s war in Vietnam. “She just wanted to make something that…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • A North Korean representative to the United Nations dismissed reports the country is sending soldiers to support Russia in the war in Ukraine as “groundless rumors,” adding that its cooperation with Moscow was “legitimate and cooperative.”

    It was the first public comment from a North Korean official since South Korea’s spy agency last week said the North had decided to send about 12,000 troops to fight Russia’s war in Ukraine, and had already dispatched 1,500 soldiers to Vladivostok for training.

    “As for the so-called military cooperation with Russia, my delegation does not feel any need for comment on such groundless stereotyped rumors aimed at smearing the image of the DPRK and undermining the legitimate, friendly and cooperative relations between two sovereign states,” said the North Korean official during a session of the U.N. General Assembly First Committee on disarmament and international security on Monday. 

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name. 

    The official’s remarks came in response to the Ukrainian envoy’s comment that the North was planning to soon send “large-scale” regular troops to help Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine.

    Russia said on Monday it would continue to strengthen ties with North Korea, while declining to confirm South Korea’s report.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Oct. 10 dismissed speculation of North Korean troops going to Ukraine as “fake news.”

    The United States said it could not confirm the report, while North Korea’s state-run media outlets had remained silent at time of publication.


    RELATED STORIES

    South Korea summons Russian envoy to urge it to stop North Korean Ukraine involvement

    North Korea sending troops to aid Russia in Ukraine war: South’s spy agency

    Russia forming North Korean battalion amid soldier shortage: report


    In a separate U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday, South Korea’s ambassador to the U.N., Hwang Joon-kook, called for an immediate halt to the growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

    “We are well aware that North Korea is a habitual violator of international norms and Security Council resolutions. However, recent actions by Pyongyang have even surprised us,” said Hwang.

    He denounced Russia for “taking a gamble” out of desperation by involving a third country in its aggression and said its military cooperation with the North would potentially make Pyongyang “an active belligerent in warfare.”

    “Russia and North Korea must immediately stop violating international obligations,” said Hwang. 

    “It is hard to believe that a permanent member of the Security Council would take such a gamble and shift the course of the war.” 

    North Korea and Russia have moved closer over the past year or more amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly submitted a bill to the lower house of parliament on Monday to ratify a treaty to raise its relationship with North Korea to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The change was  agreed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 19 in Pyongyang after summit talks during the Russian president’s state visit.   

    The new partnership includes a mutual defense assistance clause that would apply in the case of “aggression” against one of the signatories.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was seeking a “strong reaction” from countries who have acknowledged that North Korea is becoming more involved in Russia’s war against his country.

    South Korea’s spy agency said last Friday that North Korea had dispatched 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training.

    NATO and the United States said they could not confirm the report, while North Korea had remained silent at time of publication.

    Speaking in his nightly video address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said there was ample satellite and video evidence that North Korea was sending not only equipment to Russia, but also soldiers to be prepared for deployment.

    “I am grateful to those leaders and representatives of states who do not close their eyes and speak frankly about this cooperation for the sake of a larger war. We expect a normal, honest, strong reaction from our partners on this,” he said. 

    “If the world remains silent now and we have to engage soldiers from North Korea on the front line in the same way we have to defend ourselves from [Iranian] Shahed drones, this will certainly benefit no one in the world and only prolong the war,” Zelenskyy added. 

    “Unfortunately, instability and threats can significantly increase after North Korea becomes trained for modern warfare.”

    Zelenskyy’s remarks came after South Korea’s National Intelligence Service released detailed satellite images it said showed a first deployment, saying it estimated the North could send about 12,000 soldiers.

    000_36K99H8.jpg
    South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says North Korean personnel were gathered within Russia’s Ussuriysk military facility, pictured on Oct. 16, 2024. (Airbus Defense and Space via South Korea’s National Intelligence Service/AFP)

    South Korea’s presidential office said North Korea’s troop movement to Russia was being closely tracked in coordination with its allies, and the South would continue to monitor the situation and take all necessary measures proactively.

    U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday he could not confirm reports that North Korea had sent troops to Russia ahead of a possible deployment, but added that it would be concerning, if true.

    NATO chief Mark Rutte said Friday the alliance could not confirm the South Korean intelligence agency’s report but it was in “close contact” with its partners. 

    The foreign ministers of France and Ukraine said on Saturday that the involvement of North Korean regular troops to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would be a serious escalation of the war. 

    In South Korea, the ruling People Power party warned of the possibility of North Korea using the advanced military technology Russia is expected to provide in return for the deployment to provoke South Korea.

    “The party will actively support our government’s policies and put the safety of our people first,” it said on Monday. 


    RELATED STORIES

    North Korea sending troops to aid Russia in Ukraine war: South’s spy agency

    Russia forming North Korean battalion amid soldier shortage: report

    Russia urges South Korea to avoid provocations amid drone dispute with North


    North Korea and Russia have moved noticeably closer over the past year or more amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

    A day before South Korea’s announcement, Zelenskyy cited Ukrainian intelligence reports saying that North Korean personnel had already been deployed in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, with an additional 10,000 troops being prepared to join the fight.

    He suggested that Russia was relying on North Korean forces to compensate for its substantial troop losses, as many young Russians seek to avoid conscription. The Ukraine government estimated that, as of Sunday, Russian casualties were almost 680,000 since the start of the war.

    South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun told lawmakers in early October that North Korea was likely planning to send troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia. 

    Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Oct. 10, however, dismissed that as “fake news.”

    Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly submitted a bill to the lower house of parliament on Monday to ratify a treaty to raise its relationship with North Korea to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was agreed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 19 in Pyongyang after  summit talks during the Russian president’s state visit.   

    The new partnership includes a mutual defense assistance clause that would apply in the case of “aggression” against one of the signatories.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • UN reacts to armed raid on cathedral in UkraineArmed men raiding the St. Michael’s Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy. ©  The Union of Orthodox Journalists

    Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right, the UN Human Rights Office has stressed in a comment to the Russian newspaper Izvestia following an armed raid on a church in central Ukraine earlier this week.

    On Thursday, videos emerged on social media showing dozens of armed men in military-style clothing clashing with believers at St. Michael’s Cathedral, belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), in the city of Cherkasy.

    The unidentified raiders reportedly used tear gas, smoke grenades and fired a gas pistol into the crowd. Icons, documents and some $60,000 – raised by the congregation for the needs of the church – were reportedly stolen. At least 12 people were hospitalized as a result of the standoff, according to the UOC. It blamed the attack on “schismatics” from the Kiev-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

    A representative of the UN Human Rights Office told Izvestia on Friday that “while we cannot yet confirm the specific details of these events, we emphasize that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right.”

    “Attacks on civilian believers are prohibited under international human rights and humanitarian norms,” the representative was quoted as saying.

    Ukrainian diocese ‘goes underground’ after raid on cathedral
    Ukrainian diocese ‘goes underground’ after raid on cathedral

    The Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is currently working to establish additional details on the incident, the official added.

    In an earlier comment to TASS, the press service of the UN Human Rights Office called the videos of the church raid in Cherkasy “alarming.”

    Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Moscow calls on “the relevant international human rights organizations” to look into the attack.

    “The Kiev regime is doing everything it can to outlaw and disband the canonical church [UOC]. And [Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky’s Western backers continue to indulge in deepening the religious schism in Ukraine,” Zakharova stressed.

    Ukraine has been gripped by religious tensions for years, with two rival entities claiming to be the country’s true Orthodox Church.

    The Kiev government supports the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which was created only in 2018 and which the Russian Orthodox Church considers schismatic. Zelensky has explained the moves against the UOC by citing its alleged links to the Moscow Patriarchate and the need to protect Ukraine’s “spiritual independence” and deprive Russia of an opportunity to “to manipulate the spirituality of our people.”

    The persecution of the UOC intensified after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. Several of its churches have been seized by force, and criminal cases have been opened against clerics. A law banning the activities of the UOC in Ukraine officially came into force in late September.

    The post Armed Raid on Cathedral in Ukraine first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Foreign secretary discussed China’s treatment of Uyghurs and support of Russia as well as ‘areas of cooperation’

    David Lammy pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights concerns and China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during talks in Beijing, the Foreign Office has said.

    The foreign secretary had been under pressure to take a tough line on a range of human rights issues with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, when the pair met on Friday during Lammy’s first visit to China since taking office.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • New York, October 18, 2024—More than 1,500 emails threatening a bomb attack were sent on October 14 to Ukrainian media outlets, government agencies, schools, business centers, and hotels, as well as dozens of Ukrainian embassies abroad. The sender blamed three journalists with U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) — Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna, and freelancer Yulia Khymeryk — for prompting them to plan the alleged attack.

    “CPJ denounces the intimidation of journalists Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna, and Yulia Khymeryk, and calls on Ukrainian authorities to ensure timely investigations into the bomb threats recently sent across Ukraine,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must ensure the safety of the journalists and hold the perpetrators to account. Journalists must be able to work safely without fear of retaliation.”

    The threats followed an October 8 investigation by the three journalists published by Schemes, an investigative journalism TV program within RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service, about Russian secret services recruiting Ukrainians to set fire to Ukrainian military vehicles. 

    After evacuating several buildings after the bomb threats and investigating, Ukraine’s national police stated on October 15 that they opened criminal proceedings for “knowingly false reports of threat to the safety of citizens.”

    Ukrainian media outlets that received bomb threats include: 

    “We will not be intimidated and stand behind our reporters who will continue to bring news to Ukrainian audiences without fear or favor,” President Stephen Capus said in a post on his RFE/RL website.

    According to RFE/RL, the unnamed group that claimed responsibility for the bomb threat messages also called for the burning of Ukrainian military vehicles on social media.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • New York, October 18, 2024—More than 1,500 emails threatening a bomb attack were sent on October 14 to Ukrainian media outlets, government agencies, schools, business centers, and hotels, as well as dozens of Ukrainian embassies abroad. The sender blamed three journalists with U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) — Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna, and freelancer Yulia Khymeryk — for prompting them to plan the alleged attack.

    “CPJ denounces the intimidation of journalists Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna, and Yulia Khymeryk, and calls on Ukrainian authorities to ensure timely investigations into the bomb threats recently sent across Ukraine,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must ensure the safety of the journalists and hold the perpetrators to account. Journalists must be able to work safely without fear of retaliation.”

    The threats followed an October 8 investigation by the three journalists published by Schemes, an investigative journalism TV program within RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service, about Russian secret services recruiting Ukrainians to set fire to Ukrainian military vehicles. 

    After evacuating several buildings after the bomb threats and investigating, Ukraine’s national police stated on October 15 that they opened criminal proceedings for “knowingly false reports of threat to the safety of citizens.”

    Ukrainian media outlets that received bomb threats include: 

    “We will not be intimidated and stand behind our reporters who will continue to bring news to Ukrainian audiences without fear or favor,” President Stephen Capus said in a post on his RFE/RL website.

    According to RFE/RL, the unnamed group that claimed responsibility for the bomb threat messages also called for the burning of Ukrainian military vehicles on social media.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • South Korea’s spy agency said Friday that North Korea had decided to send “large-scale” troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia’s Far East undergoing training.

    The National Intelligence Service, or NIS, released detailed satellite images it said showed a first deployment, saying it estimated the North could send around 12,000 soldiers in total.

    The North was spotted transporting its special forces troops to Russian territory on a Russian naval transport ship between Oct. 8 and 13, according to the NIS.

    North Korea and Russia have moved noticeably closer over the past year or more amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

    If confirmed, the move would be a rare foray by the long-isolated and nuclear-armed North into a foreign conflict.

    2 North Korea send troops Russia Ukraine.jpg
    South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says this image shows North Korean personnel gathered within the training ground of Russia’s Khabarovsk military facility on Oct. 16, 2024. (Airbus Defense and Space via South Korea’s National Intelligence Service/AFP)

    About 1,500 North Korean soldiers were transported during the first phase, using four amphibious landing ships and three escort vessels owned by Russia, the NIS said.

    These troops were moved from areas near the North Korean cities of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan to Russia’s Vladivostok, said the NIS, adding that a second phase of transport is expected to occur soon.

    They have been stationed across various locations in the Far East, including Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk and have been issued Russian military uniforms and weapons, according to the agency. 

    12,000 troops expected

    The NIS said that they are expected to be sent to the front lines once they complete their “adaptation training,” adding that it expects a total of 12,000 troops, including those from the country’s most elite military units, could be deployed. 

    South Korea’s presidential office said Seoul has been closely tracking North Korea’s troop movement to Russia from the beginning in coordination with its allies, and will continue to monitor the situation and take all necessary measures proactively.

    NATO chief Mark Rutte said Friday the alliance could not yet confirm South Korean intelligence’s report, but it is in “close contact” with its partners. 

    “At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort,” Rutte told reporters following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

    “But this, of course, might change,” he said.

    Rutte added NATO was “in close contact” with its partners, particularly South Korea, which was taking part in this week’s talks as part of the so-called Indo-Pacific Four, along with Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

    “We will certainly have that conversation with them to get all the evidence on the table,” said Rutte. 

    Separately, EU spokesperson Peter Stano said in a statement: “Continued military support from the DPRK to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine will be met with an appropriate response.” The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name. 


    RELATED STORIES

    Russia forming North Korean battalion amid soldier shortage: report

    Russia urges South Korea to avoid provocations amid drone dispute with North

    EXPLAINED: Are North Korean troops going to help Russia in Ukraine?


    On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited Ukrainian intelligence reports saying that North Korean personnel had already been deployed in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, with an additional 10,000 troops being prepared to join the fight.

    Zelenskyy suggested that Russia is relying on North Korean forces to compensate for its substantial troop losses, as many young Russians seek to avoid conscription.

    South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun told lawmakers in early October that North Korea was likely planning to send troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia. 

    Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Oct. 10, however, dismissed the claim as “fake news.”

    Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly submitted the bill to the lower house of parliament on Monday to ratify the treaty with North Korea on a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was sealed in June.

    The treaty was signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 19 in Pyongyang after their summit talks during the Russian President’s state visit.   

    The new partnership includes a mutual defense assistance clause that would apply in the case of “aggression” against one of the signatories.

    Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • We all were sea-swallow’d, though some cast again,
    And by that destiny to perform an act
    Whereof what’s past is prologue, what to come
    In yours and my discharge.”

    ― William Shakespeare, The Tempest (II.i.)

    While Washington’s two favorite pit bulls, the Banderite entity and the Zionist entity, are being used to perpetrate a genocide in Gaza and wage an increasingly dangerous proxy war on Russia, it is important to acknowledge the role of Zionism and neoliberalism in the unleashing of these bloodbaths. Indeed, both dogmas are indicative of a dangerous trend in contemporary Western politics whereby legacy media automatons are hoodwinked into falling under the spell of a cult ideology which traps them in the past rendering millions of malleable minds incapable of fact-based observation and discussion. This lamentable state of affairs is intertwined with the fact that political ignorance typically stems from two things: not knowing the past — illiteracy; and living in the past, whereby a group of people become so obsessed with a historical event that they see it being repeated over and over leading to the death of reason and a dissolution of morality.

    Zionists view current events through the historical prism of European anti-Semitism, and in particular the anti-Semitic pogroms and massacres of early 20th century Europe. Consequently, whatever barbarities are committed by West Bank settlers and Israeli occupation forces Zionists invariably seek to justify these crimes as self-defense, because in this Jewish supremacist ideology Jews can only be the oppressed, they can never be the oppressor. The inability to view contemporary political problems outside of this fallacious historical model rooted in a fixation with the Ukrainian pogroms of 1918 to 1921 and the Nazi perpetrated Holocaust has led the Zionist down a road of depravity.

    A similarly self-destructive and ahistorical mentality is on display with regards to blind neoliberal support for Obama and Kamala Harris, who check off the right boxes vis-à-vis race and gender, leading the anti-white jihadi and Feminisis to not only fervently back these deep state sock puppets but to also rage at their heroes’ detractors who are denounced as “racists,” “Nazis,” “fascists,” “white supremacists,” etc. It is impossible to overstate the role of the multicultural curriculum in ushering in this pathological ideology which prevents neoliberal cultists from having a fact-based discussion about grave problems which threaten democracy, civilization, and even the survival of our species.

    Ultimately, the Western elites are only interested in power and securing natural resources, which are incidentally quite plentiful off the coast of Gaza and in the Donbass (see herehere, and here). And yet these elites need an element of support from the masses, and this is done by fomenting extremist ideologies that trap the gullible in a vortex of historically specious ideation.

    Writing for the pitiful Times of Israel, Canaan Lidor’s article “At Auschwitz, Holocaust survivors scarred by October 7 march in a show of resilience” perpetuates the once disturbing and by now grotesque Holocaust industry tropes, arguing that there is somehow a correlation between these two events. This intellectually erroneous line of thinking in fact debases and even erases the memory of the Holocaust by equating it in many people’s minds with Zionist propaganda and ethnic cleansing.

    As Zionists relentlessly foment anti-Semitism, Jews are in fact made less safe by the actions of the settler colonial entity, which embodies the “Antimoses” to Christianity’s Antichrist. The author complains of “The surge of antisemitism in Europe and North America, and especially on campuses by young individuals,” as if Zionist war crimes somehow played no role in the former, only to parrot the exasperating yet banal argument that anti-Zionism and anti-genocide protests are somehow indicative of anti-Semitism.

    While not complaining about the hundreds of Israelis that lost their lives on October 7 (many of whom of course were murdered by their own government in an unprecedented invoking of the Hannibal Directive) without feeling even a tinge of remorse for the likely hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians who have lost their lives or been grievously injured amidst the recent tsunami of violence unleashed upon the inhabitants of Gaza, Zionists delight in bashing anti-Zionist Jews, who they derisively refer to as “self-hating Jews;” and the even more deranged, “kapos.”

    In “The Crisis in Ukraine Has Disturbing Echoes of the 1930s,” published in Time, the author, who fittingly teaches history at Cornell, pens nonsensical passage after nonsensical passage in the perverse and yet all too common attempt at presenting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an inversion of Nazi Germany’s policy of Drang nach Osten, thereby denying NATO’s encroachment into the former Soviet space along with the war’s attritional nature, while simultaneously vilifying and ridiculing the Russian military for its alleged poor performance. (The rabid barbarians are trying to conquer all of Europe yet cannot even conquer a quarter of Ukraine).

    The article perfectly encapsulates the neoliberal worldview: our peaceful world order – one which is altruistically, nobly, and selflessly run by the West – is constantly under threat by new Hitlers: Assad, Milošević, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden (a Hitler who didn’t even have his own country), Trump; and the Hitler who has apparently out-Hitlered Hitler, Putin.

    Nowhere does the author mention the unconstitutional US-backed ultra-nationalist putsch in February of 2014 which violently removed the democratically elected government of Viktor Yanukovych and brought to power the intensely Russophobic heirs to Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Nachtigall Battalion, and the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, thereby turning the country into a failed state and a NATO-owned battering ram. The brainwashing of Ukrainian children under the Banderites is well documented (see here and here), as are atrocities and war crimes that the nationalist battalions have committed in the Donbass (see here, here, here, here and here).

    (The Ukrainian nationalists of the Second World War regarded themselves as “Aryans,” but the Nazis looked on them as Slavs and hence Untermenschen, preferring to use the Banderites as a truncheon against perceived enemies of the Reich. The Western elites regard the modern Banderite fascists in precisely the exact same way).

    Nowhere does the Time article mention NATO’s relentless eastward expansion in explicit violation of decades of Russian warnings, or the fact that the Kremlin repeatedly tried to end the Donbass war through their tireless support for the Minsk accords, which the Western elites and their skinhead government in Kiev never had any intention of implementing and which they used as a ruse with which to build up robust Ukrainian armed forces, something later admitted by Angela Merkel.

    This demonization of Moscow’s intervention in a Ukrainian civil war spawned by the US-backed Banderite Maidan putsch follows a similar script to that which White House stenographers used to cover the Chechen civil wars, where the Russians were portrayed as mindlessly massacring Chechens, either out of racism or sheer boredom. Today, the government in Grozny fully backs the special military operation, yet this is conveniently omitted from the narrative and its implications ignored (see here, here, and here).

    “Hitler guaranteed peace and grabbed a piece of Czechoslovakia. By agreeing to negotiate with him, the Western powers effectively turned him into a new arbiter of the international system,” laments the Ivy League genius. The message: the Western elites are good and negotiating with Hitlers is bad. She continues:

    “Nazi Germany’s expansion into Eastern Europe in the 1930s provides us with a sobering lesson that may also apply to Putin and Russia today: even the most unimaginable scenarios, the strangest ramblings of lunatics can come true when people close their eyes to their possibility until it becomes too late.”

    In other words, Putin is unhinged while the West is run by people who are eminently rational – a complete upending of reality.

    How can the sensible among us pull our mad countrymen out of this infernal prison of hubris, hallucination, and lies?

    In actuality, the entire war between Russia and Ukraine as portrayed in the legacy media is an illusion. What we are really witnessing is an increasingly dangerous war between Russia and the combined military industrial might of the collective West, with NATO using the Banderite army as cannon fodder, and this is evidenced by the fact that without access to NATO materiel, and in particular NATO intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), the Banderite entity would have capitulated many months, if not years ago. Delusional thinking about the origins of the conflict are compounded by delusional thinking regarding the military realities as they are playing out on the battlefield, with the fundamental disparities in military industrial capacity, artillery, trained and motivated manpower, and air power irreversibly in Russia’s favor.

    As the Banderite army suffers from increasingly serious manpower deficiencies, there is a risk that Washington may send NATO troops to relieve Banderite positions in the west and north of the country allowing Kiev to send more soldiers to the front, or that NATO could even attempt to occupy Ukraine west of the Dnieper. There is also a risk that the Banderite entity could be used as a platform with which to strike command and control in the Russian rear, that NATO could decide to shoot down Russian missiles headed towards targets in Western Ukraine by launching interceptor missiles from neighboring NATO countries, that Washington could allow F-16s to take off from NATO bases prior to assaulting Russian lines, that there could be another provocation involving the Kaliningrad rail link, or that there could be an incident in the Black Sea or Baltic Sea. Any of these scenarios could easily bring NATO and Russia into direct kinetic conflict.

    As the Ukrainian nationalists possess neither the technology nor the military technical expertise with which to execute long-range strikes deep inside Russia, Putin has explicitly warned that should NATO decide to use Ukrainian territory as a launching pad with which to carry out such attacks this would mark a crossing of the Rubicon leading the Kremlin to conclude that NATO had directly entered the conflict.

    In order to prolong the war and prevent a Russian victory in their imaginary struggle of democracy verses autocracy, the Western elites have consistently given the Banderite junta new NATO weapons in an attempt at throwing their opponent off balance and forcing the Russian Ministry of Defense to spend time trying to figure out how to counteract these weapon systems, which they have generally been successful in doing, especially through the utilization of electronic warfare. The crisis that we presently face is intertwined with the fact that, as the nationalist lines start to buckle, the Western elites are faced with the realization that they no longer have much left to give the Banderite army – with the exception of one thing: their own direct military involvement. Barring this, nothing can prevent the inevitable defeat of the Banderite entity on the field of battle.

    The preposterous idea being peddled by American pundits such as John Bolton, David Petraeus, and Ben Hodges that the US can continue to indefinitely poke the bear with increasingly dangerous and brazen provocations, and that Moscow would never dare attack NATO directly, is reminiscent of the attitude of the Truman administration during the final days of the Second World War in the Indo-Pacific when they were acutely aware of the fact that they had atomic weapons while the other side did not. Unfortunately, as any sane person can tell you, this is simply not the case.

    In his commencement address at American University in Washington, DC, on June 10, 1963, John F. Kennedy warned of those who would seek to humiliate a nuclear power:

    “Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy – or of a collective death-wish for the world.”

    With appalling articles such as the aforementioned demonstration of humanitarian intervention presstitution hijacking the minds of the vast majority of Americans, there is a total lack of any viable anti-war movement in the United States regarding the cataclysmic conflict that has been raging for over two years in Eastern Europe. While we stand precipitously at the abyss of a great power conflict that could quickly escalate to the nuclear level, this psyop represents one of the most successful in the history of deep state propaganda, with only a minuscule fraction of the population having any understanding of the chronological timeline and sequence of events that led up to this preventable war which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

    For the Kremlin the crisis is existential, as they hold it to be imperative that security be restored, both along their Western frontier and for Russian speaking Ukrainians. The Western elites regard the crisis as existential, as Western finance capital has sunk its fangs into Ukraine and there is a growing sense that Western imperial hegemony is at stake. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Americans view the war as a kindergartner would while watching a Star Wars movie.

    In The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress (1905) George Santayana wrote:

    Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

    In the first stage of life the mind is frivolous and easily distracted; it misses progress by failing in consecutiveness and persistence. This is the condition of children and barbarians, in whom instinct has learned nothing from experience.

    And have we not in many ways become a nation of children and barbarians?

    Domestically, neoliberal cultists likewise remain trapped in the past, as evidenced by their viewing virtually everything that unfolds at home through either the lens of the civil rights movement or through the struggle between secular forces and the forces of Christian fundamentalism as famously laid out in Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s play Inherit the Wind, the latter playing a significant role in deceiving neoliberals into supporting the Branch Covidian putsch when they fell prey to the lie that defenders of informed consent were “anti-science.”

    The incessant and intellectually erroneous use of the epithets “racist,” “fascist,” “far right,” and “white supremacist” by neoliberal cultists is not without irony as these terms are indeed applicable to both the language and behavior of the Zionist entity and the Banderite entity. Incredibly, when real Nazis and fascists appear neoliberals are unable to identify them, and even more absurd, are deceived and manipulated into supporting the very devils that they are so ostensibly afraid of.

    That the likes of the Azov Battalion, Aidar Battalion, Right Sector, Svoboda party, and C14 are enthusiastically backed by Western liberals even as they simultaneously rail against imaginary Nazis (“Covid deniers,” “anti-vaxxers,” “Putin apologists,” “Trumpers,” critics of multiculturalism and open borders, etc.) underscores the dangers of mythologizing a traumatic historical event.

    My position is not that the Second World War should be expunged from the canon, but rather, that it should be taught in a more nuanced and rigorous manner, with a particular emphasis on the Weimar years and the motives of Western corporations in bankrolling the Nazis, as opposed to the conflict being used as a pulpit for Libtard Taliban and depraved Zionists to feast upon.

    American education must be rebuilt from the ashes of the book burners and the Holocaust industry priests and a new curriculum forged that neither demonizes Western civilization, leading to mass illiteracy and a dissolution of the collective memory, nor glorifies it in a jingoistic manner, both of which foment amnesia, degrade reason, and perpetuate the West’s blood-drenched imperial legacy.

    If our civilization is to survive there must be a restoration of the humanities so that the younger generation will be able to debate historically significant periods that are integral to our identity. Undoubtedly, this will be difficult to achieve in an educational environment dominated by warmongers, Russophobes, Wall Street fundamentalists, and hysterical identity politics crusaders.

    While millions of Americans clamor for bombs to be dropped on people of whom they know nothing while ignoring catastrophic problems in their own backyard, Sun Tzu’s words from The Art of War echo down to us through the millennia:

    “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

    Knowing the past is essential. Yet obsessively losing oneself to a particular tragedy where a sophistic historical paradigm is relentlessly, religiously, and dogmatically driven home can only lead to the closing of the illimitable mind and the return of history’s haunted siren song of sectarianism and zealotry.

    The post Those Who Live in the Past are Doomed to Repeat it first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • New York, October 10, 2024 — Russian authorities must immediately disclose the circumstances surrounding the death in Russian captivity of 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

    “CPJ is shocked by the news of Viktoria Roshchina’s death during her unlawful imprisonment by Russia. We extend our deep condolences to her family and loved ones,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Responsibility for her death lies with the Russian authorities, who detained her for daring to report the truth on the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian and Russian authorities must do everything in their power to investigate Roshchina’s death.”

    Roshschina’s death was confirmed on Thursday by Petro Yatsenko, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian government’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of Ukraine’s parliamentary committee on freedom of speech.

    The journalist reportedly died on September 19 while being transferred from southwestern city of Taganrog to Moscow, the capital, for a prisoner exchange. Russian authorities officially notified Roshchina’s father about her death, Yurchyshyn said.

    Roshchina was a freelance reporter who covered the war in Ukraine for several Ukrainian media outlets, went missing on August 3, 2023, when reporting on eastern Ukraine; her detention was confirmed by Russia in April 2024.

    At least 15 journalists and one media worker have been killed covering the war since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, according to CPJ research. Multiple Ukrainian journalists have been detained in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.

    Russia was the world’s fourth-worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s 2023 prison census, with at least 22 journalists, including Roshchina, behind bars as of December 1.

    CPJ’s emails to the Russian Ministry of Defense and Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War about Roshchina did not receive an immediate response.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Early after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Turkey, which is a NATO member but not as subservient to the U.S. Government as almost all of its European members are, broke with the U.S. Government’s opposition to there being any negotiations to settle the Ukraine war; and peace talks, negotiations to end the conflict, were held in Istanbul. As Wikipedia notes regarding those negotiations:

    In a surprise visit to Ukraine on 9 April [2022], British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “Putin is a war criminal, he should be pressured, not negotiated with,” and that the collective West was not willing to make a deal with Putin. Three days after Johnson left Kyiv, Putin stated publicly that talks with Ukraine “had turned into a dead end”. Naftali Bennett said in 2023 that both sides had wanted a ceasefire, the odds of the deal holding had been 50-50, and that the Western powers backing Ukraine had stopped the deal.[79]

    Mr. Johnson had received U.S. President Joe Biden’s authorization to do that — to go to  Ukraine’s President Volodmyr Zelensky to inform him that The West (the U.S. empire, including NATO) would cease supporting Ukraine’s Government if Ukraine would sign the till-then-agreed-upon but not-yet-signed peace treaty with Russia, which entailed Russia’s ceasing its invasion in return for Ukraine’s returning to its neutral status which had prevailed prior to the US. Government’s take-over of Ukraine on 20 February 2014, and Ukraine’s ceasing its efforts to restore to Ukraine the 22% of the former Ukraine’s territory that Russia then was occupying. Biden insisted upon the Ukrainian Government’s pursuing an all-or-nothing strategy to defeat Russia in the battlefields of Ukraine — or else Ukraine would lose Western support in its war against Russia. (The reason for this policy from Biden is that though such a peace treaty would have been far better for Ukraine, since the million-or-so deaths, that continuing the war entails, would have been prevented, such a treaty would have totally ended America’s ownership of Ukraine, which was won by the Obama-Biden Administration’s stunningly successful coup in February 2014, which grabbed control of Ukraine away from the people of Ukraine. The U.S. Government wants to continue controlling Ukraine’s Government.)

    Publicly, the U.S. Government continues to insist upon a total defeat of Russia in the battlefields of Ukraine. However, it also states that, “as we have been consistently saying, it’s going to be up to President Zelenskyy, if and when he wants to negotiate an end to this war. Certainly, a negotiated end is the most likely outcome here. But when that happens, and under what conditions and circumstances, that’s going to be up to President Zelenskyy.” In other words: if Ukraine’s Government will lose the war against Russia, and Russia will win the war against Ukraine, then (according to the Biden Administration) only Ukraine’s Government will have lost it; the U.S. Government and its NATO military alliance won’t also have lost it. This is the message from the White House, two-and-a-half years after it had ordered Ukraine’s Government to continue this war until Russia will have been defeated.

    All U.S. regime media are trying to either blame Ukraine’s Government, or else blame the Government (i.e., the U.S. Government) that has, in fact, been controlling Ukraine’s Government, for Ukraine’s losing this war. Domestically within the United States, the Biden Administration and its Vice President Kamala Harris would rather that Ukraine’s defeat be held off till after the November 5 elections, so that their Party will win on November 5. But, if the defeat comes after she has won the election, then there will be total pressure upon Zelensky to quit before she becomes inaugurated on January 20th, so that this loss won’t be blamed upon her — won’t occur during her Presidency.

    On September 30, The Atlantic magazine, which is owned by the Democratic Party billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs, the intensely neoconservative widow and heir of Steve Jobs, headlined “The Abandonment of Ukraine: The American strategy in Ukraine is slowly bleeding the nation, and its people, to death.” It argued against “the most unsettling thing we saw [in Ukraine] was the American strategy in Ukraine, one that gives the Ukrainian people just enough military aid not to lose their war but not enough to win it. This strategy is slowly bleeding Ukraine, and its people, to death.” And it closed:

    The war in Ukraine is at risk of being lost — not because the Russians are winning but because Ukraine’s allies have not allowed them to win. If we encourage the Ukrainians to fight while failing to give them the tools they need for victory, history will surely conclude that the Russians weren’t the only ones who committed crimes against Ukraine.

    How can this be “not because the Russians are winning”? How not only definitionally false, but outright stupid, is that statement? 925,872 people in the deceived U.S. empire are paying subscription fees for such neocon propaganda, basically pushing for WW3. What Ms. Jobs’s agents are arguing for there is to escalate this war to being a direct war between the U.S. Government (and all of its ‘allies’ or colonies) versus Russia’s Government and Russia’s people. How many Americans really even want that — WW3 — in order to continue the U.S. Government’s control over what still remains of Ukrainian territory? Is Ukraine necessary for protecting U.S. national security? Of course not. But if you are a rabidly neocon Democrat, then you want the Biden-Harris Administration to go at least to the brink of WW3, if necessary, in order to prevent the loss of Ukraine.

    What the Democratic Party half of America’s Deep State — and Ms. Jobs is part of that — are doing is to try to force the Democratic Party officials to go all the way up to WW3 if that’s what it takes in order to ‘win’ against Russia in Ukraine. This is what’s called a “proxy war.” It has, all along, been part of the U.S. regime’s long war to conquer Russia. Russian citizens have been well informed about this, but the subjects in the U.S. empire have not.

    On 2 October 2024, EurAsia Daily headlined the video of a former adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Alexei Arestovich, who had advised President Zelensky at the Istanbul peace negotiations in 2022, “The Ukrainian front is collapsing, the loss of Coal is only the beginning of a catastrophe — Arestovich,” and presented him saying, “The training system has failed, there is no basic motivation in the troops, but there is an understanding that the stated goal of the war — reaching the borders of 1991 — is unrealistic in these specific circumstances. In addition, there is no motivation due to domestic politics, where every day those in power put forward new proposals on restrictions on citizens – from cultural and language bans to economic ones, new corruption scandals open almost every day and the mess in the management of the army and the state intensifies.”

    A “DavidZ” posted also on October 2nd lengthier quotations from Arestovich’s video:

    “In two to three months, well, three to four, the front, which is currently crumbling in two directions, and slowly retreating in three, will begin to crumble in six or seven. This flow will become uncontrollable. This means a collapse of the front,” he said.

    He stated that in this case, the Russian army will shift the war to maneuver warfare, leading to “the collapse of the front as such.”

    “When all these 700,000 with automatic weapons and artillery cannot hold the front line, the enemy will start to rapidly advance inward, cutting off Kharkov and reaching Poltava, Dnepr, and Zaporozhye. This will lead to the loss of key industrial centers of Ukraine,” the former presidential office advisor noted.

    Arestovych identified the main reason for what is happening as the lack of a reserve of motivated infantry.

    “No drones can help reach the borders of any year if infantry soldiers do not walk this path under enemy fire… The training system has failed, there is a lack of basic motivation in the troops, but there is an understanding that the declared goal of the war – reaching the borders of 1991 – is unrealistic under these specific circumstances,” he explained.

    “Moreover, motivation is lacking due to internal politics, where every day new proposals are put forward by the powerful to limit citizens’ rights: from cultural and language bans to economic restrictions. Almost every day, new corruption scandals emerge, and the chaos in the management of the army and the state intensifies,” added the former presidential office advisor.

    Arestovych believes that “now the only way out is to sober up, stop the war, and begin a complete reorganization of the state system.”

    On 26 October 2024, the widely respected military-affairs blogger “Simplicius,” headlined  “SITREP 10/5/24: Post-Ugledar Landscape Unfurls into Dark Ukrainian Future,” and reported, from numerous reliable sources on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine, the end closing-in on the existing Government of Ukraine. One in Ukraine headlined on October 2nd, (translated) “’We Simply Had No One and Nothing Left to Fight with’ — A Rpresentative of the 72nd Brigade Battalion Headquarters on Leaving Vuhledar.” It reported:

    After two years of defense of Vuhledar, the Ukrainian military withdrew from the city. Today, the Khortytsia operational and strategic grouping of troops officially announced this: ‘Having suffered numerous losses as a result of prolonged fighting, the enemy did not give up trying to capture Vuhledar. In an attempt to take control of the town at any cost, they managed to send reserves to conduct flanking attacks that exhausted the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As a result of the enemy’s actions, the city was threatened with encirclement. The Higher Command gave permission for a maneuver to withdraw units from Vuhledar in order to save personnel and military equipment, and to take up a position for further actions.’

    That was a long and strategically crucial battle.

    Also on October 6, Russia’s RT News headlined “Russian ambassador to US returns home: Anatoly Antonov has left Washington, during a period of fractured ties between the two countries,” and reported that, “‘The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has ended his service in Washington and is on his way to Moscow,’ the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement carried by Russian news agencies. The ministry did not provide any additional details and has so far not named his successor.” This is normally the sort of thing that happens shortly before a war breaks out between two countries, in order to protect their diplomats from dangers where they are, such as becoming hit by their own country’s weapons.

    Both of the two U.S. Presidential nominees have been saying nothing about whether, as the President, they would go all the way to WW3 in order to prevent Russia from winning in Ukraine. And none of the ‘news’ media have asked about that. The only possible exception is that on September 17, Donald Trump co-authored with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at The Hill, “Negotiate with Moscow to end the Ukraine war and prevent nuclear devastation,” which contradicts not only what Kamala Harris has said, but some of the things that Trump has said. It is entirely consistent, however, with what RFK Jr. has been saying. On the other hand, even Mr. Kennedy has not addressed specifically the question of whether, as the President, he would go all the way to WW3 in order to prevent Russia from winning in Ukraine. So: there has been no public discussion of such a question. Perhaps the American pubic don’t even care about it. Would most people be interested in a candidate’s position on it? If not, then is this a democracy? And if so, then is this a democracy? In fact, wouldn’t a democracy be focused upon this issue above any other? Americans aren’t focusing upon it at all. Nor are the publics in any of the U.S. Government’s colonies.

    The post Biden-Harris Killed the 2022 Ukraine-War Peace Deal first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Despite the modern trend of the society liberalization, 2024 was marked by a number of assassination attempts on world leaders and cases of exerting pressure on prominent politicians. On the 15th of May, Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, and just a couple of months later the similar scenario repeated in the USA, where a young gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Following these events, people began to compare both of these crimes and found out that the shooting victims were independent politicians who actively opposed the continuation of the Ukraine-Russia conflict and had an alternative vision of the world order. Therefore, it’s suggested that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic could become the next victims of the “hunt on dissent”.

    Viktor Orban, who had already been criticized by the EU leadership and leaders of several countries, just further worsened situation by visiting Beijing and Moscow in July this year. For some reason, it was not taken into account that the visits were part of Orban’s “peace mission” for Ukraine, and that within the framework of the mission he visited not only China and Russia, but also the USA and Ukraine. The European Union, promoting freedom and independence as its main values and standing against war and violence, strongly condemned the action of the Hungarian minister. European countries can’t admit that Orban is one of the few politicians who at least tries to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict peacefully, while others, on the contrary, can only write about it on social networks. Moreover, in response to Orban’s controversial visits the European Commission decided to boycott Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council. Why is the desire to resolve a conflict considered a negative action? And why is the leader of a sovereign state dictated which countries he can or cannot visit, and punished for “disobeying the instruction”?

    As for Serbia, it faces constant pressure over non-recognition of Kosovo’s independence, maintenance of military neutrality and its attitude towards Russia’s war on Ukraine. It’s quite expected that external actors, in particular the EU, negatively assessing Belgrade’s desire to pursue an independent policy, may try to undermine the stability in Serbia and discredit the “unfavorable” President. Accusations of the possible involvement of high-ranking Serbian officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, one of the closest associates of the Serbian President, in the armed attack in Banjska, are just another attempt to subvert the authority of Aleksandar Vucic with the further aim to replace him with a loyal candidate. The question arises: why does a liberal and free Europe, which condemns aggression and totalitarianism, turn into a harsh censor, punishing those acting against its interests?

    At all times, those who were not afraid to go against the flow, face public misunderstanding and criticism. However, in the 21st century, when freedom and independence are recognized as the highest values, news about the “cancellation” or even elimination of people seems particularly shocking. Instead of working together to peacefully solve global issues and problems, politicians just heighten tensions in the geopolitical arena.

    The post Independent Politicians Become Victims of the War on Dissent first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • New York, October 8, 2024—Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate the recent attacks on journalists Yuriy Leskiv, Elmira Shagabuddinova, and Olena Hnitetska, and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

    “CPJ condemns the intimidation of journalists Yuriy Leskiv, Elmira Shagabuddinova, and Olena Hnitetska, and calls on Ukrainian authorities to ensure timely investigations,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must hold the perpetrators to account and ensure that journalists can work safely. No journalist should be subjected to violence for reporting matters of public interest.”

    On September 26, in the western city of Sambir, two unidentified men in the street cursed Leskiv, a freelance journalist, attempted to physically attack him, and said that he should stop writing about the activities of the mayor and other local officials, according to a Facebook post by the journalist and a post by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a local advocacy and trade group. The police have identified the two individuals, according to another Facebook post by Leskiv, who regularly reports on alleged corruption and wrongdoings involving local officials.

    Separately, on September 29, in the southeast city of Zaporizhzhia, an unspecified number of individuals obstructed Shagabuddinova, a journalist with the local news website 061.ua, while she was reporting on the aftermath of a Russian strike on a residential area, according to the Ukrainian press freedom group Institute of Mass Information (IMI). A woman tried to snatch Shagabuddinova’s phone from her hands and demanded she delete the pictures she had taken. Shagabuddinova filed a complaint with the police.

    On September 30, in the southeastern city of Kherson, an unidentified man assaulted Hnitetska, a journalist with the online news outlet MOST, while she was reporting on the construction of underground schools in the city, according to IMI and a Facebook post by the Kherson police, who are investigating the assault. The man prevented Hnitetska from filming the construction site, snatched her phone from her hands, and threw it into a construction pit.

    CPJ emailed Ukraine’s national police for comment on the three cases but did not immediately receive a response.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

  • Russia confirms liberation of key Donbass townFILE PHOTO. ©  Sputnik/Alexey Maishev

    Russian forces have completely liberated the town of Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the Defense Ministry in Moscow has confirmed.

    Ukrainian forces had controlled the settlement since 2014, when the DPR declared independence following a US-backed coup in Kiev. Ugledar was a strategically important position, featuring high-rise buildings overlooking the surrounding plain.

    “As a result of conclusive operations by the units of the ‘East’ group of forces, the town of Ugledar in the DPR has been liberated,” the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.

    Video footage and images of Russian troops in control of Ugledar appeared on social media on Wednesday, showing a flag raised over its administration building. Later in the day, the Ukrainian high command said it had ordered “a maneuver of withdrawal” from the town. It was unclear whether any units had actually been able to leave the operational encirclement.

    According to a security source who spoke to TASS news agency, Russian forces had almost completed “mopped up” the Ukrainian resistance as of Wednesday afternoon. Some of Kiev’s units had suffered “huge losses” after not being able to leave, the source added.

    The 72nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was stationed in Ugledar, had reportedly sought permission to retreat last week, as Russian troops cut off their supply lines and placed the town under siege. According to multiple Russian military correspondents, their requests were denied because losing Ugledar would look bad while Vladimir Zelensky was visiting the US.

    Russian forces had tried to take Ugledar on several occasions in the past. The most promising attack saw them capture the adjacent cottage district, but ultimately failed because of Ukrainian artillery support located in Kurakhovo to the north. In recent weeks, however, Russian advances collapsed the Ukrainian front north of Kurakhovo and threatened that town as well.

    The post Russia Confirms Liberation of Key Donbass Town first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  •  

    Ukraine has for months been asking the Biden administration for permission to use long-range US, British and French weapons to strike deeper in Russian territory, which would be a clear escalation in the war. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the move would cross a red line for him, and recently announced that he was loosening Russia’s nuclear doctrine for using nuclear weapons.

    Despite the risks of such escalation—and a lack of evidence that it would shift the war in Ukraine’s favor—Biden’s public reluctance to loosen his limits has been met in the war-hungry media primarily with derision.

    Lowering the bar

    AP: Putin lowers threshold of nuclear response as he issues new warnings to the West over Ukraine

    Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that “any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country” (AP, 9/25/24).

    The US, Britain and France have all supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles, including Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). But Biden has thus far limited their use to border areas. Britain and France are following Biden’s lead on range limitations.

    Last month, in response to further advances by Russia into Ukraine, Ukraine launched a surprise invasion into Russian territory in Kursk. Since then, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pressed the US for more and longer-range missiles, Putin has increasingly raised the specter of nuclear retaliation.

    Under its 2020 nuclear doctrine, Russia could respond with nuclear strikes to nuclear or conventional attacks it deemed a “threat to its existence,” if they came from a nuclear power. His new doctrine lowers the bar, so that a “critical attack” on Russia carried out with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” would be grounds for launching a nuclear response—including against the supporting power.

    In other words, if Ukraine used long-range missiles supplied by a NATO power to launch an attack on Russia that it deemed “critical,” Putin could respond with a nuclear strike, against either Ukraine or against that NATO country.

    Dismissing the nuclear risk

    In the opinion pages of US corporate media, the risk of nuclear war or other retaliation by Putin was quickly dismissed, as outlets pressed Biden for further escalation.

    WaPo: Ukraine needs long-range missiles before winter’s onset

    The Washington Post (9/22/24) encourages the US to offer “NATO training and assistance” to help Ukraine attack targets hundreds of miles inside Russia. What could go wrong?

    The Washington Post editorial board (9/22/24) urged Biden to acquiesce to Zelenskyy under the headline, “Ukraine Needs Long-Range Missiles Before Winter’s Onset.” The board argued that since Putin has issued “red lines” in the past that could prompt nuclear war, and “has not followed through on his threats,” therefore

    there’s no reason to think now he would risk a wider war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at a time when his forces are already severely depleted.

    The board suggested that Putin is more likely to “align himself with Iran or its proxies to strike at US forces in the Middle East.” Though it deemed that “a risk worth weighing,” it didn’t discuss it any further. It concluded: “Mr. Biden needs to give permission and set the ground rules quickly.”

    Politico editor-at-large Matthew Kaminski (9/18/24) called Zelenskyy’s request “a fair ask.” He made a similar argument to the Post editors that Putin’s “threatening noises” after each “allegedly escalatory step” from the US never turn into actions.

    The Wall Street Journal editorial board (8/28/24) simply dismissed worries of escalation out of hand:

    The Biden administration fears Mr. Putin might escalate his war if Ukraine puts more of his military at risk, but the war isn’t winding down. Ukraine has been attacking Russian targets with domestically produced drones, and on Sunday President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the “first successful combat use of our new weapon—a Ukrainian long-range rocket drone” designed “to destroy the enemy’s offensive potential.”

    The Hill published a column by Joseph Bosco (10/1/24) that sneered, “Biden is clearly intimidated by Putin’s threats of retaliation, as stated again last week regarding Zelenskyy’s request for longer strike authority.” Apparently readers were supposed to just dismiss those threats, because Bosco didn’t even try to make an argument about them.

    Barely bothering to justify

    WSJ: ATACMS and Russia’s Sanctuary

    The Wall Street Journal‘s response (8/28/24) to worries that giving Ukraine long-range missiles will escalate the war: “the war isn’t winding down” anyway.

    When it came time to justify the escalation, pundits seemed content to make noises about the need for victory, barely bothering to offer actual arguments about why long-range missiles in particular would achieve that goal.

    The Journal editors wrote that Biden’s “latest bad excuse” for not giving Zelenskyy what he wants “is that such strikes wouldn’t make much of a difference.” They cited the neoconservative, military industry–funded Institute for the Study of War, which suggested that even if Russia has already moved 90% of its military aircraft out of reach of those missiles, as Biden officials argued, there were plenty of other things a trigger-happy military could hit. The Journal concluded with the vague claim that “the US can strengthen Ukraine’s position and make negotiations to end the war more likely.”

    The Post also cited the ISW, and wrote weakly that the long-range missiles “could” hit Russian “arms depots, air fields and military bases,” which “perhaps…might force Mr. Putin to draw back his deadly cache further from Ukraine’s borders.”

    Politico‘s Kaminski simply argued that Ukrainians need “a morale and momentum shift,” and “lowering the restrictions on missile use could help.”

    Dubious experts

    NYT: Biden Poised to Approve Ukraine’s Use of Long-Range Western Weapons in Russia

    The New York Times (9/12/24) says a “growing number” of experts think “the administration’s reticence” to give Ukraine long-range missiles “makes no sense”—citing a letter whose 17 signatories were replete with pro-NATO and neoconservative think tank affiliations.

    Establishment media’s news sections were sometimes little better than their opinion sections. The New York Times (9/12/24) splashed on its front page an article about the pressure on Biden to give Ukraine the green light that suggested a growing consensus among experts that Biden’s reluctance is nonsensical:

    To a growing number of military analysts and former US officials, the administration’s reticence makes no sense, especially since, they say, Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk has yet to elicit an escalatory response from Moscow.

    “Easing the restrictions on Western weapons will not cause Moscow to escalate,” 17 former ambassadors and generals wrote in a letter to the administration this week. “We know this because Ukraine is already striking territory Russia considers its own—including Crimea and Kursk—with these weapons and Moscow’s response remains unchanged.”

    Two weeks later—and buried on page 9—the Times (9/26/24) reported quite a different story:

    US intelligence agencies believe that Russia is likely to retaliate with greater force against the United States and its coalition partners, possibly with lethal attacks, if they agree to give the Ukrainians permission to employ US-, British- and French-supplied long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, US officials said.

    The intelligence assessment, which has not been previously reported, also plays down the effect that the long-range missiles will have on the course of the conflict, because the Ukrainians currently have limited numbers of the weapons and it is unclear how many more, if any, the Western allies might provide.

    ‘Silver bullet or powder keg’?

    USA Today: Why long-range missiles could be either a silver bullet or a powder keg for Ukraine-Russia war

    USA Today‘s military expert (9/26/24) presents the possibility that “the war would drag on even longer” as a positive consequence to giving missiles to Ukraine.

    The same day, a USA Today headline (9/26/24) read, “Why Long-Range Missiles Could Be Either a Silver Bullet or a Powder Keg for Ukraine/Russia War.” The promised “silver bullet” never fully materialized in the text, but the paper’s sole quoted source—who was given several paragraphs—skewed the article entirely in that direction.

    That source was Fred Kagan of the neoconservative, military industry–funded American Enterprise Institute. Kagan is also affiliated with the Institute for the Study of War (which was founded by his wife, Kimberly Kagan) and was an influential proponent of “surges” in both Iraq and Afghanistan—in other words, he’s about as hawkish as they come.

    Under the subhead, “How the weapons could help Ukraine fight Russia,” the paper quoted Kagan explaining that long-range missile strikes could “reduce the effectiveness of Russian military action.” It also paraphrased an anonymous “senior Defense official” who, unlike their administration, seemed to favor the move, noting that one “strategic effect” would be that “the war would drag on even longer.” (The official presented this as a positive development, in that it would force Moscow to “to reconsider its costs.”)

    USA Today also gave Kagan the last word, to argue that Putin’s threats are “hollow”:

    “The burden thus far has been put on those advocating for allowing Ukraine to strike legitimate military targets in Russia,” Kagan said. “But I think the burden really needs to shift now to those who say that some fear of an unspecified escalation should continue to cause us to hold the Ukrainians back.”

    Contrary opinions hard to find

    WaPo: Don’t underestimate the risks of escalation over Ukraine

    The usually hawkish David Ignatius (Washington Post, 9/30/24) was one of the few voices in corporate media urging caution about helping Ukraine launch missiles at nuclear-armed Russia.

    It’s been hard to find voices calling for restraint in major corporate media—with a few notable exceptions. One came in a Hill column (9/17/24) under a byline shared by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Donald Trump, Jr. They warned that “nuclear war would mean the end of civilization as we know it, maybe even the end of the human species.” The op-ed took the opportunity to plug candidate Donald Trump as the one “who has vowed to end this war.”

    Trump, of course, argued in his televised debate with Kamala Harris that “we’re playing with World War III” in Ukraine. What he and his Hill proxies neglected to mention is that Trump, while in office, pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia, both of which greatly increased the likelihood of nuclear war or “World War III.”

    Another pro-restraint take came from longtime Post columnist David Ignatius, who just over a year ago reported being compelled by Ukraine’s “moral argument” for using cluster bombs (FAIR.org, 7/8/23). Ignatius (9/30/24) struck a markedly less hawkish tone recently, writing that “the Ukraine conflict is probably as close as we’ve come to the brink of all-out superpower war since the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis.” He concluded: “We’re very lucky, on balance, that [Biden] doesn’t play a reckless game.”

    Otherwise, one mostly had to look to outlets in the tank for Trump, or independent outlets like the Nation (9/18/24) and Current Affairs (9/25/24), for skepticism of military escalation.

    As Current Affairs‘ Nathan Robinson points out, even if Biden resists the pressure,

    with the foreign policy “blob” so willing to risk all of our lives, the next president, whether Trump or Harris, may well be less resistant to the pressures that push presidents toward taking extraordinarily risky gambles that imperil all of humanity.

    We could sure use a media more skeptical of that blob, rather than one that gleefully joins in.


    Research assistance: Elsie Carson-Holt.

    This post was originally published on FAIR.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • For sure since its 2023 invasion Russia has been taking a horrific amount of Ukrainian lives and causing a vast amount of injuries as most all wars do, however the constant and much longer ongoing killing and injuring during the Ukrainian civil war since the overthrow of the democratically elected Ukrainian government in 2014, has been entirely and utterly unmentioned in the hegemonic media of the West (as witnessed by this writer, who has been following this absence daily in both internet and television).

    For example, although the present Ukrainian Government has been shelling Donbas since 2014, killing civilians including children. When Russia evacuates children to safety, hegemonic West media broadcasts and telecasts Ukraine accusing Russia of kidnapping.

    One exception to the silence regarding Ukrainians killing their own dissidents was heard during a CBS 60 Minutes segment mainly about the Russian invasion in which a Ukrainian woman was asked what she thought could be done about the secessionists when she answered in a determined sounding voice, “We must kill them!” (One can assume this is not the attitude of the average Ukrainian) [Sorry I was unable to document which episode of 60 Minutes about Ukraine was shown this year]

    On the other hand, hegemonic West media reporting has in the case of the now made famous Bucha massacre been affluent in regarding uncorroborated ‘evidence’ of atrocities. Might it be enough to note here that the mayor of Bucha happily announcing the withdrawal of Russian troops made no mention of anything disastrous let alone the atrocities and massacres that were announced by the Ukrainian military four days later and that the Russian call for an immediate Security Council investigation was blocked by the presiding member delegate of Britain.

    In April 2022, Russia requested that the Security Council hold a meeting to investigate the Bucha massacre, where Ukrainian civilians were found dead in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv. Russia claimed that the deaths were staged and sought to challenge the narrative presented by Ukraine and other countries. The investigation into the Bucha massacre by the United Nations Security Council, was indeed blocked due to the action of the British delegate.

    One can note the lack of motive on the part of the withdrawing Russian military while Ukrainians might well want to see invading Russians further condemned and/or sought to ‘settle scores’ with insufficiently ‘patriotic’ Ukrainians of Russian ethnicity.

    CIA-overseen Western Media Has Intentionally Blacked Out All Mention of the U.S. Backed 2014 Ukrainian Neo-Fascist Orchestrated Bloody Overthrow of Ukrainian Democracy, the Ongoing  Purge of All Russian Culture and an Immediate War on Ukraine’s Own Ethnic Russian Seceding Citizens that is still ongoing.

    The events that led to the violent overthrow of the democratically elected government of the Ukraine began in November 2013 and culminated in February 2014. The core issue was whether Ukraine should strengthen ties with the European Union or maintain closer relations with Russia.

    Ukraine was facing a significant decision: to sign a costly association agreement with the European Union, which would have integrated the country more closely with European markets and political institutions, or to accept a financial package from Russia, which included a $15 billion loan and a reduction in gas prices.

    However, the association agreement with the European Union came with significant financial and structural reform demands, which were seen as costly and challenging.

    On the other hand, Russia’s offer provided immediate economic relief without the stringent requirements of the EU, but despite the better immediate financial deal from Russia, a large segment of the Ukrainian population, particularly in the western part of the country, favored closer ties with the EU. The Ukrainian government’s decision in late November 2013 to suspend the signing of the EU agreement sparked mass protests in Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square).

    People’s revolution or coup d’état?

    With the active support of the United States and EU member states, preparations for launching and organizing the protests, as well as deploying the media, began long before Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to postpone signing the agreement with the EU. The most notable outlet covering the Euromaidan was an internet channel called Hromadske.tv (Public TV), which received a $50,000 grant from the US Embassy in September 2013. Another $95,000 was added by the Embassy of the Netherlands. 

    The Coup

    A violent overthrow of a democratic government resulting in war, poverty and the rise of the neo-Nazis.

    U.S. Senator John McCain went to Ukraine and stood on stage with a known anti-Semitic neo-Nazi. McCain was repeatedly photographed with Oleh Tyahnybok, the leader of the right wing nationalist party Svoboda.

    The West made no effort to hide its interest. Western politicians spoke openly on the Maidan, and EU diplomats attended speeches. Victoria Nuland, an official representative of the US State Department, was not only personally in the Maidan, but also discussed the appointment of the future rulers of Ukraine. She later acknowledged that the US had allocated $5 billion to Ukraine to “promote democracy.”

    On February 20, 2014, events entered a decisive stage. In the morning, firearms began to be used on the Maidan, which led to the deaths of both protesters and police officers. Those deaths have never been investigated.

    Research conducted by Dr. Ivan Katchanovski on the Maidan “Snipers’ massacre” of February 2014 has shown that the killings of 49 protesters were organized by far right paramilitary groups and allied political parties, not the former government’s Berkut riot police, as claimed by the current Kiev government and repeated by Western media

    A study of the February 20, 2014 “Snipers’ massacre” in Kiev, where scores of protesters were killed by shots fired from surrounding buildings, has proved that it was carried out by Western-backed opposition groups.The research found that the Berkut special police force, which was loyal to the Ukrainian government, was not responsible, contrary to the narrative which was created by the post-Maidan coup government in Kiev, and consequently accepted by Western governments and media.

    Ivan Katchanovski, a teacher of political science at the University of Ottawa, studied eyewitness reports, estimates of ballistic trajectories, 30 gigabytes of security forces’ radio intercepts, 5,000 photos and 1,500 videos and broadcast recordings of the protesters’ deaths.

    Katchanovski in his study, called ‘The “Snipers’ Massacre” on the Maidan in Ukraine,’ wrote:

    “This academic investigation concludes that the massacre was a false flag operation, which was rationally planned and carried out with a goal of the overthrow of the government and seizure of power.

    I found various evidence proving the involvement of an alliance of the far right organizations, specifically the Right Sector and Svoboda, and oligarchic parties, such as Fatherland. Concealed shooters and spotters were located in at least 20 Maidan-controlled buildings or areas.

    The deaths of 49 protesters on February 20 have been attributed by Kiev’s current government to the Berkut special police force, loyal to then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych’s government. Western governments and media, which have represented the massacre and the Maidan protests as a democratic, peaceful mass —protest movement and a revolution led by pro-Western parties,”

    • Night of February 21-22: Euromaidan activists occupy government buildings and the parliament.
    • 22 February 2014, 12:29pm: The head of the Verkhovna Rada, Vladimir Rybak, is removed from office.
    • 12:34pm: Alexander Turchinov is elected as chairman in his place.
    • 5:11pm: The resolution ‘On the self-removal of the president of Ukraine from the exercise of constitutional powers’ is adopted.
    • 23 February 2014, 12:36pm: A resolution is passed to assign the duties of the president to the chair of the Verkhovna Rada.

    Though the deadline stipulated in the agreement for amending the constitution had not yet been reached, the EU recognized as legitimate the appointment of the chair of the Verkhovna Rada to be the acting president of Ukraine.

    (February 2014, Kiev Maidan Snipers: Western-Backed Opposition’s False Flag? Study By Sputnik,  January 2015)

    Officially, the war in the Donbass began on April 13, 2014, when Acting President Turchinov announced the launch of an “antiterrorist operation,” following the Donetsk People’s Republic’s declaration of independence on April 7. The Lugansk People’s Republic declared independence on April 27.

    Meanwhile, people living in the pro-Russian southeastern regions of Ukraine simply organized protests at the weekend, hoping the new government would listen to them. Unlike their opponents, the 30 protesters who were burned alive in the Trade Unions Building in Odessa were not armed. It all came to light in The Masks of the Revolution – a French documentary by Canal+ that the Ukrainian Embassy demanded be banned in Europe.

    On May 9, 2014, Ukrainian tanks entered Mariupol city center, where unarmed people were marching in celebration of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War.

    This writer was amazed to find over a hundred videos on YouTube on the subject of Ukrainian Nazis, most all of which appear well documented.

    E.g., ‘Leaked Pics Show Ukrainian Soldiers Wearing Nazi Symbols In France;’ ‘Germany expelled seven Ukrainian troops for wearing Nazi symbols.’

    A Concluding Synopsis By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    Below is a transcription of highlights of RFKjr’s review of the tragedy in the Ukraine.

    “The war is the predictable response of Russia to the neocon project to expand NATO and encircle Russia. The U.S. unilaterally walked away from two intermediate nuclear weapons treaties with Russia and then put nuclear weapons systems in Romania and Poland. This was an extremely hostile act, and the Biden White House repeatedly spurned Russia’s offers to settle this confrontation peacefully.

    “The Ukraine war began in 2014 when US agencies overthrew the democratically elected government of Ukraine and installed a hand-picked pro-Western government that launched a deadly civil war against ethnic Russians in Ukraine. In 2019, America walked away from a peace treaty, the Minsk Agreement, that had been negotiated between Ukraine and Russia and the European nations. In April 2022, we wanted the war. President Biden sent [then UK prime minister] Boris Johnson to Ukraine to force President [Volodymyr] Zelensky to tear up a peace agreement that he and the Russians had already signed, and the Russians were already withdrawing troops.”

    “That peace agreement,” Kennedy added, “would have brought peace to the region and allowed Donbass to remain part of Ukraine.”

    Biden’s “objective in the war is regime change in Russia.” “His Defense Secretary [Lloyd] Austin…explained that the purpose of the war was to exhaust the Russian army and degrade its capacity to fight fighting anywhere else in the world.”

    “These objectives had nothing to do with what they were telling Americans about protecting Ukraine’s sovereignty. Ukraine is a victim in this war and it’s a victim of the West…We’ve squandered the flower of Ukrainian youth, as many as 600,000 Ukrainian kids, and over 100,000 Russian kids, all of whom we should be mourning.… Ukraine’s infrastructure has been destroyed…The war has been a disaster for our country, too. We’ve squandered nearly US$200 billion already that was badly needed in our communities.”

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