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Slobodan Milosevic

International A.N.S.W.E.R

Home Front: Politix

20060501

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Europe

'Revolution of Garbage Bins': Protesters Want to Send Serbia to the Dump

2025-07-01

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Oleg Khavich

[REGNUM] Protests against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic have reached a fundamentally new level, paralyzing the country.

Last Saturday, June 28, Serbia celebrated Vidovdan, the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, which is considered the beginning of the Turkish yoke. Serbian Tsar Lazar died in the battle, but Serbian knight Milos Obilic managed to kill Turkish Sultan Murad after the battle. It was Obilic's example that inspired Gavrilo Princip, who killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, which became the reason for the outbreak of World War I.

As a result of two world wars, it seemed that the Serbs had received their own small empire – Yugoslavia, but in fact, in this state they found themselves in the role of Russians in the USSR. It was at the expense of Serbia that the rest of Yugoslavia was developed, and only in Serbia – the only one of all the Yugoslav republics – were autonomies created. At the same time, Kosovo, the core of the national myth of the Serbs, actually became Albanian.

The leader of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, tried to change the situation by proclaiming the need for national emancipation of Serbs on all historical lands, including outside the artificial borders of the Federal Republic of Serbia, on the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. In response, the elites of the other republics, with the support of the West, first destroyed Yugoslavia and then Serbia (Kosovo has been occupied by NATO troops since June 1999), and Milosevic himself was overthrown and extradited to The Hague on June 28, 2001, as a result of the first “color revolution.”

Given the importance of Vidovdan for the Serbs, this year both the opposition, which has been holding mass protests against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic since November of last year, and Vucic himself, have been carefully preparing for June 28.

Let us recall: On November 1, 2024, in the city of Novi Sad, the recently renovated canopy of the railway station, one of the key objects on the high-speed railway Belgrade-Budapest, collapsed. The opposition blamed Vučić personally, as well as China, whose companies are reconstructing this section of the Serbian railways.

Since then, protests have been ongoing in the country and education has been completely blocked in all public and most private higher education institutions – it is the “protesting students” who are the main proxy force of the opposition, which relies on the support of Brussels.

On the other hand, for several months now, in front of the building of the Serbian Assembly (parliament), there has been a tent city of “students who want to study”, openly supported by the authorities and personally by Vucic.

It is clear that in the ranks of both there are not only students.

At the same time, the Serbian "guardians" are habitually passive, while the "overthrowers of power" actively incite hatred towards their opponents, calling them "chatsi". This is a corrupted Serbian word "Gatsi" ("students") - approximately how to write "uchinEki" in Russian - which is supposed to emphasize the ignorance and backwardness of Vucic's supporters.

On June 28, the opposition announced another “mass protest” in Belgrade, which was supposed to be “the last warning for Vucic.”

True, the president did not sit idly by either: a few days before Vidovdan, all pro-government TV channels aired a “journalistic investigation” – recordings of discussions of the opposition’s real plans to block highways, bridges, and physically destroy the facilities of the EXPO-2027 World Exhibition, which are being built near Belgrade International Airport.

The cynicism of the speakers was astounding: they directly calculated the possible losses to the Serbian budget from the blockade of transport routes and stated that Vucic would not last “more than two weeks” in such a regime.

Some organizers directly said that "Murad must be killed," meaning the Serbian president, the authorities must be seized, and if that succeeds, mass civil disobedience must be carried out. Six conspirators were detained, and one of them was found to have a pistol with the serial number filed off.

On the eve of Vidovdan, the “protesting students” announced their ultimatum to the president: to dissolve parliament by 21:00 on June 28 and call early parliamentary elections, as well as to remove the tent camp in front of the Assembly.

Vucic immediately responded that Serbia does not accept ultimatums (referring to the ultimatum of Austria-Hungary in 1914), and the police will protect citizens and the constitutional order in the country from any encroachment.

It is worth noting that on June 27, all passenger train traffic in Serbia was suspended for several hours due to reports of explosive devices being installed on all trains and tracks.

The protest itself in Belgrade on the evening of June 28 was quite calm, there were no attempts to break through to the parliament building, key transport interchanges or EXPO-2027 sites. The police estimated the number of protesters at 36 thousand people, the organizers - at 140 thousand. The truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

The most interesting thing began after the end of the action, when its organizers announced that they were no longer responsible for the behavior of people on the streets - they say that now there are not students there, but ordinary citizens who will remain there until victory.

True, citizens began to act as a well-oiled machine: some tried to seize traffic interchanges and bridges, and a larger group moved towards the Skupština building. Stones, flares and firecrackers were thrown at the police and gendarmes, who by that time had taken control of the center of Belgrade, and the first overturned garbage cans appeared on the streets. Several dozen hooligans were arrested, 48 police officers were injured.

Protesters in Belgrade have called for the destruction of Serbia in a civil war, the speaker of the National Assembly and former Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic said on Sunday night.

In turn, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that during the riots in Belgrade on Sunday night, “only by a miracle” there were no casualties.

And although the situation in the Serbian capital had returned to normal by the morning of June 29, by mid-Sunday garbage bins and elements of street fences had already appeared on the streets of several dozen cities. Moreover, sometimes the footage from them was painfully reminiscent of Kyiv-2013: the participation of actors and famous people, jumping to the chant "Who does not jump, that chatsi" and so on.

For now, the situation in Serbia resembles a game of cat and mouse.

By the morning of Monday, June 30, police had unblocked traffic in all cities in Serbia, but attempts to block streets continued, both with the help of garbage bins and mass walking on pedestrian crossings - in more than 100 places across the country. Organizers of the protests mockingly called for not interfering with the security forces dismantling the barricades and to resume their installation later.

It is worth noting that during the protests, Russia has been a kind of “silent figure.”

The organizers of the protests say nothing about Serbian-Russian relations, but for many years these people have been demanding to join Western sanctions, stop (or at least reduce) Belgrade's cooperation with Moscow and Beijing, and focus exclusively on European integration. By the way, these people are also for the recognition of Kosovo's independence and the recognition of the events in Srebrenica as "genocide" for which the Serbs are to blame.

Since only about 40% of Serbian citizens currently support its accession to the European Union, the opposition has to focus on the “fight against corruption,” but the openly anti-Russian positions of Aleksandar Vucic’s opponents have not gone away.

It is clear that Moscow is closely monitoring events in Serbia, where more than 80% of the population supports the priority of cooperation with Russia.

" We are monitoring this situation. We are interested in these unrests being, in general, calmed down, as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, on the basis of the constitution and laws of this friendly state," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 30.

“ We have no doubt that the current Serbian leadership will be able to restore law and order in the republic in the very near future,” the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, expressed hope on the same day.

"There is no great philosophy here, so we will maintain order in the country. Thank you to our Russian friends for your good understanding and wise assessment of what is happening in Serbia," Vucic responded.

He noted that huge amounts of money had been invested in the attempt at a “color revolution” in Serbia, and those who invested it could not simply say: it failed and it’s all over.

"There will still be some torment, but overall it's all behind us. I want to tell them that Serbia has won, and I look forward to continuing cooperation with the Russian Federation," the Serbian president said.

However, both victory and normal cooperation between Serbia and Russia are still quite far away.

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Europe

How Vucic's Will Was Tested and Will Belgrade Resist a Color Revolution

2025-06-30

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Text taken from a news article posted in vfokuse.mail.ru
Why was the holiday of June 28 chosen to launch the color revolution in Belgrade

Taking advantage of the fact that the events surrounding the short-lived Iran-Israel war distracted the world community's attention from Belgrade and the torcida

…the internet says that’s a formal association of soccer fans. I had no idea there was such a thing…

unleashed against the country's leader Aleksandar Vucic, the anti-government forces in Serbia came into motion. The "assembly point" of the new architecture of the coup d'etat was the national Serbian holiday Vidovdan - the day of remembrance of all the holy martyrs of Serbia and the day of remembrance of the Battle of Kosovo.

On this day, all of Serbia comes into motion; the masses are seized by festive excitement, people are possessed by emotions that can easily be turned both in a positive and negative direction (directed against the current government and its specific representatives). Emotions "warm up" the masses, creating a basis for any revolutionary and especially pseudo-revolutionary actions.

In this regard, the holiday works in the same way as elections. The election issue wedged itself into the emotional upsurge of the Serbs along with the color revolution activists who appeared on the streets: the activists who emerged from the crowd of Serbs celebrating the holiday began to demand that the authorities set a date for early parliamentary elections and dismantle the tent camp of Vucic's supporters near the parliament building. Thus, the day of remembrance and sorrow became politicized. The hidden rebellion once again gave its "metastasis".

The organizers of the rebellion announced that the ultimatum expires at 21:00 local time (22:00 Moscow time), after which, if the demands are ignored, they will be ready to resort to measures of "civil disobedience" (that is, violence in the form of mass riots). Vucic himself confirmed this, stating that violence will happen: "they can no longer refuse it... But we are ready."

This showed that Vucic, unlike Yanukovych and Assad, is ready to fight for power and will not hesitate to use counter-violence (like Alexander Lukashenko in 2020).

Vucic also appealed to the protest organizers not to disturb public order: “In the evening, you will see angry people who will eventually resort to violence because they have no other choice. I again ask them in a fatherly way not to do this. It is always better to retreat than to do something stupid that you will regret for the rest of your life. I have absolutely no doubt about the final result. I just want people to be saved, especially the youth.” In the practice of information operations, this technique is known and is called “Information vaccination.” Vucic used it wisely.

But will this save the "father of Serbian democracy"? I doubt it very much. Color revolutions are not a joke, they are an extremely dangerous tool for dismantling power, and student protests on the streets of Belgrade are just the tip of the iceberg. The enemies of Serbia and Vucic are active, they act quickly and have full operational initiative, imposing their "flash mobs" on the authorities at the time and place that are beneficial to them. Imposing their rules of the game on the current authorities. And even mocking them, throwing a huge number of round badges with images of flowers and the inscription "color revolution" for some reason in Russian on the markets of Belgrade.

Vucic behaves passively. This is either infantilism mixed with the same childish naivety and irrational belief in miracles. Or the hope that at the very last moment he will still be saved - perhaps by those who prompted him to create his own public movement in support of himself, his beloved - a kind of "People's Vucic Front", and, at the same time, to pitch a tent camp of his supporters on the central square - so that no one else could pitch their tents there: the place is already occupied. But the "good people" may not make it in time this time. Because they themselves are not working for the result, but for the sake of "checking the box".

A TOOL FOR ORGANIZING COUPS D'ETAT
Modern color revolutions are technologies for organizing coups d'etat, passed off by their organizers as a "spontaneous uprising of the masses" directed against the current government. The driving force of a color revolution is a mass youth protest movement, organized by specially trained activists; the main instrument of pressure on the government is an aggressive "political" crowd formed on the "Maidan" (a permanent camp in the center of the capital's metropolis, also called the "island" (or territory) of "freedom"), into which new streams of protesters pour.

The main method of pressure on the government is blackmail, combined with the presentation of increasingly radical ultimatums. This model of a color revolution first took shape in Serbia, during the events of 2000, when the regime of Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown in Belgrade (the so-called bulldozer revolution). From that moment on, it was the "bulldozer revolution" that became the classic example and template for imitation - the organization of color revolutions in other countries. It is according to this scenario that events are developing in Serbia now, in the organization of the mass protest movement all the signs of a classic color revolution are clearly visible.

EVOLUTION OF COLOR REVOLUTION TECHNOLOGIES
In 2018, 2019 and 2020, the technologies of color revolutions underwent a change, or hybridization: their ideologists and organizers again began to give preference to faster, cruder and, at first glance, more effective tools of "hard power" - direct forceful coercion: thus, the end of the color revolution in Bolivia in 2019 was put by an ultimatum from the army command, which demanded that President Morales immediately leave his post.

In the same year, the United States attempted to overthrow the Maduro regime in Venezuela, amid mass protests, almost agreeing on the "neutralization" of Maduro with some people from his inner circle; in 2020, the United States made the same attempt when organizing a color revolution in Belarus (the physical elimination of Lukashenko was also planned there, and mass protests and riots served as a factor distracting the attention of the Belarusian leadership from the actions of the "conspirators" from President Lukashenko's inner circle); In Kazakhstan in 2022, the color revolution immediately transitioned into an armed rebellion. In principle, such a threat can also await Serbia in 2025: mass protests, transforming into mass riots, can pave the way for crime and radical nationalists, who will become the driving force of a classic armed rebellion.

But the most dangerous thing about the hybrid color revolution that unfolded in Belarus in 2020 was that Minsk became the "assembly point" for the organizers of color revolutions of the so-called best practices (for the most dangerous methods and technologies) of organizing color revolutions.

The general scheme for organizing a color revolution in Belarus is an exact copy of the Kiev Maidan of 2013-2014. (but without the Maidan itself, a permanent camp), the technologies of communication and coordination of protest groups are taken from Hong Kong 2019-2020, the technologies of conflict mobilization under a non-political agenda are borrowed from the Yerevan "electro-Maidan" of 2015.

The general scheme of the coup d'etat is an exact copy of the "Venezuelan precedent" - the technology of organizing a coup d'etat in Venezuela in 2019. There is little that is actually Belarusian in the Minsk protests: their own authentic symbols, the actual absence of a Maidan (which could be blocked, covered and dispersed) - it is now mobile, like a gypsy camp, and moves with crowds of protesters, and the widespread use of a new means of protest communication - Telegram channels.

This is being repeated in Serbia, where classic techniques of color revolutions are already being used - in particular, the "march on Rome" (when protests flare up on the outskirts, surround the capital with a "ring of fire" and this ring begins to quickly shrink as columns of protesters move from the outskirts to the center of the country, absorbing more and more crowds of people dissatisfied with the current government).

In recent times, we have seen many Western specialists in organizing color revolutions in action, and in various corners of the globe: they were underfoot in the Sahel, extremely keenly interested in how, on the basis of our methodology for training information special forces (the “Information and Hybrid Wars” program of the APN) and the experience of our leading practitioners of the Alter Academy of Political Sciences, the countries of the Sahel Defense Alliance are preparing the best information operations specialists on the African continent from ordinary peasants (especially when these specialists began to operate in the combat formations of operational-combat groups of classic special forces, making them “hybrid”).

We saw them in Tehran and some other places, where they, having been “left to settle”, slowly and painfully “woke up” in the expectation that they would now be given the go-ahead (after air strikes) to strike the Iranian regime from within (their meeting with us did not pass without a trace for them). We saw across the Strait (and even closer) how the same CIA "specialists" are preparing Taiwan to become "Anti-China" - and according to the same patterns by which the "Collective West" made Ukraine "Anti-Russia" in 20 years. They are not children. And they should be treated accordingly.

VUCIC'S REACTION
The current protests began to spoil Vucic's blood not yesterday and not "six months ago" (as you can hear from the lips of some talking heads): attempts to undermine the government began more than two years ago. In December 2023, the same thing happened as in November-December 2024 - it is somehow not customary to talk about this. That is, Vucic has been tested for strength by various forms of "student", "patriotic" and "anti-corruption" protests for a long time. And for most of this time, the government behaved passively.

The first signs of active actions began suddenly and at the very moment when Vucic, unexpectedly for everyone, officially accused the West of preparing a "color revolution" and announced the creation of a nationwide movement called "For the People and the State". At a rally organized on April 15, 2025 by supporters of the government in front of the parliament building in Belgrade, a triumphant Vucic declared: "The color revolution is over. They can walk around as much as they want, but nothing will come of it," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told crowds of his supporters organized in support of the government.

The demonstration, organized under the slogan "We will not give up Serbia", began on Friday and lasted until Sunday. At the rally, everyone was invited to join the new movement. A 200-meter Serbian flag was unfurled near the parliament and ceremoniously carried through the streets of the city. Thousands of people from various Serbian cities, as well as Montenegro and the Republic of Srpska, came to the demonstration.

The "delegates" from Kosovo and Metohija arrived - allegedly "on foot" having slipped through the cordons of Albanian nationalists. Their speech was especially vivid and carried a colossal emotional charge. Then the "protesters in support of Vucic", in the best traditions of their ideological opponents and antagonists, occupied the main square and pitched their "Maidan" there - a permanent camp, occupying the entire city space so that future Maidanites would have nowhere to even spread a blanket.

Vucic demanded that the authorities "restore order" (probably forgetting at the moment that he himself is the authority), and also declared that it was necessary to find the "instigators of unrest" and not let them "paralyze the life of the country." And he calmed down on that. As the events of the last few days have shown - very much in vain. In general, the advice dictated to Vučić by the imported specialists who came to help was correct, although noticeably outdated: in the 2000s and even in the 2010s, it would have partially solved the problem, temporarily disrupting the rebels' plans. But not now.

In the years since the mutiny in Belarus in 2020, everyone has become smarter (the opponents first and foremost), except for the so-called Russian political strategists (or, more precisely, the people who consider themselves to be them). They just want to put on a show, and then let the grass not grow. How could they not have thought of organizing a bicycle-auto-motorcycle-bike rally in Serbia, under the slogan "Vučić's bees - against the honey of color revolutions." Like in "Radio Day." In the end, Vucic was not protected by his “Poles”: the movement in defense of the president with a new round of aggressive protests has disappeared somewhere, the tent camp of supporters is silent, the aggressive crowd has to be dispersed by means of extreme forms of “persuasion” - tear gas and flash-bang grenades. The question is, what were they fighting for?

In these conditions, Vucic is required to be constantly active: he is now like an elderly wrestler in the ring, at whom everyone is throwing themselves “from around the corner”. But instead, he did his number and left. Color revolutions today do not forgive such things.

CONCLUSION
The events in Serbia that have been taking place over the past two years (2024 and 2025) completely fit the description of modern color revolutions - technologies for organizing coups d'état, disguised as mass protests of citizens. If the government does not fight for itself and the preservation of the country, these technologies will inevitably lead to its overthrow.

Only well-trained specialists who have the trust of the country's leadership and broad powers can organize an effective fight against the organizers and executors of the color revolution, but it is unlikely that they exist in Serbia today.

(c) Andrey Manoylo

More from regnum.ru
48 police officers injured in Belgrade riots

As a result of the riots at the demonstrations in Belgrade, 48 police officers and 22 protesters were injured. This was reported on June 29 by the head of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs Dragan Vasiljevic.

He specified that more than 20 people sought medical help after the night protests. Two of the victims received serious injuries.

In total, the police detained 77 participants in the protest, 38 of whom were arrested.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, mass protests by students and the opposition began in the Serbian capital on the evening of June 28. Their participants took to the streets demanding that the country's parliament be dissolved and a date for early elections be set. At some point, clashes between protesters and the police began. The protesters began throwing cans, firecrackers and other objects at the security forces, and the law enforcement officers had to use force.

As the head of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic, emphasized, those who attacked law enforcement officers during the protests in Belgrade will be identified, detained and brought to justice.

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Government Corruption

The Global Web: How USAID Ruled the World, and Can It Live Without It

2025-02-07

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Nikolay Antonov

[REGNUM] The fewer days remain before the "starvation death" of the recipients of USAID grants, the more interesting details emerge about who actually received them. The matter has already reached such monsters as the media company Politico, The New York Times and Associated Press. What can we say about the Ukrainian dog Patron, who sadly admitted on his page in a social network that "my cartoons, comics and books became possible thanks to the support of USAID."

The huge web that ensured US influence, the implantation of the narratives they needed, and the management of public opinion was created over decades through huge budgets. But this was not just a cashbox for distributing money, but a complex system that formed controlled elites, undermined state institutions, and prepared the ground for revolutions.

But how exactly did it work, where did it come from and why is it under attack today - we will figure it out further.

FACTORY OF "COLOR REVOLUTIONS"
When the John F. Kennedy administration created the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1961, the publicly stated goal sounded noble: to help Third World countries combat poverty, develop infrastructure, and improve their quality of life.

But the real meaning was different. USAID was originally a scalpel in the hands of the CIA, a subtle instrument for adjusting the political landscape of the world. The Cold War was in full swing, and the United States watched with alarm as the USSR effortlessly expanded its influence. Former French and British colonies in Africa were becoming independent one after another, and with independence came socialist self-awareness. Latin America was erupting with hotbeds of left-wing radical movements, and pro-Soviet governments were rising in Asia as well.

The Americans needed a means that would allow them not only to counteract these processes, but also to covertly control regimes, pushing them in the right direction. However, traditional methods – coups with the help of the CIA, financing military juntas and political assassinations – by that time no longer always worked. The world was becoming more sensitive to open interference.

Thus, the idea of “soft power” was born in the White House, which would later become the foundation of American geopolitics. The agency was supposed to become not only a donor, but also a curator. To create an environment in which politicians, journalists, activists and businessmen needed by the US would receive advantages over others. And this machine started up with amazing efficiency.

A CLASSIC EXAMPLE IS CUBA.
In the 1960s, the United States failed to directly intervene militarily on the Island of Freedom (the famous “Bay of Pigs Operation”), but this did not mean abandoning subversive activities. The new tool began to finance Cuban media (including illegal radio stations), which reported on the “real” state of affairs under Castro. In the 2000s, the agency went further and launched the “Cuban Twitter,” the social network ZunZuneo, which was planned to become a platform for coordinating protests.

To avoid suspicion, the financing scheme was hidden through Panamanian offshore companies and shell companies in Liechtenstein.

Another example is Chile, 1973. The government of Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president, took the socialist path, which enraged Washington. USAID, together with the CIA, began investing in the “democratic opposition”: grants were received not only by opposition politicians, but also by trade unions, entrepreneurs, newspapers, and student movements.

So when General Augusto Pinochet staged his coup, everything was ready for it: the new press had already formed public opinion, the trade unions were divided, the younger generation saw salvation in the military dictatorship.

In Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, the agency worked through networks of NGOs, universities, youth movements, thus creating a “parallel society” that could be activated at the right moment. But the real evolution of USAID began in the 1990s, when the USSR collapsed. America realized: there was no longer a need to play hide and seek, it was possible to enter post-Soviet countries openly, in the format of “developing democracy.”

FAVORITE BRAINCHILD
Ukraine can rightfully be considered one of the main USAID projects, brilliantly adjusted by the “revolutions” in 2004 and 2014, and then finally consolidated by 2019, the year of the last elections. Here, American specialists created a controlled society, where every significant element of the system — from the media and courts to ministries and the president — was somehow connected to the donor structure.

The history of Ukraine's dependence on USAID began long before the Maidan. Already in the early 1990s, the first programs for "democracy development" entered the country through the agency. Grants were distributed generously: first for reforms, then for support of "civil society." And by the early 2000s, the agency was already directly managing entire sectors of Ukrainian politics and economics.

The first big test of the system was 2004 – the “orange revolution”, created, financed and brought to a victorious end by Western structures. By that time, the grantors had already been working closely for several years with journalists, activists and politicians who were soon to become the “face of change”.

In 1999, the agency began supporting Ukrainska Pravda, an online publication that became the main mouthpiece of the “progressive forces” attacking the power of President Leonid Kuchma. Dozens of other independent media outlets, from regional publications to national channels, were formed with money from USAID and the Soros Foundation.

A separate important area is “civil society.” Grants for systemic development were received by youth movements such as “Pora,” which literally copied the Serbian “Otpor,” the organization that led to the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic.

USAID, together with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Open Society, financed “activist trainings,” taught how to properly organize protests, conduct information attacks, create a “crisis of trust” in the government, and raised opinion leaders. “Independent” media outlets spread scandals about “falsifications,” hundreds of activists organized protests, and special structures provided legal protection for those “victimized by the government.”

Victor Yushchenko, brought to power through street protest, was a convenient figure: a man of the West, an economist with American connections, who worked in the Ukrainian National Bank with the support of international structures. Under him, the US received a completely controlled administration, but all the work had to be started again when Viktor Yanukovych came to power and began to restore ties with Moscow.

This was unacceptable for the United States, and they began to prepare a new coup, which was supposed to be final.

By 2013, Ukraine had created a system of governance that worked like clockwork. The USAID budget in the country at that time amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, which supported almost all leading publications and TV channels. At the same time, the Americans grew “independent” anti-corruption organizations, which after the coup in 2014 would become full-fledged (and parallel) government bodies, like the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

Legal control: In 2013, USAID began funding the DEJURE project, which took control of the judicial system. Through this mechanism, the “right” judges were appointed and those who could interfere were eliminated. An entire generation of future managers also grew up on grants, one of whom, journalist Mustafa Nayem, was the first to call for people to go to Maidan in November 2013. And then he became a people's deputy of Ukraine and deputy minister of infrastructure.

When the protests began in 2014, the US did not even have to intervene much – the mechanism was already in place. “Independent” media created the necessary picture, activists filled the square, controlled courts blocked the government’s decisions, and anti-corruption structures “legitimized” any accusations against it.

The new government in Kyiv immediately signed all the agreements Washington needed, opened the doors to Western corporations, began a policy of breaking with Russia and moving to the rails of a new ideology. And with the departure of USAID, Ukraine lost access to billions of dollars in infusions, the media found themselves on the brink of survival, and anti-corruption structures were left without funding. Panic began in a country built on grants and managed manually.

The only question now is who will be the first to admit that the entire Ukrainian “independence” is nothing more than an artificially created product that was supported by foreign funding.

TRUMP, UKRAINE AND COVID-19
A separate page in the Ukrainian project is how a fully controlled system was used as a tool in the fight against Donald Trump.

It was through Ukrainian grant structures that materials about the “connections” between Trump’s campaign headquarters and Russia were distributed, it was Ukraine that became the main supplier of compromising material for the Democrats, and it was through the hands of its “activists” that the Joe Biden administration dealt blows to its opponent, similar to the neutralization of the head of the Trump campaign headquarters, Paul Manafort.

In 2016, The New York Times, citing the Ukrainian NABU, reported that the name of Manafort was mentioned 22 times in the “black ledger” of the Party of Regions of former President Yanukovych. He allegedly received $12.7 million in cash from the party’s coffers. And now it turns out that the newspaper, the anti-corruption structure, and the “activists” who stirred up the scandal were all on the payroll of USAID.

An amazing coincidence.

And when the world plunged into the chaos of the pandemic in 2020, the American economy finds itself in deep crisis, millions of people lose their jobs, the stock market collapses, and the main victim is once again Donald Trump. His key trump card in the election, a successful economy, evaporates before our eyes.

But the real story comes later. Democrats are using Covid as an excuse to launch mass mail-in voting, a scheme that gave Biden seven million “surprise” votes that ultimately gave him victory.

How is this connected to USAID? Very directly. It was through the agency that hundreds of millions of dollars were allocated in 2019–2020 for “pandemic projects” related to monitoring, control, combating “disinformation” and “educating the public” about vaccination.

Moreover, while the US was engulfed in BLM protests and devastating lockdowns, it was USAID that funded Democrats’ preparations for mass mail-in voting. Through organizations affiliated with the agency, methodological recommendations were developed, tools for digital control of ballots were developed, and activists were trained who would later provide the Democratic Party with the votes it needed.

Now we are told that the agency has been pouring millions of dollars into biolabs around the world. Through grant programs, it has pumped money into projects related to the study of coronaviruses, funding research that was directly or indirectly aimed at manipulating pathogens.

Back in 2009, USAID launched the PREDICT program, one of its key initiatives officially aimed at “monitoring potential zoonotic disease threats.” Under the auspices of combating future epidemics, active work began with biolabs around the world. Among the project’s partners was EcoHealth Alliance, an organization that has donated millions of dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology since 2014.

This money went towards “enhancing the functions” of coronaviruses, which in scientific language means creating new, more dangerous strains.

By 2017, a USAID report clearly states that the PREDICT program had “successfully identified and classified 1,200 new viruses.” Among them were several strains of coronaviruses that, as it now turns out, may have served as the basis for the development of COVID-19.

Interestingly, the PREDICT program was shut down in 2019, a few months before the pandemic broke out. Why? According to the official version, funding for the project was stopped due to “achievement of key goals.” But if you remember that the pandemic began right after that, it seems that the goals were actually achieved — and “monitoring” turned into a real global epidemic.

It is not surprising that one of the first targets of the Republicans was USAID, now openly called a "criminal organization." Obviously, the current US president has every reason to take it under control. And this is far from just the liquidation of one organization. We are talking about dismantling the system of shadow control over entire states, which has accumulated colossal experience in management. So the question naturally arises: will the countries that have lived under his hand for years really be able to gain independence?

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Transatlanticist with good hands. What else is known about the new NATO Secretary General

2024-06-28

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Andrey Zvorykin

[REGNUM] On June 26, 2024, it became known that on October 2 of this year, the new, fourteenth Secretary General of NATO will be the former head of the government of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, who recently resigned as prime minister of the kingdom.

There has been speculation for quite some time about who will replace the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, who was Secretary General for almost ten years, in the combat post of head of the “defensive” (as he positions himself) alliance.

The London Telegraph two years ago confidently wrote that ex-Prime Minister and catalyst of the Ukrainian conflict Boris Johnson would sit in the post of Secretary General. The Canadian CBC predicted the “secretary general” for the head of the Canadian Ministry of Finance, the ethnic Ukrainian Chrystia Freeland.

Up until a certain point, there were two more ladies on the shortlist: former British Prime Minister Theresa May and her current Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas. In general, the transformation of the alliance into a "women's kingdom" was the most common forecast, and it was the Baltic women who were mentioned most often: former Lithuanian Prime Minister Dalia Grybauskaite and former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid were mentioned. In addition, it was said that the Balkans could be encouraged by inviting former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic as Secretary General.

But the four main players in the alliance – the USA, Britain, France and Germany – came out in support of the man from Old Europe – Mark Rutte.

“I know that I am leaving NATO in good hands,” Jens Stoltenberg commented on the appointment on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Why would a Norwegian hand over his post to a Dutchman?

AN OLD BACHELOR WITH A TEFLON REPUTATION
Mark Rutte was born on February 14, 1967 in The Hague, the birthplace of the artist Vermeer, the group Shocking Blue, and one of the de facto capitals of the kingdom: the parliament and the cabinet of ministers sit in The Hague, and the royal residence is also located here. But what is more important is that the headquarters of globalist and Atlanticist structures, about one hundred and fifty in number, are concentrated here. In this “city of peace and justice” (the official title of The Hague), the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sat, Slobodan Milosevic died here, and the headquarters of the International Criminal Court are also here.

Rutte, who had a successful career that earned him the nickname "Teflon Mark," was an early graduate of the globalist school. The future prime minister was born into a family of one of the country's richest citizens, the director of a large trading company that made money in the colony of the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia.

The family professed rather strict religious views of the Calvinist persuasion, Mark was the seventh child. The future politician received a history education, graduating in 1992 from Leiden University with a corresponding specialization. After completing his studies, he worked at Unilever, a company engaged in the production of food and household chemicals (and at the same time demonstratively caring for the environment), as a personnel manager. Since 2008, he has taught courses in sociology at the Jan de Witt College in his native The Hague.

At the same time, Mark Rutte began his political career. While still a student, the future prime minister headed the youth organization of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (NPSD). From 1993 to 1997, he was a member of the party's Executive Council.

The NPSD was created in 1948 on the basis of the conservative-liberal Freedom Party and several leaders of the Labor Party who left the latter because, in their opinion, it was too socialist. For most of the time since its founding (53 out of 75 years, from 1948 to 2023), the NPSD has been part of the ruling coalition, which was achieved due to the “half-hearted” liberal-conservative ideological direction of the party, divided by this factor into two approximately equal wings. Mark Rutte considers himself to be on the liberal wing.

In 2002–2004 he served as Secretary of State (deputy minister participating in government meetings) of labor and social protection, and after, until 2006, the formation in the government of Jan Peter Balkenende, a leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, the NPSD was a partner in the ruling coalition. At the same time, since 2003, Rutte occupied the seat of a deputy in the lower house of parliament.

In 2006, after the resignation of Josias van Aertsen, the previous chairman of the NPSD, Rutte nominated himself for this post, his main opponent was Rita Verdonk, a figure in the conservative wing of the party. During the voting, Mark won, gaining 52% of the votes against 46% for Verdonk. The following year, 2007, Rita Verdonk was expelled from the ranks of the NPSD.

The reason was that Verdonk accused her party and parliamentary colleague, Somali migrant and feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, of either not having received Dutch citizenship or having received it with violations. Ali's documents were corrected, the conservative Verdonk was ostracized, and "Teflon Mark", who did not interfere in the scandal, came out on top.

Let us add that Rutte’s personal reputation also seems to be unblemished – the unmarried and childless politician has nevertheless not been suspected of anything reprehensible, unlike, for example, the married family man Donald Trump.

COVID ALMOST RUINED CAREER
In 2010, Rutte led the party in the parliamentary elections and was declared the winner of the televised debates. In his election program, the liberal Rutte played with nationalist and left-wing populist agendas: he promised to tighten immigration laws, raise the retirement age and reduce benefits for immigrants, and to use the freed-up money to combat the consequences of the 2008 economic crisis.

In the October 2010 elections, the PPSD won 20% of the vote and 31 seats (9 more than before) in the second chamber of parliament. On October 14, Queen Beatrix announced the appointment of Mark Rutte as Prime Minister of the country. A coalition government of the NPSD and the Christian Democratic Party was immediately formed.

Subsequently, Mark Rutte resigned from his post and returned to it three more times: in 2012, due to disagreements over the formation of the budget, the coalition split and Rutte had to reorganize the cabinet, this time together with the Labor Party. In 2017, regular parliamentary elections were held, as a result of which Rutte again headed the cabinet.

Finally, in 2021, his government resigned again as a result of mass protests caused by anti-coronavirus measures. However, in the early elections, the cabinet of the winning coalition was again headed by Mark Rutte. In all of the above cases, between elections, Rutte led the country as acting head of government.

On 7 July 2023, Rutte submitted his resignation to King Willem-Alexander due to disagreements with the Christian Union, a coalition party, on the migration issue: the Christian Union refused to support measures to restrict migration to the Netherlands put forward by the NPSD. On 14 August, Rutte also resigned as party chairman. However, following the November 2023 elections, a new government was not formed due to the impossibility of forming a coalition, so Mark Rutte is still acting Prime Minister.

A STAUNCH PRO-UKRAINIAN
The politician was first offered the post of NATO Secretary General back in January 2023, but then Mark Rutte refused, citing a desire to end his political career after the end of his next term. However, after his resignation in July of that year, Rutte returned to the proposal.

In February 2024, it became known that the Dutch politician was the main contender for the post of Secretary General, his candidacy was supported by 28 of the 32 member countries of the alliance. The current Secretary General of the organization, former Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg, announced his resignation on October 2, 2024. In June 2024, all members of the alliance confirmed Rutte's candidacy.

It is worth mentioning that the Dutch politician, while serving as prime minister, ardently supported Ukraine back in 2014.

On March 1, 2022, almost immediately after the start of the SVO, Rutte signed a bilateral security agreement with Vladimir Zelensky, promising to provide financial assistance. Rutte also warmly supported the recent summit in Switzerland, saying that Russia has no right to participate in it until it “complies with international principles.”

"Mark is a true transatlanticist, a decisive leader and a consensus builder," Stoltenberg, his predecessor, said of Rutte.

Rutte himself said the following during his April visit to Lithuania:

"It is vital that NATO maintains deterrence, that we all understand that this border of the Baltics and other countries on the eastern flank with Belarus and Russia is our collective border... First of all, this means that we all spend at least 2 percent (of GDP) on defense. This also means strengthening the defense of the eastern flank."

So there is no need to expect any changes in the alliance’s policy towards Russia. It was in this spirit that Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov assessed the appointment:

“It is unlikely that this choice will change anything in the general line of NATO and the members of the Atlantic alliance.”

Link

Europe

Russian intelligence services against the 'Fist of Soros': the Maidan attempt was thwarted in Serbia

2023-12-26

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
By Bogdan Kish

[REGNUM] After failure in parliamentary and city elections, the pro-Western opposition “Serbia Against Violence” decided to use its favorite method: stage protests demanding new elections and a change of government. However, it was not without informational help from Russia that they managed to fight off the protesters.

Yesterday's footage of a crowd storming the city parliament building in Belgrade spread all over the world. The pro-Western coalition “Serbia Against Violence”, which lost the elections, decided to radically achieve a revision of their results.

According to the latest data, the party “Aleksandar Vučić - Serbia must not stop” (under this brand the ruling Serbian Progressive Party ran in the elections. - Ed.) received more than 47% of the votes, and “Serbia against violence” (SPN) - more than 23 %.

The results are not final, since elections will be held again in a number of polling stations, but they will not be able to radically influence the situation.

Belgrade was the only place where the SPN had a chance to form a majority and take power. However, no one has an advantage in the capital. Neither the Serbian Progressive Party nor Serbia Against Violence were able to form a majority.

Professor Branimir Nestorovic ’s party “We are the voice of the people” could help avoid the deadlock, which unexpectedly gained almost 5% of the votes in the country as a whole and entered parliament. In Belgrade, she also received a lot of votes and could choose which side to form a majority with. However, Nestorovic said that he was not going to enter into coalitions with either the current government or the pro-Western opposition, which would lead to new elections in Belgrade.

Realizing that the only chance to fight for power in Belgrade had been missed, the opposition switched to radical actions.

REACTION OF THE WEST
After the end of the elections, international observers unanimously stated that they did not see any critical violations that could affect the final result of the elections. However, the OSCE monitoring group, after the start of the discontent of “Serbia against violence”, changed its report, which now states that “ numerous violations were identified both during the voting and during the counting of votes.”

Germany was the first to respond to the Serbian elections by demanding that Belgrade “fit in” with the EU candidate country.

“Serbia voted, but OSCE observers report misuse of public resources, voter intimidation and cases of vote-buying. This is unacceptable for a country that is a candidate country for the EU,” the German Foreign Ministry reported on social networks.

After complaints from the OSCE and Berlin, a chain reaction began.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell spoke of the need to “improve” the electoral process in Serbia, and the United States called on Serbia to investigate allegations of irregularities by international observers in the early parliamentary elections (in other words, to re-hold them).

After the first protests of the pro-Western opposition, Viola von Cramon, rapporteur on Kosovo in the European Parliament, also got involved, saying that “ Members of the European Parliament are ready to act as mediators between the ruling party and the opposition in Belgrade in order to ensure a peaceful and democratic dialogue and reduce tensions.”

While a number of European and American politicians supported the pro-Western opposition in words, the European Parliament rapporteur on Serbia Vladimir Bilchik went straight to the demands, saying that the new Serbian government will have three tasks: “normalization” of relations with Pristina (essentially recognition of Kosovo), reforms in the sphere of the rule of law, democracy, structural reforms in the economy, energy and the introduction of sanctions against Russia.

With the US presidential elections and European Parliament elections approaching in 2024, pressure on Serbia is growing exponentially. The collective West wants to resolve the “Serbian issue” as soon as possible, so Brussels and Washington have placed high hopes on the “Serbia against violence” coalition in the early parliamentary elections.

Having failed, the West moved to a violent change of power.

ANTI-VIOLENCE ATTACK
Protests by the pro-Western opposition began at the building of the Central Election Commission, which was demanded to cancel the Belgrade elections due to “massive fraud.” However, the CEC does not have such powers, since city elections are handled by the City Election Commission. After this, “Serbia Against Violence” suspiciously quickly began to demand new, parliamentary elections and began to destroy the CEC building, after which it attacked the director of the Republican Institute of Statistics, Miladin Kovacevic, and several members of the CEC.

“I was hit, pushed and knocked down onto the sidewalk. I fell on my back and my spine hurt. You'll have to go for an examination. Thanks to my colleagues, I managed to return to the building,” Kovacevic said after the attack.

The most massive and aggressive protest occurred on Sunday, December 24.

A large crowd of protesters gathered near the building of the city Assembly. The crowd quickly began to storm the government building, but the police barricaded in the City Council did not allow the protesters to break through.

It is worth noting that people who supposedly oppose violence threw stones, flares and whatever garbage they found at hand at the security forces. The police responded with surprising mildness, using only pepper spray. As a result, several police officers were injured. After some time, the gendarmerie arrived at the scene, did not stand on ceremony with the protesters and began to detain the provocateurs.

Despite the fact that in his address Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called on Serbian citizens not to panic, since “there is no talk of revolution,” the events in Belgrade were reminiscent of a color revolution.

Offenders will be held accountable to the law, but the protests did not end there. Today the opposition is planning new protests and wants to block roads in Belgrade for a certain time. The protests, according to the organizers, will continue until all demands are met. At the same time, it is not said “for safety reasons” which roads we are talking about.

YEARS GO BY, THE METHODS ARE THE SAME
In the whole situation with the protests in Serbia, you need to pay attention to several details.

Firstly, the rallies are well organized, communication between the protesters is well established, as is the coordination of actions during the protests and riots themselves.

Provocateurs skillfully “ignite” the crowd when the general mood declines. The situation with road closures, which only protesters know about, suggests that this is not a “spontaneous rally”, but a clearly planned action in the best traditions of the Maidan.

Secondly, the opposition is actively using students as its main force.

Student organizations that have united under the slogan “Students against violence” are directly involved in the riots. Among them are many who openly collaborate with Western media, NGOs and foundations.

At the same time, the focus on students is clear - the West is counting on a repetition of the events of 1996–1997, when the country, after the victory of the party of ex-president Slobodan Milosevic, was covered by a wave of mass protests, primarily student protests. Already in 2000, students, having gained experience, took an active part in the “bulldozer” revolution, which was crowned with success and the fall of the Milosevic regime.

Separately, it is worth noting that everything new is well forgotten old.

Protesters, primarily students, go to rallies with symbols very reminiscent of “Otpor” - the “Soros fist”, under which the “bulldozer” revolution began and under which more than one government in the world was replaced. This cannot be called an accident.

Thirdly, protesters receive maximum information support from pro-Western media.

TV channel N1, which is owned by the British United Media, has been covering the protests since the early days and devotes a lot of airtime to protest leaders and student organizations. N1 correspondents are present in the front row at all rallies, and when film crews begin to pack up, the protests automatically stop. To make a “beautiful picture,” protesters began bringing posters in English, and more and more EU flags can be seen in the crowd.

The leader of the “We are the Voice of the People” party, Nestorovich, warned about this development of events before the mass rallies: “I’m waiting for posters in foreign languages. This will look good on CNN. You know, when you have posters in Serbian, people in the West can’t read them. There will be posters in English and probably US, German and EU flags will appear.”

THANK THE RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
Moscow has repeatedly warned Belgrade about the impending color revolution.

As recent events have shown, the Serbian authorities listened to Russia, as a result of which the situation was kept under control without using excessive force. It was the absence of a “sacred victim” that helped avoid stronger pressure in the Western media, as was the case on the Maidan.

At the same time, the Serbian authorities for the first time publicly thanked Russia for its help. The President of Serbia expressed gratitude to foreign intelligence services, and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic directly thanked Moscow.

“I can only say thank you, this may not find understanding in the West, but tonight I especially feel that it is important to stand up for Serbia and thank the Russian intelligence services who had this information and shared it with us. And then we shared with everyone else. And everyone else said: “Well, this is Russian disinformation, this is the spread of fake news,” Brnabic said.

Another noteworthy moment is the meeting of the Serbian President with the Russian Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko the morning after the pogroms. The ambassador noted that the attempt to destabilize the situation in Serbia is connected with the firm position of the authorities not to join anti-Russian sanctions.

“The opposition has started protests, which are encouraged and supported from the outside. This is what Vučić was talking about, I cannot go into details because this is confidential information. But he has irrefutable evidence that the incitement and support comes from the West,” the ambassador said.

Such open gratitude to Russia and a meeting with the Russian ambassador does not mean that Belgrade has completely abandoned European integration. However, this is already a clear signal that Serbia is counting on Russian support and reluctance to impose sanctions.

In this regard, the EU and US pressure on Belgrade will increase, but the primary task of the country’s authorities is to prevent Maidan and resist pressure, at least until elections in Europe and the US next year.

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Europe

Zakharova recalls NATO statements after the airstrikes on Yugoslavia

2022-12-01

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[REGNUM] In 1999, NATO destroyed Yugoslavia. Hiding behind the refusal to withdraw troops from Kosovo and Metohija, as well as the “execution of peaceful Albanians” falsified by Kosovo separatists, a number of Serbian cities were bombed - bombs fell on industrial enterprises, residential areas, military installations.

On November 30, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova refreshed the memory of Western politicians about NATO strikes on Yugoslav energy facilities, saying that in 1999 the alliance purposefully attacked the republic's infrastructure.

Dedicating a message in her telegram channel to NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg , EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell , as well as White House staff, she quoted from a briefing by NATO Press Secretary Jamie Shea, held in Brussels on May 25, 1999.

Then, answering the question why the forces of the alliance are depriving Yugoslavia of electricity and water supply on a huge scale, if, according to the statements of the bloc, NATO " strikes only on military targets," the politician said that he did not care about the problems of the Serbian people.

"If Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic really wants his citizens to have water and electricity, all he has to do is accept NATO terms. Until he does, we will continue to attack targets that supply his army with electricity," Shea said at the time at a briefing.

Recall that earlier, then Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that people who do not condemn NATO war crimes in Yugoslavia in 1999 have no right to talk about what is happening now in Ukraine.

In his March speech, Vulin recalled the creator of the expression "collateral damage" - the former NATO representative Jamie Shea and the "leader of the killers" - the former Supreme Commander of the Allied Armed Forces of NATO in Europe, Wesley Clark .

"When Wesley Clarke and Jamie Shea, the creator of the phrase “collateral damage” that has been used to explain the deaths of dozens of our children, begin to explain that the killing of Serbs in NATO aggression is as humane as it needs to be, then it is clear that their every appeal to international law is cynicism. and lies," said Alexander Vulin.

According to him, those who are trying to create a false state of Kosovo on the territory of Serbia have no right to talk about the territorial integrity of any other country. The one who leads the anti-Russian hysteria has no right to tell Serbia how to think ,” Vulin added.

As REGNUM reported , the NATO military operation "Allied Force" against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began on May 24, 1999. At that time, Yugoslavia, already disintegrated into several "independent" states, did not want to fully follow the path of reforms imposed by the West. The official reason was the refusal of President Milosevic to withdraw troops from Kosovo and Metohija and the "execution of peaceful Albanians" in the village of Rachak, falsified by Kosovo separatists.

The capital of Yugoslavia, Belgrade, and a number of cities in Serbia were bombed - bombs fell on industrial enterprises, residential areas, military installations. Cruise missiles "Tomahawk" hit the territory of Yugoslavia from American cruisers from the Adriatic Sea. And this is in Europe in the 20th century, in a country where the Winter Olympics of 1984 were recently held, which brought together a record number of participants.

The air forces of the USA, Germany, France, England, Italy, Holland, Turkey, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Norway and Portugal took part in the raids and bombing of Serbian cities. Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania have provided NATO with their territory and airspace.

During the hostilities, NATO aircraft made 35,219 sorties, using 23,000 bombs and missiles against the Serbs, including cluster bombs and depleted uranium bombs. 238 sea-launched cruise missiles were fired from ships and submarines.

Serbia's losses are irreparable. First of all, this is the civilian population - more than 2,000 killed, tens of thousands of wounded, hypocritically called by the West "collateral losses."

As REGNUM reported earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Western countries want to resolve the Kosovo issue as soon as possible, as the Kosovo precedent is increasingly mentioned in international politics. According to him, "the West left Serbia no chance."

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: August 30th, 2022

2022-08-31

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Korrespondent] 23:15 UNESCO stated that it supports Ukraine's application for the inclusion of the center of Odessa in the World Heritage List. The organization said it had mobilized experts to support Ukraine so that the nomination could be considered as a matter of urgency.

23:12 "Referendums" in the occupied territories are being organized by Putin's First Deputy Chief of Staff Sergei Kiriyenko, said Vedant Patel, First Deputy Representative of the US State Department: "Kiriyenko is responsible for controlling the Russian-controlled territories before attempting to annex them to Russia, which if carried out would be illegal ".

22:39 The Armed Forces of Ukraine again attacked the Antonovsky bridge in the Kherson region, said the deputy of the Kherson Regional Council Serhiy Khlan: "Kherson region. Again, the arrival on the Antonovsky bridge! It seems that this is the final chord."

22:37 Zelensky said in an evening video message that the Russian military command was instructed to seize the Donetsk region by the end of August: "The end of August is already tomorrow. And in the Donbass - the Ukrainian flag and Ukrainian heroes."

22:03 Zelensky addressed the residents of Crimea in an evening video message: "Please stay as far away from Russian military installations as possible, stay away from Russian bases and military airfields and report to the special services of Ukraine all the information you know about the occupiers so that the liberation of Crimea happens faster" .

The President also stressed that the Russian army does not and will not have any safe base throughout the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine: “Our defenders will destroy all warehouses and headquarters of the occupiers, their equipment, wherever they are located. Near Sevastopol means, near Sevastopol. Near Luhansk means near Luhansk. This is Ukrainian land, and the occupiers can do only two things: escape or surrender. We leave them no other options."

21:59 The program of the IAEA mission at the Zaporozhye NPP is designed for one day, said the "head of the interim administration" of the occupied part of the Zaporozhye region Yevgeny Balitsky: "They must see the work of the plant in one day. Those elements that they say can be seen in the process. For now stated - to get acquainted with the work of the station.

21:54 Washington confirms that Iran delivered drones to Russia , White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: "According to our assessment, Russia received Mohajer-6 and Shahed series UAVs from Iran in a few days in August. On Russian transport aircraft loaded UAV equipment at an airfield in Iran, then they flew from Iran to Russia. We see this, these are our estimates."

21:37 In August, Ukraine received a record monthly amount of foreign financial assistance - $4.6 billion, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on the air of the telethon. This amount included $3 billion in grant funds provided by the United States through the World Bank. "We expect to receive $1.5 billion in grant assistance from the US in September - this is the last tranche, and we also expect to receive macro-financial assistance from the EU in September and early October," Marchenko added.

20:51 The Biden administration has been helping the Ukrainian military prepare for a counter-offensive in the south over the past two months by granting their specific requests for military assistance, CNN reports, citing a White House official. In particular, Washington granted Kyiv's requests for additional ammunition, artillery and Javelin anti-tank missile systems.

20:41 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine published recommendations for covering hostilities:

20:13 The IAEA mission, consisting of 14 people, will arrive at the Zaporozhye NPP on Wednesday, August 31, reports The New York Times.

19:59 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the evening report reported on the unsuccessful attempts of the Russian offensive in a number of areas, and also stressed that only military officials can comment on the situation at the front.

19:42 Russian military aviation does not fly into the zone of destruction of Ukrainian air defense systems for more than three months, Yuriy Ignat, speaker of the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on the air of the telethon.

19:31 Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, international partners have allocated $17.5 billion to Ukraine, Shmyhal said. According to him, another 8 billion euros of macro-financial assistance from the EU is expected in the coming months.

18:58 IAEA experts arrived in Ukraine to visit the ZNPP, which is under shelling. About what their main task is and what to expect from this mission - in the material Mission Possible?

18:29 Zelensky met in Kiev with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. The President said that Ukraine is interested in the IAEA mission getting to the Zaporizhzhya NPP, and stressed the need for complete demilitarization of the station.

18:27 EU defense ministers agreed to begin work on the creation of a training mission for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Borrell said after an informal meeting in Prague: "All member states have agreed to start the work that is necessary to determine the parameters of the EU military assistance mission for Ukraine."

18:12 In the south of Ukraine, on the night of Tuesday, August 30, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed about 160 Russian invaders, 60 units of enemy equipment, and also attacked three bridges in the Kherson region, the Operational Command Pivden reports.

18:07 Zelensky, during an appeal to the Movement of French Enterprises, said that the restoration of Ukraine after the end of the war would cost about 600-800 billion dollars. Right now, we should focus on restoring infrastructure, the president stressed.

18:04 Reznikov announced that he had taken part in a meeting of EU defense ministers. The issues of cooperation, the situation at the front and the priorities of the Ukrainian army for the complete liberation of the Ukrainian land were discussed.

18:00 Ukrainian authorities are developing evacuation routes for Crimeans , Podolyak said: “It is clear that for Ukraine the lives of citizens are an absolute priority. Therefore, we are already developing evacuation routes for residents of the occupied Crimea who want to leave the peninsula during active de-occupation. For now, we ask everyone to hold on as far as possible from military installations and check shelters."

17:51 In the Zaporozhye region, the Russians shot an evacuation column. As the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said on the air of the telethon, on Monday, August 29, the occupiers released a large number of civilian cars from the captured Vasilyevka, who tried to evacuate to Zaporozhye. But as soon as the cars were in the gray zone, the Russians opened fire on them. The shelling was carried out from a distance of 50-100 meters. According to Fedorov, the occupiers are doing everything so that people do not want to leave the occupied territories in order to use them as hostages.

17:45 After the announcement of the counter-offensive in the South, Ukrainian officials and speakers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine called for informational silence and non-disclosure of the details of the operation. A day has passed, and, according to CNN, the Ukrainian military has already liberated four villages in the southern direction near Kherson from the invaders and broke through the Russian defense line in three places. About what else is happening - in the material Offensive in the South .

17:34 The Russians form large columns of equipment in the Crimea and send them towards the Kherson region, deputy of the Kherson Regional Council Sergey Khlan said: "It is important that this equipment is not transferred to the front line. And now we are seeing - again clear arrivals along the Antonovsky bridge."

17:26 German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said that soon the supply of weapons to Ukraine from the warehouses of the Bundeswehr will become impossible: "I must admit, as Minister of Defense, that we are reaching the limit of what we can transfer from the Bundeswehr." She explained that the Bundeswehr must be able to guarantee national and NATO defenses, and as Minister of Defense she will ensure that this continues. At the same time, Lambrecht said that an exchange with Greece in support of Ukraine could take place in the near future, and she is "very optimistic" about this.

17:02 EU defense ministers reiterated their readiness to send as much assistance to Kiev as needed, and for as long as necessary, Borrell said.

16:47 Germany is suspending the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock said.

16:36 Deputy head of the "People's Militia of the DPR" Eduard Basurin explained the slow advance of the militants in the Donbass: "During offensive operations, the superiority in manpower (according to military science) should be from 3.5 to 5 times. Our offensive operations take place in relation to the enemy less than 1. We are already making military history at the moment, so there is a delay in this."

16:10 The "authorities" of the occupied Nova Kakhovka say that about 100 Ukrainian rockets allegedly hit the city over the past two days. In particular, today Ukrainian troops allegedly launched a missile attack on the private sector from HIMARS, there are wounded, one person died.

15:59 Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov reported on the shelling of the Kiev region, which started a fire in a multi-storey building.

15:37 Mayor of Nikolaev Alexander Senkevich reported that as a result of today's attacks of the city one person was lost, one is wounded.

15:18 Security measures will be tightened in Uman from September 19 to September 30, as Russia can use the traditional arrival of pilgrims to the city to celebrate Rosh Hashanah for provocations, said the head of the Cherkasy OVA, Igor Taburets. In particular, during this period, any mass events, the sale of alcoholic (including low-alcohol) drinks and pyrotechnic products will be prohibited in the city. Access control and control over the movement of citizens will also be strengthened, access to places of pilgrimage will be limited.

14:47 According to the military intelligence of Ukraine, there are about 4500-5000 militants of private military companies in the occupied territories, primarily Wagner PMCs. They work in certain directions as assault detachments operating in the first line of offensive troops. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, covert mobilization in the central and southeastern regions of the Russian Federation is failing, so the Russian Defense Ministry decided to increase the number of PMC mercenaries participating in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine.

14:13 Iran, despite assurances, has sent combat drones of its own production to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine, American media write. The Russian army received two types of Iranian UAVs: Mohajer and Shahed. These drones are considered capable of both reconnaissance and strike missions. However, some of them turned out to be wrong. About whether they can change something at the front - in the material Against HIMARS .

13:48 This night, Zelensky had an off-the-record conversation with Macron, presidential spokesman Sergei Nikiforov said. The leaders of the two countries discussed the IAEA mission, its chronology, logistics and especially security issues. Nikiforov said that in the afternoon, Zelensky could hold a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, depending on when the mission leaves for the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

13:44 Today, Russia hit the Shevchenkovsky district of Kharkov from the Pion large-caliber artillery system, said Dmitry Chubenko, spokesman for the Kharkov region prosecutor's office.

13:36 Podolyak explained why the Russians are shelling Energodar and its environs: “Everything is predictable. Russia is deliberately shelling the corridors through which the IAEA mission should reach the ZNPP. territory of Ukraine. Demilitarization of the nuclear power plant. Immediate withdrawal of Russian troops. There are only Ukrainian personnel at the plant."

13:14 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that in Krivoy Rog, the production workshops of the Intervzryvprom plant, where "explosives and other products for Ukrainian troops were produced," were allegedly destroyed by a missile attack.

12:51 Peskov, commenting on the publication of The Washington Post about the receipt of Iranian drones by Russia, said that "this publication has been publishing a lot of stuff lately."

12:36 Ukrainians are creating false MLRS made of wood, which, through the lens of Russian drones, cannot be distinguished from a real artillery battery. In a few weeks, the enemy fired at least ten Kalibr-type cruise missiles at such MLRS, writes The Washington Post, citing US and Ukrainian officials and evidence in the form of photographs. The destruction of the wooden spears may partly explain the Russians' excitement over the defeat of Western artillery, in particular HIMARS, experts say.

Similar camouflage tactics were used in other wars, the publication recalls. The Russians procured inflatable imitation MiG-31s, and Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslav forces used mock tanks and decoys against NATO forces during the Kosovo War.

12:19 According to CNN, the IAEA mission consisting of 14 experts arrived in Kiev.

12:12 In the Kherson region, against the backdrop of the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the region, the occupiers have strengthened security measures in key settlements, warned the first deputy head of the regional council, Yuriy Sobolevsky. In particular, the number of patrols and checks of documents and contents of smartphones has increased.

12:09 In Slavyansk, Donetsk region, the invaders fired at the base of the evacuation detachment of the Ukrainian Red Cross, Taras Logginov, commander of the rapid response detachment of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine, said. According to him, as a result of shelling the building was destroyed, three cars were damaged. He stressed that this place is marked on all maps as the residence of the Red Cross, the Russian command knew about it. There were no military installations either at the base itself or in the neighborhood.

12:06 The Office of the Prosecutor General believes that ammunition from a flamethrower could have exploded in the colony in Yelenovka. This is stated in the response of the UCP to the DW request. In particular, based on the results of the analysis of freely available video recordings, the experts concluded that a thermobaric munition could have exploded, namely, a capsule with a combustible mixture of a thermobaric explosion of flamethrowers such as Shmel, Shmel-M, Lynx.

11:51 Serbia and Russia are discussing the transfer to Moscow of the former head of the Main Directorate of Internal Security of the SBU Andrey Naumov, who is in jail, in exchange for his testimony against Zelensky, writes The Insider. According to the publication, the Kremlin wants to hold a staged "trial" of the Ukrainian president. Law enforcers suspect that before the invasion of the Russian Federation on February 24, Naumov could transfer secret data about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to the enemy.

11:18 The French gas network operator Engie announced that Gazprom informed the company about the reduction in gas supplies "due to disagreements between the parties on the application of contracts."

11:00 The death toll as a result of today's shelling of the central part of Kharkov has previously reached four people, at least nine more were injured, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA, said. According to Mayor Igor Terekhov, there was a blow next to a five-story residential building, as well as a preschool educational institution. After the shelling, a fire broke out in a residential building in the city center, according to rescuers, there are also victims there - thus their number is growing.

10:29 In Kherson, the car of the "chief" of the local duty department of the traffic police was blown up. The policeman himself, as well as his wife and seven-year-old daughter, were in the car, Russian Telegram channels write. As a result of the explosion, the car was damaged, but none of the passengers were injured.

10:25 A delegation of the Czech Armed Forces headed by Chief of the General Staff Major General Karel Rzhegki paid an official visit to Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. Rzegki during the visit said that the example of Ukraine in the war with Russia is an invaluable experience for the NATO countries.

10:21 Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov announced the shelling of the central part of the city. Information about the victims and injured is being specified.

10:19 Borrell said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague that the situation in the war zone in Ukraine remains very difficult, the country needs new assistance. He stressed that the decline in the volume of EU military supplies to Ukraine this summer is temporary and is associated with the exhaustion of stocks of free weapons, but the EU intends to continue helping Kyiv. The EU defense ministers will discuss the expansion of arms supplies to Ukraine and the creation of a training mission to train the Ukrainian military.

10:06 Residents of Kherson report strong explosions, the "authorities" of the city say that this is the work of air defense.

09:53 Serbia will be able to do without energy resources from the Russian Federation, President Aleksandar Vucic said: "We must pay the price of a war on European soil and take oil in Iraq. I will also try to talk with Venezuela. We can take from anywhere. We do not disdain."

09:30 In the morning, residents of Kherson heard the sounds of shooting. "Deputy head of administration" of the occupied Kherson region Kirill Stremousov said that the Ukrainian DRG was allegedly liquidated in the city.

09:28 Germany and France offer EU countries to launch an information initiative for Russians and Russian speakers "to combat Putin's propaganda," writes Bloomberg. So, soon it is planned to launch an Internet campaign to counter propaganda on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok.

09:24 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of August 30th. The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the Donetsk and Kurakhov directions.

personnel - about 47,550 (+450) people liquidated,

tanks - 1954 (+7),

armored combat vehicles - 4294 (+25),

artillery systems - 1079 (+19),

MLRS - 282 (+3),

air defense systems - 151 (+2),

aircraft - 234 (+0),

helicopters - 204 (+1),

UAV operational-tactical level - 847 (+3),

cruise missiles - 196 (+0),

ships/boats - 15 (+0),

automotive equipment and tankers - 3217 (+29),

special equipment - 103 (+2).

09:08 British intelligence writes that it is not yet possible to confirm the scale of Ukrainian achievements in the south. Since the beginning of August, Russia has made significant efforts to reinforce its forces on the western bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region. The 49th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District was most likely reinforced with components of the 35th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District. Most units around Kherson are likely undermanned and dependent on fragile supply lines via ferry crossings and pontoon bridges across the Dnieper, analysts say.

Intelligence also states that the integration of units of the Southern Military District and the Air Military District implies a significant reorganization of Russian forces in Ukraine. There is a real possibility that Russia has taken steps to rationalize several semi-independent operational commands that contributed to its ineffective performance at the start of the invasion. If Ukraine succeeds in sustained offensive operations, the cohesion of this structure is likely to be a key factor in the sustainability of Russian defense in the south.

08:53 The Washington Post and CNN write, citing unnamed representatives of the Biden administration, that Russia has already received Iranian drones for the war in Ukraine. Moscow now has Mohajer-6 drones (a reconnaissance capable of carrying ammunition) and two varieties of Shahid - Shahed-129 (reconnaissance with ammunition) and Shahed-191 (strike missile UAV). Washington believes that Russia intends to import hundreds of such drones.

At the same time, US intelligence officials note that many of the Iranian drones that Russia has purchased have already begun to break down during testing, so it is not clear how much they will change the rules of the game in Ukraine.

08:42 In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian troops attacked three districts at night - Nikopol, Dneprovsky and Krivoy Rog. One person was wounded in the Krasnogrigoryevsk community, said the head of the OVA, Valentin Reznichenko. The enemy launched rocket attacks on the Krivoy Rog and Dnieper regions, the extent of the destruction is being clarified.

08:24 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of enemy shelling, two civilians were killed - in Razdolny and Severny. Four more people were injured, Pavel Kirilenko, head of the OVA, said.

08:00 Russian troops tried to conduct assault operations in several directions at once in the Donetsk region, but none of the enemy's attempts were successful, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports in the morning summary . In particular, the occupiers stepped up assault operations in the areas of Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

07:41 In Melitopol, Ukrainian forces blew up an enemy ammunition depot. The night before, the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, announced a "hot night for the occupiers." And this morning, the head of the Zaporizhia OVA, Oleksandr Starukh, said that the occupiers went to see the fire in the warehouses, when "suddenly there was an explosion." "We are being informed and asked to 'congratulate' the Melitopol occupiers on the unsuccessful viewing of the film about flaming BCs... The resistance movement invites the occupiers who missed the screening to watch the next time," Starukh wrote.

07:15 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) notes that Russia is trying to maintain the appearance of significant military successes in Ukraine. So, the Russian Defense Ministry on the evening of August 29 stated that the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kherson region was limited and unsuccessful. Russian bloggers have claimed that reports of a Ukrainian counter-offensive have been exaggerated or fake, and that Ukrainian forces are unable to break through Russian defenses. As ISW notes, "These insulting statements indicate that the Kremlin is keen to maintain a façade of Russia's significant military successes in Ukraine."

05:04 Tonight, the enemy launched a missile attack on Zaporozhye. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties, no significant damage was recorded at infrastructure facilities, said Alexander Starukh, head of the OVA.

04:09 "Deputy head of administration" of the occupied Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, said that the region "does not threaten anything", several lines have been built to protect against possible "encroachments" from Ukraine. He also stressed that "the more the region is shelled, the more its inhabitants demand a referendum."

00:51 US National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby called for a "controlled shutdown" of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. According to him, this can become a guarantee of her safety in the short term.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: April 11th, 2022

2022-04-12

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespndent] 23:21 InformNapalm recalls that back in late March, intelligence received data, the totality of which may indicate the intentions of the Russian Federation to use chemical warfare agents against Ukrainian military or civilians. At the time, it was reported that Russia was likely planning to use sarin to achieve its goals in critical areas for the possibility of breaking through the Ukrainian defenses.

"Mariupol, Kyiv, or other cities of Ukraine, where Russian troops fail to break through the defenses of Ukrainian defenders, can become a field for such an experiment," the volunteers warned.

22:47 Denmark will buy two million iodine tablets, which will be used in the event of a nuclear disaster - this decision was made on the basis of the recommendations of the Danish emergency agency.

22:33 Most of the civilian population of the Donetsk region was evacuated before the onset of the Russian troops, said the chairman of the UVA Pavel Kirilenko. At the same time, according to him, "hard work still needs to be done in some places."

22:29 The defenders of Mariupol criticized the political and military leadership. Zaluzny replied that "everything possible and impossible" is being done. About what is happening in the city - in the material Defenders of Mariupol now .

22:27 The Azov Regiment reports that Russian troops tonight used an unknown poisonous substance dropped from a drone against Ukrainian military and civilians in Mariupol. As a result, the victims have respiratory failure and vestibulo-atactic syndrome.

22:25 Forbes calculated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed Russian equipment with a total weight of about 85 thousand tons of metal. Its total cost is 45 million dollars. At the same time, the publication notes that it is not easy to dispose of scrap metal, since different departments are involved in this, and the metal itself needs to be sorted and completely cleaned.

22:17 Six Russian diplomats have been declared persona non grata in France, the country's Foreign Ministry said.

22:15 Today, 4,354 people were taken out through humanitarian corridors, Vereshchuk said. According to her, the Russian military has not let a convoy of buses from Zaporozhye through for the evacuation of Berdyansk, Tokmak and Energodar for the third day.

22:13 In Kharkiv, as a result of today's shelling, eight people were killed, including a child of 13 years old, said the head of the Regional State Administration Oleg Sinegubov. Another 19 people were injured, including two children. The Kholodnaya Gora area was shelled, as well as Saltovka, where a shell hit a 16-storey building.

Sinegubov reported that the use of delayed action mines by the enemy was recorded. They were found in different districts of Kharkov - Industrial, Kiev, Nemyshlyansky and others. Rescuers eliminated them all day, managed to destroy more than 80 mines.

22:05 Warsaw seized a residential complex along Sobieskogo Street, 100 from the property of Russia and plans to transfer it to the needs of Ukrainians. The mayor of the city Rafal Tshaskovsky wrote about this on his Twitter.

21:51 Over the next few months, it will be difficult for Russian troops to find a sufficient resource to succeed in the Donbass, CNN reports with reference to the Institute for the Study of War. Experts believe that Russia is likely to continue to throw heavily damaged and partially regrouped units into the offensive.

21:49 Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Geger did not rule out the transfer of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. He also said that the country is negotiating with partners on the protection of the airspace of Slovakia.

21:44 Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar: "We should not underestimate the enemy, the Russian army. In the end, it prevails in numbers, it is armed in large quantities with military equipment and weapons. And this must be realized. They have enough missiles, taking into account the fact that that they have already released more than a thousand here. And we must understand this. Therefore, we are ready for any scenario, and there is a threat of these scenarios. This is a very difficult, exhausting struggle."

21:42 In Irpen, the curfew will last from 6:00 Tuesday, April 12, to 9:00 Friday, April 15. According to local authorities, all this time entry into the city will be prohibited. Travel to Bucha is allowed, bypassing Irpin - through Dmitrovka and Zabuchie.

21:38 Macron said that he would come to Kiev only if it helped organize a meeting between Zelensky and Putin. The White House also reported that Biden is not going to Ukraine yet.

21:36 Bloomberg writes that, despite the intensifying sanctions, Russia's offshore oil supplies are recovering. Thus, weekly deliveries reached almost four million barrels per day in the first week of April, which is the highest figure this year. Russia's income from export duties on oil also reached its highest level since the beginning of the year - $230 million per week.

21:30 The head of the Zaporozhye military administration, Ivan Arefiev, warned local residents that sounds similar to thunder are the work of multiple rocket launchers. "Our gunners are real gods," he wrote and urged to remain calm, since the situation is completely under control.

21:28 Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said that the intensity of shelling in the city has increased. The enemy bombed residential areas, Gorky Park, and urban infrastructure facilities. There are dead and wounded, including a child.

21:26 In Ukraine, due to the war, about 1.6 million children are malnourished, Manuel Fontaine, director of UNICEF's emergency programs department, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

21:16 Zelenskiy spoke with the Prime Minister of Norway and announced increased cooperation, including in the energy sector.

21:14 Borrell said that both Hungary and Bulgaria are helping Ukraine, as they are participating in the financing of arms supplies carried out by the European Union.

21:10 The SBU detained an agent of the Russian special services, who, according to the UP, was a low-ranking employee in the Presidential Administration of Poroshenko. Since 2014, the detainee has been collecting state-level secret information and compromising information about officials, security forces, weapons and military equipment in Ukraine.

20:53 Lithuania will help Ukraine with the export of agricultural products, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine reported. In the near future, Lithuania plans to send a test train with 2,000 tons of raw materials from Ukraine to Lithuanian seaports.

20:40 The battle for Donbass is the key battle of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskiy says Russian troops will move into even larger operations in eastern Ukraine this week. According to him, the occupiers can use even more rockets and even more air bombs against us. Details of what is known at the moment are in the article How the Russian Federation will attack .

20:29 The Pentagon does not yet see signs of a new escalation in the Donbass. According to CNN, citing an unnamed representative of the US Department of Defense, Russian troops are trying to strengthen their positions in the Donbass, but there are no signs of a new escalation of hostilities in eastern Ukraine yet.

20:16 Former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev reported, citing his sources, the arrest in Russia of Vladislav Surkov, an ex-assistant to Putin, who was the Kremlin's curator of the so-called "LDNR".

20:12 The yellow level of terrorist danger is also introduced in the Yeisk and Shcherbinovsky districts of the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation. Aksyonov also announced the introduction of a yellow level of terrorist threat in the north of Crimea.

20:08 The EU countries have agreed to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock. "As the European Union, as friends of Ukraine, we will intensify the supply of weapons in the future," she said.

20:00 Borrell said that in the issue of imposing sanctions on Russian energy supplies, oil will be the first in line.

19:52 Polish border guards, whom Belarus accused earlier today of shelling its checkpoint, reported an attempt by illegal migrants to get out of the territory of Belarus and an attack by the Belarusian military.

19:49 Sources of journalists in Western intelligence agencies claim that almost a third of the forces that Russia concentrated in mid-February to invade Ukraine have lost their combat capability, writes UP with reference to and CNN.

19:35 Manuel Fontaine, Director of the UNICEF Emergency Programs Department, made a presentation at the UN following his visit to Ukraine. He stated that in his 31 years of service in humanitarian missions, he had very rarely seen so much damage done in such a short period of time. He was especially horrified by the attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk.

19:31 Borrell said that Russia could launch a new large-scale attack in eastern Ukraine, while the EU understands that the sanctions already applied will not be able to immediately stop the Kremlin, although they significantly reduce its resources.

19:27 Sir Geoffrey Nice, who led the trial of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Court, called for Russia's expulsion from the UN Security Council or its veto power. This is necessary for the trial of Russian war criminals, writes The Guardian.

19:18 Ukraine will be able to repel the armed aggression of the Russian Federation if it is provided with the necessary weapons as soon as possible, Yermak said in an interview with CBS.

19:15 Washington confirmed the transfer of tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by a group of countries led by the Czech Republic. According to a Pentagon official, a number of countries have sent tanks, and several other states are exploring this possibility. He clarified that it is mainly T-72.

19:11 The General Staff reports that the Russians tried to storm Severodonetsk, but to no avail. During the shelling of Popasnaya, the Tochka-U tactical missile system was used. Attempts to move deep into the territory of Ukraine to improve the tactical situation were also unsuccessful.

19:07 In Borodyanka, during the analysis of the rubble of two multi-storey residential buildings, the bodies of seven people were found today, the State Emergency Service reports. Since the beginning of the work, the bodies of 19 people have been removed from under the rubble. Work continues.

19:04 The Russians are trying to improve their tactical position and gain a foothold along the administrative borders of the Kherson region. At the same time, rumors are spreading among the Russian troops that the Armed Forces of Ukraine may go on the offensive against Kherson with a subsequent entry into the territory of Crimea, the General Staff reports.

18:59 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after virtual talks with Biden, said he offered Moscow direct talks between Zelensky and Putin. At the same time, Modi said that the news about the killing of civilians in Bucha was "very disturbing."

18:47 Weapons are delivered to Ukraine by 8-10 flights a day and an "almost constant" flow of ground convoys, the Pentagon said.

18:45 Belarusian border guards said that the Polish security forces fired at the Belarusian checkpoint Peschatka.

18:36 The occupants caused damage to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant for at least 18.3 billion hryvnias, Energoatom said.

18:33 Since the beginning of the war, 33,000 local residents have been deported from Mariupol - they were taken to Russia and to the occupied territories of the Donetsk region, Denisova said.

18:29 The state starts building housing for Ukrainians who lost it because of the war. As Kirill Timoshenko, deputy head of the Presidential Office, said, they will build in ten regions and select projects that can be completed in 3-4 months.

Within the next month, the state will begin to buy ready-made residential buildings that have not yet been put into operation. All these apartments should be immediately renovated, furnished, with household appliances. This is not about modular towns, but about stationary housing.

18:21 German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock said that the EU should start negotiations on the accession of Albania and North Macedonia in the current half of the year.

18:19 Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte visited Borodyanka, Kiev region, and said that "the consequences of the occupation by Russian barbarians are horrifying."

18:17 Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, following today's talks with Putin, said that it was not a friendly visit, but that the conversation was "very tough and open." He called for an end to this war and promised that sanctions against Russia would remain in place and be tightened.

18:12 The Russians are building Grads near Novoukrainka along the banks of the Dnieper, in close proximity to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Energoatom reports.

18:07 In Ukraine, the TiKhto application has been launched to check suspicious persons. The application was created with the support of cyber experts of the Security Service of Ukraine. Its main purpose is to simplify the procedure for checking suspicious persons at roadblocks, on the streets during curfews, at the entrance to a hideout, or in other situations.

18:03 The number of civilians killed by Russian invaders in Bucha, Kiev region, exceeded 400 people , said the secretary of the Buchansk City Council Taras Shapravsky, writes Strana.

18:00 Podolyak said in an interview with Ukraine 24 that after Europe and the world saw the terrible crimes of Russian troops against civilians in the Kiev region and Donbass, they began to "more resolutely" provide assistance to Ukraine to repel Russian aggression.

17:55 Borrell said that the EU Foreign Ministers decided to send a mission to Ukraine to collect evidence of war crimes and provide financial assistance for this work.

17:53 The EU Foreign Ministers again did not make decisions on sanctions against Russian oil and gas, they agreed to continue the discussion, Borrell said.

17:49 After the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which earlier today declared a yellow level of terrorist threat, a similar decision was made in the Bryansk region, bordering the Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine, as well as in two regions of the Voronezh region bordering the Lugansk region - Rossosh and Kantemirov.

17:47 The State Emergency Service reports that in just six days more than eight thousand Ukrainians have expressed a desire to become volunteer rescuers. More than half - Kyiv and Kyiv region.

17:40 The first Russian company to default is the Russian Railways, writes Bloomberg. We are talking about eurobonds in Swiss francs with a payment date of March 14. Russian Railways tried and failed to make the payment due to sanctions imposed on it.

17:37 The invaders are stepping up anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western propaganda in Russian military medical facilities. For this, the military-political department of the eastern military district of the Russian Federation demands to organize "military-political informing about the progress of the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine using a special issue of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper," according to Ukrainian intelligence.

In the Russian Federation, hospitals are overcrowded with servicemen who participated in hostilities in Ukraine and do not want to return there. Therefore, Russian propagandists are trying to convince them with the help of a special issue of Komsomolskaya Pravda, which contains staged photographs of supposedly "happy liberated Ukrainians" and so on.

17:29 The speaker of the Ministry of Defense Alexander Motuzyanyk says that Russia will decide on the resumption of the offensive against Kiev, depending on the development of events in the Donbass.

17:27 The National Police opened a round-the-clock hotline for relatives of those killed as a result of hostilities: 0 894 201 867

17:25 Ukrposhta announced the cessation of issuance of postage stamps with the letter values Z and V.

17:21 The unexpected military successes of Ukraine - the defense of Kiev and most other large cities - are the merit of Zaluzhny, a 48-year-old general who was born in a military family. Details about him can be found in the Politico article about General Zaluzhny .

17:17 According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russians who participated in war crimes against Ukrainians in Borodyanka, Kiev region, are servicemen of the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment of the Russian Federation.

17:10 About 3.5 million students of Ukrainian schools have returned to education, said Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet.

17:06 Russian invaders in Mariupol captured the crew of the cargo ship SMARTA under the flag of Liberia. The sailors were taken to an unknown destination, Denisova said.

17:02 The European Union has prepared a plan for reverse gas supplies to Ukraine in case of interruptions in supplies from Russia, said European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson. According to her, the EU in the current situation cannot consider Russia a trustworthy partner, and therefore interruptions are not ruled out.

16:57 The occupiers are planning to attack the Dnepropetrovsk region from the city of Izyum, where they are gathering new forces, experts say. More about this - in the material , the Pentagon is waiting for an offensive on the Dnieper .

16:49 Podolyak said that the world knew about Russia's plans for many months, but when Ukraine asked for weapons and sanctions, it was offered "evacuation and the government on Zoom." And when she asked to break business ties with the Russian Federation, "we were told that Kiev had three days left."

"Putin turned out to be partially right in his calculations: by that time, some politicians had already made a decision for themselves to surrender Ukraine. They were ready to express concern, introduce semi-sanctions and continue life. But some were against it. The President and the people of Ukraine," he wrote in his Twitter adviser to the head of the OP.

"Sometimes one person can change everything simply by making the right choice. Do not listen to analysts, but listen to the heart. It is not too late for politicians in Europe to make this choice. It's time to take responsibility for the future of Europe and abandon Russian oil and gas," Podolyak said.

16:38 Ukraine, in negotiations with Moscow, will do everything to end the war, taking into account its national interests and receive reliable international guarantees to prevent such wars in the future, Podolyak said in an interview with Ukraine 24.

16:25 In the Lugansk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down an enemy plane, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. He also said that today there was shelling of Lisichansk, as a result of which one person died, shelling of Severodonetsk, where a "strategic" building was destroyed.

The hottest places are in Kremennaya, Rubizhnoye and Popasnaya, where the Russians are trying to make breakthroughs. The fighting continues, the enemy suffers losses.

16:19 In Rivne, a woman was sentenced to 13 years in prison with confiscation of property for treason. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, a resident of Donetsk in 2017 created and maintained a network of informants who transmitted data to the Russian Federation on the movement of units and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

16:16 Borrell called on the EU countries to immediately provide Ukraine with all the weapons it asks for. According to Bloomberg, citing informed sources, after a trip to Kyiv, the head of European diplomacy appealed to EU countries to provide weapons to Ukraine as it prepares to intensify the Russian military campaign. In particular, Borrell said that the decision must be made in the coming days, not weeks.

16:05 Zaluzhny said that the defense of Mariupol continues, communication with the units is maintained constantly.

"I emphasize that the conduct of defense operations is not a topic of public discussion.
We are doing everything possible and impossible to win and save the lives of personnel and civilians in all directions," the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasized.

16:00 Zelenskiy, in an interview with CBS, said that a new, most difficult stage of the war is now beginning in the east and south of Ukraine: "We do not know how much equipment there will be, and we understand that there will be many times more than now. We see the accumulation of the military We understand almost all the corridors where the enemy will go We understand what he is going to do, and we understand that the speed of how they will help us, and above all, by the way, the United States, from that speed, how they can hand over weapons to us, I’ll tell you honestly, it depends on whether we stand or not,” he said.

15:55 Russia has almost completed preparations for an offensive in the Donbass, hostilities may begin in the near future , said the speaker of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Motuzyanyk. However, he assured that the Ukrainian army is ready for this. He also said that recently in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions along the line of demarcation, the number of Russian troops has increased significantly and will continue to increase.

15:47 Georgia and Moldova, following Ukraine, received questionnaires from the EU on candidate status.

15:39 The representative of the "DPR" Eduard Basurin suggested using chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military, who are defending themselves at Azovstal. According to him, it makes no sense to storm the underground fortifications of the plant in Mariupol, so you need to "turn to the chemical troops."

15:35 Canada has imposed sanctions against 33 Russian defense companies. "Canada has always been and will always support Ukraine. Today's measures are the latest example of our unwavering support for Ukraine and its people," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said.

15:33 Zelensky about the battle for Kiev: "I think this is not the final victory. I'm not sure that it is the last one. I'm sure that you can't say that we won the battle for Kiev, then lose something, I can't do that I will be able to say about this only when we win this war and liberate our territories. Because Bucha is part of a large Kiev. If people were exterminated in Bucha, Gostomel and Irpen, did we win this battle? I'm not sure. We held on and did not give up, I can confirm this. And whether we won, I'm not ready to talk about it."

15:27 Zelenskiy is convinced that Putin could have prevented war crimes as part of the invasion, since a rigid power vertical has been built in Russia.

"Whether he wanted it or not, whether he likes me or doesn't like me, whether he hates me as a person - I don't know. But this is not about personalities, this is about a war between two states. And that's why I'm talking about a dialogue between the leaders of the two countries. He could have prevented it, and therefore a lot depended on him, as now. You can’t close your eyes and say “we didn’t do it.” Even if you think that you didn’t do it, you have to say it to my eyes, you have to say this is in the eyes of the whole world," Zelensky said in an interview with CBS.

He also criticized the Russian position, which is that if Ukraine is destroyed, then no one will remember the war crimes.

"It is impossible to destroy the entire Ukrainian people and the whole world. You are no longer shaking hands, the whole world will not forget this. And we live in a modern technological world, so everything is there - video, audio, there will be books, memories," Zelensky added.

15:19 The head of the Kiev city military administration, Nikolai Zhirnov, said that the danger for Kiev remains: "As long as there is no peace, Kiev must be ready for defense. Considering that the capital is the political and economic center of Ukraine, today many are returning, the city is coming to life. KGVA takes measures to ensure that, without violating the general system of defense, it is possible to improve traffic in the city.

15:13 The SBU said that the Russians are using Ukrainian children for reconnaissance of military positions, and therefore urge parents to carefully monitor the correspondence and contacts of children.

15:06 The European Commission blacklisted 21 Russian airlines, including Aeroflot, Russia, Pobeda, UTair, S7. They are banned from flying within the EU due to "non-compliance with international safety standards."

15:04 In Bucha, the Russians killed the ex-people's deputy, the head of the All-Ukrainian political association Yedin Rodin Alexander Rzhavsky, the family of the deceased said. He was killed on March 27th. Rzhavsky, a native of Kramatorsk, recently turned 63 years old. In 1999 and 2004 he ran for president.

14:58 Ukraine begins to resume control over the state border in the Kiev, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, said Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Service.

14:52 The Croatian Foreign Ministry announced that it was expelling 18 diplomats from the Russian embassy in Zagreb, along with whom six administrative and technical personnel would leave the country.

14:44 Ukraine's accession to NATO is one of the components of the right of sovereign choice, which the Ukrainian side defends during the war with Russia, Zelensky said in an interview with CBS. At the same time, according to him, the Ukrainian people are fighting not for Western values, but for universal ones.

14:30 Lavrov said that "the special operation of the Russian Federation is designed to put an end to the US course of dominance in the world." He stressed that "the EU sees Kyiv as a springboard for the suppression of the Russian Federation," and Russia will never submit to pressure.

14:23 Ukrainian intelligence reports that the Russians are preparing for a guerrilla war on their territory. Thus, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation obliges to ensure the interaction of the Russian railway with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB. Increased security measures are associated with "the threat of interference in the operation of transport infrastructure facilities located on the borders of the Rostov Region and the Krasnodar Territory."

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine notes that the recent explosions in Belgorod sowed panic in neighboring Russian regions, which marked the beginning of a guerrilla war and the transfer of hostilities to the territory of the Russian Federation.

14:18 The State Emergency Service reported that 300 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territories should be examined for mines and may need humanitarian demining.

14:16 The German defense concern Rheinmetall has announced that it is ready to supply Ukraine with up to 50 Leopard 1 tanks and up to 60 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, reports Handelsblatt.

14:13 The American newspaper Politico writes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine used the "hit-and-run" tactics in the war with Russia, which turned out to be extremely effective. And this is the merit of Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, whom the publication called "an iron general" and "a hero, not a star."

Zaluzhny, according to the newspaper, "largely avoided the publicity of the commander, giving this role to Zelensky." But military successes were made possible by the modern way of warfare.

13:54 The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine warns of possible provocations from the Russian Federation. Thus, in order to discredit Ukraine in the world, the Russian media report on provocations allegedly prepared by "the Ukrainian government with the support of Western countries."

In particular, Ukraine is allegedly going to organize "an action with the mass destruction of civilians in ORDLO," namely, "preparing to film a provocation with shelling of ambulances in the Severodonetsk region," and also plans to "blow up chlorine tanks in the Popasnyansk region."

13:43 The Lychakiv court of Lviv handed over the arrested Royal Romance yacht of Viktor Medvedchuk to the Agency for Tracing and Asset Management (ARMA). The yacht was in the port of Croatia.

13:40 Zelenskiy called on South Korea to provide military assistance: he asked for air defense systems, aircraft, tanks, other armored vehicles, artillery systems and ammunition.

13:35 Finland suspends postal communication with Russia and Belarus.

13:26 Peskov said that the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO will not bring security to Europe: "The alliance itself is rather a tool sharpened for confrontation. This is not an alliance that ensures peace and stability. Further expansion of the alliance will not bring additional security to the European continent."

13:12 The EU has imposed the first direct sanctions against the Russian gas industry, banning the supply of LNG production equipment to the Russian Federation. The fifth package of sanctions establishes a ban on the sale, supply, transfer or export to Russia, directly or indirectly, of goods and technologies necessary for gas liquefaction, regardless of whether such goods or technologies originate from the EU or not.

Previously, Russia hoped to become one of the world's largest LNG producers.

12:57 Ukrainians have filed more than 66,000 applications for property damaged as a result of the war in the Diya application, said Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov.

12:55 According to Polish customs officers, 2.66 million people have arrived from Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The record figure was on March 6 - 142,300 people. On Sunday, April 10, 28,500 Ukrainians entered Poland, and 19,400 left.

12:52 The office of the Prosecutor General reported on suspicion of collaborationism to the former mayor of the city of Rubizhne, Lugansk region, Sergei Hortiv.

12:47 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that Russian special forces, five kilometers south of Izyum, eliminated one of the leaders of the Right Sector, Taras Bobanich.

12:45 Pushilin said that the "operation to liberate" the territory of the "DPR" will be "intensified".

12:39 Taras Kremin, Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, announced the need to rename settlements whose names are in Russian.

12:27 Zelensky said that tens of thousands of Ukrainians have already died in Mariupol. According to him, the Russians want to make it a "demonstratively destroyed city."

12:25 A special camp is being created for Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine, Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova said in an interview with LB.ua. Since there are a lot of prisoners, the issue is currently being resolved in order to reopen and transfer to the Ministry of Defense one of the abandoned colonies.

Denisova does not name the exact number of prisoners, as this will damage negotiations with Moscow on the exchange. However, she said that in Kyiv she personally communicated with 34 Russian prisoners of war, 24 of which were officers, 10 were soldiers.

12:22 In Ukraine, the process of examining buildings and structures destroyed and damaged as a result of the Russian invasion has begun to determine the possibility of their further operation, restoration work or dismantling, said Natalya Kozlovskaya, Deputy Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories. According to her, the first group of experts has already left for the Kiev region.

12:20 The European Union should increase military support to Ukraine, especially the supply of heavy weapons, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock before the EU Council meeting. She stressed that "there is no more time for excuses."

12:18 In the Kiev region, 220.57 hectares of territory have already been checked, 11,241 units of explosive objects have been neutralized, said the head of the Regional State Administration Oleksandr Pavlyuk.

Over the past 24 hours, rescuers have examined Bucha, Borodyanka, Irpen, Belogorodka, Stoyanka, Gostomel, Velikaya Dymerka, Nemeshaevo, Dmitrovka, Novy Korogod, Lyutezh - this is 34.61 hectares of territory and 72 infrastructure facilities. Specialists of the State Emergency Service neutralized 675 explosive objects.

12:14 In Kharkov, in different parts of the city, rescuers find time bombs. These are ammunition with a plastic case, small in size, weighing about one and a half kilograms, which are scattered around the yards of residential buildings and streets.

Local residents are asked not to pick up such ammunition under any circumstances, not to approach them and not to try to eliminate them on their own, but to immediately call rescuers by calling 101.

11:52 Law enforcement officers have blocked operations to withdraw the assets of almost seven thousand pro-Russian companies that could be used in support of military operations in Ukraine, the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police reported.

11:47 Macron took first place in the first round of the presidential election following the processing of 100% of the protocols - he scored 27.6% of the vote. Le Pen received 23.41% of the popular vote.

11:45 A detachment of technical and scientific gendarmes from France arrived in Ukraine to investigate war crimes committed around Kiev, French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsin said.

11:40 In the Kiev region today, a temporary bulk bridge was opened in Romanovka, connecting Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and Vorzel with the capital, said Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kirill Tymoshenko.

11:37 In Mukachevo, by decision of the executive committee of the city council, the Soviet tank-monument T-34 was dismantled. The tank was dismantled by public utilities, it will be transferred to "responsible storage".

11:29 Ukraine will join the European Union "in the coming years" - this process will definitely not take a "five-year period", said Zelensky's diplomatic adviser responsible for European integration, deputy head of the Presidential Office Igor Zhovkva. He also said that Kyiv has not yet received signals from Budapest about Orban's intention to block Ukraine's movement to the EU.

11:26 Russia is ready to go to court in case of default due to non-fulfillment of obligations on Eurobonds and to prove that it has done everything to make payments, said Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. According to him, Western countries are artificially creating a "man-made default."

11:10 In the Kharkiv region, the invaders fired at settlements about 66 times with rockets, Grads and Tornadoes. According to the head of the Regional State Administration Oleg Sinegubov, 11 people died, including a seven-year-old child. In total, more than two thousand residential buildings were destroyed in the region, there are traces of violent deaths of Ukrainians at the hands of the invaders.

Sinegubov also said that in spite of everything, the sowing campaign has begun actively in the region: they plan to sow about 60-80% of arable land.

10:58 Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova said that the Russian invaders are forcing children in the occupied territories to return to educational institutions. In particular, this applies to Volnovakha, Donetsk region. According to her, such actions of the Russians are likely to complicate the operation for the upcoming liberation of the city, and provocations with victims are also possible in order to discredit and accuse the Ukrainian side. In this case, the children will actually become hostages and human shields for the aggressor troops, Denisova stressed.

10:42 The head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry announced that the EU countries have begun work on the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions with the "oil option".

10:33 The liberated Olkhovka of the Kharkiv region has been almost completely destroyed by the invaders, the prosecutor's office said.

10:18 Kuleba warned of the impending large-scale information campaign of the Kremlin: “Russia knows that arms supplies are necessary for Ukraine and is mobilizing all forces to undermine them. Moscow has prepared a large-scale information campaign aimed at foreign media and politicians. Their troll factory can spam emails and flood the comments with disinformation about Ukraine. Don't fall for it."

10:11 Arestovich again stated that it is impossible to deblock Mariupol now, since the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not pass the steppe under air strikes from Rostov and Crimea. According to him, the siege can be removed and facilitated indirectly.

The adviser to the head of the OP also spoke about what is being done in relation to Mariupol:

the supply of Russian troops was interrupted by damage to the Crimea-Melitopol railway;

attacks were made on the port of Berdyansk;

Ukrainian helicopters flew to Mariupol, took out the wounded and brought in ammunition and equipment. Later, one of the helicopters was shot down, and the fighters fell into a shroud, after which the route became known and was no longer feasible;

the Ukrainian command "makes any possible movements" in the Zaporozhye region, so that part of the troops that could go to Mariupol went to the flank in the Zaporozhye region. The military is doing everything they can.

09:57 Ukraine is likely to receive the status of a candidate for EU membership in June, said the head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas.

09:55 EU foreign ministers will discuss further steps on the situation in Ukraine today, including new sanctions against the Russian Federation, Borrell said.

09:53 First Lady Olena Zelenskaya and the children were forbidden to stay with the President on the premises of the Presidential Office. Since the beginning of the war, Zelensky has been in contact with his family only by phone, his wife said in an interview with Vogue.

09:50 The governor of the Nikolaev area Vitaly Kim reported that rocket attack in the regional center last night fell on the enterprise belonging to Qatar, there are no victims.

Recall that in December last year, the port of Olvia in Nikolaev was finally transferred to the concession of the Qatari QTerminals . It was planned that the largest international company would invest in Ukraine for 35 years.

09:47 In Kiev, the South Bridge is open for passage, which has worked for more than a month only for special and public transport, Klitschko said. Now communication between the left and right banks in the capital is carried out through three bridges - the North, Darnitsky and South.

09:42 As of today, nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed:

Mariupol, Berdyansk, Tokmak, Energodar - Zaporozhye
Severodonetsk, Lisichansk, Popasnaya, Rubizhne, Gornoe - Bakhmut

09:35 In Ukraine, 183 children were killed at the hands of Russian invaders, another 342 were injured, the Office of the Prosecutor General said.

09:27 The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed a warehouse with Russian ammunition near the occupied settlement of the Lugansk region. "We have a small victory - for two and a half hours something that could have killed our people was on fire," said Sergey Gaidai, head of the UVA.

09:05 Russian media wrote that the Slovak S-300 air defense system was allegedly destroyed near Nikolaev. But Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger denied this: "Slovakia categorically denies Russian propaganda that the S-300 defense system in Ukraine was destroyed. This is a hoax. Officially confirmed by Ukraine."

09:02 Kadyrov said that after the offensive in the Donbass, "we will continue to take Kiev and other cities."

08:59 The General Staff named the estimated losses of the enemy on the morning of April 11:

personnel - about 19,500 people,

tanks - 725,

armored fighting vehicles - 1923,

artillery systems - 347,

MLRS - 111,

air defense systems - 55,

aircraft - 154,

helicopters - 137,

automotive equipment - 1387,

ships/boats - 7,

tanks with fuel and lubricants - 76,

UAV operational-tactical level - 119,

special equipment - 25,

launchers OTRK / TRK - 4.

08:53 Russians fired at one more railway station in the east of Ukraine. Five locomotives, track and contact network were damaged, no one was injured, Ukrzaliznytsia reported.

08:42 Arestovich said that Ukraine will not sign a peace agreement if Russia seizes Donbass within its administrative borders. In this case, the war will continue.

“Only a war on the conditions that we are armed, and Russia has nowhere to take it from. And this advantage is very long, we will implement it,” the adviser to the head of the Presidential Office specified. “It will be a lot of blood on our part, additional efforts, grandiose problems for the economy."

Arestovich believes that Ukraine will fight with Russia until 2035, probably, it will be several wars.

08:37 In France, according to the results of counting almost 100 percent of the ballots, the current President Macron received 27.6 percent of the vote, Le Pen - 23.41 percent. The second round of elections will take place on 24 April.

08:35 Russia has assembled at least 32 Su-27 fighter jets, as well as several Il-76 and other aircraft at a military airfield in Voronezh, as seen in Planet Labs satellite imagery from 9 April. Probably, this airfield will become the main one for attacks on Ukraine, Orion Intel analysts say.

08:33 British intelligence reports that Russian troops continue to shell Donbass, the risk of civilian casualties is increasing. It also increases the likelihood of the occupiers using phosphorus munitions in Mariupol.

In addition, Russia's use of unguided bombs reduces the ability to distinguish targets when aiming and striking, while at the same time greatly increasing the risk of further civilian casualties.

08:30 A total of 42 countries have already applied to the Hague court because of war crimes of the Russian Federation, said Minister of Justice Denis Malyuska.

08:28 Ukraine may become a testing ground for US Switchblade kamikaze drones in combat, as it is not clear how often the US military has used killer drones on the battlefield, CNBC reports.

According to the channel, a group of Ukrainians, who just recently left the United States, have been trained in the handling of these drones for many weeks. They were trained at the Special Forces Training Center in Biloxi, Mississippi. Moreover, the Ukrainian military were in this special school even before the start of the Russian invasion.

08:25 Finland and Sweden may join NATO this summer, the Times writes. The membership of these countries in NATO was discussed during the talks of the foreign ministers of the alliance last week. Sweden and Finland were also present, US officials told the paper.

08:10 Bellingcat investigative journalist Hristo Grozev says that Putin purged the FSB: 150 officers involved in the "Ukrainian issue" were either fired or arrested.

07:59 In the Lugansk region, the entire infrastructure was destroyed as a result of shelling by the Russian invaders, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai.

07:52 UOC-MP priests are collecting signatures under an appeal to the Cathedral of the Primates of the Ancient Eastern Churches "with a lawsuit against Patriarch Kirill."

"Today, when Patriarch Kirill of Moscow frankly supports Russia's war of conquest against Ukraine, we, the priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, have decided to appeal to the Council of Primates of the Ancient Eastern Churches with a lawsuit against Patriarch Kirill," Archpriest Andriy Pinchuk of the UOC-MP wrote on Facebook.

07:34 Russia in the war with Ukraine is acting unpredictably, and its next strike may be directed at Odessa and the Dnieper in order to capture them, said the captain of the first rank of the US Navy, retired Harry Tabah.

07:30 The offensive of the Russian Federation in the east is likely to resume in the coming days, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.

07:22 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine does not rule out provocative actions by the Russian Armed Forces on the territory of the Transnistrian region of Moldova in order to accuse Ukraine of aggression against a neighboring state.

00:03 According to the World Bank, output in Ukraine is likely to decline this year "by a staggering 45.1 percent," writes Reuters. While the Russian economy will fall by 11.2 percent in 2022, the World Bank predicts. The total GDP of Eastern Europe (including both EU countries and the former USSR) will fall by 30.7 percent this year.

Link

Europe

US Embassy 'Under Attack' by grenade throwing assailant in Montenegro

2018-02-22

[Express] The US Embassy in the Montenegro capital of Podgorica has been blasted with a grenade by an unnamed attacker who then blew himself up with a second device, American officials have confirmed.

The attack happened just before midnight last night. The embassy was closed at the time of the incident.

The government of Montenegro confirmed an unknown assailant threw the grenade into the embassy compound and then blew himself up with another explosive device.

There are no reported deaths except of the attacker.
Nice effort, bad finish. I give him a 3.0
The New York Times reported that a witness saw the man throw the object over the wall at around midnight.

Steve Goldstein, the US State Department's Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, has said the motive of the attack is unknown or whether it was a deliberate suicide attack.

However, one source at the scene has described how one of the grenades the attacker attempted to throw at the Embassy exploded while still attached to his belt, killing him in the process.
Darwin 1 - Attacker 0

Update from the Telegraph at 9:45a.m. ET:

Citing police sources, the Montenegrin press identified the suspected attacker as Dalibor Jaukovic, a 43-year-old Podgorica resident and a former soldier. Jaukovic’s Facebook profile revealed that in 1999 he was decorated by Slobodan Milosevic for “outstanding dedication to his duties in the defence and security of the homeland” during the Nato bombing of Serbia.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US names Syrian generals linked to attacks on civilians

2016-11-22

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States on Monday named a dozen Syrian generals and officers accused of leading attacks on civilian targets in the five-year war and warned they would one day face justice.

US Ambassador Samantha Power said the military commanders were involved in "killing and injuring civilians" with assaults on schools, hospitals and homes since the outbreak of the war in 2011.

"The United States will not let those who have commanded units involved in these actions hide anonymously behind the facade of the Assad regime," Power told the Security Council.

Among those named were five major generals -- Adib Salameh, Jawdat Salbi Mawas, Tahir Hamid Khalil, Jamil Hassan and Rafiq Shihadeh -- along with five brigadier generals and two colonels.

The council met as Syrian and Russian warplanes pounded rebel-held parts of northern Syria including Aleppo, where food rations were running out in the besieged eastern part of the city.

"Those behind such attacks must know that we in the international community are watching their actions, documenting their abuses and one day they will be held accountable," said Power.

"These individuals feel impunity," she said, warning that so did former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and Liberian warlord

Charles Chuck Taylor
The former President-for-Life of Liberia, of whom the best that could be said was that he wasn't quite as horrible as Prince Johnson, at least not usually.
who faced trial for war crimes.

"Today’s atrocities are well-documented and the civilized world’s memories are long," she said.

UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien told the council that nearly one million people were living under siege in Syria, revising figures from six months ago that showed nearly half a million Syrians were cut off.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Russian air strikes in Syria 'good thing': Carla Del Ponte

2016-02-09

Former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, who is currently probing rights abuses in Syria, on Monday backed Russia's air strikes on "terrorist groups" in the war-torn country.

This is not a surprise: now if she were asked about U.S. bombing of the same bad guys, her answer would be different. Of course it would.

"Overall, I think the Russian intervention is a good thing, because finally someone is attacking these terrorist groups," Del Ponte told Swiss public broadcaster RTS, listing the Islamic State group and Al-Nusra among the groups targeted.

But Del Ponte, a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, quickly added that the Russians apparently "are not distinguishing enough between the terrorists and others, and that is not as good."

Our guys work much harder to do that. Notice she didn't give us any credit...

Her comments came amid international bickering over the Russian air strikes and what role they played in undermining last week's peace talks to end the country's five-year war.

Moscow launched a bombing campaign in Syria last year at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying it was targeting the Islamic State group and other Islamist militant organizations. The West has accused Russia of targeting more moderate factions that oppose Assad's regime, and Syrian activists say the strikes have killed civilians, allegations Moscow dismisses as "absurd".

The Rooshun spokes-thug is just being a Rooshun...

UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura last week suspended attempts to begin a dialogue between al-Assad's regime and the opposition, as Russia pressed on with its bombing campaign on the ground.

One day after the talks broke down, Russia's defence ministry said that air strikes had hit 875 "terrorist targets" in Syria since the start of the month.

Del Ponte, a 68-year-old Swiss national who came to prominence investigating war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, also touched on another sensitive subject Monday, saying she thought Assad should be included in peace negotiations.

"If you want a ceasefire, if you want peace, you first have to negotiate with the government," she said, pointing out that the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was already under investigation when the US negotiated the 1995 Dayton accord with him that ended Yugoslavia's bloody war.

Look what happened to him, too: died of old age in a ~~hotel~~ prison in the Netherlands while awaiting trial. Pencil-neck watched and learned...

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Milosevic's fate 'awaits Syria tyrant'

2015-09-22

[ARABNEWS] Justice will catch up with Syrian

Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
even if he remains in power under a negotiated end to Syria's war, UN human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
investigator Carla del Ponte said on Monday.

"Assad is the president, so let's deal with the institution of president. If we can achieve a cease-fire with the president, why not? But afterwards, justice will come," del Ponte said.

"You remember in former Yugoslavia, Milosevic was president, and it was a peace negotiation at Dayton and they achieved an agreement? And Milosevic was still president, but justice could be done. Just an example from the past."

Del Ponte was chief prosecutor for the international court which put former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic on trial in 2002, seven years after he signed a peace treaty to end the war in the former Yugoslavia. Milosevic died in his cell in 2006, before his trial was concluded.

This month European countries and the United States have moved away from demanding Assad's immediate ouster, saying instead that the timing of his exit could be part of a negotiated peace deal.

Asked if she thought justice would catch up with Assad, Del Ponte said: "Yes. It must be done."

Del Ponte is a member of the UN independent commission of inquiry that has been investigating human rights abuses in Syria for four years.

Link

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