Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Europe

Sarkozy in the dock: former French president faces corruption charges over 'suitcases of cash from Gaddafi', sensational claims set to reignite interest around the world

2025-01-07

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] When France's president Nicolas Sarkozy and his supermodel wife of two months, Carla Bruni, arrived in Britain for a state visit in March 2008 they were feted as Gallic royalty.

The newlyweds stayed at Windsor Castle and had a private lunch with the Queen and Prince Philip before Sarkozy travelled to Westminster to address both houses of Parliament.

That evening, at a grand banquet in St George's Hall, he raised a toast to 'the brotherhood of the French and British people', while Her Majesty did her own bit for the entente cordiale by bestowing him with an honorary knighthood.

Such a splendid occasion will today seem a very distant memory to the man universally known as 'Sarko'.

This afternoon, the 69-year-old will take his place in the dock at Paris's principal criminal court sporting an electronic tag on his right leg.

Sarkozy, who was convicted in December of trying to bribe a judge, now confronts his most serious charges to date: corruption, illegal campaign financing, benefiting from embezzled public funds and being party to a criminal conspiracy.

In a trial listed to last no less than three months, prosecutors will claim that he accepted money-laundered funds from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the late dictator of oil-rich Libya, totalling tens of millions of pounds.

The cash reportedly helped finance the 2007 election campaign which swept Sarkozy to power, meaning that his victory will be for ever tainted by the allegation that it was based on dirty money from North Africa.

If found guilty, the man who was nicknamed 'President Bling-Bling', thanks to his penchant for the high life, faces up to a decade in prison.

And his wife could suffer a similar fate. Carla, 57, is accused of being part of a £4 million campaign dubbed 'Operation Save Sarko', a complex and illegal plan to try to keep her husband out of jail.

She has been charged with a range of corruption offences, including 'witness tampering in an organised gang', and her trial is expected to get under way later this year.

This is all a far cry from the days when Sarko was billed as the poster boy of French conservatism and I used to interview him regularly as a journalist and author based in Paris.

He projected himself to me as a Margaret Thatcher-style reformer who would liberalise the French economy, just as the Iron Lady did in Britain in the 1980s.

The pace at which he worked to bring about change earned him the nickname 'Speedy Sarko' – and he didn't hang about when it came to his personal life either.

He became the first French president to divorce his wife while in office. A break-up with Cécilia was always on the cards, given that they were both known for their illicit affairs.

Indeed, Nicolas and Cécilia were both married to other people when they first got together. He was with his first wife, Marie-Dominique, and Cécilia's husband was a French TV chat-show host called Jacques Martin, a kind of French Bruce Forsyth 24 years her senior.

Sarkozy got to know them on their wedding day because, as the mayor of the chichi Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, he conducted the ceremony. Though 29 and married, Sarko later admitted that after laying eyes on the beautiful bride for the first time, he asked himself: 'Why am I marrying this woman to someone else? She is for me.'

The two couples often went on skiing holidays together, and Sarko was rumbled when Marie-Dominique spotted footprints in the snow under Cécilia's window.

Cécilia was briefly France's First Lady when Sarkozy entered the Élysée Palace in 2007, but her days were numbered from the outset as she was known to be seeing a French-Moroccan businessman, while her husband's conquests at the time included a political journalist on the centre-Right daily Le Figaro.

As a result, Sarkozy's five-year term took on the status of a wild soap opera, which reached its climax when he wooed Bruni, an Italian heiress and self-styled 'tamer of men', whose past lovers included multimillionaire celebrities such as Mick Jagger and – it was rumoured – Donald Trump.

Sarko himself revelled in the high life and thought nothing of borrowing super-yachts and private jets from billionaire industrialists, while treating them to lavish meals at Michelin- starred restaurants.

After becoming Sarko's third wife, Carla soon turned into his Marie Antoinette, with presidential accounts revealing that she spent £660 a day on fresh flowers for the Élysée Palace.

With so much energy being expended on luxury living, many suggested that sucking up to the super-wealthy had become Sarkozy's priority – an accusation that was given added credence when the hugely controversial Gaddafi rolled into Paris in December 2007.

Sarko had invited the so-called 'Brother Leader' for a red-carpet state visit and the Libyan despot was even given permission to pitch his tribal tent in ornate presidential gardens by the Champs-Élysées.

This sort of bromance was all the more inappropriate given that Gaddafi was linked to a range of atrocities, including the Lockerbie bombing, which saw 270 people die when a PanAm flight en route to New York went down over Scotland in 1988, and the shooting of Metropolitan police officer Yvonne Fletcher by a gunman inside Libya's London Embassy four years earlier.

Even Sarko's own Human Rights State Secretary, Rama Yade, said France 'was not a doormat' for Gaddafi to 'wipe off the blood of his crimes'. But Sarkozy just shrugged his shoulders, knowing that his presidential immunity would protect him from investigation.

This all changed in May 2012, when he lost his first attempt at re-election to François Hollande. Within a day, Sarkozy's Paris townhouse was raided by the fraud squad – and he and his wife's troubles began in earnest.

For Gaddafi was not the former president's only problem. Sarkozy first came under suspicion of engaging in corrupt dealings when he was accused of accepting envelopes full of cash from the late L'Oréal heiress, Liliane Bettencourt.

While these claims did not stick – his lieutenants took the rap – Sarkozy was sentenced to three years for trying to get classified information about the case against him from a judge.

Telephone taps proved the prosecution case against Sarkozy, who was told he could serve a year with an electronic tag, while the other two were suspended.

He is currently appealing another prison sentence – this time of one year – for using false accounting to disguise illegal overspending in his failed re-election campaign of 2012.

Other ongoing cases include claims that he was involved in Qatargate – the successful but allegedly corrupt plan to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

But it is the Libya affair which will now reignite interest in Sarkozy around the world. It is primarily based on allegations by a Franco-Lebanese businessman called Ziad Takieddine, who once told French media that in 2006-07 he had personally handed over suitcases stuffed with banknotes to Sarkozy and his chief of staff, Claude Guéant (something the latter later denied).

Takieddine said the equivalent of at least £42 million was illegally poured into Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign.

A document signed by Libya's former chief of intelligence, Moussa Koussa, apparently proves the payment. Unfortunately for Sarkozy, like many witnesses from the time, Koussa is alive and well.

So, too, is Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, who told me he was one of 'numerous Libyans prepared to offer conclusive proof' of massive amounts of cash being given to middle men working for Sarkozy.

There is no love lost between the two men as it was Sarkozy who ordered the French Air Force, supported by Nato allies, to start bombing targets in Libya in March 2011 as a means of protecting civilian lives during the Arab Spring revolt. But regime change was clearly the desired result.

By the time Sarkozy and Britain's then PM, David Cameron, paid a triumphant joint visit to Tripoli in September of that year, the fleeing Gaddafi was close to being beaten to death by a mob.

A key question to be considered by judges is whether Sarko wanted Gaddafi dead because of his potential to produce incriminating evidence. There are claims, admittedly hotly contested, that Gaddafi was killed by agents working directly for the Sarkozy administration.

Sarkozy and Bruni deny all the charges and are determined to prove their innocence. Yet moves are already underway to strip him of his Legion d'Honneur and Order of Merit – France's highest civilian decorations.

As the first French president to be convicted for crimes carried out while in office, he 'has next to no chance of hanging on to them', a senior judicial source in Paris told me.

Link

Britain

How Yang Tengbo, the alleged Chinese spy who befriended Prince Andrew, wormed his way to the very top of British society

2024-12-17

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] If Yang Tengbo’s mission was to penetrate the heart of the British establishment, then it must be said that he did an exceptional job.

Operating in plain sight as an Anglophile Chinese businessman keen to forge meaningful links between the two nations, he infiltrated top institutions with astonishing success.

Now that an order forbidding naming the alleged spy formerly known as H6 has been lifted at his own request, Yang’s incredible web of influence across British society can be disclosed for the first time.

A shadow gliding through the corridors of power, the diminutive businessman spent two decades quietly embedding himself in the fabric of UK politics, business, education, industry and royalty.

So close was the 50-year-old to the Duke of York that he referred to himself in interviews with Chinese media as the ‘special envoy of Prince Andrew’.

The duke invited him to his 60th birthday party in 2020 and appointed him head of the Chinese arm of his beloved Dragons’ Den-style project, Pitch@Palace, which used Buckingham Palace as the official address for the Hong Kong branch. Yang was also photographed with Prince Michael of Kent at a UK China Business Leader Summit in June 2016 at Windsor Castle.

But it wasn’t just members of the Royal Family who were successfully cultivated by the bespectacled businessman.

Framed photos of Yang with former prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron adorned the desk in his London office.

And he rubbed shoulders with then-chancellor George Osborne at the first UK-China Business Leaders’ Summit in 2014, arranged by Yang himself.

This ability to charm top politicians and royals extended to those involved in Britain’s most prestigious educational establishments.

Yang played a pivotal role in developing campuses in China for the elite Gordonstoun boarding school attended by King Charles.

The £61,440-a-year establishment, also attended by Prince Andrew and Prince Philip, was the birthplace of the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Round Square conference of schools, set up ‘to create opportunities for students and teachers to develop international understanding and self-confidence’.

Yang’s consultancy company, the Hampton Group, has been overseeing the expansion of Gordonstoun into China that was made public in 2019, much to the consternation of some of its illustrious alumni.

Among them was film director and author Justin Baldwin, who captained Gordonstoun’s hockey team before directing Cash In Hand, starring Richard E Grant.

When the move was announced, he said: ‘Why would we put a school in a country where they have camps to convert Muslims by feeding them pork? That’s everything that [Gordonstoun founder] Kurt Hahn was against.’

In addition to schooling, Yang has been heavily involved with the business elite, including in particular the late Lady (Barbara) Judge, described by Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour as ‘one of the best-connected women in Britain’.

Yang invested with Lady Judge, a former chairman of both the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Institute of Directors, in a fashion and soft furnishings company. It was with an uncanny sense of timing that he rode to the rescue during a rare moment of vulnerability in her life.

With his financial support – and in return for a 40 per cent share of her start-up company – she was able to launch B&H Enterprise after quitting the Institute of Directors amid allegations of bullying, racism and sexism in 2018.

The other company directors were Chinese entrepreneur Hua Xia, who appeared with Yang at Pitch@Palace Beijing in 2019, and Hampton Group chief executive Jean Jameson, who was also the UK secretary general for the Chinese arm of Pitch@Palace.

Lady Judge CBE, a high-flying lawyer, banker and entrepreneur who championed women’s rights in the workplace, had been accused of more than 40 episodes of unreasonable behaviour while chairman of the institute.

She was also a former chairman of the UK’s fraud prevention service Cifas, of the Pension Protection Fund, an ambassador on behalf of UK Trade & Investment, and trustee of several cultural and charitable institutions, including the Royal Academy of Arts and Dementia UK.

She was also a former chairman of the UK’s fraud prevention service Cifas, of the Pension Protection Fund, an ambassador on behalf of UK Trade & Investment, and trustee of several cultural and charitable institutions, including the Royal Academy of Arts and Dementia UK.

Ably straddling so many influential roles across some of Britain’s most important institutions, and unhindered by royal protocols, Lady Judge would have had the power and access that Prince Andrew could only dream of.

t is not known how she first crossed paths with Yang, who is also co-owner of fund management firm Coeus International with ex-McLaren chief executive Sir Ron Dennis, a former non- executive director at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Yang founded Hampton Group in 2005 and opened offices in the City of London.

On its website, the firm, which also has an office in Beijing, states that it ‘delivers strategic advisory, investment solutions and communications services to help leaders of international and Chinese companies solve business-critical challenges and seize unique opportunities’.

Yang has himself described how the company worked with some of Britain’s biggest international companies, including helping McLaren Automotive to introduce a luxury road car.

He claimed the firm, which recorded a healthy profit of £5.65 million in its latest accounts, helped guide GlaxoSmithKline through a whistleblowing investigation.

Yang was born in Yunnan, southern China, in 1974, and graduated from the local university with a history degree before working for seven years at a ‘national government agency’.

He moved to the UK in 2002 where, on his second attempt, he gained the minimum score in an English test to study for a degree, eventually winning a place on a master’s course in public administration at York University.

In a 2006 BBC profile on Chinese students in Britain, Yang was said to have ‘forced himself to change his past thinking mode in Chinese and think and express in English, which would achieve twice the result with half the effort’. And it appeared Yang quickly became enamoured with the British way of life.

He gained indefinite leave to remain in 2012 and, according to court documents, would spend one or two weeks in the UK every month, considering it to be his ‘second home’.

He spent two decades carefully integrating himself into Britain’s power structure before he was stopped from entering the country under counter-terrorism laws in November 2021.

Advisers close to the Duke of York continued to do business with Yang, however.

In November 2022, Andrew’s ‘senior adviser’, Dominic Hampshire, was one of five directors who set up the firm Eurasia Global Partners, reportedly to look at the prospect of importing oil into China.

Another director was Irish oil tycoon Aidan Heavey.

The firm partnered with Yang’s Hampton Group, and together they owned 30 per cent of the business, with Mr Heavey’s Albe Global owning 60 per cent and Mr Hampshire’s own consultancy owning 10 per cent.

Eurasia was also the name of the international finance initiative which Mr Hampshire said Yang could discuss with potential partners in China on behalf of the duke.

Mr Hampshire was integral to the duke’s relationship with the Chinese businessman.

Court documents show that in March 2020, he told Yang: ‘I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal [Andrew] and indeed his family.

‘You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship. Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.’

The scheme has been criticised because the regime can seize assets or exert influence in these countries in the event of a debt default.

In an interview with China Daily in 2022, Yang said he was encouraging the UK to get involved in the programme.

‘We will link China’s kinetic energy to Britain’s potential energy, give full play to the advantages of both sides, and jointly explore potential commercial value in third-party countries’ markets,’ he said.

In another interview, Yang said that following Brexit, the UK was ‘looking eastward, hoping to… strengthen co-operation with China’.

A possible interpretation of this quote is that it could be a crystallisation of Yang’s own modus operandi. His targets, Lady Judge and Prince Andrew included, were often once mighty figures suddenly beginning to feel weakened and isolated when he arrived with a lifeline.

Does China see Britain in the same way? If the allegations that Yang has indeed spied for the state prove to be true, then his brazen march through our corridors of power would certainly suggest so.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

When the world presses for a Mideast ceasefire, it means Israel Is crushing evil

2024-10-02

[IsraelNationalNews] The world loves dead Jews. They all come to Yad Vashem to shed a tear and lay a wreath in the same way that they travel elsewhere to see a leaning tower, a statue with a torch, a coliseum, and a large clock that plays the opening melody in "Peter Pan." They love dead Jews. They remember them, memorialize them.

And their beautiful thing is that most of them don’t even have to come to Jerusalem to lay wreaths and shed tears for dead Jews because they already have murdered so many Jews themselves, for centuries, that they can save the airfare and lay wreaths and shed tears at one or another Jewish cemetery or Holocaust museum in their own backyards or along the Rhine or Seine.

The world has less patience for live Jews. They mask their words, and most Jews are too oblivious to realize that many of their "friends" actually despise them. So many Jews buy the baloney. In a world of diplomacy, sensible people simply do not say "I hate you people and want you all dead." They are more elegant and speak in subtleties that only skilled and trained interpreters and translators can help other Jews better understand.

When a British person wants to say "car trunk," he says "boot." When he wants to say "elevator," he says "lift." When he wants to say "truck," he says "lorry." See? It’s that way.

When a New Yorker says "Your mother," he is meaning "I respectfully disagree with you." A Texan says it differently:"That dog won’t hunt." When an Israeli says "Al lo davar" (eh, it’s nothing, really!), he is saying "One day, you will make it up to me."

And when a non-Jew wants to see Jews dead, or — at best — does not care one way or another, he says: "It’s time for Israel to enter into a CEASEFIRE."

Read old newspapers. View old videos. In all of recorded history, no non-Jew ever asked Jews or their antagonists to enter into a ceasefire when Jews were losing. Never happened. Not during the Holocaust. Not during any of Israel’s wars. Not when Jewish kids get pummeled and abused at American colleges. When Jews are losing, everyone turns the other way. Many are happy and want the Jews dead. Many others — not just a few, but many others, good people — feel bad for the Jews, pray to their gods for the Jews, and even teach their kids that it is wrong to beat up and murder Jews because Jews are kind-of similar to everyone else.

But when Jews are winning, as when Israel’s Irgun, Lechi, and Haganah — ultimately the Palmach and Tzahal (IDF) — emerged capable of kicking out the British and then defeating the seven invading Arab armies, it was then that the United Nations sent Count Folke Bernadotte to bring about a CEASEFIRE. He came with a beautiful plan: the Arabs would get almost everything except for two Jews’ backyards, a patio, and some sand. Haifa port would be internationalized. Also Lod airport. Also Jerusalem — all of it. After a brief interregnum, it would be a matter of international oversight as to whether any more Jews even could enter the country any more. In other words, Jerusalem, Haifa port, and the international airport at Lod would end up under Arab sovereignty, with a ban on future Jewish immigration even into the truncated Jewish section.

All he wanted was a CEASEFIRE. The Lechi did not agree. So they did not cease firing — and, G-d bless the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir and his men — on him. That problem solved.

By 1967, it was war again. Early word was that Gamal Abdel Nasser and his Egyptian air force were destroying Israel from one side while Syria was massacring Jews from the north. The news of the slaughter was so enticing that King Hussein of Jordan came in for the ride. In New York, the United Nations knew only what the Arabs were proclaiming to the media.

Only Chaim Herzog, then Israel’s U.N. ambassador, knew the Arab governments all were lying, as they always do. (Remember the denials recently, assertions that Mohammed Deif had not been eliminated? And that Haniyah had not been in the house? Or that Nasrallah survived? They always lie until they can’t hide it anymore.) So Ambassador (later President) Herzog kept the actual truth of Israel’s stunning successes on the ground a secret at the U.N., a task particularly easy to perform.

Why? Because Israel knew the U.N. would not call for a ceasefire as long as they believed the Arabs were driving the Jews into the Sea. And Israel wanted extra time to keep winning, to keep driving the Arabs back, and to emerge (despite the perpetually politically cowardly Dayan) with all of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the Golan and the Sinai and Gaza. Indeed, the moment "the cat was let out of the bag," and the world realized that Israel was winning and had reached Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount), the Security Council raced to demand a... CEASEFIRE.

The same in 1973. Remember? It seemed Sadat had taken Israel by surprise on Yom Kippur and was marching on Jerusalem, while Syria was racing to Jerusalem from the north, and brave Dayan was experiencing a nervous breakdown and Golda Meir was pocketing her cyanide tablets. Remember? No one called for a ceasefire then.

But, then, Ariel Sharon — when he was a national military hero, before he became a corrupted politician — built that pontoon bridgehead across the Suez, and started threatening to march toward Cairo, and Israel suddenly had Egypt’s Third Army totally surrounded for slaughter. Remember? Suddenly, Kissinger — the Bernie Sanders of his day, other side of the political aisle but same kind of Jew, brother of another mother — was there demanding a CEASEFIRE. Rescue the Egyptian Third Army to kill the Jews another day and lay the groundwork for giving Sadat (i) the Etzion air base, (ii) the Alma oil fields, (iii) the Abu Rudeis oil fields, and all the rest of Sinai.

And so it is, and so it was, and so it will be. Half a century later, Yair Lapid, a talk show host without a high school degree, was giving precious Israeli gas resources and territory to the, uh, late Hassan Nasrallah. (Assistedy by Naftali Bennett.)

When Macron or England’s Keir Starmer or David Cameron or America’s Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or Rashida Tlaib calls for a CEASEFIRE, they are not jockeying for a Nobel Peace Prize. Rather, they are sounding the clarion call, the shofar sound to the world: "The Jews are winning! We have to stop them! CEASEFIRE!"

Link

Britain

British FM announces new Labour government to restore UNRWA funding

2024-07-21

[IsraelTimes] David Lammy says he ‘was appalled’ by Israeli accusations of UNRWA complicity in October 7 ‘but the UN took these allegations seriously’

Britain’s new Labour government said on Friday it would resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in the first major change by the new government to British policy regarding the Israel-Hamas war.

Britain was one of several countries to halt their funding to UNRWA in January, following accusations by Israel that some agency staff were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attack, when thousands of terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, starting the ongoing war.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament on Friday he was reassured that the agency, which provides education, health and other services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere, had taken steps to ensure it has the “highest standards of neutrality,” including improving vetting.

Lammy described UNRWA as the backbone of aid operations in Gaza, saying it helps feed about half of the territory’s population, and announced the government would provide 21 million pounds ($27 million) in new funding to the agency.

He also said that “with journalists banned from entering, aid agencies are also a vital source of information from the Strip, and their reports are devastating,” beginning with the statistic that “almost 40,000 [have been] killed.”

The figure cited by Lammy appeared to come from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, whose toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.

He also cited accounts that malnutrition in Gaza was so severe mothers could not produce breast milk for their children, that diarrhea was found at 40 times its normal prevalence, and that polio had been detected in Gaza.

“Humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe, and it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground,” he said. “UNRWA is absolutely central to these efforts. No other agency can deliver aid at the scale needed.”

The government’s change in policy comes after Labour’s commanding election victory was dented by the loss of five seats to pro-Palestinian independent candidates.

Britain joins other countries including Japan, Germany, Italy, Australia and Canada that have resumed funding to the agency after initially withdrawing their support in the wake of the October 7-related allegations.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has charged that “more than 2,135 UNRWA employees are members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and one-fifth of the principals of UNRWA schools are Hamas activists,” saying “it is impossible to say where UNRWA ends and Hamas begins.”

Lammy cited a review in April, led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, that said Israel had not provided evidence for those accusations. Israel rejected the review’s conclusions.

The British foreign secretary, however, said he was reassured by Colonna’s report “that UNRWA is ensuring they meet the high standards of neutrality, and strengthening its procedures, including on vetting.”

Earlier this month, the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a letter to UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini listing 108 employees of the agency who Israel says are Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.

The IDF has also found a Hamas data center located directly beneath UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, in addition to numerous findings indicating the use of the agency’s assets for terror purposes.

In February, Britain’s then-foreign minister David Cameron said he wanted an “absolute guarantee” that UNRWA would not employ staff who were willing to attack Israel.

Cameron was replaced by Lammy as foreign secretary following the Labour Party’s July 4 landslide election win.

Lammy declined on Friday to elaborate on other elements of the government’s policy with respect to the war and, when asked about potential arrest warrants for Israeli leaders by the International Criminal Court, he said the government was taking legal advice and still deciding its position.

Link

Britain

Trust in British Political System Falls to Record Low (why does this sound familiar)

2024-06-15

[Breitbart] Trust in British politics has fallen to an all-time low as nearly half of the public believes politicians put the interests of their party over the betterment of the country.

After 14 years of Conservative Party rule and just three weeks out from a general election, the public is more jaded than ever according to the British Social Attitudes (BSA) report released this week by the National Centre for Social Research, which found that people’s trust in governments and politicians is at its lowest level in at least 50 years, The Guardian reports.

The survey found that 45 per cent of the public said they “almost never” trusted “British governments of any party to put the needs of the country above the interests of their own political party”. This was up from 34 per cent in 2019 and the highest percentage on record since the question was first posed over 30 years ago.

Professor Sir John Curtice of the National Centre for Social Research said: “The next government will not simply face the challenge of reviving Britain’s stuttering economy and its struggling public services. It will also need to address the concerns of a public that is as doubtful as it has ever been about the trustworthiness and efficacy of the country’s system of government.

“Addressing some of the policy challenges will help in that endeavour. However, it is likely to require much more than that – in particular, a style and manner of governing that persuades people that the government has their interests at heart after all.”

The BSA said the lack of faith in the UK political system has come amid “significant changes in the public mood” since the last general election in 2019. The previous election, a vote very much defined by Brexit, saw the public give an 80-seat majority to Boris Johnson’s Conservatives to finally “get Brexit done”.

However, while the Johnson government did successfully remove the UK from the EU, it failed to deliver on the actual promises of the Brexit movement. While pledges were made to “take back control” of the nation’s borders, the opposite happened, with over 120,000 illegal migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats from France since Brexit.

Rather than taking a hardline approach with Paris and sending the illegals directly back to the French coast, the “Conservative” governments not only use the border force to ferry the illegals to British beaches but also have paid hundreds of millions of pounds sterling to Macron’s government for the pleasure.

The government also betrayed the public on the promise of reducing net legal migration to the country after leaving the EU’s open borders scheme. Instead, Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit immigration bill opened up easy access to migrate to the UK to the rest of the world, crucially without an annual cap, and therefore unsurprisingly leading to record numbers of foreigners flooding into the country, with over two million allowed in over the past two years.

This comes despite the Conservatives promising to reduce net immigration to the “tens of thousands” in their 2010, 2015, and 2017 election manifestos, and promised that immigration would “come down” in their 2019 manifesto. Former Chancellor and David Cameron’s right-hand man, George Osborne admitted in 2017 that “none of the senior members” of Cameron’s government believed in the promise they made to the public and had no intention of actually fulfilling it.

Trust in the political class was also eroded significantly during the Chinese coronavirus crisis, during which the supposedly libertarian Boris Johnson imposed some of the harshest lockdown restrictions in the Western world. However, while normal citizens were being arrested and fined for breaching the draconian rules, it was later revealed that top members of the government, including Johnson, had violated their own convoluted rules during a series of Downing Street parties.

Despite also being fined for breaking lockdown rules, Rishi Sunak was later installed as prime minister. The Conservative Party membership expressly rejected Sunak during the 2022 summer leadership race to replace Johnson, however, a globalist-organised palace coup cut the Liz Truss administration short and saw Sunak put in her place. Unsurprisingly, the unelected prime minister has struggled to connect with the public since.

Amid the failures and betrayals, the British Social Attitudes report found that the public is coalescing around ideas of change to the political system. For example, 49 per cent said they would support some form of devolution in England, such as the creation of an England-specific parliament or assembly, as is the case in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

A record 53 per cent also said they would change the first-past-the-post voting system for the House of Commons to allow for smaller parties to “get a fair share of MPs”. A proportional representation system — the norm in most parliamentary systems in Europe — would likely serve to bolster upstart political parties like Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Link

Britain

UK's Cameron seeks swift probe into Rafah air strikes

2024-05-29

[GEO.TV] British Foreign Minister David Cameron
<span class=Inverse>David Cameron</span>

...Empty suit Brit pol, former PM, has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel...>
has said that an investigation by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) into the Rafah air strikes must be "swift, comprehensive and transparent", again calling for a pause in fighting.

"Deeply distressing scenes following the air strikes in Rafah this weekend. The IDF's investigation must be swift, comprehensive and transparent," Cameron said on X formerly known as Twitter.

"We urgently need a deal to get hostages out and aid in, with a pause in fighting to allow work towards a long-term sustainable ceasefire."

Link

Britain

UK terms ICC announcement 'just plain wrong'

2024-05-22

[GEO.TV] The United Kingdom’s Foreign Minister David Cameron has said the arrest warrants sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor are “just plain wrong”.

“I don’t believe for one moment that seeking these warrants is going to help get the hostages out, it’s not going to help get aid in, and it’s not going to help deliver a sustainable ceasefire,” he told the House of Lords.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Putin responds to Britain with an ultimatum

2024-05-19

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Russian President Vladimir Putin found an unconventional move and responded with an ultimatum to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine has the right to strike Russian regions with weapons produced in the kingdom, according to an article in the Chinese newspaper Sohu.

The author noted that the Russian leader did not look for ways to mitigate the situation, but decided to escalate it. First, the Foreign Ministry summoned British Ambassador Nigel Casey for a conversation, after which he looked confused, since, according to the publication, they explained to him the consequences of British strikes on Russia.

“This is not a joke, Putin has given Great Britain an ultimatum,” the publication says.

It is noted that Moscow did not limit itself to this, and soon the Ministry of Defense conducted exercises of non-strategic nuclear forces. In addition, Russia adopted the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile.

As Regnum reported, Reuters published an article on May 2 in which it cited Cameron’s words that London allows the Kiev regime to strike at Russian territory. The publication was soon withdrawn, but then reinstated without changes.

The British ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office on May 6, where he stayed for about half an hour. On the same day, exercises of missile formations of the Southern Military District began to practice strikes with non-strategic nuclear weapons. The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the maneuvers are also being carried out as a response to provocative anti-Russian statements by individual officials in the West.

Link

Government Corruption

Rock n' roll on the ruins. Blinken came to reformat the Ukrainian government

2024-05-16

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Malek Dudakov

[REGNUM] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kiev. This is his first visit to Ukraine in more than eight months - since September 2023. The war in the Middle East just started in October. And from that moment on, the State Department's focus shifted to Israel.

Blinken, along with his apparatchiks, began to constantly drive between Israel, Qatar and Egypt. He managed to visit Israel alone seven times in six months. And only now - at the end of spring 2024 - I got to Kyiv.

In September 2023, he came to Ukraine immediately after the failure of the much-publicized summer “counter-offensive.”

At the same time, the conflict between Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev escalated, and the Secretary of State promised to knock out new tranches in Congress, and also had dinner at McDonald’s in Kiev with Dmitry Kuleba. However, the tranches were agreed upon only eight months later. Well, the situation at the front for Ukraine began to steadily deteriorate.

Ukraine's last friend. Corruption and clan warfare brought Blinken to Kyiv
This visit took place in a much more difficult situation.

The Russian army was able to achieve significant successes during the offensive in the Donbass, with the capture of Ocheretino and nearby villages. An offensive operation also began in the Kharkov region with a multi-kilometer breakthrough of the Ukrainian front. Militants from the terrorist defense and national battalions are surrendering en masse - and right at the time of Blinken’s negotiations in Kyiv, reports came that Russia had liberated Volchansk, and with it a number of other settlements.

Against this background, the contradictions between Washington and the authorities in Kyiv in the person of Zelensky’s Office are intensifying.

Since last year, the Americans have been demanding that Zelensky and his “gray eminence” Andrei Yermak hold elections. But they refused to announce both the presidential and parliamentary elections. Now there is a struggle to reformat the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers. The Biden administration wants to push through the appointment of Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States and a creature of the Americans, to the post of Prime Minister.

This is strongly opposed by the British lobby, which Zelensky and Ermak are focusing on.

They want to make Ermak the prime minister and entrust all management decisions to him. Zelensky, in any of these scenarios, turns into a “wedding president” with zero legitimacy after May 21. He will receive all the negativity addressed to him for failures at the front and the crisis inside Ukraine, but at the same time he will lose the opportunity to decide anything.

The issue of further financing of the Ukrainian project stands apart.

Now Penny Pritzker, a representative of an influential clan of American billionaires, has become active in Kiev. Her ancestors themselves were from the Kyiv province. She is de facto the main “oversight” from the United States over the expenditure of funds for the needs of the Kyiv regime. Pritzker's influence only increased with the start of the allocation of tranches to Ukraine after a long delay.

And in Kyiv, squabbling is intensifying over failures in the Kharkov region.

After all, billions of hryvnias were spent there on the construction of fortifications that simply did not exist. The office of the president and his entourage, as well as the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, are openly accused of corruption. And then the US Accounts Chamber notes the non-transparent spending of funds in the Ukrainian direction.

Issues of corruption can be effectively used as leverage on Zelensky.

It is significant that in addition to Blinken, Alex Soros, heir to his father’s vast empire, also came to Kiev. After all, his guards—the so-called “Soros”—are now waging an open war with Zelensky. They also picked up the anti-corruption agenda. And at the same time they demand to end the endless “telethon” on Ukrainian TV, so that they can criticize Zelensky and Ermak from TV screens.

At the same time, the British are also becoming active, who do not want to lose their proteges in Kyiv in leadership positions.

David Cameron and Grant Shapps recently came to Ukraine. And now David Lammy, a candidate for the post of head of the Foreign Office in the next Labor government, which will come to power this autumn, has also visited Kiev. They are already building relationships with Ukrainian politicians in advance so that the transit of power in London does not affect the balance of power in Kyiv.

Well, Blinken, along with attempts to reformat Ukrainian politics to suit himself, promised to increase arms supplies as a “carrot”. But only by July, although by that time the Ukrainian front may collapse in different directions.

Blinken demands that mobilization be strengthened in every possible way to replenish reserves, which Kyiv is sorely lacking. So no one has yet canceled the concept of war until the last Ukrainian.

However, the strangest thing was the performance of the American guest with the song Rocking in the Free World by Neil Young in 1989.

Blinken is known for his amateur involvement in rock music. But his guitar playing in Kyiv - while Ukraine is losing on all fronts - reminded many in America of the behavior of some Nero watching Rome burn.

Moreover, this composition itself only at first glance seems to be a hymn to American patriotism.

In fact, it is a subtle irony of the militarism of the United States during the late Cold War era and George H. W. Bush. He then called on America to become a kinder nation. Well, Young in his song stated that the United States has only a “good” hand, firing a machine gun in all directions.

Subsequently, Rocking in the Free World became one of the songs associated with the fall of the socialist bloc in Eastern Europe. This is probably why Blinken sang it in Kyiv. But for Ukraine, the original meaning of the song is rather closer, because it became the platform for experiments of current American militarism.

However, it is quite possible that the head of the State Department is no longer particularly shy.

After all, in any case, he is a downed pilot in the configuration of American power.

Over the past six months, the Secretary of State has resoundingly failed negotiations between Israel and Qatar to suspend the war in the Gaza Strip. He had a very unsuccessful trip to China. Blinken is an almost guaranteed candidate to leave office. Moreover, in any scenario of elections in the United States.

If Donald Trump wins, he will make one of his advisers, like Richard Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany, secretary of state. If Joe Biden is re-elected, he will most likely replace the current head with Bill Burns, director of the CIA. He has been eyeing a new position for a long time. And Burns himself is a stronger apparatchik than a lover of rock and roll.

Therefore, his current visits are quite likely his last.

Blinken is finally turning into a lame duck. And they will try to make him the last one for all the failures of the Biden team - both in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Although Biden himself will not be able to avoid the blow - especially if the Afghan scenario is repeated in Ukraine with the collapse of the front on the very eve of the November elections in the United States.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: May 10, 2024

2024-05-11

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:38 The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked an oil depot in the occupied Rovenki, Luhansk region, and a large-scale fire started, Russian media write.

22:15 The Russian army has launched a new wave of offensive actions in the Kharkov direction and is trying to break through the defense line. As of May 10, these attacks were repelled, and battles of varying intensity were taking place. At the same time, the command nevertheless decided to strengthen this section of the front with reserve units. About what Russia was up to by intensifying attacks in the Kharkov region, see the material From the corridor to panic .

21:27 Zelensky, in an evening video message, commented on the situation in the Kharkov region: “Russian troops today tried to expand operations against Ukraine. We understand the volume of the occupier’s forces, we see his plan. We are adding our forces to the Kharkov directions. Both along our state border and throughout “We will invariably destroy the occupier along the front line in such a way as to thwart any Russian offensive intentions.” The president also emphasized that everything necessary to protect the positions is provided, “everything depends on the tenacity of our soldiers, and everyone who now holds positions preserves the positions of all of Ukraine.”

The president also said that he personally invited the President of Argentina, the Prime Minister of Iceland and the Ecumenical Patriarch to the peace summit.

21:13 Zelensky said that he had heard Syrsky’s report: “There are heavy battles along the entire front line. Special attention is given to directions in the Kharkiv region, Pokrovsky and other directions in the Donetsk region. We discussed defense actions and strengthening our positions in the Kharkiv region. Separately - Chasov Yar "The Commander-in-Chief reported on decisions that will give more opportunities to our soldiers."

21:04 Canada will allocate about $55 million to strengthen Ukraine's air defense, Defense Minister Bill Blair said. The funds are allocated as part of Germany's initiative to strengthen Ukrainian air defense, which was launched in April 2024.

21:01 The Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Pavlyuk, gave an interview to The Economist, in which he assessed the situation at the front and gave forecasts for the development of the situation in the future. For more details, see the material The Critical Phase and New Brigades .

20:56 During the full-scale war, about 11 thousand men of military age fled illegally from Ukraine to Romania, said the head of the Territorial Inspectorate of the Border Police, Florin Coman.

20:50 The I Want to Live project was successfully used by more than 260 Russian military personnel, and in total more than 35 thousand applications were received, said Andrey Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. According to him, everyone who took advantage of the project crossed the front line and is safe under the protection of the state of Ukraine and international law. Yusov also said that the majority want to return home after the end of hostilities, and in order to avoid future problems with the law, they are counted as captured and not as having surrendered voluntarily. At the same time, Yusov added that there are those who do not want to return to the Russian Federation. “This option is also present. Ukraine guarantees this opportunity,” he assured.

19:28 The Russians fired from barrel artillery at the village. Elizavetovka, Pokrovsky district, Donetsk region, two people died, the prosecutor’s office reported. Also, two people were injured as a result of the attack in Chasov Yar.

19:23 The White House officially announced a new aid package for Ukraine worth $400 million. It will include missiles for Patriot, NASAMS, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition for HIMARS and artillery, equipment, etc.

19:00 Near the Belarusian city of Osipovichi, they are building a military base where the Russians can store nuclear weapons, The New York Times writes, citing satellite images. Construction on the site has been ongoing since March. The base is covered by air defense, and near it there is a unit with Iskanders, which can launch missiles with nuclear warheads.

Experts interviewed by journalists note that the base’s development structure has the same features as Russian nuclear facilities. The base itself was formerly a nuclear facility, so it is suitable for storing such weapons. It was built back in the 1960s during the Cold War.

18:54 The Canadian company Roshel plans to launch production of armored vehicles in Ukraine, said CEO Roman Shimonov. “We are at the final stage of planning the localization of part of our production in Ukraine,” he noted.

18:25 The government has allocated 7.2 billion hryvnia for the restoration of the energy system, Shmygal said. These funds will be used to purchase equipment to restore the high-voltage network, as well as to better synchronize the energy systems of Ukraine and the EU. Grants for this project were provided by the World Bank.

18:13 A Kh-59/69 guided aircraft missile was destroyed in the Dneprovsky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region, the Air Force reported.

18:10 The United States will today announce a new aid package for Ukraine worth $400 million, Politico writes. According to the publication, it will include, in particular, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Patriot missiles.

18:01 Ukraine and Belgium have begun negotiations on concluding an agreement on cooperation in the field of security, the Presidential Office reported.

17:43 The First Oil Refinery in the Kaluga region of the Russian Federation was attacked tonight by drones of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian media write, citing intelligence sources. As a result of the operation, the installation of an atmospheric-vacuum tube AVBT-101 (production capacity - 1.2 million tons per year), three tanks with diesel fuel and a tank with fuel oil were damaged.

17:20 Zelensky said that not all partners promptly fulfill agreements on arms supplies: “Now not all of our partners promptly fulfill agreements. We need the maximum concentration of our friends, friends of Ukraine, to speed up deliveries.”

17:14 Minister of Justice Denis Maluska believes that from 10 to 20 thousand convicts can be mobilized. According to him, this number includes people serving sentences in the penitentiary system, as well as those with a criminal record. The minister added that some penitentiary institutions were occupied or evacuated, so the number of operating institutions has sharply decreased.

16:58 Absolutely all enemy assaults in the north and east of the Kharkov region were repelled, assured the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. According to him, the entire border area has long been a gray zone; the enemy can even enter there with his own equipment. There are battles going on there now. Sinegubov said that 17 attacks were repulsed in the Kupyansky direction. “Enemy DRGs can enter some of our territories, but are rebuffed by Ukrainian defenders. There is no ground threat for Kharkov; the enemy’s offensive potential is still lacking,” he added.

16:07 The first F-16 fighters will arrive in Ukraine in June-July, The Standard reported, citing a high-ranking military source.

15:13 Border communities of the Kharkov region are under intensified mass shelling, there are dead and wounded, said the head of the OBA Oleg Sinegubov. So, in Volchansk one person was killed and five were injured. Another person died as a result of shelling. Cherkasy Tishki, Kharkov region.

15:04 The critical phase of the war will come in the next two months, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Alexander Pavlyuk told The Economist. According to him, American aid is just beginning to reach the front, so Russia is throwing all its available combat-ready equipment into battle. "Russia knows that if we get enough weapons within a month or two, the situation could turn against them," the general explained.

At the same time, Pavlyuk said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are experiencing a major shortage of artillery and armored vehicles, and not of people. He also believes that the Russian Federation will continue to focus on the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, but has not yet given up on the idea of capturing Kyiv. According to the general, the Russian army cannot carry out large-scale operations on several fronts at once. “Russia is testing the stability of our lines before choosing the most suitable direction,” he said.

Pavlyuk also said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing ten new brigades, some of which will be deployed to protect Kyiv.

14:46 This morning the Russians advanced 1 km in the Volchansk region of the Kharkov region. Their goal is to create a buffer zone and push the Ukrainian Armed Forces back 10 km from the Russian border, Reuters writes, citing a high-ranking military source from Ukraine.

14:35 Zelensky confirmed that the Russians launched an offensive in the Kharkov region, and they managed to stop it: “As of 7-8 in the morning, a fierce artillery battle took place. By that time, the Russian offensive was stopped.”

13:58 President of Slovakia Zuzana Caputova arrived in Kiev on a farewell visit, as her presidential term is expiring. “I came to a country where there is a war, where there is a difficult situation and enormous human suffering. My farewell visit is also an opportunity to convey this message to our home,” Caputova noted.

13:32 Today, at about 5 am, the Russians tried to break through the defense line under the cover of armored vehicles in the Volchansky direction, the Ministry of Defense reported. As of now, the attacks have been repelled, and battles of varying intensity are taking place. To strengthen the defense on this sector of the front, reserve units have been sent. Meanwhile, the head of the Volchansk IVA, Tamaz Gambarashvili, said that the population was being evacuated from Volchansk and surrounding settlements.

13:21 In Kiev, due to the difficult situation in the energy system, schedules for limiting electricity consumption for business and the industrial sector will be introduced from 18:00 Friday, May 10, until 07:00 Saturday, May 11, KGVA reported. Restrictions do not apply to household consumers; at the same time, residents of the capital were urged to save electricity on their own, especially during evening peak load hours.

13:16 France has decided to transfer long-range Scalp missiles to Ukraine either expired or assembled from expired components, which will allow Paris to avoid depleting its own missile arsenal, Radio France Internationale reports. The Chrysalis program will use Scalp missiles stored in “cocoons” (containers). French factories will make these missiles usable in three months. One of RFI's sources called this plan very effective in economic terms, "since the Scalp missiles removed from their cocoons are already intended for disposal."

12:53 Five EU countries have agreed to strengthen control over compliance with sanctions against Russia: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland. The agreement will strengthen and also unify control over compliance with visa requirements in relation to the Russian Federation. “By signing the agreement, we want to show other countries and companies the importance of close cooperation for effective sanctions control and contribute to increasing the effectiveness of sanctions,” said Finnish Customs head Sami Rakshit.

12:38 The head of the Kharkov OVA Oleg Sinegubov confirmed that the Russians have intensified shelling in the northern direction, primarily striking the city of Volchansk. According to him, shelling with CABs, MLRS and artillery continued all night, and there were also unsuccessful attempts by the DRG to break through the border. At the same time, Sinegubov emphasized that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are confidently holding their positions, “not a single meter has been lost.” “The enemy group does not pose a threat to Kharkov; its forces are only sufficient for provocations in the northern direction,” added the head of the OVA. He also called on residents of border settlements to take shelter. For more information about what is happening in the Kharkov region, see the article Attempt to break through the Russian Federation into the Kharkov region .

12:16 In the morning, the Russians fired artillery at the civilian infrastructure of the Esman community, Shostkinsky district, Sumy region - one person was killed, a 17-year-old was wounded, the prosecutor's office reported.

11:57 Ukrainian military reports that the Russians are preparing an attack in the area of Volchansk, Kharkov region. Thus, at night the Russian army carried out powerful artillery preparations, and DRG groups tried to probe the border line, but they were repulsed. Russian military public pages also write that from 5 am they intensively shelled the Kharkov region, especially Volchansk.

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Andrei Kovalenko, said that the Russian Federation will only be able to aggravate the situation on the border, but not break through to Kharkov. According to him, the actions of the Russians are predictable. “The enemy has the resources to aggravate the situation in the border area, as was previously discussed. It is important not to confuse this with the ability to capture Kharkov, which does not exist. Now there will be a lot of speculation on this topic,” Kovalenko warned.

11:42 The Czech Republic transferred the first F-16 fighter simulator to one of the tactical aviation brigades of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Its main module is already being tested and prepared for operation by Ukrainian specialists, the Air Force reported and showed a video:

11:05 Zelensky will not lose his legitimacy upon expiration of his five-year term of office on May 21, 2024. His powers will last until the next head of state is elected, Justice Minister Denis Maluska told the BBC. Given the situation in the country, it would now be a huge mistake to officially and publicly question the legitimacy of the president, the minister emphasized.

10:58 Magura maritime drones, according to preliminary estimates, caused damage to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the amount of about $500 million, said Andrey Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate. According to him, the process of improving the Magura V5 maritime drone continues continuously. After each successful operation, a thorough analysis of the actions of both Ukrainian intelligence officers and the enemy is carried out.

10:51 The Cabinet of Ministers has changed the procedure for booking military personnel during martial law. Now the central executive authorities, after checking the lists of reserved enterprises, will submit them for approval to the Ministry of Defense, and not to the General Staff, as before.

10:48 The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense warns of a new wave of Russian IPSO amid the aggravation of the situation at the front. The Russian Federation is increasing its destabilization efforts aimed at splitting Ukrainian society. In particular, it can use mass measures for this using political slogans, where it throws in its own provocations. Intelligence emphasizes that the enemy’s military targets are not only military facilities, but also civilian infrastructure - hospitals, train stations, crowds of people.

10:27 As a result of Russian shelling, one person was wounded in the Ostromy Kurakhovsky community of the Pokrovsky district of the Donetsk region, said the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.

09:59 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that the Russian army will continue to maintain the current high rate of attacks for some time, but then its capabilities will decrease. Analysts note that over the past month, the Russian army has noticeably increased the frequency of ground attacks in eastern Ukraine.

Thus, the British Ministry of Defense reported that the number of Russian attacks increased by 17% from March to April. The main efforts of the Russian Federation were concentrated on Chasovoy Yar, Avdeevka and Marinka. In particular, the number of attacks on Chasov Yar increased by 200% between March and April. This is partly due to the fact that the soil has dried out, opening the way for armored vehicles. This likely “reflects the current conditions of hostilities and the intention of the Russian military command to achieve success before Western military assistance arrives on the front lines,” experts say.

09:31 In the Kherson region, one person was wounded as a result of Russian shelling over the past 24 hours, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin. 28 private houses were damaged, critical infrastructure and a gas pipeline were hit.

08:56 At night, the Russians launched a missile strike on Kharkov - 12 private houses were damaged, two people were injured, including an 11-year-old child, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. Another person was injured as a result of enemy shelling. Liptsy, Kharkov region.

08:38 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of May 10:

personnel - about 479,710 (+980) people,

tanks - 7434 (+5),

armored combat vehicles - 14,313 (+32),

artillery systems - 12,387 (+47),

MLRS - 1062 (+4),

air defense systems - 795 (+2),

aircraft - 349 (+0),

helicopters - 325 (+0),

UAV of operational-tactical level - 9826 (+51),

cruise missiles - 2192 (+0),

ships/boats - 26 (+0),

submarines - 1 (+0),

automotive equipment and tank trucks - 16,691 (+73),

special equipment - 2031 (+4).

08:21 Over the past 24 hours, 95 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In particular, in the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 28 attacks in the areas of the settlements of Kalinovo, Novoaleksandrovka, Sokol, Novoselovka Pervaya, Umanskoye, Yasnobrodovka, Netaylovo, Donetsk region. Another 21 attacks were repulsed in the Bakhmut direction - in the Belogorivka areas of the Luhansk region, as well as Verkhnekamensky, Novy, Razdolovka, Ivanovsky, Stupochek, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka of the Donetsk region.

In the Kupyansk direction, 13 attacks were repelled in the areas of Sinkovka, Petropavlovka, Berestovo in the Kharkov region and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk region; in Limansky - four attacks in the areas of Novosadovoy, Torsky, Donetsk region and Serebryansky forestry, Lugansk region; on Novopavlovsky - seven attacks in the areas of Konstantinovka, Vodyanoye and Urozhaynoye of the Donetsk region; on Orekhovsky - 19 attacks in the area of Staromayorsky, Donetsk region and Rabotino, Zaporozhye region; on Kherson - two attacks on the left bank of the Dnieper.

07:35 At night, drones attacked the First Plant refinery in the Kaluga region of the Russian Federation, a large-scale fire broke out on the spot, Russian public pages write. The governor of the Kaluga region, Vladislav Shapsha, confirmed that “as a result of the fall of a UAV,” a fire occurred on the territory of the enterprise in the Dzerzhinsky district; at the moment, the fire has been extinguished, and there were no casualties.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that at night the air defense allegedly destroyed five UAVs over the Bryansk, Moscow and Belgorod regions. Another drone was intercepted in the Kursk region, local authorities reported.

06:59 Air defense at night destroyed all ten attack UAVs of the Shahed-131/136 type, which Russia attacked from the territory of Crimea, the Air Force reported. The drones were destroyed within the Odessa, Nikolaev and Kherson regions. In addition, the enemy used two S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the Belgorod region in the direction of the Kharkov region.

06:02 British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that the governments of NATO allies should increase defense spending due to the threat of a large-scale war with Russia. In particular, he called for setting a “new benchmark” for defense spending at 2.5% of GDP. In turn, London promised to reach 2.5% by 2030. “This world is more dangerous, more unstable, more confrontational than most of us have ever known. We must recognize this fact and act accordingly - not in a year or two, not in a few months, but now,” the head of the British MFA.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Russian Federation and Belarus begin preparations for exercises to alert tactical nuclear weapons

2024-05-10

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Ministries of Defense and General Staffs of Russia and Belarus have begun joint preparations for exercises to alert non-strategic nuclear weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

Russian tactical nuclear weapons are stationed on the territory of Belarus, and Moscow invited Minsk to participate in the exercises, especially since the Belarusian authorities themselves came up with the same initiative, the president said, answering a question from journalists.

“Relevant instructions have been given to the ministries of defense and the General Staffs of our armies. They began joint training,” the head of state noted.

As Regnum reported, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov previously called statements by Western leaders extremely dangerous, including statements by British Foreign Minister David Cameron about the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly having the “right” to use British weapons to strike Russian territory, as well as the French President Emmanuel Macron on his readiness to send troops to Ukraine.

The West is provoking an unprecedented round of escalation, which requires a rapid, effective response from Russia, Peskov emphasized. Russia is warning the United States and its Western allies that their escalatory course is forcing Moscow to strengthen nuclear deterrence measures, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in turn.

On May 6, the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, on behalf of Putin, began preparations for exercises with missile formations of the Southern Military District with the involvement of aviation, as well as the forces of the Russian Navy. During the exercises, the military will conduct activities to practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.

The Ministry of Defense noted that the exercises are aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment of units for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons to respond and in order to unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials against Russia.

Belarus will join them at the second (of three) stage of the exercises, Putin noted. The current exercises are part of planned work, the president also said.

More from regnum.ru
Putin calls exercises using nuclear weapons a planned work

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the exercise to test the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons a planned activity.

“There is nothing unusual here, this is planned work,” said the head of state.

As Regnum reported, on May 6, the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, began preparations for exercises with missile formations of the Southern Military District with the involvement of aviation, as well as Russian Navy forces. During the exercises, the military will conduct activities to practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.

The Ministry of Defense noted that the exercises are aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment of units for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons to respond and in order to unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials against Russia.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

UN after the announcement of Russia's nuclear exercises calls for avoiding escalation

2024-05-07

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] On May 6, the official representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, commented on the exercises being prepared by Russia on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, calling for avoiding actions that could lead to escalation with catastrophic consequences.

“Current nuclear risks are alarmingly high. All actions that could lead to miscalculation and escalation with catastrophic consequences should be avoided,” he said.

As Regnum reported, the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, on behalf of President Vladimir Putin, began preparing for exercises with missile formations of the Southern Military District (SMD) with the involvement of aviation, as well as Russian Navy forces. During the exercises, the Russian military will conduct activities to practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.

The exercises of the missile formations of the Southern Military District are, among other things, a response to provocative statements and threats by individual Western officials, the Russian Ministry of Defense emphasized. The department noted that the exercises are aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment of units for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons to respond and in order to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Russia.

According to presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the West is provoking a new, unprecedented round of tension, and this requires retaliatory measures from Moscow.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that he admits the possibility of sending French troops to the conflict zone in Ukraine if Kiev requests it or if the Russian army breaks through the front line.

In addition, on May 2, Reuters published statements by British Foreign Minister David Cameron about the supposed “right” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use British weapons to launch strikes on Russian territory. Cameron’s statement was the first recognition that the West is fighting against Russia at the hands of the inhabitants of Ukraine, noted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Link

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