“What we have been faced with is exactly betrayal. Extravagant ambitions and personal interests led to treason,” Putin said, referring to Prigozhin, head of the most powerful private military firm in Russia.
The Wagner chief in his response harped on the familiar theme of the defense ministry’s “corruption, deceit, and bureaucracy” and emphasized that his own fighters are patriotic and doing their duty.
“When we were told that we were at war with Ukraine, we went and fought. But it turned out that ammunition, weapons, all the money that was allocated is also being stolen, and the bureaucrats are sitting [idly], saving it for themselves, just for the occasion that happened today, when someone [is] marching to Moscow," he said.
Meanwhile, this will without doubt be a huge blow to the morale of both Russian troops and Wagner fighters alike along the frontlines inside Ukraine. It’s as yet unclear the degree to which Wagner has withdrawn from the Eastern Ukraine theatre, though it’s now been confirmed that Wagner forces had marched into Rostov overnight.
Kiev will smell a grand ‘opportunity’. It along with its Western backers are closely monitoring, with Ukraine officials saying this “rebellion” is a “sign of the collapse of the Putin regime.”
That was weird.
The Wall Street Journal has confirmed based on Kremlin statements that “As part of the agreement, Prigozhin will leave Russia for Belarus, and criminal charges against him will be dropped, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. His fighters will be allowed to sign contracts with the Russian military.”
The reason US is fighting a proxy war in the Ukraine is to protect democracy. If Zelensky cancels the elections, are we still fighting to protect democracy?
Cluster bombs are munitions so horrific for civilians that more than a hundred nations have signed an international treaty banning them. Now the Biden administration is preparing to send them to Ukraine.
Marc Garlasco, Former Human Rights Watch Investigator:
When reports of cluster munition use by Russia first came out, were first reported, Jen Psaki, the — in the White House stated that this was a likely war crime. And now we’re going to be providing the same types of munitions to Ukraine?
I think this is really a huge mistake. The potential for civilian harm is too great, and Ukraine is winning the war right now using precision-guided munitions, like American HIMARS and British Storm Shadows. So we should not be sending them weapons that are indiscriminate and incapable of being individually targeted.
They lied about Afghanistan. They lied about Iraq. Now they’re lying about Ukraine (yahoo.com)
The playbook the pimps of war use to lure us into one military fiasco after another, including Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine, does not change. Freedom and democracy are threatened. Evil must be vanquished. Human rights must be protected. The fate of Europe and NATO, along with a “rules-based international order” is at stake. Victory is assured.
The results are also the same. The justifications and narratives are exposed as lies. The cheery prognosis is false. Those on whose behalf we are supposedly fighting are as venal as those we are fighting against.
Young Ukrainians scared to leave their homes as more and more videos emerge of forced conscription
Meanwhile, some conscription officers are making small fortunes for looking the other way as Ukraine’s youth does all it can to avoid being sent to the frontline
https://rmx.news/ukraine/young-people-scared-to-leave-their-homes-as-more-videos-emerge-of-ukrainian-youth-being-forced-into-military/
After Suffering Heavy Losses, Ukrainians Paused To Rethink Strategy
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Who could have predicted this would happen?
Officials say jet crash in Russia kills 10. Wagner chief was on passenger list (yahoo.com)
Prigozhin, whose private military force Wagner fought alongside Russia’s regular army in Ukraine, mounted a short-lived armed mutiny against Russia’s military leadership in late June. The Kremlin said he would be exiled to Belarus, and his fighters would either retire, follow him there, or join the Russian military
NATO Chief Openly Admits Russia Invaded Ukraine Because Of NATO Expansion
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg clearly and repeatedly acknowledged that Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine because of fears of NATO expansionism.
"The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn’t sign that.
The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that.
So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders."
As Congress is set to meet with the Ukrainian president Thursday, some GOP senators are worried they’ll have nothing but bad news.
