The conflict continues….
Stories by the NY Times and Washington Post have pointed out that despite the training Ukraine troops got from NATO and American militaries?
The Ukraine troops are NOT pushing hard for break thru’s due the Russian mine fields and the terrain they are encountering….
The combat vehicles NATO was excited about have turned out to be sitting targets for the Russian’s….
The Ukraine is shooting at Russian naval ships….
The Ukraine troop’s ARE making gains….
Yards by Yards….
Not mile by MILE….
This dog figures that President Biden has until the end of the year before he’s going to have to sit down Ukraine President Zewlensky and explain that the money train from America is going to dry up….(2024 US Presidential campiagn)
The Ukraine simply does NOT the abilty to take back EVERYTHING Russia has stolen….
The Saudi ‘s are trying to get a serious peace effort going this week….
The problem IS going to be what do you give Putin for a settlement?…..
Niger is worried about the Wagner Group ….
Russian officials said the attack did not cause any damage — but Russian military bloggers were skeptical, as footage appearing to show the warship damaged circulated on social media. Andrey Kravchenko, the head of Novorossiysk’s city administration, saidRussian forces “instantly reacted and helped to avoid the consequences of the attack.” But a prominent pro-Russian military blogger known as Rybar wrote that it was “curious” that the naval drones had approached the ship “unhindered.” He said that “the crew probably did not expect the attack.” Another prominent military blogger, who uses the handle Zapiski Veterana, wrote that footage of damage to the ship made him question Russia’s public denials and would lead people not to trust official sources.
Christie’s visit underscored the sharp GOP divisions over U.S. financial support for Ukraine. The former New Jersey governor billed the visit as a fact-finding mission to assess the effectiveness of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, though he remained within the relatively safe confines of the Kyiv region. Unlike other GOP front-runners, including former president Donald Trump, Christie has voiced full-throated support for Ukraine as a democratic ally.
Officials from about 40 countries are expected to attend Ukraine peace talks this weekend in Jeddah, a port city in Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hopes the talks will lead to a summit this autumn to endorse principles based on his 10-point formula for a peace settlement. Russia will not be represented at the event; however, officials from China have said they will attend
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was convicted of extremism charges and sentenced to 19 years in a special regime colony following closed prison court proceedings on Friday. This latest imprisonment is on top of existing sentences of more than 11 years in all, widely viewed as retribution for Navalny’s political investigations and activism. In a statement released before the verdict, Navalny called on Russians to oppose the Kremlin. “There is no shame in choosing the safest way to oppose. There is shame in doing nothing,” Navalny said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited troops in the field, according to a statement Friday from Russia’s Defense Ministry. Shoigu visited the “Central Military Unit” in an undisclosed location “in the zone of the special military operation” and was briefed by the group’s commander and officers at the outpost, the statement said. It added that he thanked troops for “conducting successful offensive operations” near Lyman in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has launched a total of 1,961 Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukraine, Zelensky said in his nightly address. While a “significant number” have been shot down, not all of them have been stopped, he said. Ukraine is working to boost its air defense systems, he added.
The United States became the first country to start negotiating a bilateral agreement with Ukraine on security guarantees, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said in a statement. The State Department confirmed that American and Ukrainian officials met Thursday to begin talks on long-term security commitments. The talks between Washington and Kyiv could create “a successful model for other partners” and reinforce Ukraine’s progress toward membership in groups such as the European Union and NATO, Yermak said.
Russian soprano Anna Netrebko sued the Metropolitan Opera and its general manager on Friday, alleging that the institution’s decision to drop her after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused “severe mental anguish and emotional distress,” as well as losses of up to $360,000 relating to missed performances and rehearsals. In 2022, the Opera demanded that Netrebko repudiate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In her suit, Netrebko claims that she “and her family and friends in Russia have suffered the risk of harm, retaliation, and retribution by the Russian government” due to her efforts to distance herself from the Russian government.
Niger’s detained president warned that Africa’s Sahel region could “fall to Russian influence” via the Wagner Group.President Mohamed Bazoum, in an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Friday, said the recent coup in his country could be an “open invitation” to the Russian mercenary group. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said later Friday that Moscow was monitoring the situation there “very closely” and is “in favor of a swift return to constitutional order” in the West African nation.
The European Union has extended the scope of its sanctions against Belarus. The new measures arise “from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and in response to Belarus’s involvement in the aggression,” the European Commission said in a statement. It banned the export of sensitive technology that could increase Belarusian military capabilities, as well as ammunition, firearms and technology related to the aviation and space industries.
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu spoke with North Korean officials about increasing munitions sales to Moscow when he was in Pyongyang last week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, according to the Associated Press. “This is yet another example of how desperate [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has become because his war machine is being affected by the sanctions and the export controls,” Kirby said.
Ukraine’s offensive inches forward in search of a breakthrough: Kyiv continued a major push to reclaim its territory with a fresh injection of Western-trained and -equipped troops, but there is no sign yet of a major breakthrough, John Hudson and Anastacia Galouchka report.
Russia’s phalanx of trenches, tripwires and mines remains ahead of Ukrainian forces and their objective to drive south and sever Russia’s land bridge to Crimea, a key military supply route….
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On Putin and the American 2024 Election…..
Top US and European officials are concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is factoring the 2024 US presidential election into his Ukraine war planning in hopes that a loss by President Joe Biden next year will lead the US to curtail its support for Ukraine and improve Russia’s negotiating position, four US officials told CNN.
The US does not yet have explicit intelligence about Putin’s mindset, or whether he is purposefully dragging out the war in hopes of a Donald Trump or Republican presidential victory. But next year’s election remains a key factor that top Western national security, intelligence and diplomatic officials believe will influence Putin’s decisions in Ukraine, making it even less likely the war is resolved before the end of next year. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS that was released on Friday found most Americans oppose Congress providing additional funding to support Ukraine, as the public splits over whether the US has or has not already done enough in the conflict.
One US official said they have “no doubt” that Putin is “trying to hold out” until the 2024 election. Another source familiar with the intelligence said “it’s sort of the elephant in the room” for the US, Ukraine and Europe…