Russia attacks Ukraine

[Edge Guerrero]

NATO tracks movements of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries: Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg says Western military alliance is monitoring movements of Russian mercenary force and their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

NATO is closely following the movement of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force as well as their boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Western military alliance’s secretary general has said, following revelations that neither the private army’s fighters nor their leader had taken up exile in Belarus.

NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg made his comments on Thursday amid reports that Prigozhin was back in Russia and had not taken up the offer of exile in Belarus, which was agreed after Wagner forces began and ended a 24-hour mutiny against the Russian military leadership on June 24.

Asked by Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays to comment on reports that Prigozhin had returned to the Russian city of St Petersburg, Stoltenberg said that NATO had tracked the Wagner leader’s recent travels, which he described as “moving a bit around”.

“On Prigozhin, well, what we can say is that we monitor closely where the Wagner soldiers are moving around, and also where he [Prigozhin] is moving,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels.

“I will not go into the details, but we have seen some preparations for hosting large groups of Wagner soldiers in Belarus. So far we haven’t seen so many of them going to Belarus,” he said.

“And then we have seen Mr Prigozhin moving a bit around,” Stoltenberg said, adding that he would not go into further details.

Prigozhin’s return to Russia was revealed by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday.

Lukashenko – who mediated the exile deal that ended the Wagner mutiny last month – said that after a brief period in Belarus, the Wagner chief had returned to Russia.

“As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” Lukashenko told reporters.

“Where was he this morning? Maybe he went to Moscow, or some other place. But he is not in Belarus,” Lukashenko said, according to Belarusian state news agency BelTA.

Lukashenko also said that Wagner’s troops were in their camps, but he did not specify the location of the camps. He did say that Wagner troops were offered the use of Belarusian military camps, but that the private armed group had not made a final decision. Wagner maintains camps in Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

According to BelTA, Lukashenko said that he plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to discuss the Wagner situation, among other topics, and that he did not think there would be “any problems” with Wagner mercenaries continuing to work “in the interests of Russia” despite their recent mutiny.

“One should not lose such a unit despite all the subtle details,” Lukashenko said, according to BelTA.

“I wish the entire army fought as well as these guys. But these are the problems of the Russian Federation and President Putin,” he added.

Prigozhin’s return to Russia

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/7/nato-tracks-movements-of-russias-wagner-mercenaries-stoltenberg

[Megaterio Llamas]

Here’s a huge dump of war porn.

It’s the barrage of shit being blown to smithereens we all crave on a Sunday afternoon.

Cheers


https://thedreizinreport.com/2023/07/07 ... p-awakens/

[Edge Guerrero]

Biden says war with Russia must end before NATO can consider membership for Ukraine
Jeremy Herb

By Jeremy Herb, CNN

CNN — President Joe Biden told CNN in an exclusive interview that Ukraine is not yet ready for NATO membership, saying that Russia’s war in Ukraine needs to end before the alliance can consider adding Kyiv to its ranks.

Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that while discussion of Ukraine’s imminent membership in NATO was premature, the US and its allies in NATO would continue to provide President Volodymyr Zelensky and his forces the security and weaponry they need to try to end the war with Russia.

Biden spoke to Zakaria ahead of his weeklong trip to Europe, which includes a NATO summit in Lithuania where Russia’s war in Ukraine and Zelensky’s push for NATO membership will be among the key issues looming over the gathering.

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden said. “For example, if you did that, then, you know – and I mean what I say – we’re determined to commit every inch of territory that is NATO territory. It’s a commitment that we’ve all made no matter what. If the war is going on, then we’re all in war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case.”

Biden said that he’s spoken to Zelensky at length about the issue, saying that he’s told the Ukrainian president the US would keep providing security and weaponry for Ukraine like it does for Israel while the process plays out.

“I think we have to lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO,” Biden said, noting that he refused Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands before the war for a commitment not to admit Ukraine because the alliance has “an open-door policy.”

“But I think it’s premature to say, to call for a vote, you know, in now, because there’s other qualifications that need to be met, including democratization and some of those issues,” Biden said.

On Friday, the White House announced that the US was sending Ukraine cluster munitions for the first time, a step taken to help bolster Ukraine’s ammunition as it mounts a counteroffensive against Russia. Biden told Zakaria that it was a “difficult decision” to give Ukraine the controversial ammunition, but that he was convinced it was necessary because Ukraine was running out of ammunition.


The NATO meeting also comes as Sweden is seeking to join the Western alliance, a move that has faced resistance from Turkey and Hungary. Biden told Zakaria he was optimistic that Sweden would eventually be admitted to NATO, noting the key holdout, Turkey, is seeking to modernize its F-16 fleet, along with Greece, which has voted to admit Sweden.

“Turkey is looking for modernization of F-16 aircraft. And (Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos) Mitsotakis in Greece is also looking for some help,” Biden said. “And so, what I’m trying to, quite frankly, put together is a little bit of a consortium here, where we’re strengthening NATO in terms of military capacity of both Greece as well as Turkey, and allow Sweden to come in. But it’s in play. It’s not done.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Biden and Zakaria also discussed other key foreign policy challenges, including China, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Full read:https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/09/politics/joe-biden-ukraine-nato-russia-cnntv/index.html

[Megaterio Llamas]

More Ukraine war porn:

https://thedreizinreport.com/2023/07/09 ... e-diggers/

https://thedreizinreport.com/2023/07/09 ... s-1-photo/

[Edge Guerrero]

Retired US general questions alleged Putin, Prigozhin meeting

"I think it's highly staged," Retired Gen. Robert Abrams said.

Significant updates have taken place in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict over the last few weeks that could have major repercussions in the region, according to experts.

Retired Gen. Robert Abrams, an ABC News contributor who served as the commander of United States Forces-Korea, spoke with ABC News Live Monday evening to discuss the fallout of the failed rebellion by the Wagner Group, the ongoing Ukraine counteroffensive and the NATO summit in Lithuania.

ABC NEWS: Let's start with that claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Wagner militia forces, Yevgeny Prigozhin, met just days after Prigozhin forces seized a key Russian city. What could this meeting signal?

RETIRED GEN. ROBERT ABRAMS: Well, first, I'd be surprised if we actually see proof of life that Putin met with Prigozhin, and I think it's highly staged. And my personal assessment is that I doubt we'll see Prigozhin ever again publicly. I think he'll either be put in hiding or sent to prison or dealt with some other way, but I doubt we'll ever see him again.

ABC NEWS LIVE: Do you think he's alive?

ABRAMS: I personally don't think he is, and if he is, he's in a prison somewhere.

ABC NEWS LIVE: The UK's Ministry of Defense says that Russia is losing an average of 400 soldiers a day, saying that half of those casualties could have been prevented with proper first aid. Stats like that, what do they tell you about how this war is going so far for Russia?

ABRAMS: Well, that's a startling statistic, and to have a 50% [rate of] what we call died of wounds of rate. Someone is injured on the battlefield and they expire before they can reach appropriate medical care, and they die of their wounds. A 50% died of wounds rate is astounding.

And it's a huge crush on the morale of fighting men and women everywhere. And that's why in our own military, many people have heard of it. We call it the golden hour rule, which is why we go to such great lengths to ensure that after point of injury, that point of injury after immediate first aid is applied, we get our soldiers to an initial aid station where advanced life-saving care can happen within an hour. And with that, we have a 98% survival rate.

So I'd have to say that this has got to be severely demoralizing to the Russian forces.

ABC NEWS LIVE: And we just passed 500 days of war in Ukraine. Right now, Ukrainian troops are in the early stages of a counteroffensive. Give us a sense of how you think that counteroffensive is going and what success would look like for Ukraine at this point.


ABRAMS: Well, I think it's by President Zelensky's own account, it's not going as fast or as well as everyone had hoped. But we have to understand a few things. The Russians have been preparing these defenses and they understand this terrain. But for over a year, this is a well-entrenched enemy with countless minefields, obstacles, ditches, [and] tank obstacles with well-sighted artillery targets on top of them. And in the end, a pretty hardened enemy. So it's going to be difficult. It's going to be, as I've said and I've described before, a slugfest. But clearly, the momentum is with the Ukrainian armed forces.

ABC NEWS LIVE: One of the factors that started this war was the potential of Ukraine joining NATO. NATO is meeting this week with Finland joining in April. Sweden is on the path to joining. But President Biden says that Ukraine isn't ready to become a NATO member yet. So in your view, what does Ukraine still need to do in order to get support in order to join the alliance?

ABRAMS: Well, I think it's a bit unclear, what exactly is going to be required for Ukraine to join NATO. I think there are a couple of significant happenings that have occurred in the last week. The first one is, is that what I've been informed is that the Ukrainians will no longer have to follow the [Membership Action Plan] process; that's been set aside for their application into NATO.

Many people forget that Ukraine was offered membership in NATO in 2008, but with no clear pathway. So they started the [Membership Action Plan] process in 2008. It was suspended in 2010 because Ukraine voted in a pro-Russian friendly president. So he laterally suspended their application process.

I think the other significant thing that's demonstrating that we're on a clear pathway is the announcement today that Turkey is going to support Sweden's access to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. That is significant because now the heads of states that were there in Vilnius for the summit can focus on establishing a clear pathway.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/retired-us-general-questions-alleged-putin-prigozhin-meeting/story?id=101086248

[Masato]

[Edge Guerrero]

Life and survival in a Ukrainian village wrestled back from Russia
Ukrainian forces are slowly recapturing land, but are grappling with the world's largest minefield the Russians have left behind. Farms and meadows in the village of Storozheve have been re-purposed for target practice.

John Sparks

In a moment of candour, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky said the counter-offensive has not gone exactly as planned.

"We must all understand very clearly, as clearly as possible, that Russian forces in our southern and eastern lands are doing everything they can in order to stop our soldiers."

He was speaking in his nightly video address after meeting his commanders and suggested his forces were meeting determined resistance.

"And every thousand metres we advance, every success of every combat brigade deserves our gratitude," he added.



The fact that progress on the front is now measured in metres will come as a disappointment to many in the West - although experts say Ukraine has recaptured 253 square kilometres since 4 June.

It will also be greeted with sadness in communities up and down the front where residents are desperate to leave war behind.

We travelled to communities in the region of Zaporizhzhia that has been recently secured by the Ukrainians.

In the village of Storozheve the signs of war were impossible to ignore. The main street had been obliterated and farms and meadows have been repurposed by the military.

In a grassy ravine, we saw the members of an infantry unit learning how to fire rocket propelled grenades.

"Have you had a go?" said the commander. "Come," he said, beckoning his troops.

Nearby we found a muddy clearing that had been turned into a garage for "automotive first aid".

A team of grease-stained mechanics were working on a collection of vehicles that had been knocked out by Russian mines.

"The guys are working 24/7," said Major Oleksii. "When something happens, we can fix it at any time."

This open-air garage reflects new military realities as the Ukrainians try to push into enemy positions. The Russians have laid the world's largest minefields, and armoured vehicles and tanks are taking the strain.

"Have the use of minefields changed the way that you use these vehicles?," I asked Major Oleksii.

"Yes," he replies. "It's a pity to admit, but yes.

"They have mined this area extremely heavily. The Russians even blow themselves up. But it makes our operations much more difficult."

Amid the wreckage, we found signs of everyday life, in the side-streets - and down by the river. A man used a net to fish from the bridge as artillery barrages boomed above him.

We heard the sound of voices behind a battered-looking gate and we asked if anyone was there.

Two neighbours appeared and introduced themselves. The younger of the two was called Nadezhda.

"What was it like when they were fighting for the village?," I asked her.

"Well, constant shelling, constant shrapnel, glass and planks were flying around, and brick. Even asphalt flying in from the street and falling in the vegetable garden. There was a lot of everything."

When asked why they stayed amid all the chaos, Alla, who hid in the cellar with her husband, said: "That's because we were born here."

"We stayed home. We are home."

They told us that eight families had stayed through the worst of the fighting - a decision that reflects great courage. But their village lies in pieces and it may never be the same again.

https://news.sky.com/story/life-and-survival-in-a-ukrainian-village-wrestled-back-from-russia-12921543

[Megaterio Llamas]

Big truth power bombs from Lara Logan shake up a newscast.

This is must watch


https://gettr.com/post/p2ixooqf311

[Megaterio Llamas]

Here is the ninth installment in the war porn series,

You can easily catch up on what you may have missed by following the link. This is all footage culled by Dreizin from events occurring from June 16 to the present. There is a separate batch of stuff from June 4-16.


https://thedreizinreport.com/2023/07/17 ... s-1-photo/

[Masato]

"This Muslim from Chechnya knows how they got played. He learned from it and passed this wisdom to Ukranians defending Mariupol. Everyone needs to hear this speech from 2022. These men got to live. The Chechens know very well the jar shaker's tricks. Zelensky and his class of oligarchs do not care about Ukraine. It's a cash cow for them and it's people are not their people, they're cannon fodder."