Ukraine: US Lies, Provocation, Broken Promises, Fake News

[Anthea]

Washington angry at Zelensky

The scandal sparked by the American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh presented an opposite image of Zelensky and shed light on his involvement in corruption

In 2019, comedian Volodymyr Zelensky ran for the presidential election against the oligarchic President Petro Poroshenko, and his main slogan was to fight corruption. Zelensky, who had played the lead role in the series "Servant of the People," where he plays the role of a president who fights corruption, succeeded in transferring a role from acting to reality after winning 75 percent of the vote against 25 percent for his rival Poroshenko.

Sociologists and politicians analysis attributed Zelensky's victory to the Ukrainian people's frustration with the corruption that spread in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the scandal sparked by the American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh presented an opposite image of the man and shed light on his involvement in corruption.

Zelensky embezzled $400 million according to Seymour Hersh

A few weeks ago, the well-known investigative journalist Seymour Hersh accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of embezzling $400 million in Western aid intended to support Ukraine's war effort against Russia. Seymour Hersh said the embezzlement was part of brokering operations to buy diesel fuel for Ukrainian forces.

It was CIA Director William Burns who raised this issue with Zelensky, in which he mentioned the names of dozens of Ukrainian officials involved in the operation alongside Zelensky. And it seems that the information reached the CIA by generals in the Ukrainian army who were angry at Zelensky because he did not share with them the embezzled funds.

Burns provided Zelensky with a list of thirty-five generals and senior officials whose corruption was known to the CIA and others in the US government. This prompted Zelensky to dismiss more than ten officials whose names were included in the list, including the President of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Vsevolod Knyazev and Acting Minister of Development Vasily Lozinsky, while the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, announced his resignation from his post.

The facts reveal that Zelensky's involvement in corruption is not new but dates back to before his election as president. It is worth noting that the facts that were revealed after that indicated that Zelensky himself was corrupt and that the elections in which Poroshenko lost were nothing but a process of settling scores between the pillars of the Ukrainian oligarchy, of which Zelensky was a mere front for some of its pillars.

Relations with some pillars of the Ukrainian oligarchy

Before Zelensky became president, he was in contact with a number of Ukrainian oligarchs, led by Ihor Kolomoisky, a billionaire businessman who owns the TV channel that was broadcasting the program "Servant of the People," in which Zelensky played a starring role. Kolomoisky publicly supported Zelensky, especially since he wanted revenge on Petro Poroshenko, who had issued a decision to confiscate Kolomoisky's "PrivatBank".

Kolomoisky is known to have made his fortune in the banking and energy sectors and was the co-founder of PrivatBank which was the largest commercial bank in Ukraine. In 2016, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko nationalized the bank due to financial irregularities. Therefore, Kolomoisky took advantage of his great influence and his possession of shares in a large number of companies, including media, aviation, and real estate to use them to support Zelensky against Poroshenko.

It is also known that Zelensky has a relationship with another Ukrainian oligarch, Sergey Taruta, a billionaire businessman and politician who served as governor of the Donetsk region during the Ukrainian crisis. Zelensky appointed Taruta as his advisor on economic development after his election as President of Ukraine. Sergey Taruta is known to own large shares in steel and agricultural companies in Ukraine, especially in the Donbass region, and he is the founder and owner of the industrial union of Donbass Corporation, the largest Ukrainian steel-producing company.

Taruta held the position of Governor of Donetsk Oblast from March 2014 to February 2015. His corrupt practices as a governor were one of the reasons for the outbreak of the crisis in the Donbass region in 2014, which led to the outbreak of war with Russia in 2022. Taruta was also a member of the Verkhovna Rada, representing the Party of Regions from 2007 to 2012.

Pandora documents scandal

It is worth noting that the United States knows a lot about Zelensky's corruption, but it did not raise this issue until the Ukrainian President embezzled American aid money allocated to Ukraine. Two years ago, a huge scandal arose and revealed Zelensky's involvement in corruption when his name was mentioned among the international figures involved in smuggling and money laundering, a case known as the Pandora Documents. In a report prepared by Luke Harding, Elena Loginova, and Aubrey Belford for the British Guardian in 2021, Zelensky's corruption was revealed in the Pandora documents that were leaked to the International Federation of Journalists

The documents revealed that Zelensky was part of a network of jointly owned offshore companies with his old friends and television business partners, including Sergey Scheffer, a former producer of Zelensky's shows, and Boris Scheffer, the older brother of Sergey Scheffer, who is a playwright. In addition to these, Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelensky, was the general manager of the Kvartal 95 studio owned by Zelensky. They are all from the town where Zelensky was born, Kryvyi Rih. The group also included Andrei Yakovlev, a Zelensky film director who was appointed by the Ukrainian President as his advisor.

The Pandora documents showed Zelensky's ownership of Film Heritage, which, in turn, owns 25 percent of Diverga, a holding company registered in Cyprus. Next to it, Diverga owns another company, Multix Multicapital Corporation, which is registered in the Virgin Islands tax haven. The documents showed that Zelensky and his business associates used companies based in the British Virgin Islands, Belize, and Cyprus to launder money belonging to Ukrainian companies owned by Ukrainian oligarchs close to Zelensky.

The assets owned by these offshore companies are extensive and include real estate in London, including a three-bedroom apartment in an Edwardian mansion building in Regent's Park bought in 2016 for £1.575m, and another three-bedroom flat in nearby Baker Street opposite the Sherlock Holmes Museum and purchased for £2.2 million. Meanwhile, Yakovlev's BVI subsidiary Candlewood Investments owns a luxury apartment in a Victorian mansion building on Artillery Row Westminster.

Zelensky; a mere facade to Kolomoisky!

In a report by journalist Katya Gorchinskaya published in 2020 on the history of corruption in Ukraine, the focus was on Zelensky's relationship with Ihor Kolomoisky. Kolomoisky controls multiple assets across various sectors in Ukraine, including heavy industry, oil and gas, intermediates, ferrous metals, chemicals, agriculture, and air transportation. In the years preceding Zelensky's presidency, Kolomoisky fled from prosecution in Ukraine and took refuge in Switzerland and the Zionist entity.

As noted above, Kolomoisky's media empire backed Zelensky during the elections against Poroshenko, Kolomoisky's arch-rival. The Ukrainian President had a relationship with the wealthy oligarch that dates back to 2012 when Kvartal 95 signed a contract with Kolomoisky Media Holding for the production of series and films.

It is worth noting that there are more than 400 lawsuits and counterclaims related to Kolomoisky's PrivatBank in a number of countries including Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland, as the bank's new management is trying to prove the existence of large-scale fraud and obtain compensation from the oligarch and his various companies.

The bank, which was nationalized in 2016, was returned to Kolomoisky after Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine, while Valeria Gontareva, a former governor of the National Bank widely credited for cleaning up the banking sector and going after PrivatBank, was subjected to a series of assassination attempts which Kolomoisky was accused of. This included an attempt to run her over in London and burn her house outside Kiev, in addition to burning her daughter-in-law's car in Kiev, and a sudden search of her apartment by unknown masked law enforcers in Kiev.

Unresolved issues related to PrivatBank have clouded Ukrainian politics, especially relations between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund. The fund agreed to give a new aid package to Ukraine in December 2019 but stipulated that Ukraine pass a law that prevents former bank owners from challenging nationalizations and obtaining compensation, and soon it was called the "Anti-Kolomoisky Law" in Ukraine.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... corruption

[Anthea]

Ukraine’s baby factories

While average Ukrainians suffer amid NATO’s proxy war against Russia, business is booming for the surrogate baby industry, which requires a steady supply of healthy and financially desperate women willing to lease their wombs to affluent foreigners

Ihor Pechonoha of the Swiss-based BioTexCom says the business model that enabled him to build one of the most profitable surrogacy companies in the world is simple exploitation: “We are looking for women in the former Soviet republics because, logically, [the women] have to be from poorer places than our clients.”

It is no surprise then that BioTexCom’s quest for rentable wombs has led it to the seemingly endless pool of desperate young women in war-torn Ukraine. Eight years of civil conflict combined with the subsequent proxy war between NATO and Russia has plunged Ukraine into economic disaster.

As Ukrainians sank into poverty, their country swiftly emerged as the international capital of the surrogacy industry. Today, Ukraine controls at least a quarter of the global market—despite being home to fewer than one percent of the world’s population. Alongside the industry’s rise, a seedy medical underworld filled with patient abuse and corruption took hold of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team have actively encouraged the West to plunder their war-torn country, inking an investment partnership with the global asset management firm Blackrock, stripping workers of labor protections, and handing state owned companies over to private firms

Yet Ukraine’s surrogacy industry has fallen under the radar, despite pumping over $1.5 billion into the country’s economy in 2018 alone. Since then, the global market for surrogate babies has more than doubled. The industry was valued at over $14 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow by around 25% annually in coming years, according to an analysis by Global Market Insights.

As nations like India and Nepal slam the door on surrogacy companies citing concerns the industry drives human trafficking, Western officials appear to be turning a blind eye to the abuse-ridden business flourishing in a deregulated, politically unstable Ukraine.

Emma Lamberton is a Master of International Development candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. Recently, she published a paper in Princeton’s Journal of Public and International Affairs detailing the risks Ukrainian women face when participating in the country’s surrogacy industry.

“The main concern of advocates on the ground in Ukraine is that legislators and even news organizations aren’t looking at this as a human rights violation,” Lamberton told The Grayzone.

“A government would never see human rights violations like child abuse as something to simply be regulated,” she explained. “They’d never say ‘you should only be able to beat your children on Wednesdays’ — that would be incredibly ridiculous. And so from the perspective of advocates on the ground in Ukraine, this is an abuse issue and therefore, it should not be regulated and instead it should be outlawed.”

Long before the February 2022 escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, the country was known as a fertile hunting ground for shady characters and agencies seeking to prey on desperate Ukrainian women.

Asian nations with weak regulatory systems and masses of impoverished citizens like India, Thailand, and Nepal also provided popular surrogacy markets. But their governments could not ignore the mounting record of human rights abuses by top industry players and ultimately closed their doors to wealthy foreigners seeking surrogates.

The restriction of these national surrogacy markets has channeled global demand to Ukraine, and kicked off a race to the bottom among child-vending firms. Now, childbirth profiteers have effectively exported the industry from impoverished nations to one in the midst of a grinding military confrontation with its neighbor.

“The war has brought to the forefront the need for unified international regulation on the topic of surrogacy, as surrogates are currently forced to choose between staying in a war zone or fleeing to neighboring countries that don’t recognize the legality of surrogacy,” Lamberton noted to The Grayzone.

“As with any humanitarian crisis, human trafficking becomes an even greater risk,” she said, “and international agreement on surrogacy and human rights violations are needed to protect the vulnerable women and children in Ukraine.”

“They don’t treat you as a human being”: impoverished mothers held hostage in baby farms

The BioTexCom Center for Reproduction is by far the biggest player in the international surrogacy market. The owner of the “reproductive technology services” provider claimed that in 2018, the company controlled a mammoth 70% of the national surrogacy market and a full 25% of the global market.

While BioTexCom’s website boasts that the company has given “the joy of parenthood” to thousands of couples around the world, its true history and operations reveal a gut-wrenching pattern of abuse, secrecy, malpractice, and even allegations of human trafficking.

In a 2018 interview with Al Jazeera, a Ukrainian woman named Alina described the conditions that led her to entering a contractual pregnancy agreement with BioTexCom.

“It’s hard to find a well-paid job in Ukraine…I wanted to set aside money for my son’s university fees – they’re very expensive,” she said.

One Ukrainian BioTexCom surrogate mother carrying a child for an American couple similarly told El Pais that she decided to sell her womb due to financial strain. “I grew up without a home. It’s important for me to have an apartment of my own. [Surrogacy] is the only way I can do that.”

BioTexCom’s Medical Director, Ihor Pechenoha, openly admitted to the Spanish investigative magazine La Marea that his company targets women from poor areas, and that “all those who work as surrogate mothers do so out of financial hardship.”

“We are looking for women in the former Soviet republics because, logically, [the women] have to be from poorer places than our clients,” Pechenoha explained.

Ultimately, he added, “I have not met a single woman with a good economic situation who has decided to go through this process out of kindness, because she thinks she has enough children and wants to help someone else who wants them.”

“They do it because they need that money to buy a house, for the education of their children,” Pechenoh continued, concluding: “if you have a good life in Europe, you’re not going to do it.”

A third Ukrainian woman who sold her womb to foreigners confirmed Pechenoh’s comments in an interview with The Guardian, explaining, “the only reason why I agreed to do this is just for the financial benefits.”

“Plus, since my husband left for the frontline, I need a way to support my other four children,” she added.

“Surrogate mothers, they’re a flow of incubators,” yet another one of BioTexCom’s surrogates explained in 2019. “They don’t treat you as a human being.”

A 2020 report published in Princeton’s Journal of Public & International Affairs further underscored the foreign exploitation driving Ukraine’s surrogacy boom, asserting:

“While proponents claim that women freely choose to become surrogates, vulnerable women are often manipulated through the presentation of choice. Potential surrogates are forced to choose between providing for their families through a practice that may violate their moral beliefs or forfeiting a financial opportunity to provide for their families.”

Oksana Bilozir, a Ukrainian MP pushing to ban foreigners from leasing Ukrainian wombs, told the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) that “there are two categories of Ukrainian surrogates: those wanting to do it for the money and those who already have.” She insisted to ABC that surrogacy offers so much economic value to Ukraine that it may be impossible to outlaw.

Bilozir lamented that corrupt, oligarchic forces entrenched within the Ukrainian government have actively stymied her legislative battle with the surrogacy industry.

“Really it’s now a big fight with business and their lobbyists who are unfortunately present in the Parliament,” she said. “Surrogacy was written into our laws purely as a business.”

Emma Lamberton, the author of the Princeton report on Ukraine’s surrogacy industry, noted BioTexCom is actually a foreign company operating inside of Ukraine. Documents from the firm’s website suggest the company is registered in Switzerland.

Despite BioTexCom’s associations with the wealthy banking center and a bevy of promotional material flaunting its state-of-the-art facilities and luxury accommodations for surrogate mothers, multiple reports indicate its residential centers are more akin to a prison than any four star — or for that matter, low budget—hotel.

One mother explained that while under contract with BioTexCom, though the company put her up in an apartment as promised, she was forced to share it with four other pregnant surrogates. She even described having to share a bed for 32 weeks of her pregnancy.

Others who have witnessed the company’s practices from the inside say it weaponizes the surrogates’ financial desperation to essentially imprison them.

“If we weren’t home after 4 P.M., we could be fined 100 euros,” a former BioTexCom surrogate told London-based freelance journalist Madeline Rouche. On average, the monthly stipend for surrogates ranges from 200 to 350 euros. In other words, leaving the living quarters could cost a BioTexCom surrogate half of their monthly compensation.

“We were also threatened with a fine if any of us openly criticized the company, or directly communicated with the biological parents,” she said. “We were treated like cattle and mocked by the doctors.”

The financial compensation, she said, was not nearly enough to make her decision worthwhile: “I would never be a surrogate mother again. It was a terrible experience.”

After birth, many infants are kept under lock and key in hotels with militarized security until their purchasers arrive to collect them. The Guardian described the dystopian process in 2020:

“These newborns are not in the nursery of a maternity hospital, they are lined up side by side in two large reception rooms of the improbably named Hotel Venice on the outskirts of Kyiv, protected by outer walls and barbed wire.”

Meanwhile, top Ukrainian officials allege the abusive industry has found powerful guardians in Washington.

US accused of protecting BioTexCom as Western press pumps out PR

Former Ukrainian state prosecutor, Yuriy Latsenko, oversaw a series of criminal investigations into BioTexCom for fraud and human trafficking. In 2018, ordered the company’s founder, a German citizen named Albert Tochilovsky, to be placed under house arrest for two months.

Yet Latsenko was promptly removed from his post. In the aftermath of his firing, Lutsenko told The Hill that US ambassador to Kiev, Maria Yovanovitch, once handed him an “untouchables list”—a docket of powerful people whom Washington forbade him from investigating or prosecuting. Though the exact names that appeared on the list remain unknown, Latsenko later told The Guardian that he “believes the investigations into BioTexCom have stalled as a result” of his dismissal.

While Ukraine’s former top prosecutor all but accused the US of protecting BioTexCom’s founder, top Western outlets produced glowing, public relations-like coverage of the company, papering over the abuse and exploitation lurking behind its maternity ward curtains.

In October 2022, The New York Times published an article that could have been drawn directly from BioTexCom marketing material. The Times framed the resumption of BioTexCom’s surrogacy operations in the midst of war-torn Ukraine as a valiant act of patriotic defiance, describing the baby business as “an industry that many childless people rely on.”

Instead of questioning BioTexCom’s medical director on the business model that relies on the financial coercion of poor women or reports of mistreatment, the Times tossed Pechenoha easy questions about surrogacy.

“The war has not diminished the appeal of surrogacy for couples desperate to have children,” Pechenoha explained, because the company’s clients “are in a hurry.”

“We managed to bring all our surrogate mothers out from under occupation and shelling,” he added.

Baby farms in bomb shelters

As the Ukraine proxy war began, the lucrative business of supplying foreign women with babies at the expense of poor Ukrainian women adopted a militarized posture.

According to The Atlantic, the company even secured a bomb shelter to ensure that newborn production can continue unimpeded in the event of an attack. A video published by BioTexCom in early 2022 showed a typical shelter equipped not only with beds and sleeping bags, but cribs and gas masks as well.

A primetime promotional-style ABC News package on the company celebrated its Russian bomb-proof baby factories, declaring: “Ukrainian Surrogacy Agency Does Whatever it Takes to Keep Patients Safe.”

The report opened with ABC’s David Muir commending Ukraine’s “largest surrogacy agency” for “taking all measures possible to make sure their patients and their babies are safe.”

The segment went featured a softball interview in which BioTexCom’s medical director insisted—without a scintilla of pushback—that the company’s medical standards were “so high.” Muir then commended him for being “courageous and brave” and working for such a “wonderful” company.

BioTexCom clearly treats some of humanity’s most daunting challenges as business opportunities, from war to the supposedly looming threat of depopulation.

The next phase of surrogacy: artificial fetuses outside the body

From war to the looming threat of depopulation, BioTextCom views humanity’s most daunting challenges as business opportunities. In a note accompanying an article promoted by the company, BioTexCom highlighted declining birth rates in developing countries to argue that their “artificial insemination technology” is a “chance for survival for humankind.”

“In 50 years the population of most countries of the world will be reduced by half,” the piece declared.

Tochilovsky, the German owner of BioTexCom, has argued that as long as his company remains at the forefront of the wider biotech industry, it promises to deliver a future in reproductive biotechnology where babies are generated in artificial wombs and genes are edited with computers.

In an interview with Ukrainian newspaper Delo, Tochilovsky discussed the digital economy in the context of the “reproductive technology industry.”

Referencing climbing infertility rates and theories of “population collapse” presented by the tech billionaire Elon Musk and Chinese businessman Jack Ma, Tochilovsky that biotechnology will save the human race.

“Reproductive medicine is the future of humanity,” he said.

“The most important thing is ectogenesis, the ability to raise a child outside the human body… an artificial uterus. Something like factories that we all saw in the movie The Matrix. I think within five to seven years we will get ectogenesis.” Tochilovsky added that BioTexCom is “working in this direction.”

When asked how BioTexCom plans to resolve the multitude of legal and ethical issues surrounding his futuristic baby factories, the CEO offered a disconcerting solution.

“The most important thing,” Tochilovsky insisted, “is to prohibit law enforcement agencies from interfering in the work.”

https://thegrayzone.com/2023/07/28/ukra ... ofits-war/

[Anthea]

No Explosives on Zaporizhia

On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that its experts had found no mines or explosives on the rooftops of two reactor units and turbine halls at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement that "following repeated requests," the agency's expert team was given "unimpeded access" on Thursday afternoon to the rooftops of Unit 3 and Unit 4 reactor buildings at the Zaporizhia plant and "could also clearly view the rooftops of the turbine halls."

Grossi said the expert team would continue its requests to visit the roofs of the other four reactor units at the facility.

On July 23, the IAEA experts stationed at the Zaporizhia plant spotted "directional anti-personnel mines on the periphery of the site."

A majority of people in the US oppose Congress authorizing more funding for Ukraine in NATO's proxy war with Russia

On Friday, the IAEA chief said that experts confirmed "the mines first observed on July 23 were still in place" during an inspection on Aug. 1, but "no new mines or explosives were observed during any walkdowns over the past week."

Grossi stressed the importance of the IAEA experts being granted timely access to all areas of the Zaporizhia plant, saying that "timely, independent and objective reporting of facts on the ground is crucial to continue the IAEA's efforts to support nuclear safety and security."

"Previously, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky accused Russia of planning a terrorist attack against the core of the nuclear plant.. but provided no evidence to support his accusation," TASS recalled.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/No- ... -0014.html

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Ukrainian Casualties

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported Friday that the Ukrainian military has lost more than 43,000 troops since June

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that "the Ukrainian military's losses in combat operations already exceed 43,000 troops in June-July since the Kiev regime launched its so-called offensive."

Konashenkov noted that the number of casualties does not include the wounded and mercenaries evacuated to Ukrainian and foreign hospitals, nor soldiers killed as a result of attacks on rear facilities with the use of high-precision and long-range weapons.

According to the official, Ukraine has also suffered the destruction of a large number of its weapons. "More than 4,900 pieces of the Ukrainian army's diverse armament, including 26 aircraft, nine helicopters, 1,831 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, including 25 German-made Leopard tanks, seven French AMX wheeled tanks and 21 American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, have been destroyed on the front line," the spokesman said.

Kiev's losses include 747 artillery guns and mortars, including dozens it obtained from the U.S., Poland, France and Germany, Konashenkov said in an update that is part of Moscow's regular briefings on the situation on the front line.

The Defense Ministry has said that the Ukrainian military has been making unsuccessful offensive attempts. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian troops have not achieved success in any of the frontline areas.

At a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, in St. Petersburg on July 23, Putin claimed that Kiev's counter-offensive had failed.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Est ... -0021.html

All the time the barbaric Ukrainians have continued their attack on Donbass

For 9 years the Kiev government has been attacking Donbass

WHY are countries supporting the Ukrainians NAZI

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West to Honor Commitments to Russia

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees room for the agreement to export grain from Ukraine to be resumed, although to do so he has urged Western governments to fulfill promises made to Russia

In a speech to Turkish diplomatic representatives abroad, Erdoğan referred to the Russian claim about the West's non-compliance with the Black Sea grain agreement, which allowed the Ukrainian grain to leave.

Turkish diplomats gathered in the capital Ankara for the 14th Ambassadors' Conference to discuss regional and international developments, global trends and recent challenges and opportunities.

Erdoğan alluded to the mediation role between Kiev and Moscow, thanks to which more than a year ago, the two warring sides signed an unprecedented pact so that ships carrying supplies could continue to leave Black Sea ports.

Türkiye is the "key country" in the settlement of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Erdoğan said, adding that Ankara has been following a "balanced and fair" attitude since day one to resolve the problem.

Ankara's talks with the parties are underway for the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal, he added.

On his recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdoğan said he had the opportunity to again get first-hand information on Russia's demands and expectations.

"Putin, like us, is sensitive to our African brothers' access to grain products. I believe we can find common ground on this issue," he added.

On July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the agreement, which it signed in July 2022 together with Türkiye, the United Nations and Ukraine to resume grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports that were halted after the conflict began.

The Russian government has repeatedly complained that the part to which the West agreed in the agreement was not being implemented.

"Undoubtedly, the solution to this problem without further stalemate depends on the Western countries fulfilling their promises," Erdoğan stressed.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Tur ... -0004.html

[Anthea]

Ukraine cluster bombs Donetsk

A university building's wooden roof in Donetsk caught fire after Ukrainian shelling on Saturday, according to an emergency official in the Russia-controlled city in eastern Ukraine

Donetsk Mayor Alexei Kulemzin reported on Telegram that the University of Economics and Trade's first building was ablaze due to the recent attack.

To combat the fire, 100 firefighters, 12 water tanks, and three ladders were deployed, as stated by Alexei Kostrubitsky, the emergency minister for the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Kostrubitsky alleged that the shelling involved the use of cluster munitions, causing the extensive blaze.

As of now, there has been no immediate response from Ukraine regarding the alleged shelling. Both parties deny targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

There were no people inside the building during the shelling, as confirmed by Kostrubitsky. However, the situation was challenging as the roof was made of wood, which caused the fire to spread rapidly.

According to Russia's RIA state news agency, the fire affected an area of about 1,800 square meters (19,400 square feet) before being brought under control early on Sunday.

DPR acting head Denis Pushilin said in late July that 169 munitions had been launched including rocket and canon artillery fire with NATO-supplied munitions.

Reports that cluster munitions had been used in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk circulated on local Telegram channels and social media; however, there is no evidence to support this, and officials made no mention in their daily updates.

It does, however, reveal a belief among locals that Ukraine would use the controversial munitions on civilian populations. This fear is not unfounded.

In October 2014, soon after the conflict broke out in Donbass, the Ukrainian Army was accused of firing cluster munitions into the heart of Donetsk City

According to the New York Times, there were "clear signs that cluster munitions had been fired from the direction of [Ukrainian] army-held territory, where misfired artillery rockets still containing cluster bomblets were found by villagers in farm fields."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ukraine-used-cluster-munitions-on-donetsk-university

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Zelensky fires heads of military

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired officials in charge of military conscription in each area of the nation on Friday, alleging corruption charges that might amount to treason

In a social media post after a meeting with military leaders, the Ukrainian President explained the dismissals.

He hinted that some officials were involved in cynicism and bribery, stating that the "system should be run" by people who know these actions amount to high treason during a time of war.

Kiev has been conscripting troops in order to combat Russia in a painfully slow-moving counteroffensive.

Media outlets have previously reported growing Western pressure on Kiev to restructure governing hierarchy. This measure could indicate that Zelensky is actually giving in to the diktats by Western institutions like the European Union, which Ukraine hopes to join.

In a separate statement, the presidency confirmed the presence of multiple cases of corruption "during the inspection of the territorial recruitment centers."

It also disclosed that investigators discovered instances of foul play in Ukraine's mobilization that threaten the national security of Ukraine and "undermine confidence in state institutions."

It went on to say that Ukraine's security council advised the army's commander to choose replacements with fighting experience who had been vetted by Ukraine's intelligence services.

In July, the State Department Inspector General issued a report warning that the economic aid provided by the United States to Ukraine is at risk due to corruption within the Ukrainian government and private sector in Kiev.

Congress has since February 24, 2022, allocated $45.4 billion to the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to support various initiatives in Ukraine.

Famed US investigative journalist and Pulitzer award winner Seymour Hersh said in April that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars from the United States that Washington had allocated to purchase fuel.

The United States has provided Ukraine with all its demands for its counteroffensive, but progress is still slower than expected, and it will be even harder with the coming fall, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby pointed out on Thursday.

"In the months leading up to the counteroffensive, we fulfilled everything on the Ukrainian shopping list, everything they said they needed for the counteroffensive," Kirby told CNN.

The White House official noted that the Ukrainians understand that "time is not on their side," and with the fall coming, it would be harder for them to maneuver on the ground and to operate drones and air security systems.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... in-ukraine

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US cuts food stamps, Medicare

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pointed out that the United States has allocated approximately $113 billion in supplies to Ukraine, while a considerable number of US citizens continue to face challenges accessing essential resources, such as food and health insurance

Kennedy Jr. expressed his concerns during an interview with former FOX News host Tucker Carlson, where he questioned the allocation of funds given the domestic issues at hand.

He also highlighted the apparent contradiction between sending substantial financial assistance to Ukraine and the living circumstances many Americans are grappling with, including cuts in food stamps for around 30 million citizens and reductions in Medicare coverage for approximately 15 million individuals. Kennedy Jr. went on to characterize Ukraine as a "proxy" in the larger confrontation between global superpowers.

Ukraine has been the recipient of substantial financial support from its allies following Russia's military operation in February 2022. Notably, the United States alone has contributed over $100 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian supplies to the country.

Meanwhile, the majority of Americans believe the US has supported Ukraine in its continuing struggle with Russia sufficiently and would argue against allocating extra funds for the nation, according to a recent poll conducted by pollster Social Science-Research Solutions (SSRS) and commissioned by CNN.

It is worth noting that United States President Joe Biden has lately requested from Congress approval for a $40 billion White House budget for 2024, over half of which are designated to Ukraine while just $12 billion will be spent to support disaster relief efforts in the US.

In an attempt to downplay the amount requested for Ukraine, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on Thursday that the American people understand why President Joe Biden requested billions more in supplies for Ukraine, despite recent polls showing declining support for US funding for Kiev.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... bn-to-kiev:

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Above is the statue commemorating the liberation of Donbass from Nazis in WW2, while the Donbass was fighting against Nazis the Kiev government was actively supporting them

Kiev has renamed many of it's streets after Nazi collaborators and leaders

2018 US banned arms to Ukrainian neo-Nazis militia

A little-noticed provision in the 2,232-page government spending bill passed banned U.S. arms from going to a controversial ultranationalist militia in Ukraine that has openly accepted neo-Nazis into its ranks.

US passed spending bills for the past three years have included a ban on U.S. aid to Ukraine from going to the Azov Battalion, but the provision was stripped out before final passage each year.

In 2018 the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law last week stipulates that “none of the funds made available by this act may be used to provide arms, training or other assistance to the Azov Battalion.”

“White supremacy and neo-Nazism are unacceptable and have no place in our world,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), an outspoken critic of providing lethal aid to Ukraine, said in a statement to The Hill. “I am very pleased that the recently passed omnibus prevents the U.S. from providing arms and training assistance to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighting in Ukraine.”

The United States has been aiding and training Ukrainian forces in their fight against Russian-backed separatists since 2014, and recently expanded that aid to include arms. The omnibus includes about $620.7 million in aid for Ukraine, including $420.7 million in State Department and foreign operations funds and $200 million in Pentagon funds.

The Azov Battalion was founded in 2014, and its first commander was Andriy Biletsky, who previously headed the neo-Nazi group Patriot of Ukraine. Several members of the militia, which has been integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard, are self-avowed neo-Nazis

Under Leahy Law the US should NOT be supporting the Ukraine due to it's 9 years of illegal attacks on the Donbass

Just thought I'd say

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The legally elected government of Ukraine was overthrown in a US backed coup in February 2014

On its first day in power, the coup government enacted legislation to remove Russian as a state language. These events provoked shock, fear, and an urgent desire to reunify with Russia. There was a huge popular demand to hold a referendum to secede from Ukraine

The Crimeans realized that peaceful protests were hopeless, There was no Russian involvement in the referendum; it was organized and carried out by the traditional election council on March 16. The results were decisive: with 83% voting, 97% voted to rejoin Russia

Two days later, the Crimean parliament appealed to the Russian Federation, and two days after that the agreement was signed in Moscow. Larisa and Irina say, “Everyone was happy”; they call it “Crimea Spring”

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Sarkozy on Russia:

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy says Europe should "clarify its strategy" and seek a settlement with Russia rather than pursuing its "strange idea" of funding a war

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy considered that "diplomacy, discussions and talks" are "the only ways" to end the Ukraine war, French media reported.

In an interview for Le Figaro published on Wednesday, Sarkozy pointed out that Europe should "clarify its strategy" and seek a settlement with Russia rather than pursuing its "strange idea" of funding a war without conducting one.

"Without compromise, nothing will be possible and we run the risk that the situation will degenerate at any moment. This powder keg could have frightful consequences," the former French President was quoted as saying.

He called Vladimir Putin's decision to launch a special military operation in Ukraine "serious" and "a failure" but asserted that Russia was "Europe's neighbor".

Despite Europe's common history of disagreements with Russia, Sarkozy said, "We need them and they need us."

Sarkozy dissociated himself from French President Emmanuel Macron's position on the Ukraine war, stating that while Macron's original "intuition was right," he failed to follow through, owing in part to "pressure from eastern Europeans."

It is noteworthy that during the early weeks of the war, Macron made extensive phone discussions with the Russian President to persuade him to end it. However, he has recently taken a tougher stance toward Russia, pledging to back Ukraine till the end.

Eastern European politicians, in particular, slammed Macron's outreach to Moscow. Last May, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki rebuked the French President's choice to maintain contact with his Russian counterpart, comparing his efforts to negotiating with Hitler.

Sarkozy criticized Ukraine's EU membership quest, comparing it to Turkey's failed attempt, saying, "We are selling fallacious promises that will not be held."

Elsewhere, he questioned if Ukraine should attempt to re-control Crimea.

It is noteworthy that on August 6, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a video on social media demonstrating a long-range Scalp missile that Macron promised Kiev last month.

In mid-July, Macron announced that his government had decided to join the United Kingdom in providing Scalp missiles to Ukraine.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ey-need-us

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UN: Cluster munitions horrifying

The UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reaffirms that the United Nations opposes the use of cluster bombs in Ukraine and across the globe

Cluster munitions in Ukraine, or anywhere, are a "horrifying tool" according to the UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric who affirmed the UN's opposition to their usage, globally.

"We are firmly against the use of cluster bombs everywhere and anywhere. They are a horrifying tool of war," Dujarric said during a press briefing, before highlighting that the UN would seek an end to the war in Ukraine with its territorial integrity preserved.

Earlier in July, Dujarric had announced that the UN is aware of reports that Ukraine began to fire US-supplied cluster bombs and said their use should not be permitted in combat.

"We have seen these reports, which are very concerning, and as we have said before, these types of munitions should be consigned to history and should not be used," Dujarric told a briefing.

The munitions were specifically designed to cause indiscriminate loss of human life and hideous injuries over a wide area -- including in this case the loss of Ukrainian lives.

Former NATO chief slams use of cluster munitions as 'reckless'

According to former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana, the usage of cluster bombs is "reckless".

EFE news reported that the former Secretary-General stated, last month, that it is "very important" for dialogue to take place between Ukraine and Russia.

Solana added that the dialogue did not have to take place in public necessarily, however, the only interaction between the two cannot only be bullets.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -or-anywhe

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Ukraine to take all risks

A Financial Times report says as the White House is urging Kiev to utilize all forces and capabilities in the southern front, Washington is also preparing for an attrition war

Failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive strategy has led to tensions between Washington and Kiev, with the United States pushing for a more aggressive attack on the southern fronts, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The US appears to be preparing for a war of attrition as limited progress is achieved on the battlefield, the report added.

American officials called on Kiev to steer the fight away from the eastern direction and focus all its capabilities in the south, urging their ally to take all risks required without holding back.

According to FT, the administration of President Joe Biden is quietly preparing for a war of attrition in Ukraine, which might extend into 2024.

Rep. Andy Harris, Ukraine Caucus co-chair in the House of Representatives, said in a meeting a few days ago that the counteroffensive has failed and that US aid to Kiev must be cut.

“Is this more a stalemate? Should we be realistic about it? I think we probably should,” he said during a voters meeting near Washington.

"I’ll be blunt, it’s [spring offensive] failed," he added. “I’m not sure it’s winnable anymore.”

Harris shared many concerns regarding continued assistance to Kiev, including the risk of “World War III” if Ukraine is admitted to NATO and the rising cost of support, which the United States can't keep up with given its difficult economic situation, according to the politician.

“I’m sorry, we don’t have that kind of money,” he declared.

“I think the time has come to realistically call for peace talks. I know President Zelenskyy doesn’t want it,” Harris commented. “But President Zelenskyy, without our help, he would abjectly lose the war. And with our help, he’s not winning. It’s a stalemate now."

In another report, Newsweek claimed earlier this week that Kiev was misled by its military leadership on the true extent of the country's losses in the counteroffensive.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has been calling on his Western allies for months to provide his military with long-range missiles, arguing that this could drastically improve the outcome of the counteroffensive. But before that, it was the anti-air missiles, the advanced offense tanks, heavily armored troop carriers, and the HIMARS system.

However, US officials admit that their stock of tactical ballistic missiles is not enough to supply the amount needed to make a significant difference on the battlefield.

Samuel Charap, a senior political expert at the Rand Corporation, said he doubted anyone can claim that Ukraine's counteroffensive is going well, nor there is an effective plan B.

"There are no magic wands," he said.

“It’s hard to make the case that long-range strike [missiles] can fix the problem of minefields or all these defenses.”

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... take-all-r

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Living conditions a new slavery
By Dmitri Kovalevich

Dmitri Kovalevich is the special correspondent in Ukraine for Al Mayadeen English. He writes monthly situation reports as well as occasional special reports, including the following:

In Western media, the current conflict in Ukraine is often presented as a war between Western-style 'freedom and democracy' and Russian-style 'authoritarianism and dictatorship'. We are told, furthermore, that such 'freedom and democracy' are represented by the governing regime in Kiev.

But this is a regime that has banned all men between the ages of 18 and 60 as well as women in certain professions from leaving the country. There is no free internal movement of citizens. The main exceptions to the prohibition on leaving the country are those unfit for military service, those fathers who have three or more minor children (all below the age of 16), and persons caring for people with disabilities. (The latter exemption only applies if there is no other family member to provide care.)

The regime, which came to power in a violent coup in February 2014, has long ago banned all left-wing political parties in the country, and since last year it has banned street protests and strikes. Also last year, it passed a law severely restricting the rights of trade unions.

Ukraine was supposed to hold a legislative election this fall, but this has been postponed. (Elections are to take place in the Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine on September 8-10). For neoliberal capitalism, there can never be too many restrictions against freedom, nor can there ever be too much exploitation.

In early August, deputies of the Ukraine president's 'Servant of the People' party in the national legislature ('Rada') introduced a bill that provides for the conscription of forced labor of all those who have not been conscripted to the armed forces. Formally free citizens who already cannot legally leave the country due to wartime restrictions will now also be subjected to forced labor.

Labor shortages amid wartime conditions

There is also already a serious shortage of trained personnel in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of factory workers, skilled tradespeople, railway workers, drivers, and other equipment operators in agricultural industries, and on and on have been conscripted into the army. Many of them have died or been seriously injured in the futile attempts of Ukraine's leaders and their Western patrons to storm the well fortified defensive lines of the Russian armed forces.

In addition, some eight million people have simply left the country during the past year and a half. Most of those have no wish or plans to return in any foreseeable future. Every day, Ukrainian border guards catch dozens of 'conscription refugees' at Ukraine's borders. Sometimes, border officials use tracking drones generously provided by the governments of the European Union and the United States. The unfortunates who are caught quickly find themselves in the trenches along the hundreds of kilometers of front lines separating Ukrainian and Russian armies.

'Help wanted' signs can be seen in Ukraine on many delivery trucks, at bus stops, and in front of supermarkets. Orderlies and drivers, construction workers and packers read the signs, are "urgently needed for work".

Although Ukraine is the poorest country on the European continent, many people are not eager to rush into a job. Since the beginning of the year, company managers are obliged to hire employees only after receiving formal approval from the local military conscription office. Thus, a man who applies for an advertised job as a driver may well instead find himself in the trenches, facing minefields and deadly Russian defensive positions. Meanwhile, his former employer will be back on the hustings looking for a replacement driver.

Salary reductions widespread

Another factor weighing on the labor market in Ukraine is wage reductions of up to 50 per cent. Teachers are facing salary cuts as the 2023 national budget for public education in Ukraine has been downgraded from an initial 154 billion hryvnias to 131 billion hryvnias (US$3.5 billion). That is less than the 2022 expenditure. In addition, most school districts rely on supplementary funding from local governments, and these funds, too, are being squeezed. As the Ukrainian news outlet Apostrophe explained in a report in late 2022, citing a teacher in Kiev named Oksana: "In Kyiv, the situation is more or less the same, although the allowances have been partially removed. But the situation elsewhere in Ukraine is really worse. In many cities and villages, teachers are receiving 'survival' salaries only, losing from 15 per cent all the way to 50 per cent of their income, depending on the state of local budgets."

The report explains, "Educators receive money not only from the Ministry of Education and Culture but also from local budgets. But local budgets during the war have also shrunk significantly. According to a study by the Kyiv School of Economics, every fourth community under [Russian] occupation [control] has collected 50 percent less revenue compared to pre-war plans. Another two-thirds of communities outside the combat zone reported a decrease in income. It is clear that in such a situation when it is necessary to urgently address humanitarian issues, local authorities cannot pay pre-war salaries to teachers."

This takes place as inflation is around 30 percent annually. Wages in Ukraine today barely cover the cost of basic food. For these reasons and more, many workers retreat into the shadows and choose to work illegally, many in multiple jobs if possible.

Last year, Ukrainian authorities tried to solve their labor shortage problems by tapping into the large pool of the unemployed. The unemployed who were officially registered were sent into military zones to clear rubble, cut down trees, build shelters, etc. This is hard physical work, often located near the front lines. This initiative was labeled an 'Army of Reconstruction', but many people responded by simply stopping to register as unemployed. After all, unemployment benefits have also been cut in Ukraine. Today, the average benefit hovers around the equivalent of US$27 per month. The maximum benefit rate is $180 per month, but this is only good for three months.

Food prices in Ukraine are already higher than in Russia and EU countries, from where most food supplies in Ukraine come.

A new system of slave labor taking root

Simply put, Ukraine is gradually introducing a system of slave labor – people must work to meet basic food needs, but they work for steadily shrinking salaries and benefits. Western media is silent about all this but is happy to continue preaching about the 'Gulag Archipelago' of the former Soviet Union where millions toiled without receiving wages or financial benefits in return.

The new draft law on the mobilization of workers is intended to "ensure the functioning of the national economy under martial law", in the words of those drafting the law. It is noteworthy that in early August, Ukraine began to talk about a likely ban against military conscripts leaving the country for three years following an eventual end to military hostilities and martial law. Just such a proposal was recently made by Vadym Denysenko (and here), head of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future and a former advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Denysenko said, "I am sure that even after the war it will be necessary to extend the ban on men traveling abroad for at least another three years. Otherwise, we simply will not survive as a nation."

Severe drop in population numbers

Earlier, Denysenko's Ukrainian Institute for the Future published data on population numbers in Ukraine. Since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine 18 months ago, some 8.6 million citizens have left the country and not returned. Of the 29 million citizens remaining in the country, no more than 9.5 million are working. State-financed jobs excluded, there are some six to seven million workers earning salaries. Ukraine began its path to post-Soviet 'independence' in 1991, with a population of 52 million. The population numbers have been steadily declining ever since due to mass emigration.

At the same time, the fertility rate of the country has fallen below one. To ensure stabilisation and a small increase of the population, the fertility rate should be more than 2. But the Institute says the average fertility rate is 0.7 children per couple. It also cites analysts who project that the number of pensioners in Ukraine in the coming years will be double the number of working-age citizens.

Vadym Denysenko is partly right in the sense that millions of Ukrainian men would no doubt rush abroad were borders to be opened. The wives and children of many of them have already been living abroad for year and a half. Many would leave in search of better wages and in order to escape the mousetrap that Ukraine has become.

Denysenko's proposal is not at all appreciated in Ukraine. It is viewed as a return to slavery and serfdom. Of particular note is that his Ukrainian Institute for the Future is a neoliberal think tank funded by right-wing think tanks in the West, including the Atlantic Council and the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States.

This idea of prohibiting Ukrainian citizens from leaving the country even after the end of hostilities stems, in part, from the fact that Ukraine is now heavily indebted to Western governments and financial institutions. Repayment with interest can only be guaranteed through the merciless exploitation of the Ukrainian population. To achieve that, it is necessary that the population be denied the option of running away from something rightly perceived as something resembling slavery or medieval serfdom.

In July 2023, the foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine grew by 6.9% to $41.7 billion, the highest monthly increase since 1991. However, the largest share of the increase came not from economic growth and increased export revenues but from international assistance to the tune of $4.7 billion. Most of that comes in the form of loans from the European Union, the United States, Japan, the IMF, and the World Bank, to be repaid in the future.

Bloomberg News reported on July 24 that Ukraine needs to bring back 2.8 million of its women citizens from abroad in order to have a chance at economic recovery following the end of military hostilities. According to one expert Bloomberg interviewed, if only half of the women return, this would cost Ukraine 10% of its GDP by 2032, on the order of $20 billion per year. Such losses will far outweigh the EU's proposed four-year aid package to Ukraine in the amount of $14 billion per year.

According to a recent estimate by the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy, Ukraine will need to attract an additional 4.5 million workers to the labor market over the next ten years. But at current wage levels, people are more likely to leave the country than to stay and work.

Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko wrote on her blog earlier this month, "At the end of the war, a huge number of people will still leave. Ukrainians will be scattered all over the world, like the Roma people, for example." She has been forced to flee Ukraine due to her writings critical of the government. She also noted in her blog post that, according to UN statistics, most Ukrainians who have left the country have settled in Russia. "It is not customary to talk about this in Kyiv, and the reason for that is clear."

Answering a reader asking when the refugees could return to Ukraine, the journalist replied that, in her opinion, it would not be soon, the war could last a long time. Clearly, this will not help boost population growth. And how will it all end? Few in Ukraine can openly say this, but, according to Panchenko, "Ukraine has already lost - we have no economy and, even worse, we have no sovereignty. Today, we simply depend on what the West says. We have lost our identity."

At the end of July, Ukrainians were also apprised of a stunning proposal that the working week may be increased to 60 hours, consisting of six days of work at ten hours per day or five days at 12 hours. At least, that is the idea published by the Eastern interregional office of the State Service of Ukraine on Labor Issues. The duration of weekly, uninterrupted rest would be reduced to 24 hours, that is, Ukrainians will have only Sunday as a day of rest from work. This idea would first be implemented in enterprises working in critical infrastructure or "defense". The increase in the work week is said to be required by the shortage of workers and the need to constantly repair energy infrastructure.

As it stands presently, employers often exploit Ukrainian workers beyond the norms that would be established by this law. Recently, this same State Service of Ukraine on Labor Issues was approached by an employee whose employer set the rest period for the preceding month as only one day every three weeks and the duration of the shift as 12 hours. The employer claims that such a schedule will be in effect until the end of the year because, during martial law, the number of overtime hours required to work can be unlimited.

Thus, for the average Ukrainian, the Western values of freedom and democracy are turning into an unprecedented neoliberal experiment to abolish all labor rights and implement something resembling slavery. Measures to force Ukrainians to 'fight or work' are presented as a triumph of oft-spoken "European values".

The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, is not even afraid to make racist interpretations of these 'values'. In early August, he called Russians "Asians". According to him the hallmark of the Russian people is their lack of humanity, and in this, they are said to resemble Asian people. Western advisors, of course, normally advise Ukraine's leaders to carefully conceal such racist or neo-Nazi views in order to help win countries in the Global South to support NATO aggression against Russia. But Ukrainian leaders are not always successful in holding themselves back.

In the future that Ukrainian politicians and their Western advisors and think tanks are preparing, many Ukrainians will work up to 12 hours a day with few days off, earning less than a minimum subsistence salary. They won't dare flee their country because the consequences of being caught could easily become deadly.

European slave traders once captured slaves in Africa and transported them in bondage to the Americas and other far-flung destinations. They could not come up with a more forceful and chilling display of what their modern-day 'freedom and democracy' truly means.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... -slavery-a

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Russia downs 2 drones near Crimea

The Russian Defense Ministry confirms that the drones were crashed into the Black Sea, just 40 kilometers away from the Crimean peninsula

Two Ukrainian drones near Crimea were intercepted by the Russian Defense via electronic warfare, downing them into the water over the Black Sea 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) northwest of the Crimean peninsula, according to the Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday.

In its statement, the ministry said: "On August 21, at about 23:00 Moscow time [20:00 GMT], an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack with aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles was thwarted. Two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were detected and suppressed by electronic warfare by the air defense forces".

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin relayed that air defense forces also shot down 2 drones on their way to Moscow. "One in the Krasnogorsk region, the other in the Chastsy region. Special services went to the scene of the incident," he said on Telegram.

This news comes in just a day after the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Russian air defense repelled two Ukrainian drone attacks by means of electronic warfare, adding that they crashed in the Moscow Region.

"On August 21, at about 06:50 Moscow time [03:50 GMT], an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack with an unmanned aerial vehicle of an aircraft type was thwarted," the Ministry announced at first then added that another drone was shot down in the Istra region at 08:16. It was shot down by the air defense forces on duty, the Ministry specified.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed that another two were downed via electronic warfare in Russia’s Bryansk Region but it added that no injuries were recorded.

"An attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out terrorist attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles was thwarted tonight. Two UAVs were detected by air defense systems and suppressed by electronic warfare systems, they crashed over the territory of the Bryansk Region. Two UAVs were detected and destroyed by air defense systems over the territory of the Moscow Region," the ministry said.

However, the situation took a different turn in the central Russian city of Kursk, where a Ukrainian drone crashed onto the rooftop of a railway station, triggering a fire and causing injuries.

"Ukrainian drone attack in Kursk. According to preliminary information, it crashed into the roof of the railway station building, setting off a fire on the rooftop. Five people were slightly injured by shards of glass," Kursk Region Governor Roman Starovoit said on telegram.

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