(Putin Issues New Threats Over Weapons U.S. Is Sending To Ukraine)
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MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez is joined by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor and MSNBC political analyst Richard Stengel, to discuss the latest threats from President Putin over the U.S. supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons, the global impact of Russia blocking grain exports from Ukraine and what it will take for Putin to stand trial for war crimes.
A Russian general was killed during a battle in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, a Russian state journalist reported.
According to a translation by the BBC of the journalist’s account, posted on the social media site Telegram, Major Gen. Roman Kutuzov was killed when heading an assault on a Ukrainian residential area. The journalist, Alexander Sladkov, of the state-owned Russia 1, showered praise on Kutuzov’s bravery but did not elaborate on when, where or how the general was killed.
Maxim Trudolyubov on the Russian president’s ruthless war of generations
12:46 pm, June 6, 2022
Russia’s war against Ukraine has unleashed a battle not only between two armies and two societies, but also between two generations of leaders. Indeed, a striking age gap divides Russia and Ukraine’s top brass. Vladimir Putin’s close associates and key officials were largely born in the 1950s and 1960s. Whereas the most important positions in the Ukrainian leadership and on Volodymyr Zelensky’s team are, for the most part, occupied by people born in the 1970s and 1980s. But there’s also another clash of generations, one occurring not at the interstate level, but inside Russia itself. Putin’s contemporaries are afraid to relinquish power and bequeath it to those who should be their successors. Instead, they’ve worked to bring the younger generations of would-be leaders to heel, pushing them to the margins of public space or driving them out of the country altogether.
[snip]
Dismantling the elite
National security specialists didn’t really suffer in the 1990s. Russia’s academics, engineers, and doctors had it much harder back then. But during a time of creating new reputations, accumulating new social capital, dismantling the old “socialist” (read, state) property and creating new enterprises not linked to the past, intelligence officers found themselves playing second fiddle. The Putin years have been their revenge — their struggle against autonomy, independence, and youth as such.
People in Putin’s circle see those who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps as enemies. Putin is fighting against those whose readers, viewers, listeners, customers, voters, and supporters came to them by choice, not on anyone’s orders. The politicians ruling Russia strive for any figure that they view as significant to be appointed, rather than allowing them to come up on their own (effectively, this has already been achieved). Those who Putin considers enemies, and labels “foreign agents” and “extremists,” are a very diverse bunch, including in terms of age. They are only united by the fact that they — unlike the ruling cohort — stand for something.
[snip]
Ukraine’s change in leadership culture
In 2014, after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and ignited a war in the Donbas, Ukraine found itself facing an existential crisis — and the change of elites and generations was recognized as a vital necessity. Today, the Ukrainian government, president’s office, army, and other state structures are dominated by people who mainly remember the USSR from their school years and early university days. They completed their higher education and embarked upon their careers in post-Soviet Ukraine. Most of them have created or built something for themselves — and obtained their positions by winning elections.
About a third of the Ukrainian Cabinet was born in the 1980s, including First Deputy Prime Ministers Yulia Svyrydenko and Olga Stefanishyna (both born in 1985). Ukraine is represented on the world stage by 41-year-old Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who is the same age as Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko and Justice Minister Denys Maliuska. Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov is 40 years old and Health Minister Viktor Liashko is 42. Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is just 31. Key members of Zelenky’s office are between 40 and 50 years old — including the president himself, who is 44 (born in 1978).
[snip]
Many people tend to think that Putin and his circle are trying to revive the USSR, which collapsed in their living memory. But this isn’t the case. They aren’t preoccupied with bringing back the Soviet Union or reconstructing an empire, although they certainly have imperial instincts. They aren’t even preoccupied with the “war” with the West, even though they dislike it.
What they’re doing is seeking to prevent people who are fundamentally alien to them from accessing power and property. And there are many such people, from more than one generation: not only “Gen X,” but also the vast majority of “millennials,” because the children of the current leaders account for only a small number of them.
By constantly raising the stakes and making their rule ever more extreme, Putin’s peers in his inner circle acquire more and more mechanisms for controlling access to power and politics. This fear of relinquishing power is the underlying cause of the war Putin has unleashed.
Russian officials have grown frustrated by Beijing failing to live up to the agreed “no-limit partnership”, according to Chinese and US officials quoted by Washington Post. “China has made clear its position on the situation in Ukraine and on the illegal sanctions against Russia,” said a Chinese official with knowledge of the matter.
“We understand [Moscow’s] predicament. But we cannot ignore our situation in this dialogue. China will always act in the best interest of the Chinese people,” added the unnamed official.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has now tasked his closest advisers to help Russia financially without violating the sanctions, the Washington Post reported citing sources. But the complex maze of sanctions that Moscow finds itself in won’t be easy for Beijing to bypass.
_________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Joined: 07 May 2014 Posts: 13823 Location: Boulder ;)
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 8:16 am Post subject:
Russia saying Ukraine can come get the wheat but they're responsible to remove the mines they've placed all over the ports
Not sure if propaganda or not but Ukraine showing reports of farmers fields filled with mines so they can't even harvest and potentially die just trying to gather food to feed the world
This isn't a war. It is a brutal Rape/Genocide of a whole people's. Makes me want to see Russia BURN TO ASHES. Never to return
Russia saying Ukraine can come get the wheat but they're responsible to remove the mines they've placed all over the ports
Not sure if propaganda or not but Ukraine showing reports of farmers fields filled with mines so they can't even harvest and potentially die just trying to gather food to feed the world
This isn't a war. It is a brutal Rape/Genocide of a whole people's. Makes me want to see Russia BURN TO ASHES. Never to return
Hopefully Putin is Assassinated soon.
There are a couple of hundred Russians who need to accompany Putin to rest in eternal torment. _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Joined: 07 May 2014 Posts: 13823 Location: Boulder ;)
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 1:00 pm Post subject:
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1534275450192777216
John Cena takes time to meet with young Ukrainian Boy who fled Mariuopol with his family. His Mother helped him persist by telling him they were traveling to find Cena... and he came through for them..
Cena is like Mister Rodgers on Steroids ... love this guys actions IRL
Wow, Putin basically just stopped pretending: "During the war with Sweden, Peter the Great didn't conquer anything, he took back what had always belonged to us, even though all of Europe recognised it as Sweden's. It seems now it's our turn to get our lands back [smiling]".
There are reports that the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and the Swedish Royal Family have abruptly left, a 100th Anniversary Celebration Concert for the Self-Governance of the Finnish Åland Region, to be flown back to the Mainland.
(New video shows Ukraine destroy Russian rocket launcher with US-provided weapon)
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Ukrainian troops say weapons provided by the US are giving them an advantage because they are lighter and more precise than the ones used by Russia. CNN's Matthew Chance reports from the front lines.
From sending coordinates for artillery strikes against Russia to broadcasting Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speeches across the world, US Brigadier General Steven Butow told Politico that SpaceX's Starlink services have been indispensable to the Ukrainian military. The general has worked closely with SpaceX as the director of the space portfolio at the defense innovation unit.
_________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Russian President Vladimir Putin compared himself favorably to Peter the Great, a Russian monarch from the late 17th century, using the likening to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In his comments, Putin argued that Peter the Great was not conquering, but rather fighting over territory that rightfully belonged to Russia. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports.
The United States of America is home to the greatest proliferation of civilian-owned guns of any nation on the planet. At an estimated 393.3 million firearms owned by U.S. residents as of 2018, there are more guns than there are people in our great nation.
So, what's a subtropical municipality to do with all the citizen-owned guns to get them off the streets? In the City of Miami's case, the latest answer appears to be: Buy back those guns, lock, stock, and Saturday night special, and ship them to a war zone halfway across the world.
In an unscheduled move during the Miami City Commission meeting on Thursday, Commissioner Ken Russell proposed a resolution to create a buyback program that would have the city purchase guns from residents and send them to Ukraine to assist that nation in combating Russia's ongoing invasion.
(Ukraine war leaves Mariupol at risk of major cholera outbreak - BBC News)
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The UK defence ministry has said that the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is now under Russian control, is at risk of a major cholera outbreak.
Water in the city has mixed with sewage after weeks of heavy shelling that left infrastructure damaged or destroyed in the city, where an estimated 100,000 people are still living.
One resident who fled Mariupol a week ago described it as a “city of corpses”, with uncollected dead bodies and rubbish adding to the unsanitary conditions.
Joined: 07 May 2014 Posts: 13823 Location: Boulder ;)
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 2:55 pm Post subject:
FernieBee wrote:
BBC News
(Ukraine war leaves Mariupol at risk of major cholera outbreak - BBC News)
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The UK defence ministry has said that the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is now under Russian control, is at risk of a major cholera outbreak.
Water in the city has mixed with sewage after weeks of heavy shelling that left infrastructure damaged or destroyed in the city, where an estimated 100,000 people are still living.
One resident who fled Mariupol a week ago described it as a “city of corpses”, with uncollected dead bodies and rubbish adding to the unsanitary conditions.
In just 3 months
I think every American classroom should air something all at the same time about what is happening here. The actual purpose of this Megalomaniacal EthnoCentric Genocidal madness
Wheat.. simple wheat.. being used to starve actual human beings to death is Nation Sponsored Terrorism and a crime against all of humanity
Carpet bombing cities into nonexistence
Russifying people.100,000? kidnapped? Women and Children Renamed and Sold
The list is nonstop
bombing schools churches ancient monasteries
leaving booby trap bombs in places women and children will die from them
Siberian Forests burning double normal rate this year due to military unable to put manpower to them
etc
tough to bottle all that up and classify it in a way that isn't slightly bothersome ahem
(Is Ukraine outgunned? CNN reports on state of Russia's war)
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With Russia poised to encircle the strategically significant city of Severodonetsk in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region within days, CNN's Matthew Chance reports on the state of Russia's invasion.
(Russia destroys every bridge leading to Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk - BBC News)
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The Eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk has been cut off from the rest of the country after all 3 bridges were destroyed by Russian forces, the local governor says.
With the city effectively cut off, Serhiy Haidai says delivering supplies and evacuating civilians are now impossible.
Fierce fighting is taking place in the city and for weeks capturing Severodonetsk has been a top military goal for Russia.
One resident who is sick and headed to hospital told the BBC life in Severodonetsk was “calm” until the war “broke everything apart”.
(War in Ukraine reaches pivotal moment, intelligence officials say)
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Ukraine's military is burning through Soviet-era ammunition that fits older systems as the country pleads with the West to send more heavy weaponry and Russia amasses a significant artillery advantage around two strategically important cities in eastern Ukraine.
(Why Germany is under scrutiny for its lack of support to Ukraine)
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under scrutiny for his country's lack of support to Ukraine during the war with Russia. CNN's Jake Tapper reports that Germany has not banned imports from Russia and has not sent a single weapon to Ukraine despite promising them back in April.
(Russia tells BBC “we did not invade Ukraine” and there is “no war” there - BBC News)
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Since the Russian army attacked Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed and cities reduced to rubble, while millions of Ukrainians have fled their homes.
However Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the BBC: "We didn't invade Ukraine”.
Mr Lavrov, who is one of President Putin’s closest allies said: "We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act."
He repeated the official Kremlin line that there were Nazis in Ukraine. Russian officials often claim that their military is "de-Nazifying" the country.
Huw Edwards presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Moscow editor Steve Rosenberg.
US intelligence uncovered that Vladimir Putin has been treated for “advanced cancer” in recent months. He has also recently survived an assassination attempt!!
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