WASHINGTON, DC, #USA – #G7 nations are prepared to respond with severe new penalties that could include a ban on #IranAir flights to #Europe if #Iran proceeds with the transfer of close-range ballistic missiles to #Russia, a senior US official said on Friday, March 15. #Ukraine
Iran Air could be banned from Europe if Tehran sends missiles to Russia, US warns
https://www.rappler.com/world/global-affairs/iran-air-ban-europe-tehran-sends-missiles-russia/
Driving cars registered in #Russia in #Finland is no longer possible without a special permit as from Saturday, 16 March. All Baltic countries have now banned the entry of cars with Russian number plates. #Ukraine
Finland stops allowing cars with Russian number plates
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/03/16/7446754/
Ahead of a concert in #Vilnius on Thursday, band members met with exiled Belarusian opposition leader #SvetlanaTikhanovskaya and supporters of late Kremlin critic #AlexeiNavalny who died in an Arctic prison last month.
The band was held in #Phuket, #Thailand in January on #ImmigrationCharges in a case that has alarmed anti-#Putin Russians living abroad. #BI2 #Russia #Ukraine
Dissident Russian band returns to stage after Thai detention
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dissident-russian-band-returns-stage-021936729.html
#Russia recognised #SouthOssetia and another breakaway region, #Abkhazia, as independent states in 2008 after Russian troops repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war in 2008.
But the West accused Russia of effectively annexing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, one fifth of #Georgia's territory. #Ukraine
Breakaway Georgian region is discussing becoming part of Russia, says local official
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/breakaway-georgian-region-is-discussing-becoming-part-of-russia-says-local-official/ar-BB1k29rO?ocid=emmx-mmx-feeds&PC=EMMX01
People also wrote '#Navalny' on their ballots & took it to his grave.
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Long queues formed at several polling stations in Moscow and other Russian cities as people took up a call from #AlexeiNavalny’s widow to head to the polls at noon on Sunday in a symbolic show of dissent against Vladimir #Putin’s all but certain re-election as president. #Ukraine
Russians form long queues at polling stations in ‘#NoonAgainstPutin’ protest | #Russia
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/17/russians-urged-to-disrupt-final-day-of-vladimir-putins-presidentia
The experiences from conflicts like those in #Ukraine and the #Gaza Strip have impacted the utility of #CombatHelicopters. Their future role , particularly in reconnaissance, must evolve, incorporating #drones as forward observers or for marking targets, enhancing their survival odds.
#US Army halts $20 billion #helicopter revamp, pivots to unmanned tech
https://essanews.com/u-s-army-halts-20-billion-helicopter-revamp-pivots-to-unmanned-tech,7006874823862401a
The #Kremlin has relocated some of its #BlackSea assets from #Crimea to its #Novorossiysk base in Russia's #Krasnodar region, further from #Ukraine's coastline. Moscow is also thought to be establishing another base in #Abkhazia, a breakaway region internationally recognized as part of #Georgia.
#Russia Vows Major Response to #BlackSea Naval Defeats
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-naval-drones-upgrade-black-sea-fleet-crimea-sergei-shoigu-1880055
The colors of the Ukrainian flag can be seen all around #Vilnius. The capital changed the name of the street where the #RussianEmbassy is located to #HeroesOfUkraine Street. "Putin, #TheHague is waiting for you," is written across the top of a building. #Lithuania #Ukraine
Where Russians go after speaking out against Vladimir #Putin
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-dissidents-speaking-out-from-vilnius-lithuania-60-minutes/
Russian dissidents living in Vilnius, Lithuania, are speaking out against Vladimir Putin, who's set to win a fifth term as president.
More than a dozen #EuropeanCouncil members have said that the #EU must increase its #security and defensive capabilities in the face of #Russia’s full scale invasion of #Ukraine.
The signatories also say that the #EuropeanInvestmentBank (EIB), which functions as a lending arm to the EU, needs to be empowered to invest in #DefenceRelated initiatives beyond existing dual-use projects.
When the #US and #Europe tried to sever #Russia from the Western financial system, #Moscow found workarounds. Key among them: banks in the #Gulf and #Europe that maintained ties with Russia.
Now, Washington’s efforts to close these loopholes appear to be paying off. #Ukraine
Russia’s #Backdoor to the #GlobalBankingSystem Is Slamming Shut
https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/russias-backdoor-to-the-global-banking-system-is-slamming-shut-49bf5c53?mod=RSSMSN
Funny, this is exactly what #China is saying to the #Philippines over bases being built on *our* northern territory. Maybe the experts are right, we are the "Romania" of Asia.
According to Klimov, the larger the 'anti-Russian' #MilitaryBase and the 'closer it is to #Russia's borders, the more likely it is to be among the first targets for retaliatory strikes”. #Ukraine #Taiwan
Russia warns #Romania over building “largest #Nato military base” in #Europe
http://www.intellinews.com/russia-warns-romania-over-building-largest-nato-military-base-in-europe-317479/
The rebirth of the ‘#WeimarTriangle’ suggests that Franco-German tensions are on the mend and a common agenda on arming Kyiv is possible.
Could #Poland’s promotion to #Europe’s top table be a turning point for #Ukraine? | Paul Taylor
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/20/poland-europe-top-table-ukraine-weimar-triangle-france-germany
Sanction efforts have slowed and in some cases stopped shipment of goods that could have military uses through countries such as #Turkey, #Serbia and the #UnitedArabEmirates.
#Russia is now increasing focus on #HongKong, #China as the source of these products. Western production hubs in #SoutheastAsia are also possible sources of supply. #Ukraine
#EU, #US discussed how to address China’s role as conduit for goods to Russia
https://www.euractiv.com/section/china/news/eu-us-discussed-how-to-address-chinas-role-as-conduit-for-goods-to-russia/
Since #Russia’s invasion two years ago, #Ukraine has revolutionized warfare with its use of #drones in the #air and at #sea. Now it wants to do the same with unmanned ground vehicles, or #UGVs, aiming to replicate the low-cost, do-it-yourself approach that it has used to such deadly effect. #UGV
#Robots Are Entering the Ukraine Battlefield
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/robots-are-entering-the-ukraine-battlefield-fab195d2?mod=RSSMSN
MSN link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/robots-are-entering-the-ukraine-battlefield/ar-BB1kjYmB
Empires start unraveling at the edges first.
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At the invitation of the American side, the Kazakh Foreign Minister, #MuratNurtleu, will visit the #USA, where he will hold talks with several high-ranking officials. On his way back, he will make a two-day visit to #China.
Chinese journalists found it strange that there is no trip to #Russia planned in the Kazakh minister's schedule. #Ukraine
China Believes #Kazakhstan Is Drifting Further Away from Russia
https://www.dagens.com/news/china-believes-kazakhstan-is-drifting-further-away-from-russia
The Ukrainian air force said #Russia had launched 88 missiles and 63 Iranian-made #ShahedDrones. Of them, 37 and 55 respectively were shot down, but others hit the country’s largest dam and caused blackouts in several regions, it said.
Over 1m Ukrainians without power after major Russian assault on energy system | #Ukraine
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/22/over-1m-ukrainians-without-power-after-russias-largest-assault-on-energy-sector
Despite pressure from the West over the past two years, #India’s government has relied on cheap #RussianOil to help curb inflation. Last month, Bloomberg reported that India was becoming a key global player in the #OilMarket as it was refining its cheap Russian #CrudeImports and then exporting it to #Europe and the #US. #Ukraine
India Stops Accepting Russian Oil Delivered By US-Sanctioned #Tankers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/03/22/india-stops-accepting-russian-oil-delivered-by-us-sanctioned-tankers-reports-say/
Triggered by shifts in the security landscape, the project aims to erect a barrier designed to deter unauthorized crossings. The wall, featuring #SteelMesh construction, surveillance enhancements, and #barbed wire, is targeted to span approximately 200 kilometers of critical border areas by the end of 2026. #Ukraine
#Finland Accelerates Construction of #BorderFence with #Russia
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/finland-accelerates-construction-of-border-fence-with-russia/ar-BB1kkPcp?ocid=emmx-mmx-feeds&PC=EMMX01
With Russia's internal security apparatus concentrating on suppressing dissent, this was bound to happen. They took their eye off other internal and much deadlier threats - this won't be the last one.
#MOSCOW, #Russia – At least 40 people were killed and 145 wounded on Friday, March 22, when camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire on concertgoers near Moscow, with #IslamicState claiming responsibility for what was one of the deadliest attacks on Russia in decades. #Ukraine
https://www.rappler.com/world/europe/russia-concert-terror-attack-updates-march-23-2024/
(1st UPDATE) At least five gunmen began shooting civilians cowering in the Crocus City Hall just before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was about to perform to a full house at the 6,200-seat theatre in a suburb west of Moscow
At least 60 people have been killed and 145 wounded in #Russia’s worst #TerrorAttack in years, as #gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire and detonated explosives in a major #ConcertHall on the outskirts of Moscow. The #IslamicState claimed responsibility. #CrocusCityHall #CrocusCityMassacre #Russia #Ukraine
At least 60 killed and scores wounded in Moscow concert hall attack
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/22/moscow-concert-hall-shooting-blast
#TerrorAttack #IslamicState #Russia #CrocusCityHall #CrocusCityMassacre #Ukraine
Image source: https://aje.io/pjv4lm?update=2791785
While #ISIL’s attack in #Moscow is a “tactical shift”, it highlights grievances with #Russia that have been there since the armed group’s founding, says Kabir Taneja, a fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank, and the author of The ISIS Peril. #Russia #IslamicState #CrocusCityHall #CrocusCityMassacre #Ukraine
ISIL views Russia as ‘crusading power against #Muslims’
https://aje.io/pjv4lm?update=2791830
#TerrorAttack #IslamicState #Russia #CrocusCityHall #CrocusCityMassacre #Ukraine
Photos: Russians place flowers at makeshift memorial as death toll rises
https://aje.io/pjv4lm?update=2791826
Excellent updates summary by Al Jazeera on the #TerrorAttack by the #IslamicState on the #CrocusCityHall in #Russia. Be sure to take whatever the FSB says about any link to #Ukraine with at least 3 tons of salt 🧂#CrocusCityMassacre
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"If you’re just joining us it is just after 12:35pm (09:35 GMT) in Moscow, the day after an attack on a Moscow concert hall killed at least 93 people and injured 187.
Here are the latest developments:"
#Russia’s Investigative Committee has announced that the death toll for Friday night’s terror attack at the #CrocusCityHall on the outskirts of #Moscow has risen to at least 115, including three children. #TerrorAttack #IslamicState #Ukraine #CrocusCityMassacre
Photos: First images from inside burnt #CrocusCityHall #CrocusCityMassacre
#TerrorAttack #IslamicState #Russia #Ukraine
https://aje.io/pjv4lm?update=2792015
Fire and chaos after mass shooting at Russian concert hall – in pictures
[Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing]
#TerrorAttack #CrocusCityHall #CrocusCityMassacre #IslamicState #Russia #Ukraine
https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2024/mar/22/moscow-concert-hall-shooting-photos
#TerrorAttack #IslamicState #CrocusCityHall #CrocusCityMassacre #Russia #Ukraine
Image source: https://aje.io/pjv4lm?update=2792085
#Putin suggests – without evidence – that #Kyiv may have been involved in attack, claiming attackers planned to flee to #Ukraine.
#TerrorAttack #IslamicState #CrocusCityHall #Russia #CrocusCityMassacre
Moscow terror attack: Putin says all four gunmen held as death toll reaches 133
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/23/russia-fsb-tries-to-link-ukraine-to-moscow-attack-despite-is-claiming-responsibility
Tom Richter, a former #USMarine pilot who flew the jets
when in the #NationalGuard,
told Politico that the #F16 is "a
sensitive beast" compared with
the Soviet-era aircraft that
#Ukraine is used to.
"It is a prima donna, and it is very sensitive and needs high maintenance," he continued, adding that Ukraine's Soviet-era #MiG jets are more "rough and tumble" and require less maintenance.
https://www.businessinsider.com/prima-donna-f-16s-hard-work-ukraine-ex-marine-2024-3
A makeshift memorial has been set up outside the #CrocusConcertHall where people have been lighting candles, laying flowers and paying their respects to the victims of the shooting that has claimed the lives of at least 133 people.
#TerrorAttack #IslamicState #Russia #Ukraine #CrocusCityMassacre
Unfortunately for #Putin, the IS will not allow him to credit the #TerrorAttack to #Ukraine 🤷🏻♂️
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The videos, which were published by #IS’s news agency #Amaq, showed the gunmen filming themselves as they hunted concertgoers through the lobby of the #CrocusCityHall and fired at them from pointblank range, killing scores of people. #CrocusCityMassacre
New #IslamicState videos back claim it carried out Moscow concert hall attack | #Russia
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/24/new-islamic-state-videos-back-claim-it-carried-out-moscow-concert-hall-attack
Back toot: https://noc.social/@Norobiik/112150377402150210
Responsibility for the attack was officially claimed by the Afghan branch of #ISIL, also known as the #IslamicState in Khorasan Province or #ISKP. Four suspected men, all #Tajikistan citizens, have since been arrested but #Russia has not confirmed whether they are linked to ISIL. #CrocusCityMassacre #Ukraine
Fear stalks Russia after #Moscow massacre as Putin’s allies play blame game
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/25/fear-stalks-russia-after-moscow-massacre-as-putins-allies-play-blame-game
In the days since the mass killing at the #CrocusConcertHall near #Moscow, blameless #TajikMigrants across #Russia have been subjected to #threats, #VerbalAbuse and increased #harassment from law enforcement. #Russia #Ukraine
#Tajik diaspora in Russia living in terror following #CrocusCityMassacre
https://eurasianet.org/tajik-diaspora-in-russia-living-in-terror-following-crocus-city-massacre
The final #DeathToll from the #Moscow concert hall terrorist attack could be much higher than the 140 confirmed dead, with Russian state investigations saying they have received 143 reports about people who were missing.
#IslamicState (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack, its deadliest on European soil and the deadliest by any group in #Russia since the 2004 #Beslan school siege. #CrocusCityHall #Ukraine
#PaymentDelays reduce revenue to the #Kremlin and make them erratic, allowing #Washington to achieve its dual policy sanction goals - to disrupt money going to the Kremlin to punish it for the war in #Ukraine while not interrupting global energy flows.
Exclusive-Russia struggles to collect oil payments as #China, #UAE, #Turkey raise #BankScrutiny
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/exclusive-russia-struggles-to-collect-oil-payments-as-china-uae-turkey-raise-bank-scrutiny/ar-BB1kD6Rv?ocid=emmx-mmx-feeds&PC=EMMX01
Three strikes. Two so far: #Navalny"s death and the #CrocusCityMassscre. Just one more.
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Boyes said that #Putin's propagandists had "overreached" in trying to link #Kyiv to #IslamicState and are now "talking vaguely about western puppet-masters."
"That's when you know a narrative has failed." #Russia #Ukraine
#Putin Is 'Losing Control' in #Russia: Dictator Expert
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-putin-hitler-boyes-mistakes-1884115
The #UnitedStates imposed sanctions on #Alrosa, the world's largest producer of rough #diamonds by volume with 30% of the market, in 2022. #EU sanctions followed this year. #Ukraine
#Russia confirms deal to buy part of diamond producer Alrosa's output
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/russia-confirms-deal-to-buy-part-of-diamond-producer-alrosa-s-output/ar-BB1kHW5V
The base is a working complex of corrugated-iron housing and laboratories, machinery, tanks and radio masts. A wooden church, with the dimensions and bright colours of a beach hut, overlooks the generator building. When the research team at #VernadskyBase are not defending their homeland, they are on the frontline of the #ClimateCrisis.
‘He took five bullets and returned to work on plankton’: the double lives of #Ukraine’s #AntarcticScientists | #Antarctica
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/29/ukraine-antarctic-scientists-climate-crisis-vernadsky-base
The Ukrainian spy agency behind these drone strikes has its eyes on another target: the 12-mile long #KerchBridge connecting occupied #Crimea with #Russia. It is plotting a third attempt on the bridge, after two previous attempts to blow it up, claiming its destruction is “inevitable”. #Russia
‘No choice’: #Ukraine eyes Kerch bridge in Crimea for #DroneAttack
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/ukraine-eyes-kerch-bridge-crimea-drone-attack
With Russian forces pushing hard in the east and vital #US #MilitaryAid held up by months of Republican resistance in 2Congress, the urgency has mounted.
President Volodymyr #Zelenskiy has warned that #Russia may plan to mount a new offensive this spring or summer. #Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers, engineers toil round the clock to build defences
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukrainian-soldiers-engineers-toil-round-the-clock-to-build-defences/ar-BB1l3HcP?ocid=emmx-mmx-feeds&PC=EMMX01
#Russia has already learned how to counter #F16s in a way that would minimize their #BattlefieldPotential, said the unnamed officer, who, per Politico, worked under former Ukraine armed forces head #ValeryZaluzhny. #F16
Russia's adapting air defenses means #Ukraine's new F-16s are an example of weapons that are 'no longer relevant:' senior Ukrainian officer
https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-new-f16s-arriving-late-no-longer-relevant-officer-2024-4
The Finnish Interior Ministry said in a statement that the Nordic country's #NationalSecurity and #PublicOrder would come under serious threat if the estimated hundreds of third-country nationals were to continue to attempt to enter from #Russia without proper documentation. #NATO #Ukraine
#Finland will keep its border with Russia closed until further notice over #MigrationConcerns
https://apnews.com/article/finland-russia-border-migrants-european-union-nato-c9ef64887912e07a92b3f3217101ddd5
Finland says it will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current April 14 deadline “until further notice” due to a high risk of organized migration orchestrated by Moscow. The Finnish Interior Ministry said national security and public order would come under serious threat if the estimated hundreds of third-country nationals were to continue to attempt to enter from Russia without proper documentation. Finland closed the land border late last year after more than 1,300 migrants without proper documentation or visas entered the country in three months. Finland acts as the EU’s external border in the north and makes up a significant part of NATO’s northeastern flank.
Military leaders had put pressure on politicians to ditch a draft amendment that allowed troops who had served for more than 36 months in war a chance to be discharged
Outcry in #Ukraine after #Kyiv scraps #demobilisation plan for long-serving soldiers
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/ukraine-demobilisation-plan-long-serving-soldiers-military-war-russia
The news comes as domestic fatigue against the long-running war has set in after a failed summer assault and the country’s forces being outnumbered and outgunned by #Russia. #Ukraine
Ukrainian #parliament passes bill broadening civilian mobilisation to boost fledgling military manpower
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/apr/11/russia-ukraine-war-live-russian-strike-in-north-eastern-kharkiv-region-kills-three-people?page=with:block-6617a72b8f08a1e6c6fcd728#block-6617a72b8f08a1e6c6fcd728
#China is helping #Russia undertake its biggest #MilitaryExpansion since Soviet times, ramping up sales of #MachineTools, #Microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce #missiles, #tanks, #aircraft and other weaponry for its war against #Ukraine, according to a #US assessment.
China supporting Russia in massive military expansion, US says
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/12/china-supporting-russia-in-massive-military-expansion-us-says
Fresh protests against a Russian-inspired #SecurityLaw are roiling #Georgia—a small but strategically located nation in the #SouthCaucasus—as the #BlackSea nation struggles to chart a strategic path between its massive northern neighbor and its own Euro-Atlantic ambitions. #Ukraine
#Putin Faces New Rebellion in #Russia's Back Yard
https://www.newsweek.com/putin-new-rebellion-russia-georgia-1891207
A hammer-wielding assailant attacked #LeonidVolkov, a #Navalny aide, outside his home in #Vilnius, #Lithuania, in March, breaking his arm and pounding his leg with a series of blows.
Lithuania's counter-intelligence service accused #Russia's intelligence services of being behind the attack. #YuliaNavalnaya #Ukraine
Widow of Russia's Alexei Navalny hires bodyguard after hammer attack on activist
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/widow-of-russia-s-alexei-navalny-hires-bodyguard-after-hammer-attack-on-activist/ar-BB1lNgJV?ocid=emmx-mmx-feeds&PC=EMMX01
A #Belarusian national has been detained in #Poland on suspicion of ordering the attack on a top Russian opposition leader, #LeonidVolkov, on #Moscow’s behalf, the Polish prime minister, #DonaldTusk, has announced. #Ukraine
Belarusian held in Poland suspected of ordering hammer attack on #Navalny ally
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/19/two-polish-citizens-detained-over-hammer-attack-on-navalny-ally-leonid-volkov#img-1
Speaking after another week of Russian aerial barrages that killed and injured dozens across the country, the Ukrainian leader said #Kyiv needed more air defence systems to protect Ukrainian cities and save lives.
#Zelensky says #NATO must decide if alliance and #Ukraine ‘indeed are allies’
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240419-zelensky-says-nato-must-decide-if-alliance-and-ukraine-indeed-are-allies
@Norobiik
Somewhat relatedly, just noticed that UK & US have just imposed new sanctions on Putin's Russia.
The cutoff of the copper supply is going to particularly painful to the west while we're undertaking this transition away from fossil fuels, but nothing we can't manage under the circumstances.
https://www.state.gov/taking-actions-to-reduce-russias-revenue-from-metals-trade/
@Norobiik You can come home when you're dead. Sheesh. No wonder a lot of people have bugged out.
Didn't the Russians let prisoners out after 6 months in combat?
@Norobiik I'm listening to an audiobook about the 1917 Russian revolution and the conditions sound eerily similar. Soldiers fed up with endless attrition warfare were a big part of the Bolshevik Revolution, after the initial overthrow of the czar did not produce the desired end of the war.
Either Russia or Ukraine could face a similar collapse. If it's Russia, some very dangerous people may inherit the Soviet nuclear arsenal. If Ukraine collapses, American power in the world is kaput.
Norobiik @
Kevin Leecaster
mike805