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

[Anthea]

A report by The New York Times has revealed that Ukrainian troops fired cluster munitions, banned by 110 countries around the world, on a Ukrainian village.

Almost 20% of these munitions fail to detonate on impact, and will remain a threat to civilians long after hostilities end.

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Direct Link:
https://youtu.be/ClLTnn0aJTo

[Anthea]

11 Months ago:

Ukraine turns Donetsk into a minefield using banned ‘Petal’ mines

The use of PFM-1 ‘Petal’ mines against civilians is prohibited by the Geneva conventions – but this evidently isn’t stopping Ukraine

Just after 9 pm on July 30, thunderous explosions rocked central Donetsk. Shortly after, there were announcements that air defense had shot down Ukrainian-fired missiles containing Petal mines.

Given that over 300 of these mines are packed into each of the Ukrainian-fired rockets, central Donetsk would literally be a minefield.

While Ukraine has been using these mines on the Donbass for many months, in recent days they have intensely bombarded Gorlovka and Donetsk neighbourhoods with them. Initially targeted were the hard-hit districts of Kievskiy in the north, Kirovsky in the southwest, and Kuibyshevkiy in the west.

But as of Saturday night, Ukraine hammered central Donetsk with them. And now, walking in the city centre is a nightmare, one I had to endure to document how widespread these mines are here: in central streets and walkways, near apartments, in parks...

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Direct Link:
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*See Part 2:
Donetsk Emergency Services & Sappers Clear Residential Areas of Ukraine's Mines
• Donetsk Emergency...

*Part 3:
Ukrainian Terrorism: Firing Munitions Containing Petal Mines On Donbass Orphanage, Another War Crime
• Ukrainian Terrori...

[Anthea]

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Attack on Crimean Bridge

Russia's Investigative Committee said Monday that the drone attack on the Crimean bridge, which left two people dead and one wounded, was a terrorist act committed by Ukraine

"On the night of July 16-17, one of the sections of the Crimean bridge was damaged as a result of a terrorist act committed by the Ukrainian special services," the Committee said.

"Two civilians - a man and a woman who were traveling for tourism on the bridge - died, and their underage daughter was injured," it added, specifying that a criminal case on the attack has already been opened.

Meanwhile, the Russian authorities are carrying out the necessary investigations to identify the people involved in the organization and execution of this terrorist attack.

Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attack on the Crimean bridge was carried out by Ukraine with the support of the United States and the United Kingdom.

"Today's attack on the Crimean bridge was perpetrated by the Kiev regime, which is a terrorist regime that presents all the signs of an international organized crime group," she said.

"Decisions are made by Ukrainian officials and military with the direct involvement of American and British intelligence services and politicians," Zahkarova pointed out.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rus ... -0009.html

[Anthea]

BRICS Video conference summit

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov announced that President Vladimir Putin will participate by video conference in the summit of the BRICS countries, a forum for economic cooperation led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa

Earlier, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Russia at the BRICS summit to be held from August 22 in Johannesburg.

In March, South Africa invited the Russian president to participate in the high-level meeting despite the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Vladimir Putin, who is being accused of alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

As a member of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to cooperate in Putin's arrest. However, his authorities had avoided revealing how they would proceed specifically if the Russian leader landed on their territory.

NATIONS coalescing under the Brics alliance are preparing to strike a blow against the United States dollar’s hegemony by launching a trading currency which will be backed by gold.https://t.co/biSVZx891k pic.twitter.com/JKYVj8MDnh
— TheNewsHawks (@NewsHawksLive) July 16, 2023

Ramaphosa refused to arrest Putin because that would be like a "declaration of war" against Russia, said the Gauteng High Court of South Africa, a country that has adopted a neutral stance in the Ukrainian conflict.

Brazil, Russia, India and China formed the BRIC group in 2006, with South Africa joining in 2010, adding the letter 'S' to the acronym. The Johannesburg Summit will be the first high-level meeting that the BRICS leaders hold in person since the COVID19 pandemic.

Over the last year, the interest of nations in belonging to this economic bloc has increased markedly as the United States continues with a foreign policy based on arbitrary sanctions.

Among the countries that want to join the BRICS alliance are Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Put ... -0013.html

[Anthea]

Free Grain to Africa

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia is offering to replace Ukrainian grain supplies to needy countries free of charge after withdrawing from the grain deal

Speaking to reporters, Peskov said that "the poorest countries in Africa have benefited the least" from the Black Sea initiative for Ukrainian grain exports.

These issues will be discussed at the Russia-Africa summit to be held in St. Petersburg on July 27–28. "We are in contact with our African partners; these contacts will continue at the St. Petersburg summit; we are preparing and waiting for them," the spokesman noted.

According to Alexander Polyakov, deputy head of the Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow has received confirmation from 49 countries to participate in the Russia-Africa summit.

Last March, Putin promised that Russia would send free food to the neediest African countries if it had to suspend the grain deal, which expired on July 17.

The Kremlin has said that as soon as the Russian part of the agreement is fulfilled, it will immediately resume the implementation of this agreement. Moscow had repeatedly denounced the parties' non-compliance with the obligations stipulated in the document and the initiative's discordance with the stated purposes.

The country is currently working to build "stable and independent of EU whims" food supply routes for countries in need, said Kiril Logvinov, Russia's acting permanent representative to the European Union.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rus ... -0026.html

[Anthea]

Ships Carrying Military Cargo

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it will regard all ships sailing in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports as "potential carriers of military cargo."

"Due to the termination of the Black Sea Initiative, and the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor, all ships en route to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea will be considered potential carriers of military cargo from 00:00 Moscow time on July 20, 2023," it said.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted that the countries whose flags will be present on those vessels will be viewed as parties to the conflict from the Ukrainian side.

Some areas in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea have been temporarily declared dangerous for navigation.

How Russia’s withdrawal from a deal to take Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea could affect the global food chain, prices and the world’s poorest people
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 19, 2023

Russia and Ukraine signed separately with Türkiye and the United Nations the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Istanbul in July 2022, which allowed Ukraine to export its grain and other agricultural products from its Black Sea ports.

Moscow suspended its participation in the agreement on July 17, 2023, saying that it would return to the deal as soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled.

Despite the stance adopted by Russia, international efforts to keep this agreement in force have not yet ceased. Earlier this week, for example, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that a multilateral deal allowed for shipments of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be saved.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Shi ... -0008.html

The difficulty with the grain deal was that Russia was misled and almost none of the grain reached the poorest countries with more than 90% of grain going to wealthy western countries

[Anthea]

insulin Doses From Russia

On Wednesday, as part of the agreement between the Russian company Geropharm and the Venezuelan company Espromed Bio, a batch of more than 1.1 million containers of insulin arrived in Venezuela

"The current batch of medicines includes more than 1.1 million containers of recombinant rapid and intermediate-acting human insulins: Rinsulin R and Rinsulin NPH," Geropharm said in a press release.

In addition, according to the company, the batch will cover the needs of all patients in the country who require insulin treatment for a period of up to three months.

According to the note, Geropharm also sent more than 40,000 modern reusable insulin syringe pens, which allow for a more comfortable and safer use of the drugs.

The general director of Geropharm, Pyotr Rodyonov, pointed out that the cooperation between the governments of Caracas and Moscow makes it possible to guarantee the treatment of patients with diabetes.

The Russian company pointed out that, according to official data, there are more than two million patients with diabetes mellitus in Venezuela.

The cooperation between the two countries is part of the framework agreement on strategic trade partnership, signed at the 2019 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ven ... -0005.html

[Anthea]

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Cluster bombs and depleted uranium

The US supplying cluster bombs and depleted uranium to Ukraine - and Ukraine using them - is an admission that the territories have now been permanently lost to Russia

Ukraine is over one month into its long-awaited counteroffensive, with bleak results. Russia has held its defensive line, backed by only a partially mobilized army. On the other hand - Ukraine has seemingly been giving it their all - several rounds of mobilization backed by logistics, weaponry, and armor courtesy of NATO countries.

Throughout the course of the war, Ukraine - and the West - have obfuscated the actual losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukraine also admits to making up heroic stories - like the “Ghost of Kiev” - to stir up public support. Through the fog of war, maintaining the narrative is important. It allows for public support, the proliferation of weapons, and financial support.

The fog is now clearing. Kiev is losing territory, weapons, tanks, and - most important of all now - the narrative. The counteroffensive is an absolute catastrophe and an objective failure - Kiev even admits losing 20% of its weapons and armor.

The United States, even before the start of the Russian invasion - was Kiev’s main supporter. Billions of taxpayer dollars given to Ukraine for aid primarily went to weapons and ammunition. The Russian invasion presented the United States with a unique situation where it could attempt to weaken Russia without sacrificing a single American or NATO soldier - they had the Ukrainians to do it for them.

US Senator Lindsey Graham even brazenly admits that "Russians dying" is the "best money the US has ever spent." If the war is indeed an investment for the United States to weaken Russia, the gap to get the most bang for its buck is closing.

The United States, in order to make sure it can inflict as much damage as possible within this closing gap, is now resorting to sending horrific weapons that will at best temporarily hold off a Russian advance and at worst pollute and destroy the region for years to come.

Early on in the failed counteroffensive, the destruction of NATO weaponry such as the Leopard and Bradley tanks prompted the US to approve depleted uranium rounds for Ukraine. Depleted uranium shells are effective at destroying armor, but leave a devastating side effect - they completely pollute the air, leaving catastrophic effects for years to come.

The United States used DU shells in Fallujah - now, over a decade later, the city is nearly permanently altered. Children are born with horrific birth defects that can be fatal, cancer and miscarriage rates are sky-high, and uranium is even detected in human tissue

A few weeks after the approval and delivery of depleted uranium came the arrival of the cluster bombs - sparking worldwide outrage. Cluster munitions contain packs of submunition that can either detonate on impact or detonate years later. The usage of the bomb is banned by over 100 countries because of the likelihood of the weapon indiscriminately killing civilians.

The usage of both depleted uranium and cluster bombs admits a few things, and none of them spell out a victory for Ukraine.

First, Ukraine won’t gain back any strategic territory now held by Russians. The US supplying these weapons to Ukraine - and Ukraine using them - is an admission that this territory is now permanently lost, as the depleted uranium will permanently alter it and the cluster munitions will make it a death trap for civilians. Those problems will now be passed off to Russia, which will have to spend years dealing with the task of monitoring radiation levels and clearing out undetonated bombs.

It is also becoming clear that Ukraine is not only losing thousands of soldiers but its Western-delivered tanks are being rendered useless. The counteroffensive alone is estimated to cost the Armed Forces of Ukraine almost one thousand soldiers per day for a week at one point. The NATO tanks and artillery were supposed to deliver, but they didn’t - instead, images of dozens of these tanks burning and being captured spread like wildfire over Telegram. Russian President Vladimir Putin even commented that the tanks “burn nicely.” The DU rounds and cluster munitions will have to deliver what the former weaponry did not.

The incoming weapons also mean NATO is not really coming to help. The NATO summit this month was a massive disappointment for Kiev - there is no path or timeline for the war-ravaged country to join NATO, and NATO does not want to risk a direct war with Russia. US President Joe Biden said Ukraine can join when it “defeats Russia,” but this comment was made in the midst of the failing counteroffensive. As the summer days wind down, the chance for any significant breakthroughs diminishes. The delivery of these weapons - which could have happened at any point in this war - is a way to keep Ukrainian forces committed to the US goal of killing Russians.

Adding to this point is the fact that the United States completely gives up its moral high ground with the delivery of these weapons. A few “progressive” politicians in the US have spoken against the delivery of both of these types of weapons, and Joe Biden even says it was a “difficult decision” to send cluster bombs to Ukraine.

“Difficult decisions” come at desperate times - and desperate times call for desperate measures. However, these weapons won’t bring victory - or most importantly, peace - to Ukraine. For the United States, this has always been the perfect opportunity to weaken a longstanding global rival. Much to Washington’s dismay, things aren’t working out the way they intended.

As it stands, the Ukrainian military officials are restrategizing their efforts in the counteroffensive. Russian lines are strong, and the “gray zones” where clashes are occurring have not shifted in any side’s favor. If the Ukrainians are able to use their newly acquired weapons successfully, they would still have to cut through kilometers worth of Russian-mined areas while maneuvering around Russian artillery and air support.

As the region becomes permanently damaged by the use of these weapons, nations must come together to draft a permanent peace and encourage dialogue - otherwise, the United States will continue to escalate the carnage.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... d-futile-l

[Anthea]

Zelensky sacks ambassador

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reveals his true colors of "democracy" when he decisively sacked Vadym Prystaiko who had openly criticized him

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has removed Vadym Prystaiko from his position as the country's Ambassador to the United Kingdom. The dismissal came after Prystaiko criticized Zelensky's response to remarks made by British Defense Minister Ben Wallace regarding Ukraine's gratitude for military aid from its allies. Wallace suggested that Ukraine should show more appreciation for the weapons supplied by the UK.

In response to Wallace's comments, Zelensky expressed his frustration at a NATO summit, stating that he didn't know how else to demonstrate Ukraine's gratitude and humorously suggested waking up every morning to personally express thanks to the British minister.

Prystaiko acknowledged that Zelensky's response was sarcastic, saying, "I don't believe that this sarcasm is healthy; We don't have to show the Russians that we have something between us, they have to know that we are working together."

He also emphasized the importance of working together with the UK and offered to keep an open channel of communication with Wallace.

Prystaiko is considered an experienced career diplomat, having served as Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2020. Before that, he held the position of Ukraine's Foreign Minister from 2019 to 2020.

Back in January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a substantial government overhaul. Simultaneously, at least nine top civil servants were fired for corruption, including four deputy ministers and five regional governors, while numerous more high-ranking officials, including Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko and Deputy Head of Zelensky's office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, resigned.

It is worth noting that corruption swept Ukraine long before the beginning of the war. Today, corruption plagued Kiev especially as hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons and aid stream into the country, and the cost of reconstruction activities is anticipated to be in the billions. Furthermore, many have been warning that foreign weapons being supplied to Ukraine are sold on the black market, most notably in Africa.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... e-presiden

[Anthea]

Ukraine, world's most mined country

It would take 500 demining teams and 757 years to clear all of Ukrainian-controlled territories of its mine-infested areas at the current pace

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Ukraine has become the world's most mined country in the world, with mine-infested swathes of land that are as large as the states of Florida or Uruguay.

According to estimates, about 30 percent of Ukrainian-controlled territory is covered with land mines, which accounts for 67,000 square miles. An exact assessment is impossible, the report notes, stating that the ongoing conflict makes it difficult to do so.

It is probable the the mine issue in Ukraine is more serious than that of Afghanistan or Syria, the report adds.

According to experts, it would take 500 demining teams and 757 years to clear all of the Ukrainian-controlled territories of its mine-infested areas at the current pace.

The process would not only be lengthy in time but would also involve considerable expenses as cleaning one square meter would cost between $4 and $8. Clearing all of Ukraine's mines would cost $37.4 billion.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Ukraine of using banned anti-personnel landmines against Russian forces, saying almost 50 civilians, including five children, had been wounded.

Distributed by rockets across a target area, the tiny PFM mines are also known as "butterfly" or "petal" mines for their distinctive shape.

"Ukrainian forces appear to have extensively scattered landmines" around the Izyum area in the northeast, HRW arms expert Steve Goose said.

Last month, HRW announced that it had found further proof of Ukrainian forces' indiscriminate deployment of illegal anti-personnel landmines against Russians in 2022.

The organization urged the Ukrainian government to uphold a pledge it made earlier this month not to deploy such weapons, to look into any reports of their possible use, and hold those responsible accountable.

"The Ukrainian government’s pledge to investigate its military’s apparent use of banned anti-personnel mines is an important recognition of its duty to protect civilians," Goose said in a statement.

Yesterday, National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said in a briefing that Ukraine began using cluster bombs supplied by the United States in its targeting of Russian forces at the front lines "in the last week or so."

The US announced earlier this month that it will provide Kiev with cluster munitions to "assist" Ukrainian forces on the battlefield as the counteroffensive failed so far to reach expectations.

Washington's decision has been widely criticized by human rights activists, some US lawmakers, and even former top officials in the United States Army, Pentagon, and NATO.

Cluster munitions, which disperse up to hundreds of small explosive charges, are banned by over 100 countries, including European signatories to the 2008 Oslo Convention and NATO members that are fully engaged in the conflict.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -to-demine:

[Anthea]

Ukrainian petal bombing civilians

The 80-year-old was wounded as Kiev’s forces pounded the Kuibyshevsky district on Monday, with the bombardment continuing throughout the day and into the night

An elderly woman has become the latest victim of the deadly so-called “petal mine” during the Ukrainian shelling of a civilian area in Donetsk city,

The 80-year-old was wounded as Kiev’s forces pounded the Kuibyshevsky district on Monday, with the bombardment continuing throughout the day and into the night.

A worker was among three other civilians wounded when he was struck by shrapnel as a food processing plant was destroyed during the Ukrainian attack.

Moreover, firefighters struggled to contain the blaze with plumes of black smoke seen across the Donetsk city skyline for miles around.

In the nearby industrial city of Makeevka, a hospital and kindergarten were struck during Ukrainian shelling. Fortunately no casualties were reported.

According to local officials, five settlements came under fire on Monday; Gorlovka, Zaytsevo, Yasinovatsky region, Donetsk city, and Makeevka in 52 separate attacks, using a mixture of grad rockets and Western-supplied weapons.

The mayor of Donetsk, Akexey Kulemzin, condemned the use of petal mines, saying they cause severe injuries and disabilities.

“It’s not for nothing they are forbidden all over the world, but the Ukrofascists are not squeamish about anything.

“We are still in the middle of demining certain areas where the petal mine has been left behind,” adding, “There are still cases of civilian deaths, but the shelling does not stop.”

According to local officials, 123 civilians have been wounded as a result of petal mines, 11 of them children, with three succumbing to their injuries.

Petal Mine use considered a war crime

The petal mine - also known as the PFM-1 - is a Soviet-era small plastic blast mine that was banned under the Ottawa Convention, which became an internationally binding law on March 1, 1999.

Their use is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention.

It is similar to the BLU-43 that was used by the United States in Laos during the Vietnam War, with military officials suggesting the PMF-1 was developed after reverse-engineering by the Soviet Union.

Most states destroyed their stockpiles after ratifying the Ottawa Convention. However, Ukraine asked for numerous extensions to the deadline.

In 2020, Ukraine refused to destroy any more of its deadly arsenal, and in 2021, its stockpile was reported at more than 3.3 million mines.

Petal mines fall silently and can be dispersed over a wide area. Their green color and small size make them difficult to see, and their shape resembles a toy, making children particularly vulnerable.

Signs are posted in local supermarkets warning people to take care, with a cigarette lighter posted next to a photograph of a mine for scale.

Despite defining efforts, hundreds are still believed to be scattered across Donetsk city, with locals reminded to remain vigilant and to avoid walking on grass if possible.
Moscow's calls unanswered

In August 2022, Russia raised concerns over Ukraine’s use of the banned munition with United Nations officials.

A letter along with photographic evidence and other detailed information was sent to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and to the president of the UN security council, Zhang Jun, according to Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the body Dmitry Polyansky.

But Moscow’s complaints went unanswered.

The use of banned munitions by Ukrainian forces is, however, not restricted to the PFM-1. It is believed that cluster munitions have also been used on civilian areas in the Zaporozhye region.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric condemned the use of cluster bombs last Friday after news that Ukraine had started firing them.

"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," Mr Dujarric told a press briefing.

Just a day later, war correspondent Rostislav Zhuralev became the first civilian to be killed by a cluster bomb since Washington agreed to supply the deadly munition in early July.

He succumbed to his injuries after a car he was traveling in with a group of journalists came under fire on Saturday. The shelling occurred near the village of Pyatykhatky.

The war reporters had been preparing material and investigating the use of cluster munitions by Ukrainian forces on settlements close to the frontline.

The attack led to widespread condemnation, with the International Federation of Journalists calling for a swift investigation into the RIA Novosti journalist’s death.

“We deplore the death of another journalist in this deadly conflict and urge authorities to promptly investigate Zhuravlev's killing. We urge warring parties to provide journalists with the best possible protection to allow them to carry out their duties safely,” it said in a statement.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay also hit out and joined the call for a probe into the circumstances of Zhuralev’s death.

“Journalists serve a critical role in informing the world about conflict situations and must be protected.

“I reiterate my call for the observance of international humanitarian law, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in situations of conflict,” she said.

According to the Geneva Convention, journalists and media workers operating in areas of armed conflict must be treated and protected as civilians, and allowed to perform their work without undue interference. Attacks intentionally targeting journalists constitute war crimes.

But other world press freedom groups remained silent when asked for comment. Emails to Article 19, Reporters Without Borders, Index on Censorship, and the International Press Institute remained unanswered.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists told Al Mayadeen English that it was “currently looking into this case and do not have any further comment at this time.”

Those responsible will suffer a well-deserved punishment: Zakharova

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said those who were responsible for killing Zhuralev would be punished for their actions, accusing Ukraine of trying to cover up the truth about its use of cluster munitions.

“The Kiev regime continues the practice of criminal terror,” she said in a statement, adding that “everything points to the fact that the attack was not carried out by chance.

“The correspondents were collecting materials for a report on the shelling by militants of the Kiev regime of settlements in the Zaporozhyre region with cluster munitions, banned in many countries of the world,” Zakharova said,

She hit out at the US for supplying the munitions along with Britain and France for sending long-range missiles to Ukraine, saying that while those countries express concern over the safety of journalists, they are, in reality, sponsors of terrorists.

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

[Anthea]

Kiev using banned mines Donetsk civilians

Ukraine has taken to using petal mines and cluster munitions in Donetsk, while also using missiles supplied by NATO to strike residential buildings

Donetsk city center came under "a massive chaotic attack" on Tuesday with plumes of smoke seen for miles as Ukrainian shelling hit densely populated areas during peak hours.

Acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin said that 169 munitions had been launched including rocket and canon artillery fire with NATO-supplied munitions.

The city was pounded for most of the day, with explosions heard from 11 am. Four people were wounded over the course of the day, although the state of their injuries is unknown at this stage.

Once again it was civilian areas that bore the brunt of the Ukrainian barrage with at least 17 residential buildings damaged in the Voroshilovsky, Kievsky, Petrovsky, and Kuibyshevsky districts.

"What we experienced today was real horror," pensioner Svetlana Ivanova said after she came under fire in the Kievsky district.

"How is it possible to shoot where civilians live? There is nowhere left in Donetsk anymore," she added.

A hospital was also struck in the attack while a stadium in Donetsk city was badly affected after a fire broke out due to the shelling.

At least 12 trolleybuses were damaged after shrapnel caused a blaze at the depot in the Kievsky district. Officials said they would be repaired and back in action by next week.

Locals there found the remnants of a NATO missile after the shelling by Ukrainian forces.

Footage showed English inscriptions on the body of the munition and the engine compartment of a US-made AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile. These missiles are used for radio reconnaissance and the detection of enemy radar stations along their route.

Air defenses were working overtime as they battled to repel the continued Ukrainian attacks which continued into the night.

Once again, a man was wounded by a petal mine in the city of Gorlovka, close to the Ukrainian frontline.

The banned munition was also found in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk, although it was spotted before it could explode

Reports that cluster munitions had been used in the Petrovsky district 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."

The newspaper based its conclusion on physical evidence and interviews with victims and witnesses.

It is believed that Ukraine has used cluster munitions on civilian areas in the Zaporozhye region in the last week.

RIA Novosti war correspondent Rostislav Zhuralev was killed as a car he was traveling in was struck during Ukrainian shelling on Saturday.

He was with a group of journalists that had been preparing a report on the use of cluster bombs when he fell victim to the very munitions he was investigating.

UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists condemned the killing and have called for swift investigations

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attack was not merely by chance, accusing Ukraine of seeking to cover up its use of cluster munitions.

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

[Anthea]

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Reality of conflict in Ukraine

The people of the West need to come to grips with – that the government of Ukraine has done great violence against its own people in the Donbass and that the people of the Donbass had every right to choose to leave Ukraine and join Russia

I just returned from my third trip to Russia and my second trip to Donbass (now standing for the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk collectively) in about 8 months. This time, I flew into lovely Tallinn, Estonia, and took what should be about a 6-hour bus ride to St. Petersburg. In the end, the bus trip took me about 12 hours due to a long wait in customs on the Russian side of the border.

Having a US passport and trying to pass the frontier from a hostile, NATO country into Russia during wartime got me immediately flagged for questioning. And then, it turned out that I didn’t have all my papers in order as I was still without my journalist credential from the Russian Foreign Ministry, which was necessary, given that I told the border patrol that I was traveling to do reporting. I was treated very nicely, though the long layover forced me to lose my bus, which understandably went on without me.

However, sometimes we find opportunity in seemingly inconvenient detours, and that was true in this case. Thus, I became a witness to a number of Ukrainians, some of them entire families, trying to cross the border and immigrate to Russia.

Indeed, the only other type of passport (besides my US passport) I saw among those held over for questioning and processing was the blue Ukrainian passport. This is evidence of an inconvenient fact to the Western narrative of the war which portrays Russia as an invader of Ukraine. In fact, many Ukrainians have an affinity for Russia and have voluntarily chosen to live there over the years.

Between 2014 – the real start of the war when the Ukrainian government began attacking its own people in the Donbass – and the beginning of Russia’s intervention in February of 2022, around 1 million Ukrainians had already immigrated to Russia.

This was reported in the mainstream press back then, with the BBC writing about these 1 million refugees and also explaining, “separatists in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk declared independence after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

Since the violence erupted, some 2,600 people have been killed and thousands more wounded. The city of Luhansk has been under siege by government forces for the past month and is without proper supplies of food and water.” The number of dead in this war would grow to 14,000 by February of 2022, again before Russia’s Special Military Operations (SMO) had even begun.

Around 1.3 million additional Ukrainians have immigrated to Russia since February of 2022, making Russia the largest recipient of Ukrainian refugees in the world since the beginning of the SMO

When I commented to one of the Russian border officials, Kirill is his name, about the stack of Ukrainian passports sitting on his desk, he made a point to tell me that they treat the Ukrainians coming in “as human beings.” When my contact in St. Petersburg, Boris, was able to send a photo of my newly-acquired press credential to Kirill, I was sent on my way with a handshake and was able to catch the next bus coming through to St. Petersburg almost immediately.

Once in St. Petersburg, I went to Boris’ house for a short rest and then was off by car to Rostov-on-Don, the last Russian city before Donetsk. I was driven in a black Lexus by a kind Russian businessman named Vladimir along with a German, the founder of the humanitarian aid group known as “Leningrad Volunteers". The car was indeed loaded with humanitarian aid to take to Donbass. After some short introductions, and my dad's joke about the “Lexus from Texas,” we were off on our 20-hour journey at a brisk pace of about 110 miles an hour.

We arrived in Rostov in the evening and checked into the Sholokhov Lofts Hotel, named after Mikhail Sholokhov, Rostov’s favorite son who wrote the great novel “And Quite Flows the Don.” We were told that, up until recently, a portrait of the titular head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had adorned the lobby wall. They took this down after members of the Wagner Group invaded Rostov, putting fear in many of the residents. Now, the hotel only has Hollywood movie posters decorating the walls.

In the early afternoon of the next day, my translator Sasha arrived from her hometown of Krasnodar, Russia – a 7-hour train ride from Rostov. Sasha, who is just 22 years old, is a tiny red-headed woman who quickly turned out to be one of the most interesting people I met on my journey. As she explained to me, Sasha has been supporting humanitarian work in Donbass since the age of 12.

She told me that she derived her interest in this work from her grandmother who raised her in the “patriotic spirit” of the USSR. As Sasha explained, her parents were too busy working to do much raising of her at all. Sasha, who is from the mainland of Russia, attends the University of Donetsk to live in solidarity with the people who have been under attack there since 2014.

At age 22, Sasha, who wore open-toed sandals even when we traveled to the frontlines, is one of the bravest people I have ever met, and she certainly disabused me of any notion that I was doing anything especially brave by going to the Donbass. But of course, as Graham Greene once wrote, “With a return ticket, courage becomes an intellectual exercise” anyway.

We quickly set out on our approximately 3-to-4-hour drive to Donetsk City, with a brief stop at a passport control office now run by the Russian Federation subsequent to the September 2022 referendum in which the people of Donetsk and three other Ukrainian republics voted to join Russia.

I was again questioned by officials at this stop but for only 15 minutes or so. I just resigned myself to the fact that, as an American traveling through Russia at this time, I was not going to go through any border area without some level of questioning. However, the tone of the questioning was always friendly.

We arrived in Donetsk City, a small but lovely town along the Kalmius River, without incident. Our first stop was at the "Leningrad Volunteers" warehouse to unload some of the aid we had brought and to meet some of the local volunteers. Almost all of these volunteers are lifelong residents of Donetsk, and nearly all of them wore military fatigues and have been fighting the Ukrainian forces as part of the Donetsk militia for years, many since the beginning of the conflict in 2014.

This is something I cannot impress upon the reader enough. While we are often told that these fighters in the Donbass are Russians or “Russian proxies", this is simply not true. The lion’s share of these fighters are locals of varying ages, some quite old, who have been fighting for their homes, families, and survival since 2014.

While there have been Russian and international volunteers who have supported these forces – just as there were international volunteers who went to support the Republicans in Spain in the 1930s -- they are mostly local. Of course, this changed in February of 2022 when Russia began the SMO. But even still, the locals of Donetsk continue to fight on, now alongside the Russian forces.

The lie of “Russian proxies” fighting in the Donbass after 2014 is actually one of the smaller ones of the Western mainstream press, for the claim at least acknowledges that there has been such fighting. Of course, the mainstream media has tried to convince us that there was never such fighting at all and that the Russian SMO beginning in February of 2022 was completely “unprovoked".

This is the big lie that has been peddled in order to gain the consent of the Western populations to militarily support Ukraine. What is also ignored is the fact that this war was escalating greatly before the beginning of the SMO, and this escalation indeed provoked it.

According to the Organization for European Security and Cooperation (OESC) -- a 57-member organization of many Western countries, including the United States – there were around 2000 ceasefire violations in the Donbass on the weekend just before the SMO began on February 24, 2022.

In a rare moment of candor, Reuters reported on February 19, 2022, “Almost 2,000 ceasefire violations were registered in eastern Ukraine by monitors for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Saturday, a diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday. Ukrainian government and separatist forces have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014.”

Jacques Baud, a Swiss intelligence and security consultant and former NATO military analyst, further explains the precipitating events of the SMO:

As early as February 16, Joe Biden knew that the Ukrainians had begun shelling the civilian population of Donbass, putting Vladimir Putin in front of a difficult choice: to help Donbass militarily and create an international problem or stand by and watch the Russian-speaking people of Donbass being crushed.
... This is what he explained in his speech on February 21.

On that day, he agreed to the request of the Duma and recognized the independence of the two Donbass Republics and, at the same time, he signed friendship and assistance treaties with them.

The Ukrainian artillery bombardment of the Donbass population continued, and, on 23 February, the two Republics asked for military assistance from Russia. On 24 February, Vladimir Putin invoked Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which provides for mutual military assistance in the framework of a defensive alliance.

In order to make the Russian intervention totally illegal in the eyes of the public, we deliberately hid the fact that the war actually started on February 16. The Ukrainian army was preparing to attack the Donbass as early as 2021, as some Russian and European intelligence services were well aware.

Jurists will judge.

Of course, none of this was news to the people I met in Donetsk, for they had been living this reality for years. For example, Dimitri, a young resident of Donetsk who has been fighting since 2014 along with his mother and father, told me quite exasperated as he pointed to some of the weapons and ammunition behind him, “What is all this stuff doing here?

Why have we been getting this since 2014? Because the war has been going on since then.” Dimitri, who was studying at the university when the conflict began, can no longer fight due to injuries received in the war, including damage to his hearing, which is evidenced by the earplugs he wears. He hopes he can go back to his studies.

Just a few days before my arrival in Donetsk, Dimitri’s apartment building was shelled by Ukrainian forces, just as it had been before in 2016. Like many in Donetsk, he is used to quickly repairing the damage and going on with his life.

Dimitri took me to the Donetsk airport and the nearby Orthodox church and monastery, which were destroyed in fighting between the Ukrainian military and Donetsk militia forces back in 2014-2015. Dimitri participated in the fighting in this area back then, explaining that during that time, this was the area of the most intense fighting in the world. But you would not know this from the mainstream press coverage which has largely ignored this war before February of 2022.

One of the first individuals I interviewed in Donetsk was 36-year-old Vitaly, a big guy with a chubby, boyish face who wore a baseball hat with the red Soviet flag with the hammer and sickle. Vitaly, the father of three children, is from Donetsk and has been fighting there for four years, including in the very tough battle for the steel plant in Mariupol in the summer of 2022.

He decided to take up arms after friends of his were killed by Ukrainian forces, including some who were killed by being burned alive by fascist forces –- the same forces, we are told, don’t exist. Vitaly, referring to the mainstream Western media, laughed when saying, “They’ve been saying we’ve been shelling ourselves for 9 years.”

Vitaly has personally fought against soldiers wearing Nazi insignia, and he is very clear that he is fighting fascism. Indeed, when I asked him what the Soviet flag on his hat meant to him, he said it signified the defeat of Nazism, and he hopes he will contribute to this again

When I asked him about claims that Russia had intervened with soldiers in the war prior to February of 2022 as some allege, he adamantly denied this, as did everyone else I interviewed in Donetsk. However, he has witnessed the fact that Polish and UK soldiers have been fighting with the Ukrainian military since the beginning. Vitaly opined that, given what has transpired over the past 9 years, he does not believe that the Donbass will ever return to Ukraine, and he certainly hopes it will not. Vitaly told me quite stoically that he believes he will not see peace in his lifetime.

During my stay in Donetsk, I twice had dinner with Anastasia, my interpreter during my first trip to the Donbass in November. Anastasia teaches at the University of Donetsk. She has been traveling around Russia, including to the far east, telling of what has been happening in the Donbass since 2014 because many in Russia themselves do not fully understand what has been going on.

She told me that when she was recounting her story, she found herself reliving her trauma from 9 years of war and feeling overwhelmed. Anastasia’s parents and 13-year-old brother live near the frontlines in the Donetsk Republic, and she worries greatly about them. Olga is glad that Russia has intervened in the conflict, and she indeed corrected me when I once referred to the Russian SMO as an “invasion", telling me that Russia did not invade. Rather, they were invited and welcomed in. That does seem to be the prevailing view in Donetsk as far as I can tell.

During my 5-day trip to Donetsk, I was taken to two cities within the conflict zone – Yasinovataya and Gorlovka. I was required to wear body armor and a helmet during this journey, though wearing a seatbelt was optional, if not frowned upon. While Donetsk City, which certainly sees its share of shelling, is largely intact and with teeming traffic and a brisk restaurant and café scene, once we got out of the city, this changed pretty quickly.

Yasinovataya showed signs of great destruction, and I was told that a lot of this dated back to 2014. The destruction going back that far included a machine factory which is now being used as a base of operations for Donetsk forces and the adjacent administrative building which looks like it could have been an opera house before its being shelled.

For its part, the city center of Gorlovka looked largely unmolested with signs of street life and even had an old trolley, clearly from the Soviet era, running through the center of town. But the outskirts of Gorlovka certainly showed signs of war. In both cities, one could hear the sound of shelling in the distance quite frequently.

In Gorlovka, we met with Nikoli, nicknamed “Heavy". Nikoli looks like a Greek god, standing at probably 6 feet, 5 inches, and all muscle. I joked with him while I was standing next to him that I felt like I was appearing next to Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. He got the joke and laughed. While a giant of a man seemed very nice and with a strong moral compass, he led us over to a makeshift Orthodox chapel in the cafeteria of what was a school, but which is now the base of operations for his Donetsk militia forces.

He told us that, even now after the SMO began, about 90 percent of the forces in Gorlovka are still local Donetsk soldiers, and the other 10 percent are Russian. Again, this is something we rarely get a sense of from the mainstream press

Nikoli, while sitting in front of the makeshift chapel, explained that while he still considers himself Ukrainian, for after all he was born in Ukraine, he said Donetsk would never go back to Ukraine because Ukraine had “acted against God” when it began to attack its own people in the Donbass. He made it clear that he was prepared to fight to the end to ensure the survival of the people of Donetsk, and I had no doubt that he was telling the truth about that.

At my request, I met with the First Secretary of the Donetsk section of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), Boris Litvinov. Boris, who has also served in the Donetsk parliament, explained that the Communist Party under his leadership had been one of the leaders and initiators of the 2014 Referendum in which the people of Donetsk voted to become an autonomous republic and leave Ukraine.

According to Boris, about 100 members of the Donetsk section of the CPRF are serving on the frontlines of the conflict. Indeed, as Boris explained, the CPRF supports the Russian SMO, only wishing that it had commenced in 2014. Boris is clear that the war in Ukraine is one over the very survival of Russia (regardless of whether it is capitalist or socialist) and that Russia is fighting the collective West which wants to destroy Russia.

Boris compares the fight in the Donbass to the fight of the Republicans against the fascists in Spain in the 1930s, and he says that there are international fighters from all over the world (Americans, Israelis, Spanish, and Colombians, for example) who are fighting alongside the people of Donbass against the fascists just as international fighters helped in Spain.

The last person I interviewed, again at my own request, was Olga Tseselskaya, assistant to the head of the Union of Women of the Republic of Donetsk and First Secretary of the Mothers’ United organization. The Mothers’ United organization, which has 6000 members throughout the Donetsk Republic, advocates for and provides social services to the mothers of children killed in the conflict since 2014. I was excited that Olga opened our discussion by saying that she was glad to be talking to someone from Pittsburgh because Pittsburgh and Donetsk City had once been sister cities.

I asked Olga about how she viewed the Russian forces now in Donetsk, and she made it clear that she supported their presence in Donetsk and believed that they were treating the population well. She adamantly denied the claims of mass rape made against the Russians earlier in the conflict.

Of course, it should be noted, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights, Lyudmila Denisova, who was the source of these claims, was ultimately fired because her claims were found to be unverified and without substantiation, but again the Western media has barely reported on that fact.

When I asked Olga whether she agreed with some Western peace groups, such as the Stop the War Coalition in the UK, that Russia should pull its troops out of the Donbass, she disagreed, saying she hates to think what would happen to the people of the Donbass if they did.

I think that this is something the people of the West need to come to grips with – that the government of Ukraine has done great violence against its own people in the Donbass, and that the people of the Donbass had every right to choose to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

If Westerners understood this reality, they would think twice about “standing with” and continuing to arm Ukraine.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... in-ukraine

[Anthea]

Ukrainian behind Crimea bridge attack

CNN claims it has gotten access to a secret Ukrainian navy facility that was used to lay the setting for an attack on the Crimea Bridge earlier this month

CNN has managed to acquire unprecedented access to a secret Ukrainian navy facility that was used to lay the setting for a marine drone attack on the Crimean Bridge earlier this month, which resulted in the deaths of two people. A mother and father were killed and their daughter was critically injured by the explosions, according to Russian officials.

According to CNN on Sunday, Ukrainian officials went to considerable measures to hide facts about the installation, which it claimed was located on the banks of a "secret lake". Their reporters, however, were still permitted to film the marine drones.

The inventor of the drones, who requested anonymity, told CNN that work on the boats started only after the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, adding that they were developed and manufactured in Kiev.

CNN characterized the drones as five-meter-long boats weighing up to 1,000kg with an explosive payload of up to 300kg, an 800km range, and a high speed of 80kph. It went on to say that these drones are "increasingly allowing Ukrainians to attack and surveil Russians in the Black Sea and on the Crimean peninsula."

The network explained that Kiev deployed drones to strike the Crimean Bridge and the port city of Sevastopol in October.

CNN also provided POV footage from one of the sea drones as it attempted to approach a Russian battleship under heavy fire.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in a revelation that might not come as a surprise to many, claimed responsibility for a sabotage operation that caused significant damage to the Russian-made Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea with Russia last year.

The head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said Ukrainian special services' involvement in the planning of a terrorist act on the Crimean bridge was confirmed during an investigation into the tragic incident.

Putin had underlined that the Ukrainian special services authorized and carried out the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, which was a terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia's essential infrastructure.

Moreover, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that the terrorist attack carried out on the Crimean Bridge was organized by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... led-by-cnn

[Anthea]

Ukraine must prepare to lose

Ukraine is not just battling Russia's greatest defenses, but European incoming weather and the US election politics

According to Richard Kemp, writing for The Telegraph, Ukraine is not just battling Russia's greatest defenses but also European incoming weather and US election politics.

Last week, Kemp questioned whether Ukraine will ever succeed, as it has had no meaningful breakthrough in its counteroffensive in the last six weeks.

He compared the current battle to last year's victories of Kherson and Kharkov, and emphasized that the Russian forces this time "aren't going anywhere," having mobilized their troops and prepared vast defense lines.

Kemp wrote in The Telegraph that while it is deprived of any considerable air power, Ukraine has been forced to rely on reconnaissance in force, missiles, and artillery while exploring for gaps to take advantage of with ground forces.

He notes that Ukrainians appear to have picked the most advantageous axis of assault, from south of Zaporizhia to Melitopol, even though the Russian defense ministry Today reported that units of the Russian Vostok forces have successfully thwarted two attempts by Ukrainian troops to conduct reconnaissance-in-force in the Zaporozhye direction.

However, if they are successful in destroying the first line of Russian defense, which they have yet to achieve, "the road ahead will be very long and very bloody." He explains that they will face numerous challenges like barbed wire and minefields, plus dug-in infantry, pillboxes, machine guns, tanks, combat planes, and many more.

Kemp emphasizes that no one will be able to predict the outcome of the war, and any armored push will become stymied in a couple of weeks due to unfavorable weather conditions. This means offensive operations will have to be held until the winter arrives in November and probably next spring.

According to Kemp, a bigger problem is not the impending winter but rather the American election which he believes is certain to bode unfavorably for Kiev. Biden yearns for the war to end as the majority of Americans feel war is something to advocate against, and continued warfare will cost Biden votes, particularly if things go bad for Ukraine.

Biden’s age is already posing a risk for the Democratic party, which is currently the minority in the House of Representatives, and he faces a number of issues that contribute to his low approval ratings, including his handling of Ukraine, the dwindling economy, the pandemic response, a border crisis, and low ratings for personal qualities such as leadership, crisis management, and mental sharpness.

White House officials also dread a scenario of a complete collapse of the Kremlin if Ukraine sees some level of success, which could mean catastrophic geostrategic ramifications and global economic loss.

No F-16s for Ukraine

Kemp notes that this could also explain why the US has given Ukraine just enough military aid to achieve some notable success but not enough to defeat Putin.

An example is F-16s and long-range missiles, which would have given Ukraine a much larger strategic advantage. Another is Biden's objection to Ukraine's fast-track NATO membership.

US President Joe Biden has ruled out multiple times Ukraine's request to be provided with F-16s. When asked why he took that decision, Biden said without any further clarification: “Because we should keep them here. That’s a totally different situation.”

Kemp concludes that peace negotiations are unavoidable but poorly timed. Even if Ukraine manages to retake considerable territory before any ceasefire, discussions can only provide a semblance of triumph to Russia.

On his part, Ukrainian General Sergey Krivonos stated that Russian forces have a greater advantage in the war than Ukrainian forces since they possess much more sophisticated combat equipment.

In an interview for PryamiyTV, Krivonos admitted that the Russian army has remarkable experience and that its state fully provides all the needs of its army, lamenting that in Ukraine, they have "major failures" in this context.

In June, Ukraine claimed its forces were moving along in its counteroffensive but were battling to counter Russian air and artillery power, which was impeding their advances in the east and south.

Now is best time for Ukraine peace talks

The crisis between Moscow and Kiev cannot be settled on the battlefield, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

The situation for peace talks to settle the Ukrainian war will deteriorate further, Szijjarto stated in Budapest on Friday. The Foreign Minister feels that the two parties are in a better position for discussions at the moment.

Last month, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told German tabloid Bild that a Ukrainian triumph on the battlefield would be "impossible" for Kiev and its supporters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed that Russia is all for a diplomatic solution, but Kiev and its supporters are unwilling to engage in dialogue.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -telegraph