DryTech Exteriors salutes vets with Roofs for Troops

Beacon's (BECN) acquisition of Garvin Construction Products will expand the waterproofing division and contribute to its Ambition 2025 initiative. Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. BECN solidifies its position as a national leader in specialty waterproofing with the acquisition of Garvin Construction Products. Based in Medford, MA, this waterproofing distributor operates across North Haven, CT, Beltsville, MD, Carlstadt, NJ, and Long Island City, NY.Garvin's customer focus and technical expertise aligns with BECN's values and mission. In today's construction landscape, resilience solutions are crucial for new projects and renovations. BECN, with its extensive range of products for roofs, building exteriors, and below-grade applications, is well-positioned to support contractors nationwide.This move will enable Garvin, a family-built business, to contribute to Beacon's Ambition 2025 initiative.Focus on Strategic InitiativesShares of Beacon have strongly outperformed the Zacks Building Products - Retail industry in the past year. BECN gained 27.5% in the period compared with the industry’s 6.9% rally. Beacon remains focused on four key strategic initiatives — organic growth, digital, OTC (On-Time and Complete) and branch operating performance — that have been boosting sales and helping improve operating profitability. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchBeacon has undertaken several strategic initiatives to drive its long-term ambition of growing and enhancing customer experience, expanding top line and margin and boosting value for customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders.The company has been focusing on its Ambition 2025 targets (announced on Feb 24, 2022), emphasizing operational excellence, an above-market growth trajectory and accelerated stockholder value creation. The financial targets of Ambition 2025 assume $9 billion in sales (8% CAGR) and $1 billion in EBITDA (10% CAGR), which would translate into an 11% EBITDA margin (up 100 basis points from 2021).Beacon has been focusing on business expansion through bolt-on acquisitions and divestitures as part of this initiative. In 2023, Beacon completed eight acquisitions and opened 16 new greenfield locations to date in 2023. Since the plan's launch, BECN has added over 70 new locations, enhancing services for Beacon customers.The company plans to invest more in business expansion to yield 20-25 new greenfield locations in 2023.Zacks Rank & Key PicksBeacon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector are:Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 724.8%, on average. Shares of ANF have surged 253.2% in the past year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ANF’s 2023 sales and earnings per share (EPS) implies increases of 10% and 1,644%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. ARCO currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 35%, on average. The stock has gained 16.7% in the past year.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Arcos Dorados’ 2023 sales and EPS suggests a rise of 19.2% and 13%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 4.8%, on average. Shares of CMG have gained 20.9% in the past year.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMG’s 2023 sales and EPS indicates a 13.6% and a 31.8% growth, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels. Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double" From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all. It’s credited with a “watershed medical breakthrough” and is developing a bustling pipeline of other projects that could make a world of difference for patients suffering from diseases involving the liver, lungs, and blood. This is a timely investment that you can catch while it emerges from its bear market lows. It could rival or surpass other recent Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF): Free Stock Analysis Report Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG): Free Stock Analysis Report Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN): Free Stock Analysis Report Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (ARCO): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research.....»»

Homes in the Beverly Hills of the Philippines are rarely sold to outsiders, as many who live there are regarded as the "Old Money" of Cebu. Beverly Hills in the California, US, and Cebu, Philippines.Andrey Denisyuk/Getty Images/Marielle Descalsota/Insider I recently got a tour of Beverly Hills, but not the California city — Beverly Hills in the Philippines. Homes are rarely sold in Cebu's Beverly Hills, but when they are, they can cost over $1.77 million. Gaining access to the suburb is nearly impossible unless you know a resident. Beverly Hills is one of the most expensive cities to live in the US.Rodeo Drive is a two-mile-long street in Beverly Hills.Jon Hicks/Getty ImagesBeverly Hills is known for being home to celebrities and millionaires. A-listers like Brad Pitt and pop stars like Taylor Swift have owned property in the city. The California suburb is known for its palm trees, luxury stores, and million-dollar homes. In fact, Beverly Hills Gateway, a neighborhood within the city, is the most expensive place to live in California, where homes cost an average of $22.7 million, per a study released in April by the financial services company CashNetUSA. On average, homes in Beverly Hills are listed for a median price of $6.8 million, per data from real-estate platform Realtor.com. I visited California's Beverly Hills several years ago and was in awe of the glamorous mansions. So when I heard that there's a high-end neighborhood with the same name in Cebu, an island province in the Philippines, my curiosity was piqued. Like its California counterpart, the Philippines' Beverly Hills is a gated community where some of the island's wealthiest residents live.The road inside Beverly Hills, Philippines.Marielle Descalsota/InsiderOn the drive to Beverly Hills on a recent reporting trip, I saw what other homes in Cebu look like. They were a mix of towering condominiums, family bungalows, and tiny houses built on the side of the road from materials like tin and wood.Gaining access to the neighborhood was a challenge. Knowing someone who lives there is the only way to enter the suburb. In the Philippines, suburbs are more commonly referred to as subdivisions. I reached out to several realtors before finding one who could help me gain access, and who connected me with another realtor who could show me around. But first, we needed to get past the guard posts and a handful of security guards who scanned every car that drove in. Sitting in the back seat of the first real-estate agent's car, the guards had a lot of questions — who we knew, where we were going, and how long were going to be there. Ervina Balaga, a realtor who sells homes in Beverly Hills, met us inside the neighborhood.A mansion perched on top of the hill in Beverly Hills in Cebu, Philippines.Marielle Descalsota/InsiderThe neighborhood is located 10 minutes away from Cebu's city center and the homes are built into a steep hillside that offers panoramic views of the city. The location reminded me of the Korean film "Parasite," which showcases a wealthy family's house in a hilltop neighborhood of Seoul.There were barely any people out on the streets in the middle of the day, but I did spot a handful of workers maintaining the tropical trees and plants that dotted the wide, paved roads.Many of the large, gated mansions were at least partially obscured from sight by foliage. The homes struck a stark contrast to the makeshift homes and tiny roadside shacks in Pasil, a neighborhood just five miles south of Beverly Hills, where I had spent the previous day.Balaga told me the cheapest home on the market right now in the neighborhood costs 52 million pesos, or around $915,000. It is one of two properties that were listed for sale at the time of my visit.Balaga told me homes in Beverly Hills are rarely sold to outsiders, as many who live there are regarded as the "Old Money" of Cebu. And when they do go on sale, the price is often in the millions, Balaga said, adding that homes in the neighborhood are typically listed for at least 100 million pesos, or $1.75 million. For comparison, the median price of homes in Cebu City is listed at $141,270, per data by the Urban Land Institute. "Some owners initially wanted to sell their homes, but changed their mind during the pandemic," Balaga said about Beverly Hills, adding that residents usually only sell to people they know.Some families have lived in their Beverly Hills homes for generations.A gated mansion in Cebu, Philippines.Marielle Descalsota/InsiderBalaga said many of the people who live in the neighborhood made their wealth in industries like retail, construction, and hospitality.For example, the Gaisano, a Chinese-Filipino family that owns a chain of malls in the Visayas and Mindanao islands, once lived in the neighborhood, Balaga said. Another wealthy family, the Benedicto, who are magnates in the cement and real estate industries, also own homes in the neighborhood, she added. The Gaisano and Benedicto families did not immediately respond to a request for comment."There are also ancestral homes here," Balaga said, adding that the homes are usually inherited between generations.One reason many residents prefer to keep their homes in Beverly Hills, instead of selling them, is the area's geographical advantage. Not only is it near the city center but it's also located on high ground, which means it doesn't flood, unlike other parts of the Philippines, Balaga said. In October, heavy rain triggered some 60 landslides in Cebu, killing several people and displacing many others.  While the prices are high in Beverly Hills, some of the homes looked ordinary.A row of homes in Beverly Hills, Philippines.Marielle Descalsota/InsiderIn California's Beverly Hills, most of the mansions I drove past were sprawling, complete with elaborate gates and fences, massive driveways, and luxury cars. In Cebu, it was a different story.Several houses did look like compounds, with tall fences barricading large swathes of land. But for the most part, they didn't look like million-dollar homes, and I didn't see any luxury cars, helipads, or extravagant statues. Some houses had simple exteriors and tiny driveways, looking much like the homes I've seen in less exclusive — and less expensive — subdivisions around the Philippines.I wasn't able to enter any of the homes and see what they looked like inside, but photos online show some of the houses' interiors. Many of these homes have a swimming pool and garden, but they aren't mind-blowingly luxurious like the ones in California.As Cebu continues to develop into a flourishing city, several other luxury suburbs have cropped up to compete with Beverly Hills as the island's most exclusive neighborhood.A house in Beverly Hills in Cebu, Philippines.Marielle Descalsota/InsiderMaria Luisa Park is one of these luxury suburbs, Balaga said. While Beverly Hills has a limited number of homes listed on the market, dozens of homes are for sale in Maria Luisa Park, according to a Facebook page advertising these homes.Prices between the two suburbs are similar — according to the Facebook page, prices in Maria Luisa Park range from 60 to 95 million pesos, or $1 million to $1.68 million.One advantage that Beverly Hills has over Maria Luisa Park is the location — the latter is "far from the city center," Balaga said.Beverly Hills encapsulates the divide between the rich and the poor in the Philippines and shows exactly what the range of wealth — or lack thereof — in the country looks like.The view from inside Beverly Hills in Cebu, Philippines.Marielle Descalsota/InsiderCebu is the wealthiest province in the Philippines, with total assets amounting to 203.9 billion pesos, or around $150 million. But income inequality in Cebu remains high, with over 28% of residents living below the poverty line — what's defined as a monthly income of 2,602 pesos, or $45, for a family of five people.Even so, those who can afford to are still clamoring to purchase homes here, Balaga said. "One seller was one of the biggest construction company owners in Cebu. After much interest they increased the price," Balaga continued."Two buyers wanted to purchase without even seeing the house," she added.What stuck with me the most after my tour of Beverly Hills was the views: one showcased the skyline of Cebu, while the other displayed dilapidated houses.Near the top of the hill, inside the wealthy neighborhood, I found an empty lot. It was on the market and had a sign saying: "Please do not throw garbage on the empty lots."Right behind the lot was a cluster of small, rundown houses, some with exposed brick walls, others with tin roofs. It looked similar to parts of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, where skyscrapers and luxury condominiums are built alongside informal settlements, and it made one thing clear: Even the wealthiest people can't live in full isolation from others, no matter how exclusive their neighborhoods might be.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Spencer Claeys was at a job that paid $15 an hour. Then he started going door to door with only a basic pressure washer to clean driveways and decks. Spencer Claeys is based in Seattle, Washington.Spencer Cla Spencer Claeys is the owner of Northwest Pro Wash.  He says that power washing, roof and gutter cleaning are easy side hustles.  Claeys says you don't need much equipment or experience to start making money.  I can tell you that cleaning roofs and gutters is one of the easiest but highest-paying side jobs you can do. I can make more than $1,300 in a day.There is so much demandClaeys likes to use a leaf blower to help clean gutters.Spencer Claeys.I've been doing this for about four years now. I got started with basic pressure washing and went door-to-door. I cleaned exteriors like driveways and decks. The business was great, but people kept asking me if I did roofs.Eventually, I decided to give it a shot because the demand was super strong. Ever since, I've been busy.I stopped going door to door during the Covid-19 pandemic. But people still needed their homes maintained, so I ran a Facebook ad with four different services; roof cleaning, gutter cleaning, pressure washing, and roof and gutter combo. The roof and gutter option took off, and I still use Facebook ads to find clients.In Washington State, where I live, we have a massive amount of trees and rain — which means a lot of stuff falling from the sky. The roofs grow moss, and the gutters clog easily. It's the perfect area for this business.The money is greatI charged $300 my first time for a full moss treatment and gutter clean. Now I charge double that price for three to four hours of work. I make about $3,000 per week working with one other person. I aimed for $2,000 a week when it was just me. I also usually get a tip between $30 and $100.  Before this, I was working at a job for something like $15 an hour. Now I can make hundreds per day. I'm sometimes like, "Holy crap" — what I can make in a day would have taken me weeks before, and I don't even have a boss.Plus, I spend lots of time talking with the client, and we're really just chilling. I work with cool people daily — sometimes, they'll hand me a beer while working. Someone even gave me a bottle of Jack Daniels as a present and I've received a chainsaw, pizza, and other dinners.People really appreciate it when you do a good job. It's a nice feeling when they're grateful, you know you worked hard, and you earned good money.At first I was a little apprehensiveClayes says some roofs are more challenging than others.Spencer Claeys.           I wasn't sure what chemicals to use or what to do at all. I actually looked up how to clean roofs on YouTube on my way to my first job. But I got it done, and now I teach people how to clean roofs on YouTube, so it has come full circle.It only took me a few weeks after that first job to get comfortable with it. It's pretty straightforward, and you don't need to overcomplicate it.Cleaning a roof involves blowing off or brushing off the debris that falls from trees. You also have to treat the roof with some sort of basic chemical (basic as in not acidic because moss and other fungi like acidic environments). Then, you make sure no branches or anything are touching the roof. I use a leaf blower to clean out the gutters. That's basically it.You don't need much equipment: I use a leaf blower, a ladder, and a brush. I also have a soft-wash tank for spraying roofs, but you don't need that to start. You can use a powder treatment instead, like laundry detergent or zinc powder. Either of those are fine.I worked pretty much every day I couldI have another person who works with me now. We usually do six days a week on a roof. A couple of roofs per day is manageable.I've taken a step back to pursue social media and to coach people on how to build their businesses, but I'm still out there on roofs and picking up cleanings.Some roofs are more difficult than othersI've had certain roofs take me days. You should look at the size of the roof and steepness before setting a price. Doing the harder roofs is optional, but they pay better.There have been certain roofs where I look at them, and there's no amount of money they can pay me to get up on it. Some old roofs are too slippery and difficult to walk on.It's a young man's gameI'm 27, so I'm not old yet, but roof cleaning is more of a young man's game. Once you get past the age of 40 or 50, you don't want to be up on a ladder. Just be safe. Rope up when you need to, and make sure you have sturdy boots. I've been in this business for years and only heard of one person falling off.But if you're a young dude, I don't think there's anything better than just going out and cleaning stuff — it's quick money. If you were to go out right now knocking on doors, you could make $300 to $500 bucks today.If you make money through a lucrative and unique side hustle, email Jenna Gyimesi at jgyimesi@insider.com.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Rockabill, a leading consultant and development partner for the affordable and supportive housing industry, today announced that it has secured $22 million in financing on behalf of its client St. Francis Friends of the Poor, a nonprofit that pioneered the permanent supportive housing movement in New York City. “It’s an honor... The post Rockabill Consulting Secures $22 Million for St. Francis Frie­­nds of the Poor to Finance the Rehabilitation of Three SRO Buildings in Chelsea appeared first on Real Estate Weekly. Rockabill, a leading consultant and development partner for the affordable and supportive housing industry, today announced that it has secured $22 million in financing on behalf of its client St. Francis Friends of the Poor, a nonprofit that pioneered the permanent supportive housing movement in New York City. “It’s an honor to be trusted by St. Francis Friends of the Poor to help structure and execute such a transformational transaction,” said Katie Devine, Principal, Rockabill. “After 40 years of serving the most vulnerable, highest-need New Yorkers, St. Francis truly deserves this infusion of capital and subsidy, which allows them to perform a substantial rehabilitation project and bolster their operating income and reserves for many years to come.” “We’re thankful to our partners at HPD, NYSERDA and NYCEEC for recognizing the importance of this special supportive housing program and investing so generously in its future,” she added.” “With this vital support, we can continue our work empowering formerly homeless men and women living with mental illness to reclaim their lives and thrive as valued members of the community,” said Christina Byrne, Executive Director, St. Francis Friends of the Poor. “St. Francis Friends of the Poor extends our gratitude to HPD, NYSERDA and NYCEEC for this substantial investment in our work and for our partnership with Rockabill without which this would not have been possible.” “Housing is essential to all New Yorkers. Supportive housing pioneers like St. Francis Friends of the Poor have provided a lifeline to New Yorkers in need for decades, and with the help of the City and State partners, we’re able to advance their mission to support those suffering from homelessness and mental health issues for decades to come,” said HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “By ensuring the proper support and care for our most vulnerable neighbors, along with much needed sustainable building upgrades, we are protecting the wellbeing of New York City as a whole.” St. Francis Friends of the Poor operates three single room occupancy (SRO) buildings in Chelsea which will be substantially renovated and modernized as a result of $21 million in financing from New York City Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), $1 million through the HPD-NYSERDA Retrofit Electrification Pilot and a zero-interest predevelopment ­­loan through NYCEEC’s partnership with NYSERDA and HPD. It is also anticipated that St. Francis Friends of the Poor will execute a new HAP contract with HPD and receive 24 units of Project-based Section 8 in the coming months. Located at 125 East 24th Street, 155 West 22nd Street and 148 Eighth Avenue, the 255-unit portfolio provides 100 percent permanent supportive housing to formerly homeless individuals living with severe mental illness, primarily schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. Originally operated as hotels until they were acquired by three Franciscan Friars in the 1980s, the properties have not undergone a full rehabilitation in over 40 years. Notably, none of the 255 units have previously been registered for rent stabilization by the New York State Department of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR) and despite the ability to charge market-rate rents, the organization has never charged tenants more than $285 per month. Moving forward, all units will be registered with DHCR, existing tenants will continue to pay their current below-market rent and new tenants will pay 30 percent of their adjusted gross income. The new funding from HPD will allow St. Francis Friends of the Poor to undertake a wide range of improvements to building exteriors, mechanical systems and dwelling units. Building parapets and facades will be repaired and restored, along with the full replacement of windows, doors and roofs. Oil and gas boilers will be replaced with more efficient natural gas units and St. Francis Residence II on West 22nd Street will be converted to 100 percent electric with state-of-the-art VRF units, water heaters and pumps. Nearly 70 communal bathrooms and half-baths across the three buildings will be renovated to meet ADA compliance and improved to better serve an aging population. Dwelling units will receive new doors, resilient flooring and LED lighting. New pedestrian paving around the properties and ADA accessible entrances will further enhance the safety and well-being of St. Francis’s residents. The architect is OCV Architects and the General Contractor is ConRock Construction, LLC.­ The post Rockabill Consulting Secures $22 Million for St. Francis Frie­­nds of the Poor to Finance the Rehabilitation of Three SRO Buildings in Chelsea appeared first on Real Estate Weekly......»»

Sergei Shoigu was the target of a rebellion by fighters from the Wagner Group mercenary outfit as they marched on Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shows mushrooms to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during his vacation in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia, in August 2017.Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images Russia's Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, is a close ally and friend of Vladimir Putin. But as Russia's invasion of Ukraine faltered and stalled, he became a lightning rod for criticism. An armed rebellion led by Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin sought to oust him from power. This is Sergei Shoigu, Russian President Vladimir Putin's right-hand man.Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu.Contributor/Getty ImagesAs Russia's Minister of Defense, he is responsible for its invasion of Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hold a meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow on February 14, 2022.Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesBut the stark failures of the Russian army there have undermined his decades-long ascent to the top rungs of power.Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) seen during the Navy Day Parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on July, 31 2022.Contributor/Getty ImagesShoigu was born in 1955 in the remote town of Chadan in Siberia. The Soviet Union was a world power and the Cold War just beginning.A man outside the former central temple for Buddhists of Tuva, near the settlement of Chadan, in Russia's Tuva region.Ilya Naymushin/ReutersThe town is close to the Mongolian border.Shoigu's mother was Russian but born in Ukraine, while his father was Tuvan — an ethnic group that is indigenous to Siberia.Source: The Moscow Times   Unlike other people in Putin's inner circle, Shoigu was not educated in St. Petersburg or Moscow.Russian President Vladimir Putin accompanied by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (second from left), Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (third from left), and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (third from right), waits for a meeting in Sochi, Russia on February 14, 2019.Sergei Chirikov/AFP via Getty ImagesIn 1977, Shoigu graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Polytechnic Institute in Siberia with a degree in civil engineering. He went on to work on a variety of major construction projects in the region."Shoigu is the only figure within Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle who isn't either an old KGB buddy or an old friend from St. Petersburg," Mark Galeotti, who heads the Russia-focused consultancy Mayak Intelligence, told Insider. Putin was born and studied in St. Petersburg and spent much of his early career there.Source: The Kyiv PostDespite being Russia's Defense Minister, Shoigu never served in the military.Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during military exercises in the Pacific Ocean on July 16, 2013.Alexei Nikolsky/AFP via Getty ImagesHe wears awards on his uniform that look like combat medals, despite his lack of battlefield experience.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu salutes soldiers and participants during a military parade in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2015.Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesShoigu's official profile lists a string of presidential and state awards for his time in government, while his Russian-language Wikipedia page lists more than 70 separate honors.They include medals from his own defense ministry for implementing policies there, and also mass awards marking events like the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg.Radio Free Europe, the US-funded outlet, reported last year that Shoigu has a fascination with medals, and implemented hundreds of new ones for the Russian military, many of which are not to do with combat. After working in various roles for construction companies in Siberia, Shoigu moved to Moscow in 1990 to lead the state's committee for construction and architecture.Sergei Shoigu explains the nature of the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in Cheryomushky, Russia on August 19, 2009.Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty ImagesSource: The Moscow TimesIn 1991, while he was there, the Soviet Union collapsed, plunging Russia into a period of instability and unrest.The front page of The New York Times on December 26, 1991.National Security ArchiveOut of the chaos, Russia gained its first president — Boris Yeltsin, a personal friend of Shoigu. He was soon promoted to lead the newly-established Russian Rescue Corps.Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin shakes hands with Sergei Shoigu during an awards ceremony on October 27, 1999.ReutersIn the Russian Rescue Corps, Shoigu was responsible for the rescue and disaster response system, The Moscow Times reported.His career there soon took off.In his role, Shoigu would be the first to appear at any major or minor disaster sites, presenting himself as a hero.Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and then-Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu visit the site of a Polish aircraft crash near Smolensk airport, on April 10, 2010.Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images"He had a big PR team, let's be perfectly honest," Galeotti told Insider.He stayed on the job for 21 years, even after Russian President Vladimir Putin took over from Yeltsin.Source: The Moscow TimesWhen Putin rose to power in 1999, the two became very close.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, Russia, on September 21, 2009.Alexey Druzhinin/AFP via Getty ImagesShoigu's successful record and large public profile seemed to appeal to Putin.In 1999, he picked Shoigu to be one of the leaders of his party, United Russia, giving him the opportunity to build a political base.Thirteen years later, in 2012, Putin promoted Shoigu briefly to be the governor of the Moscow region, and from there to run the defense ministry.This gave Shoigu a role on the world stage and a central place in Russia's clashes with the West.Sources: Database of Free Russia Forum, Foreign AffairsShoigu and Putin would often be photographed together. They took regular vacations in the Siberian woods, where they would go fishing or hiking.Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) accompanied by Sergei Shoigu gestures as he fishes in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia, on August 3, 2017.Alexey Nikolsky/SPutnik/AFP via Getty ImagesTheir most recent vacation together appears to have been in March 2021.Source: The KremlinAs the president of the Russian Geographical Society, Shoigu would also indulge Putin's interest in the outdoors.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a vacation in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia, on August 26, 2018.Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images"Putin and Shoigu are both throwbacks to Soviet times. They regard themselves as 'muzhiks' (real Russian men) who love sports and hunting," British magazine The Spectator observed in 2015.This interest may have taken a surreal, even macabre turn.Russian investigative news outlet Proekt reported in April that Putin has taken up bathing in blood extract from severed deer antlers as a form of alternative medicine. The bath is believed to improve the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the skinThe unusual remedy was a suggestion made by Shoigu, the report said. Source: The New York Times Shoigu likes to play hockey. He also enjoys carpentry and has shown some of his work to Putin.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attends a hockey game in Moscow, Russia, on April 20, 2018.Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty ImagesSources: MK.RU, ReutersAt one point in his career, Shoigu was touted to be the next prime minister.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu rest during a holiday in Siberia on March 21, 2021.Alexey Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesIn the early days of his role as minister of defense, Shoigu was considered the second most popular public figure in the country and was even touted as Putin's potential successor.Source: The Daily BeastShoigu is said to have a lavish lifestyle and owns a large mansion outside of Moscow estimated to be worth around $18 million.Russian President Vladimir Putin toasts Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 28, 2017.Kirill Kudryavtsev/Poo/AFP via Getty ImagesThe investigative team of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny photographed Shoigu's home using high-tech drones in 2015.Shoigu presides over a culture of corruption and embezzlement in the Russian military, according to some reports. An investigation by the independent Russian news outlet The Insider in 2019 claimed that he earned 6.5 billion rubles ($101.9 million) from deals with the ministries of defense and emergency situations.(The Insider is a separate publication from Insider.)Shoigu was behind the invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was also one of the architects of Russia's intervention in Syria one year later.Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a military parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on July 25, 2021.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesSource: CNBC, Los Angeles TimesOne day after Russia's invasion, Shoigu was personally sanctioned by the West.Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu (C) speaks as he virtually attends the Summit of Collective Security Treaty Organisation on May 24, 2022.Russian Foreign Ministry Press / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesOther members of Putin's inner circle who were sanctioned alongside Shoigu included Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.Source: Department of State, PoliticoSeveral days before Putin's full-scale invasion in February, Shoigu met with British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and denied Russia was planning to attack Ukraine.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov in Moscow, Russia, on February 27, 2022.ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty ImagesThis was despite Western intelligence services publishing extensive evidence of Russian troops amassing near Ukraine's borders, and claims from figures including President Joe Biden that an invasion was inevitable.Source: ReutersBut when Russia did invade on February 24, it did not pan out the way the Kremlin had planned.An abandoned Russian vehicle in a retaken area near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 30, 2022.Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP via Getty ImagesRussia seemed to expect it could take Ukraine's capital Kyiv in a matter of days, but failed to do so.For months, their forces have struggled in the face of a staunch Ukrainian resistance that continues to receive more heavy weaponry from Western allies.Russia's partial mobilization in October was also a sign that Shoigu's military was suffering from a severe lack of manpower.The failures in Ukraine have led to claims of a rift between Shoigu and Putin.Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at his Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on October 28, 2022.Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesOne month after Russia's invasion, there was "persistent tension" between the two friends after it emerged that Shoigu and his subordinates were sugar-coating reports of the war for Putin, The New York Times reported at the time.In March, Shoigu wasn't seen in public for 12 days, prompting concerns over his whereabouts, The Guardian reported.In August, Putin started to bypass Shoigu, further embedding himself into the war's strategic planning efforts, The Telegraph reported.Source: Insider Other prominent figures in the Kremlin have openly attacked Shoigu, including Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin.Yevgeniy Prigozhin at a meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2016.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesYevgeniy Prigozhin, who founded the Wagner private army, confronted Putin about the mismanagement of the war in Ukraine last month, two US officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.Prigozhin later denied that he had spoken to Russia's president and said he has no right to criticize Russia's army.Kirill Stremousov, a pro-Russia Ukrainian politician who was installed as Putin's puppet leader in the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson, recently suggested Shoigu should consider killing himself over Russia's recent military losses.Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-backed Kherson administration, is pictured in his office on July 20, 2022.STRINGER/AFP via Getty ImagesStremousov was killed in a car crash in Kherson on November 9, local officials said, according to the BBC.He died hours before Shoigu ordered the withdrawal of his troops from the city.Source: Insider"Shoigu is willing to basically be Putin's bulletproof vest," said Galeotti, the Russia analyst.Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a military parade in Pskov, Russia, on March 1, 2020.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images"He is soaking up all the criticism that, otherwise, people might start leveling towards Putin as commander in chief," Galeotti said.  Shoigu has remained quiet despite the growing criticism...Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Sochi, Russia, on December 4, 2019.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images"He's been much less evident now," Galeotti told Insider."He knows that, when he goes into public, he either has to reassure people that everything's going fine, which is an increasingly untenable position to hold, or he'd have to acknowledge things are going badly, which would potentially sound like criticism of the commander in chief," he added.... and Putin has shown no signs that he may fire him.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu walks in the Taiga in Siberia, on September 26, 2021.Alexey Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesGaleotti told Insider that it is difficult for Putin to fire Shoigu because it is "a card he can only play once." "If Putin absolutely felt that the situation demanded it, I imagine he would be willing to sacrifice Shoigu," he said."However, given that it's obviously not going to have any substantive impact on the progress of the war ... it will be harder to avoid the suspicion that it's not because of Shoigu, but because of Putin."On November 9, Shoigu ordered his troops to retreat from Kherson, the only major city in Ukraine that Russian forces were able to capture during the invasion.A soldier of the Ukrainian army in Kherson Oblast on November 05, 2022.Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesThe retreat was a huge blow to Shoigu, who only a month before had told Putin that his goal to send 300,000 of Russia's reservists to fight in Ukraine had been completed, Reuters reported.After all the retreats, Shoigu stepped up his rhetoric in November, saying that Russia should use new advanced weapons systems in Ukraine.Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu talks with a cadet in Moscow, Russia, on August 20, 2022.Contributor/Getty ImagesShoigu did not specify which advanced weapons should be used, though he said he is looking at new ways of improving artillery and missile attacks.Source: Reuters Earlier this month, Shoigu's alleged ex-lover — and mother of two of his children — was exiled from Lithuania after being deemed a security threat, Lithuanian media reported.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu seen during the SCTO Summit in Yerevan, Armenia, on November 23, 2022.Contributor/Getty ImagesLithuania's State Security Department said this month that Yelena Shebunova's presence "may impose a threat to the country's national security over her links with Russian structures," Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported.It did not elaborate on why she was seen as a threat.According to a 2019 investigation by Russian independent media outlet The Insider, Shebunova and Shoigu have two children together, both born out of wedlock: Daria and Danila.It is unclear how old the children are, but The Insider reported that Shebunova obtained a Lithuanian residence permit in 2017.Shoigu also has two children with his wife, Irina Shoigu, The Kyiv Post reported.In February, Shoigu told military officials the Russian army is "successfully" advancing near the eastern Ukrainian towns of Bakhmut and Vuhledar.Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at a military meeting at an undisclosed location, on January 17, 2023.Russian Defence Ministry/Vadim Savitsky/Handout via Reuters"Military operations are at the moment progressing with success in the areas around Vuhledar and Artemovsk," Shoigu told a defense meeting using the previous name for Bakhmut.Source: Russian Ministry of Defence, Moscow TimesOn June 24, 2023, Prigozhin dramatically launched an armed rebellion to oust Shoigu and chief of army staff, Valery Gerasimov.Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023.STRINGER/AFP via Getty ImagesIn a video message, Prigozhin said that Russian forces had bombed his mercenary group. He led his fighters as they seized control of Rostov-on-Don then advanced towards Moscow. The mercenary chief said he wanted Russia's military leaders fired over failings in Ukraine, but after brokering a deal with the Kremlin backed away from the rebellion. He said he wanted to avoid bloodshed, and went into exile in Belarus. The rebellion was the most serious challenge to Putin's authority in his two decades in power. In the wake of the mutiny, the Kremlin released video showing Shoigu visiting troops in Ukraine.Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov, commander of troops of the Western Military District, talk on board the aircraft as they visit the advanced control post of Russian troops involved in Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unknown location, in this still image taken from video released June 26, 2023.Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERSThe video shows Shoigu traveling in a plane, and visiting Russian senior officers. The Kremlin did not say when or where the footage was filmed, and NBC News reported that Russian military bloggers, who've been influential critics of the Kremlin's war effort, said it was filmed ahead of the mutiny. —Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) June 26, 2023 The video appeared to be an attempt by the Kremlin to signal that Russia's chain of command remained intact after the rebellion, amid rumors that Putin may be preparing to fire Shoigu. Putin had remained silent as Prigozhin launched increasingly aggressive tirades against Shoigu and other military chiefs in the weeks leading to the mutiny, prompting speculation that he was playing them off against each other. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

If Vladimir Putin is still at the helm, Russia is unlikely to withdraw from Ukraine. But Ukraine is putting up a bigger fight than anyone expected. A Ukrainian flag waves in the village of Dolyna in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine after the withdrawal of Russian troops on September 24, 2022.Metin Aktas/Getty Images As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, there does not appear to be a clear end in sight. A military expert said Vladimir Putin's "in too deep" and is unlikely to withdraw without clear successes. These are six ways the conflict could play out and what victory might look like for either side. With Russia's war in Ukraine in its ninth month, there is still no clear end to the carnage in sight. Tens of thousands of soldiers are dead or maimed, entire cities have been reduced to twisted piles of rubble, there have been allegations of torture and atrocities by Russian occupiers, and millions have become refugees. While Russia has occupied swathes of territory in the south and east of the country, Ukraine has put up a stronger fight than anyone expected and often humiliated Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion forces that, on paper, were meant to overwhelm Ukraine in days.Not only have the Ukrainian defenders fended off a total conquest from Russia, they have also retaken parts of the country by launching well-organized, audacious counter-offensives in the east and south.However, despite the battlefield defeats, Russia still has destructive military capabilities it can call upon. In recent weeks, it has launched a missile and drone blitz of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.While the largest war in Europe since 1945 seems to have entered an attritional phase, there are several ways the conflict could play out.Cease-fireIf the fighting reaches a stalemate, there could be some negotiated, temporary cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, according to Seth Jones, the director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, International Security Program."That would probably not be an end, though, that would be the state of active warfare declining, at least temporarily, and it becomes something closer to a frozen conflict that can heat up or cool down depending on the range of factors," he said.Ukrainian soldiers in a tank.Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesJones pointed to the two Chechen Wars that took place in the 1990s. Russia negotiated a cease-fire in 1994, which ended the first war, but then restarted another war three years later and ramped up its onslaught.In this scenario, Russia could hope that the US and other Western countries lose interest in the conflict and in supporting Ukraine."That would eventually change the balance of power in Russia's favor and allow it to reconquer territory the way it ideally wanted to in February," Jones said.A peace deal It is possible that the war could end with a peace deal, though a settlement is difficult because of Russia's and Ukraine's different goals and what they both view as their rightful territory."I think Vladimir Putin is in too deep at the moment. He's committed far too much political and military capital right now to extract himself from the war without very clear successes," Jones said.Jones said that while it is not clear what Putin would accept as a "success," he might settle for Russia taking parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson Oblasts, which he could then frame as his intended goals.The more complicated question is what Ukraine would be willing to give up in any peace deal. Jones said it would be almost "politically suicidal" for any leader in Kyiv to give away any Ukrainian territory.Russian victoryWhen it began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Russia's goal was to take over the country completely.Jones said it is important to note that Ukraine has already achieved a significant victory in preventing Russia from achieving that goal. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu salutes soldiers and participants during a military parade in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2015.Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images"Arguably, at least up to February 2022, the third most powerful military army in the world behind the US and the Chinese was the Russians. So they've already prevented a Russian blitzkrieg operation to take the capital, overthrow the government, and either integrate it into Russia or establish a puppet government," he said.It is unlikely now that Russia would be able to turn the war around entirely and achieve its original aims, but it could accept a "victory" in the form of a peace deal in which it takes more territory than it had before the invasion began.Russian retreat, Ukrainian victoryAs long as Putin is at the country's helm, it would be very unlikely that Russian forces would retreat entirely, Jones said."In Russia, bad things happen to rulers who lose wars," Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine colonel and CSIS senior advisor, previously told Insider.Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.Gavriil Grigorov/APBut despite Russia's strongman facing discontent at home due to rising war casualties, the partial mobilization of reservists, and an economy damaged by sanctions, he appears to show no signs of backing down.Though the chances of him being overthrown in a coup are perhaps higher than ever, experts have previously said the Russian leader has made his regime "coup-proof" through a culture of distrust among Russia's intelligence agencies.However, a total Russian retreat could be possible if Putin were to be ousted or die. Rumors have also long swirled about his alleged health problems, though US intel and military experts have warned that there is no credible evidence that he is ill.Ukrainians believe outright victory is possible. Svitlana Morenets, a Ukrainian journalist who works for The Spectator news magazine in the UK, spoke on Friday at a debate entitled "Is it time to make a peace in Ukraine." The plan is not for years of battle but the military defeat of Russia, she said. She highlighted Putin's recent climbdown over the "grain corridor" as an example of Russia's growing weakness.Long-term warNot all wars end with a clear victory for one side. Another possibility is that fighting continues to rage on without any cease-fire or settlement, which, according to Jones, could go on for years.It could involve special forces fighting back and forth on contact lines, guerilla action from Ukraine in Russian-controlled territories, and long-range bombardment of Ukrainian territory from Russia or Belarus.In its current phase, the conflict appears to have become a war of attrition. Rather than taking more territory, Russia's objectives in the current stage of war seem to be to weaken Ukraine's resources, economy, and army.A destroyed Russian Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) is seen near the village of Nova Husarivka, Ukraine, on September 15, 2022.Gleb Garanich/ReutersIt is unclear which side would be able to hold out for longer, though Russia has experienced significant losses in terms of soldiers and weapons.According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the newly appointed Russian General Sergey Surovikin plans to build a solid line of defense in occupied territories and effectively freeze the war over the winter.Russia would not seek to begin any new large-scale offensive into Ukrainian territory at this time and would take the time to build back up its fighting capabilities, the think tank said.Nuclear war and/or NATO intervention Putin has repeatedly made nuclear threats since he began the invasion of Ukraine and, in September, claimed that it was "not a bluff."Western countries and experts are divided on how seriously to take the threats.Jones said that there were big risks involved in using nuclear weapons, especially if Putin detonates them in territories he has been claiming are Russian. There would also be a risk of nuclear fallout on Russian territory due to proximity.A Russian nuclear missile rolls along Red Square during the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi defeat, on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, Russia.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesIf Russian forces face a full-scale military rout, Putin could use a battlefield nuclear weapon, but Jones said the risks of using nuclear weapons would likely outweigh any benefits."There are a lot of risks involved in making that nuclear taboo, politically, diplomatically. What would that spell for Vladimir Putin's regime? I think the US has already communicated pretty forcefully that all bets are off if Russia were to use nuclear weapons," he said.It is unclear whether NATO would get involved in that scenario, Jones said. One senior official previously said that a Russian nuclear strike could trigger a "physical response" from NATO itself.However, Jones said that NATO declaring war on Russia could create a major war that could pull in other countries like China, which is an outcome that the organization likely wants to avoid. To avoid that scenario, NATO would likely first turn to increased sanctions and support Ukraine with weapons.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Neither side has taken credit for damaging the Antonivsky Bridge, which spans the Dnipro River in Kherson, Ukraine. Satellite imagery shows damage to the Antonivksy Bridge in Kherson, Ukraine, on November 11, 2022.Maxar Technologies An explosion early Friday morning seriously damaged the key Antonivsky Bridge in Kherson, Ukraine. The explosion came as Russian forces retreated from the strategically important city. Neither side has claimed responsibility for the blast. An early-morning explosion rendered inoperable last major bridge out of Kherson, the Antonivsky Bridge. New satellite images show large gaps in the structure, which was being used by Russian forces fleeing from the strategically important city in eastern Ukraine."It was very foggy in the morning and we couldn't see much, but people from Antonivka say that the roofs of the houses were taken away by the explosion wave," one local resident told The New York Times.Neither side has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, wrote on Twitter that the bridge "was destroyed by Russian forces as they retreated." Prior to the Russian retreat from Kherson, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of destroying various bridges, the suspected aim being to slow the Ukrainian advance.Photos published Friday afternoon by Maxar Technologies, a commercial satellite imagery company, show wide spans of the Antonivsky Bridge were destroyed. The bridge had served both car and rail traffic across the Dnipro River.Satellite images shows damage to the Antonivsky Bridge in Kherson, Ukraine.Maxar TechnologiesA close-up satellite image shows large gaps in the Antonivsky Bridge in Kherson, Ukraine.Maxar TechnologiesOleksiy Arestoych, a Ukrainian government spokesperson, said on Facebook that the bridge was "no longer there, according to preliminary data."Other satellite images published Friday by Maxar show damage that occurred earlier in the week to the the Darivka Bridge, several hours north of the city of Kherson, as well as to the Nova Kakhovka dam just upstream of the provincial capital that has been under Russian occupation for nearly nine months.Satellite image of damage to the Darivka Bridge in the Kherson Oblast, Ukraine.Maxar TechnologiesSatellite image of damage to the Nova Kakhova Dam in Kherson, Ukraine.Maxar TechnologiesIn a statement on Friday, Russia's Ministry of Defense said its forces had fully evacuated from Kherson in the face of a Ukrainian counter-offensive to retake the city, the first that Russian troops seized after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his Feb. 24 invasion. Kherson is also the only regional capital that Russian forces managed to capture.A few hours after the Russian announcement, videos began to surface on social media showing Ukrainians celebrating in a town square in Kherson, where the Ukrainian flag was again being flown. The Ukrainian military's defense intelligence unit confirmed that Ukrainian forces had entered the city and said that "Kherson is returning under the control of Ukraine."Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.comRead the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Sergei Shoigu was once touted to be Russia's next prime minister — until a series of problems in the Ukraine war made him a target of scathing criticism. Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shows mushrooms to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during his vacation in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia, in August 2017.Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images Russia's Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, is a close ally and friend of Vladimir Putin. He had a steady ascent through Russia's elite, and was considered a possible Putin successor. But as Russia's invasion of Ukraine faltered and stalled, he became a lightning rod for criticism. This is Sergei Shoigu, Russian President Vladimir Putin's right-hand man.Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu.Contributor/Getty ImagesAs Russia's Minister of Defense, he is responsible for its invasion of Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hold a meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow on February 14, 2022.Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesBut the stark failures of the Russian army there have undermined his decades-long ascent to the top rungs of power.Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) seen during the Navy Day Parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on July, 31 2022.Contributor/Getty ImagesShoigu was born in 1955 in the remote town of Chadan in Siberia. The Soviet Union was a world power and the Cold War just beginning.A man outside the former central temple for Buddhists of Tuva, near the settlement of Chadan, in Russia's Tuva region.Ilya Naymushin/ReutersThe town is close to the Mongolian border.Shoigu's mother was Russian but born in Ukraine, while his father was Tuvan — an ethnic group that is indigenous to Siberia.Source: The Moscow Times   Unlike other people in Putin's inner circle, Shoigu was not educated in St. Petersburg or Moscow.Russian President Vladimir Putin accompanied by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (second from left), Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (third from left), and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (third from right), waits for a meeting in Sochi, Russia on February 14, 2019.Sergei Chirikov/AFP via Getty ImagesIn 1977, Shoigu graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Polytechnic Institute in Siberia with a degree in civil engineering. He went on to work on a variety of major construction projects in the region."Shoigu is the only figure within Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle who isn't either an old KGB buddy or an old friend from St. Petersburg," Mark Galeotti, who heads the Russia-focused consultancy Mayak Intelligence, told Insider. Putin was born and studied in St. Petersburg and spent much of his early career there.Source: The Kyiv PostDespite being Russia's Defense Minister, Shoigu never served in the military.Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during military exercises in the Pacific Ocean on July 16, 2013.Alexei Nikolsky/AFP via Getty ImagesHe wears awards on his uniform that look like combat medals, despite his lack of battlefield experience.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu salutes soldiers and participants during a military parade in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2015.Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesShoigu's official profile lists a string of presidential and state awards for his time in government, while his Russian-language Wikipedia page lists more than 70 separate honors.They include medals from his own defense ministry for implementing policies there, and also mass awards marking events like the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg.Radio Free Europe, the US-funded outlet, reported last year that Shoigu has a fascination with medals, and implemented hundreds of new ones for the Russian military, many of which are not to do with combat. After working in various roles for construction companies in Siberia, Shoigu moved to Moscow in 1990 to lead the state's committee for construction and architecture.Sergei Shoigu explains the nature of the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in Cheryomushky, Russia on August 19, 2009.Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty ImagesSource: The Moscow TimesIn 1991, while he was there, the Soviet Union collapsed, plunging Russia into a period of instability and unrest.The front page of The New York Times on December 26, 1991.National Security ArchiveOut of the chaos, Russia gained its first president — Boris Yeltsin, a personal friend of Shoigu. He was soon promoted to lead the newly-established Russian Rescue Corps.Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin shakes hands with Sergei Shoigu during an awards ceremony on October 27, 1999.ReutersIn the Russian Rescue Corps, Shoigu was responsible for the rescue and disaster response system, The Moscow Times reported.His career there soon took off.In his role, Shoigu would be the first to appear at any major or minor disaster sites, presenting himself as a hero.Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and then-Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu visit the site of a Polish aircraft crash near Smolensk airport, on April 10, 2010.Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images"He had a big PR team, let's be perfectly honest," Galeotti told Insider.He stayed on the job for 21 years, even after Russian President Vladimir Putin took over from Yeltsin.Source: The Moscow TimesWhen Putin rose to power in 1999, the two became very close.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, Russia, on September 21, 2009.Alexey Druzhinin/AFP via Getty ImagesShoigu's successful record and large public profile seemed to appeal to Putin.In 1999, he picked Shoigu to be one of the leaders of his party, United Russia, giving him the opportunity to build a political base.Thirteen years later, in 2012, Putin promoted Shoigu briefly to be the governor of the Moscow region, and from there to run the defense ministry.This gave Shoigu a role on the world stage and a central place in Russia's clashes with the West.Sources: Database of Free Russia Forum, Foreign AffairsShoigu and Putin would often be photographed together. They took regular vacations in the Siberian woods, where they would go fishing or hiking.Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) accompanied by Sergei Shoigu gestures as he fishes in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia, on August 3, 2017.Alexey Nikolsky/SPutnik/AFP via Getty ImagesTheir most recent vacation together appears to have been in March 2021.Source: The KremlinAs the president of the Russian Geographical Society, Shoigu would also indulge Putin's interest in the outdoors.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a vacation in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia, on August 26, 2018.Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images"Putin and Shoigu are both throwbacks to Soviet times. They regard themselves as 'muzhiks' (real Russian men) who love sports and hunting," British magazine The Spectator observed in 2015.This interest may have taken a surreal, even macabre turn.Russian investigative news outlet Proekt reported in April that Putin has taken up bathing in blood extract from severed deer antlers as a form of alternative medicine. The bath is believed to improve the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the skinThe unusual remedy was a suggestion made by Shoigu, the report said. Source: The New York Times Shoigu likes to play hockey. He also enjoys carpentry and has shown some of his work to Putin.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attends a hockey game in Moscow, Russia, on April 20, 2018.Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty ImagesSources: MK.RU, ReutersAt one point in his career, Shoigu was touted to be the next prime minister.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu rest during a holiday in Siberia on March 21, 2021.Alexey Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesIn the early days of his role as minister of defense, Shoigu was considered the second most popular public figure in the country and was even touted as Putin's potential successor.Source: The Daily BeastShoigu is said to have a lavish lifestyle and owns a large mansion outside of Moscow estimated to be worth around $18 million.Russian President Vladimir Putin toasts Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 28, 2017.Kirill Kudryavtsev/Poo/AFP via Getty ImagesThe investigative team of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny photographed Shoigu's home using high-tech drones in 2015.Shoigu presides over a culture of corruption and embezzlement in the Russian military, according to some reports. An investigation by the independent Russian news outlet The Insider in 2019 claimed that he earned 6.5 billion rubles ($101.9 million) from deals with the ministries of defense and emergency situations.(The Insider is a separate publication from Insider.)Shoigu was behind the invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was also one of the architects of Russia's intervention in Syria one year later.Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a military parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on July 25, 2021.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesSource: CNBC, Los Angeles TimesOne day after Russia's invasion, Shoigu was personally sanctioned by the West.Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu (C) speaks as he virtually attends the Summit of Collective Security Treaty Organisation on May 24, 2022.Russian Foreign Ministry Press / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesOther members of Putin's inner circle who were sanctioned alongside Shoigu included Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.Source: Department of State, PoliticoSeveral days before Putin's full-scale invasion in February, Shoigu met with British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and denied Russia was planning to attack Ukraine.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov in Moscow, Russia, on February 27, 2022.ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty ImagesThis was despite Western intelligence services publishing extensive evidence of Russian troops amassing near Ukraine's borders, and claims from figures including President Joe Biden that an invasion was inevitable.Source: ReutersBut when Russia did invade on February 24, it did not pan out the way the Kremlin had planned.An abandoned Russian vehicle in a retaken area near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 30, 2022.Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP via Getty ImagesRussia seemed to expect it could take Ukraine's capital Kyiv in a matter of days, but failed to do so.For months, their forces have struggled in the face of a staunch Ukrainian resistance that continues to receive more heavy weaponry from Western allies.Russia's partial mobilization in October was also a sign that Shoigu's military was suffering from a severe lack of manpower.The failures in Ukraine have led to claims of a rift between Shoigu and Putin.Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at his Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on October 28, 2022.Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesOne month after Russia's invasion, there was "persistent tension" between the two friends after it emerged that Shoigu and his subordinates were sugar-coating reports of the war for Putin, The New York Times reported at the time.In March, Shoigu wasn't seen in public for 12 days, prompting concerns over his whereabouts, The Guardian reported.In August, Putin started to bypass Shoigu, further embedding himself into the war's strategic planning efforts, The Telegraph reported.Source: Insider Other prominent figures in the Kremlin have openly attacked Shoigu, including Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin.Yevgeniy Prigozhin at a meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2016.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesYevgeniy Prigozhin, who founded the Wagner Group paramilitary, confronted Putin about the mismanagement of the war in Ukraine last month, two US officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.Prigozhin later denied that he had spoken to Russia's president and said he has no right to criticize Russia's army.Kirill Stremousov, a pro-Russia Ukrainian politician who was installed as Putin's puppet leader in the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson, recently suggested Shoigu should consider killing himself over Russia's recent military losses.Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-backed Kherson administration, is pictured in his office on July 20, 2022.STRINGER/AFP via Getty ImagesSource: Insider"Shoigu is willing to basically be Putin's bulletproof vest," said Galeotti, the Russia analyst.Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a military parade in Pskov, Russia, on March 1, 2020.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images"He is soaking up all the criticism that, otherwise, people might start leveling towards Putin as commander in chief," Galeotti said.  Shoigu has remained quiet despite the growing criticism...Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Sochi, Russia, on December 4, 2019.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images"He's been much less evident now," Galeotti told Insider."He knows that, when he goes into public, he either has to reassure people that everything's going fine, which is an increasingly untenable position to hold, or he'd have to acknowledge things are going badly, which would potentially sound like criticism of the commander in chief," he added.... and Putin has shown no signs that he may fire him.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu walks in the Taiga in Siberia, on September 26, 2021.Alexey Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty ImagesGaleotti told Insider that it is difficult for Putin to fire Shoigu because it is "a card he can only play once." "If Putin absolutely felt that the situation demanded it, I imagine he would be willing to sacrifice Shoigu," he said."However, given that it's obviously not going to have any substantive impact on the progress of the war ... it will be harder avoid the suspicion that it's not because of Shoigu, but because of Putin."Shoigu was last seen at a meeting with Putin, which was broadcast on state television on October 28.Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (R).Maxim Shemetov via ReutersShoigu told Putin that his goal to send 300,000 of Russia's reservists to fight in Ukraine, which he announced in October, "has been completed," Reuters reported.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

If Vladimir Putin is still at the helm, Russia is unlikely to withdraw from Ukraine. But Ukraine is putting up a bigger fight than anyone expected. A Ukrainian flag waves in the village of Dolyna in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine after the withdrawal of Russian troops on September 24, 2022.Metin Aktas/Getty Images As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, there does not appear to be a clear end in sight. A military expert said Putin's "in too deep" and is unlikely to withdraw without clear successes. These are six ways the conflict could play out and what victory might look like for either side. With Russia's war in Ukraine in its eighth month, there is still no clear end to the carnage in sight. Tens of thousands of soldiers are dead or maimed, entire cities have been reduced to twisted piles of rubble, there have been allegations of torture and atrocities by Russian occupiers, and millions have become refugees. While Russia has occupied swathes of territory in the south and east of the country, Ukraine has put up a stronger fight than anyone expected and often humiliated Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion forces that, on paper, were meant to overwhelm Ukraine in days.Not only have the Ukrainian defenders fended off a total conquest from Russia, they have also retaken parts of the country by launching well-organized, audacious counter-offensives in the east and south.However, despite the battlefield defeats, Russia still has destructive military capabilities it can call upon. In recent weeks, it has launched a missile and drone blitz of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.While the largest war in Europe since 1945 seems to have entered an attritional phase, there are several ways the conflict could play out.Cease-fireIf the fighting reaches a stalemate, there could be some negotiated, temporary cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, according to Seth Jones, the director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, International Security Program."That would probably not be an end, though, that would be the state of active warfare declining, at least temporarily, and it becomes something closer to a frozen conflict that can heat up or cool down depending on the range of factors," he said.Ukrainian soldiers in a tank.Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesJones pointed to the two Chechen Wars that took place in the 1990s. Russia negotiated a cease-fire in 1994, which ended the first war, but then restarted another war three years later and ramped up its onslaught.In this scenario, Russia could hope that the US and other Western countries lose interest in the conflict and in supporting Ukraine."That would eventually change the balance of power in Russia's favor and allow it to reconquer territory the way it ideally wanted to in February," Jones said.A peace deal It is possible that the war could end with a peace deal, though a settlement is difficult because of Russia's and Ukraine's different goals and what they both view as their rightful territory."I think Vladimir Putin is in too deep at the moment. He's committed far too much political and military capital right now to extract himself from the war without very clear successes," Jones said.Jones said that while it is not clear what Putin would accept as a "success," he might settle for Russia taking parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson Oblasts, which he could then frame as his intended goals.The more complicated question is what Ukraine would be willing to give up in any peace deal. Jones said it would be almost "politically suicidal" for any leader in Kyiv to give away any Ukrainian territory.Russian victoryWhen it began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Russia's goal was to take over the country completely.Jones said it is important to note that Ukraine has already achieved a significant victory in preventing Russia from achieving that goal. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu salutes soldiers and participants during a military parade in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2015.Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images"Arguably, at least up to February 2022, the third most powerful military army in the world behind the US and the Chinese was the Russians. So they've already prevented a Russian blitzkrieg operation to take the capital, overthrow the government, and either integrate it into Russia or establish a puppet government," he said.It is unlikely now that Russia would be able to turn the war around entirely and achieve its original aims, but it could accept a "victory" in the form of a peace deal in which it takes more territory than it had before the invasion began.Russian retreat, Ukrainian victoryAs long as Putin is at the country's helm, it would be very unlikely that Russian forces would retreat entirely, Jones said."In Russia, bad things happen to rulers who lose wars," Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine colonel and CSIS senior advisor, previously told Insider.Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.Gavriil Grigorov/APBut despite Russia's strongman facing discontent at home due to rising war casualties, the partial mobilization of reservists, and an economy damaged by sanctions, he appears to show no signs of backing down.Though the chances of him being overthrown in a coup are perhaps higher than ever, experts have previously said the Russian leader has made his regime "coup-proof" through a culture of distrust among Russia's intelligence agencies.However, a total Russian retreat could be possible if Putin were to be ousted or die. Rumors have also long swirled about his alleged health problems, though US intel and military experts have warned that there is no credible evidence that he is ill.Ukrainians believe outright victory is possible. Svitlana Morenets, a Ukrainian journalist who works for The Spectator news magazine in the UK, spoke on Friday at a debate entitled "Is it time to make a peace in Ukraine." The plan is not for years of battle but the military defeat of Russia, she said. She highlighted Putin's recent climbdown over the "grain corridor" as an example of Russia's growing weakness.Long-term warNot all wars end with a clear victory for one side. Another possibility is that fighting continues to rage on without any cease-fire or settlement, which, according to Jones, could go on for years.It could involve special forces fighting back and forth on contact lines, guerilla action from Ukraine in Russian-controlled territories, and long-range bombardment of Ukrainian territory from Russia or Belarus.In its current phase, the conflict appears to have become a war of attrition. Rather than taking more territory, Russia's objectives in the current stage of war seem to be to weaken Ukraine's resources, economy, and army.A destroyed Russian Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) is seen near the village of Nova Husarivka, Ukraine, on September 15, 2022.Gleb Garanich/ReutersIt is unclear which side would be able to hold out for longer, though Russia has experienced significant losses in terms of soldiers and weapons.According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the newly appointed Russian General Sergey Surovikin plans to build a solid line of defense in occupied territories and effectively freeze the war over the winter.Russia would not seek to begin any new large-scale offensive into Ukrainian territory at this time and would take the time to build back up its fighting capabilities, the think tank said.Nuclear war and/or NATO intervention Putin has repeatedly made nuclear threats since he began the invasion of Ukraine and, in September, claimed that it was "not a bluff."Western countries and experts are divided on how seriously to take the threats.Jones said that there were big risks involved in using nuclear weapons, especially if they were Putin detonates them in territories he has been claiming are Russian. There would also be a risk of nuclear fallout on Russian territory due to proximity.A Russian nuclear missile rolls along Red Square during the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi defeat, on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, Russia.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesIf Russian forces face a full-scale military rout, Putin could use a battlefield nuclear weapon, but Jones said the risks of using nuclear weapons would likely outweigh any benefits."There are a lot of risks involved in making that nuclear taboo, politically, diplomatically. What would that spell for Vladimir Putin's regime? I think the US has already communicated pretty forcefully that all bets are off if Russia were to use nuclear weapons," he said.It is unclear whether NATO would get involved in that scenario, Jones said. One senior official previously said that a Russian nuclear strike could trigger a "physical response" from NATO itself.However, Jones said that NATO declaring war on Russia could create a major war that could pull in other countries like China, which is an outcome that the organization likely wants to avoid. To avoid that scenario, NATO would likely first turn to increased sanctions and support Ukraine with weapons.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The Specter Of Germany Is Rising Authored by Diana Johnstone via ConsortiumNews.com, The European Union is girding for a long war against Russia that appears clearly contrary to European economic interests and social stability. A war that is apparently irrational – as many are – has deep emotional roots and claims ideological justification. Such wars are hard to end because they extend outside the range of rationality. Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor of Germany, meets Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, in Kiev, Feb. 14, 2022. (President of Ukraine) For decades after the Soviet Union entered Berlin and decisively defeated the Third Reich, Soviet leaders worried about the threat of “German revanchism.” Since World War II could be seen as German revenge for being deprived of victory in World War I, couldn’t aggressive German Drang nach Osten be revived, especially if it enjoyed Anglo-American support? There had always been a minority in U.S. and U.K. power circles that would have liked to complete Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union. It was not the desire to spread communism, but the need for a buffer zone to stand in the way of such dangers that was the primary motivation for the ongoing Soviet political and military clampdown on the tier of countries from Poland to Bulgaria that the Red Army had wrested from Nazi occupation. This concern waned considerably in the early 1980s as a young German generation took to the streets in peace demonstrations against the stationing of nuclear “Euromissiles” which could increase the risk of nuclear war on German soil. The movement created the image of a new peaceful Germany. I believe that Mikhail Gorbachev took this transformation seriously. On June 15, 1989, Gorbachev came to Bonn, which was then the modest capital of a deceptively modest West Germany. Apparently delighted with the warm and friendly welcome, Gorbachev stopped to shake hands with people along the way in that peaceful university town that had been the scene of large peace demonstrations. I was there and experienced his unusually warm, firm handshake and eager smile. I have no doubt that Gorbachev sincerely believed in a “common European home” where East and West Europe could live happily side by side united by some sort of democratic socialism. Gorbachov on June 13, 1989 in the market-square in Bonn. (Jüppsche/Wikimedia Commons) Gorbachev died at age 91 two weeks ago, on Aug. 30. His dream of Russia and Germany living happily in their “common European home” had soon been fatally undermined by the Clinton administration’s go-ahead to eastward expansion of NATO. But the day before Gorbachev’s death, leading German politicians in Prague wiped out any hope of such a happy end by proclaiming their leadership of a Europe dedicated to combating the Russian enemy. These were politicians from the very parties – the SPD (Social Democratic Party) and the Greens – that took the lead in the 1980s peace movement. German Europe Must Expand Eastward German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is a colorless SPD politician, but his Aug. 29 speech in Prague was inflammatory in its implications. Scholz called for an expanded, militarized European Union under German leadership. He claimed that the Russian operation in Ukraine raised the question of “where the dividing line will be in the future between this free Europe and a neo-imperial autocracy.” We cannot simply watch, he said, “as free countries are wiped off the map and disappear behind walls or iron curtains.” (Note: the conflict in Ukraine is clearly the unfinished business of the collapse of the Soviet Union, aggravated by malicious outside provocation. As in the Cold War, Moscow’s defensive reactions are interpreted as harbingers of Russian invasion of Europe, and thus a pretext for arms buildups.) To meet this imaginary threat, Germany will lead an expanded, militarized EU. First, Scholz told his European audience in the Czech capital, “I am committed to the enlargement of the European Union to include the states of the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and, in the long term, Georgia”. Worrying about Russia moving the dividing line West is a bit odd while planning to incorporate three former Soviet States, one of which (Georgia) is geographically and culturally very remote from Europe but on Russia’s doorstep. In the “Western Balkans”, Albania and four extremely weak statelets left from former Yugoslavia (North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and widely unrecognized Kosovo) mainly produce emigrants and are far from EU economic and social standards. Kosovo and Bosnia are militarily occupied de facto NATO protectorates. Serbia, more solid than the others, shows no signs of renouncing its beneficial relations with Russia and China, and popular enthusiasm for “Europe” among Serbs has faded. Adding these member states will achieve “a stronger, more sovereign, geopolitical European Union,” said Scholz. A “more geopolitical Germany” is more like it. As the EU grows eastward, Germany is “in the center” and will do everything to bring them all together. So, in addition to enlargement, Scholz calls for “a gradual shift to majority decisions in common foreign policy” to replace the unanimity required today. What this means should be obvious to the French. Historically, the French have defended the consensus rule so as not to be dragged into a foreign policy they don’t want. French leaders have exalted the mythical “Franco-German couple” as guarantor of European harmony, mainly to keep German ambitions under control. But Scholz says he doesn’t want “an EU of exclusive states or directorates,” which implies the final divorce of that “couple.” With an EU of 30 or 36 states, he notes, “fast and pragmatic action is needed.” And he can be sure that German influence on most of these poor, indebted and often corrupt new Member States will produce the needed majority. France has always hoped for an EU security force separate from NATO in which the French military would play a leading role. But Germany has other ideas. “NATO remains the guarantor of our security,” said Scholz, rejoicing that President Biden is “a convinced trans-atlanticist.” “Every improvement, every unification of European defense structures within the EU framework strengthens NATO,” Scholz said. “Together with other EU partners, Germany will therefore ensure that the EU’s planned rapid reaction force is operational in 2025 and will then also provide its core. This requires a clear command structure. Germany will face up to this responsibility “when we lead the rapid reaction force in 2025,” Scholz said. It has already been decided that Germany will support Lithuania with a rapidly deployable brigade and NATO with further forces in a high state of readiness. Serving to Lead … Where? Robert Habeck speaking at protest before Green Party headquarters, Berlin, Oct. 28, 2020. (Leonhard Lenz/Wikimedia Commons) In short, Germany’s military buildup will give substance to Robert Habeck’s notorious statement in Washington last March that: “The stronger Germany serves, the greater its role.” The Green’s Habeck is Germany’s economics minister and the second most powerful figure in Germany’s current government. The remark was well understood in Washington: by serving the U.S.-led Western empire, Germany is strengthening its role as European leader. Just as the U.S. arms, trains and occupies Germany, Germany will provide the same services for smaller EU states, notably to its east. Since the start of the Russian operation in Ukraine, German politician Ursula von der Leyen has used her position as head of the EU Commission to impose ever more drastic sanctions on Russia, leading to the threat of a serious European energy crisis this winter. Her hostility to Russia seems boundless. In Kiev last April she called for rapid EU membership for Ukraine, notoriously the most corrupt country in Europe and far from meeting EU standards. She proclaimed that “Russia will descend into economic, financial and technological decay, while Ukraine is marching towards a European future.” For von der Leyen, Ukraine is “fighting our war.” All of this goes far beyond her authority to speak for the EU’s 27 Members, but nobody stops her. Germany’s Green Party foreign minister Annalena Baerbock is every bit as intent on “ruining Russia.” Proponent of a “feminist foreign policy”, Baerbock expresses policy in personal terms. “If I give the promise to people in Ukraine, we stand with you as long as you need us,” she told the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED)-sponsored Forum 2000 in Prague on Aug. 31, speaking in English. “Then I want to deliver no matter what my German voters think, but I want to deliver to the people of Ukraine.” “People will go on the street and say, we cannot pay our energy prices, and I will say, ‘Yes I know so we will help you with social measures. […] We will stand with Ukraine and this means the sanctions will stay also til winter time even if it gets really tough for politicians.’” Certainly, support for Ukraine is strong in Germany, but perhaps because of the looming energy shortage, a recent Forsa poll indicates that some 77 percent of Germans would favor diplomatic efforts to end the war – which should be the business of the foreign minister. But Baerbock shows no interest in diplomacy, only in “strategic failure” for Russia – however long it takes. In the 1980s peace movement, a generation of Germans was distancing itself from that of their parents and vowed to overcome “enemy images” inherited from past wars. Curiously, Baerbock, born in 1980, has referred to her grandfather who fought in the Wehrmacht as somehow having contributed to European unity. Is this the generational pendulum? The Little Revanchists Stepan Bandera torchlight parade in Kiev, Jan. 1, 2020. (A1/Wikimedia Commons) There is reason to surmise that current German Russophobia draws much of its legitimization from the Russophobia of former Nazi allies in smaller European countries. While German anti-Russian revanchism may have taken a couple of generations to assert itself, there were a number of smaller, more obscure revanchisms that flourished at the end of the European war that were incorporated into United States Cold War operations. Those little revanchisms were not subjected to the denazification gestures or Holocaust guilt imposed on Germany. Rather, they were welcomed by the C.I.A., Radio Free Europe and Congressional committees for their fervent anticommunism. They were strengthened politically in the United States by anticommunist diasporas from Eastern Europe. Of these, the Ukrainian diaspora was surely the largest, the most intensely political and the most influential, in both Canada and the American Middle West. Ukrainian fascists who had previously collaborated with Nazi invaders were the most numerous and active, leading the Bloc of Anti-Bolshevik Nations with links to German, British and U.S. Intelligence. Eastern European Galicia, not to be confused with Spanish Galicia, has been back and forth part of Russia and Poland for centuries. After World War II it was divided between Poland and Ukraine. Ukrainian Galicia is the center of a virulent brand of Ukrainian nationalism, whose principal World War II hero was Stepan Bandera. This nationalism can properly be called “fascist” not simply because of superficial signs – its symbols, salutes or tatoos – but because it has always been fundamentally racist and violent. Incited by Western powers, Poland, Lithuania and the Habsburg Empire, the key to Ukrainian nationalism was that it was Western, and thus superior. Since Ukrainians and Russians stem from the same population, pro-Western Ukrainian ultra-nationalism was built on imaginary myths of racial differences: Ukrainians were the true Western whatever-it-was, whereas Russians were mixed with “Mongols” and thus an inferior race. Banderist Ukrainian nationalists have openly called for elimination of Russians as such, as inferior beings. So long as the Soviet Union existed, Ukrainian racial hatred of Russians had anticommunism as its cover, and Western intelligence agencies could support them on the “pure” ideological grounds of the fight against Bolshevism and Communism. But now that Russia is no longer ruled by communists, the mask has fallen, and the racist nature of Ukrainian ultra-nationalism is visible – for all who want to see it. However, Western leaders and media are determined not to notice. Ukraine is not just like any Western country. It is deeply and dramatically divided between Donbass in the East, Russian territories given to Ukraine by the Soviet Union, and the anti-Russian West, where Galacia is located. Russia’s defense of Donbass, wise or unwise, by no means indicates a Russian intention to invade other countries. This false alarm is the pretext for the remilitarization of Germany in alliance with the Anglo-Saxon powers against Russia. The Yugoslav Prelude Cutting firewood in Sarajevo during wars that broke up Yugoslavia, 1993. (Christian Maréchal/Wikimedia Commons) This process began in the 1990s, with the breakup of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was not a member of the Soviet bloc. Precisely for that reason, the country got loans from the West which in the 1970s led to a debt crisis in which the leaders of each of the six federated republics wanted to shove the debt onto others. This favored separatist tendencies in the relatively rich Slovenian and Croatian republics, tendencies enforced by ethnic chauvinism and encouragement from outside powers, especially Germany. During World War II, German occupation had split the country apart. Serbia, allied to France and Britain in World War I, was subject to a punishing occupation. Idyllic Slovenia was absorbed into the Third Reich, while Germany supported an independent Croatia, ruled by the fascist Ustasha party, which included most of Bosnia, scene of the bloodiest internal fighting. When the war ended, many Croatian Ustasha emigrated to Germany, the United States and Canada, never giving up the hope of reviving secessionist Croatian nationalism. In Washington in the 1990s, members of Congress got their impressions of Yugoslavia from a single expert: 35-year-old Croatian-American Mira Baratta, assistant to Sen. Bob Dole (Republican presidential candidate in 1996). Baratta’s grandfather had been an important Ustasha officer in Bosnia and her father was active in the Croatian diaspora in California. Baratta won over not only Dole but virtually the whole Congress to the Croatian version of Yugoslav conflicts blaming everything on the Serbs. In Europe, Germans and Austrians, most notably Otto von Habsburg, heir to the defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire and member of the European Parliament from Bavaria, succeeded in portraying Serbs as the villains, thus achieving an effective revenge against their historic World War I enemy, Serbia. In the West, it became usual to identify Serbia as “Russia’s historic ally”, forgetting that in recent history Serbia’s closest allies were Britain and especially France. In September 1991, a leading German Christian Democratic politician and constitutional lawyer explained why Germany should promote the breakup of Yugoslavia by recognizing the Slovenian and Croat secessionist Yugoslav republics. (Former CDU Minister of Defense Rupert Scholz at the 6th Fürstenfeldbrucker Symposium for the Leadership of the German Military and Business, held September 23 – 24, 1991.) By ending the division of Germany, Rupert Scholz said, “We have, so to speak, overcome and mastered the most important consequences of the Second World War … but in other areas we are still dealing with the consequences of the First World War” – which, he noted “started in Serbia.” “Yugoslavia, as a consequence of the First World War, is a very artificial construction, never compatible with the idea of self-determination,” Rupert Scholz said. He concluded: “In my opinion, Slovenia and Croatia must be immediately recognized internationally. (…) When this recognition has taken place, the Yugoslavian conflict will no longer be a domestic Yugoslav problem, where no international intervention can be permitted.” And indeed, recognition was followed by massive Western intervention which continues to this day. By taking sides, Germany, the United States and NATO ultimately produced a disastrous result, a half dozen statelets, with many unsettled issues and heavily dependent on Western powers. Bosnia-Herzegovina is under military occupation as well as the dictates of a “High Representative” who happens to be German. It has lost about half its population to emigration. Only Serbia shows signs of independence, refusing to join in Western sanctions on Russia, despite heavy pressure. For Washington strategists the breakup of Yugoslavia was an exercise in using ethnic divisions to break up larger entities, the USSR and then Russia. Humanitarian Bombing Western politicians and media persuaded the public that the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia was a “humanitarian” war, generously waged to “protect the Kosovars” (after multiple assassinations by armed secessionists provoked Serbian authorities into the inevitable repression used as pretext for the bombing). But the real point of the Kosovo war was that it transformed NATO from a defensive into an aggressive alliance, ready to wage war anywhere, without U.N. mandate, on whatever pretext it chose. This lesson was clear to the Russians. After the Kosovo war, NATO could no longer credibly claim that it was a purely “defensive” alliance. As soon as Serbian President Milosevic, to save his country’s infrastructure from NATO destruction, agreed to allow NATO troops to enter Kosovo, the U.S. unceremoniously grabbed a huge swath territory to build the its first big U.S. military base in the Balkans. NATO troops are still there. Just as the United States rushed to build that base in Kosovo, it was clear what to expect of the U.S. after it succeeded in 2014 to install a government in Kiev eager to join NATO. This would be the opportunity for the U.S. to take over the Russian naval base in Crimea. Since it was known that the majority of the population in Crimea wanted to return to Russia (as it had from 1783 to 1954), Putin was able to forestall this threat by holding a popular referendum confirming its return. East European Revanchism Captures the EU The call by German Chancellor Scholz to enlarge the European Union by up to nine new members recalls the enlargements of 2004 and 2007 that brought in twelve new members, nine of them from the former Soviet bloc, including the three Baltic States once part of the Soviet Union. That enlargement already shifted the balance eastward and enhanced German influence. In particular, the political elites of Poland and especially the three Baltic States, were heavily under the influence of the United States and Britain, where many had lived in exile during Soviet rule. They brought into EU institutions a new wave of fanatic anticommunism, not always distinguishable from Russophobia. The European Parliament, obsessed with virtue signaling in regard to human rights, was particularly receptive to the zealous anti-totalitarianism of its new Eastern European members.  European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe) Revanchism and the Memory Weapon As an aspect of anti-communist lustration, or purges, Eastern European States sponsored “Memory Institutes” devoted to denouncing the crimes of communism. Of course, such campaigns were used by far-right politicians to cast suspicion on the left in general. As explained by European scholar Zoltan Dujisin, “anticommunist memory entrepreneurs” at the head of these institutes succeeded in lifting their public information activities from the national, to the European Union level, using Western bans on Holocaust denial to complain, that while Nazi crimes had been condemned and punished at Nuremberg, communist crimes had not. The tactic of the anti-communist entrepreneurs was to demand that references to the Holocaust be accompanied by denunciations of the Gulag. This campaign had to deal with a delicate contradiction since it tended to challenge the uniqueness of the Holocaust, a dogma essential to gaining financial and political support from West European memory institutes. In 2008, the EP adopted a resolution establishing August 23 as “European Day of Remembrance for the victims of Stalinism and Nazism” – for the first time adopting what had been a fairly isolated far right equation of. A 2009 EP resolution on “European Conscience and Totalitarianism” called for support of national institutes specializing in totalitarian history. Dujisin explains, “Europe is now haunted by the specter of a new memory. The Holocaust’s singular standing as a negative founding formula of European integration, the culmination of long-standing efforts from prominent Western leaders … is increasingly challenged by a memory of communism, which disputes its uniqueness.” East European memory institutes together formed the “Platform of European Memory and Conscience,” which between 2012 and 2016 organized a series of exhibits on “Totalitarianism in Europe: Fascism—Nazism—Communism,” traveling to museums, memorials, foundations, city halls, parliaments, cultural centers, and universities in 15 European countries, supposedly to “improve public awareness and education about the gravest crimes committed by the totalitarian dictatorships.” Under this influence, the European Parliament on Sept. 19, 2019 adopted a resolution “on the importance of European Remembrance for the Future of Europe” that went far beyond equating political crimes by proclaiming a distinctly Polish interpretation of history as European Union policy. It goes so far as to proclaim that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact is responsible for World War II – and thus Soviet Russia is as guilty of the war as Nazi Germany. The resolution, “Stresses that the Second World War, the most devastating war in Europe’s history, was started as an immediate result of the notorious Nazi-Soviet Treaty on Non-Aggression of 23 August 1939, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and its secret protocols, whereby two totalitarian regimes that shared the goal of world conquest divided Europe into two zones of influence;” It further: “Recalls that the Nazi and communist regimes carried out mass murders, genocide and deportations and caused a loss of life and freedom in the 20th century on a scale unseen in human history, and recalls the horrific crime of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime; condemns in the strongest terms the acts of aggression, crimes against humanity and mass human rights violations perpetrated by the Nazi, communist and other totalitarian regimes;” This of course not only directly contradicts the Russian celebration of the “Great Patriotic War” to defeat the Nazi invasion, it also took issue with the recent efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin to put the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement in the context of prior refusals of Eastern European states, notably Poland, to ally with Moscow against Hitler. But the EP resolution: “Is deeply concerned about the efforts of the current Russian leadership to distort historical facts and whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime and considers them a dangerous component of the information war waged against democratic Europe that aims to divide Europe, and therefore calls on the Commission to decisively counteract these efforts;” Thus the importance of Memory for the future, turns out to be an ideological declaration of war against Russia based on interpretations of World War II, especially since the memory entrepreneurs implicitly suggest that the past crimes of communism deserve punishment – like the crimes of Nazism. It is not impossible that this line of thought arouses some tacit satisfaction among certain individuals in Germany. When Western leaders speak of “economic war against Russia,” or “ruining Russia” by arming and supporting Ukraine, one wonders whether they are consciously preparing World War III, or trying to provide a new ending to World War II. Or will the two merge? As it shapes up, with NATO openly trying to “overextend” and thus defeat Russia with a war of attrition in Ukraine, it is somewhat as if Britain and the United States, some 80 years later, switched sides and joined German-dominated Europe to wage war against Russia, alongside the heirs to Eastern European anticommunism, some of whom were allied to Nazi Germany. History may help understand events, but the cult of memory easily becomes the cult of revenge. Revenge is a circle with no end. It uses the past to kill the future. Europe needs clear heads looking to the future, able to understand the present. Tyler Durden Tue, 09/13/2022 - 02:00.....»»

IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said after last week's mission that the "physical integrity of the plant has been violated." The IAEA team observes the damage caused by shelling on the roof of the special building at the ZNPP that houses, among other items, the fresh nuclear fuel and the solid radioactive waste storage facility.Photo: IAEA A UN nuclear watchdog agency released a new report on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Inspectors wrote they noticed damage to a building that houses radioactive waste and fresh fuel. The IAEA mission to the plant — occupied by Russia — came amid high tensions and heavy fighting.  Recent fighting and artillery fire around southern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant damaged a building that houses radioactive waste and fresh nuclear fuel, a United Nations watchdog agency found. A new report published on Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency detailed the findings from a team of inspectors who traveled to the nuclear plant, which has been caught in the middle of ongoing fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, to assess the facility's safety, security, and stability. The IAEA wrote in the report that its team of inspectors witnessed shelling near the plant — which is the largest in Europe and has been occupied by Russian troops since early March — and reported damage at various locations around the facility, including a building that stores radioactive waste and fresh nuclear fuel.Inspectors said they also found damage to roads, walls, windows, roofs, a training building, the radiation monitoring system storage, the central alarm station, and in the vicinity of a building that houses a reactor. "While the ongoing shelling has not yet triggered a nuclear emergency, it continues to represent a constant threat to nuclear safety and security with potential impact on critical safety functions that may lead to radiological consequences with great safety significance," the IAEA wrote in its report. The following are additional photos from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant included in the IAEA report.IAEA Deputy Director General, Head of Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, Lydie Evrard, with IAEA staff visiting roof top of the special building at the ZNPP that houses, among other items, the fresh nuclear fuel and the solid radioactive waste storage facility.Photo: IAEADamage caused by shelling to the elevated passage of Unit 6.Photo: IAEALast week's highly anticipated IAEA mission, led by the agency's chief Rafael Mariano Grossi, came after several delays and during ongoing hostilities between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Shelling around the plant — for which Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame — previously caused damage to the exterior of buildings, triggered power disconnections, and caused a partial power shutdown.   Western intelligence has blamed Russia for using the plant's protected status as a shield, leaving Ukraine reluctant to attack. International watchdogs and governments have cautioned that hostilities could spark a major nuclear disaster. After returning from his visit to the plant, Grossi told reporters on Thursday that the "physical integrity of the plant has been violated several times" and said in a video message that the IAEA is "establishing a continued presence" at the facility.  The next day, Grossi said at a briefing in Vienna that a few agency experts will remain at the site to establish a permanent presence, adding that it makes a massive difference having boots on the ground there."Our presence there has a very big added value, I believe, because we can interact with people constantly," Grossi said. "They know that the IAEA people are there."Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

al-Zawahiri Shredded By Blades Of Non-Explosive "Flying Ginsu" Missile Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri wasn't blown up at his Kabul residence over the weekend -- he was apparently butchered on his balcony with the blades of a "flying Ginsu," a nickname for a special type of Hellfire missile used in highly-targeted strikes.  Because a conventional explosive warhead would have risked killing nearby civilians, the CIA is believed to have used the little-known R9X, which deploys six long blades seconds before impact and slices its victim into bloody chunks. It was a poetically fitting end for a former surgeon who became one of the principal architects of 9/11. Illustration via The National Moving at 1,000 miles per hour, the blades of the R9X can reportedly slice through concrete and steel. However, with Zawahiri perched on his breezy balcony, the blades were completely unimpeded when they struck the 71-year-old Egyptian at 6:18 am Kabul time on Sunday. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN the U.S. has visual confirmation of Zawahiri's death, but no DNA confirmation. He said nobody else was killed in the attack, which used two Hellfire missiles. The lack of damage to the building is striking:  A photo said to show the balcony where Zawahiri was killed on Sunday (Twitter) The missile's nickname was inspired by the directly-marketed Ginsu kitchen knife, which rose to fame in the late 1970s thanks to frequent television commercials showing the knife being used to cut through metal cans, wood other material. The R9X's existence was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2019. At the time, it had only been used roughly a half-dozen times. A similar version has no blades, but rather plunges over a hundred pounds of metal through the roofs of cars or buildings at Mach 1.3. An official told the Journal that, to the targeted individual, it's like being hit by  a speeding anvil. The aftermath of a suspected non-explosive Hellfire strike in Aleppo, Syria in 2020 (via @obretix)  Given its non-explosive nature, the R9X requires unusually accurate targeting data. In the case of Zawahiri, the CIA had that in spades. Before killing Zawahiri, the CIA had monitored him for months, as he lived in a wealthy Kabul neighborhood that was previously home to many Western embassies. The CIA found Zawahiri by monitoring his family members who moved into the same Kabul residence. "Multiple streams of intelligence" persuaded analysts that they'd found Zawahiri, a senior official told the Associated Press.    R9X missiles have been deployed a number of times by JSOC in NW #Syria to target senior #AlQaeda figures -- they're extraordinarily precise & have worked to great effect until now. See here, for example, from June 2020. I've not seen one used on a building before, though. pic.twitter.com/eLvY35tlZ5 — Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) August 1, 2022 Once they discovered him, analysts painstakingly catalogued his "pattern of life." Part of that pattern included his enjoyment of the balcony on "multiple occasions, for sustained periods of time," the senior official said.    The planning of Zawahiri's execution took place under the shadow of a disastrous American drone strike during the withdrawal of U.S. troops that killed 10 innocents, including seven children. With a high priority on minimizing casualties, preparations for the Zawahiri's killing included engineering studies of the building where he lived.  Senior officials were first briefed on the pinpointing of Zawahiri in early April, and President Biden soon thereafter. On July 1, the CIA briefed Biden on his options, with a presentation that included a scale model of the house.  This is believed to be the house in central Kabul where Al Qaeda leader al Zawahiri was staying & killed in a US drone strike, (another location apparently also hit) Taliban preventing media getting close, insisting there’s nothing to see, but we & others had guns pointed at us pic.twitter.com/2iJKKGPzat — Secunder Kermani (@SecKermani) August 2, 2022 None of the reporting indicates that an option to capture Al Qaeda's leader was discussed, even though an interrogation would have the potential to yield valuable intelligence. On the other hand, with the prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged 9/11 co-conspirators still not in the trial phase 21 years after their crimes, there was probably very little appetite to add a new defendant.  Another factor likely weighed more heavily against an attempted apprehension of the mass murderer of thousands of Americans: Zawahiri's interrogations, depositions and trial testimony could implicate members of the Saudi royal family who've bankrolled al Qaeda since its inception, as well as Saudi diplomatic officials whose apparent support of two 9/11 hijackers has been detailed in recently-declassified FBI files.  Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes Biden to Riyadh on July 15 (Saudi Press Agency/AP) ...to say nothing of what he might say about the CIA.    Tyler Durden Wed, 08/03/2022 - 09:20.....»»

Stewart called Republican justifications for blocking the long-sought bill, which would expand health care for veterans exposed to toxins, "bullshit." Jon Stewart speaks to the press before a news conference about the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act on Capitol Hill July 28, 2022 in Washington, DC.Drew Angerer/Getty Images Jon Stewart ripped into Republicans for blocking the advancement of a veteran health care bill. "Sadly, these are the people that fought and defended their right to this fuckery," Stewart said. Stewart said the Republicans who blocked the bill were "cowards." Jon Stewart, the former host of "The Daily Show," during a visit to Washington, DC, on Thursday excoriated Senate Republicans for blocking a bill that would expand health care access for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits and Agent Orange, among other contaminants, during their service. "This is corruption at its finest. And sadly, these are the people that fought and defended their right to this fuckery," Stewart said in comments to reporters on Capitol Hill. Stewart during a press conference with Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said Republicans "don't support the troops" but "support the war machine.""They haven't met a veteran they won't screw over," Stewart, a longtime advocate for veterans, added. —CSPAN (@cspan) July 28, 2022 A version of the bipartisan bill — the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act — passed in the Senate in June (84-14). But revisions made to the bill in the House — where it passed by a 342-88 vote — saw the measure return to the Senate.Despite passing with strong bipartisan support in the Senate last month, the bill on Wednesday failed to cross the 60-vote threshold necessary for it to advance. Twenty-five Republicans who previously supported the bill voted against it, per the Guardian. Stewart in a tweet called those Republicans "stab vets in the back Senators." GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who was among the Republicans to stand in the way of the advancement of the legislation, said the measure was "a budget gimmick that's designed to allow hundreds of billions of dollars in additional unrelated spending, having nothing to do with veterans," per Roll Call.During Thursday's press conference, Stewart called Toomey a "coward," saying the Pennsylvania Republican's opposition to the measure over the allocation of discretionary funds was "bullshit." Toomey's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.—Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) July 27, 2022Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, in a statement on Wednesday slammed Republicans for stalling the bill. "This eleventh-hour act of cowardice will actively harm this country's veterans and their families. Republicans chose today to rob generations of toxic-exposed veterans across this country of the health care and benefits they so desperately need — and make no mistake, more veterans will suffer and die as a result," Tester said.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Escobar: Welcome To NAM 2.0, The End Of The "Rules-Based International Order" Authored by Pepe Escobar, Those were the days, in 1955, at the legendary Bandung conference in Indonesia, when the newly emancipated Global South started dreaming of building a new world, via what became configured later in 1961 in Belgrade as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The Empire of Chaos – and Lies – would never allow a starring role for NAM. So it played dirty: everything from hardcore subversion and bribing to military coups and proto-color revolutions. Yet now, the Spirit of Bandung lives again, via a sort of NAM 2.0 on steroids: a Newly Aligned Movement, with the leaders of Eurasian integration at the vanguard. We just had a taste of which way the geopolitical wind is blowing at the gathering of a new power troika in Tehran. Unlike Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill in 1943, Putin, Raisi and Erdogan did not meet to carve up the world. They met essentially to discuss how another world is possible – through bilaterals, trilaterals, multilaterals and an enhanced role for an array of relatively new geopolitical and geoeconomic institutions. Russia – and China – have been on the forefront of all recent key decisions. Their diplomacy has brought Iran to join the SCO as a full member. Their pull is attracting key Global South players to join BRICS+. Russia has all but convinced Turkey to join BRICS+, the SCO and the EAEU, and facilitated the re-approximation of Tehran and Ankara as well as Tehran and Riyadh. Russia has largely influenced the remake/remodel process across West Asia. This NAM 2.0 drive – of which China is a key player – stands in stark opposition to how the Empire of Chaos – and Lies – wove its toxic net, via the war on terror, since the start of the millennium. The Empire tried to subdue what it described as MENA (Middle East-Northern Africa) on the basis of two invasions/occupations (Afghanistan-Iraq); a total devastation (Libya); and a protracted proxy war (Syria). All eventually failed. And that brings us to the stunning contrast between these two foreign policy approaches, graphically illustrated by the spectacular failure of the teleprompter-reading “leader of the free world” in his visit to Jeddah – he was not even allowed to go to Riyadh – compared to Putin’s performance in Tehran. Not only we are witnessing the lineaments of a Russia/Iran/Turkey informal alliance; we are witnessing the alliance reading a soft riot act to the Empire: leave Syria, before you suffer yet another humiliation. And with a Kurd-directed corollary: keep away from the Americans and recognize the authority of Damascus before it’s too late. Ankara could never admit it in public, but the fact is Sultan Erdogan – as much against US troops in Syria as Putin and Raisi – even seems to have swiftly calibrated his previous designs on Syrian sovereign territory. The much-debated Turkish military operation in northern Syria in the end may be restricted to taming the YPG Kurds. The heart of the action will in fact revolve around how the Russia/Iran/Turkey/Syria alliance will make like impossible for Americans stealing Syrian oil. As Russia is now on “take no prisoners” mode when facing the collective West – the mantra in every intervention by Putin, Lavrov, Medvedev, Patrushev – and on top of it firmly aligned with China and Iran, it’s inevitable that every other player across West Asia and beyond is giving undivided attention to the new game in town. Go Caspian, Young Man Interconnecting West Asia and Central Asia, the Caspian Sea has finally reached the geopolitical and geoeconomic limelight – complete with the groundbreaking consensus reached by the five littoral states at the Caspian Summit in late June to officially ban NATO from these waters. Moreover, the leadership in Tehran in no time realized how the Caspian is the perfect, cost-conscious corridor from Iran to the heart of Russia along the Volga. So it’s no wonder that Putin himself, in Tehran, proposed the construction of a key stretch of highway on the St Petersburg-Persian Gulf route, much to the delight of the Iranians. Cue to the nostalgic Great Game crowd in that former “rule the waves” island getting serial heart attacks: they could never imagine the Russian “empire” finally having full access to the warm waters of the Persian Gulf. So we’re back to the absolutely crucial re-engineering of the International North South Transportation Corridor (INTSC) – which will play for Russia and Iran a parallel role the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plays for China. In both cases, it’s all about multimodal Eurasia-wide trade and development corridors immune from interference by the imperial Navy. And here we see the renewed importance of the hyper-strategic liberation of Mariupol and Kherson by the Russian and DPR forces. The Sea of Azov is now configured as a de facto Russian lake – and the same will eventually happen to what is bound to remain of the (currently Ukrainian) Black Sea coast, Odessa included. So we have the ultra-strategic Caspian-Black Sea maritime corridor – via the Volga-Don canal – seamlessly connected to the Black Sea-Mediterranean, and up north, all the way to the Baltic and the fast developing Atlantic-Pacific connector, the Northern Sea Route. Call it the Russian Heartland Water Roads. The NATO/Five Eyes/Intermarium combo has absolutely nothing to counteract these (overland) facts on the (Heartland) ground except to throw a pile of HIMARS into the Ukrainian black hole. And of course, keep de-industrializing Europe. In contrast, those across the Global South with a keen sense of history – as in the grand debate of ideas in a Hegelian sense – and also versed in geography and trade relations are busy getting ready to hit (and profit from) the new groove. Have strategic ambiguity, will travel As much as it’s a blast to survey all the instances of Russia playing strategic ambiguity to levels capable of baffling the entire, bloated “Western intel” apparatus, what is coming to the forefront is how Putin – and Patrushev – are now willfully turning up the pain dial to tactically exhaust not only the Ukrainian black hole but the whole of NATOstan. Western governments are collapsing. Sanctions are being ditched – practically in secret. A Deep Freeze winter is a given. And then there’s the incoming economic/financial crisis, the Definitive Monster from Hell, as Martin Armstrong has made it quite clear: “There is no way they can get out of this other than default. If they default, they are worried about millions of people storming the parliaments of Europe…This is really a tremendous financial crisis that we are facing. They have been borrowing year after year since WWII with zero intention of paying anything back.” Meanwhile, Moscow may be revving up the turbines to launch – this coming Fall? In the middle of Winter? Next Spring? – a multi-spectrum Mother of All Offensives, capitalizing on a rolling series of interconnected strategies that have already rendered dazed and confused every NATOstan “analyst” in sight. That would explain Putin looking like he’s cheerfully whistling JJ Cale’s Call Me the Breeze in most of his public appearances. In his crucial intervention at the Strong Ideas for a New Time forum, he enthusiastically promoted the advent of “truly revolutionary” and “enormous” changes that would lead to the creation of a new, “harmonious, fairer and more community-focused and safe” world order. Yet that’s not for everyone: “only truly sovereign states can ensure high growth dynamics.” What that implies is that the unipolar world order, followed by states in the collective West which are hardly sovereign, is condemned to fail, as it’s “becoming a brake on the development of our civilization.” Only a self-confident sovereign who does not expect anything constructive from the collective West can get away with describing it as “racist and neo-colonial”, bearing an ideology that “is becoming increasingly more like totalitarianism.” In the old NAM days these words would be met with an assassination. So will the “rules-based international order” be preserved? Not a chance, argues Putin: the changes are “irreversible.” For those about to rock, NAM 2.0 salutes you. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/25/2022 - 02:00.....»»

US airmen were told that bombing Nazi oil refineries in Ploesti could shorten WWII by six months. They were also told half of them might not survive. B-24 Liberators pass through the target area at treetop-height during the raid on oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, August 1, 1943.US Army Air Force In August 1943, the US launched an audacious raid on one of Nazi Germany's most valuable resources. Nearly 200 B-24 bombers carried out a low-level attack on oil refineries in Ploiești, Romania. 79 years later, the US military is still looking for airmen who didn't make it home from "Black Sunday." On August 1, 1943, US Army Air Force B-24 Liberators took off from bases in Libya for an audacious raid on one of the Nazi military's most valuable resources.Operation Tidal Wave was meant to destroy Nazi-controlled oil fields and refineries at Ploiești, north of Bucharest, Romania. The campaign was unprecedented in scale, with 1,725 airmen taking off in 177 bombers.The attack on Ploiești, a sweeping, low-level bombing raid, took a heavy toll on the US airmen involved: 225 of them were killed, earning the day the grim nickname Black Sunday.US airmen killed in the 1943 raid on Ploiești and identified by the Ploiești Unknowns Project.Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyMany of those fallen airmen were not immediately recovered or identified.Three-quarters of a century later, the US Department of Defense's POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has been using archival research and modern forensics — including DNA analysis from exhumed skeletal remains — to account for airmen still missing from the 1943 mission.The "Ploiești Unknowns Project," which began in 2017, has so far identified remains of 19 Tidal Wave airmen and notified their descendants.In the last three months alone, the Pentagon has announced the identification of five Ploiești airmen: Sgt. Elvin L. Phillips, 23; 1st Lt. Louis V. Girard, 20; Lt. Col. Addison E Baker, 36; 2nd Lt. David M. Lewis, 20; and Staff Sgt. William O. Wood, 25.The missionThe Columbia Aquila refinery in Ploesti, Romania, most likely in 1943.US Office of War InformationOperation Tidal Wave was the Allies' first large-scale, low-altitude raid against a well-defended Axis target, and the stakes were high.The oil fields and refineries spread across the 18-square-mile complex produced one-third of the Reich's oil, which powered everything from cars and tanks to planes and warships.Allied leaders who had agreed on the next phase of the war at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 believed that obliterating "Hitler's gas station" would be critical to slowing the movement of Axis troops and supplies. They also knew such a mission would be costly.Training for Operation Tidal Wave took place in Libya, where airmen from five different bomb groups lived mainly in tents in the sweltering desert around Benghazi.B-24 bombers over the oil refinery in Ploiesti, August 1943.Mondadori via Getty ImagesCrews simulated bombing runs on a life-size replica of the refinery complex. Models of their assigned targets were built with wood and canvas. The airmen learned how to make use of the B-24's relatively long range and heavy payloads for the 2,000-mile flight to Romania and back.Despite the preparation, a variety of conditions made an already treacherous mission even more dangerous.The airmen would be tight on fuel, flying lower and longer than usual, and dealing with maintenance issues caused by the harsh desert conditions, like sand clogging their engines.The commander of the 44th Bomb Group warned his airmen that only half of them were likely to survive. Radio operator Norm Kiefer remembers a briefing officer saying "the target was so important that if we lost all of the attacking force but destroyed the refineries, it would be worth it."The message to airmen was that this single raid could shorten the war by as much as six months.Early on August 1, crews began taking off from Libya, flying in formation across the Mediterranean toward their targets. Waves of B-24s followed each other, keeping radio silence to evade German radar.A B-24 over a burning oil refinery in Ploesti, August 1, 1943.44th Bomb Group Photograph CollectionYet little went as planned on the path to Ploiești. Navigation issues led entire squadrons off course. Meanwhile, the Germans knew more about the raid, and were better prepared for it, than the Allies anticipated.The airmen encountered heavy German resistance, including barrage balloons. The Germans also set smoke pots ablaze in the bombers' path to obscure targets and blind Allied pilots.Billowing clouds of black smoke limited visibility and interfered with navigation as the B-24s descended to drop their bombs. They flew so low — just 50 feet off the ground — that gunners on the bombers had to aim up at anti-aircraft guns on the roofs of buildings.Other disguised defenses — anti-aircraft guns hidden among train tracks, oil tanks, and surrounding fields — greeted the vulnerable bombers as they streaked toward their targets.The costs and recovery effortsOil storage tanks at the Columbia Aquila refinery in Ploesti ablaze after the raid by US B-24 bombers, August 1, 1943.US Office of War InformationOperation Tidal Wave proved that the USAAF could carry out large-scale offensive bombing raids, but the feat came at a high price.The raid knocked about 46% of Ploesti's annual production offline, but the Germans had the refineries up and running at full capacity within three months. The US Army Air Forces never tried another low-level raid against the Germans.More than 50 of the 177 bombers involved did not return. German soldiers in the region captured 32 airmen alive and collected the remains of some who had been killed. Crashed bombers and bodies left a horrifying scene around Ploiești.Because the bombers flew in waves and had separate targets, and because in many cases they missed their targets or purposely veered off-course after being hit, Allied forces struggled to recover the scattered, often badly burned bodies.Romanian soldiers and civilians look at a B-24 bomber shot down near the Ploiesti refinery complex in 1943.Mondadori via Getty Images"They crashed all over the place," said Christine Cohn, the lead DPAA historian on the Ploiești Unknowns Project. "There was a lot of scatter … some bailed, but most were killed as they were flying so low."Still, Romanian citizens worked to locate fallen airmen after the raid, burying them in the Civilian and Military Cemetery in Ploiesti and in 10 smaller cemeteries in nearby villages.After the war, the American Graves Registration Command attempted to recover fallen Americans from across the European Theater.There was a joint effort to exhume remains of US airmen in and around Ploiești. German POWs were sometimes tasked with excavating the graves.German prisoners of war exhume graves at a temporary US cemetery in Europe.Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyThe conditions of the remains and their burials made identification harder. Evidence of each soldier's identity — things like dog tags — was often missing.Excavated remains were sent to France and Belgium for bone analysis to help determine height, weight, and age. Scientists studied what was left of the airmens' mouths using fillings, cavities, and missing teeth to help with identification.In the early 1950s, the US government suspended its Return of the Dead program, pausing active searches to recover World War II remains. Some 80 US airmen killed over Ploiești remained unidentified.Many of their exhumed remains were stored in Belgium, where they were essentially untouched for nearly 50 years.Today's effortsOperation Tidal Wave from on Vimeo.A 21st-century change in government policy opened the door to using forensics to identify soldiers' bodies. That led the DPAA to launch the latest effort to exhume and identify the remains of Tidal Wave airmen in graves marked as "unknown."Cohn commended Romanian civilians for burying the fallen airmen during the war but said the way bodies were buried — sometimes with multiple bodies in one casket — complicates the identification process.Cohn has spent the last several years doing in-depth research to build cases that the Department of Defense should approve the disinterment of specific remains by demonstrating that a successful identification is likely.She studies the raid and peruses photos of remains, aerial imagery, maps and airmen's files, using evidence and a lot of Excel spreadsheets to narrow down who each "unknown" airman could be.When disinterment is approved, the skeletal remains are sent to anthropologists at a DPAA lab in Nebraska, where they examine the bones and try to match them to a specific file.When the lab team led by Megan Ingvoldstad, a DPAA scientist, is confident about a specific match, a US Army genealogist contacts family members, sharing details and requesting DNA samples to compare to the skeletal remains.Remains recovered by the Ploiești Unknowns Project are transferred at Offutt Air Force Base, September 4, 2020US Air Force/Leticia CunninghamThe recent announcement of the identification of Lt. Col. Addison Baker was the 17th time the Unknowns Project team matched unidentified remains to an unaccounted-for Tidal Wave airman since the project began.Baker, a 36-year-old pilot from Chicago, was commander of the 93rd Bombardment Group. As he approached his target over Ploesti, his B-24 was hit by an anti-aircraft shell and caught fire.Instead of attempting an emergency landing, Baker continued leading his formation toward the target. After his crew unleashed their bombs, Baker veered away from the formation to avoid a collision and tried to climb high enough for his crew to bail. Despite the effort, all 10 crew members were killed. Baker received a posthumous Medal of Honor for his actions.In April, Baker's nephews — who knew their uncle before he went to war and provided DNA to confirm the identification of his remains — joined other family members and Army representatives to celebrate the news that Baker had been accounted for after 78 years.Beyond the historical significance of the Unknowns Project, Cohn sees her team's efforts as one important way to honor the ultimate sacrifice made by those airmen."It is very significant for me to be able to give closure to the families of the missing," Cohn said. "It's our responsibility to go out and find them and bring them home."Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

In the isolated village of Molovata Nouă, Moldova, locals told Insider they fear that Russian troops in Transnistria could force them from their land. A soldier stands guard at the ferry landing and entrance to Molovata Nouă, Moldova.Charles Davis/Insider Insider traveled to a small, isolated village that borders Transnistria. Transnistria is a breakaway region supported by Russia, which stations around 1,500 troops there. Locals said they fear the war in Ukraine could spread to their homes in Moldova. MOLOVATA NOUĂ, Moldova — Victor Besleaga remembers well the start of the war that killed his brother. It was dark when Russian troops surrounded the station in Dubăsari, a 20-minute drive from the border with Ukraine, where he was working as a police officer.Less than a year earlier, in 1991, Moldova had declared independence from the Soviet Union — and, according to the propaganda that helped spark a conflict that killed hundreds, it was now oppressing Russian speakers in a region that today is known as Transnistria, a breakaway republic aligned with Moscow but unrecognized by the international community.A firefight broke out, leaving one of the soldiers dead; to save their own lives, the police soon gave up their arms and surrendered. Victor remembers being transported to Tiraspol, the self-proclaimed capital of Transnistria, and paraded before cameras broadcasting back to Russia. Overnight, this veteran of the Soviet military, trained as a paratrooper in Belarus, had become a "Romanian Nazi infiltrator." He spent the next month gasping for air in a tiny basement cell, packed in with 14 others, before being released in a prisoner swap. He went straight to the hospital — and from there, rejoined the police and fought to retake the city he served in.Today, Victor, 50, with salt-and-pepper hair, gray-blue eyes and wearing a black Champion tracksuit, lives in the village where he was born, Molovata Nouă, speaking in the classroom he attended as a child, now a local history museum run by his wife. It is a 15-minute drive (and a Russian military checkpoint away) from the city where he once worked as a cop.There is no bridge to this village, where 10 people died in the conflict that began in the darkness of March 2, 1992, and concluded some four months later. Five of the deceased were combatants who fought to keep it part of Moldova.They prevailed. But today the village is an isolated enclave surrounded by a hostile entity. The government of Russian President Vladimir Putin insists the residents of Transnistria, next door and all around the village, are still being oppressed. There have been claimed terrorist incidents there, pinned on Ukrainians. The old fears are back.Victor Besleaga said even some veterans who fought against Russia in the 1992 Transnistria war now believe its propaganda.Charles Davis/InsiderA country dividedTransnistria is, for the most part, located to the east of the Dniester river all the way to the border with Ukraine, while Moldova's central government in Chișinău, for the most part, controls everything to the west, up to the border with Romania. Molovata Nouă is different. The negotiations that ended the 1992 conflict resulted in oddities, like this community of just over 2,100 people being engulfed by a separatist region and divided from the rest of the country by a wide river.The only way to reach the village directly by road requires driving through a hostile entity, where as many as 1,500 Russian soldiers operate alongside Transnistrian forces, and a handful of Moldovans, as "peacekeepers" — and where some 300,000 people have forged a separate national identity, a generation now having been falsely taught that their erstwhile neighbors tried to carry out a genocide of Russian speakers.Transnistria controls just about everything to the north and south of the village. It is an area of single-story homes with white paint and tile roofs, green meadows. A small herd of goats can be seen fenced in behind one of the houses. Outside the village are agricultural lands, growing fruits and vegetables; a road connecting north and south Transnistria runs through it, and the authorities have consistently harassed the owners and defied the 1992 peace agreement, seizing crops, and even asserting ownership over the land.Peacekeepers stand near a BTR-70 armored personnel carrier by the road to Dubăsari and the Molovata Nouă ferry in Moldova.Charles Davis/InsiderFor those unwilling or unable to pass through the separatist region — where oligarchs backed by free-flowing Russian gas control the politics, and where authorities maintain a blacklist of personas non grata — there is a ferry, free of charge and capable of carrying both people and cars, departing every two hours during the day. But the ferry does not operate if it is too windy or when the river has frozen, as typically happens a couple weeks a year. During the pandemic, Transnistria closed its borders altogether to arrest the spread of COVID-19, eliminating that travel option for more than a year.The village itself hosts Russian and Transnistrian forces, who greet visitors as they get off the ferry, and an old but regularly maintained BTR-70 armored personnel carrier from Russia, an indignity — foreign usurpers on land that was mutually agreed to be Moldova — that some now find intolerable."The feelings about the Russian peacekeepers were always negative, because they are staying illegally in the village," Victor said. "After the war started, the relationship between locals and peacekeepers became even worse."!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r.....»»

Insider traveled to the breakaway state of Transnistria, which Russia claims is being oppressed, days before a series of explosions there. A bridge over the Dniester river is painted in the colors of the Russian and Transnistrian flags.Charles Davis/Insider Insider traveled to the breakaway "republic" of Transnistria on the border of Ukraine. The territory is occupied by Russian troops and controlled by pro-Russia separatists. A local woman told Insider her neighbors are afraid to talk about the war in Ukraine. TIRASPOL, TRANSNISTRIA — This might be the only city in Europe where there is no indication that a war is being waged in Ukraine, despite that country only being a 20-minute drive away.Along the main drag in Tiraspol, the capital of what billboards proclaim to be the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, also known as Transnistria, there are smart cafes with modern, all-glass exteriors that look like they would be more at home in Manhattan than a breakaway, unrecognized state currently occupied by 1,500 Russian soldiers. There is an Italian restaurant, an Indian-themed casino, consulates for Abkhazia and South Ossetia (other separatist enclaves recognized by Moscow but not the international community) and a decommissioned tank commemorating the 1992 war that led this heavily industrialized region along the Dniester river, controlled by oligarchs and subsidized by free Russian gas, to break away from Moldova. On a pleasant Saturday afternoon, there were cyclists and children rollerblading on clean, paved streets crowded with trolleys and late-model cars — including a convoy of BMW enthusiasts. A movie theater was lined with posters for "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and the latest superhero film from Marvel.What there was not was any sign of the conflict next door. Ukrainians live here, as do Russians, but there is no propaganda either for or against the Feb. 24 invasion, an odd and conspicuous silence given that this pseudo-state's leaders have for decades proclaimed their desire to be annexed by Moscow. The flag of the Russian Federation hangs on all local government buildings, a special housing complex built for Russian military officers, and soldiers in Russia's military manning checkpoints across the territory.Russian soldiers and local volunteers collaborate at military bases in Transnistria.Charles Davis/InsiderA day before Insider visited, a Russian general, Rustam Minnekaev, insisted that his country's goal was to conquer southern Ukraine and liberate this separatist region of some 300,000 people, claiming there was "oppression of the Russian-speaking population." Russian leaders weighed similar accusations in launching the Ukraine war, but fierce resistance in Mykolaiv has stopped their troops from surging west to besiege Odessa, the country's third largest city, just an hour from Moldova's border.But there was no indication of a pending military operation here, although days later there were a series of explosions at a building used by the local services — "pretexts," Moldovan authorities said, for inflaming tensions. That was followed by reported attacks Tuesday on radio transmission towers that bore the "signature" of Russian intelligence operatives, a former Moldovan defense minister said.Forty-eight hours earlier, at the de facto border checkpoint between Moldova and Transnistria, yards away from a contingent of Russian troops, a guard in military fatigues did not even ask why someone with a US passport would be visiting, simply handing this reporter a slip of paper granting admission.But the war, while absent in Transnistria's public spaces — if not its television, which is flooded with propaganda directly from Moscow — is just behind the facade. There are refugees here, including cars with Ukrainian plates, as well as inflation and a shortage of goods that used to be imported through an eastern border that is now sealed. At a train station in the city of Bender, a sign in English informed visitors that there are no more departures. You can enter the station, it stated, "but there is no way you go on rail tracks. We repeat: No way!!!" At the start of the war, Ukrainian soldiers blew up the rails that connected the region to Odessa.On an elevated walkway that allows residents to cross the 14 tracks outside the station, a little girl could be heard complaining to a little boy: she can no longer find her favorite Ukrainian brand of chocolate. A tank monument in Tiraspol celebrates Russia's "Great Patriotic War" and the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.Charles Davis/InsiderOutside the cities, in a village where people can speak with less fear of being overheard by the security services, an old woman, Amina — not her real name — said she opposed the war in Ukraine. But, she added, the conflict was not something she would feel comfortable even discussing with neighbors who had lived alongside her for decades. A code of silence prevails."It's a taboo — nobody talks about this in public, so nobody knows who supports the war," she said. It's the kind of thing one only discusses in the kitchen with the radio on.In the first days after the war, she walked around the village with an ornament, called a martisor, that is usually made of red and white string and worn on one's chest to celebrate the beginning of spring. Hers was done in the blue-and-yellow of the Ukrainian flag. Neighbors warned her to take it off, she said, not necessarily because they believe what's on their televisions from pro-Russian channels but because they were concerned for her safety.She herself came to oppose the war because the historical analogies were too striking. At a museum inside an Ottoman-era fortress in Bender — located above a military base with Russian soldiers, and currently undergoing renovations funded by the European Union — a sign celebrating the foreign military presence justified it in terms identical to those used by Russian President Vladimir Putin today. Russian soldiers, it said, had ended a "bloody genocide" perpetrated by "radical nationalists" in Moldova, whose reactionary preference for the Romanian language, previously suppressed by the Soviet Union, had led them to impose "a number of discriminatory language laws." "I was here in 1992," Amina said. "And now I have the same feeling as 30 years ago. It's the same thing happening."If war does come here again, locals think it won't stop with Ukraine and Transnistria.A museum at the Ottoman-era Bendery Fortress in Transnistria celebrates Russian intervention.Charles Davis/InsiderSince the beginning, before Putin even came to power, Russia has been using Transnistria as a "kind of blackmail," Igor Munteanu, Moldova's ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2015, said in an interview at his office in Chisinau. The vast majority of Moldova's electricity is generated in Transnistria, the power plants there running on Russian gas and coal. In part, that protects Moldova — Russia is seen as unlikely to cut off the supply to a loyal proxy state — but it also ensures dependence."Anytime that Moldova says that 'we would like to join the European Union,'" he said, Russia responds, 'Well, keep in mind, we are against that.'"But the most important political leverage, Munteanu said, is Russia's intelligence and military presence in Transnistria.In addition to its own military presence, "they have trained and recruited local inhabitants." The self-declared republic has a military force of its own that is at least as large as the Republic of Moldova's, with better arms and a number of tanks. "And they can enlarge the military contingent, which is following the orders of the Russian Federation, by 10 times — they can easily recruit and mobilize 50,000 soldiers from Transnistria."Because it is not an internally recognized state, Transnistria cannot have its currency produced by reputable printers, forcing it to turn to plastic tokens like those used casinos.Charles Davis/InsiderTransnistria is the site of a former USSR ammunition depot that is believed to be one of the largest in eastern Europe. The statelet's railroads, which use the same broad-gauge track as Ukraine and Russia, is seen by analysts as a potential resupply route for the railway-dependent Russia military if the war eventually comes to Odessa. In the immediate wake of Russia's invasion, Munteanu thought it reasonable to conclude that Ukraine was not the only objective. Putin has repeatedly expressed his anger not just at Kyiv, but at the rest of Moscow's former satellites in Eastern Europe who have chosen closer relations with the West — he views them as client states of Washington, akin to what he's sought over Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia  — and at the Soviet leaders who allowed them to regain their independence."I think when he speaks about recovering what belongs to Russia, he means also Moldova," Munteanu said. "And from day zero, he meant an invasion."No cargo trains are currently leaving the station in Bender, Transnistria.Charles Davis/InsiderIn Chisinau, life goes on, families packing churches over the weekend for Easter celebrations and to take home with them a candle lit by the Holy Fire — a flame that is delivered by plane from Jerusalem to Orthodox churches across Eastern Europe.People are nervous, but Moldovans who fled the country after the Feb. 24 invasion have trickled back, officials say, encouraged by Russian setbacks, particularly the failure to capture Odessa; the Ukrainian port city, a short drive from the border, is a commonly accepted bellwether — if it falls, Moldova will be next. Eyes are also on America: if US diplomats start leaving, thousands of Moldovans will follow.No one, certainly, believes Moldova could resist an invasion, should it ever come to that. Locals joke that the country's armed forces would be able to hold the capital for about two hours — the time it would take Russia to drive an armored vehicle from the border. Not even the country's elected officials pretend its armed forces would be any match.In his office on the sixth floor of the Soviet-era parliament building in Chisinau, lawmaker Radu Marian, vice president of the governing Party of Action and Solidarity, rubbed his face and sighed when asked if his country would be able to put up a fight."With Russia?" he said. "I don't know how."Russian and Transnistrian flags wave in Suvorov Square in Tiraspol, the self-proclaimed capital of Transnistria, on Saturday, April 23, 2022.Charles Davis/InsiderAt 32, Marian is one of a slew of young people with no prior experience in politics who came to power in Moldova's 2021 elections, when PAS, the newly formed pro-Western party of President Maia Sandu, won nearly 60% of the vote on an anti-corruption platform, defeating a Socialist party widely seen as a proxy for the Kremlin. Since then, the party's anti-corruption message has been overshadowed by consecutive crises: two deadly waves of COVID-19 followed by a war that has changed the tiny country's demographics, with nearly 100,000 of its 3 million inhabitants now refugees from Ukraine.The war has not, however, changed Moldova's security policy. The country is not in the EU and, so long as part of its territory is controlled by Russian-backed separatists, it can never join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.In order to avoid a confrontation, Moldova, its constitution committing it to military neutrality, has condemned the war in Ukraine and accepted more refugees per capita than any other nation. But it has refused to allow its territory to be used for the transfer of weapons. It has also declined to sanction Moscow — and it's not requesting any new weapon from its allies in Washington and Brussels, fearing that would put a target on its back.There is no Plan B."We are not Ukraine," Marian said. "We don't have Stingers, we don't have tanks, we don't have planes, and we have no combat experience whatsoever. It's just the reality."It's a reality that raises an uncomfortable question."Do you put up a fight and trigger massive killings?" Marian asked. "Or, you know, just do what the Netherlands did in the Second World War when the Nazis came in —  and just hope that the regime will be overthrown at one point.""It's a bit crazy to talk about these things," he added, "but we need to talk."Nearly all business in Transnistria is controlled by oligarchs, with the "Sheriff" brand on supermarkets and football stadiums.Charles Davis/InsiderBack in Transnistria, the normalcy is artificial. People are scared to act any other way.According to Moldovan authorities, Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted a large uptick in residents there applying for passports issued by their ostensible "radical nationalist" enemy in Chisinau, needing documents from an internationally recognized country if they wish to escape their self-proclaimed state ahead of an invasion.Andrei Crigan of the business consulting group Gateway & Partners in Moldova, who was born in Transnistria, said the lack of real opportunity is another driving factor. "There's a group that holds a monopoly on the economy, called Sheriff," Crigan noted, founded by Viktor Gushan and Ilya Kazmaly, both of whom enjoy Russian citizenship. "They're controlling everything. If you want to open a business and you want to grow it, you cannot do that. You will be slapped on your head at some point and they will take this business from you."Many people in Transnistria "kind of feel like Russians," Crigan said, "but they see the reality and they say, 'What kind of Russia is that? Or what is Russia doing for us?'"A statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin at a park in Bender, Transnistria.Charles Davis/InsiderBut people stay in undesirable situations for the same reasons people do anywhere else.Amina, for example, has seen both her children move away. And now she lives with the fear of a coming war.Why stay, then, in a breakaway state? "This is home," she said. Generations of her family lived here, Amina said, and it's like a magnet: if she tries to leave it pulls her back.Many of her neighbors may well identify with Russia, but merely residing in the territory should not be read as support for any purported liberation by Moscow.  As Amina spoke, news was breaking that Russian missiles had struck residential buildings in Odessa, killing eight people, including a mother and her newborn child.Pouring some wine in her garden, she proposed a toast: "To the death of Putin."Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.comRead the original article on Business Insider.....»»

"This is an existential war, and Russia has brought it to these people, and they are mass-murdering civilians," said Malcolm Nance. Ukrainian servicemen carry rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles towards the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 13, 2022.DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images  Former MSNBC analyst Malcolm Nance is in Ukraine fighting against the Russians. Nance appeared on MSNBC in combat gear, holding an assault rifle. "The more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought, 'I'm done talking, all right? It's time to take action here,'" Nance said. Former MSNBC analyst Malcolm Nance has been fighting against Russian forces in Ukraine as part of an international legion of troops, which he joined after deciding that he was "done talking" about the conflict and that it was time to "take action."Nance told MSNBC host Joy Reid this week that he joined the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine a month ago."Well, as you know, I spent quite a bit of time here in the pre-war period, and when the invasion happened, I had friends who are in Donetsk, who are in the Ukrainian army, who are writing to us and telling us, 'We're not gonna survive tonight. We've been hit 500 times,'" he said."The more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought: 'I'm done talking, alright? It's time to take action here,'" Nance added.He told Reid that he had gone to Ukraine to help the country "fight what essentially is a war of extermination.""This is an existential war, and Russia has brought it to these people, and they are mass-murdering civilians. And there are people here like me, who are here to do something about it," said Nance.He added that he joined the international legion to assist them with his skills. Before heading to Ukraine, Nance was the director of a think-tank called the Terror Asymmetrics Project on Strategy, Tactics, and Radical Ideologies. He also worked as an MSNBC analyst, speaking on issues such as terrorism and foreign affairs.Nance also served in the Navy as an intelligence collections operator and has been involved in counterterrorism operations in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East."I'm grateful to be here, I'm glad that I can help my friends. And I don't have to listen to them talk about how many children were killed that day," Nance said. Nance also posted an image of himself on Twitter in full combat gear, holding a weapon.—Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) April 19, 2022 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set up the legion that Nance joined in February to facilitate foreign citizens who wanted to join the Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion. In an interview with The Daily Beast's Zachary Petrizzo, Nance said he was "very touched" when he met his first platoon and noted that everyone was there for "the right reasons" and not just to get their hands on guns."The international legion is one of the best-kept secrets in the country. That's the story. They were higher-level people than I am," Nance told The Daily Beast. "I really can't tell you how diverse a group it really is. It is literally a multinational force of men and women who are here to defend Ukraine." "Also, if anybody gives me any fucking flak, just tell them to shut the fuck up since they're obviously pussies who have never been in combat. The Legion only takes combat vets," he said, per the outlet.MSNBC confirmed in a tweet on Tuesday that Nance no longer works for the network.In March, The Washington Post reported that, according to estimates by Ukrainian officials, around 4,000 Americans have joined the international legion in Ukraine and have signed contracts stating that they will fight until the war ends.The US government has indicated in its travel advisory for Ukraine that it will not be able to evacuate American citizens from the country. Those who disregard the travel advisory have been advised to draft wills and establish personal security plans. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

One video circulating over social media appears to show a Russian vehicle with pine saplings taped to its side, according to The Washington Post. Russian vehicles seen covered with straw as they head into Ukraine's Donbas region.Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Russian troops in Ukraine appear to be using twigs, hay, and saplings to cover their vehicles. One video circulating on social media shows a Russian vehicle taped with saplings, per The Washington Post. In comparison, Ukrainian troops have been using camouflage nets to obscure themselves in the war. Russian forces in Ukraine appear to be using carpets, saplings, and hay to cover their armored vehicles, a possible sign that they haven't been provided adequate camouflage equipment, The Washington Post reported.One video of a firefight circulating over social media shows a military vehicle with pine saplings sparsely taped to its side, per The Post.—Woofers (@NotWoofers) March 27, 2022Another video, also identified by The Post, depicts Russian troops covering an armored vehicle with tarpaulin and carpets.—Rob Lee (@RALee85) March 22, 2022 Several images of a Russian convoy crossing into the eastern Donbas region the day before the war began also show the roofs of multiple military vehicles covered with straw.A convoy of Russian military vehicles in the Russian border city Rostov on February 23.Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesAnother photo shows a Russian armored vehicle in the convoy topped with twigs.One vehicle in the convoy was seen topped with twigsStringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesThe absence of camouflage netting among some Russian forces shows a surprising lack of preparation, and perhaps an initial overconfidence from their military leaders, Russian military expert Rob Lee told The Post.The US military has used camouflage nets since the 1990s and recently upgraded them to fit woodland, snow, and desert environments. Ukrainian troops have also been using such nets, with civilians even helping to weave them for use on the frontline.The quality of Russia's troops and equipment have come into question in the weeks after Russian leader Vladimir Putin declared a full-scale invasion into Ukraine.Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia's army "incompetent," adding that Moscow was "driving their people to slaughter" and that Ukrainian troops had inflicted "unprecedented losses" upon the invaders.Russian casualties have continued to mount as the war stretches longer than the Kremlin reportedly anticipated. A NATO official estimated on March 24 that at least 40,000 Russian troops had been killed, captured or injured in the invasion.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Want Some Freedom With That Cup O' Joe? 5 Pro-American Coffee Companies Authored by Aden Tate via The Organic Prepper blog, If, like me, you enjoy your daily coffee habit but tire of the ever-increasing number of globalist coffee companies out there that seem to hate everything that America stands for (while profiting from us), you’re liable to be interested in pro-American coffee companies owned by Americans who actually love America. After a bit of digging on what are the most patriotic coffee companies in America, here is a list of some of my favorites. So brew up a cup and enjoy. Disaster Coffee Another of the pro-American coffee companies you can’t go wrong with is Disaster Coffee. Owned by James Walton of the Prepper Broadcasting Network. (I have a podcast called The Last American on the Preppers’ Broadcasting Network. You should check it out.) Disaster Coffee has a wide variety of choices all at very affordable prices. Civil Unrest Medium Roast, Pandemic Dark Roast, and all other coffees hover right around the $15 range per bag, making this one of the most accessible coffee sellers on this list. One of the things which sets them apart from other coffee companies as well is that they also sell green coffee beans. They call them their Bunker Beans. If you’ve been doing any research on storing coffee long-term you know that green coffee beans are one of the best ways of doing so. You have to roast them yourself before you use them (here’s how). This helps to ensure that your coffee is fresh for as long as possible. You can easily pick up 5 pounds of Bunker Beans for $40 here at this company that’s pro-freedom, a supporter of the Second Amendment (redundant with pro-freedom, I know), and that supports disaster relief organizations throughout the US after Murphy’s Law strikes. I’ve only tried their Category 6 and Pandemic, but the Pandemic is our favorite roast around here. Freedom 1 Coffee  Aside from being veteran-owned and operated (by active-duty Army officer, Lawton Wilson), Freedom 1 Coffee also gives you 10% off your first order. If you go ahead and stock up on your first purchase (you know, because of future worsening supply chain shortages), that could result in quite a substantial savings. Their coffee comes in right around the $15 range, with some of their more noteworthy blends including Blackbird Top Secret, Patriot Brazilian Coffee, and Charge Ethiopian Coffee. Freedom 1 does a lot to support American troops as well, donating part of their proceeds to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Tunnel to Towers, Wreaths Across America, and Operation Restored Warrior. And just in case you were wondering, no, they don’t carry tea. As Lawton spells out on the site, the only tea he enjoys is in the harbor. Minuteman Coffee Familiar with the work of Glen Tate (299 Days) or Shelby Gallagher (The Divide)? If so, you’ll be happy to know that this is the coffee that works with them on their podcast Prepping 2.0. The majority of Minuteman Coffee products cost, ahem, $17.76, but the increased price is due to your purchasing 16 oz. bags when you buy their coffee rather than the 12 oz. bags that most other coffee companies out there sell. Some of their noteworthy brews are their Betsy Ross (Colombian Light Roast), Don’t Tread on Me (Signature Dark Roast), Come and Take It (Colombian Dark Roast), and their decaf brew – Liberal Tears. Beard Vet Excellence Coffee If you’re somebody who doesn’t want just black coffee then you’ll like the options Beard Vet brings to the table. You will find coffees such as Guerilla Nilla (French vanilla), Combat Crunch (caramel roasted vanilla nut), Dress Blues (blueberry and pecan medium roast) at Beard Vet. All for the very reasonable price of around $13 a bag. They offer free shipping on purchases over $35 as well, so if you stock up now and grab a couple of bags for Christmas presents as well, you can save yourself a pretty penny. They do a number of sales throughout the course of the year that can only be described as fantastic (coffee for $10/bag, anyone?), and have done a lot of work in the past helping disabled vets and Gold Star families. This is definitely one of the pro-American coffee companies you’re going to want to keep your eyes on. Revere Coffee Company While they don’t’ have as many options as many of the other guys out there, it’s hard to argue with $13 a bag. Here you can find your standard light, medium, and dark roasts in their Freedom, Liberty, and The Patriot coffees. And if you’re going to purchase coffee from a company that donates some of the proceeds to charity, it may as well go towards anti-brainwashing agencies such as PragerU and Turning Point USA. Check out local options as well. You may be surprised what you can find locally, too. And we’re all about shortening the supply chain here at The Organic Prepper. One of the things I will say is to definitely see what’s in your area. More and more people are turning to the local coffee roastery scene. You’re bound to find options sourced near you. And, you may even get the chance to talk to the owner personally. Grab your dough and buy some Joe from these pro-American coffee companies. From everything I’ve seen, these are all great companies you can trust to not use their profits to further the destruction of the American way of life. That’s becoming harder and harder to find out there, but these guys all seem to know what they’re doing. If you’re looking at everything going on, wondering when the coffee beans will stop coming in, stock up while you can with these pro-American coffee companies. Tyler Durden Mon, 11/15/2021 - 20:20.....»»