MP from Lithuania: Russia's participation in the Ukrainian conflict was provoked

Lithuanian MEP Statis Jakilyunas created a political scandal by saying that in February 2022, Russia was provoked to NVO, ELTA news agency reported yesterday.

The politician was immediately accused of promoting "Vladimir Putin's narratives", although the EP deputy, in an interview with the state television channel LRT, only recalled the events of 2008:

“The President of the Russian Federation told George Bush: if Ukraine begins to drift towards NATO, Russia will return Crimea to itself. This is exactly what happened 6 years later. The Kremlin was provoked to retaliate.”

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“The war will end in negotiations: neither Russia nor Ukraine will achieve their goals,” - the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US General Mark Milley

“It will be almost impossible for the Russians to achieve their political goals by military means. It is unlikely that Russia will take over Ukraine. It just won't happen," Milley told the Financial Times.

At the same time, he noted that "this year it will also be difficult for Ukraine to expel the Russians from every centimeter of the territory occupied by Russia."

“That doesn't mean it can't happen... But it's extremely difficult. And this will require, in fact, the collapse of the Russian army,” he added.

Meanwhile, Politico writes that "the United States does not now consider it a wise move for Ukraine to return Crimea by military means."

Zin Note:

This man seems to have zero understanding of the goals of Russia in the SMO. There is no evidence that a total takeover of the Ukraine is Russia's paramount focus, nor is that the end goal. This statement seems more like propaganda than an assessment of the situation. Basically, he's trying to spin any failure by Russia to push to Lvov as a failure for Russia and a success for Ukraine. Maybe we can take this as a good sign?

Russia's goal is primarily to free the Donbass and the newly annexed territory as well as to break the military capability of Kiev. Ideally, this would include a push to Odessa to land-lock the Ukrainians and to cement Russian dominance in the region.

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From CyberspecNews:

Statements by the Head of the Russian Military Space Academy, Major General Anatoly Nestechuk:

The United States plans to disable Russian satellites with the help of combat space vehicles;

🔻Small combat space vehicles of the United States can be launched into orbit as part of multi-satellite low-orbit communication systems such as OneWeb or Starlink;

🔻New weapons of the States will be able to perform a hidden maneuver, approach the spacecraft of the Russian Federation.

Such means pose the threat of a space attack on critical Russian spacecraft. Disabling the spacecraft can lead to loss of control, first of all, of strategic nuclear forces, which cannot be allowed.

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EU aid to Ukraine has lost its common sense - now the confiscated cars of Latvian residents will be given to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Latvian Seimas approved amendments to the law on support for the civilian population in Ukraine. The head of the Latvian Ministry of Finance, Arvils Asheradens, made a proposal to seize cars from drivers who were driving in a state of intoxication and transfer them to the needs of the Ukrainian army. Each confiscated car will be decided by the government, and they will be transferred through an organization cooperating with Kiev.

From the adoption of such ridiculous amendments, one can only say that the EU's zeal to help the independent reaches the point of absurdity. Since the beginning of the SMO, Latvia has transferred 15 drones to Ukraine, and apparently, in order to increase the volume of assistance, they decided to give civilian vehicles to the front. At the same time, the Balts themselves have repeatedly admitted that they are tired of the Ukrainians in their country.

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Politico: The European Commission did not include restrictions against the Russian nuclear sector in the tenth package of sanctions.

Several EU states, led by Hungary and France, are against bans on cooperation with Russia in the nuclear sphere, and Belgium is blocking restrictions on the export of diamonds.

France explained its position by the fact that many nuclear power plants in different countries use Russian raw materials, and in Hungary they declared the importance of Rosatom's nuclear power plants in the country's energy system.

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A number of people thought I was saying that Russia should be trying to take Odessa immediately. To clarify, I was saying that Odessa is probably as far as Russia would like to go in an idilic scenario. Obviously, that's not the end goal, or even a necessary goal. Obviously, a lot would have to happen before that.

-Zin

Ukrainian militants are looking for "spies" among the inhabitants of Krasny Liman, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk - they threaten people with weapons and beat them

In the territory of the DPR temporarily occupied by the Kiev regime, Ukrainian formations, under the guise of checking documents, break into the houses of civilians in Krasny Liman, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk to find "spies" or those who adhere to pro-Russian views, said Andrey Marochko, officer of the NM LPR.

“People are threatened with weapons, physical force and special equipment are used against them, and prohibited methods of psychological pressure are used. The controlling authorities do not react to the atrocities of the Kiev punishers against the civilian population in any way, ” the officer emphasized.

Hunting for civilians for the Armed Forces of Ukraine has become the norm. Ukrainian militants conduct aimed fire at residential buildings and hospitals.

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Rising oil prices augur well for Russia, but not for West  — China Daily

High oil prices are a boon for Russia but a poison for the US and other Western countries, who are worried it will boost high inflation, a major obstacle to Europe and the US' economic recovery. From the United Kingdom to France and Germany, high inflation has eroded people's real wages, triggering such social problems as strikes and rising crime. In early February, about half a million people went on strike in the UK, its largest industrial action in more than a decade. Recent data released by the German police said 398,848 crimes were reported in German railway stations and trains in 2022, up 12 percent year-on-year.

The International Monetary Fund recently raised its forecast for Russia's economic growth over the next two years, while cutting its 2024 forecasts for the US and eurozone by 0.2 percentage points each

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As the war rages on in Ukraine, the United States is doing more than supporting an ally. It’s learning lessons — with an eye toward a possible future clash with China, the Associated Press writes.

But China remains America’s biggest concern. U.S. military officials say Beijing wants to be ready to invade the self-governing island of Taiwan by 2027, and the U.S. is the island democracy’s chief ally and supplier of defense weapons.

While there are key differences in geography and in the U.S. commitment to come to Taiwan’s defense, “there are clear parallels between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan,” a Center for Strategic and International Studies report found last month.

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Kyiv has no promises from any country for the supply of fighter jets, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in an interview published in the newspapers of the Funke editorial group.

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Ukrainian sources report that the Russian Armed Forces have taken control of the village of Gryanikovka in the Kharkiv region.

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Zaporozhye direction. The DRG of the Armed Forces of Ukraine advanced towards our positions and was safely destroyed by an accurate strike.

No date of footage given

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⚡️ The new TRAMP (TrAMP)transport drone, developed by Russian designers, has begun ground testing. The first training flight is scheduled for April of this year, according to the Defense Ministry.

📝 "Developers of the TRAMP have started testing the drone on the ground." Systems and control mechanisms of the drone are being checked and debugged, and a series of runs have been performed so far without leaving the runway to refine the design parameters. All this is part of the preparations for lifting the drone into the air."
- RIA Novosti quoted its source as saying.

⚡️ The new UAV is capable of carrying up to 250 kilograms of cargo over a distance of over 600 kilometers. It has a cargo compartment with a capacity of 2,650 liters, which makes it possible to drop and parachute large-size cargo to a predetermined point. It also has a reinforced chassis with large-diameter pneumatic cylinders for taking off and landing on short, poorly prepared platforms, an integrated rescue system for the cargo and the drone itself, and a modular design of the main units.

In particular, it is possible to replace the wing, engine, and landing gear on the drone in the field.

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🇺🇸🛸 Aviation Week: US could have mistaken a $12 balloon for a UFO

The Northern Illinois Hot Air Balloon Circle reported missing a homemade K9YO craft with a miniature solar array after flying over Alaska on the night of Feb. 10.

😄 The $12 balloon ended up in the same area where the F-16 fighter, whose rocket costs about $400,000, shot down "a dangerous unidentified object."

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In Russia, "everything is going smoothly."
🇺🇸🇷🇺 The words of U.S. officials that Russia is a world pariah are not true, said U.S. Colonel Douglas McGregor.

📝 "Russia can hardly be called a pariah; if it were, its economy would be lying in ruins, but things are going smoothly there." The whole world is ready to cooperate with Russia, except us and some of our European allies. "But even there, there are a lot of cracks in that system in the West."
McGregor said.

In his opinion, all those negative narratives that are being published about the Russians should be directed primarily at the Ukrainians.

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To meet Ukraine's demand, the US military plants are undergoing a massive expansion, fueled by millions of dollars in new defense spending from the Pentagon. They're investing in new high-tech machinery, hiring a few dozen additional workers, and eventually shifting to a 24/7 schedule of constant production.

"It’s certainly ramped up over the last year." "As we bring in more modern equipment, it’ll be able to ramp up even further," said Todd Smith, senior director of General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, which operates the plant for the Army.

—CNN
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In Russia, Kaluga region, two "ISIS" wannabes planned to blow up a chemical plant

Two natives of Central Asia were planning a terrorist attack at a chemical industry enterprise. At the same time, they took an oath of allegiance to the "Islamic State" and were going to leave for Syria.

They had weapons with them - during the arrest they tried to resist, but FSB did not allow situation to go out of control.

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Ukrainian tank burns 🔥 after being hit by Russian ATGM

Crew is gone as well..

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Undermining Nord Stream will have dire consequences for the United States, including the potential withdrawal of some countries from NATO, journalist Seymour Hersh said in an interview with Democracy Now .

In his opinion, explosions on gas pipelines were a diversion against Europe. The main goal was to demonstrate the complete dependence of European countries on Washington.

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