The Russia-Ukraine War has begun

[Free]

Exclusive: US and Germany foiled Russian plot to assassinate CEO of arms manufacturer sending weapons to Ukraine

US intelligence discovered earlier this year that the Russian government planned to assassinate the chief executive of a powerful German arms manufacturer that has been producing artillery shells and military vehicles for Ukraine, according to five US and western officials familiar with the episode.

The plot was one of a series of Russian plans to assassinate defense industry executives across Europe who were supporting Ukraine’s war effort, these sources said. The plan to kill Armin Papperger, a white-haired goliath who has led the German manufacturing charge in support of Kyiv, was the most mature.

When the Americans learned of the effort, they informed Germany, whose security services were then able to protect Papperger and foil the plot. A high-level German government official confirmed that Berlin was warned about the plot by the US.

 

[detrius]

Exclusive: US and Germany foiled Russian plot to assassinate CEO of arms manufacturer sending weapons to Ukraine

Not surprised.

Russian operatives poisoned Navalny in the UK, why would they stop there? I also won't be surprised if turns out that they were behind several sabotage attacks on the German rail system in the past years.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Top Trump advisors retired General Keigh Kellogg and Fred Fleitz have prepared a plan for US to halt military aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to peace talks.

According to Fleitz Trump reacted positively to the plan but also says he's not claming that Trump agreed with every word of it.

Kellogg and Fleitz also reiterated another misconstrued argument from Trump, in which he claimed that President Joe Biden had said, "Ukraine will go into NATO" in the leadup to the full-scale invasion. Trump claimed that it had unnecessarily antagonized Russia.

"Biden's approach ignored Putin's fear of Ukraine moving closer to the West and joining NATO," Kellog and Fleitz wrote.

Kellogg and Fleitz acknowledged that "Biden and his senior officials never explicitly called for Ukraine to join NATO," but said that "they dangled NATO membership before Ukraine and repeatedly said this decision was up to Ukraine."

Top Trump advisors prepare plan for US to halt military aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to peace talks

Retired General Keith Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, who previously served on the National Security Council in the Trump administration, said the proposed ceasefire would freeze the frontlines in their current position.

kyivindependent.com

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

J.D. Vance has a big fan in Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

UNITED NATIONS, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia is ready to work with any U.S. leader willing to engage in "equitable, mutually respectful dialogue," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday, while welcoming the stance on Ukraine of Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
Vance, chosen this week by Donald Trump as his running mate, wants to cut American military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and has said Kyiv has no chance of regaining all the territory Russia has taken since it launched its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

"He's in favor of peace, he's in favor of ending the assistance that's being provided and we can only welcome that because that's what we need - to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons and then the war will end," Lavrov told reporters.

https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-ready-work-with-any-us-leader-says-lavrov-2024-07-17/

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

equitable, mutually respectful dialogue

Translation from Bully: Bend over, bitch.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

If Russia would stop sending weapons to Ukraine that would work.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

If Russia would stop sending weapons to Ukraine that would work.

Yes. I swear, bothsidesism is a mental disorder. Russia's right to be there isn't on the same level as Ukraine's right to defend itself but it's weird to see how many right winger's and tankies think it is.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

right winger's and tankies

"But I repeat myself"

Or are there still pro-russian tankies on the left? Now that Russia is a right wing dictatorship surely the tankies have found someone else to worship. Like... um... I'm out.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Roger Waters comes to mind.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

"But I repeat myself"

Or are there still pro-russian tankies on the left? Now that Russia is a right wing dictatorship surely the tankies have found someone else to worship. Like... um... I'm out.

YES, there are lots and lots of pro-russia and pro-china tankies on the left even though neither of those countries is very communist anymore. They are loud on twitter and some subreddits.

 

[Soen Eber]

Not surprised.

Russian operatives poisoned Navalny in the UK, why would they stop there? I also won't be surprised if turns out that they were behind several sabotage attacks on the German rail system in the past years.

They also like cutting undersea fiber optic cables

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba hed a AmA on Reddit about 2 days ago. Some of you might find it worth a read.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Volodymyr Zelensky called Trump and congratulated him for being candidate for presidency.

“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and I had a very good phone call earlier today. He congratulated me on a very successful Republican National Convention and becoming the Republican nominee for President of the United States,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “He condemned the heinous assassination attempt last Saturday and remarked about the American people coming together in the spirit of Unity during these times.”

Trump continued, “I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families. Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity.”

In a post on X describing the call, Zelensky said he congratulated Trump on his nomination and condemned the “shocking assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.”
“I wished him strength and absolute safety in the future,” he said. “I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our nation’s freedom and independence.”

Zelensky concluded, “We agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting.”


Trump says he had ‘a very good phone call’ with Zelensky, discussed Russia-Ukraine war | CNN Politics

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Zelensky is an intelligent man who sees the way the wind is blowing. If he can try and head off Trump's pro-Putin stance by playing nice of course he's going to.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

A meeting of certain blondes...

 

[Free]

HUR Hackers Shut Down Russian Banks and Internet Providers

Cyber warriors from Ukraine's HUR have been hacking Russia's banking and payment systems, causing major disruptions in banks, public transport, and mobile services since July 23.

www.kyivpost.com

Cyber specialists from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) have successfully hacked into Russia's banking and other payment systems, sources from the agency told Kyiv Post on Wednesday, July 24.

As a result of the cyberattack, which began on the morning of July 23, payment systems, mobile applications of banks, personal accounts, public transport payment systems, etc. have ceased working or been significantly impeded. The hack has also caused interruptions to Russian major mobile operators and Internet providers across the country.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Since nobody reported it yet: Ukraine started to invade Russia in the region of Kursk. So far it seems that even not the Biden administration was informed about that plan of attack upfront, which militarically seems to have small value but potically it has."

Ukraine has publicly justified its attack into Russian territory for the first time, amid reports that its forces are advancing towards a village 13 miles (20km) inside the Kursk region on the third day of its incursion.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the president’s office, said “the root cause of any escalation”, including into Kursk, was “unequivocal aggression” on the part of Russia in believing it could invade Ukraine with impunity.

The statement is the first acknowledgment by any leading Ukrainian official of the ongoing offensive amid silence from the country’s military on events in the Russian region. “War is war, with its own rules, where the aggressor inevitably reaps corresponding outcomes,” Podolyak added.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appeared to allude to the incursion on Thursday, saying “everyone can see that the Ukrainian army knows how to surprise” in comments at an event to unveil a new military app.

Later on Thursday, Zelenskiy made another apparent allusion to the offensive in his nightly television address, saying: “Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done.”

Experts have largely been sceptical about the value of a Ukrainian incursion into Russia, although its progress on the ground has been better than many predicted two days ago, and it has come at a time when Kyiv has been under growing frontline pressure in central Donbas.

Jade McGlynn, a Ukraine expert and research fellow at King’s College London, said: “As a military strategy, I remain a bit puzzled, but as a political strategy, it has been very successful. It suggests yet again that Putin’s ‘red lines’ are only words and that Russia is not as strong as some make out.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/08/ukraine-justifies-attack-on-kursk-in-first-acknowledgement-of-its-russian-incursion

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

A Ukrainian soldier dancing like dead pool. Yup, that's the official Tiktok account of Ukraine.

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Tirellia]

Ukraine has not invaded Russia. It is a Special Military Operation, please.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Ukraine has not invaded Russia. It is a Special Military Operation, please.

How can they invade their own territory?