Alexei Navalny's Death In A Russian Prison
Is it too late as the Ukrainian army has already run out of ammunition?
A busy week, but not in a good way.
Avdiivka in Donetsk is set to fall to the Russians as Ukraine withdraws troops to save the lives of the personnel because they have run out of ammunition due to the US Congress failing to pass the bill for further aid last November.
The weather has not helped Ukraine with cold winter temperatures and thick fog. Ukrainians have been outnumbered 10-1 with Russia sending in new conscripts to the frontline to replace the dead.
The $60 billion bill has now passed the Senate and must be passed in the House of Representatives. However, the Speaker Mike Johnson has decided on a recess until the end of February, leaving the bill again in limbo. Biden has said the fall of Avdiivka is the fault of Congress failing to pass the bill for further aid to Ukraine.
This morning, Ukraine's military was forced to withdraw from Avdiivka after Ukrainian soldiers had to rush and ammunition, due to dwindling supplies, a result of congressional inaction.
There was a Ramstein meeting where the allies discussed the problem of dwindling ammunition stocks.
Zelenskyy visited France and Germany to sign security guarantees, and gave a speech at the Munich Security Conference. The main message is that Ukraine is in danger of falling, and that if it falls then Russia will continue to target another country in Europe—probably Moldova.
The main news is that Putin’s main rival, Alexei Navalny who was incarcerated at the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle located in Kharp in the Yamalо-Nenets region about 1,900 km (1200 miles) northeast of Moscow has died. His death was announced by the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District at 2:19 pm Moscow time (11:19 GMT) on 16 February 2024.
His death comes as no surprise—a month before the Russian elections. While world leaders demand an investigation, the truth is it will never happen as the death occurred on Russian soil, in a Russian prison.
What the above shows is that Ukraine is dependent on the western allies for weapons, and messing around with business deals to rebuild Ukraine is not going to help gain weapons and ammunition to stop Russia. It also shows that Putin will not stop to get what he wants. Many knew Navalny was a dead man walking in a Russian prison, and Putin will simply kill those who don’t agree with him or are a threat to him. There are protests over the death, which is obviously suspect given that Navalny was seen the day before via video link in a court case looking as well as can be expected.
Denmark has stepped up and has announced it is giving all its ammunition to Ukraine as they don’t need to use it. They hope other countries will follow suit, and the Czech Republic has sourced ammunition but needs funding to secure it. Things are pretty dire and the 2nd anniversary of the invasion is in less than a week.
Day 720 (13 Feb)
Russia is to alter the ages of conscription by upping the age limits from 51 years to 65 for troops, and 70 years for officers. This would help with mobilisation issues, and will force those who have retired to serve again.
Russia captured, tortured and killed a priest, Stepan Podolchak in the occupied area of Kalanchak, Kherson Oblast. He was dragged from the house with a sack over his head. His wife was taken to identify his body two days later. Any decent Russian must question this act, and is it defending Russia? Any Ukrainians who think Russia controlling Ukraine is a good idea must be insane when a local priest is murdered in cold blood. He had been ordered to transfer to the Moscow Patriarchate, and had been summoned by the FSB several times and told not to deliver services in Ukrainian. He refused and it cost him his life.
Zelenskyy has appointed a commissioner to oversee and implement the security guarantees being put into place, and to develop defence forces. The man tasked with the job is the former deputy Commander in Chief Lieutenant General Yevhen Moyisuk.
The US Senate passed the long awaited $60 billion bill that would provide aid to Ukraine. The motion required 60 votes, where 66 senators voted for the bill, and 33 senators voted against it (100 senators), which still means there are people who can’t see that their inaction is costing lives and would lead to a world war which will have dire consequences.
Day 721 (14 Feb)
The Russian ship, Caesar Kunikov was hit by Ukrainian drones off Crimea in the Black Sea. At the time, it boosted the morale of the Ukrainian army, and also indicates that Ukraine intends to liberate Crimea.
The Netherlands joins the drone coalition that has been led by Latvia. At present, this is five member countries and aim is to assist Ukraine with the latest room technology.
The 19th Ramstein meeting held, and the first with Syrskyi in attendance. The Coalition of Drones will also donate 1 million drones to Ukraine under the Coalition of Integrated Air and Missile Defence which currently has 15 countries as members.
Day 722 (15 Feb)
Ukraine withdraws troops from Avdiivka (Zenit plant) in order to save lives as they have run out of ammunition. Usually, making this public would be unwise, but it is probably to try and push the US Congress in passing a bill for further aid. Many soldiers have died or are injured and there are no soldiers to replace them as they are outnumbered 10-1. Mobilisation has failed in Ukraine, and if they cannot get new soldiers that are trained, then what is the answer? NATO troops.
Many admit that Avdiivka may fall, and it is a key area as a gateway to Donetsk. In addition, Russia is using phosphorus shells creating poisonous fumes when they targeted a coke plant.
Hungary is blocking the latest EU sanctions package due to some Chinese companies being on the list.
NATO and Ukraine will open a joint training centre in Poland as announced by Stoltenberg at a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Today, we decided to create a new NATO – Ukraine, joint analysis, training, and education centre in Bydgoszcz, Poland. This will allow Ukraine to share lessons learned from Russia's war, and will create a structure for Ukrainian forces to learn and train alongside the allied counterparts.(Stoltenberg)
At the meeting, 18 out of 31 NATO countries have increased their spending on defence—2% of their GDP will be invested in defence since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Ukraine and NATO have set up JATEC, Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre, to improve and develop security and defence through training.
Day 723 (16 Feb)
Russia announced that Alexei Navalny (aged 47), Putin’s main political rival who had been in prison in a remote area near the Arttic Circle was dead. No details were given, and the death was later confirmed by Navalny’s team, although is body has not been returned to his family. This had led to mass protests across Russia and the world, with world leaders demanding an investigation into the death.
The UK summoned the Russian ambassador to state that hold the Russian authorities responsible for Navalny’s death.
The much awaited $60 billion aid bill had been passed by the Senate on 13 February, and handed to the House of Representatives. This was due to be voted on, but the speaker, Mike Johnson announced a 2 week recess as he did not want the bill to be voted on until there was funding in place for domestic borders. The man has blood on his hands as do all the Senators who dragged their feet with this bill. It means that if passed, Ukraine has had no funding from the US for at least 2-3 months as the money ran out at the end of December 2023.
Zelenskyy visits Berlin and Paris to sign security agreements with Scholz and Macron.
Germany also announced a further military aid package worth €1.1billion and will included are Skynex defence systems, and armoured vehicles.
Hungary has joined a coalition for the de-mining of Ukraine, which includes 20 EU states.
Russia has its eyes on Moldova and is claiming that 200,000 Russians in Transnistria (a breakaway region) are in danger and need ‘protection’. This is the same rhetoric used to justify the special military operation to invade Ukraine 2 years ago.
Day 724 (17 Feb)
Zelenskyy makes a speech at the Munich Security Conference, saying that, “If Ukraine is left alone, then Russia will destroy us.”
More drone fragments have been found in Moldova. The Shahed drone was found 2 km from the Ukrainian border.
Reports claim that Russia is developing space based nuclear weapons to target US satellites which raises concerns about US security.
The US has transferred confiscated Russian funds to Estonia, which will be then transferred to Ukraine.
Day 725 (18 Feb)
Denmark has announced that it will give Ukraine all the artillery it has, stating that Ukraine needs assistance and that Denmark does not need to use the ammunition right now and can acquire further supplies.
The Czech Republic has sourced 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, but needs funding to secure the transfer.