Russian Student Jailed For 'Slava Ukraini' Network
Zaluzhnyi, the former Commander in Chief of the UA army becomes the UK Ambassador
The US House of Representatives has still not voted on the bill to provide further aid to Ukraine, despite the government stating they will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. It does highlight the flaws in Congress, because that is where the decisions are made and why politicians can be open to coercion and bribery to halt or stall bills. Ukraine is now seeking aid from other countries such as Japan and Canada, but it’s 3 months late and hundreds if not thousands have died waiting on empty promises.
The Czech Republic had a plan to purchase 800, 000 rounds of ammunition from a third country (we presume India) and had finally secured funding, but a few days later it was revealed that part of the funding had been pledged and not collected leading to further delays. If this country supported Ukraine, then surely they would donate the ammunition, but this could be a neutral country looking to make some money for itself.
Ukraine got its mobilisation all wrong, and in an attempt to find more soldiers, they are considering women as conscripts who don’t have children. I have never heard anything so stupid and ridiculous. One minute they say they won’t use women as soldiers and now they have no choice. They could lower the conscript age of men (currently 27 years to 60 years) instead, but to discriminate because a woman doesn’t have children or children yet is prejudicial and wrong.
The news that sacked Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian army, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi was offered the post of the UK ambassador is equally of some concern. Zaluzhnyi is very popular in Ukraine and was noted as a rival candidate against Zelenskyy, and in fact is more popular than Zelenskyy. Is this way to keep Zaluzhnyi on side but out of the running for president? A military man with such experience is needed in the military, but if he wasn’t offered anything else then I can see why he accepted the offer as well as all expenses paid as he serves in the role.
None of this solves the issue of Ukraine still not having enough soldiers and not enough weapons, and as the Russian elections are next week, many embassies are on high alert for protests and potential terrorist attacks.
Day 743 (7 Mar)
Zaluzhnyi is offered the role of UK ambassador and he accepts. The previous ambassador was sacked for criticising Zelenskyy.
The Greek Prime Minister (Kyriakos Mitsotakis) visited a port in Odesa on 6 Mar, which was then attacked by missiles that missed Zelenskyy and the PM by 300 feet. They heard and saw the attack which led to 5 deaths.
The US Congress is looking into investigating SpaceX Starlinks being used in occupied regions of Ukraine by the Russians, citing that it creates a security threat to Ukraine.
Sweden officially joined NATO.
The US Ambassador in Russia, Lynne Tracy was summoned by Russia and threatened with the expulsion of diplomats if there was any interference in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation prior to the elections.
Fico of Slovakia has said Czech-Slovak relations are in danger with the Czech Republic supporting Ukraine, while Fico supports ‘peace’. The latter is referring to the Russian idea of ‘peace’ by Ukraine ceding occupied territory to Russia.
Grossi, the chief of the IAEA met with Putin to discuss the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This is an ongoing situation that can only be resolved with Russia leaving the plant, and the IAEA have been quite useless to date and have shown they have little powers to do anything constructive.
Day 744 (8 Mar)
Russians are still pursing land in Bakhmut, in particular Chasiv Yar. Also, Orikhiv near Robotyne is a hot spot for front line attacks. From the images, Russia is closing in and appears to be winning as the world knows that the US has stopped funding Ukraine and the weapons they had hoped for will not materialise.
France continues to defend its statement on ‘no limits; on assisting Ukraine and states it will send troops to train Ukrainian soldiers. Macron’s statement has rattled some who probably agree, but with the Russian elections happening within the next few days, it’s not an ideal time to give Putin any ammunition to attack the embassies.
Zelenskyy signs a decree permitting conscripts to be in reserves in 2024 if they carried out their compulsory basic service.
Day 745 (9 Mar)
France initiates an alliance of countries open to deploying troops to Ukraine, where it was announced at a meeting with Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine in Vilnius.
Erdogan is playing at being a negotiator again, offering Turkey as a venue for peace discussions between Ukraine and Russia, and himself as a mediator. Considering his close ties with Putin, even though Turkey is a member of NATO (as is Hungary and Slovakia that can’t be trusted right now), that doesn’t mean Erdogan can be trusted.
Day 746 (10 Mar)
On 7 Mar, the Czech president announced that funding for the purchase of 800,000 of ammunition had been achieved, but it was revealed that only enough for 200,000 had been collected, and the rest of the funds had been pledged. It is estimated 200,000 rounds are needed per month to maintain their defences against Russia.
A Moscow State University student has been jailed for 10 days because he named his personal wi-fi network ‘Slava Ukraini’ (Glory to Ukraine). It was discovered by a police officer and he was charged with displaying a symbol of a public demonstration of an extremist organisation, and Nazi symbolism. The claim is that he promoted the slogan as a wi-fi network even though it was private it was visible.
Reports claims that NGOs and charities had helped Ukrainian men dodge the draft in exchange for $5k, thus helping them escape leaving a shortfall of soldiers in Ukraine.
A study claims that Ukrainian army reserves hold 4.8 million men, 1.3 million are serving and 4.3 million are not subject to mobilisation ( disabled, 18-27 years of age, refugees, teachers, scientists, students, caregivers, parents with children, and those is occupied territories) Those are poor figures and don’t include the draft dodgers either. The age of conscription needs to be lowered, but many would volunteer if they really wanted to fight.