This has been a busy 48 hours where many of the events have overlapped, but what we can see is that Ukraine is employing more tactics to defend themselves and also to retake occupied areas. The support from the West continues, and the pro-Russian factions are bragging about Russian expansion, which confirms that the intent is to continue invading other regions of Ukraine and other former USSR states.
The grain blockade agreement should be active soon, and we shall see it it has worked and who cooperates or not. Turkey and Hungary continue to be a concern, as Orban of Hungary continues to isolate the country from the West, NATO, and the EU objecting to anything that opposes Russia, and Turkish football fans show their support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The huge issue that affects all whether they are interested in the war or not is the rising cost of gas. We expected Russia to cut the supply at some point, and they didn’t bother to wait and have just done it with an excuse that another turbine needs repairing after 10 days of scheduled maintenance. Russia can only hold the world to hostage with gas and grain, and that is what they are doing, hoping countries will yield, lift sanctions against Russia, and then stop supplying weapons to Ukraine in exchange for gas and grain. The problem is that Russia has been selling stolen grain, and now countries are cancelling their orders, thus living the pockets of the Russians.
As I have been writing up the last two days, it is clear to me that there is a slow escalation that no one wishes to admit to. Ukraine is using more military tactics, Russia is seeking allies in the event of a world war, and the pro-Russian traitors are happy to declare their plans to ‘reclaim’ former USSR states under the guise of liberating them. Liberating generally doesn’t mean killing children and civilians, but usually means you are trying to save them rather than murder and torture them. I fail to see how destroying schools, hospitals, and shopping centres is liberating anyone.
Day 154 (27 July)
Orban of Hungary has again been stating that Ukraine is losing the war and is the only country opposed to rationing energy in the EU. As a member of the Visegrad Four, Hungary is the one country that has not supported the position of the alliance, it is isolating itself from the alliances that gave Hungary democracy and freedom of movement as they veer towards supporting Russia.
Hungary has not supplied Ukraine with any weapons unlike Poland who has donated further weapons this week. Orban, in a speech has said that claims that Russia will not stop at Ukraine (invading countries) is weak and that tit is propaganda. Obviously Orban has selective hearing as both Putin and Lavrov have stated that they seek to liberate other former USSR states from Nazis (democracy) in the West. Hungary also had vetoed sanctions against Russian individuals, and has refused to expel Russian diplomats (despite a request from the US to do so).
Poland has launched a ‘Arming Ukraine’ fundraiser for MI-2 AM-1 helicopters to help evacuate the wounded. This is similar to Lithuania fundraising for a drone to be used. The neighbouring countries in the region do not hesitate to help Ukraine, while Hungary continues to reject sanctions and doesn’t lift a finger to help Ukraine. It is as though they don’t believe that Ukraine is being attacked or that the country needs help.
The Philippines have cancelled a deal to buy 16 Russian helicopters. The deal was made while autocrat Duarte was still in power as president. They fear possible sanctions from the US, that would cripple the economy and the lives of the people.
A visit from Slovenian Foreign MinisterTanja Fajon was made to show political support for Ukraine, plus a further pledge of financial aid to the country
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Russia virtually cuts the supply of gas to Germany as they claim there needs to be some work done on the pipeline. The Germans dismiss this claim as scheduled work closed the pipeline for 10 days already. This announcement comes a day after the EU deciding to ration energy by 15% over the next few months. It looks like it must be implemented now as some hope for a mild winter so the Russians can’t freeze people to death. Nord Stream 1 is operating at a fifth of its capacity as gas prices increase again, today by another 7% which is affecting all household bills across Europe. Russia blames the sanctions imposed on them for the increase in bills, and claim that they can’t be responsible for the disruption due to work needing to be carried out on the turbines
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Germany has already responded to the reduction of supply of gas from Russia (as German relies on Russia for 55% of their gas) and public fountains have been switched off and no hot water will be provided in public facilities in Hanover (cold showers and a maximum temperature of 20 degrees)
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Traitors are passing information on Ukrainians troops to Belarus, who in turn will inform the Russians. This is another sign that Belarus is a third party in the invasion who are effectively spying on their neighbour. Some will say this is no different from the US who have spies delivering intelligence to the Ukrainians. What this means is Belarus is becoming an active part of the war, bit by bit as it escalates.
Lithuania has banned Patriarch Kirill from entering the country due to his support of the invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey opened a Joint Coordination Centre to facilitate the movement of grain out of the Black Sea. Five representatives from the UN, Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey will participate in the joint venture to oversee the agreement. The issue will be made difficult with ships having to navigate mines in the sea, and some ships are not comfortable with the plans and the potential loss of life of crew members.
Russia has already launched missiles that have attacked Odesa which doesn't show much goodwill, but this is also a ploy to appeal to the West hoping that because Russia have cooperated, that they will be less inclined to send weapons to Ukraine. Also, they believe this may help encourage countries to lift their sanctions against Russia.
A speaker (Oleksandr Babakov) in the Russian Dumas has control of some energy companies in Ukraine, which makes investigations into corruption difficult as some are in the occupied regions such as Kherson.
In the Duma, they are also drafting legislation to block any fundraising for Ukraine, claiming that this finances an enemy that attacks Russia is a crime against the state
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Olena Zelenska will appear on a special digital version of Vogue (October) magazine, where Annie Leibovitz travelled to Kyiv to take the photos and interview her. While some may have criticised it as in appropriate, it sends a clear message that the West supports Ukraine’s fight for freedom,
independence and democracy. In the interview, Leibovitz also describes her journey into Kyiv and records the atrocities she has seen. It is reportage in real time and records the First Lady and how she is supporting her country and family during the war.
Zelenskyy has been awarded the Winston Churchill Award Leadership Award by the UK.
Denys Pushylin, the ‘ruler’ of the self-declared DPR has visited Belarus on the anniversary of being liberated from the Nazis, and made a statement that,’… the time has come to liberate again the Russian cities founded by the Russian, Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv.’ This reaffirms Putin’s desire to reclaim/liberate former Soviet states and the cities one by one, and that Belarus is considered part of the Russian Federation
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Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council has published a new map of Russia, where Ukraine is reduced to Kyiv, and other areas become part of Poland and Romania. This appears to be like the Nazi plan create a new Europe, which means that Russia intends to invade Poland and Romania
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Day 155 (28 July)
Blinken (Secretary of State US) has revealed that the US has been in negotiations with Russia to propose a possible prisoner exchange of a Russian arms dealer (Viktor Blout) for US citizens, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Blinken will be speaking to Lavrov, next week and it will the first time they will have spoken since the invasion on 24 February 2022. Biden approved the offer which was made a month ago, and Russia ‘hasn’t favourably engaged’, which we can to mean that they have not been willing to negotiate. Griner was caught with cannabis oil vapes in her luggage classed as drugs and was arrested. Whelen, a former Marine was convicted of being an American spy in 2020 and was handed a 16 year prison sentence.
In Kherson, the Ukrainian resistance is growing strong where two collaborators/traitors were killed by a car bomb. This is like WW II again, where the resistance is taking matters into their own hands.
Ukraine have been vocal in stating that they will retake Kherson, and have blown up the Antonivskiy Bridge that the Russians had been using to supply ammunition and troops, thus cutting it off from the rest of the city. The bridge is still standing, but cannot be crossed and Ukraine has said it was necessary to do so as a tactic to slow down the Russians. Kherson is important like Mariupol, as they create land bridges between annexed Crimea and Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have liberated several villages in the region; Lozove, Ivanivka, and Andriivka.
There have been more traitors uncovered, this time the security of a Ukrainian MP, Andriy Derkach who has been reported to have worked for the Russian special services. At present he has been detained for questioning
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The Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nauseda visits Kyiv, addresses the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) and presents Zelenskyy with the ‘Order of Vytautas the Great’, the highest Lithuanian state decoration.
Russia is setting up volunteer armies to fight in Ukraine called, ‘Eden’,‘Poltish’, and ‘Akpatr’ allegedly paying 300k roubles a month (nearly $5,000). The battalions should be named ‘cannon fodder’, ‘fish food’ or ‘expendables’ instead.
Belarus is involved in this war, as 25 missiles are launched from the country into Ukraine, targeting Kyiv and Chernihiv. A flight school in Kropyvnytsky has been attacked my missiles as it targeted a hangar, killing 5 and injured 25 people.
The US Senate has passed a non-binding resolution calling for the Secretary of State to recognise Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism for their actions in Chechnya, Syria, Georgia, and Ukraine.
One of the ‘Heroes of Ukraine’, Oleksandr Kukurba was killed in action on his 100th mission. This war is costing the lives of good men and women in Ukraine who won’t live to see it free from Russia. Knowing that each day might be your last while defending your country is a courageous act, and that is why their lives must not be in vain as Ukraine fights on.
In occupied Donbas, ‘The Greater Russia’ is a propaganda project promoting the expansion of Russia, which they also call liberating countries. This is the aim of the pro-Russians, to reclaim all former Soviet territories including Alaska!
In football, Dynamo Kyiv beat Turkish team Fenerbahçe in the Champions League qualifiers. The Turkish fans were singing pro-Russian slogans and shouting Putin’s name. Like Erdogan, some Turks support an autocratic regime and they also like Russia money that keeps the country going from tourism and trade. Calls for Turkish teams to be banned from European matches have been made, and UEFA have yet to comment on the incident. Having watched some of the video footage, it was not a small band of supporters who were chanting.
Russians claim to have captured and taken control of the second largest power station in Donetsk. This means they would control the resources in the area, holding citizens hostage.
Macron is on a tour of Africa (as is Lavrov) and has criticised the African countries for failing to condemn Russia.Most countries have remained neutral because Russia provides many of the countries with cheap energy, grain, arms, and fertiliser, which are all commodities they need.
Today is the first Ukrainian Statehood Day, to celebrate Ukrainians all around the world, the culture, and the history of Ukraine. “Ukraine fights so it can exist.” https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/den-ukrayinskoyi-derzhavnosti-28-lipnya-utverdzhuvatime-zvya-76645Zelenskyy also appointed Andriy Kostin as the new Prosecutor General— The most important task of the prosecutor's office is to hold all Russian war criminals to account. This is a new public holiday, which was passed by the Verkhovna Rada on May 31, 2022.
Oleksandr Klymenko has been appointed as the head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, working alongside Kostin. This role was suggested as a recommendation for EU membership, in order to stamp out all corruption and to take steps to prevent it in the country
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Egypt has cancelled a contract for 240,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain that had been scheduled for February/March. This is unhelpful as it looks as if they have purchased stolen grain from Russia, and supporting an aggressor will not bode well for Egypt.
In occupied Kherson, reports claim that Russia is punishing anyone who used the Ukrainian Hryvnia, and is implementing a ban on issuing the currency and is trying to withdraw it from circulation.
Reports claim that former Ukrainian MP, Oleg Tsaryov, who moved to the separatist Donbas region after being sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in absentia (for inciting a change of government and trying to overthrow the government by advocating for separatist movements) had been chosen to be the Russian puppet in Ukraine. Kyiv has and always will be a Russian target.
Only Russia (KGB Officer Putin) would think reclaiming former USSR states would be "liberating" the totally independent democratic countries.
The US supplies a fortune to Egypt in foreign aid. Some has been held back due to their human rights issues. If they are buying stolen grain from Russia, this could easily become another mine-field in US-Egypt relations. Regardless, it's evident, at least imho, we are rapidly approaching a war, with Turkey, Hungary and Belarus, and apparently Egypt, supporting Russia. African countries are going to eventually have to take a stand and pick a side to support. I'm not sure Macron is the best spokesman for that.