The new HBO 6 part miniseries The Regime is mildly amusing, understated satire.
It looks like a Wes Moore knockoff (same composer), but it is not yet that funny.
There's conjecture about where it's supposed to take place in Central Europe. The interior scenes were filmed in Vienna.
Given Orban's recent prominence, some reviewers guess Hungary. Others reference Russia & Putin.
I think it could be any of the Balkan states, like Serbia under Milosevic. Or even Tito's Yugoslavia.
When Kate Winslet wears her hair in a braid, she's reminiscent of Yulia Tymoshenko, (John McCain's heart throb),
so Ukraine is my guess...given it's history since independence in '92.
All Things Russia & Ukraine
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Typical Lax Dad
- Posts: 32460
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 12:10 pm
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
The Economist
At the end of this week millions of Russians will take part in the re-election of President Vladimir Putin, the country’s longest-serving dictator since Stalin. In a land where opposition politicians are dead, in prison or in exile, where speaking truth to power is a criminal offence and where a paranoid autocrat is happy to kill hundreds of thousands of his own people and his neighbours in order to assert and maintain his power, an election seems entirely unnecessary, a strange charade or a quaint anachronism.
The three-day voting exercise that will begin on March 15th is not an election in the way most people in the Western world understand one. Had Russia been a democracy, Mr Putin would have left power in 2008, when his second and constitutionally last term in office expired. But where war is peace, ignorance is strength and freedom is slavery, the essence of this election is the absence of choice.
With no viable alternative or proper scrutiny, Mr Putin is certain to get the result he wants. Russia’s only independent election-monitoring organisation, Golos, has been designated a “foreign agent” and its co-founder is in jail. Yet the inevitability of the result will not make the ritual of voting for Mr Putin redundant. For his regime it is crucially important.
The Soviet leaders who also held fake elections, sometimes with only one candidate on the ballot, could still rely on the legacy of the Bolshevik revolution and victory in the second world war. Mr Putin’s tyranny is both more personal and less ideological. It derives its legitimacy from its use of violence and the carefully maintained appearance of popular support. The spectres of external enemies—the West and Ukraine—and internal ones (foreign agents) are invoked to buttress it.
In essence, says Greg Yudin, a Russian political philosopher and research fellow at Princeton University, Mr Putin’s presidential election is a form of acclamation—a ritual public expression of approval towards imperial officials that goes back to the time of ancient Rome. (Moscow, it should be recalled, once saw itself as the “Third Rome”.) Its role is not to change who is in power, but to give an injection of legitimacy to an ageing dictator. “The decisions are already made by the leader; the role of the people is to say yes—to acclaim,” says Mr Yudin.
A murderous tsar
Ever since Mr Putin came to power in 2000, his regime has cultivated passivity, turning people off from active politics and calling on them only for the purpose of such public acclamations. As Alexander Selikhov, a celebrated Russian footballer, said after casting his first-ever ballot paper in the 2018 presidential elections, “I’ve voted for the tsar.” Just such a ritual is depicted in “Boris Godunov”, the great tragedy by Alexander Pushkin. Godunov, a late 16th-century courtier who was elected tsar by an assembly of servicemen and clergy, is greeted by the people, who are gathered in front of the Kremlin. They duly display their approval, while privately discussing rumours that Godunov had murdered the legitimate heir to the throne.
One person who understood the essence of this ritual acclamation, and who tried to reclaim elections as true political expressions, was Alexei Navalny, Russia’s recently slain opposition leader. Though he knew that power in Russia could not be changed through the ballot box, he saw elections as a way of registering dissent. His call in 2011 to vote for any other party than Mr Putin’s United Russia mobilised both voters and observers, forcing the Kremlin to rig that year’s parliamentary vote so blatantly that it prompted the largest protests in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
Though Navalny was incarcerated in one of the harshest penal colonies in the Arctic and charged with extremism, while his organisation was outlawed and some of his allies flung in jail, he continued to challenge Mr Putin and mobilise people. Rather than telling his followers to ignore the fake election, he urged them to turn it into an event where people could manifest their agency, even though they did not have their own candidate. Two weeks before his death, he called on millions to turn up at midday on March 17th—the last day of the three-day voting period—to vote for anyone but Mr Putin, to spoil their ballot papers, or simply just to gather and talk.
“If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong,” Navalny said shortly before returning to Russia in 2021 and being arrested the moment he landed. But even in harsh solitary confinement he continued, in court appearances and letters, to support people who believed that his version of Russia as a modern European nation was still possible.
By murdering Navalny a month before his “election”, Mr Putin wanted to show that there was no alternative to himself and his older, imperialist version of Russia. Unable to contest them at the ballot box, Navalny continues to do so from his grave. His funeral on March 1st became a visible act of defiance.
Despite threats and intimidation, tens of thousands of people in Moscow and across the country have come together to grieve and pay tribute to him. According to Moscow public transport data, between March 1st—the day of the funeral—and March 3rd 27,000 more people than usual used the metro station nearest to the cemetery. Many more people came on foot or by car. They queued for hours, holding candles and photographs of Navalny, singing psalms and chanting “Navalny”, “No to war” and, with remarkable bravery, “Putin is a murderer”.
They covered his grave with a mound of flowers. Young and old, well-heeled and poor, they did not hide their faces from the pervasive surveillance cameras and the many masked policemen. The soundtrack from “Terminator 2”, one of Navalny’s favourite films, and Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”, which were played at his funeral, have now become tunes of resistance.
Those who attended the funeral were struck by the atmosphere not only of personal grief but also of solidarity. People shared food and tea, and embraced each other, well aware that this might be the last time they could protest in such large numbers. And not just in Moscow. Over the past two weeks spontaneous “flower memorials” and shrines to Navalny have sprung up in more than 230 Russian cities, where people have laid flowers and lit candles at monuments to victims of past political repression, in courtyards and entrances to buildings. “Funeral tradition [has] merged with political protest,” wrote Alexandra Arkhipova, a social anthropologist.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow who has stepped up to carry on her husband’s legacy, has called on his supporters to maintain this protest and “to use election day to show that we are there and we are many, we are real living people and we are against Putin.” Mr Putin plainly fears her. On March 12th Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff before his death, was attacked outside his home in Lithuania and beaten with a hammer. It bore all the hallmarks of a Putin-ordered attempt at intimidation.
Turning up at midday on March 17th will not lead to a change of power in Russia. But in a country where symbols and gestures carry more weight than statements, Navalny’s funeral protest has already cast a shadow over Mr Putin’s acclamation. As the holy fool in “Boris Godunov” says when urged to pray for Godunov by the Kremlin churches, “No prayer for the Herod-Tsar…Our Lady won’t allow it.”
At the end of this week millions of Russians will take part in the re-election of President Vladimir Putin, the country’s longest-serving dictator since Stalin. In a land where opposition politicians are dead, in prison or in exile, where speaking truth to power is a criminal offence and where a paranoid autocrat is happy to kill hundreds of thousands of his own people and his neighbours in order to assert and maintain his power, an election seems entirely unnecessary, a strange charade or a quaint anachronism.
The three-day voting exercise that will begin on March 15th is not an election in the way most people in the Western world understand one. Had Russia been a democracy, Mr Putin would have left power in 2008, when his second and constitutionally last term in office expired. But where war is peace, ignorance is strength and freedom is slavery, the essence of this election is the absence of choice.
With no viable alternative or proper scrutiny, Mr Putin is certain to get the result he wants. Russia’s only independent election-monitoring organisation, Golos, has been designated a “foreign agent” and its co-founder is in jail. Yet the inevitability of the result will not make the ritual of voting for Mr Putin redundant. For his regime it is crucially important.
The Soviet leaders who also held fake elections, sometimes with only one candidate on the ballot, could still rely on the legacy of the Bolshevik revolution and victory in the second world war. Mr Putin’s tyranny is both more personal and less ideological. It derives its legitimacy from its use of violence and the carefully maintained appearance of popular support. The spectres of external enemies—the West and Ukraine—and internal ones (foreign agents) are invoked to buttress it.
In essence, says Greg Yudin, a Russian political philosopher and research fellow at Princeton University, Mr Putin’s presidential election is a form of acclamation—a ritual public expression of approval towards imperial officials that goes back to the time of ancient Rome. (Moscow, it should be recalled, once saw itself as the “Third Rome”.) Its role is not to change who is in power, but to give an injection of legitimacy to an ageing dictator. “The decisions are already made by the leader; the role of the people is to say yes—to acclaim,” says Mr Yudin.
A murderous tsar
Ever since Mr Putin came to power in 2000, his regime has cultivated passivity, turning people off from active politics and calling on them only for the purpose of such public acclamations. As Alexander Selikhov, a celebrated Russian footballer, said after casting his first-ever ballot paper in the 2018 presidential elections, “I’ve voted for the tsar.” Just such a ritual is depicted in “Boris Godunov”, the great tragedy by Alexander Pushkin. Godunov, a late 16th-century courtier who was elected tsar by an assembly of servicemen and clergy, is greeted by the people, who are gathered in front of the Kremlin. They duly display their approval, while privately discussing rumours that Godunov had murdered the legitimate heir to the throne.
One person who understood the essence of this ritual acclamation, and who tried to reclaim elections as true political expressions, was Alexei Navalny, Russia’s recently slain opposition leader. Though he knew that power in Russia could not be changed through the ballot box, he saw elections as a way of registering dissent. His call in 2011 to vote for any other party than Mr Putin’s United Russia mobilised both voters and observers, forcing the Kremlin to rig that year’s parliamentary vote so blatantly that it prompted the largest protests in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
Though Navalny was incarcerated in one of the harshest penal colonies in the Arctic and charged with extremism, while his organisation was outlawed and some of his allies flung in jail, he continued to challenge Mr Putin and mobilise people. Rather than telling his followers to ignore the fake election, he urged them to turn it into an event where people could manifest their agency, even though they did not have their own candidate. Two weeks before his death, he called on millions to turn up at midday on March 17th—the last day of the three-day voting period—to vote for anyone but Mr Putin, to spoil their ballot papers, or simply just to gather and talk.
“If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong,” Navalny said shortly before returning to Russia in 2021 and being arrested the moment he landed. But even in harsh solitary confinement he continued, in court appearances and letters, to support people who believed that his version of Russia as a modern European nation was still possible.
By murdering Navalny a month before his “election”, Mr Putin wanted to show that there was no alternative to himself and his older, imperialist version of Russia. Unable to contest them at the ballot box, Navalny continues to do so from his grave. His funeral on March 1st became a visible act of defiance.
Despite threats and intimidation, tens of thousands of people in Moscow and across the country have come together to grieve and pay tribute to him. According to Moscow public transport data, between March 1st—the day of the funeral—and March 3rd 27,000 more people than usual used the metro station nearest to the cemetery. Many more people came on foot or by car. They queued for hours, holding candles and photographs of Navalny, singing psalms and chanting “Navalny”, “No to war” and, with remarkable bravery, “Putin is a murderer”.
They covered his grave with a mound of flowers. Young and old, well-heeled and poor, they did not hide their faces from the pervasive surveillance cameras and the many masked policemen. The soundtrack from “Terminator 2”, one of Navalny’s favourite films, and Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”, which were played at his funeral, have now become tunes of resistance.
Those who attended the funeral were struck by the atmosphere not only of personal grief but also of solidarity. People shared food and tea, and embraced each other, well aware that this might be the last time they could protest in such large numbers. And not just in Moscow. Over the past two weeks spontaneous “flower memorials” and shrines to Navalny have sprung up in more than 230 Russian cities, where people have laid flowers and lit candles at monuments to victims of past political repression, in courtyards and entrances to buildings. “Funeral tradition [has] merged with political protest,” wrote Alexandra Arkhipova, a social anthropologist.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow who has stepped up to carry on her husband’s legacy, has called on his supporters to maintain this protest and “to use election day to show that we are there and we are many, we are real living people and we are against Putin.” Mr Putin plainly fears her. On March 12th Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff before his death, was attacked outside his home in Lithuania and beaten with a hammer. It bore all the hallmarks of a Putin-ordered attempt at intimidation.
Turning up at midday on March 17th will not lead to a change of power in Russia. But in a country where symbols and gestures carry more weight than statements, Navalny’s funeral protest has already cast a shadow over Mr Putin’s acclamation. As the holy fool in “Boris Godunov” says when urged to pray for Godunov by the Kremlin churches, “No prayer for the Herod-Tsar…Our Lady won’t allow it.”
“You lucky I ain’t read wretched yet!”
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ardilla secreta
- Posts: 2127
- Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:32 am
- Location: Niagara Frontier
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
Oh no! Another Russian oil exec dies from suicide!
Lukoil Exec Found 'Hanged' in Own Office
Unknown if near window or banana peel within room
https://www.newsweek.com/vitaly-robertu ... ow-1879214
Lukoil Exec Found 'Hanged' in Own Office
Unknown if near window or banana peel within room
https://www.newsweek.com/vitaly-robertu ... ow-1879214
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cradleandshoot
- Posts: 14244
- Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2018 4:42 pm
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
Russian elections are today. So who are you supporting? Rumor is that Putin might win in a run away. It is not clear if Biden has interfered in the elections.
I use to be a people person until people ruined that for me.
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ardilla secreta
- Posts: 2127
- Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:32 am
- Location: Niagara Frontier
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
Vladimir Putin claims landslide Russian election victory
They truly love him, there can be no doubt or is there a hotel window waiting for you?
They truly love him, there can be no doubt or is there a hotel window waiting for you?
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
Headline: At least 40 dead, dozens injured after attackers open fire inside busy Moscow-area concert venue, Russian state media reports
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/europe/c ... index.html
My thoughts from jan of 2022, BEFORE the invasion.
If a pinhead like me can figure this out.....what the F is wrong with Putin? How dumb can this guy be?
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/europe/c ... index.html
My thoughts from jan of 2022, BEFORE the invasion.
And after Putin started hitting civilians.....a fan wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:16 pmTake Ukraine, Putin. You have my blessing. Then what? You can't extract money out of them. And you're....... how old, again? 70 years old?
Yeah. Go with G*d, Putin.
If the EU doesn't care, I sure as sh*t don't care. If the failed USSR wants to give it a go, and fail again? Please, let me hold your coat.
And....lest we forget (a fan flips to the page that shows a map of Asia) It ain't 1960 anymore, and Russia shares a border with the now powerful China. Good luck figuring out who gets what with Chinese.
What's Russia's GDP again? Yet Putin wants to invade economically pointless nations?
If a pinhead like me can figure this out.....what the F is wrong with Putin? How dumb can this guy be?
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runrussellrun
- Posts: 7443
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:07 am
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
before we check (my pronouns are "we" and "suck" ) you guys already use the second one.
Was there an election in the Democrasy that IS Ukraine, recently ? Or, was it suspended...no election ?
yeah......hard to find any info?
This, tho......with no date
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/mo ... s-BB1iO3dE
A majority of Ukrainians want President Volodymyr Zelensky to remain in office and think that the country’s elections should be postponed until Ukraine is no longer under martial law, according to a new poll.
Was there an election in the Democrasy that IS Ukraine, recently ? Or, was it suspended...no election ?
yeah......hard to find any info?
This, tho......with no date
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/mo ... s-BB1iO3dE
A majority of Ukrainians want President Volodymyr Zelensky to remain in office and think that the country’s elections should be postponed until Ukraine is no longer under martial law, according to a new poll.
ILM...Independent Lives Matter
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
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runrussellrun
- Posts: 7443
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:07 am
Democracy don't die during war
apparently, Zelensky has cancelled elections ??? Who do we trust, sucks interweb search comes up empty.
As far as we can tell, Newsweeks "fact check" is a credible source.
Cancelling elections btw, isn't what Democracies do.....it is what Fascists do. (Stalin and Hitler have to run for re-election, like Roosevelt? )
Or ,dicktators.
YES.....lets support this.
LOVE, the fact that Zelensky is telling the US whats what.........keeps on bombing all the oil. We should be rejoicing, and we notice all the articles about Zelensky and Ukraine bombing oil.
good stuff.
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-zel ... ys-1823065
As far as we can tell, Newsweeks "fact check" is a credible source.
Cancelling elections btw, isn't what Democracies do.....it is what Fascists do. (Stalin and Hitler have to run for re-election, like Roosevelt? )
Or ,dicktators.
YES.....lets support this.
LOVE, the fact that Zelensky is telling the US whats what.........keeps on bombing all the oil. We should be rejoicing, and we notice all the articles about Zelensky and Ukraine bombing oil.
good stuff.
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-zel ... ys-1823065
It is correct that Zelensky has asked for $135 million from the United States and European Union to pay for an election during wartime.
ILM...Independent Lives Matter
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
Stand corrected on the part where I cited the attack at that concert. Unless that was a Ukrainian wing of ISIS? It had nothing to do with the War.a fan wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 4:12 pm Headline: At least 40 dead, dozens injured after attackers open fire inside busy Moscow-area concert venue, Russian state media reports
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/europe/c ... index.html
My thoughts from jan of 2022, BEFORE the invasion.
And after Putin started hitting civilians.....a fan wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:16 pm
Yeah. Go with G*d, Putin.
If the EU doesn't care, I sure as sh*t don't care. If the failed USSR wants to give it a go, and fail again? Please, let me hold your coat.
And....lest we forget (a fan flips to the page that shows a map of Asia) It ain't 1960 anymore, and Russia shares a border with the now powerful China. Good luck figuring out who gets what with Chinese.
What's Russia's GDP again? Yet Putin wants to invade economically pointless nations?
If a pinhead like me can figure this out.....what the F is wrong with Putin? How dumb can this guy be?
I was wrong.
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
... word is US Intel picked this up days ago and warned the Russians. By this I mean a terrorist attack was in the works and it would be a soft target like a concert, gathering of average joes. Was not specific as to date, time and place.
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youthathletics
- Posts: 14863
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:36 pm
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
….do you now believe in the Deep State? How’d they already now, unless they were in on it?
A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself.
~Livy
~Livy
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
okay...now that gave me a chuckle.youthathletics wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:55 pm….do you now believe in the Deep State? How’d they already now, unless they were in on it?
Have nice weekend!
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youthathletics
- Posts: 14863
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:36 pm
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
a fan wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 9:14 pmokay...now that gave me a chuckle.youthathletics wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:55 pm….do you now believe in the Deep State? How’d they already now, unless they were in on it?
Have nice weekend!
Likewise, my friend.A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself.
~Livy
~Livy
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
... US Embassy in Moscow put out a Security Alert to US travelers on March 7 to avoid large gatherings / crowds.
US had warned of potential attack (According to CNN)
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia said it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow,” including concerts. The embassy warned US citizens to avoid large gatherings. On Friday, following reports of the Crocus City Hall attack, it advised US citizens not to travel to Russia.
Starting in November, there has been a steady stream of intelligence that ISIS-K was determined to attack in Russia, according to two sources familiar with the information.
ISIS-K stands for ISIS-Khorasan, the terror organization’s affiliate that is active in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the US government had had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow – potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts – and that this is what prompted the State Department to issue the public advisory.
“The US government also shared this information with Russian authorities in accordance with its longstanding ‘duty to warn’ policy,” Watson said.
In a speech Tuesday, Putin had blasted the American warnings as “provocative,” saying “these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.”
In March alone, Russian authorities had thwarted several ISIS-related incidents, according to RIA. On March 3, RIA reported that six ISIS members were killed in a counter-terrorist operation in the Ingush Karabulak; on March 7, it said security services had uncovered and “neutralized” a cell of the banned organization Vilayat Khorasan in the Kaluga region, whose members were planning an attack on a synagogue in Moscow; and on March 20, it said the commander of an ISIS combat group had been detained.
A US official said Friday that Washington had no reason to doubt ISIS’ claim that it was responsible for the latest attack.
US had warned of potential attack (According to CNN)
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia said it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow,” including concerts. The embassy warned US citizens to avoid large gatherings. On Friday, following reports of the Crocus City Hall attack, it advised US citizens not to travel to Russia.
Starting in November, there has been a steady stream of intelligence that ISIS-K was determined to attack in Russia, according to two sources familiar with the information.
ISIS-K stands for ISIS-Khorasan, the terror organization’s affiliate that is active in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the US government had had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow – potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts – and that this is what prompted the State Department to issue the public advisory.
“The US government also shared this information with Russian authorities in accordance with its longstanding ‘duty to warn’ policy,” Watson said.
In a speech Tuesday, Putin had blasted the American warnings as “provocative,” saying “these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.”
In March alone, Russian authorities had thwarted several ISIS-related incidents, according to RIA. On March 3, RIA reported that six ISIS members were killed in a counter-terrorist operation in the Ingush Karabulak; on March 7, it said security services had uncovered and “neutralized” a cell of the banned organization Vilayat Khorasan in the Kaluga region, whose members were planning an attack on a synagogue in Moscow; and on March 20, it said the commander of an ISIS combat group had been detained.
A US official said Friday that Washington had no reason to doubt ISIS’ claim that it was responsible for the latest attack.
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runrussellrun
- Posts: 7443
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:07 am
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
How did Zelensky do in the recent election ?ardilla secreta wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:07 pm Vladimir Putin claims landslide Russian election victory
They truly love him, there can be no doubt or is there a hotel window waiting for you?
ooopss.
fascists cancel elections. Apparently, without some money, Ukraine just have themselves an election.
ILM...Independent Lives Matter
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
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runrussellrun
- Posts: 7443
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:07 am
bombs for oil, new charity
https://www.politico.eu/article/report- ... efineries/
US urges Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, report says
Washington fears rising oil prices and extra retaliation from Moscow.
MARCH 22, 2024 1:45 PM CET
BY CLAUDIA CHIAPPA
The U.S. has pressed Ukraine to halt drone strikes on Russian energy facilities, fearing that it could provoke massive retaliation and drive up global oil prices.
In recent months, Kyiv has ramped up its strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, hitting several oil refineries across multiple regions, causing financial damage to the Kremlin, which still trades oil and gas despite sanctions.
Now Washington has urged officials in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) to put a stop to these attacks, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing three unnamed sources.
Advertisement
The U.S. is concerned that targeting Russia’s energy facilities will impact the Kremlin’s oil production capacity and drive up global prices — ahead of a knife-edge presidential election where prices at the gas pump are bound to be a contentious topic.
The sources also fear that these repeated strikes will provoke Russia into retaliating and targeting energy infrastructure the West relies on, including oil pipelines.
A spokesperson for the SBU declined to comment to POLITICO, while officials at GUR and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office did not respond to POLITICO’s requests for comment.
According to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, Ukrainian officials have said that oil refineries are “absolutely legitimate targets from a military point of view.”
“We understand the calls of our American partners,” she said at the Kyiv Security Forum, Ukrainska Pravda reported. “At the same time, we are fighting with the capabilities, resources and practices that we have.”
Moscow has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s energy facilities throughout 2023 and into the new year, including a massive barrage Friday which left several cities without electricity and damaged the Dnipro hydropower plant.
Veronika Melkozerova contributed reporting from Kyiv.
US urges Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, report says
Washington fears rising oil prices and extra retaliation from Moscow.
MARCH 22, 2024 1:45 PM CET
BY CLAUDIA CHIAPPA
The U.S. has pressed Ukraine to halt drone strikes on Russian energy facilities, fearing that it could provoke massive retaliation and drive up global oil prices.
In recent months, Kyiv has ramped up its strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, hitting several oil refineries across multiple regions, causing financial damage to the Kremlin, which still trades oil and gas despite sanctions.
Now Washington has urged officials in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) to put a stop to these attacks, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing three unnamed sources.
Advertisement
The U.S. is concerned that targeting Russia’s energy facilities will impact the Kremlin’s oil production capacity and drive up global prices — ahead of a knife-edge presidential election where prices at the gas pump are bound to be a contentious topic.
The sources also fear that these repeated strikes will provoke Russia into retaliating and targeting energy infrastructure the West relies on, including oil pipelines.
A spokesperson for the SBU declined to comment to POLITICO, while officials at GUR and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office did not respond to POLITICO’s requests for comment.
According to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, Ukrainian officials have said that oil refineries are “absolutely legitimate targets from a military point of view.”
“We understand the calls of our American partners,” she said at the Kyiv Security Forum, Ukrainska Pravda reported. “At the same time, we are fighting with the capabilities, resources and practices that we have.”
Moscow has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s energy facilities throughout 2023 and into the new year, including a massive barrage Friday which left several cities without electricity and damaged the Dnipro hydropower plant.
Veronika Melkozerova contributed reporting from Kyiv.
ILM...Independent Lives Matter
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
...and here's the retaliation from Russia;
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uk ... 20election.
Russia pounds Ukrainian power facilities; Zelenskiy seeks air defences, 'political will'
By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth, March 22, 20247:35 PM EDT
-- Over 150 missiles and drones fired in attack
-- Zelenskiy says Ukraine needs air defences, political will
-- Kyiv says Russia targeted energy facilities
-- Over a million people cut off from power in Ukraine
-- Ukraine's largest dam hit but no danger of breach
KYIV, March 22 (Reuters) - Russia pounded Ukrainian power facilities on Friday in an attack described by Kyiv as the largest airstrike on its energy infrastructure in two years of war, and portrayed by Moscow as revenge for Ukrainian attacks during its presidential election.
The missile and drone attack hit a vast dam over the Dnipro river, killed at least five people and left more than a million others without power, forcing Kyiv to seek emergency electricity supplies from Poland, Romania and Slovakia, Kyiv officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said the strikes proved again that Russian attacks on infrastructure could be halted only with more air defence systems and that required political will from Ukraine's allies.
"Russian terror is only possible now because we don't have enough modern air defence systems which, to be honest, requires enough political will to provide them," Zelenskiy said.
"All our partners know what is needed and who can make truly life-saving decisions."
Military aid to Ukraine from Western allies has slowed in recent months, in particular a $60 billion package from Washington, stalled by political disputes in the U.S. Congress.
The strikes, which Kyiv said caused blackouts in seven regions, revived memories of the winter of 2022-23 when Moscow regularly bombed Ukraine's power grid.
Zelenskiy said repair work had made progress, with the worst outages in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, central Dnipropetrovsk region and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west.
The Russian defence ministry said the airstrike was carried out in retaliation for Ukrainian shelling and cross-border raids last week as Russians took part in a stage-managed election that handed President Vladimir Putin a fifth term.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said: "The goal is not just to damage, but to try again, like last year, to cause a large-scale failure of the country's energy system."
Russia denies targeting civilians, although the war that began with its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions and destroyed towns and cities.
Moscow says Ukrainian power facilities are legitimate targets and such attacks are aimed at weakening Kyiv's military.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian publication on Friday that Moscow saw itself as in a "state of war" because of the West's intervention on Kyiv's side.
The comment marked a rhetorical break from the "special military operation" language that Moscow has used, an apparent move to prepare Russians for a longer and harder struggle.
European Union Council President Charles Michel said Russia's comments about war with Europe showed the importance of the EU's building its own defence industry.
Two people were killed in the western Khmelnytskyi region and three in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, including at least one at the dam, said the local administration and general prosecutor's office. More than 30 people were reported injured.
Ukraine's largest dam, the DniproHES in the city of Zaporizhzhia, was hit eight times, an official from the Ukrainian prosecutor's office said.
The state hydropower company said there was no risk of a breach. The company's director, Ihor Syrota, said both its power blocks and the dam itself had been damaged.
A state ecological inspectorate said that oil had leaked into the Dnipro river which the dam straddles.
"The wide impact of today’s attacks on critical civilian infrastructure is deepening the already dire humanitarian situation for millions of people in Ukraine," the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said around 20 substations and electricity stations had been hit in addition to the dam.
Russia fired 88 missiles and 63 Shahed drones, of which only 37 and 55, respectively, were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said of the attacks.
That represented a worse ratio than usual, possibly reflecting Moscow's widespread use of ballistic missiles that are harder to shoot down and also the proximity of the targeted regions to Russian-controlled areas.
Some 1.2 million people in at least four regions were left without power due to the attacks, presidential aide Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.
...& Zelensky blames the US.
Gassed up today @ $3.62/gal. Last fill up 3 wks ago, it was $3.12/gal.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uk ... 20election.
Russia pounds Ukrainian power facilities; Zelenskiy seeks air defences, 'political will'
By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth, March 22, 20247:35 PM EDT
-- Over 150 missiles and drones fired in attack
-- Zelenskiy says Ukraine needs air defences, political will
-- Kyiv says Russia targeted energy facilities
-- Over a million people cut off from power in Ukraine
-- Ukraine's largest dam hit but no danger of breach
KYIV, March 22 (Reuters) - Russia pounded Ukrainian power facilities on Friday in an attack described by Kyiv as the largest airstrike on its energy infrastructure in two years of war, and portrayed by Moscow as revenge for Ukrainian attacks during its presidential election.
The missile and drone attack hit a vast dam over the Dnipro river, killed at least five people and left more than a million others without power, forcing Kyiv to seek emergency electricity supplies from Poland, Romania and Slovakia, Kyiv officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said the strikes proved again that Russian attacks on infrastructure could be halted only with more air defence systems and that required political will from Ukraine's allies.
"Russian terror is only possible now because we don't have enough modern air defence systems which, to be honest, requires enough political will to provide them," Zelenskiy said.
"All our partners know what is needed and who can make truly life-saving decisions."
Military aid to Ukraine from Western allies has slowed in recent months, in particular a $60 billion package from Washington, stalled by political disputes in the U.S. Congress.
The strikes, which Kyiv said caused blackouts in seven regions, revived memories of the winter of 2022-23 when Moscow regularly bombed Ukraine's power grid.
Zelenskiy said repair work had made progress, with the worst outages in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, central Dnipropetrovsk region and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west.
The Russian defence ministry said the airstrike was carried out in retaliation for Ukrainian shelling and cross-border raids last week as Russians took part in a stage-managed election that handed President Vladimir Putin a fifth term.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said: "The goal is not just to damage, but to try again, like last year, to cause a large-scale failure of the country's energy system."
Russia denies targeting civilians, although the war that began with its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions and destroyed towns and cities.
Moscow says Ukrainian power facilities are legitimate targets and such attacks are aimed at weakening Kyiv's military.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian publication on Friday that Moscow saw itself as in a "state of war" because of the West's intervention on Kyiv's side.
The comment marked a rhetorical break from the "special military operation" language that Moscow has used, an apparent move to prepare Russians for a longer and harder struggle.
European Union Council President Charles Michel said Russia's comments about war with Europe showed the importance of the EU's building its own defence industry.
Two people were killed in the western Khmelnytskyi region and three in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, including at least one at the dam, said the local administration and general prosecutor's office. More than 30 people were reported injured.
Ukraine's largest dam, the DniproHES in the city of Zaporizhzhia, was hit eight times, an official from the Ukrainian prosecutor's office said.
The state hydropower company said there was no risk of a breach. The company's director, Ihor Syrota, said both its power blocks and the dam itself had been damaged.
A state ecological inspectorate said that oil had leaked into the Dnipro river which the dam straddles.
"The wide impact of today’s attacks on critical civilian infrastructure is deepening the already dire humanitarian situation for millions of people in Ukraine," the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said around 20 substations and electricity stations had been hit in addition to the dam.
Russia fired 88 missiles and 63 Shahed drones, of which only 37 and 55, respectively, were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said of the attacks.
That represented a worse ratio than usual, possibly reflecting Moscow's widespread use of ballistic missiles that are harder to shoot down and also the proximity of the targeted regions to Russian-controlled areas.
Some 1.2 million people in at least four regions were left without power due to the attacks, presidential aide Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.
...& Zelensky blames the US.
Gassed up today @ $3.62/gal. Last fill up 3 wks ago, it was $3.12/gal.
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runrussellrun
- Posts: 7443
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:07 am
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
But why would the USA care if that racist, murdering oil was destroyed? Especially those global warmists.
Suck was gonna hit the dispensary in Seneca, NY and watch 'Cuse pound Hobart with 24 goals........but the snow, sleet, ice.....will keep sucks at home and hitting the spinning bike, watching game film on Hudl
my pronouns are "we" and "suck"
Suck was gonna hit the dispensary in Seneca, NY and watch 'Cuse pound Hobart with 24 goals........but the snow, sleet, ice.....will keep sucks at home and hitting the spinning bike, watching game film on Hudl
my pronouns are "we" and "suck"
ILM...Independent Lives Matter
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
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runrussellrun
- Posts: 7443
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:07 am
you can't make this stuff up
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaign ... th-crisis/
Fact Sheet: Fossil Fuel Racism Is a Public Health Crisis
by
Climate destruction is only possible because our government tolerates racism. By phasing out fossil fuel production and holding polluting corporations accountable, we can fight the climate crisis and improve health for millions of people at the same time.
Bombs for OIL (did Ukraine use US made bombs???), .
Fact Sheet: Fossil Fuel Racism Is a Public Health Crisis
by
Climate destruction is only possible because our government tolerates racism. By phasing out fossil fuel production and holding polluting corporations accountable, we can fight the climate crisis and improve health for millions of people at the same time.
Bombs for OIL (did Ukraine use US made bombs???), .
ILM...Independent Lives Matter
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
Pronouns: "we" and "suck"
-
youthathletics
- Posts: 14863
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:36 pm
Re: All Things Russia & Ukraine
Department of the ‘Deep’ State spokesman lays it out there a couple weeks ago.a fan wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 9:14 pmokay...now that gave me a chuckle.youthathletics wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:55 pm….do you now believe in the Deep State? How’d they already now, unless they were in on it?
Have nice weekend!
https://x.com/chuckcallesto/status/1771 ... a82I2GssRg
A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself.
~Livy
~Livy