RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 16.05.2024
Including geopolitical issues affecting the balance of power in the ongoing end game war to establish our common future, a closely monitored prison planet or tolerance for diverse modes of governance.
THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH HERE.
*** DISINTEGRATING UKRAINIAN ARMY FLEEING TOWARD KHARKOV ***
“Ukraine. What is the truth...?
Why won’t western media tell both sides…?”
VIRTUALLY UNREPORTED ATROCITY IN LUGANSK, 2nd JUNE 2014
A lot has been said about atrocities in the western media claimed to have been perpetrated by the Russians, for example at Bucha and Mariupol among others. These assertions are conveyed on the say so of the Ukrainian authorities. How willing though are western news broadcasters to convey atrocities attributed to the Ukrainians? The following will I think provide the answer.
If anyone wonders if they are receiving accurate coverage of the conflict in Ukraine I would suggest watching the video below of an event which occurred on the 2nd of June 2014 and ask themselves if they recall hearing about it on any mainstream media news channel at the time.
The video is harrowing to watch. The bodies (five women and three men) are real. Yet across western media there was only one single news report that occurred a day later. This was from CNN and occurred only because a CNN team happened to be nearby at the time of the atrocity and so the network could hardly ignore it as all others so obviously did.
The video below shows the unvarnished truth that was not considered newsworthy in western mainstream news.
THE SINGLE WESTERN MSM REPORT ON THE LUGANSK ATROCITY, 3rd JUNE 2014
The video at the CNN link below is the crime scene sanitised by CNN, though played straight with honest reporting on the scene not playing things to Kiev’s tune.
(There was a time early in the war in the Donbass when CNN were not afraid to contradict the Ukrainian regime in Kiev.) Watch, because it's the first and last time you will see this.
5 women and 3 men died, all civilians.
Air attack on pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk kills 8, stuns residents.
COLLECTIVE WEST-UKRAINE <-> RUSSIA
The Bloom | The Russians Have Entered Lyptsi | Netailove Has Fallen. Military Summary For 2024.05.16
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN: Zelensky Admits Kharkov Crisis, Rus Kherson Return; Putin Meets Xi, Unveils Rus Industrialisation.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN: Fico fights for life. Putin, huge delegation to China. Biden, 14 secs/5 jump cuts. EU warns Georgia.
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW: He Opposed Big Pharma & Told Truth About Ukraine - Then This Happened.
Crimea Under Attack | Warehouse Destroyed In Mykolaiv | Assault On Lyptsi. MilitarySummary 2024.5.16
‘No country should be punished for its sovereignty’ – Robert Fico in quotes.
How Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt, sees the world and what he says.
An assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico took place on Wednesday in the city of Handlova, where a government meeting was being held. The attacker fired up to five shots at the prime minister, who received gunshot wounds to the chest, abdomen, and arm.
Fico's condition after the assassination attempt was critical, and the operation ended up being protracted due to damage to several organs. However, according to Slovak media reports, it was ultimately successful. The prime minister’s condition has stabilized, and he is now able to communicate with doctors.
The shooter has been arrested. He turned out to be 71-year-old Slovak writer Juraj Cintula, who was also an activist of the liberal party Progressive Slovakia. Before opening fire, the assailant shouted at Fico: “Robo, come here.”
Read more: Slovak PM Robert Fico: Noted critic of Western approach to Ukraine conflict
The party that Fico leads, Direction–Social Democracy (Smer), prevailed in the parliamentary elections last October. As a result, the 59-year-old triumphantly returned to the prime minister’s chair, which he had previously held from 2006-2010 and 2012-2018.
In his pre-election campaign, Fico clearly stated that Slovakia should not supply weapons to the Kiev regime. Upon becoming prime minister (just before a trip to the EU summit in Brussels), he immediately met with Slovak deputies and reiterated his foreign policy priorities. In particular, Fico noted that Bratislava would no longer be supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Today, Fico is one of the few leaders of an EU or NATO country who has expressed an alternate point of view on events in the world. RT has collected some of his quotes that have resonated globally.
On the Russia-Ukraine conflict
I say it loud and clear and will do so: The war in Ukraine didn’t start yesterday or last year. It began in 2014 when the Ukrainian Nazis and fascists started to murder Russian citizens in Donbass and Lugansk.
***
There has to be some kind of compromise. What do they expect, that the Russians will leave Crimea, Donbas and Luhansk? That’s unrealistic.
***
It is literally shocking to see how the West has repeatedly made mistakes in assessing the situation in Russia.
Russia completely controls the occupied territories militarily, Ukraine is not capable of any meaningful military counter-offensive, [and] it has become completely dependent on financial aid from the West with unforeseeable consequences for Ukrainians in the years to come.
The position of the Ukrainian president is shaken, while the Russian president increases and strengthens his political support. Neither the Russian economy nor the Russian currency collapsed, [and] anti-Russian sanctions have increased the internal self-sufficiency of this huge country.
On aid for Ukraine
Ukraine is among the most corrupt countries in the world and we are conditioning what is excessive financial support on guarantees that European money (including Slovak) not be embezzled.
***
If the strategy is to continue to pour money there, €1.5 billion per month without any result, and we have to cut our own resources? After all, we have huge problems, and public money is in a difficult state.
***
We can pour all the weapons of the world, all the money there, and Russia will never be defeated militarily. It is the turn of 2023 and 2024, and you will see that Russia will begin to dictate the terms of settlement of this conflict.
***
I will support zero military aid to Ukraine… An immediate halt to military operations is the best solution we have for Ukraine. The EU should change from an arms supplier to a peacemaker.
On Ukraine’s future
Ukraine may say: ‘We want to join NATO.’ This will be their own decision. We are saying that we will not ratify [the documents on Ukraine’s accession to NATO] in parliament because Slovakia needs a neutral Ukraine. Slovakia’s interests will be threatened if Ukraine becomes a NATO member.
***
I will tell him [Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal] that I am against the membership of Ukraine in NATO and that I will veto it. It would merely be a basis for World War III, nothing else.
***
I am against the membership of Ukraine in NATO and I will veto it. If Ukraine were in NATO, some conflicts will be constantly instigated there, and once a clash happens between Russia and a NATO member state, we will have a world war.
***
In the future we can imagine that Ukraine has the closest possible cooperation with the European Union, including membership. But for that, it has to meet conditions like all other countries aspiring for membership had met.
We all know for example that Ukraine belongs among the most corrupt countries in the world and the existing government regime is far from democratic standards.
Read more: Slovak prime minister survives surgery after assassination attempt: As it happened
On sending troops to Ukraine
Ukraine is not a NATO member state. Slovakia has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine and let me send a clear message to all of Slovakia: whoever might ask us for whatever, a Slovak soldier will never set foot past the Slovak-Ukrainian border.
***
The atmosphere [at a combined meeting of EU and NATO officials on Ukraine held in Paris in February] was totally belligerent: to continue the war at all costs and do everything to make the war go on. I was very surprised that not a single word was said about some peace plan or a peace initiative. Yes, I can confirm that there are countries that are ready to send troops to Ukraine. There also are countries that say ‘never’ to that, and Slovakia is one of them. And there are some countries that say such ideas deserve consideration
On the sovereignty of countries
Our partners abroad have been taught that whatever they ask and request from Slovakia, they will automatically get it. But we are a sovereign and self-confident country.
***
As long as I am the head of the Slovak government, I will never agree that a country should be punished for fighting for its sovereignty. I will never agree with such an attack on Hungary
***
Ukraine is not a sovereign, independent country, Ukraine is under the absolute influence of the United States of America – and in this the EU is making a huge mistake, not wanting to keep a sovereign view of Ukraine and only agreeing to what the US says.
On sanctions against Russia
Ukraine needs to be helped, but I would argue that the help is being given in a way that has no effect. We are currently paying (Ukraine. – ed.) €1.5 billion per month from the European Union. We are imposing sanctions on the Russians... How long should this last?
***
To make it clear, I won’t vote for any sanctions against Russia unless we have an analysis of their impact on Slovakia on the table.
On sanctions in sports
I would never mix politics and sport. Why are we harming ourselves by doing this?
Imagine that you have a sport, where the absolute leaders are from Russia and Belarus. You bar them from the competition, and someone who would have otherwise had a minimal probability of winning goes on and wins. What’s the value of that gold medal then?
Never in my life would I stop athletes from competing. Let them show that they have all it takes to win.
On the Truth
If we can’t tell the truth at the Brussels table that, for example, anti-Russian sanctions didn’t work, that further destruction of Ukraine and killing Ukrainians is going nowhere, that the fanatic implementation of the Green Deal is killing our economies, that 20,000 casualties in the Gaza Strip cannot be overlooked just because Israel causes them, we are on a slippery slope that can be not only politically, but also economically destructive for Europe.
By Georgiy Berezovsky, Vladikavkaz-based journalist.
‘No country should be punished for its sovereignty’ – Robert Fico in quotes.
Slovak PM Robert Fico: Noted critic of Western approach to Ukraine conflict.
The shots targeting the premier were also aimed at Russian-Slovak relations, a Moscow lawmaker has said.
Robert Fico’s third term as prime minister of Slovakia has put him squarely at odds with both the European Union and NATO on the matter of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. RT takes a look at the Slovak leader’s stance, and why it has drawn the ire of Brussels.
The Slovak prime minister was shot on Wednesday, during a visit to the town of Handlova, and was rushed to the hospital for surgery in serious condition. His attacker has been arrested and identified in media reports as Juraj Cintula, 71, a poet and supporter of the opposition Progressive Slovakia party. Cintula told police he shot Fico because he “disagreed” with his government’s policies.
“This is not only a shot at Fico and Slovakia, but also at Russian-Slovak relations,” Russian lawmaker Konstantin Zatulin said in reaction to the news.
“Fico knew very well that the majority of Slovaks, at least half, sympathize with Russia, despite the campaign of deception that rules the roost in Europe,” Zatulin added, noting that the Slovak PM had been “subjected to endless extortion and threats” from the EU over his political positions that ran counter to those of Brussels.
Fico led the government in Bratislava twice before, from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He returned to office last October, having campaigned on stopping weapons deliveries to Ukraine and arguing that “people in Slovakia have bigger problems” than the war.
The Ukraine conflict “began in 2014, when Ukrainian Nazis and fascists started murdering the Russian population of Donbas,” Fico said at a campaign rally last August. He has also described Ukraine’s Azov Battalion as “clearly a fascist regiment.”
Read more: Slovak prime minister survives surgery after assassination attempt: Live updates
Upon winning the election, Fico stopped all Slovak military aid to Ukraine. The previous government had already sent Kiev $728 million worth of weapons, equipment and ammunition. He also refused to join the coalition of about 20 states for buying weapons for Ukraine, led by the neighboring Czech Republic.
Last month, Fico said Bratislava would block Kiev’s application to join NATO. Admission to the US-led bloc requires the unanimous consent of all 32 member states.
“Slovakia needs a neutral Ukraine,” Fico said. “Our interests will be threatened if it becomes a NATO member state because that is the basis of a large world conflict.”
The new government in Bratislava has insisted that the conflict should be resolved through diplomacy – and the sooner, the better. Fico praised the peace plans put forth by China, Brazil and the Vatican, all of which Ukraine has rejected.
Earlier this month, Fico pushed back on talk by French President Emmanuel Macron about possibly sending NATO troops to help Kiev’s war effort, saying this would bring the world to the brink of a third world war.
“Slovakia has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, and let me send a clear message to the whole of Slovakia: Whoever might ask us, no Slovak soldier will set foot beyond the Slovak-Ukrainian border,” Fico told the parliament in Bratislava.
Just a few days later, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell lamented that “not everybody in the EU” agreed with his assertion that Russia is an existential threat to the bloc, and that some members considered Moscow “a good friend.” While he did not name any names, both Fico and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban have dissented from Brussels on the matter of Ukraine, and have sought to maintain relations with Russia.
During his first term as PM, Fico sought to improve relations with Moscow, citing Russia’s support for the Slovakian national awakening in the 1850s. He criticized the 2014 EU sanctions on Russia as “senseless” and harmful to Slovakia’s economy. He has said the same about the expanded sanctions imposed since February 2022.
Slovak PM Robert Fico: Noted critic of Western approach to Ukraine conflict.
DANNY HAIPHONG: DMITRY POLYANSKIY ON RUSSA'S WARNING TO NATO, FICO SHOOTING, PUTIN VISITS CHINA, AND MORE.
LEVAN GUDADZE: Fall of Rabotino - Ukraine update, Robert Fico Survived Assault, Russian President Putin in China...
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ISRAEL <-> PALESTINE-IRAN-SYRIA-IRAQ-LEBANON-YEMEN
JACKSON HINKLE - SCOTT RITTER: Israel is losing.
RAY MCGOVERN (EX-CIA): Israel Learns a Harsh Lesson.
PHIL GIRALDI (EX-CIA): How Washington Protects Israel.
KATIE HALPER: Israel Supporters Assault, Spit, Wish Rape On Protestors.
SCOTT RITTER: Reacts to Lindsey Graham's dangerous rhetoric.
AARON MATÉ: What Freedom of Speech?
KYLE ANZALONE: Lindsay Graham Wants to Nuke Gaza.
MAX BLUMENTHAL: The Occupation Comes Home.
Hamas Has The Last Laugh: Netanyahu 'Shuts Down' Israeli Defence Min's Post-war Gaza Plan Dare.
'Beware!': Iran's Top Commander Warns UK, France & Germany For Defending Israel | Details:
COLLECTIVE WEST <-> GLOBAL MAJORITY
THE DURAN w/ ALEX KRAINER: Putin & Xi, preparing for big sanctions war.
BRIAN BERLETIC of THE NEW ATLAS: Cambodia Does Not Owe US Explanation Over Chinese Ties.
JACKSON HINKLE: MENU: Everything you won’t hear anywhere else.
Cuba removed from "Countries Not Cooperating Fully Against Terrorism" List.
MULTIPOLARITY - RUSSIA-CHINA / BRICS
THE DURAN w/ ALEX KRAINER: Putin & Xi, preparing for big sanctions war.
90% of Russia-China transactions are in national currencies – Putin
The decision to switch mostly to rubles and yuan was “timely” and has led to a strong boost in trade, the president says
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a welcome ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. © Sputnik
The vast majority of transactions between Russia and China are now carried out in national currencies, bypassing the US dollar, President Vladimir Putin has said.
Speaking at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Thursday, Putin heaped praise on the deep level of cooperation between the two powers, especially in trade.
Relations between Moscow and Beijing are based on “the principles of mutual respect, good neighborliness, and mutual benefit,” Putin said. He added that despite the coronavirus pandemic and “some actions aimed at constraining our development” by third countries, the volume of trade is steadily increasing, as both countries have built a solid investment portfolio in various fields.
“A powerful impetus to expand our trade flows was given by our timely joint decision to ensure that transactions are conducted in national currencies. As of today, 90% of all payments are made in rubles and yuan,” the Russian president said.
Read more: Kremlin reveals details of Putin’s China trip
According to Putin, trade turnover between Russia and China soared by almost 25% in 2023, reaching $227 billion.
Putin is on a two-day state visit to China, his first foreign trip since his inauguration for a fifth term as president earlier this month. The Russian and Chinese leaders, as well as senior officials from both countries, are expected to hold talks on a wide range of issues such as bilateral relations, economic cooperation and the international situation, including the Ukraine conflict.
The Russian president has said that while Moscow has never sought the “dedollarization” of the national or international economy, this process is “inevitable.” Putin has particularly rebuked Washington for using its currency as a “tool of combat,” which he said is undermining global confidence.
After the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the US cut off Russia’s central bank from dollar transactions and later banned the export of dollar banknotes to the country. Putin has called Washington’s restrictions “complete foolishness” that only serve to undercut US power and its economy.
90% of Russia-China transactions are in national currencies – Putin.
JACKSON HINKLE: Unipolarity is over, if you want it.
DANNY HAIPHONG: China DESTROYS NATO for Serbia Embassy Bombing, Warns EU of Decoupling War.
EMIL COSMAN: US threatens India. Strong, Independent India reacts, doesn't back down.
AFRICA
African state reveals why it canceled defense deal with Washington.
US officials had threatened to impose sanctions on Niger, the Sahel nation’s prime minister told the Washington Post.
Niger’s decision to scrap military ties with the US was in response to threats made by American officials during negotiations, the West African nation’s prime minister, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, said in an interview published by the Washington Post on Tuesday.
Zeine repeated allegations that a senior US delegation, including Molly Phee – the State Department’s top official for African affairs – who was in Niamey in March to negotiate the renewal of a decade-old defense agreement, attempted to dictate which countries should be Niger’s partners.
During the meeting, Phee warned the Sahel state against engaging with Iran and Russia at levels that were unacceptable to Washington if it wanted to maintain the US as a security partner, according to the Nigerien prime minister.
Phee also threatened sanctions if Niger pursued a deal to sell uranium to Iran, he reportedly added.
“When she finished, I said, Madame, I am going to summarize in two points what you have said. First, you have come here to threaten us in our country. That is unacceptable. And you have come here to tell us with whom we can have relationships, which is also unacceptable. And you have done it all with a condescending tone and a lack of respect,” Zeine said.
Niamey’s military government canceled its security agreement, which had allowed 1,000 US soldiers and civilian contractors to operate in Niger, in mid-March, just days after the encounter with the American delegation.
The former French colony’s new authorities began reviewing deals signed with Western partners since the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum last July. France withdrew its troops from Niger in December after Niamey ordered them out for allegedly failing to combat the jihadist insurgency in the Sahel. The authorities also accused the former colonial power of aggressive behavior and internal meddling.
Washington, which condemned the coup and joined Paris and other allies in suspending aid to Niamey, had previously ruled out disengagement from Niger, which is crucial to its counterterrorism mission in the Sahel region.
READ MORE: US out: How NATO’s disastrous Libya invasion still echoes in West Africa today
Zeine told the Washington Post that Niamey’s authorities were “bewildered” that the US insisted on keeping its troops in the country while denying Nigerien troops additional support, including military equipment to counter extremist attacks.
“The Americans stayed on our soil, doing nothing while the terrorists killed people and burned towns,” Zeine said.
“It is not a sign of friendship to come on our soil but let the terrorists attack us. We have seen what the United States will do to defend its allies, because we have seen Ukraine and Israel,” he added.
The landlocked country has turned to Moscow for security assistance, with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirming earlier this month that Russian forces were sharing a base with American troops in Niger. Russian military instructors are reportedly in Niamey to train the national army in counterterrorism tactics, as American troops are scheduled to leave the African country in the coming months, as demanded by the government.
African state reveals why it canceled defense deal with Washington.
EXPATS IN RUSSIA
WAS RUSSIA FOUNDED HERE?! 🇷🇺
MAPPING CHANNEL UPDATES
The Bloom | The Russians Have Entered Lyptsi | Netailove Has Fallen. Military Summary For 2024.05.16
Major Escalation Coming | Russian Success Leads To New Assaults.
Crimea Under Attack | Warehouse Destroyed In Mykolaiv | Assault On Lyptsi. MilitarySummary 2024.5.16
Start Of A Much Larger Operation, Brutal REALITY Of Attritional War - Ukraine War Map Analysis News.
Russian Assault on Lyptsi | Northern Vovchansk Flanking Attack | Corruption Revealed.
Ukraine CRUMBLES After Russian Probing Attacks in Kharkiv.
VICTORY BELONGS TO RUSSIA: IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Each day that passes makes a conclusive Russian victory in the Donbass and beyond more certain. As Russia bolsters her forces, and weaponry, those of Ukraine decrease. Russian forces gain ready access to rest and recuperation as troop numbers increase. The increasingly exhausted and demoralised Ukrainian troops have an ever decreasing prospect of such respite. This situation is likely to bring them to complete breakdown as Russia unleashes the firepower of the more modern and advanced weaponry that is arriving with the newly mobilised Russian troops.
The various Ukrainian offensives are now weak when confronted by the reinforced Russian lines. A few futile efforts achieve quite miserable results before fire reigns down on the Ukrainian troops and they are forced back to their starting positions.
And now, all this being said, we have arrived at the wet, and later, freezing conditions where these pathetic Ukrainian forces will be subject to myriad forms of abject misery with death and injury all around them while they lie sodden or frozen, abandoned to their fate by Kiev.
The pitiable young and old of Ukraine have been frogmarched to their deaths as cannon-fodder while the bestial elites of the collective West urge their "president" to add more to their number there at the gates of Hell and their doom. We must feel for the majority of them as they are not the Nazis we revile, in most part they are decent men, fathers, sons, brothers, husband and uncles, who no doubt saw through the coup of 2014 for what it was. But sadly, their fate seems sealed.
Nothing will stop Russia now. Every factor favours them. Victory will be Russia's. In Donbass and beyond and in due course across the world.
Victory belongs to Russia: It is now only a matter of time.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
ALL-PERVADING BIAS CAUSED THE HATE-FUELLED ATTACK ON ROBERT FICO
When you are repeatedly told a one-sided story where a person, in this case Putin, is constantly demonized, then all those who fail to accept this framing can easily be seen as people to hate also.
We see today the ultimate result of consistently spreading a one-sided, hate-fuelled narrative about Russia and those who choose peace over war. The assassination attempt on Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia is the direct result of the hatred spread against him by media and opposition politicians alike.
The U.S. embassy in Bratislava without any doubt has its hands deep in this particularly ugly trough. As have figures such as George Soros who think they ought to form governments or bring them down rather than by anything approaching a truly democratic process.
No one who forms an opinion contrary to the demanded narrative of the elite western political consensus can feel safe to voice their views. Not in an environment where the general population of all western countries are fed a diet of anti-Russian hatred and 100% skewed narratives which paint those who wish to attain a balanced view as traitors.
Robert Fico has been subjected to a campaign of virulent hatred for many years now, a hatred which has massively intensified since he and his party were elected to govern Slovakia and a colleague was then elected to be Slovakia’s president. Massive demonstrations have been held on an almost daily basis flagrantly ignoring that both were elected democratically by the will of the Slovak people.
Wishing to see a renewed peace in Ukraine rather than a continuation of war was Robert Fico’s crime. This along with his willingness to look at both sides of the story in relation to the long running disputes between Russia and the Ukrainian authorities. In an environment where it is almost a crime to look deeply into the facts seeking to discern the true genesis of events in Ukraine’s Donbass region and Russia’s concerns over NATO expansion into Ukraine made Fico a marked man.
To hold the view that there are always two sides to every story means you may well risk your career and perhaps even your life itself. Western governments and their compliant media stenographers demand you accept and parrot their fixed, unquestionably views. If you do not submit you become a target. If you are a public figure then you risk character assassination if not a very real assassination attempt as Robert Fico has suffered today.
Is this the region of the world of free speech? Is the USA any more the land of the free? When you are forced to behave in a certain way, watch what you say and submit to those who are supposed to be YOUR public servants then we have surely moved far away from those noble concepts of freedom of speech and democracy that our leaders (now rulers) preach about.
Hopefully Robert Fico will survive his grievous injuries. After five hours and more surgeons continue to try to save his life. But free speech and anything approaching democracy is also on life support. And unlike Mr Fico it appears they are no longer capable of being saved in this sanctimoniously puritan western world of an increasingly dictatorial “democracy”.
