Zelenskyy's dirt on the Biden's must be Huge!

How much dirt does Zelansky have on Biden? He got $800 million a week ago. And now he gets ANOTHER $800 mill? Serious questions need to be asked.

https://www.investmentwatchblo...ns-need-to-be-asked/

^^^That article is from April of 2022?^^^

Let's go with it though...SERIOUS Questions NEED to be asked, dammit!

Remember, it’s easy to give money away when it’s not yours. Add in the probability of this all being one huge money laundering scheme, it’ll be a little clearer.

The US taxpayer is a pinata. It was clear when the old fool first started chirping about 'whatever it takes' that he had seen a window of opportunity. It isn't often when the goals of the Biden crime family and US foreign policy align...gotta make hay while the sun is shining!

Russian troops advancing in ‘fierce fighting’ on eastern front, says Kyiv

Russian forces are advancing in four sectors on the eastern front as Ukrainian troops inch forward south of Bakhmut, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said on Sunday. Meanwhile US President Joe Biden has scheduled a trip to Europe with stops in the United Kingdom, the NATO summit in Lithuania and meetings in Finland, the White House said Sunday. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

https://www.france24.com/en/eu...k-on-kyiv-in-12-days

05:10am: Ukraine says Russian troops advancing in 'fierce fighting'
Ukraine said on Sunday that Russian troops were advancing in four areas in the east of the country amid "fierce fighting" but reported its forces moving forward in the south.

Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said that Russian troops were advancing near Avdiivka, Mariinka, Lyman and Svatove.

"Fierce fighting is going on everywhere," Maliar wrote on social media, adding: "The situation is quite complicated".

Ukrainian forces have made gradual progress in their counteroffensive launched last month but have so far failed to produce a major breakthrough and have urged Western allies to escalate pledges of military support

6:58pm: Russian troops advancing in 'fierce fighting', says Kyiv
Russian troops are advancing in four areas of the front line in eastern Ukraine amid "fierce fighting", Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said on Sunday.

"Fierce fighting is going on everywhere," Maliar wrote on social media, adding that Ukrainian troops were also advancing in one area in the east and two areas in the south.

"The enemy is advancing in Avdiivka, Mariinka, Lyman sectors. The enemy is also moving forward in the Svatove sector," she said.

Maliar said Ukrainian troops were advancing with "partial success" on the southern flank of Bakhmut, as well as near Berdyansk and Melitopol in southern Ukraine.

In the south, she said Ukrainian forces faced "intense enemy resistance, remote mining, deploying of reserves" and were only advancing "gradually".

"They are persistently and unceasingly creating conditions for as fast an advance as possible," she said.

2:21pm: Biden to travel to UK, NATO summit, Finland, says White House
US President Joe Biden has scheduled a trip to Europe with stops in the United Kingdom, the NATO summit in Lithuania and meetings in Finland, the White House said Sunday.

Biden is set to depart July 9 for "engagements" with the UK's King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the White House said in a statement. He will then continue to the NATO summit in Vilnius followed by a visit to Helsinki for the US-Nordic Leaders Summit.

1:04pm: 'Thin-armoured' French tanks impractical for attacks, says Ukraine commander
A Ukrainian commander has criticised the highly mobile AMX-10 RC infantry fighting vehicles – sometimes described as light tanks – supplied by the French government as "impractical" for front-line attacks, claiming one four-man crew had already died because of the vehicle's thin armour.

Kyiv said in April that the French vehicles, which are designed for armed reconnaissance and attacks on enemy tanks, were already in service.

But a 34-year-old battalion commander within the 37th Marine Brigade who uses the call sign Spartanets said the tanks' "thin armour" means they can be used as fire support, but not in front-line assaults.

"Unfortunately, there was one case when the crew died in the vehicle," the major told AFP on Friday.

"There was artillery shelling and a shell exploded near the vehicle, the fragments pierced the armour and the ammunition set detonated."

The crew of four inside were all killed, he said.

"The guns are good, the observation devices are very good. But unfortunately there is thin armour and it is impractical to use them in the front line (attack)," Spartanets said.

AMX-10s were developed in the 1970s, and French armed forces have begun to replace them with more modern vehicles called Jaguar.

more at link


IAEA saw no evidence Moscow planning attack on Zaporizhia nuclear plant, but 'anything can happen'

https://www.france24.com/en/tv...-anything-can-happen

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi spoke to FRANCE 24 from Vienna and stated that his teams had not observed any Russian military deployment inside the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, despite Ukrainian authorities claiming that Moscow was preparing to attack the site.

What is going on right now, reminds me of a time when an Army with high tech weapons tried to punch thru prepared Russian defensive lines, anyone remember KURSK. Did not go well for the attacking army. And I do believe the Russians love to rely on what has worked for them before.

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:
What is going on right now, reminds me of a time when an Army with high tech weapons tried to punch thru prepared Russian defensive lines, anyone remember KURSK. Did not go well for the attacking army. And I do believe the Russians love to rely on what has worked for them before.

The more I read about Kursk, the more astounded I am at the numbers involved.

The Germans destroyed 10 times the number of tanks that they lost, even though that statistic favors the defender (who can recover and repair damaged vehicles), and still lost.

Pure war of attrition, the Soviets couldn’t compete but just had more bodies.

quote:

Originally posted by reloader-1:

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:
What is going on right now, reminds me of a time when an Army with high tech weapons tried to punch thru prepared Russian defensive lines, anyone remember KURSK. Did not go well for the attacking army. And I do believe the Russians love to rely on what has worked for them before.

The more I read about Kursk, the more astounded I am at the numbers involved.

The Germans destroyed 10 times the number of tanks that they lost, even though that statistic favors the defender (who can recover and repair damaged vehicles), and still lost.

Pure war of attrition, the Soviets couldn’t compete but just had more bodies.

Not sure about this but I seem to remember reading the Germans lost more tanks at Kursk than the US did during the entire war. Going to see if I can do some research on this. When we landed at Normandy I think 80 percent of the German army was on the eastern front.

Okay just looked at some numbers, US combined armor tanks,tank destroyers and SPG was about 10.000 for all of WW2. The Russians and Germans lost about 4000 together at Kursk alone. People just dont fathom the slaughter that went on on the eastern front.

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:
People just dont fathom the slaughter that went on on the eastern front.

And we're denying them a buffer from a potential adversary- NATO.

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
Zelenskyy's dirt on the Biden's must be Huge!

How much dirt does Zelansky have on Biden? He got $800 million a week ago. And now he gets ANOTHER $800 mill? Serious questions need to be asked.

https://www.investmentwatchblo...ns-need-to-be-asked/

It’s not just FJB that FVZ has dirt on.

This is like a ‘Whodunnit’ murder-mystery and the victim is the U.S. Taxpayer who has been stabbed in the back by a house full of greedy, bloodthirsty and corrupt POS politicians.

It ain’t just The Big Guy getting his 10%.

It's difficult to try to comprehend any information/disinformation/media reports coming from this dumpster fire. No one has definitively determined who blew up the dam over there a few weeks ago. But it evidently supplied water to the cooling plants of the reactor.

Link to Original Article - New York Post

Ukraine is reportedly “preparing for a nuclear explosion” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, heightening tensions in the wake of Russia’s first overnight drone attack on Kyiv in 12 days.

Worries over a potential blast have prompted training to prepare residents for what might occur, according to Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

“I still cannot process that in the 21st century, this is what is happening. We are preparing for a nuclear explosion and the whole world is watching and there is nothing that can be done,” Rudik told Sky News.

It is “unprecedented” that Russia has not allowed UN officials into the power plant to carry out checks, according to Rudik, who noted Ukrainian officials called several times to make the plant a neutral zone, but “Russia never agreed to that.”

Russian troops have been ordered to leave the power plant — which has been under Russian control since March 2022 — by July 5, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

“The latest data indicates that the occupying forces are gradually leaving the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Three employees of Rosatom, who led the Russians’ actions, were among the first to leave the facility,” DIU said on Telegram.

Rosatom is a Russian state corporation specializing in nuclear energy.

It is “unprecedented” that Russia has not allowed UN officials into the power plant to carry out checks, according to a member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

“Ukrainian employees who have signed a contract with Rosatom have also been advised to evacuate. Under the instructions received, they should leave by 5 July,” DIU said.

Russian troops ordered to remain in the area have allegedly been instructed to “blame Ukraine in the event of any emergency,” Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

As the Zaporizhzhia region readies for the situation to possibly go nuclear, Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region, Ukrainian military officials said Sunday.

The attack — the first after a 12-day break — included eight Iranian-made Shahed drones and three cruise missiles, which were shot down.

“Another enemy attack on Kyiv,” Serhiy Popko, a colonel general who heads Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram.

Three homes were damaged by falling drone debris and one person was injured, Ruslan Kravchenko, the military head of the region, said on Facebook. No other information about the attack was immediately available.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated marines in the Black Sea port city of Odesa on the country’s Navy Day — celebrated the first Sunday of July.

“If Russian warships are still in the Black Sea, they will be afraid to approach our Ukrainian Crimea and Azov Sea coast. This will definitely happen,” Zelensky said, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Russia has nine warships in the Black Sea, including four Kalibr cruise missile carriers with up to 24 missiles on board, according to the Ukrainian Navy Command.

Britain thumps it's chest because they know the U.S. which got drawn into two previous World Wars will get drawn into this also.


UK Talks Tough On War With Russia, While Admitting It's Dangerously Low On Tanks

https://www.zerohedge.com/mark...-extremely-low-tanks

Through the Russia/Ukraine crisis the UK government has been among the most bellicose in urging Ukraine to fight Russia to the last man. UK politicians openly talk about being "at war" with Russia.

But on Wednesday Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, UK Chief of the Defence Staff broke the bad news to tough-talking UK: They have no tanks! They have no army! It was all just bluster! Also today, CNN puzzled by anyone opposing government censorship.



The top UK defense chief indeed painted a very bleak picture regarding Britain's war readiness in testimony in the House of Commons this week.

"A Defence Committee meeting in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon heard the UK has just 40 tanks and roughly a dozen frigates and destroyers ready for war," one report on his words underscored. "With the Russian-Ukrainian conflict continuing, military figures are urging for larger stockpiles."

The top admiral confirmed that Britain is ‘investing like crazy’ in armored vehicles – but these won't be available till the end of the decade. Below is a summary of Adm. Radakin's words and key statements via The Daily Mail:

On paper, the UK has around 200. But of these, only 40 are ready to go to war, it emerged yesterday.

Sir Tony responded that Britain was 'investing like crazy' in armoured vehicles which will be available by the end of this decade.

He also told MPs: 'We were at 19 frigates and destroyers, which we subsequently reduced that to 17 because some of those ships were very expensive.

'You've then got some in maintenance and refit so it is probably 11 or 12 which are available to go out on operations.'

Sir Tony added: 'It is true across the Armed Forces, we need to have deeper stockpiles. So I wouldn't say I was happy.'

Ironically it has been the UK which has been the most outspoken among the Western allies regarding supplying Ukraine not only with tanks, but most recently warplanes as well. The United Kingdom was the first to send tanks and other heavy weaponry into the conflict.

So far Britain has given Kiev at least 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks, and likely this won't be the end of it -- the UK military's warnings to politicians of severe shortages in defense equipment notwithstanding.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
UK Talks Tough On War With Russia, While Admitting It's Dangerously Low On Tanks

Typical of Europe. Every country in NATO is willing to fight to the last American dollar and eventually the last American GI. I'm sick of Europe and the European attitude.

Most of Europe has been able to outsource nearly all of their defense spending to the American taxpayer since the postwar period. They've taken advantage of the situation thanks to permanent Washington and the military industrial complex. We've essentially enabled cradle to the grave socialism and excessive social welfare spending in Europe as a result.

Trump, unlike most of the squishy RINO class, was the first president in memory to talk about requiring NATO members to up their game and contribute more. I am hoping Trump gets another shot at rattling their cages.

quote:

Originally posted by HKAngusKL:
Most of Europe has been able to outsource nearly all of their defense spending to the American taxpayer since the postwar period. They've taken advantage of the situation thanks to permanent Washington and the military industrial complex. We've essentially enabled cradle to the grave socialism and excessive social welfare spending in Europe as a result.

Trump, unlike most of the squishy RINO class, was the first president in memory to talk about requiring NATO members to up their game and contribute more. I am hoping Trump gets another shot at rattling their cages.

Amen to that. Sugar Daddy needs to cut off the chilrens.

Over 100 countries have banned cluster bombs.


US says it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine

The United States announced Friday that it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time as Kyiv's forces push ahead with a counteroffensive against Russian forces.

https://www.france24.com/en/eu...ne-pushes-nato-goals

10:45pm: Biden says sending cluster munitions to Ukraine a 'difficult decision'
US President Joe Biden on Friday said sending cluster munitions to Ukraine was a "difficult decision" but Ukraine needed them as it was running out of ammunition in its war against the Russian invasion.

"It was a very difficult decision on my part. And by the way, I discussed this with our allies," Biden told CNN. "The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition."

9:45pm: Zelensky meets Erdogan after securing US cluster bombs
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday entered crunch talks with Turkey's leader after securing a US pledge for cluster munitions that could inflict massive damage on Russian forces on the battlefield.

Washington's decision to deliver the controversial weapons — banned across a large part of the world but not in Russia or Ukraine — dramatically ups the stakes in the war, which enters its 500th day on Saturday.

Zelensky has been travelling across Europe and working the phones trying to secure bigger and better weapons for his outmatched army, which has launched a long-awaited counteroffensive that is progressing less swiftly than Ukraine's allies had hoped.

9:05pm: The US will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package
The Biden administration will provide thousands of cluster munitions to Ukraine, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday, vowing the US will not leave Ukraine defenseless and that Kyiv has promised to use the controversial munitions carefully.

The decision comes on the eve of the NATO summit in Lithuania, where President Joe Biden is likely to face questions from allies on why the US would send a weapon into Ukraine that more than two-thirds of alliance members have banned because it has a track record for causing many civilian casualties.

The munitions — which are bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets — are seen by the US as a way to get Kyiv critically needed ammunition to help bolster its offensive and push through Russian front lines. US leaders debated the thorny issue for months, before Biden made the final decision this week.

9:04pm: 'Necessary' steps for Ukraine to join NATO will be discussed at summit, says White House
While Ukraine will not join NATO following next week's summit, its members will discuss what steps are necessary for Kyiv to qualify for the military alliance's membership, the White House said on Friday.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the summit, which will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania, will be an important step in the path for Ukraine to join the organization.

6:22pm: 'We are moving Ukraine closer to NATO', says Nato's Stoltenberg
In interview with FRANCE 24, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, "we are moving Ukraine closer to NATO, the final decisions are still to be negotiated and agreed by allies." He added that he expected important decisions to be made during the NATO summit in Vilnius next week. These include: a programme for ensuring full interoperability between Ukrainian forces and NATO forces, the establishment of NATO-Ukraine council and reaffirming NATO's committment to UKraine's membership in the alliance.

More at link

quote:

Originally posted by BansheeOne:

quote:

Originally posted by BansheeOne:
- I expect this sort of slugging match to continue for another two to four weeks. By then we'll either see a Ukrainian breakthrough, or their offensive will spend itself. Their problem is that both sides know that cutting through Russian-occupied territory to the Sea of Azov is of prime strategic importance, and the Russians have prepared for this with multiple deep defensive lines in the south. Whether they can sufficiently man all those while having to mind a huge frontline along which the Ukrainians can concentrate, now including the international Russian-Ukrainian border in the north, is a question that would arise only after an initial break.

- At any rate I maintain that this is probably the last major offensive of this war, which will set the stage either for a negotiated settlement by 2025 the latest, or else it turning into another frozen conflict in the post-Soviet area.

Well, two weeks of the continuing slugging match have passed. While the Ukrainians have made some minor gains totaling about 110 square kilometers, there has been no decisive breakthrough so far, and they have still committed only the smaller part of their assault forces. By the above reasoning, they will have to decide within another two weeks if and where to use the rest at a promising point; or maybe on a completely different axis like the speculated "right hook" through actual Russian territory at Belgorod in the northeast, turning the Russian flank, which would make their "offensive" so far a mere diversion; or else call off or maybe pause it to hope for another opportunity later this year, like through the draining Karkhovka Reservoir.

[...]

Nonetheless, indications from Russian media and some of Putin's recent speeches are that they just hope to weather this year's campaign season, then go for some sort of negotiated settlement or at least a ceasefire freezing the conflict largely along the current line of contact. This includes Putin waving the alleged draft agreement they were negotiating with Ukraine last April, and he clearly still hopes for something mandating neutrality and severely restricting military capabilities of the latter; though that's unlikely, and from his words reassuring Russians that no general mobilization is planned, he seems ready to settle for anything that lets keep Russia its current gains.

Which is exactly what domestic hardliners and their Western fanboys fear, who still want Russia to seize at least the entire territory which they officially annexed, plus the Odessa and Kharkiv oblasts, and possibly roll up right to the Polish border just to Show The West. Of course it's also possible that those signals of war-weariness are just another ruse playing to similar sentiments in the West in hopes of Ukraine being pushed into an agreement which Russia has no intention to honor. But that's thinking way ahead of whatever the current Ukrainian effort will bring in the next two weeks to months.

Now with four weeks gone, there's wide consensus that the offensive has failed to deliver on expectations; though that's maybe because of unrealistic expectations shaped by last year's dramatic collapses of the Russian fronts in the east and south due to overstretched and unprepared troops. Instead, this has so far been the kind of "bite and hold" offensive the Russians themselves have conducted for most of this war. The Ukrainians have still committed at best half of their newly-formed assault troops, so they're probably still hoping for a decisive breakthrough to exploit.

Their casualties seem not to have been as severe as indicated by the much-publicized losses of Western combat vehicles, possibly because of the better protection those afford the occupants even if knocked out (there's video of a Bradley being blown up by a mine, yet what looks like pretty much the entire crew subsequently evacuates and mounts another vehicle covering them). And again, last year's sweeping successes only occurred from September after prolonged preparatory fighting. But after October, mud season will enfore a strict limit to mobile operations. Absent some major breakthrough, Ukraine will be lucky to make it a third to half way to the Sea of Azov by then at their current pace.

There have been recent suggestions of negotiations to start in the fall by both camps, though IMO those are again unrealistically based upon assumptions that the respective other side is about to throw it in and will agree to conditions imagined by the proponents. That goes for the "Zelensky peace plan" that Russia will just withdraw its troops, pay reparations and have its leaders be put on trial for war crimes as much as for ideas around the pro-Russian blogosphere that Russia will simply get everything it had demanded before the war. At any rate, I don't think we'll see any peace agreement this year; maybe next, or in 2025.

Meanwhile a new edition of Ukraine Support Tracker is out, covering commitments through 31 May. Interestingly Japan has made it among the top donors, if mostly on financial aid; by total, they're now in fifth place behind the US, EU, UK and Germany, ahead of Canada, Poland and the Netherlands. Or if you include the EU share into national commitments, even in fourth place after the US, Germany and the UK. Unless you also include refugee cost, in which case it's sixth place after the US, Germany, Poland, the UK and Netherlands ... etc.

No big changes in aid as a share of GDP - the Baltic States and Poland remain firmly in lead with Estonia on top at 1.46 percent with or 1.26 without EU share, while major total donors are in mid-field: Germany 0.46 percent including or 0.27 excluding EU share, UK 0.37, US 0.33, Canada 0.29; Japan is actually just 0.15. Including refugee cost, Poland becomes first with an additional 2.47 percent, while the Czechs, Slovakians and Bulgarians move ahead of Lithuania with an additional 1.48, 1.09 and 1.37 percent respectively. Countries outside continental Europe obviously don't have much of that cost, with the UK adding just 0.04 percent, and the US and Canada none.