Kyiv is defending Kostiantynivka from Russian drone attacks. The embattled city is a gateway to Ukraine’s last major defense in the Donetsk region.
The city stands directly in the path of Russia’s summer offensive in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, which has seen Moscow’s troops make some of their biggest monthly territorial gains since 2022. Russia now controls more than two-thirds of Donetsk. But to seize the rest of the region, it must take urban centers still under Ukraine’s control and vital to its army logistics.
That makes Kostiantynivka a prime target. The city is the southern gateway to a chain of cities that form Ukraine’s last major defensive belt in Donetsk. Should it fall, nearly all cities farther north would come within range of Russian drones. It would bring Moscow closer to its long-sought goal of seizing all of Donetsk.
Either way, Ukrainian soldiers say Russia’s expanded drone strike capacity gives it an edge it did not have during previous assaults.
“Before, they could hit targets within two or three kilometers,” or less than two miles, said the commander of the unit operating crewless vehicles in the 93rd Brigade, who asked to be identified by only his first name, Oleksandr, according to military protocol. “Now, they’re striking every 10 to 20 minutes at a consistent range of 15 kilometers from the front line. Everything within that 15-kilometer zone is being destroyed.”
Russian strikes around Kostiantynivka are so constant that Ukrainian troops avoid leaving their underground shelters altogether. “We joke that going to the bathroom is practically a heroic act now,” said Mykola, a Ukrainian serviceman fighting southeast of the city, who asked to be identified by only his first name, according to military protocol.
Full article at link
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July 09, 2025, 03:28 PM
chellim1
quote:
Ukrainian Troops Struggle to Hold the Line on the Eastern Front
Zelensky should have agreed to a peace deal when he had the chance and still had something to save. He's going to FAFO that it's all gone. Ukraine has already lost a generation of men.
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown
"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor
The cost of idealism and ego. Just a damned waste.
______________________________________________ "If the truth shall kill them, let them die.”
Endeavoring to master the subtle art of the grapefruit spoon.
July 10, 2025, 01:01 PM
Fed161
The MSM is under reporting what motivates the Ukrainians to continue fighting. The Russians have abducted over 20,000 Ukrainian children. They are among the biggest child abductors in history. The Russian motive for the abductions vary from attempting to Russify the children to "re-educating" the chiidren to return to Ukraine as Russian soldiers to kill their fellow Ukrainians. Some were trafficked in the criminal sex trade. That's just the half of it. Russian soldiers have looted civilian households for anything of value. The Russian soldiers are not penalized by their superiors for this. Then of course there is the deliberate targeting of civilians with their drones and other munitions. Then of course there is the fact that Ukrainian prisoners are routinely tortured by their Russian captors. The hatred of the average Ukrainian for the Russians is probably not appreciated in the West.
Originally posted by wcb6092: Ukraine SBU Colonel Executed in Broad Daylight
I believe FAFO is the correct phrase here. Putin literally killed a dude by injecting him with Polonium, did they really think he would let the drone attack on some of his most important bombers slide? The KGB did, and likely does, wet work better than anyone in the world, the US included. The person orchestrating such an embarrassing, yet fairly irrelevant towards the Ukraine conflict attack, damn sure better be confident that they’re going to effect the outcome of the war, or else they’re going to get smoked. That’s pretty much what happened here.
The longer this conflict goes on, the less sympathetic I am, and the more I feel that the leaders of both sides are being a bunch of pig headed, stubborn fools that care more about themselves than their countrymen.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
July 12, 2025, 10:35 AM
Cookster
Fwiw, interesting reactions from Hegseth and Ratcliffe to PDJT’s statement of continued support of providing weapons to Ukraine -
Amid the escalating tensions in Russian President Vladimir Putin's stalling of peace in Ukraine, the U.S. is reportedly deploying its nuclear weapons arsenal on British soil for the first time in nearly two decades.
The reports come from the OSINTdefender X account, an open source intelligence monitor, and the U.K. Defense Journal.
"For the first time since at least 2005, U.S. nuclear weapons have been deployed onto the territory of the United Kingdom, with sources reporting that several B61-12 Thermonuclear Gravity Bombs were transferred this week from the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, to the newly-built nuclear weapons storage facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England," the X post read.
"The B61-12 is an advanced low-yield 'tactical' nuclear gravity bomb that is able to be equipped by a number of aircraft, including the F-35A Lightning II, which is flown by both 493rd Fighter Squadron and 495th Fighter Squadron based at Lakenheath."
The U.K. Defense Journal reported it might be the first U.S. nuclear deployment to the U.K. since 2008. The U.S. Defense Department has not made any public statements on the deployment of nuclear assets, and the U.K. Defense Ministry does not typically confirm nuclear weapons locations and deployments, according to the report.
The news does come just days after the France and Britain agreed to reinforce cooperation over their respective nuclear arsenals to defend Europe. Currently, the Russian threat amid the Ukraine war escalation stands to be the No. 1 reason for that agreement.
"This morning, we signed the Northward declaration, confirming for the first time that we are coordinating our independent nuclear deterrence," U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a news conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
The U.K., France, and the U.S. are the only nuclear powers in NATO, which held a summit in June and held in-person talks with President Donald Trump's White House since.
Seven NATO nations contribute to the alliance's nuclear mission by contributing jets that can carry either conventional weapons or American B61 bombs stockpiled in Europe.
The U.K. has agreed in late June to buy 12 U.S.-made F-35A fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs and will join NATO's shared airborne nuclear mission, in a major expansion of its nuclear deterrent, Starmer announced.
"The biggest strengthening of the U.K.'s nuclear posture in a generation," the U.K. Prime Minister hailed.
Starmer made the announcement while attending a NATO summit in the Netherlands. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte welcomed the decision, calling it "yet another robust British contribution to NATO."
The U.K. phased out air-dropped atomic weapons in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War. Its nuclear arsenal had consisted of submarine-based missiles.
The above developments also come in the shadow of Trump and Israel's 60-day ceasefire against Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Iran, Britain, France, and Germany will hold nuclear talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday, following warnings by the three European countries that failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.
The three European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to the former President Barack Obama's 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal reached with Iran – from which the United States withdrew in 2018 – that lifted sanctions on the Middle Eastern country in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.
The E3 have said they would restore U.N. sanctions on Tehran via the "snapback mechanism" by the end of August if nuclear talks that were ongoing between Iran and the U.S. before the Israel-Iran air war do not resume or fail to produce concrete results.
"If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly, and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snap-back' for which they lack absolutely [any] moral and legal ground," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The snapback mechanism can be used to restore U.N. sanctions before the U.N. Security Council resolution enshrining the deal expires Oct. 18.
Before the Israel-Iran war, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment in Iran, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimize any risk of weaponization.
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July 22, 2025, 09:16 PM
wcb6092
Thousands in Kyiv Protest New Bill Undermining Anti-Corruption Efforts, Zelensky Still Signs Into Law
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the highly controversial bill into law on Tuesday that effectively guts the country’s top anti-corruption organizations of their power to investigate independently, the Verkhovna Rada confirmed on its website.
Thousands of people gathered outside the presidential office in Kyiv to protest the new law approved on Tuesday that strips Ukraine’s top anti-corruption organizations of their institutional independence in what many fear is a major blow to the country’s push to eliminate graft in government.
On Tuesday night, Kyiv Post reporters on the ground observed around 2,000 to 3,000 people – mostly young – rallying near the Ivan Franko Theater in central Kyiv, close to the presidential complex.
The protest took place despite martial law, in effect since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, which officially bans public demonstrations.
The peaceful protesters are appealing to Kyiv to slash Bill No. 12414, which, once it becomes law, would effectively abolish the independence of anti-corruption law enforcement bodies in conducting investigations – namely, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
The draft law No. 12414, passed on Tuesday, places NABU and SAPO under the Prosecutor General’s Office – effectively within the president’s purview. The anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO, have operated independently since 2015, often facing resistance from authorities.
This independence allowed them to investigate members of parliament, officials, and even ministers. Having autonomy in investigation, surveillance, and covert operations meant they did not have to share their cases with the existing structures, which tend to be lenient toward top officials.
But under the new bill, investigations – and all measures that were previously independent – will be under the control of the Office of the Prosecutor General, which is within reach of the president’s purview.
This means that as soon as a case against an official reaches a dangerous level, the prosecutor general can technically reassign it from NABU to any other prosecutor within the Prosecutor General’s Office – with unknown consequences for the case.
NABU on Tuesday also accused a senior official from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of demanding a $300,000 bribe from a person to destroy evidence on a case related to the illegal smuggling of conscripts abroad, a day after the SBU raided NABU and SAPO’s offices, where it accused an NABU official of having Russian ties.
NABU said the SBU official demanded a $300,000 bribe from a person “under operative surveillance” without disclosing his or her identity. It is unclear if the incidents are related.
Ukrainian MP Artem Dmytruk launched explosive accusations against President Volodymyr Zelensky, alleging he is stealing over $10 billion annually from the Ukrainian people. Dmytruk claims Zelensky is orchestrating raids on anti-corruption agencies to suppress investigations into his inner circle, including Deputy PM Chernyshov. The MP called Zelensky a “Grim Reaper” who is persecuting citizens, dismantling institutions, and clinging to power through fear and force. As political tensions rise, Dmytruk warns that Ukraine is descending into chaos under what he calls an illegitimate, paranoid regime.
‘A Step Back’ – EU Worried About Anti-Corruption Bodies’ Loss of Independence
On Tuesday, the EU’s enlargement commissioner expressed her dismay at a vote by Ukrainian parliamentarians in the Verkhovna Rada to remove the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
“Seriously concerned over today’s vote in the Rada, Marat Kos wrote on social media. “The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU’s independence is a serious step back.”
She said the independence of the agency, and of an anti-graft prosecutor’s office which was also put under parliament’s purview, were “essential” for Ukraine’s EU path to membership.
At the same time, however, European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said that the 27-member bloc is not going to raise the issue of suspending financial assistance to Ukraine over those actions.
In a response to a question by European Pravda on Tuesday, Mercier said, “It’s not a discussion at this stage.”
“I mean, there are safeguards that we have,” he explained. “Once we get there, I mean. We’ll see if we ever get there.
On Monday, G-7 ambassadors all expressed concern over the investigative actions of the Security Service of Ukraine against the NABU.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the highly controversial bill into law on Tuesday, effectively gutting the country’s top anti-corruption organizations of their power to investigate independently.
Zelensky dismantles Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure, brings law enforcement agencies under his thumb
Activists and lawmakers say that the crackdown on Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies is the government's backlash against high-profile cases that recently targeted Zelensky's inner circle.
These include the bribery and abuse of power case against Chernyshov, as well as an embezzlement case against a relative of Timur Mindich, a film producer and co-owner of Zelensky's Kvartal 95 production company.
"(If the NABU loses its independence), there will only remain anti-corruption investigations against low-level people," Nikolov told the Kyiv Independent. "Top corrupt officials will be able to get away with anything."
Another major factor is Donald Trump's election as U.S. president in 2024.
In contrast to the administration of former President Joe Biden, Trump's team has paid little attention to anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine and has not made any statements on the issue. Trump has frozen funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which had financed rule of law reforms and civil-society watchdogs in Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities have seen this as a clear signal to act.
Ukraine’s Anti-Graft Agencies Say They Uncover Major Drone Procurement Bribery Case
The move follows a dramatic reversal of law that had curbed the anti-corruption agencies and sparked rare wartime demonstrations.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies said on Aug. 2 they had uncovered a large-scale bribery scheme involving the procurement of military drones and electronic warfare equipment.
This came just days after the agencies’ independence was restored following mass protests over government efforts to curb their powers. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said in a statement on Saturday that the alleged plot involved a sitting lawmaker, current and former regional officials, National Guard personnel, and a company executive.
Investigators alleged that those involved had refined a scheme over the past two years to systematically siphon off budget funds allocated by local authorities for defense needs, and to secure “unfair benefits in particularly large quantities.”
Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, identified the accused lawmaker as Oleksii Kuznetsov of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party. Party leader Davyd Arakhamiia later said on Telegram that Kuznetsov’s membership in the parliamentary faction would be suspended while the investigation is underway, and that a disciplinary panel was weighing his expulsion.
In a separate statement, the party said it supported the work of NABU and SAPO, and stressed that responsibility for corrupt acts “must be borne by everyone, regardless of position, status or political affiliation.” It said the recently passed law restoring the agencies’ independence “created additional guarantees for their work,” for them to act decisively and professionally in combating corruption.
Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on X on Saturday that he had been briefed on the investigation by the heads of NABU and SAPO, confirming that a lawmaker, local officials, and several National Guard servicemembers had been “exposed for bribery.” “I am grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for their work,” he wrote. “There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork in uncovering it, and ultimately, a fair sentence. It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption.”
The law he referred to marked a dramatic about-face for his administration.
On July 22, Zelenskyy signed a measure that gave the prosecutor general sweeping authority over NABU and SAPO, including the power to reassign prosecutors and transfer cases away from the agencies.
Zelenskyy defended the move at the time, saying it would help purge Russian influence from Ukraine’s law enforcement structures and accelerate stalled investigations.
“The anti-corruption infrastructure will work. Only without Russian influence—it needs to be cleared of that,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media at the time, saying that Ukraine must ensure “the inevitability of punishment for those who go against the law.” In response to the measure, thousands of Ukrainians rallied in Kyiv and other cities in the largest protests since the Russian invasion in 2022, accusing the government of undermining hard-won anti-graft safeguards.
The European Union, which granted Ukraine candidate status in 2022, warned that the law violated one of the bloc’s core accession requirements: maintaining the independence of anti-corruption institutions.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos called the July 22 law a “serious step back,” while the EU’s delegation to Ukraine said dismantling NABU’s safeguards would jeopardize trust in Kyiv’s reform efforts. Germany’s foreign minister similarly warned that curbing the agencies’ powers risked slowing Ukraine’s path to EU membership. The backlash was compounded by a separate security operation that week in which Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) conducted around 70 searches targeting NABU officials, arresting one on suspicion of spying for Russia, and another over alleged business ties to that country.
While most allegations involved minor administrative violations, NABU warned that some of the actions had gone too far and accused authorities of trying to intimidate the watchdogs.
Amid public protests and mounting pressure from Western allies, Zelenskyy reversed course. On July 24, he submitted a new bill restoring the agencies’ independence, calling the text “well-balanced” and excluding “any Russian ties,” and ensuring protection of Ukraine’s law enforcement system against Russian influence or interference. The Ukrainian Parliament passed the measure in a unanimous vote on July 31, and Zelenskyy signed it the same day, calling it the “right decision.”
“It is very important that the state listens to public opinion,” he wrote on social media. “That it hears its citizens. Ukraine is a democracy–without a doubt.”
The law prohibits the prosecutor general from issuing orders to NABU or SAPO, or interfering in their investigations, and reinstates key procedural safeguards lost under the earlier legislation.
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August 02, 2025, 08:24 PM
old rugged cross
We need to very careful not to get further drug into this mess. It is Europe's mess, not ours. Trump has to walk a tight line and should be telling all parties that they best prepare for the outcome that they let happen.
Fed161- War is a very dirty business and the population pays a terrible toll. Children being the worst of the victims. Both parties have their crimes against humanity.
The Kremlin has on Thursday belatedly confirmed that a meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been agreed to and will take place in the "coming days". The White House first unveiled it yesterday, as reported in the NY Times, but it was as yet unclear to degree to which Moscow was on board.
But now Russia has agreed "in principle". According to a statement of Putin’s longtime foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, "At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement in principle was made to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days."
He laid out that the idea of a Trump-Putin-Zelensky meeting (which apparently Washington pushed for) "for some reason was mentioned by Washington yesterday" but "not specifically discussed,” Ushakov added, explaining that the Russian side "left this option completely, completely without comment."
As for a Zelensky meeting, President Trump has indicated this would happen just bilaterally soon following his sit-down with Putin. Trump had been quoted Thursday as saying "that there will be a meeting [with Putin] very soon" and "that we could be ending" the Ukraine conflict. "We haven’t determined where [the meeting would take place], but we had some very good talks with President Putin today."
More at link
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August 08, 2025, 08:02 PM
Fed161
Fed161- War is a very dirty business and the population pays a terrible toll. Children being the worst of the victims. Both parties have their crimes against humanity.
I could hardly claim that there haven't been war crimes committed by Ukrainians. However in terms of scale, there is no comparison whatsoever. Ukrainians have abducted no Russian children. (in case you want to say that's because they haven't had the chance, that would be incorrect. Ukraine did occupy a portion of Russia for several months.) Russia is deliberately targeting civilians. That's part of their strategy. They have targeted hospitals, schools, apartment buildings etc. Thousands have been killed. The Russians have made no secret of this. In fact, if you google "Russians bragging about killing civilians" you will gets dozens of links (not from Ukrainian sources). Ukraine's targets have all been military related. Does Putin want peace? Sure he does - AFTER he takes a big chunk of Ukraine.
August 09, 2025, 07:17 AM
wcb6092
Zelensky on Trump and Putin meeting: Ukrainians 'will not give their land to the occupier'
After the news of the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting in Alaska, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine won't be ceding any land.
Trump suggested there could be "swapping of territories" as part of a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done," Zelensky said on Telegram. “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
Zelensky posted a video on X after the announcement of the meeting.
"Ukraine is ready for real decisions that can bring peace. Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace," the post said. "They will not achieve anything. These are stillborn decisions. They are unworkable decisions. And we all need real and genuine peace. Peace that people will respect."
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August 09, 2025, 07:40 AM
chellim1
quote:
Trump suggested there could be "swapping of territories" as part of a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done," Zelensky said on Telegram. “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
What an idiot. Sometimes you just have to accept reality.
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown
"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor
August 09, 2025, 07:44 AM
pedropcola
I’m not editing you chellim, I’m just clarifying because the first time I read your post I thought you were calling Trump an idiot. Upon a second view I read it wrong, you are calling out Zelenskyy and I agree.
August 09, 2025, 08:08 AM
chellim1
Yes, Zelensky is an idiot. He continues to insist that he will not give up territory. The reality is that he already has. He's not going to get it back. The only question is how much more will he lose, and how many more Ukrainians will he have killed.
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown
"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor
August 09, 2025, 10:32 AM
Fed161
So now the Russians are offering kidnapped Ukrainian children for sale. The ad does say adoption, but Russia is charging a hefty price for each child.
Originally posted by Fed161: So now the Russians are offering kidnapped Ukrainian children for sale. The ad does say adoption, but Russia is charging a hefty price for each child.
Is this article any different than those exposing little Z and his buddies as billion dollar grifter nazi's?
Come on fed. And how long do we have to wait for your main point, blaming it all on DJT?
