Oorlog in Oekraïne #896 Beachheadcase

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EU Delivers Explosives Dogs and Drones to Ukrainian Armed Forces for Demining
The European Union has handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine 50 sapper dogs and drones for demining.

This was reported by the Ukrinform news agency.

Belgian, Dutch and German shepherd dogs were trained in Finland, Belgium, and Luxembourg for several months.

The training of the dogs was carried out by retired K9 police officers from EU countries.

They will be provided with special shoes, goggles, vests, and fodder. They will also have special devices on vests that are designed to detect radioactive elements.

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US official: Frozen Russian assets won't be returned until Moscow pays for Ukraine's reconstruction
The roughly $300 billion in Russian assets that have been frozen by Ukraine's allies in the West will not be returned until Moscow pays for Ukraine's reconstruction, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien said at a U.S. Senate hearing on Nov. 8.

O'Brien said the frozen assets gave the U.S. and its allies "leverage" in discussions about how to get Russia to pay.

When asked what the U.S. would do if Russia refused to pay and blocked attempts to be forced to do so via its UN Security Council veto, O'Brien agreed with the suggestion that the "U.S. should consider all options" to force Russia to pay.

Russian officials issued strongly worded responses to O'Brien's statement, with some saying that it was an admission the assets would be seized.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian parliament's lower house, characterized it as a declaration to "steal" the assets but then also claimed it would not affect the Russian economy.

Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would challenge any attempt to seize the money and that it would entail "very serious judicial and legal costs for those who make such decisions." Peskov also threatened that Russia would respond with retaliatory measures, which would be "unlikely to be minor ones."

Earlier on Oct. 27 European leaders had expressed support for a proposal to use billions of euros in windfall taxes from Russian assets tied up in the West to rebuild Ukraine.

Russian officials also reacted unfavorably to the notion, referring to any confiscation of assets as "theft" and threatening to do the same to European assets.

During Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s allies have frozen over $300 billion from Russia's central bank reserves, including 211 billion euros in the EU.

There have been suggestions since shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion that seized Russian assets should be used to pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, but concrete measures have not been taken yet.

Estimates on the cost of Ukraine's reconstruction have varied. A report by the World Bank in March 2023 put the figure at $411 billion, but others have put the number at higher than $1 trillion.

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Canada wants to give a Russian plane it seized to Ukraine. Is that legal?
The enormous Volga-Dnepr Airlines Antonov-124 cargo jet now sits idle at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Ottawa’s use of new asset seizure rules to transfer it to Kyiv is being watched closely.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Three days after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, an Antonov-124 jet landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport here to deliver 77 tons of coronavirus testing kits.

It would be its last trip for some time.

On Feb. 27, 2022, before the AN-124’s scheduled departure, Canada barred Russian aircraft from entering or exiting its airspace — stranding the plane at the country’s busiest air hub. The government eventually imposed sanctions on its operator, Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Airlines.

Visible from a highway, the aircraft — one of the world’s largest cargo planes, with a Russian flag painted on its tail fin and a blue stripe running the length of its 226-foot white body — has been a curiosity here, drawing attention for racking up a sky-high airport parking ticket.

Now, it’s caught in a larger fight over new legislation through which Canada has claimed authority to seize the frozen assets of entities under sanctions, even if they’re not linked to any crime, and use them to the benefit of foreign states “adversely affected” by breaches of international security.

In June, the government ordered the seizure of the plane. Authorities want to work with Kyiv to use it "to compensate victims of human rights abuses, restore international peace and security or rebuild Ukraine."

The new powers are the first of their kind in the Group of Seven industrialized nations, and the government has admitted that the "new regime is untested and will likely face legal challenges." The Kremlin called the seizure "cynical and shameless theft."

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Box office bombs: Russia spends millions on war propaganda films that flop
As the war in Ukraine drags on, the Kremlin is trying to win audiences over at the movies.

Kyiv, Ukraine – A Belgian violinist arrives in Ukraine to play for an art-loving oligarch – and witnesses the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

He sees how Ukrainian servicemen “kill” civilians and “shell” a railway station to blame the deaths on the Russians whose purpose is Ukraine’s “liberation” from a Western-backed “neo-Nazi junta”.

The servicemen sporting swastika tattoos electrocute the violinist, and “rape” and “murder” his female manager. He barely escapes only to see how Western politicians and media “plot” against Russia.

Svidetel (Witness) was the first feature film about the ongoing war, directed by David Dadunashvili, and released in Russia in August in 1,131 movie theatres.

But with a budget of about $2m, it was one of the biggest box office bombs, taking a mere $70,000 in the first four days.

Aggressive advertising and the absence of competition – there are hardly any Hollywood films screened due to Western sanctions – did not help.

The film’s producers did not release further box office information.

On IMDB, a review-aggregator website, Svidetel stars one out of 10 and enjoys nothing but scathing reviews.

“It’s a lie upon a lie upon a lie, and artists don’t even bother pretending they’re serious,” Konstantin, an English teacher from the western city of Tula, told Al Jazeera. “It should be shown in Ukraine as a comedy.”

Since 2014, a dozen films on the annexation of Crimea and pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region have been shot in Russia.

Each flopped at the box office – and were so insignificant and obscure, that even the most outspoken warmonger failed to notice them.

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Xolidayboy: Russian TikTok star collapses on stage after draft notice


A Russian TikTok star appeared to collapse on stage after being handed a summons to join the army.

Xolidayboy, real name Ivan Minayev, was handed the papers at a southern Russian airport on Monday.

Shortly afterwards, he appeared to lose consciousness during a show in the southern city of Stavropol.

Mr Minayev was born in the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, occupied by Russia in 2014. He reportedly moved to Moscow in 2020.

Xolidayboy is known for his public image, which unusually for men in Russia includes wearing makeup and painting his nails.

He was brought to hospital after his collapse and was reportedly not in a serious condition.

Days before the summons was served, Ekaterina Mizulina, the head of the Safe Internet League, publicly objected to "pro-Ukrainian" videos posted by Mr Minayev to social media. In the clips, Xolidayboy appeared to call himself "Ukrainian" and said the Russian annexation of Crimea had not improved life for Crimeans.

Ms Mizulina has criticised and threatened various other Russian celebrities and bloggers accused of anti-war views.

She had previously called for another TikToker, Danila Milokhin, to be conscripted into the army because of allegedly "Russophobic statements," reportedly causing him to flee the country.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the body Ms Mizulina heads asked Roskomnadzor, Russia's media watchdog, to block several Wikipedia pages, including "War crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine" and "Bucha massacre" on the basis of unspecified false information.

Xolidayboy's management accuse Ms Mizulina of using his case for the benefit of her own profile.

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Loud explosions rock temporarily occupied Crimea, details
A series of explosions occurred in the temporarily occupied Feodosia and Black Sea region of Crimea overnight on November 10, inform Telegram channels Crimean Wind and Telegram NP/Simferopol.

According to local sources, an oil depot is likely damaged in Feodosia. It is reported that the strikes were carried out by unidentified drones.

In the Black Sea region, several explosions were recorded near the local border post. Eyewitnesses report that rescuers are clearing the rubble of a barracks that was hit.

"All night there has been a struggle with UAVs throughout Crimea," says one of the local channels.

As of now, there have been no official reports on the causes and consequences of the explosions.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claims to have intercepted two drones over the occupied Crimea.

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Putin death rumors intensify after his ‘successor’ refers to him in past tense
New rumours swirled today over Vladimir Putin’s health as a speech by his top security aide emerged referring to the Russian dictator entirely in the past tense.

‌Nikolai Patrushev – a former head of the FSB security service and seen as Moscow’s most sinister spymaster – dressed in black and gave a eulogy to the autocrat which sounded more like an obituary.

‌Russia has been swamped by speculation that the warmonger died in late October and his role was taken over by a doppelgänger controlled by his most loyal security henchmen.

‌The rumours appear impossible and almost comical – and yet they only increase by the day.

‌And Putin’s ‘lover’ – Alina Kabaeva, 40 – has vanished and not been seen in public since the dictator was reported by several sources to have died on 26 October, two weeks ago.

‌The latest fantastical rumours came as a cringing video showed Putin today stumbling over the name of the president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, during a rare foreign visit to his neighbouring state.

‌Some saw this as evidence that Putin has been replaced by a body double who had failed to learn his lines.

‌But a speech by Patrushev – seen by many as the architect of the disastrous war in Ukraine – shocked even loyalists.

‌His words were compared to those of his predecessor Lavrentiy Beria – KGB chief – after the death of Stalin in 1953.

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 08:00 schreef Delenlill het volgende:
https://metro.co.uk/2023/(...)past-tense-19801654/
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Video en tekst van deze toespraak in het artikel. Ik blijf hoop houden dat hij gewoon de pijp uit is. Al zou ik dit artikel met een korreltje zout nemen.

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 00:09 schreef oheng het volgende:

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Nou, weet ik niet. Ik vind de oversteek bij Kherson wel een beetje verdacht qua timing. Het lijkt wel alsof het een reactie is op het russische offensief in het hele oosten. De russische reactie is inmiddels verbazingwekkend zwak te noemen.

En het is niet in rusland's belang om te blijven rekken. De situatie in Oekraine is veel stabieler dan die in rusland.
En veel steun voor Oekraine ligt al voor jaren vast.

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 02:08 schreef Barbusse het volgende:

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De dikke winst die je noemt is er gewoonweg niet. Daarnaast, Oekraïne zal gewoon doorvechten, ook al valt iedere steun weg. De oorlogsmisdaden die Rusland systematisch begat eindigen niet met een Russische overwinning. Oekraïne heeft geen keus. Dus als Rusland wint krijg je een jarenlange guerilla oorlog.

Ik begrijp deze lafheid niet. Oekraïne verdient alle steun.

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 01:19 schreef oheng het volgende:

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Algemene militaire doctrine is om een landing direct aan te vallen, voordat er een bruggehoofd ontstaat.
Rustig afwachten zoals rusland nu doet begint een beetje bizar te worden, ze hebben 3 weken de tijd gehad om te reageren, als het al niet meer is.
Zeker gezien de hoeveelheid tegenaanvallen die ze deden in Zaporizhia, is de reactie hier zwak te noemen.
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De Oekrainers hebben Krynky uitgekozen omdat die plek omringd wordt door bos.

(En het schijnt ook dat Krynky een trainingslokatie was voor de mariniers.)

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 08:14 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Tering, weten dat hordes Russen al jaren plunderend, verkrachtend en moordend door dat land trekken en dan met zo'n post aan durven komen.

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Op donderdag 9 november 2023 23:31 schreef Nebelwerfer het volgende:

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Ja en dat is dus minder aan de hand. De Russen winnen ook steeds minder terrein. Veel Oekraïners voelen minder directe dreiging en zien in dat vechten aan het front niet meteen een overwinning oplevert. Dan liever onderhandelen waarna men als land misschien wat toegeeft, maar waarbij het eigen leven tenminste doorgaat.

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 00:31 schreef Barbusse het volgende:

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Gaat niet gebeuren. Rusland bestookt vrijwel alleen maar infrastructuur en steden ver buiten de frontlinie. Ik zie die terreur niet verdwijnen als Oekraïne gaat onderhandelen. Hoogstens een pauze. Bron: geschiedenis van Rusland.

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 08:36 schreef la_perle_rouge het volgende:

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Russen bestoken winkelcentra en nutsvoorzieningen tot ver in het westen van Oekraïne, hoe kom je er in ‘s hemelsnaam bij dat « veel Oekraïners geen directe dreiging » voelen als om de haverklap het luchtalarm gaat en je de raketten ziet overvliegen?
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Dit dus!

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 08:21 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Het gaat nu al zo:

[ twitter ]

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2023 08:41 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Jij zou het accepteren?