Oorlog in Oekra�ne #911 Meidag, meidag!

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Op vrijdag 29 december 2023 02:18 schreef oheng het volgende:
Russen veroveren Mariinka:
[ twitter ]
"Just like home!!!"

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Maine’s top election official removes Trump from 2024 primary ballot

Maine’s top election official has removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary ballot, in a shock decision based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows paused her decision pending a potential appeal in state court, which Trump’s team said they intend to file.

The decision makes Maine the second state to disqualify Trump from office, after the Colorado Supreme Court handed down its own stunning ruling that removed him from the ballot earlier this month. The development is a significant victory for Trump’s critics, who, citing the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, say they’re trying to enforce a constitutional provision that was designed to protect the country from anti-democratic insurrectionists.

Bellows, a Democrat, issued the decision Thursday after presiding over an administrative hearing earlier this month about Trump’s eligibility for office. A bipartisan group of former state lawmakers filed the challenge against Trump.

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote. “Democracy is sacred … I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment says American officials who “engage in” insurrection can’t hold future office. But the provision is vague and doesn’t say how the ban should be enforced.

Most legal experts believe the US Supreme Court will settle the issue for the entire country.

Still, the Maine decision builds on the momentum that Trump’s critics have claimed after the Colorado ruling. Before Colorado, several other states, like Michigan and Minnesota, rejected similar efforts.

In a statement Thursday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung accused Bellows of being a “virulent leftist” who has now “decided to interfere in the presidential election.”

“Democrats in blue states are recklessly and un-Constitutionally suspending the civil rights of the American voters by attempting to summarily remove President Trump’s name from the ballot,” Cheung said.

In her decision, Bellows concluded that she has a legal obligation to adhere to the 14th Amendment’s insurrectionist ban and remove Trump from the primary ballot.

“The oath I swore to uphold the Constitution comes first above all, and my duty under Maine’s election laws … is to ensure that candidates who appear on the primary ballot are qualified for the office they seek,” she said.

Explaining her reasoning, Bellows wrote that the challengers presented compelling evidence that the January 6 insurrection “occurred at the behest of” Trump – and that the US Constitution “does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government.”

“The record establishes that Mr. Trump, over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power,” Bellows wrote. “I likewise conclude that Mr. Trump was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it.”

Decision paused pending appeal
Bellows said her decision on Thursday will be put on hold until Maine’s Superior Court – a trial-level court – makes a ruling.

It’s not the highest court in the state, but it’s the next level where Trump or others can appeal.

Maine’s laws mandate that the Superior Court must make a decision within 20 days from Thursday, or January 17.

The rules for appeals, and Bellows’ choice to pause her decision, mean that the state courts will likely weigh in on Trump’s eligibility quickly, in January, before ballots would be sent out to voters.

In her decision, Bellows leaned on the Colorado Supreme Court ruling, which has also been paused while the appeals process plays out.

“The exercise of state authority to keep unqualified candidates off the ballot is contingent on the state creating a process by which to do so,” she wrote, citing the Colorado decision.

The secretary of state went on to note that the Colorado ruling has been appealed to the US Supreme Court, but said that a possible reversal of that ruling by the nation’s highest court “does not relieve me of my responsibility to act.”

CNN’s John Berman pressed Bellows Thursday evening on whether she wanted the Supreme Court to have the ultimate say on her decision.

The secretary avoided directly answering his questions, instead noting that the nation’s highest court is likely to eventually weigh in on the matter and that she’ll follow its ruling.

“I think it is really important that all of us have a role to play,” she said. “And I certainly do think the United States Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of Section Three of the 14th Amendment. So, yes, I think ideally they will rule and they haven’t yet but certainly should they rule, we will abide by their ruling.”

Maine secretary of state says January 6 was an insurrection
In her decision, Bellows said she had “little trouble” concluding that the US Capitol riot meets the definition of an insurrection, and that Trump “intended to incite lawless action” to stop the transfer of power.

On that day, Bellows wrote, a “large and angry crowd” entered the Capitol and “assaulted the capitol police officers charged with defending it, vandalized and stole property, and ransacked offices.” She added that the members of the mob were “organized behind a common purpose,” to “prevent by force the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election that was scheduled to occur in the halls of Congress that afternoon.”

Echoing the opinion of the Colorado Supreme Court, Bellows said Trump spread lies of election fraud to “inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent … the peaceful transfer of power.”

“The weight of the evidence makes clear that Mr. Trump was aware of the tinder laid by his multi-month effort to delegitimize a democratic election, and then chose to light a match,” Bellows wrote.

She continued, “Principles of free speech do not override the clear command of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, namely that those who orchestrate violence against our government may not wield the levers of its power.”

One of Trump’s key defenses in the 14th Amendment cases centers on his claim that the vague provision doesn’t apply to the presidency. But Bellows rejected that argument and concluded that the “history of Section Three firmly supports the idea that it covers the presidency.”

“In sum, the text, history, and context of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment make clear that it covers the President, and that it is a qualification enforceable by the states,” she wrote.

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At least 3,800 civilians have been tortured by Russians
Officially, there are at least 3,800 civilians who have been tortured by the Russians.

Source: Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin

Quote: "As of today, we officially know of 3,800 civilians who were tortured by the occupiers. However, the full figures may be much higher.

Over 1,100 criminal proceedings with respect to torture are currently under investigation. More than 80 people have been notified of suspicion, 18 of whom have already been convicted."

Details: The Prosecutor General called for the thousands of Ukrainian civilians currently held by Russia to be remembered and for every effort to be made to secure their release.

He also called for an effective international mechanism to be created to secure the release of illegally detained persons, and for those who committed these crimes to be prosecuted.

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More Children Taken From Ukraine's Russia-Held Regions Arrive in Belarus
Belarus' authoritarian president on Thursday attended a government-organized meeting with children brought from Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, openly defying international outrage over his country's involvement in Moscow's deportation of Ukrainian children.

Speaking at the event marking the arrival of a new group of Ukrainian children ahead of the New Year holiday, President Alexander Lukashenko vowed to "embrace these children, bring them to our home, keep them warm and make their childhood happier."

Belarusian officials did not say how many Ukrainian children were brought into the country.

A recent study by Yale University has found that more than 2,400 Ukrainian children ages 6 to 17 were taken to Belarus from four Ukrainian regions that have been partially occupied by Russian forces. The Belarusian opposition has urged the International Criminal Court to hold Lukashenko and his officials accountable for their involvement in the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children.

Pavel Latushka, a former Belarusian culture minister turned opposition activist who has presented the ICC with evidence of Lukashenko's alleged involvement in the unlawful deportation of the children, said the arrival of a new group from Russia-occupied territories "underlines the need for the ICC to investigate those crimes."

"Lukashenko, his family members and associates together with the Kremlin have organized a system of transfer of Ukrainian children, including orphans, from the occupied territories to Belarus, and this channel is still working," Latushka told The Associated Press.

In March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children's rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the war crimes of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Moscow has rejected the allegations.

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said in televised remarks Thursday that the transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children to Belarus helped Moscow cover up the information about the unlawful deportation of children.

Earlier this month, the International Red Cross suspended the organization's Belarusian chapter after its chief, Dzmitry Shautsou, stirred international outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus.

Shautsou called the move "absolutely politicized," claiming that Ukrainian children who visited Belarus for "health improvement" returned home safely.

Belarus has been Moscow's closest ally since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, when Lukashenko allowed the Kremlin to use his country's territory to invade Ukraine. Russia has also deployed some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

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Putin ally dies falling from house window, latest in spate of mysterious Russian deaths
Vladimir Egorov, 46, a member of Putin's ruling United Russia party, plunged 30 feet to his death at his home in the town of Tobolsk

A Russian lawmaker and ally of President Vladimir Putin was found dead under mysterious circumstances Wednesday after falling from the third floor of his home, Russian state media has reported.

Vladimir Egorov, 46, who was a member of Putin's ruling United Russia party, plunged 30 feet to his death at his home in the town of Tobolsk, located in the western Siberian region of Tyumen Oblast. Media outlet Baza reported on its Telegram channel that Egorov’s body was discovered Wednesday afternoon in the courtyard of a house and that police are investigating what caused his death.

Russian news agency TASS also reported that Egorov had fallen to his death, citing an investigative department from the Tyumen region.

Fox News Digital reached out to Russia’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs to confirm the reports but did not immediately receive a response.

The New York Post, citing the 72 news outlet, reported that Egorov may have suffered from heart problems before the deadly fall.

Egorov, who was also a lawyer, was forced out of the city administration in 2016 following a corruption scandal for which he was not convicted, according to the New York Post. He then returned to the political fray.

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Ukrainian border guards detained about 11 thousand men liable for military service
In 2023, 11 thousand people liable for military service tried to illegally cross the border of Ukraine.

This was reported by the speaker of the State Border Service of Ukraine Demchenko

Of these, 8 thousand tried to cross the border “through the forest”, and three tried to leave using fake documents.

According to PHI, there have been fewer attempts to cross the border this year than last year. In 2022, border guards detained 80–100 violators per day.

The video shows border guards detaining border violators using a thermal imager.

This group of three men was found in the direction of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

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Elderly priest to be charged with ‘discrediting’ Russian army
An 86-year-old priest from Russia’s southern Krasnodar region says he is being charged for “discrediting” the Russian army in an article he wrote condemning the war in Ukraine.

Viktor Pivovarov, from the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, has already been fined for the content of one of his sermons, following his denunciation by an unknown member of the congregation. He nevertheless remains defiant.

“The current government is the successor to the Bolsheviks who staged a coup in 1917, and it continues their satanic work,” Pivovarov told Kavkaz.Realii, part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, on Thursday.

The priest, who does not have a lawyer, said that his interrogation was attended by a state-appointed lawyer who “remained silent the entire time”.

In March, a court fined Pivovarov 40,000 rubles (�450) for the content of one of his sermons, which it ruled had discredited the Russian army. Pivovarov didn’t appeal the decision and his parishioners clubbed together to pay the fine.

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A cargo ship picking up Ukrainian grain hits a Russian floating mine in the Black Sea, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A civilian cargo ship struck a Russian mine in the Black Sea near Ukraine’s Danube ports Thursday, injuring two sailors, officials and analysts said, in an incident that underscored the dangers faced by those exporting Ukrainian grain during the war.

The Panama-flagged vessel struck the floating mine during stormy weather as it went to pick up grain, according to Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces, adding that churning seas often increase the risk from mines.

As the fighting grinds on through the winter and likely into a third year after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, and with little recent change along the front line, Ukraine is aiming to strengthen its financial resources for what could be a protracted war.

After Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered export agreement last summer, Ukraine launched a new Black Sea shipping corridor to get grain, metals and other cargo to world markets. That has given a boost to Ukraine’s agriculture-dependent economy.

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Op donderdag 28 december 2023 23:36 schreef slashdotter3 het volgende:
Ik geloof 100% dat ze dit gaan waar maken, ze hebben nog miljoenen aan 3e rangs burgers die ze kunnen opofferen, ze zijn nu zelfs kinderen op de basisschool aan het militair brainwashen, hun oorlogseconomie is net op gang gekomen en het duurt nog jaren totdat de economie echt instort.

Putin gaat liever strijdend in een oorlog ten onder dan dat hij het opgeeft en direct opgeknoopt wordt.

Hij geeft een duidelijk signaal dat dit geen bluf is en wacht nu op Westerse landen die het opgeven.

De VS gaf het in de Koreaanse oorlog (1950-1953) na 3 jaar op, ze zagen ook wel in dat NoordKorea + China + USSR nog makkelijk 100 miljoen soldaten konden sturen en het tientallen jaren kon volhouden.

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Op donderdag 28 december 2023 23:36 schreef slashdotter3 het volgende:
ze zijn nu zelfs kinderen op de basisschool aan het militair brainwashen

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Op donderdag 28 december 2023 23:36 schreef slashdotter3 het volgende:
Ik geloof 100% dat ze dit gaan waar maken, ze hebben nog miljoenen aan 3e rangs burgers die ze kunnen opofferen, ze zijn nu zelfs kinderen op de basisschool aan het militair brainwashen, hun oorlogseconomie is net op gang gekomen en het duurt nog jaren totdat de economie echt instort.

Putin gaat liever strijdend in een oorlog ten onder dan dat hij het opgeeft en direct opgeknoopt wordt.

Hij geeft een duidelijk signaal dat dit geen bluf is en wacht nu op Westerse landen die het opgeven.

De VS gaf het in de Koreaanse oorlog (1950-1953) na 3 jaar op, ze zagen ook wel in dat NoordKorea + China + USSR nog makkelijk 100 miljoen soldaten konden sturen en het tientallen jaren kon volhouden.

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Op vrijdag 29 december 2023 09:05 schreef Solstice1 het volgende:

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Oekra�ne gaat het ten eerste niet opgeven. Ten tweede accelereert elke mobilisatie-golf het ineenstorten van de Russische economie. Rusland komt bijna 5 miljoen werkers tekort, dat gaat alleen meer worden als ze straks nog eens een miljoen soldaten naar het front willen sturen. Met wat is de vraag. Ze schieten nu vooral met Noord-Koreaans spul. Rusland heeft een oorlogseconomie klinkt onheilspellend en stoer, maar buiten drones sturen ze vrijwel niks in voldoende kwantiteit naar het front. Om het maar helemaal niet over de kwaliteit te hebben.

Hetzelfde geldt vooralsnog voor troepen. Er worden voldoende troepen gestuurd om het initiatief te houden, maar dat gaat ten koste van training en bevoorrading. I.p.v. verstandig te zijn, te verdedigen en de tijd te nemen om honderd duizenden mannen te voorzien van training en oorlogstuig worden de troepen meteen de grens over gegooid om in de ru�nes van Marinka en Avdiivka te sterven. De refurbished tanks, artillerie inclusief Noord-Koreaanse meuk gaan met ze ten onder.

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Op vrijdag 29 december 2023 09:06 schreef BEFEM het volgende:

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Echt gigantisch wensdenken doe je steeds aan, niet normaal meer.

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Op vrijdag 29 december 2023 09:06 schreef BEFEM het volgende:

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Echt gigantisch wensdenken doe je steeds aan, niet normaal meer.

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Op vrijdag 29 december 2023 09:38 schreef skysherrif het volgende:
Grootste Russische aanval vannacht op Oekraine wat betreft shaheds/raketten sinds de start van de oorlog.