Oorlog in Oekra�ne #916 Patriots

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A scientist who worked on Putin’s longevity has died
In the city of St. Petersburg, Russia, Doctor of Medical Sciences Vladimir Khavinson, who fought against aging and promised longevity to Russian President Vladimir Putin, died.

According to Russian media, Khavinson did not live to see 77, although the expert himself, with his longevity, hoped to live to see his 100th birthday.

The cause of his death has not been officially announced. UAINFO.ORG writes about this.

Vladimir Khavinson was born in East Germany in 1946. He began teaching the topic of aging in 1970. The discovery of peptide bioregulators brought the scientist worldwide fame.

This also made it possible to preserve the health of people around the world, including the liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.

The study of aging brought Khavinson closer to Putin, who dreams of living for a long time.

They say that the scientist promised the Russian president a “full life” for another 20 years. In his interviews, Hevinson admitted that he was looking for ways to slow down aging.

He was sure that a person could live to be 110–120 years old. In 2017, Putin even awarded him the Order of Friendship for special achievements in the field of medicine.

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Major supplier of Defense Ministry subject to embezzlement probe arrested offering bribe to law enforcement
Ihor Hrynkevych, a businessman from Lviv, whose companies are investigated for allegedly stealing on army procurement, was detained while attempting to bribe a top official of the State Bureau of Investigations, according to the agency’s statement on Dec. 30 and reports in Ukrainian media that identified Hrynkevych.

Hrynkevych reportedly offered a bribe amounting to $500,000 to one of the Bureau's Main Investigative Department’s top officials to return his companies’ property seized as part of the criminal probe.

The State Bureau of Investigations opened an investigation into Hrynkevych’s businesses a couple of months ago. It found that out of the 23 contracts for supplying clothes for the military that his companies won, they have fully and timely fulfilled only two. The remaining ones were either not delivered at all, supplied partially, or with significant delays, and the prices were often inflated.

According to the investigators, these contractors were in fact construction companies that didn’t have capacities to produce clothes for the army. The estimated damage stands at Hr 1.2 billion ($31.6 million). Hrynkevych faces up to eight years in prison.

The Hrynkevych family has been attracting media attention for months. They initially came into the spotlight thanks to their lavish lifestyle.

In August 2023, Ihor Hrynkevych’s daughter Olga posted a picture of the interiors of the VIP train carriage that is used for official delegations, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Renting it costs from Hr 34,000 ($900) to Hr 350,000 ($9,230), depending on the terms.

Censor.Net later reported that, as of May 2023, Olga and her mother Svitlana were owners of Trade Lines Retail, a contractor of the Defense Ministry, which had failed to supply clothes to the army for the total amount of Hr 585,450 ($15,433) on time.

Another Defense Ministry contractor reportedly part of the probe is Construction Alliance Montazhproekt. According to Censor.Net, this firm failed to supply clothes to the army for the total amount of Hr 425,100 ($11,200).

Companies from the Hrynkevych family’s network are also subject to investigations into alleged embezzlement on army procurement conducted by the National Police and State Security Service, according to Censor.Net.

Multiple media outlets reported that family members of Ihor Hrynkevych have bought expensive real estate and cars since they became suppliers of the Defence Ministry after the start of the all-out war.

Read more about the allegations against Hrynkevych in Ukrainian here.

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Defense Ministry’s contractor known for procurement scandal buys hotels in Croatia
Tetiana Hlyniana, the businesswoman in control of the companies that sold food to the army at inflated prices in 2023, bought hotels in Croatia, according to an investigation published by Ukrainian media outlet NV on Jan. 6.

Early last year companies controlled by Hlyniana were at the center of the biggest corruption scandal Ukraine has seen since the start of Russia’s invasion – the Defense Ministry’s infamous food procurement deal that caused public outcry and made the ministry revoke the overpriced contracts and sign new ones. This was among the scandals that led to Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov's resignation in September 2023.

According to NV, Hlyniana, whose companies have been supplying food to Ukraine’s Defence Ministry since 1995, might have lately started a resort business in Croatia.

In the fall of 2023, Hlyniana spent 10 million euros to acquire companies allegedly owning four-star and five-star hotels in the resort town of Split in Croatia, NV reported, citing the Croatian business registries. The hotels include Mirari, Ora, Lux, and Posh.

Hlyniana also reportedly has a private residence in Brela, another resort town southwest of Split, since 2016.

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Energoatom chief allegedly conceals assets, using mother-in-law as proxy to buy real estate
The mother-in-law of Energoatom President Petro Kotin acquired expensive real estate worth millions of hryvnias, which she couldn’t have been able to afford, according to Schemes, an investigative project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

According to the journalist investigation, in the summer of 2023, Kotin's 70-year-old mother-in-law bought a two-story house and a 300-square-meter land plot with access to a private pond – paying, on the paper, only Hr 7 million ($183,000).

Soon after the purchase, Kotin and his family settled in the house.

In 2021, Kotin’s mother-in-law bought three neighboring land plots in Kyiv Oblast for around $40,000.

On paper, this property cost her significantly less than the market price, Schemes reported. It could indicate an attempt to hide the real cost of the purchase to evade taxes.

But even at these low prices, Kotin’s mother-in-law couldn’t have afforded these purchases. She only made Hr 79,000 ($9,875) between 2000 and 2009 and currently most likely receives a state pension as a retiree, Schemes reported.

In a written response to Schemes, Kotin said that his mother-in-law had accumulated the money for the purchase by 50 years of savings, cash from close relatives, and loans. The journalists looked into the close relatives of Kotin and concluded that none of them appear to have a source of income that would allow them to chip in for the purchase.

Soon after the journalist investigation, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention began monitoring Kotin over his mother-in-law’s suspicious property purchases, according to lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, one of the advocators for the check.

Part of the agency's responsibilities is monitoring discrepancies between officials' standard of living and declared income to determine potential illicit revenue sources and other violations.

Kotin, a former director of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (currently occupied by Russia), has headed Energoatom since 2020, being formally appointed as its president in 2022.

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Russian military aviators ask for aid as freezing temperatures
Russian military aviators stationed at the Millerovo Air Base, home to the 31st Fighter Aviation Regiment, are facing a pressing challenge despite Russia’s colossal defense budget.

Despite being part of a military force with one of the world’s largest budgets, these aviators find themselves struggling with harsh winter conditions, resorting to social media for aid in acquiring firewood to heat their airfield quarters.

The plea for assistance came from Ilya Tumanov, a prominent Russian military figure and propagandist, who, through his influential channel ‘Fighterbomber,’ called upon his followers to support their colleagues at Millerovo. Tumanov emphasized the dire situation, stating, “Aviators need help. They’re freezing f*ck. Need firewood to stoke the furnaces at Millerovo airfield.”

Millerovo Air Base, situated within a stone’s throw of the Ukrainian border, operates Su-30SM fighter jets known for their engagement in conflicts in eastern Ukraine since 2014.

The irony of this plea for firewood is starkly contrasted against Russia’s exorbitant defense expenditure. In the first half of 2023, Russia surpassed its initially projected defense budget by a substantial 12%, amounting to 600 billion roubles. This escalation in spending has driven defense expenditures to nearly one-third of the country’s total budget for the year 2024, as Moscow channels an increasing share of resources toward the ongoing military operations in Ukraine.

To fund the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russia plans to escalate state borrowing, aiming to restore financial stability through projected recoveries in oil and gas revenues.

The plea for firewood from Russian aviators at Millerovo, despite the vast defense spending, sheds light on the paradoxical challenges faced by personnel on the ground despite the nation’s robust financial allocation to defense.

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Trump vowed he’d ‘never’ help Europe if it’s attacked, top EU official says
‘By the way NATO is dead,’ the former (and potential future) US president added in private meeting.

BRUSSELS — One of Europe's most senior politicians recounted how former U.S. President Donald Trump privately warned that America would not come to the EU's aid if it was attacked militarily.

"You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you," Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020, according to French European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was also present at a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"By the way, NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO," Trump also said, according to Breton. "And he added, ‘and by the way, you owe me $400 billion, because you didn’t pay, you Germans, what you had to pay for defense,'" Breton said about the tense meeting, where the EU's then-trade chief Phil Hogan was also present.

Breton told the anecdote at an event in the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, just days before the Republican Party holds its January 15 caucus in Iowa, the opening contest in Trump's bid to win the Republican nomination for a run at returning to the White House. Party members will cast their votes for candidates including Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who both trail way behind the ex-president in opinion polls.

Brussels is rife with fear about the possibility Trump will return to the U.S. presidency.

As the commissioner in charge of the EU's industrial policy and defense agenda, Breton has pushed for the EU to boost its own self-defense capabilities amid Russia's war in Ukraine, and on Tuesday floated a �100 billion fund to ramp up arms production in the bloc.

"That was a big wake-up call and he may come back," Breton said about Trump. "So now more than ever, we know that we are on our own, of course. We are a member of NATO, almost all of us, of course we have allies, but we have no other options but to increase drastically this pillar in order to be ready [for] whatever happens.”

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Powerful explosions reported in Rostov region, Russia
Powerful explosions were reported in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation during the night of January 11. Locals claim that air defense systems were activated, according to the Russian Telegram channel SHOT.

Residents of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, a city in the Rostov region of Russia, reported several powerful explosions in the sky above the city, at least three in total.

It is also reported that the first explosion occurred around 23:30 Kyiv time. Locals claimed that air defense forces were supposedly in operation.

The city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky is located approximately 100 kilometers from the temporarily occupied city of Luhansk by the Russians.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 10:04 schreef slashdotter3 het volgende:
https://www.reddit.com/r/(...)eral_frost_turns_on/
Russia’s fabled war ally ‘General Frost’ turns on Moscow

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 15:43 schreef oheng het volgende:
Gaat vandaag goed met de hulp aan Oekraine. 3 miljard van de VN, NAVO belooft "miljarden" in een nieuwe bespreking. De 50 miljard EU hulp komt ook dichterbij. De VS gebruikt een gedeelte van de bevroren tegoeden voor hulp dit jaar.
Verder heel veel militaire samenwerking tussen landen en bedrijven.

Dus het "de hulp gaat stoppen" argument kan bij het afval.

Ukraine War Update NEWS (20240111b): Military Aid & Geopolitical News,

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 16:05 schreef Nebelwerfer het volgende:

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Dat de hulp gaat stoppen wordt niet zoveel beweert. Het opschroeven van de hulp zodat Oekra�ne eventueel zou winnen, daar zit het hem in.

Kwam vandaag nog de tekst tegen op twitter dat, als Oekra�ne dit jaar geen vorderingen maakt, dit volgend jaar een nog groter probleem gaat zijn gezien de verdediging die Rusland op zal blijven tuigen. Kan weinig anders dan het eens zijn.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 16:50 schreef oheng het volgende:

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Je denkt helemaal verkeerd. Deze oorlog gaat niet gewonnen worden door mijnenvelden heen te ploegen zoals we het afgelopen jaar hebben gezien.

Strategisch gezien zijn er vele tientallen, zoniet honderden factoren gaande. Denk bijvoorbeeld maar eens aan Wit-Rusland. In het begin van de oorlog kon rusland over dat grondgebied aanvallen. Nu kunnen de raketten niet eens meer over dat grondgebied vliegen. En op 25 februari van dit jaar zullen er parlementaire verkiezingen zijn....

Persoonlijk kijk ik daar meer naar uit dan dan gestaar naar Trump.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 16:58 schreef Nebelwerfer het volgende:

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Wat zie ik dan verkeerd? Ik ga in op jouw teksten over het roepen dat hulp zou gaan stoppen. Dat stoppen van hulp hoor je niet veel. De bedragen die je noemt houden ook nog niet echt over.

Verder bekijk ik het grote plaatje, Oekra�ne wil winnen door Rusland het land uit te schoppen, dit gaat niet lukken met de huidige steun.

Dat hele wit rusland heeft met dat alles weinig te maken. Ook is het maar te bezien dat een pro westerse zwaai daar positief uit gaat pakken.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 17:21 schreef oheng het volgende:

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Voor een land wiens GDP 160 miljard was in 2020, met slechts 3 tot 6 miljard aan defensie uitgaven is het enorm veel.

En dit was slechts het nieuws van vandaag.

De situatie voor rusland wordt met de dag penibeler, en hun grootscheepse herfst offensief is faliekant mislukt, met duizenden vernietigde voertuigen en tienduizenden doden.

Het is rusland die vast zit in Oekra�ne, niet andersom. Oekra�ne hoeft rusland niet eruit te schoppen. Dat is een verkeerde aanname. Oekra�ne hoeft alleen te wachten totdat rusland gedwongen wordt door economische/politieke/opinie factoren.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 18:10 schreef Nebelwerfer het volgende:

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Rusland heeft ook bijna 20% van Oekra�ne in handen. Dat ga je niet terug krijgen met wachten.

Sowieso een matige strategie, wachten tot de tegenstander genoodzaakt is op te geven. Zeker nu al 2 jaar blijkt dat wachten tot Rusland door zijn middelen is niet werkt.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 18:19 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Maar daardoor ontstaat er ook een probleem voor Rusland. Het is nu al zo dat de Krim no-go gebied is voor Russische schepen, helikopters en vliegtuigen. Marineschepen die aanmeren worden direct opgeblazen. Dat gaat niet veranderen. Met de komst van de F16 zal het alleen maar onveiliger worden. Rusland zal echt iets moeten gaan doen om te zorgen dat dat stopt, en dat ze de Krim veilig gebied kunnen gaan noemen, want in de loop van dit jaar ontstaan er gegarandeerd wat flinke gaten in de Kerchbrug en ook de landbrug gaat het niet redden om de Russen in het zuiden en op de Krim effectief te bevoorraden. De schepen en de havens zijn dus hard nodig.

Maar ook Oekra�ne is aan het bouwen geslagen dus een doorbraak over land om zo het gevaar te beperken zit er voor de Russen niet meer in. Zelfs al valt een dorpje als Andiivka, is er voor Oekra�ne geen groot militair probleem. Die trekken zich zich een paar kilometer terug en gaan de Russen gewoon daarvandaan kapot schieten.

En de Russen moeten zien hoe ze dat kunnen stoppen. Alleen: Rusland is niet in staat om ze veel verder terug te dringen. Je hoeft alleen maar naar Krynky te kijken waar een paar honderd infanteristen al een paar maanden lang ladingen Russische tanks, IFV's en infanteristen tegenhouden om te snappen dat dat echt een kansloze zaak is voor Poetin en co.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 18:25 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Het is een prima strategie. Stop nooit een vijand als die blunders maakt.

Daarnaast: Oekra�ne wacht niet, ze hebben de oorlog naar andere gebieden getrokken. Sabotage achter de linies. Droneaanvallen op Rusland. De marine uitgeschakeld. De helikopters verjaagd. Noem maar op. Daar zal Rusland ook wel wat aan moeten gaan doen. Dat los je echt niet op door weer enkele duizenden mobiks richting de Oekra�ense linies te sturen. Maar Rusland heeft geen antwoord behalve burgers bombarderen. Maar daar is in dat land niemand echt zo van ge�ntimideerd geraakt dat ze zich willen overgeven..

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 18:15 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Rusland zou in 3 dagen heel Ukraine veroveren. Dus die verdediging werkt prima.

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Op donderdag 11 januari 2024 18:10 schreef Nebelwerfer het volgende:

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Rusland heeft ook bijna 20% van Oekra�ne in handen. Dat ga je niet terug krijgen met wachten.

Sowieso een matige strategie, wachten tot de tegenstander genoodzaakt is op te geven. Zeker nu al 2 jaar blijkt dat wachten tot Rusland door zijn middelen is niet werkt.