Oorlog in Oekra�ne #951

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France denies Russian claims it plans to send 2,000 troops to Ukraine
France’s Armed Forces Ministry has denied claims by Russian Foreign Intelligence Service head Sergey Naryshkin that it plans to send 2,000 troops to fight against Russia in Ukraine.

The Ministry said in a tweet that Naryshkin’s comments represented a “further example of the systematic use of mass disinformation by Russia” and called for the “utmost vigilance” when dealing with such claims.

The denial follows a claim by Naryshkin on Tuesday that France was “visibly concerned” about the number of French volunteer fighters killed in Ukraine and that it was supposedly preparing a contingent of 2,000 soldiers to fight in their place.

In a statement published by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Naryshkin said that French soldiers fighting for Ukraine would be a “legitimate priority target” for Russian troops and that their fate would be the same as that of “all Frenchmen who ever came to the Russian world with a sword”.

French President Emmanuel Macron has in recent weeks repeatedly refused to rule out NATO troops being sent to fight in Ukraine, while French Army Chief of Staff Pierre Schill wrote in Le Monde on Tuesday that the country’s military was preparing for the “toughest engagements” to “guard against aggression and defend its interests”.

Russia’s Defence Ministry alleged in March that 147 French “mercenaries” fighting for Ukraine had been killed since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. In January, France’s Armed Forces Ministry called Russian claims of over 60 French “mercenaries” being killed in a missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv part of a “crude Russian disinformation campaign”.

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House Speaker Johnson promises to approve aid to Ukraine "immediately", without specifying timeline
House Speaker Mike Johnson said aid to US allies would be reviewed after the budget is approved

Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, promised to put aid to Ukraine to a vote "immediately" after the resolution of budget issues, he announced at a weekly press conference.

According to him, after considering the issue of the US budget, the House will focus on additional assistance to US allies.

At the same time, the speaker did not name the exact dates of both the budget approval and the consideration of assistance.

Congress plans to pass a budget by March 22 to avoid a temporary shutdown of the US government.

Johnson said that the budget issues are already "practically agreed".

"They should be voted on already this week, although they were preceded by very tough negotiations," the lawmaker stated.

After March 22, the lower chamber of the Senate goes on another recess, and congressmen will resume their work only on April 9.

Earlier, Johnson told Republican senators that he is ready to develop his own version of the bill on aid to Ukraine. It is assumed that it will assume a form of a loan or a lend-lease act.

As Bloomberg reported, Republicans in the House of Representatives are working on their own bill on aid to Ukraine, the main idea of which is to confiscate Russian assets to pay for military aid to Kyiv.

On February 14, 2024, US President Joe Biden called on the speaker of the House of Representatives to immediately put to a vote the bill on aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

On February 26, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Johnson had promised him to do "everything" to continue aid to Ukraine.

On February 29, Congress leaders at a meeting with Biden could not agree on aid to Ukraine.

On March 12, the United States announced $300 million in military aid to Ukraine, including artillery shells and ammunition for HIMARS. The supply of ATACMS has not been officially announced.

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 19:08 schreef la_perle_rouge het volgende:
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On March 19, a number of Russian media reported that the Russian Trawler “Captain Lobanov” sank in the Baltic Sea. Preliminarily, due to �an explosion� on board. Now information has appeared in the Russian media that the ship was sunk as a result of a Russian Navy missile accidentally hitting the ship:

�A relative of a crew member of the trawler "Captain Lobanov" confirmed to Dozhd media that the ship was mistakenly hit by a Navy missile

As a result of a missile hitting the fishing trawler Kapitan Lobanov on March 19, three crew members were killed and four more were injured. A relative of one of the crew members told Dozhd media about this.

The missile that hit the trawler was fired during a Baltic Fleet exercise, the source said. Before the incident, the trawler's crew members were about to go to bed when a missile fell on the captain's cabin.

According to official reports from local authorities, there was a fire on board the trawler, and the cause of the incident is still unknown. In addition, authorities report only one death.

“When the survivors were taken away, everyone knew perfectly well that three people had died. And everyone knew perfectly well that a rocket had hit. But they decided to write that there was a “fire.” I wonder what kind of fire this is, if the captain’s cabin is completely gone, it was simply demolished,” says Dozhd’s media source.

The survivors were sent to a hospital in the city of Pionersk; one of the victims is in serious condition. According to the source, at the hospital the victims were interrogated by FSB officers, who asked the crew members “not to talk about the incident.”

Another missile, according to the source, fell into fishing nets near the industrial vessel of the MRTK company, which was located not far from the trawler “Captain Lobanov”.�

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 19:08 schreef la_perle_rouge het volgende:
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the ship was sunk as a result of a Russian Navy missile accidentally hitting the ship:

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Hungary to block confiscation of Russia's frozen assets for Ukraine
The European Commission's proposal to confiscate income from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine is unlikely to be approved at the summit of European Union leaders, which will begin in Brussels on Thursday, 21 March.

Source: DW with reference to a high-ranking European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity

The source said there is a common understanding among most EU member states that confiscated funds should be used for the purchase of weapons and ammunition for Ukraine's Armed Forces, "Ukraine needs more money for weapons, unfortunately, not for reconstruction. And we are striving to do everything to avoid further destruction in Ukraine".

The European Commission's proposal states that 90 percent of the income from frozen Russian assets should be used to buy weapons for Ukraine's Armed Forces. However, the source speaking to DW revealed that Hungary opposed this, stating that this money should be used for anything but weapons for Ukrainians.

As the source noted, another "controversial issue" on the summit agenda will be the discussion on EU enlargement.

EU leaders supported the beginning of negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova's accession in December 2023. For negotiations to begin, EU member states must approve the negotiating frameworks submitted by the European Commission, which serve as a roadmap for the accession process. They also need to hold a meeting of the intergovernmental conference, a specially created body that will directly conduct the negotiations. Both of these decisions require unanimous support from all 27 EU leaders.

However, the odds are high that these two decisions will not be adopted during the summit. The source stated: "There are member states that oppose the beginning of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova under the Belgian presidency of the EU."

Belgium's presidency of the EU will last until 1 July, after which Hungary is set to take over this role.

Background:
• Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said on Tuesday that he would propose that the EU should use 90% of the revenues from Russian frozen assets in Europe to purchase weapons for Ukraine through the European Peace Facility.
• Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the EU had prepared a legislative proposal, according to which Ukraine will start receiving income from frozen Russian sovereign assets as early as July.
• Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said it would be better if Russian money in the EU was used to defend Ukraine rather than to rebuild it.

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 18:22 schreef Ulx het volgende:
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Succes met die onder een SU-34 te hangen. Het lijkt me dat die dan niet meer zo wendbaar is. En om met een Tu-22M, Tu-95 of een Tu-160 binnen bereik van Patriots te gaan vliegen lijkt me zo z'n nadelen te hebben.

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 18:09 schreef Joppiez het volgende:
[ afbeelding ]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68618722.amp

Macron is zich al mentaal voor aan het bereiden om Russen te slachten

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 19:52 schreef capricia het volgende:

[..]
Hij heeft wel een goed lijf, zeg.

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Dutch agriculture exporting more to Russia than before Ukraine war
The Netherlands is exporting more agricultural products to Russia than before the war in Ukraine. While Russia destroys Ukraine’s agriculture capabilities, Dutch companies are helping Russia build an agriculture sector that is self-sufficient and thriving, Follow the Money reports.

Dutch companies are particularly exporting modern agricultural machines and vaccines to Russia - merchandise that helps increase yield per hectare, according to FTM. Products for optimizing arable farming are also in demand.

The export of vaccines for livestock and agricultural machinery to Russia increased from 184 million euros in 2021 to 239 million euros in 2022, the first year of the war, FTM reports based on a study by Wageningen University and Statistics Netherlands published in early March. Last year, the second year of the war, was also off to a good start for agricultural exports to Russia. In the first nine months of 2023, these exports already amounted to 172 million euros.

Russia has been working purposefully on its own self-sufficient agricultural sector since 2012. The country is now the world’s largest exporter of grain and related products and uses this success as leverage on the world market. Despite international sanctions imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine, the country exported more wheat and flour than ever in 2022 and 2023. In 2019, the Russians exported 23.5 billion euros worth of agricultural products. This year, that is expected to amount to more than 40 billion euros.

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and fierce supporter of the war in Ukraine, has made no secret about the purpose of the country’s focus on agriculture. It is the “silent weapon” that keeps countries that are dependent on Russian exports under control, he said on Telegram in April 2022. “In case anyone has forgotten, the export value of our agricultural products is greater than that of real weapons - 37 billion dollars last year.”

The Netherlands has played a significant role in building this “silent weapon” and continues to do so, FTM wrote. “When it comes to the growth of greenhouse horticulture in Russia, the Dutch business community plays a prominent role,” Meeuwes Brouwer, the Duth agricultural council in Moscow from 2016 to 2020, told FTM. “The sanctions on both sides have produced losers, but also winners. The greenhouse builders and seed companies belong to the second group.”

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Austrian chancellor opposes profits from frozen Russian assets being used to buy weapons for Ukraine
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on March 21 that he is opposed to the idea that profits from frozen Russian assets be used to buy weapons for Ukraine.

The European Commission has proposed to use 90% of the profits to purchase weapons for Kyiv and allocate the remaining 10% to the EU budget to support Ukraine's defense industry. The proposed measure would allocate around 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to Ukraine per year.

Ukraine's Western partners and other allies froze around $300 billion in Russian assets at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, with roughly two-thirds held at the Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear.

While some leaders, such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, backed the idea, Nehammer publicly voiced opposition to the proposal.

"For us neutral (countries), it must be ensured that money, for which we give our approval, is not spent on weapons and ammunition," he said.

Vienna has denounced Russian aggression against Ukraine and provided Kyiv with economic and humanitarian aid but refused to donate lethal military assistance due to its neutrality policy.

Austria also has close and long-standing economic ties with Russia. The Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International has not left Russia despite sanctions and is one of two foreign banks classified as "systemically important" by the Russian central bank.

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 20:01 schreef -XOR- het volgende:

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Lijkt me tamelijk fake.

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 17:28 schreef Digi2 het volgende:

RUSSIA - 45% of Oil Capacity Hit by Drone Attacks as Refineries Close & Ukraine Targets Russian Oil

Ik schreef in dec 2022 al het volgende, het heeft ff geduurd maar nu lijkt Oekra�ne lont te ruiken en die aan te willen steken
[..]

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Plan for $50 billion: US backs new idea to aid Ukraine, Bloomberg
The United States supports the proposal to issue $50 billion in bonds for Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, according to Bloomberg.

The proposal entails pooling $280 billion worth of assets from the Russian central bank, which have been frozen by G7 countries and the European Union, into an SPV, with proceeds going towards so-called freedom bonds.

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

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Czech Republic transfers two last Mi-24 helicopters to Ukraine
The Czech government has transferred the last two Mi-24 attack helicopters for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Ukraine.

The publication Denikn reported on this.

These are currently the last two helicopters (tail numbers 3365 and 3366) that the Prague government can transfer to Ukraine from its depot.

In total, the Czech Republic transferred eight Mi-24s.

This will be the third tranche of Mi-24 helicopters. The Czech Republic first delivered four helicopters in July 2022.

The country made the second transfer in July 2023 but did not report the exact number of transferred aircraft.

The third and final batch was transferred in March 2024 in the amount of two helicopters.

The country is supplying helicopters of the Mi-24B version, but at one time, it also had the Mi-24DU and Mi-24D versions.

The Mi-24 is actively used by the army aviation of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

They carry out transportation tasks and launch unguided rockets at enemy positions.

Militarnyi previously reported that Ukrainian Mi-24s started using American unguided Zuni rockets.

The launch is conducted from four LAU-10 rocket pods mounted on the Mi-24 attack helicopter.

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Ukrainian, Dutch defense companies sign first documents under security agreement

Ukrainian and Dutch companies operating in the defense industry have signed documents on cooperation.
This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Strategic Industries, according to Ukrinform.

On March 20, representatives of the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine and entrepreneurs met with a delegation from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

"During the meeting, Ukrainian and Dutch companies signed five documents on cooperation in the defense industry," the report says.

The Ministry of Strategic Industries clarified that the signed documents relate to cooperation between Ukrainian and Dutch companies in defense sector innovations.

The parties also discussed priority areas of cooperation between defense companies in Ukraine and the Netherlands. These areas include the joint development of autonomous systems, AI-based solutions, and other technological products.

According to Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren, the meeting of the trade delegation is a tangible implementation of the security agreement signed by the Netherlands and Ukraine three weeks ago.

As reported, on March 1, 2024, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte signed a bilateral security agreement in Kharkiv. The document provides for EUR 2 billion in military aid from the Netherlands this year, as well as further defense assistance over the next ten years.

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Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk to Shutter Prisons After Inmates Sent to Fight in Ukraine
Authorities in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region plan to close several prisons this year after a drop-off in the number of inmates due to military recruitment efforts for the war in Ukraine, a regional official said Thursday.

“A one-time large reduction in the number of convicts during the special military operation prompted some people to report to the top about the need to close penitentiary institutions as a way to optimize and save money,” said Krasnoyarsk’s human rights ombudsman Mark Denisov.

“It’s an alarming trend,” he was quoted as saying by the Kommersant daily in his annual report to the region’s legislative assembly.

Denisov named two penal colonies that are slated to close down this year but did not indicate how many more were expected to shut their doors.

He criticized the decision as “impractical” and predicted that the prisons would reopen within five years.

“[The war] will end sooner or later. Everything will return to normal. After all, the social structure of society has not changed,” Denisov told regional lawmakers, according to the news outlet Prospekt Mira.

His comments came the same week as Russian lawmakers in the lower-house State Duma passed legislation to allow future suspected or convicted criminals to join the military and fight in Ukraine.

The practice of recruiting prisoners for the war in Ukraine was spearheaded by the Wagner mercenary group in 2022, although Russia’s Defense Ministry took over prison recruitment early last year.

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 20:20 schreef uitkeringsgenieter het volgende:

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Nice.
Hoe gaat Rusland zich hier tegen verdedigen?
Dit is toch gewoon game over als dit zo door blijft gaan?
45% van Russische olie-capaciteit zit nu al in de range van wat Oekraine kan raken....

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Op donderdag 21 maart 2024 18:22 schreef Ulx het volgende:
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Succes met die onder een SU-34 te hangen. Het lijkt me dat die dan niet meer zo wendbaar is. En om met een Tu-22M, Tu-95 of een Tu-160 binnen bereik van Patriots te gaan vliegen lijkt me zo z'n nadelen te hebben.